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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31832-8.txt b/31832-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..92b3847 --- /dev/null +++ b/31832-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3423 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Travellers, by Catharine Maria Sedgwick + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Travellers + A Tale. Designed for Young People. + +Author: Catharine Maria Sedgwick + +Release Date: March 31, 2010 [EBook #31832] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAVELLERS *** + + + + +Produced by David Yingling, Alexander Bauer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + + [ Transcriber's Note: + + Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as + possible. Therefore odd spellings--even in geographical names--were + mostly retained. Obvious errors were corrected though, as well as + some punctuation issues--especially regarding the placement of + quotation marks. However, all changes (corrections of spelling and + punctuation) made to the original text are listed at the end of + this text. + + Text that was _italic_ in the original is marked with _.] + + + + + THE + TRAVELLERS. + + A TALE. + + + _DESIGNED FOR YOUNG PEOPLE._ + + + BY THE + AUTHOR OF REDWOOD. + + + "Then slowly climb the many-winding way, + And frequent turn to linger as you go, + From loftier rocks new loveliness survey." + CHILDE HAROLD. + + + NEW-YORK: + + PUBLISHED BY E. BLISS AND E. WHITE, + + And Sold by + COLLINS AND HANNAY, NEW-YORK, AND CUMMINGS, + HILLIARD, AND CO. BOSTON. + + + 1825. + + + + + _Southern District of New-York, ss._ + + BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the fourth day of April, A.D. 1825, + in the forty-eighth year of the Independence of the United States + of America, E. Bliss and E. White, of the said District, have + deposited in this Office the title of a Book, the right whereof + they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:-- + + "The Travellers; a Tale Designed for Young People. By the author + of Redwood. + 'Then slowly climb the many-winding way, + And frequent turn to linger as you go, + From loftier rocks new loveliness survey.' + _Childe Harold._" + + In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, + entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing + the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and + proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned." + And also to an Act entitled, "An Act supplementary to an Act + entitled, an Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the + copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors + of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending + the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and + etching historical and other prints." + JAMES DILL, + Clerk of the Southern District of New-York. + + + J. Seymour, printer. + + + + + The following pages are inscribed to the youthful + brother and sister, who are associated with every + picture of unfolding virtue, in the mind of their + affectionate friend, + THE AUTHOR. + + + + +THE TRAVELLERS. + + +In the month of June, (the jubilee month of poets and travellers) in the +year eighteen hundred and eighteen, Mr. Sackville, his wife, and their +two children, Edward and Julia, made the grand tour of Niagara, the +lakes, Montreal, Quebec, &c. Both parents and children kept journals, +in which they recorded with fidelity whatever they observed which they +deemed worthy of note. We have been favored with the perusal of them +all, and have been permitted to make a few extracts from them, which we +intend to combine into a brief narrative, that we are sure will amuse +our young readers, provided their delicate essence does not escape our +unskilful hands. + +First, it will be necessary that our readers should know into whose +society they are thus unceremoniously introduced. + +Mr. Sackville, in the prime of life retired from the successful practice +of the law, to a beautiful estate in the country. Various motives were +assigned by his acquaintances for his removal; but as those diligent +inquirers, who so conscientiously investigate their neighbor's affairs, +are apt to pass over simple and obvious motives, those which, in this +instance, governed Mr. Sackville's conduct, escaped their observation. + +The truth was, he had a strong predilection for a country life; he was +wearied with briefs and declarations; he loved above all things, the +society of his accomplished wife, and he ardently desired to participate +with her the happiness of educating their fine children; and besides, he +had many little plans of utility and benevolence, such as are naturally +suggested to an active and philanthropic mind on entering a new sphere +of life. + +Mr. Sackville purchased a fine estate in the town of ----, in the state +of ----. We have left these blanks, which we are well aware are very +provoking to all, and especially to young readers, in order to allow +them to locate the amiable Sackvilles (the name we confess to be +fictitious) wherever they choose, north or south of the Potomac, east +or west of the Alleghanies; for we sincerely believe that such pattern +families are to be found in every section of our favored country. + +Edward was ten, Julia eight years old, when they removed from town. They +felt a very natural reluctance at leaving the city, their companions, +and the only pleasures they had ever known. But the state of their +feelings will best appear by a conversation which occurred between +them and their mother, shortly before their removal, while Edward +was assisting her to pack up some vials, which with their contents, +composed his chemical laboratory. + +"You are very good, dear mother," he said, kissing her, "to take such +pains to pack up these things: you have been in such a panic about +spontaneous combustion ever since the night you found the phosphorus[1] +on fire, that I expected my little cupboard and all its treasures would +be condemned. But," he added, with a sigh, "I suppose you think I shall +want my chemistry more than ever to amuse me in the country." + + [1] Phosphorus is a matter which shines or even burns + spontaneously, and without the application of any sensible + fire. + +"No, my dear boy, not more than ever." + +"Oh, mother! Bob Eaton's father says the country is such a bore--and Bob +thinks so too." + +"And what," asked Mrs. Sackville, "do Bob Eaton's father and Bob Eaton, +mean by a bore?" + +"Why, they mean, certainly"----Edward began in a confident tone, and then +faltered a little: "that is, I suppose they mean, that----that----that----" +Edward found it as difficult to explain their meaning, as the original +utterers of the profound remark would have done if suddenly called on: +and he was glad to be interrupted by a soliloquy of his little sister, +who stood in one corner of the room, wrapping something in half a dozen +envelopes. + +"Farewell!" she exclaimed, as the man says in the play, "'a long farewell' +to my dear dancing shoes--" + +"Pardon me, Miss Julia," said her mother, "for cutting short such a +pretty pathetic parting: but here is another pair of dancing shoes, +which you will please to put with those you already have, and I trust +you will have the pleasure of dancing them both out before you come to +town again." + +"Dancing them out, mother! shall we dance in the country?" exclaimed +both the children in one breath. "I thought," continued Edward, "that +we should have nothing to do in the country but get our lessons; and +all work and no play, you know, mother, makes Jack a dull boy." + +"Oh yes, Ned, I know that favorite proverb of all children. I am sorry +to find that you have such a dread of the country. You know, my dear +children, that your father and I are devoted to your welfare, and that +we should do nothing that would not contribute to your happiness." + +Edward had quick feelings, and he perceived that there was something +reproachful in his mother's manner. "I am sure," he said, "that Julia +and I wish to do every thing that you and papa like." + +"That is not enough, my dear boy, we wish you to _like_ to do what we +like." + +"But surely, mother, you cannot blame us for not wishing to go and live +in the country." + +"No, Edward, I should as soon think of blaming poor blind Billy, because +he cannot see. Unhappily you have been entirely confined to town, and +are ignorant of the pleasures of the country. I only blame you for +thinking that your father and I would voluntarily do any thing to lessen +your innocent pleasures." + +"Oh, mother!" exclaimed Edward, "we did not think any thing about that." + +"Well, my dear, perhaps I am wrong in expecting you to _think_--reflection +is the habit of a riper age than yours. You must trust me for one year, +and at the expiration of that period, you and your sister shall decide +whether we return to town or remain in the country." + +"Oh, mother! how very good you are. One year--well, one year won't be so +very long--only think, Julia, in one year we shall be back again." + +"Not quite so fast, Edward," said his mother; "you are not to decide +till the end of the year." + +"Oh, I know that, mama, but of course we shall decide to come back." + +Mrs. Sackville looked incredulous, and smiled at his childish confidence +in his own constancy. "I see, mother, you don't believe me; but of +course, Julia and I can't wish to live away from every thing that is +amusing." + +"Come, Julia, your brother has taken it upon himself to be spokesman, +but let me hear from you, what are the amusements that you so dread to +leave." + +"Why, in the first place, mother, there is our dancing-school: every +time I go to take my lesson, Mr. Dubois says, 'Pauvre, Miss Julie, point +de cotillon; point de gavots in de country; ah, qu'il est sauvage--de +country.'" + +"Dubois for ever!" exclaimed Edward, as Julia finished her mimicry +of her master's tone and grimace. "Oh, he is the drollest creature--and +Julia is such a mimic--the girls will have nobody to make them laugh +when she is gone." + +Mrs. Sackville secretly rejoiced that Julia was to be removed, in a +great degree, from the temptation to exercise so mischievous a faculty. +She, however, did not turn the drift of the conversation to make any +remarks on it. "Console Mr. Dubois," she said, "my dear, Julia, with the +assurance, that your mother will take care that you do not lose the +benefit of his labors in the service of the graces. Your father tells +me, there is in our neighborhood a very decent musician, who does all +the fiddling for the parish. I have purchased some cotillon music, and +I hope your favorite tunes will soon resound in our new mansion." + +"Oh, that will be delightful, mother, but Edward and I cannot dance a +cotillon alone." + +"No, but we are not going to a desert. There are enough clever children +in the neighborhood, who will form a set with you; and now, Julia, that +I see by your brightened eye, that you think the affliction of leaving +the dancing-school will be alleviated, what is the next subject of your +regret?" + +"The next, mother? what is next, Edward?" + +"I do not know what you will call next, Julia, but I think the theatre +comes next." + +"O! the theatre--yes, the theatre--how could I forget the theatre?" + +"Well, my children, I think you can live without the theatre, as you +go but once, or at most twice in a season; a pleasure that occupies +so small a portion of your time, cannot be very important to your +happiness, or regretted very deeply." + +"A small portion of time, to be sure, mother," replied Edward; "but then +you will own it is delightful: you yourself exclaimed the other night +when the curtain drew up, 'what a beautiful spectacle!'" + +"Yes, my love, but nature has far more beautiful spectacles, and I have +kept you too long from them." + +"But, mother," insisted Edward, "nothing can be so pleasant and +startling, as when the curtain suddenly draws up and discovers a +beautiful scene." + +"It may be more startling, my dear Ned, but it is not half so delightful +as to see the curtain of night withdrawn in a clear summer morning, and +the lovely objects of nature lighting up with the rays of the rising +sun." + +"But, mother, there is the orchestra--" + +"And in the country, my dear, we have bands of voluntary musicians on +every side of us, who set all their wants, and all their pleasures to +music, and pour them forth in the sweetest notes, from morning till +night. These musicians will hover about our house and garden the entire +summer, and ask no reward, but to share with us our cherries and +raspberries; a small pittance from the generous stores of summer. But, +come, my children, what next?" + +"What next, Julia? Let us think--Oh, there is the museum. I am sure, +mother, you cannot say a word against the museum--such a variety of +curiosities, and elegant specimens of every thing, and I have heard you +and papa both say, that it is a very instructive as well as amusing +place to visit." + +"Certainly it is, my dear, a vast collection of natural wonders, and +artificial curiosities; and I am glad you value it sufficiently to +regret it. But, my dear children, nature has her museums every where: +her productions are all curiosities, and the more you study them, the +more you will admire the wisdom and goodness of their Creator. Every +vegetable that springs from the kind bosom of the earth--the earth +itself--the rocks--the pebbles--living creatures, their instincts and +habitudes--are all a study for you. The volume is open and outspread +before you: God grant me grace to train your minds and hearts, that +you may read therein--read with that enlightened understanding and +benevolent spirit, which prompted a christian philosopher to say, 'the +air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted existence. On whichever +side I turn my eyes, myriads of happy beings crowd upon my view.'" + +Any farther record of the conversation would be superfluous, and might +prove tedious. It is our purpose to give some anecdotes of Edward and +Julia, and not their history. + +As might have been expected, our young friends in the country, were like +beings rescued from an artificial mode of existence, and restored to +their native element; and when their mother, at the expiration of the +year, asked them if they were ready to return to town-- + +"Return to town, now, mother!" exclaimed Edward, "it is impossible." + +"Some time or other, mama, perhaps we should like to go back, but not +now," said Julia. "We cannot go now, when we have so much to do. The +frost is just out of the ground, and Ned and I are as busy as bees in +our garden." + +"And, besides," said Edward, "there is my brood of ducks, that the old +hen has just brought off; I am so curious to see her fright when they +take to the water; and there are my bantam pigeons; bantams are so +delicate, that you know, mother, I could not trust them to any body's +care but my own." + +"I think old Cæsar might take charge of your bantams, Ned," said Julia; +"but I am sure my pet lamb--" + +"Oh, Julia," interrupted Edward, laughing, "give her the sentimental +french name." + +"Very well, I will, and you may laugh as much you please: Orpheline--I +am sure Orpheline would not relish her food from any hand but mine, she +is so used to me; and my darling little partridges, that I am trying to +bring up to be domestic birds, I would not leave them before I have made +a 'satisfactory experiment,' as papa says; and then, mother, we did not +half fill our herbariums last summer. Oh, we have a world of business on +our hands," continued Julia, with the air of one who duly realized the +importance of her momentous concerns. + +Mrs. Sackville smiled, but made no reply, and Edward said, "I was +thinking, mother, as I sat on the door-step last evening, and listened +to the hum of the happy little creatures that are waking up for the +season, that I had new eyes and new ears given to me, since I came +to live in the country. Even the hoarse croaking of the frogs in our +meadow, sounded pleasantly to me; quite musical." + +"Equal to the music of the orchestra, my dear Ned." + +"Not quite so fine, mother," replied Edward, "but it seemed to have +more meaning in it." + +"You are right, my dear Edward," said Mrs. Sackville; "you have new +senses, or rather, your senses are unlocked to the reception of the +sweet influences of nature. I have more happiness than I can express to +you, my dear children, in finding that you have already imbibed a taste +for those pure pleasures, that will remain the same, whatever change of +condition or circumstances may await you."[2] + + [2] Miss Hannah More, at the age of seventy-five, said to + Professor Griscom, 'the love of the country, and of + flowers, is the only natural pleasure that remains to me + unimpaired.' + +Another year passed to this virtuous family, full of useful and innocent +occupations, and in the month of the already noted June, they left their +home. The parents with rational expectations of pleasure, from visiting +some of the most interesting scenes in our country, and the children +with the anticipation of unbounded delight, so characteristic of +childhood. + +Their travelling party included Mr. Ralph Morris, a bachelor brother +of Mrs. Sackville. Mr. Morris was a man of intelligence and extreme +kindness of disposition, a little irritable, and when the sky was +clouded, and the wind blew from the wrong quarter, somewhat whimsical. + +As we hope that our young readers will conceive a friendship for Edward +and Julia, before they part with them, they may have a natural curiosity +to know whether they were brown or fair, and all the etceteras of +personal appearance. Edward was tall for his age, (twelve) and stout +built, with the rich ruddy complexion and vigorous muscle of an English +boy. His eyes were large and dark, and beaming with the bright and +laughing spirit within: his hair was a mass of fair clustering curls, +which he, from a boyish dread of effeminacy, had in vain tried to subdue +by the discipline of comb and brush. His teeth were fine and white, and +with as little prompting from his mother as could be expected, he kept +them with remarkable neatness. His mouth was distinguished by nothing +but an expression of frankness and good temper. His nose, (a feature +seldom moulded by the graces) his nose, we are sorry to confess, was +rather thick and quite unclassical. His character and manners preserved +all the frankness and purity of childhood, with a little of that +chivalrous spirit which is such a grace to dawning manhood. For the +rest, we will leave him to speak for himself. + +The sister's person was extremely delicate and symmetrical, with too +little of the Hebe beauty for childhood, but full of grace and +_gentillesse_. + +Her complexion was not as rich as her brother's; but it had an +ever-varying hue, which indicated the sensibility that sometimes +suddenly swelled the veins of her clear open brow, lit up her hazel eyes +with electrifying brilliancy, and played in sweet dimples about her +mouth; in short, though she was not beautiful, she had an expression of +purity, truth, and gentleness, far more attractive than mere beauty; an +expression that was once happily described by a French lady, who said to +Mrs. Sackville, "when your daughter smiles, it seems to me, that it is +frankness and virtue that smile." + + * * * * * + +We are well aware that young people do not like to be harangued about +scenery; therefore, though our travellers sailed up the Hudson, we shall +resist every temptation to describe its beautiful features, features as +well known and loved as the familiar face of a friend; neither will we +detain them on the scarcely less beautiful Mohawk, though we are sure +they are not rebels against nature, and that their hearts would dilate +if we had the power to present to their imaginations this lovely stream, +winding through the valley it enriches, as it looked to the eyes of our +young travellers, brimfull from recent rains, reflecting in its living +mirror the verdant banks, the overhanging trees, the richly-wooded +hills, and the clear heaven. + +It would be impossible to record the exclamations of the children. "It +is a perfect picture, mother, all the way," said Julia. + +"I like every thing but these dronish farmers," said Edward. "See, papa," +he continued, (not, perhaps, unwilling to display his agricultural +observation) "see, that groupe of men, black and white, all leaning +on their hoes, and staring at us, and they will stand and look just +so, until the next carriage comes along, while their corn is trying +in vain to shoot above the weeds that choke it. They seem to have no +more soul than the clods they stand upon. I wish some of the farmers +on the cold desolate hills of New-England had this fine soil." + +"My dear Ned," replied Mr. Sackville, "I do not wonder at your +indignation. I have myself been marvelling, that, as a poet says, +'Nature should waste her wonders on such men;' but there is compensation +every where, or, as your mother would say, there 'are divers gifts.' +The man born to the inheritance of cold and sterile hills, is compelled +to be industrious, frugal, vigorous, and resolute to live, and thus the +advantages of his moral condition are more than an equivalent for the +physical advantages of a fine soil or climate, or both." + +"Ah, well, papa," replied Edward, "if I had my choice, I should take +this fine soil on the Mohawk, and cultivate it with the mountain +virtues, industry, resolution, &c. and I might make a paradise here." + +"A paradise, Ned!" exclaimed Mrs. Sackville, "do you remember that +Milton says, + + Now morn her rosy steps in the eastern clime + Advancing, sow'd the earth with orient pearl, + When Adam wak'd? + +If you would be a tiller of the earth, Ned, you must learn to like +early rising and hard work, better than you do now, and not go on living +so like the lilies of the field, that are clothed, though they toil +not." Edward looked a little crest-fallen. + +"Your self-confidence provoked a gentle rebuke," said his father; "but +it is a very common mistake, my dear son, for those much older than you +are, to fancy they should avoid the faults others commit, if placed in +their situation. But, before you permit such a presumption, be sure +that you have resisted all the temptations in your own path, and have +performed all the duties which belong to the sphere Providence has +assigned to you. Here we are at the close of our day's journey, and my +admonition comes in very well, like the moral at the end of a tale; this +I think is one of the prettiest places on the river. If I mistake not, +the village opposite to us is Palatine." + +The party alighted at Mrs. B's inn. The children entreated their mother +to take her port-folio, and stroll with them along the bank of the +river, while the tea was getting in readiness. + +As they came opposite the ferry, they stopped for a moment to look at a +scow approaching the shore. There were several men in it, and among them +a black lad, who, at the moment the boat touched the shore, either by +accident, or by the contrivance of his mischievous companions, fell +overboard. While they gave way to a burst of merriment, the poor blackey +regained a footing on terra firma, and shook the water from his woolly +locks and dripping garments. + +"You an't white yet, Cuffee," said one of his persecutors. "Look if he +has dyed the water," said another. + +"Don't laugh," said Julia to Edward, who, with a boyish love of fun, had +joined in the laugh; "it is too bad to laugh at the poor fellow." + +"You are right, Julia," said Mrs. Sackville. "It is hard to belong to a +degraded _caste_, to be born to the inheritance of jibes and jokes." + +They continued their walk a little farther down the bank, discovering +new beauties at every step, till they came to a spot which Julia +insisted could not be surpassed; and arranging a nice cushion on the +grass with her shawl, she begged her mother to make a sketch there. +"Now, mama," she said, "you must take both sides of the river." + +"You forget, Julia, that I cannot take a panorama view." + +"Then you must leave out the inn, and the beautiful hill behind it, with +its sycamores and locusts, and the road that winds along the bank of the +river." + +"Yes, my dear, here is the boundary of your picture:--this magnificent +elm-tree, that seems to pay its debt to the nourishing waters, by +extending its graceful branches over them." + +"And don't fail, mother," said Edward, "to mark the deep shadow it casts +on that pier of the bridge they are building--and oh, do put in that +little skiff so snugly moored in the shade, and hooked to the tree--and +that taper church spire that stretches above the thick wood on the +left;--oh, if you could but paint it as it looks now, with that bright +gleam from the setting sun on it. And see, mother, just at this instant, +what a golden mist there is in the topmost branches of that tree." + +"Stop your chattering one moment, Ned, till I get in this little brook +on the left, that is creeping so softly into the bosom of the Mohawk. +Oh, my children, it is an easy task to draw these lines so as to convey +a correct idea of forms and distances, but very difficult to imitate the +colouring of nature, the delicate touch of her skilful hand. How shall I +represent the freshness and purity that marks the youth of the year?--like +childhood, Ned, smiling and promising, and as yet unchanged by time." + +"If not changed, not perfected by time, dear mother," said Edward, +kissing his mother. His manner expressed a mixture of admiration and +tenderness that went to her heart. + +"You have spoiled my picture, Ned," she said, "I cannot make another +straight line. Come, Julia, take up the port-folio, and we will return +to the inn." + + * * * * * + +We hope our readers will not complain that we have not kept good faith +with them, if we have been tempted to loiter longer than we promised on +the banks of the Mohawk. To reward them for their patience (if perchance +they have exercised that difficult virtue, without availing themselves +of the skipping right--the readers' inalienable right) we shall make but +one stage of it from Palatine to Oneida, not once halting at any of the +beautiful grounds, waterfalls, or villages, that intervene. + +It was mid-day, and a hot day too, when our travellers entered this +Indian town, which presents a striking aspect, situated as it is in the +heart of a cultivated and civilized country. + +Huts are planted irregularly at some distance from the road, in fields +overgrown with rank grass. Half-naked Indians, yelling and hallooing, +were riding to and fro without saddles or bridles; on horses that looked +as wild as themselves. Some were stretched along the road-side, in a +state of brutal intoxication; others were lying under the shadows of +the noblest patriarchs of their woods, showing their patent right to +indolence as lords of the creation, while their women and girls were +sitting around them, busily making baskets and brooms. On the green +were groupes of men shooting arrows at a mark, playing at jack-straws, +football, and the various games of skill and chance by which the savage +drives away ennui--that demon that persecutes most fiercely at the +extremes of the human condition. + +"One might almost fancy here," said Mr. Sackville, "that the march +of time had been stayed, and the land spell-bound, by some mighty +magician. The log-huts of these poor Indians are as rude structures +as the bark wigwams of their forefathers, and these rich lands are a +complete waste, except where we see here and there a little patch of +corn or potatoes. The savages certainly evince their faith in the +traditionary saying that 'the Great Spirit gave a plough to the white +man, and a bow and arrow to the Indian.'" + +"And there," said Mrs. Sackville, pointing to some women who were +hoeing, "there is an illustration of another of their proverbs--'men +were made for war and hunting, and squaws and hedge-hogs to scratch the +ground.'" + +Edward interrupted the conversation, to beg his father to stop in the +village long enough to allow him time to look into the interior of some +of the huts. While Mr. Sackville hesitated whether to incur the delay +necessary to afford this gratification to his son, the driver announced +that his off-leader had lost his shoe, and asked leave to stop at a +blacksmith's to have it replaced. + +This request was readily granted; and while Mrs. Sackville entered into +some conversation with the blacksmith, who was a white man, Edward +bounded over a fence and across a field, towards a hut which was +scarcely perceptible except by a smoke that rose from it, and curled +through the branches of a lofty oak which stood before it. + +As he drew near the hut, he heard a low voice, broken by sobs; he paused +for a moment, and then cautiously and softly advanced, till he came so +near as to hear distinctly what was said, and to see enough, through a +small aperture where the clay had fallen away from the logs, to prevent +his proceeding farther, and to excite his curiosity to its highest +pitch. An old Indian woman was sitting on the hearth-stone, her arms +folded, and her blanket wrapped close around her. It appeared that she +had seated herself there for the purpose of watching an Indian cake that +was baking on a shovel before the fire; but her attention had been so +abstracted, that the cake was burnt to a cinder. Her face and person +were withered by age; but her eye, as if lit up by an undying spark, +retained a wild brightness, and was steadfastly fixed on two young +persons who stood before her, apparently too much occupied with their +own emotion to notice her observation of them. The one was a young girl, +dressed in a riding habit and Leghorn travelling bonnet. Edward was +not very well situated for accurate observation; but though he was +at the first glance deceived by the brilliancy of the girl's colour, +heightened as it was by the excitement of the moment, his unpracticed +eye soon detected unequivocal marks of the Indian race, accompanied +and softened by traits of fairer blood. A young Indian stood beside +her, who, as Edward fancied, had a certain air of dignity and heroism, +that characterised a warrior chief;--still there was something in his +attitude and motions, that bespoke the habits of civilized life. His +dress, too, was a singular mixture of the European and Indian costumes. +He wore a jacket with long sleeves made of deer skin, and closely fitted +to his arms and breast. He had a mantle of blue broad cloth, lined with +crimson, made long and full, hanging over one shoulder, and confined at +the waist by a wampum belt. On a table beside him was lying a cap, like +the military undress cap of a British officer, with a plume of black +feathers tinged with crimson, and attached to the cap by a silver arrow. + +The conversation between him and the girl was in French, and made up of +ejaculations and vehement protestations, from which Edward could not at +first gather any thing intelligible to him. The girl wept excessively; +the Indian's passion seemed too powerful for such an expression. + +"You promise," he said, "Felice; but our old men say the winds are not +more changing than a woman's mind." + +"Others may change; I cannot, Nahatton; you know I would not leave you +if I could help it." + +"Could help it! can your father's right control nature's law? Oh, +Felice!" he added, smiting his breast, "that which I feel for you is +like the fires from the sun--the hurricane from the south--the tide of +the ocean;--I cannot resist it." + +"Nahatton! Nahatton! you know I will return to you." + +"Let me place this around your neck then," said he, detaching from his +own a chain made of porcupine quills, and curiously woven. "My mother +made it. She said it was a charm, and would keep me true to my own +people. I wore it in France, and I have returned to my tribe." + +"Not about my neck, Nahatton," said Felice, as he raised his hands to +clasp the chain; "it looks too savage--bind it on my arm.----Why do you +hesitate?" she asked, as she stood with her arm extended, and her sleeve +pushed up. + +"It looks too savage! Already ashamed of your mother's blood! Oh, there +is poison in your veins!" and as he said this he broke the chain, threw +it down, and crushed it under his foot. + +"Oh, Nahatton, I did not mean that;--I am not ashamed of my indian +blood--I will make you any promise--I will swear, on my knees I will +swear to return to you." + +"Swear then upon this," said he; and he took from his bosom a silver +crucifix, and offered it to her lips. + +At this moment the old woman, who, as they spoke in French, only +understood as much as she could interpret from their gestures, rose, +and darting towards them, she laid her hand on the crucifix. "No, no, +Felice; swear not!" she said; "the oath will be written there," and she +pointed upward, "when you have broken and forgotten it." + +Edward, in the intensity of his interest in the scene, had forgotten the +necessity of secrecy. He carelessly leaned his arm on some rails that +had been placed against the hut, one of them fell; the party within +started and looked around them, and Edward instinctively retreated. If +he went as swiftly as the wind, and once or twice thought he heard an +arrow whirring through the air behind him, we hope our readers will +impute it to the excited state of his imagination, and not deem him a +coward, 'even upon instinct.' + +"Just in time, Edward, my son," said Mr. Sackville, who was standing by +the carriage in which the rest of the party were already seated; "but +what in the world ails you? you look as wild as if you had met a bear up +in the wood there." + +"Oh, you would look wild too, father, if you had seen and heard what I +have. Oh, mother! Oh, Julia! you never will believe what I have to tell +you." + +"I have something to tell you, too, Mr. Edward," said his mother; "and +as you are out of breath, and out of your wits, I will tell my story +first, which I assure you is quite a romantic little tale to pick up by +the way-side." + +"Well, do be quick, mother, if you please, for what I have to say is so +wonderful." + +"No doubt; each one always thinks his own wonder the most wonderful. But +I will not try your patience any longer. Do you remember our speculating +on an empty carriage, which we saw drawn up under a tree with a man +standing by it, about half a mile back?" + +"Yes, very well--but what of that, mother?" + +"It was an idle inquiry about that carriage of the good-natured +communicative blacksmith that led to the story, which I am going to tell +you. It seems that carriage is to convey a young woman to New-York, +whence she sails for France." + +"Oh, I saw her--I saw her," exclaimed Edward. "It can be none other." + +"Well, Edward," said Mrs. Sackville, "I will give place to you; for I +see you are in such a state of fermentation, that I am afraid your story +will evaporate in exclamations, while I am telling mine." + +Edward thus relieved from restriction, proceeded to recount with the +animation of an eye-witness, all he had seen and heard. His audience +listened to him with the most flattering attention, and at the +conclusion, repaid him with exclamations, that proved they were +adequately impressed with the extraordinary scene he had witnessed. + +Julia wished he had noticed whether the chief (for thus he had chosen +throughout his narrative to designate his hero) wore moccasins or shoes, +and whether his legs below his mantle, were bare, or covered with +leggins. She thought too, he might just have staid to see whether the +girl made the vow or not: and his mother congratulated him that the +Indians had not executed summary justice on him, and shot him flying for +a spy. + +"My story," said Mrs. Sackville, "will serve, Ned, as a sequel to yours, +or rather, an explanation of it. It seems that this young girl, who is a +Miss Bernard, had left the carriage when we saw it, on the pretence of +going to take leave of her mother's sister, who is doubtless the old +woman you saw. You were so fortunate as to discover her real errand. She +is the daughter of a Frenchman--Rodolph Bernard. His family was noble +and rich: they and their fortunes were sacrificed in the convulsions of +the French revolution, and Bernard alone escaped and reached America, +with nothing but his life. It appears from my blacksmith's story, that +young Bernard had a good deal of spirit and enterprise, and more +education than most of the young nobles of that time. I wish you to +observe, my children, that knowledge is a treasure not impaired by a +change of circumstances, but an immutable good in every extreme of +fortune. Bernard remained in New-York for a year or two, and subsisted +by teaching French to some Americans, and mathematics to his own +countrymen. He was then employed by a company of French gentlemen, +to explore the western part of this State, then a wilderness, and +to furnish them such information as should enable them to make an +advantageous purchase of the government. This was not quite thirty years +ago: and then the cultivated country and beautiful villages through +which we have passed, were for the most part a trackless wilderness. + +"At a wigwam in Oneida, where he had been compelled to ask for such +hospitality as it afforded, he was seized with the fever of the country +that usually attacked strangers. For weeks and months he was nursed by +an indian girl, famed among her people for her skill in such remedies as +their native wilds supply. You know, that in the history of the early +periods of all ages, we find the healing art assigned to women. You will +remember, Ned, in your favorite old ballads, many a kill or cure, +performed by cruel or tender leeches. + +"Whether it was the indian maid's skill in medicine, that prevailed over +the disease at last, or her devoted kindness, it might be difficult to +determine; probably, Bernard thought the latter; for though she was, +as my narrator's tradition says, 'an uncouth maiden to look upon,' he +declared his love to her, and asked her hand of her father. The father +consented, but not till after some delay, nor till he had ascertained +that Bernard's rank entitled him to wed the daughter of a distinguished +chief. She was an only child too, and she was heir to enough land within +this Oneida reservation, to make a principality. + +"The Frenchman understood how to manage it. His ties to his own country +were broken. All his affections and interests were concentrated here. He +has been a good husband and father--so indulgent as to permit his wife +on ordinary occasions, to wear her indian dress, to which it seems she +has a bigoted attachment. His children are well educated: and, Ned, our +blacksmith thinks, that your heroine Felice, would be a perfect beauty, +if she had such hair as your sister's, and the olive tinge could be +washed out of her skin. + +"Bernard, since the late reverses in France, has returned there, and +recovered an immense property which had been sequestered by Napoleon. + +"Last year his family received dispatches from him, by your 'chief,' +Ned--who, if not in reality a chief, is the son of a distinguished +sachem of the Seneca tribe, which is located some where on the shores +of Lake Erie. The old Seneca chief was converted to the Romish religion, +by a Catholic missionary, who persuaded him to resign his son into his +hands, to be educated a priest. + +"It appears that neither European intercourse, nor the strict discipline +of a catholic school, have overcome the young man's preference of the +wild and lawless life of his tribe. As I said, on his return from +France, he brought letters from Bernard to his family, and here he +has played successfully the part of Othello the Moor, with this young +Desdemona; and the blacksmith thinks that Bernard will play the enraged +father to the life, as it has been his declared resolution from his +daughter's birth, that she should not wed an indian. + +"For the rest of my story, it is explained by what you have witnessed, +Edward. The Seneca youth has visited his people, and returned here just +as Felice is on the eve of departure for France, in compliance with her +father's requisition. As to the future, whether she will remain constant +to her lover, as we are not seers, we cannot predict--we can only +guess." + +Edward and Julia professed unbounded confidence in Felice's fidelity. +Mr. Morris did not see what the girl could do better. Indian she +undoubtedly was, and he thought it was a clear case for the application +of the Scottish proverb, 'hawks won't pick out hawks' een;' at any rate +it would be a piece of effrontery for her to turn her back upon her +indian lover, and expect to win a white one. + +Mr. and Mrs. Sackville thought it possible that Julia might find +Frenchmen in whose estimation an ample fortune would atone for the +slight dishonour of her maternal ancestry. + +Our travellers proceeded without accident or adventure along the +accustomed route through fine villages, whose rapid growth to maturity +remind one of the construction of a fairy palace by the touch of a +magician's wand. A few years ago this country was unexplored save by +the indian hunter, or perhaps a devoted missionary, or lawless trader. +A wheel had never entered it--a _shodden_ horse was a curiosity; now, +the road is thronged with market-waggons, stage coaches, and carriages +filled with idle, curious, or classic travellers, who go to 'the Falls' +to kill time, to increase their stores of knowledge, or to gratify +taste. + +Mr. Sackville was constantly directing his children's observation to the +prompt enterprise and industry so conspicuous in a new country, and +stimulating their patriotism by pointing out to them the increasing +riches and resources of their native land. "For my own part," he said, +"I prefer the sentiment that is inspired by the peaceful triumphs of man +over nature, to the patriotism that is kindled on battle-grounds--if not +as romantic, it is certainly more innocent." + +"Then I suppose, papa," said Edward, "that you prefer Virgil's georgics +to his epic." + +"Thank you, Ned," replied his father, "for an illustration which proves +that your travels have not quite put your school out of your head. I +certainly do prefer the aspect of our cheerful dwellings, blooming +gardens, and fruitful fields, associated as they are in my mind with +innocent occupation and moral cultivation; to the ivy-mantled towers +and triumphal arches of the old world--they are the records of feudal +grandeur and high heroic deeds, but deeds too often of doubtful virtue, +and of fatal consequences. The melancholy poet may exult in describing +the 'spectres that sit and sigh' amid their ruins; but if I had the +_gifted eye_, my children, I should rather look upon the spirit of +Contentment that hovers over our land, and her sweet sister Hope, who +points with her finger of promise to the smiling prosperity produced by +busy hands and active independent minds." + + * * * * * + +When the travellers reached Black-rock, where they were to cross the +Niagara, they were compelled to await for some time the return of the +ferry-boat, which was then plying towards the Canada shore. While they +were detained, they amused themselves with a company of Irish people--raw +emigrants, who had just entered our territory, and were awaiting the +departure of the Erie steam-boat to convey them to the State of Ohio. +They had spread tents for their temporary accommodation--Edward and +Julia went from one to another, asking questions, and giving cakes and +dried fruit from their travelling stores to the children. + +They were particularly struck with one buxom young girl with laughing +eyes and ruddy cheeks, who seemed to be a favorite with the whole +company, and not to belong to any one; for she went from tent to tent +kneading an oat-meal cake for one woman--dressing a lame arm for +another, and performing sundry miscellaneous offices that always fall +to the lot of those most useful people who have nothing in particular +to do. Julia offered her a piece of cake, by way of introduction, and +then asked her name:--"My name is Biddy Burns, an' please you, miss." + +"And who did you come with, Biddy?" + +"I left home with my cousin; but it pleased the Lord to take her to +himself before we came to Quebec, and she has left such a pretty +complement of children to her husband to take care of, that I must +e'en shift for myself." + +"Do you like our country, Biddy?" asked Edward. + +"Och, my master, I could not miss liking it, ye are all so free and +hospitable." + +"But Biddy," said Julia, "how could you leave your father and mother, +and all your friends?" + +"Sure it is, miss, if it thrives well with me they will all come after." + +"Sure enough," said Mrs. Sackville, "these poor Irish do all come +_after_, sooner or later. Are you a catholic, Biddy?" + +"I come from the north of Ireland, my leddy." + +"You are a protestant, then?" + +"Yes, my leddy; thank God and my mother, that taught me the rasonable +truth." + +"Can you read, my good girl?" + +"Indeed can I, my leddy. Thanks to the Sunday school, I could read in +the bible if I had one, without a blunder." + +"Well, Biddy," said Mrs. Sackville, who thought it a good opportunity to +give a God-speed to the girl's pilgrimage--"here is a bible in my +basket--take it, and may it be the guide of your life." + +Biddy poured forth her thanks in many a God-reward-ye, and then after +hesitating for a moment, she said, "I wish my leddy would condescend to +walk up here a bit, to a poor woman who needs a kind christian word, +poor crater." Mrs. Sackville and the children followed Biddy to a tree +which stood a little above the encampment of the Irish, where a woman +was sitting on a log with a sick child in her arms, and a boy of five +or six beside her. + +She was a middle-aged woman, with a face originally plain, and deeply +seamed with the small-pox; but withal, there was an expression of honesty +and goodness, and of deep sadness, that interested Mrs. Sackville, though +at first it failed to draw the attention of the children from their +good-humored blithe companion. + +"Does this woman belong to your company, Biddy?" + +"Bless you, no, my leddy."--"I thought not," said Mrs. Sackville, who +was struck with the extreme neatness of the woman's appearance, which +presented a striking contrast to all the Irish, even to our friend +Biddy.--Her child's head was covered with a linen handkerchief--coarse +and patched, but white as the driven snow. There was scarcely a thread +of the original cloth in her children's clothes--neither was there a +hole in them--their faces and hands were perfectly clean, and their hair +neatly combed. + +"You seem to find it possible, my friend," said Mrs. Sackville, patting +the little boy's face, "to keep your children clean in the most difficult +circumstances." "I try my best, ma'am," replied the woman. "And a slave, +my leddy," interposed Biddy, "she makes of herself for it. Do you know +that when I offered this morning to stay by the childer while she took +a bit of sleep, that instead of resting her soul and body, she went and +washed her things in the river, and got leave to iron in the house +yonder, and did it all as particular as it might have been done for you, +my leddy." + +The poor woman was wetting the sick child's lips from a cup of water that +stood by her; and she took no notice of Biddy's remark. Mrs. Sackville +inquired into the particulars of the child's sickness, which she thought +would yield to some common restoratives which she had at hand; and just +as she was dispatching Julia for the dressing case which contained them, +a little rugged impish looking boy came towards them, throwing himself +heels over head, with a segar in his mouth, which he continued smoking +while he was making his somersets.--"Come, come, Goody Barton," said he, +without heeding Mrs. Sackville's presence, "come, we must be up and +moving. If we don't get over in this boat, I shall disappoint the +company at Chippewa to-night." + +"Don't speak so loud, Tristy," replied the woman, "but take the pack to +the boat, and I will follow you." + +"That surely is not your child?" said Mrs. Sackville, as the boy walked +off with the bundle singing, at the top of his voice, a very vulgar +song, and affecting to reel like a drunken man. + +"No, thank God," said the woman, "he is a poor heaven-forsaken lad, who +is going into Canada. He has helped me along from Buffalo, and has +offered to carry my bundle to Chippewa." + +It occurred to Mrs. Sackville to caution the woman to be on her guard, +for she thought Tristy looked wicked enough for any mischief; but a +signal from the boat obliged them all to hasten to the shore. Biddy good +naturedly took the eldest boy by the hand and led him to the boat, and +then took leave of all her new friends, pouring forth a shower of +prayers that God would bless them all, rich and poor. + +The woman, whom we shall henceforth call by her name, Mrs. Barton, was +reserved in the expression of her feelings; but the tear of gratitude +she dropped on Biddy's hand at parting, was an equivalent for the girl's +voluble expressions. + +There was, in all the poor woman's manner, an unobtrusiveness and +reserve uncommon in a person of her humble degree, and it interested +Mrs. Sackville more than any solicitation could have done. She +ascertained that Mrs. Barton was on her way to Quebec, where she _hoped_ +to find her husband. + +"And have you the means of getting there?" asked Mrs. Sackville. "It is +a great distance, my friend, and you cannot get across Ontario and down +the St. Lawrence for a trifle." + +"I know that, madam; but I have some money; and if I find my own country +people as kind to me as the people in the States have been, I shall do +very well. Every body feels pitiful to a lone woman with little children. +If it please God to mend my little girl, I shall go on with good courage." + +Mrs. Sackville commended the poor woman's resolution, and busied herself +putting up some medicines for the child, and giving directions about +them, and was so occupied with her benevolent duty, that she gave little +heed to Edward's continued exclamations. "Oh, mother! how beautiful the +colour of the water of the Niagara is!" "Mother, does not it give you +sublime feelings to think you are on the Niagara?" "Mother, does not +Lake Erie look grand from here?" &c. &c. &c. Suddenly his attention was +diverted, and he was attracted to the extremity of the boat, where +Tristy, the little "Flibbertigibbet" we have before mentioned, was +exhibiting various feats for the amusement of the passengers. He was a +little, pale, wizened-face fellow, with a bleared and blood-shot eye, +his hair black, strait, and matted to his head, his mouth defiled with +tobacco, and in short his whole appearance indicating the depravity of +one experienced in vice. He dislocated the joints of his fingers, stood +firmly on his head, and performed some of the difficult exploits of a +tumbler; and when he had done all this, "Come, gentlemen," said he, +"shall I sing you a song, or pray you a prayer? I'll suit your fancy +with either for a sixpence." + +"No, no; none of your prayers, you little son of the old one," said one +of the men; "we shall have your master with the cloven foot after us +before we get to the shore: you may sing us a song, though, only let it +be a decent one." + +"Oh, well gentlemen, suit yourselves--I am a Jack at all trades, you +know--that is to say, at any of the trades my father, that is dead and +gone, followed before me." + +"Trades! your father followed no trade, but the trade of the +light-fingered gentry." + +"I beg your pardon, sir; my dad was a noted man in his day:--a +carpenter, joiner, tooth-drawer, barber, gardener, studying-master, +dancing-master, whipping-master, fiddling-master, school-master, +music-master, play-actor, &c. &c.--all of which I am yours gentlemen +to command. Now for the song:--there is Erie, and my song is Perry's +glorious victory." He then half sung, half recited, a ballad recounting +Perry's gallant exploits on the lake. + +It was impossible for a compassionate being to see the little outcast +without an emotion of pity; or not to be affected by the weak and almost +infantine tones of his voice. + +"How old are you, child?" asked Mr. Sackville, as the boy concluded his +song, and opened his mouth to catch the sixpence that was tossed to him. + +"How old? I do not justly remember; but there is my age set down in our +family Bible, as my father called it, by his own honored hand, on the +day he got through, as I have heard him say, his fourth term of service +at the state-castle." + +Mr. Sackville took from the child's hand a filthy little dream-book, on +the title-page of which was scrawled, and scarcely legible,--"Tristram +McPhelan, born in the Bridewell, city of New-York, on Friday--bad luck +to him--March 1807." + +"You are then but eleven years old." + +"Yes sir; and in that time I have seen more of life than many of my +betters twice my age. I have been in every state in the Union, and +in every city of every state. I have been in six alms-houses, two +workhouses, and ten jails, on my own account, besides the privilege of +visiting my father in two different state prisons. While my father lived +we travelled in company, and now I am obliged (he concluded, bowing to +Mr. Sackville,) to put up with what company chance throws in my way." + +Mr. Sackville took Edward by the hand, and turned away, grieved and +disgusted. His eye fell on his daughter, who was sitting beside +Mrs. Barton, carefully sheltering the sick child from the sun with her +parasol, while she nicely prepared an orange and offered it to her. +The little sufferer seized it eagerly and devoured it, and then fixed +her eyes on Julia and smiled. The first smile of a sick child is +electrifying. + +"Oh! miss," said the mother, "does not she seem to say, 'God bless you,' +though she cannot speak it?" + +Julia was delighted with the revival of the child, and with the mother's +gratitude, which was even more manifest in her brightened countenance +than in her words. + +"My medicine," said Julia, "has worked wonders; if I could but find one +more orange, I should quite cure my little patient;" and she zealously +ransacked the carriage, and turned out every basket and bag in the hope +of finding another, but all in vain. Disappointed, she turned to her +mother,--"Cannot we, mama," she said, "do something more for this poor +woman before we leave her?" + +"I do not see that we can, my dear," replied Mrs. Sackville, "I have +offered to pay her stage fare hence to Newark, but she says she has +money, and declines receiving any thing." + +"Oh, then she is not obliged to go on foot--I could not endure to think +of the child's being exposed to this hot sun." + +"That, I am afraid, cannot be helped; for the mother does go to Newark +on foot. I could not persuade her to ride. She insists that she is very +strong, and that her child is so wasted she scarcely feels the burthen +of it; and besides, she travels but a very short distance in a day." + +Julia paused for a moment. She was very reluctant to give up the point, +and finally, as the last resource of her ingenuity, she proposed that +her mother should take the woman into the carriage. "We can just squeeze +her in for a few miles, mama; she looks so perfectly nice, that even +uncle can't object; and I want so to know if the little girl continues +to get better." + +Mrs. Sackville could scarcely refrain from smiling at Julia's odd +proposition to take in a way-faring woman and two children, but it had +its source in such kind feelings, that she would not ridicule it. "I am +afraid, my dear Julia," she said, "that it is quite impossible to +gratify you. You know your uncle already complains of wanting +elbow-room." + +"Well then, mother, just listen to one more proposal:--take the woman +into the carriage, and let Edward and me walk two or three miles. Three +miles will be quite a lift to her, and Ned will lead the little boy." + +Mrs. Sackville could not resist Julia's eagerness, and after some +consultation with her husband and brother, she consented to the +arrangement, though it involved them in some inconvenience and delay. It +was as much a matter of principle as feeling with her, never to permit +her own personal accommodation to interfere with the claims of humanity. +A child is more impressed with a single example of disinterestedness, +than with a hundred admonitions on the subject. Mrs. Sackville had some +difficulty in overcoming the scruples of Mrs. Barton, who felt a modest +awkwardness at seating herself in the carriage with her superiors; but +when they reached the Canada shore, the necessary arrangements were +made, and she being at last persuaded, on the ground of gratifying the +children, took their place in the carriage, and it drove off and left +Edward and Julia to follow with little Richard Barton, and Tristram with +the wallet. + +Mr. Morris was one of those thrifty people, who can never see any +necessity of poverty, and though he was in the main kind hearted, he was +rather inclined to be severe in his judgment of the wretched. Poverty +was always suspicious in his eyes. No sooner were they seated and well +under way, than he said, "It is a mystery to me, my good woman, why +people who have not any spare cash should always be travelling. +Sometimes they are going up country to see a relation--and sometimes +down country. All their kindred are sure to live at their antipodes." + +Mrs. Barton kept her eyes downcast on her child, and made no reply. +"Now," continued Mr. Morris, "what use or pleasure there can be in +lugging children from Dan to Beersheba, is more than I can imagine." + +"God knows, I do not travel for the pleasure of it," meekly replied the +poor woman. + +"Oh, no, no--I dare say not--I dare say not"--said Mr. Morris, who had +whiffed away his pet with the first breath. "You are of another sort. +But, pray, my friend, what are you travelling for?" + +"To join my husband at Quebec." + +"Your husband at Quebec--and you here! how the deuce came that about?" + +"My child has fallen asleep," replied Mrs. Barton, turning to +Mrs. Sackville; "and if you, ma'am, will condescend to hear the cause +of my being here--there is no reason that I should be loath to tell it; +only you know, ma'am, one does not like to be forward about speaking of +troubles to strangers--and those so kind as you, it seems like begging, +which I am not forward to do." + +Mrs. Sackville assured Mrs. Barton, that she felt great interest in +knowing how she came into her present circumstances. + +"My husband," she said, "was a corporal in the fortieth ----. We were +in Spain through all Wellington's campaigns, and had just crossed the +Pyrennees into France, and were thinking of going home to England +again, when the regiment was ordered to America. This was no great +disappointment to me--I have no known relation in the world but my +husband and child--then I had but the one. My husband is a sober man, +who fears God and serves his king with all his heart: and his pay with +my earnings, (for I did up all the linen of our officers) furnished us +a decent living. When we arrived at Quebec, our regiment was sent into +Upper Canada. + +"Soon after we came to Newark, a detachment from the De Watteville +regiment was ordered to make an attack on Fort Erie. In this detachment +was a corporal, a great friend to us, who once saved my boy from +drowning. At the moment he was ordered off, he had a child seemingly at +the last gasp. The poor man was distracted like, and my husband, who had +that tender heart that he could never bide to look on misery, offered to +go as his substitute, and he went. You've doubtless heard of the sortie +of Erie: that dreadful night my husband was taken prisoner. He got a +letter written to me from Buffalo, to tell me all his ill-fortune. He +had been mistaken by some American soldiers for a deserter from the +American army; and not being with his own regiment when he was taken, or +even among his acquaintance, he could not prove who he was. He had been +ironed, and was to be taken to Greenbush, near Albany. + +"He entreated me to procure from his captain, the necessary papers to +prove that he was a true man, and to forward them to him. Our captain +was a great friend to us; he gave me the writings, and I determined +myself to go to Greenbush. I met with some troubles, and much kindness +by the way. The people in your States, ma'am, are the freest and the +kindest I have ever seen. They seemed to me like God's stewards, always +ready to open their storehouses to the naked and hungry. I had money +enough to pay for my boy's riding the most of the way; for myself I +seldom felt weary, but pressed on beyond my strength; still I did not +feel it till I got to Greenbush, and was told my husband had escaped +from confinement the week before. Whither he had gone, no one knew, but +all told me that if he was not retaken, he had probably reached Canada. + +"I would have come straight home again, but my strength was utterly +gone. I have not much recollection from this time: I remember having a +fear that they would take my boy from me, but all seems as a dream, till +I came to myself two months after in the alms-house in Albany. From that +time I remained in a low wretched state, for four months, when this poor +baby was born into this world of trouble." + +Here the poor woman gave way to a burst of tears, which seemed to be +a relief to her full heart; for afterwards, she proceeded with more +composure. "Many months passed before I was able to do any thing for +myself. It pleased God to hear my prayer for patience; and though I was +often without any hope that times would ever mend with me, I was kept +from fretting. You are very kind to feel for me, but I will not tire +you with all my ups and downs for the last three years. I have sent +many letters into Canada, but have never received any return. My heart +sometimes misgives me, and I think my husband has gone to Europe--or +maybe is dead." + +"But, why," asked Mrs. Sackville, "have you remained so long in the +States?" + +"O, ma'am, I was afraid to undertake the journey with my poor baby, who +has always been but delicate, and I was determined not to leave Albany, +where I had made many kind friends, till I had earned something to help +us on our journey. I know how to turn my hands to almost any kind of +work; and the last year has prospered so well with me, that when I left +Albany I had forty dollars. At Buffalo my poor baby was taken down; and +I have been obliged to spend ten dollars; with the rest I hope to get to +Quebec; and if worst comes to worst, I may there find friends to send +me to Europe." + +The poor woman's story was not one of unparalleled misfortunes, but it +was unusually interesting to her hearers--there was so much resolution +and mildness blended in her countenance, such perfect cleanliness in her +coarse apparel, and such an evident solicitude to avoid any exaggeration, +or even display of her troubles, that could be an appeal to the charity +of her auditors, that when she concluded, they felt convinced of her +merit, and deeply interested in her welfare. They were now arrived at +the inn, where they were to await the children, who arrived in the +course of an hour, heated and dusty--but declaring they had never a +more delightful walk. + +"Lord bless you, Miss," exclaimed Mrs. Barton, "you've heated yourself +to that degree, that the blood seems ready to burst from your cheeks. I +shall never forgive myself if you get sick by it." + +"Oh never fear," replied Julia, "I did not feel the heat at all." + +"But there is such a thick sickly feeling in the air to-day." + +"Sickly feeling," exclaimed Edward, "I am sure I thought the air was +never fresher and sweeter." + +"You can now understand," said Mrs. Sackville, speaking in a low voice +to her children, "the charm of the ring in the Fairy tale, bestowed by +the benevolent Genius; which whenever worn, produced a clear sky, a +smooth path and fragrant air. There is a happiness, my dear children, +in the simplest act of genuine kindness, which is much more than a +compensation for the loss of any gratification of taste. The relief of +this poor woman, and the sweet sleep into which her child has been +lulled by the motion of the carriage, have quite reconciled me to the +delay of the sight of the Falls; for which I confess I began to feel a +little but here comes your uncle, full of concern about something." + +Mr. Morris entered the room in great perturbation. "Here is a pretty +spot of work," said he. "I believe in my soul, Mrs. Barton, that that +scamp Tristy has gone off with your bundle." + +"Gone off with it!--God forbid!" exclaimed the poor woman,--"my money +was all in it." + +"Oh uncle," said Edward, "he has not gone off with it;--he laid himself +down under a tree in the wood just back, and said he would follow on as +soon as he had rested him." + +"Rested him! a mere pretence to get rid of you--you should have had more +discretion than to have trusted him, Ned;--but when was ever discretion +found in a boy?" + +"But what reason, brother, have you to think he has gone off?" asked +Mrs. Sackville. + +Mr. Morris said there had a man just come over the road, of whom he had +inquired if he had seen him:--he had not, but he was certain he should +have observed him if he had been by the road side. Mr. Morris had +despatched a servant on horseback in pursuit of him, and he begged +Mrs. Barton to calm herself till his return. + +The poor woman's agitation could not be allayed as easily as it had +been excited:--she said nothing; but she became as pale as death, and +trembled so excessively, that Mrs. Sackville took her child from her +arms and laid it on a bed. + +Mr. Morris's compassion once excited, was never stinted. "Bless you, +woman," he whispered to Mrs. Barton, "don't tremble so. If the little +imp has really made off, your loss shall be made up to you. Come, cheer +up--I have engaged a place for you and your children in a return +carriage, and you will all be in Newark to-night, safe and snug." + +"God bless you, sir," replied Mrs. Barton. "I am ashamed of myself; but +my courage and strength seem quite spent." + +At this instant, Edward, who had gone out on the first notice of the +boy's delinquency, returned, shouting, "He's coming, he's coming;" and +directly the messenger made his appearance with the wallet unharmed, and +followed by Tristram, who came doggedly on muttering, "that it was a +poor reward for lugging the old woman's bundle to be hunted for a +thief." + +"Stop your clamor, Tristy," said Mr. Morris, "the devil shall have his +due; there is a shilling for you, which is full as much as your +character is worth." + +"I don't know as to that," replied the boy, pocketing the shilling: +"those that have much character can do as they please, but I have so +little, that I set a high price on it." + +The carriage was now ready in which Mrs. Barton was to proceed, and her +friends saw her depart cheered and comforted by their kindness, and +themselves enriched by the opportunity they had improved of imitating +our heavenly Benefactor by 'raising the sinking heart, and strengthening +the knees that were ready to fail.' + +After our travellers were again on their way, Mr. Morris said he did not +at all like Tristram's look, when he said Goody Barton would remember +him the next time she felt the weight of her wallet. "The little rascal +said too, that he had changed his mind, and was going back to the +States--putting that and that together, I am afraid his evil fingers +have been inside the poor woman's bundle." + +Julia was sure he could not be so wicked--she had herself observed the +bundle, and that it was very nicely sewed. + +Mrs. Sackville hoped and believed that there was no harm done to the +poor woman's property; and the concern of the party for their protegée, +gradually gave place to their admiration of the beauties of their ride, +and the animated expectation of seeing the Falls. + +Edward declared that his ears already began to tingle,--and after they +passed Chippewa, Julia resolutely shut her eyes, for fear of having the +first impression weakened by the imperfect glimpses that could be caught +of the cataract from the road. + + * * * * * + +We hope our young readers do not think us so presumptuous as to attempt +to give them a description of the Falls of Niagara; one of the sublimest +spectacles with which this fair earth is embellished. Neither can we +attempt to define the emotions of our travellers. We find in Edward's +and Julia's journals, noted with an accuracy and taste that does them +great credit, all the constituent parts of this great whole--a poet or +a painter might perhaps weave them into a beautiful picture. + +The vehement dashing of the rapids--the sublime falls--the various +hues of the mass of waters--the snowy whiteness, and the deep bright +green--the billowy spray that veils in deep obscurity the depths +below--the verdant island that interposes between the two falls, half +veiled in a misty mantle, and placed there, it would seem, that the eye +and the spirit may repose on it--the little island on the brink of the +American fall, that looks amidst the commotion of the waters like the +sylvan vessel of a woodland nymph gaily sailing onward; or as if the +wish of the Persian girl were realized, and the 'little isle _had_ +wings;'--a thing of life and motion that the spirit of the waters had +inspired. + +The profound caverns with their overarching rocks--the quiet habitations +along the margin of the river--peaceful amid all the uproar, as if the +voice of the Creator had been heard, saying "It is I, be not afraid."--The +green hill, with its graceful projections, that skirts and overlooks +Table-rock--the deep and bright verdure of the foliage--every spear of +grass that penetrates the crevices of the rocks, gemmed by the humid +atmosphere, and sparkling in the sun-beams--the rainbow that rests on +the mighty torrent--a symbol of the smile of God upon his wondrous work. + +"What is it, mother?" asked Edward, as he stood with his friends on +Table-rock, where they had remained gazing on the magnificent scene for +fifteen minutes without uttering a syllable, "what is it, mother, that +makes us all so silent?" + +"It is the spirit of God moving on the face of the waters--it is this +new revelation to our senses of his power and majesty which ushers us, +as it were, into his visible presence, and exalts our affections above +language. + +"What, my dear children, should we be, without the religious sentiment +that is to us as a second sight, by which we see in all this beauty the +hand of the Creator; by which we are permitted to join in this hymn of +nature; by which, I may say, we are permitted to enter into the joy of +our Lord? Without it we should be like those sheep, who are at this +moment grazing on the verge of this sublime precipice, alike unconscious +of all these wonders, and of their divine Original. This religious +sentiment is in truth, Edward, that promethean fire that kindles nature +with a living spirit, infuses life and expression into inert matter, and +invests the mortal with immortality." Mrs. Sackville's eye was upraised, +and her countenance illumined with a glow of devotion that harmonized +with the scene. "It is, my dear children," she continued, "this +religious sentiment, enlightened and directed by reason, that allies +you to external nature, that should govern your affections, direct your +pursuits, exalt and purify your pleasures, and make you feel, by its +celestial influence, that the kingdom is within you; but," she added +smiling, after a momentary pause, "this temple does not need a +preacher." + +"Perhaps not," said Mr. Sackville; "but the language of nature sometimes +needs an interpreter to such young observers as Ned and Julia." + +"That it does, papa," exclaimed Edward, whose exalted feeling was +gradually subsiding to its natural level; "and there are people, too, +older than Julia and I, that I think need an interpreter. That +Yorkshireman, for instance, who lives in the stone house just at the +turn of the road as we came down from Forsyth's, said to me, 'Well, +young master, this is a mighty fine sight to come and see, but you would +be sick enough of it if you lived here. It seems, when I am lying on my +bed at night, like an everlasting thunder-storm, such a roaring from the +Falls and dropping from the trees: and in winter my poor beasts are +covered with icicles. I wish some of the quality that cry the place up, +and come half the world over to see it, would change births with my +wife and me,' and so he went on railing till I ran away from him to +overtake you." + +"Poor fellow!" said Mr. Sackville; "the sentiment, 'Il n'y a rien de +beau que l'utile,'[3] is quite excusable in a laborer. I think, Ned, I +feel more disposed to pity than to blame your Yorkshireman." + + [3] There is nothing but the useful which is beautiful. + +"Well, papa, what do you think of that party of city shop-keepers who +dined at the inn with us to-day? I heard one of the ladies say, 'I have +been so disappointed in my journey.' I dropped my knife and fork, and +exclaimed, 'Disappointed, madam! does not the fall look as high as you +expected?' 'Oh, child,' she replied, laughing, 'I was not speaking of +the fall; but I find it is quite too early in the season to travel in +the country. I have not seen a roast pig or a broiled chicken since I +left the city.' What do you think of that, papa?" + +"Why I think, my dear, she is a vulgar woman, who travels because others +do; and is naturally disappointed in not meeting with the only +circumstances that could give her pleasure." + +"There's Mrs. Hilton, papa, who, I am sure, is not vulgar--at least she +is as rich as Cr[oe]sus--and I heard her say to a gentleman, that if she +could have remained at the Springs, and then could have gone home and +_said_ she had been to the Falls, she should have been glad; for she was +sure no one came here but for the name of it." + +"Mrs. Hilton is of the class of the vulgar rich, among whom vulgarity is +quite as obvious, and much more disgusting, than with the vulgar poor. +But come, dear Ned; the faults and follies of others is a theme scarcely +worthy of this place; and just at the moment that you are enjoying this +festival of nature, you must take care you do not commit the pharisaic +fault, and thank God that you are not as these people, without reflecting +that Providence has arranged the circumstances which have made the +difference." + +"But, papa," said Julia, "it would not be wrong, would it, for Edward +to feel that there is a difference?" + +"Perhaps not, provided the feeling is properly tempered with humility +and gratitude; but it is far safer to be in the habit of comparing +yourselves with your superiors, than your inferiors." + +"It may be safer, papa," said Julia, "but"-- + +"But what, my love?" + +"It is not half so natural." + +"Nor so pleasant," interposed Edward. + +"Well, my children, I hope you will make it habitual, and then it will +be natural. For the present I am satisfied that you speak frankly your +opinions and feelings, without disguise or affectation." + +Thus these vigilant parents extracted some moral good from every object +and every scene; and at that early age, when most children are thoughtless +of the future, theirs were constantly directed to virtue, which they +were taught is immortal in its nature, is man's support and solace +through all the vicissitudes of life, and his crown of glory when the +'terrestrial puts on the celestial.' + +Our travellers remained at the Falls for a week, that they might become +familiar with them, see them by the rising and the setting sun; by +daylight, and moonlight, and starlight, in all the radiance of the +clear, full day, and in mists and storm; and then, after offering a Te +Deum from the temple of their hearts, they left them with beautiful and +imperishable pictures traced on their memories. + +In following the windings of the Niagara to Newark, they passed the +celebrated heights of Queenstown, 'where ceas'd the swift their race, +where fell the strong;' but even then, though then so recent, there were +no traces of the disastrous battle fought there. The children, whose +home was in a hill-country, and who valued a mountain as much as a +New-Englander does a 'water privilege,' rambled over the heights, and +gazed delighted on the green Niagara, which, escaped from its rocky +prison, rejoices in its freedom, sweeps freely and gracefully around the +bluff promontories that indent its course, flows past the headland, +where Fort Niagara guards the American shore, and enters Lake Ontario, +which stretches, sparkling in the distance, + + "To where the sky + Stoops, and shuts in th' exploring eye." + +Edward had, in common with most spirited boys, a natural taste for +military exploits. "I think," he said to his mother, "that a coward +might play the hero on these heights, or at Lundie's-lane. Only think, +mother, of fighting within the sound of the roaring of the Falls: would +it not give you grand feelings?" + +"I think, Edward, if I could hear the Falls at such a moment, they would +seem to me to speak in a voice of rebuke, rather than encouragement." + +"O, mother, you never seem to admire courage; but I suppose it is +because you are a woman." + +"No, my dear: women have been accused of having rather an undue admiration +for what you mean by courage--fighting courage; but I confess that war +seems to me a violation of the law of God, and it appears a profanation +of such beautiful scenes as these, to convert them into fields of +battle." + +When they reached Newark, the party walked up to Fort George; a slight +embankment, surrounded by a palisade, is still dignified by that name. +"This palisade as they call it, Ned," said Mr. Morris, "we should +scarcely think a sufficient defence against the batteries of pigs and +chickens." + +"It has served, though, to keep the yankees at bay," said a soldier, +gruffly, who was cutting up Canada thistles, and who had suspended his +labour for a moment, to regard the strangers. + +"A fair hit, friend," said Mr. Morris; "but all our fighting is over +now, and forgotten I hope. This work you are doing here, cutting off +these thistles, is far better than cutting off heads." + +"It is far aisier, sir," replied the man, with a slight curling of the +lip, which betrayed a professional contempt for Mr. Morris's preference +of the plough-share over the sword; then turning towards the gate he +called to a little boy who was just entering it--"Come, come Dick, what +do you gaze at, boy? bring me the basket." + +The boy, without heeding the command, dropped the basket; and uttering +a cry between joy and surprise, scampered off in the direction of a +cottage, or rather hovel, which stood just without the palisade. + +"That is Richard Barton!--that is certainly Richard Barton!" exclaimed +the children in one breath. + +"Surely is it Richard Barton," said the soldier. + +"Is his mother, here? Has he found his father?" asked Edward impatiently; +while all the party drew nearer the soldier, anxious to learn the fate of +their humble friend. + +"Ay, his mother is in by there, poor cratur; but his father has been +gone since the summer after the war, when the 40th was sent from +Canada--where, God knows--there's none but he that made them can keep +track of a British regiment: one year they are here with the setting +sun, and then off to where he rises--shifting and changing like the +waves of the sea, beating from one world to another; and I should know +it by rason that I myself was fighting, and baiting gentaly under +Wellington on the sunny side of the Pyrennees in one month, and the +next comes an order and whips us off for Canada in the twinkling of an +eye, among the indians and the yankees, who know nothing about fighting," +he concluded, glancing his eye at Mr. Morris, "according to the civil +rules of war." + +"Poor, Mrs. Barton!" said Mrs. Sackville. "I am grieved at her +disappointment, though I expected it." + +"Oh, do let us go in and see her," said Julia. + +"We will wait a moment, my dear," replied her mother; "her little boy +must have told her that we were here, and I think she will come out to +us." + +"She'll not be right free to come before you," said the soldier, "if, as +I now partly suspect, you are the gentlemen and ladies that were so +hospitable like to her." The man now doffed his cap, and stood with it +in his hand, with an expression of respect in his manner far different +from the hostile air he had at first assumed. + +"But, why not, my friend, come before us?" asked Mrs. Sackville. "I +trust she has nothing to be ashamed of." + +"Ashamed! no, thank God--it would be hard indeed if she had to bear the +burthen of shame with her other misfortunes; but though a soldier's +wife, she has an English spirit, and a proud one; and she says, while +she has her health and her hands, she will never be seen asking charity; +and that destitute is her condition, that as she said to-day, to make +her case known to christian people, is asking charity of them." + +"Do, mother, let us go now and see her," again interposed Julia. + +"Stop, a moment, my love," replied Mrs. Sackville; and then turning +again to the soldier--"You say she is utterly destitute; but when she +left us, she said she had a considerable sum of money." + +"And she spake the truth, ma'am--or, what is the same, she thought she +did; but a little limb of the old one, saving your presence, my lady, +had fingered all the poor cratur had been earning in three years, in as +many minutes, and was off to the States with it." + +"Ah," exclaimed Mr. Morris, who had been intently listening--"the son of +Belial--I told you so--I knew the rascal had it." + +"So dame Barton said one of the gentlemen told her; but the bundle was +all tight and snug, for the little devil had sewed it up again, and +she did not examine it till she come to look for the money to pay the +captain of a schooner, who had agreed to take her down the lakes: and +just think, my lady, at that moment what an overcast it was." + +"That mischief was done," said Edward, as soon as he had an opportunity +of speaking, "when you and I, Julia, left that little wretch Tristy in +the wood. I shall always think we were to blame for leaving him." + +"Does the poor woman," asked Mrs. Sackville, "still think of returning +to Quebec?" + +"To Quebec! ah, madam, and to the world's end, but she'll find her +husband if he is above ground. She is that resolute, that neither wind +nor tide can turn her. If she was left on a naked island in mid ocean, +she would contrive to get off from it." + +"Come, children," said Mrs. Sackville, "we will just leave your father +and uncle to finish their survey here, while we look in upon our poor +friend." + +"Well, go on mother," said Edward, "I will overtake you; first I must +run up to the flag-staff and get at least a clover stalk for a memorial +of the gallant Brock who is buried there." + +"And I will overtake you too, mother," said Julia, falling back with +Edward. + +The soldier's eye followed the children: "God bless them--God bless +them!" said he, "that is better than a monument." + +"What is better than a monument, friend?" asked Mrs. Sackville, riveted +to the spot, as most mothers would be, by an honest commendation of her +children. + +"The memory of an innocent heart--and a tear from eyes that never cried +for sin, my lady--we soldiers die, and are turned into the turf--but we +are honored in our officers." + +"Farewell, my friend; I wish you well," said Mrs. Sackville, dropping a +piece of money into the soldier's hand, and then turned from him while +he was still uttering his hearty, "God bless you, my lady." + +Julia hailed Edward as he was bounding off towards the flag-staff, and +begged him to stop for her, as she had something private to say to him. +He laughed at her passion for secrets, said he could not possibly be +detained, and at last good naturedly stopped to listen. "Ned," she said, +"I tell you what I was thinking of--as it was our fault, you know, that +poor Mrs. Barton lost her money--and she is so anxious to get to +Quebec--and that little Dick is such a good good natured little +fellow--I was thinking, Ned--" + +"For mercy's sake think a little faster, Julia." + +"Well, I was thinking, if we could contrive some way to have her go down +in the boat with us." + +"Contrive! it could not take us long to contrive I think: we can only +ask papa, you know, and all the contrivance in the world will do her no +good, if he does not think it best." + +"But, then, Ned, there is one thing I would like to propose to father +and mother, if you are willing to join me." + +"Don't be so round-about, Julia, as if I was the great Mogul. Speak +out." + +"Well then, to speak plain--you know Edward, you and I have each of +us five dollars that papa gave us to buy Canada curiosities with; now +I think if we were to club, we might have enough to get Mrs. Barton +to Quebec, if the captains of the boats are good-natured men, and +reasonable in their charges, and if papa approves the scheme--and +if"---- + +"If--if--if," said Edward, "we shall never move the woman with all +these _ifs_ to clog the way; one _if_ is sure, that if we spend our +money this way, we might have saved ourselves all the trouble of +planning so many times over how we should lay it out." + +Edward continued for a few moments silent and moody, while Julia urged +her cause zealously. The person, young or old, to whom a charity is +suggested, is not often as eager for it as the original projector. +Edward, however, after having walked up to the flag-staff, plucked a +clover-stalk, and retraced a part of the way to the little wicket by +which they entered, said, with the air of a sage, "I did not think it +best, Julia, to say yes, without some consideration; but on the whole I +like the plan, and if father and mother consent, I shall be very glad." +Once agreed, they were impatient for the execution of their scheme, and +they hurried forward to the cottage, at the door of which they were met +by both the children. The little girl now quite recovered, clung to +Julia, while Richard plucked Edward by the sleeve, and expressed his joy +awkwardly, but naturally enough, by laughing in his face. + +"Ah, they are indeed right glad to see ye," said Mrs. Barton, "as I'm +sure I am, as I have reason; but they, poor things--their hearts would +not jump so at sight of their father's face, as indeed how should they, +seeing they can have no recollection of him." + +The children replied to all these kind expressions from mother and +children, and then drawing Mrs. Sackville to the door, they suggested +their plan. She kissed them both, and bade them await her in the +cottage, while she went to consult their father and uncle, whom she saw +approaching. + +As soon as she had communicated the children's wishes, Mr. Morris +laughed at them. "Why," said he, "the poor foolish woman is on a +wild-goose chase, and the sooner she is stopped the better--travelling +over the world after a husband, who I have no doubt she is vastly better +without than with." + +"But she is the best judge of that, brother." + +"Lord bless you, no--a wife is no judge at all about her husband. She is +evidently an ingenious worthy woman, and can get a good living if she is +not footing it over the world after this soldier--a good riddance--a +good riddance, Mrs. Sackville. I am surprised you do not see it is a +good riddance." + +Mrs. Sackville, who did not esteem matrimonial ties so lightly as her +bachelor brother, appealed to her husband, but he joined Mr. Morris in +thinking Mrs. Barton had much better remain where she was; not because +he was sure the father and husband, though a soldier, might not be worth +looking up, but because there was not the slightest chance of finding +him. "What good will it do the woman to get to Quebec?" he asked; "her +husband's regiment has left Canada." + +"She tells me," replied Mrs. Sackville, "that she has many friends in +Quebec from whom she might expect assistance. She has worked for the +governor's lady, and she builds much on her benevolence, and thinks she +will get her a free passage to her husband in a government ship; and +besides," added Mrs. Sackville, "even if her hopes fail utterly, we +shall confer an essential benefit on our children by complying with +their wishes; for if they give this poor woman all their little store of +wealth, it will cost them the sacrifice of sundry personal gratifications +that they have reckoned much on, and thus give them a practical lesson +of self-denial and disinterestedness, better than all our precepts, and +it will associate with the more selfish and transient pleasures of their +journey, the pure and enduring sentiment of benevolence." + +"Well, my dear wife," said Mr. Sackville, "do as you please--you have +arrayed before me irresistible motives." + +Thus sanctioned, Mrs. Sackville returned to the cottage, whispered to +the children their father's acquiescence, and then saying aloud, "I +leave you to make all the arrangements with Mrs. Barton," she left them. + +We shall not attempt to describe the poor woman's gratitude, which +overflowed in words and tears, nor the children's noisy joy when they +heard they were to go down the lake with their friends. Suffice it to +say, that in the course of two hours, and just as the steam-boat +appeared in sight, heavily plying down from Lewistown, Mrs. Barton was +on the wharf with her children, as clean and nice as soap and water and +fresh and well-patched clothes could make them, and looking so grateful +and joyful, that Mr. Morris, who, like the good vicar of Wakefield, +'loved happy human faces,' forgot all his objections to the procedure, +and shaking the good woman's hand heartily, said, he "was glad they were +to be fellow-passengers." + +Our friends, with many others, were now impatiently waiting a conveyance +to the steam-boat, which had stopped near the opposite shore. The wharf +exhibited the usual signs of a small garrisoned town. Half drunken +soldiers were idling about, and sentinels were posting to and fro, +stationed there to prevent the desertion of the soldiers to the opposite +side, a crime which the vicinity and hospitable habits of the State +render very common. Edward accosted one of the sentinels, and asked him +if the captain of the steam-boat sent his small boat ashore. "Fraquently +he does, and fraquently he don't," replied the fellow, rather surlily. +"Does the boat stop at fort Niagara?" + +"Indeed sir, and that is what I cannot tell you." + +"Well," pursued Edward with simplicity, "do you think they will send +ashore to-day?" + +"Indeed master, and it's what I am not thinking about." + +Edward turned away, making a mental comparison between this man and +his own civil countrymen, greatly to the disadvantage of the former, +when his attention was attracted by the approach of a boat which came +skimming over the water like a bird, and as it neared the shore, a +little tight-built sailor leaped on to the wharf, and announced himself +as Jemmy Chapman, the captain's mate. While the baggage was arranging in +the boat, Edward seized the favorable moment to make the best bargain he +could with the mate for his protegée. + +But the mate averred he had no power to transact that business, and +referred him to his captain. "You may safely trust to him, my young +man," said he, "for captain Vaughan is not a man to take advantage of +a ship in distress." + +And so it proved--for the captain, (as every body knows, who ever +crossed the lake in the steam-boat Ontario) was a man of distinguished +humanity; and pleased with the good appearance of Mrs. Barton and her +children, and the zeal of her youthful protectors, he said, that if she +had brought her thread and needles a-board, she might work her passage +to Ogdensburg, for he and some of his men were sadly out at elbows. The +good woman's eyes glistened with delight, at the thought of paying her +way thus far, and she seated herself directly to put new pockets in an +old coat of Jemmy's, when a sudden attack of tooth-ache put a stop to +her progress. + +The children were soon acquainted with her malady, for they were +continually hovering about her, and Julia procured some camphor and +laudanum from an invalid passenger, and gave them to her. She applied +them, but the horrible pangs were not allayed, when Jemmy Chapman was +attracted by the report of her distress. "Stand away, all," said he; +"stand away--fall back, my young man; and you, my little lady, and +give place to me. I am the seventh son of a seventh son, and I can cure +any body's tooth-ache but my own." Mrs. Barton was not free from the +superstition which pervades her class, and she gladly permitted him to +stroke her face, which he did with a gravity that evinced perfect faith +in his own powers; and in the course of fifteen minutes, she declared +herself completely relieved, and cheerfully resumed her labors. Julia +ran to announce the cure to her mother. + +"Is not it strange, mama," she said, "that she could believe it was +Jemmy that cured her?" + +"Strange to us, my dear, who do not believe in any such supernatural +powers; but we will not quarrel with a faith that cures the +tooth-ache." + +As the boat passed Fort Niagara, where the river debouches into the +lake, "There," said Jemmy Chapman to Edward, who stood beside him; +"there, on that point stood a noble stone light-house, that has saved +many a poor fellow from finding a grave in this stormy lake: it was like +the good scripture light which shines equally upon all." + +"And what has become of it?" asked Edward. + +"Oh, it was taken down like Solomon's temple, till there was not one +stone left upon another, by one of our generals--thank the Lord he was +not an American born--he it was, that first set the example of burning +on the frontier, and burnt down this pretty town of Newark here--and cut +down all the orchards." + +"The orchards! what in the world did he do that for?" asked Edward. + +Jemmy paused for a moment, apparently at a loss what motive to assign +for such reckless destruction, and then said, "Out of curiosity I +believe." + + * * * * * + +We fear that we have already protracted our details beyond the patience +of our readers. + +We shall not therefore describe the prosperous passage of the boat over +the beautiful expanse of Lake Ontario: nor the visit of our friends +to the town of Rochester, which five years before was a complete +wilderness; but now had fine houses, shops, and warehouses, and Edward +said, reminded him of Adam, who was born grown up: nor their passage +from the lake into the St. Lawrence, where these mighty waters passing +St. Vincent on one side, and Grand Island on the other, contract their +channel, and assume the form of a river. + +Our friends, wrapped in their cloaks and shawls to defend them from the +chill night air, clustered around Jemmy Chapman, who stood at the helm +guiding the boat through the difficult and shifting channels, amid the +'thousand isles'--now in silence gazing on them, as they were lit up +with the rosy hues of twilight, and then with the mild but insufficient +lustre of the half orbed moon. These verdant islands are of every size +and form. Some lying in clusters like the 'solitary set in families:' +and some like beautiful vestals in single loveliness. Some stretching +for miles in length, and some so small, and without a tree or shrub, +that they look like lawns destined for fairy sporting grounds; while +others are encircled by such an impenetrable growth of trees, that one +might fancy that within this sylvan barrier wood-nymphs held their +courts and revels; in short, might fancy any thing; for there are no +traces of human footsteps to break the spell of imagination, save where +the fisherman's hut, placed on the brink of the element by which he +lives, is disclosed with its dark relief of unbroken woods by the bright +glare of the pine torch, which is his beacon light, and which serves to +show the gleaming path-way of his little canoe. Jemmy recounted to the +children the sad mishaps and disastrous chances that had befallen +unskilful or unfortunate navigators in these dangerous passes, and the +kind captain repeatedly fired his signal gun, which seemed to wake the +spirits of these deep solitudes, to send back the greeting in echo and +re-echo, till their voices died away on the most distant shores. + +"Don't they hollow well?" said Jemmy, after the last report, turning +briskly around to dame Barton who sat near him. + +"Well, I did not hear them," said she, mournfully. + +"Not hear them--why, they spoke as plain as preaching--are you deaf, +good woman?" + +"Deaf! oh, no--but my thoughts were far from here." + +Mrs. Sackville thought there was something in Mrs. Barton's devotedness +to her husband, not common in her class of life. She had been deterred +from putting any questions to her, by the habitual silence and diffidence +of the poor woman. But now they had become so much more acquainted, that +she ventured to say to her, "Come, Mrs. Barton, suppose you favor us +while we sit here, with a little history of your life. My children are +so much interested in you, that they want to know all they can about +you." + +"Oh, you are very good ma'am to say so; but what is there in the history +of the like of me to tell? not that I have any objection to make known +my story--thank God, that's kept me in his fear--but then what happens +to poor plain bodies like me, is not made much count of in the world." + +"But, remember, my good friend," said Mrs. Sackville, "the happiness of +all his creatures, rich and poor, is of equal account in the sight of +our heavenly Father, and as I wish my children continually to bear in +mind that it is this great Being, whom they are commanded by their +Saviour to imitate, I trust that the happiness of their fellow-beings, +whether high or low, will be of equal importance in their view." + +Thus encouraged by the kindness of the mother, and the eager looks of +the children, who stationed themselves close to her, Mrs. Barton began +her simple and brief story. + +"I never knew my parents," she said. "I was, as I have been told, given +by a gipsey woman to a magistrate of the town of Lichfield, in England, +when I was three years old. The woman was sick, and died shortly after. +She declared herself ignorant of my parentage. She believed I had been +stolen in London, by some of her tribe, about a year before; and said +that I had been committed to her charge for some months, I had a +necklace, with a gold clasp with initials, which I had been permitted +to retain; and the worthy magistrate, in the hope that this might lead +to a discovery, advertised me, with a description of the necklace; but +no one appearing to claim me, he finally placed me in the Lichfield +alms-house. + +"When I was seven years old, don't laugh at me, Miss Julia, I was called +a beauty. My skin was as smooth as yours; and my hair hung in curls +about my neck and face. At this time a whimsical gentleman, who had a +fancy to bring up a wife to his own liking, came to the alms-house: he +was pleased with my appearance, and selected me. He taught me himself, +and procured teachers for me, and from morning till night I was poring +over hard tasks: this lasted for three years, and perhaps Mr. Leslie, +for that was the gentleman's name, might have remained constant to his +purpose, but then I took the small-pox; and after lying at the gates of +death for weeks, I recovered, but with my face blotched and seamed as +you see it. For many months my eye-sight and hearing were gone, and when +I could see, my eyes had this cast in them, which looks as if I were +born cross-eyed. + +"No one could blame Mr. Leslie for giving me up. I am sure I never did. +He placed me with a poor widow, and paid my lodging with her till I was +one and twenty, and gave me a draft on him for a hundred pounds, which +was to be paid when I came of age. With Mrs. Gordon I was happier than I +had ever been in my life. My book tasks I never had liked, but I sewed +or spun with Mrs. Gordon, from morning till night, without ever being +weary or discontented. She taught me her own ways, and she was noted +through the whole town, for her industry and neatness. She was a good +christian too, and she brought me up to fear God and to love his +service. She had one child--an only son, two years younger than myself. +He was sometimes wild and wilful, for his mother, though she was resolute +with every thing else, could never deny him. He was sometimes as I said, +wild and wilful--but when he was himself, he was the pleasantest lad in +the village, and the best. Mrs. Gordon was as a mother to me; and you +know it was natural I should love her son Richard; and I thought I but +loved him as a sister should, till one Sunday I saw him come up the +little path-way that led to our cottage, with a blue ribband bow in +his hand, which he kissed again and again, and then thrust it into +his bosom. I knew it was a love token from Sally Wilton the miller's +daughter, for I had seen it that day in her hat, and I felt a pang at +my heart, that told me it was not as a brother I loved Richard. + +"I have skipped over many years, for I would not weary you. I was now +one and twenty, and my draft on Mr. Leslie was due. Mrs. Gordon began +to talk to me of marrying Richard. I only answered her with silence and +tears; but one woman can read another's heart, and she knew what was in +mine; and she, poor woman, thought to make all right by taking it into +her own hands. + +"It so happened one night, that I was in an adjoining room when she +supposed I was absent from the cottage, and she put many questions to +Richard about me, but she could get no satisfaction from him. She then +told him (oh, at the moment I thought I could never forgive her for it) +she was sure I loved him. She said much in my favor, ma'am, that I +cannot repeat, and tried with it all to put a veil over my poor ugly +face, and then concluded with saying, for she was a thrifty woman, and +never lost sight of the main chance, that I should not come empty +handed. At this his spirit rose--he said, he would not be bought by all +the gold in the king's coffers. My heart rose to my lips, but I held +my breath, for his mother grew very angry, and said something from +Solomon's proverbs, about my being the virtuous woman whose price was +far above rubies. Then Richard burst into tears, and said he knew that, +and he would go round the world to serve me, but he could not marry me. +He confessed that he had already plighted his truth to Sally Wilton; and +he declared that he never would marry any body but Sally Wilton. His +mother lost all patience--she said he would make a beggar of himself for +life--that the Wiltons were an idle race, and that none of the name had +ever come to any good. + +"A great deal more she said, but it seemed to me the more she talked, +the firmer Richard was in his own mind. + +"You may be sure ma'am I did not close my eyes that night; my love had +been blasted, and my pride cast down. It was long before I could think +of any one but myself, or compose my mind to any good thoughts; but +when I began to see things in a right light, it seemed to me a pity we +should all be miserable together; and I began to contrive some way to +make Richard happy. He had just served his time with a shoemaker, but he +had no capital to enable him to set up for himself. I knew Sally Wilton +was a gay thoughtless thing; but so were most girls, and I believed that +when she was married, she would do her duty; to me it seemed, that +duty would be all pleasure with such a husband as Richard. I had some +struggles with my own heart, but before the morning light dawned, I had +made up my mind what to do. When I met Richard and his mother in the +morning, I was far the happiest of the three. She was angry, he was +sullen and downcast; but I had that feeling which I need not describe +to you ma'am, who have so often the power and the will to make others +happy. Immediately after our morning meal, I went and presented my draft +to Mr. Leslie's agent, and received my hundred pounds. Half the sum I +returned to him to invest for me, the other half I placed in the hands +of the shoemaker, with whom Richard had served his time, and with whom +he was a great favorite, and I requested him to lay it out in tools and +stock for Richard. The purchase was made--a little shop hired, and every +thing in readiness; and then I told Richard in the presence of his +mother what I had done. At first he said he never could accept so much +from me; but I told him, (and I smothered my feelings, and smiled when +I said it,) that in spite of his mother's fancies, it was as a sister I +loved him, and as a sister and older than himself too, I had a right to +provide for him. He was far more grateful and happy than I expected. His +mother gave her consent to his marriage, though grudgingly, for she was +a set woman, and she had no faith in Sally Wilton. They were married. +Richard was industrious, and we hoped would be prosperous, but as it +proved Mrs. Barton's distrust of Sally was too well founded. She was +idle and extravagant, and such a wife soon ruins a poor man. In five +years Richard was reduced to such straits, that in a fit of desperation +he enlisted. From the sorrowful day he came to take leave of us, for his +regiment was soon after sent to the East-Indies, his mother never had +a well day or a happy hour. After he went away, his wife led a vicious +life; and four years after she came to our door to beg a crust of +bread--a poor, wasted, sick, half-famished creature. We took her in. +To be sure she had been a sad sinner, but she was Richard's wife, and +besides it is always better to pity than condemn, and it is not for +the like of us ma'am you know, who have no hope but because God's +compassions fail not, to turn our backs upon a fellow-creature in sin +and misery. + +"For a whole year she laid in a distressing sickness. Mrs. Barton had +become so old and feeble, that she could do nothing but pray for us, +and I had as you may suppose a toilsome life of it; but I was as I +trusted, doing my duty, and that makes a light heart, and according to +my experience ma'am, no one can be very wretched that has enough to do, +and that tries to do their duty faithfully, be that duty ever so humble. +We never suffered. Sally had some help from the charitable; and when we +had no other resource, I drew on my fifty pounds. + +"It would have been a great comfort to us to have seen Sally take hold +of religion, when every thing else failed; but the poor soul was racked +with pains and coughing, and could only think of her suffering body, and +she was perfectly deaf too, and could hear nothing that the clergyman +said to her, though Mrs. Barton thought it right he should talk to her. +Oh ma'am, I think there is not a more mournful sight on the earth than +to see a young creature thus cut off by her sins. + +"Richard returned to us two days before she died, but she did not know +him, and could not hear his forgiveness, though he spoke it over and +over again." + +Mrs. Barton paused for a few moments, quite overcome by the recollection +of that sad period, and then resumed her story. + +"And now came brighter days. Richard had endured many hardships, and +past through many temptations, but he had not lost his integrity. He +had come home in attendance on an officer who had obtained a furlough. +Not many months passed over before Richard expressed a wish to marry +me, though my little fortune was gone, and ten years had not as you +may suppose improved my beauty. Our mother said, our wedding-day was +the happiest of her life. She did not long survive it. Before my +husband rejoined his regiment she had gone to her rest. From that +time till Richard was taken prisoner by the Americans, we have never +been separated, and he has proved faithful and kind to me, and being, +as he is, all the world to me who have never known other kindred but +my little ones, it cannot seem strange to you, ma'am, that the world +is a lonely place without him; and that I should be willing to take +the help of your blessed children to get on my way to him." + +"Oh no indeed, my good friend," said Mrs. Sackville, "I am delighted +that my children have found one so worthy of their assistance; you may +rest assured that we shall not part from you till we arrive at Quebec. +Come now Edward and Julia to your berths--and dream of the 'thousand +isles,' or Mrs. Barton, or what you will." The children obeyed their +mother, and doubtless had such sweet visions as hover about the pillow +of youth, and health, and innocence. + +Jemmy Chapman had not been an uninterested listener to this simple tale +of patient virtue; and though Mrs. Barton had spoken so low that he had +lost some parts of her narrative, he heard enough to touch his kind +heart. As she rose from the bench near him, "Stop, stop, good woman," +said he, and he jerked some tears from off his cheeks; "it is not much +that such as I can pity you, but a drop is something in a gill-glass, +and (turning his pockets inside out, and collecting a half handful of +small change,) I should not be my mother's son if I did not feel for a +woman in distress, and so will you just take this which may help to +raise a little breeze for you when you are becalmed. Nay, don't haul +off, but take it, and remember the poor sailors in a stormy night. It +is good luck to us to have a friend a-shore to speak a good word for +us when we have no time to speak for ourselves." + +Jemmy's hearty kindness was irresistible, and Mrs. Barton received his +gift, scarcely able to command her voice to utter her thanks. + + * * * * * + +The next morning found the steam-boat at the wharf at Ogdensburg. Edward +undertook to settle with the captain for the passage of his protegées; +but the captain would receive nothing, and persisted in declaring that +he was amply compensated by Mrs. Barton's industry. The travellers +parted from him and from our friend Jemmy with expressions of the esteem +which their virtues even on this short acquaintance had not failed to +produce; and then they proceeded to make arrangements for their passage +down the St. Lawrence by chartering and provisioning a Durham boat. + +While this was getting in readiness, Mrs. Sackville, whose curiosity, +like that of a more celebrated traveller, 'extended to all the works +of art, all the appearances of nature, and all the monuments of past +events,' walked with her children to view a rare curiosity on our +continent--an _American_ antiquity. On a point of land at the junction +of the Oswegatchie with the St. Lawrence, there is a broken stone wall, +the remains of a French fortification. While they stood surveying with +pleased attention this monument of the olden time, they were joined by a +gentleman who appeared like them to have been attracted to the spot by +curiosity. He took off his hat, bowed to Mrs. Sackville, and asked if he +might take the liberty to inquire of her whether she resided at +Ogdensburg. + +When she replied in the negative, he begged her pardon, and said he had +been extremely anxious to authenticate a traditionary story he had +picked up in his journey through Canada, some of the events of which had +been located at this place. He had hoped to find some record of it in +Charlevoix's History, but he had searched in vain. Mrs. Sackville became +in her turn the inquirer. She said she delighted in those traditionary +tales, which, with the aid of a little fancy, reconstructed ruins, and +enclosed within their walls living beings with affections and interests +like our own; and she should hold herself very much obliged to the +gentleman if he would enrich her with some interesting associations with +this place. The stranger seemed highly gratified to have found so ready +a sympathy in his feelings, and he related the following particulars. + +"A commandant of this fort (which was built by the French to protect +their traders against the savages,) married a young Iroquois who was +before or after the marriage converted to the Catholic faith. She was +the daughter of a chieftain of her tribe, and great efforts were made by +her people to induce her to return to them. Her brother lurked in this +neighbourhood, and procured interviews with her, and attempted to win +her back by all the motives of national pride and family affection; but +all in vain. The young Garanga, or, to call her by her baptismal name, +Marguerite, was bound by a threefold cord--her love to her husband, to +her son, and to her religion. Mecumeh, finding persuasion ineffectual, +had recourse to stratagem. The commandant was in the habit of going down +the river often on fishing excursions, and when he returned, he would +fire his signal gun, and Marguerite and her boy would hasten to the +shore to greet him. + +"On one occasion he had been gone longer than usual. Marguerite was +filled with apprehensions natural enough at a time when imminent dangers +and hairbreadth escapes were of every day occurrence. She had sat in the +tower and watched for the returning canoe till the last beam of day had +faded from the waters;--the deepening shadows of twilight played tricks +with her imagination. Once she was startled by the water-fowl, which, as +it skimmed along the surface of the water, imaged to her fancy the light +canoe impelled by her husband's vigorous arm--again she heard the leap +of the heavy muskalongi, and the splashing waters sounded to her fancy +like the first dash of the oar. That passed away, and disappointment and +tears followed. Her boy was beside her; the young Louis, who, though +scarcely twelve years old, already had his imagination filled with +daring deeds. Born and bred in a fort, he was an adept in the use of the +bow and the musket; courage seemed to be his instinct, and danger his +element, and battles and wounds were 'household words' with him. He +laughed at his mother's fears; but, in spite of his boyish ridicule, +they strengthened, till apprehension seemed reality. Suddenly the sound +of the signal gun broke on the stillness of the night. Both mother and +son sprang on their feet with a cry of joy, and were pressing hand in +hand towards the outer gate, when a sentinel stopped them to remind +Marguerite it was her husband's order that no one should venture without +the walls after sunset. She, however, insisted on passing, and telling +the soldier that she would answer to the commandant for his breach of +orders--she passed the outer barrier. Young Louis held up his bow and +arrow before the sentinel, saying gaily, "I am my mother's body-guard +you know." Tradition has preserved these trifling circumstances, as the +events that followed rendered them memorable. + +"The distance," continued the stranger, "from the fort to the place +where the commandant moored his canoe was trifling, and quickly passed. +Marguerite and Louis flew along the narrow foot path, reached the shore, +and were in the arms of ---- Mecumeh and his fierce companions. Entreaties +and resistance were alike vain. Resistance was made, with a manly +spirit, by young Louis, who drew a knife from the girdle of one of the +indians, and attempted to plunge it into the bosom of Mecumeh, who was +roughly binding his wampum belt over Marguerite's mouth, to deaden the +sound of her screams. The uncle wrested the knife from him, and smiled +proudly on him as if he recognised in the brave boy, a scion from his +own stock. + +"The indians had two canoes; Marguerite was conveyed to one, Louis to +the other--and both canoes were rowed into the Oswegatchie, and up the +stream as fast as it was possible to impel them against the current of +the river. + +"Not a word nor cry escaped the boy: he seemed intent on some purpose, +and when the canoe approached near the shore, he took off a military cap +he wore, and threw it so skilfully that it lodged, where he meant it +should, on the branch of a tree which projected over the water. There +was a long white feather in the cap. The indians had observed the boy's +movement--they held up their oars for a moment, and seemed to consult +whether they should return and remove the cap; but after a moment, +they again dashed their oars in the water and proceeded forward. They +continued rowing for a few miles, and then landed; hid their canoes +behind some trees on the river's bank, and plunged into the woods with +their prisoners. It seems to have been their intention to have returned +to their canoes in the morning, and they had not proceeded far from the +shore, when they kindled a fire and prepared some food, and offered +a share of it to Marguerite and Louis. Poor Marguerite, as you may +suppose, had no mind to eat; but Louis, saith tradition, ate as heartily +as if he had been safe within the walls of the fort. After the supper, +the indians stretched themselves before the fire, but not till they had +taken the precaution to bind Marguerite to a tree, and to compel Louis +to lie down in the arms of his uncle Mecumeh. Neither of the prisoners, +as you may imagine, closed their eyes. Louis kept his fixed on his +mother. She sat upright beside an oak tree; the cord was fastened around +her waist, and bound around the tree, which had been blasted by lighting; +the moon poured its beams through the naked branches upon her face +convulsed with the agony of despair and fear. With one hand she held a +crucifix to her lips, the other was on her rosary. The sight of his +mother in such a situation, stirred up daring thoughts in the bosom of +the heroic boy--but he laid powerless in his uncle's naked brawny arms. +He tried to disengage himself, but at the slightest movement, Mecumeh, +though still sleeping, seemed conscious, and strained him closer to him. +At last the strong sleep, that in the depth of the night steeps the +senses in utter forgetfulness, overpowered him--his arms relaxed their +hold, and dropped beside him and left Louis free. + +"He rose cautiously, looked for one instant on the indians, and assured +himself they all slept profoundly. He then possessed himself of Mecumeh's +knife, which lay at his feet, and severed the cord that bound his mother +to the tree. Neither of them spoke a word--but with the least possible +sound they resumed the way by which they had come from the shore. Louis +in the confidence, and Marguerite with the faint hope of reaching it +before they were overtaken. + +"You may imagine how often the poor mother, timid as a fawn, was +startled by the evening breeze stirring the leaves, but the boy bounded +forward as if there were neither fear nor danger in the world. + +"They had nearly attained the margin of the river, where Louis meant to +launch one of the canoes and drop down the current, when the indian yell +resounding through the woods, struck on their ears. They were missed, +pursued, and escape was impossible. Marguerite panic-struck, sunk to the +ground. Nothing could check the career of Louis. "On--on, mother," he +cried, "to the shore--to the shore." She rose and instinctively followed +her boy. The sound of pursuit came nearer and nearer. They reached the +shore, and there beheld three canoes coming swiftly up the river. +Animated with hope, Louis screamed the watch word of the garrison, and +was answered by his father's voice. + +"The possibility of escape, and the certain approach of her husband, +infused new life into Marguerite. "Your father cannot see us," she said, +"as we stand here in the shade of the trees; hide yourself in that +thicket, I will plunge into the water." Louis crouched under the bushes, +and was completely hidden by an overhanging grape-vine, while his mother +advanced a few steps into the water and stood erect, where she could be +distinctly seen. A shout from the canoes apprised her that she was +recognised, and at the same moment, the indians who had now reached the +shore, rent the air with their cries of rage and defiance. They stood +for a moment, as if deliberating what next to do; Mecumeh maintained an +undaunted and resolved air--but with his followers the aspect of armed +men, and a force thrice their number, had its usual effect. They fled. +He looked after them, cried, 'shame!' and then, with a desperate yell, +leaped into the water and stood beside Marguerite. The canoes were now +within a few yards--He put his knife to her bosom--"The daughter of +Tecumseh," he said, "should have died by the judgment of our warriors, +but now by her brother's hand must she perish:" and he drew back his +arm to give vigour to the fatal stroke, when an arrow pierced his own +breast, and he fell insensible at his sister's side. A moment after +Marguerite was in the arms of her husband, and Louis, with his bow +unstrung, bounded from the shore, and was received in his father's +canoe; and the wild shores rung with the acclamations of the soldiers, +while his father's tears of pride and joy were poured like rain upon his +cheek." + +The stranger paused, and Edward breathed one long breath, expressive of +the interest with which he had listened to the tale; and then said, +"You have not told us, sir, how the commandant was so fortunate as to +pursue in the right direction." + +"He returned soon after Marguerite's departure, and of course was at no +loss to determine that she had been taken in the toils of her brother. +He explored the mouth of the Oswegatchie, thinking it possible that the +savages might have left their canoes moored there, and taken to the +land. Louis's cap and feather caught his eye, and furnished him a clue. +You have now my whole story," concluded the stranger; "and though I +cannot vouch for its accuracy, many similar circumstances must have +occurred, while this country was a wilderness, and my tradition is at +least supported by probability." + +"You have not told us, sir," said Julia, "whether Mecumeh was really +killed. I do not see how Marguerite could leave him without finding out, +for after all, he was her brother." + +"Marguerite," replied the stranger, "justified your opinion of sisterly +duty. Mecumeh was conveyed to the fort--the arrow was withdrawn, and +after a tedious illness, he recovered from the wound. There is too a +tradition that the pious sister converted him to the catholic faith; but +about this part of the story there seems to rest some uncertainty." + +"And don't you know, sir," asked Edward, "what became of Louis +afterwards?" + +"I really do not," replied the gentleman, smiling; "but I doubt not that +the man kept the promise of the heroic boy; and I think it extremely +probable that he has led some gallant fellows to those deeds of high +emprise which were achieved by the armies of Louis fourteenth." + +"My dear children," said Mrs. Sackville, "you must really ask no more +questions. You will be good enough to pardon," she added, turning to the +stranger, "the eagerness of their youthful curiosity." + +"Oh, madam," he replied, "the evidence of curiosity is the most grateful +reward to a story-teller, and I feel that my acknowledgements are due to +your children for their patient listening." + +A few more courteous words passed, and the stranger bowed and departed. + +"This was a lucky meeting, mother," said Edward; "this crazed leaning +wall looks quite interesting to me now. I can almost fancy I see +Marguerite and Louis issuing from the gate--Louis holding up the bow +and arrow that was to do such memorable service that night." + +"You have had a good lesson this morning, my children, on the pleasures +of association. When we first saw that ruin, it looked to you like any +other stone wall--mere mason-work: and you, Julia, afraid of being +buried in its shadow, wondered what interest any one could feel in +looking at it; and now, I see you are venturing on the most tottering +part of it for a piece of moss, which I suppose is to be carefully +treasured in your herbal." + +"Yes, mama, as a keep-sake for Marguerite and Louis." + + * * * * * + +We shall not condemn our readers to attend the travellers in their +tedious passage down the St. Lawrence. Sometimes a favoring breeze +filled the single sail of their little boat, and aided by the oars of +the lazy boatmen, wafted them gently forward, till, coming to a more +rapid descent in the river, their light vessel seemed urged on by an +irresistible force to the 'rapids,' where the waves, fretting and +foaming over the invisible rocks, threatened to engulph it. The boatmen +threw themselves prostrate on the bottom of the boat to avoid the +splashing of the waves; their oars lay useless beside them, while the +pilot strained every nerve to guide the boat in safety through the +perilous channel. These passages, like the brilliant events of life, +are rare and brief, and are succeeded by the sleepy lakes of the river, +bordered by shores uniformly low and monotonous, save where the green +mountains of Vermont dimly define the eastern horizon. + +Arrived at Montreal, Mrs. Sackville, from consideration for Mrs. Barton, +determined to avoid delay, and therefore deferred the examination of +this city, so singular and picturesque to an American eye, till their +return from Quebec. There was, however, no boat to sail before the +evening, and a half day of leisure afforded our industrious travellers +an opportunity to visit the churches and convents of Montreal. + +The churches are spacious, and decorated with gaudy tinselled ornaments, +and indifferent pictures. Edward and Julia were dazzled and delighted +with the seeming splendor. A little demure Presbyterian girl, who acted +as their guide, smiled at the animated expressions of their wonder. +"Notre Dame, is," she said, "as my grandmother often says, just fit for +a baby-house for children." + +This remark caused a sudden revulsion in Edward's mind. He had a truly +manly, or rather boyish aversion to be suspected of a juvenile taste, +and averting his eye from his conductor, it fell on a miserable, +half-famished looking old woman, who was kneeling in one of the aisles +absorbed in her devotions. + +"Look there, mother," said he, pointing to the wretched object, "what +a contrast to all this pomp.--It reminds me of an anecdote I have +somewhere read of a pious pilgrim to whom one of the popes was +ostentatiously displaying the decorations of the Vatican. + +"Dites à ces ornemens," said the pilgrim, "de se changer en pain."[4] + + [4] Command these decorations to be changed into bread. + +Quite satisfied with this display of his superiority to the childishness +indirectly ascribed to him by his conductor, though it was entirely lost +on her, Edward left the church, and attended his friends to the Hotel +Dieu, the convent of the black nuns. They were shown the different +apartments by one of the sisterhood, a well-bred Irish lady, whose fine +intelligent dark eyes, benevolent and happy expression of countenance, +and short plump figure, made a delightful impression on Edward and +Julia, who had always fancied a nun must be tall and thin, with a sad +solemn face, condemned to wither under an immoveable veil. She led them +to the hospital where the sick of every nation are received and treated +with equal kindness according to the law of christian benevolence, which +is of universal obligation. + +"Do the rules of your order, (the order of St. Joseph I believe,") +inquired Mr. Sackville of the sister, "impose on you the performance of +severe penances?" + +"No," she replied, "we are exempted from extraordinary penances, on +account of the fatiguing and often loathsome offices that we have to +perform for the sick; these are received as sufficient mortifications. +We open our doors to the sick mendicant and wounded soldiers. We had in +this apartment at one time during the late war seventeen American +soldiers." + +"My countrymen," replied Mr. Sackville, "had abundant reason to be +grateful that they fell into your skilful and benevolent hands,--the +beautiful order and neatness of your hospital prove with what fidelity +your samaritan duties are performed." + +While the nun, courteously bowing her head at this merited compliment, +led the way to an adjoining ante-room appropriated to medicines, +surgical instruments, &c. Mrs. Sackville said in a low voice to Edward, +"Take notice, my dear son, that where the _precepts_ of the christian +religion are strictly applied they produce the same fruits; no matter by +what name the particular faith is called, Catholic or Protestant." + +"Oh look there, mother," exclaimed Julia, pointing to large cases with +glass doors which contained the medicines, "I am sure that in spite of +your laws of association, those vials and gallipots look quite +beautiful." + +"And I suspect they contain nothing very disagreeable," replied her +mother; "these sisters do not appear to deal in the harsh medicines +of our daring doctors, but content themselves with emollients and +palliatives. See those labels, 'eau hysterique'--'eau celeste;' even +you, Julia, would have no objection to medicines that deserve such +pretty appellatives." + +From the Hotel Dieu they went to the chapel and sacristie. Julia pointed +to the altars on which were standing vases filled with white lilies and +carnations. "Every where, mother," she said, "we see these beautiful +flowers, even in the churches." + +"And they are certainly not inappropriate, Julia," replied her mother, +"in His temple whose pencil paints and breath perfumes them." + +After all had been shown that is usually exhibited, the sister invited +her visiters to go to the garden. Mrs. Sackville said that though she +had heard it much extolled, their time would not permit them the pleasure +of seeing it, but she said there was a farther trouble that she must +venture on imposing. She understood the sisters sometimes permitted +their visiters to buy specimens of their work; and she was anxious to +carry some to their friends. + +Their conductor seemed gratified with this hint, and directly left them, +and returned with a large basket filled with embroidered needle-books, +reticules, work-boxes, purses, scissor-cases, &c. &c. + +Edward and Julia eagerly examined the beautiful productions of the taste +and industry of the cloistered sisters. Edward was particularly struck +with a sack or purse, made of birch bark, and wrought with porcupine +quills of the richest dyes. On one side of it was an indian woman, +carrying an infant according to the aboriginal fashion, laced to a board +which was laid on her back; the little creature's head was just visible, +peeping over her shoulder. A boy was standing beside her with a bow and +arrow, on the reverse was a group of indians seated under an oak tree, +smoking the long feathered and beaded pipe, which they call the calumet +of peace, "Oh, mother," said Edward, holding up the sack, "is not this +very valuable?" + +"It is certainly very handsome," replied his mother. + +"But that is not all, mother--it is certainly very valuable, as an +illustration of indian customs.--I wish"----he added and paused. + +"What do you wish, Ned?" asked his mother. + +"Nothing, mama," he replied, sighing, laying down the sack, and turning +away; "I only wish I had not seen it." + +Julia was all this time looking at a very curious work-basket, which she +thought a masterpiece. She turned it from side to side, examined the +roses, carnations, jessamines, and violets, that had been wrought with +such exquisite skill as to represent to the life the peerless flowers +they were made to imitate; and for one moment she too wished that her +five dollars was still at her own disposal. Mrs. Sackville read what +was passing in the minds of her children. She took them aside: "My dear +Ned and Julia," she said, "I fear you may be regretting your hasty +benevolence, when you devoted to a charitable purpose all the money your +father gave you for such gratifications as are now offered to you; you +did it from a sudden impulse of generosity: you have, I believe, as yet +expended but a small portion of your money, and if you now prefer to +appropriate it to the purchase of these very tempting articles, I will +myself assume the expense of getting Mrs. Barton to Quebec." + +Edward and Julia looked at their mother, and at one another without +replying a word. Mrs. Sackville returned to the table to make some +selections for herself. + +"What had we best do, Ned?" whispered Julia. + +"Why do you ask me, Julia? you know as well as I. I should like to have +something to show that I had been in Canada." + +"So should I excessively--but then"-- + +"But what, Julia? I am sure mama says it shall make no difference to +Mrs. Barton." + +"No, that is true--it will make no difference to her; but it will make a +great difference to us." + +The last member of Julia's sentence was quite lost on Edward, for he had +abruptly returned to the table, and to the examination of the coveted +purse. Julia stood for one half instant wavering, and then walked to a +window, and kept her eye steadily fixed on the garden it overlooked. +Mrs. Sackville ventured one glance at her children. 'Ah,' thought she, +'Julia, you will prove faithful, but Ned I fear for you; 'he who +deliberates is lost,'' Her mind was more intent on her children than on +the little traffic she was making, and when she had set aside articles +to a considerable amount, and was about to pay for them, the nun said, +"I think, madam, you might make a better selection--allow me to exchange +this basket for the awkward one you have there. I am a little vain of +this, for I made it myself, and I should have begged your daughter to +accept it when I saw her admiring it, but these articles are devoted to +a specific object, and I have no control over them. I should, however, +be particularly gratified if you would purchase this for Miss Julia, +instead of that you have taken." + +"You are very good," replied Mrs. Sackville, "but I have permitted my +daughter to select for herself. Julia, do you hear what this lady says?" + +"Yes, mama." + +"Will you look at the basket, my love?" + +"No, I thank you, mama." + +This last reply was uttered in a faltering voice, and caught Edward's +attention. He had just taken out his pocket-book to pay for the purse. +He looked towards Julia, and then to his mother. Mrs. Sackville's eyes +were fixed on Julia with an expression of love and approbation which +flashed to Edward's heart; he dropped the purse, put up his pocket-book, +and going up to his sister, whispered a proposal that they should return +to the inn, without waiting for their mother to finish her business. + +They then took a respectful, though rather a hurried leave of the kind +sister, impatient to be out of sight of a temptation, which no one will +deride as inconsiderable, when it is remembered that Edward was twelve, +Julia ten years old. + +"What upon earth ails the children?" asked Mr. Morris, who saw that +something agitated them. Mrs. Sackville explained as far as she could +without making a display of their charity. "They are good children, very +good children," said Mr. Morris, "and I think you have tried them a +little too far, sister; but, dear souls, it shall all be made up to +them. Where is that purse poor Ned was fingering? and that basket for +Julia? I'll buy them both; they shall have them." + +"No, my dear brother, you must not indeed interpose your kindness--you +will spoil all. The result has proved that I did not try them too far, +though I confess I was at one time a little afraid I had done what I +have often seen children do, pulled up the flower in trying to ascertain +whether it had taken root. I have now more confidence that their hearts +have that good soil into which the roots of virtue may strike deeply; +and they now know the full cost of a charitable action which is +performed by the voluntary and deliberate sacrifice of personal +indulgence." + +"You are right, perfectly right my dear," said Mr. Sackville. + +"Yes, I believe you are right," said Mr. Morris, reluctantly replacing +the articles, "but it's deuced hard upon the children." + +"It is more blessed to give than to receive," said the nun, in a sweet +tone of voice, and added, "I assure you madam, I never missed a sale of +our little wares with so much satisfaction." + +The visiters then took leave of the amiable sister, and in the course +of the evening embarked on board the steam-boat. When they arose in the +morning, they had already reached the mouth of the Sorrel. It was one +of the most beautiful of all the bright days of summer. A gentle west +wind tempered the sun's heat, and if, as saith the good book, 'a +cheerful countenance betokeneth the heart in prosperity,' it might be +inferred from the happy faces of our friends, that their minds were +as bright and clear as the cloudless sky. Even Mrs. Barton had lost +her downcast despondent look, and the pleasant light of gratitude and +hope was diffused over her honest countenance. Edward and Julia were +unusually animated, and their mother observed their joyous step as they +bounded over the decks, their sparkling glances, and their gleeful +chatterings which fell like music on her ear: she traced their uncommon +spirits to the little struggle and victory of the preceding day, and +rightly, for it is active goodness that commands the secret spring of +joy--virtue that opens all the sweet fountains of happiness within us. + +It was late in the afternoon when the level and uniform shores of the +river, studded with an unbroken line of white-washed houses, or only +broken where they clustered around a catholic church, as children gather +under the wing of a parent, began to assume more picturesque forms. Bold +promontories stretched into the river, and beautiful hills presented +their verdant and graceful slopes to the clear mirror. There was a band +of musicians on board the boat, who at the command of the captain, (who +understood the laws of international courtesy,) had been playing yankee +doodle. Edward was far enough from home to feel grateful for this +tribute from the English captain, and when the music suddenly changed, +at a signal from him, to a mournful requiem, Edward inquired with a look +of disappointment, the cause of the transition. + +"Look there," he replied, "my young friend, at that pretty grassy point. +It is called Cape Laboniére; just above the point you see a thicket of +tall trees, which extend their shadows now beyond the church. Under +those trees were buried three beautiful girls, the daughters of the +honourable Mrs. Laboniére. The young ladies were called by the villagers, +'Les s[oe]urs de la charité;' and are now, I am told, reckoned as their +guardian saints by these poor catholic peasants. I happened to be there +when the last was buried. You know the catholics have great pomp and +expense at their funerals; but I believe the childless parents had no +heart for this, for though the father is seignior of the place, and +a man of great wealth, he granted the request of the poor villagers +who went in a body to him, to beg permission to bury their beloved +benefactress. I saw the procession--every one in it was a mourner. The +girls strewed the grave with white roses, and all, even the old men and +the little children, shed tears on the turf that covered it; and I could +not but think how much better than their consecrated water were these +tears of gratitude. We call the place the 'Three sisters,' now," +concluded the captain, "and I never pass it without some tribute of +respect." + + * * * * * + +Before nine o'clock the steamboat was gliding along under the heights +of Quebec. Having, as Mr. Morris (who kept strict note of time) remarked, +achieved a sail of 180 miles in 18 hours. Edward stood on the deck +beside his mother, straining his eyes to the proud summit of Cape +Diamond, where the British flag waved in a flood of moonlight. "Oh, +mother," he exclaimed, "what a kind friend the moon has been to us." + +"She has indeed," replied Mrs. Sackville; "and I am very glad that you +notice and enjoy her favors; her pale crescent was reflected in the +waters of Ontario--her beams revealed to us some of the secret places +of the 'thousand isles'--the glittering spires of Montreal sent back her +silver rays, and now she pours a flood of light from her full orb, upon +these fortified heights. But, come, dear Ned, I believe it is time for +us to leave the moon, and attend to our sublunary concerns. Your uncle +has gone to settle our bill, and you had best attend to yours." Julia +poured the contents of her purse into Edward's, and he left them, and +returned in a few moments holding a single shilling between his fingers; +"here is all we have left," he said; "what is to be done now, mother? I +cannot bear to turn poor Mrs. Barton adrift the moment we arrive." + +"No, dear Ned," replied his mother; "she shall be cared for still +further. I had too much respect for good examples," she continued, +smiling, "to spend all my money for fancy articles, and I shall take +Mrs. Barton to the City Hotel with us, till she can make some provisions +for herself. I confess I have not much expectation that the governor +will think proper to do any thing for her, but your father has letters +to him, and he will call at the Chateau to-morrow, and say and do what +he can in her behalf." Mrs. Barton received this additional kindness +with unfeigned gratitude; "But after to-morrow, ma'am," she said, "I +will trouble you no further, for I am sure to find some acquaintance +here, who will help me to shift for myself." + +The next morning passports were procured to visit the fortifications. +Edward, who had a great regard to our own heroes and patriots, had +previously sallied forth in quest of the spot where the gallant +Montgomery fell in our cause; and his father, after awaiting his return +for some time, proceeded without him, leaving a note of directions how +he should follow him. + +Edward obeyed the directions. He reached Cape Diamond without meeting +his friends, and he was biting his lips with vexation, that he should +have come to this celebrated fortification alone, without any one to +explain it to him, and must leave it as ignorant as he had entered; when +he was accosted by a good natured looking soldier, who, doffing his +military cap and making a slight bow, said, "This is a pleasant place, +young gentleman, of a sunny summer's day." + +Edward turned his bright glance on the man, delighted to have found any +one who could answer the questions that were rushing to his lips. "Is +not that," he said, pointing to the island opposite, "the island of +Orleans?" + +"The very same, sir: and the point there, is point Levi, which Wolfe +fortified, and destroyed from it all the lower town of Quebec: but brave +as he was, I think he never would have come within the rampart, if +Montcalme had not been the fool to go out and meet him on the Plains of +Abraham--once there, you know, we beat of course; for, other things +being equal, one Englishman is as good as two Frenchmen any day--and +that's what every English soldier knows." + +"But," replied Edward, with a smile, "what every French soldier does not +admit I suspect." + +"No--no--not exactly--for you know they are a bragging nation." + +"Well," said Edward, "they seem to have something to brag of about you +here in these beautiful villages:" and he pointed towards Beauport and +Charlebourg, whose white houses, green fields, and churches, seem to +promise every thing that poets have dreamed of village simplicity, +peace, and contentment. + +"Yes, sir," said the soldier, "those have a decent genteel appearance +from here, but if you were once to go to them, and see the houses like +painted pigeon-holes--white without, but within full of all manner of +uncleanliness; the bits of gardens with little but onions in them; +whole fields overrun with Canada thistles; and then the little bits of +dowdy images that they worship; and slivers of wood set in frames, that +they call pieces of the true cross, and there are enough of them, as I +have heard said, to build a seventy-four. If you were to see all this, +my young master, you would agree with me, they were but a set of poor +ignorant superstitious deluded creatures, far enough behind us English, +or even the Americans." The soldier then proceeded to point out and name +the most attractive objects from this commanding point of view. The deep +black ravine, through which the Montmorenci, after taking its graceful +and wondrous leap, passes into the St. Lawrence; and the indentation of +the shore beyond the Plains of Abraham, called Wolfe's Cove, where he +landed his forces on the morning of his victory and death. Edward found +it very difficult to tear himself from a spot which has so much natural +beauty, and historic interest, but anxious to follow his friends, he +offered the soldier a few pieces of change, and asked him if he was +willing to show him the fortification, and then guide him to the Plains +of Abraham, whither his father had gone. + +The soldier civilly, and indeed thankfully assented, and they proceeded +together. The man, evidently pleased with the intelligent questions put +to him by Edward, which he answered in a way that indicated a knowledge +of his profession quite unusual in a common soldier. Edward inquired the +design of the Martello towers, of the bastions, scarps and counterscarps, +of this fosse, that glacis, &c. &c. at last, stopping suddenly, while +his dilating form and beaming face expressed the youthful heroism that +glowed in his breast, he said, "It is a strong place, a very strong +place indeed; but I do think _we_ could take it." + +"_We!_" exclaimed the soldier, darting at him a look of eager inquiry; +"who are _we_?" + +"Why, we Americans." + +"Americans!" echoed the soldier, and then starting back and dashing the +silver Edward had given him to the ground. "Have I," he said, "served my +king four and twenty years, to be bribed by an American boy at last? has +it come to this, Richard Barton?" + +"Richard Barton!" echoed Edward in his turn. + +"Yes, my young man, Richard Barton; a poor name, but an honest one, +thank God." + +"Richard Barton!" again repeated Edward. "But it cannot be the Richard +Barton I mean." + +"I don't know who you mean, sir, but I shall take care and report you to +my officer, and clear myself of all blame." + +"Do not be so hasty, my good friend," said Edward, with an expression of +innocence and good nature, that went far to remove the honest soldier's +suspicions; "it is true I have troubled you with a great many questions, +but I had no motive but curiosity; we yankees, you know, are a curious +race. Come, I shall hold you to your agreement; take up the money and go +along with me." + +"No--no--I never will touch the money; but I will go with you, there can +be no harm in that." + +"Well," said Edward, picking up the pieces, "if you won't take it, I +know a Richard Barton that will, and he shall have it too; and now, if I +was not afraid you would take me to the guard-house, I would put some +more questions to you." + +"Oh, put them and welcome, young man; now I know that you are an +American, I can use my discretion in my answers. You do not look as if +you could do wrong yourself, or tempt another: but I have lived long +enough to know that it is not all gold that glitters, though I think +nothing but true metal can bear the stamp that is on your face." + +"We are friends again then, are we? Can you tell me where the 40th +regiment is stationed now?" + +"That I cannot; they have been gone from here three years this July." + +"Had you any acquaintance in that regiment?" + +"Indeed had I. I served with them more than twenty years." + +Edward stopped, jumped at least three feet from the ground, (as the +soldier afterwards averred) clapped his hands, and exclaimed, "It must +be--it must be." + +"Why, what is the matter now?" asked the soldier, amazed at his emotion. + +"Tell me," continued Edward, with all the calmness he could summon, "why +you are here, if your regiment has returned?" + +"I got myself transferred to this regiment, to finish my term of service +in America, in the hope of then finding my wife and little boy, who +followed me to the States when I was a prisoner." + +There was no longer any room in Edward's mind for doubt that his +companion was the husband of Mrs. Barton. His natural and first impulse +was, to make known to the husband the happiness that was in store for +him. He began to speak, half laughing, half crying; then checked +himself, and considered what a beautiful surprise it would be if they +should meet without any preparation: he took the soldier's hand, and +said, "I see my friends; you need go no farther; but come in one hour to +the City Hotel, and my mother will tell you good news of your wife." + +"News of my wife! are you an angel from heaven?" + +"Oh, no," replied Edward, laughing; "nothing but an _American boy_." + +"God bless you, my lad, tell me now--tell me now," said the soldier, +and tears of joy had already gathered in his eyes. + +"No, not another word now," said Edward, bounding away from him; "in one +hour you shall know all." + +The soldier gazed after Edward with an intense curiosity: vague +expectations of some good, and then more defined hopes filled his mind. +'That boy never could have deceived me,' he said, to himself: 'what did +he mean by exclaiming when he first heard my name? what, by saying he +knew another Richard Barton? Is it possible that he has seen my wife +and boy?' The result of all his deliberations was, that he would go +instantly to the Hotel--to wait an hour was impossible--an hour was an +age. In the mean time, Edward joined his party, who were already on the +return, and was chid for his delay; without giving the least heed to the +rebuke, he drew Julia aside, and communicated his discovery to her. They +then laid their heads together, and concerted a fine plan for a +denouement. + +They would first show Barton the little girl; he could not remember her +of course, for she had been born some months after he was separated +from his wife; but then he might find her out from her resemblance to +her mother; Julia remembered many stories she had read of similar +discoveries, and Edward affirmed his belief in natural affection, +though he allowed that his father said, that Dr. Franklin and many +other philosophers laughed at the idea. If the little girl proved +an insufficient clew, Dickey was to be brought into the room, as if +accidentally, and with many cautions by no means to tell his name; +and finally the door was to be thrown open, and good Mrs. Barton, +all unprepared for the sight, was to behold her long-lost husband. +Mrs. Sackville saw in the truth-telling faces of her children, that +something in their view very important was in agitation; but she +seemed to take no notice of their whisperings, and hurried pace, till +Mr. Morris called out, "Fall back children, one would think we were +walking for a wager; remember we carry weight of years." + +"Oh," whispered Julia, "uncle Morris is such a snail; but there is no +use in our hurrying, because you know we should lose half the pleasure +if papa and mama and uncle were not there." Edward assented, and +patience had her perfect work while the children made their feet, which +seemed suddenly to have been furnished with the wings of Mercury, to +keep time with the dignified movements of their parents. + +When they turned into St. John's-street, and came in sight of the hotel, +Edward saw the soldier standing by the step to the front entrance, and +looking eagerly towards him, "there he is!" said he to Julia, and they +both involuntarily changed their pace from a walk to a run, but before +they reached the hotel, the soldier sprung into the door, and disappeared +from their sight. He had caught the sound of his wife's voice, and +their first joyful recognition had passed before the children entered +the door. + + * * * * * + +Our youthful readers have, we trust, been entire strangers to those joys +that are preceded by suffering, and which remind us of some clouds that +send down their showers after the sun has broken through. They would +have been as much surprised as were Edward and Julia, if they had seen, +instead of smiles and ecstasies, the deathlike paleness of Mrs. Barton, +her husband dashing the tear from his eyes that he might gaze upon his +children; Dickey looking timidly at him, and the little girl burying her +face in her mother's gown. Yet this was joy--joy that no words could +express; the joy of kind and faithful hearts--joy with which a stranger +cannot intermeddle; and Mrs. Sackville felt it to be such, for when she +saw the family group, she drew her children into the parlour, and left +their humble friends to themselves. + + * * * * * + +It was our intention to have described the soldier's gratitude--the +contentment and thankfulness of his wife--the neat little cottage in +which she was immediately placed by the officers of the regiment, who +seemed delighted thus to manifest their regard for their corporal +Barton. The emotion of this good family at parting with their +benefactors--little Dickey's resolution, that when he grew to be a man, +he would go and live with Mr. Edward--the hospitable honors rendered +to the Sackville party by the officers of the regiment, who felt their +beneficence to the British soldier's wife as a personal obligation--to +which was to have been added, a particular description of some very +beautiful curiosities presented to Edward and Julia by the governor's +lady; but we fear our young readers will think we have already +protracted a dull tale to an unconscionable length; and we will +therefore take our leave of them, with simply expressing a wish, that +if they should ever travel to Quebec, or indeed in any other direction, +they will remember that after the delightful but evanescent pleasures +of their jaunt had faded, and were almost effaced from the minds of +Edward and Julia, they possessed a treasure that fadeth not away +in the consciousness of having rendered an essential service to a +fellow-creature. A consciousness that strews roses in the path of +youth and age--not 'the perfume and suppliance of a moment,' but +those amaranthine flowers that exhale incense to Heaven. + + FINIS. + + + + + [ Transcriber's Note: + + The following is a list of corrections made to the original. The + first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. + + + "And what," asked Mrs. Sackville, "do Bob Eton's father and Bob Eaton, + "And what," asked Mrs. Sackville, "do Bob Eaton's father and Bob Eaton, + + "Dubois for ever!" exclaimed Edward, as Julia finished her mimickry + "Dubois for ever!" exclaimed Edward, as Julia finished her mimicry + + "Oh, that will be delightful, mother but Edward and I cannot dance a + "Oh, that will be delightful, mother, but Edward and I cannot dance a + + 'The next, mother? what is next, Edward?" + "The next, mother? what is next, Edward?" + + sun. + sun." + + suddenly swelled the veins of her clear open brow, lit up her hazle eyes + suddenly swelled the veins of her clear open brow, lit up her hazel eyes + + "My dear Ned," replied Mrs. Sackville, "I do not wonder at your + "My dear Ned," replied Mr. Sackville, "I do not wonder at your + + "Now, mama," she said, you must take both sides of the river." + "Now, mama," she said, "you must take both sides of the river." + + of the skipping right--the readers inalienable right) we shall make but + of the skipping right--the readers' inalienable right) we shall make but + + "One might almost fancy here," said Mr. Sackville, that the march + "One might almost fancy here," said Mr. Sackville, "that the march + + "At a wigman in Oneida, where he had been compelled to ask for such + "At a wigwam in Oneida, where he had been compelled to ask for such + + the road is thronged with market-waggons, stage coaches, and carriages + the road is thronged with market-waggons, stage coaches; and carriages + + riches and resources of their native land, "For my own part," he said, + riches and resources of their native land. "For my own part," he said, + + eyes and ruddy cheeks, who seeemed to be a favorite with the whole + eyes and ruddy cheeks, who seemed to be a favorite with the whole + + then asked her name:--"My name is Biddy Burns, an' please you, miss." + then asked her name:--"My name is Biddy Burns, an' please you, miss." + + little, pale, wizzened-face fellow, with a bleared and blood-shot eye, + little, pale, wizened-face fellow, with a bleared and blood-shot eye, + + "How old?" I do not justly remember; but there is my age set down in our + "How old? I do not justly remember; but there is my age set down in our + + "I do not see that we can, my dear," replied Mrs. Sackville," I have + "I do not see that we can, my dear," replied Mrs. Sackville, "I have + + "Sickly feeling," exclaimed Edward, I am sure I thought the air was + "Sickly feeling," exclaimed Edward, "I am sure I thought the air was + + to her children, " the charm of the ring in the Fairy tale, bestowed by + to her children, "the charm of the ring in the Fairy tale, bestowed by + + "What, my dear, children, should we be, without the religious sentiment + "What, my dear children, should we be, without the religious sentiment + + festival of nature, you must take care you do not commit the pharasaic + festival of nature, you must take care you do not commit the pharisaic + + of he future, theirs were constantly directed to virtue, which they + of the future, theirs were constantly directed to virtue, which they + + of such beautiful scenes as these, to convert themi n tofields of + of such beautiful scenes as these, to convert them into fields of + + wife, she has an Enlish spirit, and a proud one; and she says, while + wife, she has an English spirit, and a proud one; and she says, while + + he does, and fraquently he dont," replied the fellow, rather surlily. + he does, and fraquently he don't," replied the fellow, rather surlily. + + to see a young creature thus cut off by her sins." + to see a young creature thus cut off by her sins. + + Come now Edward and Julia to your births--and dream of the 'thousand + Come now Edward and Julia to your berths--and dream of the 'thousand + + roughly binding his wampun belt over Marguerite's mouth, to deaden the + roughly binding his wampum belt over Marguerite's mouth, to deaden the + + He rose cautiously, looked for one instant on the indians, and assured + "He rose cautiously, looked for one instant on the indians, and assured + + led the way to an adjoining anti-room appropriated to medicines, + led the way to an adjoining ante-room appropriated to medicines, + + silver Edward had given him to the ground. "Have I," he said, served my + silver Edward had given him to the ground. "Have I," he said, "served my + + and boy? The result of all his deliberations was, that he would go + and boy?' The result of all his deliberations was, that he would go + + something in their viewvery important was in agitation; but she + something in their view very important was in agitation; but she + + instead of smiles and ecstasies, the deathlike paleness of Mrs. Barton + instead of smiles and ecstasies, the deathlike paleness of Mrs. Barton, + ] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Travellers, by Catharine Maria Sedgwick + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAVELLERS *** + +***** This file should be named 31832-8.txt or 31832-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/8/3/31832/ + +Produced by David Yingling, Alexander Bauer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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+ display: none; + } + + .pagenum a { + color: #202020; + border: 0px; + padding: 0px; + } + + a:link { text-decoration: none; color: black; } + a:visited { text-decoration: none; color: black; } + a:hover { text-decoration: none; color: black; } + a:active { text-decoration: none; color: black; } + .pagenum a:hover { text-decoration: none; } + .pagenum a:active { text-decoration: none; } + + .correction { text-decoration: none; border-bottom: none; } + .correction-list { display: inline; } + .tnote ul li { padding-top: 0.7em; } + + .break-before { page-break-before: always; } + .break-after { page-break-after: always; } + + .ads { page-break-before: always; margin: 0em; } + + } + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Travellers, by Catharine Maria Sedgwick + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Travellers + A Tale. Designed for Young People. + +Author: Catharine Maria Sedgwick + +Release Date: March 31, 2010 [EBook #31832] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAVELLERS *** + + + + +Produced by David Yingling, Alexander Bauer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class='text-block'> +<p class="tnote break-after" style="margin-top: 5em;"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b><br /><br /> + +Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as +possible. Therefore odd spellings—even in geographical names—were +mostly retained. Obvious errors were corrected though, as well as +some punctuation issues—especially regarding the placement of +quotation marks. However, all changes (corrections of spelling and +punctuation) made to the original text are marked <ins class="correction" title="transcriber's note">like this</ins>. The original text appears +when hovering the cursor over the marked text. Additionally the changes +are listed at the <a href="#Corrections">end of this text</a>. +</p> + +<p class='center'>THE<br /> +<span style='font-size: 200%; line-height: 200%;'>TRAVELLERS.</span></p> + +<p class='center' style='font-size: 150%;'>A TALE.</p> + +<hr style='width: 3em; min-width: 3em;' /> + +<p class='center'><i>DESIGNED FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 6em; min-width: 6em;' /> + +<p class='center'>BY THE<br/> +<span style='font-size: 150%; line-height: 200%;'>AUTHOR OF REDWOOD.</span></p> + +<hr style='width: 12em; min-width: 12em;' /> + +<table summary=''> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right: 2em;">“Then slowly climb the many-winding way,<br /> +And frequent turn to linger as you go,<br /> +From loftier rocks new loveliness survey.”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td style="text-align: right;" class="smcap">Childe Harold.</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr style='width: 12em; min-width: 12em;' /> + +<p class='center' style='font-size: 135%;'>NEW-YORK:</p> +<p class='center'><span style='font-size: 125%; line-height: 150%;'>PUBLISHED BY E. BLISS AND E. WHITE,</span><br /> +And Sold by<br /> +<span style='line-height: 150%;'>COLLINS AND HANNAY, NEW-YORK, AND CUMMINGS,<br /> +HILLIARD, AND CO. BOSTON.</span></p> + +<hr style='width: 6em; min-width: 6em; margin: 0.8em auto;' /> + +<p class='center' style='font-size: 135%;'>1825.</p> + +<div class='blockquote break-before' style='margin-top: 6em;'><p><i>Southern District of New-York, ss.</i></p> + +<p class='dropcap'>BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the fourth day of April, A.D. +1825, in the forty-eighth year of the Independence of the United +States of America, E. Bliss and E. White, of the said District, +have deposited in this Office the title of a Book, the right whereof +they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:—</p> + +<p>“The Travellers; a Tale Designed for Young People. By the +author of Redwood.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">‘Then slowly climb the many-winding way,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">And frequent turn to linger as you go,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">From loftier rocks new loveliness survey.’<br /></span> +<span class="i18" style='white-space: nowrap;'><i>Childe Harold.</i>”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, +entitled, “An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing +the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors +of such copies, during the times therein mentioned.” And +also to an Act entitled, “An Act supplementary to an Act entitled, +an Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies +of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such +copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits +thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical +and other prints.”<br /> +<span style='float: right; margin-right: 3.5em;'>JAMES DILL,</span><br /> +<span style='float: right; margin-right: 1em;'>Clerk of the Southern District of New-York.</span> +</p> + +<p style='padding-top: 5em; text-decoration: overline;'> +J. Seymour, printer.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + + +<p class='break-before' style='padding: 5em 10%;'><span class="smcap">The</span> following pages are inscribed to the +youthful brother and sister, who are associated +with every picture of unfolding +virtue, in the mind of their affectionate +friend,<br /> +<span style='float: right;'>THE AUTHOR.</span> +</p> + + + +<h1><a name="THE_TRAVELLERS" id="THE_TRAVELLERS"></a>THE TRAVELLERS.</h1> + + +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the month of June, (the jubilee month +of poets and travellers) in the year eighteen +hundred and eighteen, Mr. Sackville, +his wife, and their two children, Edward +and Julia, made the grand tour of Niagara, +the lakes, Montreal, Quebec, &c. Both +parents and children kept journals, in +which they recorded with fidelity whatever +they observed which they deemed worthy +of note. We have been favored with the +perusal of them all, and have been permitted +to make a few extracts from them, which +we intend to combine into a brief narrative, +that we are sure will amuse our young +readers, provided their delicate essence +does not escape our unskilful hands.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a><span>] </span></span>First, it will be necessary that our readers +should know into whose society they +are thus unceremoniously introduced.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sackville, in the prime of life retired +from the successful practice of the law, +to a beautiful estate in the country. Various +motives were assigned by his acquaintances +for his removal; but as those diligent +inquirers, who so conscientiously investigate +their neighbor's affairs, are apt to pass +over simple and obvious motives, those +which, in this instance, governed Mr. Sackville's +conduct, escaped their observation.</p> + +<p>The truth was, he had a strong predilection +for a country life; he was wearied +with briefs and declarations; he loved above +all things, the society of his accomplished +wife, and he ardently desired to participate +with her the happiness of educating their +fine children; and besides, he had many +little plans of utility and benevolence, such +as are naturally suggested to an active +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a><span>] </span></span>and philanthropic mind on entering a new +sphere of life.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sackville purchased a fine estate in +the town of ——, in the state of ——. +We have left these blanks, which we are +well aware are very provoking to all, and +especially to young readers, in order to +allow them to locate the amiable Sackvilles +(the name we confess to be fictitious) wherever +they choose, north or south of the Potomac, +east or west of the Alleghanies; for +we sincerely believe that such pattern families +are to be found in every section of our +favored country.</p> + +<p>Edward was ten, Julia eight years old, +when they removed from town. They felt +a very natural reluctance at leaving the +city, their companions, and the only pleasures +they had ever known. But the state +of their feelings will best appear by a conversation +which occurred between them and +their mother, shortly before their removal, +while Edward was assisting her to pack up +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a><span>] </span></span>some vials, which with their contents, composed +his chemical laboratory.</p> + +<p>“You are very good, dear mother,” he +said, kissing her, “to take such pains to +pack up these things: you have been in +such a panic about spontaneous combustion +ever since the night you found the +phosphorus<a name="FNanchor_1_1" href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> on fire, that I expected my +little cupboard and all its treasures would +be condemned. But,” he added, with a +sigh, “I suppose you think I shall want +my chemistry more than ever to amuse me +in the country.”</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" href="#FNanchor_1_1" class="label">[1]</a> Phosphorus is a matter which shines or even +burns spontaneously, and without the application of +any sensible fire.</p></div></div> + +<p>“No, my dear boy, not more than ever.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, mother! Bob Eaton's father says +the country is such a bore—and Bob thinks +so too.”</p> + +<p>“And what,” asked Mrs. Sackville, “do +Bob <ins class="correction" title="Eton's">Eaton's</ins> father and Bob Eaton, mean +by a bore?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a><span>] </span></span>“Why, they mean, certainly”——Edward +began in a confident tone, and then +faltered a little: “that is, I suppose they +mean, that——that——that——” Edward +found it as difficult to explain their meaning, +as the original utterers of the profound +remark would have done if suddenly called +on: and he was glad to be interrupted by +a soliloquy of his little sister, who stood in +one corner of the room, wrapping something +in half a dozen envelopes.</p> + +<p>“Farewell!” she exclaimed, as the man +says in the play, “‘a long farewell’ to my +dear dancing shoes—”</p> + +<p>“Pardon me, Miss Julia,” said her mother, +“for cutting short such a pretty pathetic +parting: but here is another pair of dancing +shoes, which you will please to put +with those you already have, and I trust +you will have the pleasure of dancing them +both out before you come to town again.”</p> + +<p>“Dancing them out, mother! shall we +dance in the country?” exclaimed both the +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a><span>] </span></span>children in one breath. “I thought,” continued +Edward, “that we should have +nothing to do in the country but get our +lessons; and all work and no play, you +know, mother, makes Jack a dull boy.”</p> + +<p>“Oh yes, Ned, I know that favorite proverb +of all children. I am sorry to find +that you have such a dread of the country. +You know, my dear children, that your +father and I are devoted to your welfare, +and that we should do nothing that would +not contribute to your happiness.”</p> + +<p>Edward had quick feelings, and he perceived +that there was something reproachful +in his mother's manner. “I am sure,” +he said, “that Julia and I wish to do every +thing that you and papa like.”</p> + +<p>“That is not enough, my dear boy, we +wish you to <em>like</em> to do what we like.”</p> + +<p>“But surely, mother, you cannot blame +us for not wishing to go and live in the +country.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a><span>] </span></span>“No, Edward, I should as soon think +of blaming poor blind Billy, because he +cannot see. Unhappily you have been +entirely confined to town, and are ignorant +of the pleasures of the country. I only +blame you for thinking that your father and +I would voluntarily do any thing to lessen +your innocent pleasures.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, mother!” exclaimed Edward, “we +did not think any thing about that.”</p> + +<p>“Well, my dear, perhaps I am wrong in +expecting you to <em>think</em>—reflection is the +habit of a riper age than yours. You +must trust me for one year, and at the expiration +of that period, you and your sister +shall decide whether we return to town or +remain in the country.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, mother! how very good you are. +One year—well, one year won't be so very +long—only think, Julia, in one year we +shall be back again.”</p> + +<p>“Not quite so fast, Edward,” said his +mother; “you are not to decide till the end +of the year.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a><span>] </span></span>“Oh, I know that, mama, but of course +we shall decide to come back.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sackville looked incredulous, and +smiled at his childish confidence in his own +constancy. “I see, mother, you don't believe +me; but of course, Julia and I can't +wish to live away from every thing that is +amusing.”</p> + +<p>“Come, Julia, your brother has taken it +upon himself to be spokesman, but let me +hear from you, what are the amusements +that you so dread to leave.”</p> + +<p>“Why, in the first place, mother, there +is our dancing-school: every time I go to +take my lesson, Mr. Dubois says, ‘Pauvre, +Miss Julie, point de cotillon; point de gavots +in de country; ah, qu'il est sauvage—de +country.’”</p> + +<p>“Dubois for ever!” exclaimed Edward, +as Julia finished her <ins class='correction' title='mimickry'>mimicry</ins> of her master's +tone and grimace. “Oh, he is the +drollest creature—and Julia is such a mimic—the +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a><span>] </span></span>girls will have nobody to make +them laugh when she is gone.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sackville secretly rejoiced that Julia +was to be removed, in a great degree, +from the temptation to exercise so mischievous +a faculty. She, however, did not turn +the drift of the conversation to make any +remarks on it. “Console Mr. Dubois,” +she said, “my dear, Julia, with the assurance, +that your mother will take care that +you do not lose the benefit of his labors in +the service of the graces. Your father tells +me, there is in our neighborhood a very +decent musician, who does all the fiddling +for the parish. I have purchased some +cotillon music, and I hope your favorite +tunes will soon resound in our new mansion.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, that will be delightful, <ins class='correction' title='mother'>mother,</ins> +but Edward and I cannot dance a cotillon +alone.”</p> + +<p>“No, but we are not going to a desert. +There are enough clever children in the +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a><span>] </span></span>neighborhood, who will form a set with +you; and now, Julia, that I see by your +brightened eye, that you think the affliction +of leaving the dancing-school will be alleviated, +what is the next subject of your +regret?”</p> + +<p><ins class='correction' title='‘The'>“The</ins> next, mother? what is next, Edward?”</p> + +<p>“I do not know what you will call next, +Julia, but I think the theatre comes next.”</p> + +<p>“O! the theatre—yes, the theatre—how +could I forget the theatre?”</p> + +<p>“Well, my children, I think you can +live without the theatre, as you go but once, +or at most twice in a season; a pleasure +that occupies so small a portion of your +time, cannot be very important to your +happiness, or regretted very deeply.”</p> + +<p>“A small portion of time, to be sure, +mother,” replied Edward; “but then you +will own it is delightful: you yourself exclaimed +the other night when the curtain +drew up, ‘what a beautiful spectacle!’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a><span>] </span></span>“Yes, my love, but nature has far more +beautiful spectacles, and I have kept you +too long from them.”</p> + +<p>“But, mother,” insisted Edward, “nothing +can be so pleasant and startling, as +when the curtain suddenly draws up and +discovers a beautiful scene.”</p> + +<p>“It may be more startling, my dear Ned, +but it is not half so delightful as to see the +curtain of night withdrawn in a clear summer +morning, and the lovely objects of +nature lighting up with the rays of the rising +<ins class='correction' title='sun.'>sun.”</ins></p> + +<p>“But, mother, there is the orchestra—”</p> + +<p>“And in the country, my dear, we have +bands of voluntary musicians on every side +of us, who set all their wants, and all their +pleasures to music, and pour them forth in +the sweetest notes, from morning till night. +These musicians will hover about our house +and garden the entire summer, and ask no +reward, but to share with us our cherries +and raspberries; a small pittance from the +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a><span>] </span></span>generous stores of summer. But, come, +my children, what next?”</p> + +<p>“What next, Julia? Let us think—Oh, +there is the museum. I am sure, mother, +you cannot say a word against the museum—such +a variety of curiosities, and elegant +specimens of every thing, and I have heard +you and papa both say, that it is a very instructive +as well as amusing place to visit.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly it is, my dear, a vast collection +of natural wonders, and artificial curiosities; +and I am glad you value it sufficiently +to regret it. But, my dear children, +nature has her museums every where: her +productions are all curiosities, and the +more you study them, the more you will +admire the wisdom and goodness of their +Creator. Every vegetable that springs from +the kind bosom of the earth—the earth +itself—the rocks—the pebbles—living creatures, +their instincts and habitudes—are +all a study for you. The volume is open +and outspread before you: God grant +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a><span>] </span></span>me grace to train your minds and hearts, +that you may read therein—read with that +enlightened understanding and benevolent +spirit, which prompted a christian philosopher +to say, ‘the air, the earth, the water, +teem with delighted existence. On whichever +side I turn my eyes, myriads of happy +beings crowd upon my view.’”</p> + +<p>Any farther record of the conversation +would be superfluous, and might prove +tedious. It is our purpose to give some +anecdotes of Edward and Julia, and not +their history.</p> + +<p>As might have been expected, our young +friends in the country, were like beings +rescued from an artificial mode of existence, +and restored to their native element; and +when their mother, at the expiration of the +year, asked them if they were ready to return +to town—</p> + +<p>“Return to town, now, mother!” exclaimed +Edward, “it is impossible.”</p> + +<p>“Some time or other, mama, perhaps +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a><span>] </span></span>we should like to go back, but not now,” +said Julia. “We cannot go now, when +we have so much to do. The frost is just +out of the ground, and Ned and I are as +busy as bees in our garden.”</p> + +<p>“And, besides,” said Edward, “there is +my brood of ducks, that the old hen has +just brought off; I am so curious to see her +fright when they take to the water; and +there are my bantam pigeons; bantams are +so delicate, that you know, mother, I could +not trust them to any body's care but my +own.”</p> + +<p>“I think old Cæsar might take charge +of your bantams, Ned,” said Julia; “but I +am sure my pet lamb—”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Julia,” interrupted Edward, laughing, +“give her the sentimental french +name.”</p> + +<p>“Very well, I will, and you may laugh +as much you please: Orpheline—I am sure +Orpheline would not relish her food from +any hand but mine, she is so used to me; +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a><span>] </span></span>and my darling little partridges, that I am +trying to bring up to be domestic birds, I +would not leave them before I have made +a ‘satisfactory experiment,’ as papa says; +and then, mother, we did not half fill our +herbariums last summer. Oh, we have a +world of business on our hands,” continued +Julia, with the air of one who duly realized +the importance of her momentous concerns.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sackville smiled, but made no reply, +and Edward said, “I was thinking, +mother, as I sat on the door-step last evening, +and listened to the hum of the happy +little creatures that are waking up for the +season, that I had new eyes and new ears +given to me, since I came to live in the +country. Even the hoarse croaking of the +frogs in our meadow, sounded pleasantly +to me; quite musical.”</p> + +<p>“Equal to the music of the orchestra, +my dear Ned.”</p> + +<p>“Not quite so fine, mother,” replied Edward, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a><span>] </span></span>“but it seemed to have more meaning +in it.”</p> + +<p>“You are right, my dear Edward,” said +Mrs. Sackville; “you have new senses, or +rather, your senses are unlocked to the reception +of the sweet influences of nature. +I have more happiness than I can express +to you, my dear children, in finding that +you have already imbibed a taste for those +pure pleasures, that will remain the same, +whatever change of condition or circumstances +may await you.”<a name="FNanchor_2_2" href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" href="#FNanchor_2_2" class="label">[2]</a> Miss Hannah More, at the age of seventy-five, +said to Professor Griscom, ‘the love of the country, +and of flowers, is the only natural pleasure that remains +to me unimpaired.’</p></div></div> + +<p>Another year passed to this virtuous +family, full of useful and innocent occupations, +and in the month of the already noted +June, they left their home. The parents +with rational expectations of pleasure, from +visiting some of the most interesting scenes +in our country, and the children with the +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a><span>] </span></span>anticipation of unbounded delight, so characteristic +of childhood.</p> + +<p>Their travelling party included Mr. Ralph +Morris, a bachelor brother of Mrs. Sackville. +Mr. Morris was a man of intelligence +and extreme kindness of disposition, +a little irritable, and when the sky was +clouded, and the wind blew from the wrong +quarter, somewhat whimsical.</p> + +<p>As we hope that our young readers will +conceive a friendship for Edward and Julia, +before they part with them, they may have +a natural curiosity to know whether they +were brown or fair, and all the etceteras of +personal appearance. Edward was tall for +his age, (twelve) and stout built, with the rich +ruddy complexion and vigorous muscle of +an English boy. His eyes were large and +dark, and beaming with the bright and +laughing spirit within: his hair was a mass +of fair clustering curls, which he, from a boyish +dread of effeminacy, had in vain tried to +subdue by the discipline of comb and brush. +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a><span>] </span></span>His teeth were fine and white, and with as +little prompting from his mother as could +be expected, he kept them with remarkable +neatness. His mouth was distinguished +by nothing but an expression of frankness +and good temper. His nose, (a feature +seldom moulded by the graces) his nose, +we are sorry to confess, was rather thick +and quite unclassical. His character and +manners preserved all the frankness and +purity of childhood, with a little of that +chivalrous spirit which is such a grace to +dawning manhood. For the rest, we will +leave him to speak for himself.</p> + +<p>The sister's person was extremely delicate +and symmetrical, with too little of the Hebe +beauty for childhood, but full of grace and +<em>gentillesse</em>.</p> + +<p>Her complexion was not as rich as her +brother's; but it had an ever-varying hue, +which indicated the sensibility that sometimes +suddenly swelled the veins of her clear open +brow, lit up her <ins class='correction' title='hazle'>hazel</ins> eyes with electrifying +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a><span>] </span></span>brilliancy, and played in sweet dimples +about her mouth; in short, though she was +not beautiful, she had an expression of purity, +truth, and gentleness, far more attractive +than mere beauty; an expression that +was once happily described by a French +lady, who said to Mrs. Sackville, “when +your daughter smiles, it seems to me, that +it is frankness and virtue that smile.”</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>We are well aware that young people +do not like to be harangued about scenery; +therefore, though our travellers sailed up +the Hudson, we shall resist every temptation +to describe its beautiful features, features +as well known and loved as the familiar +face of a friend; neither will we detain +them on the scarcely less beautiful Mohawk, +though we are sure they are not rebels +against nature, and that their hearts would +dilate if we had the power to present to +their imaginations this lovely stream, winding +through the valley it enriches, as it +looked to the eyes of our young travellers, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a><span>] </span></span>brimfull from recent rains, reflecting in its +living mirror the verdant banks, the overhanging +trees, the richly-wooded hills, and +the clear heaven.</p> + +<p>It would be impossible to record the exclamations +of the children. “It is a perfect +picture, mother, all the way,” said Julia.</p> + +<p>“I like every thing but these dronish +farmers,” said Edward. “See, papa,” he +continued, (not, perhaps, unwilling to display +his agricultural observation) “see, +that groupe of men, black and white, all +leaning on their hoes, and staring at us, +and they will stand and look just so, until +the next carriage comes along, while their +corn is trying in vain to shoot above the +weeds that choke it. They seem to have +no more soul than the clods they stand upon. +I wish some of the farmers on the cold +desolate hills of New-England had this +fine soil.”</p> + +<p>“My dear Ned,” replied <ins class='correction' title='Mrs.'>Mr.</ins> Sackville, +“I do not wonder at your indignation. I +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a><span>] </span></span>have myself been marvelling, that, as a +poet says, ‘Nature should waste her wonders +on such men;’ but there is compensation +every where, or, as your mother would +say, there ‘are divers gifts.’ The man born +to the inheritance of cold and sterile hills, +is compelled to be industrious, frugal, +vigorous, and resolute to live, and thus the +advantages of his moral condition are more +than an equivalent for the physical advantages +of a fine soil or climate, or both.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, well, papa,” replied Edward, “if I +had my choice, I should take this fine soil +on the Mohawk, and cultivate it with the +mountain virtues, industry, resolution, &c. +and I might make a paradise here.”</p> + +<p>“A paradise, Ned!” exclaimed Mrs. Sackville, +“do you remember that Milton says,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">Now morn her rosy steps in the eastern clime<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Advancing, sow'd the earth with orient pearl,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">When Adam wak'd?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class='noindent'><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a><span>] </span></span>If you would be a tiller of the earth, Ned, +you must learn to like early rising and hard +work, better than you do now, and not go +on living so like the lilies of the field, that +are clothed, though they toil not.” Edward +looked a little crest-fallen.</p> + +<p>“Your self-confidence provoked a gentle +rebuke,” said his father; “but it is a very +common mistake, my dear son, for those +much older than you are, to fancy they +should avoid the faults others commit, if +placed in their situation. But, before you +permit such a presumption, be sure that +you have resisted all the temptations in your +own path, and have performed all the duties +which belong to the sphere Providence has +assigned to you. Here we are at the close +of our day's journey, and my admonition +comes in very well, like the moral at the +end of a tale; this I think is one of the +prettiest places on the river. If I mistake +not, the village opposite to us is Palatine.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a><span>] </span></span>The party alighted at Mrs. B's inn. The +children entreated their mother to take her +port-folio, and stroll with them along the +bank of the river, while the tea was getting +in readiness.</p> + +<p>As they came opposite the ferry, they +stopped for a moment to look at a scow approaching +the shore. There were several +men in it, and among them a black lad, who, +at the moment the boat touched the shore, +either by accident, or by the contrivance of +his mischievous companions, fell overboard. +While they gave way to a burst of merriment, +the poor blackey regained a footing +on terra firma, and shook the water from his +woolly locks and dripping garments.</p> + +<p>“You an't white yet, Cuffee,” said one +of his persecutors. “Look if he has dyed the +water,” said another.</p> + +<p>“Don't laugh,” said Julia to Edward, +who, with a boyish love of fun, had joined +in the laugh; “it is too bad to laugh at the +poor fellow.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a><span>] </span></span>“You are right, Julia,” said Mrs. Sackville. +“It is hard to belong to a degraded +<em>caste</em>, to be born to the inheritance of jibes +and jokes.”</p> + +<p>They continued their walk a little farther +down the bank, discovering new beauties +at every step, till they came to a spot which +Julia insisted could not be surpassed; and +arranging a nice cushion on the grass with +her shawl, she begged her mother to make +a sketch there. “Now, mama,” she said, +<ins class='correction' title='you'>“you</ins> must take both sides of the river.”</p> + +<p>“You forget, Julia, that I cannot take a +panorama view.”</p> + +<p>“Then you must leave out the inn, and +the beautiful hill behind it, with its sycamores +and locusts, and the road that winds +along the bank of the river.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, my dear, here is the boundary of +your picture:—this magnificent elm-tree, +that seems to pay its debt to the nourishing +waters, by extending its graceful branches +over them.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a><span>] </span></span>“And don't fail, mother,” said Edward, +“to mark the deep shadow it casts on that +pier of the bridge they are building—and +oh, do put in that little skiff so snugly moored +in the shade, and hooked to the tree—and +that taper church spire that stretches +above the thick wood on the left;—oh, if +you could but paint it as it looks now, with +that bright gleam from the setting sun on it. +And see, mother, just at this instant, what a +golden mist there is in the topmost branches +of that tree.”</p> + +<p>“Stop your chattering one moment, Ned, +till I get in this little brook on the left, that +is creeping so softly into the bosom of the +Mohawk. Oh, my children, it is an easy +task to draw these lines so as to convey a +correct idea of forms and distances, but very +difficult to imitate the colouring of nature, +the delicate touch of her skilful hand. How +shall I represent the freshness and purity +that marks the youth of the year?—like +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a><span>] </span></span>childhood, Ned, smiling and promising, and +as yet unchanged by time.”</p> + +<p>“If not changed, not perfected by time, +dear mother,” said Edward, kissing his mother. +His manner expressed a mixture of +admiration and tenderness that went to her +heart.</p> + +<p>“You have spoiled my picture, Ned,” +she said, “I cannot make another straight +line. Come, Julia, take up the port-folio, +and we will return to the inn.”</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>We hope our readers will not complain +that we have not kept good faith with them, +if we have been tempted to loiter longer than +we promised on the banks of the Mohawk. +To reward them for their patience (if perchance +they have exercised that difficult virtue, +without availing themselves of the skipping +right—the <ins class='correction' title='readers'>readers'</ins> inalienable right) +we shall make but one stage of it from Palatine +to Oneida, not once halting at any of +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a><span>] </span></span>the beautiful grounds, waterfalls, or villages, +that intervene.</p> + +<p>It was mid-day, and a hot day too, when +our travellers entered this Indian town, +which presents a striking aspect, situated as +it is in the heart of a cultivated and civilized +country.</p> + +<p>Huts are planted irregularly at some distance +from the road, in fields overgrown with +rank grass. Half-naked Indians, yelling and +hallooing, were riding to and fro without +saddles or bridles; on horses that looked as +wild as themselves. Some were stretched +along the road-side, in a state of brutal intoxication; +others were lying under the +shadows of the noblest patriarchs of their +woods, showing their patent right to indolence +as lords of the creation, while their +women and girls were sitting around them, +busily making baskets and brooms. On the +green were groupes of men shooting arrows +at a mark, playing at jack-straws, football, +and the various games of skill and +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a><span>] </span></span>chance by which the savage drives away ennui—that +demon that persecutes most fiercely +at the extremes of the human condition.</p> + +<p>“One might almost fancy here,” said Mr. Sackville, +<ins class='correction' title='that'>“that</ins> the march of time had been +stayed, and the land spell-bound, by some +mighty magician. The log-huts of these +poor Indians are as rude structures as the +bark wigwams of their forefathers, and these +rich lands are a complete waste, except +where we see here and there a little patch of +corn or potatoes. The savages certainly +evince their faith in the traditionary saying +that ‘the Great Spirit gave a plough to the +white man, and a bow and arrow to the Indian.’”</p> + +<p>“And there,” said Mrs. Sackville, pointing +to some women who were hoeing, “there +is an illustration of another of their proverbs—‘men +were made for war and hunting, +and squaws and hedge-hogs to scratch +the ground.’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a><span>] </span></span>Edward interrupted the conversation, to +beg his father to stop in the village long +enough to allow him time to look into the +interior of some of the huts. While Mr. Sackville +hesitated whether to incur the delay +necessary to afford this gratification to +his son, the driver announced that his off-leader +had lost his shoe, and asked leave to +stop at a blacksmith's to have it replaced.</p> + +<p>This request was readily granted; and +while Mrs. Sackville entered into some conversation +with the blacksmith, who was a +white man, Edward bounded over a fence +and across a field, towards a hut which was +scarcely perceptible except by a smoke that +rose from it, and curled through the branches +of a lofty oak which stood before it.</p> + +<p>As he drew near the hut, he heard a low +voice, broken by sobs; he paused for a +moment, and then cautiously and softly advanced, +till he came so near as to hear distinctly +what was said, and to see enough, +through a small aperture where the clay had +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a><span>] </span></span>fallen away from the logs, to prevent his +proceeding farther, and to excite his curiosity +to its highest pitch. An old Indian +woman was sitting on the hearth-stone, her +arms folded, and her blanket wrapped close +around her. It appeared that she had seated +herself there for the purpose of watching an +Indian cake that was baking on a shovel +before the fire; but her attention had been +so abstracted, that the cake was burnt to a +cinder. Her face and person were withered +by age; but her eye, as if lit up by an undying +spark, retained a wild brightness, and +was steadfastly fixed on two young persons +who stood before her, apparently too much +occupied with their own emotion to notice +her observation of them. The one was a +young girl, dressed in a riding habit and +Leghorn travelling bonnet. Edward was +not very well situated for accurate observation; +but though he was at the first glance +deceived by the brilliancy of the girl's +colour, heightened as it was by the excitement +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a><span>] </span></span>of the moment, his unpracticed eye +soon detected unequivocal marks of the +Indian race, accompanied and softened +by traits of fairer blood. A young Indian +stood beside her, who, as Edward fancied, +had a certain air of dignity and heroism, +that characterised a warrior chief;—still +there was something in his attitude and +motions, that bespoke the habits of civilized +life. His dress, too, was a singular mixture +of the European and Indian costumes. He +wore a jacket with long sleeves made of deer +skin, and closely fitted to his arms and +breast. He had a mantle of blue broad +cloth, lined with crimson, made long and +full, hanging over one shoulder, and confined +at the waist by a wampum belt. On +a table beside him was lying a cap, like the +military undress cap of a British officer, with +a plume of black feathers tinged with crimson, +and attached to the cap by a silver arrow.</p> + +<p>The conversation between him and the +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a><span>] </span></span>girl was in French, and made up of ejaculations +and vehement protestations, from which +Edward could not at first gather any thing +intelligible to him. The girl wept excessively; +the Indian's passion seemed too +powerful for such an expression.</p> + +<p>“You promise,” he said, “Felice; but +our old men say the winds are not more +changing than a woman's mind.”</p> + +<p>“Others may change; I cannot, Nahatton; +you know I would not leave you if I +could help it.”</p> + +<p>“Could help it! can your father's right +control nature's law? Oh, Felice!” he +added, smiting his breast, “that which I feel +for you is like the fires from the sun—the +hurricane from the south—the tide of the +ocean;—I cannot resist it.”</p> + +<p>“Nahatton! Nahatton! you know I will +return to you.”</p> + +<p>“Let me place this around your neck +then,” said he, detaching from his own a +chain made of porcupine quills, and curiously +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a><span>] </span></span>woven. “My mother made it. She said it +was a charm, and would keep me true to my +own people. I wore it in France, and I +have returned to my tribe.”</p> + +<p>“Not about my neck, Nahatton,” said +Felice, as he raised his hands to clasp the +chain; “it looks too savage—bind it on my +arm.——Why do you hesitate?” she asked, +as she stood with her arm extended, and her +sleeve pushed up.</p> + +<p>“It looks too savage! Already ashamed +of your mother's blood! Oh, there is poison +in your veins!” and as he said this he +broke the chain, threw it down, and crushed +it under his foot.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Nahatton, I did not mean that;—I +am not ashamed of my indian blood—I +will make you any promise—I will swear, +on my knees I will swear to return to you.”</p> + +<p>“Swear then upon this,” said he; and he +took from his bosom a silver crucifix, and +offered it to her lips.</p> + +<p>At this moment the old woman, who, as +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a><span>] </span></span>they spoke in French, only understood as +much as she could interpret from their gestures, +rose, and darting towards them, she +laid her hand on the crucifix. “No, no, +Felice; swear not!” she said; “the oath +will be written there,” and she pointed upward, +“when you have broken and forgotten +it.”</p> + +<p>Edward, in the intensity of his interest in +the scene, had forgotten the necessity of secrecy. +He carelessly leaned his arm on some +rails that had been placed against the hut, +one of them fell; the party within started and +looked around them, and Edward instinctively +retreated. If he went as swiftly as +the wind, and once or twice thought he heard +an arrow whirring through the air behind +him, we hope our readers will impute it to +the excited state of his imagination, and not +deem him a coward, ‘even upon instinct.’</p> + +<p>“Just in time, Edward, my son,” said +Mr. Sackville, who was standing by the +carriage in which the rest of the party were +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a><span>] </span></span>already seated; “but what in the world ails +you? you look as wild as if you had met +a bear up in the wood there.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, you would look wild too, father, +if you had seen and heard what I have. +Oh, mother! Oh, Julia! you never will believe +what I have to tell you.”</p> + +<p>“I have something to tell you, too, Mr. Edward,” +said his mother; “and as you +are out of breath, and out of your wits, I +will tell my story first, which I assure you +is quite a romantic little tale to pick up by +the way-side.”</p> + +<p>“Well, do be quick, mother, if you please, +for what I have to say is so wonderful.”</p> + +<p>“No doubt; each one always thinks his +own wonder the most wonderful. But I +will not try your patience any longer. Do +you remember our speculating on an empty +carriage, which we saw drawn up under a +tree with a man standing by it, about half +a mile back?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a><span>] </span></span>“Yes, very well—but what of that, +mother?”</p> + +<p>“It was an idle inquiry about that +carriage of the good-natured communicative +blacksmith that led to the story, which +I am going to tell you. It seems that carriage +is to convey a young woman to New-York, +whence she sails for France.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I saw her—I saw her,” exclaimed +Edward. “It can be none other.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Edward,” said Mrs. Sackville, +“I will give place to you; for I see you +are in such a state of fermentation, that I am +afraid your story will evaporate in exclamations, +while I am telling mine.”</p> + +<p>Edward thus relieved from restriction, +proceeded to recount with the animation of +an eye-witness, all he had seen and heard. +His audience listened to him with the most +flattering attention, and at the conclusion, +repaid him with exclamations, that proved +they were adequately impressed with the +extraordinary scene he had witnessed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a><span>] </span></span>Julia wished he had noticed whether the +chief (for thus he had chosen throughout his +narrative to designate his hero) wore moccasins +or shoes, and whether his legs below +his mantle, were bare, or covered with leggins. +She thought too, he might just have +staid to see whether the girl made the vow +or not: and his mother congratulated him +that the Indians had not executed summary +justice on him, and shot him flying for a +spy.</p> + +<p>“My story,” said Mrs. Sackville, “will +serve, Ned, as a sequel to yours, or rather, +an explanation of it. It seems that this +young girl, who is a Miss Bernard, had +left the carriage when we saw it, on the +pretence of going to take leave of her +mother's sister, who is doubtless the old +woman you saw. You were so fortunate +as to discover her real errand. She is the +daughter of a Frenchman—Rodolph Bernard. +His family was noble and rich: +they and their fortunes were sacrificed in +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a><span>] </span></span>the convulsions of the French revolution, +and Bernard alone escaped and reached +America, with nothing but his life. It appears +from my blacksmith's story, that +young Bernard had a good deal of spirit +and enterprise, and more education than +most of the young nobles of that time. I +wish you to observe, my children, that +knowledge is a treasure not impaired by a +change of circumstances, but an immutable +good in every extreme of fortune. Bernard +remained in New-York for a year or two, +and subsisted by teaching French to some +Americans, and mathematics to his own +countrymen. He was then employed by a +company of French gentlemen, to explore +the western part of this State, then a wilderness, +and to furnish them such information +as should enable them to make an advantageous +purchase of the government. This +was not quite thirty years ago: and then +the cultivated country and beautiful villages +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a><span>] </span></span>through which we have passed, were for +the most part a trackless wilderness.</p> + +<p>“At a <ins class='correction' title='wigman'>wigwam</ins> in Oneida, where he had +been compelled to ask for such hospitality +as it afforded, he was seized with the fever +of the country that usually attacked strangers. +For weeks and months he was nursed +by an indian girl, famed among her +people for her skill in such remedies as their +native wilds supply. You know, that in +the history of the early periods of all ages, +we find the healing art assigned to women. +You will remember, Ned, in your favorite +old ballads, many a kill or cure, performed +by cruel or tender leeches.</p> + +<p>“Whether it was the indian maid's skill +in medicine, that prevailed over the disease +at last, or her devoted kindness, it might +be difficult to determine; probably, Bernard +thought the latter; for though she +was, as my narrator's tradition says, ‘an +uncouth maiden to look upon,’ he declared +his love to her, and asked her hand of her +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a><span>] </span></span>father. The father consented, but not till +after some delay, nor till he had ascertained +that Bernard's rank entitled him to wed the +daughter of a distinguished chief. She was +an only child too, and she was heir to +enough land within this Oneida reservation, +to make a principality.</p> + +<p>“The Frenchman understood how to +manage it. His ties to his own country +were broken. All his affections and interests +were concentrated here. He has been a +good husband and father—so indulgent as +to permit his wife on ordinary occasions, +to wear her indian dress, to which it seems +she has a bigoted attachment. His children +are well educated: and, Ned, our blacksmith +thinks, that your heroine Felice, would +be a perfect beauty, if she had such hair as +your sister's, and the olive tinge could be +washed out of her skin.</p> + +<p>“Bernard, since the late reverses in +France, has returned there, and recovered +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a><span>] </span></span>an immense property which had been sequestered +by Napoleon.</p> + +<p>“Last year his family received dispatches +from him, by your ‘chief,’ Ned—who, if +not in reality a chief, is the son of a distinguished +sachem of the Seneca tribe, which is +located some where on the shores of Lake +Erie. The old Seneca chief was converted +to the Romish religion, by a Catholic missionary, +who persuaded him to resign his +son into his hands, to be educated a priest.</p> + +<p>“It appears that neither European intercourse, +nor the strict discipline of a catholic school, +have overcome the young man's +preference of the wild and lawless life of his +tribe. As I said, on his return from +France, he brought letters from Bernard to +his family, and here he has played successfully +the part of Othello the Moor, with this +young Desdemona; and the blacksmith +thinks that Bernard will play the enraged father +to the life, as it has been his declared +resolution from his daughter's birth, that she +should not wed an indian.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a><span>] </span></span>“For the rest of my story, it is explained +by what you have witnessed, Edward. +The Seneca youth has visited his people, +and returned here just as Felice is on the +eve of departure for France, in compliance +with her father's requisition. As to the +future, whether she will remain constant to +her lover, as we are not seers, we cannot +predict—we can only guess.”</p> + +<p>Edward and Julia professed unbounded +confidence in Felice's fidelity. Mr. Morris +did not see what the girl could do better. +Indian she undoubtedly was, and he thought +it was a clear case for the application of the +Scottish proverb, ‘hawks won't pick out +hawks' een;’ at any rate it would be a +piece of effrontery for her to turn her back +upon her indian lover, and expect to win a +white one.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Sackville thought it possible +that Julia might find Frenchmen in +whose estimation an ample fortune would +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a><span>] </span></span>atone for the slight dishonour of her maternal +ancestry.</p> + +<p>Our travellers proceeded without accident +or adventure along the accustomed route +through fine villages, whose rapid growth to +maturity remind one of the construction of +a fairy palace by the touch of a magician's +wand. A few years ago this country was +unexplored save by the indian hunter, or +perhaps a devoted missionary, or lawless +trader. A wheel had never entered it—a +<em>shodden</em> horse was a curiosity; now, the +road is thronged with market-waggons, +stage <ins class='correction' title='coaches;'>coaches,</ins> and carriages filled with +idle, curious, or classic travellers, who go +to ‘the Falls’ to kill time, to increase their +stores of knowledge, or to gratify taste.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sackville was constantly directing +his children's observation to the prompt enterprise +and industry so conspicuous in a +new country, and stimulating their patriotism +by pointing out to them the increasing +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a><span>] </span></span>riches and resources of their native <ins class='correction' title='land,'>land.</ins> +“For my own part,” he said, “I prefer the +sentiment that is inspired by the peaceful +triumphs of man over nature, to the patriotism +that is kindled on battle-grounds—if +not as romantic, it is certainly more innocent.”</p> + +<p>“Then I suppose, papa,” said Edward, +“that you prefer Virgil's georgics to his +epic.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, Ned,” replied his father, +“for an illustration which proves that your +travels have not quite put your school out of +your head. I certainly do prefer the aspect of +our cheerful dwellings, blooming gardens, +and fruitful fields, associated as they are in my +mind with innocent occupation and moral +cultivation; to the ivy-mantled towers and +triumphal arches of the old world—they +are the records of feudal grandeur and +high heroic deeds, but deeds too often of +doubtful virtue, and of fatal consequences. +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a><span>] </span></span>The melancholy poet may exult in describing +the ‘spectres that sit and sigh’ amid +their ruins; but if I had the <em>gifted eye</em>, my +children, I should rather look upon the +spirit of Contentment that hovers over our +land, and her sweet sister Hope, who points +with her finger of promise to the smiling +prosperity produced by busy hands and +active independent minds.”</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>When the travellers reached Black-rock, +where they were to cross the Niagara, they +were compelled to await for some time the +return of the ferry-boat, which was then +plying towards the Canada shore. While +they were detained, they amused themselves +with a company of Irish people—raw +emigrants, who had just entered our territory, +and were awaiting the departure of the +Erie steam-boat to convey them to the State +of Ohio. They had spread tents for their +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a><span>] </span></span>temporary accommodation—Edward and +Julia went from one to another, asking +questions, and giving cakes and dried fruit +from their travelling stores to the children.</p> + +<p>They were particularly struck with one +buxom young girl with laughing eyes and +ruddy cheeks, who <ins class='correction' title='seeemed'>seemed</ins> to be a favorite +with the whole company, and not to belong +to any one; for she went from tent to +tent kneading an oat-meal cake for one +woman—dressing a lame arm for another, +and performing sundry miscellaneous offices +that always fall to the lot of those most useful +people who have nothing in particular +to do. Julia offered her a piece of cake, +by way of introduction, and then asked her +name:—“My name is Biddy Burns, <ins class='correction' title='an'>an'</ins> +please you, miss.”</p> + +<p>“And who did you come with, Biddy?”</p> + +<p>“I left home with my cousin; but it pleased +the Lord to take her to himself before +we came to Quebec, and she has left such a +pretty complement of children to her husband +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a><span>] </span></span>to take care of, that I must e'en shift +for myself.”</p> + +<p>“Do you like our country, Biddy?” +asked Edward.</p> + +<p>“Och, my master, I could not miss liking +it, ye are all so free and hospitable.”</p> + +<p>“But Biddy,” said Julia, “how could +you leave your father and mother, and all +your friends?”</p> + +<p>“Sure it is, miss, if it thrives well with me +they will all come after.”</p> + +<p>“Sure enough,” said Mrs. Sackville, +“these poor Irish do all come <em>after</em>, sooner +or later. Are you a catholic, Biddy?”</p> + +<p>“I come from the north of Ireland, my +leddy.”</p> + +<p>“You are a protestant, then?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, my leddy; thank God and my +mother, that taught me the rasonable +truth.”</p> + +<p>“Can you read, my good girl?”</p> + +<p>“Indeed can I, my leddy. Thanks to the +Sunday school, I could read in the bible if I +had one, without a blunder.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a><span>] </span></span>“Well, Biddy,” said Mrs. Sackville, who +thought it a good opportunity to give a +God-speed to the girl's pilgrimage—“here +is a bible in my basket—take it, and may it +be the guide of your life.”</p> + +<p>Biddy poured forth her thanks in many a +God-reward-ye, and then after hesitating for a +moment, she said, “I wish my leddy would +condescend to walk up here a bit, to a poor +woman who needs a kind christian word, +poor crater.” Mrs. Sackville and the children +followed Biddy to a tree which stood +a little above the encampment of the Irish, +where a woman was sitting on a log with a +sick child in her arms, and a boy of five or +six beside her.</p> + +<p>She was a middle-aged woman, with a +face originally plain, and deeply seamed +with the small-pox; but withal, there was +an expression of honesty and goodness, and +of deep sadness, that interested Mrs. Sackville, +though at first it failed to draw the +attention of the children from their good-humored +blithe companion.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a><span>] </span></span>“Does this woman belong to your company, +Biddy?”</p> + +<p>“Bless you, no, my leddy.”—“I thought +not,” said Mrs. Sackville, who was struck +with the extreme neatness of the woman's +appearance, which presented a striking contrast +to all the Irish, even to our friend Biddy.—Her +child's head was covered with a +linen handkerchief—coarse and patched, +but white as the driven snow. There was +scarcely a thread of the original cloth in +her children's clothes—neither was there a +hole in them—their faces and hands were +perfectly clean, and their hair neatly combed.</p> + +<p>“You seem to find it possible, my friend,” +said Mrs. Sackville, patting the little boy's +face, “to keep your children clean in the +most difficult circumstances.” “I try my +best, ma'am,” replied the woman. “And +a slave, my leddy,” interposed Biddy, “she +makes of herself for it. Do you know that +when I offered this morning to stay by the +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a><span>] </span></span>childer while she took a bit of sleep, that +instead of resting her soul and body, she +went and washed her things in the river, and +got leave to iron in the house yonder, and +did it all as particular as it might have been +done for you, my leddy.”</p> + +<p>The poor woman was wetting the sick +child's lips from a cup of water that stood +by her; and she took no notice of Biddy's +remark. Mrs. Sackville inquired into the +particulars of the child's sickness, which she +thought would yield to some common restoratives +which she had at hand; and just as she +was dispatching Julia for the dressing case +which contained them, a little rugged impish +looking boy came towards them, throwing +himself heels over head, with a segar in his +mouth, which he continued smoking while he +was making his somersets.—“Come, come, +Goody Barton,” said he, without heeding +Mrs. Sackville's presence, “come, we must +be up and moving. If we don't get over in +this boat, I shall disappoint the company at +Chippewa to-night.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a><span>] </span></span>“Don't speak so loud, Tristy,” replied +the woman, “but take the pack to the boat, +and I will follow you.”</p> + +<p>“That surely is not your child?” said +Mrs. Sackville, as the boy walked off with +the bundle singing, at the top of his voice, a +very vulgar song, and affecting to reel like +a drunken man.</p> + +<p>“No, thank God,” said the woman, “he +is a poor heaven-forsaken lad, who is going +into Canada. He has helped me along +from Buffalo, and has offered to carry my +bundle to Chippewa.”</p> + +<p>It occurred to Mrs. Sackville to caution +the woman to be on her guard, for she +thought Tristy looked wicked enough for +any mischief; but a signal from the boat +obliged them all to hasten to the shore. +Biddy good naturedly took the eldest boy +by the hand and led him to the boat, and +then took leave of all her new friends, +pouring forth a shower of prayers that God +would bless them all, rich and poor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a><span>] </span></span>The woman, whom we shall henceforth +call by her name, Mrs. Barton, was reserved +in the expression of her feelings; but the +tear of gratitude she dropped on Biddy's +hand at parting, was an equivalent for the +girl's voluble expressions.</p> + +<p>There was, in all the poor woman's manner, +an unobtrusiveness and reserve uncommon +in a person of her humble degree, and +it interested Mrs. Sackville more than any +solicitation could have done. She ascertained +that Mrs. Barton was on her way to +Quebec, where she <em>hoped</em> to find her husband.</p> + +<p>“And have you the means of getting +there?” asked Mrs. Sackville. “It is a great +distance, my friend, and you cannot get +across Ontario and down the St. Lawrence +for a trifle.”</p> + +<p>“I know that, madam; but I have some +money; and if I find my own country people +as kind to me as the people in the States +have been, I shall do very well. Every +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a><span>] </span></span>body feels pitiful to a lone woman with little +children. If it please God to mend my little +girl, I shall go on with good courage.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sackville commended the poor woman's +resolution, and busied herself putting +up some medicines for the child, and giving +directions about them, and was so occupied +with her benevolent duty, that she gave little +heed to Edward's continued exclamations. +“Oh, mother! how beautiful the +colour of the water of the Niagara is!” +“Mother, does not it give you sublime feelings +to think you are on the Niagara?” +“Mother, does not Lake Erie look grand +from here?” &c. &c. &c. Suddenly his +attention was diverted, and he was attracted +to the extremity of the boat, where Tristy, +the little “Flibbertigibbet” we have before +mentioned, was exhibiting various feats for +the amusement of the passengers. He was a +little, pale, <ins class='correction' title='wizzened-face'>wizened-face</ins> fellow, with a bleared +and blood-shot eye, his hair black, strait, +and matted to his head, his mouth defiled +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a><span>] </span></span>with tobacco, and in short his whole appearance +indicating the depravity of one experienced +in vice. He dislocated the joints of +his fingers, stood firmly on his head, and +performed some of the difficult exploits of a +tumbler; and when he had done all this, +“Come, gentlemen,” said he, “shall I sing +you a song, or pray you a prayer? I'll suit +your fancy with either for a sixpence.”</p> + +<p>“No, no; none of your prayers, you little +son of the old one,” said one of the men; +“we shall have your master with the cloven +foot after us before we get to the shore: +you may sing us a song, though, only let it +be a decent one.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, well gentlemen, suit yourselves—I +am a Jack at all trades, you know—that is +to say, at any of the trades my father, that +is dead and gone, followed before me.”</p> + +<p>“Trades! your father followed no trade, +but the trade of the light-fingered gentry.”</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon, sir; my dad was a +noted man in his day:—a carpenter, joiner, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a><span>] </span></span>tooth-drawer, barber, gardener, studying-master, +dancing-master, whipping-master, +fiddling-master, school-master, music-master, +play-actor, &c. &c.—all of which I am +yours gentlemen to command. Now for the +song:—there is Erie, and my song is Perry's +glorious victory.” He then half sung, +half recited, a ballad recounting Perry's gallant +exploits on the lake.</p> + +<p>It was impossible for a compassionate being +to see the little outcast without an emotion +of pity; or not to be affected by the +weak and almost infantine tones of his voice.</p> + +<p>“How old are you, child?” asked Mr. Sackville, +as the boy concluded his song, +and opened his mouth to catch the sixpence +that was tossed to him.</p> + +<p>“How <ins class='correction' title='old?”'>old?</ins> I do not justly remember; +but there is my age set down in our family +Bible, as my father called it, by his own +honored hand, on the day he got through, +as I have heard him say, his fourth term of +service at the state-castle.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a><span>] </span></span>Mr. Sackville took from the child's hand a +filthy little dream-book, on the title-page of +which was scrawled, and scarcely legible,—“Tristram +McPhelan, born in the Bridewell, +city of New-York, on Friday—bad +luck to him—March 1807.”</p> + +<p>“You are then but eleven years old.”</p> + +<p>“Yes sir; and in that time I have seen +more of life than many of my betters twice +my age. I have been in every state in the +Union, and in every city of every state. I +have been in six alms-houses, two workhouses, +and ten jails, on my own account, +besides the privilege of visiting my father in +two different state prisons. While my father +lived we travelled in company, and +now I am obliged (he concluded, bowing to +Mr. Sackville,) to put up with what company +chance throws in my way.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sackville took Edward by the hand, +and turned away, grieved and disgusted. +His eye fell on his daughter, who was sitting +beside Mrs. Barton, carefully sheltering +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a><span>] </span></span>the sick child from the sun with her parasol, +while she nicely prepared an orange and +offered it to her. The little sufferer seized +it eagerly and devoured it, and then fixed +her eyes on Julia and smiled. The first +smile of a sick child is electrifying.</p> + +<p>“Oh! miss,” said the mother, “does not +she seem to say, ‘God bless you,’ though she +cannot speak it?”</p> + +<p>Julia was delighted with the revival of the +child, and with the mother's gratitude, which +was even more manifest in her brightened +countenance than in her words.</p> + +<p>“My medicine,” said Julia, “has worked +wonders; if I could but find one more orange, +I should quite cure my little patient;” +and she zealously ransacked the carriage, +and turned out every basket and bag in the +hope of finding another, but all in vain. +Disappointed, she turned to her mother,—“Cannot +we, mama,” she said, “do something +more for this poor woman before we +leave her?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a><span>] </span></span>“I do not see that we can, my dear,” replied +Mrs. <ins class='correction' title='Sackville,” I'>Sackville, “I</ins> have offered to pay +her stage fare hence to Newark, but she says +she has money, and declines receiving any +thing.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, then she is not obliged to go on +foot—I could not endure to think of the +child's being exposed to this hot sun.”</p> + +<p>“That, I am afraid, cannot be helped; +for the mother does go to Newark on foot. +I could not persuade her to ride. She insists +that she is very strong, and that her +child is so wasted she scarcely feels the burthen +of it; and besides, she travels but a +very short distance in a day.”</p> + +<p>Julia paused for a moment. She was very +reluctant to give up the point, and finally, +as the last resource of her ingenuity, she +proposed that her mother should take the +woman into the carriage. “We can just +squeeze her in for a few miles, mama; she +looks so perfectly nice, that even uncle can't +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a><span>] </span></span>object; and I want so to know if the little +girl continues to get better.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sackville could scarcely refrain +from smiling at Julia's odd proposition to +take in a way-faring woman and two children, +but it had its source in such kind feelings, +that she would not ridicule it. “I am +afraid, my dear Julia,” she said, “that it is +quite impossible to gratify you. You know +your uncle already complains of wanting +elbow-room.”</p> + +<p>“Well then, mother, just listen to one +more proposal:—take the woman into the +carriage, and let Edward and me walk two or +three miles. Three miles will be quite a lift +to her, and Ned will lead the little boy.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sackville could not resist Julia's +eagerness, and after some consultation +with her husband and brother, she consented +to the arrangement, though it involved +them in some inconvenience and +delay. It was as much a matter of principle +as feeling with her, never to permit her +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a><span>] </span></span>own personal accommodation to interfere +with the claims of humanity. A child is +more impressed with a single example of +disinterestedness, than with a hundred admonitions +on the subject. Mrs. Sackville +had some difficulty in overcoming the scruples +of Mrs. Barton, who felt a modest +awkwardness at seating herself in the carriage +with her superiors; but when they +reached the Canada shore, the necessary arrangements +were made, and she being at +last persuaded, on the ground of gratifying +the children, took their place in the carriage, +and it drove off and left Edward and +Julia to follow with little Richard Barton, +and Tristram with the wallet.</p> + +<p>Mr. Morris was one of those thrifty people, +who can never see any necessity of poverty, +and though he was in the main kind hearted, +he was rather inclined to be severe in +his judgment of the wretched. Poverty +was always suspicious in his eyes. No +sooner were they seated and well under way, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a><span>] </span></span>than he said, “It is a mystery to me, my +good woman, why people who have not any +spare cash should always be travelling. +Sometimes they are going up country to +see a relation—and sometimes down country. +All their kindred are sure to live at +their antipodes.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Barton kept her eyes downcast on +her child, and made no reply. “Now,” +continued Mr. Morris, “what use or pleasure +there can be in lugging children from +Dan to Beersheba, is more than I can imagine.”</p> + +<p>“God knows, I do not travel for the +pleasure of it,” meekly replied the poor +woman.</p> + +<p>“Oh, no, no—I dare say not—I dare +say not”—said Mr. Morris, who had whiffed +away his pet with the first breath. “You +are of another sort. But, pray, my friend, +what are you travelling for?”</p> + +<p>“To join my husband at Quebec.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a><span>] </span></span>“Your husband at Quebec—and you +here! how the deuce came that about?”</p> + +<p>“My child has fallen asleep,” replied +Mrs. Barton, turning to Mrs. Sackville; +“and if you, ma'am, will condescend to +hear the cause of my being here—there is +no reason that I should be loath to tell it; +only you know, ma'am, one does not like to +be forward about speaking of troubles to +strangers—and those so kind as you, it +seems like begging, which I am not forward +to do.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sackville assured Mrs. Barton, that +she felt great interest in knowing how she +came into her present circumstances.</p> + +<p>“My husband,” she said, “was a corporal +in the fortieth ——. We were in +Spain through all Wellington's campaigns, +and had just crossed the Pyrennees into +France, and were thinking of going home +to England again, when the regiment was +ordered to America. This was no great disappointment +to me—I have no known relation +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a><span>] </span></span>in the world but my husband and child—then +I had but the one. My husband is +a sober man, who fears God and serves his +king with all his heart: and his pay with +my earnings, (for I did up all the linen of +our officers) furnished us a decent living. +When we arrived at Quebec, our regiment +was sent into Upper Canada.</p> + +<p>“Soon after we came to Newark, a detachment +from the De Watteville regiment was +ordered to make an attack on Fort Erie. +In this detachment was a corporal, a great +friend to us, who once saved my boy from +drowning. At the moment he was ordered +off, he had a child seemingly at the last +gasp. The poor man was distracted like, +and my husband, who had that tender heart +that he could never bide to look on misery, +offered to go as his substitute, and he went. +You've doubtless heard of the sortie of Erie: +that dreadful night my husband was taken +prisoner. He got a letter written to me from +Buffalo, to tell me all his ill-fortune. He +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a><span>] </span></span>had been mistaken by some American soldiers +for a deserter from the American army; +and not being with his own regiment when +he was taken, or even among his acquaintance, +he could not prove who he was. He +had been ironed, and was to be taken to +Greenbush, near Albany.</p> + +<p>“He entreated me to procure from his +captain, the necessary papers to prove that +he was a true man, and to forward them to +him. Our captain was a great friend to +us; he gave me the writings, and I determined +myself to go to Greenbush. I met +with some troubles, and much kindness by +the way. The people in your States, ma'am, +are the freest and the kindest I have ever +seen. They seemed to me like God's stewards, +always ready to open their storehouses +to the naked and hungry. I had +money enough to pay for my boy's riding +the most of the way; for myself I seldom +felt weary, but pressed on beyond my +strength; still I did not feel it till I got to +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a><span>] </span></span>Greenbush, and was told my husband had +escaped from confinement the week before. +Whither he had gone, no one knew, but all +told me that if he was not retaken, he had +probably reached Canada.</p> + +<p>“I would have come straight home again, +but my strength was utterly gone. I have +not much recollection from this time: I +remember having a fear that they would +take my boy from me, but all seems as a +dream, till I came to myself two months +after in the alms-house in Albany. From +that time I remained in a low wretched +state, for four months, when this poor +baby was born into this world of trouble.”</p> + +<p>Here the poor woman gave way to a +burst of tears, which seemed to be a relief +to her full heart; for afterwards, she proceeded +with more composure. “Many +months passed before I was able to do any +thing for myself. It pleased God to hear +my prayer for patience; and though I was +often without any hope that times would +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a><span>] </span></span>ever mend with me, I was kept from fretting. +You are very kind to feel for me, but I will +not tire you with all my ups and downs for +the last three years. I have sent many +letters into Canada, but have never received +any return. My heart sometimes misgives +me, and I think my husband has gone to +Europe—or maybe is dead.”</p> + +<p>“But, why,” asked Mrs. Sackville, +“have you remained so long in the States?”</p> + +<p>“O, ma'am, I was afraid to undertake +the journey with my poor baby, who has +always been but delicate, and I was determined +not to leave Albany, where I had +made many kind friends, till I had earned +something to help us on our journey. I +know how to turn my hands to almost any +kind of work; and the last year has prospered +so well with me, that when I left +Albany I had forty dollars. At Buffalo +my poor baby was taken down; and I have +been obliged to spend ten dollars; with the +rest I hope to get to Quebec; and if +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a><span>] </span></span>worst comes to worst, I may there find +friends to send me to Europe.”</p> + +<p>The poor woman's story was not one of +unparalleled misfortunes, but it was unusually +interesting to her hearers—there was +so much resolution and mildness blended +in her countenance, such perfect cleanliness +in her coarse apparel, and such an evident +solicitude to avoid any exaggeration, or +even display of her troubles, that could be +an appeal to the charity of her auditors, +that when she concluded, they felt convinced +of her merit, and deeply interested +in her welfare. They were now arrived +at the inn, where they were to await the +children, who arrived in the course of an +hour, heated and dusty—but declaring they +had never a more delightful walk.</p> + +<p>“Lord bless you, Miss,” exclaimed Mrs. Barton, +“you've heated yourself to that +degree, that the blood seems ready to burst +from your cheeks. I shall never forgive +myself if you get sick by it.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a><span>] </span></span>“Oh never fear,” replied Julia, “I did +not feel the heat at all.”</p> + +<p>“But there is such a thick sickly feeling +in the air to-day.”</p> + +<p>“Sickly feeling,” exclaimed Edward, +<ins class='correction' title='I'>“I</ins> am sure I thought the air was never fresher +and sweeter.”</p> + +<p>“You can now understand,” said Mrs. Sackville, +speaking in a low voice to her +children, <ins class='correction' title='“ the'>“the</ins> charm of the ring in the +Fairy tale, bestowed by the benevolent +Genius; which whenever worn, produced a +clear sky, a smooth path and fragrant air. +There is a happiness, my dear children, in +the simplest act of genuine kindness, which +is much more than a compensation for the +loss of any gratification of taste. The relief +of this poor woman, and the sweet sleep +into which her child has been lulled by the +motion of the carriage, have quite reconciled +me to the delay of the sight of the Falls; +for which I confess I began to feel a little +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a><span>] </span></span>but here comes your uncle, full of concern +about something.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Morris entered the room in great +perturbation. “Here is a pretty spot of +work,” said he. “I believe in my soul, Mrs. Barton, +that that scamp Tristy has gone off +with your bundle.”</p> + +<p>“Gone off with it!—God forbid!” exclaimed +the poor woman,—“my money +was all in it.”</p> + +<p>“Oh uncle,” said Edward, “he has not +gone off with it;—he laid himself down under +a tree in the wood just back, and said +he would follow on as soon as he had rested +him.”</p> + +<p>“Rested him! a mere pretence to get rid +of you—you should have had more discretion +than to have trusted him, Ned;—but +when was ever discretion found in a boy?”</p> + +<p>“But what reason, brother, have you to +think he has gone off?” asked Mrs. Sackville.</p> + +<p>Mr. Morris said there had a man just +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a><span>] </span></span>come over the road, of whom he had inquired +if he had seen him:—he had not, but +he was certain he should have observed him +if he had been by the road side. Mr. Morris +had despatched a servant on horseback +in pursuit of him, and he begged Mrs. Barton +to calm herself till his return.</p> + +<p>The poor woman's agitation could not be +allayed as easily as it had been excited:—she +said nothing; but she became as pale as +death, and trembled so excessively, that Mrs. Sackville +took her child from her arms and +laid it on a bed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Morris's compassion once excited, +was never stinted. “Bless you, woman,” he +whispered to Mrs. Barton, “don't tremble +so. If the little imp has really made off, your +loss shall be made up to you. Come, cheer +up—I have engaged a place for you and +your children in a return carriage, and you +will all be in Newark to-night, safe and +snug.”</p> + +<p>“God bless you, sir,” replied Mrs. Barton. +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a><span>] </span></span>“I am ashamed of myself; but my +courage and strength seem quite spent.”</p> + +<p>At this instant, Edward, who had gone +out on the first notice of the boy's delinquency, +returned, shouting, “He's coming, he's +coming;” and directly the messenger made +his appearance with the wallet unharmed, +and followed by Tristram, who came doggedly +on muttering, “that it was a poor reward +for lugging the old woman's bundle +to be hunted for a thief.”</p> + +<p>“Stop your clamor, Tristy,” said Mr. Morris, +“the devil shall have his due; there +is a shilling for you, which is full as much +as your character is worth.”</p> + +<p>“I don't know as to that,” replied the boy, +pocketing the shilling: “those that have +much character can do as they please, but +I have so little, that I set a high price on +it.”</p> + +<p>The carriage was now ready in which +Mrs. Barton was to proceed, and her friends +saw her depart cheered and comforted by +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a><span>] </span></span>their kindness, and themselves enriched by +the opportunity they had improved of imitating +our heavenly Benefactor by ‘raising +the sinking heart, and strengthening the +knees that were ready to fail.’</p> + +<p>After our travellers were again on their +way, Mr. Morris said he did not at all like +Tristram's look, when he said Goody Barton +would remember him the next time she +felt the weight of her wallet. “The little +rascal said too, that he had changed his +mind, and was going back to the States—putting +that and that together, I am afraid +his evil fingers have been inside the poor +woman's bundle.”</p> + +<p>Julia was sure he could not be so wicked—she +had herself observed the bundle, and +that it was very nicely sewed.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sackville hoped and believed that +there was no harm done to the poor woman's +property; and the concern of the party for +their protegée, gradually gave place to +their admiration of the beauties of their ride, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a><span>] </span></span>and the animated expectation of seeing the +Falls.</p> + +<p>Edward declared that his ears already +began to tingle,—and after they passed +Chippewa, Julia resolutely shut her eyes, +for fear of having the first impression weakened +by the imperfect glimpses that could +be caught of the cataract from the road.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>We hope our young readers do not think +us so presumptuous as to attempt to give +them a description of the Falls of Niagara; +one of the sublimest spectacles with which +this fair earth is embellished. Neither can +we attempt to define the emotions of our +travellers. We find in Edward's and Julia's +journals, noted with an accuracy and taste +that does them great credit, all the constituent +parts of this great whole—a poet or a +painter might perhaps weave them into a +beautiful picture.</p> + +<p>The vehement dashing of the rapids—the +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a><span>] </span></span>sublime falls—the various hues of the mass +of waters—the snowy whiteness, and the +deep bright green—the billowy spray that +veils in deep obscurity the depths below—the +verdant island that interposes between +the two falls, half veiled in a misty mantle, +and placed there, it would seem, that the eye +and the spirit may repose on it—the little +island on the brink of the American fall, that +looks amidst the commotion of the waters +like the sylvan vessel of a woodland nymph +gaily sailing onward; or as if the wish of +the Persian girl were realized, and the ‘little +isle <em>had</em> wings;’—a thing of life and motion +that the spirit of the waters had inspired.</p> + +<p>The profound caverns with their overarching +rocks—the quiet habitations along +the margin of the river—peaceful amid all +the uproar, as if the voice of the Creator +had been heard, saying “It is I, be not +afraid.”—The green hill, with its graceful +projections, that skirts and overlooks Table-rock—the +deep and bright verdure of the +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a><span>] </span></span>foliage—every spear of grass that penetrates +the crevices of the rocks, gemmed by +the humid atmosphere, and sparkling in the +sun-beams—the rainbow that rests on the +mighty torrent—a symbol of the smile of +God upon his wondrous work.</p> + +<p>“What is it, mother?” asked Edward, as +he stood with his friends on Table-rock, +where they had remained gazing on the +magnificent scene for fifteen minutes without +uttering a syllable, “what is it, mother, +that makes us all so silent?”</p> + +<p>“It is the spirit of God moving on the +face of the waters—it is this new revelation +to our senses of his power and majesty +which ushers us, as it were, into his visible +presence, and exalts our affections above +language.</p> + +<p>“What, my <ins class='correction' title='dear,'>dear</ins> children, should we be, +without the religious sentiment that is to us +as a second sight, by which we see in all this +beauty the hand of the Creator; by which +we are permitted to join in this hymn of nature; +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a><span>] </span></span>by which, I may say, we are permitted +to enter into the joy of our Lord? Without +it we should be like those sheep, who are at +this moment grazing on the verge of this sublime +precipice, alike unconscious of all these +wonders, and of their divine Original. This +religious sentiment is in truth, Edward, that +promethean fire that kindles nature with a +living spirit, infuses life and expression into +inert matter, and invests the mortal with immortality.” +Mrs. Sackville's eye was upraised, +and her countenance illumined with +a glow of devotion that harmonized with the +scene. “It is, my dear children,” she continued, +“this religious sentiment, enlightened +and directed by reason, that allies you +to external nature, that should govern your +affections, direct your pursuits, exalt and +purify your pleasures, and make you feel, +by its celestial influence, that the kingdom +is within you; but,” she added smiling, after +a momentary pause, “this temple does not +need a preacher.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a><span>] </span></span>“Perhaps not,” said Mr. Sackville; “but +the language of nature sometimes needs an +interpreter to such young observers as Ned +and Julia.”</p> + +<p>“That it does, papa,” exclaimed Edward, +whose exalted feeling was gradually subsiding +to its natural level; “and there are +people, too, older than Julia and I, that I +think need an interpreter. That Yorkshireman, +for instance, who lives in the stone +house just at the turn of the road as we came +down from Forsyth's, said to me, ‘Well, +young master, this is a mighty fine sight to +come and see, but you would be sick enough +of it if you lived here. It seems, when I am +lying on my bed at night, like an everlasting +thunder-storm, such a roaring from the +Falls and dropping from the trees: and in +winter my poor beasts are covered with +icicles. I wish some of the quality that cry +the place up, and come half the world over +to see it, would change births with my wife +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a><span>] </span></span>and me,’ and so he went on railing till I ran +away from him to overtake you.”</p> + +<p>“Poor fellow!” said Mr. Sackville; “the +sentiment, ‘Il n'y a rien de beau que +l'utile,’<a name="FNanchor_3_3" href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> is quite excusable in a laborer. I +think, Ned, I feel more disposed to pity than +to blame your Yorkshireman.”</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" href="#FNanchor_3_3" class="label">[3]</a> There is nothing but the useful which is beautiful.</p></div></div> + +<p>“Well, papa, what do you think of that +party of city shop-keepers who dined at the +inn with us to-day? I heard one of the +ladies say, ‘I have been so disappointed in +my journey.’ I dropped my knife and fork, +and exclaimed, ‘Disappointed, madam! +does not the fall look as high as you expected?’ +‘Oh, child,’ she replied, laughing, ‘I +was not speaking of the fall; but I find it is +quite too early in the season to travel in the +country. I have not seen a roast pig or a +broiled chicken since I left the city.’ What +do you think of that, papa?”</p> + +<p>“Why I think, my dear, she is a vulgar +woman, who travels because others do; and +is naturally disappointed in not meeting with +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a><span>] </span></span>the only circumstances that could give her +pleasure.”</p> + +<p>“There's Mrs. Hilton, papa, who, I am +sure, is not vulgar—at least she is as rich as +Crœsus—and I heard her say to a gentleman, +that if she could have remained at the +Springs, and then could have gone home +and <em>said</em> she had been to the Falls, she +should have been glad; for she was sure no +one came here but for the name of it.”</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Hilton is of the class of the vulgar +rich, among whom vulgarity is quite as obvious, +and much more disgusting, than with +the vulgar poor. But come, dear Ned; the +faults and follies of others is a theme scarcely +worthy of this place; and just at the moment +that you are enjoying this festival of +nature, you must take care you do not commit +the <ins class='correction' title='pharasaic'>pharisaic</ins> fault, and thank God that +you are not as these people, without reflecting +that Providence has arranged the circumstances +which have made the difference.”</p> + +<p>“But, papa,” said Julia, “it would not be +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a><span>] </span></span>wrong, would it, for Edward to feel that +there is a difference?”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps not, provided the feeling is properly +tempered with humility and gratitude; +but it is far safer to be in the habit of comparing +yourselves with your superiors, than +your inferiors.”</p> + +<p>“It may be safer, papa,” said Julia, +“but”—</p> + +<p>“But what, my love?”</p> + +<p>“It is not half so natural.”</p> + +<p>“Nor so pleasant,” interposed Edward.</p> + +<p>“Well, my children, I hope you will make +it habitual, and then it will be natural. For +the present I am satisfied that you speak +frankly your opinions and feelings, without +disguise or affectation.”</p> + +<p>Thus these vigilant parents extracted some +moral good from every object and every +scene; and at that early age, when most +children are thoughtless of <ins class='correction' title='he'>the</ins> future, theirs +were constantly directed to virtue, which +they were taught is immortal in its nature, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a><span>] </span></span>is man's support and solace through all the +vicissitudes of life, and his crown of glory +when the ‘terrestrial puts on the celestial.’</p> + +<p>Our travellers remained at the Falls for +a week, that they might become familiar +with them, see them by the rising and the +setting sun; by daylight, and moonlight, +and starlight, in all the radiance of the clear, +full day, and in mists and storm; and then, +after offering a Te Deum from the temple of +their hearts, they left them with beautiful +and imperishable pictures traced on their +memories.</p> + +<p>In following the windings of the Niagara +to Newark, they passed the celebrated +heights of Queenstown, ‘where ceas'd the +swift their race, where fell the strong;’ but +even then, though then so recent, there were +no traces of the disastrous battle fought +there. The children, whose home was in a +hill-country, and who valued a mountain as +much as a New-Englander does a ‘water +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a><span>] </span></span>privilege,’ rambled over the heights, and +gazed delighted on the green Niagara, +which, escaped from its rocky prison, rejoices +in its freedom, sweeps freely and +gracefully around the bluff promontories +that indent its course, flows past the headland, +where Fort Niagara guards the American +shore, and enters Lake Ontario, which +stretches, sparkling in the distance,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i12">“To where the sky<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Stoops, and shuts in th' exploring eye.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Edward had, in common with most spirited +boys, a natural taste for military exploits. +“I think,” he said to his mother, “that a +coward might play the hero on these heights, +or at Lundie's-lane. Only think, mother, +of fighting within the sound of the roaring +of the Falls: would it not give you grand +feelings?”</p> + +<p>“I think, Edward, if I could hear the +Falls at such a moment, they would seem to +me to speak in a voice of rebuke, rather +than encouragement.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a><span>] </span></span>“O, mother, you never seem to admire +courage; but I suppose it is because you +are a woman.”</p> + +<p>“No, my dear: women have been accused +of having rather an undue admiration for +what you mean by courage—fighting courage; +but I confess that war seems to me a +violation of the law of God, and it appears +a profanation of such beautiful scenes as +these, to convert <ins class='correction' title='themi n tofields'>them into fields</ins> of battle.”</p> + +<p>When they reached Newark, the party +walked up to Fort George; a slight embankment, +surrounded by a palisade, is still dignified +by that name. “This palisade as they +call it, Ned,” said Mr. Morris, “we should +scarcely think a sufficient defence against +the batteries of pigs and chickens.”</p> + +<p>“It has served, though, to keep the yankees +at bay,” said a soldier, gruffly, who +was cutting up Canada thistles, and who had +suspended his labour for a moment, to regard +the strangers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a><span>] </span></span>“A fair hit, friend,” said Mr. Morris; +“but all our fighting is over now, and +forgotten I hope. This work you are doing +here, cutting off these thistles, is far better +than cutting off heads.”</p> + +<p>“It is far aisier, sir,” replied the man, +with a slight curling of the lip, which betrayed +a professional contempt for Mr. Morris's +preference of the plough-share over the +sword; then turning towards the gate he +called to a little boy who was just entering +it—“Come, come Dick, what do you gaze +at, boy? bring me the basket.”</p> + +<p>The boy, without heeding the command, +dropped the basket; and uttering a cry between +joy and surprise, scampered off in the +direction of a cottage, or rather hovel, which +stood just without the palisade.</p> + +<p>“That is Richard Barton!—that is certainly +Richard Barton!” exclaimed the children +in one breath.</p> + +<p>“Surely is it Richard Barton,” said the +soldier.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a><span>] </span></span>“Is his mother, here? Has he found +his father?” asked Edward impatiently; +while all the party drew nearer the soldier, +anxious to learn the fate of their humble +friend.</p> + +<p>“Ay, his mother is in by there, poor +cratur; but his father has been gone since +the summer after the war, when the 40th +was sent from Canada—where, God knows—there's +none but he that made them can +keep track of a British regiment: one year +they are here with the setting sun, and then +off to where he rises—shifting and changing +like the waves of the sea, beating from +one world to another; and I should know +it by rason that I myself was fighting, and +baiting gentaly under Wellington on the +sunny side of the Pyrennees in one month, +and the next comes an order and whips us +off for Canada in the twinkling of an eye, +among the indians and the yankees, who +know nothing about fighting,” he concluded, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a><span>] </span></span>glancing his eye at Mr. Morris, +“according to the civil rules of war.”</p> + +<p>“Poor, Mrs. Barton!” said Mrs. Sackville. +“I am grieved at her disappointment, +though I expected it.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, do let us go in and see her,” said +Julia.</p> + +<p>“We will wait a moment, my dear,” replied +her mother; “her little boy must have +told her that we were here, and I think she +will come out to us.”</p> + +<p>“She'll not be right free to come before +you,” said the soldier, “if, as I now partly +suspect, you are the gentlemen and ladies +that were so hospitable like to her.” The +man now doffed his cap, and stood with it +in his hand, with an expression of respect +in his manner far different from the hostile +air he had at first assumed.</p> + +<p>“But, why not, my friend, come before +us?” asked Mrs. Sackville. “I trust she +has nothing to be ashamed of.”</p> + +<p>“Ashamed! no, thank God—it would +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a><span>] </span></span>be hard indeed if she had to bear the burthen +of shame with her other misfortunes; +but though a soldier's wife, she has an <ins class='correction' title='Enlish'>English</ins> +spirit, and a proud one; and she says, +while she has her health and her hands, she +will never be seen asking charity; and that +destitute is her condition, that as she said +to-day, to make her case known to christian +people, is asking charity of them.”</p> + +<p>“Do, mother, let us go now and see her,” +again interposed Julia.</p> + +<p>“Stop, a moment, my love,” replied Mrs. Sackville; +and then turning again to the +soldier—“You say she is utterly destitute; +but when she left us, she said she had a +considerable sum of money.”</p> + +<p>“And she spake the truth, ma'am—or, +what is the same, she thought she did; but +a little limb of the old one, saving your +presence, my lady, had fingered all the poor +cratur had been earning in three years, in +as many minutes, and was off to the States +with it.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a><span>] </span></span>“Ah,” exclaimed Mr. Morris, who had +been intently listening—“the son of Belial—I +told you so—I knew the rascal had it.”</p> + +<p>“So dame Barton said one of the gentlemen +told her; but the bundle was all +tight and snug, for the little devil had sewed +it up again, and she did not examine it +till she come to look for the money to pay +the captain of a schooner, who had agreed +to take her down the lakes: and just think, +my lady, at that moment what an overcast +it was.”</p> + +<p>“That mischief was done,” said Edward, +as soon as he had an opportunity of speaking, +“when you and I, Julia, left that little +wretch Tristy in the wood. I shall always +think we were to blame for leaving him.”</p> + +<p>“Does the poor woman,” asked Mrs. Sackville, +“still think of returning to Quebec?”</p> + +<p>“To Quebec! ah, madam, and to the +world's end, but she'll find her husband if +he is above ground. She is that resolute, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a><span>] </span></span>that neither wind nor tide can turn her. If +she was left on a naked island in mid ocean, +she would contrive to get off from it.”</p> + +<p>“Come, children,” said Mrs. Sackville, +“we will just leave your father and uncle to +finish their survey here, while we look in +upon our poor friend.”</p> + +<p>“Well, go on mother,” said Edward, “I +will overtake you; first I must run up to +the flag-staff and get at least a clover stalk +for a memorial of the gallant Brock who +is buried there.”</p> + +<p>“And I will overtake you too, mother,” +said Julia, falling back with Edward.</p> + +<p>The soldier's eye followed the children: +“God bless them—God bless them!” said +he, “that is better than a monument.”</p> + +<p>“What is better than a monument, +friend?” asked Mrs. Sackville, riveted to +the spot, as most mothers would be, by an +honest commendation of her children.</p> + +<p>“The memory of an innocent heart—and +a tear from eyes that never cried for sin, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a><span>] </span></span>my lady—we soldiers die, and are turned +into the turf—but we are honored in +our officers.”</p> + +<p>“Farewell, my friend; I wish you well,” +said Mrs. Sackville, dropping a piece of +money into the soldier's hand, and then +turned from him while he was still uttering +his hearty, “God bless you, my lady.”</p> + +<p>Julia hailed Edward as he was bounding +off towards the flag-staff, and begged him +to stop for her, as she had something private +to say to him. He laughed at her passion +for secrets, said he could not possibly be +detained, and at last good naturedly stopped +to listen. “Ned,” she said, “I tell you +what I was thinking of—as it was our fault, +you know, that poor Mrs. Barton lost her +money—and she is so anxious to get to +Quebec—and that little Dick is such a good +good natured little fellow—I was thinking, +Ned—”</p> + +<p>“For mercy's sake think a little faster, +Julia.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a><span>] </span></span>“Well, I was thinking, if we could contrive +some way to have her go down in the +boat with us.”</p> + +<p>“Contrive! it could not take us long to +contrive I think: we can only ask papa, +you know, and all the contrivance in the +world will do her no good, if he does not +think it best.”</p> + +<p>“But, then, Ned, there is one thing I +would like to propose to father and mother, +if you are willing to join me.”</p> + +<p>“Don't be so round-about, Julia, as if I +was the great Mogul. Speak out.”</p> + +<p>“Well then, to speak plain—you know +Edward, you and I have each of us five +dollars that papa gave us to buy Canada +curiosities with; now I think if we were to +club, we might have enough to get Mrs. Barton +to Quebec, if the captains of the boats +are good-natured men, and reasonable in +their charges, and if papa approves the +scheme—and if”——</p> + +<p>“If—if—if,” said Edward, “we shall +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a><span>] </span></span>never move the woman with all these <em>ifs</em> to +clog the way; one <em>if</em> is sure, that if we +spend our money this way, we might have +saved ourselves all the trouble of planning +so many times over how we should lay it +out.”</p> + +<p>Edward continued for a few moments +silent and moody, while Julia urged her +cause zealously. The person, young or +old, to whom a charity is suggested, is not +often as eager for it as the original projector. +Edward, however, after having walked up +to the flag-staff, plucked a clover-stalk, and +retraced a part of the way to the little +wicket by which they entered, said, with the +air of a sage, “I did not think it best, Julia, +to say yes, without some consideration; but +on the whole I like the plan, and if father +and mother consent, I shall be very glad.” +Once agreed, they were impatient for the +execution of their scheme, and they hurried +forward to the cottage, at the door of which +they were met by both the children. The +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a><span>] </span></span>little girl now quite recovered, clung to +Julia, while Richard plucked Edward by +the sleeve, and expressed his joy awkwardly, +but naturally enough, by laughing in his +face.</p> + +<p>“Ah, they are indeed right glad to see +ye,” said Mrs. Barton, “as I'm sure I am, +as I have reason; but they, poor things—their +hearts would not jump so at sight of +their father's face, as indeed how should +they, seeing they can have no recollection +of him.”</p> + +<p>The children replied to all these kind +expressions from mother and children, and +then drawing Mrs. Sackville to the door, +they suggested their plan. She kissed them +both, and bade them await her in the cottage, +while she went to consult their father +and uncle, whom she saw approaching.</p> + +<p>As soon as she had communicated the +children's wishes, Mr. Morris laughed at +them. “Why,” said he, “the poor foolish +woman is on a wild-goose chase, and the +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a><span>] </span></span>sooner she is stopped the better—travelling +over the world after a husband, who I have +no doubt she is vastly better without than +with.”</p> + +<p>“But she is the best judge of that, brother.”</p> + +<p>“Lord bless you, no—a wife is no judge +at all about her husband. She is evidently +an ingenious worthy woman, and can get a +good living if she is not footing it over the +world after this soldier—a good riddance—a +good riddance, Mrs. Sackville. I am surprised +you do not see it is a good riddance.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sackville, who did not esteem +matrimonial ties so lightly as her bachelor +brother, appealed to her husband, but he +joined Mr. Morris in thinking Mrs. Barton +had much better remain where she was; +not because he was sure the father and husband, +though a soldier, might not be worth +looking up, but because there was not the +slightest chance of finding him. “What +good will it do the woman to get to Quebec?” +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a><span>] </span></span>he asked; “her husband's regiment +has left Canada.”</p> + +<p>“She tells me,” replied Mrs. Sackville, +“that she has many friends in Quebec from +whom she might expect assistance. She +has worked for the governor's lady, and +she builds much on her benevolence, and +thinks she will get her a free passage to her +husband in a government ship; and besides,” +added Mrs. Sackville, “even if her +hopes fail utterly, we shall confer an essential +benefit on our children by complying +with their wishes; for if they give this poor +woman all their little store of wealth, it will +cost them the sacrifice of sundry personal +gratifications that they have reckoned much +on, and thus give them a practical lesson of +self-denial and disinterestedness, better than +all our precepts, and it will associate with +the more selfish and transient pleasures of +their journey, the pure and enduring sentiment +of benevolence.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a><span>] </span></span>“Well, my dear wife,” said Mr. Sackville, +“do as you please—you have arrayed +before me irresistible motives.”</p> + +<p>Thus sanctioned, Mrs. Sackville returned +to the cottage, whispered to the children +their father's acquiescence, and then saying +aloud, “I leave you to make all the +arrangements with Mrs. Barton,” she left +them.</p> + +<p>We shall not attempt to describe the poor +woman's gratitude, which overflowed in +words and tears, nor the children's noisy +joy when they heard they were to go down +the lake with their friends. Suffice it to say, +that in the course of two hours, and just as +the steam-boat appeared in sight, heavily +plying down from Lewistown, Mrs. Barton +was on the wharf with her children, as clean +and nice as soap and water and fresh and +well-patched clothes could make them, and +looking so grateful and joyful, that Mr. Morris, +who, like the good vicar of Wakefield, +‘loved happy human faces,’ forgot all +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a><span>] </span></span>his objections to the procedure, and shaking +the good woman's hand heartily, said, he +“was glad they were to be fellow-passengers.”</p> + +<p>Our friends, with many others, were now +impatiently waiting a conveyance to the +steam-boat, which had stopped near the +opposite shore. The wharf exhibited the +usual signs of a small garrisoned town. +Half drunken soldiers were idling about, +and sentinels were posting to and fro, stationed +there to prevent the desertion of the +soldiers to the opposite side, a crime which +the vicinity and hospitable habits of the +State render very common. Edward accosted +one of the sentinels, and asked him +if the captain of the steam-boat sent his +small boat ashore. “Fraquently he does, +and fraquently he <ins class='correction' title='dont'>don't</ins>,” replied the fellow, +rather surlily. “Does the boat stop at fort +Niagara?”</p> + +<p>“Indeed sir, and that is what I cannot +tell you.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a><span>] </span></span>“Well,” pursued Edward with simplicity, +“do you think they will send ashore to-day?”</p> + +<p>“Indeed master, and it's what I am not +thinking about.”</p> + +<p>Edward turned away, making a mental +comparison between this man and his own +civil countrymen, greatly to the disadvantage +of the former, when his attention was +attracted by the approach of a boat which +came skimming over the water like a bird, +and as it neared the shore, a little tight-built +sailor leaped on to the wharf, and announced +himself as Jemmy Chapman, the +captain's mate. While the baggage was +arranging in the boat, Edward seized the +favorable moment to make the best bargain +he could with the mate for his protegée.</p> + +<p>But the mate averred he had no power +to transact that business, and referred him +to his captain. “You may safely trust to +him, my young man,” said he, “for captain +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a><span>] </span></span>Vaughan is not a man to take advantage +of a ship in distress.”</p> + +<p>And so it proved—for the captain, (as +every body knows, who ever crossed the +lake in the steam-boat Ontario) was a +man of distinguished humanity; and pleased +with the good appearance of Mrs. Barton +and her children, and the zeal of her +youthful protectors, he said, that if she had +brought her thread and needles a-board, +she might work her passage to Ogdensburg, +for he and some of his men were +sadly out at elbows. The good woman's +eyes glistened with delight, at the thought +of paying her way thus far, and she seated +herself directly to put new pockets in an +old coat of Jemmy's, when a sudden attack +of tooth-ache put a stop to her progress.</p> + +<p>The children were soon acquainted with +her malady, for they were continually +hovering about her, and Julia procured +some camphor and laudanum from an invalid +passenger, and gave them to her. She applied +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a><span>] </span></span>them, but the horrible pangs were not +allayed, when Jemmy Chapman was attracted +by the report of her distress. “Stand +away, all,” said he; “stand away—fall +back, my young man; and you, my little +lady, and give place to me. I am the +seventh son of a seventh son, and I can cure +any body's tooth-ache but my own.” Mrs. Barton +was not free from the superstition +which pervades her class, and she gladly +permitted him to stroke her face, which he +did with a gravity that evinced perfect faith +in his own powers; and in the course of +fifteen minutes, she declared herself completely +relieved, and cheerfully resumed her +labors. Julia ran to announce the cure to +her mother.</p> + +<p>“Is not it strange, mama,” she said, +“that she could believe it was Jemmy that +cured her?”</p> + +<p>“Strange to us, my dear, who do not +believe in any such supernatural powers; +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a><span>] </span></span>but we will not quarrel with a faith that +cures the tooth-ache.”</p> + +<p>As the boat passed Fort Niagara, where +the river debouches into the lake, “There,” +said Jemmy Chapman to Edward, who stood +beside him; “there, on that point stood a +noble stone light-house, that has saved +many a poor fellow from finding a grave in +this stormy lake: it was like the good scripture +light which shines equally upon all.”</p> + +<p>“And what has become of it?” asked +Edward.</p> + +<p>“Oh, it was taken down like Solomon's +temple, till there was not one stone left +upon another, by one of our generals—thank +the Lord he was not an American +born—he it was, that first set the example +of burning on the frontier, and burnt down +this pretty town of Newark here—and cut +down all the orchards.”</p> + +<p>“The orchards! what in the world did he +do that for?” asked Edward.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a><span>] </span></span>Jemmy paused for a moment, apparently +at a loss what motive to assign for such +reckless destruction, and then said, “Out of +curiosity I believe.”</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>We fear that we have already protracted +our details beyond the patience of our readers.</p> + +<p>We shall not therefore describe the prosperous +passage of the boat over the beautiful +expanse of Lake Ontario: nor the visit +of our friends to the town of Rochester, +which five years before was a complete +wilderness; but now had fine houses, shops, +and warehouses, and Edward said, reminded +him of Adam, who was born grown up: +nor their passage from the lake into the St. Lawrence, +where these mighty waters passing +St. Vincent on one side, and Grand +Island on the other, contract their channel, +and assume the form of a river.</p> + +<p>Our friends, wrapped in their cloaks and +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a><span>] </span></span>shawls to defend them from the chill night +air, clustered around Jemmy Chapman, who +stood at the helm guiding the boat through +the difficult and shifting channels, amid the +‘thousand isles’—now in silence gazing on +them, as they were lit up with the rosy +hues of twilight, and then with the mild but +insufficient lustre of the half orbed moon. +These verdant islands are of every size and +form. Some lying in clusters like the +‘solitary set in families:’ and some like +beautiful vestals in single loveliness. Some +stretching for miles in length, and some so +small, and without a tree or shrub, that they +look like lawns destined for fairy sporting +grounds; while others are encircled by +such an impenetrable growth of trees, that +one might fancy that within this sylvan +barrier wood-nymphs held their courts and +revels; in short, might fancy any thing; +for there are no traces of human footsteps +to break the spell of imagination, save where +the fisherman's hut, placed on the brink of +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a><span>] </span></span>the element by which he lives, is disclosed +with its dark relief of unbroken woods by +the bright glare of the pine torch, which is +his beacon light, and which serves to show +the gleaming path-way of his little canoe. +Jemmy recounted to the children the sad +mishaps and disastrous chances that had +befallen unskilful or unfortunate navigators +in these dangerous passes, and the kind +captain repeatedly fired his signal gun, +which seemed to wake the spirits of these +deep solitudes, to send back the greeting in +echo and re-echo, till their voices died +away on the most distant shores.</p> + +<p>“Don't they hollow well?” said Jemmy, +after the last report, turning briskly around +to dame Barton who sat near him.</p> + +<p>“Well, I did not hear them,” said she, +mournfully.</p> + +<p>“Not hear them—why, they spoke as +plain as preaching—are you deaf, good +woman?”</p> + +<p>“Deaf! oh, no—but my thoughts were +far from here.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a><span>] </span></span>Mrs. Sackville thought there was something +in Mrs. Barton's devotedness to her +husband, not common in her class of life. +She had been deterred from putting any +questions to her, by the habitual silence +and diffidence of the poor woman. But +now they had become so much more acquainted, +that she ventured to say to her, +“Come, Mrs. Barton, suppose you favor +us while we sit here, with a little history of +your life. My children are so much interested +in you, that they want to know all +they can about you.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, you are very good ma'am to say +so; but what is there in the history of the +like of me to tell? not that I have any +objection to make known my story—thank +God, that's kept me in his fear—but then +what happens to poor plain bodies like me, +is not made much count of in the world.”</p> + +<p>“But, remember, my good friend,” said +Mrs. Sackville, “the happiness of all his +creatures, rich and poor, is of equal account +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a><span>] </span></span>in the sight of our heavenly Father, and as +I wish my children continually to bear in +mind that it is this great Being, whom they +are commanded by their Saviour to imitate, +I trust that the happiness of their fellow-beings, +whether high or low, will be of +equal importance in their view.”</p> + +<p>Thus encouraged by the kindness of the +mother, and the eager looks of the children, +who stationed themselves close to her, Mrs. Barton +began her simple and brief story.</p> + +<p>“I never knew my parents,” she said. +“I was, as I have been told, given by a +gipsey woman to a magistrate of the town +of Lichfield, in England, when I was three +years old. The woman was sick, and died +shortly after. She declared herself ignorant +of my parentage. She believed I had +been stolen in London, by some of her +tribe, about a year before; and said that I +had been committed to her charge for some +months, I had a necklace, with a gold clasp +with initials, which I had been permitted to +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a><span>] </span></span>retain; and the worthy magistrate, in the +hope that this might lead to a discovery, +advertised me, with a description of the +necklace; but no one appearing to claim +me, he finally placed me in the Lichfield +alms-house.</p> + +<p>“When I was seven years old, don't +laugh at me, Miss Julia, I was called a +beauty. My skin was as smooth as yours; +and my hair hung in curls about my neck +and face. At this time a whimsical gentleman, +who had a fancy to bring up a +wife to his own liking, came to the alms-house: +he was pleased with my appearance, +and selected me. He taught me himself, +and procured teachers for me, and from +morning till night I was poring over hard +tasks: this lasted for three years, and perhaps +Mr. Leslie, for that was the gentleman's +name, might have remained constant +to his purpose, but then I took the small-pox; +and after lying at the gates of death +for weeks, I recovered, but with my face +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a><span>] </span></span>blotched and seamed as you see it. For +many months my eye-sight and hearing +were gone, and when I could see, my eyes +had this cast in them, which looks as if I +were born cross-eyed.</p> + +<p>“No one could blame Mr. Leslie for +giving me up. I am sure I never did. He +placed me with a poor widow, and paid my +lodging with her till I was one and twenty, +and gave me a draft on him for a hundred +pounds, which was to be paid when I came +of age. With Mrs. Gordon I was happier +than I had ever been in my life. My book +tasks I never had liked, but I sewed or +spun with Mrs. Gordon, from morning till +night, without ever being weary or discontented. +She taught me her own ways, +and she was noted through the whole town, +for her industry and neatness. She was a +good christian too, and she brought me up +to fear God and to love his service. She +had one child—an only son, two years +younger than myself. He was sometimes +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a><span>] </span></span>wild and wilful, for his mother, though +she was resolute with every thing else, +could never deny him. He was sometimes +as I said, wild and wilful—but when he was +himself, he was the pleasantest lad in the +village, and the best. Mrs. Gordon was as +a mother to me; and you know it was +natural I should love her son Richard; and +I thought I but loved him as a sister should, +till one Sunday I saw him come up the little +path-way that led to our cottage, with a +blue ribband bow in his hand, which he +kissed again and again, and then thrust it +into his bosom. I knew it was a love token +from Sally Wilton the miller's daughter, +for I had seen it that day in her hat, and I +felt a pang at my heart, that told me it was +not as a brother I loved Richard.</p> + +<p>“I have skipped over many years, for I +would not weary you. I was now one and +twenty, and my draft on Mr. Leslie was due. +Mrs. Gordon began to talk to me of marrying +Richard. I only answered her with +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a><span>] </span></span>silence and tears; but one woman can read +another's heart, and she knew what was in +mine; and she, poor woman, thought to +make all right by taking it into her own +hands.</p> + +<p>“It so happened one night, that I was in +an adjoining room when she supposed I +was absent from the cottage, and she put +many questions to Richard about me, but +she could get no satisfaction from him. She +then told him (oh, at the moment I thought I +could never forgive her for it) she was sure +I loved him. She said much in my favor, +ma'am, that I cannot repeat, and tried with +it all to put a veil over my poor ugly face, +and then concluded with saying, for she +was a thrifty woman, and never lost sight +of the main chance, that I should not +come empty handed. At this his spirit +rose—he said, he would not be bought by +all the gold in the king's coffers. My +heart rose to my lips, but I held my breath, +for his mother grew very angry, and said +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a><span>] </span></span>something from Solomon's proverbs, about +my being the virtuous woman whose price +was far above rubies. Then Richard burst +into tears, and said he knew that, and he +would go round the world to serve me, but +he could not marry me. He confessed that +he had already plighted his truth to Sally +Wilton; and he declared that he never +would marry any body but Sally Wilton. +His mother lost all patience—she said he +would make a beggar of himself for life—that +the Wiltons were an idle race, and that +none of the name had ever come to any +good.</p> + +<p>“A great deal more she said, but it +seemed to me the more she talked, the firmer +Richard was in his own mind.</p> + +<p>“You may be sure ma'am I did not close +my eyes that night; my love had been +blasted, and my pride cast down. It was +long before I could think of any one but +myself, or compose my mind to any good +thoughts; but when I began to see things in +a right light, it seemed to me a pity we +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a><span>] </span></span>should all be miserable together; and I +began to contrive some way to make Richard +happy. He had just served his time +with a shoemaker, but he had no capital to +enable him to set up for himself. I knew +Sally Wilton was a gay thoughtless thing; +but so were most girls, and I believed that +when she was married, she would do her +duty; to me it seemed, that duty would be +all pleasure with such a husband as Richard. +I had some struggles with my own heart, but +before the morning light dawned, I had +made up my mind what to do. When I +met Richard and his mother in the morning, +I was far the happiest of the three. She +was angry, he was sullen and downcast; +but I had that feeling which I need not +describe to you ma'am, who have so often +the power and the will to make others happy. +Immediately after our morning meal, +I went and presented my draft to Mr. Leslie's +agent, and received my hundred +pounds. Half the sum I returned to him +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a><span>] </span></span>to invest for me, the other half I placed in +the hands of the shoemaker, with whom +Richard had served his time, and with +whom he was a great favorite, and I requested +him to lay it out in tools and stock +for Richard. The purchase was made—a +little shop hired, and every thing in readiness; +and then I told Richard in the presence +of his mother what I had done. At +first he said he never could accept so much +from me; but I told him, (and I smothered +my feelings, and smiled when I said it,) that +in spite of his mother's fancies, it was as a +sister I loved him, and as a sister and older +than himself too, I had a right to provide +for him. He was far more grateful and +happy than I expected. His mother gave +her consent to his marriage, though grudgingly, +for she was a set woman, and she had +no faith in Sally Wilton. They were married. +Richard was industrious, and we hoped +would be prosperous, but as it proved Mrs. Barton's +distrust of Sally was too well +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a><span>] </span></span>founded. She was idle and extravagant, +and such a wife soon ruins a poor man. In +five years Richard was reduced to such +straits, that in a fit of desperation he enlisted. +From the sorrowful day he came to +take leave of us, for his regiment was +soon after sent to the East-Indies, his mother +never had a well day or a happy hour. +After he went away, his wife led a vicious +life; and four years after she came to our +door to beg a crust of bread—a poor, +wasted, sick, half-famished creature. We +took her in. To be sure she had been a sad +sinner, but she was Richard's wife, and besides +it is always better to pity than condemn, +and it is not for the like of us ma'am +you know, who have no hope but because +God's compassions fail not, to turn our +backs upon a fellow-creature in sin and +misery.</p> + +<p>“For a whole year she laid in a distressing +sickness. Mrs. Barton had become +so old and feeble, that she could do nothing +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a><span>] </span></span>but pray for us, and I had as you may suppose +a toilsome life of it; but I was as I +trusted, doing my duty, and that makes a +light heart, and according to my experience +ma'am, no one can be very wretched that +has enough to do, and that tries to do their +duty faithfully, be that duty ever so humble. +We never suffered. Sally had some +help from the charitable; and when we had +no other resource, I drew on my fifty +pounds.</p> + +<p>“It would have been a great comfort to +us to have seen Sally take hold of religion, +when every thing else failed; but the poor +soul was racked with pains and coughing, +and could only think of her suffering body, +and she was perfectly deaf too, and could +hear nothing that the clergyman said to +her, though Mrs. Barton thought it right +he should talk to her. Oh ma'am, I think +there is not a more mournful sight on the +earth than to see a young creature thus cut +off by her <ins class='correction' title='sins.”'>sins.</ins></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a><span>] </span></span>“Richard returned to us two days before +she died, but she did not know him, and +could not hear his forgiveness, though he +spoke it over and over again.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Barton paused for a few moments, +quite overcome by the recollection of that +sad period, and then resumed her story.</p> + +<p>“And now came brighter days. Richard +had endured many hardships, and past +through many temptations, but he had not +lost his integrity. He had come home in +attendance on an officer who had obtained +a furlough. Not many months passed over +before Richard expressed a wish to marry +me, though my little fortune was gone, and +ten years had not as you may suppose improved +my beauty. Our mother said, our +wedding-day was the happiest of her life. +She did not long survive it. Before my +husband rejoined his regiment she had gone +to her rest. From that time till Richard +was taken prisoner by the Americans, +we have never been separated, and he has +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a><span>] </span></span>proved faithful and kind to me, and being, +as he is, all the world to me who have +never known other kindred but my little +ones, it cannot seem strange to you, ma'am, +that the world is a lonely place without +him; and that I should be willing to take +the help of your blessed children to get on +my way to him.”</p> + +<p>“Oh no indeed, my good friend,” said +Mrs. Sackville, “I am delighted that my +children have found one so worthy of their +assistance; you may rest assured that we +shall not part from you till we arrive at +Quebec. Come now Edward and Julia to +your <ins class='correction' title='births'>berths</ins>—and dream of the ‘thousand +isles,’ or Mrs. Barton, or what you will.” +The children obeyed their mother, and +doubtless had such sweet visions as hover +about the pillow of youth, and health, and +innocence.</p> + +<p>Jemmy Chapman had not been an uninterested +listener to this simple tale of patient +virtue; and though Mrs. Barton had +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a><span>] </span></span>spoken so low that he had lost some parts +of her narrative, he heard enough to touch +his kind heart. As she rose from the bench +near him, “Stop, stop, good woman,” said +he, and he jerked some tears from off his +cheeks; “it is not much that such as I can +pity you, but a drop is something in a gill-glass, +and (turning his pockets inside out, +and collecting a half handful of small +change,) I should not be my mother's son +if I did not feel for a woman in distress, +and so will you just take this which may +help to raise a little breeze for you when +you are becalmed. Nay, don't haul off, +but take it, and remember the poor sailors +in a stormy night. It is good luck to us to +have a friend a-shore to speak a good word +for us when we have no time to speak for +ourselves.”</p> + +<p>Jemmy's hearty kindness was irresistible, +and Mrs. Barton received his gift, scarcely +able to command her voice to utter her +thanks.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a><span>] </span></span>The next morning found the steam-boat +at the wharf at Ogdensburg. Edward undertook +to settle with the captain for the +passage of his protegées; but the captain +would receive nothing, and persisted in declaring +that he was amply compensated by +Mrs. Barton's industry. The travellers +parted from him and from our friend Jemmy +with expressions of the esteem which their +virtues even on this short acquaintance had +not failed to produce; and then they proceeded +to make arrangements for their passage +down the St. Lawrence by chartering +and provisioning a Durham boat.</p> + +<p>While this was getting in readiness, Mrs. Sackville, +whose curiosity, like that of a +more celebrated traveller, ‘extended to all +the works of art, all the appearances of +nature, and all the monuments of past +events,’ walked with her children to view +a rare curiosity on our continent—an <em>American</em> +antiquity. On a point of land at the +junction of the Oswegatchie with the St. <span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a><span>] </span></span>Lawrence, +there is a broken stone wall, the +remains of a French fortification. While +they stood surveying with pleased attention +this monument of the olden time, they were +joined by a gentleman who appeared like +them to have been attracted to the spot by +curiosity. He took off his hat, bowed to +Mrs. Sackville, and asked if he might take +the liberty to inquire of her whether she resided +at Ogdensburg.</p> + +<p>When she replied in the negative, he +begged her pardon, and said he had been +extremely anxious to authenticate a traditionary +story he had picked up in his +journey through Canada, some of the events +of which had been located at this place. +He had hoped to find some record of it in +Charlevoix's History, but he had searched +in vain. Mrs. Sackville became in her +turn the inquirer. She said she delighted +in those traditionary tales, which, with the +aid of a little fancy, reconstructed ruins, +and enclosed within their walls living beings +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a><span>] </span></span>with affections and interests like our own; +and she should hold herself very much +obliged to the gentleman if he would enrich +her with some interesting associations with +this place. The stranger seemed highly +gratified to have found so ready a sympathy +in his feelings, and he related the following +particulars.</p> + +<p>“A commandant of this fort (which was +built by the French to protect their traders +against the savages,) married a young Iroquois +who was before or after the marriage +converted to the Catholic faith. She was +the daughter of a chieftain of her tribe, and +great efforts were made by her people to +induce her to return to them. Her brother +lurked in this neighbourhood, and procured +interviews with her, and attempted to win +her back by all the motives of national +pride and family affection; but all in vain. +The young Garanga, or, to call her by her +baptismal name, Marguerite, was bound by +a threefold cord—her love to her husband, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a><span>] </span></span>to her son, and to her religion. Mecumeh, +finding persuasion ineffectual, had recourse +to stratagem. The commandant was in +the habit of going down the river often on +fishing excursions, and when he returned, +he would fire his signal gun, and Marguerite +and her boy would hasten to the shore +to greet him.</p> + +<p>“On one occasion he had been gone longer +than usual. Marguerite was filled with apprehensions +natural enough at a time when +imminent dangers and hairbreadth escapes +were of every day occurrence. She had sat +in the tower and watched for the returning +canoe till the last beam of day had faded +from the waters;—the deepening shadows +of twilight played tricks with her imagination. +Once she was startled by the water-fowl, +which, as it skimmed along the surface +of the water, imaged to her fancy the light +canoe impelled by her husband's vigorous +arm—again she heard the leap of the heavy +muskalongi, and the splashing waters sounded +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a><span>] </span></span>to her fancy like the first dash of the oar. +That passed away, and disappointment and +tears followed. Her boy was beside her; +the young Louis, who, though scarcely +twelve years old, already had his imagination +filled with daring deeds. Born and +bred in a fort, he was an adept in the use +of the bow and the musket; courage +seemed to be his instinct, and danger his +element, and battles and wounds were +‘household words’ with him. He laughed +at his mother's fears; but, in spite of his +boyish ridicule, they strengthened, till apprehension +seemed reality. Suddenly the +sound of the signal gun broke on the stillness +of the night. Both mother and son +sprang on their feet with a cry of joy, and +were pressing hand in hand towards the +outer gate, when a sentinel stopped them to +remind Marguerite it was her husband's +order that no one should venture without +the walls after sunset. She, however, insisted +on passing, and telling the soldier +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a><span>] </span></span>that she would answer to the commandant +for his breach of orders—she passed the +outer barrier. Young Louis held up his +bow and arrow before the sentinel, saying +gaily, “I am my mother's body-guard you +know.” Tradition has preserved these trifling +circumstances, as the events that followed +rendered them memorable.</p> + +<p>“The distance,” continued the stranger, +“from the fort to the place where the commandant +moored his canoe was trifling, and +quickly passed. Marguerite and Louis +flew along the narrow foot path, reached +the shore, and were in the arms of —— +Mecumeh and his fierce companions. Entreaties +and resistance were alike vain. +Resistance was made, with a manly spirit, +by young Louis, who drew a knife from +the girdle of one of the indians, and attempted +to plunge it into the bosom of Mecumeh, +who was roughly binding his <ins class='correction' title='wampun'>wampum</ins> +belt over Marguerite's mouth, to deaden +the sound of her screams. The uncle +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a><span>] </span></span>wrested the knife from him, and smiled +proudly on him as if he recognised in the +brave boy, a scion from his own stock.</p> + +<p>“The indians had two canoes; Marguerite +was conveyed to one, Louis to the +other—and both canoes were rowed into the +Oswegatchie, and up the stream as fast as it +was possible to impel them against the current +of the river.</p> + +<p>“Not a word nor cry escaped the boy: +he seemed intent on some purpose, and when +the canoe approached near the shore, he +took off a military cap he wore, and threw +it so skilfully that it lodged, where he +meant it should, on the branch of a tree +which projected over the water. There was +a long white feather in the cap. The indians +had observed the boy's movement—they +held up their oars for a moment, and +seemed to consult whether they should return +and remove the cap; but after a moment, +they again dashed their oars in the +water and proceeded forward. They continued +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a><span>] </span></span>rowing for a few miles, and then +landed; hid their canoes behind some trees +on the river's bank, and plunged into the +woods with their prisoners. It seems to +have been their intention to have returned +to their canoes in the morning, and they had +not proceeded far from the shore, when +they kindled a fire and prepared some food, +and offered a share of it to Marguerite and +Louis. Poor Marguerite, as you may suppose, +had no mind to eat; but Louis, saith +tradition, ate as heartily as if he had been +safe within the walls of the fort. After +the supper, the indians stretched themselves +before the fire, but not till they had taken +the precaution to bind Marguerite to a tree, +and to compel Louis to lie down in the +arms of his uncle Mecumeh. Neither of +the prisoners, as you may imagine, closed +their eyes. Louis kept his fixed on his +mother. She sat upright beside an oak +tree; the cord was fastened around her +waist, and bound around the tree, which +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a><span>] </span></span>had been blasted by lighting; the moon +poured its beams through the naked branches +upon her face convulsed with the agony +of despair and fear. With one hand she +held a crucifix to her lips, the other was on +her rosary. The sight of his mother in +such a situation, stirred up daring thoughts +in the bosom of the heroic boy—but he laid +powerless in his uncle's naked brawny +arms. He tried to disengage himself, but +at the slightest movement, Mecumeh, though +still sleeping, seemed conscious, and strained +him closer to him. At last the strong +sleep, that in the depth of the night steeps +the senses in utter forgetfulness, overpowered +him—his arms relaxed their hold, and +dropped beside him and left Louis free.</p> + +<p><ins class='correction' title='He'>“He</ins> rose cautiously, looked for one instant +on the indians, and assured himself +they all slept profoundly. He then possessed +himself of Mecumeh's knife, which lay +at his feet, and severed the cord that bound +his mother to the tree. Neither of them +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a><span>] </span></span>spoke a word—but with the least possible +sound they resumed the way by which they +had come from the shore. Louis in the +confidence, and Marguerite with the faint +hope of reaching it before they were overtaken.</p> + +<p>“You may imagine how often the poor +mother, timid as a fawn, was startled by +the evening breeze stirring the leaves, but +the boy bounded forward as if there were +neither fear nor danger in the world.</p> + +<p>“They had nearly attained the margin +of the river, where Louis meant to launch +one of the canoes and drop down the current, +when the indian yell resounding +through the woods, struck on their ears. +They were missed, pursued, and escape +was impossible. Marguerite panic-struck, +sunk to the ground. Nothing could check +the career of Louis. “On—on, mother,” +he cried, “to the shore—to the shore.” +She rose and instinctively followed her boy. +The sound of pursuit came nearer and +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a><span>] </span></span>nearer. They reached the shore, and there +beheld three canoes coming swiftly up the +river. Animated with hope, Louis screamed +the watch word of the garrison, and was +answered by his father's voice.</p> + +<p>“The possibility of escape, and the certain +approach of her husband, infused new +life into Marguerite. “Your father cannot +see us,” she said, “as we stand here in the +shade of the trees; hide yourself in that +thicket, I will plunge into the water.” +Louis crouched under the bushes, and was +completely hidden by an overhanging +grape-vine, while his mother advanced a +few steps into the water and stood erect, +where she could be distinctly seen. A shout +from the canoes apprised her that she was +recognised, and at the same moment, the indians +who had now reached the shore, rent +the air with their cries of rage and defiance. +They stood for a moment, as if deliberating +what next to do; Mecumeh maintained an +undaunted and resolved air—but with his +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a><span>] </span></span>followers the aspect of armed men, and a +force thrice their number, had its usual +effect. They fled. He looked after them, +cried, ‘shame!’ and then, with a desperate +yell, leaped into the water and stood beside +Marguerite. The canoes were now within +a few yards—He put his knife to her bosom—“The +daughter of Tecumseh,” he said, +“should have died by the judgment of our +warriors, but now by her brother's hand +must she perish:” and he drew back his +arm to give vigour to the fatal stroke, when +an arrow pierced his own breast, and he +fell insensible at his sister's side. A moment +after Marguerite was in the arms of her +husband, and Louis, with his bow unstrung, +bounded from the shore, and was received +in his father's canoe; and the wild shores +rung with the acclamations of the soldiers, +while his father's tears of pride and joy +were poured like rain upon his cheek.”</p> + +<p>The stranger paused, and Edward breathed +one long breath, expressive of the interest +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a><span>] </span></span>with which he had listened to the tale; +and then said, “You have not told us, sir, +how the commandant was so fortunate as to +pursue in the right direction.”</p> + +<p>“He returned soon after Marguerite's +departure, and of course was at no loss to +determine that she had been taken in the toils +of her brother. He explored the mouth of the +Oswegatchie, thinking it possible that the +savages might have left their canoes moored +there, and taken to the land. Louis's cap +and feather caught his eye, and furnished +him a clue. You have now my whole story,” +concluded the stranger; “and though I +cannot vouch for its accuracy, many similar +circumstances must have occurred, while this +country was a wilderness, and my tradition +is at least supported by probability.”</p> + +<p>“You have not told us, sir,” said Julia, +“whether Mecumeh was really killed. I +do not see how Marguerite could leave him +without finding out, for after all, he was her +brother.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a><span>] </span></span>“Marguerite,” replied the stranger, +“justified your opinion of sisterly duty. +Mecumeh was conveyed to the fort—the +arrow was withdrawn, and after a tedious +illness, he recovered from the wound. There +is too a tradition that the pious sister converted +him to the catholic faith; but about +this part of the story there seems to rest +some uncertainty.”</p> + +<p>“And don't you know, sir,” asked Edward, +“what became of Louis afterwards?”</p> + +<p>“I really do not,” replied the gentleman, +smiling; “but I doubt not that the man +kept the promise of the heroic boy; and I +think it extremely probable that he has led +some gallant fellows to those deeds of high +emprise which were achieved by the armies +of Louis fourteenth.”</p> + +<p>“My dear children,” said Mrs. Sackville, +“you must really ask no more questions. +You will be good enough to pardon,” she +added, turning to the stranger, “the eagerness +of their youthful curiosity.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a><span>] </span></span>“Oh, madam,” he replied, “the evidence +of curiosity is the most grateful reward to +a story-teller, and I feel that my acknowledgements +are due to your children for +their patient listening.”</p> + +<p>A few more courteous words passed, and +the stranger bowed and departed.</p> + +<p>“This was a lucky meeting, mother,” +said Edward; “this crazed leaning wall +looks quite interesting to me now. I can +almost fancy I see Marguerite and Louis +issuing from the gate—Louis holding up +the bow and arrow that was to do such +memorable service that night.”</p> + +<p>“You have had a good lesson this morning, +my children, on the pleasures of association. +When we first saw that ruin, it +looked to you like any other stone wall—mere +mason-work: and you, Julia, afraid +of being buried in its shadow, wondered +what interest any one could feel in looking +at it; and now, I see you are venturing on +the most tottering part of it for a piece of +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a><span>] </span></span>moss, which I suppose is to be carefully +treasured in your herbal.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, mama, as a keep-sake for Marguerite +and Louis.”</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>We shall not condemn our readers to +attend the travellers in their tedious passage +down the St. Lawrence. Sometimes a +favoring breeze filled the single sail of their +little boat, and aided by the oars of the lazy +boatmen, wafted them gently forward, till, +coming to a more rapid descent in the +river, their light vessel seemed urged on by +an irresistible force to the ‘rapids,’ where +the waves, fretting and foaming over the invisible +rocks, threatened to engulph it. +The boatmen threw themselves prostrate on +the bottom of the boat to avoid the splashing +of the waves; their oars lay useless beside +them, while the pilot strained every +nerve to guide the boat in safety through +the perilous channel. These passages, like +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a><span>] </span></span>the brilliant events of life, are rare and +brief, and are succeeded by the sleepy lakes +of the river, bordered by shores uniformly +low and monotonous, save where the +green mountains of Vermont dimly define +the eastern horizon.</p> + +<p>Arrived at Montreal, Mrs. Sackville, from +consideration for Mrs. Barton, determined +to avoid delay, and therefore deferred the +examination of this city, so singular and +picturesque to an American eye, till their +return from Quebec. There was, however, +no boat to sail before the evening, and a +half day of leisure afforded our industrious +travellers an opportunity to visit the churches +and convents of Montreal.</p> + +<p>The churches are spacious, and decorated +with gaudy tinselled ornaments, and indifferent +pictures. Edward and Julia were +dazzled and delighted with the seeming +splendor. A little demure Presbyterian +girl, who acted as their guide, smiled at the +animated expressions of their wonder. +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a><span>] </span></span>“Notre Dame, is,” she said, “as my grandmother +often says, just fit for a baby-house +for children.”</p> + +<p>This remark caused a sudden revulsion +in Edward's mind. He had a truly manly, +or rather boyish aversion to be suspected of +a juvenile taste, and averting his eye from +his conductor, it fell on a miserable, half-famished +looking old woman, who was +kneeling in one of the aisles absorbed in her +devotions.</p> + +<p>“Look there, mother,” said he, pointing +to the wretched object, “what a contrast +to all this pomp.—It reminds me of an +anecdote I have somewhere read of a pious +pilgrim to whom one of the popes was +ostentatiously displaying the decorations of +the Vatican.</p> + +<p>“Dites à ces ornemens,” said the pilgrim, +“de se changer en pain.”<a name="FNanchor_4_4" href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" href="#FNanchor_4_4" class="label">[4]</a> Command these decorations to be changed into +bread.</p></div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a><span>] </span></span>Quite satisfied with this display of his +superiority to the childishness indirectly +ascribed to him by his conductor, though it +was entirely lost on her, Edward left the +church, and attended his friends to the +Hotel Dieu, the convent of the black nuns. +They were shown the different apartments +by one of the sisterhood, a well-bred Irish +lady, whose fine intelligent dark eyes, benevolent +and happy expression of countenance, +and short plump figure, made a delightful +impression on Edward and Julia, +who had always fancied a nun must be tall +and thin, with a sad solemn face, condemned +to wither under an immoveable veil. She +led them to the hospital where the sick of +every nation are received and treated with +equal kindness according to the law of +christian benevolence, which is of universal +obligation.</p> + +<p>“Do the rules of your order, (the order +of St. Joseph I believe,”) inquired Mr. <span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a><span>] </span></span>Sackville +of the sister, “impose on you the +performance of severe penances?”</p> + +<p>“No,” she replied, “we are exempted +from extraordinary penances, on account of +the fatiguing and often loathsome offices +that we have to perform for the sick; these +are received as sufficient mortifications. We +open our doors to the sick mendicant and +wounded soldiers. We had in this apartment +at one time during the late war seventeen +American soldiers.”</p> + +<p>“My countrymen,” replied Mr. Sackville, +“had abundant reason to be grateful +that they fell into your skilful and benevolent +hands,—the beautiful order and neatness +of your hospital prove with what fidelity +your samaritan duties are performed.”</p> + +<p>While the nun, courteously bowing her +head at this merited compliment, led the +way to an adjoining <ins class='correction' title='anti-room'>ante-room</ins> appropriated +to medicines, surgical instruments, &c. +Mrs. Sackville said in a low voice to Edward, +“Take notice, my dear son, that +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a><span>] </span></span>where the <em>precepts</em> of the christian religion +are strictly applied they produce the same +fruits; no matter by what name the particular +faith is called, Catholic or Protestant.”</p> + +<p>“Oh look there, mother,” exclaimed Julia, +pointing to large cases with glass doors +which contained the medicines, “I am sure +that in spite of your laws of association, +those vials and gallipots look quite beautiful.”</p> + +<p>“And I suspect they contain nothing +very disagreeable,” replied her mother; +“these sisters do not appear to deal in the +harsh medicines of our daring doctors, but +content themselves with emollients and palliatives. +See those labels, ‘eau hysterique’—‘eau +celeste;’ even you, Julia, would +have no objection to medicines that deserve +such pretty appellatives.”</p> + +<p>From the Hotel Dieu they went to the +chapel and sacristie. Julia pointed to the +altars on which were standing vases filled +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a><span>] </span></span>with white lilies and carnations. “Every +where, mother,” she said, “we see these +beautiful flowers, even in the churches.”</p> + +<p>“And they are certainly not inappropriate, +Julia,” replied her mother, “in His +temple whose pencil paints and breath perfumes +them.”</p> + +<p>After all had been shown that is usually +exhibited, the sister invited her visiters to +go to the garden. Mrs. Sackville said that +though she had heard it much extolled, their +time would not permit them the pleasure of +seeing it, but she said there was a farther +trouble that she must venture on imposing. +She understood the sisters sometimes permitted +their visiters to buy specimens of +their work; and she was anxious to carry +some to their friends.</p> + +<p>Their conductor seemed gratified with +this hint, and directly left them, and returned +with a large basket filled with embroidered +needle-books, reticules, work-boxes, +purses, scissor-cases, &c. &c.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a><span>] </span></span>Edward and Julia eagerly examined +the beautiful productions of the taste and +industry of the cloistered sisters. Edward +was particularly struck with a sack or purse, +made of birch bark, and wrought with porcupine +quills of the richest dyes. On one side +of it was an indian woman, carrying an infant +according to the aboriginal fashion, laced to +a board which was laid on her back; the +little creature's head was just visible, peeping +over her shoulder. A boy was standing +beside her with a bow and arrow, on the reverse +was a group of indians seated under +an oak tree, smoking the long feathered +and beaded pipe, which they call the calumet +of peace, “Oh, mother,” said Edward, +holding up the sack, “is not this very +valuable?”</p> + +<p>“It is certainly very handsome,” replied +his mother.</p> + +<p>“But that is not all, mother—it is certainly +very valuable, as an illustration of +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a><span>] </span></span>indian customs.—I wish”——he added and +paused.</p> + +<p>“What do you wish, Ned?” asked his +mother.</p> + +<p>“Nothing, mama,” he replied, sighing, +laying down the sack, and turning away; +“I only wish I had not seen it.”</p> + +<p>Julia was all this time looking at a very +curious work-basket, which she thought a +masterpiece. She turned it from side to +side, examined the roses, carnations, jessamines, +and violets, that had been wrought +with such exquisite skill as to represent to +the life the peerless flowers they were made +to imitate; and for one moment she too +wished that her five dollars was still at her +own disposal. Mrs. Sackville read what +was passing in the minds of her children. +She took them aside: “My dear Ned and +Julia,” she said, “I fear you may be regretting +your hasty benevolence, when you +devoted to a charitable purpose all the +money your father gave you for such gratifications +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a><span>] </span></span>as are now offered to you; you +did it from a sudden impulse of generosity: +you have, I believe, as yet expended but a +small portion of your money, and if you +now prefer to appropriate it to the purchase +of these very tempting articles, I will myself +assume the expense of getting Mrs. Barton +to Quebec.”</p> + +<p>Edward and Julia looked at their mother, +and at one another without replying a +word. Mrs. Sackville returned to the table +to make some selections for herself.</p> + +<p>“What had we best do, Ned?” whispered +Julia.</p> + +<p>“Why do you ask me, Julia? you know +as well as I. I should like to have something +to show that I had been in Canada.”</p> + +<p>“So should I excessively—but then”—</p> + +<p>“But what, Julia? I am sure mama +says it shall make no difference to Mrs. Barton.”</p> + +<p>“No, that is true—it will make no difference +to her; but it will make a great +difference to us.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a><span>] </span></span>The last member of Julia's sentence was +quite lost on Edward, for he had abruptly +returned to the table, and to the examination +of the coveted purse. Julia stood for +one half instant wavering, and then walked +to a window, and kept her eye steadily +fixed on the garden it overlooked. Mrs. Sackville +ventured one glance at her children. +‘Ah,’ thought she, ‘Julia, you will +prove faithful, but Ned I fear for you; ‘he +who deliberates is lost,’’ Her mind was +more intent on her children than on the +little traffic she was making, and when she +had set aside articles to a considerable +amount, and was about to pay for them, +the nun said, “I think, madam, you might +make a better selection—allow me to exchange +this basket for the awkward one +you have there. I am a little vain of this, +for I made it myself, and I should have +begged your daughter to accept it when I +saw her admiring it, but these articles are +devoted to a specific object, and I have no +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a><span>] </span></span>control over them. I should, however, be +particularly gratified if you would purchase +this for Miss Julia, instead of that +you have taken.”</p> + +<p>“You are very good,” replied Mrs. Sackville, +“but I have permitted my daughter +to select for herself. Julia, do you hear +what this lady says?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, mama.”</p> + +<p>“Will you look at the basket, my love?”</p> + +<p>“No, I thank you, mama.”</p> + +<p>This last reply was uttered in a faltering +voice, and caught Edward's attention. He +had just taken out his pocket-book to pay +for the purse. He looked towards Julia, +and then to his mother. Mrs. Sackville's +eyes were fixed on Julia with an expression +of love and approbation which flashed to Edward's +heart; he dropped the purse, put up +his pocket-book, and going up to his sister, +whispered a proposal that they should return +to the inn, without waiting for their mother +to finish her business.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a><span>] </span></span>They then took a respectful, though +rather a hurried leave of the kind sister, impatient +to be out of sight of a temptation, +which no one will deride as inconsiderable, +when it is remembered that Edward was +twelve, Julia ten years old.</p> + +<p>“What upon earth ails the children?” +asked Mr. Morris, who saw that something +agitated them. Mrs. Sackville explained +as far as she could without making a display +of their charity. “They are good +children, very good children,” said Mr. Morris, +“and I think you have tried them +a little too far, sister; but, dear souls, it +shall all be made up to them. Where is +that purse poor Ned was fingering? and +that basket for Julia? I'll buy them both; +they shall have them.”</p> + +<p>“No, my dear brother, you must not +indeed interpose your kindness—you will +spoil all. The result has proved that I did +not try them too far, though I confess I +was at one time a little afraid I had done +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a><span>] </span></span>what I have often seen children do, pulled +up the flower in trying to ascertain whether +it had taken root. I have now more confidence +that their hearts have that good soil +into which the roots of virtue may strike +deeply; and they now know the full cost of +a charitable action which is performed by +the voluntary and deliberate sacrifice of +personal indulgence.”</p> + +<p>“You are right, perfectly right my dear,” +said Mr. Sackville.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I believe you are right,” said Mr. Morris, +reluctantly replacing the articles, +“but it's deuced hard upon the children.”</p> + +<p>“It is more blessed to give than to receive,” +said the nun, in a sweet tone of +voice, and added, “I assure you madam, I +never missed a sale of our little wares with +so much satisfaction.”</p> + +<p>The visiters then took leave of the amiable +sister, and in the course of the evening +embarked on board the steam-boat. When +they arose in the morning, they had already +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a><span>] </span></span>reached the mouth of the Sorrel. It was +one of the most beautiful of all the bright +days of summer. A gentle west wind +tempered the sun's heat, and if, as saith the +good book, ‘a cheerful countenance betokeneth +the heart in prosperity,’ it might +be inferred from the happy faces of our +friends, that their minds were as bright and +clear as the cloudless sky. Even Mrs. Barton +had lost her downcast despondent +look, and the pleasant light of gratitude +and hope was diffused over her honest +countenance. Edward and Julia were unusually +animated, and their mother observed +their joyous step as they bounded over the +decks, their sparkling glances, and their +gleeful chatterings which fell like music on +her ear: she traced their uncommon spirits +to the little struggle and victory of the preceding +day, and rightly, for it is active goodness +that commands the secret spring of +joy—virtue that opens all the sweet fountains +of happiness within us.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a><span>] </span></span>It was late in the afternoon when the level +and uniform shores of the river, studded +with an unbroken line of white-washed +houses, or only broken where they clustered +around a catholic church, as children +gather under the wing of a parent, began +to assume more picturesque forms. Bold +promontories stretched into the river, and +beautiful hills presented their verdant and +graceful slopes to the clear mirror. There +was a band of musicians on board the boat, +who at the command of the captain, (who +understood the laws of international courtesy,) +had been playing yankee doodle. +Edward was far enough from home to feel +grateful for this tribute from the English +captain, and when the music suddenly +changed, at a signal from him, to a mournful +requiem, Edward inquired with a look +of disappointment, the cause of the transition.</p> + +<p>“Look there,” he replied, “my young +friend, at that pretty grassy point. It is +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a><span>] </span></span>called Cape Laboniére; just above the +point you see a thicket of tall trees, which +extend their shadows now beyond the church. +Under those trees were buried three beautiful +girls, the daughters of the honourable +Mrs. Laboniére. The young ladies were +called by the villagers, ‘Les sœurs de la +charité;’ and are now, I am told, reckoned +as their guardian saints by these poor +catholic peasants. I happened to be there +when the last was buried. You know the +catholics have great pomp and expense at +their funerals; but I believe the childless +parents had no heart for this, for though the +father is seignior of the place, and a man of +great wealth, he granted the request of the +poor villagers who went in a body to him, +to beg permission to bury their beloved +benefactress. I saw the procession—every +one in it was a mourner. The girls strewed +the grave with white roses, and all, even the +old men and the little children, shed tears +on the turf that covered it; and I could not +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a><span>] </span></span>but think how much better than their consecrated +water were these tears of gratitude. +We call the place the ‘Three sisters,’ now,” +concluded the captain, “and I never pass it +without some tribute of respect.”</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Before nine o'clock the steamboat was +gliding along under the heights of Quebec. +Having, as Mr. Morris (who kept strict +note of time) remarked, achieved a sail of +180 miles in 18 hours. Edward stood on +the deck beside his mother, straining his +eyes to the proud summit of Cape Diamond, +where the British flag waved in a flood of +moonlight. “Oh, mother,” he exclaimed, +“what a kind friend the moon has been to +us.”</p> + +<p>“She has indeed,” replied Mrs. Sackville; +“and I am very glad that you notice +and enjoy her favors; her pale crescent +was reflected in the waters of Ontario—her +beams revealed to us some of the secret +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a><span>] </span></span>places of the ‘thousand isles’—the glittering +spires of Montreal sent back her silver +rays, and now she pours a flood of light from +her full orb, upon these fortified heights. +But, come, dear Ned, I believe it is time +for us to leave the moon, and attend to our +sublunary concerns. Your uncle has gone +to settle our bill, and you had best attend +to yours.” Julia poured the contents of +her purse into Edward's, and he left them, +and returned in a few moments holding a +single shilling between his fingers; “here +is all we have left,” he said; “what is to +be done now, mother? I cannot bear to turn +poor Mrs. Barton adrift the moment we +arrive.”</p> + +<p>“No, dear Ned,” replied his mother; +“she shall be cared for still further. I had +too much respect for good examples,” she +continued, smiling, “to spend all my money +for fancy articles, and I shall take Mrs. Barton +to the City Hotel with us, till she +can make some provisions for herself. I +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a><span>] </span></span>confess I have not much expectation that +the governor will think proper to do any +thing for her, but your father has letters to +him, and he will call at the Chateau to-morrow, +and say and do what he can in her +behalf.” Mrs. Barton received this additional +kindness with unfeigned gratitude; +“But after to-morrow, ma'am,” she said, +“I will trouble you no further, for I am sure +to find some acquaintance here, who will +help me to shift for myself.”</p> + +<p>The next morning passports were procured +to visit the fortifications. Edward, +who had a great regard to our own heroes +and patriots, had previously sallied forth in +quest of the spot where the gallant Montgomery +fell in our cause; and his father, +after awaiting his return for some time, +proceeded without him, leaving a note of +directions how he should follow him.</p> + +<p>Edward obeyed the directions. He +reached Cape Diamond without meeting +his friends, and he was biting his lips with +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a><span>] </span></span>vexation, that he should have come to this +celebrated fortification alone, without any +one to explain it to him, and must leave it +as ignorant as he had entered; when he +was accosted by a good natured looking +soldier, who, doffing his military cap and +making a slight bow, said, “This is a +pleasant place, young gentleman, of a sunny +summer's day.”</p> + +<p>Edward turned his bright glance on the +man, delighted to have found any one who +could answer the questions that were rushing +to his lips. “Is not that,” he said, +pointing to the island opposite, “the island +of Orleans?”</p> + +<p>“The very same, sir: and the point +there, is point Levi, which Wolfe fortified, +and destroyed from it all the lower town of +Quebec: but brave as he was, I think he +never would have come within the rampart, +if Montcalme had not been the fool to go +out and meet him on the Plains of Abraham—once +there, you know, we beat of +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a><span>] </span></span>course; for, other things being equal, one +Englishman is as good as two Frenchmen +any day—and that's what every English +soldier knows.”</p> + +<p>“But,” replied Edward, with a smile, +“what every French soldier does not admit +I suspect.”</p> + +<p>“No—no—not exactly—for you know +they are a bragging nation.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Edward, “they seem to +have something to brag of about you here +in these beautiful villages:” and he pointed +towards Beauport and Charlebourg, whose +white houses, green fields, and churches, +seem to promise every thing that poets have +dreamed of village simplicity, peace, and +contentment.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” said the soldier, “those have +a decent genteel appearance from here, +but if you were once to go to them, and see +the houses like painted pigeon-holes—white +without, but within full of all manner +of uncleanliness; the bits of gardens with +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a><span>] </span></span>little but onions in them; whole fields overrun +with Canada thistles; and then the +little bits of dowdy images that they worship; +and slivers of wood set in frames, that +they call pieces of the true cross, and +there are enough of them, as I have heard +said, to build a seventy-four. If you were +to see all this, my young master, you would +agree with me, they were but a set of poor +ignorant superstitious deluded creatures, +far enough behind us English, or even the +Americans.” The soldier then proceeded +to point out and name the most attractive +objects from this commanding point of view. +The deep black ravine, through which the +Montmorenci, after taking its graceful and +wondrous leap, passes into the St. Lawrence; +and the indentation of the shore +beyond the Plains of Abraham, called +Wolfe's Cove, where he landed his forces on +the morning of his victory and death. Edward +found it very difficult to tear himself +from a spot which has so much natural +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a><span>] </span></span>beauty, and historic interest, but anxious +to follow his friends, he offered the soldier +a few pieces of change, and asked him if +he was willing to show him the fortification, +and then guide him to the Plains of +Abraham, whither his father had gone.</p> + +<p>The soldier civilly, and indeed thankfully +assented, and they proceeded together. +The man, evidently pleased with the intelligent +questions put to him by Edward, +which he answered in a way that indicated a +knowledge of his profession quite unusual +in a common soldier. Edward inquired +the design of the Martello towers, of +the bastions, scarps and counterscarps, of +this fosse, that glacis, &c. &c. at last, +stopping suddenly, while his dilating form +and beaming face expressed the youthful +heroism that glowed in his breast, he +said, “It is a strong place, a very strong +place indeed; but I do think <em>we</em> could take +it.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a><span>] </span></span>“<em>We!</em>” exclaimed the soldier, darting at +him a look of eager inquiry; “who are <em>we</em>?”</p> + +<p>“Why, we Americans.”</p> + +<p>“Americans!” echoed the soldier, and +then starting back and dashing the silver +Edward had given him to the ground. +“Have I,” he said, <ins class='correction' title='served'>“served</ins> my king four +and twenty years, to be bribed by an American +boy at last? has it come to this, +Richard Barton?”</p> + +<p>“Richard Barton!” echoed Edward in +his turn.</p> + +<p>“Yes, my young man, Richard Barton; +a poor name, but an honest one, thank +God.”</p> + +<p>“Richard Barton!” again repeated Edward. +“But it cannot be the Richard Barton +I mean.”</p> + +<p>“I don't know who you mean, sir, but I +shall take care and report you to my officer, +and clear myself of all blame.”</p> + +<p>“Do not be so hasty, my good friend,” +said Edward, with an expression of innocence +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a><span>] </span></span>and good nature, that went far to remove +the honest soldier's suspicions; “it is +true I have troubled you with a great many +questions, but I had no motive but curiosity; +we yankees, you know, are a curious +race. Come, I shall hold you to your +agreement; take up the money and go +along with me.”</p> + +<p>“No—no—I never will touch the money; +but I will go with you, there can be no +harm in that.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Edward, picking up the +pieces, “if you won't take it, I know a +Richard Barton that will, and he shall have +it too; and now, if I was not afraid you +would take me to the guard-house, I would +put some more questions to you.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, put them and welcome, young man; +now I know that you are an American, I +can use my discretion in my answers. You +do not look as if you could do wrong yourself, +or tempt another: but I have lived +long enough to know that it is not all gold +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a><span>] </span></span>that glitters, though I think nothing but +true metal can bear the stamp that is on +your face.”</p> + +<p>“We are friends again then, are we? +Can you tell me where the 40th regiment is +stationed now?”</p> + +<p>“That I cannot; they have been gone +from here three years this July.”</p> + +<p>“Had you any acquaintance in that regiment?”</p> + +<p>“Indeed had I. I served with them +more than twenty years.”</p> + +<p>Edward stopped, jumped at least three +feet from the ground, (as the soldier afterwards +averred) clapped his hands, and exclaimed, +“It must be—it must be.”</p> + +<p>“Why, what is the matter now?” asked +the soldier, amazed at his emotion.</p> + +<p>“Tell me,” continued Edward, with all +the calmness he could summon, “why you +are here, if your regiment has returned?”</p> + +<p>“I got myself transferred to this regiment, +to finish my term of service in America, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a><span>] </span></span>in the hope of then finding my wife +and little boy, who followed me to the +States when I was a prisoner.”</p> + +<p>There was no longer any room in Edward's +mind for doubt that his companion +was the husband of Mrs. Barton. His +natural and first impulse was, to make +known to the husband the happiness that +was in store for him. He began to speak, +half laughing, half crying; then checked +himself, and considered what a beautiful +surprise it would be if they should meet +without any preparation: he took the soldier's +hand, and said, “I see my friends; +you need go no farther; but come in one +hour to the City Hotel, and my mother will +tell you good news of your wife.”</p> + +<p>“News of my wife! are you an angel +from heaven?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, no,” replied Edward, laughing; +“nothing but an <em>American boy</em>.”</p> + +<p>“God bless you, my lad, tell me now—tell +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a><span>] </span></span>me now,” said the soldier, and tears of +joy had already gathered in his eyes.</p> + +<p>“No, not another word now,” said Edward, +bounding away from him; “in one +hour you shall know all.”</p> + +<p>The soldier gazed after Edward with an +intense curiosity: vague expectations of +some good, and then more defined hopes +filled his mind. ‘That boy never could +have deceived me,’ he said, to himself: +‘what did he mean by exclaiming when he +first heard my name? what, by saying he +knew another Richard Barton? Is it possible +that he has seen my wife and <ins class='correction' title='boy?'>boy?’</ins> +The result of all his deliberations was, that +he would go instantly to the Hotel—to wait +an hour was impossible—an hour was an +age. In the mean time, Edward joined his +party, who were already on the return, and +was chid for his delay; without giving the +least heed to the rebuke, he drew Julia +aside, and communicated his discovery to +her. They then laid their heads together, +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a><span>] </span></span>and concerted a fine plan for a denouement.</p> + +<p>They would first show Barton the little +girl; he could not remember her of course, +for she had been born some months after he +was separated from his wife; but then he +might find her out from her resemblance to +her mother; Julia remembered many stories +she had read of similar discoveries, and +Edward affirmed his belief in natural affection, +though he allowed that his father said, +that Dr. Franklin and many other philosophers +laughed at the idea. If the little +girl proved an insufficient clew, Dickey was +to be brought into the room, as if accidentally, +and with many cautions by no means +to tell his name; and finally the door was +to be thrown open, and good Mrs. Barton, +all unprepared for the sight, was to behold +her long-lost husband. Mrs. Sackville saw +in the truth-telling faces of her children, +that something in their <ins class='correction' title='viewvery'>view very</ins> important +was in agitation; but she seemed to take +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a><span>] </span></span>no notice of their whisperings, and hurried +pace, till Mr. Morris called out, “Fall back +children, one would think we were walking +for a wager; remember we carry weight +of years.”</p> + +<p>“Oh,” whispered Julia, “uncle Morris +is such a snail; but there is no use in our +hurrying, because you know we should +lose half the pleasure if papa and mama +and uncle were not there.” Edward assented, +and patience had her perfect work +while the children made their feet, which +seemed suddenly to have been furnished +with the wings of Mercury, to keep time +with the dignified movements of their parents.</p> + +<p>When they turned into St. John's-street, +and came in sight of the hotel, Edward saw +the soldier standing by the step to the front +entrance, and looking eagerly towards him, +“there he is!” said he to Julia, and they +both involuntarily changed their pace from +a walk to a run, but before they reached +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a><span>] </span></span>the hotel, the soldier sprung into the door, +and disappeared from their sight. He had +caught the sound of his wife's voice, and +their first joyful recognition had passed before +the children entered the door.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Our youthful readers have, we trust, +been entire strangers to those joys that are +preceded by suffering, and which remind +us of some clouds that send down their +showers after the sun has broken through. +They would have been as much surprised +as were Edward and Julia, if they had seen, +instead of smiles and ecstasies, the deathlike +paleness of Mrs. <ins class='correction' title='Barton'>Barton,</ins> her husband +dashing the tear from his eyes that he +might gaze upon his children; Dickey +looking timidly at him, and the little girl +burying her face in her mother's gown. +Yet this was joy—joy that no words could +express; the joy of kind and faithful hearts—joy +with which a stranger cannot intermeddle; +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a><span>] </span></span>and Mrs. Sackville felt it to be +such, for when she saw the family group, +she drew her children into the parlour, and +left their humble friends to themselves.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>It was our intention to have described +the soldier's gratitude—the contentment +and thankfulness of his wife—the neat little +cottage in which she was immediately +placed by the officers of the regiment, who +seemed delighted thus to manifest their regard +for their corporal Barton. The emotion +of this good family at parting with their +benefactors—little Dickey's resolution, that +when he grew to be a man, he would go +and live with Mr. Edward—the hospitable +honors rendered to the Sackville party by +the officers of the regiment, who felt their +beneficence to the British soldier's wife as +a personal obligation—to which was to have +been added, a particular description of some +very beautiful curiosities presented to Edward +<span class="pagenum"><span>[Page </span><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a><span>] </span></span>and Julia by the governor's lady; but +we fear our young readers will think we +have already protracted a dull tale to an +unconscionable length; and we will therefore +take our leave of them, with simply +expressing a wish, that if they should ever +travel to Quebec, or indeed in any other +direction, they will remember that after the +delightful but evanescent pleasures of their +jaunt had faded, and were almost effaced +from the minds of Edward and Julia, they +possessed a treasure that fadeth not away in +the consciousness of having rendered an +essential service to a fellow-creature. A +consciousness that strews roses in the path +of youth and age—not ‘the perfume and +suppliance of a moment,’ but those amaranthine +flowers that exhale incense to +Heaven.</p> + +<p class='center' style='margin-top: 2em;'>FINIS.</p> + + +<div class='tnote break-before' style='margin-bottom: 5em; padding: 0.5em 0em;'><a name="Corrections"></a><div style='margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 0.5em;'><b>Transcriber's Note:</b><br /><br /> +The following is a list of corrections made to the original.<span class="correction-list"> The first +line is the original line, the second the corrected one.</span></div> +<ul> +<li><a href='#Page_8'>Page 8</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">Bob Eton's father and Bob Eaton<br /></span> +Bob <ins class="correction" title="Eton's">Eaton's</ins> father and Bob Eaton +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_12'>Page 12</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">Julia finished her mimickry of her master's +tone<br /></span> +Julia finished her <ins class='correction' title='mimickry'>mimicry</ins> of her master's +tone +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_13'>Page 13</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">“Oh, that will be delightful, mother +but Edward and I cannot dance<br /></span> +“Oh, that will be delightful, <ins class='correction' title='mother'>mother,</ins> +but Edward and I cannot dance +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_14'>Page 14</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">‘The next, mother? what is next, Edward?”<br /></span> +<ins class='correction' title='‘The'>“The</ins> next, mother? what is next, Edward?” +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_15'>Page 15</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">nature lighting up with the rays of the rising +sun.<br /></span> +nature lighting up with the rays of the rising +<ins class='correction' title='sun.'>sun.”</ins> +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_22'>Page 22</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">lit up her hazle eyes<br /></span> +lit up her <ins class='correction' title='hazle'>hazel</ins> eyes +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_24'>Page 24</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">“My dear Ned,” replied Mrs. Sackville,<br /></span> +“My dear Ned,” replied <ins class='correction' title='Mrs.'>Mr.</ins> Sackville, +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_28'>Page 28</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">“Now, mama,” she said, +you must take both sides of the river.”<br /></span> +“Now, mama,” she said, +<ins class='correction' title='you'>“you</ins> must take both sides of the river.” +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_30'>Page 30</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">the skipping +right—the readers inalienable right<br /></span> +the skipping +right—the <ins class='correction' title='readers'>readers'</ins> inalienable right +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_32'>Page 32</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">said Mr. Sackville, +that the march of time<br /></span> +said Mr. Sackville, +<ins class='correction' title='that'>“that</ins> the march of time +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_43'>Page 43</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">a wigman in Oneida<br /></span> +a <ins class='correction' title='wigman'>wigwam</ins> in Oneida +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_47'>Page 47</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">the +road is thronged with market-waggons, +stage coaches; and carriages<br /></span> +the +road is thronged with market-waggons, +stage <ins class='correction' title='coaches;'>coaches,</ins> and carriages +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_48'>Page 48</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">riches and resources of their native land, +“For my own<br /></span> +riches and resources of their native <ins class='correction' title='land,'>land.</ins> +“For my own +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_50'>Page 50</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">who seeemed to be a favorite +with the whole company<br /></span> +who <ins class='correction' title='seeemed'>seemed</ins> to be a favorite +with the whole company +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_50'>Page 50</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">“My name is Biddy Burns, an +please you, miss.”<br /></span> +“My name is Biddy Burns, <ins class='correction' title='an'>an'</ins> +please you, miss.” +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_57'>Page 57</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">He was a +little, pale, wizzened-face fellow<br /></span> +He was a +little, pale, <ins class='correction' title='wizzened-face'>wizened-face</ins> fellow +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_59'>Page 59</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">“How old?” I do not justly remember;<br /></span> +“How <ins class='correction' title='old?”'>old?</ins> I do not justly remember; +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_62'>Page 62</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">replied +Mrs. Sackville,” I have offered to pay<br /></span> +replied +Mrs. <ins class='correction' title='Sackville,” I'>Sackville, “I</ins> have offered to pay +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_72'>Page 72</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">exclaimed Edward, +I am sure I thought the air<br /></span> +exclaimed Edward, +<ins class='correction' title='I'>“I</ins> am sure I thought the air +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_72'>Page 72</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">speaking in a low voice to her +children, “ the charm of the ring<br /></span> +speaking in a low voice to her +children, <ins class='correction' title='“ the'>“the</ins> charm of the ring +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_79'>Page 79</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">“What, my dear, children, should we<br /></span> +“What, my <ins class='correction' title='dear,'>dear</ins> children, should we +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_83'>Page 83</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">you must take care you do not commit +the pharasaic fault<br /></span> +you must take care you do not commit +the <ins class='correction' title='pharasaic'>pharisaic</ins> fault +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_84'>Page 84</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">most +children are thoughtless of he future<br /></span> +most +children are thoughtless of <ins class='correction' title='he'>the</ins> future +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_87'>Page 87</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">to convert themi n tofields of battle.”<br /></span> +to convert <ins class='correction' title='themi n tofields'>them into fields</ins> of battle.” +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_91'>Page 91</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">she has an Enlish +spirit<br /></span> +she has an <ins class='correction' title='Enlish'>English</ins> +spirit +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_101'>Page 101</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">“Fraquently he does, +and fraquently he dont,”<br /></span> +“Fraquently he does, +and fraquently he <ins class='correction' title='dont'>don't</ins>,” +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_119'>Page 119</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">thus cut +off by her sins.”<br /></span> +thus cut +off by her <ins class='correction' title='sins.”'>sins.</ins> +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_121'>Page 121</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">Come now Edward and Julia to +your births—and dream<br /></span> +Come now Edward and Julia to +your <ins class='correction' title='births'>berths</ins>—and dream +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_128'>Page 128</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">who was roughly binding his wampun +belt over Marguerite's mouth<br /></span> +who was roughly binding his <ins class='correction' title='wampun'>wampum</ins> +belt over Marguerite's mouth +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_131'>Page 131</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">He rose cautiously<br /></span> +<ins class='correction' title='He'>“He</ins> rose cautiously +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_142'>Page 142</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">led the +way to an adjoining anti-room appropriated +to medicines<br /></span> +led the +way to an adjoining <ins class='correction' title='anti-room'>ante-room</ins> appropriated +to medicines +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_162'>Page 162</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">“Have I,” he said, served my king<br /></span> +“Have I,” he said, <ins class='correction' title='served'>“served</ins> my king +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_166'>Page 166</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">Is it possible +that he has seen my wife and boy?<br /></span> +Is it possible +that he has seen my wife and <ins class='correction' title='boy?'>boy?’</ins> +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_167'>Page 167</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">that something in their viewvery important +was in agitation;<br /></span> +that something in their <ins class='correction' title='viewvery'>view very</ins> important +was in agitation; +</li> +<li><a href='#Page_169'>Page 169</a>:<br /> +<span class="correction-list">the deathlike +paleness of Mrs. Barton her husband +dashing the tear from his eyes<br /></span> +the deathlike +paleness of Mrs. <ins class='correction' title='Barton'>Barton,</ins> her husband +dashing the tear from his eyes +</li> +</ul> +</div> + + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Travellers, by Catharine Maria Sedgwick + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAVELLERS *** + +***** This file should be named 31832-h.htm or 31832-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/8/3/31832/ + +Produced by David Yingling, Alexander Bauer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Designed for Young People. + +Author: Catharine Maria Sedgwick + +Release Date: March 31, 2010 [EBook #31832] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAVELLERS *** + + + + +Produced by David Yingling, Alexander Bauer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + + [ Transcriber's Note: + + Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as + possible. Therefore odd spellings--even in geographical names--were + mostly retained. Obvious errors were corrected though, as well as + some punctuation issues--especially regarding the placement of + quotation marks. However, all changes (corrections of spelling and + punctuation) made to the original text are listed at the end of + this text. + + Text that was _italic_ in the original is marked with _.] + + + + + THE + TRAVELLERS. + + A TALE. + + + _DESIGNED FOR YOUNG PEOPLE._ + + + BY THE + AUTHOR OF REDWOOD. + + + "Then slowly climb the many-winding way, + And frequent turn to linger as you go, + From loftier rocks new loveliness survey." + CHILDE HAROLD. + + + NEW-YORK: + + PUBLISHED BY E. BLISS AND E. WHITE, + + And Sold by + COLLINS AND HANNAY, NEW-YORK, AND CUMMINGS, + HILLIARD, AND CO. BOSTON. + + + 1825. + + + + + _Southern District of New-York, ss._ + + BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the fourth day of April, A.D. 1825, + in the forty-eighth year of the Independence of the United States + of America, E. Bliss and E. White, of the said District, have + deposited in this Office the title of a Book, the right whereof + they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:-- + + "The Travellers; a Tale Designed for Young People. By the author + of Redwood. + 'Then slowly climb the many-winding way, + And frequent turn to linger as you go, + From loftier rocks new loveliness survey.' + _Childe Harold._" + + In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, + entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing + the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and + proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned." + And also to an Act entitled, "An Act supplementary to an Act + entitled, an Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the + copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors + of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending + the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and + etching historical and other prints." + JAMES DILL, + Clerk of the Southern District of New-York. + + + J. Seymour, printer. + + + + + The following pages are inscribed to the youthful + brother and sister, who are associated with every + picture of unfolding virtue, in the mind of their + affectionate friend, + THE AUTHOR. + + + + +THE TRAVELLERS. + + +In the month of June, (the jubilee month of poets and travellers) in the +year eighteen hundred and eighteen, Mr. Sackville, his wife, and their +two children, Edward and Julia, made the grand tour of Niagara, the +lakes, Montreal, Quebec, &c. Both parents and children kept journals, +in which they recorded with fidelity whatever they observed which they +deemed worthy of note. We have been favored with the perusal of them +all, and have been permitted to make a few extracts from them, which we +intend to combine into a brief narrative, that we are sure will amuse +our young readers, provided their delicate essence does not escape our +unskilful hands. + +First, it will be necessary that our readers should know into whose +society they are thus unceremoniously introduced. + +Mr. Sackville, in the prime of life retired from the successful practice +of the law, to a beautiful estate in the country. Various motives were +assigned by his acquaintances for his removal; but as those diligent +inquirers, who so conscientiously investigate their neighbor's affairs, +are apt to pass over simple and obvious motives, those which, in this +instance, governed Mr. Sackville's conduct, escaped their observation. + +The truth was, he had a strong predilection for a country life; he was +wearied with briefs and declarations; he loved above all things, the +society of his accomplished wife, and he ardently desired to participate +with her the happiness of educating their fine children; and besides, he +had many little plans of utility and benevolence, such as are naturally +suggested to an active and philanthropic mind on entering a new sphere +of life. + +Mr. Sackville purchased a fine estate in the town of ----, in the state +of ----. We have left these blanks, which we are well aware are very +provoking to all, and especially to young readers, in order to allow +them to locate the amiable Sackvilles (the name we confess to be +fictitious) wherever they choose, north or south of the Potomac, east +or west of the Alleghanies; for we sincerely believe that such pattern +families are to be found in every section of our favored country. + +Edward was ten, Julia eight years old, when they removed from town. They +felt a very natural reluctance at leaving the city, their companions, +and the only pleasures they had ever known. But the state of their +feelings will best appear by a conversation which occurred between +them and their mother, shortly before their removal, while Edward +was assisting her to pack up some vials, which with their contents, +composed his chemical laboratory. + +"You are very good, dear mother," he said, kissing her, "to take such +pains to pack up these things: you have been in such a panic about +spontaneous combustion ever since the night you found the phosphorus[1] +on fire, that I expected my little cupboard and all its treasures would +be condemned. But," he added, with a sigh, "I suppose you think I shall +want my chemistry more than ever to amuse me in the country." + + [1] Phosphorus is a matter which shines or even burns + spontaneously, and without the application of any sensible + fire. + +"No, my dear boy, not more than ever." + +"Oh, mother! Bob Eaton's father says the country is such a bore--and Bob +thinks so too." + +"And what," asked Mrs. Sackville, "do Bob Eaton's father and Bob Eaton, +mean by a bore?" + +"Why, they mean, certainly"----Edward began in a confident tone, and then +faltered a little: "that is, I suppose they mean, that----that----that----" +Edward found it as difficult to explain their meaning, as the original +utterers of the profound remark would have done if suddenly called on: +and he was glad to be interrupted by a soliloquy of his little sister, +who stood in one corner of the room, wrapping something in half a dozen +envelopes. + +"Farewell!" she exclaimed, as the man says in the play, "'a long farewell' +to my dear dancing shoes--" + +"Pardon me, Miss Julia," said her mother, "for cutting short such a +pretty pathetic parting: but here is another pair of dancing shoes, +which you will please to put with those you already have, and I trust +you will have the pleasure of dancing them both out before you come to +town again." + +"Dancing them out, mother! shall we dance in the country?" exclaimed +both the children in one breath. "I thought," continued Edward, "that +we should have nothing to do in the country but get our lessons; and +all work and no play, you know, mother, makes Jack a dull boy." + +"Oh yes, Ned, I know that favorite proverb of all children. I am sorry +to find that you have such a dread of the country. You know, my dear +children, that your father and I are devoted to your welfare, and that +we should do nothing that would not contribute to your happiness." + +Edward had quick feelings, and he perceived that there was something +reproachful in his mother's manner. "I am sure," he said, "that Julia +and I wish to do every thing that you and papa like." + +"That is not enough, my dear boy, we wish you to _like_ to do what we +like." + +"But surely, mother, you cannot blame us for not wishing to go and live +in the country." + +"No, Edward, I should as soon think of blaming poor blind Billy, because +he cannot see. Unhappily you have been entirely confined to town, and +are ignorant of the pleasures of the country. I only blame you for +thinking that your father and I would voluntarily do any thing to lessen +your innocent pleasures." + +"Oh, mother!" exclaimed Edward, "we did not think any thing about that." + +"Well, my dear, perhaps I am wrong in expecting you to _think_--reflection +is the habit of a riper age than yours. You must trust me for one year, +and at the expiration of that period, you and your sister shall decide +whether we return to town or remain in the country." + +"Oh, mother! how very good you are. One year--well, one year won't be so +very long--only think, Julia, in one year we shall be back again." + +"Not quite so fast, Edward," said his mother; "you are not to decide +till the end of the year." + +"Oh, I know that, mama, but of course we shall decide to come back." + +Mrs. Sackville looked incredulous, and smiled at his childish confidence +in his own constancy. "I see, mother, you don't believe me; but of +course, Julia and I can't wish to live away from every thing that is +amusing." + +"Come, Julia, your brother has taken it upon himself to be spokesman, +but let me hear from you, what are the amusements that you so dread to +leave." + +"Why, in the first place, mother, there is our dancing-school: every +time I go to take my lesson, Mr. Dubois says, 'Pauvre, Miss Julie, point +de cotillon; point de gavots in de country; ah, qu'il est sauvage--de +country.'" + +"Dubois for ever!" exclaimed Edward, as Julia finished her mimicry +of her master's tone and grimace. "Oh, he is the drollest creature--and +Julia is such a mimic--the girls will have nobody to make them laugh +when she is gone." + +Mrs. Sackville secretly rejoiced that Julia was to be removed, in a +great degree, from the temptation to exercise so mischievous a faculty. +She, however, did not turn the drift of the conversation to make any +remarks on it. "Console Mr. Dubois," she said, "my dear, Julia, with the +assurance, that your mother will take care that you do not lose the +benefit of his labors in the service of the graces. Your father tells +me, there is in our neighborhood a very decent musician, who does all +the fiddling for the parish. I have purchased some cotillon music, and +I hope your favorite tunes will soon resound in our new mansion." + +"Oh, that will be delightful, mother, but Edward and I cannot dance a +cotillon alone." + +"No, but we are not going to a desert. There are enough clever children +in the neighborhood, who will form a set with you; and now, Julia, that +I see by your brightened eye, that you think the affliction of leaving +the dancing-school will be alleviated, what is the next subject of your +regret?" + +"The next, mother? what is next, Edward?" + +"I do not know what you will call next, Julia, but I think the theatre +comes next." + +"O! the theatre--yes, the theatre--how could I forget the theatre?" + +"Well, my children, I think you can live without the theatre, as you +go but once, or at most twice in a season; a pleasure that occupies +so small a portion of your time, cannot be very important to your +happiness, or regretted very deeply." + +"A small portion of time, to be sure, mother," replied Edward; "but then +you will own it is delightful: you yourself exclaimed the other night +when the curtain drew up, 'what a beautiful spectacle!'" + +"Yes, my love, but nature has far more beautiful spectacles, and I have +kept you too long from them." + +"But, mother," insisted Edward, "nothing can be so pleasant and +startling, as when the curtain suddenly draws up and discovers a +beautiful scene." + +"It may be more startling, my dear Ned, but it is not half so delightful +as to see the curtain of night withdrawn in a clear summer morning, and +the lovely objects of nature lighting up with the rays of the rising +sun." + +"But, mother, there is the orchestra--" + +"And in the country, my dear, we have bands of voluntary musicians on +every side of us, who set all their wants, and all their pleasures to +music, and pour them forth in the sweetest notes, from morning till +night. These musicians will hover about our house and garden the entire +summer, and ask no reward, but to share with us our cherries and +raspberries; a small pittance from the generous stores of summer. But, +come, my children, what next?" + +"What next, Julia? Let us think--Oh, there is the museum. I am sure, +mother, you cannot say a word against the museum--such a variety of +curiosities, and elegant specimens of every thing, and I have heard you +and papa both say, that it is a very instructive as well as amusing +place to visit." + +"Certainly it is, my dear, a vast collection of natural wonders, and +artificial curiosities; and I am glad you value it sufficiently to +regret it. But, my dear children, nature has her museums every where: +her productions are all curiosities, and the more you study them, the +more you will admire the wisdom and goodness of their Creator. Every +vegetable that springs from the kind bosom of the earth--the earth +itself--the rocks--the pebbles--living creatures, their instincts and +habitudes--are all a study for you. The volume is open and outspread +before you: God grant me grace to train your minds and hearts, that +you may read therein--read with that enlightened understanding and +benevolent spirit, which prompted a christian philosopher to say, 'the +air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted existence. On whichever +side I turn my eyes, myriads of happy beings crowd upon my view.'" + +Any farther record of the conversation would be superfluous, and might +prove tedious. It is our purpose to give some anecdotes of Edward and +Julia, and not their history. + +As might have been expected, our young friends in the country, were like +beings rescued from an artificial mode of existence, and restored to +their native element; and when their mother, at the expiration of the +year, asked them if they were ready to return to town-- + +"Return to town, now, mother!" exclaimed Edward, "it is impossible." + +"Some time or other, mama, perhaps we should like to go back, but not +now," said Julia. "We cannot go now, when we have so much to do. The +frost is just out of the ground, and Ned and I are as busy as bees in +our garden." + +"And, besides," said Edward, "there is my brood of ducks, that the old +hen has just brought off; I am so curious to see her fright when they +take to the water; and there are my bantam pigeons; bantams are so +delicate, that you know, mother, I could not trust them to any body's +care but my own." + +"I think old Caesar might take charge of your bantams, Ned," said Julia; +"but I am sure my pet lamb--" + +"Oh, Julia," interrupted Edward, laughing, "give her the sentimental +french name." + +"Very well, I will, and you may laugh as much you please: Orpheline--I +am sure Orpheline would not relish her food from any hand but mine, she +is so used to me; and my darling little partridges, that I am trying to +bring up to be domestic birds, I would not leave them before I have made +a 'satisfactory experiment,' as papa says; and then, mother, we did not +half fill our herbariums last summer. Oh, we have a world of business on +our hands," continued Julia, with the air of one who duly realized the +importance of her momentous concerns. + +Mrs. Sackville smiled, but made no reply, and Edward said, "I was +thinking, mother, as I sat on the door-step last evening, and listened +to the hum of the happy little creatures that are waking up for the +season, that I had new eyes and new ears given to me, since I came +to live in the country. Even the hoarse croaking of the frogs in our +meadow, sounded pleasantly to me; quite musical." + +"Equal to the music of the orchestra, my dear Ned." + +"Not quite so fine, mother," replied Edward, "but it seemed to have +more meaning in it." + +"You are right, my dear Edward," said Mrs. Sackville; "you have new +senses, or rather, your senses are unlocked to the reception of the +sweet influences of nature. I have more happiness than I can express to +you, my dear children, in finding that you have already imbibed a taste +for those pure pleasures, that will remain the same, whatever change of +condition or circumstances may await you."[2] + + [2] Miss Hannah More, at the age of seventy-five, said to + Professor Griscom, 'the love of the country, and of + flowers, is the only natural pleasure that remains to me + unimpaired.' + +Another year passed to this virtuous family, full of useful and innocent +occupations, and in the month of the already noted June, they left their +home. The parents with rational expectations of pleasure, from visiting +some of the most interesting scenes in our country, and the children +with the anticipation of unbounded delight, so characteristic of +childhood. + +Their travelling party included Mr. Ralph Morris, a bachelor brother +of Mrs. Sackville. Mr. Morris was a man of intelligence and extreme +kindness of disposition, a little irritable, and when the sky was +clouded, and the wind blew from the wrong quarter, somewhat whimsical. + +As we hope that our young readers will conceive a friendship for Edward +and Julia, before they part with them, they may have a natural curiosity +to know whether they were brown or fair, and all the etceteras of +personal appearance. Edward was tall for his age, (twelve) and stout +built, with the rich ruddy complexion and vigorous muscle of an English +boy. His eyes were large and dark, and beaming with the bright and +laughing spirit within: his hair was a mass of fair clustering curls, +which he, from a boyish dread of effeminacy, had in vain tried to subdue +by the discipline of comb and brush. His teeth were fine and white, and +with as little prompting from his mother as could be expected, he kept +them with remarkable neatness. His mouth was distinguished by nothing +but an expression of frankness and good temper. His nose, (a feature +seldom moulded by the graces) his nose, we are sorry to confess, was +rather thick and quite unclassical. His character and manners preserved +all the frankness and purity of childhood, with a little of that +chivalrous spirit which is such a grace to dawning manhood. For the +rest, we will leave him to speak for himself. + +The sister's person was extremely delicate and symmetrical, with too +little of the Hebe beauty for childhood, but full of grace and +_gentillesse_. + +Her complexion was not as rich as her brother's; but it had an +ever-varying hue, which indicated the sensibility that sometimes +suddenly swelled the veins of her clear open brow, lit up her hazel eyes +with electrifying brilliancy, and played in sweet dimples about her +mouth; in short, though she was not beautiful, she had an expression of +purity, truth, and gentleness, far more attractive than mere beauty; an +expression that was once happily described by a French lady, who said to +Mrs. Sackville, "when your daughter smiles, it seems to me, that it is +frankness and virtue that smile." + + * * * * * + +We are well aware that young people do not like to be harangued about +scenery; therefore, though our travellers sailed up the Hudson, we shall +resist every temptation to describe its beautiful features, features as +well known and loved as the familiar face of a friend; neither will we +detain them on the scarcely less beautiful Mohawk, though we are sure +they are not rebels against nature, and that their hearts would dilate +if we had the power to present to their imaginations this lovely stream, +winding through the valley it enriches, as it looked to the eyes of our +young travellers, brimfull from recent rains, reflecting in its living +mirror the verdant banks, the overhanging trees, the richly-wooded +hills, and the clear heaven. + +It would be impossible to record the exclamations of the children. "It +is a perfect picture, mother, all the way," said Julia. + +"I like every thing but these dronish farmers," said Edward. "See, papa," +he continued, (not, perhaps, unwilling to display his agricultural +observation) "see, that groupe of men, black and white, all leaning +on their hoes, and staring at us, and they will stand and look just +so, until the next carriage comes along, while their corn is trying +in vain to shoot above the weeds that choke it. They seem to have no +more soul than the clods they stand upon. I wish some of the farmers +on the cold desolate hills of New-England had this fine soil." + +"My dear Ned," replied Mr. Sackville, "I do not wonder at your +indignation. I have myself been marvelling, that, as a poet says, +'Nature should waste her wonders on such men;' but there is compensation +every where, or, as your mother would say, there 'are divers gifts.' +The man born to the inheritance of cold and sterile hills, is compelled +to be industrious, frugal, vigorous, and resolute to live, and thus the +advantages of his moral condition are more than an equivalent for the +physical advantages of a fine soil or climate, or both." + +"Ah, well, papa," replied Edward, "if I had my choice, I should take +this fine soil on the Mohawk, and cultivate it with the mountain +virtues, industry, resolution, &c. and I might make a paradise here." + +"A paradise, Ned!" exclaimed Mrs. Sackville, "do you remember that +Milton says, + + Now morn her rosy steps in the eastern clime + Advancing, sow'd the earth with orient pearl, + When Adam wak'd? + +If you would be a tiller of the earth, Ned, you must learn to like +early rising and hard work, better than you do now, and not go on living +so like the lilies of the field, that are clothed, though they toil +not." Edward looked a little crest-fallen. + +"Your self-confidence provoked a gentle rebuke," said his father; "but +it is a very common mistake, my dear son, for those much older than you +are, to fancy they should avoid the faults others commit, if placed in +their situation. But, before you permit such a presumption, be sure +that you have resisted all the temptations in your own path, and have +performed all the duties which belong to the sphere Providence has +assigned to you. Here we are at the close of our day's journey, and my +admonition comes in very well, like the moral at the end of a tale; this +I think is one of the prettiest places on the river. If I mistake not, +the village opposite to us is Palatine." + +The party alighted at Mrs. B's inn. The children entreated their mother +to take her port-folio, and stroll with them along the bank of the +river, while the tea was getting in readiness. + +As they came opposite the ferry, they stopped for a moment to look at a +scow approaching the shore. There were several men in it, and among them +a black lad, who, at the moment the boat touched the shore, either by +accident, or by the contrivance of his mischievous companions, fell +overboard. While they gave way to a burst of merriment, the poor blackey +regained a footing on terra firma, and shook the water from his woolly +locks and dripping garments. + +"You an't white yet, Cuffee," said one of his persecutors. "Look if he +has dyed the water," said another. + +"Don't laugh," said Julia to Edward, who, with a boyish love of fun, had +joined in the laugh; "it is too bad to laugh at the poor fellow." + +"You are right, Julia," said Mrs. Sackville. "It is hard to belong to a +degraded _caste_, to be born to the inheritance of jibes and jokes." + +They continued their walk a little farther down the bank, discovering +new beauties at every step, till they came to a spot which Julia +insisted could not be surpassed; and arranging a nice cushion on the +grass with her shawl, she begged her mother to make a sketch there. +"Now, mama," she said, "you must take both sides of the river." + +"You forget, Julia, that I cannot take a panorama view." + +"Then you must leave out the inn, and the beautiful hill behind it, with +its sycamores and locusts, and the road that winds along the bank of the +river." + +"Yes, my dear, here is the boundary of your picture:--this magnificent +elm-tree, that seems to pay its debt to the nourishing waters, by +extending its graceful branches over them." + +"And don't fail, mother," said Edward, "to mark the deep shadow it casts +on that pier of the bridge they are building--and oh, do put in that +little skiff so snugly moored in the shade, and hooked to the tree--and +that taper church spire that stretches above the thick wood on the +left;--oh, if you could but paint it as it looks now, with that bright +gleam from the setting sun on it. And see, mother, just at this instant, +what a golden mist there is in the topmost branches of that tree." + +"Stop your chattering one moment, Ned, till I get in this little brook +on the left, that is creeping so softly into the bosom of the Mohawk. +Oh, my children, it is an easy task to draw these lines so as to convey +a correct idea of forms and distances, but very difficult to imitate the +colouring of nature, the delicate touch of her skilful hand. How shall I +represent the freshness and purity that marks the youth of the year?--like +childhood, Ned, smiling and promising, and as yet unchanged by time." + +"If not changed, not perfected by time, dear mother," said Edward, +kissing his mother. His manner expressed a mixture of admiration and +tenderness that went to her heart. + +"You have spoiled my picture, Ned," she said, "I cannot make another +straight line. Come, Julia, take up the port-folio, and we will return +to the inn." + + * * * * * + +We hope our readers will not complain that we have not kept good faith +with them, if we have been tempted to loiter longer than we promised on +the banks of the Mohawk. To reward them for their patience (if perchance +they have exercised that difficult virtue, without availing themselves +of the skipping right--the readers' inalienable right) we shall make but +one stage of it from Palatine to Oneida, not once halting at any of the +beautiful grounds, waterfalls, or villages, that intervene. + +It was mid-day, and a hot day too, when our travellers entered this +Indian town, which presents a striking aspect, situated as it is in the +heart of a cultivated and civilized country. + +Huts are planted irregularly at some distance from the road, in fields +overgrown with rank grass. Half-naked Indians, yelling and hallooing, +were riding to and fro without saddles or bridles; on horses that looked +as wild as themselves. Some were stretched along the road-side, in a +state of brutal intoxication; others were lying under the shadows of +the noblest patriarchs of their woods, showing their patent right to +indolence as lords of the creation, while their women and girls were +sitting around them, busily making baskets and brooms. On the green +were groupes of men shooting arrows at a mark, playing at jack-straws, +football, and the various games of skill and chance by which the savage +drives away ennui--that demon that persecutes most fiercely at the +extremes of the human condition. + +"One might almost fancy here," said Mr. Sackville, "that the march +of time had been stayed, and the land spell-bound, by some mighty +magician. The log-huts of these poor Indians are as rude structures +as the bark wigwams of their forefathers, and these rich lands are a +complete waste, except where we see here and there a little patch of +corn or potatoes. The savages certainly evince their faith in the +traditionary saying that 'the Great Spirit gave a plough to the white +man, and a bow and arrow to the Indian.'" + +"And there," said Mrs. Sackville, pointing to some women who were +hoeing, "there is an illustration of another of their proverbs--'men +were made for war and hunting, and squaws and hedge-hogs to scratch the +ground.'" + +Edward interrupted the conversation, to beg his father to stop in the +village long enough to allow him time to look into the interior of some +of the huts. While Mr. Sackville hesitated whether to incur the delay +necessary to afford this gratification to his son, the driver announced +that his off-leader had lost his shoe, and asked leave to stop at a +blacksmith's to have it replaced. + +This request was readily granted; and while Mrs. Sackville entered into +some conversation with the blacksmith, who was a white man, Edward +bounded over a fence and across a field, towards a hut which was +scarcely perceptible except by a smoke that rose from it, and curled +through the branches of a lofty oak which stood before it. + +As he drew near the hut, he heard a low voice, broken by sobs; he paused +for a moment, and then cautiously and softly advanced, till he came so +near as to hear distinctly what was said, and to see enough, through a +small aperture where the clay had fallen away from the logs, to prevent +his proceeding farther, and to excite his curiosity to its highest +pitch. An old Indian woman was sitting on the hearth-stone, her arms +folded, and her blanket wrapped close around her. It appeared that she +had seated herself there for the purpose of watching an Indian cake that +was baking on a shovel before the fire; but her attention had been so +abstracted, that the cake was burnt to a cinder. Her face and person +were withered by age; but her eye, as if lit up by an undying spark, +retained a wild brightness, and was steadfastly fixed on two young +persons who stood before her, apparently too much occupied with their +own emotion to notice her observation of them. The one was a young girl, +dressed in a riding habit and Leghorn travelling bonnet. Edward was +not very well situated for accurate observation; but though he was +at the first glance deceived by the brilliancy of the girl's colour, +heightened as it was by the excitement of the moment, his unpracticed +eye soon detected unequivocal marks of the Indian race, accompanied +and softened by traits of fairer blood. A young Indian stood beside +her, who, as Edward fancied, had a certain air of dignity and heroism, +that characterised a warrior chief;--still there was something in his +attitude and motions, that bespoke the habits of civilized life. His +dress, too, was a singular mixture of the European and Indian costumes. +He wore a jacket with long sleeves made of deer skin, and closely fitted +to his arms and breast. He had a mantle of blue broad cloth, lined with +crimson, made long and full, hanging over one shoulder, and confined at +the waist by a wampum belt. On a table beside him was lying a cap, like +the military undress cap of a British officer, with a plume of black +feathers tinged with crimson, and attached to the cap by a silver arrow. + +The conversation between him and the girl was in French, and made up of +ejaculations and vehement protestations, from which Edward could not at +first gather any thing intelligible to him. The girl wept excessively; +the Indian's passion seemed too powerful for such an expression. + +"You promise," he said, "Felice; but our old men say the winds are not +more changing than a woman's mind." + +"Others may change; I cannot, Nahatton; you know I would not leave you +if I could help it." + +"Could help it! can your father's right control nature's law? Oh, +Felice!" he added, smiting his breast, "that which I feel for you is +like the fires from the sun--the hurricane from the south--the tide of +the ocean;--I cannot resist it." + +"Nahatton! Nahatton! you know I will return to you." + +"Let me place this around your neck then," said he, detaching from his +own a chain made of porcupine quills, and curiously woven. "My mother +made it. She said it was a charm, and would keep me true to my own +people. I wore it in France, and I have returned to my tribe." + +"Not about my neck, Nahatton," said Felice, as he raised his hands to +clasp the chain; "it looks too savage--bind it on my arm.----Why do you +hesitate?" she asked, as she stood with her arm extended, and her sleeve +pushed up. + +"It looks too savage! Already ashamed of your mother's blood! Oh, there +is poison in your veins!" and as he said this he broke the chain, threw +it down, and crushed it under his foot. + +"Oh, Nahatton, I did not mean that;--I am not ashamed of my indian +blood--I will make you any promise--I will swear, on my knees I will +swear to return to you." + +"Swear then upon this," said he; and he took from his bosom a silver +crucifix, and offered it to her lips. + +At this moment the old woman, who, as they spoke in French, only +understood as much as she could interpret from their gestures, rose, +and darting towards them, she laid her hand on the crucifix. "No, no, +Felice; swear not!" she said; "the oath will be written there," and she +pointed upward, "when you have broken and forgotten it." + +Edward, in the intensity of his interest in the scene, had forgotten the +necessity of secrecy. He carelessly leaned his arm on some rails that +had been placed against the hut, one of them fell; the party within +started and looked around them, and Edward instinctively retreated. If +he went as swiftly as the wind, and once or twice thought he heard an +arrow whirring through the air behind him, we hope our readers will +impute it to the excited state of his imagination, and not deem him a +coward, 'even upon instinct.' + +"Just in time, Edward, my son," said Mr. Sackville, who was standing by +the carriage in which the rest of the party were already seated; "but +what in the world ails you? you look as wild as if you had met a bear up +in the wood there." + +"Oh, you would look wild too, father, if you had seen and heard what I +have. Oh, mother! Oh, Julia! you never will believe what I have to tell +you." + +"I have something to tell you, too, Mr. Edward," said his mother; "and +as you are out of breath, and out of your wits, I will tell my story +first, which I assure you is quite a romantic little tale to pick up by +the way-side." + +"Well, do be quick, mother, if you please, for what I have to say is so +wonderful." + +"No doubt; each one always thinks his own wonder the most wonderful. But +I will not try your patience any longer. Do you remember our speculating +on an empty carriage, which we saw drawn up under a tree with a man +standing by it, about half a mile back?" + +"Yes, very well--but what of that, mother?" + +"It was an idle inquiry about that carriage of the good-natured +communicative blacksmith that led to the story, which I am going to tell +you. It seems that carriage is to convey a young woman to New-York, +whence she sails for France." + +"Oh, I saw her--I saw her," exclaimed Edward. "It can be none other." + +"Well, Edward," said Mrs. Sackville, "I will give place to you; for I +see you are in such a state of fermentation, that I am afraid your story +will evaporate in exclamations, while I am telling mine." + +Edward thus relieved from restriction, proceeded to recount with the +animation of an eye-witness, all he had seen and heard. His audience +listened to him with the most flattering attention, and at the +conclusion, repaid him with exclamations, that proved they were +adequately impressed with the extraordinary scene he had witnessed. + +Julia wished he had noticed whether the chief (for thus he had chosen +throughout his narrative to designate his hero) wore moccasins or shoes, +and whether his legs below his mantle, were bare, or covered with +leggins. She thought too, he might just have staid to see whether the +girl made the vow or not: and his mother congratulated him that the +Indians had not executed summary justice on him, and shot him flying for +a spy. + +"My story," said Mrs. Sackville, "will serve, Ned, as a sequel to yours, +or rather, an explanation of it. It seems that this young girl, who is a +Miss Bernard, had left the carriage when we saw it, on the pretence of +going to take leave of her mother's sister, who is doubtless the old +woman you saw. You were so fortunate as to discover her real errand. She +is the daughter of a Frenchman--Rodolph Bernard. His family was noble +and rich: they and their fortunes were sacrificed in the convulsions of +the French revolution, and Bernard alone escaped and reached America, +with nothing but his life. It appears from my blacksmith's story, that +young Bernard had a good deal of spirit and enterprise, and more +education than most of the young nobles of that time. I wish you to +observe, my children, that knowledge is a treasure not impaired by a +change of circumstances, but an immutable good in every extreme of +fortune. Bernard remained in New-York for a year or two, and subsisted +by teaching French to some Americans, and mathematics to his own +countrymen. He was then employed by a company of French gentlemen, +to explore the western part of this State, then a wilderness, and +to furnish them such information as should enable them to make an +advantageous purchase of the government. This was not quite thirty years +ago: and then the cultivated country and beautiful villages through +which we have passed, were for the most part a trackless wilderness. + +"At a wigwam in Oneida, where he had been compelled to ask for such +hospitality as it afforded, he was seized with the fever of the country +that usually attacked strangers. For weeks and months he was nursed by +an indian girl, famed among her people for her skill in such remedies as +their native wilds supply. You know, that in the history of the early +periods of all ages, we find the healing art assigned to women. You will +remember, Ned, in your favorite old ballads, many a kill or cure, +performed by cruel or tender leeches. + +"Whether it was the indian maid's skill in medicine, that prevailed over +the disease at last, or her devoted kindness, it might be difficult to +determine; probably, Bernard thought the latter; for though she was, +as my narrator's tradition says, 'an uncouth maiden to look upon,' he +declared his love to her, and asked her hand of her father. The father +consented, but not till after some delay, nor till he had ascertained +that Bernard's rank entitled him to wed the daughter of a distinguished +chief. She was an only child too, and she was heir to enough land within +this Oneida reservation, to make a principality. + +"The Frenchman understood how to manage it. His ties to his own country +were broken. All his affections and interests were concentrated here. He +has been a good husband and father--so indulgent as to permit his wife +on ordinary occasions, to wear her indian dress, to which it seems she +has a bigoted attachment. His children are well educated: and, Ned, our +blacksmith thinks, that your heroine Felice, would be a perfect beauty, +if she had such hair as your sister's, and the olive tinge could be +washed out of her skin. + +"Bernard, since the late reverses in France, has returned there, and +recovered an immense property which had been sequestered by Napoleon. + +"Last year his family received dispatches from him, by your 'chief,' +Ned--who, if not in reality a chief, is the son of a distinguished +sachem of the Seneca tribe, which is located some where on the shores +of Lake Erie. The old Seneca chief was converted to the Romish religion, +by a Catholic missionary, who persuaded him to resign his son into his +hands, to be educated a priest. + +"It appears that neither European intercourse, nor the strict discipline +of a catholic school, have overcome the young man's preference of the +wild and lawless life of his tribe. As I said, on his return from +France, he brought letters from Bernard to his family, and here he +has played successfully the part of Othello the Moor, with this young +Desdemona; and the blacksmith thinks that Bernard will play the enraged +father to the life, as it has been his declared resolution from his +daughter's birth, that she should not wed an indian. + +"For the rest of my story, it is explained by what you have witnessed, +Edward. The Seneca youth has visited his people, and returned here just +as Felice is on the eve of departure for France, in compliance with her +father's requisition. As to the future, whether she will remain constant +to her lover, as we are not seers, we cannot predict--we can only +guess." + +Edward and Julia professed unbounded confidence in Felice's fidelity. +Mr. Morris did not see what the girl could do better. Indian she +undoubtedly was, and he thought it was a clear case for the application +of the Scottish proverb, 'hawks won't pick out hawks' een;' at any rate +it would be a piece of effrontery for her to turn her back upon her +indian lover, and expect to win a white one. + +Mr. and Mrs. Sackville thought it possible that Julia might find +Frenchmen in whose estimation an ample fortune would atone for the +slight dishonour of her maternal ancestry. + +Our travellers proceeded without accident or adventure along the +accustomed route through fine villages, whose rapid growth to maturity +remind one of the construction of a fairy palace by the touch of a +magician's wand. A few years ago this country was unexplored save by +the indian hunter, or perhaps a devoted missionary, or lawless trader. +A wheel had never entered it--a _shodden_ horse was a curiosity; now, +the road is thronged with market-waggons, stage coaches, and carriages +filled with idle, curious, or classic travellers, who go to 'the Falls' +to kill time, to increase their stores of knowledge, or to gratify +taste. + +Mr. Sackville was constantly directing his children's observation to the +prompt enterprise and industry so conspicuous in a new country, and +stimulating their patriotism by pointing out to them the increasing +riches and resources of their native land. "For my own part," he said, +"I prefer the sentiment that is inspired by the peaceful triumphs of man +over nature, to the patriotism that is kindled on battle-grounds--if not +as romantic, it is certainly more innocent." + +"Then I suppose, papa," said Edward, "that you prefer Virgil's georgics +to his epic." + +"Thank you, Ned," replied his father, "for an illustration which proves +that your travels have not quite put your school out of your head. I +certainly do prefer the aspect of our cheerful dwellings, blooming +gardens, and fruitful fields, associated as they are in my mind with +innocent occupation and moral cultivation; to the ivy-mantled towers +and triumphal arches of the old world--they are the records of feudal +grandeur and high heroic deeds, but deeds too often of doubtful virtue, +and of fatal consequences. The melancholy poet may exult in describing +the 'spectres that sit and sigh' amid their ruins; but if I had the +_gifted eye_, my children, I should rather look upon the spirit of +Contentment that hovers over our land, and her sweet sister Hope, who +points with her finger of promise to the smiling prosperity produced by +busy hands and active independent minds." + + * * * * * + +When the travellers reached Black-rock, where they were to cross the +Niagara, they were compelled to await for some time the return of the +ferry-boat, which was then plying towards the Canada shore. While they +were detained, they amused themselves with a company of Irish people--raw +emigrants, who had just entered our territory, and were awaiting the +departure of the Erie steam-boat to convey them to the State of Ohio. +They had spread tents for their temporary accommodation--Edward and +Julia went from one to another, asking questions, and giving cakes and +dried fruit from their travelling stores to the children. + +They were particularly struck with one buxom young girl with laughing +eyes and ruddy cheeks, who seemed to be a favorite with the whole +company, and not to belong to any one; for she went from tent to tent +kneading an oat-meal cake for one woman--dressing a lame arm for +another, and performing sundry miscellaneous offices that always fall +to the lot of those most useful people who have nothing in particular +to do. Julia offered her a piece of cake, by way of introduction, and +then asked her name:--"My name is Biddy Burns, an' please you, miss." + +"And who did you come with, Biddy?" + +"I left home with my cousin; but it pleased the Lord to take her to +himself before we came to Quebec, and she has left such a pretty +complement of children to her husband to take care of, that I must +e'en shift for myself." + +"Do you like our country, Biddy?" asked Edward. + +"Och, my master, I could not miss liking it, ye are all so free and +hospitable." + +"But Biddy," said Julia, "how could you leave your father and mother, +and all your friends?" + +"Sure it is, miss, if it thrives well with me they will all come after." + +"Sure enough," said Mrs. Sackville, "these poor Irish do all come +_after_, sooner or later. Are you a catholic, Biddy?" + +"I come from the north of Ireland, my leddy." + +"You are a protestant, then?" + +"Yes, my leddy; thank God and my mother, that taught me the rasonable +truth." + +"Can you read, my good girl?" + +"Indeed can I, my leddy. Thanks to the Sunday school, I could read in +the bible if I had one, without a blunder." + +"Well, Biddy," said Mrs. Sackville, who thought it a good opportunity to +give a God-speed to the girl's pilgrimage--"here is a bible in my +basket--take it, and may it be the guide of your life." + +Biddy poured forth her thanks in many a God-reward-ye, and then after +hesitating for a moment, she said, "I wish my leddy would condescend to +walk up here a bit, to a poor woman who needs a kind christian word, +poor crater." Mrs. Sackville and the children followed Biddy to a tree +which stood a little above the encampment of the Irish, where a woman +was sitting on a log with a sick child in her arms, and a boy of five +or six beside her. + +She was a middle-aged woman, with a face originally plain, and deeply +seamed with the small-pox; but withal, there was an expression of honesty +and goodness, and of deep sadness, that interested Mrs. Sackville, though +at first it failed to draw the attention of the children from their +good-humored blithe companion. + +"Does this woman belong to your company, Biddy?" + +"Bless you, no, my leddy."--"I thought not," said Mrs. Sackville, who +was struck with the extreme neatness of the woman's appearance, which +presented a striking contrast to all the Irish, even to our friend +Biddy.--Her child's head was covered with a linen handkerchief--coarse +and patched, but white as the driven snow. There was scarcely a thread +of the original cloth in her children's clothes--neither was there a +hole in them--their faces and hands were perfectly clean, and their hair +neatly combed. + +"You seem to find it possible, my friend," said Mrs. Sackville, patting +the little boy's face, "to keep your children clean in the most difficult +circumstances." "I try my best, ma'am," replied the woman. "And a slave, +my leddy," interposed Biddy, "she makes of herself for it. Do you know +that when I offered this morning to stay by the childer while she took +a bit of sleep, that instead of resting her soul and body, she went and +washed her things in the river, and got leave to iron in the house +yonder, and did it all as particular as it might have been done for you, +my leddy." + +The poor woman was wetting the sick child's lips from a cup of water that +stood by her; and she took no notice of Biddy's remark. Mrs. Sackville +inquired into the particulars of the child's sickness, which she thought +would yield to some common restoratives which she had at hand; and just +as she was dispatching Julia for the dressing case which contained them, +a little rugged impish looking boy came towards them, throwing himself +heels over head, with a segar in his mouth, which he continued smoking +while he was making his somersets.--"Come, come, Goody Barton," said he, +without heeding Mrs. Sackville's presence, "come, we must be up and +moving. If we don't get over in this boat, I shall disappoint the +company at Chippewa to-night." + +"Don't speak so loud, Tristy," replied the woman, "but take the pack to +the boat, and I will follow you." + +"That surely is not your child?" said Mrs. Sackville, as the boy walked +off with the bundle singing, at the top of his voice, a very vulgar +song, and affecting to reel like a drunken man. + +"No, thank God," said the woman, "he is a poor heaven-forsaken lad, who +is going into Canada. He has helped me along from Buffalo, and has +offered to carry my bundle to Chippewa." + +It occurred to Mrs. Sackville to caution the woman to be on her guard, +for she thought Tristy looked wicked enough for any mischief; but a +signal from the boat obliged them all to hasten to the shore. Biddy good +naturedly took the eldest boy by the hand and led him to the boat, and +then took leave of all her new friends, pouring forth a shower of +prayers that God would bless them all, rich and poor. + +The woman, whom we shall henceforth call by her name, Mrs. Barton, was +reserved in the expression of her feelings; but the tear of gratitude +she dropped on Biddy's hand at parting, was an equivalent for the girl's +voluble expressions. + +There was, in all the poor woman's manner, an unobtrusiveness and +reserve uncommon in a person of her humble degree, and it interested +Mrs. Sackville more than any solicitation could have done. She +ascertained that Mrs. Barton was on her way to Quebec, where she _hoped_ +to find her husband. + +"And have you the means of getting there?" asked Mrs. Sackville. "It is +a great distance, my friend, and you cannot get across Ontario and down +the St. Lawrence for a trifle." + +"I know that, madam; but I have some money; and if I find my own country +people as kind to me as the people in the States have been, I shall do +very well. Every body feels pitiful to a lone woman with little children. +If it please God to mend my little girl, I shall go on with good courage." + +Mrs. Sackville commended the poor woman's resolution, and busied herself +putting up some medicines for the child, and giving directions about +them, and was so occupied with her benevolent duty, that she gave little +heed to Edward's continued exclamations. "Oh, mother! how beautiful the +colour of the water of the Niagara is!" "Mother, does not it give you +sublime feelings to think you are on the Niagara?" "Mother, does not +Lake Erie look grand from here?" &c. &c. &c. Suddenly his attention was +diverted, and he was attracted to the extremity of the boat, where +Tristy, the little "Flibbertigibbet" we have before mentioned, was +exhibiting various feats for the amusement of the passengers. He was a +little, pale, wizened-face fellow, with a bleared and blood-shot eye, +his hair black, strait, and matted to his head, his mouth defiled with +tobacco, and in short his whole appearance indicating the depravity of +one experienced in vice. He dislocated the joints of his fingers, stood +firmly on his head, and performed some of the difficult exploits of a +tumbler; and when he had done all this, "Come, gentlemen," said he, +"shall I sing you a song, or pray you a prayer? I'll suit your fancy +with either for a sixpence." + +"No, no; none of your prayers, you little son of the old one," said one +of the men; "we shall have your master with the cloven foot after us +before we get to the shore: you may sing us a song, though, only let it +be a decent one." + +"Oh, well gentlemen, suit yourselves--I am a Jack at all trades, you +know--that is to say, at any of the trades my father, that is dead and +gone, followed before me." + +"Trades! your father followed no trade, but the trade of the +light-fingered gentry." + +"I beg your pardon, sir; my dad was a noted man in his day:--a +carpenter, joiner, tooth-drawer, barber, gardener, studying-master, +dancing-master, whipping-master, fiddling-master, school-master, +music-master, play-actor, &c. &c.--all of which I am yours gentlemen +to command. Now for the song:--there is Erie, and my song is Perry's +glorious victory." He then half sung, half recited, a ballad recounting +Perry's gallant exploits on the lake. + +It was impossible for a compassionate being to see the little outcast +without an emotion of pity; or not to be affected by the weak and almost +infantine tones of his voice. + +"How old are you, child?" asked Mr. Sackville, as the boy concluded his +song, and opened his mouth to catch the sixpence that was tossed to him. + +"How old? I do not justly remember; but there is my age set down in our +family Bible, as my father called it, by his own honored hand, on the +day he got through, as I have heard him say, his fourth term of service +at the state-castle." + +Mr. Sackville took from the child's hand a filthy little dream-book, on +the title-page of which was scrawled, and scarcely legible,--"Tristram +McPhelan, born in the Bridewell, city of New-York, on Friday--bad luck +to him--March 1807." + +"You are then but eleven years old." + +"Yes sir; and in that time I have seen more of life than many of my +betters twice my age. I have been in every state in the Union, and +in every city of every state. I have been in six alms-houses, two +workhouses, and ten jails, on my own account, besides the privilege of +visiting my father in two different state prisons. While my father lived +we travelled in company, and now I am obliged (he concluded, bowing to +Mr. Sackville,) to put up with what company chance throws in my way." + +Mr. Sackville took Edward by the hand, and turned away, grieved and +disgusted. His eye fell on his daughter, who was sitting beside +Mrs. Barton, carefully sheltering the sick child from the sun with her +parasol, while she nicely prepared an orange and offered it to her. +The little sufferer seized it eagerly and devoured it, and then fixed +her eyes on Julia and smiled. The first smile of a sick child is +electrifying. + +"Oh! miss," said the mother, "does not she seem to say, 'God bless you,' +though she cannot speak it?" + +Julia was delighted with the revival of the child, and with the mother's +gratitude, which was even more manifest in her brightened countenance +than in her words. + +"My medicine," said Julia, "has worked wonders; if I could but find one +more orange, I should quite cure my little patient;" and she zealously +ransacked the carriage, and turned out every basket and bag in the hope +of finding another, but all in vain. Disappointed, she turned to her +mother,--"Cannot we, mama," she said, "do something more for this poor +woman before we leave her?" + +"I do not see that we can, my dear," replied Mrs. Sackville, "I have +offered to pay her stage fare hence to Newark, but she says she has +money, and declines receiving any thing." + +"Oh, then she is not obliged to go on foot--I could not endure to think +of the child's being exposed to this hot sun." + +"That, I am afraid, cannot be helped; for the mother does go to Newark +on foot. I could not persuade her to ride. She insists that she is very +strong, and that her child is so wasted she scarcely feels the burthen +of it; and besides, she travels but a very short distance in a day." + +Julia paused for a moment. She was very reluctant to give up the point, +and finally, as the last resource of her ingenuity, she proposed that +her mother should take the woman into the carriage. "We can just squeeze +her in for a few miles, mama; she looks so perfectly nice, that even +uncle can't object; and I want so to know if the little girl continues +to get better." + +Mrs. Sackville could scarcely refrain from smiling at Julia's odd +proposition to take in a way-faring woman and two children, but it had +its source in such kind feelings, that she would not ridicule it. "I am +afraid, my dear Julia," she said, "that it is quite impossible to +gratify you. You know your uncle already complains of wanting +elbow-room." + +"Well then, mother, just listen to one more proposal:--take the woman +into the carriage, and let Edward and me walk two or three miles. Three +miles will be quite a lift to her, and Ned will lead the little boy." + +Mrs. Sackville could not resist Julia's eagerness, and after some +consultation with her husband and brother, she consented to the +arrangement, though it involved them in some inconvenience and delay. It +was as much a matter of principle as feeling with her, never to permit +her own personal accommodation to interfere with the claims of humanity. +A child is more impressed with a single example of disinterestedness, +than with a hundred admonitions on the subject. Mrs. Sackville had some +difficulty in overcoming the scruples of Mrs. Barton, who felt a modest +awkwardness at seating herself in the carriage with her superiors; but +when they reached the Canada shore, the necessary arrangements were +made, and she being at last persuaded, on the ground of gratifying the +children, took their place in the carriage, and it drove off and left +Edward and Julia to follow with little Richard Barton, and Tristram with +the wallet. + +Mr. Morris was one of those thrifty people, who can never see any +necessity of poverty, and though he was in the main kind hearted, he was +rather inclined to be severe in his judgment of the wretched. Poverty +was always suspicious in his eyes. No sooner were they seated and well +under way, than he said, "It is a mystery to me, my good woman, why +people who have not any spare cash should always be travelling. +Sometimes they are going up country to see a relation--and sometimes +down country. All their kindred are sure to live at their antipodes." + +Mrs. Barton kept her eyes downcast on her child, and made no reply. +"Now," continued Mr. Morris, "what use or pleasure there can be in +lugging children from Dan to Beersheba, is more than I can imagine." + +"God knows, I do not travel for the pleasure of it," meekly replied the +poor woman. + +"Oh, no, no--I dare say not--I dare say not"--said Mr. Morris, who had +whiffed away his pet with the first breath. "You are of another sort. +But, pray, my friend, what are you travelling for?" + +"To join my husband at Quebec." + +"Your husband at Quebec--and you here! how the deuce came that about?" + +"My child has fallen asleep," replied Mrs. Barton, turning to +Mrs. Sackville; "and if you, ma'am, will condescend to hear the cause +of my being here--there is no reason that I should be loath to tell it; +only you know, ma'am, one does not like to be forward about speaking of +troubles to strangers--and those so kind as you, it seems like begging, +which I am not forward to do." + +Mrs. Sackville assured Mrs. Barton, that she felt great interest in +knowing how she came into her present circumstances. + +"My husband," she said, "was a corporal in the fortieth ----. We were +in Spain through all Wellington's campaigns, and had just crossed the +Pyrennees into France, and were thinking of going home to England +again, when the regiment was ordered to America. This was no great +disappointment to me--I have no known relation in the world but my +husband and child--then I had but the one. My husband is a sober man, +who fears God and serves his king with all his heart: and his pay with +my earnings, (for I did up all the linen of our officers) furnished us +a decent living. When we arrived at Quebec, our regiment was sent into +Upper Canada. + +"Soon after we came to Newark, a detachment from the De Watteville +regiment was ordered to make an attack on Fort Erie. In this detachment +was a corporal, a great friend to us, who once saved my boy from +drowning. At the moment he was ordered off, he had a child seemingly at +the last gasp. The poor man was distracted like, and my husband, who had +that tender heart that he could never bide to look on misery, offered to +go as his substitute, and he went. You've doubtless heard of the sortie +of Erie: that dreadful night my husband was taken prisoner. He got a +letter written to me from Buffalo, to tell me all his ill-fortune. He +had been mistaken by some American soldiers for a deserter from the +American army; and not being with his own regiment when he was taken, or +even among his acquaintance, he could not prove who he was. He had been +ironed, and was to be taken to Greenbush, near Albany. + +"He entreated me to procure from his captain, the necessary papers to +prove that he was a true man, and to forward them to him. Our captain +was a great friend to us; he gave me the writings, and I determined +myself to go to Greenbush. I met with some troubles, and much kindness +by the way. The people in your States, ma'am, are the freest and the +kindest I have ever seen. They seemed to me like God's stewards, always +ready to open their storehouses to the naked and hungry. I had money +enough to pay for my boy's riding the most of the way; for myself I +seldom felt weary, but pressed on beyond my strength; still I did not +feel it till I got to Greenbush, and was told my husband had escaped +from confinement the week before. Whither he had gone, no one knew, but +all told me that if he was not retaken, he had probably reached Canada. + +"I would have come straight home again, but my strength was utterly +gone. I have not much recollection from this time: I remember having a +fear that they would take my boy from me, but all seems as a dream, till +I came to myself two months after in the alms-house in Albany. From that +time I remained in a low wretched state, for four months, when this poor +baby was born into this world of trouble." + +Here the poor woman gave way to a burst of tears, which seemed to be +a relief to her full heart; for afterwards, she proceeded with more +composure. "Many months passed before I was able to do any thing for +myself. It pleased God to hear my prayer for patience; and though I was +often without any hope that times would ever mend with me, I was kept +from fretting. You are very kind to feel for me, but I will not tire +you with all my ups and downs for the last three years. I have sent +many letters into Canada, but have never received any return. My heart +sometimes misgives me, and I think my husband has gone to Europe--or +maybe is dead." + +"But, why," asked Mrs. Sackville, "have you remained so long in the +States?" + +"O, ma'am, I was afraid to undertake the journey with my poor baby, who +has always been but delicate, and I was determined not to leave Albany, +where I had made many kind friends, till I had earned something to help +us on our journey. I know how to turn my hands to almost any kind of +work; and the last year has prospered so well with me, that when I left +Albany I had forty dollars. At Buffalo my poor baby was taken down; and +I have been obliged to spend ten dollars; with the rest I hope to get to +Quebec; and if worst comes to worst, I may there find friends to send +me to Europe." + +The poor woman's story was not one of unparalleled misfortunes, but it +was unusually interesting to her hearers--there was so much resolution +and mildness blended in her countenance, such perfect cleanliness in her +coarse apparel, and such an evident solicitude to avoid any exaggeration, +or even display of her troubles, that could be an appeal to the charity +of her auditors, that when she concluded, they felt convinced of her +merit, and deeply interested in her welfare. They were now arrived at +the inn, where they were to await the children, who arrived in the +course of an hour, heated and dusty--but declaring they had never a +more delightful walk. + +"Lord bless you, Miss," exclaimed Mrs. Barton, "you've heated yourself +to that degree, that the blood seems ready to burst from your cheeks. I +shall never forgive myself if you get sick by it." + +"Oh never fear," replied Julia, "I did not feel the heat at all." + +"But there is such a thick sickly feeling in the air to-day." + +"Sickly feeling," exclaimed Edward, "I am sure I thought the air was +never fresher and sweeter." + +"You can now understand," said Mrs. Sackville, speaking in a low voice +to her children, "the charm of the ring in the Fairy tale, bestowed by +the benevolent Genius; which whenever worn, produced a clear sky, a +smooth path and fragrant air. There is a happiness, my dear children, +in the simplest act of genuine kindness, which is much more than a +compensation for the loss of any gratification of taste. The relief of +this poor woman, and the sweet sleep into which her child has been +lulled by the motion of the carriage, have quite reconciled me to the +delay of the sight of the Falls; for which I confess I began to feel a +little but here comes your uncle, full of concern about something." + +Mr. Morris entered the room in great perturbation. "Here is a pretty +spot of work," said he. "I believe in my soul, Mrs. Barton, that that +scamp Tristy has gone off with your bundle." + +"Gone off with it!--God forbid!" exclaimed the poor woman,--"my money +was all in it." + +"Oh uncle," said Edward, "he has not gone off with it;--he laid himself +down under a tree in the wood just back, and said he would follow on as +soon as he had rested him." + +"Rested him! a mere pretence to get rid of you--you should have had more +discretion than to have trusted him, Ned;--but when was ever discretion +found in a boy?" + +"But what reason, brother, have you to think he has gone off?" asked +Mrs. Sackville. + +Mr. Morris said there had a man just come over the road, of whom he had +inquired if he had seen him:--he had not, but he was certain he should +have observed him if he had been by the road side. Mr. Morris had +despatched a servant on horseback in pursuit of him, and he begged +Mrs. Barton to calm herself till his return. + +The poor woman's agitation could not be allayed as easily as it had +been excited:--she said nothing; but she became as pale as death, and +trembled so excessively, that Mrs. Sackville took her child from her +arms and laid it on a bed. + +Mr. Morris's compassion once excited, was never stinted. "Bless you, +woman," he whispered to Mrs. Barton, "don't tremble so. If the little +imp has really made off, your loss shall be made up to you. Come, cheer +up--I have engaged a place for you and your children in a return +carriage, and you will all be in Newark to-night, safe and snug." + +"God bless you, sir," replied Mrs. Barton. "I am ashamed of myself; but +my courage and strength seem quite spent." + +At this instant, Edward, who had gone out on the first notice of the +boy's delinquency, returned, shouting, "He's coming, he's coming;" and +directly the messenger made his appearance with the wallet unharmed, and +followed by Tristram, who came doggedly on muttering, "that it was a +poor reward for lugging the old woman's bundle to be hunted for a +thief." + +"Stop your clamor, Tristy," said Mr. Morris, "the devil shall have his +due; there is a shilling for you, which is full as much as your +character is worth." + +"I don't know as to that," replied the boy, pocketing the shilling: +"those that have much character can do as they please, but I have so +little, that I set a high price on it." + +The carriage was now ready in which Mrs. Barton was to proceed, and her +friends saw her depart cheered and comforted by their kindness, and +themselves enriched by the opportunity they had improved of imitating +our heavenly Benefactor by 'raising the sinking heart, and strengthening +the knees that were ready to fail.' + +After our travellers were again on their way, Mr. Morris said he did not +at all like Tristram's look, when he said Goody Barton would remember +him the next time she felt the weight of her wallet. "The little rascal +said too, that he had changed his mind, and was going back to the +States--putting that and that together, I am afraid his evil fingers +have been inside the poor woman's bundle." + +Julia was sure he could not be so wicked--she had herself observed the +bundle, and that it was very nicely sewed. + +Mrs. Sackville hoped and believed that there was no harm done to the +poor woman's property; and the concern of the party for their protegee, +gradually gave place to their admiration of the beauties of their ride, +and the animated expectation of seeing the Falls. + +Edward declared that his ears already began to tingle,--and after they +passed Chippewa, Julia resolutely shut her eyes, for fear of having the +first impression weakened by the imperfect glimpses that could be caught +of the cataract from the road. + + * * * * * + +We hope our young readers do not think us so presumptuous as to attempt +to give them a description of the Falls of Niagara; one of the sublimest +spectacles with which this fair earth is embellished. Neither can we +attempt to define the emotions of our travellers. We find in Edward's +and Julia's journals, noted with an accuracy and taste that does them +great credit, all the constituent parts of this great whole--a poet or +a painter might perhaps weave them into a beautiful picture. + +The vehement dashing of the rapids--the sublime falls--the various +hues of the mass of waters--the snowy whiteness, and the deep bright +green--the billowy spray that veils in deep obscurity the depths +below--the verdant island that interposes between the two falls, half +veiled in a misty mantle, and placed there, it would seem, that the eye +and the spirit may repose on it--the little island on the brink of the +American fall, that looks amidst the commotion of the waters like the +sylvan vessel of a woodland nymph gaily sailing onward; or as if the +wish of the Persian girl were realized, and the 'little isle _had_ +wings;'--a thing of life and motion that the spirit of the waters had +inspired. + +The profound caverns with their overarching rocks--the quiet habitations +along the margin of the river--peaceful amid all the uproar, as if the +voice of the Creator had been heard, saying "It is I, be not afraid."--The +green hill, with its graceful projections, that skirts and overlooks +Table-rock--the deep and bright verdure of the foliage--every spear of +grass that penetrates the crevices of the rocks, gemmed by the humid +atmosphere, and sparkling in the sun-beams--the rainbow that rests on +the mighty torrent--a symbol of the smile of God upon his wondrous work. + +"What is it, mother?" asked Edward, as he stood with his friends on +Table-rock, where they had remained gazing on the magnificent scene for +fifteen minutes without uttering a syllable, "what is it, mother, that +makes us all so silent?" + +"It is the spirit of God moving on the face of the waters--it is this +new revelation to our senses of his power and majesty which ushers us, +as it were, into his visible presence, and exalts our affections above +language. + +"What, my dear children, should we be, without the religious sentiment +that is to us as a second sight, by which we see in all this beauty the +hand of the Creator; by which we are permitted to join in this hymn of +nature; by which, I may say, we are permitted to enter into the joy of +our Lord? Without it we should be like those sheep, who are at this +moment grazing on the verge of this sublime precipice, alike unconscious +of all these wonders, and of their divine Original. This religious +sentiment is in truth, Edward, that promethean fire that kindles nature +with a living spirit, infuses life and expression into inert matter, and +invests the mortal with immortality." Mrs. Sackville's eye was upraised, +and her countenance illumined with a glow of devotion that harmonized +with the scene. "It is, my dear children," she continued, "this +religious sentiment, enlightened and directed by reason, that allies +you to external nature, that should govern your affections, direct your +pursuits, exalt and purify your pleasures, and make you feel, by its +celestial influence, that the kingdom is within you; but," she added +smiling, after a momentary pause, "this temple does not need a +preacher." + +"Perhaps not," said Mr. Sackville; "but the language of nature sometimes +needs an interpreter to such young observers as Ned and Julia." + +"That it does, papa," exclaimed Edward, whose exalted feeling was +gradually subsiding to its natural level; "and there are people, too, +older than Julia and I, that I think need an interpreter. That +Yorkshireman, for instance, who lives in the stone house just at the +turn of the road as we came down from Forsyth's, said to me, 'Well, +young master, this is a mighty fine sight to come and see, but you would +be sick enough of it if you lived here. It seems, when I am lying on my +bed at night, like an everlasting thunder-storm, such a roaring from the +Falls and dropping from the trees: and in winter my poor beasts are +covered with icicles. I wish some of the quality that cry the place up, +and come half the world over to see it, would change births with my +wife and me,' and so he went on railing till I ran away from him to +overtake you." + +"Poor fellow!" said Mr. Sackville; "the sentiment, 'Il n'y a rien de +beau que l'utile,'[3] is quite excusable in a laborer. I think, Ned, I +feel more disposed to pity than to blame your Yorkshireman." + + [3] There is nothing but the useful which is beautiful. + +"Well, papa, what do you think of that party of city shop-keepers who +dined at the inn with us to-day? I heard one of the ladies say, 'I have +been so disappointed in my journey.' I dropped my knife and fork, and +exclaimed, 'Disappointed, madam! does not the fall look as high as you +expected?' 'Oh, child,' she replied, laughing, 'I was not speaking of +the fall; but I find it is quite too early in the season to travel in +the country. I have not seen a roast pig or a broiled chicken since I +left the city.' What do you think of that, papa?" + +"Why I think, my dear, she is a vulgar woman, who travels because others +do; and is naturally disappointed in not meeting with the only +circumstances that could give her pleasure." + +"There's Mrs. Hilton, papa, who, I am sure, is not vulgar--at least she +is as rich as Cr[oe]sus--and I heard her say to a gentleman, that if she +could have remained at the Springs, and then could have gone home and +_said_ she had been to the Falls, she should have been glad; for she was +sure no one came here but for the name of it." + +"Mrs. Hilton is of the class of the vulgar rich, among whom vulgarity is +quite as obvious, and much more disgusting, than with the vulgar poor. +But come, dear Ned; the faults and follies of others is a theme scarcely +worthy of this place; and just at the moment that you are enjoying this +festival of nature, you must take care you do not commit the pharisaic +fault, and thank God that you are not as these people, without reflecting +that Providence has arranged the circumstances which have made the +difference." + +"But, papa," said Julia, "it would not be wrong, would it, for Edward +to feel that there is a difference?" + +"Perhaps not, provided the feeling is properly tempered with humility +and gratitude; but it is far safer to be in the habit of comparing +yourselves with your superiors, than your inferiors." + +"It may be safer, papa," said Julia, "but"-- + +"But what, my love?" + +"It is not half so natural." + +"Nor so pleasant," interposed Edward. + +"Well, my children, I hope you will make it habitual, and then it will +be natural. For the present I am satisfied that you speak frankly your +opinions and feelings, without disguise or affectation." + +Thus these vigilant parents extracted some moral good from every object +and every scene; and at that early age, when most children are thoughtless +of the future, theirs were constantly directed to virtue, which they +were taught is immortal in its nature, is man's support and solace +through all the vicissitudes of life, and his crown of glory when the +'terrestrial puts on the celestial.' + +Our travellers remained at the Falls for a week, that they might become +familiar with them, see them by the rising and the setting sun; by +daylight, and moonlight, and starlight, in all the radiance of the +clear, full day, and in mists and storm; and then, after offering a Te +Deum from the temple of their hearts, they left them with beautiful and +imperishable pictures traced on their memories. + +In following the windings of the Niagara to Newark, they passed the +celebrated heights of Queenstown, 'where ceas'd the swift their race, +where fell the strong;' but even then, though then so recent, there were +no traces of the disastrous battle fought there. The children, whose +home was in a hill-country, and who valued a mountain as much as a +New-Englander does a 'water privilege,' rambled over the heights, and +gazed delighted on the green Niagara, which, escaped from its rocky +prison, rejoices in its freedom, sweeps freely and gracefully around the +bluff promontories that indent its course, flows past the headland, +where Fort Niagara guards the American shore, and enters Lake Ontario, +which stretches, sparkling in the distance, + + "To where the sky + Stoops, and shuts in th' exploring eye." + +Edward had, in common with most spirited boys, a natural taste for +military exploits. "I think," he said to his mother, "that a coward +might play the hero on these heights, or at Lundie's-lane. Only think, +mother, of fighting within the sound of the roaring of the Falls: would +it not give you grand feelings?" + +"I think, Edward, if I could hear the Falls at such a moment, they would +seem to me to speak in a voice of rebuke, rather than encouragement." + +"O, mother, you never seem to admire courage; but I suppose it is +because you are a woman." + +"No, my dear: women have been accused of having rather an undue admiration +for what you mean by courage--fighting courage; but I confess that war +seems to me a violation of the law of God, and it appears a profanation +of such beautiful scenes as these, to convert them into fields of +battle." + +When they reached Newark, the party walked up to Fort George; a slight +embankment, surrounded by a palisade, is still dignified by that name. +"This palisade as they call it, Ned," said Mr. Morris, "we should +scarcely think a sufficient defence against the batteries of pigs and +chickens." + +"It has served, though, to keep the yankees at bay," said a soldier, +gruffly, who was cutting up Canada thistles, and who had suspended his +labour for a moment, to regard the strangers. + +"A fair hit, friend," said Mr. Morris; "but all our fighting is over +now, and forgotten I hope. This work you are doing here, cutting off +these thistles, is far better than cutting off heads." + +"It is far aisier, sir," replied the man, with a slight curling of the +lip, which betrayed a professional contempt for Mr. Morris's preference +of the plough-share over the sword; then turning towards the gate he +called to a little boy who was just entering it--"Come, come Dick, what +do you gaze at, boy? bring me the basket." + +The boy, without heeding the command, dropped the basket; and uttering +a cry between joy and surprise, scampered off in the direction of a +cottage, or rather hovel, which stood just without the palisade. + +"That is Richard Barton!--that is certainly Richard Barton!" exclaimed +the children in one breath. + +"Surely is it Richard Barton," said the soldier. + +"Is his mother, here? Has he found his father?" asked Edward impatiently; +while all the party drew nearer the soldier, anxious to learn the fate of +their humble friend. + +"Ay, his mother is in by there, poor cratur; but his father has been +gone since the summer after the war, when the 40th was sent from +Canada--where, God knows--there's none but he that made them can keep +track of a British regiment: one year they are here with the setting +sun, and then off to where he rises--shifting and changing like the +waves of the sea, beating from one world to another; and I should know +it by rason that I myself was fighting, and baiting gentaly under +Wellington on the sunny side of the Pyrennees in one month, and the +next comes an order and whips us off for Canada in the twinkling of an +eye, among the indians and the yankees, who know nothing about fighting," +he concluded, glancing his eye at Mr. Morris, "according to the civil +rules of war." + +"Poor, Mrs. Barton!" said Mrs. Sackville. "I am grieved at her +disappointment, though I expected it." + +"Oh, do let us go in and see her," said Julia. + +"We will wait a moment, my dear," replied her mother; "her little boy +must have told her that we were here, and I think she will come out to +us." + +"She'll not be right free to come before you," said the soldier, "if, as +I now partly suspect, you are the gentlemen and ladies that were so +hospitable like to her." The man now doffed his cap, and stood with it +in his hand, with an expression of respect in his manner far different +from the hostile air he had at first assumed. + +"But, why not, my friend, come before us?" asked Mrs. Sackville. "I +trust she has nothing to be ashamed of." + +"Ashamed! no, thank God--it would be hard indeed if she had to bear the +burthen of shame with her other misfortunes; but though a soldier's +wife, she has an English spirit, and a proud one; and she says, while +she has her health and her hands, she will never be seen asking charity; +and that destitute is her condition, that as she said to-day, to make +her case known to christian people, is asking charity of them." + +"Do, mother, let us go now and see her," again interposed Julia. + +"Stop, a moment, my love," replied Mrs. Sackville; and then turning +again to the soldier--"You say she is utterly destitute; but when she +left us, she said she had a considerable sum of money." + +"And she spake the truth, ma'am--or, what is the same, she thought she +did; but a little limb of the old one, saving your presence, my lady, +had fingered all the poor cratur had been earning in three years, in as +many minutes, and was off to the States with it." + +"Ah," exclaimed Mr. Morris, who had been intently listening--"the son of +Belial--I told you so--I knew the rascal had it." + +"So dame Barton said one of the gentlemen told her; but the bundle was +all tight and snug, for the little devil had sewed it up again, and +she did not examine it till she come to look for the money to pay the +captain of a schooner, who had agreed to take her down the lakes: and +just think, my lady, at that moment what an overcast it was." + +"That mischief was done," said Edward, as soon as he had an opportunity +of speaking, "when you and I, Julia, left that little wretch Tristy in +the wood. I shall always think we were to blame for leaving him." + +"Does the poor woman," asked Mrs. Sackville, "still think of returning +to Quebec?" + +"To Quebec! ah, madam, and to the world's end, but she'll find her +husband if he is above ground. She is that resolute, that neither wind +nor tide can turn her. If she was left on a naked island in mid ocean, +she would contrive to get off from it." + +"Come, children," said Mrs. Sackville, "we will just leave your father +and uncle to finish their survey here, while we look in upon our poor +friend." + +"Well, go on mother," said Edward, "I will overtake you; first I must +run up to the flag-staff and get at least a clover stalk for a memorial +of the gallant Brock who is buried there." + +"And I will overtake you too, mother," said Julia, falling back with +Edward. + +The soldier's eye followed the children: "God bless them--God bless +them!" said he, "that is better than a monument." + +"What is better than a monument, friend?" asked Mrs. Sackville, riveted +to the spot, as most mothers would be, by an honest commendation of her +children. + +"The memory of an innocent heart--and a tear from eyes that never cried +for sin, my lady--we soldiers die, and are turned into the turf--but we +are honored in our officers." + +"Farewell, my friend; I wish you well," said Mrs. Sackville, dropping a +piece of money into the soldier's hand, and then turned from him while +he was still uttering his hearty, "God bless you, my lady." + +Julia hailed Edward as he was bounding off towards the flag-staff, and +begged him to stop for her, as she had something private to say to him. +He laughed at her passion for secrets, said he could not possibly be +detained, and at last good naturedly stopped to listen. "Ned," she said, +"I tell you what I was thinking of--as it was our fault, you know, that +poor Mrs. Barton lost her money--and she is so anxious to get to +Quebec--and that little Dick is such a good good natured little +fellow--I was thinking, Ned--" + +"For mercy's sake think a little faster, Julia." + +"Well, I was thinking, if we could contrive some way to have her go down +in the boat with us." + +"Contrive! it could not take us long to contrive I think: we can only +ask papa, you know, and all the contrivance in the world will do her no +good, if he does not think it best." + +"But, then, Ned, there is one thing I would like to propose to father +and mother, if you are willing to join me." + +"Don't be so round-about, Julia, as if I was the great Mogul. Speak +out." + +"Well then, to speak plain--you know Edward, you and I have each of +us five dollars that papa gave us to buy Canada curiosities with; now +I think if we were to club, we might have enough to get Mrs. Barton +to Quebec, if the captains of the boats are good-natured men, and +reasonable in their charges, and if papa approves the scheme--and +if"---- + +"If--if--if," said Edward, "we shall never move the woman with all +these _ifs_ to clog the way; one _if_ is sure, that if we spend our +money this way, we might have saved ourselves all the trouble of +planning so many times over how we should lay it out." + +Edward continued for a few moments silent and moody, while Julia urged +her cause zealously. The person, young or old, to whom a charity is +suggested, is not often as eager for it as the original projector. +Edward, however, after having walked up to the flag-staff, plucked a +clover-stalk, and retraced a part of the way to the little wicket by +which they entered, said, with the air of a sage, "I did not think it +best, Julia, to say yes, without some consideration; but on the whole I +like the plan, and if father and mother consent, I shall be very glad." +Once agreed, they were impatient for the execution of their scheme, and +they hurried forward to the cottage, at the door of which they were met +by both the children. The little girl now quite recovered, clung to +Julia, while Richard plucked Edward by the sleeve, and expressed his joy +awkwardly, but naturally enough, by laughing in his face. + +"Ah, they are indeed right glad to see ye," said Mrs. Barton, "as I'm +sure I am, as I have reason; but they, poor things--their hearts would +not jump so at sight of their father's face, as indeed how should they, +seeing they can have no recollection of him." + +The children replied to all these kind expressions from mother and +children, and then drawing Mrs. Sackville to the door, they suggested +their plan. She kissed them both, and bade them await her in the +cottage, while she went to consult their father and uncle, whom she saw +approaching. + +As soon as she had communicated the children's wishes, Mr. Morris +laughed at them. "Why," said he, "the poor foolish woman is on a +wild-goose chase, and the sooner she is stopped the better--travelling +over the world after a husband, who I have no doubt she is vastly better +without than with." + +"But she is the best judge of that, brother." + +"Lord bless you, no--a wife is no judge at all about her husband. She is +evidently an ingenious worthy woman, and can get a good living if she is +not footing it over the world after this soldier--a good riddance--a +good riddance, Mrs. Sackville. I am surprised you do not see it is a +good riddance." + +Mrs. Sackville, who did not esteem matrimonial ties so lightly as her +bachelor brother, appealed to her husband, but he joined Mr. Morris in +thinking Mrs. Barton had much better remain where she was; not because +he was sure the father and husband, though a soldier, might not be worth +looking up, but because there was not the slightest chance of finding +him. "What good will it do the woman to get to Quebec?" he asked; "her +husband's regiment has left Canada." + +"She tells me," replied Mrs. Sackville, "that she has many friends in +Quebec from whom she might expect assistance. She has worked for the +governor's lady, and she builds much on her benevolence, and thinks she +will get her a free passage to her husband in a government ship; and +besides," added Mrs. Sackville, "even if her hopes fail utterly, we +shall confer an essential benefit on our children by complying with +their wishes; for if they give this poor woman all their little store of +wealth, it will cost them the sacrifice of sundry personal gratifications +that they have reckoned much on, and thus give them a practical lesson +of self-denial and disinterestedness, better than all our precepts, and +it will associate with the more selfish and transient pleasures of their +journey, the pure and enduring sentiment of benevolence." + +"Well, my dear wife," said Mr. Sackville, "do as you please--you have +arrayed before me irresistible motives." + +Thus sanctioned, Mrs. Sackville returned to the cottage, whispered to +the children their father's acquiescence, and then saying aloud, "I +leave you to make all the arrangements with Mrs. Barton," she left them. + +We shall not attempt to describe the poor woman's gratitude, which +overflowed in words and tears, nor the children's noisy joy when they +heard they were to go down the lake with their friends. Suffice it to +say, that in the course of two hours, and just as the steam-boat +appeared in sight, heavily plying down from Lewistown, Mrs. Barton was +on the wharf with her children, as clean and nice as soap and water and +fresh and well-patched clothes could make them, and looking so grateful +and joyful, that Mr. Morris, who, like the good vicar of Wakefield, +'loved happy human faces,' forgot all his objections to the procedure, +and shaking the good woman's hand heartily, said, he "was glad they were +to be fellow-passengers." + +Our friends, with many others, were now impatiently waiting a conveyance +to the steam-boat, which had stopped near the opposite shore. The wharf +exhibited the usual signs of a small garrisoned town. Half drunken +soldiers were idling about, and sentinels were posting to and fro, +stationed there to prevent the desertion of the soldiers to the opposite +side, a crime which the vicinity and hospitable habits of the State +render very common. Edward accosted one of the sentinels, and asked him +if the captain of the steam-boat sent his small boat ashore. "Fraquently +he does, and fraquently he don't," replied the fellow, rather surlily. +"Does the boat stop at fort Niagara?" + +"Indeed sir, and that is what I cannot tell you." + +"Well," pursued Edward with simplicity, "do you think they will send +ashore to-day?" + +"Indeed master, and it's what I am not thinking about." + +Edward turned away, making a mental comparison between this man and +his own civil countrymen, greatly to the disadvantage of the former, +when his attention was attracted by the approach of a boat which came +skimming over the water like a bird, and as it neared the shore, a +little tight-built sailor leaped on to the wharf, and announced himself +as Jemmy Chapman, the captain's mate. While the baggage was arranging in +the boat, Edward seized the favorable moment to make the best bargain he +could with the mate for his protegee. + +But the mate averred he had no power to transact that business, and +referred him to his captain. "You may safely trust to him, my young +man," said he, "for captain Vaughan is not a man to take advantage of +a ship in distress." + +And so it proved--for the captain, (as every body knows, who ever +crossed the lake in the steam-boat Ontario) was a man of distinguished +humanity; and pleased with the good appearance of Mrs. Barton and her +children, and the zeal of her youthful protectors, he said, that if she +had brought her thread and needles a-board, she might work her passage +to Ogdensburg, for he and some of his men were sadly out at elbows. The +good woman's eyes glistened with delight, at the thought of paying her +way thus far, and she seated herself directly to put new pockets in an +old coat of Jemmy's, when a sudden attack of tooth-ache put a stop to +her progress. + +The children were soon acquainted with her malady, for they were +continually hovering about her, and Julia procured some camphor and +laudanum from an invalid passenger, and gave them to her. She applied +them, but the horrible pangs were not allayed, when Jemmy Chapman was +attracted by the report of her distress. "Stand away, all," said he; +"stand away--fall back, my young man; and you, my little lady, and +give place to me. I am the seventh son of a seventh son, and I can cure +any body's tooth-ache but my own." Mrs. Barton was not free from the +superstition which pervades her class, and she gladly permitted him to +stroke her face, which he did with a gravity that evinced perfect faith +in his own powers; and in the course of fifteen minutes, she declared +herself completely relieved, and cheerfully resumed her labors. Julia +ran to announce the cure to her mother. + +"Is not it strange, mama," she said, "that she could believe it was +Jemmy that cured her?" + +"Strange to us, my dear, who do not believe in any such supernatural +powers; but we will not quarrel with a faith that cures the +tooth-ache." + +As the boat passed Fort Niagara, where the river debouches into the +lake, "There," said Jemmy Chapman to Edward, who stood beside him; +"there, on that point stood a noble stone light-house, that has saved +many a poor fellow from finding a grave in this stormy lake: it was like +the good scripture light which shines equally upon all." + +"And what has become of it?" asked Edward. + +"Oh, it was taken down like Solomon's temple, till there was not one +stone left upon another, by one of our generals--thank the Lord he was +not an American born--he it was, that first set the example of burning +on the frontier, and burnt down this pretty town of Newark here--and cut +down all the orchards." + +"The orchards! what in the world did he do that for?" asked Edward. + +Jemmy paused for a moment, apparently at a loss what motive to assign +for such reckless destruction, and then said, "Out of curiosity I +believe." + + * * * * * + +We fear that we have already protracted our details beyond the patience +of our readers. + +We shall not therefore describe the prosperous passage of the boat over +the beautiful expanse of Lake Ontario: nor the visit of our friends +to the town of Rochester, which five years before was a complete +wilderness; but now had fine houses, shops, and warehouses, and Edward +said, reminded him of Adam, who was born grown up: nor their passage +from the lake into the St. Lawrence, where these mighty waters passing +St. Vincent on one side, and Grand Island on the other, contract their +channel, and assume the form of a river. + +Our friends, wrapped in their cloaks and shawls to defend them from the +chill night air, clustered around Jemmy Chapman, who stood at the helm +guiding the boat through the difficult and shifting channels, amid the +'thousand isles'--now in silence gazing on them, as they were lit up +with the rosy hues of twilight, and then with the mild but insufficient +lustre of the half orbed moon. These verdant islands are of every size +and form. Some lying in clusters like the 'solitary set in families:' +and some like beautiful vestals in single loveliness. Some stretching +for miles in length, and some so small, and without a tree or shrub, +that they look like lawns destined for fairy sporting grounds; while +others are encircled by such an impenetrable growth of trees, that one +might fancy that within this sylvan barrier wood-nymphs held their +courts and revels; in short, might fancy any thing; for there are no +traces of human footsteps to break the spell of imagination, save where +the fisherman's hut, placed on the brink of the element by which he +lives, is disclosed with its dark relief of unbroken woods by the bright +glare of the pine torch, which is his beacon light, and which serves to +show the gleaming path-way of his little canoe. Jemmy recounted to the +children the sad mishaps and disastrous chances that had befallen +unskilful or unfortunate navigators in these dangerous passes, and the +kind captain repeatedly fired his signal gun, which seemed to wake the +spirits of these deep solitudes, to send back the greeting in echo and +re-echo, till their voices died away on the most distant shores. + +"Don't they hollow well?" said Jemmy, after the last report, turning +briskly around to dame Barton who sat near him. + +"Well, I did not hear them," said she, mournfully. + +"Not hear them--why, they spoke as plain as preaching--are you deaf, +good woman?" + +"Deaf! oh, no--but my thoughts were far from here." + +Mrs. Sackville thought there was something in Mrs. Barton's devotedness +to her husband, not common in her class of life. She had been deterred +from putting any questions to her, by the habitual silence and diffidence +of the poor woman. But now they had become so much more acquainted, that +she ventured to say to her, "Come, Mrs. Barton, suppose you favor us +while we sit here, with a little history of your life. My children are +so much interested in you, that they want to know all they can about +you." + +"Oh, you are very good ma'am to say so; but what is there in the history +of the like of me to tell? not that I have any objection to make known +my story--thank God, that's kept me in his fear--but then what happens +to poor plain bodies like me, is not made much count of in the world." + +"But, remember, my good friend," said Mrs. Sackville, "the happiness of +all his creatures, rich and poor, is of equal account in the sight of +our heavenly Father, and as I wish my children continually to bear in +mind that it is this great Being, whom they are commanded by their +Saviour to imitate, I trust that the happiness of their fellow-beings, +whether high or low, will be of equal importance in their view." + +Thus encouraged by the kindness of the mother, and the eager looks of +the children, who stationed themselves close to her, Mrs. Barton began +her simple and brief story. + +"I never knew my parents," she said. "I was, as I have been told, given +by a gipsey woman to a magistrate of the town of Lichfield, in England, +when I was three years old. The woman was sick, and died shortly after. +She declared herself ignorant of my parentage. She believed I had been +stolen in London, by some of her tribe, about a year before; and said +that I had been committed to her charge for some months, I had a +necklace, with a gold clasp with initials, which I had been permitted +to retain; and the worthy magistrate, in the hope that this might lead +to a discovery, advertised me, with a description of the necklace; but +no one appearing to claim me, he finally placed me in the Lichfield +alms-house. + +"When I was seven years old, don't laugh at me, Miss Julia, I was called +a beauty. My skin was as smooth as yours; and my hair hung in curls +about my neck and face. At this time a whimsical gentleman, who had a +fancy to bring up a wife to his own liking, came to the alms-house: he +was pleased with my appearance, and selected me. He taught me himself, +and procured teachers for me, and from morning till night I was poring +over hard tasks: this lasted for three years, and perhaps Mr. Leslie, +for that was the gentleman's name, might have remained constant to his +purpose, but then I took the small-pox; and after lying at the gates of +death for weeks, I recovered, but with my face blotched and seamed as +you see it. For many months my eye-sight and hearing were gone, and when +I could see, my eyes had this cast in them, which looks as if I were +born cross-eyed. + +"No one could blame Mr. Leslie for giving me up. I am sure I never did. +He placed me with a poor widow, and paid my lodging with her till I was +one and twenty, and gave me a draft on him for a hundred pounds, which +was to be paid when I came of age. With Mrs. Gordon I was happier than I +had ever been in my life. My book tasks I never had liked, but I sewed +or spun with Mrs. Gordon, from morning till night, without ever being +weary or discontented. She taught me her own ways, and she was noted +through the whole town, for her industry and neatness. She was a good +christian too, and she brought me up to fear God and to love his +service. She had one child--an only son, two years younger than myself. +He was sometimes wild and wilful, for his mother, though she was resolute +with every thing else, could never deny him. He was sometimes as I said, +wild and wilful--but when he was himself, he was the pleasantest lad in +the village, and the best. Mrs. Gordon was as a mother to me; and you +know it was natural I should love her son Richard; and I thought I but +loved him as a sister should, till one Sunday I saw him come up the +little path-way that led to our cottage, with a blue ribband bow in +his hand, which he kissed again and again, and then thrust it into +his bosom. I knew it was a love token from Sally Wilton the miller's +daughter, for I had seen it that day in her hat, and I felt a pang at +my heart, that told me it was not as a brother I loved Richard. + +"I have skipped over many years, for I would not weary you. I was now +one and twenty, and my draft on Mr. Leslie was due. Mrs. Gordon began +to talk to me of marrying Richard. I only answered her with silence and +tears; but one woman can read another's heart, and she knew what was in +mine; and she, poor woman, thought to make all right by taking it into +her own hands. + +"It so happened one night, that I was in an adjoining room when she +supposed I was absent from the cottage, and she put many questions to +Richard about me, but she could get no satisfaction from him. She then +told him (oh, at the moment I thought I could never forgive her for it) +she was sure I loved him. She said much in my favor, ma'am, that I +cannot repeat, and tried with it all to put a veil over my poor ugly +face, and then concluded with saying, for she was a thrifty woman, and +never lost sight of the main chance, that I should not come empty +handed. At this his spirit rose--he said, he would not be bought by all +the gold in the king's coffers. My heart rose to my lips, but I held +my breath, for his mother grew very angry, and said something from +Solomon's proverbs, about my being the virtuous woman whose price was +far above rubies. Then Richard burst into tears, and said he knew that, +and he would go round the world to serve me, but he could not marry me. +He confessed that he had already plighted his truth to Sally Wilton; and +he declared that he never would marry any body but Sally Wilton. His +mother lost all patience--she said he would make a beggar of himself for +life--that the Wiltons were an idle race, and that none of the name had +ever come to any good. + +"A great deal more she said, but it seemed to me the more she talked, +the firmer Richard was in his own mind. + +"You may be sure ma'am I did not close my eyes that night; my love had +been blasted, and my pride cast down. It was long before I could think +of any one but myself, or compose my mind to any good thoughts; but +when I began to see things in a right light, it seemed to me a pity we +should all be miserable together; and I began to contrive some way to +make Richard happy. He had just served his time with a shoemaker, but he +had no capital to enable him to set up for himself. I knew Sally Wilton +was a gay thoughtless thing; but so were most girls, and I believed that +when she was married, she would do her duty; to me it seemed, that +duty would be all pleasure with such a husband as Richard. I had some +struggles with my own heart, but before the morning light dawned, I had +made up my mind what to do. When I met Richard and his mother in the +morning, I was far the happiest of the three. She was angry, he was +sullen and downcast; but I had that feeling which I need not describe +to you ma'am, who have so often the power and the will to make others +happy. Immediately after our morning meal, I went and presented my draft +to Mr. Leslie's agent, and received my hundred pounds. Half the sum I +returned to him to invest for me, the other half I placed in the hands +of the shoemaker, with whom Richard had served his time, and with whom +he was a great favorite, and I requested him to lay it out in tools and +stock for Richard. The purchase was made--a little shop hired, and every +thing in readiness; and then I told Richard in the presence of his +mother what I had done. At first he said he never could accept so much +from me; but I told him, (and I smothered my feelings, and smiled when +I said it,) that in spite of his mother's fancies, it was as a sister I +loved him, and as a sister and older than himself too, I had a right to +provide for him. He was far more grateful and happy than I expected. His +mother gave her consent to his marriage, though grudgingly, for she was +a set woman, and she had no faith in Sally Wilton. They were married. +Richard was industrious, and we hoped would be prosperous, but as it +proved Mrs. Barton's distrust of Sally was too well founded. She was +idle and extravagant, and such a wife soon ruins a poor man. In five +years Richard was reduced to such straits, that in a fit of desperation +he enlisted. From the sorrowful day he came to take leave of us, for his +regiment was soon after sent to the East-Indies, his mother never had +a well day or a happy hour. After he went away, his wife led a vicious +life; and four years after she came to our door to beg a crust of +bread--a poor, wasted, sick, half-famished creature. We took her in. +To be sure she had been a sad sinner, but she was Richard's wife, and +besides it is always better to pity than condemn, and it is not for +the like of us ma'am you know, who have no hope but because God's +compassions fail not, to turn our backs upon a fellow-creature in sin +and misery. + +"For a whole year she laid in a distressing sickness. Mrs. Barton had +become so old and feeble, that she could do nothing but pray for us, +and I had as you may suppose a toilsome life of it; but I was as I +trusted, doing my duty, and that makes a light heart, and according to +my experience ma'am, no one can be very wretched that has enough to do, +and that tries to do their duty faithfully, be that duty ever so humble. +We never suffered. Sally had some help from the charitable; and when we +had no other resource, I drew on my fifty pounds. + +"It would have been a great comfort to us to have seen Sally take hold +of religion, when every thing else failed; but the poor soul was racked +with pains and coughing, and could only think of her suffering body, and +she was perfectly deaf too, and could hear nothing that the clergyman +said to her, though Mrs. Barton thought it right he should talk to her. +Oh ma'am, I think there is not a more mournful sight on the earth than +to see a young creature thus cut off by her sins. + +"Richard returned to us two days before she died, but she did not know +him, and could not hear his forgiveness, though he spoke it over and +over again." + +Mrs. Barton paused for a few moments, quite overcome by the recollection +of that sad period, and then resumed her story. + +"And now came brighter days. Richard had endured many hardships, and +past through many temptations, but he had not lost his integrity. He +had come home in attendance on an officer who had obtained a furlough. +Not many months passed over before Richard expressed a wish to marry +me, though my little fortune was gone, and ten years had not as you +may suppose improved my beauty. Our mother said, our wedding-day was +the happiest of her life. She did not long survive it. Before my +husband rejoined his regiment she had gone to her rest. From that +time till Richard was taken prisoner by the Americans, we have never +been separated, and he has proved faithful and kind to me, and being, +as he is, all the world to me who have never known other kindred but +my little ones, it cannot seem strange to you, ma'am, that the world +is a lonely place without him; and that I should be willing to take +the help of your blessed children to get on my way to him." + +"Oh no indeed, my good friend," said Mrs. Sackville, "I am delighted +that my children have found one so worthy of their assistance; you may +rest assured that we shall not part from you till we arrive at Quebec. +Come now Edward and Julia to your berths--and dream of the 'thousand +isles,' or Mrs. Barton, or what you will." The children obeyed their +mother, and doubtless had such sweet visions as hover about the pillow +of youth, and health, and innocence. + +Jemmy Chapman had not been an uninterested listener to this simple tale +of patient virtue; and though Mrs. Barton had spoken so low that he had +lost some parts of her narrative, he heard enough to touch his kind +heart. As she rose from the bench near him, "Stop, stop, good woman," +said he, and he jerked some tears from off his cheeks; "it is not much +that such as I can pity you, but a drop is something in a gill-glass, +and (turning his pockets inside out, and collecting a half handful of +small change,) I should not be my mother's son if I did not feel for a +woman in distress, and so will you just take this which may help to +raise a little breeze for you when you are becalmed. Nay, don't haul +off, but take it, and remember the poor sailors in a stormy night. It +is good luck to us to have a friend a-shore to speak a good word for +us when we have no time to speak for ourselves." + +Jemmy's hearty kindness was irresistible, and Mrs. Barton received his +gift, scarcely able to command her voice to utter her thanks. + + * * * * * + +The next morning found the steam-boat at the wharf at Ogdensburg. Edward +undertook to settle with the captain for the passage of his protegees; +but the captain would receive nothing, and persisted in declaring that +he was amply compensated by Mrs. Barton's industry. The travellers +parted from him and from our friend Jemmy with expressions of the esteem +which their virtues even on this short acquaintance had not failed to +produce; and then they proceeded to make arrangements for their passage +down the St. Lawrence by chartering and provisioning a Durham boat. + +While this was getting in readiness, Mrs. Sackville, whose curiosity, +like that of a more celebrated traveller, 'extended to all the works +of art, all the appearances of nature, and all the monuments of past +events,' walked with her children to view a rare curiosity on our +continent--an _American_ antiquity. On a point of land at the junction +of the Oswegatchie with the St. Lawrence, there is a broken stone wall, +the remains of a French fortification. While they stood surveying with +pleased attention this monument of the olden time, they were joined by a +gentleman who appeared like them to have been attracted to the spot by +curiosity. He took off his hat, bowed to Mrs. Sackville, and asked if he +might take the liberty to inquire of her whether she resided at +Ogdensburg. + +When she replied in the negative, he begged her pardon, and said he had +been extremely anxious to authenticate a traditionary story he had +picked up in his journey through Canada, some of the events of which had +been located at this place. He had hoped to find some record of it in +Charlevoix's History, but he had searched in vain. Mrs. Sackville became +in her turn the inquirer. She said she delighted in those traditionary +tales, which, with the aid of a little fancy, reconstructed ruins, and +enclosed within their walls living beings with affections and interests +like our own; and she should hold herself very much obliged to the +gentleman if he would enrich her with some interesting associations with +this place. The stranger seemed highly gratified to have found so ready +a sympathy in his feelings, and he related the following particulars. + +"A commandant of this fort (which was built by the French to protect +their traders against the savages,) married a young Iroquois who was +before or after the marriage converted to the Catholic faith. She was +the daughter of a chieftain of her tribe, and great efforts were made by +her people to induce her to return to them. Her brother lurked in this +neighbourhood, and procured interviews with her, and attempted to win +her back by all the motives of national pride and family affection; but +all in vain. The young Garanga, or, to call her by her baptismal name, +Marguerite, was bound by a threefold cord--her love to her husband, to +her son, and to her religion. Mecumeh, finding persuasion ineffectual, +had recourse to stratagem. The commandant was in the habit of going down +the river often on fishing excursions, and when he returned, he would +fire his signal gun, and Marguerite and her boy would hasten to the +shore to greet him. + +"On one occasion he had been gone longer than usual. Marguerite was +filled with apprehensions natural enough at a time when imminent dangers +and hairbreadth escapes were of every day occurrence. She had sat in the +tower and watched for the returning canoe till the last beam of day had +faded from the waters;--the deepening shadows of twilight played tricks +with her imagination. Once she was startled by the water-fowl, which, as +it skimmed along the surface of the water, imaged to her fancy the light +canoe impelled by her husband's vigorous arm--again she heard the leap +of the heavy muskalongi, and the splashing waters sounded to her fancy +like the first dash of the oar. That passed away, and disappointment and +tears followed. Her boy was beside her; the young Louis, who, though +scarcely twelve years old, already had his imagination filled with +daring deeds. Born and bred in a fort, he was an adept in the use of the +bow and the musket; courage seemed to be his instinct, and danger his +element, and battles and wounds were 'household words' with him. He +laughed at his mother's fears; but, in spite of his boyish ridicule, +they strengthened, till apprehension seemed reality. Suddenly the sound +of the signal gun broke on the stillness of the night. Both mother and +son sprang on their feet with a cry of joy, and were pressing hand in +hand towards the outer gate, when a sentinel stopped them to remind +Marguerite it was her husband's order that no one should venture without +the walls after sunset. She, however, insisted on passing, and telling +the soldier that she would answer to the commandant for his breach of +orders--she passed the outer barrier. Young Louis held up his bow and +arrow before the sentinel, saying gaily, "I am my mother's body-guard +you know." Tradition has preserved these trifling circumstances, as the +events that followed rendered them memorable. + +"The distance," continued the stranger, "from the fort to the place +where the commandant moored his canoe was trifling, and quickly passed. +Marguerite and Louis flew along the narrow foot path, reached the shore, +and were in the arms of ---- Mecumeh and his fierce companions. Entreaties +and resistance were alike vain. Resistance was made, with a manly +spirit, by young Louis, who drew a knife from the girdle of one of the +indians, and attempted to plunge it into the bosom of Mecumeh, who was +roughly binding his wampum belt over Marguerite's mouth, to deaden the +sound of her screams. The uncle wrested the knife from him, and smiled +proudly on him as if he recognised in the brave boy, a scion from his +own stock. + +"The indians had two canoes; Marguerite was conveyed to one, Louis to +the other--and both canoes were rowed into the Oswegatchie, and up the +stream as fast as it was possible to impel them against the current of +the river. + +"Not a word nor cry escaped the boy: he seemed intent on some purpose, +and when the canoe approached near the shore, he took off a military cap +he wore, and threw it so skilfully that it lodged, where he meant it +should, on the branch of a tree which projected over the water. There +was a long white feather in the cap. The indians had observed the boy's +movement--they held up their oars for a moment, and seemed to consult +whether they should return and remove the cap; but after a moment, +they again dashed their oars in the water and proceeded forward. They +continued rowing for a few miles, and then landed; hid their canoes +behind some trees on the river's bank, and plunged into the woods with +their prisoners. It seems to have been their intention to have returned +to their canoes in the morning, and they had not proceeded far from the +shore, when they kindled a fire and prepared some food, and offered +a share of it to Marguerite and Louis. Poor Marguerite, as you may +suppose, had no mind to eat; but Louis, saith tradition, ate as heartily +as if he had been safe within the walls of the fort. After the supper, +the indians stretched themselves before the fire, but not till they had +taken the precaution to bind Marguerite to a tree, and to compel Louis +to lie down in the arms of his uncle Mecumeh. Neither of the prisoners, +as you may imagine, closed their eyes. Louis kept his fixed on his +mother. She sat upright beside an oak tree; the cord was fastened around +her waist, and bound around the tree, which had been blasted by lighting; +the moon poured its beams through the naked branches upon her face +convulsed with the agony of despair and fear. With one hand she held a +crucifix to her lips, the other was on her rosary. The sight of his +mother in such a situation, stirred up daring thoughts in the bosom of +the heroic boy--but he laid powerless in his uncle's naked brawny arms. +He tried to disengage himself, but at the slightest movement, Mecumeh, +though still sleeping, seemed conscious, and strained him closer to him. +At last the strong sleep, that in the depth of the night steeps the +senses in utter forgetfulness, overpowered him--his arms relaxed their +hold, and dropped beside him and left Louis free. + +"He rose cautiously, looked for one instant on the indians, and assured +himself they all slept profoundly. He then possessed himself of Mecumeh's +knife, which lay at his feet, and severed the cord that bound his mother +to the tree. Neither of them spoke a word--but with the least possible +sound they resumed the way by which they had come from the shore. Louis +in the confidence, and Marguerite with the faint hope of reaching it +before they were overtaken. + +"You may imagine how often the poor mother, timid as a fawn, was +startled by the evening breeze stirring the leaves, but the boy bounded +forward as if there were neither fear nor danger in the world. + +"They had nearly attained the margin of the river, where Louis meant to +launch one of the canoes and drop down the current, when the indian yell +resounding through the woods, struck on their ears. They were missed, +pursued, and escape was impossible. Marguerite panic-struck, sunk to the +ground. Nothing could check the career of Louis. "On--on, mother," he +cried, "to the shore--to the shore." She rose and instinctively followed +her boy. The sound of pursuit came nearer and nearer. They reached the +shore, and there beheld three canoes coming swiftly up the river. +Animated with hope, Louis screamed the watch word of the garrison, and +was answered by his father's voice. + +"The possibility of escape, and the certain approach of her husband, +infused new life into Marguerite. "Your father cannot see us," she said, +"as we stand here in the shade of the trees; hide yourself in that +thicket, I will plunge into the water." Louis crouched under the bushes, +and was completely hidden by an overhanging grape-vine, while his mother +advanced a few steps into the water and stood erect, where she could be +distinctly seen. A shout from the canoes apprised her that she was +recognised, and at the same moment, the indians who had now reached the +shore, rent the air with their cries of rage and defiance. They stood +for a moment, as if deliberating what next to do; Mecumeh maintained an +undaunted and resolved air--but with his followers the aspect of armed +men, and a force thrice their number, had its usual effect. They fled. +He looked after them, cried, 'shame!' and then, with a desperate yell, +leaped into the water and stood beside Marguerite. The canoes were now +within a few yards--He put his knife to her bosom--"The daughter of +Tecumseh," he said, "should have died by the judgment of our warriors, +but now by her brother's hand must she perish:" and he drew back his +arm to give vigour to the fatal stroke, when an arrow pierced his own +breast, and he fell insensible at his sister's side. A moment after +Marguerite was in the arms of her husband, and Louis, with his bow +unstrung, bounded from the shore, and was received in his father's +canoe; and the wild shores rung with the acclamations of the soldiers, +while his father's tears of pride and joy were poured like rain upon his +cheek." + +The stranger paused, and Edward breathed one long breath, expressive of +the interest with which he had listened to the tale; and then said, +"You have not told us, sir, how the commandant was so fortunate as to +pursue in the right direction." + +"He returned soon after Marguerite's departure, and of course was at no +loss to determine that she had been taken in the toils of her brother. +He explored the mouth of the Oswegatchie, thinking it possible that the +savages might have left their canoes moored there, and taken to the +land. Louis's cap and feather caught his eye, and furnished him a clue. +You have now my whole story," concluded the stranger; "and though I +cannot vouch for its accuracy, many similar circumstances must have +occurred, while this country was a wilderness, and my tradition is at +least supported by probability." + +"You have not told us, sir," said Julia, "whether Mecumeh was really +killed. I do not see how Marguerite could leave him without finding out, +for after all, he was her brother." + +"Marguerite," replied the stranger, "justified your opinion of sisterly +duty. Mecumeh was conveyed to the fort--the arrow was withdrawn, and +after a tedious illness, he recovered from the wound. There is too a +tradition that the pious sister converted him to the catholic faith; but +about this part of the story there seems to rest some uncertainty." + +"And don't you know, sir," asked Edward, "what became of Louis +afterwards?" + +"I really do not," replied the gentleman, smiling; "but I doubt not that +the man kept the promise of the heroic boy; and I think it extremely +probable that he has led some gallant fellows to those deeds of high +emprise which were achieved by the armies of Louis fourteenth." + +"My dear children," said Mrs. Sackville, "you must really ask no more +questions. You will be good enough to pardon," she added, turning to the +stranger, "the eagerness of their youthful curiosity." + +"Oh, madam," he replied, "the evidence of curiosity is the most grateful +reward to a story-teller, and I feel that my acknowledgements are due to +your children for their patient listening." + +A few more courteous words passed, and the stranger bowed and departed. + +"This was a lucky meeting, mother," said Edward; "this crazed leaning +wall looks quite interesting to me now. I can almost fancy I see +Marguerite and Louis issuing from the gate--Louis holding up the bow +and arrow that was to do such memorable service that night." + +"You have had a good lesson this morning, my children, on the pleasures +of association. When we first saw that ruin, it looked to you like any +other stone wall--mere mason-work: and you, Julia, afraid of being +buried in its shadow, wondered what interest any one could feel in +looking at it; and now, I see you are venturing on the most tottering +part of it for a piece of moss, which I suppose is to be carefully +treasured in your herbal." + +"Yes, mama, as a keep-sake for Marguerite and Louis." + + * * * * * + +We shall not condemn our readers to attend the travellers in their +tedious passage down the St. Lawrence. Sometimes a favoring breeze +filled the single sail of their little boat, and aided by the oars of +the lazy boatmen, wafted them gently forward, till, coming to a more +rapid descent in the river, their light vessel seemed urged on by an +irresistible force to the 'rapids,' where the waves, fretting and +foaming over the invisible rocks, threatened to engulph it. The boatmen +threw themselves prostrate on the bottom of the boat to avoid the +splashing of the waves; their oars lay useless beside them, while the +pilot strained every nerve to guide the boat in safety through the +perilous channel. These passages, like the brilliant events of life, +are rare and brief, and are succeeded by the sleepy lakes of the river, +bordered by shores uniformly low and monotonous, save where the green +mountains of Vermont dimly define the eastern horizon. + +Arrived at Montreal, Mrs. Sackville, from consideration for Mrs. Barton, +determined to avoid delay, and therefore deferred the examination of +this city, so singular and picturesque to an American eye, till their +return from Quebec. There was, however, no boat to sail before the +evening, and a half day of leisure afforded our industrious travellers +an opportunity to visit the churches and convents of Montreal. + +The churches are spacious, and decorated with gaudy tinselled ornaments, +and indifferent pictures. Edward and Julia were dazzled and delighted +with the seeming splendor. A little demure Presbyterian girl, who acted +as their guide, smiled at the animated expressions of their wonder. +"Notre Dame, is," she said, "as my grandmother often says, just fit for +a baby-house for children." + +This remark caused a sudden revulsion in Edward's mind. He had a truly +manly, or rather boyish aversion to be suspected of a juvenile taste, +and averting his eye from his conductor, it fell on a miserable, +half-famished looking old woman, who was kneeling in one of the aisles +absorbed in her devotions. + +"Look there, mother," said he, pointing to the wretched object, "what +a contrast to all this pomp.--It reminds me of an anecdote I have +somewhere read of a pious pilgrim to whom one of the popes was +ostentatiously displaying the decorations of the Vatican. + +"Dites a ces ornemens," said the pilgrim, "de se changer en pain."[4] + + [4] Command these decorations to be changed into bread. + +Quite satisfied with this display of his superiority to the childishness +indirectly ascribed to him by his conductor, though it was entirely lost +on her, Edward left the church, and attended his friends to the Hotel +Dieu, the convent of the black nuns. They were shown the different +apartments by one of the sisterhood, a well-bred Irish lady, whose fine +intelligent dark eyes, benevolent and happy expression of countenance, +and short plump figure, made a delightful impression on Edward and +Julia, who had always fancied a nun must be tall and thin, with a sad +solemn face, condemned to wither under an immoveable veil. She led them +to the hospital where the sick of every nation are received and treated +with equal kindness according to the law of christian benevolence, which +is of universal obligation. + +"Do the rules of your order, (the order of St. Joseph I believe,") +inquired Mr. Sackville of the sister, "impose on you the performance of +severe penances?" + +"No," she replied, "we are exempted from extraordinary penances, on +account of the fatiguing and often loathsome offices that we have to +perform for the sick; these are received as sufficient mortifications. +We open our doors to the sick mendicant and wounded soldiers. We had in +this apartment at one time during the late war seventeen American +soldiers." + +"My countrymen," replied Mr. Sackville, "had abundant reason to be +grateful that they fell into your skilful and benevolent hands,--the +beautiful order and neatness of your hospital prove with what fidelity +your samaritan duties are performed." + +While the nun, courteously bowing her head at this merited compliment, +led the way to an adjoining ante-room appropriated to medicines, +surgical instruments, &c. Mrs. Sackville said in a low voice to Edward, +"Take notice, my dear son, that where the _precepts_ of the christian +religion are strictly applied they produce the same fruits; no matter by +what name the particular faith is called, Catholic or Protestant." + +"Oh look there, mother," exclaimed Julia, pointing to large cases with +glass doors which contained the medicines, "I am sure that in spite of +your laws of association, those vials and gallipots look quite +beautiful." + +"And I suspect they contain nothing very disagreeable," replied her +mother; "these sisters do not appear to deal in the harsh medicines +of our daring doctors, but content themselves with emollients and +palliatives. See those labels, 'eau hysterique'--'eau celeste;' even +you, Julia, would have no objection to medicines that deserve such +pretty appellatives." + +From the Hotel Dieu they went to the chapel and sacristie. Julia pointed +to the altars on which were standing vases filled with white lilies and +carnations. "Every where, mother," she said, "we see these beautiful +flowers, even in the churches." + +"And they are certainly not inappropriate, Julia," replied her mother, +"in His temple whose pencil paints and breath perfumes them." + +After all had been shown that is usually exhibited, the sister invited +her visiters to go to the garden. Mrs. Sackville said that though she +had heard it much extolled, their time would not permit them the pleasure +of seeing it, but she said there was a farther trouble that she must +venture on imposing. She understood the sisters sometimes permitted +their visiters to buy specimens of their work; and she was anxious to +carry some to their friends. + +Their conductor seemed gratified with this hint, and directly left them, +and returned with a large basket filled with embroidered needle-books, +reticules, work-boxes, purses, scissor-cases, &c. &c. + +Edward and Julia eagerly examined the beautiful productions of the taste +and industry of the cloistered sisters. Edward was particularly struck +with a sack or purse, made of birch bark, and wrought with porcupine +quills of the richest dyes. On one side of it was an indian woman, +carrying an infant according to the aboriginal fashion, laced to a board +which was laid on her back; the little creature's head was just visible, +peeping over her shoulder. A boy was standing beside her with a bow and +arrow, on the reverse was a group of indians seated under an oak tree, +smoking the long feathered and beaded pipe, which they call the calumet +of peace, "Oh, mother," said Edward, holding up the sack, "is not this +very valuable?" + +"It is certainly very handsome," replied his mother. + +"But that is not all, mother--it is certainly very valuable, as an +illustration of indian customs.--I wish"----he added and paused. + +"What do you wish, Ned?" asked his mother. + +"Nothing, mama," he replied, sighing, laying down the sack, and turning +away; "I only wish I had not seen it." + +Julia was all this time looking at a very curious work-basket, which she +thought a masterpiece. She turned it from side to side, examined the +roses, carnations, jessamines, and violets, that had been wrought with +such exquisite skill as to represent to the life the peerless flowers +they were made to imitate; and for one moment she too wished that her +five dollars was still at her own disposal. Mrs. Sackville read what +was passing in the minds of her children. She took them aside: "My dear +Ned and Julia," she said, "I fear you may be regretting your hasty +benevolence, when you devoted to a charitable purpose all the money your +father gave you for such gratifications as are now offered to you; you +did it from a sudden impulse of generosity: you have, I believe, as yet +expended but a small portion of your money, and if you now prefer to +appropriate it to the purchase of these very tempting articles, I will +myself assume the expense of getting Mrs. Barton to Quebec." + +Edward and Julia looked at their mother, and at one another without +replying a word. Mrs. Sackville returned to the table to make some +selections for herself. + +"What had we best do, Ned?" whispered Julia. + +"Why do you ask me, Julia? you know as well as I. I should like to have +something to show that I had been in Canada." + +"So should I excessively--but then"-- + +"But what, Julia? I am sure mama says it shall make no difference to +Mrs. Barton." + +"No, that is true--it will make no difference to her; but it will make a +great difference to us." + +The last member of Julia's sentence was quite lost on Edward, for he had +abruptly returned to the table, and to the examination of the coveted +purse. Julia stood for one half instant wavering, and then walked to a +window, and kept her eye steadily fixed on the garden it overlooked. +Mrs. Sackville ventured one glance at her children. 'Ah,' thought she, +'Julia, you will prove faithful, but Ned I fear for you; 'he who +deliberates is lost,'' Her mind was more intent on her children than on +the little traffic she was making, and when she had set aside articles +to a considerable amount, and was about to pay for them, the nun said, +"I think, madam, you might make a better selection--allow me to exchange +this basket for the awkward one you have there. I am a little vain of +this, for I made it myself, and I should have begged your daughter to +accept it when I saw her admiring it, but these articles are devoted to +a specific object, and I have no control over them. I should, however, +be particularly gratified if you would purchase this for Miss Julia, +instead of that you have taken." + +"You are very good," replied Mrs. Sackville, "but I have permitted my +daughter to select for herself. Julia, do you hear what this lady says?" + +"Yes, mama." + +"Will you look at the basket, my love?" + +"No, I thank you, mama." + +This last reply was uttered in a faltering voice, and caught Edward's +attention. He had just taken out his pocket-book to pay for the purse. +He looked towards Julia, and then to his mother. Mrs. Sackville's eyes +were fixed on Julia with an expression of love and approbation which +flashed to Edward's heart; he dropped the purse, put up his pocket-book, +and going up to his sister, whispered a proposal that they should return +to the inn, without waiting for their mother to finish her business. + +They then took a respectful, though rather a hurried leave of the kind +sister, impatient to be out of sight of a temptation, which no one will +deride as inconsiderable, when it is remembered that Edward was twelve, +Julia ten years old. + +"What upon earth ails the children?" asked Mr. Morris, who saw that +something agitated them. Mrs. Sackville explained as far as she could +without making a display of their charity. "They are good children, very +good children," said Mr. Morris, "and I think you have tried them a +little too far, sister; but, dear souls, it shall all be made up to +them. Where is that purse poor Ned was fingering? and that basket for +Julia? I'll buy them both; they shall have them." + +"No, my dear brother, you must not indeed interpose your kindness--you +will spoil all. The result has proved that I did not try them too far, +though I confess I was at one time a little afraid I had done what I +have often seen children do, pulled up the flower in trying to ascertain +whether it had taken root. I have now more confidence that their hearts +have that good soil into which the roots of virtue may strike deeply; +and they now know the full cost of a charitable action which is +performed by the voluntary and deliberate sacrifice of personal +indulgence." + +"You are right, perfectly right my dear," said Mr. Sackville. + +"Yes, I believe you are right," said Mr. Morris, reluctantly replacing +the articles, "but it's deuced hard upon the children." + +"It is more blessed to give than to receive," said the nun, in a sweet +tone of voice, and added, "I assure you madam, I never missed a sale of +our little wares with so much satisfaction." + +The visiters then took leave of the amiable sister, and in the course +of the evening embarked on board the steam-boat. When they arose in the +morning, they had already reached the mouth of the Sorrel. It was one +of the most beautiful of all the bright days of summer. A gentle west +wind tempered the sun's heat, and if, as saith the good book, 'a +cheerful countenance betokeneth the heart in prosperity,' it might be +inferred from the happy faces of our friends, that their minds were +as bright and clear as the cloudless sky. Even Mrs. Barton had lost +her downcast despondent look, and the pleasant light of gratitude and +hope was diffused over her honest countenance. Edward and Julia were +unusually animated, and their mother observed their joyous step as they +bounded over the decks, their sparkling glances, and their gleeful +chatterings which fell like music on her ear: she traced their uncommon +spirits to the little struggle and victory of the preceding day, and +rightly, for it is active goodness that commands the secret spring of +joy--virtue that opens all the sweet fountains of happiness within us. + +It was late in the afternoon when the level and uniform shores of the +river, studded with an unbroken line of white-washed houses, or only +broken where they clustered around a catholic church, as children gather +under the wing of a parent, began to assume more picturesque forms. Bold +promontories stretched into the river, and beautiful hills presented +their verdant and graceful slopes to the clear mirror. There was a band +of musicians on board the boat, who at the command of the captain, (who +understood the laws of international courtesy,) had been playing yankee +doodle. Edward was far enough from home to feel grateful for this +tribute from the English captain, and when the music suddenly changed, +at a signal from him, to a mournful requiem, Edward inquired with a look +of disappointment, the cause of the transition. + +"Look there," he replied, "my young friend, at that pretty grassy point. +It is called Cape Laboniere; just above the point you see a thicket of +tall trees, which extend their shadows now beyond the church. Under +those trees were buried three beautiful girls, the daughters of the +honourable Mrs. Laboniere. The young ladies were called by the villagers, +'Les s[oe]urs de la charite;' and are now, I am told, reckoned as their +guardian saints by these poor catholic peasants. I happened to be there +when the last was buried. You know the catholics have great pomp and +expense at their funerals; but I believe the childless parents had no +heart for this, for though the father is seignior of the place, and +a man of great wealth, he granted the request of the poor villagers +who went in a body to him, to beg permission to bury their beloved +benefactress. I saw the procession--every one in it was a mourner. The +girls strewed the grave with white roses, and all, even the old men and +the little children, shed tears on the turf that covered it; and I could +not but think how much better than their consecrated water were these +tears of gratitude. We call the place the 'Three sisters,' now," +concluded the captain, "and I never pass it without some tribute of +respect." + + * * * * * + +Before nine o'clock the steamboat was gliding along under the heights +of Quebec. Having, as Mr. Morris (who kept strict note of time) remarked, +achieved a sail of 180 miles in 18 hours. Edward stood on the deck +beside his mother, straining his eyes to the proud summit of Cape +Diamond, where the British flag waved in a flood of moonlight. "Oh, +mother," he exclaimed, "what a kind friend the moon has been to us." + +"She has indeed," replied Mrs. Sackville; "and I am very glad that you +notice and enjoy her favors; her pale crescent was reflected in the +waters of Ontario--her beams revealed to us some of the secret places +of the 'thousand isles'--the glittering spires of Montreal sent back her +silver rays, and now she pours a flood of light from her full orb, upon +these fortified heights. But, come, dear Ned, I believe it is time for +us to leave the moon, and attend to our sublunary concerns. Your uncle +has gone to settle our bill, and you had best attend to yours." Julia +poured the contents of her purse into Edward's, and he left them, and +returned in a few moments holding a single shilling between his fingers; +"here is all we have left," he said; "what is to be done now, mother? I +cannot bear to turn poor Mrs. Barton adrift the moment we arrive." + +"No, dear Ned," replied his mother; "she shall be cared for still +further. I had too much respect for good examples," she continued, +smiling, "to spend all my money for fancy articles, and I shall take +Mrs. Barton to the City Hotel with us, till she can make some provisions +for herself. I confess I have not much expectation that the governor +will think proper to do any thing for her, but your father has letters +to him, and he will call at the Chateau to-morrow, and say and do what +he can in her behalf." Mrs. Barton received this additional kindness +with unfeigned gratitude; "But after to-morrow, ma'am," she said, "I +will trouble you no further, for I am sure to find some acquaintance +here, who will help me to shift for myself." + +The next morning passports were procured to visit the fortifications. +Edward, who had a great regard to our own heroes and patriots, had +previously sallied forth in quest of the spot where the gallant +Montgomery fell in our cause; and his father, after awaiting his return +for some time, proceeded without him, leaving a note of directions how +he should follow him. + +Edward obeyed the directions. He reached Cape Diamond without meeting +his friends, and he was biting his lips with vexation, that he should +have come to this celebrated fortification alone, without any one to +explain it to him, and must leave it as ignorant as he had entered; when +he was accosted by a good natured looking soldier, who, doffing his +military cap and making a slight bow, said, "This is a pleasant place, +young gentleman, of a sunny summer's day." + +Edward turned his bright glance on the man, delighted to have found any +one who could answer the questions that were rushing to his lips. "Is +not that," he said, pointing to the island opposite, "the island of +Orleans?" + +"The very same, sir: and the point there, is point Levi, which Wolfe +fortified, and destroyed from it all the lower town of Quebec: but brave +as he was, I think he never would have come within the rampart, if +Montcalme had not been the fool to go out and meet him on the Plains of +Abraham--once there, you know, we beat of course; for, other things +being equal, one Englishman is as good as two Frenchmen any day--and +that's what every English soldier knows." + +"But," replied Edward, with a smile, "what every French soldier does not +admit I suspect." + +"No--no--not exactly--for you know they are a bragging nation." + +"Well," said Edward, "they seem to have something to brag of about you +here in these beautiful villages:" and he pointed towards Beauport and +Charlebourg, whose white houses, green fields, and churches, seem to +promise every thing that poets have dreamed of village simplicity, +peace, and contentment. + +"Yes, sir," said the soldier, "those have a decent genteel appearance +from here, but if you were once to go to them, and see the houses like +painted pigeon-holes--white without, but within full of all manner of +uncleanliness; the bits of gardens with little but onions in them; +whole fields overrun with Canada thistles; and then the little bits of +dowdy images that they worship; and slivers of wood set in frames, that +they call pieces of the true cross, and there are enough of them, as I +have heard said, to build a seventy-four. If you were to see all this, +my young master, you would agree with me, they were but a set of poor +ignorant superstitious deluded creatures, far enough behind us English, +or even the Americans." The soldier then proceeded to point out and name +the most attractive objects from this commanding point of view. The deep +black ravine, through which the Montmorenci, after taking its graceful +and wondrous leap, passes into the St. Lawrence; and the indentation of +the shore beyond the Plains of Abraham, called Wolfe's Cove, where he +landed his forces on the morning of his victory and death. Edward found +it very difficult to tear himself from a spot which has so much natural +beauty, and historic interest, but anxious to follow his friends, he +offered the soldier a few pieces of change, and asked him if he was +willing to show him the fortification, and then guide him to the Plains +of Abraham, whither his father had gone. + +The soldier civilly, and indeed thankfully assented, and they proceeded +together. The man, evidently pleased with the intelligent questions put +to him by Edward, which he answered in a way that indicated a knowledge +of his profession quite unusual in a common soldier. Edward inquired the +design of the Martello towers, of the bastions, scarps and counterscarps, +of this fosse, that glacis, &c. &c. at last, stopping suddenly, while +his dilating form and beaming face expressed the youthful heroism that +glowed in his breast, he said, "It is a strong place, a very strong +place indeed; but I do think _we_ could take it." + +"_We!_" exclaimed the soldier, darting at him a look of eager inquiry; +"who are _we_?" + +"Why, we Americans." + +"Americans!" echoed the soldier, and then starting back and dashing the +silver Edward had given him to the ground. "Have I," he said, "served my +king four and twenty years, to be bribed by an American boy at last? has +it come to this, Richard Barton?" + +"Richard Barton!" echoed Edward in his turn. + +"Yes, my young man, Richard Barton; a poor name, but an honest one, +thank God." + +"Richard Barton!" again repeated Edward. "But it cannot be the Richard +Barton I mean." + +"I don't know who you mean, sir, but I shall take care and report you to +my officer, and clear myself of all blame." + +"Do not be so hasty, my good friend," said Edward, with an expression of +innocence and good nature, that went far to remove the honest soldier's +suspicions; "it is true I have troubled you with a great many questions, +but I had no motive but curiosity; we yankees, you know, are a curious +race. Come, I shall hold you to your agreement; take up the money and go +along with me." + +"No--no--I never will touch the money; but I will go with you, there can +be no harm in that." + +"Well," said Edward, picking up the pieces, "if you won't take it, I +know a Richard Barton that will, and he shall have it too; and now, if I +was not afraid you would take me to the guard-house, I would put some +more questions to you." + +"Oh, put them and welcome, young man; now I know that you are an +American, I can use my discretion in my answers. You do not look as if +you could do wrong yourself, or tempt another: but I have lived long +enough to know that it is not all gold that glitters, though I think +nothing but true metal can bear the stamp that is on your face." + +"We are friends again then, are we? Can you tell me where the 40th +regiment is stationed now?" + +"That I cannot; they have been gone from here three years this July." + +"Had you any acquaintance in that regiment?" + +"Indeed had I. I served with them more than twenty years." + +Edward stopped, jumped at least three feet from the ground, (as the +soldier afterwards averred) clapped his hands, and exclaimed, "It must +be--it must be." + +"Why, what is the matter now?" asked the soldier, amazed at his emotion. + +"Tell me," continued Edward, with all the calmness he could summon, "why +you are here, if your regiment has returned?" + +"I got myself transferred to this regiment, to finish my term of service +in America, in the hope of then finding my wife and little boy, who +followed me to the States when I was a prisoner." + +There was no longer any room in Edward's mind for doubt that his +companion was the husband of Mrs. Barton. His natural and first impulse +was, to make known to the husband the happiness that was in store for +him. He began to speak, half laughing, half crying; then checked +himself, and considered what a beautiful surprise it would be if they +should meet without any preparation: he took the soldier's hand, and +said, "I see my friends; you need go no farther; but come in one hour to +the City Hotel, and my mother will tell you good news of your wife." + +"News of my wife! are you an angel from heaven?" + +"Oh, no," replied Edward, laughing; "nothing but an _American boy_." + +"God bless you, my lad, tell me now--tell me now," said the soldier, +and tears of joy had already gathered in his eyes. + +"No, not another word now," said Edward, bounding away from him; "in one +hour you shall know all." + +The soldier gazed after Edward with an intense curiosity: vague +expectations of some good, and then more defined hopes filled his mind. +'That boy never could have deceived me,' he said, to himself: 'what did +he mean by exclaiming when he first heard my name? what, by saying he +knew another Richard Barton? Is it possible that he has seen my wife +and boy?' The result of all his deliberations was, that he would go +instantly to the Hotel--to wait an hour was impossible--an hour was an +age. In the mean time, Edward joined his party, who were already on the +return, and was chid for his delay; without giving the least heed to the +rebuke, he drew Julia aside, and communicated his discovery to her. They +then laid their heads together, and concerted a fine plan for a +denouement. + +They would first show Barton the little girl; he could not remember her +of course, for she had been born some months after he was separated +from his wife; but then he might find her out from her resemblance to +her mother; Julia remembered many stories she had read of similar +discoveries, and Edward affirmed his belief in natural affection, +though he allowed that his father said, that Dr. Franklin and many +other philosophers laughed at the idea. If the little girl proved +an insufficient clew, Dickey was to be brought into the room, as if +accidentally, and with many cautions by no means to tell his name; +and finally the door was to be thrown open, and good Mrs. Barton, +all unprepared for the sight, was to behold her long-lost husband. +Mrs. Sackville saw in the truth-telling faces of her children, that +something in their view very important was in agitation; but she +seemed to take no notice of their whisperings, and hurried pace, till +Mr. Morris called out, "Fall back children, one would think we were +walking for a wager; remember we carry weight of years." + +"Oh," whispered Julia, "uncle Morris is such a snail; but there is no +use in our hurrying, because you know we should lose half the pleasure +if papa and mama and uncle were not there." Edward assented, and +patience had her perfect work while the children made their feet, which +seemed suddenly to have been furnished with the wings of Mercury, to +keep time with the dignified movements of their parents. + +When they turned into St. John's-street, and came in sight of the hotel, +Edward saw the soldier standing by the step to the front entrance, and +looking eagerly towards him, "there he is!" said he to Julia, and they +both involuntarily changed their pace from a walk to a run, but before +they reached the hotel, the soldier sprung into the door, and disappeared +from their sight. He had caught the sound of his wife's voice, and +their first joyful recognition had passed before the children entered +the door. + + * * * * * + +Our youthful readers have, we trust, been entire strangers to those joys +that are preceded by suffering, and which remind us of some clouds that +send down their showers after the sun has broken through. They would +have been as much surprised as were Edward and Julia, if they had seen, +instead of smiles and ecstasies, the deathlike paleness of Mrs. Barton, +her husband dashing the tear from his eyes that he might gaze upon his +children; Dickey looking timidly at him, and the little girl burying her +face in her mother's gown. Yet this was joy--joy that no words could +express; the joy of kind and faithful hearts--joy with which a stranger +cannot intermeddle; and Mrs. Sackville felt it to be such, for when she +saw the family group, she drew her children into the parlour, and left +their humble friends to themselves. + + * * * * * + +It was our intention to have described the soldier's gratitude--the +contentment and thankfulness of his wife--the neat little cottage in +which she was immediately placed by the officers of the regiment, who +seemed delighted thus to manifest their regard for their corporal +Barton. The emotion of this good family at parting with their +benefactors--little Dickey's resolution, that when he grew to be a man, +he would go and live with Mr. Edward--the hospitable honors rendered +to the Sackville party by the officers of the regiment, who felt their +beneficence to the British soldier's wife as a personal obligation--to +which was to have been added, a particular description of some very +beautiful curiosities presented to Edward and Julia by the governor's +lady; but we fear our young readers will think we have already +protracted a dull tale to an unconscionable length; and we will +therefore take our leave of them, with simply expressing a wish, that +if they should ever travel to Quebec, or indeed in any other direction, +they will remember that after the delightful but evanescent pleasures +of their jaunt had faded, and were almost effaced from the minds of +Edward and Julia, they possessed a treasure that fadeth not away +in the consciousness of having rendered an essential service to a +fellow-creature. A consciousness that strews roses in the path of +youth and age--not 'the perfume and suppliance of a moment,' but +those amaranthine flowers that exhale incense to Heaven. + + FINIS. + + + + + [ Transcriber's Note: + + The following is a list of corrections made to the original. The + first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. + + + "And what," asked Mrs. Sackville, "do Bob Eton's father and Bob Eaton, + "And what," asked Mrs. Sackville, "do Bob Eaton's father and Bob Eaton, + + "Dubois for ever!" exclaimed Edward, as Julia finished her mimickry + "Dubois for ever!" exclaimed Edward, as Julia finished her mimicry + + "Oh, that will be delightful, mother but Edward and I cannot dance a + "Oh, that will be delightful, mother, but Edward and I cannot dance a + + 'The next, mother? what is next, Edward?" + "The next, mother? what is next, Edward?" + + sun. + sun." + + suddenly swelled the veins of her clear open brow, lit up her hazle eyes + suddenly swelled the veins of her clear open brow, lit up her hazel eyes + + "My dear Ned," replied Mrs. Sackville, "I do not wonder at your + "My dear Ned," replied Mr. Sackville, "I do not wonder at your + + "Now, mama," she said, you must take both sides of the river." + "Now, mama," she said, "you must take both sides of the river." + + of the skipping right--the readers inalienable right) we shall make but + of the skipping right--the readers' inalienable right) we shall make but + + "One might almost fancy here," said Mr. Sackville, that the march + "One might almost fancy here," said Mr. Sackville, "that the march + + "At a wigman in Oneida, where he had been compelled to ask for such + "At a wigwam in Oneida, where he had been compelled to ask for such + + the road is thronged with market-waggons, stage coaches, and carriages + the road is thronged with market-waggons, stage coaches; and carriages + + riches and resources of their native land, "For my own part," he said, + riches and resources of their native land. "For my own part," he said, + + eyes and ruddy cheeks, who seeemed to be a favorite with the whole + eyes and ruddy cheeks, who seemed to be a favorite with the whole + + then asked her name:--"My name is Biddy Burns, an' please you, miss." + then asked her name:--"My name is Biddy Burns, an' please you, miss." + + little, pale, wizzened-face fellow, with a bleared and blood-shot eye, + little, pale, wizened-face fellow, with a bleared and blood-shot eye, + + "How old?" I do not justly remember; but there is my age set down in our + "How old? I do not justly remember; but there is my age set down in our + + "I do not see that we can, my dear," replied Mrs. Sackville," I have + "I do not see that we can, my dear," replied Mrs. Sackville, "I have + + "Sickly feeling," exclaimed Edward, I am sure I thought the air was + "Sickly feeling," exclaimed Edward, "I am sure I thought the air was + + to her children, " the charm of the ring in the Fairy tale, bestowed by + to her children, "the charm of the ring in the Fairy tale, bestowed by + + "What, my dear, children, should we be, without the religious sentiment + "What, my dear children, should we be, without the religious sentiment + + festival of nature, you must take care you do not commit the pharasaic + festival of nature, you must take care you do not commit the pharisaic + + of he future, theirs were constantly directed to virtue, which they + of the future, theirs were constantly directed to virtue, which they + + of such beautiful scenes as these, to convert themi n tofields of + of such beautiful scenes as these, to convert them into fields of + + wife, she has an Enlish spirit, and a proud one; and she says, while + wife, she has an English spirit, and a proud one; and she says, while + + he does, and fraquently he dont," replied the fellow, rather surlily. + he does, and fraquently he don't," replied the fellow, rather surlily. + + to see a young creature thus cut off by her sins." + to see a young creature thus cut off by her sins. + + Come now Edward and Julia to your births--and dream of the 'thousand + Come now Edward and Julia to your berths--and dream of the 'thousand + + roughly binding his wampun belt over Marguerite's mouth, to deaden the + roughly binding his wampum belt over Marguerite's mouth, to deaden the + + He rose cautiously, looked for one instant on the indians, and assured + "He rose cautiously, looked for one instant on the indians, and assured + + led the way to an adjoining anti-room appropriated to medicines, + led the way to an adjoining ante-room appropriated to medicines, + + silver Edward had given him to the ground. "Have I," he said, served my + silver Edward had given him to the ground. "Have I," he said, "served my + + and boy? The result of all his deliberations was, that he would go + and boy?' The result of all his deliberations was, that he would go + + something in their viewvery important was in agitation; but she + something in their view very important was in agitation; but she + + instead of smiles and ecstasies, the deathlike paleness of Mrs. Barton + instead of smiles and ecstasies, the deathlike paleness of Mrs. Barton, + ] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Travellers, by Catharine Maria Sedgwick + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAVELLERS *** + +***** This file should be named 31832.txt or 31832.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/8/3/31832/ + +Produced by David Yingling, Alexander Bauer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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