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diff --git a/23155-8.txt b/23155-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..db5c709 --- /dev/null +++ b/23155-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8810 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Western Characters, by J. L. McConnel + +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: Western Characters + or Types of Border Life in the Western States + +Author: J. L. McConnel + +Illustrator: Darley + +Release Date: October 23, 2007 [EBook #23155] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WESTERN CHARACTERS *** + + + + +Produced by Julia Miller, Marcia Brooks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: THE PEDDLER.] + +[Illustration: WESTERN CHARACTERS Redfield.] + + + + +WESTERN CHARACTERS + +OR + +TYPES OF BORDER LIFE + +IN THE + +WESTERN STATES + +BY J. L. McCONNEL + +AUTHOR OF "TALBOT AND VERNON,"--"THE GLENNS," ETC. + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY DARLEY + +[Illustration] + +REDFIELD, +110 AND 112 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. +1853. + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, + +BY J. S. REDFIELD, + +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and +for the Southern District of New York. + + +STEREOTYPED BY C. C. SAVAGE, +13 Chambers Street, N. Y. + + + + +PREFATORY NOTE. + + +Attempts to delineate local character are always liable to +misconstruction; for, the more truthful the sketch, the greater is the +number of persons, to whom resemblance may be discovered; and thus, +while in fact only describing the characteristics of a class, authors +are frequently subjected, very unjustly, to the imputation of having +invaded the privacy of individuals. Particularly is this so, when the +class is idealized, and an imaginary type is taken, as the +representative of the species. + +I deem it proper, therefore, to say in advance, that no attempt has been +made in the following pages, to portray any individual; and +that--although I hope I have not been so unsuccessful, as to paint +pictures which have no originals--if there be a portrait in any sketch, +it consists, not in the likeness of the picture to the person, but of +both to the type. + +As originally projected, the book would have borne this explanation upon +its face; but the circumstances which have reduced its dimensions, and +changed its plan, have also rendered necessary a disclaimer, which +would, otherwise, have been superfluous. + + * * * * * + +One or two of the sketches might have been made more complete had I been +fortunate enough to meet with certain late publications, in time to use +them. Such is the elaborate work of Mr. Schoolcraft upon Indian History +and Character; and such, also, is that of Mr. Shea, upon the voyages and +labors of Marquette--a book whose careful accuracy, clear style, and +lucid statement, might have been of much service in writing the sketch +entitled "_The Voyageur_." Unfortunately, however, I saw neither of +these admirable publications, until my work had assumed its present +shape--a fact which I regret as much for my reader's sake as my own. + +J. L. McC. +_July 15, 1853._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE. + +INTRODUCTORY 7 + +I. +THE INDIAN 19 + +II. +THE VOYAGEUR 62 + +III. +THE PIONEER 106 + +IV. +THE RANGER 157 + +V. +THE REGULATOR 171 + +VI. +THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE 246 + +VII. +THE PEDDLER 268 + +VIII. +THE SCHOOLMASTER 288 + +IX. +THE SCHOOLMISTRESS 319 + +X. +THE POLITICIAN 340 + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + + --"Our Mississippi, rolling proudly on, + Would sweep them from its path, or swallow up, + Like Aaron's rod, those streams of fame and song." + + MRS. HALE. + + +The valley of a river like the channel of a man's career, does not +always bear proportion to the magnitude or volume of the current, which +flows through it. Mountains, forests, deserts, physical barriers to the +former--and the obstacles of prejudice, and accidents of birth and +education, moral barriers to the latter--limit, modify, and impair the +usefulness of each. A river thus confined, an intellect thus hampered, +may be noisy, fretful, turbulent, but, in the contemplation, there is +ever a feeling of the incongruity between the purpose and the power; and +it is only when the valley is extended, the field of effort open, that +we can avoid the impression of energy wasted, and strength frittered +away. The great intellect, whose scope is not confined by ancient +landmarks, or old prejudices, is thus typified by the broad, deep river, +whose branches penetrate the Earth on every hand, and add to the current +the tributaries of all climes. In this view, how noble an object is the +Mississippi! + +In extent, fertility, variety of scenery, and diversity of climate, its +valley surpasses any other in the world. It is the great aorta of the +continent, and receives a score of tributary rivers, the least of which +is larger than the vaunted streams of mighty empires. It might furnish +natural boundaries to all Europe, and yet leave, for every country, a +river greater than the Seine. It discharges, in one year, more water +than has issued from the Tiber in five centuries; it swallows up near +fifty nameless rivers longer than the Thames; the addition of the waters +of the Danube would not swell it half a fathom; and in a single bend, +the navies of the world might safely ride at anchor, five hundred miles +from sea. + +It washes the shores of twelve powerful states, and between its arms +lies space enough for twenty more. The rains which fall upon the +Alleghenies, and the snows that shroud the slopes and cap the summits of +the Rocky mountains, are borne upon its bosom, to the regions of +perpetual summer, and poured into the sea, more than fifteen hundred +leagues from their sources. It has formed a larger tract of land, by the +deposits of its inundations, than is contained in Great Britain and +Ireland; and every year it roots up and bears away more trees, than +there are in the Black Forest. At a speed unknown to any other great +river, it rolls a volume, in whose depths the cathedral of St. Paul's +might be sunk out of sight; and five hundred leagues from its mouth, it +is wider than at thirty. + +It annually bears away more acres than it would require to make a German +principality, engulfing more than the revenues of many a petty kingdom. +Beneath its turbid waters lie argosies of wealth, and floating palaces, +among whose gilded halls and rich saloons are sporting slimy creatures; +below your very feet, as you sail along its current, are resting in its +bed, half buried in the sand, the bodies of bold men and tender maidens; +and their imploring hands are raised toward Heaven, and the world which +floats, unheeding, on the surface. There lies, entombed, the son whose +mother knows not of his death; and there the husband, for whose +footstep, even yet, the wife is listening--here, the mother with her +infant still clasped fondly to her breast; and here, united in their +lives, not separated in their death, lie, side by side, the bride and +bridegroom of a day;--and, hiding the dread secrets from all human ken, +the mighty and remorseless river passes onward, like the stream of human +life, toward "the land of dreams and shadows!" + +To the contemplative mind, there is, perhaps, no part of the creation, +in which may not be found the seed of much reflection; but of all the +grand features of the earth's surface, next to a lofty mountain, that +which impresses us most deeply is a great river. Its pauseless flow, the +stern momentum of its current--its remorseless coldness to all human +hopes and fears--the secrets which lie buried underneath its waters, and +the myriad purposes of those it bears upon its bosom--are all so clearly +typical of Time. The waters will not pause, though dreadful battles may +be fought upon their shores--as Time will steadily march forward, though +the fate of nations hang upon the conflict. The moments fly as swiftly, +while a mighty king is breathing out his life, as if he were a lowly +peasant; and the current flows as coldly on, while men are struggling in +the eddies, as if each drowning wretch were but a floating weed. Time +gives no warning of the hidden dangers on which haughty conquerors are +rushing, as the perils of the waters are revealed but in the crashing +of the wreck. + +But the parallel does not stop here. The sources of the +Mississippi--were it even possible that they should ever be +otherwise--are still unknown to man. Like the stream of history, its +head-springs are in the regions of fable--in the twilight of remote +latitudes; and it is only after it has approached us, and assumed a +definite channel, that we are able to determine which is the authentic +stream. It flows from the country of the savage, toward that of +civilization; and like the gradations of improvement among men, are the +thickening fields and growing cultivation, which define the periods of +its course. Near its mouth, it has reached the culmination of +refinement--its last ripe fruit, a crowded city; and, beyond this, there +lies nothing but a brief journey, and a plunge into the gulf of +Eternity! + +Thus, an emblem of the stream of history, it is still more like a march +along the highway of a single human life. As the sinless thoughts of +smiling childhood are the little rivulets, which afterward become the +mighty river; like the infant, airy, volatile, and beautiful--sparkling +as the dimpled face of innocence--a faithful reflex of the lights and +shadows of existence; and revealing, through the limpid wave, the +golden sands which lie beneath. Anon, the errant channels are united in +one current--life assumes a purpose, a direction--but the waters are yet +pure, and mirror on their face the thousand forms and flashing colors of +Creation's beauty--as happy boyhood, rapidly perceptive of all +loveliness, gives forth, in radiant smiles, the glad impressions of +unfaded youth. + +Yet sorrow cometh even to the happiest. Misfortune is as stern a +leveller as Death; and early youth, with all its noble aspirations, +gorgeous visions, never to be realized, must often plunge, like the +placid river over a foaming cataract, down the precipice of +affliction--even while its current, though nearing the abyss, flow +softly as "the waters of Shiloah." It may be the death of a mother, whom +the bereaved half deemed immortal--some disappointment, like the +falsehood of one dearly loved--some rude shock, as the discovery of a +day-dream's hollowness; happy, thrice happy! if it be but one of these, +and not the descent from innocence to sin! + +But life rolls on, as does the river, though its wave no longer flows in +placid beauty, nor reveals the hidden things beneath. The ripples are +now whirling eddies, and a hundred angry currents chafe along the rocks, +as thought and feeling fret against the world, and waste their strength +in vain repining or impatient irritation. Tranquillity returns no more; +and though the waters seem not turbid, there is a shadow in their +depths--their transparency is lost. + +Tributaries, great and small, flow in--accessions of experience to the +man, of weight and volume to the river; and, with force augmented, each +rolls on its current toward the ocean. A character, a purpose, is +imparted to the life, as to the stream, and usefulness becomes an +element of being. The river is a chain which links remotest latitudes, +as through the social man relations are established, binding alien +hearts: the spark of thought and feeling, like the fluid of the magnet, +brings together distant moral zones. + +On it rushes--through the rapids, where the life receives an +impulse--driven forward--haply downward--among rocks and dangerous +channels, by the motives of ambition, by the fierce desire of wealth, or +by the goad of want! But soon the mad career abates, for the first +effect of haste is agitation, and the master-spell of power is calmness. +Happy are they, who learn this lesson early--for, thence, the current +onward flows, a tranquil, noiseless, but resistless, tide. Manhood, +steady and mature, with its resolute but quiet thoughts, its deep, +unwavering purposes, and, more than all, its firm, profound affections, +is passing thus, between the shores of Time--not only working for itself +a channel broad and clear, but bearing on its bosom, toward Eternity, +uncounted wealth of hopes. + +But in the middle of its course, its character is wholly changed; a +flood pours in, whose waters hold, suspended, all impurities. A +struggle, brief but turbulent, ensues: the limpid wave of youth is +swallowed up. Some great success has been achieved; unholy passions are +evoked, and will not be allayed; thenceforward there is no relenting; +and, though the world--nay! Heaven itself!--pour in, along its course, +broad tributaries of reclaiming purity, the cloud upon the waters can +never be dispelled. The marl and dross of Earth, impalpable, but visibly +corrupting, pervade the very nature; and only when the current ceases, +will its primitive transparency return. + +Still it hurries onward, with velocity augmented, as it nears its term. +Yet its breadth is not increased; the earth suspended in its waters, +like the turbid passions of the human soul, prevents expansion;[1] for, +in man's career through time, the heart grows wider only in the pure. + +Along the base of cliffs and highlands--through the deep alluvions of +countless ages--among stately forests and across extended plains, it +flows without cessation. Beyond full manhood, character may change no +more--as, below its mighty tributaries, the river is unaltered. Its full +development is reached among rich plantations, waving fields, and +swarming cities; while, but the journey of a day beyond, it rushes into +Eternity, leaving a melancholy record, as it mingles with the waters of +the great gulf, even upon the face of Oblivion. + +--Within the valley of this river, time will see a population of two +hundred millions; and here will be the seat of the most colossal power +Earth has yet contained. The heterogeneous character of the people is of +no consequence: still less, the storms of dissension, which now and then +arise, to affright the timid and faithless. The waters of all latitudes +could not be blended in one element, and purified, without the tempests +and cross-currents, which lash the ocean into fury. Nor would a stagnant +calmness, blind attachment to the limited horizon of a homestead, or the +absence of all irritation or attrition, ever make one people of the +emigrants from every clime. + +And, when this nation shall have become thoroughly homogeneous--when the +world shall recognise _the race_, and, above this, _the power_ of the +race--will there be no interest in tracing through the mists of many +generations, the outlines of that foundation on which is built the +mighty fabric? Even the infirmities and vices of the men who piled the +first stones of great empires, are chronicled in history as facts +deserving record. The portrait of an ancient hero is a treasure beyond +value, even though the features be but conjectural. How much more +precious would be a faithful portrait of _his character_, in which the +features should be his salient traits--the expression, outline, and +complexion of his nature! + + +To furnish a series of such portraits--embracing a few of the earlier +characters, whose "mark" is traceable in the growing civilization of the +West and South--is the design of the present work. The reader will +observe that its logic is not the selection of actual, but of ideal, +individuals, each representing a class; and that, although it is +arranged chronologically, the periods are not historical, but +characteristic. The design, then, is double; _first_, to select a +_class_, which indicates a certain stage of social or political +advancement; and, _second_, to present a picture of an imaginary +individual, who combines the prominent traits, belonging to the class +thus chosen. + +The series halts, beyond the Rubicon of contemporaneous portraiture, for +very obvious reasons; but there are still in existence abundant means of +verifying, or correcting, every sketch. I have endeavored to give the +consciousness of this fact its full weight--to resist the temptation +(which, I must admit, was sometimes strong) to touch the borders of +satire; and, in conclusion, I can only hope that these wishes, with an +earnest effort at fidelity, have enabled me to present truthful +pictures. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] "Were it a clear stream, it would soon scoop itself out a channel +from bluff to bluff."--_Flint's Geography_, p. 103. + + + + +I. + +THE INDIAN. + + "In the same beaten channel still have run + The blessed streams of human sympathy; + And, though I know this ever hath been done, + The why and wherefore, I could never see!" + + PHEBE CAREY. + + +In a work which professes to trace, even indistinctly, the reclamation +of a country from a state of barbarism, some notice of that from which +it was reclaimed is, of course, necessary; and an attempt to distinguish +the successive periods, each by its representative character, determines +the logic of such notice. Were we as well acquainted with the gradations +of Indian advancement--for such unquestionably, there were--as we are +with those of the civilized man, we should be able to distinguish eras +and periods, so as to represent them, each by its separate _ideal_. But +civilization and barbarism are comparative terms; and, though it is +difficult, perhaps impossible, precisely to fix the point at which one +ceases and the other begins, yet, within that limit, we must consider +barbarism as _one_ period. Of this period, in our plan, the Indian, +without reference to distinction of tribe, or variation in degree of +advancement, is the representative. As all triangles agree in certain +properties, though widely different in others, so all Indians are alike +in certain characteristics, though differing, almost radically, each +from every other: But, as the points of coincidence in triangles are +those which determine the class, and the differences only indicate +subspecies, so the similar characteristics in the Indian, are those +which distinguish the species, and the variations of character are, at +most, only tribal limits. An Indian who should combine all the +equivalent traits, without any of the inequalities, would, therefore, be +the pure ideal of his race. And his composition should include the evil +as well as the good; for a portrait of the savage, which should +represent him as only generous and brave, would be as far from a +complete ideal, as one which should display only his cruelty and +cunning. + +My object in this article is, therefore, to combine as many as +possible--or as many as are necessary--of the general characteristics of +the Indian, both good and bad--so as to give a fair view of the +character, according to the principle intimated above. And I may, +perhaps without impropriety, here state, that this may be taken as the +key to all the sketches which are to follow. It is quite probable that +many examples of each class treated, might be found, who are exceptions +to the rules stated, in almost every particular; and it is possible, +that no _one_, of _any_ class treated, combined _all_ the +characteristics elaborated. Excepting when historical facts are related, +or well-authenticated legends worked in, my object is not to give +portraits of individuals, however prominent. As was hinted above--the +logic of the book points only to the ideal of each class. + + +And this view of the subject excludes all those discussions, which have +so long puzzled philosophers, about the origin of the race--our business +is with the question _What is he?_ rather than with the inquiry, _Whence +did he come?_ The shortest argument, however--and, if the assumption be +admitted, the most conclusive--is that, which assumes the literal truth +of the Mosaic account of the creation of man; for from this it directly +follows, that the aboriginal races are descendants of Asiatic +emigrants; and the minor questions, as to the route they +followed--whether across the Pacific, or by Behring's strait--are merely +subjects of curious speculation, or still more curious research. And +this hypothesis is quite consistent with the evidence drawn from Indian +languages, customs, and physical developments. Even the arguments +against the theory, drawn from differences in these particulars among +the tribes, lose their force, when we come to consider that the same, if +not wider differences, are found among other races, indisputably of a +single stock. These things may be satisfactorily accounted for, by the +same circumstances in the one case, as in the other--by political and +local situation, by climate, and unequal progress. Thus, the Indian +languages, says Prescott, in his "Conquest of Mexico," "present the +strange anomaly of differing as widely in etymology, as they agree in +organization;" but a key to the solution of the problem, is found in the +latter part of the same sentence: "and, on the other hand," he +continues,[2] "while they bear some slight affinity to the languages of +the Old World, in the former particular, they have no resemblance to +them whatever, in the latter." This is as much as if he had said, that +the incidents to the lives of American Indians, are totally different to +those of the nations of the Old World: and these incidents are precisely +the circumstances, which are likely to affect organization, more than +etymology. And the difficulty growing out of their differences among +themselves, in the latter, is surmounted by the fact, that there is a +sufficient general resemblance among them all, to found a comparison +with "the languages of the Old World." I believe, a parallel course of +argument would clear away all other objections to the theory.[3] + + +But, as has been said, the scope of our work includes none of these +discussions; and we shall, therefore, pass to the Indian character, +abstracted from all antecedents. That this has been, and is, much +misunderstood, is the first thought which occurs to one who has an +opportunity personally to observe the savage. Nor is it justly a matter +of surprise. The native of this continent has been the subject of +curious and unsatisfactory speculation, since the discovery of the +country by Columbus: by the very _want_ of those things, which +constitute the attraction of other nations, he became at once, and has +continued, the object of a mysterious interest. The absence of dates and +facts, to mark the course of his migration, remits us to conjecture, or +the scarcely more reliable resource of tradition--the want of history +has made him a character of romance. The mere name of Indian gives the +impression of a shadowy image, looming, dim but gigantic, through a +darkness which nothing else can penetrate. This mystery not only +interests, but also disarms, the mind; and we are apt to see, in the +character, around which it hovers, only those qualities which give depth +to the attraction. The creations of poetry and romance are usually +extremes; and they are, perhaps, necessarily so, when the nature of the +subject furnishes no standard, by which to temper the conception. + +"The efforts of a poet's imagination are, more or less, under the +control of his opinions:" but opinions of men are founded upon their +history; and there is, properly, _no_ historical Indian character. The +consequence has been, that poets and novelists have constructed their +savage personages according to a hypothetical standard, of either the +virtues or vices, belonging, potentially, to the savage state. The same +rule, applied to portraiture of civilized men, would at once be declared +false and pernicious; and the only reason why it is not equally so, in +its application to the Indian, is, because the separation between him +and us is so broad, that our conceptions of his character can exert +little or no influence upon our intercourse with mankind. + +Sympathy for what are called the Indian's misfortunes, has, also, +induced the class of writers, from whom, almost exclusively, our notions +of his character are derived, to represent him in his most genial +phases, and even to palliate his most ferocious acts, by reference to +the injustice and oppression, of which he has been the victim. If we +were to receive the authority of these writers, we should conclude that +the native was not a savage, at all, until the landing of the whites; +and, instead of ascribing his atrocities to the state of barbarism in +which he lived--thus indicating their only valid apology--we should +degrade both the white and the red men, by attributing to the former +all imaginable vices, and, to the latter, a peculiar aptitude in +acquiring them. These mistakes are natural and excusable--as the man who +kills another in self-defence is justifiable; but the Indian character +is not the less misconceived, just as the man slain is not less dead, +than if malice had existed in both cases. To praise one above his +merits, is as fatal to his consideration, as decidedly to disparage him. +In either case, however, there is a chance that a just opinion may be +formed; but, when both extremes are asserted with equal confidence, the +mind is confused, and can settle upon nothing. The latter is precisely +the condition of the Indian; and it is with a view of correcting such +impressions, that this article is written. + + +The American Indian, then, is the ideal of a savage--no more, no less: +and I call him the ideal, because he displays _all_ those qualities, +which the history of the human race authorizes us to infer, as the +characteristics of an unenlightened people, for many ages isolated from +the rest of mankind.[4] He differs, in many particulars, from the other +barbarians of the world; but the broadest distinction lies in this +_completeness_ of his savage character. The peculiarities of the country +in which their lives assume their direction, its climate, isolation; or +connection with the world--all these things contribute to modify the +aspects presented by native races. In such points as are liable to +modification by these causes, the American differs from every other +savage; and without entering into an elaborate comparison of +circumstances--for which we have neither the material, the inclination, +nor the space--it may be proper briefly to consider _one_ of these +causes, and endeavor to trace its effects in the Indian's moral +physiognomy. + + +The state of this continent, when the first Asiatic wanderers landed +upon its shores, was, of course, that of a vast, unbroken solitude; and +the contemplation of its almost boundless extent and profound +loneliness, was certainly the first, and probably the most powerful +agency, at work in modifying their original character. What the primary +effects of this cause were likely to be, we may observe in the white +emigrants, who have sought a home among the forests and upon the plains +of the west: whatever they may have been before their migration, they +soon become meditative, abstracted, and taciturn. These, and especially +the last, are the peculiar characteristics of the Indian; his +taciturnity, indeed, amounts to austerity, sometimes impressing the +observer with the idea of affectation. The dispersion, which must have +been the effect of unlimited choice in lands--the mode of life pursued +by those who depended upon the chase for subsistence--the gradual +estrangement produced among the separate tribes, by the necessity of +wide hunting-grounds--the vast expanse of territory at command--causes +operating so long, as to produce a fixed and corresponding nature--are +the sources, to which we may trace almost all the Indian's distinctive +traits. + +"Isolation," Carlyle says, "is the sum total of wretchedness to man;" +and, doubtless, the idea which he means to convey is just. "But," in the +words of De Quincey, "no man can be truly _great_, without at least +chequering his life with solitude." Separation from his kind, of course, +deprives a man of the humanizing influences, which are the consequences +of association; but it may, at the same time, strengthen some of the +noblest qualities of human nature. Thus, we are authorized to ascribe to +this agency, a portion of the Indian's fortitude under hardships and +suffering, his contempt for mere meanness, and above all, the proud +elevation of his character. The standards of comparison, which were +furnished by his experience, were few, and, of course, derived from the +ideas of barbarians; but all such as were in any way modified by the +solitude of his existence, were rendered impressive, solemn, and +exalted. + +In the vast solitudes of Asia, whence the Indian races migrated to this +continent, so far as the loneliness of savage deserts and endless plains +might exert an influence, we should expect to find the same general +character. But the Asians are almost universally pastoral--the Americans +never; the wildest tribes of Tartary possess numerous useful +domesticated animals--the Americans, even in Mexico,[5] had none; the +Tartars are acquainted with the use of milk, and have been so from time +immemorial--the Indian, even at this day, has adopted it only in a few +localities, among the more enlightened tribes. The migration of the +latter either took place at a period before even his Asiatic father had +discovered its use, or the accidents which brought him to this +continent, were such as to preclude importing domesticated animals; and +the lapse of a few generations was sufficient to obliterate even the +recollection of such knowledge. "And," says Prescott,[6] "he might well +doubt, whether the wild, uncouth monsters, whom he occasionally saw +bounding with such fury over the distant plains, were capable of +domestication, like the meek animals which he had left grazing in the +green pastures of Asia." To this leading distinction--the adoption and +neglect of pastoral habits--may be referred most of the diversities +among races, unquestionably of one stock. + + +Reasoning from the effects upon human character, produced by the face of +different countries, we might expect to find, in the Indian, among other +things, a strong tendency toward poetical thought, embodied, not in the +mode of expression usually denominated poetry, but in the style of his +addresses, the peculiarities of his theories, or the construction of his +mythology, language, and laws. This expectation is totally disappointed; +but when we examine the _degree_ and _character_ of his advancement, +and recollect a few of the circumstances, among which the poetry looked +for would be obliged to grow, our disappointment loses its element of +surprise. The contemplation of Nature in her primitive, terrible, and +beautiful forms--the habit of meditation, almost the necessary +consequence of solitude--the strange, wild enchantment of an adventurous +life--have failed to develop in the Indian, any but selfish and sensual +ideas. Written poetry was, of course, not to be expected, even from the +indigenous civilization of Mexico and Peru; yet we might, with some +ground for hope, seek occasional traces of poetical thought and feeling. +We look in vain for any such thing. + +"Extremes meet," says one of the wisest of adages; and the saying was +never more singularly and profoundly vindicated, than in its application +to civilization and barbarism. The savage rejects all that does not +directly gratify his selfish wants--the highly-civilized man is, in like +manner, governed by the principle of _utility_; and, by both, the merely +fanciful and imaginative is undervalued. Thus, as Mr. Macaulay[7] +ingeniously says, "A great poem, in a highly-polished state of society, +is the most wonderful and splendid proof of genius." But, for the same +reasons, the savage, who should display any remarkably poetical feeling +or tone of thought, would be quite as great a prodigy. Poetry flourishes +most luxuriantly midway between the two extremes. Its essence is the +contemplation of great passions and actions--of love, revenge, ambition. +Imagination is then vivified by the means of expression or articulation; +and, in the half-civilized state, neither a refined public sentiment, +nor the other extreme of barbarous isolation, restrains the exhibition +of great (and poetical) emotions. + +The best of Hazlitt's numerous definitions of poetry, determines it to +be "the excess of imagination, beyond the actual or ordinary impression +of any object or feeling."[8] But the Indian was destitute of all +imagination; apparently, the composition of his nature included no such +element; and, certainly, the rude exigencies of his life did not admit +its action. Even the purity of his mythology, compared to that of the +Greeks and Romans,[9] has been (by Lord Lindsay) attributed to this +want--though, if such were its only effects, it might very well be +supplied. + +The Indian has no humor, no romance--how could he possess poetical +feeling? The gratification of sensual wants is the end of his life--too +often, _literally_ the end! "He considers everything beneath his notice, +which is not necessary to his advantage or enjoyment."[10] To him a jest +is as unmeaning as the babbling of a brook; his wife is a beast of +burden; and even his courting is carried on by gifts of good things _to +eat_, sent to the parents.[11] Heaven is merely a hunting-ground; his +language has no words to express abstract qualities, virtues, vices, or +sentiments.[12] His idea of the Great Spirit, and the word which +expresses it, may be applied with equal propriety to a formidable +(though not beneficent) _animal_; indeed, the Indian words which we +translate "spirit," mean only superior power, without the qualification +of good or evil. He has not even the ordinary inhabitive instinct of the +human race; his attachment to any region of country depends upon its +capacity to furnish game, and the fading of the former keeps pace with +the disappearance of the latter. "Attachment to the graves of his +fathers," is an agreeable fiction--unfortunately, only a fiction.[13] +He has always been nomadic, without the pastoral habits which the word +supposes: a mere wandering savage, without purpose or motive, beyond the +gratification of the temporary want, whim, or passion, and void of +_everything_ deserving the name of sentiment. + + +An extravagant, and, I am sorry to say, groundless, notion has obtained +currency, among almost all writers upon the Indian character, that he is +distinguished for his _eloquence_. But the same authors tell us, that +his language, the vehicle of the supposed eloquence, can express only +material ideas.[14] Now, if we knew no more of his character than this, +we should be authorized to infer (what is, indeed, true), that he +possesses no standard for the distinction of good and evil, and that his +imagination is bounded by the lines of his sensible experience. How any +degree of eloquence can be compatible with this state of things, passes +comprehension. And what reflection would conclude, a little examination +will confirm. The mistake has, doubtless, grown out of a misconception +of the nature of eloquence itself.[15] If eloquence were all +_figure_--even if it were, in any considerable degree, _mere_ +figure--then the tawdriest rhetorician would be the greatest orator. But +it is not so. On the contrary, the use of many words (or figures) to +express an idea, denotes not command of language, but the absence of +that power--just as the employment of numerous tools, to effect a +physical object, indicates, not skill in the branch of physics, to which +the object belongs, but rather awkwardness. Of course, much must be +placed, in both cases, to the account of clumsy instruments; but the +instrument of speech differs from others in this: it is fashioned _by_, +as well as _for_, its use; and a rude, unpolished language is, +therefore, an index, in two ways, of the want of eloquence among the +people who employ it. + +In this view, the figurative elocution of the Indian, so far from +affording evidence of oratorical power, if it proves anything, proves +the opposite. It is the barrenness of his language, and not the +luxuriance of his imagination, which enforces that mode of speech.[16] +Imagination is the first element of oratory, simplicity its first +condition. We have seen that the Indian is wholly destitute of the +former; and the stilted, meretricious, and ornate style, of even his +ordinary communications, entirely excludes the latter from our +conception of his character.[17] + +For example: take the expressions "bury the hatchet," for "make peace," +and "a cloudless sky," for "prosperity"--the latter being the nearest +approximation to an abstract idea observed in Indian oratory. Upon +examining these, and kindred forms of speech, we shall at once perceive +that they are not the result of imagination, but are suggested by +_material_ analogies. Peace, to the savage, is, at best, but a negative +idea; and the _state_ of peacefulness, abstracted from the absence of +war, finds no corresponding word in his language. Even friendship only +means that relation, in which friends may be of _use_ to each other. As +his dialects are all synthetic,[18] his ideas are all concrete. To say, +"_I love_" without expressing _what_ or _whom_ I love, would be, so to +speak, very bad Indian grammar. He can not even say "two" correctly, +without applying the numeral to some object. The notion of absolute +being, number, emotion, feeling, posture, or relation, is utterly +foreign to his mode of thought and speech. + +So, also, of the "cloudless sky," used to express a state of prosperity. +He does not mean, by the phrase, the serenity of mind which prosperity +produces, nor any other abstract inflexion or suggestion of the figure. +He is constantly exposed to the storms of heaven, in the chase, and on +the war path; and, even in his best "lodge," he finds but little shelter +from their fury. Clear weather is, therefore, grateful to him--bright +sunshine associates itself, in his mind, with comfort, or (that +supremest of Indian pleasures) undisturbed indolence. And the +transition, though, as we have said, an approach to an abstract +conception, is easy, even to the mind of a savage. His employment of +such illustrations is rather an evidence of rudeness, than of +eloquence--of barrenness, than of luxuriance of idea.[19] + +From these considerations, it results, that even the very best specimens +of Indian oratory, deserve the name of _picturesque_, rather than of +_eloquent_--two characteristics which bear no greater affinity to each +other, than do the picture-writing of the Aztec and the alphabetical +system of the Greek. The speech of Logan--the most celebrated of Indian +harangues--even if genuine,[20] is but a feeble support to the theory of +savage eloquence. It is a mixture of the lament and the song of triumph, +which may be found in equal perfection among all barbarous people; but, +so far as we are aware, was never elsewhere dignified with that sounding +name. The slander of a brave and honorable man,[21] which it contains, +might be the result of a mistake easily made; the wrongs of which this +chief was the victim, might render even a savage eloquent; and the +mixture of bloody vaunting with profound grief, is scarcely to be +expected in any _but_ a savage. "Logan never knew fear," he says; "he +would not turn on his heel to save his life." This species of boasting +is perfectly in keeping with the Indian character; but the pathetic +reason for this carelessness, which follows--"There is no one to mourn +for Logan"--is one not likely to have occurred to an Indian, even in his +circumstances. And, granting that the expression _was_ used by the +orator, and not (as it seems probable it was) added by Jefferson, it is, +I believe, the only example on record of poetical feeling in any Indian +speech. + + +The _religion_ of the Indian has given as much troublesome material to +the builders of systems, as has been furnished by all his other +characteristics combined. The first explorers of America supposed that +they had found a people, quite destitute of any religious belief. But +faith in a higher power than that of man, is a necessity of the human +mind; and its organization, more or less enlightened, is as natural, +even to the most degraded savage, as the formation of his language. Both +depend upon general laws, common to the intellect of all races of men; +both are affected by the external circumstances of climate, situation, +and mode of life; and the state of one may always be determined by that +of the other. "No savage horde has been caught with its language in a +state of chaos, or as if just emerging from the rudeness of +indistinguishable sounds. Each appears, not as a slow formation by +painful processes of invention, but as a perfect whole, springing +directly from the powers of man."[22] And though this rigor of +expression is not equally applicable to the Indian's religion, the fact +is attributable solely to the difference in nature of the subjects. As +the "primary sounds of a language are essentially the same everywhere," +the impulses and instincts of piety are common to all minds. But, as the +written language of the Indian was but the pictorial representation of +visible objects, having no metaphysical signification, so the symbols of +his religion, the objects of his adoration, were drawn from external +nature.[23] Even his faith in the Great Spirit is a graft upon his +system, derived from the first missionaries;[24] and, eagerly as he +adopted it, it is probable that its meaning, to him, is little more +exalted, than that of the "Great Beaver," which he believes to be the +first progenitor, if not the actual creator, of that useful animal. + +We often see the fact, that the Indian believes in his _manitou_, cited +as an evidence, that he has the conception of a spiritual divinity. But +the word never conveyed such a meaning; it is applicable more properly +to material objects, and answers, with, if possible, a more intense and +superstitious significance, to the term _amulet_. The Indian's _manitou_ +might be, indeed always was, some wild animal, or some part of a beast +or bird--such as a bear's claw, a buffalo's hoof, or a dog's tooth.[25] +And, though he ascribed exalted powers to this primitive guardian, it +must be remembered that these powers were only physical--such, for +example, as would enable it to protect its devotee from the knife of his +enemy, or give him success in hunting. + + +Materialism, then, reigns in the religion, as in the language, of the +Indian; and its effects are what might be expected. His whole system is +a degraded and degrading superstition; and, though it has been praised +for its superior purity, over that of the ancients, it seems to have +been forgotten, that this purity is only the absence of _one kind_ of +_im_purity: and that its cruel and corrupting influences, of another +sort, are ten-fold greater than those of the Greek mythology. The +faith of the Greek embodied itself in forms, ceremonies, and +observances--regularly appointed religious rites kept his piety alive; +the erection of grand temples, in honor of his deity, whatever might be +his conception of that deity's character, attested his genuine devotion, +and held constantly before his mind the abstract idea of a higher power. +The Indian, before the coming of the white man, erected no temples[26] +in honor of his divinities; for he venerated them only so long as they +conferred physical benefits[27] upon him; and his idea of beneficence +was wholly concrete. He had no established form of worship; the +ceremonies, which partook of a religious character, were grotesque in +their conception, variable in their conduct, and inhuman in their +details. Such, for example, are the torturing of prisoners, and the +ceremonies observed on the occasion of a young Indian's placing himself +under his guardian power. + + +The dogmas of the Indian religion, until varied by the teaching of +missionaries, were few and simple--being circumscribed, like everything +else belonging to him, by the material world. He believed in a good +spirit, and an evil spirit; but his conception was limited by the ideas +of benefit or injury, _to himself_; indeed, it may safely be doubted, +whether the word "spirit," in its legitimate sense, is at all applicable +to his belief. "Power in a state of exertion," is the more accurate +description of his imperfect notion: abstract existence he never +conceived; the verb "_to be_" except as relating to time, place, and +action, had no meaning in his language.[28] He believed, also, in +subordinate powers of good and evil; but, since his life was occupied +more in averting danger and calamity, than in seeking safety or +happiness, he paid far more respect to the latter than to the former--he +prayed oftener and more fervently to the devils, than to the angels. His +clearest notion of divinity, was that of a being able to injure him; +and, in this sense, his devotion might be given to man, bird, or beast. + +There seems to be no doubt, that he believed in a sort of immortality, +even before the missionaries visited his country. But it was not so much +a new state of existence, as a continuation of present life.[29] He +killed horses upon the grave of the departed warrior, that he might be +mounted for his long journey; and buffalo meat and roasted maize were +buried with him, that he might not suffer from hunger.[30] On arriving +in the land of the blest, he believed, that the dead pursued the game of +that country, as he had done in this; and the highest felicity of which +he conceived, was the liberty to hunt unmolested by the war-parties of +his enemies. Heaven was, therefore, in his conception, only a more +genial earth, and its inheritors but keener sportsmen. + +That this idea of immortality involved that of accountability, in some +form, seems to admit of no doubt; but this doctrine, like almost all +others belonging to the primitive savage, has been moulded to its +present definite shape, by the long-continued labors of Christian +missionaries.[31] He believed, indeed, that the bad Indians never +reached the happy hunting-grounds, but the distinction between the good +and the bad, in his mind, was not at all clear; and, since the idea of +the passage across the gulf of death most prevalent among all tribes, +is that of a narrow bridge, over which only steady nerves and sure feet +may carry the wanderer, it seems probable that the line was drawn +between the brave warrior and the successful hunter, on the one hand, +and the coward and the unskilful, on the other. If these views be +correct, the inferences to be drawn from the Indian's belief in +immortality and accountability, are of but slender significance. + + +Corrupt manners and degrading customs never exist, in conjunction with a +pure religious system. The outlines of social institutions are +metaphysically coincident with the limits of piety; and the refinement +of morals depends upon the purity of faith. We may thus determine the +prevailing spirit of a national religion, by observation of domestic +manners and habits; and, among all the relations of life, that of parent +and child is the best index to degree of advancement. Filial piety is +but the secondary manifestation of a devotional heart; and attachment +and obedience to a father on earth, are only imperfect demonstrations of +love to our Father in heaven. What, then--to apply the principle--is the +state of this sentiment in the Indian? By the answer to that question, +we shall be able to estimate the value of his religious notions, and to +determine the amount of hope, for his conversion, justified by their +possession. The answer may be given in a few words: There is no such +sentiment in the Indian character. Children leave their infirm parents +to die alone, and be eaten by the wolves;[32] or treat them with violent +indignity,[33] when the necessity of migration gives no occasion for +this barbarous desertion. Young savages have been known to beat their +parents, and even to kill them; but the display of attachment or +reverence for them, is quite unknown. Like the beast of the forest, they +are no sooner old enough to care for themselves, than they cease even to +remember, by whose care they have become so; and the slightest +provocation will produce a quarrel with a father, as readily as with a +stranger. The unwritten law of the Indian, about which so many writers +have dreamed, enacts no higher penalty for parricide, than for any other +homicide; and a command to honor his father and mother because they +_are_ his father and mother, would strike the mind of an Indian as +simply absurd. + +If the possession of a religion, whose fruits are no better than these, +can, of itself, give ground for hope to the Christian philanthropist, +let him cherish it fondly. But it is much to be feared, that the +existence of such a system indefinitely postpones, if it does not +entirely preclude, the Indian's conversion. Even a bird which has never +known the forest, will eventually escape to the wilds which God has made +its home; and the young Indian, who has been reared in the city, will +fly to the woods and prairies, and return to the faith of his fathers, +because these, and only these, will satisfy his nature.[34] + + +A theme of praise, in itself more just, has been the Indian's courage; +but the same circumstances of poetical interest, which have magnified +men's views of his other qualities, have contributed to exaggerate this +also. If calm steadiness of nerve, in the moment of action, be an +element in true courage, that of the primitive savage was scarcely +genuine. In all his battles, there were but two possible aspects--the +furious onset, and the panic retreat: the firmness which plants itself +in line or square, and stubbornly contends for victory, was no part of +his character. A check, to him, always resulted in a defeat; and, though +this might, in some measure, be the consequence of that want of +discipline, which is incident to the savage state, the remark applies +with equal justice, whether he fought singly or in a body. He was easily +panic-struck, because the impulse of the forward movement was necessary +to keep him strung to effort; and the retrograde immediately became a +rout, because daring, without constancy, collapses with the first +reaction. + +Notwithstanding the enervating influences attributed to refinement and +luxury, genuine, steady courage is one of the fruits borne by a high +civilization. It is the result of combination, thought, and the divinity +which attaches to the cultivated man. And, though it may seem rather +unfair to judge a savage by the rules of civilization, it has long been +received as a canon, that true valor bears an inverse ratio to +ferocious cruelty. Of all people yet discovered upon earth, the Indian +is the most ferocious. We must, therefore, either vary the meaning of +the word, when applied to different people, or deny the savage the +possession of any higher bravery, than that which lives only through the +onset. + +Cunning supplied the place of the nobler quality; the object of his +warfare was to overcome by wily stratagem, rather than by open combat. +"Skill consisted in surprising the enemy. They followed his trail, to +kill him when he slept; or they lay in ambush near a village, and +watched for an opportunity of suddenly surprising an individual, or, it +might be, a woman and her children; and, with three strokes to each, the +scalps of the victims being suddenly taken off, the brave flew back with +his companions, to hang the trophies in his cabin."[35] If they +succeeded in taking prisoners, it was only that they might be reserved +for the most infernal torments, and the gratification of a brutal +ferocity, not the trial and admiration of the victim's courage, was the +purpose of their infliction.[36] + +The fortitude of the Indian under suffering, has often been referred to, +in evidence of moral courage. And it is certainly true, that the display +so frequently made of triumph in the hour of death by torture, +indicates,[37] in part, an elevation of character, seldom found among +more civilized men. It is, however, the elevation of a barbarian; and +its manifestations are as much the fruit of impotent rage, as of a noble +fortitude. The prisoner at the stake knows that there is no escape; and +his intense hatred of his enemies takes the form of a wish, to deprive +them of a triumph. While his flesh is crisping and crackling in the +flames, therefore, he sings of the scalps he has taken, and heaps +opprobrious epithets upon the heads of his tormentors. But his song is +as much a cry of agony, as of exultation--his pain only adopts this mode +of expression. It is quite certain, also, that he does not suffer so +deeply, as would a white man in the same circumstances. By long +exposure, and the endurance of hardships incident to his savage life, +his body acquires an insensibility akin to that of wild animals.[38] His +nerves do not shrink or betray a tendency to spasm, even when a limb is +amputated. Transmitted from one generation to another, this physical +nature has become a peculiarity of the race. And when assisted by the +fierce hatred above referred to, it is not at all strange that it should +enable him to bear with fortitude, tortures which would conquer the +firmness of the most resolute white man.[39] + + +The Indian's dignified stoicism has been as much exaggerated, as his +courage and fortitude. It is not quite true that he never expresses +surprise, or becomes loquacious. But he has a certain stern +impassibility of feature--a coldness of manner--which have been mistaken +for dignity. His immobility of countenance, however, may be the effect +of sluggish sensibilities, or even of dull perceptions;[40] and the +same savage vanity, which leads him to make a display of strength or +agility before friend or enemy, prevents his acknowledging ignorance, by +betraying surprise.[41] We have been in company with Indians from the +Far West, while they saw a railroad for the first time. When they +thought themselves unnoticed, they were as curious about the singular +machinery of the locomotive, and as much excited by the decorations and +appointments of the cars, as the most ignorant white man. But the moment +they discovered that their movements were observed, they resumed their +dignified composure; and, if you had judged of the Indian country by +their subsequent deportment, you might have believed that the vast +prairies of the Missouri were everywhere intersected by railroads--that +the Indian had, in fact, never known any other mode of travelling. "On +first seeing a steamboat, however," says Flint, who well understands his +character, "he never represses his customary '_Ugh_!'" + + +Generally, among white men, he who is fondest of inflicting pain, is +least able to endure it. But the Indian reverses almost all the +principles, which apply to civilized life; and, accordingly, we find +that, with all his so-called fortitude, he is the most intensely cruel +of all living men. Before possession of the continent was taken by +Europeans, war was more constantly the occupation of his life, than it +has been since; but even now his only object in taking his enemies +alive, is to subject them to the most inhuman tortures.[42] And in these +brutal orgies, the women are most active, even taking the lead, in +applying the cord and the brand.[43] Nor is this cruelty confined to +enemies, as the practice of leaving the aged and infirm to die of +starvation sufficiently proves. + +And his treachery is equal to his cruelty. No treaty can bind him longer +than superior force compels him to observe it. The discovery that his +enemy is unprepared for an attack, is sufficient reason to him for +making it; his only object in concluding peace, is to secure an +advantage in war; and before the prospect of a bloody inroad, his faith +melts away, like snow before the sun. The claims of gratitude he seldom +acknowledges; he cherishes the memory of a benefit, only until he finds +an opportunity of repaying it with an injury; and forbearance to avenge +the latter, only encourages its repetition.[44] The numerous pretty +stories published of Indian gratitude, are either exceptional cases, or +unmixed romances. + +There have been some tribes of Indians in a measure reclaimed from their +state of barbarism; the Cherokees, I believe, (and perhaps one or two +other nations,) have even increased in numbers, under the influence of +civilization. But this is the result of numerous favorable causes +combined, and proves nothing, from which to infer the Indian's docility. +Other savages, on coming in contact with civilized men, have discovered +a disposition to acquire some of the useful arts--their comforts have +been increased, their sufferings diminished, and their condition +ameliorated, by the grafting of new ideas upon the old. But, between +the red man and the white, contiguity has brought about little more than +an exchange of vices. + +Almost the only things coveted by the "redskin" from the "paleface," +were his arms, his trinkets, and his "firewater." He could appreciate +whatsoever gave him superiority in war, gratified his childish vanity, +or ministered to his brutal appetite. But the greater comfort of the +white man's house--the higher excellence of his boat--his improved +agricultural implements or extended learning--none of these things +appealed to the Indian's passions or desires. The arts of peace were +nothing to him--refinement was worse than nothing. He would spend hours +in _decorating_ his person, but not a moment in _cleansing_ it: I +believe no tradition exists of an Indian ever having used soap or bought +a fine-tooth comb! He is, indeed, a "pattern of filthiness;" but even in +civilized life, we find that this is not at all incompatible with an +extravagant love of ornament; and, in this respect, the savage is not +behind his more enlightened brethren and sisters. Beads, ribands, and +scarlet cloth--with powder and lead, guns, tomahawks, and knives--are +the acquisitions which he prizes most highly. + +Pre-eminent, however, above all these in his estimation, is the greatest +curse which has yet reached him--the liquid fire called whiskey! He is, +by nature, a drunkard, and the fury of his intoxication equals the +ferocity of his warfare. "All words would be thrown away," says Mr. +Flint,[45] "in attempting to portray, in just colors, the effects of +whiskey upon such a race." Fire should be kept away from +combustibles--whiskey from the Indian, and for the same reason. With +drunkenness, he possesses, also, its inseparable companion, the vice of +gambling.[46] He is the most inveterate gamester: Before the demon of +avarice everything gives way. He even forgets his taciturnity, in the +excitement of the game, and becomes loquacious and eager. He will stake +all his most valuable possessions, and, losing these, will even risk his +own liberty, or life, on the turn of a card. We were once witness to a +game in San Antonio (in Western Texas), among a party of Lipans,[47] a +race of fine-looking men, who range the table-lands north of the +sources of the Nueces. Two of them, one the handsomest warrior among +them, lost, first, the money, which they had just received as the price +of skins, brought to the city for sale. They then staked, successively, +their horses, their arms, their moccasins, and their blankets. The +"luck" was against them--everything was lost; and we supposed the game +was over. But--as a last resource, like drawing blood from their beating +hearts--each produced a _little leathern bottle_, containing whiskey! +And, as if these possessed a higher value than all the articles yet +lost, the game went on with increased interest! Even the potent "spirit" +thus evoked, could not prevail upon Fortune to change her face: the +whiskey was lost with the rest! Each rose to his feet, with the usual +guttural exclamation, and, afoot, and unarmed as he was, silently took +his way to the prairies; while the winners collected in a group, and +with much glee, proceeded to consume the liquid poison so cheaply +obtained. + + +We come, finally to the question of the Indian's fate: What is to become +of the race? The answer presents no difficulties, save such as grow out +of men's unwillingness to look unpleasant truths in the face. There has +been, of late years, much lamentation, among our own people, over the +gradual extinction of these interesting savages; and in Europe we have +been made the subject of indignant eloquence, for (what those, who know +nothing about it, are pleased to call) "our oppression of the Indian." +But, in the first place, the decay of the American races is neither so +rapid nor so universal, as is generally supposed;[48] and, in the second +place, if the fact were otherwise, we could, at the worst, be charged +only with accelerating a depopulation already begun. "The ten thousand +mounds in the Mississippi Valley, the rude memorials of an immensely +numerous former population, but, to our view, no more civilized than the +present races, are proofs that the country _was depopulated_, when the +white man first became acquainted with it. If we can infer nothing else +from these mounds, we can clearly infer, that this country once had its +millions."[49] What had become of this immense population? The +successive invasions of new hordes of barbarians from the north, +intestine wars, and the law, that men shall advance toward civilization, +or decay from the earth--these are the only causes to which we may +ascribe their disappearance. + +The extinction of the Indian race is decreed, by a law of Providence +which we can not gainsay. Barbarism _must_ give way to civilization. It +is not only inevitable, but _right_, that it should be so. The tide of +empire, which has been flowing since the earliest times, has set +steadily toward the West. The Indian emigrated in the wrong direction: +and now, after the lapse of many centuries, the descendants of the first +Asians, having girdled the globe, meet on the banks of the Mississippi! +On the one side, are enlightenment, civilization, Christianity: on the +other, darkness, degradation, barbarism: and the question arises, which +shall give way? The Indian recedes: at the rate of seventeen miles a +year,[50] the flood rolls on! Already it has reached the shores of the +Pacific: One century will reduce the whole continent to the possession +of the white man; and, then, the lesson which all history teaches, will +be again taught--that two distinct races cannot exist in the same +country on equal terms. The weaker must be incorporated with the +stronger--or exterminated.[51] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Vol. III., page 394. + +[3] There is, however, little necessity for any argument on the subject: +For, leaving out of the question the highest and most sacred of +authorities, almost all respectable writers upon ethnology, including +Buffon, Volney, Humboldt, &c., agree in assigning a common origin to all +nations,--though the last deduces from many particulars, the conclusion +that the American Indian was "isolated in the infancy of the world, from +the rest of mankind."--_Ancient Inhabitants of America_, vol. i., p. +250. + +[4] It will be observed, that I assume the _unity_ of the Indian race; +and I am not sufficiently acquainted with the recent discussions on the +subject, to be certain whether the question is still considered open. +But the striking analogies between the customs, physical formation, and +languages of all the various divisions, (except the Esquimaux, who are +excluded), I think, authorize the assumption. + +[5] _Conquest of Mexico_, vol. iii., p. 416. + +[6] _Conquest of Mexico_, vol. iii., p. 417. + +[7] _Essays_--Art. 'Milton.' + +[8] _Lectures on English Poets_, p. 4. + +[9] No very high compliment, but as high as it deserves. We shall see +anon. + +[10] Warburton's _Conquest of Canada_, vol. i., p. 177. + +[11] Bancroft's _United States_, vol. iii., p. 256. + +[12] Hunter's _Memoirs_, p. 236. _Western Annals_, p. 712. + +[13] _Flint's Geography_, p. 108. + +[14] "All ideas are expressed by figures addressed to the senses." +_Warburton_, vol. i., p. 175. Bancroft, ut supra. + +[15] See Bancroft, Hunter, Catlin, Flint, Jefferson, &c.--passim--all +supporters of Indian eloquence, but all informing us, that "combinations +of material objects were his _only_ means of expressing abstract ideas." + +[16] Vide Bancroft's _United States_, vol. iii., pp. 257, 266, etc. + +[17] _E. G._ "They style themselves the 'beloved of the Great +Spirit.'"--_Warburton_, vol. i., p. 186. "In the Iroquois language, the +Indians gave themselves the appellation of 'Angoueonoue', or 'Men of +Always.'"--_Chateaubriand's Travels in America_, vol. ii., p. 92. Note, +also, their exaggerated boastfulness, even in their best speeches: +"Logan never knew fear," &c. + +[18] "The absence of all reflective consciousness, and of all logical +analysis of ideas, is the great peculiarity of American +speech."--_Bancroft_, vol. iii., p. 257. + +[19] Warburton's _Conquest of Canada_, vol. i., p. 180. + +[20] I have seen it hinted, though I have forgotten where, that +Jefferson, and not Logan, was the author of this speech; but the +extravagant manner in which Jefferson himself praises it, seems to +exclude the suspicion. "I may challenge the whole orations of +Demosthenes and Cicero," he says, "and of any other more eminent orator, +if Europe has furnished more eminent, to produce a single passage +superior to the speech of Logan!" Praise certainly quite high enough, +for a mixture of lamentation and boastfulness. + +[21] The evidence in this matter has long ago been thoroughly sifted; +and it is now certain that, so far from being present aiding at the +massacre of Logan's family, Colonel Cresap earnestly endeavored to +dissuade the party from its purpose. And yet the falsehood is +perpetuated even in the common school-books of the country, while its +object has been mouldering in his grave for a quarter of a +century.--_Western Annals_, p. 147. _American Pioneer_, vol. i., p. 7, +_et seq._ + +[22] Bancroft, vol. iii., p. 254. + +[23] Bancroft, vol. iii., p. 285.--"The God of the savage was what the +metaphysician endeavors to express by the word _substance_." But the +Indian's idea of substance was altogether _concrete_. + +[24] The best authority upon this subject is found in the _Jesuit_ +"_Relaciones:_" but it is at least probable, that the preconceptions of +the good Fathers colored, and, perhaps, shaped, many of the religious +wonders there related. + +[25] "Lettres Edifiantes," vol. vi., p. 200, _et seq._ Warburton, vol. +i., p. 187. + +[26] The extravagant stories told of the Natchez Indians (among whom +there was said to be a remarkable temple for worship) are quite +incredible, even if they had not been disproved. + +[27] When the _manitou_ of the Indian has failed to give him success in +the chase, or protection from danger, "he upbraids it with bitterness +and contempt, and threatens to seek a more effectual protector. If the +_manitou_ continues useless, this threat is fulfilled." Warb. _ut +supra_. _Vide_, also, Catlin's "American Indians," vol. i., p. 36, _et +seq._ + +[28] Bancroft, vol. iii., p. 258. + +[29] "He calls it [the soul] the shadow or image of his body, but its +acts and enjoyments are all the same as those of its earthly existence. +He only pictures to himself a continuation of present pleasures." Warb. +vol. i., p. 190. _Vide_, also, Catlin's "_American Indians_," vol. i., +p. 158, _et seq._ + +[30] The Indian never believed in the resurrection of the body; but even +corn and venison were supposed to possess a spirit, which the spirit of +the dead warrior might eat.--_Jesuit_ "_Relacion_," 1633, p. 54. + +[31] "The idea of retribution," says Bancroft, vol. iii., p. 299, "as +far as it has found its way among them, was derived from Europeans." And +the same remark may be made, of most of the other wonders, in which +enthusiastic travellers have discovered coincidences with Christianity. + +[32] James's "_Expedition_," vol. i., p. 237.--Catlin's "_American +Indians_," vol. i., pp. 216-'18. The latter is a zealous apologist for +Indian cruelties and barbarisms. + +[33] "_Conquest of Canada_," vol. i., pp. 194-'5. + +[34] The following may serve to indicate the sort of impression of +Christianity which even the most earnest and enlightened preaching has +been able to make upon the Indian mind: "Here I saw a most singular +union; one of the [Indian] graves was surmounted by a cross, while close +to it a trunk of a tree was raised, covered with hieroglyphics, +recording the number of enemies slain by the tenant of the tomb. Here +presenting a hint to those who are fond of system-making on the religion +of these people," &c.--_Beltrami's Pilgrimage, &c._, vol. ii., p. 307. +Bancroft's _United States_, vol. iii., pp. 303-'4. Flint's _Geography_, +pp. 109, 126. + +[35] Bancroft, vol. iii., p. 281. + +[36] "To inflict blows that can not be returned," says this historian +(Bancroft, vol. iii., p. 282), "is a proof of full success, and the +entire humiliation of the enemy. It is, moreover, an experiment of +courage and patience." But we think such things as much mere brutality, +as triumph. + +[37] The frequent change of tense in this article, refers to those +circumstances in which the _present_ differs from the _past_ character +of the Indian. + +[38] "It is to be doubted, whether some part of this vaunted stoicism be +not the result of a more than ordinary degree of physical +insensibility."--_Flint's Geography_, vol. i., p. 114. + +[39] Many white men, however, have endured the utmost extremities of +Indian cruelty. See cases of Brebeuf, and Lallemand, in _Bancroft_, vol. +iii., p. 140. + +[40] "It is intellectual culture which contributes most to diversify the +features."--_Humboldt's Personal Narrative_, vol. iii., p. 228. + +[41] "They have probably as much curiosity [as the white], but a more +stern perseverance in repressing it."--_Flint's Geography_, vol. i., p. +124. + +[42] "The enemy is assailed with treachery, and, if conquered, treated +with revolting cruelty." * * "A fiendish ferocity assumes full +sway."--_Conquest of Canada_, vol. i., p. 206. + +[43] It is perhaps not very remarkable, however, that the women are most +cruel to the aged and infirm--the young and vigorous being sometimes +adopted by them, to console them for the loss of those who have +fallen.--_Idem_, p. 210. + +[44] "We consider them a treacherous people, easily swayed from their +purpose, paying their court to the divinity of good fortune, and always +ready to side with the strongest. We should not rely upon their feelings +of to-day, as any pledge for what they will be to-morrow."--_Flint's +Geography_, vol. i., p. 120. + +[45] "_Geography of the Mississippi Valley_," vol. i., p. 121. + +[46] "The Indians are immoderately fond of play."--_Warburton_, vol. i., +p. 218. + +[47] These used cards; but they have, among themselves, numerous games +of chance, older than the discovery of the continent. + +[48] "The Cherokee and Mobilian families of nations are more numerous +now than ever."--_Bancroft_, vol. iii., p. 253. In speaking of this +declamation about the extinction of the race, Mr. Flint very pertinently +remarks: "One would think it had been discovered, that the population, +the improvements, and the social happiness of our great political +edifice, ought never to have been erected in the place of these +habitations of cruelty."--_Geography_, vol. i., p. 107. + +[49] Idem. + +[50] This is De Tocqueville's estimate.--_Democracy in America_, vol. +ii., chap. 10. + +[51] "We may as well endeavor to make the setting sun stand still on the +summit of the Rocky Mountains, as attempt to arrest the final extermination +of the Indian race!"--_Merivale on Colonization_--_Lecture_ 19. + +The principle stated in the text will apply with equal force to the +negro-race; and those who will look the facts firmly in the face, can +not avoid seeing, that the ultimate solution of the problem of American +Slavery, can be nothing but _the sword_. + + + + +II. + +THE VOYAGEUR. + + "Spread out earth's holiest records here, + Of days and deeds to reverence dear: + A zeal like this, what pious legends tell?" + + +The shapeless knight-errantry of the thirteenth and fourteenth +centuries, rich as it was in romance and adventure, is not to be +compared, in any valuable characteristic, to the noiseless self-devotion +of the men who first explored the Western country. The courage of the +knight was a part of his savage nature; his confidence was in the +strength of his own right arm; and if his ruggedness was ever softened +down by gentler thoughts, it was only when he asked forgiveness for his +crimes, or melted in sensual idolatry of female beauty. + +It would be a curious and instructive inquiry, could we institute it +with success, how much of the contempt of danger manifested by the +wandering knight was referable to genuine valor, and what proportion to +the strength of a Milan coat, and the temper of a Toledo or Ferrara +blade. And it would be still more curious, although perhaps not so +instructive, to estimate the purity and fidelity of the heroines of +chivalry; to ascertain the amount of true devotion given them by their +admirers, "without hope of reward." + +But without abating its interest by invidious and ungrateful inquiries, +we can see quite enough--in its turbulence, its cruelty, arrogance, and +oppression--to make us thank Heaven that "the days of chivalry are +gone." And from that chaotic scene of rapine, raid, and murder, we can +turn with pleasure to contemplate the truer, nobler chivalry--the +chivalry of love and peace, whose weapons were the kindness of their +hearts, the purity of their motives, and the self-denial of their lives. + +The term "_voyageur_"[52] literally signifies "traveller;" and by this +modest name are indicated some of the bravest adventurers the world has +ever seen. But it is not in its usual, common-place signification that I +employ the word, nor yet in that which is given it by most writers on +the subject of early French settlements and explorations. Men are often +affected by the names given them, either of opprobrium or commendation; +but words are quite as frequently changed, restricted, or enlarged in +meaning, by their application to men. For example: you apply the word +soldier to a class of men; and if robbery be one of the characteristics +of that class, "soldier" will soon come to mean "robber" too. And thus, +though the parallel is only logical, has it been with the term +"_voyageur_." The class of men to whom it is applied were +travellers--_voyageurs_; but they were _more_; and as the habits and +qualities of men came in time to be better understood than the meaning +of French words, the term, used in reference to Western history, took +much of its significance from the history and character of the men it +assumed to describe. Thus, _un voyageur_ means not only a traveller, but +a traveller with a purpose; an adventurer among the Western wilds; a +chivalrous missionary, either in the cause of science or religion. It +includes high courage, burning zeal for church and country, and the most +generous self-devotion. It describes such men as Marquette, La Salle, +Joliet, Gravier, and hundreds of others equally illustrious, who lived +and died among the dangers and privations of the wilderness; who opened +the way for civilization and Christianity among the savages, and won, +many of them, crowns of martyrdom. + +They were almost all Frenchmen. The Spaniards who came to this continent +were mere gold-seekers, thirsting only for wealth; and if they sought to +propagate Christianity, or rather the Christian _name_, it was only a +sanguinary bigotry that prompted them. On the other hand, the English +emigrants came to take possession of the country for themselves. The +conversion of the natives, or territorial acquisition for the +mother-country, were to them objects of barely secondary importance. +They believed themselves persecuted--some of them _were_ persecuted--and +they fled: it was only safety for themselves, and the rich lands of the +Indian, that they sought. Providence reserved for the French chevaliers +and missionaries the glory of leaving their homes without compulsion, +real or imaginary, to penetrate an inhospitable wilderness; to undergo +fatigues; to encounter dangers, and endure privations of a thousand +kinds; enticed by no golden glitter, covetous of no riches, save such as +are "laid up in heaven!" They came not as conquerors, but as ministers +of peace, demanding only hospitality. They never attacked the savages +with sword or fagot; but extending hands not stained by blood, they +justified their profession by relief and love and kindly offices. +Sometimes, indeed, they received little tracts of land; not seized by +the hand of power, nor grasped by superior cunning, but possessed as the +free gift of simple gratitude; and upon these they lived in peace, +surrounded by savages, but protected by the respect inspired by +blameless and beneficent lives. Many of those whose vows permitted it, +intermarried among the converted natives, and left the seeds of many +meliorations in a stony soil; and many of them, when they died, were as +sincerely mourned by the simple children of the forest, as if they had +been chiefs and braves. + +Such were the men of peace who penetrated the wilderness through the +French settlements in Canada, and preached the gospel to the heathen, +where no white man had ever before been seen; and it is particularly to +this class that I apply the word at the head of this article. But the +same gentle spirit pervaded other orders of adventurers--men of the +sword and buckler, as well as of the stole and surplice. These came to +establish the dominion of _La Belle France_; but it was not to oppress +the simple native, or to drive him from his lands. Kindness marked even +the conduct of the rough soldier; and such men as La Salle, and +Iberville, who were stern enough in war, and rigid enough in discipline, +manifested always an anxious solicitude for the _rights_, as well as for +the spiritual welfare of the Indian. They gave a generous confidence +where they were conscious of no wish to injure; they treated frankly and +on equal terms, with those whom their religion and their native kindness +alike taught them to consider brethren and friends. Take, for example, +that significant anecdote of La Salle, related by the faithful +chronicler[53] of his unfortunate expeditions. He was building the fort +of _Crevecoeur_, near the spot where now stands the city of Peoria, on +the Illinois river; and even the name of his little fortress +(_Crevecoeur_, Broken Heart) was a mournful record of his shattered +fortunes. The means of carrying out his noble enterprise (the colonizing +of the Mississippi valley) were lost; the labor of years had been +rendered ineffectual by one shipwreck; his men were discontented, even +mutinous, "attempting," says Hennepin, "first to poison, and then desert +him;" his mind was distracted, his heart almost broken, by accumulated +disasters. Surrounded thus by circumstances which might well have +rendered him careless of the feelings of the savages around him, he +observed that they had become cold and distant--that in effect they no +longer viewed him as their friend. The Iroquois,[54] drifting from the +shores of Lake Ontario, where they had always been the bitterest foes of +the French, had instilled fear and hatred into their minds; it was even +said that some of his own men had encouraged the growing discontent. In +this juncture, what measures does he take? Strengthen his +fortifications, and prepare for war, as the men of other nations had +done? Far from it. Soldier and adventurer as he was, he had no wish to +shed innocent blood; though with his force he might have defied all the +nations about him. He went as a friend, frankly and generously, among +them, and demanded the reasons of their discontent. He touched their +hearts by his confidence, convinced them of his friendship, and attached +them to himself more devotedly than ever. A whole history in one brief +passage! + +But it is more especially to the _voyageurs_ of the church--the men of +faith and love--that I wish to direct my readers' attention: To such men +as Le Caron, a Franciscan, with all the zeal and courage and +self-abnegation of his order, who wandered and preached among the bloody +Iroquois, and upon the waters of Huron, as early as 1616: to Mesnard, a +devoted missionary of the same order, who, in 1660, founded a mission at +the Sault de Ste. Marie, and then went into the forest to induce the +savages to listen to the glad tidings he had brought, and never came +back: to Father Allouez, who rebuilt the mission five years afterward +(the first of these houses of God which was not destroyed or abandoned), +who subsequently crossed the lakes, and preached to the Indians on Fox +river, where, in one of the villages of the Miamis and Mascoutens, +Marquette found a cross still standing, after the lapse of years, where +Allouez had raised it, covered with the offerings of the simple natives +to an unknown God. He is the same, too, who founded Kaskaskia, probably +the earliest settlement in the great valley, and whose history ends +(significant fact!) with the record of his usefulness. To Father Pinet, +who founded Cahokia, and was so successful in the conversion of the +natives, that his little chapel could not contain the numbers who +resorted to his ministrations: to Father Marest, the first preacher +against intemperance; and, finally, to Marquette, the best and bravest +of them all, the most single-hearted and unpretending! + + +Enthusiasm is a characteristic of the French nation; a trait in some +individuals elevated to a sublime self-devotion, and in others degraded +to mere excitability. The vivacity, gesticulation, and grimace, which +characterize most of them, are the external signs of this nature; the +calm heroism of the seventeenth century, and the insane devotion of the +nineteenth, were alike its fruits. The _voyageur_ possessed it, in +common with all his countrymen. But in him it was not noisy, turbulent, +or egotistical; military glory had "neither part nor lot" in his +schemes; the conquests he desired to make were the conquests of faith; +the dominion he wished to establish was the dominion of Jesus. + +In the pursuit of these objects, or rather of this single object, I have +said he manifested the enthusiasm of his race; but it was the noblest +form of that characteristic. The fire that burned in his bosom was fed +by no selfish purpose. To have thought of himself, or of his own +comforts, or glory, to the detriment of any Christian enterprise, +however dangerous or unpromising, would, in his eyes, have been a deadly +sin. + + +At Sault de Ste. Marie, Father Marquette heard of many savages (whom he +calls "God's children") living in barbarism, far to the west. With five +boatmen and one companion, he at once set out for an unexplored, even +unvisited wilderness. He had what they had not--the gospel; and his +heart yearned toward them, as the heart of a mother toward an afflicted +child. He went to them, and bound them to him "in the bond of peace." If +they received him kindly--as they usually did, for even a savage +recognises and respects genuine devotion--he preached to them, mediated +among them, softened their hearts, and gathered them into the fold of +God. If they met him with arms in their hands--as they sometimes did, +for savages, like civilized men, do not always know their friends--he +resolutely offered peace; and, in his own simple and pious language, +"God touched their hearts," and they cast aside their weapons and +received him kindly. + +But the _voyageur_ had higher qualities than enthusiasm. He was capable +of being so absorbed in a cause as to lose sight of his own identity; to +forget that he was more than an instrument in the hands of God, to do +God's work: and the distinction between these traits is broad indeed! +Enthusiasm is noisy, obtrusive--self-abnegation is silent, retiring; +enthusiasm is officious, troublesome, careless of time and +place--self-abnegation is prudent, gentle, considerate. The one is +active and fragmentary--the other passive, but constant. + +Thus, when the untaught and simple native was to be converted, the +missionary took note of the spiritual capacity as well as of the +spiritual wants; he did not force him to receive, at once, the whole +creed of the church, as a mere enthusiast would have done; for _that_ +wisdom would feed an infant with strong meats, even before it had drawn +its mother's milk. Neither did he preach the gospel with the sword, like +the Spaniard, nor with fire and fagot, like the puritan. He was wise as +the serpent, but gentle as the dove. He took the wondering Indian by +the hand; received him as a brother; won him over to listen patiently; +and then taught him first that which he could most easily comprehend: he +led him to address the throne of grace, or, in the language of the time, +"to embrace the prayer;" because even the savage believed in Deity. As +his understanding was expanded, and his heart purified--as every heart +must be which truly lifts itself to God--he gradually taught him the +more abstruse and wonderful doctrines of the Church of Christ. Gently +and imperceptibly he led him on, until the whole tremendous work was +done. The untutored savage, if he knew nothing else, yet knew the name +of his Redeemer. The bloody warfare, the feuds and jealousies of his +tribe, if not completely overcome, at least were softened and +ameliorated. When he could not convert, he endeavored to humanize; and +among the tribes of the Illinois,[55] though they were never thoroughly +Christianized, the influence of the good fathers soon prevailed to +abolish the barbarous practice of torturing captives.[56] For though +they might not embrace the religion, the savages venerated its +teachers, and loved them for their gentleness. + +And this gentleness was not want of courage; for never in the history of +the world has truer valor been exhibited than that shown by the early +missionary and his compeers, the first military adventurers! Read +Joutel's account of the melancholy life and death of La Salle; read the +simple, unpretending "Journal" of Marquette;[57] and compare their +constancy and heroism with that displayed at any time in any cause! But +the _voyageur_ possessed higher qualities than courage, also; and here +again we recur to his perfect abnegation of himself; his renunciation of +all personal considerations. + +Courage takes note of danger, but defies it: the _voyageur_ was careless +of danger, because he counted it as nothing; he gave it no thought, +because it only affected _himself_; and he valued not his own safety and +comfort, so long as he could serve the cause by forgetting them. Mere +courage is combative, even pugnacious; but the _voyageur_ fought only +"the good fight;" he had no pride of conquest, save in the victories of +Faith, and rather would suffer, himself, than inflict suffering upon +others. Mere courage is restless, impatient, purposeless: but the +_voyageur_ was content to remain wherever he could do good, tentative +only in the cause of Christ, and distracted by no objects from his +mission. His religion was his inspiration; his conscience his reward. +His system may have been perverted, his zeal mistaken, his church a +sham; we are not arguing that question. But the purity of his +intentions, the sincerity of his heart, can not be doubted; and the most +intolerant protestant against "the corruptions of Rome" will, at least, +admit that even catholicism was better than the paganism of the savage. + +"There is not," says Macaulay,[58] "and there never was on this earth, a +work of human policy so well deserving of examination as the Roman +Catholic Church." And certainly all other systems combined have never +produced one tithe of the astounding results brought about by this +alone. Whether she has taught truth or falsehood; whether, on the whole, +it had been better or worse for the cause of Christianity, had no such +organization ever existed; whether her claims be groundless or +well-founded, are questions foreign to our purpose. But that her polity +is the most powerful--the best adapted to the ends she has in view--of +all that man has hitherto invented, there can be no doubt. Her +missionaries have been more numerous and more successful, ay, and more +devoted, than those of any other church. They have gone where even the +sword of the conqueror could not cleave his way. They have built +churches in the wilderness, which were time-worn and crumbling when the +first emigrant penetrated the forests. They have preached to youthful +savages who never saw the face of another white man, though they lived +to three-score years and ten. They have prayed upon the shores of lonely +lakes and rivers, which were not mapped by geographers for centuries +after their deaths. They have travelled on foot, unarmed and alone, +where an army could not march. And everywhere their zeal and usefulness +have ended only with their lives; and always with their latest breath +they have mingled prayers for the salvation of their flocks, with +aspirations for the welfare of their church. For though countless miles +of sea and land were between her and them, their loyalty and affection +to the great spiritual Mother were never forgotten. "In spite of oceans +and deserts; of hunger and pestilence; of spies and penal laws; of +dungeons and racks, of gibbets and quartering-blocks," they have been +found in every country, at all times, ever active and zealous. And +everywhere, in palace, or hovel, or wilderness, they have been true sons +of the church, loyal and obedient. + +An organization capable of producing such results is certainly well +worth examination. For the influence she has wielded in ages past gives +promise of her future power; and it becomes those who think her +permanence pernicious to the world, to avoid her errors and yet imitate +her wisdom. If the system be a falsehood and a sham, it is a most +gigantic and successful one, and it is of strange longevity. It has +lived now more than fifteen hundred years, and one hundred and fifty +millions of people yet believe it. If it be a counterfeit, it is high +time the cheat were detected and exposed. Let those who have the truth +give forth its light, that the falsehood may wither and die. Unless they +do so, the life which has already extended over so many centuries may +gain fresh vigor, and renew its youth. Even yet the vision of the +essayist may be realized: "She may still exist in undiminished vigor, +when some traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast +solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch +the ruins of St. Paul's!" + +It was to this church that the early _voyageurs_ belonged. And I do not +use that word "belonged" as it is employed in modern times among +protestants: I mean _more_ than that convenient, loosely-fitting +profession, which, like a garment, is thrown on and off, as the +exigencies of hypocrisy or cupidity may require. These men actually _did +belong_ to the church. They were hers, soul and body; hers, in life and +in death; hers to go whithersoever she might direct, to do whatsoever +she might appoint. They believed the doctrines they taught with an +abiding, _active_ faith; and they were willing to be spent in preaching +them to the heathen. + + +It has always been a leading principle in the policy of the Roman +church, to preserve her unity, and she has been enabled to do so, +principally by the ramified and elastic polity for which she has been +distinguished, to which she owes much of her extent and power, as well +as no small part of the reproach so liberally bestowed upon her in the +pages of history. There are many "arms" in her service: a man must be +impracticable indeed, when she can find no place in which to make him +useful, or to prevent his being mischievous. She never drives one from +the pale of the church who can benefit it as a communicant, or injure it +as a dissenter. If he became troublesome at home, she has, in all ages, +had enterprises on foot in which she might clothe him with authority, +and send him to the uttermost parts of the earth; thus ridding herself +of a dangerous member, and, by the same act, enlarging the sphere of her +own dominion. Does an enthusiast become noisy, or troublesome upon +unimportant points, the creed is flexible, and the mother will not +quarrel with her child, for his earnestness may convince and lead astray +more valuable sons and daughters. She will establish a new order, of +which the stubborn fanatic shall be founder; the new order is built into +the old church organization, and its founder becomes a dignitary of the +ecclesiastical establishment. Instead of becoming a dangerous heretic +and schismatic, he is attached to orthodoxy by cords stronger than +steel; henceforth all his earnest enthusiasm shall be directed to the +advancement of his order, and consequently of his church. Does one +exhibit inflexibility in some matter of conscience upon which the church +insists, there are many of God's children in the wilderness starving in +spirit for the bread of life; and to these, with that bread, shall the +refractory son be sent. He receives the commission; departs upon his +journey, glad to forget a difference with his spiritual superiors; +preaches to the heathen; remembers only that the church is his mother; +wins a crown of martyrdom, and is canonized for the encouragement of +others! + +Thus she finds a place for all, and work enough for each; and thus are +thrown off the elements of schism and rebellion. Those who had most +courage in the cause of right; all who were likely to be guided in +matters of conscience by their own convictions; the most sincere and +single-hearted, the firmest and purest and bravest, were, in matters of +controversy, the most dangerous champions, should they range themselves +against the teaching of the church. They were consequently, at the +period of which I am writing, the men whom it was most desirable to send +away; and they were eminently well fitted for the arduous and wasting +duties of the missionary. + +To this class belonged the large majority of the _voyageur_ priests: men +who might be inconvenient and obtrusive monitors, or formidable +adversaries in controversy, if they remained at home; but who could only +be useful--who of all men could be _most_ useful--in gathering the +heathen into the fold of the church. There were, doubtless, a few of +another class; the restless, intriguing, and disobedient, who, though +not formidable, were troublesome. But even when these joined the +missionary expeditions, they did but little to forward the work, and are +entitled to none of the honor so abundantly due to their more sincere +brethren. To this class, for example, belonged the false and egotistical +Hennepin, who only signalized himself by endeavoring to appropriate the +reputation so hardly won by the brave and unfortunate La Salle.[59] + +It does not appear upon the record that any of these men--of either the +restless and ambitious, or of the better class--were literally _sent +away_. But such has been the politic practice of this church for many +ages; and we may safely believe, that when she was engaged in an +unscrupulous and desperate contest for the recovery, by fair means or +foul, of her immense losses, there might be many in the ranks of her +pious priesthood whom it would be inconvenient to retain at home. And +during that conflict especially, with the most formidable enemies she +ever had, she could not afford to be encumbered. + +But whatever may have been the motives of their spiritual superiors, the +missionaries themselves were moved only by the considerations of which +we have spoken--the truest piety and the most burning zeal. Of these +influences they were conscious; but we shall perhaps not do the +character injustice if we add another spur to action, of which they were +_not_ conscious. There is a vein of romance in the French composition; a +love of adventure for the sake of the adventure itself, which, when not +tamed or directed, makes a Frenchman fitful, erratic, and unreliable. +When it is toned by personal ambition, it becomes a sort of Paladin +contempt for danger; sometimes a crazy furor. When accompanied by +powerful intellect, and strengthened by concentration on a purpose, it +makes a great commander--great for the quickness of his comprehension, +the suddenness of his resolutions, the rapidity of their execution. When +humanized by love, and quickened by religious zeal, it is purified of +every selfish thought, and produces the chivalrous missionary, whom +neither fire nor flood, neither desert nor pathless wilderness, shall +deter from obeying the command of Him who sent his gospel "unto every +creature." And thus are even those traits, which so often curse the +world with insane ambition and sanguinary war, turned by the power of a +true benevolence to be blessings of incalculable value. + +Such were the purposes, such the motives, of this band of noble men; and +whatever may have been their errors, we must at least accord them the +virtues of _sincerity_, _courage_, _and self-denial_. But let us look a +little more closely at the means by which they accomplished undertakings +which, to any other race of men, would have been not only impracticable, +but utterly desperate. Take again, as the representative of his class, +the case of Father Marquette, than whom, obscure as his name is in the +wastes of history, no man ever lived a more instructive and exemplary +life. + +From the year 1668 to 1671,[60] Marquette had been preaching at the +Sault de Sainte Marie, a little below the foot of Lake Superior. He was +associated with others in that mission; but the largest type, though it +thrust itself no higher than the smallest, will make the broadest +impress on the page of history; and even in the meager record of that +time, we may trace the influence of his gentle but firm spirit--those by +whom he was accompanied evidently took their tone from him. But he was +one of the Church's pioneers; that class whose eager, single-hearted +zeal is always pushing forward to new conquests of the faith; and when +he had put aside the weapons that opposed their way, to let his +followers in, his thoughts at once went on to more remote and suffering +regions. During his residence at the Sault, rumors and legends were +continually floating in of the unknown country lying to the west--"the +Land of the Great River," the Indians called it--until the mind of the +good father became fully possessed with the idea of going to convert the +nations who dwelt upon its shores. In the year 1671, he took the first +step in that direction, moving on to Point St. Ignatius, on the main +land, north of the island of Mackinac. Here, surrounded by his little +flock of wondering listeners, he preached until the spring of 1673; but +all the time his wish to carry the gospel where its sound had never been +heard was growing stronger. He felt in his heart the impulse of his +calling, to lead the way and open a path for the advance of light. At +the period mentioned, he received an order from the wise intendant in +New France, M. Talon, to explore the pathless wilderness to the +westward. + +Then was seen the true spirit of the man, and of his order. He gathered +together no armament; asked the protection of no soldiers; no part of +the cargo of his little boat consisted of gunpowder, or of swords or +guns; his only arms were the spirit of love and peace; his trust was in +God for protection. Five boatmen, and one companion, the Sieur Joliet, +composed his party. Two light bark canoes were his only means of +travelling; and in these he carried a small quantity of Indian corn and +some jerked meat, his only means of subsistence. + +Thus equipped, he set out through Green Bay and up Fox river, in search +of a country never yet visited by any European. The Indians endeavored +to dissuade him, wondering at his hardihood, and still more at the +motives which could induce him thus to brave so many dangers. They told +him of the savage Indians, to whom it would be only pastime to torture +and murder him; of the terrible monsters which would swallow him and his +companions, "canoes and all;" of the great bird called the _Piasau_,[61] +which devoured men, after carrying them in its horrible talons to +inaccessible cliffs and mountains; and of the scorching heat, which +would wither him like a dry leaf. "I thanked them kindly," says the +resolute but gentle father, "for their good counsel; but I told them +that I could not profit by it, since the salvation of souls was at +stake, for which object I would be overjoyed to give my life." Shaking +them by the hand, one by one, as they approached to bid him farewell, as +they thought, for the last time, he turned his back upon safety and +peace, and departed upon his self-denying pilgrimage. + +Let him who sits at ease in his cushioned pew at home--let him who +lounges on his velvet-covered sofa in the pulpit, while his well-taught +choir are singing; who rises as the strains are dying, and kneels upon a +cushioned stool to pray; who treads upon soft carpets while he preaches, +in a white cravat, to congregations clad in broadcloth, silk, and +satin--let him pause and ponder on the difference between his works, his +trials, his zeal--ay, and his glory, both of earth and heaven!--and +those of Father James Marquette! + +The little party went upon their way; the persuasions of their +simple-hearted friends could not prevail, for the path of duty was +before them, and the eye of God above. Having passed through Green Bay, +and painfully dragged their canoes over the rapids of Fox river, they +reached a considerable village, inhabited by the united tribes of +Kickapoos, Miamis, and Mascoutimes. Here they halted for a time, as the +mariner, about to prove the dangers of a long voyage, lingers for a day +in the last port he is likely to enter for many months. Beyond this +point no white man had ever gone; and here, if anywhere, the impulses of +a natural fear should have made themselves felt. But we hear of no +hesitation, no shrinking from the perilous task; and we know from the +unpretending "Journal" of the good father, that a retreat, nay, even a +halt--longer than was necessary to recruit exhausted strength, and renew +the memory of former lessons among the natives--was never thought of. +"My companion," said Marquette, referring to Joliet, "is an envoy from +the king of France, and I am an humble minister of God. I have no fear, +_because I shall consider it the highest happiness to die in the service +of my master!_" There was no bravado in this, for, unlike many from +whom you may, any day, hear the same declaration, he set forth +immediately to encounter the perils of his embassy. + +The Indians, unable to prevail with him to abandon the enterprise, made +all their simple provision for his comfort; and, furnishing him with +guides and carriers across the portage to the Wisconsin river, parted +with him as one bound for eternity. Having brought them safely to the +river, the guides left them "alone in that unknown country, in the hand +of God;" and, trusting to the protection of that hand, they set out upon +their journey down the stream.[62] Seven days after, "with inexpressible +joy," they emerged upon the bosom of the great river. During all this +time they had seen no human being, though, probably, many a wandering +savage had watched them from the covert of the bank, as they floated +silently between the forests. It was an unbroken solitude, where the +ripple of their paddles sounded loudly on the ear, and their voices, +subdued by the stillness, were sent back in lonely echoes from the +shore. + +They were the first white men who ever floated on the bosom of that +mighty river[63]--"the envoy from the king of France, and the +embassador of the King of kings." What were their thoughts we know not, +but from Marquette's simple "Journal;" for, in returning to Quebec, +Joliet's boat was wrecked in sight of the city, and all his papers +lost.[64] Of the Sieur himself, we know nothing, save as the companion +of Marquette on this voyage; but from this alone his fame is +imperishable. + +They sailed slowly down the river, keeping a constant outlook upon the +banks for signs of those for whose spiritual welfare the good father had +undertaken his perilous journey. But for more than sixty leagues not a +human form or habitation could be seen. They had leisure, more than they +desired, to admire the grand and beautiful scenery of that picturesque +region. In some places the cliffs rose perpendicularly for hundreds of +feet from the water's edge; and nodding over their brows, and towering +against the sky, were stately pines and cedars of the growth of +centuries. Here, there lay between the river and the cliffs, a level +prairie, waving in all the luxuriance of "the leafy month of June;" +while beyond, the bluffs, enclosing the natural garden, softened by the +distance, and clothed in evergreen, seemed but an extension of the +primitive savanna. Here, a dense, primeval forest grew quite down to the +margin of the water; and, hanging from the topmost branches of the giant +oaks, festoons of gray and graceful moss lay floating on the rippled +surface, or dipped within the tide. Here, the large, smooth roots of +trees half undermined, presented seats and footholds, where the pleasant +shade invited them to rest, and shelter from the sultry summer sun. +Anon, an open prairie, with no cliff or bluff beyond, extended +undulating from the river, until the eye, in straining to measure its +extent, was wearied by the effort, and the plain became a waving sea of +rainbow colors; of green and yellow, gold and purple. Again, they passed +a gravelly beach, on which the yellow sand was studded with a thousand +sets of brilliant shells, and little rivulets flowed in from level +prairies, or stealthily crept out from under roots of trees or tangled +vines, and hastened to be hidden in the bosom of the great father of +waters. + +They floated on, through the dewy morning hours, when the leaves were +shining in the sunlight, and the birds were singing joyously; before the +summer heat had dried the moisture, or had forced the feathered +songsters to the shade. At noon, when the silence made the solitude +oppressive; when the leaves hung wilting down, nor fluttered in the +fainting wind: when the prairies were no longer waving like the sea, but +trembling like the atmosphere around a heated furnace: when the _mirage_ +hung upon the plain: tall trees were seen growing in the air, and among +them stalked the deer, and elk, and buffalo: while between them and the +ground, the brazen sky was glowing with the sun of June: when nothing +living could be seen, save when the _voyageur's_ approach would startle +some wild beast slaking his thirst in the cool river, or a flock of +waterfowl were driven from their covert, where the willow branches, +drooping, dipped their leaves of silvery gray within the water. They +floated on till evening, when the sun approached the prairie, and his +broad, round disc, now shorn of its dazzling beams, defined itself +against the sky and grew florid in the gathering haze: when the birds +began to reappear, and flitted noiselessly among the trees, in busy +preparation for the night: when beasts of prey crept out from +lurking-places, where they had dozed and panted through the hours of +noon: when the wilderness grew vocal with the mingled sounds of lowing +buffalo, and screaming panther, and howling wolf; until the shadows rose +from earth, and travelled from the east; until the dew began to fall, +the stars came out, and night brought rest and dreams of home! + +Thus they floated on, "from morn till dewy eve," and still no sign of +human life, neither habitation nor footprint, until one day--it was the +twenty-fifth of June, more than two weeks since they had entered the +wilderness--in gliding past a sandy beach, they recognised the impress +of a naked foot! Following it for some distance, it grew into a trail, +and then a path, once more a place where human beings habitually walked. + +Whose feet had trodden down the grass, what strange people lived on the +prairies, they knew not, what dangers might await them, they cared not. +These were the people whom the good father had come so far to convert +and save! And now, again, one might expect some natural hesitation; some +doubt in venturing among those who were certainly barbarians, and who +might, for aught they knew, be brutal cannibals. We could forgive a +little wavering, indeed, especially when we think of the frightful +stories told them by the Northern Indians of this very people. But fear +was not a part of these men's nature; or if it existed, it lay so deep, +buried beneath religious zeal and pious trust, that its voice never +reached the upper air. Leaving the boatmen with the canoes, near the +mouth of the river now called Des Moines, Marquette and Joliet set out +alone, to follow up the trail, and seek the people who had made it. It +led them to an open prairie, one of the most beautiful in the present +state of Iowa, and crossing this, a distance of six miles, they at last +found themselves in the vicinity of three Indian villages. The very +spot[65] where the chief of these stood might now be easily found, so +clear, though brief, is the description of the simple priest. It stood +at the foot of a long slope, on the bank of the river Moingona (or Des +Moines), about six miles due west of the Mississippi; and at the top of +the rise, at the distance of half a league, were built the two others. +"We commended ourselves unto God," writes the gentle father; for they +knew not at what moment they might need his intervention; and crying out +with a loud voice, to announce their approach, they calmly advanced +toward the group of lodges. At a short distance from the entrance to the +village, they were met by a deputation of four old men, who, to their +great joy, they perceived bore a richly-ornamented pipe of peace, the +emblem of friendship and hospitality. Tendering the mysterious calumet, +they informed the Frenchmen that they belonged to one of the tribes +called "Illinois" (or "Men"), and invited them to enter their lodges in +peace: an invitation which the weary _voyageurs_ were but too glad to +accept. + +A great council was held, with all the rude but imposing ceremonies of +the grave and dignified Indian; and before the assembled chiefs and +braves, Marquette published his mission from his heavenly Master. +Passing, then, from spiritual to temporal things--for we do not hear of +any address from Joliet, who probably was no orator--he spoke of his +earthly king, and of his viceroy in New France; of his victories over +the Iroquois, the dreaded enemies of the peaceful Western tribes; and +then made many inquiries about the Mississippi, its tributaries, and +the nations who dwelt upon their banks. His advances were kindly +received, his questions frankly answered, and the council broke up with +mutual assurances of good-will. Then ensued the customary festival. +Hominy, fish, buffalo, and _dog-meat_, were successively served up, like +the courses of a more modern table; but of _the last_ "we declined to +partake," writes the good father, no doubt much to the astonishment and +somewhat to the chagrin of their hospitable friends; for even yet, among +the western Indians, dog-meat is a dish of honor. + +Six days of friendly intercourse passed pleasantly away, diversified by +many efforts on the part of Marquette to instruct and convert the docile +savages. Nor were these entirely without result; they excited, at least, +the wish to hear more; and on his departure they crowded round him, and +urgently requested him to come again among them. He promised to do so, a +pledge which he afterward redeemed. But now he could not tarry; he was +bent upon his hazardous voyage down the Great River, and he knew that he +was only on the threshold of his grand discoveries. Six hundred +warriors, commanded by their most distinguished chief, accompanied him +back to his boats; and, after hanging around his neck the great calumet, +to protect him among the hostile nations of the south, they parted with +him, praying that the Great Spirit, of whom he had told them, might give +him a prosperous voyage, and a speedy and safe return. + + +These were the first of the nations of the Mississippi Valley visited by +the French, and it is from them that the state of Illinois takes its +name. They were a singularly gentle people; and a nature originally +peaceful had been rendered almost timid by the cruel inroads of the +murderous Iroquois.[66] These, by their traffic with the Dutch and +English of New-York, and by their long warfare with the French of +Canada, had acquired the use of fire-arms, and, of course, possessed an +immense advantage over those who were armed only with the primitive bow +and arrow. The restless and ambitious spirit of the singular +confederacy, usually called the Five Nations, and known among their +neighbors by the collective name of Iroquois, had carried their +incursions even as far as the hunting-grounds of the Shawanese, about +the mouth of the Ohio; and their successes had made them a terror to all +the western tribes. The Illinois, therefore, knowing the French to be at +war with these formidable enemies, were the more anxious to form an +alliance with them; and the native gentleness of their manners was, +perhaps, increased by the hope of assistance and protection. But, +whatever motives may have influenced them, besides their natural +character, their forethought was of vital service to the wanderers in +the countries of the south, whither they proceeded. + +The little party of seven resumed their voyage on the last day of June, +and floating with the rapid current, a few days afterward passed the +rocks, above the site of Alton, where was painted the image of the +ravenous _Piasau_, of which they had been told by the Northern Indians, +and on the same day reached the mouth of the Pekitanoni, the Indian name +for the rapid and turbulent Missouri. Inwardly resolving, at some future +time, to ascend its muddy current, to cross the ridge beyond, and, +descending some river which falls into the Great South sea (as the +Pacific was then called), to publish the gospel to all the people of the +continent, the zealous father passed onward toward the south. Coasting +slowly along the wasting shore, lingering in the mouths of rivers, or +exploring dense forests in the hope of meeting the natives, they +continued on their course until they reached the mouth of a river which +they called the _Ouabache_, or Wabash, none other than the beautiful +Ohio.[67] Here they found the advanced settlement of Shawanese, who had +been pushed toward the southwest by the incessant attacks of the +Iroquois. But by this time, fired with the hope of ascertaining the +outlet of the Mississippi, they postponed their visit to these people +until their return, and floated on. + + +It is amusing, as well as instructive, to observe how little importance +the travellers gave to the river Ohio, in their geographical +assumptions. In the map published by Marquette with his "Journal," the +"_Ouabisquigou_" as he denominates it, in euphonious French-Indian, +compared to the Illinois or even to the Wisconsin, is but an +inconsiderable rivulet! The lonely wanderers were much farther from the +English settlements than they supposed; a mistake into which they must +have been led, by hearing of the incursions of the Iroquois; for even at +that early day they could not but know that the head-waters of the Ohio +were not distant from the hunting-grounds of that warlike confederacy. +Even this explanation, however, scarcely lessens our wonder that they +should have known so little of courses and distances; for had this river +been as short as it is here delineated, they would have been within four +hundred miles of Montreal. + +After leaving the Ohio, they suffered much from the climate and its +incidents; for they were now approaching, in the middle of July, a +region of perpetual summer. Mosquitoes and other venomous insects (in +that region we might even call them _ravenous_ insects) became +intolerably annoying; and the _voyageurs_ began to think they had +reached the country of the terrible heats, which, as they had been +warned in the north, "would wither them up like a dry leaf." But the +prospect of death by torture and savage cruelty had not daunted them, +and they were not now disposed to be turned back by any excess of +climate. Arranging their sails in the form of awnings to protect them +from the sun by day and the dews by night, they resolutely pursued +their way. + +Following the course of the river, they soon entered the region of +cane-brakes, so thick that no animal larger than a cat could penetrate +them; and of cotton-wood forests of immense size and of unparalleled +density. They were far beyond the limits of every Indian dialect with +which they had become acquainted--were, in fact, approaching the region +visited by De Soto, on his famous expedition in search of Juan Ponce de +Leon's fountain of youth.[68] The country was possessed by the Sioux and +Chickasaws, to whom the _voyageurs_ were total strangers; but they went +on without fear. In the neighborhood of the southern boundary of the +present state of Arkansas, they were met in hostile array by great +numbers of the natives, who approached them in large canoes made from +the trunks of hollow trees. But Marquette held aloft the symbol of +peace, the ornamented calumet, and the hearts of the savages were +melted, as the pious father believed, by the touch of God. They threw +aside their weapons, and received the strangers with rude but hearty +hospitality. They escorted them, with many demonstrations of welcome, to +the village of Michigamia; and, on the following day, having feasted +their strange guests plentifully, though not with the unsavory meats of +the Illinois, they marched in triumphal procession to the metropolis of +Akansea, about ten leagues distant, down the river. + + +This was the limit of their voyage. Here they ascertained, beyond a +doubt, that the Mississippi flowed into the gulf of Mexico, and not, as +had been conjectured, into the great South sea. Here they found the +natives armed with axes of steel, a proof of their traffic with the +Spaniards; and thus was the circle of discovery complete, connecting the +explorations of the French with those of the Spanish, and entirely +enclosing the possessions of the English. No voyage so important has +since been undertaken--no results so great have ever been produced by so +feeble an expedition. The discoveries of Marquette, followed by the +enterprises of La Salle and his successors, have influenced the +destinies of nations; and passing over all political speculations, this +exploration first threw open a valley of greater extent, fertility, and +commercial advantages, than any other in the world. Had either the +French or the Spanish possessed the stubborn qualities which _hold_, as +they had the useful which _discover_, the aspect of this continent +would, at this day, have been far different. + +On the seventeenth of July, having preached to the Indians the glory of +God and the Catholic faith, and proclaimed the power of the _Grand +Monarque_--for still we hear nothing of speech-making or delivering +credentials on the part of Joliet--he set out on his return. After +severe and wasting toil for many days, they reached a point, as +Marquette supposed, some leagues below the mouth of the Moingona, or Des +Moines. Here they left the Mississippi, and crossed the country between +that river and the Illinois, probably passing through the very country +which now bears the good father's name, entering the latter stream at a +point not far from the present town of Peoria. Proceeding slowly up that +calm river, preaching to the tribes along its banks, and partaking of +their hospitality, he was at last conducted to Lake Michigan, at +Chicago, and by the end of September was safe again in Green Bay, having +travelled, since the tenth of June, more than three thousand miles. + +It might have been expected that one who had made so magnificent a +discovery--who had braved so much and endured so much--would wish to +announce in person, to the authorities in Canada, or in France, the +results of his expedition. Nay, it would not have been unpardonable had +he desired to enjoy, after his labors, something of the consideration to +which their success entitled him. And, certainly, no man could ever have +approached his rulers with a better claim upon their notice than could +the unpretending _voyageur_. But vainglory was no more a part of his +nature, than was fear. The unaspiring priest remained at Green Bay, to +continue, or rather to resume, as a task laid aside only for a time, his +ministrations to the savages. Joliet hastened on to Quebec to report the +expedition, and Marquette returned to Chicago, for the purpose of +preaching the gospel to the Miami confederacy; several allied tribes who +occupied the country between Lake Michigan and the Des Moines river. +Here again he visited the Illinois, speaking to them of God, and of the +religion of Jesus; thus redeeming a promise which he had made them, when +on his expedition to the South. + +But his useful, unambitious life was drawing to a close. Let us +describe its last scene in the words of our accomplished historian:-- + +"Two years afterward, sailing from Chicago to Mackinac, he entered a +little river in Michigan. Erecting an altar, he said mass, after the +rites of the Catholic church; then, begging the men who conducted his +canoe to leave him alone for a half hour, + + "----'In the darkling wood, + Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down, + And offered to the mightiest solemn thanks + And supplication.' + +"At the end of the half hour they went to seek him, _and he was no +more_. The good missionary, discoverer of a world, had fallen asleep on +the margin of the stream that bears his name. Near its mouth, the +canoe-men dug his grave in the sand. Ever after, the forest rangers, in +their danger on Lake Michigan, would invoke his name. The people of the +West will build his monument."[69] + +The monument is not yet built; though the name of new counties in +several of our western states testifies that the noble missionary is not +altogether forgotten, in the land where he spent so many self-denying +years. + +Such was the _voyageur_ priest; the first, in chronological order, of +the succession of singular men who have explored and peopled the great +West. And though many who have followed him have been his equals in +courage and endurance, none have ever possessed the same combination of +heroic and unselfish qualities. It ought not to be true that this brief +and cursory sketch is the first distinct tribute yet paid to his +virtues; for no worthier subject ever employed the pen of the poet or +historian. + + + NOTE.--Struck with the fact that the history of this class of men, + and of their enterprises and sufferings, has never been written, + except by themselves in their simple "Journals" and + "Relations"--for the _résumé_ given of these by Sparks, Bancroft, + and others, is of necessity a mere unsatisfactory abstract--the + writer has for some time been engaged in collecting and arranging + materials, with the intention of supplying the want. The + authorities are numerous and widely scattered; and such a work + ought to be thoroughly and carefully written, so that much time and + labor lies between the author and his day of publication. Should he + be spared, however, to finish the work, he hopes to present a + picture of a class of men, displaying as much of true devotion, + genuine courage, and self-denial, in the humble walk of the + missionary, as the pages of history show in any other department of + human enterprise. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[52] In common use, this word was restricted so as to indicate only the +boatmen, the carriers of that time; but I am writing of a period +anterior, by many years, to the existence of the Trade which made their +occupation. + +[53] Joutel, who was one of La Salle's party, and afterward wrote an +account of the enterprise, entitled _Journal Historique_, published in +Paris, 1713. Its fidelity is as evident upon its face, as is the +simplicity of the historian. + +[54] This was in the winter of 1679-'80; and the Five Nations, included +in the general term Iroquois, had not then made the conquest upon which +the English afterward founded their claim to the country. They were, +however, generally regarded as enemies by all the Illinois tribes. + +[55] A collective name, including a number, variously stated, of +different tribes confederated. + +[56] _Annals of the West_, by J. H. Perkins and J. M. Peck, p. 679. St. +Louis. 1850. + +[57] The substance of the Journal may be found, republished by Dr. +Sparks, in the second edition of _Butler's Kentucky_, p. 493, _et seq._, +and in vol. x. of his _American Biography_. + +[58] _Miscellanies_, "Review of Ranke's History of the Popes." + +[59] In a book which he published at Utrecht, in 1697, entitled _A New +Discovery of a Vast Country_, he claims to have gone down the +Mississippi to its mouth before La Salle. The whole book is a mere +plagiarism. See Sparks's _Life of La Salle_, where the vain father is +summarily and justly disposed of. + +[60] Most of these dates may be found in Bancroft's _United States_, vol +iii. + +[61] The legend of the Piasau is well known. Within the recollection of +men now living, rude paintings of the monster were visible on the cliffs +above Alton, Illinois. To these images, when passing in their canoes, +the Indians were accustomed to make offerings of maize, tobacco, and +gunpowder. They are now quite obliterated. + +[62] June 10, 1673. + +[63] I mean, of course, the upper Mississippi; for De Soto had reached +it lower down one hundred and thirty-two years before. + +[64] It was announced, some months since, that our minister at Rome, Mr. +Cass, had made discoveries in that city which threw more light upon this +expedition. But how this can be, consistently with the fact stated in +the text (about which there is no doubt), I am at a loss to divine. + +[65] The place of Marquette's landing--which should be classic +ground--from his description of the country, and the distance he +specifies, could not have been far from the spot where the city of +Keokuk now stands, a short distance above the mouth of the Des Moines. +The locality should, if possible, be determined. + +[66] It was by virtue of a treaty of purchase--signed at Fort Stanwix on +the 5th of November, 1768--with the Six Nations, who claimed the country +as their conquest, that the British asserted a title to the country west +of the Alleghenies, Western Virginia, Kentucky, etc. + +[67] The geographical mistakes of the early French explorers have led to +some singular discussions about Western history--have even been used by +diplomatists to support or weaken territorial claims. Such, for example, +is the question concerning the antiquity of Vincennes, a controversy +founded on the mistake noticed in the text. Vide _Western Annals_. 2d +Ed. Revised by J. M. Peck. + +[68] In 1541, De Soto crossed the Mississippi about the thirty-fifth +parallel of latitude, or near the northern boundary of the state of that +name. It is not certain how far below this Marquette went, though we are +safe in saying that he did not turn back north of that limit. + +[69] Bancroft's _History of the United States_, vol. iii., p. 161, _et +seq._, where the reader may look for most of these dates. + + + + +III. + +THE PIONEER. + + "I hear the tread of pioneers, + Of nations yet to be-- + The first low wash of waves where soon + Shall roll a human sea." + + WHITTIER. + + "The axe rang sharply 'mid those forest shades + Which, from creation, toward the sky had towered + In unshorn beauty." + + SIGOURNEY. + + +[Illustration: THE PIONEER.] + +Next, in chronological order, after the missionary, came the military +adventurer--of which class La Salle was the best representative. But the +expeditions led by these men, were, for the most part, wild and +visionary enterprises, in pursuit of unattainable ends. They were, +moreover, unskilfully managed and unfortunately terminated--generally +ending in the defeat, disappointment, and death of those who had set +them on foot. They left no permanent impress upon the country; the most +acute moral or political vision can not now detect a trace of their +influence, in the aspect of the lands they penetrated; and, so far from +hastening the settlement of the Great Valley, it is more probable that +their disastrous failures rather retarded it--by deterring others from +the undertaking. Their history reads like a romance; and their +characters would better grace the pages of fiction, than the annals of +civilization. Further than this brief reference, therefore, I find no +place for them, in a work which aims only to notice those who either +aided to produce, or indicated, the characteristics of the society in +which they lived. + +Soon after them, came the Indian-traders--to whose generosity so many of +the captives, taken by the natives in those early times, were indebted +for their ransom. But--notwithstanding occasional acts of charity--their +unscrupulous rapacity, and, particularly, their introduction of +spirituous liquors among the savages, furnish good reason to doubt, +whether, on the whole, they did anything to advance the civilization of +the lands and people they visited. And, as we shall have occasion to +refer again, though briefly, to the character in a subsequent article, +we will pass over it for the present, and hasten on to the _Pioneer_. + +Of this class, there are two sub-divisions: the floating, transitory, +and erratic frontierman--including the hunter, the trapper, the scout +and Indian-fighter: men who can not be considered _citizens_ of any +country, but keep always a little in advance of permanent emigration. +With this division of the class, we have little to do: first, because +they are already well understood, by most readers in this country, +through the earlier novels of Cooper, their great delineator; and, +second, because, as we have intimated, our business is chiefly with +those, whose footprints have been stamped upon the country, and whose +influence is traceable in its civilization. We, therefore, now desire to +direct attention to the other sub-division--the genuine "settler;" the +firm, unflinching, permanent emigrant, who entered the country to till +the land and to possess it, for himself and his descendants. + +And, in the first place, let us inquire what motives could induce men to +leave regions, where the axe had been at work for many years--where the +land was reduced to cultivation, and the forest reclaimed from the wild +beast and the wilder savage--where civilization had begun to exert its +power, and society had assumed a legal and determined shape--to depart +from all these things, seeking a new home in an inhospitable +wilderness, where they could only gain a footing by severe labor, +constant strife, and sleepless vigilance? To be capable of doing all +this, from _any_ motive, a man must be a strange compound of qualities; +but that compound, strange as it is, has done, and is doing, more to +reclaim the west, and change the wilderness into a garden, than all +other causes combined. + + +A prominent trait in the character of the genuine American, is the +desire "to better his condition"--a peculiarity which sometimes embodies +itself in the disposition to forget the good old maxim, "Let well-enough +alone," and not unfrequently leads to disaster and suffering. A thorough +Yankee--using that word as the English do, to indicate national, not +sectional, character--is never satisfied with doing well; he always +underrates his gains and his successes; and, though to others he may be +boastful enough, and may, even truly, rate the profits of his enterprise +by long strings of "naught," he is always whispering to himself, "I +ought to do better." If he sees any one accumulating property faster +than himself, he becomes emulous and discontented--he is apt to think, +unless he goes more rapidly than any one else, that he is not moving at +all. If he can find no one of his neighbors advancing toward fortune, +with longer strides than he, he will imagine some successful +"speculator," to whom he will compare himself, and chafe at his +inferiority to a figment of his own fancy. If he possessed "a million a +minute," he would cast about for some profitable employment, in which he +might engage, "to pay expenses." He will abandon a silver-mine, of slow, +but certain gains, for the gambling chances of a gold "placer;" and if +any one within his knowledge dig out more wealth than he, he will leave +the "diggings," though his success be quite encouraging, and go +quixoting among the islands of the sea, in search of pearls and +diamonds. With the prospect of improvement in his fortunes--whether that +prospect be founded upon reason, be a naked fancy, or the offspring of +mere discontent--he regards no danger, cares for no hardship, counts no +suffering. Everything must bend before the ruling passion, "to better +his condition." + +His spirit is eminently encroaching. Rather than give up any of his own +"rights," he will take a part of what belongs to others. Whatever he +thinks necessary to his welfare, to that he believes himself entitled. +To whatever point he desires to reach, he takes the straightest course, +even though the way lie across the corner of his neighbor's field. Yet +he is intensely jealous of his own possessions, and warns off all +trespassers with an imperial menace of "the utmost penalty of the law." +He has, of course, an excellent opinion of himself--and justly: for when +not blinded by cupidity or vexed by opposition, no man can hold the +scales of justice with a more even hand. + +He is seldom conscious of having done a wrong: for he rarely moves until +he has ascertained "both the propriety and expediency of the motion." He +has, therefore, an instinctive aversion to all retractions and +apologies. He has such a proclivity to the forward movement, that its +opposite, even when truth and justice demand it, is stigmatized, in his +vocabulary, by odious and ridiculous comparisons. He is very stubborn, +and, it is feared, sometimes mistakes his obstinacy for firmness. He +thinks a safe retreat worse than a defeat with slaughter. Yet he never +rests under a reverse, and, though manifestly prostrate, will never +acknowledge that he is beaten. A check enrages him more than a decided +failure: for so long as his end is not accomplished, nor defeated, he +can see no reason why he should not succeed. If his forces are driven +back, shattered and destroyed, he is not cast down, but angry--he +forthwith swears vengeance and another trial. He is quite insatiable--as +a failure does not dampen him, success can never satisfy him. His plans +are always on a great scale; and, if they sometimes exceed his means of +execution, at least, "he who aims at the sun," though he may lose his +arrow, "will not strike the ground." He is a great projector--but he is +eminently practical, as well as theoretical; and if _he_ cannot realize +his visions, no other man need try. + +He is restless and migratory. He is fond of change, for the sake of the +change; and he will have it, though it bring him only new labors and new +hardships. He is, withal, a little selfish--as might be supposed. He +begins to lose his attachment to the advantages of his home, so soon as +they are shared by others. He does not like near neighbors--has no +affection for the soil; he will leave a place on which he has expended +much time and labor, as soon as the region grows to be a "settlement." +Even in a town, he is dissatisfied if his next neighbor lives so near +that the women can gossip across the division-fence. He likes to be at +least one day's journey from the nearest plantation. + +I once heard an old pioneer assign as a reason why he must emigrate from +western Illinois, the fact that "people were settling right under his +nose"--and the farm of his nearest neighbor was twelve miles distant, by +the section lines! He moved on to Missouri, but there the same +"impertinence" of emigrants soon followed him; and, abandoning his +half-finished "clearing," he packed his family and household goods in a +little wagon, and retreated, across the plains to Oregon. He is--or was, +two years ago--living in the valley of the Willamette, where, doubtless, +he is now chafing under the affliction of having neighbors in the same +region, and nothing but an ocean beyond. + +His character seems to be hard-featured. + +But he is neither unsocial, nor morose. He welcomes the stranger as +heartily as the most hospitable patriarch. He receives the sojourner at +his fireside without question. He regales him with the best the house +affords: is always anxious to have him "stay another day." He cares for +his horse, renews his harness, laughs at his stories, and exchanges +romances with him. He hunts with him; fishes, rides, walks, talks, eats, +and drinks with him. His wife washes and mends the stranger's shirts, +and lends him a needle and thread to sew a button on his only pair of +pantaloons. The children sit on his knee, the dog lies at his feet, and +accompanies him into the woods. The whole family are his friends, and +only grow cold and distant when they learn that he is looking for land, +and thinks of "settling" within a few leagues. If nothing of the sort +occurs--and this only "leaks out" by accident, for the pioneer never +pries inquisitively into the business of his guest, he keeps him as long +as he can; and when he can stay no longer, fills his saddle-bags with +flitches of bacon and "pones" of corn-bread, shakes him heartily by the +hand, exacts a promise to stop again on his return, and bids him +"God-speed" on his journey. + + +Such is American character, in the manifestations which have most +affected the settlement and development of the West; a compound of many +noble qualities, with a few--and no nation is without such--that are not +quite so respectable. All these, both good and bad, were possessed by +the early pioneer in an eminent, sometimes in an extravagant degree; and +the circumstances, by which he found himself surrounded after his +emigration to the West, tended forcibly to their exaggeration. + +But the qualities--positive and negative--above enumerated, were, many +of them, at least, peculiarities belonging to the early emigrant, as +much before as after his removal. And there were others, quite as +distinctly marked, called into activity, if not actually created by his +life in the wilderness. Such, for example, was his self-reliance--his +confidence in his own strength, sagacity, and courage. It was but little +assistance that he ever required from his neighbors, though no man was +ever more willing to render it to others, in the hour of need. He was +the swift avenger of his own wrongs, and he never appealed to another to +ascertain his rights. Legal tribunals were an abomination to him. +Government functionaries he hated, almost as the Irish hate excisemen. +Assessments and taxes he could not endure, for, since he was his own +protector, he had no interest in sustaining the civil authorities. + +Military organizations he despised, for subordination was no part of his +nature. He stood up in the native dignity of manhood, and called no +mortal his superior. When he joined his neighbors, to avenge a foray of +the savages, he joined on the most equal terms--each man was, for the +time, his own captain; and when the leader was chosen--for the +pioneers, with all their personal independence, were far too rational to +underrate the advantages of a head in the hour of danger--each voice was +counted in the choice, and the election might fall on any one. But, even +after such organization, every man was fully at liberty to abandon the +expedition, whenever he became dissatisfied, or thought proper to return +home. And if this want of discipline sometimes impaired the strength, +and rendered unavailing the efforts, of communities, it at least +fostered the manly spirit of personal independence; and, to keep that +alive in the breasts of a people, it is worth while to pay a yearly +tribute, even though that tribute be rendered unto the King of Terrors! + +This self-reliance was not an arrogant and vulgar egotism, as it has +been so often represented in western stories, and the tours of +superficial travellers. It was a calm, just estimate of his own +capabilities--a well-grounded confidence in his own talents--a clear, +manly understanding of his own individual rights, dignity, and +relations. Such is the western definition of independence; and if there +be anything of it in the western character at the present day, it is due +to the stubborn and intense individuality of the first pioneer. He it +was who laid the foundation of our social fabric, and it is his spirit +which yet pervades our people. + + +The quality which next appears, in analyzing this character, is his +_courage_. + +It was not mere physical courage, nor was it stolid carelessness of +danger. The pioneer knew, perfectly well, the full extent of the peril +that surrounded him; indeed, he could not be ignorant of it; for almost +every day brought some new memento, either of his savage foe, or of the +prowling beast of prey. He ploughed, and sowed, and reaped, and +gathered, with the rifle slung over his shoulders; and, at every turn, +he halted, listening, with his ear turned toward his home; for well he +knew that, any moment, the scream of his wife, or the wail of his +children, might tell of the up-lifted tomahawk, or the murderous +scalping-knife. + +His courage, then, was not ignorance of danger--not that of the child, +which thrusts its hand within the lion's jaws, and knows naught of the +penalty it braves. His ear was ever listening, his eye was always +watching, his nerves were ever strung, for battle. He was stout of +heart, and strong of hand--he was calm, sagacious, unterrified. He was +never disconcerted--excitement seldom moved him--his mind was always at +its own command. His heart never lost its firmness--no suffering could +overcome him--he was as stoical as the savage, whose greatest glory is +to triumph amidst the most cruel tortures. His pride sustained him when +his flesh was pierced with burning brands--when his muscles crisped and +crackled in the flames. To the force of character, belonging to the +white, he added the savage virtues of the red man; and many a captive +has been rescued from the flames, through his stern contempt for +torture, and his sneering triumph over his tormentors. The highest +virtue of the savage was his fortitude; and he respected and admired +even a "pale face," who emulated his endurance. + +But fortitude is only passive courage--and the bravery of the pioneer +was eminently active. His vengeance was as rapid as it was sometimes +cruel. No odds against him could deter him, no time was ever wasted in +deliberation. If a depredation was committed in the night, the dawn of +morning found the sufferer on the trail of the marauder. He would follow +it for days, and even weeks, with the sagacity of the blood-hound, with +the patience of the savage: and, perhaps, in the very midst of the +Indian country, in some moment of security, the blow descended, and the +injury was fearfully avenged! The debt was never suffered to accumulate, +when it could be discharged by prompt payment--and it was never +forgotten! If the account could not be balanced now, the obligation was +treasured up for a time to come--and, when least expected, the debtor +came, and paid with usury! + + +It has been said, perhaps truly, that a fierce, bloody spirit ruled the +settlers in those early days. And it is unquestionable, that much of +that contempt for the slow vengeance of a legal proceeding, which now +distinguishes the people of the frontier west, originated then. It was, +doubtless, an unforgiving--eminently an unchristian--spirit: but +vengeance, sure and swift, was the only thing which could impress the +hostile savage. And, if example, in a matter of this sort, could be +availing, for their severity to the Indians, they had the highest! + +The eastern colonists--good men and true--"willing to exterminate the +savages," says Bancroft,[70] who is certainly not their enemy, offered a +bounty for every Indian scalp--as we, in the west, do for the scalps of +wolves! "To regular forces under pay, the grant was _ten_ pounds--to +volunteers, in actual service, _twice that sum_; but if men would, of +themselves, without pay, make up parties and patrol the forests in +search of Indians, _as of old the woods were scoured for wild beasts_, +the chase was invigorated by the promised 'encouragement of _fifty_ +pounds per scalp!'" The "fruitless cruelties" of the Indian allies of +the French in Canada, says the historian, gave birth to these humane and +nicely-graduated enactments! Nor is our admiration of their Christian +spirit in the least diminished, when we reflect that nothing is recorded +in history of "bounties on scalps" or "encouragement" to murder, offered +by Frontenac, or any other French-Canadian governor, as a revenge for +the horrible massacre at Montreal, or the many "fruitless cruelties" of +the bloody Iroquois![71] + +The descendants of the men who gave these "bounties" and +"encouragements," have, in our own day, caressed, and wept and lamented +over the tawny murderer, Black-Hawk, and his "wrongs" and "misfortunes;" +but the theatre of Indian warfare was then removed a little farther +west; and the atrocities of Haverhill and Deerfield were perpetrated on +the western prairies, and not amid the forests of the east! Yet I do not +mean, by referring to this passage of history--or to the rivers of +wasted sentiment poured out a few years ago--so much to condemn our +forefathers, or to draw invidious comparisons between them and others, +as to show, that the war of extermination, sometimes waged by western +rangers, was not without example--that the cruelty and hatred of the +pioneer to the barbarous Indian, might originate in exasperation, which +even moved the puritans; and that the lamentations, over the fictitious +"wrongs" of a turbulent and bloody savage, might have run in a channel +nearer home. + + +Hatred of the Indian, among the pioneers, was hereditary; there was +scarcely a man on the frontier, who had not lost a father, a mother, or +a brother, by the tomahawk; and not a few of them had suffered in their +own persons. The child, who learned the rudiments of his scanty +education at his mother's knee, must decipher the strange characters by +the straggling light which penetrated the crevices between the logs; +for, while the father was absent, in the field or on the war-path, the +mother was obliged to bar the doors and barricade the windows against +the savages. Thus, if he did not literally imbibe it with his mother's +milk, one of the first things the pioneer learned, was dread, and +consequently hatred, of the Indian. That feeling grew with his growth, +strengthened with his strength--for a life upon the western border left +but few days free from sights of blood or mementoes of the savage. The +pioneer might go to the field in the morning, unsuspecting; and, at +noon, returning, find his wife murdered and scalped, and the brains of +his little ones dashed out against his own doorpost! And if a deadly +hatred of the Indian took possession of his heart, who shall blame him? +It may be said, the pioneer was an intruder, seeking to take forcible +possession of the Indian's lands--and that it was natural that the +Indian should resent the wrong after the manner of his race. Granted: +and it was quite as natural that the pioneer should return the enmity, +after the manner of _his_ race! + +But the pioneer was _not_ an intruder. + +For all the purposes, for which reason and the order of Providence +authorize us to say, God made the earth, this continent was +vacant--uninhabited. And--granting that the savage was in +possession--for this is his only ground of title, as, indeed, it is the +foundation of all primary title--there were at the period of the first +landing of white men on the continent, between Lake Superior and the +Gulf of Mexico, east of the Mississippi, about one hundred and eighty +thousand Indians.[72] That region now supports at least twenty millions +of civilized people, and is capable of containing quite ten times that +number, without crowding! Now, if God made the earth for any purpose, it +certainly was _not_ that it should be monopolized by a horde of nomad +savages! + +But an argument on this subject, would not be worth ink and paper; and I +am, moreover, aware, that this reasoning may be abused. _Any_ attempt to +construe the purposes of Deity must be liable to the same +misapplication. And, besides, it is not my design to go so far back; I +seek not so much to excuse as to account for--less to justify than to +analyze--the characteristics of the class before me. I wish to establish +that the pioneer hatred of the Indian was not an unprovoked or +groundless hatred, that the severity of his warfare was not a mere +gratuitous and bloody-minded cruelty. There are a thousand actions, of +which we are hearing every day, that are indefensible in morals: and yet +we are conscious while we condemn the actors, that, in like +circumstances, we could not have acted differently. So is it with the +fierce and violent reprisals, sometimes made by frontier rangers. Their +best defence lies in the statement that they were men, and that their +manhood prompted them to vengeance. When they deemed themselves injured, +they demanded reparation, in such sort as that demand could then be +made--at the muzzle of a rifle or the point of a knife. They were equal +to the times in which they lived.--Had they not been so, how many +steamboats would now be floating on the Mississippi? + + +There was no romance in the composition of the pioneer--whatever there +may have been in his environment. His life was altogether too serious a +matter for poetry, and the only music he took pleasure in, was the sound +of a violin, sending forth notes remarkable only for their liveliness. +Even this, he could enjoy but at rare periods, when his cares were +forcibly dismissed. He was, in truth, a very matter-of-fact sort of +person. It was principally with facts that he had to deal--and +most of them were very "stubborn facts." Indeed, it may be +doubted--notwithstanding much good poetry has been written (in cities +chiefly), on solitude and the wilderness--whether a life in the woods +is, after all, very suggestive of poetical thoughts. The perils of the +frontier must borrow most of their "enchantment" from the "distance;" +and its sufferings and hardships are certainly more likely to evoke +pleasant fancies to him who sits beside a good coal fire, than to one +whose lot it is to bear them. Even the (so-called) "varied imagery" of +the Indian's eloquence--about which so much nonsense has been +written--is, in a far greater measure, the result of the poverty and +crude materialism of his language, than of any poetical bias, +temperament, or tone of thought. An Indian, as we have said before, has +no humor--he never understands a jest--his wife is a beast of +burthen--heaven is a hunting-ground--his language has no words to +express abstract qualities, virtues, or sentiments. And yet he lives in +the wilderness all the days of his life! The only trait he has, in +common with the poetical character, is his laziness. + +But the pioneer was not indolent, in any sense. He had no +dreaminess--meditation was no part of his mental habit--a poetical +fancy would, in him, have been an indication of insanity. If he reclined +at the foot of a tree, on a still summer day, it was to sleep: if he +gazed out over the waving prairie, it was to search for the column of +smoke which told of his enemy's approach: if he turned his eyes toward +the blue heaven, it was to prognosticate to-morrow's storm or sunshine: +if he bent his gaze upon the green earth, it was to look for "Indian +sign" or buffalo trail. His wife was only a help-mate--he never thought +of making a divinity of her--she cooked his dinner, made and washed his +clothes, bore his children, and took care of his household. His children +were never "little cherubs,"--"angels sent from heaven"--but generally +"tow-headed" and very earthly responsibilities. He looked forward +anxiously, to the day when the boys should be able to assist him in the +field, or fight the Indian, and the girls to help their mother make and +mend. When one of the latter took it into her head to be married--as +they usually did quite early in life; for beaux were plenty and belles +were "scarce"--he only made one condition, that the man of her choice +should be brave and healthy. He never made a "parade" about +anything--marriage, least of all. He usually gave the bride--not the +"blushing" bride--a bed, a lean horse, and some good advice: and, having +thus discharged his duty in the premises, returned to his work, and the +business was done. + +The marriage ceremony, in those days, was a very unceremonious affair. +The parade and drill which now attend it, would then have been as +ridiculous as a Chinese dance; and the finery and ornament, at present +understood to be indispensable on such occasions, then bore no sway in +fashion. Bridal wreaths and dresses were not known; and white kid gloves +and satin slippers never heard of. Orange blossoms--natural and +artificial--were as pretty then as now; but the people were more +occupied with substance, than with emblem. + + +The ancients decked _their_ victims for the sacrifice with gaudy colors, +flags, and streamers; the moderns do the same, and the offerings are +sometimes made to quite as barbarous deities. + +But the bride of the pioneer was clothed in linsey-wolsey, with hose of +woollen yarn; and moccasins of deer-skin--or as an extra piece of +finery, high-quartered shoes of calf-skin--preceded satin slippers. The +bridegroom came in copperas-colored jeans--domestic manufacture--as a +holiday suit; or, perhaps, a hunting-shirt of buckskin, all fringed +around the skirt and cape, and a "coon-skin" cap, with moccasins. +Instead of a dainty walking-stick, with an opera-dancer's leg, in ivory, +for head, he always brought his rifle, with a solid maple stock; and +never, during the whole ceremony, did he divest himself of powder-horn +and bullet-pouch. + +Protestant ministers of the gospel were few in those days; and the words +of form were usually spoken by a Jesuit missionary. Or, if the Pioneer +had objections to Catholicism--as many had--his place was supplied by +some justice of the peace, of doubtful powers and mythical appointment. +If neither of these could be procured, the father of the bride, himself, +sometimes assumed the functions, _pro hâc vice_, or _pro tempore_, of +minister or justice. It was always understood, however, that such +left-handed marriages were to be confirmed by the first minister who +wandered to the frontier: and, even when the opportunity did not offer +for many months, no scandal ever arose--the marriage vow was never +broken. The pioneers were simple people--the refinements of high +cultivation had not yet penetrated the forests or crossed the +prairies--and good faith and virtue were as common as courage and +sagacity. + + +When the brief, but all-sufficient ceremony was over, the bridegroom +resumed his rifle, helped the bride into the saddle--or more frequently +to the pillion behind him--and they calmly rode away together. + + +On some pleasant spot--surrounded by a shady grove, or point of +timber--a new log-cabin has been built: its rough logs notched across +each other at the corners, a roof of oaken clapboards, held firmly down +by long poles along each course, its floor of heavy "puncheons," its +broad, cheerful fireplace, large as a modern bed-room--all are in the +highest style of frontier architecture. Within--excepting some +anomalies, such as putting the skillet and tea-kettle in the little +cupboard, along with the blue-edged plates and yellow-figured +tea-cups--for the whole has been arranged by the hands of the bridegroom +himself--everything is neatly and properly disposed. The oaken bedstead, +with low square posts, stands in one corner, and the bed is covered by a +pure white counterpane, with fringe--an heirloom in the family of the +bride. At the foot of this is seen a large, heavy chest--like a +camp-chest--to serve for bureau, safe, and dressing-case. + +In the middle of the floor--directly above a trap-door which leads to a +"potato-hole" beneath--stands a ponderous walnut table, and on it sits a +nest of wooden trays; while, flanking these, on one side, is a +nicely-folded tablecloth, and, on the other, a wooden-handled +butcher-knife and a well-worn Bible. Around the room are ranged a few +"split-bottomed" chairs, exclusively for use, not ornament. In the +chimney-corners, or under the table, are several three-legged stools, +made for the children, who--as the bridegroom laughingly insinuates +while he points to the uncouth specimens of his handiwork--"will be +coming in due time." The wife laughs in her turn--replies, "no +doubt"--and, taking one of the graceful tripods in her hand, carries it +forth to sit upon while she milks the cow--for she understands what she +is expected to do, and does it without delay. In one corner--near the +fireplace--the aforesaid cupboard is erected--being a few oaken shelves +neatly pinned to the logs with hickory forks--and in this are arranged +the plates and cups;--not as the honest pride of the housewife would +arrange them, to display them to the best advantage--but piled away, +one within another, without reference to show. As yet there is no sign +of female taste or presence. + + +But now the house receives its mistress. The "happy couple" ride up to +the low rail-fence in front--the bride springs off without assistance, +affectation, or delay. The husband leads away the horse or horses, and +the wife enters the dominion, where, thenceforward, she is queen. There +is no coyness, no blushing, no pretence of fright or nervousness--if you +will, no romance--for which the husband has reason to be thankful! The +wife knows what her duties are and resolutely goes about performing +them. She never dreamed, nor twaddled, about "love in a cottage," or +"the sweet communion of congenial souls" (who never eat anything): and +she is, therefore, not disappointed on discovering that life is actually +a serious thing. She never whines about "making her husband happy"--but +sets firmly and sensibly about making him _comfortable_. She cooks his +dinner, nurses his children, shares his hardships, and encourages his +industry. She never complains of having too much work to do, she does +not desert her home to make endless visits--she borrows no misfortunes, +has no imaginary ailings. Milliners and mantua-makers she +ignores--"shopping" she never heard of--scandal she never invents or +listens to. She never wishes for fine carriages, professes no inability +to walk five hundred yards, and does not think it a "vulgar +accomplishment," to know how to make butter. She has no groundless +anxieties, she is not nervous about her children taking cold: a doctor +is a visionary potentate to her--a drug-shop is a dépôt of abominations. +She never forgets whose wife she is,--there is no "sweet confidante" +without whom she "can not live"--she never writes endless letters about +nothing. She is, in short, a faithful, honest wife: and, "in due time," +the husband must make _more_ "three-legged stools"--for the "tow-heads" +have now covered them all! + + +Such is the wife and mother of the pioneer, and, with such influences +about him, how could he be otherwise than honest, straightforward, and +manly? + + +But, though a life in the woods was an enemy to every sort of +sentimentalism--though a more unromantic being than the pioneer can +hardly be imagined--yet his character unquestionably took its hue, from +the primitive scenes and events of his solitary existence. He was, in +many things, as simple as a child: as credulous, as unsophisticated. Yet +the utmost cunning of the wily savage--all the strategy of Indian +warfare--was not sufficient to deceive or overreach him! Though one +might have expected that his life of ceaseless watchfulness would make +him skeptical and suspicious, his confidence was given heartily, without +reservation, and often most imprudently. If he gave his trust at all, +you might ply him, by the hour, with the most improbable and outrageous +fictions, without fear of contradiction or of unbelief. He never +questioned the superior knowledge or pretensions of any one who claimed +acquaintance with subjects of which _he_ was ignorant. + +The character of his intellect, like that of the Indian, was thoroughly +synthetical: he had nothing of the faculty which enables us to detect +falsehood, even in matters of which we know nothing by comparison and +analogy. He never analyzed any story told him, he took it as a unit; +and, unless it violated some known principle of his experience, or +conflicted with some fact of his own observation, never doubted its +truth. At this moment, there are men in every western settlement who +have only vague, crude notions of what a city is--who would feel +nervous if they stepped upon the deck of a steamboat--and are utterly at +a loss to conjecture the nature of a railroad. Upon either of these +mystical subjects they will swallow, without straining, the most absurd +and impossible fictions. And this is not because of their ignorance +alone, for many of them are, for their sphere in life, educated, +intelligent, and, what is better, sensible men. Nor is it by any means a +national trait: for a genuine Yankee will scarcely believe the truth; +and, though he may sometimes trust in very wild things, his faith is +usually an active "craze," and not mere passive credulity. The pioneer, +then, has not derived it from his eastern fathers: it is the growth of +the woods and prairies--an embellishment to a character which might +otherwise appear naked and severe. + + +Another characteristic, traceable to the same source, the stern reality +of his life, is the pioneer's gravity. + +The agricultural population of this country are, at the best, not a +cheerful race. Though they sometimes join in festivities, it is but +seldom; and the wildness of their dissipation is too often in proportion +to its infrequency. There is none of the serene contentment--none of +that smiling enjoyment--which, according to travellers like Howitt, +distinguishes the tillers of the ground in other lands. _Sedateness_ is +a national characteristic, but the gravity of the pioneer is quite +another thing; it includes pride and personal dignity, and indicates a +stern, unyielding temper. There is, however, nothing morose in it: it is +its aspect alone, which forbids approach; and that only makes more +conspicuous the heartiness of your reception, when once the shell is +broken. Acquainted with the character, you do not expect him to _smile_ +much; but now and then he _laughs_: and that laugh is round, free, and +hearty. You know at once that he enjoys it, you are convinced that he is +a firm friend and "a good hater." + + +It is not surprising, with a character such as I have described, that +the pioneer is not gregarious, that he is, indeed, rather solitary. +Accordingly, we never find a genuine specimen of the class, among the +emigrants, who come in shoals and flocks, and pitch their tents in +"colonies;" who lay out towns and cities, projected upon paper, and call +them New Boston, New Albany, or New Hartford, before one log is placed +upon another; nor are there many of the unadulterated stock among that +other class, who come from regions further south, and christen their +towns, classically, Carthage, Rome, or Athens: or, patriotically, in +commemoration of some Virginian worthy, some Maryland sharpshooter, or +"Jersey blue." + +The real pioneer never emigrates gregariously; he does not wish to be +within "halloo" of his nearest neighbor; he is no city-builder; and, if +he does project a town, he christens it by some such name as Boonville +or Clarksville, in memory of a noted pioneer: or Jacksonville or +Waynesville, to commemorate some "old hero" who was celebrated for good +fighting.[73] And the reason why the outlandish and _outré_ so much +predominate in the names of western towns and cities, must be sought in +the fact referred to above, that the western man is not essentially a +town-projector, and that, consequently, comparatively few of the towns +were "laid out" by the legitimate pioneer. We shall have more to say of +town-building under another head; and, in the meantime, having said that +the pioneer is not gregarious, let us look at the _manner_ of his +emigration. + + +Many a time, in the western highways, have I met with the sturdy +"mover," as he is called, in the places where people are stationary--a +family, sometimes by no means small, wandering toward the setting sun, +in search of pleasant places on the lands of "Uncle Sam." Many a time, +in the forest or on the prairie--generally upon some point of timber +which puts a mile or two within the plain--have I passed the "clearing," +or "pre-emption," where, with nervous arm and sturdy heart, the +"squatter"[74] cleaves out, and renders habitable, a home for himself +and a heritage for his children. + +Upon the road, you first meet the pioneer himself, for he almost always +walks a few hundred yards ahead. He is usually above the medium height, +and rather spare. He stoops a little, too; for he has done a deal of +hard work, and expects to do more; but you see at once, that unless his +lungs are weak, his strength is by no means broken, and you are quite +sure that many a stately tree is destined to be humbled by his sinewy +arm. He is attired in frontier fashion: he wears a loose coat, called a +hunting-shirt, of jeans or linsey, and its color is that indescribable +hue compounded of copperas and madder; pantaloons, exceedingly loose, +and not very accurately cut in any part, of like color and material, +defend his lower limbs. His feet are cased in low, fox-colored shoes, +for of boots, he is, yet, quite innocent. Around his throat and wrists, +even in midsummer, you see the collar and wristbands of a heavy, +deep-red, flannel-shirt. Examine him very closely, and you will probably +find no other garment on his person. + +His hair is dark, and not very evenly trimmed--for his wife or daughter +has performed the tonsure with a pair of rusty shears; and the longer +locks seem changed in hue, as if his dingy wool hat did not sufficiently +protect them against the wind and rain. Over his shoulder he carries a +heavy rifle, heavier than a "Harper's ferry musket," running about +"fifty to the pound." Around his neck are swung the powder-horn and +bullet-pouch, the former protected by a square of deer-skin, and the +latter ornamented with a squirrel's tail. + +You take note of all these things, and then recur to his +melancholy-looking face, with its mild blue eyes and sharpened features. +You think he looks thin, and conjecture that his chest may be weak, or +his lungs affected, by the stoop in his shoulders; but when he lifts his +eyes, and asks the way to Thompson's ferry, or how far it is to water, +you are satisfied: for the glance of his eye is calm and firm, and the +tone of his voice is round and healthy. You answer his question, he nods +quietly by way of thanks, and marches on; and, though you draw your +rein, and seem inclined to further converse, he takes no notice, and +pursues his way. + +A few minutes afterward, you meet the family. A small, light wagon, +easily dragged through sloughs and heavy roads, is covered with a white +cotton cloth, and drawn, by either two yokes of oxen, or a pair of lean +horses. A "patch-work" quilt is sometimes stretched across the flimsy +covering, as a guard against the sun and rain. Within this vehicle are +stowed all the emigrant's household goods, and still, it is not +overloaded. + +There is usually a large chest, containing the wardrobe of the family, +with such small articles as are liable to loss, and the little store of +money. This is always in silver, for the pioneer is no judge of gold, +and, on the frontier, paper has but little exchangeable value. There are +then two light bedsteads--one "a trundle-bed"--a few plain chairs, most +of them tied on behind and at the sides; three or four stools, domestic +manufacture; a set of tent-poles and a few pots and pans. On these are +piled the "beds and bedding," tied in large bundles, and stowed in such +manner as to make convenient room for the children who are too young to +walk. In the front end of the wagon, sits the mother of the family: and, +peering over her head and shoulders, leaning out at her side, or gazing +under the edge of the cotton-covering, are numerous flaxen heads, which +you find it difficult to count while you ride past. + + +There are altogether too many of them, you think, for a man no older +than the one you met, a while ago; and you, perhaps, conjecture that the +youthful-looking woman has adopted some of her dead sister's children, +or, perchance, some of her brothers and sisters themselves. But you are +mistaken, they are all her offspring, and the father of every one of +them is the stoop-shouldered man you saw ahead. If you look closely, you +will observe that the mother, who is driving, holds the reins with one +hand, while, on the other arm, she supports an infant not _more_ than +six months old. It was for the advent of this little stranger, that they +delayed their emigration: and they set out while it was very young, for +fear of the approach of its successor. If they waited for their youngest +child to attain a year of age, they would never "move," until they would +be too old to make another "clearing." + +You pass on--perhaps ejaculating thanks that your lot has been +differently cast, and thinking you have seen the last of them. But a few +hundred yards further, and you hear the tinkling of a bell; two or three +lean cows--with calves about the age of the baby--come straggling by. +You look for the driver, and see a tall girl with a very young face--the +eldest of the family, though not exceeding twelve or thirteen years in +age. You feel quite sure, that, besides her sun-bonnet and well-worn +shoes, she wears but one article of apparel--and that a loose dress of +linsey, rather narrow in the skirt, of a dirty brown color, with a tinge +of red. It hangs straight down about her limbs, as if it were wet, and +with every step--for she walks stoutly--it flaps and flies about her +ankles, as if shotted in the lower hem. She presents, altogether, rather +a slatternly figure, and her face is freckled and sunburnt. + +But you must not judge her too rashly; for her eye is keen and +expressive, and her mouth is quite pretty--especially when she smiles. A +few years hence--if you have the _entrée_--you may meet her in the best +and highest circles of the country. Perhaps, while you are dancing +attendance upon some new administration, asking for a "place," and +asking, probably, in vain, she may come to Washington, a beautiful and +accomplished woman--the wife of some member of Congress, whose +constituency is numbered by the hundred thousand! + +You may pass on, now, and forget her; but, if you stop to talk five +minutes, she will not forget _you_--at least, if you say anything +striking or sensible. And when you meet her again, perhaps in a gilded +saloon, among the brightest and highest in the land--if you seek an +introduction, as you probably will--she will remind you of the meeting, +and to your astonishment, will laughingly describe the scene, to some of +her obsequious friends who stand around. And then she will perhaps +introduce you, as an old friend, to one of those flax-haired boys, who +peeped out of the wagon over his mother's shoulder, as you passed them +in the wilderness: and you recognise one of the members from California, +or from Oregon, whose influence in the house, though he is as yet a very +young man, is already quite considerable. If you are successful in your +application for a "place," it may be that the casual meeting in the +forest or on the prairie was the seed which, germinating through long +years of obscurity, finally sprung up _thus_, and bore a crop of high +official honors! + +The next time you meet a family of emigrants on the frontier, you will +probably observe them a little more closely. + +Not a few of those who bear a prominent part in the government of our +country--more than one of the first men of the nation--men whose names +are now heard in connection with the highest office of the +people--twenty years ago, occupied a place as humble in the scale of +influence, as that flaxen-haired son of the stoop-shouldered emigrant. +Such are the elements of our civilization--such the spirit of our +institutions! + + +We have hitherto been speaking only of the American pioneer, and we have +devoted more space to him, than we shall give to his contemporaries, +because he has exerted more influence, both in the settlement of the +country, and in the formation of sectional character and social +peculiarities, than all the rest combined. + +The French emigrant was quite a different being. Even at this day, there +are no two classes--not the eastern and western, or the northern and +southern--between whom the distinction is more marked, than it has +always been between the Saxon and the Frank. The advent of the latter +was much earlier than that of the former; and to him, therefore, must be +ascribed the credit of the first settlement of the country. But, for all +purposes of lasting impression, he must yield to his successor. It was, +in fact, the American who penetrated and cleared the forest--who subdued +and drove out the Indian--who, in a word, reclaimed the country. + + +In nothing was the distinction between the two races broader, than in +the feelings with which they approached the savage. We have seen that +the hatred, borne by the American toward his red enemy, was to be +traced to a long series of mutual hostilities and wrongs. But the +Frenchman had no such injuries to avenge, no hereditary feud to +prosecute. The first of his nation who had entered the country were +non-combatants--they came to convert the savage, not to conquer him, +or deprive him of his lands. Even as early as sixteen hundred and +eight, the Jesuits had established friendly relations with the Indians +of Canada--and before the stern crew of the May Flower had landed on +Plymouth Rock, they had preached the gospel on the shores of Lake +Huron. Their piety and wisdom had acquired an influence over the +untutored Indian, long before the commencement of the hostilities, +which afterward cost so much blood and suffering. They had, thus, +smoothed the way for their countrymen, and opened a safe path through +the wilderness, to the shore of the great western waters. And the +people who followed and accompanied them, were peculiarly adapted to +improve the advantages thus given them. + +They were a gentle, peaceful, unambitious people. They came as the +friend, not the hereditary enemy, of the savage. They tendered the +calumet--a symbol well understood by every Indian--and were received as +allies and brethren. They had no national prejudices to overcome: the +copper color of the Indian was not an insuperable objection to +intermarriage, and children of the mixed blood were not, for that +reason, objects of scorn. An Indian maiden was as much a woman to a +Frenchman, as if she had been a _blonde_; and, if her form was graceful +and her features comely, he would woo her with as much ardor as if she +had been one of his own race. + +Nor was this peculiarity attributable only to the native gallantry of +the French character, as it has sometimes been asserted; the total want +of prejudice, which grows up in contemplating an inferior race, held in +limited subjection, and a certain easiness of temper and tone of +thought, had far more influence. + +The Frenchman has quite enough vanity, but very little pride. Whatever, +therefore, is sanctioned by those who surrounded him, is, in his eyes, +no degradation. He married the Indian woman--first, because there were +but few females among the emigrants, and he could not live without "the +sex;" and, second, because there was nothing in his prejudices, or in +public sentiment, to deter him. The descendants of these +marriages--except where, as in some cases, they are upheld by the +possession of great wealth--have no consideration, and are seldom seen +in the society of the whites. But this is only because French manners +and feelings have long since faded out of our social organization. The +Saxon, with his unconquerable prejudices of race, with his pride and +jealousy, has taken possession of the country; and, as he rules its +political destinies, in most places, likewise, gives tones to its +manners. Had Frenchmen continued to possess the land--had French +dominion not given place to English--mixture of blood would have had but +little influence on one's position; and there would now have been, in +St. Louis or Chicago, as many shades of color in a social assembly, as +may be seen at a ball in Mexico. + + +The French are a more cheerful people, than the Americans. Social +intercourse--the interchange of hospitalities--the enjoyment of +amusements in crowds--are far more important to them than to any other +race. Solitude and misery are--or ought to be--synonyms in French; and +enjoyment is like glory--it must have witnesses, or it will lose its +attraction. Accordingly, we find the French emigrant seeking +companionship, even in the trials and enterprises of the wilderness. The +American, after the manner of his race, sought places where he could +possess, for himself, enough for his wants, and be "monarch of all he +surveyed." + +But the Frenchman had no such pride. He resorted to a town, where the +amusements of dancing, _fêtes_, and social converse, were to be +found--where the narrow streets were scarcely more than a division +fence, "across which the women could carry on their voluble +conversations, without leaving their homes."[75] This must have been a +great advantage, and probably contributed, in no slight degree, to the +singular peace of their villages--since the proximity afforded no +temptation to going abroad, and the distance was yet too great to allow +such whisperings and scandal, as usually break up the harmony of small +circles. Whether the fact is to be attributed to this, or to some other +cause, certain it is that these little communities were eminently +peaceful. From the first settlement of Kaskaskia, for example, down to +the transfer of the western country to the British--almost a century--I +find no record, even in the voluminous epistolary chronicles, of any +personal rencontre, or serious quarrel, among the inhabitants. The same +praise can not be given to any American town ever yet built. + +A species of communism seems to be a portion of the French character; +for we discover, that, even at that early day, _paysans_, or _habitans_, +collected together in villages, had their _common fields_, where the +separate portion of each family was still a part of the common +stock--and their tract of pasture-land, where there was no division, or +separate property. One enclosure covered all the fields of the +community, and all submitted to regulations made by the free voice of +the people. + +If one was sick, or employed in the service of the colony, or absent +on business of his own at planting or harvest time, his portion was +not therefore neglected: his ground was planted, or his crop was +gathered, by the associated labor of his neighbors, as thoroughly and +carefully as if he had been at home. His family had nothing to fear; +because in the social code of the simple villagers, each was as much +bound to maintain the children of his friend as his own. This state of +things might have its inconveniences and vices--of which, perhaps, the +worst was its tendency to merge the family into the community, and +thus--by obliterating the lines of individuality and personal +independence--benumbing enterprise and checking improvements: but it +was certainly productive of some good results, also. It tended to +make people careful each of the other's rights, kind to the afflicted, +and brotherly in their social intercourse. The attractive simplicity +of manners observable, even at this day, in some of the old French +villages, is traceable to this peculiar form of their early +organization. + +It would be well if that primitive simplicity of life and manners, could +be combined with rapid, or even moderate improvement. But, in the +present state of the world, this can scarcely be; and, accordingly, we +find the Frenchman of the passing year, differing but little from his +ancestor of sixteen hundred and fifty--still living in the old +patriarchal style, still cultivating his share of the common field, and +still using the antiquated processes of the seventeenth century. + + +But, though not so active as their neighbors, the Americans, they were +ever much happier. They had no ambition beyond enough for the passing +hour: with that they were perfectly contented. They were very patient +of the deprivation, when they had it not; and seasons of scarcity saw +no cessation of music and dancing, no abridgment of the jest and song. +If the earth yielded enough in one year to sustain them till the +next, the amount of labor expended for that object was never +increased--superfluity they cared nothing for: and commerce, save such +limited trade as was necessary to provide their few luxuries, was +beyond both their capacity and desires. The prolific soil was suffered +to retain its juices; it was reserved for another people to discover +and improve its infinite productiveness. + +They were indolent, careless, and improvident. Great enterprises were +above or below them. Political interests, and the questions concerning +national dominion, were too exciting to charm their gentle natures. +Their intelligence was, of course, not of the highest order: but they +had no use for learning--literature was out of place in the +wilderness--the pursuit of letters could have found no sympathy, and for +solitary enjoyment, the Frenchman cultivates nothing. Life was almost +altogether sensuous: and, though their morals were in keeping with their +simplicity, existence to them was chiefly a physical matter. The +fertility of the soil, producing all the necessaries of life with a +small amount of labor, and the amenity of the climate, rendering +defences against winter but too easy, encouraged their indolence, and +soothed their scanty energy. + +"They made no attempt," said one[76] who knew them well, "to acquire +land from the Indians, to organize a social system, to introduce +municipal regulations, or to establish military defences; but cheerfully +obeyed the priests and the king's officers, and enjoyed the present +without troubling their heads about the future. They seem to have been +even careless as to the acquisition of property, and its transmission to +their heirs. Finding themselves in a fruitful country, abounding in +game--where the necessaries of life could be procured with little +labor--where no restraints were imposed by government, and neither +tribute nor personal service was exacted, they were content to live in +unambitious peace and comfortable poverty. They took possession of so +much of the vacant land around them, as they were disposed to till, and +no more. Their agriculture was rude: and even to this day, some of the +implements of husbandry and modes of cultivation, brought from France a +century ago, remain unchanged by the march of mind or the hand of +innovation. Their houses were comfortable, and they reared fruits and +flowers, evincing, in this respect, an attention to comfort and luxury, +which has not been practised by the English and American first +settlers. But in the accumulation of property, and in all the essentials +of industry, they were indolent and improvident, rearing only the bare +necessaries of life, and living from generation to generation without +change or improvement." + +"They reared fruits and flowers," he says; and this simple fact denotes +a marked distinction between them and the Americans, not only in regard +to the things themselves, as would seem to be the view of the author +quoted, but in mental constitution, modes of thought, and motives to +action. Their tastes were elegant, ornate, and refined. They found +pleasure in pursuits which the American deems trivial, frivolous, and +unworthy of exertion. + +If any trees sheltered the house of the American, they were those +planted by the winds; if there were any flowers at his door, they were +only those with which prodigal nature has carpeted the prairies; and you +may see now in the west, many a cabin which has stood for thirty years, +with not a tree, of shade or fruit, within a mile of its door! +Everything is as bare and as cheerless about the door-yard, as it was +the first winter of its enclosure. But, stretching away from it, in +every direction, sometimes for miles, you will see extensive and +productive fields of grain, in the highest state of cultivation. It is +not personal comfort, or an elegant residence, for which the American +cares, but the enduring and solid results of unwearied labor. + +A Frenchman's residence is surrounded by flower-beds and orchards; his +windows are covered by creeping-vines and trellis-work; flower-pots and +bird-cages occupy the sills and surround the corridors; everything +presents the aspect of elegant taste, comfort, and indolence. The extent +of his fields, the amount of his produce, the intelligence and industry +of his cultivation, bear an immense disproportion to those of his less +ornamental, though more energetic, neighbor. + + +The distinction between the two races is as clear in their personal +appearance and bearing, as in the aspect of their plantations. The +Frenchman is generally a spruce, dapper little gentleman, brisk, +obsequious, and insinuating in manner, and usually betraying minute +attention to externals. The American is always plain in dress--evincing +no more taste in costume than in horticulture--steady, calm, and never +lively in manner: blunt, straightforward, and independent in discourse. +The one is amiable and submissive, the other choleric and rebellious. +The Frenchman always recognises and bows before superior rank: the +American acknowledges no superior, and bows to no man save in courtesy. +The former is docile and easily governed: the latter is intractable, +beyond control. The Frenchman accommodates himself to circumstances: the +American forces circumstances to yield to him. + +The consequence has been, that while the American has stamped his +character upon the whole country, there are not ten places in the valley +of the Mississippi, where you would infer, from anything you see, that a +Frenchman had ever placed his foot upon the soil. The few localities in +which the French character yet lingers, are fast losing the distinction; +and a score or two of years will witness a total disappearance of the +gentle people and their primitive abodes. Even now--excepting in a few +parishes in Louisiana--the relics of the race bear a faded, antiquated +look: as if they belonged to a past century, as, indeed, they do, and +only lingered now, to witness, for a brief space, the glaring +innovations of the nineteenth, and then, lamenting the follies of modern +civilization, to take their departure for ever! + +Let them depart in peace! For they were a gentle and pacific race, and +in their day did many kindly things! + + "The goodness of the heart is shown in deeds + Of peacefulness and kindness." + +Their best monument is an affectionate recollection of their simplicity: +their highest wish + + ----"To sleep in humble life, + Beneath the storm ambition blows." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[70] _History of the United States_, vol. iii., p. 336. Enacted in +Massachusetts. + +[71] A detailed and somewhat tedious account of these savage inroads, +may be found in Warburton's _Conquest of Canada_, published by Harpers. +New-York. 1850. + +[72] This is the estimate of Bancroft--and, I think, at least, thirty +thousand too liberal. If the number were doubled, however, it would not +weaken the position in the text. + +[73] On the subject of naming towns, much might have been said in the +preceding article in favor of French taste, and especially that just and +unpretending taste, which led them almost alway to retain the Indian +names. While the American has pretentiously imported from the Old World +such names as Venice, Carthage, Rome, Athens, and even London and Paris, +or has transferred from the eastern states, Boston, Philadelphia, +Baltimore, and New York, the Frenchman, with a better judgment, has +retained such Indian names as Chicago, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, +Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Wabash, and Mississippi. + +[74] This word is a pregnant memento of the manner in which the vain +words of flippant orators fall, innocuous, to the ground, when they +attempt to stigmatize, with contemptuous terms, the truly noble. +"Squatter" is now, in the west, only another name for "Pioneer," and +that word describes all that is admirable in courage, truth, and +manhood! + +[75] Perkins's _Western Annals_. + +[76] "Sketches of the West," by Judge Hall, for many years a resident of +Illinois. + +[Illustration: THE RANGER.] + + + + +IV. + +THE RANGER. + + "When purposed vengeance I forego, + Term me a wretch, nor deem me foe; + And when an insult I forgive, + Then brand me as a slave, and live." + + SCOTT. + + +In elaborating the character of the pioneer, we have unavoidably +anticipated, in some measure, that of the Ranger--for the latter was, in +fact, only one of the capacities in which the former sometimes acted. +But--since, in the preceding article, we have endeavored to confine +the inquiry, so as to use the term _Pioneer_ as almost synonymous with +_Immigrant_--we have, of course, ignored, to some extent, the +subordinate characters, in which he frequently figured. We therefore +propose, now, briefly to review one or two of them in their natural +succession. + +The progress of our country may be traced and measured, by the +representative characters which marked each period. The +missionary-priest came first, when the land was an unbroken wilderness. +The military adventurer, seeking to establish new empires, and acquire +great fortunes, entered by the path thus opened. Next came the hunter, +roaming the woods in search of wild beasts upon which he preyed. Making +himself familiar with the pathless forest and the rolling prairie, he +qualified himself to guide, even while he fled from, the stream of +immigration. At last came the pioneer, to drive away the savage, to +clear out the forests, and reclaim the land. + +At first, he was _only_ a pioneer. He had few neighbors, he belonged to +no community--his household was his country, his family were his only +associates or companions. In the course of time others followed him--he +could occasionally meet a white man on the prairies; if he wandered a +few miles from home, he could see the smoke of another chimney in the +distance. If he did not at once abandon his "clearing" and go further +west, he became, in some sort, a member of society--was the +fellow-citizen of his neighbors. The Indians became alarmed for their +hunting grounds, or the nations went to war and drew them into the +contest: the frontier became unsafe: the presence of danger drew the +pioneers together: they adopted a system of defence, and the ranger was +the offspring and representative of a new order of things. + +Rough and almost savage as he sometimes was, he was still the index to a +great improvement. Rude as the system was, it gave shape and order to +what had before been mere chaos. + + +The ranger marks a new era, then; his existence is another chapter in +the history of the west. Previous to his time, each pioneer depended +only on himself for defence--his sole protection, against the wild beast +and the savage, was his rifle--self-dependence was his peculiar +characteristic. The idea of a fighting establishment--the germ of +standing armies--had never occurred to him: even the rudest form of +civil government was strange to him--taxes, salaries, assessments, were +all "unknown quantities." + +But, gradually, all this changed; and with his circumstances, his +character was also modified. He lost a little of his sturdy +independence, his jealousy of neighborhood was softened--his solitary +habits became more social--he acknowledged the necessity for concert of +action--he merged a part of his individuality into the community, +and--became a ranger. + +In this capacity, his character was but little different to what it had +been before the change; and, though that change was a great improvement, +considered with reference to society, it may safely be doubted whether +it made the individual more respectable. He was a better _citizen_, +because he now contributed to the common defence: but he was not a +better _man_, because new associations brought novel temptations, and +mingling with other men wore away the simplicity, which was the +foundation of his manliness. Before assuming his new character, +moreover, he never wielded a weapon except in his own defence--or, at +most, in avenging his own wrongs. The idea of justice--claiming +reparation for an injury, which he alone could estimate, because by him +alone it was sustained--protected his moral sense. But, when he assumed +the vindication of his neighbor's rights, and the reparation of his +wrongs--however kind it may have been to do so--he was sustained only by +the spirit of hatred to the savage, could feel no such justification as +the consciousness of injury. + +Here was the first introduction of the mercenary character, which +actuates the hireling soldier; and, though civilization was not then far +enough advanced, to make it very conspicuous, there were other elements +mingled, which could not but depreciate the simple nobility of the +pioneer's nature. Many of the qualities which, in him, had been merely +passive, in the ranger became fierce and active. We have alluded, for +example, to his hatred of the Indian; and this, habit soon strengthened +and exaggerated. Nothing marks that change so plainly as his adoption of +the barbarous practice of scalping enemies. + +For this there might be some little palliation in the fact, that the +savage never considered a warrior overcome, though he were killed, +unless he lost his scalp; and so long as he could bring off the dead +bodies of his comrades, not mutilated by the process, he was but +partially intimidated. Defeat was, in that case, converted to a sort of +triumph; and having gone within one step of victory--for so this +half-success was estimated--was the strongest incentive to a renewal of +the effort. It might be, therefore, that the ranger's adoption of the +custom was a measure of self-defence. But it is to be feared that this +consideration--weak as it is, when stated as an excuse for cruelty so +barbarous--had but little influence in determining the ranger. Adopting +the code of the savage, the practice soon became a part of his warfare; +and the taking of the scalp was a ceremony necessary to the completion +of his victory. It was a bloody and inhuman triumph--a custom, which +tended, more forcibly than any other, to degrade true courage to mere +cruelty; and which, while it only mortified the savage, at the same +time, by rendering his hatred of the white men more implacable, +aggravated the horrors of Indian warfare. But the only measure of +justice in those days, was the _lex talionis_--"An eye for an eye," a +scalp for a scalp; and, even now, you may hear frontiermen justify, +though they do not practise it, by quoting the venerable maxim, "Fight +the devil with fire." + + +But, though the warfare of the ranger was sometimes distinguished by +cruelty, it was also ennobled by features upon which it is far more +pleasant to dwell. + +No paladin, or knight, of the olden times, ever exhibited more wild, +romantic daring, than that which formed a part of the ranger's daily +action. Danger, in a thousand forms, beset him at every step--he defied +mutilation, death by fire and lingering torture. The number of his +enemies, he never counted, until after he had conquered them--the power +of the tribe, or the prowess of the warrior, was no element in his +calculations. Where he could strike first and most effectually, was his +only inquiry. Securing an avenue for retreat was no part of his +strategy--for he had never an intention or thought of returning, except +as a victor. "Keeping open his communications," either with the rear or +the flanks, had no place in his system; "combined movements" he seldom +attempted, for he depended for victory, upon the force he chanced to +have directly at hand. The distance from his "base of operations" he +never measured; for he carried all his supplies about his person, and he +never looked for reinforcements. Bridges and wagon-roads he did not +require, for he could swim all the rivers, and he never lost his way in +the forest. He carried his artillery upon his shoulder, his tactics were +the maxims of Indian warfare, and his only drill was the "ball-practice" +of the woods. He was his own commissary, for he carried his "rations" on +his back, and replenished his havresack with his rifle. He needed no +quartermaster; for he furnished his own "transportation," and selected +his own encampment--his bed was the bosom of mother-earth, and his tent +was the foliage of an oak or the canopy of heaven. In most +cases--especially in battle--he was his own commander, too; for he was +impatient of restraint, and in savage warfare knew his duty as well as +any man could instruct him. Obedience was no part of his +nature--subordination was irksome and oppressive. In a word, he was an +excellent soldier, without drill, discipline or organization. + +He was as active as he was brave--as untiring as he was fearless. + +A corps of rangers moved so rapidly, as apparently to double its +numbers--dispersing on the Illinois or Missouri, and reassembling on the +Mississippi, on the following day--traversing the Okan timber to-day, +and fording the Ohio to-morrow. One of them, noted among the Indians for +desperate fighting, and personally known for many a bloody meeting, +would appear so nearly simultaneously in different places, as to acquire +the title of a "Great Medicine;" and instances have been known, where as +many as three distinct war-parties have told of obstinate encounters +with the same men in one day! Their apparent ubiquity awed the Indians +more than their prowess. + + +General Benjamin Howard, who, in eighteen hundred and thirteen resigned +the office of governor of Missouri, and accepted the appointment of +brigadier-general, in command of the militia and rangers of Missouri +and Illinois, at no time, except for a few weeks in eighteen hundred and +fourteen, had more than one thousand men under his orders: And yet, with +this inconsiderable force, he protected a frontier extending from the +waters of the Wabash, westward to the advanced settlements of +Missouri--driving the savages northward beyond Peoria, and intimidating +them by the promptitude and rapidity of his movements. + + +Our government contributed nothing to the defence of its frontiers, +except an act of Congress, which authorized them to defend themselves! +The Indians, amounting to at least twenty tribes, had been stirred up to +hostility by the British, and, before the establishment of rangers, were +murdering and plundering almost with impunity. But soon after the +organization of these companies, the tide began to turn. The ranger was +at least a match for the savage in his own mode of warfare; and he had, +moreover, the advantages of civilized weapons, and a steadiness and +constancy, unknown to the disorderly war-parties of the red men. + +He was persevering beyond all example, and exhibited endurance which +astonished even the stoical savage. Three or four hours' rest, after +weeks of hardship and exposure, prepared him for another expedition. If +the severity of his vengeance, or the success of a daring enterprise, +intimidated the Indian for a time, and gave him a few days' leisure, he +grew impatient of inactivity, and was straightway planning some new +exploit. The moment one suggested itself, he set about accomplishing +it--and its hardihood and peril caused no hesitation. He would march, on +foot, hundreds of miles, through an unbroken wilderness, until he +reached the point where the blow was to be struck; and then, awaiting +the darkness, in the middle of the night, he would fall upon his +unsuspecting enemies and carry all before him. + + +During the war of independence, the rangers had not yet assumed that +name, nor were they as thoroughly organized, as they became in the +subsequent contest of eighteen hundred and twelve. But the same material +was there--the same elements of character, actuated by the same spirit. +Let the following instance show what that spirit was. + +In the year seventeen hundred and seventy-seven, there lived at +Cahokia--on the east side of the Mississippi below Saint Louis--a +Pennsylvanian by the name of Brady--a restless, daring man, just made +for a leader of rangers. In an interval of inactivity, he conceived the +idea of capturing one of the British posts in Michigan, the nearest +point of which was at least three hundred miles distant! He forthwith +set about raising a company--and, at the end of three days, found +himself invested with the command of _sixteen men_! With these, on the +first of October, he started on a journey of more than one hundred +leagues, through the vast solitudes of the prairies and the thousand +perils of the forest, to take a military station, occupied by a +detachment of British soldiers! After a long and toilsome march, they +reached the banks of the St. Joseph's river, on which the object of +their expedition stood. Awaiting the security of midnight, they suddenly +broke from their cover in the neighborhood, and by a _coup de main_, +captured the fort without the loss of a man! Thus far all went well--for +besides the success and safety of the party, they found a large amount +of stores, belonging to traders, in the station, and were richly paid +for their enterprise--but having been detained by the footsore, on their +homeward march, and probably delayed by their plunder, they had only +reached the Calumet, on the borders of Indiana, when they were overtaken +by three hundred British and Indians! They were forced to surrender, +though not without a fight, for men of that stamp were not to be +intimidated by numbers. They lost in the skirmish one fourth of their +number: the survivors were carried away to Canada, whence Brady, the +leader, escaped, and returned to Cahokia the same winter. The twelve +remained prisoners until seventeen hundred and seventy-nine. + + +Against most men this reverse would have given the little fort +security--at least, until the memory of the disaster had been obscured +by time. But the pioneers of that period were not to be judged by +ordinary rules. The very next spring (1778), another company was raised +for the same object, and to wipe out what they considered the stain of a +failure. It was led by a man named Maize, over the same ground, to the +same place, and was completely successful. The fort was retaken, the +trading-station plundered, the wounded men of Brady's party released, +and, loaded with spoil, the little party marched back in triumph! + + +There is an episode in the history of their homeward march, which +illustrates another characteristic of the ranger--his ruthlessness. The +same spirit which led him to disregard physical obstacles, prevented his +shrinking from even direful necessities. One of the prisoners whom they +had liberated, became exhausted and unable to proceed. They could not +carry him, and would not have him to die of starvation in the +wilderness. They could not halt with him, lest the same fate should +overtake them, which had defeated the enterprise of Brady. But one +alternative remained, and though, to us, it appears cruel and inhuman, +it was self-preservation to them, and mercy, in a strange guise, to the +unhappy victim--_he was despatched by the hand of the leader_, and +buried upon the prairie! His grave is somewhere near the head-waters of +the Wabash, and has probably been visited by no man from that day to +this! + +Mournful reflections cluster round such a narrative as this, and we are +impelled to use the word "atrocious" when we speak of it. It was +certainly a bloody deed, but the men of those days were not nurtured in +drawing-rooms, and never slept upon down-beds. A state of war, moreover, +begets many evils, and none of them are more to be deplored than the +occasional occurrence of such terrible necessities. + +The ranger-character, like the pioneer-nature of which it was a phase, +was compounded of various and widely-differing elements. No one of his +evil qualities was more prominent than several of the good; and, I am +sorry to say, none of the good was more prominent than several of the +bad. No class of men did more efficient service in defending the western +settlements from the inroads of the Indians; and though it seems hard +that the war should sometimes have been carried into the country of the +untutored savage by civilized men, with a severity exceeding his own, we +should remember that we can not justly estimate the motives and feelings +of the ranger, without first having been exasperated by his sufferings +and tried by his temptations. + + + + +V. + +THE REGULATOR. + + "Thieves for their robbery have authority, + When judges steal themselves."-- + + MEASURE FOR MEASURE. + + +At the conclusion of peace between England and America, in eighteen +hundred and fifteen, the Indians, who had been instigated and supported +in their hostility by the British, suddenly found themselves deprived of +their allies. If they now made war upon the Americans, they must do so +upon their own responsibility, and, excepting the encouragement of a few +traders and commanders of outposts, whose enmity survived the general +pacification, without assistance from abroad. They, however, refused to +lay down their arms, and hostilities were continued, though languidly, +for some years longer. But the rangers, now disciplined by the +experience of protracted warfare, and vastly increased in numbers, had +grown to be more than a match for them, so that not many years elapsed +before the conclusion of a peace, which has lasted, with but occasional +interruptions, to the present day. + +When danger no longer threatened the settlements, there was no further +call for these irregular troops. The companies were disbanded, and those +who had families, as a large proportion of them had, returned to their +plantations, and resumed the pursuits of industry and peace. Those who +had neither farms nor families, and were unfitted by their stirring life +for regular effort, emigrated further west. Peace settled upon our +borders, never, we hope, to be seriously broken. + + +But as soon as the pressure of outward danger was withdrawn, and our +communities began to expand, the seeds of new evils were +developed--seeds which had germinated unobserved, while all eyes were +averted, and which now began to shoot up into a stately growth of vices +and crimes. The pioneers soon learned that there was among them a class +of unprincipled and abandoned men, whose only motive in emigrating was +to avoid the restraints, or escape the penalties, of law, and to whom +the freedom of the wilderness was a license to commit every sort of +depredation. The arm of the law was not yet strong enough to punish +them. + +The territorial governments were too busy in completing their own +organization, to give much attention to details: where states had been +formed, the statute-book was yet a blank: few officers had been +appointed, and even these were strangers to their duties and charge of +responsibility. Between the military rule of the rangers--for they were +for internal police as well as external defence--and the establishment +of regular civil government, there was a sort of interregnum, during +which there was neither law nor power to enforce it. The bands of +villains who infested the country were the only organizations known; +and, in not a few instances, these bands included the very magistrates +whose duty it was to see that the laws were faithfully executed. Even +when this was not the case, it was a fruitless effort to arrest a +malefactor; indeed, it was very often worse than fruitless, for his +confederates were always ready to testify in his favor: and the usual +consequence of an attempt to punish, was the drawing down upon the head +of the complainant or prosecutor, the enmity of a whole confederacy. +Legal proceedings, had provision been made for such, were worse than +useless, for conviction was impossible: and the effort exasperated, +while the failure encouraged, the outlaw spirit. + +An _alibi_ was the usual defence, and to those times may be referred the +general prejudice entertained among our people, even at the present day, +against that species of testimony. A jury of western men will hardly +credit an _alibi_, though established by unexceptionable witnesses; and +the announcement that the accused depends upon that for his defence, +will create a strong prejudice against him in advance. Injustice may +sometimes be done in this way, but it is a feeling of which our people +came honestly in possession. They established a habit, in early days, of +never believing an _alibi_, because, at that time, nine _alibis_ in ten +were false, and habits of thought, like legal customs, cling to men long +after their reason has ceased. It is right, too, that it should be so, +on the principle that we should not suspend the use of the remedy until +the disease be thoroughly conquered. + + +In a state of things, such as we have described, but one of two things +could be done: the citizens must either abandon all effort to assert the +supremacy of order, and give the country over to thieves and robbers, +or they must invent some new and irregular way of forcing men to live +honestly. They wisely chose the latter alternative. They consulted +together, and the institution of _Regulators_ was the result of their +deliberations. + +These were small bodies of men, chosen by the people, or voluntarily +assuming the duty--men upon whom the citizens could depend for both +discretion and resolution. Their duties may be explained in a few words: +to ferret out and punish criminals, to drive out "suspicious +characters," and exercise a general supervision over the interests and +police of the settlements, from which they were chosen. Their +statute-book was the "code of Judge Lynch"--their order of trial was +similar to that of a "drum-head court-martial"--the principles of their +punishment was certainty, rapidity, and severity. They were judges, +juries, witnesses, and executioners. + + +They bound themselves by a regular compact (usually verbal, but +sometimes in writing[77]), to the people and to each other, to rid the +community of all thieves, robbers, plunderers, and villains of every +description. They scoured the country in all directions and in all +seasons, and by the swiftness of their movements, and the certainty of +their vengeance, rivalled their predecessors, the rangers. When a +depredation had been committed, it was marvellous with what rapidity +every regulator knew it; even the telegraph of modern days performs no +greater wonders: and it frequently happened, that the first the quiet +citizens heard of a theft, or a robbery, was the news of its punishment! +Their acts may sometimes have been high-handed and unjustifiable, but on +the whole--and it is only in such a view that social institutions are to +be estimated--they were the preservers of the communities for whom they +acted. In time, it is true, they degenerated, and sometimes the corps +fell into the hands of the very men they were organized to punish. + + +Every social organization is liable to misdirection, and this, among +others, has been perverted to the furtherance of selfish and +unprincipled purposes; for, like prejudices and habits of thought, +organized institutions frequently survive the necessities which call +them into existence. Abuses grow up under all systems; and, perhaps, the +worst abuse of all, is a measure or expedient, good though temporary, +retained after the passing away of the time for which it was adopted. + + +But having, in the article "Pioneer," sufficiently elaborated the +_character_--for the regulator was of course a pioneer also--we can best +illustrate the mode of his action by a narrative of facts. From the +hundreds of well-authenticated stories which might be collected, I have +chosen the two following, because they distinguish the successive stages +or periods of the system. The first relates to the time when a band of +regulators was the only reliable legal power, and when, consequently, +the vigilance of the citizens kept it comparatively pure. The second +indicates a later period, when the people no longer felt insecure, and +there was in fact no necessity for the system; and when, not having been +disused, it could not but be abused. We derive both from an old citizen +of the country, who was an actor in each. One of them, the first, has +already been in print, but owing to circumstances to which it is +needless to advert, it was thought better to confine the narrative to +facts already generally known. These circumstances are no longer +operative, and I am now at liberty to publish entire the story of "The +First Grave." + + +THE FIRST GRAVE. + +At the commencement of the war of eighteen hundred and twelve, between +Great Britain and the United States, there lived, in the western part of +Virginia, three families, named, respectively, Stone, Cutler, and +Roberts. They were all respectable people, of more than ordinary wealth; +having succeeded, by an early emigration and judicious selection of +lands, in rebuilding fortunes which had been somewhat impaired east of +the Blue Ridge. Between the first and second there was a relationship, +cemented by several matrimonial alliances, and the standing of both had +been elevated by this union of fortunes. In each of these two, there +were six or seven children--the most of them boys--but Captain Roberts, +the head of the third, had but one child, a daughter, who, in the year +named, was approaching womanhood. + +She is said to have been beautiful: and, from the extravagant admiration +of those who saw her only when time and suffering must have obscured her +attractions, there can be little doubt that she was so. What her +character was, we can only conjecture from the tenor of our story: +though we have reason to suspect that she was passionate, impulsive, +and somewhat vain of her personal appearance. + +At the opening of hostilities between the two countries, she was wooed +by two suitors, young Stone, the eldest of the sons of that family, and +Abram Cutler, who was two or three years his senior. Both had recently +returned home, after a protracted absence of several years, beyond the +mountains, whither they had been sent by their ambitious parents, "to +attend college and see the world." Stone was a quiet, modest, unassuming +young man, rather handsome, but too pale and thin to be decidedly so. +Having made the most of his opportunities at "William and Mary," he had +come home well-educated (for that day and country) and polished by +intercourse with good society. + +His cousin, Abram Cutler, was his opposite in almost everything. He had +been wild, reckless, and violent, at college, almost entirely giving up +his studies, after the first term, and always found in evil company. His +manners were as much vitiated as his morals, for he was exceedingly +rough, boisterous, and unpolished: so much so, indeed, as to approach +that limit beyond which wealth will not make society tolerant. But his +freedom of manner bore, to most observers, the appearance of generous +heartiness, and he soon gained the good will of the neighborhood by the +careless prodigality of his life. He was tall, elegantly formed, and +quite well-looking; and though he is said to have borne, a few years +later, a sinister and dishonest look, it is probable that most of this +was attributable to the preconceived notions of those who thus judged +him. + + +Both these young men were, as we have said, suitors for the hand of +Margaret Roberts, and it is possible that the vain satisfaction of +having at her feet the two most attractive young men in the country, led +her to coquet with them both, but decidedly to prefer neither. It is +almost certain, that at the period indicated, she was sufficiently +well-pleased with either to have become his wife, had the other been +away. If she _loved_ either, however, it was Stone, for she was a little +timid, and Cutler sometimes frightened her with his violence: but the +preference, if it existed at all, was not sufficiently strong to induce +a choice. + +About this time, the elder Cutler died, and it became necessary for +Abram, as executor of a large estate, to cross the mountains into the +Old Dominion, and arrange its complicated affairs. It was not without +misgiving that he went away, but his duties were imperative, and his +necessities, produced by his spendthrift habits, were pressing. He +trusted to a more than usually favorable interview with Margaret, and +full of sanguine hopes, departed on his journey. + +Whether Stone entertained the idea of taking an unfair advantage of his +rival's absence, we can not say, but he straightway became more +assiduous in his attentions to Margaret. He was also decidedly favored +by Captain Roberts and his wife, both of whom had been alarmed by the +violent character of Cutler. Time soon began to obscure the recollection +of the absent suitor, and Stone's delicate and considerate gallantry +rapidly gained ground in Margaret's affections. It was just one month +after Cutler's departure that his triumph was complete; she consented to +be his wife so soon as the minister who travelled on that circuit should +enter the neighborhood. But the good man had set out on his circuit only +the day before the consent was given, and it would probably be at least +a month before his return. In the meantime, Cutler might recross the +mountains, and Stone had seen quite enough of Margaret's capriciousness +to tremble for the safety of his conquest, should that event occur +before it was thoroughly secured. + +This was embarrassing: but when a man is in earnest, expedients are +never wanting. + + +There was an old gentleman living a few miles from the valley, who had +once held the commission of a justice of the peace, and though he had +not exercised his functions, or even claimed his dignity, for several +years, Stone was advised that he retained his official power "until his +successor was appointed and qualified," and that, consequently, any +official act of his would be legal and valid. He was advised, moreover, +and truly, that even if the person performing the ceremony were not a +magistrate, a marriage would be lawful and binding upon the simple +"consent" of the parties, properly published and declared. + +Full-freighted with the happy news, he posted away to Captain Roberts, +and without difficulty obtained his sanction. He then went to Margaret, +and, with the assistance of her mother, who stood in much dread of +Cutler's violence, succeeded in persuading her to consent. Without +delay, the _cidevant_ magistrate was called in, the ceremony was +performed, and Margaret was Stone's wife! + +The very day after this event, Cutler returned! What were his thoughts +no one knew, for he spoke to none upon the subject. He went, however, +to see "the bride," and, in the presence of others, bantered her +pleasantly upon her new estate, upon his own pretensions, and upon the +haste with which the ceremony had been performed. He started away with +the rest of the company present; but, on reaching the door--it was +afterward remembered--pretended to have forgotten something, and ran +back into the room where they had left Margaret alone. Here he remained +full ten minutes, and when he came out walked thoughtfully apart and +disappeared. What he said to Margaret no one knew; but, that evening, +when they were alone, she asked anxiously of her husband, "whether he +was quite sure that their marriage had been legal?" Stone reassured her, +and nothing more was said upon the subject. + + +Cutler had brought with him, over the mountains, the proclamation of the +governor of Virginia, announcing the declaration of war, and calling +upon the state for its quota of troops to repel invasion. He manifested +a warm interest in the enrolling and equipment of volunteers, and, in +order to attest his sincerity, placed his own name first upon the roll. +A day or two afterward, on meeting Stone, in the presence of several +others who had enrolled themselves, he laughingly observed, that the new +bridegroom "was probably too comfortable at home, to desire any +experience in campaigning:" and, turning away, he left the company +laughing at Stone's expense. + +This touched the young man's pride--probably the more closely, because +he was conscious that the insinuation was not wholly void of truth--and, +without a moment's hesitation, he called Cutler back, took the paper, +and enrolled his name. Cutler laughed again, said _he_ would not have +done so, had he been in Stone's circumstances, and, after some further +conversation, walked away in the direction of Stone's residence. Whether +he actually entered the house is not known; but when the young husband +returned home, a few hours afterward, his wife's first words indicated +that she knew of his enrolment. + +"Is it possible," said she, with some asperity, "that you already care +so little for me as to enrol yourself for an absence of six months?" + +Stone would much have preferred to break the news to her himself, for he +had some foreboding as to the view she might take of his conduct. He had +scarcely been married a week, and he was conscious that a severe +construction of the act of enrolment, when there was notoriously not +the least necessity for it, might lead to inferences, than which, +nothing could be more false. If he had said, at once, that he had been +taunted by his old rival, and written his name under the influence of +pride, all would have been well, for his wife would then have +understood, though she might not have approved his action. But this +confession he was ashamed to make, and, by withholding it, laid the +foundation for his own and his wife's destruction. He at once +acknowledged the fact, disclaiming, however, the indifference to her, +which she inferred, and placing the act upon higher ground:-- + +"The danger of the country," he said, "was very imminent, and it became +every good citizen to do all he could for its defence. He had no idea +that the militia would be called far from home, or detained for a very +long time; but, in any event, he felt that men were bound, in such +circumstances, to cast aside personal considerations, and contribute, +each his share, to the common defence." + +His wife gazed incredulously at him while he talked this high +patriotism: and well she might, for he did not speak as one moved by +such feelings. The consciousness of deceit, of concealment, and of +childish rashness, rendered his manner hesitating and embarrassed. +Margaret observed all this, for her jealousy was aroused and her +suspicions sharpened; she made no reply, however, but turned away, with +a toss of the head, and busied herself, quite fiercely, with her +household cares. From that moment, until the day of his departure, she +stubbornly avoided the subject, listening, but refusing to reply, when +her husband attempted to introduce it. When Cutler came--rather +unnecessarily, as Stone thought--to consult him about the organization +of a spy-company, to which both were attached, she paid no attention to +their conversation, but walked away down a road over which she knew +Cutler must pass on his return homeward. Whether this was by appointment +with him is not known: probably, however, it was her own motion. + + +We need not stay to detail all that took place between her and her +former suitor, when, as she had expected, they met in a wood some +hundreds of yards from her home; its result will sufficiently appear in +the sequel. One circumstance, however, we must not omit. She recurred to +a conversation which had passed sometime before, in relation to the +legality of her marriage; and though Cutler gave no positive opinion, +his parting advice was nearly in the following words:-- + +"If you think, from your three weeks' experience, that Stone cares +enough for you to make it prudent, I would advise you to have the +marriage ceremony performed by Parson Bowen, immediately upon his +return; and if you care enough for him to wish to retain him, you had +better have it performed _before he goes away_." + +With these words, and without awaiting an answer, he passed on, leaving +her alone in the road. When she returned home, she did not mention the +subject; and though Parson Bowen returned to the neighborhood quite a +week before Stone went away, she never suggested a repetition of the +ceremony. When Stone manifested some anxiety on the subject, she turned +suddenly upon him and demanded-- + +"You do not think our marriage legal, then?" + +He assured her that he only made the suggestion for her satisfaction, +entertaining no doubt, himself, that they were regularly and lawfully +married. + +"I am content to remain as I am," she said, curtly, and the parson was +not summoned. + +Five days afterward the troops took up the line of march for the +frontier. Hull had not yet surrendered Michigan; but Proctor had so +stirred up the Indians (who, until then, had been quiet since the battle +of Tippecanoe), as to cut off all communication with the advanced +settlements, and even to threaten the latter with fire and slaughter. +Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, were then overrun by British and Indians; +for Hopkins had not yet commenced his march from Kentucky, and Congress +was still debating measures for protection. Hull's surrender took place +on the sixteenth of August, eighteen hundred and twelve, and in the +following month, General Harrison, having been appointed to the chief +command in the northwest, proceeded to adopt vigorous measures for the +defence of the country. It was to one of the regiments organized by him, +that our friends from Virginia found themselves attached. They had +raised a company of spies, and in this both Stone and Cutler held +commissions. + + +They marched with the regiment, or rather in advance of it, for several +weeks. By that time, they had penetrated many miles beyond the +settlements, and Harrison began to feel anxious to ascertain the +position of General Hopkins, and open communications with him. For this +service Cutler volunteered, and was immediately selected by the +general. On the following morning, he set out with five men to seek the +Kentuckians. He found them without difficulty and delivered his +despatches; but from that day he was not seen, either in the camp of +Hopkins or in that of Harrison! It was supposed that he had started on +his return, and been taken or killed by the Indians, parties of whom +were prowling about between the lines of the two columns. + + +Stone remained with his company two or three months longer, when, the +enterprise of Hopkins having failed, and operations being suspended for +the time, it was thought inexpedient to retain them for the brief period +which remained of their term of enlistment, and they were discharged. +Stone returned home, and, full of anticipations, the growth of a long +absence, hastened at once to his own house. The door was closed, no +smoke issued from the chimney, there was no one there! After calling in +vain for a long time, he ran away to her father's, endeavoring to feel +certain that he would find her there. But the old man received him with +a mournful shake of the head. Margaret had been gone more than a month, +no one knew whither or with whom! + +A report had been in circulation that Cutler was seen in the +neighborhood, a few days before her disappearance; but no news having +been received of his absence from the army, it had not been generally +credited. But now, it was quite clear! + + +The old man invited Stone to enter, but he declined. Sitting down on a +log, he covered his face with his hands, for a few moments, and seemed +buried in grief. It did not last long, however: he rose almost +immediately, and going a little aside, calmly loaded his rifle. Without +noticing the old man, who stood gazing at him in wonder, he turned away, +and, with his eyes fixed upon the ground, took the path toward his own +house. He was seen to break the door and enter, but he remained within +only a few minutes. On coming out, he threw his rifle over his shoulder, +and walked away through the forest. Half an hour afterward, smoke was +seen issuing from the roof of the house in several places, and on +repairing thither, the neighbors found the whole place in a bright +flame! It was of no use to attempt to save it or any of its contents. An +hour afterward, it was a heap of smouldering ruins, and its owner had +disappeared from the country! + + +Seven years passed away. + +The war was over: the Indians had been driven to the north and west, and +the tide of emigration had again set toward the Mississippi. The +northwestern territory--especially that part of it which is now included +within the limits of Illinois and Indiana--was rapidly filling up with +people from the south and east. The advanced settlements had reached the +site of Springfield, in the "Sangamon country,"[78] now the capital of +Illinois, and a few farms were opened in the north of Madison +county--now Morgan and Scott. The beautiful valley, most inaptly called, +of the _Mauvaisterre_, was then an unbroken wilderness. + +The grass was growing as high as the head of a tall man, where now +well-built streets and public squares are traversed by hurrying crowds. +Groves which have since become classic were then impenetrable thickets; +and the only guides the emigrant found, through forest and prairie, were +the points of the compass, and the courses of streams. But in the years +eighteen hundred and seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen, the western +slope of the Sangamon country began rapidly to improve. Reports had gone +abroad of "the fertility of its soil, the beauty of its surface, its +genial climate, and its many advantages of position"--and there is +certainly no country which more richly deserves these praises. + + +But the first emigrant who made his appearance here, in the autumn of +eighteen hundred and nineteen, was probably moved by other +considerations. It was none other than Abram Cutler! And his family +consisted of a wife and three young children! That wife was Margaret +Roberts--or rather Margaret Stone; for, notwithstanding the +representations of Cutler, her union with Stone had been perfectly +legal. By what arts he had succeeded in inducing her to elope with him, +we can only judge from his previous proceedings; but this is certain, +that resentment toward Stone, who, she probably believed, had unfairly +trapped her, was as likely to move her impulsive and unstable spirit, as +any other motive. Add to this, the wound given to her vanity by the +sudden departure of her young husband upon a long campaign, with the +acuteness given to this feeling by the arts of Cutler, and we shall not +be at a loss to explain her action. + +Whether she had not bitterly repented her criminal haste, we know not; +but that hardship and suffering of some sort had preyed upon her spirit, +was evident in her appearance. Her beauty was much faded; she had grown +pale and thin; and though she was scarcely yet in the prime of +womanhood, her step was heavy and spiritless. She was not happy, of +course, but her misery was not only negative: the gnawings of remorse +were but too positive and real! + +Cutler was changed almost as much as his victim. The lapse of seven +years had added a score to his apparent age; and, if we are to credit +the representations of persons who were probably looking for signs of +vice, the advance of time had brought out, in well-marked lineaments, +upon his countenance, the evil traits of his character. His cheeks were +sunken, his features attenuated, and his figure exceedingly spare, but +he still exhibited marks of great personal strength and activity. His +glance, always of doubtful meaning, was now unsettled and furtive; and I +have heard one of the actors in this history assert, that it had a +scared, apprehensive expression, as if he were in constant expectation +of meeting a dangerous enemy. + +Nor is this at all improbable, for during the seven years which had +elapsed since the consummation of his design upon Margaret, he had +emigrated no less than three times--frightened away, at each removal, by +some intimation, or suspicion, that the avenger was on his track! No +wonder that his look was wary, and his face pale and haggard! + + +On this, his fourth migration, he had crossed the prairies from the +waters of the Wabash; and having placed the wide expanse of waving plain +between him and the settlements, he at length considered himself safe +from pursuit. Passing by the little trading-station, where Springfield +now stands, he traversed the beautiful country lying between that and +the Mauvaisterre. But the alternation of stately timber and lovely +prairie had no charms for him: he sought not beauty or fertility, but +seclusion; for his pilgrimage had become wearisome, and his step was +growing heavy. Remorse was at his heart, and fear--the appealing face of +his patient victim kept his crime in continual remembrance--and he knew, +that like a blood-hound, his enemy was following behind. It was a weary +load! No wonder that his cheeks were thin or his eyes wild! + + +He passed on till he came to a quiet, secluded spot, where he thought +himself not likely soon to be disturbed by emigration. It was sixteen +miles west of the place where Jacksonville has since been built, upon +the banks of the lower Mauvaisterre, seven miles from the Illinois +river. The place was long known as Cutler's grove, but a town grew up +around it, and has been christened by the sounding name of Exeter. Those +who visit it now, and have heard the story of Cutler, will commend his +judgment in selecting it for retirement; for, town as it is, a more +secluded, dreamy little place is nowhere to be found. It would seem that +the passage of a carriage through its _street_--for it has but +one--would be an event in its history; and the only things which redeem +it, in the fancy, from the category of visionary existences, are a +blacksmith's shop and a mill! + + +But Cutler's trail was seen upon the prairies, and the course of many an +emigrant was determined by the direction taken by his predecessor. It +was not long before others came to "settle" in the neighborhood. +Emigration was gradually encroaching, also, from the south; families +began to take possession of the river "bottoms;" the smoke from frontier +cabins ascended in almost every point of timber; and by the summer of +eighteen hundred and twenty, Cutler found himself as far from the +frontier as ever! But he was resolved not to move again: a dogged +spirit--half weariness, half despair--had taken possession of him. "I +have moved often enough," he said to Margaret, "and here I am determined +to remain, come what may!" + + +Actuated by such feelings--goaded by a fear which he could not conquer, +and yet was resolute not to indulge--the lurking devil in his nature +could not long remain dormant. Nothing develops evil tendencies so +rapidly as the consciousness of wrong and the fear of punishment. His +life soon became reckless and abandoned, and the first sign of his +degradation was his neglect of his household. For days together Margaret +saw nothing of him; his only companions were the worthless and outlawed; +and, when intoxicating liquors could be procured, which was, +fortunately, not often, he indulged in fearful excesses. + +Of evil company, there was, unhappily, but too much; for the settlement +was cursed with a band of desperadoes, exiles from organized society, +who had sought the frontier to obtain impunity for their misdeeds. The +leaders of this band were three brothers, whom no law could control, no +obligation restrain; and with these men Cutler soon formed a close and +suspicious intimacy. The eyes of the citizens had been for some time +directed toward the companions, by circumstances attending various +depredations; and, though unknown to themselves, they were constantly +watched by many of their neighbors. It is uncertain whether Cutler was +acquainted with the character of the men when his association with them +first commenced, for in none of the places where he had lived, had he +hitherto been suspected of crime. It is most probable that he sought +their company because they were "dissipated" like himself; and that, in +the inception of their acquaintance, there was no other bond between +them than the habit of intoxication. + + +Had we time and space, we would fain pause here to reflect upon the +position and feelings of the false wife--deserted, in her turn, by him +for whom she had given up truth and honor--alone in the wilderness with +her children, whose birth she could not but regret, and harassed by +thoughts which could not but be painfully self-condemning. But we must +hasten on. + + +In the autumn of eighteen hundred and twenty, information was brought to +the settlement, that a store at Springfield (as it is now called), had +been entered and robbed--that the leaders of the desperadoes above +alluded to, were suspected--and that the goods stolen were believed to +be concealed in Cutler's grove, where they lived. Warrants were issued, +and the three were arrested; but the magistrate before whom they were +taken for examination, was a timid and ignorant man; and by the +interference of Cutler, who assumed to be a lawyer, they were examined +separately, and allowed to testify, each for the other! An officer who +knew no more than to permit this, of course could do no less than +discharge them. The arrest and examination, however, crude and informal +as they were, confirmed the suspicions of the citizens, and directed +them, more vehemently than ever, against Cutler, as well as his friends. +It satisfied them, moreover, that they would never be able to reach +these men through the ordinary forms of law, and strengthened the +counsels of those who had already suggested the organization of a +company of regulators. + +While these things were fermenting in the minds of the people, the +desperadoes, encouraged by their success, and rendered bold by impunity, +committed their depredations more frequently and openly than ever. It +was remarked, too, that Cutler, having committed himself at the +examination of friends, was now more constantly and avowedly their +associate; and, since he was not a man to play a second part, that they +deferred to him on all occasions, never moving without him, and treating +him at all times as an acknowledged leader. The people observed, +moreover, that from being, like his neighbors, a small farmer of limited +possessions, he rose rapidly to what, on the frontier, was considered +affluence. He soon ceased to labor on his lands, and set up a very +considerable "store," importing his goods from Saint Louis, and, by +means of the whiskey he sold, collecting all the idle and vicious of the +settlement constantly about him. His "store" was in exceedingly bad +repute, and the scanty reputation which he had retained after the public +part he had taken before the magistrate, was speedily lost. + + +Things were in this state in the spring of eighteen hundred and +twenty-one, when an old gentleman of respectable appearance, who had +emigrated to this country by water, having been pleased with the land in +the neighborhood of the place where the town of Naples now stands, +landed his family and effects, and settled upon the "bottom." It was +soon rumored in the settlement, that he had brought with him a large +amount of money; and it was also remarked that Cutler and his three +companions were constantly with him, either at the "Grove" or on the +"bottom." Whether the rumor was the cause of their attention, or their +assiduity the foundation of the report, the reader must determine for +himself. + + +One evening in May, after a visit to this man, where Cutler had been +alone, he came home in great haste, and suddenly announced to Margaret +his intention to "sell out," and move further westward! His unhappy +victim supposed she knew but too well the meaning of this new movement: +she asked no questions, but, with a sigh of weariness, assented. On the +following day, he commenced hastily disposing of his "store," his stock, +his cabin--everything, in fact, save a few farming utensils, his +furniture, and a pair of horses. It was observed--for there were many +eyes upon him--that he never ventured out after twilight, and, even in +the broad sunshine, would not travel far, alone or unarmed. In such +haste did he seem, that he sold many of his goods at, what his friends +considered, a ruinous sacrifice. The fame of great bargains brought many +people to his counter, so that, within ten days, his arrangements were +complete; and, much to the satisfaction of his neighbors, he set out +toward the river. + +Two of his associates accompanied him on his journey--a precaution for +which he would give no reason, except that he wished to converse with +them on the way. He crossed the Illinois near the mouth of the +Mauvaisterre, and, turning northward, in the evening reached a cabin on +the banks of M'Kee's creek, not more than ten miles from his late +residence. This house had been abandoned by its former occupant, on +account of the forays of the Indians; but was now partially refitted, as +for a temporary abode. Here, the people about "the grove" were surprised +to learn, a few days after Cutler's departure, that he had halted with +the apparent intention to remain, at least for some time. + + +Their surprise was dissipated, however, within a very few weeks. The old +gentleman, spoken of above, had left home upon a visit to Saint Louis; +and during his absence, his house had been entered, and robbed of a +chest containing a large amount of money--while the family were +intimidated by the threats of men disguised as savages. + + +This was the culmination of villany. The settlement was now thoroughly +aroused; and, when one of these little communities was once in earnest, +it might safely be predicted that _something_ would be _done_! + +The first step was to call "a meeting of the friends of law and order;" +but no proclamation was issued, no handbills were circulated, no notices +posted: not the least noise was made about the matter, lest those +against whom it was to act, might hear of and prepare for it. They came +together quietly but speedily--each man, as he heard of the appointment, +going forthwith to his neighbor with the news. They assembled at a +central point, where none need be late in coming, and immediately +proceeded to business. The meeting was not altogether a formal one--for +purposes prescribed by law--but it was a characteristic of those men, to +do everything "decently and in order"--to give all their proceedings +the sanction and solemnity of mature deliberation. They organized the +assemblage regularly--calling one of the oldest and most respectable of +their number "to the chair" (which, on this occasion, happened to be the +root of a large oak), and appointing a younger man secretary (though +they gave him no desk on which to write). There was no man there who did +not fully understand what had brought them together; but one who lived +in the "bottom," and had been the mover of the organization, was still +called upon to "explain the object of the meeting." This he did in a few +pointed sentences, concluding with these significant words: "My friends, +it is time that these rascals were punished, and it is our duty to +punish them." + +He sat down, and a silence of some moments ensued, when another arose, +and, without any preliminary remarks, moved that "a company of +regulators be now organized, and that they be charged with the duty of +_seeing the law administered_." The motion was seconded by half a dozen +voices--the question was put in due form by the chairman, and decided +unanimously in the affirmative. + +A piece of paper was produced, and the presiding officer called on the +meeting for volunteers. Ten young men stepped forward, and gave their +names as rapidly as the secretary could enrol them. In less than five +minutes, the company was complete--the chairman and four of the meeting, +as a committee, were directed to retire with the volunteers, and see +that they were fully organized--and the meeting adjourned. All, except +the volunteers and the committee, went directly home--satisfied that the +matter needed no further attention. Those who remained entered the house +and proceeded to organize in the usual manner. + +A "compact" was drawn up, by the terms of which the regulators bound +themselves to each other, and to their neighbors, to ferret out and +punish the perpetrators of the offences, which had recently disturbed +the peace of the settlement, and to rid the country of such villains as +were obnoxious to the friends of law and order. This was then signed by +the volunteers as principals, and by the committee, as witnesses; and +was placed in the hands of the chairman of the meeting for safekeeping. +It is said to be still in existence, though I have never seen it, and do +not know where it is to be found. + +When this arrangement was completed, the committee retired, and the +company repaired to the woods, to choose a leader. They were not long +in selecting a certain Major B----, who had, for some weeks, made +himself conspicuous, by his loud denunciations of Cutler and his +associates, and his zealous advocacy of "strong measures." They had--one +or two of them, at least--some misgivings about this appointment; for +the major was inclined to be a blusterer, and the courage of these men +was eminently silent. But after a few minutes' discussion, the matter +was decided, and the leader was chosen without opposition. They at once +dispersed, to make arrangements for the performance of their +duties--having first appointed an hour and a place of meeting. They were +to assemble at sunset on the same day, at the point where the state road +now crosses the "bluff;" and were to proceed thence, without delay, to +Cutler's house on M'Kee's creek, a distance of little more than eight +miles. There they were to search for the stolen property, and whether +they found it or not, were resolved to notify Cutler to leave the +country. But under no circumstances were they to take his life, unless +it became necessary in self-defence. + + +The hour came, and with it, to the bluff, came all the regulators--_save +one_. But that one was a very important personage--none other, indeed, +than the redoubtable major, who was to head the party. The nine were +there a considerable time before sunset, and waited patiently for their +captain's arrival; though, already, there were whisperings from those +who had been doubtful of him in the outset, that he would not keep his +appointment. And these were right--for, though they waited long beyond +the time, the absentee did not make his appearance. It was afterward +ascertained that he excused himself upon the plea of sudden illness; but +he was very well again on the following day, and his excuse was not +received. The ridicule growing out of the affair, and his reduction from +the rank of major to that of captain, in derision, finally drove him in +disgrace from the country. + +His defection left the little company without a leader; and though they +were determined not to give up the enterprise, an obstacle to its +prosecution arose, in the fact that no one was willing to replace the +absent captain. Each was anxious to play the part of a private, and all +had come prepared to discharge the duties of the expedition, to the +utmost of their ability. But they were all young men, and no one felt +competent to take the responsibility of command. + +They were standing in a group, consulting eagerly about their course, +and, as one of them afterward said, "nearly at their wits' end," when +the circle was suddenly entered by another. He had come upon them so +noiselessly, and they had been so much absorbed in their council, that +no one saw him until he stood in their midst. Several of them, however, +at once recognised him, as a hunter who had recently appeared in the +southern part of the county, and had lived a singularly solitary life. +No one knew his name, but, from his mode of life, he was already known +among those who had heard of him, as "the wild hunter." He was but +little above the medium height, and rather slender in figure; but he was +well and firmly built, and immediately impressed them with the idea of +great hardihood and activity. His face, though bronzed by exposure, was +still handsome and expressive; but there was a certain wildness in the +eye, and a compression about the mouth, which gave it the expression of +fierceness, as well as resolution. He was dressed in a hunting-shirt and +"leggings" of deer-skin, fringed or "fingered" on the edges; and his +head and feet were covered, the one by a cap of panther's hide, and the +others by moccasins of dressed buckskin. At his belt hung a long knife, +and in his hand he carried a heavy "Kentucky rifle." + +As he entered the circle, he dropped the breech of the latter to the +ground, and, leaning calmly upon the muzzle, quietly surveyed the +countenances of the group, in profound silence. The regulators were too +much surprised to speak while this was going on; and the stranger seemed +to be in no haste to open the conversation. When he had finished his +scrutiny, however, he stepped back a pace or two, and resuming his easy +attitude, addressed them:-- + +"You must pardon me, my friends," he commenced, "when I tell you, that I +have overheard all you have said in the last half hour. I did not remain +in that thicket, however, for the purpose of eaves-dropping; but having +accidentally heard one of you mention a name, the sound of which touches +a chord whose vibrations you can not understand, I remained, almost +against my own will, to learn more. I thus became acquainted with the +object of your meeting, and the dilemma in which you find yourselves +placed by the absence of your leader. Now, I have but little interest in +this settlement, and none in the preservation of peace, or the +vindication of law, anywhere: but I have been seeking this man, Cutler, +of whom you spoke, nearly nine years. I supposed, a few days ago, that I +had at last found him; but on going to his house, I learned that he had +once more emigrated toward the west. You seem to know where he is to be +found, and are without a leader: I wish to find him, and, if you will +accept my services, will fill the place of your absent captain!" + +He turned away as he finished, allowing them an opportunity for +consultation among themselves. The question was soon decided: they +called him back--announced their willingness to accept him as their +leader--and asked his name. + +"My name is _Stone_," he replied. + + +It was after nightfall when the little party set out from the bluff. +They had, then, more than eight miles to travel, over a country entirely +destitute of roads, and cut up by numberless sloughs and ponds. They +had, moreover, a considerable river to cross, and, after that, several +miles of their way lay through a dense and pathless forest. But they +were not the men to shrink from difficulties, at any time; and now they +were carried along even more resolutely, by the stern, unwavering spirit +of their new leader. Having once learned the direction, Stone put +himself at the head of the party, and strode forward, almost "as the +bird flies," directly toward the point indicated, regardless of slough, +and swamp, and thicket. He moved rapidly, too--so rapidly, indeed, as to +tax the powers of some of his followers almost too severely. +Notwithstanding this swiftness, however, they could not avoid a long +delay at the river; and it was consequently near midnight, when, having +at last accomplished a crossing, they reached the bank of M'Kee's creek, +and turned up toward Cutler's house. + +This stood in the centre of a "clearing," some two or three acres in +extent; and upon reaching its eastern limit, the little company halted +to reconnoitre. Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, they +discovered that the people of the house were still awake; and by a +bright light, which streamed through the open door, they could see +several men, sitting and standing about the room. + +"We shall make a good haul," said one of the regulators; "the whole gang +is there." And immediately the party were for rushing forward. But Stone +restrained them. + +"My friends," said he, "you have taken me for your leader, and must obey +my directions." + +He then announced his determination to go forward alone; instructing his +men, however, to follow at a little distance, but in no case to show +themselves until he should give the signal. They agreed, though +reluctantly, to this arrangement, and then--silently, slowly, but +surely--the advance commenced. The hour had at last arrived! + + +In the meantime, Cutler and his three friends were passing the time +quite pleasantly over a bottle of backwoods nectar--commonly called +whiskey. They seemed well pleased, too, with some recent exploit of +theirs, and were evidently congratulating themselves upon their +dexterity; for, as the "generous liquid" reeked warmly to their brains, +they chuckled over it, and hinted at it, and winked knowingly at each +other, as if they enjoyed both the recollection and the whiskey--as they +probably did, exceedingly. There were four present, as we said--Cutler +and the three worthies so often alluded to. These last sat not far from +the open door; and each in his hand held a kerchief, or something of +that description, of which the contents were apparently very precious; +for, at intervals of a few moments, each raised his bundle between him +and the light, and then were visible many circular prints, as if made +by the coinage of the mint. This idea was strengthened, too, by several +piles of gold and silver, which lay upon the table near the bottle, to +which Cutler directed no infrequent glances. + +They had all been indulging pretty freely in their devotions to the +mythological liquid--rewarding themselves, like soldiers after storming +a hostile city, for their hardships and daring. There were a few coals +in the chimney, although it was early in the autumn; and on them were +lying dark and crumpled cinders, as of paper, over which little sparks +were slowly creeping, like fiery insects. Cutler turned them over with +his foot, and there arose a small blue, flickering blaze, throwing a +faint, uncertain light beneath the table, and into the further corners +of the room, and casting shadows of the money-bundles on the open door. + + +If the betrayer could have known what eyes were strained upon him, as he +thus carelessly thrust his foot among the cinders, how changed his +bearing would have been. Stone had now approached within fifty paces of +the house, and behind him, slowly creeping after, were the regulators. A +broad band of light streamed out across the clearing from the door, +while, on each side of this, all lay in shadow deepened by the contrast. +Through the shadows, cautiously and silently came the footsteps of the +avenger! There was no trepidation, no haste--the strange leader rather +lingered, with a deadly slowness, as if the movement was a pleasant one, +and he disliked to end it. But he never halted--not even for a +moment--he came, like fate, slowly, but surely! + +"Come, boys," said Cutler, and his voice penetrated the stillness quite +across the clearing, "let us take another drink, and then lie down; we +shall have a long journey to-morrow." + +They all advanced to the table and drained the bottle. Cutler drank +last, and then went back to the fire. He again stirred the smouldering +cinders with his foot, and, turning about, advanced to close the door. +But--he halted suddenly in the middle of the room--his face grew ashy +pale--his limbs trembled with terror! Stone stepped upon the threshold, +and, without speaking, brought his rifle to his shoulder! Cutler saw +that it pointed to his heart, but he had not the power to speak or move! + +"Villain!" said Stone, in a low, suppressed voice, "your hour has come, +at last!" + +Cutler was by no means a coward; by any one else he would not have been +overcome, even for an instant. As it was, he soon recovered himself and +sprang forward; but it was only to fall heavily to the floor; for at the +same moment Stone fired, and the ball passed directly through his heart! +A groan was the only sound he uttered--his arm moved, as in the act of +striking, and then fell to the ground--he was dead! + +The regulators now rushed tumultuously into the house, and at once +seized and pinioned the three desperadoes; while Stone walked slowly to +the hearth, and resting the breech of his gun upon the floor, leaned +calmly upon its muzzle. He had heard a scream from above--a voice which +he knew too well. Margaret had been aroused from sleep by the report of +the gun; and now, in her night-dress, with her hair streaming in masses +over her shoulders, she rushed down the rude stairway. The first object +that met her wild gaze was the body of Cutler, stretched upon the floor +and already stiffening in death. With another loud scream, she threw +herself upon him--mingling lamentations for his death, with curses upon +his murderers. + +Stone's features worked convulsively, and once or twice his hand +grasped the hilt of the knife which hung at his belt. At last, with a +start, he drew it from the sheath. But, the next moment, he dashed it +into the chimney, and leaning his gun against the wall, slowly advanced +toward the unhappy woman. Grasping her arm, he lifted her like a child +from the body to which she clung. Averting his head, he drew her, +struggling madly, to the light; and having brought her face full before +the lamp, suddenly threw off his cap, and turned his gaze directly into +her eyes. A scream, louder and more fearful than any before, rang even +to the woods beyond the clearing; she closed her eyes and shuddered, as +if she could not bear to look upon him, whom she had so deeply wronged. +He supported her on his arm, and perused her sunken and careworn +features, for many minutes, in silence. Then slowly relaxing his grasp-- + +"You have been punished sufficiently," he said; and seating her gently +upon the floor, he quietly replaced his knife in its sheath, resumed his +rifle, and left the house. + + +He was never again seen by any of the parties, except Margaret. She, +soon after this event, returned to Virginia; and here Stone paid her an +annual visit. He always came without notice, and departed as suddenly, +always bearing his rifle, and habited as a hunter. At such times he +sought to be alone with her but a few moments, and never spoke more than +three words: "Your punishment continues," he would say, after gazing at +her worn and haggard face for some minutes; and, then, throwing his +rifle over his shoulder, he would again disappear for twelve months +more. + +And truly her punishment _did_ continue; for though no one accurately +knew her history, she was an object of suspicion to all; and though she +led a most exemplary life, her reputation was evil, and her misery was +but too evident. One after the other, her children died, and she was +left utterly alone! At last _her_ lamp also began to flicker, and when +Stone arrived in the country, upon his twelfth annual visit, it was but +to see her die, and follow her to the grave! He received her last +breath, but no one knew what passed between them in that awful hour. On +the day after her burial he went away and returned no more. + + +The regulators hastily dug a grave on the bank of the creek, and in the +silence of the night placed Cutler within it. Then, taking possession +of the stolen money, they released their prisoners, notifying them to +leave the country within ten days, and returned to the east side of the +river. A few years ago, a little mound might be seen, where they had +heaped the dirt upon the unhappy victim of his own passions. It was +"_the first grave_" in which a white man was buried in that part of the +Illinois valley. + + +At the expiration of the ten "days of grace," it became the duty of the +regulators to see that their orders had been obeyed; and, though the +death of Cutler had been more than they had designed or foreseen, they +had no disposition to neglect it. They met, accordingly, on the morning +of the eleventh day, and having chosen a new leader, proceeded to +Cutler's grove. They found the houses of all those to whom they had +given "notice" deserted _excepting one_. This was the cabin of the +youngest of the three brothers; and declaring his intention to remain, +in defiance of regulators and "Lynch law," he put himself upon his +defence. Without ceremony the regulators set fire to the house in which +he had barricaded himself, and ten minutes sufficed to smoke him out. +They then discovered what they had not before known: that his elder +brothers were also within; and when the three rushed from the door, +though taken by surprise, they were not thrown off their guard. The trio +were at once seized, and, after a sharp struggle, securely pinioned. A +short consultation then decided their course. + +Leaving the house to burn at leisure, they posted away for the river, +driving their prisoners before them, and a march of three hours brought +them to the mouth of the Mauvaisterre. Here they constructed a "raft", +by tying half-a-dozen drift-logs together, and warning them that death +would be the penalty of a return, they placed their prisoners upon it, +pushed it into the middle of the stream, and set them adrift without oar +or pole! Although this seems quite severe enough, it was a light +punishment compared to that sometimes administered by regulators; and in +this case, had not blood been spilt when they did not intend it, it is +probable that the culprits would have been first tied to a tree, and +thoroughly "lynched." + +The involuntary navigators were not rescued from their unpleasant +position until they had nearly reached Saint Louis; and though they all +swore vengeance in a loud voice, not one of them was ever again seen in +the Sangamon country. + +Vigorous measures, like those we have detailed, were usually effectual +in restoring good order. Where there was no trial, there was no room for +false witnesses; and where a punishment, not unfrequently +disproportioned to the offence, so rapidly and certainly followed its +commission, there was little prospect of impunity, and therefore slight +inducement to violate the law. In most localities, it required but few +severe lessons to teach desperadoes that prudence dictated their +emigration; and, it must be acknowledged, that the regulators were +prompt and able teachers. + +But we should give only a partial and incomplete view of this +institution (for such, in fact, it was), were we to notice its uses and +say nothing of its abuse; because, like everything else partaking so +largely of the mob element, it was liable to most mischievous +perversions. Had the engine been suffered to rest, when it had performed +its legitimate functions, all would have been well; but the great vice +of the system was its obstinate vitality: it refused to die when its +life was no longer useful. + +As soon as the danger was past, and the call for his services had +ceased, the good citizen, who alone could confine such a system to its +proper limits, retired from its ranks: it was consequently left, with +all its dangerous authority, in the hands of the reckless and violent. +The selfish and designing soon filled up the places of the sober and +honest, and from being a terror to evil-doers, and a protection to the +peaceful citizen, it became a weapon in the hands of the very men +against whom it should have been directed. + +When this came to be the case, the institution was in danger of doing +more harm in its age, than it had accomplished of good in its youth. But +it must not thence be inferred that it should never have been adopted, +or that it was vicious in itself. In seasons of public danger, +extraordinary powers are often intrusted to individuals--powers which +nothing but that danger can justify, and which would constitute the +dictators intolerable despots, if they were retained after the crises +are passed. The Congress of our confederacy, for example, found it +necessary, at one period of our Revolutionary struggle, to invest +Washington with such authority; had he exercised it beyond the pressure +of immediate peril, the same outcry which has been made against others +in similar circumstances, would have been justly raised against him. And +most men, less soberly constituted than Washington, would have +endeavored to retain it; for power is a pleasant thing, which few have +the self-denial to resign without a struggle. The wrong consists not in +the original delegation of the authority--for that is justified by the +highest of all laws, the law of self-preservation--but in its retention +and exercise, when the exigency no longer supports it. + + +Having parted with the authority to redress grievances, and provide for +protection and defence, the citizen can not at once recover it--it +remains for a time in the hands of the representative, and is always +difficult to regain. But it does not therefore follow, that he should +never intrust it to another, for the inconvenience sometimes resulting +from its delegation, is one of the incidents to human life, teaching, +not obstinacy or jealousy, but circumspection. + + +The following story, related by one who is well-acquainted with the +early history of this country, will illustrate the manner in which the +regulator system was sometimes made subservient to men's selfish +purposes; and there have, unhappily, been too many instances, in which +such criminal schemes were more successful than they were in this. I +have entitled it "The Stratagem." + + +THE STRATAGEM. + +Robert Elwood emigrated from Kentucky to Illinois, about the year in +which the latter was erected into a state, and passing to the northwest +of the regions then occupied by the French and Virginians, pitched his +tent upon the very verge of the frontier. He was a man of violent +passions, impatient of the restraints of law--arrogant, overbearing, and +inclined to the use of "the strong-hand." His removal had been caused by +a difficulty with one of his neighbors, in which he had attempted to +right himself without an appeal to the legal tribunals. In this attempt, +he had not only been thwarted, but also made to pay rather roundly for +his temerity; and, vexed and soured, he had at once abandoned his old +name, and marched off across the prairies, seeking a country in which, +as he said, "a man need not meet a cursed constable every time he left +his own door." His family consisted of three sons and one daughter, the +latter being, at the time of his emigration, about sixteen years of age. + + +In journeying toward the north, he halted one day, at noon, within a +"point" of timber, which extended a mile into the prairie, and was +surrounded by as beautiful a piece of rolling meadow-land, as one need +wish to see. He was already half-a-day's journey beyond the thicker +settlements; and, indulging a reasonable hope that he would not speedily +be annoyed by neighbors, he at once determined here to erect his +dwelling and open a new farm. With this view, he marked off a tract of +about four hundred acres, including the point of timber in which he was +encamped; and before the heats of summer came on, he had a cabin ready +for his reception, and a considerable amount of grain planted. + +About a mile to the south, there was a similar strip of timber, +surrounded, like that of which he took possession, by a rich tract of +"rolling prairie;" and this he at once resolved to include in his farm. +But, reflecting that it must probably be some years, before any one else +would enter the neighborhood to take it up--and having only the +assistance of his sons, but two of whom had reached manhood--he turned +his attention, first, to the tract upon which he lived. This was large +enough to engross his efforts for the present; and, for two years, he +neglected to do anything toward establishing his claim to the land he +coveted. It is true, that he told several of his neighbors, who had now +begun to settle around him, that he claimed that piece, and thus +prevented their enclosing it; but he neither "blazed" nor marked the +trees, nor "staked off" the prairie. + + +In the meantime emigration had come in, so much more rapidly than he had +expected, that he found himself the centre of a populous neighborhood; +and among other signs of advancing civilization, a company of regulators +had been organized, for the protection of life and property. Of this +band, Elwood, always active and forward, had been chosen leader; and the +vigor and severity with which he had exercised his functions, had given +a degree of quiet to the settlements, not usually enjoyed by these +frontier communities. One example had, at the period of the opening of +our story, but recently been made; and its extreme rigor had frightened +away from the neighborhood, those who had hitherto disturbed its peace. +This was all the citizens desired; and, having accomplished their ends, +safety and tranquillity, those whose conservative character had +prevented the regulator system from running into excesses, withdrew from +its ranks--but took no measures to have it broken up. It was thus left, +with recognised authority, in the hands of Elwood, and others of his +violent and unscrupulous character. + +Things were in this position, when, on his return from an expedition of +some length, Elwood bethought him of the handsome tract of land, upon +which he had so long ago set his heart. What were his surprise and rage +on learning--a fact, which the absorbing nature of his regulator-duties +had prevented his knowing sooner--that it was already in possession of +another! And his mortification was immeasurably increased, when he was +told, that the man who had thus intruded upon what he considered his own +proper demesne, was none other than young Grayson, the son of his old +Kentucky enemy! Coming into the neighborhood, in the absence of Elwood, +the young man, finding so desirable a tract vacant, had at once taken +possession; and by the return of the regulator had almost finished a +neat and "roomy" cabin. He had "blazed" the trees, too, and "staked off" +the prairie--taking all those steps then deemed necessary, on the +frontier, to complete appropriation. + +Elwood's first step was to order him peremptorily, to desist, and give +up his "improvement"--threatening him, at the same time, with certain +and uncertain pains and penalties, if he refused to obey. But Grayson +only laughed at his threats, and went stoutly on with his work. When the +young men, whom he had hired to assist him in building his house, gave +him a friendly warning, that Elwood was the leader of a band of +regulators, and had power to make good his menaces, he only replied that +"he knew how to protect himself, and, when the time came, should not be +found wanting." Elwood retired from the contest, discomfited, but +breathing vengeance; while Grayson finished his house and commenced +operations on his farm. But those who knew the headlong violence of +Elwood's character, predicted that these operations would soon be +interrupted; and they were filled with wonder, when month after month +passed away, and there were still no signs of a collision. + + +In the meantime, it came to be rumored in the settlement, that there was +some secret connection between Grayson and Elwood's daughter, Hannah. +They had been seen by several persons in close conversation, at times +and places which indicated a desire for concealment; and one person even +went so far as to say, that he had been observed to kiss her, on +parting, late in the evening. Whatever may have been the truth in that +matter, it is, at all events, certain, that Grayson was an unmarried +man; and that the quarrel between the parents of the pair in Kentucky, +had broken up an intimacy, which bade fair to issue in a marriage; and +it is probable, that a subordinate if not a primary, motive, inducing +him to take possession of the disputed land, was a desire to be near +Hannah. Nor was this wish without its appropriate justification; for, +though not strictly beautiful, Hannah was quite pretty, and--what is +better in a frontier girl--active, fresh, and rosy. At the time of +Grayson's arrival in the settlement, she was a few months past eighteen; +and was as fine material for a border wife, as could be found in the new +state. The former intimacy was soon renewed, and before the end of two +months, it was agreed that they should be married, as soon as her +father's consent could be obtained. + +But this was not so easily compassed; for, all this time, Elwood had +been brooding over his defeat, and devising ways and means of recovering +the much-coveted land. + +At length, after many consultations with a fellow named Driscol, who +acted as his lieutenant in the regulator company, he acceded to a +proposition, made long before by that worthy, but rejected by Elwood on +account of its dishonesty. He only adopted the plan, now, because it was +apparently the only escape from permanent defeat; and long chafing under +what he considered a grievous wrong, had made him reckless of means, and +determined on success, at whatever cost. + + +One morning, about a week after the taking of this resolution, it was +announced that one of Elwood's horses had been stolen, on the night +before; and the regulators were straightway assembled, to ferret out and +punish so daring an offender. It happened (accidently, _of course_) to +be a horse which had cast one of its shoes, only the day before; and +this circumstance rendered it easy to discover his trail. Driscol, +Elwood's invaluable lieutenant, discovered the track and set off upon +it, almost as easily as if he had been present when it was made. He led +the party away into the prairie toward the east; and though his +companions declared that they could now see nothing of the trail, the +sharp-sighted lieutenant swore that it was "as plain as the nose on his +face"--truly, a somewhat exaggerated expression: for the color, if not +the size, of that feature in his countenance, made it altogether too +apparent to be overlooked! They followed him, however, convinced by the +earnestness of his asseverations, if not by their own eyes, until, after +going a mile toward the east, he began gradually to verge southward, +and, having wound about at random for some time, finally took a direct +course, for the point of timber on which Grayson lived! + +On arriving at the point, which terminated, as usual, in a dense +hazel-thicket, Driscol at once pushed his way into the covert, and lo! +there stood the stolen horse! He was tied to a sapling by a halter, +which was clearly recognised as the property of Grayson, and leading off +toward the latter's house, was traced a man's footstep--_his_, of +course! These appearances fully explained the theft, and there was not a +man present, who did not express a decided conviction that Grayson was +the thief. + +Some one remarked that his boldness was greater than his shrewdness, +else he would not have kept the horse so near. But Driscol declared, +dogmatically, that this was "the smartest thing in the whole business," +since, if the trail could be obliterated, no one would think of looking +_there_ for a horse stolen only a mile above! "The calculation" was a +good one, he said, and it only failed of success because he, Driscol, +happened to have a remarkably sharp sight for all tracks, both of horses +and men. To this proposition, supported by ocular evidence, the +regulators assented, and Driscol stock, previously somewhat depressed by +sundry good causes, forthwith rose in the regulator market to a +respectable premium! + +Having recovered the stolen property, the next question which presented +itself for their consideration, was in what way they should punish the +thief. To such men as they, this was not a difficult problem: without +much deliberation, it was determined that he must be at once driven from +the country. The "days of grace," usually given on such occasions, were +ten, and in pursuance of this custom, it was resolved that Grayson +should be mercifully allowed that length of time, in which to arrange +his affairs and set out for a new home: or, as the regulators expressed +it, "make himself scarce." Driscol, having already, by his praise-worthy +efforts in the cause of right, made himself the hero of the affair, was +invested with authority to notify Grayson of this decree. The matter +being thus settled, the corps adjourned to meet again ten days +thereafter, in order to see that their judgment was duly carried into +effect. + +Meantime, Driscol, the official mouthpiece of the self-constituted court +of general jurisdiction, rode away to discharge himself of his onerous +duties. Halting at the low fence which enclosed the scanty door-yard he +gave the customary "Halloo! the house!" and patiently awaited an answer. +It was not long, however, before Grayson issued from the door and +advanced to the fence, when Driscol served the process of the court _in +hæc verba_:-- + +"Mr. Grayson, the regulators of this settlement have directed me to give +you ten days' notice to leave the country. They will meet again one week +from next Friday, and if you are not gone by that time, it will become +their duty to punish you in the customary way." + +"What for?" asked Grayson, quietly. + +"For stealing this horse," the functionary replied, laying his hand on +the horse's mane, "and concealing him in the timber with the intention +to run him off." + +"It's Elwood's horse, isn't it?" + +"Yes," answered Driscol, somewhat surprised at Grayson's coolness. + +"When was he stolen?" asked the notified. + +"Last night," answered the official; "I suppose you know very well +without being told." + +"Do you, indeed?" said Grayson, smiling absently. And then he bent his +eyes upon the ground, and seemed lost in thought for some minutes. + +"Well, well," said he at length, raising his eyes again. "I didn't steal +the horse, Driscol, but I suppose you regulators know best who ought to +be allowed to remain in the settlement, so of course I shall have to +obey." + +"I am glad to find you so reasonable," said Driscol, making a movement +to ride away. + +"Stop! stop!" said Grayson: "don't be in a hurry! I shall be gone before +the ten days are up, and you and I may not meet again for a long time, +so get down and come in: let us take a parting drink together. I have +some excellent whiskey, just brought home." + +Now, the worthy functionary, as we have intimated, or as the aforesaid +nose bore witness, was "quite partial" to this description of produce: +some of his acquaintances even insinuating that he took sometimes "a +drop too much;" and though he felt some misgiving about remaining in +Grayson's company longer than his official duties required, the +temptation was too strong for him, and, silencing his fears, he sprang +to the ground. + +"Tie your horse to the fence, there," said Grayson, "and come in." +Driscol obeyed, and it was not long before he was seated in the cabin +with a tin-cup in his hand, and its generous contents finding their way +rapidly down his capacious throat. + +"Whiskey is a pleasant drink, after all, isn't it?" said Grayson, +smiling at the gusto with which Driscol dwelt upon the draught, and at +the same moment he rose to set his cup on the table behind the official. + +"Very pleasant indeed," said Driscol, in reply, and to prove his +sincerity, he raised his cup again to his lips. But this time he was not +destined to taste its contents. It was suddenly dashed from his hand--a +saddle-girth was thrown over his arms and body--and before he was aware +of what was being done, he found himself securely pinioned to the chair! +A rope was speedily passed round his legs, and tied, in like manner, +behind, so that he could, literally, move neither hand nor foot! He made +a furious effort to break away, but he would not have been more secure +had he been in the old-fashioned stocks! He was fairly entrapped, and +though he foamed, and swore, and threatened, it all did no manner of +good. Of this he at length became sensible, and grinding his teeth in +impotent rage, he relapsed into dogged silence. + +Having thoroughly secured his prisoner, Grayson, who was something of a +wag, poured out a small quantity of the seductive liquor, and coming +round in front of the ill-used official, smiled graciously in his face, +and drank "a health"-- + +"Success to you, Mr. Driscol," said he, "and long may you continue an +ornament to the distinguished company of which you are an honored +officer!" + +Driscol ground his teeth, but made no reply, and the toast was drunk, +like some of those impressive sentiments given at public dinners, "in +profound silence!" + +Having drained the cup, Grayson deposited it upon the table and himself +in a chair; and, drawing the latter up toward his companion, opened the +conference thus:-- + +"I think I have you pretty safe, Driscol: eh!" + +The lieutenant made no reply. + +"I see you are not in a very sociable humor," continued Grayson; "and, +to tell you the truth, I am not much that way inclined myself: but I am +determined to get to the bottom of this affair before you shall leave +the house. I am sure you know all about it; and if you don't, why the +worse for you, that's all." + +"What do you mean?" demanded Driscol, speaking for the first time. + +"I mean this," Grayson answered sternly: "I did not take that horse from +Elwood's--_but you did_: I saw you do it. But since my testimony will +not be received, I am determined that you shall give me a certificate in +writing that such is the fact. You needn't look so obstinate, for by the +God that made us both! you shall not leave that chair alive, unless you +do as I say!" + +Grayson was a large, rather fleshy man, with a light complexion and blue +eyes; and, though good-natured and hard to arouse, when once in earnest, +as now, like all men of his stamp, he both looked, and was, fully +capable of carrying his menaces into execution. The imprisoned +functionary did not at all like the expression of his eye, he quailed +before it in fear and shame. He was, however, resolved not to yield, +except upon the greatest extremity. + +"Come," said Grayson, producing materials for writing; "here are pen, +ink, and paper: are you willing to write as I dictate?" + +"No," said Driscol, doggedly. + +"We'll see if I can't make you willing, then," muttered his captor; and, +going to the other end of the cabin, he took down a coil of rope, which +hung upon a peg, and returned to his captive. Forming a noose at one +end, he placed it about Driscol's neck, and threw the other end over a +beam which supported the roof. + +"Are you going to murder me?" demanded the official in alarm. + +"Yes," answered Grayson, drawing the loose end down, and tightening the +noose about Driscol's throat. + +"You'll suffer for this," said the lieutenant furiously. + +"That won't help _you_ much," coolly replied Grayson, tugging at the +rope, until one leg of the chair gave signs of rising from the floor, +and Driscol's face exhibited unmistakable symptoms of incipient +strangulation. + +"Stop! stop!" he exclaimed, in a voice reduced to a mere wheeze--and +Grayson "eased off" to hear him. + +"Won't anything else satisfy you but a written certificate?" he +asked--speaking with difficulty, and making motions as if endeavoring to +swallow something too large to pass the gate of his throat. + +"Nothing but that," answered Grayson, decidedly; "and if you don't give +it to me, when your regulator friends arrive, instead of me, they will +find you, swinging from this beam by the neck!" And, seeing his victim +hesitate, he again tugged at the rope, until the same signs were +exhibited as before--only a little more apparently. + +"Ho--hold, Grayson!" begged the frightened and strangling lieutenant; +and, as his executioner again relaxed a little, he continued: "Just let +me up, and I'll do anything you want." + +"That is to say," laughed Grayson, "you would rather take the chances of +a fight, than be hung up like a sheep-stealing dog! Let you up, indeed!" +And once more he dragged the rope down more vigorously than ever. + +"I--didn't--mean that--indeed!" gulped the unhappy official, this time +almost strangled in earnest. + +"What _did_ you mean then?" sternly demanded Grayson, relaxing a little +once again. + +"I will write the certificate," moaned the unfortunate lieutenant, "if +you will let one arm loose, and won't tell anybody until the ten days +are out--" + +"Why do you wish it kept secret!" + +"If I give such a certificate as you demand," mournfully answered the +disconsolate officer, "I shall have to leave the country--and I want +time to get away." + +"Oh! that's it, is it? Well--very well." + +About an hour after this, Driscol issued from the house, and, springing +upon the horse, rode away at a gallop toward Elwood's. Here he left the +animal, but declined to enter; telling Hannah, who happened to be in the +yard, to say to her father that "it was all right," he pushed on toward +home--tenderly rubbing his throat, first with the right hand and then +with the left, all the way. Three days afterward, he disappeared from +the settlement, and was heard of no more. + +Grayson waited until near nightfall, and then took his way, as usual, to +a little clump of trees, that stood near Elwood's enclosures, to meet +Hannah. Here he stayed more than an hour, detailing the circumstances of +the accusation against him, and laughing with her, over the ridiculous +figure cut by her father's respectable lieutenant. Before they parted +their plans were all arranged, and Grayson went home in excellent humor. +What these plans were, will be seen in the sequel. + + +Eight days went by without any event important to our story--Hannah and +Grayson meeting each evening, in the grove, and parting again +undiscovered. On the ninth day, the former went to the house of a +neighbor, where it was understood that she was to remain during the +night, and return home on the following morning. Grayson remained on his +farm until near sunset, when he mounted his horse and rode away. This +was the last of his "days of grace;" and those who saw him passing along +the road, concluded that he had yielded to the dictates of prudence, and +was leaving the field. + +On the following morning, the regulators assembled to see that their +orders had been obeyed; and, though Elwood was a little disconcerted by +the absence of Driscol, since it was understood that Grayson had left +the country, the meeting was considered only a formal one, and the +presence of the worthy lieutenant was not indispensable. They proceeded +in high spirits to the premises, expecting to find the house deserted +and waiting for an occupant. Elwood was to take immediate possession, +and, all the way across the prairie, was felicitating himself upon the +ease and rapidity of his triumph. What was their surprise, then, on +approaching the house, to see smoke issuing from the chimney, as +usual--the door thrown wide open, and Grayson standing quietly in front +of it! The party halted and a council was called, but its deliberations +were by no means tedious: it was forthwith determined, that Grayson +stood _in defiance of the law_, and must be punished--that is, +"lynched"--without delay! The object of this fierce decree, all unarmed +as he was, still stood near the door, while the company slowly +approached the fence. He then advanced and addressed them:-- + +"I think the ten days are not up yet, gentlemen," said he mildly. + +"Yes, they are," answered Elwood quickly; "and we are here to know +whether you intend to obey the authorities, and leave the country?" + +"I think, Elwood," said the young man, not directly replying, "this +matter can be settled between you and me, without bloodshed, and even +without trouble. If you will come in with George and John [his sons], I +will introduce you to my wife, and we can talk it over, with a glass of +whiskey." + +Another consultation ensued, when, in order to prove their dignified +moderation, they agreed that Elwood and his sons should "go in and see +what he had to say." + +Elwood, the elder, entered first: directly before him, holding her sides +and shaking with laughter, stood his rosy daughter, Hannah! + +"_My wife_, gentlemen," said Grayson, gravely introducing them. Hannah's +laughter exploded. + +"O, father, father, father!" she exclaimed, leaning forward and +extending her hands; "ain't you caught, beautifully!" + +The laugh was contagious; and though the elder knit his brows, and was +evidently on the point of bursting with very different emotions, his +sons yielded to its influence, and, joining Hannah and her husband, +laughed loudly, peal after peal! + +The father could bear it no longer--he seized Hannah by the arm and +shook her violently, till she restrained herself sufficiently to speak; +as for him, he was speechless with rage. + +"It's entirely too late to make a 'fuss,' father," she said at length, +"for here is the marriage-certificate, and Grayson is your son!" + +"I have not stolen your horse, Elwood," said the bridegroom, taking the +paper which the father rejected, "though I have run away with your +daughter. And," he added, significantly, "since if you had this land, +you would probably give it to Hannah, I think you and I had better be +friends, and I'll take it as her marriage-portion." + +"If you can show that you did not take the horse, Grayson," said George, +the elder of the two sons, "I'll answer for that: but----" + +"That I can do very easily," interrupted the young husband, "I have the +proof in my pocket." + +He caught Elwood's eye as he spoke, and reassured him with a look, for +he could see that the old man began to apprehend an exposure in the +presence of his sons. This forbearance did more to reconcile him to his +discomfiture than aught else, save the influence of George; for, like +all passionate men, he was easily swayed by his cooler children. While +Hannah and her brothers examined the marriage certificate, and laughed +over "the stratagem," Grayson drew Elwood aside and exhibited a paper, +written in a cramped, uneven hand, as follows:-- + + "This is to certify, that it was not Josiah Grayson who took Robert + Elwood's horse from his stable, last night--but I took him myself, + by arrangement, so as to accuse Grayson of the theft, and drive him + to leave his new farm. + + "THOMAS DRISCOL." + +Elwood blushed as he came to the words "by arrangement," but read on +without speaking. Grayson then related the manner in which he had +entrapped the lieutenant, and the joke soon put him in a good humor. The +regulators were called in, and heard the explanation, and all laughing +heartily over the capture of Driscol, they insisted that Hannah and her +husband should mount, and ride with them to Elwood's. Neither of them +needed much persuasion--the whole party rode away together--the "lads +and lasses" of the neighborhood were summoned, and the day and night +were spent in merriment and dancing. + + +Grayson and his wife returned on the following morning to their new +home, where a life of steady and honorable industry, was rewarded with +affluence and content. Their descendants still live upon the place, one +of the most beautiful and extensive farms upon that fertile prairie. But +on the spot where the disputed cabin stood, has since been built a +handsome brick-house, and I pay only a just tribute to amiable +character, when I say that a more hospitable mansion is not to be found +in the western country. + + +This was the last attempt at "regulating" in that region, for emigration +came in so rapidly, that the supremacy of the law was soon asserted and +maintained. Whenever this came to be so, the regulators, of course, +ceased to be types of the state of society, and were succeeded by other +characters and institutions. + +To these we must now proceed. + + + [NOTE.--The following is a copy of a compact, such as is spoken of + in the story of the "The First Grave," entered into by a company of + regulators in somewhat similar circumstances. I am not sure that I + can vouch for its authenticity, but all who are familiar with the + history of those times, will recognise, in its peculiarities, the + characteristics of the people who then inhabited this country. The + affectation of legal form in such a document as this, would be + rather amusing, were it not quite too significant; at all events, + it is entirely "in keeping" with the constitution of a race who had + some regard for law and its vindication, even in their most + high-handed acts. The technical phraseology, used so strangely, is + easily traceable to the little "Justice's Form Book," which was + then almost the only law document in the country; and though the + words are rather awkwardly combined, they no doubt gave solemnity + to the act in the eyes of its sturdy signers:-- + + "_Know all men by these presents:_ + + "That we [_here follow twelve names_], citizens of ---- settlement, + in the state of Illinois, have this day, _jointly and severally_, + bound ourselves together as a company of Rangers and Regulators, to + protect this settlement against the crimes and misdemeanors of, all + and singular, every person or persons whomsoever, and especially + against _all horse-thieves, renegades, and robbers_. And we do by + these presents, hereby bind ourselves, jointly and severally as + aforesaid, unto each other, and to the fellow-citizens of this + settlement, to punish, according to the code of his honor, Judge + Lynch, all violations of the law, _against the peace and dignity of + the said people of_ ---- settlement; and to discover and bring to + speedy punishment, _all illegal combinations_--to rid the country + of such as are dangerous to the welfare of this settlement--to + preserve the peace, and _generally to vindicate the law_, within + the settlement aforesaid. All of which purposes we are to + accomplish as peaceably as possible: _but we are to accomplish + them one way or another_. + + "In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and affixed + our seals, this twelfth day of October, _Anno Domini_, eighteen + hundred and twenty. + + "(Signed by twelve men.) + + "Acknowledged and subscribed in the presence of + "C---- T. H----n, + "J---- P. D----n," + + and five others, who seem to have been a portion of "the + fellow-citizens of this settlement," referred to in the document.] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[77] See note at the close of this article. + +[78] The "Sangamon country," as the phrase was then used, included all +the region watered by the river of that name, together with the counties +of Cass, Morgan, and Scott, as far south as Apple creek. + + + + +VI. + +THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. + + "I beseech you, + Wrest once the law to your authority: + To do a great right, do a little wrong."-- + + MERCHANT OF VENICE. + + +The reign of violence, when an evil at all, is an evil which remedies +itself: the severity of its proceeding hastens the accomplishment of its +end, as the hottest fire soonest consumes its fuel. A nation will +endure oppression more patiently immediately after a spasmodic rebellion +or a bloody revolution, than at any other time; and a community requires +less law to govern it, after a violent and illegal assertion of the +law's supremacy, than was necessary before the outbreak. After having +thrown off the yoke of a knave--and perhaps hung the knave up by the +neck, or chopped his head off with an axe--mankind not unfrequently fall +under the control of a fool; frightened at their temerity in dethroning +an idol of metal, they bow down before a paltry statue of wood. + +Men are not easily satiated with power, but when it is irregular, a +pause in its exercise must eventually come. And there is a principle of +human nature, which teaches, that whatsoever partakes of the mob-spirit +is, at best, but temporary, and ought to have a speedy end. This is +especially true of such men as first permanently peopled the western +country; for though they sometimes committed high-handed and +unjustifiable acts, the moment it was discovered that they had +accomplished the purposes of order, they allowed the means of +vindication to fall into disuse. The regulator system, for example, was +directed to the stern and thorough punishment of evil men, but no sooner +was society freed from their depredations, than the well-meaning +citizens withdrew from its ranks; and, though regulator companies still +patrolled the country, and, for a time, assumed as much authority as +ever, they were not supported by the solid approbation of those who +alone could give them lasting strength. They did many outrageous things +for which they were never punished, and for some years, the shield which +the good citizen had raised above his head for protection and defence, +threatened to fall upon and crush him. But the western people are not +the first who have been temporarily enslaved by their liberators, +though, unlike many another race, they waited patiently for the changes +of years, and time brought them a remedy. + + +As the government waxed stronger, and public opinion assumed a +direction, the regulators, like their predecessors, the rangers, found +their "occupation gone," and gradually faded out from the land. +Proclamations were issued--legislatures met--laws were enacted, and +officers appointed to execute them; and though forcing a legal system +upon a people who had so long been "a law unto themselves," was a slow +and difficult process, it was powerfully assisted by the very disorders +consequent upon their attempts at self-government. They had burnt their +hands by seizing the hot iron-rod of irregular authority, and were, +therefore, better inclined to surrender the baton to those who could +handle it. Like Frankenstein, they had created a power which they could +not immediately control: the regulators, from being their servants, had +come to be their masters: and they willingly admitted any authority +which promised deliverance. They had risen in wrath, and chastised, with +no hesitating hand, the violators of their peace; but the reaction had +taken place, and they were now content to be governed by whatsoever +ruler Providence might send them. + +The state governments were established, then, without difficulty, and +the officers of the new law pervaded every settlement. The character +which I have selected as the best representative of this period, is one +of these new officers--_the early justice of the peace_. + + +So far as history or tradition informs us, there was never yet a country +in which appointments to office were invariably made with reference only +to qualification, and though the west is an exception to more than one +general rule, in this respect we must set it down in the common +category. The lawyer-period had not yet arrived; and, probably, there +was never an equal number of people in any civilized country, of whom a +larger proportion were totally ignorant of legal forms. There were not +three in each hundred who had ever seen the inside of a courthouse, and +they were quite as few who had once looked upon a law-book! Where such +was the case, some principle of appointment was of course necessary, +other than that which required fitness, by training, for the office +conferred; and it is probable that the rule adopted was but little +different to that in force among those who have the appointing power, +where no such circumstances restrict the choice. + + +Men were appointed conservators of the _peace_, because they had +distinguished themselves in _war_; and he who had assumed the powers of +the law, as a regulator, was thought the better qualified to exercise +them, as a legal officer! Courage and capacity, as an Indian-fighter, +gave one the prominence requisite to his appointment; and zeal for the +preservation of order, exhibited as a self-constituted judge and +executioner, was a guaranty for the faithful performance of new and +regular duties. + +Nor was the rule a bad one. A justice of the peace chosen upon this +principle, possessed two qualities indispensable to an efficient +officer, in the times of which we write--he was prompt in the discharge +of his duties, and was not afraid of responsibility. To obviate the +danger, however, which might arise from these, he had also a rigid sense +of justice, which usually guided his determinations according to the +rights of parties in interest. This, the lawyers will say, was a very +questionable trait for a judicial officer; and perhaps it _is_ better +for society, that a judge should know the law, and administer it +without reference to abstract justice, than that his own notions of +right and wrong should be taken, however conscientiously, as the +standard of judgment: for in that case, we shall, at least, have +uniformity of adjudication; whereas, nothing is more uncertain, than a +man's convictions of right. + +But, in the times of which we are writing, society was not yet +definitely shaped--its elements were not bound together by the cohesive +power of any legal cement--and no better rule was, therefore, to be +expected, than the spontaneous suggestions of common sense. The minds of +men were, moreover, habituated to a certain course of thought and +action--(such as naturally obtains in a new state of society, where the +absence of organization remits them to their own exertions for +safety)--and it was, therefore, impossible that any artificial system +should be at once adopted. The people had been accustomed to such +primitive associations, as they had entered into "for the common defence +and general welfare" of their infant communities; the rule of action had +been swift, and sometimes very informal punishment, for every +transgression; and this rule, having very well answered its purpose, +though at the expense of occasional severity and injustice, they could +not immediately understand the necessity for any other course of +proceeding. + + +One of the characteristics of the early justice, then, was a supreme +contempt for all mere form. He called it "nonsense" and could never +comprehend its utility. To him, all ceremony was affectation, and the +refinements of legal proceeding were, in his estimation, anti-republican +innovations upon the original simplicity of mankind. Technicalities he +considered merely the complicated inventions of lawyers, to exhibit +their perverse ingenuity--traps to catch the well-meaning or unwary, or +avenues of escape for the guilty. The rules of evidence he neither +understood nor cared for; he desired "to hear all about" every cause +brought before him; and the idea of excluding testimony, in obedience to +any rule, he would never entertain. He acted upon the principle--though +he probably never heard of the maxim--that "the law furnishes a remedy +for every wrong;" and, if he knew of none in positive enactment, he +would provide one, from the arsenal of his own sense of right. He never +permitted anything to obstruct the punishment of one whom he had +adjudged guilty; and, rather than allow a culprit to escape, he would +order his judgment to be carried at once into effect, in the presence, +and under the direction of the court. + +He had a strong prejudice against every man accused of crime; and +sometimes almost reversed the ancient presumption of the law, and held +the prisoner guilty, until he proved himself innocent. He had unbounded +confidence in the honesty of his neighbors and friends, and was +unwilling to believe, that they would accuse a man of crime or +misdemeanor, without very good cause. When it was proven that a crime +_had been committed_, he considered the guilt of the prisoner already +half established: it was, in his judgment, what one, better acquainted +with legal terms, might have called "a _prima facia_ case," devolving +the _onus probandi_ (or burthen of proof) upon the accused. And this may +have been one cause of the frequent resort to _alibis_--a mode of +defence which, as we have already remarked, is even yet in great +disrepute. If a defence, of some sort, was not, then, very clearly and +satisfactorily made out, the justice had no hesitation in entering +judgment, and ordering immediate punishment; for the right of appeal was +not generally recognised, and the justice took original and final +jurisdiction, where now his duties are merely those of preliminary +examination and commitment. + + +In civil controversies--where such causes were presented for +adjudication, which, however, was not very often--the order of +proceeding was quite as summary. The justice heard the statements of the +parties, and sometimes, not always, would listen to witnesses, also; +then, taking the general "rights, interests, claims, and demands," of +both sides into consideration--and viewing himself, not as a judicial +officer, but as a sort of referee or arbitrator--he would strike a +balance between the disputants, and dismiss them to their homes, with a +significant admonition to "keep the peace." He usually acted upon the +principle--no very erroneous one, either--that, when two respectable men +resort to the law, as arbitrator of their controversies, they are both +about equally blamable; and his judgments were accordingly based upon +the corollary, that neither deserved to have all he claimed. This was +the practice when any decision was made at all; but, in most cases, the +justice acted as a pacificator, and, by his authority and persuasion, +induced the parties to agree upon a compromise. For this purpose, he not +unfrequently remitted both fees and costs--those due to the constables, +as well as his own. + +An instance of this pacific practice has been related to me as follows: +Two neighbors had quarrelled about a small amount of debt, and, after +sundry attempts to "settle," finally went to law. The justice took them +aside, on the day of trial, and proposed a basis of settlement, to which +they agreed, _on condition_, that all costs should be remitted, and to +this the magistrate at once pledged himself. But a difficulty arose: the +constable, who had not been consulted in the arrangement, had had a long +ride after the defendant, and having an unquestionable right to demand +his fees, was unwilling to give them up. The justice endeavored to +prevail with him by persuasion, but in vain. Finally, growing impatient +of his obstinacy, he gave him a _peremptory order_ to consent, and, on +his refusal, _fined him_ the exact amount of his fees _for contempt_, +entered up judgment on the basis of the compromise, and adjourned the +court! + +The man who thus discourages litigation at the expense of his own +official emoluments, may be forgiven a few irregularities of proceeding, +in consideration of the good he effects; for although under such a +system it was seldom that either party obtained his full and just +rights, both were always benefited by the spirit of peace infused into +the community. It would, perhaps, be well for the country now, were our +legal officers actuated by the same motives; unfortunately, however, +such men belong only to primitive times. + + +But the love of peace was not accompanied, in this character, as it +usually is, by merciful judgment, for, as he was very swift in +determining a prisoner's guilt, he was equally rigid in imposing the +penalty. The enactments of the criminal code were generally so worded as +to give some scope for the exercise of a compassionate and enlightened +discretion; but when the decision lay in the breast of our justice, if +he adjudged any punishment at all, it was usually the severest provided +for by the statute. Half-measures were not adapted to the temper of the +times or the character of the people; indeed, they are suited to _no_ +people, and are signal failures at all times, in all circumstances. +Inflicting light punishments is like firing blank cartridges at a mob, +they only irritate, without subduing; and as the latter course usually +ends in unnecessary bloodshed, the former invariably increases the +amount of crime. + +_Certainty_ of punishment may be--unquestionably _is_--a very important +element in the administration of justice, but as nothing so strongly +disinclines a man to entering the water as the sight of another +drowning, so nothing will so effectually deter him from the commission +of crime, as the knowledge that another has been severely punished for +yielding to the same temptation. The justice, however, based the rigor +of his judgments upon no such argument of policy. His austerity was a +part of his character, and had been rendered more severe by the +circumstances in which he had lived--the audacity of law-breakers, and +the necessity for harsh penalties, in order for protection. + + +It will be observed that I say nothing of juries, and speak of justices +of the peace, as officers having authority to decide causes alone. And, +it must be recollected, that in the days of which I am writing, resort +was very seldom had to this cumbersome and uncertain mode of +adjudication. In civil causes, juries were seldom empanelled, because +they were attended by very considerable expense and delay. The chief +object, in going to law, moreover, was, in most cases, to have _a +decision_ of the matter in dispute; and juries were as prone to "hang" +then as now. Suitors generally, therefore, would rather submit to the +arbitration of the justice, than take the risk of delay and uncertainty, +with a jury. In criminal causes, the case was very similar: the accused +would as lief be judged by one prejudiced man as by twelve; for the same +rigorous spirit which actuated the justice, pervaded also the juries; +and (besides the chance of timidity or favor in the justice) in the +latter he must take the additional risks of personal enmity and +relationship to the party injured. Thus, juries were often discarded in +criminal causes also, and we think their disuse was no great sacrifice. +Such a system can derive its utility, in this country, only from an +enlightened public sentiment: if that sentiment be capricious and +oppressive, as it too often is, juries are quite as likely to partake +its vices as legal officers: if the sentiment be just and healthy, no +judicial officer dare be guilty of oppression. So that our fathers lost +nothing in seldom resorting to this "palladium of our liberties," and, +without doubt, gained something by avoiding delay, uncertainty, and +expense. + +The reader will also observe, that I say nothing of higher courts. But +the lines between the upper and lower tribunals were not so strictly +drawn then as they now are, and the limits of jurisdiction were, +consequently, very indefinite. Most of the characteristics, moreover, +here ascribed to the justice of the peace, belonged, in almost an equal +degree, to the judges of the circuit courts; and, though some of the +latter were men of respectable legal requirements, the same off-hand +mode of administering the law which distinguished the inferior +magistrates, marked the proceedings of their courts also. Both +occasionally assumed powers which they did not legally possess; both +were guided more by their own notions of justice, than by the rules of +law; and both were remarkable for their severity upon all transgressors. +Neither cared much for the rules of evidence, each was equal to any +emergency or responsibility, and both had very exalted ideas of their +own authority. + +But the functions of the justice were, in his estimation, especially +important--his dignity was very considerable also, and his powers +anything but circumscribed. A few well-authenticated anecdotes, however, +will illustrate the character better than any elaborate portraiture. +And, for fear those I am about to relate may seem exceptions, not fairly +representing the class, I should state, in the outset, that I have +selected them from a great number which I can recall, particularly +because they are _not_ exceptive, and give a very just impression of the +character which I am endeavoring to portray. + + +Squire A---- was a plain, honest farmer, who had distinguished himself +as a pioneer and ranger, and was remarkable as a man of undoubted +courage, but singularly peaceable temper. In the year eighteen hundred +and twenty, he received from Governor Bond of Illinois, a commission as +justice of the peace, and though he was not very clear what his duties, +dignities, and responsibilities, precisely were, like a patriot and a +Roman, he determined to discharge them to the letter. At the period of +his appointment, he was at feud with one of his neighbors about that +most fruitful of all subjects of quarrel, a division-fence; and as such +differences always are, the dispute had been waxing warmer for several +months. He received his docket, blanks, and "Form-Book," on Saturday +evening, and though he had as yet no suits to enter and no process to +issue, was thus provided with all the weapons of justice. On the +following Monday morning, he repaired, as usual, to his fields, about +half-a-mile from home, and though full of his new dignity, went quietly +to work. + +He had not been there long, before his old and only enemy made his +appearance, and opened upon him a volley of abuse in relation to the +division-fence, bestowing upon his honor, among other expressive titles, +the euphonious epithet of "jackass." A---- bore the attack until it came +to this point--which, it would seem, was as far as a man's patience +ought to extend--and, it is probable, that had he not been a legal +functionary, a battle would have ensued "then and there." But it was +beneath the dignity thus outraged, to avenge itself by a vulgar +fisticuff, and A---- bethought him of a much better and more honorable +course. He threw his coat across his arm, and marched home. There he +took down his new docket, and upon the first page, recorded the case of +the "_People of the State of Illinois_ vs. _John Braxton_" (his enemy). +He then entered up the following judgment: "_The defendant in this case, +this day, fined ten dollars and costs, for_ CONTEMPT OF COURT, _he +having called_ US _a jackass_!" On the opposite page is an entry of +satisfaction, by which it appears that he forthwith issued an execution +upon the judgment, and collected the money! + +This pretext of "contempt" was much in vogue, as a means of reaching +offences not expressly provided for by statute; but the justice was +never at a loss for expedients, even in cases entirely without +precedent, as the following anecdote will illustrate:-- + + +A certain justice, in the same state of Illinois, was one day trying, +for an aggravated assault, a man who was too much intoxicated fully to +realize the import of the proceedings or the dignity of the court. He +was continually interrupting witnesses, contradicting their testimony, +and swearing at the justice. It soon became evident that he must be +silenced or the trial adjourned. The justice's patience at length gave +way. He ordered the constable to take the obstreperous culprit to a +creek, which ran near the office, "and duck him until he was sober +enough to be quiet and respect the court!" This operation the constable +alone could not perform, but in due time he brought the defendant back +dripping from the creek and thoroughly sobered, reporting, at the same +time, that he had availed himself of the assistance of two men, Messrs. +B---- and L----, in the execution of his honor's commands. The trial +then went quietly on, the defendant was fined for a breach of the peace, +and ordered to pay _the costs_: one item of which was two dollars to +Messrs. B---- and L---- "for assisting the constable in ducking the +prisoner!" But, as the justice could find no form nor precedent for +hydropathic services, he entered the charge as "_witness fees_," and +required immediate payment! The shivering culprit, glad to escape on any +terms, paid the bill and vanished! + + +Whatever might have been the prevailing opinion, as to the legality of +such a proceeding, the ridicule attaching to it would effectually have +prevented any remedy--most men being willing to forgive a little +irregularity, for the sake of substantial justice and "a good joke." But +the summary course, adopted by these magistrates, sometimes worked even +greater injustice--as might have been expected; and of this, the +following is an example:-- + +About the year eighteen hundred and twenty-six, there lived, in a +certain part of the west, a man named Smedley, who, so far as the +collection of debts was concerned, was entirely "law-proof." He seemed +to have a constitutional indisposition to paying anything he owed: and, +though there were sundry executions in the hands of officers against +him--and though he even seemed thrifty enough in his pecuniary +affairs--no property could ever be found, upon which they could be +levied. There was, at the same time, a constable in the neighborhood, a +man named White, who was celebrated, in those days of difficult +collections, for the shrewdness and success of his official exploits; +and the justice upon whom he usually attended, was equally remarkable, +for the high hand with which he carried his authority. But, though two +executions were placed in the hands of the former, upon judgments on the +docket of the latter, months passed away, without anything being +realized from the impervious defendant, Smedley. + +Whenever the constable found him in possession of property, and made a +levy, it was proven to belong to some one else; and the only result of +his indefatigable efforts, was the additions of heavy costs to the +already hopeless demand. + +At length, however, White learned that Smedley had _traded horses_ with +a man named Wyatt, and he straightway posted off to consult the +magistrate. Between them, the plan of operations was agreed upon. White +levied first upon the horse then in the possession of Smedley, taking +him under _one_ of the two writs: he then levied _the other_ execution +upon the horse which Smedley had traded to Wyatt. The latter, +apprehending the loss of his property, claimed the first horse--that +which he had traded to Smedley. But, upon the "trial of the right of +property," the justice decided that the horse was found in the +possession of Smedley, and was, therefore, subject to levy and sale. He +was accordingly sold, and the first judgment was satisfied. Wyatt then +claimed the _second_ horse--that which he had received from Smedley. +But, upon a similar "trial"--after severely reprimanding Wyatt for +claiming _both_ horses, when, on his own showing, he never owned but +_one_--the justice decided that the property in dispute had been in the +possession of Smedley at the rendition of the judgment, and was +therefore, like the other, subject to a lien, and equally liable to levy +and sale! And accordingly, this horse, also, was sold, to satisfy the +second execution, and Wyatt was dismissed by the justice, with no gentle +admonition, "to be careful in future with whom he swapped horses!" A +piece of advice which he probably took, and for which he ought to have +been duly grateful! Fallen humanity, however, is very perverse; and it +is at least supposable, that, having lost his horse, he considered +himself hardly used--an opinion in which my legal readers will probably +concur. + +Before leaving this part of my subject, I will relate another anecdote, +which, though it refers more particularly to constables, serves to +illustrate the characteristics of the early officers of the +law--justices, as well as others:-- + +The constable who figured so advantageously in the anecdote last +related, had an execution against a man named Corson, who was almost as +nearly "law proof" as Smedley. He had been a long time endeavoring to +realize something, but without success. At length, he was informed, that +Corson had sued another man, upon an account, before a justice in a +distant part of the same county. This, the delinquent officer at once +saw, gave him a chance to secure something; and, on the day of trial, +away he posted to the justice's office. Here, he quietly seated himself, +and watched the course of the proceeding. The trial went on, and, in due +time, the justice decided the cause in favor of Corson. At this +juncture, White arose, and, while the justice was entering up judgment, +approached the table. When the docket was about to be laid aside, he +interposed:-- + +"Stop!" said he, placing his hand upon the docket, "_I levels on this +judgment_!" And, giving no attention to remonstrances, he demanded and +obtained the execution. On this he collected the money, and at once +applied it to that, which he had been so long carrying--thus settling +two controversies, by diligence and force of will. He was certainly a +valuable officer! + + +Thus irregular and informal were many of the proceedings of the +primitive legal functionaries; but a liberal view of their characters +must bring us to the conclusion, that their influence upon the progress +of civilization of the country, was, on the whole, decidedly +beneficial. + + + + +VII. + +THE PEDDLER. + + "This is a traveller, sir; knows men and + Manners."-- + + BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER. + + +Previous to the organization of civil government, and "the form and +pressure" given to the times by this and its attendant circumstances, +the primitive tastes and habits of the western people, excluded many of +those artificial wants which are gratified by commerce, and afforded no +room for traders, excepting those who sold the absolute necessaries of +life. + +In those days, housekeeping was a very simple matter. Neither +steam-engines nor patent cook-stoves were yet known, as necessary +adjuncts to a kitchen; the housewife would have "turned up her nose" in +contempt of a bake-oven: would have thrown a "Yankee reflector" over the +fence, and branded the innovator with the old-fashioned gridiron. Tin +was then supposed to be made only for cups and coffee-pots: pie-pans +had not yet even entered "the land of dreams;" and the tea-kettle, which +then "sang songs of family glee," was a quaint, squat figure, resembling +nothing so much as an over-fed duck, and poured forth its music from a +crooked, quizzical spout, with a notch in its iron nozzle. If its +shut-iron lid was ornamented with a brass button, for a handle, it was +thought to be manufactured in superior style. Iron spoons were good +enough for the daintiest mouth; and a full set of pewter was a household +treasure. China dishes and silver plate had been heard of, but belonged +to the same class of marvellous things, with Aladdin's lamp and +Fortunatus's purse. Cooking was not yet reduced to a science, and eating +was like sleep--a necessity, not a mere amusement. The only luxuries +known, were coffee and sugar; and these, with domestics and other cotton +fabrics, were the chief articles for which the products of the earth +were bartered. + +French cloths and Parisian fashions were still less known than silver +spoons and "rotary stoves." The men wore homemade jeans, cut after the +_mode_ of the forest: its dye a favorite "Tennessean" brownish-yellow; +and the women were not ashamed to be seen in linsey-wolsey, woven in the +same domestic loom. Knitting was then not only an accomplishment, but a +useful art; and the size which a "yarn" stocking gave to a pretty ankle, +was not suffered to overbalance the consideration of its comfort. The +verge of nakedness was not then the region of modesty: the neck and its +adjacent parts were covered in preference to the hands; and, in their +barbarous ignorance, the women thought it more shame to appear in public +half-dressed, than to wear a comfortable shoe. + +They were certainly a very primitive people--unrefined, unfashionable, +"coarse"--and many of their sons and daughters are even now ashamed to +think what "savages" their parents were! In their mode of life, they +sought comfort, not "appearances;" and many things which their more +sophisticated descendants deem necessaries, they contemned as luxuries. + + +But, in the course of time, these things began to change, for simplicity +is always "primitive," and the progress of refinement is only the +multiplication of wants. As the country was reduced to cultivation, and +peace settled upon its borders, new classes of emigrants began to take +possession of the soil; and, for the immediate purposes of rapid +advancement, and especially of social improvement, they were better +classes than their predecessors: for, as the original pioneers had +always lived a little beyond the influences of regular civilization, +these had remained within its limits until the pressure of legal +organization began to grow irksome to their partially untamed spirits. +There was, indeed, an unbroken gradation of character, from the nearly +savage hunter, who visited the country only because it was uninhabited, +except by wild beasts, to the genuine _citizen_, who brought with him +order, and industry, and legal supremacy. + +The emigrants, of whom we are now writing, constituted the third step in +this progression; and they imported along with them, or drew after them, +the peculiarities belonging to their own degree of advancement. Their +notions of comfort and modes of living, though still quite crude, +indicated an appreciable stage of refinement. They were better supplied, +for example, with cooking utensils--their household furniture was not so +primitive--and in wearing apparel, they manifested some regard to +elegance as well as comfort. Social intercourse disseminated these ideas +among those to whom they were novel; where, previously, the highest +motive to improvement had been a desire for convenience, the idea of +gentility began to claim an influence; and some of the more moderate +embellishments of life assumed the place of the mere necessaries. + +The transition was not rapid nor violent, like all permanent changes, it +was the work of years, marked by comparatively slow gradations. First, +tin-ware, of various descriptions, became necessary to the operations of +the kitchen; and that which had been confined to one or two articles, +was now multiplied into many forms. A housewife could no more bake a pie +without a "scalloped" pie-pan, than without a fire: a tin-bucket was +much more easily handled than one of cedar or oak; and a pepper-box, of +the same material, was as indispensable as a salt-cellar. A little tea +was occasionally added to the ancient regimen of coffee, and thus a +tin-canister became necessary for the preservation of the precious drug. +With tea came queensware: and half-a-dozen cups and saucers, usually of +a dingy white, with a raised blue edge, were needful for the pranking of +the little cupboard. + + +But it was not only in the victualing department that the progress of +refinement could be traced; for the thrifty housewife, who thought it +proper to adorn her table, and equip her kitchen with all the late +improvements, could not, of course, entirely overlook "the fashions:" +the decoration of her person has been, in all ages, the just and honest +pride of woman. Linsey-wolsey began to give place to calicoes and +many-colored prints; calf-skin shoes were antiquated by the use of kid; +and ribands fluttered gracefully upon new-fashioned bonnets. Progress of +this kind never takes a step backward: once possessed of an improvement +in personal comfort, convenience, or adornment, man--or woman--seldom +gives it up. Thus, these things, once used, thenceforth became wants, +whose gratification was not to be foregone: and it is one of the +principles governing commerce, that the demand draws to it the supply. + +There were few "country stores," in those days, and the settlements were +so scattered as to make it sometimes very inconvenient to visit them. +From ten to twenty miles was a moderate distance to the dépôt of +supplies; and a whole day was usually consumed in going and returning. +The visits were, therefore, not very frequent--the purchases for many +weeks--perhaps months--being made on each occasion. This was a very +inconvenient mode of "shopping," even for the energetic women of that +day; and, since the population would not justify more numerous +"stores," it was desirable that some new system should be introduced, +capable of supplying the demand at the cost of less trouble, and fewer +miles of travel. To answer this necessity there was but one way--the +"storekeeper" must carry his wares to the doors of his customers. And +thus arose the occupation of the _Peddler_, or, as he called himself, +the "travelling merchant." + +The population of the country was then almost exclusively +agricultural--the mechanic arts belong to a more advanced period. The +consequence was, that the first articles carried about from house to +house, were such as are manufactured by artisans--and the chief of these +was tin-ware. + +The tinkers of the rural districts in older countries, were, however, +not known in this--they were not adapted to the genius of the people. +The men who sold the ware were, scarcely ever, the same who made it; +and, though the manual dexterity of most of these ready men, might +enable them to mend a broken pan, or a leaky coffeepot, their skill was +seldom put in requisition. Besides, since the mending of an old article +might interfere with the sale of a new one, inability to perform the +office was more frequently assumed than felt. + +In the course of time--as the people of the country began to acquire new +ideas, and discover new wants--other articles were added to the +peddler's stock. Calicoes were often carried in the same box with tin +pans--cotton checks and ginghams were stowed away beneath tin-cups and +iron-spoons--shining coffee-pots were crammed with spools of thread, +papers of pins, cards of horn-buttons, and cakes of shaving-soap--and +bolts of gaudy riband could be drawn from pepper-boxes and +sausage-stuffers. Table-cloths, of cotton or brown linen, were displayed +before admiring eyes, which had turned away from all the brightness of +new tin plates; and knives and forks, all "warranted pure steel," +appealed to tastes, which nothing else could excite. New razors touched +the men "in tender places," while shining scissors clipped the purses of +the women. Silk handkerchiefs and "fancy" neckcloths--things till then +unknown--could occupy the former, while the latter covetously turned +over and examined bright ribands and fresh cotton hose. The peddler was +a master of the art of pleasing all tastes: even the children were not +forgotten; for there were whips and jew's-harps for the boys, and nice +check aprons for the girls. (The taste for "playing mother" was as much +an instinct, with the female children of that day, as it is in times +more modern; but life was yet too earnest to display it in the dressing +and nursing of waxen babies.) To suit the people from whom the peddler's +income was derived, he must consult at least the appearance of utility, +in every article he offered; for, though no man could do more, to coax +the money out of one's pocket, without leaving an equivalent, even _he_ +could not succeed in such an enterprise, against the matter-of-fact +pioneer. + + +The "travelling merchants" of this country were generally what their +customers called "Yankees"--that is, New-Englanders, or descendants of +the puritans, whether born east of the Hudson or not. And, certainly, no +class of men were ever better fitted for an occupation, than were those +for "peddling." The majority of them were young men, too; for the +"Yankee" who lives beyond middle age, without providing snug quarters +for the decline of life, is usually not even fit for a peddler. But, +though often not advanced in years, they often exhibited qualities, +which one would have expected to find only in men of age and experience. +They could "calculate," with the most absolute certainty, what precise +stage of advancement and cultivation, was necessary to the introduction +of every article of merchandise their stock comprised. Up to a certain +limit, they offered, for example, linen table-cloths: beyond that, +cotton was better and more saleable; in certain settlements, they could +sell numbers of the finer articles, which, in others, hung on their +hands like lead; and they seemed to know, the moment they breathed the +air of a neighborhood, what precise character of goods was most likely +to pay. + +Thus--by way of illustration--it might seem, to one not experienced in +reading the signs of progress, a matter of nice speculation and subtle +inquiry, to determine what exact degree of cultivation was necessary, to +make profitable the trade in _clocks_. But I believe there is no +instance of an unsuccessful clock-peddler on record; and, though this +fact may be accounted for, superficially, by asserting that time is +alike important to all men, and a measure of its course, therefore, +always a want, a little reflection will convince us, that this +explanation is more plausible than sound. + + +It is, perhaps, beyond the capacity of any man, to judge unerringly, by +observation, of the usual signs of progress, the exact point at which a +community, or a man, has arrived in the scale of cultivation; and it may +seem especially difficult, to determine commercially, what precise +articles, of use or ornament, are adapted to the state indicated by +those signs. But that there are such indications, which, if properly +attended to, will be unfailing guides, is not to be denied. Thus, the +quick observation of a clock-peddler would detect among a community of +primitive habits, the growing tendency to regularity of life; for, as +refinement advances, the common affairs of everyday existence, feeling +the influence first, assume a degree of order and arrangement; and from +the display of this improvement, the trader might draw inferences +favorable to his traffic. Eating, for example, as he would perceive, is +done at certain hours of the day--sleep is taken between fixed periods +of the night and morning--especially, public worship--which is one of +the best and surest signs of social advancement--must be held at a time +generally understood. + +The peddler might conclude, also, when he saw a glazed window in a +house, that the owner was already possessed of a clock--which, perhaps, +needed repairing--or, at least, was in great need of one, if he had not +yet made the purchase. One of these shrewd "calculators" once told me, +that, when he saw a man with four panes of glass in his house, and no +clock, he either sold him one straightway, or "set him down crazy, or a +screw." + +"Have you no other 'signs of promise'"? I asked. + +"O yes," he replied, "many! For instance: When I am riding past a +house--(I always ride slowly)--I take a general and particular survey of +the premises--or, as the military men say, I make a _reconnaissance_; +and it must be a very bare place, indeed, if I can not see some 'sign,' +by which to determine, whether the owner needs a clock. If I see the +man, himself, I look at his extremities; and by the appearance of hat +and boot, I make up my opinion as to whether he knows the value of time: +if he wears anything but a cap, I can pretty fairly calculate upon +selling him a clock; and if, to the hat, he has added _boots_, I halt at +once, and, without ceremony, carry a good one in. + +"When I see the wife, instead of the husband, I have no difficulty in +making up my mind--though the signs about the women are so numerous and +minute, that it would be hard to explain them. If one wears a +check-apron and sports a calico dress, I know that a 'travelling +merchant' has been in the neighborhood; and if he has succeeded in +making a reasonable number of sales, I am certain that he has given her +such a taste for buying, that I can sell her anything at all: for +purchasing cheap goods, to a woman, is like sipping good liquor, to a +man--she soon acquires the appetite, and thenceforward it is insatiable. + +"I have some customers who have a _passion_ for clocks. There is a man +on this road, who has one for every room in his house; and I have +another with me now--with a portrait of General Jackson in the +front--which I expect to add to his stock. There is a farmer not far +from here, with whom I have 'traded' clocks every year since I first +entered the neighborhood--always receiving about half the value of the +article I sell, in money, 'to boot.' There are clock-fanciers, as well +as fanciers of dogs and birds; and I have known cases, in which a man +would have two or three time-pieces in his house, and not a pair of +shoes in the family! But such customers are rare--as they ought to be; +and the larger part of our trade is carried on, with people who begin to +feel the necessity of regularity--to whom the sun has ceased to be a +sufficient guide--and who have acquired some notions of elegance and +comfort. And we seldom encounter the least trouble in determining, by +the general appearance of the place, whether the occupant has arrived at +that stage of refinement." + + +We perceive that the principal study of the peddler is human nature; and +though he classifies the principles of his experience, more especially +with reference to the profits of his trade, his rapid observation of +minor traits and indications, is a talent which might be useful in many +pursuits, besides clock-peddling. And, accordingly, we discover that, +even after he has abandoned the occupation, and ceased to be a bird of +passage, he never fails to turn his learning to a good account. + + +He was distinguished by energy as well as shrewdness, and an +enterprising spirit was the first element of his prosperity. There was +no corner--no secluded settlement--no out-of-the way place--where he was +not seen. Bad roads never deterred him: he could drive his horses and +wagon where a four-wheeled vehicle never went before. He understood +bearings and distances as well as a topographical engineer, and would +go, whistling contentedly, across a prairie or through a forest, where +he had not even a "trail" to guide him. He could find fords and +crossings where none were previously known to exist; and his pair of +lean horses, by the skilful management of their driver, would carry him +and his wares across sloughs and swamps, where a steam-engine would have +been clogged by the weight of a baby-wagon. If he broke his harness or +his vehicle in the wilderness, he could repair it without assistance, +for his mechanical accomplishments extended from the shoeing of a horse +to the repair of a watch, and embraced everything between. He was never +taken by surprise--accidents never came unexpected, and strange events +never disconcerted him. He would whistle "Yankee Doodle" while his +horses were floundering in a quagmire, and sing "Hail Columbia" while +plunging into an unknown river! + +He never met a stranger, for he was intimately acquainted with a man as +soon as he saw him. Introductions were useless ceremonies to him, for he +cared nothing about names. He called a woman "ma'am" and a man "mister," +and if he could sell either of them a few goods, he never troubled +himself or them with impertinent inquiries. Sometimes he had a habit of +learning each man's name from his next neighbor, and possessing an +excellent memory, he never lost the information thus acquired. + +When he had passed through a settlement once, he had a complete +knowledge of all its circumstances, history, and inhabitants; and, the +next year, if he met a child in the road, he could tell you whom it most +resembled, and to what family it belonged. He recollected all who were +sick on his last visit--what peculiar difficulties each was laboring +under--and was always glad to hear of their convalescence. He gathered +medicinal herbs along the road, and generously presented them to the +housewives where he halted, and he understood perfectly the special +properties of each. He possessed a great store of good advice, suited to +every occasion, and distributed it with the disinterested benevolence of +a philanthropist. He knew precisely what articles of merchandise were +adapted to the taste of each customer; and the comprehensive "rule of +three" would not have enabled him to calculate more nicely the exact +amount of "talk" necessary to convince them of the same. + +His address was extremely insinuating, for he always endeavored to say +the most agreeable things, and no man could judge more accurately what +would best please the person addressed. He might be vain enough, but his +egotism was never obtruded upon others. He might secretly felicitate +himself upon a successful trade, but he never boasted of it. He seemed +to be far more interested in the affairs of others than in his own. He +had sympathy for the afflictions of his customers, counsel for their +difficulties, triumph in their success. + + +Before the introduction of mails, he was the universal news-carrier, and +could tell all about the movements of the whole world. He could gossip +over his wares with his female customers, till he beguiled them into +endless purchases, for he had heard of every death, marriage, and birth +within fifty miles. He recollected the precise piece of calico from +which Mrs. Jones bought her last new dress, and the identical bolt of +riband from which Mrs. Smith trimmed her "Sunday bonnet." He knew whose +children went to "meeting" in "store-shoes," whose daughter was +beginning to wear long dresses, and whose wife wore cotton hose. He +could ring the changes on the "latest fashions" as glibly as the +skilfulest _modiste_. He was a _connoisseur_ in colors, and learned in +their effects upon complexion. He could laugh the husband into +half-a-dozen shirts, flatter the wife into calico and gingham, and +praise the children till both parents joined in dressing them anew from +top to toe. + +He always sold his goods "at a ruinous sacrifice," but he seemed to have +a dépôt of infinite extent and capacity, from which he annually drew new +supplies. He invariably left a neighborhood the loser by his visit, and +the close of each season found him inconsolable for his "losses." But +the next year he was sure to come back, risen, like the Phoenix, from his +own ashes, and ready to be ruined again--in the same way. He could never +resist the pleading look of a pretty woman, and if she "jewed" him +twenty per cent. (though his profits were only two hundred), the +tenderness of his heart compelled him to yield. What wonder is it, then, +if he was a prime favorite with all the women, or that his advent, to +the children, made a day of jubilee? + + +But the peddler, like every other human "institution," only had "his +day." The time soon came when he was forced to give way before the march +of newfangledness. The country grew densely populated, neighborhoods +became thicker, and the smoke of one man's chimney could be seen from +another's front-door. People's wants began to be permanent--they were no +longer content with transient or periodical supplies--they demanded +something more constant and regular. From this demand arose the little +neighborhood "stores," established for each settlement at a central and +convenient point--usually at "cross-roads," or next door to the +blacksmith's shop--and these it was which superseded the peddler's +trade. + + +We could wish to pause here, and, after describing the little dépôt, +"take an account of stock:" for no store, not even a sutler's, ever +presented a more amusing or characteristic assortment. But since these +modest establishments were generally the _nuclei_, around which western +towns were built, we must reserve our fire until we reach that subject. + + +But the peddler had not acquired his experience of life for nothing, he +was not to be outdone, even by the more aristocratic stationary +shop-keeper. When he found his trade declining, he cast about him for a +good neighborhood, still uninvaded by the Lombards, and his extensive +knowledge of the country soon enabled him to find one. Here he erected +his own cabin, and boldly entered the lists against his new +competitors. If he could find no eligible point for such an +establishment, or if he augured unfavorably of his success in the new +walk, he was not cast down. If he could not "keep store," he could at +least "keep tavern," an occupation for which his knowledge of the world +and cosmopolitan habits, admirably fitted him. In this capacity, we +shall have occasion to refer to him again; and have now only to record, +that in the progress of time, he grew rich, if not fat, and eventually +died, "universally regretted." + + + + +VIII. + +THE SCHOOLMASTER. + + "There, in his quiet mansion, skilled to rule, + The village _master_ taught his little school. + + * * * * * + + "I knew him well, and every truant knew: + + * * * * * + + "Yet he was kind; or, if severe in aught, + The love he bore to learning was in fault. + The village all declared how much he knew: + 'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too."-- + + GOLDSMITH'S "DESERTED VILLAGE." + + +[Illustration: THE SCHOOLMASTER.] + +In the progress of society, the physical wants are felt before the +intellectual. Men appreciate the necessity for covering their backs and +lining their stomachs before storing their minds, and they naturally +provide a shelter from the storms of heaven, before they seek (with +other learning) a knowledge of the heavenly bodies. Thus the rudest +social system comprises something of the mechanic arts--government +begins to advance toward the dignity of a science--commerce follows the +establishment of legal supremacy--and the education of the citizen +comes directly after the recognition of his social and political rights. +So, the justice of the peace (among other legal functionaries) indicates +subjection, more or less complete, to the regulations of law; the +peddler represents the beginning of commercial interests; and the +schoolmaster succeeds him, in the natural order of things. + +It may be possible to preserve a high respect for a _calling_, while we +despise the men who exercise it: though I believe this is not one of the +rules which "work both ways," and the converse is, therefore, not +equally true. A man's occupation affects _him_ more nearly than _he_ +does his occupation. A thousand contemptible men will not bring a +respectable profession into so much disrepute, as a contemptible +profession will a thousand respectable men. All the military talents, +for example, of the commander-in-chief of our armies, would not preserve +him from contempt, should he set up a barber-shop, or drive a milk-cart; +but the barber, or the milkman, might make a thousand blunders at the +head of an army, should extravagant democracy elevate him to that +position, and yet the rank of a general would be as desirable, because +as honorable, as ever. + +It is certainly true, however, that the most exalted station may be +degraded by filling it with a low or despicable incumbent, for the +mental effort necessary to the abstraction of the employment from him +who pursues it, is one which most men do not take the trouble to make: +an effort, indeed, which the majority of men are _incapable_ of making. +A vicious priest degrades the priestly vocation--a hypocrite brings +reproach upon the religious profession--a dishonest lawyer sinks the +legal character--and even the bravest men care but little for promotion +in an army, when cowardice and incompetency are rewarded with rank and +power. But manifest incapacity, culpable neglect of duty, or even a +positively vicious character, will not reduce a calling to contempt, or +bring it into disrepute so soon, as any quality which excites ridicule. + +An awkward figure, a badly-shaped garment, or an ungainly manner, will +sometimes outweigh the acquirements of the finest scholar; and the cause +of religion has suffered more, from the absence of the softer graces, in +its clerical representations, than from all the logic of its +adversaries. A laugh is more effectual to subvert an institution, than +an argument--for it is easier to make men ashamed, than to convince +them. Truth and reason are formidable weapons, but ridicule is stronger +than either--or both. + +Thus: All thinking men will eagerly admit, that the profession of the +schoolmaster is, not only respectable, but honorable, alike to the +individual, and to the community in which he pursues it: yet, rather +than teach a school for a livelihood, the large majority of the same men +would "split rails" or cut cord-wood! And this is not because teaching +is laborious--though it _is_ laborious, and thankless, too, beyond all +other occupations; but because a number and variety of causes, into +which we need not inquire, have combined to throw ridicule upon him, who +is derisively called the pedagogue--for most men would rather be shot +at, than laughed at. Cause and effect are always inter-reactive: and the +refusal of the most competent men, to "take up the birch"--which is the +effect of this derision--has filled our school-rooms with men, who are, +not unfairly, its victims. Thus the profession--(for such is its +inherent dignity)--itself, has fallen into discredit--even though the +judgment of men universally is, that it is not only useful, but +indispensable. + +Nor is that judgment incorrect. For, though home-education may sometimes +succeed, it is usually too fragmentary to be beneficial--private tutors +are too often the slaves of their pupils, and can not enforce "attention," +the first condition of advancement, where they have not the paraphernalia +of command--and, as for self-education, logically there can be no such +thing: "one might as well attempt to lift himself over the fence, by the +straps of his boots," as to educate himself "without a master." + + +The schoolmaster, then, is a useful member of society--not to be spared +at any stage of its progress. But he is particularly necessary to +communities which are in the transition state; for, upon the +enlightenment of the rising generation depend the success and +preservation of growing institutions. Nor does his usefulness consist +altogether--or even in a great measure--in the number of facts, +sciences, or theories, with which he may store the minds of his pupils. +These are not the objects of education, any more than a knowledge of the +compartments in a printer's "letter-case," is the ultimate result of the +art of printing. The types are so arranged, in order to enable the +compositors more conveniently to attain the ends, for which that +arrangement is only a preparation: facts and sciences are taught for +the improvement of the faculties, in order that they may work with more +ease, force, and certainty, upon other and really important things; for +education is only the marshalling of powers, preliminary to the great +"battle of life." + +The mind of an uneducated man, however strong in itself, is like an army +of undisciplined men--a crowd of chaotic, shapeless, and often +misdirected elements. To bring these into proper subjection--to enable +him to bind them, with anything like their native force, to a given +purpose--a prescribed "training" is necessary; and it is this which +education supplies. If you can give a mind the _habit of attention_, all +the power it has will be made available: and it is through this faculty, +that even dull minds are so frequently able to mount the car of triumph, +and ride swiftly past so many, who are immeasurably their superiors. The +first element of the discipline which develops this power, is submission +to control; and without such subordination, a school can not exist. +Thus, the first lesson that children learn from the schoolmaster, is the +most valuable acquisition they can make. + + +But it was no easy task to teach this principle to the sturdy children +of the early Western "settler;" in this, as in all other things, the +difficulty of the labor was in exact proportion to its necessity. The +peculiarities of the people, and the state of the country, were not +favorable to the establishment of the limited monarchy, requisite to +successful teaching. In the first place, the parents very generally +undervalued, what they called "mere book-learning." For themselves, they +had found more use for a rifle than a pen; and they naturally thought it +a much more valuable accomplishment, to be able to scalp a squirrel with +a bullet, at a hundred paces, than to read the natural history of the +animal in the "picture-book." They were enthusiastic, also, upon the +subject of independence; and, though they could control their children +sternly enough at home, they were apt to look, with a jealous eye, upon +any attempt to establish dominion elsewhere. The children partook +largely of the free, wild spirit of their fathers. They were very prompt +to resist anything like encroachment upon their privileges or rights, +and were, of course, pretty certain to consider even salutary control an +attempt to assert a despotism. I believe history contains no record, +whatever the annals of fiction may display, of a boy, with much spirit, +submitting without a murmur to the authority of the schoolmaster: if +such a prodigy of enlightened humility ever existed, he certainly did +not live in the west. But a more important difficulty than either of +these, was the almost entire want of money in the country; and without +this there was but little encouragement for the effort to overcome other +obstacles. Money _may_ be only a _representative_ of value, but its +absence operates marvellously like the want of the value itself, and the +primitive people of those days, and especially that class to which the +schoolmaster belonged, had a habit, however illogical, of considering it +a desirable commodity, _per se_. + +All these impediments, however, could, in the course of time, be +conquered: the country was improving in social tone; parents must +eventually take some pride even in the accomplishments they despised; +and patience and gentleness, intermingled, now and then, with a little +wholesome severity, will ultimately subdue the most stubborn spirit. As +for the pecuniary difficulty, it was, as the political economists will +tell us, only the absence of a medium at the worst: and, in its stead, +the master could receive boarding, clothing, and the agricultural +products of the country. So many barrels of corn, or bushels of wheat, +"per quarter," might not be so conveniently handled, but were quite as +easy to be counted, as an equal number of dollars; and this primitive +mode of payment is even yet practised in many rural districts, perhaps, +in both the east and west. To counter-balance its inconvenience of bulk, +this "currency" possessed a double advantage over the more refined +"medium of exchange" now in use: it was not liable to counterfeits, and +the bank from which it issued was certain not to "break." + +So the schoolmaster was not to be deterred from pursuing his honorable +calling, even by the difficulties incident to half-organized +communities. Indeed, teaching was the resort, at least temporary, of +four fifths of the educated, and nearly an equal number of the +uneducated young men, who came to the west: for certainly that +proportion of both classes arrived in the country, without money to +support, friends to encourage, or pride to deter them. + + +They were almost all what western people call "Yankees"--born and bred +east of the Hudson: descendants of the sturdy puritans--and +distinguished by the peculiarities of that strongly-marked people, in +personal appearance, language, manners, and style and tone of thought. +Like the peddlers, they were generally on the sunny side of thirty, full +of the hopeful energy which belongs to that period of life, and only +submitting to the labors and privations of the present, because through +these they looked to the future for better and brighter things. + +The causes which led to their emigration, were as many and as various as +the adventurers whom they moved. They were, most of them, mere boys: +young Whittingtons, whom the bells did _not_ ring back, to become +lord-mayors; who, indeed, had not even the limited possessions of that +celebrated worthy; and, thus destitute, they wandered off, many hundreds +of miles, "to see the world and make their fortunes," at an age when the +youth of the present day are just beginning to think of college. They +brought neither money, letters of introduction, nor bills of exchange: +they expected to find neither acquaintance nor relatives. But they +knew--for it was one of the wise maxims of their unromantic +fathers--that industry and honesty must soon gather friends, and that +all other desirable things would speedily follow. They had great and +just confidence in their own abilities to "get along;" and if they did +not actually think that the whole world belonged to them, they were +well-assured, that in an incredibly short space of time, they would be +able to possess a respectable portion of it. + + +A genuine specimen of the class to which most of the early schoolmasters +belonged, never felt any misgivings about his own success, and never +hesitated to assume any position in life. Neither pride nor modesty was +ever suffered to interfere with his action. He would take charge of a +numerous school, when he could do little more than write his own name, +just as he would have undertaken to run a steamboat, or command an army, +when he had never studied engineering or heard of strategy. Nor would he +have failed in either capacity: a week's application would make him +master of a steam-engine, or a proficient (after the _present manner_ of +proficiency) in tactics; and as for his school, he could himself learn +at night what he was to teach others on the following day! Nor was this +mere "conceit"--though, in some other respects, that word, in its +limited sense, was not inapplicable--neither was it altogether ignorant +presumption; for one of these men was seldom known to fail in anything +he undertook: or, if he did fail, he was never found to be cast down by +defeat, and the resiliency of his nature justified his confidence. + + +The pursuit of a certain avocation, for a long period, is apt to warp +one's nature to its inequalities; and as the character gradually assumes +the peculiar shape, the personal appearance changes in a corresponding +direction and degree. Thus, the blacksmith becomes brawny, square, and +sturdy, and the characteristic swing of his arm gives tone to his whole +bearing: the silversmith acquires a peering, cunning look, as if he were +always examining delicate machinery: the physician becomes solemn, +stately, pompous, and mysterious, and speaks like "Sir Oracle," as if he +were eternally administering a bread-pill, or enjoining a regimen of +drugs and starvation: the lawyer assumes a keen, alert, suspicious +manner, as if he were constantly in pursuit of a latent perjury, or +feared that his adversary might discover a flaw in his "case:" and so +on, throughout the catalogue of human avocations. But, among all these, +that which marks its votaries most clearly, is school-teaching. + +There seems to be a sort of antagonism between this employment and all +manner of neatness, and the circle of the schoolmaster's female +acquaintance never included the Graces. Attention to personal decoration +is usually, though not universally, in an inverse ratio to mental +garniture; and an artistically-tied cravat seems inconsistent with the +supposition of a well-stored head above it. A mind which is directed +toward the evolution of its own powers, has but little time to waste in +adorning the body; and a fashionable costume would appear to cramp the +intellect, as did the iron-vessel the genius of the Arabian tale. +Although, therefore, there are numerous exceptions--persons whose +externals are as elegant as their pursuits are intellectual--men of +assiduously-cultivated minds are apt to be careless of appearances, and +the principle applies, with especial force, to those whose business it +is to develop the minds of others. + +Nor was the schoolmaster of early days in the west, an exception to the +rule. He might not be as learned, nor as purely intellectual, as some of +our modern college-professors, but he was as ungraceful, and as +awkwardly clad, as the most slovenly of them all. Indeed, he came of a +stock which has never been noted for any of the lighter accomplishments, +or "carnal graces;" for at no period of its eventful history, has the +puritan type been a remarkable elegant one. The men so named have been +better known for bravery than taste, for zeal than polish; and since +there is always a correspondence between habits of thought and feeling +and the external appearance, the _physique_ of the race is more +remarkable for rigor of muscle and angularity of outline, than for +accuracy of proportion or smoothness of finish. Neither Apollo nor +Adonis was in any way related to the family; and if either had been, the +probability is that his kindred would have disowned him. + +Properly to represent his lineage, therefore, the schoolmaster could be +neither dandy nor dancing-master; and, as if to hold him to his +integrity, nature had omitted to give him any temptation, in his own +person, to assume either of these respectable characters. The tailor +that could shape a coat to fit _his_ shoulders, never yet handled +shears; and he would have been as ill at ease, in a pair of fashionable +pantaloons, as if they had been lined with chestnut-burrs. He was +generally above the medium height, with a very decided stoop, as if in +the habit of carrying burthens; and a long, high nose, with light blue +eyes, and coarse, uneven hair, of a faded weather-stain color, gave his +face the expression answering to this lathy outline. Though never very +slender, he was always thin: as if he had been flattened out in a +rolling-mill; and rotundity of corporation was a mode of development not +at all characteristic. His complexion was seldom florid, and not often +decidedly pale; a sort of sallow discoloration was its prevailing hue, +like that which marks the countenance of a consumer of "coarse" whiskey +and strong tobacco. But these failings were not the cause of his +cadaverous look--for a faithful representative of the class held them +both in commendable abhorrence--_they were not the vices of his nature_. + +There was a sub-division of the class, a secondary type, not so often +observed, but common enough to entitle it to a brief notice. _He_ was, +generally, short, square, and thick--the latitude bearing a better +proportion to the longitude than in his lank brother--but never +approaching anything like roundness. With this attractive figure, he had +a complexion of decidedly bilious darkness, and what is commonly called +a "dish-face." His nose was depressed between the eyes, an arrangement +which dragged the point upward in the most cruel manner, but gave it an +expression equally ludicrous and impertinent. A pair of small, round, +black eyes, encompassed--like two little feudal fortresses, each by its +moat--with a circle of yellowish white, peered out from under brows like +battlements. Coarse, black hair, always cut short, and standing erect, +so as to present something the appearance of a _chevaux de frise_, +protected a hard, round head--a shape most appropriate to his +lineage--while, with equal propriety, ears of corresponding magnitude +stood boldly forth to assert their claim to notice. + +Both these types were distinguished for large feet, which no boot could +enclose, and hands broad beyond the compass of any glove. Neither was +ever known to get drunk, to grow fat, to engage in a game of chance, or +to lose his appetite: it became the teacher of "ingenuous youth" to +preserve an exemplary bearing before those whom he was endeavoring to +benefit; while respectable "appearances," and proper appreciation of the +good things of life, were the _alpha_ and _omega_ of his system of +morality. + + +But the schoolmaster--and we now include both sub-divisions of the +class--was not deficient as an example in many other things, to all who +wished to learn the true principles of living. Among other things, he +was distinguished for a rigid, iron-bound economy: a characteristic +which it might have been well to impart to many of his pupils. But that +which the discreet master denominated _prudence_, the extravagant and +wrong-headed scholar was inclined to term _meanness_: and historical +truth compels us to admit, that the rigor of grim economy sometimes wore +an aspect of questionable austerity. Notwithstanding this, however, when +we reflect upon the scanty compensation afforded the benefactor of the +rising generation, we can not severely blame his penurious tenacity any +more than we can censure an empty wine-cask for not giving forth the +nectar which we have never poured into it. If, accordingly, he was out +at the elbows, we are bound to conclude that it was because he had not +the money to buy a new coat; and if he never indulged himself in any of +the luxuries of life, it was, probably, because the purchase of its +necessaries had already brought him too near the bottom of his purse. + +He was always, moreover, "a close calculator," and, with a wisdom worthy +of all imitation, never mortgaged the future for the convenience of the +present. Indeed, this power of "calculation" was not only a talent but a +passion: you would have thought that his progenitors had been +arithmeticians since the time of Noah! He could "figure up" any +proposition whatsoever: but he was especially great upon the question, +how much he could save from his scanty salary, and yet live to the end +of the year. + +In fact, it was only _living_ that he cared for. The useful, with him, +was always superior to the ornamental; and whatever was not absolutely +necessary, he considered wasteful and extravagant. Even the profusion of +western hospitality was, in his eyes, a crime against the law of +prudence, and he would as soon have forgiven a breach of good morals as +a violation of this, his favorite rule. + +As might have been expected, he carried this principle with him into the +school-room, and was very averse to teaching anything beyond what would +certainly "pay." He rigidly eschewed embellishment, and adorned his +pupils with no graceful accomplishments. It might be that he never +taught anything above the useful branches of education, because he had +never learned more himself; but it is certain that he would not have +imparted merely polite learning, had his own training enabled him to do +so: for he had, constitutionally, a high contempt for all "flimsy" +things, and, moreover, he was not employed or paid to teach rhetoric or +_belles-lettres_, and, "on principle," he never gave more in return +than the value of the money he received. + +With this reservation, his duties were always thoroughly performed, for +neither by nature, education, nor lineage, was he likely to slight any +recognised obligation. He devoted his time and talents to his school, as +completely as if he had derived from it the income of a bishop; and the +iron constitution, of both body and mind, peculiar to his race, enabled +him to endure a greater amount of continuous application than any other +man. Indeed, his powers of endurance were quite surprising, and the +fibre of his mind was as tough as that of his body. Even upon a quality +so valuable as this, however, he never prided himself; for, excepting +the boast of race, which was historical and not unjustifiable, he _had_ +no pride. He might be a little vain; and, in what he said and did, more +especially in its manner, there might occasionally be a shade of +self-conceit: for he certainly entertained no mean opinion of himself. +This might be a little obtrusive, too, at times; for he had but slight +veneration for men, or their feelings, or opinions; and he would +sometimes pronounce a judgment in a tone of superiority justly +offensive. But he possessed the uncommon virtue of sincerity: he +thoroughly believed in the infallibility of his own conclusions; and +for this the loftiness of his tone might be forgiven. + +The most important of the opinions thus expressed, were upon religious +subjects, for Jews, puritans, and Spaniards, have always been very +decided controversialists. His theology was grim, solemn, and angular, +and he was as combative as one of Cromwell's disputatious troopers. In +his capacious pocket, he always carried a copy of the New Testament--as, +of old, the carnal controvertists bore a sword buckled to the side. Thus +armed, he was a genuine polemical "swash-buckler," and would whip out +his Testament, as the bravo did his weapon, to cut you in two without +ceremony. He could carve you into numerous pieces, and season you with +scriptural salt and pepper; and he would do it with a gusto so serious, +that it would have been no unreasonable apprehension that he intended to +eat you afterward. And the value of his triumph was enhanced, too, by +the consideration that it was won by no meretricious graces or +rhetorical flourishes; for the ease of his gesticulation was such as you +see in the arms of a windmill, and his enunciation was as nasal and +monotonous as that of the Reverend Eleazar Poundtext, under whose +ministrations he had been brought up in all godliness. + +But he possessed other accomplishments beside those of the polemic. He +was not, it is true, overloaded with the learning of "the schools"--was, +in fact, quite ignorant of some of the branches of knowledge which he +imparted to his pupils: yet this was never allowed to become apparent, +for as we have intimated, he would frequently himself acquire, at night, +the lessons which he was to teach on the morrow. But time was seldom +wasted among the people from whom he sprang, and this want of +preparation denoted that his leisure hours had been occupied in +possessing himself of other acquirements. Among these, the most elegant, +if not the most useful, was music, and his favorite instrument was the +flute. + +In "David Copperfield," Dickens describes a certain flute-playing tutor, +by the name of Mell, concerning whom, and the rest of mankind, he +expresses the rash opinion, "after many years of reflection," that +"nobody ever could have played worse." But Dickens never saw Strongfaith +Lippincott, the schoolmaster, nor heard his lugubrious flute, and he +therefore knows nothing of the superlative degree of detestable playing. + +There _are_ instruments upon which even an unskilful performer may make +tolerable music, but the flute is not one of them--the man who murders +_that_, is a malefactor entitled to no "benefit of clergy:" and our +schoolmaster _did_ murder it in the most inhuman manner! But, let it be +said in mitigation of his offence, he had never received the benefit of +any scientific teaching--he had not been "under the tuition of the +celebrated Signor Wheeziana," nor had he profited by "the invaluable +instructions of the unrivalled Bellowsblauer"--and it is very doubtful +whether he would have gained much advantage from them, had he met the +opportunity. + +He knew that, in order to make a noise on the flute, or, indeed, +anywhere else, it was necessary to _blow_, and blow he did, like Boreas! +He always carried the instrument in his pocket, and on being asked to +play--a piece of politeness for which he always looked--he drew it out +with the solemnity of visage with which a tender-hearted sheriff +produces a death-warrant, and while he screwed the joints together, +sighed blasts like a furnace. He usually deposited himself upon the +door-sill--a favorite seat for him--and collecting the younger members +of the family about him, thence poured forth his strains of concentrated +mournfulness. + +He invariably selected the most melancholy tunes, playing, with a more +profound solemnity, the gloomiest psalms and lamentations. When he +ventured upon secular music, he never performed anything more lively +than "The Mistletoe Bough," or "Barbara Allen," and into each he threw a +spirit so much more dismal than the original, as almost to induce his +hearers to imitate the example of the disconsolate "Barbara," and "turn +their faces to the wall" in despair of being ever again able to muster a +smile! + +He was not a scientific musician, then--fortunately for his +usefulness--because thorough musicians are generally "good-for-nothing" +else. But music was not a science among the pioneers, though the +undertone of melancholy feeling, to which all sweet sounds appeal, was +as easily reached in them as in any other people. Their wants in this, +as in other things, were very easily satisfied--they were susceptible of +pleasure from anything which was in the least commendable: and not +feeling obliged, by any captious canon, to condemn nine true notes, +because of the tenth false one, they allowed themselves to enjoy the +best music they could get, without thinking of the damage done their +musical and critical reputation. + +But his flute was not the only means of pleasing within the +schoolmaster's reach: for he could flatter as well as if the souls of +ten courtiers had transmigrated into his single body. He might not do it +quite so gracefully as one of these, nor with phrases so well-chosen, or +so correctly pronounced, but what he said was always cunningly adapted +to the character of the person whom he desired to move. He had "a deal +of candied courtesy," especially for the women; and though his sturdy +manhood and the excellent opinion of himself--both of which came to him +from his ancestry--usually preserved him from the charge of servility, +he was sometimes a "cozener" whose conscience annoyed him with very few +scruples. Occasionally he might be seen fawning upon the rich; but it +was not with him--as it usually is with the parasites of wealthy +men--because he thought Dives more respectable, but more _useful_, on +account of his money: the opulent possessed what the indigent wanted, +and the shortest road to the goal of Cupidity, lay through the region of +Vanity. There was none of that servility which Mr. Carlyle has attempted +to dignify with the name of "hero-worship," for the rich man was rather +a bird to be plucked, than a "hero" to be worshipped. And though it may +seem that I do the schoolmaster little honor by the distinction, I can +not but think cupidity a more manly trait than servility: the beast of +prey a more respectable animal than the hound. + +But the schoolmaster's obsequiousness was more in manner than in +inclination, and found its excuse in the dependence of his +circumstances. It has been immemorially the custom of the world, +practically to undervalue his services, and in all time teaching and +poverty have been inseparable companions. Nobody ever cared how poorly +he was clad, how laborious his life, or how few his comforts; and if he +failed to attend to his own interests by all the arts in his power, no +one, certainly, would perform the office for him. He was expected to +make himself generally useful without being particular about his +compensation: he was willing to do the one, but was, very naturally, +rather averse to the other: that which justice would not give him, he +managed to procure by stratagem. + +His manners thus acquired the characteristics we have enumerated, with +also others. He was, for example, very officious; a peculiarity which +might, perhaps, be derived from his parentage, but which was never +repressed by his occupation. The desire to make himself agreeable, and +his high opinion of his ability to do so, rendered his tone and bearing +very familiar; but this was, also, a trait which he shared with his +race, and one which has contributed, as much as any other, to bring the +people called "Yankees" into contempt in the west. The men of that +section are not themselves reserved, and hate nothing more than +ceremonious politeness: but they like to be the first to make advances, +and their demonstrations are all hearty, blunt, and open. They therefore +disliked anything which has an insinuating tone, and the man who +attempts to ingratiate himself with them, whether it be by elaborate +arts or sidelong familiarity, at once arms them against them. + +The schoolmaster was inquisitive, also, and to that western men most +decidedly object. They have little curiosity themselves, and seldom ask +impertinent questions. When they do so, it is almost always for the +purpose of insulting the man to whom they are put, and _never_ to make +themselves agreeable. The habit of asking numerous questions was, +therefore, apt to prejudice them against men whose characteristics might +be, in other respects, very estimable; and it must be acknowledged, that +vulgar and obtrusive impertinence is an unfortunate accompaniment to an +introduction. But the schoolmaster never meant to be impertinent, for +he was far from being quarrelsome (except with his scholars), and the +idea that any one could be otherwise than pleased with his notice, +however given, never entered his mind. Though his questions were, for +the most part, asked to gratify a constitutional curiosity, he was +actuated in some degree, also, by the notion that his condescension +would be acceptably interpreted by those whom he thus favored. But, like +many other benevolent men, who put force upon their inclinations for the +benefit of their neighbors, he was mistaken in his "calculation;" and +where he considered himself a benefactor, he was by others pronounced a +"bore." The fact is, he had some versatility, and, like most men of +various powers, he was prone to think himself a much greater man than he +really was. + +He was not peculiarly fitted to shine as a gallant "in hall or bower," +but had he been the climax of knightly qualities, the very impersonation +of beauty, grace, and accomplishment, he could not have been better +adapted than, in his own estimation, he already was, to please the fancy +of a lady. He was blissfully unconscious of every imperfection; and +displayed himself before what he thought the admiring gaze of all +_dames_ and _demoiselles_, as proudly as if he had been the +all-accomplished victor in some passage of arms. Yet he carried +himself, in outward appearance, as meekly as the humblest Christian, and +took credit to himself accordingly. He seldom pressed his advantages to +the utter subjugation of the sighing dames, but deported himself with +commendable forbearance toward the weak and defenceless whom his +perfections had disarmed. He was as merciful as he was irresistible: as +considerate as he was beautiful. + + "What a saint of a knight is the knight of Saint John!" + +The personal advantages which he believed made him so dangerous to the +peace of woman, were counteracted, thus, by his saintly piety. For--as +it became him to be, both in the character of a man, and in that of a +descendant of the puritans--he was always habited in "the livery of +heaven." Some ill-natured and suspicious people, it is true, were +inclined to call his exemplary "walk" hypocritical, and to stigmatise +his pious "conversation" as _cant_. But the ungodly world has always +persecuted the righteous, and the schoolmaster was correct in +attributing their sneers to the rebuke which his example gave to their +wickedness, and to make "capital" out of the "persecution." And who +shall blame him--when in the weary intervals of a laborious and +thankless profession, fatigue repressed enthusiasm--if he sometimes eked +out the want of inspiration by a godly snuffle? True piety reduces even +the weapons of the scorner to the service of religion, and the citadel +of the Gloomy Kingdom is bombarded with the artillery of Satan! Thus, +the nose, which is so serviceable in the production of the devilish and +unchristian sneer, is elevated by a saintlike zeal, to the expression of +a devout whine: and this I believe to be the only satisfactory +explanation which has ever been given, of the connection, in so many +good men, between the _nasal_ and the _religious_! + + +But the schoolmaster usually possessed genuine religious feeling, as +well as a pious manner; and, excepting an occasional display of +hereditary, and almost unconscious, cunning, he lived "a righteous and +upright life." + + +The process of becoming a respectable and respected citizen was a very +short and simple one--and whether the schoolmaster designed to remain +only a lord of the ferrule, or casting the insignia of his office behind +him, to seek higher things, he was never slow in adopting it. Among his +scholars, there were generally half-a-dozen or more young +women--marriageable daughters of substantial men; and from this number +he selected, courted, and espoused, some healthy, buxom girl, the +heiress of a considerable plantation or a quantity of "wild land." He +always sought these two requisites combined--for he was equally fond of +a fine person and handsome estate. Upon the land, he generally managed +to find an eligible town-site; and, being a perfect master of the art of +building cities on paper, and puffing them into celebrity, his sales of +town-lots usually brought him a competent fortune. As years rolled on, +his substance increased with the improvement of the country--the rougher +points of his character were gradually rubbed down--age and gray hairs +thickened upon his brow--honors, troops of friends, and numerous +children, gathered round him--and the close of his career found him +respected in life and lamented in death. His memory is a monument of +what honesty and industry, even without worldly advantages, may always +accomplish. + + + [NOTE.--A friend expresses a doubt whether I have not made the + foregoing portrait too hard-featured for historical accuracy; and, + by way of fortifying his opinion, points to illustrious examples of + men who have taught schools in their youth--senators and + statesmen--some of whom now hold prominent positions before the + people, even for the highest offices in their gift. But these men + never belonged to the class which I have attempted to portray. + Arriving in this country in youth, without the means of + subsistence--in many cases, long before they had acquired the + professions which afterward made them famous--they resorted to + school-teaching as a mere expedient for present support, without + any intention to make it the occupation of their lives, or the + means of their advancement. They were moved by an ambition which + looked beyond it, and they invariably abandoned it so soon as they + had prepared themselves for another pursuit. + + But the genuine _character_ took it up as a permanent + employment--he looked to it not only as a means of temporary + subsistence, but as a source, by some of the direct or indirect + channels which we have indicated, of lasting income--and he never + threw it up until he had already secured that to which the other + class, when _they_ abandoned the occupation, were still looking + forward. In the warfare against Ignorance, therefore, these, whom + we have described, were the regular army, while the exceptions were + but volunteers for a limited period, and, in the muster-roll of + permanent strength, they are, therefore, not included.] + + +[Illustration: THE SCHOOLMISTRESS.] + + + + +IX. + +THE SCHOOLMISTRESS + + "And yet I love thee not--thy brow + Is but the sculptor's mould: + It wants a shade, it wants a glow-- + It is less fair than cold." + + L. E. L. + + +But the family of the pioneer consisted of girls as well as boys; and +though the former were never so carefully educated as the latter, they +were seldom allowed to go wholly untaught. + +The more modern system, which separates the sexes while infants, and +never suffers them to come together again until they are "marriageable," +was not then introduced; and we think it would have been no great +misfortune to the country had it remained in Spain, whence it would seem +to have been imported. Children of both sexes were intended to grow up +together--to be educated in company--at least until they have reached +the points where their paths naturally diverge, for thus only can they +be most useful to each other, in the duties, trials, and struggles, of +after life. The artificial refinement which teaches a little girl that a +boy is something to be dreaded--a sort of beast of prey--before she +recognises any difference, save in dress, can never benefit her at best; +for by-and-by she will discover the falsehood: the very instincts of her +nature would unveil it, did she learn it in no other way: and as action +and reaction are equal, the rebound may cause her to entertain opinions +altogether too favorable to those whom she has so foolishly been taught +to fear. + +Nor is the effect of such a system likely to be any better upon the +other sex: for it is association with females (as early as possible, +too, all the better), which softens, humanizes, graces, and adorns the +masculine character. The boy who has been denied such association--the +incidents to whose education have made him shy, as so many are, even of +little girls--is apt to grow up morose and selfish, ill-tempered, and +worse mannered. When the impulses of his developing nature finally force +him into female society, he goes unprepared, and comes away without +profit: his ease degenerates into familiarity, his conversation is, at +best, but washy sentimentalism, and the association, until the +accumulated rust of youth is worn away, is of very doubtful benefit to +both parties. Indeed, parents who thus govern and educate their +children, can find no justification for the practice, until they can +first so alter the course of Nature, as to establish the law, that each +family shall be composed altogether of girls, or shall consist +exclusively of boys! + + +But these modern refinements had not obtained currency, at the period of +which we are writing; nor was any such nonsense the motive to the +introduction of female teachers. But one of the lessons learned by +observation of the domestic circle, and particularly of the influence of +the mother over her children, was the principle, that a woman can teach +males of a certain age quite as well as a man, and _females much +better_; and that, since the school-teacher stands, for the time in the +place of the parent, a _mistress_ was far more desirable, especially for +the girls, than a _master_. Hence, the latter had exercised his vocation +in the west, but a few years, before he was followed by the former. + + +New England was the great nursery of this class, as it was of so many +others, transplanted beyond the Alleghenies. Emigration, and the +enticements and casualties of a seafaring life--drawing the men into +their appropriate channels of enterprise and adventure, had there +reduced their number below that of the women--thus remitting many of the +latter, to other than the usual and natural occupations of "the sex." +Matrimony became a remote possibility to large numbers--attention to +household matters gave place to various kinds of light labor--and, since +they were not likely to have progeny of their own to rear, many resorted +to the teaching of children belonging to others. Idleness was a rare +vice; and New England girls--to their honor be it spoken--have seldom +resembled "the lilies of the field," in aught, save the fairness of +their complexions! They have never displayed much squeamishness--about +work: and if they could not benefit the rising generation in a maternal, +were willing to make themselves useful in a tutorial capacity. The +people of that enlightened section, have always possessed the learning +necessary to appreciate, and the philanthropy implied in the wish to +dispel, the benighted ignorance of all other quarters of the world; and +thus a competent number of them have ever been found willing to give up +the comforts of home, for the benefit of the "barbarous west." + +The schoolmistress, then, generally came from the "cradle" of +intelligence, as well as "of liberty," beyond the Hudson; and, in the +true spirit of benevolence, she carried her blessings (herself the +greatest) across the mountain barrier, to bestow them, _gratis_, upon +the spiritually and materially needy, in the valley of the Mississippi. +Her vocation, or, as it would now be called, her "mission" was to teach +an impulse not only given by her education, but belonging to her nature. +She had a constitutional tendency toward it--indeed, a genius for it; +like that which impels one to painting, another to sculpture--this to a +learned profession, that to a mechanical trade. And so perfectly was she +adapted to it, that "the ignorant people of the west" not recognising +her "divine appointment," were often at a loss to conjecture, who, or +whether anybody, could have taught _her_! + +For that same "ignorant," and too often, ungrateful people, she was full +of tender pity--the yearning of the single-hearted missionary, for the +welfare of his flock. _They_ were steeped in darkness, but _she_ carried +the light--nay, she _was_ the light! and with a benignity, often evinced +by self-sacrifice--she poured it graciously over the land-- + + "Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do: + Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues + Did not go forth of us, 't were all alike + As if we had them not." + +For the good of the race, or of any (male) individual, she would +immolate herself, even upon the altar of Hymen; and, since the number, +who were to be benefited by such self-devotement, was small in New +England, but large in the west, she did well to seek a field for her +benign dedication, beyond the Alleghenies! Honor to the all-daring +self-denial, which brought to the forlorn bachelor of the west, a +companion in his labors, a solace in his afflictions, and a mother to +his children! + + +Her name was invariably Grace, Charity, or Prudence; and, if names had +been always descriptive of the personal qualities of those who bore +them, she would have been entitled to all three. + + +In the early ages of the world, names were, or, at least, were supposed +to be, fair exponents of the personal characters of those, upon whom +they were bestowed. But, _then_, the qualities must be manifested, +before the name could be earned, so that all who had never distinguished +themselves, in some way, were said to be "nameless." In more modern +times, however, an improvement upon this system was introduced: the +character was anticipated, and parents called their children what they +_wished_ them to be, in the hope that they would grow to the standard +thus imposed. And it is no doubt, true, that names thus bestowed had +much influence in the development of character--on the same principle, +upon which the boards, to which Indian women lash their infants soon +after birth, have much to do with the erect carriage of the mature +savage. Such an appellation is a perpetual memento of parental +counsels--a substitute for barren precept--an endless exhortation to +Grace, Charity, or Prudence. + +I do not mean, that calling a boy Cicero will certainly make him an +orator, or that all Jeremiahs are necessarily prophets; nor is it +improbable, that the same peculiarities in the parents, which dictate +these expressive names, may direct the characters of the children, by +controlling their education; but it is unquestionable, that the +characteristics, and even the fortunes of the man, are frequently +daguerreotyped by a name given in infancy. There is not a little wisdom +in the advice of Sterne to godfathers--not "to Nicodemus a man into +nothing."--"Harsh names," says D'Israeli, the elder, "will have, in +spite of all our philosophy, a painful and ludicrous effect on our ears +and our associations; it is vexatious, that the softness of delicious +vowels, or the ruggedness of inexorable consonants, should at all be +connected with a man's happiness, or even have an influence on his +fortune." + + "That which we call a rose, + By any other name would smell as sweet;" + +but this does not touch the question, whether, if it had not smelt as +sweet we would not have given it some other name. The celebrated +demagogue, Wilkes, is reported to have said, that, "without knowing the +comparative merits of the two poets, we would have no hesitation in +preferring John Dryden to Elkanah Settle, _from the names only_." And +the reason of this truth is to be found in the fact, that our +impressions of both men and things depend upon associations, often +beyond our penetration to detect--associations with which _sound_, +depending on hidden laws, has quite as much to do, as _sense_. + + +Among those who have carried the custom of picturesque or expressive +naming, to an extent bordering on the ridiculous, were the hard-headed +champions of the true church-militant, the English puritans--as Hume, +the bigoted old Tory, rather ill-naturedly testifies! And the puritans +of _New_ England--whatever advancing intelligence may have made them in +the present--were, for a long time, faithful representatives of the +oddities, as well as of the virtues, of their fathers. + +And, accordingly, we find the schoolmistress--being a descendant of the +Jason's-crew, who landed from the Argo-Mayflower, usually bearing a name +thus significant, and manifesting, even at her age, traits of character +justifying the compellation. What that age precisely _was_, could not +always be known; indeed, a lady's age is generally among indeterminate +things; and it has, very properly, come to be considered ungallant, if +not impertinent, to be curious upon so delicate a subject. A man has no +more right to know how many years a woman has, than how many skirts she +wears; and, if he have any anxiety about the matter, in either case, his +eyes must be the only questioners. The principle upon which the women +themselves proceed, in growing old, seems to be parallel to the law of +gravitation: when a stone, for example, is thrown into the air the +higher it goes the slower it travels; and the momentum toward Heaven, +given to a woman at her birth, appears to decrease in about the same +ratio. + +We will not be so ungallant, then, as to inquire too curiously into the +age of the schoolmistress; but, without disparagement to her +youthfulness, we may be allowed to conjecture that, in order to fit her +so well for the duties of her responsible station (and incline her to +undertake such labors), a goodly number of years must needs have been +required. Yet she bore time well; for, unless married in the meanwhile, +at thirty, she was as youthful in manners, as at eighteen. + +But this is not surprising: for, even as early as her twelfth year, she +had much the appearance of a mature woman--something like that noticed +in young quakers, by Clarkson[79]--and her figure belonged to that +rugged type, which is adapted to bear, unscathed, more than the ravages +of time. She was never above the medium height, for the rigid rule of +economy seemed to apply to flesh and blood, as to all other things +pertaining to her race; at all events, material had not been wasted in +giving her extra longitude--at the ends. Between the extremities, it +might be different--for she was generally very long-waisted. But this +might be accounted for in the process of _flattening out_: for like her +compeer, the schoolmaster, she had much more breadth than thickness. She +was somewhat angular, of course, and rather bony; but this was only the +natural correspondence, between the external development, and the mental +and moral organization. Her eyes were usually blue, and, to speak with +accuracy, a little cold and grayish, in their expression--like the sky +on a bleak morning in Autumn. Her forehead was very high and prominent, +having, indeed, an _exposed_ look, like a shelterless knoll in an open +prairie: but, not content with this, though the hair above it was often +thin, she usually dragged the latter forcibly back, as if to increase +the altitude of the former, by extending the skin. Her mouth was of that +class called "primped," but was filled with teeth of respectable +dimensions. + +Her arms were long, and, indeed, a little skinny, and she swung them +very freely when she walked; while hands, of no insignificant size, +dangled at the extremities, as if the joints of her wrists were +insecure. She had large feet, too, and in walking her toes were +assiduously turned out. She had, however, almost always one very great +attraction--a fine, clear, healthy complexion--and the only blemishes +upon this, that I have ever observed, were a little _red_ on the tip of +her nose and on the points of her cheek-bones, and a good deal of _down_ +on her upper lip. + + +In manners and bearing, she was brisk, prim, and sometimes a little +"fidgety," as if she was conscious of sitting on a dusty chair; and she +had a way of searching nervously for her pocket, as if to find a +handkerchief with which to brush it off. She was a very fast walker, and +an equally rapid talker--taking usually very short steps, as if afraid +of splitting economical skirts, but using very long words, as if +entertaining no such apprehension about her throat. Her gait was too +rapid to be graceful, and her voice too sharp to be musical; but she was +quite unconscious of these imperfections, especially of the latter: for +at church--I beg pardon of her enlightened ancestors! I should say at +"_meeting_"--her notes of praise were heard high over all the tumult of +primitive singing; and, with her chin thrown out, and her shoulders +drawn back, she looked, as well as sounded, the impersonation of +_melody_, as contra-distinguished from _harmony_! + + +But postponing, for the present, our consideration of her qualifications +as a teacher, we find that her characteristics were still more +respectable and valuable as a private member of society. And in this +relation, her most prominent trait, like that of her brother teacher, +was her stainless piety. In this respect, if in no other, women are +always more sincere and single-hearted than men--perhaps because the +distribution of social duties gives her less temptation to +hypocrisy--and even the worldly, strong-minded, and self-reliant +daughter of the church-hating Puritan-Zion, displayed a tendency toward +genuine religious feeling.[80] + +But in our subject, this was not a mere bias, but a constant, unflagging +sentiment, an everyday manifestation. She was as warm in the cause of +religion on one day as upon another, in small things as in great--as +zealous in the repression of all unbecoming and ungodly levity, as in +the eradication of positive vice. Life was too solemn a thing with her +to admit of thoughtless amusements--it was entirely a state of +probation, not to be enjoyed in itself, or for itself, but purgatorial, +remedial, and preparatory. She hated all devices of pleasure as her +ancestors did the abominations of popery. A fiddle she could tolerate +only in the shape of a bass-viol; and dancing, if practised at all, must +be called "calisthenics." The drama was to her an invention of the Enemy +of Souls--and if she ever saw a play, it must be at a _museum_, and not +within the walls of that temple of Baal, the theatre. None but "serious" +conversation was allowable, and a hearty laugh was the expression of a +spirit ripe for the destination of unforgiven sinners. + +Errors in religion were too tremendous to be tolerated for a moment, and +the form (or rather anti-form) of worship handed down by her fathers, +had cost too much blood and crime to be oppugned. She thought +Barebones's the only godly parliament that ever sat, and did not hate +Hume half so much for his infidelity, as for his ridicule of the +roundheads. Her list of martyrs was made up of the intruders ousted by +Charles's "Act of Conformity," and her catalogue of saints was headed by +the witch-boilers of Massachusetts Bay. She abhorred the memory of all +_popish_ persecutions, and knew no difference between catholic and +cannibal. Her running calendar of living saints were born "to inherit +the earth," and heaven, too: they possessed a monopoly of all truth, an +unlimited "indulgence" to enforce conformity, and, in their zeal, an +infallible safeguard against the commission of error. She had no +patience with those who could not "see the truth;" and he who reviled +the puritan mode of worship, was "worse than the infidel." The only +argument she ever used with such, was the _argumentum ad hominem_, which +saves the trouble of conviction by "giving over to hardness of heart." +New England was, to her, the land of Goshen--whither God's people had +been led by God's hand--"the land of the patriarchs, where it rains +righteousness"[81]--and all the adjacent country was a land of Egyptian +darkness. + + +She was commendably prudent in her personal deportment: being thoroughly +pure and circumspect herself, she could forgive no thoughtless +imprudence in her sister-woman: but she well-understood metaphysical +distinctions, and was tolerant, if not liberal, to marriageable men. +These she could hope to reform at some future time: and she had, +moreover, a just idea of the weakness of man's nature. But being a +woman, and a staid and sober-minded woman, she could never understand +the power of temptation upon her own sex, or the commonest impulses of +high spirits. Perhaps she was a little deficient in charity: but, as we +have seen, it was chiefly toward her female friends, and since none can +bear severe judgment more safely than woman, her austerity did little +harm. + +But she sincerely regretted what she could never palliate; she hated not +the guilty, though she could not forgive the sin; and no one was more +easily melted to tears by the faults, and particularly by the _follies_, +of the world. Wickedness is a very melancholy thing, but it is to be +punished as well as lamented: and like the unfortunate governor who was +forced to condemn his own son, she wept while she pronounced judgment. +But earthly sorrow, by her, was given only to earthly faults: violations +of simple good morals, crimes against heavenly creeds and forms (or +rather _the_ form) of worship, claimed no tear. Her blood rose to +fever-heat at the mention of an unbeliever, and she would as soon have +wept for the errors of the fallen angels, as for those of +anti-Robinsonians. + + +But though thus rigid and austere, I never heard that she was at all +disinclined to being courted: especially if it gave her any prospect of +being able to make herself useful as a wife, either to herself, her +husband, or her country. She understood the art of rearing and managing +children, in her capacity as a teacher: she was thus peculiarly +well-fitted for matrimonial duties, and was unwilling that the world +should lose the benefit of her talents. But the man who courted her must +do so in the most sober, staid, and regulated spirit, for it was seldom +any unmixed romance about "love and nonsense," which moved _her_ to the +sacrifice: if she entertained notions of that sort, they were such only +as could find a place in her well-balanced mind, and, above all, were +the subject of no raptures or transports of delight. If she indulged any +enthusiasm, in view of the approaching change, it was in the prospect of +endless shirt-making, and in calculations about how cheaply (not how +happily) she could enable her husband to live. She had no squeamish +delicacy about allowing the world to know the scope and meaning of her +arrangements, and all her friends participated in her visions of comfort +and economy. False modesty was no part of her nature--and her sentiment +could be reduced to an algebraic formula--excluding the "unknown +quantities" usually represented by the letters _b_, _c_, and _d_: +meaning "bliss," "cottages," and "devotion." + +Yet, though she cared little for poetry, and seldom understood the +images of fancy, she was not averse to a modicum of scandal in moments +of relaxation: for the faults of others were the illustrations of her +prudent maxims, and the thoughtlessness of a sister was the best +possible text for a moral homily. The tense rigidity of her character, +too, sometimes required a little unbending, and she had, therefore, no +special aversion to an occasional surreptitious novel. But this she +would indulge only in private; for in her mind, the worst quality of +transgression was its bad example; and she never failed, in public, to +condemn all such things with becoming and virtuous severity. Nor must +this apparent inconsistency be construed to her disadvantage; for her +strong mind and well-fortified morals, could withstand safely what would +have corrupted a large majority of those around her; and it was meet, +that one whose "mission" it was to reform, should thoroughly understand +the enemy against which she battled. And these things never unfavorably +affected her life and manners, for she was as prudent in her deportment +(ill-natured people say _prudish_) as if some ancestress of hers had +been deceived, and left in the family a tradition of man's perfidy and +woman's frailty. + +She was careful, then, of three things--her clothes, her money, and her +reputation: and, to do her justice, the last was as spotless as the +first, and as much prized as the second, and that is saying a good deal, +both for its purity and estimation. Neat, economical, and prudent, were, +indeed, the three capital adjectives of her vocabulary, and to deserve +them was her eleventh commandment. + +With one exception, these were the texts of all her homilies, and the +exception was, unluckily, one which admitted of much more argument. + +It was the history of the puritans. But upon this subject, she was as +dexterous a special pleader as Neale, and as skilful in giving a false +coloring to facts, as D'Aubigné. But she had the advantage of these +worthies in that her declamation was quite honest: she had been taught +sincerely and heartily to believe all she asserted. She was of the +opinion that but two respectable ships had been set afloat since the +world began: one of which was Noah's ark, and the other the Mayflower. +She believed that no people had ever endured such persecutions as the +puritans, and was especially eloquent upon the subject of "New England's +Blarney-stone," the Rock of Plymouth. + +Indeed, according to the creed of her people, historical and religious, +this is the only piece of granite in the whole world "worth speaking +of;" and geologists have sadly wasted their time in travelling over the +world in search of the records of creation, when a full epitome of +everything deserving to be known, existed in so small a space! All the +other rocks of the earth sink into insignificance, and "hide their +diminished heads," when compared to this mighty stone! The Rock of +Leucas, from which the amorous Lesbian maid cast herself disconsolate +into the sea, is a mere pile of dirt: the Tarpeian, whence the Law went +forth to the whole world for so many centuries, is not fit to be +mentioned in the same day: the Rock of Cashel, itself, is but the +subject of profane Milesian oaths; and the Ledge of Plymouth is the real +"Rock of Ages!" It is well that every people should have something to +adore, especially if that "something" belongs exclusively to themselves. +It elevates their self-respect: and, for this object, even historical +fictions may be forgiven. + + +But, as we have intimated, in the course of time the schoolmistress +became a married woman; and as she gathered experience, she gradually +learned that New England is not the whole "moral vineyard," and that +one might be more profitably employed than in disputing about +questionable points of history. New duties devolved upon her, and new +responsibilities rained fast. Instead of teaching the children of other +people, she now raised children for other people to teach. New sources +of pride were found in these, and in her husband and his prosperity. She +discovered that she could be religious without bigotry, modest without +prudery, and economical without meanness: and, profiting by the lessons +thus learned, she subsided into a true, faithful, and respectable +matron, thus, at last, fulfilling her genuine "mission." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[79] Author of the Life of William Penn, whose accuracy has lately been +questioned. + +[80] By this form of expression, which may seem awkward, I mean to +convey this idea: That consistency of character would seem to preclude +any heartfelt reverence in the descendant of those whose piety was +manifested more in the _hatred of earthly_, than in _the love of +heavenly_, things. + +[81] The language of a precious pamphlet, even now in circulation in the +west. + + + + +X. + +THE POLITICIAN. + + "All would be deemed, e'en from the cradle, fit + To rule in politics as well as wit: + The grave, the gay, the fopling, and the dunce, + Start up (God bless us!) statesmen all at once!" + + CHURCHILL. + + +In a country where the popular breath sways men to its purposes or +caprices, as the wind bends the weeds in a meadow, statesmanship may +become a _system_, but can never rise to the dignity of a _science_; and +politics, instead of being an _art_, is a series of _arts_. + +A system is order without principle: a science is order, based upon +principle. Statesmanship has to do with generalities--with the relations +of states, the exposition and preservation of constitutional provisions, +and with fundamental organizations. Politics relates to measures, and +the details of legislation. The _art_ of governing is the accomplishment +of the true politician: the _arts_ of governing are the trickeries of +the demagogue. _Right_ is the key-note of one: _popularity_ of the +other. + + +The large majority of men are sufficiently candid to acknowledge--at +least to themselves--that they are unfit for the station of law-giver; +but the vanity and jealousy begotten by participation in political +power, lead many of them, if not actually to believe, at all events to +_act_ upon the faith, that men, no more able than themselves, are the +best material for rulers. It is a kind of compromise between their +modesty and self-love: not burthening them with the trials and +responsibilities of positions for which they feel incompetent, but +soothing their vanity by the contemplation of office-holders not at all +their superiors. Below a certain (or uncertain) grade, therefore, +political stations are usually filled by men of very moderate abilities: +and their elevation is favored--indeed, often effected--by the very +causes which should prevent it. Such men are prone to thrust themselves +upon public notice, and thus secure, by persistence and impudence, what +might not be awarded them on the score of merit. + +It is a trite remark, that people are inclined to accept a man's +estimate of himself, and to put him in possession of that place, in +their consideration, which he has the hardihood to claim. And the +observation is just, to this extent: if the individual does not respect +himself, probably no one else will take that trouble. But in a country +where universal suffrage reigns, it may be doubted whether the elevation +of an ordinary man indicates any recognition of the justice of his +claims. On the contrary, they may be endorsed precisely because they are +false: that is, because he really possesses no other title to the +support of common men, than that which is founded upon fellow-feeling or +sympathy of character. Many a man, therefore, who receives his election +as a compliment from the voters, if he understood the motives of their +action, would throw up his office in disgust; for in a large majority of +cases, the popular choice, so far from being an assertion of the +candidate's peculiar fitness to be singled out from among his brethren, +is only a declaration that neither talent nor character entitles him to +the distinction. The cry that a man is "one of the people," will bring +him great strength at the ballot-box: but this is a phrase which means +very different things, according as it is used by the candidate or the +voter; and, in many cases, if they could thoroughly understand each +other, the latter would not give his support, and the former would not +ask it. + + +These remarks are applicable to all stages of society's progress; for, +if the world were so enlightened, that, in the scale of intellect, such +a man as Daniel Webster could only be classed as an idiot, there would +still be the "ignorant vulgar," the "uneducated classes." Society is one +entire web--albeit woven with threads of wool and silk, of silver and +gold: turn it as you will, it must all turn together; and if a whirlwind +of enlightenment should waft it to the skies, although each thread would +be immeasurably above its present condition, the relation of one to +another would still be the same. If the baser wool should be transmuted +into gold, the very same process would refine and sublimate the precious +metal, in a corresponding ratio; and the equilibrium of God's appointed +relations would remain undisturbed. + + +But it is more especially in the primitive periods, before the great +political truths become household words, and while the reign of law and +municipal organization is a vague and distant thing, that most citizens +shrink from official duties. Diffidence, in this matter is, +fortunately, a disease which time will alleviate--a youthful weakness, +which communities "outgrow," as children do physical defects; and, I +believe, of late years, few offices have "gone begging," either east or +west of the great barrier of the Allegheny. + +In the earlier periods of its history, we have seen that the western +country was peculiarly situated. The settlements were weak and the +population small; with the exception of a few narrow fields, in the +vicinity of each frontier fort, or stockade, the land was a wilderness, +held in undisturbed possession by the savages and wild beasts. The great +struggle, which we call the Revolution, but which was, in fact, only a +justifiable and successful rebellion, had exhausted the force and +drained the coffers of the feeble federal government; had plunged the +infant states into enormous debts; and the only means of paying these +were the boundless but unclaimed lands of the west, which the same +causes rendered them unable to protect. The scattered settlements on the +Mississippi side of the Alleghenies, were thus left to their own scanty +resources; and the distance was so great, that, had the older states +been able to afford assistance, the delays and losses attendant upon its +transmission across so wide a tract of wilderness, would have made it +almost nugatory. + +In those times, therefore, though a few were looking forward to separate +political organization and the erection of new states, the larger number +of the western people were too constantly occupied with their defence, +to give much attention to internal politics. Such organization as they +had was military, or patriarchal: the early pioneer, who had +distinguished himself in the first explorations of the country, or by +successfully leading and establishing a new settlement, as he became the +commander of the local fort, was also the law-giver of the community. +The pressure of external danger was too close to allow a very liberal +democracy in government; and, as must be the case in all primitive +assemblages of men, the counsels and commands of him whom they knew to +be the _most able_, were always observed. He who had proven himself +competent to lead was, therefore, the leader _ipso facto_ and _de jure_; +and the evidence required was the performance of such exploits, and the +display of such courage and sagacity, as were necessary to the defence, +well-being, and protection of the community. + +It is obvious that no mere pretender could exhibit these proofs; and +that, where they were taken as the sole measure of a man's worth, +dexterity with a rifle must be of more value than the accomplishments of +a talker--Indian-fighting a more respectable occupation than +speech-making. Small politicians were, therefore, very small men, and +saying that one had "a turn for politics," would have been equivalent to +calling him a vagabond. The people had neither time nor patience to +listen to declamation--the man who rose in a public assembly, and called +upon his neighbors to follow him in avenging a wrong, made the only +speech they cared to hear. "Preambles and resolutions" were unmeaning +formalities--their "resolutions" were taken in their own minds, and, to +use their own expressive words, they executed them "without preamble." +An ounce of lead was worth more than a pound of advice; and, in the +vindication of justice, a "charge" of gunpowder was more effectual than +the most tedious judicial harangue. It is, even now, a proud, but +well-founded boast, of western men, that these traits have been +transmitted to them from their fathers--that they are more remarkable +for _fighting_ than for _wrangling_, for _acting_ than for _talking_. + +In such a state of society, civil offices existed scarcely in name, and +were never very eagerly sought. That which makes official station +desirable is obedience to its authority, and if the title of "captain" +gave the idea of more absolute power than that of "sheriff," one would +rather command a company of militia than the "_posse comitatus_." +Besides, the men of the frontier were simple-hearted and unambitious, +desiring nothing so much as to be "left alone," and willing to make a +compact of forbearance with the whole world--excepting only the Indians. +They had never been accustomed to the restraints of municipal +regulations, they were innocent of the unhealthy pleasures of +office-holding, or the degrading impulses of office-seeking. Their lives +had given them little or no knowledge of these things; experience had +never suggested their importance, for their acquaintance with life was, +almost exclusively, such as could be acquired in the woods and forest +pathways. + +But as time rolled away, and the population of the country became more +dense--as the pressure of external danger was withdrawn, and the +necessities of defence grew less urgent--the rigor of military +organization came gradually to be somewhat irksome. The seeds of civil +institutions began to germinate among the people, while the extending +interests of communities required corresponding enactments and +regulations. The instincts of social beings, love of home and family, +attachment to property, the desire of tranquillity, and, perhaps, a +leaven of ambition for good estimation among neighbors, all combined to +open men's eyes to the importance of peaceful institutions. The day of +the rifle and scalping-knife passed away, and justice without form--the +rule of the elementary strong-hand--gave place to order and legal +ceremony. + + +Then first began to appear the class of politicians, though, as yet, +office-seeking had not become a trade, nor office-holding a regular +means of livelihood. Politics had not acquired a place among the arts, +nor had its professors become the teachers of the land. There were few, +indeed, who sought to fill civil stations; and, although men's +qualifications for office were, probably, not any more rigidly examined +then than now, those who possessed the due degree of prominence, either +deemed themselves, or were believed by their fellow-citizens, peculiarly +capable of discharging such functions. They were generally men who had +made themselves conspicuous or useful in other capacities--who had +become well or favorably known to their neighbors through their zeal, +courage, sagacity, or public spirit. A leader of regulators, for +example, whose administration of his dangerous powers had been marked by +promptitude and severity, was expected to be equally efficient when +clothed with more regular authority. A captain of rangers, whose +enterprises had been remarkable for certainty and _finish_, would, it +was believed, do quite as good service, in the capacity of a civil +officer. A daring pioneer, whose courage or presence of mind had saved +himself and others from the dangers of the wilderness, was supposed to +be an equally sure guide in the pathless ways of politics. Lawyers were +yet few, and not of much repute, for they were, for the most part, +youthful adventurers, who had come into the field long before the +ripening of the harvest. + + +There was another class, whose members held prominent positions, though +they had never been distinguished for the possession of any of the +qualifications above enumerated. These might be designated as the +_noisy_ sort--loud-talking, wise-looking men, self-constituted oracles +and advice-givers, with a better opinion of their own wisdom than any +one else was willing to endorse. Such men became "file-leaders," or +"pivot-men," because the taciturn people of the west, though inclined to +undervalue a mere talker, were simple-minded enough to accept a man's +valuation of his own powers: or easy-tempered enough to spare themselves +the trouble of investigating so small a matter. It was of little +consequence to them, whether the candidate was as wise as he desired to +be thought; and since, in political affairs, they knew of no interest +which they could have in disputing it, for _his_ gratification they were +willing to admit it. These were halcyon days for mere pretenders--though +for no very flattering reason: since their claims were allowed chiefly +because they were not deemed worth controverting. Those days, thanks to +the "progress of intelligence!" are now gone by: the people are better +acquainted with the natural history of such animals, and--witness, ye +halls of Congress!--none may now hold office except capable, patriotic, +and disinterested men! + +Nor must we be understood to assert that the primitive politician was +the reverse of all this, save in the matter of capability. And, even in +that particular, no conception of his deficiency ever glimmered in his +consciousness. His own assumption, and the complaisance of his +fellow-citizens, were inter-reactive, mutually cause and effect. _They_ +were willing to confirm his valuation of his own talents: _he_ was +inclined to exalt himself in their good opinion. Parallel to this, also, +was the oracular tone of his speech: the louder he talked, the more +respectfully silent were his auditors; and the more attentive _they_ +became, the noisier _he_ grew. Submission always encourages oppression, +and admiration adds fuel to the fire of vanity. Not that the politician +was precisely a despot, even over men's opinions: the application of +that name to him would have been as sore a wound to his self-respect as +the imputation of horse-stealing. He was but an oracle of opinion, and +though allowed to dictate in matters of thought as absolutely as if +backed by brigades of soldiers, he was a sovereign whose power existed +only through the consent of his subjects. + + +In personal appearance, he was well-calculated to retain the authority +intrusted to him by such men. He was, in fact, an epitome of all the +physical qualities which distinguished the rugged people of the west: +and between these and the moral and intellectual, there is an invariable +correspondence--as if the spirit within had moulded its material +encasement to the planes and angles of its own "form and pressure." + + +National form and feature are the external marks of national character, +stamped more or less distinctly in different individuals, but, in the +aggregate, perfectly correspondent and commensurate. The man, therefore, +who possesses the national traits of character in their best +development, will be, also, the most faithful representative of his race +in physical characteristics. At some periods, there are whole classes of +these types; and if there be any _one_ who embodies the character more +perfectly than all others, the tranquillity of the age is not calculated +to draw him forth. But in all times of trouble--of revolution or +national ferment--the perfect Man-emblem is seen to rise, and (which is +more to the purpose) is sure to stand at the head of his fellows: for he +who best represents the character of his followers, becomes, by God's +appointment, their leader. To this extent, the _vox populi_ is the _vox +Dei_; and the unfailing success of every such man, throughout his +appointed term, is the best possible justification of the choice. + +What was Washington, for example, but an epitome of the steady and noble +qualities combined of cavalier and puritan, which were then coalescing +in the American character? And what more perfect correspondence could be +conceived between the moral and intellectual and the physical outlines? +What was Cromwell but _the Englishman_, not only of his own time, but of +all times? And the testimony of all who saw him, what is it, but that a +child, who looked upon him, could not fail to see, in his very +lineaments, the great and terrible man he was? And Napoleon, was he +aught but an abridgment of the French nation, the sublimate and "proof" +essence of French character? Not one, of all the great men of history, +has possessed, so far as we know, a physical constitution more perfectly +representing, even in its advancing grossness, both the strength and +weakness of the people he led. + +In tranquil times, these things are not observed in one individual more +than in others of his class, and we are, therefore, not prepared to +decide whether, at such periods, _the one man_ exists. The great +Leviathan, the king of all the creatures of the ocean, rises to the +surface only in the tumult of the storm; his huge, portentous form, lies +on the face of the troubled waters only when the currents are changed +and the fountains of the deep are broken up. + +Nature does no superfluous work, and it may require the same causes +which produce the storm to organize its Ruler. If a great rebellion is +boiling among men, the mingling of the elements is projecting, also, the +Great Rebel: if a national cause is to be asserted, the principles upon +which it rests will first create its appropriate Exponent. But when no +such agitation is on the point of breaking out--when the crisis is not +near, and the necessity for such greatness distant--national character +probably retains its level; and though there be no _one_ whom the people +will recognise as the arch-man, the representatives, losing in intensity +what they gain in numbers, become a class. They fill the civil stations +of the country, and are known as men of mark--their opinions are +received, their advice accepted, their leading followed. No one of them +is known instinctively, or trusted implicitly, as the leader of Nature's +appointment: yet they are, in fact, the exponents of their time and +race, and in exact proportion to the degree in which they possess the +character, will they exhibit, also, the physical peculiarities. + + +Thus it was at the time of which we are writing, with the class to which +belonged the politician, and a description of his personal appearance, +like that of any other man, will convey no indistinct impression of his +internal character. + +Such a description probably combined more characteristic adjectives than +that of any other personage of his time--adjectives, some of which were +applicable to many of his neighbors, respectively, but _all_ of which +might be bestowed upon him _only_. He was tall, gaunt, angular, swarthy, +active, and athletic. His hair was, invariably, black as the wing of the +raven; even in that small portion which the cap of raccoon-skin left +exposed to the action of sun and rain, the gray was but thinly +scattered; imparting to the monotonous darkness only a more iron +character. As late as the present day, though we have changed in many +things, light-haired men seldom attain eminence among the western +people: many of our legislators are _young_ enough, but none of them are +_beardless_. They have a bilious look, as if, in case of illness, their +only hope would lie in calomel and jalap. One might understand, at the +first glance, that they are men of _talent_, not of _genius_; and that +physical energy, the enduring vitality of the body, has no +inconsiderable share in the power of the mind. + +Corresponding to the sable of the hair, the politician's eye was usually +small, and intensely black--not the dead, inexpressive jet, which gives +the idea of a hole through white paper, or of a cavernous socket in a +death's-head; but the keen, midnight darkness, in whose depths you can +see a twinkle of starlight--where you feel that there is meaning as well +as color. There might be an expression of cunning along with that of +penetration--but, in a much higher degree, the blaze of irascibility. +There could be no doubt, from its glance, that its possessor was an +excellent hater; you might be assured that he would never forget an +injury or betray a friend. + +A stoop in the shoulders indicated that, in times past, he had been in +the habit of carrying a heavy rifle, and of closely examining the ground +over which he walked; but what the chest thus lost in depth it gained in +breadth. His lungs had ample space in which to play--there was nothing +pulmonary even in the drooping shoulders. Few of his class have ever +lived to a very advanced age, but it was not for want of +iron-constitutions, that they went early to the grave. The same services +to his country, which gave the politician his prominence, also shortened +his life. + +From shoulders thus bowed, hung long, muscular arms--sometimes, perhaps, +dangling a little ungracefully, but always under the command of their +owner, and ready for any effort, however violent. These were terminated +by broad, bony hands, which looked like grapnels--their grasp, indeed, +bore no faint resemblance to the hold of those symmetrical instruments. +Large feet, whose toes were usually turned in, like those of the Indian, +were wielded by limbs whose vigor and activity were in keeping with the +figure they supported. Imagine, with these peculiarities, a free, bold, +rather swaggering gait, a swarthy complexion, and conformable features +and tones of voice: and--excepting his costume--you have before your +fancy a complete picture of the early western politician. + +But the item of costume is too important to be passed over with a mere +allusion. As well might we paint a mountain without its verdant +clothing, its waving plumes of pine and cedar, as the western man +without his picturesque and characteristic habiliments. The first, and +indispensable article of dress, was the national hunting-shirt: a +garment whose easy fit was well-adapted, both to the character of his +figure and the freedom of his movements. Its nature did not admit much +change in fashion: the only variations of which it was capable, were +those of ornament and color. It might be fringed around the cape and +skirt, or made plain; it might be blue, or copper-colored--perhaps +tinged with a little madder. And the variety of material was quite as +limited, since it must be of either jeans or deer-skin. + +Corresponding to this, in material, style, and texture, he wore, also, a +pair of wide pantaloons--not always of precisely the proper length for +the limbs of the wearer, but having invariably a broad waistband, coming +up close under the arms, and answering the purpose of the modern vest. +People were not so dainty about "set" and "fit," in those days, as they +have since become; and these primitive integuments were equally +well-adapted to the figure of any one to whose lot they might fall. In +their production, no one had been concerned save the family of the +wearer. The sheep which bore the wool, belonged to his own flock, and +all the operations, subsequent to the shearing, necessary to the +ultimate result of shaping into a garment, had been performed by his +wife or daughter. Many politicians have continued this affectation of +plainness, even when the necessity has ceased, on account of its effect +upon the masses; for people are apt to entertain the notion, that +decent clothing is incompatible with mental ability, and that he who is +most manifestly behind the improvements of the time, is best qualified +for official stations. + +A neck-cloth, or cravat, was never seen about the politician's throat; +and for the same reason of expediency: for these were refinements of +affectation which had not then been introduced; and a man who thus +compassed his neck, could no more have been elected to an office, than +if he had worn the cap and bells of a Saxon jester. The shirt-bosoms of +modern days were in the same category; and _starch_ was an article +contraband to the law of public sentiment--insomuch that no epithet +expressed more thorough contempt for a man, than the graphic word +"starched." A raccoon-skin cap--or, as a piece of extravagant finery, a +white-wool hat--with a pair of heavy shoes, not unfrequently without the +luxury of hose--or, if with them, made of blue-woollen yarn, from the +back of a sheep of the aforesaid flock--completed the element of +costume. + +He was not very extravagantly dressed, as the reader sees; but we can +say of him--what could not be as truly spoken of many men, or, indeed, +of many women, of this day--that his clothing bore distinct reference to +his character, and was well-adapted to his "style of beauty." In fact, +everything about him, form, face, manners, dress, was in "in keeping" +with his characteristics. + + +In occupation, he was usually a farmer; for the materials of which +popular tribunes are made in later times--such as lawyers, gentlemen of +leisure, and pugnacious preachers--were not then to be found. The +population of the country was thoroughly agricultural; and though (as I +believe I have elsewhere observed) the rural people of the west were +neither a cheerful nor a polished race, as a class, they possess, even +yet, qualities, which, culminating in an individual, eminently fit him +for the _rôle_ of a noisy popular leader. + +But a man who is merely fitted to such a position, is a very different +animal to one qualified to give laws for the government of the citizen. +After all our vain boasting, that public sentiment is the law of our +land, there is really a very broad distinction between forming men's +opinions and controlling their action. If the government had been so +organized, that the pressure of popular feeling might make itself felt, +directly, in the halls of legislation, our history, instead of being +that of a great and advancing nation, would have been only a chronicle +of factious and unstable violence. It does not follow, that one who is +qualified to lead voters at the polls, or, as they say here, "on the +stump," will be able to embody, in enlightened enactments, the sentiment +which he contributes to form, any more than that the tanner will be able +to shape a well-fitting boot from the leather he prepares. "_Suum cuique +proprium dat Natura donum_."[82] A blacksmith, therefore, is not the +best manufacturer of silver spoons, a lawyer the ablest writer of +sermons, nor either of them necessarily the safest law-maker. + +But those things to which his qualifications were appropriate, the +politician did thoroughly and well. For example, he was a skilful +farmer--at least in the leading branches of that calling, though he gave +little or no attention to the merely ornamental. For the latter, he had +neither time nor inclination. Even in the essentials, it was only by +working, as he expressed it, "to the best advantage,"--that is, +contriving to produce the largest amount of results with the least +expenditure of labor and patience--that he got sufficient leisure to +attend to his public duties; and as for "inclination," no quaker ever +felt a more supreme contempt for mere embellishment. + + +He was seldom very happy in his domestic relations; for, excepting at +those seasons when the exigencies of his calling required his constant +attention, he spent but little of his time at his own fireside. He +absented himself _until_ his home became strange and uncomfortable to +him: and he then did the same, _because_ it had become so. Every man who +may try the experiment will discover that these circumstances mutually +aggravate each other--are, interchangeably, cause and effect. His +children were, however, always numerous, scarcely ever falling below +half-a-dozen, and not unfrequently doubling that allowance. They +generally appeared upon the stage in rapid succession--one had scarcely +time to get out of the way, before another was pushing him from his +place. The peevishness thus begotten in the mother--by the constant +habit of nursing cross cherubs--though it diminished the amount of +family peace, contributed, in another way, to the general welfare: it +induced the father to look abroad for enjoyment, and thus gave the +country the benefit of his wisdom as a political counsellor. Public +spirit, and the consciousness of ability, have "brought out" many +politicians: but uncomfortable homes have produced many more. + + +He was an oracle on the subject of hunting, and an unerring judge of +whiskey--to both which means of enjoyment he was strongly attached. He +was careful, however, neither to hunt nor drink in solitude, for even +his amusements were subservient to his political interests. To hunt +alone was a waste of time, while drinking alone was a loss of +good-fellowship, upon which much of his influence was founded. He was +particularly attached to parties of half-a-dozen, or more; for in such +companions, his talents were always conspicuous. Around a burgou[83] +pot, or along the trenches of an impromptu barbecue, he shone in +meridian splendor; and the approving smack of his lips, over a bottle of +"backwoods' nectar," was the seal of the judgment which gave character +to the liquor. + +"Militia musters" were days in his calendar, "marked with a +white-stone;" for it was upon these occasions that he appeared in his +utmost magnificence. His grade was never lower than that of colonel, and +it not unfrequently extended to, or even beyond, the rank of +brigadier-general. It was worth "a sabbath-day's journey" on foot, to +witness one of these parades; for I believe that all the annals of the +burlesque do not furnish a more amusing caricature of the "pomp and +circumstance" of war. Compared to one of those militia regiments, +Falstaff's famous corps, whose appearance was so unmilitary as to +prevent even that liberal-minded gentleman from marching through +Coventry in their company, was a model of elegance and discipline. +Sedenó's cavalry in the South American wars, though their uniform +consisted only of "leggings," a pair of spurs, and a Spanish blanket, +had more the aspect of a regular _corps d'armée_ than these! A mob of +rustics was never armed with a more extensive variety of weapons; and no +night's "haul" of a recruiting sergeant's net, ever made a more +disorderly appearance, when mustered in the morning for inspection. + +The "citizen-soldier" knew no more about "dressing the line," than about +dressing himself, and the front of his company presented as many +inequalities as a "worm-fence." Tall men and short men--beaver hats and +raccoon-skin caps--rusty firelocks and long corn-stalks--stiff brogans +and naked feet--composed the grand display. There were as many officers +as men, and each was continually commanding and instructing his +neighbor, but never thinking of himself. At the command "Right dress!" +(when the officer _par excellence_ knew enough to deliver it) some +looked right, others left--some thrust their heads out before--some +leaned back to get a glimpse behind--and the whole line waved like a +streamer in the wind. "Silence in line!" produced a greater clamor than +ever, for each repeated the command to every other, sending the order +along the ranks like a rolling fire, and not unfrequently enforcing it +with the push of a corn-stalk, or a vigorous elbow-hint. When a movement +was directed, the order reached the men successively, by the same +process of repetition--so that while some files were walking slowly, and +looking back to beckon on their lagging fellow-soldiers, others were +forced to a quick run to regain their places, and the scramble often +continued many minutes after the word "halt!" The longer the parade +lasted, the worse was the drill; and after a tedious day's "muster," +each man knew less, if possible, of military tactics, than he did in the +morning. + +But the most ludicrous part of the display, was the earnest solemnity +with which the politician-colonel endeavored "to lick the mass into +shape." If you had judged only by the expression of his face, you would +have supposed that an invading army was already within our borders, and +that this democratic army was the only hope of patriotism to repel the +foreign foe. And, indeed, it might not be too much to say, that some +such idea actually occupied his mind: for he was so fond of "supposing +cases," that bare possibilities sometimes grew in his mind to actual +realities; and it was a part of his creed, as well as his policy to +preach, that "a nation's best defence" is to be found in "the +undisciplined valor of its citizens." His military maxims were not based +upon the history of such countries as Poland and Spain--and Hungary had +not then added her example to the list. He never understood the relation +between discipline and efficiency; and the doctrine of the "largest +liberty" was so popular, that, on his theory, it must be universally +right. Tempered thus, and modified by some of the tendencies of the +demagogue, his love of military parade amounted to a propensity, a trait +which he shared with most of the people among whom he lived. + +The inference from this characteristic, that he possessed what +phrenologists used to call "combativeness," is not unavoidable, though +such was the fact. He was, indeed, quite pugnacious, ready, at all +times, to fight for himself or for his friends, and never with any very +special or discriminating reference to the cause of quarrel. He was, +however, seldom at feud with any one whose enmity could materially +injure him: extensive connections he always conciliated, and every +popular man was his friend. Nor was he compelled, in order to compass +these ends, to descend to any very low arts; for "the people," were not +so fastidious in those days, as they seem since to have become; and a +straightforward sincerity was then the first element of popularity. The +politician was not forced to affect an exemplary "walk and +conversation;" nor was an open declaration of principle or opinion +dangerous to his success. + +This liberality in public sentiment had its evils: since, for example, +the politician was not generally the less esteemed for being rather a +hard _swearer_. In the majority of the class, indeed, this amounted only +to an energetic or emphatic mode of expression; and such the people did +not less respect, than if, in the same person, they had had reason to +believe the opposite tone hypocritical. The western people--to their +honor be it written!--were, and are, mortal enemies to everything like +_cant_: though they might regret, that one's morals were no _better_ +than they appeared, they were still more grieved, if they found +evidence, that they were _worse_ than they claimed to be. + + +But, though the politician was really very open and candid in all the +affairs of life, in his own estimation he was a very dexterous and +dangerous intriguer: he often deceived himself into the belief, that the +success, which was in fact the result of his manly candor, was +attributable only to his cunning management. He was always forming, and +attempting to execute, schemes for circumventing his political +opponents; but, if he bore down all opposition, it was _in spite of_ his +chicanery, and not by its assistance. Left-handed courses are never +advantageous "in the long run;" and, perhaps, it would be well if this +lesson were better understood by politicians, even in our own +enlightened day. + +For the arts of rhetoric he had small respect; in his opinion, the man +who was capable of making a long, florid speech, was fit for little +else. His own oratorical efforts were usually brief, pithy, and to the +point. For example, here follows a specimen, which the writer heard +delivered in Illinois, by a candidate for the legislature:-- + +"Fellow-citizens: I am no speech-maker, but what I say, _I'll do_. I've +lived among you twenty years, and if I've shown myself a clever fellow, +you know it, _without_ a speech: if I'm not a clever fellow, you know +that, too, and wouldn't forget it _with_ a speech. I'm a candidate for +the legislature: if you think I'm 'the clear grit,' _vote_ for me: if +you think Major R---- of a better 'stripe' than I am, vote for _him_. +The fact is, that either of us will make a devilish good +representative!" + +For the satisfaction of the reader, we should record that the orator was +triumphantly elected, and, though "no speech-maker," was an excellent +member for several years. + + +The saddest, yet cheerfullest--the quaintest, yet most unaffected of +moralists, has written "A Complaint upon the Decay of Beggars," which +will not cease to be read, so long as pure English and pure feeling are +understood and appreciated. They were a part of the recollections of his +childhood--images painted upon his heart, impressions made in his soft +and pitying nature; and the "besom of societarian reformation," +legislating busybodies, and tinkers of the general welfare, were +sweeping them away, with all their humanizing influences, their deep +lessons of dire adversity and gentle charity. + +There are some memories of the childhood of western men--unlike, and yet +similar in their generous persuasions on all pure young hearts--upon +whose "Decay" might, also, be written a "Complaint," which should come +as truly, and yet as sadly, from the heart of him, who remembers his +boyhood, as did that from the heart of Elia. Gatherings of the militia, +burgou-hunts, barbecues, and anniversaries--phases of a primitive, yet +true and hearty time!--are fast giving way, before the march of a +barbarous "progress" (erroneously christened) "of intelligence." The +hard spirit of money-getting, the harder spirit of education-getting, +and the hardest of _all_ spirits, that of pharisaical morality, have +divorced our youth, _a vinculo_, from every species of amusement; and +life has come to be a probationary struggle, too fierce to allow a +moment's relaxation. The bodies of children are drugged and worried into +health, their intellects are stuffed and forced into premature +development, or early decay--but their _hearts_ are utterly forgotten! +Enjoyment is a forbidden thing, and only the miserable cant of +"intellectual pleasure" is allowed. _Ideas_--of philosophy, religious +observance, and mathematics--are supplied _ad nauseam_; but the +encouragement of a generous _impulse_, or a magnanimous _feeling_, is +too frivolous a thing to have a place in our vile system. Children are +"brought up," and "brought out," as if they were composed exclusively of +intellect and body: And, since the manifestations of any other element +are pronounced pernicious--even if the existence of the element itself +be recognised--the means of fostering it, innocent amusements, which +make the sunshine brighter, the spirits more cheerful, and the heart +purer and lighter, are sternly prohibited. Alas! for the generation +which shall grow up, and be "educated" (God save the mark!) as if it had +no heart! And wo to the blasphemy which dares to offer, as service to +Heaven, an arrogant contempt of Heaven's gifts, and claims a reward, +like the self-tormentors of the middle ages, for its vain +mortifications. + +But, in the time of the politician, of whom we write, these things were +far different. We have already seen him at a "militia muster," and fain +would we pause here, to display him at a barbecue. What memories, +sweet, though sad, we might evoke of "the glorious fourth" in the olden +time! How savory are even the dim recollections of the dripping viands, +which hung, and fried, and crisped, and crackled, over the great fires, +in the long deep trenches! Our nostrils grow young again with the +thought--and the flavor of the feast floats on the breezes of memory, +even "across the waste of years" which lie between! And the cool, +luxuriant foliage of the grove, the verdant thickets, and among them +pleasant vistas, little patches of green sward, covered with gay and +laughing parties--even the rosy-cheeked girls, in their rustling gingham +dresses, cast now and then a longing glance, toward the yet forbidden +tables! how fresh and clear these images return upon the fancy! + +And then the waving banners, roaring cannon, and the slow procession, +moving all too solemnly for our impatient wishes! And finally, the +dropping of the ropes, the simultaneous rush upon the open feast, and +the rapid, perhaps ravenous consumption of the smoking viands, the jest, +the laugh, all pleasant merriment, the exhilaration of the crowd, the +music, and the occasion! What glories we heard from the orator, of +victories achieved by our fathers! How we longed--O! brief, but +glorious dream! to be one day spoken of like Washington! How wildly our +hearts leaped in our boyish bosoms, as we listened to the accents of the +solemn pledge and "declaration"--"our lives, our fortunes, and our +sacred honor!" The whole year went lighter for that one day, and at each +return, we went home happier, and better! + +How measureless we thought the politician's greatness then! This was his +proper element--here he was at home; and, as he ordered and directed +everything about him, flourishing his marshal's baton, clearing the way +for the march of the procession--settling the "order of exercises," and +reading the programme, in a stentorian voice--there was, probably in his +own estimation, and certainly in ours, no more important or honored +individual in all that multitude! + +In such scenes as these, he was, indeed, without a rival; but there were +others, also, in which he was quite as useful, if not so conspicuous. On +election days, for instance, when a free people assembled to exercise +their "inestimable privilege," to choose their own rulers--he was as +busy as a witch in a tempest. His talents shone forth with especial and +peculiar lustre--for, with him, this was "the day for which all other +days were made." He marshalled his retainers, and led them to "the +polls"--not as an inexperienced tactician would have done, with much +waste of time, in seeking every private voter, but after the manner of +feudal times--by calling upon his immediate dependants, captains over +tens and twenties, through whom he managed the more numerous masses. +These were the "file-leaders," the "fugle-men," and "heads of messes;" +and it was by a judicious management of these, that he was able to +acquire and retain an extensive influence. + +The first article of his electioneering creed was, that every voter was +controlled by somebody; and that the only way to sway the privates was, +to govern the officers: and, whether true or not, it must be admitted +that his theory worked well in practice. He affected to entertain a high +respect for those whom he described as "the boys from the heads of the +hollows"--men who were never seen beyond the precincts of their own +little "clearings," except upon the Fourth of July and election day, +from one end of the year to the other. With these he drank bad whiskey, +made stale jokes, and affected a flattering condescension. With others, +more important or less easily imposed upon, he "whittled" sociably in +the fence-corners, talked solemnly in conspicuous places, and always +looked confidential and mysterious. + +But, however earnestly engaged, he never forgot the warfare in which he +was chief combatant. Like a general upon a field of battle, with his +staff about him, he had sundry of his friends always near, to undertake +any commission, or convey any order, which he desired to have executed; +and not a voter could come upon the ground, whom there was the remotest +chance to influence, that his vigilance did not at once discover and +seize upon, through some one of these lieutenants. He resorted to every +conceivable art, to induce the freemen to vote _properly_; and, when he +could not succeed in this, his next study was to prevent their voting +_at all_. The consequence usually was, that he secured his own election, +or that of his chosen candidate; for, in him, vigilance and shrewdness +were happily combined. + + +But, perhaps fortunately for the country, his ambition was generally +limited to such small offices, as he was quite capable of filling. The +highest point at which he aimed, was a seat in the state legislature; +and on reaching that goal, he signalized his term, chiefly, if at all, +in advocating laws about division fences, and trespassers upon +timber--measures which he deemed desirable for his own immediate +constituency, with very little care for the question of their general +utility. Indeed, he never went to the capital, without having his +pockets full of "private bills," for the gratification of his personal +friends, or near neighbors; and if, after a reasonable term of service, +he had succeeded in getting all these passed into laws, he came home, +contented to "subside," and live the remainder of his days, upon the +recollection of his legislative honors. + +In the course of time, like all other earthly things, his class began to +decay. The tide of immigration, or the increasing intelligence of the +people, raised up men of larger views; and he speedily found himself +outstripped in the race, and forgotten by his ancient retainers. +Then--like his predecessor, the original frontierman--disgusted with +civilization and its refinements--he migrated to more congenial regions, +and, in the scenes of his former triumphs, was heard of no more. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[82] Translate "_donum_," talent. + +[83] A kind of soup, made by boiling all sorts of game with corn, +onions, tomatoes, and a variety of other vegetables. When skilfully +concocted and properly seasoned, not at all unsavory. So called from a +soup made by seamen. + + + + +EPILOGUE. + + +Here we must pause. + +On the hither side of the period, represented by the early politician, +and between that and the present, the space of time is much too narrow, +to contain any distinct development: those who superseded the primitive +oracles, are yet in possession of the temple. We could not, therefore, +pursue our plan further, without hazarding the charge of drawing from +the life. + +It is remarkable, that anything like a fair or candid estimate of--for +example--a public man's character, while he is yet favored with the +people's suffrages, is very certain to be pronounced a caricature; and +it is not less singular, that, while the complaints of popular critics, +in effect, affirm that there is fidelity enough in the picture to enable +even obtuse minds to fit the copy to the original, they at the same time +vehemently assert that the whole portrait is a libel. A just +admeasurement of a demagogue's ability is thus always abated by the +imputation of partisan falsehood or prejudice; and whosoever declines to +join in the adulation of a temporary idol, may consider himself +fortunate, if he escape with only the reproach of envy. Sketches of +contemporaneous character--if they seek recognition among the masses, +must, therefore, not reduce the altitude which blind admiration has +assigned, nor cut away the foreign lace, nor tear the ornaments, with +which excited parties have bedaubed their images of clay. And, yet, so +prone are men to overrate their leaders, that no estimate of a prominent +man can be just, without impugning popular opinion. + +There is probably no other ground quite so perilous as politics, unless +it be literature: and, as yet, the west is comparatively barren of those +"sensitive plants," literary men. But any attempt to delineate society, +by portraiture of living characters, even though the pictures were +purely ideal, would, upon the present plan, involve the suspicion (and +perhaps the temptation to deserve it), indicated above. Before venturing +upon such uncertain paths, therefore, we must display a little +generalship, and call a halt, if not a council of war. Whether we are to +march forward, will be determined by the "General _Orders_." + +THE END. + + + + +J. S. REDFIELD, + +110 AND 112 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK, + +HAS JUST PUBLISHED: + +[Illustration] + +_EPISODES OF INSECT LIFE._ + +By ACHETA DOMESTICA. In Three Series: I. Insects of Spring.--II. Insects +of Summer.--III. Insects of Autumn. Beautifully illustrated. Crown 8vo., +cloth, gilt, price $2.00 each. The same beautifully colored after +nature, extra gilt, $4.00 each. + + "A book elegant enough for the centre table, witty enough for after + dinner, and wise enough for the study and the school-room. One of + the beautiful lessons of this work is the kindly view it takes of + nature. Nothing is made in vain not only, but nothing is made ugly + or repulsive. A charm is thrown around every object, and life + suffused through all, suggestive of the Creator's goodness and + wisdom."--_N. Y. Evangelist._ + + "Moths, glow-worms, lady-birds, may-flies, bees, and a variety of + other inhabitants of the insect world, are descanted upon in a + pleasing style, combining scientific information with romance, in a + manner peculiarly attractive."--_Commercial Advertiser._ + + "The book includes solid instruction as well as genial and + captivating mirth. The scientific knowledge of the writer is + thoroughly reliable."--_Examiner._ + +[Illustration] + + +_MEN AND WOMEN OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY._ + +By ARSENE HOUSSAYE, with beautifully Engraved Portraits of Louis XV., +and Madame de Pompadour. Two volume 12mo. 450 pages each, extra +superfine paper, price $2.50. + + CONTENTS.--Dufresny, Fontenelle, Marivaux, Piron, The Abbé Prevost, + Gentil-Bernard, Florian, Boufflers, Diderot, Grétry, Riverol, Louis + XV., Greuze, Boucher, The Vanloos, Lantara, Watteau, La Motte, + Dehle, Abbé Trublet, Buffon, Dorat, Cardinal de Bernis, Crébillon + the Gay, Marie Antoinette, Made. de Pompadour, Vadé, Mlle. Camargo, + Mlle. Clairon, Mad. de la Popelinière, Sophie Arnould, Crébillon + the Tragic, Mlle. Guimard, Three Pages in the Life of Dancourt, A + Promenade in the Palais-Royal, the Chevalier de la Clos. + + "A more fascinating book than this rarely issues from the teeming + press. Fascinating in its subject; fascinating in its style: + fascinating in its power to lead the reader into castle-building of + the most gorgeous and bewitching description."--_Courier & + Enquirer._ + + "This is a most welcome book, full of information and amusement, in + the form of memoirs, comments, and anecdotes. It has the style of + light literature, with the usefulness of the gravest. It should be + in every library, and the hands of every reader."--_Boston + Commonwealth._ + + "A BOOK OF BOOKS.--Two deliciously spicy volumes, that are a + perfect _bonne bouche_ for an epicure in reading."--_Home Journal._ + + +_PHILOSOPHERS AND ACTRESSES_ + +By ARSENE HOUSSAYE. With beautifully-engraved Portraits of Voltaire and +Mad. Parabère. Two vols., 12mo, price $2.50. + + "We have here the most charming book we have read these many + days,--so powerful in its fascination that we have been held for + hours from our imperious labors or needful slumbers, by the + entrancing influence of its pages. One of the most desirable fruits + of the prolific field of literature of the present + season."--_Portland Eclectic._ + + "Two brilliant and fascinating--we had almost said, + bewitching--volumes, combining information and amusement, the + lightest gossip, with solid and serviceable wisdom."--_Yankee + Blade._ + + "It is a most admirable book, full of originality, wit, information + and philosophy. Indeed, the vividness of the book is extraordinary. + The scenes and descriptions are absolutely life-like."--_Southern + Literary Gazette._ + + "The works of the present writer are the only ones the spirit of + whose rhetoric does justice to those times, and in fascination of + description and style equal the fascinations they descant + upon."--_New Orleans Commercial Bulletin._ + + "The author is a brilliant writer, and serves up his sketches in a + sparkling manner."--_Christian Freeman._ + +[Illustration] + + +_ANCIENT EGYPT UNDER THE PHARAOHS._ + +By JOHN KENDRICK, M. A. In 2 vols., 12mo, price $2.50. + + "No work has heretofore appeared suited to the wants of the + historical student, which combined the labors of artists, + travellers, interpreters and critics, during the periods from the + earliest records of the monarchy to its final absorption in the + empire of Alexander. This work supplies this deficiency."--_Olive + Branch._ + + "Not only the geography and political history of Egypt under the + Pharaohs are given, but we are furnished with a minute account of + the domestic manners and customs of the inhabitants, their + language, laws, science, religion, agriculture, navigation and + commerce."--_Commercial Advertiser._ + + "These volumes present a comprehensive view of the results of the + combined labors of travellers, artists, and scientific explorers, + which have effected so much during the present century toward the + development of Egyptian archæology and history."--_Journal of + Commerce._ + + "The descriptions are very vivid and one wanders, delighted with + the author, through the land of Egypt, gathering at every step, new + phases of her wondrous history, and ends with a more intelligent + knowledge than he ever before had, of the land of the + Pharaohs."--_American Spectator._ + +[Illustration] + + +_COMPARATIVE PHYSIOGNOMY_; + +Or Resemblances between Men and Animals. By J. W. REDFIELD, M.D. In one +vol., 8vo, with several hundred illustrations, price, $2.00. + + "Dr. Redfield has produced a very curious, amusing, and instructive + book, curious in its originality and illustrations, amusing in the + comparisons and analyses, and instructive because it contains very + much useful information on a too much neglected subject. It will be + eagerly read and quickly appreciated."--_National Ægis._ + + "The whole work exhibits a good deal of scientific research, + intelligent observation, and ingenuity."--_Daily Union._ + + "Highly entertaining even to those who have little time to study + the science."--_Detroit Daily Advertiser._ + + "This is a remarkable volume and will be read by two classes, those + who study for information, and those who read for amusement. For + its originality and entertaining character, we commend it to our + readers."--_Albany Express._ + + "It is overflowing with wit, humor, and originality, and profusely + illustrated. The whole work is distinguished by vast research and + knowledge."--_Knickerbocker._ + + "The plan is a novel one; the proofs striking, and must challenge + the attention of the curious."--_Daily Advertiser._ + + +_MOORE'S LIFE OF SHERIDAN._ + +Memoirs of the Life of the Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, by THOMAS +MOORE, with Portrait after Sir Joshua Reynolds. Two vols., 12mo, cloth, +$2.00. + + "One of the most brilliant biographies in English literature. It is + the life of a wit written by a wit, and few of Tom Moore's most + sparkling poems are more brilliant and fascinating than this + biography."--_Boston Transcript._ + + "This is at once a most valuable biography of the most celebrated + wit of the times, and one of the most entertaining works of its + gifted author."--_Springfield Republican._ + + "The Life of Sheridan, the wit, contains as much food for serious + thought as the best sermon that was ever penned."--_Arthur's Home + Gazette._ + + "The sketch of such a character and career as Sheridan's by such a + hand as Moore's, can never cease to be attractive."--_N. Y. Courier + and Enquirer._ + + "The work is instructive and full of interest."--_Christian + Intelligencer._ + + "It is a gem of biography; full of incident, elegantly written, + warmly appreciative, and on the whole candid and just. Sheridan was + a rare and wonderful genius, and has in this work justice done to + his surpassing merits."--_N. Y. Evangelist._ + +[Illustration] + + +_BARRINGTON'S SKETCHES._ + +Personal Sketches of his own Time, by SIR JONAH BARRINGTON, Judge of the +High Court of Admiralty in Ireland, with Illustrations by Darley. Third +Edition, 12mo, cloth, $1.25. + + "A more entertaining book than this is not often thrown in our way. + His sketches of character are inimitable; and many of the prominent + men of his time are hit off in the most striking and graceful + outline."--_Albany Argus._ + + "He was a very shrewd observer and eccentric writer, and his + narrative of his own life, and sketches of society in Ireland + during his times, are exceedingly humorous and interesting."--_N. + Y. Commercial Advertiser._ + + "It is one of those works which are conceived and written in so + hearty a view, and brings before the reader so many palpable and + amusing characters, that the entertainment and information are + equally balanced."--_Boston Transcript._ + + "This is one of the most entertaining books of the season."--_N. Y. + Recorder._ + + "It portrays in life-like colors the characters and daily habits of + nearly all the English and Irish celebrities of that period."--_N. + Y. Courier and Enquirer._ + +[Illustration] + + +_JOMINI'S CAMPAIGN OF WATERLOO._ + +The Political and Military History of the Campaign of Waterloo, from the +French of Gen. Baron Jomini, by Lieut. S. V. BENET, U. S. Ordnance, with +a Map, 12mo, cloth, 75 cents. + + "Of great value, both for its historical merit and its acknowledged + impartiality."--_Christian Freeman, Boston._ + + "It has long been regarded in Europe as a work of more than + ordinary merit, while to military men his review of the tactics and + manoeuvres of the French Emperor during the few days which preceded + his final and most disastrous defeat, is considered as instructive, + as it is interesting."--_Arthur's Home Gazette._ + + "It is a standard authority and illustrates a subject of permanent + interest. With military students, and historical inquirers, it will + be a favorite reference, and for the general reader it possesses + great value and interest."--_Boston Transcript._ + + "It throws much light on often mooted points respecting Napoleon's + military and political genius. The translation is one of much + vigor."--_Boston Commonwealth._ + + "It supplies an important chapter in the most interesting and + eventful period of Napoleon's military career."--_Savannah Daily + News._ + + "It is ably written and skilfully translated."--_Yankee Blade._ + + +_NOTES AND EMENDATIONS OF SHAKESPEARE._ + +Notes and Emendations to the Text of Shakespeare's Plays, from the Early +Manuscript Corrections in a copy of the folio of 1632, in the possession +of JOHN PAYNE COLLIER, Esq., F.S.A. Third edition, with a facsimile of +the Manuscript Corrections. 1 vol. 12mo, cloth, $1.50. + + "It is not for a moment to be doubted, we think, that in this + volume a contribution has been made to the clearness and accuracy + of Shakespeare's text, by far the most important of any offered or + attempted since Shakespeare lived and wrote."--_Lond. Exam._ + + "The corrections which Mr. Collier has here given to the world are, + we venture to think, of more value than the labors of nearly all + the critics on Shakespeare's text put together."--_London Literary + Gazette._ + + "It is a rare gem in the history of literature, and can not fail to + command the attention of all the amateurs of the writings of the + immortal dramatic poet."--_Ch'ston Cour._ + + "It is a book absolutely indispensable to every admirer of + Shakespeare who wishes to read him understandingly."--_Louisville + Courier._ + + "It is clear from internal evidence, that for the most part they + are genuine restorations of the original plays. They carry + conviction with them."--_Home Journal._ + + "This volume is an almost indispensable companion to any of the + editions of Shakespeare, so numerous and often important are many + of the corrections."--_Register, Philadelphia._ + +[Illustration] + + +_THE HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES._ + +By JOSEPH FRANÇOIS MICHAUD. Translated by W. Robson, 3 vols. 12mo., +maps, $3.75. + + "It is comprehensive and accurate in the detail of facts, + methodical and lucid in arrangement, with a lively and flowing + narrative."--_Journal of Commerce._ + + "We need not say that the work of Michaud has superseded all other + histories of the Crusades. This history has long been the standard + work with all who could read it in its original language. Another + work on the same subject is as improbable as a new history of the + 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.'"--_Salem Freeman._ + + "The most faithful and masterly history ever written of the wild + wars for the Holy Land."--_Philadelphia American Courier._ + + "The ability, diligence, and faithfulness, with which Michaud has + executed his great task, are undisputed; and it is to his + well-filled volumes that the historical student must now resort for + copious and authentic facts, and luminous views respecting this + most romantic and wonderful period in the annals of the Old + World."--_Boston Daily Courier._ + +[Illustration] + + +_MARMADUKE WYVIL._ + +An Historical Romance of 1651, by HENRY W. HERBERT, author of the +"Cavaliers of England," &c., &c. Fourteenth Edition. Revised and +Corrected. + + "This is one of the best works of the kind we have ever read--full + of thrilling incidents and adventures in the stirring times of + Cromwell, and in that style which has made the works of Mr. Herbert + so popular."--_Christian Freeman, Boston._ + + "The work is distinguished by the same historical knowledge, + thrilling incident, and pictorial beauty of style, which have + characterized all Mr. Herbert's fictions and imparted to them such + a bewitching interest."--_Yankee Blade._ + + "The author out of a simple plot and very few characters, has + constructed a novel of deep interest and of considerable historical + value. It will be found well worth reading."--_National Ægis, + Worcester._ + +=Life under an Italian Despotism!= + +LORENZO BENONI, + +OR + +PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF AN ITALIAN. + +_One Vol., 12mo, Cloth--Price $1.00._ + + * * * * * + +=OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.= + + "The author of 'Lorenzo Benoni' is GIOVANNI RUFFINI, a native of + Genoa, who effected his escape from his native country after the + attempt at revolution in 1833. His book is, in substance, an + authentic account of real persons and incidents, though the writer + has chosen to adopt fictitious and fantastic designations for + himself and his associates. Since 1833, Ruffini has resided chiefly + (if not wholly) in England and France, where his qualities, we + understand, have secured him respect and regard. In 1848, he was + selected by Charles Albert to fill the responsible situation of + embassador to Paris, in which city he had long been domesticated as + a refugee. He ere long, however, relinquished that office, and + again withdrew into private life. He appears to have employed the + time of his exile in this country to such advantage as to have + acquired a most uncommon mastery over the English language. The + present volume (we are informed on good authority) is exclusively + his own--and, if so, on the score of style alone it is a remarkable + curiosity. But its matter also is curious."--_London Quarterly + Review for July._ + + "A tale of sorrow that has lain long in a rich mind, like a ruin in + a fertile country, and is not the less gravely impressive for the + grace and beauty of its coverings ... at the same time the most + determined novel-reader could desire no work more fascinating over + which to forget the flight of time.... No sketch of foreign + oppression has ever, we believe, been submitted to the English + public by a foreigner, equal or nearly equal to this volume in + literary merit. It is not unworthy to be ranked among contemporary + works whose season is the century in which their authors + live."--_London Examiner._ + + "The book should be as extensively read as 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' + inasmuch as it develops the existence of a state of slavery and + degradation, worse even than that which Mrs. Beecher Stowe has + elucidated with so much pathos and feeling."--_Bell's Weekly + Messenger._ + + "Few works of the season will be read with greater pleasure than + this; there is a great charm in the quiet, natural way in which the + story is told."--_London Atlas._ + + "The author's great forte is character-painting. This portraiture + is accomplished with remarkable skill, the traits both individual + and national being marked with great nicety without + obtrusiveness."--_London Spectator._ + + "Under the modest guise of the biography of an imaginary 'Lorenzo + Benoni,' we have here, in fact, the memoir of a man whose name + could not be pronounced in certain parts of northern Italy without + calling up tragic yet noble historical recollections.... Its + merits, simply as a work of literary art, are of a very high order. + The style is really beautiful--easy, sprightly, graceful, and full + of the happiest and most ingenious turns of phrase and + fancy."--_North British Review._ + + "This has been not unjustly compared to '_Gil Blas_,' to which it + is scarcely inferior in spirited delineations of human character, + and in the variety of events which it relates. But as a description + of actual occurrences illustrating the domestic and political + condition of Italy, at a period fraught with interest to all + classes of readers, it far transcends in importance any work of + mere fiction."--_Dublin Evening Mail._ + + +"SHAKESPEARE AS HE WROTE IT." + +THE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE, + +_Reprinted from the newly-discovered copy of the Folio of 1632 in the +possession of J. Payne Collier, containing nearly_ + +=Twenty Thousand Manuscript Corrections=, + +_With a History of the Stage to the Time, an Introduction to each Play, +a Life of the Poet, etc._ + +BY J. PAYNE COLLIER, F.S.A. + +_To which are added, Glossarial and other Notes, the Readings of Former +Editions, a_ PORTRAIT _after that by Martin Droeshout, a_ VIGNETTE TITLE +_on Steel, and a_ FACSIMILE OF THE OLD FOLIO, _with the Manuscript +Corrections_. 1 vol., Imperial 8vo. Cloth $4.00. + +The =WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE= the same as the above. Uniform in Size with +the celebrated Chiswick Edition, 8 vols. 16mo, cloth $6.00. Half calf or +moroc. extra. + +These are _American Copyright Editions_, the Notes being expressly +prepared for the work. The English edition contains simply the text, +without a single note or indication of the changes made in the text. In +the present, the variations from old copies are noted by reference of +all changes to former editions (abbreviated f.e.), and every indication +and explanation is given essential to a clear understanding of the +author. The prefatory matter, Life, &c., will be fuller than in any +American edition now published. + + "This is the only correct edition of the works of the 'Bard of + Avon' ever issued, and no lover or student of Shakespeare should be + without it."--_Philadelphia Argus._ + + "Altogether the most correct and therefore the most valuable + edition extant."--_Albany Express._ + + "This edition of Shakespeare will ultimately supersede all others. + It must certainly be deemed an essential acquisition by every lover + of the great dramatist."--_N. Y. Commercial Advertiser._ + + "This great work commends itself in the highest terms to every + Shakespearian scholar and student."--_Philadelphia City Item._ + + "This edition embraces all that is necessary to make a copy of + Shakespeare desirable and correct."--_Niagara Democrat._ + + "It must sooner or later drive all others from the market."--_N. Y. + Evening Post._ + + "Beyond all question, the very best edition of the great bard + hitherto published."--_New England Religious Herald._ + + "It must hereafter be the standard edition of Shakespeare's + plays."--_National Argus._ + + "It is clear from internal evidence that they are genuine + restorations of the original plays."--_Detroit Daily Times._ + + "This must we think supersede all other editions of Shakespeare + hitherto published. Collier's corrections make it really a + different work from its predecessors. Compared with it we consider + them hardly worth possessing."--_Daily Georgian, Savannah._ + + "One who will probably hereafter be considered as the only true + authority. No one we think, will wish to purchase an edition of + Shakespeare, except it shall be conformable to the amended text by + Collier."--_Newark Daily Advertiser._ + + "A great outcry has been made in England against this edition of + the bard, by Singer and others interested in other editions; but + the emendations commend themselves too strongly to the good sense + of every reader to be dropped by the public--the old editions must + become obsolete."--_Yankee Blade, Boston._ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Western Characters, by J. L. 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