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diff --git a/24713.txt b/24713.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e9982de --- /dev/null +++ b/24713.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6416 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Stories of New Jersey, by Frank Richard +Stockton + + +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: Stories of New Jersey + + +Author: Frank Richard Stockton + + + +Release Date: February 28, 2008 [eBook #24713] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF NEW JERSEY*** + + +E-text prepared by wainwra, Suzanne Shell, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 24713-h.htm or 24713-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/1/24713/24713-h/24713-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/1/24713/24713-h.zip) + + + + + +STORIES OF NEW JERSEY + +by + +FRANK R. STOCKTON + + + + + + + +New York--Cincinnati--Chicago +American Book Company +1896 + +Copyright, 1896, by +American Book Company. + +STO. OF N. J. +W. P. I + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This volume of stories, composed of historical incidents, or material +connected with the history of New Jersey, is not intended to be a +record, even in a condensed form, of the rise and progress of the State. +The stories are arranged chronologically, but there has been no attempt +to give a complete and continuous account of events or epochs. The +material for the stories has been collected from many sources; and the +selections have been made with regard to the interest, the +instructiveness, and as far as possible the novelty, of the matter +chosen. There has been a constant endeavor, however, to present a series +of historical incidents in a panoramic form, so that the reading of the +stories in their regular succession would give an impressive idea of the +discovery and settlement of the State, of its people, manners, and +customs, and of its progress and achievements, as it was gradually +evolved from the Indian region of Scheyichbi into the State of New +Jersey. + +In these stories there is nothing imaginative or fanciful, except where +a reference is made to the early imaginings and fancies of the +aborigines. The stories are not founded on facts, but they are made up +of facts carefully collected from the authorities referred to in the +table of contents. Some of the stories are well known, but could not be +omitted because of their representative character; but others, it is +hoped, will be found familiar only to the professed student of history. +The period of the stories extends from the earliest times of Indian +tradition down to what may be called our own day; but as there was so +much available matter, and so little space for it, and as there was no +intention to give a comprehensive history of the State, it was deemed +well to deal only with the incidents and people that have passed out of +the boundaries of current history. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE +THE STORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF SCHEYICHBI; or, The Aborigines +of New Jersey. (Period, prior to 1600.) 9 + + _Authorities_: MSS. regarding Indians. Rev. John Heckewelder. + "History of New Jersey." T. F. Gordon. + "History of New Jersey." I. Mulford. + +THE STORY OF A PEACEMAKER. An Indian Woman's Friendly Act. +(Period, 1632.) 18 + + _Authority_: "History of New York." Brodhead. + +THE WINNING OF THE PRIZE; or, The English Ownership of New +Jersey. (Period, 1664.) 24 + + _Authorities_: "History of New Jersey." I. Mulford. + "History of New Jersey." S. Smith. + "History of New Jersey." T. F. Gordon. + +HOW SCHEYICHBI REALLY BECAME NEW JERSEY. (Period, 1609-1758.) 31 + + _Authorities_: "History of New Jersey." S. Smith. + "History of New Jersey." I. Mulford. + "History of New Jersey." T. F. Gordon. + +FINS, RATTLES, AND WINGS; or, The Wild Animals of Early Days. 42 + + _Authorities_: "History of New Jersey." S. Smith. + "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + "The Burlington Smiths." R. M. Smith. + +THE STORY OF A GIRL AND A HOGSHEAD. A Story of the Swedish +Settlers. (Period, prior to 1655.) 51 + + _Authority_: "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + +THE STORY OF PENELOPE STOUT. (Period, prior to 1669.) 57 + + _Authorities_: "History of New Jersey." S. Smith. + "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. + "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + "Story of an Old Farm." A. C. Mellick. + +THE SCHOOLMASTER AND THE DOCTOR. (Period, from 1693.) 69 + + _Authorities_: "Colonial History of New Jersey." Grahame. + "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. + "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + "History of Medicine in New Jersey." S. Wickes. + +THE SLAVES OF NEW JERSEY. (Period, 1626-1860.) 83 + + _Authorities_: "History of New Jersey." T. F. Gordon. + "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. + "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick. + +A JERSEY TEA PARTY; or, The Burning of the Tea at Cohansey. +(Period, 1774.) 93 + + _Authorities_: "History of New Jersey." I. Mulford. + "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. + "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick. + +THE STORY OF A SPY. (Period, 1758-80.) 102 + + _Authority_: "Our Home," published in Somerville, N.J., 1873. + +A MAN WHO COVETED WASHINGTON'S SHOES; or, The Story of +General Charles Lee. (Period, 1758-85.) 117 + + _Authorities_: "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick. + "Life of Lord Stirling." W. Duer. + +THE MAN IN THE "AUGER HOLE." From the Journal of Mrs. +Margaret Hill Morris. (Period, 1776-82.) 130 + + _Authorities_: "The Burlington Smiths." R. M. Smith. + "History of New Jersey." T. F. Gordon. + +THE STORY OF TWO CAPTAINS. Captain Huddy and Captain +Asgill. (Period, 1781.) 141 + + _Authorities_: "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. + "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick. + +THE STORY OF TEMPE WICK. (Period, 1780.) 155 + + _Authorities_: "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick. + "Morris County History." W. W. Munsey. + "Authors and Writers Associated with Morristown." J. K. Colles. + +THE STORY OF FORT NONSENSE. (Period, 1776-80.) 163 + + _Authorities_: "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. + "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick. + +AN AMERICAN LORD. Lord Stirling of Basking Ridge. (Period, +1726-83.) 177 + + _Authorities_: "Life of Lord Stirling." W. Duer. + "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick. + +MOLLY PITCHER. (Period, 1778.) 186 + + _Authorities_: "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. + "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + +THE MORRISTOWN GHOSTS. A Story of 1788 193 + + _Authorities_: Pamphlet published in 1792. Anonymous. + "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + +A JERSEYMAN AND HIS ROYAL CROWN. Joseph Bonaparte at Bordentown. +(Period, 1815-39.) 204 + + _Authorities_: "Encyclopaedia Britannica." + "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + "Bordentown and the Bonapartes." J. B. Gilder. + "Joseph Bonaparte in Bordentown." F. M. Crawford. + "New Jersey Newspaper Clippings." + +THE DEY, THE BEY, AND SOME JERSEY SAILORS. The Barbary +War. (Period, 1800-4) 214 + + _Authorities_: "History of the United States Navy." J. F. Cooper. + "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. + +SEA FIGHTS WITH A NOBLER FOE. The War of 1812 230 + + _Authorities_: "History of the United States Navy." J. F. Cooper. + "Field Book of the Revolution." B. J. Lossing. + +THE STORY OF THE TELEGRAPH AND THE STEAMBOAT. (Period, +1787-1838.) 239 + + _Authorities_: "Appletons' Dictionary." + "New Jersey Newspaper Clippings." + "American Inventors of the Telegraph." F. L. Pope. + "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. + +NEW JERSEY AND THE LAND OF GOLD. The Conquest of California. +(Period, 1816-66.) 246 + + _Authorities_: "Appletons' Dictionary." + "Biographical Encyclopaedia of New Jersey." + + + + +STORIES OF NEW JERSEY. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF SCHEYICHBI. + + +The North American Indians, the earliest inhabitants of this country of +whom we know anything definite, were great story-tellers; and their +histories consist entirely of stories handed down from parents to +children, or, more likely, from grandparents to grandchildren, for +grandfathers and grandmothers are generally more willing to tell +stories than fathers or mothers. And so these traditions, probably a +good deal brightened by being passed along century after century, came +down to the Indians who were first met by white people, and thus we have +heard many of them. + +The stories told by the Indians inhabiting the country which is now the +Middle States, all agree that their remote forefathers came from some +region beyond the Mississippi River. Like the traditions of most +nations, these go so very far back that they are vague and misty; but, +as this gave the Indians a great opportunity for their imaginations, it +is not wonderful that they improved it. These Indians believed that in +the very earliest stages of their existence they were all animals, and +lived in caves under the earth. They were hunters; but their game +consisted of mice, and creatures of that sort. One of them accidentally +discovered a hole by which he got out on the surface of the ground; and, +finding it so exceedingly pleasant, it was not long before the whole of +his tribe came out, and began life in the light of day. + +It may be supposed that these animals gradually changed to human beings, +and built villages, and planted corn; but in one respect they did not +change, nor have they changed at this present day. Many of them still +call themselves after the names of animals; and now the greater part of +the noted Indians of our country have such names as "Sitting Bull," +"Black Bear," and "Red Horse." But the stories say that all of the +animals did not come out of their underground homes. Among these were +the hedgehog and the rabbit; and so some of the tribes will not eat +these animals, because in so doing they may be eating their family +connections. + +Gradually the ancestors of the Indians who told their stories to the +first settlers, and who afterwards called themselves the Lenni-Lenape, +moved eastward, and after many years they reached the Mississippi River. +By this time they had become a powerful body. But in the course of their +journeys they discovered that they were not the earliest emigrants in +this direction, for they met with a great tribe called the Mengwe, later +known as the Iroquois, who had come from a country west of the +Mississippi, but farther north than that of our Indians. + +We do not hear that these two great tribes of early Indians interfered +with each other; but when the Lenni-Lenape investigated the other side +of the Mississippi, they found there still another nation, powerful, +numerous, and warlike. These were called the Alligewi, from which we +have derived the name Allegheny. At first the latter tribe was inclined +to allow the Lenape to pass the river; but after a time, finding that +the newcomers were so numerous, they fell upon them and drove them back. + +But the Indians at that remote period must have been as doggedly +determined to move eastward as are our pioneers to move westward; and +they were not to be stopped by rivers, mountains, or savage enemies. The +Lenape were not strong enough to fight the Alligewi by themselves, and +so they formed an alliance with the Mengwe; and these two nations +together made war upon the Alligewi, and in the course of time overcame +them, and drove them entirely from their country. + +After years, or perhaps centuries (for there are no definite statements +of time in these Indian traditions), the Mengwe and the Lenape, who had +been living together in the country of the Alligewi, separated; and the +Mengwe emigrated to the lands near the Great Lakes, while the Lenape +slowly continued their progress eastward. + +They crossed the Alleghanies, and discovered a great river, which they +called Susquehanna, and then they moved on until they came to the +Delaware. This grand stream pleased them so much, that they gave it a +name of honor, and called it the Lenapewihittuck, or "The River of the +Lenape." Then they crossed the river and discovered New Jersey. + +Here they found a pleasant climate, plenty of game, and no human +inhabitants whatever. They therefore appropriated it as their own, and +gave it the name of Scheyichbi; and any one who endeavors to pronounce +this name will be likely to feel glad that it was afterwards changed by +the white settlers. + +Before this first discovery of New Jersey, the Lenni-Lenape had settled +themselves in the beautiful and fertile country about the Susquehanna +and the west shore of the Delaware, and here established their right to +their name, which signifies "original people;" and if their stories are +correct, they certainly are the original inhabitants of this region, +and they discovered New Jersey from the west, and took rightful +possession of it. + +It is a law of nations, founded then upon the same principles of justice +as it stands upon now, that discovery by a nation, or the agent of a +nation, of unknown lands entirely uninhabited, gives the discoverers the +right to those lands; and, in accordance with that law, the Lenape +became the discoverers and original owners of New Jersey. + +We will not now allude to the rights they then acquired to the country +which is now Pennsylvania and other States, because we are confining +ourselves to what relates to the country of Scheyichbi, the land where +their eastward migrations ceased. Now, they could go no farther towards +the rising sun, and they were satisfied to stop. + +These Lenape, or "Grandfather Tribe" as they were often called, were not +merely cruel and ignorant savages: they had many admirable traits of +character, and some of their manners and customs might well have been +imitated by those who found them here. + +They had an admirable system of government; and at regularly appointed +periods their wisest men met at the great "Council House" to make laws, +and arrange the affairs of the nation. Their conduct in their councils +was far more decorous and becoming than that we often hear of among +legislators of the present day, whether they are met together in +Congress, Parliament, or Reichstag. These chiefs, chosen for their +wisdom and experience, treated each other with the highest regard and +respect. When one of them arose to address his fellow-legislators, every +man in the council room paid the strictest attention to what he said; +and interruptions, jeers, and ridicule, such as legislators often make +use of at the present day, were totally unknown among these grave and +earnest Indians. + +There can be no doubt that the Lenape were superior to other Indian +nations, and worthy of the proud title which they gave themselves; and +in later years, when the river was named after Lord De la Warre, and +they were called the Delawares, they were considered the noblest of the +Indian tribes. + +I dwell upon the good qualities and high character of the Lenape, +because it was from their main body that numerous tribes came across the +Delaware River, and became the first Jerseymen, or, if any one likes it +better, Scheyichbians. They settled in many pleasant places, building +wigwam villages, many of which have since grown into modern towns, and +still bear their old Indian names. In fact, the modern Jerseyman has had +the good sense to preserve a great many of the names given to rivers, +mountains, and villages by the first owners of the soil. + +But, after all, Scheyichbi was not sufficiently discovered and settled +for the purposes of civilization, and its fertile soil waited long for +the footsteps of the new immigrants. These came at last from the east. + +About the end of the fifteenth century there was a strong desire among +the maritime nations of Europe to find a short passage to China and the +East Indies. It was for that reason that Columbus set out on his +expedition; but with his story we have nothing to do, for he did not +discover the continent of North America, and in fact never saw it. But +after John Cabot and his son Sebastian, then looking for a passage to +Cathay in the interest of the King of England, made a voyage to North +America, and had contented themselves with discovering Newfoundland, +Sebastian came back again, and accomplished a great deal more. He sailed +along the coast from Labrador to the southern end of Florida, and in the +course of this voyage discovered New Jersey. He made a map of the whole +coast, and claimed all the country back of it for the King of England. + +There is no proof that Cabot knew whether this country had inhabitants +or not. He saw it from his ships; but he did not make any attempt to +settle it, and thus establish a legal right to the soil. He simply +declared it the property of the Crown of England, and it is upon this +claim that England afterward based her right to the eastern coast of +North America. + +And so New Jersey was discovered from the east. + +About a quarter of a century after Sebastian Cabot's voyage, the French +took up the idea that they would like to discover something, and Francis +I. sent an Italian mariner, named John Verrazano, across the Atlantic +Ocean. + +After having sailed far enough, John Verrazano discovered the coast of +North America, which he called "a new land never before seen by any man, +ancient or modern." He took possession of it in the name of his king, +and, in order to settle the matter, called the whole coast New France. +There is reason to believe that Verrazano discovered the southern part +of New Jersey, for in sailing northward he probably entered Delaware +Bay. + +But it appears that New Jersey was not yet sufficiently discovered, and +after having been left for a long time in the possession of its true +owners, the Lenni-Lenape, it was again visited by Europeans. In 1609 the +celebrated Henry Hudson, then in the service of the Dutch East India +Company, started westward to try to find a northwest passage to China. +In those bygone days, whenever a European explorer set out to find an +easy passage to the East, he was very apt to discover New Jersey; and +this is what happened to Henry Hudson. He first discovered it on the +south, and partially explored Delaware Bay; then he sailed up the coast +and entered New York Bay, and sailed some distance up the river which +now bears his name. + +Hudson did more for New Jersey than any of the other discoverers, for +his men were the first Europeans who ever set foot upon its soil. Some +of them landed in the vicinity of Bergen Point, and were met in a +friendly way by a great many of the original inhabitants. But the fact +that he found here possessors of the soil made no difference to Hudson: +he claimed the country for the Dutch. Five years afterwards, that nation +made a settlement at New York, and claiming the whole of the surrounding +country, including New Jersey, gave it the name of New Netherland. + +Thus was New Jersey discovered on the north; and after the efforts of +four nations,--the Indians first, the English under Cabot, the French, +and the Dutch (for Hudson was now in the service of that nation),--it +may be said to have been entirely discovered. + + + + +THE STORY OF A PEACEMAKER. + + +After the outside boundaries of New Jersey had been pretty thoroughly +discovered, it was quite natural that some nations who laid claim to the +State should desire to find out something in regard to its interior, and +make settlements upon its soil. + +This was not done by the English, who had made the first claim to the +land, but by the Dutch. In the early part of the seventeenth century, +the West India Company of Holland sent out a ship containing the +foundation for a little colony,--men, provisions, and all things +necessary. They sailed into Delaware Bay; and the commander, Cornelius +Jacobsen Mey, gave his name to Cape May. The expedition went up the +Delaware River till they reached Timber Creek, probably not much more +than ten miles from the spot where Philadelphia now stands. There they +settled, and built a fort, which they called Fort Nassau. But this was +not looked upon with favor by the Indians, and it was not long before +the whole colony was destroyed. + +This unfortunate beginning of the white settlement of New Jersey did not +deter the Dutch, who are a persevering and dogged people. About twelve +years later, another Dutch commander, De Vries, sailed up the Delaware +River, or, as the Dutch called it, the South River; his main object +being to catch whales, very different from the Delaware fisheries of the +present day. He set up a little colony on shore; but it appears that the +Indians were very much opposed to this sort of thing, and this +settlement was destroyed before long. + +But De Vries still kept up the whaling business; and in the course of +time, getting out of provisions, he left his vessel, and sailed up the +river in a small craft which was called the "Squirrel." He went up as +far as the deserted Fort Nassau, and there anchored to trade with the +Indians. + +It is quite plain that the Indians of New Jersey were now greatly +concerned about the visits of white people to their shore; for they +perceived that these newcomers were inclined to settle and occupy such +places as pleased their fancy, without asking permission, or proposing +to buy or to pay rent. All this was very disagreeable to the red men, +who had never shown any disposition to open up their country to foreign +immigration. + +When De Vries anchored, he was very well received; and about forty +Indians came on board his yacht, and made a call upon him. They were +dressed in their best, and, in order to make the visit more agreeable, +they brought some of their musical instruments with them, and gave the +Dutchmen a taste of Indian music. + +The dress of some of these visitors was a surprise to De Vries and his +men, of whom there were only seven on the yacht. It was winter time, and +most of the Indians were arrayed in furs, but several of them wore +jackets made in the English fashion. The visitors were very friendly, +and urged De Vries to sail his vessel up a stream, now known as Big +Timber Creek, which, they declared, was a much better place for trading. + +Now, according to some of the old histories, a woman appeared in the +double character of peacemaker and guardian angel. + +Among the Lenni-Lenape, as well as the other tribes of North America, +women often had a peculiar part to play in national and social affairs. +If ever the services of a peacemaker were desired, that position was +always given to a woman. It was considered derogatory to the dignity of +a male Indian that he should at any time, of his own accord, desire +peace. He and his enemy might both be thoroughly tired of fighting; but +neither of them would lower himself in his own estimation, and in the +estimation of his countrymen, by allowing any man to know the state of +his mind. + +But he did not in the least object to tell his wife that he wanted to +stop fighting; and she, very gladly in most cases, would confer with the +wife of the other brave; and when they had concluded peace, the two men +would immediately sit down together, smoke the calumet, and be good +friends; and all this without the slightest loss of dignity. + +This method of making peace was pursued not only by individuals, but by +nations. Very often women had this important political duty thrust upon +them,--a duty for which they were probably very well qualified, for it +is seldom that the women of a nation desire war. + +This national disposition in regard to peacemaking was once the occasion +of a serious misfortune to the tribe of Lenni-Lenape. The tribes to the +north, who had formed themselves into a powerful body called the Five +Nations, had long been jealous of their neighbors the Lenni-Lenape, and +contrived a plan to humiliate them, and render them less important in +the eyes of the Indian world. Being at war with some other tribes, these +Five Nations came to the Lenni-Lenape and pretended to desire peace, but +stated that this was too important a case to be managed by women. They +declared that this was a great work, which should be given only into the +hands of a quiet, dignified, and honorable tribe, such as their great +neighbors, and urged the Lenape to undertake negotiations for the +cessation of hostilities. + +As all this seemed reasonable enough, the Lenape were at last persuaded +to become peacemakers, and, as might be supposed, they were entirely +successful; but they suffered for their kindness and good feeling. Ever +afterwards they were looked upon by other Indian tribes as no better +than women. In Cooper's novels there are references to the fact that the +noble Lenape were sneered at as peacemakers and squaws. + +But we will now return to our guardian angel. It was after a visit of +the Indians to the vessel of De Vries, that the peacemaking instinct +took possession of the wife of one of the Indian chiefs; and quietly and +stealthily, unperceived by her people, she managed to get on board the +"Squirrel," when she informed the commander of the real object of his +visitors, who had invited him to sail up Timber Creek. It was the desire +of the Indians to destroy this company of white men; and the narrow +stream where they wished to make the attempt was much better adapted for +their purpose than the broad waters of the river. + +Wishing to prevent an encounter in which the sturdy Dutchmen would +probably kill some of her countrymen before they themselves were +destroyed, she had come to implore the whites not to run into the trap +which had been set for them. She told them that the crew of an English +shallop, which not long before had come to visit the place, probably +from a ship afraid to venture higher up the river, had all been +slaughtered, and that it was the jackets of these men that some of her +countrymen were wearing. + +Like a sensible man, De Vries paid attention to this story, and did not +venture into Timber Creek. Whether or not he rewarded the good woman who +came to warn him of his danger, is not known; but his account of the +affair places her in the position of one worthy of a monument by the +women of the State. + +When the Indians came again to De Vries, he declared to them that his +Great Spirit, or "Maneto," had revealed their wicked purposes, and that +he would not sail up the Timber Creek, nor would he allow one of them +upon his vessel; and, having ordered them all on shore, he dropped some +distance down the river. + +This conduct doubtless inspired the Indians with great respect for the +brave Dutchmen, and shortly afterwards the chiefs from nine different +tribes came on board the "Squirrel" for the purpose of making a treaty +of peace and commerce with the Dutch. All of these were now dressed in +furs, which were their ordinary garments; but some of them were +recognized as the same men who had formerly worn the jackets of the +murdered English sailors. These, however, were just as cordial and +friendly as any of the others, and there is no reason to suppose that +they now intended treachery. The visitors sat down on the deck of the +yacht, and held a regular council, and, with appropriate ceremonies, +made presents of beaver skins to the whites, and solemnly concluded a +treaty of friendship. + + + + +THE WINNING OF THE PRIZE. + + +After the importance of the discovery of North America came to be +properly appreciated by the nations of Europe, the ownership was looked +upon as a great national prize, and there were several nations who were +anxious to play for it. This country, so readily approached by the +Delaware, became attractive not only to kings and sovereigns, but to +settlers and immigrants. Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden granted a charter +to a company called the West India Company, which was formed for the +purpose of making settlements on the shores of the Delaware Bay and +River, and commissioned them to take possession of this country, without +the slightest regard to what the English sovereign and the Dutch +sovereign had granted to their subjects. + +The Swedes came to Delaware Bay. They stopped for a while at Cape +Henlopen; and then, of course, they sailed up the Delaware, when things +soon began to be very disagreeable between themselves and the Dutch, who +were there before them. + +The Swedes were a warlike set of people, and they held their ground very +well. Besides making some settlements, they built a fort which they +called Elsinburgh; and, if a Dutch ship happened to pass by that fort, +it was obliged to strike its flag in token of submission to a superior +power. The Indians, who were perhaps as much opposed to the Swedish +settlement as they had been to those of other nations, do not appear to +have been able to attack this fort with any success; and as for the +Dutch, it is not certain that they even attempted it. So the Swedes at +that time governed the passage up and down the Delaware, as the English +now govern the passage through the Straits of Gibraltar. + +It was probably winter time or cool weather when the Swedes built their +proud fort on the banks of that river which they now named "New +Swedeland Stream;" but when the warm and pleasant days came on, and it +was easy to travel from the interior to the river shore, and when the +weather was so mild that it was quite possible to spend the nights in +the woods without injury, there came an enemy to Fort Elsinburgh which +proved far more formidable than the Indians or Dutch. + +The fort was surrounded; and frequent and violent attacks were made upon +it, especially in the night, when it was almost impossible for the +garrison to defend themselves. Many bloody single combats took place in +which the enemy generally fell, for in bodily prowess a Swede was always +superior to any one of the attacking force. But no matter how many +assailants were killed, the main body seemed as powerful and determined +as ever. In course of time the valiant Swedes were obliged to give way +before their enemy. They struck their flag, evacuated the fort, and +departed entirely from the place where they had hoped a flourishing +settlement would spring up under the protection of their fort. + +The enemy which attacked and routed the Swedes was a large and +invincible army of mosquitoes, against whom their guns, their pistols, +their swords, their spears, and their ramparts afforded them no defense. +After that, the deserted fort was known as Mygenborg, meaning Mosquito +Fort. + +The Dutch looked with great disfavor on the Swedes, who continued to +establish themselves at various points; and although they did not make +an alliance with the body of natives who had driven these northern +people away from Elsinburgh,--for a compact of that kind would be +dangerous in many ways,--they took up the matter by themselves; and +finally the Dutch, under their valiant Peter Stuyvesant, completely +conquered the Swedes, and sent their leaders to Holland, while the +ordinary settlers submitted to the Dutch. + +But this state of things did not continue very long; for the English, +who, although they had not yet settled in New Jersey, had never given up +their pretensions as the original discoverers, came in strong force, +subdued the Dutch, occupied their principal town, New Amsterdam, and +took possession of the country, including New Jersey. + +But it seemed to be a good deal easier to discover New Jersey than +finally to settle its ownership. Now that the Dutch and the Swedes were +disposed of, there arose difficulties regarding the English claims to +the State. Early in the seventeenth century, Queen Elizabeth had granted +an immense tract of land to Sir Walter Raleigh, which was called +Virginia, and that included the whole of New Jersey. Afterwards Charles +II. granted to his brother, the Duke of York, an immense tract of land, +which also included New Jersey, and which was called New York. So what +is now New Jersey was then at the same time both Virginia and New York. + +The Duke of York, who then owned New Jersey, leased the whole +State--lands, forests, rivers, wigwams, Indians, fisheries, Dutch +settlers, Swedish settlers, everything--to John Berkeley (Baron of +Stratton) and Sir George Carteret for the sum of twenty nobles per year +(thirty-two dollars of our money). Some authorities, indeed, state that +the sum paid was much smaller. + +After a time, however, the claims of Virginia were withdrawn; and not +only did Berkeley and Carteret enjoy undisturbed possession of the +State, but they gave it a name, and called it _Nova Caesaria_, or New +Jersey, its name being given on account of Carteret's connection with +the Isle of Jersey. The Latin name was used for a time; but the settlers +preferred English, and so the name now stands. New Jersey was soon +afterwards divided into two provinces,--East Jersey and West Jersey. The +accompanying map shows the line of division between the two provinces, +which was made in 1676. It ran from the southern end of what is now Long +Beach, in Little Egg Harbor, to a point on the Delaware River. Two other +lines of partition were afterwards made, both starting from the same +point on the seacoast; one running somewhat to the west, and the other +to the east, of the original line. + +After some changes in the proprietorship of the Colony, West Jersey came +into the possession of twelve men, one of whom was the celebrated +William Penn, whose connection with West Jersey began six years before +he had anything to do with Pennsylvania. + +Penn and his colleagues gave West Jersey a purely democratic government, +founded upon principles of justice and charity, in which the people +themselves ruled. Full freedom in regard to religious views was insured; +trial by jury was granted; and punishments were made as lenient as +possible, with a view to the prevention of crimes rather than the +infliction of penalties. The result of this was that for a long time +there were no serious crimes in this Province, and the country was +rapidly settled by thrifty Quakers anxious to live where they would have +liberty of conscience. + +In the course of time, East Jersey also came into the possession of Penn +and his eleven associates, and the number of proprietors was increased +to twenty-four. At the end of the century the two provinces were united +into one, and shortly afterwards they passed into the possession of the +Crown of England, and became subject to the ordinary British laws. For a +long time afterwards, however, the State was known as the "Jerseys." + + + + +HOW SCHEYICHBI REALLY BECAME NEW JERSEY. + + +A point in the history of New Jersey, more important in a moral point of +view than that of its European ownership, was that of the purchase of +the lands from the first and true owners, the Indians. As has been said, +Berkeley and Carteret issued an injunction that the settlers should +purchase their lands from the tribes which had lived upon them. This +system was subsequently carried out until every foot of the land of the +whole State was bought and paid for,--the first transactions of the +kind, having taken place several years before Penn's treaty with the +Indians in Pennsylvania. + +Up to the time when the country finally passed into the hands of the +English, the Indians had resisted the attempts of the whites to settle +among them; but now, finding that they were to be fairly dealt with, a +better feeling arose, and the red men were content to dwell with the +whites as friends and neighbors. Of course, all the settlers did not +promptly pay for their lands, and there were some minor disputes from +this cause; but in general the whites regularly purchased the land upon +which they intended to make their homes, and in time all were obliged to +do so. As may be supposed, very large prices were not paid for these +lands; but the transactions were strictly honorable, because the parties +on each side gave what they had, and all were satisfied with what they +got. + +The payments for land frequently consisted partly of ready-made coats, +kettles, and in some cases of jew's-harps. Tracts of land large enough +for a town were sometimes sold for a barrel of cider. Now, this might +appear rather a hard bargain for the Indians; but it must be considered +that they had more land than they wanted, and no ready-made coats, or +kettles, or jew's-harps, or cider. + +But it was not to be expected that the Indians would always be satisfied +with their treatment; and in fact they had a good many grievances. As +has been said, a settler sometimes established himself on a good piece +of land without consulting the Indians of the neighborhood, or offering +them payment, and in such cases there would be remonstrances from the +red men. Then, again, the whites could not always understand the nature +of Indian bargains. A man would buy a piece of land, and think that he +owned not only the ground, but all that grew upon it, all that flew in +the air above it, and everything that swam in its waters; and when the +Indians, after having received payment for the farm, came there to hunt +and fish, and strip the bark off the trees, the purchaser was apt to +object. + +A notable difficulty of this kind occurred on Sandy Hook, where a man +named Hartshorne had bought a tract of land from the Indians, and +afterwards found, that, according to their ideas, he had no exclusive +right to the fish, game, and timber of his new purchase; and he was +especially made to understand that he had not bought the wild plums. +This matter of the ownership of the plums afterwards became a source of +considerable trouble, and was settled by Hartshorne paying to the chief +of the neighboring tribe the sum of thirteen shillings, by which he +acquired the entire right to the plums and all the other things on his +land. + +The Indians had also a grievance of a different kind. There was a +conference held in Burlington, between the Indians and the whites, in +1678, which was convened on account of a complaint by the Indians that +the English, in selling them some ready-made coats, had also sold them +the smallpox. The temper of the Indians may be shown by one of their +speeches on this occasion. A leading chief declared: "We are willing to +have a broad path for you and us to walk in; and if an Indian is asleep +in this path, the Englishman shall pass by him and do him no harm; and +if an Englishman is asleep in the path, the Indian shall pass him by and +say, 'He is an Englishman; he is asleep; let him alone; he loves to +sleep!' It shall be a plain path. There must not be in this path a stump +to hurt our feet. And as for the smallpox, it was once in my +grandfather's time, and it could not be the English that could send it +to us then, there being no English in the country. And it was once in my +father's time, they could not send it to us then, neither. And now it is +in my time, I do not believe that they have sent it to us now. I do +believe it is the man above who has sent it to us." Soon after this, the +two parties exchanged presents, and went away satisfied. + +For many years after this, there seem to have been few or no troubles +between the Indians and the settlers of New Jersey. But matters changed +about the middle of the next century; and when the Indian wars began in +Pennsylvania, the red men of New Jersey showed symptoms of hostility to +the whites. Matters grew worse and worse; and the Indians began to +murder families, burn buildings, and carry away prisoners. + +This state of affairs grew so alarming that the Legislature took the +matter in hand. They appointed commissioners to examine into the +treatment of the Indians, and see if there were any good cause for their +sudden enmity; and, after a conference with some of the chiefs, a bill +was passed by the Legislature to put an end to a good many of the +impositions of which the Indians complained. Among these was a habit of +the whites of giving the Indians spirits, and then making bargains with +them when they were not at all in a condition to do business of that +kind. The Indians also complained of the practice of trapping deer, thus +decreasing the game in the forests, and the occupation of land, without +payment, by the settlers who were continually coming into the country. + +Another bill was passed appropriating 1600 pounds to buy from the +Indians the entire right to all the lands which they yet held in New +Jersey. But as there was no desire to banish the Indians from their +native land, one half of this sum was reserved as payment for a large +tract of land, or reservation, which should be their home, and on which +no white man would have any right to settle, whether he was willing to +buy the land or not. When this had been done, it was necessary to submit +the matter to the Indians; and a council was called at Burlington, at +which were present the governor of the Province, and some of the most +prominent Indian chiefs. + +At this conference there was a notable exhibition of Indian etiquette. +The governor had called the Minisinks, a tribe of the Delawares, to meet +him; and they had informed the Mingoians, who, with some other northern +tribes, were then gathered together at the grand council fire at the +forks of the Delaware, where is now Easton. This was done, because at +that time the Mingoians considered themselves superior to the Delawares, +from whom proper respect was due. + +One of the chiefs from the council fire was sent down to represent the +Mingoians. After some speeches were made, he told the white governor +that the Minisinks, being Delawares, were women, and were not able of +themselves to make treaties, therefore he had come down to look into the +matter. As his people were then holding a grand council fire at the +forks of the Delaware, they did not wish to put it out and build another +council fire on this side of the Delaware. The reason which he gave for +this was figurative and Indian-like. + +He stated that the river roared and thundered, and made a great deal of +noise; and, if the council were held on this side, the distant Indian +nations who dwelt to the west of the Delaware could not hear what was +said at the council, and therefore it would be unfair to them to hold it +on this side of the river. He concluded with a cordial invitation to the +governor and his party to meet the Indians at their own council fire. + +About a month afterward, the governor, with some members of the +Legislature, and other white people from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, +met over five hundred Indians at the forks of the Delaware in grand +council. Some of the speeches on this occasion were very interesting. A +chief of the United Nations, speaking for the Delawares, who, having +made themselves women by becoming peacemakers, had no right to speak +for themselves, addressed the council as follows:-- + +"Brethren, we now remove the hatchet out of your heads, that was struck +into it by our cousins the Delawares. It was a French hatchet they +unfortunately made use of, by the instigation of the French. We take it +out of your heads, and bury it underground, where it shall always rest, +and never be taken up again. Our cousins the Delawares have assured us +they will never think of war against their brethren the English any +more, but will employ their thoughts about peace and cultivating +friendship with them, and never suffer enmity against them to enter into +their minds again." + +Another chief said: "Brethren, I speak in behalf of the younger +nations,--those who are confederated with the Six Nations, the Cayugas, +Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Tutaloes, Nanticokes, and Conoys. A road has been +made from our country to this council fire, that we might treat about +friendship; and as we came down the road, we saw, that, by some +misfortune or other, blood has lately been spilt on it. Now, we make the +road wider and clearer. We take the blood away out of it, and likewise +out of the council chamber, which may have been stained. We wash it all +away, and desire it may not be seen any more, and we take the hatchet +out of your heads." + +The governor of New Jersey also addressed this council, particularly +urging them to require the Indians who had taken away prisoners to +return these unfortunate people to their homes. In answer to this, one +of the great chiefs of the United Nations made a speech to the +Minisinks and the Delawares, in which he gave them a good scolding for +not having returned these prisoners before; for it seemed that they had +promised to do so. + +The council continued several days; and the Minisinks promised +faithfully that they would search all the towns in their territory for +prisoners, and return them to their own people. This matter having been +settled, Governor Bernard made a formal proposition to buy all the lands +which the Indians still retained in New Jersey; and, after a good deal +of consultation, the chiefs of the United Nations advised the Minisinks +and Delawares to accept the terms which were offered. After much talk, +it was done, the necessary papers were signed, and the State of New +Jersey was formally bought from its Indian owners. + +After this great matter had been settled, the tract of land which was to +be set apart for the occupation of the Indians of the State, south of +the Raritan River, in Burlington County, was purchased. It consisted of +three thousand acres, which reached to the seacoast. There was plenty of +fishing on it, and there were wild lands and forests, in which game +abounded. Here the Indians could live as they pleased after their +old-fashioned fashions, and never need fear disturbance by white men. +Here they removed, and here they did live, apparently perfectly +satisfied; and after this there were no further Indian troubles in New +Jersey. + +The Indians on this reservation came to be known as the Edge-Pillocks, +and in course of time considerable civilization crept in among them. It +is a proof of this, that one of them, who took the name of Stephen +Calvin, kept a school, and that his son Bartholomew went to Princeton +College, and afterwards taught school. It is said that in his school +there were as many white scholars as Indians. + +In 1801 these Edge-Pillock Indians were invited by the Mohicans of New +York to leave their New Jersey home and come and live with them. In +their invitation the Mohicans said they would like them "to pack up your +mat and come and eat out of our dish, which is large enough for all, and +our necks are stretched in looking toward the fireside of our +grandfather till they are as long as cranes." + +The Edge-Pillocks sold their reservation, had the money invested for +them in United States stocks, and went to join the Mohicans. After that, +both tribes decided to buy land in Michigan, and the Edge-Pillocks +disposed of their stocks to pay for their share. + +But our New Jersey Indians did not fare well in the West. Their fortunes +did not prosper, and they grew poorer and poorer, until in 1832 their +numbers decreased to about forty. Feeling the pressure of poverty, their +Indian disposition suggested to them a remedy. They remembered, that, +although they had sold their reservation, nothing had been said in the +deeds concerning the game and the fish on the property; and they chose +to consider that these still belonged to them. They therefore sent +Bartholomew Calvin, who was now their oldest chief, to New Jersey to ask +the Legislature to buy these remaining rights. The Legislature promptly +agreed to do this, and appropriated two thousand dollars, which was the +sum Bartholomew named, to buy of the Indians all their remaining rights +of every kind in New Jersey. + +This act may be considered as one of kindness and charity to the former +owners of the land, rather than as an act of justice, because there is +no doubt, that when the Indians sold the reservation, and invested the +proceeds, they intended to sell every deer, fish, bird, and mosquito on +the whole tract. But it is an honor to the Legislature of that day that +it was willing to make happy the last days of the New Jersey Indians by +this act. That the Indians appreciated what had been done, may be seen +from the following extract from a letter from Bartholomew Calvin:-- + + "Upon this parting occasion I feel it to be an incumbent duty to + bear the feeble tribute of my praise to the high-toned justice of + this State in dealing with the aboriginal inhabitants. Not a drop + of our blood have you spilled in battle, not an acre of our land + have you taken but by our consent. These facts speak for + themselves, and need no comment. They place the character of New + Jersey in bold relief,--a bright example to those States within + whose territorial limits our brethren still remain. Nothing save + benisons can fall upon her from the lips of a Lenni-Lenape." + +But the love of their old home did not die out entirely in the hearts of +all the Edge-Pillock Indians, who emigrated, first to New York, and then +to Michigan. There was one Indian brave and his squaw, who, after living +at Oneida for some time, began to long again for the old hunting ground +in New Jersey; and, before the rest of their tribe went West, these two +came back to Burlington County, and established themselves in a little +house near Mount Holly. Here these two Indians lived for about twenty +years; and when they died, they left a daughter, a tall powerful woman, +known in the neighborhood as "Indian Ann," who for many years occupied +the position of the last of the Lenni-Lenape in New Jersey. + +She lived to be more than ninety years old; and her long straight black +hair, her copper-colored skin, and bright eyes, gave the people of the +neighborhood a good idea of what sort of people used to inhabit this +country before their ancestors came over the sea. She had many true +Indian characteristics, and loved to work in the open air better than to +attend to domestic matters in the house. Even when she was very old, she +would go into the woods and cut down trees as if she had been a man. She +did not die until December, 1894; and then the people who had known her +so long gathered together at her funeral, and buried the last of the +Indians of New Jersey. + +Thus Scheyichbi, the land of the Indians, became truly and honestly New +Jersey, the land of the English settlers; and to this State belongs the +honor of having been the first in the Union in which the settlers +purchased and paid for the lands on which they settled, and in which the +aboriginal owners were so fairly treated that every foot of the soil not +purchased of them by individuals was bought and paid for by the +government of the State. + + + + +FINS, RATTLES, AND WINGS. + + +When the first settlers came to New Jersey, they found in that country +plenty of wild animals, some of them desirable, and some quite +otherwise. In the first class were great herds of red deer (especially +in the central portion of the State), beavers, hares, and squirrels, +and, among the dangerous kinds, bears, panthers, wolves, wild cats, and +rattlesnakes. There were also many foxes, which were a great injury to +the poultry yards of the settlers. Some of these creatures were so +troublesome, that bounties were paid for the heads of panthers, foxes, +and some other animals. + +The white settlers found New Jersey a capital hunting ground. Nothing, +however, that is told about hunting in the early days of New Jersey +equals the accounts which are given of the fishing in the waters of that +State. Soon after the settlement of Burlington, one of the townspeople +wrote to his friends in England, describing the manner in which the +people fished in that place. + +The Delaware abounded in fish, and in the spring it swarmed with +herring. When the early Burlingtonians wanted to catch herring, they did +not trouble themselves about nets, or hooks and lines, but they built in +the shallow water near the shore a pen, or, as they called it, a +"pinfold," made by driving stakes into the sand so as to inclose a +circular space about six feet in diameter. On the side toward the open +water an aperture was left; and a big bush was made ready to close this +up when the proper time came. Then the fishermen waded into the water, +carrying with them great birch bushes. Sweeping the water with these, +they slowly advanced toward the pinfold, driving swarms of herring +before them, and so surrounding the frightened fish, that they had no +way of escape, except by rushing through the entrance of the pinfold. +Into the inclosure the shining creatures shot,--pushing, crowding, and +dashing over each other,--until the pen was packed with fish, almost as +closely jammed together as sardines in a tin box. Then the bush was +driven down into the opening; and all that it was necessary to do, was +to dip into the pinfold and take out great handfuls of fish. In this way +bushels of herring could be procured at one time. + +It is not to be supposed that in those days game fishing flourished to +any extent; that is, sportsmen did not go out with rods and flies to +catch little fish one at a time, when it was so easy to scoop them up by +dozens. + +Shad, too, were very abundant in those days, but not so highly valued as +now. In fact, it is stated that when the settlers became more numerous, +and the herring fewer, these fish were held in higher repute than shad; +so that, when a man bought one hundred herring, he was expected to take +ninety-five herring and five shad, or something in that proportion, shad +being then rather a drug in the market. + +In those early days there were denizens of the waters on the shores of +New Jersey very much more valuable than herring, shad, or any other of +these finny creatures, no matter in what dense throngs they might +present themselves. These were whales, of which there were numbers in +Delaware Bay, and even some distance up the river. When the Dutch De +Vries first came into these waters, he came after whales; and even at +the present day one of these great water monsters occasionally +investigates the western coast of New Jersey, generally paying dear for +his curiosity. + +There were a great many snakes, many of them rattlesnakes, especially in +the hilly country. The early settlers had a curious way of making +themselves safe from these creatures. When they were going to make a +journey through the woods or along wild country, where they expected to +find snakes, they would take with them several hogs, and drive these +grunting creatures in front of them. Hogs are very fond of eating +snakes, and as they went along they would devour all they met with. It +did not matter to the hogs whether the snakes were poisonous or +harmless, they ate them all the same; for even the most venomous +rattlesnake has but little chance against a porker in good condition, +who, with his coat of bristles and the thick lining of fat under his +skin, is so well protected against the fangs of the snake, that he pays +no more attention to them than we to the seeds of a strawberry when we +are eating one. + +Rattlesnakes were in fact the most dangerous wild animals with which the +early settlers had to contend; for they were very numerous, and their +bite, if not treated properly at once, was generally fatal. The Indians, +who well knew the habits of the snake, were not nearly as much afraid of +it as were the whites. + +In order to protect one's self against these creatures, unless there are +too many of them, it is only necessary to make noise enough to let the +snake know that some one is approaching, and it gets out of the way as +fast as possible; or, if it has not time to do this, it coils itself up +and springs its rattle, thus giving notice that it is on hand, and ready +to strike. + +It has often been said that the snake's rattle is for warning to birds +and other animals; but this is now known to be a mistake, for when a +snake rattles, it strikes its victim almost at the same time, if it has +a chance. + +It is now believed that the rattle is used to attract the attention of +birds and other small creatures; and when they turn, and look into the +eyes of the terrible serpent, they are so overcome with terror that they +cannot fly away, and soon become its prey. This is commonly called snake +charming; and a great many instances of it are related by people who are +in the habit of telling the truth, and who have seen a snake charm a +bird which could have flown away just as well as not, had it not been +for the terrible attraction of those great eyes, which drew it nearer +and nearer, until at last it found itself in the jaws of a snake. + +The Indians did not give this significance to the rattle: they believed, +as many people now do, that it was merely used as a warning. So, when an +Indian met with a snake which rattled before he came up to it, he took +it to be a snake of honest, straight-forward principles, who wished to +deceive nobody, and therefore gave fair notice of its presence. Such a +serpent was never molested. But if a snake rattled after an Indian had +passed, the red man went back and killed the creature, on the ground +that it was a sneak and a coward, which had neglected to give warning to +the passer-by. + +A farmer living in Cumberland County tells a story about having +discovered an island in a swamp, which so abounded in snakes, that he +and some of his neighbors conceived the idea that this was the place +where they made their headquarters, and from which, in summer time, they +wandered to forage upon the country. The farmers waited until winter +before they made an attack upon this stronghold; and then they came and +dug up the ground, knowing that these reptiles always pass the cold +season in a torpid state underground. + +It was not long before they came to what might be called in these days a +cold-storage vault. This was a flat-bottomed cavity, filled to the depth +of about three inches with clear spring water; and in this water were +packed away a great number of snakes, evenly laid side by side, so as to +take up as little room as possible. The majority of these creatures were +rattlesnakes; but there were black snakes among them, and one large +spotted snake. Besides these, there were, as the narrator expressed it, +at least a peck of spring frogs; these having probably crawled in to +fill up all corners and vacant places. All these reptiles were of +course dormant and insensible, and were easily destroyed. + +There is another story which gives even a better idea of the abundance +of rattlesnakes in the new colony. In a quarry, from which the workmen +were engaged in getting out stone for the foundations of Princeton +College, a wide crack in the rocks was discovered, which led downward to +a large cavity; and in this cave were found about twenty bushels of +rattlesnake bones. There was no reason to believe that this was a snake +cemetery, to which these creatures retired when they supposed they were +approaching the end of their days; but it was, without doubt, a great +rattlesnake trap. The winding narrow passage leading to it must have +been very attractive to a snake seeking for retired quarters in which to +take his long winter nap. Although the cave at the bottom of the great +crack was easy enough to get into, it was so arranged that it was +difficult, if not impossible, for a snake to get out of it, especially +in the spring, when these creatures are very thin and weak, having been +nourished all winter by their own fat. Thus year after year the +rattlesnakes must have gone down into that cavity, without knowing that +they could never get out again. + +The great rivals, in point of numbers, to the herring and other fish in +the rivers of New Jersey (and the snakes in their winter quarters +underground), were the wild pigeons in the air. Several times in the +year the settlers would be visited by vast flocks of these birds, which +came in such numbers as to shut out the light of the sun, as if they +had been clouds in the sky. They would remain in one place for a few +days, and then pass on. As it was unnecessary to use hooks and lines to +catch a few fish out of the multitudes which swarmed in the streams, so +it was hardly worth while to waste powder and shot on the vast flocks of +pigeons which visited New Jersey in those days. When they came to roost +in the forests, they could be knocked down with poles and stones; and +thousands and thousands of them were thus obtained by the men and boys, +and very good eating they were. + +There was a summer in which the settlers were very much astonished by +the advent of a vast army of invaders to which they were not at all +accustomed. These were locusts, probably of the kind we now call +seventeen-year locusts; and the people were amazed to see these +creatures come up out of the ground, clad in their horny coats of mail, +which they afterwards cast off, when they appeared as winged creatures. + +They could not understand how insects encumbered by such hard, unwieldy +shells, could penetrate to such distance below the surface of the earth; +for they did not know that each one of these locusts came from a little +worm which had dropped into the ground many years before, and which had +worked its way down to a great depth, and then, about a sixth of a +century afterward, had reappeared on the surface as a hard-shell locust, +ready to split its back, get out of its shell, spend a few days flying +about in the summer air, lay its eggs in the twigs of trees, and then, +having fulfilled all its duties on this earth, to die. + +Although the farmers probably supposed that their crops would be eaten +up by this vast horde of locusts, no great injury was done to them; for, +as we now know, the seventeen-year locusts do not appear upon earth to +destroy crops and vegetation, being far different from the +grasshopper-like locusts which in our Western countries sometimes +devastate large sections of farming lands. The twigs of the trees, which +had been punctured in order that the eggs might be deposited, recovered +their life, and put forth their leaves again when they had ceased to act +as insect incubators. + + + + +THE STORY OF A GIRL AND A HOGSHEAD. + + +Settlers came to New Jersey in various ways. Their voyages were +generally very long, and it often happened that they did not settle at +the place for which they had started, for there were many circumstances +which might induce them to change their mind after they reached this +country. + +But there was one settler, and a very valuable one too, who came to New +Jersey in an entirely original and novel fashion. She was a girl only +sixteen years old, and a Swede. There is no reason to suppose that she +wanted to come to America; but circumstances made it necessary that she +should get out of Sweden, and this country was a very good place to come +to. It is said that this girl, whose surname we do not know, but who was +called Elizabeth, was a connection of the Swedish royal family; and, as +there was great trouble at the time between different factions in the +land, it happened that it was dangerous for Elizabeth to remain in +Sweden, and it was very difficult to get her away. It is quite certain +that she was a person of importance, because it was considered +absolutely necessary to keep the authorities from knowing that she was +about to sail for foreign lands. + +There are people at the present day who, when they first go on board an +ocean steamer, are very much surprised and disgusted at the small size +of the stateroom they will have to occupy during the voyage; but if they +could have seen the accommodations with which Elizabeth was obliged to +content herself, they would not look with such contempt upon a room in +which three persons can sleep, leaving space to move about. + +The people who had Elizabeth's passage in charge conceived the idea that +the safest way to get her on board the vessel, which was waiting at the +dock, would be to ship her as freight. So she was put into a large +hogshead, and securely fastened up, and then carried on board. She must +have been a girl of a good deal of pluck, for the vessel was not to sail +for several days, and she must remain in the hogshead all that time, as +the officials of the port might come on board at any moment and discover +her, if she should get out of her hiding place. I have no doubt that she +was supplied with three or four meals a day through the bunghole. + +Not only was Elizabeth's precious self thus duly consigned to America as +if she had been ordinary merchandise, but a great many of her valuable +possessions, jewels, clothes, etc., were also shipped to accompany her. +In the course of time, and it must have been a dreary time to this poor +girl, the ship moved out of the dock, and started on its voyage across +the North Sea, and then over the Atlantic to the new country. Not until +the vessel was well out of sight of land, and free from danger of being +overhauled by a vessel of the Swedish navy, did Elizabeth come out of +her barrel and breathe the fresh sea air. + +At that time, early in the seventeenth century, a good many vessels +crossed the Atlantic, and most of them must have made safe and +successful voyages; but it so happened that the ship in which Elizabeth +sailed was not a fortunate craft. When she reached the far-stretching +Jersey coast, dangerous even now to mariners who know it well, this +vessel was overtaken by storm, and soon became a hopeless wreck. + +It might have been a very good thing if Elizabeth had concluded to end +her voyage as she began it. If she had put her valuables into her +hogshead, and then had jumped in herself and had asked some of the +sailors to fasten her up, there is no doubt that she would have floated +ashore, if she had known how to keep the open bunghole uppermost,--which +no doubt she did,--and would have saved all her possessions. If one must +float through stormy waves and great breakers, there is no safer way to +do it than in a hogshead, as has been proved by the man who in that way +navigated the fierce rapids at Niagara. But Elizabeth did not go back to +her hogshead. She took her chances with the rest of the people on +board, and with them was cast on the shore of New Jersey. + +This shore was absolutely wild and bare, and what became of the others +who reached it, we do not know; but Elizabeth eventually wandered off by +herself, alone and lost in a strange land. If the people who had been so +much concerned about her connection with the Swedish throne had been +able to see her then, they would have been perfectly satisfied that she +would give them no further trouble. How she lived during her days of +wandering and solitude is not told; but when we remember that New Jersey +is noted for its berries and for its clams, and that it was probably +summer time when she was cast ashore (for mariners would generally +calculate to arrive at the settlement in good weather), we may give a +very good guess at Elizabeth's diet. + +It was not very long before she found that there was another wanderer in +this desolate and lonely place. She met with a white hunter named +Garrison; and very much surprised must he have been when his eyes first +fell upon her,--almost as much surprised, perhaps, as if he had come +upon a stranded hogshead, with a human voice calling through the +bunghole to be let out. + +When a possible heiress of a royal crown meets with a solitary hunter, +probably poor and of no family to speak of, her reception of him depends +very much upon surrounding circumstances. In this case, those +circumstances induced Elizabeth to look upon Garrison with more favor +than she had ever looked upon a king or noble, for there is no doubt +that she would have perished on that wild and uninhabited coast if she +had not met with him. + +Of course, the hunter gladly undertook to guide this Swedish girl to a +settlement; and the two started off on their long tramp. It is not at +all surprising that they soon began to like each other, that it was not +long before they fell in love, and that in course of time they were duly +married. If she had ever thought of a marriage with a high-born Swede, +Elizabeth gave up all such notions when she entered her hogshead, and +left all her proud hopes behind her. + +This young couple--one of royal Swedish blood, the other a hardy hunter +of the New World--settled near Bridgeton, and there they flourished and +prospered. Elizabeth lived to be ninety-five years old. She had ten +children, and in 1860 it was computed that her descendants numbered at +least a thousand. That any of these considered themselves better than +their neighbors, because it was possible that they might have a drop or +two of royal blood in their veins, is not likely; for but few American +families would care to base their claims of social superiority upon such +a very diluted foundation as this. But they would have good reason to +trace with pride their descent from the plucky girl who started for +America in a hogshead, and who was able to land alone and unassisted on +the Jersey coast in a storm, and to take care of herself after she got +ashore. + + + + +THE STORY OF PENELOPE STOUT. + + +In the early days of New Jersey, the Dutch settlers suffered very much +from Indian hostilities. It was at the time that New Amsterdam, +afterwards New York, was in the possession of the Dutch, that a ship +came from Holland, bringing passengers who intended to settle in the new +country. The ship was unfortunately wrecked in the neighborhood of Sandy +Hook; but all the passengers managed to save themselves, and reached the +shore. + +Among these was a young couple whose names we do not know, except that +the wife's maiden name was Penelope Van Princis. Her husband had been +very sick during the voyage; and getting ashore through the surf from +the wreck could not have been of any benefit to him, for, after he had +reached dry land, he felt even worse than he had upon shipboard, and +needed all the attention his wife could give him. + +Although the passengers and crew of this vessel had reached the shore, +they did not by any means consider themselves in safety; for they were +very much afraid of the Indians, and desired above everything to make +what haste they could toward New Amsterdam. They therefore started away +as soon as possible. But Penelope's husband was too sick to go any +farther at that time, and his wife was too good a woman to leave her +husband in that lonely spot; and so these two were left behind, while +the rest of the company started for New Amsterdam, promising, however, +that they would send help to the unfortunate couple. + +The fears of these immigrants in regard to the Indians were not without +foundation; for the main party had not long departed, when a band of red +men, probably having heard in some way of the wreck of the ship, +appeared upon the scene, and discovered poor Penelope and her sick +husband. It is unfortunately the disposition of most savages to show +little pity for weakness and suffering, and the fact that the poor young +man could not do them any possible harm had no effect upon them, and +they set upon him and killed him; very much as a boy would kill a little +harmless snake, for no reason whatever, except that he was able to do +it. + +Then they determined to kill Penelope also, and, attacking her with +their tomahawks, they so cut and wounded her that she fell down bleeding +and insensible. Having built a fire, these brave warriors cooked +themselves a comfortable meal, and then departed. But Penelope was not +killed, and, coming to her senses, her instincts told her that the first +thing to do was to hide herself from these bloodthirsty red men: so, +slowly and painfully, she crawled away to the edge of a wood, and found +there a great hollow tree, into which she crept. + +This made but narrow and doleful quarters for a wounded woman, but it +was preferable at that time to the blue sky and fresh air. She did not +leave the tree until nightfall, and then she made her way to the place +where the fire was still glimmering; and by great care, and with what +must have been painful labor, she kept this fire from going out, and so +managed to get a little warmth. + +In this way, living in the tree the greater part of the time, and +depending for food chiefly upon the fungous excrescences and gum which +grew on the outside of it,--for she was not able to go in search of +berries and other food,--poor Penelope lived for a few days, with her +dead husband on the beach, and her almost dead self in that cavern-like +tree. The hours must have passed mournfully indeed to this young woman +who had set out for the New World with such bright hopes. + +That she survived her terrible hardships was due entirely to the +existence of the danger she most feared; that is, the reappearance of +the Indians. On the second morning, nearly famished and very weak, +Penelope was making her way slowly over the ground, endeavoring to find +something she could eat, or a little dew in the hollow of a leaf, that +she might drink, when suddenly there came out of the woods two tall +Indians, who, naturally enough, were much surprised to find a wounded +white woman there alone upon the seashore. + +Penelope gave herself up as lost. There was nothing now for her to do +but to submit to her fate. It was a pity, she thought, that she had not +been slain with her husband. + +But the Indians did not immediately rush at her with their tomahawks: +they stood and talked together, evidently about her, with their fierce +eyes continually fixed upon her. Then their conversation became more +animated, and it was soon plain that they were disputing. Of course, she +did not then know the cause of their difference of opinion; but she +found out afterwards that one of them was in favor of killing her upon +the spot, and the other, an older man than his companion, was more +mercifully inclined, and wished to carry her off as a prisoner to their +camp. + +At last the older man got the better of the other one; and he, being +determined that the poor wounded woman should be taken care of, took her +up and put her on his shoulder, and marched away with her. That an +Indian should be able to perform a feat like this is not at all +surprising; for when one of them shoots a deer in the forest, though +many of those animals are heavier than Penelope was, he will put it on +his back and carry it through the forests, perhaps for miles, until he +reaches his camp. And so Penelope, as if she had been a deer wounded by +some other hunters, which these men had found, was carried to the Indian +camp. + +There she was taken care of. Food and drink were given her. Her wounds +were dressed and treated after the Indian fashion. In due course of time +she recovered her health and strength, and there--living in a wigwam, +among the women and children of the village, pounding corn, cooking +food, carrying burdens as did the Indian women--she remained for some +time, not daring even to try to escape; for in that wild country there +was no place of safety to which it was possible for her to flee. + +Although there was a good deal of bad feeling between the Indians and +the whites at that time, they still traded and communicated with each +other; and when, in the course of time, it became known in New Amsterdam +that there was a white woman held as a prisoner in this Indian camp, +there was every reason to suppose that this woman was the young wife who +had been left on the seacoast by the survivors of the wreck. +Consequently some of the men who had been her fellow-passengers came +over to the Indian camp, which was not far from where Middletown now +stands. Here, as they had expected, they found Penelope, and demanded +that the Indians should give her up. + +After some discussion, it was agreed that the matter should be left with +Penelope herself; and the old Indian who had saved her life went to +her,--for of course, being an inferior, she was not present at the +conference,--and put the question before her. Here she was, with a +comfortable wigwam, plenty to eat and drink, good Indian clothes to +wear, as well treated as any Indian woman, and, so far as he could see, +with everything to make her comfortable and happy; and here she might +stay if she chose. On the other hand, if she wished to go to New +Amsterdam, she would find there no one with whom she was acquainted, +except the people who had rowed away and left her on that desolate +coast, and who might have come in search of her a long time before if +they really had cared anything about her. If she wanted to live here +among friends who had been kind to her, and be taken care of, she could +do so; if she wanted to go away and live among people who had deserted +her, and who appeared to have forgotten her, she could do that. + +Very much to the surprise of this good Indian, Penelope declared that +she should prefer to go and live among people of her own race and +country; and so, much to the regret of her Indian friends, she departed +for New Amsterdam with the men who had come for her. + +A year or two after Penelope had gone back to New Amsterdam, being then +about twenty-two, she married an Englishman named Richard Stout, who +afterwards became an important personage. He, with other settlers, went +over to New Jersey and founded a little village, which was called +Middletown, not far from the Indian camp where Penelope had once been a +prisoner. The Indians still remained in this camp, but now they appeared +to be quite friendly to the whites; and the new settlers did not +consider that there was anything dangerous in having these red +neighbors. The good Indian who had been Penelope's protector, now quite +an old man, was very friendly and sociable, and often used to visit Mrs. +Stout. This friendship for the woman whom he had saved from death seemed +to have been strong and sincere. + +One day this old Indian came to the house of Mrs. Stout, and, seating +himself in the room where she was, remained for a long time pensive and +silent. This rather unusual conduct made Penelope fear that something +had happened to him; and she questioned him, asking him why he was so +silent, and why he sighed so often. Then the old man spoke out and told +her that he had come on a very important errand, in which he had risked +his own life at the hands of his tribe; but, having saved her life once, +he had determined to do it again, no matter what might happen to +himself. + +Then he told her that the good will of the Indians toward their white +neighbors had come to an end, and that it had been determined in council +that an attack should be made that night upon this little village, when +every person in it--men, women, and children--should be put to death, +the houses burned, and the cattle driven away. His brethren no longer +wanted white people living near them. + +Of course, this news was a great shock to Penelope. She had now two +little children, and she could not get far away with them and hide, as +she herself had once hidden from Indian foes. But the old man told her +that she need not be afraid: he could not save all the people in the +village, but he was her friend, and he had arranged to save her and her +family. At a certain place, which he described so she could not fail to +find it, he had concealed a canoe; and in that she and her husband, with +the children, could go over to New Amsterdam, and there would be plenty +of time for them to get away before the Indians would attack the place. +Having said this, and having urged her to lose no time in getting away, +the old Indian left. + +As soon as he had gone, Penelope sent for her husband, who was working +in the fields, and told him what she had heard, urging him to make +preparations instantly to escape with her. But Mr. Stout was not easily +frightened by news such as this. He pooh-poohed the whole story, and +told his wife that the natives over there in their camp were as well +disposed and friendly as if they had been a company of white settlers, +and that, as these red men and the whites had lived together so long, +trading with each other, and visiting each other with perfect freedom, +there was no reason whatever to suppose that the Indians would suddenly +determine to rise up and massacre a whole settlement of peaceable +neighbors, who had never done them any harm, and who were a great +benefit to them in the way of trading. It would be all nonsense, he +said, to leave their homes, and run away from Indians so extremely +friendly and good-natured as those in the neighboring camp. + +But Penelope had entirely different ideas upon the subject. She +thoroughly believed in the old Indian, and was sure that he would not +have come and told her that story unless it had been true. If her +husband chose to stay and risk his life, she could not help it; but she +would not subject herself and her children to the terrible danger which +threatened them. She had begged her husband to go with her; but as he +had refused, and had returned to his work, she and her children would +escape alone. + +Consequently she set out with the little ones, and with all haste +possible she reached the place where the canoe was moored among some +tall reeds, and, getting in with the children, she paddled away to New +Amsterdam, hoping she might reach there in time to send assistance to +Middletown before the Indians should attack it. + +When Farmer Stout found that his wife had really gone off, and had taken +the children with her, he began to consider the matter seriously, and +concluded that perhaps there might be something in the news which the +old Indian had brought. He consequently called together a number of the +men of the village, and they held a consultation, in which it was +determined that it would be a wise thing to prepare themselves against +the threatened attack; and, arming themselves with all the guns and +pistols they could get, they met together in one of the houses, which +was well adapted for that purpose, and prepared to watch all night. + +They did not watch in vain, for about midnight they heard from the woods +that dreadful war whoop which the white settlers now well understood. +They knew it meant the same thing as the roar of the lion, who, after +silently creeping towards his intended victim, suddenly makes the rocks +echo with the sound of his terrible voice, and then gives his fatal +spring. + +But although these men might have been stricken with terror, had they +heard such a war cry at a time when they were not expecting it, and from +Indians to whom they were strangers, they were not so terrified at the +coming of these red men with whom, perhaps only the day before, they had +been trading buttons for venison and beans. They could not believe that +these apparently mild and easy-going fellows could really be the +terrible savages they tried to make themselves appear. + +So Richard Stout and his companions went boldly out, guns in hand, to +meet the oncoming savages, and, calling a parley, they declared that +they had no intention of resting quietly, and allowing themselves and +families to be slaughtered and their houses burned. If the Indians, who +had so long been their good neighbors, were now determined to become +bloody enemies, they would find that they would have to do a good deal +of hard fighting before they could destroy the village of Middletown; +and, if they persisted in carrying on the bloody job they had +undertaken, a good many of them would be killed before that job was +finished. + +Now, it had been very seldom that Indians who had started out to +massacre whites had met with people who acted like this; and these red +men in war paint thought it wise to consider what had been said to them. +A few of them may have had guns, but the majority were armed only with +bows and tomahawks; and these white men had guns and pistols, with +plenty of powder and ball. It would clearly be unsafe to fight them. + +So, after discussing the matter among themselves and afterwards talking +it over with the whites, the Indians made up their minds, that, instead +of endeavoring to destroy the inhabitants of Middletown, they would +shake hands with them and make a treaty of peace. They then retired; and +on the following day a general conference was held, in which the whites +agreed to buy the lands on which they had built their town, and an +alliance was made for mutual protection and assistance. This compact was +faithfully observed as long as there were any Indians in the +neighborhood, and Middletown grew and flourished. + +Among the citizens of the place there were none who grew and flourished +in a greater degree than the Stout family. Although Penelope bore upon +her body the scars of her wounds until the day of her death, it is +stated, upon good authority, that she lived to be one hundred and ten +years old; so that it is plain that her constitution was not injured by +the sufferings and hardships of the beginning of her life in New +Jersey. + +Not only did the Stouts flourish in Middletown, but some of them went a +little southward, and helped to found the town of Hopewell; and here +they increased to such a degree that one of the early historians relates +that the Baptist Church there was founded by the Stouts, and that for +forty-one years the religious meetings were held in the houses of +different members of the Stout family, while, at the time he wrote, half +of the congregation of the church were still Stouts, and that, all in +all, there had been at least two hundred members of that name. So the +Baptist Church in Hopewell, as well as all the churches in Middletown, +owed a great deal to the good Indian who carried poor Penelope to his +village, and cured her of her wounds. + + + + +THE SCHOOLMASTER AND THE DOCTOR. + + +Of course, it was not long after New Jersey began to be settled and +cultivated, before there were a great many boys and girls who also +needed to be cultivated. And if we are to judge their numbers by the +families of Elizabeth, who started for the New World in a hogshead, and +of Penelope, who began her life here in a hollow tree, there must have +been an early opportunity for the establishment of flourishing schools; +that is, so far as numbers of scholars make schools flourishing. + +But in fact it does not appear that very early attention was given in +this State to the education of the young. The first school of which we +hear was established in 1664; but it is probable that the first settlers +of New Jersey were not allowed to grow up to be over forty years old +before they had any chance of going to school, and it is likely that +there were small schools in various places of which no historical +mention is made. + +It is admitted, however, by the historians of these early days of New +Jersey, that education was not attended to as it should have been; and +we read that in 1693 an act was passed to "establish schoolmasters +within the Province, 'for the cultivation of learning and good manners +for the good and benefit of mankind, which hath hitherto been much +neglected in the Province.'" + +These early schools were not of a very high order; the books used by +younger scholars being what were called hornbooks, which were made by +pasting upon a board a piece of paper containing the alphabet and some +lessons in spelling, and covering the whole with a very thin sheet of +horn, which was fastened on the board as glass is fastened over a framed +picture. Thus the children could see the letters and words under the +horn, but were not able to deface or tear the paper. It was difficult to +get books in those days, and a hornbook would last a long time. + +We can get a pretty good idea of the character of the schools from an +account given of the establishment of the first school in Newark, where +the town authorities made a contract "with Mr. John Catlin to instruct +their children and servants in as much English, reading, writing, and +arithmetic, as he could teach." + +But the people of New Jersey prospered well, and the Colony soon became +noted as one in which there was comfort and good living; and therefore +it is natural that when the people really could afford to apply their +time, thought, and money to objects higher than the tillage of farms and +the building of houses, they went to work earnestly to give their young +people proper opportunities for education, and we find that they were +inclined to do this as earnestly and thoroughly as they had been in the +habit of doing other things. + +In consequence of this disposition, what is now Princeton College was +founded in 1746. This institution was first called the "College of New +Jersey," and was established at Elizabethtown. It was in its early days +a very small seat of learning; for, when the Rev. Mr. Dickinson was +appointed to be its president, the faculty consisted entirely of +himself, and his only assistant was an usher. There were then about +twenty students in the college. + +In about a year the president died; and the college was then removed to +Newark, where the Rev. Aaron Burr, the father of the celebrated Aaron +Burr, became its president, and it is probable that the faculty was +enlarged. Ten years afterwards the college was established at Princeton. + +The manners and customs of the college must have been very primitive, +and we will give a few of the rules which were made for the students: +"Every scholar shall keep his hat off to the president about ten rods, +and about five to the tutors. When walking with a superior, they shall +give him the highest place, and when first going into his company, they +shall show their respects to him by first pulling off their hats; shall +give place to him at any door or entrance; or meeting him going up and +down stairs shall stop, giving him the bannister side;" and, in speaking +to a superior, "shall always give a direct and pertinent answer, +concluding with Sir." Thus it is seen that attention to good manners was +one of the most important branches of study taught at the young +college. + +But in certain districts of New Jersey, people seemed to be very slow in +perceiving the advantages of schools in their midst. Schools had sprung +up here and there in towns and villages, many of them boarding schools; +and to these the richer farmers would send their children. But it took +people in some rural places a good while to find out that it would be a +good thing to have a school in their midst. + +A story is told of the establishment of a school of this kind in +Deckertown as late as 1833. The people of this village had never thought +it worth while to have a school of their own; and even after a gentleman +of learning and ability, who was well known in the place, offered to +take charge of such a school, they did not look with any favor upon the +enterprise. The only place for a schoolhouse, which he was able to +obtain, was a very small building, consisting of one room, and situated +on the outskirts of the town. Here he started a school with one scholar; +and even this little fellow was not a Jersey boy, but came from New +York. + +For a considerable time this single scholar constituted the school, and +he and the schoolmaster walked back and forth from the village to the +little cabin every day; while the only interest that the townspeople +seemed to take in them was shown by their laughing at the schoolmaster, +and comparing him to a hen with one chicken. It must not be supposed +that it was because the citizens did not believe in education; but, as +they had been in the habit of sending their children away to school, +they thought that that was the proper thing to do, and, as there never +had been a school in the town, they saw no reason why there should be +one then. But the school increased, and in less than a year it numbered +twenty scholars. + +There is a rather peculiar story told of this school in its early days. +It had been established about two months, when the schoolmaster happened +to be walking in the direction of the school quite late in the evening +and to his amazement he saw that the little room was brilliantly +lighted. Now, as he and his scholar had left it in the afternoon, and he +had locked the door, he could not understand the state of affairs. +Hurrying to the house, he looked in at the window, and saw that the room +was nearly filled with well-dressed men, who were standing and sitting +around a table on which were spread cards and money. He saw that they +were a company of gamblers; but how they came there, and why they came, +he could not imagine. Of course, he could not drive them out; but, after +watching them for a little while, he boldly opened the door and went in +among them. + +They were so occupied with their game, however, that they paid little +attention to him; and, after standing with them for a time, he remarked +to one of them that he hoped that when they had finished their game, and +were ready to go away, they would leave everything behind them in as +good order as they had found it, and then he himself departed and went +home. But the next morning, when he and his scholar came to the +schoolhouse, he found everything as they had left it on the afternoon +before; and this schoolmaster might have been excused if he had imagined +that he had dreamed that he saw the curious sight of a company of +gamblers in his schoolhouse. + +But he found out afterwards that it was no dream. There was a set of men +gathered together from the neighboring country, who regularly spent +certain evenings in gambling for high stakes. They had discovered that +there was no better place for their meetings than the little +schoolhouse, which was tenanted by two persons in the daytime and by +nobody at night; and, as it was so far away from the other houses, it +was a very convenient place for their secret meetings, and they had been +in the habit of assembling there almost from the very time that it was +cleaned out and arranged for a schoolhouse. + +When the schoolmaster found that he had devoted his energies to the +establishment of a very flourishing gambling saloon, when he supposed +that he had founded nothing but a weak little school, he took measures +to prevent any further visits from the gentlemen with the cards and the +money. After that, the exercises in addition, subtraction, and +multiplication, were figured out with a pencil or chalk instead of being +done by means of spades or diamonds. + +In those early days the doctor was almost as slow in coming to the front +as was the schoolmaster. + +In fact, it is said that the first doctors in New Jersey were women, and +that the people placed such faith in their abilities, that unless a case +were very serious indeed, so that a physician had to be sent for from +the city, they were perfectly satisfied with the services of the women +doctors. It is also stated, that in those days the people of New Jersey +were very healthy. These two statements can be put together in different +ways: some may say, that, where people were so seldom sick, doctors of +great ability were not needed; while, on the other hand, those who have +a higher opinion of womankind might well believe, that, because women +made such good doctors, the people were seldom sick. + +It must be remembered, however, that the mothers, wives, sisters, and +daughters of the people of this State, were formerly looked upon as of +more importance than they are now; and among the rights which they +possessed in those early days, but of which they have since been +deprived, was the right of voting. An early writer, speaking of this +privilege, says, "The New Jersey women, however, showed themselves +worthy of the respect of their countrymen by generally declining to +avail themselves of this preposterous proof of it." It is very pleasant +for us to remember that New Jersey was among the first of our States in +which free and equal rights were given to all citizens, male or female, +if they chose to avail themselves of them. + +But when the population of New Jersey so increased that it became plain +that the women could not be physicians, and attend at the same time to +their domestic duties, the care of their children, and the demands of +society, the citizens of New Jersey gave as earnest and thorough +attention to their needs in the way of medicine and surgery as they had +given to their needs in the way of college education; and the first +State Medical Society in this country was founded in New Jersey in the +year 1766. + +It is said that some of the early doctors of New Jersey possessed great +ability, and, although there could not have been many of them at first, +they arranged for a suitable increase in their society, and nearly every +one of them had one or more students. + +A medical student in those days did not occupy the same position that he +holds now. In fact, he was nothing more nor less than an apprentice to +his master. He was bound to the doctor by a regular indenture. He lived +in his family, and, when he was not engaged in his studies, he was +expected to make himself useful in various domestic ways, often learning +the use of the saw in the wood yard. + +A very natural consequence of this domestic fashion of pursuing their +studies was, that, when the young doctor started out to establish a +practice for himself, he not only had a certificate or diploma from his +master, but was also provided with a wife, for marriages of medical +students with the daughters of their preceptors were very common. + +What further outfit was furnished a student setting out in practice for +himself, may be imagined from the conclusion of an old indenture of +apprenticeship, which states, that when Jacobus Hubbard shall have +fulfilled his apprenticeship of four years and eight months,--during +which he has well and faithfully served his master, his secrets kept, +his lawful commands gladly everywhere obeyed,--he shall be provided, +when he goes forth as doctor, with a "new set of surgeon's pocket +instruments, Solomon's Dispensatory, Quence's Dispensatory, and Fuller +on Fevers." + +It is probable that such a very healthy country as New Jersey did not +always give a doctor of a neighborhood sufficient work to occupy his +time, and therefore the early physicians used to combine other +professions with that of medicine and surgery. Some were lawyers, others +clergymen, and many were farmers and planters. The following story is +told about the Rev. Jacob Green, "who lived in Hanover, and was pastor +of the Presbyterian Church in that place. He had also many other +callings, as may be inferred from a letter addressed to him by a wag, +and which was said not to exaggerate the truth:-- + +"'To the Rev. Jacob Green, _Preacher_. + " " " " _Teacher_. + " " " " _Doctor_. + " " " " _Proctor_. + " " " " _Miller_. + " " " " _Distiller_.'" + +The necessity for this variety of occupation is shown by a letter from a +gentleman named Charles Gordon, living near Plainfield, to his brother, +Dr. John Gordon, in England, in which he says, "If you design to come +hither, you may come as a planter or merchant; but as a doctor of +medicine I cannot advise you, for I hear of no diseases to cure but some +agues and some cutted legs and fingers." Other physicians gave up their +professions at the beginning of the Revolution, and became prominent in +military matters. + +Dr. John Cochran, one of the first New Jersey physicians, was a man of +wide experience and reputation. He was surgeon in the British hospital +during the French War, and afterward practiced medicine in New +Brunswick. During the Revolution, he became an army surgeon. He was a +friend of Washington, and, in fact, was quite intimate with the +commander in chief of the American forces. It is said that when +Washington was at West Point in 1779, and the doctor and his family were +stationed at the same place, Washington wrote to Dr. Cochran almost the +only facetious letter which is known to have come from the pen of that +grave and dignified man. + +This letter informs the doctor that he has invited Mrs. Cochran and Mrs. +Livingston to dine with him the next day, and says that the table is +large enough for the ladies, and then proceeds to tell "how it is +covered." "Since our arrival at this happy spot, we have had a ham, +sometimes a shoulder of bacon, to grace the head of the table; a piece +of roast beef adorns the foot, and a dish of beans or greens, almost +imperceptible, decorates the center. When the cook has a mind to cut a +figure, which I presume will be the case to-morrow, we have two +beefsteak pies, or dishes of crabs, in addition, one on each side of the +center dish, dividing the space, and reducing the distance between dish +and dish to about six feet, which without them would be twelve feet +apart. Of late, he has had the surprising sagacity to discover that +apples will make pies, and it is a question if in the violence of his +efforts we do not get one of apples instead of having both of beefsteak. +If the ladies can put up with such entertainment, and will submit to +partake of it on plates once tin, now iron (not become so by scouring), +I shall be happy to see them." + +The fact that the early physicians of New Jersey were very skillful, and +patients in that healthful country very scarce, seems to have had the +effect of making some physicians of that day extremely sharp about +business matters. A certain doctor of Rahway had been called upon to +visit a rich man who was in great pain and distress. The doctor having +administered some medicine, the patient very speedily recovered. Some +time after this, the doctor determined to leave Rahway; and the rich man +who had been attended by him with such gratifying results began to be +afraid that he might be taken sick again in the same way. So he went to +the doctor, and requested that before he left, he would give him the +prescription which had seemed to suit his case so admirably. + +Doctors seldom approve of their patients taking their treatment into +their own hands; but, after a little consideration, he said he would +furnish the prescription, but that it would cost ten dollars. This quite +astonished the rich man, and at first he refused to pay such a high +price; but, after considering that it might save him many visits from +the new doctor who should come to Rahway, he agreed to pay the price +demanded, and the prescription was written, and delivered to him. When +he reached his home, he thought he would try to make out what this +prescription was; but when he opened the paper, he found nothing but the +word "catnip." It is not likely that he ever again tried to take +advantage of the medical profession. + +But it was not always Jersey doctors whose wit shone brightest in a +financial transaction. There was a doctor in the town of Rocky Hill who +was sent for to attend a poor old man who was suffering with a piece of +bone sticking in his throat. The doctor went immediately to the old +man's house, and it was not long before the bone was out. As the doctor +was packing up his instruments, the old fellow, whose name was William, +inquired how much he would have to pay; and the doctor replied that for +an operation of that sort his charge was five dollars. This quite +astonished William, who probably had not five cents in the house; but he +wished to pay his debts, and not to be considered a pauper patient, and +so he asked the doctor if he might come to his house and work out the +bill. The doctor replied that that would be entirely satisfactory to +him, and that William might come the next day and work in the garden. + +The next day old William went to the doctor's house. All day he +faithfully dug and hoed and raked. Toward the end of the afternoon the +doctor came into the garden, and, after informing William that he might +come again, he casually asked him how much he charged for a day's work. +William stood up and promptly answered, that for a day's labor in the +garden his charge was five dollars. Now was the doctor surprised. + +"You don't mean," he exclaimed, "that you are going to ask five dollars +for one day's labor!" + +"That is exactly my price," said William. "If two minutes' yanking with +a pair of pincers at a little bone is worth five dollars, then one day's +hard labor in tilling the ground is worth just as much." + +It often happens that doctors are men of wit and humor; and it is +recorded that a New Jersey physician, named Dr. Hole, was the author of +the first version of a tombstone epitaph which afterwards became widely +known and used. The lines of Dr. Hole are cut upon a tombstone of a +child, and run as follows:-- + + "A dropsy sore long time I bore: + Forsitions were in vain + Till God above did hear my moan, + And eased me of my pain." + +That some of those early doctors were honest is proved by a doctor's +bill which is now preserved in the New Jersey Historical Society. At the +end of this bill, after all the different items of service and medicine +had been charged upon it, there is this entry: "Contrary credit by +Medsons brought back." It would be difficult now to find a doctor in New +Jersey, or anywhere else, who would be willing to take back, and allow +credit for, all partly filled bottles of medicine, and boxes of pills, +the contents of which had been ordered, but not entirely used. + + + + +THE SLAVES OF NEW JERSEY. + + +We have so long looked upon New Jersey as prominent among what were +called the "free States" of the Union, that it now seems strange when we +consider, that among the first of the institutions established upon its +soil by the early settlers, was the system of slavery. This was the case +not only in New Jersey, but in all the American Colonies. The settlers +of New England, as well as those of the Southern Colonies, used negro +slaves as laborers on their farms; and the trade in native Africans was +a very important branch of industry. + +The Duke of York, to whom his brother, Charles II., had made a grant of +extensive American possessions, was at the head of the African Company, +formed for the purpose of bringing slaves from Africa, and selling them. +The Dutch were then the great rivals of the English in this trade; and +the Duke of York was very glad to possess New Jersey and the rest of his +grant, for then he could not only oust the Dutch from the territory, but +could possess himself of this very desirable and profitable slave +market. + +But it was not only the English and Dutch who brought negro slaves to +America, for it is stated that the earliest Swedish settlers brought +slaves with them as laborers. So we may say that slavery and freedom +were planted together in this country of ours; one to be pulled up +afterward like a weed, the other to be left to grow and flourish. + +When Berkeley and Carteret acquired authority over New Jersey, they did +everything that they could to induce settlers to come to the new +country; and, as they were anxious to have the lands opened up and +cultivated as rapidly as possible, they encouraged immigrants to bring +as many slaves as they could afford. They offered one hundred and fifty +acres to every one who would settle, and another one hundred and fifty +acres for every full-grown able-bodied male slave, and seventy-five +acres each for those not grown up. Afterwards, when slaves became more +numerous, the bounties given on their account were diminished, and in +course of time they ceased altogether. + +A great many slaves must have been brought direct from Africa to New +Jersey, for at Perth Amboy there was established what was then called a +barracks; and in this, negroes who had been brought in the slave ships +were confined until they were sold and sent out into the country. + +Not only were there negro slaves in the State, but there were also +Indians who had been enslaved, and were regularly sold and bought. How +these red men happened to be slaves, we do not certainly know; but we +may be very sure that the whites did not make war upon Indian tribes, +and capture prisoners, for the purpose of making slaves of them. It is +far more likely, that, when one tribe of Indians made war upon another, +the conquerors found it a very profitable thing to sell their prisoners +to the whites. There is no reason to suppose, however, that the natives +made war on purpose to capture and sell their fellow-countrymen, as was +the case in Africa. + +The early records, however, prove that there were Indian slaves. When +the House of Representatives for the Province met at Burlington in 1704, +an act was brought before that body for the regulating of Indian and +negro slaves. + +Negroes were then considered to be such legitimate articles of +merchandise, that English sovereigns thought it very necessary to see to +it that their loyal settlers were sufficiently supplied with slaves, and +at prices not too high. When Queen Anne sent out Lord Cornbury as +governor of the Province, she recommended the Royal African Company to +the especial attention of the governor, that New Jersey might have a +constant and sufficient supply of merchantable negroes at moderate rates +in money or commodities. In consequence of the fostering care of the +Proprietors and the English sovereigns, slaves rapidly increased in New +Jersey. + +The English themselves were not at all averse to the ownership of a good +serviceable slave; and about the middle of the eighteenth century a +young gentleman in England wrote to his father in New Jersey, begging +that he might "be favored with a young negro boy to present to the +brother of the then Duke of Grafton, to whom he was under obligations, +as 'a present of that kind would be very acceptable.'" + +Of course, the existence of slavery made the state of society in New +Jersey and the other Colonies very different from what it is now; and +this difference is strongly shown by the advertisements of runaway +negroes, which we can find in some old newspapers. It seems very strange +to see in a Boston paper of one hundred years ago a picture of a black +man running away with a bag over his shoulder, and under the picture the +statement of the reward which would be given for his capture; and in +the New Jersey papers there were frequent advertisements of runaway +slaves and of negroes for sale. One of these, published in Burlington +two years after the Colony had declared itself free and independent, +reads as follows:-- + + "TO BE SOLD--For no fault--but a saucy tongue for which he is now + in Burlington jail--A negro man about 39 years of age. He is a + compleat farmer, honest and sober. For further particulars enquire + of the subscriber in Evesham, Burlington Co. Feb. 4, 1778." + +When Washington was in Morristown in 1777, one of his aids wrote a +letter to a friend in Elizabethtown, which states,-- + + The General will esteem it as a singular favor if you can apprehend + a mulatto girl, servant and slave of Mrs. Washington, who eloped + from this place yesterday, with what design cannot be conjectured, + though as she may intend to the enemy and pass your way I trouble + you with the description: her name is Charlotte but in all + probability will change it, yet may be discovered by question. She + is light complected, about thirteen years of age, pert, dressed in + brown cloth wescoat and petticoat. Your falling upon some method of + recovering her should she be near you will accommodate Mrs. + Washington and lay her under great obligations to you being the + only female servant she brought from home and intending to be off + to-day had she not been missing. A gentle reward will be given to + any soldier or other who shall take her up. + + I am with respect your most obedient servant + + ---- ---- + +After a time, negro slaves became so plentiful in New Jersey, that laws +were passed restricting their importation, and a considerable tax was +laid upon each African brought into the country. + +But the negroes were not the only slaves in New Jersey during those +early days. Here, as well as in many of the other Colonies, was a class +of white people, generally from England, who were called +"redemptioners." These were poor people, although often persons of +fairly good station and education, who desired to emigrate to America, +but who could not afford to pay their passage. + +A regular system was then established, by which a poor person desiring +to settle in New Jersey would be brought over free. When one of these +emigrants took passage on a ship, he signed a contract which gave the +captain of the vessel the right to sell him, as soon as he arrived in +America, for enough money to pay his passage. This white man was thus +bought, when he reached New Jersey, exactly as if he had been a negro +slave; and he was subject to the same rules as those which governed +other slaves. Of course, he was made the subject of great imposition; +for the captain would naturally desire to get as large a sum of money as +possible for each redemptioner, and therefore would be perfectly willing +to sell him for a long term. + +The people who owned redemptioners could sell them again if they chose; +and it often happened that some of them passed into the possession of +several families before they finally served out the term for which they +had been sold. All sorts of people became redemptioners,--mechanics, +laborers, and even professional men. Among the people who sold +themselves into limited slavery there were schoolmasters, and it is +stated that at one time the supply of redemptioner schoolmasters was so +great that they became a drug in the market. + +In the days before there were many regular schools in New Jersey, much +of the education must have been carried on by what we now call private +tutors; and a schoolmaster who could be bought as if he had been a horse +or a cow was often a very convenient piece of property. If a family +should own a teacher who was able only to instruct small children, it +would be very easy, when these children grew older and able to undertake +more advanced studies, to sell this primary teacher to some family where +there were young pupils, and buy one capable of teaching higher +branches. + +It is said that these redemptioners were often treated much more +harshly and cruelly than the negro slaves, and any one who assisted one +of them to escape was severely punished. There was good reason for this +difference in the treatment of the two classes of slaves; for a negro +was the property of his master as long as he lived, and it was +manifestly the interest of the owner to keep his slave in good +condition. But the redemptioner could only be held for a certain time, +and, if his master was not a good man, he would be apt to get out of him +all the work that he could during the time of his service, and to give +him no more food or clothing than was absolutely necessary. + +After a time there were laws made to protect the redemptioners. One of +these was, that any person sold after he was seventeen years old could +not serve for more than four years; and another provided, that, when a +redemptioner's time of service had expired, his master should give him +"two good suits of clothing, suitable for a servant, one good ax, one +good hoe, and seven bushels of Indian corn." + +But although the redemptioner sometimes fared very badly in the new +country, it often happened that he came out very well in the end. Among +the white people who came here as slaves there were often convicts and +paupers; but even some of these succeeded in bettering their condition +and establishing themselves as good citizens, and in founding families. + +It often happened that some of the Germans who came to buy land and +settle, chose rather to put away their money, and sell themselves as +redemptioners to English families, so that they might learn the English +language and manner of living. Then, when they had educated themselves +in this practical manner, and their time of service was over, they could +buy land, and establish themselves on terms of equality with their +English neighbors. + +But the trade in redemptioners gradually decreased; and by the middle of +the eighteenth century there were not many of them left in New Jersey, +although there were a few in the State until after the Revolution. Negro +slavery, however, continued much longer. It grew and flourished until it +became a part of the New Jersey social system; but it must not be +supposed that all the people of the State continued to be satisfied with +this condition of things. + +At first everybody who could afford it owned slaves, and the Friends or +Quakers bought negroes the same as other people did; but about the end +of the seventeenth century some of these Quakers began to think that +property in human beings was not a righteous thing, and the Quakers of +New Jersey united with those of Pennsylvania in an agreement +recommending to the members of the Society of Friends that they should +no longer employ negro slaves, or, if they thought it best to continue +to do this, that they should at least cease to import them. + +A strong party among the Quakers of New Jersey opposed slavery for many +years, and the system was denounced at some of their yearly meetings; +and this went on until about the middle of the next century, when a law +was made that no person owning slaves should continue in the Society of +Friends. + +As years passed on, people other than Quakers began to consider slavery +an injustice and an evil; and this feeling gradually increased, until in +the beginning of the nineteenth century it became very strong, and in +1820 an act was passed by the Legislature for the emancipation of the +slaves. They were not set free all at once, and turned into the world to +take care of themselves; but a system of gradual emancipation was +adopted, by which the young people obtained their freedom when they came +of age, while the masters were obliged to take care of the old negroes +as long as they lived. By this plan, slavery was very gradually +abolished in New Jersey, so that in 1840 there were still six hundred +and seventy-four slaves in the State; and even in 1860 eighteen slaves +remained, and these must have been very old. + + + + +A JERSEY TEA PARTY. + + +At the time when the American colonists began to be restless under the +rule of Great Britain, the people of New Jersey showed as strong a +desire for independence as those of any other Colony, and they were by +no means backward in submitting to any privations which might be +necessary in order to assert their principles. As has been said before, +the people were prosperous, and accustomed to good living, and it was +not likely that there was any part of America in which a cup of +well-flavored tea was better appreciated than in New Jersey. + +But when the other colonists determined to resist unjust taxation, and +resolved that they would not use tea, on which a heavy tax was laid +without allowing the American people to have anything to say about it, +the patriotic people of New Jersey resolved that they too would use no +tea so long as this unjust tax was placed upon it. When the tea was +destroyed in Boston Harbor, the Jersey patriots applauded the act, and +would have been glad to show in the same way what they thought upon the +subject. + +But when tea was shipped from England, it was sent to the great ports of +Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston; and what was used in +New Jersey came from these places after the consignees had paid the tax. +However, to show their sympathy with the efforts which were being made +at the sea-ports to prevent the landing of tea, the New Jersey people, +that is, those who belonged to the Whig party,--which was the patriotic +party, and opposed to the Tories, who favored England,--formed an +association, the members of which bound themselves to buy or use no tea +until the tax should be removed. + +There is a story told of Hugh Drum of Somerset County, who was so +thoroughly in earnest on this subject, and who probably supposed that +the weak little Colonies would always have to submit to the power of +Great Britain, that he took an oath that never again during the rest of +his life would he take a cup of tea; and although he lived a great many +years afterward, during which the Americans imported their own tea +without regard to what any other country thought about it, Mr. Drum +never again drank tea. + +But at last an opportunity came for patriotic Jerseymen to show that +they were not behind the other colonists in resisting the attempt of +Great Britain to force upon them this taxed tea. + +Nearly a year after the tea had been thrown overboard in Boston Harbor, +a vessel from England--loaded with tea, and bound to Philadelphia--put +into Cohansey Creek, a small stream which runs into Delaware Bay, and +anchored at the little town of Greenwich. This vessel, called the +"Greyhound," was afraid to go up to Philadelphia, because from that +port tea ships were sent back to England as soon as they arrived, as was +also the case in New York. So the captain of the "Greyhound" thought it +would be a good plan to land his tea at Greenwich, from which place it +could be taken inland to its destination. Here the cargo was unloaded, +and stored in the cellar of a house opposite the open market place. + +This business of forcing tea upon the American colonists had become a +very serious matter to England; for the East India Company had now in +their warehouses at London seventeen million pounds of tea, and, if +there should be no sale for any of this in the American market, the loss +would be very severe. Consequently every possible method was resorted +to, in order to have the tea landed on American soil; it being believed, +that, if the tea once got into the hands of the dealers, the people +would overcome their prejudices to its importation, and begin to use it +again. + +Therefore the captain of the "Greyhound" thought he was doing a very +sharp thing when he sailed up Cohansey Creek and unloaded his tea. That +cargo was landed, and in those days an English captain of a tea ship +might well be proud of having performed such a feat. + +But it is not likely that the captain of the "Greyhound" had ever before +sailed into a port of New Jersey, large or small, or had anything to do +with Jerseymen; for if he had, he would not have been so well satisfied +with the result of the voyage. + +The people of Greenwich could not prevent the landing of the tea, for +there was no organized force at the place, nor could they order the +"Greyhound" to turn round and go back to England; but they would not +allow their town to be made use of as a port of entry for this obnoxious +merchandise, simply because it was a little town, and could not keep +English ships out of its waters. A meeting of the patriotic citizens was +held, and it was resolved that no tea should go out of Greenwich to +comfort the bodies and contaminate the principles of people in any part +of the Colonies; and they would show their British tyrants that it was +just as unsafe to send tea into Cohansey Creek as it was to send it into +the harbor of Boston. + +Having come to this determination, they went immediately to work. A +party of young men, about forty in number, was organized; and in order +to disguise themselves, or strike terror into anybody who might be +inclined to oppose their undertaking, they were all dressed as Indians. +They assembled in the market place, and then, making a rush to the house +in which the tea was stored, they broke open the doors, carried out the +tea, split open the boxes in which it was contained, and made a great +pile of it in an open space near by. + +When tea is dry and in good condition, it will burn very well, and it +was not many minutes before there was a magnificent bonfire near the +market place in Greenwich; and in all that town there was not one man +who dared to attempt to put it out. Thus the cargo of the "Greyhound" +went up in smoke to the sky. It must have been a very hard thing for +the good ladies of the town to sit in their houses and sniff the +delightful odor, which recalled to their minds the cherished beverage, +of which, perhaps, they might never again partake. But they were +Jerseywomen, of stout hearts and firm principles, and there is no record +that any one of them uttered a word of complaint. + +But in every community there is at least one person in whose mind there +is a little streak of the Ananias nature, and there was a man of that +kind in Greenwich. His name was Stacks, and he was a great lover of tea; +moreover, he had a soul disposed to economy and thrift. Consequently it +was very hard for him to stand by and see all that tea wasted; and he +thought it would be no harm--as he was not a merchant, and did not +intend to exercise evil influences upon the people of America by +inducing them to buy tea--if he appropriated to himself a little of this +most desirable herb, which was to be burned and wasted before his very +eyes. + +Whenever he had a chance, he slipped a little tea into some part of his +clothes where he thought it would not be noticed, and so gradually +loaded himself with a considerable stock of the herb. In fact, he stowed +away so many handfuls of it, that, when the fire was over, his +companions noticed that he had considerably increased in size; and it +was not long before his trick was discovered. We do not hear that he was +compelled to empty out the tea, but we are told that ever after he went +by the name of "Tea Stacks." + +This tea bonfire created a great stir, and although the patriotic party +approved it, there were a great many Tories in the country who condemned +it as a piece of outrageous violence and wanton waste. This latter +opinion was so freely expressed, that the English owners of the cargo +were encouraged to take legal steps against the men who destroyed the +tea. It was easy enough to do this; for the young fellows who had made +the bonfire were very proud of what they had done, and, instead of +denying their connection with the burning of the tea, were always very +ready to boast of it. + +When it was understood that the tea burners were to be prosecuted, all +the Whigs of the surrounding country determined to stand by them; and +they subscribed a large sum of money to engage lawyers to defend their +case. The strength of the popular feeling was shown by the fact, that, +when the case was brought to court, the grand jury positively refused to +bring a bill against these young men, although the judge insisted that +they should do so. The matter was thus postponed; and as it was not long +before the Colonies broke out into open rebellion, and a period +followed when Englishmen no longer brought suits in American courts, +there was no further action in regard to the tea burning at Greenwich. + +Therefore, unless Mr. Stacks contrived to keep some of the tea which he +carried off in his clothes, the good people of the neighborhood, if they +drank tea at all, made it of the dried leaves of raspberries, or those +of some other bush, which have something of a tea taste, and were thus +enabled to have a hot beverage with their evening meal, with but a +little strain upon their imaginations, and none at all on their +consciences. + +In other neighborhoods, however, there were people who, although they +were patriots and inclined to support the cause of American liberty, +could not see how such a little thing as drinking a cup of tea, if they +happened to have it, could interfere with their regard and respect for +the great principle of justice and independence. + +Of course, it was to be supposed that the Tories, who were opposed to +this nonsense about independence, were glad to buy tea and to drink it +whenever they got the chance; but it was expected that those who called +themselves Whigs and patriots would stand by their party, and +discountenance tea drinking. There is a story told of a man who lived in +Bridgetown, who was a member of one of the Committees of Safety which +were formed for the purpose of promoting the cause of American liberty. +It was found out that this man and his family were in the habit of +drinking East India tea; and when his fellow-committeemen asked him in +regard to this matter, he boldly admitted that they all liked tea, that +they drank tea, and that they intended to drink tea. + +This was a very serious matter, and the committee saw that it was +necessary to take vigorous measures in regard to this peculiar case. At +first they tried the force of argument; but all they could say to the +man amounted to nothing. He had principles, and what he considered very +good principles; but he liked tea, and, having it in the house, he saw +no harm in drinking it. So the teapot was on his table every day. + +Now, his fellow-committeemen held another meeting, and formally resolved +that this unpatriotic patriot should be punished in a way which would +make a powerful impression on him, and which would show the whole +community how the Committee of Safety intended to stand firm in the +position they had taken in resisting unjust legislation. It was +resolved, that, so long as he and his family drank tea, the patriots of +the neighborhood would have nothing to do with him, they would not deal +with him, nor would they associate with him or his. This was an early +instance in America of what is known now as "boycotting." + +It was a very hard thing to be shut out from all dealing and connection +with his friends and fellow-citizens, and it was not long before the tea +drinker made up his mind that the society and friendship of his +neighbors was better even than the highest flavored cup of tea; and so +he formally acknowledged his error, begged the pardon of the committee, +and promised that thereafter he would act in accordance with their +rules and regulations; and his family teapot was put away upon a high +top shelf. + +But the time came, in a very few years, when the American people +attended to their own taxation, and when this teapot, with all the +others in the country, could be taken down and freely used without +interference with law or conscience. + + + + +THE STORY OF A SPY. + + +When a nation goes to war with another, it is often necessary for the +armies on each side to leave behind some of the high and noble +principles which may have governed them at home. Of course, war is +bloody and cruel, and it almost always happens that the officers and +soldiers are obliged to descend also to meanness and duplicity in order +to succeed in their campaigns. + +One strong reason for this is the necessity for the employment of spies. +It is always desirable for the commander of an army to know as far as +possible the condition of the enemy's force, and what he is doing or +intends to do. Consequently it is a common thing to send spies into the +enemy's ranks; and the better those spies can deceive the soldiers of +the other side, the more valuable will be their report, if they are +fortunate enough to get back into their own camp. + +Sometimes a spy will sneak into the enemy's lines, and make his +observations in concealment and safety; but the most valuable spies are +those which enter an enemy's camp pretending sympathy and friendship. A +man who can do this well can find out a great deal. + +In every army a spy from the other side is regarded as the worst of +enemies, and if captured, his punishment is death. An impartial outsider +might object to this severity, when it is considered that the army which +punishes the spy may, at the same time, have spies of its own among the +enemy. During the Revolution, Major Andre was executed because he came +into the American lines as a spy, and at the same time General +Washington was very glad to get a good spy to send into a British camp. + +There was a man named John Honeyman, who acted with great success in +this capacity on the patriotic side during the Revolution. Honeyman was +a Scotch-Irishman, and was said to be a remarkably fine looking man. He +was tall, strong, extremely active, and had a fine military bearing. He +had no desire to become a soldier; but he was forced into the British +army, and came to this country in 1758, when Abercrombie came over to +attack the French in Canada. Young Colonel Wolfe, who was afterwards the +famous General Wolfe who fell at Quebec, had command of this army, and +on the ship in which he sailed was John Honeyman. + +Military men are not as sure-footed as sailors on board a ship, which +may be rolling and tossing on rough waters; and one day, as Colonel +Wolfe was coming into the cabin, he tripped and fell when he was halfway +down the companion way, and would probably have broken his neck, if it +had not been that Honeyman happened to be at the bottom of the steps, +and caught the colonel in his arms, thus saving him from injury. + +It is very satisfactory for a full-grown man, especially one whose +profession exposes him to accidents of various kinds, to be able to take +into his service another man who is tall enough and strong enough to +pick him up and carry him if it is necessary, and who is also +quick-witted enough to know when he should interpose himself in case of +danger. + +Honeyman's conduct on this occasion made an impression on Colonel Wolfe; +and when afterwards he was made general, he took the tall soldier into +his bodyguard, and made him understand that, in times when danger might +be apprehended, he was to be as near him as his duties would permit. + +When the great attack was made upon Quebec, Honeyman was one of the men +who helped row the boat which carried Wolfe over the river; and during +this passage a cannon ball from the enemy struck an officer sitting very +near Honeyman, and took off his head. Had this happened to Honeyman, it +would have been a bad thing for New Jersey. + +When they reached the opposite side, Honeyman climbed the Heights of +Abraham side by side with his brave commander; and when, in the battle +which followed, Wolfe was killed, it was Honeyman who bore him off the +field. Thus the first and the last service which this strong man +rendered to his military chief were very much the same. + +About a year after this the war ended, and Honeyman received an +honorable discharge. He carried with him the good will and commendation +of his officers, but he also took something which he valued more than +these. While he was with General Wolfe, that officer had given him +letters expressing his good opinion of him, and these afterwards proved +of great service. + +Honeyman went southward, and lived for some years in the American +Colonies. He finally settled in Philadelphia, where he married. When the +Revolution broke out, his sympathies were entirely with the American +side, but he did not immediately enlist in the American army. When +Washington came to Philadelphia, Honeyman was very anxious to see him +and consult with him. It was difficult for a man in the ordinary walks +of life to obtain an interview with the commander in chief; but Honeyman +sent in the letters which General Wolfe had given him, and, after having +read these, Washington was very ready to see the man of whom that +general had such a high opinion. Washington soon discovered that +Honeyman was a man of peculiar ability, and he had several interviews +with him, although it is not known what was said at these times. + +Before very long, Honeyman took his family to Griggstown, in Somerset +County, New Jersey, and there he hired a house and settled. From this +place he went to Fort Lee, when Washington came into New Jersey with his +army, and had an interview with the general; and here, it is said, he +made a regular contract with the commander in chief to become a spy on +the American side. + +There were a good many Tories in the State, and, as Honeyman had once +been a British soldier, it was easy enough for him to make believe that +he was a Tory, and so make friends with the Redcoats when he should have +an opportunity. + +The plan concocted between Washington and Honeyman was very carefully +worked out in all its details. Honeyman was to let it be known that he +was a Tory, and as soon as he thought it proper he was to leave his +family and join the British. It was considered that the best thing he +could do would be to engage in business as a butcher, and then, when he +went over to the British, he could go about the country in search of +cattle, and thus get a good idea of what was going on. + +He was to stay with the enemy until he discovered something important, +and then he was to arrange matters so that he should, apparently without +knowing it, wander near the American lines, where he would be captured. +It is said that Washington arranged, that, as soon as he should hear +that Honeyman had gone over to the enemy, he would offer a reward for +his arrest; but this reward would be paid only in case the supposed +traitor should be carried alive and unhurt to him. All this planning was +necessary, because there was so much communication between the Tories +and Whigs at that time, that, if it had been known on the American side +that Honeyman had gone over as a spy, the fact would soon have been +communicated to the British. + +Honeyman went over to the enemy, and started business as a butcher for +the army, and, after having gone a good deal about the country looking +for cattle, he came to New Brunswick with the British army. Nobody had +suspected that he was not a perfectly honest Tory, and he had been +paying great attention to the condition of the British army, and to +finding out everything which might be of use if reported to Washington. +Among other things, he discovered that the British forces then occupying +Trenton were not under a strict state of discipline. It was winter; the +weather was cold; apparently there was not much for them to do; and +discipline was in a rather lax state. Honeyman well understood the +habits of the Redcoats, and he knew that during the holidays the +soldiers would live in even a more free and easy manner than they were +living then. + +Not only did he make himself well acquainted with the condition of the +army, but he carefully studied the town of Trenton and its neighborhood, +and, going about in every direction after cows and oxen, he learned the +roads so well that he could make a very good map of them. Everything +that could be of service to the American cause was jotted down in +Honeyman's retentive memory; and when he had found out everything that +he could find out, he thought it was fully time that he should acquaint +Washington with the state of affairs in the enemy's lines. + +He knew that there were American pickets on the Jersey side, some +distance away; and he started out in this direction as a greasy butcher, +with a rope in one hand and a long whip in the other, looking for all +the world like John Honeyman the Tory cattleman, who, if he knew what +was good for him, would better keep out of sight of the soldiers of the +American army. He walked a long distance down the river, and, though he +may have seen cattle, he paid no attention to them. His present object +was not to capture anything and take it away, but to be captured and +taken away. After a time he saw at a distance what he had been looking +for. Behind some bushes, but still quite plain to the eye of this +practiced soldier, were two cavalrymen dismounted, and Honeyman knew +that they were Americans. He continued to walk towards them until he +came close to the spot where the two soldiers were standing. + +The moment their eyes fell upon him, they recognized him, and shouted to +him to halt; but Honeyman was too good an actor to do that. If he wished +to carry on the business in hand, he must keep up his character as a +Tory, and so he took to his long legs and ran like a deer. But the men +jumped on their horses and were after him in a moment; and as horses' +legs are a good deal better than human legs, no matter how long they may +be, the flying butcher was soon overtaken. But even then he did not +surrender, but so laid about him with his whip that he kept the two men +at bay. Of course, if they had not known him, they would have shot him +down; but as Washington had issued a proclamation concerning him, and +had especially insisted that he should be brought in alive, they did not +wish to injure him. But the unequal fight did not continue long, and +Honeyman was soon captured. The soldiers bound his arms, and, mounting +him behind one of them, so carried him across the river to Washington's +camp. + +When Honeyman was brought into the presence of the commander in chief, +he pretended to be very much frightened; and he would have been +excusable if he had been really frightened, for in that little +performance of his he had run a great many risks. After asking a few +questions of this pretended traitor Washington told the guards to +withdraw, and he had a private conference which lasted over half an +hour; and in that time it is probable that these two men did a great +deal of talking. The information given was most valuable, and such as +could have been furnished only by a man of extraordinary powers of +observation. + +When he had kept Honeyman as long as was necessary, Washington called +the guards, and told them to take the prisoner to a log cabin which was +used as a military jail, and there to watch him carefully during the +night, and in the morning he would be tried by court-martial. Honeyman +was taken to the prison, which had but one window and one door, and +supper was given to him. He was locked in, and two sentinels went on +guard outside the walls of the log house. + +In the middle of the night these men saw a fire burning not far from +headquarters, and, fearing that it might prove dangerous to allow it to +burn, they thought it their duty to run and put it out. This they did, +and returned to the log house, where everything looked the same as they +had left it. But in the morning, when they opened the door, there was no +prisoner inside. + +It is said that the whole plan of this escape, probably by means of the +window, was arranged by Washington himself, but of this we are not +certain. We know, however, that Washington looked upon Honeyman as one +of the most valuable men in the employ of the army, and that he would +take every means to prevent him from coming to harm on account of this +service. + +It was in consequence of the information that Honeyman, at the cost of +such great risk and danger, had brought to Washington, that three days +afterwards the Americans crossed the Delaware, attacked Trenton, routed +the British, and thus gained one of the greatest and most important +victories of the Revolution. If it had been John Honeyman, instead of +the British officer, who was struck by a cannon ball crossing the St. +Lawrence, it is likely that Washington would not have dared to attack +the British army in Trenton, which, before his half hour's conversation +with his spy, was believed to be entirely too strong to be meddled with +by the Continental soldiers on the other side of the river. + +But the report which Honeyman had made to Washington was not the only +service which he did to the American cause. Having left his peace +principles at home, as he was bound to do if he wanted to act as a truly +serviceable spy, he had more work before him. As soon as he got out of +the log house, he ran from the camp, and, although he was fired at by a +sentinel, he got safely away. He crossed the river on the ice whenever +there was any, and when he came to open water, he jumped in and swam, +and so he got safely over into the British lines. + +There, wet and shivering, he demanded to be taken to the commander; and +to him he told the dreadful story of how he had been captured by the +American soldiers while he was looking for beef cattle, and how he had +been taken to headquarters, questioned, and afterwards shut up in +prison, to be shot in the morning, and how he had quietly escaped and +come back to his friends. Colonel Rahl, who was in command of the +British, was delighted to get hold of this Tory butcher who had been +taken prisoner by the Continentals, and he put him through a course of +examination about the condition of the enemy. + +Of course, it was to the benefit of the Americans that the British +should think their army as small and as weak as possible; and so +Honeyman gave an account of the wretched condition of the American +soldiers,--how few they were, how badly they were armed, how miserably +they were officered, and how they were half starved and discouraged. He +told this story so well, that he made the colonel laugh, and declare +that there was no reason to apprehend any danger from such a pack of +ragamuffins as were collected together under Washington, and that, if +anybody wished to keep Christmas in a jolly way in his camp, there was +no reason why he should not do so. + +When Honeyman had finished telling his tales, one to one army and +another to the other, he knew that it would be better for him to get out +of the neighborhood. He was quite sure that Washington would take +Trenton, and, if he should be found in that city when it was captured, +it might be hard for even the commander in chief to prevent him from +being shot. So he hastened away to take refuge with the British in New +Brunswick. + +Honeyman had made himself so conspicuous in that part of the country as +a Tory who was working as hard as he could for the benefit of the +British by supplying them with beef, that all news about him was +received with great interest. It was not long before this story of how +he had been captured by the American pickets, and afterwards escaped +from the log prison, became generally known; and the people of +Griggstown, where his wife and family lived, were greatly excited, +believing that Honeyman had come there, and had concealed himself in his +house. A mob collected in the neighborhood late one night, surrounded +the house, and woke up the family with shouts and banging on the door. +Mrs. Honeyman appeared, nearly frightened to death; and some of the +ringleaders told her that they knew that her Tory husband had come back, +and was concealed inside; and they vowed, that, if he did not come out +and deliver himself up, they would burn the house and everything in it. + +She declared that he was not there, and that it had been a long time +since she had seen him. But this was of no use. They persisted that he +was inside, and that, if he did not come out very quickly, they would +set fire to the house. It was of no use to reason with an excited mob, +and, although Mrs. Honeyman said that they might come in and search the +house for her husband, they would not listen to her. Perhaps one reason +of this was, that Honeyman was a dangerous man to look for, inside of +his own house and in dark rooms. Mrs. Honeyman saw that she must act +quickly, or her home would be lost to her. + +She ran inside, and soon appeared with a paper, which she gave to a man +in the crowd with whom she was acquainted, and asked him to read it so +that every one could hear. + +It was not to be supposed that Mrs. Honeyman possessed a private riot +act, which might be read in order to disperse a disorderly assembly; but +even the most disorderly people are generally possessed of great +curiosity in regard to anything out of the common, and they consented to +put off the bonfire a few minutes, and hear what was to be read. What +the angry crowd heard was as follows:-- + + AMERICAN CAMP, NEW JERSEY, 1776. + + To the good people of New Jersey, and all others whom it may + concern: It is hereby ordered that the wife and children of John + Honeyman of Griggstown, the notorious Tory, now within the British + lines and probably acting the part of a spy, shall be, and are + hereby protected from all harm and annoyance from every quarter + until further orders. But this furnishes no protection to Honeyman + himself. + + GEO. WASHINGTON, + Com.-in-Chief. + +This paper, which it is said Washington not only signed, but wrote with +his own hand, had been given to Honeyman some time before, and he sent +it to his wife in order that it might protect her in case of danger such +as now threatened her. It was thought very likely that the people of +Griggstown would become so incensed against the Tory butcher, that they +might offer harm to his wife and family; and Washington was, no doubt, +glad to give what protection he could to the home of the man who, no +matter how much he might have deceived other people, was always true to +him and to the American cause. + +When the crowd heard the communication from the commander in chief of +the American army, ordering them to refrain from violence to Mrs. +Honeyman and her family, they could not understand why it had been +written; but they understood very well what it commanded, and so, +grumbling a good deal, but not daring to disobey, they dispersed, and +left the wife of the spy in peace. + +This paper, of course, was cherished as a great prize by the Honeyman +family, and remained in their possession for many years; and it was +indeed an heirloom worth preserving. But, although it proved a safeguard +for Mrs. Honeyman, it did not remove the prejudices against her husband, +and for a long time after that it would have been a very unwise thing +for Tory Honeyman to come to Griggstown. Of course, it would have been +an easy thing for Washington to have publicly exonerated Honeyman from +all charges of treason and Toryism, but this would not have served his +purpose. There was still need of a competent spy in the British lines; +and there Honeyman remained during the rest of the war, always ready to +give information to the commander whenever he could obtain it. + +When peace was proclaimed, Washington did not forget Honeyman, and he +himself told the story of how this brave man became a Tory butcher for +the sake of American independence, and of the great services he had +rendered to the cause. Then, of course, Honeyman went home to his wife +and family, and the people of Griggstown received him as if he had been +a great hero. And in fact, looking at the matter from a war point of +view, he deserved all the honors they could give him, for without his +aid the battle of Trenton could never have been won; and in fact he was +more useful in that engagement than if he had been a regiment of +soldiers. + +Honeyman was no doubt a great man in Griggstown. The people who had once +threatened to burn down his house could not do enough for him. Those who +once would not speak to his wife when they met her, now implored her to +let them know what they could do for her, and it was not long before the +popularity of the family increased to a wonderful degree. + +Several officers of rank who had heard of what Honeyman had done, came +to see and talk with him; and, more than that, Washington himself came +to Griggstown, and paid a visit to his former spy. Such an honor was +enough to make the once denounced Tory butcher the leading citizen of +the town. Honeyman now became a prosperous man, and bought a large farm +and reared a family of seven children, who grew up and prospered; and +their descendants are now scattered all over the State. He himself lived +to the good old age of ninety-five, and died respected and honored by +all,--never thought of as a spy, but only as a patriotic hero. + +It would appear, from the stories of those early days, that whenever a +man or woman acted a good part, and was truly of service to New Jersey, +he or she always lived to be very old, and left behind a vast number of +descendants. + + + + +A MAN WHO COVETED WASHINGTON'S SHOES. + + +The person whose story we are now about to tell was not a Jerseyman; +but, as most of the incidents which make him interesting to us occurred +in this State, we will give him the benefit of a few years' residence +here. + +This was General Charles Lee, who might well have been called a soldier +of fortune. He was born in England, but the British Isles were entirely +too small to satisfy his wild ambitions and his roving disposition. +There are few heroes of romance who have had such a wide and varied +experience, and who have engaged in so many strange enterprises. He was +a brave man and very able, but he had a fault which prevented him from +being a high-class soldier; and that fault was, that he could not bear +restraint, and was always restive under command of another, and, while +always ready to tell other people what they ought to do, was never +willing to be told what he ought to do. + +He joined the British army when he was a young man; and he first came to +this country in 1757, when General Abercrombie brought over an army to +fight the French. For three years, Lee was engaged in the wilds and +forests, doing battle with the Indians and the French, and no doubt he +had all the adventures an ordinary person would desire. But this +experience was far from satisfactory. + +When he left America, he went to Portugal with another British army, and +there he fought the Spanish with as much impetuosity as he had fought +the French and Indians. + +Life was absolutely tasteless to Lee without a very strong sprinkle of +variety. Consequently he now tried fighting in an entirely different +field, and went into politics. He became a Liberal, and with his voice +fought the government for whom he had been previously fighting with his +sword. + +But a few years of this satisfied him; and then he went to Poland, where +he became a member of the king's staff, and as a Polish officer +disported himself for two years. + +It is very likely that in Turkey a high-spirited man would find more +opportunities for lively adventure than even in Poland. At any rate, +Charles Lee thought so; and to Turkey he went, and entered into the +service of the Sultan. Here he distinguished himself in a company of +Turks who were guarding a great treasure in its transportation from +Moldavia to Constantinople. No doubt he wore a turban and baggy +trousers, and carried a great scimiter, for a man of that sort is not +likely to do things by halves when he does them at all. + +Having had such peculiar experiences in various armies and various parts +of the world, Lee thought himself qualified to occupy a position of rank +in the British army, and, coming back to England, he endeavored to +obtain military promotion. But the government there did not seem to +think he had learned enough in Poland and Turkey to enable him to take +precedence of English officers accustomed to command English troops, and +it declined to put him above such officers, and to give him the place he +desired. Lee was not a man of mild temper. He became very angry at the +treatment he received, and, abandoning his native country again, he went +to Russia, where the Czar gave him the command of a company of wild +Cossacks. But he did not remain long with the Cossacks. Perhaps they +were not wild and daring enough to suit his fancy, although there are +very few fancies which would not be satisfied with the reckless and +furious demeanor generally attributed to these savage horsemen. + +He threw up his command and went to Hungary, and there he did some +fighting in an entirely different fashion. Not having any opportunity to +distinguish himself upon a battlefield, he engaged in a duel; and of +course, as he was acting the part of a hero of romance, he killed his +man. + +Hungary was not a suitable residence for him after the duel, and he went +back to England, and there he found the country in a state of excitement +in regard to the American Colonies. Now, if there was anything that Lee +liked, it was a state of excitement, and in the midst of this political +hubbub he felt as much at home as if he had been charging the ranks of +an enemy. Of course, he took part against the government, for, as far as +we know, he had always been against it, and he became a violent +supporter of the rights of the colonists. + +He was so much in earnest in this matter, that in 1773 he came to +America to see for himself how matters stood. When he got over here, he +became more strongly in favor of the colonists than he had been at home, +and everywhere proclaimed that the Americans were right in resisting the +unjust taxation claims of Great Britain. As he had always been ready to +lay aside his British birthright and become some sort of a foreigner, he +now determined to become an American; and to show that he was in +earnest, he went down to Virginia and bought a farm there. + +Lee soon became acquainted with people in high places in American +politics; and when the first Congress assembled, he was ready to talk +with its members, urging them to stand up for their rights, and draw +their swords and load their guns in defense of independence. It was +quite natural, that, when the Revolution really began, a man who was so +strongly in favor of the patriots, and had had so much military +experience in so many different lands, should be allowed to take part in +the war, and Charles Lee was appointed major general. + +This was a high military position,--much higher, in fact, than he could +ever have obtained in his own country,--but it did not satisfy him. The +position he wanted was that of commander in chief of the American army; +and he was surprised and angry that it was not offered to him, and that +a man of his ability should be passed over, and that high place given to +a person like George Washington, who knew but little of war, and had no +idea whatever how the thing was done in Portugal, Poland, Russia, and +Turkey, and who was, in fact, no more than a country gentleman. + +All this showed that these Americans were fools, who did not understand +their best interests. But as there was a good chance for a fight, and, +in fact, a good many fights, and as a major-generalship was not to be +sneered at, he accepted it, and resigned the commission which he held in +the English army. + +He was doubtless in earnest in his desire to assist the Americans to +obtain their independence, for he was always in earnest when he was +doing anything that he was inclined to do. But he did not propose to +sacrifice his own interests to the cause he had undertaken; and as, by +entering the American army, he risked the loss of his estate in England, +he arranged with Congress for compensation for such loss. + +But, although General Lee was now a very ardent American soldier, he +could not forgive Mr. Washington for taking command above him. If that +Virginia gentleman had had the courtesy and good sense which were +generally attributed to him, he would have resigned the supreme command, +and, modestly stepping aside, would have asked General Lee to accept it. +At least, that was the opinion of General Charles Lee. + +As this high and mighty soldier was so unwilling to submit to the orders +of incompetent people, he never liked to be under the direct command of +Washington, and, if it were possible to do so, he managed to be +concerned in operations not under the immediate eye of the commander in +chief. In fact, he was very jealous indeed of Washington, and did not +hesitate to express his opinion about him whenever he had a chance. + +The American army was not very successful in Long Island, and there was +a time when it fared very badly in New Jersey; and Lee was not slow to +declare that these misfortunes were owing entirely to the ignorance of +the man who was in command. Moreover, if there was any one who wanted to +know if there was another man in the Colonies who could command the army +better, and lead it more certainly and speedily to victory, General Lee +was always ready to mention an experienced soldier who would be able to +perform that duty most admirably. + +If it had not been for this unfortunate and jealous disposition, Charles +Lee--a very different man from "Light Horse Harry" Lee--would have been +one of the most useful officers in the American army. But he had such a +jealousy of Washington, and hoped so continually that something would +happen which would give him the place then occupied by the Virginia +country gentleman, that, although he was at heart an honest patriot, he +allowed himself to do things which were not at all patriotic. He wanted +to see the Americans successful in the country, but he did not want to +see all that happen under the leadership of Washington; and if he could +put an obstacle in the way of that incompetent person, he would do it, +and be glad to see him stumble over it. + +In the winter of 1776, when the American army was making its way across +New Jersey, towards the Delaware River, with Cornwallis in pursuit, +Washington was anxiously looking for the troops, under the command of +General Lee, who had been ordered to come to his assistance; and if ever +assistance was needed, it was needed then. But Lee liked to do his own +ordering, and, instead of hurrying to help Washington, he thought it +would be a great deal better to do something on his own account; and so +he endeavored to get into the rear of Cornwallis's army, thinking, that, +if he should attack the enemy in that way, he might possibly win a +startling victory, which would cover him with glory, and show how much +better a soldier he was than that poor Washington who was retreating +across the country, instead of boldly turning and showing fight. + +If Lee had been a true soldier, and had conscientiously obeyed the +commands of his superior, he would have joined Washington and his army +without delay, and a short time afterward would have had an opportunity +of taking part in the battle of Trenton, in which the Virginia country +gentleman defeated the British, and gained one of the most important +victories of the war. + +Lee pressed slowly onward--ready to strike a great blow for himself, and +unwilling to help anybody else strike a blow--until he came to +Morristown; and, after staying there one night, he proceeded in the +direction of Basking Ridge, a pretty village not far away. Lee left his +army at Bernardsville, which was then known as Vealtown, and rode on to +Basking Ridge, accompanied only by a small guard. There he took lodgings +at an inn, and made himself comfortable. The next morning he did not go +and put himself at the head of his army and move on, because there were +various affairs which occupied his attention. + +Several of his guard wished to speak to him, some of them being men from +Connecticut, who appeared before him in full-bottomed wigs, showing +plainly that they considered themselves people who were important enough +to have their complaints attended to. One of them wanted his horse shod, +another asked for some money on account of his pay, and a third had +something to say about rations. But General Lee cut them all off very +shortly with, "You want a great deal, but you have not mentioned what +you want most. You want to go home, and I should be glad to let you go, +for you are no good here." Then his adjutant general asked to see him; +and he had a visit from a Major Wilkinson, who arrived that morning with +a letter from General Gates. + +All these things occupied him very much, and he did not sit down to +breakfast till ten o'clock. Shortly after they had finished their meal, +and Lee was writing a letter to General Gates, in which he expressed a +very contemptible opinion of General Washington, Major Wilkinson saw, at +the end of the lane which led from the house down to the main road, a +party of British cavalry, who dashed round the corner toward the house. +The major immediately called out to General Lee that the Redcoats were +coming; but Lee, who was a man not to be frightened by sudden reports, +finished signing the letter, and then jumped up to see what was the +matter. + +By this time the dragoons had surrounded the house; and when he +perceived this, General Lee naturally wanted to know where the guards +were, and why they did not fire on these fellows. But there was no +firing, and apparently there were no guards; and when Wilkinson went to +look for them, he found their arms in the room which had been their +quarters, but the men were gone. These private soldiers had evidently +been quite as free and easy, and as bent upon making themselves +comfortable, as had been the general, and they had had no thought that +such a thing as a British soldier was anywhere in the neighborhood. When +Wilkinson looked out of the door, he saw the guards running in every +direction, with dragoons chasing them. + +What all this meant, nobody knew at first; and Wilkinson supposed that +it was merely a band of marauders of the British army, who were making +a raid into the country to get what they could in the way of plunder. +It was not long before this was found to be a great mistake; for the +officer in command of the dragoons called from the outside, and demanded +that General Lee should surrender himself, and that, if he did not do so +in five minutes, the house would be set on fire. + +Now, it was plain to everybody that the British had heard of the +leisurely advance of this American general, and that he had left his +command and come to Basking Ridge to take his ease at an inn, and so +they had sent a detachment to capture him. Soon the women of the house +came to General Lee, and urged him to hide himself under a feather bed. +They declared that they would cover him up so that nobody would suspect +that he was in the bed; then they would tell the soldiers that he was +not there, and that they might come and search the house if they chose. + +But although Lee was a jealous man and a hasty man, he had a soul above +such behavior as this, and would not hide himself in a feather bed; but, +as there was no honorable way of escape, he boldly came forward and +surrendered himself. + +The British gave him no time to make any preparations for departure. +They did not know but that his army might be on the way to Basking +Ridge; and the sooner they were off, the better. So they made him jump +on Major Wilkinson's horse, which was tied by the door; and in his +slippers and dressing gown, and without a hat, this bold soldier of +wide experience, who thought he should be commander in chief of the +American army, was hurried away at full gallop. He was taken to New +York, where he was put into prison. It is said that Lee plotted against +America during his imprisonment; but General Washington did not know +that, and used every exertion to have him exchanged, so that his +aspiring rival soon again joined the American army. + +But his misfortune had no good effect upon General Charles Lee, who came +back to his command with as high an opinion of himself, and as low an +opinion of certain other people, as he had had when he involuntarily +left it. It was some time after this, at the battle of Monmouth Court +House, that Charles Lee showed what sort of a man he really was. He had +now become so jealous that he positively determined that he would not +obey orders, and would act as he thought best. He had command of a body +of troops numbering five thousand, a good-sized army for those days, and +he was ordered to advance to Monmouth Court House and attack the enemy +who were there, while Washington, with another force, would hasten to +his assistance as rapidly as possible. + +Washington carried out his part of the plan; but when he had nearly +reached Monmouth, he found, to his amazement, that Lee had gone there, +but had done no fighting at all, and was now actually retreating, and +coming in his direction. As it would be demoralizing in the highest +degree to his own command, if Lee's armed forces in full retreat should +come upon them, Washington hurried forward to prevent anything of the +sort, and soon met Lee. When the latter was asked what was the meaning +of this strange proceeding, he could give no good reason, except that he +thought it better not to risk an engagement at that time. + +Then the Virginia country gentleman blazed out at the soldier of +fortune, and it is said that no one ever heard George Washington speak +to any other man as he spoke to General Lee on that day. He was told to +go back to his command and to obey orders, and together the American +forces moved on. In the battle which followed, the enemy was repulsed; +but the victory was not so complete as it should have been, for the +British departed in the night and went where they intended to go, +without being cut off by the American army, as would have been the case +if Lee had obeyed the orders which were given him. + +General Lee was very angry at the charges which Washington had made +against him, and demanded that he should be tried by court-martial. His +wish was granted. He was tried, and found guilty of every charge made +against him, and in consequence was suspended from the army for one +year. + +But Charles Lee never went back into the American army. Perhaps he had +had enough of it. In any event, it had had enough of him; and seven +years afterwards, when he died of a fever, his ambition to stand in +Washington's shoes died with him. While he lived on his Virginia farm, +he was as impetuous and eccentric as when he had been in the army, and +he must have been a very unpleasant neighbor. In fact, the people there +thought he was crazy. This opinion was not changed when his will was +read, for in that document he said,-- + +"I desire most earnestly that I may not be buried in any church or +churchyard, or within a mile of any Presbyterian or Anabaptist +meetinghouse; for since I have resided in this country I have kept so +much bad company when living, that I do not choose to continue it when +dead." + + + + +THE MAN IN THE "AUGER HOLE." + + +When we consider the American Revolution, we are apt to think of it as a +great war in which all the inhabitants of the Colonies rose up against +Great Britain, determined, no matter what might be the hardships and +privations, no matter what the cost in blood and money, to achieve their +independence and the right to govern themselves. + +But this was not the case. A great majority of the people of the +Colonies were ardently in favor of independence; but there were also a +great many people, and we have no right to say that some of them were +not very good people, who were as well satisfied that their country +should be a colony of Great Britain as the Canadians are now satisfied +with that state of things, and who were earnestly and honestly opposed +to any separation from the mother country. + +This difference of opinion was the cause of great trouble and bloodshed +among the colonists themselves, and the contests between the Tories and +the Whigs were nowhere more bitter than in New Jersey. In some parts of +the Colony, families were divided against themselves; and not only did +this result in quarrels and separations, but fathers and sons, and +brothers and brothers, fought against each other. At one time the +Tories, or, as they came to be called, "refugees," were in such numbers +that they took possession of the town of Freehold, and held it for more +than a week; and when at last the town was retaken by the patriotic +forces, most of them being neighbors and friends of the refugees, +several prominent Tories were hanged, and many others sent to prison. + +The feeling between the Americans of the two different parties was more +violent than that between the patriots and the British troops, and +before long it became entirely unsafe for any Tory to remain in his own +home in New Jersey. Many of them went to New York, where the patriotic +feeling was not so strong at that time, and there they formed themselves +into a regular military company called the "Associated Loyalists;" and +this company was commanded by William Temple Franklin, son of the great +Benjamin Franklin, who had been appointed governor of New Jersey by the +British Crown. He was now regarded with great hatred by the patriots of +New Jersey, because he was a strong Tory. This difference of opinion +between William Franklin and his father was the most noted instance of +this state of feeling which occurred in those days. + +It will be interesting to look upon this great contest from a different +point of view than that from which we are accustomed to regard it; and +some extracts from the journal of a New Jersey lady who was a decided +Tory, will give us an idea of the feeling and condition of the people +who were opposed to the Revolution. + +This lady was Mrs. Margaret Hill Morris, who lived in Burlington. She +was a Quaker lady, and must have been a person of considerable wealth; +for she had purchased the house on Green Bank, one of the prettiest +parts of Burlington, overlooking the river, in which Governor Franklin +had formerly resided. This was a fine house, and contained the room +which afterwards became celebrated under the name of the "Auger Hole." +This had been built, for what reason is not known, as a place of +concealment. It was a small room, entirely dark, but said to be +otherwise quite comfortable, which could be approached only through a +linen closet. In order to get at it, the linen had to be taken from the +shelves, the shelves drawn out, and a small door opened at the back of +the closet, quite low down, so that the dark room could only be entered +by stooping. + +In this "auger hole," Mrs. Morris, who was a strong Tory, but a very +good woman, had concealed a refugee who at the time was sought for by +the adherents of the patriotic side, and who probably would have had a +hard time of it if he had been caught, for he was a person of +considerable importance. + +The name of the refugee was Jonathan Odell, and he was rector of St. +Mary's Church in Burlington. He was a learned man, being a doctor as +well as a clergyman, and a very strong Tory. He had been of much service +to the people of Burlington; for when the Hessians had attacked the +town, he had come forward and interceded with their commander, and had +done his work so well that the soldiers were forbidden to pillage the +town. But when the Hessians left, the American authorities began a +vigorous search for Tories; and Parson Odell was obliged to conceal +himself in good Mrs. Morris's "auger hole." + +Mrs. Morris was apparently a widow who lived alone with her two boys, +and, having this refugee in her house, she was naturally very nervous +about the movements of the American troops and the actions of her +neighbors of the opposite party. + +She kept a journal of the things that happened about her in those +eventful days, and from this we will give some extracts. It must be +understood that in writing her journal, the people designated as the +"enemy" were the soldiers under Washington, and that "gondolas" were +American gunboats. + + "From the 13th to the 16th we had various reports of the advancing + and retiring of the enemy; parties of armed men rudely entered the + town and diligent search was made for tories. Some of the gondola + gentry broke into and pillaged Rd Smith's house on the bank. About + noon this day [16th] a very terrible account of thousands coming + into the town, and now actually to be seen on Gallows Hill: my + incautious son caught up the spyglass, and was running towards the + mill to look at them. I told him it would be liable to + misconstruction." + +The journal states that the boy went out with the spyglass, but could +get no good place from which he could see Gallows Hill, or any troops +upon it, and so went down to the river, and thought he would take a view +of the boats in which were the American troops. He rested his spyglass +on the low limb of a tree, and with a boyish curiosity inspected the +various boats of the little fleet, not suspecting that any one would +object to such a harmless proceeding. + +But the people on the boats saw him, and did object very much; and the +consequence was, that, not long after he reached his mother's house, a +small boat from one of the vessels came to shore. A party of men went to +the front door of the house in which they had seen the boy enter, and +began loudly to knock upon it. Poor Mrs. Morris was half frightened to +death, and she made as much delay as possible in order to compose her +features and act as if she had never heard of a refugee who wished to +hide himself from his pursuers. In the mild manner in which Quaker women +are always supposed to speak, she asked them what they wanted. They +quickly told her that they had heard that there was a refugee, to whom +they applied some very strong language, who was hiding somewhere about +here, and that they had seen him spying at them with a glass from behind +a tree, and afterwards watched him as he entered this house. + +Mrs. Morris declared that they were entirely mistaken; that the person +they had seen was no one but her son, who had gone out to look at them +as any boy might do, and who was perfectly innocent of any designs +against them. The men may have been satisfied with this explanation in +regard to her son; but they asserted that they knew that there was a +refugee concealed somewhere in that neighborhood, and they believed that +he was in an empty house near by, of which they were told she had the +key. Mrs. Morris, who had given a signal, previously agreed upon, to the +man in the "auger hole," to keep very quiet, wished to gain as much time +as possible, and exclaimed, + +"Bless me! I hope you are not Hessians." + +"Do we look like Hessians?" asked one of them rudely. + +"Indeed, I don't know." + +"Did you ever see a Hessian?" + +"No, never in my life; but they are men, and you are men, and may be +Hessians, for anything I know. But I will go with you into Colonel Cox's +house, though indeed it was my son at the mill; he is but a boy, and +meant no harm; he wanted to see the troops." + +So she took the key of the empty house referred to, and went in ahead of +the men, who searched the place thoroughly, and, after finding no place +where anybody could be, they searched one or two of the houses +adjoining; but for some reason they did not think it worth while to go +through Mrs. Morris's own house. Had they done so, it is not probable +that the good lady could have retained her composure, especially if they +had entered the room in which was the linen closet; for, even had they +been completely deceived by the piles of sheets and pillowcases, there +is no knowing but that the unfortunate man in the "auger hole" might +have been inclined to sneeze. + +But although she was a brave woman, and very humanely inclined, Mrs. +Morris felt she could not any longer take the risk of a refugee in her +house. And so that night, after dark, she went up to the parson in the +"auger hole," and made him come out; and she took him into the town, +where he was concealed by some of the Tory citizens, who were better +adapted to take care of the refugee than this lone Quaker woman with her +two inquisitive boys. It is believed that soon after this he took refuge +in New York, which was then in the hands of the British. + +Further on in the journal, Mrs. Morris indulges in some moral +reflections in regard to the war in which her countrymen were engaged, +and no one of right feeling will object to her sentiments. + + "Jan. 14. I hear Gen. Howe sent a request to Washington desiring + three days cessation of arms to take care of the wounded and bury + the dead, which was refused: what a woeful tendency war has to + harden the human heart against the tender feelings of humanity. + Well may it be called a _horrid art_ thus to change the nature of + man. I thought that even barbarous nations had a sort of religious + regard for their dead." + +After this the journal contains many references to warlike scenes on the +river and warlike sounds from the country around. Numbers of gondolas +filled with soldiers went up and down the river, at times cannon from +distant points firing alarums. At other times the roaring of great guns +from a distance, showing that a battle was going on, kept the people of +Burlington in a continual excitement; and Mrs. Morris, who was entirely +cut off from her relatives and friends, several of whom were living in +Philadelphia, was naturally very anxious and disturbed in regard to +events, of which she heard but little, and perhaps understood less. + +One day she saw a number of gunboats, with flags flying and drums +beating, that were going, she was told, to attend a court-martial at +which a number of refugees, men of her party, were to be tried by +General Putnam; and it was believed that if they were found guilty they +would be executed. + +After a time, Mrs. Morris found an opportunity of showing, that, +although in principle she might be a Tory, she was at heart a good, kind +Quaker lady, ready to give help to suffering people, no matter whether +they belonged to the side she favored or to that which she opposed. + +Some of the people who came up the river in the gunboats--and in many +cases the soldiers brought their wives with them, probably as +cooks--were taken sick during that summer; and some of these invalids +stopped at Burlington, being unable to proceed farther. + +Here, to their surprise, they found no doctors; for all the patriots of +that profession had gone to the army, and the Tory physicians had +departed to the British lines. But, as has been said before, the women +in the early days of New Jersey were often obliged to be physicians; and +among the good housewives of Burlington, who knew all about herb teas, +homemade plasters, and potions, Mrs. Morris held a high position. The +sick Continentals were told that she was just as good as a doctor, and, +besides, was a very kind woman, always ready to help the sick and +suffering. + +So some of the sick soldiers came to her; and from what Mrs. Morris +wrote, one or two of them must have been the same men who had previously +come to her house and threatened the life of her boy, who had been +looking at them with a spyglass. But now they very meekly and humbly +asked her to come and attend their poor comrades who were unable to +move. At first Mrs. Morris thought this was some sort of a trick, and +that they wanted to get her on board of one of the gunboats, and carry +her away. But when she found that the sick people were in a house in the +town, she consented to go and do what she could. So she took her bottles +with her, and her boxes and her herbs, and visited the sick people, +several of whom she found were women. + +They were all afflicted with some sort of a fever, probably of a +malarial kind, contracted from living day and night on board of boats +without proper protection; and, knowing just what to do in such cases, +she, to use her own expression, "treated them according to art," and it +was not long before they all recovered. + +What happened in consequence of this hospital work for those whom she +considered her enemies, is thus related by Mrs. Morris:-- + + "I thought I had received all my pay when they thankfully + acknowledged all my kindness, but lo! in a short time afterwards, a + very rough, ill-looking man came to the door and asked for me. When + I went to him, he drew me aside and asked me if I had any friends + in Philadelphia. The question alarmed me, supposing that there was + some mischief meditated against that poor city; however, I calmly + said, 'I have an ancient father-in-law, some sisters, and other + near friends there.' 'Well,' said the man, 'do you wish to hear + from them, or send anything by way of refreshment to them? If you + do, I will take charge of it and bring you back anything you may + send for.' I was very much surprised, to be sure, and thought he + only wanted to get provisions to take to the gondolas, when he told + me his wife was one I had given medicine to, and this was the only + thing he could do to pay me for my kindness. My heart leaped for + joy, and I set about preparing something for my dear absent + friends. A quarter of beef, some veal, fowls, and flour, were soon + put up, and about midnight the man came and took them away in his + boat." + +Mrs. Morris was not mistaken in trusting to the good intentions of this +grateful Continental soldier, for, as she says, two nights later there +came a loud knocking at the door:-- + + "Opening the chamber window, we heard a man's voice saying, 'Come + down softly and open the door, but bring no light.' There was + something mysterious in such a call, and we concluded to go down + and set the candle in the kitchen. When we got to the front door we + asked, 'Who are you?' The man replied, 'A friend; open quickly:' + so the door was opened, and who should it be but our honest gondola + man with a letter, a bushel of salt, a jug of molasses, a bag of + rice, some tea, coffee, and sugar, and some cloth for a coat for my + poor boys--all sent by my kind sisters. How did our hearts and eyes + overflow with love to them and thanks to our Heavenly Father for + such seasonable supplies. May we never forget it. Being now so + rich, we thought it our duty to hand out a little to the poor + around us, who were mourning for want of salt, so we divided the + bushel and gave a pint to every poor person who came for it, and + had a great plenty for our own use." + +As the war drew to its close and it became plain to every one that the +cause of the patriots must triumph, the feeling between the two parties +of Americans became less bitter; and the Tories, in many cases, saw that +it would be wise for them to accept the situation, and become loyal +citizens of the United States of America, as before they had been loyal +subjects of Great Britain. + +When peace was at last proclaimed, those Tories who were prisoners were +released, and almost all of them who had owned farms or estates had them +returned to them, and Mrs. Morris could visit her "ancient +father-in-law" and her sisters in Philadelphia, or they could come up +the river and visit her in her house on the beautiful Green Bank at +Burlington, without fear or thought of those fellow-countrymen who had +been their bitter enemies. + + + + +THE STORY OF TWO CAPTAINS. + + +During the Revolution, New Jersey had a very hard time, harder in some +ways than many of her sister States. This may be accounted for by the +fact that much of her territory lay between the two important cities of +Philadelphia and New York, and that it was therefore liable to be the +scene of frequent battles and marches. In fact, it often happens that +the march of an enemy through a quiet country is almost as bad as a +disastrous battle. + +Country people and farmers, especially those of fruitful and prosperous +countries, are generally much more opposed to war than people in cities; +and so it happened in New Jersey. When the Revolution began, there were +a good many people who did not care particularly about taxation, who had +been happy and comfortable all their days, without any thought of +independence, and who saw no reason why they should not continue to be +so; and these did not immediately spring to arms when the first guns of +the war were fired. There were no large cities in New Jersey. It was a +rural community, a country of peaceable people. + +When the British troops first entered New Jersey, and before any battles +had been fought, the commander in chief took advantage of this state of +feeling, and endeavored as far as possible to make the people think that +the Redcoats were in reality good friends, and intended them no harm. He +protested, whenever he had a chance, that when these disturbances were +over, any complaints that the people had to make in regard to the laws +made by their English rulers, should be carefully attended to, and their +grievances redressed as soon as possible. + +As has been said before, a great many of the people of the Colony were +in favor of continuance of the British rule, and from these arose that +Tory party which afterwards caused so much bitterness of feeling and +bloody contention. But there were also others, who, although they were +not Tories, were not in favor of fighting if it could be helped, and +these the British commander most wished to conciliate. He issued a great +many printed papers of protection, which he gave to those who had not +yet taken sides against the Crown. The people who received these were +assured, that, so long as they had them to show, no Redcoat soldier +would in any way disturb them or their property. + +But when the English army actually spread itself over the country, and +the soldiers began to forage about to see what they could find to eat +and drink better than their rations, the Jersey farmers frequently +discovered that these papers of protection were of no use at all. If +shown to one of the Hessians, who were more dreaded than the other +soldiers of the British army, the German could not read a word of it, +and paid no attention to it. He wanted ducks and geese, and took them. +And after a time the English soldiers determined that the Hessians +should not take all they wanted while they stood by and had nothing, and +so they began to pillage, without regard to the little printed papers +which the angry farmers showed them. + +This state of things had a very good effect upon the rural population of +New Jersey; and as the conduct of the British soldiers became more +lawless, so did the determination to resist such outrageous actions +become stronger and stronger in the hearts of the people of the country, +and they readily listened to the calls to arms which were made by +Washington and by Congress. The people who were in favor of the +Revolution and independence stood together and formed themselves on one +side, while those who were still loyal to the King formed themselves on +the other. And thus, with both the Tories and the British against them, +the citizens of New Jersey began in good earnest to fight for their +liberties. + +In the war which was now waged in New Jersey, it very often happened +that the British soldiers had no part whatever; and although the battles +and skirmishes between the Tories and the Whigs were generally small and +of no great importance, they were always violent and bloody. Sometimes +the forces on each side were considerable enough to entitle the affair +to be called a battle. The forces of the Whigs or patriots in these +encounters were almost always composed of the militiamen of the State, +who had not joined the regular army, but who had enlisted for the +purpose of defending their own homes and farms. In various parts of the +country there were men who, some on one side and some on the other, had +distinguished themselves as soldiers. + +One of the most prominent of these was a Captain Huddy of Monmouth +County. He had command of a company of militiamen, and he made himself +very formidable to the bodies of Tories who had formed themselves in the +country, and his name and fame as a great fighter began to spread over +that part of the State. He lived in a good-sized house, for that time, +in the village of Colt's Neck, and in this house he generally kept part +of his command. + +But one evening he happened to be at home without any one with him +except a servant, a negro girl about twenty years old. His men had all +gone away on some errand, and the fact that the captain was at home by +himself became known to some Tories in the neighborhood. These, led by a +mulatto named Tye, made an attack upon his house. + +But although Captain Huddy's men were all away, they had left their guns +behind; and so the brave Huddy, instead of surrendering to the force of +fifty or sixty Tories who were outside, determined to fight them, with +no garrison but himself and the negro girl, and he made ready to hold +his house as long as he could. The girl loaded the guns; and Huddy, +running from one window to another, fired at the Tories so rapidly and +with such good effect, that they believed that there were a number of +men in the house, and so did not dare to rush forward and break in the +doors, as they certainly would have done if they had known that they +were fighting two persons only, and one of them a girl. + +Several of the attacking party were wounded, and they found at last that +there was little chance of capturing this fortress, so well defended: so +they concluded to burn the house, and thus force the garrison to come +out. While they were at work setting fire to the wooden building, Huddy +shot the mulatto in the arm; but, finding that he could not prevent +them from carrying out their purpose, he shouted to them that if they +would put out the fire, he would surrender. + +When the fort had capitulated and the enemy marched in, the Tories were +so angry to find that they had been fighting no one but a man and a +negro girl, that many of them were inclined to fall upon these +unfortunates, and butcher them on the spot; but they were restrained. As +it was known that Huddy's men would probably soon return,--for the noise +of the firing had aroused the neighborhood,--the enemy seized the +captain and hurried him away, leaving the rest of the garrison behind. + +It may be said here that this girl, whose name was Lucretia Emmons, +afterwards married a man named Chambers, and, like all other Jersey +women who were of benefit to their State, lived to a good old age, and +had a large posterity. + +Captain Huddy was hurried away to the boats in which the Tories had +arrived; but the militiamen were in hot pursuit, and a running fight +took place between them and the Tories, in which six of the latter were +killed. The Tories, with their prisoner, got on board their boats; but +they had not pushed very far from the shore, before the militiamen were +firing at them again. During the hubbub which ensued, Captain Huddy made +a bold dash for liberty. He sprang to his feet, plunged into the water, +and began to swim to the shore. In so doing, unfortunately, he received +a shot in the thigh from his own friends; but he raised his hands above +his head and shouted, "I am Huddy, I am Huddy!" and so, with one leg and +two arms, he continued to strike out for the shore, which he reached in +safety. His wound could not have been very severe, for it was not long +before he was again engaged in fighting the Tories. + +Two years after this, Captain Huddy was once more obliged to hold a fort +against a superior body of Tories,--this time a rude structure of logs, +or blockhouse, near Tom's River, close to the coast. His garrison +consisted of twenty-five men. Here he was attacked by a number of +refugees, some of them from New York, and some from the neighborhood. +They gathered from various quarters during the night, and early on a +Sunday morning they made a united attack on the blockhouse. Huddy and +his men fought bravely; but when their ammunition was gone, and seven or +eight of them were killed, he was obliged to surrender. + +Now, there was no one to rescue him, and he was marched away, put in +irons, and confined in the hold of a prison ship anchored off the coast. +The state of feeling at the time is shown by the way in which the +commander of this expedition speaks of the village of Tom's River; for +he says, "The Town, as it is called, consists of about a dozen houses, +in which none but a piratical set of banditti reside." + +What afterwards happened to the captain was the result of a chain of +events which could only have occurred in a country where neighbors and +former friends were arrayed in bloody conflict against each other. A +prominent Tory of that neighborhood, named White, had been captured by +the patriots, and it happened that the father of one of White's guards +had been murdered by a party of Tories of whom White was a member. White +was shot soon after his capture; and it was generally believed that he +had been killed by this guard, who wished to avenge his father's death. + +Thus one murder led to another, but the bloody business had not yet gone +far enough. The friends of White were determined to avenge his death, +and could think of no better way of doing it than by killing Captain +Huddy. The Tories wished to get rid of him anyway, and here was a reason +which was considered good enough in those days of furious animosity +between fellow-countrymen. It was not long, therefore, before Huddy was +taken from his prison, and, without even a show of a trial, was +condemned to death. It was said that he assisted in the killing of +White; and although he asserted boldly that this was an absurd charge, +as he was in prison at the time White was shot, the Tories would not +listen to any such plea. They were determined to kill him, and die he +must. + +He was taken on shore at Sandy Hook, and on the beach a rude gallows was +constructed of three fence rails, and there he was hung. Before he died, +he wrote his will, resting the paper on the top of a flour barrel; and +it is said that his handwriting was as firm and legible as if he had +been sitting at a table in his own house. + +This inhuman and lawless execution of a man so well known and of such +good reputation as Captain Huddy, created great indignation in the +patriotic party all over the country, and there was a general demand +that the British army should deliver up a man named Lippencot, who had +been the leader of the party which had hung Huddy; but the British did +not consent to this. They did make a show of investigating the matter; +and Lippencot, who was an officer of a refugee regiment regularly +enlisted in the British service, was tried by court-martial. But he was +acquitted; and no satisfaction was offered to the Americans for this +crime, which had been committed in open defiance of the laws of war. + +But the British commander in chief, who arrived about this time, was a +man of honor and good sense, and he openly condemned the action of +Lippencot and his men, and assured the Americans that he would do what +he could to further investigate the matter. + +This, however, did not satisfy the country, and from every side there +came demands that some one of the officers who were then prisoners in +the American lines should be executed in retaliation for Huddy's murder, +unless Lippencot were delivered up to the Americans. Here, then, opened +the fourth act of this bloody play of progression, and we will tell the +story of the other captain. + +It is a horrible thing to deliberately execute an innocent man because +some one else has committed a crime; but war is horrible, and we must +expect that horrible things will continually spring from it. As no +satisfaction could be obtained from the British for this acknowledged +outrage and murder,--for in acquitting Lippencot the British authorities +virtually took upon themselves the responsibility of Huddy's +execution,--the Americans, being at war and acting in accordance with +the bloody rules of war, determined to select an officer from among the +English prisoners in the American lines, who should be executed in +retaliation for Huddy's death. + +As soon as this order had been issued, thirteen British officers, who +were at liberty on parole in the American lines, were ordered to report +at Lancaster, Penn., in order that one of them might be selected to be +the victim of retaliation. + +These officers were assembled in a room of the Black Bear Tavern with +several American officers, who conducted the proceedings, and a guard of +mounted dragoons was stationed outside. + +The question was to be decided by lot according to the following plan: +the thirteen names of the officers were written each upon a little slip +of paper, and these were put into a hat. Then in another hat were placed +thirteen other slips of the same size, all of them blank excepting one, +on which was written the word "unfortunate." Two drummer boys were +called in to draw out the slips, one from one hat, the other from the +other. As one boy drew out the piece of paper and read the name of the +officer written upon it, the other boy at the same time drew a slip from +the other hat. After several drawings, in which the slips from the +second hat had all been blank, one of the boys drew, and read upon the +little piece of paper the name of Captain Asgill, and at the same time +the other boy drew out a slip, and read the word "unfortunate." This +decided the matter; and the American officer in command turned to the +leader of the dragoons and said to him, "This gentleman, sir, is your +prisoner." + +Now this most tragical meeting broke up, and we are told that every man +in that room, except Captain Asgill himself, was in tears. The truly +unfortunate man who had been chosen by this most doleful chance was a +handsome young gentleman, scarcely more than a boy. He was beloved by +every one who knew him, and he would have been the last man to have +consented to any such deed as that for which he was to pay the penalty. +When it became known that he had been selected by fate to be executed in +retaliation, every one who knew anything about him, either in the +British army or the American, deeply deplored the fact that the doom +should have fallen on one who so little deserved it. Captain Asgill was +taken to Philadelphia, and after a while was carried to New Jersey, +where in Chatham, Morris County, he was held to await his end. + +Washington himself was greatly affected by this event; and he wrote to +the colonel who had charge of Captain Asgill, to treat the unfortunate +young man with all tenderness and respect while he should be in his +hands, and to do everything for him that was consistent with propriety +under the circumstances. + +Now, there came from many parts of this country, as well as from the +English, all sorts of communications and memorials addressed to the +government and the commander of the army, urging clemency in the case of +this unfortunate young man; and it was no doubt in consequence of these, +that his punishment was delayed from time to time. + +Captain Asgill's mother was a lady of good position in England, and, +overwhelmed with grief at the impending fate of her son, she spared no +efforts to save him. She wrote to every man of influence whom she knew; +and among others she wrote to the Count de Vergennes, who was in this +country as the representative of the court of France. + +The French, who had been the faithful friends of the Americans +throughout the struggle, were as willing to assist their allies to be +merciful and forgiving as they were to help them fight their battles. +The ambassador addressed a strong letter to Congress, urging that young +Captain Asgill might be spared, and sending a copy of the letter +written by the heartbroken mother. + +Still war is war; and one of its laws is, that, if a prisoner is +unjustly killed by an enemy, one of the enemy's men held as prisoner +shall be killed in retaliation, the object being, of course, to put a +stop to unjust executions. With this law in view, Congress did not +consent to countermand the young man's execution. + +Captain Asgill had another friend, a powerful one, who did all that he +could to save him from his impending fate. This was General Washington, +who from the first had pitied the young man on account of his youth and +general character; but he had also objected to the selection for the +reason that he had been among the officers who surrendered with Lord +Cornwallis, who had been promised that they should not be dealt with as +hostages. There were other prisoners who might have been more justly +taken as subjects of retaliation, but for some reason the thirteen +officers who had been summoned to this trial by lot were not among those +who were justly liable in the case. Washington felt that the selection +of Asgill was a breach of good faith, and he did all that he could to +induce the secretary of war to act justly and honorably in the matter. +At all events, the efforts in behalf of the young officer had the effect +of delaying the execution; and three months after his fatal lot had been +drawn, he was allowed to go to Morristown and remain there a prisoner on +parole. + +Not long after this, another reason arose for the pardon of Captain +Asgill, which was used with effect by his friends. Peace was now +approaching, and there was no need of the execution of hostages in order +to prevent further outrages on the part of the enemy; and so the members +of Congress began to feel that after this long delay, and the +approaching general rejoicing in the success of American independence, +it would seem like murder to execute this young man. Therefore a law was +passed by Congress, directing that Captain Asgill should be set at +liberty and allowed to return to his family. + +Dreadful months of suspense and fearful anticipation had darkened the +souls of this young soldier, his family, and his friends; but they had +probably produced a better effect upon the minds of the lawless bands of +Tory refugees than would have resulted had the execution taken place; +for, had Captain Asgill been hung, there is no doubt that an American +prisoner would have suffered in his place; and how many more steps in +the bloody business of retaliation would have taken place, no man can +tell. So, if we look at the matter philosophically, it may have been a +very good thing that the British officer selected to atone for the death +of Captain Huddy happened to be a young man whom nobody wished to kill, +for the merciful delay exercised in his case was the probable cause of +the cessation of retaliation during the last months of the Revolution. + + + + +THE STORY OF TEMPE WICK. + + +There are so many curious and unexpected things which may happen in time +of war, especially to people who live in parts of a country where the +enemy may be expected to come, or where the friendly army is already +encamped, that it is impossible to guard against unpleasant occurrences; +and it often happens that the only thing to be depended upon when an +emergency arises, is presence of mind, and quickness of wit. + +In these qualities, New Jersey girls have never shown themselves behind +their sisters of other parts of the country, and a very good proof of +this is shown by an incident which took place near Morristown during the +time that the American army was quartered in that neighborhood. + +Not far from the town was a farm then known as Wick's farm, situated in +a beautiful wooded country. The daughter of Mr. Wick, named Tempe +(probably short for Temperance), was the owner of a very fine horse, and +on this beautiful animal it was her delight to ride over the roads and +through the woods of the surrounding country. She had been accustomed +to horses since she was a child, and was not afraid to ride anywhere by +herself. + +When she first began to canter over these hills and dales, it had been +in times of peace, when there was nothing in this quiet country of which +any one might be afraid; and now, although these were days of war, she +felt no fear. There were soldiers not far away, but these she looked +upon as her friends and protectors; for Washington and his army had +encamped in that region to defend the country against the approach of +the enemy. If any straggling Redcoats should feel a desire to come along +the hills, they would be very apt to restrain their inclinations so long +as they knew that that brave American army was encamped near by. + +So Miss Tempe Wick, fearing nothing, rode far and wide, as she had been +in the habit of doing, and every day she and her good steed became +better and better acquainted with each other. + +One fine afternoon, as Tempe was slowly riding homeward, within a mile +of her house, she met half a dozen soldiers in Continental uniform, and +two of them, stepping in front of her, called upon her to stop. When she +had done so, one of them seized her bridle. She did not know the men; +but still, as they belonged to Washington's army, who were her +countrymen and friends, she saw no reason to be afraid, and asked them +what they wanted. + +At first she received no answer, for they were very busily occupied in +looking at her horse and expressing their satisfaction at the fine +points of the animal. Tempe had had her horse praised before; but these +men were looking at him, and talking about him, very much as if he were +for sale and they were thinking of buying. Presently one of the men said +to her that this was a very excellent horse that she was riding, and +they wanted it. To this Tempe exclaimed, in great amazement, that it was +her own horse, that she wanted him herself, and had no wish to dispose +of him. Some of the soldiers laughed, and one of them told her that the +troops were about to move, and that good horses were greatly needed, and +that they had orders to levy upon the surrounding country and take +horses wherever they could find them. + +Now was Tempe astonished beyond measure. If half a dozen British +soldiers had surrounded her, and had declared that they intended to rob +her of her horse, she would not have wondered at it, for they would have +taken it as the property of an enemy. But that the soldiers of her own +country, the men on whom she and all her friends and neighbors depended +for protection and safety, should turn on her and rob her, as if they +had been a set of marauding Hessians, was something she could scarcely +comprehend. + +But it did not take her long to understand, that no matter who they were +or what they were,--whether they thought they had a right to do what +they threatened, or whether they had no regard for right and +justice,--they were in earnest, and intended to take her horse. When +this conviction flashed into the mind of Tempe Wick, there also flashed +into it a determination to show these men that a Jersey girl had a will +of her own, and that if they wanted her property, they would have to do +a great deal more than simply to come to her and ask her to hand it over +to them. + +After a little parley, during which the man who held her bridle let go +of it, supposing she was about to dismount, she suddenly gave her +spirited horse a sharp cut with the whip, dashed between two of the +soldiers, and, before they could comprehend what had happened, she was +off and away. + +As fast as they could run, the soldiers followed her, one or two of them +firing their guns in the air, thinking to frighten her and make her +stop; but, as though she had been a deer and her pursuers ordinary +hunters, she swiftly sped away from them. + +But they did not give up the chase. Some of them knew where this girl +lived, and were confident that when they reached her house, they would +have the horse. If they had known it was such a fine animal, they would +have come after it before. According to their belief, good horses should +go into the army, and people who staid at home, and expected other +people to fight for them, ought to be willing to do what they could to +help in the good cause, and at least give their horses to the army. + +As Tempe sat upon her bounding steed, she knew very well that the +soldiers could never catch her; but her heart sank within her as she +thought of what would happen when they came to the farm and demanded her +horse. Running away from them was only postponing her trouble for a +little while, for there was no one about the place who could prevent +those men from going to the barn and taking away the animal. + +It would be of no use to pass her house and ride on and on. Where should +she go? She must come back some time, and all the soldiers would have to +do would be to halt at the farm, and wait until she returned. And even +if she should take her horse into the Wood and tie him to a tree, they +would know by her coming back on foot that she had left him at no great +distance, and they would be sure to follow his tracks and find him. + +As Tempe rode swiftly on, her thoughts galloped as fast as her horse, +and before she reached the house she had come to a conclusion as to the +best thing to be done. She did not ride towards the barn, but dashed +through the gateway of the large yard, and sprang from her steed. As she +turned in, she looked down the road; but the men were not in sight. What +she was going to do was something which people never did, but it was the +only thing she could think of, and she was a girl whose actions were as +quick as her ideas were original. Without stopping an instant, she took +her horse to the back door, and led him boldly into the house. + +This was not the sort of stable to which Tempe's horse or any other +American horse was accustomed; but this animal knew his mistress, and +where she led, he was willing to follow. If one of the farm hands had +attempted to take the creature into the house, there would probably have +been some rearing and plunging; but nothing of this kind happened as our +Jersey girl, with her hand on her horse's bridle, led him quickly inside +and closed the door behind him. As the story goes, she took him through +the kitchen, and then into the parlor, without the slightest regard to +the injury his shoes might do to the well-kept floor; and from the +parlor she led him into a bedroom on the lower floor, which was usually +used as a guest chamber, but which never before had such a guest as +this. + +This room had but a single window, the shutters of which were kept +closed when it was not in use, and there was no entrance to it except +through the door which opened from the parlor. The door was quickly +closed, and Tempe stood with her horse in the darkness. + +When the soldiers reached the farm, they went to the barn. They examined +the outhouses, visited the pasture fields, and made a thorough search, +high and low, near and far; but no sign of a horse could they find. Of +course, the notion that the animal was concealed in the house did not +enter their minds, and the only way in which they could account for the +total disappearance of the horse was, that Tempe had ridden off with +him--where they knew not. We do not know how long they waited for the +sight of a hungry horse coming home to his supper, but we do know that +while there was the slightest danger of her dear horse being taken away +from her, that animal remained a carefully attended guest in the spare +room of the Wick house; and the tradition is, that he staid there three +weeks. There Tempe waited on him as if he had been a visitor of high +degree; and if she was afraid to go to the barn to bring him hay and +oats, she doubtless gave him biscuit and soft bread,--dainties of which +a horse is very fond, especially when they are brought to him by such a +kind mistress as Tempe. + +When the cavalry moved away from their camp near Morristown, no one of +them rode on that fine horse on which they had seen a girl gayly +cantering, and which, when they had been about to put their hands upon +it, had flown away, like a butterfly from under the straw hat of a +schoolboy. When the troops were gone, the horse came out of the guest +chamber and went back to his stall in the stable; and that room in which +he passed so many quiet days, and the door through which the horse +timidly stepped under the shadow of that hospitable roof, are still to +be seen at the old Wick house, which stands now, as it stood then, with +its shaded yard and the great willow tree behind it, on the pleasant +country road by which we may drive from Morristown to Mendham by the way +of Washington Corner. + + + + +THE STORY OF FORT NONSENSE. + + +During three years of the Revolution the American army, under General +Washington, wintered in New Jersey. Of course, we understand, that, when +an army goes into winter quarters, it does so because the weather +prevents operations in the field; and although Washington did not in the +least object to fighting in the cold weather if a good opportunity +showed itself, as we know from the fact that he fought the battle of +Trenton on Christmas Day, still the winters in New Jersey were for the +most part periods of inactivity. + +Histories give us full accounts of the important battles and marches +which took place in New Jersey; but the life of the army in the long, +cold months in which fighting and marching were almost impossible, is +something with which we are not so well acquainted; and when we +understand what the men of our army were obliged to suffer and to +endure, and the responsibilities and anxieties which were so +conscientiously borne by Washington and his officers, we are compelled +to give as much credit to the soldiers of the Revolution for their +heroism in their winter camps as for their courage upon the +battlefield. + +This winter life in New Jersey, of men and officers from New England, +the Middle States, Virginia, and the South, appears to us now as very +interesting, and in many ways a curious life. Into a quiet country +neighborhood there came an entirely novel element,--an army which had +not come there to fight, but to live. + +Washington's first winter in New Jersey was spent in Morristown in 1777. +This place was chosen because it was a productive country, and well +situated for sudden expeditions against the enemy in that part of the +State. Although there was no fighting done in Morristown, so many small +detachments of troops went out from the place, and so many sudden +attacks were made upon the outposts of the enemy in the country round +about, that by the end of the winter the British had no hold in New +Jersey except at Perth Amboy and New Brunswick. + +But, as has been said before, it is not with the military operations +that we are concerned, but with the winter life of the army in the camp. +The first thing that has to be done when an army arrives to settle and +make itself a home in and about a country town, is to provide a good +house for the commander in chief and officers, and a suitable camping +place for the men. Washington went to Arnold's Tavern, a large house on +the corner of the Green; and the army encamped in the valley of the +Loantika, a beautiful place in summer, but not particularly attractive +in cold weather. Here they built themselves huts of logs, and here they +tried to keep themselves warm and to be satisfied with what they had; +for the government was poor, and found it hard to keep an army. There +was plenty to eat and drink in the surrounding country, but there was +very little money with which to buy it. + +It was a great thing for the Morristown people to see the tavern +surrounded night and day by a guard of twenty-six soldiers, and to have +their streets and roads made lively by soldiers on foot, clad in the +various uniforms worn by the men from different States,--some with +cocked hats, some with round hats with feathers stuck in them; some with +green coats, some with blue; some with buckskin breeches, others with +black,--while Washington, with the officers of his staff, galloped here +and there, dressed in the regular Continental uniforms of blue and buff. + +Among the most conspicuous uniforms of the American army was that of the +Jersey Blues. This was a volunteer organization formed in Essex County; +and the first uniforms of these soldiers were furnished by the patriotic +women of that region. They were not able to afford anything handsome or +costly: so each soldier was provided with a frock coat and trousers made +of tow cloth, which was dyed a bright blue by the same women who made it +into soldiers' clothes. These Jersey Blues, although they must have +presented a very peculiar appearance in the field, became famous +soldiers, and were known throughout the war, and occupied high positions +in the Continental army. The Jersey Blues were never disorganized, and +still remain prominent among the citizen soldiers of the State. + +It was Washington's habit during the war, as soon as he had settled +himself in his winter quarters, to send for Mrs. Washington to join him; +and accordingly she came to Morristown very soon after his first arrival +there. Men and officers were always delighted when the wife of the +commander in chief came down to live among them, and they welcomed the +sight of the carriage drawn by four horses, with the postilions and +grooms dressed in Washington's own livery of scarlet and white. On this +occasion, Washington went some distance to meet his wife, and waited in +a little village until she should arrive. When the lady at the house +where he was stopping saw the grand carriage drive up, she was prepared +to behold an illustrious personage alight from it, and she was somewhat +surprised when she saw a very plainly dressed, quiet lady step down from +the high coach. She thought there surely must be some mistake; but when +she saw the courteous affection with which the grand gentleman in the +fine uniform and cocked hat greeted this plainly dressed lady, she knew +that she had made no mistake. + +There was no ostentation or superciliousness about Mrs. Washington. She +was hospitable and kind, and she put on no airs because she was a great +lady from Virginia, and because she was the wife of the commander in +chief of the army. The story is told, that, soon after her arrival, some +ladies of the town went to pay their respects to her, and as they were +going to visit the first lady of the land, they thought that they should +dress themselves in their finest clothes. Arrayed in silks, satins, and +ruffles, they were shown into the presence of Mrs. Washington, and were +utterly amazed to find her wearing a striped homespun apron, and busily +engaged in knitting stockings. She received them, however, with as much +dignity and courtesy as if she had had a crown on her head and a scepter +in her hand; and in the course of conversation she said that it was the +duty of every one to try to do without the things which they were +obliged to buy from foreign countries, and to make for themselves, as +far as possible, what they needed; and that, while their husbands and +brothers were fighting in the field, she thought that they should do +what they could at home to help the great cause. + +Mrs. Washington entertained the ladies with accounts of her life at +home. She said that in her house there were always sixteen spinning +wheels at work. She showed them two morning dresses which had been made +in her house from ravelings of old satin chair covers. But Mrs. +Washington was not at all averse to cheerfulness and good company, and +in that year there were many dances and parties in Morristown, which +kept the place quite gay. + +Two years afterwards, Washington and his army wintered at Middlebrook, +in Somerset County. Here the army had a comparatively comfortable time, +for the weather was mild, without much snow or frost; and this, after +the terrible sufferings which they had had at Valley Forge the winter +before, was very well calculated to put men as well as officers in a +cheerful state of mind. It is true that the difficulties of obtaining +provisions were in some ways greater than they had been before; for the +Continental money, with which all supplies were paid for, was +depreciating so rapidly that now thirty or forty dollars of it were +barely equal to one silver dollar, and the country people very much +disliked to take it. But the army had just achieved some important +victories, and there was a feeling in many circles that it would not be +long before the war would end; and with this belief in the minds of +many, and with the general satisfaction in the mild and pleasant +weather, it is no wonder that there were some good times in the army +during that winter at Middlebrook. + +General Washington always liked to have company at dinner, for he was +very hospitable, and, besides this, he considered it his duty to become +acquainted with his officers and with the people of the neighborhood; +and sometimes as many as thirty persons sat down at the table. Even if +the various articles of food were not of the finest quality, they were +well cooked and well served. While in Middlebrook, Washington desired a +dinner service of white queen's-ware, and he wrote to Philadelphia to +obtain it. Among the articles he mentioned in his order were eight dozen +shallow plates and three dozen soup plates, which gives an idea of the +size of his dinner parties. But, although Philadelphia was searched from +one end to the other, no queen's-ware of the kind could be found, and at +last Washington was told that he could get what he wanted in New +Brunswick, and there he bought his queen's-ware. + +Among other things which he ordered at that time were "six tolerably +genteel but not expensive candle-sticks;" and he also wrote for a new +hat, stating, "I do not wish by any means to be in the extreme of +fashion, either in the size or manner of cocking it." + +At these dinners there was a good deal of state and ceremony, although +the heads of the family were very courteous and attentive to their +guests. As this was a military establishment, everything was done +promptly and according to rule. Washington never waited longer than five +minutes for any guest who was late. When such a person did arrive after +the company had seated themselves at the table, he would always try to +put him at his ease by some pleasant remark, sometimes saying that he +had a cook "who never asks whether the company has come, but whether the +hour has come." + +During this winter a great entertainment was given by General Knox and +some other officers, and it was said to be the finest thing of the kind +ever seen in that part of the State. It may be thought, and probably +there were people who thought it then, that at a time when money was so +much needed, and provisions were so hard to get, a great and expensive +festival like this was extravagant and out of place; but it is likely +that the gayety of that great day had a good and encouraging effect upon +the army as well as the people of the country. They knew why the day had +been celebrated, and because of the general rejoicings they believed +there was reason to rejoice; and when people believe that there is a +good thing coming, they are much more ready to fight for it than if they +had no such belief. + +But it is not of these two winters that our story has to deal: it is +with the second encampment at Morristown, during the cold, the snow, and +the icy frosts of 1779-80. At this time, General and Mrs. Washington +lived in the handsome house which is now known as "Washington's +Headquarters," and has been preserved in the same condition as it was in +those Revolutionary days. In this fine old mansion, General Washington +and his wife kept up their hospitable customs; and at their table were +seen such men as Alexander Hamilton, General Greene, Baron Steuben, +Kosciusko, Pulaski, "Light Horse Harry" Lee, Israel Putnam, "Mad +Anthony" Wayne, and Benedict Arnold. There also came to Morristown the +minister from France (the Chevalier de la Luzerne) and an envoy from +Spain (Don Juan de Mirailles). These two distinguished foreigners were +received with great honor. An escort was sent out to meet them; there +was a grand review of the troops, in which Washington and his generals, +together with the Frenchman and the Spaniard, appeared on the field, +splendidly mounted; while on the grand reviewing stand was the governor +of the State and a great many citizens and distinguished people. After a +salute of thirteen cannon, the parading army went through its +evolutions, and in the evening there was a grand ball. + +But one of the guests to whom these honors were given did not appear at +the ball. The Spanish envoy was taken sick, and a few days afterwards +died at the headquarters. He was buried with great pomp and ceremony. +The funeral procession was a mile long, and attended by Washington and +all his officers. Minute guns boomed as the procession passed from the +headquarters to the graveyard at the back of the First Presbyterian +Church, and people came from all parts of the surrounding country to +view the great procession. + +The funeral services were conducted by a Spanish priest with the +impressive rites of the Catholic Church; and after a military salute had +been fired over the grave, sentinels were placed to guard it, for the +Spanish nobleman was buried in full regalia. A gold watch studded with +diamonds was in his pocket; diamonds were on his fingers; and valuable +seals were attached to his watchguard. + +There was not so much fear at this time of an attack from the enemy as +there had been during the previous winter, when Washington was at +Morristown. Now, there were only four guards at the headquarters,--two +at the front of the house, and two at the back. But the most careful +preparations were made in case the enemy should show itself, and now and +then a false alarm showed the perfection of the discipline which was +maintained. + +On such occasions a shot would be heard from one of the most distant +outposts, then a sentinel near the town would fire, and so on until a +report would be heard by the sentinels at the headquarters, who would +fire their guns; then there were the guns in Morristown, and so on out +to the camp, and very soon a detachment would hurry into the town at a +quickstep. But before they reached the place, the life guard encamped +near the headquarters would rush to the house, enter the lower story, +and barricade the doors; and five men at each window, with muskets +loaded and ready to fire, would await the approach of the enemy. + +But although no British soldiers ever reached Morristown, there was good +reason for all the precautions taken. Besides the frequent attempts +which were made by large bodies of the Redcoats to penetrate to the +region occupied by Washington's army, there were small expeditions even +more dangerous. One of these consisted of a party of picked British +cavalrymen, who started from their camp near New York, by way of +Elizabethtown, for the express purpose of capturing General Washington. +They advanced in the direction of Morristown until they reached Chatham, +about six miles distant, and there--being overtaken by a terrible storm, +and finding so many difficulties ahead of them--they gave up their +project. + +Outside of Morristown, on a high hill which stretches away to the +southwest, the American army was encamped during this winter. Among +these men we can scarcely believe there were many festivities or +merrymakings. In fact, the sufferings and privations of the common +soldiers at this time were very great, and even the table of the +commander in chief was sometimes furnished with the plainest of food. +In a letter written by Washington at this time, he says,-- + + "We have had the virtue and patience of the army put to the + severest trial. Sometimes it has been five or six days together + without bread; at other times as many days without meat; and once + or twice, two or three days without either. I hardly thought it + possible, at one period, that we should be able to keep it + together, nor could it have been done, but for the exertions of the + magistrates in the several counties of this state [Jersey], on whom + I was obliged to call, expose our situation to them, and in plain + terms declare that we were reduced to the alternative of disbanding + or catering for ourselves, unless the inhabitants would afford us + their aid. I allotted to each county a certain proportion of flour + or grain, and a certain number of cattle, to be delivered on + certain days; and for the honor of the magistrates, and the good + disposition of the people, I must add that my requisitions were + punctually complied with, and in many counties exceeded. Nothing + but this great exertion could have saved the army from dissolution + or starving, as we were bereft of every hope from the commissaries. + At one time the soldiers ate every kind of horse food but hay. + Buckwheat, common wheat, rye, and Indian corn composed the meal + which made their bread. As an army, they bore it with the most + heroic patience; but sufferings like these, accompanied by the want + of clothes, blankets, etc., will produce frequent desertions in all + armies; and so it happened with us, though it did not excite a + single mutiny." + +At this time, various circulars and printed bills were sent to the +American army from the British, urging the men to fly from all their +hardships and miseries, and join the English force, where they would be +received, and furnished with every comfort. In this condition of things +it was very important to keep the American soldiers, cold, hungry, and +idle, from thinking too much of their troubles. Washington could not +give them balls, nor invite them to dine; but he wisely considered that +the best thing he could give them was occupation,--a most wonderful +medicine for discontent. He therefore determined to build a fort upon +the summit of the hill where the camp was situated. + +His engineers therefore planned a large fortification made up of +earthworks; and on this the men were put to work, as if it had been +expected that the enemy would soon arrive, and take the place. The +desire to put their camp in a condition of defense, and the animation of +steady labor, were of as much advantage to the spirits of the soldiers +as bread and meat would be to their bodies; and, from sitting in idle +groups about their camp fires and huts, they worked on the new +intrenchments, ramparts, and redoubts with cheerful energy. + +Everything was done exactly as if the new fort were soon to be called +upon to protect the town, which stretched itself beneath the hill; and +the engineers and officers were as careful in making plans and giving +directions as if they had been building a fort at the entrance of New +York Bay. + +It was never expected that the fort would be attacked, and it was never +supposed, that, if the British should come this way, the battle would be +fought in or about the town; but the building of the fort was honestly +intended for the defense and protection of the troops, not against +muskets, cannon, and bayonets, but against discontent and +despair,--enemies far more formidable to the suffering army of that day +than British troops and Hessians. + +The result was a good one: Washington's army at Morristown stood by him +as long as he staid there; and when they marched away, they left upon +the top of that hill a monument to the wisdom, the kindness, and the +knowledge of human nature, displayed by their great commander in chief +in those hazardous days. + +We do not know what this earthwork was first called; but in time it came +to be known as Fort Nonsense, simply because it appeared to the ordinary +man as a great piece of work undertaken without any good purpose. But +never was a name more inapplicable. If it had been called Fort Good +Sense, it would have been much more suitable. + +The remains of this fort are still to be seen on the hill beyond +Morristown; and a monumental stone has been set up there to mark its +site, and explain its nature and purpose. Most of its ramparts and +redoubts have been washed away by the storms of more than a century, and +we can still perceive many of its outlines; but those skilled in the art +of military fortification know that it was a good fortress, while +students of human nature and of the influence of great minds upon the +welfare of their fellow-beings, know that it acted an important part in +the defense of our liberties and the establishment of our government. + +It may be remarked that in this story we have said a good deal about +other things, and very little about Fort Nonsense. But there is very +little of Fort Nonsense, and not much to say about it; and what has been +told was the story of the camp life of Washington and his army in New +Jersey, the most permanent and suggestive point of which is the +earthwork called Fort Nonsense. + + + + +AN AMERICAN LORD. + + +Among the principal men of colonial days and of Revolutionary times, +there were many whose social positions were much the same as the station +of the ordinary European aristocrat. From their ancestors the colonists +had inherited the disposition to recognize differences in rank; and men +of wealth and high position in the colonial government were regarded to +a certain extent as members of the nobility are regarded in England. +Before the Declaration of Independence, it was not even assumed in this +country that all men are born equal. + +But, although there were native-born personages in the Colonies who +might well be termed aristocrats, their titles were political or +military; and an American lord was, as he would be now, something +entirely out of the common. + +But in those days there was an American lord; and a very good American +he was, in spite of his being a lord. This was William Alexander, known +as Lord Stirling. He was born in New York, of Scotch parents. When he +was quite a young man, he went into military life, and served in the +British colonial army in the French War. In the campaigns in which he +served, he gained the military education which was afterwards of the +greatest advantage, not only to him, but to the country. + +There was no British heir to the earldom of Stirling, a Scotch peerage; +and, as he believed that he was a direct descendant of the last Lord +Stirling, the young man went to England, and laid claim to the estate +and title. He was successful in proving his direct descent from the +earls of Stirling; but the House of Lords, who gave the final decision +in the case, would not allow his claim. Even if the law had permitted +his claim, it is not likely that the British House of Lords would have +been anxious to welcome into the peerage an American-born person. + +But although he got nothing more, he really obtained his title, and he +was known then, as he is known in history, as Lord Stirling. He was a +man of wealth, and must have had a very good time in England, for he +studied well the manners and customs of the nobility; and as his own +habits and tastes were those which he observed in the great houses of +England, he here received a social education which had a great effect +upon his future career. + +He was also the means of educating some of the inhabitants of Great +Britain, and the way in which he did it is shown by a little incident +which occurred when he was visiting Scotland. He was invited to dine at +the house of a gentleman, who informed his wife that an American was +coming to take dinner with them. It is to be presumed that this +announcement had about the same effect upon her as would now be +produced if an American gentleman should inform his family that a chief +from Madagascar was to dine with them. + +The Scotch lady, no doubt, expected to see a copper-colored brave, in +war paint and feathers, with tomahawk, and bows and arrows, and perhaps +a few scalps hanging from his belt. Probably she had busied herself +devising a dinner which would suit a savage who was a native of that +far-away land of America, and hoped she might give him something which +would compensated him for the loss of a cannibal repast; but when she +beheld the handsome young gentleman who came into the house with her +husband, she could not repress her astonishment, and exclaimed, "Bless +my soul! The animal is white." Ignorance of foreign countries was at +that time not uncommon in Great Britain. + +Although born in New York, Lord Stirling established himself in New +Jersey, and it was in connection with this State that he was afterwards +generally known. His father had owned a large tract of land at Basking +Ridge, a beautifully situated town not far from Morristown; and here +Lord Stirling built himself a stately mansion with fine gardens, and a +great park in which were herds of deer. It was built in the fashion of +the lordly country seats of England, around a courtyard paved with +flagstones, and contained grand halls and stately apartments beautifully +ornamented and furnished. The barns and outbuildings were grand, like +the mansion itself, with cupolas and gilded vanes, and altogether the +establishment was imposing and beautiful. + +This young man had brought with him from England servants, butlers, +valets, hairdressers, and a great many fine horses, and carriages with +arms emblazoned upon their panels. He lived in grand state, and his +house was generally filled with guests; for the best people of the +country were glad to visit this beautiful home, where the best of +company and the freest hospitality were always to be found. The lord of +the manor was an affable and courteous gentleman, and the writers of +those days have given glowing accounts of the gracious Lady Stirling and +her charming daughter, Lady Kitty. + +But notwithstanding the fact that he felt as a lord and lived as a lord, +this grand gentleman never forgot that he was not only a lord, but an +American; and when the Colonies began to assert their claim to +independence, Lord Stirling promptly showed his colors on the patriotic +side. He commanded the first body of troops raised in New Jersey in the +colonial days; and he very soon became one of the most prominent +officers in the Revolutionary army. + +After he was made general, he distinguished himself at the battle of +Long Island, where he performed some daring feats. The odds were greatly +against the Americans on that occasion, and, in order to secure the +retreat of the main part of his command, Lord Stirling took four hundred +men, and made a bold attack upon a house that was occupied by the +British general, Cornwallis. During the desperate fight which followed, +in which his little force was far outnumbered by the enemy, his command +made a successful retreat, but he himself was captured, and afterwards +imprisoned on a war ship. + +But he did not stay there long. Washington could not do without the +services of this man, who was not only a most earnest patriot, but an +educated and efficient soldier; and, as the Americans held several +English officers as prisoners of war, one of them was exchanged, with +the least possible delay, for Lord Stirling. + +One of the earliest and most daring exploits of this brave soldier was +the capture, by an infantry force, of an armed British ship which was on +its way to Boston with stores and supplies for the English army there. + +This vessel, which was called the "Blue Mountain Valley," had met with +rough weather, and, having been badly damaged, was lying off Sandy Hook, +waiting for assistance from two British men-of-war then in New York +Harbor. + +But Lord Stirling, who was stationed not far from the coast, and to whom +the situation of the vessel became known, determined that, if possible, +he would get to this valuable storeship before the enemy's men-of-war +could reach her. So, with a number of the regular soldiers under his +command, and some volunteers from the neighborhood, he put out to sea in +some small craft, one of them a pilot boat. The English vessel had for +her defense six guns, and was what is called an armed transport, but +Stirling's men carried only ordinary muskets. However, they boldly +attacked the vessel, and bearing down upon her as if she had been a +column of infantry, in spite of the cannon and guns of the crew, +captured her. + +As soon as this victory had been won, Lord Stirling had all sails set; +and the "Blue Mountain Valley" waited no longer for the men-of-war to +come to her assistance, but sailed away for Perth Amboy, which was in +possession of the Americans. Here she was found to be a most valuable +prize, although Lord Stirling was sorry, as he afterwards stated when he +made his report to Congress, that her cargo was not arms, instead of +coal and provisions. + +Lord Stirling fought well in the battles of New Jersey. At Monmouth he +especially distinguished himself by the way in which he managed the +artillery which was under his command; and it is said that the enemy +were amazed to find batteries so splendidly handled in the ranks of the +Americans, who were not supposed by most British officers to be +possessed of great military ability, although the erroneousness of this +supposition was gradually impressed upon their minds as the war went on. + +Our nobleman, however, had given another proof of his ability to adapt +himself to military circumstances. When Washington and his army were +wintered at Morristown, there was an evident desire among the British +commanders to attack him at that place, and there was constant danger of +an advance from the forces about New York. Lord Stirling was with the +troops under General Greene, defending the principal approaches to +Morristown on the east, and he very often had fights and skirmishes with +British detachments sent out to reconnoiter the country, or to break +into the American lines. + +At one time a very large force, led by Clinton, advanced towards +Morristown; and this was believed to be a serious and determined attempt +to attack Washington, whose army was in a pretty bad plight, and not at +all prepared to fight large bodies of well-appointed troops. Lord +Stirling, with the other officers of the regular army, aided by forces +of militiamen greatly excited by atrocities which had been committed by +the British troops in the neighborhood, made a determined stand in the +region of the "Short Hills," and a battle was fought near Springfield. +Although the American forces were not able to defeat the British, they +so harassed them, placing themselves in all the passes through which it +was necessary to advance, that at last the Redcoats gave up the attempt +to reach Morristown, and retired to Elizabeth. + +Throughout the war, this gentleman with the grand house, the park, the +deer, the splendid carriages, the butlers, and the hairdressers, fought +as earnestly and as patriotically as if he had been a sturdy farmer who +had left his cornfield for the battlefield, with an old blunderbuss over +his shoulder. Not only was he a good soldier, but he was a trustworthy +friend to the cause of the Colonies and to General Washington; and it is +said that it was through his means that the conspiracy among some of the +officers of the army against General Washington, of whom they were +jealous, was discovered and broken up. + +Officers of the army were frequently quartered at his house at Basking +Ridge, where they found most delightful company; and in every way our +American lord did what he could for the cause and the people who were +defending it. His title was generally recognized; and Washington, who +was very particular in regard to matters of rank and social propriety, +always called him "my lord." He was said to be a fine-looking man; in +fact, he and Washington were of more imposing and dignified appearance +than any other officers of the American army. + +Of course, as he was a very notable person among the Continental +officers, the British were very anxious to capture him. In 1781, when he +was in command of the Northern Department at Albany, this design of the +enemy came very near being carried out, but was frustrated by the +faithful services of one of those good women who were continually +turning up in colonial history. A servant girl in the family of a house +near Albany, where Lord Stirling was staying, had been visiting her +parents during the day, and had there heard a plot of the Tories of the +neighborhood to capture Lord Stirling. Being of a patriotic disposition, +she told her mistress of the plot as soon as she got home; and when in +the night a large body of the enemy came to the house, they were met +with a surprise. + +Lord Stirling had not gone out of town without taking with him a guard +of dragoons; and these men, instead of being quartered at a distance, as +the Tories evidently supposed they would be, had all been brought into +the house; and when the attack was made in the night, the bullets and +pistol balls which whizzed and whistled from that ordinarily peaceful +mansion astonished the Tories, who fled. + +But although Lord Stirling did so much for American independence, he did +not live to enjoy the fruits of it, for he died in Albany, while still +in command of the Northern Department. After his death, the estate at +Basking Ridge was sold, and payment for it was made in Continental +money, which afterwards became of almost no value; so that for this fine +property, it might be said, his family received nothing but a pile of +badly printed paper. The mansion and the deer park and the emblazoned +carriages are gone and forgotten; but the brave soldier, who gave up all +the pleasures of a lordly position for his country, will live in +history. + + + + +MOLLY PITCHER. + + +At the battle of Monmouth, where Lord Stirling so distinguished himself +for the management of the artillery, another person of an entirely +different station in life, of different nationality, and even different +sex, played a very notable part in the working of the American cannon on +that eventful day. + +This was a young Irishwoman, wife of an artilleryman. She was of a +different disposition from ordinary women, who are glad enough to hide +themselves in places of safety, if there is any fighting going on in +their neighborhood. Molly was born with the soul of a soldier, and, +although she did not belong to the army, she much preferred going to war +to staying at home and attending to domestic affairs. She was in the +habit of following her husband on his various marches, and on the day +of the Monmouth battle she was with him on the field. + +The day was very hot. The rays of the sun came down with such force that +many of the soldiers were taken sick and some died; and the constant +discharges of musketry and artillery did not make the air any cooler. +Molly devoted herself to keeping her husband as comfortable as possible, +and she made frequent trips to a spring not far away to bring him water; +and on this account he was one of the freshest and coolest artillerymen +on the ground. In fact, there was no man belonging to the battery who +was able to manage one of these great guns better than Pitcher. + +Returning from one of her trips to the spring, Molly had almost reached +the place where her husband was stationed, when a bullet from the enemy +struck the poor man and stretched him dead, so that Molly had no sooner +caught sight of her husband than she saw him fall. She ran to the gun, +but scarcely had reached it before she heard one of the officers order +the cannon to be wheeled back out of the way, saying that there was no +one there who could serve it as it had been served. + +Now Molly's eyes flashed fire. One might have thought that she would +have been prostrated with grief at the loss of her husband, but, as we +have said, she had within her the soul of a soldier. She had seen her +husband, who was the same to her as a comrade, fall, and she was filled +with an intense desire to avenge his death. She cried out to the officer +not to send the gun away, but to let her serve it; and, scarcely +waiting to hear what he would say, she sprang to the cannon, and began +to load it and fire it. She had so often attended her husband, and even +helped him in his work, that she knew all about this sort of thing, and +her gun was managed well and rapidly. + +It might be supposed that it would be a very strange thing to see a +woman on the battlefield firing a cannon; but even if the enemy had +watched Molly with a spyglass, they would not have noticed anything to +excite their surprise. She wore an ordinary skirt, like other women of +the time; but over this was an artilleryman's coat, and on her head was +a cocked hat with some jaunty feathers stuck in it, so that she looked +almost as much like a man as the rest of the soldiers of the battery. + +During the rest of the battle, Molly bravely served her gun; and if she +did as much execution in the ranks of the Redcoats as she wanted to do, +the loss in the regiments in front of her must have been very great. Of +course, all the men in the battery knew Molly Pitcher, and they watched +her with the greatest interest and admiration. She would not allow any +one to take her place, but kept on loading and firing until the work of +the day was done. Then the officers and men crowded about her with +congratulations and praise. + +The next day General Greene went to Molly,--whom he found in very much +the condition in which she had left the battlefield, stained with dirt +and powder, with her fine feathers gone and her cocked hat +dilapidated,--and conducted her, just as she was, to General +Washington. When the commander in chief heard what she had done, he gave +her warm words of praise. He determined to bestow upon her a substantial +reward; for any one who was brave enough and able enough to step in and +fill an important place, as Molly had filled her husband's place, +certainly deserved a reward. It was not according to the rules of war to +give a commission to a woman; but, as Molly had acted the part of a man, +Washington considered it right to pay her for her services as if she had +been a man. He therefore gave her the commission of a sergeant, and +recommended that her name be placed on the list of half-pay officers for +life. + +Every one in the army soon came to hear of the exploit of Molly Pitcher, +and it was not long before she was called Captain Molly. The officers of +the French regiment on the American side were particularly pleased with +this act of heroism in a woman, and invited Molly to review their +troops; and as she walked down the long line of soldiers, nearly every +man put a piece of money in the cocked hat which she held in her hand. + +This was the last battlefield on which Molly Pitcher appeared, but it +had not been her first. Not long before, she had been with her husband +in Fort Clinton when it was attacked by a very large force of the +British. After a vigorous defense, the Americans found that it was +impossible to defend the fort, and a retreat was ordered. As the +soldiers were rushing out of the rear of the fort, Molly's husband +turned away from his gun, threw down his match,--a piece of rope soaked +in combustible substances, and slowly burning at one end, which was used +in those days for discharging cannon,--and ran for his life. Molly +prepared to follow him; but as she saw the glowing match on the ground, +and knew that her husband's gun was loaded, she could not resist the +desire to take one more crack at the enemy. So she stopped for an +instant, picked up the match, touched off the gun, and dashed away after +her husband. The cannon which then blazed out in the face of the +advancing British was the last gun which the Americans fired in Fort +Clinton. + +Molly did not meet with the reward which was accorded so many other +Jersey women who were of benefit to their State and country. She died +not long after the close of the war; and if she had known that she was +to be famous as one of the heroes of the Revolution, there is no doubt +that she would have hoped that people would be careful to remember that +it was a man's service that she did to the country, and not a woman's. + +But Captain Molly was not the only Jersey woman who was willing to act a +man's part in the War for Independence. Among those of whom there is +historical mention was Mrs. Jinnie Waglum, who lived near Trenton. At +the time when Washington was arranging to march upon Princeton, she was +visiting her friend, whose husband was the landlord of The True American +Inn, just out of Trenton; and this tavern was Washington's headquarters +at the time. In this way Mrs. Jinnie heard of the intended advance; and +she also heard that there was no one in the American forces who knew the +country well enough to conduct the army from Trenton to Princeton by any +route except the highways, on which the advance would be observed by the +enemy. + +She therefore sent word to Washington that she would guide the army if +he wished, and that there was no one who knew the country better than +she did. Washington was a man who had sense enough to avail himself of +good service whenever it was offered; and when he had made inquiries +about Mrs. Waglum, he was perfectly willing to put his army under her +guidance, and very glad indeed that she had offered her services. + +When a woman acts the part of a man, it is not surprising that she +likes to look like a man; so Mrs. Jinnie put on a soldier's coat and a +soldier's hat, and, mounting a horse, she headed the Continental army, +commanded by Washington. This was a proud position, but she was equal to +it; and on she rode, with all the cavalry and the infantry and the +artillery and the general and staff following behind her. She took them +along by Sand Town and Quaker Bridge, by roads over which she had often +traveled; and the American army reached Princeton in good time for the +battle which took place next day. + + + + +THE MORRISTOWN GHOSTS. + + +In the early days of American history there was in New Jersey, as well +as in New England and other parts of the country, a firm belief in the +existence of witches and ghosts. Of course, there were people who knew +enough not to put faith in supernatural apparitions and magical power; +but there were so many who did believe in these things, that it was +often unsafe, or at least unpleasant, to be an ugly old woman, or a +young woman in not very good health, for it was believed that into such +bodies the evil spirits delighted to enter. + +Nearly all the older towns had their ghost stories, their witch stories, +and their traditions of hidden treasure, guarded by spirits of persons +who had been murdered, and buried with the gold in order that their +spirits might act as a charm to frighten away anybody who should presume +to dig in those spots. In Burlington were two great trees which were +regarded with admiration and fear by many of the inhabitants. One was a +large willow tree, which was called the Witches' Tree, around which +these horrible spirits were supposed to dance on many a wild night. +Another was the Pirates' Tree, a great walnut, under the roots of which +many of the inhabitants firmly believed that the famous Blackbeard and +his band had buried many pots of gold, silver, and precious stones; and +these pots would have been dug up had it not been for the fear that the +spirit of the savage pirate, who had been buried with the treasure, +would have been the first thing to meet the eyes of the sacrilegious +disturber of the pirate treasure vault. + +There are other ghost stories of other places in New Jersey; but +Morristown, some years after the close of the Revolution, took the lead +of all the other Jersey towns as a scene of ghostly performances. + +For years back many of the people had been convinced that an occasional +witch had appeared among them, getting into the churns and preventing +the butter from coming, breaking the legs of sheep in jumping over the +fence, causing their horses to become suddenly mysteriously sick, and +making themselves obnoxious in various ways. But it was not until the +year 1788 that New Jersey ghosts determined to go regularly into +business at this place. + +Supernatural occurrences of this period attracted a great deal of +attention, not only in the town itself, but in the surrounding country; +and an account of what happened in Morristown during the time that the +spirits were holding their visitations at that place is related in an +old pamphlet published in 1792, written by an anonymous person who had +no faith whatever in ghosts, but who had a firm belief in the efficacy +of long words and complicated phraseology. We will take the story from +this old pamphlet. + +For a long time there had been a tradition that a vast treasure was +buried on Schooley's Mountain, or, as it was then spelled, Schooler's +Mountain, which was at that time a wild and desolate region more than +twenty miles from Morristown. It is said that there were two gentlemen +of the place who were particularly strong in their belief in this +treasure, and they felt sure that all that was necessary in order to +obtain it was to find some man who had knowledge of the habits and +customs and requirements of the spirits in regard to treasures. Having +their minds on this subject, it was not long before they heard of such a +man. This was Mr. Ransford Rogers, a schoolmaster in Connecticut, who +knew many things, and who pretended to know many more. He really did +understand something about chemistry, was very ingenious and plausible, +and had been frequently heard to say that he was not afraid of spirits, +and was able to call them up, converse with them, and afterwards cause +them to disappear. This was exactly the man needed by the two gentlemen +of Morristown, and they went to Connecticut to see him. + +When the business of the visitors was made known to Rogers, he was +delighted, for here was an opportunity to get into a good business, +which would probably be infinitely more pleasant than teaching. So he +gave up his school and came to Morristown, being under contract to the +two gentlemen to do what he could to induce the spirits to reveal the +place of the concealed treasure in Schooley's Mountain. But as it would +not do for a stranger to come into the town and hang out a sign, +stating that he was a spirit raiser, it was necessary for Rogers to +pretend that he had come on other business, and so he took charge of a +small school outside of the town, but gave the greater part of his time +to investigating the minds of the people of Morristown, in order that he +might find out what he could do in the way of duping them; and in the +words of the old writer, he found that this would be a good place for +the "marvelous exhibitions which he was able to facilitate with the +greatest alacrity." + +Of course, he was not at all willing to begin business with the support +of only two persons, and the first thing he did was to gather together +as many men as possible who really wished to be rich, and who were +willing to be governed by him in regard to the way in which they should +go about obtaining the vast hoard buried far away in the mountain. After +a time he succeeded in getting together as many as forty men, who all +thoroughly believed in his honesty and in his ability to take them out +to Schooley's Mountain, to call up the spirits who guarded the treasure, +to induce them to turn it over to them, and then to vanish peaceably, +without offering to molest or harm any one. + +But it was a long time before Rogers was ready to lead his company on +the great quest. There were many, many things that had to be done before +they could start, and he soon found that he was not able to work out his +great scheme alone; so he went back to Connecticut and got another +schoolmaster, to whom he divulged his secret, and brought him to +Morristown, and the two together went into the spirit business with +great energy and enterprise. Night after night the company of treasure +seekers met together, sometimes in a dark room, and sometimes out in the +wild, lonely fields, close to black forests, and out of sight and +hearing of human abodes. + +Rogers was a chemist; and he frequently went out to one of these lonely +meeting places in the afternoon and prepared a mine, which he exploded +during the midnight meetings, and thus created a great wonder and terror +among his followers. When they were indoors, there would be knockings +and strange voices heard coming through the cracks; these voices +proceeding from the other schoolmaster, who covered his mouth with what +the writer of the pamphlet calls "a superficial machine," probably a bit +of tin with a hole in it, which so disguised his voice that it was not +recognized. + +When they were out of doors in the black night, they would sometimes see +a ghost flit about under the trees at the edge of the woods; and the +second schoolmaster, well wrapped up in a sheet, seems to have made as +good a ghost as could have been found anywhere. There were many +supernatural performances, and among them was a great act, in which each +one of the members of the company lay flat on his face in the field with +his eyes shut, holding in one outstretched hand a sheet of paper. This +was done in the hope that the spirits would write their instructions on +the paper. Mr. Rogers knelt down with the others and held his paper; but +it was not a blank sheet like the others. When this performance was +over, all the papers were shaken together, and then they were drawn out +one by one; and judge of the surprise and awe of all present, when one +of them would contain some writing,--generally in a beautiful hand, such +as could only be expected from a supernatural being (or a +schoolmaster),--which would be found to be instructions as to what must +be done. + +The most important of these directions ordered that before any march +could be made toward Schooley's Mountain, or any definite directions +given in regard to the whereabouts of the treasure, each member should +pay to the spirits, through Mr. Rogers, who would kindly act as agent, +the sum of twelve pounds. And, moreover, this must not be paid in the +paper money then current in New Jersey, which was called "loan money", +and which would not pass outside of the State, but in gold or silver. +When every member had paid in his twelve pounds, then the party would be +led to the place of the treasure. + +When they found out what they had to do, each man went to work to try, +if possible, to raise the twelve pounds; but Rogers soon saw that it +would be impossible for some of them to do this, as specie money was so +hard to get, and he reduced the sum, in some cases, to six or four +pounds. He was a good business manager, and would not try to get out of +a man more than that man could pay. + +Not one of the people engaged in this affair had the slightest idea that +Rogers was deceiving them. It is not likely that any of them were people +of much culture or means; and it is said that some of them went so far +as to sell their cattle, and mortgage their farms, in order to get gold +or silver to pay to the good schoolmaster who was generously acting as a +mutual friend to both parties. But what were these sacrifices compared +to the treasure they would obtain when at last they should be permitted +to dig up the buried hoard on Schooley's Mountain! + +It was now winter, and of course they could not start on the expedition +in bad weather; but meeting after meeting was held, and it was at last +definitely promised that the expedition should go forth from Morristown +early in May. On the first of that month, they all gathered at midnight +in the lonely field, and there was a terrible scene. There were more +fireworks and explosions than usual, and one of the spirits appeared at +the edge of the wood greatly excited, stamping his feet, and rushing +about under the trees; and when Rogers went to see what was the +matter,--for of course none of the others would dare to speak to a +spirit,--he found that the supernatural beings with whom they had so +long been in communication, and who were now scattered about in all +parts of the woods, were very angry and incensed because they had become +aware that some of the party were unfaithful, and had divulged the +secrets which had been made known to them. They were so thoroughly +indignant, in fact, that they refused to go on with the affair for a +time, and announced that the expedition to Schooley's Mountain would be +postponed until they were positively certain that every man who was to +go there was the sort of man who would never let anybody into the awful, +soul-dazzling secret which would be divulged. So they must all go home, +and wait until this important matter could be satisfactorily arranged. + +Strange to say, they all did go home, and waited, and not one of them +suspected Rogers. + +The schoolmaster had obtained a good deal of money, but he had not +enough. So, in less than a month, he started another company, this time +a small one, and began to go through his performances with them. But he +soon found he could not make much money out of five men, and he began to +get a little braver, and thought he would try what he could do with the +better class of people in Morristown; and, having discovered that a very +good ghost could be called up by means of a white sheet and a +"superficial machine", he dressed himself up one night, and made a +supernatural call upon a gentleman in good standing in the church. When +he had appeared at the bedside of this good man, he told him all about +the treasure of Schooley's Mountain, and, if he wanted some of it, how +he might obtain it. + +The gentleman, having never seen a ghost, supposed, of course, that this +was an authorized apparition, and became greatly interested in what was +told him. The next day, according to directions, he went around among +his friends in the church, and soon formed a considerable company, who +all believed, that, if they did what they were told to do, they could go +to Schooley's Mountain and become immensely wealthy. + +They did a great many things that they were told to do: they met in dark +rooms, as the other party had met; they went out into a lonely field at +midnight; they held out papers to be written on; and, more than that, +they conducted their meetings with prayer and other solemnities. And +they all promised to pay twelve pounds in gold as an earnest of their +good faith in the spirits, and to deliver the money to that great +miracle worker, Mr. Rogers, who would remit it to the spirits. + +The schoolmaster found it necessary to be more mystical and weird in his +dealings with this second party than with the first. He did a great many +strange things which savored of magic and alchemy. Among other things, +he got some fine bone dust, which he assured his followers was the dust +of the bodies of the spirits who were to lead them to the treasure; and +a little of this, wrapped up in a paper, he gave to each one of them, +which they were to keep secret, and preserve as a magical charm. + +One of the company, an old gentleman who was sometimes a little +absent-minded, went to bed one night and left the magical packet in one +of his pockets; and his wife, probably looking for small change, found +it. She could not imagine what it was, but she was afraid it was +something connected with witchcraft, and was greatly troubled about it. +The next day she told her husband of the discovery, and was so very +persistent that he should explain to her what it meant, that at last he +thought it wise to tell her the whole proceeding, and so prevent her +from interfering with the great and important business with which he was +concerned. He made her promise secrecy, and soon she had heard all about +Rogers, the spirits, and the buried gold. She became convinced that it +was all the work of the devil, and she went off among her friends and +began to talk about it. + +Now there was a great excitement, not only on the part of the believers, +but among the spirits themselves; and Rogers, who had enlisted two new +men in his scheme, made his ghosts work hard to keep up the delusion +among his followers. All four of them, dressed in sheets, went about +making communications whenever they had a chance, and assuring the +members of the band of treasure hunters that everything would soon be +all right, and that they must not allow their faith to be shaken by +gossipers and scandalmongers. + +Rogers himself, in his ghostly costume, went one night to the house of +a gentleman who was his follower, and made some important communications +to him; but as the schoolmaster had been encouraging himself by some +strong drink before setting out on his round of apparitions, he talked +in such a queer way to his disciple, that the latter became suspicious. +The next morning he found horse tracks from his door to Rogers's house, +and so discovered that the ghost had come from that place on horseback. +Further investigations followed, and it was not long before it became +quite plain that Rogers had been playing a well-planned trick upon the +inhabitants of Morristown, and he was arrested. + +Every one, however, had not lost faith in him, and there was an old +gentleman--whose name the ancient pamphlet very kindly conceals, calling +him by the name of "Compassion"--who went bail for him, and he was +released; whereupon he and his friends decamped. However, Rogers was +again arrested, and this time he confessed the whole of his share in +raising the ghosts of Morristown. + +But, as has been said, he was a man of ability, and able to take care of +himself, and in some way he managed to escape from custody, and was seen +no more in New Jersey. His followers, who had sent their gold and silver +to the spirits by means of his kind offices, never saw their money +again; and the vast treasures buried at Schooley's Mountain still remain +hidden from all men. + + + + +A JERSEYMAN AND HIS ROYAL CROWN. + + +We have told the story of the lord who lived at Basking Ridge; now we +will tell the story of a much more exalted personage, one who had sat +upon a throne, and worn a crown and royal robes rich with diamonds and +precious stones, and who lived on a breezy hill on the banks of the +Delaware. What he was doing in New Jersey, and how he had come to wear a +crown and royal robes, we will now proceed to tell. + +This exalted personage was not a king when he was living in New Jersey, +but he had been a king. In fact, if we may not say that he had been two +kings, we can say that he had been a king twice. He was Joseph +Bonaparte, the eldest brother of the great emperor, Napoleon, who, after +having conquered a great many nations of Europe, and having deposed +their kings, supplied them with new sovereigns out of his own family. +Joseph was sent to Italy to be King of Naples. He did not particularly +want to be king, and he knew that the people did not want him, and after +he had been in Naples some time, reigning under his brother's orders +with no great success, the emperor determined to transfer him to Spain, +whose throne had just been made vacant. Having been informed that he +was to go to Madrid, Joseph obeyed, but he did not like it. + +Moreover, the people of Spain did not like it, and after a time they +rose up in rebellion, and were assisted by the English and Portuguese, +and forced the king to fly from Spain. + +The ex-king of Naples and Spain had various adventures in France and +Switzerland; and when the power of the great Napoleon came to an end, he +was obliged to fly, or he also might have been sent to Elba or some +other place equally undesirable, so he determined to come to America. In +a little brig of two hundred tons, a very small vessel to sail on the +ocean, he crossed the Atlantic in disguise, not even the captain of the +vessel knowing who he was. He was accompanied by his secretary; and when +the two reached America and made themselves known, they were treated +with great respect and attention. In fact, America owed so much to +France, that she was very willing to show her gratitude. + +Now that he was well out of Europe, Joseph Bonaparte gave up all idea of +returning, and in deciding to settle here it was not surprising that he +chose to make his home in New Jersey. He bought a place near Bordentown, +on a high wooded hill called Point Breeze, and built a house, which was +truly splendid for those days. It had grand halls and staircases and +banquet halls, and it must have been larger and more imposing than Lord +Stirling's. His estate, which covered more than a thousand acres, was +beautifully laid out in drives and gardens and lawns, and everything on +the place was arranged in a style of beauty and grandeur. + +It was three years before this great house, with its surroundings, was +finished, and ready for the ex-king's residence; and when at last he +went there, he lived in ex-regal style. His wife was not with him, +having remained in Italy on account of ill health, and her physicians +would never allow her to come to America. But he had two daughters who +were with him during part of his residence in New Jersey, and there were +persons who asserted that he had also brought with him the crown of +Spain and the royal robes of Italy. + +It generally happens, when a sovereign is obliged to abdicate and to fly +from his kingdom, that he arranges matters so that he shall not become a +pauper when he arrives at the place of refuge. If he is not able to +carry away anything more than a valise, he is much more likely to put +his royal jewels into it than to fill it up with night clothes and +hairbrushes; so when Bonaparte came to New Jersey, he came as a very +rich man. + +When his kingly mansion was ready to be supplied with art treasures, +such as ornamented the palaces of Europe, the ex-king sent across the +ocean for costly paintings and beautiful sculpture with which to fill +his new house; and if any crowned heads had happened to visit him, he +would not have been ashamed to welcome them beneath his roof. People of +royal blood--that is, the same kind of royal blood that he had--did come +over to visit him. Louis Napoleon, afterward Emperor of France, came, +when a young man, and spent some weeks with his uncle. While there, it +is said, this young man went out shooting on the estate, and, finding +the birds near the house easier to hit than those at a distance, he +blazed away at any feathered creatures he saw in the garden, so that the +gardener made a complaint. + +But even then this young Louis Napoleon had begun to have dreams in +regard to his succession to the imperial throne of France, and he did +not like to be snubbed and scolded by an uncle who had had all the regal +honors he was ever likely to get, and who therefore had no right to put +on airs in his dealings with the prospective wearer of a crown. So there +was a quarrel between the two, and there are reports to the effect that +Louis Napoleon took revenge upon his uncle by cutting his fruit trees +with a hatchet, without, however, imitating Washington in regard to +subsequent truthfulness. + +Besides visitors from abroad, many distinguished Americans visited the +ex-king. Among these were Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John Quincy +Adams. General Lafayette, also, when he came to this country, was +received with great state by the Count de Survilliers, the title under +which Joseph Bonaparte lived at Bordentown. + +This ex-king never became an American citizen by taking out +naturalization papers; but the Legislature of New Jersey treated him +very well, and passed a resolution which enabled him to hold property in +this State, and to thus become, in fact, a Jerseyman. + +But although our ex-king was now established on the free soil of +America, he did not feel altogether safe. His family had come to grief; +and there was reason to fear, that, as a member of that family, England, +or France, or Spain, might demand him as a prisoner, to be taken across +the ocean to answer the charge of unlawful occupation of a throne. + +It is quite possible that the people of the neighborhood imagined that +the ex-king was in greater fear of molestation from his former royal +brethren than was really the case. Their reasons for supposing that he +was anxious to defend himself against surprise and capture had some +ground, for there were some strange things about that ex-royal +estate,--things that were not known in any other part of New Jersey. +There was a tall building called a belvedere, from which the country and +the river might be surveyed for a long distance in every direction; but, +stranger far than that, there were subterranean passages which led from +the house to unfrequented parts of the grounds. These passages were well +built, arched with brick, and high enough for people to walk upright in +them; and although persons of quiet and unimaginative minds thought +that they were constructed for the purpose of allowing the occupants to +go down to the lake or to the other portions of the grounds without +getting wet if it should happen to be raining, there were many people +who believed that for sudden showers a good stock of umbrellas would be +cheaper and quite as useful, and that these costly passages could be +meant for nothing else than to give opportunity for escape, in case +foreign emissaries or officers of the law should come in search of an +ex-king who was wanted on the other side of the Atlantic. + +For whatever reason these passages were built, the spectacle of an +ex-king, carrying a crown and his royal robes in a hand bag, slipping +out from among some bushes to tramp along the dusty road to Trenton or +Burlington, was never seen. Nobody ever thought it worth while to come +to New Jersey to demand him or his property. + +During his residence at Bordentown, which continued for about fourteen +years, Joseph Bonaparte was very popular with the people of the +neighborhood. They looked upon him as a friend and neighbor; but at the +same time they did not lose sight of the fact, that although he was now +a country gentleman of New Jersey, with his lawn and his flower garden +to look after, he had sat upon two thrones, and had been a sovereign of +Naples and Spain. They called him "king," and his house was known as the +"palace;" and for this reason the people of other States made some mild +fun of New Jersey, calling it a foreign country. + +But if this ex-king had been a rich country gentleman of the +neighborhood, he could not have made himself more popular. He was +hospitable, and frequently gave entertainments, and he sent flowers and +fruits from his gardens to his friends and neighbors. He made roads, and +contributed in many ways to the improvement of the country round about +his home. In winter time the boys of Bordentown came to skate upon his +ponds; and at such times he nearly always offered them refreshments, +which consisted of quantities of chestnuts, which he scattered on the +ice so that the youngsters might scramble for them. + +In many ways his kind and sociable disposition made him so much liked, +that it is very probable that if the officers of the law had come to +take him back to Europe, he would have received such timely notice of +their approach that it would not have been necessary for him to hurry +away through his underground passages. New Jersey is a reasonable and +hospitable State, and when an ex-king comes to reside within her +borders, he will be as well treated, so long as he behaves himself, as +if he were a poor immigrant from Europe, coming with his wife and family +to clear away the forest, and make himself a home. + +Just before Joseph started for America, the affairs of his family were +at their lowest ebb. His great brother, the emperor, had fallen from his +high state, and could look forward to nothing but imprisonment by the +European countries, whose thrones he had for so long been in the habit +of upsetting or threatening. In his last interview with Napoleon, when +on his way to the ship which was to take him to America, Joseph +generously offered to change places with his brother, and to let the +ex-emperor fly to America instead of the ex-king. It was very difficult +for any one of the Napoleon family to get away from France at that time; +but Joseph had made a very excellent plan by which passports were +provided for two persons coming to America on business, and his brother +could have used one of those as well as himself. + +But the great Napoleon declined to run away in this manner. He remained, +and was sent to St. Helena. What would have occurred in the neighborhood +of Bordentown, N.J., had Napoleon Bonaparte, conqueror of Europe, ruler +of nations, and disposer of crowns, the hero of Austerlitz, Marengo, +and Wagram, taken up his residence at Point Breeze, and established +himself as a citizen of the State, cannot easily be imagined. The +geniality, sociability, and hospitality of the ex-king could hardly have +been expected from the ex-emperor; and, surrounded as he would have been +in time by devoted followers who would have exiled themselves from their +country for his sake, there might have been a little empire in New +Jersey which would have been exceedingly interesting to tourists. + +Moreover, if the allied powers of Europe had sent over a fleet to bring +back their great enemy, who knows but that they might have found, when +they reached Bordentown, not a tall lookout tower and underground +passages for escape, but a fort with ramparts, redoubts, a moat, a +drawbridge, and mounted cannon ready to sweep the Delaware and the +surrounding country? However this might have been, it is certain that +Napoleon's refusal to take his brother's place must ever be a source of +satisfaction to the people of Bordentown and the rest of the country. + +As a proof that Joseph Bonaparte had had enough of royalty, and not +enough of New Jersey, it is stated that a delegation of prominent men +from Mexico, which country was then in a very disturbed condition, came +to him during his residence at Bordentown, and offered him the throne of +Mexico. In making answer to this proposition, our ex-king did not +hesitate a moment. He told the delegation, that, having already worn two +crowns, he desired never again to wear another. The old fable of the fox +which had lost its tail did not probably come into his mind; but if it +had, he might well have spoken of it to his Mexican visitors. + +After years had elapsed without any attempt on the part of European +powers to arrest him, our ex-king, Joseph, began to feel safe, and he +made a visit to England. He returned to America, but went back again, +and died in Italy in 1844, having given to New Jersey the peculiar and +unique position of being the only State in the Union which ever numbered +among her citizens the owner of a royal crown and regal robes. + +To be sure, there is nothing in this for the people of a republican +State to be proud of; but New Jersey may be allowed to say that there +never was a royal person who was of less injury to the people among whom +he dwelt than her ex-king at Bordentown, and she may add that there have +been very few of his class who have been of as much advantage to his +neighbors. + + + + +THE DEY, THE BEY, AND SOME JERSEY SAILORS. + + +New Jersey is very intimate with the ocean. For nearly the whole of her +length, from Cape May to Sandy Hook, the waves of the Atlantic roll and +roar. Wherever one may be in this State, it is not necessary to travel +very far in order to smell the fresh sea air. + +It is true that but few of the great commercial vessels leave and arrive +at the ports of New Jersey, and that the presence of naval vessels in +her waters is due to the fact that she is part owner of the Bay of New +York; but it is also true, that, although she has not sent forth ships +to fight the battles of her country upon the ocean wave, she has sent +out to command those ships some of the best-known men who have ever worn +the American naval uniform. + +One of the first occasions in which our naval vessels played a part in +foreign waters was of a rather romantic nature, though not particularly +calculated to raise our country's flag in our own estimation or that of +other nations. + +It was at the end of the eighteenth century, when we had begun to trade +in various parts of the world, that our merchant vessels sailing on the +Mediterranean were greatly molested by the pirates of what was called +the Barbary Coast. The half-civilized and warlike people of Tripoli, +Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco, had long been in the habit of sending out +their armed vessels to prey upon the ships of all civilized countries; +and when American ships entered the Mediterranean, they soon found out +the state of affairs. Several vessels were captured, and the crews were +sent on shore and imprisoned or enslaved. + +Nearly all the European maritime powers had defended their commerce +against these savage pirates, not by great guns and vessels of war, but +by humbly paying tribute. Every year these great nations sent money and +gifts to the Dey of Algiers, the Bey of Tunis, and the other rascals; +and in consideration of this tribute, their vessels were graciously +allowed to sail on the Mediterranean without molestation. + +It was not long before the government of the United States saw very +plainly that it must pay tribute, conquer the Barbary States, or +quietly submit to the capture of all American merchantmen which might +sail into the Mediterranean. The easiest thing to do was to pay the +tribute; and as the other civilized nations did this, the United States +followed their example. + +In the year 1800 a United States vessel bearing the name of "George +Washington," and commanded by William Bainbridge, a Jerseyman who had +been at sea ever since he was fourteen years old, sailed to Algiers, +carrying on board the ship which bore the name of the great man who had +made his country free and independent of the most powerful nation of the +earth, the tribute which was annually due from the United States to an +African sovereign, the Dey of Algiers. + +This commission of the United States vessel seemed more humiliating from +the fact that our country had just come out of a war with France, in +which our frigate "Constellation" had defeated and captured one of the +vessels of that great naval power. But we had agreed to pay for the +privilege of trading in the Mediterranean, and, although the countries +of the Barbary Coast had no more right in that sea than Spain, France, +or Italy, they chose to assert their right, and we had acknowledged it. + +When Bainbridge had arrived at Algiers, and had handed over the tribute +which he had brought, he supposed that his business was over, and +prepared to sail away; but the Dey, who was a potentate accustomed to +ask for what he wanted and to get it, informed the United States +commander that he wished to send him upon an errand. + +These Barbary powers were all subject to the great head of the +Mohammedan nations, the Sultan of Turkey; and the Dey desired to send an +ambassador to his imperial master, and as the "George Washington" was +about to sail, he determined to make use of her. + +When Captain Bainbridge was informed that the Dey commanded him to take +the ambassador to Constantinople, he very naturally declined, and +thereupon a great hubbub arose. The Dey informed Bainbridge, that, as +the United States paid him tribute, its people were his slaves; they +were bound, as were his other subjects, to obey his commands, and to do +what he told them without hesitation or question. If they were not his +slaves, why did they come here, meekly bearing money and other gifts to +their master? + +All this had no effect in convincing Captain Bainbridge that he was a +slave of the Dey of Algiers, and bound to go upon his errands; but there +was an American consul there, and he saw that the matter was very +serious indeed. The harbor was commanded by forts mounted with heavy +guns, and if these were brought to bear upon the "George Washington," +she would certainly be blown to pieces without much chance of defending +herself; and, moreover, such a conflict would surely bring about a war +with Algiers, and it was not at all desirable that an American officer, +bound upon friendly business, should provoke war between his country and +another. + +This reason was a very bitter dose for Captain Bainbridge; but after +consideration he found himself obliged to take it. If he refused, there +would be a United States ship the less; and he knew not how many +American ships, now sailing without fear upon the Mediterranean, might +be seized and burned, and their crews thrown into horrible slavery. He +had no right to precipitate anything of this sort, and consequently, +under protest, he agreed to take the Algerine ambassador to +Constantinople. But this was not all the high-minded Dey demanded. He +insisted that when the "George Washington" sailed out of the harbor, she +should sail, not as a United States vessel, but as a ship of Algiers, +and that she should carry on the mainmast, where generally floated the +stars and stripes, the Algerine flag, while he kindly consented that the +flag of her own country might float from the foremast. It was as +difficult to refuse this second demand as it was the first, and so the +"George Washington" went out of Algiers with the pirate's flag proudly +floating from its mainmast. + +As soon as he got out of sight of land, Bainbridge hauled down the +Algerine flag and put up his own; but this was a very small satisfaction +and not particularly honorable. + +When the "George Washington" reached Constantinople, she created a +sensation. Never before in the waters of the Golden Horn had the stars +and stripes been seen, and the people of the city could not imagine +where this strange ship came from. Some of these people had heard of +America and the United States, but they knew of it only in a vague and +misty way, very much as we understand some parts of the interior of +China. If Captain Bainbridge had told them he was from New Jersey, he +might as well have told them he came from the moon. + +But the Americans were very well received in Constantinople, and the +officers of the government were glad to welcome them and do them honor. +Captain Bainbridge and the Turkish admiral became very good friends; and +when the latter heard how the former had been treated at Algiers, he +condemned the insolent Dey, and laid the matter before the Turkish +Government. In consequence of this, Bainbridge was given a paper, signed +by the Sultan, which would protect him thereafter from any such +disrespectful treatment from any of the minor Mohammedan powers. When +Captain Bainbridge had enjoyed all the Turkish hospitality his duties +permitted him to receive, he sailed from Constantinople and again +entered the port of Algiers. The Dey was glad to see him come back, for +he had some more business for him; and our Jersey captain was soon +informed that he must sail away again on another errand for his Barbary +master. But this time the Barbary master was very much astonished, for +Bainbridge peremptorily refused to do anything of the kind. + +Now the blood of the Dey boiled hot, and he vowed that if the "George +Washington" did not immediately sail forth upon his service, he would +declare war upon this miserable little country which owned it, and he +would put the commander and crew of the ship in chains, and clap them +into dungeons. But Bainbridge did not turn pale, nor did he tremble. He +simply pulled from his pocket the paper which he had received from the +Sultan, and allowed the furious Dey to glance over it. When the raving +pirate read the words of his imperial master, all the fury and the +courage went out of him, and he became as meek and humble as if he had +been somebody come to pay a tribute to himself. He received Bainbridge +as a friend and an equal, and, from commanding and threatening him, +became so gracious, and made so many offers of service and friendship, +that Bainbridge decided to take advantage of this auspicious change of +temper. + +Not long before, the French consul at Algiers had been seized and +imprisoned, together with all the Frenchmen who were doing business in +that place; for, so long as people belonged to a country which was a +great way off, the Dey considered himself an all-powerful ruler, who +could do what he pleased with them without fear of their far-away +government. Bainbridge determined to try to do something for these poor +men; and when he again met the smiling and pleasant Dey, he urged their +release. The paper which Bainbridge received from the Sultan must have +been written in very strong terms; for, although the demand of the +American captain was a heavy one, the Dey agreed to it, and when the +"George Washington" sailed from Algiers, she carried away all the +Frenchmen who had been living there. + +Bainbridge was not at all satisfied with this Algerine business; and +when he reported the affair to the authorities at home, he requested +that he might never again be sent to carry tribute to Algiers unless he +could deliver it from the mouths of his cannon. + +The next year the Bashaw of Tripoli, who had had no tribute from the +United States, began to be very uneasy in his mind because he did not +fare so well as the other Barbary potentates, to whom money and +merchandise were delivered every year. He accordingly spoke up in +defense of his rights. It is not likely that he knew where the United +States was, what sort of a country it was, or how large or how small its +army and navy might be. He knew that the Americans were miserable, +humble people, who paid tribute to the Bey and the Dey, and he could see +no particular reason why they should not pay it to the Bashaw. +Consequently he wrote a letter to the President of the United States, in +which he expressed his views very pointedly, and informed him, that, if +proper arrangements were not made in six months, he would destroy all +the American ships on the Mediterranean, and declare war against the +United States. + +Strange to say, a thrill of terror did not run through the government of +the United States; and six months passed without any notice having been +taken of this impertinent communication. Thereupon the Bashaw cut down +the flag pole in front of the American consul's office at Tripoli, and +commenced the great work of annihilating the United States of America. +He began on the small American trading vessels which he found along the +Barbary Coast, intending probably, when his convenience would permit, to +sail out upon the Atlantic, find the United States, and help himself to +the treasures which its government had so disrespectfully declined to +hand over to him. The example of the Bashaw had a great effect upon the +Dey and the Bey and the sub-Sultan; and Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco also +informed the President of the United States that they were going to war +with him if he did not immediately promise to pay tribute more regularly +and in articles of better quality. + +But the United States was getting tired of this sort of thing, and +determined, no matter what the other civilized powers chose to do, that +no more tribute should be paid by it to these insolent pirates. +Consequently our government informed the mighty monarchs of the Barbary +Coast that it was quite ready for war, and sent four ships to the +Mediterranean, one of which, the "Essex," was commanded by Bainbridge. + +But the fleet did not do very much on this expedition, and the war with +North Africa dragged considerably. Bainbridge came back to America, and +after a time returned in command of the "Philadelphia." There was a +small squadron with him, but he sailed faster than the other vessels, +and reached the Mediterranean alone. Here he overhauled a Moorish vessel +which had captured an American brig under a commission from Morocco. +Having rescued the American vessel, the crew of which were prisoners in +the pirates' hold, the "Philadelphia" took the Moorish vessel as a prize +to Gibraltar, and then started out again to see what could be done to +humble the port of Tripoli. + +In this undertaking our Jerseyman did not meet with good fortune. In +chasing a Tripolitan vessel which was discovered near the harbor, the +"Philadelphia" ran upon a reef, and there stuck fast. Everything was +done that could be done to get her off; even the cannon were thrown +overboard to lighten her, but it was of no use. She was hard and fast; +and when the people of Tripoli found out what had happened, their +gunboats came out of the harbor, and the "Philadelphia" was captured, +and all on board, including Bainbridge, were made prisoners. They were +taken to Tripoli, and there remained in captivity nineteen months. Now +the soul of the Bey swelled high in his bosom as he smiled at this +attempt of the little country across the ocean to resist his power. + +The Tripolitans found that they had gained a great prize in the +"Philadelphia," that fine war ship, which seemed to have been left on +the reef as a present to them. After a good deal of work, they towed her +into the harbor close to the town, where they repaired her leaks, and +put her in order to use against their enemies the Americans, who did not +know how to keep a good thing when they had it. When Commodore Preble +came, six months afterwards, to blockade the port of Tripoli, he +discovered that the "Philadelphia" was nearly ready for sea; and, to +prevent the disaster of having a United States ship with United States +cannon bear down upon them, he determined to destroy the "Philadelphia," +if possible, and an excellent plan for the purpose was devised. A small +vessel called the "Intrepid," which had been captured some time +previously, was manned with a crew of over eighty men, commanded by +Lieutenant Decatur, who, years after, finished the Algerine war. + +This brave little vessel sailed into the harbor as if she had been an +ordinary merchantman, and managed to drift down close to the fine +frigate which the Tripolitans had snatched from their blundering enemy. +The crew on board the "Philadelphia" did not suspect the character of +the little vessel which came so close to them, until she was made fast, +and more than eighty men sprang up from the places where they had been +lying concealed on deck, and swarmed over the side of the frigate. + +Among these was a young sailor, Lawrence, from Burlington, N.J., who had +begun life early, having been a midshipman when he was only sixteen +years old. When Commodore Preble asked for volunteers to go on this +expedition to snatch from the hands of the pirates the prize which they +thought they had won, Lawrence was one of the first volunteers, and +acted as second in command of this expedition. + +The fight was not long. Many of the turbaned crew jumped overboard, and +the others were quickly subdued. It would have been a grand thing if +Decatur and his gallant sailors could have carried off the +"Philadelphia," and have taken her out to the squadron. But this was +absolutely impossible. Her foremast had been cut down in order to +lighten her so that she could be floated off the reef, and many of her +sails were wanting. Knowing that the vessel would not be found in +sailing trim, Preble had issued positive orders that no attempt should +be made to capture her, but that she should be burned. + +The cannon from the town and from the war vessels in the port now began +to fire; but the men with Decatur and Lawrence knew exactly what they +had to do, everything having been carefully arranged beforehand. They +went to work without losing a minute, and set fire to the frigate in +many places. The flames and the smoke spread so rapidly that some of +them had hardly time to get out of the hold. Lieutenant Lawrence found +he could not get on deck the way he came down, and was obliged to run +along the hold and climb up forward. As quickly as possible every one +jumped on board the "Intrepid," and, without relying entirely on their +sails to enable them to get away, they put out sixteen great oars, which +were pulled with a will by three or four men to each oar. + +Now the whole harbor of Tripoli was in wild commotion. The Americans +stopped rowing for a moment to give three great cheers, and soon cannon +shot were flying fast and furious after the retreating little vessel. +But only one of them touched her, and that passed through a sail without +doing much damage; and she rowed until her sails caught the wind, and +then went out of the harbor, and returned in triumph to the squadron. + +Soon after they had left the "Philadelphia," that great vessel, with her +hull blazing and the flames crackling and climbing up her masts, took it +upon herself, in these last minutes of her existence, to strike a blow +for the flag of her country. Possibly suspecting that some attempt might +be made to rescue the ship they had captured, the Tripolitans had loaded +all her cannon so as to be ready to fire upon any vessel that might +approach her. As the fire spread over her hull, the time came when the +"Philadelphia" could do something for herself; and when the guns were +hot enough, she let fly a broadside into the town, and then another one +among the shipping. How much damage she did, we do not know; but the +soul of the Bashaw ceased to swell as he heard the roar of her last +broadsides, and beheld her burning fragments scattered over the waters +of the harbor. + +But when the Bashaw of Tripoli imprisoned Bainbridge, and even after he +had seen the frigate he had captured disappear in flames and smoke, he +found he was not yet rid of Jersey sailors. Some months afterwards, when +Commodore Preble was still off the Barbary Coast, there was a vessel in +the squadron called the "Nautilus," which was commanded by a young +Jerseyman named Somers. He was a brave sailor, and had already +distinguished himself on several occasions. + +Fighting the Bey was a good deal like trying to get at a rat in a hole, +and, although there were some good fights in the Tripolitan waters, the +fleet did not meet with much success at first. But the Americans were +very anxious to do something effective, for at that time Bainbridge and +his crew were imprisoned in the town, and no one knew what hardships and +cruelties they might be enduring. + +After much consideration it was thought that a good way to strike a +decisive blow would be to send a vessel loaded with shells and gunpowder +into the harbor of Tripoli by night, and explode her there. This might +result, it was thought, in the destruction of the forts and ships, and +possibly part of the town, and so terrify the Bey that he would come to +terms. Lieutenant Somers, who had been foremost in contriving this +project, volunteered to command the expedition. The whole affair was so +extremely dangerous that no one was ordered to take part in it, and all +those who wished to go went of their own free will. + +The "Intrepid," the small vessel on which Decatur and Lawrence had +sailed to burn the "Philadelphia," was still with the fleet, and this +was heavily loaded with explosives of all kinds. The plan was, that +after nightfall the "Intrepid" should be sailed as near as possible to +the town, and that, after lighting the slow match which communicated +with the terrible cargo, those on board should take to two small boats +which they had in tow, and row out of the harbor as fast as possible, +leaving there the "Intrepid" to hurl fire and destruction into the +enemy's strongholds. + +Before Somers started out on this perilous voyage, he addressed the few +men who were to accompany him, and told them that he wanted no one to go +who would not be willing to blow himself up rather than be captured. It +was well known that the Tripolitans were short of ammunition, and if +they suspected what sort of a vessel it was which floated by night into +the harbor, they would board her and capture her, if it should be +possible, and thus gain possession of a great quantity of powder and +shell. Rather than that this should happen, Somers told his men that he +would blow up the little vessel with all on board, if the enemy should +take it. But no man flinched; and after they had all taken leave of +their friends on the fleet, as if they had been going to execution, the +"Intrepid" slowly sailed away into the harbor, and it was not long +before she was lost to view in the mists of the night. + +But after a time it became apparent to those on the American fleet that +she was not lost to view to those in the harbor, for the guns of the +fort began to fire on her. Everybody who had a glass kept it fixed on +that part of the harbor where it was supposed Somers and his little +vessel must be, and in course of time they saw a light rapidly moving +as if some one were carrying a lantern from one end of the vessel to the +other. Then in less than a minute there was a blaze and a roar, and the +whole harbor of Tripoli was lighted up as if there had been an explosion +of fireworks. Sparks and fiery fragments flew into the air, and the +waters seemed to be shaken as if by an earthquake. Then all was silent +and dark. + +Of course, the "Intrepid" had blown up, but how or why nobody on the +fleet could know; nor did Somers and his brave crew ever come back to +tell them. Some people thought, and still think, that the "Intrepid" was +about to be captured, and that Somers carried out his resolution to blow +up the vessel under him rather than allow it to be taken. Others suppose +that a red-hot cannon ball from one of the forts may have set the vessel +on fire; but the truth no one knows. We only know that this brave young +Jerseyman went out to his fate determined to do his duty, no matter what +happened, and that he died in doing it. + + + + +SEA FIGHTS WITH A NOBLER FOE. + + +The war with the Barbary pirates was all sorts of a war. Sometimes there +was fighting, and sometimes there was none; and after Bainbridge was +released, he was engaged part of the time in the mercantile service +until the war with Great Britain broke out in 1812. Early in this war, +Bainbridge took command of the "Constitution," the same vessel which, a +few months before, had had a fight with the "Guerriere," in which the +latter was captured. It is a good deal better, sometimes, to fight with +a strong enemy who will stand up bravely in front of you, and let you +see what he is, than to contend with a mean little one who is +continually getting out of the way and bobbing up at unexpected places, +and making it very difficult either to get at him or to know when he is +going to get at you. Consequently there is no doubt that Bainbridge much +preferred to do battle with the naval power of Great Britain rather than +with the pirates of Barbary. + +He sailed down the coast of South America, and there he met the "Java," +a British frigate. He had a hard fight and a long fight, and the end of +it was that the "Java" hauled down her flag after having a great +portion of her crew killed and wounded; and, as she was so thoroughly +shattered and broken up by the guns of the "Constitution," the victors +could not take her home as a prize, but were obliged to burn her. + +If any one had been inclined to deride the Jerseyman at sea, after what +had happened to Bainbridge in the Mediterranean, he changed his opinion +after the affair with the "Java." In fact, a gold medal was voted to the +gallant captain by Congress. When the war with Great Britain was over, +Bainbridge took a squadron to the Mediterranean to try his hand again at +protecting American commerce, and humbling the pirates; but fortune did +not favor him this time, for Decatur had already settled the matter with +the Dey, the Bey, and the rest of them, and peace was declared before +Bainbridge arrived on the scene. Our Jersey sailor did not do any more +fighting, but he held high positions in our navy, and died an honored +commodore. + +Years after the affair with the "Philadelphia," when war had begun +between the United States and Great Britain, there was a great chance +for America to show what she could do on the sea. Then the fighting men +in ships were more important to the country than the fighting men on +shore; and Captain Lawrence, our fighting sailor from Burlington, showed +himself among the foremost of our naval heroes. + +Very early in the war he was in command of the "Hornet," a snappish +vessel with more stings than one, and while cruising in South American +waters he met the British man-of-war "Peacock." Now, when a hornet and +a peacock quarrel, lively times are likely to ensue, and so it happened +in this case. + +The two vessels began by endeavoring to get into favorable positions, +each anxious to rake the deck of the other. The "Peacock" did not spread +her tail, but she spread her sail, and the "Hornet" buzzed this way and +that, with her stings ready for action as soon as the proper moment +should arrive. When at last they actually began to fight, the battle was +a terrible one, such as was possible only in those days of wooden ships. +But a short distance apart, they poured into each other heavy shot and +small shot; musketry and cannon cracked and roared, while the clouds of +smoke nearly hid the vessels from each other. This tremendous +bombardment lasted about a quarter of an hour, and at the end of that +time the "Peacock" struck her colors and surrendered. The captain and a +good many of the crew had been killed, and the vessel was in such a +demolished condition that there was not time to get all the prisoners +and the wounded on board the "Hornet." The officers and men of the +American vessel labored hard to save those on board their unfortunate +enemy; but the "Peacock" sank before this could be entirely +accomplished, and several of the British sailors, with three of those +from the "Hornet," sank with her. + +Captain Lawrence was not only a brave man, but he was a very kind one. +He treated the officers and crew of the "Peacock" so well, even +providing them with clothes (for they had no time to bring anything from +their own vessel), that when the prisoners reached New York, the +officers publicly thanked him in a paper which they drew up and signed. +This victory, following our other brilliant exploits at sea, gave +Lawrence great fame both here and abroad. + +A few months after the battle between the "Hornet" and the "Peacock," +Lawrence was again the hero of a great sea fight. The coast of New +England was blockaded by a British fleet, and in the harbor of Boston +lay the frigate "Chesapeake," commanded by Captain Lawrence. He had been +recently appointed to this vessel, and in fact had been in command only +ten days when he received a challenge to fight a naval duel. + +This proposition came from the captain of the British frigate "Shannon," +one of the blockading fleet, about the same size and strength as the +"Chesapeake." The British captain sent a very polite letter to Captain +Lawrence; for when people propose to fight duels, whether on land or +sea, they are always extremely courteous before they begin to try to +kill each other. The British captain said, that, as he understood the +"Chesapeake" was now ready to go to sea, he would like her to come out +and fight the "Shannon" for the honor of their respective flags. He +offered the American captain choice of fighting ground inside of certain +limits, and promised that the rest of the British fleet should keep far +away, so that Captain Lawrence need have no fear of being troubled by +any vessel except the "Shannon." + +When Captain Lawrence read this challenge, he was as willing to go out +and fight the duel as the British captain was anxious to have him do +so; but he knew that his vessel was not nearly so well prepared as was +the "Shannon." The British ship had been at sea for a long time, she was +manned by a crew of brave sailors, and her captain was well acquainted +with his ship and his men. + +The case was very different with the "Chesapeake." Lawrence had been on +board scarcely long enough to find out what sort of a ship she was, but +he had been on board long enough to discover that her crew was a very +poor one. Many of them were Portuguese, they had not been well drilled, +and, worse than that, they did not want to fight. Few of them had been +in the service long enough to have a taste for naval warfare; and if +they had had their way, they would have let the "Shannon" lie outside +until her captain grew gray, before they would go out and accept his +challenge. The harbor was much more to their mind. + +But Captain Lawrence had no such idea. He accepted the challenge without +hesitation, and prepared to go out and fight the duel. He would have +been glad enough if he had had a good crew, but he would do his best +with the crew he had. He put his ship in fighting trim, and his men in +the best order possible, and early on a summer afternoon the +"Chesapeake" went out to meet the "Shannon," which was boldly flying the +flag of St. George. + +In those days, when men-of-war, as well as all other ships, were sailing +vessels, the tactics of naval combats were very different from what they +are now. Each of the commanders of vessels was obliged to think, not +only of what his enemy was about, but what the wind was about. A steamer +can take what position she pleases; she can steam far away from her +enemy, or she can use her long-range guns, or dash down upon her to +break in her sides with her ram. But in the old sailing times, maneuvers +were very much more difficult, and if the winds ever desired to stop a +sea fight, it often happened that they could do it simply by dying away +themselves. + +The two ships sailed this way and that, each trying to get a position +which would be good for herself and bad for the other; and at last, when +they were very close, so near that their captains might have talked with +each other, their cannon began to speak. From their mouths came rolling +of thunder. From each ship, volleys of great shot swept the decks of the +other, while the rattle of musketry became incessant. This tremendous +fire was kept up for nearly ten minutes, and in this short time the +"Chesapeake" lost nearly one hundred men, killed and wounded, on her +upper deck. + +Still she had the best of the fight, for in a few minutes she would have +taken a position in which she could have raked the decks of the enemy. +But unfortunately some of her rigging was shot away, and she could not +take advantage of the wind, and did not obey her helm. Nothing could be +worse than this; for, with sails flapping wildly in the wind, precision +of sailing, so necessary in a sea fight, was absolutely impossible. + +But not only was the "Chesapeake" unable to take the position she +wanted, but she could not get out of the way, and she drifted against +the "Shannon;" and the rigging of the two vessels became entangled, with +the "Chesapeake" exposed to the full fire of the guns of the other ship. +In this case there was only one thing to be done, and Captain Lawrence +was the brave man to do it. He must board the "Shannon," and he and his +men must fight her captain and his men hand to hand. There was no use +trying to fight any longer with the "Chesapeake's" cannon. + +Instantly Lawrence ordered the boarders to be called on deck, and he was +ready to put himself at their head and dash on board the "Shannon." He +was slightly wounded, but he did not care for that. But now came another +misfortune. The man who should have called the boarders to action by the +roll of the drum was not on duty, and the bugler was ordered to sound +the call. He was so frightened by this awful fight that he ran and hid +himself, and when he was pulled out from his retreat, he had not breath +enough to blow his bugle. Some of the men were sent below to shout for +the boarders and call them on deck,--a very slow procedure at such a +time; but before any of them arrived, the brave Lawrence was stretched +upon the deck by a musket ball. + +The captain of the "Chesapeake" was not immediately killed, but he was +mortally wounded; and when he was carried below, he showed that, near +death as he was, he was still the bravest man on board. He thought +nothing of himself, he thought only of his country and his ship; and his +last orders were, "Don't give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks." + +But it was not much use trying to fight the "Shannon" any longer; there +were no officers on the deck of the "Chesapeake," except two midshipmen, +and the British captain saw that he had a good chance to board his +enemy. So his crew were soon clambering over the sides of the American +vessel. Some wounded officers rushed up from below to help repel this +attack. Many of the American sailors fought bravely even at these great +odds; but some of the crew, especially the Portuguese, basely deserted +their comrades and hurried below. The fight on the deck of the +"Chesapeake" was not a long one; and very soon the stars and stripes +were hauled down from her masthead, and the British colors hoisted in +their place. + +So ended the great duel between the "Chesapeake" and the "Shannon," and +the last words of the brave Lawrence were never forgotten. "Don't give +up the ship" became the watchword of the navy. + +After this bloody sea fight, which lasted only fifteen minutes, but in +which nearly two hundred and fifty men were killed and wounded, the +"Shannon" sailed away for Halifax, taking with her the "Chesapeake," +with the dead body of its brave commander on board. When the two vessels +entered the harbor, Lawrence lay upon the quarter-deck, wrapped in the +great flag of the "Chesapeake," while all the men on the British vessels +in the harbor manned their yards, and shouted a wild welcome to the +victorious "Shannon." But the flag which floated from the masthead of +the British frigate held no more honorable position than that which +covered the dead body of the American hero. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE TELEGRAPH AND THE STEAMBOAT. + + +It will always be a source of commendable pride to the people of New +Jersey, that their State was never backward in the political, social, or +mechanical progress of this country. In fact, several of the most +important steps in great movements for popular good have been made upon +the soil of the State. + +Among the claims to preeminence which New Jersey can make in this +respect is the claim that the first telegraphic message that was ever +transmitted through a wire was sent at the Iron Works at Speedwell, near +Morristown, at which place Professor Morse and Mr. Vail, son of the +proprietor of the works, were making experiments with the telegraph. The +first public message was sent more than six years later from Washington +to Baltimore; but the message at Speedwell stands first, in the point of +priority, of all the dispatches by magnetic telegraph which the world +has known. + +When Professor Morse conceived the idea of communicating between distant +points by means of electricity, he was not able to carry out experiments +for himself, and having made the acquaintance of Alfred Vail, son of the +proprietor of the Iron Works at Speedwell, he gave up his business as a +portrait painter and went to Speedwell, where he and Mr. Vail worked +hard in experimenting with the new invention. At last, when they thought +they had brought it to such a point that they could make practical use +of it, they determined to try to send a message through three miles of +wire. If that could be done, they believed they could send one to any +distance desirable. + +Currents of electricity had been sent through long lengths of wire by +Mr. Morse in previous experiments, but in these cases nothing more was +attempted than signals; no words or message had been sent, and the +proposed experiment, therefore, was of great importance. Its success or +failure meant success or failure to the magnetic telegraph. + +The upper story of a house on the grounds of the Iron Works was one very +large room, and round the walls of this they stretched their three miles +of wire, until the room was encircled by lines of wire, one above +another, but nowhere touching. At one end of this wire was placed a +telegraphic instrument, and at the other, another; and with great +anxiety, although with strong faith in the success of their work, Mr. +Vail sent to Mr. Morse the first real telegraphic message, which ran +thus: "A patient waiter is no loser." + +The house in which this first message was sent is still standing, near +the Whippany River, not far out of Morristown. Alfred Vail and Mr. +Morse, assisted by the advice of Professor Joseph Henry, superintendent +of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, continued to work upon the +telegraph at Speedwell; and as Mr. Vail furnished the capital, and did +a great deal of the most important mechanical work, a large portion of +the credit for this wonderful invention is due to him; and the whole +system of telegraphy which now encircles and animates the world may be +said to have sprung from the Iron Works near Morristown. + +Another great invention, as important as the telegraph, made its first +appearance before the world in New Jersey. In the frozen waters about +the North Pole, on the rivers of Africa, in the seas of China and Japan, +on the stormy ocean about Cape Horn, and in almost all navigable waters +of the world, are steamboats and steamships,--floating palaces on rivers +and lakes, steam yachts and great Atlantic liners, swift war cruisers +and line-of-battle ships like floating forts of iron and steel; but the +first vessel which was ever propelled by steam paddled its way along the +Delaware River, and was made in New Jersey. + +In 1787 John Fitch, who was a native of Connecticut, but who lived at +that time in Trenton, N.J., where he had been a clock maker and +manufacturer of arms, constructed a boat which was moved through the +water by means of a steam engine on board. He had long been working on +this invention, making experiments, and endeavoring to obtain assistance +from people with money. He had applied to Congress to give him the +exclusive right to the great results of his work if he should be +successful; but this aid was refused. + +New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, however, gave him the right for +fourteen years to propel vessels upon the waters of those States; and +thus encouraged he built the first steamboat. This little vessel was +imperfect in many ways, and its highest speed was four miles an hour; +but still it was a steamboat, and it was the first that man had ever +seen. Of course, it attracted a good deal of attention; and after it had +been proved that it could move without sails or oars, and that it was +not dangerous, people began to believe in it, and a steamboat company +was organized by Fitch. Another boat was built, which carried passengers +who paid their fare, and afterwards a larger boat was constructed, in +the hope that a good passenger traffic might be established. + +We cannot wonder that there should have been a desire among enterprising +people to establish some better method of transportation in travel than +existed in the early days of New Jersey. At first the only roads in the +State were narrow paths, sometimes more than fifty miles long, but only +wide enough for the easy passage of a man on horseback. After that, +better roads gradually came into use; and in the beginning of the +eighteenth century there was a "stage wagon," intended for the carriage +of merchandise, not passengers, which made a trip every two weeks from +Perth Amboy to Philadelphia. This was considered as a great public +convenience; because, before that, there was no regular method of +shipping merchandise from New York to Philadelphia, except by sea. + +After a time, stage wagons, which carried passengers, began to run in +some parts of New Jersey; and in 1750 a grand stage line was +established, intended especially for the transportation of travelers. In +an advertisement the proprietor of this line announced to all persons +"who have occasion to transport themselves, goods, stores, or +merchandise from New York to Philadelphia," that he would take them in +"forty-eight hours less than by any other line," and he promised to "use +the people in the best manner." It is stated that this trip by land and +water between New York and Philadelphia lasted seven or eight days, +although it now seems almost impossible to travel so slowly. + +Sixteen years afterward, a new and improved line of stage wagons was +established, which were faster and very much more comfortable than any +which had yet been known. They were actually mounted on springs, and it +was promised that the trip would be made in two days in summer, and +three days in winter. These stagecoaches were so much swifter than +anything else of the kind ever known in the State, that they were called +"flying machines." + +Fifteen years afterward, the price of conveyance between New York and +Philadelphia on one of these "flying machines" was forty shillings in +gold or silver for each passenger, and as much for each hundred and +fifty pounds of baggage. + +The mail facilities in those days were as poor as the methods for +transportation; and we can get an idea of the postal arrangements from +an extract from a New York paper published in 1704, which states, "In +the pleasant month of May, the last storm put our Pennsylvania post a +week behind, and has not yet com'd in." But although this was rather +slow communication, New Jersey was better off than many of the civilized +communities of the day; for she had a regular postal system, which had +been invented by Colonel John Hamilton. + +Colonel Hamilton's system was considered so good, that the British +Government gave him a patent for it, and adopted it for the mother +country, it being considered much better than the system then in use. +The mails were generally carried in canvas bags by men on horseback; and +this method of transportation was known as the "express" as a horse and +his rider could go much more rapidly than even the best "flying +machines." Mail service in New Jersey greatly improved before the end of +the century. + +But it was very hard to persuade the public to encourage Fitch's new +enterprise, even although it promised cheaper and more rapid +transportation than any methods in use; and of course it was still +harder, from the fact that the new steamboats had not yet gone faster +than a sailing vessel with a good breeze. And so, notwithstanding the +value of a system of navigation by which vessels could be made to move +whether there was a breeze or not, and in any direction no matter how +the wind was blowing, there was very little support to the new +steamboat, and the enterprise was so unprofitable that it was given up. + +Nearly ten years after Fitch's largest steamboat had been sold as a +piece of useless property, Robert Fulton made a steamboat which ran on +the Hudson River at the rate of five miles an hour; and after this the +practicability of steam navigation began to be slowly acknowledged. But +the waters of New Jersey were the first which were ever ruffled by the +paddles of a steamboat. + +New Jersey has another claim to distinction in connection with steam +navigation, for at the Speedwell Iron Works were manufactured some of +the larger portions of the machinery of the "Savannah," the first +steamship which ever crossed the ocean. + + + + +NEW JERSEY AND THE LAND OF GOLD. + + +There was another famous American sailor who came out of New Jersey, who +was perhaps of as much value to his country as any other naval +commander, although he was not the hero of any great sea fights. + +This was Robert F. Stockton, who was born in Princeton, and who entered +the navy early in life. He became an excellent officer and a great +fighter. His disposition to do battle showed itself not only in leading +men into action, but in doing a great deal of fighting himself. He +distinguished himself in several naval combats during the war with +Algiers. He commanded the "Spitfire" during this war, and, besides +taking one of the enemy's vessels in an ordinary naval combat, he +captured an Algerine brig, one might almost say, with his own hands. +With as many men as a small boat could carry, he left his vessel, rowed +to this brig, and at the head of his bold sailors boarded her, +vanquished the crew, and carried her off as a prize. + +He was afterwards transferred to a larger vessel, and was stationed for +a time at Gibraltar. There was a very bad feeling at that time between +the American naval officers and those of Great Britain. The War of 1812 +was over; but the British were not inclined to treat the officers of the +United States Navy with the respect which the latter thought was due to +them. Stockton was not a man to stand still and allow himself to be +treated disrespectfully; and whenever he received anything that seemed +like an insult from a British officer, he was ready to fight that +officer, whoever he might be. It is said that at one time he challenged +all the officers in Gibraltar to meet him in single combat, one after +another, and he actually did engage in duels with several of them. + +During the British war and the Algerine war, Stockton distinguished +himself in various ways, both on land and sea. But in 1821 he undertook +a very important enterprise in Africa. Many naval vessels had gone from +the United States to Africa, but none of them on an errand such as this. +Our gallant Jersey captain did not sail to pay tribute, bombard cities, +sink vessels, humble African potentates, or to shed African blood; he +went on an errand of charity and humanity. + +He sailed from America in the interests of the Colonization Society, and +his object was to make arrangements on the west coast of Africa for the +establishment of a colony, to be composed of negroes who had been slaves +in the United States, but who had obtained their freedom. There were +many humane people in the United States who believed that the negroes +who had been set free from slavery would be much happier and more likely +to prosper in their native land, or in the land of their ancestors, than +in the United States. + +In company with an agent of this society, Stockton sailed for the west +coast of Africa in command of an armed schooner called the "Alligator;" +and when he arrived at his destination, he took upon himself nearly all +the difficult work of selecting territory suitable for the purposes +desired, of buying land from the savage natives, of making them +understand the character of the settlers who were coming to Africa and +of the powerful nation who intended to protect them. He made treaties of +commerce and friendship with the ignorant Africans, who, until he came, +scarcely knew what was meant by a treaty. + +The performance of these complicated and difficult duties required a man +of courage and diplomatic ability, who could take things as they came, +and who was always ready to act promptly in sudden emergencies. Stockton +proved himself to be that man, and he established in the native land of +the negro a country to which the Africans who had once been slaves in +the United States might freely go, carrying with them all that they had +learned of civilization in this country, and where they might live +without fear of reenslavement by the warlike tribes, whose principal +business in life then was to capture their fellow-countrymen, and sell +them into slavery. + +This new country, which was called Liberia, was at first a colony of the +United States. It grew and prospered, and in 1847 it became an +independent nation, and soon after was recognized as such by Great +Britain and the United States; and since then it has made treaties with +most of the European countries. + +Thus was established the new nation of Liberia, and it is not likely +that there was a man in the United States who could have accomplished +this great work better than the fighting sailor from Princeton. + +After having finished the Liberian business on land, Stockton did some +work at sea more in the line of a naval commander. While sailing along +the coast, the "Alligator" was sighted by a Portuguese war vessel, the +"Marianna Flora," who mistook her for a pirate, and determined to +capture her. But when the "Marianna" got near enough, and opened fire on +the supposed pirate, she found that the work she had undertaken was very +different from what she had expected. To speak figuratively, the +"Alligator" lashed her tail, opened her jaws, and began to fight with +such fury, that in twenty minutes the "Marianna" was beaten and +captured. Stockton put her under the command of one of his own officers +with an American crew, and sent her away as a prize to America. + +The government of Portugal, when it heard what had happened, declared, +that, as their country and the United States were not at war, our Jersey +sailor had no right to take one of their vessels; but, as it was +asserted on the other side that one of their vessels had first tried to +take his, there seemed to be a good deal of justice in what had been +done. However, the matter was settled by his exoneration from all blame +in the matter, and the return of the "Marianna" to Portugal. + +Some time later, the "Alligator" fell in with a French slave ship and +captured her; and it is stated that the legal proceedings which +followed this capture established the point of international law, that +war vessels of all nations have a perfect right to capture a slave ship, +wherever it may be found. This was the first step in the work of +breaking up the slave trade, which was then carried on by many of the +civilized nations of the world. + +In later cruises, Stockton sailed about in the West Indies, capturing +several slavers, and also making a vigorous war on pirates and +freebooters, who at that time made the vicinity of these islands very +dangerous for peaceable vessels. + +In 1838 our commander was made a captain. There was no war now in which +he might engage, but his mind was very busily occupied in regard to the +proper construction of war vessels. In 1841 the United States Navy did +not possess a single steamship. They were all old-style sailing vessels. +Several steamers had been planned: one had blown up, and two others were +still on the stocks. But Captain Stockton did not believe that if these +were finished they would be effective as vessels of war. One great +reason for this was the fact that their engines were situated so near +the upper deck, that a shot from an enemy might easily destroy them, and +so render the vessel worthless. Another objection was that they were +side-wheelers, and it would be a very easy thing for a cannon ball to +knock an exposed side-wheel into a worthless condition. + +Stockton's idea was to put the engines and machinery deep down in the +vessel, below the water line, where it would be almost impossible to +injure them, and to have the ship moved by means of a submerged screw +in the stern, instead of by paddle wheels. The naval constructors and +authorities opposed this new-fangled scheme; but our New Jersey sailor +was an energetic man in whatever he had to do, and he fought the naval +constructors as vigorously as he ever fought a pirate. Consequently he +got authority from Congress to build a war ship after his own plan, and +arm it with cannon, which he thought would be much better than the guns +then in use in the navy. + +Under Stockton's directions, there was built at Philadelphia a vessel of +war, which he named the "Princeton," and which was constructed according +to his plans. On her deck were two great guns of wrought iron, which +were also devised by him; and each of these carried a two hundred and +twenty-five pound shot,--much heavier than those then used in naval +warfare. + +Great public interest was excited in the "Princeton," the first +steamship of our navy, and on her trial trip she was found to be an +excellent seagoing vessel. She went to Washington, and there started out +on an excursion, during which her great guns were to be tried. There was +a very distinguished company on board,--officers of the army and navy, +and several members of the Cabinet, and other guests. + +It was found, however, that the ship was much superior to her great +guns; for when one of them, named the "Peacemaker," was fired, it +exploded, killing several people, among whom were the secretary of war, +the secretary of the navy, and the father-in-law of the President; +while others, including Captain Stockton, were wounded. + +This terrible event shocked the whole nation; but although there were no +more wrought-iron cannon made, the building of naval steamships, which +began with Stockton's "Princeton," went steadily on, growing and +improving, until it reached the high point shown by the swift and +powerful ironclad men-of-war which now fly the stars and stripes. + +In 1846 Stockton found himself on the coast of California, with the rank +of commodore, and in command of a squadron. Since he had started from +the United States, war had been declared with Mexico; and when he +arrived, the towns of Monterey and San Francisco had been taken by +Commodore Sloat, who had preceded him. A state of war exactly suited +Stockton's disposition; and as there was no more immediate need of +fighting on the seacoast, he organized a little army of marines and +sailors from his ships, which was afterwards joined by a body of +adventurers and hunters of the United States, and also by +Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, an officer of the United States Army, who +had been sent into that region to explore the country, and who had +already done some fighting with the little band under his command. + +Los Angeles, the Mexican capital of California, was attacked and taken. +Commodore Stockton now declared himself the conqueror of California, and +organized a provisional government for the captured territory, +appointing John C. Fremont as governor. + +At the same time, however, there was another Jerseyman in the field +intent upon the capture of California. This was General Stephen Kearney, +an army officer who had made a wonderful march across the plains and +mountains towards the coast. After he arrived on the scene, there were +several battles with the Mexican forces and with the Indians; but the +contest ended in a complete victory for the land forces commanded by +Kearney from Newark, and the naval forces by Stockton from Princeton, +under whom Fremont held his position. + +But now arose a dispute between the general and the commodore. When +Kearney arrived at Los Angeles, he would not recognize the authority of +Fremont, who had been appointed governor by Stockton, because he +considered that an army officer is higher in rank than one in the navy; +and he took the governorship himself. A court-martial was convened for +the purpose of deciding the question, and it was settled that Kearney +was of the higher rank, and he therefore retained the governorship. But +between the two Jerseymen the United States obtained the land of gold. + +A year or two after this, Commodore Stockton resigned from the navy, and +subsequently went to Congress as a senator from New Jersey. But although +no longer in the navy, he did not cease to work for the benefit of the +brave sailors he had so often commanded and led; and he obtained the +passage of a bill abolishing the punishment of flogging in the navy, +thus adding another great gift to his country and civilization. + +When the country which had been captured from Mexico was discovered to +be not only a fertile and pleasant land, but a land filled with rich +treasures of gold, the true value of the gift made to the United States +by our two Jerseymen became known and appreciated; and the names of +Stockton and Kearney, with that of the brave Fremont, will ever be +associated with that State whose principal water portal is well called +the "Golden Gate." + + * * * * * + +TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CUSHING & CO., NORWOOD, MASS. + + + + * * * * * + + + +Transcriber's Note + +This edition, being encoded in ASCII, cannot display accented characters, +a few of which were used in this book. The following details how these +characters have been handled. + +The names Andre and Fremont should have an e acute accent. + +Guerriere should have a e grave on the second e. + +The "ae" in Caesaria and Encyclopaedia were both printed with a +ligature. + +Lastly, preeminence and reenslavement both had a diaresis on the second +e. + +In addition to these accent changes, the word "pounds" has been used +instead of the British pound sign. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF NEW JERSEY*** + + +******* This file should be named 24713.txt or 24713.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/1/24713 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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