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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Old New England Traits, by Anonymous
+
+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: Old New England Traits
+
+Author: Anonymous
+
+Editor: George Lunt
+
+Release Date: February 6, 2009 [EBook #28013]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD NEW ENGLAND TRAITS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank, Darleen Dove and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  OLD NEW ENGLAND TRAITS
+
+  EDITED BY
+
+  GEORGE LUNT
+
+  ... this story's actually true.
+  If any person doubt it, I appeal
+  To history, tradition, and to facts,
+  To newspapers, whose truth all know and feel.
+                                         BYRON
+
+  NEW YORK
+  PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON
+  Cambridge: the Riverside Press
+  1873
+
+
+
+
+  Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by
+  GEORGE LUNT,
+  in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
+
+  RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:
+  STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY
+  _H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY_.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+The Editor of this little volume does not deem it incumbent upon him to
+explain in what way the author's manuscript came into his possession. He
+hopes it may be enough for him to say, that the writer believed himself
+to be the only person whose memory retained most of the incidents and
+anecdotes herein recorded; and a long and familiar acquaintance with his
+character enables the Editor to state, that entire credence is due to his
+narrative of facts, written down as occurring within his own knowledge
+and to his relation of whatever he alleges himself to have derived from
+others. A slight veil of mystery seems to have been originally thrown
+over the story; especially in regard to the names of persons; but, as all
+who are familiar with the locality will at once recognize its general
+features, the Editor has thought it best, for the benefit of others not
+so well informed, to make all proper explanations on this point in the
+Index.
+
+Sometimes, New England has been spoken of as devoid of the elements of
+romance; but perhaps this idea may be owing to the fact, that the means
+of presenting a different aspect of the case have not been sufficiently
+investigated. A similar impression has prevailed in respect to Roman
+history and literature, whether fabulous or otherwise; and the fathers of
+New England, at least, have been thought to have exhibited some of the
+traits, especially the simplicity and severity of character, which
+distinguished those more ancient worthies, whose names and deeds have
+been so long famous. But without making other citations, I may remark,
+that I am scarcely acquainted with a poem more thoroughly romantic in
+conception and sentiment, than "Gallus," the tenth eclogue of Virgil;
+and Macaulay, in his "Lays of Ancient Rome," has turned some of its
+legends to fine poetical account. Where can be found, for instance, a
+prettier, or more suggestive picture, than the passage in his "Virginia,"
+which some inspired painter might make immortal upon canvas, as it is in
+verse:--
+
+  "With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel on
+          her arm,
+   Home she went bounding from the school, nor dreamed
+          of shame or harm."
+
+Perhaps, the solemnities of the colonial history of New England may have
+overshadowed much of whatever poetical interest might be discovered in
+its private annals. It depends upon the reader, whether the present
+narrative may be thought in some measure to qualify the imputation in
+question.
+
+                                                                 G. L.
+
+
+OLD NEW ENGLAND TRAITS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It was the winter of 18--, between fifty and sixty years ago. Certainly
+the winters of New England began earlier and were more severe than they
+have seemed at a later period. After the fervid heat of summer has become
+subdued by the progressive changes of the season, no atmosphere could be
+clearer, purer, more exhilarating than the prevailing tone of our October
+days, and this kindly influence, as if by way of preparing the human
+frame for the gradual approach of winter, generally extends, with
+occasional stormy intermissions, through November, and often very far
+into the frosty domain of December itself. And such snow-storms as we
+once endured! It may be alleged, that distance of time forbids accuracy
+of comparison, and that masses of snow, which appeared vast to a child,
+would not seem so immense to a full-grown man, and were really no more
+huge than some of those with which winter nowadays envelopes the ground.
+But facts within my memory do not admit of such an explanation, for I
+distinctly recollect the driving storm which continued for days and piled
+its accumulating heaps against the front of our dwelling-place, so as
+entirely to cover the windows of the lower story of the house, and to
+rise above the main door which was of ordinary height, and that at length
+we were released from this imprisonment by means of an archway to that
+entrance, dug through the drift by the friendly efforts of an opposite
+neighbor.[1]
+
+Our deliverer was a superannuated seaman; inspired partly, no doubt, by
+the good-heartedness formerly, at least, thought to be characteristic of
+that class of men, and, partly, by respect for the memory of my father,
+who had been dead for some years, in the early prime of life, leaving
+behind him the best of reputations as a shipmaster and a man. Perhaps Tom
+Trudge had, at some time, sailed under him. I well remember the
+triumphant air with which this ancient mariner introduced himself into
+the kitchen, where all the family was assembled, doffing his tarpaulin,
+flourishing his shovel, and cutting one or two capers, in token of his
+hilarity at the accomplishment of his somewhat arduous job. Of course,
+there were profuse thanks and congratulations on the occasion; but I
+recollect only, that, after the second glass of grog furnished by my
+mother,--a refreshment to which Tom was only too partial,--he executed
+another spring from the floor, snapped his fingers and cried, "Tired,
+ma'am!--not a bit of it! For all I've done to-day, by the blessed
+binnacle I should think nothing at all of jumping over a meetin-us,--yes,
+a meetin-us, ma'am!" to the amazement, at the idea of such a feat, of
+certainly all the younger fry who were present at the ceremony.
+
+The town in which we lived was one of the very oldest of the New England
+settlements. Its situation is uncommonly beautiful, upon a slope
+descending from a moderately elevated ridge towards the bank of a noble
+river, which of late years has furnished more motive power to various
+manufacturing establishments in the towns and villages, which have sprung
+up on its borders, than any other stream in the world. At the time of
+which I write, there was not a mill throughout its whole extent. It is
+told, that Louis Philippe, when a fugitive in this country, in his youth,
+passing up the road which leads mostly along the margin of the river to a
+point where the first falls interrupt the navigation, pronounced the
+scenery the most beautiful he had ever seen. The river was then chiefly
+famous for the rafts of admirable timber which it sent down from the
+primeval forests above, for the construction of the unsurpassed ships
+built near the town, and for the commerce flourishing upon its bosom and
+extending to every quarter of the globe. It was idle enough, in
+comparison, at a later period.
+
+Early in the present century, and for a long series of years in the past,
+no town on the American coast surpassed it in commercial enterprise and
+activity. The habits and traditions of the place were well calculated to
+nurse a hardy race of seamen, and their reputation for skill and courage
+was well known throughout the maritime world. Persons are very apt to
+look at some direct circumstance, nearest at hand, for the cause of
+events, which may after all result from much more remote contingencies.
+So, at first, in the days of the declining trade of the town, they said
+the obstruction to its commerce was owing to the sand-bar at the mouth of
+the river. But the bar had been there from time immemorial; and though it
+is true that modern-built vessels, with their cargoes, could not pass
+that barrier, as ships of lesser tonnage were formerly accustomed to do,
+yet the main cause for this decay of business was to be found in the
+growth of the capital of the State, and the greater facilities for the
+transaction of business which exist in larger than in smaller places.
+
+But the bar itself was always of very dangerous passage in boisterous
+weather, and often the daring pilots of the station, than whom none upon
+the coast were more competent and courageous, were exposed to extreme
+peril, in their small craft, in returning to the river, when they had
+been on the look-out for inward-bound vessels in the bay.
+
+It so happened that a schooner in which I was a passenger, when a
+youngster, was detained outside the bar, and was likely to be detained
+for several hours, waiting for the tide to make. A young pilot,
+accompanied by his still younger brother, came alongside in their
+whale-boat, and having some acquaintance with me invited me to sail with
+them to town; and, having been some time absent from home, I gladly
+accepted their offer. Their boat was under a single low sail. The breeze
+was fresh and the day fair, though I could not but be aware, as we bowled
+along towards the bar, that a retreating storm had left some indications
+of its past presence in the tossing foam that sprang upwards as the waves
+dashed upon that treacherous heap of shifting sand. The pilot sat in the
+stern-sheets of the dancing boat, steering steadily with an oar. His
+brother tended the sail, and I was crouched amidships. As we approached
+nearer the scene of commotion, our younger companion assumed a station
+in the bow of the boat and began to sound with an oar. This looked a
+little formidable to a landsman; and soon turning his head in the
+interval of hastily pushing his implement into the water, the bowsman
+called out to his brother, "Joe, are you going to try it?" Joe made no
+sign, but steered steadily on. Again and again the sounding oar went
+rapidly down, and I suppose at last to the bottom, and again the young
+man cried out with renewed energy, "Joe, are you going to try it?" Joe
+uttered no word, but chewing his quid, looked steadfastly forward. In a
+moment a heavy wave struck the boat, drenching us plentifully, but not
+filling her, and bounding up, staggering a little, she dashed on, and
+with another like slap or two, we were over and in fairly smooth water.
+Had the boat struck bottom, she would have been instantly dashed to
+pieces and we should have met the sad fate of others who, before and
+since, have been drowned and lost to sight forever in that seething
+tide.
+
+In a conversation with a very eminent English novelist, of profounder
+skill and more permanent fame, in my opinion, than any other since Scott,
+he expressed his surprise at the solid aspect of the city of Boston, in
+which we had met, on the day after his arrival in this country, upon his
+first lecturing tour. He had enjoyed the best opportunities of viewing
+"men and cities," not only in Europe, but in various parts of the farther
+East. I took the liberty of replying that Boston had been growing nearly
+two centuries and a half, and inquired if he expected to see wigwams, or
+even those slighter fabrics which betoken the earlier stages of advancing
+colonization. He said, "No, of course not; but it had quite as
+substantial an appearance as an English city." But it is to be remembered
+that the persons who came to this country, at first, and from time to
+time, afterwards, were already civilized, and brought with them and
+transmitted to their descendants much of the knowledge and many of the
+habits, peculiarities, and even the traditions of their ancestors "at
+home." Our town, too, looked old; though far from being so substantially
+built as Boston.
+
+In fact, while reading the fragment of Scott's autobiography of his
+earlier days, and Dean Ramsay's "Reminiscences," one might almost think
+that their descriptions of character and manners, in so ancient a city as
+Edinburgh, were in many respects but a recapitulation of popular ways and
+even of personal oddities in our own respectable American town.
+Especially, the great novelist's vivid narrative of the desperate street
+conflicts between the lads of the several quarters of the "auld town,"
+revives many boyish recollections. In my youth, the division was into
+Northenders and Southenders; but as our own residence was in the central
+part of the town, we stood, as it were, between two fires. The conflicts
+usually took place in the winter, when the snow was on the ground, and
+though heartily engaged in, and sometimes quite too rough for play, were
+generally good-natured enough to avoid any very serious danger to life or
+limb. In the higher schools, the lads were drawn from every quarter of
+the town; but upon dismissal for the day, or upon the afternoons of
+Wednesday and Saturday, when no school was kept, the partisans of the
+several sections offered combat which was seldom refused. The usual
+weapons were snow-balls, which were sometimes, I regret to say, dipped in
+water and frozen over night, and kept in some secure place to await the
+expected battle, and occasionally a pebble, the missile commonly used by
+the Scottish combatants, was inserted,--a practice which was almost
+universally condemned. Very seldom did we come to a hand-fight, for a
+spirited "rush," when either party felt strong enough for it, was almost
+always followed by a rapid retreat on the other side. But woe to the
+luckless stripling whose headlong courage carried him far in advance of
+his companions; for upon a sudden turn of affairs he was a captive, and
+down in an instant, and mercilessly "scrubbed" with snow by a dozen ready
+hands, until the rallying host of his compatriots advanced vigorously to
+the rescue. The normal alliance of us middle-men was with the
+Southenders, though a good deal rougher than ourselves; and in times of
+truce a solitary boy would walk a little gingerly through their quarter,
+as errands or family occasions led him that way. But the principal
+commercial interests centered in those parts of the town, and if, upon
+the breaking out of determined warfare, we could secure, in the capacity
+of leader, the services of some lubberly boy who had made a voyage, even
+a mere coasting trip, to sea, though I remember that these were
+sometimes far less adventurous in the field than those who had no
+experience of the perilous deep, the issue of the contest was not for a
+moment doubtful. The forces of our adversaries melted away, like the snow
+with which they fought, at the very presence of a champion supposed to be
+of such redoubted prowess. The dependence of those adverse combatants was
+rather upon some of the younger hangers-on at the ship-yards, in their
+territory, for such a casual auxiliary. Sometimes, the elements of
+military skill would be displayed. While the two forces were closely
+engaged, a flanking party would make a sudden rush up some short
+by-street, and then the complete demoralization and panic-flight of the
+warriors thus newly assailed was something truly disastrous to behold.
+
+Of course, we enjoyed the ordinary boyish sports of boating, swimming,
+and skating in the season for it; or, of a pleasant afternoon, would roam
+away "over the hills," as the phrase ran, huckleberrying, perhaps, or
+gathering penny-royal and other wild herbs for the old folks at home; to
+be dried and reserved for future occasions. For, in those days, a garret
+would hardly be considered complete, without bunches of these simples
+hanging from the beams by strings, or stored away in paper-bags. In the
+fall of the year, we had another resource, long since interdicted by the
+owners of farms in the neighborhood of populous towns. This was the
+pleasure of nutting; for the urchins of those days regarded these kinds
+of fruit, growing on trees in the fields, as a sort of _ferę natura_ and
+free to every passer-by; though the more surly proprietors, even then,
+took much pains to circumvent and capture the lads, as they returned with
+their poles for beating the branches and with their loaded bags, borne by
+two or three of them, hanging by the middle across those implements.
+Sometimes, predatory bands proceeded in force and defied the farmer on
+his own ground. The story was told of one luckless individual who went
+nutting alone and was caught and imprisoned, for a time, in the cellar of
+the farm-house, but mischievously contrived to set all the taps of the
+cider-barrels running, before he was released. These excursions led us
+often to the Devil's Den, an excavation in an abandoned ledge of
+limestone, in a solitary situation at some distance from the town, and
+guarded, now as then, by three rather spectral-looking Lombardy poplars,
+which to us boys had a sort of mystic and undefined significance. Here we
+procured bits of serpentine, interspersed with veins of _rag-stone_, as
+we denominated asbestos, which, strangely enough, we used to chew. I
+suppose that no boy ever went to that place alone, and a sort of solemn
+ceremony attended his first visit with his older playmates, to a scene
+bearing an appellation ominous enough to call up every vague dread of his
+youthful heart. The approach on these occasions was rather circuitous,
+through the pastures, until an elevated mass of stone, standing quite
+solitary, was reached, designated as "Pulpit Rock." To the summit of
+this, the neophyte was required to climb, and there to repeat some
+accustomed formula, I fear not very reverent, by way of initiation, and
+supposed to be of power to avert any malign influences to which the
+unprepared intruder upon the premises of the nominal lord of the domain
+might otherwise be subjected. For these youngsters the ordinary means of
+education were abundantly supplied, and the girls, too, had their Academy
+for those who aspired to something beyond the common range; and when, at
+a later period, I became conversant with their circle, I must say that I
+have never known young ladies of better manners or more cultivated minds.
+As an evidence of more expansive benevolence than usual, and of
+profounder interest in the affairs of the great world abroad, I remember
+that when the class of students in Goldsmith's Ancient History came to
+recitation, one young lady burst into a torrent of tears. The astonished
+teacher anxiously inquired into the cause of her emotion. In the midst of
+her sobs she ejaculated, "Oh, that good man, Socrates! To think they
+should have treated him so!" She was finally soothed; but considering
+that the incident in question was of a rather remote date, this
+ebullition of feeling evinced a generous sympathy with a victim of past
+injustice, truly worthy of a philanthropic mind.
+
+It is still a town of stately mansions upon its principal street, and one
+more beautiful can scarcely be imagined. The magnificent elms, of the
+graceful American kind, which line its borders, have always been reckoned
+a feature of extraordinary beauty. Of late years, special means for
+supplying and preserving this elegant and useful kind of embellishment of
+the streets have been provided by the liberal bequest, for this purpose,
+of Mr. John Bromfield, a native of the town, but long a respected
+merchant at the capital of the State. A conspicuous house standing upon a
+gentle elevation, at some distance from the street, with pleasant grounds
+in its front and rear, was appropriately named by its original proprietor
+"Mount Rural," though not, perhaps, with the most exact observance of the
+requirements of grammatical construction. Still, it has some authority
+for being considered idiomatic, for does not "Pilgrim's Progress" tell us
+of the "Palace Beautiful?" And doubtless many other instances might be
+cited of the substitution of an adjective for a noun. At all events, the
+worthy owner, who built his house in the most approved style of former
+New England architecture, spacious, square, and with projecting windows
+in the roof, made some pretensions to classical allusion; for cultivating
+extensive gardens in the rear of his dwelling, he placed for an
+inscription on his front wall,--
+
+            "Miraturque novas frondes, et non sua poma,"--
+
+a citation which, it is to be feared, would be taken rather as
+encouragement to mischievous urchins, if any of them understood it,
+rather than as a warning to abstain from the fruit.
+
+Near the extremity of the opposite quarter of the town still stands an
+ancient edifice of solid stone, with a couple of stories of porch of the
+same material, approached by a lane, bordered with trees, leading some
+distance from the highway, and constituting, with some modern additions,
+the dwelling-place of a considerable farm. It boasts an age of more than
+two centuries, as appears by the figures above its entrance, and was
+apparently built for defence, when precautions against Indian incursions
+were thought necessary, though afterwards used as a powder-house; and
+tradition has it that, on one occasion, an explosion took place by
+night, which blew away a part of the side wall, lifted the bed on which a
+negro woman, the slave of the occupant, was asleep, bore her safely
+across the road, and planted her, bed and all, upon the spreading
+branches of an apple-tree, without injury. An early owner of the place
+was the ancestor of one of the recent Presidents of the United States,
+and it was known, until quite a modern period, as the PIERCE Farm.
+
+Not many years ago, there still remained at the corner of a street,
+between the points just designated, one of those ancient houses not
+common in this country, the second story resting on heavy beams, which
+showed themselves in the outside walls, and the walls of the long, low
+dwelling filled in with a coat of dark plaster braced by wooden
+cross-pieces, like those of Shakespeare's birthplace at Stratford. The
+handsome houses before alluded to were the residences chiefly of
+merchants, or sea-captains, who had retired from their maritime or
+commercial occupations with a competence, or of prosperous professional
+persons.[2] But a competence in those frugal days was an insignificant
+sum in comparison with the fortunes of our own time, scarcely approaching
+the annual income of the shoddy-masters, who now regulate the avenues of
+social and so-called aristocratic life. Indeed, I was once informed by an
+old inhabitant, that the richest person in the town, near the close of
+the last century, was assessed upon only ten thousand dollars' worth of
+personal property. But I think there must be some mistake in this
+statement, unless the rate of taxation was exceedingly low; for this same
+prosperous merchant devoted twenty times as much as that reputed capital
+to certain pious uses, during his protracted life-time, and still left
+forty times as much at his decease. Doubtless in those better days, the
+inevitable "rates" ("death and rates," they used to say, "were certain")
+were so small as to press but lightly upon the incomes of individuals in
+moderate circumstances, and the means of getting at the exact measure of
+a man's worldly "worth," had not reached their present degree of
+perfection. Indeed I may state, upon unquestionable authority, that, late
+in the first quarter of the present century, a highly respected trader of
+the town, who lived genteelly and was taxed upon a supposed capital of
+eighteen thousand dollars, waited upon the assessors and blandly told
+them, "Gentlemen, I have been more than usually prosperous the last
+year, and am willing you should tax me upon an additional thousand."
+Such combined integrity and disinterestedness was the theme of universal
+commendation; but when the old gentleman went to another reckoning a few
+years afterwards, his heirs had the benefit of an estate nearer one
+hundred thousand dollars in value, than the limited capital which had
+contributed its quota to the public burdens. In a word, I have heard my
+Aunt Judith say, that in her youth it was usual for respectable young
+women to take service with more thriving neighbors or friends, for the
+annual allowance of their board and a single calico gown, at four and
+sixpence a yard,--as the price was before mills were established on our
+own ground.
+
+I cannot help referring more particularly to some of the families of the
+town, who imparted to it a well-founded reputation, not surpassed, if
+equaled, by that of any town or city in the land; for instance, there
+were the Lowells, who gave name, afterwards, to that wonderful city of
+spindles, which enjoys as world-wide a standing in the annals of
+manufacturing enterprise as the old-world Manchester of a long-anterior
+date, and one of whom, amid the desolate ruins of Luxor, struck by the
+hand of fatal disease, conceived the idea of establishing that noble
+Institute which bears his name, and will convey it to future grateful
+generations; a name, too, which has so resounded in the popular
+literature of the day. Then, there were the Jacksons, famous in mechanics
+and in two of the learned professions; Charles Jackson, the erudite and
+upright judge, and James Jackson, one of those skillful and truly
+benevolent physicians, whose memory is still in the hearts of many
+surviving patients. The Tyngs, too, resided there, long honorably
+connected with colonial history and still represented by descendants of
+national repute. Amongst other remarkable individuals was Jacob Perkins,
+the famous inventor, who at an advanced age ended his useful career with
+no little foreign celebrity in the great city of the world. I have read
+lately of his successful exhibition of his wonderful steam-gun, in the
+presence of the Duke of Wellington and other competent judges of the
+experiment, and know not what national prejudice, perhaps, or other
+casual reason, prevented its adoption.[3] In science, too, we had
+Master Nicholas Pike, an ancient magistrate, whose arithmetic held its
+ground throughout the country, until it was superseded by that of Master
+Michael Walsh, which received the high commendation of so capital a
+judge, in matters of calculation, as the old land-surveyor and finally
+head of the nation, Washington. Master Walsh was an Irishman by birth,
+though "caught young," as Dr. Johnson remarked, to account for any
+distinction acquired by natives of Scotland; and he displayed much of
+that impulsive temperament imputed to the people of Erin's Green Isle. He
+dressed in the old style, his gray hair gathered into a queue, and
+wearing top-boots to the last. He was an excellent classical scholar, as
+well as mathematician. The pupils he prepared for college did justice to
+his instructions, and some have acquired great eminence in the several
+professions and in the conduct of important national affairs. As an
+instance of his patriotic attachment to his adopted country, upon
+casually meeting, late in life, a certain writer of the town, after a
+cordial salutation, he added with a slight dash of the brogue, "I thank
+ye for the Red and the Blue!" The young person was a little taken aback,
+not remembering the allusion, for a moment, when the old gentleman
+repeated emphatically,--"The Red and the Blue, ye know--Tom Campbell." It
+was in reference to a couple of stanzas, addressed to the United States
+by that great lyric poet, scarcely equaled in his day, namely:--
+
+               "United States! your banner wears
+                  Two emblems: one of fame;
+                Alas! the other that it bears
+                  Reminds us of your shame!
+
+               "The white man's liberty in types
+                  Stands blazoned by your stars:
+                But what's the meaning of your stripes?
+                  They mean your negroes' scars."
+
+To this the American had retorted:--
+
+                        "TO THE ENGLISH FLAG.
+
+           "England! whence came each glowing hue,
+              That tints yon flag of 'meteor' light,[4]--
+            The streaming red, the deeper blue,
+              Crossed with the moonbeam's pearly white?
+
+           "The blood and bruise,--the _blue_ and _red_,--
+              Let Asia's groaning millions speak!
+            The _white_,--it tells the color fled
+              From starving Erin's pallid cheek!"
+
+The verses were at first circulated as above set down. Campbell
+afterwards altered the two first lines of the second stanza into:--
+
+                "Your standard's constellation types
+                 White freedom by its stars," etc.,--
+
+impairing it, as some will think, both in force and in whatever poetical
+expression it may have originally had. Poets are apt to make similar
+mistakes, frittering away the first glow of thought and language, in
+revision. Has not Tennyson thus injured "The ride of the six hundred?"
+and did not Campbell himself half spoil "Hohenlinden," by taming its
+phraseology down into a supposed superfluous accuracy? For example, he
+first wrote,--
+
+            "'Tis morn, but scarce yon lurid sun
+             Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun," etc.
+
+It occurred to him, or some "stop-watch critic" suggested, that the sun
+itself was not actually "lurid," on that celebrated occasion, and he
+accordingly changed the expression to "level," thus signifying a mere
+natural phenomenon; and, besides the sacrifice of a fine poetical
+expression, forgetting that the sun must have appeared actually "lurid"
+through the interposition of "the war-clouds, rolling dun." Nor is this
+the only instance of misapplied fastidiousness in that splendid and
+stirring piece.
+
+Then, there was the Rev. Dr. Spring, father of that celebrated clergyman,
+Dr. Gardiner Spring, of New York. He had been a chaplain in the army of
+the Revolution; and when I, as a boy, pulled off my cap to him in the
+street, I fancied there was something a little military in his polite
+salute in return. The good Doctor held to what were called Hopkinsian
+tenets, a special form of strict orthodoxy; and it was alleged that,
+differing from the ordinary practice of religious people in the town,
+and construing literally the record of the Creation, "The evening and the
+morning were the first day,"--the Saturday evening was observed with
+primitive strictness in the family, while on Sunday evening, after
+sunset, the excellent matron assumed her knitting-work, or attended to
+whatever secular occupation she chose. I have often thought, and it seems
+likely, that the name of Swett--that of one of the most eminent and
+excellent physicians of his day, in our community, and who in fact fell a
+sacrifice to the faithful discharge of his professional duty--was the
+same as Schwedt, borne by the Prince de Schwedt, well known at the court
+of Frederick of Prussia (so called) the Great. The good Doctor examined
+the throat of a yellow fever patient, in a vessel lying at quarantine
+ground in the river, and inhaling his infectious breath, went home
+declaring he had taken the disease, of which he shortly died. The efforts
+and liberality of his son, the late Colonel Samuel Swett, in promoting
+the establishment of the Public Library of the town, though himself long
+a resident in the capital of the State, will forever endear his memory to
+the inhabitants. The daughter of another distinguished physician, Dr.
+Sawyer, was Mrs. George Lee, who gained no little reputation by her
+"Lives of the Ancient Painters," and especially by a book which attained
+great popularity under the title of "Three Experiments of Living." I
+should do great injustice to a list of noted personages--to some of whom
+allusion is made elsewhere in these pages, and which might be extended,
+if consistent with the objects of this work, were I to omit mention of a
+lady, Miss Hannah F. Gould, whose poetical productions gained her
+well-deserved applause and many friends, and some of whose highly
+pleasing verses still retain their hold upon public esteem. Reflectively,
+too, we might claim some share in the distinction of the most popular
+American poet of our own day; for the direct ancestors of Longfellow
+were natives of our immediate vicinage. I had no intention, certainly, of
+offering any tribute to the living in these memorials of the past; but
+one name inevitably suggests itself, better known on 'Change, in London,
+than in the place of his birth. I speak of William Wheelwright, a lad, at
+the period to which these sketches refer, long resident abroad, though
+occasionally brought home by the obligations and affections of family
+ties, to whose enterprise, and arduous, untiring pursuit of his object
+are owing steam navigation and railway lines in the southern part of this
+Continent, and to whose praise the whole South American coast will
+respond.
+
+There were others and many, of high personal character and local
+reputation, and not a few of strongly marked characteristics, whose
+names, perhaps, would scarcely sound familiar to modern ears; but I
+cannot pass over one wealthy merchant, distinguished for his strong
+common sense and decided individuality, as well as for a success in
+business scarcely equaled in this country, in his day,--the well-known
+William Bartlett, to whose judicious bounty the chief theological
+seminary of the State and its principal Academy for the instruction of
+youth owe so much toward the assurance of their permanent foundation.
+
+Nor should the memory of Oliver Putnam fail of a record, who, long absent
+from his native town, provided by his will for a generous bequest, upon
+which a Free School of the highest character has been long established.
+Nor should due tribute be forgotten in honor of George Peabody, who,
+remembering those days of his youth which were passed in acquiring habits
+of business in the place, distinguished its Public Library by a
+munificent gift.
+
+There had been many other men of marked character and great local
+influence: Tracys, Daltons, Greenleafs, Davenports, Hoopers, Bradburys,
+Johnsons, Coffins, Bromfields, Crosses; and many more, doubtless, might
+be thought worthy of mention. Among those named above, Nathaniel Tracy
+was one of the wealthiest merchants of his day, elsewhere referred to in
+this narrative as suffering immense losses by his advances to the
+government, when its needs were great and its credit was low, and in
+other ways. Tristram Dalton was a Senator of the United States from
+Massachusetts, in the First Congress under the Constitution; and
+Theophilus Bradbury, afterwards appointed to the bench of the supreme
+court of the State, was a member of the Federal House of Representatives
+during a part of Washington's administration. Indeed, from some of the
+early inhabitants of the town are descended not a few of the principal
+families in the capital of the State; and its representatives, by some
+tie of original or later connection, are scattered throughout the whole
+country.
+
+I linger somewhat longer and lovingly upon this preliminary part of
+whatever story I may have to tell, because I am aware of nothing in the
+literature of New England which furnishes precisely similar
+reminiscences, and because pictures of past manners, if truthfully
+portrayed, can hardly fail to be both interesting and useful. We heard
+plentiful stories, in our youth, of a higher style of living in colonial
+days, of coaches kept by the upper class of citizens; of their slaves,
+whom we knew in their emancipated condition as gardeners and waiters in
+general; of the cocked hats, the gold-embroidered garments, the laced
+ruffles of the gentlemen, and the highly ornamented, but rather stiff
+garniture in which the ladies with their powdered heads saw fit to array
+themselves, as they now present themselves to us on the living canvas of
+Copley. It was in the handsome residence of Mr. Dalton, long after his
+decease, that I saw hangings of gilded morocco leather on the walls of
+the principal room,--a substitute for the wall-paper in common use, and
+which I have never seen or heard of in any other instance, in the United
+States.
+
+Our collector of the customs was peculiarly one of this class of
+gentlemen of the old school. He was a person of very warm temperament and
+of remarkable characteristics; an ardent Democrat, who, upon the
+accession of President Jefferson, had succeeded Colonel W----, the first
+collector of the port, appointed by Washington, under whom he had served
+with distinction in the Revolutionary War. The residence of the latter,
+and the office of customs itself, in those simpler days, were in the
+house which was afterwards the birthplace of the writer of these
+sketches. To that war the successor of the old soldier principally owed a
+large fortune, which he had accumulated as the result of his privateering
+adventures; and it is said that the prizes came in so plentifully, that
+once he lifted up his hand and declared, "O Lord, it is enough!" However
+this may be, it is certain that not long afterwards his riches gradually
+vanished, and he was compelled to seek and obtained the office upon which
+he supported his declining days. Though "aristocratic" enough in his own
+personal character and demeanor, he was not naturally in much favor with
+the grandees of the old Federal town; but they stood in awe of him,
+nevertheless; for he had been very rich, and in his less prosperous days
+was still a person of the most impulsive and resolute spirit. His
+appearance in public was very marked. His person was manly and his
+countenance singularly striking. He dressed in black, his small-clothes
+terminating in white cotton stockings down to his gouty foot. On his
+white head, decorated with a queue, was his three-cornered hat. He seemed
+to take a pride in walking up the principal business street of the town,
+at the time of high "'Change," and paying attention to no one, to utter
+his not always very conciliatory thoughts aloud, in regard to his
+contemporaries and matters in general, as he threw out sideways the gouty
+foot aforesaid, on his way to the one o'clock dinner, which was the
+fashion of the time.
+
+But the Revolutionary War exhausted the fortunes of many prosperous men
+of the day; and the story is told of one very rich merchant, who could
+drive in his own carriage several days' journey--when such a journey over
+difficult roads was hardly so much as could be accomplished by "the
+hollow, pampered jades of Asia,"--and sleep in his own house every night.
+He lent immense sums, for the time, to the Revolutionary government,
+received what he could recover in depreciated currency, and failed. At
+the period of my narrative, the country was suffering from the
+consequences of another war, and the once active commerce of the old town
+was reduced to the lowest ebb. It was then that active emigration began
+from the sterile soil of New England--since rendered so much more
+productive by intelligent cultivation--to the fertile region known as
+"The Ohio;" just as, not much more than half a century ago, people talked
+of "The Coos country" in New Hampshire, and within a few years we spoke
+of the "Far West," brought at length within the compass of ordinary
+travel and civilization.
+
+As a picture of the rigors and extremities, I fear only too common, of
+early New England life, among its hardy agricultural population, I
+present extracts of a letter received from a venerable friend, a few
+years ago, who from the depths of poverty, having emigrated in his youth
+to wild lands not very far West, had risen to comparative wealth, which
+he devoted to useful purposes. In fact, the son of an extremely poor
+Vermont farmer became, by his own energy and integrity, the possessor of
+a competent fortune, which enabled him, with views far surpassing the
+immediate claims of this transitory world, to build a church and to
+establish a flourishing educational institution, destined long, I trust,
+to dispense infinite blessings to future generations. Thus, after some
+preliminary matter, he proceeds to say, under date of March 16, 1866:--
+
+  "My father was one of the poor men of Vermont. When I was a small
+  boy I have pealed many a birch broom for a sixpence.[5] My Father
+  could get one shilling for what he made, take them on his back,
+  carry them four or five miles, sell them, bring home a little meal,
+  or a little bread, sometimes a half bushel Potatoes. My mother
+  would go two or three miles, and do a washing, bring home at night
+  a loaf of wry bread, and a small peace was all we had for supper
+  and a smaller Piece in the morning. Sometimes we was allowed one
+  Potato roasted in the ashes--no Hearth in the old log-House. My
+  mother has stirred butter in a tea-cup with the point of a knife,
+  to keep her little children from starving. My Father had about half
+  acre of oats--poor fence--the old cow got in the oats and died.
+  Then came the pinch--we as little children had to flee to the woods
+  to get something to sustain life--no schools, no meetings--nothing
+  but hunger and despair. I lived with my Father until I was
+  twenty-one years old. After I was sixteen my Father improved a
+  little in living. When I was a little over twenty-one I got me a
+  wife--we was both Poor--three knifes, three forks, three teacups,
+  three chairs, a poor bed--hardly could we keep house. But our
+  courage was good--my wife always standing by me, through all my
+  trouble and trials--shoulder to shoulder--heart & hand, from the
+  day of our marriage until the day of her Death. No man never had a
+  better wife than I had--always kind to the Poor and to all her
+  relations. She is now in the Grave Yard, and my judgment is, she is
+  well prepared for the next world--and for the good feeling I have
+  had for her for over fifty-six years, I have Erected a monument
+  over her grave weighing 7 tons, and twenty-one feet high--it is a
+  splendid monument--cost me over $600.00.
+
+  "On the Eighth day of last July the Bishop confirmed 28 in our
+  Church at the ---- everything in good order--the singing was
+  complete--my Voice is still heard above all the singers and I still
+  stand at the head of the choir--I am only 77.--On the 16th day of
+  last October, Previous notice being given, the wardens and Vestry
+  met at my house--one minister was also present, a Lawyer being
+  called to do the business. At 2 o'clock, P. M. I commenced handing
+  over Deeds of land, Buildings, Bonds, mortgages, money & furniture,
+  to the amount of nineteen thousand and five hundred Dollars, the
+  use and interest only to be used for the Church and the ----
+  Institute; but in case there should be a failure of the Church &
+  school, for seven years, at any one time, then the Property to go
+  back to my Heirs.
+
+  "I have been schooling from 7 to 11 Poor children, yearly--I am now
+  not schooling as many--my school is doing well--we have a good
+  minister and he is a good Preacher. The Church is doing well. I am
+  now commencing one more building, 60 feet long, 30 feet wide, and
+  three stories high, for the convenience of more room for Boarders
+  in the ---- Institute.
+
+  "I wrung more Bells at the fall of Richmond than any man in the
+  United States, which they was all purchased with one man's money--7
+  was the number, 4 large ones & 3 small ones--it is true I was a
+  little opposed to the War--but no matter. The Brick Church and the
+  Buildings I built for the ---- Institute now with Interest cost me
+  now over $43.000. They are all Paid for and I am out of Debt. I
+  have furnished every stick of wood for the Church, and have carried
+  the most of it in since it was built. I still wring the Bells on
+  all occasions." etc. etc.
+
+There is, perhaps, a touch of the garrulity of age in this good man's
+recital; but I consider his record of his early life, slight as it is,
+yet too strikingly suggestive to be left to chances which might await a
+private letter. Indeed, the character thus displayed is surely equal to
+that of the best of the old Romans, in the middling class of life,
+enlightened too by a living faith of which they had no conception; and
+the sketch gives fair warrant for the conclusion, that, in point of manly
+simplicity and integrity, the traits and the trials of those elder
+worthies who helped to settle our republican institutions have not been
+overdrawn.
+
+-----
+  [1]  As I set down these reminiscences I observe the
+       following paragraph in a Boston daily paper of November
+       27, 1872:--
+
+       "NOVEMBER SNOW. Fifty-two years ago to-day there were
+       twenty-eight inches of snow on a level in the vicinity
+       of Portsmouth, N. H."
+
+  [2]  The late Mr. George Wood, of Washington, a native of our
+       town, in some highly interesting _Memorabilia_, formerly
+       published, says: "The aristocracy were not on High
+       Street, as now, but on Water Street, and more at the
+       South than the North end, as the old houses give
+       evidence to this day. The Johnsons, Jacksons,
+       Davenports, Coffins, Greenleafs, Bartletts, Pierces,
+       Hoopers, Tappans, Todds, Carters, Lunts, Marquands, and
+       others of wealth, were on Water Street or near it. There
+       were their grand houses and fine gardens, and it was not
+       till they thought of retiring from business that they
+       removed to the West-end or up-town, as gradually as they
+       always do in all places."
+
+  [3]  After resigning his office of judge, which he had held
+       for only a few years, but administered with
+       extraordinary ability and integrity, Judge Jackson went
+       abroad for relaxation, and a letter from a gentleman in
+       London to a friend on this side the water says,--"Two of
+       your townsmen, Judge Jackson and Jacob Perkins, now fill
+       the public eye of England, and are the subjects of
+       public and private conversation."
+
+  [4]  "The meteor flag of England," etc. Campbell. "Ye
+       mariners of England."
+
+  [5]  These brooms are made by peeling strips from the stump,
+       which are fastened below.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+I should scarcely deem it expedient to enter at much detail into the
+eccentricities of our good townspeople, though it seems to me that in our
+own street I could recall enough to make a pretty sizable volume.
+
+But one feature of the times deserves a passing notice. I refer to the
+inconsiderable number of insane persons, compared with the sad increase
+of that unfortunate class in our own day, and the manner in which they
+were treated. Of course, a more widely extended population multiplies the
+sum of every description of disease. Besides, our ancestors were a
+hardier race than their descendants, more inured to the regular routine
+of physical toil, less given than the men and women of the present day to
+hurtful indulgence, and far less exposed to the disturbing excitements of
+business and pleasure. So far as I know, there were but two really
+insane persons in our population of some seven or eight thousand, though
+doubtless certain others were more or less "light-headed." One of those
+two was sullenly crazy, and accounted dangerous, and therefore subjected
+to physical restraint; the other, generally harmless, roamed through the
+town at his own will, calling occasionally upon the acquaintance of his
+better days, and making magnificent promises of the benefits he intended
+to bestow, "when his ship came in." If I had inherited only a moderate
+dividend of the proceeds of the successive ships and their cargoes, which
+he promised my mother, on the above favorable contingency, usually
+calling her out from dinner to whisper to her these magnificent promises,
+more to her alarm than satisfaction, though being a woman of spirit she
+put a brave face upon it--I should look down upon a Rothschild, an Astor,
+or a Vanderbilt with natural contempt. Sometimes, incarceration was
+thought necessary, also, in his case; and I have a vivid recollection of
+the place of confinement allotted to each patient.
+
+This was in the yard of the almshouse, for state and county asylums had
+not then been thought of, and the strong wooden building in which they
+were placed consisted of two apartments, perhaps twelve feet square, one
+above and the other beneath the surface of the ground; the latter, in
+fact, a dungeon with one barred window on a level with the yard. Here
+they passed their gloomy hours as they might, in solitude and darkness,
+scarcely relieved by light from without, with nothing to alleviate the
+horrors of their condition, and probably considered in a state too
+hopeless to admit of any remedy. The tenant of the upper cell was
+comparatively lively, on the occasion of resort to his window for
+conversation, or out of curiosity, which was freely permitted; but his
+neighbor in the dungeon was dangerous; and I can never forget the terror
+inspired by a sudden and vicious attempt made by him to seize the legs of
+us children through the bars, as we stood conversing with the inmate of
+the room above. Science and humanity have done very much, in modern
+times, toward the restoration of such unhappy beings, who are in a
+majority of cases susceptible of cure, or of improvement enough to
+warrant their return to domestic life. But it is to be feared we are yet
+far behind, in this country, the more enlightened and effectual methods
+pursued for this purpose in some other civilized nations.
+
+On one side of the street above alluded to lived for a long time, in my
+boyhood, an ancient shoemaker entirely alone; and as he guarded his
+residence with great secrecy and sold none of his wares, curious people
+were puzzled to understand how he supported existence. He was known to be
+partially deranged. Mischievous boys, sometimes, gathered in numbers,
+would often assail his door with stones, standing ready for a start. But
+if they were on the watch, so was Pettengill, from previous experience,
+waiting behind his door with a heavy wooden bar in his hand, and giving
+instant chase to the flying urchins, would send the bar rattling at their
+heels. One day, after a season of unusual quiet, one of our lads anxious
+to penetrate his mystery, ventured to knock gently at the barred portal,
+was admitted, and expressed his wish to purchase a pair of shoes. The old
+man opened several chests containing the articles sought for, and finally
+selected a pair which proved a fit; but upon his visitor's making known
+his readiness to buy, the maker deliberately returned them to their
+receptacle, locked it fast and gravely declared, that he did "not like to
+part with them, for fear of spoiling his assortment."
+
+The next building was occupied by a respectable English couple as a
+dwelling-place, with a small grocer's shop in front. They had no
+children, except one strapping son of the old lady by a former husband,
+grown to man's estate, and whose business seemed to be to lounge about
+the premises in drab small-clothes; for I never saw him do anything. The
+old lady might be seen of a morning, with iron pattens on her feet and
+her clothes tucked up, mopping the floor of the shop; but in the
+afternoon much more genteelly attired in silks of an ancient fashion. Mr.
+Brown was a very quiet, inoffensive person, the wife a little
+high-strung. It is certain that they had occasional domestic bickerings,
+perhaps about the young man in the knee-breeches; for on one occasion it
+is alleged that the old matron was overheard to address her spouse, with
+a slightly Hibernian accentuation,--"Brune, Brune, ye case-knife looking
+son of a gun! I married ye neither for love, nor for money, but the pure
+convanience of the shop!" As these worthy people have long ago passed
+away, there seems no scandal in detailing this little family incident.
+
+Directly opposite these premises was a large old-fashioned house, still
+standing, and, a century before, the residence of the minister of the
+First Church. It was long afterwards occupied by a noted magistrate for
+the trial of small actions, who served many years as town-clerk, and was
+an energetic orator at town-meetings and in parish affairs. A culprit was
+once brought before him for stealing a gentleman's set of new shirts. The
+fact was stiffly denied. "A pretty story," said the accused party, "that
+I should take his shirts!" An official scrutiny, however, soon exhibited
+him standing with the half dozen articles of attire, one over another,
+upon his person. "What a villain!" said the astonished justice. "Why
+didn't you tell me you was a villain and save the time of the court, of
+the witnesses, and the spectators, by owning up you were a villain, in
+the first place?"
+
+The citizens of the old town were pretty thorough Puritans, by
+inheritance and inclination, at the middle of the last century. But the
+minister of the First Church was, in his day, a gentleman noted for his
+liberal tastes and accomplishments. He had a picture painted on a broad
+panel over the fire-place of his library, representing himself and
+several others of the cloth sitting around a table, in the full
+canonicals of wig, gown, and band, before each a foaming mug of ale, and
+each supplied with a tobacco pipe from which rolled volumes of narcotic
+fumes. At the top of the painting was a legend in the Latin language, of
+which the following is, I believe, a correct copy,--
+
+  "In essentialibus unitas, in non-essentialibus libertas, in omnibus
+  charitas."
+
+They appeared to be having a jolly time, and evidently considered the
+slight indulgences to which they were addicted among the moral
+non-essentials, however necessary to their physical comfort. In this
+picture, which is still extant, the rules of perspective were not
+rigorously obeyed. In fact, the table is considerably tipped, whether
+supposed to result from some sudden hilarious movement on the part of the
+reverend compotators or owing to want of skill in the artist, I am not
+able to testify. Indeed, the manners of the times had not then attained
+their present professed strictness in regard to the use of exhilarating
+liquors, and I have inspected a tavern-bill rendered to the principal
+citizens, for articles of this sort consumed on some joyful public
+occasion, at a much later period, the amount of which in quantity, though
+not in price, would astonish a modern city council.
+
+At the corner of the street stood an ancient tavern, the principal
+establishment of the kind in the place, at which in staging times all the
+stage-coaches from Boston and the eastward hauled up to change horses.
+It was kept by the father of the popular host of one of the best known of
+the long-established New York hotels. I well remember seeing a
+considerable body of British sailors halted there for refreshment, under
+guard, on their way to some prison in the interior, during the War of
+1812. They were true British tars of the traditional type, with immense
+clubs of hair, tied up with eel-skins and hanging short and thick down
+their necks. They seemed in no wise depressed by their condition and in
+fact were treated extremely well, for the general feeling of the town was
+decidedly adverse to the war. I also remember a gathering in front of the
+tavern, when the evening coach was expected, with the idea of mobbing an
+unpopular general officer who was to pass through by that conveyance. But
+a better sentiment was inculcated by the more orderly portion of the
+assembly, and the obnoxious warrior was not molested, otherwise than by
+expressions of dislike, either upon alighting, or when taking his place
+to resume his journey. Politics ran very high at the time, almost to the
+entire suspension of social relations between the differing parties,--the
+Federalists, who opposed the war, and were accused of unpatriotic
+sympathy with the cause of the enemy, and the Republicans, often
+stigmatized as Jacobins, who were charged with the principles and designs
+which had given impulse to the great French Revolution. Doubtless these
+parties shared, on the one side and the other, in the hereditary enmity,
+long since allayed if not altogether extinguished, between England and
+France. But whatever might be the general turn of political sentiment,
+both sides felt a patriotic pride in the success of the American arms.
+Hence, it is probable, the temper of the crowd assembled to do dishonor
+to the unlucky general. While the Republicans were indignant at a
+supposed needless national disaster, the Federalists could scarcely
+rejoice at it; and thus the moderation of the latter tended to restrain
+the former from the display of any actually violent demonstration. At the
+same period, there was formed, among the older administration men of the
+day, a veteran military organization, of those beyond the ordinary age of
+military service, well-known locally under the significant appellation of
+the "Silver Greys." The corps was composed of elderly merchants and
+traders and retired sea-captains, and their drills manifested at least
+the ambition of military prowess. Their opponents alleged that their
+company was formed for merely political purposes, and to overawe the
+town; but their own doubtless more just solution of the matter was, that
+their object was to aid in repelling invasion, in the unlikely case that
+the British troops should land upon their own borders. They gave more
+promise, certainly, of efficient service, should danger arise, than
+could be expected of the superannuated Trojans chief of Priam's court, as
+their catalogue is translated by Pope from the living record of Homer:--
+
+          "Here sat the seniors of the Trojan race,
+           Old Priam's chiefs and most in Priam's grace;
+           The king the first, Thymoetes at his side,
+           Lampus and Clitias, long in council tried,
+           Panthus and Hicetaon, once the strong,
+           And next, the wisest of the reverend throng,
+           Antenor grave and sage Ucalegon,
+           Leaned on the walls and basked before the sun;
+           Chiefs who no more in bloody fights engage,
+           But wise through time and narrative with age,
+           In summer days like grasshoppers rejoice,
+           A bloodless race, that send a feeble voice," etc.
+
+The town had suffered everything from the war and the interdiction of
+commerce in which it had been most actively engaged, preceding the event.
+Multitudes were absolutely ruined, and the gaunt wolf stood grinning at
+almost every other threshold. Among the memorials of that great struggle,
+it may be as well to mention the rusted cannon planted for posts at the
+corners of certain of the streets, the breech sunk in the ground and a
+bomb-shell fastened in the muzzle. At such a time, it is not strange that
+force occasionally took the place of law.
+
+I could recall not a few instances in which, under the impulse of
+political resentment, passion got the better of judgment. One day, the
+marshal of the United States, in his cocked hat and with other official
+insignia, entered the tavern I have mentioned, in quest of a fugitive
+from justice. He inquired of a person whom he met in the public
+apartment, if he had lately seen one Captain E----, who, it seems, on
+some supposed provocation, had only thrown a custom-house officer into
+the dock in one of our eastern harbors. The person addressed by the
+marshal said that Captain E---- had just passed down the street, and when
+the marshal turned to pursue the culprit, that individual, who was no
+other than the one just addressed, slipped out of another door, ran by
+the stable in the rear of the tavern and called upon Jem Knox, the
+hostler, to harness a chaise with all speed and to follow him forthwith
+in his flight. It appears, that the story of the captain's adventure was
+already pretty well known in the public places of the town, and as a
+visit of the marshal from Boston was a very extraordinary event in a
+place usually so quiet, a prying character who was upon the spot asked
+him if he was not looking for Captain E----. Upon receiving an
+affirmative reply,--"That's the man," said he, "you have just spoken to."
+The marshal started in pursuit and the captain had called out to such
+persons of his acquaintance as saw him running, that he was chased by a
+United States' officer. Half way through the street, one Clement Starr, a
+stalwart Englishman, who lived at the spot and whose sympathies,
+political and otherwise, were with the weaker party, seized the marshal
+by the collar and insisted upon knowing what was the cause of the
+considerable tumult which the outcry--"Stop him!" had raised. Escaping
+this obstacle, the poor marshal was soon afterwards clasped in the
+vigorous embrace of a spirited matron, who stood on her door-step as he
+passed, and, besides being an acquaintance of the captain, was of the
+same political proclivities as those of the retreating mariner.
+
+While tearing himself away from this lively lady, Knox drove furiously
+by, pulled up as he overtook the fugitive, who, as a witness of the
+affair told me, tumbled into the chaise, and was soon out of the reach of
+the threatening danger. Whether he was ever taken afterwards, or what
+became of the prosecution, I have never heard.
+
+Not far from us lived a worthy widow, with a family of children, and on
+one occasion she was heard to mingle rather curiously an office of
+devotion with a somewhat severe threat of domestic discipline. It was a
+day in summer, and the windows being open, a passer-by heard her
+objurgation. It seems the family had assembled at the dinner-table, and
+her oldest son began by making premature demonstrations toward the
+provisions, when his mother emphatically addressed him: "You Bob Barker,
+if you stick your fork into that meat before I've asked a blessing, I'll
+be the death of ye!"
+
+There was a worthy shipmaster, also, who used to trade to Hayti, when
+that stalwart colored person, Christophe, was the Emperor, who used to
+say, "Put a bag of coffee in the mouth of h----, and a Yankee will be
+sure to go after it." On one occasion, so the story ran, Captain H----
+complained of some insult from one of Christophe's ragged soldiery. The
+fact reached the ears of that potentate, who desired to stand well with
+Americans, and our townsman was summoned before him. He found in the
+presence of the monarch the whole body of the scanty force on duty in
+the town. "Can you pick out the man who insulted you?" asked the sable
+autocrat. Captain H---- pointed him out; but beginning to fear the
+infliction of some punishment too severe, attempted to extenuate the
+offence. "Stop!" cried Christophe, and called the soldier near him. "Do
+you say this was the man of whom you have told me?" "Yes, sir, it is,"
+replied the alarmed captain; "but"--In an instant Christophe had drawn
+his sword, and with one blow struck off the head of the unlucky culprit.
+The terror of the accusing party, at such a sudden and bloody
+consummation, may be partly imagined. He procured his clearance as soon
+as possible, and I believe made his future voyages to waters under a less
+summarily sanguinary domination.
+
+We had also a _soi-disant_ nobleman, of really the humblest extraction,
+and ignorant to a singular degree, but known by his eccentricities far
+and wide, who, on the score of a little money accidentally amassed,
+proclaimed himself, by an inscription beneath a wooden statue of himself,
+in front of his residence,--"LORD OF THE EAST, LORD OF THE WEST, AND THE
+GREATEST PHILOSOPHER IN THE WESTERN WORLD." He decorated his court-yard
+with an extraordinary amount of lumber of this sort, in the shape of
+human beings, and dumb creatures of many sorts, each statue standing upon
+its separate pillar, to the intense admiration of the gaping rustics who
+visited the town to inspect it; and he fairly beat the Scottish Earl of
+Buchan, who was infected with a similar mania. Upon an arch directly
+opposite his front door, he had placed Washington, Adams, and Jefferson.
+Adams, on the right, was bareheaded, and upon an inquiry by some one why
+this distinction was made, since Jefferson's chapeau was in its place,
+the great "lord" replied: "Do you suppose I would have anybody stand at
+the right hand of Washington, with his hat on?" He was said, also, upon
+certain hilarious occasions, celebrated in a tomb which he had
+constructed under a summer-house in his garden, to have indulged in the
+mastication of bank-bills between slices of bread and butter, doubtless
+to the envy of his boon companions; not, as might be inferred, of the
+better or richer classes, though, considering all things, it is perhaps
+needless to hope that these current symbols of value were a little
+cleaner than most of those of modern date. All this statuary rubbish,
+however, was long ago removed; and the house and grounds, by the taste of
+the present owner, have since ranked among the most pleasing objects of
+inspection in the town.
+
+This notably low and singularly eccentric character, as I have remarked,
+fairly beat that other oddity,--in a different class of life and
+contemporary with him,--the Scottish Earl of Buchan, elder half-brother
+of Lord Chancellor Erskine. That nobleman was possessed with a passion
+for the busts of persons, eminent or otherwise, not dissimilar to that of
+our New England "lord" for wooden statuary, and perhaps was actuated by
+equal vanity, though a person of real literary accomplishment, and in no
+sense, except as mentioned, to be put in comparison with the other. He
+displayed to his visitors a large and most incongruous collection of
+these objects of art in a sort of grotto excavated in his garden, thus
+reversing, however, the more conspicuous procedure of his brother
+connoisseur, who exhibited his assemblage of rarities in his front yard.
+The Scottish Earl, certainly, had some literary pretensions, while the
+"lord" Timothy, who could neither read nor write with ordinary
+expertness, honored the Muses, also, by affording countenance to a poet.
+Whether this patronage extended to much material sustenance may be
+considered doubtful, since this son of Apollo generally stood in the
+market-place, when not wandering away to other parts, for the disposal
+of his wares, dressed in semi-clerical habiliments, himself being of a
+singularly grave aspect, and retailed frightful ballads of his own
+composition, and small wares of various kinds from a basket on his arm.
+It is questionable whether any of these literary productions survive to
+the present day; and I fear that not one of them had any spark of that
+vitality, potent to influence popular sentiment, which Fletcher of
+Saltoun attributed to the songs of the people.
+
+In the centre of this market-place--a space inclosed on all sides by
+various shops or stores, and for some unaccountable reason styled "Market
+Square," since its irregular outline much more resembled a truncated
+triangle--stood the town pump, on the spot originally occupied by the
+meeting-house of the First Church, already mentioned. On two sides of the
+pump were set the wonted hand-carts of two superannuated individuals,
+whose gingerbread, candies, and apples were the delight of such urchins
+as were lucky enough to have coppers to buy with; for those convenient
+mediums of exchange were not too plentiful among boys in 18--, and
+frequently not with their parents either. These old men were the
+undisturbed possessors of the ground, wheeling their vehicles to the spot
+at early morning, and standing by them all day, though they never seemed
+to me to be driving a very thriving business.
+
+But the glory of the Square was during the week before
+Thanksgiving,--then, as now, appointed for a day late in November, when
+it was often difficult to make one's way through the throng of teams,
+and especially sleighs, loaded with poultry fattened for the occasion,
+and sometimes venison and abundance of other commodities for domestic use.
+The mention of sleighs leads me to recur to a former remark upon the
+earlier approach of winter in those times; for the employment of sleighs
+implies the presence of snow upon the ground; and the farmers had
+frequently driven from a great distance, "up country," from parts of
+New Hampshire and Vermont, even from the borders of Canada, perhaps a
+hundred and fifty or two hundred miles and more away, to attend the market
+in our town; sometimes as many as a hundred loaded country sleighs, or on
+other occasions as many wagons, in a single day. The construction of the
+Middlesex Canal, connecting the waters of the Merrimack with those of
+the Charles, diverted the main part of this traffic to Boston; and
+railways finally conveyed to the capital most of the remainder which
+came from any considerable distance. Wistful eyes, in the presence of
+these heaping dainties, were sometimes averted, no doubt, from a
+consciousness of empty pockets; yet there were always generous hearts
+and bounteous hands to meet the exigencies of every neighborhood; and
+we may be sure that no householder of decent repute, however poor or
+unlucky, and probably few others, even if a little tarnished in the
+moral world's esteem, lacked some kind friend who saw to it, that the
+accustomed turkey or chickens smoked on the board before the eyes of
+his hungry children on that day, at least, of all the year.
+
+But, unless respectable legends are to be peremptorily discredited, an
+incident once took place in this Market Square, of which I doubt if any
+other New England town can show the parallel. I am about to relate a
+statement made to me, not many years ago, by an elderly gentleman of
+excellent character and standing, a justice of the peace and of the
+quorum, and a devout member of the Orthodox Church. The story was told
+with all gravity and implicit confidence in its truth; and some may think
+it exhibits in a striking light the extent of human credulity and the
+imperfection of human testimony: "My father," said this worthy person,
+"has often told me of being in Market Square when a man, a woman, and a
+little dog appeared, and soon collected quite a crowd by the exhibition
+of feats of jugglery. At length, after a due collection of tribute from
+the standers-by, the man produced a ball of cord from his pocket, threw
+it into the air, and began to ascend it, hand over hand. The woman
+followed, and after her the little dog. While the crowd was gaping, in
+expectation of the return of this mysterious trio, some one drove into
+the market-place and inquired the occasion of this unusual congregation.
+Upon being informed, he said, that he had just met such a party on the
+road, about a mile from the town." I had read the most extraordinary
+accounts, by British officers and others, of exhibitions like this, which
+they alleged they had often witnessed in India. I remembered one, in
+particular, where tigers and other unwelcome guests, and even the
+somewhat unwieldy bulk of an elephant, had seemingly been brought down,
+before their eyes, upon a cable fastened by some mysterious agency far
+aloft; for I suppose it behooved to be made fast in some inconceivable
+region of the upper air. But that a similar demonstration could have been
+made in a sober New England town, at noonday, could scarcely fail to "put
+me from my faith." It impressed me, however, as at least an extraordinary
+relation, coming from such a source; and happening to meet another
+ancient and equally reputable friend on the same day, one, too, who had
+been much about the world in the capacity of a navigator to foreign
+climes, I took occasion to relate to him the strange narrative which I
+had just heard. "Oh," said he, "there is no doubt about it; my mother has
+often told me she was present and saw the whole transaction." "In the
+mouth of two or three witnesses," says the Scripture, "shall every word
+be established." In this case, it will be observed, the witnesses were
+two, but both at second-hand. I shall not vouch, therefore, for anything
+except that, as Scott says, "I tell the tale as 'twas told to me,"--and
+it may be set down as one of these veritable legends which all persons
+are at liberty to reject or accept, as they please. I expect to try the
+faith of the reader still further before I have finished this historical
+sketch. People often tell us, nowadays, that vulgar superstitions are
+altogether things of the past. This may be so in public; but I imagine
+that in private there is a lurking tinge of it in every human bosom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+In maritime towns, at a season of the year when there is no inducement
+for them to wander into the fields, boys who have nothing else to do, on
+play-days, are very apt to lounge, more or less, on the wharves and in
+the Market Place. When quite a youngster, I witnessed a scene on the spot
+last named, the incidents of which are as vivid in my memory as at the
+moment when they occurred, more than half a century ago. Though the
+commerce of our town had very materially declined from its former
+condition of wonderful activity and enterprise, it was still kept up with
+considerable semblance of its former spirit, and, besides our native
+vessels, a foreign ship occasionally sailed up our beautiful river. A few
+miles beyond the stream, in the neighboring State, dwelt a population
+chiefly agricultural, a portion of which, pursuing the avocation of
+small farmers and fishermen, alternately, for they were directly on the
+borders of the sea and somewhat isolated in their position, besides, were
+certainly a little wild in character and habits; though I am told that
+great improvement among them, in these respects, has taken place of later
+years. We called them "Algerines," from which epithet, more opprobrious
+than probably just, our estimate of their pretensions to civilization may
+be inferred. It was the practice of these people to bring their fish in
+whale-boats to our market, which was the nearest to their homes, and to
+dispose of this fruit of their often perilous labors either for money, or
+for such commodities as they required. I was standing, one afternoon,
+near a group of foreign sailors, believed to be Spaniards, with the
+natural curiosity of a boy, and rough-looking specimens of humanity they
+certainly were. It seemed that they had fallen into dispute with the
+crew, some three or four men, of an Algerine boat, and though the
+language on one side and the other was altogether unintelligible to the
+parties, the tones were uncommonly high. Doubtless, the Spaniards were
+resenting some insult offered by the Algerines,--prompted by that sort of
+jealousy and dislike with which the lower classes of English blood have
+been in the habit of regarding those of other nationalities. The quarrel
+seemed especially at its height between one of the Spanish crew and a
+young man of remarkable stature in coarse seaman's dress, with a great
+bush of long yellow locks hanging over the collar of his jacket, whose
+name it appeared was Souter. The Spanish champion had drawn an ugly
+looking knife, from which unfamiliar weapon, flourished so near his
+person, the Algerine instinctively flinched. At this critical moment, the
+patriarch of the Yankee crew, a tall, gaunt old man, with grizzled hair,
+stepped into the arena, and, seizing the foreigner by the collar, cried
+out,--"Now I'll bet Tom Souter" (pronounced Saouter) "could take this
+'ere fellow right here by the collar and shake every g---- right aout of
+him,"--using a more vulgar phrase, and suiting the action to the word so
+vigorously that the reeling and astounded Spaniard was glad enough to
+relinquish the field and to slink away crestfallen with his companions.
+
+As a further illustration of the ways of our neighbors, I will give one
+more anecdote of an affair which occurred years afterwards. Not far from
+the hamlet of our friends, the Algerines, but within the borders of
+Massachusetts, was another settlement, on the outskirts of a thriving
+village, the male inhabitants of which also followed the calling of small
+farmers and fishermen, some of them diversifying these pursuits by the
+occupation of shoemaking, at the ungenial season of the year. They were
+industrious, and far less rude than their compatriots, to whom reference
+has just been made. At this point lived three young men, hard by each
+other, and brothers, of the name, I will say, of Lowe. One day a tall and
+respectable looking old gentleman called upon the writer of this history,
+announcing himself as Colonel Lowe, and the father of the three young men
+in question. He had formerly commanded, it seems, a regiment of militia,
+and had a sort of semi-military bearing. He was now in great agitation
+and distress, occasioned by some trouble in which his sons were involved,
+through forcible resistance to the civil authorities of the Commonwealth,
+and he required the professional services of the writer for their
+defence. He justly regarded it as a case likely to lead to very serious
+consequences, and particularly dreaded for the young men the disgraceful
+punishment of the State Prison. It was a case to elicit every degree of
+sympathy for the worthy Colonel, and to prompt every effort for his
+relief. The facts, as they appeared at the trial before the Court of
+Common Pleas, were quite picturesque. A constable had appeared with an
+execution against one of the young Lowes, in the matter of a claim which
+he disputed as unjust; but without giving the peace-officer opportunity
+to discharge his duty, he was driven from the ground by the trio, in
+mortal terror of his life. The execution of the process was then
+undertaken by a somewhat fantastic country deputy sheriff; who was
+ordered off as he attempted to approach the parties in defence, and
+between them and the officer there was a good deal of raillery, which had
+an important bearing upon the final result of the trial. At length, the
+elder brother Lowe drew a line with a stick across the road and defied
+the officer to pass it, which he declined to do, but at once made good
+his retreat, smothering his indignation at such a rebuff, until he could
+give it vent in more safety than the existing circumstances warranted.
+Such reckless conduct was not to be endured, and no doubt the deputy was
+laughed at by his neighbors for his failure to carry his purpose into
+effect. The majesty of the Commonwealth had been insulted in his official
+person, and he determined to summon a _posse comitatus_, to vindicate the
+power and dignity of the law. Stories in the country, especially those
+involving any extraordinary incidents, sometimes fly faster than in town,
+and accordingly these young rebels forewarned, no doubt, of the peril in
+prospect, prepared themselves, as well as they could, to resist the more
+formidable invasion presently to be expected. Before daylight, one
+morning, the mustered force of some twenty men, variously armed, led by
+the valiant sheriff's officer, cautiously drew near the premises, in the
+hope of catching the culprits asleep. The brothers were too quick for
+their visitors, however, and evidently having been on the watch had
+retreated to a barn, securely fastening the door, and awaited the
+approach of the enemy. They had with them certain weapons, which were
+exhibited in the court, consisting of ancient rusty halberds and
+spontoons, probably borne in turn by their gallant father, in his several
+gradations of military service. As they were summoned to surrender, a
+musket was discharged out of a window of the barn, over the heads of the
+assailants, occasioning considerable confusion in their line. Assuming
+courage, at length, axes and crowbars were brought into requisition, and
+the door was forced. As the attacking party entered, however, the Lowes
+let down the stairs leading to the story above a heavy broad cart-wheel,
+and as it bounded clattering towards the floor below, the assailants fled
+out of doors in a panic, and taking advantage of their disorder, the
+Lowes, disregarding the vast disproportion of numbers, rushed upon them,
+and a regular mźleé began. It is thought, that the smaller party would
+have been victorious, but for an ugly blow on the head of the youngest
+brother, which felled and disabled him; whereupon his associates escaped
+unmolested and he was taken helpless into the house, where he remained
+until the time of the trial. Of course, the jury found him guilty, for
+the facts of the case were patent; but it was taken up, by exceptions to
+the ruling of the Judge, into the Supreme Court, in which, though it
+would be irreverent to intimate that the justices entered at all into the
+humor of such a Donnybrook Fair sort of scrimmage, yet, after argument,
+and it is presumed in consideration of some provocation on the part of
+the sheriff's deputy, especially the needlessly warlike and really
+ridiculous aspect he impressed on the affair, leading the young men to
+look upon it rather as an invitation to play their part, than as a
+serious purpose to violate the law, the sentence imposed was only a few
+months' imprisonment in the common jail. The prosecution was never
+enforced against the brothers, and never was more lively gratitude
+displayed, than at the escape of the convicted culprit from sentence to
+the ignominious seclusion of the State Prison.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+A term of the Court of Common Pleas was always held in the town in the
+month of September, and "court week" was a regular time of holiday for
+the pupils of the higher schools. Some of us attended upon these solemn
+proceedings with extraordinary interest, especially when criminal cases
+were before the court. I know not how it is, but suppose it to be the
+expected revelation of incidents, as in the plot of a novel, which draws
+crowds together, in most uncomfortable contiguity in a courtroom,
+whenever a culprit, especially one of more than usually notorious
+antecedents, is put upon his trial. While most of the old-fashioned
+lawyers of the Essex Bar were more than respectable for professional
+acquisitions and legal skill, there were persons among them of
+distinguished ability and character; and real eloquence seldom fails to
+prove peculiarly fascinating to youthful hearers. Who could forget, for
+example, with what rapt attention he listened, at a somewhat later date,
+to the glowing language and was stirred by the honest warmth of
+Saltonstall, incapable by nature of attempting to make the worse appear
+the better reason; or watched that marvel, the matchless ingenuity of
+Choate, whose faculties shone brightest, the more apparently hopeless was
+the cause at stake; or thrilled with profound admiration, under the
+resistless influence of Webster's force and closeness of argument,
+rising, with due occasion, to the highest point of eloquent illustration,
+when some more than usually important matter for adjudication by the
+court called him from the ordinary sphere of his great practice to the
+forum of a comparatively inferior tribunal.
+
+Years afterwards, when I had the honor of a place at that Bar, I was much
+struck with the testimony of a respectable witness, a farmer named
+Sheldon, who lived near Beverly Corner, upon an indictment of a fellow
+for burglary, in entering Mr. Sheldon's house by night and taking the
+money from his pockets in his sleeping chamber without disturbing the
+occupants. One of the earliest questions proposed to him was,--"How did
+the robber gain entrance to the house?" and, by the way, the man had been
+previously employed as a laborer by the farmer. "I suppose he came in by
+the usual way," was the answer. "He came in by the door, do you mean?"
+"Yes." "How did he get it open?" "I suppose he lifted the latch." "Do you
+mean to say, that the door was not fastened?" "Yes I do; we never fasten
+it." The culprit was convicted upon various satisfactory testimony; but
+the incident betokens a state of security, at that period, and a rarity
+of flagitious offences, which puts to shame the demoralization of our own
+day. For the house in question stood on the high road and was scarcely
+more than half a mile distant from a populous neighborhood, and within
+less than three miles of a town with many thousands of inhabitants.
+
+Strangely enough, considering the want of precaution on the part of the
+farmer, coming down, doubtless, from a still simpler period of social
+life, not half a mile from Mr. Sheldon's house stood a solitary
+habitation upon a desolate tract of land, and also near the highway,
+which at a time not long subsequent had acquired a very evil reputation;
+and with this house became connected circumstances which some may think
+scarcely admit of the solution of merely accidental occurrence. At the
+autumnal term of the court just indicated, when I had become a young
+practitioner at the bar, a certain vixenish old beldam was put upon trial
+for the offence of maintaining this ill reputed establishment. Her
+demeanor was singularly exceptional; for she did not scruple to interrupt
+the proceedings with the most fluent billingsgate, and upon receiving
+sentence berated the presiding judge in language betokening an
+extraordinary depth of desperate hardihood. Inquiry revealed the fact,
+that her solitary house, standing upon an elevated plain of some extent,
+the ground rising from the shores of Wenham Lake, in front but little
+removed from the road, and the space in its rear interspersed with
+scattered groups of funereal pines, had been the resort of various
+desperadoes, several of whom had suffered punishment for their crimes,
+and one of them had not long before committed suicide in jail, to escape
+public execution for a most atrocious murder.
+
+Late one day, in the beginning of the following Spring, I happened to be
+called upon to proceed to Boston, distant some forty miles, upon the
+sudden requirement of certain business to be transacted the next morning
+in the city. It was before the railway was in operation, and to
+accomplish the object in view I was to drive this considerable distance
+in a chaise, at night and alone. I was accustomed to this mode of
+locomotion, in my attendance upon the several sessions of the courts in
+the county, and the idea of fear never entered my mind. Accordingly,
+starting about dusk, at half past ten o'clock of a starlit night, I had
+reached a point in the journey where the road rises by a gentle ascent to
+the plain, on which stood "the house of evil counsel." All at once, the
+scene and the narrative of the previous Fall flashed upon my mind. Before
+leaving home, I had bethought myself of a brace of pistols in my
+possession, which I had loaded and placed in the pockets of my overcoat.
+And now comes the remarkable circumstance to which I have already
+referred. These weapons had been borrowed of a friend, months before,
+when in the midst of an unusually exciting election for a member of
+congress, continuing some two years, and stirring up extraordinary rancor
+in the minds of some of the partisans of the several candidates, I had
+been threatened with violence, if I should attend the polls. I had
+notified my opponents that I should vote at a certain hour, on the
+appointed day, and placed these pistols in my pocket, by way of defence;
+but nothing inconsistent with my freedom of political action in fact
+occurred. This was the only time in my life that I had carried such
+implements, which were then put aside in the drawer of a bureau, and I
+have never thought it worth while to take them since, except on the
+occasion now referred to. I had thus provided myself with them, on an
+entirely different occasion, and took them with me, on a sudden thought,
+as I was about to proceed on my journey, more in the spirit of youthful
+bravado, than with any other motive; for the roads, at that period, were
+considered perfectly safe, by night as well as by day. As I have
+remarked, the thought of the shrewish and abandoned old woman, of her
+house and its evil companions, occurred to me, as my horse slowly
+ascended the rising ground towards the plain. In a few minutes I was in
+the neighborhood of a habitation which I looked upon rather with
+detestation than any emotion of alarm; when what was my astonishment to
+behold a man--the sound of the wheels of the chaise being doubtless
+audible at some distance in the clear, still night--come out of the gate
+in front of the house and station himself in the middle of the somewhat
+narrow highway. In fact, the stranger was within a rod of the vehicle,
+and must either be driven over or move out of the way. At this unexpected
+encounter, I own that my heart, as the saying is, jumped into my mouth;
+but I instantly drew and cocked my pistol, and the click probably
+disturbing the nerves of my proposed assailant, he turned aside without
+offering further molestation. In a few minutes, the lamps of the
+mail-stage, as it turned Beverly Corner on its way eastward, were a
+grateful spectacle, and my onward journey was pursued without other
+adventure. The driver of that stage afterwards informed me, that the
+trunks strapped to the rear of their coaches had more than once been cut
+off in that very neighborhood, and that on one occasion beams had been
+placed in the road so that the carriage would have been overturned,
+unless they had been discovered in time, and doubtless had been so placed
+for purposes of robbery. I inquired, why investigation did not take place
+on the spot; but the reply was, that the passengers were in haste to get
+on, were unarmed, and perhaps timid, and preferred to remove the
+obstacles and proceed upon their way. The contrast, however, is
+striking, between the habit of a farmer to leave his door unfastened at
+night and the machinations of rogues not a quarter of a mile distant, who
+could be guilty of such crimes. I believe, however, that the existence of
+such a nest of villains was quite exceptional at that period, and unknown
+to the farmer, and that his sense of safety, without the most ordinary
+means of protection to his premises, was at that time the rule. The
+reader may draw what conclusions he pleases from the facts of my own
+personal narrative.
+
+I have remarked that politics, never stagnant in our ancient communities,
+at the period of my story, oftentimes grew extremely warm, and then every
+leading citizen took his personal part. Nor is it strange that the
+survivors of those who had borne their share in the Revolutionary War,
+who had the traditions, at least, of their fathers who served with the
+New England troops, and followed the gallant and generous Wolfe up the
+formidable heights of Abraham, and after the victorious field which cost
+that true hero his life, stood triumphant, under the Red Cross banner,
+upon the subjugated ramparts of Quebec, should exhibit marked
+peculiarities of character; should hold fast to strong opinions; and
+indeed should manifest that individuality and originality of thought and
+action which is scarcely witnessed in the promiscuous crowd of our own
+tamer times. Instead of that indifference, the bane of a republic, among
+the upper class, the result of accumulated wealth and luxurious habits,
+the chief men of both parties stood at the door of the Town Hall, on days
+of election, distributing votes, and encouraging the timid and the
+doubtful, and their influence was effectively felt in the direction of
+public affairs, which now seem mostly to be left to the management of the
+least competent, and often the most ignorant, mercenary, and corrupt. I
+firmly believe that the equal, if not preėminent position long maintained
+by Massachusetts, among rivals vastly superior in territory and
+population, was owing to the active interest formerly taken by her
+leading men of all professions and occupations in the politics of the
+day, and that thus the sources of political well being were kept
+comparatively pure. At present, these men take their political opinions
+from the newspaper they read, and trouble themselves very little further
+about a matter in which their own stake, one would think, would rouse
+them to exertion, from the promptings of enlightened self-interest, if
+not from the more generous emotions of public spirit.
+
+On one occasion, when some eager dispute had arisen, as to which of the
+two parties actually preponderated, for the balance sometimes wavered
+from one side to the other, it was determined to poll the town; that is,
+to assemble all citizens entitled to vote in the Town Hall, to divide
+them personally according to their several politics and by actual count
+to ascertain which was the strongest in point of numbers. I happened to
+be present, as a boy who heard political questions discussed with
+animation at home, and was curious to witness the scene, which was one
+really of the intensest interest. The selectmen occupied their tribune,
+at the head of the Hall, and the meeting was presided over by their
+chairman, a man of imposing height and general personal development, with
+flowing white locks, who commanded the respect of all parties. His father
+had been a soldier of Wolfe, and he and his associates were on the
+Federal side. When the parties were arranged for the enumeration, one
+worthy individual, who kept the principal tavern of the town, stood
+hesitating, at the end of the hall, between the two files; for, in fact,
+both parties of necessity made use of his house, by turns, in
+commemoration of some public event, or for festive purposes, which, to
+tell the truth; were frequently coming round; for the liquor was both
+better and cheaper than in these degenerate days. I shall never forget
+the start which the sonorous voice of the chairman gave me, as he bawled
+out,--"None of that, Jenkins; we can't have any shirking here; you must
+take one side or the other,"--and he did, amidst the tumultuous laughter
+with which the Hall resounded. The contest was a good-natured one, and I
+have no doubt which party proved victorious, considering that the
+prevailing sentiment of the town was pretty well evidenced by the
+political leanings of the _Board_; but at this late day it is of little
+consequence to authenticate the fact.
+
+The father of the sturdy chairman had set up the tavern, after returning
+from the expedition to Quebec, which he called the WOLFE HOUSE, in
+memory of his commander, General James Wolfe, who is presented in such a
+pleasing light in Thackeray's "Virginians," and, as a noble-minded man
+and true hero, deserved all which could be said in his praise. In after
+days, and I believe it is still there, the sign was suspended in front of
+the hotel, which took the place of that destroyed by the "Great Fire."
+The brave general wore his red coat and cocked hat, all through the War
+of the Revolution and that of 1812-14, without molestation from colonial
+rebels, or Yankees fighting against the mother country, by land and by
+sea. The tavern was kept for a long time by a shrewd and active host, who
+had a keen eye to the main chance. Among his dinner guests were farmers
+who attended market, and others, content to take their meals at half
+price, after the chief company had finished that repast. Of these was one
+Major Muncheon, somewhat celebrated for his remarkable powers of making
+away with whatever the table furnished. One day, Wilkins, the host, who
+was addicted to a slightly nasal intonation, addressed him, when he had
+just risen from his seat,--"Major, I can't dine you any more for
+twenty-five cents." "Why not?" asked the well-satisfied trencherman. "I
+tell you, Major," said his host, "the very vegetables you've eaten cost
+two and three pence" (37-1/2 cents), "saying nothing of the meat and
+pies." "Pho! Wilkins," remonstrated the farmer, "it's only the second
+table." "Second table!" replied the host; "why, Major, if you had sat
+down to the first table, there wouldn't have been no second."
+
+But if parties in those times were often hotly opposed, there was one
+occasion, every year, when a broader sentiment of patriotism warmed the
+hearts of all in the fellowship of a common cause. The Anniversary of
+Independence was duly commemorated by appropriate exercises for
+considerably more than half a century in our spirited town, and with a
+general loosening of party ties on the occasion, until the War of 1812,
+when the parties conducted separate celebrations, though the orators were
+always only too apt to tighten them again by untimely political
+allusions, in the narrower sense of the phrase.[6]
+
+On one of these anniversaries, the orator expectant we will call Mr.
+Moses, a member of the Bar, who had already acquired distinction and was
+afterwards a leader in his profession, well known in the county of Essex.
+It was in reference to this gentleman, that an ambitious colored person
+of that day instructed the shoemaker he employed, that he wanted "his
+boots to have as much creak in them as Squire Moses's." On the day before
+the services were to take place, the orator repaired to the meeting-house
+appointed for the purpose, in order to rehearse his performance, and
+having mounted the stairs to the pulpit by a back-entrance, and probably
+wearing boots, at this time, of less distinctive resonance, did not
+attract the attention of an old woman who was on her knees scrubbing the
+broad aisle. The speaker had a melodious and ringing voice, and began, I
+suppose,--"Friends and fellow-countrymen!" "Oh, lud-a-mercy!" cried the
+ancient female on the floor, starting to her feet, with uplifted hands.
+The occupant of the pulpit was a very polite person. "Oh, don't be
+alarmed, madam," cried he; "it's only Moses." "Moses!" screamed the
+woman--"Moses is come! Moses is come!" and not much to the credit of a
+piety which ought to have felt so highly favored by a vision of the great
+prophet, rushed from the church into the street in an agony of terror,
+spreading consternation in the neighborhood by her outcries, until the
+mystery was speedily cleared up.
+
+-----
+  [6]  Of all these productions I have seldom seen one equal to
+       the printed sermon preached by Rev. Mr. Murray, of our
+       Old South Church, upon the Proclamation of Peace;[A]
+       for its array of various interesting information upon
+       the condition and prospects of the country, and for
+       soundly patriotic views, enforced with fervid and
+       striking eloquence. In one respect, it could scarcely be
+       surpassed. We have heard of the protracted discourses of
+       the old Puritan divines, in both countries with which
+       most of us claim origin, and like them Mr. Murray's
+       sermon must have consumed at least two hours and a half
+       in the delivery. He was educated at Edinburgh and was no
+       doubt a native of Scotland.
+
+  [A]  1783
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+I know there are those who will kindly regard these reminiscences of
+things, trifling, it may be, in themselves, but affording a glimpse of
+manners perhaps already forgotten by most or all of those who were
+formerly more or less conversant with them, and which may prove of some
+interest in the future. We had spent our Thanksgiving at home, in the
+year 18--, but went all together to the farm of our uncle Richard, who
+was of the Episcopal Church, for the celebration of Christmas; for many
+of his persuasion, at that time, regarded "Thanksgiving" pretty much as
+the Highlander, in Scott's novel, did "ta little government Sunday, tat
+tey call ta Fast." He was a well-to-do farmer, at a place within easy
+reach of the town in which we lived, and where very few were at all
+rich, even according to the former moderate standard of wealth, and most
+people were poor, or at least depended on their daily labor for their
+daily bread. Those were very hard times following upon the war; and that
+had followed fast upon the Great Fire, which reduced to ruin almost the
+entire central business part of the town. Our family had suffered private
+losses, too, by a swindling failure on an extensive scale,--a rare
+incident in those days;[7] and again by the embargo and the war, most
+of my mother's limited means having been invested in one vessel after
+another, employed in the coasting trade, and this source of income at
+length stopped altogether. Still, people bore up bravely against these
+misfortunes, and showed quite as much spirit and hardihood as in these
+latter times, and got along decently, after a fashion. To be sure, the
+proclamation of Peace, a few years before, had revived all hearts; though
+I heard of a washerwoman engaged in her avocation, while the bells were
+ringing, who, on learning the cause of jubilation, peevishly
+exclaimed,--"Peace! peace! what's peace, when there's no water?"[8] Our
+Thanksgiving had been a cheerful one, though colored, as such
+anniversaries are likely to be, with recollections of the absent, or the
+dead; for the memory of my father was always present to my mother, then
+and during a long widowhood of almost half a century, and my older
+brothers were at sea. My mother was an excellent housekeeper, and we had
+plenty of the usual belongings of the festival, so eagerly looked forward
+to by the young, and something to bestow upon others not so well
+supplied. It was the practice of some of this class to knock at the doors
+of those thought to be better off, on the evening before, begging
+"something for Thanksgiving;" and, by way of a joke, the children of
+comfortable neighbors and friends would often array themselves in
+cast-off bizarre habiliments, and come in bands of three or four to the
+houses of those whom they knew, preferring the same request. Ordinarily,
+the disguise was readily detected. Sometimes the little mimics would come
+in, and keep up the show and the fun for a while; but for the most part
+their courage failed them at the threshold, and they scurried away,
+shouting for glee, almost before they got any answer to their mock
+petitions. It was a queer fancy, thus to simulate poverty; but kings have
+sometimes done so. Did not James of Scotland find amusement in roaming
+through a portion of his domain, as a "gaberlunzie-man?" Yes--and even
+composed a famous ballad to celebrate his exploits in this humble way. In
+the evening, we had a lively company, regaled with nuts, apples, and
+cider; and my grandmother, who indulged in the old-fashioned practice,
+that is for females, of smoking a pipe, sat in the chimney-corner, where
+a genial wood-fire was brightly blazing, for coal was then a thing
+unknown in family consumption, duly furnished with the implement, and
+sometimes called out to us,--"A-done, children, a-done," when in anywise
+annoyed by us, and occasionally would sing us an old song, of which I
+remember only "Robert Kid" and "A galliant ship, launched off the stocks,
+from Old England she came," etc.; and, often when a storm was raging
+without, repeating to us the rhymes,--
+
+         "How little do" (pronounced doe) "we think, or know,
+          What _the_ poor sailors undergo."
+
+But we had a livelier time at Uncle Richard's; for there were more of us
+and merrier. Of course, those of the household who could be spared from
+domestic duties had attended service in the morning, and some of us from
+the town had also appeared at church; for though our branch of the
+family were now Presbyterians, we remembered that our common ancestor and
+the company who came over with him, a couple of centuries and more before
+that time, were of the Church of England, only protesting against the
+abuses which had crept into it; and Uncle Richard carefully preserved,
+with the genealogy of the family on this side the water, the Orders in
+Council, prescribing for the passengers, by the "Mary and John," of which
+my ancestor was one, then lying in the Thames, in the year 1633, amongst
+other regulations, the daily service to be observed on board, according
+to the ordinances of the Prayer Book.
+
+No doubt the dinner was all which the domestic celebration of the
+festival imports, for the farm was well stocked with every description of
+creature, and with most other things needful for the purpose; but I may
+be excused if I remember none of the particulars, now that so many years
+have intervened. I know that Uncle Richard always prided himself upon his
+excellent cider, and there is little question that there was a due
+allowance of spirits, which most persons of fair means kept, in those
+days, in decanters openly ranged upon the parlor sideboard. Indeed, about
+the same period, while I was a student at a famous Academy not many miles
+distant from our own home, the English teacher, an orthodox clergyman of
+high repute, who cultivated a few acres of land at the place where he
+lived on the outskirts of the town, invited a few of the pupils, myself
+in the number, to assist him in making hay, one play-afternoon. The boys
+had a good frolic, and, after work was ended, our master treated us to
+milk-punch, a highly agreeable, but rather exhilarating beverage. Our
+uncle's house was of the old-fashioned New England description,
+pleasantly facing the south, with a high-peaked roof, which descended,
+in the opposite quarter, to not much more than a man's stature from the
+ground. In front was a spacious green yard, leading on one side to the
+garden for vegetables and trees of the choicer kinds of fruit, and
+sprinkled here and there with bunches of gay flowers; and at the entrance
+gate by the road two magnificent elms, of an age and height which denoted
+that they must have given shade to several past generations from the
+summer heat, flung out drooping branches which extended a very great
+distance from the parent trunks. After dinner, our host entertained us
+with a narrative of his recent visit to the capital town of Boston, to
+testify, in company with a former neighbor, now resident there, in behalf
+of his hired man, Jasper Towne, of English birth, who having, duly and at
+a long term beforehand, declared his intention, in proper form, was at
+length, after a continuous residence of fourteen years in the United
+States, admitted by the Federal Court to all the rights and privileges
+which free citizenship could confer upon him. The scene in court my uncle
+thought peculiarly solemn and impressive. The candidate for the franchise
+was strictly questioned by the presiding justice, in open court, with
+regard to his origin and his past life. The witnesses were subjected to a
+similar scrutiny as to his character and habits, and their judgment of
+his fitness for the responsible position and the new duties he was about
+to assume. When this part of the transaction was completed, the oaths of
+renunciation of allegiance to every foreign power, prince, or potentate
+whatsoever, and the oath to support the Constitution of the United States
+were administered to him by the clerk in a manner to fix it in his mind
+that it was a very serious business, indeed, in which he had just been
+engaged. Thereupon, the judge addressed him in language of congratulation
+and counsel, and our newly-made fellow-countryman respectfully departed
+from the tribunal, conscious that he had attained no mean privilege and
+had secured a safeguard, like that, by the declaration of which the
+Apostle of the Gentiles stayed the uplifted hands of his persecutors, and
+caused them to tremble at the thought of misuse or degradation inflicted
+upon a Roman citizen. Now, I believe, whatever is left of the ceremony
+upon such occasions is slurred over in a clerk's office, or the part
+performed in court scarcely attracts the attention of the magistrate upon
+the bench. The moral of this change of practice may be left to the
+reflection of the judicious reader. But it was something then to be, or
+to be made an American citizen.
+
+Not long before this, there had been an earthquake, which, though of
+brief duration, had caused no little alarm,--a terrific sound always,
+however slight the shock,--and in this instance making houses tremble
+and shaking down various articles from their places of deposit. In the
+early days of the colony, these phenomena were not uncommon, and are said
+to have been of no little power in this part of New England. Uncle
+Richard described the recent one as rumbling under the frozen ground
+leading to his barns, as if a line of heavily-loaded wagons had rolled
+over it. Being something of a philosopher, and better educated than usual
+at the time, he explained the cause of such physical occurrences to us
+young ones.
+
+"The fact is," he said, "the water in certain parts of the earth becomes
+intensely heated and lets off a quantity of steam of amazing expansive
+power. It is like a tea-kettle, which if you shut the nozzle tight, may
+either throw off the lid with great force, or the kettle itself bursts
+with the strain upon it. So the steam, under the earth, heated by central
+fires, and gaining immense volume and power, seeks the hollows in its
+neighborhood, and rushes into them with a force which produces the
+concussion and the rumbling sound; and the shaking of the surface which
+we perceive is really like the commotion in the tea-kettle and the
+trembling of the vessel when the steam has no vent. It is an awful
+thought that we thus live over the action of these subterranean fires;
+but they are in the control of the Almighty, and all we have to do is to
+submit to God's will and merciful providence."
+
+St. Paul's Church, of which Uncle Richard was a vestryman, owed its
+origin to the separation of certain persons from the Congregational mode
+of worship, and the formation of a society for the resumption of the
+Protestant Episcopal pattern, as long ago as the year 1712. Their place
+of worship they named Queen Anne's Chapel,[9] in honor of the
+sovereign "at home," the last of the direct Stuart line, whose royal
+person, it is said, having grown too unwieldy to permit horseback
+exercise, she was in the habit of following the hunt, of which she was
+passionately fond, driving herself, helter-skelter, in a one-horse
+chaise. She has the credit of having bestowed some endowment upon the
+Chapel, and the Bishop of London presented it with a bell; which, if all
+accounts be true, still hangs in the steeple of a congregational
+meeting-house within the precinct of the "Plains," where the Chapel once
+stood. For that edifice, probably not having been very substantially
+built, and being situated on a barren tract of land, afterwards known as
+"Grasshopper Plains," and, for the convenience of the scattered
+parishioners, placed at a distance from every one of them, and hence
+subject to various causes of dilapidation, especially when St. Paul's,
+within the town, was in process of construction, at length fell to ruin;
+and the bell was carried privately away--so runs the tale--and was long
+buried in the ground, but has now for many years summoned the people to a
+style of worship which would have appealed in vain to the good Bishop of
+London for any such donation. It may be supposed that it could not be
+identified, after its interment, and perhaps the obliteration, naturally
+or otherwise, of its peculiar marks; or the successors of Queen Anne's at
+St. Paul's, built about thirty years after the former, would have
+reclaimed their property.
+
+The motives of those who thus revived the relation of their ancestors
+with the Established Church were not altogether pious; but the fact
+incontestably proves, that after nearly a century of separation from that
+establishment, the objections to it, in the minds of many of the children
+of the colonists, were by no means insurmountable. Indeed, it was about
+a question of parish taxation that they differed with their
+co-religionists. The place selected for the meeting-house was so far
+distant from the homes of many of the parish, that they could not attend
+without great inconvenience, and yet they were required to pay the parish
+rates for the support of the minister. They remonstrated and appealed in
+vain to the civil authorities in the colony and to those in England, for
+relief; for the law was clearly against them, unless they chose to
+conform to the doctrines and discipline of the Established Church.
+Finding nothing in the Thirty-nine Articles inconsistent with the faith
+they professed, they easily reconciled themselves to the ceremonies, and
+thus succeeded in their object of removing from their shoulders an
+involuntary burden.
+
+As may be imagined, at first and for years afterwards, they remained but
+"a feeble folk," regarded with suspicion and dislike by the more
+narrow-minded of their contemporaries, though the days were long gone by,
+when an Episcopalian, especially if suspected of a leaning towards
+Popery, was set in the pillory or the stocks. The Church, however, had
+been long flourishing, in my youth, and I was always particularly
+impressed when I attended service there, as I always did on Christmas
+Day, with the organ, an instrument utterly unknown in our other places of
+public worship, and with the comfort diffused by the large Russian stove
+which projected from a corner of the building; while we, for long years
+afterwards, shivered in our meeting-houses of a cold Sunday. To be sure,
+the younger children carried their mothers' hand-stoves, constructed of
+tin in a frame of wood and pierced with holes in the top, to let out such
+heat as could be communicated by a small pan of coals covered with ashes.
+But for the male part of the congregation, who despised such a luxury,
+it was almost impossible to avoid occasionally striking the benumbed feet
+together, and sometimes the clatter was almost as considerable, as in
+letting down the seats after the long prayer, especially if that proved
+to be a very protracted exercise. But I have known young ladies so
+indifferent to the severity of the weather, as to attend meeting, on very
+cold days of winter, with bare arms. What would delicate ladies, who,
+wrapped in warm furs, listen to service in a heated church, think of such
+exposure now? On one particular occasion, however, our minister announced
+the text,--"Who can stand before His cold?" and closed the services with
+the usual blessing, a little to the dissatisfaction, I think, of the more
+staid members of the congregation, who having come through cold and snow,
+or a furious wintry storm, it might be, to hear a sermon, were not
+altogether contented to miss the expected edification, or perhaps the
+opportunity of criticising the discourse. Indeed, I know not what my
+respected great grandsire, an elder of the church in his day, would have
+said to such defection from spiritual needs towards indulgence in carnal
+comfort. For it is said, that when some less searching and thorough-going
+preacher of the word exchanged with our minister, or casually officiated
+for him, the old gentleman tottered out of the meeting-house, leaning on
+his staff, and with elevated eyebrows muttered pretty audibly to those
+near him,--"Peas in a bladder--thorns under a pot--no food to-day!" And
+however it might be with many of his neighbors, not the minutest particle
+of the quality of original Puritanism had been shaken out of his system
+by the changes of the times. The family tradition is, that before the
+sunset of Saturday everything necessary for the support of nature upon
+the Sabbath was cooked and in readiness. Whether he allowed the
+accustomed beans and rye and Indian bread to remain in the oven subject
+to the working heat, over Saturday night, I am not able to certify. But
+in the intervals of public worship on Sunday,--a term, by the way, which
+he would have scorned to employ,--the family was assembled and ranged
+around the walls of the room, and the reading of Scripture, or of some
+well-worn book of devotion, was proceeded with, while the head of the
+family sat in the centre, with a stick in his hand long enough to reach
+the head and shoulders of any inattentive or unquiet child.
+
+-----
+  [7]  When a trader failed, as was rarely the case at that
+       primitive period, his sign was taken down at night, to
+       the wonder of the public in the morning, and he remained
+       fast locked from the sheriff, or too inquisitive
+       callers, in his house, until the disposition of his
+       creditors became known,--dependent upon their confidence
+       in his good intentions, or their sympathy with his
+       unexpected misfortunes.
+
+  [8]  An anecdote quite parallel to this is to be found in the
+       now late lamented Dean Ramsay's "Reminiscences." He
+       relates, as a specimen of the cool Scottish
+       matter-of-fact view of things, the following
+       communication of a correspondent:--
+
+       "The back windows of the house where he was brought up
+       looked upon the Greyfriars' Church that was burned down.
+       On the Sunday morning in which that event took place, as
+       they were all preparing to go to church, the flames
+       began to burst forth; the young people screamed from the
+       back part of the house, 'A fire! a fire!' and all was in
+       a state of confusion and alarm. The housemaid was not at
+       home, it being her turn for the Sunday 'out.' Kitty, the
+       cook, was taking her place, and performing her duties.
+       The old woman was always very particular on the subject
+       of her responsibility on such occasions, and came
+       panting and hobbling upstairs from the lower regions,
+       and exclaimed, 'Oh what is't, what is't?' 'O, Kitty,
+       look here, the Greyfriars' Church is on fire!' 'Is that
+       a', Miss? What a fright ye geed me! I thought ye said
+       the parlor fire was out.'"
+
+  [9]  It was, I believe, the oldest Episcopal Church in
+       Massachusetts, with the exception of King's Chapel, in
+       Boston, a small wooden structure, which stood upon the
+       place where the stone edifice of that name is now
+       situated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+An aged friend, years ago deceased, who had seen much of the world, once
+observed to me, that he had never seen a more "scrupulous people," to use
+his expression, than our Presbyterian congregation. The clergy of the
+town were always distinguished, at a period when to be a clergyman was to
+be much more an object of reverence than in these latter days, and when a
+boy in the street would scarcely venture to pass one, on the opposite
+sidewalk, without pulling off his cap. But they set their people an
+excellent example, though they did not always escape the censure of the
+over "scrupulous." For instance, Mr. Murray, the accomplished scholar and
+divine to whom reference has already been made, was known to take no
+dinner in the interval of public worship, substituting for that repast a
+slice or two of bread and a few glasses of wine. Why such a fact, when
+everybody drank more or less wine, or something stronger, every day of
+the week, should have alarmed the conscience of Miss Betty Timmins, a
+maiden lady of a certain age, it seems difficult to conjecture.
+Nevertheless, she made a solemn call, one day, upon her pastor, and with
+such apology as she could muster for impertinence--at length out with it:
+"I must tell you, reverend sir, they do say you drink." "Drink! Miss
+Timmins," said Mr. Murray; "to be sure I do, don't you? How can anybody
+live without drinking?" and the discomfited spinster retreated. Mr.
+Murray had a fund of humor. The parsonage was close by the house of his
+parishioner, the sheriff, and the adjoining jail and whipping-post in the
+charge of that officer, and in the last illness of the minister the
+official was in the habit of taking him to a drive. Once, as he was
+getting into the chaise, a friend passed by and he called out, "If you
+see any one inquiring for me, tell him the last you saw of me I was in
+the hands of the sheriff." But after his time, and at the period of which
+I am writing, we had no less than three English ministers settled in the
+town, all educated upon the foundation of the celebrated Countess of
+Huntington. I recall, with vivid recollection, the figure of one of these
+worthies who called himself an "Independent," as he proceeded to meeting
+on a Sunday: his high cocked hat, his flowing, black curled locks,--more
+in the cavalier than the Puritan fashion; his long blue cloak over his
+clerical gown, his bands, his knee-breeches,--objected to by a fastidious
+young lady, as "short pantaloons,"--his square shoe-buckles, and his
+ponderous cane. His person was somewhat short and thick, whence "lewd
+fellows of the baser sort" sometimes irreverently called him the "The
+Jack of Clubs." But he was a really good man, with the most powerful
+voice I remember to have heard, and he preached, always an unwritten
+sermon, but with heads set down, anything but smooth things to his
+numerous congregation. Towards the close of his life he used to remark,
+that when he first came to this country, the topic of sermons was "Jesus
+Christ and Him crucified; now it was nothing but niggers and rum." He was
+good at retort. Early one Monday morning he was going home from the
+market, with some mackerel which he had just purchased strung upon his
+cane. "Mr. Milton," said some passer-by, "them mackerel was caught
+Sunday." "Well," was the reply, "that ain't the fishes' fault."
+
+One burden of this worthy minister's Sunday prayer, during the sessions
+of Congress and of the State legislature, was, "Counsel our councillors,
+and teach our senators wisdom." By many of the stronger faith of an elder
+day, his fervent supplications were believed to exercise a specific
+influence upon the atmosphere, particularly in bringing needed rain at a
+dry time. I have often heard it said, after the drought had continued a
+good while,--"Well, Milton has prayed for rain and now we shall have it."
+This reminds me of an anecdote appropriate to the topic, in that very
+entertaining book, Dean Ramsay's "Reminiscences of Scottish Life and
+Character." At one time when the crops were much laid by continuous
+rains, and wind was earnestly desired in order to restore them to a
+condition fit for the sickle,--"A minister," he says, "in his Sabbath
+services expressed their wants in prayer, as follows: 'O Lord, we pray
+thee to send us wind, no a rantin' tantin,' tearin' wind, but a noohin',
+(noughin?) soughin', winnin' wind.'" In like manner, I have heard of a
+prayer preferred by a somewhat simple New Englander, who was overheard
+offering his petition behind a clump of bushes in a field: "O Lord, I
+want a new coat--good cloth--none of your coarse, flimsy, slimsy, sleazy
+kind of stuff, but a good piece of thick, warm, comfortable
+broadcloth--such as Bill Hale wears."
+
+It must be admitted that the reverend person was rather rough in manner;
+but he had a truly kind heart. Like John Wesley, he was unfortunate in
+his domestic relations; a circumstance which doubtless tended somewhat to
+lessen the amiability of an originally good disposition. But,
+notwithstanding his various trials and we fear conflicts at home, no one
+questioned his piety. Indeed, one well acquainted with his character and
+experiences, when his death was announced, at once exclaimed,--"What a
+change! From pitching skillets, to handling harps!" There could be no
+greater contrast than in the person and character of our long and
+well-beloved Presbyterian minister, graceful in person, courteous and
+affable in demeanor, accomplished in ancient learning and in that
+portion of English literature which is styled classical; a devoted and
+affectionate pastor, a most able and persuasive preacher; of whom
+President Dwight, of Yale, is reported to have said, that there had been
+scarcely such a writer of pure English since Addison. With the exception
+of some failure of physical powers, towards the close of his life, he
+retained these admirable characteristics and accomplishments to the end
+of his more than ninety years. He always preached in gown and bands, with
+black gloves upon his hands, his nether limbs encased in small-clothes
+and silk stockings, until in later life he adopted the prevailing mode.
+We always knew when he intended to preach, because through several
+intervening yards and gardens we could see from our house the light in
+his study, at a distance, of a Saturday night. His morning discourses
+were usually admirable expositions of Scripture delivered without notes;
+his afternoon sermons were written exercises, and we so depended upon
+both, that it was a disappointment when we discovered that he was to
+exchange, by the absence of the usual light. He would descend from the
+contemplation of the highest themes, which address themselves to human
+reason and imagination, and from the relaxation of reading "Tully," or
+Horace, or Pope, who was a special favorite with him, to the preparation
+of his fire-wood for domestic use, and doubtless this accustomed
+saw-horse practice tended very much to the promotion and continuance both
+of his bodily and mental health. In my childhood, he taught me and other,
+I fear, reluctant pupils all we were capable of learning of the
+Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism, contained, at that time, in a
+small but miscellaneous volume called the Primer. He was a great lover of
+the writings of Cowper, which name, in the English manner, he always
+pronounced Cooper, and of the Psalms and Hymns and the lyrical
+productions, in general, of Dr. Watts; and long after I had grown up, he
+pointed out to me a verse in one of those Hymns, remarking upon a point
+which I do not remember to have seen noticed elsewhere, that it presented
+the finest specimen of alliteration in the language, as follows:--
+
+                 "How vain are all things here below,
+                    How false and yet how fair!
+                  Each pleasure hath its poison too,
+                    And every sweet a snare."
+
+The eventual condition and standing of our Episcopal Church may be
+inferred from the fact, that its Rector, in early times, was chosen
+Bishop of the diocese, a dignity which he long piously and humbly
+enjoyed. Along the beautiful street on which St. Paul's stood, and in its
+immediate neighborhood, were some of the more elegant residences of the
+town, and an air of superior gentility seemed to pervade the precinct, so
+that some caviller saw fit to call it St. James's, in allusion to the
+Christian name of the excellent Rector who succeeded the venerable
+Bishop. He was, indeed, a most devoted churchman, looking upon all
+persons outside of his communion as sheep wandering from the fold, and
+used to say, that he considered the whole town as really belonging to his
+parish. He was a person very highly esteemed for his piety and sincerity,
+and as evidence of this repute, and of liberality on both sides, he
+preached, by invitation, and read the service in the Presbyterian
+meeting-house, on one occasion, at least, when our minister was absent
+and his own pulpit was supplied. We were then under another pastor; but
+some years before this manifestation of truly Christian toleration a
+controversy arose between the Rector and our Presbyterian clergyman, in
+regard to the obligatory observance of Christmas. It was conducted in the
+newspaper of the town, then published only on two days of the week, and
+to the multitude of readers appeared more spirited than edifying, as is
+the case with most polemical disputes. The worthy Episcopal Doctor had
+asserted on Christmas Day, that the observance of that festival was of
+universal Christian obligation. The Presbyterian Doctor took up the
+cudgels to demonstrate, that, although it was proper and reasonable
+enough to keep the day, as a matter of religious edification, like a
+lecture-day, for example, by those who saw fit to do so, yet there was no
+authority, in this respect, binding upon the consciences of those who
+chose to disregard it. Both of the disputants were acknowledged gentlemen
+and scholars; but after much argument and learning wasted upon the
+subject, it is to be feared that the controversy, through the medium of a
+public journal, between two such highly respected controversialists, on a
+topic of religious practice, only gave too much occasion to the scoffer.
+Indeed, Johnnie Favor, the Episcopal sexton's helper, one of those
+persons, reputed half-witted, who sometimes make very apposite remarks,
+observed,--"Well--Christmas here, or Christmas there, I'm not so
+narrer-contracted as to like to see the surplices of two such good men as
+your Doctor and my Doctor draggled in the dirt."
+
+Certainly, a tone of unusual refinement pervaded the better educated
+class of the community in the old town, at the period of this relation,
+and not a little stateliness of manner was kept up by some of the older
+families. Indeed, I think they would compare very favorably in point of
+intelligence and manners, with persons of a similar class, as described
+by the great authorities heretofore referred to, and others, who have
+given us vivid pictures of social life in the Scottish capital. To be
+sure, the colonial days of distinct social rank had long gone by. But,
+half a generation before, the town had been one of the most flourishing
+and wealthy in New England, and to the counting-houses of its principal
+merchants young men resorted, even from the capital of the State, to
+learn the art and practice of business. Those who filled the several
+learned professions were persons of the highest eminence in their several
+callings,--drawing pupils around them who afterwards, and on wider fields
+of action, attained great names and some of whom occupied the loftiest
+civil positions in the land.
+
+Among the students, for example, in the office of that great lawyer and
+judge, Chief Justice Parsons, while he practised at the Bar, and who
+subsequently attained eminence, were John Quincy Adams, afterwards
+President of the United States, and Rufus King, afterwards Senator in
+Congress from the State of New York, and twice Minister Plenipotentiary
+to Great Britain; and Robert Treat Paine, so celebrated in his day, as
+an orator and poet.[10] Of one of these eminent persons I heard a
+story, formerly, from a friend of very high character as a man and a
+lawyer, the late Hon. William Baylies, of West Bridgewater,
+Massachusetts. It seems that while Mr. King, then a young man, was in the
+practice of his profession in Boston he was detained in attendance upon
+court at Plymouth, until late on Saturday evening. It was necessary for
+him to be at home seasonably on Monday morning, and accordingly he
+mounted his horse early on Sunday, the ordinary mode of travel, in those
+days, and proceeded leisurely on his way. It was summer time; and in
+passing through the township of Hanover, in Plymouth County, he
+approached a plain wooden structure by the roadside, in which, as he
+could see by the assemblage within, the door and windows being open, that
+it was a time of religious service. Alighting, out of deference to the
+character of the day, he hitched his horse and quietly entered the
+building. It proved to be a Quaker meeting, and perfect silence
+prevailed. At length tiring of this state of things, Mr. King arose and
+began to address the assembly upon topics suitable to the day. He was an
+uncommonly handsome young man, and then and ever afterwards distinguished
+for extraordinary powers of eloquence. The Quakers listened with mute
+amazement and admiration to the discourse of some twenty minutes'
+duration, when the speaker slipped out, remounted, and proceeded on his
+journey. The incident was the occasion of great and mysterious interest,
+for a long time afterwards, in the quiet country neighborhood. No
+imagination could conceive who the wonderful speaker might be, and many
+insisted it must have been, indeed, "an angel from heaven." Some years
+afterwards, at the session of a Constitutional Convention in
+Massachusetts, Mr. King rose to make a motion. He had no sooner begun,
+than a Quaker member started up from a back seat, and, carried away by
+the first glimpse at solution of the long-standing mystery, cried out,
+"That's the man that spoke in our meetin'."
+
+Provision for the instruction of youth was liberal, and not long
+previously the most famous, and I believe the longest established
+academy of the day, flourished in the immediate neighborhood, in all
+its glory. Of the school-books then in use, I cannot but think that
+one in particular, Murray's English Reader, was a better manual than any
+other which has since been produced. For it was mainly made up of extracts
+from the writings of the best authors, in the best age of English
+literature, and I can answer that its lessons were calculated to make
+impressions on the youthful mind, never to be forgotten. But the
+prevalent idea, of late years, seems to have been to nationalize
+school-books, so as to narrow their teachings, and thus to make our
+future fellow-citizens partisans instead of men. But literature and
+learning are confined to no age or nation; and meaning in no sense to
+say a word which could abate the ardor of manly patriotism in any
+bosom, it is certain that much is to be learned from the history of
+other people beside our own; and I suppose there are standards of high
+intellectual attainment in the past,--in poetry and eloquence, and
+various ranges of thought and expression,--which never have been and
+are not likely to be surpassed. The deluge of modern transitory
+literature had not then begun to flow. But, to say nothing of the
+"Scottish Chiefs," and "Thaddeus of Warsaw," over the pages of which,
+doubtless, millions of youthful eyes have formerly shed copious tears,
+we had Miss Edgeworth's writings, those of Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, the
+novels of Charlotte Smith, the Memoirs of Baron Trenck, and, perused a
+little stealthily, Peregrine Pickle and Roderick Random; and in poetry
+Henry Kirke White and Montgomery were favorites; nor am I ashamed to say,
+that Cottle's "Alfred" was read aloud at our fireside of evenings, with
+an interest due to the story, perhaps, as much as to its poetical
+ability. Original American productions were few; the importation of
+new works from abroad was not large, and the demand for reprints a
+good deal limited. But we had the well-known books of sterling value at
+command, and our publishers occasionally favored us with new editions.
+One of my early studies was Guthrie's Grammar of Geography, a
+ponderous volume of English manufacture, which belonged in our family;
+and I was fascinated with Pope at almost as early an age as that in
+which he first "lisped in numbers." I see, by the way, that Forster, in
+his Life of Dickens, quotes from a letter of Scott, in which he refers
+to the scarcity of books at Edinburgh in his time.
+
+In connection with this reference to our means of intellectual
+cultivation, I am reminded of an incident illustrative of a faculty
+commonly attributed to Yankees, that is New Englanders, though there is
+reason to believe that some other parts of the country are quite as
+liberally gifted with the qualities of "Yorkshire." It affords a striking
+instance of shrewdness on the one side, and of lamentable deficiency of
+it on the other. This was before the town had exchanged its original
+simpler mode of regulating its municipal affairs for the form of a city
+government. On a certain occasion the School Committee became
+dissatisfied with the master of one of the higher schools, after a brief
+trial of his qualities, and, as delicately as the subject permitted,
+requested him to resign his place. The master was not a native of the
+town, or of the "region round about," so that it was a mere question of
+qualifications, real or otherwise, between himself and his employers. He
+demurred, unless his salary were paid him for the unexpired considerable
+part of the year for which he alleged himself to have been engaged; but
+finally consented, if the chairman of the committee would only furnish
+him with a certificate of honorable discharge. The chairman, at this easy
+rate of saving the town's money, wrote it, without suspicion of its
+effect. Thereupon, the master read it, put it into his pocket, and by
+virtue of the document, demanded payment of the sum in question. It was
+paid; and the triumphant master forthwith proceeded--
+
+                  "To fresh woods and pastures new."
+
+The state of things, in regard to our reading resources, was before the
+modern facilities for gadding about existed; and while those who find
+time lying heavy on their hands can now steam it a hundred miles to make
+a morning-call, journeying was then both more tedious and more expensive,
+seldom undertaken except as an affair of business, or with the deliberate
+purpose of a long-concerted visit; and a good part of the day was
+consumed in travelling half that distance by public conveyance. The
+consequence was, that people's pleasures, with their duties, laid mostly
+at home, or near at hand. Hence family and friendly ties were more
+closely drawn. The better feelings of our nature were, I think, deeper,
+than when scattered over a wide but thin social surface; just as the
+water in a well is more concentrated, than if diffused in the basin of a
+pond. To some extent, therefore, wholesomely isolated, besides the
+ordinary round of not very formal visiting parties, there were reading
+circles, for those who were prompted by intellectual yearnings,
+frequented by young ladies and gentlemen, married or single, at which
+passages from the better class of books were read aloud by such of the
+male members as felt competent to the exercise, by turns. In fact, taking
+into view the intelligence, the inexpensive accomplishments, and the
+unaffected manners of the fairly educated among us, it has not fallen to
+the lot of most persons to meet with any society more really agreeable.
+St. James's, however, and the congregation of the successors of those who
+founded the First Church, who had at length become what was called
+"liberal," in contrast with the orthodoxy of the rest of the town,
+aspired to a higher degree of gentility and accomplishment than the
+commonalty; and, in evidence that we were not bigoted, my mother would
+sometimes allow me, when a boy, and desirous of some change, to attend
+service of an afternoon, at the latter place of public worship with some
+friends of the family who waited upon its ministrations. Of the
+diversions of the common people I particularly remember one under the
+curious name of a "Joppa Jine" (join); to which I allude from the oddity
+of its name, derived from a part of the town so called by the river-side,
+when several families of neighbors and friends contributed their
+respective quota of a common feast, and repaired to the island at the
+mouth of the river to enjoy a day of leisure and merriment.
+
+In a certain class, the ancient pronunciation of many English words was
+maintained, doubtless brought by the ancestors of New England families
+from "home," and transmitted to their descendants; such as _airth_ for
+earth, _fairm_ for firm, _sartain_ for certain, _pint_ for point, en_vy_
+for envy, _ax_ with the broad _ā_ for ask, _housen_ for houses, _his'n_
+and _her'n_ for his and hers, _rare_ for rear; as, for instance, the
+horse _rares_ up; and sounding the _l_ in would. Common enough names,
+too, were clipped or contracted in English fashion. Thus, the names of
+Norwood and Harwood became Norrod in sound and Harrod in spelling; and
+the name of Currier, whether with any reference or not to the French
+_Cuir_, for leather, was not long since uniformly pronounced _Kiah_, with
+the long _[=i]_; Thurlow was strangely transformed into _Thurrill_; and
+Pierpont, often formerly spelled Pierpoint, with entire neglect of its
+derivation, was pronounced _Pearpint_, by old-fashioned people, the first
+syllable approximating to the original formation of _pierre_.
+
+In connection with this modification of language, I observe in a daily
+paper how much a worthy old lady puzzled her minister, for a moment, by
+inquiring the meaning of "silver shiners for Diana," in the Bible; but a
+good deacon, at an evening meeting in the chapel of their house of
+worship, in our town, sadly disturbed the gravity of the religious
+assembly, by reading it _silver shins for Dinah_!
+
+-----
+ [10]  The late Mr. Edward Everett is authority (with me) for
+       the story, that on the occasion of the visit of
+       Washington to New England, in 1789, Parsons was
+       appointed to deliver the address of welcome, on the part
+       of the town, and said to his students, "Well, boys, I am
+       to make this address. Now, go to work and write it, and
+       I will deliver the best." He chose the one prepared by
+       Adams.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+I trust it will not be thought inappropriate to the allusion already made
+to our reading circles, if I here insert a _jeu d'esprit_, the production
+of one of the members, indicating a certain forwardness in the sphere of
+literary investigation, and affording a plausible solution of a literary
+problem, which had been so long shrouded in mystery, namely, the true
+narrative of "Old Grouse in the Gun-room."
+
+This is the name of the story to which Goldsmith alludes in his comedy,
+"She Stoops to Conquer." Mr. Hardcastle, the host of the occasion, in
+preparation for the dinner he is about to give his guests, charges his
+rustic servants that if he should say a good thing at the table, they are
+not to burst out laughing, as if they were a part of the company to be
+entertained. Diggory, thereupon replies to his master,--"Then, ecod,
+your worship must not tell the story of 'Ould Grouse in the Gun-room.' I
+can't help laughing at that--he! he! he!--for the soul of me. We have
+laughed at that these twenty years--ha! ha! ha!" Mr. Hardcastle admits,
+that this pet narrative of his may properly be considered an exceptional
+case. On the other hand, it has uniformly foiled the researches of
+critics and commentators to ascertain what this story really was which
+"Squire Hardcastle," in the exuberance of his own enjoyment of it, gave
+them the liberty to laugh at, if they liked. It has been generally
+supposed, indeed, that the story itself was, in fact, non-existent, and
+that the ingenious author of the play merely invented the title in order
+to show off the uncouth peculiarities which it was his object to
+display.
+
+Now, it so happens, that the means are not wanting for the solution of
+this mystery, and in illustration of the life of a writer and a man so
+interesting as Goldsmith, I am glad to be able to clear up the critical
+embarrassment. Years ago, the writer of this article fell by chance into
+the company of Miss Goldsmith, grandniece of Mrs. Johnson, who was
+housekeeper of old Mr. Featherston, of County Kerry, Ireland. She knew
+the story in question very well, and it is gratifying to be able to
+verify the authenticity of the allusion of a great poet and writer in
+general, of whom Dr. Johnson has said, in those familiar words in his
+epitaph, that he touched nothing which he did not adorn, and whose
+character has been very much misunderstood, chiefly by reason of the
+misrepresentations of Boswell. This parasite of Johnson, who has given us
+one of the most entertaining books of biography ever written, was jealous
+not only of Goldsmith's literary reputation, so far as it might rival
+that of his special idol, but also of the real hold which Goldsmith,
+because of his simplicity as well as his genius, had upon the affections
+of the great moralist. While he was himself admitted to the high literary
+society which he frequented, on terms of sufferance chiefly, Boswell took
+every pains to disparage poor Goldsmith. The poet, whose writings possess
+a charm so seldom paralleled, it must be allowed, gave no little occasion
+for depreciation, by his want of firmness of character; and Boswell
+maliciously set forth all his singularities and weaknesses in the most
+ludicrous point of view. Whoever will take pains, however, to read his
+delightful "Life" by John Forster, will find the general impressions on
+the subject very materially corrected, and will see, that, if the
+hard-driven bard had many faults, he had also many virtues, which, as
+Lord Bacon remarks, is "the posy of the best characters."
+
+But to the veritable story of "Old Grouse in the Gun-room." It seems,
+according to the narrative of Mrs. Johnson, that the family of Mr.
+Featherston were seated at the tea-table, at the close of a chilly day, a
+bright fire blazing on the hearth, and the servants, as usual, being in
+attendance. On a sudden, a tremendous crash was heard in a distant part
+of the ancient mansion, followed by a succession of wails of the most
+lugubrious and unearthly character, which reverberated through the
+echoing passage-ways of the house. Whatever the cause of the sounds might
+be, there was no doubt they were of the most horrifying description. The
+family, consisting of the 'Squire, a maiden sister, and one or two
+younger persons, jumped from their seats in the utmost consternation,
+while Patrick and the rest of the domestics rushed from the room in a
+state of terror more easily to be conceived than described, and huddled
+together in the kitchen, as far as possible from the occasion of their
+fright.
+
+Imagine a lonely country-house, a quiet and well-ordered family seated
+at their evening meal, after dark, of a somewhat gloomy day, the
+apartment imperfectly lighted by the glowing fire, and according to such
+conveniences for the purpose as old times ordinarily afforded; the
+conversation, perhaps, turning on such unexciting topics as the weather,
+past, present, and to come, or the thoughts reverting, it may be, to such
+mundane topics as the expected game of whist or backgammon,--and the
+scene suddenly broken in upon by the most startling and terrific sounds,
+which seemed to result from no intelligible cause, and for which it
+seemed impossible to account by reference to any merely human agency. The
+young folks, after their first scream of terror, sat dumb, pale, and
+utterly helpless.
+
+"It's the Banshee!" screamed Aunt Nelly, sinking back, in a faint, into
+her chair.
+
+"It's the devil, I believe," cried the 'Squire, who, notwithstanding age
+and infirmity, retained a good deal of that original pluck, which had
+formerly distinguished him as an officer in his Majesty's military
+service. "Yes, it is the devil, I verily believe; and there is no way but
+to send for the priest, to get him out of a house that never was troubled
+in this way before. Where are those sneaking curs?" as Patrick and the
+rest in a body peeped into the room through the door they had forgotten
+to shut in their flight, and too much frightened to stay quietly
+anywhere. "Patrick," called out the 'Squire, "go at once for Father
+O'Flaherty."
+
+At this moment, another preternatural yell, long-toned and of the most
+mournful cadence, burst upon their ears, and the dismayed servants fairly
+tumbled over each other and sprawled and scrambled through the passage,
+in their haste to get away. The 'Squire followed and ordered Patrick
+forthwith to mount Sorrel and hasten for the priest, at the village, a
+mile or more away.
+
+"O Lord! your worship," cried that valiant man-of-all-work,--though aided
+in the day-time by two or three assistants from the village,--"O Lord!
+your worship! only ask me anything but that"--as, of course, on such
+occasions people are ready to do all but the very thing which the
+exigency demands,--"O Lord! your worship's honor! I couldn't for the
+world go round _that_ corner of the house, to get to the stable; but if
+Nancy here--now Nancy, darlint, I know you will, honey--if she'll only go
+with me, I'll run for his reverence as fast as my poor legs, that's all
+of a tremble, will carry me"--shrewdly reflecting, as did Nancy also,
+that the farther they left the house behind, they left the danger, too.
+This affair being hastily arranged, as the two ready messengers proceeded
+towards the door, a quick step was heard upon the gravel, followed by an
+emphatic knock, and the embodied household fell back with renewed
+trepidation; when fortunately who should it be but Father O'Flaherty
+himself, who found the 'Squire, his family, and servants all huddled
+together in the hall.
+
+"Good-evening to you, 'Squire," said he; "and faix, what is the matter
+that you all look so pale? The holy saints forbid that any ill luck has
+come to this house!"
+
+Again, rang echoing through the open doors and empty rooms the same
+portentous sound, rendered none the less terrific that its tones were
+partly subdued by distance. "Holy Father!" exclaimed the priest, crossing
+himself--"what is that? Has Satan dared to cross this blessed
+threshold?"
+
+Upon this, half a dozen tongues began to relate the circumstances of
+terrors only too manifest; but Mr. Featherston silenced them, and
+proposed to Father O'Flaherty to accompany him to the investigation of
+the mystery. Accordingly they solemnly proceeded towards the scene of
+alarm, the 'Squire having provided himself with a long-disused sword
+which hung over his mantel-piece, and the priest, more spiritually,
+brandishing his cross, and muttering "_Vade retro, Satanas!_" and such
+other exorcisms as occurred to him on the way. The whole body of the
+inmates of the mansion followed, closely though tremulously, upon the
+footsteps of the advanced guard, and, indeed, afraid to be left behind.
+As they reached the neighborhood of the door, whence the sounds appeared
+to come, there was a truly awful noise of scampering round the room and
+pattering, as it were, within.
+
+"The saints defend us!" cried the priest, falling back, as this new
+demonstration was responded to by the screams of the females, who sank to
+the floor, in the extremity of their terror, when another horrible yell
+sounded close at hand.
+
+"It's he, I verily believe," said the priest; "the holy saints be about
+us! It's he, I wager. Lord, forgive us! for I heard the sound of his
+hoofs. But where's the dog?"
+
+"The dog!" cried the 'Squire. "Why didn't I think of that before! Open
+the door, I say, Pat, you cowardly vagabond!"
+
+At this instant, there was a tremendous bounce against the door, which
+forced the latch, and out tumbled Old Grouse, capering among the party,
+who still screamed and scattered out of his way, not yet convinced that
+the Evil One was not loosed and bodily among them.
+
+The relieved household at length returned to their interrupted
+avocations, and Pat declared to the folks in the kitchen, that all the
+while he knew it was the dog, only he kept up the fright for the sake of
+the joke. It seemed that the 'Squire had been out with his gun that day,
+and had shut the big dog which accompanied him into the gun-room, upon
+his return. The dog, no doubt fatigued with his excursion, had stretched
+himself out in a corner of the room, where various articles tending to
+his comfort lay disposed. He had remained, until tired of his confinement
+he had risen, and fumbling about had thrown down an ancient heavy shield,
+which produced the first cause of alarm, no less to himself than to the
+household. The moon shining through the window had attracted his
+attention, and he began to bay, as dogs sometimes will. The sudden
+fright, and the distance of the gun-room from the family apartment,
+served to modify the intonation, and in his confusion of mind Mr.
+Featherston failed to recognize his voice. "Indeed," said he, "I never
+knew the whelp to bay before."
+
+As time wore on, and the story had often been told by him, it lost none
+of its original features, except, perhaps, the remembrance of his own
+agitation. But the fright of the family and his domestics, the assent of
+the priest to their superstitious fears, and the mortal terror which
+overwhelmed them, when out bounded the shaggy black monster of a dog and
+in an instant was pawing them all round, in his ecstasy of escape, and
+whatever else was ludicrous in the adventure, was oftentimes related by
+the 'Squire, with all the aid it could derive from a somewhat lively
+imagination and considerable power of native eloquence.
+
+And now, if I have only invented this story of "Old Grouse in the
+Gun-room," for the entertainment of my readers, I have at least attached
+a tale, which may be thought to have some plausibility, to a famous
+title, which has run through the world, for so many years, without any
+tale at all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+In a note at the end of Chapter V. of "Waverley," Sir Walter Scott
+remarks:--"These introductory chapters have been a good deal censured as
+tedious and unnecessary. Yet there are circumstances recorded in them
+which the author has not been able to persuade himself to retract or
+cancel." So if, in giving certain loose hints rather than sketches of
+characters and manners in a very interesting town, ardently beloved by
+all who have ever had any near connection with it, during a former
+generation of its inhabitants, I should be thought to have set down too
+many "unconsidered trifles," I can only shelter myself under the shadow
+of his great name, and plead that I had not the heart to leave them out,
+as they occurred to my memory while writing; and however they may lack,
+as they necessarily must, the storied value of Sir Walter's fascinating
+fictions, they have at least this merit,--that every narrative and
+anecdote in these pages is a veritable fact.
+
+I should not wonder, however, if a couple of stories or so, which I am
+about to relate, were looked upon as purely fictitious by the
+philosophical reader. I do not pretend that the facts stated were within
+my own experience, only that I positively heard them related by persons
+of the strictest veracity, who were actual observers or actors in the
+transactions of which they professed to give an account. People ridicule,
+nowadays, when in company, the superstitions of earlier times; though it
+is not unlikely that the nerves of some of the boldest contemners of
+marvellous manifestations, once universally accepted as true, might still
+tremble, if alone and under circumstances calculated to awaken
+apprehension and to puzzle the understanding. Notwithstanding the
+accepted theory, that the very pretence of witchcraft, for example, was
+exploded a hundred and fifty years ago, and the idea of an apparition, in
+spite of Dr. Johnson's belief, and that of others as wise and stout as
+he, would be scouted as preposterous in cultivated circles, I believe
+that there are many places in New England where undoubting faith in both
+superstitions still prevails, and I know that within a third part of the
+period above mentioned, very many creditable persons in a certain place
+in New England accepted the strangest occurrences of both kinds, upon the
+supposed evidence of their sober senses.
+
+We will imagine, then, that we are sitting in a circle around the
+fire-place in Uncle Richard's spacious kitchen, on the evening of
+Christmas-day, the room lighted only by the blazing logs upon the hearth,
+the glow of which glanced along the walls and drew brilliant reflections
+from the brightly-scoured dishes and other utensils of metal, which
+stood ranged upon the shelves. We were quite a party, and had made merry,
+according to our fashion, during the day. Uncle Richard was himself the
+most conspicuous of the group. I have said that he was well-to-do, and he
+was certainly a gentleman in spirit and bearing. The black dress which he
+assumed on Sundays, and other occasions of public importance, set off his
+figure well, and his white hair gathered into a pig-tail behind and tied
+up with a ribbon by some one of his daughters, of a morning, gave him a
+venerable appearance, at least in the eyes of us youngsters, beyond what
+the actual number of his years warranted. For I have observed that those
+who may have seemed to us approaching the verge of old age, in our youth,
+begin to look almost like coevals again, as we ourselves have advanced in
+the stage of manhood. Aunt Judith, on the other hand, who was a maiden
+lady of a certain age, was dressed with all the care and neatness which
+somewhat scanty means enabled her to apply, and, as I am about to produce
+her as a witness, I feel it incumbent upon me to asseverate, that, being
+a devoutly religious woman, I have never met in my life with a more
+conscientious and scrupulously truth-telling person. After tea, my uncle
+had requested the young people present to sing a new Christmas Hymn, not
+to be found in the Prayer Book, but the production of a devout poetical
+acquaintance, in the performance of which he joined with a bass voice of
+singular compass and melody.
+
+                         THE CHRISTMAS HYMN.
+
+                  How hallowed grew the night,
+                  When the auspicious light
+          Of heaven descending shone along the plain;
+                  And wondering shepherds heard
+                  The soul-inspiring word,
+          That swelled exultant the celestial strain!
+
+                 "Peace and good-will to earth,
+                  For, lo, a Saviour's birth!"
+          So the high song addressed the simple swains;
+                 "The gates of life again
+                  Open to guilty men,
+          For God, the God of love, eternal reigns!"
+
+                  What though all earth was still,
+                  And no ecstatic thrill
+          In wakening lands the gracious message hailed;
+                  Yet through heaven's highest cope
+                  Echoed immortal hope,
+          And hell's dark caves beneath trembled and wailed.
+
+                  Let then creation sing,--
+                  Hail, sovereign priest and king!
+          Blest be thy holy name and holy Word!
+                  Hail, Son of God Most High,
+                  Helper forever nigh,--
+          Hail, Prince of Peace and universal Lord!
+
+The conversation, at such times, is very apt to run into story-telling,
+among those who have any stores of memory, or are possessed of inventive
+faculties, and often turns upon such inexplicable incidents as might well
+bewilder the imaginations of simple country folks. My uncle gave us an
+account of a lad not long before in his employ, who laughed at the idea
+of supernatural appearances, and was indeed afraid of nothing. "The young
+scamp," said he, "though I don't know why I should call him so, for he
+was as honest as he was bold,--appeared so thoroughly fearless, that it
+sometimes looked like mere bravado (I am afraid he pronounced it
+_brave-ardor_); and a companion who also lived with us resolved to put
+his courage to the test. Accordingly, at dusk one evening, when Jack was
+about to lead the horse to the pasture, he provided himself with a sheet,
+and placed himself on one end of the crossbeam which rested on the rather
+high posts of the gate. Jack came whistling along, leading the horse,
+and, opening the gate, slipping off the halter, gave the animal a slap
+with it; and as he shut the gate cocked up his eye at the elevated
+figure. "And as for you, Mr. Devil," says he, "you may sit there just as
+long as you please." A decent respect for the proprieties of his position
+kept the scarecrow quiet until Jack was well on his way to the house
+which was not far distant. Pretty soon the door was burst open, and, to
+our alarm, some one tumbled in upon the floor in an agony of terror, as
+we soon discovered, pale as a ghost and scarcely able to speak. As soon
+as he recovered some degree of self-possession, he could barely stutter
+out,--"When Jack got out of sight--I turned to get down--and there sat
+another one, on the other post--looking just like me!"[11]
+
+A great deal was thereupon said about the power of the imagination and
+the effect it was likely to have upon one who had placed himself in such
+an equivocal situation, and the terrors which, under its influence, might
+naturally revert to him, who in an excited state of his own nerves had
+endeavored to inflict such terrors upon another. Hereupon there was a
+general call upon Aunt Judith, from the youngsters present, to tell us
+something about reputed witches in her younger days,--a subject in regard
+to which she was said to be able to make some remarkable statements,
+though as yet we had never obtained from her any satisfactory information
+about it. She seemed a little reluctant to indulge our curiosity.
+
+"As to witches," said my uncle Richard, gravely, "I don't know. Whether
+the denunciations of them in Holy Writ are intended to apply to any
+actually supernatural power possessed by them, or only to the pretence of
+it,--and both are mischievous in their effect on the popular mind,--I
+shall not undertake to say. It is certain that the poor old women who are
+thus stigmatized seem to have little power to help themselves in this
+world, or, if real tamperers with the powers of darkness, any enjoyable
+expectations from the other. But this I do know, that I was riding, not
+many days since, with my lawyer, a man of considerable acuteness, though
+a little eccentric at times, coming from K--'s Island, where we had been
+on some business; and as we neared the turn of the causeway to the main
+road, he pulled up the chaise, jumped out, and placing himself on a broad
+flat rock by the road-side, began violently to dance up and down and to
+shake his clothes. 'Good Heavens!' cried I, 'are you mad?' 'Oh, no,' said
+he, resuming his seat, 'but my mother always told me, that whenever I was
+coming away from K--'s Island, I must stand upon that rock and shake the
+witches off!'"
+
+"But your story, Aunt Judith! your story," we all cried out, and after a
+little more hesitation the good woman _prit la parole_, as Madame de
+Stäel so often phrases it in "Corinne."
+
+"When I was a grown-up girl," said she, "I and my older sister, who had
+lost her husband at sea, lived with my mother, who was also a widow. We
+had few of this world's goods, but health and energy enough to take care
+of ourselves. At one time, we moved into half a house, in a decent
+quarter of the town, the other part of which was occupied by an old woman
+called by the neighbors 'Granny Holt.' Coming from a street of the town
+at some distance, we had heard nothing that I remember about her; but the
+day had not gone by, before it was made fully known to us by such
+acquaintances as we saw, that we had taken up our abode in the same house
+with a person of a very crabbed disposition, whom all the neighborhood
+looked upon as a witch. This was not very agreeable news, but we tried
+to make the best of it. Our house was near the river-side, and we were
+surrounded by the families of those who followed the sea, and we
+endeavored to flatter ourselves with the idea, that idle tales of
+marvelous things are very common among that class of population; and that
+the stories we heard were mere gossip, as we whispered to ourselves, for
+fear of being overheard through the thin partition which divided us from
+the other tenant. But, 'No!' said one of our callers in a low voice--one
+of the Pearse girls (a young lady, by the way, about seventy, but Aunt
+Judith was of a certain age); 'I tell you it's as true as a sermon in the
+meetin'-house. You'll soon find out what she can do. Why, there's young
+Stout, as fine a lad as ever walked the streets, or stood by the helm of
+his vessel in a gale o' wind; and look at him now, pale and cadaverous,
+and walking round people's gardens, on the edge of narrow fences where
+nobody but a rope-dancer, with a pole in his hands, could keep his
+balance, and a hundred more such antics; everybody knows she bewitched
+him.'
+
+"'But what for?' we asked.
+
+"'Oh, they had a quarrel, and pretty soon he began to cut these capers.'
+
+"My sister Ann, the widow, however, who had always a brave spirit,
+declared that she did not care a fig for all the witches in Christendom;
+but I must own that I was very much alarmed. You may be sure, we none of
+us much liked this sort of greeting, on the first day of our entering
+into our new habitation, and we prepared to retire early, my mother, who
+was a truly pious person, trusting to the only sure defence. Upon going
+to my chamber, I found there was no fastening to the door; in fact the
+handle itself was quite out of kilter, and it could not be shut tight. I
+moved up to it, therefore, a chest of drawers, putting some things on
+top, and thus brought the door close. I was just about to blow out the
+candle to get into bed, when I heard a scrambling in the chimney, and you
+may believe it or not, but it's the solemn truth--a black cat jumped from
+the fire-place, ran and leaped a-top of the things I had placed against
+the door, put her paw upon the handle of it, gave me one sidelong glance,
+opened the door itself and passed out. I was too frightened for anything
+but to wrap myself thoroughly in the bedclothes, and trembling with
+terror, at last fell into a troubled sleep."
+
+"Are you sure, Aunt Judith," said my uncle Richard, "that the cat did not
+go under the bed?"
+
+"I tell you, as plainly as I see you now, I saw her open the door, look
+round at me with that malicious kind of expression, go out and shut the
+door behind her; and in the morning everything I had piled up against it
+was unmoved."
+
+"It must have been the ghost of a cat, then," said my uncle; "but did
+anything else happen, afterwards?"
+
+"Yes, in a few days we had got a baking ready and the oven heated, when
+the old woman came in with an armful of wood, threw it down on the
+hearth, and said she wanted to bake. The oven was for the use of both
+parts of the house; but we told her as soon as we had got through she
+should have it. She went off muttering, and when we thought our batch was
+done and went to take it out, it was burned just as black as a coal."
+
+"I am afraid," said my uncle, "you let it stay in too long, or the oven
+was too hot."
+
+"You may laugh as much as you please," replied Aunt Judith, with spirit,
+"but I tell you what I actually saw with my own eyes. We did not stay
+longer in that house than we could find another place; but before we left
+something took place which perhaps you'll not find it so easy to explain.
+Young William Stout's folks had been so troubled about him, and the
+doctors said they could do nothing, that they determined to try a
+'project.'"
+
+I may as well explain what Aunt Judith's modesty prevented her from
+doing; that a "project" was to inclose a certain liquid emanation of the
+afflicted person in a phial tightly stopped, and to put it over the fire
+in a pot to boil. Of course, as in the case of the sympathetic remedies
+described by Sir Kenelm Digby and practised by him, as the contents of
+the phial boil, the witch burns, and she is inevitably detected by the
+scorching she gets and the scars it leaves behind. It is from this
+circumstance, undoubtedly, that the nursery rhyme derives its
+authority,--
+
+                   "Hinx minx, the old witch winks,
+                    The fat begins to fry," etc.
+
+This is precisely the operation of the process in question.
+
+"Accordingly," continued Aunt Judith, "the Stout folks made all their
+preparations, in company with some trusty neighbors; the doors were
+fastened, and exactly at twelve o'clock the 'project' was begun.
+Everything went on well; but, as often happens in such cases, something
+was forgotten, or the witches' master interferes; for it seemed, after a
+while, that more water was wanted, and one of the company took the pail
+to go to the well for it. As he cautiously opened the door, there to
+their horror stood Granny Holt, in the darkness of midnight! She came in
+grinning and complimenting, and without expressing surprise at finding so
+many persons together, at such an unusual hour, or making any inquiry as
+to the reason, she said, 'one of their folks was taken sick and seeing a
+light there, she had come over to beg some herbs.' There was the end of
+the _project_, and I don't know as it was ever tried again."
+
+"Were you there, yourself?" asked Uncle Richard.
+
+"No, I can only swear to the black cat and the burnt pies; but everybody
+in our neighborhood knew all about the project and Granny Holt's breaking
+it up."
+
+We had become pretty well stirred up by this time, but as is likely to be
+the case under such circumstances, were eager for whatever other marvel
+might be forthcoming; for no matter how intelligent or incredulous the
+circle of hearers may be, there is something strangely fascinating in
+these weird stories. People may affect indifference "amidst the blazing
+light of the nineteenth century;" but I think that of a dark night, in a
+lonely spot, the starting up of so familiar a creature as a white horse,
+for instance, would set the strongest nerves into perturbation, at the
+idea of something ghostly. Indeed, Addison declared in his day, that
+there "was not a village in England that had not a ghost in it; the
+churchyards were haunted; nor was there a peasant who had not seen a
+spirit."
+
+"Well, Aunt Judith," said Uncle Richard, "these wonderful things seem to
+have very much gone by, in our day, or else people, for some reason, take
+less notice of them than formerly. Witches, nowadays, are characters
+entirely unknown, except," he gallantly remarked, "for the sometimes
+really inexplicable fascinations of members of your own sex; and, except
+in one singular instance, I have known of no appearances which could not
+be rationally accounted for. I have heard my father, however, tell of one
+which, according to the tradition, manifested itself, one hundred years
+ago or more, upon a bridge, over the Ipswich River, in our Essex County
+town of Topsfield, and was the terror of all the country round. He
+appeared in the shape of a monstrous hog, taking his station, at night,
+in the very centre of the bridge; and those who had occasion to cross it,
+on horseback or on foot, were either fain to turn back, as he encountered
+them, bristling and snarling, or rushed by, if their occasion demanded
+it, in a state of extraordinary trepidation. At length, Parson Capen, the
+worthy minister of the town, riding up to the bridge one evening, saw the
+spectre in his usual position. Nothing daunted, in virtue of his holy
+office, the good man thus accosted him: 'You that were once an angel of
+light, ain't you ashamed to appear in the shape of a dirty swine?' This
+expostulation was too much for the foul fiend, who at once jumped over
+the railing of the bridge into the river, and was no more seen."
+
+Amongst others of the few guests of the evening was a young gentleman, a
+member of one of the learned professions, who was accounted an
+intellectual person and was of rather grave demeanor. Though known to
+have been the author of occasional verses which gained applause, he would
+not have been thought likely to be the subject of any extraordinary
+hallucination. He was an intimate friend of our family, and on certain
+occasions of unusual excitement, if not danger, in the midst of the
+various adventures of young people, had shown a singular firmness of
+nerve and presence of mind, and was thought to be in fact insensible to
+fear. He had listened to the story of the bold lad who saw the supposed
+apparition on the gate-post, and to that of the Topsfield spectre, with
+much the same interest as that which Marmion exhibited at Sir David
+Lindesay's narrative of the appearance of the beloved Apostle to King
+James in Linlithgow. Apparently induced by a similar irresistible impulse
+to that which drew from the redoubted warrior of Scott's fascinating poem
+the rehearsal of his nocturnal adventure, our guest volunteered a
+relation quite as remarkable.
+
+"I will tell you a story," said he, "of something unaccountable which
+once happened to me, though the circumstances are still so vivid in my
+memory, that I look back upon it with a sort of superstitious dread, and
+feel a decided reluctance in appealing to the sympathy of others, in
+regard to an incident which seemed exclusively addressed to myself and
+was confined to my own sole experience.
+
+"In my senior year at College, now as you know, not many years since, I
+was appointed by my class to prepare for delivery, on what is called
+Class Day, a literary exercise,--in fact a poem, in anticipation of the
+usual Commencement performances, and was at home, during the preceding
+long vacation, making ready for this event. The writing of poetry for
+public recitation before a critical audience is a rather exacting
+occupation, and my ambition was naturally excited to do the best in my
+power. Indeed, the work absorbed all my faculties; but I preferred to
+write during the still hours of the night, rather than amidst the
+ordinary distractions of the day, spending that period, usually,
+wandering in the neighboring fields and woods, or in other diversions.
+The season was summer, and I was sitting one night at an open window,
+committing to paper such thoughts as occurred to me, by the light of a
+single candle,--for lamps were then not very common and gas was entirely
+unknown. Outside, there was not a sound, for the whole town was buried in
+profound sleep, and our own household was in the same state of repose. It
+was just on the stroke of twelve. Our house was a very ancient one,
+though I never heard that there was anything peculiarly remarkable in its
+history. Sitting thus, and thus engaged in serious, solitary
+contemplation, the sudden fall of something heavy in the garret overhead
+gave me a momentary start. I could compare it to nothing but to the
+effect likely to be produced by something as solid as a smaller
+description of cannon-ball, though it afterwards appeared to have
+attracted the attention of no one else in the family. Supposing that
+some article of furniture had accidentally fallen, the noise of which had
+been rendered more noticeable by the perfect stillness of the night, I
+pursued my occupation, until I felt disposed for sleep. On the following
+night, while engaged in the same way, and at the same midnight hour, came
+the same heavy, sharp, distinct thud upon the floor directly above my
+head. I was disposed to philosophize on the subject, and, though the
+coincidence was certainly peculiar, I still conceived that this unusual
+sound, at such an unusual hour, might be attributed to some natural
+cause. Perhaps, a heavy cat might have jumped down from beams above, on
+both occasions, and the noise was magnified by the otherwise unbroken
+stillness, though so far as I remember we kept no such cat of our own. I
+am sure that the idea of anything supernatural scarcely occurred to me,
+or was dismissed with derision. Nevertheless, the circumstances were
+peculiar enough to induce me to make a thorough examination of the garret
+on the following morning, and I was struck by the fact, that it was
+perfectly bare of any article of furniture above my chamber, or in the
+neighborhood of that part of the attic, which could have fallen. I was
+naturally a good deal perplexed at an occurrence for which there seemed
+no rational means of accounting, but I kept my own counsel. On the third
+night, at the same hour, when the clear bell from the steeple of a
+meeting-house not far distant had just tolled twelve, came the same
+sudden, single, distinct sound of a fall on the floor, directly over my
+head. I will not say as Marmion did, on the occasion above referred
+to,--
+
+               "'I care not though the truth I show,--
+                 I trembled with affright.'
+
+"On the contrary, though not a little disturbed by incidents so
+unaccountable, and rendered by the interruption quite unfit to pursue my
+occupation further, I deliberately undressed, said my prayers, put out my
+candle, and went to bed. It was a bright starlight night, and the two
+windows of my chamber made objects within indistinctly visible. No sooner
+had I laid my head upon the pillow, than through a door at the foot of my
+bed appeared a slowly moving figure, turning the corner of the bed and
+approaching the side of it upon which I lay. I could distinctly see its
+outlines, and it seemed to me apparelled like a monk, with a hood drawn
+over its features, and long trailing garments. As Eliphaz the Temanite,
+under similar circumstances, has related,--'the hair of my flesh stood
+up.' But I did not quite lose my self-possession. As the figure came
+nearer, I instantly threw off the bedclothes and jumped towards it into
+the middle of the room,--and it was gone! Though startled enough at so
+strange an occurrence, I reflected that it must be an illusion produced
+by some casual disorder of the natural faculties, and returned to bed
+and slept as usual until morning. But the next day I was much more
+disturbed in recalling the several circumstances of this extraordinary
+visitation. The repeated previous heavy blows upon the floor, and their
+apparent consummation in the vision I supposed myself to have seen, made
+me, as Othello says, 'perplexed in the extreme.' On that day I told my
+mother the story; she laughed at the idea of supernatural appearances,
+perhaps to quiet her son's emotion; but she said she was afraid of no
+ghosts, proposed an exchange of chambers, and this accommodation at once
+took place. But though I finished and delivered the poem in question, I
+continued to muse by myself upon what had occurred, unwilling to speak to
+any one about it. It was many months before I recovered from the shock to
+my nervous system. Reflecting upon it at the time, again I summoned
+whatever philosophy I had at command, as well as I could. I conceived
+that possibly in the excitement of verse-writing, in the silence of the
+night, some tenseness had affected the drum of my ear; that hearing, or
+imagining that I heard some unusual sound, amid the perfect stillness
+around me, a continuous disordered state of physical functions had
+produced a similar effect at a correspondent hour; and that this
+experience not unnaturally culminated in the spectral visitation."
+
+We heard the story in terror, and put little faith in the theory of
+explanation.
+
+"But," said my uncle Richard, himself a good deal amazed at the
+narrative, "did anything happen afterwards, to account for what you have
+told us?"
+
+"Nothing whatever," replied our friend.
+
+"Did you ever sleep in that chamber again?"
+
+"Yes, some years afterwards. It so happened that during several weeks in
+the summer, our whole family except myself, was away. My mother was in
+close attendance upon sick members of my sister's family. My brothers
+were at sea, and even our ordinary servant was dismissed for the
+occasion. When the time for rest arrived, it was my habit to let myself
+into the house, to proceed to the same chamber, usually without a light,
+and go to bed. One night, putting my hand upon the pillow, I felt
+something soft and started back, but again reaching forward, the object
+proved to be a dove that had flown into the open window, and securing it
+without difficulty I gave that symbol of innocence immediate release.
+Perhaps, it was my former visitant in a less forbidding form. But this,
+as well as the other, passed into the course of ordinary events."
+
+I need not say, that we had listened to this extraordinary narrative with
+rapt attention and in breathless silence. Our friend had told his story
+with emotion, certainly, but still with serious deliberation, and
+exhibiting no undue signs of excitement. No one seemed disposed to make
+any observation upon it, and indeed most of the company were utterly
+incapable of the effort of speech. In a few moments, he remarked that he
+would quote to us a brief passage from Dante's great poem which was
+applicable to the subject, and did so as follows:--
+
+          ... "Now, O reader! mark,
+            And if my tale thou slowly shalt receive,
+          Thy doubt will cause in me no great surprise,
+            For I, who saw it, scarcely can believe."[12]
+
+"But, Uncle Richard," was now the cry, "you said you had once seen an
+apparition, or something like one; please tell us all about it."
+
+"I certainly saw something strange," said he, "on more than one occasion,
+which has never yet been accounted for; and I suppose it is now too late
+to expect it. If it was really a matter of concert and collusion, the
+motive for it has never been discovered. You remember the open space in
+town, in front of the Reverend Mr. ----'s meeting-house. Your house, as
+you know, Jemmie," addressing me, "looks directly up the street towards
+this square, and to the somewhat old-fashioned mansion opposite the
+meeting-house. On one side of the square was a small dwelling, occupied
+by several distant relatives of ours; Aunt Midkiff (Metcalf), Aunt
+Foggison (Ferguson, so called), and her sister, Miss Samples (Mrs.
+Semple), with the daughter of our Aunt Foggison, Mrs. Lane, and her only
+child. You remember, sister," addressing my mother, "that you have told
+me, that one night, after you had gone to bed, your lamented husband
+stood at the window looking up the street towards the old house above, of
+which he had a complete view. Upon your asking what detained him, he
+called you up, and it was evident to you both that one chamber of the
+house was in a light blaze. Persons appeared to be moving rapidly around
+it, and, as it were, pulling down the curtains of the bed, which looked
+as if on fire. After a little time the appearance gradually ceased, and
+your husband remarking that he would inquire in the morning of his
+neighbor, a highly respectable lawyer, who occupied the house, what was
+the cause of the extraordinary spectacle of the night before, he also
+retired. But upon putting the question to his acquaintance on the
+following morning, he seemed astonished, and utterly denied that anything
+unusual had taken place in the chamber, which was the one occupied by
+himself and his wife, or that they had been at all disturbed during the
+night.
+
+"Now all this," continued my uncle, "is quite consistent with the
+supposition, that this gentleman may have had some secret motive for
+concealing the fact of a threatened conflagration, pretty sure, if
+known, to become the town talk and perhaps to expose him to inconvenient
+inquiries; and though a strictly moral and religious man, he may have
+thought that the circumstances warranted a direct denial of the matter,
+seeing it was, as it turned out, an affair of purely domestic concern."
+
+My mother, I thought, looked at my uncle a little anxiously, and seemed
+about to make a movement for our departure; but we urged him to tell us
+to what strange thing he had referred, and why he had so particularly
+described the situation and characteristics of this square, as if there
+were something more in relation to it which it might interest us to know;
+for you may be sure our mother had never mentioned to us children
+anything likely to alarm us.
+
+"I am afraid," said he, at last "that something, which really did happen
+in front of the house I have spoken of, will startle you young folks, and
+perhaps it is foolish to relate it, as you seem already quite excited
+enough; but I will premise by saying, that I will only tell you what I
+saw myself, or heard from those upon whose word I could implicitly rely;
+and, moreover, that I do not believe in ghosts, however singular the
+facts in question may appear. Of course, you know, sister," addressing my
+mother, "my calls at your house were sometimes in the evening, after
+attending the market or to other business during the day. It was during
+one of your husband's absences at sea, that we were sitting around the
+fire of a wintry night, when a lively neighbor, a lady who took much
+interest in whatever was going on, came in evidently in a state of
+agitation, and taking her seat, with very brief greeting, broke out with
+the exclamation, 'There he is again!' I did not understand what this
+meant, but it was soon explained to us that, for a week or ten days past,
+some person, or figure, or whatever it might be, had been observed
+walking fore and aft, in front of the house opposite the meeting-house,
+at a certain hour of the evening, and though many had passed, no one had
+recognized him, nor did he take any notice whatever of any one whom he
+met. He was said to wear a pea-jacket buttoned to the chin, and a glazed
+hat, as if prepared for any kind of weather; or, as the gossips
+afterwards said, indicating the fact that he was the forerunner of the
+loss of not a few masters of vessels residing in the neighborhood, who
+perished at sea during the storms of that season. I took my hat and went
+out to see if I could discover anything uncommon. It was a moonlight
+night, with a light fall of snow upon the ground. As I passed up the
+short street to the square, Aunt Foggison's chamber window was thrown
+open, and her daughter's voice was plainly heard berating the supposed
+spectral night-walker. 'What are you doing there, you good-for-nothing
+scamp, you?' cried she, in a voice that must have reached any mortal
+ears; 'why don't you go home to your family, if you've got any family, or
+wherever else you belong, instead of stalking up and down here,
+frightening honest folks out of their senses?' Overcome perhaps by the
+vigor of her expostulation, the window was shut down with a slam. As I
+advanced, though I certainly had a full view of a human-looking figure
+upon its round and at no great distance either, and my senses had been
+confirmed by the objurgations addressed to it by our worthy relative,
+when I actually reached the ground of his perambulations, prepared to
+seize a single man by the collar and learn what he was about, it is
+certain that he was no longer visible. I returned to the house and made
+report of my unsuccessful doings, and unhitched my horse and drove home.
+I learned, a few days afterwards, that the figure regularly appeared,
+giving one sign of vitality by a regular tramp--tramp--tramp--upon the
+frozen ground, so far as any one was disposed to listen, and spreading
+consternation throughout the vicinity. The affair at length became
+unendurable. Women were afraid to go into the street, and, for that, a
+good many men too, and it was really so serious, that, as I learned, it
+was resolved to form what is called, I believe, a cordon, and gradually
+approaching the place simultaneously from every avenue, so to inclose him
+that escape would be impossible. Being much acquainted with the people of
+that part of the town, I was invited to join the company, and accordingly
+drove in seasonably for the purpose. Certainly, most sober people
+believed the whole was but some trick, which it only needed reasonable
+pains to discover and defeat. The mysterious figure, it seemed, continued
+to walk, ignorant of or indifferent to our devices.
+
+"There were three main avenues, by streets, to the premises, together
+with a narrow passage way leading from one of the streets to another. At
+the appointed hour we duly assembled on our several stations. Our
+director was 'a rude and boisterous captain of the sea'"--(for Uncle
+Richard could sometimes be poetical, at least in the way of quoting
+Shakespeare). "It had been arranged by him that, being on our posts, at a
+fixed moment, we should move rapidly up the several avenues and so join
+forces as to form a circle inclosing the open space, and gradually
+contracting our company, if the rogue was then within our compass we
+should have him sure. The arrangement had been made in profound secrecy,
+and if any there were traitors, I was not aware of it. Sure enough there
+was our guest on his usual stroll. As our circle speedily drew in, and
+just as hands were stretched out to seize him--presto, as the jugglers
+say--he was gone!"
+
+"By the jumping gingerbread!" exclaimed Thurlow, our uncle's hired man,
+springing from his chair by the wall, outside of our family
+party,--seeing this was Christmas night.
+
+"Oh dear sus!" cried Sally Bannocks, our own particular help of many
+years, from the like position.
+
+"Our detective band," resumed my uncle, "looked at one another in
+amazement, and after some hard swearing from a few of the roughest, and
+the exchange of a hasty 'good-night,' dispersed, as far as convenient in
+companies of two or three, and departed, a good deal disconcerted, to
+their several places of abode. The same experiment was tried on two or
+three other occasions, as I was informed by friends, with no better
+success. Spectre or not, he always found means to elude them; and there
+were always those who, having no other means of accounting for his
+evasion, insisted upon it that he must have had confederates among those
+who sought to arrest him."
+
+"Could he not have escaped slyly into the house?" asked some incredulous
+inquirer.
+
+"That was hardly likely, with so many eyes upon him. Besides there was
+nobody there but women and children, excessively alarmed themselves, the
+husband, Captain Y----, being at sea, and one of those who was afterwards
+known to have been lost with all his crew, upon nearing our dangerous
+coast."
+
+"But why did not the city government make a piece of work of putting an
+end to such a scandal?" inquired a doubter in spectral visitations.
+
+"Well, I suspect a whole body of police could do little towards capturing
+an actual ghost; and then, too, there was at that time no city and no
+such force. Our town government consisted of mostly ancient citizens, and
+three or four constables, all of whom, probably, preferred to remain
+quietly and comfortably at home, instead of venturing out into the wintry
+night air, to hunt up ghosts."
+
+"Why didn't somebody try the effect of a bullet?" inquired another.
+
+"Well, shooting was a rather violent remedy; and as for firing at a
+ghost, I believe every one was afraid."
+
+"Wasn't it strange, considering that he must have had some particular
+object in haunting that spot, and was likely, therefore, to be found out
+by some of the neighborhood by his face, or dress, or figure, or gait, or
+in some way or other, if a real person, that he never was recognized?"
+asked another of our evening guests.
+
+"It was strange enough," said my uncle; "but few, if any, got very near
+him, and they perhaps, casual passers-by, who paid no attention to the
+fact. As for him, he only walked steadily backward and forward, turning
+neither to the right nor to the left, except at each end of his beat;
+replying to no interrogatories, and appearing utterly unconscious of any
+epithets or railings which from a distance were hurled at him. Only one
+man ever professed to have seen his face."
+
+"Who was that, uncle?" we all eagerly exclaimed.
+
+"Late one stormy night, when the snow was falling fast," continued my
+uncle,--"and one would suppose that any reasonable creature of flesh and
+blood would wish to be safely housed,--an hostler named Dobbin, who had
+charge of a stable at one end of the street, was trudging home, swinging
+a lantern in his hand, to the small house in which he lived, at a little
+distance beyond the now pretty notorious 'Ghost's Walk.' As he approached
+the spot, there, to be sure, was the object of terror, taking his usual
+exercise. 'Now,' as Dobbin told the story, 'thinks I to myself, I'll play
+you a trick, mister, and find out who you are, if I can. So, jest slyly
+unfastening the door of the lantern, as I met him, I flung the door wide
+open and held it up to his face, and I says, says I, "A stormy night,
+friend." I thought I should know him, and guess I should if ever I do
+see him again, which I don't want to, I tell _you_; and may I hope to
+die, if ever I saw that face before. He looked pale, and his eyes, as he
+fixed 'em on me, had what I call a sort of a stony glare. He never opened
+his mouth, but just looked. It was only a glance, as it were, for I never
+was so frightened in my life, and jest dropped lantern and scampered away
+home as fast as my legs could carry me.'"
+
+"Lud-a-massy!" screamed Sally Bannocks, on the verge of hysterics,--and
+some of the rest of us were not far from that condition. We were mostly
+on our feet, and as my mother insisted upon our bidding "Good-night,"
+Uncle Richard proposed, after a further trial of his capital cider, to
+harness his horse and drive us home in his covered wagon. But it was a
+fine night and, though getting rather late, we concluded that it would do
+us more good to take the air, in the mile or two of the walk to town. In
+the course of our preparations for departure, and in answer to a variety
+of questions, our uncle informed us, that the mystery was never cleared
+up, nor the trick, if trick it were, ever discovered. As to the tale of
+such a person as Dobbin, we might place what reliance upon it we saw fit;
+and though the motive seemed certainly difficult to see, it might have
+been, after all, a well-contrived piece of deception, to be sure, a very
+laborious and unaccountable one, concealed by the collusion of parties in
+the secret. How long the ghost continued to walk he did not know; but it
+finally disappeared, and the house had been inhabited by respectable
+people ever since, who had suffered no disturbance.
+
+We reached home after a brisk walk, crossing rapidly--and with now and
+then a furtive look--the very premises so haunted in other days, and
+"Thanks be to Praise!" ejaculated Sally Bannocks, as we entered and
+closed the door. The house was cold, after having been shut up all day.
+We quickly separated to our several chambers, and as I laid my head upon
+the pillow and was soon sound asleep, I too, murmured to myself, "Thanks
+be to Praise!"
+
+-----
+ [11]  Jack's composure has a parallel in that of an old-time
+       Scottish clergyman, as the story is told by Dean Ramsay.
+       On returning home late from a dinner abroad his way led
+       through the churchyard, and some mischievous fellows
+       thought to frighten him. One of them came up to him
+       dressed as a ghost, but the minister coolly inquired,
+       "Weel, maister Ghaist, is this a general rising, or are
+       ye juist taking a daunder frae yer grave by yersel?"
+
+ [12]  _Inferno_, Canto xxv., Parsons's translation.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+The following papers, marked I., II., III. are copies of those discovered
+among family documents in the house of Mr. H. W. S. Cleveland, of Salem,
+Massachusetts, several years ago. They were communicated by him to the
+late Mr. Henry Lunt, formerly a merchant of Boston, father of the late
+highly distinguished Rev. Dr. William Parsons Lunt, who died, much
+lamented, while on his travels, at Akaba, in Arabia. How these documents
+came to be deposited in Salem, it is not easy to say. It is probable,
+however, that copies were brought over by the "Mary and John," or the
+"Elizabeth and Dorcas," which appear to have wintered in Boston, after
+their arrival, the passengers, or such of them as saw fit and were
+permitted, proceeding to Ipswich, the following year (1634) and thence to
+the plantation which they called Newbury. It is likely, therefore, that
+the papers which concerned the passengers of those vessels might be
+taken to Salem, perhaps during Governor Endicott's administration, and
+placed in the hands of some official person at that place, so as to be
+more accessible to the home of the people in question, instead of being
+retained at Boston, the journey to which from Newbury was in those days a
+long and tedious one, to be made on foot through the wilderness.
+
+To many persons the abstract of the Charter of Charles I., which is a
+very liberal one, can hardly fail to be interesting. The Orders in
+Council, referred to in the text, are still more so; while the list of
+passengers by the "Mary and John" comprises many names still to be found
+in Newbury. Many more familiar names will be found among those of the
+company which came by the "Elizabeth and Dorcas." It will be seen that in
+the list given are the names of Thomas Parker, an eminent divine, and of
+James Noyes, his nephew; the first the long respected pastor of the
+church and the other the "teacher" at Newbury.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+
+An Abstract of His Ma^{ty's} Charter for incorporating the Company of the
+Mattachusetts Bay in New England in America, Granted in the 4th yeare of
+His Highness' Reign of England, Scotland France & Ireland, Anno. Domini
+1628--
+
+And we do further of our especial Grace, certain Knowledge & mere mocion
+for us our Heirs & Successors--Give and Grant to the said Governour &
+Company & their Sucessors for ever by these presents, That it shall be
+lawfull & free for them & their Assigns at all & every Time & Times
+hereafter out of any of our Realms or Dominions whatsoev^{r}, to take
+lade carry & transport for in & into their voyages, & for & towards the
+said Plantation in New England all such & so many of our Loving Subjects
+or any other Strangers that will become our Loving Subjects & live under
+our Alleigeance as shall willingly accompany them in the said Voyages &
+Plantations, And also Shipping, Armour, Weapons, Ordnance, Munition,
+Powder, Shott, Corn victuals & all manner of Cloathing, Implements,
+Furniture, Beasts, Cattle, Horses, Mares, Merchandizes & all other things
+necessary for the said Plantation and for their use & Defence & for Trade
+with the People there & in passing & returning to & fro, any Law or
+statute to the Contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding--And without
+paying or yielding any custom or Subsidy either Inwards or Outwards, to
+us our Heirs or Successors for the same, by the space of seaven years
+from the Day of the Date of these Presents--Provided that none of the
+said Persons be such as shall hereafter by Especial name be restrained by
+us, our Heirs or Successors----
+
+And for their further Incouragem^{t} of our Especial Grace & favor--we Do
+by these presents for us, our Heirs & successors yield & grant to the
+said Governour & Company & their successors & every of them their Factors
+& Assigns that they & every of them shall be free & quit from all Taxes
+Subsidys & Customs in New England for the space of seaven years, and from
+all Taxes & Impositions for the space of Twenty one years upon all Goods
+& merchandizes at any time or times hereafter Either upon Importation
+there, or Exportation thence, into our Realm of England or into any of
+our Dominions, by the said Governour or Company & their successors, their
+Deputys, Factors & Assigns or any of them except only the Five Pounds
+p^{r} Centum due for Custom upon all such Goods & Merchandizes as, after
+the said seaven years shall be expired, shall be brought or imported
+into our Realm of England or any other of our Dominions according to the
+Ancient Trade of Merchants, which Five Pounds p^{r} centum only being
+paid it shall be thenceforth lawfull & free for the s^{d} Adventurers the
+same Goods & Merchandizes to export & carry out of our Dominions into
+Foreign Parts without any Custom, Tax or other Duty to be paid to us our
+Heirs or Successors or to any other officer or officers or ministers of
+us our Heirs or Successors,--
+
+Provided that the said Goods & merchandize be shipp'd out within thirteen
+months after their first Landing within any part of the said Dominions--
+
+This is a true Copy of His Ma^{ties} Letters Patent aforesaid--Custom
+House London 30th January 1633 Anno. R. Caroli Nono--
+
+                                       JOHN WOLSTENHOLME, _Collector_.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+
+ORDERS IN COUNCIL.
+
+_New England,--At Whitehall the last of February, 1633._
+
+Present:
+
+  Lo. Arch. Bp. of Cant.
+  Earle of Kelley.
+  Lo. Keep^{r}.
+  Lo. Cottington.
+  Lo. Privie Seal
+  M^{r}. V. Chamb^{r}line.
+  Lo. High Chamb^{r}line.
+  M^{r}. Compt^{r}.
+  M^{r}. Secretary Wyndibank.
+
+Whereas by a Warr^{t}. bearing date 22nd of this Present, the sev'all
+ships following bound for New England, and now lying in the River of
+Thames were made staye of untill further order from their Lo'pps. viz.,
+The Clement & Job, The Reformation, The True Love, The Elizabeth
+Bonadventure, The Sea Flower, The Mary & John, The Planter, The Elizabeth
+& Dorcas, The Hercules & The Neptune.
+
+Forasmuch as the masters of the said ships were this day called before
+the Board & several Particulars given them in charge to be performed in
+their said voyage, amongst which the said masters were to enter into
+several Bonds of One Hundred Pounds a piece to His Maj^{s}tys use before
+the Clarke of the Councell attendant to observe & cause to be observed
+and putt in Execucion these Articles following viz:
+
+1. That all and every Person aboard their Ships now bound for New England
+as aforesaid, that shall blaspheme or profane the Holy name of God be
+severely punis'h't.
+
+2. That they cause the Prayers contained in the Book of Common Prayers
+establisht in the Church of England, to be said daily at the usual hours
+for Morning & Evening Prayers & that they cause all Persons aboard their
+said ships to be present at the same.
+
+3. That they do not receive aboard or transport any Person that hath not
+Certificate from the Officers of the Port where he is to imbarke that he
+hath taken both the Oathes of Alleigeance & Supremacy.
+
+4. That upon their return into this Kingdom they Certify to the Board the
+names of all such Persons as they shall transport together with their
+Proceedings in the Execu'ion of the aforesaid Articles--Whereunto the
+said M^{rs}. have conformed themselves--It was therefore & for diverse
+other Reasons best known to their Lo^{pps}. thought fitt that for this
+time they should be permitted to proceed on their Voyage, and it was
+thereupon ordered that Gabriel Marsh Esq^{r}. Marshalle of the Admiralty,
+& all other His Maj'ty's Officers to whom their said Warr^{t}. was
+directed should be required upon sight hereof to discharge all & every
+the said Ships, & suffer them to depart on their intended Voyage to New
+England--EX. JON. MEANTYS.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+
+_The names of such Passengers as took the Oathes of Supremacy, and
+Alleigeance to pass for New England in the Mary & John of London Robert
+Sayres Master,_
+
+24th Mar. 1633.
+
+  William Trace (Tracy)
+  John Marshe
+  John Luff
+  Henry Traske
+  William Moudey
+  Robert Sever
+  Thomas Avery
+  Henry Travers
+  Thomas Sweete
+  John Woodbridge
+  Thomas West
+  Thomas Savery
+  Christopher Osgood
+  Phillip Fowler
+  Richard Jacob
+  Daniel Ladd
+  Robert Kingsman
+  John Bartlett
+  Robert Coker
+  William Savery
+  John Anthoney (left behind)
+  Stephen Jurden
+  John Godfrey
+  George Browne
+  Nicholas Noyce
+  Richard Browne
+  Richard Reynolds
+  Richard Littlehall
+  William White
+  Matthew Hewlett (Hercules)
+  John Whelyer
+  William Clarke
+  Robert Newman
+  Adrian Vincent.
+
+
+The 26th day of March.
+
+  Nicholas Easton
+  Richard Kent
+  Abraham Mussey
+  William Spencer
+  Henry Shorte
+  William Hibbens
+  William Ballard
+  Matthew Gillett
+  William Franklin
+  John Mussey
+  Thomas Cole
+  Thomas Parker
+  James Noyce
+  John Spencer
+  Richard Kent
+  Joseph Myles
+  John Newman
+  William Newbey
+  Henry Lunt
+  Joseph Pope
+  Thomas Newman
+  John Newman.
+
+For which we gave certificate, together with five others, which are said
+to be left behind to oversee the Chattle to pass in the Hercules viz.
+
+The names of the Passengers in the Hercules of London, John Kiddey
+Ma^{r}. for New England.
+
+These six Passengers took their Oathes of Supremacy & Alleigeance the
+24th March and were left behind the Mary & John, as intended to pass in
+y^{e} Hercules--viz:
+
+  John Anthony      }    Cert, the six first
+  Robert Early      }  to Mt'er Sayers as
+  William Satcome   }  intended.
+  Thomas Foster     }    Secondth to Mr.
+  William Foster    }  Kiddey to pass in the
+  Matthew Hewlett.  }  Hercules.
+
+  16th April, 1634.
+  Nathaniel Davyes
+  George Kinge
+  Thomas Rider
+  William Elliot
+  William Fifeilde
+  Henry Phelps.
+
+18. These proceedings were Copyed out of an Olde Book of Orders belonging
+to the Port of South'ton but now remaining at the Custom house in
+Portsmouth the 6th Day of December 1735.
+
+                                                Per THOMAS WHITEHOUSE.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+
+In regard to the costume which prevailed, among persons of wealth and
+standing in New England, within a century, I quote a descriptive passage
+from a history of Newburyport, by Mrs. E. V. Smith, published in 1854, as
+follows:--
+
+  "With the incoming of the nineteenth century, garments more in
+  conformity with present fashions took precedence of three-cornered
+  hats, long coats with immense pocket-folds and cuffs, but without
+  collars, in which the men of the eighteenth century prided
+  themselves; with their buttons of pure silver, or plated, of the
+  size of a half-dollar, presenting a great superfluity of coat and
+  waistcoat when contrasted with the short nether garments, ycleped
+  "breeches," or "small-clothes," which reached only to the knee,
+  being there fastened with large (?) silver buckles, which ornament
+  was also used in fastening the straps of shoes. The gentlemen quite
+  equalled the ladies at this period in the amount of finery, and the
+  brilliancy of colors in which they indulged. A light blue coat with
+  large fancy buttons, a white satin embroidered waistcoat, red
+  velvet breeches, silk stockings, and buckled shoes, with a
+  neckcloth, or scarf, of finely embroidered cambric, or figured
+  stuff, the ends hanging loose, the better to show the work, and
+  liberal bosom and wrist ruffles (the latter usually fastened with
+  gold or silver buckles), were usually considered a proper evening
+  dress for a gentleman of any pretension to fashion. The clergy and
+  many other gentlemen commonly wore black silk stockings, and others
+  contented themselves with gray woollen. The boots had a broad fold
+  of white leather turned over the top, with tassels dangling from
+  either side. The clergy frequently wore silk or stuff gowns and
+  powdered wigs. The ladies usually wore black silk or satin bonnets,
+  long-waisted and narrow-skirted dresses for the street, with long
+  tight sleeves, and in the house, sleeves reaching to the elbow,
+  finished with an immensely broad frill; high-heeled shoes, and
+  always, when in full dress, carried a profusely ornamented fan. The
+  excessively long waists, toward the close of this period, were
+  exchanged for extremely short ones; so short, that the belt or
+  waist was inhumanly contrived to come at the broadest part of the
+  chest. But no fashion of dress was so permanent as other customs
+  clinging to particular eras. Anciently, as now, fashions were
+  changed more or less extensively every ten years, though certain
+  broad characteristics remained long enough to give specific
+  character to the costuming of the eighteenth century."
+
+The writer is accurate enough, no doubt, in her general description; but
+what lady could give an entirely correct account of a gentleman's attire?
+Knee-buckles, for instance, were almost necessarily small, instead of
+"large"; it may be questioned whether top-boots were ever decorated with
+tassels, a single article of that sort often hanging at the front of a
+different kind of high boot, worn long after the beginning of the present
+century; and as to the silk gowns of clergymen, it is but a very few
+years since they began to be disused in the pulpit by Presbyterian and
+Congregational ministers. About forty years before the present period,
+many gentlemen wore dresses of the cut described by Mrs. Smith, though of
+a more subdued color,--black, blue, or drab. Not long after the
+beginning of the present century, a chief magistrate of Massachusetts,
+Gov. Gore, made a sort of progress through the State, in imposing style.
+His elegant, open carriage was drawn by four handsome and spirited
+horses, and he was attended by his aids and several outriders. The
+governor was a gentleman of fine personal appearance, and was attired in
+the highest style of contemporary civil costume, with his white hair
+gathered behind into a satin bag, and his aids were in undress military
+costume. He was a "Federalist," and this demonstration cost him his
+election the next time; for, though a man of brilliant ability and high
+personal character, he served but one year. At a date fifteen years
+later, I saw the "Democratic" governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Eustis, in
+attendance upon the Commencement exercises, at Harvard College, dressed
+much in the fashion of half a century earlier; namely, coat and waistcoat
+with broad flaps, small-clothes, ruffles at his bosom and wrists, a
+cocked hat of the old style, and a steel-hilted rapier at his side. Ten
+years afterwards, one of the best governors the Commonwealth has ever
+had, Mr. Lincoln, who served the State in this capacity for nine several
+terms, wore also a distinguishing costume, but more conformable to modern
+fashions. About the ruffles to his shirt-bosom I am sure, and feel much
+confidence, from memory, in regard to black small-clothes and black silk
+stockings, and his hat was always decorated with a black cockade.
+Nowadays a governor's appearance scarcely distinguishes him from any
+ordinary person in the crowd.
+
+The cocked hats, however, and much of the costume of the eighteenth
+century, continued to be worn by the survivors of Revolutionary officers
+and some others, during the first quarter of the present century and
+afterwards.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+
+The subjoined interesting sketch of an ancient dwelling-house and of a
+family which has inhabited it for several generations, was furnished by
+a distinguished friend, Thomas Coffin Amory, Esq., of Boston, who
+traces his ancestry on the maternal side to the family in question. Nor,
+in producing this highly interesting sketch, could I overlook Joshua
+Coffin, the historian of Newbury and a resident of that town, from the
+originally extensive territory of which various adjacent towns were
+eventually formed. He was possessed of many amiable qualities and
+inspired by the true antiquarian spirit, and laboriously pored among
+the not very carefully kept early records of the original settlement, and
+brought much out of chaos well calculated to illustrate its former
+history. Mr. Amory has, on various occasions, shown the spirit of a
+careful historical student and of an intelligent and zealous antiquary.
+His recent contributions to that excellent periodical, "The New England
+Historical and Genealogical Register," which has become of inestimable
+value, as a collection of facts illustrative of early New England
+history and biography, have given great pleasure to multitudes of
+readers,--especially his vivid and graphic descriptions of certain
+ancient and storied mansions in Boston and Cambridge, and of their former
+inhabitants. Let us hope that researches of such abundant interest and
+value will soon claim and gain a still larger share of the public
+attention in a collected form.
+
+  MY DEAR SIR,--In your reminiscences of Newburyport you must not
+  forget Joshua Coffin its historian,--one of the best of men, whom
+  no one knew but to love. I see him now as he came to visit me
+  several years ago, when he was representing his native town in the
+  General Court, a fresh, hale, cheery gentleman, full of pleasant
+  anecdotes relating to the past. He owned and occupied the Coffin
+  mansion, which had been the abode of seven generations of his
+  family and name. Out of its portals had issued numberless admirable
+  men and women, and from among the former, a large share of college
+  graduates, at Harvard and other New England colleges, of lawyers,
+  clergy, and soldiers, to do good service in their day and
+  generation.
+
+  At his suggestion, I visited this ancient dwelling which was
+  erected about 1649, by Mr. Somerby, the widow of whose progenitor
+  Tristram Coffin, Jr., married. This Tristram was the eldest son of
+  another Tristram, first of the race in America, who not many years
+  before, in 1642, came over from Brixton, near Plymouth, in
+  Devonshire, bringing with him his mother, and two sisters,--Eunice
+  who married William Butler, and Mary who became the wife of
+  Alexander Adams, of Boston. He brought with him also several sons
+  and daughters, to whom were added others born to him on this side
+  the ocean. His family in the home country had shown the same
+  tenacity and steadfastness, exemplified by their long continued
+  residence at Newburyport; for at Alwington and Portledge in Devon,
+  they had flourished, if not from the flood, from periods very
+  remote; for according to the historical statement, the Normans when
+  they came over in the eleventh century found them there, and left
+  them unmolested; and there still dwell their descendants in the
+  female line, who have assumed their appellation of Pine Coffin, one
+  of the house of Pine having married the heiress of the family
+  estates.
+
+  Tristram the elder, and his sons James and Stephen, were among the
+  nine who purchased the island of Nantucket from the Earl of
+  Stirling in 1659, and went there to dwell. Their descendants have
+  ever since been respectable and greatly multiplied, and not only on
+  that island but all over the country, having since been estimated
+  by thousands if not tens of thousands. Their usual average of
+  children has been half a score, and from their numerous progeny and
+  great longevity, we may judge what vigor was in the race. One of
+  them, William, son of Nathaniel, son of James, cruised over many
+  seas, as commander of a merchantman, and becoming interested in a
+  Boston maiden, Ann Holmes, settled about 1720 in the provincial
+  capital, where among other offices he filled with credit to himself
+  and his name was that for many years of warden of Trinity Church.
+  He died before the Revolution, leaving many children; most of his
+  sons at that period becoming refugee loyalists, they and their
+  descendants taking high rank in the British military and naval
+  service. John, son of Nathaniel, was a distinguished officer in the
+  Carolinas, and afterwards became Major-general. His brother, Sir
+  Isaac, early became distinguished on the ocean, was an Admiral,
+  Member of Parliament, and created a Baronet, which latter rank was
+  also bestowed on Thomas Astor, son of William, the eldest son of
+  the warden. Several others of the name and blood then and since
+  have filled with distinction posts of honor and respectability in
+  the civil service of the mother country at home, in Canada, and in
+  India.
+
+  But this is a digression. The only connection of the Nantucket
+  branch with Newbury is that old Tristram lived there for a brief
+  period, before repairing to his island home, and his son (the
+  younger of the name of Tristram, the family name of a grandmother)
+  and his posterity occupied the old mansion down through seven or
+  eight generations, and still dwell beneath its roof. At the time of
+  its erection the edifice must have been among the most elegant, as
+  its good state of preservation proves it to have been one of the
+  most substantial of its day, when the notion, prevailing in
+  England, that oak was the most suitable material of the forest for
+  dwellings, governed in their choice, with less reason, our
+  American planters. It was built in the mode common to the period,
+  round a vast brick chimney-stack, ten or twelve feet square. The
+  principal apartment, now divided into two, possessed, as did also
+  the kitchen, one of those spacious fireplaces which are the marvel
+  and envy of these degenerate days, when a hole in the carpet has
+  superseded in many households the family hearth. It is pleasant to
+  think of the groups that in the olden time clustered around them;
+  charming people, whom we know by tradition, and who are remembered
+  by many associations.
+
+  The house possesses various other apartments of size and
+  pretension, and has answered well the needs of the successive
+  generations that have occupied it, not only as a spacious and
+  commodious abode, but one sufficiently elegant to satisfy the
+  advancing standards of taste and refinement. Among the marked
+  features of the building are several small casements, lighting
+  closets and staircases, which give variety to the monotonous
+  symmetry of windows all of a size, one on top of another, and where
+  all the openings for egress or light are in straight lines and of
+  equal dimensions. It is many years since my visit, and I hope you
+  will see it, for much that was peculiar, and made a weird
+  impression at the time, has passed out of mind. If the trickles in
+  my own veins do not mislead, the present proprietors will be glad
+  to have pleasure afforded to the reading community, even by this
+  inadequate description of a house which has such claims to be
+  known, if, as you intimate, you purpose to place this account of it
+  in your Appendix. They will not consider it a liberty if I repeat
+  what some one not long since told me of an interesting relic of the
+  past discovered on its walls, a statement which might be related
+  almost in the same words of the house of MacPhędrics at
+  Portsmouth.
+
+  Not many years since it was concluded to repaper the hall, the
+  walls of which were covered with several thicknesses of paper which
+  had from generation to generation been pasted one upon another. It
+  was thought best to remove them all, and when a large party of
+  young people, home for the holidays, were gathered for a dull week
+  of weather under its roof, they determined to amuse themselves by
+  stripping off the various layers of previous decorations,
+  preparatory to the new one intended to take their place. Underneath
+  them all was discovered, painted on the wall, artistic designs of
+  figures and foliage, such as were common in the days of the
+  Stuarts. All antiquarians are familiar with the similar
+  discoveries at Portsmouth, to which allusion has been made.
+
+  There are not many houses in America which have been so long owned
+  and occupied by the same name. The old brick mansion near
+  Portsmouth, of the Weeks family, the Curtis house at Boston
+  Highlands, Fairbanks at Dedham, Pickering at Salem, were
+  contemporaries in the period of the construction, and have
+  descended from sire to son as has this of the Coffins.
+
+  The house is pleasantly placed, and commands fine views from its
+  windows. Even in winter it must be, if not a cheerful, an
+  interesting abode to dwell in. In duller days, when skies are
+  leaden, and the more you see around you the less you like it, its
+  dreamy look of age and strangeness within and without may have a
+  somewhat depressing influence. The aches and agonies of so many
+  generations may gain an ascendancy over the exuberant joys that
+  made their life worth living. It would sometimes seem that if
+  fondness for the supernatural must be indulged, an old edifice like
+  this would prove a haunt more attractive, and certainly more
+  appropriate, for ghost and apparition than any school-room, however
+  noted for its spells. Yet notwithstanding some lugubrious
+  associations connected with the family patronymic, phantoms would
+  have to tread softly and whisper low if they invaded its precincts;
+  for the vigorous vitality of its occupants and their cheery tones,
+  if up to the traditional standard of their race, would exorcise the
+  very king of spectres himself, should he venture to stalk about at
+  the noonday, or revisit the glimpses of the moon in its ancient
+  chambers.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+
+I might have mentioned, as one of the amusements of childhood, the
+throwing of a piece of paper upon the embers of our wood-fire, for we had
+no coal in those days, and watching the gradual extinguishment of the
+sparks, likening it to a congregation entering the meeting-house. "There
+they go in," we would say. "There's the minister;" and as the final spark
+disappeared,--"Now, the sexton has gone in and shut the door." I speak of
+this only as a curious illustration of English ways traditionally
+surviving in New England. Thus Cowper tells us:--
+
+         "So when a child, as playful children use,
+          Has burnt to tinder a stale last year's news,
+          The flame extinct, he views the roving fire,--
+          There goes my lady, and there goes the squire;
+          There goes the parson, O illustrious spark!
+          And there, scarce less illustrious, goes the clerk!"
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+
+Several allusions having been made in the text to the "Wolfe" Tavern, I
+am able to present the following original bill of lading, constituting an
+incident in relation to the famous expedition to Quebec, and evincing at
+least a more formal recognition of a superintending Providence, than is
+the custom of more modern days:--
+
+  12 Oxen,
+  6 Horses,
+  No. 29 to 32. 4 Hogshd. Corn,
+  10 Baggs Corn,
+  10 Baggs Meal,
+  2 Carts with Furniture,
+  500 feet Boards,
+  1 pr. Smiths Bellows,
+  1 Box Smiths Tools,
+  1 Anvil,
+  1 Camp Kettle
+  10 Ox Yokes,
+  70 Bundles of Hay,
+  2 Handpumps,
+  18 Pails,
+  4 Tubbs,
+  2 Shovells,
+  4 Barr's Water, Settled.
+
+Shipped by the Grace of God in good Order and well Condition'd by Thomas
+Hancock, by order of His Excell'cy Major General Amherst, in and upon the
+good sloop call'd the "Endeavour," whereof is Master under GOD, for this
+present Voyage, William Clift, and now riding at Anchor in the Harbour of
+Boston, and by God's Grace bound for The Expedition up the River St.
+Lawrence, to say, Twelve Oxen, Six Horses, Four Hogshead and Ten Bags of
+Corn, Ten Bags of Meal, two Carts with their Furniture, Five hundred feet
+of Boards, One Pair Smiths Bellows, One Box Smiths Tools, One Anvill, One
+Camp Kettle, Ten Ox Yokes, Seventy Bundles of Hay, Two handpumps,
+Eighteen pails, Four Tubbs, Two Shovells, Four Barrells Water; being
+mark'd and number'd as in the Margin, and to be delivered in the like
+good Order, and well Condition'd, at the aforesaid Port of ---- (the
+Danger of the Seas only excepted) unto His Excell'cy Major General Wolfe,
+or to his Assigns,----or they paying Freight for the said
+Goods----Nothing----with Primage and Average accustom'd. In Witness
+whereof the Master or Purser of the said sloop hath affirmed to Two Bills
+of Lading, all of this Tenor and date; the one of which Two Bills being
+accomplished, the other one to stand void. And so GOD send the good sloop
+to her desired Port in Safety, _Amen_. Dated in
+
+BOSTON, _May 14, 1759_.
+
+                                                    WILL^{M}. CLIFT.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+
+On my occasional visit to Boston, I usually put up at the Eastern Stage
+House, perhaps because it was there that the stage-coach by which I
+arrived at the city discharged its passengers. It was an old fashioned
+establishment, which but for the absence of galleries, might remind one
+of the famous Tabard Inn, from which Chaucer's pilgrims set out. For its
+capacious yard, in which the passengers alighted, and where they
+remounted for their homeward journey, was approached through a narrow
+cross street, and in its ample stables the stage-horses took their rest
+and refreshment. The front entrance to the tavern was under an archway on
+Ann street, loyally named for the old queen; for which title was not long
+ago senselessly substituted the unsuggestive appellation of North street.
+It has long since given place to more modern edifices. It was a
+comfortable place of temporary residence, and in illustration of former
+manners I remember one practice which I have never seen elsewhere. At the
+plate of each guest, at dinner, was placed a small decanter of brandy,
+holding I suppose half-a-pint of that liquor, and for which no extra
+charge appeared in the bill, which account itself was moderate enough
+compared with the inordinate hotel reckonings of the present day.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+
+In small matters, as well as in great, history repeats itself. Thus, the
+anachronic emotion of Miss ---- (on page 17) finds its parallel in
+"Facetię Poggii," written at Florence, in the year 1450, of which the
+following story is one:--
+
+"Cyriac of Ancona, a wordy man and much given to talk, was once deploring
+in our presence the fall and ruin of the Roman empire, and seemed to be
+vehemently grieved at it. Then Anthony Lusco, a most learned man, who
+also stood by, said, jeering at the silly grief of the fellow, 'He is
+very like a man of Milan, who, hearing on a feast day one of the race of
+minstrels, who are wont to sing the deeds of departed heroes to the
+people, reciting the death of Roland, who was slain about seven hundred
+years before in battle, fell at once a-weeping bitterly, and when he got
+home to his wife, and she saw him sad and sighing, and asked what was the
+matter, "Alas! alas! wife," he said, "we are as good as dead and gone."
+"Why, man," she answered, "what dreadful thing has befallen you? Take
+comfort and come to supper." But he, when he went on sobbing and sighing,
+and would take no food, and his wife pressed him to tell the cause of his
+woe, at last said, "Don't you know the bad news I have heard to-day?"
+"What?" asked the wife. "Roland is dead, who alone was the safeguard of
+Christendom." On which his wife tried to soothe the silly grief of her
+husband, and yet, with all her tenderness, could scarce get him to sit
+down to meat.'"[13]
+
+The effect of the ballad, however, upon the worthy man of Milan reminds
+one of the historical incident, recording the effect of song, celebrated
+anew in one of the stanzas of Childe Harold:--
+
+     "When Athens' armies fell at Syracuse,
+      And fettered thousands felt the yoke of war,
+      Redemption rose up in the Attic Muse,
+      Her voice their only ransom from afar;
+      See! as they chant the tragic hymn, the car
+      Of the o'ermastered victor stops: the reins
+      Fall from his hands--his idle scimitar
+      Starts from its belt--he rends his captives' chains,
+      And bids them thank the bard for freedom and his strains."
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+
+The ancestor of Colonel Edward Wigglesworth, mentioned in the text, an
+officer of the Revolution, highly esteemed by Washington, was Rev.
+Michael Wigglesworth, author of "The Day of Doom," published in the last
+quarter of the seventeenth century, and reprinted in London; a dreadfully
+dismal, but edifying poem, and not without a certain horrifying merit.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+
+Were it within the scope of this work, I might furnish a catalogue, by no
+means meagre, of inhabitants formerly distinguished in their day and
+generation. For example, I have heard it stated as a curious fact, that,
+not far from the beginning of the present century, each of the three
+Professors of Harvard College, namely, Professors Webber, afterwards
+President; Pearson, and Toppan, were natives of Newbury.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+
+I could hardly dismiss this volume from my hands without some reference
+to the means of public information furnished by the newspapers of the
+town. Of these, there have been, since "The Essex Journal," soon
+afterwards merged in "The Impartial Herald," and first published in 1773,
+between thirty and forty attempts to establish newspapers; but the
+"Herald," the successor of those before-named, for many years conducted
+as a semi-weekly journal, and since the year 1832 as a daily paper, has
+alone steadily maintained its ground. It has always been distinguished
+for the editorial ability displayed in its columns, and for a care
+bestowed upon its several departments, which gave it a high reputation,
+scarcely surpassed by that of leading journals in our larger cities.
+
+"The Essex Journal" was begun by Isaiah Thomas, who in the course of a
+year sold his interest in it to Ezra Lunt; and he, after two years,
+obeying another call to public service, sold it to John Mycall. The first
+of these began life in the humblest condition, without schooling of any
+kind, it is alleged; taught himself to read and write, and after a time
+removed to Worcester, became connected with a noted paper there, the
+"Massachusetts Spy," at length accumulated a handsome fortune, for the
+times, much of which, after a long life, he bequeathed to the Antiquarian
+Society of Worcester, and a portion to Harvard College, and other
+literary institutions. He was the founder, also, of the American
+Antiquarian Society. He became a writer and educator of much repute.
+
+Upon the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, Mr. Ezra Lunt was the
+first man who volunteered, in the meeting-house, when the minister, Rev.
+Mr. Parsons, exhorted his parishioners to military service; was chosen
+captain of the company, with which he was present in command at Bunker
+Hill, and afterwards was raised to the rank of major. He took part in the
+battle of Monmouth Court House, when the British army, under Sir Henry
+Clinton, retired with much difficulty and loss before Washington, and
+used to relate the particulars of the well-known rebuke administered by
+that great chief to General Charles Lee for his hasty retreat from the
+advanced post, which had been assigned him. He declared himself to have
+been close by at the moment, and to have heard the energetic language
+used on the occasion. After the war, he received his allotment of land,
+and settled upon it, at Marietta, Ohio.
+
+Mr. Mycall was a person of much natural capacity and shrewdness, with
+certain eccentricities of character, and kept up a little politic mystery
+about himself. He once engaged a well-known carriage-maker of the day to
+build him a chaise, which it was agreed should be finished at a certain
+time. When the specified period arrived, the vehicle was not forthcoming.
+Enduring a similar disappointment several times, and expressing himself
+strongly about it to the offender, that individual promised it to him
+positively at a certain date, _if he was alive_. Even then, it was not
+delivered; but what was the astonishment of the faulty party to read in
+his newspaper the next morning, "Died, yesterday, P. B., chaise-maker,"
+etc. In a state of boiling indignation he rushed to the street, and on
+the way to the office of publication called the attention of various
+acquaintances to the wrongful statement, which, it appeared, no one had
+observed. Entering the office, he inquired, with much feeling, how Mr.
+Mycall could have published such a paragraph. "Did you not promise me,"
+said the editor, "that my chaise should be sent home, on such a day, if
+you were alive?" "Well, supposing I did?" "Why, then, of course, you must
+be dead!" Taking up a copy of the paper from his desk, and examining the
+obituary notices, "But," said the editor, "there is no such statement
+here." The bewildered chaise-maker hastened home to examine his paper
+anew; and it appeared, on inquiry, that the account of his decease was
+printed only in his own copy; a gloomy jest, which was soon much relished
+by the community.
+
+Indeed, the town became for a time a noted place for the publication of
+standard works, and books of various descriptions. It was here that the
+well-known Mr. Edmund M. Blunt, who subsequently removed to the city of
+New York, published his valuable and famous "American Coast Pilot," and,
+afterwards, the no less useful "Practical Navigator."
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+
+In attestation of the remark, on page 144 of the text, that an antiquated
+pronunciation of many English words prevailed long in New England, after
+it was disused in Old England, and was brought by the colonists from the
+Mother Country, see the criticism of "Holofernes" upon innovations in
+pronunciation, in Act V., Sc. 1, of "Love's Labor Lost," showing the
+state of the case in Shakespeare's time.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+
+In closing this Appendix, which might be extended to almost any length,
+as recollections which did not occur to me in writing the body of the
+work come up, I cannot omit a remarkable use of the American language,
+let us say, since the Czar once so denominated the English tongue. It was
+upon the part of a town constable, perhaps as nearly of the Dogberry type
+as could be imagined. I was standing in the town hall, at a moment
+preliminary to a public meeting. A knot of youngsters had been joking one
+another, when this authoritative official approached. All but one
+speedily retired before the awful presence. "Master Constable" addressed
+the lingerer: "_Disperge_,"--a difficult operation for an
+individual,--"_disperge_, I say; we can't have no _burlash_ here!"
+
+Even Shakespeare might have been glad of such an opportunity to enlarge
+the cacology, by actual hearing, of some of his most amusing characters.
+
+-----
+ [13]  Quoted in Dasent's "Jest and Earnest." London, 1873.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Academy, of good standing, 137
+  Adams, J. Q., 134
+  Addison on English Superstition, 176
+  Adventure of American Sea-captain with Christophe, Emperor of Hayti, 61
+  "Algerines;" their Quarrel with Foreign Sailors, 74
+  Ancient Elder, 120
+  Ancient Episcopal Church; its former Rector, Bishop of Massachusetts,
+  114, 130
+  Apparition, an, 184
+  Aristocracy, 21
+  Aunt Judith, 23
+  Aunt Judith's Narrative of Witchcraft, 169
+
+  Balaklava Charge, 28
+  Bar, dangerous, 6
+  Bartlett, William, 33
+  Beggars, mimic, 106
+  Beverages, formerly, 96
+  Bishop Bass, 130
+  Bold Youngster, 165
+  Books, some that we read, 138, 139
+  Borderers, 74
+  Boyish Sports, 14
+  Bradbury, Judge, 34
+  British Orders in Council, 108
+  Bromfield Legacy, 18
+  Buchan, Earl of, 63
+
+  Campbell, "Tom," 27
+  Cannon for street posts, 58
+  Capen, Parson, 178
+  Characteristic Letter, 40
+  Christmas Evening, 161
+  Christmas Hymn, 163
+  Christophe of Hayti, 61
+  Clergy of the town, 122
+  Clergyman, Scottish, 166
+  Collector Marquand, 37
+  Collector Wigglesworth, 36
+  Comparative value of money, 21
+  Congregation, "Scrupulous," 122
+  Consequences of war and embargo, 57
+  Court of Common Pleas, 83
+  Cunning expedient, 22
+
+  Dalton, Tristram, 34
+  Damage of war, 38
+  Dana, Rev. Dr., 128
+  Dangerous bar, 6
+  Devil's den, 15
+  Dexter, "Lord," 63
+  Dexter's poet, 66
+  Dinah for Diana, 145
+  Discourse of Rev. Mr. Murray, 99
+  Dissatisfied washerwoman, 104
+  Dogberry and Verges, 198
+  Domestic, Scottish, 104
+
+  Earl of Buchan, 63
+  Earthquakes in former times, 113
+  Edinburgh, similar habits in, 10
+  Elder, an old-fashioned, 120
+  Emperor of Hayti, 61
+  English Clergymen, 124
+  English Reader. Are modern text-books as useful?, 137
+  English superstition, 176
+  Enterprise, Maritime and Commercial, 5
+  Extraordinary images, 63
+
+  Failure, swindling, 103
+  Favor, Johnny: his opinion of polemics, 133
+  Few insane persons, and the treatment of them formerly, 45
+  Fights of boys, 10
+  Fine trees, 17
+  Fire, strange, 190
+  Fire, the "great," 103
+  Foot-warming process, 118
+  Former Rector of St. Paul's a Bishop, 130
+  Former severe winters, 1
+  Former solemn proceedings in naturalization, 110
+  Fourth of July, 98
+  Fright of an old woman, 100
+  Fugitive Sea-captain and a lively chase, 58
+
+  Ghost, reputed, 180
+  Gould, Miss Hannah F., 31
+  Gourmand, a, 98
+  Great Fire, 103
+  Greys, Silver, 56
+  Grouse, Old, story of, 146
+  Growth of Episcopal Church, 130
+
+  Habits in Edinburgh, 10
+  Habits, jovial, of old times, 96
+  Hardships of early times, 40
+  Hay-time treating, 109
+  "Hinx-minx," origin of, 174
+  Hohenlinden, 28
+  Holt, Granny, 169
+  Home, return to, 202
+  How they used to "break," 103
+  Huntington, Countess of, and her Seminary, 124
+  Hymn, Christmas, 163
+
+  Images, extraordinary, 63
+  Indifference to cold, 119
+  Inquisitive spinster, 123
+  Insane persons, few, 45
+  Internal trade, 67
+  Introductory chapters to Scott's novels, 159
+
+  Jackson family, 24
+  James, King of Scotland, 106
+  Johnson, Samuel, Dr., 26
+  "Joppa Jine," 144
+  Jovial habits of old times, 109
+  Judith, Aunt, 23
+  July 4th, 98
+
+  King James of Scotland, 106
+  King Louis Philippe, 4
+  King, Rufus, 135
+
+  Lee, Mrs. George, 31
+  Longfellow, 32
+  Lowells, The, 24
+
+  Magistrate and culprit, 51
+  Mansions, remarkable, 18
+  Manufacturing establishments, 4
+  Maritime enterprise, 5
+  Market Square, triangular, 66
+  Marquand, Collector, 37
+  Massachusetts, Diocese of, 130
+  Meeting-houses--stoves and organs, 118
+  Merchant, rich, 34
+  Milton, Rev. Mr., 124
+  Mimic beggars, 106
+  Money, comparative value of, 21
+  "Moses is come!," 100
+  Murray, Rev. Mr., 99
+  Murray's Reader, 137
+
+  Naturalization, etc., 110
+  New England pronunciation, 144
+  New England superstition, of old, 160
+  Novelist, English, his surprise, 9
+  Nutting, etc., 14
+
+  Old-fashioned hospitality in beverages, 109
+  "Old Grouse," story of, 146
+  Old Peddlers, 67
+  Old Woman, fright of, 100
+  Orders in Council, British, 108
+  Organ of St. Paul's, 118
+  Origin of "Hinx-Minx," 174
+  Our Town, 5
+
+  Paine, Robert Treat, 134
+  Parson, Capen, 178
+  Parsonage and its curious picture, 52
+  Parsons, Chief Justice, 134
+  Particular Shoemaker, 48
+  Peabody, George, 33
+  Peace of 1783, 99
+  Peddlers, old, 67
+  People of St. James's, 131
+  Perkins, Jacob, 25
+  Personal part of leading citizens in politics, 94
+  Persons, distinguished, 34
+  Picture, curious, 52
+  Pike, Nicholas, 25
+  Polemics, 132
+  Political hostilities, 55
+  Poultry in profusion, 67
+  Practice, modern, of naturalization, 110
+  Professional persons, etc., 83
+  "Project," what it is, 174
+  Putnam, Oliver, 33
+
+  Quaker meeting, 136
+  Queer contrast of language, 61
+
+  Railways and their influence, 142
+  Ramsay, Dean, and others, Reminiscences of, 10
+  Reader, Murray's English, 137
+  Reading parties, 142
+  Refinement of certain classes, 133
+  Reputed apparition, 192
+  Respect for the clergy, 29
+  "Retort courteous," 27
+  Rev. Dr. Dana, 128
+  Rev. Mr. Milton, 124
+  Rev. Dr. Morse, 131
+  Rev. Mr. Murray, 122
+  Rev. Dr. Spring, 29
+  Richard, Uncle, 162
+
+  Sabbath, how kept, 120
+  Sailing adventure, 7
+  "Salt," ancient, 3
+  Saturday and Sunday evenings, 30
+  Scenery on the river, 5
+  School books, etc., 137
+  Schoolmaster, a shrewd, 140
+  Scott's Autobiography, 10
+  Scott's reply to certain critics, 159
+  Scottish domestic, cool and faithful, 104
+  "Scrupulous" congregation, 122
+  Scrupulous shoemaker, 48
+  Severe winters, 1
+  Shipbuilding, etc., 5
+  Silver Greys, 56
+  Singular companion, 168
+  Singular night adventure, 87
+  Snow-storm in old times, 2
+  Social security, 85
+  Stage-house, 53
+  St. James's, 143
+  Story of an apparition, 179
+  Story of bold youngster, 165
+  Stove in Church, 118
+  Street fights of boys, 10
+  Striking adventure of Rufus King, 135
+  Surprise of Thackeray, 9
+  Swett and Schwedt, 30
+  Swindling failure, 103
+  Sympathetic young lady, 17
+
+  Tennyson's "Charge at Balaklava," 28
+  Text instead of sermon, 119
+  "Thanks be to Praise!," 202
+  Thanksgiving, 105
+  Timber and shipbuilding, 5
+  "Tom" Campbell, 27
+  Topsfield spectre, 177
+  Town-meeting and resolute chairman, 96
+  Trade, internal, of the town, 67
+  Traders, small, 67
+  Treating in hay-time, 109
+  Trees of great beauty, 17
+  Triangular Market Square, 66
+  Tyng Family, 24
+
+  Uncle Richard, 162
+  United States after a runaway, 58
+  Unterrified clergyman, 166
+
+  Verges and Dogberry, 198
+  Vulgarian of the nouveaux riches, 62
+
+  Wages, low rate of, 23
+  Walsh, Michael, 25
+  What a "project" is or was, 174
+  Wheelwright, William, 32
+  Whipping-post, 123
+  Wigglesworth, Colonel, 36
+  Winters, severe formerly, 1
+  Witchcraft, and Uncle Richard's opinion of it, 167
+  Wood's account of the aristocracy., 21
+
+  Yankee acuteness, 141
+  Young persons sent to the town for education, 134
+
+
+
+
+  Transcriber's Notes:
+
+  Archaic, variable, and misspelled words and punctuation
+  inconsistancies have been preserved as printed in all of the
+  quoted material with one exception. This includes all poetry,
+  quotations, letters, and documents.
+
+  The one exception is in the poem Childe Harold, a section of
+  which is quoted in the Appendix, Section IX. The word =scimeter=
+  was changed to =scimitar= because it is spelled correctly in the
+  original poem by Lord Byron located at PG,
+  EText-No. 5131, Canto IV, Stanza XVI.
+
+  The following changes were made to the original text. The
+  correction is enclosed in brackets:
+
+  Page 106: and they skurried away [scurried]
+
+  Page 116: but the fact incontestibly proves, [incontestably]
+
+  Page 187: My mother was in close attendance upon sick members of
+  my sister's family? [changed punctuation to a period]
+
+  Page 230: Fall from his hands--his idle scimetar [scimitar]
+
+  The following word has been found in both hyphenated and
+  unhyphenated form in the original text: road-side (roadside).
+  The original hyphenation has been preserved.
+
+  Footnotes have been numbered consecutively and have been placed
+  at the end of each chapter.
+
+  Superscripted letters in the original book and the HTML version are
+  represented by ^{} in the text version.
+
+  The "long i" macron is respresented in the text as [=i].
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Old New England Traits, by Anonymous
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Old New England Traits, by Anonymous
+
+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: Old New England Traits
+
+Author: Anonymous
+
+Editor: George Lunt
+
+Release Date: February 6, 2009 [EBook #28013]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD NEW ENGLAND TRAITS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank, Darleen Dove and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p style='text-align: center; font-size: 2em'>
+OLD
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center; font-size: 2em; margin-bottom:2em'>
+NEW ENGLAND TRAITS
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em; margin-bottom:2em'>
+EDITED BY
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center; font-size: 1.6em; margin-bottom:2em'>
+GEORGE LUNT
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+</p>
+
+<table summary="" style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p style='font.size: 0.8em;'>... this story&#8217;s actually true.<br />
+If any person doubt it, I appeal<br />
+To history, tradition, and to facts,<br />
+To newspapers, whose truth all know and feel.</p>
+<p style='text-align:right; font-variant: small-caps'>Byron</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/traits-emb.png' alt='' title=''  /><br />
+</div>
+
+<p style='text-align: center; font-size: 1.2em; margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:0.2em'>
+NEW YORK
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center; font-size: 1.2em; margin-bottom:0.2em'>
+PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: 0.9em; margin-bottom:0.2em'>
+Cambridge: the Riverside Press
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+1873
+</p>
+<hr class='ppg-pb' />
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>George Lunt</span>,
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center; margin-bottom:5em'>
+in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center; letter-spacing:.2em'>
+STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+<i>H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY</i>.
+</p>
+<hr class='ppg-pb' />
+<table summary="transcriber notes" style='margin:3em auto 0 auto; width:30em; border:1px solid lime; padding:15px;'>
+
+<tr><td>
+<p style='font-size:small; color:#006400; text-align:left;'>Transcriber&#8217;s Notes: <br /><br />
+
+Archaic, variable, and misspelled words and punctuation inconsistancies have been preserved as printed in all of the quoted material with one exception. This includes all poetry, quotations, letters, and documents.<br /><br />
+
+The one exception is in the poem Childe Harold, a section of which is quoted in the Appendix, Section IX. The word <span style='font-weight:bold;'>scimeter</span> was changed to <span style='font-weight:bold;'>scimitar</span> because it is spelled correctly in the original poem by Lord Byron located at PG, EText-No. 5131. See Canto IV, Stanza XVI.<br /><br />
+
+All corrections are indicated by a dotted line under the correction. Hover the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins class="trnote" title="like this">appear</ins>. A list of these corrections can be found <a href="#ATN">here.</a>
+<br /><br />
+
+The following word was found in both hyphenated and unhyphenated forms in the original text: road-side (roadside).
+The hyphenation has been retained.<br /><br />
+
+Footnotes have been numbered consecutively and have been placed at the end of each chapter.</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 0em'>
+<a name='INTRODUCTION' id='INTRODUCTION'></a>
+<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='mini' />
+
+<p>
+The Editor of this little volume does not
+deem it incumbent upon him to explain
+in what way the author&#8217;s manuscript came
+into his possession. He hopes it may be
+enough for him to say, that the writer believed
+himself to be the only person whose
+memory retained most of the incidents and
+anecdotes herein recorded; and a long
+and familiar acquaintance with his character
+enables the Editor to state, that entire
+credence is due to his narrative of facts,
+written down as occurring within his own
+knowledge and to his relation of whatever
+he alleges himself to have derived
+from others. A slight veil of mystery
+seems to have been originally thrown over
+the story; especially in regard to the
+names of persons; but, as all who are
+familiar<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_iv'  name='page_iv'></a>iv</span> with the locality will at once recognize
+its general features, the Editor has
+thought it best, for the benefit of others
+not so well informed, to make all proper
+explanations on this point in the Index.
+</p>
+<p>
+Sometimes, New England has been
+spoken of as devoid of the elements of
+romance; but perhaps this idea may be
+owing to the fact, that the means of presenting
+a different aspect of the case have
+not been sufficiently investigated. A similar
+impression has prevailed in respect to
+Roman history and literature, whether fabulous
+or otherwise; and the fathers of New
+England, at least, have been thought to
+have exhibited some of the traits, especially
+the simplicity and severity of character,
+which distinguished those more ancient
+worthies, whose names and deeds have been
+so long famous. But without making other
+citations, I may remark, that I am scarcely
+acquainted with a poem more thoroughly
+romantic in conception and sentiment, than
+&#8220;Gallus,&#8221;<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_v'  name='page_v'></a>v</span> the tenth eclogue of Virgil; and
+Macaulay, in his &#8220;Lays of Ancient Rome,&#8221;
+has turned some of its legends to fine poetical
+account. Where can be found, for instance,
+a prettier, or more suggestive picture,
+than the passage in his &#8220;Virginia,&#8221;
+which some inspired painter might make
+immortal upon canvas, as it is in verse:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>
+&#8220;With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel on her arm,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;Home she went bounding from the school, nor dreamed of shame or harm.&#8221;
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps, the solemnities of the colonial
+history of New England may have overshadowed
+much of whatever poetical interest
+might be discovered in its private annals.
+It depends upon the reader, whether
+the present narrative may be thought in
+some measure to qualify the imputation in
+question.
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: right'>
+G. L.
+</p>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span>
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center; font-size: 1.4em'>
+OLD NEW ENGLAND TRAITS.
+</p>
+<hr class='mini' />
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_I' id='CHAPTER_I'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It was the winter of 18&mdash;, between fifty
+and sixty years ago. Certainly the winters
+of New England began earlier and were
+more severe than they have seemed at a
+later period. After the fervid heat of summer
+has become subdued by the progressive
+changes of the season, no atmosphere
+could be clearer, purer, more exhilarating
+than the prevailing tone of our October
+days, and this kindly influence, as if by
+way of preparing the human frame for the
+gradual approach of winter, generally extends,
+with occasional stormy intermissions,
+through November, and often very far into
+the frosty domain of December itself. And
+such snow-storms as we once endured! It
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span>
+may be alleged, that distance of time forbids
+accuracy of comparison, and that
+masses of snow, which appeared vast to a
+child, would not seem so immense to a full-grown
+man, and were really no more huge
+than some of those with which winter nowadays
+envelopes the ground. But facts
+within my memory do not admit of such
+an explanation, for I distinctly recollect the
+driving storm which continued for days and
+piled its accumulating heaps against the
+front of our dwelling-place, so as entirely
+to cover the windows of the lower story of
+the house, and to rise above the main door
+which was of ordinary height, and that at
+length we were released from this imprisonment
+by means of an archway to that entrance,
+dug through the drift by the friendly
+efforts of an opposite neighbor.<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+Our deliverer was a superannuated seaman;
+inspired partly, no doubt, by the good-heartedness
+formerly, at least, thought to
+be characteristic of that class of men, and,
+partly, by respect for the memory of my
+father, who had been dead for some years,
+in the early prime of life, leaving behind
+him the best of reputations as a shipmaster
+and a man. Perhaps Tom Trudge had,
+at some time, sailed under him. I well remember
+the triumphant air with which this
+ancient mariner introduced himself into the
+kitchen, where all the family was assembled,
+doffing his tarpaulin, flourishing his shovel,
+and cutting one or two capers, in token of
+his hilarity at the accomplishment of his
+somewhat arduous job. Of course, there
+were profuse thanks and congratulations
+on the occasion; but I recollect only, that,
+after the second glass of grog furnished by
+my mother,&mdash;a refreshment to which Tom
+was only too partial,&mdash;he executed another
+spring from the floor, snapped his fingers
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span>
+and cried, &#8220;Tired, ma&#8217;am!&mdash;not a bit of
+it! For all I&#8217;ve done to-day, by the blessed
+binnacle I should think nothing at all of
+jumping over a meetin-us,&mdash;yes, a meetin-us,
+ma&#8217;am!&#8221; to the amazement, at the idea
+of such a feat, of certainly all the younger
+fry who were present at the ceremony.
+</p>
+<p>
+The town in which we lived was one of
+the very oldest of the New England settlements.
+Its situation is uncommonly beautiful,
+upon a slope descending from a moderately
+elevated ridge towards the bank of
+a noble river, which of late years has furnished
+more motive power to various manufacturing
+establishments in the towns and
+villages, which have sprung up on its borders,
+than any other stream in the world.
+At the time of which I write, there was not
+a mill throughout its whole extent. It is
+told, that Louis Philippe, when a fugitive
+in this country, in his youth, passing up the
+road which leads mostly along the margin
+of the river to a point where the first falls
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span>
+interrupt the navigation, pronounced the
+scenery the most beautiful he had ever
+seen. The river was then chiefly famous
+for the rafts of admirable timber which it
+sent down from the primeval forests above,
+for the construction of the unsurpassed
+ships built near the town, and for the commerce
+flourishing upon its bosom and extending
+to every quarter of the globe. It
+was idle enough, in comparison, at a later
+period.
+</p>
+<p>
+Early in the present century, and for a
+long series of years in the past, no town on
+the American coast surpassed it in commercial
+enterprise and activity. The habits
+and traditions of the place were well calculated
+to nurse a hardy race of seamen, and
+their reputation for skill and courage was
+well known throughout the maritime world.
+Persons are very apt to look at some direct
+circumstance, nearest at hand, for the cause
+of events, which may after all result from
+much more remote contingencies. So, at
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span>
+first, in the days of the declining trade of
+the town, they said the obstruction to its
+commerce was owing to the sand-bar at
+the mouth of the river. But the bar had
+been there from time immemorial; and
+though it is true that modern-built vessels,
+with their cargoes, could not pass that barrier,
+as ships of lesser tonnage were formerly
+accustomed to do, yet the main
+cause for this decay of business was to be
+found in the growth of the capital of the
+State, and the greater facilities for the
+transaction of business which exist in
+larger than in smaller places.
+</p>
+<p>
+But the bar itself was always of very dangerous
+passage in boisterous weather, and
+often the daring pilots of the station, than
+whom none upon the coast were more competent
+and courageous, were exposed to extreme
+peril, in their small craft, in returning
+to the river, when they had been on the
+look-out for inward-bound vessels in the
+bay.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+It so happened that a schooner in which
+I was a passenger, when a youngster, was
+detained outside the bar, and was likely to
+be detained for several hours, waiting for
+the tide to make. A young pilot, accompanied
+by his still younger brother, came
+alongside in their whale-boat, and having
+some acquaintance with me invited me to
+sail with them to town; and, having been
+some time absent from home, I gladly accepted
+their offer. Their boat was under a
+single low sail. The breeze was fresh and
+the day fair, though I could not but be
+aware, as we bowled along towards the bar,
+that a retreating storm had left some indications
+of its past presence in the tossing
+foam that sprang upwards as the waves
+dashed upon that treacherous heap of shifting
+sand. The pilot sat in the stern-sheets
+of the dancing boat, steering steadily with
+an oar. His brother tended the sail, and
+I was crouched amidships. As we approached
+nearer the scene of commotion,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span>
+our younger companion assumed a station
+in the bow of the boat and began to sound
+with an oar. This looked a little formidable
+to a landsman; and soon turning his head
+in the interval of hastily pushing his implement
+into the water, the bowsman called
+out to his brother, &#8220;Joe, are you going to
+try it?&#8221; Joe made no sign, but steered
+steadily on. Again and again the sounding
+oar went rapidly down, and I suppose
+at last to the bottom, and again the young
+man cried out with renewed energy, &#8220;Joe,
+are you going to try it?&#8221; Joe uttered no
+word, but chewing his quid, looked steadfastly
+forward. In a moment a heavy wave
+struck the boat, drenching us plentifully,
+but not filling her, and bounding up, staggering
+a little, she dashed on, and with
+another like slap or two, we were over and
+in fairly smooth water. Had the boat
+struck bottom, she would have been instantly
+dashed to pieces and we should
+have met the sad fate of others who, before
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span>
+and since, have been drowned and lost to
+sight forever in that seething tide.
+</p>
+<p>
+In a conversation with a very eminent
+English novelist, of profounder skill and
+more permanent fame, in my opinion, than
+any other since Scott, he expressed his surprise
+at the solid aspect of the city of Boston,
+in which we had met, on the day after
+his arrival in this country, upon his first lecturing
+tour. He had enjoyed the best opportunities
+of viewing &#8220;men and cities,&#8221;
+not only in Europe, but in various parts of
+the farther East. I took the liberty of replying
+that Boston had been growing nearly
+two centuries and a half, and inquired if
+he expected to see wigwams, or even those
+slighter fabrics which betoken the earlier
+stages of advancing colonization. He said,
+&#8220;No, of course not; but it had quite as
+substantial an appearance as an English
+city.&#8221; But it is to be remembered that the
+persons who came to this country, at first,
+and from time to time, afterwards, were already
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span>
+civilized, and brought with them and
+transmitted to their descendants much of
+the knowledge and many of the habits,
+peculiarities, and even the traditions of
+their ancestors &#8220;at home.&#8221; Our town, too,
+looked old; though far from being so substantially
+built as Boston.
+</p>
+<p>
+In fact, while reading the fragment of
+Scott&#8217;s autobiography of his earlier days,
+and Dean Ramsay&#8217;s &#8220;Reminiscences,&#8221; one
+might almost think that their descriptions
+of character and manners, in so ancient a
+city as Edinburgh, were in many respects
+but a recapitulation of popular ways and
+even of personal oddities in our own respectable
+American town. Especially, the
+great novelist&#8217;s vivid narrative of the desperate
+street conflicts between the lads of
+the several quarters of the &#8220;auld town,&#8221;
+revives many boyish recollections. In my
+youth, the division was into Northenders
+and Southenders; but as our own residence
+was in the central part of the town,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span>
+we stood, as it were, between two fires.
+The conflicts usually took place in the winter,
+when the snow was on the ground, and
+though heartily engaged in, and sometimes
+quite too rough for play, were generally
+good-natured enough to avoid any very
+serious danger to life or limb. In the
+higher schools, the lads were drawn from
+every quarter of the town; but upon dismissal
+for the day, or upon the afternoons
+of Wednesday and Saturday, when no
+school was kept, the partisans of the several
+sections offered combat which was seldom
+refused. The usual weapons were
+snow-balls, which were sometimes, I regret
+to say, dipped in water and frozen over
+night, and kept in some secure place to await
+the expected battle, and occasionally a pebble,
+the missile commonly used by the Scottish
+combatants, was inserted,&mdash;a practice
+which was almost universally condemned.
+Very seldom did we come to a hand-fight,
+for a spirited &#8220;rush,&#8221; when either party felt
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span>
+strong enough for it, was almost always
+followed by a rapid retreat on the other
+side. But woe to the luckless stripling
+whose headlong courage carried him far in
+advance of his companions; for upon a
+sudden turn of affairs he was a captive,
+and down in an instant, and mercilessly
+&#8220;scrubbed&#8221; with snow by a dozen ready
+hands, until the rallying host of his compatriots
+advanced vigorously to the rescue.
+The normal alliance of us middle-men was
+with the Southenders, though a good deal
+rougher than ourselves; and in times of
+truce a solitary boy would walk a little gingerly
+through their quarter, as errands or
+family occasions led him that way. But
+the principal commercial interests centered
+in those parts of the town, and if, upon the
+breaking out of determined warfare, we
+could secure, in the capacity of leader, the
+services of some lubberly boy who had
+made a voyage, even a mere coasting trip,
+to sea, though I remember that these were
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span>
+sometimes far less adventurous in the field
+than those who had no experience of the
+perilous deep, the issue of the contest was
+not for a moment doubtful. The forces of
+our adversaries melted away, like the snow
+with which they fought, at the very presence
+of a champion supposed to be of such
+redoubted prowess. The dependence of
+those adverse combatants was rather upon
+some of the younger hangers-on at the
+ship-yards, in their territory, for such a casual
+auxiliary. Sometimes, the elements of
+military skill would be displayed. While
+the two forces were closely engaged, a
+flanking party would make a sudden rush
+up some short by-street, and then the complete
+demoralization and panic-flight of the
+warriors thus newly assailed was something
+truly disastrous to behold.
+</p>
+<p>
+Of course, we enjoyed the ordinary boyish
+sports of boating, swimming, and skating
+in the season for it; or, of a pleasant
+afternoon, would roam away &#8220;over the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span>
+hills,&#8221; as the phrase ran, huckleberrying,
+perhaps, or gathering penny-royal and other
+wild herbs for the old folks at home; to
+be dried and reserved for future occasions.
+For, in those days, a garret would hardly
+be considered complete, without bunches
+of these simples hanging from the beams
+by strings, or stored away in paper-bags.
+In the fall of the year, we had another resource,
+long since interdicted by the owners
+of farms in the neighborhood of populous
+towns. This was the pleasure of nutting;
+for the urchins of those days regarded
+these kinds of fruit, growing on trees in
+the fields, as a sort of <i>ferę natura</i> and free
+to every passer-by; though the more surly
+proprietors, even then, took much pains to
+circumvent and capture the lads, as they
+returned with their poles for beating the
+branches and with their loaded bags, borne
+by two or three of them, hanging by the
+middle across those implements. Sometimes,
+predatory bands proceeded in force
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span>
+and defied the farmer on his own ground.
+The story was told of one luckless individual
+who went nutting alone and was caught
+and imprisoned, for a time, in the cellar of
+the farm-house, but mischievously contrived
+to set all the taps of the cider-barrels running,
+before he was released. These excursions
+led us often to the Devil&#8217;s Den, an
+excavation in an abandoned ledge of limestone,
+in a solitary situation at some distance
+from the town, and guarded, now as
+then, by three rather spectral-looking Lombardy
+poplars, which to us boys had a sort
+of mystic and undefined significance. Here
+we procured bits of serpentine, interspersed
+with veins of <i>rag-stone</i>, as we denominated
+asbestos, which, strangely enough, we used
+to chew. I suppose that no boy ever went
+to that place alone, and a sort of solemn
+ceremony attended his first visit with his
+older playmates, to a scene bearing an appellation
+ominous enough to call up every
+vague dread of his youthful heart. The
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span>
+approach on these occasions was rather
+circuitous, through the pastures, until an
+elevated mass of stone, standing quite solitary,
+was reached, designated as &#8220;Pulpit
+Rock.&#8221; To the summit of this, the neophyte
+was required to climb, and there to
+repeat some accustomed formula, I fear not
+very reverent, by way of initiation, and supposed
+to be of power to avert any malign
+influences to which the unprepared intruder
+upon the premises of the nominal
+lord of the domain might otherwise be subjected.
+For these youngsters the ordinary
+means of education were abundantly supplied,
+and the girls, too, had their Academy
+for those who aspired to something beyond
+the common range; and when, at a later
+period, I became conversant with their circle,
+I must say that I have never known
+young ladies of better manners or more
+cultivated minds. As an evidence of more
+expansive benevolence than usual, and of
+profounder interest in the affairs of the great
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span>
+world abroad, I remember that when the
+<a id='LN_hysterical_girl' name='LN_hysterical_girl'></a>
+class of students in Goldsmith&#8217;s Ancient
+History came to recitation, one young lady
+burst into a torrent of tears. The astonished
+teacher anxiously inquired into the
+cause of her emotion. In the midst of
+her sobs she ejaculated, &#8220;Oh, that good
+man, Socrates! To think they should have
+treated him so!&#8221; She was finally soothed;
+but considering that the incident in question
+was of a rather remote date, this ebullition
+of feeling evinced a generous sympathy
+with a victim of past injustice, truly
+worthy of a philanthropic mind.
+</p>
+<p>
+It is still a town of stately mansions upon
+its principal street, and one more beautiful
+can scarcely be imagined. The magnificent
+elms, of the graceful American kind,
+which line its borders, have always been
+reckoned a feature of extraordinary beauty.
+Of late years, special means for supplying
+and preserving this elegant and useful kind
+of embellishment of the streets have been
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span>
+provided by the liberal bequest, for this
+purpose, of Mr. John Bromfield, a native of
+the town, but long a respected merchant at
+the capital of the State. A conspicuous
+house standing upon a gentle elevation, at
+some distance from the street, with pleasant
+grounds in its front and rear, was
+appropriately named by its original proprietor
+&#8220;Mount Rural,&#8221; though not, perhaps,
+with the most exact observance of the
+requirements of grammatical construction.
+Still, it has some authority for being considered
+idiomatic, for does not &#8220;Pilgrim&#8217;s
+Progress&#8221; tell us of the &#8220;Palace Beautiful?&#8221;
+And doubtless many other instances might
+be cited of the substitution of an adjective
+for a noun. At all events, the worthy
+owner, who built his house in the most
+approved style of former New England architecture,
+spacious, square, and with projecting
+windows in the roof, made some
+pretensions to classical allusion; for cultivating
+extensive gardens in the rear of his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span>
+dwelling, he placed for an inscription on his
+front wall,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>&#8220;Miraturque novas frondes, et non sua poma,&#8221;&mdash;
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+a citation which, it is to be feared, would
+be taken rather as encouragement to mischievous
+urchins, if any of them understood
+it, rather than as a warning to abstain from
+the fruit.
+</p>
+<p>
+Near the extremity of the opposite quarter
+of the town still stands an ancient edifice
+of solid stone, with a couple of stories
+of porch of the same material, approached
+by a lane, bordered with trees, leading
+some distance from the highway, and constituting,
+with some modern additions, the
+dwelling-place of a considerable farm. It
+boasts an age of more than two centuries, as
+appears by the figures above its entrance,
+and was apparently built for defence, when
+precautions against Indian incursions were
+thought necessary, though afterwards used
+as a powder-house; and tradition has it
+that, on one occasion, an explosion took
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span>
+place by night, which blew away a part of
+the side wall, lifted the bed on which a negro
+woman, the slave of the occupant, was
+asleep, bore her safely across the road, and
+planted her, bed and all, upon the spreading
+branches of an apple-tree, without injury.
+An early owner of the place was the
+ancestor of one of the recent Presidents of
+the United States, and it was known, until
+quite a modern period, as the <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Pierce</span> Farm.
+</p>
+<p>
+Not many years ago, there still remained
+at the corner of a street, between the points
+just designated, one of those ancient houses
+not common in this country, the second story
+resting on heavy beams, which showed themselves
+in the outside walls, and the walls of
+the long, low dwelling filled in with a coat of
+dark plaster braced by wooden cross-pieces,
+like those of Shakespeare&#8217;s birthplace at
+Stratford. The handsome houses before alluded
+to were the residences chiefly of merchants,
+or sea-captains, who had retired from
+their maritime or commercial occupations
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span>
+with a competence, or of prosperous professional
+persons.<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> But a competence in those
+frugal days was an insignificant sum in comparison
+with the fortunes of our own time,
+scarcely approaching the annual income of
+the shoddy-masters, who now regulate the
+avenues of social and so-called aristocratic
+life. Indeed, I was once informed by an
+old inhabitant, that the richest person in
+the town, near the close of the last century,
+was assessed upon only ten thousand dollars&#8217;
+worth of personal property. But I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span>
+think there must be some mistake in this
+statement, unless the rate of taxation was
+exceedingly low; for this same prosperous
+merchant devoted twenty times as much
+as that reputed capital to certain pious
+uses, during his protracted life-time, and
+still left forty times as much at his decease.
+Doubtless in those better days, the inevitable
+&#8220;rates&#8221; (&#8220;death and rates,&#8221; they used
+to say, &#8220;were certain&#8221;) were so small as to
+press but lightly upon the incomes of individuals
+in moderate circumstances, and the
+means of getting at the exact measure of a
+man&#8217;s worldly &#8220;worth,&#8221; had not reached
+their present degree of perfection. Indeed
+I may state, upon unquestionable authority,
+that, late in the first quarter of the present
+century, a highly respected trader of the
+town, who lived genteelly and was taxed
+upon a supposed capital of eighteen thousand
+dollars, waited upon the assessors and
+blandly told them, &#8220;Gentlemen, I have
+been more than usually prosperous the last
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+year, and am willing you should tax me
+upon an additional thousand.&#8221; Such combined
+integrity and disinterestedness was
+the theme of universal commendation; but
+when the old gentleman went to another
+reckoning a few years afterwards, his heirs
+had the benefit of an estate nearer one hundred
+thousand dollars in value, than the
+limited capital which had contributed its
+quota to the public burdens. In a word,
+I have heard my Aunt Judith say, that in
+her youth it was usual for respectable young
+women to take service with more thriving
+neighbors or friends, for the annual allowance
+of their board and a single calico gown,
+at four and sixpence a yard,&mdash;as the price
+was before mills were established on our
+own ground.
+</p>
+<p>
+I cannot help referring more particularly
+to some of the families of the town, who
+imparted to it a well-founded reputation,
+not surpassed, if equaled, by that of any
+town or city in the land; for instance, there
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span>
+were the Lowells, who gave name, afterwards,
+to that wonderful city of spindles,
+which enjoys as world-wide a standing in
+the annals of manufacturing enterprise as
+the old-world Manchester of a long-anterior
+date, and one of whom, amid the desolate
+ruins of Luxor, struck by the hand of
+fatal disease, conceived the idea of establishing
+that noble Institute which bears his
+name, and will convey it to future grateful
+generations; a name, too, which has so resounded
+in the popular literature of the day.
+Then, there were the Jacksons, famous in
+mechanics and in two of the learned professions;
+Charles Jackson, the erudite and
+upright judge, and James Jackson, one of
+those skillful and truly benevolent physicians,
+whose memory is still in the hearts
+of many surviving patients. The Tyngs,
+too, resided there, long honorably connected
+with colonial history and still represented by
+descendants of national repute. Amongst
+other remarkable individuals was Jacob
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+Perkins, the famous inventor, who at an advanced
+age ended his useful career with no
+little foreign celebrity in the great city of
+the world. I have read lately of his successful
+exhibition of his wonderful steam-gun,
+in the presence of the Duke of Wellington
+and other competent judges of the experiment,
+and know not what national prejudice,
+perhaps, or other casual reason, prevented
+its adoption.<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> In science, too, we had Master
+Nicholas Pike, an ancient magistrate,
+whose arithmetic held its ground throughout
+the country, until it was superseded by
+that of Master Michael Walsh, which received
+the high commendation of so capital
+a judge, in matters of calculation, as the
+old land-surveyor and finally head of the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span>
+nation, Washington. Master Walsh was an
+Irishman by birth, though &#8220;caught young,&#8221;
+as Dr. Johnson remarked, to account for
+any distinction acquired by natives of Scotland;
+and he displayed much of that impulsive
+temperament imputed to the people
+of Erin&#8217;s Green Isle. He dressed in the
+old style, his gray hair gathered into a
+queue, and wearing top-boots to the last.
+He was an excellent classical scholar, as
+well as mathematician. The pupils he prepared
+for college did justice to his instructions,
+and some have acquired great eminence
+in the several professions and in the
+conduct of important national affairs. As
+an instance of his patriotic attachment to
+his adopted country, upon casually meeting,
+late in life, a certain writer of the town,
+after a cordial salutation, he added with a
+slight dash of the brogue, &#8220;I thank ye for
+the Red and the Blue!&#8221; The young person
+was a little taken aback, not remembering
+the allusion, for a moment, when the old
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
+gentleman repeated emphatically,&mdash;&#8220;The
+Red and the Blue, ye know&mdash;Tom Campbell.&#8221;
+It was in reference to a couple of
+stanzas, addressed to the United States by
+that great lyric poet, scarcely equaled in his
+day, namely:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>&#8220;United States! your banner wears<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Two emblems: one of fame;<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;Alas! the other that it bears<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Reminds us of your shame!</p>
+<p>&#8220;The white man&#8217;s liberty in types<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Stands blazoned by your stars:<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;But what&#8217;s the meaning of your stripes?<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They mean your negroes&#8217; scars.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>
+To this the American had retorted:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr>
+<td>
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:smaller'>&#8220;TO THE ENGLISH FLAG.</p>
+<p>&#8220;England! whence came each glowing hue,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That tints yon flag of &#8216;meteor&#8217; light,<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>&mdash;<br />
+&nbsp;The streaming red, the deeper blue,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Crossed with the moonbeam&#8217;s pearly white?</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span>
+&#8220;The blood and bruise,&mdash;the <i>blue</i> and <i>red</i>,&mdash;<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Let Asia&#8217;s groaning millions speak!<br />
+&nbsp;The <i>white</i>,&mdash;it tells the color fled<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From starving Erin&#8217;s pallid cheek!&#8221;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+The verses were at first circulated as
+above set down. Campbell afterwards altered
+the two first lines of the second
+stanza into:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'><tr><td>
+<p>&#8220;Your standard&#8217;s constellation types<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;White freedom by its stars,&#8221; etc.,&mdash;
+</p></td></tr></table>
+
+<p>
+impairing it, as some will think, both in
+force and in whatever poetical expression
+it may have originally had. Poets are apt
+to make similar mistakes, frittering away
+the first glow of thought and language, in
+revision. Has not Tennyson thus injured
+&#8220;The ride of the six hundred?&#8221; and did
+not Campbell himself half spoil &#8220;Hohenlinden,&#8221;
+by taming its phraseology down
+into a supposed superfluous accuracy? For
+example, he first wrote,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>&#8220;&#8217;Tis morn, but scarce yon lurid sun<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun,&#8221; etc.
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+It occurred to him, or some &#8220;stop-watch
+critic&#8221; suggested, that the sun itself was
+not actually &#8220;lurid,&#8221; on that celebrated occasion,
+and he accordingly changed the expression
+to &#8220;level,&#8221; thus signifying a mere
+natural phenomenon; and, besides the sacrifice
+of a fine poetical expression, forgetting
+that the sun must have appeared actually
+&#8220;lurid&#8221; through the interposition of
+&#8220;the war-clouds, rolling dun.&#8221; Nor is this
+the only instance of misapplied fastidiousness
+in that splendid and stirring piece.
+</p>
+<p>
+Then, there was the Rev. Dr. Spring,
+father of that celebrated clergyman, Dr.
+Gardiner Spring, of New York. He had
+been a chaplain in the army of the Revolution;
+and when I, as a boy, pulled off my
+cap to him in the street, I fancied there
+was something a little military in his polite
+salute in return. The good Doctor held to
+what were called Hopkinsian tenets, a special
+form of strict orthodoxy; and it was alleged
+that, differing from the ordinary practice
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span>
+of religious people in the town, and
+construing literally the record of the Creation,
+&#8220;The evening and the morning were
+the first day,&#8221;&mdash;the Saturday evening was
+observed with primitive strictness in the
+family, while on Sunday evening, after sunset,
+the excellent matron assumed her knitting-work,
+or attended to whatever secular
+occupation she chose. I have often thought,
+and it seems likely, that the name of Swett&mdash;that
+of one of the most eminent and excellent
+physicians of his day, in our community,
+and who in fact fell a sacrifice to the
+faithful discharge of his professional duty&mdash;was
+the same as Schwedt, borne by the
+Prince de Schwedt, well known at the court
+of Frederick of Prussia (so called) the Great.
+The good Doctor examined the throat of a
+yellow fever patient, in a vessel lying at
+quarantine ground in the river, and inhaling
+his infectious breath, went home declaring
+he had taken the disease, of which he
+shortly died. The efforts and liberality of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
+his son, the late Colonel Samuel Swett, in
+promoting the establishment of the Public
+Library of the town, though himself long a
+resident in the capital of the State, will forever
+endear his memory to the inhabitants.
+The daughter of another distinguished physician,
+Dr. Sawyer, was Mrs. George Lee,
+who gained no little reputation by her
+&#8220;Lives of the Ancient Painters,&#8221; and especially
+by a book which attained great popularity
+under the title of &#8220;Three Experiments
+of Living.&#8221; I should do great injustice to a
+list of noted personages&mdash;to some of whom
+allusion is made elsewhere in these pages,
+and which might be extended, if consistent
+with the objects of this work, were I to omit
+mention of a lady, Miss Hannah F. Gould,
+whose poetical productions gained her well-deserved
+applause and many friends, and
+some of whose highly pleasing verses still
+retain their hold upon public esteem. Reflectively,
+too, we might claim some share in
+the distinction of the most popular American
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
+poet of our own day; for the direct ancestors
+of Longfellow were natives of our
+immediate vicinage. I had no intention,
+certainly, of offering any tribute to the living
+in these memorials of the past; but
+one name inevitably suggests itself, better
+known on &#8217;Change, in London, than in
+the place of his birth. I speak of William
+Wheelwright, a lad, at the period to which
+these sketches refer, long resident abroad,
+though occasionally brought home by the
+obligations and affections of family ties,
+to whose enterprise, and arduous, untiring
+pursuit of his object are owing steam navigation
+and railway lines in the southern
+part of this Continent, and to whose praise
+the whole South American coast will respond.
+</p>
+<p>
+There were others and many, of high
+personal character and local reputation,
+and not a few of strongly marked characteristics,
+whose names, perhaps, would
+scarcely sound familiar to modern ears;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+but I cannot pass over one wealthy merchant,
+distinguished for his strong common
+sense and decided individuality, as well as
+for a success in business scarcely equaled in
+this country, in his day,&mdash;the well-known
+William Bartlett, to whose judicious bounty
+the chief theological seminary of the State
+and its principal Academy for the instruction
+of youth owe so much toward the assurance
+of their permanent foundation.
+</p>
+<p>
+Nor should the memory of Oliver Putnam
+fail of a record, who, long absent from
+his native town, provided by his will for
+a generous bequest, upon which a Free
+School of the highest character has been
+long established. Nor should due tribute
+be forgotten in honor of George Peabody,
+who, remembering those days of his youth
+which were passed in acquiring habits of
+business in the place, distinguished its Public
+Library by a munificent gift.
+</p>
+<p>
+There had been many other men of
+marked character and great local influence:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span>
+Tracys, Daltons, Greenleafs, Davenports,
+Hoopers, Bradburys, Johnsons, Coffins,
+Bromfields, Crosses; and many more,
+doubtless, might be thought worthy of mention.
+Among those named above, Nathaniel
+Tracy was one of the wealthiest merchants
+of his day, elsewhere referred to in this narrative
+as suffering immense losses by his
+advances to the government, when its needs
+were great and its credit was low, and in
+other ways. Tristram Dalton was a Senator
+of the United States from Massachusetts, in
+the First Congress under the Constitution;
+and Theophilus Bradbury, afterwards appointed
+to the bench of the supreme court
+of the State, was a member of the Federal
+House of Representatives during a part of
+Washington&#8217;s administration. Indeed, from
+some of the early inhabitants of the town
+are descended not a few of the principal
+families in the capital of the State; and its
+representatives, by some tie of original or
+later connection, are scattered throughout
+the whole country.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+I linger somewhat longer and lovingly
+upon this preliminary part of whatever
+story I may have to tell, because I am
+aware of nothing in the literature of New
+England which furnishes precisely similar
+reminiscences, and because pictures of past
+manners, if truthfully portrayed, can hardly
+fail to be both interesting and useful. We
+heard plentiful stories, in our youth, of a
+higher style of living in colonial days, of
+coaches kept by the upper class of citizens;
+of their slaves, whom we knew in their
+emancipated condition as gardeners and
+waiters in general; of the cocked hats, the
+gold-embroidered garments, the laced ruffles
+of the gentlemen, and the highly ornamented,
+but rather stiff garniture in which
+the ladies with their powdered heads saw
+fit to array themselves, as they now present
+themselves to us on the living canvas of
+Copley. It was in the handsome residence
+of Mr. Dalton, long after his decease, that I
+saw hangings of gilded morocco leather on
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span>
+the walls of the principal room,&mdash;a substitute
+for the wall-paper in common use, and
+which I have never seen or heard of in any
+other instance, in the United States.
+</p>
+<p>
+Our collector of the customs was peculiarly
+one of this class of gentlemen of the
+old school. He was a person of very warm
+temperament and of remarkable characteristics;
+an ardent Democrat, who, upon the
+accession of President Jefferson, had succeeded
+Colonel W&mdash;&mdash;, the first collector
+of the port, appointed by Washington, under
+whom he had served with distinction in the
+Revolutionary War. The residence of the
+latter, and the office of customs itself, in
+those simpler days, were in the house which
+was afterwards the birthplace of the writer
+of these sketches. To that war the successor
+of the old soldier principally owed a
+large fortune, which he had accumulated as
+the result of his privateering adventures;
+and it is said that the prizes came in so
+plentifully, that once he lifted up his hand
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span>
+and declared, &#8220;O Lord, it is enough!&#8221;
+However this may be, it is certain that not
+long afterwards his riches gradually vanished,
+and he was compelled to seek and obtained
+the office upon which he supported
+his declining days. Though &#8220;aristocratic&#8221;
+enough in his own personal character and
+demeanor, he was not naturally in much
+favor with the grandees of the old Federal
+town; but they stood in awe of him, nevertheless;
+for he had been very rich, and in
+his less prosperous days was still a person
+of the most impulsive and resolute spirit.
+His appearance in public was very marked.
+His person was manly and his countenance
+singularly striking. He dressed in black,
+his small-clothes terminating in white cotton
+stockings down to his gouty foot. On
+his white head, decorated with a queue, was
+his three-cornered hat. He seemed to take
+a pride in walking up the principal business
+street of the town, at the time of high
+&#8220;&#8217;Change,&#8221; and paying attention to no one,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span>
+to utter his not always very conciliatory
+thoughts aloud, in regard to his contemporaries
+and matters in general, as he threw
+out sideways the gouty foot aforesaid, on
+his way to the one o&#8217;clock dinner, which
+was the fashion of the time.
+</p>
+<p>
+But the Revolutionary War exhausted
+the fortunes of many prosperous men of
+the day; and the story is told of one very
+rich merchant, who could drive in his own
+carriage several days&#8217; journey&mdash;when such
+a journey over difficult roads was hardly so
+much as could be accomplished by &#8220;the hollow,
+pampered jades of Asia,&#8221;&mdash;and sleep
+in his own house every night. He lent
+immense sums, for the time, to the Revolutionary
+government, received what he could
+recover in depreciated currency, and failed.
+At the period of my narrative, the country
+was suffering from the consequences of
+another war, and the once active commerce
+of the old town was reduced to the lowest
+ebb. It was then that active emigration
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span>
+began from the sterile soil of New England&mdash;since
+rendered so much more productive
+by intelligent cultivation&mdash;to the fertile
+region known as &#8220;The Ohio;&#8221; just as, not
+much more than half a century ago, people
+talked of &#8220;The Coos country&#8221; in New
+Hampshire, and within a few years we
+spoke of the &#8220;Far West,&#8221; brought at length
+within the compass of ordinary travel and
+civilization.
+</p>
+<p>
+As a picture of the rigors and extremities,
+I fear only too common, of early New
+England life, among its hardy agricultural
+population, I present extracts of a letter received
+from a venerable friend, a few years
+ago, who from the depths of poverty, having
+emigrated in his youth to wild lands
+not very far West, had risen to comparative
+wealth, which he devoted to useful purposes.
+In fact, the son of an extremely
+poor Vermont farmer became, by his own
+energy and integrity, the possessor of a
+competent fortune, which enabled him, with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span>
+views far surpassing the immediate claims
+of this transitory world, to build a church
+and to establish a flourishing educational
+institution, destined long, I trust, to dispense
+infinite blessings to future generations.
+Thus, after some preliminary matter,
+he proceeds to say, under date of
+March 16, 1866:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+&#8220;My father was one of the poor men of Vermont.
+When I was a small boy I have pealed
+many a birch broom for a sixpence.<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> My Father
+could get one shilling for what he made,
+take them on his back, carry them four or five
+miles, sell them, bring home a little meal, or a
+little bread, sometimes a half bushel Potatoes.
+My mother would go two or three miles, and do
+a washing, bring home at night a loaf of wry
+bread, and a small peace was all we had for
+supper and a smaller Piece in the morning.
+Sometimes we was allowed one Potato roasted
+in the ashes&mdash;no Hearth in the old log-House.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span>
+My mother has stirred butter in a tea-cup with
+the point of a knife, to keep her little children
+from starving. My Father had about half acre
+of oats&mdash;poor fence&mdash;the old cow got in the
+oats and died. Then came the pinch&mdash;we as
+little children had to flee to the woods to get
+something to sustain life&mdash;no schools, no
+meetings&mdash;nothing but hunger and despair.
+I lived with my Father until I was twenty-one
+years old. After I was sixteen my Father improved
+a little in living. When I was a little
+over twenty-one I got me a wife&mdash;we was both
+Poor&mdash;three knifes, three forks, three teacups,
+three chairs, a poor bed&mdash;hardly could we
+keep house. But our courage was good&mdash;my
+wife always standing by me, through all my
+trouble and trials&mdash;shoulder to shoulder&mdash;heart
+&amp; hand, from the day of our marriage
+until the day of her Death. No man never had
+a better wife than I had&mdash;always kind to the
+Poor and to all her relations. She is now in
+the Grave Yard, and my judgment is, she is well
+prepared for the next world&mdash;and for the good
+feeling I have had for her for over fifty-six
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span>
+years, I have Erected a monument over her
+grave weighing 7 tons, and twenty-one feet
+high&mdash;it is a splendid monument&mdash;cost me
+over $600.00.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+&#8220;On the Eighth day of last July the Bishop
+confirmed 28 in our Church at the &mdash;&mdash; everything
+in good order&mdash;the singing was complete&mdash;my
+Voice is still heard above all the
+singers and I still stand at the head of the
+choir&mdash;I am only 77.&mdash;On the 16th day of
+last October, Previous notice being given, the
+wardens and Vestry met at my house&mdash;one
+minister was also present, a Lawyer being called
+to do the business. At 2 o&#8217;clock, P. M. I commenced
+handing over Deeds of land, Buildings,
+Bonds, mortgages, money &amp; furniture, to the
+amount of nineteen thousand and five hundred
+Dollars, the use and interest only to be used
+for the Church and the &mdash;&mdash; Institute; but in
+case there should be a failure of the Church
+&amp; school, for seven years, at any one time,
+then the Property to go back to my Heirs.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+&#8220;I have been schooling from 7 to 11 Poor
+children, yearly&mdash;I am now not schooling as
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span>
+many&mdash;my school is doing well&mdash;we have a
+good minister and he is a good Preacher. The
+Church is doing well. I am now commencing
+one more building, 60 feet long, 30 feet wide,
+and three stories high, for the convenience of
+more room for Boarders in the &mdash;&mdash; Institute.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+&#8220;I wrung more Bells at the fall of Richmond
+than any man in the United States, which they
+was all purchased with one man&#8217;s money&mdash;7
+was the number, 4 large ones &amp; 3 small ones&mdash;it
+is true I was a little opposed to the
+War&mdash;but no matter. The Brick Church and
+the Buildings I built for the &mdash;&mdash; Institute now
+with Interest cost me now over $43.000. They
+are all Paid for and I am out of Debt. I have
+furnished every stick of wood for the Church,
+and have carried the most of it in since it was
+built. I still wring the Bells on all occasions.&#8221;
+etc. etc.
+</p>
+<p>
+There is, perhaps, a touch of the garrulity
+of age in this good man&#8217;s recital; but
+I consider his record of his early life, slight
+as it is, yet too strikingly suggestive to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span>
+be left to chances which might await a
+private letter. Indeed, the character thus
+displayed is surely equal to that of the best
+of the old Romans, in the middling class
+of life, enlightened too by a living faith of
+which they had no conception; and the
+sketch gives fair warrant for the conclusion,
+that, in point of manly simplicity and integrity,
+the traits and the trials of those
+elder worthies who helped to settle our
+republican institutions have not been overdrawn.
+</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 10%; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both; margin: 2em auto 1em 0' />
+
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_1' id='Footnote_1'></a><a href='#FNanchor_1'><span class='label'>[1]</span></a>
+<p>
+As I set down these reminiscences I observe the following
+paragraph in a Boston daily paper of November 27, 1872:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>November Snow.</span> Fifty-two years ago to-day there
+were twenty-eight inches of snow on a level in the vicinity
+of Portsmouth, N. H.&#8221;
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_2' id='Footnote_2'></a><a href='#FNanchor_2'><span class='label'>[2]</span></a>
+<p>
+The late Mr. George Wood, of Washington, a native
+of our town, in some highly interesting <i>Memorabilia</i>,
+formerly published, says: &#8220;The aristocracy were not
+on High Street, as now, but on Water Street, and more
+at the South than the North end, as the old houses give
+evidence to this day. The Johnsons, Jacksons, Davenports,
+Coffins, Greenleafs, Bartletts, Pierces, Hoopers,
+Tappans, Todds, Carters, Lunts, Marquands, and others
+of wealth, were on Water Street or near it. There
+were their grand houses and fine gardens, and it was
+not till they thought of retiring from business that they
+removed to the West-end or up-town, as gradually as
+they always do in all places.&#8221;
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_3' id='Footnote_3'></a><a href='#FNanchor_3'><span class='label'>[3]</span></a>
+<p>
+After resigning his office of judge, which he had held
+for only a few years, but administered with extraordinary
+ability and integrity, Judge Jackson went abroad for relaxation,
+and a letter from a gentleman in London to
+a friend on this side the water says,&mdash;&#8220;Two of your
+townsmen, Judge Jackson and Jacob Perkins, now fill the
+public eye of England, and are the subjects of public and
+private conversation.&#8221;
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_4' id='Footnote_4'></a><a href='#FNanchor_4'><span class='label'>[4]</span></a>
+<p>
+&#8220;The meteor flag of England,&#8221; etc. Campbell.
+&#8220;Ye mariners of England.&#8221;
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_5' id='Footnote_5'></a><a href='#FNanchor_5'><span class='label'>[5]</span></a>
+<p>
+These brooms are made by peeling strips from the
+stump, which are fastened below.
+</p>
+</div>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_II' id='CHAPTER_II'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I should scarcely deem it expedient to
+enter at much detail into the eccentricities
+of our good townspeople, though it seems
+to me that in our own street I could recall
+enough to make a pretty sizable volume.
+</p>
+<p>
+But one feature of the times deserves a
+passing notice. I refer to the inconsiderable
+number of insane persons, compared
+with the sad increase of that unfortunate
+class in our own day, and the manner in
+which they were treated. Of course, a
+more widely extended population multiplies
+the sum of every description of disease.
+Besides, our ancestors were a hardier
+race than their descendants, more inured
+to the regular routine of physical toil, less
+given than the men and women of the present
+day to hurtful indulgence, and far less
+exposed to the disturbing excitements of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span>
+business and pleasure. So far as I know,
+there were but two really insane persons in
+our population of some seven or eight thousand,
+though doubtless certain others were
+more or less &#8220;light-headed.&#8221; One of those
+two was sullenly crazy, and accounted dangerous,
+and therefore subjected to physical
+restraint; the other, generally harmless,
+roamed through the town at his own will,
+calling occasionally upon the acquaintance
+of his better days, and making magnificent
+promises of the benefits he intended to
+bestow, &#8220;when his ship came in.&#8221; If I had
+inherited only a moderate dividend of the
+proceeds of the successive ships and their
+cargoes, which he promised my mother, on
+the above favorable contingency, usually
+calling her out from dinner to whisper to
+her these magnificent promises, more to
+her alarm than satisfaction, though being a
+woman of spirit she put a brave face upon
+it&mdash;I should look down upon a Rothschild,
+an Astor, or a Vanderbilt with natural
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
+contempt. Sometimes, incarceration
+was thought necessary, also, in his case;
+and I have a vivid recollection of the place
+of confinement allotted to each patient.
+</p>
+<p>
+This was in the yard of the almshouse,
+for state and county asylums had not then
+been thought of, and the strong wooden
+building in which they were placed consisted
+of two apartments, perhaps twelve
+feet square, one above and the other beneath
+the surface of the ground; the latter,
+in fact, a dungeon with one barred window
+on a level with the yard. Here they passed
+their gloomy hours as they might, in solitude
+and darkness, scarcely relieved by
+light from without, with nothing to alleviate
+the horrors of their condition, and
+probably considered in a state too hopeless
+to admit of any remedy. The tenant of
+the upper cell was comparatively lively, on
+the occasion of resort to his window for
+conversation, or out of curiosity, which was
+freely permitted; but his neighbor in the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span>
+dungeon was dangerous; and I can never
+forget the terror inspired by a sudden and
+vicious attempt made by him to seize the
+legs of us children through the bars, as we
+stood conversing with the inmate of the
+room above. Science and humanity have
+done very much, in modern times, toward
+the restoration of such unhappy beings,
+who are in a majority of cases susceptible
+of cure, or of improvement enough to warrant
+their return to domestic life. But it
+is to be feared we are yet far behind, in
+this country, the more enlightened and
+effectual methods pursued for this purpose
+in some other civilized nations.
+</p>
+<p>
+On one side of the street above alluded
+to lived for a long time, in my boyhood, an
+ancient shoemaker entirely alone; and as
+he guarded his residence with great secrecy
+and sold none of his wares, curious
+people were puzzled to understand how he
+supported existence. He was known to
+be partially deranged. Mischievous boys,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span>
+sometimes, gathered in numbers, would
+often assail his door with stones, standing
+ready for a start. But if they were on the
+watch, so was Pettengill, from previous experience,
+waiting behind his door with a
+heavy wooden bar in his hand, and giving
+instant chase to the flying urchins, would
+send the bar rattling at their heels. One
+day, after a season of unusual quiet, one of
+our lads anxious to penetrate his mystery,
+ventured to knock gently at the barred portal,
+was admitted, and expressed his wish
+to purchase a pair of shoes. The old man
+opened several chests containing the articles
+sought for, and finally selected a pair
+which proved a fit; but upon his visitor&#8217;s
+making known his readiness to buy, the
+maker deliberately returned them to their
+receptacle, locked it fast and gravely declared,
+that he did &#8220;not like to part with
+them, for fear of spoiling his assortment.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+The next building was occupied by a
+respectable English couple as a dwelling-place,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span>
+with a small grocer&#8217;s shop in front.
+They had no children, except one strapping
+son of the old lady by a former husband,
+grown to man&#8217;s estate, and whose business
+seemed to be to lounge about the premises
+in drab small-clothes; for I never saw him
+do anything. The old lady might be seen
+of a morning, with iron pattens on her feet
+and her clothes tucked up, mopping the
+floor of the shop; but in the afternoon much
+more genteelly attired in silks of an ancient
+fashion. Mr. Brown was a very quiet, inoffensive
+person, the wife a little high-strung.
+It is certain that they had occasional domestic
+bickerings, perhaps about the young
+man in the knee-breeches; for on one occasion
+it is alleged that the old matron was
+overheard to address her spouse, with a
+slightly Hibernian accentuation,&mdash;&#8220;Brune,
+Brune, ye case-knife looking son of a gun!
+I married ye neither for love, nor for
+money, but the pure convanience of the
+shop!&#8221; As these worthy people have long
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span>
+ago passed away, there seems no scandal
+in detailing this little family incident.
+</p>
+<p>
+Directly opposite these premises was a
+large old-fashioned house, still standing,
+and, a century before, the residence of the
+minister of the First Church. It was long
+afterwards occupied by a noted magistrate
+for the trial of small actions, who served
+many years as town-clerk, and was an energetic
+orator at town-meetings and in parish
+affairs. A culprit was once brought
+before him for stealing a gentleman&#8217;s set
+of new shirts. The fact was stiffly denied.
+&#8220;A pretty story,&#8221; said the accused party,
+&#8220;that I should take his shirts!&#8221; An official
+scrutiny, however, soon exhibited him
+standing with the half dozen articles of
+attire, one over another, upon his person.
+&#8220;What a villain!&#8221; said the astonished justice.
+&#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you tell me you was a
+villain and save the time of the court, of the
+witnesses, and the spectators, by owning up
+you were a villain, in the first place?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+The citizens of the old town were pretty
+thorough Puritans, by inheritance and inclination,
+at the middle of the last century.
+But the minister of the First Church was,
+in his day, a gentleman noted for his liberal
+tastes and accomplishments. He had
+a picture painted on a broad panel over
+the fire-place of his library, representing
+himself and several others of the cloth sitting
+around a table, in the full canonicals
+of wig, gown, and band, before each a
+foaming mug of ale, and each supplied with
+a tobacco pipe from which rolled volumes
+of narcotic fumes. At the top of the painting
+was a legend in the Latin language, of
+which the following is, I believe, a correct
+copy,&mdash;
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+&#8220;In essentialibus unitas, in non-essentialibus libertas, in omnibus charitas.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+They appeared to be having a jolly time,
+and evidently considered the slight indulgences
+to which they were addicted among
+the moral non-essentials, however necessary
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span>
+to their physical comfort. In this picture,
+which is still extant, the rules of
+perspective were not rigorously obeyed.
+In fact, the table is considerably tipped,
+whether supposed to result from some sudden
+hilarious movement on the part of the
+reverend compotators or owing to want of
+skill in the artist, I am not able to testify.
+Indeed, the manners of the times had not
+then attained their present professed strictness
+in regard to the use of exhilarating
+liquors, and I have inspected a tavern-bill
+rendered to the principal citizens, for articles
+of this sort consumed on some joyful
+public occasion, at a much later period, the
+amount of which in quantity, though not
+in price, would astonish a modern city
+council.
+</p>
+<p>
+At the corner of the street stood an
+ancient tavern, the principal establishment
+of the kind in the place, at which in staging
+times all the stage-coaches from Boston
+and the eastward hauled up to change
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span>
+horses. It was kept by the father of the
+popular host of one of the best known of
+the long-established New York hotels. I
+well remember seeing a considerable body
+of British sailors halted there for refreshment,
+under guard, on their way to some
+prison in the interior, during the War of
+1812. They were true British tars of the
+traditional type, with immense clubs of
+hair, tied up with eel-skins and hanging
+short and thick down their necks. They
+seemed in no wise depressed by their condition
+and in fact were treated extremely
+well, for the general feeling of the town
+was decidedly adverse to the war. I also
+remember a gathering in front of the tavern,
+when the evening coach was expected,
+with the idea of mobbing an unpopular
+general officer who was to pass through by
+that conveyance. But a better sentiment
+was inculcated by the more orderly portion
+of the assembly, and the obnoxious warrior
+was not molested, otherwise than by expressions
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span>
+of dislike, either upon alighting,
+or when taking his place to resume his
+journey. Politics ran very high at the
+time, almost to the entire suspension of
+social relations between the differing parties,&mdash;the
+Federalists, who opposed the
+war, and were accused of unpatriotic sympathy
+with the cause of the enemy, and
+the Republicans, often stigmatized as Jacobins,
+who were charged with the principles
+and designs which had given impulse to
+the great French Revolution. Doubtless
+these parties shared, on the one side and
+the other, in the hereditary enmity, long
+since allayed if not altogether extinguished,
+between England and France. But whatever
+might be the general turn of political
+sentiment, both sides felt a patriotic pride
+in the success of the American arms.
+Hence, it is probable, the temper of the
+crowd assembled to do dishonor to the unlucky
+general. While the Republicans were
+indignant at a supposed needless national
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span>
+disaster, the Federalists could scarcely rejoice
+at it; and thus the moderation of the
+latter tended to restrain the former from
+the display of any actually violent demonstration.
+At the same period, there was
+formed, among the older administration
+men of the day, a veteran military organization,
+of those beyond the ordinary age
+of military service, well-known locally under
+the significant appellation of the &#8220;Silver
+Greys.&#8221; The corps was composed of
+elderly merchants and traders and retired
+sea-captains, and their drills manifested at
+least the ambition of military prowess.
+Their opponents alleged that their company
+was formed for merely political purposes,
+and to overawe the town; but their
+own doubtless more just solution of the
+matter was, that their object was to aid in
+repelling invasion, in the unlikely case that
+the British troops should land upon their
+own borders. They gave more promise,
+certainly, of efficient service, should danger
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+arise, than could be expected of the superannuated
+Trojans chief of Priam&#8217;s court,
+as their catalogue is translated by Pope
+from the living record of Homer:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>&#8220;Here sat the seniors of the Trojan race,<br />
+&nbsp;Old Priam&#8217;s chiefs and most in Priam&#8217;s grace;<br />
+&nbsp;The king the first, Thym&oelig;tes at his side,<br />
+&nbsp;Lampus and Clitias, long in council tried,<br />
+&nbsp;Panthus and Hicetaon, once the strong,<br />
+&nbsp;And next, the wisest of the reverend throng,<br />
+&nbsp;Antenor grave and sage Ucalegon,<br />
+&nbsp;Leaned on the walls and basked before the sun;<br />
+&nbsp;Chiefs who no more in bloody fights engage,<br />
+&nbsp;But wise through time and narrative with age,<br />
+&nbsp;In summer days like grasshoppers rejoice,<br />
+&nbsp;A bloodless race, that send a feeble voice,&#8221; etc.
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+The town had suffered everything from
+the war and the interdiction of commerce
+in which it had been most actively engaged,
+preceding the event. Multitudes
+were absolutely ruined, and the gaunt wolf
+stood grinning at almost every other threshold.
+Among the memorials of that great
+struggle, it may be as well to mention the
+rusted cannon planted for posts at the corners
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span>
+of certain of the streets, the breech
+sunk in the ground and a bomb-shell fastened
+in the muzzle. At such a time, it is
+not strange that force occasionally took the
+place of law.
+</p>
+<p>
+I could recall not a few instances in
+which, under the impulse of political resentment,
+passion got the better of judgment.
+One day, the marshal of the United
+States, in his cocked hat and with other
+official insignia, entered the tavern I have
+mentioned, in quest of a fugitive from justice.
+He inquired of a person whom he
+met in the public apartment, if he had
+lately seen one Captain E&mdash;&mdash;, who, it
+seems, on some supposed provocation, had
+only thrown a custom-house officer into the
+dock in one of our eastern harbors. The
+person addressed by the marshal said that
+Captain E&mdash;&mdash; had just passed down the
+street, and when the marshal turned to
+pursue the culprit, that individual, who
+was no other than the one just addressed,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span>
+slipped out of another door, ran by the
+stable in the rear of the tavern and called
+upon Jem Knox, the hostler, to harness a
+chaise with all speed and to follow him
+forthwith in his flight. It appears, that the
+story of the captain&#8217;s adventure was already
+pretty well known in the public places of
+the town, and as a visit of the marshal from
+Boston was a very extraordinary event in a
+place usually so quiet, a prying character
+who was upon the spot asked him if he was
+not looking for Captain E&mdash;&mdash;. Upon receiving
+an affirmative reply,&mdash;&#8220;That&#8217;s the
+man,&#8221; said he, &#8220;you have just spoken to.&#8221;
+The marshal started in pursuit and the
+captain had called out to such persons of
+his acquaintance as saw him running, that
+he was chased by a United States&#8217; officer.
+Half way through the street, one Clement
+Starr, a stalwart Englishman, who lived at
+the spot and whose sympathies, political
+and otherwise, were with the weaker party,
+seized the marshal by the collar and insisted
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+upon knowing what was the cause
+of the considerable tumult which the outcry&mdash;&#8220;Stop
+him!&#8221; had raised. Escaping
+this obstacle, the poor marshal was soon
+afterwards clasped in the vigorous embrace
+of a spirited matron, who stood on her
+door-step as he passed, and, besides being
+an acquaintance of the captain, was of the
+same political proclivities as those of the
+retreating mariner.
+</p>
+<p>
+While tearing himself away from this
+lively lady, Knox drove furiously by, pulled
+up as he overtook the fugitive, who, as a
+witness of the affair told me, tumbled into
+the chaise, and was soon out of the reach
+of the threatening danger. Whether he
+was ever taken afterwards, or what became
+of the prosecution, I have never heard.
+</p>
+<p>
+Not far from us lived a worthy widow,
+with a family of children, and on one occasion
+she was heard to mingle rather curiously
+an office of devotion with a somewhat
+severe threat of domestic discipline. It
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span>
+was a day in summer, and the windows
+being open, a passer-by heard her objurgation.
+It seems the family had assembled at
+the dinner-table, and her oldest son began
+by making premature demonstrations toward
+the provisions, when his mother
+emphatically addressed him: &#8220;You Bob
+Barker, if you stick your fork into that
+meat before I&#8217;ve asked a blessing, I&#8217;ll be
+the death of ye!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+There was a worthy shipmaster, also,
+who used to trade to Hayti, when that stalwart
+colored person, Christophe, was the
+Emperor, who used to say, &#8220;Put a bag of
+coffee in the mouth of h&mdash;&mdash;, and a Yankee
+will be sure to go after it.&#8221; On one occasion,
+so the story ran, Captain H&mdash;&mdash; complained
+of some insult from one of Christophe&#8217;s
+ragged soldiery. The fact reached
+the ears of that potentate, who desired to
+stand well with Americans, and our townsman
+was summoned before him. He found
+in the presence of the monarch the whole
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span>
+body of the scanty force on duty in the
+town. &#8220;Can you pick out the man who
+insulted you?&#8221; asked the sable autocrat.
+Captain H&mdash;&mdash; pointed him out; but beginning
+to fear the infliction of some punishment
+too severe, attempted to extenuate
+the offence. &#8220;Stop!&#8221; cried Christophe, and
+called the soldier near him. &#8220;Do you say
+this was the man of whom you have told
+me?&#8221; &#8220;Yes, sir, it is,&#8221; replied the alarmed
+captain; &#8220;but&#8221;&mdash;In an instant Christophe
+had drawn his sword, and with one blow
+struck off the head of the unlucky culprit.
+The terror of the accusing party, at such
+a sudden and bloody consummation, may
+be partly imagined. He procured his clearance
+as soon as possible, and I believe
+made his future voyages to waters under a
+less summarily sanguinary domination.
+</p>
+<p>
+We had also a <i>soi-disant</i> nobleman, of
+really the humblest extraction, and ignorant
+to a singular degree, but known by his eccentricities
+far and wide, who, on the score
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span>
+of a little money accidentally amassed, proclaimed
+himself, by an inscription beneath
+a wooden statue of himself, in front of his
+residence,&mdash;&#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Lord of the East, Lord
+Of the West, and the Greatest Philosopher
+in the Western World.</span>&#8221; He
+decorated his court-yard with an extraordinary
+amount of lumber of this sort, in the
+shape of human beings, and dumb creatures
+of many sorts, each statue standing upon
+its separate pillar, to the intense admiration
+of the gaping rustics who visited the
+town to inspect it; and he fairly beat the
+Scottish Earl of Buchan, who was infected
+with a similar mania. Upon an arch directly
+opposite his front door, he had placed
+Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. Adams,
+on the right, was bareheaded, and upon an
+inquiry by some one why this distinction
+was made, since Jefferson&#8217;s chapeau was in
+its place, the great &#8220;lord&#8221; replied: &#8220;Do
+you suppose I would have anybody stand
+at the right hand of Washington, with his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span>
+hat on?&#8221; He was said, also, upon certain
+hilarious occasions, celebrated in a tomb
+which he had constructed under a summer-house
+in his garden, to have indulged in
+the mastication of bank-bills between slices
+of bread and butter, doubtless to the envy
+of his boon companions; not, as might be
+inferred, of the better or richer classes,
+though, considering all things, it is perhaps
+needless to hope that these current symbols
+of value were a little cleaner than
+most of those of modern date. All this
+statuary rubbish, however, was long ago
+removed; and the house and grounds, by
+the taste of the present owner, have since
+ranked among the most pleasing objects
+of inspection in the town.
+</p>
+<p>
+This notably low and singularly eccentric
+character, as I have remarked, fairly beat
+that other oddity,&mdash;in a different class of
+life and contemporary with him,&mdash;the Scottish
+Earl of Buchan, elder half-brother of
+Lord Chancellor Erskine. That nobleman
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span>
+was possessed with a passion for the busts
+of persons, eminent or otherwise, not dissimilar
+to that of our New England &#8220;lord&#8221; for
+wooden statuary, and perhaps was actuated
+by equal vanity, though a person of real
+literary accomplishment, and in no sense,
+except as mentioned, to be put in comparison
+with the other. He displayed to his
+visitors a large and most incongruous collection
+of these objects of art in a sort of
+grotto excavated in his garden, thus reversing,
+however, the more conspicuous procedure
+of his brother connoisseur, who exhibited
+his assemblage of rarities in his
+front yard. The Scottish Earl, certainly,
+had some literary pretensions, while the
+&#8220;lord&#8221; Timothy, who could neither read
+nor write with ordinary expertness, honored
+the Muses, also, by affording countenance
+to a poet. Whether this patronage
+extended to much material sustenance may
+be considered doubtful, since this son of
+Apollo generally stood in the market-place,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span>
+when not wandering away to other
+parts, for the disposal of his wares, dressed
+in semi-clerical habiliments, himself being
+of a singularly grave aspect, and retailed
+frightful ballads of his own composition,
+and small wares of various kinds from a
+basket on his arm. It is questionable
+whether any of these literary productions
+survive to the present day; and I fear that
+not one of them had any spark of that vitality,
+potent to influence popular sentiment,
+which Fletcher of Saltoun attributed to the
+songs of the people.
+</p>
+<p>
+In the centre of this market-place&mdash;a
+space inclosed on all sides by various
+shops or stores, and for some unaccountable
+reason styled &#8220;Market Square,&#8221; since
+its irregular outline much more resembled a
+truncated triangle&mdash;stood the town pump,
+on the spot originally occupied by the
+meeting-house of the First Church, already
+mentioned. On two sides of the pump
+were set the wonted hand-carts of two
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+superannuated individuals, whose gingerbread,
+candies, and apples were the delight
+of such urchins as were lucky enough to
+have coppers to buy with; for those convenient
+mediums of exchange were not too
+plentiful among boys in 18&mdash;, and frequently
+not with their parents either. These
+old men were the undisturbed possessors
+of the ground, wheeling their vehicles to
+the spot at early morning, and standing
+by them all day, though they never seemed
+to me to be driving a very thriving business.
+</p>
+<p>
+But the glory of the Square was during
+the week before Thanksgiving,&mdash;then, as
+now, appointed for a day late in November,
+when it was often difficult to make one&#8217;s
+way through the throng of teams, and especially
+sleighs, loaded with poultry fattened
+for the occasion, and sometimes venison
+and abundance of other commodities
+for domestic use. The mention of sleighs
+leads me to recur to a former remark
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span>
+upon the earlier approach of winter in
+those times; for the employment of sleighs
+implies the presence of snow upon the
+ground; and the farmers had frequently
+driven from a great distance, &#8220;up country,&#8221;
+from parts of New Hampshire and Vermont,
+even from the borders of Canada,
+perhaps a hundred and fifty or two hundred
+miles and more away, to attend the
+market in our town; sometimes as many
+as a hundred loaded country sleighs, or on
+other occasions as many wagons, in a single
+day. The construction of the Middlesex
+Canal, connecting the waters of the Merrimack
+with those of the Charles, diverted
+the main part of this traffic to Boston; and
+railways finally conveyed to the capital
+most of the remainder which came from
+any considerable distance. Wistful eyes,
+in the presence of these heaping dainties,
+were sometimes averted, no doubt, from a
+consciousness of empty pockets; yet there
+were always generous hearts and bounteous
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span>
+hands to meet the exigencies of every
+neighborhood; and we may be sure that no
+householder of decent repute, however poor
+or unlucky, and probably few others, even
+if a little tarnished in the moral world&#8217;s
+esteem, lacked some kind friend who saw
+to it, that the accustomed turkey or chickens
+smoked on the board before the eyes
+of his hungry children on that day, at least,
+of all the year.
+</p>
+<p>
+But, unless respectable legends are to
+be peremptorily discredited, an incident
+once took place in this Market Square, of
+which I doubt if any other New England
+town can show the parallel. I am about
+to relate a statement made to me, not
+many years ago, by an elderly gentleman
+of excellent character and standing, a justice
+of the peace and of the quorum, and a
+devout member of the Orthodox Church.
+The story was told with all gravity and
+implicit confidence in its truth; and some
+may think it exhibits in a striking light
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span>
+the extent of human credulity and the
+imperfection of human testimony: &#8220;My
+father,&#8221; said this worthy person, &#8220;has
+often told me of being in Market Square
+when a man, a woman, and a little dog
+appeared, and soon collected quite a crowd
+by the exhibition of feats of jugglery. At
+length, after a due collection of tribute from
+the standers-by, the man produced a ball
+of cord from his pocket, threw it into the
+air, and began to ascend it, hand over hand.
+The woman followed, and after her the little
+dog. While the crowd was gaping, in
+expectation of the return of this mysterious
+trio, some one drove into the market-place
+and inquired the occasion of this unusual
+congregation. Upon being informed, he
+said, that he had just met such a party on
+the road, about a mile from the town.&#8221; I
+had read the most extraordinary accounts,
+by British officers and others, of exhibitions
+like this, which they alleged they had often
+witnessed in India. I remembered one, in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span>
+particular, where tigers and other unwelcome
+guests, and even the somewhat unwieldy
+bulk of an elephant, had seemingly
+been brought down, before their eyes,
+upon a cable fastened by some mysterious
+agency far aloft; for I suppose it behooved
+to be made fast in some inconceivable region
+of the upper air. But that a similar
+demonstration could have been made in
+a sober New England town, at noonday,
+could scarcely fail to &#8220;put me from my
+faith.&#8221; It impressed me, however, as at least
+an extraordinary relation, coming from such
+a source; and happening to meet another
+ancient and equally reputable friend on
+the same day, one, too, who had been much
+about the world in the capacity of a navigator
+to foreign climes, I took occasion to
+relate to him the strange narrative which
+I had just heard. &#8220;Oh,&#8221; said he, &#8220;there is
+no doubt about it; my mother has often
+told me she was present and saw the whole
+transaction.&#8221; &#8220;In the mouth of two or
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span>
+three witnesses,&#8221; says the Scripture, &#8220;shall
+every word be established.&#8221; In this case,
+it will be observed, the witnesses were
+two, but both at second-hand. I shall not
+vouch, therefore, for anything except that,
+as Scott says, &#8220;I tell the tale as &#8217;twas told
+to me,&#8221;&mdash;and it may be set down as one of
+these veritable legends which all persons
+are at liberty to reject or accept, as they
+please. I expect to try the faith of the
+reader still further before I have finished
+this historical sketch. People often tell us,
+nowadays, that vulgar superstitions are altogether
+things of the past. This may be
+so in public; but I imagine that in private
+there is a lurking tinge of it in every human
+bosom.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_III' id='CHAPTER_III'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+In maritime towns, at a season of the
+year when there is no inducement for them
+to wander into the fields, boys who have
+nothing else to do, on play-days, are very
+apt to lounge, more or less, on the wharves
+and in the Market Place. When quite a
+youngster, I witnessed a scene on the spot
+last named, the incidents of which are as
+vivid in my memory as at the moment
+when they occurred, more than half a century
+ago. Though the commerce of our
+town had very materially declined from its
+former condition of wonderful activity and
+enterprise, it was still kept up with considerable
+semblance of its former spirit,
+and, besides our native vessels, a foreign
+ship occasionally sailed up our beautiful
+river. A few miles beyond the stream, in
+the neighboring State, dwelt a population
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span>
+chiefly agricultural, a portion of which,
+pursuing the avocation of small farmers
+and fishermen, alternately, for they were
+directly on the borders of the sea and
+somewhat isolated in their position, besides,
+were certainly a little wild in character
+and habits; though I am told that
+great improvement among them, in these
+respects, has taken place of later years.
+We called them &#8220;Algerines,&#8221; from which
+epithet, more opprobrious than probably
+just, our estimate of their pretensions to
+civilization may be inferred. It was the
+practice of these people to bring their fish
+in whale-boats to our market, which was
+the nearest to their homes, and to dispose
+of this fruit of their often perilous labors
+either for money, or for such commodities
+as they required. I was standing, one afternoon,
+near a group of foreign sailors,
+believed to be Spaniards, with the natural
+curiosity of a boy, and rough-looking specimens
+of humanity they certainly were. It
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span>
+seemed that they had fallen into dispute
+with the crew, some three or four men, of
+an Algerine boat, and though the language
+on one side and the other was altogether
+unintelligible to the parties, the tones were
+uncommonly high. Doubtless, the Spaniards
+were resenting some insult offered by
+the Algerines,&mdash;prompted by that sort of
+jealousy and dislike with which the lower
+classes of English blood have been in the
+habit of regarding those of other nationalities.
+The quarrel seemed especially at its
+height between one of the Spanish crew
+and a young man of remarkable stature
+in coarse seaman&#8217;s dress, with a great bush
+of long yellow locks hanging over the collar
+of his jacket, whose name it appeared
+was Souter. The Spanish champion had
+drawn an ugly looking knife, from which
+unfamiliar weapon, flourished so near his
+person, the Algerine instinctively flinched.
+At this critical moment, the patriarch of
+the Yankee crew, a tall, gaunt old man,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span>
+with grizzled hair, stepped into the arena,
+and, seizing the foreigner by the collar,
+cried out,&mdash;&#8220;Now I&#8217;ll bet Tom Souter&#8221;
+(pronounced Saouter) &#8220;could take this &#8217;ere
+fellow right here by the collar and shake
+every g&mdash;&mdash; right aout of him,&#8221;&mdash;using a
+more vulgar phrase, and suiting the action
+to the word so vigorously that the reeling
+and astounded Spaniard was glad enough to
+relinquish the field and to slink away crestfallen
+with his companions.
+</p>
+<p>
+As a further illustration of the ways of
+our neighbors, I will give one more anecdote
+of an affair which occurred years afterwards.
+Not far from the hamlet of our
+friends, the Algerines, but within the borders
+of Massachusetts, was another settlement,
+on the outskirts of a thriving village,
+the male inhabitants of which also followed
+the calling of small farmers and fishermen,
+some of them diversifying these pursuits
+by the occupation of shoemaking, at the
+ungenial season of the year. They were
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span>
+industrious, and far less rude than their
+compatriots, to whom reference has just
+been made. At this point lived three
+young men, hard by each other, and brothers,
+of the name, I will say, of Lowe. One
+day a tall and respectable looking old gentleman
+called upon the writer of this history,
+announcing himself as Colonel Lowe,
+and the father of the three young men in
+question. He had formerly commanded, it
+seems, a regiment of militia, and had a sort
+of semi-military bearing. He was now in
+great agitation and distress, occasioned by
+some trouble in which his sons were involved,
+through forcible resistance to the
+civil authorities of the Commonwealth, and
+he required the professional services of
+the writer for their defence. He justly
+regarded it as a case likely to lead to
+very serious consequences, and particularly
+dreaded for the young men the disgraceful
+punishment of the State Prison. It was a
+case to elicit every degree of sympathy for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span>
+the worthy Colonel, and to prompt every
+effort for his relief. The facts, as they
+appeared at the trial before the Court of
+Common Pleas, were quite picturesque. A
+constable had appeared with an execution
+against one of the young Lowes, in the
+matter of a claim which he disputed as unjust;
+but without giving the peace-officer
+opportunity to discharge his duty, he was
+driven from the ground by the trio, in
+mortal terror of his life. The execution
+of the process was then undertaken by a
+somewhat fantastic country deputy sheriff;
+who was ordered off as he attempted to
+approach the parties in defence, and between
+them and the officer there was a
+good deal of raillery, which had an important
+bearing upon the final result of the
+trial. At length, the elder brother Lowe
+drew a line with a stick across the road
+and defied the officer to pass it, which he
+declined to do, but at once made good his
+retreat, smothering his indignation at such
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span>
+a rebuff, until he could give it vent in
+more safety than the existing circumstances
+warranted. Such reckless conduct
+was not to be endured, and no doubt the
+deputy was laughed at by his neighbors
+for his failure to carry his purpose into
+effect. The majesty of the Commonwealth
+had been insulted in his official person, and
+he determined to summon a <i>posse comitatus</i>,
+to vindicate the power and dignity of the
+law. Stories in the country, especially
+those involving any extraordinary incidents,
+sometimes fly faster than in town, and accordingly
+these young rebels forewarned,
+no doubt, of the peril in prospect, prepared
+themselves, as well as they could, to resist
+the more formidable invasion presently to
+be expected. Before daylight, one morning,
+the mustered force of some twenty men,
+variously armed, led by the valiant sheriff&#8217;s
+officer, cautiously drew near the premises,
+in the hope of catching the culprits asleep.
+The brothers were too quick for their visitors,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span>
+however, and evidently having been
+on the watch had retreated to a barn, securely
+fastening the door, and awaited the
+approach of the enemy. They had with
+them certain weapons, which were exhibited
+in the court, consisting of ancient rusty
+halberds and spontoons, probably borne in
+turn by their gallant father, in his several
+gradations of military service. As they
+were summoned to surrender, a musket was
+discharged out of a window of the barn,
+over the heads of the assailants, occasioning
+considerable confusion in their line. Assuming
+courage, at length, axes and crowbars
+were brought into requisition, and the
+door was forced. As the attacking party
+entered, however, the Lowes let down the
+stairs leading to the story above a heavy
+broad cart-wheel, and as it bounded clattering
+towards the floor below, the assailants
+fled out of doors in a panic, and taking
+advantage of their disorder, the Lowes,
+disregarding the vast disproportion of numbers,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
+rushed upon them, and a regular
+mźleé began. It is thought, that the
+smaller party would have been victorious,
+but for an ugly blow on the head of the
+youngest brother, which felled and disabled
+him; whereupon his associates escaped
+unmolested and he was taken helpless
+into the house, where he remained
+until the time of the trial. Of course, the
+jury found him guilty, for the facts of the
+case were patent; but it was taken up, by
+exceptions to the ruling of the Judge, into
+the Supreme Court, in which, though it
+would be irreverent to intimate that the
+justices entered at all into the humor of
+such a Donnybrook Fair sort of scrimmage,
+yet, after argument, and it is presumed
+in consideration of some provocation
+on the part of the sheriff&#8217;s deputy,
+especially the needlessly warlike and really
+ridiculous aspect he impressed on the affair,
+leading the young men to look upon it
+rather as an invitation to play their part,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span>
+than as a serious purpose to violate the
+law, the sentence imposed was only a few
+months&#8217; imprisonment in the common jail.
+The prosecution was never enforced against
+the brothers, and never was more lively
+gratitude displayed, than at the escape of
+the convicted culprit from sentence to the
+ignominious seclusion of the State Prison.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_IV' id='CHAPTER_IV'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+A term of the Court of Common Pleas
+was always held in the town in the month
+of September, and &#8220;court week&#8221; was a
+regular time of holiday for the pupils of
+the higher schools. Some of us attended
+upon these solemn proceedings with extraordinary
+interest, especially when criminal
+cases were before the court. I know
+not how it is, but suppose it to be the expected
+revelation of incidents, as in the plot
+of a novel, which draws crowds together, in
+most uncomfortable contiguity in a courtroom,
+whenever a culprit, especially one of
+more than usually notorious antecedents, is
+put upon his trial. While most of the old-fashioned
+lawyers of the Essex Bar were
+more than respectable for professional acquisitions
+and legal skill, there were persons
+among them of distinguished ability
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
+and character; and real eloquence seldom
+fails to prove peculiarly fascinating to
+youthful hearers. Who could forget, for
+example, with what rapt attention he listened,
+at a somewhat later date, to the
+glowing language and was stirred by the
+honest warmth of Saltonstall, incapable by
+nature of attempting to make the worse
+appear the better reason; or watched that
+marvel, the matchless ingenuity of Choate,
+whose faculties shone brightest, the more
+apparently hopeless was the cause at stake;
+or thrilled with profound admiration, under
+the resistless influence of Webster&#8217;s force
+and closeness of argument, rising, with due
+occasion, to the highest point of eloquent
+illustration, when some more than usually
+important matter for adjudication by the
+court called him from the ordinary sphere
+of his great practice to the forum of a
+comparatively inferior tribunal.
+</p>
+<p>
+Years afterwards, when I had the honor
+of a place at that Bar, I was much struck
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span>
+with the testimony of a respectable witness,
+a farmer named Sheldon, who lived near
+Beverly Corner, upon an indictment of a
+fellow for burglary, in entering Mr. Sheldon&#8217;s
+house by night and taking the money
+from his pockets in his sleeping chamber
+without disturbing the occupants. One of
+the earliest questions proposed to him was,&mdash;&#8220;How
+did the robber gain entrance to
+the house?&#8221; and, by the way, the man had
+been previously employed as a laborer by
+the farmer. &#8220;I suppose he came in by the
+usual way,&#8221; was the answer. &#8220;He came
+in by the door, do you mean?&#8221; &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+&#8220;How did he get it open?&#8221; &#8220;I suppose
+he lifted the latch.&#8221; &#8220;Do you mean to
+say, that the door was not fastened?&#8221;
+&#8220;Yes I do; we never fasten it.&#8221; The culprit
+was convicted upon various satisfactory
+testimony; but the incident betokens a
+state of security, at that period, and a
+rarity of flagitious offences, which puts to
+shame the demoralization of our own day.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span>
+For the house in question stood on the
+high road and was scarcely more than half
+a mile distant from a populous neighborhood,
+and within less than three miles of
+a town with many thousands of inhabitants.
+</p>
+<p>
+Strangely enough, considering the want
+of precaution on the part of the farmer,
+coming down, doubtless, from a still simpler
+period of social life, not half a mile
+from Mr. Sheldon&#8217;s house stood a solitary
+habitation upon a desolate tract of land,
+and also near the highway, which at a
+time not long subsequent had acquired a
+very evil reputation; and with this house
+became connected circumstances which
+some may think scarcely admit of the
+solution of merely accidental occurrence.
+At the autumnal term of the court just indicated,
+when I had become a young practitioner
+at the bar, a certain vixenish old
+beldam was put upon trial for the offence
+of maintaining this ill reputed establishment.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span>
+Her demeanor was singularly exceptional;
+for she did not scruple to interrupt
+the proceedings with the most fluent
+billingsgate, and upon receiving sentence
+berated the presiding judge in language
+betokening an extraordinary depth of desperate
+hardihood. Inquiry revealed the
+fact, that her solitary house, standing
+upon an elevated plain of some extent,
+the ground rising from the shores of Wenham
+Lake, in front but little removed from
+the road, and the space in its rear interspersed
+with scattered groups of funereal
+pines, had been the resort of various desperadoes,
+several of whom had suffered
+punishment for their crimes, and one of
+them had not long before committed suicide
+in jail, to escape public execution for
+a most atrocious murder.
+</p>
+<p>
+Late one day, in the beginning of the
+following Spring, I happened to be called
+upon to proceed to Boston, distant some
+forty miles, upon the sudden requirement
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span>
+of certain business to be transacted the
+next morning in the city. It was before
+the railway was in operation, and to accomplish
+the object in view I was to drive
+this considerable distance in a chaise, at
+night and alone. I was accustomed to
+this mode of locomotion, in my attendance
+upon the several sessions of the courts in
+the county, and the idea of fear never
+entered my mind. Accordingly, starting
+about dusk, at half past ten o&#8217;clock of a
+starlit night, I had reached a point in the
+journey where the road rises by a gentle
+ascent to the plain, on which stood &#8220;the
+house of evil counsel.&#8221; All at once, the
+scene and the narrative of the previous
+Fall flashed upon my mind. Before leaving
+home, I had bethought myself of a
+brace of pistols in my possession, which I
+had loaded and placed in the pockets of my
+overcoat. And now comes the remarkable
+circumstance to which I have already referred.
+These weapons had been borrowed
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span>
+of a friend, months before, when in the
+midst of an unusually exciting election for
+a member of congress, continuing some
+two years, and stirring up extraordinary
+rancor in the minds of some of the partisans
+of the several candidates, I had
+been threatened with violence, if I should
+attend the polls. I had notified my opponents
+that I should vote at a certain
+hour, on the appointed day, and placed
+these pistols in my pocket, by way of defence;
+but nothing inconsistent with my
+freedom of political action in fact occurred.
+This was the only time in my life that I
+had carried such implements, which were
+then put aside in the drawer of a bureau,
+and I have never thought it worth while
+to take them since, except on the occasion
+now referred to. I had thus provided
+myself with them, on an entirely different
+occasion, and took them with me, on a
+sudden thought, as I was about to proceed
+on my journey, more in the spirit of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span>
+youthful bravado, than with any other motive;
+for the roads, at that period, were
+considered perfectly safe, by night as well
+as by day. As I have remarked, the
+thought of the shrewish and abandoned old
+woman, of her house and its evil companions,
+occurred to me, as my horse slowly
+ascended the rising ground towards the
+plain. In a few minutes I was in the
+neighborhood of a habitation which I
+looked upon rather with detestation than
+any emotion of alarm; when what was my
+astonishment to behold a man&mdash;the sound
+of the wheels of the chaise being doubtless
+audible at some distance in the clear, still
+night&mdash;come out of the gate in front of the
+house and station himself in the middle of
+the somewhat narrow highway. In fact,
+the stranger was within a rod of the vehicle,
+and must either be driven over or move
+out of the way. At this unexpected encounter,
+I own that my heart, as the saying
+is, jumped into my mouth; but I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span>
+instantly drew and cocked my pistol, and
+the click probably disturbing the nerves
+of my proposed assailant, he turned aside
+without offering further molestation. In
+a few minutes, the lamps of the mail-stage,
+as it turned Beverly Corner on its way
+eastward, were a grateful spectacle, and
+my onward journey was pursued without
+other adventure. The driver of that stage
+afterwards informed me, that the trunks
+strapped to the rear of their coaches had
+more than once been cut off in that very
+neighborhood, and that on one occasion
+beams had been placed in the road so that
+the carriage would have been overturned,
+unless they had been discovered in time,
+and doubtless had been so placed for purposes
+of robbery. I inquired, why investigation
+did not take place on the spot;
+but the reply was, that the passengers
+were in haste to get on, were unarmed,
+and perhaps timid, and preferred to remove
+the obstacles and proceed upon their way.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+The contrast, however, is striking, between
+the habit of a farmer to leave his
+door unfastened at night and the machinations
+of rogues not a quarter of a mile
+distant, who could be guilty of such crimes.
+I believe, however, that the existence of
+such a nest of villains was quite exceptional
+at that period, and unknown to the
+farmer, and that his sense of safety, without
+the most ordinary means of protection
+to his premises, was at that time the rule.
+The reader may draw what conclusions he
+pleases from the facts of my own personal
+narrative.
+</p>
+<p>
+I have remarked that politics, never
+stagnant in our ancient communities, at
+the period of my story, oftentimes grew
+extremely warm, and then every leading
+citizen took his personal part. Nor is it
+strange that the survivors of those who
+had borne their share in the Revolutionary
+War, who had the traditions, at least, of
+their fathers who served with the New
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span>
+England troops, and followed the gallant
+and generous Wolfe up the formidable
+heights of Abraham, and after the victorious
+field which cost that true hero his life,
+stood triumphant, under the Red Cross
+banner, upon the subjugated ramparts of
+Quebec, should exhibit marked peculiarities
+of character; should hold fast to
+strong opinions; and indeed should manifest
+that individuality and originality of
+thought and action which is scarcely witnessed
+in the promiscuous crowd of our
+own tamer times. Instead of that indifference,
+the bane of a republic, among the
+upper class, the result of accumulated
+wealth and luxurious habits, the chief men
+of both parties stood at the door of the
+Town Hall, on days of election, distributing
+votes, and encouraging the timid and
+the doubtful, and their influence was effectively
+felt in the direction of public affairs,
+which now seem mostly to be left to the
+management of the least competent, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span>
+often the most ignorant, mercenary, and
+corrupt. I firmly believe that the equal,
+if not preėminent position long maintained
+by Massachusetts, among rivals vastly superior
+in territory and population, was owing
+to the active interest formerly taken
+by her leading men of all professions and
+occupations in the politics of the day, and
+that thus the sources of political well being
+were kept comparatively pure. At
+present, these men take their political
+opinions from the newspaper they read, and
+trouble themselves very little further about
+a matter in which their own stake, one
+would think, would rouse them to exertion,
+from the promptings of enlightened self-interest,
+if not from the more generous
+emotions of public spirit.
+</p>
+<p>
+On one occasion, when some eager dispute
+had arisen, as to which of the two
+parties actually preponderated, for the balance
+sometimes wavered from one side to
+the other, it was determined to poll the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
+town; that is, to assemble all citizens entitled
+to vote in the Town Hall, to divide
+them personally according to their several
+politics and by actual count to ascertain
+which was the strongest in point of numbers.
+I happened to be present, as a boy
+who heard political questions discussed
+with animation at home, and was curious
+to witness the scene, which was one really
+of the intensest interest. The selectmen
+occupied their tribune, at the head of the
+Hall, and the meeting was presided over
+by their chairman, a man of imposing
+height and general personal development,
+with flowing white locks, who commanded
+the respect of all parties. His father had
+been a soldier of Wolfe, and he and his associates
+were on the Federal side. When
+the parties were arranged for the enumeration,
+one worthy individual, who kept the
+principal tavern of the town, stood hesitating,
+at the end of the hall, between the
+two files; for, in fact, both parties of necessity
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span>
+made use of his house, by turns, in
+commemoration of some public event, or
+for festive purposes, which, to tell the
+truth; were frequently coming round; for
+the liquor was both better and cheaper
+than in these degenerate days. I shall
+never forget the start which the sonorous
+voice of the chairman gave me, as he
+bawled out,&mdash;&#8220;None of that, Jenkins; we
+can&#8217;t have any shirking here; you must
+take one side or the other,&#8221;&mdash;and he did,
+amidst the tumultuous laughter with which
+the Hall resounded. The contest was a
+good-natured one, and I have no doubt
+which party proved victorious, considering
+that the prevailing sentiment of the town
+was pretty well evidenced by the political
+leanings of the <i>Board</i>; but at this late day
+it is of little consequence to authenticate
+the fact.
+</p>
+<p>
+The father of the sturdy chairman had
+set up the tavern, after returning from the
+expedition to Quebec, which he called the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span>
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Wolfe House</span>, in memory of his commander,
+General James Wolfe, who is presented
+in such a pleasing light in Thackeray&#8217;s
+&#8220;Virginians,&#8221; and, as a noble-minded
+man and true hero, deserved all which could
+be said in his praise. In after days, and I
+believe it is still there, the sign was suspended
+in front of the hotel, which took
+the place of that destroyed by the &#8220;Great
+Fire.&#8221; The brave general wore his red
+coat and cocked hat, all through the War
+of the Revolution and that of 1812-14,
+without molestation from colonial rebels,
+or Yankees fighting against the mother
+country, by land and by sea. The tavern
+was kept for a long time by a shrewd and
+active host, who had a keen eye to the
+main chance. Among his dinner guests
+were farmers who attended market, and
+others, content to take their meals at half
+price, after the chief company had finished
+that repast. Of these was one Major
+Muncheon, somewhat celebrated for his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+remarkable powers of making away with
+whatever the table furnished. One day,
+Wilkins, the host, who was addicted to a
+slightly nasal intonation, addressed him,
+when he had just risen from his seat,&mdash;&#8220;Major,
+I can&#8217;t dine you any more for
+twenty-five cents.&#8221; &#8220;Why not?&#8221; asked
+the well-satisfied trencherman. &#8220;I tell
+you, Major,&#8221; said his host, &#8220;the very vegetables
+you&#8217;ve eaten cost two and three
+pence&#8221; (37&frac12; cents), &#8220;saying nothing of the
+meat and pies.&#8221; &#8220;Pho! Wilkins,&#8221; remonstrated
+the farmer, &#8220;it&#8217;s only the second
+table.&#8221; &#8220;Second table!&#8221; replied the host;
+&#8220;why, Major, if you had sat down to the
+first table, there wouldn&#8217;t have been no
+second.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+But if parties in those times were often
+hotly opposed, there was one occasion,
+every year, when a broader sentiment of
+patriotism warmed the hearts of all in the
+fellowship of a common cause. The Anniversary
+of Independence was duly commemorated
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span>
+by appropriate exercises for
+considerably more than half a century in
+our spirited town, and with a general loosening
+of party ties on the occasion, until
+the War of 1812, when the parties conducted
+separate celebrations, though the
+orators were always only too apt to tighten
+them again by untimely political allusions,
+in the narrower sense of the phrase.<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>
+</p>
+<p>
+On one of these anniversaries, the orator
+expectant we will call Mr. Moses, a member
+of the Bar, who had already acquired distinction
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span>
+and was afterwards a leader in his
+profession, well known in the county of
+Essex. It was in reference to this gentleman,
+that an ambitious colored person of
+that day instructed the shoemaker he employed,
+that he wanted &#8220;his boots to have
+as much creak in them as Squire Moses&#8217;s.&#8221;
+On the day before the services were to take
+place, the orator repaired to the meeting-house
+appointed for the purpose, in order
+to rehearse his performance, and having
+mounted the stairs to the pulpit by a back-entrance,
+and probably wearing boots, at
+this time, of less distinctive resonance, did
+not attract the attention of an old woman
+who was on her knees scrubbing the
+broad aisle. The speaker had a melodious
+and ringing voice, and began, I suppose,&mdash;&#8220;Friends
+and fellow-countrymen!&#8221; &#8220;Oh,
+lud-a-mercy!&#8221; cried the ancient female on
+the floor, starting to her feet, with uplifted
+hands. The occupant of the pulpit was
+a very polite person. &#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t be
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span>
+alarmed, madam,&#8221; cried he; &#8220;it&#8217;s only
+Moses.&#8221; &#8220;Moses!&#8221; screamed the woman&mdash;&#8220;Moses
+is come! Moses is come!&#8221; and
+not much to the credit of a piety which
+ought to have felt so highly favored by a
+vision of the great prophet, rushed from
+the church into the street in an agony
+of terror, spreading consternation in the
+neighborhood by her outcries, until the
+mystery was speedily cleared up.
+</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 10%; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both; margin: 2em auto 1em 0' />
+
+<div class='footnote'>
+	<a name='Footnote_6' id='Footnote_6'></a>
+	<a href='#FNanchor_6'><span class='label'>[6]</span></a>
+	<p>Of all these productions I have seldom seen one
+	equal to the printed sermon preached by Rev. Mr. Murray,
+	of our Old South Church, upon the Proclamation
+	of Peace;<a name="FNanchor_A" id="FNanchor_A"></a><a href="#Footnote_A" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> for
+	its array of various interesting information
+	upon the condition and prospects of the country,
+	and for soundly patriotic views, enforced with fervid
+	and striking eloquence. In one respect, it could
+	scarcely be surpassed. We have heard of the protracted
+	discourses of the old Puritan divines, in both countries
+	with which most of us claim origin, and like them Mr.
+	Murray&#8217;s sermon must have consumed at least two hours
+	and a half in the delivery. He was educated at Edinburgh
+	and was no doubt a native of Scotland.</p>
+
+	<div style='margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;'>
+		<a name='Footnote_A' id='Footnote_A'></a>
+		<a href='#FNanchor_A'><span class='label'>[A]</span></a>
+	    <p>1783</p>
+	</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_V' id='CHAPTER_V'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I know there are those who will kindly
+regard these reminiscences of things, trifling,
+it may be, in themselves, but affording
+a glimpse of manners perhaps already
+forgotten by most or all of those who were
+formerly more or less conversant with
+them, and which may prove of some interest
+in the future. We had spent our
+Thanksgiving at home, in the year 18&mdash;,
+but went all together to the farm of our
+uncle Richard, who was of the Episcopal
+Church, for the celebration of Christmas;
+for many of his persuasion, at that time,
+regarded &#8220;Thanksgiving&#8221; pretty much as
+the Highlander, in Scott&#8217;s novel, did &#8220;ta
+little government Sunday, tat tey call ta
+Fast.&#8221; He was a well-to-do farmer, at a
+place within easy reach of the town in
+which we lived, and where very few were at
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span>
+all rich, even according to the former moderate
+standard of wealth, and most people
+were poor, or at least depended on their
+daily labor for their daily bread. Those
+were very hard times following upon the
+war; and that had followed fast upon the
+Great Fire, which reduced to ruin almost
+the entire central business part of the town.
+Our family had suffered private losses, too,
+by a swindling failure on an extensive
+scale,&mdash;a rare incident in those days;<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>
+and again by the embargo and the war,
+most of my mother&#8217;s limited means having
+been invested in one vessel after another,
+employed in the coasting trade, and this
+source of income at length stopped altogether.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span>
+Still, people bore up bravely
+against these misfortunes, and showed quite
+as much spirit and hardihood as in these
+latter times, and got along decently, after
+a fashion. To be sure, the proclamation
+of Peace, a few years before, had revived
+all hearts; though I heard of a washerwoman
+engaged in her avocation, while
+the bells were ringing, who, on learning
+the cause of jubilation, peevishly exclaimed,&mdash;&#8220;Peace!
+peace! what&#8217;s peace, when
+there&#8217;s no water?&#8221;<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> Our Thanksgiving
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span>
+had been a cheerful one, though colored, as
+such anniversaries are likely to be, with
+recollections of the absent, or the dead;
+for the memory of my father was always
+present to my mother, then and during a
+long widowhood of almost half a century,
+and my older brothers were at sea. My
+mother was an excellent housekeeper, and
+we had plenty of the usual belongings of
+the festival, so eagerly looked forward to
+by the young, and something to bestow
+upon others not so well supplied. It was
+the practice of some of this class to knock
+at the doors of those thought to be better
+off, on the evening before, begging &#8220;something
+for Thanksgiving;&#8221; and, by way of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span>
+a joke, the children of comfortable neighbors
+and friends would often array themselves
+in cast-off bizarre habiliments, and
+come in bands of three or four to the
+houses of those whom they knew, preferring
+the same request. Ordinarily, the
+disguise was readily detected. Sometimes
+the little mimics would come in,
+and keep up the show and the fun for
+a while; but for the most part their courage
+failed them at the threshold, and they
+<ins class="trnote" title="skurried">scurried</ins> away, shouting for glee, almost
+before they got any answer to their mock
+petitions. It was a queer fancy, thus to
+simulate poverty; but kings have sometimes
+done so. Did not James of Scotland
+find amusement in roaming through a
+portion of his domain, as a &#8220;gaberlunzie-man?&#8221;
+Yes&mdash;and even composed a famous
+ballad to celebrate his exploits in
+this humble way. In the evening, we had
+a lively company, regaled with nuts, apples,
+and cider; and my grandmother, who indulged
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
+in the old-fashioned practice, that
+is for females, of smoking a pipe, sat in the
+chimney-corner, where a genial wood-fire
+was brightly blazing, for coal was then a
+thing unknown in family consumption,
+duly furnished with the implement, and
+sometimes called out to us,&mdash;&#8220;A-done,
+children, a-done,&#8221; when in anywise annoyed
+by us, and occasionally would sing
+us an old song, of which I remember
+only &#8220;Robert Kid&#8221; and &#8220;A galliant ship,
+launched off the stocks, from Old England
+she came,&#8221; etc.; and, often when a storm
+was raging without, repeating to us the
+rhymes,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'><tr><td>
+<p>&#8220;How little do&#8221; (pronounced doe) &#8220;we think, or know,<br />
+&nbsp;What <i>the</i> poor sailors undergo.&#8221;
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+But we had a livelier time at Uncle
+Richard&#8217;s; for there were more of us and
+merrier. Of course, those of the household
+who could be spared from domestic duties
+had attended service in the morning, and
+some of us from the town had also appeared
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span>
+at church; for though our branch
+of the family were now Presbyterians, we
+remembered that our common ancestor
+and the company who came over with him,
+a couple of centuries and more before that
+time, were of the Church of England, only
+protesting against the abuses which had
+crept into it; and Uncle Richard carefully
+preserved, with the genealogy of the family
+on this side the water, the Orders in
+Council, prescribing for the passengers, by
+the &#8220;Mary and John,&#8221; of which my ancestor
+was one, then lying in the Thames, in
+the year 1633, amongst other regulations,
+the daily service to be observed on board,
+according to the ordinances of the Prayer
+Book.
+</p>
+<p>
+No doubt the dinner was all which the
+domestic celebration of the festival imports,
+for the farm was well stocked with
+every description of creature, and with
+most other things needful for the purpose;
+but I may be excused if I remember none
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span>
+of the particulars, now that so many years
+have intervened. I know that Uncle Richard
+always prided himself upon his excellent
+cider, and there is little question that
+there was a due allowance of spirits, which
+most persons of fair means kept, in those
+days, in decanters openly ranged upon the
+parlor sideboard. Indeed, about the same
+period, while I was a student at a famous
+Academy not many miles distant from our
+own home, the English teacher, an orthodox
+clergyman of high repute, who cultivated
+a few acres of land at the place
+where he lived on the outskirts of the town,
+invited a few of the pupils, myself in the
+number, to assist him in making hay, one
+play-afternoon. The boys had a good
+frolic, and, after work was ended, our master
+treated us to milk-punch, a highly
+agreeable, but rather exhilarating beverage.
+Our uncle&#8217;s house was of the old-fashioned
+New England description, pleasantly
+facing the south, with a high-peaked
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+roof, which descended, in the opposite
+quarter, to not much more than a man&#8217;s
+stature from the ground. In front was a
+spacious green yard, leading on one side
+to the garden for vegetables and trees of
+the choicer kinds of fruit, and sprinkled
+here and there with bunches of gay flowers;
+and at the entrance gate by the road
+two magnificent elms, of an age and height
+which denoted that they must have given
+shade to several past generations from the
+summer heat, flung out drooping branches
+which extended a very great distance from
+the parent trunks. After dinner, our host
+entertained us with a narrative of his recent
+visit to the capital town of Boston,
+to testify, in company with a former neighbor,
+now resident there, in behalf of his
+hired man, Jasper Towne, of English birth,
+who having, duly and at a long term beforehand,
+declared his intention, in proper
+form, was at length, after a continuous
+residence of fourteen years in the United
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span>
+States, admitted by the Federal Court to
+all the rights and privileges which free citizenship
+could confer upon him. The scene
+in court my uncle thought peculiarly solemn
+and impressive. The candidate for
+the franchise was strictly questioned by
+the presiding justice, in open court, with
+regard to his origin and his past life. The
+witnesses were subjected to a similar scrutiny
+as to his character and habits, and
+their judgment of his fitness for the responsible
+position and the new duties he
+was about to assume. When this part of
+the transaction was completed, the oaths
+of renunciation of allegiance to every foreign
+power, prince, or potentate whatsoever,
+and the oath to support the Constitution
+of the United States were administered
+to him by the clerk in a manner to
+fix it in his mind that it was a very serious
+business, indeed, in which he had just been
+engaged. Thereupon, the judge addressed
+him in language of congratulation and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span>
+counsel, and our newly-made fellow-countryman
+respectfully departed from the tribunal,
+conscious that he had attained no
+mean privilege and had secured a safeguard,
+like that, by the declaration of which
+the Apostle of the Gentiles stayed the uplifted
+hands of his persecutors, and caused
+them to tremble at the thought of misuse
+or degradation inflicted upon a Roman citizen.
+Now, I believe, whatever is left of the
+ceremony upon such occasions is slurred
+over in a clerk&#8217;s office, or the part performed
+in court scarcely attracts the attention
+of the magistrate upon the bench.
+The moral of this change of practice may
+be left to the reflection of the judicious
+reader. But it was something then to be,
+or to be made an American citizen.
+</p>
+<p>
+Not long before this, there had been an
+earthquake, which, though of brief duration,
+had caused no little alarm,&mdash;a terrific
+sound always, however slight the shock,&mdash;and
+in this instance making houses tremble
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span>
+and shaking down various articles from
+their places of deposit. In the early days
+of the colony, these phenomena were not
+uncommon, and are said to have been of no
+little power in this part of New England.
+Uncle Richard described the recent one
+as rumbling under the frozen ground leading
+to his barns, as if a line of heavily-loaded
+wagons had rolled over it. Being
+something of a philosopher, and better educated
+than usual at the time, he explained
+the cause of such physical occurrences to
+us young ones.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;The fact is,&#8221; he said, &#8220;the water in
+certain parts of the earth becomes intensely
+heated and lets off a quantity of
+steam of amazing expansive power. It is
+like a tea-kettle, which if you shut the nozzle
+tight, may either throw off the lid with
+great force, or the kettle itself bursts with
+the strain upon it. So the steam, under
+the earth, heated by central fires, and gaining
+immense volume and power, seeks the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span>
+hollows in its neighborhood, and rushes
+into them with a force which produces the
+concussion and the rumbling sound; and
+the shaking of the surface which we perceive
+is really like the commotion in the
+tea-kettle and the trembling of the vessel
+when the steam has no vent. It is an
+awful thought that we thus live over the
+action of these subterranean fires; but they
+are in the control of the Almighty, and all
+we have to do is to submit to God&#8217;s will
+and merciful providence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+St. Paul&#8217;s Church, of which Uncle Richard
+was a vestryman, owed its origin to
+the separation of certain persons from the
+Congregational mode of worship, and the
+formation of a society for the resumption
+of the Protestant Episcopal pattern, as long
+ago as the year 1712. Their place of worship
+they named Queen Anne&#8217;s Chapel,<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span>
+in honor of the sovereign &#8220;at home,&#8221; the
+last of the direct Stuart line, whose royal
+person, it is said, having grown too unwieldy
+to permit horseback exercise, she
+was in the habit of following the hunt,
+of which she was passionately fond, driving
+herself, helter-skelter, in a one-horse
+chaise. She has the credit of having bestowed
+some endowment upon the Chapel,
+and the Bishop of London presented it
+with a bell; which, if all accounts be true,
+still hangs in the steeple of a congregational
+meeting-house within the precinct
+of the &#8220;Plains,&#8221; where the Chapel once
+stood. For that edifice, probably not having
+been very substantially built, and being
+situated on a barren tract of land, afterwards
+known as &#8220;Grasshopper Plains,&#8221;
+and, for the convenience of the scattered
+parishioners, placed at a distance from every
+one of them, and hence subject to various
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span>
+causes of dilapidation, especially when St.
+Paul&#8217;s, within the town, was in process of
+construction, at length fell to ruin; and the
+bell was carried privately away&mdash;so runs
+the tale&mdash;and was long buried in the
+ground, but has now for many years summoned
+the people to a style of worship
+which would have appealed in vain to the
+good Bishop of London for any such donation.
+It may be supposed that it could
+not be identified, after its interment, and
+perhaps the obliteration, naturally or otherwise,
+of its peculiar marks; or the successors
+of Queen Anne&#8217;s at St. Paul&#8217;s, built
+about thirty years after the former, would
+have reclaimed their property.
+</p>
+<p>
+The motives of those who thus revived
+the relation of their ancestors with the
+Established Church were not altogether
+pious; but the fact <ins class="trnote" title="incontestibly">incontestably</ins> proves,
+that after nearly a century of separation
+from that establishment, the objections to
+it, in the minds of many of the children
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span>
+of the colonists, were by no means insurmountable.
+Indeed, it was about a question
+of parish taxation that they differed
+with their co-religionists. The place selected
+for the meeting-house was so far
+distant from the homes of many of the
+parish, that they could not attend without
+great inconvenience, and yet they were
+required to pay the parish rates for the
+support of the minister. They remonstrated
+and appealed in vain to the civil
+authorities in the colony and to those in
+England, for relief; for the law was clearly
+against them, unless they chose to conform
+to the doctrines and discipline of the Established
+Church. Finding nothing in the
+Thirty-nine Articles inconsistent with the
+faith they professed, they easily reconciled
+themselves to the ceremonies, and thus
+succeeded in their object of removing from
+their shoulders an involuntary burden.
+</p>
+<p>
+As may be imagined, at first and for
+years afterwards, they remained but &#8220;a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span>
+feeble folk,&#8221; regarded with suspicion and
+dislike by the more narrow-minded of their
+contemporaries, though the days were long
+gone by, when an Episcopalian, especially
+if suspected of a leaning towards Popery,
+was set in the pillory or the stocks. The
+Church, however, had been long flourishing,
+in my youth, and I was always particularly
+impressed when I attended service
+there, as I always did on Christmas Day,
+with the organ, an instrument utterly unknown
+in our other places of public worship,
+and with the comfort diffused by the
+large Russian stove which projected from a
+corner of the building; while we, for long
+years afterwards, shivered in our meeting-houses
+of a cold Sunday. To be sure, the
+younger children carried their mothers&#8217;
+hand-stoves, constructed of tin in a frame
+of wood and pierced with holes in the top,
+to let out such heat as could be communicated
+by a small pan of coals covered with
+ashes. But for the male part of the congregation,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span>
+who despised such a luxury, it
+was almost impossible to avoid occasionally
+striking the benumbed feet together, and
+sometimes the clatter was almost as considerable,
+as in letting down the seats after
+the long prayer, especially if that proved
+to be a very protracted exercise. But I
+have known young ladies so indifferent to
+the severity of the weather, as to attend
+meeting, on very cold days of winter, with
+bare arms. What would delicate ladies,
+who, wrapped in warm furs, listen to service
+in a heated church, think of such exposure
+now? On one particular occasion,
+however, our minister announced the text,&mdash;&#8220;Who
+can stand before His cold?&#8221; and
+closed the services with the usual blessing,
+a little to the dissatisfaction, I think, of the
+more staid members of the congregation,
+who having come through cold and snow,
+or a furious wintry storm, it might be, to
+hear a sermon, were not altogether contented
+to miss the expected edification, or
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span>
+perhaps the opportunity of criticising the
+discourse. Indeed, I know not what my
+respected great grandsire, an elder of the
+church in his day, would have said to such
+defection from spiritual needs towards indulgence
+in carnal comfort. For it is said,
+that when some less searching and thorough-going
+preacher of the word exchanged
+with our minister, or casually officiated for
+him, the old gentleman tottered out of the
+meeting-house, leaning on his staff, and
+with elevated eyebrows muttered pretty
+audibly to those near him,&mdash;&#8220;Peas in a
+bladder&mdash;thorns under a pot&mdash;no food
+to-day!&#8221; And however it might be with
+many of his neighbors, not the minutest
+particle of the quality of original Puritanism
+had been shaken out of his system by the
+changes of the times. The family tradition
+is, that before the sunset of Saturday everything
+necessary for the support of nature
+upon the Sabbath was cooked and in readiness.
+Whether he allowed the accustomed
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span>
+beans and rye and Indian bread to remain
+in the oven subject to the working heat,
+over Saturday night, I am not able to certify.
+But in the intervals of public worship
+on Sunday,&mdash;a term, by the way, which he
+would have scorned to employ,&mdash;the family
+was assembled and ranged around the
+walls of the room, and the reading of Scripture,
+or of some well-worn book of devotion,
+was proceeded with, while the head of
+the family sat in the centre, with a stick in
+his hand long enough to reach the head
+and shoulders of any inattentive or unquiet
+child.
+</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 10%; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both; margin: 2em auto 1em 0' />
+
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_7' id='Footnote_7'></a><a href='#FNanchor_7'><span class='label'>[7]</span></a>
+<p>
+When a trader failed, as was rarely the case at that
+primitive period, his sign was taken down at night, to
+the wonder of the public in the morning, and he remained
+fast locked from the sheriff, or too inquisitive
+callers, in his house, until the disposition of his creditors
+became known,&mdash;dependent upon their confidence in his
+good intentions, or their sympathy with his unexpected
+misfortunes.
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_8' id='Footnote_8'></a><a href='#FNanchor_8'><span class='label'>[8]</span></a>
+<p>
+An anecdote quite parallel to this is to be found in
+the now late lamented Dean Ramsay&#8217;s &#8220;Reminiscences.&#8221;
+He relates, as a specimen of the cool Scottish matter-of-fact
+view of things, the following communication of a correspondent:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;The back windows of the house where he was brought
+up looked upon the Greyfriars&#8217; Church that was burned
+down. On the Sunday morning in which that event took
+place, as they were all preparing to go to church, the
+flames began to burst forth; the young people screamed
+from the back part of the house, &#8216;A fire! a fire!&#8217; and all
+was in a state of confusion and alarm. The housemaid
+was not at home, it being her turn for the Sunday &#8216;out.&#8217;
+Kitty, the cook, was taking her place, and performing
+her duties. The old woman was always very particular
+on the subject of her responsibility on such occasions,
+and came panting and hobbling upstairs from the lower
+regions, and exclaimed, &#8216;Oh what is&#8217;t, what is&#8217;t?&#8217; &#8216;O,
+Kitty, look here, the Greyfriars&#8217; Church is on fire!&#8217; &#8216;Is
+that a&#8217;, Miss? What a fright ye geed me! I thought ye
+said the parlor fire was out.&#8217;&#8221;
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_9' id='Footnote_9'></a><a href='#FNanchor_9'><span class='label'>[9]</span></a>
+<p>
+It was, I believe, the oldest Episcopal Church in
+Massachusetts, with the exception of King&#8217;s Chapel,
+in Boston, a small wooden structure, which stood upon
+the place where the stone edifice of that name is now
+situated.
+</p>
+</div>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VI' id='CHAPTER_VI'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+An aged friend, years ago deceased, who
+had seen much of the world, once observed
+to me, that he had never seen a more
+&#8220;scrupulous people,&#8221; to use his expression,
+than our Presbyterian congregation. The
+clergy of the town were always distinguished,
+at a period when to be a clergyman
+was to be much more an object of
+reverence than in these latter days, and
+when a boy in the street would scarcely
+venture to pass one, on the opposite sidewalk,
+without pulling off his cap. But
+they set their people an excellent example,
+though they did not always escape the
+censure of the over &#8220;scrupulous.&#8221; For
+instance, Mr. Murray, the accomplished
+scholar and divine to whom reference has
+already been made, was known to take no
+dinner in the interval of public worship,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span>
+substituting for that repast a slice or two
+of bread and a few glasses of wine. Why
+such a fact, when everybody drank more or
+less wine, or something stronger, every day
+of the week, should have alarmed the conscience
+of Miss Betty Timmins, a maiden
+lady of a certain age, it seems difficult to
+conjecture. Nevertheless, she made a solemn
+call, one day, upon her pastor, and
+with such apology as she could muster for
+impertinence&mdash;at length out with it: &#8220;I
+must tell you, reverend sir, they do say you
+drink.&#8221; &#8220;Drink! Miss Timmins,&#8221; said Mr.
+Murray; &#8220;to be sure I do, don&#8217;t you? How
+can anybody live without drinking?&#8221; and
+the discomfited spinster retreated. Mr.
+Murray had a fund of humor. The parsonage
+was close by the house of his parishioner,
+the sheriff, and the adjoining jail and
+whipping-post in the charge of that officer,
+and in the last illness of the minister the
+official was in the habit of taking him to a
+drive. Once, as he was getting into the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span>
+chaise, a friend passed by and he called
+out, &#8220;If you see any one inquiring for me,
+tell him the last you saw of me I was in
+the hands of the sheriff.&#8221; But after his
+time, and at the period of which I am writing,
+we had no less than three English
+ministers settled in the town, all educated
+upon the foundation of the celebrated
+Countess of Huntington. I recall, with
+vivid recollection, the figure of one of these
+worthies who called himself an &#8220;Independent,&#8221;
+as he proceeded to meeting on a
+Sunday: his high cocked hat, his flowing,
+black curled locks,&mdash;more in the cavalier
+than the Puritan fashion; his long blue
+cloak over his clerical gown, his bands, his
+knee-breeches,&mdash;objected to by a fastidious
+young lady, as &#8220;short pantaloons,&#8221;&mdash;his
+square shoe-buckles, and his ponderous
+cane. His person was somewhat short
+and thick, whence &#8220;lewd fellows of the
+baser sort&#8221; sometimes irreverently called
+him the &#8220;The Jack of Clubs.&#8221; But he was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span>
+a really good man, with the most powerful
+voice I remember to have heard, and
+he preached, always an unwritten sermon,
+but with heads set down, anything but
+smooth things to his numerous congregation.
+Towards the close of his life he used
+to remark, that when he first came to this
+country, the topic of sermons was &#8220;Jesus
+Christ and Him crucified; now it was
+nothing but niggers and rum.&#8221; He was
+good at retort. Early one Monday morning
+he was going home from the market,
+with some mackerel which he had just purchased
+strung upon his cane. &#8220;Mr. Milton,&#8221;
+said some passer-by, &#8220;them mackerel
+was caught Sunday.&#8221; &#8220;Well,&#8221; was the reply,
+&#8220;that ain&#8217;t the fishes&#8217; fault.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+One burden of this worthy minister&#8217;s
+Sunday prayer, during the sessions of Congress
+and of the State legislature, was,
+&#8220;Counsel our councillors, and teach our
+senators wisdom.&#8221; By many of the stronger
+faith of an elder day, his fervent supplications
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
+were believed to exercise a specific
+influence upon the atmosphere, particularly
+in bringing needed rain at a dry time. I
+have often heard it said, after the drought
+had continued a good while,&mdash;&#8220;Well, Milton
+has prayed for rain and now we shall
+have it.&#8221; This reminds me of an anecdote
+appropriate to the topic, in that very entertaining
+book, Dean Ramsay&#8217;s &#8220;Reminiscences
+of Scottish Life and Character.&#8221;
+At one time when the crops were much
+laid by continuous rains, and wind was
+earnestly desired in order to restore them
+to a condition fit for the sickle,&mdash;&#8220;A minister,&#8221;
+he says, &#8220;in his Sabbath services
+expressed their wants in prayer, as follows:
+&#8216;O Lord, we pray thee to send us wind, no
+a rantin&#8217; tantin,&#8217; tearin&#8217; wind, but a noohin&#8217;,
+(noughin?) soughin&#8217;, winnin&#8217; wind.&#8217;&#8221; In
+like manner, I have heard of a prayer
+preferred by a somewhat simple New Englander,
+who was overheard offering his petition
+behind a clump of bushes in a field:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
+&#8220;O Lord, I want a new coat&mdash;good cloth&mdash;none
+of your coarse, flimsy, slimsy,
+sleazy kind of stuff, but a good piece of
+thick, warm, comfortable broadcloth&mdash;such
+as Bill Hale wears.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+It must be admitted that the reverend
+person was rather rough in manner; but
+he had a truly kind heart. Like John
+Wesley, he was unfortunate in his domestic
+relations; a circumstance which doubtless
+tended somewhat to lessen the amiability
+of an originally good disposition. But, notwithstanding
+his various trials and we fear
+conflicts at home, no one questioned his
+piety. Indeed, one well acquainted with his
+character and experiences, when his death
+was announced, at once exclaimed,&mdash;&#8220;What
+a change! From pitching skillets, to handling
+harps!&#8221; There could be no greater
+contrast than in the person and character
+of our long and well-beloved Presbyterian
+minister, graceful in person, courteous and
+affable in demeanor, accomplished in ancient
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span>
+learning and in that portion of English
+literature which is styled classical; a
+devoted and affectionate pastor, a most able
+and persuasive preacher; of whom President
+Dwight, of Yale, is reported to have
+said, that there had been scarcely such
+a writer of pure English since Addison.
+With the exception of some failure of physical
+powers, towards the close of his life, he
+retained these admirable characteristics and
+accomplishments to the end of his more
+than ninety years. He always preached in
+gown and bands, with black gloves upon
+his hands, his nether limbs encased in
+small-clothes and silk stockings, until in
+later life he adopted the prevailing mode.
+We always knew when he intended to
+preach, because through several intervening
+yards and gardens we could see from
+our house the light in his study, at a distance,
+of a Saturday night. His morning
+discourses were usually admirable expositions
+of Scripture delivered without notes;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
+his afternoon sermons were written exercises,
+and we so depended upon both, that
+it was a disappointment when we discovered
+that he was to exchange, by the absence
+of the usual light. He would descend
+from the contemplation of the highest
+themes, which address themselves to human
+reason and imagination, and from the relaxation
+of reading &#8220;Tully,&#8221; or Horace, or
+Pope, who was a special favorite with him,
+to the preparation of his fire-wood for domestic
+use, and doubtless this accustomed
+saw-horse practice tended very much to the
+promotion and continuance both of his bodily
+and mental health. In my childhood, he
+taught me and other, I fear, reluctant pupils
+all we were capable of learning of the Westminster
+Assembly&#8217;s Shorter Catechism,
+contained, at that time, in a small but miscellaneous
+volume called the Primer. He
+was a great lover of the writings of Cowper,
+which name, in the English manner,
+he always pronounced Cooper, and of the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span>
+Psalms and Hymns and the lyrical productions,
+in general, of Dr. Watts; and long
+after I had grown up, he pointed out to me
+a verse in one of those Hymns, remarking
+upon a point which I do not remember to
+have seen noticed elsewhere, that it presented
+the finest specimen of alliteration
+in the language, as follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>&#8220;How vain are all things here below,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;How false and yet how fair!<br />
+&nbsp;Each pleasure hath its poison too,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And every sweet a snare.&#8221;
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+The eventual condition and standing of
+our Episcopal Church may be inferred from
+the fact, that its Rector, in early times, was
+chosen Bishop of the diocese, a dignity
+which he long piously and humbly enjoyed.
+Along the beautiful street on which St.
+Paul&#8217;s stood, and in its immediate neighborhood,
+were some of the more elegant
+residences of the town, and an air of superior
+gentility seemed to pervade the precinct,
+so that some caviller saw fit to call
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+it St. James&#8217;s, in allusion to the Christian
+name of the excellent Rector who succeeded
+the venerable Bishop. He was, indeed,
+a most devoted churchman, looking
+upon all persons outside of his communion
+as sheep wandering from the fold, and used
+to say, that he considered the whole town
+as really belonging to his parish. He was
+a person very highly esteemed for his piety
+and sincerity, and as evidence of this repute,
+and of liberality on both sides, he
+preached, by invitation, and read the service
+in the Presbyterian meeting-house, on
+one occasion, at least, when our minister
+was absent and his own pulpit was supplied.
+We were then under another pastor;
+but some years before this manifestation
+of truly Christian toleration a
+controversy arose between the Rector and
+our Presbyterian clergyman, in regard to
+the obligatory observance of Christmas.
+It was conducted in the newspaper of the
+town, then published only on two days of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
+the week, and to the multitude of readers
+appeared more spirited than edifying, as
+is the case with most polemical disputes.
+The worthy Episcopal Doctor had asserted
+on Christmas Day, that the observance of
+that festival was of universal Christian obligation.
+The Presbyterian Doctor took up
+the cudgels to demonstrate, that, although
+it was proper and reasonable enough to
+keep the day, as a matter of religious edification,
+like a lecture-day, for example, by
+those who saw fit to do so, yet there was
+no authority, in this respect, binding upon
+the consciences of those who chose to
+disregard it. Both of the disputants were
+acknowledged gentlemen and scholars; but
+after much argument and learning wasted
+upon the subject, it is to be feared that the
+controversy, through the medium of a public
+journal, between two such highly respected
+controversialists, on a topic of
+religious practice, only gave too much occasion
+to the scoffer. Indeed, Johnnie Favor,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span>
+the Episcopal sexton&#8217;s helper, one of
+those persons, reputed half-witted, who
+sometimes make very apposite remarks,
+observed,&mdash;&#8220;Well&mdash;Christmas here, or
+Christmas there, I&#8217;m not so narrer-contracted
+as to like to see the surplices of
+two such good men as your Doctor and
+my Doctor draggled in the dirt.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+Certainly, a tone of unusual refinement
+pervaded the better educated class of the
+community in the old town, at the period
+of this relation, and not a little stateliness
+of manner was kept up by some of the
+older families. Indeed, I think they would
+compare very favorably in point of intelligence
+and manners, with persons of a
+similar class, as described by the great
+authorities heretofore referred to, and
+others, who have given us vivid pictures
+of social life in the Scottish capital. To be
+sure, the colonial days of distinct social
+rank had long gone by. But, half a generation
+before, the town had been one of the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span>
+most flourishing and wealthy in New England,
+and to the counting-houses of its principal
+merchants young men resorted, even
+from the capital of the State, to learn the
+art and practice of business. Those who
+filled the several learned professions were
+persons of the highest eminence in their
+several callings,&mdash;drawing pupils around
+them who afterwards, and on wider fields
+of action, attained great names and some
+of whom occupied the loftiest civil positions
+in the land.
+</p>
+<p>
+Among the students, for example, in the
+office of that great lawyer and judge, Chief
+Justice Parsons, while he practised at the
+Bar, and who subsequently attained eminence,
+were John Quincy Adams, afterwards
+President of the United States, and Rufus
+King, afterwards Senator in Congress from
+the State of New York, and twice Minister
+Plenipotentiary to Great Britain; and Robert
+Treat Paine, so celebrated in his day, as
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span>
+an orator and poet.<a name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Of one of these eminent
+persons I heard a story, formerly, from a
+friend of very high character as a man and a
+lawyer, the late Hon. William Baylies, of
+West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. It seems
+that while Mr. King, then a young man, was
+in the practice of his profession in Boston
+he was detained in attendance upon court
+at Plymouth, until late on Saturday evening.
+It was necessary for him to be at
+home seasonably on Monday morning, and
+accordingly he mounted his horse early on
+Sunday, the ordinary mode of travel, in
+those days, and proceeded leisurely on his
+way. It was summer time; and in passing
+through the township of Hanover, in Plymouth
+County, he approached a plain wooden
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span>
+structure by the roadside, in which, as he
+could see by the assemblage within, the
+door and windows being open, that it was
+a time of religious service. Alighting, out
+of deference to the character of the day, he
+hitched his horse and quietly entered the
+building. It proved to be a Quaker meeting,
+and perfect silence prevailed. At
+length tiring of this state of things, Mr.
+King arose and began to address the assembly
+upon topics suitable to the day.
+He was an uncommonly handsome young
+man, and then and ever afterwards distinguished
+for extraordinary powers of eloquence.
+The Quakers listened with mute
+amazement and admiration to the discourse
+of some twenty minutes&#8217; duration, when
+the speaker slipped out, remounted, and
+proceeded on his journey. The incident
+was the occasion of great and mysterious
+interest, for a long time afterwards, in the
+quiet country neighborhood. No imagination
+could conceive who the wonderful
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
+speaker might be, and many insisted it
+must have been, indeed, &#8220;an angel from
+heaven.&#8221; Some years afterwards, at the
+session of a Constitutional Convention in
+Massachusetts, Mr. King rose to make a
+motion. He had no sooner begun, than
+a Quaker member started up from a back
+seat, and, carried away by the first glimpse
+at solution of the long-standing mystery,
+cried out, &#8220;That&#8217;s the man that spoke in
+our meetin&#8217;.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+Provision for the instruction of youth was
+liberal, and not long previously the most
+famous, and I believe the longest established
+academy of the day, flourished in the
+immediate neighborhood, in all its glory.
+Of the school-books then in use, I cannot
+but think that one in particular, Murray&#8217;s
+English Reader, was a better manual than
+any other which has since been produced.
+For it was mainly made up of extracts from
+the writings of the best authors, in the
+best age of English literature, and I can
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span>
+answer that its lessons were calculated to
+make impressions on the youthful mind,
+never to be forgotten. But the prevalent
+idea, of late years, seems to have been to
+nationalize school-books, so as to narrow
+their teachings, and thus to make our future
+fellow-citizens partisans instead of men.
+But literature and learning are confined
+to no age or nation; and meaning in no
+sense to say a word which could abate the
+ardor of manly patriotism in any bosom, it
+is certain that much is to be learned from
+the history of other people beside our own;
+and I suppose there are standards of high
+intellectual attainment in the past,&mdash;in
+poetry and eloquence, and various ranges
+of thought and expression,&mdash;which never
+have been and are not likely to be surpassed.
+The deluge of modern transitory
+literature had not then begun to flow. But,
+to say nothing of the &#8220;Scottish Chiefs,&#8221;
+and &#8220;Thaddeus of Warsaw,&#8221; over the pages
+of which, doubtless, millions of youthful
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span>
+eyes have formerly shed copious tears, we
+had Miss Edgeworth&#8217;s writings, those of
+Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, the novels of Charlotte
+Smith, the Memoirs of Baron Trenck,
+and, perused a little stealthily, Peregrine
+Pickle and Roderick Random; and in
+poetry Henry Kirke White and Montgomery
+were favorites; nor am I ashamed to
+say, that Cottle&#8217;s &#8220;Alfred&#8221; was read aloud
+at our fireside of evenings, with an interest
+due to the story, perhaps, as much as to its
+poetical ability. Original American productions
+were few; the importation of new
+works from abroad was not large, and the
+demand for reprints a good deal limited.
+But we had the well-known books of sterling
+value at command, and our publishers
+occasionally favored us with new editions.
+One of my early studies was Guthrie&#8217;s
+Grammar of Geography, a ponderous volume
+of English manufacture, which belonged
+in our family; and I was fascinated
+with Pope at almost as early an age as
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
+that in which he first &#8220;lisped in numbers.&#8221;
+I see, by the way, that Forster, in his Life
+of Dickens, quotes from a letter of Scott, in
+which he refers to the scarcity of books at
+Edinburgh in his time.
+</p>
+<p>
+In connection with this reference to our
+means of intellectual cultivation, I am reminded
+of an incident illustrative of a faculty
+commonly attributed to Yankees, that
+is New Englanders, though there is reason
+to believe that some other parts of the
+country are quite as liberally gifted with
+the qualities of &#8220;Yorkshire.&#8221; It affords a
+striking instance of shrewdness on the one
+side, and of lamentable deficiency of it on
+the other. This was before the town had
+exchanged its original simpler mode of regulating
+its municipal affairs for the form
+of a city government. On a certain occasion
+the School Committee became dissatisfied
+with the master of one of the higher
+schools, after a brief trial of his qualities,
+and, as delicately as the subject permitted,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span>
+requested him to resign his place. The
+master was not a native of the town, or of
+the &#8220;region round about,&#8221; so that it was a
+mere question of qualifications, real or
+otherwise, between himself and his employers.
+He demurred, unless his salary
+were paid him for the unexpired considerable
+part of the year for which he alleged
+himself to have been engaged; but finally
+consented, if the chairman of the committee
+would only furnish him with a certificate
+of honorable discharge. The chairman,
+at this easy rate of saving the town&#8217;s
+money, wrote it, without suspicion of its
+effect. Thereupon, the master read it, put
+it into his pocket, and by virtue of the
+document, demanded payment of the sum
+in question. It was paid; and the triumphant
+master forthwith proceeded&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>&#8220;To fresh woods and pastures new.&#8221;
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+The state of things, in regard to our
+reading resources, was before the modern
+facilities for gadding about existed; and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span>
+while those who find time lying heavy on
+their hands can now steam it a hundred
+miles to make a morning-call, journeying
+was then both more tedious and more
+expensive, seldom undertaken except as an
+affair of business, or with the deliberate
+purpose of a long-concerted visit; and a
+good part of the day was consumed in
+travelling half that distance by public conveyance.
+The consequence was, that people&#8217;s
+pleasures, with their duties, laid
+mostly at home, or near at hand. Hence
+family and friendly ties were more closely
+drawn. The better feelings of our nature
+were, I think, deeper, than when scattered
+over a wide but thin social surface;
+just as the water in a well is more concentrated,
+than if diffused in the basin of
+a pond. To some extent, therefore, wholesomely
+isolated, besides the ordinary round
+of not very formal visiting parties, there
+were reading circles, for those who were
+prompted by intellectual yearnings, frequented
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+by young ladies and gentlemen,
+married or single, at which passages from
+the better class of books were read aloud
+by such of the male members as felt competent
+to the exercise, by turns. In fact,
+taking into view the intelligence, the inexpensive
+accomplishments, and the unaffected
+manners of the fairly educated among
+us, it has not fallen to the lot of most persons
+to meet with any society more really
+agreeable. St. James&#8217;s, however, and the
+congregation of the successors of those
+who founded the First Church, who had at
+length become what was called &#8220;liberal,&#8221;
+in contrast with the orthodoxy of the rest
+of the town, aspired to a higher degree
+of gentility and accomplishment than the
+commonalty; and, in evidence that we
+were not bigoted, my mother would sometimes
+allow me, when a boy, and desirous
+of some change, to attend service of an
+afternoon, at the latter place of public worship
+with some friends of the family who
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span>
+waited upon its ministrations. Of the diversions
+of the common people I particularly
+remember one under the curious name
+of a &#8220;Joppa Jine&#8221; (join); to which I allude
+from the oddity of its name, derived from
+a part of the town so called by the river-side,
+when several families of neighbors and
+friends contributed their respective quota
+of a common feast, and repaired to the
+island at the mouth of the river to enjoy
+a day of leisure and merriment.
+</p>
+<p>
+<a id='LN_antiquated' name='LN_antiquated'></a>
+In a certain class, the ancient pronunciation
+of many English words was maintained,
+doubtless brought by the ancestors
+of New England families from &#8220;home,&#8221; and
+transmitted to their descendants; such as
+<i>airth</i> for earth, <i>fairm</i> for firm, <i>sartain</i> for
+certain, <i>pint</i> for point, en<i>vy</i> for envy, <i>ax</i>
+with the broad <i>ā</i> for ask, <i>housen</i> for houses,
+<i>his&#8217;n</i> and <i>her&#8217;n</i> for his and hers, <i>rare</i> for
+rear; as, for instance, the horse <i>rares</i> up;
+and sounding the <i>l</i> in would. Common
+enough names, too, were clipped or contracted
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span>
+in English fashion. Thus, the
+names of Norwood and Harwood became
+Norrod in sound and Harrod in spelling;
+and the name of Currier, whether with any
+reference or not to the French <i>Cuir</i>, for
+leather, was not long since uniformly pronounced
+<i>Kiah</i>, with the long <i>&#x012B;</i>; Thurlow
+was strangely transformed into <i>Thurrill</i>;
+and Pierpont, often formerly spelled Pierpoint,
+with entire neglect of its derivation,
+was pronounced <i>Pearpint</i>, by old-fashioned
+people, the first syllable approximating to
+the original formation of <i>pierre</i>.
+</p>
+<p>
+In connection with this modification of
+language, I observe in a daily paper how
+much a worthy old lady puzzled her minister,
+for a moment, by inquiring the meaning
+of &#8220;silver shiners for Diana,&#8221; in the
+Bible; but a good deacon, at an evening
+meeting in the chapel of their house of
+worship, in our town, sadly disturbed the
+gravity of the religious assembly, by reading
+it <i>silver shins for Dinah</i>!
+</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 10%; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both; margin: 2em auto 1em 0' />
+
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_10' id='Footnote_10'></a><a href='#FNanchor_10'><span class='label'>[10]</span></a>
+<p>
+The late Mr. Edward Everett is authority (with me) for
+the story, that on the occasion of the visit of Washington
+to New England, in 1789, Parsons was appointed to deliver
+the address of welcome, on the part of the town,
+and said to his students, &#8220;Well, boys, I am to make this
+address. Now, go to work and write it, and I will deliver
+the best.&#8221; He chose the one prepared by Adams.
+</p>
+</div>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VII' id='CHAPTER_VII'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I trust it will not be thought inappropriate
+to the allusion already made to our
+reading circles, if I here insert a <i>jeu d&#8217;esprit</i>,
+the production of one of the members,
+indicating a certain forwardness in the
+sphere of literary investigation, and affording
+a plausible solution of a literary problem,
+which had been so long shrouded in
+mystery, namely, the true narrative of &#8220;Old
+Grouse in the Gun-room.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+This is the name of the story to which
+Goldsmith alludes in his comedy, &#8220;She
+Stoops to Conquer.&#8221; Mr. Hardcastle, the
+host of the occasion, in preparation for the
+dinner he is about to give his guests,
+charges his rustic servants that if he should
+say a good thing at the table, they are not
+to burst out laughing, as if they were a part
+of the company to be entertained. Diggory,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span>
+thereupon replies to his master,&mdash;&#8220;Then,
+ecod, your worship must not tell
+the story of &#8216;Ould Grouse in the Gun-room.&#8217;
+I can&#8217;t help laughing at that&mdash;he! he! he!&mdash;for
+the soul of me. We have laughed at
+that these twenty years&mdash;ha! ha! ha!&#8221;
+Mr. Hardcastle admits, that this pet narrative
+of his may properly be considered
+an exceptional case. On the other hand,
+it has uniformly foiled the researches of
+critics and commentators to ascertain what
+this story really was which &#8220;Squire Hardcastle,&#8221;
+in the exuberance of his own enjoyment
+of it, gave them the liberty to laugh
+at, if they liked. It has been generally supposed,
+indeed, that the story itself was, in
+fact, non-existent, and that the ingenious
+author of the play merely invented the title
+in order to show off the uncouth peculiarities
+which it was his object to display.
+</p>
+<p>
+Now, it so happens, that the means are
+not wanting for the solution of this mystery,
+and in illustration of the life of a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span>
+writer and a man so interesting as Goldsmith,
+I am glad to be able to clear up
+the critical embarrassment. Years ago, the
+writer of this article fell by chance into
+the company of Miss Goldsmith, grandniece
+of Mrs. Johnson, who was housekeeper
+of old Mr. Featherston, of County
+Kerry, Ireland. She knew the story in
+question very well, and it is gratifying to
+be able to verify the authenticity of the
+allusion of a great poet and writer in general,
+of whom Dr. Johnson has said, in
+those familiar words in his epitaph, that he
+touched nothing which he did not adorn,
+and whose character has been very much
+misunderstood, chiefly by reason of the
+misrepresentations of Boswell. This parasite
+of Johnson, who has given us one of
+the most entertaining books of biography
+ever written, was jealous not only of Goldsmith&#8217;s
+literary reputation, so far as it
+might rival that of his special idol, but also
+of the real hold which Goldsmith, because
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span>
+of his simplicity as well as his genius, had
+upon the affections of the great moralist.
+While he was himself admitted to the high
+literary society which he frequented, on
+terms of sufferance chiefly, Boswell took
+every pains to disparage poor Goldsmith.
+The poet, whose writings possess a charm
+so seldom paralleled, it must be allowed,
+gave no little occasion for depreciation, by
+his want of firmness of character; and Boswell
+maliciously set forth all his singularities
+and weaknesses in the most ludicrous
+point of view. Whoever will take pains,
+however, to read his delightful &#8220;Life&#8221; by
+John Forster, will find the general impressions
+on the subject very materially corrected,
+and will see, that, if the hard-driven
+bard had many faults, he had also many
+virtues, which, as Lord Bacon remarks, is
+&#8220;the posy of the best characters.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+But to the veritable story of &#8220;Old Grouse
+in the Gun-room.&#8221; It seems, according to
+the narrative of Mrs. Johnson, that the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span>
+family of Mr. Featherston were seated at
+the tea-table, at the close of a chilly day,
+a bright fire blazing on the hearth, and the
+servants, as usual, being in attendance.
+On a sudden, a tremendous crash was
+heard in a distant part of the ancient mansion,
+followed by a succession of wails of
+the most lugubrious and unearthly character,
+which reverberated through the echoing
+passage-ways of the house. Whatever
+the cause of the sounds might be, there
+was no doubt they were of the most horrifying
+description. The family, consisting
+of the &#8217;Squire, a maiden sister, and one or
+two younger persons, jumped from their
+seats in the utmost consternation, while
+Patrick and the rest of the domestics
+rushed from the room in a state of terror
+more easily to be conceived than described,
+and huddled together in the kitchen, as
+far as possible from the occasion of their
+fright.
+</p>
+<p>
+Imagine a lonely country-house, a quiet
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span>
+and well-ordered family seated at their
+evening meal, after dark, of a somewhat
+gloomy day, the apartment imperfectly
+lighted by the glowing fire, and according
+to such conveniences for the purpose as
+old times ordinarily afforded; the conversation,
+perhaps, turning on such unexciting
+topics as the weather, past, present, and
+to come, or the thoughts reverting, it may
+be, to such mundane topics as the expected
+game of whist or backgammon,&mdash;and the
+scene suddenly broken in upon by the
+most startling and terrific sounds, which
+seemed to result from no intelligible cause,
+and for which it seemed impossible to account
+by reference to any merely human
+agency. The young folks, after their first
+scream of terror, sat dumb, pale, and utterly
+helpless.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;It&#8217;s the Banshee!&#8221; screamed Aunt
+Nelly, sinking back, in a faint, into her
+chair.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;It&#8217;s the devil, I believe,&#8221; cried the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span>
+&#8217;Squire, who, notwithstanding age and infirmity,
+retained a good deal of that original
+pluck, which had formerly distinguished
+him as an officer in his Majesty&#8217;s military
+service. &#8220;Yes, it is the devil, I verily believe;
+and there is no way but to send for
+the priest, to get him out of a house that
+never was troubled in this way before.
+Where are those sneaking curs?&#8221; as Patrick
+and the rest in a body peeped into the
+room through the door they had forgotten
+to shut in their flight, and too much frightened
+to stay quietly anywhere. &#8220;Patrick,&#8221;
+called out the &#8217;Squire, &#8220;go at once for
+Father O&#8217;Flaherty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+At this moment, another preternatural
+yell, long-toned and of the most mournful
+cadence, burst upon their ears, and the dismayed
+servants fairly tumbled over each
+other and sprawled and scrambled through
+the passage, in their haste to get away.
+The &#8217;Squire followed and ordered Patrick
+forthwith to mount Sorrel and hasten for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span>
+the priest, at the village, a mile or more
+away.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;O Lord! your worship,&#8221; cried that
+valiant man-of-all-work,&mdash;though aided in
+the day-time by two or three assistants
+from the village,&mdash;&#8220;O Lord! your worship!
+only ask me anything but that&#8221;&mdash;as,
+of course, on such occasions people are
+ready to do all but the very thing which
+the exigency demands,&mdash;&#8220;O Lord! your
+worship&#8217;s honor! I couldn&#8217;t for the world
+go round <i>that</i> corner of the house, to get
+to the stable; but if Nancy here&mdash;now
+Nancy, darlint, I know you will, honey&mdash;if
+she&#8217;ll only go with me, I&#8217;ll run for his
+reverence as fast as my poor legs, that&#8217;s
+all of a tremble, will carry me&#8221;&mdash;shrewdly
+reflecting, as did Nancy also, that the
+farther they left the house behind, they
+left the danger, too. This affair being
+hastily arranged, as the two ready messengers
+proceeded towards the door, a
+quick step was heard upon the gravel, followed
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span>
+by an emphatic knock, and the embodied
+household fell back with renewed
+trepidation; when fortunately who should
+it be but Father O&#8217;Flaherty himself, who
+found the &#8217;Squire, his family, and servants
+all huddled together in the hall.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Good-evening to you, &#8217;Squire,&#8221; said he;
+&#8220;and faix, what is the matter that you all
+look so pale? The holy saints forbid that
+any ill luck has come to this house!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+Again, rang echoing through the open
+doors and empty rooms the same portentous
+sound, rendered none the less terrific
+that its tones were partly subdued by distance.
+&#8220;Holy Father!&#8221; exclaimed the
+priest, crossing himself&mdash;&#8220;what is that?
+Has Satan dared to cross this blessed
+threshold?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+Upon this, half a dozen tongues began
+to relate the circumstances of terrors only
+too manifest; but Mr. Featherston silenced
+them, and proposed to Father O&#8217;Flaherty
+to accompany him to the investigation of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
+the mystery. Accordingly they solemnly
+proceeded towards the scene of alarm, the
+&#8217;Squire having provided himself with a long-disused
+sword which hung over his mantel-piece,
+and the priest, more spiritually,
+brandishing his cross, and muttering &#8220;<i>Vade
+retro, Satanas!</i>&#8221; and such other exorcisms
+as occurred to him on the way. The whole
+body of the inmates of the mansion followed,
+closely though tremulously, upon the footsteps
+of the advanced guard, and, indeed,
+afraid to be left behind. As they reached
+the neighborhood of the door, whence the
+sounds appeared to come, there was a truly
+awful noise of scampering round the room
+and pattering, as it were, within.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;The saints defend us!&#8221; cried the priest,
+falling back, as this new demonstration
+was responded to by the screams of the
+females, who sank to the floor, in the extremity
+of their terror, when another horrible
+yell sounded close at hand.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;It&#8217;s he, I verily believe,&#8221; said the priest;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span>
+&#8220;the holy saints be about us! It&#8217;s he, I
+wager. Lord, forgive us! for I heard the
+sound of his hoofs. But where&#8217;s the dog?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;The dog!&#8221; cried the &#8217;Squire. &#8220;Why
+didn&#8217;t I think of that before! Open the
+door, I say, Pat, you cowardly vagabond!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+At this instant, there was a tremendous
+bounce against the door, which forced the
+latch, and out tumbled Old Grouse, capering
+among the party, who still screamed
+and scattered out of his way, not yet convinced
+that the Evil One was not loosed
+and bodily among them.
+</p>
+<p>
+The relieved household at length returned
+to their interrupted avocations, and
+Pat declared to the folks in the kitchen,
+that all the while he knew it was the dog,
+only he kept up the fright for the sake of
+the joke. It seemed that the &#8217;Squire had
+been out with his gun that day, and had
+shut the big dog which accompanied him
+into the gun-room, upon his return. The
+dog, no doubt fatigued with his excursion,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span>
+had stretched himself out in a corner of
+the room, where various articles tending to
+his comfort lay disposed. He had remained,
+until tired of his confinement he had risen,
+and fumbling about had thrown down an
+ancient heavy shield, which produced the
+first cause of alarm, no less to himself than
+to the household. The moon shining
+through the window had attracted his attention,
+and he began to bay, as dogs
+sometimes will. The sudden fright, and
+the distance of the gun-room from the
+family apartment, served to modify the intonation,
+and in his confusion of mind Mr.
+Featherston failed to recognize his voice.
+&#8220;Indeed,&#8221; said he, &#8220;I never knew the
+whelp to bay before.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+As time wore on, and the story had
+often been told by him, it lost none of its
+original features, except, perhaps, the remembrance
+of his own agitation. But the
+fright of the family and his domestics, the
+assent of the priest to their superstitious
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span>
+fears, and the mortal terror which overwhelmed
+them, when out bounded the
+shaggy black monster of a dog and in an
+instant was pawing them all round, in his
+ecstasy of escape, and whatever else was
+ludicrous in the adventure, was oftentimes
+related by the &#8217;Squire, with all the aid it
+could derive from a somewhat lively imagination
+and considerable power of native
+eloquence.
+</p>
+<p>
+And now, if I have only invented this
+story of &#8220;Old Grouse in the Gun-room,&#8221;
+for the entertainment of my readers, I
+have at least attached a tale, which may
+be thought to have some plausibility, to a
+famous title, which has run through the
+world, for so many years, without any tale
+at all.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VIII' id='CHAPTER_VIII'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+In a note at the end of Chapter V. of
+&#8220;Waverley,&#8221; Sir Walter Scott remarks:&mdash;&#8220;These
+introductory chapters have been
+a good deal censured as tedious and unnecessary.
+Yet there are circumstances
+recorded in them which the author has
+not been able to persuade himself to retract
+or cancel.&#8221; So if, in giving certain loose
+hints rather than sketches of characters
+and manners in a very interesting town,
+ardently beloved by all who have ever
+had any near connection with it, during
+a former generation of its inhabitants, I
+should be thought to have set down too
+many &#8220;unconsidered trifles,&#8221; I can only
+shelter myself under the shadow of his
+great name, and plead that I had not the
+heart to leave them out, as they occurred
+to my memory while writing; and however
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span>
+they may lack, as they necessarily
+must, the storied value of Sir Walter&#8217;s fascinating
+fictions, they have at least this
+merit,&mdash;that every narrative and anecdote
+in these pages is a veritable fact.
+</p>
+<p>
+I should not wonder, however, if a couple
+of stories or so, which I am about to relate,
+were looked upon as purely fictitious by
+the philosophical reader. I do not pretend
+that the facts stated were within my own
+experience, only that I positively heard
+them related by persons of the strictest
+veracity, who were actual observers or
+actors in the transactions of which they
+professed to give an account. People ridicule,
+nowadays, when in company, the superstitions
+of earlier times; though it is
+not unlikely that the nerves of some of the
+boldest contemners of marvellous manifestations,
+once universally accepted as true,
+might still tremble, if alone and under circumstances
+calculated to awaken apprehension
+and to puzzle the understanding. Notwithstanding
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span>
+the accepted theory, that the
+very pretence of witchcraft, for example,
+was exploded a hundred and fifty years
+ago, and the idea of an apparition, in spite
+of Dr. Johnson&#8217;s belief, and that of others
+as wise and stout as he, would be scouted
+as preposterous in cultivated circles, I believe
+that there are many places in New
+England where undoubting faith in both
+superstitions still prevails, and I know that
+within a third part of the period above
+mentioned, very many creditable persons in
+a certain place in New England accepted
+the strangest occurrences of both kinds,
+upon the supposed evidence of their sober
+senses.
+</p>
+<p>
+We will imagine, then, that we are sitting
+in a circle around the fire-place in Uncle
+Richard&#8217;s spacious kitchen, on the evening
+of Christmas-day, the room lighted only by
+the blazing logs upon the hearth, the glow
+of which glanced along the walls and
+drew brilliant reflections from the brightly-scoured
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span>
+dishes and other utensils of metal,
+which stood ranged upon the shelves. We
+were quite a party, and had made merry,
+according to our fashion, during the day.
+Uncle Richard was himself the most conspicuous
+of the group. I have said that
+he was well-to-do, and he was certainly
+a gentleman in spirit and bearing. The
+black dress which he assumed on Sundays,
+and other occasions of public importance,
+set off his figure well, and his white hair
+gathered into a pig-tail behind and tied up
+with a ribbon by some one of his daughters,
+of a morning, gave him a venerable appearance,
+at least in the eyes of us youngsters,
+beyond what the actual number of his
+years warranted. For I have observed that
+those who may have seemed to us approaching
+the verge of old age, in our
+youth, begin to look almost like coevals
+again, as we ourselves have advanced in
+the stage of manhood. Aunt Judith, on
+the other hand, who was a maiden lady
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span>
+of a certain age, was dressed with all the
+care and neatness which somewhat scanty
+means enabled her to apply, and, as I am
+about to produce her as a witness, I feel
+it incumbent upon me to asseverate, that,
+being a devoutly religious woman, I have
+never met in my life with a more conscientious
+and scrupulously truth-telling person.
+After tea, my uncle had requested the
+young people present to sing a new Christmas
+Hymn, not to be found in the Prayer
+Book, but the production of a devout poetical
+acquaintance, in the performance of
+which he joined with a bass voice of singular
+compass and melody.
+</p>
+
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+
+<tr><td style='text-align:center'>THE CHRISTMAS HYMN.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;How hallowed grew the night,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When the auspicious light<br />
+Of heaven descending shone along the plain;<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And wondering shepherds heard<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The soul-inspiring word,<br />
+That swelled exultant the celestial strain!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8220;Peace and good-will to earth,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For, lo, a Saviour&#8217;s birth!&#8221;<br />
+So the high song addressed the simple swains;<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8220;The gates of life again<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Open to guilty men,<br />
+For God, the God of love, eternal reigns!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;What though all earth was still,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And no ecstatic thrill<br />
+In wakening lands the gracious message hailed;<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yet through heaven&#8217;s highest cope<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Echoed immortal hope,<br />
+And hell&#8217;s dark caves beneath trembled and wailed.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Let then creation sing,&mdash;<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hail, sovereign priest and king!<br />
+Blest be thy holy name and holy Word!<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hail, Son of God Most High,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Helper forever nigh,&mdash;<br />
+Hail, Prince of Peace and universal Lord!
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+The conversation, at such times, is very
+apt to run into story-telling, among those
+who have any stores of memory, or are
+possessed of inventive faculties, and often
+turns upon such inexplicable incidents as
+might well bewilder the imaginations of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span>
+simple country folks. My uncle gave us
+an account of a lad not long before in his
+employ, who laughed at the idea of supernatural
+appearances, and was indeed afraid
+of nothing. &#8220;The young scamp,&#8221; said he,
+&#8220;though I don&#8217;t know why I should call
+him so, for he was as honest as he was
+bold,&mdash;appeared so thoroughly fearless, that
+it sometimes looked like mere bravado (I
+am afraid he pronounced it <i>brave-ardor</i>);
+and a companion who also lived with us
+resolved to put his courage to the test.
+Accordingly, at dusk one evening, when
+Jack was about to lead the horse to the
+pasture, he provided himself with a sheet,
+and placed himself on one end of the crossbeam
+which rested on the rather high posts
+of the gate. Jack came whistling along,
+leading the horse, and, opening the gate,
+slipping off the halter, gave the animal a
+slap with it; and as he shut the gate cocked
+up his eye at the elevated figure. &#8220;And
+as for you, Mr. Devil,&#8221; says he, &#8220;you may
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span>
+sit there just as long as you please.&#8221; A
+decent respect for the proprieties of his
+position kept the scarecrow quiet until
+Jack was well on his way to the house
+which was not far distant. Pretty soon
+the door was burst open, and, to our alarm,
+some one tumbled in upon the floor in an
+agony of terror, as we soon discovered, pale
+as a ghost and scarcely able to speak. As
+soon as he recovered some degree of self-possession,
+he could barely stutter out,&mdash;&#8220;When
+Jack got out of sight&mdash;I turned to
+get down&mdash;and there sat another one, on
+the other post&mdash;looking just like me!&#8221;<a name="FNanchor_11" id="FNanchor_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>
+</p>
+<p>
+A great deal was thereupon said about
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span>
+the power of the imagination and the effect
+it was likely to have upon one who had
+placed himself in such an equivocal situation,
+and the terrors which, under its influence,
+might naturally revert to him, who
+in an excited state of his own nerves had
+endeavored to inflict such terrors upon
+another. Hereupon there was a general
+call upon Aunt Judith, from the youngsters
+present, to tell us something about reputed
+witches in her younger days,&mdash;a subject
+in regard to which she was said to be
+able to make some remarkable statements,
+though as yet we had never obtained from
+her any satisfactory information about it.
+She seemed a little reluctant to indulge our
+curiosity.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;As to witches,&#8221; said my uncle Richard,
+gravely, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know. Whether the denunciations
+of them in Holy Writ are intended
+to apply to any actually supernatural
+power possessed by them, or only to the
+pretence of it,&mdash;and both are mischievous
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span>
+in their effect on the popular mind,&mdash;I shall
+not undertake to say. It is certain that
+the poor old women who are thus stigmatized
+seem to have little power to help themselves
+in this world, or, if real tamperers
+with the powers of darkness, any enjoyable
+expectations from the other. But
+this I do know, that I was riding, not many
+days since, with my lawyer, a man of considerable
+acuteness, though a little eccentric
+at times, coming from K&mdash;&#8217;s Island,
+where we had been on some business; and
+as we neared the turn of the causeway to
+the main road, he pulled up the chaise,
+jumped out, and placing himself on a broad
+flat rock by the road-side, began violently
+to dance up and down and to shake his
+clothes. &#8216;Good Heavens!&#8217; cried I, &#8216;are
+you mad?&#8217; &#8216;Oh, no,&#8217; said he, resuming
+his seat, &#8216;but my mother always told me,
+that whenever I was coming away from
+K&mdash;&#8217;s Island, I must stand upon that rock
+and shake the witches off!&#8217;&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;But your story, Aunt Judith! your
+story,&#8221; we all cried out, and after a little
+more hesitation the good woman <i>prit la
+parole</i>, as Madame de Stäel so often phrases
+it in &#8220;Corinne.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;When I was a grown-up girl,&#8221; said
+she, &#8220;I and my older sister, who had lost
+her husband at sea, lived with my mother,
+who was also a widow. We had few of
+this world&#8217;s goods, but health and energy
+enough to take care of ourselves. At one
+time, we moved into half a house, in a decent
+quarter of the town, the other part of
+which was occupied by an old woman called
+by the neighbors &#8216;Granny Holt.&#8217; Coming
+from a street of the town at some distance,
+we had heard nothing that I remember
+about her; but the day had not gone by,
+before it was made fully known to us by
+such acquaintances as we saw, that we
+had taken up our abode in the same house
+with a person of a very crabbed disposition,
+whom all the neighborhood looked upon as
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span>
+a witch. This was not very agreeable
+news, but we tried to make the best of it.
+Our house was near the river-side, and we
+were surrounded by the families of those
+who followed the sea, and we endeavored
+to flatter ourselves with the idea, that idle
+tales of marvelous things are very common
+among that class of population; and that
+the stories we heard were mere gossip, as
+we whispered to ourselves, for fear of being
+overheard through the thin partition
+which divided us from the other tenant.
+But, &#8216;No!&#8217; said one of our callers in a
+low voice&mdash;one of the Pearse girls (a young
+lady, by the way, about seventy, but Aunt
+Judith was of a certain age); &#8216;I tell you
+it&#8217;s as true as a sermon in the meetin&#8217;-house.
+You&#8217;ll soon find out what she can
+do. Why, there&#8217;s young Stout, as fine a
+lad as ever walked the streets, or stood by
+the helm of his vessel in a gale o&#8217; wind; and
+look at him now, pale and cadaverous, and
+walking round people&#8217;s gardens, on the edge
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span>
+of narrow fences where nobody but a rope-dancer,
+with a pole in his hands, could
+keep his balance, and a hundred more
+such antics; everybody knows she bewitched
+him.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;&#8216;But what for?&#8217; we asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;&#8216;Oh, they had a quarrel, and pretty soon
+he began to cut these capers.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;My sister Ann, the widow, however,
+who had always a brave spirit, declared
+that she did not care a fig for all the
+witches in Christendom; but I must own
+that I was very much alarmed. You may
+be sure, we none of us much liked this sort
+of greeting, on the first day of our entering
+into our new habitation, and we prepared
+to retire early, my mother, who was a truly
+pious person, trusting to the only sure
+defence. Upon going to my chamber, I
+found there was no fastening to the door;
+in fact the handle itself was quite out of
+kilter, and it could not be shut tight. I
+moved up to it, therefore, a chest of drawers,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span>
+putting some things on top, and thus
+brought the door close. I was just about
+to blow out the candle to get into bed,
+when I heard a scrambling in the chimney,
+and you may believe it or not, but it&#8217;s the
+solemn truth&mdash;a black cat jumped from
+the fire-place, ran and leaped a-top of the
+things I had placed against the door, put
+her paw upon the handle of it, gave me one
+sidelong glance, opened the door itself and
+passed out. I was too frightened for anything
+but to wrap myself thoroughly in the
+bedclothes, and trembling with terror, at
+last fell into a troubled sleep.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Are you sure, Aunt Judith,&#8221; said my
+uncle Richard, &#8220;that the cat did not go
+under the bed?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;I tell you, as plainly as I see you now,
+I saw her open the door, look round at me
+with that malicious kind of expression, go
+out and shut the door behind her; and in
+the morning everything I had piled up
+against it was unmoved.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;It must have been the ghost of a cat,
+then,&#8221; said my uncle; &#8220;but did anything
+else happen, afterwards?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Yes, in a few days we had got a baking
+ready and the oven heated, when the old
+woman came in with an armful of wood,
+threw it down on the hearth, and said she
+wanted to bake. The oven was for the use
+of both parts of the house; but we told her
+as soon as we had got through she should
+have it. She went off muttering, and when
+we thought our batch was done and went
+to take it out, it was burned just as black
+as a coal.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;I am afraid,&#8221; said my uncle, &#8220;you let it
+stay in too long, or the oven was too hot.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;You may laugh as much as you please,&#8221;
+replied Aunt Judith, with spirit, &#8220;but I tell
+you what I actually saw with my own eyes.
+We did not stay longer in that house than
+we could find another place; but before
+we left something took place which perhaps
+you&#8217;ll not find it so easy to explain.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span>
+Young William Stout&#8217;s folks had been so
+troubled about him, and the doctors said
+they could do nothing, that they determined
+to try a &#8216;project.&#8217;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+I may as well explain what Aunt Judith&#8217;s
+modesty prevented her from doing; that a
+&#8220;project&#8221; was to inclose a certain liquid
+emanation of the afflicted person in a phial
+tightly stopped, and to put it over the fire
+in a pot to boil. Of course, as in the case
+of the sympathetic remedies described by
+Sir Kenelm Digby and practised by him,
+as the contents of the phial boil, the witch
+burns, and she is inevitably detected by
+the scorching she gets and the scars it
+leaves behind. It is from this circumstance,
+undoubtedly, that the nursery rhyme derives
+its authority,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>&#8220;Hinx minx, the old witch winks,<br />
+&nbsp;The fat begins to fry,&#8221; etc.
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+This is precisely the operation of the
+process in question.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Accordingly,&#8221; continued Aunt Judith,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span>
+&#8220;the Stout folks made all their preparations,
+in company with some trusty neighbors;
+the doors were fastened, and exactly
+at twelve o&#8217;clock the &#8216;project&#8217; was begun.
+Everything went on well; but, as often
+happens in such cases, something was forgotten,
+or the witches&#8217; master interferes;
+for it seemed, after a while, that more water
+was wanted, and one of the company took
+the pail to go to the well for it. As he
+cautiously opened the door, there to their
+horror stood Granny Holt, in the darkness
+of midnight! She came in grinning
+and complimenting, and without expressing
+surprise at finding so many persons together,
+at such an unusual hour, or making
+any inquiry as to the reason, she said, &#8216;one
+of their folks was taken sick and seeing a
+light there, she had come over to beg some
+herbs.&#8217; There was the end of the <i>project</i>,
+and I don&#8217;t know as it was ever tried
+again.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Were you there, yourself?&#8221; asked Uncle
+Richard.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;No, I can only swear to the black cat
+and the burnt pies; but everybody in our
+neighborhood knew all about the project
+and Granny Holt&#8217;s breaking it up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+We had become pretty well stirred up
+by this time, but as is likely to be the case
+under such circumstances, were eager for
+whatever other marvel might be forthcoming;
+for no matter how intelligent or incredulous
+the circle of hearers may be, there is
+something strangely fascinating in these
+weird stories. People may affect indifference
+&#8220;amidst the blazing light of the nineteenth
+century;&#8221; but I think that of a dark
+night, in a lonely spot, the starting up of so
+familiar a creature as a white horse, for instance,
+would set the strongest nerves into
+perturbation, at the idea of something
+ghostly. Indeed, Addison declared in his
+day, that there &#8220;was not a village in England
+that had not a ghost in it; the churchyards
+were haunted; nor was there a peasant
+who had not seen a spirit.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Well, Aunt Judith,&#8221; said Uncle Richard,
+&#8220;these wonderful things seem to have
+very much gone by, in our day, or else
+people, for some reason, take less notice
+of them than formerly. Witches, nowadays,
+are characters entirely unknown, except,&#8221;
+he gallantly remarked, &#8220;for the
+sometimes really inexplicable fascinations
+of members of your own sex; and, except
+in one singular instance, I have known of
+no appearances which could not be rationally
+accounted for. I have heard my father,
+however, tell of one which, according
+to the tradition, manifested itself, one hundred
+years ago or more, upon a bridge, over
+the Ipswich River, in our Essex County
+town of Topsfield, and was the terror of
+all the country round. He appeared in
+the shape of a monstrous hog, taking his
+station, at night, in the very centre of the
+bridge; and those who had occasion to
+cross it, on horseback or on foot, were
+either fain to turn back, as he encountered
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span>
+them, bristling and snarling, or rushed by,
+if their occasion demanded it, in a state of
+extraordinary trepidation. At length, Parson
+Capen, the worthy minister of the
+town, riding up to the bridge one evening,
+saw the spectre in his usual position.
+Nothing daunted, in virtue of his holy office,
+the good man thus accosted him:
+&#8216;You that were once an angel of light, ain&#8217;t
+you ashamed to appear in the shape of a
+dirty swine?&#8217; This expostulation was too
+much for the foul fiend, who at once jumped
+over the railing of the bridge into the river,
+and was no more seen.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+Amongst others of the few guests of the
+evening was a young gentleman, a member
+of one of the learned professions, who was
+accounted an intellectual person and was
+of rather grave demeanor. Though known
+to have been the author of occasional
+verses which gained applause, he would
+not have been thought likely to be the
+subject of any extraordinary hallucination.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span>
+He was an intimate friend of our family,
+and on certain occasions of unusual excitement,
+if not danger, in the midst of the
+various adventures of young people, had
+shown a singular firmness of nerve and
+presence of mind, and was thought to be
+in fact insensible to fear. He had listened
+to the story of the bold lad who saw the
+supposed apparition on the gate-post, and
+to that of the Topsfield spectre, with
+much the same interest as that which
+Marmion exhibited at Sir David Lindesay&#8217;s
+narrative of the appearance of the
+beloved Apostle to King James in Linlithgow.
+Apparently induced by a similar
+irresistible impulse to that which drew
+from the redoubted warrior of Scott&#8217;s fascinating
+poem the rehearsal of his nocturnal
+adventure, our guest volunteered a relation
+quite as remarkable.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;I will tell you a story,&#8221; said he, &#8220;of
+something unaccountable which once happened
+to me, though the circumstances
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
+are still so vivid in my memory, that I look
+back upon it with a sort of superstitious
+dread, and feel a decided reluctance in appealing
+to the sympathy of others, in regard
+to an incident which seemed exclusively
+addressed to myself and was confined
+to my own sole experience.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;In my senior year at College, now as
+you know, not many years since, I was
+appointed by my class to prepare for delivery,
+on what is called Class Day, a literary
+exercise,&mdash;in fact a poem, in anticipation
+of the usual Commencement performances,
+and was at home, during the preceding
+long vacation, making ready for this
+event. The writing of poetry for public
+recitation before a critical audience is a
+rather exacting occupation, and my ambition
+was naturally excited to do the best
+in my power. Indeed, the work absorbed
+all my faculties; but I preferred to write
+during the still hours of the night, rather
+than amidst the ordinary distractions of the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span>
+day, spending that period, usually, wandering
+in the neighboring fields and woods, or
+in other diversions. The season was summer,
+and I was sitting one night at an open
+window, committing to paper such thoughts
+as occurred to me, by the light of a single
+candle,&mdash;for lamps were then not very
+common and gas was entirely unknown.
+Outside, there was not a sound, for the
+whole town was buried in profound sleep,
+and our own household was in the same
+state of repose. It was just on the stroke of
+twelve. Our house was a very ancient one,
+though I never heard that there was anything
+peculiarly remarkable in its history.
+Sitting thus, and thus engaged in serious,
+solitary contemplation, the sudden fall of
+something heavy in the garret overhead
+gave me a momentary start. I could compare
+it to nothing but to the effect likely to
+be produced by something as solid as a
+smaller description of cannon-ball, though
+it afterwards appeared to have attracted the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span>
+attention of no one else in the family. Supposing
+that some article of furniture had accidentally
+fallen, the noise of which had
+been rendered more noticeable by the perfect
+stillness of the night, I pursued my occupation,
+until I felt disposed for sleep. On
+the following night, while engaged in the
+same way, and at the same midnight hour,
+came the same heavy, sharp, distinct thud
+upon the floor directly above my head. I
+was disposed to philosophize on the subject,
+and, though the coincidence was certainly
+peculiar, I still conceived that this unusual
+sound, at such an unusual hour, might be
+attributed to some natural cause. Perhaps,
+a heavy cat might have jumped down from
+beams above, on both occasions, and the
+noise was magnified by the otherwise unbroken
+stillness, though so far as I remember
+we kept no such cat of our own. I am
+sure that the idea of anything supernatural
+scarcely occurred to me, or was dismissed
+with derision. Nevertheless, the circumstances
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span>
+were peculiar enough to induce
+me to make a thorough examination of
+the garret on the following morning, and I
+was struck by the fact, that it was perfectly
+bare of any article of furniture above my
+chamber, or in the neighborhood of that
+part of the attic, which could have fallen.
+I was naturally a good deal perplexed at
+an occurrence for which there seemed no
+rational means of accounting, but I kept
+my own counsel. On the third night, at
+the same hour, when the clear bell from
+the steeple of a meeting-house not far distant
+had just tolled twelve, came the same
+sudden, single, distinct sound of a fall on
+the floor, directly over my head. I will not
+say as Marmion did, on the occasion above
+referred to,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>&#8220;&#8216;I care not though the truth I show,&mdash;<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I trembled with affright.&#8217;
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+&#8220;On the contrary, though not a little disturbed
+by incidents so unaccountable, and
+rendered by the interruption quite unfit to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span>
+pursue my occupation further, I deliberately
+undressed, said my prayers, put out my
+candle, and went to bed. It was a bright
+starlight night, and the two windows of
+my chamber made objects within indistinctly
+visible. No sooner had I laid my
+head upon the pillow, than through a door
+at the foot of my bed appeared a slowly
+moving figure, turning the corner of the
+bed and approaching the side of it upon
+which I lay. I could distinctly see its outlines,
+and it seemed to me apparelled like a
+monk, with a hood drawn over its features,
+and long trailing garments. As Eliphaz
+the Temanite, under similar circumstances,
+has related,&mdash;&#8216;the hair of my flesh stood
+up.&#8217; But I did not quite lose my self-possession.
+As the figure came nearer, I
+instantly threw off the bedclothes and
+jumped towards it into the middle of the
+room,&mdash;and it was gone! Though startled
+enough at so strange an occurrence, I reflected
+that it must be an illusion produced
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span>
+by some casual disorder of the natural
+faculties, and returned to bed and slept as
+usual until morning. But the next day I
+was much more disturbed in recalling the
+several circumstances of this extraordinary
+visitation. The repeated previous heavy
+blows upon the floor, and their apparent
+consummation in the vision I supposed
+myself to have seen, made me, as Othello
+says, &#8216;perplexed in the extreme.&#8217; On that
+day I told my mother the story; she laughed
+at the idea of supernatural appearances,
+perhaps to quiet her son&#8217;s emotion; but
+she said she was afraid of no ghosts, proposed
+an exchange of chambers, and this
+accommodation at once took place. But
+though I finished and delivered the poem
+in question, I continued to muse by myself
+upon what had occurred, unwilling to speak
+to any one about it. It was many months
+before I recovered from the shock to my
+nervous system. Reflecting upon it at
+the time, again I summoned whatever philosophy
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span>
+I had at command, as well as I
+could. I conceived that possibly in the excitement
+of verse-writing, in the silence of
+the night, some tenseness had affected the
+drum of my ear; that hearing, or imagining
+that I heard some unusual sound, amid
+the perfect stillness around me, a continuous
+disordered state of physical functions
+had produced a similar effect at a correspondent
+hour; and that this experience
+not unnaturally culminated in the spectral
+visitation.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+We heard the story in terror, and put
+little faith in the theory of explanation.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;But,&#8221; said my uncle Richard, himself a
+good deal amazed at the narrative, &#8220;did
+anything happen afterwards, to account for
+what you have told us?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Nothing whatever,&#8221; replied our friend.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Did you ever sleep in that chamber
+again?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Yes, some years afterwards. It so happened
+that during several weeks in the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span>
+summer, our whole family except myself,
+was away. My mother was in close attendance
+upon sick members of my sister&#8217;s
+family<ins class="trnote" title="?">.</ins> My brothers were at sea, and even
+our ordinary servant was dismissed for the
+occasion. When the time for rest arrived,
+it was my habit to let myself into the house,
+to proceed to the same chamber, usually
+without a light, and go to bed. One night,
+putting my hand upon the pillow, I felt
+something soft and started back, but again
+reaching forward, the object proved to be a
+dove that had flown into the open window,
+and securing it without difficulty I gave
+that symbol of innocence immediate release.
+Perhaps, it was my former visitant
+in a less forbidding form. But this, as well
+as the other, passed into the course of
+ordinary events.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+I need not say, that we had listened to
+this extraordinary narrative with rapt attention
+and in breathless silence. Our
+friend had told his story with emotion,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span>
+certainly, but still with serious deliberation,
+and exhibiting no undue signs of excitement.
+No one seemed disposed to make
+any observation upon it, and indeed most of
+the company were utterly incapable of the
+effort of speech. In a few moments, he remarked
+that he would quote to us a brief
+passage from Dante&#8217;s great poem which
+was applicable to the subject, and did so
+as follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>...&nbsp;&#8220;Now, O reader! mark,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And if my tale thou slowly shalt receive,<br />
+Thy doubt will cause in me no great surprise,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For I, who saw it, scarcely can believe.&#8221;<a name="FNanchor_12" id="FNanchor_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+&#8220;But, Uncle Richard,&#8221; was now the cry,
+&#8220;you said you had once seen an apparition,
+or something like one; please tell us
+all about it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;I certainly saw something strange,&#8221;
+said he, &#8220;on more than one occasion, which
+has never yet been accounted for; and I
+suppose it is now too late to expect it.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span>
+If it was really a matter of concert and
+collusion, the motive for it has never
+been discovered. You remember the open
+space in town, in front of the Reverend
+Mr. &mdash;&mdash;&#8217;s meeting-house. Your house, as
+you know, Jemmie,&#8221; addressing me, &#8220;looks
+directly up the street towards this square,
+and to the somewhat old-fashioned mansion
+opposite the meeting-house. On one
+side of the square was a small dwelling,
+occupied by several distant relatives of
+ours; Aunt Midkiff (Metcalf), Aunt Foggison
+(Ferguson, so called), and her sister,
+Miss Samples (Mrs. Semple), with the
+daughter of our Aunt Foggison, Mrs. Lane,
+and her only child. You remember, sister,&#8221;
+addressing my mother, &#8220;that you have
+told me, that one night, after you had gone
+to bed, your lamented husband stood at the
+window looking up the street towards the
+old house above, of which he had a complete
+view. Upon your asking what detained
+him, he called you up, and it was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span>
+evident to you both that one chamber of
+the house was in a light blaze. Persons
+appeared to be moving rapidly around it,
+and, as it were, pulling down the curtains
+of the bed, which looked as if on fire.
+After a little time the appearance gradually
+ceased, and your husband remarking that
+he would inquire in the morning of his
+neighbor, a highly respectable lawyer, who
+occupied the house, what was the cause of
+the extraordinary spectacle of the night
+before, he also retired. But upon putting
+the question to his acquaintance on the
+following morning, he seemed astonished,
+and utterly denied that anything unusual
+had taken place in the chamber, which was
+the one occupied by himself and his wife,
+or that they had been at all disturbed during
+the night.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Now all this,&#8221; continued my uncle, &#8220;is
+quite consistent with the supposition, that
+this gentleman may have had some secret
+motive for concealing the fact of a threatened
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span>
+conflagration, pretty sure, if known,
+to become the town talk and perhaps to expose
+him to inconvenient inquiries; and
+though a strictly moral and religious man,
+he may have thought that the circumstances
+warranted a direct denial of the
+matter, seeing it was, as it turned out, an
+affair of purely domestic concern.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+My mother, I thought, looked at my
+uncle a little anxiously, and seemed about
+to make a movement for our departure; but
+we urged him to tell us to what strange
+thing he had referred, and why he had so
+particularly described the situation and
+characteristics of this square, as if there
+were something more in relation to it which
+it might interest us to know; for you may
+be sure our mother had never mentioned
+to us children anything likely to alarm us.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;I am afraid,&#8221; said he, at last &#8220;that something,
+which really did happen in front of
+the house I have spoken of, will startle
+you young folks, and perhaps it is foolish
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span>
+to relate it, as you seem already quite excited
+enough; but I will premise by saying,
+that I will only tell you what I saw myself,
+or heard from those upon whose word
+I could implicitly rely; and, moreover, that
+I do not believe in ghosts, however singular
+the facts in question may appear. Of
+course, you know, sister,&#8221; addressing my
+mother, &#8220;my calls at your house were
+sometimes in the evening, after attending
+the market or to other business during the
+day. It was during one of your husband&#8217;s
+absences at sea, that we were sitting around
+the fire of a wintry night, when a lively
+neighbor, a lady who took much interest in
+whatever was going on, came in evidently
+in a state of agitation, and taking her seat,
+with very brief greeting, broke out with
+the exclamation, &#8216;There he is again!&#8217; I
+did not understand what this meant, but
+it was soon explained to us that, for a
+week or ten days past, some person, or
+figure, or whatever it might be, had been
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span>
+observed walking fore and aft, in front of the
+house opposite the meeting-house, at a
+certain hour of the evening, and though
+many had passed, no one had recognized
+him, nor did he take any notice whatever
+of any one whom he met. He was said to
+wear a pea-jacket buttoned to the chin, and
+a glazed hat, as if prepared for any kind
+of weather; or, as the gossips afterwards
+said, indicating the fact that he was the
+forerunner of the loss of not a few masters
+of vessels residing in the neighborhood,
+who perished at sea during the storms of
+that season. I took my hat and went out
+to see if I could discover anything uncommon.
+It was a moonlight night, with a light
+fall of snow upon the ground. As I passed
+up the short street to the square, Aunt
+Foggison&#8217;s chamber window was thrown
+open, and her daughter&#8217;s voice was plainly
+heard berating the supposed spectral night-walker.
+&#8216;What are you doing there, you
+good-for-nothing scamp, you?&#8217; cried she, in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span>
+a voice that must have reached any mortal
+ears; &#8216;why don&#8217;t you go home to your family,
+if you&#8217;ve got any family, or wherever
+else you belong, instead of stalking up and
+down here, frightening honest folks out of
+their senses?&#8217; Overcome perhaps by the
+vigor of her expostulation, the window was
+shut down with a slam. As I advanced,
+though I certainly had a full view of a
+human-looking figure upon its round and
+at no great distance either, and my senses
+had been confirmed by the objurgations addressed
+to it by our worthy relative, when
+I actually reached the ground of his perambulations,
+prepared to seize a single man
+by the collar and learn what he was about,
+it is certain that he was no longer visible.
+I returned to the house and made report of
+my unsuccessful doings, and unhitched my
+horse and drove home. I learned, a few
+days afterwards, that the figure regularly
+appeared, giving one sign of vitality by a
+regular tramp&mdash;tramp&mdash;tramp&mdash;upon the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span>
+frozen ground, so far as any one was disposed
+to listen, and spreading consternation
+throughout the vicinity. The affair at
+length became unendurable. Women were
+afraid to go into the street, and, for that,
+a good many men too, and it was really so
+serious, that, as I learned, it was resolved to
+form what is called, I believe, a cordon, and
+gradually approaching the place simultaneously
+from every avenue, so to inclose him
+that escape would be impossible. Being
+much acquainted with the people of
+that part of the town, I was invited to join
+the company, and accordingly drove in seasonably
+for the purpose. Certainly, most
+sober people believed the whole was but
+some trick, which it only needed reasonable
+pains to discover and defeat. The mysterious
+figure, it seemed, continued to walk,
+ignorant of or indifferent to our devices.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;There were three main avenues, by
+streets, to the premises, together with a
+narrow passage way leading from one of the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span>
+streets to another. At the appointed hour
+we duly assembled on our several stations.
+Our director was &#8216;a rude and boisterous
+captain of the sea&#8217;&#8221;&mdash;(for Uncle Richard
+could sometimes be poetical, at least in the
+way of quoting Shakespeare). &#8220;It had been
+arranged by him that, being on our posts,
+at a fixed moment, we should move rapidly
+up the several avenues and so join forces
+as to form a circle inclosing the open
+space, and gradually contracting our company,
+if the rogue was then within our
+compass we should have him sure. The
+arrangement had been made in profound
+secrecy, and if any there were traitors, I
+was not aware of it. Sure enough there
+was our guest on his usual stroll. As our
+circle speedily drew in, and just as hands
+were stretched out to seize him&mdash;presto,
+as the jugglers say&mdash;he was gone!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;By the jumping gingerbread!&#8221; exclaimed
+Thurlow, our uncle&#8217;s hired man,
+springing from his chair by the wall, outside
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span>
+of our family party,&mdash;seeing this was
+Christmas night.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Oh dear sus!&#8221; cried Sally Bannocks,
+our own particular help of many years,
+from the like position.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Our detective band,&#8221; resumed my uncle,
+&#8220;looked at one another in amazement,
+and after some hard swearing from a few of
+the roughest, and the exchange of a hasty
+&#8216;good-night,&#8217; dispersed, as far as convenient
+in companies of two or three, and departed,
+a good deal disconcerted, to their several
+places of abode. The same experiment was
+tried on two or three other occasions, as I
+was informed by friends, with no better
+success. Spectre or not, he always found
+means to elude them; and there were always
+those who, having no other means of
+accounting for his evasion, insisted upon it
+that he must have had confederates among
+those who sought to arrest him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Could he not have escaped slyly into
+the house?&#8221; asked some incredulous inquirer.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;That was hardly likely, with so many
+eyes upon him. Besides there was nobody
+there but women and children, excessively
+alarmed themselves, the husband, Captain
+Y&mdash;&mdash;, being at sea, and one of those who
+was afterwards known to have been lost
+with all his crew, upon nearing our dangerous
+coast.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;But why did not the city government
+make a piece of work of putting an end to
+such a scandal?&#8221; inquired a doubter in
+spectral visitations.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Well, I suspect a whole body of police
+could do little towards capturing an actual
+ghost; and then, too, there was at that time
+no city and no such force. Our town government
+consisted of mostly ancient citizens,
+and three or four constables, all of
+whom, probably, preferred to remain quietly
+and comfortably at home, instead of venturing
+out into the wintry night air, to hunt up
+ghosts.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Why didn&#8217;t somebody try the effect of
+a bullet?&#8221; inquired another.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Well, shooting was a rather violent
+remedy; and as for firing at a ghost, I believe
+every one was afraid.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Wasn&#8217;t it strange, considering that he
+must have had some particular object in
+haunting that spot, and was likely, therefore,
+to be found out by some of the neighborhood
+by his face, or dress, or figure, or
+gait, or in some way or other, if a real person,
+that he never was recognized?&#8221; asked
+another of our evening guests.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;It was strange enough,&#8221; said my uncle;
+&#8220;but few, if any, got very near him, and
+they perhaps, casual passers-by, who paid
+no attention to the fact. As for him, he
+only walked steadily backward and forward,
+turning neither to the right nor to
+the left, except at each end of his beat; replying
+to no interrogatories, and appearing
+utterly unconscious of any epithets or railings
+which from a distance were hurled
+at him. Only one man ever professed to
+have seen his face.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Who was that, uncle?&#8221; we all eagerly
+exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Late one stormy night, when the snow
+was falling fast,&#8221; continued my uncle,&mdash;&#8220;and
+one would suppose that any reasonable
+creature of flesh and blood would wish
+to be safely housed,&mdash;an hostler named
+Dobbin, who had charge of a stable at
+one end of the street, was trudging home,
+swinging a lantern in his hand, to the small
+house in which he lived, at a little distance
+beyond the now pretty notorious &#8216;Ghost&#8217;s
+Walk.&#8217; As he approached the spot, there,
+to be sure, was the object of terror,
+taking his usual exercise. &#8216;Now,&#8217; as
+Dobbin told the story, &#8216;thinks I to myself,
+I&#8217;ll play you a trick, mister, and find out
+who you are, if I can. So, jest slyly unfastening
+the door of the lantern, as I met
+him, I flung the door wide open and held
+it up to his face, and I says, says I, &#8220;A
+stormy night, friend.&#8221; I thought I should
+know him, and guess I should if ever I do
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span>
+see him again, which I don&#8217;t want to, I tell
+<i>you</i>; and may I hope to die, if ever I saw
+that face before. He looked pale, and his
+eyes, as he fixed &#8217;em on me, had what I call
+a sort of a stony glare. He never opened
+his mouth, but just looked. It was only
+a glance, as it were, for I never was so
+frightened in my life, and jest dropped
+lantern and scampered away home as fast
+as my legs could carry me.&#8217;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Lud-a-massy!&#8221; screamed Sally Bannocks,
+on the verge of hysterics,&mdash;and
+some of the rest of us were not far from that
+condition. We were mostly on our feet,
+and as my mother insisted upon our bidding
+&#8220;Good-night,&#8221; Uncle Richard proposed,
+after a further trial of his capital
+cider, to harness his horse and drive us
+home in his covered wagon. But it was a
+fine night and, though getting rather late,
+we concluded that it would do us more
+good to take the air, in the mile or two of
+the walk to town. In the course of our
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span>
+preparations for departure, and in answer to
+a variety of questions, our uncle informed
+us, that the mystery was never cleared up,
+nor the trick, if trick it were, ever discovered.
+As to the tale of such a person as
+Dobbin, we might place what reliance upon
+it we saw fit; and though the motive
+seemed certainly difficult to see, it might
+have been, after all, a well-contrived piece
+of deception, to be sure, a very laborious
+and unaccountable one, concealed by the
+collusion of parties in the secret. How
+long the ghost continued to walk he did
+not know; but it finally disappeared, and
+the house had been inhabited by respectable
+people ever since, who had suffered no
+disturbance.
+</p>
+<p>
+We reached home after a brisk walk, crossing
+rapidly&mdash;and with now and then a furtive
+look&mdash;the very premises so haunted
+in other days, and &#8220;Thanks be to Praise!&#8221;
+ejaculated Sally Bannocks, as we entered
+and closed the door. The house was cold,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span>
+after having been shut up all day. We
+quickly separated to our several chambers,
+and as I laid my head upon the pillow and
+was soon sound asleep, I too, murmured
+to myself, &#8220;Thanks be to Praise!&#8221;
+</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 10%; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both; margin: 2em auto 1em 0' />
+
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_11' id='Footnote_11'></a><a href='#FNanchor_11'><span class='label'>[11]</span></a>
+<p>
+Jack&#8217;s composure has a parallel in that of an old-time
+Scottish clergyman, as the story is told by Dean
+Ramsay. On returning home late from a dinner abroad
+his way led through the churchyard, and some mischievous
+fellows thought to frighten him. One of them came
+up to him dressed as a ghost, but the minister coolly
+inquired, &#8220;Weel, maister Ghaist, is this a general rising,
+or are ye juist taking a daunder frae yer grave by yersel?&#8221;
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_12' id='Footnote_12'></a><a href='#FNanchor_12'><span class='label'>[12]</span></a>
+<p>
+<i>Inferno</i>, Canto xxv., Parsons&#8217;s translation.
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span>
+</p>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 0em'>
+<a name='APPENDIX' id='APPENDIX'></a>
+<h2>APPENDIX.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='mini' />
+
+<p>
+The following papers, marked I., II., III. are
+copies of those discovered among family documents
+in the house of Mr. H. W. S. Cleveland,
+of Salem, Massachusetts, several years ago.
+They were communicated by him to the late Mr.
+Henry Lunt, formerly a merchant of Boston,
+father of the late highly distinguished Rev. Dr.
+William Parsons Lunt, who died, much lamented,
+while on his travels, at Akaba, in Arabia. How
+these documents came to be deposited in Salem,
+it is not easy to say. It is probable, however,
+that copies were brought over by the &#8220;Mary and
+John,&#8221; or the &#8220;Elizabeth and Dorcas,&#8221; which
+appear to have wintered in Boston, after their
+arrival, the passengers, or such of them as saw
+fit and were permitted, proceeding to Ipswich,
+the following year (1634) and thence to the plantation
+which they called Newbury. It is likely,
+therefore, that the papers which concerned the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span>
+passengers of those vessels might be taken to
+Salem, perhaps during Governor Endicott&#8217;s administration,
+and placed in the hands of some
+official person at that place, so as to be more accessible
+to the home of the people in question,
+instead of being retained at Boston, the journey
+to which from Newbury was in those days a
+long and tedious one, to be made on foot through
+the wilderness.
+</p>
+<p>
+To many persons the abstract of the Charter
+of Charles I., which is a very liberal one, can
+hardly fail to be interesting. The Orders in
+Council, referred to in the text, are still more
+so; while the list of passengers by the &#8220;Mary
+and John&#8221; comprises many names still to be
+found in Newbury. Many more familiar names
+will be found among those of the company
+which came by the &#8220;Elizabeth and Dorcas.&#8221;
+It will be seen that in the list given are the
+names of Thomas Parker, an eminent divine,
+and of James Noyes, his nephew; the first the
+long respected pastor of the church and the
+other the &#8220;teacher&#8221; at Newbury.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='I' id='I'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span>
+<h2>I.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+An Abstract of His Ma<sup>ty&#8217;s</sup> Charter for incorporating
+the Company of the Mattachusetts Bay
+in New England in America, Granted in the 4th
+yeare of His Highness&#8217; Reign of England, Scotland
+France &amp; Ireland, Anno. Domini 1628&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+And we do further of our especial Grace, certain
+Knowledge &amp; mere mocion for us our Heirs
+&amp; Successors&mdash;Give and Grant to the said Governour
+&amp; Company &amp; their Sucessors for ever by
+these presents, That it shall be lawfull &amp; free for
+them &amp; their Assigns at all &amp; every Time &amp;
+Times hereafter out of any of our Realms or
+Dominions whatsoev<sup>r</sup>, to take lade carry &amp; transport
+for in &amp; into their voyages, &amp; for &amp; towards
+the said Plantation in New England all such &amp;
+so many of our Loving Subjects or any other
+Strangers that will become our Loving Subjects
+&amp; live under our Alleigeance as shall willingly
+accompany them in the said Voyages &amp; Plantations,
+And also Shipping, Armour, Weapons,
+Ordnance, Munition, Powder, Shott, Corn victuals
+&amp; all manner of Cloathing, Implements, Furniture,
+Beasts, Cattle, Horses, Mares, Merchandizes
+&amp; all other things necessary for the said
+Plantation and for their use &amp; Defence &amp; for
+Trade with the People there &amp; in passing &amp;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span>
+returning to &amp; fro, any Law or statute to the
+Contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding&mdash;And
+without paying or yielding any custom or
+Subsidy either Inwards or Outwards, to us our
+Heirs or Successors for the same, by the space
+of seaven years from the Day of the Date of
+these Presents&mdash;Provided that none of the
+said Persons be such as shall hereafter by
+Especial name be restrained by us, our Heirs
+or Successors&mdash;&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+And for their further Incouragem<sup>t</sup> of our
+Especial Grace &amp; favor&mdash;we Do by these presents
+for us, our Heirs &amp; successors yield &amp; grant
+to the said Governour &amp; Company &amp; their successors
+&amp; every of them their Factors &amp; Assigns
+that they &amp; every of them shall be free &amp; quit
+from all Taxes Subsidys &amp; Customs in New
+England for the space of seaven years, and from
+all Taxes &amp; Impositions for the space of Twenty
+one years upon all Goods &amp; merchandizes at
+any time or times hereafter Either upon Importation
+there, or Exportation thence, into our
+Realm of England or into any of our Dominions,
+by the said Governour or Company &amp; their successors,
+their Deputys, Factors &amp; Assigns or
+any of them except only the Five Pounds p<sup>r</sup> Centum
+due for Custom upon all such Goods &amp;
+Merchandizes as, after the said seaven years
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span>
+shall be expired, shall be brought or imported
+into our Realm of England or any other of our
+Dominions according to the Ancient Trade of
+Merchants, which Five Pounds p<sup>r</sup> centum only
+being paid it shall be thenceforth lawfull &amp; free
+for the s<sup>d</sup> Adventurers the same Goods &amp; Merchandizes
+to export &amp; carry out of our Dominions
+into Foreign Parts without any Custom,
+Tax or other Duty to be paid to us our Heirs
+or Successors or to any other officer or officers
+or ministers of us our Heirs or Successors,&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+Provided that the said Goods &amp; merchandize
+be shipp&#8217;d out within thirteen months after
+their first Landing within any part of the said
+Dominions&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+This is a true Copy of His Ma<sup>ties</sup> Letters
+Patent aforesaid&mdash;Custom House London 30th
+January 1633 Anno. R. Caroli Nono&mdash;
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: right'>
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>John Wolstenholme</span>, <i>Collector</i>.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='II' id='II'></a>
+<h2>II.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<table style='width:26em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;  padding:1em;' summary="">
+<tr><td colspan='2' align='center' style='font-variant:small-caps'>Orders in Council.</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' align='center' style='font-style:italic'>New  England,&mdash;At Whitehall the last of February, 1633.</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>Present:</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Lo. Arch. Bp. of Cant.</td><td>Earle of Kelley.</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Lo. Keep<sup>r</sup>.</td><td>Lo. Cottington.</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Lo. Privie Seal</td><td>M<sup>r</sup>. V. Chamb<sup>r</sup>line.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209'  name='page_209'></a>209</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Lo. High Chamb<sup>r</sup>line.</td><td>M<sup>r</sup>.  Compt<sup>r</sup>.</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center;'>M<sup>r</sup>.  Secretary Wyndibank.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+Whereas by a Warr<sup>t</sup>. bearing date 22nd of
+this Present, the sev&#8217;all ships following bound
+for New England, and now lying in the River
+of Thames were made staye of untill further
+order from their Lo&#8217;pps. viz., The Clement &amp;
+Job, The Reformation, The True Love, The
+Elizabeth Bonadventure, The Sea Flower, The
+Mary &amp; John, The Planter, The Elizabeth
+&amp; Dorcas, The Hercules &amp; The Neptune.
+</p>
+<p>
+Forasmuch as the masters of the said ships
+were this day called before the Board &amp;
+several Particulars given them in charge to be
+performed in their said voyage, amongst which
+the said masters were to enter into several
+Bonds of One Hundred Pounds a piece to His
+Maj<sup>s</sup>tys use before the Clarke of the Councell
+attendant to observe &amp; cause to be observed
+and putt in Execucion these Articles following
+viz:
+</p>
+<p>
+1. That all and every Person aboard their
+Ships now bound for New England as aforesaid,
+that shall blaspheme or profane the Holy name
+of God be severely punis&#8217;h&#8217;t.
+</p>
+<p>
+2. That they cause the Prayers contained in
+the Book of Common Prayers establisht in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span>
+the Church of England, to be said daily at the
+usual hours for Morning &amp; Evening Prayers &amp;
+that they cause all Persons aboard their said
+ships to be present at the same.
+</p>
+<p>
+3. That they do not receive aboard or transport
+any Person that hath not Certificate from
+the Officers of the Port where he is to imbarke
+that he hath taken both the Oathes of Alleigeance
+&amp; Supremacy.
+</p>
+<p>
+4. That upon their return into this Kingdom
+they Certify to the Board the names of all
+such Persons as they shall transport together
+with their Proceedings in the Execu&#8217;ion of the
+aforesaid Articles&mdash;Whereunto the said M<sup>rs</sup>.
+have conformed themselves&mdash;It was therefore
+&amp; for diverse other Reasons best known to
+their Lo<sup>pps</sup>. thought fitt that for this time they
+should be permitted to proceed on their Voyage,
+and it was thereupon ordered that Gabriel Marsh
+Esq<sup>r</sup>. Marshalle of the Admiralty, &amp; all other
+His Maj&#8217;ty&#8217;s Officers to whom their said Warr<sup>t</sup>.
+was directed should be required upon sight
+hereof to discharge all &amp; every the said Ships,
+&amp; suffer them to depart on their intended
+Voyage to New England&mdash;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Ex. Jon. Meantys.</span>
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='III' id='III'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span>
+<h2>III.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<table style='width:26em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;  padding:1em;' summary="">
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='font-style:italic;text-indent:-1em;'>The names of such Passengers as took the Oathes
+of Supremacy, and Alleigeance to pass for New
+England in the Mary &amp; John of London
+Robert Sayres Master,</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' align='center' style='padding-top:10px'>24th Mar. 1633</td></tr>
+<tr><td>William Trace (Tracy)</td><td>John Bartlett</td></tr>
+<tr><td>John Marshe</td><td>Robert Coker</td></tr>
+<tr><td>John Luff</td><td>William Savery</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Henry Traske</td><td>John Anthoney (left behind)</td></tr>
+<tr><td>William Moudey</td><td>Stephen Jurden</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Robert Sever</td><td>John Godfrey</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Thomas Avery</td><td>George Browne</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Henry Travers</td><td>Nicholas Noyce</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Thomas Sweete</td><td>Richard Browne</td></tr>
+<tr><td>John Woodbridge</td><td>Richard Reynolds</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Thomas West</td><td>Richard Littlehall</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Thomas Savery</td><td>William White</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Christopher Osgood</td><td>Matthew Hewlett (Hercules)</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Phillip Fowler</td><td>John Whelyer</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Richard Jacob</td><td>William Clarke</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Daniel Ladd</td><td>Robert Newman</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Robert Kingsman</td><td>Adrian Vincent.</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' align='center' style='padding-top:10px'>The 26th day of March.</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Nicholas Easton</td><td>William Spencer</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Richard Kent</td><td>Henry Shorte</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Abraham Mussey</td><td>William Hibbens</td></tr>
+<tr><td>William Ballard</td><td>Richard Kent
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212'  name='page_212'></a>212</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Matthew Gillett</td><td>Joseph Myles</td></tr>
+<tr><td>William Franklin</td><td>John Newman</td></tr>
+<tr><td>John Mussey</td><td>William Newbey</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Thomas Cole</td><td>Henry Lunt</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Thomas Parker</td><td>Joseph Pope</td></tr>
+<tr><td>James Noyce</td><td>Thomas Newman</td></tr>
+<tr><td>John Spencer</td><td>John Newman.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+For which we gave certificate, together with
+five others, which are said to be left behind to
+oversee the Chattle to pass in the Hercules
+viz.
+</p>
+<p>
+The names of the Passengers in the Hercules
+of London, John Kiddey Ma<sup>r</sup>. for New England.
+</p>
+<p>
+These six Passengers took their Oathes of
+Supremacy &amp; Alleigeance the 24th March
+and were left behind the Mary &amp; John, as
+intended to pass in y<sup>e</sup> Hercules&mdash;viz:
+</p>
+<table border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary="big bracket" style="margin:1px auto 25px auto;">
+
+<tr>
+<td style="line-height:10%">&nbsp;</td>
+<td rowspan='7' align="right" valign="top"><span class="bracket">}</span></td>
+<td style="line-height:10%">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class='col1'>John Anthony</td>
+<td rowspan='6' align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Cert. the six first<br />  to Mt'er Sayers as<br /> intended.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;Secondth to Mr.<br /> Kiddey to pass in the<br /> Hercules.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class='col1'>Robert Early</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class='col1'>William Satcome</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class='col1'>Thomas Foster</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class='col1'>William Foster</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class='col1'>Matthew Hewlett</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+16th April, 1634.
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+Nathaniel Davyes
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+George Kinge
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+Thomas Rider
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span>
+William Elliot
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center'>
+William Fifeilde
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: center; margin-bottom:1.5em'>
+Henry Phelps.
+</p>
+<p>
+18. These proceedings were Copyed out of
+an Olde Book of Orders belonging to the Port
+of South&#8217;ton but now remaining at the Custom
+house in Portsmouth the 6th Day of December
+1735.
+</p>
+<p style='text-align: right'>
+Per <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Thomas Whitehouse</span>.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IV' id='IV'></a>
+<h2>IV.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+In regard to the costume which prevailed,
+among persons of wealth and standing in New
+England, within a century, I quote a descriptive
+passage from a history of Newburyport, by
+Mrs. E. V. Smith, published in 1854, as follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+&#8220;With the incoming of the nineteenth century,
+garments more in conformity with present
+fashions took precedence of three-cornered hats,
+long coats with immense pocket-folds and cuffs,
+but without collars, in which the men of the
+eighteenth century prided themselves; with their
+buttons of pure silver, or plated, of the size of
+a half-dollar, presenting a great superfluity of
+coat and waistcoat when contrasted with the
+short nether garments, ycleped &#8220;breeches,&#8221; or
+&#8220;small-clothes,&#8221; which reached only to the knee,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span>
+being there fastened with large (?) silver buckles,
+which ornament was also used in fastening the
+straps of shoes. The gentlemen quite equalled
+the ladies at this period in the amount of finery,
+and the brilliancy of colors in which they indulged.
+A light blue coat with large fancy buttons,
+a white satin embroidered waistcoat, red
+velvet breeches, silk stockings, and buckled
+shoes, with a neckcloth, or scarf, of finely embroidered
+cambric, or figured stuff, the ends
+hanging loose, the better to show the work, and
+liberal bosom and wrist ruffles (the latter usually
+fastened with gold or silver buckles), were
+usually considered a proper evening dress for
+a gentleman of any pretension to fashion. The
+clergy and many other gentlemen commonly
+wore black silk stockings, and others contented
+themselves with gray woollen. The boots had
+a broad fold of white leather turned over the
+top, with tassels dangling from either side. The
+clergy frequently wore silk or stuff gowns and
+powdered wigs. The ladies usually wore black
+silk or satin bonnets, long-waisted and narrow-skirted
+dresses for the street, with long tight
+sleeves, and in the house, sleeves reaching to
+the elbow, finished with an immensely broad
+frill; high-heeled shoes, and always, when in full
+dress, carried a profusely ornamented fan. The
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span>
+excessively long waists, toward the close of this
+period, were exchanged for extremely short ones;
+so short, that the belt or waist was inhumanly
+contrived to come at the broadest part of the
+chest. But no fashion of dress was so permanent
+as other customs clinging to particular
+eras. Anciently, as now, fashions were changed
+more or less extensively every ten years, though
+certain broad characteristics remained long
+enough to give specific character to the costuming
+of the eighteenth century.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+The writer is accurate enough, no doubt, in
+her general description; but what lady could
+give an entirely correct account of a gentleman&#8217;s
+attire? Knee-buckles, for instance, were
+almost necessarily small, instead of &#8220;large&#8221;;
+it may be questioned whether top-boots were
+ever decorated with tassels, a single article of
+that sort often hanging at the front of a different
+kind of high boot, worn long after the beginning
+of the present century; and as to the
+silk gowns of clergymen, it is but a very few
+years since they began to be disused in the
+pulpit by Presbyterian and Congregational ministers.
+About forty years before the present
+period, many gentlemen wore dresses of the cut
+described by Mrs. Smith, though of a more subdued
+color,&mdash;black, blue, or drab. Not long
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span>
+after the beginning of the present century, a
+chief magistrate of Massachusetts, Gov. Gore,
+made a sort of progress through the State, in
+imposing style. His elegant, open carriage was
+drawn by four handsome and spirited horses,
+and he was attended by his aids and several
+outriders. The governor was a gentleman of
+fine personal appearance, and was attired in the
+highest style of contemporary civil costume,
+with his white hair gathered behind into a satin
+bag, and his aids were in undress military
+costume. He was a &#8220;Federalist,&#8221; and this
+demonstration cost him his election the next
+time; for, though a man of brilliant ability and
+high personal character, he served but one
+year. At a date fifteen years later, I saw the
+&#8220;Democratic&#8221; governor of Massachusetts, Mr.
+Eustis, in attendance upon the Commencement
+exercises, at Harvard College, dressed much in
+the fashion of half a century earlier; namely,
+coat and waistcoat with broad flaps, small-clothes,
+ruffles at his bosom and wrists, a cocked
+hat of the old style, and a steel-hilted rapier at
+his side. Ten years afterwards, one of the best
+governors the Commonwealth has ever had, Mr.
+Lincoln, who served the State in this capacity
+for nine several terms, wore also a distinguishing
+costume, but more conformable to modern fashions.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span>
+About the ruffles to his shirt-bosom I am
+sure, and feel much confidence, from memory,
+in regard to black small-clothes and black silk
+stockings, and his hat was always decorated
+with a black cockade. Nowadays a governor&#8217;s
+appearance scarcely distinguishes him from any
+ordinary person in the crowd.
+</p>
+<p>
+The cocked hats, however, and much of the
+costume of the eighteenth century, continued
+to be worn by the survivors of Revolutionary
+officers and some others, during the first quarter
+of the present century and afterwards.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='V' id='V'></a>
+<h2>V.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The subjoined interesting sketch of an ancient
+dwelling-house and of a family which has
+inhabited it for several generations, was furnished
+by a distinguished friend, Thomas Coffin
+Amory, Esq., of Boston, who traces his ancestry
+on the maternal side to the family in question.
+Nor, in producing this highly interesting sketch,
+could I overlook Joshua Coffin, the historian of
+Newbury and a resident of that town, from the
+originally extensive territory of which various
+adjacent towns were eventually formed. He
+was possessed of many amiable qualities and
+inspired by the true antiquarian spirit, and laboriously
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span>
+pored among the not very carefully kept
+early records of the original settlement, and
+brought much out of chaos well calculated to
+illustrate its former history. Mr. Amory has,
+on various occasions, shown the spirit of a careful
+historical student and of an intelligent and
+zealous antiquary. His recent contributions to
+that excellent periodical, &#8220;The New England
+Historical and Genealogical Register,&#8221; which
+has become of inestimable value, as a collection
+of facts illustrative of early New England history
+and biography, have given great pleasure to multitudes
+of readers,&mdash;especially his vivid and
+graphic descriptions of certain ancient and storied
+mansions in Boston and Cambridge, and
+of their former inhabitants. Let us hope that
+researches of such abundant interest and value
+will soon claim and gain a still larger share of
+the public attention in a collected form.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>My dear Sir</span>,&mdash;In your reminiscences of
+Newburyport you must not forget Joshua Coffin
+its historian,&mdash;one of the best of men, whom
+no one knew but to love. I see him now as
+he came to visit me several years ago, when he
+was representing his native town in the General
+Court, a fresh, hale, cheery gentleman, full of
+pleasant anecdotes relating to the past. He
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span>
+owned and occupied the Coffin mansion, which
+had been the abode of seven generations of his
+family and name. Out of its portals had issued
+numberless admirable men and women, and
+from among the former, a large share of college
+graduates, at Harvard and other New England
+colleges, of lawyers, clergy, and soldiers, to do
+good service in their day and generation.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+At his suggestion, I visited this ancient dwelling
+which was erected about 1649, by Mr. Somerby,
+the widow of whose progenitor Tristram
+Coffin, Jr., married. This Tristram was the eldest
+son of another Tristram, first of the race in
+America, who not many years before, in 1642,
+came over from Brixton, near Plymouth, in Devonshire,
+bringing with him his mother, and two
+sisters,&mdash;Eunice who married William Butler,
+and Mary who became the wife of Alexander
+Adams, of Boston. He brought with him also
+several sons and daughters, to whom were added
+others born to him on this side the ocean. His
+family in the home country had shown the same
+tenacity and steadfastness, exemplified by their
+long continued residence at Newburyport; for
+at Alwington and Portledge in Devon, they had
+flourished, if not from the flood, from periods
+very remote; for according to the historical statement,
+the Normans when they came over in the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span>
+eleventh century found them there, and left
+them unmolested; and there still dwell their descendants
+in the female line, who have assumed
+their appellation of Pine Coffin, one of the house
+of Pine having married the heiress of the family
+estates.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+Tristram the elder, and his sons James and
+Stephen, were among the nine who purchased
+the island of Nantucket from the Earl of Stirling
+in 1659, and went there to dwell. Their
+descendants have ever since been respectable
+and greatly multiplied, and not only on that
+island but all over the country, having since
+been estimated by thousands if not tens of thousands.
+Their usual average of children has
+been half a score, and from their numerous
+progeny and great longevity, we may judge
+what vigor was in the race. One of them, William,
+son of Nathaniel, son of James, cruised
+over many seas, as commander of a merchantman,
+and becoming interested in a Boston
+maiden, Ann Holmes, settled about 1720 in the
+provincial capital, where among other offices he
+filled with credit to himself and his name was
+that for many years of warden of Trinity Church.
+He died before the Revolution, leaving many
+children; most of his sons at that period becoming
+refugee loyalists, they and their descendants
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span>
+taking high rank in the British military and
+naval service. John, son of Nathaniel, was a distinguished
+officer in the Carolinas, and afterwards
+became Major-general. His brother, Sir
+Isaac, early became distinguished on the ocean,
+was an Admiral, Member of Parliament, and
+created a Baronet, which latter rank was also
+bestowed on Thomas Astor, son of William, the
+eldest son of the warden. Several others of
+the name and blood then and since have filled
+with distinction posts of honor and respectability
+in the civil service of the mother country
+at home, in Canada, and in India.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+But this is a digression. The only connection
+of the Nantucket branch with Newbury is
+that old Tristram lived there for a brief period,
+before repairing to his island home, and his
+son (the younger of the name of Tristram, the
+family name of a grandmother) and his posterity
+occupied the old mansion down through
+seven or eight generations, and still dwell beneath
+its roof. At the time of its erection the
+edifice must have been among the most elegant,
+as its good state of preservation proves it to
+have been one of the most substantial of its
+day, when the notion, prevailing in England,
+that oak was the most suitable material of the
+forest for dwellings, governed in their choice,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span>
+with less reason, our American planters. It
+was built in the mode common to the period,
+round a vast brick chimney-stack, ten or twelve
+feet square. The principal apartment, now divided
+into two, possessed, as did also the kitchen,
+one of those spacious fireplaces which are
+the marvel and envy of these degenerate days,
+when a hole in the carpet has superseded in
+many households the family hearth. It is
+pleasant to think of the groups that in the olden
+time clustered around them; charming people,
+whom we know by tradition, and who are remembered
+by many associations.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+The house possesses various other apartments
+of size and pretension, and has answered
+well the needs of the successive generations
+that have occupied it, not only as a spacious
+and commodious abode, but one sufficiently
+elegant to satisfy the advancing standards of
+taste and refinement. Among the marked features
+of the building are several small casements,
+lighting closets and staircases, which give
+variety to the monotonous symmetry of windows
+all of a size, one on top of another, and where
+all the openings for egress or light are in
+straight lines and of equal dimensions. It is
+many years since my visit, and I hope you will
+see it, for much that was peculiar, and made a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span>
+weird impression at the time, has passed out of
+mind. If the trickles in my own veins do not
+mislead, the present proprietors will be glad to
+have pleasure afforded to the reading community,
+even by this inadequate description of a
+house which has such claims to be known, if, as
+you intimate, you purpose to place this account
+of it in your Appendix. They will not consider
+it a liberty if I repeat what some one not long
+since told me of an interesting relic of the past
+discovered on its walls, a statement which might
+be related almost in the same words of the
+house of MacPhędrics at Portsmouth.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+Not many years since it was concluded to
+repaper the hall, the walls of which were
+covered with several thicknesses of paper which
+had from generation to generation been pasted
+one upon another. It was thought best to remove
+them all, and when a large party of young
+people, home for the holidays, were gathered
+for a dull week of weather under its roof, they
+determined to amuse themselves by stripping
+off the various layers of previous decorations,
+preparatory to the new one intended to take
+their place. Underneath them all was discovered,
+painted on the wall, artistic designs of
+figures and foliage, such as were common in
+the days of the Stuarts. All antiquarians are
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span>
+familiar with the similar discoveries at Portsmouth,
+to which allusion has been made.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+There are not many houses in America which
+have been so long owned and occupied by the
+same name. The old brick mansion near
+Portsmouth, of the Weeks family, the Curtis
+house at Boston Highlands, Fairbanks at Dedham,
+Pickering at Salem, were contemporaries
+in the period of the construction, and have descended
+from sire to son as has this of the
+Coffins.
+</p>
+<p style='font-size: 0.9em; margin-left:4em; margin-right:4%'>
+The house is pleasantly placed, and commands
+fine views from its windows. Even in
+winter it must be, if not a cheerful, an interesting
+abode to dwell in. In duller days, when
+skies are leaden, and the more you see around
+you the less you like it, its dreamy look of age
+and strangeness within and without may have
+a somewhat depressing influence. The aches
+and agonies of so many generations may gain
+an ascendancy over the exuberant joys that
+made their life worth living. It would sometimes
+seem that if fondness for the supernatural must
+be indulged, an old edifice like this would prove
+a haunt more attractive, and certainly more appropriate,
+for ghost and apparition than any
+school-room, however noted for its spells. Yet
+notwithstanding some lugubrious associations
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span>
+connected with the family patronymic, phantoms
+would have to tread softly and whisper
+low if they invaded its precincts; for the vigorous
+vitality of its occupants and their cheery
+tones, if up to the traditional standard of their
+race, would exorcise the very king of spectres
+himself, should he venture to stalk about at the
+noonday, or revisit the glimpses of the moon
+in its ancient chambers.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VI' id='VI'></a>
+<h2>VI.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I might have mentioned, as one of the amusements
+of childhood, the throwing of a piece of
+paper upon the embers of our wood-fire, for we
+had no coal in those days, and watching the
+gradual extinguishment of the sparks, likening
+it to a congregation entering the meeting-house.
+&#8220;There they go in,&#8221; we would say. &#8220;There&#8217;s
+the minister;&#8221; and as the final spark disappeared,&mdash;&#8220;Now,
+the sexton has gone in and
+shut the door.&#8221; I speak of this only as a curious
+illustration of English ways traditionally surviving
+in New England. Thus Cowper tells us:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>&#8220;So when a child, as playful children use,<br />
+&nbsp;Has burnt to tinder a stale last year&#8217;s news,<br />
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span>
+&nbsp;The flame extinct, he views the roving fire,&mdash;<br />
+&nbsp;There goes my lady, and there goes the squire;<br />
+&nbsp;There goes the parson, O illustrious spark!<br />
+&nbsp;And there, scarce less illustrious, goes the clerk!"
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VII' id='VII'></a>
+<h2>VII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Several allusions having been made in the
+text to the &#8220;Wolfe&#8221; Tavern, I am able to present
+the following original bill of lading, constituting
+an incident in relation to the famous expedition
+to Quebec, and evincing at least a more formal
+recognition of a superintending Providence,
+than is the custom of more modern days:&mdash;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span>
+</p>
+<table summary='frame'>
+<tr>
+<td style='vertical-align: top'>
+	<table width='140' border='0' cellpadding='1' cellspacing='1' summary="bill of lading left column">
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>&nbsp;</td><td class='bol'>&nbsp;</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>&nbsp;</td><td class='bol'>&nbsp;</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>12</td><td class='bol'>Oxen,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>6</td><td class='bol'>Horses,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>No. 29</td><td class='bol'>to 32. 4 Hogshd. Corn,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>10</td><td class='bol'>Baggs Corn,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>10</td><td class='bol'>Baggs Meal,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>2</td><td class='bol'>Carts with Furniture,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>500</td><td class='bol'>feet Boards,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>1</td><td class='bol'>pr. Smiths Bellows,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>1</td><td class='bol'>Box Smiths Tools,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>1</td><td class='bol'>Anvil,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>1</td><td class='bol'>Camp Kettle,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>10</td><td class='bol'>Ox Yokes,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>70</td><td class='bol'>Bundles of Hay,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>2</td><td class='bol'>Handpumps,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>18</td><td class='bol'>Pails,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>4</td><td class='bol'>Tubbs,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>2</td><td class='bol'>Shovells,</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td class='bol r'>4</td><td class='bol'>Barr's Water, Settled.</td>
+	</tr>
+	</table>
+</td>
+<td style='vertical-align: top'>
+	<table border='0' cellpadding='1' cellspacing='1' summary="bill of lading right column">
+	<tr>
+	<td style="font-size:90%; text-align:justify; padding-right:1em; padding-left:.5em;
+	vertical-align:top;"><span class="dropcap" style='text-indent:-.5em;'>S</span>hipped
+	by the Grace of God in good Order and well Condition'd by Thomas
+	Hancock, by order of His Excell'cy Major General Amherst, in and upon
+	the	good sloop call'd the ``Endeavour,'' whereof is Master under <span
+	style='font-variant:small-caps'>God</span>, for this present Voyage, William Clift,
+	and now riding at Anchor in the Harbour of
+	Boston, and by God's Grace bound for The Expedition up the River St. Lawrence,
+	to say, Twelve Oxen, Six Horses, Four Hogshead and Ten Bags of Corn,
+	Ten Bags of Meal, two Carts with their Furniture, Five hundred feet of Boards,
+	One Pair Smiths Bellows, One Box Smiths Tools, One Anvill, One Camp
+	Kettle, Ten Ox Yokes, Seventy Bundles of Hay, Two handpumps, Eighteen
+	pails, Four Tubbs, Two Shovells, Four Barrells Water; being mark'd and number'd
+	as in the Margin, and to be delivered in the like good Order, and well
+	Condition'd, at the aforesaid Port of &mdash;&mdash; (the Danger of
+	the Seas only excepted)	unto His Excell'cy Major General Wolfe, or to
+	his Assigns,&mdash;&mdash;or they paying Freight for the said Goods&mdash;&mdash;
+Nothing&mdash;&mdash;with Primage
+	and Average accustom'd. In Witness whereof the Master or Purser of the said
+	sloop hath affirmed to Two Bills of Lading, all of this Tenor and date; the one
+	of which Two Bills being accomplished, the other one to stand void.	And so
+	<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>God</span> send the good sloop
+	to her desired Port in Safety, <i>Amen</i>. Dated in<br /><br />
+	<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Boston</span>, <i>May 14, 1759</i>.</td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+	<td style='text-align:right;'>
+	<span style='font-size:90%; margin-right:5%;'>WILL<sup>M.</sup> CLIFT.</span>
+	</td>
+	</tr>
+	</table>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VIII' id='VIII'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span>
+<h2>VIII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+On my occasional visit to Boston, I usually
+put up at the Eastern Stage House, perhaps
+because it was there that the stage-coach by
+which I arrived at the city discharged its passengers.
+It was an old fashioned establishment,
+which but for the absence of galleries,
+might remind one of the famous Tabard Inn,
+from which Chaucer&#8217;s pilgrims set out. For its
+capacious yard, in which the passengers alighted,
+and where they remounted for their homeward
+journey, was approached through a narrow cross
+street, and in its ample stables the stage-horses
+took their rest and refreshment. The front entrance
+to the tavern was under an archway on
+Ann street, loyally named for the old queen;
+for which title was not long ago senselessly substituted
+the unsuggestive appellation of North
+street. It has long since given place to more
+modern edifices. It was a comfortable place
+of temporary residence, and in illustration of
+former manners I remember one practice which
+I have never seen elsewhere. At the plate
+of each guest, at dinner, was placed a small decanter
+of brandy, holding I suppose half-a-pint
+of that liquor, and for which no extra charge
+appeared in the bill, which account itself was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span>
+moderate enough compared with the inordinate
+hotel reckonings of the present day.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IX' id='IX'></a>
+<h2>IX.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+In small matters, as well as in great, history
+repeats itself. Thus, the anachronic emotion
+of Miss &mdash;&mdash; (on page <a href="#LN_hysterical_girl">17</a>) finds its parallel in
+&#8220;Facetię Poggii,&#8221; written at Florence, in the
+year 1450, of which the following story is
+one:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;Cyriac of Ancona, a wordy man and much
+given to talk, was once deploring in our presence
+the fall and ruin of the Roman empire,
+and seemed to be vehemently grieved at it.
+Then Anthony Lusco, a most learned man, who
+also stood by, said, jeering at the silly grief of
+the fellow, &#8216;He is very like a man of Milan,
+who, hearing on a feast day one of the race
+of minstrels, who are wont to sing the deeds
+of departed heroes to the people, reciting
+the death of Roland, who was slain about
+seven hundred years before in battle, fell at
+once a-weeping bitterly, and when he got home
+to his wife, and she saw him sad and sighing,
+and asked what was the matter, &#8220;Alas! alas!
+wife,&#8221; he said, &#8220;we are as good as dead and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span>
+gone.&#8221; &#8220;Why, man,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;what
+dreadful thing has befallen you? Take comfort
+and come to supper.&#8221; But he, when he
+went on sobbing and sighing, and would take
+no food, and his wife pressed him to tell the
+cause of his woe, at last said, &#8220;Don&#8217;t you know
+the bad news I have heard to-day?&#8221; &#8220;What?&#8221;
+asked the wife. &#8220;Roland is dead, who alone
+was the safeguard of Christendom.&#8221; On which
+his wife tried to soothe the silly grief of her
+husband, and yet, with all her tenderness, could
+scarce get him to sit down to meat.&#8217;&#8221;<a name="FNanchor_13" id="FNanchor_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>
+</p>
+<p>
+The effect of the ballad, however, upon the
+worthy man of Milan reminds one of the historical
+incident, recording the effect of song,
+celebrated anew in one of the stanzas of Childe
+Harold:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<table summary='poetry' class='pts'>
+<tr><td><p>&#8220;When Athens&#8217; armies fell at Syracuse,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And fettered thousands felt the yoke of war,<br />
+Redemption rose up in the Attic Muse,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Her voice their only ransom from afar;<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;See! as they chant the tragic hymn, the car<br />
+Of the o&#8217;ermastered victor stops: the reins<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fall from his hands&mdash;his idle <ins class="trnote" title="scimetar">scimitar</ins><br />
+Starts from its belt&mdash;he rends his captives&#8217; chains,<br />
+And bids them thank the bard for freedom and his strains.&#8221;
+</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='X' id='X'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span>
+<h2>X.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The ancestor of Colonel Edward Wigglesworth,
+mentioned in the text, an officer of the
+Revolution, highly esteemed by Washington,
+was Rev. Michael Wigglesworth, author of &#8220;The
+Day of Doom,&#8221; published in the last quarter of
+the seventeenth century, and reprinted in London;
+a dreadfully dismal, but edifying poem,
+and not without a certain horrifying merit.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XI' id='XI'></a>
+<h2>XI.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Were it within the scope of this work, I
+might furnish a catalogue, by no means meagre,
+of inhabitants formerly distinguished in their
+day and generation. For example, I have
+heard it stated as a curious fact, that, not far
+from the beginning of the present century, each
+of the three Professors of Harvard College,
+namely, Professors Webber, afterwards President;
+Pearson, and Toppan, were natives of
+Newbury.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XII' id='XII'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span>
+<h2>XII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+I could hardly dismiss this volume from my
+hands without some reference to the means of
+public information furnished by the newspapers
+of the town. Of these, there have been, since
+&#8220;The Essex Journal,&#8221; soon afterwards merged
+in &#8220;The Impartial Herald,&#8221; and first published
+in 1773, between thirty and forty attempts to
+establish newspapers; but the &#8220;Herald,&#8221; the
+successor of those before-named, for many
+years conducted as a semi-weekly journal, and
+since the year 1832 as a daily paper, has alone
+steadily maintained its ground. It has always
+been distinguished for the editorial ability displayed
+in its columns, and for a care bestowed
+upon its several departments, which gave it a
+high reputation, scarcely surpassed by that of
+leading journals in our larger cities.
+</p>
+<p>
+&#8220;The Essex Journal&#8221; was begun by Isaiah
+Thomas, who in the course of a year sold his
+interest in it to Ezra Lunt; and he, after two
+years, obeying another call to public service,
+sold it to John Mycall. The first of these
+began life in the humblest condition, without
+schooling of any kind, it is alleged; taught
+himself to read and write, and after a time removed
+to Worcester, became connected with a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span>
+noted paper there, the &#8220;Massachusetts Spy,&#8221; at
+length accumulated a handsome fortune, for the
+times, much of which, after a long life, he bequeathed
+to the Antiquarian Society of Worcester,
+and a portion to Harvard College, and other
+literary institutions. He was the founder, also,
+of the American Antiquarian Society. He became
+a writer and educator of much repute.
+</p>
+<p>
+Upon the breaking out of the Revolutionary
+war, Mr. Ezra Lunt was the first man who volunteered,
+in the meeting-house, when the minister,
+Rev. Mr. Parsons, exhorted his parishioners
+to military service; was chosen captain of
+the company, with which he was present in
+command at Bunker Hill, and afterwards was
+raised to the rank of major. He took part in
+the battle of Monmouth Court House, when
+the British army, under Sir Henry Clinton, retired
+with much difficulty and loss before Washington,
+and used to relate the particulars of the
+well-known rebuke administered by that great
+chief to General Charles Lee for his hasty retreat
+from the advanced post, which had been
+assigned him. He declared himself to have
+been close by at the moment, and to have
+heard the energetic language used on the occasion.
+After the war, he received his allotment
+of land, and settled upon it, at Marietta, Ohio.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+Mr. Mycall was a person of much natural
+capacity and shrewdness, with certain eccentricities
+of character, and kept up a little politic
+mystery about himself. He once engaged a
+well-known carriage-maker of the day to build
+him a chaise, which it was agreed should be
+finished at a certain time. When the specified
+period arrived, the vehicle was not forthcoming.
+Enduring a similar disappointment several
+times, and expressing himself strongly about it
+to the offender, that individual promised it to
+him positively at a certain date, <i>if he was alive</i>.
+Even then, it was not delivered; but what was
+the astonishment of the faulty party to read in
+his newspaper the next morning, &#8220;Died, yesterday,
+P. B., chaise-maker,&#8221; etc. In a state of
+boiling indignation he rushed to the street, and
+on the way to the office of publication called
+the attention of various acquaintances to the
+wrongful statement, which, it appeared, no one
+had observed. Entering the office, he inquired,
+with much feeling, how Mr. Mycall could have
+published such a paragraph. &#8220;Did you not
+promise me,&#8221; said the editor, &#8220;that my chaise
+should be sent home, on such a day, if you
+were alive?&#8221; &#8220;Well, supposing I did?&#8221;
+&#8220;Why, then, of course, you must be dead!&#8221;
+Taking up a copy of the paper from his desk,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span>
+and examining the obituary notices, &#8220;But,&#8221; said
+the editor, &#8220;there is no such statement here.&#8221;
+The bewildered chaise-maker hastened home to
+examine his paper anew; and it appeared, on
+inquiry, that the account of his decease was
+printed only in his own copy; a gloomy jest,
+which was soon much relished by the community.
+</p>
+<p>
+Indeed, the town became for a time a noted
+place for the publication of standard works, and
+books of various descriptions. It was here
+that the well-known Mr. Edmund M. Blunt,
+who subsequently removed to the city of New
+York, published his valuable and famous
+&#8220;American Coast Pilot,&#8221; and, afterwards, the
+no less useful &#8220;Practical Navigator.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIII' id='XIII'></a>
+<h2>XIII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+In attestation of the remark, on page <a href="#LN_antiquated">144</a> of
+the text, that an antiquated pronunciation of
+many English words prevailed long in New
+England, after it was disused in Old England,
+and was brought by the colonists from the
+Mother Country, see the criticism of &#8220;Holofernes&#8221;
+upon innovations in pronunciation, in
+Act V., Sc. 1, of &#8220;Love&#8217;s Labor Lost,&#8221; showing
+the state of the case in Shakespeare&#8217;s time.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIV' id='XIV'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span>
+<h2>XIV.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+In closing this Appendix, which might be
+extended to almost any length, as recollections
+which did not occur to me in writing the body
+of the work come up, I cannot omit a remarkable
+use of the American language, let us say,
+since the Czar once so denominated the English
+tongue. It was upon the part of a town constable,
+perhaps as nearly of the Dogberry type
+as could be imagined. I was standing in the
+town hall, at a moment preliminary to a public
+meeting. A knot of youngsters had been joking
+one another, when this authoritative official
+approached. All but one speedily retired before
+the awful presence. &#8220;Master Constable&#8221;
+addressed the lingerer: &#8220;<i>Disperge</i>,&#8221;&mdash;a difficult
+operation for an individual,&mdash;&#8220;<i>disperge</i>, I
+say; we can&#8217;t have no <i>burlash</i> here!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>
+Even Shakespeare might have been glad of
+such an opportunity to enlarge the cacology, by
+actual hearing, of some of his most amusing
+characters.
+</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 10%; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both; margin: 2em auto 1em 0' />
+
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_13' id='Footnote_13'></a><a href='#FNanchor_13'><span class='label'>[13]</span></a>
+<p>
+Quoted in Dasent&#8217;s &#8220;Jest and Earnest.&#8221; London, 1873.
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span>
+</p>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='INDEX' id='INDEX'></a>
+<h2>INDEX</h2>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='mini' />
+
+<p style='margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Academy, of good standing, <a href='#page_137'>137</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Adams, J. Q., <a href='#page_134'>134</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Addison on English Superstition, <a href='#page_176'>176</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Adventure of American Sea-captain with Christophe, Emperor of Hayti, <a href='#page_61'>61</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Algerines;&#8221; their Quarrel with Foreign Sailors, <a href='#page_74'>74</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Ancient Elder, <a href='#page_120'>120</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Ancient Episcopal Church; its former Rector, Bishop of Massachusetts, <a href='#page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#page_130'>130</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Apparition, an, <a href='#page_184'>184</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Aristocracy, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Aunt Judith, <a href='#page_23'>23</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Aunt Judith&#8217;s Narrative of Witchcraft, <a href='#page_169'>169</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Balaklava Charge, <a href='#page_28'>28</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Bar, dangerous, <a href='#page_6'>6</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Bartlett, William, <a href='#page_33'>33</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Beggars, mimic, <a href='#page_106'>106</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Beverages, formerly, <a href='#page_96'>96</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Bishop Bass, <a href='#page_130'>130</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Bold Youngster, <a href='#page_165'>165</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Books, some that we read, <a href='#page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#page_139'>139</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Borderers, <a href='#page_74'>74</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Boyish Sports, <a href='#page_14'>14</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Bradbury, Judge, <a href='#page_34'>34</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+British Orders in Council, <a href='#page_108'>108</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Bromfield Legacy, <a href='#page_18'>18</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Buchan, Earl of, <a href='#page_63'>63</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Campbell, &#8220;Tom,&#8221; <a href='#page_27'>27</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Cannon for street posts, <a href='#page_58'>58</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Capen, Parson, <a href='#page_178'>178</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Characteristic Letter, <a href='#page_40'>40</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Christmas Evening, <a href='#page_161'>161</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Christmas Hymn, <a href='#page_163'>163</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Christophe of Hayti, <a href='#page_61'>61</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Clergy of the town, <a href='#page_122'>122</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Clergyman, Scottish, <a href='#page_166'>166</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Collector Marquand, <a href='#page_37'>37</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Collector Wigglesworth, <a href='#page_36'>36</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Comparative value of money, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Congregation, &#8220;Scrupulous,&#8221; <a href='#page_122'>122</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Consequences of war and embargo, <a href='#page_57'>57</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Court of Common Pleas, <a href='#page_83'>83</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Cunning expedient, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Dalton, Tristram, <a href='#page_34'>34</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Damage of war, <a href='#page_38'>38</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Dana, Rev. Dr., <a href='#page_128'>128</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Dangerous bar, <a href='#page_6'>6</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Devil&#8217;s den, <a href='#page_15'>15</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Dexter, &#8220;Lord,&#8221; <a href='#page_63'>63</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Dexter&#8217;s poet, <a href='#page_66'>66</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Dinah for Diana, <a href='#page_145'>145</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Discourse of Rev. Mr. Murray, <a href='#page_99'>99</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Dissatisfied washerwoman, <a href='#page_104'>104</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Dogberry and Verges, <a href='#page_198'>198</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Domestic, Scottish, <a href='#page_104'>104</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Earl of Buchan, <a href='#page_63'>63</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Earthquakes in former times, <a href='#page_113'>113</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Edinburgh, similar habits in, <a href='#page_10'>10</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Elder, an old-fashioned, <a href='#page_120'>120</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span>
+Emperor of Hayti, <a href='#page_61'>61</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+English Clergymen, <a href='#page_124'>124</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+English Reader. Are modern text-books as useful?, <a href='#page_137'>137</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+English superstition, <a href='#page_176'>176</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Enterprise, Maritime and Commercial, <a href='#page_5'>5</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Extraordinary images, <a href='#page_63'>63</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Failure, swindling, <a href='#page_103'>103</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Favor, Johnny: his opinion of polemics, <a href='#page_133'>133</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Few insane persons, and the treatment of them formerly, <a href='#page_45'>45</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Fights of boys, <a href='#page_10'>10</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Fine trees, <a href='#page_17'>17</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Fire, strange, <a href='#page_190'>190</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Fire, the &#8220;great,&#8221; <a href='#page_103'>103</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Foot-warming process, <a href='#page_118'>118</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Former Rector of St. Paul&#8217;s a Bishop, <a href='#page_130'>130</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Former severe winters, <a href='#page_1'>1</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Former solemn proceedings in naturalization, <a href='#page_110'>110</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Fourth of July, <a href='#page_98'>98</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Fright of an old woman, <a href='#page_100'>100</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Fugitive Sea-captain and a lively chase, <a href='#page_58'>58</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Ghost, reputed, <a href='#page_180'>180</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Gould, Miss Hannah F., <a href='#page_31'>31</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Gourmand, a, <a href='#page_98'>98</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Great Fire, <a href='#page_103'>103</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Greys, Silver, <a href='#page_56'>56</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Grouse, Old, story of, <a href='#page_146'>146</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Growth of Episcopal Church, <a href='#page_130'>130</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Habits in Edinburgh, <a href='#page_10'>10</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Habits, jovial, of old times, <a href='#page_96'>96</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Hardships of early times, <a href='#page_40'>40</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span>
+Hay-time treating, <a href='#page_109'>109</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Hinx-minx,&#8221; origin of, <a href='#page_174'>174</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Hohenlinden, <a href='#page_28'>28</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Holt, Granny, <a href='#page_169'>169</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Home, return to, <a href='#page_202'>202</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+How they used to &#8220;break,&#8221; <a href='#page_103'>103</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Huntington, Countess of, and her Seminary, <a href='#page_124'>124</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Hymn, Christmas, <a href='#page_163'>163</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Images, extraordinary, <a href='#page_63'>63</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Indifference to cold, <a href='#page_119'>119</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Inquisitive spinster, <a href='#page_123'>123</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Insane persons, few, <a href='#page_45'>45</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Internal trade, <a href='#page_67'>67</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Introductory chapters to Scott&#8217;s novels, <a href='#page_159'>159</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Jackson family, <a href='#page_24'>24</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+James, King of Scotland, <a href='#page_106'>106</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Johnson, Samuel, Dr., <a href='#page_26'>26</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Joppa Jine,&#8221; <a href='#page_144'>144</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Jovial habits of old times, <a href='#page_109'>109</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Judith, Aunt, <a href='#page_23'>23</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+July 4th, <a href='#page_98'>98</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+King James of Scotland, <a href='#page_106'>106</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+King Louis Philippe, <a href='#page_4'>4</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+King, Rufus, <a href='#page_135'>135</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Lee, Mrs. George, <a href='#page_31'>31</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Longfellow, <a href='#page_32'>32</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Lowells, The, <a href='#page_24'>24</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Magistrate and culprit, <a href='#page_51'>51</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Mansions, remarkable, <a href='#page_18'>18</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span>
+Manufacturing establishments, <a href='#page_4'>4</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Maritime enterprise, <a href='#page_5'>5</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Market Square, triangular, <a href='#page_66'>66</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Marquand, Collector, <a href='#page_37'>37</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Massachusetts, Diocese of, <a href='#page_130'>130</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Meeting-houses&mdash;stoves and organs, <a href='#page_118'>118</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Merchant, rich, <a href='#page_34'>34</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Milton, Rev. Mr., <a href='#page_124'>124</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Mimic beggars, <a href='#page_106'>106</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Money, comparative value of, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Moses is come!,&#8221; <a href='#page_100'>100</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Murray, Rev. Mr., <a href='#page_99'>99</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Murray&#8217;s Reader, <a href='#page_137'>137</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Naturalization, etc., <a href='#page_110'>110</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+New England pronunciation, <a href='#page_144'>144</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+New England superstition, of old, <a href='#page_160'>160</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Novelist, English, his surprise, <a href='#page_9'>9</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Nutting, etc., <a href='#page_14'>14</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Old-fashioned hospitality in beverages, <a href='#page_109'>109</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Old Grouse,&#8221; story of, <a href='#page_146'>146</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Old Peddlers, <a href='#page_67'>67</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Old Woman, fright of, <a href='#page_100'>100</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Orders in Council, British, <a href='#page_108'>108</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Organ of St. Paul&#8217;s, <a href='#page_118'>118</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Origin of &#8220;Hinx-Minx,&#8221; <a href='#page_174'>174</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Our Town, <a href='#page_5'>5</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Paine, Robert Treat, <a href='#page_134'>134</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Parson, Capen, <a href='#page_178'>178</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Parsonage and its curious picture, <a href='#page_52'>52</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Parsons, Chief Justice, <a href='#page_134'>134</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Particular Shoemaker, <a href='#page_48'>48</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span>
+Peabody, George, <a href='#page_33'>33</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Peace of 1783, <a href='#page_99'>99</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Peddlers, old, <a href='#page_67'>67</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+People of St. James&#8217;s, <a href='#page_131'>131</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Perkins, Jacob, <a href='#page_25'>25</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Personal part of leading citizens in politics, <a href='#page_94'>94</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Persons, distinguished, <a href='#page_34'>34</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Picture, curious, <a href='#page_52'>52</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Pike, Nicholas, <a href='#page_25'>25</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Polemics, <a href='#page_132'>132</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Political hostilities, <a href='#page_55'>55</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Poultry in profusion, <a href='#page_67'>67</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Practice, modern, of naturalization, <a href='#page_110'>110</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Professional persons, etc., <a href='#page_83'>83</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Project,&#8221; what it is, <a href='#page_174'>174</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Putnam, Oliver, <a href='#page_33'>33</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Quaker meeting, <a href='#page_136'>136</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Queer contrast of language, <a href='#page_61'>61</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Railways and their influence, <a href='#page_142'>142</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Ramsay, Dean, and others, Reminiscences of, <a href='#page_10'>10</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Reader, Murray&#8217;s English, <a href='#page_137'>137</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Reading parties, <a href='#page_142'>142</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Refinement of certain classes, <a href='#page_133'>133</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Reputed apparition, <a href='#page_192'>192</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Respect for the clergy, <a href='#page_29'>29</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Retort courteous,&#8221; <a href='#page_27'>27</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Rev. Dr. Dana, <a href='#page_128'>128</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Rev. Mr. Milton, <a href='#page_124'>124</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Rev. Dr. Morse, <a href='#page_131'>131</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Rev. Mr. Murray, <a href='#page_122'>122</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Rev. Dr. Spring, <a href='#page_29'>29</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Richard, Uncle, <a href='#page_162'>162</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Sabbath, how kept, <a href='#page_120'>120</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Sailing adventure, <a href='#page_7'>7</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Salt,&#8221; ancient, <a href='#page_3'>3</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Saturday and Sunday evenings, <a href='#page_30'>30</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Scenery on the river, <a href='#page_5'>5</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+School books, etc., <a href='#page_137'>137</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Schoolmaster, a shrewd, <a href='#page_140'>140</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Scott&#8217;s Autobiography, <a href='#page_10'>10</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Scott&#8217;s reply to certain critics, <a href='#page_159'>159</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Scottish domestic, cool and faithful, <a href='#page_104'>104</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Scrupulous&#8221; congregation, <a href='#page_122'>122</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Scrupulous shoemaker, <a href='#page_48'>48</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Severe winters, <a href='#page_1'>1</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Shipbuilding, etc., <a href='#page_5'>5</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Silver Greys, <a href='#page_56'>56</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Singular companion, <a href='#page_168'>168</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Singular night adventure, <a href='#page_87'>87</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Snow-storm in old times, <a href='#page_2'>2</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Social security, <a href='#page_85'>85</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Stage-house, <a href='#page_53'>53</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+St. James&#8217;s, <a href='#page_143'>143</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Story of an apparition, <a href='#page_179'>179</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Story of bold youngster, <a href='#page_165'>165</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Stove in Church, <a href='#page_118'>118</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Street fights of boys, <a href='#page_10'>10</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Striking adventure of Rufus King, <a href='#page_135'>135</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Surprise of Thackeray, <a href='#page_9'>9</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Swett and Schwedt, <a href='#page_30'>30</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Swindling failure, <a href='#page_103'>103</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Sympathetic young lady, <a href='#page_17'>17</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Tennyson&#8217;s &#8220;Charge at Balaklava,&#8221; <a href='#page_28'>28</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Text instead of sermon, <a href='#page_119'>119</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Thanks be to Praise!,&#8221; <a href='#page_202'>202</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span>
+Thanksgiving, <a href='#page_105'>105</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Timber and shipbuilding, <a href='#page_5'>5</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+&#8220;Tom&#8221; Campbell, <a href='#page_27'>27</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Topsfield spectre, <a href='#page_177'>177</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Town-meeting and resolute chairman, <a href='#page_96'>96</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Trade, internal, of the town, <a href='#page_67'>67</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Traders, small, <a href='#page_67'>67</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Treating in hay-time, <a href='#page_109'>109</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Trees of great beauty, <a href='#page_17'>17</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Triangular Market Square, <a href='#page_66'>66</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Tyng Family, <a href='#page_24'>24</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Uncle Richard, <a href='#page_162'>162</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+United States after a runaway, <a href='#page_58'>58</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Unterrified clergyman, <a href='#page_166'>166</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Verges and Dogberry, <a href='#page_198'>198</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Vulgarian of the nouveaux riches, <a href='#page_62'>62</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Wages, low rate of, <a href='#page_23'>23</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Walsh, Michael, <a href='#page_25'>25</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+What a &#8220;project&#8221; is or was, <a href='#page_174'>174</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Wheelwright, William, <a href='#page_32'>32</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Whipping-post, <a href='#page_123'>123</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Wigglesworth, Colonel, <a href='#page_36'>36</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Winters, severe formerly, <a href='#page_1'>1</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Witchcraft, and Uncle Richard&#8217;s opinion of it, <a href='#page_167'>167</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Wood&#8217;s account of the aristocracy., <a href='#page_21'>21</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Yankee acuteness, <a href='#page_141'>141</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:0.0em; margin-bottom:0.0em'>
+Young persons sent to the town for education, <a href='#page_134'>134</a>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-left:2em; margin-right:-2%; margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<p style='margin-top:1.0em; margin-bottom:1.0em'>
+</p>
+<hr class='ppg-pb' />
+<p><a name="ATN"></a></p>
+<table summary="additional transcriber notes" style='margin:3em auto 0 auto; width:30em; border:1px solid lime; padding:15px;'>
+
+<tr><td>
+<p style='font-size:small; color:#006400; text-align:left;'>Additional Transcriber&#8217;s Notes: <br /><br />
+
+The following changes were made to the original text. The correction is enclosed in brackets:<br /><br />
+
+Page 106: and they skurried away [scurried]<br /><br />
+Page 116: but the fact incontestibly proves, [incontestably]<br /><br />
+Page 187: My mother was in close attendance upon sick members of my sister&#8217;s family? [changed punctuation to a period]<br /><br />
+Page 230: Fall from his hands&mdash;his idle scimetar [scimitar]</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<!-- generated by ppgen.rb version: 2.71 -->
+<!-- timestamp: Sun Jan 25 18:38:28 -0800 2009 -->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Old New England Traits, by Anonymous
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Old New England Traits, by Anonymous
+
+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: Old New England Traits
+
+Author: Anonymous
+
+Editor: George Lunt
+
+Release Date: February 6, 2009 [EBook #28013]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD NEW ENGLAND TRAITS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank, Darleen Dove and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  OLD NEW ENGLAND TRAITS
+
+  EDITED BY
+
+  GEORGE LUNT
+
+  ... this story's actually true.
+  If any person doubt it, I appeal
+  To history, tradition, and to facts,
+  To newspapers, whose truth all know and feel.
+                                         BYRON
+
+  NEW YORK
+  PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON
+  Cambridge: the Riverside Press
+  1873
+
+
+
+
+  Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by
+  GEORGE LUNT,
+  in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
+
+  RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:
+  STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY
+  _H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY_.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+The Editor of this little volume does not deem it incumbent upon him to
+explain in what way the author's manuscript came into his possession. He
+hopes it may be enough for him to say, that the writer believed himself
+to be the only person whose memory retained most of the incidents and
+anecdotes herein recorded; and a long and familiar acquaintance with his
+character enables the Editor to state, that entire credence is due to his
+narrative of facts, written down as occurring within his own knowledge
+and to his relation of whatever he alleges himself to have derived from
+others. A slight veil of mystery seems to have been originally thrown
+over the story; especially in regard to the names of persons; but, as all
+who are familiar with the locality will at once recognize its general
+features, the Editor has thought it best, for the benefit of others not
+so well informed, to make all proper explanations on this point in the
+Index.
+
+Sometimes, New England has been spoken of as devoid of the elements of
+romance; but perhaps this idea may be owing to the fact, that the means
+of presenting a different aspect of the case have not been sufficiently
+investigated. A similar impression has prevailed in respect to Roman
+history and literature, whether fabulous or otherwise; and the fathers of
+New England, at least, have been thought to have exhibited some of the
+traits, especially the simplicity and severity of character, which
+distinguished those more ancient worthies, whose names and deeds have
+been so long famous. But without making other citations, I may remark,
+that I am scarcely acquainted with a poem more thoroughly romantic in
+conception and sentiment, than "Gallus," the tenth eclogue of Virgil;
+and Macaulay, in his "Lays of Ancient Rome," has turned some of its
+legends to fine poetical account. Where can be found, for instance, a
+prettier, or more suggestive picture, than the passage in his "Virginia,"
+which some inspired painter might make immortal upon canvas, as it is in
+verse:--
+
+  "With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel on
+          her arm,
+   Home she went bounding from the school, nor dreamed
+          of shame or harm."
+
+Perhaps, the solemnities of the colonial history of New England may have
+overshadowed much of whatever poetical interest might be discovered in
+its private annals. It depends upon the reader, whether the present
+narrative may be thought in some measure to qualify the imputation in
+question.
+
+                                                                 G. L.
+
+
+OLD NEW ENGLAND TRAITS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It was the winter of 18--, between fifty and sixty years ago. Certainly
+the winters of New England began earlier and were more severe than they
+have seemed at a later period. After the fervid heat of summer has become
+subdued by the progressive changes of the season, no atmosphere could be
+clearer, purer, more exhilarating than the prevailing tone of our October
+days, and this kindly influence, as if by way of preparing the human
+frame for the gradual approach of winter, generally extends, with
+occasional stormy intermissions, through November, and often very far
+into the frosty domain of December itself. And such snow-storms as we
+once endured! It may be alleged, that distance of time forbids accuracy
+of comparison, and that masses of snow, which appeared vast to a child,
+would not seem so immense to a full-grown man, and were really no more
+huge than some of those with which winter nowadays envelopes the ground.
+But facts within my memory do not admit of such an explanation, for I
+distinctly recollect the driving storm which continued for days and piled
+its accumulating heaps against the front of our dwelling-place, so as
+entirely to cover the windows of the lower story of the house, and to
+rise above the main door which was of ordinary height, and that at length
+we were released from this imprisonment by means of an archway to that
+entrance, dug through the drift by the friendly efforts of an opposite
+neighbor.[1]
+
+Our deliverer was a superannuated seaman; inspired partly, no doubt, by
+the good-heartedness formerly, at least, thought to be characteristic of
+that class of men, and, partly, by respect for the memory of my father,
+who had been dead for some years, in the early prime of life, leaving
+behind him the best of reputations as a shipmaster and a man. Perhaps Tom
+Trudge had, at some time, sailed under him. I well remember the
+triumphant air with which this ancient mariner introduced himself into
+the kitchen, where all the family was assembled, doffing his tarpaulin,
+flourishing his shovel, and cutting one or two capers, in token of his
+hilarity at the accomplishment of his somewhat arduous job. Of course,
+there were profuse thanks and congratulations on the occasion; but I
+recollect only, that, after the second glass of grog furnished by my
+mother,--a refreshment to which Tom was only too partial,--he executed
+another spring from the floor, snapped his fingers and cried, "Tired,
+ma'am!--not a bit of it! For all I've done to-day, by the blessed
+binnacle I should think nothing at all of jumping over a meetin-us,--yes,
+a meetin-us, ma'am!" to the amazement, at the idea of such a feat, of
+certainly all the younger fry who were present at the ceremony.
+
+The town in which we lived was one of the very oldest of the New England
+settlements. Its situation is uncommonly beautiful, upon a slope
+descending from a moderately elevated ridge towards the bank of a noble
+river, which of late years has furnished more motive power to various
+manufacturing establishments in the towns and villages, which have sprung
+up on its borders, than any other stream in the world. At the time of
+which I write, there was not a mill throughout its whole extent. It is
+told, that Louis Philippe, when a fugitive in this country, in his youth,
+passing up the road which leads mostly along the margin of the river to a
+point where the first falls interrupt the navigation, pronounced the
+scenery the most beautiful he had ever seen. The river was then chiefly
+famous for the rafts of admirable timber which it sent down from the
+primeval forests above, for the construction of the unsurpassed ships
+built near the town, and for the commerce flourishing upon its bosom and
+extending to every quarter of the globe. It was idle enough, in
+comparison, at a later period.
+
+Early in the present century, and for a long series of years in the past,
+no town on the American coast surpassed it in commercial enterprise and
+activity. The habits and traditions of the place were well calculated to
+nurse a hardy race of seamen, and their reputation for skill and courage
+was well known throughout the maritime world. Persons are very apt to
+look at some direct circumstance, nearest at hand, for the cause of
+events, which may after all result from much more remote contingencies.
+So, at first, in the days of the declining trade of the town, they said
+the obstruction to its commerce was owing to the sand-bar at the mouth of
+the river. But the bar had been there from time immemorial; and though it
+is true that modern-built vessels, with their cargoes, could not pass
+that barrier, as ships of lesser tonnage were formerly accustomed to do,
+yet the main cause for this decay of business was to be found in the
+growth of the capital of the State, and the greater facilities for the
+transaction of business which exist in larger than in smaller places.
+
+But the bar itself was always of very dangerous passage in boisterous
+weather, and often the daring pilots of the station, than whom none upon
+the coast were more competent and courageous, were exposed to extreme
+peril, in their small craft, in returning to the river, when they had
+been on the look-out for inward-bound vessels in the bay.
+
+It so happened that a schooner in which I was a passenger, when a
+youngster, was detained outside the bar, and was likely to be detained
+for several hours, waiting for the tide to make. A young pilot,
+accompanied by his still younger brother, came alongside in their
+whale-boat, and having some acquaintance with me invited me to sail with
+them to town; and, having been some time absent from home, I gladly
+accepted their offer. Their boat was under a single low sail. The breeze
+was fresh and the day fair, though I could not but be aware, as we bowled
+along towards the bar, that a retreating storm had left some indications
+of its past presence in the tossing foam that sprang upwards as the waves
+dashed upon that treacherous heap of shifting sand. The pilot sat in the
+stern-sheets of the dancing boat, steering steadily with an oar. His
+brother tended the sail, and I was crouched amidships. As we approached
+nearer the scene of commotion, our younger companion assumed a station
+in the bow of the boat and began to sound with an oar. This looked a
+little formidable to a landsman; and soon turning his head in the
+interval of hastily pushing his implement into the water, the bowsman
+called out to his brother, "Joe, are you going to try it?" Joe made no
+sign, but steered steadily on. Again and again the sounding oar went
+rapidly down, and I suppose at last to the bottom, and again the young
+man cried out with renewed energy, "Joe, are you going to try it?" Joe
+uttered no word, but chewing his quid, looked steadfastly forward. In a
+moment a heavy wave struck the boat, drenching us plentifully, but not
+filling her, and bounding up, staggering a little, she dashed on, and
+with another like slap or two, we were over and in fairly smooth water.
+Had the boat struck bottom, she would have been instantly dashed to
+pieces and we should have met the sad fate of others who, before and
+since, have been drowned and lost to sight forever in that seething
+tide.
+
+In a conversation with a very eminent English novelist, of profounder
+skill and more permanent fame, in my opinion, than any other since Scott,
+he expressed his surprise at the solid aspect of the city of Boston, in
+which we had met, on the day after his arrival in this country, upon his
+first lecturing tour. He had enjoyed the best opportunities of viewing
+"men and cities," not only in Europe, but in various parts of the farther
+East. I took the liberty of replying that Boston had been growing nearly
+two centuries and a half, and inquired if he expected to see wigwams, or
+even those slighter fabrics which betoken the earlier stages of advancing
+colonization. He said, "No, of course not; but it had quite as
+substantial an appearance as an English city." But it is to be remembered
+that the persons who came to this country, at first, and from time to
+time, afterwards, were already civilized, and brought with them and
+transmitted to their descendants much of the knowledge and many of the
+habits, peculiarities, and even the traditions of their ancestors "at
+home." Our town, too, looked old; though far from being so substantially
+built as Boston.
+
+In fact, while reading the fragment of Scott's autobiography of his
+earlier days, and Dean Ramsay's "Reminiscences," one might almost think
+that their descriptions of character and manners, in so ancient a city as
+Edinburgh, were in many respects but a recapitulation of popular ways and
+even of personal oddities in our own respectable American town.
+Especially, the great novelist's vivid narrative of the desperate street
+conflicts between the lads of the several quarters of the "auld town,"
+revives many boyish recollections. In my youth, the division was into
+Northenders and Southenders; but as our own residence was in the central
+part of the town, we stood, as it were, between two fires. The conflicts
+usually took place in the winter, when the snow was on the ground, and
+though heartily engaged in, and sometimes quite too rough for play, were
+generally good-natured enough to avoid any very serious danger to life or
+limb. In the higher schools, the lads were drawn from every quarter of
+the town; but upon dismissal for the day, or upon the afternoons of
+Wednesday and Saturday, when no school was kept, the partisans of the
+several sections offered combat which was seldom refused. The usual
+weapons were snow-balls, which were sometimes, I regret to say, dipped in
+water and frozen over night, and kept in some secure place to await the
+expected battle, and occasionally a pebble, the missile commonly used by
+the Scottish combatants, was inserted,--a practice which was almost
+universally condemned. Very seldom did we come to a hand-fight, for a
+spirited "rush," when either party felt strong enough for it, was almost
+always followed by a rapid retreat on the other side. But woe to the
+luckless stripling whose headlong courage carried him far in advance of
+his companions; for upon a sudden turn of affairs he was a captive, and
+down in an instant, and mercilessly "scrubbed" with snow by a dozen ready
+hands, until the rallying host of his compatriots advanced vigorously to
+the rescue. The normal alliance of us middle-men was with the
+Southenders, though a good deal rougher than ourselves; and in times of
+truce a solitary boy would walk a little gingerly through their quarter,
+as errands or family occasions led him that way. But the principal
+commercial interests centered in those parts of the town, and if, upon
+the breaking out of determined warfare, we could secure, in the capacity
+of leader, the services of some lubberly boy who had made a voyage, even
+a mere coasting trip, to sea, though I remember that these were
+sometimes far less adventurous in the field than those who had no
+experience of the perilous deep, the issue of the contest was not for a
+moment doubtful. The forces of our adversaries melted away, like the snow
+with which they fought, at the very presence of a champion supposed to be
+of such redoubted prowess. The dependence of those adverse combatants was
+rather upon some of the younger hangers-on at the ship-yards, in their
+territory, for such a casual auxiliary. Sometimes, the elements of
+military skill would be displayed. While the two forces were closely
+engaged, a flanking party would make a sudden rush up some short
+by-street, and then the complete demoralization and panic-flight of the
+warriors thus newly assailed was something truly disastrous to behold.
+
+Of course, we enjoyed the ordinary boyish sports of boating, swimming,
+and skating in the season for it; or, of a pleasant afternoon, would roam
+away "over the hills," as the phrase ran, huckleberrying, perhaps, or
+gathering penny-royal and other wild herbs for the old folks at home; to
+be dried and reserved for future occasions. For, in those days, a garret
+would hardly be considered complete, without bunches of these simples
+hanging from the beams by strings, or stored away in paper-bags. In the
+fall of the year, we had another resource, long since interdicted by the
+owners of farms in the neighborhood of populous towns. This was the
+pleasure of nutting; for the urchins of those days regarded these kinds
+of fruit, growing on trees in the fields, as a sort of _ferae natura_ and
+free to every passer-by; though the more surly proprietors, even then,
+took much pains to circumvent and capture the lads, as they returned with
+their poles for beating the branches and with their loaded bags, borne by
+two or three of them, hanging by the middle across those implements.
+Sometimes, predatory bands proceeded in force and defied the farmer on
+his own ground. The story was told of one luckless individual who went
+nutting alone and was caught and imprisoned, for a time, in the cellar of
+the farm-house, but mischievously contrived to set all the taps of the
+cider-barrels running, before he was released. These excursions led us
+often to the Devil's Den, an excavation in an abandoned ledge of
+limestone, in a solitary situation at some distance from the town, and
+guarded, now as then, by three rather spectral-looking Lombardy poplars,
+which to us boys had a sort of mystic and undefined significance. Here we
+procured bits of serpentine, interspersed with veins of _rag-stone_, as
+we denominated asbestos, which, strangely enough, we used to chew. I
+suppose that no boy ever went to that place alone, and a sort of solemn
+ceremony attended his first visit with his older playmates, to a scene
+bearing an appellation ominous enough to call up every vague dread of his
+youthful heart. The approach on these occasions was rather circuitous,
+through the pastures, until an elevated mass of stone, standing quite
+solitary, was reached, designated as "Pulpit Rock." To the summit of
+this, the neophyte was required to climb, and there to repeat some
+accustomed formula, I fear not very reverent, by way of initiation, and
+supposed to be of power to avert any malign influences to which the
+unprepared intruder upon the premises of the nominal lord of the domain
+might otherwise be subjected. For these youngsters the ordinary means of
+education were abundantly supplied, and the girls, too, had their Academy
+for those who aspired to something beyond the common range; and when, at
+a later period, I became conversant with their circle, I must say that I
+have never known young ladies of better manners or more cultivated minds.
+As an evidence of more expansive benevolence than usual, and of
+profounder interest in the affairs of the great world abroad, I remember
+that when the class of students in Goldsmith's Ancient History came to
+recitation, one young lady burst into a torrent of tears. The astonished
+teacher anxiously inquired into the cause of her emotion. In the midst of
+her sobs she ejaculated, "Oh, that good man, Socrates! To think they
+should have treated him so!" She was finally soothed; but considering
+that the incident in question was of a rather remote date, this
+ebullition of feeling evinced a generous sympathy with a victim of past
+injustice, truly worthy of a philanthropic mind.
+
+It is still a town of stately mansions upon its principal street, and one
+more beautiful can scarcely be imagined. The magnificent elms, of the
+graceful American kind, which line its borders, have always been reckoned
+a feature of extraordinary beauty. Of late years, special means for
+supplying and preserving this elegant and useful kind of embellishment of
+the streets have been provided by the liberal bequest, for this purpose,
+of Mr. John Bromfield, a native of the town, but long a respected
+merchant at the capital of the State. A conspicuous house standing upon a
+gentle elevation, at some distance from the street, with pleasant grounds
+in its front and rear, was appropriately named by its original proprietor
+"Mount Rural," though not, perhaps, with the most exact observance of the
+requirements of grammatical construction. Still, it has some authority
+for being considered idiomatic, for does not "Pilgrim's Progress" tell us
+of the "Palace Beautiful?" And doubtless many other instances might be
+cited of the substitution of an adjective for a noun. At all events, the
+worthy owner, who built his house in the most approved style of former
+New England architecture, spacious, square, and with projecting windows
+in the roof, made some pretensions to classical allusion; for cultivating
+extensive gardens in the rear of his dwelling, he placed for an
+inscription on his front wall,--
+
+            "Miraturque novas frondes, et non sua poma,"--
+
+a citation which, it is to be feared, would be taken rather as
+encouragement to mischievous urchins, if any of them understood it,
+rather than as a warning to abstain from the fruit.
+
+Near the extremity of the opposite quarter of the town still stands an
+ancient edifice of solid stone, with a couple of stories of porch of the
+same material, approached by a lane, bordered with trees, leading some
+distance from the highway, and constituting, with some modern additions,
+the dwelling-place of a considerable farm. It boasts an age of more than
+two centuries, as appears by the figures above its entrance, and was
+apparently built for defence, when precautions against Indian incursions
+were thought necessary, though afterwards used as a powder-house; and
+tradition has it that, on one occasion, an explosion took place by
+night, which blew away a part of the side wall, lifted the bed on which a
+negro woman, the slave of the occupant, was asleep, bore her safely
+across the road, and planted her, bed and all, upon the spreading
+branches of an apple-tree, without injury. An early owner of the place
+was the ancestor of one of the recent Presidents of the United States,
+and it was known, until quite a modern period, as the PIERCE Farm.
+
+Not many years ago, there still remained at the corner of a street,
+between the points just designated, one of those ancient houses not
+common in this country, the second story resting on heavy beams, which
+showed themselves in the outside walls, and the walls of the long, low
+dwelling filled in with a coat of dark plaster braced by wooden
+cross-pieces, like those of Shakespeare's birthplace at Stratford. The
+handsome houses before alluded to were the residences chiefly of
+merchants, or sea-captains, who had retired from their maritime or
+commercial occupations with a competence, or of prosperous professional
+persons.[2] But a competence in those frugal days was an insignificant
+sum in comparison with the fortunes of our own time, scarcely approaching
+the annual income of the shoddy-masters, who now regulate the avenues of
+social and so-called aristocratic life. Indeed, I was once informed by an
+old inhabitant, that the richest person in the town, near the close of
+the last century, was assessed upon only ten thousand dollars' worth of
+personal property. But I think there must be some mistake in this
+statement, unless the rate of taxation was exceedingly low; for this same
+prosperous merchant devoted twenty times as much as that reputed capital
+to certain pious uses, during his protracted life-time, and still left
+forty times as much at his decease. Doubtless in those better days, the
+inevitable "rates" ("death and rates," they used to say, "were certain")
+were so small as to press but lightly upon the incomes of individuals in
+moderate circumstances, and the means of getting at the exact measure of
+a man's worldly "worth," had not reached their present degree of
+perfection. Indeed I may state, upon unquestionable authority, that, late
+in the first quarter of the present century, a highly respected trader of
+the town, who lived genteelly and was taxed upon a supposed capital of
+eighteen thousand dollars, waited upon the assessors and blandly told
+them, "Gentlemen, I have been more than usually prosperous the last
+year, and am willing you should tax me upon an additional thousand."
+Such combined integrity and disinterestedness was the theme of universal
+commendation; but when the old gentleman went to another reckoning a few
+years afterwards, his heirs had the benefit of an estate nearer one
+hundred thousand dollars in value, than the limited capital which had
+contributed its quota to the public burdens. In a word, I have heard my
+Aunt Judith say, that in her youth it was usual for respectable young
+women to take service with more thriving neighbors or friends, for the
+annual allowance of their board and a single calico gown, at four and
+sixpence a yard,--as the price was before mills were established on our
+own ground.
+
+I cannot help referring more particularly to some of the families of the
+town, who imparted to it a well-founded reputation, not surpassed, if
+equaled, by that of any town or city in the land; for instance, there
+were the Lowells, who gave name, afterwards, to that wonderful city of
+spindles, which enjoys as world-wide a standing in the annals of
+manufacturing enterprise as the old-world Manchester of a long-anterior
+date, and one of whom, amid the desolate ruins of Luxor, struck by the
+hand of fatal disease, conceived the idea of establishing that noble
+Institute which bears his name, and will convey it to future grateful
+generations; a name, too, which has so resounded in the popular
+literature of the day. Then, there were the Jacksons, famous in mechanics
+and in two of the learned professions; Charles Jackson, the erudite and
+upright judge, and James Jackson, one of those skillful and truly
+benevolent physicians, whose memory is still in the hearts of many
+surviving patients. The Tyngs, too, resided there, long honorably
+connected with colonial history and still represented by descendants of
+national repute. Amongst other remarkable individuals was Jacob Perkins,
+the famous inventor, who at an advanced age ended his useful career with
+no little foreign celebrity in the great city of the world. I have read
+lately of his successful exhibition of his wonderful steam-gun, in the
+presence of the Duke of Wellington and other competent judges of the
+experiment, and know not what national prejudice, perhaps, or other
+casual reason, prevented its adoption.[3] In science, too, we had
+Master Nicholas Pike, an ancient magistrate, whose arithmetic held its
+ground throughout the country, until it was superseded by that of Master
+Michael Walsh, which received the high commendation of so capital a
+judge, in matters of calculation, as the old land-surveyor and finally
+head of the nation, Washington. Master Walsh was an Irishman by birth,
+though "caught young," as Dr. Johnson remarked, to account for any
+distinction acquired by natives of Scotland; and he displayed much of
+that impulsive temperament imputed to the people of Erin's Green Isle. He
+dressed in the old style, his gray hair gathered into a queue, and
+wearing top-boots to the last. He was an excellent classical scholar, as
+well as mathematician. The pupils he prepared for college did justice to
+his instructions, and some have acquired great eminence in the several
+professions and in the conduct of important national affairs. As an
+instance of his patriotic attachment to his adopted country, upon
+casually meeting, late in life, a certain writer of the town, after a
+cordial salutation, he added with a slight dash of the brogue, "I thank
+ye for the Red and the Blue!" The young person was a little taken aback,
+not remembering the allusion, for a moment, when the old gentleman
+repeated emphatically,--"The Red and the Blue, ye know--Tom Campbell." It
+was in reference to a couple of stanzas, addressed to the United States
+by that great lyric poet, scarcely equaled in his day, namely:--
+
+               "United States! your banner wears
+                  Two emblems: one of fame;
+                Alas! the other that it bears
+                  Reminds us of your shame!
+
+               "The white man's liberty in types
+                  Stands blazoned by your stars:
+                But what's the meaning of your stripes?
+                  They mean your negroes' scars."
+
+To this the American had retorted:--
+
+                        "TO THE ENGLISH FLAG.
+
+           "England! whence came each glowing hue,
+              That tints yon flag of 'meteor' light,[4]--
+            The streaming red, the deeper blue,
+              Crossed with the moonbeam's pearly white?
+
+           "The blood and bruise,--the _blue_ and _red_,--
+              Let Asia's groaning millions speak!
+            The _white_,--it tells the color fled
+              From starving Erin's pallid cheek!"
+
+The verses were at first circulated as above set down. Campbell
+afterwards altered the two first lines of the second stanza into:--
+
+                "Your standard's constellation types
+                 White freedom by its stars," etc.,--
+
+impairing it, as some will think, both in force and in whatever poetical
+expression it may have originally had. Poets are apt to make similar
+mistakes, frittering away the first glow of thought and language, in
+revision. Has not Tennyson thus injured "The ride of the six hundred?"
+and did not Campbell himself half spoil "Hohenlinden," by taming its
+phraseology down into a supposed superfluous accuracy? For example, he
+first wrote,--
+
+            "'Tis morn, but scarce yon lurid sun
+             Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun," etc.
+
+It occurred to him, or some "stop-watch critic" suggested, that the sun
+itself was not actually "lurid," on that celebrated occasion, and he
+accordingly changed the expression to "level," thus signifying a mere
+natural phenomenon; and, besides the sacrifice of a fine poetical
+expression, forgetting that the sun must have appeared actually "lurid"
+through the interposition of "the war-clouds, rolling dun." Nor is this
+the only instance of misapplied fastidiousness in that splendid and
+stirring piece.
+
+Then, there was the Rev. Dr. Spring, father of that celebrated clergyman,
+Dr. Gardiner Spring, of New York. He had been a chaplain in the army of
+the Revolution; and when I, as a boy, pulled off my cap to him in the
+street, I fancied there was something a little military in his polite
+salute in return. The good Doctor held to what were called Hopkinsian
+tenets, a special form of strict orthodoxy; and it was alleged that,
+differing from the ordinary practice of religious people in the town,
+and construing literally the record of the Creation, "The evening and the
+morning were the first day,"--the Saturday evening was observed with
+primitive strictness in the family, while on Sunday evening, after
+sunset, the excellent matron assumed her knitting-work, or attended to
+whatever secular occupation she chose. I have often thought, and it seems
+likely, that the name of Swett--that of one of the most eminent and
+excellent physicians of his day, in our community, and who in fact fell a
+sacrifice to the faithful discharge of his professional duty--was the
+same as Schwedt, borne by the Prince de Schwedt, well known at the court
+of Frederick of Prussia (so called) the Great. The good Doctor examined
+the throat of a yellow fever patient, in a vessel lying at quarantine
+ground in the river, and inhaling his infectious breath, went home
+declaring he had taken the disease, of which he shortly died. The efforts
+and liberality of his son, the late Colonel Samuel Swett, in promoting
+the establishment of the Public Library of the town, though himself long
+a resident in the capital of the State, will forever endear his memory to
+the inhabitants. The daughter of another distinguished physician, Dr.
+Sawyer, was Mrs. George Lee, who gained no little reputation by her
+"Lives of the Ancient Painters," and especially by a book which attained
+great popularity under the title of "Three Experiments of Living." I
+should do great injustice to a list of noted personages--to some of whom
+allusion is made elsewhere in these pages, and which might be extended,
+if consistent with the objects of this work, were I to omit mention of a
+lady, Miss Hannah F. Gould, whose poetical productions gained her
+well-deserved applause and many friends, and some of whose highly
+pleasing verses still retain their hold upon public esteem. Reflectively,
+too, we might claim some share in the distinction of the most popular
+American poet of our own day; for the direct ancestors of Longfellow
+were natives of our immediate vicinage. I had no intention, certainly, of
+offering any tribute to the living in these memorials of the past; but
+one name inevitably suggests itself, better known on 'Change, in London,
+than in the place of his birth. I speak of William Wheelwright, a lad, at
+the period to which these sketches refer, long resident abroad, though
+occasionally brought home by the obligations and affections of family
+ties, to whose enterprise, and arduous, untiring pursuit of his object
+are owing steam navigation and railway lines in the southern part of this
+Continent, and to whose praise the whole South American coast will
+respond.
+
+There were others and many, of high personal character and local
+reputation, and not a few of strongly marked characteristics, whose
+names, perhaps, would scarcely sound familiar to modern ears; but I
+cannot pass over one wealthy merchant, distinguished for his strong
+common sense and decided individuality, as well as for a success in
+business scarcely equaled in this country, in his day,--the well-known
+William Bartlett, to whose judicious bounty the chief theological
+seminary of the State and its principal Academy for the instruction of
+youth owe so much toward the assurance of their permanent foundation.
+
+Nor should the memory of Oliver Putnam fail of a record, who, long absent
+from his native town, provided by his will for a generous bequest, upon
+which a Free School of the highest character has been long established.
+Nor should due tribute be forgotten in honor of George Peabody, who,
+remembering those days of his youth which were passed in acquiring habits
+of business in the place, distinguished its Public Library by a
+munificent gift.
+
+There had been many other men of marked character and great local
+influence: Tracys, Daltons, Greenleafs, Davenports, Hoopers, Bradburys,
+Johnsons, Coffins, Bromfields, Crosses; and many more, doubtless, might
+be thought worthy of mention. Among those named above, Nathaniel Tracy
+was one of the wealthiest merchants of his day, elsewhere referred to in
+this narrative as suffering immense losses by his advances to the
+government, when its needs were great and its credit was low, and in
+other ways. Tristram Dalton was a Senator of the United States from
+Massachusetts, in the First Congress under the Constitution; and
+Theophilus Bradbury, afterwards appointed to the bench of the supreme
+court of the State, was a member of the Federal House of Representatives
+during a part of Washington's administration. Indeed, from some of the
+early inhabitants of the town are descended not a few of the principal
+families in the capital of the State; and its representatives, by some
+tie of original or later connection, are scattered throughout the whole
+country.
+
+I linger somewhat longer and lovingly upon this preliminary part of
+whatever story I may have to tell, because I am aware of nothing in the
+literature of New England which furnishes precisely similar
+reminiscences, and because pictures of past manners, if truthfully
+portrayed, can hardly fail to be both interesting and useful. We heard
+plentiful stories, in our youth, of a higher style of living in colonial
+days, of coaches kept by the upper class of citizens; of their slaves,
+whom we knew in their emancipated condition as gardeners and waiters in
+general; of the cocked hats, the gold-embroidered garments, the laced
+ruffles of the gentlemen, and the highly ornamented, but rather stiff
+garniture in which the ladies with their powdered heads saw fit to array
+themselves, as they now present themselves to us on the living canvas of
+Copley. It was in the handsome residence of Mr. Dalton, long after his
+decease, that I saw hangings of gilded morocco leather on the walls of
+the principal room,--a substitute for the wall-paper in common use, and
+which I have never seen or heard of in any other instance, in the United
+States.
+
+Our collector of the customs was peculiarly one of this class of
+gentlemen of the old school. He was a person of very warm temperament and
+of remarkable characteristics; an ardent Democrat, who, upon the
+accession of President Jefferson, had succeeded Colonel W----, the first
+collector of the port, appointed by Washington, under whom he had served
+with distinction in the Revolutionary War. The residence of the latter,
+and the office of customs itself, in those simpler days, were in the
+house which was afterwards the birthplace of the writer of these
+sketches. To that war the successor of the old soldier principally owed a
+large fortune, which he had accumulated as the result of his privateering
+adventures; and it is said that the prizes came in so plentifully, that
+once he lifted up his hand and declared, "O Lord, it is enough!" However
+this may be, it is certain that not long afterwards his riches gradually
+vanished, and he was compelled to seek and obtained the office upon which
+he supported his declining days. Though "aristocratic" enough in his own
+personal character and demeanor, he was not naturally in much favor with
+the grandees of the old Federal town; but they stood in awe of him,
+nevertheless; for he had been very rich, and in his less prosperous days
+was still a person of the most impulsive and resolute spirit. His
+appearance in public was very marked. His person was manly and his
+countenance singularly striking. He dressed in black, his small-clothes
+terminating in white cotton stockings down to his gouty foot. On his
+white head, decorated with a queue, was his three-cornered hat. He seemed
+to take a pride in walking up the principal business street of the town,
+at the time of high "'Change," and paying attention to no one, to utter
+his not always very conciliatory thoughts aloud, in regard to his
+contemporaries and matters in general, as he threw out sideways the gouty
+foot aforesaid, on his way to the one o'clock dinner, which was the
+fashion of the time.
+
+But the Revolutionary War exhausted the fortunes of many prosperous men
+of the day; and the story is told of one very rich merchant, who could
+drive in his own carriage several days' journey--when such a journey over
+difficult roads was hardly so much as could be accomplished by "the
+hollow, pampered jades of Asia,"--and sleep in his own house every night.
+He lent immense sums, for the time, to the Revolutionary government,
+received what he could recover in depreciated currency, and failed. At
+the period of my narrative, the country was suffering from the
+consequences of another war, and the once active commerce of the old town
+was reduced to the lowest ebb. It was then that active emigration began
+from the sterile soil of New England--since rendered so much more
+productive by intelligent cultivation--to the fertile region known as
+"The Ohio;" just as, not much more than half a century ago, people talked
+of "The Coos country" in New Hampshire, and within a few years we spoke
+of the "Far West," brought at length within the compass of ordinary
+travel and civilization.
+
+As a picture of the rigors and extremities, I fear only too common, of
+early New England life, among its hardy agricultural population, I
+present extracts of a letter received from a venerable friend, a few
+years ago, who from the depths of poverty, having emigrated in his youth
+to wild lands not very far West, had risen to comparative wealth, which
+he devoted to useful purposes. In fact, the son of an extremely poor
+Vermont farmer became, by his own energy and integrity, the possessor of
+a competent fortune, which enabled him, with views far surpassing the
+immediate claims of this transitory world, to build a church and to
+establish a flourishing educational institution, destined long, I trust,
+to dispense infinite blessings to future generations. Thus, after some
+preliminary matter, he proceeds to say, under date of March 16, 1866:--
+
+  "My father was one of the poor men of Vermont. When I was a small
+  boy I have pealed many a birch broom for a sixpence.[5] My Father
+  could get one shilling for what he made, take them on his back,
+  carry them four or five miles, sell them, bring home a little meal,
+  or a little bread, sometimes a half bushel Potatoes. My mother
+  would go two or three miles, and do a washing, bring home at night
+  a loaf of wry bread, and a small peace was all we had for supper
+  and a smaller Piece in the morning. Sometimes we was allowed one
+  Potato roasted in the ashes--no Hearth in the old log-House. My
+  mother has stirred butter in a tea-cup with the point of a knife,
+  to keep her little children from starving. My Father had about half
+  acre of oats--poor fence--the old cow got in the oats and died.
+  Then came the pinch--we as little children had to flee to the woods
+  to get something to sustain life--no schools, no meetings--nothing
+  but hunger and despair. I lived with my Father until I was
+  twenty-one years old. After I was sixteen my Father improved a
+  little in living. When I was a little over twenty-one I got me a
+  wife--we was both Poor--three knifes, three forks, three teacups,
+  three chairs, a poor bed--hardly could we keep house. But our
+  courage was good--my wife always standing by me, through all my
+  trouble and trials--shoulder to shoulder--heart & hand, from the
+  day of our marriage until the day of her Death. No man never had a
+  better wife than I had--always kind to the Poor and to all her
+  relations. She is now in the Grave Yard, and my judgment is, she is
+  well prepared for the next world--and for the good feeling I have
+  had for her for over fifty-six years, I have Erected a monument
+  over her grave weighing 7 tons, and twenty-one feet high--it is a
+  splendid monument--cost me over $600.00.
+
+  "On the Eighth day of last July the Bishop confirmed 28 in our
+  Church at the ---- everything in good order--the singing was
+  complete--my Voice is still heard above all the singers and I still
+  stand at the head of the choir--I am only 77.--On the 16th day of
+  last October, Previous notice being given, the wardens and Vestry
+  met at my house--one minister was also present, a Lawyer being
+  called to do the business. At 2 o'clock, P. M. I commenced handing
+  over Deeds of land, Buildings, Bonds, mortgages, money & furniture,
+  to the amount of nineteen thousand and five hundred Dollars, the
+  use and interest only to be used for the Church and the ----
+  Institute; but in case there should be a failure of the Church &
+  school, for seven years, at any one time, then the Property to go
+  back to my Heirs.
+
+  "I have been schooling from 7 to 11 Poor children, yearly--I am now
+  not schooling as many--my school is doing well--we have a good
+  minister and he is a good Preacher. The Church is doing well. I am
+  now commencing one more building, 60 feet long, 30 feet wide, and
+  three stories high, for the convenience of more room for Boarders
+  in the ---- Institute.
+
+  "I wrung more Bells at the fall of Richmond than any man in the
+  United States, which they was all purchased with one man's money--7
+  was the number, 4 large ones & 3 small ones--it is true I was a
+  little opposed to the War--but no matter. The Brick Church and the
+  Buildings I built for the ---- Institute now with Interest cost me
+  now over $43.000. They are all Paid for and I am out of Debt. I
+  have furnished every stick of wood for the Church, and have carried
+  the most of it in since it was built. I still wring the Bells on
+  all occasions." etc. etc.
+
+There is, perhaps, a touch of the garrulity of age in this good man's
+recital; but I consider his record of his early life, slight as it is,
+yet too strikingly suggestive to be left to chances which might await a
+private letter. Indeed, the character thus displayed is surely equal to
+that of the best of the old Romans, in the middling class of life,
+enlightened too by a living faith of which they had no conception; and
+the sketch gives fair warrant for the conclusion, that, in point of manly
+simplicity and integrity, the traits and the trials of those elder
+worthies who helped to settle our republican institutions have not been
+overdrawn.
+
+-----
+  [1]  As I set down these reminiscences I observe the
+       following paragraph in a Boston daily paper of November
+       27, 1872:--
+
+       "NOVEMBER SNOW. Fifty-two years ago to-day there were
+       twenty-eight inches of snow on a level in the vicinity
+       of Portsmouth, N. H."
+
+  [2]  The late Mr. George Wood, of Washington, a native of our
+       town, in some highly interesting _Memorabilia_, formerly
+       published, says: "The aristocracy were not on High
+       Street, as now, but on Water Street, and more at the
+       South than the North end, as the old houses give
+       evidence to this day. The Johnsons, Jacksons,
+       Davenports, Coffins, Greenleafs, Bartletts, Pierces,
+       Hoopers, Tappans, Todds, Carters, Lunts, Marquands, and
+       others of wealth, were on Water Street or near it. There
+       were their grand houses and fine gardens, and it was not
+       till they thought of retiring from business that they
+       removed to the West-end or up-town, as gradually as they
+       always do in all places."
+
+  [3]  After resigning his office of judge, which he had held
+       for only a few years, but administered with
+       extraordinary ability and integrity, Judge Jackson went
+       abroad for relaxation, and a letter from a gentleman in
+       London to a friend on this side the water says,--"Two of
+       your townsmen, Judge Jackson and Jacob Perkins, now fill
+       the public eye of England, and are the subjects of
+       public and private conversation."
+
+  [4]  "The meteor flag of England," etc. Campbell. "Ye
+       mariners of England."
+
+  [5]  These brooms are made by peeling strips from the stump,
+       which are fastened below.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+I should scarcely deem it expedient to enter at much detail into the
+eccentricities of our good townspeople, though it seems to me that in our
+own street I could recall enough to make a pretty sizable volume.
+
+But one feature of the times deserves a passing notice. I refer to the
+inconsiderable number of insane persons, compared with the sad increase
+of that unfortunate class in our own day, and the manner in which they
+were treated. Of course, a more widely extended population multiplies the
+sum of every description of disease. Besides, our ancestors were a
+hardier race than their descendants, more inured to the regular routine
+of physical toil, less given than the men and women of the present day to
+hurtful indulgence, and far less exposed to the disturbing excitements of
+business and pleasure. So far as I know, there were but two really
+insane persons in our population of some seven or eight thousand, though
+doubtless certain others were more or less "light-headed." One of those
+two was sullenly crazy, and accounted dangerous, and therefore subjected
+to physical restraint; the other, generally harmless, roamed through the
+town at his own will, calling occasionally upon the acquaintance of his
+better days, and making magnificent promises of the benefits he intended
+to bestow, "when his ship came in." If I had inherited only a moderate
+dividend of the proceeds of the successive ships and their cargoes, which
+he promised my mother, on the above favorable contingency, usually
+calling her out from dinner to whisper to her these magnificent promises,
+more to her alarm than satisfaction, though being a woman of spirit she
+put a brave face upon it--I should look down upon a Rothschild, an Astor,
+or a Vanderbilt with natural contempt. Sometimes, incarceration was
+thought necessary, also, in his case; and I have a vivid recollection of
+the place of confinement allotted to each patient.
+
+This was in the yard of the almshouse, for state and county asylums had
+not then been thought of, and the strong wooden building in which they
+were placed consisted of two apartments, perhaps twelve feet square, one
+above and the other beneath the surface of the ground; the latter, in
+fact, a dungeon with one barred window on a level with the yard. Here
+they passed their gloomy hours as they might, in solitude and darkness,
+scarcely relieved by light from without, with nothing to alleviate the
+horrors of their condition, and probably considered in a state too
+hopeless to admit of any remedy. The tenant of the upper cell was
+comparatively lively, on the occasion of resort to his window for
+conversation, or out of curiosity, which was freely permitted; but his
+neighbor in the dungeon was dangerous; and I can never forget the terror
+inspired by a sudden and vicious attempt made by him to seize the legs of
+us children through the bars, as we stood conversing with the inmate of
+the room above. Science and humanity have done very much, in modern
+times, toward the restoration of such unhappy beings, who are in a
+majority of cases susceptible of cure, or of improvement enough to
+warrant their return to domestic life. But it is to be feared we are yet
+far behind, in this country, the more enlightened and effectual methods
+pursued for this purpose in some other civilized nations.
+
+On one side of the street above alluded to lived for a long time, in my
+boyhood, an ancient shoemaker entirely alone; and as he guarded his
+residence with great secrecy and sold none of his wares, curious people
+were puzzled to understand how he supported existence. He was known to be
+partially deranged. Mischievous boys, sometimes, gathered in numbers,
+would often assail his door with stones, standing ready for a start. But
+if they were on the watch, so was Pettengill, from previous experience,
+waiting behind his door with a heavy wooden bar in his hand, and giving
+instant chase to the flying urchins, would send the bar rattling at their
+heels. One day, after a season of unusual quiet, one of our lads anxious
+to penetrate his mystery, ventured to knock gently at the barred portal,
+was admitted, and expressed his wish to purchase a pair of shoes. The old
+man opened several chests containing the articles sought for, and finally
+selected a pair which proved a fit; but upon his visitor's making known
+his readiness to buy, the maker deliberately returned them to their
+receptacle, locked it fast and gravely declared, that he did "not like to
+part with them, for fear of spoiling his assortment."
+
+The next building was occupied by a respectable English couple as a
+dwelling-place, with a small grocer's shop in front. They had no
+children, except one strapping son of the old lady by a former husband,
+grown to man's estate, and whose business seemed to be to lounge about
+the premises in drab small-clothes; for I never saw him do anything. The
+old lady might be seen of a morning, with iron pattens on her feet and
+her clothes tucked up, mopping the floor of the shop; but in the
+afternoon much more genteelly attired in silks of an ancient fashion. Mr.
+Brown was a very quiet, inoffensive person, the wife a little
+high-strung. It is certain that they had occasional domestic bickerings,
+perhaps about the young man in the knee-breeches; for on one occasion it
+is alleged that the old matron was overheard to address her spouse, with
+a slightly Hibernian accentuation,--"Brune, Brune, ye case-knife looking
+son of a gun! I married ye neither for love, nor for money, but the pure
+convanience of the shop!" As these worthy people have long ago passed
+away, there seems no scandal in detailing this little family incident.
+
+Directly opposite these premises was a large old-fashioned house, still
+standing, and, a century before, the residence of the minister of the
+First Church. It was long afterwards occupied by a noted magistrate for
+the trial of small actions, who served many years as town-clerk, and was
+an energetic orator at town-meetings and in parish affairs. A culprit was
+once brought before him for stealing a gentleman's set of new shirts. The
+fact was stiffly denied. "A pretty story," said the accused party, "that
+I should take his shirts!" An official scrutiny, however, soon exhibited
+him standing with the half dozen articles of attire, one over another,
+upon his person. "What a villain!" said the astonished justice. "Why
+didn't you tell me you was a villain and save the time of the court, of
+the witnesses, and the spectators, by owning up you were a villain, in
+the first place?"
+
+The citizens of the old town were pretty thorough Puritans, by
+inheritance and inclination, at the middle of the last century. But the
+minister of the First Church was, in his day, a gentleman noted for his
+liberal tastes and accomplishments. He had a picture painted on a broad
+panel over the fire-place of his library, representing himself and
+several others of the cloth sitting around a table, in the full
+canonicals of wig, gown, and band, before each a foaming mug of ale, and
+each supplied with a tobacco pipe from which rolled volumes of narcotic
+fumes. At the top of the painting was a legend in the Latin language, of
+which the following is, I believe, a correct copy,--
+
+  "In essentialibus unitas, in non-essentialibus libertas, in omnibus
+  charitas."
+
+They appeared to be having a jolly time, and evidently considered the
+slight indulgences to which they were addicted among the moral
+non-essentials, however necessary to their physical comfort. In this
+picture, which is still extant, the rules of perspective were not
+rigorously obeyed. In fact, the table is considerably tipped, whether
+supposed to result from some sudden hilarious movement on the part of the
+reverend compotators or owing to want of skill in the artist, I am not
+able to testify. Indeed, the manners of the times had not then attained
+their present professed strictness in regard to the use of exhilarating
+liquors, and I have inspected a tavern-bill rendered to the principal
+citizens, for articles of this sort consumed on some joyful public
+occasion, at a much later period, the amount of which in quantity, though
+not in price, would astonish a modern city council.
+
+At the corner of the street stood an ancient tavern, the principal
+establishment of the kind in the place, at which in staging times all the
+stage-coaches from Boston and the eastward hauled up to change horses.
+It was kept by the father of the popular host of one of the best known of
+the long-established New York hotels. I well remember seeing a
+considerable body of British sailors halted there for refreshment, under
+guard, on their way to some prison in the interior, during the War of
+1812. They were true British tars of the traditional type, with immense
+clubs of hair, tied up with eel-skins and hanging short and thick down
+their necks. They seemed in no wise depressed by their condition and in
+fact were treated extremely well, for the general feeling of the town was
+decidedly adverse to the war. I also remember a gathering in front of the
+tavern, when the evening coach was expected, with the idea of mobbing an
+unpopular general officer who was to pass through by that conveyance. But
+a better sentiment was inculcated by the more orderly portion of the
+assembly, and the obnoxious warrior was not molested, otherwise than by
+expressions of dislike, either upon alighting, or when taking his place
+to resume his journey. Politics ran very high at the time, almost to the
+entire suspension of social relations between the differing parties,--the
+Federalists, who opposed the war, and were accused of unpatriotic
+sympathy with the cause of the enemy, and the Republicans, often
+stigmatized as Jacobins, who were charged with the principles and designs
+which had given impulse to the great French Revolution. Doubtless these
+parties shared, on the one side and the other, in the hereditary enmity,
+long since allayed if not altogether extinguished, between England and
+France. But whatever might be the general turn of political sentiment,
+both sides felt a patriotic pride in the success of the American arms.
+Hence, it is probable, the temper of the crowd assembled to do dishonor
+to the unlucky general. While the Republicans were indignant at a
+supposed needless national disaster, the Federalists could scarcely
+rejoice at it; and thus the moderation of the latter tended to restrain
+the former from the display of any actually violent demonstration. At the
+same period, there was formed, among the older administration men of the
+day, a veteran military organization, of those beyond the ordinary age of
+military service, well-known locally under the significant appellation of
+the "Silver Greys." The corps was composed of elderly merchants and
+traders and retired sea-captains, and their drills manifested at least
+the ambition of military prowess. Their opponents alleged that their
+company was formed for merely political purposes, and to overawe the
+town; but their own doubtless more just solution of the matter was, that
+their object was to aid in repelling invasion, in the unlikely case that
+the British troops should land upon their own borders. They gave more
+promise, certainly, of efficient service, should danger arise, than
+could be expected of the superannuated Trojans chief of Priam's court, as
+their catalogue is translated by Pope from the living record of Homer:--
+
+          "Here sat the seniors of the Trojan race,
+           Old Priam's chiefs and most in Priam's grace;
+           The king the first, Thymoetes at his side,
+           Lampus and Clitias, long in council tried,
+           Panthus and Hicetaon, once the strong,
+           And next, the wisest of the reverend throng,
+           Antenor grave and sage Ucalegon,
+           Leaned on the walls and basked before the sun;
+           Chiefs who no more in bloody fights engage,
+           But wise through time and narrative with age,
+           In summer days like grasshoppers rejoice,
+           A bloodless race, that send a feeble voice," etc.
+
+The town had suffered everything from the war and the interdiction of
+commerce in which it had been most actively engaged, preceding the event.
+Multitudes were absolutely ruined, and the gaunt wolf stood grinning at
+almost every other threshold. Among the memorials of that great struggle,
+it may be as well to mention the rusted cannon planted for posts at the
+corners of certain of the streets, the breech sunk in the ground and a
+bomb-shell fastened in the muzzle. At such a time, it is not strange that
+force occasionally took the place of law.
+
+I could recall not a few instances in which, under the impulse of
+political resentment, passion got the better of judgment. One day, the
+marshal of the United States, in his cocked hat and with other official
+insignia, entered the tavern I have mentioned, in quest of a fugitive
+from justice. He inquired of a person whom he met in the public
+apartment, if he had lately seen one Captain E----, who, it seems, on
+some supposed provocation, had only thrown a custom-house officer into
+the dock in one of our eastern harbors. The person addressed by the
+marshal said that Captain E---- had just passed down the street, and when
+the marshal turned to pursue the culprit, that individual, who was no
+other than the one just addressed, slipped out of another door, ran by
+the stable in the rear of the tavern and called upon Jem Knox, the
+hostler, to harness a chaise with all speed and to follow him forthwith
+in his flight. It appears, that the story of the captain's adventure was
+already pretty well known in the public places of the town, and as a
+visit of the marshal from Boston was a very extraordinary event in a
+place usually so quiet, a prying character who was upon the spot asked
+him if he was not looking for Captain E----. Upon receiving an
+affirmative reply,--"That's the man," said he, "you have just spoken to."
+The marshal started in pursuit and the captain had called out to such
+persons of his acquaintance as saw him running, that he was chased by a
+United States' officer. Half way through the street, one Clement Starr, a
+stalwart Englishman, who lived at the spot and whose sympathies,
+political and otherwise, were with the weaker party, seized the marshal
+by the collar and insisted upon knowing what was the cause of the
+considerable tumult which the outcry--"Stop him!" had raised. Escaping
+this obstacle, the poor marshal was soon afterwards clasped in the
+vigorous embrace of a spirited matron, who stood on her door-step as he
+passed, and, besides being an acquaintance of the captain, was of the
+same political proclivities as those of the retreating mariner.
+
+While tearing himself away from this lively lady, Knox drove furiously
+by, pulled up as he overtook the fugitive, who, as a witness of the
+affair told me, tumbled into the chaise, and was soon out of the reach of
+the threatening danger. Whether he was ever taken afterwards, or what
+became of the prosecution, I have never heard.
+
+Not far from us lived a worthy widow, with a family of children, and on
+one occasion she was heard to mingle rather curiously an office of
+devotion with a somewhat severe threat of domestic discipline. It was a
+day in summer, and the windows being open, a passer-by heard her
+objurgation. It seems the family had assembled at the dinner-table, and
+her oldest son began by making premature demonstrations toward the
+provisions, when his mother emphatically addressed him: "You Bob Barker,
+if you stick your fork into that meat before I've asked a blessing, I'll
+be the death of ye!"
+
+There was a worthy shipmaster, also, who used to trade to Hayti, when
+that stalwart colored person, Christophe, was the Emperor, who used to
+say, "Put a bag of coffee in the mouth of h----, and a Yankee will be
+sure to go after it." On one occasion, so the story ran, Captain H----
+complained of some insult from one of Christophe's ragged soldiery. The
+fact reached the ears of that potentate, who desired to stand well with
+Americans, and our townsman was summoned before him. He found in the
+presence of the monarch the whole body of the scanty force on duty in
+the town. "Can you pick out the man who insulted you?" asked the sable
+autocrat. Captain H---- pointed him out; but beginning to fear the
+infliction of some punishment too severe, attempted to extenuate the
+offence. "Stop!" cried Christophe, and called the soldier near him. "Do
+you say this was the man of whom you have told me?" "Yes, sir, it is,"
+replied the alarmed captain; "but"--In an instant Christophe had drawn
+his sword, and with one blow struck off the head of the unlucky culprit.
+The terror of the accusing party, at such a sudden and bloody
+consummation, may be partly imagined. He procured his clearance as soon
+as possible, and I believe made his future voyages to waters under a less
+summarily sanguinary domination.
+
+We had also a _soi-disant_ nobleman, of really the humblest extraction,
+and ignorant to a singular degree, but known by his eccentricities far
+and wide, who, on the score of a little money accidentally amassed,
+proclaimed himself, by an inscription beneath a wooden statue of himself,
+in front of his residence,--"LORD OF THE EAST, LORD OF THE WEST, AND THE
+GREATEST PHILOSOPHER IN THE WESTERN WORLD." He decorated his court-yard
+with an extraordinary amount of lumber of this sort, in the shape of
+human beings, and dumb creatures of many sorts, each statue standing upon
+its separate pillar, to the intense admiration of the gaping rustics who
+visited the town to inspect it; and he fairly beat the Scottish Earl of
+Buchan, who was infected with a similar mania. Upon an arch directly
+opposite his front door, he had placed Washington, Adams, and Jefferson.
+Adams, on the right, was bareheaded, and upon an inquiry by some one why
+this distinction was made, since Jefferson's chapeau was in its place,
+the great "lord" replied: "Do you suppose I would have anybody stand at
+the right hand of Washington, with his hat on?" He was said, also, upon
+certain hilarious occasions, celebrated in a tomb which he had
+constructed under a summer-house in his garden, to have indulged in the
+mastication of bank-bills between slices of bread and butter, doubtless
+to the envy of his boon companions; not, as might be inferred, of the
+better or richer classes, though, considering all things, it is perhaps
+needless to hope that these current symbols of value were a little
+cleaner than most of those of modern date. All this statuary rubbish,
+however, was long ago removed; and the house and grounds, by the taste of
+the present owner, have since ranked among the most pleasing objects of
+inspection in the town.
+
+This notably low and singularly eccentric character, as I have remarked,
+fairly beat that other oddity,--in a different class of life and
+contemporary with him,--the Scottish Earl of Buchan, elder half-brother
+of Lord Chancellor Erskine. That nobleman was possessed with a passion
+for the busts of persons, eminent or otherwise, not dissimilar to that of
+our New England "lord" for wooden statuary, and perhaps was actuated by
+equal vanity, though a person of real literary accomplishment, and in no
+sense, except as mentioned, to be put in comparison with the other. He
+displayed to his visitors a large and most incongruous collection of
+these objects of art in a sort of grotto excavated in his garden, thus
+reversing, however, the more conspicuous procedure of his brother
+connoisseur, who exhibited his assemblage of rarities in his front yard.
+The Scottish Earl, certainly, had some literary pretensions, while the
+"lord" Timothy, who could neither read nor write with ordinary
+expertness, honored the Muses, also, by affording countenance to a poet.
+Whether this patronage extended to much material sustenance may be
+considered doubtful, since this son of Apollo generally stood in the
+market-place, when not wandering away to other parts, for the disposal
+of his wares, dressed in semi-clerical habiliments, himself being of a
+singularly grave aspect, and retailed frightful ballads of his own
+composition, and small wares of various kinds from a basket on his arm.
+It is questionable whether any of these literary productions survive to
+the present day; and I fear that not one of them had any spark of that
+vitality, potent to influence popular sentiment, which Fletcher of
+Saltoun attributed to the songs of the people.
+
+In the centre of this market-place--a space inclosed on all sides by
+various shops or stores, and for some unaccountable reason styled "Market
+Square," since its irregular outline much more resembled a truncated
+triangle--stood the town pump, on the spot originally occupied by the
+meeting-house of the First Church, already mentioned. On two sides of the
+pump were set the wonted hand-carts of two superannuated individuals,
+whose gingerbread, candies, and apples were the delight of such urchins
+as were lucky enough to have coppers to buy with; for those convenient
+mediums of exchange were not too plentiful among boys in 18--, and
+frequently not with their parents either. These old men were the
+undisturbed possessors of the ground, wheeling their vehicles to the spot
+at early morning, and standing by them all day, though they never seemed
+to me to be driving a very thriving business.
+
+But the glory of the Square was during the week before
+Thanksgiving,--then, as now, appointed for a day late in November, when
+it was often difficult to make one's way through the throng of teams,
+and especially sleighs, loaded with poultry fattened for the occasion,
+and sometimes venison and abundance of other commodities for domestic use.
+The mention of sleighs leads me to recur to a former remark upon the
+earlier approach of winter in those times; for the employment of sleighs
+implies the presence of snow upon the ground; and the farmers had
+frequently driven from a great distance, "up country," from parts of
+New Hampshire and Vermont, even from the borders of Canada, perhaps a
+hundred and fifty or two hundred miles and more away, to attend the market
+in our town; sometimes as many as a hundred loaded country sleighs, or on
+other occasions as many wagons, in a single day. The construction of the
+Middlesex Canal, connecting the waters of the Merrimack with those of
+the Charles, diverted the main part of this traffic to Boston; and
+railways finally conveyed to the capital most of the remainder which
+came from any considerable distance. Wistful eyes, in the presence of
+these heaping dainties, were sometimes averted, no doubt, from a
+consciousness of empty pockets; yet there were always generous hearts
+and bounteous hands to meet the exigencies of every neighborhood; and
+we may be sure that no householder of decent repute, however poor or
+unlucky, and probably few others, even if a little tarnished in the
+moral world's esteem, lacked some kind friend who saw to it, that the
+accustomed turkey or chickens smoked on the board before the eyes of
+his hungry children on that day, at least, of all the year.
+
+But, unless respectable legends are to be peremptorily discredited, an
+incident once took place in this Market Square, of which I doubt if any
+other New England town can show the parallel. I am about to relate a
+statement made to me, not many years ago, by an elderly gentleman of
+excellent character and standing, a justice of the peace and of the
+quorum, and a devout member of the Orthodox Church. The story was told
+with all gravity and implicit confidence in its truth; and some may think
+it exhibits in a striking light the extent of human credulity and the
+imperfection of human testimony: "My father," said this worthy person,
+"has often told me of being in Market Square when a man, a woman, and a
+little dog appeared, and soon collected quite a crowd by the exhibition
+of feats of jugglery. At length, after a due collection of tribute from
+the standers-by, the man produced a ball of cord from his pocket, threw
+it into the air, and began to ascend it, hand over hand. The woman
+followed, and after her the little dog. While the crowd was gaping, in
+expectation of the return of this mysterious trio, some one drove into
+the market-place and inquired the occasion of this unusual congregation.
+Upon being informed, he said, that he had just met such a party on the
+road, about a mile from the town." I had read the most extraordinary
+accounts, by British officers and others, of exhibitions like this, which
+they alleged they had often witnessed in India. I remembered one, in
+particular, where tigers and other unwelcome guests, and even the
+somewhat unwieldy bulk of an elephant, had seemingly been brought down,
+before their eyes, upon a cable fastened by some mysterious agency far
+aloft; for I suppose it behooved to be made fast in some inconceivable
+region of the upper air. But that a similar demonstration could have been
+made in a sober New England town, at noonday, could scarcely fail to "put
+me from my faith." It impressed me, however, as at least an extraordinary
+relation, coming from such a source; and happening to meet another
+ancient and equally reputable friend on the same day, one, too, who had
+been much about the world in the capacity of a navigator to foreign
+climes, I took occasion to relate to him the strange narrative which I
+had just heard. "Oh," said he, "there is no doubt about it; my mother has
+often told me she was present and saw the whole transaction." "In the
+mouth of two or three witnesses," says the Scripture, "shall every word
+be established." In this case, it will be observed, the witnesses were
+two, but both at second-hand. I shall not vouch, therefore, for anything
+except that, as Scott says, "I tell the tale as 'twas told to me,"--and
+it may be set down as one of these veritable legends which all persons
+are at liberty to reject or accept, as they please. I expect to try the
+faith of the reader still further before I have finished this historical
+sketch. People often tell us, nowadays, that vulgar superstitions are
+altogether things of the past. This may be so in public; but I imagine
+that in private there is a lurking tinge of it in every human bosom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+In maritime towns, at a season of the year when there is no inducement
+for them to wander into the fields, boys who have nothing else to do, on
+play-days, are very apt to lounge, more or less, on the wharves and in
+the Market Place. When quite a youngster, I witnessed a scene on the spot
+last named, the incidents of which are as vivid in my memory as at the
+moment when they occurred, more than half a century ago. Though the
+commerce of our town had very materially declined from its former
+condition of wonderful activity and enterprise, it was still kept up with
+considerable semblance of its former spirit, and, besides our native
+vessels, a foreign ship occasionally sailed up our beautiful river. A few
+miles beyond the stream, in the neighboring State, dwelt a population
+chiefly agricultural, a portion of which, pursuing the avocation of
+small farmers and fishermen, alternately, for they were directly on the
+borders of the sea and somewhat isolated in their position, besides, were
+certainly a little wild in character and habits; though I am told that
+great improvement among them, in these respects, has taken place of later
+years. We called them "Algerines," from which epithet, more opprobrious
+than probably just, our estimate of their pretensions to civilization may
+be inferred. It was the practice of these people to bring their fish in
+whale-boats to our market, which was the nearest to their homes, and to
+dispose of this fruit of their often perilous labors either for money, or
+for such commodities as they required. I was standing, one afternoon,
+near a group of foreign sailors, believed to be Spaniards, with the
+natural curiosity of a boy, and rough-looking specimens of humanity they
+certainly were. It seemed that they had fallen into dispute with the
+crew, some three or four men, of an Algerine boat, and though the
+language on one side and the other was altogether unintelligible to the
+parties, the tones were uncommonly high. Doubtless, the Spaniards were
+resenting some insult offered by the Algerines,--prompted by that sort of
+jealousy and dislike with which the lower classes of English blood have
+been in the habit of regarding those of other nationalities. The quarrel
+seemed especially at its height between one of the Spanish crew and a
+young man of remarkable stature in coarse seaman's dress, with a great
+bush of long yellow locks hanging over the collar of his jacket, whose
+name it appeared was Souter. The Spanish champion had drawn an ugly
+looking knife, from which unfamiliar weapon, flourished so near his
+person, the Algerine instinctively flinched. At this critical moment, the
+patriarch of the Yankee crew, a tall, gaunt old man, with grizzled hair,
+stepped into the arena, and, seizing the foreigner by the collar, cried
+out,--"Now I'll bet Tom Souter" (pronounced Saouter) "could take this
+'ere fellow right here by the collar and shake every g---- right aout of
+him,"--using a more vulgar phrase, and suiting the action to the word so
+vigorously that the reeling and astounded Spaniard was glad enough to
+relinquish the field and to slink away crestfallen with his companions.
+
+As a further illustration of the ways of our neighbors, I will give one
+more anecdote of an affair which occurred years afterwards. Not far from
+the hamlet of our friends, the Algerines, but within the borders of
+Massachusetts, was another settlement, on the outskirts of a thriving
+village, the male inhabitants of which also followed the calling of small
+farmers and fishermen, some of them diversifying these pursuits by the
+occupation of shoemaking, at the ungenial season of the year. They were
+industrious, and far less rude than their compatriots, to whom reference
+has just been made. At this point lived three young men, hard by each
+other, and brothers, of the name, I will say, of Lowe. One day a tall and
+respectable looking old gentleman called upon the writer of this history,
+announcing himself as Colonel Lowe, and the father of the three young men
+in question. He had formerly commanded, it seems, a regiment of militia,
+and had a sort of semi-military bearing. He was now in great agitation
+and distress, occasioned by some trouble in which his sons were involved,
+through forcible resistance to the civil authorities of the Commonwealth,
+and he required the professional services of the writer for their
+defence. He justly regarded it as a case likely to lead to very serious
+consequences, and particularly dreaded for the young men the disgraceful
+punishment of the State Prison. It was a case to elicit every degree of
+sympathy for the worthy Colonel, and to prompt every effort for his
+relief. The facts, as they appeared at the trial before the Court of
+Common Pleas, were quite picturesque. A constable had appeared with an
+execution against one of the young Lowes, in the matter of a claim which
+he disputed as unjust; but without giving the peace-officer opportunity
+to discharge his duty, he was driven from the ground by the trio, in
+mortal terror of his life. The execution of the process was then
+undertaken by a somewhat fantastic country deputy sheriff; who was
+ordered off as he attempted to approach the parties in defence, and
+between them and the officer there was a good deal of raillery, which had
+an important bearing upon the final result of the trial. At length, the
+elder brother Lowe drew a line with a stick across the road and defied
+the officer to pass it, which he declined to do, but at once made good
+his retreat, smothering his indignation at such a rebuff, until he could
+give it vent in more safety than the existing circumstances warranted.
+Such reckless conduct was not to be endured, and no doubt the deputy was
+laughed at by his neighbors for his failure to carry his purpose into
+effect. The majesty of the Commonwealth had been insulted in his official
+person, and he determined to summon a _posse comitatus_, to vindicate the
+power and dignity of the law. Stories in the country, especially those
+involving any extraordinary incidents, sometimes fly faster than in town,
+and accordingly these young rebels forewarned, no doubt, of the peril in
+prospect, prepared themselves, as well as they could, to resist the more
+formidable invasion presently to be expected. Before daylight, one
+morning, the mustered force of some twenty men, variously armed, led by
+the valiant sheriff's officer, cautiously drew near the premises, in the
+hope of catching the culprits asleep. The brothers were too quick for
+their visitors, however, and evidently having been on the watch had
+retreated to a barn, securely fastening the door, and awaited the
+approach of the enemy. They had with them certain weapons, which were
+exhibited in the court, consisting of ancient rusty halberds and
+spontoons, probably borne in turn by their gallant father, in his several
+gradations of military service. As they were summoned to surrender, a
+musket was discharged out of a window of the barn, over the heads of the
+assailants, occasioning considerable confusion in their line. Assuming
+courage, at length, axes and crowbars were brought into requisition, and
+the door was forced. As the attacking party entered, however, the Lowes
+let down the stairs leading to the story above a heavy broad cart-wheel,
+and as it bounded clattering towards the floor below, the assailants fled
+out of doors in a panic, and taking advantage of their disorder, the
+Lowes, disregarding the vast disproportion of numbers, rushed upon them,
+and a regular melee began. It is thought, that the smaller party would
+have been victorious, but for an ugly blow on the head of the youngest
+brother, which felled and disabled him; whereupon his associates escaped
+unmolested and he was taken helpless into the house, where he remained
+until the time of the trial. Of course, the jury found him guilty, for
+the facts of the case were patent; but it was taken up, by exceptions to
+the ruling of the Judge, into the Supreme Court, in which, though it
+would be irreverent to intimate that the justices entered at all into the
+humor of such a Donnybrook Fair sort of scrimmage, yet, after argument,
+and it is presumed in consideration of some provocation on the part of
+the sheriff's deputy, especially the needlessly warlike and really
+ridiculous aspect he impressed on the affair, leading the young men to
+look upon it rather as an invitation to play their part, than as a
+serious purpose to violate the law, the sentence imposed was only a few
+months' imprisonment in the common jail. The prosecution was never
+enforced against the brothers, and never was more lively gratitude
+displayed, than at the escape of the convicted culprit from sentence to
+the ignominious seclusion of the State Prison.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+A term of the Court of Common Pleas was always held in the town in the
+month of September, and "court week" was a regular time of holiday for
+the pupils of the higher schools. Some of us attended upon these solemn
+proceedings with extraordinary interest, especially when criminal cases
+were before the court. I know not how it is, but suppose it to be the
+expected revelation of incidents, as in the plot of a novel, which draws
+crowds together, in most uncomfortable contiguity in a courtroom,
+whenever a culprit, especially one of more than usually notorious
+antecedents, is put upon his trial. While most of the old-fashioned
+lawyers of the Essex Bar were more than respectable for professional
+acquisitions and legal skill, there were persons among them of
+distinguished ability and character; and real eloquence seldom fails to
+prove peculiarly fascinating to youthful hearers. Who could forget, for
+example, with what rapt attention he listened, at a somewhat later date,
+to the glowing language and was stirred by the honest warmth of
+Saltonstall, incapable by nature of attempting to make the worse appear
+the better reason; or watched that marvel, the matchless ingenuity of
+Choate, whose faculties shone brightest, the more apparently hopeless was
+the cause at stake; or thrilled with profound admiration, under the
+resistless influence of Webster's force and closeness of argument,
+rising, with due occasion, to the highest point of eloquent illustration,
+when some more than usually important matter for adjudication by the
+court called him from the ordinary sphere of his great practice to the
+forum of a comparatively inferior tribunal.
+
+Years afterwards, when I had the honor of a place at that Bar, I was much
+struck with the testimony of a respectable witness, a farmer named
+Sheldon, who lived near Beverly Corner, upon an indictment of a fellow
+for burglary, in entering Mr. Sheldon's house by night and taking the
+money from his pockets in his sleeping chamber without disturbing the
+occupants. One of the earliest questions proposed to him was,--"How did
+the robber gain entrance to the house?" and, by the way, the man had been
+previously employed as a laborer by the farmer. "I suppose he came in by
+the usual way," was the answer. "He came in by the door, do you mean?"
+"Yes." "How did he get it open?" "I suppose he lifted the latch." "Do you
+mean to say, that the door was not fastened?" "Yes I do; we never fasten
+it." The culprit was convicted upon various satisfactory testimony; but
+the incident betokens a state of security, at that period, and a rarity
+of flagitious offences, which puts to shame the demoralization of our own
+day. For the house in question stood on the high road and was scarcely
+more than half a mile distant from a populous neighborhood, and within
+less than three miles of a town with many thousands of inhabitants.
+
+Strangely enough, considering the want of precaution on the part of the
+farmer, coming down, doubtless, from a still simpler period of social
+life, not half a mile from Mr. Sheldon's house stood a solitary
+habitation upon a desolate tract of land, and also near the highway,
+which at a time not long subsequent had acquired a very evil reputation;
+and with this house became connected circumstances which some may think
+scarcely admit of the solution of merely accidental occurrence. At the
+autumnal term of the court just indicated, when I had become a young
+practitioner at the bar, a certain vixenish old beldam was put upon trial
+for the offence of maintaining this ill reputed establishment. Her
+demeanor was singularly exceptional; for she did not scruple to interrupt
+the proceedings with the most fluent billingsgate, and upon receiving
+sentence berated the presiding judge in language betokening an
+extraordinary depth of desperate hardihood. Inquiry revealed the fact,
+that her solitary house, standing upon an elevated plain of some extent,
+the ground rising from the shores of Wenham Lake, in front but little
+removed from the road, and the space in its rear interspersed with
+scattered groups of funereal pines, had been the resort of various
+desperadoes, several of whom had suffered punishment for their crimes,
+and one of them had not long before committed suicide in jail, to escape
+public execution for a most atrocious murder.
+
+Late one day, in the beginning of the following Spring, I happened to be
+called upon to proceed to Boston, distant some forty miles, upon the
+sudden requirement of certain business to be transacted the next morning
+in the city. It was before the railway was in operation, and to
+accomplish the object in view I was to drive this considerable distance
+in a chaise, at night and alone. I was accustomed to this mode of
+locomotion, in my attendance upon the several sessions of the courts in
+the county, and the idea of fear never entered my mind. Accordingly,
+starting about dusk, at half past ten o'clock of a starlit night, I had
+reached a point in the journey where the road rises by a gentle ascent to
+the plain, on which stood "the house of evil counsel." All at once, the
+scene and the narrative of the previous Fall flashed upon my mind. Before
+leaving home, I had bethought myself of a brace of pistols in my
+possession, which I had loaded and placed in the pockets of my overcoat.
+And now comes the remarkable circumstance to which I have already
+referred. These weapons had been borrowed of a friend, months before,
+when in the midst of an unusually exciting election for a member of
+congress, continuing some two years, and stirring up extraordinary rancor
+in the minds of some of the partisans of the several candidates, I had
+been threatened with violence, if I should attend the polls. I had
+notified my opponents that I should vote at a certain hour, on the
+appointed day, and placed these pistols in my pocket, by way of defence;
+but nothing inconsistent with my freedom of political action in fact
+occurred. This was the only time in my life that I had carried such
+implements, which were then put aside in the drawer of a bureau, and I
+have never thought it worth while to take them since, except on the
+occasion now referred to. I had thus provided myself with them, on an
+entirely different occasion, and took them with me, on a sudden thought,
+as I was about to proceed on my journey, more in the spirit of youthful
+bravado, than with any other motive; for the roads, at that period, were
+considered perfectly safe, by night as well as by day. As I have
+remarked, the thought of the shrewish and abandoned old woman, of her
+house and its evil companions, occurred to me, as my horse slowly
+ascended the rising ground towards the plain. In a few minutes I was in
+the neighborhood of a habitation which I looked upon rather with
+detestation than any emotion of alarm; when what was my astonishment to
+behold a man--the sound of the wheels of the chaise being doubtless
+audible at some distance in the clear, still night--come out of the gate
+in front of the house and station himself in the middle of the somewhat
+narrow highway. In fact, the stranger was within a rod of the vehicle,
+and must either be driven over or move out of the way. At this unexpected
+encounter, I own that my heart, as the saying is, jumped into my mouth;
+but I instantly drew and cocked my pistol, and the click probably
+disturbing the nerves of my proposed assailant, he turned aside without
+offering further molestation. In a few minutes, the lamps of the
+mail-stage, as it turned Beverly Corner on its way eastward, were a
+grateful spectacle, and my onward journey was pursued without other
+adventure. The driver of that stage afterwards informed me, that the
+trunks strapped to the rear of their coaches had more than once been cut
+off in that very neighborhood, and that on one occasion beams had been
+placed in the road so that the carriage would have been overturned,
+unless they had been discovered in time, and doubtless had been so placed
+for purposes of robbery. I inquired, why investigation did not take place
+on the spot; but the reply was, that the passengers were in haste to get
+on, were unarmed, and perhaps timid, and preferred to remove the
+obstacles and proceed upon their way. The contrast, however, is
+striking, between the habit of a farmer to leave his door unfastened at
+night and the machinations of rogues not a quarter of a mile distant, who
+could be guilty of such crimes. I believe, however, that the existence of
+such a nest of villains was quite exceptional at that period, and unknown
+to the farmer, and that his sense of safety, without the most ordinary
+means of protection to his premises, was at that time the rule. The
+reader may draw what conclusions he pleases from the facts of my own
+personal narrative.
+
+I have remarked that politics, never stagnant in our ancient communities,
+at the period of my story, oftentimes grew extremely warm, and then every
+leading citizen took his personal part. Nor is it strange that the
+survivors of those who had borne their share in the Revolutionary War,
+who had the traditions, at least, of their fathers who served with the
+New England troops, and followed the gallant and generous Wolfe up the
+formidable heights of Abraham, and after the victorious field which cost
+that true hero his life, stood triumphant, under the Red Cross banner,
+upon the subjugated ramparts of Quebec, should exhibit marked
+peculiarities of character; should hold fast to strong opinions; and
+indeed should manifest that individuality and originality of thought and
+action which is scarcely witnessed in the promiscuous crowd of our own
+tamer times. Instead of that indifference, the bane of a republic, among
+the upper class, the result of accumulated wealth and luxurious habits,
+the chief men of both parties stood at the door of the Town Hall, on days
+of election, distributing votes, and encouraging the timid and the
+doubtful, and their influence was effectively felt in the direction of
+public affairs, which now seem mostly to be left to the management of the
+least competent, and often the most ignorant, mercenary, and corrupt. I
+firmly believe that the equal, if not preeminent position long maintained
+by Massachusetts, among rivals vastly superior in territory and
+population, was owing to the active interest formerly taken by her
+leading men of all professions and occupations in the politics of the
+day, and that thus the sources of political well being were kept
+comparatively pure. At present, these men take their political opinions
+from the newspaper they read, and trouble themselves very little further
+about a matter in which their own stake, one would think, would rouse
+them to exertion, from the promptings of enlightened self-interest, if
+not from the more generous emotions of public spirit.
+
+On one occasion, when some eager dispute had arisen, as to which of the
+two parties actually preponderated, for the balance sometimes wavered
+from one side to the other, it was determined to poll the town; that is,
+to assemble all citizens entitled to vote in the Town Hall, to divide
+them personally according to their several politics and by actual count
+to ascertain which was the strongest in point of numbers. I happened to
+be present, as a boy who heard political questions discussed with
+animation at home, and was curious to witness the scene, which was one
+really of the intensest interest. The selectmen occupied their tribune,
+at the head of the Hall, and the meeting was presided over by their
+chairman, a man of imposing height and general personal development, with
+flowing white locks, who commanded the respect of all parties. His father
+had been a soldier of Wolfe, and he and his associates were on the
+Federal side. When the parties were arranged for the enumeration, one
+worthy individual, who kept the principal tavern of the town, stood
+hesitating, at the end of the hall, between the two files; for, in fact,
+both parties of necessity made use of his house, by turns, in
+commemoration of some public event, or for festive purposes, which, to
+tell the truth; were frequently coming round; for the liquor was both
+better and cheaper than in these degenerate days. I shall never forget
+the start which the sonorous voice of the chairman gave me, as he bawled
+out,--"None of that, Jenkins; we can't have any shirking here; you must
+take one side or the other,"--and he did, amidst the tumultuous laughter
+with which the Hall resounded. The contest was a good-natured one, and I
+have no doubt which party proved victorious, considering that the
+prevailing sentiment of the town was pretty well evidenced by the
+political leanings of the _Board_; but at this late day it is of little
+consequence to authenticate the fact.
+
+The father of the sturdy chairman had set up the tavern, after returning
+from the expedition to Quebec, which he called the WOLFE HOUSE, in
+memory of his commander, General James Wolfe, who is presented in such a
+pleasing light in Thackeray's "Virginians," and, as a noble-minded man
+and true hero, deserved all which could be said in his praise. In after
+days, and I believe it is still there, the sign was suspended in front of
+the hotel, which took the place of that destroyed by the "Great Fire."
+The brave general wore his red coat and cocked hat, all through the War
+of the Revolution and that of 1812-14, without molestation from colonial
+rebels, or Yankees fighting against the mother country, by land and by
+sea. The tavern was kept for a long time by a shrewd and active host, who
+had a keen eye to the main chance. Among his dinner guests were farmers
+who attended market, and others, content to take their meals at half
+price, after the chief company had finished that repast. Of these was one
+Major Muncheon, somewhat celebrated for his remarkable powers of making
+away with whatever the table furnished. One day, Wilkins, the host, who
+was addicted to a slightly nasal intonation, addressed him, when he had
+just risen from his seat,--"Major, I can't dine you any more for
+twenty-five cents." "Why not?" asked the well-satisfied trencherman. "I
+tell you, Major," said his host, "the very vegetables you've eaten cost
+two and three pence" (37-1/2 cents), "saying nothing of the meat and
+pies." "Pho! Wilkins," remonstrated the farmer, "it's only the second
+table." "Second table!" replied the host; "why, Major, if you had sat
+down to the first table, there wouldn't have been no second."
+
+But if parties in those times were often hotly opposed, there was one
+occasion, every year, when a broader sentiment of patriotism warmed the
+hearts of all in the fellowship of a common cause. The Anniversary of
+Independence was duly commemorated by appropriate exercises for
+considerably more than half a century in our spirited town, and with a
+general loosening of party ties on the occasion, until the War of 1812,
+when the parties conducted separate celebrations, though the orators were
+always only too apt to tighten them again by untimely political
+allusions, in the narrower sense of the phrase.[6]
+
+On one of these anniversaries, the orator expectant we will call Mr.
+Moses, a member of the Bar, who had already acquired distinction and was
+afterwards a leader in his profession, well known in the county of Essex.
+It was in reference to this gentleman, that an ambitious colored person
+of that day instructed the shoemaker he employed, that he wanted "his
+boots to have as much creak in them as Squire Moses's." On the day before
+the services were to take place, the orator repaired to the meeting-house
+appointed for the purpose, in order to rehearse his performance, and
+having mounted the stairs to the pulpit by a back-entrance, and probably
+wearing boots, at this time, of less distinctive resonance, did not
+attract the attention of an old woman who was on her knees scrubbing the
+broad aisle. The speaker had a melodious and ringing voice, and began, I
+suppose,--"Friends and fellow-countrymen!" "Oh, lud-a-mercy!" cried the
+ancient female on the floor, starting to her feet, with uplifted hands.
+The occupant of the pulpit was a very polite person. "Oh, don't be
+alarmed, madam," cried he; "it's only Moses." "Moses!" screamed the
+woman--"Moses is come! Moses is come!" and not much to the credit of a
+piety which ought to have felt so highly favored by a vision of the great
+prophet, rushed from the church into the street in an agony of terror,
+spreading consternation in the neighborhood by her outcries, until the
+mystery was speedily cleared up.
+
+-----
+  [6]  Of all these productions I have seldom seen one equal to
+       the printed sermon preached by Rev. Mr. Murray, of our
+       Old South Church, upon the Proclamation of Peace;[A]
+       for its array of various interesting information upon
+       the condition and prospects of the country, and for
+       soundly patriotic views, enforced with fervid and
+       striking eloquence. In one respect, it could scarcely be
+       surpassed. We have heard of the protracted discourses of
+       the old Puritan divines, in both countries with which
+       most of us claim origin, and like them Mr. Murray's
+       sermon must have consumed at least two hours and a half
+       in the delivery. He was educated at Edinburgh and was no
+       doubt a native of Scotland.
+
+  [A]  1783
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+I know there are those who will kindly regard these reminiscences of
+things, trifling, it may be, in themselves, but affording a glimpse of
+manners perhaps already forgotten by most or all of those who were
+formerly more or less conversant with them, and which may prove of some
+interest in the future. We had spent our Thanksgiving at home, in the
+year 18--, but went all together to the farm of our uncle Richard, who
+was of the Episcopal Church, for the celebration of Christmas; for many
+of his persuasion, at that time, regarded "Thanksgiving" pretty much as
+the Highlander, in Scott's novel, did "ta little government Sunday, tat
+tey call ta Fast." He was a well-to-do farmer, at a place within easy
+reach of the town in which we lived, and where very few were at all
+rich, even according to the former moderate standard of wealth, and most
+people were poor, or at least depended on their daily labor for their
+daily bread. Those were very hard times following upon the war; and that
+had followed fast upon the Great Fire, which reduced to ruin almost the
+entire central business part of the town. Our family had suffered private
+losses, too, by a swindling failure on an extensive scale,--a rare
+incident in those days;[7] and again by the embargo and the war, most
+of my mother's limited means having been invested in one vessel after
+another, employed in the coasting trade, and this source of income at
+length stopped altogether. Still, people bore up bravely against these
+misfortunes, and showed quite as much spirit and hardihood as in these
+latter times, and got along decently, after a fashion. To be sure, the
+proclamation of Peace, a few years before, had revived all hearts; though
+I heard of a washerwoman engaged in her avocation, while the bells were
+ringing, who, on learning the cause of jubilation, peevishly
+exclaimed,--"Peace! peace! what's peace, when there's no water?"[8] Our
+Thanksgiving had been a cheerful one, though colored, as such
+anniversaries are likely to be, with recollections of the absent, or the
+dead; for the memory of my father was always present to my mother, then
+and during a long widowhood of almost half a century, and my older
+brothers were at sea. My mother was an excellent housekeeper, and we had
+plenty of the usual belongings of the festival, so eagerly looked forward
+to by the young, and something to bestow upon others not so well
+supplied. It was the practice of some of this class to knock at the doors
+of those thought to be better off, on the evening before, begging
+"something for Thanksgiving;" and, by way of a joke, the children of
+comfortable neighbors and friends would often array themselves in
+cast-off bizarre habiliments, and come in bands of three or four to the
+houses of those whom they knew, preferring the same request. Ordinarily,
+the disguise was readily detected. Sometimes the little mimics would come
+in, and keep up the show and the fun for a while; but for the most part
+their courage failed them at the threshold, and they scurried away,
+shouting for glee, almost before they got any answer to their mock
+petitions. It was a queer fancy, thus to simulate poverty; but kings have
+sometimes done so. Did not James of Scotland find amusement in roaming
+through a portion of his domain, as a "gaberlunzie-man?" Yes--and even
+composed a famous ballad to celebrate his exploits in this humble way. In
+the evening, we had a lively company, regaled with nuts, apples, and
+cider; and my grandmother, who indulged in the old-fashioned practice,
+that is for females, of smoking a pipe, sat in the chimney-corner, where
+a genial wood-fire was brightly blazing, for coal was then a thing
+unknown in family consumption, duly furnished with the implement, and
+sometimes called out to us,--"A-done, children, a-done," when in anywise
+annoyed by us, and occasionally would sing us an old song, of which I
+remember only "Robert Kid" and "A galliant ship, launched off the stocks,
+from Old England she came," etc.; and, often when a storm was raging
+without, repeating to us the rhymes,--
+
+         "How little do" (pronounced doe) "we think, or know,
+          What _the_ poor sailors undergo."
+
+But we had a livelier time at Uncle Richard's; for there were more of us
+and merrier. Of course, those of the household who could be spared from
+domestic duties had attended service in the morning, and some of us from
+the town had also appeared at church; for though our branch of the
+family were now Presbyterians, we remembered that our common ancestor and
+the company who came over with him, a couple of centuries and more before
+that time, were of the Church of England, only protesting against the
+abuses which had crept into it; and Uncle Richard carefully preserved,
+with the genealogy of the family on this side the water, the Orders in
+Council, prescribing for the passengers, by the "Mary and John," of which
+my ancestor was one, then lying in the Thames, in the year 1633, amongst
+other regulations, the daily service to be observed on board, according
+to the ordinances of the Prayer Book.
+
+No doubt the dinner was all which the domestic celebration of the
+festival imports, for the farm was well stocked with every description of
+creature, and with most other things needful for the purpose; but I may
+be excused if I remember none of the particulars, now that so many years
+have intervened. I know that Uncle Richard always prided himself upon his
+excellent cider, and there is little question that there was a due
+allowance of spirits, which most persons of fair means kept, in those
+days, in decanters openly ranged upon the parlor sideboard. Indeed, about
+the same period, while I was a student at a famous Academy not many miles
+distant from our own home, the English teacher, an orthodox clergyman of
+high repute, who cultivated a few acres of land at the place where he
+lived on the outskirts of the town, invited a few of the pupils, myself
+in the number, to assist him in making hay, one play-afternoon. The boys
+had a good frolic, and, after work was ended, our master treated us to
+milk-punch, a highly agreeable, but rather exhilarating beverage. Our
+uncle's house was of the old-fashioned New England description,
+pleasantly facing the south, with a high-peaked roof, which descended,
+in the opposite quarter, to not much more than a man's stature from the
+ground. In front was a spacious green yard, leading on one side to the
+garden for vegetables and trees of the choicer kinds of fruit, and
+sprinkled here and there with bunches of gay flowers; and at the entrance
+gate by the road two magnificent elms, of an age and height which denoted
+that they must have given shade to several past generations from the
+summer heat, flung out drooping branches which extended a very great
+distance from the parent trunks. After dinner, our host entertained us
+with a narrative of his recent visit to the capital town of Boston, to
+testify, in company with a former neighbor, now resident there, in behalf
+of his hired man, Jasper Towne, of English birth, who having, duly and at
+a long term beforehand, declared his intention, in proper form, was at
+length, after a continuous residence of fourteen years in the United
+States, admitted by the Federal Court to all the rights and privileges
+which free citizenship could confer upon him. The scene in court my uncle
+thought peculiarly solemn and impressive. The candidate for the franchise
+was strictly questioned by the presiding justice, in open court, with
+regard to his origin and his past life. The witnesses were subjected to a
+similar scrutiny as to his character and habits, and their judgment of
+his fitness for the responsible position and the new duties he was about
+to assume. When this part of the transaction was completed, the oaths of
+renunciation of allegiance to every foreign power, prince, or potentate
+whatsoever, and the oath to support the Constitution of the United States
+were administered to him by the clerk in a manner to fix it in his mind
+that it was a very serious business, indeed, in which he had just been
+engaged. Thereupon, the judge addressed him in language of congratulation
+and counsel, and our newly-made fellow-countryman respectfully departed
+from the tribunal, conscious that he had attained no mean privilege and
+had secured a safeguard, like that, by the declaration of which the
+Apostle of the Gentiles stayed the uplifted hands of his persecutors, and
+caused them to tremble at the thought of misuse or degradation inflicted
+upon a Roman citizen. Now, I believe, whatever is left of the ceremony
+upon such occasions is slurred over in a clerk's office, or the part
+performed in court scarcely attracts the attention of the magistrate upon
+the bench. The moral of this change of practice may be left to the
+reflection of the judicious reader. But it was something then to be, or
+to be made an American citizen.
+
+Not long before this, there had been an earthquake, which, though of
+brief duration, had caused no little alarm,--a terrific sound always,
+however slight the shock,--and in this instance making houses tremble
+and shaking down various articles from their places of deposit. In the
+early days of the colony, these phenomena were not uncommon, and are said
+to have been of no little power in this part of New England. Uncle
+Richard described the recent one as rumbling under the frozen ground
+leading to his barns, as if a line of heavily-loaded wagons had rolled
+over it. Being something of a philosopher, and better educated than usual
+at the time, he explained the cause of such physical occurrences to us
+young ones.
+
+"The fact is," he said, "the water in certain parts of the earth becomes
+intensely heated and lets off a quantity of steam of amazing expansive
+power. It is like a tea-kettle, which if you shut the nozzle tight, may
+either throw off the lid with great force, or the kettle itself bursts
+with the strain upon it. So the steam, under the earth, heated by central
+fires, and gaining immense volume and power, seeks the hollows in its
+neighborhood, and rushes into them with a force which produces the
+concussion and the rumbling sound; and the shaking of the surface which
+we perceive is really like the commotion in the tea-kettle and the
+trembling of the vessel when the steam has no vent. It is an awful
+thought that we thus live over the action of these subterranean fires;
+but they are in the control of the Almighty, and all we have to do is to
+submit to God's will and merciful providence."
+
+St. Paul's Church, of which Uncle Richard was a vestryman, owed its
+origin to the separation of certain persons from the Congregational mode
+of worship, and the formation of a society for the resumption of the
+Protestant Episcopal pattern, as long ago as the year 1712. Their place
+of worship they named Queen Anne's Chapel,[9] in honor of the
+sovereign "at home," the last of the direct Stuart line, whose royal
+person, it is said, having grown too unwieldy to permit horseback
+exercise, she was in the habit of following the hunt, of which she was
+passionately fond, driving herself, helter-skelter, in a one-horse
+chaise. She has the credit of having bestowed some endowment upon the
+Chapel, and the Bishop of London presented it with a bell; which, if all
+accounts be true, still hangs in the steeple of a congregational
+meeting-house within the precinct of the "Plains," where the Chapel once
+stood. For that edifice, probably not having been very substantially
+built, and being situated on a barren tract of land, afterwards known as
+"Grasshopper Plains," and, for the convenience of the scattered
+parishioners, placed at a distance from every one of them, and hence
+subject to various causes of dilapidation, especially when St. Paul's,
+within the town, was in process of construction, at length fell to ruin;
+and the bell was carried privately away--so runs the tale--and was long
+buried in the ground, but has now for many years summoned the people to a
+style of worship which would have appealed in vain to the good Bishop of
+London for any such donation. It may be supposed that it could not be
+identified, after its interment, and perhaps the obliteration, naturally
+or otherwise, of its peculiar marks; or the successors of Queen Anne's at
+St. Paul's, built about thirty years after the former, would have
+reclaimed their property.
+
+The motives of those who thus revived the relation of their ancestors
+with the Established Church were not altogether pious; but the fact
+incontestably proves, that after nearly a century of separation from that
+establishment, the objections to it, in the minds of many of the children
+of the colonists, were by no means insurmountable. Indeed, it was about
+a question of parish taxation that they differed with their
+co-religionists. The place selected for the meeting-house was so far
+distant from the homes of many of the parish, that they could not attend
+without great inconvenience, and yet they were required to pay the parish
+rates for the support of the minister. They remonstrated and appealed in
+vain to the civil authorities in the colony and to those in England, for
+relief; for the law was clearly against them, unless they chose to
+conform to the doctrines and discipline of the Established Church.
+Finding nothing in the Thirty-nine Articles inconsistent with the faith
+they professed, they easily reconciled themselves to the ceremonies, and
+thus succeeded in their object of removing from their shoulders an
+involuntary burden.
+
+As may be imagined, at first and for years afterwards, they remained but
+"a feeble folk," regarded with suspicion and dislike by the more
+narrow-minded of their contemporaries, though the days were long gone by,
+when an Episcopalian, especially if suspected of a leaning towards
+Popery, was set in the pillory or the stocks. The Church, however, had
+been long flourishing, in my youth, and I was always particularly
+impressed when I attended service there, as I always did on Christmas
+Day, with the organ, an instrument utterly unknown in our other places of
+public worship, and with the comfort diffused by the large Russian stove
+which projected from a corner of the building; while we, for long years
+afterwards, shivered in our meeting-houses of a cold Sunday. To be sure,
+the younger children carried their mothers' hand-stoves, constructed of
+tin in a frame of wood and pierced with holes in the top, to let out such
+heat as could be communicated by a small pan of coals covered with ashes.
+But for the male part of the congregation, who despised such a luxury,
+it was almost impossible to avoid occasionally striking the benumbed feet
+together, and sometimes the clatter was almost as considerable, as in
+letting down the seats after the long prayer, especially if that proved
+to be a very protracted exercise. But I have known young ladies so
+indifferent to the severity of the weather, as to attend meeting, on very
+cold days of winter, with bare arms. What would delicate ladies, who,
+wrapped in warm furs, listen to service in a heated church, think of such
+exposure now? On one particular occasion, however, our minister announced
+the text,--"Who can stand before His cold?" and closed the services with
+the usual blessing, a little to the dissatisfaction, I think, of the more
+staid members of the congregation, who having come through cold and snow,
+or a furious wintry storm, it might be, to hear a sermon, were not
+altogether contented to miss the expected edification, or perhaps the
+opportunity of criticising the discourse. Indeed, I know not what my
+respected great grandsire, an elder of the church in his day, would have
+said to such defection from spiritual needs towards indulgence in carnal
+comfort. For it is said, that when some less searching and thorough-going
+preacher of the word exchanged with our minister, or casually officiated
+for him, the old gentleman tottered out of the meeting-house, leaning on
+his staff, and with elevated eyebrows muttered pretty audibly to those
+near him,--"Peas in a bladder--thorns under a pot--no food to-day!" And
+however it might be with many of his neighbors, not the minutest particle
+of the quality of original Puritanism had been shaken out of his system
+by the changes of the times. The family tradition is, that before the
+sunset of Saturday everything necessary for the support of nature upon
+the Sabbath was cooked and in readiness. Whether he allowed the
+accustomed beans and rye and Indian bread to remain in the oven subject
+to the working heat, over Saturday night, I am not able to certify. But
+in the intervals of public worship on Sunday,--a term, by the way, which
+he would have scorned to employ,--the family was assembled and ranged
+around the walls of the room, and the reading of Scripture, or of some
+well-worn book of devotion, was proceeded with, while the head of the
+family sat in the centre, with a stick in his hand long enough to reach
+the head and shoulders of any inattentive or unquiet child.
+
+-----
+  [7]  When a trader failed, as was rarely the case at that
+       primitive period, his sign was taken down at night, to
+       the wonder of the public in the morning, and he remained
+       fast locked from the sheriff, or too inquisitive
+       callers, in his house, until the disposition of his
+       creditors became known,--dependent upon their confidence
+       in his good intentions, or their sympathy with his
+       unexpected misfortunes.
+
+  [8]  An anecdote quite parallel to this is to be found in the
+       now late lamented Dean Ramsay's "Reminiscences." He
+       relates, as a specimen of the cool Scottish
+       matter-of-fact view of things, the following
+       communication of a correspondent:--
+
+       "The back windows of the house where he was brought up
+       looked upon the Greyfriars' Church that was burned down.
+       On the Sunday morning in which that event took place, as
+       they were all preparing to go to church, the flames
+       began to burst forth; the young people screamed from the
+       back part of the house, 'A fire! a fire!' and all was in
+       a state of confusion and alarm. The housemaid was not at
+       home, it being her turn for the Sunday 'out.' Kitty, the
+       cook, was taking her place, and performing her duties.
+       The old woman was always very particular on the subject
+       of her responsibility on such occasions, and came
+       panting and hobbling upstairs from the lower regions,
+       and exclaimed, 'Oh what is't, what is't?' 'O, Kitty,
+       look here, the Greyfriars' Church is on fire!' 'Is that
+       a', Miss? What a fright ye geed me! I thought ye said
+       the parlor fire was out.'"
+
+  [9]  It was, I believe, the oldest Episcopal Church in
+       Massachusetts, with the exception of King's Chapel, in
+       Boston, a small wooden structure, which stood upon the
+       place where the stone edifice of that name is now
+       situated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+An aged friend, years ago deceased, who had seen much of the world, once
+observed to me, that he had never seen a more "scrupulous people," to use
+his expression, than our Presbyterian congregation. The clergy of the
+town were always distinguished, at a period when to be a clergyman was to
+be much more an object of reverence than in these latter days, and when a
+boy in the street would scarcely venture to pass one, on the opposite
+sidewalk, without pulling off his cap. But they set their people an
+excellent example, though they did not always escape the censure of the
+over "scrupulous." For instance, Mr. Murray, the accomplished scholar and
+divine to whom reference has already been made, was known to take no
+dinner in the interval of public worship, substituting for that repast a
+slice or two of bread and a few glasses of wine. Why such a fact, when
+everybody drank more or less wine, or something stronger, every day of
+the week, should have alarmed the conscience of Miss Betty Timmins, a
+maiden lady of a certain age, it seems difficult to conjecture.
+Nevertheless, she made a solemn call, one day, upon her pastor, and with
+such apology as she could muster for impertinence--at length out with it:
+"I must tell you, reverend sir, they do say you drink." "Drink! Miss
+Timmins," said Mr. Murray; "to be sure I do, don't you? How can anybody
+live without drinking?" and the discomfited spinster retreated. Mr.
+Murray had a fund of humor. The parsonage was close by the house of his
+parishioner, the sheriff, and the adjoining jail and whipping-post in the
+charge of that officer, and in the last illness of the minister the
+official was in the habit of taking him to a drive. Once, as he was
+getting into the chaise, a friend passed by and he called out, "If you
+see any one inquiring for me, tell him the last you saw of me I was in
+the hands of the sheriff." But after his time, and at the period of which
+I am writing, we had no less than three English ministers settled in the
+town, all educated upon the foundation of the celebrated Countess of
+Huntington. I recall, with vivid recollection, the figure of one of these
+worthies who called himself an "Independent," as he proceeded to meeting
+on a Sunday: his high cocked hat, his flowing, black curled locks,--more
+in the cavalier than the Puritan fashion; his long blue cloak over his
+clerical gown, his bands, his knee-breeches,--objected to by a fastidious
+young lady, as "short pantaloons,"--his square shoe-buckles, and his
+ponderous cane. His person was somewhat short and thick, whence "lewd
+fellows of the baser sort" sometimes irreverently called him the "The
+Jack of Clubs." But he was a really good man, with the most powerful
+voice I remember to have heard, and he preached, always an unwritten
+sermon, but with heads set down, anything but smooth things to his
+numerous congregation. Towards the close of his life he used to remark,
+that when he first came to this country, the topic of sermons was "Jesus
+Christ and Him crucified; now it was nothing but niggers and rum." He was
+good at retort. Early one Monday morning he was going home from the
+market, with some mackerel which he had just purchased strung upon his
+cane. "Mr. Milton," said some passer-by, "them mackerel was caught
+Sunday." "Well," was the reply, "that ain't the fishes' fault."
+
+One burden of this worthy minister's Sunday prayer, during the sessions
+of Congress and of the State legislature, was, "Counsel our councillors,
+and teach our senators wisdom." By many of the stronger faith of an elder
+day, his fervent supplications were believed to exercise a specific
+influence upon the atmosphere, particularly in bringing needed rain at a
+dry time. I have often heard it said, after the drought had continued a
+good while,--"Well, Milton has prayed for rain and now we shall have it."
+This reminds me of an anecdote appropriate to the topic, in that very
+entertaining book, Dean Ramsay's "Reminiscences of Scottish Life and
+Character." At one time when the crops were much laid by continuous
+rains, and wind was earnestly desired in order to restore them to a
+condition fit for the sickle,--"A minister," he says, "in his Sabbath
+services expressed their wants in prayer, as follows: 'O Lord, we pray
+thee to send us wind, no a rantin' tantin,' tearin' wind, but a noohin',
+(noughin?) soughin', winnin' wind.'" In like manner, I have heard of a
+prayer preferred by a somewhat simple New Englander, who was overheard
+offering his petition behind a clump of bushes in a field: "O Lord, I
+want a new coat--good cloth--none of your coarse, flimsy, slimsy, sleazy
+kind of stuff, but a good piece of thick, warm, comfortable
+broadcloth--such as Bill Hale wears."
+
+It must be admitted that the reverend person was rather rough in manner;
+but he had a truly kind heart. Like John Wesley, he was unfortunate in
+his domestic relations; a circumstance which doubtless tended somewhat to
+lessen the amiability of an originally good disposition. But,
+notwithstanding his various trials and we fear conflicts at home, no one
+questioned his piety. Indeed, one well acquainted with his character and
+experiences, when his death was announced, at once exclaimed,--"What a
+change! From pitching skillets, to handling harps!" There could be no
+greater contrast than in the person and character of our long and
+well-beloved Presbyterian minister, graceful in person, courteous and
+affable in demeanor, accomplished in ancient learning and in that
+portion of English literature which is styled classical; a devoted and
+affectionate pastor, a most able and persuasive preacher; of whom
+President Dwight, of Yale, is reported to have said, that there had been
+scarcely such a writer of pure English since Addison. With the exception
+of some failure of physical powers, towards the close of his life, he
+retained these admirable characteristics and accomplishments to the end
+of his more than ninety years. He always preached in gown and bands, with
+black gloves upon his hands, his nether limbs encased in small-clothes
+and silk stockings, until in later life he adopted the prevailing mode.
+We always knew when he intended to preach, because through several
+intervening yards and gardens we could see from our house the light in
+his study, at a distance, of a Saturday night. His morning discourses
+were usually admirable expositions of Scripture delivered without notes;
+his afternoon sermons were written exercises, and we so depended upon
+both, that it was a disappointment when we discovered that he was to
+exchange, by the absence of the usual light. He would descend from the
+contemplation of the highest themes, which address themselves to human
+reason and imagination, and from the relaxation of reading "Tully," or
+Horace, or Pope, who was a special favorite with him, to the preparation
+of his fire-wood for domestic use, and doubtless this accustomed
+saw-horse practice tended very much to the promotion and continuance both
+of his bodily and mental health. In my childhood, he taught me and other,
+I fear, reluctant pupils all we were capable of learning of the
+Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism, contained, at that time, in a
+small but miscellaneous volume called the Primer. He was a great lover of
+the writings of Cowper, which name, in the English manner, he always
+pronounced Cooper, and of the Psalms and Hymns and the lyrical
+productions, in general, of Dr. Watts; and long after I had grown up, he
+pointed out to me a verse in one of those Hymns, remarking upon a point
+which I do not remember to have seen noticed elsewhere, that it presented
+the finest specimen of alliteration in the language, as follows:--
+
+                 "How vain are all things here below,
+                    How false and yet how fair!
+                  Each pleasure hath its poison too,
+                    And every sweet a snare."
+
+The eventual condition and standing of our Episcopal Church may be
+inferred from the fact, that its Rector, in early times, was chosen
+Bishop of the diocese, a dignity which he long piously and humbly
+enjoyed. Along the beautiful street on which St. Paul's stood, and in its
+immediate neighborhood, were some of the more elegant residences of the
+town, and an air of superior gentility seemed to pervade the precinct, so
+that some caviller saw fit to call it St. James's, in allusion to the
+Christian name of the excellent Rector who succeeded the venerable
+Bishop. He was, indeed, a most devoted churchman, looking upon all
+persons outside of his communion as sheep wandering from the fold, and
+used to say, that he considered the whole town as really belonging to his
+parish. He was a person very highly esteemed for his piety and sincerity,
+and as evidence of this repute, and of liberality on both sides, he
+preached, by invitation, and read the service in the Presbyterian
+meeting-house, on one occasion, at least, when our minister was absent
+and his own pulpit was supplied. We were then under another pastor; but
+some years before this manifestation of truly Christian toleration a
+controversy arose between the Rector and our Presbyterian clergyman, in
+regard to the obligatory observance of Christmas. It was conducted in the
+newspaper of the town, then published only on two days of the week, and
+to the multitude of readers appeared more spirited than edifying, as is
+the case with most polemical disputes. The worthy Episcopal Doctor had
+asserted on Christmas Day, that the observance of that festival was of
+universal Christian obligation. The Presbyterian Doctor took up the
+cudgels to demonstrate, that, although it was proper and reasonable
+enough to keep the day, as a matter of religious edification, like a
+lecture-day, for example, by those who saw fit to do so, yet there was no
+authority, in this respect, binding upon the consciences of those who
+chose to disregard it. Both of the disputants were acknowledged gentlemen
+and scholars; but after much argument and learning wasted upon the
+subject, it is to be feared that the controversy, through the medium of a
+public journal, between two such highly respected controversialists, on a
+topic of religious practice, only gave too much occasion to the scoffer.
+Indeed, Johnnie Favor, the Episcopal sexton's helper, one of those
+persons, reputed half-witted, who sometimes make very apposite remarks,
+observed,--"Well--Christmas here, or Christmas there, I'm not so
+narrer-contracted as to like to see the surplices of two such good men as
+your Doctor and my Doctor draggled in the dirt."
+
+Certainly, a tone of unusual refinement pervaded the better educated
+class of the community in the old town, at the period of this relation,
+and not a little stateliness of manner was kept up by some of the older
+families. Indeed, I think they would compare very favorably in point of
+intelligence and manners, with persons of a similar class, as described
+by the great authorities heretofore referred to, and others, who have
+given us vivid pictures of social life in the Scottish capital. To be
+sure, the colonial days of distinct social rank had long gone by. But,
+half a generation before, the town had been one of the most flourishing
+and wealthy in New England, and to the counting-houses of its principal
+merchants young men resorted, even from the capital of the State, to
+learn the art and practice of business. Those who filled the several
+learned professions were persons of the highest eminence in their several
+callings,--drawing pupils around them who afterwards, and on wider fields
+of action, attained great names and some of whom occupied the loftiest
+civil positions in the land.
+
+Among the students, for example, in the office of that great lawyer and
+judge, Chief Justice Parsons, while he practised at the Bar, and who
+subsequently attained eminence, were John Quincy Adams, afterwards
+President of the United States, and Rufus King, afterwards Senator in
+Congress from the State of New York, and twice Minister Plenipotentiary
+to Great Britain; and Robert Treat Paine, so celebrated in his day, as
+an orator and poet.[10] Of one of these eminent persons I heard a
+story, formerly, from a friend of very high character as a man and a
+lawyer, the late Hon. William Baylies, of West Bridgewater,
+Massachusetts. It seems that while Mr. King, then a young man, was in the
+practice of his profession in Boston he was detained in attendance upon
+court at Plymouth, until late on Saturday evening. It was necessary for
+him to be at home seasonably on Monday morning, and accordingly he
+mounted his horse early on Sunday, the ordinary mode of travel, in those
+days, and proceeded leisurely on his way. It was summer time; and in
+passing through the township of Hanover, in Plymouth County, he
+approached a plain wooden structure by the roadside, in which, as he
+could see by the assemblage within, the door and windows being open, that
+it was a time of religious service. Alighting, out of deference to the
+character of the day, he hitched his horse and quietly entered the
+building. It proved to be a Quaker meeting, and perfect silence
+prevailed. At length tiring of this state of things, Mr. King arose and
+began to address the assembly upon topics suitable to the day. He was an
+uncommonly handsome young man, and then and ever afterwards distinguished
+for extraordinary powers of eloquence. The Quakers listened with mute
+amazement and admiration to the discourse of some twenty minutes'
+duration, when the speaker slipped out, remounted, and proceeded on his
+journey. The incident was the occasion of great and mysterious interest,
+for a long time afterwards, in the quiet country neighborhood. No
+imagination could conceive who the wonderful speaker might be, and many
+insisted it must have been, indeed, "an angel from heaven." Some years
+afterwards, at the session of a Constitutional Convention in
+Massachusetts, Mr. King rose to make a motion. He had no sooner begun,
+than a Quaker member started up from a back seat, and, carried away by
+the first glimpse at solution of the long-standing mystery, cried out,
+"That's the man that spoke in our meetin'."
+
+Provision for the instruction of youth was liberal, and not long
+previously the most famous, and I believe the longest established
+academy of the day, flourished in the immediate neighborhood, in all
+its glory. Of the school-books then in use, I cannot but think that
+one in particular, Murray's English Reader, was a better manual than any
+other which has since been produced. For it was mainly made up of extracts
+from the writings of the best authors, in the best age of English
+literature, and I can answer that its lessons were calculated to make
+impressions on the youthful mind, never to be forgotten. But the
+prevalent idea, of late years, seems to have been to nationalize
+school-books, so as to narrow their teachings, and thus to make our
+future fellow-citizens partisans instead of men. But literature and
+learning are confined to no age or nation; and meaning in no sense to
+say a word which could abate the ardor of manly patriotism in any
+bosom, it is certain that much is to be learned from the history of
+other people beside our own; and I suppose there are standards of high
+intellectual attainment in the past,--in poetry and eloquence, and
+various ranges of thought and expression,--which never have been and
+are not likely to be surpassed. The deluge of modern transitory
+literature had not then begun to flow. But, to say nothing of the
+"Scottish Chiefs," and "Thaddeus of Warsaw," over the pages of which,
+doubtless, millions of youthful eyes have formerly shed copious tears,
+we had Miss Edgeworth's writings, those of Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, the
+novels of Charlotte Smith, the Memoirs of Baron Trenck, and, perused a
+little stealthily, Peregrine Pickle and Roderick Random; and in poetry
+Henry Kirke White and Montgomery were favorites; nor am I ashamed to say,
+that Cottle's "Alfred" was read aloud at our fireside of evenings, with
+an interest due to the story, perhaps, as much as to its poetical
+ability. Original American productions were few; the importation of
+new works from abroad was not large, and the demand for reprints a
+good deal limited. But we had the well-known books of sterling value at
+command, and our publishers occasionally favored us with new editions.
+One of my early studies was Guthrie's Grammar of Geography, a
+ponderous volume of English manufacture, which belonged in our family;
+and I was fascinated with Pope at almost as early an age as that in
+which he first "lisped in numbers." I see, by the way, that Forster, in
+his Life of Dickens, quotes from a letter of Scott, in which he refers
+to the scarcity of books at Edinburgh in his time.
+
+In connection with this reference to our means of intellectual
+cultivation, I am reminded of an incident illustrative of a faculty
+commonly attributed to Yankees, that is New Englanders, though there is
+reason to believe that some other parts of the country are quite as
+liberally gifted with the qualities of "Yorkshire." It affords a striking
+instance of shrewdness on the one side, and of lamentable deficiency of
+it on the other. This was before the town had exchanged its original
+simpler mode of regulating its municipal affairs for the form of a city
+government. On a certain occasion the School Committee became
+dissatisfied with the master of one of the higher schools, after a brief
+trial of his qualities, and, as delicately as the subject permitted,
+requested him to resign his place. The master was not a native of the
+town, or of the "region round about," so that it was a mere question of
+qualifications, real or otherwise, between himself and his employers. He
+demurred, unless his salary were paid him for the unexpired considerable
+part of the year for which he alleged himself to have been engaged; but
+finally consented, if the chairman of the committee would only furnish
+him with a certificate of honorable discharge. The chairman, at this easy
+rate of saving the town's money, wrote it, without suspicion of its
+effect. Thereupon, the master read it, put it into his pocket, and by
+virtue of the document, demanded payment of the sum in question. It was
+paid; and the triumphant master forthwith proceeded--
+
+                  "To fresh woods and pastures new."
+
+The state of things, in regard to our reading resources, was before the
+modern facilities for gadding about existed; and while those who find
+time lying heavy on their hands can now steam it a hundred miles to make
+a morning-call, journeying was then both more tedious and more expensive,
+seldom undertaken except as an affair of business, or with the deliberate
+purpose of a long-concerted visit; and a good part of the day was
+consumed in travelling half that distance by public conveyance. The
+consequence was, that people's pleasures, with their duties, laid mostly
+at home, or near at hand. Hence family and friendly ties were more
+closely drawn. The better feelings of our nature were, I think, deeper,
+than when scattered over a wide but thin social surface; just as the
+water in a well is more concentrated, than if diffused in the basin of a
+pond. To some extent, therefore, wholesomely isolated, besides the
+ordinary round of not very formal visiting parties, there were reading
+circles, for those who were prompted by intellectual yearnings,
+frequented by young ladies and gentlemen, married or single, at which
+passages from the better class of books were read aloud by such of the
+male members as felt competent to the exercise, by turns. In fact, taking
+into view the intelligence, the inexpensive accomplishments, and the
+unaffected manners of the fairly educated among us, it has not fallen to
+the lot of most persons to meet with any society more really agreeable.
+St. James's, however, and the congregation of the successors of those who
+founded the First Church, who had at length become what was called
+"liberal," in contrast with the orthodoxy of the rest of the town,
+aspired to a higher degree of gentility and accomplishment than the
+commonalty; and, in evidence that we were not bigoted, my mother would
+sometimes allow me, when a boy, and desirous of some change, to attend
+service of an afternoon, at the latter place of public worship with some
+friends of the family who waited upon its ministrations. Of the
+diversions of the common people I particularly remember one under the
+curious name of a "Joppa Jine" (join); to which I allude from the oddity
+of its name, derived from a part of the town so called by the river-side,
+when several families of neighbors and friends contributed their
+respective quota of a common feast, and repaired to the island at the
+mouth of the river to enjoy a day of leisure and merriment.
+
+In a certain class, the ancient pronunciation of many English words was
+maintained, doubtless brought by the ancestors of New England families
+from "home," and transmitted to their descendants; such as _airth_ for
+earth, _fairm_ for firm, _sartain_ for certain, _pint_ for point, en_vy_
+for envy, _ax_ with the broad _a_ for ask, _housen_ for houses, _his'n_
+and _her'n_ for his and hers, _rare_ for rear; as, for instance, the
+horse _rares_ up; and sounding the _l_ in would. Common enough names,
+too, were clipped or contracted in English fashion. Thus, the names of
+Norwood and Harwood became Norrod in sound and Harrod in spelling; and
+the name of Currier, whether with any reference or not to the French
+_Cuir_, for leather, was not long since uniformly pronounced _Kiah_, with
+the long _[=i]_; Thurlow was strangely transformed into _Thurrill_; and
+Pierpont, often formerly spelled Pierpoint, with entire neglect of its
+derivation, was pronounced _Pearpint_, by old-fashioned people, the first
+syllable approximating to the original formation of _pierre_.
+
+In connection with this modification of language, I observe in a daily
+paper how much a worthy old lady puzzled her minister, for a moment, by
+inquiring the meaning of "silver shiners for Diana," in the Bible; but a
+good deacon, at an evening meeting in the chapel of their house of
+worship, in our town, sadly disturbed the gravity of the religious
+assembly, by reading it _silver shins for Dinah_!
+
+-----
+ [10]  The late Mr. Edward Everett is authority (with me) for
+       the story, that on the occasion of the visit of
+       Washington to New England, in 1789, Parsons was
+       appointed to deliver the address of welcome, on the part
+       of the town, and said to his students, "Well, boys, I am
+       to make this address. Now, go to work and write it, and
+       I will deliver the best." He chose the one prepared by
+       Adams.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+I trust it will not be thought inappropriate to the allusion already made
+to our reading circles, if I here insert a _jeu d'esprit_, the production
+of one of the members, indicating a certain forwardness in the sphere of
+literary investigation, and affording a plausible solution of a literary
+problem, which had been so long shrouded in mystery, namely, the true
+narrative of "Old Grouse in the Gun-room."
+
+This is the name of the story to which Goldsmith alludes in his comedy,
+"She Stoops to Conquer." Mr. Hardcastle, the host of the occasion, in
+preparation for the dinner he is about to give his guests, charges his
+rustic servants that if he should say a good thing at the table, they are
+not to burst out laughing, as if they were a part of the company to be
+entertained. Diggory, thereupon replies to his master,--"Then, ecod,
+your worship must not tell the story of 'Ould Grouse in the Gun-room.' I
+can't help laughing at that--he! he! he!--for the soul of me. We have
+laughed at that these twenty years--ha! ha! ha!" Mr. Hardcastle admits,
+that this pet narrative of his may properly be considered an exceptional
+case. On the other hand, it has uniformly foiled the researches of
+critics and commentators to ascertain what this story really was which
+"Squire Hardcastle," in the exuberance of his own enjoyment of it, gave
+them the liberty to laugh at, if they liked. It has been generally
+supposed, indeed, that the story itself was, in fact, non-existent, and
+that the ingenious author of the play merely invented the title in order
+to show off the uncouth peculiarities which it was his object to
+display.
+
+Now, it so happens, that the means are not wanting for the solution of
+this mystery, and in illustration of the life of a writer and a man so
+interesting as Goldsmith, I am glad to be able to clear up the critical
+embarrassment. Years ago, the writer of this article fell by chance into
+the company of Miss Goldsmith, grandniece of Mrs. Johnson, who was
+housekeeper of old Mr. Featherston, of County Kerry, Ireland. She knew
+the story in question very well, and it is gratifying to be able to
+verify the authenticity of the allusion of a great poet and writer in
+general, of whom Dr. Johnson has said, in those familiar words in his
+epitaph, that he touched nothing which he did not adorn, and whose
+character has been very much misunderstood, chiefly by reason of the
+misrepresentations of Boswell. This parasite of Johnson, who has given us
+one of the most entertaining books of biography ever written, was jealous
+not only of Goldsmith's literary reputation, so far as it might rival
+that of his special idol, but also of the real hold which Goldsmith,
+because of his simplicity as well as his genius, had upon the affections
+of the great moralist. While he was himself admitted to the high literary
+society which he frequented, on terms of sufferance chiefly, Boswell took
+every pains to disparage poor Goldsmith. The poet, whose writings possess
+a charm so seldom paralleled, it must be allowed, gave no little occasion
+for depreciation, by his want of firmness of character; and Boswell
+maliciously set forth all his singularities and weaknesses in the most
+ludicrous point of view. Whoever will take pains, however, to read his
+delightful "Life" by John Forster, will find the general impressions on
+the subject very materially corrected, and will see, that, if the
+hard-driven bard had many faults, he had also many virtues, which, as
+Lord Bacon remarks, is "the posy of the best characters."
+
+But to the veritable story of "Old Grouse in the Gun-room." It seems,
+according to the narrative of Mrs. Johnson, that the family of Mr.
+Featherston were seated at the tea-table, at the close of a chilly day, a
+bright fire blazing on the hearth, and the servants, as usual, being in
+attendance. On a sudden, a tremendous crash was heard in a distant part
+of the ancient mansion, followed by a succession of wails of the most
+lugubrious and unearthly character, which reverberated through the
+echoing passage-ways of the house. Whatever the cause of the sounds might
+be, there was no doubt they were of the most horrifying description. The
+family, consisting of the 'Squire, a maiden sister, and one or two
+younger persons, jumped from their seats in the utmost consternation,
+while Patrick and the rest of the domestics rushed from the room in a
+state of terror more easily to be conceived than described, and huddled
+together in the kitchen, as far as possible from the occasion of their
+fright.
+
+Imagine a lonely country-house, a quiet and well-ordered family seated
+at their evening meal, after dark, of a somewhat gloomy day, the
+apartment imperfectly lighted by the glowing fire, and according to such
+conveniences for the purpose as old times ordinarily afforded; the
+conversation, perhaps, turning on such unexciting topics as the weather,
+past, present, and to come, or the thoughts reverting, it may be, to such
+mundane topics as the expected game of whist or backgammon,--and the
+scene suddenly broken in upon by the most startling and terrific sounds,
+which seemed to result from no intelligible cause, and for which it
+seemed impossible to account by reference to any merely human agency. The
+young folks, after their first scream of terror, sat dumb, pale, and
+utterly helpless.
+
+"It's the Banshee!" screamed Aunt Nelly, sinking back, in a faint, into
+her chair.
+
+"It's the devil, I believe," cried the 'Squire, who, notwithstanding age
+and infirmity, retained a good deal of that original pluck, which had
+formerly distinguished him as an officer in his Majesty's military
+service. "Yes, it is the devil, I verily believe; and there is no way but
+to send for the priest, to get him out of a house that never was troubled
+in this way before. Where are those sneaking curs?" as Patrick and the
+rest in a body peeped into the room through the door they had forgotten
+to shut in their flight, and too much frightened to stay quietly
+anywhere. "Patrick," called out the 'Squire, "go at once for Father
+O'Flaherty."
+
+At this moment, another preternatural yell, long-toned and of the most
+mournful cadence, burst upon their ears, and the dismayed servants fairly
+tumbled over each other and sprawled and scrambled through the passage,
+in their haste to get away. The 'Squire followed and ordered Patrick
+forthwith to mount Sorrel and hasten for the priest, at the village, a
+mile or more away.
+
+"O Lord! your worship," cried that valiant man-of-all-work,--though aided
+in the day-time by two or three assistants from the village,--"O Lord!
+your worship! only ask me anything but that"--as, of course, on such
+occasions people are ready to do all but the very thing which the
+exigency demands,--"O Lord! your worship's honor! I couldn't for the
+world go round _that_ corner of the house, to get to the stable; but if
+Nancy here--now Nancy, darlint, I know you will, honey--if she'll only go
+with me, I'll run for his reverence as fast as my poor legs, that's all
+of a tremble, will carry me"--shrewdly reflecting, as did Nancy also,
+that the farther they left the house behind, they left the danger, too.
+This affair being hastily arranged, as the two ready messengers proceeded
+towards the door, a quick step was heard upon the gravel, followed by an
+emphatic knock, and the embodied household fell back with renewed
+trepidation; when fortunately who should it be but Father O'Flaherty
+himself, who found the 'Squire, his family, and servants all huddled
+together in the hall.
+
+"Good-evening to you, 'Squire," said he; "and faix, what is the matter
+that you all look so pale? The holy saints forbid that any ill luck has
+come to this house!"
+
+Again, rang echoing through the open doors and empty rooms the same
+portentous sound, rendered none the less terrific that its tones were
+partly subdued by distance. "Holy Father!" exclaimed the priest, crossing
+himself--"what is that? Has Satan dared to cross this blessed
+threshold?"
+
+Upon this, half a dozen tongues began to relate the circumstances of
+terrors only too manifest; but Mr. Featherston silenced them, and
+proposed to Father O'Flaherty to accompany him to the investigation of
+the mystery. Accordingly they solemnly proceeded towards the scene of
+alarm, the 'Squire having provided himself with a long-disused sword
+which hung over his mantel-piece, and the priest, more spiritually,
+brandishing his cross, and muttering "_Vade retro, Satanas!_" and such
+other exorcisms as occurred to him on the way. The whole body of the
+inmates of the mansion followed, closely though tremulously, upon the
+footsteps of the advanced guard, and, indeed, afraid to be left behind.
+As they reached the neighborhood of the door, whence the sounds appeared
+to come, there was a truly awful noise of scampering round the room and
+pattering, as it were, within.
+
+"The saints defend us!" cried the priest, falling back, as this new
+demonstration was responded to by the screams of the females, who sank to
+the floor, in the extremity of their terror, when another horrible yell
+sounded close at hand.
+
+"It's he, I verily believe," said the priest; "the holy saints be about
+us! It's he, I wager. Lord, forgive us! for I heard the sound of his
+hoofs. But where's the dog?"
+
+"The dog!" cried the 'Squire. "Why didn't I think of that before! Open
+the door, I say, Pat, you cowardly vagabond!"
+
+At this instant, there was a tremendous bounce against the door, which
+forced the latch, and out tumbled Old Grouse, capering among the party,
+who still screamed and scattered out of his way, not yet convinced that
+the Evil One was not loosed and bodily among them.
+
+The relieved household at length returned to their interrupted
+avocations, and Pat declared to the folks in the kitchen, that all the
+while he knew it was the dog, only he kept up the fright for the sake of
+the joke. It seemed that the 'Squire had been out with his gun that day,
+and had shut the big dog which accompanied him into the gun-room, upon
+his return. The dog, no doubt fatigued with his excursion, had stretched
+himself out in a corner of the room, where various articles tending to
+his comfort lay disposed. He had remained, until tired of his confinement
+he had risen, and fumbling about had thrown down an ancient heavy shield,
+which produced the first cause of alarm, no less to himself than to the
+household. The moon shining through the window had attracted his
+attention, and he began to bay, as dogs sometimes will. The sudden
+fright, and the distance of the gun-room from the family apartment,
+served to modify the intonation, and in his confusion of mind Mr.
+Featherston failed to recognize his voice. "Indeed," said he, "I never
+knew the whelp to bay before."
+
+As time wore on, and the story had often been told by him, it lost none
+of its original features, except, perhaps, the remembrance of his own
+agitation. But the fright of the family and his domestics, the assent of
+the priest to their superstitious fears, and the mortal terror which
+overwhelmed them, when out bounded the shaggy black monster of a dog and
+in an instant was pawing them all round, in his ecstasy of escape, and
+whatever else was ludicrous in the adventure, was oftentimes related by
+the 'Squire, with all the aid it could derive from a somewhat lively
+imagination and considerable power of native eloquence.
+
+And now, if I have only invented this story of "Old Grouse in the
+Gun-room," for the entertainment of my readers, I have at least attached
+a tale, which may be thought to have some plausibility, to a famous
+title, which has run through the world, for so many years, without any
+tale at all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+In a note at the end of Chapter V. of "Waverley," Sir Walter Scott
+remarks:--"These introductory chapters have been a good deal censured as
+tedious and unnecessary. Yet there are circumstances recorded in them
+which the author has not been able to persuade himself to retract or
+cancel." So if, in giving certain loose hints rather than sketches of
+characters and manners in a very interesting town, ardently beloved by
+all who have ever had any near connection with it, during a former
+generation of its inhabitants, I should be thought to have set down too
+many "unconsidered trifles," I can only shelter myself under the shadow
+of his great name, and plead that I had not the heart to leave them out,
+as they occurred to my memory while writing; and however they may lack,
+as they necessarily must, the storied value of Sir Walter's fascinating
+fictions, they have at least this merit,--that every narrative and
+anecdote in these pages is a veritable fact.
+
+I should not wonder, however, if a couple of stories or so, which I am
+about to relate, were looked upon as purely fictitious by the
+philosophical reader. I do not pretend that the facts stated were within
+my own experience, only that I positively heard them related by persons
+of the strictest veracity, who were actual observers or actors in the
+transactions of which they professed to give an account. People ridicule,
+nowadays, when in company, the superstitions of earlier times; though it
+is not unlikely that the nerves of some of the boldest contemners of
+marvellous manifestations, once universally accepted as true, might still
+tremble, if alone and under circumstances calculated to awaken
+apprehension and to puzzle the understanding. Notwithstanding the
+accepted theory, that the very pretence of witchcraft, for example, was
+exploded a hundred and fifty years ago, and the idea of an apparition, in
+spite of Dr. Johnson's belief, and that of others as wise and stout as
+he, would be scouted as preposterous in cultivated circles, I believe
+that there are many places in New England where undoubting faith in both
+superstitions still prevails, and I know that within a third part of the
+period above mentioned, very many creditable persons in a certain place
+in New England accepted the strangest occurrences of both kinds, upon the
+supposed evidence of their sober senses.
+
+We will imagine, then, that we are sitting in a circle around the
+fire-place in Uncle Richard's spacious kitchen, on the evening of
+Christmas-day, the room lighted only by the blazing logs upon the hearth,
+the glow of which glanced along the walls and drew brilliant reflections
+from the brightly-scoured dishes and other utensils of metal, which
+stood ranged upon the shelves. We were quite a party, and had made merry,
+according to our fashion, during the day. Uncle Richard was himself the
+most conspicuous of the group. I have said that he was well-to-do, and he
+was certainly a gentleman in spirit and bearing. The black dress which he
+assumed on Sundays, and other occasions of public importance, set off his
+figure well, and his white hair gathered into a pig-tail behind and tied
+up with a ribbon by some one of his daughters, of a morning, gave him a
+venerable appearance, at least in the eyes of us youngsters, beyond what
+the actual number of his years warranted. For I have observed that those
+who may have seemed to us approaching the verge of old age, in our youth,
+begin to look almost like coevals again, as we ourselves have advanced in
+the stage of manhood. Aunt Judith, on the other hand, who was a maiden
+lady of a certain age, was dressed with all the care and neatness which
+somewhat scanty means enabled her to apply, and, as I am about to produce
+her as a witness, I feel it incumbent upon me to asseverate, that, being
+a devoutly religious woman, I have never met in my life with a more
+conscientious and scrupulously truth-telling person. After tea, my uncle
+had requested the young people present to sing a new Christmas Hymn, not
+to be found in the Prayer Book, but the production of a devout poetical
+acquaintance, in the performance of which he joined with a bass voice of
+singular compass and melody.
+
+                         THE CHRISTMAS HYMN.
+
+                  How hallowed grew the night,
+                  When the auspicious light
+          Of heaven descending shone along the plain;
+                  And wondering shepherds heard
+                  The soul-inspiring word,
+          That swelled exultant the celestial strain!
+
+                 "Peace and good-will to earth,
+                  For, lo, a Saviour's birth!"
+          So the high song addressed the simple swains;
+                 "The gates of life again
+                  Open to guilty men,
+          For God, the God of love, eternal reigns!"
+
+                  What though all earth was still,
+                  And no ecstatic thrill
+          In wakening lands the gracious message hailed;
+                  Yet through heaven's highest cope
+                  Echoed immortal hope,
+          And hell's dark caves beneath trembled and wailed.
+
+                  Let then creation sing,--
+                  Hail, sovereign priest and king!
+          Blest be thy holy name and holy Word!
+                  Hail, Son of God Most High,
+                  Helper forever nigh,--
+          Hail, Prince of Peace and universal Lord!
+
+The conversation, at such times, is very apt to run into story-telling,
+among those who have any stores of memory, or are possessed of inventive
+faculties, and often turns upon such inexplicable incidents as might well
+bewilder the imaginations of simple country folks. My uncle gave us an
+account of a lad not long before in his employ, who laughed at the idea
+of supernatural appearances, and was indeed afraid of nothing. "The young
+scamp," said he, "though I don't know why I should call him so, for he
+was as honest as he was bold,--appeared so thoroughly fearless, that it
+sometimes looked like mere bravado (I am afraid he pronounced it
+_brave-ardor_); and a companion who also lived with us resolved to put
+his courage to the test. Accordingly, at dusk one evening, when Jack was
+about to lead the horse to the pasture, he provided himself with a sheet,
+and placed himself on one end of the crossbeam which rested on the rather
+high posts of the gate. Jack came whistling along, leading the horse,
+and, opening the gate, slipping off the halter, gave the animal a slap
+with it; and as he shut the gate cocked up his eye at the elevated
+figure. "And as for you, Mr. Devil," says he, "you may sit there just as
+long as you please." A decent respect for the proprieties of his position
+kept the scarecrow quiet until Jack was well on his way to the house
+which was not far distant. Pretty soon the door was burst open, and, to
+our alarm, some one tumbled in upon the floor in an agony of terror, as
+we soon discovered, pale as a ghost and scarcely able to speak. As soon
+as he recovered some degree of self-possession, he could barely stutter
+out,--"When Jack got out of sight--I turned to get down--and there sat
+another one, on the other post--looking just like me!"[11]
+
+A great deal was thereupon said about the power of the imagination and
+the effect it was likely to have upon one who had placed himself in such
+an equivocal situation, and the terrors which, under its influence, might
+naturally revert to him, who in an excited state of his own nerves had
+endeavored to inflict such terrors upon another. Hereupon there was a
+general call upon Aunt Judith, from the youngsters present, to tell us
+something about reputed witches in her younger days,--a subject in regard
+to which she was said to be able to make some remarkable statements,
+though as yet we had never obtained from her any satisfactory information
+about it. She seemed a little reluctant to indulge our curiosity.
+
+"As to witches," said my uncle Richard, gravely, "I don't know. Whether
+the denunciations of them in Holy Writ are intended to apply to any
+actually supernatural power possessed by them, or only to the pretence of
+it,--and both are mischievous in their effect on the popular mind,--I
+shall not undertake to say. It is certain that the poor old women who are
+thus stigmatized seem to have little power to help themselves in this
+world, or, if real tamperers with the powers of darkness, any enjoyable
+expectations from the other. But this I do know, that I was riding, not
+many days since, with my lawyer, a man of considerable acuteness, though
+a little eccentric at times, coming from K--'s Island, where we had been
+on some business; and as we neared the turn of the causeway to the main
+road, he pulled up the chaise, jumped out, and placing himself on a broad
+flat rock by the road-side, began violently to dance up and down and to
+shake his clothes. 'Good Heavens!' cried I, 'are you mad?' 'Oh, no,' said
+he, resuming his seat, 'but my mother always told me, that whenever I was
+coming away from K--'s Island, I must stand upon that rock and shake the
+witches off!'"
+
+"But your story, Aunt Judith! your story," we all cried out, and after a
+little more hesitation the good woman _prit la parole_, as Madame de
+Staeel so often phrases it in "Corinne."
+
+"When I was a grown-up girl," said she, "I and my older sister, who had
+lost her husband at sea, lived with my mother, who was also a widow. We
+had few of this world's goods, but health and energy enough to take care
+of ourselves. At one time, we moved into half a house, in a decent
+quarter of the town, the other part of which was occupied by an old woman
+called by the neighbors 'Granny Holt.' Coming from a street of the town
+at some distance, we had heard nothing that I remember about her; but the
+day had not gone by, before it was made fully known to us by such
+acquaintances as we saw, that we had taken up our abode in the same house
+with a person of a very crabbed disposition, whom all the neighborhood
+looked upon as a witch. This was not very agreeable news, but we tried
+to make the best of it. Our house was near the river-side, and we were
+surrounded by the families of those who followed the sea, and we
+endeavored to flatter ourselves with the idea, that idle tales of
+marvelous things are very common among that class of population; and that
+the stories we heard were mere gossip, as we whispered to ourselves, for
+fear of being overheard through the thin partition which divided us from
+the other tenant. But, 'No!' said one of our callers in a low voice--one
+of the Pearse girls (a young lady, by the way, about seventy, but Aunt
+Judith was of a certain age); 'I tell you it's as true as a sermon in the
+meetin'-house. You'll soon find out what she can do. Why, there's young
+Stout, as fine a lad as ever walked the streets, or stood by the helm of
+his vessel in a gale o' wind; and look at him now, pale and cadaverous,
+and walking round people's gardens, on the edge of narrow fences where
+nobody but a rope-dancer, with a pole in his hands, could keep his
+balance, and a hundred more such antics; everybody knows she bewitched
+him.'
+
+"'But what for?' we asked.
+
+"'Oh, they had a quarrel, and pretty soon he began to cut these capers.'
+
+"My sister Ann, the widow, however, who had always a brave spirit,
+declared that she did not care a fig for all the witches in Christendom;
+but I must own that I was very much alarmed. You may be sure, we none of
+us much liked this sort of greeting, on the first day of our entering
+into our new habitation, and we prepared to retire early, my mother, who
+was a truly pious person, trusting to the only sure defence. Upon going
+to my chamber, I found there was no fastening to the door; in fact the
+handle itself was quite out of kilter, and it could not be shut tight. I
+moved up to it, therefore, a chest of drawers, putting some things on
+top, and thus brought the door close. I was just about to blow out the
+candle to get into bed, when I heard a scrambling in the chimney, and you
+may believe it or not, but it's the solemn truth--a black cat jumped from
+the fire-place, ran and leaped a-top of the things I had placed against
+the door, put her paw upon the handle of it, gave me one sidelong glance,
+opened the door itself and passed out. I was too frightened for anything
+but to wrap myself thoroughly in the bedclothes, and trembling with
+terror, at last fell into a troubled sleep."
+
+"Are you sure, Aunt Judith," said my uncle Richard, "that the cat did not
+go under the bed?"
+
+"I tell you, as plainly as I see you now, I saw her open the door, look
+round at me with that malicious kind of expression, go out and shut the
+door behind her; and in the morning everything I had piled up against it
+was unmoved."
+
+"It must have been the ghost of a cat, then," said my uncle; "but did
+anything else happen, afterwards?"
+
+"Yes, in a few days we had got a baking ready and the oven heated, when
+the old woman came in with an armful of wood, threw it down on the
+hearth, and said she wanted to bake. The oven was for the use of both
+parts of the house; but we told her as soon as we had got through she
+should have it. She went off muttering, and when we thought our batch was
+done and went to take it out, it was burned just as black as a coal."
+
+"I am afraid," said my uncle, "you let it stay in too long, or the oven
+was too hot."
+
+"You may laugh as much as you please," replied Aunt Judith, with spirit,
+"but I tell you what I actually saw with my own eyes. We did not stay
+longer in that house than we could find another place; but before we left
+something took place which perhaps you'll not find it so easy to explain.
+Young William Stout's folks had been so troubled about him, and the
+doctors said they could do nothing, that they determined to try a
+'project.'"
+
+I may as well explain what Aunt Judith's modesty prevented her from
+doing; that a "project" was to inclose a certain liquid emanation of the
+afflicted person in a phial tightly stopped, and to put it over the fire
+in a pot to boil. Of course, as in the case of the sympathetic remedies
+described by Sir Kenelm Digby and practised by him, as the contents of
+the phial boil, the witch burns, and she is inevitably detected by the
+scorching she gets and the scars it leaves behind. It is from this
+circumstance, undoubtedly, that the nursery rhyme derives its
+authority,--
+
+                   "Hinx minx, the old witch winks,
+                    The fat begins to fry," etc.
+
+This is precisely the operation of the process in question.
+
+"Accordingly," continued Aunt Judith, "the Stout folks made all their
+preparations, in company with some trusty neighbors; the doors were
+fastened, and exactly at twelve o'clock the 'project' was begun.
+Everything went on well; but, as often happens in such cases, something
+was forgotten, or the witches' master interferes; for it seemed, after a
+while, that more water was wanted, and one of the company took the pail
+to go to the well for it. As he cautiously opened the door, there to
+their horror stood Granny Holt, in the darkness of midnight! She came in
+grinning and complimenting, and without expressing surprise at finding so
+many persons together, at such an unusual hour, or making any inquiry as
+to the reason, she said, 'one of their folks was taken sick and seeing a
+light there, she had come over to beg some herbs.' There was the end of
+the _project_, and I don't know as it was ever tried again."
+
+"Were you there, yourself?" asked Uncle Richard.
+
+"No, I can only swear to the black cat and the burnt pies; but everybody
+in our neighborhood knew all about the project and Granny Holt's breaking
+it up."
+
+We had become pretty well stirred up by this time, but as is likely to be
+the case under such circumstances, were eager for whatever other marvel
+might be forthcoming; for no matter how intelligent or incredulous the
+circle of hearers may be, there is something strangely fascinating in
+these weird stories. People may affect indifference "amidst the blazing
+light of the nineteenth century;" but I think that of a dark night, in a
+lonely spot, the starting up of so familiar a creature as a white horse,
+for instance, would set the strongest nerves into perturbation, at the
+idea of something ghostly. Indeed, Addison declared in his day, that
+there "was not a village in England that had not a ghost in it; the
+churchyards were haunted; nor was there a peasant who had not seen a
+spirit."
+
+"Well, Aunt Judith," said Uncle Richard, "these wonderful things seem to
+have very much gone by, in our day, or else people, for some reason, take
+less notice of them than formerly. Witches, nowadays, are characters
+entirely unknown, except," he gallantly remarked, "for the sometimes
+really inexplicable fascinations of members of your own sex; and, except
+in one singular instance, I have known of no appearances which could not
+be rationally accounted for. I have heard my father, however, tell of one
+which, according to the tradition, manifested itself, one hundred years
+ago or more, upon a bridge, over the Ipswich River, in our Essex County
+town of Topsfield, and was the terror of all the country round. He
+appeared in the shape of a monstrous hog, taking his station, at night,
+in the very centre of the bridge; and those who had occasion to cross it,
+on horseback or on foot, were either fain to turn back, as he encountered
+them, bristling and snarling, or rushed by, if their occasion demanded
+it, in a state of extraordinary trepidation. At length, Parson Capen, the
+worthy minister of the town, riding up to the bridge one evening, saw the
+spectre in his usual position. Nothing daunted, in virtue of his holy
+office, the good man thus accosted him: 'You that were once an angel of
+light, ain't you ashamed to appear in the shape of a dirty swine?' This
+expostulation was too much for the foul fiend, who at once jumped over
+the railing of the bridge into the river, and was no more seen."
+
+Amongst others of the few guests of the evening was a young gentleman, a
+member of one of the learned professions, who was accounted an
+intellectual person and was of rather grave demeanor. Though known to
+have been the author of occasional verses which gained applause, he would
+not have been thought likely to be the subject of any extraordinary
+hallucination. He was an intimate friend of our family, and on certain
+occasions of unusual excitement, if not danger, in the midst of the
+various adventures of young people, had shown a singular firmness of
+nerve and presence of mind, and was thought to be in fact insensible to
+fear. He had listened to the story of the bold lad who saw the supposed
+apparition on the gate-post, and to that of the Topsfield spectre, with
+much the same interest as that which Marmion exhibited at Sir David
+Lindesay's narrative of the appearance of the beloved Apostle to King
+James in Linlithgow. Apparently induced by a similar irresistible impulse
+to that which drew from the redoubted warrior of Scott's fascinating poem
+the rehearsal of his nocturnal adventure, our guest volunteered a
+relation quite as remarkable.
+
+"I will tell you a story," said he, "of something unaccountable which
+once happened to me, though the circumstances are still so vivid in my
+memory, that I look back upon it with a sort of superstitious dread, and
+feel a decided reluctance in appealing to the sympathy of others, in
+regard to an incident which seemed exclusively addressed to myself and
+was confined to my own sole experience.
+
+"In my senior year at College, now as you know, not many years since, I
+was appointed by my class to prepare for delivery, on what is called
+Class Day, a literary exercise,--in fact a poem, in anticipation of the
+usual Commencement performances, and was at home, during the preceding
+long vacation, making ready for this event. The writing of poetry for
+public recitation before a critical audience is a rather exacting
+occupation, and my ambition was naturally excited to do the best in my
+power. Indeed, the work absorbed all my faculties; but I preferred to
+write during the still hours of the night, rather than amidst the
+ordinary distractions of the day, spending that period, usually,
+wandering in the neighboring fields and woods, or in other diversions.
+The season was summer, and I was sitting one night at an open window,
+committing to paper such thoughts as occurred to me, by the light of a
+single candle,--for lamps were then not very common and gas was entirely
+unknown. Outside, there was not a sound, for the whole town was buried in
+profound sleep, and our own household was in the same state of repose. It
+was just on the stroke of twelve. Our house was a very ancient one,
+though I never heard that there was anything peculiarly remarkable in its
+history. Sitting thus, and thus engaged in serious, solitary
+contemplation, the sudden fall of something heavy in the garret overhead
+gave me a momentary start. I could compare it to nothing but to the
+effect likely to be produced by something as solid as a smaller
+description of cannon-ball, though it afterwards appeared to have
+attracted the attention of no one else in the family. Supposing that
+some article of furniture had accidentally fallen, the noise of which had
+been rendered more noticeable by the perfect stillness of the night, I
+pursued my occupation, until I felt disposed for sleep. On the following
+night, while engaged in the same way, and at the same midnight hour, came
+the same heavy, sharp, distinct thud upon the floor directly above my
+head. I was disposed to philosophize on the subject, and, though the
+coincidence was certainly peculiar, I still conceived that this unusual
+sound, at such an unusual hour, might be attributed to some natural
+cause. Perhaps, a heavy cat might have jumped down from beams above, on
+both occasions, and the noise was magnified by the otherwise unbroken
+stillness, though so far as I remember we kept no such cat of our own. I
+am sure that the idea of anything supernatural scarcely occurred to me,
+or was dismissed with derision. Nevertheless, the circumstances were
+peculiar enough to induce me to make a thorough examination of the garret
+on the following morning, and I was struck by the fact, that it was
+perfectly bare of any article of furniture above my chamber, or in the
+neighborhood of that part of the attic, which could have fallen. I was
+naturally a good deal perplexed at an occurrence for which there seemed
+no rational means of accounting, but I kept my own counsel. On the third
+night, at the same hour, when the clear bell from the steeple of a
+meeting-house not far distant had just tolled twelve, came the same
+sudden, single, distinct sound of a fall on the floor, directly over my
+head. I will not say as Marmion did, on the occasion above referred
+to,--
+
+               "'I care not though the truth I show,--
+                 I trembled with affright.'
+
+"On the contrary, though not a little disturbed by incidents so
+unaccountable, and rendered by the interruption quite unfit to pursue my
+occupation further, I deliberately undressed, said my prayers, put out my
+candle, and went to bed. It was a bright starlight night, and the two
+windows of my chamber made objects within indistinctly visible. No sooner
+had I laid my head upon the pillow, than through a door at the foot of my
+bed appeared a slowly moving figure, turning the corner of the bed and
+approaching the side of it upon which I lay. I could distinctly see its
+outlines, and it seemed to me apparelled like a monk, with a hood drawn
+over its features, and long trailing garments. As Eliphaz the Temanite,
+under similar circumstances, has related,--'the hair of my flesh stood
+up.' But I did not quite lose my self-possession. As the figure came
+nearer, I instantly threw off the bedclothes and jumped towards it into
+the middle of the room,--and it was gone! Though startled enough at so
+strange an occurrence, I reflected that it must be an illusion produced
+by some casual disorder of the natural faculties, and returned to bed
+and slept as usual until morning. But the next day I was much more
+disturbed in recalling the several circumstances of this extraordinary
+visitation. The repeated previous heavy blows upon the floor, and their
+apparent consummation in the vision I supposed myself to have seen, made
+me, as Othello says, 'perplexed in the extreme.' On that day I told my
+mother the story; she laughed at the idea of supernatural appearances,
+perhaps to quiet her son's emotion; but she said she was afraid of no
+ghosts, proposed an exchange of chambers, and this accommodation at once
+took place. But though I finished and delivered the poem in question, I
+continued to muse by myself upon what had occurred, unwilling to speak to
+any one about it. It was many months before I recovered from the shock to
+my nervous system. Reflecting upon it at the time, again I summoned
+whatever philosophy I had at command, as well as I could. I conceived
+that possibly in the excitement of verse-writing, in the silence of the
+night, some tenseness had affected the drum of my ear; that hearing, or
+imagining that I heard some unusual sound, amid the perfect stillness
+around me, a continuous disordered state of physical functions had
+produced a similar effect at a correspondent hour; and that this
+experience not unnaturally culminated in the spectral visitation."
+
+We heard the story in terror, and put little faith in the theory of
+explanation.
+
+"But," said my uncle Richard, himself a good deal amazed at the
+narrative, "did anything happen afterwards, to account for what you have
+told us?"
+
+"Nothing whatever," replied our friend.
+
+"Did you ever sleep in that chamber again?"
+
+"Yes, some years afterwards. It so happened that during several weeks in
+the summer, our whole family except myself, was away. My mother was in
+close attendance upon sick members of my sister's family. My brothers
+were at sea, and even our ordinary servant was dismissed for the
+occasion. When the time for rest arrived, it was my habit to let myself
+into the house, to proceed to the same chamber, usually without a light,
+and go to bed. One night, putting my hand upon the pillow, I felt
+something soft and started back, but again reaching forward, the object
+proved to be a dove that had flown into the open window, and securing it
+without difficulty I gave that symbol of innocence immediate release.
+Perhaps, it was my former visitant in a less forbidding form. But this,
+as well as the other, passed into the course of ordinary events."
+
+I need not say, that we had listened to this extraordinary narrative with
+rapt attention and in breathless silence. Our friend had told his story
+with emotion, certainly, but still with serious deliberation, and
+exhibiting no undue signs of excitement. No one seemed disposed to make
+any observation upon it, and indeed most of the company were utterly
+incapable of the effort of speech. In a few moments, he remarked that he
+would quote to us a brief passage from Dante's great poem which was
+applicable to the subject, and did so as follows:--
+
+          ... "Now, O reader! mark,
+            And if my tale thou slowly shalt receive,
+          Thy doubt will cause in me no great surprise,
+            For I, who saw it, scarcely can believe."[12]
+
+"But, Uncle Richard," was now the cry, "you said you had once seen an
+apparition, or something like one; please tell us all about it."
+
+"I certainly saw something strange," said he, "on more than one occasion,
+which has never yet been accounted for; and I suppose it is now too late
+to expect it. If it was really a matter of concert and collusion, the
+motive for it has never been discovered. You remember the open space in
+town, in front of the Reverend Mr. ----'s meeting-house. Your house, as
+you know, Jemmie," addressing me, "looks directly up the street towards
+this square, and to the somewhat old-fashioned mansion opposite the
+meeting-house. On one side of the square was a small dwelling, occupied
+by several distant relatives of ours; Aunt Midkiff (Metcalf), Aunt
+Foggison (Ferguson, so called), and her sister, Miss Samples (Mrs.
+Semple), with the daughter of our Aunt Foggison, Mrs. Lane, and her only
+child. You remember, sister," addressing my mother, "that you have told
+me, that one night, after you had gone to bed, your lamented husband
+stood at the window looking up the street towards the old house above, of
+which he had a complete view. Upon your asking what detained him, he
+called you up, and it was evident to you both that one chamber of the
+house was in a light blaze. Persons appeared to be moving rapidly around
+it, and, as it were, pulling down the curtains of the bed, which looked
+as if on fire. After a little time the appearance gradually ceased, and
+your husband remarking that he would inquire in the morning of his
+neighbor, a highly respectable lawyer, who occupied the house, what was
+the cause of the extraordinary spectacle of the night before, he also
+retired. But upon putting the question to his acquaintance on the
+following morning, he seemed astonished, and utterly denied that anything
+unusual had taken place in the chamber, which was the one occupied by
+himself and his wife, or that they had been at all disturbed during the
+night.
+
+"Now all this," continued my uncle, "is quite consistent with the
+supposition, that this gentleman may have had some secret motive for
+concealing the fact of a threatened conflagration, pretty sure, if
+known, to become the town talk and perhaps to expose him to inconvenient
+inquiries; and though a strictly moral and religious man, he may have
+thought that the circumstances warranted a direct denial of the matter,
+seeing it was, as it turned out, an affair of purely domestic concern."
+
+My mother, I thought, looked at my uncle a little anxiously, and seemed
+about to make a movement for our departure; but we urged him to tell us
+to what strange thing he had referred, and why he had so particularly
+described the situation and characteristics of this square, as if there
+were something more in relation to it which it might interest us to know;
+for you may be sure our mother had never mentioned to us children
+anything likely to alarm us.
+
+"I am afraid," said he, at last "that something, which really did happen
+in front of the house I have spoken of, will startle you young folks, and
+perhaps it is foolish to relate it, as you seem already quite excited
+enough; but I will premise by saying, that I will only tell you what I
+saw myself, or heard from those upon whose word I could implicitly rely;
+and, moreover, that I do not believe in ghosts, however singular the
+facts in question may appear. Of course, you know, sister," addressing my
+mother, "my calls at your house were sometimes in the evening, after
+attending the market or to other business during the day. It was during
+one of your husband's absences at sea, that we were sitting around the
+fire of a wintry night, when a lively neighbor, a lady who took much
+interest in whatever was going on, came in evidently in a state of
+agitation, and taking her seat, with very brief greeting, broke out with
+the exclamation, 'There he is again!' I did not understand what this
+meant, but it was soon explained to us that, for a week or ten days past,
+some person, or figure, or whatever it might be, had been observed
+walking fore and aft, in front of the house opposite the meeting-house,
+at a certain hour of the evening, and though many had passed, no one had
+recognized him, nor did he take any notice whatever of any one whom he
+met. He was said to wear a pea-jacket buttoned to the chin, and a glazed
+hat, as if prepared for any kind of weather; or, as the gossips
+afterwards said, indicating the fact that he was the forerunner of the
+loss of not a few masters of vessels residing in the neighborhood, who
+perished at sea during the storms of that season. I took my hat and went
+out to see if I could discover anything uncommon. It was a moonlight
+night, with a light fall of snow upon the ground. As I passed up the
+short street to the square, Aunt Foggison's chamber window was thrown
+open, and her daughter's voice was plainly heard berating the supposed
+spectral night-walker. 'What are you doing there, you good-for-nothing
+scamp, you?' cried she, in a voice that must have reached any mortal
+ears; 'why don't you go home to your family, if you've got any family, or
+wherever else you belong, instead of stalking up and down here,
+frightening honest folks out of their senses?' Overcome perhaps by the
+vigor of her expostulation, the window was shut down with a slam. As I
+advanced, though I certainly had a full view of a human-looking figure
+upon its round and at no great distance either, and my senses had been
+confirmed by the objurgations addressed to it by our worthy relative,
+when I actually reached the ground of his perambulations, prepared to
+seize a single man by the collar and learn what he was about, it is
+certain that he was no longer visible. I returned to the house and made
+report of my unsuccessful doings, and unhitched my horse and drove home.
+I learned, a few days afterwards, that the figure regularly appeared,
+giving one sign of vitality by a regular tramp--tramp--tramp--upon the
+frozen ground, so far as any one was disposed to listen, and spreading
+consternation throughout the vicinity. The affair at length became
+unendurable. Women were afraid to go into the street, and, for that, a
+good many men too, and it was really so serious, that, as I learned, it
+was resolved to form what is called, I believe, a cordon, and gradually
+approaching the place simultaneously from every avenue, so to inclose him
+that escape would be impossible. Being much acquainted with the people of
+that part of the town, I was invited to join the company, and accordingly
+drove in seasonably for the purpose. Certainly, most sober people
+believed the whole was but some trick, which it only needed reasonable
+pains to discover and defeat. The mysterious figure, it seemed, continued
+to walk, ignorant of or indifferent to our devices.
+
+"There were three main avenues, by streets, to the premises, together
+with a narrow passage way leading from one of the streets to another. At
+the appointed hour we duly assembled on our several stations. Our
+director was 'a rude and boisterous captain of the sea'"--(for Uncle
+Richard could sometimes be poetical, at least in the way of quoting
+Shakespeare). "It had been arranged by him that, being on our posts, at a
+fixed moment, we should move rapidly up the several avenues and so join
+forces as to form a circle inclosing the open space, and gradually
+contracting our company, if the rogue was then within our compass we
+should have him sure. The arrangement had been made in profound secrecy,
+and if any there were traitors, I was not aware of it. Sure enough there
+was our guest on his usual stroll. As our circle speedily drew in, and
+just as hands were stretched out to seize him--presto, as the jugglers
+say--he was gone!"
+
+"By the jumping gingerbread!" exclaimed Thurlow, our uncle's hired man,
+springing from his chair by the wall, outside of our family
+party,--seeing this was Christmas night.
+
+"Oh dear sus!" cried Sally Bannocks, our own particular help of many
+years, from the like position.
+
+"Our detective band," resumed my uncle, "looked at one another in
+amazement, and after some hard swearing from a few of the roughest, and
+the exchange of a hasty 'good-night,' dispersed, as far as convenient in
+companies of two or three, and departed, a good deal disconcerted, to
+their several places of abode. The same experiment was tried on two or
+three other occasions, as I was informed by friends, with no better
+success. Spectre or not, he always found means to elude them; and there
+were always those who, having no other means of accounting for his
+evasion, insisted upon it that he must have had confederates among those
+who sought to arrest him."
+
+"Could he not have escaped slyly into the house?" asked some incredulous
+inquirer.
+
+"That was hardly likely, with so many eyes upon him. Besides there was
+nobody there but women and children, excessively alarmed themselves, the
+husband, Captain Y----, being at sea, and one of those who was afterwards
+known to have been lost with all his crew, upon nearing our dangerous
+coast."
+
+"But why did not the city government make a piece of work of putting an
+end to such a scandal?" inquired a doubter in spectral visitations.
+
+"Well, I suspect a whole body of police could do little towards capturing
+an actual ghost; and then, too, there was at that time no city and no
+such force. Our town government consisted of mostly ancient citizens, and
+three or four constables, all of whom, probably, preferred to remain
+quietly and comfortably at home, instead of venturing out into the wintry
+night air, to hunt up ghosts."
+
+"Why didn't somebody try the effect of a bullet?" inquired another.
+
+"Well, shooting was a rather violent remedy; and as for firing at a
+ghost, I believe every one was afraid."
+
+"Wasn't it strange, considering that he must have had some particular
+object in haunting that spot, and was likely, therefore, to be found out
+by some of the neighborhood by his face, or dress, or figure, or gait, or
+in some way or other, if a real person, that he never was recognized?"
+asked another of our evening guests.
+
+"It was strange enough," said my uncle; "but few, if any, got very near
+him, and they perhaps, casual passers-by, who paid no attention to the
+fact. As for him, he only walked steadily backward and forward, turning
+neither to the right nor to the left, except at each end of his beat;
+replying to no interrogatories, and appearing utterly unconscious of any
+epithets or railings which from a distance were hurled at him. Only one
+man ever professed to have seen his face."
+
+"Who was that, uncle?" we all eagerly exclaimed.
+
+"Late one stormy night, when the snow was falling fast," continued my
+uncle,--"and one would suppose that any reasonable creature of flesh and
+blood would wish to be safely housed,--an hostler named Dobbin, who had
+charge of a stable at one end of the street, was trudging home, swinging
+a lantern in his hand, to the small house in which he lived, at a little
+distance beyond the now pretty notorious 'Ghost's Walk.' As he approached
+the spot, there, to be sure, was the object of terror, taking his usual
+exercise. 'Now,' as Dobbin told the story, 'thinks I to myself, I'll play
+you a trick, mister, and find out who you are, if I can. So, jest slyly
+unfastening the door of the lantern, as I met him, I flung the door wide
+open and held it up to his face, and I says, says I, "A stormy night,
+friend." I thought I should know him, and guess I should if ever I do
+see him again, which I don't want to, I tell _you_; and may I hope to
+die, if ever I saw that face before. He looked pale, and his eyes, as he
+fixed 'em on me, had what I call a sort of a stony glare. He never opened
+his mouth, but just looked. It was only a glance, as it were, for I never
+was so frightened in my life, and jest dropped lantern and scampered away
+home as fast as my legs could carry me.'"
+
+"Lud-a-massy!" screamed Sally Bannocks, on the verge of hysterics,--and
+some of the rest of us were not far from that condition. We were mostly
+on our feet, and as my mother insisted upon our bidding "Good-night,"
+Uncle Richard proposed, after a further trial of his capital cider, to
+harness his horse and drive us home in his covered wagon. But it was a
+fine night and, though getting rather late, we concluded that it would do
+us more good to take the air, in the mile or two of the walk to town. In
+the course of our preparations for departure, and in answer to a variety
+of questions, our uncle informed us, that the mystery was never cleared
+up, nor the trick, if trick it were, ever discovered. As to the tale of
+such a person as Dobbin, we might place what reliance upon it we saw fit;
+and though the motive seemed certainly difficult to see, it might have
+been, after all, a well-contrived piece of deception, to be sure, a very
+laborious and unaccountable one, concealed by the collusion of parties in
+the secret. How long the ghost continued to walk he did not know; but it
+finally disappeared, and the house had been inhabited by respectable
+people ever since, who had suffered no disturbance.
+
+We reached home after a brisk walk, crossing rapidly--and with now and
+then a furtive look--the very premises so haunted in other days, and
+"Thanks be to Praise!" ejaculated Sally Bannocks, as we entered and
+closed the door. The house was cold, after having been shut up all day.
+We quickly separated to our several chambers, and as I laid my head upon
+the pillow and was soon sound asleep, I too, murmured to myself, "Thanks
+be to Praise!"
+
+-----
+ [11]  Jack's composure has a parallel in that of an old-time
+       Scottish clergyman, as the story is told by Dean Ramsay.
+       On returning home late from a dinner abroad his way led
+       through the churchyard, and some mischievous fellows
+       thought to frighten him. One of them came up to him
+       dressed as a ghost, but the minister coolly inquired,
+       "Weel, maister Ghaist, is this a general rising, or are
+       ye juist taking a daunder frae yer grave by yersel?"
+
+ [12]  _Inferno_, Canto xxv., Parsons's translation.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+The following papers, marked I., II., III. are copies of those discovered
+among family documents in the house of Mr. H. W. S. Cleveland, of Salem,
+Massachusetts, several years ago. They were communicated by him to the
+late Mr. Henry Lunt, formerly a merchant of Boston, father of the late
+highly distinguished Rev. Dr. William Parsons Lunt, who died, much
+lamented, while on his travels, at Akaba, in Arabia. How these documents
+came to be deposited in Salem, it is not easy to say. It is probable,
+however, that copies were brought over by the "Mary and John," or the
+"Elizabeth and Dorcas," which appear to have wintered in Boston, after
+their arrival, the passengers, or such of them as saw fit and were
+permitted, proceeding to Ipswich, the following year (1634) and thence to
+the plantation which they called Newbury. It is likely, therefore, that
+the papers which concerned the passengers of those vessels might be
+taken to Salem, perhaps during Governor Endicott's administration, and
+placed in the hands of some official person at that place, so as to be
+more accessible to the home of the people in question, instead of being
+retained at Boston, the journey to which from Newbury was in those days a
+long and tedious one, to be made on foot through the wilderness.
+
+To many persons the abstract of the Charter of Charles I., which is a
+very liberal one, can hardly fail to be interesting. The Orders in
+Council, referred to in the text, are still more so; while the list of
+passengers by the "Mary and John" comprises many names still to be found
+in Newbury. Many more familiar names will be found among those of the
+company which came by the "Elizabeth and Dorcas." It will be seen that in
+the list given are the names of Thomas Parker, an eminent divine, and of
+James Noyes, his nephew; the first the long respected pastor of the
+church and the other the "teacher" at Newbury.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+
+An Abstract of His Ma^{ty's} Charter for incorporating the Company of the
+Mattachusetts Bay in New England in America, Granted in the 4th yeare of
+His Highness' Reign of England, Scotland France & Ireland, Anno. Domini
+1628--
+
+And we do further of our especial Grace, certain Knowledge & mere mocion
+for us our Heirs & Successors--Give and Grant to the said Governour &
+Company & their Sucessors for ever by these presents, That it shall be
+lawfull & free for them & their Assigns at all & every Time & Times
+hereafter out of any of our Realms or Dominions whatsoev^{r}, to take
+lade carry & transport for in & into their voyages, & for & towards the
+said Plantation in New England all such & so many of our Loving Subjects
+or any other Strangers that will become our Loving Subjects & live under
+our Alleigeance as shall willingly accompany them in the said Voyages &
+Plantations, And also Shipping, Armour, Weapons, Ordnance, Munition,
+Powder, Shott, Corn victuals & all manner of Cloathing, Implements,
+Furniture, Beasts, Cattle, Horses, Mares, Merchandizes & all other things
+necessary for the said Plantation and for their use & Defence & for Trade
+with the People there & in passing & returning to & fro, any Law or
+statute to the Contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding--And without
+paying or yielding any custom or Subsidy either Inwards or Outwards, to
+us our Heirs or Successors for the same, by the space of seaven years
+from the Day of the Date of these Presents--Provided that none of the
+said Persons be such as shall hereafter by Especial name be restrained by
+us, our Heirs or Successors----
+
+And for their further Incouragem^{t} of our Especial Grace & favor--we Do
+by these presents for us, our Heirs & successors yield & grant to the
+said Governour & Company & their successors & every of them their Factors
+& Assigns that they & every of them shall be free & quit from all Taxes
+Subsidys & Customs in New England for the space of seaven years, and from
+all Taxes & Impositions for the space of Twenty one years upon all Goods
+& merchandizes at any time or times hereafter Either upon Importation
+there, or Exportation thence, into our Realm of England or into any of
+our Dominions, by the said Governour or Company & their successors, their
+Deputys, Factors & Assigns or any of them except only the Five Pounds
+p^{r} Centum due for Custom upon all such Goods & Merchandizes as, after
+the said seaven years shall be expired, shall be brought or imported
+into our Realm of England or any other of our Dominions according to the
+Ancient Trade of Merchants, which Five Pounds p^{r} centum only being
+paid it shall be thenceforth lawfull & free for the s^{d} Adventurers the
+same Goods & Merchandizes to export & carry out of our Dominions into
+Foreign Parts without any Custom, Tax or other Duty to be paid to us our
+Heirs or Successors or to any other officer or officers or ministers of
+us our Heirs or Successors,--
+
+Provided that the said Goods & merchandize be shipp'd out within thirteen
+months after their first Landing within any part of the said Dominions--
+
+This is a true Copy of His Ma^{ties} Letters Patent aforesaid--Custom
+House London 30th January 1633 Anno. R. Caroli Nono--
+
+                                       JOHN WOLSTENHOLME, _Collector_.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+
+ORDERS IN COUNCIL.
+
+_New England,--At Whitehall the last of February, 1633._
+
+Present:
+
+  Lo. Arch. Bp. of Cant.
+  Earle of Kelley.
+  Lo. Keep^{r}.
+  Lo. Cottington.
+  Lo. Privie Seal
+  M^{r}. V. Chamb^{r}line.
+  Lo. High Chamb^{r}line.
+  M^{r}. Compt^{r}.
+  M^{r}. Secretary Wyndibank.
+
+Whereas by a Warr^{t}. bearing date 22nd of this Present, the sev'all
+ships following bound for New England, and now lying in the River of
+Thames were made staye of untill further order from their Lo'pps. viz.,
+The Clement & Job, The Reformation, The True Love, The Elizabeth
+Bonadventure, The Sea Flower, The Mary & John, The Planter, The Elizabeth
+& Dorcas, The Hercules & The Neptune.
+
+Forasmuch as the masters of the said ships were this day called before
+the Board & several Particulars given them in charge to be performed in
+their said voyage, amongst which the said masters were to enter into
+several Bonds of One Hundred Pounds a piece to His Maj^{s}tys use before
+the Clarke of the Councell attendant to observe & cause to be observed
+and putt in Execucion these Articles following viz:
+
+1. That all and every Person aboard their Ships now bound for New England
+as aforesaid, that shall blaspheme or profane the Holy name of God be
+severely punis'h't.
+
+2. That they cause the Prayers contained in the Book of Common Prayers
+establisht in the Church of England, to be said daily at the usual hours
+for Morning & Evening Prayers & that they cause all Persons aboard their
+said ships to be present at the same.
+
+3. That they do not receive aboard or transport any Person that hath not
+Certificate from the Officers of the Port where he is to imbarke that he
+hath taken both the Oathes of Alleigeance & Supremacy.
+
+4. That upon their return into this Kingdom they Certify to the Board the
+names of all such Persons as they shall transport together with their
+Proceedings in the Execu'ion of the aforesaid Articles--Whereunto the
+said M^{rs}. have conformed themselves--It was therefore & for diverse
+other Reasons best known to their Lo^{pps}. thought fitt that for this
+time they should be permitted to proceed on their Voyage, and it was
+thereupon ordered that Gabriel Marsh Esq^{r}. Marshalle of the Admiralty,
+& all other His Maj'ty's Officers to whom their said Warr^{t}. was
+directed should be required upon sight hereof to discharge all & every
+the said Ships, & suffer them to depart on their intended Voyage to New
+England--EX. JON. MEANTYS.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+
+_The names of such Passengers as took the Oathes of Supremacy, and
+Alleigeance to pass for New England in the Mary & John of London Robert
+Sayres Master,_
+
+24th Mar. 1633.
+
+  William Trace (Tracy)
+  John Marshe
+  John Luff
+  Henry Traske
+  William Moudey
+  Robert Sever
+  Thomas Avery
+  Henry Travers
+  Thomas Sweete
+  John Woodbridge
+  Thomas West
+  Thomas Savery
+  Christopher Osgood
+  Phillip Fowler
+  Richard Jacob
+  Daniel Ladd
+  Robert Kingsman
+  John Bartlett
+  Robert Coker
+  William Savery
+  John Anthoney (left behind)
+  Stephen Jurden
+  John Godfrey
+  George Browne
+  Nicholas Noyce
+  Richard Browne
+  Richard Reynolds
+  Richard Littlehall
+  William White
+  Matthew Hewlett (Hercules)
+  John Whelyer
+  William Clarke
+  Robert Newman
+  Adrian Vincent.
+
+
+The 26th day of March.
+
+  Nicholas Easton
+  Richard Kent
+  Abraham Mussey
+  William Spencer
+  Henry Shorte
+  William Hibbens
+  William Ballard
+  Matthew Gillett
+  William Franklin
+  John Mussey
+  Thomas Cole
+  Thomas Parker
+  James Noyce
+  John Spencer
+  Richard Kent
+  Joseph Myles
+  John Newman
+  William Newbey
+  Henry Lunt
+  Joseph Pope
+  Thomas Newman
+  John Newman.
+
+For which we gave certificate, together with five others, which are said
+to be left behind to oversee the Chattle to pass in the Hercules viz.
+
+The names of the Passengers in the Hercules of London, John Kiddey
+Ma^{r}. for New England.
+
+These six Passengers took their Oathes of Supremacy & Alleigeance the
+24th March and were left behind the Mary & John, as intended to pass in
+y^{e} Hercules--viz:
+
+  John Anthony      }    Cert, the six first
+  Robert Early      }  to Mt'er Sayers as
+  William Satcome   }  intended.
+  Thomas Foster     }    Secondth to Mr.
+  William Foster    }  Kiddey to pass in the
+  Matthew Hewlett.  }  Hercules.
+
+  16th April, 1634.
+  Nathaniel Davyes
+  George Kinge
+  Thomas Rider
+  William Elliot
+  William Fifeilde
+  Henry Phelps.
+
+18. These proceedings were Copyed out of an Olde Book of Orders belonging
+to the Port of South'ton but now remaining at the Custom house in
+Portsmouth the 6th Day of December 1735.
+
+                                                Per THOMAS WHITEHOUSE.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+
+In regard to the costume which prevailed, among persons of wealth and
+standing in New England, within a century, I quote a descriptive passage
+from a history of Newburyport, by Mrs. E. V. Smith, published in 1854, as
+follows:--
+
+  "With the incoming of the nineteenth century, garments more in
+  conformity with present fashions took precedence of three-cornered
+  hats, long coats with immense pocket-folds and cuffs, but without
+  collars, in which the men of the eighteenth century prided
+  themselves; with their buttons of pure silver, or plated, of the
+  size of a half-dollar, presenting a great superfluity of coat and
+  waistcoat when contrasted with the short nether garments, ycleped
+  "breeches," or "small-clothes," which reached only to the knee,
+  being there fastened with large (?) silver buckles, which ornament
+  was also used in fastening the straps of shoes. The gentlemen quite
+  equalled the ladies at this period in the amount of finery, and the
+  brilliancy of colors in which they indulged. A light blue coat with
+  large fancy buttons, a white satin embroidered waistcoat, red
+  velvet breeches, silk stockings, and buckled shoes, with a
+  neckcloth, or scarf, of finely embroidered cambric, or figured
+  stuff, the ends hanging loose, the better to show the work, and
+  liberal bosom and wrist ruffles (the latter usually fastened with
+  gold or silver buckles), were usually considered a proper evening
+  dress for a gentleman of any pretension to fashion. The clergy and
+  many other gentlemen commonly wore black silk stockings, and others
+  contented themselves with gray woollen. The boots had a broad fold
+  of white leather turned over the top, with tassels dangling from
+  either side. The clergy frequently wore silk or stuff gowns and
+  powdered wigs. The ladies usually wore black silk or satin bonnets,
+  long-waisted and narrow-skirted dresses for the street, with long
+  tight sleeves, and in the house, sleeves reaching to the elbow,
+  finished with an immensely broad frill; high-heeled shoes, and
+  always, when in full dress, carried a profusely ornamented fan. The
+  excessively long waists, toward the close of this period, were
+  exchanged for extremely short ones; so short, that the belt or
+  waist was inhumanly contrived to come at the broadest part of the
+  chest. But no fashion of dress was so permanent as other customs
+  clinging to particular eras. Anciently, as now, fashions were
+  changed more or less extensively every ten years, though certain
+  broad characteristics remained long enough to give specific
+  character to the costuming of the eighteenth century."
+
+The writer is accurate enough, no doubt, in her general description; but
+what lady could give an entirely correct account of a gentleman's attire?
+Knee-buckles, for instance, were almost necessarily small, instead of
+"large"; it may be questioned whether top-boots were ever decorated with
+tassels, a single article of that sort often hanging at the front of a
+different kind of high boot, worn long after the beginning of the present
+century; and as to the silk gowns of clergymen, it is but a very few
+years since they began to be disused in the pulpit by Presbyterian and
+Congregational ministers. About forty years before the present period,
+many gentlemen wore dresses of the cut described by Mrs. Smith, though of
+a more subdued color,--black, blue, or drab. Not long after the
+beginning of the present century, a chief magistrate of Massachusetts,
+Gov. Gore, made a sort of progress through the State, in imposing style.
+His elegant, open carriage was drawn by four handsome and spirited
+horses, and he was attended by his aids and several outriders. The
+governor was a gentleman of fine personal appearance, and was attired in
+the highest style of contemporary civil costume, with his white hair
+gathered behind into a satin bag, and his aids were in undress military
+costume. He was a "Federalist," and this demonstration cost him his
+election the next time; for, though a man of brilliant ability and high
+personal character, he served but one year. At a date fifteen years
+later, I saw the "Democratic" governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Eustis, in
+attendance upon the Commencement exercises, at Harvard College, dressed
+much in the fashion of half a century earlier; namely, coat and waistcoat
+with broad flaps, small-clothes, ruffles at his bosom and wrists, a
+cocked hat of the old style, and a steel-hilted rapier at his side. Ten
+years afterwards, one of the best governors the Commonwealth has ever
+had, Mr. Lincoln, who served the State in this capacity for nine several
+terms, wore also a distinguishing costume, but more conformable to modern
+fashions. About the ruffles to his shirt-bosom I am sure, and feel much
+confidence, from memory, in regard to black small-clothes and black silk
+stockings, and his hat was always decorated with a black cockade.
+Nowadays a governor's appearance scarcely distinguishes him from any
+ordinary person in the crowd.
+
+The cocked hats, however, and much of the costume of the eighteenth
+century, continued to be worn by the survivors of Revolutionary officers
+and some others, during the first quarter of the present century and
+afterwards.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+
+The subjoined interesting sketch of an ancient dwelling-house and of a
+family which has inhabited it for several generations, was furnished by
+a distinguished friend, Thomas Coffin Amory, Esq., of Boston, who
+traces his ancestry on the maternal side to the family in question. Nor,
+in producing this highly interesting sketch, could I overlook Joshua
+Coffin, the historian of Newbury and a resident of that town, from the
+originally extensive territory of which various adjacent towns were
+eventually formed. He was possessed of many amiable qualities and
+inspired by the true antiquarian spirit, and laboriously pored among
+the not very carefully kept early records of the original settlement, and
+brought much out of chaos well calculated to illustrate its former
+history. Mr. Amory has, on various occasions, shown the spirit of a
+careful historical student and of an intelligent and zealous antiquary.
+His recent contributions to that excellent periodical, "The New England
+Historical and Genealogical Register," which has become of inestimable
+value, as a collection of facts illustrative of early New England
+history and biography, have given great pleasure to multitudes of
+readers,--especially his vivid and graphic descriptions of certain
+ancient and storied mansions in Boston and Cambridge, and of their former
+inhabitants. Let us hope that researches of such abundant interest and
+value will soon claim and gain a still larger share of the public
+attention in a collected form.
+
+  MY DEAR SIR,--In your reminiscences of Newburyport you must not
+  forget Joshua Coffin its historian,--one of the best of men, whom
+  no one knew but to love. I see him now as he came to visit me
+  several years ago, when he was representing his native town in the
+  General Court, a fresh, hale, cheery gentleman, full of pleasant
+  anecdotes relating to the past. He owned and occupied the Coffin
+  mansion, which had been the abode of seven generations of his
+  family and name. Out of its portals had issued numberless admirable
+  men and women, and from among the former, a large share of college
+  graduates, at Harvard and other New England colleges, of lawyers,
+  clergy, and soldiers, to do good service in their day and
+  generation.
+
+  At his suggestion, I visited this ancient dwelling which was
+  erected about 1649, by Mr. Somerby, the widow of whose progenitor
+  Tristram Coffin, Jr., married. This Tristram was the eldest son of
+  another Tristram, first of the race in America, who not many years
+  before, in 1642, came over from Brixton, near Plymouth, in
+  Devonshire, bringing with him his mother, and two sisters,--Eunice
+  who married William Butler, and Mary who became the wife of
+  Alexander Adams, of Boston. He brought with him also several sons
+  and daughters, to whom were added others born to him on this side
+  the ocean. His family in the home country had shown the same
+  tenacity and steadfastness, exemplified by their long continued
+  residence at Newburyport; for at Alwington and Portledge in Devon,
+  they had flourished, if not from the flood, from periods very
+  remote; for according to the historical statement, the Normans when
+  they came over in the eleventh century found them there, and left
+  them unmolested; and there still dwell their descendants in the
+  female line, who have assumed their appellation of Pine Coffin, one
+  of the house of Pine having married the heiress of the family
+  estates.
+
+  Tristram the elder, and his sons James and Stephen, were among the
+  nine who purchased the island of Nantucket from the Earl of
+  Stirling in 1659, and went there to dwell. Their descendants have
+  ever since been respectable and greatly multiplied, and not only on
+  that island but all over the country, having since been estimated
+  by thousands if not tens of thousands. Their usual average of
+  children has been half a score, and from their numerous progeny and
+  great longevity, we may judge what vigor was in the race. One of
+  them, William, son of Nathaniel, son of James, cruised over many
+  seas, as commander of a merchantman, and becoming interested in a
+  Boston maiden, Ann Holmes, settled about 1720 in the provincial
+  capital, where among other offices he filled with credit to himself
+  and his name was that for many years of warden of Trinity Church.
+  He died before the Revolution, leaving many children; most of his
+  sons at that period becoming refugee loyalists, they and their
+  descendants taking high rank in the British military and naval
+  service. John, son of Nathaniel, was a distinguished officer in the
+  Carolinas, and afterwards became Major-general. His brother, Sir
+  Isaac, early became distinguished on the ocean, was an Admiral,
+  Member of Parliament, and created a Baronet, which latter rank was
+  also bestowed on Thomas Astor, son of William, the eldest son of
+  the warden. Several others of the name and blood then and since
+  have filled with distinction posts of honor and respectability in
+  the civil service of the mother country at home, in Canada, and in
+  India.
+
+  But this is a digression. The only connection of the Nantucket
+  branch with Newbury is that old Tristram lived there for a brief
+  period, before repairing to his island home, and his son (the
+  younger of the name of Tristram, the family name of a grandmother)
+  and his posterity occupied the old mansion down through seven or
+  eight generations, and still dwell beneath its roof. At the time of
+  its erection the edifice must have been among the most elegant, as
+  its good state of preservation proves it to have been one of the
+  most substantial of its day, when the notion, prevailing in
+  England, that oak was the most suitable material of the forest for
+  dwellings, governed in their choice, with less reason, our
+  American planters. It was built in the mode common to the period,
+  round a vast brick chimney-stack, ten or twelve feet square. The
+  principal apartment, now divided into two, possessed, as did also
+  the kitchen, one of those spacious fireplaces which are the marvel
+  and envy of these degenerate days, when a hole in the carpet has
+  superseded in many households the family hearth. It is pleasant to
+  think of the groups that in the olden time clustered around them;
+  charming people, whom we know by tradition, and who are remembered
+  by many associations.
+
+  The house possesses various other apartments of size and
+  pretension, and has answered well the needs of the successive
+  generations that have occupied it, not only as a spacious and
+  commodious abode, but one sufficiently elegant to satisfy the
+  advancing standards of taste and refinement. Among the marked
+  features of the building are several small casements, lighting
+  closets and staircases, which give variety to the monotonous
+  symmetry of windows all of a size, one on top of another, and where
+  all the openings for egress or light are in straight lines and of
+  equal dimensions. It is many years since my visit, and I hope you
+  will see it, for much that was peculiar, and made a weird
+  impression at the time, has passed out of mind. If the trickles in
+  my own veins do not mislead, the present proprietors will be glad
+  to have pleasure afforded to the reading community, even by this
+  inadequate description of a house which has such claims to be
+  known, if, as you intimate, you purpose to place this account of it
+  in your Appendix. They will not consider it a liberty if I repeat
+  what some one not long since told me of an interesting relic of the
+  past discovered on its walls, a statement which might be related
+  almost in the same words of the house of MacPhaedrics at
+  Portsmouth.
+
+  Not many years since it was concluded to repaper the hall, the
+  walls of which were covered with several thicknesses of paper which
+  had from generation to generation been pasted one upon another. It
+  was thought best to remove them all, and when a large party of
+  young people, home for the holidays, were gathered for a dull week
+  of weather under its roof, they determined to amuse themselves by
+  stripping off the various layers of previous decorations,
+  preparatory to the new one intended to take their place. Underneath
+  them all was discovered, painted on the wall, artistic designs of
+  figures and foliage, such as were common in the days of the
+  Stuarts. All antiquarians are familiar with the similar
+  discoveries at Portsmouth, to which allusion has been made.
+
+  There are not many houses in America which have been so long owned
+  and occupied by the same name. The old brick mansion near
+  Portsmouth, of the Weeks family, the Curtis house at Boston
+  Highlands, Fairbanks at Dedham, Pickering at Salem, were
+  contemporaries in the period of the construction, and have
+  descended from sire to son as has this of the Coffins.
+
+  The house is pleasantly placed, and commands fine views from its
+  windows. Even in winter it must be, if not a cheerful, an
+  interesting abode to dwell in. In duller days, when skies are
+  leaden, and the more you see around you the less you like it, its
+  dreamy look of age and strangeness within and without may have a
+  somewhat depressing influence. The aches and agonies of so many
+  generations may gain an ascendancy over the exuberant joys that
+  made their life worth living. It would sometimes seem that if
+  fondness for the supernatural must be indulged, an old edifice like
+  this would prove a haunt more attractive, and certainly more
+  appropriate, for ghost and apparition than any school-room, however
+  noted for its spells. Yet notwithstanding some lugubrious
+  associations connected with the family patronymic, phantoms would
+  have to tread softly and whisper low if they invaded its precincts;
+  for the vigorous vitality of its occupants and their cheery tones,
+  if up to the traditional standard of their race, would exorcise the
+  very king of spectres himself, should he venture to stalk about at
+  the noonday, or revisit the glimpses of the moon in its ancient
+  chambers.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+
+I might have mentioned, as one of the amusements of childhood, the
+throwing of a piece of paper upon the embers of our wood-fire, for we had
+no coal in those days, and watching the gradual extinguishment of the
+sparks, likening it to a congregation entering the meeting-house. "There
+they go in," we would say. "There's the minister;" and as the final spark
+disappeared,--"Now, the sexton has gone in and shut the door." I speak of
+this only as a curious illustration of English ways traditionally
+surviving in New England. Thus Cowper tells us:--
+
+         "So when a child, as playful children use,
+          Has burnt to tinder a stale last year's news,
+          The flame extinct, he views the roving fire,--
+          There goes my lady, and there goes the squire;
+          There goes the parson, O illustrious spark!
+          And there, scarce less illustrious, goes the clerk!"
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+
+Several allusions having been made in the text to the "Wolfe" Tavern, I
+am able to present the following original bill of lading, constituting an
+incident in relation to the famous expedition to Quebec, and evincing at
+least a more formal recognition of a superintending Providence, than is
+the custom of more modern days:--
+
+  12 Oxen,
+  6 Horses,
+  No. 29 to 32. 4 Hogshd. Corn,
+  10 Baggs Corn,
+  10 Baggs Meal,
+  2 Carts with Furniture,
+  500 feet Boards,
+  1 pr. Smiths Bellows,
+  1 Box Smiths Tools,
+  1 Anvil,
+  1 Camp Kettle
+  10 Ox Yokes,
+  70 Bundles of Hay,
+  2 Handpumps,
+  18 Pails,
+  4 Tubbs,
+  2 Shovells,
+  4 Barr's Water, Settled.
+
+Shipped by the Grace of God in good Order and well Condition'd by Thomas
+Hancock, by order of His Excell'cy Major General Amherst, in and upon the
+good sloop call'd the "Endeavour," whereof is Master under GOD, for this
+present Voyage, William Clift, and now riding at Anchor in the Harbour of
+Boston, and by God's Grace bound for The Expedition up the River St.
+Lawrence, to say, Twelve Oxen, Six Horses, Four Hogshead and Ten Bags of
+Corn, Ten Bags of Meal, two Carts with their Furniture, Five hundred feet
+of Boards, One Pair Smiths Bellows, One Box Smiths Tools, One Anvill, One
+Camp Kettle, Ten Ox Yokes, Seventy Bundles of Hay, Two handpumps,
+Eighteen pails, Four Tubbs, Two Shovells, Four Barrells Water; being
+mark'd and number'd as in the Margin, and to be delivered in the like
+good Order, and well Condition'd, at the aforesaid Port of ---- (the
+Danger of the Seas only excepted) unto His Excell'cy Major General Wolfe,
+or to his Assigns,----or they paying Freight for the said
+Goods----Nothing----with Primage and Average accustom'd. In Witness
+whereof the Master or Purser of the said sloop hath affirmed to Two Bills
+of Lading, all of this Tenor and date; the one of which Two Bills being
+accomplished, the other one to stand void. And so GOD send the good sloop
+to her desired Port in Safety, _Amen_. Dated in
+
+BOSTON, _May 14, 1759_.
+
+                                                    WILL^{M}. CLIFT.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+
+On my occasional visit to Boston, I usually put up at the Eastern Stage
+House, perhaps because it was there that the stage-coach by which I
+arrived at the city discharged its passengers. It was an old fashioned
+establishment, which but for the absence of galleries, might remind one
+of the famous Tabard Inn, from which Chaucer's pilgrims set out. For its
+capacious yard, in which the passengers alighted, and where they
+remounted for their homeward journey, was approached through a narrow
+cross street, and in its ample stables the stage-horses took their rest
+and refreshment. The front entrance to the tavern was under an archway on
+Ann street, loyally named for the old queen; for which title was not long
+ago senselessly substituted the unsuggestive appellation of North street.
+It has long since given place to more modern edifices. It was a
+comfortable place of temporary residence, and in illustration of former
+manners I remember one practice which I have never seen elsewhere. At the
+plate of each guest, at dinner, was placed a small decanter of brandy,
+holding I suppose half-a-pint of that liquor, and for which no extra
+charge appeared in the bill, which account itself was moderate enough
+compared with the inordinate hotel reckonings of the present day.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+
+In small matters, as well as in great, history repeats itself. Thus, the
+anachronic emotion of Miss ---- (on page 17) finds its parallel in
+"Facetiae Poggii," written at Florence, in the year 1450, of which the
+following story is one:--
+
+"Cyriac of Ancona, a wordy man and much given to talk, was once deploring
+in our presence the fall and ruin of the Roman empire, and seemed to be
+vehemently grieved at it. Then Anthony Lusco, a most learned man, who
+also stood by, said, jeering at the silly grief of the fellow, 'He is
+very like a man of Milan, who, hearing on a feast day one of the race of
+minstrels, who are wont to sing the deeds of departed heroes to the
+people, reciting the death of Roland, who was slain about seven hundred
+years before in battle, fell at once a-weeping bitterly, and when he got
+home to his wife, and she saw him sad and sighing, and asked what was the
+matter, "Alas! alas! wife," he said, "we are as good as dead and gone."
+"Why, man," she answered, "what dreadful thing has befallen you? Take
+comfort and come to supper." But he, when he went on sobbing and sighing,
+and would take no food, and his wife pressed him to tell the cause of his
+woe, at last said, "Don't you know the bad news I have heard to-day?"
+"What?" asked the wife. "Roland is dead, who alone was the safeguard of
+Christendom." On which his wife tried to soothe the silly grief of her
+husband, and yet, with all her tenderness, could scarce get him to sit
+down to meat.'"[13]
+
+The effect of the ballad, however, upon the worthy man of Milan reminds
+one of the historical incident, recording the effect of song, celebrated
+anew in one of the stanzas of Childe Harold:--
+
+     "When Athens' armies fell at Syracuse,
+      And fettered thousands felt the yoke of war,
+      Redemption rose up in the Attic Muse,
+      Her voice their only ransom from afar;
+      See! as they chant the tragic hymn, the car
+      Of the o'ermastered victor stops: the reins
+      Fall from his hands--his idle scimitar
+      Starts from its belt--he rends his captives' chains,
+      And bids them thank the bard for freedom and his strains."
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+
+The ancestor of Colonel Edward Wigglesworth, mentioned in the text, an
+officer of the Revolution, highly esteemed by Washington, was Rev.
+Michael Wigglesworth, author of "The Day of Doom," published in the last
+quarter of the seventeenth century, and reprinted in London; a dreadfully
+dismal, but edifying poem, and not without a certain horrifying merit.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+
+Were it within the scope of this work, I might furnish a catalogue, by no
+means meagre, of inhabitants formerly distinguished in their day and
+generation. For example, I have heard it stated as a curious fact, that,
+not far from the beginning of the present century, each of the three
+Professors of Harvard College, namely, Professors Webber, afterwards
+President; Pearson, and Toppan, were natives of Newbury.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+
+I could hardly dismiss this volume from my hands without some reference
+to the means of public information furnished by the newspapers of the
+town. Of these, there have been, since "The Essex Journal," soon
+afterwards merged in "The Impartial Herald," and first published in 1773,
+between thirty and forty attempts to establish newspapers; but the
+"Herald," the successor of those before-named, for many years conducted
+as a semi-weekly journal, and since the year 1832 as a daily paper, has
+alone steadily maintained its ground. It has always been distinguished
+for the editorial ability displayed in its columns, and for a care
+bestowed upon its several departments, which gave it a high reputation,
+scarcely surpassed by that of leading journals in our larger cities.
+
+"The Essex Journal" was begun by Isaiah Thomas, who in the course of a
+year sold his interest in it to Ezra Lunt; and he, after two years,
+obeying another call to public service, sold it to John Mycall. The first
+of these began life in the humblest condition, without schooling of any
+kind, it is alleged; taught himself to read and write, and after a time
+removed to Worcester, became connected with a noted paper there, the
+"Massachusetts Spy," at length accumulated a handsome fortune, for the
+times, much of which, after a long life, he bequeathed to the Antiquarian
+Society of Worcester, and a portion to Harvard College, and other
+literary institutions. He was the founder, also, of the American
+Antiquarian Society. He became a writer and educator of much repute.
+
+Upon the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, Mr. Ezra Lunt was the
+first man who volunteered, in the meeting-house, when the minister, Rev.
+Mr. Parsons, exhorted his parishioners to military service; was chosen
+captain of the company, with which he was present in command at Bunker
+Hill, and afterwards was raised to the rank of major. He took part in the
+battle of Monmouth Court House, when the British army, under Sir Henry
+Clinton, retired with much difficulty and loss before Washington, and
+used to relate the particulars of the well-known rebuke administered by
+that great chief to General Charles Lee for his hasty retreat from the
+advanced post, which had been assigned him. He declared himself to have
+been close by at the moment, and to have heard the energetic language
+used on the occasion. After the war, he received his allotment of land,
+and settled upon it, at Marietta, Ohio.
+
+Mr. Mycall was a person of much natural capacity and shrewdness, with
+certain eccentricities of character, and kept up a little politic mystery
+about himself. He once engaged a well-known carriage-maker of the day to
+build him a chaise, which it was agreed should be finished at a certain
+time. When the specified period arrived, the vehicle was not forthcoming.
+Enduring a similar disappointment several times, and expressing himself
+strongly about it to the offender, that individual promised it to him
+positively at a certain date, _if he was alive_. Even then, it was not
+delivered; but what was the astonishment of the faulty party to read in
+his newspaper the next morning, "Died, yesterday, P. B., chaise-maker,"
+etc. In a state of boiling indignation he rushed to the street, and on
+the way to the office of publication called the attention of various
+acquaintances to the wrongful statement, which, it appeared, no one had
+observed. Entering the office, he inquired, with much feeling, how Mr.
+Mycall could have published such a paragraph. "Did you not promise me,"
+said the editor, "that my chaise should be sent home, on such a day, if
+you were alive?" "Well, supposing I did?" "Why, then, of course, you must
+be dead!" Taking up a copy of the paper from his desk, and examining the
+obituary notices, "But," said the editor, "there is no such statement
+here." The bewildered chaise-maker hastened home to examine his paper
+anew; and it appeared, on inquiry, that the account of his decease was
+printed only in his own copy; a gloomy jest, which was soon much relished
+by the community.
+
+Indeed, the town became for a time a noted place for the publication of
+standard works, and books of various descriptions. It was here that the
+well-known Mr. Edmund M. Blunt, who subsequently removed to the city of
+New York, published his valuable and famous "American Coast Pilot," and,
+afterwards, the no less useful "Practical Navigator."
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+
+In attestation of the remark, on page 144 of the text, that an antiquated
+pronunciation of many English words prevailed long in New England, after
+it was disused in Old England, and was brought by the colonists from the
+Mother Country, see the criticism of "Holofernes" upon innovations in
+pronunciation, in Act V., Sc. 1, of "Love's Labor Lost," showing the
+state of the case in Shakespeare's time.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+
+In closing this Appendix, which might be extended to almost any length,
+as recollections which did not occur to me in writing the body of the
+work come up, I cannot omit a remarkable use of the American language,
+let us say, since the Czar once so denominated the English tongue. It was
+upon the part of a town constable, perhaps as nearly of the Dogberry type
+as could be imagined. I was standing in the town hall, at a moment
+preliminary to a public meeting. A knot of youngsters had been joking one
+another, when this authoritative official approached. All but one
+speedily retired before the awful presence. "Master Constable" addressed
+the lingerer: "_Disperge_,"--a difficult operation for an
+individual,--"_disperge_, I say; we can't have no _burlash_ here!"
+
+Even Shakespeare might have been glad of such an opportunity to enlarge
+the cacology, by actual hearing, of some of his most amusing characters.
+
+-----
+ [13]  Quoted in Dasent's "Jest and Earnest." London, 1873.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Academy, of good standing, 137
+  Adams, J. Q., 134
+  Addison on English Superstition, 176
+  Adventure of American Sea-captain with Christophe, Emperor of Hayti, 61
+  "Algerines;" their Quarrel with Foreign Sailors, 74
+  Ancient Elder, 120
+  Ancient Episcopal Church; its former Rector, Bishop of Massachusetts,
+  114, 130
+  Apparition, an, 184
+  Aristocracy, 21
+  Aunt Judith, 23
+  Aunt Judith's Narrative of Witchcraft, 169
+
+  Balaklava Charge, 28
+  Bar, dangerous, 6
+  Bartlett, William, 33
+  Beggars, mimic, 106
+  Beverages, formerly, 96
+  Bishop Bass, 130
+  Bold Youngster, 165
+  Books, some that we read, 138, 139
+  Borderers, 74
+  Boyish Sports, 14
+  Bradbury, Judge, 34
+  British Orders in Council, 108
+  Bromfield Legacy, 18
+  Buchan, Earl of, 63
+
+  Campbell, "Tom," 27
+  Cannon for street posts, 58
+  Capen, Parson, 178
+  Characteristic Letter, 40
+  Christmas Evening, 161
+  Christmas Hymn, 163
+  Christophe of Hayti, 61
+  Clergy of the town, 122
+  Clergyman, Scottish, 166
+  Collector Marquand, 37
+  Collector Wigglesworth, 36
+  Comparative value of money, 21
+  Congregation, "Scrupulous," 122
+  Consequences of war and embargo, 57
+  Court of Common Pleas, 83
+  Cunning expedient, 22
+
+  Dalton, Tristram, 34
+  Damage of war, 38
+  Dana, Rev. Dr., 128
+  Dangerous bar, 6
+  Devil's den, 15
+  Dexter, "Lord," 63
+  Dexter's poet, 66
+  Dinah for Diana, 145
+  Discourse of Rev. Mr. Murray, 99
+  Dissatisfied washerwoman, 104
+  Dogberry and Verges, 198
+  Domestic, Scottish, 104
+
+  Earl of Buchan, 63
+  Earthquakes in former times, 113
+  Edinburgh, similar habits in, 10
+  Elder, an old-fashioned, 120
+  Emperor of Hayti, 61
+  English Clergymen, 124
+  English Reader. Are modern text-books as useful?, 137
+  English superstition, 176
+  Enterprise, Maritime and Commercial, 5
+  Extraordinary images, 63
+
+  Failure, swindling, 103
+  Favor, Johnny: his opinion of polemics, 133
+  Few insane persons, and the treatment of them formerly, 45
+  Fights of boys, 10
+  Fine trees, 17
+  Fire, strange, 190
+  Fire, the "great," 103
+  Foot-warming process, 118
+  Former Rector of St. Paul's a Bishop, 130
+  Former severe winters, 1
+  Former solemn proceedings in naturalization, 110
+  Fourth of July, 98
+  Fright of an old woman, 100
+  Fugitive Sea-captain and a lively chase, 58
+
+  Ghost, reputed, 180
+  Gould, Miss Hannah F., 31
+  Gourmand, a, 98
+  Great Fire, 103
+  Greys, Silver, 56
+  Grouse, Old, story of, 146
+  Growth of Episcopal Church, 130
+
+  Habits in Edinburgh, 10
+  Habits, jovial, of old times, 96
+  Hardships of early times, 40
+  Hay-time treating, 109
+  "Hinx-minx," origin of, 174
+  Hohenlinden, 28
+  Holt, Granny, 169
+  Home, return to, 202
+  How they used to "break," 103
+  Huntington, Countess of, and her Seminary, 124
+  Hymn, Christmas, 163
+
+  Images, extraordinary, 63
+  Indifference to cold, 119
+  Inquisitive spinster, 123
+  Insane persons, few, 45
+  Internal trade, 67
+  Introductory chapters to Scott's novels, 159
+
+  Jackson family, 24
+  James, King of Scotland, 106
+  Johnson, Samuel, Dr., 26
+  "Joppa Jine," 144
+  Jovial habits of old times, 109
+  Judith, Aunt, 23
+  July 4th, 98
+
+  King James of Scotland, 106
+  King Louis Philippe, 4
+  King, Rufus, 135
+
+  Lee, Mrs. George, 31
+  Longfellow, 32
+  Lowells, The, 24
+
+  Magistrate and culprit, 51
+  Mansions, remarkable, 18
+  Manufacturing establishments, 4
+  Maritime enterprise, 5
+  Market Square, triangular, 66
+  Marquand, Collector, 37
+  Massachusetts, Diocese of, 130
+  Meeting-houses--stoves and organs, 118
+  Merchant, rich, 34
+  Milton, Rev. Mr., 124
+  Mimic beggars, 106
+  Money, comparative value of, 21
+  "Moses is come!," 100
+  Murray, Rev. Mr., 99
+  Murray's Reader, 137
+
+  Naturalization, etc., 110
+  New England pronunciation, 144
+  New England superstition, of old, 160
+  Novelist, English, his surprise, 9
+  Nutting, etc., 14
+
+  Old-fashioned hospitality in beverages, 109
+  "Old Grouse," story of, 146
+  Old Peddlers, 67
+  Old Woman, fright of, 100
+  Orders in Council, British, 108
+  Organ of St. Paul's, 118
+  Origin of "Hinx-Minx," 174
+  Our Town, 5
+
+  Paine, Robert Treat, 134
+  Parson, Capen, 178
+  Parsonage and its curious picture, 52
+  Parsons, Chief Justice, 134
+  Particular Shoemaker, 48
+  Peabody, George, 33
+  Peace of 1783, 99
+  Peddlers, old, 67
+  People of St. James's, 131
+  Perkins, Jacob, 25
+  Personal part of leading citizens in politics, 94
+  Persons, distinguished, 34
+  Picture, curious, 52
+  Pike, Nicholas, 25
+  Polemics, 132
+  Political hostilities, 55
+  Poultry in profusion, 67
+  Practice, modern, of naturalization, 110
+  Professional persons, etc., 83
+  "Project," what it is, 174
+  Putnam, Oliver, 33
+
+  Quaker meeting, 136
+  Queer contrast of language, 61
+
+  Railways and their influence, 142
+  Ramsay, Dean, and others, Reminiscences of, 10
+  Reader, Murray's English, 137
+  Reading parties, 142
+  Refinement of certain classes, 133
+  Reputed apparition, 192
+  Respect for the clergy, 29
+  "Retort courteous," 27
+  Rev. Dr. Dana, 128
+  Rev. Mr. Milton, 124
+  Rev. Dr. Morse, 131
+  Rev. Mr. Murray, 122
+  Rev. Dr. Spring, 29
+  Richard, Uncle, 162
+
+  Sabbath, how kept, 120
+  Sailing adventure, 7
+  "Salt," ancient, 3
+  Saturday and Sunday evenings, 30
+  Scenery on the river, 5
+  School books, etc., 137
+  Schoolmaster, a shrewd, 140
+  Scott's Autobiography, 10
+  Scott's reply to certain critics, 159
+  Scottish domestic, cool and faithful, 104
+  "Scrupulous" congregation, 122
+  Scrupulous shoemaker, 48
+  Severe winters, 1
+  Shipbuilding, etc., 5
+  Silver Greys, 56
+  Singular companion, 168
+  Singular night adventure, 87
+  Snow-storm in old times, 2
+  Social security, 85
+  Stage-house, 53
+  St. James's, 143
+  Story of an apparition, 179
+  Story of bold youngster, 165
+  Stove in Church, 118
+  Street fights of boys, 10
+  Striking adventure of Rufus King, 135
+  Surprise of Thackeray, 9
+  Swett and Schwedt, 30
+  Swindling failure, 103
+  Sympathetic young lady, 17
+
+  Tennyson's "Charge at Balaklava," 28
+  Text instead of sermon, 119
+  "Thanks be to Praise!," 202
+  Thanksgiving, 105
+  Timber and shipbuilding, 5
+  "Tom" Campbell, 27
+  Topsfield spectre, 177
+  Town-meeting and resolute chairman, 96
+  Trade, internal, of the town, 67
+  Traders, small, 67
+  Treating in hay-time, 109
+  Trees of great beauty, 17
+  Triangular Market Square, 66
+  Tyng Family, 24
+
+  Uncle Richard, 162
+  United States after a runaway, 58
+  Unterrified clergyman, 166
+
+  Verges and Dogberry, 198
+  Vulgarian of the nouveaux riches, 62
+
+  Wages, low rate of, 23
+  Walsh, Michael, 25
+  What a "project" is or was, 174
+  Wheelwright, William, 32
+  Whipping-post, 123
+  Wigglesworth, Colonel, 36
+  Winters, severe formerly, 1
+  Witchcraft, and Uncle Richard's opinion of it, 167
+  Wood's account of the aristocracy., 21
+
+  Yankee acuteness, 141
+  Young persons sent to the town for education, 134
+
+
+
+
+  Transcriber's Notes:
+
+  Archaic, variable, and misspelled words and punctuation
+  inconsistancies have been preserved as printed in all of the
+  quoted material with one exception. This includes all poetry,
+  quotations, letters, and documents.
+
+  The one exception is in the poem Childe Harold, a section of
+  which is quoted in the Appendix, Section IX. The word =scimeter=
+  was changed to =scimitar= because it is spelled correctly in the
+  original poem by Lord Byron located at PG,
+  EText-No. 5131, Canto IV, Stanza XVI.
+
+  The following changes were made to the original text. The
+  correction is enclosed in brackets:
+
+  Page 106: and they skurried away [scurried]
+
+  Page 116: but the fact incontestibly proves, [incontestably]
+
+  Page 187: My mother was in close attendance upon sick members of
+  my sister's family? [changed punctuation to a period]
+
+  Page 230: Fall from his hands--his idle scimetar [scimitar]
+
+  The following word has been found in both hyphenated and
+  unhyphenated form in the original text: road-side (roadside).
+  The original hyphenation has been preserved.
+
+  Footnotes have been numbered consecutively and have been placed
+  at the end of each chapter.
+
+  Superscripted letters in the original book and the HTML version are
+  represented by ^{} in the text version.
+
+  The "long i" macron is respresented in the text as [=i].
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Old New England Traits, by Anonymous
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