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diff --git a/39675-8.txt b/39675-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e53296 --- /dev/null +++ b/39675-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18534 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Dealings With The Dead, by A Sexton of the Old School + +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/license + + +Title: Dealings With The Dead + Volume II + +Author: A Sexton of the Old School + +Release Date: May 12, 2012 [EBook #39675] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEALINGS WITH THE DEAD *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Meredith Bach and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive.) + + + + + + + + + +Dealings with the Dead. + + + + + DEALINGS WITH THE DEAD. + + + BY A SEXTON OF THE OLD SCHOOL. + + + VOLUME II. + + + BOSTON: + PUBLISHED BY DUTTON AND WENTWORTH, + 33 AND 35 CONGRESS STREET: + AND + TICKNOR AND FIELDS, + CORNER OF WASHINGTON AND SCHOOL STREETS. + MDCCCLVI. + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by DUTTON AND +WENTWORTH, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts. + + + + +Dealings with the Dead. + +BY A SEXTON OF THE OLD SCHOOL. + + + + +No. XC. + + +My earliest recollections of some, among the dead and buried aristocracy +of Boston, find a ready embodiment, in cocked hats of enormous +proportions, queues reaching to their middles, cloaks of scarlet +broadcloth, lined with silk, and faced with velvet, and just so short, as +to exhibit the swell of the leg, silk stockings, and breeches, highly +polished shoes, and large, square, silver buckles, embroidered vests, with +deep lappet pockets, similar to those, which were worn, in the age of +_Louis Quatorze_, shirts ruffled, at the bosoms and sleeves, doeskin or +beaver gloves, and glossy, black, Surinam walking canes, six feet in +length, and commonly carried by the middle. + +Of the last of the Capulets we know nearly all, that it is desirable to +know. Of the last of the cocked hats we are not so clearly certified. + +The dimensions of the military cocked hat were terrible; and, like those +enormous, bear skin caps, which are in use, at present, eminently +calculated to put the enemy to flight. I have seen one of those enormous +cocked hats, which had long been preserved, as a memorial of the wearer's +gallantry. In one corner, and near the extremity, was a round hole, said +to have been made by a musket ball, at the battle of White Plains, Nov. +30, 1776. As I contemplated this relic, it was impossible to avoid the +comforting reflection, that the head of the gallant proprietor was at a +very safe distance from the bullet. + +After the assassination of Henry IV., and greatly to the amusement of the +gay and giddy courtiers of his successor, Louis XIII.--old Sully +obstinately adhered to the costume of the former reign. Colonel Barnabas +Clarke was very much of Sully's way of thinking. "And who," asks the +reader, "was Colonel Barnabas Clarke?" He was a pensioner of the United +States, and died a poor, though highly respected old man, in the town of +Randolph, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For several years, he +commanded the third Regiment of the first Brigade, and first Division of +infantry; and he wore the largest cocked hat and the longest queue in the +known world. He was a broad-shouldered, strong-hearted Revolutioner. Let +me take the reader aside, for a brief space; and recite to him a pleasant +anecdote of old Colonel Barnabas Clarke, which occurred, under my own +observation, when John Brooks--whose patent of military nobilty bears date +at Saratoga, but who was one of nature's noblemen from his cradle--was +governor of Massachusetts. + +There was a militia muster of the Norfolk troops, and they were reviewed +by Governor Brooks. They were drawn up in line. The Governor, bare headed, +with his suite, had moved slowly down, in front of the array, each +regiment, as he passed, paying the customary salute. + +The petty _chapeau militaire_ had then become almost universal, and, with, +or without, its feather and gold edgings, was all over the field. Splendid +epaulettes and eaglets glittered, on the shoulders of such, as were +entitled to wear them. Prancing horses were caracoling and curvetting, in +gaudy trappings. In the midst of this showy array, in front of his +regiment, bolt upright, upon the back of his tall, chestnut horse, that, +upon the strength of an extra allowance of oats, pawed the ground, and +seemed to forget, that he was in the plough, the day before, sat an old +man, of rugged features, and large proportions. Upon his head was that +enormous cocked hat, of other days--upon his shoulders, scarcely +distinguishable, was a small pair of tarnished epaulettes--the gray hairs +at the extremity of his prodigious queue lay upon the crupper of his +saddle--his ancient boots shaped to the leg, his long shanked spurs, his +straight silver-hilted sword, and lion-headed pistols were of 1776. Such +was the outer man of old Colonel Barnabas Clarke. + +As the Governor advanced, upon the line of the third Regiment of the first +Brigade, the fifes of that regiment commenced their shrill whistle, and +the drums began to roll; and, at the appropriate moment, the veteran +saluted his excellency, in that rather angular style, which was common, in +the days of our military fathers. + +At that moment, Governor Brooks checked his horse, and, replacing his hat +upon his head, dismounted, and walked towards the Colonel, who, +comprehending the intention, returned his sword to its scabbard, and came +to the ground, with the alertness of a much younger man. They met midway, +between the line and the reviewing cortege--in an instant, each grasped +the other's hand, with the ardor of men, who are mutually endeared, by the +recollection of partnership, in days of danger and daring--they had been +fellow lodgers, within the intrenchments of Burgoyne, on the memorable +night of October 7, 1777. After a few words of mutual respect and +affection, they parted--the review went forward--the fifers and drummers +outdid themselves--the beholders sent forth an irrepressible shout--and +when old Colonel Barnabas got up once again, upon his chestnut horse, I +thought he looked considerably more like old Frederick, hat, queue, and +all, than he did, before he got down. He looked as proud as Tamerlane, +after he had caged the Sultan, Bajazet--yet I saw him dash a tear from his +eye, with the sleeve of his coat--I found one in my own. How frail we +are!--there is one there now! + +While contemplating the remarkable resurrection that has occurred, within +a few years, of old chairs and tables, porcelain and candlesticks, I +confidently look forward to the resurrection of cocked hats. They were +really very becoming. I speak not of those vasty beavers, manufactured, of +yore, by that most accomplished, gentlemanly, and facetious of all +hatters, Mr. Nathaniel Balch, No. 72 old Cornhill; but such as he made, +for his excellent friend, and boon companion, Jeremiah Allen, Esquire, +high Sheriff of Suffolk. When trimmed with gold lace, and adorned with the +official cockade, it was a very becoming affair. + +No man carried the fashion, as I have described it, in the commencement of +this article, to a greater extent, than Mr. Thomas Marshall, more commonly +known as _Tommy Marshall_. He was a tailor, and his shop and house were in +State Street, near the present site of the Boston Bank. In London, his +leisurely gait, finished toilette, admirable personal equipments, and +exceedingly composed and courtly carriage and deportment would have passed +him off, for a gentleman, living at his ease, or for one of the nobility. +Mr. Marshall was remarkable, for the exquisite polish, and classical cut +of his cocked hat. He was much on 'change, in those primitive days, and +highly respected, for his true sense of honor. Though the most +accomplished tailor of his day, no one ever suspected him of cabbage. + +When I began the present article, it was my design to have written upon a +very different subject--but since all my cogitations have been "_knocked +into a cocked hat_," I may as well close this article, with a short +anecdote of Tommy Marshall. + +There was a period--there often is, in similar cases--during which it was +doubtful, if the celebrated James Otis was a sane or an insane man. During +that period, he was engaged for the plaintiff, in a cause, in which Mr. +Marshall was a witness, for the defendant. After a tedious cross +examination, Mr. Otis perceived the impossibility of perplexing the +witness, or driving him into any discrepancy; and, in a moment of despair, +his mind, probably, not being perfectly balanced, he lifted his finger, +and shaking it, knowingly, at the witness, exclaimed--"_Ah, Tommy +Marshall, Tommy Marshall, I know you!_" "_And what do you know of me, +sir?_" cried the witness, doubling his fist in the very face of Mr. Otis, +and stamping on the floor--"_I know you're a tailor, Tommy!_" + + + + +No. XCI. + + +Wake--Vigil--Wæcan--import one and the same thing. So we are informed, by +that learned antiquary, John Whitaker, in his History of Manchester, +published in 1771. Originally, this was a festival, kept by watching, +through the night, preceding the day, on which a church was dedicated. We +are told, by Shakspeare-- + + He that outlives this day, and sees old age, + Will yearly, on the _vigil_, feast his neighbors, + And say _tomorrow_ is Saint Crispian. + +These vigils, like the _agapæ_, or love-feasts, fell, erelong, into +disrepute, and furnished occasion, for disgraceful revelry and riot. + +The Irish _Wake_, as it is popularly called, however it may have sprung +from the same original stock, is, at present, a very different affair. +Howling, at a wake, is akin to the ululation of the mourning women of +Greece, Rome, and Judea, to which I have alluded, in a former number. The +object of the Irish _Wake_ is to rouse the spirit, which, otherwise, it is +apprehended, might remain inactive, unwilling, or unable, to quit its +mortal frame--to _wake_ the soul, not precisely, "by tender strokes of +art," but by long-continued, nocturnal wailings and howlings. In practice, +it has ever been accounted extremely difficult, to get the Irish soul +fairly off, either upward or downward, without an abundance of +intoxicating liquor. + +The philosophy of this is too high for me--I cannot attain unto it. I know +not, whether the soul goes off, in a fit of disgust, at the senseless and +insufferable uproar, or is fairly frightened out of its tabernacle. This I +know, that boon companions, and plenty of liquor are the very last means I +should think of employing, to induce a true-born Irishman, to give up the +ghost. I have read with pleasure, in the Pilot, a Roman Catholic paper of +this city, an editorial discommendation of this preposterous custom. + +However these barbarous proceedings may serve to outrage the dignity, and +even the decency, of death, they have not always been absolutely useless. +If the ravings, and rantings, the drunkenness, and the bloody brawls, that +have sometimes occurred, during the celebration of an _Irish wake_, have +proved unavailing, in raising the dead, or in exciting the lethargic +soul--they have, certainly, sometimes sufficed, to restore consciousness +to the cataleptic, who were supposed to be dead, and about to be committed +to the grave. + +In April, 1804, Barney O'Brien, to all appearance, died suddenly, in the +town of Ballyshannon. He had been a terrible bruiser, and so much of a +profligate, that it was thought all the priests, in the county of Donegal, +would have as much as they could do, of a long summer's day, to confess +him. It was concluded, on all hands, that more than ordinary efforts would +be required, for the _waking_ of Barney O'Brien's soul. A great crowd was +accordingly gathered to the shanty of death. The mountain dew was +supplied, without stint. The howling was terrific. Confusion began. The +altercation of tongues was speedily followed, by the collision of fists, +and the cracking of shelalahs. The yet uncovered coffin was overturned. +The shock, in an instant, terminated the trance. Barney O'Brien stood +erect, before the terrified and flying group, six feet and four inches in +his winding sheet, screaming, at the very top of his lungs, as he +rose--"_For the love o' the blissed Jasus, jist a dhrap o' the crathur, +and a shelalah!_" + +In a former number, I have alluded to the subject of premature interment. +A writer, in the London Quarterly, vol. lxiii. p. 458, observes, that +"there exists, among the poor of the metropolitan districts, an inordinate +dread of premature burial." After referring to a contrivance, in the +receiving houses of Frankfort and Munich,--a ring, attached to the finger +of the corpse, and connected with a lightly hung bell, in the watcher's +room--he significantly asks--"_Has the corpse bell at Frankfort and Munich +ever yet been rung?_"--For my own part, I have no correspondence with the +sextons there, and cannot tell. It may possibly have been rung, while the +watcher slept! After admitting the possibility of premature burial, this +writer says, he should be content with Shakspeare's test--"_This feather +stirs; she lives_," This may be a very good affirmative test. But, as a +negative test, it would be good for little--_this feather stirs not; she +is dead_. In cases of catalepsy, it often happens, that a feather will not +stir; and even the more trustworthy test--the mirror--will furnish no +evidence of life. + +To doubt the fact of premature interment is quite as absurd, as to credit +all the tales, in this connection, fabricated by French and German +wonder-mongers. During the existence of that terrible epidemic, which has +so recently passed away, the necessity, real or imagined, of removing the +corpses, as speedily as possible, has, very probably, occasioned some +instances of premature interment. + +On the 28th of June, 1849, a Mr. Schridieder was supposed to be dead of +cholera, at St. Louis, and was carried to the grave; where a noise in the +coffin was heard, and, upon opening it, he was found to be alive. + +In the month of July, 1849, a Chicago paper contained the following +statement:-- + +"We know a gentleman now residing in this city, who was attacked by the +cholera, in 1832, and after a short time, was supposed to have died. He +was in the collapsed state, gave not the least sign of life, and when a +glass was held over his mouth, there was no evidence that he still +breathed. But, after his coffin was obtained, he revived, and is now +living in Chicago, one of our most estimable citizens." + +"Another case, of a like character, occurred near this city, yesterday. A +man who was in the collapsed state, and to all appearances dead, became +reanimated after his coffin was procured. He revived slightly--again +apparently died--again revived slightly--and finally died and was buried." + +I find the following, in the Boston Atlas of August 23, 1849:-- + +"A painful occurrence has come to light in Baltimore, which creates +intense excitement. The remains of the venerable D. Evans Reese, who died +suddenly on Friday evening, were conveyed to the Light Street +burying-ground, and while they were placed in the vault, the hand of a +human being was discovered protruding from one of the coffins deposited +there. On a closer examination, those present were startled to find the +hand was firmly clenched, the coffin burst open, and the body turned +entirely over, leaving not a doubt that the unfortunate being had been +buried alive. The corpse was that of a very respectable man, who died, +apparently, very suddenly, and whose body was placed in the vault on +Friday last." + +The _Recherches Medico-legales sur l'incertitude des risques de la mort, +les dangers dés inhumations précipiteés, les moyens de constater les décès +et de rappeler á la vie ceux qui sont en etat de mort apparente_, by I. de +Fontenelle, is a very curious production. In a review of this work, and of +the _Recherches Physiologiques, sur la vie et la mort_, by Bichat, in the +London Quarterly, vol. lxxxv. page 369, the writer remarks--"_A gas is +developed in the decaying body, which mimics, by its mechanical force, +many of the movements of life. So powerful is this gas, in corpses, which +have laid long in the water, that M. Devergie, the physician at the +Morgue, at Paris, says that, unless secured to the table, they are often +heaved up and thrown to the ground._" + +Upon this theory, the writer proposes, to account for those posthumous +changes of position, which are known, sometimes to have taken place. It +may serve to explain some of these occurrences. But the formation of this +gas, in a greater or less degree, must be universal, while a change in the +position is comparatively rare. The curiosity of friends often leads to an +inspection of the dead, in every stage of decomposition. However valuable +the theory, in the writer's estimation, the generation of the most +powerful gas would scarcely be able to throw the body entirely out of the +coffin, with its arms outstretched towards the portal of the tomb; of +which, and of similar changes, there exist well authenticated records. + +It is quite probable, that the _Irish wake_ may have originated, in this +very dread of premature interment, strangely blended with certain +spiritual fancies, respecting the soul's reluctance to quit its tenement +of clay. + +After relating the remarkable story of Asclepiades of Prusa in Bithynia, +who restored to life an individual, then on his way to the funeral +pile--Bayle, vol. ii. p. 379, Lond. 1735, relates the following +interesting tale. A peasant of Poictou was married to a woman, who, after +a long fit of sickness, fell into a profound lethargy, which so closely +resembled death, that the poor people gathered round, and laid out the +peasant's helpmate, for burial. The peasant assumed a becoming expression +of sorrow, which utterly belied that exceeding great joy, that is natural +to every man, when he becomes perfectly assured, that the tongue of a +scolding wife is hushed forever. + +The people of that neighborhood were very poor; and, either from economy +or taste, coffins were not used among them. The corpses were borne to the +grave, simply enveloped in their shrouds, as we are told, by Castellan, is +the custom, among the Turks. Those who bore the body, moved, +inadvertently, rather too near a hedge, at the roadside, and, a sharp +thorn pricking the leg of the corpse, the trance was broken--the supposed +defunct sprang up on end--and began to scold, as vigorously as ever. + +The disappointed peasant had fourteen years more of it. At the expiration +of that term, the good woman pined away, and appeared to die, once more. +She was again borne toward the grave. When the bearers drew near to the +spot, where the remarkable revival had occurred, upon a former occasion, +the widower became very much excited; and, at length, unable to restrain +his emotions, audibly exclaimed--"_don't go too near that hedge!_" + +In a number of the London Times, for 1821, there is an account of the +directions, given by an old Irish expert in such matters, who was about to +die, respecting his own _wake_--"Recollect to put three candles at the +head of the bed, after ye lay me out, two at the foot, and one at each +side. Mind now and put a plate with the salt on it, just atop of my +breast. And d'ye hear--have plinty o' tobacky and pipes enough; and +remimber to have the punch strong. And--blundenoons, what the devil's the +use o' pratin t'ye--sure it's mysilf knows ye'll be after botching it, as +I'll not be there mysel." + + + + +No. XCII. + + +That man must be an incorrigible _fool_, who does not, occasionally, like +the Vicar of Wakefield, find himself growing weary of being always _wise_. +In this sense, there are few men of sixty winters, who have not been +guilty of being over-wise--of assuming, at some period of their lives, the +port and majesty of the bird of Minerva--of exercising that talent, for +silence and solemnity, ascribed by the French nobleman, as More relates, +in his travels, to the English nation. A man, thus protected--dipped, as +it were, in the waters of Lethe, _usque ad calcem_--is truly a pleasant +fellow. There is no such thing as getting hold of him--there he is, +conservative as a tortoise, _unguibus retractis_. He seems to think the +exchange of intellectual commodities, entirely out of the question; he +will have none of your folly, and he holds up his own superlative wisdom, +as a cow, of consummate resolution, holds up her milk. If society were +thus composed, what a concert of voices there would be, in unison with +Job's--_we would not live alway_. Life would be no other, than a long +funeral procession--the dead burying the dead. I am decidedly in favor of +a cheerful philosophy. Jeremy Taylor says, that, "_the slightest going off +from a man's natural temper is a species of drunkenness_." There are some +men, certainly, who seem to think, that total abstinence, from every +species of merriment, is a wholesome preparative, for a residence in +Paradise. The Preacher saith of laughter, _it is mad, and of mirth, what +doeth it?_ But in the very next chapter, he declares, _there is a time to +dance and a time to sing_. We are told in the book of Proverbs, that _a +merry heart doeth good, like a medicine_. + +There has probably seldom been a wiser man than Democritus of Abdera, who +was called the laughing philosopher; and of whom Seneca says, in his work +De Ira, ii. c. 10, _Democritum aiunt nunquam sine risu in publico fuisse; +adeo nihil illi videbatur serium eorum, quæ serio gerebantur_: Democritus +never appeared in public, without laughter in his countenance; so that +nothing seemed to affect him seriously, however much so it might affect +the rest of mankind.--The Abderites, with some exceptions, thought him +mad; or, in Beattie's words, when describing his minstrel boy-- + + "Some deem'd him wondrous wise, and some believ'd him mad." + +These Abderites, who were, notoriously, the most stupid of the Thracians, +looked upon Democritus precisely as the miserable monks, about Oxford, +looked upon Roger Bacon, in the thirteenth century--they believed him a +magician, or a madman. + +To laugh and grow fat is a proverb. Whether Democritus grew fat or not, I +am unable to say; but he died at a great age, having passed one hundred +years; and he died cheerfully, as he had lived temperately. Lucretius says +of him, lib. iii. v. 1052-- + + "_Sponte sua letho caput obvius obtulit ipse_." + +The tendency of his philosophy was to ensure longevity. The grand aim and +end of it all were comprehended, in one word, [Greek: euphymia], or the +enjoyment of a tranquil state of mind. + +There is much good-natured wisdom, in the command, and in the axiom of +Horace-- + + "_Misce stultitiam consiliis brevem + Dulce est desipere in loco_"-- + +which means, if an off-hand version will suffice-- + + Mix with your cares a little folly, + 'Tis pleasant sometimes to be jolly. + +One of the most acceptable images, presented by Sir Walter Scott, is that +of Counsellor Pleydell, perched upon the table, playing at high jinks, who +compliments Colonel Mannering, by continuing the frolic, and telling him, +that, if a fool had entered, instead of a man of sense, he should have +come down immediately. + +My New England readers would be very much surprised, if they had any +personal knowledge of the late excellent and venerable Bishop Griswold, to +be told, that, among his works, there was an edition of Mother Goose's +Melodies, with _prolegomina, notæ, et variæ lectiones_; well--there is no +such thing there. But every one knows, that the comic romance of +Bluebeard, as it is performed on the stage, was written by Bishop Heber, +and is published in his works. Every one knows that Hannah More wrote +tolerable plays, and was prevented, by nothing but her sex, from being a +bishop. Every one knows that bishops and archbishops have done very funny +things--_in loco_. And every one knows, that all this is quite as +respectable, as being very reverently dull, and wearing the phylactery for +life--_stand off, for I am stupider than thou_. + +I have now before me a small octavo volume--a very _bijou_ of a book, with +the following title--_Arundines Cami, sive Musarum Cantabrigiensium Lusus +Canori_, and bearing, for its motto--_Equitare in arundine longa_. This +book is printed at Cambridge, England; and I have never seen a more +beautiful specimen of typography. The work is edited by Henry Drury, Vicar +of Wilton: and it contains a collection of Greek and Latin versions; by +Mr. Drury himself, and by several good, holy, and learned men--Butler, +late Bishop of Litchfield--Richard Porson--Hodgson, S. J. B. of Eton +College--Vaughan, Principal of Harrow--Macaulay--Hallam--Law--and many +others. + +The third edition of this delightful book was published in 1846. And now +the reader would know something of the originals, which these grave and +learned men have thought it worthy of their talents and time, to turn into +Greek and Latin. I scarcely know where to select a specimen, among +articles, every one of which is prepared, with such exquisite taste, and +such perfect knowledge of the capabilities of the language employed. Among +the readers of the Transcript, I happen to know some fair scholars, who +would relish a Greek epigram, on any subject, as highly, as others enjoy a +pointed paragraph in English, on the subject of rum and molasses. Here is +a Greek version of the ditty--"What care I how black I be," by Mr. +Hawtrey, Principal of Eton, which I would transcribe, were it not that a +Greek word, now and then, presented in the common type, suggests to me, +that you may not have a Greek font. It may be found by those, who are of +the fancy, on page 49 of the work. + +Here is a version by Mr. Hodgson--how the shrill, thready voice of my dear +old nurse rings in my ears, while reading the original! God reward her +kind, untiring spirit--she has gone where little Pickles cease from +troubling, and where weary nurses are at rest:-- + + Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker's man, + So I do, master, as fast as I can. + Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with C, + Then it will answer for Charley and me. + + Tunde mihi dulcem pistor, mihi tunde farinam. + Tunditur, O rapida tunditur illa manu. + Punge decenter acu, tituloque inscribe magistri; + Sic mihi, Carolulo, sic erit esca meo. + +The contributions of Mr. H. Drury, the editor, are inferior to none-- + + There was an old man in Tobago, + Who liv'd on rice gruel and sago; + Till, much to his bliss, + His physician said this: + 'To a leg, sir, of mutton you may go.' + + Senex æger in Tarento + De oryxa et pulmento + Vili vixerat invento; + Donec medicus + Seni inquit valde læto, + 'Senex æger, o gaudeto, + Crus ovinum, jam non veto + Tibi benedicus.' + +Decidedly the most felicitous, though by no means the most elaborate in +the volume, is the following, which is also by the editor, Mr. Drury-- + + Hey diddle diddle! The cat and the fiddle! + The cow jumped over the moon; + The little dog laughed to see such sport; + And the dish ran away with the spoon. + + Hei didulum--atque iterum didulum! Felisque fidesque! + Vacca super lunæ cornua prosiluit. + Nescio qua catulus risit dulcedine ludi; + Abstulit et turpi lanx cochleare fuga. + +A Latin version of Goldsmith's mad dog, by H. J. Hodgson, is very clever, +and there are some on solemn subjects, and of a higher order. + +How sturdily these little ditties, the works of authors dead, buried, and +unknown, have breasted the current of time! I had rather be the author of +_Hush-a-bye baby, upon the tree top_, than of Joel Barlow's Vision of +Columbus--for, though I have always perceived the propriety of putting +babies to sleep, at proper times, I have never entirely appreciated the +wisdom of doing the very same thing to adults, at all hours of the day. + +What powerful resurrectionists these nursery melodies are! Moll Pitcher of +Endor had not a greater power over the dry bones of Samuel, than has the +ring of some one of these little chimes, to bring before us, with all the +freshness of years ago, that good old soul, who sat with her knitting +beside us, and rocked our cradle, and watched our progress from petticoats +to breeches; and gave notice of the first tooth; and the earliest words; +and faithfully reported, from day to day, all our marvellous achievements, +to one, who, had she been a queen, would have given us her sceptre for a +hoop stick. + + + + +No. XCIII. + + +Byles is a patronymic of extraordinary rarity. It will be sought for, +without success, in the voluminous record of Alexander Chalmers. It is not +in the Biographia Britannica; though, even there, we may, occasionally, +discover names, which, according to Cowper, were not born for +immortality-- + + "_Oh fond attempt to give a deathless lot + To names ignoble, born to be forgot!_" + +Even in that conservative record of choice spirits, the Boston Directory +for 1849, this patronymic is nowhere to be found. + +Henry Byles came from Sarum in England; and settled at Salisbury in this +Commonwealth, as early as 1640. I am not aware, that any individual, +particularly eminent, and bearing this uncommon name, has ever existed +among us, excepting that eccentric clergyman, who, within the bounds of +our little peninsula, at least, is still occasionally mentioned, as "_the +celebrated Mather Byles_." I am aware, that he had a son, who bore the +father's prænomen, and graduated at Harvard, in 1751; became a doctor of +divinity, in 1770; was a minister, in New London, and dismissed from his +charge, in 1769; officiated, as an Episcopal clergyman, in Boston, for +several years; went to St. Johns, N. B., at the time of the revolution; +officiated there; and died, March 12, 1814. + +But my dealings, this evening, are with "_the celebrated Mather Byles_," +who was born of worthy parents, in the town of Boston, March 26, 1706. His +father was an Englishman. Through the maternal line, he had John Cotton +and Richard Mather, for his ancestors. He graduated, at Harvard, in 1725; +was settled at the Hollis Street Church, Dec. 20, 1733; created D. D. at +Aberdeen, in 1765; was, on account of his toryism, separated from his +people, in 1776; and died of paralysis, July 5, 1788, at the age of 82. He +was twice married; a niece of Governor Belcher was his first, and the +daughter of Lieut. Governor Tailer, his second wife. + +I should be faithless, indeed, were I to go forward, without one passing +word, for precious memory, in regard to those two perennial damsels, the +daughters of Dr. Byles. How many visitations, at that ancient manse in +Nassau Street! To how many of the sex--young--aye, and of no particular +age--it has occurred, at the nick of time, when there was nothing under +Heaven else to be done, to exclaim--"What an excellent occasion, for a +visit to Katy and Polly!" And the visit was paid; and the descendants of +"_the celebrated Mather Byles_" were so glad to see the visitors--and it +was so long since their last visit--and it must not be so long again--and +then the old stories, over and over, for the thousandth time--and the +concerted merriment of these amiable visitors, as if the tales were quite +as new, as the year itself, upon the first January morn--and the filial +delights, that beamed upon the features of these vestals, at the effect, +produced, by the recitation of stories, which really seemed to be made of +that very _everlasting_ of which the breeches of our ancestors were +made--and then the exhibition of those relics, and _heir looms_, or what +remained of them, after some thirty years' presentation to all comers, +which, in one way and another, were associated with the memory of "_the +celebrated Mather Byles_,"--and then the oh don't gos--and oh fly not +yets--and when will you come agains! + +The question naturally arises, and, rather distrustingly, demands an +answer--what was "_the celebrated Mather Byles_"--celebrated for? In the +first place, he was _Sanctæ Theologiæ Doctor_. But his degree was from +Aberdeen; and the Scotch colleges, at that period, were not particularly +coy. With a cousin at court, and a little gold in hand, it was somewhat +less difficult, for a clergyman, without very great learning, or talent, +to obtain a doctorate, at Aberdeen, in 1765, than for a camel, of unusual +proportions, to go through the eye of a very small needle. Even in our +cis-atlantic colleges, these bestowments do not always serve to mark +degrees of merit, with infallible accuracy--for God's sun does not more +certainly shine, upon the just and upon the unjust, than doctorates have, +in some cases, fallen upon wise men, and upon fools. That, which, charily +and conservatively bestowed, may well be accounted an honor, necessarily +loses its value, by diffusion and prostitution. Not many years ago, the +worthy president of one of our colleges, being asked, how it happened, +that a doctorate of divinity had been given to a certain person of +ordinary talents, and very little learning; replied, with infinite +_naiveté_--"_Why ---- had it; and ---- had it; and ---- had it; and we +didn't like to hurt his feelings_." + +Let us not consider the claims of Mather Byles as definitely settled, by +the faculty at Aberdeen.--He corresponded with Pope, and with Lansdowne, +and with Watts. The works of the latter were sent to him, by the author, +from time to time; and, among the treasures, highly prized by the family, +was a presentation copy, in quarto, from Pope, of his translation of the +Odyssey. This correspondence, however, so far as I was ever able to gather +information from the daughters, many years ago, did not amount to much; +the letters were very few, and very far between; on the one side +complimentary, and bearing congratulations upon the occasion of some +recent literary success; and, on the other, fraught with grateful +civility; and accompanied, as is often the case, with copies of some of +the author's productions. + +Let me here present a somewhat disconnected anecdote: At the sale of the +library of Dr. Byles, a large folio Bible, in French, was purchased, by a +private individual. This Bible had been presented to the French Protestant +Church, in Boston, by Queen Anne; and, at the time, when it came to the +hands of Dr. Byles, was the last relic of that church, whose visible +temple had been erected in School Street, about 1716. Whoever desires to +know more of these French Protestants, may turn to the "Memoir," by Dr. +Holmes, or to vol. xxii. p. 62, of the Massachusetts Historical +Collections. + +Dr. Byles wrote, in prose and verse, and quite _respectably_ in both. +There is not more of the spirit of poetry, however, in his metrical +compositions, than in his performances in prose. His versification was +easy, and the style of his prose works was unaffected; his sentences were +usually short, and never rendered unintelligible, by the multiplication of +adjuncts, or by any affectation of sententious brevity. Yet nothing, that +I have ever met with, from the pen of Dr. Byles, is particularly +remarkable for its elegance; and it is in vain to look, among such of his +writings, as have been preserved, for the evidences of extraordinary +powers of thought. Some dozen of his published sermons are still extant. +We have also several of his essays, in the New England Weekly Journal; a +poem on the death of George I., and the accession of George II., in 1727; +a sort of monodial address to Governor Belcher, on the death of his lady; +a poem called the Conflagration; and a volume of metrical matters, +published in 1744. + +If his celebrity had depended upon these and other literary labors, he +would scarcely have won the appellation of "_the celebrated Mather +Byles_." + +The _correspondent_ of Byles, Isaac Watts, never imagined, that the time +would arrive, when his own voluminous lyrics and his address to "_Great +Gouge_," would be classed, in the _Materia Poetica_, as soporifics, and +scarcely find one, so poor, as to do them reverence; while millions of +lisping tongues still continued to repeat, from age to age, till the +English language should be forgotten, + + "Let dogs delight + To bark and bite, + For God hath made them so; + Let bears and lions + Growl and fight, + For 'tis their nature to." + +Dr. Byles himself could not have imagined, while putting the finishing +hand to "_The Conflagration_," that, if he had embarked his hopes of +reaching posterity, in that heavy bottom, they must surely have foundered, +in the gulf of oblivion--and that, after all, he would be wafted down the +stream of time, to distant ages, astride, as it were, upon a feather--and +that what he could never have accomplished, by his grave discourses, and +elaborate, poetical labors, would be so certainly and signally achieved, +by the never-to-be-forgotten quips, and cranks, and bon mots, and puns, +and funny sayings, and comical doings of the reverend pastor of the Hollis +Street Church. + +The reader must not do so great injustice to Dr. Byles, as to suppose, +that he mingled together _sacra profanis_, or was in the habit of +exhibiting, in the pulpit, that frolicsome vein, which was, in him, as +congenital, as is the tendency, in a fish, to swim in water. + +The sentiment of Horace applies not here-- + + ------------ridentem dicere verum + Quid vetat? + +The serious writings of Dr. Byles are singularly free from everything, +suggestive of frivolous association. In his pulpit, there was none of it; +not a jot; while, out of it, unless on solemn occasions, there was very +little else. I have heard from those, who knew him well, that he ransacked +the whole vocabulary, in search of the materials for punning. Yet of his +attempts, in this species of humor, few examples are remembered. The +specimens of the wit and humor of this eccentric divine, which have been +preserved, are often of a different character; and not a few of them of +that description, which are called practical jokes. Some of these +pleasantries were exceedingly clever, and others supremely ridiculous. It +is now more than half a century, since I listened to the first, amusing +anecdote of Mather Byles. Many have reached me since--some of them quite +as clever, as any we have ever had--I will not say from Foote, or Hook, or +Matthews; for such unclerical comparisons would be particularly +odious--but quite as clever as anything from Jonathan Swift, or Sydney +Smith. Suppose I convert my next number into a penny box, for the +collection and safe keeping of these petty records--I know they are below +the dignity of history--so is a very large proportion of all the thoughts, +words, and actions of Kings and Emperors--I'll think of it. + + + + +No. XCIV. + + +There were political sympathies, during the American Revolution, between +that eminent physician and excellent man, Dr. James Lloyd, and Mather +Byles; yet, some forty-three years ago, I heard Dr. Lloyd remark, that, in +company, the Reverend Mather Byles was a most troublesome puppy; and that +there was no peace for his punning. Dr. Lloyd was, doubtless, of opinion, +with Lord Kaimes, who remarked, in relation to this inveterate habit, that +few might object to a little salt upon their plates, but the man must +have an extraordinary appetite, who could make a meal of it. + +The daily employment of our mental powers, for the discovery of words, +which agree in sound, but differ in sense, is a species of intellectual +huckstering, well enough adapted to the capacities of those, who are unfit +for business, on a larger scale. If this occupation could be made _to +pay_, many an oysterman would be found, forsaking his calling, and +successfully competing with those, who will not suffer ten words to be +uttered, in their company, without converting five of them, at least, to +this preposterous purpose. + +No conversation can be so grave, or so solemn, as to secure it from the +rude and impertinent interruption of some one of these pleasant fellows; +who seem to employ their little gift upon the community, as a species of +laughing gas. A little of this may be well enough; but, like musk, in the +gross, it is absolutely suffocating. + +The first story, that I ever heard, of Mather Byles, was related, at my +father's table, by the Rev. Dr. Belknap, in 1797, the year before he died. +It was upon a Saturday; and Dr. John Clarke and some other gentlemen, +among whom I well remember Major General Lincoln, ate their salt fish +there, that day. I was a boy; and I remember their mirth, when, after Dr. +Belknap had told the story, I said to our minister, Dr. Clarke, near whom +I was eating my apple, that I wished he was half as funny a minister, as +Dr. Byles. + +Upon a Fast day, Dr. Byles had negotiated an exchange, with a country +clergyman. Upon the appointed morning, each of them--for vehicles were not +common then--proceeded, on horseback, to his respective place of +appointment. Dr. Byles no sooner observed his brother clergyman +approaching, at a distance, than he applied the whip; put his horse into a +gallop; and, with his canonicals flying all abroad, passed his friend, at +full run. "_What is the matter?_" he exclaimed, raising his hand in +astonishment--"_Why so fast, brother Byles?_"--to which the Dr., without +slackening his speed, replied, over his shoulder--"_It is Fast day!_" + +This is, unquestionably, very funny--but it is surely undesirable, for a +consecrated servant of the Lord, thus lavishly to sacrifice, upon the +altars of Momus. + +The distillery of Thomas Hill was at the corner of Essex and South +Streets, not far from Dr. Belknap's residence in Lincoln Street. Dr. Byles +called on Mr. Hill, and inquired--"Do you still?"--"That is my business," +Mr. Hill replied.--"Then," said Dr. Byles--"will you go with me, and still +my wife?" + +As he was once occupied, in nailing some list upon his doors, to exclude +the cold, a parishioner said to him--"the wind bloweth wheresoever it +listeth, Dr. Byles."--"Yes sir," replied the Dr. "and man listeth, +wheresoever the wind bloweth." + +He was intimate with General Knox, who was a bookseller, before the war. +When the American troops took possession of the town, after the +evacuation, Knox, who had become quite corpulent, marched in, at the head +of his artillery. As he passed on, Byles, who thought himself privileged, +on old scores, exclaimed, loud enough to be heard--"_I never saw an ox +fatter in my life_." But Knox was not in the vein. He felt offended by +this freedom, especially from Byles, who was then well known to be a tory; +and replied, in uncourtly terms, that he was a "---- fool." + +In May, 1777, Dr. Byles was arrested, as a tory, and subsequently tried, +convicted, and sentenced to confinement, on board a guard ship, and to be +sent to England with his family, in forty days. This sentence was changed, +by the board of war, to confinement in his own house. A guard was placed +over him. After a time, the sentinel was removed--afterwards replaced--and +again removed--when the Dr. exclaimed, that _he had been +guarded--regarded--and disregarded_. He called his sentry his +_observ-a-tory_. + +Perceiving, one morning, that the sentinel, a simple fellow, was absent, +and seeing Dr. Byles himself, pacing before his own door, with a musket on +his shoulder, the neighbors stepped over, to inquire the cause--"_You +see_," said the Dr., "_I begged the sentinel to let me go for some milk +for my family, but he would not suffer me to stir. I reasoned the matter +with him; and he has gone, himself, to get it for me, on condition that I +keep guard in his absence._" + +When he was very poor, and had no money to waste on follies, he caused the +little room, in which he read and wrote, to be painted brown, that he +might say to every visitor--"_You see I am in a brown study_." + +His family, having gone to rest, were roused one night, by the reiterated +cry of _thieves!--thieves!_ in the doctor's loudest voice--the wife and +daughters sprang instantly from their beds, and rushed into the +room--there sat the Dr. alone, in his study chair--"_Where, father?_" +cried the astonished family--"_there!_" he exclaimed, pointing to the +candles. + +One bitter December night, he called his daughters from their bed, simply +to inquire if they lay warm. + +He had a small collection of curiosities. Some visitors called, one +morning; and Mrs. Byles, unwilling to be found at her ironing board, and +desiring to hide herself, as she would not be so caught, by these ladies, +for the world, the doctor put her in a closet, and buttoned her in. After +a few remarks, the ladies expressed a wish to see the Dr's curiosities, +which he proceeded to exhibit; and, after entertaining them very +agreeably, for several hours, he told them he had kept the greatest +curiosity to the last; and, proceeding to the closet, unbuttoned the door, +and exhibited Mrs. Byles. + +He had complained, long, often, and fruitlessly, to the selectmen, of a +quagmire, in front of his dwelling. One morning, two of the fathers of the +town, after a violent rain, passing with their chaise, became stuck in +this bog. As they were striving to extricate themselves, and pulling to +the right and to the left, the doctor came forth, and bowing, with great +politeness, exclaimed--"_I am delighted, gentlemen, to see you stirring in +this matter, at last_." + +A candidate for fame proposed to fly, from the North Church steeple, and +had already mounted, and was clapping his wings, to the great delight of +the mob. Dr. Byles, mingling with the crowd, inquired what was the object +of the gathering--"_We have come, sir_," said some one, "_to see a man +fly_."--"_Poh, poh_," replied the doctor, "_I have seen a horse-fly_." + +A gentleman sent Dr. Byles a barrel of very fine oysters. Meeting the +gentleman's wife, an hour or two after, in the street, the doctor assumed +an air of great severity, and told her, that he had, that morning, been +treated, by her husband, in a most _Billingsgate_ manner, and then +abruptly left her. The lady, who was of a nervous temperament, went home +in tears, and was quite miserable, till her husband returned, at noon, and +explained the occurrence; but was so much offended with the doctor's +folly, that he cut his acquaintance. + +A poor fellow, in agony with the toothache, meeting the doctor, asked him +where he should go, to have it drawn. The doctor gave him a direction to +a particular street and number. The man went, as directed; and, when the +occupant came to the door, told him that Dr. Byles had sent him there, to +have his tooth drawn. "_This is a poor joke, for Dr. Byles_," said the +gentleman; "_I am not a dentist, but a portrait painter--it will give you +little comfort, my friend, to have me draw your tooth_." Dr. Byles had +sent the poor fellow to Copley. + +Upon the 19th of May, 1780, the memorable dark day, a lady wrote to the +doctor as follows--"_Dear doctor, how do you account for this darkness?_" +and received his immediate reply--"_Dear Madam, I am as much in the dark, +as you are_." This, for sententious brevity, has never been surpassed, +unless by the correspondence, between the comedian, Sam Foote, and his +mother--"_Dear Sam, I'm in jail_"--"_Dear Mother, So am I._" + +He had, at one time, a remarkably stupid, and literal, Irish girl, as a +domestic. With a look and voice of terror, he said to her, in haste--"_Go +and say to your mistress, Dr. Byles has put an end to himself_." The girl +flew up stairs, and, with a face of horror, exclaimed, at the top of her +lungs--"_Dr. Byles has put an end to himself!_" The astonished wife and +daughters rushed into the parlor--and there was the doctor, calmly walking +about, with a part of a cow's tail, that he had picked up, in the street, +tied to his coat, or cassock, behind. + +From the time of the stamp act, in 1765, to the period of the revolution, +the cry had been repeated, in every form of phraseology, that our +_grievances_ should be _redressed_. One fine morning, when the multitude +had gathered on the Common, to see a regiment of red coats, paraded there, +who had recently arrived--"_Well_," said the doctor, gazing at the +spectacle, "_I think we can no longer complain_, that our _grievances_ are +not _red dressed_." "_True_," said one of the laughers, who were standing +near, "_but you have two ds, Dr. Byles_." "_To be sure, sir, I have_," the +doctor instantly replied, "I had them from _Aberdeen_, in 1765." + +These pleasantries will, probably, survive "THE CONFLAGRATION." Had not +this eccentric man possessed some very excellent and amiable qualities, he +could not have maintained his clerical relation to the Hollis-Street +Church and Society, for three and forty years, from 1733 to 1776; and have +separated from them, at last, for political considerations alone. + +Had his talents and his influence been greater than they were, the +peculiarities, to which I have alluded, would have been a theme, for +deeper deprecation. The eccentricities of eminent men are mischievous, in +the ratio of their eminence; for thousands, who cannot rival their +excellencies, are often the successful imitators of their peculiarities +and follies. + +I never sympathized with that worthy, old lady, who became satisfied, that +Dr. Beecher was a terrible hypocrite, and without a spark of vital +religion, because she saw him, from her window, on the Lord's day, in his +back yard, gymnasticising, on a pole, in the intermission season; and +thereby invigorating his powers, for the due performance of the evening +services. Yet, as character is power, and as the children of this +generation have a devilish pleasure in detecting inconsistencies, between +the practice and the profession of the children of light--it is ever to be +deplored, that clergymen should hazard one iota of their clerical +respectability, for the love of fun; and it speaks marvels, for the moral +and religious worth of Mather Byles, and for the forbearance, +intelligence, and discrimination of his parishioners, that, for +three-and-forty years, he maintained his ministerial position, in their +midst, cutting such wild, unpriestly capers, and giving utterance to such +amusing fooleries, from morning to night. + + + + +No. XCV. + + +I have already referred to the subject of being buried alive. There is +something very terrible in the idea; and I am compelled, by some recent +information, to believe, that occurrences of this distressing nature are +more common, than I have hitherto supposed them to be. + +Not long ago, I fell into the society of a veteran, maiden lady, who, in +the course of her evening revelations of the gossip she had gathered in +the morning, informed the company, that an entire family, consisting of a +husband, wife, and seven children, were buried alive. + +You have heard, or read, I doubt not, of that eminent French surgeon, who, +while standing by the bedside of his dying friend and patron, utterly +forgot all his professional cares and duties, in his exceeding great joy, +at beholding, for the first time in his life, the genuine Sardonic grin, +exhibited upon the distorted features of his dying benefactor. For a +moment, my sincere sorrow, for the terrible fate of this interesting +family, was utterly forgotten, in the delight I experienced, at the +prospect of receiving such an interesting item, for my dealings with the +dead. + +My tablets were out, in an instant--and, drawing my chair near that of +this communicative lady, I requested a relation of all the particulars. My +astonishment was very much increased, when she asserted, that they had +actually buried themselves--and my utter disappointment--as an artist--can +scarcely be conceived, when she added, that the whole family had gone to +reside permanently in the country, giving up plays, concerts, balls, +soirees and operas. + +Putting up my tablets, with a feeling of displeasure, illy concealed, I +ventured to suggest, that opportunities, for intellectual improvement, +were not wanting in the country; and that, perhaps, this worthy family +preferred the enjoyment of rural quiet, to the miscellaneous cries of +fire--oysters--and murder. She replied, that she had rather be murdered +outright, than live in the country--listen to the frogs, from morning to +night--and watch the progress of cucumbers and squashes. + +Seriously, this matter of being buried alive, is very unpleasant. The +dead, the half-dead, and the dying, were brutally neglected, in the +earlier days of Greece. Diogenes Laertius, lib. 8, _de vita et moribus +philosophorum_, relates, that Empedocles, having restored Ponthia, a woman +of Agrigentum, to life, who was on the point of being buried, laws began +to be enacted, for the protection of the apparent dead. At Athens, no one +could be buried, before the third day; and, commonly, throughout all +Greece, burial and cremation were deferred, till the sixth or seventh day. +Alexander kept Hephestion's body, till the tenth day. I have referred, in +a former number, to the remarkable cases of Aviola and the Prætor Lamia, +who revived, after being placed on the funeral pile. Another Prætor, +Tubero, was saved, at the moment, when the torch was about to be applied. +I have also alluded to the act of Asclepiades, who, in disregard of the +ridicule of the bystanders, stopped a funeral procession, and reanimated +the body, about to be burnt. + +A perusal of the _Somnium Scipionis_, and of the accounts of Hildanus, +Camerarius, and Horstius--of Plato, in his Republic--and of Valerius +Maximus, will satisfy the reader, that premature burials were, by no +means, uncommon, of old. + +The idea of reviving in one's coffin--one of Fisk and Raymond's "_Patent +Metallic Burial Cases, Air-Tight and Indestructible_"--is really awful! +How truly, upon such an awakening as this, the wretch must wish he had +been born a savage--a Mandan of the upper Missouri--neither to be burnt +nor buried--but placed upon a mat, supported by poles--aloof from the +accursed wolves and undertakers--with a reasonable supply of pemmican and +corncake, and a calabash of water, by his side! + +The dread of such an occurrence has induced some very sensible people, to +prefer cremation to earth and tomb burial. Of this we have a remarkable +example, in our own country. An infant daughter of Henry Laurens, the +first President of Congress, had, to all appearance, died of the small +pox. She was, accordingly, laid out, and prepared for the grave. A window, +which, during her illness, had been kept carefully closed, having been +opened after the body was shrouded, and a stream of air blowing freshly +into the apartment, the child revived, and the robes of death were +joyfully exchanged, for her ordinary garments. This event naturally +produced a strong impression, upon the father's mind. By his will, Mr. +Laurens enjoined it upon his children, as a solemn duty, that his body +should be burnt; and this injunction was duly fulfilled. + +In former numbers, I have referred the reader to various authorities, upon +this interesting subject. I will offer a brief quotation from a sensible +writer--"According to the present usage, as soon as the semblance of death +appears, the chamber is deserted, by friends, relatives, and physicians, +and the apparently dead, though frequently living, body is committed to +the management of an ignorant or unfeeling nurse, whose care extends no +further than laying the limbs straight, and securing her accustomed +perquisites. The bed clothes are immediately removed, and the body is +exposed to the air. This, _when cold_, must extinguish any spark of life, +that may remain, and which, by a different treatment, might have been +kindled into a flame; or it may only continue to repress it, and the +unhappy person revive amidst the horrors of the tomb."--"Coldness, +heaviness of the body, a leaden, livid color, with a yellowness in the +visage," says the same author, "are all very uncertain signs." Mr. +Zimmerman observed them all, upon the body of a criminal, who fainted, +through the dread of the punishment he had merited. He was shaken, dragged +about, and turned, in the same manner dead bodies are, without the least +sign of resistance: and yet, at the end of twenty-four hours, he was +recalled to life, by means of volatile alkali. + +In 1777, Dr. William Hawes, the founder of the Humane Society in London, +published an address, on premature interment. This is a curious and +valuable performance. I cannot here withhold the statement, that this +excellent man, before the formation of the Humane Society, for several +years, offered rewards, and paid them from his own purse, for the rescue +of persons from drowning, between Westminster and London bridge. Dr. Hawes +remarks, that the appearance of death has often been mistaken for the +reality, in apoplectic, and fainting fits, and those, arising from any +violent agitation of the mind, and from the free use of opium and +spirituous liquors. Children, he observes, have often been restored, who +have apparently died in convulsions. In case of fevers, in weak habits, or +when the cure has been chiefly attempted, by means of depletion, the +patient often sinks into a state, resembling death; and the friends, in +the opinion of Dr. Hawes, have been fatally deceived. In small pox, he +remarks, when the pustules sink, and death apparently ensues, means of +restoration should by no means be neglected. + +In Lord Bacon's _Historia Vitæ et Mortis_, a passage occurs, +commencing--"Complura fuerunt exempla hominum, tanquam mortuorum, aut +expositorum e lecto, aut delatorum ad funus, quinetiam nonnullorum in +terra conditorum, qui nihilominus revixerunt," etc. But the passage is +rather long, and in a dead language; and my professional experience has +admonished me to be economical of space, and to occupy, for every dead +subject, long or short, as little room, as possible. I therefore give an +English version, of whose sufficiency the reader may judge, by glancing at +the original, vol. viii. p. 447, Lond. 1824.--There were many examples, +says Lord Bacon, of men, supposed to be dead, taken from their beds as +corpses, or borne to their graves, some of them actually buried, who, +nevertheless, revived. This fact, in regard to such as were buried, has +been proved, upon re-opening their graves; by the bruises and wounds upon +their heads; and by the manifest evidences of tossing about, and +struggling in their coffins. John Scott, a man of genius, and a scholar, +furnishes a very recent and remarkable example; who, shortly after his +burial, was disinterred, and found, in that condition, by his servant, who +was absent at the time of Mr. Scott's interment, and well acquainted, it +seems, with those symptoms of catalepsy, to which he was liable. + +A like event happened, in my time, to a play-actor, buried at Cambridge. I +remember the account, given me by a clever fellow, who being full of +frolic, and desirous of knowing what were the feelings of persons, who +were hanging, suspended himself to a beam, and let himself drop, thinking +that he could lay hold on the beam, when he chose. This, however, he was +unable to do; but, luckily, he was relieved by a companion. Upon being +interrogated, he replied, that he had not been sensible of any pain--that, +at first, a sort of fire and flashing came about his eyes--then extreme +darkness and shadows--and, lastly, a sort of pale blue color, like that of +the ocean. I have heard a physician, now living, say, that, by frictions +and the warm bath, he had brought a man to life, who had hanged himself, +and remained suspended, for half an hour. The same physician used to say, +that he believed any one might be recovered, who had been suspended no +longer, unless his neck was broken. Such is a version of Lord Bacon's +statement. + +In the Gentleman's Magazine, for 1834, page 475, the following account is +given of the feelings, during the process of hanging, by one, who was +restored--"The preparations were dreadful, beyond all expression. On being +dropped, he found himself midst fields and rivers of blood, which +gradually acquired a greenish tinge; and imagined, if he could reach a +certain spot in the same, he should be easy. He struggled forcibly to +attain this, and felt no more." + + + + +No. XCVI. + + +It were greatly to be desired, that every driver of brute animals, Guinea +negroes, and hard bargains, since he will not be a Christian, should be a +Pythagorean. The doctrine of the metempsychosis would, doubtless, instil a +salutary terror into his mind; and soften the harshness of his character, +by creating a dread of being, himself, spavined and wind-galled, through +all eternity; or destined to suffer from the lash, which he has +mercilessly laid upon the slave; or condemned to endure that hard measure, +which he has meted, in this world, to the miserable debtor. + +This opinion, which Pythagoras is said to have borrowed from the +Egyptians, or, as some assert, from the Brachmans, makes the chief basis +of religion, among the Banians and others, in India and China, at the +present day; and is the cause of their great aversion to take the life of +brute animals, and even insects. The accidental destruction of any living +thing produces, with them, a feeling of sorrow, similar to that, +experienced, as Mr. Catlin says, by an Indian, who unfortunately shot his +_totem_, which, in that case, chanced to be a bear; that is, an animal of +a certain race, one of which his guardian angel was supposed to inhabit. + +Vague and fantastical, as have been the notions of a future state, in +different nations, the idea of a condition of being, after death, has been +very universal. Such was the conclusion from the reasonings of Plato. Such +were the results "quæ Socrates supremo vitæ die de immortalitate animorum +disseruisset." Such was the faith of Cicero--"Sic mihi persuasi, sic +sentio, quum tanta celeritas animorum sit, tanta memoria præteritorum, +futurorumque prudentia, tot artes, tantæ scientiæ, tot inventa, non posse +eam naturam, quæ res eas contineat, esse mortalem." De Senec. 21. + +Seneca was born a year before the Christian era. There is a remarkable +passage, in his sixty-third letter, addressed to Lucilius. He is striving +to comfort Lucilius, who had lost his friend Flaccus--"Cogitemus ergo +Lucili carissime, cito nos eo perventuros quo illum pervenisse moeremus. +Et fortasse (si modo sapientium vera fama est, recipitque nos locus +aliquis) quem putamus perisse, præmissus est:"--Let us consider, my dear +Lucilius, how soon we, ourselves, shall go whither he has gone, whose fate +we deplore. And possibly (if the report of certain wise men be true, and +there is indeed a place to receive us hereafter) he whom we consider as +gone from us _forever_, has only gone _before_. Here is, indeed, a shadowy +conception of a future state. The heathen and the Christian, the savage +and the sage concur, in the feeling, or the faith, or the philosophy, +whichever it may be, that, though flesh and blood, bone and muscle shall +perish, the spirit shall not. An impression, like this, swells into +conviction, from the very contemplation of its own instinctive and +pervasive character. + +The Egyptians believed, in the abiding presence of the spirit with the +body, so long as the latter could be preserved; and therefore bestowed +great pains, in its preservation. In the travels of Lewis and Clarke, the +Echeloot Indians are reported to pay great regard to their dead; and +Captain Clarke was of the opinion, that they were believers in a future +state. They have common cemeteries; the bodies, carefully wrapped in +skins, are laid on mats, in vaults made of pine or cedar, eight feet +square; the sides are covered with strange figures, cut and painted, and +images are attached. On tall poles, surmounting these structures, are +suspended brass kettles, old frying-pans, shells, skins, baskets, pieces +of cloth, and hair. Sometimes the body is laid in one canoe, and covered +with another. It is not easy to conjecture what occasion these poor +Echeloots supposed spirits could have, for frying-pans and brass kettles. + +The faith of the inhabitants of Taheite is very peculiar. They believe, +that the soul passes through no other purgatory, than the stomach of the +_Eatooa_ bird. They say of the dead, that they are _harra po_, gone to the +night; and they believe, that the soul is instantly swallowed, by the +_Eatooa_ bird, and is purified by the process of deglutition; then it +revives; becomes a superior being; never more to be liable to suffering. +This soul is now raised to the rank of the _Eatooa_, and may, itself, +swallow souls, whenever an opportunity occurs; which, having passed +through this gastric purgation, may, in their turn, do the very same +thing. Vancouver was present, at the obsequies of the chief, _Matooara_. +The priest gave a funeral sermon--"_The trees yet live_," said he, "_the +plants flourish, yet Matooara dies!_" It was a kind of expostulation with +_Eatooa_. + +Baron Swedenborg's notions of the soul's condition, after death, are very +original, and rather oriental. He believed, "that man eats, and drinks, +and even enjoys conjugal delight, as in this world; that the resemblance +between the two worlds is so great, that, in the spiritual world, there +are cities with palaces and houses, and also writings and books, +employments and merchandizes; that there are gold and silver, and precious +stones there. There is, in the spiritual world, all and every thing that +there is in the natural world; but that in Heaven, such things are in an +infinitely more perfect state." Trade, in Heaven, is conducted, +doubtless, on those lofty principles, inculcated, by the late Dr. +Chalmers, in his commercial discourses; counterfeiters and bank robbers, +marriage squabbles and curtain lectures are unknown; and no angel lendeth +upon usury. In this arrangement, there is a remarkable oversight; for, as +death is dispensed with, our vocation is no better, than Othello's. The +superior advantages of the Baron's Heaven scarcely offer a fair +compensation, for the suffering and inconvenience of removing, from our +present tabernacles; and, for one, I should decidedly prefer to remain +where I am, especially now that we have gotten the Cochituate water. + +Such being the fashion of Swedenborg's Heaven, it would be quite +interesting, were he now among us, in the flesh, to have, under his own +hand, a rough sketch of his Hell. As the former is a state, somewhat +better, the latter must be a state somewhat worse, than our present +condition. It would not be very difficult to give some little idea of +Swedenborg's Orcus, or place of punishment. We should have an eternal +subtreasury, of course, with a tariff, more onerous, if possible, than +that of 1846: the infernal banks would not discount, and money, on prime +paper, would be three per cent. a month. Slavery would cover the earth; +and the South would rage against the North and its interference, like the +maniac, against his best friend, who strives to prevent him, from cutting +his own throat, with his own razor. + +Among the fancies, which have prevailed, in relation to the soul and its +habits, none, perhaps, have been more remarkable, than the belief, in an +actual _exodus_, or going forth, of the soul from the body, during life, +on excursions of business or pleasure. This may be placed in the category +of sick men's dreams; and probably is nothing else than that mighty +conjuration of the mind, especially the mind of an invalid; of whose power +no man had greater experience than Emanuel Swedenborg. The inhabitants of +some of the Polynesian islands believe, that the spirits of their +ancestors become divinities, or _Tees_. They believe the soul walks +abroad, in dreams, under the charge of its _Tee_, or tutelary angel. + +Mydo, a boy, was brought from Taheite, by an English whaler, and died, +kindly cared for, by the Moravians. One morning, he spoke to these +friends, as follows:--"You told me my soul could not die, and I have been +thinking about it. Last night my body lay on that bed, but I knew nothing +of it, for my soul was very far off. My soul was in Taheite. I am sure I +saw my mother and my friends, and I saw the trees and dwellings, as I left +them. I spoke to the people, and they spoke to me; and yet my body was +lying still in this room, all the while. In the morning, I was come again +into my body, and was at Mirfield, and Taheite was a great many miles off. +Now I understand what you say about my body being put into the earth, and +my soul being somewhere else; and I wish to know where it will be, when it +can no more return to my body." Such were the humble conceptions of the +dying Taheitean boy--let the reader decide for himself what more there may +be, under the grandiloquence of Addison-- + + --------Plato, thou reasonest well. + Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, + This longing after immortality? + Or whence this secret dread and inward horror + Of falling into naught? Why shrinks the soul + Back on herself, and startles at destruction! + 'Tis the divinity, that stirs within us; + 'Tis Heaven itself, that points out an hereafter, + And intimates eternity to man. + + + + +No. XCVII. + + +The ashes of the dead are ransacked, not only for hidden treasure, and for +interesting relics, but there is a figurative species of raking and +scratching, among them, in quest of one's ancestors. This is, too +frequently, a periculous experiment; for the searcher sometimes finds his +progress--the pleasure of his employment, at least--rudely interrupted, by +an offensive stump, which proves to be the relic of the whipping-post, or +the gallows. + +Neither the party himself, nor the world, trouble their heads, about a +man's ancestors, until he has distinguished himself, in some degree, or +fancies that he has; for, while he is nobody, they are clearly nobody's +ancestors. In Note A, upon the article _Touchet_, vol. ix., fol. ed., +Lond., 1739, Bayle remarks--"It is very common to fall into two extremes, +with regard to those, whom Providence raises greatly above their former +condition: some, by fabulous genealogies, procure them ancestors of the +first quality; others reduce them to a rank, much below the true one." +This remark was amply illustrated, in the case of Napoleon Bonaparte: +while some there were, who thought they could make out a clear descent +from the prince of darkness, others were ready to accommodate him with the +most illustrious ancestry. The Emperor of Austria had a fancy, for tracing +Napoleon's descent, from one of the petty sovereigns of Treviso; and a +genealogist made a merit of proving him to be a descendant, from an +ancient line of Gothic princes; to all this Napoleon sensibly replied, +that he dated his patent of nobility, from the battle of Monte Notte. +Cicero was of the same way of thinking, and prided himself, on being +_novus homo_. Among the _fragmenta_, ascribed to him, there is a +declamation against Sallust, published by Lemaire, in his edition of the +Classics, though he believes it not to be Cicero's; in which, sec. ii., +are these words--_Ego meis majoribus virtute mea præluxi; ut, si prius +noti non fuerint, a me accipiant initium memoriæ suæ_--_By my virtue, I +have shown forth before my ancestors; so, that if they were unknown +before, they will receive the commencement of their notoriety from me_. "I +am no herald," said Sydney, "to inquire of men's pedigrees: it sufficeth +for me if I know their virtues." + +This setting up for ancestors, among those, who, from the very nature of +our institutions, are, and ever must be, a middling interest people, is as +harmless, as it is sometimes ridiculous, and no more need be said of its +inoffensiveness. + +From the very nature of the case, there can be no lack of ancestors. The +simplest arithmetic will show, that the humblest citizen has more than +_one million of grand parents_, within the twentieth degree; and it is +calculated, in works on consanguinity, that, within the fifteenth degree, +every man has nearly _two hundred and seventy millions of kindred_. There +is no lack, therefore, of the raw material, for this light work; unless, +in a case, like that of the little vagrant, who replied to the +magistrate's inquiry, as to his parents, that he never had any, but _was +washed ashore_. The process is very simple. Take the name of Smith, for +example: set down all of that name, who have graduated at the English, +American, and German colleges, for Schmidt is the same thing--then enrol +all of that name, upon the habitable earth, who have, in any way, +distinguished themselves; carefully avoiding the records of criminal +courts, and such publications as Caulfield's Memoirs, the State Trials, +and the Newgate Calendar. Such may be called the genealogy of the Smiths; +and every man of that name, while contemplating the list of worthies, will +find himself declaring a dividend, _per capita_, of all that was good, and +great, and honorable, in the collection; and he will arise, from the +perusal, a more complacent, if not a better man. + +This species of literature is certainly coming into vogue. I have lately +seen, in this city, a large duodecimo volume, recently printed, in which +the genealogy of a worthy family, among us, is traced, through Oliver +Cromwell, to Æneas, not Æneas Silvius, who flourished in the early part of +the fifteenth century, and became Pope Pius II., but to Æneas, the King of +the Latins. This royal descent is not through the second marriage with +Lavinia; nor through the accidental relation, between Æneas and Dido-- + + Speluncam Dido dux et Trojanus eandem + Deveniunt----------; + +but through the first marriage with the unfortunate Creusa, who was burnt +to death, in the great Troy fire, which took place, according to the +Parian Marbles, on the 23d of the month, Thargelion, i. e., 11th of June, +1184 years before Christ. Ascanius was certainly therefore the ancestor of +this worthy family, the son of Æneas and Creusa; and the grandson of +Anchises and Venus. Such a pedigree may satisfy a Welchman. + +I am forcibly reminded, by all this, of a very pleasant story, recounted +by Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann: I refer to Letter CCV. in +Lord Dover's edition. In 1749, when Mirepoix was ambassador in England, +there was a Monsieur de Levi, in his suite. This man was proud of his +Jewish name, and really appeared to set no bounds to his genealogical +_gout_. They considered the Virgin Mary a cousin of their house, and had a +painting, in which she is represented, as saying to Monsieur Levi's +ancestor, who takes off his hat in her presence--"_Couvrez vous, mon +cousin_:" to which he replies--"_Non pas, ma très sainte cousine, je scai +trop bien le respect que je vous dois_." The editor, Lord Dover, says, in +a note, that there is said to have been another ridiculous picture, in +that family, in which Noah is represented, going into the ark, carrying a +small trunk under his arm, on which is written--"_Papiers de la maison de +Levis_." + +Very few persons are calculated for the task of tracing genealogies; +patience and discrimination should be united with a certain slowness of +belief, and wariness of imposition. Two of a feather do not more readily +consociate, than two of a name, and of the genealogical fancy, contrive to +strike up a relationship. There are also greater obstacles in the way, +than a want of the requisite talents, temper, and +attainments:--"Alterations of sirnames," says Camden, "which, in former +ages, have been very common, have so obscured the truth of our pedigrees, +that it will be no little labor to deduce many of them." For myself, a +plain, old-fashioned sexton, as I am, I am much better satisfied, with the +simple and intelligible assurance of my Bible, that I am a child of Adam, +than I could possibly be, with any genealogical proofs, that Anchises and +Venus were my ancestors. However, there is no such thing as accounting for +taste; and it is not unpleasant, I admit, to those of us, who still +cherish some of our early, classical attachments, to know, that the blood +of that ancient family is still preserved among us. + +No man is more inclined than I am, to perpetuate a sentiment of profound +respect for the memory of worthy ancestors. Let us extract, from the +contemplation of their virtues, a profitable stimulus, to prevent us from +being weary in well-doing. By the laws of Confucius, a part of the duty, +which children owed to their parents, consisted in worshipping them, when +dead. I am inclined to believe, that this filial worship or reverence may +be well bestowed, in the ascending line, on all, who have deserved it, and +who are, _bona fide_, our grandfathers and grandmothers. It seems to me +quite proper and convenient, to have a well-authenticated catalogue or +list of one's ancestors, as far back as possible; but let us exercise a +sound discretion in this matter; and not run into absurdity. I am ready +and willing to obey the laws of Confucius, as implicitly, as though I were +a Chinaman, and reverence my ancestors; but I must, first, be well +satisfied, as to their identity. I will never consent, because some +professional genealogist has worked himself into a particular belief, to +worship the man in the moon, for my great Proavus, nor Dido for my great, +great grandmother. + +Domestic arboriculture is certainly getting into fashion, and a family +tree is becoming quite essential to the self-complacency, at least, of +many well-regulated families. The roots are found to push freely, in the +superficial soil of family pride. Generally, these trees, to render them +sightly, require to be pruned with a free hand; and the proprietor, when +the crooked branches are skilfully removed, and all the small and +imperfect fruit put entirely out of sight, may behold it, with heartfelt +pleasure, and rejoice in the happy consciousness, that he is a SMINK. If, +however, these family matters, instead of being preserved, for private +amusement, are to be multiplied, by the press, there will, indeed, in the +words of the wise man, be no end of making books. + +Ancestors are relics, and nothing else. Whenever the demand for ancestors +becomes brisk, and genealogy becomes a _profession_--it becomes a _craft_. +Laboureur, the historian, in his _Additions de Castelnau_, tom. ii. p. +559, affords a specimen of genealogical trust-worthiness. "In 1560, +Renatus of Sanzay built, with John le Feron, king at arms of France, a +genealogy of the house of Sanzay, made up of near fifty descents, most of +them enumerated, year by year; with the names, sirnames, and coats of arms +of the women; whilst all those names, families, and arms were mere +phantoms; brother Stephen of Lusignan, out of this mighty tub, as from a +public fountain, let flow the nobility and blood of Lusignan to all +persons, who desired any of it."--Again, on page 320, Laboureur +says--"They admitted, as true, all that was vented by certain false +antiquaries and downright enthusiasts, such as John le Maire de Belges, +Forcatel, a civilian, Stephen of Lusignan, and John le Feron, whom I will +charge with nothing but credulity." This, doubtless, is the stumbling +block of most men, who engage in this semi-mythical employment. + +Nothing is more easy, than to mistake one dead person, for another, when +corruption has done its work, upon the form and features. There is +something bituminous in time. What masculine mistakes are committed by +experts! Those relics, which have been the object of hereditary +veneration, for thirty centuries, as the virgin daughter of some great +high priest in the days of Cheops and Cephrenes, may, by the assistance of +the savans, with the aid of magnifiers of extraordinary power, be +demonstrated to be the blackened carcass of Hum-Bug-Phi, the son of +Hassan, the camel-driver; who kept a little khane or caravansera near +Joseph's granaries, in old Al Karirah, on the eastern banks of the Nile, +famous--very--for the quality of its leeks and onions, three thousand +years ago. + + + + +No. XCVIII. + + +Thank Heaven, I am not a young widow, for two plain reasons; I do not wish +to be young again--and I would not be a widow, if I could help it. A young +widow, widder, or widdy, as the word is variously spelt, has been a +byword, of odd import, ever since the days, when Sara, the daughter of +Raguel, exclaimed, in the fifteenth verse of the third chapter of the book +of Tobit--"_My seven husbands are already dead, and why should I live?_" +All this tilting against the widows, with goose quills for spears, arises +from the fact, that these weapons of war are mainly in the hands of one +sex. Men are the scribblers--the lions are the painters. Nothing, in the +chapters of political economy, is more remarkable, than the fact, that, +since all creation was divided into parishes, there has never been a +parish, in which there was not a Mr. Tompkins, who was the very thing for +the widow Button. But the cutting out and fitting of these matters +commonly belongs to that amiable sisterhood, who are ever happy, without +orders, to make up, at short notice. + +The result of my limited reading and observation has satisfied me +entirely, that there is, and ever has been, a very great majority of bad +husbands, over the bad wives, and of bewizzarded widowers, over the widows +bewitched. When a poor, lone, young widow, for no reason under Heaven, but +the desire to prove her respect, as Dr. Johnson says, for the state of +matrimony, takes the initiative, every unmarried female, over thirty, +longs to cut her ears off. + +If there be sin or silliness, in the repetition of the matrimonial +relation, or in strong indications of uneasiness, in the state of single +blessedness, man is the offender in chief. + +_Quadrigamus_, signifying a man who had been four times married, was a +word, applicable of old. Henry VIII. had six wives, in succession. Let us +summon a witness, from among the dead. Let us inquire, where is there a +widow, maid, or wife, who would not be deemed a candidate for the old +summary punishment of Skymmington, should she behave herself, as boldly, +and outrageously, as John Milton behaved? + +Milton, though he did not commence his matrimonial experiments, until he +was thirty-five, married, in succession, Mary Powell, in 1643--Catherine +Woodcock, in 1653--and Elizabeth Minshull, in 1662. Mary Powell, who was +the daughter of a Cavalier, and accustomed to the gaiety of her father's +house, soon became weary of her solitary condition, with John Milton, who +was, constitutionally, of a choleric and lordly temper. Contrasted with +the loneliness, and slender appliances of her new home, the residence of +her father, at Forest Hill, appeared to her, like paradise lost. So she +went home, at the end of a month, ostensibly upon a visit; and, probably, +gave no very flattering account of the honeymoon. Just about that period, +the King's forces had thrashed Fairfax, in the North, and taught Waller +the true difference, between prose and poetry, in the West; and "the +Powells," says Dr. Symmons, "began to repent of their Republican +connection." Milton wrote to his wife to return. She neither came, nor +responded. He next sent a messenger, who was treated with contempt. +Thereupon Milton immediately proceeded to pay his suit to a very beautiful +and accomplished young lady, the daughter of a Dr. Davis; and Dr. Symmons +is evidently of opinion, that the lady and her family had no objections to +the proceeding, which is fully exhibited, in Milton's Prose Works, vol. +vii. p. 205, Lond., 1806. + +Talk not of widows after this. Finding, even in those days of disorder, +that no divorce, _a vinculo_, could be obtained, under existing laws, he +wrote his celebrated works--The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, and +the Judgment of Martin Bucer, concerning Divorce. In these works he sets +forth his particular grievance, which the reader may easily comprehend, +from one or two brief quotations--he speaks of a "_mute and spiritless +mate_" and of "_himself bound to an image of earth and phlegm_." + +After the fight of Naseby, the Powells appear to have thought better of +it; and Madame Milton returned, made the amende, and was restored in full. +What sort of composition Milton made with Miss Davis nobody has ever +disclosed. Certain it is, that compasionate damsel and the works upon +divorce were all laid upon the same shelf. We are apt to find something +of value, in a thing we have discarded, when we perceive, that it is +capable of giving high satisfaction to another. This consideration may +have influenced Mrs. Milton; and, very possibly, the desire of returning +to the residence of Milton may have been secondary to that of jilting Miss +Davis, which she was certainly entitled to do. I knew an old gentleman, +who was always so much affected, in this manner, by the sight of his +cast-off clothing, upon the persons of his servants, that nothing would +content him, short of reclaimer. + +Milton was ever Milton still--_nihil tetigit quod non ornavit_. Take a +brief extract or two from his work on divorce:--"What therefore God hath +joined let no man put asunder. But here the Christian prudence lies, to +consider what God hath joined. Shall we say that God hath joined error, +fraud, unfitness, wrath, contention, perpetual loneliness, perpetual +discord? Whatever lust, or wine, or witchery, threat or enticement, +avarice or ambition hath joined together, faithful or unfaithful, +Christian with anti-Christian, hate with hate, or hate with love--shall we +say this is God's joining?"--"But unfitness and contrariety frustrate and +nullify forever, unless it be a rare chance, all the good and peace of +wedded conversation; and leave nothing between them enjoyable, but a prone +and savage necessity, not worth the name of marriage, unaccompanied with +love." Every word of all this was written with an eye to the object of his +unlawful passion: but the legislature very justly considered the greatest +good of the greatest possible number; and would not turn aside, to pass a +bill, for the special relief of John Milton and Miss Davis. + +Selden, in his _Uxor Hebraica_, has proved, that polygamy existed, not +only among the Hebrews, but among all nations, and in all ages. Mark +Anthony is mentioned, as the first, among the Romans, who took the liberty +of having two wives. What a gathering there would have been, in the Forum, +if the news had been spread, that Mrs. Mark Anthony had taken the liberty +of having two husbands! Every body knows, that widows are occasionally +burnt, in Hindostan, on the funeral pile with their husbands. Whoever +heard of a widower being burnt or even scorched, on a similar occasion? + +The Landgrave of Hesse, the most warlike of the Protestant leaders, caused +a representation to be made to the theologians, that he must have two +wives, and that he would not be denied. A most rampant and outrageous +protocol was prepared, and handed to Bucerus, for the ministers at +Wittemberg. The substance of this was equally discreditable to the +Landgrave, and insulting to Luther and the holy fathers. The Landgrave was +no gentleman, for he told the theologians, that his lady got drunk, and +was personally disagreeable to him. He calls God to witness, that, if they +do not sanction his polygamy, he will do just what he likes, and the sin +will be upon their heads. He particularly wishes information, on one +point--why he is not as good as Abraham, Jacob, David, Lamech, and +Solomon; and why he has not as good a right to have a spare wife or two, +as they had. He asks for two only. + +Luther was deeply troubled, and perplexed. The Reformation professed to +bring back the world to the Scriptures, in which polygamy was expressly +recognized. The Reformers held marriage to be _res politica_, and +therefore subject to the law of the State. The matter became worse by +delay. The Landgrave was filled with fury, and the theologians with fear. +At last, poor Luther and the rest signed a paper, concluding with these +memorable words--"If however your highness is utterly determined upon +marrying a second wife, we are of opinion, that it ought to be done +secretly. Signed and sealed at Wittemberg, after the feast of St. +Nicholas, in the year 1539. Martin Luther, Philip Melancthon, Martin +Bucer, Antony Corvin, Adam John Lening, Justin Wintfert, Dyonisius +Melanther." + +The detail of all this may be found, in Hazlitt's translation of +Michelet's Life of Luther, page 251, Lond. 1846. Bayle, article Luther, +observes, that the theologians would have promptly refused to sanction +such a thing, had the request come from any private gentleman--or, permit +me to add, if it had come from the lady of the Landgrave, for a brace of +husbands. + +It is my opinion, that great injustice is done to widows. The opinion of +St. Jerome, who never was a widow, and knew nothing about it, that they +should never marry again, is perfectly absurd; for there are some men, +whose constitutional timidity would close the matrimonial highway forever, +were it not for that peculiar species of encouragement, which none but +widows can ever administer. For my own part, I would have a widow speak +out, and spare not; for I am very fearful, that the opposite course is +productive of great moral mischief, and tends to perpetuate a system of +terrible hypocrisy. But let a sound discretion be exercised. I disapprove +altogether of conditional engagements, made _durante vita mariti_. + + + + +No. XCIX. + + +Jonny Moorhead was a man of a kind heart and a pleasant fancy. He came +hither from Belfast, in 1727. He became pastor of the Presbyterian Church +in Long Lane, in 1730.--_Tempora mutantur_--Long Lane, and Jonny Moorhead, +and the little, old, visible temple, and Presbyterianism itself, are like +Rachel's first born--they are not. But in 1744, the good people built a +new church, for Jonny Moorhead; in due time, Long Lane became Federal +Street; and, Jonny's church bore the bell, which had rung so many peals, +and the gilded tell-tale, which, for so many years, had done obeisance to +all the winds of Heaven, upon the _old_ Brattle Street Church. These, upon +the demolition of that church, in 1774, were the gift of John Hancock. +Jonny Moorhead had little comfort from that bell, for he died December 3, +1774, and could he have lived to see that Presbyterian weathercock go +round, in after-times, it would have broken the tough, old strings of +Jonny Moorhead's Irish heart. + +About one hundred years ago, Jonny Moorhead, upon a drowsy summer +afternoon, gave out the one hundred and eighty-seventh psalm--the chief +minstrel, with infinite embarrassment, suggested, that there were not so +many in the _Book_--and tradition tells us, that Jonny replied--"_Weel, +then, sing as mony as there be_." + +My recollection of this anecdote of Jonny Moorhead will be painfully +revived, when I send forth the one hundredth number of these dealings with +the dead. They have been prepared like patch-work, from such fragments, as +my common-place book supplied, and at such broken hours of more than +ordinary loneliness, as might otherwise have been snoozed, unconsciously +away. I had cast all that I had written into a particular drawer; and +great was my surprise, to find, that the hundredth was the last, and that, +with that number, I shall have sung--"_as mony as there be_." + +One hundred--thought I--is an even number--few individuals care to survive +one hundred. When these dealings with the dead had reached the number of +four-score, I had serious misgivings, that their _strength_, to my weary +reader, might prove nothing better than _labor and sorrow_; +notwithstanding the occasional tokens of approbation, from some +exceedingly old-fashioned people, who were altogether behind the times. + +Having attained this _point d'appui_, which appears well enough adapted +for the long home of an old sexton, it occurred to me, that I could not +possibly do a better thing, for myself, or a more acceptable thing for the +public, than to gather up my tools, as snugly as possible, and quietly +give up the ghost. But giving up the ghost, even in the sacristan sense of +that awful phrase, is not particularly agreeable, after all. If I look +upon each one of these hundred dealings, as a sepulchre of my own +digging--I cannot deny, that the employment of my spade has been a +particular solace to me. But there are other solaces--I know it--there are +an hundred according to the exiled bard of Sulmo-- + + "----centum solatia curæ + Et rus, et comites, et via longa dabunt." + +Other suggestions readily occur, and are as readily, discarded. Parents, +occasionally, experiment upon the sensibility of their children, by fondly +discoursing of the uncertainty of human existence, and mingling deep drawn +sighs, with shadowy allusions to wills and codicils. + +For three-and-thirty years, our veteran, maiden aunt, Jemima Wycherly, at +the close of her annual visit, which seldom fell short of six weeks, in +its duration, though it seemed much longer, took each of us by the hand, +and, with many tears, commended us fervently to the protecting arm of an +overruling Providence, and bade us an eternal farewell! + +I have always contemplated the conduct of Charles V. in relation to the +rehearsal of his funeral obsequies, as a piece of imperial foolery. "He +ordered his tomb to be erected, in the chapel of the monastery. His +domestics marched thither in funeral procession, with black tapers in +their hands. He himself followed, in his shroud. He was laid in his +coffin, with much solemnity. The service for the dead was chanted; and +Charles joined in the prayers, which were offered for the rest of his +soul, mingling his tears with those, which his attendants shed, as if +they had been celebrating a real funeral. The ceremony closed, with +sprinkling holy water on the coffin, in the usual form, and, all the +assistants retiring, the doors of the chapel were shut. Then Charles rose +out of the coffin, and withdrew to his apartment." Such is the statement +of Dr. Robertson.[1] + +Notwithstanding this high authority, it is comforting, even at this late +day, to believe, that a story, so discreditable to the memory of Charles, +is without any substantial foundation. It has ever appeared remarkable, +that Bayle should not have alluded to this curious anecdote. After +bestowing the highest praise, on Richard Ford's Hand Book, for Travellers +in Spain, the London Quarterly Review[2] furnishes an extract from the +work, in which, after giving a minute and interesting account of the +convent of St. Yuste, the final retreat of Charles V., Mr. Ford +says--"_the story of his having had the funeral service said over himself, +while alive, is untrue; no record, or tradition of the kind existed among +the monks_." + +There is something, in these drafts upon _posterity_, to be accepted and +paid, by the _present generation_, for the honor of the drawer, resembling +the conduct of a man, who encroaches on his principal, or who anticipates +his revenues. + +There is, undoubtedly, a species of luxury in leave-taking. We have +delighted, to contemplate the edifying history of that gray-headed old +rat, who, weary of the world, and determined to spend the remnant of his +days, in pious meditation, took a final and affectionate leave of all his +relatives and friends, and retired to a quiet hole--_in the recesses of a +Cheshire cheese_. + +However gratified we may be, to witness the second, or third coming of an +able, ardent, and ambitious politician, it is not in the gravest nature to +restrain a smile, while we contrast that vehemence, which no time can +temper--that _vis vivida vitæ_--ready for all things, in the forum or the +field--that unquenchable fire, brightly burning, beneath the frost of more +than seventy winters--with those sad infirmities of ace--those silver +hairs--that one foot in the grave--the necessity of turning from all +sublunary things, and making way for Heaven, under the pale rays of life's +parting sun--those senatorial adieus--and long, last farewells--those +solemn prayers and fervent hopes for the happiness of his associates, +whom he should meet no more, on this side of the eternal world--those +_esto perpetuas_ for his country! How touching these things would be, but +for their frequency! What more natural, or more excusable, having enjoyed +the luxury of leave-taking, than a desire--after a reasonable interval--to +repeat the process, which afforded so much pleasure, and inflicted so +little pain! + +As to my own comparatively humble relation to the public--_parvis +componere magna_--I am of opinion, that I should gain nothing, by +affecting to retire, or by pretending to be dead. As to the former, it may +be as truly averred of sextons, as it was, by Mr. Jefferson, of +office-holders--"_few die and none resign_;" and, in respect to the +latter, I not only despise the idea of such an imposition upon the public, +but have some little fear, that the affectation might be too suddenly +followed, by the reality, as Dr. Robertson, rightly or wrongly, affirms it +to have been, in the case of Charles the Fifth. + +I am now fairly committed, for the first number, at least, of another +hundred, but for nothing more. I pretend not to look deeper into futurity, +than six feet, which is the depth of a well-made grave. When I shall have +completed the second hundred, and commenced upon a third, I shall be well +nigh ready to exclaim, in the words of Ovid-- + + "Vixi + Annos bis centum: nunc tertia vivitur ætas." + +A relation of liberty and equality is decidedly the best, for my reader +and for me--I am not constrained to write, nor he to read--if he cannot +lie cozily, in a grave of my digging--I do not propose to detain him +there--to bury him alive. Dealing with the dead has not hardened my heart. +I am a sexton of very considerable sensibility; and have, occasionally, +mingled my tears with the earth, as I shovelled it in. + +In less figurative phrase, it is my desire to write, for my amusement, +till one of us, the reader or myself, gives in, or gives out, and cries +_enough_. I have a perfect respect for the old proverb, _de gustibus_, and +by no means anticipate the pleasure of pleasing every body-- + + Men' moveat cimex Pantilius? aut cruciet, quod + Vellicet absentem Demetrius? aut quod ineptus + Fannius Hermogenis lædat conviva Tigelli? + +There are some readers, for example, who seem to look upon a classical +quotation, as a personal affront. I conceive this objection to be scarcely +equitable, from those, whose hybrid English, it is quite as hard to bear. + +There are mortals--offenders in some sort--whom it is difficult to please, +like the culprit who cried _higher_ and _lower_, under the lash, till the +Irish drummer's patience was perfectly exhausted, and he exclaimed--"_By +Jasus, there's no plasing ye, strike where I will_." + + + + +No. C. + + +The sayings of eminent men, in a dying hour, are eminently worthy of being +gathered together--they are often illustrative of the characters of the +dead, and impressive upon the hearts of the living. Not a few of these +parting words are scattered, over the breadth and length of history, and +might form a volume--a _Vade Mecum_, for the patriot and the Christian--a +casket of imperishable jewels. + +As an example of those sayings, to which I refer, nothing can be more +apposite, than that of the Chevalier Bayard, while dying upon the field of +battle. "He received a wound," says Robertson, "which he immediately +perceived to be mortal, and being unable any longer to continue on +horseback, he ordered one of his attendants to place him under a tree, +with his face toward the enemy; then fixing his eyes on the guard of his +sword, which he held up, instead of a cross, he addressed his prayers to +God; and, in this posture, which became his character, both as a soldier +and as a Christian, he calmly awaited the approach of death." Bourbon, who +led the foremost of the enemy's troops, found him in this situation, and +expressed regret and pity, at the sight. "_Pity not me_," cried the +high-spirited chevalier, "_I die, as a man of honor ought, in the +discharge of my duty; they indeed are objects of pity, who fight against +their king, their country, and their oath_." + +How significant of the life of that great military phlebotomist, who, from +the overthrow of the council of five hundred, in 1799, to his own in 1815, +delighted in blood, and in war, were those wild, wandering words of the +dying Napoleon--_tete d'armee!_ + +We have the last words of consciousness, that were uttered, by the younger +Adams, when stricken by the hand of death in the capitol--_the last of +earth!_ We have also those of his venerable father, who expired, on the +anniversary of that day, which he had so essentially contributed to render +glorious, so long as the annals of our country shall continue to be +preserved. On the morning of that day, the dying patriot, at the age of +ninety-one, was awakened, by the customary pealing of bells, and the roar +of artillery. Upon being asked, if he recognized the day, he replied--"_it +is the glorious Fourth--God bless the day--God bless you all_." + +On the ninth day of July, 1850, another patriot died, at his post, and in +the service of his country, whose parting words will long remain, engraven +at full length, upon the broad area of the whole American heart,--I AM +PREPARED--I HAVE ENDEAVORED TO DO MY DUTY! Here, in this comprehensive +declaration of General Taylor, are embodied all, and more than all, +contained in the long cherished words of the departing patriot--ESTO +PERPETUA! + + "And you brave Cobham, to the latest breath, + Shall feel your ruling passion, strong in death: + Such in those moments, as in all the past; + 'O save my country, Heaven!' shall be your last." + +The ninth day of July is, with the Swiss, the day of their National +Independence. On that memorable day, in 1836, they fought, and won the +great battle of Sempach, against Leopold, Duke of Austria, which victory +established the liberties of Switzerland. + +Upon the anniversary of that very day, just ninety-five years ago, +Washington was signally preserved, from the sweeping and indiscriminate +carnage of Indian warfare, for those high destinies, which he fulfilled so +gloriously. The ninth day of July, 1755, was the day of General Braddock's +defeat--the battle, as it is sometimes called, of Fort du Quesne. +Hereafter, it will be noted, as a day of gloom, in our national calendar. +A great--good man has fallen--in a trying hour--in the very midst of his +labors--a wiser, a worthier could not have fallen, at a moment of deeper +need. From sea to sea--from the mountain tops to the valleys below--from +the city and from the wilderness--from the rich man's castle, and from the +hunter's cabin--from the silver-haired and from the light-hearted, what an +acclaim--what a response, as the voice of one man--has already answered +to that dying declaration--I AM PREPARED--I HAVE ENDEAVORED TO DO MY DUTY! +As an entire people, we know it--we feel it--and may God, in his infinite +wisdom and goodness, enable us to profit, by a dispensation, so awfully +solemn, and so terribly severe. + +The spirit of this great, good man is now by the side of that sainted +shade, which once animated the form of the immortal Washington. They are +looking down upon the destinies of their country. Who is so dull of +hearing, as not to catch the context of those dying words? _I am +prepared_--_I have endeavored to do my duty_--AND MAY MY DEATH CEMENT THAT +UNION, WHICH I SO CHEERFULLY DEVOTED MY LIFE TO PRESERVE! + +It is finished. The career of this good man has closed forever. +Ingratitude and calumny to him are nothing now. After days and nights of +restless agitation, he has obtained one long, last night of sweet repose, +reserved for those, who die _prepared, and who have endeavored to do +their duty_. He has gone where the wicked cease from troubling, and where +the weary are at rest. No summons to attend the agitating councils of the +Cabinet shall disturb his profound repose--no sarcastic commentaries upon +his honest policy, from the over-heated leaders of the Senate or the +House, shall give him additional pain. Party malignity can no longer reach +that ear. Even the hoary-headed, political Zoilus of the age can scarcely +find a motive, base enough, among the recesses of an envenomed heart, for +posthumous abuse. In view of this solemnizing event, the raving +abolitionist and the Utopian non-resistant may be expected to hold their +incomparably senseless tongues, at least till these obsequies be past. + +If I do not greatly mistake, the death of General Harrison and the death +of General Taylor, so very soon after entering upon the performance of +their presidential duties, will not fail to present before the whole +American people, for their learning, a first and a second lesson, so +perfectly legible, that he, who runs, may read. + +It perfectly comports with a respect, sincere and profound, for the +memories of these excellent men, solemnly to inquire, if, upon certain +well known and universally acknowledged principles, it would not be as +wise, and even more wise, to select a statesman, whose conduct in the +cabinet had made him preëminently popular, and to place him, with a +sword, in his unpractised hand, at the head of the armies of the +Republic--than to place, in the Presidential chair, a great soldier, +universally and deservedly popular, for his success in war--however strong +his common sense--however inflexible his integrity--however pure and +devoted his patriotism--unless he also possesses that skill, and knowledge +of affairs, which never came to man, by intuition; and which cannot be +acquired, but by the laborious training and experience of years? This is a +solemn question, for the people; and it may well be put, irrespectively of +the public weal, and with a reference, directly, to the happiness, and +even to the continued existence, of those, who may be so unfortunate as to +become the objects of the popular favor. Is there any doubt, that all the +battles, in which General Taylor has ever been engaged, have occasioned +less wear and tear of body and mind, than have been produced, by the +numberless trials and anxieties of the Presidential relation? It is a +popular saying, and, perhaps, not altogether unworthy of general +acceptation, that both General Harrison and General Taylor were _killed, +not by kindness, but by care_. + +It may readily be supposed, that a gallant soldier would rather encounter +the brunt of a battle, than such torrents of filth, as have been poured, +professionally, upon the chief magistrate of the nation, from week to +week, by the great scavenger, and his auxiliaries, at Washington. All this +would have been borne, with comparative indifference, by a practised +statesman, whose training had been among the contests of the forum, and +whose moral cutis had been thickened, by time and exposure. + +To appear, and to be, all that a chief magistrate ought to appear, and to +be, in the centre of his cabinet, what a mass of information, on a great +variety of subjects--what tact, amid the details of the cabinet--must be +required, which very few gentlemen, who have devoted themselves to the +military profession, can be supposed to possess! If knowledge is power, +ignorance is weakness; and the consciousness of that weakness produces a +condition of suffering and anxiety. Instead of coming to the great work of +government, with the necessary stock of knowledge, training, and +experience--how incompetent is he, who comes to that work, like an actor, +who is learning his part, during the progress of the play. + +The crude, iron ore is quite as well adapted to the purposes of the +smith, or the cutler, without any subjection to the preparatory processes +of metallurgy, as talent and virtue, however consummate, without +preparatory training, and appropriate study, for the great and complicated +work of government. + +Too much confidence is apt to be reposed, upon the idea, that the +President will be sustained, by his cabinet; and that any deficiencies, in +him, will be compensated, by their wisdom and experience. The President is +an important, component part of the acting government. He is not, like the +august Personage, at the head of the government of England, who can do no +wrong; and whose chief employment is the breeding of royal babies, and the +occasional reading of a little speech. He can do a great deal of wrong, +and must do a great deal of work; and, when he differs from his cabinet, +the more need he feels of practical and applicable wisdom and knowledge; +and, the more upright and conscientious he is, the more miserable he +becomes, under an oppressive sense of his incapacity. + +General Taylor will long be remembered, by the people of the United +States, with profound and affectionate respect. His amiable and excellent +qualities are embalmed in their hearts. He fought the battles of his +country, with consummate skill and bravery. He led their armies, in many +battles--and never, but to victory! + +A grateful people, in the fulness of their hearts, and amid the blindness +of popular enthusiasm, and with the purest purposes, and with sentiments +of patriotic devotion, rewarded their gallant soldier, by placing upon his +brows, A GILDED CROWN OF THORNS! + + + + +No. CI. + + +The form of a Chinese tomb, says Mr. Davis, in his "Description of the +Empire of China," whether large or small, is exactly that of the Greek +_omega_ [Greek: Ô]. Their mourning color is white. Their cemeteries are +upon the hills. No interments are permitted in cities. No corpse is +suffered to be carried, through any walled town, which may lie in its way +to the place of interment. + +The tombs of the rich, says M. Grosier, are shaped like a _horse shoe_, +which, when well made, might pass for a very respectable [Greek: Ô]. +Almost immediately after death, says the latter writer, the corpse is +arrayed in its best attire. A son will sell himself, as a slave, to +purchase a coffin, for his father. The coffin, upon which no cost is +spared, remains, frequently, for years, the most showy article of the +expectant's furniture. The body lies in state, and is visited by all +comers, for seven days. The hall of ceremony is hung with white, +interspersed with black or violet colored silk. Flowers, perfumes, and wax +lights abound. Those, who enter, salute the dead, as if he were alive, and +knock their heads, three times, upon the ground. Upon this, the sons of +the defunct creep forth, on their hands and knees, from behind a curtain, +and, having returned the salutation, retire in the same manner. + +A Chinese hearse is a very elegant affair; it is covered with a +dome-shaped canopy of violet-colored silk, with tufts of white, neatly +embroidered, and surmounted with net work. In this the coffin reposes; and +the whole is borne, by sixty-four men. + +Mourning continues for three years, during which the aggrieved abstain +from flesh, wine, and all ordinary amusements. + +As we have had recently, among us, some half a dozen visitors, male and +female, from the Celestial Empire, I am strongly tempted to turn from the +dead, to the living. + +I have repeatedly attended the morning levees of Miss PWAN YEKOO, who was +exhibited with her serving-maid, LUM AKUM, Mr. SOO CHUNE, the musical +professor, his son and daughter, MUN CHUNG and AMOON, and Mr. ALEET MONG, +the interpreter. This was certainly a very interesting group; such as +never before has been presented in this city, and will not be again, I +presume, for many years. + +Miss Yekoo is said to be seventeen, which appears to be her age. With the +costume of the Chinese, which, in our eyes, is superlatively graceless, we +have become sufficiently familiar, by the exhibition of the living males +and the stuffed females, in our Chinese Museums. Of their music, we had an +interesting specimen, a few years since. Being fortunately deaf, I can say +nothing of the performances of Miss _Yekoo_ and Professor _Chune_. Their +features and complexions are Chinese, of course, and cannot be better +described than in the words of Sir John Barrow, as applicable to the race: +"The narrow, elongated, half-closed eye; the linear and highly-arched +eyebrow; the broad root of the nose; the projection of the upper jaw a +little beyond the lower; the thin, straggling beard, and the body +generally free from hair; a high, conical head, and triangular face: and +these are the peculiar characteristics which obtained for them, in the +_Systema Naturæ_ of Linnæus, a place among the varieties of the species, +distinguished by the name of _homines monstrosi_." + +Apart from these and other considerations, it was well for all, who had it +in their power, to avail themselves of an opportunity, which is not likely +to be presented again, for years, and examine, with their own eyes, those +"_golden lilies_," for the production of which this little Chinese +spinster, Miss _Pwan Yeekoo_ has been severely tortured, from her cradle. +She is neither very large, nor very small, for a girl of seventeen, and +her feet are precisely _two inches and a half_ in length. A small female +foot, as it came from the hand of the great Creator, has ever been +accounted a great beauty, since Eve was born. But, to the eyes of all +beholders, on this side of the Yellow Sea, no more disgusting objects were +ever presented, than the horribly contracted and crippled deformities, +upon the ends of Miss Yekoo's little trotters. + +The bare feet are not exhibited; but a model of the foot, two inches and a +half in length, on which is a shoe, which is taken off, by the exhibitor, +and put upon the real foot of Miss Yekoo, over a shoe, already there. This +model is affirmed to be exact. As it is presented in front, the great toe +nail alone is visible, forming a central apex, for the foot. On being +turned up, the four smaller toes are seen, closely compacted, and inverted +upon the sole. It is not possible to walk, with the weight of the body +upon the inverted toes, without pain. Miss Yekoo, like all other Chinese +girls, with these crippled feet, walks, with manifest uneasiness and +awkwardness, upon her heels. The _os calcis_ receives the whole weight of +the body. + +To sustain the statement, that Miss Yekoo is a "_Chinese lady_," it is +said, that these crippled feet are signs of aristocracy. Not infallible, I +conceive:--not more so, than crippled ribs, occasioned by tight lacing, +which may originate in the upper circles, but find hosts of imitators, +among the lower orders. "We may add," says Mr. Davis, writing of this +practice, "that this odious custom extends lower down, in the scale of +society, than might have been expected, from its disabling effect, upon +those, who have to labor for their subsistence. If the custom were first +imposed, by the tyranny of the men, the women are fully revenged, in the +diminution of their charms and domestic usefulness." + +Mr. Davis evidently supposes, that the custom had its rise in jealousy, +and a desire to prevent the ambulatory sex, from gadding about. Various +causes have been assigned, for this disgusting practice. Sir John Barrow, +after expressing his surprise, at the silence of Marco Polo, on the +subject of crippled feet, which were, doubtless, common in his time, +observes--"Of the origin of this unnatural custom, the Chinese relate +twenty different accounts, all absurd. Europeans suppose it to have +originated in the jealousy of the men, determined, says M. de Pauw, to +keep them '_si etroit qu'on ne peut comparer l'exactitude avec laquelle on +les gouverne_.'" + +A _practice_, which, at its very birth, and during its infancy, required +the assignment of some plausible reason, for its existence and +support--when it grows up to be a _custom_, lives on and thrives, +irrespectively of its origin, and, frequently, in spite of its absurdity. +The blackened teeth of the Japanese--the goitres of the Swiss, in the +valley of Chamouni--the flattened heads of certain Indian races--the +crippled feet of the Chinese are illustrations of this truth, in the +admiration which they still continue to receive. "Whatever," says Sir John +Barrow, "may have been the cause, the continuance may more easily be +explained: as long as the men will marry none but such as have crippled +feet, crippled feet must forever remain in fashion among Chinese ladies." + +M. De Pauw, in his Philosophical Dissertations, alludes to this practice, +in connection with that, formerly employed by the Egyptians, and which he +calls--"_the method of confining the women anciently, in Egypt, by +depriving them, in some measure, of the use of their feet_." + +Plutarch, in his _Precepta Connub_, says, that shoes were entirely +forbidden to women, by the Egyptians. "Afterwards," says De Pauw, "they +imagined it to be inconsistent with decency, that they should appear in +public, with the feet naked, and, of course, they remained at home." + +The Kalif, Hakin, who founded the religion of the Druses, re-enacted this +law. De Pauw remarks, that the assertion of Plutarch might seem doubtful, +if a decree, prohibiting the manufacture of shoes for women, under the +pain of death, were not found, as it is, in the _Kitab-al-Machaid_, or +bible of the Druses. + +Upon my first visit to Pwan Yekoo and her _suite_, in connection with +other visitors, I was not admitted for nearly two hours, after the +appointed time. Ample sleeping arrangements had not been made, for these +Celestials; and, for one night, at least, they had been packed, like a +crate of China ware, in a closet, or small apartment, contiguous to the +hall of exhibition. Yekoo was indignant, and refused to show her "golden +lilies." By dint of long importunity, she appeared, but in no gentle +humor. Indeed, when Yekoo came forth, followed by Lum Akum, I was +reminded, at a glance, of Cruikshank's illustration of Mrs. Varden, +followed by Meigs, with the Protestant manual. They soon recovered their +better nature; and some little attention, paid by the visitors, to the +Celestial pappooses, put them into tolerably good humor. + +At the close of the exhibition, we were invited near the platform. It +would be superfluous to describe the Chinese costume, so commonly +presented, in various works. I was especially attracted by the hair of +Yekoo, and Lum Akum, who passes for her waiting woman. I examined it with +my glasses. It was jet black, coarse, abundant, and besmeared with a +stiffening paste or gluten, which mightily resembled grease. Upon the top +of the head a slender, round stick, about the size of a crow's quill, is +attached, projecting _aft_, in marine parlance, several inches, like a +small ring tail boom. The design of this is to support the hair, which is +thrown over it, and hangs, or is plastered, down with the shining paste, +assuming the appearance, seen _a tergo_, of a rudder. + +The Chinese, in relation to the rest of mankind, are, certainly, a +contrarious people. In 1833, Mr. Charles Majoribanks addressed a letter to +the Right Hon. Charles Grant, in which he says: + +"China may, in many respects, be said to stand alone, among the nations; +not only differing, but, in many instances, diametrically opposed, in the +nature of its laws, customs, and institutions. A Chinese, when he goes +into mourning, puts on white; the left hand they consider the place of +honor; they think it an act of unbecoming familiarity to uncover the head; +their mariner's compass, they assert, points to the South; the stomach +they declare to be the seat of the understanding; and the chief God of +their idolatry is the Devil." + +Suicide is no crime, with the Chinese. To receive a present, with one +hand, is deemed an act of rudeness. They never say of the departed, that +he is _dead_, but that he has _gone to his ancestors_. Among the good +traits of the Chinese are to be numbered filial respect, and general +sobriety. In one particular, their legislation may be considered superior +to our own--among the grounds of divorce, says Mr. Davis, they include +"_excessive talkativeness_." + +I have been reared, in the faith, that the Chinese are not only a +_peculiar_, but an exceedingly _nasty_ generation. According to Barrow, +and to Du Halde, in his _Hist. Gén. de la Chine_, they are so liable to a +species of leprosy, that, for the purpose of arresting its progress, it is +numbered among the causes of divorce. The itch and other cutaneous +diseases are extremely common. "They seem," says De Pauw, "to have neither +horror nor repugnance for any kind of food; they eat rats, bats, owls, +storks, badgers, dogs," &c. Brand, in his _Reise nach China_, +observes--"Dogs are chiefly employed, as food, by the Chinese, during the +great heat in summer, because they fancy their flesh to have a cooling +quality." + +Barrow was private secretary to the Earl of Macartnay, and, in 1804, +published his travels in China, a work of great merit, and which has been +highly lauded, for its candor and fidelity. In proof of my remark, I offer +the following quotation, from that work, on pages 76 and 77. After +alluding to the custom of crippling the feet, Mr. Barrow proceeds--"The +interior wrappers of the ladies' feet are said to be seldom changed, +remaining sometimes, until they can no longer hold together; a custom that +conveys no very favorable idea of Chinese cleanliness. This indeed forms +no part of their character; on the contrary, they are what Swift would +call a _frowzy_ people. The comfort of clean linen, or frequent change of +under-garments, is equally unknown to the sovereign and the peasant. A +sort of thin coarse silk supplies the place of cotton or linen next the +skin, among the upper ranks; but the common people wear a coarse kind of +open cotton cloth. These vestments are more rarely removed for the purpose +of washing, than for that of being replaced with new ones; and the +consequence of such neglect is, as might naturally be supposed, an +abundant increase of those vermin, to whose growth filthiness is found to +be most favorable. The highest officers of state made no hesitation of +calling their attendants, in public, to seek in their necks, for those +troublesome animals, which, when caught, they very composedly put between +their teeth. They carry no pocket handkerchief, but generally blow their +noses into small square pieces of paper, which some of their attendants +have ready prepared for the purpose. Many are not so cleanly, but spit +about the rooms, or against the walls, like the French, and they wipe +their dirty hands, in the sleeves of their gowns. They sleep at night in +the same clothes they wear by day. Their bodies are as seldom washed, as +their articles of dress. They never make use of the bath, warm or cold. +Notwithstanding the vast number of rivers and canals, with which every +part of the country is intersected, I do not remember to have seen a +single group of boys bathing. The men, in the hottest day of summer, make +use of warm water, for washing the hands and face. They are unacquainted +with the use of soap." + +I do not disbelieve, that we, occasionally, meet men, who are very dirty, +and remarkably orthodox, and, now and then, a well-washed and well-dressed +villain--but sin and filth are too frequently found to form the very bond +of iniquity. "Great crimes," says Sir John Barrow, "are not common, but +little vices pervade all ranks of society. A Chinese is cold, cunning, and +distrustful; always ready to take advantage of those he has to deal with; +extremely covetous and deceitful; quarrelsome, vindictive, but timid and +dastardly. A Chinese in office is a strange compound of insolence and +meanness. All ranks and conditions have a total disregard for truth. From +the Emperor downwards, the most palpable falsehoods are proclaimed, with +unblushing effrontery, to answer a political, an interested, or +exculpatory purpose." + +I beg leave respectfully to suggest to Miss Yekoo, to pay a little more +attention to her teeth, and somewhat improve her personal appearance. The +collections, upon their upper portions, are, by no means, necessary to +prove her Tartar origin. + + + + +No. CII. + + +Death is rarely more unwelcome to any, than to those, who reasonably +suppose the perils of the deep to be fairly passed, and who are permitted, +after a long sojourn in other lands, to look once again upon their own--so +near withal, that their eyes are gladdened, by the recognition of familiar +landmarks; and who, in the silent chancel of their miscalculating hearts, +thank God, that they are _at home at last_--and yet, in the very midst of +life and joy, they are in death! + +There has ever seemed to me to be something exceedingly impressive, in the +death of that eminent patriot, Josiah Quincy. He died when the bark, which +bore him homeward was in sight of land--the headlands of Gloucester, April +26, 1775-- + + ----Dulces moriens reminiscitur Argos. + +Few men, of our own country, have accomplished more, or acquired a more +honorable celebrity, at the early age of thirty-one. + +His was a death in the common course of nature. I more especially allude, +at this moment, to death as it occurs, from shipwreck, on one's own +shores, when the voyage is apparently at an end, and the voyagers are +anticipating an almost immediate reunion with their friends. + +The frequency of these occurrences revives, at the present moment, the +sentiment of Horace, delivered some eighteen centuries ago-- + + Illi robur et æs triplex + Circa pectus erat, qui fragilem truci + Commisit pelago ratem + Primus.------------ + +We are oblivious of perils past. The tax on commerce, levied by the +whirlwind, and by recklessness, and ignorance, far exceeds the common +calculation of those, who know little, experimentally, of the perils of +the deep; and who go not down upon the sea in ships. Precisely fifty years +ago, it was estimated, at Lloyd's, that one ship per diem, three hundred +and sixty-five ships, annually, were lost, in the open sea, and on lee +shores. And, in Lloyd's Lists, for 1830, it was stated, that six hundred +and seventy-seven British vessels were lost, during that year. + +Whether or not it be attributable to that natural eagerness, which +increases, as the object of our heart's desire draws near, and is apt to +abate somewhat of our ordinary vigilance--certain it is, that calamities +of this nature are of no unfrequent occurrence, near the termination of a +voyage, and when we have almost arrived at the haven, where we would be. + +About ten years ago, while enjoying the hospitality of some Southern +friends, I became acquainted with a lady, the varying expression of whose +features arrested my attention, and excited my surprise. Whenever her +countenance was lighted up, by a smile, it was for an instant only; and an +expression of solemnity, and even of sadness, immediately succeeded; as +the darkness of an autumnal sky follows the feeble flashes of electric +light. + +I sought an explanation of this peculiarity, from an old friend, who knew +this lady well, Mr. Doddridge Crocker, formerly a merchant of this city, +and then a resident of Charleston. + +He informed me, that, many years before, he had been a passenger, in +company with this lady and her father, together with other citizens of +Charleston, for New York, on board the Rose in Bloom. They had a +prosperous voyage, until they came in sight of the Highlands. The +passengers proceeded to make their toilets; and arrangements were in +progress, for going speedily on shore. The ship was under a press of +canvas, with a strong breeze. The wind shifted its direction suddenly, and +soon became a gale. The Rose in Bloom was capsized, and lost. The lady, +said Mr. Crocker, to whom you refer, and her father, amid the terrible +confusion, which ensued, clung to some floating article, whose buoyancy, +it soon became apparent, was not sufficient to support them both. The +filial and paternal contest may be easily conceived, each entreating the +other, to retain the only means of preservation. At length, the father +abandoned his hold, and struck out for a floating spar, at some little +distance. His struggles were ineffectual--he sunk, before his daughter's +eyes! We were, ere long, rescued from our imminent peril. The impression, +left upon her mind, was left there forever. + +The reader may possibly surmise, that my leading remarks have a particular +reference to the recent shipwreck of the Elizabeth, upon the coast of New +York. This catastrophe, which is imputed to ignorance and miscalculation, +involves the loss of an interesting and intelligent young gentleman, Mr. +Horace Sumner, of this city, and of the Marquis and Marchioness Ossoli, +and their child. One of these sufferers I have known, in earlier days. +Under the quiet, unpresuming roof of her worthy father, Mr. Timothy +Fuller, I have met his daughter Margaret. Few then would have anticipated +her melancholy fate, and fewer still, that she would become an Italian +marchioness! + +Let me devote the remaining space, in the present article, to those +unmitigated wretches, with hearts of flint, who rioted and revelled, amid +the sufferings of their fellow-beings. An opportunity will now be +afforded, to stamp this hellish practice, with all the force of the law, +and whatever there may be of indignant severity, in public sentiment. + +Luring vessels on shore, by arranging false lights, and robbing wrecks are +crimes of great antiquity. But I had no suspicion, that even the latter +practice was carried on, so systematically, and so boldly, as it appears +to have been, at the present day, in the State of New York. The names of +the places, where these atrocities were committed, Fire Island, Patchogue, +Islip, Babylon have something of a Cornish sound, undoubtedly. + +Of old, in all the northern regions of Europe, and especially, along the +coasts of the Baltic Sea, a wreck was deemed "_a Providence_;" and laws +were in force, authorizing the inhabitants to fall on, and plunder at +discretion, or, in the language, then employed--"_in naufragorum miseria +et calamitate, tanquam vultures, ad prædam currere_." Of the earlier +periods of our own history, tales have been told, which, though almost +beyond belief, would not have been related, if they had not been +somewhere, upon the outskirts or frontiers of probability. Thus +many--many--very many years ago, tradition intimates, that a worthy +clergyman of Truro was interrupted, in the middle of his discourse, by one +of his deacons, who caused the whole congregation to rise _en masse_, by +seizing his hat and crying aloud--"_a wreck!_" whereupon the good man is +reported, while putting up his notes, and opening the pulpit door, to have +exclaimed--"_Stay--stay, my Christian friends, let us all have a fair +start_." + +More than five hundred years ago, in the 13th of Edward III., laws were +passed, in England, for the punishment of such offenders. These laws were +amended and confirmed, in the 12th of Anne, and 4th of George I., 26th of +George II., and 8th of Elizabeth. By the statute of 26 George II., ch. +19, plundering a vessel, in distress, or wrecked, and putting out false +lights, to deceive, were made capital felonies. By the civil law, stealing +even a plank from a vessel, in distress, or wrecked, made the offender +liable, for the entire ship and cargo. The early Neapolitan constitutions +and the laws of the Wisigoths inflicted the severest punishment, not only +upon such as plundered a wreck, but upon all, who were convicted of +neglecting to aid a vessel in distress, when in their power to render +comfort and assistance. + +By the laws of the United States--I refer to the act of March 3, +1825--persons who plunder vessels in distress; and all, who obstruct the +escape of the sufferers; the exhibitors of false lights and extinguishers +of true ones, with intent to produce shipwreck, are punishable, by fine, +not exceeding five thousand dollars, and imprisonment and hard labor, not +exceeding ten years. The extreme mildness of this law has always struck me +with amazement; for, among the offenders, described in the statute, are +those, "_who shall wilfully obstruct the escape of any person, endeavoring +to save his or her life_," &c. + +Since men went down upon the sea in ships, there has rarely occurred, in +our own country, a case of deeper atrocity, than the present; and, it is +to be hoped, that the tribunals of New York will exhibit a forcible +example of mercy to the whole community, by a prompt and condign +punishment of these heartless wretches. + +The fiendish spirit, which, of old, animated the Buccaneers of the +Tortugas, will probably never entirely die out from the heart of man, till +the period of millennial purgation. It is impossible to conceive of +anything, in a population of hyænas, more selfish, cold, and cruel, than +the conduct of that abandoned class, of whose existence we have abundant +evidence; to whom no music is so sweet, as that of the midnight hurricane; +and who have, immemorially, obtained the appellation of _moon-cursers_, +because they delight in that darkness, which is suited to their infernal +profession. + +The laws of England have been unable to accomplish the extinction of these +miscreants. The Cornish coast, exposed, as it is, to marine disaster, has +ever been famous, for this species of crime and cruelty. It is chiefly +confined to a few parishes, on the craggy shore, between Mount's Bay and +the Lizard. "When a wreck takes place," says Mr. Haydn, page 559, +following the words of Phillips, "thousands assemble with hatchets, axes, +crowbars, &c., and many women and children fight, by habit, for the +plunder, utterly regardless of the sufferers." + +For the honor of human nature I trust, that many, very many years have +gone by, since any such atrocities were practised, upon the sea-coast of +New England. The late Dr. Holbrook, of Milton, related an incident, which +occurred, during the last war with Great Britain, extending not beyond +mere pilfering; and which, in the case of one individual, at least, had +rather an amusing termination. + +A vessel was wrecked, on Nantasket beach; and, her cargo was broken up, +and scattered along the shore. On the following day, Dr. Holbrook was +hastily summoned, to visit a patient, who was thought to be dying. He was +thoroughly exhausted, and had vomited, through the whole day, a substance, +in no degree offensive, but, on the contrary, exceedingly aromatic and +agreeable. Nevertheless, he was sinking from exhaustion. Dr. Holbrook +could not prevail upon the patient to admit, that he had partaken of any +other, than his customary diet. His wife stated, that he had been absent +the preceding night, and had not told her, in what manner he had been +engaged. + +At last, the doctor gravely informed him, that it was folly to practise +such deception; that, unless a physician knew the nature of the poison, he +could not easily prescribe an antidote; and, that, if he persisted in his +folly, death might be the consequence. + +At this, the fellow, who, with others, had been pilfering from the wreck, +became thoroughly frightened; and, with an expression of great terror, +confessed, that he feared he had _eaten rather too heartily of nutmegs_. + + + + +No. CIII. + + +In the Transcript of August 14, I notice an editorial criticism, upon the +recent employment of the word _catafalque_. In primitive strictness, I +believe that criticism to be perfectly correct; and that, in its original +signification, _catafalque_ cannot be understood to mean a _funeral car_. + +In the _grand Dictionaire_, by Fleming & Tibbins, _catafalque_ is thus +defined--"_decoration funebre qu'on eleve au milieu d'une église pour y +placer le cercueil ou le representation d'un mort a qui l'on veut rendre +les plus grands honneurs_." + +Herse is defined, by the same lexicographers, "_un cercueil, une biere, +voiture pour porter un mort au tombeau, un char funebre, corbillard, +pierre tumulaire provisoire_." + +Thus, while _catafalque_ seems to signify an ornamental structure, erected +in the middle of a church, to support the coffin or the effigy of the +dead, whom it is intended to honor--_herse_, at the present day, is +understood to mean a coffin, a bier, a carriage to bear the dead to the +tomb, a funeral car, a van, a temporary mausoleum or gravestone. + +_Herse_, whose etymology, according to Johnson, is unknown, imported, +three hundred years ago, a temporary structure, in honor of the dead; such +also is the meaning of the word _catafalque_; of this, there cannot be the +slightest doubt. In this sense, herse was employed by Shakspeare, in his +Henry IV.: + + "To add to your laments + Wherewith you now bedew King Henry's herse," &c. + +Johnson furnishes two definitions of the word, herse--1. A carriage, in +which the dead are conveyed to the grave. 2. A temporary monument, set +over a grave. It is quite certain, however, that the _herse_, whether +justly styled _a monument_, or not, was _not_ usually "_set over the +grave_," but more frequently, like the _catafalque_, agreeably to the +definition given above--_au milieu d'une eglise_. + +No writer, probably, refers to the _herse_, so frequently, as old John +Strype, in his Memorials; and, in no instance, I believe, in the sense of +a _car_ or _vehicle_, or as a structure, "_set over the grave_." + +Strype's Memorials are the records of a Roman Catholic age, or of a +period, during which, the usages of the Romish Church, in England, had not +entirely worn out their welcome with the people--the reigns of Henry +VIII., Edward VI., Bloody Mary, and Elizabeth. For, even during the reigns +of Edward VI., and of Elizabeth, not a few of those pompous practices, +which grew up, in the times of their respective predecessors, still clung +upon the imaginations of the populace, and were reluctantly surrendered. + +The church is the theatre of the Romish ecclesiastic. The service is an +attractive spectacle. If the world were struck blind, who does not +perceive, that the principal supports of Romanism would be instantly taken +away! It has been the practice of all churches, that deal somewhat +extensively, in forms and ceremonies, to demand of their members, with a +greater or less degree of peremptoriness, that certain acts shall be +publicly performed--_au milieu d'une eglise_. Thus the ceremony of +marriage--the baptism of infants--the churching of women--and the burial +of the dead furnish occasion, for throwing open the temple, and exhibiting +its showy furniture to the multitude; and of verifying a pleasing saying +of the late eminent, and excellent Archbishop of Bordeaux, while Bishop of +Boston--"_If we cannot catch them, in one way, we catch them in another_." + +Nothing has ever been a more prolific source of capital to the Romish +church, in former ages, than funereal parade, _au milieu d'une eglise_. +Strype, with very few exceptions, speaks of the _herse_ as a "_herse of +wax_." To this I have alluded in an earlier number. It may require a brief +explanation here. Wax candles, of divers colors and forms, were attached +to the _herse_, and the wax chandler of those days was in great request, +and often rose to wealth and distinction. + +The reader will readily perceive, that the _herse_, of those early times, +was identical with the _catafalque_, if he will give his attention to the +following statements--"1554, on the 5th of October were the obsequies of +the said Duke of Norfolk celebrated at St. Mary Overy's: an herse being +made with timber, and hanged with black, with his arms, and four goodly +candlesticks gilded, and as many great tapers standing about it, all the +choir hung in black," &c. Mem. vol. iii., part 1, ch. 25. Here is no +_car_, but a temporary structure, _au milieu d'une eglise_--not "_set over +the grave_"--_the choir hung in black, &c._ + +To show how Strype distinguished between the _herse_ and a _car_ for +conveyance, the reader may turn to the Memorials, vol. iii., part 1, page +471, where, after describing the ceremonies, in the church, at the funeral +of the Bishop of Winchester, Strype adds--"at the gate, the corpse was put +into a _wagon_ with four horses, all covered with black," &c. This is our +modern _herse_, but was not so called by Strype. + +"1557.--On the 5th of May was the Lady Chamberlin buried, with a fair +hearse of wax." The following is sufficiently explicit--"1557, the same +day (July 29) began the hearse, at Westminster, for the Lady Anne of +Cleves, consisting of carpenters' work of seven principals; being as +goodly a hearse, as had been seen." Vol iii. p. 11. + +"1557.--On the 3d of August, the body of the Lady Anne of Cleves was +brought from Chelsy, where her house was, unto Westminster, to be buried; +with all the children of Westminster, and many priests and clerks." Father +Strype did not probably intend to say they were all to be buried together. + +"Then the gray Amis of Paul's, and three crosses, and the monks of +Westminster, and my Lord Bishop of London, and Lord Abbot of Westminster, +rode together next the monks. Then the two secretaries, Sir Edmund Peckham +and Sir Robert Freston, cofferer to the Queen of England, my Lord Admiral +and Mr. Darcy, of Essex, and many knights and gentlemen. And before her +corpse, her servants, her banner of arms. Then her gentlemen and her head +officers; and then her chariot, with eight banners of arms, consisting of +divers arms, and four banners of images of white taffeta, wrought with +gold, and her arms. And so they passed by St. James's, and thence to +Charing Cross, with an hundred torches burning, her servants bearing them. +And the twelve beadmen of Westminster had new black gowns, bearing twelve +torches burning. There were four white branches with arms; then ladies and +gentlewomen, all in black with their horses; eight heralds of arms, in +black, with their horses, &c., &c. At the church door all did alight; and +there the Lord Bishop of London and the Lord Abbot, in their copes, did +receive the good lady, censing her. Men bore her under a canopy of black +velvet, with four black staves _and so brought her into the hearse_, and +there tarried dirge, remaining there all night, with lights burning." +Ibid. "On the 22d was the hearse of the Lady Anne of Cleves, lately set up +in Westminster Abbey, taken down, which the monks, by night, had spoiled +of all the velvet cloth, arms, banners, pensils, majesty, and valance and +all,--the which was never seen afore so done." Ibid. page 15. + +Hence it is manifest, that the _herse_, in the time of Strype, was +identical with the _catafalque_ of the present day. Nevertheless, _herse_ +and _catafalque_ are as clearly not convertible terms, since the latter +word can never be correctly applied to a funeral car. + +Two and twenty pages of original record are devoted, by Strype, to an +account of the "ceremonies and funeral solemnities, paid to the corpse of +King Henry VIII." These pages are extremely interesting, and full of +curious detail. They also furnish additional evidence, that _the herse_ +was then understood to mean all, that is now meant by _the catafalque_. +The works of Strype are not in the hands of very many; and the reader will +not be displeased to know, in what manner they dealt with the dead body of +an English King, some three hundred years ago. A few extracts are all, +that my limits will allow:-- + +"After the corps was cold, and seen by the Lords of the Privy Council and +others of the nobility of the realm, as appertained, commandment was given +to the apothecaries, chirurgeons, wax-chandlers, and others, to do their +duties in spurging, cleansing, bowelling, cering, embalming, furnishing, +and dressing with spices the said corpse; and also for wrapping the same +in cerecloth of many folds over the fine cloth of rains and velvet, surely +bound and trammel'd with cords of silk: which was done and executed of +them accordingly, as to the dignity of such a mighty prince it +appertaineth; and a writing in great and small letters annexed against the +breast, containing his name and style, the day and year of his death, in +like manner. And after this don, then was the plumber and carpenter +appointed to case him in lead, and to chest him. Which being don, the said +chest was covered about with blew velvet, and a cross set upon the same." + +"And the corps being thus ordained, the entrails and bowels were honorably +buried in the chappel," &c. Mem., vol. 2, p. 289. + +"Then was the corps in the chest had into the midds of the privy chamber, +and set upon tressels, with a rich pall of cloth of gold, and a cross +thereon, with all manner of lights thereto requisite." Ibid. + +"In the said chappel was ordained a goodly, formal herse, with four-score +square tapers; every light containing two foot in length, poising in the +whole eighteen hundred weight of wax, garnished about with pensils and +escutcheons, banners and bannerols of descents. And, at the four corners, +four banners of saints, beaten in fine gold upon damask, with a majesty +thereover," &c., &c. Ibid. 290. + +"The second day of the month of February, being Wednesday and Candlemas +day, betwixt eight and nine of the clock at night, the herse being +lighted, and all other things appointed and prepared, the said most royal +corps was reverendly taken and removed from the chambers, &c., and so +brought to the chappel, &c., and there it was honorably set and placed +within the said herse under a pall of rich cloth of tissue, garnished with +escutheons, and a rich cloth of gold, set with precious stones." Ibid. +292. + +"And the herse, standing in the midst of said choir, was of a wonderful +state and proportion; that is to say formed in the compass of eight panes +and thirteen principals, double storied, of thirty-five foot high, +curiously wrot, painted and gilded, having in it a wonderful sort of +lights, amounting, in price, of wax, to the sum of four thousand pound +weight, and garnished underneath with a rich majesty, and a doome double +vallanced: on the which, on either side, was written the King's word, in +beaten gold, upon silk, and his arms of descents. And the whole herse was +richly fringed with double fringes of black silk and gold on either side, +both within and without very gorgeous and valiant to behold." Ibid. 295. + +It does not appear, that, in those days any _single_ English word was +employed, to express the _vehicle_, which we call a _hearse_, at the +present day, unless the word _bier_ may suffice: and this, like the Roman +_feretrum_, which I take to be much like our common graveyard article with +legs, will scarcely answer the description of a four-wheeled car. I infer, +that the _feretrum_ was a thing, which might be taken up, and set down, +from the word _posito_ in Ovid's Fasti, iv., 851-- + + Osculaque applicuit posito suprema feretro. + +The _feretrum_ and the _capulus_, among the Romans, were designed mainly, +for the poor. Citizens of any note were borne, as was our own practice, +not very many years ago, on the shoulders of their friends. + +The _funeral car_ of Henry VIII. was a noble affair:-- + +"There was ordained for the corps a sumptuous and valuable chariot of four +wheels, very long and large, with four pillars, overlaid with cloth of +gold at the four corners, bearing a pillow of rich cloth of gold and +tissue, fringed with a goodly deep fringe of blew silk and gold; and +underneath that, turned towards the chariot, was a marvellous excellent +cloth of majesty, having in it a doom artificially wrought, in fine gold +upon oyl: and at the nether part of the said Chariot was hanged with blew +velvet down to the ground, between the wheels, and at other parts of the +chariot, enclosed in like manner with blew velvet." Ibid. 295. + +"The next day early, the 14 February, the chariot was brought to the court +hall door; and the corps with great reverence brought from the _herse_ to +the same, by mitred prelats and others, temporal lords." Ibid. 598. + +Then, over the area of thirteen remaining pages, the record contains the +minute particulars of the monarch's obsequies, which, though full of +interest, are no farther to our present purpose. + + + + +No. CIV. + + +Bull--I speak not of Ole, but of John--Bull, when the teazle of opposition +has elevated the nap of his temper, is a pestilent fellow: whatever the +amount--and there is enough--of the milk of human kindness within him, +there is, then, but one way, known among men, of getting it out, and that +is, by giving Bull a bloody nose; whereupon he comes to his senses +directly, and to a just appreciation of himself and his neighbors. True +indeed it is, Bull is remarkably oblivious; and it sometimes becomes +necessary to give him another, which is invariably followed, by the same +happy result. + +_Qui hæret in cortice_ will never come at the milk of a cocoa nut. It is +necessary to strip off its rough coat, and punch sundry holes in its +_wooden walls_, and give it a regular cracking. It is precisely so with +Bull. When the fit is upon him, Bull is terrible. He is the very Bull of +Crete--the Bull of Claudian, in his rape of Proserpine-- + + Dictæus quatiens mugitibus urbes + Taurus-------------------------- + + Bull is a prodigious fellow; + Nations tremble at his bellow. + +There seems to have existed a strange, political hallucination, in regard +to Bull and Jonathan. We are clearly, all of us, of one and the same +family--a Bull-begotten people; and have a great deal of pleasure, in +believing, that old madam Bull was the mother of us all. A goodly number +of highly respectable Bulls came over the water, of old, and were well +contented with the green pastures of the New World. They differed, upon +some points, from the Bulls they had left behind. They did not believe, +that there was a power or right, to bellow louder than the rest, vested in +any particular Bull, which power came down from Bull to Bull, in unbroken +succession, from the Bull of Bashan. Such a belief, in their opinion, +would have been a terrible Bull. Well; all at once, the trans-atlantic +Bulls began to call the cis-atlantic Bulls--_Jonathans_. A very good name +it was--a great deal better than _Bulls_. There could be no objection to +the name, in the abstract. + +But, unfortunately, it was bestowed, as a diminutive, and in derision; and +the old Bulls, ere long, began to beat their flanks with their tails, and +paw up the earth, and look unutterable things, about Jonathan's cowardice; +and they came over the water in droves, and began to roar awfully; and +tore up the earth, under our very noses: and, after doing all, in our +power to spare the world the miserable spectacle of a conflict, among +Bulls, that were brothers, of the whole blood, we went to work, _ex +necessitate_, with hoofs and horns; and tossed up such a terrible dust, at +Lexington, and Concord, and Bunker's Hill, and Long Island, and White +Plains, and upon the Lakes, and at Sheensborough, and Albany, and +Brandywine, and Saratoga, and Bennington, and Germantown, and Rhode +Island, and Briar's Creek, and Camden, and Broad River, and Guilford, and +Hobkirk's Hill, and the Eutaw Springs, and York Town, and at fifty places +beside, that the old Bulls were perfectly astonished; and so very severely +gored withal, that their roaring sunk, at last, into something like +Snug's, when he became fearful of frightening the ladies. The old +Bulls--those that survived--went _back again_, like Sawney, out of the +peach orchard; and the mammoth Bull, in London, publicly acknowledged, +that we were as independent a set of Bulls, as ever he saw, or heard of. + +No man, in his senses, marvels, that a contemptuous, and supercilious +sentiment, towards us, in our days of small things, should have been +indulged, by the vulgar and unphilosophical, among the English people. It +is matter for surprise, nevertheless, that so much ignorance of the +American character should have existed, in the higher ranks of British +society--such disparaging estimates of men and _materiel_, on this side +the water--such mistaken conceptions--such a general belief of almost +universal pusillanimity, among men, who were not a whit the less +Englishmen, than their revilers; as though there were something, +particularly enervating, in breathing the bracing air of America, and +listening to the thorough bass of the wild waters, breaking on our +original walls of granite; and in struggling, with our horny hands, along +the precipices, for bread--such an awful miscalculation of probabilities, +as resulted at last, in the loss to King George of thirteen inestimable +jewels, of the fairest water. + +The impressions, entertained of the Americans, by the English people, or a +great majority of them, about that period, were truly amusing. It is +scarcely worth while to comment on the abuse of us, by the early +reviewers, and the taunting inquiry, long--long ago, what American had +ever produced an epic?--Unluckily, Joel did, at last.--This question, thus +early and impudently propounded, was quite as sensible, as it might be, to +ask men, who, by dint of industry and thrift, are just getting plain +shirts to their backs--who among them ever had lace ruffles? We have +improved since that time; and _halmost hevery man in the ole population +can hutter imself hin werry decent Henglish_. + +Josiah Quincy, _then_ junior, father of the late President of Harvard +University, has noted some curious facts, in his journal, as reported by +Gordon, i. 438. In a conversation between him and Col. Barré, who, though +he opposed the Stamp Act, in 1765, supported the Boston Port Bill, in +1774. Col. Barré said to Mr. Quincy--"About fourteen or fifteen years ago, +I was through a considerable part of your country; for, in the expedition +against Canada, my business caused me to pass by land, through +Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Albany; and, when I returned again +to this country, I was often speaking of America, and could not help +speaking well of its climate, soil, and inhabitants; for you must know, +sir, America was always a favorite with me. But, will you believe it, sir, +yet I assure you it is true, more than two thirds of this island, at this +time, thought the Americans were all negroes." Mr. Quincy replied that he +did not in the least doubt it, for, if he was to judge by the late acts of +Parliament, he should suppose, that a great majority of the people of +Great Britain still thought so, for he found that their representatives +still treated them as such. + +The ministry had decided, that "_the punishment of a few of the worst +sort of traitors, such as Hancock and his crew, might be sufficient to +teach the rest their duty, in future_."--"Some men of rank in the army," +says Gordon, i. 457, "treated all idea of resistance, by the Americans, +with the utmost contempt. They are neither soldiers, nor ever can be made +so, being naturally of a pusillanimous disposition, and utterly incapable +of any sort of order or discipline; and by their laziness, uncleanliness, +and radical defect of constitution, they are disabled from going through +the service of a campaign. Many ludicrous stories, to that purport, were +told, greatly to the entertainment of the house." + +Jonathan turned out, at the end of the Bull baiting, to have been neither +a fool nor a coward: and the American Congress received a memorable +compliment from Lord Chatham--"_For genuine sagacity, for singular +moderation, for manly spirit, for sublime sentiments, and simplicity of +language, for everything respectable and honorable, the Congress of +Philadelphia shines unrivalled_." + +In the war of 1812, Bull was the very identical Bull, that he had been +before: Frenchmen were frogs; Yankees were cowards--there was nobody that +could fight, on the land or the sea, but Bull. + +"It has always," says that wittiest, and, I fear, wickedest of wags, +William Cobbett, while addressing Lord Liverpool, "been the misfortune of +England, that her rulers and her people have spoken and have thought +contemptuously of the Americans. Was there a man in the country, who did +not despise the American navy? Was there a public writer beside myself, +who did not doom that navy to destruction in a month? Did not all parties +exceedingly relish the description given, in a very august assembly, of +'_half a dozen of fir frigates, with bits of striped bunting tied to their +mast heads_'! Did not the Guerriere sail up and down the American coast, +with her name, written on her flag, challenging those fir frigates? Did +not the whole nation, with one voice exclaim at the affair of the _Little +Belt_--'Only let Rogers come _within reach_ of one of our _frigates_!' If +such was the opinion of the whole nation, with what justice is the Board +of Admiralty blamed, for not sending out the means of combatting this +extraordinary sort of foe? and for issuing a privilege to our frigates to +run away from one of those _fir things with a bit of striped bunting at +its mast head_? The result of the former war, while it enlightened nobody, +added to the vindictiveness of hundreds of thousands; so that we have +entered into this war with all our old stock of contempt, and a vastly +increased stock of rancor. To think that the American republic is to be a +great power is unsupportable. Of the effect of this contempt I know +nobody, who has so much reason to repent, as the officers of his Majesty's +navy. If they had triumphed, it would only have been over half a dozen +_fir things, with bits of bunting at their mast heads_. They were sure to +gain no reputation in the contest; and, if they failed, what was their +lot? The worst of it is, they themselves did, in some measure, contribute +to their own ill fate: for, of all men living, none spoke of poor Jonathan +with so much contempt. There are some people, who are for taking the +American commodores at their word, and ascribing their victories to the +immediate intervention of Providence. Both Perry and McDonough begin their +despatches by saying--"_Almighty God has given us a victory_." + +This is keen political satire; and it is well, that it should come to +neighbor Bull's ears, from the mouth of an Englishman. It is more +gracefully administered thus. That it was entirely deserved, no one will +doubt, who has any recollection of Bull's unmeasured and unmitigated +impudence, during the war of 1812, in its earlier stages. May God of his +infinite mercy grant, that Peace Societies may have these matters, +hereafter, very much their own way; though I have a little misgiving, I +confess, as to the expediency of any sudden, or very general conversion of +swords into ploughshares, or spears into pruning hooks. + + + + +No. CV. + + +_Modus in rebus_--an admirable proverb, upon all common occasions--is +inapplicable, of course, to musical matters. No doubt of it. The luxury of +sweet sounds cannot be too dearly bought; and, for its procurement, +mankind may go stark mad, without any diminution of their respectability. + +Such I infer to be the popular philosophy of today--_while it is called +today_. The moderns have been greatly perplexed, by the legends, which +have come down to us, respecting the melody of swans. The _carmina +cycnorum_ of Ovid, and the _Cantantes sublime ferent ad sidera cycni_, of +Virgil, are perfectly incomprehensible by us. Cicero also, in his Tusculan +Questions, i. 74, says, they die, _cum cantu et voluptate_. Martial, xiii. +77, asserts the matter, very positively-- + + _Dulcia defecta modulatur carmina lingua + Cantator cycnus funeris ipse sui._ + +I no more believe in the power of a living or a dying swan to make melody +of any kind, than I believe in the antiquated hum-bug of immediate +emancipation. Pliny had no confidence in the story, and expresses himself +to that effect, x. 23, _Olorum morte narratur flebilis cantus (falso, ut +arbitror) aliquot experimentis_. + +No mortal has done more than Shakspeare, among the moderns, to perpetuate +this pleasant fancy--no bard, when weary of Pegasus, and preferring a +drive to a ride, has harnessed his cygnets more frequently--or compelled +them to sing more sweetly, in a dying hour. A single example may suffice. +When prince Henry is told, that his father, King John, sang, during his +dying frenzy, he says-- + + "Tis strange, that death should sing-- + I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan, + Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death: + And, from the organ pipe of frailty, sings + His soul and body to their lasting rest." + +One brief example more--Emilia, after the murder of her mistress-- + + "Hark! canst thou hear me? I will play the swan; + And die in music." + +In all this there lurks not one particle of sober prose--one syllable of +truth. The most learned refutation of it may be found, in the Pseudodoxia +of Sir Thomas Browne, ii. 517, Lond. 1835. + +In the "_Memoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions_," M. Morin discusses the +question very agreeably, why swans, that sang so delightfully, of old, +sing so miserably, at the present day. Tame swans, he observes, are mutes: +but the wild swan exerts its vocal powers, after a fashion of its own. He +introduces the observations of the Abbé Arnaud, upon the performances of a +couple of wild swans, which had located, upon the lagoons of Chantilly. +"One can hardly say," says the Abbé, "that the swans of Chantilly +sing--they cry; but their cries are truly and constantly modulated. Their +voice is not sweet; on the contrary, it is shrill, piercing, and rather +disagreeable; I could compare it to nothing better than the sound of a +clarionet, winded by a person unacquainted with the instrument." Nothing +surely savors less of melody than this. So thought Buffon--"_Des sons +bruyans de clarion, mais dont les tons aigus et peu diversifiés sont +néanmoins tres--éloignés de la tendre mélodie et de la variété douce et +brilliante du ramage de nos oiseaux chanteurs_." Nat. Hist. des Oisaux, +ix. 25. + +In his exposition of this error, imposed upon mankind, by the poets, +Buffon expresses himself with singular beauty, in the concluding +paragraph--"Nulle fiction en Histoire Naturelle, nulle fable chez les +Anciens n'a ete plus célébrée, plus répétée, plus accréditee; elle s'étoit +emparée de l'imagination vive et sensible des Grecs; poëtes, orateurs, +philosophes méme l'ont adoptée, comme une verité trop agreable pour +vouloir en douter. Il faut bien leur pardonner leurs fables; elles étoient +aimables et touchantes; elles valoient bien de tristes, d'arides verités +c'etoient de doux emblémes pour les ames sensibles. Les cygnes, sans +doute, ne chantent point leur mort; mais toujours, en parlant du dernier +essor et de derniers élans d'un beau génie pret á s'éteindre, on +rappellera avec sentiment cette expression touchante--_c'est le chant du +cygne!_" Ibid. 28. + +It is not surprising, that these celebrated naturalists, Buffon and Morin, +who discourse, so eloquently, of Grecian and Roman swans, should say +nothing of Swedish nightingales, for, between their time and the present, +numerous additions have been made to the catalogue of songsters. + +The very thing, which the barber, Arkwright did, for all the spinning +Jennies, in Lancashire, some seventy years ago, has been done by Jenny +Lind, for all the singing Jennies upon earth, beside herself--they are +cast into the shade. + +She came here with an irresistible prestige. A singing woman has been a +proverb, since the world began; and, of course, long before Ulysses +dropped in, upon the island of Ogygia, and listened to Calypso; or fell +into serious difficulty, among the Sirens. A singing woman, a Siren, has +been frequently accounted, and with great propriety, a singing bird of +evil omen. How grateful then must it be, to know, that, while lending +their ears and their eyes to this incomparable songstress, our wives, our +daughters, and our sisters have before them a pure, and virtuous, and +gentle, and generous creature, as free, as poor, human nature can well be +free, from life's alloy, and very much as she was, when created--_a little +lower than the angels_. + +Among other mythological matters, Pausanias relates, that the three +Sirens, instigated by Juno, challenged the Muses to a trial of skill in +singing. They were beaten, of course, for the Muses, being nine in number, +there were three upon one. The victors, as the story goes, proceeded very +deliberately, to pluck the golden feathers, from the wings of the +vanquished, and converted them into crowns, for their own brows. + +Now, it cannot be denied, that Jenny has vanquished us all, and made the +golden feathers fly abundantly. But this is not Jenny's fault; for, +whatever the wisdom or the folly, the affair was our own entirely. If, for +the sake of distinction, any one has seen fit to pluck every golden +feather from his back, and appear, like the featherless biped of Diogenes, +and give the golden feathers to Jenny, to make her a crown; we have +substantial facts, upon which to predict, that Jenny will make a better +use of those golden feathers, than to fool them away, for a song. If Jenny +plucks golden feathers, from the backs of the rich, she finds bare spots +enough, for a large part of them all, upon the backs of the poor: and, as +for the crown, for Jenny's brows, if she goes onward, as she has begun, +investing her treasure _in Heaven_, and selecting the Lord for her +paymaster, _there_ will be her coronation; and her crown a crown of Glory. +And, when she comes to lie down and die, let the two last lines of +Johnson's imperishable epitaph, on Philips, be inscribed upon her tomb-- + + "Rest undisturb'd, beneath this marble shrine, + Till angels wake thee, with a note like thine." + +Orpheus was changed into a swan; Philomela into a nightingale; and Jenny, +in due time, will be changed into an angel. Indeed, it is the opinion of +some competent judges, that the metamorphosis has already commenced. + +Music is such a delightful, soothing thing, that one grieves, to think its +professors and amateurs are frequently so excessively irritable. + +The disputes, between Handel and Senesino, and their respective partisans, +disturbed all London, and finally broke up the Academy of Music, after it +had been established, for nine years. The quarrels of Handel and +Buononcini are said to have occasioned duels, among the amateurs; and the +nation was filled, by these musical geniuses, with discord and uproar. +Good humor was, in some degree, restored, by the following epigram, so +often ascribed to Swift, the two last lines of which, however, are alone +to be found in the editions of his works, by Nicholls, and Scott: + + "Some say, that signor Buononcini, + Compar'd with Handel, is a ninny; + Others aver to him, that Handel + Does not deserve to hold a candle; + Strange, all this difference should be, + 'Twixt tweedle dum and tweedle dee." + +This epigram cannot be attributed to that contempt for music, which is +sometimes occasioned, by a constitutional inability to appreciate its +effect, upon the great mass of mankind. It undoubtedly sprang from a +desire to put an end, by the power of ridicule, to these unmusical +disturbances of the public peace. + +Swift's musical pun, upon the accidental destruction of a fine Cremona +fiddle, which was thrown down by a lady's mantua, has always been highly +and deservedly commended; and recently, upon the very best authority, +pronounced the finest specimen extant of this species of wit--"Perhaps," +says Sir Walter Scott, in his life of Swift, speaking of his puns, i. 467, +"the application of the line of Virgil to the lady, who threw down with +her mantua a Cremona fiddle, is the best ever made-- + + "Mantua væ miseræ nimium vicina Cremonæ!" + +In every nation, and in every age, the power of music has been +acknowledged by mankind. Now and then, the negative idiosyncracies of +certain persons place this particular department of pleasure, beyond the +sphere of their comprehension, as effectually as utter blindness denies +the power of enjoying the finest specimens of the painter's art. +Occasionally, some pious divine, absolutely drunk with over-potent +draughts of orthodoxy, like the friar, before Boccaccio, shakes his holy +finger at this wicked world, and warns them to beware of the singing +woman! + +The vocal power of music is ascribed to the angels in Heaven; and my own +personal knowledge has assured me, that it affords a melancholy solace, to +the slave in bonds. + +I passed the winter of 1840-41 with an invalid daughter, in the island of +St. Croix. With a party of some six or eight, we devoted one delightful, +moonlight evening, to a ride, on horseback, among the sugar-loaf summits +of that beautiful speck amid the main. We were ascending the hills, in the +neighborhood of the Annelly plantation--the moon was at full, that night; +and the Caribbean Sea, far and wide, shone like a boundless prairie of +burnished silver. As we were slowly winding our way, to the summit, one of +our party called the attention of the rest to the sounds of music, coming +from the slave cabins, at a distance. As we advanced, slowly and silently, +towards the spot, the male and female voices were readily distinguished. + +We drew near, unperceived, and, checking our horses, listened, for several +minutes, to the wild, simple notes of these children of bondage. "There is +melody in this"--said one of our party aloud, and all was hushed, in an +instant. We rode down to the cabins, and begged them to continue their +song--but our solicitations were in vain--even the offer of sundry five +stiver pieces, which operate, like a charm, upon many occasions, with the +_uncles_ and the _aunties_, was ineffectual then. "_No massa--b'lieve no +sing any more_"--were the only replies, and we went upon our way. + +As we descended the Annelly hills, on the opposite side, after leaving the +negroes and their cabins, at some distance, we halted and listened--they +had recommenced--the same wild music was floating upon the breeze. + +As we rode slowly along, my daughter asked me, if I could account for +their reluctance to comply with our request. I told her, I could not. +"Perhaps," said she, "they have a reason, somewhat like the reason of +those, who sat down, by the waters of Babylon, and wept, and who could not +sing one of the songs of Zion, in a strange land." + +It might have been thus. "_They that carried us away captive, required of +us a song! They, that wasted us, required of us mirth!_" + + + + +No. CVI. + + +While pursuing his free inquiry into the origin of evil, I doubt, if Soame +Jenyns had as much pleasure, as Sir Joseph Banks enjoyed, in his famous +investigation, if fleas were the prototypes of lobsters. + +These inquiries are immeasurably pleasant. When a boy, I well remember my +cogitations, what became of the old moons; and how joyously I accepted the +solution of my nurse, who had quite a turn for judicial astrology, that +they were unquestionably cut up, for stars. + +It is truly delightful to look into these occult matters--_rerum +cognoscere causas_. There are subjects of deep interest, which lie +somewhat nearer the surface of the earth--the origin of certain usages and +undertakings, and the authorship of certain long-lived works, which appear +to be made of a species of literary everlasting, but whose original +proprietors have never been discovered. I have great respect, for those +antiquarians, whose researches have unlocked so many of these long hidden +mysteries; and, however bare-headed I may be, when the venerated names of +Speed, or Strype, or Stow, or Rushworth, or Wood, or Holinshed occurs to +my memory, I have an involuntary tendency to take off my hat. + +It was, doubtless, in allusion to their grotesque and uncouth +versification, that the Earl of Rochester prepared his well-known +epigram-- + + "Sternhold and Hopkins had great qualms, + When they translated David's Psalms." + +This version, which held its ground, for a century and a half, and, as +Chalmers says, slowly gave place to the translation, by Tate and Brady, +had an origin, of which, I presume, few individuals are apprized. + +Thomas Sternhold lived to translate fifty-one only of the Psalms; and the +first edition was published in 1549, with this title--"_All such Psalms of +David as Thomas Sterneholde, late groome of the king's majestye's robes +did in his lyfetime drawe into Englyshe metre_." + +About this period, the larger cities of the kingdom had become inundated +with obscene and blasphemous songs, to such a degree, that some powerful +expedient seemed to be required, for the removal of this insufferable +grievance. Accordingly, the felicitous idea occurred to Mr. Thomas +Sternhold, of substituting the Psalms of David, as versified by himself, +for the bacchanalian songs, then in use, throughout the realm. He +anticipated a practical illustration of the command of St. James--"_Is any +merry let him sing Psalms_." + +Ostensibly prepared for the use of the churches, the moving consideration, +for this version, with Mr. Sternhold, was such as I have shown it to be. +The motive is plainly stated, in the title-page--"_Set forth and allowed +to be sung in churches of the people together, before and after evening +prayer, as also before and after sermon; and moreover, in private houses, +for their godly solace and comfort, laying apart all ungodly songs and +ballads, which tend only to the nourishment of vice and the corrupting of +youth_." + +Wood, in his Athenæ Oxonienses, i. 183, Lond: 1813, says of +Sternhold--"Being a most zealous reformer and a very strict liver, he +became so scandalized, at the amorous and obscene songs used in the court, +that he, forsooth turned into English metre fifty-one of David's Psalms, +and caused musical notes to be set to them, thinking thereby, that the +courtiers would sing them, instead of their sonnets, but did not, only +some few excepted." + +How cheerfully would I go, undieted, for a long summer's day, to know who +was the author of "Jonny Armstrong's Last Good Night;" and for a much +longer term, to ascertain the writer of Chevy Chase, of which Ben Jonson +used to say, he had rather have been the author of it, than of all his +works. The words of Sir Philip Sidney, in his Discourse on Poetry, are +quoted, by Addison, in No. 70 of the Spectator--"_I never heard the old +song of Percy and Douglas, that I found not my heart more moved than with +a trumpet_." The ballad of Chevy Chase was founded upon the battle of +Otterburn, which was fought in 1388, and of which a brief account will be +found in the fourteenth chapter of Sir Walter's first series of the +Grandfathers Tales. + +The author of those songs for children, which have been lisped, by the +tongues of millions, shall never be forgotten, while dogs delight to bark +and bite--but who was the author of Hush-a-bye baby--Now we go up, up, +up--Cock Robin--or Dickory Dock, no human tongue can tell! + +Poor André, we know, was the author of the Cow Chace; but the composer of +our national air is utterly unknown. Who would not give more of the +_siller_, to know to whose immortal mind we are indebted for Yankee +Doodle, than to ascertain the authorship of the Letters of Junius? + +Both France and England have been more fortunate, in respect to the +origin and authorship of their most popular, national songs. Speaking of +Barbaroux and the Marseillois, Sir Walter Scott, in his Life of Napoleon, +observes--"Besides the advantage of this enthusiastic leader, the +Marseillois marched to the air of the finest hymn, to which Liberty or the +Revolution had yet given birth." + +I am aware that something like doubt or obscurity hangs over the reputed +authorship of the Hymn of the Marseillais. But in respect to the national +air of Great Britain--_God save the King_--the authorship appears to be +more satisfactorily, if not perfectly, indicated. + +It is certainly worthy of note, that this celebrated air, in which _John +Bull_ has taken so much delight, ever since it came into existence, is by +some persons supposed to have been the production of JOHN BULL himself, a +celebrated composer of his day. An engraving of him may be found, in the +History of Music, by Hawkins. There is an original painting of him, by J. +W. Childe, in the Music School, at Oxford, which was engraved by Illman, +with the words below--"John Bull, Mus. Doct. Cantab. Instaur. Oxon. +MDXCII." A portrait of Dr. Bull will also be found, in Richard Clarke's +_Account of the National Anthem, God save the King_, 8vo. Lond. 1822. + +The account of Bull, by Wood, in his Fasti, i. 235, Lond. 1815, is +somewhat amusing--"1586, July 9.--John Bull, who had practised the fac. of +music for 14 years, was then admitted batch, of music. This person, who +had a most prodigious hand on the organ, and was famous, throughout the +religious world, for his church music, had been trained up under an +excellent master, named Blitheman, organist of Qu. Elizabeth's chappel, +who died much lamented, in 1591. This Blitheman perceiving that he had a +natural geny to the faculty, spared neither time nor labor to advance it +to the utmost. So that in short time, he being more than master of it, +which he showed by his most admirable compositions, played and sung in +many churches beyond the seas, as well as at home, he took occasion to go +incognito, into France and Germany. At length, hearing of a famous +musician, belonging to a certain cathedral, (at St. Omers, as I have +heard,) he applied himself, as a novice, to learn something of his +faculty, and to see and admire his works. This musician, after some +discourse had passed between them, conducted Bull to a vestry, or music +school, joyning to the cathedral, and shew'd him a lesson, or song of +forty parts, and then made a vaunting challenge to any person in the world +to add one more part to them, supposing it to be so compleat and full, +that it was impossible for any mortal man to correct or add to it. Bull +thereupon desiring the use of ink and rul'd paper (such as we call musical +paper) prayed the musician to lock him up in the said school for 2 or 3 +hours; which being done, not without great disdain by the musician, Bull, +in that time or less, added forty more parts to the said lesson or song. +The musician thereupon being called in, he viewed it, try'd it and retry'd +it. At length he burst out into great ecstacy, and swore by the great God, +that he that added those 40 parts must either be the Devil or Dr. Bull, +&c. Whereupon Bull making himself known, the musician fell down and adored +him." + +Of music it may be said, as of most other matters--_the fashion of these +things passeth away_. So great was the fame of Bull in his day, and such +tempting offers of preferment were made him, by the Emperor, and by the +Kings of France and Spain, that Queen Elizabeth commanded him home. It is +stated, in the Biographical History of England, ii. 167, that the famous +Dr. Pepusch preferred some of the lessons in Bull's Partheniæ, to the +productions of most of the composers of that time. Yet Dr. Burney says of +these lessons--"_They may be heard, by a lover of music, with as little +emotion as the clapper of a sawmill, or the rumbling of a post-chaise_." + +Musicians are a sensitive and jealous generation. "Handel," says Chalmers, +"despised the pedantry of Pepusch; and Pepusch, in return, refused to +join, in the general chorus of Handel's praise." + +Handel, when a stripling at Hamburgh, laid claim to the first harpsichord, +against a master, greatly his superior, in point of years, and the matter, +upon trial, was decided in Handel's favor, which so incensed the other, +that he drew, and made a thrust, at his young rival, whose life, according +to Dr. Burney's version, was saved, by a fortunate contact, between the +point of the rapier and a metal button. + +The principles, which govern, in all mutual admiration societies, are +deeply laid in the nature of man. If Handel had borne the pedantry of Dr. +Pepusch, with forbearance, or common civility, the Doctor would have, +doubtless, afforded Handel the advantage of his highest commendation. + +The managers of musical matters act wisely, in tendering, to every +conductor of a public journal, the + + Melle soporatam et medicatis frugibus offam-- + +But I fear they are not always as cautious and discriminating, as the +occasion appears to demand. How very different would have been the fate of +the poor strolling player, whom Goldsmith so pleasantly describes, had he +taken a little more pains--only a little--to propitiate "_the lady, who +had been nine months in London_!" + +The managers, upon such occasions, should never omit the most careful +espionage, into the musical pretensions of every member of the press--I +speak of their pretensions, and not of their actual knowledge--that, in +the present connection, is of little importance: and, when they discover +one of this powerful brotherhood, who, in musical matters, would be +thought to know more than his neighbors, however mistaken he may be--let +them pay him particular attention--let them procure him an excellent +seat--once--twice perhaps--express a hope, that he is well +accommodated--and occasionally, during the performance, be sure to catch +his eye, as if with a "fearful longing after immortality," such as +tomorrow's leader may possibly confer on the candidate for fame. How often +the omission to observe these simple rules has been followed, by faint +praise, and invidious discriminations! + + + + +No. CVII. + + +My great grandmother used to say, that she never desired to be told, that +anything was broken, in her household; for, though she had been a +housekeeper, for fifty years, nothing was ever broken, in her family, that +had not been cracked before. I have the very same feeling in regard to the +majority of all inventions and discoveries; for some ingenious fellow +invariably presents himself, who, as it turns out, had verified the +suggestion already. + +I never found my mind in a very feverish condition, while pursuing the +inquiry, whether the art of medicine was first invented, by Hermes, Isis, +or Osiris; nor while examining the arguments, ingenious though they are, +of Clemens Alexandrinus, to prove, that Moses was a very respectable +apothecary. + +I have ever supposed, that Necessity, the mother of invention, was the +inventress of the blessed art; and that the origin was somewhat on this +wise:--before the transgression, all went on well--there were neither +aches nor ails--the apple certainly disagreed with Adam--he sought relief, +by hunting for an antidote; and finding great comfort, in chewing such +carminative herbs, as catmint and pennyroyal, he prescribed them to the +sharer of his joys and sorrows. It is quite likely, that, with no family, +and a great deal of time upon her hands, while walking in her garden, as +poppies were not forbidden, Eve, to satisfy her curiosity, might have +sucked their narcotic juice; and thus acquired a knowledge of opiates, so +useful, ever since the fall. + +Physicking was, at first, a very general affair. Whether benevolence, or +the desire of a little reputation lies at the bottom, there has ever +existed, among mankind, a pungent, irresistible desire to physick one +another. It is to be regretted, that Irenæus, who was just the man for it, +had not given a few years of his life to ascertain, if Eve, during the +parturition of Cain, or Abel, received any alleviation, from slippery elm. +Plato, Theoctet. p. 149, says, the midwives of Athens did great, good +service, on these occasions, with certain drugs and charms. + +In the beginning, so little was to be known, upon this subject, it is not +wonderful, that almost every man should have known that little. Thus, +according to Homer, Od. iv., 320, every Egyptian was a doctor:-- + + "From Pæon sprung, their patron god imparts + To all the Pharian race his healing arts." + +Herodotus, who was born, about 484, B. C., in Book II. of his history, +sec. 84, speaks distinctly of the fact, that the Egyptian _doctors_ were +not physicians, in the general sense, but confined their practice, +respectively, to particular diseases. The passage may be thus +translated--_Now, in truth, the art of medicine with them was so +distributed, that their physicians managed particular disorders, and not +diseases generally; thus, though all were referred to the physicians, some +were doctors for the eyes, some for the head, some for the teeth, some for +the belly, and some for the occult diseases_. + +The first mention of physicians, in Holy Writ, is in Genesis, 50, 2--"_And +Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father: and +the physicians embalmed Israel_." _Physicians_, to this extent, were +mechanical operators; and the celebrated physicians of Greece, Chiron, +Machaon, Podalirius, Poeon, and even Æsculapius, were _surgeons_. Their +art, as Pliny says, did not go beyond curing a green wound. The cure of +internal, or complicated, disorders was beyond their province. Celsus +says, that Podalirius and Machaon, the physicians, who went with +Agamemnon, to the wars of Troy, were never employed, to cure the plague, +or internal maladies, nor anything but external injuries. + +No physician was required to manage external applications, in certain +cases of common occurrence. In Kings II. xx. 7, Hezekiah appears to have +thought himself extremely sick; when Isaiah applied a poultice of figs to +his boil, and he soon was upon his legs again. This seems to have been +accounted a remarkable cure, in those days, for Isaiah thought it worth +repeating, xxxviii. 21. Job does not appear to have resorted to fig +poultices, nor to any remedies, whatever: and, while Hezekiah behaved like +a great baby, and wept bitterly, Job toughed it out, like a man; and, +instead of mourning and murmuring, under the torment, not of one, but of +countless boils, he poured forth torrents of incomparable eloquence, all +the while, on various topics. + +Job's affliction, being viewed in the light of a direct judgment, it was +deemed quite outrageous, by many, to stave off the wrath of Heaven, by +interposing fig poultices, or remedies of any kind. Thus it appears, that +Asa suffered severely with the gout; and there is a sharp fling against +him, Chron. II. xvi. 12, on account of his want of faith--"_Yet in his +disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians_." + +This seems to be in accordance, with the opinion of those modern Fathers, +who consider the use of ether or chloroform, in obstetric cases, a point +blank insult to the majesty of Heaven, because of the primeval fiat--_in +sorrow shalt thou bring forth children_. + +The race of Cyclops entertained a similar sentiment of submission, in +sickness, according to Homer, Od. IX. 485. When _Oudeis_ (_Anglice Noman_) +which always seemed to me an undignified pun, for an Epic, had put out the +eye of Polyphemus, his roaring collected the neighboring giants. They +inquired, outside the portal, what was the matter; and he replied, that +_Oudeis_--_Noman_--was killing him; upon which they reply-- + + "If _Noman_ hurts thee, but the power divine + Inflict disease, it fits thee to resign. + To Jove or to thy father Neptune pray, + The Cyclops cried, and instant strode away." + +The theory was, that God worked upon mortals, by the agency of a great +number and variety of evil spirits, or devils; and that the employment of +remedial means was therefore neither more nor less, than withstanding the +Almighty. Hence arose the custom, being supposed less offensive, in the +sight of Heaven, of resorting to charms and incantations; and of employing +diviners and magicians; and, as old Sir Robert Walpole is reported to have +said, that every man has his price; so it was supposed to be the case, +with those devils, who were engaged, in the system of tormenting mankind. +Instead therefore of turning directly to the Lord, the sufferers were much +in the habit of making their propitiatory suit, directly, to some false +god, or influential demon. Of this we have an example, in Kings II. i. 2, +et seq. Ahaziah, King of Israel, went up into his garret, probably, in the +dark, and fell through the scuttle. He was severely bruised, and sent a +messenger, post haste, to Ekron, to consult the false god, Baalzebub. +Elisha, who, though a prophet, had no reputation, as a physician, was +consulted by Hazael and by Naaman, about their distempers. + +Enchantments, talismans, music, phylacteries were in use, among the +Hebrews, and formed no small part of their _materia medica_. Charms were +used, as preventives against the bites of serpents. "Who," says +Ecclesiasticus xii. 13, "_will pity a charmer, that is bitten with a +serpent_?" This seems not to have availed, against the deaf adder, +"which," Psalm lviii. 5, "_will not hearken to the voice of charmers, +charming never so wisely_." And Jeremiah, viii. 17, declares, that the +Lord will send cockatrices and serpents, that will not be charmed, upon +any terms whatever. + +Some verses are preserved, by Cato, De Re Rustica, art. 160, which were +used, in reducing a dislocated member. Dr. Johnson has informed us, though +without naming his authority, that ABRACADABRA was a superstitious charm, +against agues. + +It is quite amusing, while reading Sir Thomas Browne's remarks on +quackery, in his Pseudodoxia, ch. xi. to see how readily he admits satanic +agency, himself. Take the following passage--"When Gracchus was slain, the +same day the chickens refused to come out of the coop; and Claudius +Pulcher underwent the like success, when he commanded the tripudiary +augurations; they died, not because the pullets would not feed, but +because the devil foresaw their death, and contrived that abstinence in +them." + +Sir Thomas was a wise and safe counsellor, in all cases, in which there +was no chance for the devil to operate; but whenever there was a loop +hole, according to the belief in those days, for diabolical influence to +creep through, no man was more inclined to give the devil his due, than +Sir Thomas. + +In this chapter, designed to be purely philosophical, he says of +satan--"He deludeth us also by philters, ligatures, charms, ungrounded +amulets, characters, and many superstitious ways, in the cure of common +diseases, seconding herein the expectation of men with events of his own +contriving, which, while some, unwilling to fall directly upon magic, +impute unto the power of imagination, or the efficacy of hidden causes, he +obtains a bloody advantage." This description of the devil and of his +manoeuvres so precisely fits the empiric, and all his proceedings, that I +should suspect Sir Thomas of the unusual sin of perpetrating a pleasantry; +and, under the devil's _effigies_, presenting the image of a charlatan; +were it not, for the knowledge we have of this great and good man's +credulity, and his firm belief in satanic realities; and, that, in part +upon his own testimony, two miserable women were condemned and executed, +for witchcraft. + + + + +No. CVIII. + + +John Jahn says, in his Biblical Archæology, Upham's translation, page 105, +that, in Babylon, when first attacked with disease, the patients were +placed in the streets, for the purpose of ascertaining, from casual +passengers, what practices or medicines _they_ had found useful, in +similar cases. Imagine a poor fellow, suddenly attacked with a windy +colic, and deposited for this purpose, in State Street, in the very place, +formerly occupied, by the razor-strop man, or the magnolia merchant! If it +be true--I very much doubt it--that, in a multitude of counsellors, there +is safety, this must be an excellent arrangement for the patient. + +I have often thought, that benevolence was getting to be an epidemic; +particularly when I have noticed the attentions of one or two hundred +charitably disposed persons, gathered about a conservative horse, that +would not budge an inch. They have not the slightest interest in the +horse, nor in the driver--it's nothing under heaven, but pure brotherly +love. The driver is distracted, by the advice of some twenty persons, +pointing with sticks and umbrellas, in every direction, and all +vociferating together. In the meanwhile, three or four volunteers are +belaboring the shins of the refractory beast, while as many are rapping +his nose with their sticks. Four stout fellows, at least, are trying to +shove the buggy forward, and as many exerting their energies, to shove the +horse backward. Half a dozen sailors, attracted by the noise, tumble up to +the rescue; three seize the horse's head, and pull _a starboard_, and +three take him, by the tail, and pull _to larboard_, and all yell +together, to the driver, to put his helm hard down. At last, urged, by +rage, terror, and despair, the poor brute shakes off his persecutors, with +a rear, and a plunge, and a leap, and dashes through the bow window of a +confectioner's shop, or of some dealer in naked women, done in Parian. + +I am very sorry we have been delayed, by this accident. Let us proceed. +Never has there been known, among men, a more universal diffusion of such +a little modicum of knowledge. The knowledge of the materia medica and of +pathology, what there was of it, seems to have been held, by the +Babylonians, as tenants in common, and upon the Agrarian principle--every +man and woman had an equal share of it. Such, according to John Jahn, +Professor of Orientals in Vienna, was the state of therapeutics, in +Babylon. + +The Egyptians carried their sick into the temples of Serapis--the Greeks +to those of Æsculapius. Written receipts were preserved there, for the +cure of different diseases. Professor Jahn certainly seems disposed to +make the most of the knowledge of physic and surgery, among the +Israelites. He says they had "_some acquaintance with chirurgical +operations_." In support of this opinion, he refers to the rite of +circumcision, and to--nothing else. He also says, that it is evident +"_physicians sometimes undertook to exercise their skill, in removing +diseases of an internal nature_." + +If the reader is good at conundrums, will he be so obliging as to _guess_, +upon what evidence the worthy professor grounds this assertion? I perceive +he gives it up--Well--on Samuel I. xvi. 16. And what sayeth Samuel?--"And +Saul's servants said unto him, behold now an evil spirit from God +troubleth thee. Let our Lord now command thy servants, which are before +thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on a harp: and it shall +come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall +play with his hand, and thou shalt be well." This, reduced into plain +language, is simply this--Saul's servants took the liberty of telling his +majesty, that the devil was in him, and he had better have a little music. +Accordingly, David was called in--_as a physician_, according to Jahn--and +drove the devil out of Saul, by playing on his Jews'-harp. Jahn also +informs us, and the Bible did before, that the art of healing was +committed to the priests, who were specially bound, by law, "_to take +cognizance of leprosies_." There were, as he admits, other _physicians_, +probably of little note. _The priests_ were the regular, legalized +faculty. On this ground, we can explain the severe reproach, cast upon +Asa, who, when he had the gout, "_sought not the Lord but to the +physician_:" that is, he did not seek the Lord, in prayer, through the +intermediation of the regular faculty, the priests. + +There are ecclesiastics among us, who consider, that the Levitical law is +obligatory upon the priesthood, throughout the United States of America, +at the present day; and who believe it to be _their_ bounden duty, to take +cognizance of leprosies, and all other disorders; and to physick the +bodies, not less than the souls, of their respective parishioners. To this +I sturdily object--not at all, from any doubt of their ability, to +practise the profession, as skilfully, as did the son of Jesse, and to +drive out devils with a Jews'-harp; and to cure all manner of diseases, in +the same manner, in which the learned Kircherus avers, according to Sir +Thomas Browne, vol. ii. page 536, Lond. 1835, the bite of the tarantula is +cured, by songs and tunes; and to soothe boils as big as King Hezekiah's, +with fig poultices, according to Scripture; for I have the greatest +reverence for that intuition, whereby such men are spared those _studia +annorum_, so necessary for the acquirement of any tolerable knowledge of +the art of medicine, by all, who are not in holy orders. My objection is +of quite another kind--I object to the union of the cure of souls and the +cure of bodies, in the same person; as I object to the union of Church and +State, and to the union of the power of the purse and the power of the +sword. It is true, withal, that when a sufferer is killed, by ministerial +physic, which never can happen, of course, but for the patient's want of +faith, nobody dreams of such an irreverent proceeding, as pursuing the +officious priest, for _mala praxis_. + +Priests and witches, jugglers, and old women have been the earliest +practitioners of medicine, in every age, and every nation: and the +principal, preventive, and remedial medicines, in all the primitive, +unwritten pharmacopæias, have been consecrated herbs and roots, charms and +incantations, amulets and prayers, and the free use of the Jews'-harp. The +reader has heard the statement of Professor Jahn. In 1803, Dr. +Winterbottom, physician to the colony of Sierra Leone, published, in +London, a very interesting account of the state of medicine, in that +colony. He says, that the practice of physic, in Africa, is entirely in +the hands of old women. These practitioners, like the servants of Saul, +believe, that almost all diseases are caused by evil spirits; in other +words, that their patients are bedevilled: and they rely, mainly, on +charms and incantations. Dr. W. states, that the natives get terribly +drunk, at funerals--funerals produce drunkenness--drunkenness produces +fevers--fevers produce death--and death produces funerals. All this is +imputed to witchcraft, acting in a circle. + +In the account of the Voyage of the Ship Duff to Tongataboo, in 1796, the +missionaries give a similar statement of the popular notion, as to the +origin of diseases--the devil is at the bottom of them all; and exorcism +the only remedy. + +In Mill's British India, vol. ii. p. 185, Lond. 1826, the reader may find +a statement of the paltry amount of knowledge, on the subject, not only of +medicine, but of surgery, among the Hindoos: "Even medicine and surgery, +to the cultivation of which so obvious and powerful an interest invites, +had scarcely attracted the rude understanding of the Hindus." + +Sir William Jones, in the Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 354, says, "there +is no evidence, that, in any language of Asia, there exists one original +treatise on medicine, considered as a science." Crawford, in his +Sketches, and he has an exalted opinion of the Hindoos, states, that +surgery is unknown among them; and, that, in cases of wounds from the +sabre or musket, they do no more than wash the wound; bind it up with +fresh leaves, and keep the patient on rice gruel. Buchanan, in his +journey, through Mysore, vol. i. p. 336, informs us, that medicine was in +the hands of ignorant and impudent charlatans. Origen, who was born, about +185 A. D., states that the Egyptians believed thirty-six devils divided +the human body, among them; and that diseases were cured, by supplication +and sacrifice, to the particular devil, within whose precinct the malady +lay. This is a convenient kind of practice. May it not have some relation +to the fact, referred to by Herodotus, in his History, book ii. sec. 84, +that the doctors, in Egypt, were not practitioners, in a general sense, +but for one part of the body only. Possibly, though I affirm nothing of +the sort, Origen may have written _devils_ for _doctors_, by mistake: for +the doctors, in those days, were, manifestly, very little better. + +If it be true--_et quis negat?_--that Hippocrates was the father of +physic--the child was neither born nor begotten, before its father, of +course, and Hippocrates was born, about 400 B. C., which, according to +Calmet, was about 600 years after David practised upon Saul, with his +Jews'-harp. His genealogy was quite respectable. He descended from +Æsculapius, through a long line of doctors; and, by the mother's side, he +was the eighteenth from Hercules, who was, of course, the great +grandfather of physic, at eighteen removes; and who, it will be +remembered, was an eminent practitioner, and doctored the Hydra. Divesting +the subject of all, that is magical and fantastical, Hippocrates thought +and taught such rational things, as no physician had thought and taught +before. It appears amazing to us, the uninitiated, that the healing art +should have been successfully practised at all, from the beginning of the +world, till 1628, in utter ignorance of the circulation of the blood; yet +it was in that year the discovery was made, when Dr. William Harvey +dedicated to Charles I. and published his _Exercitatio anatomica de motu +cordis et sanguinis_. + + + + +No. CIX. + + +Quackery may be found, in every vocation, from the humblest, to the +holiest. + +_If the dead rise not at all_, says St. Paul, _what shall they do, who are +baptized for the dead_! Nine different opinions are set forth, by Bosius, +in regard to the true meaning of this passage. Scaliger and Grotius, who +were men of common sense, conclude, that St. Paul referred to a practice, +existing at the time; and St. Chrysostom tells a frolicsome story of this +vicarious baptism; that a living sponsor was concealed under the bed of +the defunct, and answered all the questions, put by the sagacious priest, +to the corpse, about to be baptized. + +The dead have been, occasionally, through inadvertence, summoned to give +evidence, in courts of justice. But, fortunately for quacks, in every +department, dead men are mute upon the stand. + +Saul, if we may believe the singing women, who came out to meet him, after +the fall of Goliath, hath slain his thousands; and, could dead men +testify, it would, doubtless, appear, that quacks have slain their tens of +thousands. When we consider the overbearing influence of that ignorant, +impudent, and plausible jabber, which the quack has always at command, it +must be admitted, that these, his fatal victories, are achieved, with the +very same weapon, employed by Samson, in his destruction of the +Philistines. + +There is nothing marvellous, in the existence of quackery, if we recognize +the maxim of M. Sorbiere, in his _Relation d'une Voiage en Angleterre_, p. +155, _homo est animal credulum et mendax_--man is a credulous and lying +animal. David said, that all men were liars; but, as this is found in one +of his lyrics, and he admits, that he uttered it in haste, it may be +fairly carried to the account of _poetica licentia_. With no more, +however, than a moderate allowance, for man's notorious diathesis towards +lying, for pleasure or profit, it is truly wonderful, that credulity +should preserve its relative level, as it does, and ever has done, since +the world began. Many, who will not go an inch with the Almighty, without +a sign, will deliver their noses, for safe keeping, into the hands of a +charlatan, and be led by him, blindfold, to the charnel-house. Take away +credulity, and the world would speedily prove an exhausted receiver, for +all manner of quackery. + +At the close of the seventeenth century, there was a famous impostor in +France, whom the royal family, on account of his marvellous powers, +invited to Paris. His name was James Aymar. I shall speak of him more +fully hereafter; and refer to him, at present, in connection with a remark +of Leibnitz. Aymar's imposture had no relation to the healing art, but the +remark of Leibnitz is not, on that account, the less applicable. That +great man wrote a letter, in 1694, which may be found in the Journal of +Tenzelius, in which he refers to Aymar's fraud, and to his subsequent +confession, before the Prince of Condè. Aymar said, according to Leibnitz, +that he was led on, _non tam propria audacia, quam aliena credulitate +hominum, falli volentium, et velut obtrudentium sibi_--not so much by his +own audacity, as by the credulity of others, who were not only willing to +be cheated, but actually thrust themselves upon him. All Paris was +occupied, in attempting to explain the mystery of Aymar's performances, +with his wonderful wand: and Leibnitz says-- + +_Nuper scripsi Parisios, utilius et examine dignius, mihi videri problema +morale vel logicum, quomodo tot viri insignes Lugduni in fraudem ducti +fuerint, quam illud pseudo-physicum, quomodo virga coryllacea tot miracula +operetur_--I wrote lately to the Parisians, that a solution of the moral +or logical problem, how it happened, that so many distinguished persons, +in Lyons, came to be taken in, seemed to me of much greater utility, and +far more worthy of investigation, than how this fellow performed miracles, +with his hazel wand. + +It is worth noting, perhaps, that Leibnitz himself, according to the +statement of the Abbé Conti, in the _Gazzette Litteraire_, for 1765, fell +a victim to a quack medicine, given him by a Jesuit, for the gout. + +Ignorance is the hotbed of credulity. This axiom is not the less +respectable, because the greatest philosophers, occasionally, place +confidence in the veriest fools, and do their bidding. Wise and learned +men, beyond the pale of their professional pursuits, or peculiar studies, +are, very frequently, the simplest of simple folk--_non omnia possumus +omnes_. Ignorance must be very common; for a vast majority of the human +race have not proceeded so far, in the great volume of wisdom and +knowledge, as that profitable but humiliating chapter, whose perusal is +likely to stimulate their energies, by convincing them, that they are of +yesterday and know nothing. Credulity must therefore be very common. + +Credulity has very little scope, for its fantastical operations among the +exact sciences. Who does not foresee the fate of a geometrical quack, who +should maintain, that the square of the hypothenuse, in a right-angled +triangle, is either greater or less than the sum of the squares of the +sides; or of the quack arithmetician, who would persuade our housewives, +that of two and two pounds of Muscovado sugar, he had actually discovered +the art of making five? + +The healing art--the science of medicine, cannot be placed, in the exact +category. + +It is a popular saying, that _there is a glorious uncertainty in the law_. +This opinion has been ably considered, by that most amiable and learned +man, the late John Pickering, in his lecture, on the alleged uncertainty +of the law--before the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, in +1834. The credulity of the client, to which Mr. Pickering does not refer, +must, in some cases, be of extraordinary strength and quality. After +presenting a case to his counsel, as favorably to himself as he can, and +carefully suppressing much, that is material and adverse, he fondly +believes, that his advocate will be able to mesmerise the court and jury, +and procure a verdict, in opposition to the facts, apparent at the trial. +He is disappointed of course; and then he complains of the uncertainty of +the law, instead of the uncertainty of the facts. + +In a dissertation, before the Medical Society, in June, 1828, Dr. George +Cheyne Shattuck, after setting forth a melancholy catalogue of the +troubles and perplexities of the medical profession, concludes by saying, +that "all these trials, to which the physician is subjected, do not equal +that, which proceeds from the _uncertainty_ of the healing art." When we +contrast this candid avowal, from an accomplished and experienced +physician, with the splendid promises, and infallible assurances of +empirics--with their balms of Gilead, panaceas, and elixirs of everlasting +life--we cannot marvel, that the larger part of all the invalids, in this +uncertain and credulous world, fly from those conservative professors, who +promise nothing, to such as will assure them of a perfect relief, from +their maladies, no matter how complicated, or chronic, they may be--with +four words of inspiriting import--NO CURE NO PAY. + +I am no physician; my opinion therefore is not presented _ex cathedra_: +but the averment of Dr. Shattuck is, I presume, to be viewed in no other +light, than as the opinion of an honorable man, who would rather claim too +little, than too much, for his own profession: who would rather perform +more, than he has promised, than promise more, than he can perform. If the +regularly bred and educated physician complains of uncertainty, none but a +madman would seek for its opposite, in the palace, or the kennel, of a +quack; for the charlatan may occasionally be found in either. + +The first thing to be done, I suppose, by the regular doctor, is to +ascertain what the disease is. This, I believe, is the very last thing, +thought of by the charlatan. He is spared the labor of all pathological +inquiry, for all his medicines are, fortunately, panaceas. Thus, he +administers a medicine, for the gout; the patient does not happen to have +the gout, but the gravel; it is the same thing; for the physic, like our +almanacs, was calculated, for different meridians. + +These gentlemen sometimes limit their practice to particular diseases, +cancers, fistulas, fevers, &c. A memorial was presented, some few years +since, to the legislature of Alabama, for the establishment of a medical +college, to be devoted, exclusively, to vegetable practice. A shrewd, old +member of the assembly rose, and spoke, much after this fashion--I shall +support this measure, Mr. Speaker, on one condition, that a neighbor of +mine shall be appointed president of this college. It is proper, +therefore, that you should know how far he is qualified. He was a +travelling merchant; dealt chiefly in apple-trade and other notions, and +failed. He had once taken an old book, on fevers, in exchange for +essences. This he got by heart. Fevers are common with us. He was a man of +some tact; and, a week after he failed, he put up his sign, "BELA BODKIN, +FEVER DOCTOR--ROOTS AND HERBS--F. R. S.--L. L. D.--M. D. No charge to the +poor or the reverend clergy."--When asked, what he meant by adding those +capital letters to his name, he said the alphabet was common property; +that F. R. S. stood for Feverfew, Ragwort, and Slippery Elm--L. L. D. for +Liverwort, Lichens, and Dill--and M. D. for Milk Diet. + +The thing took--his garret was crowded, from morning till night, and the +regular doctor was driven out of that town. Those, who got well, +proclaimed Dr. Bodkin's praises--those, who died, were a very silent +majority. Everybody declared, of the dead, 'twas a pity they had applied +too late. Bodkin was once called to a farmer's wife. He entered the house, +with his book under his arm, saying FEVER! with a loud voice, as he +crossed the threshhold. This evidence of his skill was astonishing. +Without more than a glance at the patient, he asked the farmer, if he had +a sorrel sheep; and, being told, that he had never heard of such a thing, +he inquired, if he had a sorrel horse. The farmer replied, that he had, +and a very valuable one. Dr. Bodkin assured him the horse must be killed +immediately, and a broth made of the _in'ards_ for the sick wife. The +farmer hesitated; the wife groaned; the doctor opened the book, and showed +his authority--there it was--readable enough--"_sheep sorrel, horse +sorrel, good in fevers_." The farmer smiled--the doctor departed in anger, +saying, as he went, "you may decide which you will sacrifice, your wife or +your nag." The woman died, and, shortly after, the horse. The neighbors +considered the farmer a hard-hearted man--the wife a victim to the +husband's selfishness--the sudden death of the horse a particular +providence--and Dr. Bodkin the most skilful of physicians. + + + + +No. CX. + + +No class of men, not even the professors of the wrangling art, are, and +ever have been, more universally used and abused, than the members of the +medical profession. It has always appeared to me, that this abuse has been +occasioned, in some degree, by the pompous air and Papal pretensions of +certain members of the faculty; for the irritation of disappointment is, +in the ratio of encouragement and hope; and the tongue of experience can +have little to say of the infallibility of the medical art. The candid +admission of its uncertainty, by Dr. Shattuck, in his dissertation, to +which I have referred, is the true mode of erecting a barrier, between +honorable and intelligent practitioners, and charlatans. + +The opinion of Cato and of Pliny, in regard to the art is, of course, to +be construed, with an allowance, for its humble condition, in their day. +With the exception of the superstitious, and even magical, employment of +roots and herbs, it consisted, essentially, in externals. There was +nothing like a systematic nosology. The [Greek: iatroi] of Athens, and the +_medici_ of Rome were _vulnerarii_, or surgeons. Cato, who died at the age +of 85, U. C. 605, is reported, by Pliny, lib. xxix. cap. 7, to have said +of the doctors, in a letter to his son Marcus--_Jurarunt inter se, +barbaros, necare omnes, medicina_. They have sworn among themselves, +barbarians as they are, to kill us all with their physic. In cap. 5 of the +same book, he thus expresses his opinion--_mutatur ars quotidie, toties +interpolis, et ingeniorum Greciæ flatu impellimur: palamque est, ut +quisque inter istos loquendo polleat, imperatorem illico vitæ nostræ +necisque fieri: ceu vero non millia gentium sine medicis degant_. The art +is varying, from day to day: as often as a change takes place, we are +driven along, by some new wind of doctrine from Greece. When it becomes +manifest, that one of these doctors gains the ascendency, by his +harangues, he becomes, upon the spot, the arbiter of our life and death; +as though there were not thousands of the nations, who got along without +doctors. In the same passage he says, the art was not practised, among the +Romans, until the sixth hundredth year, from the building of the city. + +The healing art seems to have been carried on, in those days, with fire +and sword, that is, with the knife and the cautery. In cap. 6, of the same +book, Pliny tells us, that, U. C. 535, _Romam venisse--vulnerarium--mireque +gratum adventum ejus initio: mox a sævitia secandi urendique transisse +nomen in carnificem, et in tædium artem_--there came to Rome a surgeon, +who was, at first, cordially received, but, shortly, on account of his +cuttings and burnings, they called him a butcher, and his art a nuisance. + +A professional wrestler, who was unsuccessful, in his profession, met +Diogenes, the cynic, as we are told, by Diog. Laertius, in Vita, lib. vi. +p. 60, and told him, that he had given up wrestling, and taken to +physic--"_Well done_," said the philosopher, "_now thou wilt be able to +throw those, who have thrown thee_." + +The revolutions, which took place, in the practice of the healing art, +previously to the period, when Pliny composed his Natural History, are +certainly remarkable. Chrysippus, as far as he was able, overthrew the +system of Hippocrates; Erasistratus overthrew the system of Chrysippus; +the Empirics, or experimentalists, overthrew, to the best of their +ability, the system of Erasistratus; Herophilus did the very same thing, +for the Empirics; Asclepiades turned the tables, upon Herophilus; Vexius +Valens next came into vogue, as the leader of a sect; then Thessalus, in +Nero's age, opposed all previous systems; the system of Thessalus was +overthrown by Crinas of Marseilles; and so on, to the end of the +chapter--which chapter, by the way, somewhat resembles the first chapter +of Matthew, substituting the word _overthrew_ for the word _begat_. + +Water doctors certainly existed, in those ancient days. After Crinas, says +Pliny, cap. 5, of the same book, there came along one--_damnatis non solum +prioribus medicis, verum, et balineis; frigidaque etiam hibernis algoribus +lavari persuasit. Mergit ægros in lacus. Videbamus senes consulares usque +in ostentationem rigentes. Qua de re exstat etiam Annæi Senecæ stipulatio. +Nec dubium est omnes istos famam novitate aliqua aucupantes anima statim +nostra negotiari._ Condemning not only all former physicians, but the +baths, then in use, he persuaded his patients to use cold water, during +the rigors of winter. He plunged sick folks in ponds. We have seen certain +aged, consular gentlemen, freezing themselves, from sheer ostentation. We +have the personal statement of Annæus Seneca, in proof of this practice. +Nor can it be doubted, that those quacks, greedily seeking fame, by the +production of some novelty, would readily bargain away any man's life, for +lucre. The statement of Seneca, to which Pliny refers, may be found in +Seneca's letters, 53, and 83, both to Lucilius; in which he tells his +friend, that, according to his old usage, he bathed in the Eurypus, upon +the Kalends of January. + +It would be easy to fill a volume, with the railings of such peevish +philosophers, as Michael De Montaigne, against all sorts of physic and +physicians. We are very apt to treat doctors and deities, in the same +way--to scoff at them, in health, and fly to them, in sickness. + +That was a pertinent question of Cicero's, lib. i. de Divinatione, 14. _An +Medicina, ars non putanda est, quam tamen multa fallunt? * * * num +imperatorum scientia nihil est, quia summus imperator nuper fugit, amisso +exercitu? Aut num propterea nulla est reipublicæ gerendæ ratio atque, +prudentia, quia multa Cn. Pompeium, quædam Catonem, nonnulla etiam te +ipsum fe fellerunt?_ As to medicine shall it be accounted not an art, +because of the great uncertainty therein? What, then, is there no such +thing as military skill, because a great commander lately fled, and lost +his army? Can there be no such thing as a wise and prudent government, +because Pompey has been often mistaken, even Cato sometimes, and yourself, +now and then? + +If much more than all, that has been proclaimed, were true, in regard to +the uncertainty of the healing art, still the practice of seeking some +kind of counsel and assistance, whenever a screw gets loose, in our +tabernacle of the flesh, is not likely to go out of fashion. What shall we +do? Follow the tetotum doctor, and swallow a purge, if P. come uppermost? +This is good evidence of our faith, in the doctrine of uncertainty. Or +shall we go for the doctor, who works the cheapest? There is no reason, +why we should not cheapen our physic, if we cheapen our salvation; for +pack horses of all sorts, lay and clerical, are accounted the better +workers, when they are rather low in flesh. Or shall we follow the example +of the mutual admiration society, and get up a mutual physicking +association? Most men are pathologists, by intuition. I have been +perfectly astonished to find how many persons, especially females and root +doctors, know just what ails their neighbors, upon the very first hint of +their being out of order, without even seeing them. + +It is a curious fact, that, while men of honor, thoroughly educated, and +who have devoted their whole lives, to the study and practice of the +healing art, candidly admit its uncertainty, the ignorant and unprincipled +of the earth alone, who have impudently resorted to the vocation, +suddenly, and as an antidote to absolute starvation, boast of their +infallibility, and deal in nothing, but panaceas. The fools, in this +pleasant world, are such a respectable and wealthy minority, that the +charlatan will not cease from among us, until the last of mortals shall +have put on immortality: and then, like the fellow, who entered Charon's +boat, with his commodities, he will try to smuggle some of his patent +medicines, or _leetil doshes_, into the other world. + +A curious illustration of the popular notion, that no man is guilty of any +presumptuous sin, merely because, after lying down, at night, a notorious +_pedler_ or _tinker_, he rises, in the morning, a _physician_, may be +found, in the fact, that a watchmaker, who would laugh at a tailor, should +he offer to repair a timekeeper, will readily confide in him, as a +physician, for himself, his wife, or his child. + +The most delicate female will sometimes submit her person, to the rubbings +and manipulations of a blacksmith, in preference to following the +prescriptions of a regular physician. A respectable citizen, with a pimple +on the end of his nose, resembling, upon the testimony of a dozen old +ladies, in the neighborhood, the identical cancer, of which every one of +them was cured, by the famous Indian doctress, in Puzzlepot Alley, will, +now and then, give his confidence to a lying, ignorant, half-drunken +squaw, rather than to the most experienced member of the medical +profession. + +Suffer me to close this imperfect sketch, with the words of Lord Bacon, +vol. i. page 120, Lond. 1824. "We see the weakness and credulity of men is +such, as they will often prefer a mountebank or witch, before a learned +physician. And therefore the poets were clear-sighted, in discerning this +extreme folly, when they made Æsculapius and Circe brother and sister. +For, in all times, in the opinion of the multitude, witches, and old +women, and impostors have had a competition with physicians. And what +followeth? Even this, that physicians say, to themselves, as Solomon +expresseth it, upon a higher occasion, _If it befall to me, as befalleth +to the fools, why should I labor to be more wise?_" + + + + +No. CXI. + + +Van Butchell, the fistula-doctor, in London, some forty years ago, had a +white horse, and he painted the animal, with many colored spots. He also +wore an enormous beard. These tricks were useful, in attracting notice. In +the Harleian Miscellany, vol. viii. page 135, Lond. 1810, there is a +clever article on quackery, published in 1678, from which I will extract a +passage or two, for the benefit of the fraternity: "Any sexton will +furnish you with a skull, in hope of your custom; over which hang up the +skeleton of a monkey, to proclaim your skill in anatomy. Let your table be +never without some old musty Greek or Arabic author, and the fourth book +of Cornelius Agrippa's Occult Philosophy, wide open, with half a dozen +gilt shillings, as so many guineas, received, that morning for fees. Fail +not to oblige neighboring ale-houses to recommend you to inquirers; and +hold correspondence with all the nurses and midwives near you, to applaud +your skill at gossippings. The admiring patient shall cry you up for a +scholar, provided always your nonsense be fluent, and mixed with a +disparagement of the college, graduated doctors, and book-learned +physicians. Pretend to the cure of all diseases, especially those, that +are incurable." + +There are gentlemen of the medical and surgical professions, whose high +reputation, for science and skill, is perfectly established, and who have +humanely associated their honorable names with certain benevolent +societies. Such is the fact, in regard to Dr. John Collins Warren, who, by +his adoption of the broad ground of total abstinence from all intoxicating +liquors, as a beverage, by men in health, and by his consistent practice +and example, has become entitled to the grateful respect of every +well-wisher of the temperance cause. To the best of my ability, I have +long endeavored to do, for the sextons, the very thing, which that +distinguished man would accomplish for the doctors, and other classes. +Never did mortal more certainly oppose his own interest, than a physician, +or a sexton, who advocates the temperance reform. + +There are, however, personages, in the medical profession, regulars, as +well as volunteers, who cling to certain societies, with the paralyzing +grasp of death--holding on to their very skirts, as boys cling behind our +vehicles, _to get a cast_. The patronage and advocacy of some of these +individuals are absolutely fatal. It may be surely affirmed of more than +one of their number, _nihil tetigit quod non damnavit_. + +I have long been satisfied, that, without a great increase of societies, +it will be utterly impossible to satisfy the innumerable aspirants, for +the offices of President, Vice President, &c., in our ambitious community. +A sagacious, medical friend of mine, whose whole heart is devoted to the +public service, and I am sorry to say it, to the injury of his wife and +children, has handed me a list of several societies, for the want of +which, he assures me, the citizens of Boston are actually suffering, at +the present moment. For myself, I cannot pretend to judge of such +matters. A publication of the list may interest the benevolent, and, +possibly, promote the cause of humanity. I give it entire:-- + +A society, for soothing the feelings and relieving the apprehensions of +criminals, especially midnight assassins. + +A mutual relief society, in case of flatulent colic. + +A society, for the diffusion of buttermilk, with funds to enable the +visiting committee to place a full jug, in the hands of every man, woman +and child, in the United States, upon the first Monday of every month. + +A friendly cockroach-trap society. + +A society, composed exclusively of medical men, without practice, for the +destruction of sowbugs and pismires, throughout the Commonwealth. + +A society, for the promotion of domestic happiness, with power to send for +persons and papers. + +A society, for elevating the standard of education, by introducing +trigonometry into infant schools. + +An association, for the gratuitous administration, to the poorer classes, +by steam power, of anodyne clysters. + +Let us return to the faculty. I am in favor of some peculiarity, in the +dress and equipage of medical men. With the exception of certain stated +hours, they cannot be found at home; and the case may be one of emergency. +Van Butchell's spotted horse was readily distinguished, from Charing Cross +to Temple Bar. This was very convenient for those, who were in quest of +that remarkable leech. A small mast, abaft the vehicle, whether sulky, +buggy, chariot, or phaeton, bearing the owner's private signal, would +afford great public accommodation. There is nothing more nautical in such +an arrangement, than in the use of the _killeck_, or small anchor, which +many of the faculty regularly cast, when they are about to board a +patient, and as regularly weigh, when they are about to take a new +departure. + +The bright yellow chariot of Dr. Benjamin Rush was universally known in +Philadelphia, and its environs; and his peculiar features are not likely +to escape from the memory of any man, who ever beheld them. These striking +points were seized, by that arch villain, Cobbett, when he published his +pictured libel, representing that eminent physician, looking out of his +chariot window, with a label, proceeding from his mouth--_Bleed and purge +all Kensington!_ Upon Cobbett's trial for this libel, Dr. Rush swore, +that, by making him ridiculous, it had seriously affected his practice. + +Dr. James Lloyd was easily discovered, by his large bay horse--take him +for all in all--the finest harness gelding of his day, in Boston. With the +eyes of a Swedenborgian, I see the good, old doctor now; and I hear the +tramp of those highly polished, white topped boots; and I almost feel the +lash of his horsewhip, around my boyish legs, rather too harshly +administered, for mild practice however--but he was an able physician, and +a gentleman--_factus ad unguem_. His remarkable courtliness of manner, +arose, doubtless, in some degree, from his relation to the nobility. +During the siege, General Howe and Lord Percy were his intimate friends; +the latter was his tenant in 1775, occupying the Vassal estate, for which +Dr. Lloyd was the agent, and which afterwards became the residence of the +late Gardner Greene. + +Dr. Danforth, who resided, in 1789, near the residence of Dr. Lloyd, on +Pemberton's Hill, nearly opposite Concert Hall, and, subsequently, in +Green Street, might be recognized, by the broad top of his chaise, and the +unvarying moderation of the pace, at which he drove. He was tall and thin. +His features were perfectly Brunonian. There seemed to be nothing +antiphlogistic about him. When pleased, he was very gentlemanly, in his +manner and carriage. He ever placed himself, with remarkable exactitude, +in the very centre of his vehicle, bolt upright; and, with his stern +expression, wrinkled features, remarkably aquiline nose, prominent chin, +and broad-brimmed hat, appeared, even some fifty years ago, like a remnant +of a by-gone age. He had been a royalist. His manners were occasionally +rough and overbearing. + +I remember to have told my mother, when a boy, that I should not like to +take Dr. Danforth's physic. The character of his practice is, doubtless, +well remembered, by those, who have taken his _divers_, as they were +called, and lived to tell of it. The late Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse being +interrogated, by some aged spinsters, as to the difference, between the +practice of Dr. Danforth and his opponents, replied, that there were two +ways of putting a disordered clock in tolerable condition--the first, by +taking it apart, cleaning its various members of their dust and dirt, +applying a little oil to the pivots, and attaching no other than its +former weight; "and then," said he, "it will go very well, for a +considerable time; and this we call the anti-Brunonian system." + +The second method he described, as follows: "You are to take no pains +about examining the parts; let the dust and dirt remain, by all means; +apply no oil to the pivots; but hitch on three or four times the original +weight, and you will be able to drag it along, after a fashion; and this +is the Brunonian system." In this, the reader will recognize one of the +pleasantries of Dr. Waterhouse, rather than an impartial illustration. + +Dr. Isaac Rand, the son of Dr. Isaac Rand, of Charlestown, lived, in 1789, +some sixty years ago, in Middle Street, just below Cross: in after years, +he resided, till his death, in 1822, in Atkinson Street. He was a pupil of +Dr. Lloyd. His liberalities to the poor became a proverb. The chaise, in +which he practised, in his latter days, was a notable object. The width of +it, though not equal to that of Solomon's temple, was several cubits. It +became the property of the late Sheriff Badlam, who filled it to +admiration. The mantle of Elijah was not a closer fit, upon the shoulders +of Elisha. + +Dr. Rand was an able physician, and a truly good man. He made rather a +more liberal use of the learned terms of his profession, than was the +practice of other physicians. With him, this arose from habit, and a +desire to speak with accuracy, and not from affectation. Charles Austin +was shot dead, in State Street, by Thomas O. Selfridge, August 4, 1806, in +self-defence. Dr. Rand was a witness, at the trial; and his long and +learned, professional terms, so completely confounded the stenographers, +that they were obliged to beat the _chamade_, and humbly beg for plainer +English. + +I have more to say of these interesting matters, but am too near the +boundary wall of my paper, to enter upon their consideration, at present. + + + + +No. CXII. + + +In my last number, I referred to three eminent physicians, of the olden +time, Drs. Lloyd, Danforth, and Rand. Some sixty years ago, there were +three and twenty physicians, in this city, exclusive of quacks. The +residences of the three I have already stated. Dr. James Pecker resided, +at the corner of Hanover and Friend Street--Thomas Bulfinch, in Bowdoin +Square--Charles Jarvis, in Common Street--Lemuel Hayward, opposite the +sign of the White Horse, in Newbury Street--Thomas Kast, in Fish Street, +near the North Square--David Townsend, in Southack's Court--John Warren, +next door to Cromwell's Head, in South Latin School Street, then kept by +Joshua Brackett--Thomas Welsh, in Sudbury Street, near Concert +Hall--William Eustis, in Sudbury Street, near the Mill Pond--John Homans, +No. 6 Marlborough Street--John Sprague, in Federal Street--Nathaniel W. +Appleton, in South Latin School Street, near the Stone Chapel--Joseph +Whipple, in Orange Street--Aaron Dexter, in Milk Street, opposite the +lower end of the rope walks, that were burnt, in the great fire, July 30, +1794--Abijah Cheever, in Hanover Street--William Spooner, in Cambridge +Street--John Fleet, in Milk Street--Amos Winship, in Hanover +Street--Robert Rogerson, in Ship Street--Alexander A. Peters, in +Marlborough Street--John Jeffries, who, in 1776, went to Halifax, with the +British garrison, did not return and resume practice in Boston, till 1790. + +Ten years after, in 1799, the number had increased to twenty-nine, of whom +nineteen were of the old guard of 1789. + +In 1816, the number had risen to forty-three, of whom eight only were of +1789. In 1830, the number was seventy-five, two only surviving of +1789--Drs. William Spooner and Thomas Welsh. + +In 1840, we had, in Boston, one hundred and twenty-two physicians, +surgeons, and dentists, and a population of 93,383. There are now, in this +physicky metropolis, according to the Directory, for 1848-9, physicians, +of all sorts, not including those for the soul, but doctors, surgeons, +dentists, regulars and quacks, of all colors and both sexes, 362. THREE +HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO: an increase of two hundred and forty, in eight +years. This is certainly encouraging. If 122 doctors are quite as many, as +93,383 Athenians ought to bear, 362 require about 280,000 patients, and +such should be our population. Let us arrange this formidable host. At the +very _tete d'armee_, marching left in front, we have seven _Female +Physicians_, preceded by an _Indian doctress_--next in order, come the +surgeon _Dentists_, seventy in number--then the main body, to whom the +publisher of the Directory courteously and indiscriminately applies the +title of _Physicians_, two hundred and fifty-seven, rank and file;--seven +and twenty _Botanic Doctors_ bring up the rear! How appropriate, in the +hand of the very last of this enormous _cortege_, would be a banner, +inscribed with those well known words--GOD SAVE THE COMMONWEALTH OF +MASSACHUSETTS! + +I shall devote this paper to comparative statistics. In 1789, with +twenty-three physicians in Boston, four less, than the present number of +_botanic doctors_ alone, and three hundred and thirty-nine less, than the +present number of regulars and pretenders, there were nine only of _our_ +profession, regularly enrolled, as F. U., funeral undertakers, and placed +upon a footing with the Roman _designatores_, or _domini funerum_. There +were several others, who bore to our profession the same relation, which +bachelors of medicine bear to theirs, and who were entitled to subscribe +themselves D. G., diggers of graves. Yet in 1840, the year, which I take, +as a _point d'appui_ for my calculations, there were only twenty, enrolled +as F. U., with 362 medical operatives, busily at work, day and night, upon +the insides and outsides of our fellow-citizens! Here is matter for +marvel! How was it done? Did the dead bury the dead? I presume the +solution lies, in the fact, that there existed an unrecorded number of +those, who were D. G. only. + +There were few dentists, _eo nomine_, some sixty years ago. Our ancestors +appear to have gotten along pretty comfortably, in spite of their teeth. +Many of those, who practised the "_dental art_," had so little employment, +that it became convenient to unite their dental practice, with some other +occupation. Thus John Templeman, was a _broker and dentist_, at the +northeast corner of the Old State House. Whitlock was, doubtless, +frequently called out, from a rehearsal, at the play house, to pull a +refractory grinder. Isaac Greenwood advertises, in the Columbian Sentinel +of June 1, 1785, not only his desire to wait upon all, who may require his +services, at their houses, in the dental line; but a variety of umbrellas, +canes, silk caps for bathing, dice, chess men, and cane for hoops and +bonnets, by the dozen, or single stick. In the Boston Mercury of Jan. 6, +1797, W. P. Greenwood combines, with his dental profession, the sale of +piano-fortes and guitars. In 1799, the registered dentists were three +only, Messrs. Isaac and Wm. P. Greenwood, and Josiah Flagg. In 1816, there +were three only, Wm. P. Greenwood, Thomas Parsons, and Thomas Barnes. + +It would appear somewhat extravagant, perhaps, to state, that, including +doctors of all sorts, there is a fraction more than two doctors to every +one merchant, _eo nomine_, excluding commission merchants, of course, in +the city of Boston. Such, nevertheless, appears to be the fact, unless Mr. +Adams has made some important error, which I do not suspect, in his +valuable Directory, for 1848-9. + +It will not be utterly worthless, to contemplate the quartermaster's +department of this portentous army; and compare it with the corresponding +establishment of other times. In 1789, there were fifteen druggists and +apothecaries, in the town of Boston. Examples were exceedingly rare, in +those days, of wholesale establishments, exclusively dealing in drugs and +medicines. At present, we have, in this city, eighty-nine apothecaries, +doing business, in as many different places--drugs and medicines are also +sold, at wholesale, in forty-four establishments--there are fourteen +special depots, for the sale of patent medicines, Gordak's drugs, Indian +purgatives, Holman's restorative, Brandreth's pills, Sherry wine bitters, +and pectoral balsam, Graefenberg's medicines, and many other kinds of +nastiness--eighteen dealers exclusively in botanic medicines--ninety-seven +nurses--twenty-eight undertakers--and eight warehouses for the sale of +coffins! + +It is amusing, if nothing worse, to compare the relative increase, in the +number of persons, who are, in various ways, employed about the sick, the +dying, and the dead, in killing, or curing, or comforting, or burying, +with the increase in some other crafts and callings. In 1789, there were +thirty-one bakers, in Boston: there are now fifty-seven. The number has +not doubled in sixty years. The number of doctors then, as I have stated, +was twenty-three: now, charlatans included, it falls short, only six, of +sixteen times that number. + +There were then sixty-seven tailors' shops; there are now one hundred and +forty-eight such establishments. There were then thirty-six barbers, +hair-dressers, and wig-makers: there are now ninety-one. There were then +one hundred and five cabinet-makers and carpenters: there are now three +hundred and fifty. This ratio of comparison will, by no means, hold, in +some other callings. There were then nine auctioneers: there are now +fifty-two. There were then seven brokers, of all sorts: there are now two +hundred and ten. The source from which I draw my information, is the +Directory of 1789, "printed and sold by John Norman, at Oliver's Dock," +and of which the writer speaks, in his preface, as "_this first attempt_." +For want of sufficient designation, it is impossible, in this primitive +work, to pick out the members of the legal profession. Compared with the +present fraternity, whose name is legion, they were very few. There are +more than three hundred and fifty practitioners of the law, in this city. +In this, as in the medical profession, there are, and ever will be, _ex +necessitate rei_, infernal scoundrels, and highly intelligent and +honorable men--blind guides and safe counsellors. Not very long ago, a day +of purification was appointed--some plan seemed to be excogitating, for +the ventilation of the brotherhood. For once, they were gathered together, +brothers, looking upon the features of brothers, and knowing them not. +This was an occasion of mutual interest, and the arena was common +ground--they came, some of them, doubtless, from strange quarters, lofty +attics and lowly places-- + + "From all their dens the one-eyed race repair, + From rifted rocks, and mountains high in air." + +When doctors, lawyers, and brokers are greatly upon the increase, it is +very clear, that we are getting into the way of submitting our bodies and +estates, to be frequently, and extensively, tinkered. + +I cannot doubt, that in 1789, there were quacks, about town, who could not +contrive to get their names inserted, in the same page, with the regular +physicians. I cannot believe, however, that they bore any proportion to +the unprincipled and ignorant impostors, at the present time. In the +"Massachusetts Centinel," of Sept. 21, 1785, is the following +advertisement--"_John Pope, who, for eighteen years past, has been noted +for curing Cancers, schrophulous Tumours, fetid and phagedenic Ulcers, +&c., has removed into a house, the north corner of Orange and Hollis +Street, South End, Boston, where he proposes to open a school, for +Reading, Writing, Arithmetick, &c._" + +In 1789 there were twenty-two distillers of rum in Boston: there are nine +only, named in the Directory of 1848-9. The increase of doctors and all +the appliances of sickness and death have not probably arisen from the +falling off, among distillers. In 1789, there were about twenty +innholders: there are now eighty-eight public houses, hotels, or +taverns--ninety-two restaurants--thirty-five confectionery +establishments--thirty-nine stores, under the caption of "liquors and +wines"--sixty-nine places, for the sale of oysters, which are not always +the _spiritless_ things they appear to be--one hundred and forty-three +wholesale dealers, in West India goods and groceries--three hundred and +seventy-three retailers of such articles: I speak not of those, who fall +below the dignity of history; whose operations are entirely subterraneous; +and whose entire stock in trade might be carried, in a wheelbarrow. We +have also one hundred and fifty-two provision dealers. We live well in +this city. It would be very pleasant, to walk over it, with old Captain +Keayne, who died here, March 23, 1656, and who left a sum of money to the +town, to erect a granary or storehouse, for the poor, in case of famine! + + + + +No. CXIII. + + +The Quack is commonly accounted a spurious leech--a false +doctor--clinging, like a vicious barnacle, to the very bottom of the +medical profession. But impostors exist, in every craft, calling, and +profession, under the names of quacks, empirics, charmers, magicians, +professors, sciolists, plagiaries, enchanters, charlatans, pretenders, +judicial astrologers, quacksalvers, muffs, mountebanks, medicasters, +barrators, cheats, puffs, champertors, cuckoos, diviners, jugglers, and +verifiers of suggestions. + +Butler, in his Hudibras, says, of medical quacks, they + + Seek out for plants, with signatures, + To quack of universal cures. + +In the Spectator, Addison has this observation--"At the first appearance, +that a French quack made in Paris, a boy walked before him, publishing, +with a shrill voice, '_my father cures all sorts of distempers_;' to which +the doctor added, in a grave manner, '_what the boy says is true_.'" + +The imposture of James Aymar, to which I have alluded, was of a different +kind. Aymar was an ignorant peasant of Dauphiné. He finally confessed +himself to be an impostor, before the Prince of Condè; and the whole +affair is narrated, by the apothecary of the prince, in a _Lettre à M. +L'Abbé, D. L., sur les veritables effets de la baguette de Jaques Aymar +par P. Buissiere; chez Louis Lucas, à Paris, 1694_. + +The power of this fellow's wand was not limited, to the discovery of +hidden treasures, or springs of water; nor were his only dupes the lowly +and the ignorant. As I have said, he was detected, and made a full +confession, before the Prince of Condè. The magistrates published an +official account of the imposture; yet such is the energy of the credulous +principle, that M. Vallemont, a man of note, published a treatise "_on the +occult philosophy of the divining wand_;" in which he tries to show, that +Aymar, notwithstanding his mistakes, before the Prince, was really +possessed of all the wonderful power he claimed, of divining with his +wand. The measure of this popular credulity will be better understood, +after perusing the following translation of an extract from the _Mercure +Historique_, for April, 1697, page 440.--"The Prior of the Carthusians +passed through Villeneuve with Aymar, to discover, by the aid of his wand, +some landmarks, that were lost. Just before, a foundling had been left on +the steps of the monastery. Aymar was employed, by the Superior, to find +out the father. Followed by a great crowd, and guided by the indications +of his wand, he went to the village of Comaret, in the County of +Venaissin, and thence to a cottage, where he affirmed the child was born." + +Bayle says, on the authority of another letter from M. Buissiere, in 1698, +that Aymar's apparent simplicity, and rustic dialect, and the rapid motion +of his wand went far, to complete the delusion. He was also exceedingly +devout, and never absent from mass, or confession. While he was at Paris, +and before his exposure, the Pythoness, herself, would not have been more +frequently, and zealously consulted, than was this crafty and ignorant +boor, by the Parisians. Fees showered in from all quarters; and he was +summoned, in all directions, to detect thieves; recover lost property; +settle the question of genuine identity, among the relics of _prima facie_ +saints, in different churches; and, in truth, no limit was set, by his +innumerable dupes, to the power of his miraculous wand. "I myself," says +M. Buissiere, "saw a simple, young fellow, a silk weaver, who was engaged +to a girl, give Aymar a couple of crowns, to know if she were a virgin." + +Joseph Francis Borri flourished, about the middle of the seventeenth +century, and a most complicated scoundrel he was--heresiarch, traitor, +alchymist, and empiric. He had spiritual revelations, of course. He was an +intelligent and audacious liar, and converts came in apace. At his +suggestion, his followers took upon themselves an oath of poverty, and +placed all they possessed in the hands of Borri, who told them he would +take care it should never again interfere with their devotions, but would +be spent in prayers and masses, for their ulcerated souls. The bloodhounds +of the Inquisition were soon upon his track, at the moment he was about to +raise the standard of insurrection in Milan. + +He fled to Amsterdam--made capital of his persecution by the Inquisition; +and won the reputation of a great chemist, and wonderful physician. He +then went to Hamburg, and persuaded Queen Christina, to advance him a +large sum of money, to be reimbursed, from the avails of the philosopher's +stone, which Borri was to discover. This trick was clearly worth +repeating. So thought Borri; and he tried it, with still better success, +on his Majesty of Denmark. Still the stone remained undiscovered; and the +thought occurred to Signor Borri, that it might not be amiss, to look for +it, in Turkey. He accordingly removed; but was arrested at Vienna, by the +Pope's agents; and consigned to the prisons of the Inquisition, for life. +His fame, however, had become so omnipotent, that, upon the earnest +application of the Duke d'Etrée, he was let loose, to prescribe for that +nobleman, whom the regular physicians had given over. The Duke got well, +and the world gave Borri the credit of the cure. When a poor suffering +mortal is given over, in other words, _let alone_, by half a dozen +doctors--I am speaking now of the regulars, not less than of the +volunteers--he, occasionally, gets well. + +A wit replied to a French physician, who was marvelling how a certain Abbé +came to die, since he himself and three other physicians were unremitting, +in their attentions--"_My dear doctor, how could the poor abbé sustain +himself, against you all four?_" The doctors do much as they did of old. +Pliny, lib. xxix. 5, says, of consultations--"_Hinc illæ circa ægros +miseræ sententiarum concertationes, nullo idem censente ne videatur +accessio alterius. Hinc illa infelicis monumenti inscriptio_, TURBA SE +MEDICORUM PERIISSE." Hence those contemptible consultations, round the +beds of the sick--no one assenting to the opinion of another, lest he +should be deemed his subaltern. Hence the monumental inscription, over the +poor fellow, who was destroyed in this way--KILLED BY A MOB OF DOCTORS! + +Who has not seen a fire rekindle, _sua sponte_, after the officious +bellows have, apparently, extinguished the last spark? So, now and then, +the vital spark, stimulated by the _vis medicatrix naturæ_ will rekindle +into life and action, after having been well nigh smothered, by all sorts +of complicated efforts to restore it. + +This is the _punctum instans_, the very nick of time, for the charlatan: +in he comes, looking insufferably wise, and brim full of sympathetic +indignation. All has been done wrong, of course. While he affects to be +doing everything, he does exactly nothing--stirs up an invisible, +impalpable, infinitessimal, incomprehensible particle, in a little water, +which the patient can neither see, feel, taste, nor smell. Down it goes. +The patient's faith, as to the size of it, rather resembles a cocoanut +than a grain of mustard seed. His confidence in the _new_ doctor is as +gigantic, and as blind, as Polyphemus, after he had been _gouged_, by him +of Ithaca. He plants his galvanic grasp, upon the wrist of the little +doctor, much in the manner of a drowning man, clutching at a full grown +straw. He is absolutely better already. The wife and the little ones look +upon the mountebank, as their preserver from widowhood and orphanage. +"_Dere ish noting_," he says, "_like de leetil doshes_;" and he takes his +leave, regretting, as he closes the door, that his sleeve is not large +enough, to hold the sum total of his laughter. Yet some of these quacks +become _honest men_; and, however surprised at the result, they are +finally unable, to resist the force of the popular outcry, in their own +favor. They almost forget their days of duplicity, and small things--they +arrive, somehow or other, at the conclusion, that, however unexpectedly, +they are great men, and their wild tactics a system. They use longer +words, move into larger houses, and talk of first principles: and all the +practice of a neighborhood finally falls into the hands of Dr. Ninkempaup +or Dr. Pauketpeeker. + +Francis Joseph Borri died, in prison, in 1695. Sorbiere in his _Voiage en +Angleterre_, page 158, describes him thus--"He is a cunning blade; a +lusty, dark-complexioned, good-looking fellow, well dressed, and lives at +considerable expense, though not at such a rate, as some suppose; for +eight or ten thousand livres will go a great way at Amsterdam. But a +house, worth 15,000 crowns, in a fine location, five or six footmen, a +French suit of clothes, a treat or two to the ladies, the occasional +refusal of fees, five or six rix dollars distributed, at the proper time +and place among the poor, a spice of insolence in discourse, and sundry +other artifices have made some credulous persons say, that he gave away +handfulls of diamonds, that he had discovered the philosophers stone, and +the universal medicine." When he was in Amsterdam, he appeared in a +splendid equipage, was accosted, by the title of "_your excellence_," and +they talked of marrying him to one of the greatest fortunes. + +I have no taste for unsocial pleasures. Will the reader go with me to +Franklin Place--let us take our station near No. 2, and turn our eyes to +the opposite side--let us put back the hand of the world's timekeeper, +some thirty years. A showy chariot, very peculiar, very yellow, and +abundantly supplied with glass, with two tall bay horses, gaudily +harnessed, is driven to the door of the mansion, by a coachman, in livery; +and there it stands; till, after the expiration of an hour, perhaps, the +house door is flung open, and there appears, upon the steps, a tall, dark +visaged, portly personage, in black, who, looking slowly up and down the +avenue, proceeds, with great deliberation, to draw on his yellow, buckskin +gloves. Rings glitter upon his fingers; seals, keys, and safety chain, +upon his person. His beaver, of an unusual form, is exquisitely glossy, +surpassed, by nothing but the polish of his tall suwarrows, surmounted +with black, silk tassels. + +He descends to the vehicle--the door is opened, with a bow of profound +reverence, which is scarcely acknowledged, and in he gets, the very fac +simile of a Spanish grandee. The chariot moves off, so very slowly, that +we can easily follow it, on foot--on it goes, up Franklin, and down +Washington, up Court, into Tremont, down School, into Washington, along +Washington, up Winter, and through Park to Beacon Street, where it halts, +before the mansion of some respectable citizen. The occupant alights, and, +leaving his chariot there, proceeds, through obscure and winding ways, to +visit his patients, on foot, in the purlieus of _La Montagne_. + +This was no other than the celebrated patentee of the famous bug liquid; +who was forever putting the community on its guard, by admonishing the +pill-taking public, that they _could not be too particular_, for _none +were genuine, unless signed W. T. Conway_. + + + + +No. CXIV. + + +Charity began at home--I speak of Charity Shaw, the famous root and herb +doctress, who was a great blessing to all undertakers, in this city, for +many years--her practice was, at first, purely domestic--she began at +home, in her own household; and, had she ended there, it had fared better, +doubtless, with many, who have received the final attentions of our craft. +The mischief of quackery is negative, as well as positive. Charity could +not be fairly classed with those reckless empirics, who, rather than lose +the sale of a nostrum, will send you directly to the devil, for a dollar: +Charity was kind, though she vaunted herself a little in the newspapers. +She was, now and then, rather severely handled, but she bore all things, +and endured all things, and hoped all things; for, to do her justice, she +was desirous, that her patients should recover: and, if she believed not +all things, her patients did; and therein consisted the negative +mischief--in that stupid credulity, which led them to follow this poor, +ignorant, old woman, and thus prevented them, from applying for relief, +where, if anywhere, in this uncertain world, it may be found--at the +fountains of knowledge and experience. In Charity's day, there were +several root and herb practitioners; but the greatest of these was +Charity. + +Herb doctors have, for some two thousand years, attempted to turn back the +tables, upon the faculty--they are a species of _garde mobile_, who have +an old grudge against the _corps regulier_: for they have not forgotten, +that, some two thousand years ago, herb doctors had all things pretty much +in their own way. Two entire books, the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh of +Pliny's Natural History, are devoted to a consideration of the medicinal +properties of herbs--the twentieth treats of the medicinal properties of +vegetables--the twenty-third and twenty-fourth of the medicinal properties +of roots and barks. Thus, we see, of what importance these simples were +accounted, in the healing art, in that early age. Herbs, barks, and roots +were, and, for ages, had been, the principal _materia medica_, and were +employed, by the different sects--by the Rationalists, of whom Pliny, lib. +xxvi. cap. 6, considers Herophilus the head, though this honor is +ascribed, by Galen, to Hippocrates--the Empirics, or experimentalists--and +the Methodics, who avoided all actions, for _mala praxis_, by adhering to +the rules. Pliny manifestly inclined to herb doctoring. In the chapter, +just now referred to, after alluding to the _verba, garrulitatemque_ of +certain lecturers, he intimates, that they and their pupils had an easy +time of it--_sedere namque his in scholis auditioni operatos gratius erat, +quam ire in solitudines, et quoerere herbas alias aliis diebus anni_--for +it was pleasanter to sit, listening in the lecture-rooms, than to run +about in the fields and woods, culling certain simples, on certain days in +the year. + +Herb doctors were destined to be overthrown; and the account, given by +Pliny, in chapters 7, 8 and 9, book xxvi. of the sudden and complete +revolution, in the practice of the healing art, is curious and +interesting. + +Asclepiades, of Prusa, in Bythinia, came to Rome, in the time of Pompey +the Great, about one hundred years before Christ, to teach rhetoric; and, +like an impudent hussy, who came to this city, as a cook, from Vermont, +some years ago, and, not succeeding, in that capacity, but hearing, that +wet nurses obtained high wages here, prepared herself, for that lucrative +occupation--so Asclepiades, not succeeding, as a rhetorician, prepared +himself for a doctor. He was ignorant of the whole matter; but a man of +genius; and, as he knew nothing of root and herb practice, he determined +to cut up the whole system root and branch, and substitute one of his +own--_torrenti ac meditata quotidie oratione blandiens omnia abdicavit: +totamque medicinam ad causam revocando, conjecturæ fecit_. By the power of +his forcible and preconcerted orations, pronounced from day to day, in a +smooth and persuasive manner, he overthrew the whole; and, bringing back +the science of medicine to cause and effect, he constructed a system of +inference or conjecture. Pliny is not disposed to be altogether pleased +with Asclepiades, though he recounts his merits fairly. He says of +him--_Id solum possumus indignari, unum hominem, e levissima gente, sine +ullis opibus orsum, vectigalis sua causa, repente leges salutis humano +genere dedisse, quas tamen postea abrogavere multi_--at least, we may feel +rather indignant, that one, born among a people, remarkable for their +levity, born also in poverty, toiling for his daily support, should thus +suddenly lay down, for the human race, the laws of health, which, +nevertheless, many rejected afterwards. + +Now it seems to me, that Asclepiades was a very clever fellow; and I +think, upon Pliny's own showing, there was more reason, for indignation, +against a people, who had so long tolerated the marvellous absurdities of +the herb system, such as it then was, than against a man, who had the good +sense to perceive, and the courage and perseverance to explode, them. What +there was in the poverty of Asclepiades, or in the character of his +countrymen, to rouse Pliny's indignation, I cannot conceive. Pliny says, +lib. xxvi. cap. 9, after naming several things, which promoted this great +change, in the practice of Physic--_Super omnia adjuvere eum magicæ +vanitates, in tantum erectæ, ut abrogare herbis fidem cunctis possent_. He +was especially assisted in his efforts, by the excesses, to which the +magical absurdities had been carried, in respect to herbs, so that they +alone were enough to destroy all confidence, in such things. + +Pliny proceeds to narrate some of these magical absurdities--the plant +Æthiops, thrown into lakes and rivers, would dry them up--the touch of it +would open everything, that was shut. The Achæmenis, cast among the enemy, +would cause immediate flight. The Latace would ensure plenty. Josephus +also, De Bell, Ind. lib. vii. cap. 25--speaks of an excellent root for +driving out devils. + +Pliny says, Asclepiades laid down five important +particulars--_abstinentiam cibi_, _alias vini_, _fricationem corporis_, +_ambulationem_, _gestationes_--abstinence from meat, and, at other times, +from wine, friction of the body, walking, and various kinds of gestation, +on horseback, and otherwise. There were some things, in the old practice, +_nimis anxia et rudia_, too troublesome and coarse, whose rejection +favored the new doctor greatly, _obruendi agros veste sudoresque omni modo +ciendi; nunc corpora ad ignes torrendi_, etc.--smothering the sick in +blankets, and exciting perspiration, by all possible means--roasting them +before fires, &c. Like every other ingenious physician, he had something +pleasant, of his own contriving, to propose--_tum primum pensili +balinearum usu ad infinitum blandientem_--then first came up the +employment of hanging baths, to the infinite delight of the public. These +hanging baths, which Pliny says, lib. ix. 79, were really the invention of +Sergius Orata, were rather supported than suspended--fires were kindled +below--there were different _ahena_, or caldrons, the _caldarium_, and +_frigidarium_. The _corrivatio_ was simply the running together of the +cold and hot water. Annexed was the _laconicum_, or sweating room. The +curious reader may compare the Roman baths with those at Constantinople, +described by Miss Pardoe. + +_Alia quoque blandimenta_, says Pliny, _excogitabat, jam suspendendo +lectulos, quorum jactatu aut morbos extenuaret, aut somnos alliceret_. He +excogitated other delights, such as suspended beds, whose motion soothed +the patient, or put him to sleep. The principle here seems pretty +universal, lying at the bottom of all those simple contrivances, +rocking-chairs, cribs, and cradles, swings, hammocks, &c. This is truly +Indian practice-- + + Rock-a-bye baby upon the tree top, + And, when the wind blows, the cradle will rock. + +_Præterea in quibusdam morbis medendi cruciatus detraxit, ut in anginis +quas curabant in fauces organo demisso. Damnavit merito et vomitiones, +tunc supra modum frequentes._ He also greatly diminished the severity of +former practice, in certain diseases, in quinsies for example, which they +used to cure, with an instrument, introduced into the fauces. He very +properly condemned those vomitings, then frequent, beyond all account. +This refers to the Roman usage, which is almost incomprehensible by us. +Celsus, De Med. lib. i. 3, refers to it, as the practice _eorum, qui +quotidie ejiciendo, vorandi facultatem moliuntur_--of those, who, by +vomiting daily, acquired the faculty of gormandizing. Suetonius says of +the imperial brute, Vitellius, sec. xiii. that he regularly dined, at +three places daily, _facile omnibus sufficiens, vomitandi +consuetudine_--easily enabled to do so, by his custom of vomiting. + +Pliny's reflection, upon the success of the new doctor, is very +natural--_quæ quum unusquisque semetipsum sibi præstare posse +intelligeret, faventibus cunctis, ut essent vera quæ facillima erant, +universum prope humanum genus circumegit in se, non alio modo quam si +coelo emissus advenisset_. When every one saw, that he could apply the +rules for himself, all agreeing that things, which were so very simple, +must certainly be true, he gathered all mankind around him, precisely as +though he had been one, sent from Heaven. + +In the following passage, Pliny employs the word, _artificium_, in an +oblique sense. _Trahebat præterea mentes artifcio mirabili, vinum +promittendo ægris._ He attracted men's minds, by the remarkable _artifice_ +of allowing wine to the sick. + +During the temperance movement, some eminent physicians have asserted, +that wine was unnecessary, in every case--others have extended their +practice, and increased their popularity, by making their patients as +comfortable, as possible--_while they continued in the flesh_. A German, +who had been very intemperate, joined a total abstinence society, by the +advice of a temperance physician. In a little time the _tormina_ of his +stomach became unbearable. Instead of calling his temperance physician, +who would, probably, have eased the irritation, with a little wormwood, or +opium, he sent for the popular doctor, who told him, at once, that he +wanted brandy--"How much may I take?" inquired the German. "An ounce, +during the forenoon;" replied the doctor. After he had gone, the German +said to his son, "Harman, go, get de measure pook, and zee how mooch be +won ounz." The boy brought the book, and read aloud, eight drachms make +one ounce--the patient sprang half out of bed; and, rubbing his hands, +exclaimed--"dat ish de toctor vor me; I never took more nor voor trams in +a morning, in all my porn days--dat ish de trouble--I zee it now." + + + + +No. CXV. + + +Miss Bungs is dead. It is well to state this fact, lest I should be +suspected of some covert allusion to the living. She firmly believed in +the XXXIX. articles, and in a fortieth--namely--that man is a +fortune-hunter, from his cradle. She often declared, that, sooner than wed +a fortune-hunter, she would die a cruel death--she would die a maid--she +did so, in the full possession of her senses, to the last. + +Her entire estate, consisting of sundry shares, in fancy stocks, two +parrots, a monkey, a silver snuff-box, and her paraphernalia, she directed +to be sold; and the avails employed, for the promotion of celibacy, among +the heathen. + +Yet it was the opinion of those, who knew her intimately, that Miss Bungs +was, at heart, sufficiently disposed to enter into the holy state of +matrimony, could she have found one pure, disinterested spirit; but, +unfortunately, she was fully persuaded, that every man, who smiled upon +her, and inquired after her health, was "_after her money_." Miss Bungs +was not unwilling to encourage the impression, that she was an object of +particular regard, in certain quarters; and, if a gentleman picked up her +glove, or escorted her across a gutter, she was in the habit of +instituting particular inquiries, among her acquaintances--in strict +confidence of course--in regard to his moral character--ejaculating with a +sigh, that men were so mercenary now-a-days, it was difficult to know who +could be trusted. + +Now, this was very wrong, in Miss Bungs. By the English law, if a man or a +woman pretends, falsely, that he or she is married to any person, that +person may libel, in the spiritual court, and obtain an injunction of +silence; and this offence, in the language of the law, is called +_jactitation of marriage_. I can see no reason why an injunction in cases +of _jactitation of courtship_, should not be allowed; for serious evils +may frequently arise, from such unauthorized pretences. + +After grave reflection, I am of opinion, that Miss Bungs carried her +opposition to fortune-hunters, beyond the bounds of reason. Let us define +our terms. The party, who marries, only for money, intending, from the +very commencement, to make use of it, for the selfish gratification of +vain, or vicious, propensities--is a fortune-hunter of the very worst +kind. But let us not forget, as we go along, that this field is occupied +by huntresses, as well as by hunters; and that, upon such voyages of +discovery, the cap may be set, as effectually, as the compass. + +There is another class, with whom the degree of personal attachment, which +really exists, is too feeble, to resist the combined influence of +selfishness and pride. Such also, I suppose, may be placed in the category +of fortune-hunters. We find an illustration of this, in the case of Mr. +Mewins. After a liberal arrangement had been made, for the young lady, by +her father; Mr. Mewins, having taken a particular fancy to a little, brown +mare, demanded, that it should be thrown into the bargain; and, upon a +positive refusal, the match was broken off. After a couple of years, the +parties accidentally met, at a country ball--Mr. Mewins was quite willing +to renew the engagement--the lady appeared not to have the slightest +recollection of him. "Surely you have not forgotten me," said he--"What +name, sir?" she inquired--"Mewins," he replied; "I had the honor of paying +my addresses to you, about two years ago."--"I remember a person of that +name," she rejoined, "who paid his addresses to my father's brown mare." + +In matrimony, wealth is, of course, a very comforting accessory. It +renders an agreeable partner still more so--and it often goes, not a +little way, to balance an unequal bargain. Time and talent may as wisely +be wasted, in pursuit of the philosopher's stone, as of an unmixed good or +evil, on this side the grave. Temper may be mistaken, or it may change; +beauty may fade; but £60,000, well managed, will enable the _happy man or +woman_, to bear up, with tolerable complacency, under the severest trials +of domestic life. What a blessed thing it is, to fall back upon, when one +is compelled to mourn, over the infirmities of the living, or the absence, +of the dead! What a solace! + +It was therefore wrong, in Miss Bungs, to designate, as fortune-hunters, +those, of either sex, who have come to the rational conclusion, that money +is essential to the happiness of married life. No man or woman of common +sense, who is poor, will, now-a-days, commit the indiscretion of _falling +in love_, unless with some person of ample possessions. + +What, then, is to become of the penniless, and the unpretty! We must adopt +the custom of the ancient Babylonians, introduced about 1433 B. C., by +Atossa, the daughter of Belochus. At a certain season of the year, the +most lovely damsels were assembled, and put up, singly, at auction, to be +purchased, by the _highest_ bidder. The wealthy swains of Babylon poured +forth their wealth, like water; and rivals settled the question, not by +the length of their rapiers, but of their purses. The money, thus +obtained, became the dowry of those, whose personal attractions were not +likely to obtain them husbands. They also were put up, and sold to the +_lowest_ bidder, as the poor were formerly disposed of, in our villages. +Every unattractive maiden, young, old, and of no particular age, was put +up, at a _maximum_, and bestowed on him, who would take her, with the +smallest amount of dowry. It is quite possible, that certain lots may have +been withdrawn. + +I rather prefer this practice to that of the Spartans, which prevailed, +about 884 B. C. At an appointed time, the marriageable damsels were +collected, in a hall, perfectly dark; and the young men were sent into the +apartment; walking, evidently, neither by faith nor by sight, but, +literally, feeling their way, and thus selected their helpmates. This is +in perfect keeping with the principle, that love is blind. + +The ancient Greeks lived, and multiplied, without marriage. Eusebius, in +the preface to his Chronicon, states, that marriage ceremonies were first +introduced among them, by Cecrops, about 1554 B. C. The Athenians provided +by law, that no unmarried man should be entrusted with public affairs, and +the Lacedemomans passed severe laws against those, who unreasonably +deferred their marriage. It is not easy to reconcile the general policy of +promoting marriages, with the statute, 8 William III., 1695, by which they +were taxed; as they were again, in 1784. + +The earliest celebration of marriages, in churches, was ordained by Pope +Innocent III., A. D. 1199. Marriages were forbidden in Lent, A. D. 364, +conforming, perhaps, to the rule of abstinence from flesh. + +Fortune-hunting has not always been unaccompanied with violence. Stealing +an heiress was made felony, by 3 Henry VII. 1487, and benefit of clergy +denied, in such cases, by 39 Eliz. 1596. In the first year of George IV. +1820, this offence was made punishable by transportation. In the reign of +William III., Captain Campbell forcibly married Miss Wharton, an heiress. +The marriage was annulled, by act of Parliament, and Sir John Johnston was +hanged, for abetting. In 1827, two brothers and a sister, Edward, William, +and Frances Wakefield, were tried and convicted, for the felonious +abduction of Miss Turner, an heiress, whose marriage with Edward Wakefield +was annulled, by act of Parliament. + +No species of fortune-hunter appears so entirely contemptible, as the +wretch, who marries for money, intending to employ it, not for the joint +comfort of the parties, but for the payment of his own arrearages; and who +resorts to the expedient of marriage, not to obtain a wife, but to avoid a +jail. And the exultation is pretty universal, when such a vagabond falls, +himself, into the snare, which he had so deliberately prepared, for +another. + +In the fifth volume of the Diary of Samuel Pepys, pages 323, 329 and 330, +Lord Braybrooke has recorded three letters to Pepys, from an extraordinary +scoundrel of this description. The first letter from this man, Sir Samuel +Morland, who seems to have had some employment in the navy, bears date +"Saturday, 19 February, 1686-7." After communicating certain information, +respecting naval affairs, he proceeds, as follows:-- + +"I would have wayted on you with this account myself, but I presume you +have, ere this time, heard what an unfortunate and fatall accident has +lately befallen me, of which I shall give you an abreviat." + +"About three weeks or a month since, being in very great perplexities, and +almost distracted for want of moneys, my private creditors tormenting me +from morning to night, and some of them threatening me with a prison, and +having no positive answer from his Majesty, about the £1300 which the late +Lord Treasurer cutt off from my pension so severely, which left a debt +upon me, which I was utterly unable to pay, there came a certain person to +me, whom I had relieved in a starving condition, and for whom I had done a +thousand kindnesses; who pretended, in gratitude to help me to a wife, who +was a very vertuous, pious, and sweet disposition'd lady, and an heiress, +who had £500 per ann. in land and inheritance, and £4000 in ready money, +with the interest since nine years, besides a mortgage upon £300 per ann. +more, with plate, jewels, &c. The devil himself could not contrive more +probable circumstances than were layd before me; and when I had often a +mind to enquire into the truth, I had no power, believing for certain +reasons, that there were certain charms or witchcraft used upon me; and, +withall, believing it utterly impossible that a person so obliged should +ever be guilty of so black a deed as to betray me in so barbarous a +manner. Besides that, I really believ'd it a blessing from Heaven for my +charity to that person: and I was, about a fortnight since, led as a fool +to the stocks, and married a coachman's daughter not worth a shilling, and +one who, about nine months since, was brought to bed of a bastard; and +thus I am both absolutely ruined, in my fortune and reputation, and must +become a derision to all the world." + +"My case is at present in the Spiritual Court, and I presume, that one +word from his Majesty to his Proctor, and Advocate, and Judge, would +procure me speedy justice; if either our old acquaintance or Christian +pity move you, I beg you to put in a kind word for me, and to deliver the +enclosed into the King's own hands, with all convenient speed; for a +criminal bound and going to execution is not in greater agonies than has +been my poor, active soul since this befell me: and I earnestly beg you to +leave in three lines for me with your porter, what answer the King gives +you, and my man shall call for it. A flood of tears blind my eyes, and I +can write no more, but that I am your most humble and poor distressed +servant, + + S. MORLAND." + +All that befell Sir Samuel and _Lady_ Morland, after his application to +Pepys and the King, will be found fully set forth, by this prince of +fortune-hunters, in the two remaining letters to which I have referred, +and which I purpose to lay before the reader in the ensuing number. + + + + +No. CXVI. + + +The reader will remember, that we left Sir Samuel Morland, in deep +distress, his eyes, to use his own words, in the letter to Pepys, _blinded +by a flood of tears_. Of all fortune-hunters he was the most unfortunate, +who have recorded, with their own hands, the history of their own most +wretched adventures. Instead of marrying a "_vertuous, pious, and sweet +disposition'd lady, with £500 per ann. in land, and £4000 in ready money, +with plate, jewels, &c._," he found himself in silken bonds, with a +coachman's daughter, "not worth a shilling," who, nine months before, had +been introduced to a new code of sensations, by giving birth to a child, +whose father was of that problematical species, which the law terms +_putative_. + +I have promised to lay before the reader two additional letters, from Sir +Samuel Morland, to Pepys, on the subject of his difficulties with Lady +Morland. Here they are: the first will be found, in Pepys' Diary, vol. v. +page 329. + +"17 May, 1688. Sir: Being of late unable to go abroad, by reason of my +lame hip"--no wonder he was hipped--"which gives me great pain, besides +that it would not be safe for me, at present, because of that +strumpet's"--_Lady Morland's_--"debts, I take the boldness to entreat you, +that, according to your wonted favors, of the same kind, you will be +pleased, at the next opportunity, to give the King this following +account." + +"A little before Christmas last, being informed, that she was willing, for +a sum of money, to confess in open court a precontract with Mr. Cheek, and +being at the same time assured, both by hir and my own lawyers, that such +a confession would be sufficient for a sentence of nullity, I did deposit +the money, and accordingly a day of tryall was appoynted; but after the +cause had been pleaded, I was privately assured, that the Judge was not +at all satisfyd with such a confession of hers, as to be sufficient ground +for him to null the marriage, and so that design came to nothing." + +"Then I was advised to treat with her, and give her a present sum and a +future maintenance, she giving me sufficient security never to trouble mee +more; but her demands were so high, I could not consent to them." + +"After this she sent me a very submissive letter, by her own advocate. I +was advised, both by several private friends, and some eminent divines, to +take her home, and a day of treaty was appoynted for an accommodation." + +"In the interim, a certain gentleman came on purpose, to my house, to +assure me that I was taking a snake into my bosome, forasmuch as she had +for six months last past, to his certain knowledge, been kept by, and +cohabited with Sir Gilb. Gerrard, as his wife, &c. Upon which making +further enquiry, that gentleman furnishing me with some witnesses, and I +having found out others, I am this term endeavoring to prove adultery +against her, and so to obteyn a divorce, which is the present condition of +your most humble and faithful servant, + + SAMUEL MORLAND." + +It was fortunate, that Sir Samuel, whose _naïveté_ and rascality are most +amusingly mingled, did not take the "_snake into his bosome_," +notwithstanding the advice of those "_eminent divines_," whose counsel is +almost ever too celestial, for the practical occasions of the present +world. + +The issue of Sir Samuel's fatal plunge into the abyss of matrimony, in +pursuit of "£500 per annum in land and £4000 in ready money," and of all +that befell the Lady Morland, until she lost her title, is recorded, in +the third and last letter to Pepys, in vol. v., page 330. + +"19 July, 1688. Sir: I once more begg you to give yourself the trouble of +acquainting His Majesty that upon Munday last, after many hott disputes +between the Doctors of the Civil Law, the sentence of divorce was solemnly +pronounced in open Court against that strumpet"--_Lady Morland_--"for +living in adultery with Sir Gilbert Gerrard, for six months last past; so +that now, unless shee appeal, for which the law allows her 15 days, I am +freed from her for life, and all that I have to do, for the future, will +bee to gett clear of her debts, which she has contracted from the day of +marriage to the time of sentence, which is like to give me no small +trouble, besides the charge, for severall months in the Chancery. And +till I gett cleared of these debts, I shall bee little better than a +prisoner in my own house. Sir, believing it my duty to give His Majesty +this account of myselfe and of my proceedings, and having no other friend +to do it for mee, I hope you will forgive the trouble thus given you, by, +yours, &c., + + S. MORLAND." + +This must have interested His Majesty, very deeply. Poor James had then +enough of care. If he had possessed the hands of Briareus, they would have +been full already. In less than four months, after the date of this +letter, William of Orange had landed at Torbay, Nov. 5, 1688, and the last +days of the last of the Stuarts were at hand. + +If Miss Bungs were living, even that inexorable hater of all +fortune-hunters would admit, that the punishment of Sir Samuel Morland was +sufficient for his crimes. Few will pretend, that his sufferings were more +than he deserved. A more exact retribution cannot well be imagined. It was +his intention to apply "_£4000 ready money_," belonging to "_a very +vertuous, pious, and sweet disposition'd lady_," to the payment of his +pre-contracted debts. Instead of effecting this honorable purpose, he +becomes the husband of a low-born strumpet, who is not worth a shilling, +and for whose debts, contracted before, as well as after marriage, he is +liable; for the law decrees, that a man takes his wife and her +circumstances together. + +There are few individuals, of either sex, however constitutionally grave, +who have not a little merriment to spare, for such happy contingencies as +these. Retributive justice seldom descends, more gracefully, or more +deservedly, or more to universal acceptance, upon the crafty heads of +unprincipled projectors. For all, that may befall him, the fortune-hunter +has little to expect, from male or female sympathy. The scolding +tongue--those bewitching tresses, nocturnally deposited on the +bedpost--those teeth of pearly brilliancy, which Keep or Tucker could so +readily identify--the perpetual look of distrust--the espionage of +jealousy--these and all other _tormina domestica_ are the allotments of +the fortune-hunter, by immemorial prescription, and without the slightest +sympathy, from man or woman. + +The case of Sir Samuel Morland is a valuable precedent, on account of his +station in society, and the auto-biographical character of the narrative. +But there are very few of us, who have not the record of some similar +catastrophe, within the compass of our knowledge, though, probably, of a +less aggravated type. + +There is a pleasant legend, in the humbler relations of life, to which I +have listened, in earlier days, and which illustrates the principle, +involved in these remarks. Molly Moodey was an excellent cook, in the +family of an avaricious old widower, whose god was mammon, and who had +been deterred, by the expensiveness of the proceeding, from taking a +second goddess. + +The only sentiment, in any way resembling the tender passion, which had +ever been awakened, in the bosom of Molly Moodey, was a passion for +lotteries. + +She gave such of her waking hours, as were not devoted to roasting and +boiling, to the calculation of chances, and her sleeping hours to the +dreaming of dreams, about £20,000: and by certain combinations, she had +come to the conclusion, that No. 26,666 was the fortunate number, in the +great scheme, then presented to the public. + +Molly avowed her purpose, and demanded her wages, which, after severely +berating her, for her folly, were handed over, and the identical ticket +was bought. With the hope of being the first to inform her, after the +drawing, that her ticket was a blank, her old master noted down the +number, in his tablets. + +In about seven weeks after this occurrence, the old gentleman, while +reading the newspaper, in one of the public offices, came upon the +following notice--"HIGHEST PRIZE! £20,000. No. 26,666 the fortunate +number, sold at our fortunate office, in one entire ticket, SKINNER, +KETCHUM, & CLUTCH, and will be paid to the lucky proprietor, after the +27th current." + +The old gentleman took out his tablets; compared the numbers; wiped his +spectacles; collated the numbers again; resorted to the lottery office; +and, upon inquiry there, became satisfied, that Molly Moodey had actually +drawn £20,000. + +A new code of sensations came over the spirit of his dreams. He hastened +home, oppressed by the heat and his emotions. He bade Molly lay aside her +mop, and attend him in the parlor, as he had something of importance to +communicate.--"Molly," said he, after closing the doors--"I find a partner +absolutely necessary to my happiness. Let me be brief. I am not the man to +make a fool of myself, by marrying a young flirt. I have known you, Molly, +for many years. You have what I prize above all things in a wife, solid, +substantial qualifications. Will you have me?" + +Taken thus by surprise, she gave a striking evidence of her +self-possession, by requesting leave of absence, for a moment, to remove a +kettle of fat, which she was trying out, lest it should boil over. She +soon came back, and turned her eye--she had but one--with great respect, +upon her old master--said something of the difference of their +stations--and consented. + +The old gentleman's attachment for Molly appeared to be very +extraordinary. Until the wedding-day, which was an unusually early one, he +would not suffer her to be out of his sight. The day came--they were +married. On their way from church--"Molly," said the bridegroom, +"whereabouts is your ticket, with that fortunate number?"--"Oh," she +replied, "when I came to think of it, I saw, that you were right. I +thought, 'twas quite likely it would draw a blank. Crust, the baker, +offered me what I gave for it, and a sheet of bunns, to boot, and I let +him have it, three weeks ago."--"Good God," exclaimed the poor old +gentleman--"£20,000 for a sheet of bunns!" + +The shock was too much for his reason; and, in less than six weeks, Molly +was a widow. She attended him, with great fidelity, to the last moment; +and his dying words were engraven upon her heart--"_Twenty thousand pounds +for a sheet of bunns!_" + +How true to reality are the gay words of Tom Moore-- + + "In wedlock a species of lottery lies, + Where in blanks and in prizes we deal." + + + + +No. CXVII. + + +The Archbishop of Cambray, the amiable Fenelon, has remarked, that God +shows us the high value he sets upon time, by giving us, in absolute +possession, one instant only, leaving us, in utter uncertainty, if we +shall ever have another. And yet, so little are we disturbed, by this +truly momentous consideration, that, long before the breath is fairly out +of the old year's body, we are found busily occupied, in gathering +chaplets, for the brows of the new one. + +The early Christians were opposed to New Year's Gifts, as fixedly, as some +of the latter Christians are opposed to the song and the dance. But I am +inclined to believe the rising generation will take steps, very like their +fathers--that light fantastic tongues and toes, will continue to wag, to +all eternity--and that the unmusical and rheumatic will deplore over such +heterodox and ungodly proceedings, till the world shall be no more. + +The New Year's gifts of the Romans were, originally, exceedingly simple. +Sprigs of vervain, gathered in a wood, consecrated to Strenia, the goddess +of Strength, somehow or other, came into favor, and were accounted of good +omen. A custom arose of sending these sprigs about the neighborhood, as +tokens of friendship, on New Year's day; and these trifling remembrancers +obtained the name of _Strenæ_. These sprigs of vervain, ere long, wore out +their welcome; and were followed, in after years, by presents of dates, +figs and honey. Clients thus complimented their patrons; and, before many +anniversaries, the coin of Rome began to mingle with the donative, +whatever it might be; and, very soon, the advantage of the receiver came +less to be consulted, than the reputation of him, who gave. + +When I contemplate those ample storehouses of all, that is gorgeous and +glittering--those receptacles of useless finery, which nobody actually +wants--and, at the same time, reflect upon all that I know, and much that +I conjecture, of the necessities and distresses of mankind, I am not +certain, that it may not be wise to resume the earlier custom of the +Romans, and embody, in certain cases, our annual tokens of friendship and +good will, in such useful materials, as _figs, dates and honey_. + +Are there not individuals, who, upon the reception of some gaudy and +expensive bagatelle, are ready to exclaim, with the cock in Æsop--"_I had +rather have one grain of dear, delicious, barley, than all the jewels +under the sun!_" + +I am not so utopian, as to anticipate any immediate or very extensive +reformation, in this practice, which, excellent as it is, when restrained +within reasonable bounds, is, unquestionably, under certain circumstances, +productive of evil. It is not to be expected, that expensive _bijoux_, for +new year's gifts, will speedily give place to _sugar and molasses_. But +there are cases, not a few, when, upon a new year's day, the wealthy +giver, without paining the recipient, may convert the annual compliment, +into something better than a worthless toy--a fantastical token of +ostentatious remembrance. + +The Christian world has settled down, at last, upon the first of January, +as New Year's day. It was not always thus; and, even now, no little +difficulty occurs, in our attempts to refer historical events to +particular years. We can do no better, perhaps, than to devote this number +to a brief exposition of this difficulty. + +Every schoolboy knows, that Romulus divided the year into ten months. The +first was March, and, from March to December, they have retained their +original names, for some six and twenty centuries, excepting the fifth and +sixth month, which, from _Quintilis_ and _Sextilis_, have been changed, in +honor of _Julius_ and _Augustus_. + +Numa added two months, _Januarius_ and _Februarius_. Numa's year consisted +therefore of twelve months, according to the moon's course. But Numa's +lunar year did not agree with the course of the sun, and he therefore +introduced, every other year, an _intercalary_ month, between the 23d and +24th of February. The length of this month was decided by the priests, who +lengthened or shortened the year, to suit their convenience. Cicero, in a +letter to Atticus, x. 17, writes, in strong disfavor, of Numa's calendar. + +Julius Cæsar, with the aid of Sosigenes of Alexandria, adjusted this +astronomical account. To bring matters into order, Suetonius, in his life +of Julius Cæsar, 40, says, they were constrained to make one final year of +fifteen months, to close the confusion. + +Hence arose the Julian or Solar year, the year of the Christian world. The +"_alteration of the style_" is only an amendment of the Julian calendar, +in one particular, by Pope Gregory, in 1582. In 325, A. D., the vernal +equinox occurred March 21, and in 1582 it occurred March 10. He called the +astronomers to council, and, by their advice, obliterated ten days from +the current year, between October 4, and 15. + +These ten days make the difference, from 1582 to February 29, 1700. From +March 1, 1700, to February 29, 1800, eleven days were required, and from +March 1, 1800, to February 29, 1900, twelve days. In all Roman Catholic +countries, this alteration of the style was instantly adopted; but not in +Great Britain, till 1752. The Greeks and Russians have never adopted the +Gregorian alteration of the style. + +The commencement of the year has been assigned to very different periods. +In some of the Italian states, as recently as 1745, the year has been +taken to commence, at the Annunciation, March 25. Writers of the sixth +century have, occasionally, like the Romans, considered March 1 as New +Year's day. Charles IX. by a special edict, in 1563, decreed, that the +year should be considered to commence, on the first of January. In +Germany, about the eleventh century, the year commenced at Christmas. Such +was the practice, in modern Rome, and other Italian cities, as late as the +fifteenth century. + +Gervais of Canterbury, who lived early in the thirteenth century, states, +that all writers of his country considered Christmas the true beginning of +the year. In Great Britain, from the twelfth century, till the alteration +of the style in 1752, the Annunciation, or March 25, was commonly +considered the first day of the year. After this, the year was taken to +commence, on the first of January. + +The Chaldæan and Egyptian years commenced with the Autumnal equinox. The +Japanese and the Chinese date their year from the new moon, nearest the +Winter solstice. + +As Diemschid, king of Persia, entered Persepolis, the sun happened to be +entering into Aries. In commemoration of this coincidence, he decreed, +that the year should change front, and commence, forever more, in the +Vernal, instead of the Autumnal equinox. The Swedish year, of old, began, +most happily, at the Winter solstice, or at the time of the sun's +reäppearance in the horizon, after the usual _quarantine_, or absence of +forty days. The Turks and Arabs date the advent of their year, upon the +sixteenth of July. + +In our own country, the year, in former times, commenced in March. In the +Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. xvii. p. 136, may be found certain votes, passed +in Boston, Nov. 30, 1635, among which is the following--"_that all such as +have allotments for habitations allotted unto them, shall build thereon, +before the first of the first month next, called March_." In Johnson's +Wonder-working Providence, ch. 27, the writer says of the Boston pilgrims, +in 1633: "Thus this poor people, having now tasted liberally of the +salvation of the Lord, &c. &c., set apart the 16 day of October, which +they call the _eighth Moneth_, not out of any pevish humor of singularity, +as some are ready to censor them with, but of purpose to prevent the +Heathenish and Popish observation of Dayes, Moneths, and Yeares, that they +may be forgotten, among the people of the Lord." If October was their +_eighth_ month, March was necessarily their _first_. Whatever the +practice may have been, in this respect, it was by no means universal, in +New England, during a considerable period, before the alteration of the +style in 1752. + +A reference to the record will show, that, until 1752, the old style was +adhered to, by the courts, in this country, and the 25th of March was +considered to be New Year's day. But it was not so with the public +journals. Thus the Boston News Letter, the Boston Gazette, the New England +Courant and other journals, existing here, before the adoption of the new +style, in Great Britain, in 1752, considered the year, as commencing on +the first of January. + +Private individuals very frequently did the same thing. At this moment, a +letter from Peter Faneuil is lying at my elbow, addressed to Messrs. Lane +and Smethurst of London, bearing date January 1, 1739, at the close of +which he wishes his correspondents _a happy new year_, showing, that the +first of January, for ordinary purposes, and in common parlance, was +accounted New Year's day. + +The little people, of both sexes, would, doubtless, have voted for the +adoption of the old style and of the new; in other words, for having two +new year's days, in every year. They would have been as much delighted +with the conceit, as was Rousseau, with the pleasant fancy of St. Pierre, +who wrote, from the Isle of France, to a friend in Paris, that he had +enjoyed two summers in one year; the perusal of which letter induced +Rousseau, to seek the acquaintance of the author of Paul and Virginia. + + + + +No. CXVIII. + + +Dion remarks, while speaking of Trajan--_he that lies in a golden urn, +eminently above the earth, is not likely to rest in peace_. The same thing +may be affirmed of him, who has raised himself, eminently above his peers, +wherever he may lie. During the Roman Catholic rage for relics, the graves +were ransacked, and numberless sinners, to supply the demand, were dug up +for saints. Sooner or later, the finger of curiosity, under some plausible +pretext, will lift the coffin lid; or the foot of political sacrilege will +trample upon the ashes of him, whom a former generation had delighted to +honor; or the motiveless spirit of mischief will violate the sanctity of +the tomb. + +When Charles I. was buried, in the same vault with Henry VIII. and Anne +Boleyn, a soldier, as Wood relates, in his Athenæ Oxonienses, vol. iv. p. +39, Lond. 1820, attempted to steal a royal bone, which was afterwards +found upon his person, and, which he said, upon examination, he had +designed, for a handle to his knife. + +John Milton died, according to the respective accounts of Mitford, +Johnson, and Hayley, on the 8th--about the 10th--or on the 15th of +November, 1674. He was buried, in the chancel of St. Giles, Cripplegate. +In the London Monthly Magazine, for August, 1833, there appeared an +extract from the diary of General Murray, giving a particular account of +the desecration of Milton's remains. The account was given to General +Murray, at a dinner party, Aug. 23, 1790, by Mr. Thornton, who received +it, from an eye-witness of the transaction. The church of St. Giles +requiring repairs, the occasion was thought a proper one, to place a +monument, over the body of Milton. Messieurs Strong, Cole, and others, of +that parish, sought for, and discovered, the leaden coffin, the outer +coffin of wood having mouldered away. Having settled the question of +identity, these persons replaced the coffin, and ordered the workmen to +fill up the grave. The execution of this order was postponed, for several +days. In the interim, some of the parish, whose names are given, by +General Murray, having dined together, and become partially drunk, +resolved to examine the body; and proceeded, with lights, to the church. +With a mallet and chisel, they cut open the coffin, rolled back the lead, +and gazed upon the bones of John Milton! General Murray's diary shall +relate the residue of a proceeding, which might call the rouge to the +cheeks of a Vandal:-- + +"The hair was in an astonishingly perfect state; its color a light brown, +its length six inches and a half, and, although somewhat clotted, it +appeared, after having been well washed, as strong as the hair of a living +being. Fountain said he was determined to have two of his teeth; but as +they resisted the pressure of his fingers, he struck the jaw, with a +paving stone, and several teeth then fell out. There were only five in the +upper jaw, and these were taken by Fountain; the four, that were in the +lower jaw, were seized upon, by Taylor, Hawkesworth, and the sexton's man. +The hair, which had been carefully combed, and tied together, before the +interment, was forcibly pulled off the skull, by Taylor and another; but +Ellis, the player, who had now joined the party, told the former, that +being a good hair-worker, if he would let him have it, he would pay a +guinea-bowl of punch. Ellis, therefore, became possessed of all the hair: +he likewise took a part of the shroud, and a bit of the skin of the skull: +indeed, he was only prevented from carrying off the head, by the sextons, +Hoppy and Grant, who said, that they intended to exhibit the remains, +which was afterwards done, each person paying sixpence to view the body. +These fellows, I am told, gained near one hundred pounds, by the +exhibition. Laming put one of the leg-bones in his pocket." + +After reading this short, shameless record, one half inclines to +cremation; even if, instead of being enshrined or inurned, our dust be +given, in fee simple, to the winds. How forcibly the words of Sir Thomas +ring in our ears--"_To be gnawed out of our graves, to have our skulls +made drinking bowls, and our bones turned into pipes, to delight and sport +our enemies, are tragical abominations, escaped in burning burials_." The +account from General Murray's diary, and at greater length, may be found +also, in the appendix to Mitford's life of Milton, in the octavo edition +of his poetical works, Cambridge, Mass., 1839. + +Great indignation has lately been excited, in England, against a vampyre +of a fellow, named Blore, who is said to have destroyed one half of +Dryden's monument, and defaced Ben Jonson's, and Cowley's, in Westminster +Abbey. Inquiring after motive, in such cases, is much like raking the +ashes, after a conflagration, to find the originating spark. There is a +motive, doubtless, in some by-corner of the brain; whether a man burns the +temple, at Ephesus; or spears the elephant of Judas Maccabæus, with +certain death to himself; or destroys the Barberrini vase. The motive was +avowed, on the trial, in a similar case, by a young man, who, some years +ago, shot a menagerie elephant, while passing through a village, in the +State of Maine, to be a wish "_to see how a fellow would feel, who killed +an elephant_." + +Dryden's, and Cowley's monuments are on the left of Ben Jonson's, and +before you, as you approach the Poet's Corner. Dryden's monument is a +lofty affair, with an arch and a bust, and is thus inscribed: "J. Dryden, +born 1632, died May 1, 1700.--John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, erected +this monument, 1720." It is not commonly known, that the original bust was +changed, by the Duchess, for one of very superior workmanship, which, of +course, is the one mutilated by Blore. The monument, erected by George, +Duke of Buckingham, to Cowley, is a pedestal, bearing an urn, decorated +with laurel, and with a pompous and unmeaning epitaph, in Latin +hexameters. If Blore understood the language, perhaps he considered these +words, upon the tablet, a challenge-- + + --------Quis temerarius ausit-- + Sacrilega turbare manu venerabile bustum. + +The monument of Ben Jonson is an elegant tablet, with a festoon of masks, +and the inscription--_Oh rare Ben Jonson!_ It stands before you, when +Dryden's and Cowley's are upon your left, and is next to that of Samuel +Butler. In the north aisle of the nave, there is a stone, about eighteen +inches square, bearing the same inscription. In the "History of +Westminster Abbey," 4to ed Lond. 1812, vol. ii. p. 95, note, it is stated, +that "Dart says one Young, afterwards a Knight in the time of Charles II., +of Great Milton, in Oxfordshire, placed a stone over the grave of Ben +Jonson, which cost eighteen pence, with the above inscription:" but it is +not stated, that the stone, now there, is the same. + +Dr. Johnson, in his Life of Dryden, recites what he terms "_a wild story, +relating to some vexatious events, that happened, at his funeral_." +Dryden's widow, and his son, Charles, had accepted the offer of Lord +Halifax, to pay the expenses of the funeral, and five hundred pounds, for +a monument. The company came--the corpse was placed in a velvet +hearse--eighteen coaches were in attendance, filled with mourners.--As +they were about to move, the young Lord Jeffries, son of the Chancellor, +with a band of rakes, coming by, and learning that the funeral was +Dryden's, said the ornament of the nation should not so be buried, and +proceeded, accompanied by his associates, in a body, to wait upon the +widow, and beg her to permit him to bear the expense of the interment, and +to pay one thousand pounds, for a monument, in the Abbey. + +The gentlemen in the coaches, being ignorant of the liberal offers of the +Dean and Lord Halifax, readily descended from their carriages, and +attended Lord Jeffries and his party to the bedside of the lady, who was +sick, where he repeated his offers; and, upon her positive refusal, got +upon his knees, as did the whole party; and he there swore that he would +not rise, till his entreaty was granted. At length, affecting to +understand some word of the lady's, as giving permission, he rushed out, +followed by the rest, proclaiming her consent, and ordered the corpse to +be left at Russell's, an undertaker's, in Cheapside, till he gave orders +for its embalmment. During this proceeding, the Abbey having been lighted +up, Lord Halifax and the Dean, who was also Bishop of Rochester, to use +the tea-table phrase, waited and waited, and waited. The ground was +opened, the choir attending, and an anthem set. When Mr. Dryden went, next +day, to offer excuses, neither Lord Halifax, nor the Dean, would accept of +any apology. After waiting three days for orders, the undertaker called on +Lord Jeffries, who said he knew nothing about it, and that it was only a +tipsy frolic, and that the undertaker might do what he pleased with the +corpse. The undertaker threatened to set the corpse before the widow's +door. She begged a day's respite. Mr. Charles Dryden wrote to Lord +Jeffries, who replied, that he knew nothing about it. He then addressed +the Dean and Lord Halifax, who refused to have anything to do with it. He +then challenged Lord Jeffries, who refused to fight. He went himself, and +was refused admittance. He then resolved to horsewhip his Lordship; upon +notice of which design, the latter left town. In the midst of this misery, +Dr. Garth sent for the body, to be brought to the college of physicians; +proposed a subscription; and set a noble example. The body was finally +buried, about three weeks after the decease, and Dr. Garth pronounced a +fine Latin oration. At the close of the narrative, which, as repeated by +Dr. Johnson, covers more than three octavo pages of Murphy's edition, the +Doctor remarks, that he once intended to omit it entirely, and that he had +met with no confirmation, but in a letter of Farquhar's. + +The tale is simply alluded to, by Gorton, and told, at some length, by +Chalmers. Both, however, consider it a fabrication, by Mrs. Thomas, the +authoress, whom Dryden styled _Corinna_, and whom Pope lampooned, in his +comatose and vicious performance, the Dunciad, probably because she +provoked his wrath, by publishing his letters to H. Cromwell. + +In the earlier editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica, the tale is told, +as sober matter of fact: in the last, Napier's, of 1842, it is wholly +omitted. Malone, in his Life of Dryden, page 347, ascribes the whole to +Mrs. Thomas. + +Dryden died, in 1700. The first four volumes of Johnson's Lives of the +Poets, containing Dryden's, went to the press in 1779. Considering the +nature of this outrage; the eminence, not only of the dead, but of some of +the living, whose names are involved; its alleged publicity; and its +occurrence in the very city, where all the parties flourished; it is +remarkable, that this "_wild story_," as Johnson fitly calls it, should +have obtained any credit, and survived for nine-and-seventy years. + + + + +No. CXIX. + + +Deeply to be commiserated are all those, who have not read, from beginning +to end, the writings of the immortal Oliver--a repast, _ab ovo usque ad +mala_, to be swallowed, and inwardly digested, while our intellectual +stomachs are young and vigorous, and to be regurgitated, and chewed over, +a thousand times, when the almond tree begins to flourish, and even the +grasshopper becomes a burden. Who does not remember his story of the +Chinese matron--the widow with the great fan! + +The original of this pleasant tale is not generally known. The brief +legend, related by Goldsmith, is an imperfect epitome of an interesting +story, illustrating the power of magic, among the followers of Laou-keun, +the founder of a religious sect, in China, resembling that of Epicurus. + +The original tale was translated from the Chinese, by Père Dentrecolles, +who was at the head of the French missionaries, in China, and died at +Pekin, in 1741. The following liberal version, from the French, which may, +perhaps, be better called a paraphrase, will not fail, I think, to +interest the reader. + +Wealth, and all the blessings it can procure, for man, are brief and +visionary. Honors, glory, fame are gaudy clouds, that flit by, and are +gone. The ties of blood are easily broken; affection is a dream. The most +deadly hate may occupy the heart, which held the warmest love. A yoke is +not worth wearing, though wrought of gold. Chains are burdensome, though +adorned with jewels. Let us purge our minds; calm our passions; curb our +wishes; and set not our hearts upon a vain world. Let our highest aim be +liberty--pleasure. + +Chuang-tsze took unto himself a wife, whose youth and beauty seduced him +from the busy world. He retired, among the delightful scenery of Soong, +his native province, and gave himself up, entirely, to the delights of +philosophy and love. A sovereign, who had become acquainted with the fame +of Chuang-tsze, for superior wisdom, invited him to become his wuzzeer, or +prime minister. Chuang-tsze declined, in the language of parable--"A +heifer," said he, "pampered for the sacrifice, and decked with ornaments, +marched triumphantly along, looking, as she passed, with mingled pride and +contempt, upon some humble oxen, that were yoked to the plough. She +proudly entered the temple--but when she beheld the knife, and +comprehended that she was a victim, how gladly would she have exchanged +conditions with the humblest of those, upon whom she had so lately looked +down with pity and contempt." + +Chuang-tsze walked by the skirts of the mountain, absorbed in thought--he +suddenly came among many tombs--the city of the dead. "Here then," he +exclaimed, "all are upon a level--caste is unknown--the philosopher and +the fool sleep, side by side. This is eternity! From the sepulchre there +is no return!" + +He strolled among the tombs; and, erelong, perceived a grave, that had +been recently made. The mound of moistened clay was not yet thoroughly +dry. By the side of that grave sat a young woman, clad in the deepest +mourning. With a white fan, of large proportions, she was engaged, in +fanning the earth, which covered this newly made grave. Chuang-tsze was +amazed; and, drawing near, respectfully inquired, who was the occupant of +that grave, and why this mourning lady was so strangely employed. Tears +dropped from her eyes, as she uttered a few inaudible words, without +rising, or ceasing to fan the grave. The curiosity of Chuang-tsze was +greatly excited--he ascribed her manner, not to fear, but to some inward +sense of shame--and earnestly besought her to explain her motives, for an +act, so perfectly novel and mysterious. + +After a little embarrassment, she replied, as follows: "Sir, you behold a +lone woman--death has deprived me of my beloved husband--this grave +contains his precious remains. Our love was very great for each other. In +the hour of death, his agony, at the thought of parting from me, was +immoderate. These were his dying words--'My beloved, should you ever think +of a second marriage, it is my dying request, that you remain a widow, at +least till my grave is thoroughly dry; then you have my permission to +marry whomsoever you will.' And now, as the earth, which is quite damp +still, will take a long time to dry, I thought I would fan it a little, to +dissipate the moisture." + +Chuang-tsze made great efforts, to suppress a strong disposition to laugh +outright, in the woman's face. "She is in a feverish haste," thought he. +"What a hypocrite, to talk of their mutual affection! If such be love, +what a time there would have been, had they hated each other." + +"Madam," said the philosopher, "you are desirous, that this grave should +dry, as soon as possible; but, with your feeble strength, it will require +a long time, to accomplish it; let me assist you." She expressed her deep +sense of the obligation, and rising, with a profound courtesy, handed the +philosopher a spare fan, which she had brought with her. Chuang-tsze, who +possessed the power of magic, struck the ground with the fan repeatedly; +and it soon became perfectly dry. The widow appeared greatly surprised, +and delighted, and presented the philosopher with the fan, and a silver +bodkin, which she drew from her tresses. He accepted the fan only; and the +lady retired, highly gratified, with the speedy accomplishment of her +object. + +Chuang-tsze remained, for a brief space, absorbed in thought; and, at +length, returned slowly homeward, meditating, by the way, upon this +extraordinary adventure. He sat down in his apartment, and, for some time, +gazed, in silence, upon the fan. At length, he exclaimed--"Who, after +having witnessed this occurrence, can hesitate to draw the inference, that +marriage is one of the modes, by which the doctrine of the metempsychosis +is carried out. People, who have hated each other heartily, in some prior +condition of being, are made man and wife, for the purpose of mutual +vexation--that is it, undoubtedly." + +The wife of the philosopher had approached him, unobserved; and, hearing +his last words, and noticing the fan, which he was still earnestly gazing +upon--"Pray, be so good, as to inform me," said she, "what is the meaning +of all this; and where, I should like to know, did you obtain that fine +fan, which appears to interest you so much?" Chuang-tsze, very faithfully, +narrated to his wife the story of the young widow, and all the +circumstances, which had taken place, at the tomb. + +As soon as the philosopher had finished the narrative, his wife, her +countenance inflamed with the severest indignation, broke forth, with a +torrent of contemptuous expressions, and unmeasured abuse, against the +abominable, young widow. She considered her a scandal to her sex. "Aye," +she exclaimed, "this vile widow must be a perfect monster, devoid of every +particle of feeling." + +"Alas," said the philosopher, "while the husband is in the flesh, there is +no wife, that is not ready to flatter and caress him--but no sooner is the +breath out of his body, than she seizes her fan, and forthwith proceeds to +dry up his grave." + +This greatly excited the ire of his wife--"How dare you talk in this +outrageous manner," said she, "of the whole sex? You confound the virtuous +with such vile wretches, as this unprincipled widow, who deserves to be +annihilated. Are you not ashamed of yourself, to talk in this cruel way? I +should think you might be restrained, by the dread of future punishment." + +"Why give way," said Chuang-tsze, "to all this passionate outcry? Be +candid--you are young, and extremely beautiful--should I die, this day--do +you pretend, that, with your attractions, you would suffer much time to be +lost, before you accepted the services of another husband?" + +"Good God," cried the lady, "how you talk! Who ever heard of a truly +faithful wuzzeer, that, after the death of his master, served another +prince? A widow _indeed_ never accepts a second partner. Did you ever know +a case, in which such a wife as I have been--a woman of my qualities and +station, after having lost her tenderly beloved, forsook his memory, and +gave herself to the embraces of a second husband! Such an act, in my +opinion, would be infamous. Should you be taken from me, today, be +assured, that I should follow you, with my imperishable love, and die, at +last, your disconsolate widow." + +"It is easy to promise, but not always so easy to perform," replied the +philosopher. At this speech, the lady was exasperated--"I would have you +to know," said she, "that women are to be found, without much inquiry, +quite as noble-hearted and constant, as _you_ have ever been. What a +pattern of constancy you have been! Dear me! Only think of it! When your +first wife died, you soon repaired your loss: and, becoming weary of your +second, you obtained a divorce from her, and then married me! What a +constant creature you have been! No wonder you think so lightly of women!" +Saying this, she snatched the fan out of her husband's hand, and tore it +into innumerable pieces; by which act she appeared to have obtained very +considerable relief; and, in a somewhat gentler tone, she told her +husband, that he was in excellent health, and likely to live, for very +many years; and that she could not, for the soul of her, see what could +induce him to torment her to death, by talking in this manner. + +"Compose yourself, my dear," said Chuang-tsze, "I confess that your +indignation delights me. I rejoice to see you exhibit so much feeling and +fire, upon such a theme." The wife of the philosopher recovered her +composure; and their conversation turned upon ordinary affairs. + +Before many days, Chuang-tsze became suddenly and severely attacked, by +some unaccountable disease. The symptoms + + + + +No. CXX. + + +Let us continue the story of Chuang-tsze, the great master of magic. + +Before many days, as I have stated, Chuang-tsze became suddenly and +severely attacked, by some unaccountable disease. The symptoms were full +of evil. His devoted wife was ever near her sick husband, sobbing +bitterly, and bathing him in tears. "It is but too plain," said the +philosopher, "that I cannot survive--I am upon the bed of death--this very +night, perhaps--at farthest, tomorrow--we shall part forever--what a pity, +that you should have destroyed that fan--it would have answered so well, +for the purpose of drying the earth upon my tomb!" + +"For heaven's sake," exclaimed the weeping wife, "do not, weak and feeble +as you are, harrass yourself, with these horrible fancies. You do me great +wrong. Our books I have carefully perused. I know my duties well. You have +received my troth--it shall never be another's. Can you doubt my +sincerity! Let me prove it, by dying first. I am ready." "Enough," said +the philosopher--"I now die in peace--I am satisfied of your constancy. +But the world is fading away--the cold hand of death is upon me." The head +of Chuang-tsze fell back--the breath had stopped--the pulse had ceased to +beat--he was already with the dead. + +If the piercing cries of a despairing, shrieking widow could have raised +the dead, Chuang-tsze would have arisen, on the spot. She sprang upon the +corpse, and held it long, in her fond embrace. She then arrayed her person +in the deepest mourning, a robe of seamless white, and made the air +resound with her cries of anguish and despair. She abjured food; abstained +from slumber; and refused to be comforted. + +Chuang-tsze had the wide-spread fame of an eminent sage--crowds gathered +to his obsequies. After their performance, and when the vast assemblage +had all, well nigh, departed--a youth of comely face, and elegantly +arrayed, was observed, lingering near the spot. He proclaimed himself to +be of most honorable descent, and that he had, long before, declared to +Chuang-tsze his design of becoming the pupil of that great philosopher. +"For that end," said he, "and that alone, I have come to this place--and +behold Chuang-tsze is no more. Great is my misfortune!" + +This splendid youth cast off his colored garments, and assumed the robes +of lamentation--he bowed himself to the earth, before the coffin of the +defunct--four times, he touched the ground with his forehead; and, with an +utterance choked by sobs, he exclaimed--"Oh Chuang-tsze, learned and wise, +your ill-fated disciple cannot receive wisdom and knowledge from your +lips; but he will signify his reverence for your memory, by abiding here +an hundred days, to mourn, for one he so truly revered." He then again +bent his forehead, four times, to the earth, and moistened it with his +tears. + +The youthful disciple, after a few days, desired permission to offer his +condolence to the widow, which she, at first declined: but, upon his +reference to the ancient rites, which allow a widow to receive the visits +of her late husband's friends, and especially of his disciples, she +finally consented. She moved with slow and solemn steps to the hall of +reception, where the young gentleman acquitted himself, with infinite +grace and propriety, and tendered the usual expressions of consolation. + +The elegant address and fine person of this young disciple were not lost +upon the widow of Chuang-tsze. She was fascinated. A sentiment of +tenderness began to rise in her bosom, whose presence she had scarcely the +courage to recognize. She ventured, in a right melancholy way, to suggest +a hope, that it was not his purpose immediately to leave the valley of +Soong. "I have endured much in the loss of my great master," he replied. +"Precious forever be his memory. It will be grateful to my heart to seek +here a brief home, wherein I may pass those hundred days of mourning, +which our rites prescribe, and then to take part in the obsequies, which +will follow. I may also solace myself the while, by perusing the works of +my great master, of whose living instructions I am so unhappily deprived." + +"We shall feel ourselves highly honored, by your presence, under our +roof," replied the lady; "it seems to me entirely proper, that you should +take up your abode here, rather than elsewhere." She immediately directed +some refreshments to be brought, and caused the works of Chuang-tsze to be +exhibited, on a large table, together with a copy of the learned +Taou-te-King, which had been a present to her late husband, from Laou-keun +himself. + +The coffin of Chuang-tsze was deposited, in a large hall; and, on one +side, was a suite of apartments, opening into it, which was assigned to +the visitor. This devoted widow came, very frequently, to weep over the +remains of her honored husband; and failed not to say a civil word to the +youth, who, notified of her presence, by her audible sobs, never omitted +to come forth, and mingle his lamentations with hers. Mutual glances were +exchanged, upon such occasions. In short, each, already, was effectually +smitten with the other. + +One day, the pretty, little widow sent privately for the old domestic, who +attended upon the young man, in the capacity of body servant, and +inquired, all in a seemingly casual way, if his master was married. "Not +yet"--he replied.--"He is very fastidious, I suppose"--said the lady, with +an inquiring look.--"It is even so, madam," replied the servant--"my +master is, indeed, not easily suited, in such a matter. His standard is +very high. I have heard him say, that he should, probably, never be +married, as he despaired of ever finding a female resembling yourself, in +every particular."--"Did he say so?" exclaimed the widow, as the warm +blood rushed into her cheeks.--"He certainly did," replied the other, "and +much more, which I do not feel at liberty to repeat."--"Dear me," said the +widow, "what a bewitching young man he is! go to him, and if he really +loves me, as you say, tell him he may open the subject, without fear, for +his passion is amply returned, by one, who is willing, if he so wishes, to +become his wife." + +The young widow, from day to day, threw herself repeatedly, and as if by +accident, into the old servant's way; and began, at last, to feel +surprised, and somewhat nettled, that he brought her no message from his +master. At length, she became exceedingly impatient, and asked him +directly, if he had spoken to his master on the subject. "Yes, madam," the +old man replied.--"And pray," asked the widow, eagerly, "what said +he?"--"He said, madam, that such an union would place him upon the +pinnacle of human happiness; but that there was one fatal +objection."--"And do, for pity's sake, tell me," said she, hastily +interrupting the old man, "what that objection can be."--"He said," +rejoined the old domestic, "that, being a disciple of your late husband, +such a marriage, he feared, would be considered scandalous."--"But," said +she, briskly, "there is just nothing in that. He was never a disciple of +Chuang-tsze--he only proposed to become one, which is an entirely +different thing. If any other frivolous objections arise, I beg you to +remove them; and you may count upon being handsomely rewarded." + +Her anxiety caused her to become exceedingly restless. She made frequent +visits to the hall, and, when she approached the coffin, her sobs became +more audible than ever--but the young disciple came not forth, as usual. +Upon one occasion, after dark, as she was standing near the coffin, she +was startled, by an unusual noise. "Gracious Heaven!" she exclaimed, "can +it be so! Is the old philosopher coming back to life!" The cold sweat came +upon her lovely brow, as she started to procure a light. When she +returned, the mystery was readily explained. In front of the coffin there +was a table, designed as an altar, for the reception of such emblems and +presents, as were placed there by visitors. The old servant, had become +tipsy, and finding no more convenient place, in which to bestow himself, +while waiting his master's bidding, he had thrown himself, at full length, +upon this altar; and, in turning over, had occasioned the noise, which had +so much alarmed the young widow. Under other circumstances, the act would +have been accounted sacrilegious, and the fellow would have been subjected +to the bastinado. But, as matters stood, the widow passed it by, and even +suffered the sot to remain undisturbed. + +On the morning of the following day, the widow encountered the old +domestic, who was passing her, with as much apparent indifference, as +though she had never entrusted him, with any important commission. +Surprised by his behavior, she called him to her private +apartment--"Well," said she, "have you executed the business, which I gave +you in charge?"--"Oh," said he, with an air of provoking indifference, +"that is all over, I believe."--"How so," inquired the widow--"did you +deliver my message correctly?"--"In your own words," he replied--"my +master would make any sacrifice to make you his wife; and is entirely +persuaded, by your arguments, to give up the objection he stated, in +regard to his being the disciple of Chuang-tsze; but there are three other +objections, which it will be impossible to overcome; and which his sense +of delicacy forbids him to exhibit before you."--"Poh, poh," said the +widow, "let me hear what they are, and we shall then see, whether they are +insurmountable or not."--"Well, madam," said the old man, "since you +command me, I will state them, as nearly as I can, in the words of my +young master. The first of these three objections is this----" + + + + +No. CXXI. + + +We were about to exhibit those three objections of the young disciple, to +his marriage, with the widow of Chuang-tsze, when we were summoned away, +by professional duties. Let us proceed--"The first of my master's +objections," said the old domestic, "is this--the coffin of Chuang-tsze is +still in the hall of ceremony. A sight, so sad and solemnizing, is +absolutely inconsistent with the nuptial celebration. The world would cry +out upon such inconsistency. In the second place, the fame of your late +husband was so great--his love for you so devoted--yours for him so ardent +and sincere, and founded, so obviously, upon his learning and wisdom--that +my master fears it will be impossible for him, to supply the place of so +good, and so great, a man; and that you will, ere long, despise him, for +his inferiority; and that your affections will be entirely and +unchangeably fixed, on the memory of the great defunct. The third and +last objection, named by my master, whose passion for you knows no +bounds, is serious indeed. Though of lofty pedigree, he is very poor. He +has neither money nor lands; and has not the means of purchasing those +marriage gifts, which custom requires him to offer." + +"And are these the only objections?" said she. "There are no others," he +replied; "if it were not for these insurmountable objections, the +happiness of my master would be complete, and he would openly manifest +that passion, by which he is now secretly consumed." + +"They are, by no means, insurmountable," said the young widow, with +animation. "As for the coffin, what is it? A mere shell, containing the +remains of poor Chuang-tsze. It is not absolutely necessary, that it +should remain in the hall, during these one hundred days. At the farther +end of my garden is an ancient smoke-house. It is quite dilapidated, and +no longer in use. Some of my people shall carry the coffin thither, +without farther delay. So you may inform your sweet, young master, that +his first objection will be instantly removed. And why should he distress +himself so needlessly, in regard to the second? Chuang-tsze certainly +passed, with the world, for a great philosopher, and a wonderful man. The +world sees from a distance. A sort of haze or mist impedes its vision. +Minute particulars escape its observation. That, which is smooth and fair, +seen from afar, may appear full of inequalities to one, who is near at +hand. God forbid, that I should undervalue the dead; but it is well known, +that Chuang-tsze repudiated his second wife, because she did not precisely +suit his humor, and then married me. His great reputation induced a +certain sovereign, to appoint him his chief minister. But the philosopher +was not deficient in shrewdness--he knew his incapacity, and resolved to +hide himself, in that solitude, where we have vegetated, so long." + +"About a month ago, he encountered a young widow, who, with a large fan, +was endeavoring to dry up her husband's grave, because she could not marry +again, under the condition her husband had imposed upon her, until this +was done. Chuang-tsze, if you will believe it, made the acquaintance of +this shameless woman; and actually assisted her, in drying up her +husband's grave. She gave him a fan, as a keepsake; and he valued it +highly. I got possession of it however, and tore it to tatters. You see +how great my obligations are to this wonderful philosopher; and you may +judge of the real affection, which I must feel, for the memory of such a +man." + +"The last objection," continued the widow, "is easily disposed of. I will +furnish your master with all the means he can desire. Chuang-tsze, to do +the man justice, has left me the absolute mistress of an ample +fortune--here, present these twenty taels to your master, from me, with +such expressions of devotion, as may befit the lips of one, whose heart is +all his own; and say to him, unless he himself is desirous of a longer +delay, that, as the whole of life is not too long for love, I shall be +happy, if he desires it, to become his bride, this very day." + +Thus far the course of true love, in despite of the proverb, certainly ran +smooth. + +"Here," said the young disciple, upon sight of the twenty taels, as he +turned them over, "is something substantial--run back immediately to the +widow, and tell her my passion will endure the curb no longer. I am +entirely at her disposal." The widow was quite beside herself, upon +receiving these tidings; and, casting off her garments of heaviness, she +began to embellish her fine person. The coffin of Chuang-tsze, by her +directions, was immediately transferred to the old smoke-house. + +The hall was made ready, for the approaching nuptials. If murmurs +occasionally arose, among the old, faithful domestics of Chuang-tsze, the +widow's passion was more blind than moonless midnight, and deafer than the +time-stricken adder. A gorgeous feast was made ready. The shades of +evening drew on apace--the lanterns were lighted up, in all +directions--the nuptial torch cast forth its bright beams from an elevated +table. + +At the appointed signal, the bridegroom entered, most skilfully and +splendidly arrayed,--so that his fine, manly figure was exhibited, to the +greatest advantage. The young widow soon appeared, her countenance the +very tabernacle of pleasure, and her bewitching form, adorned in the most +costly silks, and splendid embroidery. They placed themselves, side by +side, in front of the hymeneal taper, arrayed in pearls, and diamonds, and +tissue of gold. Those salutations, which custom demands, having been duly +performed, and the bride and bridegroom having wished each other eternal +felicity, in that manner, which the marriage rites prescribe, the +bridegroom holding the hand of the bride, they proceeded to the festal +hall; and having drunk from the goblet of mutual fidelity, they took their +places, at the banqueting board. + +The repast went joyously forward--the darkest cloud--how suddenly will it +come over the smiling face of the bewitching moon! The festival had not +yet passed, when the bridegroom fell to the floor, in horrible +convulsions. With eyes turned upward, and mouth frightfully distorted, he +became an object of horror. The bride, whose passion for the young +disciple was ardent and sincere, screamed aloud. She threw herself, in all +her bridal array, upon the floor, by his side; clasped him in her arms; +covered him with kisses; and implored him, to say what she could do, to +afford him relief. Miserable youth! He was unable to reply, and seemed +about to expire. + +The old domestic rushed into the apartment, upon hearing the noise, and +taking his master from the floor, proceeded to shake him with violence. +"My God," cried the lady, "has this ever happened before?" "Yes, Madam," +he replied, "he has a return of it about once, in every year." "And, for +Heaven's sake, tell me what remedies do you employ?" she eagerly inquired. +"There is one sovereign remedy," the old man replied; "his physician +considers it a specific." "And what is it? tell me, in the name of +Confucius," she passionately exclaimed, for the convulsions were growing +more violent. "Nothing will restore him, but the brains of a man, recently +dead, taken in warm wine. His father, who was governor of a province, when +his son was last attacked, in this way, caused a criminal to be executed, +that his brains might be thus employed." "Good God!" exclaimed the +agonizing bride, for the convulsions, after a short remission, were +returning, with redoubled violence, and the bridegroom was foaming +terribly, at the mouth. "Tell me instantly, will the brains of a man who +died a natural death answer as well?" "Undoubtedly," the old servant +replied. "Well then," said she, in a tone somewhat subdued--"there is +Chuang-tsze in the smoke-house." "Ah, Madam," said the old domestic, "I am +aware of it--it occurred to me--but I feared to suggest it." "And of what +possible use," she exclaimed, "can the brains of old Chuang-tsze be to him +now, I should like to know?" + +At this moment, the convulsions became absolutely terrific. "These +returns," said the old man, "will become more and more violent, till they +destroy my poor master. There is no time to be lost." The wretched bride +rushed from the apartment, and, seizing a hatchet, which happened to be +lying in the outer passage, she hastily made her way to the old +smoke-house. Elevating the hatchet above her head, she struck a violent +blow, on the lid of the coffin. + +If the whole force of the blow had descended upon a secret spring, the lid +could not have risen more suddenly. It seemed like the power of magic. The +bride turned her eyes upon the closed lids of the corpse--they gradually +opened; and the balls were slowly turned, and steadily fixed, upon her. In +an instant Chuang-tsze sat, bolt upright, in his coffin! She sent forth a +shriek of terror--the hatchet fell from her paralyzed hand--the cold sweat +of confusion gathered thickly upon her brow. + +"My beloved wife," said the philosopher, with perfect calmness, "be so +obliging as to lend me your hand, that I may get out.--I have had a +charming nap," continued he, as he took the lamp from her hand, and +advanced towards the hall. She followed, trembling at every step, and +dreading the meeting, between the old philosopher and the young disciple. + +Though the air of unwonted festivity, under the light of the waning +tapers, still hung over the apartment, fortunately the youth and the old +servant seemed to have departed. Upon this, her courage, in some measure, +revived, and, turning a look of inexpressible tenderness upon +Chuang-tsze--"Dearest husband," said she, "how I have cherished your +memory! My day thoughts and dreams have been all of you. I have often +heard, that the apparent dead were revived, especially if not confined +within closed apartments. I therefore caused your precious coffin to be +removed, where the cool, refreshing air could blow over it. How I have +watched, and listened, for some evidence of returning life! And how my +heart leaped into my mouth, when my vigilance was at last rewarded. I flew +with a hatchet to open the coffin; and, when I saw your dear eyes turned +upon me, I thought I should"--"I can never repay your devotion," said the +philosopher, interrupting her, with an expression of ineffable tenderness, +"but why are you thus gaily apparelled--why these robes--these jewels--my +love?" + +"It seemed to me, my dear husband," she readily replied, "that some +invisible power assured me of your return to life. How, thought I, can I +meet my beloved Chuang-tsze, in the garments of heaviness? No; it will be +like a return of our wedding day; and thus, you see, I have resumed my +bridal array, and the jewels you gave me, during our honeymoon."--"Ah," +said the philosopher, "how considerate you are--you always had your +thoughts about you." He then drew near the table. The wedding taper, which +was then burning low in its socket, cast its equivocal rays upon the +gorgeous bowls and dishes, which covered the festal board. Chuang-tsze +surveyed them attentively, in silence; and, calling for warm wine, +deliberately drained the goblet, while the lady stood near him, trembling +with confusion and terror. + +At length, setting down the goblet, and pointing his finger--"Look behind +you!" he exclaimed. She turned her head, and beheld the young disciple, in +his wedding finery, with his attendant--a second glance, and they were +gone. Such was the power of this mighty master of magic. The wife slunk to +her apartment; and, resolving not to survive her shame and disappointment, +unloosened her wedding girdle, and ascending to the garret, hung herself +therewith, to one of the cross-beams, until she was dead. Tidings were +soon brought to Chuang-tsze, who, deliberately feeling her pulse, and +ascertaining that she was certainly dead, cut her down, and placed her +precious remains, in the coffin, in the old smoke-house. + +He then proceeded to indulge his philosophical humor. He sat down, among +the flickering lamps, at the solitary board, and struck up a dirge, +accompanying his voice, by knocking with the chopsticks, and whatever else +was convenient to his purpose, upon the porcelain bowls and dishes, which +he finally broke into a thousand pieces, and setting fire to his mansion, +he consumed it to ashes, together with the smoke-house, and all its +valuable contents. + +He then, abandoning all thoughts of taking another wife, travelled into +the recesses of Latinguin, in pursuit of his old master, Laoukeun, whom, +at length, he discovered. There he acquired the reputation of a profound +philosopher; and lay down, at last, in the peaceful grave, where wicked +widows cease from troubling, and weary widowers are at rest. + + + + +No. CXXII. + + +A grasshopper was not the crest of Peter Faneuil's arms. I formerly +supposed it was; for a gilded grasshopper, as half the world knows, is the +vane upon the cupola of Faneuil Hall; and a gilded grasshopper, as many of +us well remember, whirled about, of yore, upon the little spire, that rose +above the summer-house, appurtenant to the mansion, where Peter Faneuil +lived, and died. That house was built, and occupied, by his uncle, Andrew; +and he had some seven acres, for his garden thereabouts. It was upon the +westerly side of old _Treamount_ Street, and became the residence of the +late William Phillips, whose political relations to the people of +Massachusetts, as their Lieutenant Governor, could not preserve him from +the sobriquet of _Billy_. + +I thought it not unlikely, that Peter's crest was a grasshopper, and that, +on that account, he had become partial to this emblem. But I am duly +certified, that it was not so. The selection of a grasshopper, for a vane, +was made, in imitation of their example, who placed the very same thing, +upon the pinnacle of the Royal Exchange, in London. The arms of the +Faneuils I have seen, upon the silver castors, which once were Peter's +own; and, upon his decease, became the property of his brother, Benjamin, +from whom they descended to his only daughter, Mary Faneuil, who became, +October 13, 1754, the wife of George Bethune, now deceased; and was the +mother of George Bethune, Esquire, who will complete his eighty-second +year, in April, 1851. From this gentleman, whose grand-uncle Peter Faneuil +was, and from other descendants of old Benjamin Faneuil, of Rochelle, I +have received some facts and documents--interesting to me--possibly to +others. + +In conversation with an antiquarian friend, not long ago, we agreed, that +very much less was generally known of Peter Faneuil, than of almost any +other great, public benefactor. His name, nevertheless, is inseparably +associated, with the cradle of American liberty. Drs. Eliot and Allen, in +their Biographical Dictionaries, have passed him over, very slightingly, +the former finishing up this noble-hearted Huguenot, with fifteen lines; +and the latter, with eight; while not a few of their pages have been +devoted, to the very dullest doctors of the drowsiest theology, and to-- + + "Names ignoble, born to be forgot." + +Mr. Farmer, in his Genealogical Register, does not seem to be aware, that +the name of Faneuil existed, for he has not even found a niche for it +there. His Register, I am aware, purports to be a register of the "_First +Settlers_." But he has found room for the Baudouins (Bowdoins) and their +descendants. They also were Huguenots; and came hither, with the Faneuils, +after 1685. One of that family, as will be more fully shown, Claude +Baudoin, presented Peter Faneuil in baptism. Yet, such was the public +sense of Peter's favors, _when they were green_, that John Lovell--that +same Master Lovell, who retired with the British army, in 1776--delivered, +under an appointment of the town, an oration, to commemorate the virtues, +and laud the munificence of Peter Faneuil. Such, in truth, was the very +first occasion, upon which the citizens were summoned to listen to the +voice of an orator, in Faneuil Hall; and then, in honor of him, who +perfected the noble work, at his own proper cost, and whose death so +speedily followed its completion--for a noble work assuredly it was, +relatively to the times, in which it was wrought. + +The Faneuils were Huguenots. The original pronunciation of this patronymic +must have been somewhat different from the present: there was an excusable +_naïveté_, in the inquiry of a rural visitant of the city--if a well known +mechanical establishment, with a tall, tubular chimney, were not _Funnel_ +Hall? + +After the revocation of the edict of Nantes, by Louis XIV., in 1685, the +Faneuils, in common with many other Huguenots of France,--the Baudouins, +the Bernons, the Sigourneys, the Boudinots, the Pringles, the Hugers, the +Boutineaus, the Jays, the Laurenses, the Manigaults, the Marions, the +Prioleaus, and many others, came to these North American shores--as our +pilgrim fathers came--to worship God, in security, and according to their +consciences. Many of these persecuted men conferred, upon their adopted +home, those blessings, which the exercise of their talents, and the +influence of their characters, and of the talents and characters of their +descendants have confirmed to our common country, for many generations. + +They came, by instalments, and arrived at different points. Thirty +families of these expatriated Protestants came hither, and settled upon a +tract, eight miles square, in the "Nipmug country," where now stands the +town of Oxford, in the County of Worcester. This settlement commenced, in +Gov. Dudley's time, and under his particular auspices; but continued only +till 1696, when it was broken up, by the inroads of the savages. In the +overthrow of this settlement, rum was a material agent, and occasioned, +though upon a very small scale, a second massacre of some of these +Huguenots. There is a letter to Gov. Dudley, from M. Bondet, the Huguenot +clergyman, dated July 6, 1691, complaining bitterly of the unrestricted +sale, among the Indians, of this fatal fire water; and giving a graphic +account of the uproar and outrage it produced. + +After the failure of this attempt, many of the scattered planters +collected, in Boston. For several years, they gathered, for devotional +purposes, in one of the larger school-houses. Jan. 4, 1704, they purchased +a piece of land, in South School Street, of John Mears, a hatter, for +"£110 current silver money of New England;" but, for several years, the +selectmen, for some cause, unknown to us, refused their consent, that +these worthy French Protestants should build their church thereon. About +twelve years after the purchase of the land, the little church--the +visible temple--went up. It was of brick, and very small. Monsieur Pierre +Daillé was their first pastor, André Le Mercier the second; and, if there +be any truth, in tradition, these Huguenot shepherds were pure and holy +men. Daillé died testate, May 20, 1715. His will bears date May 15, of +that year. He directs his body to be interred, at the discretion of his +executor, James Bowdoin, "_with this restriction, that there be no wine at +my funeral, and that none of my wife's relations have mourning cloaths_." +He empowers his executor to give them gloves; and scarfs and gloves to all +the ministers of Boston. To his wife, Martha, he gives £350, Province +bills, and his negro man, Kuffy. His Latin and French books he gives to +the French Church, as _the nucleus of a library_. £100 to be put at +interest for the use of the minister. £10 to be improved by the elders, +for the use of the church, and should a meeting-house be built, then in +aid of that object. To John Rawlins the French schoolmaster, £5. He then +makes his brother Paul, of Armsfort, in Holland, residuary legatee. His +"_books and arms_" were appraised at £2. 10. The whole estate at £274. 10. +sterling. + +Le Mercier dedicated his book, on Detraction, to his people. Therein he +says, "You have not despised my youth, when I first came among you; you +have since excused my infirmities; and, as I did the same, in respect to +yours, it has pleased our Saviour, the head of his church, to favor us +with an uninterrupted peace and union in our church, for the almost +eighteen years that I have preached the word of salvation to you." His +book was published in 1733. He therefore became their pastor between 1715, +when Daillé died, and 1716. He died March 31, 1764, aged 71. He was +therefore born in 1693, and ordained about the age of 22. + +Le Mercier's will is dated, at Dorchester, Nov. 7, 1761. A codicil was +added, at Boston, Feb. 3, 1764. He left his estate to his four children, +"_Andrew, Margaret, Jane, and my son Bartholomew, if living_." He enjoins +upon his heirs the payment of Bartholomew's debt to Thomas Hancock, for +which he had become responsible, and which he had partly paid. By his +will, he appointed Jane and Margaret to execute his will. In the codicil, +he refers to the disordered state of Margaret's mind, and appoints +Zachariah Johonnot, in her stead, requesting him to be her guardian. The +whole estate was appraised at £232. 18. 6. sterling. + +Years rolled on: juxtaposition and intermarriage were Americanising these +Huguenots, from month to month; and, ere long, they felt, less and less, +the necessity of any separate place of worship. On the 7th of May, 1748, +"Stephen Boutineau, the only surviving elder," and others, among whom we +recognize the Huguenot names of Johonnot, Packinett, Boudoin, and +Sigourney, conveyed their church and land to Thomas Fillebrown, Thomas +Handyside Peck, and others, trustees for the "new congregational church, +whereof Mr. Andrew Croswell is pastor." After a while, this church became +the property of the Roman Catholics; and mass was first celebrated there, +Nov. 2, 1788. The Catholics, in 1803, having removed to Franklin Place, +the old Huguenot church was taken down; and, upon the site of it, a temple +was erected, by the Universalists; showing incontrovertibly, thank God, +that the soil was most happily adapted to toleration. + +The reader fancies, perhaps, that I have forgotten Peter Faneuil. Not so: +but I must linger a little longer with these Huguenots, who attempted a +settlement in the Nipmug country. In the southwesterly part of Oxford, +there rises a lofty hill, whose summit affords an extensive and delightful +prospect. Beneath, at the distance of a mile, or more, lies the village +of Oxford; and the scenery, beyond, is exceedingly picturesque. Upon this +eminence, which now bears the name of Mayo's Hill, are the well-defined +remains of an ancient fort. Its construction is perfectly regular. The +bastions are clearly marked; and the old well, constructed within the +barrier, still remains. As recently, as 1819, says the Rev. Dr. Holmes, in +his able and interesting account of the Huguenots, "grapevines were +growing luxuriantly, along the line of this fort; and these, together with +currant bushes, roses, and other shrubbery, nearly formed a hedge around +it. There were some remains of an apple orchard. The currant and asparagus +were still growing there." + +Such were the vestiges of these thirty families, who, in 1696, fled from a +foe, not more savage and relentless, though less enlightened, than the +murderers of Coligny, in 1572. + +The Faneuils formed no part of these thirty families; but, not many years +after the little Oxford colony was broken up, and the fugitive survivors +had found their way to Boston, the Faneuils, one after another, seem to +have been attracted hither, from those points of our country, where they +first arrived, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1685, or +from other, intermediate stations, to which they had removed. + +There are not elements enough, I fear, for a very interesting memoir of +Peter Faneuil. The materials, even for a brief account, are marvellously +few, and far between; and the very best result, to be anticipated, is a +warp and woof of shreds and patches. + +But, if I am not much mistaken, I know more of Peter Faneuil, than Master +Lovell ever wot of, though he delivered the funeral oration; and, albeit +the sum total is very small, it seems but meet and right, that it should +be given to the world. I think it would so be decided, by the citizens, if +the vote were taken, this very day--in _Faneuil Hall_. + +Our _neighbors_, all over the United States have heard of _Faneuil Hall_; +and, though, of late years, since we have had a race, or breed, of mayors, +every one of whom has endeavored to be _worthier_ or more _conceding_ than +his predecessor, Faneuil Hall has been converted into a sort of omnibus +without wheels; yet the glory of its earlier, and of some, among its +latter days, is made, thank God, of that unchangeable stuff, that will +never shrink, and cannot fade. + +No man has ever heard of Faneuil Hall, who will not be pleased to hear +somewhat of that noble-minded, whole-souled descendant of the primitive +Huguenots--and such indeed he was--who came, as a stranger and sojourner +here, and built that hall, at his own proper cost and charge, and gave +it--the gift of a cheerful giver--to those, among whom he had come to +dwell--and all this, in the midst of his days, in the very prime of his +life, not waiting for the almond tree to flourish, and for desire to fail, +and for the infirmities of age to admonish the rich man, that he must set +his house in order, and could carry nothing with him, to those regions +beyond. + +Faneuil Hall has been called the _Cradle of Liberty_, so long and so +often, that it may seem to savor of political heresy, to quarrel with the +name--but, for the soul of me, I cannot help it. If it be intended to say, +that Faneuil Hall is the _birth place_ of Liberty, I am not aware of a +single instance, on record, of a baby, _born in a cradle_. The proverbial +use of the cradle has ever been to rock the baby to sleep; and Heaven +knows our old fathers made no such use of Faneuil Hall, in their early +management of the bantling; for it was an ever-wakeful child, from the +very moment of its first, sharp, shrill, life cry. + + + + +No. CXXIII. + + +General Jackson has been reported--how justly I know not--upon some +occasion, in a company of ladies, to have given a brief, but spirited, +description of all his predecessors, in the Presidential chair, till he +came down to the time of President Tyler, when, seizing his hat, he +proceeded to bow himself out of the room. The ladies, however, insisted +upon his completing the catalogue--_"Well, ladies," said he, "it is matter +of history, and may therefore be spoken--President Tyler, ladies, +was--pretty much nothing."_ + +A very felicitous description; and not of very limited application to men +and things. I cannot find a better, for Master John Lovell's funeral +oration, upon Peter Faneuil. This affair, which Dr. Snow, in his history +of Boston, calls "_a precious relic_," is certainly a wonderfully +flatulent performance. A time-stained copy of the original edition of +1743 lies under my eye. I hoped, not unreasonably, that it would be a lamp +to my path, in searching after the historical assets of Peter Faneuil. But +not one ray of light has it afforded me; and, with one or two exceptions, +in relation to the _Hall_, and the general beneficence of its founder, it +is, in no sense, more of a funeral oration, upon Peter Faneuil, than upon +Peter Smink. In their vote of thanks to Master Lovell, passed on the day +of its delivery, the committee speak of "_his oration_," very judiciously +abstaining from all unwarrantable expletives. From this oration we can +discover nothing of Faneuil's birth-place, nor parentage, nor when, nor +whence, nor wherefore he came hither; nor of the day of his birth, nor of +the day of his death, nor of the disease of which he died; nor of his +habits of life, nor of the manner, in which he acquired his large estate; +nor of his religious opinions, nor of his ancestors. + +We collect, however, from these meagre pages, that Mr. Faneuil meditated +other benefactions to the town--that his death was sudden--that votes of +thanks had been passed, for his donation of the Hall, "a few months +before"--that the meeting, at which the oration was pronounced, March 14, +1742, was the very first annual meeting, in Faneuil Hall--that Peter +Faneuil was the owner of "a large and plentiful estate"--that "no man +managed his affairs with greater prudence and industry"--that "he fed the +hungry and clothed the naked; comforted the fatherless and the widows, in +their affliction, and his bounty visited the prisoner." + +Master Lovell, not inelegantly, observes of Faneuil's intended +benefactions, which were prevented by his death--"_His intended charities, +though they are lost to us, will not be lost to him. Designs of goodness +and mercy, prevented as these were, will meet with the reward of +actions_." This passage appears to have found favor, in the eyes of the +late Dr. Boyle, who has, accordingly, on page 21, of his memoir of the +Boston Episcopal Charitable Society, when speaking of Faneuil, made a very +free and familiar appropriation of it, with a slight verbal variation. + +Master Lovell's fervent aspirations, in regard to Faneuil Hall, one +hundred and nine years ago, have not been fulfilled, to the letter. The +gods have granted the orator's prayer--"_May Liberty always spread its +joyful wings over this place_"--but not with Master Lovell's conditions +annexed; for he adds--"_May_ LOYALTY _to a_ KING, _under whom we enjoy +that Liberty, ever remain our character_." + +In this particular, Master Lovell was not to be indulged. Yet he steadily +adhered to his tory principles; and, like many other conscientious and +honorable men, whom it is much less the fashion to abuse, at present, than +it was, of yore, adhered to his royal master; and relinquished his own +sceptre, as monarch of the South Grammar School, with all the honors and +emoluments thereof, choosing rather to suffer affliction, with his +thwarted and mortified master, than to enjoy the pleasures of rebellion, +for a season. He retired to Halifax, with the British army, in 1776, and +died there, in 1778. + +Original copies of Master Lovell's oration are exceedingly rare; though +the "_precious relic_" has been reprinted, by Dr. Snow, in his history of +Boston. The title may be worth preserving--"A funeral oration, delivered +at the opening of the annual meeting of the town, March 14th, 1742. In +Faneuil Hall, in Boston. Occasioned by the death of the founder, Peter +Faneuil Esq. By John Lovell, A. M., Master of the South Grammar School, in +Boston. _Sui memores alios fecere merendo._ Boston, printed by Green, +Bushell & Allen, for S. Kneeland & T. Green, in Queen Street, 1743." + +As an eminent historian conceived it to be a matter of indifference, at +which end he commenced his history, I shall not adhere to any +chronological arrangement, in the presentation of the few facts, which I +have collected, relating to Peter Faneuil and his family. On the contrary, +I shall begin at the latter end, and, first, endeavor to clear up a little +confusion, that has arisen, as to the time of his death. Allen, in his +Biog. Dic., says, that Peter Faneuil died, March 3, 1743. I am sorry to +say, that, in several instances, President Allen's _dates_ resemble +Jeremiah's _figs_, in the second basket; though, upon the present +occasion, he is right, on a certain hypothesis. In a note to the "Memoir +of the French Protestants," also, M. H. C. vol. xxii. p. 55, Peter Faneuil +is said to have died, March 3, 1743. Pemberton, in his "Description of +Boston," Ibid. v. 3, p. 253, by stating that the funeral oration was +delivered, March 14, 1742, makes 1742 the year of Faneuil's death. The +title page of the oration itself, quoted above, fixes the death, in 1742. +Dr. Eliot, in his Biog. Dic., says 1742. The Probate records of Suffolk +show administration granted, on Peter Faneuil's estate, March 18, 1742. +His _obiit_, on a mourning ring, that I have seen, is 1742. + +Now, if all dealers in dates, of the olden time, would discriminate, +between the old style and the new, we should be spared a vast deal of +vexation; and the good people of Boston, notional as they proverbially +are, would not appear, in their creditable zeal to do honor to a public +benefactor, to have given him a funeral oration, a twelve month before he +was dead. If the year be taken to begin, on the first of January, then Dr. +Allen is right; and Peter Faneuil died March 3, 1743. But if it did not +begin, till the twenty-fifth of March, and, legally, it certainly did not, +before 1752, when the new style was adopted, in Great Britain, and the +Provinces, then Eliot, and Pemberton, and the title page of the oration, +and the records of the court, and the mourning ring are right, and Peter +Faneuil died, in 1742. + +An illustration of this principle may be found, on the title page of the +oration itself. It is stated to have been delivered, March 14, 1742, and +printed in 1743. Having been delivered near the close of the year 1742, it +was printed, doubtless, soon after March 25, which was New Year's day for +1743. + +The public journals, nevertheless, seem to have adopted, and adhered to +the idea, that January 1, was the first day of the historical year, long +before the style was altered; and thus, in the Weekly News Letter, +published in Boston, Faneuil is stated to have died, in 1743. This journal +contains an obituary notice. A few imperfect numbers of this paper are all +that remain, and its extreme rarity leads me to copy the obituary here:-- + +"Thursday, March 10, 1743. On Thursday last, dyed at his seat in this +Town, PETER FANEUIL, Esq., whose remains, we hear, are to be enterred this +afternoon; a gentleman, possessed of a very ample fortune, and a most +generous spirit, whose noble benefaction to this town, and constant +employment of a great number of tradesmen, artificers and labourers, to +whom he was a liberal paymaster; whose hospitality to all, and secret +unbounded chirity to the poor--made his life a public blessing, and his +death a general loss to, and universally regretted by, the inhabitants; +who had been so sensible of their obligations to him, for the sumptuous +edifice, which he raised at his private expence, for their Market house +and Town Hall, that, at a general town meeting, as a testimony of their +gratitude, they voted, that the place of their future consultations should +be called by his name forever: in doing which they perpetuated their own +honor as much as his memory; for, by this record posterity will know the +most publick spirited man, in all regards, that ever yet appeared on the +Northern continent of America, was a member of their community." + +In the Boston Evening Post of March 7, 1743, in a brief notice of Peter +Faneuil's death, the disease of which he died is said to have been +"_dropsey_." + +Now that we have established the period of Peter's death, it may be well, +to establish the period of his birth; and this we can do, with certainty, +even to an hour, from authentic documents. In addition to other means, for +ascertaining dates, and various particulars, respecting Peter Faneuil, and +the members of his family--through the kindness of the Genealogical +Society, I have, before me, a folio volume of his commercial +correspondence: mutilated, indeed it is, by some thoughtless hand, but +furnishes some curious and interesting matter. Many of his letters are +written in French; and those, which are in English, are well composed. I +have found but a single instance, in which he writes our language, like a +Frenchman. Upon that occasion, he was in a passion with a certain judge of +the admiralty, complained of his ill usage, and charged him with +"_capporice_." + + + + +No. CXXIV. + + +I am indebted to Mr. Charles Faneuil Jones, a grandson of Mary Ann Jones, +Peter Faneuil's sister, for the use of some ancient papers, and family +relics; and to George Bethune, Esquire, of Boston, the grandson of +_Benjamin Faneuil_, Peter's brother, for the loan of a venerable +document--time worn, torn, and sallow--the record of the birth of Peter +Faneuil, and of his brothers and sisters. This document, from its manifest +antiquity, the masculine character of the hand writing, and the constant +use of the parental expressions--_notre fils_--_notre fille_--I, at first, +supposed to be the original autograph of _Benjamin_, the father of Peter. +This conjecture was, of course, demolished, by the last entry, on the +record, which is of old _Benjamin's_ decease, but in the same peculiar +hand. + +The document is in French; and, after a careful +comparison--_literatim_--with the volume of Peter's commercial +correspondence, now in my possession--I have very little doubt, that this +record was copied, by Peter, from the paternal original, with the +additional entry, by himself, of the date of his father's death. At the +bottom, and beneath a line of separation, and by another hand, with a +fresher ink, is the following entry--"_Le 6 D'Aout 1725, M. Gillam +Phillips de Boston a epousee ma Fille Marie Faneuil agée de dix sept et +quatre mois_." The 6th of August, 1725, Mr. Gillam Phillips, of Boston, +married my daughter, Marie, aged seventeen and four months. The expression +_ma file_, shows this entry to have been made by Peter's mother, then the +widow of _Benjamin_, who appears, by this record, to have died, at New +York, March 31, 1718-9, aged 50 years and 8 months. + +This unusual prænomen, _Gillam_, I, at first, supposed to be a corruption +of _Guillaume_. But there was a merchant, of that day, in Boston, bearing +the name of _Gillam Phillips_. In the Registry of Deeds, for Suffolk, lib. +43, fol. 13, there is recorded a deed, from "_Wentworth Paxton, and Faith, +his wife, formerly Faith Gillam_," in which, reference is made to Faith's +father, _Benjamin Gillam_. Mr. Gillam Phillips is thus named, in the will +of his wife's uncle, Andrew Faneuil, to which I shall have occasion to +refer. Jan 22, 1738, Peter, in a letter to Lane & Smethurst, of London, +speaks of his brother-in-law, _Mr. Gillam Phillips_. + +This gentleman was the elder brother of _Mr. Henry Phillips_, who was +indicted, for killing Mr. Benjamin Woodbridge, in a duel, fought with +swords, and without seconds, on Boston Common, upon the evening of July 3, +1728. This extremely interesting affair cannot be introduced, as an +episode here, on account of the space it must necessarily occupy. The +original documents, relating to this encounter, which terminated in the +immediate death of Mr. Woodbridge, have fallen into my possession; and, as +Peter Faneuil personally assisted, in the escape of the survivor, who +found a city of refuge, in Rochelle, and a friend and protector, in +Peter's uncle, _Jean Faneuil_; it seems, in some degree, related to the +history of Peter and his kinsfolk. I may, possibly, refer to it hereafter. + +In 1685, the period of the revocation of the edict of Nantes, there were +living, in or near Rochelle, in France, three brothers and two sisters of +the Faneuil family. One of these, _Benjamin_, became the father of _our_ +Peter Faneuil--the others, his uncles and aunts, when the persecution +commenced, so ably and touchingly described, by James Saurin, fled for +safety to foreign lands. Andrew, the elder brother, escaped into Holland, +and took up his abode in Amsterdam; where he married that preëminently +beautiful lady, whose portrait is now in the possession of Col. Benjamin +Hunt, whose mother was Jane Bethune, a daughter of Mary Faneuil, the neice +of Peter. + +_Andrew Faneuil_, before many years, came to this country--precisely when, +I cannot say. That he was here, as early as 1709, is evident, from the +proposals of Oliver Noyes and others, to build a wharf from the bottom of +King Street, to low-water mark, "of the width of King Street, between Mr. +East Apthorp's and Mr. Andrew Faneuil's." These proposals are dated Feb. +20, 1709, and are inserted in Dr. Snow's History of Boston, p. 209. + +In Holland, doubtless, Andrew acquired that passion, for flowers, which he +gratified, in his seven-acre Eden, on the westerly side of Treamount +Street, where he is said to have erected the first hothouse, that ever +existed in New England. His warehouse, the same, by him devised, for the +support of the minister of the French Church, was at the lower end of King +Street, near Merchant's Row, from which Butler's Wharf then extended, as +laid down, by John Bonner, in 1722. This warehouse, under the will of +Andrew, reverted, to his heirs, upon the extinction of the French Church. +It was then, just where we find it, in the New England Weekly Journal, of +Jan. 13, 1729. "_Good New York Flower. To be sold, at Mr. Andrew Faneuil's +Warehouse, at the lower end of King Street, at 35s per Hundred, as also +good chocolate, just imported._" He was engaged in commerce; and, for +those days of small things, acquired a large estate, which his forecast +taught him to distribute, among the public funds of France, England, and +Holland. His warehouse was purchased of one of his descendants, by the +late John Parker. + +_Jean Faneuil_, another of Peter's uncles, held fast to the faith of his +fathers; and lived, and died, a Roman Catholic. He died in Rochelle, of +apoplexy, June 24, 1737, about four months after the decease of his +brother Andrew, as appears by Peter's letter of Sept. 8, 1737. + +_Susannah Faneuil_ also continued, in the Roman Catholic faith, and +remained in Rochelle; where she became the wife, and the widow, of Abraham +de la Croix. She survived her brother Andrew, the date of whose decease is +clearly shown to have been Feb. 13, 1737, by Peter's letter to S. & W. +Baker, of London, giving them the inscription, "_for the handsomest +mourning rings_." + +_Jane Faneuil_ was a Huguenot. She became the wife of Pierre Cossart, and +took refuge, with her husband, in Ireland, where she died. + +_Benjamin Faneuil_, the father of _our_ Peter, was closely associated with +that little band of Huguenots, who clustered about the town of +Narragansett, otherwise called Kingstown, and the region round about, at +the very close of the seventeenth century. In that village, in 1699, he +married a French lady, whose name was Anne Bureau. The record, in Peter's +transcript from his father's original, is now upon my table--"_Le 28 de +Juillet 1699. Benjamin Faneuil et Anne Bureau ont eté marié a +Narragansett, en nouvelle Angleterre, en la maison de Mons. Pierre Ayross, +par Mons. Pierre Daillé ministre de L'Eglise francoise de Boston_." The +28th of July, 1699, Benjamin Faneuil and Ann Bureau were married at +Narragansett, in New England, at the house of Mr. Peter Ayross, by Mr. +Peter Daillé, minister of the French Church in Boston. Three years before, +in 1696, Sept. 4, the name of this Benjamin Faneuil will be found, M. H. +C., xxii. 60, attached to a certificate, in favor of Gabriel Bernon, +referring to the massacre of John Johnson and his three children, at New +Oxford. Johnson had married the sister of old _André Sigournay_. + +This _Benjamin Faneuil_, the præpositus, or stirps, became the father of +eleven children, by his wife, _Anne Bureau_, who were all born in New +Rochelle, in the State of New York, and of whom _our_ Peter was the first +born. Their names, in the order of birth, are these--_Peter_, _Benjamin_, +_Francis_, _Anne_, _Anne_, _Marie_, _John_, _Anne_, _Susannah_, _Mary +Anne_, and _Catherine_. The two first Annes, John, and Catherine, died in +infancy. + +The birth of our Peter is thus chronicled, in the family record--"_Le 20 +de Juin, 1700, Estant Jeudy a 6 heures du soir est né nostre fils Pierre +Faneuil, et a eté baptisé le 14 Juillet, par M. Peyret, ministre de +l'Eglisse francoise de la Nouvelle York, presenté au Bâpteme par M. Claude +Baudoin et par Sa Mere_." The 20th of June, 1700, being Thursday, at 6 +o'clock in the evening, was born our son, Peter Faneuil, and he was +baptized the 14th of July, by Mr. Peyret, minister of the French Church, +in New York; presented in baptism, by Mr. Claude Bowdoin and its mother. + +_Benjamin_, _our_ Peter's brother, was born Dec. 29, 1701. He was a +merchant in Boston, about the time of his uncle Andrew's death, in 1737. +Shortly after that event, he went to England, and France, and returned, +about two years before the death of his brother Peter, in 1742-3, upon +whose estate he administered. His nephew, Edward Jones, in a letter to his +mother, June 23, 1783, informs her, that "_Uncle Faneuil seems to be +growing very low; I think he will not continue long_." He was then in his +eighty-second year. He died in October, 1785. + +After Peter's death, Benjamin resided in Brighton, then Cambridge, in the +street, which now bears the family name, where he erected an expensive +mansion, successively occupied, after his decease, by Messieurs Bethune, +English, Parkman, and Bigelow. By his wife, Mary Cutler, he had three +children, Benjamin, Mary, and Peter. + +_This_ Benjamin, nephew of _our_ Peter, is the "_Benjamin Faneuil, +junior_," whose name appears, among the signers of the "_Loyall Address_" +to Gov. Gage on his departure Oct. 6, 1775. He left Boston for Halifax, +with the British army, in March, 1776. He is the person, referred to, by +Ward, in his Memoirs of Curwen--"_the merchant of Boston, and with Joshua +Winslow, consignee of one third of the East India Company's tea, destroyed +in 1773, a refugee to Halifax, afterwards in England_." He married Jane, +daughter of Addington Davenport, by his first wife, Jane, who was the +daughter of Grove Hirst, and sister of the Lady Mary Pepperell; and, with +his wife, lived many years, abroad, chiefly in Bristol, England, which +became the favorite resort of many refugees, and where he died. I have, in +my possession, several of his letters, written to his relatives, during +his exile. These letters are spiritedly written; and, to the very last, in +the most perfect assurance, that the colonies must submit. + +_Mary_, _our_ Peter's niece, became the wife of George Bethune, Oct. 13, +1754, and died in 1797. A portrait, by Blackburn, of this beautiful woman, +is in the possession of her son, George Bethune, Esquire, of Boston. After +a very careful inspection of this portrait, not long ago, I went directly +to the rooms of the Historical Society, to compare it with the portrait +there of her uncle Peter, to which it seems to me to bear a strong family +resemblance. This portrait of Peter was presented to the Society, by Miss +Jones, the grand niece of _our_ Peter, now the wife of Dr. Cutter of +Pepperell. It has been erroneously ascribed to Copley. If its manifest +inferiority to the works of that eminent master were not sufficiently +germaine to this question--Copley was born in 1738, and not quite five +years old, when Peter Faneuil died. + +_Peter_, the youngest child of Benjamin, and, of course, the nephew of +_our_ Faneuil Hall Peter, who may be otherwise distinguished, as Peter the +Great--was baptized, in Trinity Church, in Boston, in 1738, and entered +the Latin School, in 1746. He entered into trade--went to +Montreal--failed--resorted to the West Indies--and, after his father's +death, returned to Boston. + + + + +No. CXXV. + + +Let us conclude our post mortem examination of the brothers and sisters of +Peter Faneuil. + +_Francis_, the third son of _Benjamin_, the old Rocheller, Peter's father, +was born Aug. 21, 1703, of whom I know nothing, beyond the fact, that he +was baptized, by M. Peyret, minister of the French church in New York, and +presented "_par son grand pere, Francois Bureau, et Mad'selle Anne +Delancey_." + +_Mary_, the eldest sister of _our_ Peter, that came to maturity, was born +April 16, 1708, and is the _Marie_, to whom I have already referred, as +having married Mr. Gillam Phillips, Aug. 6, 1725. Their abode, before the +revolution, was in the mansion, more recently occupied by Abiel Smith, at +the corner of State and Devonshire Streets; or, as they are called, on +Bonner's plan of 1722, King Street and Pudding Lane. Her husband was a +refugee. After his death, she resided in Cambridge, Mass., where she died, +in April, 1778. + +_Anne_, the next, in order of time, was born Oct. 9, 1710, and married +Addington Davenport. This fact is stated, by Peter, in a letter, of Sept. +26, 1738. This is the same gentleman, undoubtedly, to whom the ancient +record of King's Chapel refers: "_Oct. 11, 1733. Voted, that the brass +stand for the hourglass be lent to the church at Scituate, as also three +Diaper napkins, provided the Rev. Mr. Addington Davenport, their minister, +gives his note to return the same_," &c. He was, afterwards, promoted, to +be assistant minister of King's Chapel, in 1737, and Rector of Trinity +Church, in 1740, and was, probably, the son of Addington Davenport, who +was the Register of Deeds, for Suffolk, in 1706. + +_Susannah_, the third sister of _our_ Peter, in the order of birth, was +born March 14, 1712, and became the wife of James Boutineau, the son of +Stephen Boutineau, that "_only surviving elder_," who joined in the +conveyance of the French Church, in 1748. James was a royalist; and, +according to Ward's Curwen, died in exile. This marriage is also referred +to, by Peter, in his letter of Sept. 26, 1738. Mr. James Boutineau was a +lawyer, in Boston; and occupied the "_old Dorr house_," so called, in Milk +Street. + +Mr. Sabine, in his "American Loyalists," says _his fate is unknown, but he +was in England, in 1777_. An original letter from his widow, "_Susanna +Boutineau_," now before me, is dated _Bristol, Eng., Feb. 20, 1784_, and +refers to the recent decease of her husband there. + +_Mary Ann_ was the last of Peter's sisters, that survived her infancy. She +was born April 6, 1715, and died October, 1790. She became the wife of +John Jones, who died at Roxbury, in 1767, and whose son, Edward, died in +Boston, in 1835, at the age of 83. _She_ was a refugee; and resided, for +some time, in Windsor, Nova Scotia. She is omitted by Mr. Sabine, in his +list of refugees; but named by Ward, page 444. A letter, from her son, +Edward, dated at Boston, June 23, 1783, advises her, if desirous of +returning, not to come directly to Boston, as the law was still in force; +but first, to some other State, and thence to Boston. + +Such were Peter Faneuil's brothers and sisters; with whom, so far as I +have been able to ascertain, from his correspondence, and from all other +sources, he appears to have maintained an amiable and becoming relation, +as the file leader of the flock--the elder brother of the house: and it +speaks a folio volume, in favor of Benjamin's equanimity, that he +continued to fraternize, as the correspondence abundantly proves, that he +did, in the most cordial and affectionate manner, with his brother Peter, +to whom uncle Andrew had, with the exception of a few legacies, willed the +whole of his "_large and plentiful estate_," as Master Lovell calls +it--while five vindictive shillings were all, that were found, after the +death of this unforgiving, old gentleman, in the mouth of poor Benjamin's +sack. + +Uncle Andrew's testamentary phraseology, though not so anathematical, as +that of some other obstinate, old uncles, is sufficiently uncivil, and +even bitter, in relation to his "loving sister, Susannah," and his nephew, +Benjamin. + +But, of the will of Andrew Faneuil, and his motive--an exceedingly +preposterous motive, to be sure, for cutting his adopted nephew off, with +five shillings--in other words, of the cause, manner, and instrument, +whereby Benjamin was put in the ablative, I shall treat, more fully, +hereafter. + +There were collaterals of the Boston Faneuils, residing in St. Domingo, in +1738. There was then, in that island, a Benjamin Faneuil, to whom Peter +addressed a letter of mere friendship, in the French language, informing +him, that Peter's brother Benjamin was then in Europe. It was probably a +son of the St. Domingo Benjamin, the "_Monsieur Fanneuil_," of whom +Washington writes to the President of Congress, Feb. 20, 1777, Sparks, iv. +327, as having memorialized, for leave to raise and command troops. The +application failed, principally, on the ground of his entire ignorance of +the English language. + +We have seen, that Peter Faneuil died, at the early age of forty-two. His +premature decease becomes the more remarkable, when contrasted with the +longevity of all his brothers and sisters, who lived beyond the period of +infancy. Marie attained the age of seventy--Susannah was living, in +Bristol, at seventy-two--Mary Ann died at seventy-five--Benjamin died, in +October, 1735, being two months less than eighty-four years old. + +This veteran had been a generous liver, all his days. He was not a man, +whose devotion was abdominal--whose God was his belly. He was no +anchorite, but an advocate for social worship--he was preëminently +hospitable. For more than forty years, from the period, when Peter's death +afforded him the means, his hospitality had been a proverb--a by-word--but +never a reproach. There was a refinement about it--it was precisely such +hospitality, as Apicius would have practised, had Apicius been a bishop. + +His appetite never forsook him. He died suddenly--ate a cheerful dinner, +on the day of his death--and went not to his account, on an empty stomach. +A post mortem examination, under the autopsy of that eminently shrewd, and +most pleasant, gentleman, Dr. Marshall Spring of Watertown, exhibited the +whole gastric apparatus, in admirable working order, for a much longer +campaign. A nephritic malady occasioned his decease. + +The death of Benjamin Faneuil, _the elder_, in 1718, and the previous +adoption of his son Benjamin, Peter's brother, by Andrew, the wealthy +Boston uncle, naturally turned the thoughts of the family, in this +direction. Their interest in Boston was necessarily increased, by the +marriage of sister Marie with Mr. Gillam Phillips, and her consequent +removal hither. The entry of the marriage--"_ma fille_"--on the family +record, shows, that her mother was then living. The time of her death I +have not ascertained, but suppose it to have occurred within a year or two +after, for all the daughters were wending hither, and I find no mention of +the mother. Peter was here, as early, as 1728, in which year, his name is +associated, with the duel, in which Woodbridge was killed. Anne had +married Mr. Davenport, and Susannah Mr. Boutineau, before uncle Andrew's +death, in 1737. His will was dated, in 1734. From that document, it is +evident, that Mary Ann was here then. + +The elder Benjamin having died, in 1718,--Andrew, his brother, in +1737,--and Peter, in 1742-3, there were living Peter's brother and +sisters, Benjamin, Anne, Susannah, Marie, and Marianne. They were living, +during the revolution. So were their husbands, excepting Mr. Addington +Davenport, who died Sept. 8, 1746. Their children also were living. The +object of this particular statement is to invite the reader's attention to +the extraordinary fact, that, while a religious persecution, in 1685, +drove the Huguenot ancestors of these very individuals hither, for +security--in 1776, a political persecution here drove many of their +descendants into exile, and confiscated their estates. + +That very many of those refugees, during the phrensy of political +excitement, were just as truly persecuted, for conscience' sake, as were +the Huguenots, in 1685, is a simple truth, which the calm, impartial voice +of an after-age has been willing to concede. Among those refugees, the +Huguenot and the old Anglo-Saxon patronymics are blended together. The +Boutineaus and the Bethunes, the Faneuils and the Johonnots are mingled +with the Sewalls and the Hutchinsons, the Hollowells and the Paxtons. + +While perusing the letters of Samuel Curwen--and a most kind-hearted, +conscientious, old gentleman was he--the veriest saint in crape cannot +restrain a smile, as he contemplates the conflict, in Curwen's mind, +between the loyal and the patriotic--_his most gracious majesty, and his +poor bleeding country_! Mr. Curwen met frequently with Mr. Benjamin +Faneuil, Peter's nephew, at Bristol. Thus, on page 240, of the Journal, +under date, April 28, 1780--"_Afternoon and evening at Judge Sewall's; +company, Mrs. Long, of Ireland, Mr. and Mrs. Faneuil, Mr. Oxnard, with +young Inman and his wife, a son of Ralph's, in the military line, and Miss +Inman_." + +The more intelligent of the refugees, who resorted to Bristol, hovered +about the former Attorney General of Massachusetts, Jonathan Sewall, as +their _Magnus Apollo_. Of all the New England tories he was the most +illustrious. He was a man of eminent talents, and easy eloquence. His +opinions were the opinions of the rest. As crowed the great tory cock, so +crowed the bantams, the Faneuils, the Boutineaus, and the others, around +the Attorney General's hospitable board, at Bristol. I mean not to +intimate, that this worthy gentleman maintained, at this period, anything, +beyond the most frugal hospitality. He and his associates were mainly +dependent upon the British government, for their daily bread. + +One or two extracts from the letters of "_Benjamin Faneuil junior_," +Peter's nephew, while they establish this fact, may serve to exhibit the +confidence, in the entire subjugation of the colonies, +entertained--_cherished_, perhaps--by him and his companions. + +March 9, 1777, he writes to his aunt, Mary Ann Jones, at Halifax, thus--"I +cannot say I am very sorry, for your disappointment, in missing your +passage for England, for unless you could bring a barrel of guineas, you +are much better anywhere than here." * * * * "As soon as the Christmas +holidays were over, we presented a petition to the Lords of the Treasury, +setting forth our suffering, and praying for a support, till the affairs +in America are settled. This method was taken, by the council, and indeed +by all the refugees. Within these few days, the Lords of the Treasury have +agreed to allow, for the present, Chief Justice Oliver £400 a year, Lieut. +Governor Oliver and Mr. Flucker £300. The council (Mr. Boutineau among +the rest) £200, the refugees in general £100, some only £50. Our affair is +not yet absolutely determined, on account of Lord North's sickness; but we +are told we shall be tuckt in, between the council and the refugees, and +be allowed £150 a year. This is a very poor affair, and we can by no means +live upon it: but there are such a confounded parcel of us, to be provided +for, that I am told no more will be allowed." * * * * "Should there be any +opportunity of writing to Boston, I should take it kind, if cousin Betsey +would write to my father and let him know what I now write, and give our +loves to Mr. Bethune's family, and my aunt Phillips. I do not mention my +poor mother, as, from the accounts I have received, I doubt, whether she +be alive at this time." She died in October, 1777. + +"When we shall be able to return to Boston I cannot say; but hope and +believe it will not exceed one year more; for, sooner or later, America +will be conquered, and on that they may depend." + +May 14, 1777. He writes from London thus--"We were promised, three months +ago, that some provision should be made for us; and, about ten days since, +we were assured, at the Treasury, that, in a very few days, something +should be done for us. As soon as there is, we propose to set out for +Bristol, and fix ourselves there, or, at least, in that part of the +country, till the American affairs are settled, which, from the last +advice from New York, we flatter ourselves will not be longer than this +year; though I am not without my doubts, at least as to the time: but +submit they must, sooner or later. Mr. Boutineau and my aunt were very +well, at their lodging, at Bristol, a few days ago. Mr. Robinson has +bought himself a new post chaise, horses, &c., and sets out for Wales, in +five or six days; where, I suppose, they will remain, till the American +affairs are brought to a conclusion." + +This Mr. Robinson was James Boutineau's son-in-law, the officer of the +customs, who inflicted that fatal blow, upon James Otis, which is said to +have affected his brain, and compelled him to retire from public life. The +issue of that affair is not generally known. Mr. Sabine, in his "American +Loyalists," p. 169, says--"the jury assessed £2000 sterling, damages. +Boutineau appeared, as attorney, for Robinson, and, in his name, signed a +submission, asking the pardon of Otis, who, thereupon, executed a free +release for the £2000." The same statement may be found in Allen, and +elsewhere. + +Mr. Benjamin Faneuil, junior, continues thus--"Mrs. Faneuil received a +letter, a few days since, from Mrs. Erving (at Bristol). She sends her the +prices of provisions, which are much the same they were in Boston, before +the troubles came on. * * * * Miss Peggy Hutchinson has been at death's +door. * * * * All the rest of us Yankees are well, but growl at each other +most confoundedly, for want of money." * * * * "We hope to see you in +Boston, in the course of another year." * * * * "Mrs. Faneuil is sitting +by me, trying to transmography an old gown. No money to buy new." + + + + +No. CXXVI. + + +To some persons it has appeared a mystery, how Peter Faneuil, having had +but a short lease of life, some two and forty years, should have acquired +the "_large and plentiful estate_," that Master Lovell speaks of, in his +funeral oration. This mystery is readily explained. He had, for several +years, before the death of his uncle, Andrew, been engaged in commerce. As +Master Lovell justly observes--"No man managed his affairs with greater +prudence and industry." His commercial correspondence proves that his +relations were extensive and diversified, though it must be admitted, that +_rum, fish, sugar and molasses_, are the chorus, or burden, of the song. +It will also appear, that the _large and plentiful estate_, was, probably +overrated. + +Though he had a high sense of commercial honor, no man had a sharper eye +for the main chance, as it is called, by money getting men. Let me +illustrate both these positions, by extracts--not from "_Peter's letters +to his kinsfolks_," but from Peter's letters to his correspondents. He +repeatedly scolds Signor Miguel Pacheco de Silva, and Monsieur Sigal, +severely, for inattention to his drafts. To S. & W. Baker, of London, who, +by reason of the informality of a power to transfer stock, were unsupplied +with funds, to meet his drafts, yet paid them, for the honor of the +drawer; he writes a letter of cordial thanks, Sept. 7, 1737, in which he +says--"_I would not for £500 you had not accepted all those drafts; for, +if you had not, it would have been a slur to my character, which I value +more than all the money upon earth_." + +January 22, 1738, he requests Mr. Peter Baynton to advise him, on several +points--"_also what good French brandy is worth, and if it be possible to +cloak it so, as to ship it for rum_." On the 13th of March, in the same +year, he writes Mr. Peter Baynton, that he has sent him four hogsheads of +brandy, and adds--"_Pray be as cautious as possible, in taking them on +shore, by reason the man has signed bills of lading, for four hogsheads +rum, not knowing the contents, which it is not convenient he should_." + +What a goodly number will openly pronounce Peter a very bad fellow, who, +if they have not done this identical thing, have done things, quite as +exceptionable, or more so, and who are willing to-- + + "Compound for sins they are inclined to, + By damning those they have no mind to." + +Merchant princes, if I am rightly instructed, do not place the offence of +cheating the Government, in the category of cardinal, or unpardonable, +sins. And, notwithstanding all, that we so frequently hear, of commercial +integrity, and the chivalry of trade; I rather doubt, upon the whole, if +traffic is really the "_ne plus ultra strap_," upon which the very finest +possible edge can be given to the moral sense. Exceptions there are, but +they only establish, more fully, the general rule: and, in accordance with +the spirit of the old, prudential legend, we are rather too much in the +habit of postponing prayers, till we have sanded the sugar, and watered +the molasses. I have long entertained the opinion, that a cheap _vade +mecum_ edition of Dr. Chalmers' Commercial Discourses, for New Year's +gifts, might be very beneficially distributed. + +Exceptions certainly there are. I have one, within my own memory. The +collector of a Southern port--a Huguenot withal--of whom my personal +recollections are exceedingly agreeable, and whose integrity was a +proverb, was surprised one day, upon his return, at the dinner hour, by +the display of a costly service of plate, which his lady had procured from +London. A few inquiries developed the fact, that, by the agency of a +gentleman, a friend of the family, it had been gotten over, with _his_ +baggage, duty free--in other words, _smuggled_. In an instant, the old +gentleman ordered his wife's whole service of silver to the public stores; +and seized it for the government. Such cases, I apprehend, are not of +frequent occurrence. + +If Peter Faneuil made not broad his phylactery, he made broad that mantle +of charity, which covereth a multitude of sins. If such had not been the +fact, and notoriously so, Master Lovell would not have ventured to +proclaim, in Faneuil Hall, one hundred and eight years ago, and before a +scanty population, as cognizant, as the population of a village, of all +the shortcomings of their neighbors that-- + +"_Peter's acts of charity were so secret and unbounded, that none but they +who were the objects of it could compute the sums, which he annually +distributed_"--that "_his alms flowed, like a fruitful river_"--that "_he +fed the hungry, clothed the naked, comforted the fatherless, and the +widows in their affliction, and his bounty visited the prisoner. So that +Almighty God, in giving riches to this man, seems to have scattered +blessings all abroad among the people_"--that the building "_erected by +him at an immense charge, for the convenience and ornament of the town, is +incomparably the greatest benefaction ever yet known to our Western +shoar_"--that this act of munificence, however great, "_is but the first +fruits of his generosity, a pledge of what his heart, always devising +liberal things, would have done for us, had his life been spared_." To all +this good Master Lovell adds the assertion--"_I am well assured from +those, who were acquainted with his purposes, that he had many more +blessings in store for us, had Heaven prolonged his days_." + +These statements, publicly pronounced, one hundred and eight years ago, +have never been gainsayed, nor even qualified. They must therefore be +viewed, in the light of an ancient deposition, read before the grand +inquest of the whole people, before whom Peter Faneuil was tried, shortly +after his decease, according to the fashion of the Egyptians, while +dealing with their departed kings. + +I, by no means, approve of Peter's conduct, in jostling the Government, +out of the excise, on a few casks of brandy; but, in full view of all +these public and private charities, there seems to be something about it, +like the gallantry of Robin Hood, whose agrarian philosophy taught him to +rob the rich, and feed the poor. And, when the trial comes on, in the +Higher Court, about the duties upon these four hogsheads of brandy; and +Peter Baynton is summoned to testify; and, upon his evidence, Peter +Faneuil is convicted; most truly, do I believe, that some good natured +angel, will slyly draw, over the record, a corner of that broad mantle of +gold and tissue--that mantle of charity--whose warp and woof were formed +of private alms and public benefactions, and which good Peter Faneuil +spent so many of his hours, in weaving, in this lower world. + +If Peter Faneuil was otherwise an offender, I am sorry for it; having a +passion for rarities, I should like to behold the _tabula immaculata_--the +unsullied sheet of one human being! I am not aware of anything, in the +life of Peter Faneuil, which that mantle will not abundantly cover. + +It may be otherwise. If the schoolmaster is not always abroad, the +antiquarian is--the moral virtuoso--who delights, metaphorically speaking, +to find spots on snow, and specks in amber. This species of antiquarian, +male or female, may be found in every city and village. It is a curious +creature, and, in the cabinet of a malicious memory, has stowed carefully +away the weak points, and the peccadilloes of the living and the dead. In +its contracted receptacle, there is no room for public or private +charities, nor for merits of any kind: it is capable of holding nothing +but delinquencies. + +Nothing is more refreshing to this species of antiquarian, than any fair +pretence, for opening his cabinet, and showing his precious collection. +Nollikens, among his _terra cottas_, was not more adroit, in fitting the +heads and members of Priapi to the trunks of fauns and satyrs, than is the +ingenious character, of whom I speak, in adapting the legendary gossip, +which has been told, till it is stale, of one individual, to the person of +another. Such personages are, characteristically, selfish and ungenerous. +It would not be a very notable miracle, if some person, of this +description, pained and offended, by the trying contrast, between the +munificent and charitable career of Peter Faneuil, and the extremely dry +and unprofitable character of his own existence, should ransack the +charnel-house of his memory, for some offensive offset, against Master +Lovell's laudation of Peter. + +For this I can truly vouch, excepting that affair of the brandy, the +commercial correspondence of Peter Faneuil--and I have read the whole +volume, that remains, French and English--is highly honorable to the head +and the heart of the writer. + +The charity of Peter Faneuil was not that clap-trap munificence, examples +of which are frequently heralded, among us, in demi-stipendiary +journals--it did not so truly _spring_--it _oozed_ from Peter's warm +heart, continually, and constitutionally. He required no impressive hints, +to be charitable--he _felt_ for the poor and needy, habitually. His letter +of Sept. 19, 1738, is before me, to one of his commercial correspondents, +to whom he has just then made a shipment, Mons. Thomas Bayeaux--"Inclosed +you have Madame Guinneau's account, by which you are indebted to that poor +widow £16, which you will do well to pay her, it being for money she +advanced, for the board of you and your family. One would have thought you +should have paid that, before you left the country, and not to have served +the poor widow as you did." + +However direct, and even severe, while addressing delinquents, his French +politeness never forsakes him. Such letters always conclude--"_Sir, I +salute you_," or "_I kiss your hand_." + +April 24, 1740, he writes thus to Peter Baynton--"This accompanies Capt. +Burgess Hall, who carries with him to your parts two unfortunate Palatine +women, that were some time ago shipwrecked, in their voyage from Europe to +your place, who, being objects of charity, which the providence of God has +thrown in our way, I take leave to recommend to you, as such, not doubting +you will so far commisserate their condition, as to direct them the +nearest way, to get among their friends, with such other relief as you may +think necessary." + +Though Peter Faneuil had acquired property, before the death of his uncle +Andrew; yet, as we shall presently see, by far the larger part of his +"_large and plentiful estate_" came to him, by that uncle's will. + + + + +No. CXXVII. + + +Peter Faneuil was thirty and seven years old, when he began to reign--that +is, when his uncle, Andrew, died, Feb. 13, 1737, according to Peter, in +his letter to the Bakers, of London, or 1738, agreeably to the historical +style, adopted by the public journals. In the News Letter of February "16, +to 23," we have the following account of the funeral.--"Last Monday the +Corpse of _Andrew Faneuil_ Esquire, whose death we mentioned in our last, +was honorably interr'd here; above 1100 Persons, of all Ranks, besides the +Mourners, following the Corpse, also a vast number of Spectators were +gathered together on the Occasion, at which time the half-minute guns, +from on board several vessels, were discharged. And 'tis suppos'd that as +this Gentleman's Fortune was the greatest of any among us, so his funeral +was as generous and expensive as any that has been known here." + +Peter was appointed executor sole of Andrew's will, and residuary legatee. +He appears to have proceeded with great propriety. He immediately +announced his uncle's death to foreign correspondents; and furnished +those, who had been custodiers of his property, with duly authenticated +copies of the will; and took prompt measures, for the procurement of "_the +handsomest mourning rings_." + +John, Archbishop of Canterbury, as was usual then, sent his commission to +Judge Willard, from the Prerogative Court, to swear Peter, to render a +true inventory, &c.; and Peter responded to John, that, although he was +not bound so to do, by the laws of the Province, yet, for his "_own +satisfaction_," he should. Peter probably changed his mind, for no +inventory of Andrew's estate appears, among the ancient records of the +Probate Court, in Suffolk. It is not, therefore, possible, to estimate the +value of that "_large and plentiful estate_," which came to Peter, from +his uncle. That it was very considerable, for the times, there cannot be a +doubt; but the times--one hundred and fourteen years ago--were the days of +small things. + +It has been observed, by an eminent man, that prayer and almsgiving are +the pathways to Paradise. Andrew Faneuil commences his will, with a +supplication, for the _perfecting of his charities_--"_I commit my soul to +God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, humbly begging the pardon of my +sins, the perfecting of my charities, and everlasting life above_." This +will was made, Sept. 12, 1734, and witnessed, by John Read, William Price +and Charles Morris; and a codicil was added, Jan. 23, 1737; and both were +proved, Feb. 15, 1737, two days after the testator's death. + +Wills have ever been accounted an interesting department of _belles +lettres_; and I shall therefore furnish the reader with an abstract of +Uncle Andrew's. + +_First._ He gives his warehouse in Boston, in trust, to the minister of +the French Church, in Boston, and his successors; two thirds of the income +for the minister's support, and one third to the elders, to create a fund +for repairing the warehouse; and after the creation of such fund, the +whole income to the minister; and, should the French church cease to be, +then said warehouse to revert to his heirs--"_excluding Benjamin Faneuil, +of Boston, and the heirs of his body forever_." + +_Secondly._ To said French Church, three pieces of plate, of the value of +£36 sterling, "_a flaggon for the communion table, a plate for the bread, +and a bason to christen the children, with the coat of arms and name of +the donor, engraven upon each of them_." On the 27th of February, fourteen +days after his uncle's death, Peter sent a copy of the will to Claude +Fonnereau, in France, requesting him to purchase the plate, and +added--"_of the best fashion, and get engraved, agreeably to his orders, +for which end you have his coat of arms in wax herewith, and if it should +cost some small matter more, be pleased to charge the same_." + +_Thirdly._ £100, in Province Bills, to be paid to the elders, for the poor +of the French Church. + +_Fourthly._ £50, in Province bills, and "_a suit of mourning throughout_," +to the French minister. + +_Fifthly._ £100, in Province bills, to the overseers, for the poor of +Boston. + +_Sixthly._ To the Rev. Benjamin Colman, "_a suit of mourning throughout_." + +_Seventhly._ "To my loving brother, John Faneuil, of Rochelle, £100, +sterling." + +_Eighthly._ "To my loving brother-in-law, Peter Cossart, of Cork, in +Ireland, and his sister Susannah Cossart, of Amsterdam, £50 each to buy +mourning." + +_Ninthly._ "To Benjamin Faneuil of Boston, son of my brother, Benjamin +Faneuil, deceased, _five shillings and no more_." + +_Tenthly._ To his executor, in trust, 8000 ounces of silver, or pieces of +eight, to purchase an estate of inheritance, at his discretion, within one +year after the testator's death, for his loving niece, Mary, wife of +Gillam Phillips, and the heirs of her body, remainder to her right heirs. +Peter, in correspondence with S. & W. Baker, refers to this purchase, and +directs them to sell stocks of his late uncles, to meet the drafts. + +_Eleventhly_. To her son, Andrew, 500 ounces of silver, or pieces of +eight, to be put at interest, till majority--to his mother, in case of his +death before--and, in case of _her_ death and _his_ before--to her other +children. + +_Twelfthly, thirteenthly, and fourteenthly._ To his nieces, Anne, +Susannah, and Marian, £2000 sterling, each; the two first to be paid six +months, after his death, and the last, at majority, or marriage; four per +cent. to be allowed her, per annum, ad interim, and she to be maintained +by the executor, till she attained full age, or married. These legacies +were paid from the funds of Uncle Andrew, in the hands of S. & W. Baker, +of London. + +_Fifteenthly._ To his loving sister, Susannah F., widow of Abraham de la +Croix, of Rochelle, £1000 sterling. + +_Sixteenthly._ To his servant maid, _Hendrine Boyltins_, who probably +came, with the family, from Holland, "_a suit of mourning throughout_," +and 500 ounces of silver, in pieces of eight, or the value, in Province +bills, at her election. + +_Seventeenthly._ To Henry Johnson, her son, who became the confidential +clerk of Peter Faneuil, 150 ounces, in pieces of eight, to be paid, at +majority. + +_Eighteenthly._ "I give, bequeath, and devise all the rest of my estate, +both real and personal, whatsoever and wheresoever 'tis, in New England, +Great Britain, France, Holland, or any other part of the world, to my +loving nephew, PETER FANEUIL, eldest son of my late brother, Benjamin +Faneuil, to hold to him and his heirs forever." + +He then appoints Peter, sole executor. + +The codicil revokes the legacy to his _loving_ sister, the widow Susannah +de la Croix, of Rochelle--"my mind and my will is, that my said sister, +Susannah F., shall not have the said thousand pounds, _nor any part of +it_." + +The severity of these five last words--and the phrase, in relation to his +nephew--"_excluding Benjamin Faneuil of Boston, and the heirs of his body +forever_;" and those final words of the ninth clause, by which the +testator cuts off poor Benjamin, with "_five shillings and no more_," are +sufficiently piquant. Well may such an _avunculus Hector_ commence his +last will, with a fervent supplication to "God, the Father, Son, and Holy +Ghost," for _the perfecting of his charities_. + +How the widow, Susannah, came to lose her thousand pounds I do not know. +Something, that she said or did, or did not say or do, was wafted, all the +way over the water, from Rochelle, no doubt, and came to the old +gentleman's irritable ears, and roused his ire. + +But I well comprehend the occasion, upon which he came to disinherit his +nephew, Benjamin Faneuil. My female readers have already arrived at the +conclusion, doubtless, that Benjamin so far forgot himself, and his duty +to his opulent, old uncle, as to fall in love without asking his +permission. Well: they are perfectly right--such was the fact. Benjamin +fell in love. He was determined not to be found, like tinkling brass, even +at the hazard of losing the good will, and the gold of his uncle +Andrew--so he fell in love. And, if the girl of his heart resembled her +daughter, _Mary Faneuil_, as she is represented by Blackburn, how the poor +fellow could have helped it, God only knows. + +There is nothing, in all Amboyna, more spicy, than this little incident, +in the history of the Faneuils; and, having spoilt it, perhaps, by this +_avant courier_, I will now venture to tell the story; premising, that it +was far better told, by the lady, who related it to me, and who is a +lineal descendant of Benjamin, himself. + +To give proper effect to this little episode, I must take the reader to a +pretty village, as it was just then beginning to be, one hundred and fifty +years ago, on the banks of the Hudson, some twenty miles, only, from the +city of New York. There, the persecuted Huguenots gathered together, and +planted their new home, their _New Rochelle_. Almost immediately after his +marriage with Anne Bureau, in 1699, at Narragansett, Benjamin Faneuil +rejoined his Huguenot friends, and fellow-townsmen, in _New Rochelle_; and +there his children were born. _New Rochelle_, as I have stated, was the +birth-place of PETER FANEUIL. + +Andrew, having arrived in Boston from Holland, very soon after the +beginning of the eighteenth century; having buried his wife; and being +childless, selected Benjamin, the second son of his brother, Benjamin +Faneuil, as an object of particular regard. The boy, was, accordingly, +transferred from New Rochelle to Boston. He was educated, and brought up, +under his patron's eye; and was considered, by the world, as the heir +apparent of his opulent uncle. As he grew up, towards man's estate, it +would have been an unheard of circumstance, if the dowagers of Shawmut, +with their marriageable daughters, had not fixed their hopeful eyes, upon +young Benjamin, if it were only for the sake of whatever might be found, +sooner or later, in the mouth of his sack. It would have been a miracle, +if their exhibitions of regard, for the young man, had not visibly +increased; and their fears had not been frequently and feelingly +expressed, lest that excellent, old gentleman, Andrew Faneuil Esquire, had +taken cold. + +A patron is rather too prone to look upon a _protégé_, as a puppet. The +idea, that Benjamin could be led astray, however tempting the provocation, +to commit the crime of matrimony, however lawful and right, however +accomplished, and virtuous, and lovely the object, without leave, first +had and obtained, from him, at whose board he ate his daily bread, never +occurred to Uncle Andrew, for an instant. He supposed, of course, that he +had the key to Benjamin's soul. It never occurred to the old gentleman, +whose courtship was carried on, in Holland, that falling in love was +precisely as much of an accident, as falling into the fire, or into the +water. + +Well: Benjamin was an intelligent young man; and he was admirably posted +up, upon the subject of his uncle's opinions, and prejudices. +Nevertheless, he fell in love, very emphatically; and with a girl, as +pretty, doubtless, as she was poor. He knew, that his uncle would never +consent to such a marriage. But he knew, that he had plighted his troth; +and he clearly saw, since he must run the hazard of breaking _one_ heart, +or _two_, that it would be rather more equitable to risk the old +gentleman's, instead of the girl's and his own. + +Accordingly, Benjamin secretly took unto himself a lawful wife; and, for a +while, though Benjamin was, doubtless, much the happier, Uncle Andrew was +nothing the wiser. However strange it may appear, though there were no +giants, there were mischievous women, in those days. One of this category, +in an evil hour, like a toad, as she was, whispered the secret, into the +ear of Uncle Andrew. + +The old Huguenot was not of the melting mood. The conduct of his nephew +produced not grief, but anger. It reached no tender spot, in the recesses +of his heart, but chafed the old man's pericardium, till it drew a blister +there. He bottled up his wrath, and corked it well; that the offender +might have the full benefit of the fermentation, when the old gentleman +came to pour the contents of the vial, on the devoted head of his +unsuspecting nephew. + +The following morning, they met, at the breakfast table. The meal passed, +as usual. But with what feelings must that old man have contemplated the +poor fellow, the boy of his adoption, whom he was about to prostrate, as +he finished the last mouthful he was ever to partake at that board! The +repast was finished.--A brief colloquy ensued--"_I hear you are +married_"--"_Yes, uncle, I am_"--"_Then you will leave my house_." The +young man instantly took his departure. They never met again, until years +had passed away,--and then, in that place, where there is no work nor +device. There they lie, in the Faneuil tomb, in the Granary Ground; the +unforgiving uncle and the disinherited nephew, side by side. Benjamin +Faneuil died, at his residence in Brighton, in October, 1785, and was +buried, in the family vault. + + + + +No. CXXVIII. + + +Notwithstanding the "_large and plentiful estate_," which Peter Faneuil +derived from his uncle's will, it is my opinion, that his munificence, his +unbounded charities, his hospitalities, his social, genial temperament +were such, that, had he lived a much longer life, he would have died a +much poorer man. Almost immediately, upon the death of his uncle, it is +manifest, from his letters, that certain magnificent fancies came over the +spirit of his waking dreams. And it is equally certain, that, +subsequently, he had occasional misgivings, as to the just relation +between his means and his prospective arrangements, which, for the times, +and upon our little peninsula, were sufficiently expanded. + +Feb. 27, 1737, fourteen days after his uncle's death, he announced that +event to his commercial friends, Messrs. S. & W. Baker of London; +prescribed the arrangement of funds, for the payment of legacies; and +instructed them to honor his draft, in favor of James Pope & Company, of +Madeira, in payment for five pipes of wine. + +Four days after, on the first of March, he writes Pope & Company +thus--"Send me, by the very first opportunity, for this place, five pipes +of your very best Madeira wine, of an amber color, of the same sort, which +you sent to our good friend, De Lancey, of New York." + +He directs them to draw on the Bakers of London, and adds--"As this wine +is for the use of my house, I hope you will be careful, that I have the +best. I am not over fond of the strongest. I am to inform you, that my +uncle, Mr. Andrew Faneuil, departed this life, the 13 current, and was +interred the 20, for which God prepare all his friends. I shall expect to +hear from you, by the first opportunity." + +Feb. 27, 1737, the same day, on which he writes the Bakers, he addresses +Lane & Smethurst, of London, as follows--"Be so good as to send me a +handsome chariot with two sets of harness, with the arms, as enclosed, on +the same, in the handsomest manner, that you shall judge proper, but at +the same time nothing gaudy: and send me also, well recommended, two sober +men, the one, for a coachman the other a gardener; and agree with the +same, to be paid either in London, quarterly, or here, allowing for the +exchange of the money, which they shall choose. And, as most servants from +Europe, when here, are too apt to be debauched with strong drink, rum, +&c., being very plenty, I pray your particular care in this article." + +On the 6th of March, he writes Gulian Verplanck, of New York--"Send me the +pipe of wine, having none good to drink." Again, March 20--"By the first +good opportunity the best pipe of wine you can purchase." On the 25th of +April, he acknowledges the receipt of the wine from Verplanck--"The wine I +hope will prove good--comes in very good time, there being none good in +town." + +On the 22d of May, he writes the Bakers, for a bountiful supply of glass +and China, and for "enough of the best scarlet cloth to trim a cloak:" +and, in September of that year, for silver spoons and "silver forks with +three prongs, with my arms cut upon them: let them be made very neat and +handsome." Shortly after, he writes for several pairs of silver +candlesticks, "with my arms engraved thereon," and sends out a piece of +wax candle, as a pattern of the size. + +On the 1st of January, 1738, he writes Lane & Smethurst, to send him a +pair of spectacles, "for a person of 50 years, as also, for the use of my +kitchen, the latest, best book of the several sorts of cookery, which pray +let be of the largest character, for the benefit of the maid's reading." +As Peter then was not quite thirty-eight years of age, the spectacles were +probably for "the maid," to enable her to master "the _best book_ of the +several sorts of cookery." + +Dec. 20, 1738, he writes for "four stone horses." On the 18th of September +of that year, he writes Thomas Kilby--"Pray don't forget the larding pins, +wine, and sweetmeats, which I have wrote you about before." He frequently +writes to his friend Verplanck, for "Albany horses." + +In a brief sketch of Brighton, published in 1850, it is stated that +Peter's "_large and heavy silver punch bowl_" is in the possession of +George Bethune, Esquire, of this city. This is an error. Peter's punch +bowl came into the possession of James Lovell, who married a +grand-daughter of Benjamin Faneuil, a sister of Mr. Bethune; and it is now +in the possession of Mr. Lovell's descendants. + +Oh, if that "_large and heavy silver punch bowl_" could speak out, in good +French or English, what glorious tales it would tell of Peter, in all his +glory, enjoying, as Master Lovell says, "_that divine satisfaction, which +results from communicating happiness to others_"--around that preëminently +hospitable board, where, in the language of the writer of the obituary, in +the News Letter of March 10, 1743-- + + "Divites ac parvi gustârunt dulcia mensæ." + +Peter's punch bowl was not at all like Oliver's "_broken teacups, wisely +kept for show_." June 22, 1741, some twenty months before his death, he +writes Lane & Smethurst, to send him "_six gross of the very best London +King Henry's Cards, and six half chests of lemons, for my house winter +supply_." + +Let not the reader surmise, for all this, that Peter had denied his Lord, +or was exclusively absorbed in his care for creature comforts. March 5, +1738, he writes the Bakers, to send him "four handsome, large, octavo, +Common Prayer Books, of a good letter and well bound, with one of the +same, in French, for my own use." + +March 13, 1738, he writes John Depuister, to send him "six of the largest +bearskins, and two large, fine, well painted beaver coats, to use in a +slay." + +It is, in no sense, discreditable to Peter Faneuil, that his +correspondence shows him to have been exceedingly partial to sweetmeats +and citron water. Nor does it lower him, in my humble esteem, that his +letters clearly indicate his temperament to have been somewhat irritable +and fiery. I have found such to be the case, almost ever, when generosity, +frankheartedness, and a noble spirit are blended together, as closely as +they were, in the character of Peter Faneuil. The converse of this +position, to be sure, it is not easy to maintain. + +It is quite amusing, to contemplate, now and then, in men, whose brains +are brim full of magnificent purposes, and whose habitual dealings are +with tens and hundreds of thousands--a remarkable concentration of thought +and care, upon some one insignificant item of property, which is in +jeopardy of falling into naught. It is, doubtless, the spirit of the +woman, who lighted her candle and swept the house, and called her +neighbors together, to rejoice with her, over the recovery of that one +piece of silver. + +A brief episode will exhibit this trait, in Peter's character, and show, +at the same time, that his spirit was perfectly placable. Some time before +his death, Uncle Andrew, being aware, that pulmonic affections were +benefited, by the air of the tropics, consigned a broken-winded horse to +Mr. Joseph Ward, of Barbadoes, for sale. No account having been rendered, +the fate of the old horse appears to have become a subject of exciting +interest, with the residuary legatee. Before he writes to Ward, he +addresses three letters of inquiry, in other directions. He then opens +upon Mr. Joseph Ward, Jan. 12, 1738. I give the entire letter, as +illustrative of Peter's character--"I have been very much surprised, that, +ever since the death of Captain Allen, you have not advised me of the sale +of a horse, belonging to my deceased uncle, left in your hands by him, +which I am informed you sold for a very good price, and I am now to +request the favor you would send me the net proceeds, with a fair and just +account for the same, in sweetmeats and citron water; your compliance with +which will stop me from giving some of my friends the trouble of calling +you to an account there. I shall be glad to know, if Captain Allen did not +leave a silver watch and some fish, belonging to a servant of mine, with +some person of your island, and with who. I expect your speedy answer." + +Mr. Ward appears to have responded, more calmly, than tropical gentlemen +commonly do, when accosted in this piquant style. He sent his account, and +Peter was manifestly mollified, by a box of sweetmeats. Mr. Ward, +however, complained of Peter's want of grace. March 24, 1738, Peter wrote +to Mr. Ward--"Yours of 7 February, with the account sales of a horse, left +by Captain Allen, accompanying a box sweetmeats I received, in which I +observe you refer to my former, which you are pleased to look upon as in +too unhandsome a stile. I must own it was not in so soft terms, as I +sometimes make use of; but, at that time, I really thought the state of +the case required it, not having heard anything to be depended upon, +concerning the horse in dispute, either if he was dead, sold, or run away; +upon either of which, I presumed the common complaisance, if not honor, +among merchants, might have entitled either my uncle, in his lifetime, or +myself, after his decease, to some advice at least. I had indeed +transiently heard here you had kept him, for your own use, but had +undervalued him, which, in some measure prest my writing you on that head, +&c. I thank you for your speedy answer, and am, with return of your own +compliment, as much as you are mine," &c. + +March 6, 1737.--Peter informs M. Isaac Beauchamp, that, he, Peter, has +been empowered, by his Excellency, M. Brouillan, Governor of Cape Breton, +to call him to account and says--"I am now to let you know, that out of +honor and of the regards I have ever had to that gentleman, I am obliged +to see some honorable issue made to that affair, for which reason I shall +be glad you will advise me, after what manner you propose to satisfye the +gentleman or me, without forcing violente means." This affair was +occasioned, by a dispute, about tobacco, and ended in smoke. + +One brief illustration more. April 6, 1738, he complains to Captain +Greenou of certain ill usage and says--"You may see what handsome parcell +of protested bills I must pay. If this be the honor of you Ragon men, God +deliver me from them, for the future. I would not take their word for a +groat &c. These pretended gentlemen think I will tamely sit down by their +unhandsome usage, but they will find themselves very much mistaken," &c. + +Many years ago, while standing by the artist, as he was working up, from +the old portrait, belonging to the Historical Society, the lineaments of +Peter, as he is represented, in Faneuil Hall, we agreed, that his +temperament must have been choleric. He had that conformation of body, +which hints of apoplexy. John, his uncle, the Rocheller, died of that +disease; and Peter, as Master Lovell inform us, died _suddenly_. He +belonged not to any total abstinence society. And though there is no +evidence, nor the slightest suspicion, that he fell below that standard of +gentlemanly temperance, which was in vogue, among those, who were given to +hospitality, in our peninsula, one hundred years ago--yet I have not any +reasonable doubt, that Peter would have lived longer, had it been the +pleasure of his uncle Andrew to have disinherited _him_, instead of _his +brother Benjamin_. + + + + +No. CXXIX. + + +Peter Faneuil was an affectionate brother. I have it from the lips of +Benjamin's lineal descendants, who have preserved the tradition, that, +after he had sacrificed his hopes of the inheritance, not for a mess of +pottage, but for a lovely wife; and Peter had been called from New +Rochelle, to supply his place, as the heir apparent; uncle Andrew, +probably, without exacting an absolute promise, enjoined it upon Peter, to +abstain from assisting Benjamin; to which injunction Peter paid no +practical regard whatever; but, like a Christian brother, remembered, that +old Benjamin Faneuil and Anne Bureau had been the father and the mother of +them both. The commercial correspondence shows, that Peter gave Benjamin +his confidence and affection. The relation between them plainly +demonstrates, that there was no deficiency of kind and generous offices. + +The ease and intimacy of their friendship will be perceived, by the +following note, which I copy literally from the original, in my +possession. There was a difference of eighteen months only, in their ages. +In this note, which was written, after Benjamin's return from Europe, +Peter addresses him, by a cant name. "Boston the 18 August, 1741. Dear +Cockey: The Occasion of my not Sending my Chase for you was on Account of +Mr. Shirley's receiving of his Majties Commission Last Thursday appointing +him Govr of this Province wh. was read the Next day, upon which Occasion +he ask't me to Loane of my Charrot wh. I granted him till Last Night, so +that I presume will plede my xcuse. I now Send you up the Chase, to bring +you home, and have deliver'd ye Coachman Some Boild Beef, a dozen of +brown biskett 6 bottles of Madera and 2 of Frontinan with a dozen of +Lemmons. Your relations and friends are all well, and desire their Love +and service may be made acceptable to you. Pray my Compliments to the +Gentn and Ladys with you--and give me Leave to assure you that I am, Dear +Cockey, Your Affectionate Brother, Peter Faneuil." + +The superscription of this note is torn off, but to Benjamin alone can it +apply. Mr. Jones was not married, till after Peter's death. His relation +to Phillips was rather formal; and still more so with Boutineau; and he +never would have thought of calling his brother Addington Davenport, the +Rector of Trinity, his _dear cockey_. His letters also record the +evidences of his kindness to his sisters, and his attention to their most +trifling wishes. Nov. 24, 1736, he writes Lynch and Blake--"My youngest +sister desires, that you wont forget to send her the Canary birds, which +you promised her, when you was here." May 16, 1736, he writes Lane and +Smethurst of London--"My sisters have received their things, in good order +and to their liking, except the stockings: for the Hosier put up white +worsted, instead of thread, although the patern was sent. I have sent them +back to you to be changed, in the ship Union, John Homans, master. Be +pleased to send them, by the first opportunity: viz, for Mrs. Anne +Faneuil, 3 pairs thread hose, with worsted clogs, and a pair of +Galoushoes. Mrs. Susannah Faneuil, 2 pairs thread ditto. Mrs. Mary Anne +Faneuil, 4 pairs thread stockings, and 3 pairs clogs." It is of small +moment, at this late day, whether these ladies wore thread or worsted +stockings, one hundred and fourteen years ago; but this ancient example of +brotherly regard may not be altogether lost, upon the race of brothers, +that has sprung up, during the present century. It is remarkable, that +Peter, though he applies the title, _Mrs._ to each of his sisters, gives +them the maiden name. The two, first named, were then the wives of +Addington Davenport and James Boutineau; the last, Mary Ann, afterwards +the wife of John Jones, was then single. + +At that early day, the moral sense of the people of the North appears to +have been thoroughly asleep, on the subject of slavery. The reverend +clergy were no exception from the general rule. After the decease of +Parson Moorhead, in 1774, a slave was sold, among his effects, "at his +late residence, near _Liberty Tree_." Jonny Moorhead was a cotemporary of +Peter Faneuil, having assumed the charge of the Presbyterian Church, as it +then was, in 1730. The reader will not be startled, therefore, when he +comes to be informed, as, in good time he will be, at how many pounds, old +tenor, each of Peter Faneuil's five slaves were appraised, after his +decease. Slavery was not uncommon then, in the Province of Massachusetts +Bay. Douglass, in his Summary, vol. i. page 351, states, that in 1735, +about seven years before Peter's death, the whole number of whites, of 16 +years and upwards, in the Province, was 35,427; and of negroes, 2600. + +Feb. 3, 1738. Peter Faneuil writes thus, to Peter Buckley--"Herewith you +have invoice of six hogsheads fish and eight barrells of alewives, +amounting to £75.9.2, which, when you arrive at Antigua, be pleased to +sell, for my best advantage, and, with the nett produce of the same, +purchase, for me, for the use of my house, as likely a strait negro lad as +possibly you can, about the age of from 12 to 15 years; and, if to be +done, one that has had the small-pox, who being for my own service, I must +request the favor, you would let him be one of as tractable a disposition +as you can find, which I leave to your prudent care and management, +desiring, after you have purchased him, you would send him to me, by the +first good opportunity, recommending him to a particular care, from the +captain." I have no doubt, that Peter was a kind, considerate master; and, +though I have an unconquerable aversion to being the slave of anybody, I +had rather have been Peter's _born thrall_ than his _uncle Andrew_. What a +glorious kitchen Peter's must have been! + +My female readers will scarcely find it in their eyelids to be weary, or +in their hearts to blame me, for giving them one or two passages more, +from Peter Faneuil's letters; when they are told, that those passages +relate to a love affair, in which Peter, though not a principal, performed +an important part. + +The Faneuils and the Jekylls were intimate--so much so, at least, as to +bring the Jekylls within the circle of those, who, upon Uncle Andrew's +death, were accounted the legitimate recipients of mourning rings. In a +letter to Mr. Joseph Jekyll, of Jan. 22, 1738, Peter alludes to Miss +Jekyll's extraordinary conduct; and, most happily and truthfully, remarks, +that "_there is no accounting for the sex, in affairs of love_." On the +same day, he writes Mr. Richard Blacket Jekyll--"Doubtless, you'll be +surprised to find, that, by this opportunity, only your sister, Mrs. +Hannah, of the family, who I hope will arrive safe to you, has the +pleasure of seeing you, and her other brothers, in England. I am sorry +Mrs. Mary does not consult her own interest, so much, as I could wish, +whose conduct I should say nothing of, were it not out of regard to the +family in general. It is now only one month past, since she suffered +herself to be published to one Mr. Linnington, of St. Christophers, +formerly known here, by the name of My Lord Linnington, or My Lord, whose +character, if you remember the man, I need not trouble you with a +description of it; but, if you do not, I can only say, that he is a +worthless pretender to a great deal of money and wit, without, according +to the best account I can learn, any of either: with whom she would, +inevitably have been married, had not some other friends joined forces +with me, and interposed." + +"Inclosed I send you my letter to her, on that head, and her answer, for +your more private satisfaction. That affair being tolerably well over, and +Captain Homan's state-room hired for the two young ladies, and their maid, +I had supplied them, according to your desire, with what money they might +have occasion for, to fit them out for the voyage, and paid the captain, +for their laying in, and tomorrow being the appointed time to go aboard, I +was, in the morning, advised Mrs. Mary had changed her mind, on account of +some new proposals of matrimony, made her, by Col. Saltonstall of +Haverhill, which sudden alteration I find to be, on examination, from a +visit or two, within these two or three days last past, at farthest, but, +however, concluded upon and determined, so that she does not come to you," +&c., &c. + +Peter proceeds to comment, with great discretion, upon the absence of any +reasonable interval, for the heart of Miss Mary Jekyll to recover its due +tone and tension, after its first expansion towards _My Lord Linnington_, +and before the second spasm. But, truly, in the language of the anatomist, +the heart is a "wonderful muscle." + +I had surmised a relation of consanguinity between Peter Faneuil and the +late Peter Chardon Brooks, from the fact, that, on the 29th of March, +1737, Peter Faneuil writes to the executors of Isaac Chardon, in South +Carolina, whom he calls his cousin; and, in that letter, speaks of his +cousin, _Peter Chardon_. But, from the best authority, I have learned, +that the name of Peter Chardon was bestowed, by the Rev. Edward Brooks, +formerly of North Yarmouth, and more recently of Medford, upon his son, +_causa amicitiæ_; the Rev. Mr. Brooks and Peter Chardon, having been +classmates, of the year 1757. It was, probably, the father of this Peter +Chardon, whom Peter Faneuil calls his cousin, in 1737, and the same Peter +Chardon, who is named, on the record, as one of the appraisers of Peter +Faneuil's estate, in 1742-3. The name is rare; it occurs once only, on the +Cambridge Catalogue; and, from its rarity, it may not be unreasonable, to +look for the _stirps_, on the pages of Charlevoix, iii. 392, who speaks of +_Peter Chardon_, the Jesuit, a missionary, among the Indians, bordering +upon Lake Michigan, at the very close of the seventeenth century. _Our_ +Peter Chardon, the cousin of Faneuil, resided in Bowdoin Square, near the +street, that bears his name. + +After the death of his uncle Andrew, Peter Faneuil, by the power of +wealth, in addition to his other qualities, intelligence, industry, and +courtesy, necessarily became an influential character; and the use, which +he immediately began to make of his wealth, his public spirit, his private +benevolence, all conspired to make him an object of very general interest. +His hospitalities were unbounded. He associated himself with the Episcopal +Church. He subscribed £2000 old tenor, £200 sterling for the rebuilding of +King's Chapel, in 1740, and was chosen treasurer of the building fund. His +death, in 1742-3, put a stop to the project. No money had ever been +collected, for that object. In 1747, the project was revived. New +subscriptions were solicited, and the old ones demanded, "_at the end of +this year 1748_." Peter Faneuil died March 3, 1742-3, and had therefore +been dead, between five and six years. "For the subscription of Peter +Faneuil," says Mr. Greenwood, in his history of the Chapel, "they were +unfortunately obliged to sue his brother, and executor, Benjamin Faneuil, +from whom, after a disagreeable lawsuit, they at last recovered it." Mr. +Greenwood erred, in the supposition, that Peter left a will. He died +intestate, and administration was granted to Benjamin, March 18, 1742, old +style. The estate, of course, had been settled, doubtless, some years +before the demand on the administrator, "_at the end of 1748_." Having +other heirs to consult, he very properly resisted this tardy and +unexpected claim; and cast the responsibility upon the court. + +For several years, Peter Faneuil worshipped in Trinity Church, of which +his brother-in-law, Addington Davenport, became rector, in 1740. Peter's +pew, in Old Trinity, was No. 40. He was an active and liberal member of +the Episcopal Charitable Society. "Mr. Faneuil," says the late Dr. Boyle, +"was one of the earliest members of the society. He was a liberal +subscriber to its funds, and acted, as a trustee of the institution." + +Peter Faneuil's heart was proverbially warm, and sensitive to the +necessities and distresses of his _neighbor_; and he seems to have +cherished the true scriptural construction of that _ubiquitary_ word. The +accession of wealth, upon his uncle's death, hardened not his heart, but +gave it a deeper, fuller, and stronger pulse, upon every call of charity. +To him, as to other men, who admit their motives to be human, upon common +occasions, the applause of the _wise_ and _good_ was exceedingly +agreeable. Whatever the prominency of higher and holier considerations, he +turned a willing and a grateful ear to the approbation of the judicious +and upright. Not contented with the opportunities of doing good, on a +small scale, which were, doubtless, frequently presented, before a man, +whose wealth and warmheartedness were equally notorious; he coveted some +fair occasion, for pouring forth of his abundance, in a more magnificent +manner--pleased--naturally and justifiably pleased--with the thought, that +his name and his memory would be associated with the deed, in after times. + + + + +No. CXXX. + + +One may, as successfully, search for that identical peck of pickled +peppers, that Peter Piper picked, as for the original Hall, that Peter +Faneuil built. Like Rachel's first born, _it is not_. After all the +reparations, and changes, and hard hammerings she has undergone, we may as +well search, within the walls of Old Ironsides, for those very ribs of +live oak, which, some fifty years ago, were launched, in the body of the +frigate Constitution. + +In the olden time, the market men, like the mourners, went "about the +streets." The inhabitants were served, at their doors. As early as 1634, +Gov. Winthrop, in his journal, speaks of a market, which was kept in +Boston, "on Thursday, the fifth day of the week." This weekly market on +the fifth day is mentioned, by Douglass, as of 1639, vol. i. p. 434. This, +I think, refers only to a gathering of sellers and buyers, at one spot, +and not to any "visible temple," for storage and shelter. Citizens +differed, as to the best method of getting their _provant_; some preferred +the old mode, as it was supposed to save time; others were in favor of +having a common point, with a covered building. Parties were formed; the +citizens waxed wroth; and quarrelled about their meat, like angry dogs. +Those, who were in favor of market-houses, prevailed. Three were erected; +one, at the Old North Square--one, where Faneuil Hall now stands--and one, +near Liberty Tree. People were no longer supplied, at their houses. + +It seems very strange, that this sensible arrangement should have led to +violent outrage. The malcontents assembled together, in the night, +"disguised like clergymen"--the devil, sometimes assumes this +exterior--and "totally demolished the centre market-house." This occurred, +about the year 1736-7, or about the time of Andrew Faneuil's death. Such +is the account of good old Thomas Pemberton. M. H. C. iii. 255. + +The popular sentiment prevented the reconstruction of the centre +market-house, till, in 1740, July 14, a town meeting was held to consider +a petition, for this object, from Thomas Palmer and 340 others. At this +meeting, it was stated, that Peter Faneuil had offered, at his own cost, +to build a market-house, on the town's land, in Dock Square, for the use +of the town, if the citizens, would legally empower him so to do; place +the same under proper regulations; and maintain it, for that use. + +An impression has, somewhat extensively, prevailed, that Mr. Faneuil's +proposal was not courteously received, by his fellow-citizens, and that a +majority of seven only were in favor of it. + +On the contrary, Mr. Faneuil's proposal was received, with the most ample +demonstrations of grateful respect. There were two questions before the +meeting--first: shall a vote of thanks be passed to Peter Faneuil, for his +liberal offer? Secondly: shall we give up the itinerant system, and have a +market-house, on _any_ conditions? Upon the first question, there was but +_one_ mind--on the second, there were _two_. A vote of thanks to Mr. +Faneuil was instantly passed, without a dissentient. But the second +question was the vexed question, revived, and excited the passions of the +people. Of 727 persons present, 367 only voted in favor of granting the +petition of Palmer and others, giving a majority of seven only. + +Accordingly, the work was commenced; and it was completed, Sept. 10, 1742, +"on which day," says Dr. Snow, "Mr. Samuel Ruggles, who was employed, in +building the market house, waited on the selectmen, by order of P. +Faneuil, Esq., and delivered them the key of said house." + +Peter was a magnificent fellow. An antiquarian friend, to whom the fancy +has lineally descended, through a line of highly respectable, antiquarian +ancestors, informs me, that his father handed down to him a tradition, +which is certainly plausible. It runs thus: while the market-house was in +progress--probably on paper--it was suggested to Peter, that, with very +little additional expense, a splendid town hall might be constructed over +it. Peter's heart was quite as _roomy_ as the market-house, and town hall +together, and he cheerfully embraced the suggestion. The tradition goes a +little farther--when the cost was summed up, Peter scolded--a little. Very +likely. Mr. Peter Faneuil was not an exception, I presume, to the common +rule. + +The keys, as I have stated, were presented to the town, Sept. 10, 1742, +with all that courtesy, doubtless, for which he was remarkable. Peter's +relatives and connections are somewhat numerous. The descendants of +Benjamin his brother are scattered over the country. It will be equally +grateful to them, and honorable to our forefathers, to exhibit a portion +of the record. + +Sept. 13, 1742, at a meeting, in the new hall, a vote of thanks was moved, +by the Hon. John Jeffries, uncle of the late Dr. John Jeffries. In this +vote, it is stated, that, whereas Peter Faneuil has, "at a very great +expense, erected a noble structure, far exceeding his first proposal, +inasmuch, as it contains, not only a large and sufficient accommodation +for a market place, but a spacious and most beautiful town hall over it, +and several other convenient rooms, which may prove very beneficial to the +town, for offices or otherwise. And the said building being now finished, +he has delivered possession thereof to the selectmen for the use of the +town; it is therefore voted, that the town do, with the utmost gratitude, +receive and accept this most generous and noble benefaction, for the use +and intentions it is designed for; and do appoint the Hon. Thomas Cushing +Esquire, the moderator of this meeting, the Hon. Adam Winthrop, Edward +Hutchinson, Ezekiel Lewis, and Samuel Waldo, Esquires, Thomas Hutchinson, +Esq. the selectmen and representatives of the town of Boston, the Hon. +Jacob Wendell, James Bowdoin, Esq., Andrew Oliver, Esq., Captain Nathaniel +Cunningham, Peter Chardon, Esq., and Mr. Charles Apthorp, to wait upon +Peter Faneuil, Esq., and in the name of the town, to render him their most +hearty thanks, for so bountiful a gift, with their prayers, that this and +other expressions of his bounty and charity may be abundantly recompensed +with the divine blessing." + +In addition to this vote, the citizens passed another, that the hall +should be called Faneuil Hall, forever; and that the portrait of Faneuil +should be painted, at full length, and placed therein. On the 14th of +March, 1744, a vote was passed "to purchase the Faneuil arms, carved and +gilt, by Moses Deshon, to be fixed in the hall." + +Pemberton says--"Previous to the Revolution, the portraits of Mr. Faneuil, +General Conway, and Colonel Barré were procured by the town, and hung up +in the hall. It is supposed they were carried off by the British." The +portrait of Faneuil at present, in the hall, was painted by Henry Sargent, +from the portrait, presented to the Massachusetts Historical Society, by +Miss Jones, a grandchild of Peter's sister, Mary Ann. + +The original building was but half the width of the present, and but two +stories high. The hall could contain but 1000 persons. In the memorable +fire of Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1761, Faneuil Hall was destroyed, and nothing +left standing but the walls. On the 23d of the following March, the town +voted to rebuild, and the State authorized a lottery, to meet the expense. +There were several classes. A ticket, of the seventh class, lies before +me, bearing date March, 1767, with the spacious autograph of John Hancock, +at the bottom. + +The building retained its primitive proportions, till 1806, when, the +occasions of the public requiring its enlargement, its width was +increased, from 40 to 80 feet, and a third story added. A very simple rule +may be furnished, for those, who would compare the size of the present +building, with that of the genuine Peter Faneuil Hall. Take a northeast +view of the Hall--there are seven windows before you, in each story--run a +perpendicular line, from the ground, through the centre of the middle +window to the top of the belt, at the bottom of the third story--carry a +straight line from that point nearly to the top of the second window, on +the right, in the third story. That point is the apex of the old pediment. +From that point, draw the corresponding roof line down to the belt, at the +corner; and you have a profile of the ancient structure; all which is well +exhibited by Dr. Snow, on the plan, in his History of Boston. + +Small as the original structure may appear, when compared with the +present, it was a magnificent donation, for the times. It may well be +considered a munificent gift, from a single individual, in 1742, when we +consider, that its repairs, in 1761, were accomplished, by the aid of the +Commonwealth, and the creation of a lottery, which continued to curse the +community, for several years. + +Peter Faneuil was then in all his glory. How readily, by the power of +Imagination, I raise him from the dead, bolt upright; with his over portly +form, and features full of _bon homie_; speaking volumes, about those five +pipes of amber-colored Madeira, such as his friend Delancey had; and that +best book of all sorts of cookery, of a large character, for the maid's +reading! There he is, at the door of his English chariot, "handsome, but +nothing gaudy," with his arms thereon, and his English coachman, and his +English horses, and that "strait negro lad" perched behind. I see him now, +helping in Miss Mary Anne, his youngest maiden sister; and, as he ascends +the steps, wrapping his cloak around him, trimmed with that identical +"_scarlet cloth of the very best quality_." + +The vanity of man's anticipations, the occasional suddenness of his +summons away--seldom find a more graphic illustration, than in the case of +this noble hearted, and most hospitable gentleman. When he received the +grateful salutations of the magnates of the town, who came to thank him, +for his munificence, what could have been so little in his thoughts, or in +theirs, as the idea, that he was so soon to die! + +In about five years--five, short, luxurious years--after the death of +Andrew Faneuil, Peter, his favorite nephew, was committed to the ground, +March 10, 1742, old style. The event, from its suddenness, and from the +amiable and benevolent character of the individual, produced a deep +sensation, in the _village_, for Boston was nothing but a seashore village +then. In 1728, some fourteen years before, we learn from Douglass, i. 531, +that there were but 3000 rateable polls, on the peninsula. This event was +unexpected, by the living, and had been equally unexpected, by the dead. +Death came to Peter, like a thief in the stilly night. He had not looked +for this unwelcome visitor. He had made no will. By this event, Benjamin +came into possession; and old Andrew is supposed to have turned over, +indignantly, in his coffin. + + + + +No. CXXXI. + + +To such of my readers, as the Lord has abundantly blessed, in their basket +and their store, and who have loaned him very little, on his simple +promise, to be repaid, in Paradise; and who are, peradventure, at this +very moment, excogitating revengeful wills; the issue of uncle Andrew's +vindictive, posthumous arrangements may prove a profitable lesson, for +their learning. Verily, God's ways are not as our ways, nor God's will as +Uncle Andrew's. + +It may be remembered, that, in the devise of his warehouse, in trust, for +the benefit of the French Church, Andrew Faneuil provided, that, in the +event of the extinction of that church, the estate should revert to his +_right heirs--excluding Benjamin Faneuil, of Boston, and the heirs of his +body forever_, whom he cuts off, as the popular phrase runs, with "_five +shillings, and no more_." In passing along, it may not be amiss to notice +this popular error. The law has, at no time, required the bequest of a +farthing, to one, near of kin, whom the testator intends to cut off. It is +enough, if it be manifest, that the testator has _not forgotten him_; and, +to leave no possible doubt upon the subject, a churlish curmudgeon, as in +the present case, will transmit, in this offensive manner, the record of +his vindictiveness and folly, to future generations. + +When Andrew Faneuil makes Peter his residuary legatee, there is no +provision, for the exclusion of Benjamin, in the event of Peter's death, +without heirs of his body. Prepared, as this amiable, old gentleman was, +to believe, in the possible extinction of the French Church, he seems to +have looked upon Peter, an inveterate old bachelor, as immortal. Yet, in +regard to Peter, the issue hung, by a single hair. There was no child, +with the cup in his hand, to catch the ball, and prevent it from lapsing +directly into Benjamin's sack, who, with his sisters, stood close at hand, +the next of kin to Peter, and heirs at law. + +Well: as I have said, God's will was not as Uncle Andrew's. After a few +flying years, during which Peter executed the intentions of the testator, +with remarkable fidelity; and lived, as magnificently, as a nobleman, and +as hospitably, as a bishop, and, as charitably, as an apostle--suddenly, +the silver cord was loosed, and the golden bowl was broken, and Peter +dropped into the grave. The title of Benjamin and his sisters to all +Peter's estate, and to all Andrew's estate, that remained, as the heirs at +law of Peter, passed into them, through the atmosphere, at once; and +Andrew's will, by the act of God, was set aside, in the _upper_ Court. + +Administration was granted to Benjamin, March 18, 1742, O. S., who +returned an inventory, April 21, 1744. The appraisers of the estate were +William Price, Joseph Dowse, and Peter Chardon; and the sum total of their +valuation was £44,451.15.7. This, certainly, will incline the reader to +Master Lovell's idea, of "_a large and plentiful estate_," until I add +those words of withering import--_Old Tenor_. Sterling decimates old tenor +with a vengeance--_ten_ pounds, old tenor, were but _one_ pound, sterling. +The valuation, therefore, amounted to about £4,445 sterling, or, in +dollars, at five to the pound, to $22,225. It may seem rather surprising, +that the balance, which fell to Peter, from his uncle, under the will, and +his own accumulations, should amount to no more. But a few reflections may +tend to moderate our surprise. + +The estate of his uncle had been seriously diminished, by the payment of +legacies, £2,000 stg. to each of his three nieces, $30,000--more than +$8,000 to his niece, Marie Phillips; and about $2,000, in smaller +legacies, raising the amount of legacies to $40,000. He had also given his +warehouse, in King Street, to the French Church. These legacies Peter had +paid. He had also built and presented the Market-house and the Hall to the +town. But there is another important consideration. Funds still remained, +in other countries, part and parcel of Andrew's property. This is evident, +from an original document before me, the marriage settlement of Peter's +sister, Mary Anne with John Jones, bearing date March 15, 1742, the very +month of Peter's death. This document recites, that one part of her +estate, as one of the heirs of Peter Faneuil, "_is in Public Funds, such +as the Bank of England_." As this does not figure in Benjamin's inventory +here, it is impossible to say what was the amount of foreign funds, which +Peter owned, at the time of his death. For some five years, while he had +been living, in a style of unbounded hospitality, he had also enjoyed the +luxury of doing good, and paid, most liberally, for that enjoyment. From +his commercial correspondence, I infer, that his enterprise suffered no +material abatement, after his uncle's decease. + +I cannot doubt, that his free expenditure of money, for his personal +enjoyment, the gratification of his pride, and the pleasure of ministering +to the wants of the poor and needy, had lessened, and was lessening, from +month to month, the amount of his estate. There is yet another +consideration, which belongs to this account, the great disparity, between +the value of money, then, and at the present day. + +The items, or particular heads, of the inventory, are one hundred and +fifty-eight; and cover near four folio pages of the record. Some of them +may not be wholly uninteresting to the reader. The mansion-house, the +same, as I have stated, in which Lieutenant Governor Billy Phillips lived +and died, and Isaiah Doane before him, the extensive garden, outhouses and +yard were appraised, one hundred and eight years ago, at £12,375, or +£1,237 stg., about $6,185, at five dollars to the pound. Fourteen hundred +ounces of plate, at £2,122 10. This plate was divided into five parts, for +the brother, and four sisters of the deceased. A memorandum lies upon my +table, labelled, in the original hand of Gillam Phillips--"An account of +my proportion of plate, belonging to the estate of Peter Faneuil, Esq., +deceased." This document contains a list of "_Gillam Phillips' Lot_," and +side by side--"_a coffee pot_--_a large, handsome chamber pot_." They made +a free use of the precious metals, in those days. + +A parcel of jewels are appraised, at £1,490--1 white horse, £15--2 Albany +horses, £100--2 English horses, £250--2 other English horses, £300--4 old +and 4 new harnesses, £120--2 pairs runners, £15--1 four-wheel chaise, +£150--1 two-wheel chaise, £50--a coach, £100--1 chariot, £400--5 negroes, +£150--130--120--120--100. Then follows a variety of articles--fowling +pieces--fishing tackle--silver-hilted sword--pistols--china, glass, +hangings, carpets, and culinary articles, in profusion--lignum vitæ coffee +cups, lined with silver--silver snuff-boxes--gold sleeve-buttons and +rings--195 dozen of wine--arrack--beer--Cheshire and Gloucester cheeses. +Indeed, Peter's establishment appears to have been a variorum edition of +all manner of elegancies, luxuries, and creature comforts. The inventory +comprehends eight tenements, in Cornhill, and King Street; a number of +vessels, and parts of vessels; and various other items of property. + +The remains of this noble-spirited descendant of the Huguenots of Rochelle +were deposited, in the Faneuil tomb, in the westerly corner of the Granary +Ground. This tomb is of dark freestone, with a freestone slab. Upon the +easterly end of the tomb, there is a tablet of slate, upon which are +sculptured, with manifest care and skill, the family arms; while, upon the +freestone slab, are inscribed, at the top, M. M.--_memento mori_, of +course,--and, at the bottom of the slab--a cruel apology for the old +Huguenot patronymic--"PETER FUNEL. 1742," and nothing more. + +The explanation, which arises, in my mind, of this striking inconsistency, +is this: I believe this tomb, whose aspect is simple, solid, and antique, +to have been built by Andrew Faneuil, who was a wealthy merchant here as +early as 1709: and I think it is quite certain, that the lady, whom he +married, in Holland, and whose beauty is traditional, among her +descendants, made the great exchange--beauty for ashes--in this very +sepulchre. In this tomb, Andrew was buried, by Peter, Feb. 20, 1737, and +Peter, by his brother, Benjamin, March 10, 1742, old style, and here +Benjamin himself, was laid, after an interval of two-and-forty years, +where there is neither work, nor device, nor will, nor codicil. + +The arms of Peter Faneuil--I have them before me, at this moment, on his +massive, silver pepper-pot--he found a place for them, on many of his +possessions, though I cannot say, if on all the articles which came into +the possession of Gillam Phillips,--were a field argent--no chevron--a +large heart, truly a suitable emblem, in the centre, gules--seven stars +equidistant from each other, and from the margin of the escutcheon, +extending from the sinister chief to the dexter base--in the sinister base +a cross molin, within an annulet--no scroll--no supporters; crest, a +martlet. + +The arms upon the tomb, though generally like these, and like the arms, on +other articles, once Peter's, and still extant, differ in some important +particulars; and seem to have been quartered with those of another family, +as the arms of Andrew, being a collateral, might have been. A helmet, +beneath the martlet, especially, is wholly different from Peter's crest. +Such precisely are the arms, on the seal of wax, upon Andrew's will, in +the Registry. Hence I infer, that Uncle Andrew built this ancient +sepulchre. Arms, in days of old, and still, where a titled nobility +exists, are deemed, for the popular eye, sufficient evidence of ownership, +without a name. So thought Uncle Andrew; and he left the freestone tablet, +without any inscription. + +Some five years after the testator's burial, the tomb was again opened, to +let in the residuary legatee. Peter's was a grand funeral. The Evening +Post, of March 3, 1742-3, foretold, that it would be such; but the papers, +which, doubtless, gave an account of it, are lost--the files are +imperfect, of all those primitive journals. At first, and for years, the +resting place of Peter's remains was well enough known. But the rust of +time began to gather upon men's memories. The Faneuil arms, ere long, +became unintelligible, to such, as strolled among the tombs. That +"_handsome chariot, but nothing gaudy_," with Peter's armorial bearings +upon its panels, no longer rolled along Treamount, and Queen Streets, and +Cornhill, and drew up, of a Sabbath morning, before Trinity Church, that +brother Peter and the ladies might sit upon their cushions, in No. 40, +while brother Addington Davenport gave them a sermon, upon the Apostolical +succession. The good people had therefore forgotten all about the Faneuil +arms; and, before a great many years had rolled away, the inquiry +naturally arose, in popular phraseology--"_Whereabouts was it, that Peter +Faneuil was buried?_" + +Some worthy old citizen--God bless him--who knew rather more of this +matter than his neighbors, and was well aware, that the arms would be but +a dead letter to posterity, resolved to serve the public, and remedy the +defect. Up he goes into the Granary Ground, in the very spirit of Old +Mortality, and, with all his orthography in his ear, inscribes P. FUNEL +upon the tablet! + + + + +No. CXXXII. + + +"_But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever._" Mark i. 30. From this +text, a clergyman--_of the old school_--had preached just as many, +consecutive sermons, as I have already published articles, concerning +Peter Faneuil and his family. A day or two after the last discourse, the +bell of the village church was tolled, for a funeral; and a long-suffering +parishioner, being asked, whose funeral it was, replied, that he had no +doubt it was Simon's wife's mother's; for she had been sick of a fever, +for nine weeks, to his certain knowledge. Let the reader possess himself +in patience--our dealings with the Faneuils cannot last forever. + +We have stated, that Peter's death was sudden, the very death, from which, +as a churchman, he had prayed to be delivered. But let us not forget, that +no death is sudden, in the sense of the good man's prayers, however +instantaneously the golden bowl may be broken, to him, whose life has been +well spent, and who is prepared to die. + +In this connection, two interesting questions arise--how Peter Faneuil +came to be a churchman--and if his life was a well-spent life, affording +him reasonable assurance of admission into Paradise. + +The old Huguenots styled themselves "THE REFORMERS," and embraced the +doctrines of Calvin, in full. Oppression commonly teaches even intolerant +men the value of toleration. Our Puritan fathers, it is true, who fled +from Episcopal, as the Huguenots from Roman Catholic tyranny, profited +very little, by the lesson they had learned; and turned upon the Catholics +and Quakers, in the spirit of preposterous cruelty. The government of +Massachusetts, according to Hazard, received a profitable lesson of +moderation, from that of Rhode Island. + +The Huguenots soon began to abate somewhat of that exorbitant severity and +punctiliousness, in their religion, which, in no slight degree, had +brought upon them that persecution, which was gathering, and impending +over them, in 1684, a twelvemonth before the revocation of the edict of +Nantes; compelling many of them, thus early, to fly from their homes, into +other lands. The teachings of James Saurin, the great Huguenot preacher of +the refugees, at the Hague, in 1705, and in subsequent years, were of a +milder type. He was "_a moderate Calvinist_." Such, also, were Daillé and +Le Mercier, the ministers of the French Church, in Boston. + +Peter Faneuil, undoubtedly, worshipped in this church, during a certain +period. We have seen the liberal arrangement of his uncle, in 1734, for +the support of its minister, and the testator's provision for its poor. +Even then, he evidently anticipated, that it might cease to be; and shaped +his testamentary provisions accordingly. Natural causes were in operation; +I have referred to them--intermarriage, with our English people--merging +the language of the few, in that of the many--juxtaposition--all tending +to diminish the necessity for maintaining a separate church. + +There was no dissolution of the society, at first, by any formal vote. The +attendance became irregular and scanty--the members went elsewhere--Le +Mercier, "a worthy character," says the Rev. Dr. Holmes, ceased to +officiate, and the church broke up. For years, there were no services, +within the little temple; and, in 1748, it was sold, as I have stated, to +the members of another denomination. + +It became a question with these Huguenots, the Faneuils, the Boutineaus, +the Johonnots, the Oliviers, the Sigourneys, and their associates, where +they should worship God. In 1740-41, the preachers, in Boston, were +Charles Chauncey, at the Old Brick--at the Old North, Increase Mather, +supplying the place of his brother Samuel, who, though ordained, in 1732, +preached but one winter, and parted--at the Old South, Joseph Sewall, and +Thomas Prince--at the Baptist, in Back Street, Jeremy Condy--at King's +Chapel, Stephen Roe--at Brattle Street, William Cooper--at the Quaker +meeting-house, in Leverett's Lane, whoever was moved by the Spirit--at the +New North, John Webb--at the New South, Samuel Checkley--at the New Brick, +Ellis Gray--at Christ Church, Timothy Cutler--at Long Lane, Jonny +Moorhead--at Hollis Street, Mather Byles--at Trinity, Addington +Davenport--at Lynde Street, William Hooper. + +Several of the descendants of the Huguenots, not at all deterred, by the +resemblance, whatever that might be, between the forms of Episcopalian +worship, and those of their religious persecutors, the Roman Catholics, +mingled with the Episcopalians. Thus they clung to the common element, the +doctrine of the Trinity; and escaped, like Saurin, from the +super-sulphuretted vapors of primitive Calvinism. + +It is not very surprising, that the Faneuils should have settled down, +upon the new and fashionable temple--Trinity had been erected but a few +years before; and the new rector was Peter's brother-in-law, Mr. Addington +Davenport. + +Peter therefore became, _pro tanto_, an Episcopalian--a liberal subscriber +to the Charitable, Episcopal fund, and to the fund for the rebuilding of +King's Chapel; and identified himself with the Episcopal interest. + +The religious character of Peter Faneuil, and the present whereabouts of +this public benefactor, will be determined, by different individuals, +according to the respective indications of their spiritual thermometers. + +I have already ventured an opinion, that the mantle of charity, which +covereth a multitude of sins, should be extended, for Peter's behoof, over +that little affair with Peter Baynton, touching the duties, on those four +hogsheads of brandy. But there is another matter, over which, I am aware, +that some very worthy people will doubt, if the mantle of charity, can be +stretched, without serious danger of lesion--I refer to the importation, +about the same time with the prayer books, of that enormous quantity--six +gross--of "the very best King Henry's cards." I have often marvelled, how +the name of the Defender of the Faith ever came to be connected, with such +pestilent things. + +I am well aware, how closely, in the opinions of some learned divines, +cards are associated with the idea of eternal damnation. If it be so; and +a single pack is enough to send the proprietor to the bottomless pit, it +is truly grievous to reflect how much deeper Peter, our great public +benefactor, has gone, with the oppressive weight of six gross of the very +best, upon his soul. Now-a-days, there seem to be very few, the Romanists +excepted, who believe in purgatory; and it is pretty generally agreed, +that all, who attempt the bridge of _Al Sirat_, will surely arrive, either +at Paradise, or Pandemonium. + +How delightful it would be, to have the opinion of good old André Le +Mercier, in a case like this. Though Peter no longer waited upon Le +Mercier's ministrations; but, for several years, before the dissolution of +the French Church, had settled down, under brother Addington Davenport, +first, as the assistant at King's Chapel, and, afterwards, as the Rector +of Trinity; yet Le Mercier could not forget the nephew of his benefactor, +Andrew Faneuil. He was, doubtless, at Peter's funeral, who died one and +twenty years, before the holy man was summoned to his account, in 1764. +Yes, he was there. + +I have heard of a man, who accounted, for the dryness of his eyes, when +all around him wept, at a pathetic discourse, on the ground, that he +belonged to another parish. I have known Christian ministers--_very_--not +many, thank heaven--who were influenced, to such a degree, by that spirit, +which may be supposed to govern the proprietors of opposition omnibuses, +as to consider the chord of human sympathy cut, through and through, and +forever, between themselves, and a parishioner, who, for any cause, +elected to receive his spiritual treasures out of some other earthen +vessel, albeit of the very same denomination of crockery ware. + +Poverty, and disease, and death, and misery, in every type, might stalk +in, and upon, and over that homestead, and hearth, where these Christian +ministers had been warmed, and refreshed, and fostered--but it was no +longer a concern of theirs. No visit of condolence--no kind inquiry--not +one, cheap word of consolation had they, for such, as had ceased to +receive their ideas of damnation from them--enough--these individuals had +sold their pews--"_crimen difficile expiandum_"--they belonged to another +parish! + +André Le Mercier, was not a man of this description. He was not a holy +huckster of spiritual things, having not one crumb of comfort, for any, +but his regular customers. André was a man, whose neighbor's ubiquity was +a proverb. + +But what he would say, about these six gross of King Henry's cards, I am +by no means, certain. He was a man of a tolerant spirit; but on certain +points, the most tolerant are, occasionally, found to be imbued, with +unalterable prejudices. On page 85, of his Church History of Geneva, which +I have read with pleasure, he quotes approvingly, the maxim of "a doctor +of the church." "_In necessariis rebus sit unitas, in dubiis libertas, in +omnibus charitas._" This breathes the spirit of toleration:--what are +_dubia_, what _necessaria_ are not quite so readily settled, however. + +On page 100, I find a passage, not quite so favorable for Peter, in this +matter of the six gross. Referring to Calvin's return to Geneva, in 1536, +after his banishment, Le Mercier says--"And then _Balls and Dances_ and +profane songs were forbidden, by the magistrates. And that form of +Discipline remains entire, to the present Time, notwithstanding the +repeated Attempts, that have been made by wicked People to overset it. +King Henry's cards, I fear, even of the very best quality, would, +undoubtedly, fall into this category, of things Calvinized on earth, in +the opinion of André Le Mercier." + +The meaning of the words, "_profane songs_," may not be universally +intelligible. It undoubtedly meant, as used by the Council, _all songs not +sacred_. Calvin, undoubtedly, adopted the commendation of Scripture, to +such, as were merry, to sing psalms. It appears, however, that certain +persons entertained conservative notions, in those early days; even beyond +the dictum of holy writ; for, on page 101, Le Mercier states, that +Sebastian Castalio, a preacher, and professor, in the College of Geneva, +"_condemned Solomon's Songs, as being profane and immodest_;" the very +charge, as the reader is aware, which has been so often urged, against the +songs of Tom Moore. Moore, at last, betook himself to sacred melodies. +Solomon, had his life been spared, would, probably, have done the same +thing, to the entire satisfaction of Sebastian Castalio. + +I see wisdom, and mercy, and truth, in a part of the maxim, quoted by +André Le Mercier--_in dubiis libertas_. I have long suspected there were +some angels in Heaven, who were damned by Calvin, on earth. I verily +believe, that Peter Faneuil is in Paradise. + + + + +No. CXXXIII. + + +Some of my readers, I doubt not, have involuntarily clenched their fists, +and set their teeth hard, while conning over the details of that merciless +and bloody duel, so long, and so deliberately projected, and furiously +fought, at last, near Bergen op Zoom, by the Lord Bruce, and Sir Edward +Sackville, with rapiers, and in their shirts. Gentle reader, if you have +never met with this morceau, literally dripping with blood, and are born +with a relish for such rare provant--for I fear the appetite is +congenital--you will find an ample account of the affair, in numbers 129 +and 133 of the Guardian. + +This wrathful fight is of an early date, having taken place, in 1613. Who +could measure the popular excitement, if tomorrow's dawn should bring the +tidings of a duel, fought the night before, on Boston Common, by two +young gentlemen, with rapiers, not, perhaps, quite so brutal, in its +minute details, but quite as deliberately planned, and quite as fatal, in +its result! What then must have been the effect of such an announcement, +on the morning of the fourth of July, 1728, one hundred and twenty-three +years ago, when Boston was a seaport village, just six years, after the +"_perlustration_" of Mr. Salter had rated the population, at 10,670 souls. + +It is matter of sober history, that such a duel was actually fought, then +and there, on the evening of the third of July, 1728, near the +powder-house, which is indicated, on Bonner's plan of 1722. This was a +very different affair from the powder-house, erected at West Boston, in +1774, with walls of seven feet in thickness. + +The parties, engaged, in this fatal affair were two young gentlemen, whose +connections were highly respectable, whose lives had been amiable, whose +characters were of good report, and whose friends were numerous and +powerful. The names of Peter Faneuil and of his uncle, Jean Faneuil, of +Rochelle, are associated with this transaction. + +The parties were very young; the survivor twenty-two, and the victim but +little more. The survivor, Henry Phillips, was the brother of Gillam +Phillips, who, the reader of the preceding articles will remember, married +Marie, the sister of Peter Faneuil. Peter was then just twenty-eight; and, +doubtless, if there were dandies in those days, one of the foremost, on +the peninsula. The natural interest he felt, in the brother of his +sister's husband, engaged his efforts, to spirit the wretched survivor +away. He was consigned to the uncle of Peter, beyond the sea--to whom +Marie, his niece, very probably, wrote a few lines, bespeaking kind +offices, for the unfortunate brother of her husband. It is not impossible, +that old André added a prudential word or two, by way of postscript, +confirming brother Jean, as to the safety of the operation. Be this as it +may, Henry Phillips escaped from his pursuers, who were speedily put upon +the scent, by Governor Dummer. Henry Phillips arrived safely in Rochelle. +What befel him, in the strange land, is not the least interesting portion +of the narrative. + +Benjamin Woodbridge--such was the name of the individual, who was the +victim, in this fatal encounter--was a young merchant, in partnership with +Mr. Jonathan Sewall. Of his particular origin I am not entirely +satisfied. The name, among us, is of the olden time. Benjamin Woodbridge +was the very earliest alumnus of Harvard College: born in England in 1622, +and graduated here in 1642. + +The originating cause of this duel, like that, which produced the terrible +conflict, between the Lord Bruce and Sir Edward Sackville, is unknown. + +That the reader may walk along with me, confidingly, upon this occasion, +it may be well to indicate the sources, from which I derive my knowledge +of a transaction, so exciting at the time, so fatal in its results, and so +almost universally unknown, to those, who daily pass over the very spot, +on our Common, upon which these young gentlemen met, and where young +Woodbridge fell. + +I have alluded to the subsequent relation of Peter Faneuil, and of his +uncle, Jean, of Rochelle, to this affair. In my investigation into the +history of Peter and his relatives, I have been aided by Mr. Charles +Faneuil Jones, the grandson of Peter's sister, Mary Ann. Among the +documents, loaned me, by that gentleman, are sundry papers, which belonged +to Gillam Phillips, the brother of Henry, the survivor in the duel. + +Among these papers, are original documents, in Jean Faneuil's handwriting, +relative to the fate of the miserable wanderer, after his arrival in +Rochelle--accounts of disbursements--regularly authenticated copies of the +testimony, relative to the duel, and to the finding of the dead body of +Woodbridge, and to the coöperation of Peter Faneuil and others, in +concealing the survivor, on board the Sheerness, British man of war, and +of his indictment, the "_Billa Vera_," in August, 1728, by the grand jury +of Suffolk, for murder. In addition to these documents, I have found a +certified copy of a statement, highly favorable to the character of Henry +Phillips, the survivor, and manifestly intended to have an influence upon +the public mind. This statement is subscribed, by eighty-eight prominent +citizens, several of them holding high official stations, and among the +number, are four ministers of the Gospel, with the Rev. Timothy Cutler, of +Christ Church, at their head. Appended is the certificate of Governor +Burnett, who, in that very month, succeeded Governor Dummer, stating the +official, professional and social position of the signers of this +document, with which it was clearly intended to fortify an application to +George II. for a pardon of the offender. + +The discovery of these papers, affording, as they do, some account of a +transaction, so very remarkable, for the time and place of its occurrence, +and of which I had never heard nor read before, excited my curiosity, and +led me to search for additional information. + +If my reader is of the fancy, he will readily comprehend my chagrin, when, +upon turning over the leaves of Green's "_Boston Weekly News Letter_"--the +imperfect files--all that time has left us--preserved in the library of +the Massachusetts Historical Society--the very paper, that next ensued, +after July 3, 1728, the date of the duel, and which, doubtless, referred +to an occurrence, so very extraordinary, was among the "_things lost upon +earth_." I was not less unfortunate with the files of the old "Boston +Gazette," of that early day. I then took up Kneeland's "New England Weekly +Journal," but with very little confidence of success. The file, however, +was there--No. 68--July 8, 1728, and my eyes soon fell, as the reader's +fall at this moment, upon Governor Dummer's proclamation:-- + +"Whereas a barbarous murder was last night committed, on the body of +Benjamin Woodbridge, a young gentleman, resident in the town of Boston; +and Henry Phillips, of said town, is suspected to be the author of said +murder, and is now fled from justice; I have therefore thought proper to +issue this proclamation, hereby commanding all justices, sheriffs, +constables, and all other officers, within this Province, and requiring +all others, in his Majesty's name, to use their utmost endeavors, that the +said Henry Phillips may be apprehended and brought to justice; and all +persons, whosoever, are commanded, at their utmost peril, not to harbor +nor conceal him. The said Henry Phillips is a fair young man, about the +age of twenty-two years, well set, and well dressed; and has a wound in +one of his hands. Given at Boston, the 4th of July, 1728, in the second +year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord and King, George II." This +proclamation bears the signature of his Excellency, William Dummer. + +The editor of the journal, which contains the proclamation, expresses +himself as follows--"On Thursday last, the 4th current, about 3 in the +morning, after some hour's search, was found dead, near the Powder House, +the body of Mr. Benjamin Woodbridge, a young gentleman, merchant of this +place. He had a small stab, under the right arm; but what proved fatal to +him was a thrust he received, under his right breast, which came out, at +the small of his back. The fore-finger of his left hand was almost cut +off, at the uppermost joint, supposed to be done, by grasping a naked +sword. The coroner's inquest immediately set upon the body; and, after the +best information and evidence they could obtain, upon their oaths say, +that 'the said Benjamin Woodbridge was killed, with a sword, run through +his body, by the hands of Henry Phillips, of Boston, merchant, on the +Common, in said Boston, on the third of this instant, as appears to us, by +sundry evidences.' The body was carried to the house of Mr. Jonathan +Sewall, (his partner,) and, on Saturday last, was decently and handsomely +interred, his funeral being attended, by the Commander-in-Chief, several +of the Council, and most of the merchants and gentlemen of the town. There +are many and various reports respecting this tragic scene, which makes us +cautious of relating any of them. But the above, being plain matters of +fact, we thought it not improper to give the public an account thereof. +The unhappy gentleman, who is supposed to have committed the act, is not +as yet found. This new and almost unknown case has put almost the whole +town into great surprise." + +A sermon, upon this occasion, of uncommon length, was delivered July 18, +1728, by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Sewall, of the Old South, at the Public +Lecture, and published, with a preface, by the "_United Ministers_" of +Boston. To give dignity to this discourse, it is adorned with a Latin +prefix--"_Duellum est damnandum, tam in acceptante quam in provocante; +quamvis major sit culpa provocantis_." This discourse is singularly barren +of all allusion to the cause and circumstances of this event; and appears, +like our almanacs, adapted to any meridian. + +At his Majesty's Court of Assize and General Gaol Delivery, on the second +Tuesday of August, 1728, the grand jurors, under the Attorney General +Hiller's instructions, found a "_Vera Billa_" against Henry Phillips, for +the murder of Benjamin Woodbridge. Phillips was then far beyond the +influence and effect of the _vera billa_--on the high sea--upon his voyage +of expatriation. For some cause, which I am entirely unable to comprehend, +and can barely conjecture, a sympathy existed, for this young man, +extending far beyond the circle of his personal friends and relatives, and +engaging, on his behalf, the disinterested efforts, not only of several +persons in high official stations, but in holy orders, who cannot be +supposed to have undervalued the crime, of which he was unquestionably +guilty, before God and man. The reader, as we proceed, may possibly be +more successful than I have been, in discovering the occasion of this +extraordinary sympathy. + + + + +No. CXXXIV. + + +That strong sympathy, exhibited for Henry Phillips, by whose sword a +fellow creature had so recently fallen, in a duel, must have sprung, if I +am not greatly mistaken, from a knowledge of facts, connected with the +origin of that duel, and of which the present generation is entirely +ignorant. + +Truth lies not, more proverbially, at the bottom of a well, than, in a +great majority of instances, a woman lurks at the bottom of a duel. If +Phillips, unless sorely provoked, had been the challenger, I cannot think +the gentlemen, who signed the certificate, in his behalf, would have +spoken of him thus:-- + +"These may certify to all whom it may concern, that we, the subscribers, +well knew and esteemed Mr. Henry Phillips of Boston, in New England, to be +a youth of a very affable, courteous, and peaceable behavior and +disposition, and never heard he was addicted to quarrelling, he being +soberly brought up, in the prosecution of his studies, and living chiefly +an academical life; and verily believe him slow to anger, and with +difficulty moved to resentment." + +Among the eighty-eight signers of this certificate, the names of Peter and +Benjamin Faneuil, and of their uncle, Andrew, occur, almost as a matter of +course. They were family connections. Who the others were, appears, by the +Governor's certificate, under the seal of the Province:-- + +"By his Excellency, William Burnet, &c. &c. These may certify whom it may +concern, that John Wentworth Esquire is Lieut. Governor of the Province of +New Hampshire; that William Tailor Esquire was formerly Lieut. Governor of +the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, and is now a member of his +Majesty's Council for said Province; that James Stevens is Surveyor +General of the Customs, for the Northern district, in America; that Thomas +Lechmere Esquire was late Surveyor General of the same; that John Jekyll +Esquire is Collector of the Customs, for the port of Boston; that Thomas +Steele is Justice of the Peace; that William Lambert Esquire is Controller +of the Customs, at Boston; that J. Minzies Esquire was Judge of the Vice +Admiralty; that Messieurs Timothy Cutler, Henry Harris, George Pigot, and +Ebenezer Miller are ministers of the Gospel; and that the other +subscribers to the certificate on the other side, are, some of them +merchants and others gentlemen of the town of Boston." This certificate, +bearing the signature of Gov. Burnet, is dated Oct. 21, 1728. + +Of the origin of this affair, I have discovered nothing. Immediately after +its consummation, Phillips manifested deep distress, at the result. About +midnight, of July 3, 1728, with the assistance of his brother, Gillam, +Peter Faneuil, and several other persons, Henry Phillips was removed to a +place of safety. He was first conducted, by Peter Faneuil, to the house of +Col. Estis Hatch, and there concealed. His brother, Gillam, in the +meanwhile, applied to Captain John Winslow, of "_the Pink, Molly_," for a +boat, to carry Henry, on board the British man of war, then lying between +the Castle and Spectacle Island. Gillam and the Captain repaired to +Hatch's, and had an interview with Peter and Henry, in the yard. It was +then concluded, that Henry should go to Gibbs' Wharf, probably as the most +retired wharf, for embarkation. The reader, who loves to localize--this +word will do--will find this little wharf, on Bonner's plan, of 1722, at +the southeastern margin of Fort Hill, about half way between Whitehorn's +Wharf and South Battery. It lay directly northeast, and not far distant +from the lower end of Gibbs' Lane, now Belmont Street. + +Henry Phillips, with Peter Faneuil, accordingly proceeded, as quietly as +possible, to Gibbs' Wharf. I see them now, stealing through Hatch's back +gate, and looking stealthily behind them, as they take the darker side of +Belcher's Lane. I trust there was no moon, that night. It was very foggy. +The reader will soon be sure, that I am right, in that particular. + +Gillam and Captain Winslow had gone to the Long Wharf, where the Molly's +boat lay; and, as the distance was very considerable to the man-of-war, +they went first to the Pink, Molly--named, doubtless, for the Captain's +lady. There they took on board, four of the Pink's crew. + +How heavily the moments passed that night! That "_fair young man_," as +Governor Dummer calls him, in the _lettres de cachet_--too young, it may +seem, at twenty-two, to commence a pilgrimage, like Cain's--how sublimated +his misery must have been! What sacrifice would he not have made, to break +the dead man's slumber! There he lay; as yet unfound, stark, and stiff, +and with eyes unclosed-- + + "Cut off, ev'n in the blossoms of my sin, + Unhousel'd, unanointed, unanneal'd." + +Bootless sorrow! He had made his bloody bed--and therein must he lie +o'nights, and in no other. There were no hops in that pillow, for his +burning brain. The undying memory of a murdered victim--what an +everlasting agrypnic it must be! + +Time, to this wretched boy, seemed very like eternity, that night--but the +sound of the splashing oar was audible at last--the boat touched the +wharf--for the last time he shook the hand of his friend, Peter Faneuil, +and left the land of his birth, which he was destined never to revisit. + +The boat was turned from the shore, and the rowers gave way. But so +intense was the fog, that night, that they got on shore, at Dorchester +Neck; and, not until long after midnight, reached the Sheerness, man of +war. They were received on board. Captain Conrad and Lieutenant Pritchard +were very naturally disposed to sympathize with "_a fair young man_," in a +predicament, like this--it was all in their line. Gillam, the elder +brother, related the occurrence; and, before day, parted from Henry, whom +he was destined to meet no more. Early, on the following morning, the +events of the preceding night had been whispered, from man to man; for the +pleasure of being among the earliest, to communicate the intelligence of a +bloody murder, was precisely the same, in 1728, as it is, at the present +day. Mrs. Winslow, the lady of the Captain of the Molly, had learned all +the details, doubtless, before the morning watch. The surgeons, who +dressed the wounds of Henry Phillips, for he also was wounded, felt +themselves under no obligation to be silent. The sailors of the Molly, who +had overheard the conversation of several of the party, were under no +injunction of secrecy. Indeed, long before the dawn of the fourth of +July--not then the glorious Fourth--the intelligence had spread, far and +wide; and parties were scouring the Common, in quest of the murdered man. +At an early hour, Governor Dummer's proclamation was in the hands of some +trusty compositor, in the office of Samuel Kneeland, in Queen Street; and +soon the handbills were upon all the town pumps, and chief corners, +according to the usage of those days. + +There is a pleasure, somewhat difficult of analysis, undoubtedly, in +gazing for hours upon the stuffed skin of a beast, that, when in the +flesh, has devoured a respectable citizen. When good Mr. Bowen--not the +professor--kept his museum in the mansion, occupied, before the +Revolution, by the Rev. Dr. Caner, and upon whose site the Savings Bank, +and Historical Society have their apartments, at present, nothing in all +his collection--not even the Salem Beauty--nor Marat and Charlotte +Cordé--interested me so much, as a broken sword, with a label annexed, +certifying, that, during the horrors of St. Domingo, seven and twenty of +the white inhabitants had fallen, beneath that sword, in the hands of a +gigantic negro! How long, one of the fancy will linger--"_patiens pulveris +atque solis_" for the luxury of looking upon nothing more picturesque than +the iron bars of a murderer's cell! + +It had, most naturally, spread abroad, that young Philips was concealed, +on board the man of war. Hundreds may be supposed to have gathered, in +groups, straining their eyes, to get a glimpse of the Sheerness; and the +officer, who, in obedience to the warrant, proceeded, on that foggy +morning, to arrest the offender, found more difficulty, in discovering the +man of war, than was encountered, on the preceding evening, by those, who +had sought for the body of Woodbridge, upon the Common. At length, the fog +fled before the sun--the vista was opened between the Castle and Spectacle +Island--but the Sheerness was no longer there--literally, the places that +had known her, knew her no more. + +Some of our worthy fathers, more curious than the rest, betook themselves, +I dare say, to the cupola of the _old_ townhouse--how few of us are aware, +that the present is the third, that has occupied that spot. There, with +their glasses, they swept the eastern horizon, to find the truant +ship--and enjoyed the same measure of satisfaction, that Mr. Irving +represents the lodger to have enjoyed, who was so solicitous to get a +glimpse of the "Stout Gentleman." + +Over the waters she went, heavily laden, with as much misery, as could be +pent up, in the bosom of a single individual. + +He was stricken with that malady, which knows no remedy from man--a mind +diseased. In one brief hour, he had disfranchised himself for ever, and +become a miserable exile. + +Among the officers of the Sheerness, he must have been accounted a young +lion. His _gallantry_, in the estimation of the gentlemen of the wardroom, +must have furnished a ready passport to their hearts--_he had killed his +man_!--with the _civilized_, not less than with the _savage_, this is the +proudest mark of excellence! How little must he have relished the +approbation of the thoughtless, for an act, which had made him the +wretched young man, that he was! How paltry the compensation for the +anguish he had inflicted upon others--the mourning relatives of him, whom +he had, that night, destroyed--his own connections--_his mother_--he was +too young, at twenty-two, to be insensible to the sufferings of that +mother! God knows, she had not forgotten her poor, misguided boy; as we +shall presently see she crossed the ocean, to hold the aching head, and +bind up the broken heart of her expatriated son--and arrived, only in +season, to weep upon his grave, while it was yet green. + + + + +No. CXXXV. + + +It is known, that _old_ Chief Justice Sewall, who died Jan. 1, 1730, kept +a diary, which is in the possession of the Rev. Samuel Sewall, of +Burlington, Mass., the son of the _late_ Chief Justice Sewall. As the +death of the _old_ Chief Justice occurred, about eighteen months after the +time, when the duel was fought, between Phillips and Woodbridge, it +occurred to me, that some allusion to it, might be found, in the diary. + +The Rev. Samuel Sewall has, very kindly, informed me, that the diary of +the Chief Justice does not refer to the duel; but that the event was +noticed by him, in his interleaved almanac, and by the Rev. Joseph Sewall, +who preached the occasional sermon, to which I have referred--in _his_ +diary: and the Rev. Mr. Sewall, of Burlington, has obligingly furnished me +with such extracts, as seem to have a bearing on the subject, and with +some suggestions, in relation to the parties. + +On the 4th of July, 1728, Judge Sewall, in his interleaved almanac, +writes thus--"_Poor Mr. Benjam. Woodbridge is found dead in the Comon this +morning, below the Powder-house, with a Sword-thrust through him, and his +own Sword undrawn. Henry Phillips is suspected. The town is amazed!_" This +wears the aspect of what is commonly called foul play; and the impression +might exist, that Phillips had run his antagonist through, _before he had +drawn his sword_. + +It is quite likely, that Judge Sewall himself had that impression, when he +made his entry, on the fourth of July: the reader will observe, he does +not say _sheathed_ but _undrawn_. If there existed no evidence to rebut +this presumption, it would seem, not that there had been murder, in a +duel, but a case of the _most atrocious_ murder; for nothing would be more +unlikely to happen, than that a man, after having received his death +wound, in this manner, should have sheathed his own sword. The wound was +under the right pap; he was run through; the sword had come out, at the +small of his back. How strongly, in this case, the presumptive evidence +would bear against Phillips, not that he killed Woodbridge, for of this +there is no doubt; but that he killed him, before he had drawn his own +sword. + +When the reader shall have read the authenticated testimony, which now +lies before me, he will see, not only that the swords of both were +drawn--but that both were wounded--that, after Woodbridge was wounded, he +either dropped his sword, or was disarmed--and, that, when he had become +helpless, and had walked some little distance from the spot, Phillips +picked up the sword of his antagonist, and returned it to the scabbard. +The proof of this, by an eye-witness, is clear, direct, and conclusive. + +The next extract, in order of time, is from the diary of the Rev. Joseph +Sewall, under date July, 1728--_"N. B. On ye 4th (wch was kept, as a Day +of Prayr upon ye account of ye Drought) we were surpris'd wth ye sad +Tidings yt Mr. Henry Phillips and Mr Woodbridge fought a duel in wch ye +latter was slain. O Ld Preserve ye Tow. and Land from the guilt of +Blood".----"In ye Eveng. I visited Mrs. Ph. O Ld Sanctify thine awful +judgt to her. Give her Son a thorow Rcpentce."_ + +These extracts are of interest, not simply because they are historical, +but as illustrative of the times. + +"_1728, July 18. I preached ye Lecture from yese words, Ps. 119, 115, +Depart from me ye evil Doers, &c. Endeavd to shew ye evill and danger of +wicked Company.--Condemned Duelling as a bloody crime, &c. O Lord, Bless +my poor labours._" + +"_1728-9, January 22. Mr. Thacher, Mr. Prince, and I met at Mrs. +Phillips, and Pray'd for her son. I hope G. graciously assisted. Ld Pardon +the hainous Sins of yt young man, convert and Heal his soul._" + +Writing to a London correspondent, June 2, 1729, Chief Justice Sewall +says--"_Richard put the Letter on board Capt. Thomas Lithered, who saild +this day; in who went Madam Hannah Phillips_." In his interleaved almanac +is the following entry--"_1729, Sept. 27, Saturday Madam Phillips arrives; +mane_." The explanation of these two last entries is at hand. Jean Faneuil +of Rochelle had, doubtless, written, either to his brother André, in +Boston, or to his nephew, by marriage, Gillam Phillips, giving an account +of the wanderer, Gillam's brother. At length, the tidings came hither, +that he was sick; and, probably, in May, 1729, intelligence arrived, that +he was _dangerously ill_. The mother's heart was stirred within her. By +the first vessel she embarked for London, on her way to Rochelle. The eyes +of that unhappy young man were not destined to behold again the face of +her, whose daylight he had turned into darkness, and whose heart he had +broken. + +He died about the twentieth of May, 1729, as I infer from the documents +before me. The first of these is the account, rendered by Jean Faneuil, to +Gillam Phillips, in Jean's own hand--"_Deboursement fait par Jean faneuil +pour feu Monsieur heny Phillipe de Boston_," &c. He charges in this +account, for amount paid the physician, "_pendant sa maladie_." The +doctor's bill is sent as a voucher, and is also before me. Dr. "_Girard De +Villars, Aggregé au College Royal des Medicins de la Rochelle_" +acknowledges to have received payment in full _pour l'honoraire des +consultes de mes confreres et moy a Monsieur Henry Phillipe Anglois_, from +the fourth of April, to the twentieth of May. + +The apothecary's bill of Monsieur Guinot, covering three folio pages, is +an interesting document, for something of the nature of the malady may be +inferred, from the _materia medica_ employed--_potion anodine_--_baume +tranquille sant_--_cordial somnifere_. How effectually the visions, the +graphic recollections of this miserable young man must have _murdered +sleep_! + +The Rev. Mr. Sewall of Burlington suggests, that Mr. Benjamin Woodbridge, +who fell in this duel, was, very probably, the grandson of the Rev. John +Woodbridge of Andover, and he adds, that his partner, Jonathan Sewall, to +whose house the body was conveyed, was a nephew of the _old_ Chief +Justice, and, in 1717, was in business with an elder brother, Major Samuel +Sewall, with whom he resided. In 1726, Major Sewall "lived in a house, +once occupied by Madam Usher, near the Common;" whither the body of +Woodbridge might have been conveyed, without much trouble. + +The General Court, which assembled, on the 28th of that month, in which +this encounter took place, enacted a more stringent law, than had existed +before, on the subject of duelling. + +I shall now present the testimony, as it lies before me, certified by +Elisha Cook, J. P., before whom the examination was had, on the morning +after the duel:-- + +"Suffolk, ss. Memorandum. Boston, July 4, 1728. Messrs. Robert Handy, +George Stewart and others being convented on examination, concerning the +murther of Benja. Woodbridge last night, Mr. Handy examined saith--that +sometime before night Mr. Benja. Woodbridge come to me at the White +horse[3] and desired me to lett him (have) his own sword. I asked ye +reason: he replied he had business called him into the Country. I was +jealous he made an excuse. I urged him to tell me plainly what occasion he +had for a sword, fearing it was to meet with Mr. Henry Phillips, who had +lately fell out. He still persisted in his first story, upon which I gave +him his sword and belt,[4] and then he left the Compy, Mr. Thomas Barton +being in Company, I immediately followed, and went into the Common, found +said Woodbridge walking the Common by the Powder house, his sword by his +side. I saw no person save him. I againe urged the occasion of his being +there. He denied informing. In some short time, I saw Mr. Henry Phillips +walking towards us, with his Sword by his side and Cloke on. Before he +came nere us I told them I feared there was a Quarrel and what would be +the events. They both denied it. + +"Mr. Phillips replied again Mr. Woodbridge and he had some particular +business that concerned them two onley and desired I would go about my +business. I still persuaded them to let me know their design, and if any +quarrel they would make it up. Mr. Phillips used me in such a manner with +slites (slights) that I went of and left them by the powder house, this +was about eight in the evening. I went up the Common. They walked down. +After some short space I returned, being justly fearful of their designe, +in order to prevent their fiteing with Swords. I mett with them about the +Powder House. I first saw Mr. Woodbridge making up to me, holding his left +hand below his right breast. I discovered blood upon his coat, asked the +meaning of it. He told me Mr. Phillips had wounded him. Having no Sword I +enquired where it was. He said Mr. Phillips had it. Mr. Phillips +immediately came up, with Woodbridge's sword in his hand naked, his own by +his side. I told them I was surprized they should quarrel to this degree. +I told Mr. Phillips he had wounded Mr. Woodbridge. He replied yes so he +had and Mr. Woodbridge had also wounded me, but in the fleshy part onley, +shewing me his cut fingers. Mr. Phillips took Mr. Woodbridge's scabbard, +sheathed the Sword, and either laid it down by him, or gave it to him. + +"Mr. Woodbridge beginning to faint satt down, and begged that surgeons +might be sent for. I immediately went away, leaving these two together. +Phillips presently followed, told me for God's sake to go back to +Woodbridge, and take care of him, till he returned with a surgeon. I +prayed him to hasten, but did not care to returne. Mr. Phillips went away +as fast as he could and went down the lane by the Pound.[5] I returned to +the White Horse. I found Mr. Barton and Geoe Reason together. I told Mr. +Barton Phillips and Woodbridge having quarreled, Woodbridge was much +wounded. I asked Barton to go and see how it was it with Woodbridge. We +went a little way from the house, with a designe to go, but Barton, +hearing Phillips was gone for a Chirurgeon, concluded Phillips would +procure a Chirurgeon, and so declined going, and went to Mr. Blin's house +where we ware invited to supper. I have not seen Mr. Hy Phillips or +(heard) any from him, since I left him going for a Chirurgeon." + +Such is the testimony of Robert Handy; and the reader will agree with me, +that, if he and Barton had been choked with their supper at Mr. Blin's, it +would have been a "Providence." It would be difficult to find the record +of more cruel neglect, towards a dying man. When urged to go back and +sustain Woodbridge, till a surgeon could be procured, he "_did not care to +returne_." And Barton preferred going to his supper. The principle, which +governed these fellows, was a grossly selfish and cowardly fear of +personal implication. Upon an occasion of minor importance, a similar +principle actuated a couple of Yorkshire lads, who refused to assist, in +righting the carriage of a member of parliament, which had been +overturned, because their father had cautioned them never to meddle with +state affairs. + +I shall present the remaining testimony, in the following number. + + + + +No. CXXXVI. + + +Let us proceed with the examination, before Justice Elisha Cook, on the +fourth of July, 1728. + +"John Cutler, of Boston, Chirurgeon, examined upon oath, saith, that, last +evening, about seven, Dr. George Pemberton came to me, at Mrs. Mears's, +and informed, that an unhappy quarrel hapned betwene Mr. Henry Phillips +and Benja. Woodbridge, and it was to be feared Mr. Woodbridge was +desperately wounded. We went out. We soon mett Mr. Henry Phillips, who +told us he feared he had killed Mr. Woodbridge, or mortally wounded him; +that he left him at the bottom of the Common, and begged us to repaire +there and see if any relief might be given him. Doct. Pemberton and I +went, in compy with Mr. Henry Phillips, in search of said Woodbridge, but +could not find him, nor make any discovery of the affair. Mr. Phillips +left us. I bid him walk in Bromfield's lane. We went to Mr. Woodbridge's +lodgings, and severall other houses, but heard nothing of him. Upon our +return Mr. H. Phillips was at my house. I dresed his wound, which was +across his belly and his fingers. Mr. Phillips shew a great concern and +fear of having killed Mr. Woodbridge. I endeavored to appease him, and +hope better things; but he said, could he think he was alive, he should +think himself a happy man." + +"Doct. George Pemberton, sworn, saith that last evening about seven or +eight o'clock Mr. Henry Phillips came to the Sun Tavern and informed me, +first desiring me to go out wch I did and went to my house, where said +Phillips shew me some wounds, and that he had wounded Mr. Benjamin +Woodbridge, and feared they would prove mortal--begged of me to repair to +the Comon. Accompanied with Dr. Cutler and said Phillips, in quest of said +Woodbridge, we went to the Powder house, and searched the ground there, +but could make no discovery. Mr. Phillips then left us, and walked towards +Mr. Bromfield's lane. Dr. Cutler and I went to Mr. Woodbridge's lodging, +and several other places, but could hear nothing of him. We returned and +found Henry Phillips, at Dr. Cutler's, who was very greatly concerned; +fearing he had killed Mr. Woodbridge. We dressed Mr. Phillips' wounds +which were small." + +"Capt. John Winslow examined saith that last night being at Mr. Doring's +house, Mr. Gillam Phillips, about eleven in the evening, came to me and +told me he wanted my boat to carry off his brother Henry, who had wounded +or killed a man. I went, by appointment, to Mr. Vardy's where I soon mett +Gillam Phillips. I asked him where his brother was--who he had been +fiteing with. He made answer I should see him presently. Went down to +Colo. Estis Hatche's where Mr. Gillam Phillips was to meet me. I gott +there first, knocked at Mr. Hatche's door. No answer. From Mr. Hatche's +house Mr. Peter Faneuil and Henry Phillips came into Mr. Hatche's +yard--Mr. Gillam Phillips immediately after with Mr. Adam Tuck. I heard no +discourse about the man who was wounded. They concluded, and sent Mr. +Henry Phillips to Gibb's wharf. Then Gillam Phillips with me to the long +wharf. I took boat there, and went on board my ship, lying in the harbor. +Mr. Phillips (Gillam) being in the bote, I took four of the Ship's crew, +and rowed to Gibb's Wharf, where we mett with Mr. Henry Phillips, Peter +Faneuil, and Adam Tuck. I came on shore. Henry Phillips and Tuck entred +the boat. I understood by discourse with Gillam Phillips, they designed on +board his Majestys Ship-Sheerness, Captain James Conrad Comdr. This was +about twelve and one of the Clock." + +"Adam Tuck of Boston farier, examined upon oath saith, that, about eleven +of the clock, last evening, being at Luke Vardy's I understood there had +bin a quarril betwene Henry Phillips and Benja. Woodbridge, and that +Phillips had killed or mortally wounded Woodbridge. Gillam Phillips Esq. +being there, I walked with him towards Colo. Hatches, where we came up +with Capt. Jno. Winslow, and Henry Phillips, and Peter Faneuil. We all +went to Gibb's wharf, when we, that is Mr. Gillam and Henry Phillips, with +the examinant went on board Capt. John Winslow's boat. We designed, as I +understood, to go on board his Majesie's ship Sheerness, in order to leave +Mr. Henry Phillips on board the man of War, who, as he told me, had, he +feared, wounded a man, that evening on the Comon, near the water side. The +person's name I understood was Woodbridge. Soon after our being on board +Lt. Pritchard caried us into his apartment, where Gillam Phillips related +to the Leut. the rancounter that hapned betwene his brother Henry and +Benja. Woodbridge. I took the intent of their going on board the man of +War was to conceale Mr. Henry Phillips. We stayed on board about an hour +and a half. We left Mr. Henry Phillips on board the Man of War and came up +to Boston." + +"John Underwood, at present residing in Boston, mariner, belonging to the +Pink Molle, John Winslow Comdr. now lying in the harbour of Boston, being +examined upon oath, concerning the death or murther of Mr. Benjamin +Woodbridge, saith, that about twelve o'clock last night, his Captn John +Winslow, with another person, unknown to him came on board. The Captn +ordered the boat with four of our hands, I being one, to go to a Wharf at +the South end of the Town, where we went, and there the Capt. went on +Shore, and two other persons came into the Boat without the Captn. We put +of and by the discourse we were designed to go on board the Man of Whar, +but by reason of the fogg or thick weather we gott on shore at Dorchester +neck, went up to a house and stayed there about an hour and half, then +returned to our boat, took in the three persons affore-named, as I +suppose, with our crew, and went on board the Man of War, now lying +betwene the Castle & Specta Island. We all went on board with the men we +took in at the Wharf, stayed there for the space of an hour, and then came +up to Boston, leaving one of the three onley on board, and landed by +Oliver's Dock." + +"Wm. Pavice of Boston, one of the Pink Molly's crew, examined upon oath, +saith as above declared by John Underwood." + +"James Wood and John Brown, mariners, belonging to the Pink Molly, being +examined upon oath, declare as above. John Brown cannot say, or knows not +how many persons they took from the shore, at Gibb's wharf, but is +positive but two returned to Boston. They both say they cant be sure +whether the Capt. went in the boat from the ship to the shoar." + +"Mr. Peter Faneuil examined saith, that, last evening, about twelve, he +was with Gillam Phillips, Henry Phillips and Adam Tuck at Gibb's wharf, +and understood by Gillam Phillips, that his brother Henry had killed or +mortally wounded Mr. Benja. Woodbridge this evening, that Henry Phillips +went into Capt'n Winslow's boat, with his brother and Adam Tuck with the +Boat's crew, where they went he knows not." + +Such was the evidence, presented before the examining justice, on the +fourth of July, 1728, in relation to this painful, and extraordinary +occurrence. + +I believe I have well nigh completed my operation, upon Peter Faneuil: but +before I throw aside my professional apron, let me cast about, and see, if +there are no small arteries which I have not taken up. I perceive there +are. + +The late Rev. Dr. Gray, of Jamaica Plains, on page 8 of his half century +sermon, published in 1842, has the following passage--"_The third or +Jamaica Plain Parish, in Roxbury, had its origin in the piety of an +amiable female. I refer to Mrs. Susanna, wife of Benjamin Pemberton. She +was the daughter of Peter Faneuil, who, in 1740 erected and gave to the +Town of Boston the far-famed Hall, which still bears his name; and who +built also the dwelling house, now standing here, recently known, as late +Dr. John Warren's Country seat._" + +Nothing could have been farther from the meaning of the amiable Mr. Gray, +than a design to cast a reproach, upon the unimpeachable pedigree of this +excellent lady. But Peter Faneuil was, unfortunately, never married. He +was a bachelor; and is styled "_Bachelour_," in the commission, from John, +Archbishop of Canterbury, to Judge Willard, to administer the oath to +Benjamin Faneuil, as administrator, on Peter's estate. Peter's estate was +divided, among his brother, Benjamin, and his four sisters, Anne +Davenport, Susanna Boutineau, Mary Phillips, and Mary Ann Jones. This fact +is established, by the original indenture of marriage settlement, now +before me, between John Jones and Mary Ann Faneuil, dated the very month +of Peter's decease. He had no daughter to inherit. Mrs. Susanna Pemberton +had not a drop of the Faneuil blood, in her veins. Her nearest +approximation consisted in the fact, that George Bethune, her own brother, +married, as I have already stated, Mary Faneuil, Peter's niece, and the +daughter of Benjamin. Benjamin occupied that cottage, before he removed to +Brighton. He had also a town residence, in rear of the Old Brick +Meeting-house, which stood where Joy's buildings now stand. + +Thomas Kilby was the commercial agent of Peter Faneuil, at Canso, Nova +Scotia, in 1737, 8 and 9. He was a gentleman of education; graduated at +Harvard, in 1723, and died in 1740, and according to Pemberton, published +essays, in prose and verse. Not long ago, a gentleman inquired of me, if I +had ever heard, that Peter Faneuil had a wooden leg; and related the +following amusing story, which he received from his collateral ancestor, +John Page, who graduated at Harvard, in 1765, and died in 1825, aged 81. + +Thomas Kilby was an unthrifty, and rather whimsical, gentleman. Being +without property and employment, he retired, either into Maine, or Nova +Scotia. There he made a will, for his amusement, having, in reality, +nothing to bequeath. He left liberal sums to a number of religious, +philanthropic, and literary institutions--his eyes, which were very good, +to a blind relative--his body to a surgeon of his acquaintance, "excepting +as hereinafter excepted"--his sins he bequeathed to a worthy clergyman, as +he appeared not to have any--and the choice of his legs to Peter Faneuil. + +Upon inquiry of the oldest surviving relative of Peter, I found, that +nothing was known of the wooden leg. + +A day or two after, a highly respectable and aged citizen, attracted by +the articles, in the Transcript, informed me, that his father, born in +1727, told him, that he had seen Peter Faneuil, in his garden, and that, +on one foot, he wore a very high-heeled shoe. This, probably, gave +occasion to the considerate bequest of Thomas Kilby. + +The will, as my informant states, upon the authority of Mr. John Page, +coming to the knowledge of Peter, he was so much pleased with the humor of +it, that, probably, having a knowledge of the _testator_ before, he sent +for him, and made him his agent, at Canso. + +Peter was a kind-hearted man. The gentleman who gave me the fact, +concerning the high-heeled shoe, informed me, upon his father's authority, +that old Andrew Faneuil--the same, who, in his will, prays God, for "_the +perfecting of his charities_"--put a poor, old, schoolmaster, named +Walker, into jail, for debt. Imprisonment then, for debt, was a serious +and lingering affair. Peter, in the flesh--not his angel--privately paid +the poor man's debt, and set the prisoner free. + + + + +No. CXXXVII. + + +Those words of Horace were the words of soberness and truth--_Oh +imitatores, vulgum pecus!_--I loathe imitators and imitations of all +sorts. How cheap must that man feel, who awakens _hesterno vitio_, from +yesterday's debauch, on _imitation_ gin or brandy! Let no reader of the +Transcript suppose, that I am so far behind the times, as to question the +respectability of being drunk, on the real, original Scheidam or Cogniac, +whether at funerals, weddings, or ordinations. But I consider _imitation_ +gin or brandy, at a funeral, a point blank insult to the corpse. + +Everybody knows, that old oaks, old friendships, and old mocha must +grow--they cannot be made. My horse is frightened, nearly out of his +harness, almost every day of his life, by the hissing and jetting of the +steam, and the clatter of the machinery, as I pass a manufactory, or +grindery, of _imitation_ coffee. _Imitation_ coffee! What would my old +friend, Melli Melli, the Tunisian ambassador, with whom--long, long ago--I +have taken a cup of his own particular, once and again, at Chapotin's +Hotel, in Summer Street, say to such a thing as this! + +This grindery is located, in an Irish neighborhood, and there used to be a +great number of Irish children thereabouts. The number has greatly +diminished of late. I know not why, but, as I passed, the other day, the +story that Dickens tells of the poor sausage-maker, whose broken buttons, +among the sausage meat, revealed his unlucky destiny, came forcibly to +mind. By the smell, I presume, there is a roastery, connected with the +establishment; and, now I think of it, the atmosphere, round about, is +filled with the odor of roast pig--a little overdone. + +Good things, of all sorts, have stimulated the imitative powers of man, +from the diamond to the nutmeg. Even death--and death is a good thing to +him, whose armor of righteousness is on, _cap-a-pie_--death has been +occasionally imitated; and really, now and then, the thing has been very +cleverly done. I refer not to cases of catalepsy or trance, nor to cases +of total suspension of sensibility and voluntary motion, for a time, under +the agency of sulphuric ether, or chloroform. + +In 1843, at the request of her Majesty's principal Secretary of State, for +the Home Department, Mr. Edwin Chadwick, Barrister at Law, made "_a report +on the results of a special inquiry into the practice of interment in +towns_." This report is very severe upon our fraternity; but, I must +confess, it is a most able and interesting performance, and full of +curious detail. The demands of the English undertaker, it appears, are so +oppressive upon the poor, that burial societies have been formed, upon the +mutual principle. It is asserted by Mr. Chadwick, that parents, under the +gripings of poverty, have actually poisoned their children, to obtain the +burial money. At the Chester assizes, several trials, for infanticide, +have occurred, on these grounds. "_That child will not live, it is in the +burial club_," is a cant and common phrase, among the Manchester paupers. + +Some very clever impositions, have been practised, to obtain the burial +allowance. A man, living in Manchester, resolved to play corpse, for this +laudable object. His wife was privy to the plot, of course,--and gave +notice, in proper form, of her bereavement. The agent of the society made +the customary domiciliary visit. There the body lay--stiff and stark--and +a very straight and proper corpse it was--the jaw decently tied up. The +visitor, well convinced, and quite touched by the widow's anguish, was +turning on his heel to depart, when a slight motion of the dead man's +eyelid arrested his attention: he began to smell--not of the body, like +the bear in Æsop--but a rat. Upon feeling the pulse, he begged the chief +mourner to be comforted; there was strong ground for hope! More obstinate +than Rachel, she not only would not be comforted, but abused the visitor, +in good Gaelic, for questioning her veracity. Had she not laid out the +daar man, her own daar Tooly Mashee, with her own hands! and didn't she +know better than to be after laying him out, while the brith was in his +daar buddy! and would she be guilty of so cruel a thing to her own good +man! The doctor was called; and, after feeling the pulse, threw a bucket +of water, in the face of the defunct, which resulted in immediate +resurrection. + +The most extraordinary case of imitation death on record, and which, under +the acknowledged rules of evidence, it is quite impossible to disbelieve, +is that of the East India Fakeer, who was buried alive at Lahore, in 1837, +and at the end of forty days, disinterred, and resuscitated. This tale is, +_prima facie_, highly improbable: let us examine the evidence. It is +introduced, in the last English edition of Sharon Turner's Sacred History +of the World, vol. iii., in a note upon Letter 25. The witness is Sir +Claude M. Wade, who, at the time of the Fakeer's burial, and disinterment, +was political resident, at Loodianah, and principal agent of the English +government, at the court of Runjeet Singh. The character of this witness +is entirely above suspicion; and the reader will observe, in his +testimony, anything but the marks and numbers of a credulous witness, or a +dealer in the marvellous. Mr. Wade addressed a letter to the editor of +Turner's History, from which the following extracts are made:-- + +"I was present, at the court of Runjeet Singh, at Lahore, in 1837, when +the Fakeer, mentioned by the Hon. Capt. Osborne, was buried alive, for six +weeks; and, though I arrived, a few hours after his interment, I had the +testimony of Runjeet Singh, himself, and others, the most credible +witnesses of his court, to the truth of the Fakeer having been so buried +before them; and from having been present myself, when he was disinterred, +and restored to a state of perfect vitality, in a position so close to +him, as to render any deception impossible, it is my firm belief that +there was no collusion, in producing the extraordinary fact, that I have +related." + +Mr. Wade proceeds to give an account of the disinterment. "On the approach +of the appointed time, according to invitation, I accompanied Runjeet +Singh to the spot, where the Fakeer had been buried. It was a square +building, called, in the language of the country, _Barra Durree_, in the +midst of one of the gardens, adjoining the palace at Lahore, with an open +verandah all around, having an enclosed room in the centre. On arriving +there, Runjeet Singh, who was attended on the occasion, by the whole of +his court, dismounting from his elephant, asked me to join him, in +examining the building, to satisfy himself that it was closed, as he had +left it. We did so. There had been an open door, on each of the four sides +of the room, three of which were perfectly closed with brick and mortar. +The fourth had a strong door, also closed with mud, up to the padlock, +which was sealed with the private seal of Runjeet Singh, in his own +presence, when the Fakeer was interred. In fact, the exterior of the +building presented no aperture whatever, by which air could be admitted, +nor any communication held, by which food could possibly be conveyed to +the Fakeer; and I may also add, that the walls, closing the doorways, bore +no marks of having been recently disturbed or removed." + +"Runjeet Singh recognized the impression of the seal, as the one, which he +had affixed: and, as he was as skeptical, as any European could be, of the +successful result of such an enterprise, to guard, as far as possible, +against any collusion, he had placed two companies, from his own personal +escort, near the building, from which four sentries were furnished, and +relieved, every two hours, night and day, to guard the building from +intrusion. At the same time, he ordered one of the principal officers of +his court to visit the place occasionally, and report the result of his +inspection to him; while he himself, or his minister, kept the seal which +closed the hole of the padlock, and the latter received the reports of the +officers on guard, morning and evening." + +"After our examination, and we had seated ourselves in the verandah, +opposite the door, some of Runjeet's people dug away the mud wall, and one +of his officers broke the seal, and opened the padlock." + +"On the door being thrown open, nothing but a dark room was to be seen. +Runjeet Singh and myself then entered it, in company with the servant of +the Fakeer. A light was brought, and we descended about three feet below +the floor of the room, into a sort of cell, in which a wooden box, about +four feet long, by three broad, with a square sloping roof, containing the +Fakeer, was placed upright, the door of which had also a padlock and seal, +similar to that on the outside. On opening it, we saw"-- + +But I am reminded, by observing the point I have reached, upon my sheet of +paper, that it is time to pause. There are others, who have something to +say to the public, of more importance, about rum, sugar and molasses, +turtle soup and patent medicine, children, that are lost, and puppies, +that are found. + + + + +No. CXXXVIII. + + +Sir Claude M. Wade, the reader may remember, was proceeding thus--"On +opening it," (the box containing the Fakeer) "we saw a figure, enclosed in +a bag of white linen, drawn together, and fastened by a string over the +head; on the exposure of which a grand salute was fired, and the +surrounding multitude came crowding to the door to see the spectacle. +After they had gratified their curiosity, the Fakeer's servant, putting +his arms into the box, took the figure of his master out; and, closing the +door, placed it, with his back against the door, exactly as he had been +squatted, like a Hindoo idol, in the box itself. Runjeet Singh and I then +descended into the cell, which was so small, that we were only able to sit +on the ground in front, and so close to the body, as to touch it with our +hands and knees. The servant then began pouring warm water over the +figure, but, as my object was to watch if any fraudulent practice could be +detected, I proposed to Runjeet Singh, to tear open the bag, and have a +perfect view of the body, before any means of resuscitation were +attempted. I accordingly did so; and may here remark, that the bag, when +first seen by us, looked mildewed, as if it had been buried for some time. +The legs and arms of the body were shrivelled and stiff, the face full, as +in life, and the head reclining on the shoulder, like that of a corpse." + +"I then called to the medical gentleman, who was attending me, to come +down and inspect the body, which he did, but could discover no pulsation, +in the heart, temples or the arms. There was however, a heat, about the +region of the brain, which no other part of the body exhibited. The +servant then commenced bathing him with hot water, and gradually relaxing +his arms and legs from the rigid state, in which they were contracted; +Runjeet Singh taking his right and left leg, to aid by friction in +restoring them to their proper action, during which time the servant +placed a hot wheaten cake, about an inch thick, on the top of the head--a +process, which he twice or thrice repeated. He then took out of his +nostrils and ears the wax and cotton plugs, with which they were stopped, +and after great exertion, opened his mouth, by inserting the point of a +knife between the teeth, and while holding his jaws open, with his left +hand, drew the tongue forward, with the forefinger of the right, in the +course of which the tongue flew back, several times, to its curved +position upwards, that in which it had originally been placed, so as to +close the gullet. He then rubbed his eyelids with ghee (clarified butter) +for some time, till he succeeded in opening them, when the eye appeared +quite motionless and glazed. After the cake had been applied for the third +time, to the top of the head, the body was convulsively heaved, the +nostrils became violently inflated, respiration ensued, and the limbs +began to assume a natural fulness. The servant then put some ghee on his +tongue, and made him swallow it. A few minutes afterwards, the eyeballs +became slowly dilated, recovered their natural color, and the Fakeer, +recognizing Runjeet Singh, sitting close by him, articulated, in a low +sepulchral tone, scarcely audible--'_Do you believe me now?_'" + +"Runjeet Singh replied in the affirmative; and then began investing the +Fakeer with a pearl necklace, a superb pair of gold bracelets, shawls, and +pieces of silk and muslin, forming what is called a _khilet_, such as is +usually conferred, by the princes of India, on persons of distinction. +From the time of the box being opened to the recovery of the voice, not +more than half an hour could have elapsed; and, in another half an hour, +the Fakeer talked with himself and those about him freely, though feebly, +like a sick person, and we then left him, convinced that there had been no +fraud or collusion, in the exhibition, which we had witnessed." + +The Hon. Captain Osborne, who was attached to the mission of Sir William +Macnaughten, in the following year, 1838, sought to persuade the Fakeer to +repeat the experiment, and to suffer the keys of the vault to remain in +Captain Osborne's custody. At this the Fakeer became alarmed, though he +afterwards consented, and, at the request of Runjeet Singh, he came to +Lahore for the purpose; but, as he expressed a strong apprehension, that +Captain Osborne intended to destroy him, and as Sir William Macnaughten +and his suite were about to depart, the matter was given up. This is +related by Captain Osborne, in his "Court and Camp of Runjeet Singh." + +After avowing his entire belief in all the facts, set forth in the +previous narrative, Sir Claude M. Wade remarks--"I took some pains to +inquire into the mode, by which such a result was effected; and was +informed, that it rested on a doctrine of the Hindoo physiologists, that +heat constitutes the self existent principle of life; and, that, if the +functions are so far destroyed, as to leave that one, in perfect purity, +life could be sustained for considerable lengths of time, independently of +air, food, or any other means of sustenance. To produce such a state, the +patients are obliged to go through a severe preparation. How far such +means are calculated to produce such effects physiologists will be better +able to judge than I can pretend to do. I only state what I saw, and +heard, and think." + +This narrative certainly belongs to the very first part of the very first +book of very wonderful things. But this marvellous book is no longer a +closed volume. Millions of ingenious fingers have, for fifty years, been +busily employed, in breaking its mysterious seals, one after another. +Demonstration has trampled upon doubt, and the world is rapidly coming to +my shrewd old grandmother's conclusion, that nothing is so truly +wonderful, as that we wonder at all. There is nothing more difficult, than +to exonerate the mind from the weight of its present consciousness, and to +wonder by rule. We readily lose the recollection of our doubt and +derision, upon former occasions, when matters, apparently quite as absurd +and impossible, are presented for contemplation, _de novo_. + +If putrefaction can be kept off, mere animal life, the vital principle, +may be preserved, for a prodigious length of time, in the lower ranks of +animal creation, while in a state of torpidity. Dr. Gillies relates, that +he bottled up some _cerastes_, a species of small snakes, and kept them +corked tight, with nothing in the bottle, but a little sand, for several +years; and, when the bottle was uncorked, they came forth, revived by the +air, and immediately acquired their original activity. + +More than fifty years ago, having read Dr. Franklin's account of the +flies, which he discovered, drowned, in a bottle of old wine, and which he +restored to life, by exposure to the sun's rays; I bottled up a dozen +flies, in a small phial of Madeira--took them out, at the expiration of a +month--and placed them under a glass tumbler, in a sunny window. Within +half an hour, nine revived; got up; walked about, wiped their faces with +their fore legs; trimmed their wings, with their hinder ones; and began to +knock their heads, against the tumbler, to escape. After waiting a couple +of hours, to give the remaining three a fair chance, but to no purpose, +and expecting nothing from the humane society, for what I had already +accomplished, I returned the nine to their wine bath, in the phial. After +rather more than three months, I repeated the experiment of resuscitation. +After several hours, two gave evidence of revival, got upon their legs, +reeled against each other, and showed some symptoms of _mania a potu_. At +length they were fairly on their trotters. I lifted the tumbler; they took +the hint, and flew to the window glass. It was fly time. I watched one of +those, who had profited by the revival--he got four or five flies about +him, who really seemed to be listening to the account of his experience. + +"Ants, bees, and wasps," says Sharon Turner, in his Sacred History, vol. +i. ch. 17, "especially the smallest of these, the ants, do things, and +exercise sensibilities, and combine for purposes, and achieve ends, that +bring them nearer to mankind, than any other class of animated nature." +Aye, I know, myself, some of our fellow-citizens, who make quite a stir, +in their little circles, petty politicians, who extort responses from +great men, and show them, _in confidence_, to all they meet--overgrown +boys, in bands and cassocks, who, for mere exercise, edit religious +newspapers, and scribble _treason_, under the name of _ethics_--who, in +respect to all the qualities, enumerated by Sharon Turner, are decidedly +inferior to pismires. + +The hybernation of various animals furnishes analogous examples of the +matter, under consideration. A suspension of faculties and functions, for +a considerable time, followed by a periodical restoration of their use, +forms a part of the natural history of certain animals. + +Those forty days--that wonderful quarantine of the Fakeer, in the tomb, +and his subsequent restoration, are marvels. I have presented the facts, +upon the evidence of Sir Claude M. Wade. Every reader will philosophize, +upon this interesting matter, for himself. If such experiments can be +made, for forty days, it is not easy to comprehend the necessity of such a +limit. If trustees were appointed, and gave bonds to keep the tomb +comfortable, and free from rats, and to knock up a corpse, at the time +appointed, forty years, or an hundred, might answer quite as well. What +visions are thus opened to the mind. An author might go to sleep, and wake +up in the midst of posterity, and find himself an entire stranger. Weary +partners might find a temporary respite, in the grave, and leave +directions, to be called, in season to attend the funeral. The heir +expectant of some tenacious ancestor might thus dispose of the drowsy and +unprofitable interval. The gentleman of _petite fortune_ might suffer it +to accumulate, in the hands of trustees, and wake up, after twenty or +thirty years, a man of affluence. Instead of making up a party for the +pyramids, half a dozen merry fellows might be buried together, with the +pleasant prospect of rising again in 1949. No use whatever being made of +the time thus relinquished, and the powers of life being husbanded in the +interim, years would pass uncounted, of course; and he, who was buried, at +twenty-one, would be just of age when he awoke. I should like, extremely, +to have the opinion of the Fakeer, upon these interesting points. + + + + +No. CXXXIX. + + "And much more honest to be hir'd, and stand + With auctionary hammer in thy hand, + Provoking to give more, and knocking thrice, + For the old household stuff or picture's price." + DRYDEN. + + +Old customs, dead and buried, long ago, do certainly come round again, +like old comets; but, whether in their appointed seasons, or not, I cannot +tell. Whether old usages, and old chairs, and old teapots revolve in their +orbits, or not, I leave to the astronomers. It would be very pleasant to +be able to calculate the return of hoops, cocked hats, and cork rumpers, +buffets, pillions, links, pillories, and sedans. + +I noticed the following paragraph, in the Evening Transcript, not long +ago, and it led me to turn over some heaps of old relics, in my +possession-- + +"A substitute for the everlasting 'going, going, gone,' was introduced at +a recent auction in New York. The auctioneer held up a sand-glass, through +which the sand occupied fourteen seconds in passing. If a person made a +bid, the glass was held up in view of all, and if no person advanced on +the bid before the sand passed through, the sale was made. This idea is a +novel one, though we believe it has long been practised in Europe." + +It was formerly the custom in England, to sell goods, at auction, "by +inch of candle." An inch of candle was lighted, and the company proceeded +to bid, the last crier or bidder, before the candle went out, was declared +the purchaser. Samuel Pepys, who was Secretary of the Admiralty, in the +reigns of the two last Stuarts, repeatedly refers to the practice, in his +Diary. Thus, in Braybrook's edition, of 1848, he says, vol. i. page 151, +under date Nov. 6, 1660--"To our office, where we met all, for the sale of +two ships, by an inch of candle, (the first time that I saw any of this +kind,) where I observed how they do invite one another, and at last how +they all do cry; and we have much to do to tell who did cry last." + +Again, Ibid., vol. ii. page 29, Sept. 3, 1662--"After dinner, we met and +sold the Weymouth, Successe, and Fellowship hulkes, where pleasant to see +how backward men are at first to bid; and yet, when the candle is going +out, how they bawl, and dispute afterwards who bid the most first. And +here I observed one man cunninger than the rest, that was sure to bid the +last man, and carry it; and, inquiring the reason, he told me, that, just +as the flame goes out, the smoke descends, which is a thing I never +observed before, and, by that he do know the instant when to bid last." +Again, Ibid., vol. iv. page 4, Ap. 3, 1667, he refers to certain prize +goods, "bought lately at the candle." + +Haydn says this species of auction, by inch of candle is derived from a +practice, in the Roman Catholic Church. Where there is an excommunication, +by inch of candle, and the sinner is allowed to come to repentance, while +yet the candle burns. The sinner is supposed, of course, to be +_going--going--gone_--unless he avails of the opportunity to bid, as it +were, for his salvation. This naturally reminds the reader of the +spiritual distich-- + + "For while the lamp holds out to burn, + The vilest sinner may return." + +Where the bids are, from a maximum, downward, the term--_auction_--is +still commonly, though improperly employed, and in the very teeth of all +etymology. When I was a boy, the poor, in many of our country towns, were +disposed of, in this manner. The question was, who would take Daddy +Osgood, one of the town's poor, for the smallest weekly sum, to be paid by +the town. The old man was started, at four shillings, and bid down to a +minimum. There was yet a little work in his old bones; and I well remember +one of these auctions, in 1798, in the town of Billerica, at which Dr. +William Bowers bid off Daddy Osgood, for two and sixpence. + +The Dutch have a method of selling fresh fish, which is somewhat analogous +to this, and very simple and ingenious. An account of it may be found, in +Dodsley's Annual Register, for 1760, vol. iii. page 170. The salesman is +called the Affslager. The fish are brought in, in the morning, and placed +on the ground, near the fish stalls of the retailers. At ten, precisely, +the Affslager rings his bell, which may be heard, for half a mile. +Retailers, and individual consumers collect, and the Affslager--the +auctioneer--puts up a lot, at a maximum price. No one offers a less sum, +but the mynheers stand round, sucking at their pipes, and puffing away, +and saying nothing. When the Affslager becomes satisfied, that nobody will +buy the lot, at the price named, he gradually lowers it, until one of the +mynheers takes his pipe from his mouth and cries "_mine!_" in High Dutch. +He is, of course, the purchaser; and the Affslager proceeds to the sale of +another lot. + +It will be seen, from one of the citations from Pepys, that some of _the +auctions_ of his time were called _the candles_; precisely as the +auctions, at Rome, were called _hastæ_; a spear or _hasta_, instead of a +flag, being the customary signal for the sale. The proper word, however, +was _auctio_, and the auctioneer was called _auctor_. Notice of the sale +was given, by the crier, _a præcone prædicari_, Plaut. Men., v. 9, 94, or, +by writing on tables. Such is the import of _tabulum proscripsit_, in +Cicero's letter to his brother Quintus, ii. 6. + +In the year 1824, passing through the streets of Natchez, I saw a slave, +walking along, and ringing a bell, as he went; the bell very much +resembled our cowbells, in size and form. Upon a signal from a citizen, +the slave stopped ringing, and walked over to him, and stood before him, +till he had read the advertisement of a sale at auction, placarded on the +breast of the slave, who then went forward, ringing his bell, as before. +The Romans made their bids, by lifting the finger; and the auctioneer +added as many _sesterces_, as he thought amounted to a reasonable bid. + +Cicero uses this expression in his fine oration against Verres, i +54--_digitum tollit Junius patruus--Junius, his paternal uncle, raised his +finger_, that is, he made a bid. + +The employment of a spear, as the signal of an auction sale, is supposed +to have arisen from the fact, that the only articles, originally sold, in +this manner, were the spoils of war. Subsequently, the spear--_hasta_--came +to be universally used, to signify a _sale at auction_. The auction of +Pompey's goods, by Cæsar, is repeatedly alluded to, by Cicero, with great +severity, as the _hasta Cæsaris_. A passage may be found, in his treatise, +_De Officiis_, ii. 8, and another, in his eighth Philippic, sec. +3--"Invitus dico, sed dicendum est. Hasta Cæsaris, Patres Conscripti, +multis improbis spem affert, et audaciam. Viderunt enim, ex mendicis fieri +repente divites: itaque hastam semper videre cupiunt ii, qui nostris bonis +imminent; quibus omnia pollicetur Antonius." I say it reluctantly, but it +must be said--Cæsar's auction, Conscript Fathers, inflames the hopes and +the insolence of many bad men. For they see how immediately, the merest +beggars are converted into men of wealth. Therefore it is that those, who +are hankering after our goods and chattels, and to whom Antony has +promised all things, are ever longing to behold such another auction, as +that. + +The auctioneer's bell, in use, at the Hague, in 1760, was introduced into +Boston, seventy-seven years ago, by Mr. Bicker, whose auction-room was +near the Market. Having given some offence to the public, he inserted the +following notice, in the Boston Gazette and Country Journal, Monday, April +18, 1774--"As the method, lately practised by the Subscriber, in having a +Person at his Door, to invite Gentlemen and others to his public +Sales--has given Dissatisfaction to some (Gentlemen Shopkeepers in +particular) to avoid giving Offence for the future, he shall desist from +that Practice, and pursue one (as follows) which he flatters himself +cannot fail giving universal Satisfaction, as he sincerely wishes so to +do. The Public are most earnestly requested to remember (_for their own +advantage_) that, for the future, Notice will be given, by sounding a +Bell, which he has purchased for that Purpose, which is erected over the +Auction Room Door, near the Market, Boston, where constant Attendance is +given both early and late, to receive the favors of all such who are +pleased to confer on their _Much obliged, Most Obedient, and very humble +Servant_, M. Bicker." + +Albeit there is no less bickering or dickering here now, than of yore, yet +Bicker and his bell have gone, long ago, to the "receptacle of things lost +upon earth." The very name is no more. + +Haydn says, the first auction in Britain was about 1700, by Elisha Yale, +a Governor of Fort George, in the East Indies, of the goods he had brought +home with him. That Mr. Haydn must be mistaken is manifest, from the +citation from Pepys, who speaks of auctions, by inch of candle, as early +as 1660; and not then as a novelty, but the first of the kind that he had +witnessed. + +Fosbroke says, in his Antiquities, page 412--"In the middle age, the goods +were cried and sold to the highest bidder, and the sound of a trumpet +added with a very loud noise. The use of the spear was retained, the +auctions being called _Subhastationes_; and the _Subhastator_, or +auctioneer, was sworn to sell the goods faithfully. In Nares, we have, +_sold at a pike or spear_, i. e. by public auction or outcry; and auctions +called _port sales_, because originally, perhaps, sales made in ports--the +crier stood under the spear, as in the Roman æra, and was, in the +thirteenth century, called _cursor_." + +Of late, _mock auctions_, as they are termed, have become a very serious +evil, especially in the city of New York. In 1813 petitions, in regard to +these public impositions, were sent to the Lords of the Treasury, from +many of the principal cities of Great Britain. In 1818 a select committee +reported, very fully, upon this subject, to the British Parliament. This +committee, after long and critical investigation, reported, that great +frauds were constantly committed on the public, by _mock_ or fraudulent +_auctions_. The committee set forth several examples of this species of +knavery. Goods are sold, as the furniture of gentlemen, going abroad. For +this purpose, empty houses are hired for a few days, and filled with +comparatively worthless furniture. Articles of the most inferior +manufacture are made for the express purpose of being put into such sales, +as the property of individuals of known character and respectability. To +impose, more effectually, on the public, the names of the most respectable +auctioneers have been used, with the variation of a letter. This bears +some analogy to the legislative change of name, in this city, for the +purpose of facilitating the sale of inferior pianos. Respectable +auctioneers have been compelled, in self-defence, to appear at such mock +auctions, and disclaim all connection therewith. Great masses of cutlery +and plated ware of base manufacture, with London makers' names, and +advertised, as made in London, are constantly sold, at these auctions; +forcing the London makers to appear at the sales rooms, and expose the +fraud. + +The committee say that no imposition is more common than the sale of +ordinary wine, in bottles, as the _bonne bouche_ of some respectable +Amphitryon deceased. + +They farther state, that daring men are known to combine, attend real +sales, and by various means, drive respectable purchasers away, purchase +at their own price, and afterwards privately sell, under a form of public +sale, among themselves, at _Knock Out_ auctions, as they are called. + +The committee recommended an entire revision of the auction laws--an +increase of the license--heavier penalties for violation--no sale, without +previous exposure of the goods for twenty-four hours, or printed +catalogue--name and address of the auctioneer to be published--severe +penalty, for using a fictitious name, &c. + +The whole advertising system of mock auctions, like that, connected with +the kindred impostures of quackery and patent medicines, furnishes a vast +amount of curious and entertaining reading; and affords abundant scope, +for the exercise of a vicious ingenuity. I have heard of a horse, that +could not be compelled, by whip or spur, to cross a bridge, which lay in +the way to his owner's country residence--the horse was advertised to be +sold at auction for no fault but that his owner was _desirous of going out +of the city_. + + + + +No. CXL. + + +Few things are more difficult, than shaving a cold corpse, and making, +what the _artistes_ call _a good job of it_. I heard Robert New say so, +forty years ago, who kept his shop, at the north--easterly corner of +Scollay's buildings. He said the barber ought to be called, as soon, as +the breath was out of the body, and a little before, if it was a clear +case, and you wished the corpse "_to look wholesome_." I think he was +right. Pope's Narcissa said-- + + "One need not sure be ugly, though one's dead." + +There is considerable mystery, in shaving a living corpse. I find it so; +and yet I have always shaved myself; for I have never been able to +overcome a strong, hereditary prejudice, against being taken by the nose. + +My razor is very capricious; so, I suppose, is everybody's razor. There is +a deep and mystical philosophy, about the edge of a razor, which seems to +have baffled the most scientific; and is next of kin to witchcraft. A +tract, by Cotton Mather, upon this subject, would be invaluable. The +scholar will smile, at any comparison, between Pliny the elder and Cotton +Mather. So far, as respects the scope of knowledge, and power of +intellect, and inexhaustible treasures, displayed in Pliny's thirty-seven +books of Natural History, one might as well compare Hyperion to a mummy. I +allude to nothing but the _Magnalia_ or _Improbabilia_; and, upon this +point of comparison, Mather, witchcraft and all fairly fade out of sight, +before the marvels and fantastical stories of Pliny. In lib. xxviii. 23, +Pliny assigns a very strange cause, why _aciem in cultris tonsorum +hebetescere_--why the edge of a barber's razor is sometimes blunted. The +reader may look it up, if he will--it is better in a work, _sub sigillo +latinitatis_, than in an English journal. + +I have often put my razor down, regretting, that my beard did not spread +over a larger area; so keenly and agreeably has the instrument performed +its work. It really seemed, that I might have shaved a sleeping mouse, +without disturbing his repose. After twelve hours, that very razor, +untouched the while, has come forth, no better than a pot-sherd. The very +reverse of all this has also befallen me. I once heard Revaillon, our old +French barber, say, that a razor could not be strapped with too light a +hand; and the English proverb was always in his mouth--"a good lather is +half the shave." + +Some persons suppose the razor to be an instrument, of comparatively +modern invention, and barbers to have sprung up, at farthest, within the +Christian era. It is written, in Isaiah vii. 20, "In the same day shall +the Lord shave with a razor, that is hired," &c. Ezekiel began to +prophecy, according to Calmet, 590 years before Christ: in the first verse +of ch. v. he says--"take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, +and cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard." To cause a razor +_to pass upon the beard_ seems to mean something very different from +_shaving_, in the common sense of that word. Doubtless, it does: the +_culter_ or _novacula_, that is, _the razor_, of the ancients, was +employed, for _shearing_ or _shortening_, as well as for _shaving_ the +beard. Barbers were first known, among the Romans A. U. C. 454, i. e. 298 +years before Christ. Pliny says, vii. 59--Sequens gentium consensus in +tonsoribus fuit, sed Romanis tardior. In Italiam ex Sicilia venere post +Romam conditam anno quadringentessimo quinquagessimo quarto, adducente P. +Ticinio Mena, ut auctor est Varro: antea intonsi fuere. Primus omnium radi +quotidie instituit Africanus sequens: Divus Augustus cultris semper usus +est. Then barbers came into use, among the nations, but more slowly among +the Romans. In the year of the city 454, according to Varro, P. Ticinius +Mena introduced barbers into Italy from Sicily: until that time, men wore +their beards. The latter Africanus first set the example of being shaven +daily. Augustus constantly used razors. The passage of Varro, referred to +by Pliny, showing, that, before A. U. C. 454, men wore their beards, +states the fact to be established, by the long beards, on all the old male +statues. That _passing of the sharp knife or razor, upon the beard_, +spoken of, by Ezekiel, I take to be the latter of the two modes, employed +by the Romans--"vel strictim, hoc est, ad cutem usque; vel paulo longius a +cute, interposito pectine"--either close to the skin, or with a comb +interposed. That both modes were in use is clear from the lines of Plautus +in his play of the Captives, Act ii. sc. 2, v. 16-- + + Nunc senex est in tonstrina; nunc jam cultros adtinet; + Sed utrum strictimne adtonsurum dicam esse, an per pectinem, + Nescio. + +Now the old man is in the barber's shop and under the razor; but whether +to be close shaved, or clipped with the comb, I know not. + +Pliny, as we have seen, states, that the practice came from Sicily. There +it had been long in use. There is a curious reference to the custom in +Cicero's Tusculan Questions, v. 20. Speaking of the tyrant, Dionysius he +says--Quin etiam ne tonsori collum committeret, tondere suas filias +docuit. Ita sordido ancillarique artificio regiæ virgines, ut tonstriculæ +tondebant barbam et capillum patris. For, not liking to trust his throat +to a barber, he taught his daughters to shave him, and thus these royal +virgins, descending to this coarse, servile vocation, became little, she +barbers, and clipped their father's beard and hair. + +There is a curious passage in Pliny which not only proves, that barbers' +shops were common in his time, but shows the very ancient employment of +cobweb, as a styptic. In lib. xxix. 36, he says--Fracto capiti aranei tela +ex oleo et aceto imposita, non nisi vulnere sanato, abscedit. Hæc et +vulneribus tonstrinarum sanguinem sistit. Spiders' web, with oil and +vinegar, applied to a broken head, adheres, till the wound heals. This +also stops the bleeding from cuts, in barbers' shops. + +Razors were sharpened, some two thousand years ago, very much as they are +at present. Pliny devotes sec. 47, lib. xxxvi. to hones and whetstones, +oil stones and water stones--quarta ratio--he says--est saliva hominis +proficientium in torstrinarum officinis--the fourth kind is such as are +used in the barbers' shops, and which the man softens with his saliva. + +Most common, proverbial sayings are, doubtless, of great antiquity. +Chopping-blocks with a razor is a common illustration of the employment of +a subtle ingenuity, upon coarse and uninteresting topics. Thus Goldsmith, +in his Retaliation, says of Burke-- + + In short, 'twas his fate, unemploy'd, or in place, sir, + To eat mutton cold, and chop blocks with a razor. + +The latter illustration is as old as Livy--_novacula cotem discindere_. + +The Romans made a prodigious fuss, about their beards. The first crop, +called _prima barba_, and sometimes _lanugo_, was, according to Petronius, +consecrated to some god. Suetonius says, in his Life of Nero, 12--Gymnico +quod in septis edebat, inter buthysiæ apparatum, barbam primam posuit, +conditamque in auream pyxidem, et pretiosissimis margaritis adornatam, +capitolio consecravit.--During the games, which he had given in the +enclosures, and in the very midst of the splendor of the sacrifice, for +the first time, he laid down his beard, and having placed it in a golden +box, adorned with precious stones, he made a sacred deposit thereof, in +the capitol. + +After the custom of shaving had been introduced, by Mena, A. U. C. 454, it +went out, for a short time, in Rome, during the time of Adrian, who as +Spartianus relates, in his Life of that Emperor, having some ugly +excrescences on his chin, suffered his beard to grow to conceal them--of +course the courtiers followed the example of the emperor--the people, that +of the courtiers. The grave concealed those excrescences, more +effectually, A. D. 139, and the _navacula_ again came into use, among the +Romans: Marcus Antoninus, his successor, had no excrescences on his chin. + +The day, upon which a young Roman was said _ponere barbam_, that is, to +shave for the first time, was accounted a holiday; and Juvenal says, iii. +187, he received presents from his friends. + +Ovid, Trist. iv. 10, 67, dates his earliest literary exhibitions, before +the people, by his first or second shave, or clip-- + + Carmina quum primum populo juvenilia legi, + Barba resecta mihi bisve semelve fuit. + +Which may be thus translated-- + + When first in public I began + To read my boyish rhymes, + I scarcely could be call'd a man, + And had not shav'd three times. + +Cæsar says of the Britons, B. G. V. 14--omni parte corporis rasa, præter +caput et labrum superius--they shave entirely, excepting the head and +upper lip. + +Half-shaving was accounted, in the days of Samuel, I suppose, as reducing +the party to a state of semi-_barbarism_: thus, in Samuel II. x. +4--"Wherefore Hanan took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of +their beards." + +To be denied the privilege of shaving was accounted dishonorable, among +the Catti, a German nation, in the days of Tacitus; for he says, De +Moribus Germanæ, 31--Apud Cattos in consensum vertit, ut primum +adoleverint, crinem barbamque submittere, nec, nisi hoste cæso--It was +settled among the Catti, that no young man should cut his hair, or shave +his beard, till he had killed his man. + +Seneca, Cons. Polyb. xxxvi. 5, blames Caius, for refusing to shave, +because he had lost his sister--Idem ille Caius furiosa in constantia, +modo barbam capillumque submittens--There is that Caius, clinging so +absurdly to his sorrow, and suffering his hair and beard to grow on +account of it. + +There is an admirable letter, from Seneca to Lucillus, Ep. 114, which +shows, that the dandies, in old Rome, were much like our own. He is +speaking of those--qui vellunt barbam, aut intervellunt; qui labra +pressius tondent et abradunt, servata et submissa cætera parte--who pull +out the beard, by the roots, or particular parts of it--who clip and shave +the hair, either more closely, or leave it growing, on some parts of their +lips. + +Juvenal, ii. 99, and Martial, vi. 64, 4, laugh at such, as use a mirror +while shaving. Knives and razors of _brass_, are of great antiquity, +according to the Archæological Æliana, p. 39.--Fosbroke, p. 351, says, +that razors are mentioned by Homer. But I am going to a funeral, this +afternoon, as an amateur, and it is time for me to shave--not with a razor +of brass, however--Pradier is too light for me--I use the Chinese. +Hutchinson, i. 153, says, that Leverett was the first Governor of +Massachusetts, who is painted without a beard, and that he laid it aside, +in Cromwell's court. + +China is the paradise of barbers. There, according to Mr. Davis, they +abound. No man shaves himself, the part, to be shorn, being out of his +reach. There would be no difficulty in removing the scanty hair upon their +chins; but the exact tonsure of the crown, without removing one hair from +the Chinaman's long tail, that reaches to his heels, is a delicate affair. +Their razors are very heavy, but superlatively keen. + + + + +No. CXLI. + + +Barbers were chiefly peripatetics, when I was a boy. They ran about town, +and shaved at their customers' houses. There were fewer shops. This was +the genteel mode in Rome. The wealthy had their domestic barbers, as the +planters have now, among their slaves. I am really surprised, that we hear +of so few throats cut at the South. Some evidence of this custom--not of +cutting throats--may be found, in one of the neatest epitaphs, that ever +was written; the subject of which, a very young and accomplished +slave-barber, has already taken a nap of eighteen hundred years. I refer +to Martial's _epitaphium_, on Pantagathus, a word, which, by the way, +signifies one, who is good at everything, or, as we say--a man of all +works. It is the fifty-second, of Book VI. Its title is _Epitaphium +Pantagathi, Tonsoris_: + + Hoc jacet in tumulo raptus puerilibus annis + Pantagathus, domini cura, dolorque sui, + Vix tangente vagos ferro resecare capillos + Doctus, et hirsutas excoluisse genas. + Sic, licet, ut debes, Tellus placata, levisque; + Artificis levior non potes esse manu. + +In attempting a version of this, I feel, as if I were about to disfigure a +pretty spinster, with a mob-cap. + + Here lies Pantagathus, the slave, + Petted he liv'd, and died lamented; + No youth, like him could clip and shave, + Since shears and razors were invented. + + So light his touch, you could not feel + The razor, while your cheeks were smoothing; + And sat, unconscious of the steel, + The operation was so soothing. + + Oh, mother Earth, appeas'd, since thou + Back to thy grasping arms hast won him, + Soft be thy hand, like his, and now + Lie thou, in mercy, lightly on him. + +Rochester was right; few things were ever benefited, by translation, but a +bishop. + +The _Tonstrinæ_, or barbers' shops, in Rome, were seldom visited by any, +but the humbler classes. They were sometimes called the _Shades_. Horace, +Ep. i. 7, 50, describes Philippus, an eminent lawyer, as struck with +sudden envy, upon seeing Vulteius Mena, the beadle, sitting very much at +ease, in one of these shades, after having been shaved, and leisurely +cleaning his own nails, an office commonly performed by the barbers:-- + + Adrasum quendam vacua tonsoris in umbra, + Cultello proprios purgantem leniter ungues. + +There were she-barbers, in Rome, residing in the _Saburra_ and +_Argiletum_, very much such localities, as "_the Hill_," formerly in +Boston, or _Anthony Street_, in New York. Martial describes one of these +_tonstrices_, ii. 17-- + + Tonstrix Saburræ fancibus sedet primis, etc. + +Some there were, of a better order. Plautus, Terence, and Theophrastus +have many allusions to the barbers' shops. They have ever been the same +"_otiosorum conciliabula_," that they were, when Terence wrote--resorts of +the idle and garrulous. In old times--very--not now, of course--not now, a +dressmaker, who was mistress of her business, knew that she was expected +to turn out so much work, and so much _slander_. That day has fortunately +gone by. But the "barber's tale" is the very thing that it was, in the +days of Oliver Goldsmith, and it was then the very thing, that it was, as +I verily believe, in the days of Ezekiel. There are many, who think, that +a good story, not less than a good lather, is half the shave. + +It is quite _in rerum natura_, that much time should be consumed, in +waiting, at the _tonstrinæ_--the barbers' shops; and to make it pass +agreeably, the craft have always been remarkable, for the employment of +sundry appliances--amusing pictures around the walls--images and +mechanical contrivances--the daily journals--poodles, monkeys, squirrels, +canaries, and parrots. In the older countries, a barber's boy was greatly +in request, who could play upon the _citterne_, or some other musical +instrument. + +If there had not been a curious assemblage of _materiel_, in an old Roman +_tonstrina_, it would not have been selected as an object for the pencil. +That it was so selected, however, appears from a passage in Pliny, XXXV. +37. He is writing of Pureicus--arte paucis postferendus: proposito, nescio +an destruxerit se: quoniam humilia quidem sequutus, humilitatis tamen +summam adeptus est gloriam. Tonstrinas, sutrinasque pinxit, et asellos, et +obsonia, ac similia--He had few superiors in his art: I know not if the +plan he adopted was fatal to his fame; for, though his subjects were +humble, yet, in their representation, he attained the highest excellence. +He painted barbers' and shoemakers' shops, asses, eatables, and the like. + +A rude sketch of Heemskerck's picture of a barber's shop lies now upon my +table. Here is the poodle, with a cape and fool's cap, walking on his hind +legs--the suspended bleeding basin, and other et cætera of the profession. + +Little is generally known, as to the origin and import of the barber's +pole. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, surgery was in such low +repute, that farriers, barbers, sow-spayers, and surgeons were much upon a +level. The truth of this, in respect to surgeons and barbers, has been +established by law: and, for about two hundred years, both in London and +Paris, they were incorporated, as one company. I remember a case, reported +by Espinasse--not having the book at hand, I cannot indicate the volume +and page--which shows the judicial estimate of surgery then, compared with +the practice of physic. A physician's fees, in England, were accounted +_quiddam honorarium_, and not _matter of lucre_, and therefore could not +be recovered, in an action at law. Upon an action brought for surgical +services, the fees were recoverable, because surgeons, upon the testimony +of Dr. Mead, were of a lower grade, having nothing to do with the +pathology of diseases, and never prescribing; but simply performing +certain mechanical acts; and being, like all other artificers and +operatives, worthy of their hire. + +Nothing can more clearly exhibit the low state of this noble science, at +the time, and the humble estimation of it, by the public. Chirurgery +seemed destined to grovel, in etymological bondage, [Greek: cheir ergon], +a mere _handicraft_. Barbers and surgeons were incorporated, as one +company, in the fifteenth century, in the reign of Edward IV., and were +called barber-surgeons. At the close of the sixteenth century, Ambrose +Paré, the greatest surgeon of his time in France, did not reject the +appellation of _barber-surgeon_. Henry VIII. dissolved this union, and +gave a new charter in 1540, when it was enacted, that "_no person, using +any shaving or barbery in London, shall occupy any surgery, letting of +blood, or other matter, excepting only the drawing of teeth_." The +_barber-surgeon_ was thus reduced to the _barber-dentist_, which seems not +so agreeable to the practitioner, at present, as the loftier appellation +of _surgeon-dentist_. Sterne was right: there is something in a name. The +British surgeons obtained a new charter, in 1745, and another, in 1800, +and various acts have been subsequently passed, on their behalf. July 17, +1797, Lord Thurlow, in the House of Peers, opposed a new bill, which the +surgeons desired to have passed. Thurlow was a man of morose temperament, +and uncertain humor. + +He averred, that so much of the old law was in force, that, to use his own +words, "the barbers and surgeons were each to use a pole, the barbers were +to have theirs blue and white, striped, with no other appendage; but the +surgeons', which was the same, in other respects, was likewise to have a +gallipot and a red rag, to denote the particular nature of their +vocation." + +Brand, in his Popular Antiquities, says, that the barber's pole, used in +bleeding, is represented, in an illuminated missal, of the time of Edward +I., Longshanks, whose reign began in 1272. Fosbroke, in his Encyc. of +Antiquities, page 414, says--"A staff, bound by a riband, was held, by +persons being bled, and the pole was intended to denote the practice of +phlebotomy." According to Lord Thurlow's statement, in the House of Peers, +the pole was required, by the statute, to be used, as a sign. The first +statute, incorporating the barber-surgeons, was that of Edward IV., as I +have stated. The missal of Edward I., referred to by Brand, shows, that +the usage was older than the law, and, doubtless, that the popular emblem +was adopted, in the statute, to which Lord Thurlow refers, as still in +force, in 1797. + +In Brand's Newcastle, I find, that "it is ordered, Dec. 11, 1711, that +periwig-making be considered part and branch of the Company of +Barber-_Chirurgeons_." + +The history of the pole is this: A staff about three feet high, with a +ball on the top, and inserted, at the bottom, in a small cross-piece, was +very convenient for the person to hold, who extended his arm, as he sat +down, to be bled; and a fillet, or tape, was equally convenient for the +ligature. These things the barber-surgeons kept, in a corner of their +shops; and, when not in use, the tape or fillet was wound or twirled round +the staff. When the lawgivers called for a sign, no apter sign could be +given unto them, than this identical staff and fillet; much larger of +course, and to be seen of men much farther. + + + + +No. CXLII. + + +Ancient plays abound with allusions to the barber's _citterne_, or lute, +upon which not only he himself, and his apprentices were accustomed to +play, but all the loiterers in the _tonstrina_. Much of all this may be +found, in the Glossary of Archdeacon Nares, under the article CITTERNE, +and in Fosbroke's Antiquities. + +The commonness of its use gave rise to a proverb. In the Silent Woman, Act +II., scene 2, Ben Jonson avails of it. Morose had married a woman, +recommended by his barber, and whose fidelity he suspected, and the +following passage occurs, between Morose and Truewit. Lond., 1816, iii. +411. + + _Morose._ That cursed barber! + + _Truewit._ Yes, faith, a cursed wretch indeed, sir. + + _Morose._ I have married his _cittern_, that's common to all men. + +Upon this passage is the following note--"It appears from innumerable +passages, in our old writers, that barbers' shops were furnished with some +musical instrument, commonly a cittern or guitar, for the amusement of +such customers as chose to strum upon it, while waiting for their turn to +be shaved, &c. It should be recollected, that the patience of customers, +if the shop was at all popular, must, in those tedious days of love-locks, +and beards of most fantastical cuts, have been frequently put to very +severe trials. Some kind of amusement therefore was necessary, to beguile +the time." + +In old times, in old England, barbers were in the habit of making a +variety of noises, with their fingers and their shears, which noises were +supposed to be agreeable to their customers. Fosbroke, p. 414, refers to +Lily's old play of Mydas, iii. 2, as showing the existence of the custom, +in his time. Lily was born about 1553. There were some, who preferred to +be shaved and dressed quietly. Nares, in his Glossary, refers to Plutarch, +De Garrulitate, for an anecdote of King Archelaus, who stipulated with his +barber to shave him in silence. This barbers' trick was called the "_knack +with the fingers_;" and was extremely disagreeable to Morose, in Ben +Jonson's play, to which I have referred. Thus, in i. 2, Clerimont, +speaking of the partiality of Morose for Cutbeard, the barber, says--"The +fellow trims him silently, and has not the knack with his shears or his +fingers: and that continence in a barber he thinks so eminent a virtue, as +it has made him chief of his counsel." + +As barbers were brought first into Rome, from Sicily, so the best razors, +according to Nares and Fosbroke, before the English began to excel in +cutlery, were obtained in Palermo. Their form was unlike those now in use, +and seems more perfectly to correspond with one of the Roman names, +signifying a razor, i. e. _culter_. The blade, like that of a pruning +knife, or sickle, curved slightly inward, the reverse of which is the +modern form. + +Smith, in his Ancient Topography of London, says--"The flying barber is a +character now no more to be seen in London, though he still remains in +some of our country villages: he was provided with a napkin, soap, and +pewter basin, the form of which may be seen, in many of the illustrative +prints of Don Quixote. His chafer was a deep leaden vessel, something like +a chocolate pot, with a large ring or handle, at the top; this pot held +about a quart of water, boiling hot; and, thus equipped, he flew about to +his customers." + +Old Randle Holme says, "_perawickes_" were very common in his time, about +1668, though unused before "contrary to our forefathers, who wore their +own hair." A barber, in Paris, to recommend his bag wigs, hung over his +door the sign of Absalom. Hone, i. 1262, states that a periwig-maker, to +recommend his wares, turned the reason into rhyme: + + "Oh, Absalom, oh Absalom, + Oh Absalom, my son, + If thou hadst worn a periwig, + Thou hadst not been undone." + +Hutchinson, i. 152, says periwigs were an eyesore in New England, for +thirty years after the Restoration of Charles II. + +Among the Romans, after Mena introduced the practice of shaving, those, +who professed philosophy, still maintained their dignity, and their +beards, as an _ecce signum_. Hence the expression of Horace, Sat. ii. 3, +35, _sapientem pascere barbam_: and of Persius, iv. 1, when speaking of +Socrates: + + barbatum hæc crede magistrum + Dicere, sorbitio tollit quem dira cicutæ. + +Of those, who wear beards, at the present day, it has been computed, that, +for one philosopher, there are five hundred fools, at the very lowest +estimate. Manage them as you will, they are troublesome appendages; of +very questionable cleanliness; and mightily in the way of such, as are +much addicted to gravy and spoon victual. Like the burden of our sins, the +postprandial odor of them must be sometimes intolerable. + +What an infinite variety of colors we have now-a-days! Bottom, in +Midsummer Night's Dream, i. 2, is in doubt, what beard he shall play +Pyramus in, and, at last, he says--"I will discharge it in either your +straw-colored beard, your orange tawny beard, your purple ingrain beard, +or your French crown-colour beard, your perfect yellow." Now I can +honestly aver, that every fifth dandy I meet, looks precisely like Bottom, +performing Pyramus. Now and then, I meet a fine, full, black beard; but, +even then, it seems to me, that the proud satisfaction the fortunate +proprietor must feel, in going about town with it, must be, in some +degree, counterbalanced, by the necessity of sleeping in it, during the +summer solstice. + +The fancy colors, proposed by Bottom, refer to the dyes, in use, at the +period, when Bottom flourished. Indeed, dyeing the beard is of the highest +antiquity. I have no authority that Aaron dyed his. In 1653, John Bulwer +published his "Anthropo-Metamorphosis," or Artificial Changeling, a very +able and curious production. For the antiquity of the silly practice of +dyeing the beard, he refers to Strabo. Old John Bulwer, ch. ix., comments, +with just severity, upon the conduct of those ancient fools, who adopt the +practice--"_In every haire of these old coxcombs, you shall meet with +three divers and sundry colors; white at the roots, yellow in the middle, +and black at the point, like unto one of your parrat's feathers_." What a +graphic description of this nasty appendage! It has ever been to me a +matter of infinite surprise, how any mortal can presume to say his +prayers, with one of these pied abominations on his chin; giving the lie +direct to the volume of inspiration, which avers that he cannot make one +hair black nor white. + +Another mystery--how can any man's better half become reconciled to a +husband, dyed thus, in the wool! The colors are not all fast colors, I +believe; and are liable to be rubbed off, by attrition. + +Beards were cultivated, to such an excess, in Elizabeth's time, as to +require and receive a check from the legislature. "The growth of beards," +says Nares, in his Glossary, "was regulated by statute, at Lincoln's Inn, +in the time of Eliz.--Primo Eliz. it was ordered, that no fellow of that +house should wear a beard above a fortnight's growth. Transgression was +punished with fine, loss of commons, and finally expulsion. But fashion +prevailed, and in November, the following year, all previous orders, +touching beards, were repealed." + +It was formerly calculated, by Lord Stanhope, that the sum, expended upon +snuff, and the value of the time, consumed in taking it, and the cost of +snuff-boxes, handkerchiefs, &c., if duly invested, would pay off the +national debt. I have a proposal to offer, and I offer it, timidly and +respectfully, for the consideration of those amiable females, who go +about, so incessantly, doing good. Perhaps I may not be able to awaken +their interest, more effectually, than by suggesting the idea, that here +is a very fair opportunity, for the formation of another female auxiliary +society. I take it for granted, that there are some of these bearded +gentlemen, from whom contributions in money, could not easily be obtained, +for any benevolent object. There are some, whose whole estate, real, +personal, and mixed, comprehends very little, beyond a costly malacca +joint, a set of valuable shirtstuds, and a safety chain. Still if we +cudgel the doctrine of political economy, we may get some small +contributions, even from them. + +Cortez found, in the treasury of Montezuma, a multitude of little bags, +which were, at last, discovered to be filled with dead lice. The Emperor, +to keep the Mexican beggars out of mischief, had levied this species of +tax. I am well aware, that the power of levying taxes is not vested in +young ladies. They have certain, natural, inherent rights, however, and, +among them, the right and the power of persuasion. Let them organize, +throughout the Union, and establish committees of correspondence. Let them +address a circular to every individual, who wears a beard; and, if their +applications succeed, they will enjoy the luxury of supplying a +comfortable hair mattrass, to every poor widow, and aged single woman in +the United States. + + + + +No. CXLIII. + + +The barber's brush is a luxury of more modern times. Stubbe, in his +"Anatomy of Abuses," says--"When they come to washing, oh, how gingerly +they behave themselves therein. For then shall your mouths be bossed with +the lather or some that rinseth of the balles, (for they have their sweete +balles, wherewith all they use to washe) your eyes closed must be anointed +therewith also. Then snap go the fingers, ful bravely, God wot. Thus, this +tragedy ended; comes the warme clothes to wipe and dry him with all." +Stubbe wrote, about 1550. + +Not very long ago, a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine, observed--"I am +old enough to remember when the operation of shaving in this kingdom, was +almost exclusively performed by the _barbers_: what I speak of is some +threescore years ago, at which time gentlemen shavers were unknown. +Expedition was then a prime quality in a barber, who smeared the lather +over his customer's face with his hand; for the delicate refinement of the +brush had not been introduced. The lathering of the beard being finished, +the operator threw off the lather, adhering to his hand, by a peculiar +jerk of his arm, which caused the joints of his fingers to crack, this +being a more expeditious mode of clearing the hand, than using a towel for +that purpose; and, the more audible the crack, the higher the shaver +stood, in his own opinion, and in that of the fraternity. This I presume +is the custom alluded to by Stubbe." + +The Romans, when bald, wore wigs. Some of the emperors wore miserable +periwigs. Curly locks, however becoming in a male child, are somewhat +ridiculous, trained with manifest care, and descending upon the shoulders +of a full grown boy of forty. In addition to the pole, a peruke was +frequently employed, as the barber's sign. There was the short bob, and +the full bottom; the "hie perrawycke" and the scratch; the top piece, and +the periwig with the pole lock; the curled wig with a dildo, and the +travelling wig, with curled foretop and bobs; the campain wig, with a +dildo on each side, and the toupet, a la mode. + +It may seem a paradox to some, that the most _barbarous_ nations should +suffer the hair and beard to grow longest. The management of the hair has +furnished an abundant subject matter for grave attention, in every age and +nation. Cleansing, combing, crimping, and curling, clipping, and +consecrating their locks gave ample occupation to the ladies and gentlemen +of Greece and Rome. At the time of adolescence, and after shipwreck, the +hair was cut off and sacrificed to the divinities. It was sometimes cut +off, at funerals, and cast upon the pile. Curling irons were in use, at +Rome. Girls wore the hair fastened upon the top of the head; matrons +falling on the neck. Shaving the crown was a part of the punishment of +conspirators and thieves. We know nothing, at present, in regard to the +hair, which was unknown at Rome--our _frizzing_ was their _capillorum +tortura_. They had an instrument, called _tressorium_, for plaiting the +hair. In the time of Edward the Confessor, the hair was worn, universally, +long, the laws of England not compelling all, but the nobility, as in +France, to cut the hair short, in that age. + +The Romans are said, occasionally to have worn wigs of an enormous size, +which gave occasion to the term, in Martial's epigram, _caput calceatum_. +We have no exact record of the size of those Roman wigs--but I sincerely +wish, that Augustus Cæsar or-- + + "Mæcenas, whose high lineage springs, + From fair Etruria's ancient kings," + +could have seen the Rev. Dr. Lathrop's! In Mr. Ward's journal of Samuel +Curwen, that venerable and truly respectable, and amiable, old tory is +represented, with precisely such a wig, but of much smaller diameter. Dr. +John Lathrop died, Jan. 4, 1816, at the age of 75. He published a +considerable number of sermons on various occasions, no one of which is +remarkable for extraordinary talent, or learning. It was, by some +intelligent persons, supposed, that the wig was a great help to him. In +his latter days, he found himself unable, any longer, to bear up, under +such a portentous superstructure, which really appeared to "_overhang_," +contrary to the statute, and he laid it aside. His influence certainly +appeared to diminish, in some measure, probably, from the increasing +infirmities of age; but, doubtless, in some degree, from the deposition of +the wig. I honestly confess, that I never felt for Dr. Lathrop the same +awful reverence, after he had laid aside this emblem of wisdom. A "wig +full of learning" is an ancient saying, and Cowper makes use of it, in one +of his lighter poems. + +I have always looked upon barbers, as an honorable race of men, quite as +much so, as brokers; the barbers seldom fail to shave more gently, and +commonly dismiss an old customer, without drawing blood, or taking off the +skin. We owe them a debt of gratitude withal, on other scores. How very +easily they might cut our throats! + +In this goodly city, at the present time, there are more than one hundred +and ten gentlemen, who practice the art of barbery, beside their +respective servants and apprentices. When I was a small boy--very--some +sixty years ago, there were but twenty-nine, and many of them were most +respectable and careful operators--an honor to their profession, and a +blessing to the community. + +There was Charles Gavett, in Devonshire Street, the Pudding Lane of our +ancestors. Gavett was a brisk, little fellow; his _tonstrina_ was small, +and rather dark, but always full. + +In Brattle Square, just behind the church, John Green kept a shop, for +several years. But John became unsteady, and cut General Winslow, and some +other of his customers, and scalded several others, and lost his business. + +In Fish Street, which had then, but recently, ceased to be the court end +of the town, there were several clever barbers--there was Thomas Grubb, +and Zebulon Silvester, and James Adams, and Abraham Florence. I never +heard a syllable against them, or their lather. + +At No. 33, Marlborough Street, William Whipple kept a first rate +establishment, and had a high name, among the dandies, as an accomplished +haircutter. + +Jonathan Edes kept a small shop, in Ann Street, and had a fair run of +transient custom. He had always a keen edge and a delicate hand. He was +greatly urged to take a larger establishment, in a more fashionable part +of the town, near Cow Lane, but Mr. Edes was not ambitious, and turned a +wiry edge to all such suggestions. + +William Mock kept a shop, in Newbury Street, an excellent shaver, but +slow; his shop was not far from the White Horse. He was a peripatetic. I +suspect, but am not certain, that he shaved Dr. Lemuel Hayward. + +At the corner of Essex Street, old Auchmuty's Lane, George Gideon kept a +fine stand, clean towels, keen edge, and hot lather; but he had a rough, +coarse hand. He had been one of the sons of liberty, and his shop being +near the old site of Liberty tree, he was rather apt to take liberties +with his customers' noses, especially the noses of the disaffected. + +There were two professed wig-makers, in Boston, at that time, who +performed the ordinary functions of barbers beside, William Haslet, in +Adams Street, and John Bosson, in Orange Street. Mr. Bosson was very +famous, in his line, and in great request, among the ladies. + +In Marshall's Lane, Edward Hill was an admirable shaver; but, in the +department of hair cutting, inferior to Anthony Howe, whose exceedingly +neat and comfortable establishment was in South Latin School Street. An +excellent hotel was then kept, by Joshua Bracket, at the sign of +Cromwell's Head, on the very spot, where Palmer keeps his fruit shop, and +the very next door below the residence of Dr. John Warren. Bracket +patronized Howe's shop, and sent him many customers. Captain John Boyle, +whose house and bookstore were at No. 18 Marlborough Street, patronized +Anthony Howe. + +Samuel Jepson kept his _barbery_, as the shop was sometimes called, in +Temple Street, between the two bakeries of William Breed and Matthew +Bayley. + +James Tate was established in Purchase Street. He would have been a good +barber, had he not been a poor poet. He was proud of his descent from +Nahum Tate, the psalmodist, the copartner of Brady. Richard Fox kept also +in Purchase Street, and had a large custom. + +A much frequented barber's shop was kept, by William Pierce, near the +Boston Stone. Jonathan Farnham was an excellent barber, in Back Street. He +unluckily had an ominous squint, which was inconvenient, as it impressed +new comers, now and then, with a fear lest he might cut their throats. +Joseph Alexander shaved in Orange Street, and Theodore Dehon, on the north +side of the Old State House. + +Joseph Eckley was one of the best shavers and hair cutters in town, some +sixty years ago. His shop was in Wing's Lane. Daniel Crosby, who was also +a wig maker, in Newbury Street, was clerk of Trinity Church. + +Augustine Raillion, whose name was often written Revaillion kept his +stand, at No. 48 Newbury Street. He was much given to dogs, ponies, and +other divertisements. + +State Street was famous, for four accomplished barbers, sixty years +ago--Stephen Francis, John Gould, John M. Lane, and Robert Smallpiece. The +last was the father of Robert Smallpiece, who flourished here, some thirty +years ago or more, and kept his shop, in Milk Street, opposite the Old +South Church. + +It is well known, that the late Robert Treat Paine wrote an ode, upon the +occasion of the Spanish successes, to which he gave the title of "_Spain, +Commerce and Freedom, a National Ode_." It bore unquestionable marks of +genius; but some of the ideas and much of the phraseology were altogether +extravagant. It commenced finely-- + + "Sound the trumpet of fame! Strike that pæan again! + Religion a war against tyranny wages; + From her seat springs, in armor, regenerate Spain, + Like a giant, refresh'd by the slumber of ages. + From the place, where she lay, + She leaps in array, + Like Ajax, to die in the face of the day." + +The ode contained some strange expressions--"redintegrant war"--"though +the dismemberd earth effervesce and regender," and so many more, that the +ode, though evidently the work of a man of genius, was accounted +bombastic. A wag of that day, published a parody, of which this Robert +Smallpiece was the hero. It was called, if I mistake not--"Soap, Razors, +and Hot Water, a Tonsorial Ode." The first stanza ran thus-- + + "Strap that razor so keen! Strap that razor again! + And Smallpiece will shave 'em, if he can come at 'em; + From his stool, clad in aprons, he springs up amain, + Like a barber, refresh'd by the smell of pomatum. + From the place, where he lay, + He leaps in array, + To lather and shave, in the face of the day. + He has sworn from pollution our faces to clean, + Our cheeks, necks, and upper lips, whiskers and chin." + +"Paullo majora canamus." + + + + +No. CXLIV. + + +In 1784, Mr. Thomas Percival, an eminent physician, of Manchester, in +England, published a work, against duelling, and sent a copy to Dr. +Franklin. Dr. Franklin replied to Mr. Percival, from Passy, July 17, 1784, +and his reply contains the following observations--"Formerly, when duels +were used to determine lawsuits, from an opinion, that Providence would in +every instance, favor truth and right, with victory, they were excusable. +At present, they decide nothing. A man says something, which another tells +him is a lie. They fight; but whichever is killed, the point in dispute +remains unsettled. To this purpose, they have a pleasant little story +here. A gentleman, in a coffee-house, desired another to sit further from +him. 'Why so?'--'Because, sir, you stink.'--'That is an affront, and you +must fight me.'--'I will fight you, if you insist upon it; but I do not +see how that will mend the matter. For if you kill me, I shall stink too; +and, if I kill you, you will stink, if possible, worse than you do at +present.'" + +This is certainly germain to the matter. So far from perceiving any moral +courage, in those, who fight duels, nothing seems more apparent, than the +triumph of one fear, over four other fears--the fear of shame, over the +fear of bringing misery upon parents, wives and children--the fear of the +law--the fear of God--and the fear of death. Many a man will _brave_ +death, who fears it. + +Death is the king of terrors, and all men stand in awe of him, saving the +Christian, with his armor of righteousness about him, _cap-a-pie_; and +even he, perhaps, is slightly pricked, by that fear, now and then, in +articulo, between the joints of the harness. I must honestly confess, that +I once knew a man, who had a terrible vixen of a wife, and, when about to +die, he replied to his clergyman's inquiry, if he was not afraid to meet +the king of terrors, that he was not, for he had lived with the queen, for +thirty years. + +I do not suppose there is a more hypocritical fellow, upon earth, than a +duellist. Mandeville, in his Fable of the Bees, in the second dialogue, +part ii., puts these words into the mouth of Cleomenes, when speaking to +Horatio, on the subject of his duel: "I saw you, that very morning, and +you seemed to be sedate and void of passion: you could have no concern." +Horatio replies--"It is silly to show any, at such times; but I know best +what I felt; the struggle I had within was unspeakable: it is a terrible +thing. I would then have given a considerable part of my estate, that the +thing which forced me into it, had not happened; and yet, upon less +provocation, I would act the same part again, tomorrow." Such is human +nature, and many, who sit down quietly, to write in opposition to this +silly, senseless, selfish practice, would be quite apt enough, upon the +emergency, to throw aside the pacific steel, wherewith they indite, and +take up the cruel rapier. When I was a young man, a Mr. Ogilvie gave +lectures, in Boston, on various subjects. He was the son of Mr. Ogilvie, +to whose praises of the prospects in Scotland, Dr. Johnson replied, by +telling him, that "the noblest prospect, which a Scotchman ever sees, is +the high road, that leads him to England." + +The son of this gentleman gave his lectures, in the old Exchange Coffee +House, where I heard him, several times. Under the influence of opium, +which he used very freely, he was, occasionally, quite eloquent. He +lectured, one evening, with considerable power, against duelling. On his +way to his lodgings, some person repeated to him, several piquant and +cutting things, which a gentleman had said of his lecture. Ogilvie was +exceedingly incensed, and swore he would call him out, the very next day. + +This law of honor is written nowhere, unless, in letters of blood, in the +volume of pride, envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. "What," +says Cleomenes, in the work I have just now referred to--"What makes so +just and prudent a man, that has the good of society so much at heart, act +knowingly against the laws of his country?"--"The strict obedience," says +Horatio, "he pays to the laws of honor, which are superior to all +others."--"If men of honor," says Cleomenes, "would act consistently, they +ought all to be Roman Catholics."--"Why so?"--"Because," he rejoins, "they +prefer oral tradition, to all written laws; for nobody can tell, when, in +what king's or emperor's reign, in what country, or by what authority, +these laws of honor were first enacted: it is very strange they should be +of such force." + +It is certainly very strange, that their authority should have been +acknowledged, in some cases, not only by professing Christians, but even +by the ministers of religion. Four individuals, of this holy calling, +stand enrolled, as duellists, on the blood-guilty register of England. In +1764, the Rev. Mr. Hill was killed in a duel, by Cornet Gardner. On the +18th of June, 1782, the Rev. Mr. Allen killed Mr. Lloyd Dulany, in a duel. +In August, 1827, Mr. Grady was wounded in a duel, by the Rev. Mr. Hodson. +The Rev. Mr. Bate fought two duels--was subsequently made Baronet--fought +a third duel, and was made Dean. If such atrocities were not preëminently +horrible, how ridiculous they would be! + +It would not be agreeable to be placed in that category, in which a worthy +bishop placed those, who, after Dr. Johnson's death, began to assail his +reputation. "_The old lion is dead_," said the bishop, "_and now every ass +will be kicking at his hide_." Better and safer, however, to be there, +than to bide with those, who receive all the coarse, crude, mental +eructations of this truly good and great man, for _dicta perennia_. A +volume of outrageously false teachings might readily be selected, from the +recorded outpourings of this great literary whale, whenever Boswell, by a +little tickling, caused his Leviathan to spout. Too much tea, or none at +all, too much dinner, or too little certainly affected his qualifications, +as a great moral instructor; and, under the teazle of contradiction, the +nap of his great spirit fairly stood on end; and, at such times, he sought +victory too often, rather than the truth. It has always seemed to me, that +dinner-table philosophy, especially _aprés_, is often of very questionable +value. + +Dr. Johnson has frequently been quoted, on the subject of duelling. Some +of his opinions were delivered, on this subject, suddenly, and seem +entirely unworthy of his majestic powers. At a dinner party, at Gen. +Oglethorpe's--I refer to Boswell's Johnson, in ten volumes, Lond. 1835, +vol. iii. page 216--Boswell brought up the subject of duelling. Gen. +Oglethorpe, _the host_, "fired at this, and said, with a lofty air, +'undoubtedly a man has a right to defend his honor.'" + +Dr. Johnson, the _principal guest_, did the civil thing, and took the same +side, and is reported, by Boswell, to have said substantially--"Sir, as +men become in a high degree refined, various causes of offence arise; +which are considered to be of such importance, that life must be staked to +atone for them; though, in reality, they are not so. A body, that has +received a very fine polish, may be easily hurt. Before men arrive at +this artificial refinement, if one tells his neighbor he lies--his +neighbor tells him he lies--if one gives his neighbor a blow, his neighbor +gives him a blow: but, in a state of highly polished society, an affront +is held to be a serious injury. It must therefore be resented, or rather a +duel must be fought upon it; as men have agreed to banish, from society, +one, who puts up with an affront, without fighting a duel. Now, sir, it is +never unlawful to fight, in self-defence. He, then, who fights a duel, +does not fight from passion against his antagonist, but out of +self-defence, to avert the stigma of the world, and to prevent himself +from being driven out of society. I could wish there was not that +superfluity of refinement; but, while such notions prevail, no doubt a man +may lawfully fight a duel." I must have another witness, besides Mr. +Boswell, before I believe, that Dr. Johnson uttered these words. Dr. +Johnson could never have maintained, that the _lawfulness_ of an act +depended upon the existence of certain popular _notions_. Nor is it true, +nor was it then true, that _men have agreed to banish, from society, one, +who puts up with an affront, without fighting a duel_. + +Dr. Johnson seems to have made no distinction, between military men and +the rest of the world. It is impossible to doubt, that the Doctor was +graciously disposed to favor Gen. Oglethorpe's _notions_, and that he +would have taken the opposite side, had he been the guest of the +Archbishop of Canterbury. "_It is not unlawful to fight, in +self-defence_:" the law, by punishing all killing, in a duel, as murder, +in the very first degree, shows clearly enough, that duelling is never +looked upon, as fighting, in self-defence. It is remarkable, that Mr. +Boswell, himself a lawyer, should have thought this paragraph worthy of +preservation. + +On page 268, of the same volume, Mr. Boswell has the following +record--"April 19, 1773, he again defended duelling, and put his argument +upon what I have ever thought the most solid basis; that, if public war be +allowed to be consistent with morality, private war must be equally so." +And this, in Mr. Boswell's opinion, was _the most solid basis_! It is +difficult to perceive what is stubble, if this is not. Whither does this +argument carry us all, but back to the state of nature--of uncovenanted +man--of man, who has surrendered none of his natural rights, as a +consideration for the blessings of government and law? A state of nature +and a state of society are very different things. Who will doubt, that, if +Dr. Johnson really uttered these things, he would have talked more warily, +could he have imagined, that Bozzy would have transmitted them to distant +ages? + +It is, nevertheless, perfectly clear, that Dr. Johnson, upon both these +occasions, had talked, only for the pride and pleasure of talking; for Mr. +Boswell records a very different opinion, vol. iv. page 249. Sept. 19, +1773.--Dr. Johnson then had thoroughly digested General Oglethorpe's +dinner; and Mr. Boswell's record runs thus--"_He fairly owned he could not +explain the rationality of duelling_." + +Poor Mr. Boswell! It is not unreasonable, to suppose, that he had +inculcated his notions, upon the subject of duelling, in his own family, +and repeated, for the edification of his sons, the valuable sentiments of +Dr. Johnson. Mr. Boswell died, May 19, 1795. Seven and twenty years after +his death, his son, Sir Alexander Boswell, was killed, in a duel, at +Auchterpool, by Mr. James Stuart, March 26, 1822. Upon the trial of +Stuart, for murder, Mr. Jeffrey, who defended him, quoted the very +passage, in which Dr. Johnson had justified, to the father, that fatal sin +and folly, which had brought the son to an untimely grave! + + + + +No. CXLV. + + +Dr. Franklin, in his letter to Mr. Percival, referred to, in my last +number, observes, that, "formerly, when duels were used, to determine +lawsuits, from an opinion, that Providence would, in every instance, favor +truth and right with victory, they were excusable." Dr. Johnson did not +think this species of duel so absurd, as it is commonly supposed to be: +"it was only allowed," said he, "when the question was in equilibrio, and +they had a notion that Providence would interfere in favor of him, who was +in the right." Bos., vol. iv. page 14. The lawfulness of a thing may +excuse it: but there are some laws, so very absurd, that one stares at +them, in the statute book, as he looks at flies in amber, and marvels +"_how the devil they got there_." There was, I am gravely assured, in the +city of New Orleans, not very long ago, a practitioner of the healing art, +who was called _the Tetotum doctor_--he felt no pulse--he examined no +tongue--he asked no questions for conscience' sake, nor for any other--his +tetotum was marked with various letters, on its sides--he sat down, in +front of the patient, and spun his tetotum--if B. came uppermost, he bled +immediately--if P., he gave a purge--if E., an emetic--if C., a clyster, +and so on. If there be less wisdom, in this new mode of practice, than in +the old wager of Battel, I perceive it not. + +Both Drs. Franklin and Johnson refer to it, as an _ancient_ practice. It +was supposed, doubtless, to have become obsolete, and a dead letter, +extinguished by the mere progress of civilization. Much surprise, +therefore, was excited, when, at a period, as late as 1818, an attempt was +made to revive it, in the case of Ashford _vs._ Thornton, tried before the +King's Bench, in April of that year. This was a case of appeal of murder, +under the law of England. Thornton had violated, and murdered the sister +of Ashford; and, as a last resort, claimed his right to _wager of battel_. +The court, after full consideration, felt themselves obliged to admit the +claim, under the unrepealed statute of 9, William II., passed A. D. 1096. +Ashford, the appellant, and brother of the unfortunate victim, declined to +accept the challenge, and the murderer was accordingly discharged. This +occurred, in the 58th year of George III., and a statute was passed, in +1819, putting an end to this terrible absurdity. Had the appellant, the +brother, accepted this legalized challenge, what a barbarous exhibition +would have been presented to the world, at this late day, through the +inadvertence of Parliament, in omitting to repeal this preposterous law! + +In a former number, I quoted a sentiment, attributed, by Boswell, to Dr. +Johnson, and which, I suppose, was no deliberate conviction of his, but +uttered, in the course of his dinner-table talk, for the gratification of +Gen. Oglethorpe, "_Men have agreed to banish from society, a man, who puts +up with an affront without fighting a duel_." This is not asserted, as an +independent averment, but assumed or taken for granted, as the basis of +the argument, such as it was. Is this a fact? Cannot cases innumerable be +stated, to prove, that it is not? The words, ascribed to Dr. Johnson, are +not confined to any class or profession, but are of universal +application. Have men agreed to banish from society every man, who refuses +to fight a duel, when summoned to that refreshing amusement? Let us +examine a few cases. General Jackson did not lose caste, because he +omitted to challenge Randolph, for pulling his nose. Josiah Quincy was not +banished from society, for refusing the challenge of a Southern Hotspur. I +believe, that Judge Thacher, of Maine, would have been much less +respected, had he gone out to be shot, when invited, than he ever has +been, for the very sensible answer to his antagonist, that he would talk +to Mrs. Thacher about it, and be guided by her opinion. Nobody ever +supposed, that Judge Breckenridge suffered, in character or standing, +because he told his challenger, that he _wouldn't come_; but, that he +might sketch his, the Judge's, figure, on a board, and fire at that, till +he was weary, at any distance he pleased; and if he hit it, upon a +certificate of the fact, the Judge would agree to it. + +Had Hamilton refused the challenge of Burr, his _deliberate murderer_, his +fame would have remained untarnished--his countrymen would never have +forgotten the 14th of October, 1781--the charge of that advanced +corps--the fall of Yorktown! On his death-bed, Hamilton expressed his +abhorrence of the practice; and solemnly declared, should he survive, +never to be engaged in another duel. "_Pendleton knows_," said he, in a +dying hour, referring to Burr, and addressing Dr. Hossack, "_that I did +not intend to fire at him_." How different from the blood-thirsty purposes +of his assassin! In vol. x. of Jeremy Bentham's works, pages 432-3, the +reader will find a letter from Dumont to Bentham, in which the Frenchman +says, referring to a conversation with Burr, in 1808, four years after the +duel--"_His duel with Hamilton was a savage affair_:" and Bentham +adds--"_He gave me an account of his duel with Hamilton; he was sure of +being able to kill him, so I thought it little better than murder_." + +In England, _politics_ seem to have given occasion to very many affairs of +this nature--the duels of the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun, in 1712, +fatal to both--Mr. Martin and Mr. Wilkes, in 1763--the Lords Townshend and +Bellamont, in 1773--C. J. Fox and Mr. Adam, in 1779--Capt. Fullerton and +Lord Shelburne, in 1780--Lord Macartney and Major General Stuart, in +1786--the Duke of York and Colonel Lenox, in 1789--Mr. Curran and Major +Hobart, in 1790--Earl of Lonsdale and Capt. Cuthbert, in 1792--Lord +Valentia and Mr. Gawler, in 1796--William Pitt and George Tierney, in +1798--Sir Francis Burdett and Mr. Paull, in 1807--Lord Castlereagh and Mr. +Canning, in 1809--Mr. O'Connell and Mr. D'Esterre, in 1815--Mr. Grattan +and the Earl of Clare, in 1820--Sir A. Boswell and James Stuart, in +1822--Mr. Long Wellesly and Mr. Crespigny, in 1828--the Duke of Wellington +and the Earl of Winchelsea, in 1829--Lord Alvanley and Morgan O'Connell, +in 1835--Sir Colquhon Grant and Lord Seymour, in 1835--Mr. Roebuck and Mr. +Black, in 1835--Mr. Ruthven and Mr. Scott, in 1836--the Earl of Cardigan +and Mr. Tuckett, in 1840. + +Sir J. Barrington says, that, during his grand climacteric, two hundred +and twenty-seven duels were fought. In different ages and nations, various +preventives have been employed. Killing in a duel, here and in England, is +murder, in the surviving principal, and seconds. To add effect to the law, +it was proclaimed, by 30, Charles II., 1679, to be _an unpardonable +offence_. + +Disqualification from holding office, and dismissal from the army and navy +have, at different times, been held up, in terrorem. In England, eighteen +survivors have suffered the penalty, provided against duelling. Major +Campbell was hung, in 1808, for having killed Capt. Boyd, in a duel. + +In 1813, Lieutenant Blundell was killed in a duel at Carisbroke Castle: +the survivor and both seconds were tried, and convicted of murder; and, +though subsequently pardoned, dismissed the service. "Duels," says Sir +George Mackenzie, "are but illustrious murders." Mr. Addison recommends +the pillory. The councils of Valentia and Trent excommunicated such +combatants; but a man, who has made up his mind to fight a duel, cares +little for the church. + +During the first eighteen years of the reign of Henry IV., four thousand +persons were slain, in duels, in France. He published his famous edict of +Blois, against duels, in 1602: and, in 1609, added, to the existing +penalties, punishment by death, confiscations, fines, and imprisonment, +respectively, for all, concerned in fighting or abetting, even as +spectators, or as casual passers, who did not interpose. All this, +however, was the work of Sully: for this consistent king, at this very +time, gave Crequi leave to fight the Duke of Savoy, and even told him, +that he would be his second, were he not a king. + +Duels were so frequent, in the reign of his successor, Louis XIII., that +Lord Herbert, who was then ambassador, at the court of France, used to +say, there was not a Frenchman, worth looking at, who had not killed his +man. "_Who fought yesterday?_" was the mode of inquiring after the news of +the morning. The most famous duellist of the age was Montmorenci, Count de +Bouttville. He and the Marquis de Beuoron, setting their faces against all +authority, and, persisting in this amusement, it was found necessary to +take their stubborn heads off. They were tried, convicted, and beheaded. A +check was, at length, put to these excesses, by Louis XIV. A particular +account of all this will be found in Larrey, _Histoire de France, sons le +Régne de Louis XIV._, tom. ii. p. 208. Matters, during the minority of +Louis XIV., had come to a terrible pass. The Dukes de Beaufort and Nemours +had fought a duel, with four seconds each, and converted it into a _Welch +main_, as the cock-fighters term a _meleé_. They fought, five to five, +with swords and pistols. Beaufort killed Nemours--the Marquis de Villars +killed D'Henricourt, and D'Uzerches killed De Ris. In 1663, another affair +took place, four to four. The king finally published his famous edict of +1679. The marshals of France and the nobility entered into a solemn league +and covenant, never to fight a duel, on any pretence whatever; and Louis +le Grand adhered to his oath, and resolutely refused pardon to every +offender. This greatly checked the evil, for a time. + +Kings will die, and their worthy purposes are not always inherited by +their successors; soon after the death of the great monarch, the practice +of duelling revived in France. + +The only radical and permanent preventive, of this equally barbarous, and +foolish custom, lies, in the moral and religious education of the people. +The infrequency of the practice, in New England, arises entirely from the +fact, that the moral and religious training of the community has taught +them to look upon a duellist, as an exceedingly unfashionable personage. + +New Englanders are a calculating race. They _calculate_, that it is +infinitely better to mind their business, and die quietly in their beds, +than to go out and be shot, by the very fellow, who has not the decency to +say he is sorry, for treading on their toes, when he was drunk--and they +are a fearful race, for they fear the reprehension of the wise and good, +and the commands of God, more than they fear the decisions of a lawless +tribunal, where fools sit in judgment, and whose absurd decrees are +written on the sand. + + + + +No. CXLVI. + + +Some nine and thirty years ago, I was in the habit, occasionally, when I +had no call, in my line, of strolling over to the Navy Yard, at +Charlestown, and spending an evening, in the cabin of a long, dismantled, +old hulk, that was lying there. Once in a while, we had a very pleasant +dinner party, on board that old craft. That cabin was the head-quarters of +my host. It was the cabin of that ill-fated frigate, the Chesapeake. My +friend had been one of her deeply mortified officers, when she was +surrendered, by James Barron, to the British frigate Leopard, without +firing a gun, June 23, 1807. + +A sore subject this, for my brave, old friend. I well remember to have +dined, in that cabin, one fourth of July, with some very pleasant +associates--there were ten of us--we were very noisy then--all, but +myself, are still enough now--they are all in their graves. I recollect, +that, towards the close of the entertainment, some allusion to the old +frigate, in which we were assembled, revived the recollection of the day, +when those stars and stripes came down. We sat in silence, listening to +the narrative of our host, whose feelings were feverishly and painfully +excited--"It would have been a thousand times better," said he, "if the +old hulk had gone to bottom and every man on board. The country might +then, possibly, have been spared the war; for our honor would have been +saved, and there would have been less to fight for. Unprepared as we were, +for such an attack, at a time of profound peace, we ought to have gone +down, like little Mudge, who, while his frigate was sinking, thanked God +the Blanche was not destined to wear French colors!" + +When he paused, and, with the back of his hand, brushed away the tears +from his eyes, we were all of his mind, and wished he had been in command, +that day, instead of James Barron; for this old friend of mine was a very, +very clever fellow--a warmer heart never beat in a braver bosom. There was +one thing, however, that I could never break him of, and yet I had some +little influence with him, in those days--I mean the _habit_ of fighting +duels. He would not harm a fly, but he would shoot a man, in an honorable +way, at the shortest notice, and the shortest distance. He fought a duel, +on one occasion, when, being challenged, and having the choice of +distance, he insisted on three paces, saying he was so near-sighted, he +could not hit a barn door, at ten. He was apt to be, not affectedly, but +naturally, jocular, on such occasions. + +Another old friend of mine, in by-gone days, the elder son of the late +Governor Brooks, was second, in one of these duels, to the friend, of whom +I am speaking. Major Brooks had, occasionally, indulged himself, in the +publication of poetical effusions. When the parties and their seconds came +upon the ground, he found, that he had brought no leather, to envelop the +ball, as usual, in loading; and, drawing a newspaper from his pocket, tore +off the corner, on which some verses were printed: at this moment, his +principal drawing near, said, in an under tone, "_I hope that isn't one of +your fugitive pieces, Alek_." + +Though our lines were, of late years, cast far apart, I always rejoiced in +his good fortune. After having occupied a very elevated position, for some +time, in the naval department, he fell--poor fellow--not in a duel--but in +a moment, doubtless, of temporary, mental derangement, by his own hand. +The news of my old friend's death reached me, just before dinner--I +postponed it till the next day--went home--sat alone--and had that old +dinner, in the cabin of the Chesapeake, warmed over, upon the coals of the +imagination, and seated around me every guest, who was there that day, +just as fresh, as if he had never been buried. + +James Barron was an unlucky dog, to say the least of it. Striking the +stars and stripes, without firing a gun, was enough for one life. For this +he was tried, found guilty, and suspended from duty, for five years, from +Feb. 8, 1808, and deprived of his pay. He went abroad; and, during his +absence, war was declared, which continued about two years, after the +termination of his suspension. He returned, at last, and sought +employment; Decatur officially opposed his claims; and thereupon he +challenged, and killed Decatur, the pride of the American navy; and, after +this, he received employment from the government. The services of James +Barron are not likely to be undervalued. Decatur's offence consisted, in +his declaration of opinion, that Barron did not return to the service of +his country, as in duty bound. The duel took place March 22, 1820. After +this, Barron demanded a Court of Inquiry, to settle this point. The Court +consisted of Commodores Stewart and Morris and Captain Evans, and +convened May 10, 1821, and the conclusion of the sentence is this--"It is +therefore the opinion of the court, that his (Barron's) absence from the +United States, without the permission of the government, was contrary to +his duty, as an officer, in the navy of the United States." + +Here then was another silly and senseless duel. Mr. Allen, in his +Biographical Dictionary remarks--"The correspondence issued in a challenge +from Barron, though he considered duelling '_a barbarous practice, which +ought to be exploded from civilized society_.' And the challenge was +accepted by Decatur, though he '_had long since discovered, that fighting +duels is not even an unerring criterion of personal courage_.'" + +They fired at the same instant; Barron fell immediately, wounded in the +hip, where Decatur had mercifully declared his intention to wound him; +Decatur stood erect, for a moment--put his hand to his right side--and +fell, mortally wounded. He was raised, and supported, a few steps, and +sunk down, exhausted, near Barron. Captain Mackenzie, in his Life of +Decatur, page 322, gives his opinion, that this duel could have been +gracefully prevented, on the ground; and such will be the judgment, +doubtless, of posterity. Capt. Jesse D. Elliot was the second of +Barron--Com. Bainbridge of Decatur. After they had taken their stands, +Barron said to Decatur, that he hoped, "_on meeting, in another world, +they would be better friends, than they had been in this_." + +To this Decatur replied, "_I have never been your enemy, sir_." "Why," +says Captain Mackenzie, "could not this aspiration for peace, between +them, in the next world, on one part, and this comprehensive disclaimer of +all enmity, on the other, have been seized by the friends, for the +purposes of reconciliation?" A pertinent question truly--but of very ready +solution. These seconds, like most others, acted, like military +undertakers; their office consists, as they seem to suppose, in seeing the +bodies duly cared for; and all consideration for the chief mourners, and +such the very principals often are, is out of the question. With all his +excellent qualities, Commodore Bainbridge, as every one, who knew him +well, will readily admit, was not possessed of that happy mixture of +qualities, to avail of this pacific _prestige_. It was an overture--such +Barron afterwards avowed it to have been. On the 10th of October, 1818, +Decatur had been the second of Com. Perry, in his duel with Captain Heath, +which was terminated, after the first fire, by Decatur's declaration, +that Com. Perry had avowed his purpose, not to fire at Capt Heath. Had +Perry lived, and been at hand, it is highly probable, that Decatur would +not have fallen, for Perry would, doubtless, have been his second, and +readily availed of the expressions of the parties, on the ground. + +Had Charles Morris, whose gallantry and discretion have mingled into a +proverb--had he been the second of his old commander, by whose side, he +stood, on the Philadelphia's deck, in that night of peril, February, 1804, +who can doubt, the pacific issue of this most miserable adventure! +Seconds, too frequently, are themselves the instigators and supporters of +these combats. True or false, the tale is a fair one, of two friends, who +had disputed over their cups; and, by the exciting expressions of some +common acquaintances, were urged into a duel. They met early the next +morning--the influence of the liquor had departed--the seconds loaded the +pistols, and placed their principals--but, before the word was given, one +of them, rubbing his eyes, and looking about him, exclaims--"there is some +mistake, there can be no enmity between us two, my old friend; these +fellows, who have brought us here, upon this foolish errand, are our +enemies, let us fire at them." The proposition was highly relished, by the +other party, and the seconds took to their heels. + +Well: we left Decatur and Barron, lying side by side, and weltering in +their blood. The strife was past, and they came to a sort of friendly +understanding. Barron, supposing his wound to be fatal, said all things +had been conducted honorably, and that he forgave Decatur, from the bottom +of his heart. Mackenzie, in a note, on page 325, refers to a conversation +between them, as they lay upon the ground, until the means of +transportation arrived. He does not give the details, but says they would +be "creditable to the parties, and soothing to the feelings of the +humane." I understood, at the time, from a naval officer of high rank, and +have heard it often, repeated, that Decatur said, "Barron, why didn't you +come home and fight your country's battles?" that Barron replied, "I was +too poor to pay my debts, and couldn't get away,"--and that Decatur +rejoined, "If I had known that, we should not be lying here." Strip this +matter of its honorable epidermis, and there is something quite ridiculous +in the idea of doing such an unpleasant thing, and all for nothing! + +These changes, from hostility to amity, are often extremely sudden. I have +read, that Rapin, the historian, when young, fought a duel, late in the +evening, with small swords. His sword broke near the hilt--he did not +perceive it, and continued to fence with the hilt alone. His antagonist +paused and gave him notice; and, like the two girls, in the Antijacobin, +they flew into each other's arms, and "swore perpetual amity." + + + + +No. CXLVII. + + +M. De Vassor wrote with a faulty pen, when he asserted, in his history, +that the only good thing Louis XIV. did, in his long reign of fifty-six +years, consisted in his vigorous attempts, to suppress the practice of +duelling. Cardinal Richelieu admits, however, in his _Political +Testament_, that his own previous efforts had been ineffectual, although +he caused Messieurs de Chappelle and Bouteville to be executed, for the +crime, in disregard of the earnest importunities of their numerous and +powerful friends. No public man ever did more, for the suppression of the +practice, than Lord Bacon, while he was attorney general. His celebrated +charge, upon an information in the star chamber, against Priest & Wright, +vol. iv. page 399, Lond. 1824, was ordered to be printed, by the Lords of +Council; and was vastly learned and powerful, in its way. It is rather +amusing, upon looking at the decree, which followed, dated Jan. 26, 2 +James I., to see how such matters were then managed; the information, +against Priest, was, "_for writing and sending a letter of challenge +together with a stick, which should be the length of the weapon_." + +Such measures are surely well enough, as far as they go; but can be of no +lasting influence, unless certain processes are simultaneously carried on, +to meliorate the moral tone, in society. Without the continual employment +of moral and religious alteratives--laws, homilies, charges, decrees, +ridicule, menances of disinherison here, and damnation hereafter will be +of very little use. They are outward applications--temporary repellants, +which serve no other purpose, than to drive back the distemper, for a +brief space, but reach not the seat of the disorder. As was stated, in a +former number, nothing will put an end to this practice, but +indoctrination--the mild, antiphlogistic system of the Gospel. Wherever +its gentle spirit prevails, combined with intellectual and moral culture, +there will be no duels. Temperance forms, necessarily, an important part +of that antiphlogistic system--for a careful examination will show, that, +in a very great number of cases, duels have originated over the table--we +import them, corked up in bottles, which turn out, now and then, to be +vials of wrath. + +One of the most ferocious duels, upon record, is that, between Lord Bruce +and Sir Edward Sackville, of which the survivor, Sir Edward, wrote an +account from Louvain, Sept. 8, 1613. These fellows appear to have been +royal tigers, untameable even by Herr Driesbach. This brutal and bloody +fight took place, at Bergen op Zoom, near Antwerp. The _cause_ of this +terrible duel has never been fully ascertained, but the _manner and +instrument_, by which these blood-thirsty gentlemen were put in the +ablative, are indicated in the letter--they fought with _rapiers and in +their shirts_. I have neither room nor taste for the details: by the +curious in such matters, some account may be gathered, in Collins's +Peerage, which refers to the correspondence, preserved in manuscript, in +Queen's College library, Oxford. These, with Sir Edward's letter, may be +found in Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses also, vol. iii. page 314, Lond. 1817. +Wood says--"_he (Sackville) entered into a fatal quarrel, upon a subject +very unwarrantable, with a young Scottish nobleman, the Lord Bruce_." +Sackville was afterward Earl of Dorset. A more accessible authority, for +the reader, probably, is the Guardian, vol. iii. No. 133, though the +former is more full, and taken from the original manuscript, in the +Ashmole Museum, with the ancient spelling. + +The duel, with swords, between the Lords Mohun and Hamilton, in Hyde Park, +Nov. 15, 1712, was nearly as brutal. Both were killed. Richard Brinsley +Sheridan's duel with Matthews--the second I mean, for they had two +duels--was a very doglike thing indeed. They fought, first, with pistols, +and, not killing each other, as speedily as they wished, resorted to their +swords. They cut and pricked each other, at a terrible rate; and, losing +all patience and temper, closed, rough and tumble, went heels over head, +rolled, and puffed, and tussled, in the dust and dirt, till, at last, they +were literally pulled apart, like two dogs, by their tails, and a part of +Matthews' sword was found sticking in Sheridan's ear. Gentlemanly +satisfaction this! It has sometimes occurred, that advantages, unduly +taken, on the ground, such as firing out of order, for example, have +converted the killing into murder, in the eyes even of the seconds, which +it ever is, at all such meetings, in the eye of the law. Such was the case +in the duels, between M'Keon and Reynolds, Jan. 31, 1788, and between +Campbell and Boyd, June 23, 1808. + +Doubtless, there are men of wonderfully well balanced minds, who go about +their business, with great apparent composure, after they have killed +their antagonists in duels. Now and then, there is one, who takes things +more gravely--_nervously_, perhaps. Poor fellow, he feels rather +unpleasantly, when he chances to go by the husbandless mansion--or passes +that woman, whom he has made a widow--or sees, hand in hand, those little +children, in their sober garments, whom the accursed cunning of his red, +right hand has rendered orphans! Such feeble spirits there are--the heart +of a duellist should be made of sterner stuff. + +June 8, 1807, Mr. Colclough was killed in a duel, by Mr. Alcock, who +immediately lost his reason, and was carried from the ground to the +madhouse. Some years ago, I visited the Lunatic Hospital in Philadelphia; +and there saw, among its inmates, a well known gentleman, who had killed +_his friend_, in a duel. He had referred, while conversing, to his hair, +which had grown very gray, since I last saw him. A bystander said, in a +mild way--gray hairs are honorable--"_Aye_," he replied, "_honor made my +hairs gray_." + +I know, very well, that the common, lawless duel is supposed, by many +persons, to have sprung from the old _wager of battel_, defined, by Fleta, +in his law Latin, _singularis pugnus inter duos ad probandum litem, et qui +vicit probasse intelligitur_. The first time we hear of the _wager of +Battel_, as a written judicial rule, is A. D. 501, in the reign of +Gundibald, king of Burgundy; and it was in use, among the Germans, Danes, +and Franks. The practice or usage was common, however, to all the Celtic +nations. It came into England, with William the Conqueror. It happens, +however, that men have ever been disposed to settle their disputes, by +fighting about them, since the world began. + +If the classical reader will open his Velleius Paterculus, lib. ii., and +read the first sentence of section 118, he will see, that, when Quintilius +Varus endeavored to persuade the rude Germans, to adopt the laws and +usages of Rome, in the adjustment of their disputes, between man and man, +they laughed at his simplicity, and told him they had a summary mode of +settling these matters, among themselves, by the arm of flesh. This +occurred, shortly after the birth of Christ, or about 500 years _before_ +the time of Gundibald. Instead of attempting to trace the origin of modern +duelling to the legalized _wager of battel_, we may as well look for its +moving cause, in the heart of man. + +Duels are of very ancient origin. Abel was a noncombatant. Had it been +otherwise, the affair, between him and Cain, would have been the first +affair of honor; and his death would not have been _murder_, but _killing +in a duel_! One thousand and fifty-eight years, according to the +chronology of Calmet, before the birth of Christ, the very first duel was +fought, near a place called _Shochoh_, which certainly sounds as roughly, +on the ear, as _Hoboken_. There seems not to have been, upon that +occasion, any of the ceremony, practised, now-a-days--there were no +regular seconds--no surgeons--no marking off the ground--and each party +had the right, to use whatever weapons he pleased. + +Two armies were drawn up, in the face of each other. A man, of unusually +large proportions, stepped between them, and proposed an adjustment of +their national differences, by single combat, and challenged any man of +his opponents, to fight a duel with him. He was certainly a fine looking +fellow, and armed to the teeth. He came, without any second or friend, to +adjust the preliminaries; and no one was with him, but an armor bearer, +who carried his shield. The audacity of this unexpected challenge, and the +tremendous limbs of the challenger, for a time, produced a sort of panic, +in the opposite army--no man seemed inclined to break a spear with the +tall champion. At last, after he had strutted up and down, for some time, +there came along a smart little fellow, a sort of cowboy or sheep-herd, +who was sent to the army by his father, with some provisions, for his +three brothers, who had enlisted, and a few fine cheeses, for the colonel +of their regiment, the father thinking, very naturally, doubtless, that a +present of this kind might pave the way for their promotion. The old +gentleman's name was Jesse--an ancestor, doubtless, of John Heneage Jesse, +whose memoirs of George Selwyn we have all read, with so much pleasure. +The young fellow arrived with his cheeses, at the very time, when this +huge braggart was going about, strutting and defying. Hearing, that the +King had offered his daughter in marriage, with a handsome dowry, to any +one, who would kill this great bugbear out of the way, this stripling +offered to do it. + +When he was brought into the royal presence, the King, struck by his youth +and slender figure, told him, without ceremony, that the proposition was +perfect nonsense, and that he would certainly get his brains knocked out, +by such a terrible fellow. But the young man seemed nothing daunted, and +respectfully informed his majesty, that, upon one occasion, he had had an +affair with a lion, and, upon another, with a bear, and that he had taken +the lion by the beard, and slain him. + +The King finally consented, and proceeded to put armor on the boy, who +told his majesty, that he was very much obliged to him, but had much +rather go without it. The challenge was duly accepted. But, when they came +together, on the ground, all the modern notions of etiquette appear to +have been set entirely at defiance. Contrary to all the rules of +propriety, the principals commenced an angry conversation. When the +challenger first saw the little fellow, coming towards him, with a stick +and a sling, he really supposed they were hoaxing him. He felt somewhat, +perhaps, like Mr. Crofts, when he was challenged, in 1664, by Humphrey +Judson, the dwarf; who, nevertheless, killed him, at the first fire. + +When the youngster marched up to him, the challenger was very indignant, +and asked if he took him for a dog, that he came out to him, with a stick; +and, in a very ungentlemanly way, hinted something about making mince meat +of his little antagonist, for the crows. The little fellow was not to be +outdone, in this preparatory skirmish of words; for he threatened to take +off the giant's head in a jiffy, and told him the ravens should have an +alderman's meal, upon his carcass. + +Such bandying of rough words is entirely out of order, on such occasions. +At it they went; and, at the very first fire, down came the bully upon his +face, struck, upon the frontal sinus, with a smooth stone from a sling. +The youngster, I am sorry to say, contrary to all the rules of duelling, +ran up to him, after he was down, and chopped off his head, with his own +sword; for, as I have already stated, there were no seconds, and there was +no surgeon at hand, to attend to the mutilated gentleman, after he was +satisfied. + +The survivor, who seems to have been the founder of his own +fortune--_novus homo_--became eminently distinguished for his fine +poetical talents, and composed a volume of lyrics, which have passed +through innumerable editions. The one hundred and forty-fourth of the +series is supposed, by the critics, to have been commemorative of this +very affair of honor--_Blessed be the Lord, my strength, who teacheth my +hands to war, and my fingers to fight_. + + + + +No. CXLVIII. + + +The duel, between David and Goliath, bears a striking resemblance to that, +between Titus Manlius and the Gaul, so finely described, by Livy, lib. +vii. cap. 10. In both cases, the circumstances, at the commencement, were +precisely alike. The armies of the Hernici and of the Romans were drawn +up, on the opposite banks of the Anio--those of the Israelites and of the +Philistines, on two mountains, on the opposite sides of the valley of +Elah. "Tum eximia corporis magnitudine in vacuum pontem Gallus processit, +et quantum maxima voce potuit, _quem nunc_ inquit _Roma virum fortissimum +habet, procedat, agedum, ad pugnam, ut noster duorum eventus ostendat, +utra gens bello sit melior_." Then, a Gaul of enormous size, came down +upon the unoccupied bridge, and cried out, as loud as he could, let the +bravest of the Romans come forth--let him come on--and let the issue of +our single combat decide, which nation is superior in war.--And there went +out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath, +whose height was six cubits and a span. * * * * And he stood, and cried +unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, why are ye come out to set +your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants of Saul? +Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to +fight with me and to kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I +prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve +us. + +The next point, is the effect upon the two armies: "Diu inter primores +juvenum Romanorum silentium fuit, quum et abnuere certamen vererentur, et +præcipuam sortem periculi petere nollent." There was a long silence, upon +this, among the chiefs of the young Romans; for, while they were afraid to +refuse the challenge, they were reluctant to encounter this peculiar kind +of peril.--When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, +they were dismayed and greatly afraid. + +After Titus Manlius had accepted the challenge, he seems desirous of +giving his commander a proof of his confidence in himself, and the +reasons, or grounds, of that confidence: "Si tu permittis, volo ego illi +belluæ ostendere, quando adeo ferox præsultat hostium signis, me ex ea +familia ortum, quæ Gallorum agmen ex rupe Tarpeia dejecit." If you will +permit me, I will show this brute, after he has vaunted a little longer, +in this braggart style, before the banners of the enemy, that I am sprung +from the family, that hurled the whole host of Gauls from the Tarpeian +rock.--And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him, thy +servant will go and fight with this Philistine. * * * * Thy servant kept +his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out +of the flock. And I went out after him, and delivered it out of his mouth; +and when he arose against me, I caught him, by his beard, and smote him +and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this +uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them. + +The difference in their port and appearance may also be considered. +"Nequaquam visu ac specie æstimantibus pares. Corpus alteri magnitudine +eximium, versicolori veste, pictisque et auro cælatis refulgens armis; +media in altero militaris statura, modicaque in armis habilibus magis quam +decoris species." In size and appearance, there was no resemblance. The +frame of the Gaul was enormous. He wore a vest whose color was changeable, +and his refulgent arms were highly ornamented and studded with gold. The +Roman was of middle military stature, and his simple weapons were +calculated for service and not for show. Of Goliath we read--He had a +helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail. * * * +And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between +his shoulders, and the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and +David took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of +the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip, +and his sling was in his hand. The General's consent is given to Titus +Manlius, in these words--"Perge et nomen Romanum invictum, juvantibus +diis, præsta." Go, and have a care, the gods assisting thee, that the +Roman name remains unconquered. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the +Lord be with thee. The Philistine and the Gaul were both speedily killed, +and here the parallel ends; for David hewed off the Philistine's head. The +Roman was more generous than the child of Israel--"Jacentis inde corpus, +ab omni alia vexatione intactum, uno torque spoliavit; quem, respersum +cruore, collo circumdedit suo." He despoiled the body of his fallen foe, +in no otherwise insulted, of a chain, which, bloody, as it was, he placed +around his own neck. I cannot turn from this gallant story, without +remarking, that this Titus Manlius must have been a terrible wag: Livy +says, that his young companions having prepared him for the duel--"armatum +adornatumque adversus Gallum stolide lætum, et (quoniam id quoque memoria +dignum antiquis visum est) linguam, etiam ab irrisu exscrentem, +producunt"--they brought him forward, armed and prepared for his conflict +with the Gaul, childishly delighted, and (since the ancients have thought +it worth repeating) waggishly thrusting his tongue out of his mouth, in +derision of his antagonist. + +Doubtless, the challenge of Charles V. by Francis I., in which affair, +Charles, in the opinion of some folks, showed a little, if the cant phrase +be allowable, of the white feather, gave an impetus to the practice of +duelling. Doubtless, the _wager of battel_ supplied something of the form +and ceremony, the use of seconds, and measuring the lists, the signal of +onset, &c. of modern duels: but the principle was in the bosom of Adam, +and the practice is of the highest antiquity. + +Woman, in some way or other, has been, very often, at the bottom of these +duels. Helen, as the chief occasion of the Trojan war, was, of course, the +cause of Hector's duel with Ajax, which duel, as the reader will see, by +turning to his Iliad, lib. viii. v. 279, was stopped, by the police, at +the very moment, when both gentlemen, having thrown their lances aside, +were drawing their long knives. Lavinia set Turnus and Æneas by the cars. +Turnus challenged him twice. Upon the first occasion, Æneas was unwell; +but, upon the second, they had a meeting, and he killed his man. David +would not have accepted Goliath's challenge, had not his heart been set +upon Saul's daughter, _and the shekels_. I find nothing of this, in the +commentators; but the reader may find it, in the Book of Nature, _passim_. +For one so young, David practised, with all the wariness of an old +bachelor. When he first arrived in camp, some one asked him, if he had +seen Goliath, and added, _and it shall be that the man who killeth him +the King will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his +daughter_. David had no idea of going upon a fool's errand; and, to make +matters sure, he turned to those about him, and inquired, clearly for +confirmation, _what shall be done to the man that killeth this +Philistine?_ And they repeated what he had heard before. David was a +discreet youth, for one of his time, the titman, as he was, of Jesse's +eight children--and, to avoid all chance of mistake, he walks off to +another person, near at hand, and repeats his inquiry, and receives a +similar answer. Sam. I. xvii. 30. A wide difference there is, between the +motives of Titus Manlius, in accepting the challenge of the Gaul, and +those of David, in accepting that of the Philistine--the love of country +and of glory in the first--in the last, the desire of possessing Saul's +daughter _and the shekels_. + +Duels have been occasioned, by other Helens than her of Troy. A pleasant +tale is told, by Valvasor, in his work, _La Gloire de Duche de Carniole_, +Liv. ii. p. 634--of Andrew Eberhard Rauber, a German Knight, and Lord of +the fortress of Petronel. Maximilian II., Emperor of Germany, had a +natural daughter, Helen Scharseginn, of exquisite beauty, who had a brace +of gallant admirers, of whom Rauber was one--the other was a Spanish +gentleman, of high rank. Both were at the court of Maximilian, and in such +high favor, that the Emperor was extremely unwilling to disoblige either. +Upon the lifting of a finger, these gallants were ready to fight a score +of duels, for the lady's favor, in the most approved fashion of the day. +To this the Emperor was decidedly opposed; and, had they resorted to such +extremities, neither would have taken anything, by his motion. The Emperor +secretly preferred the German alliance, but was unwilling to offend the +Spaniard. He was young and of larger proportions, than his German rival; +but Rauber's prodigious strength had become a proverb, through the land. +He had the power of breaking horse-shoes with his thumbs and fingers; and, +upon one occasion, at Gratz, in the presence of the Archduke Charles, +according to Valvasor's account, he seized an insolent Jew, by his long +beard, and actually pulled his jaw off. He was a terrible antagonist, of +course. + +Maximilian, heartily wearied with their incessant strife and importunity, +finally consented, that the question should be settled, by a duel, in +presence of the whole court. The hour was appointed, and the parties duly +notified. The terms of the conflict were to be announced, by the Emperor. +The day arrived. The Lords and Ladies of the Court were assembled, to +witness the combat; and the rivals presented themselves, with their +weapons, prepared to struggle manfully, for life and love. + +The Emperor commanded the combatants to lay their rapiers aside, and each +was presented with a large bag or sack; and they were told, that whichever +should succeed, in putting the other into the sack, should be entitled to +the hand of the fair Helen Scharseginn. + +Though, doubtless, greatly surprised, by this extraordinary announcement, +there appeared to be no alternative, and at it they went. After a +protracted struggle, amid shouts of laughter from the spectators, Rauber, +Lord of the fortress of Petronel, obtained the victory, bagged his bird, +and encased the haughty Spaniard in the sack, who, shortly after, departed +from the court of Maximilian. + +Would to God, that all duels were as harmless, in their consequences. It +is not precisely so. When the gentleman, that does the murder, and the two +or more gentlemen, who aid and abet, have finished their handiwork, the +end is not yet--mother, wife, sisters, brothers, children are involuntary +parties--the iron, or the lead, which pierced that selfish heart, must +enter their very souls. + +Where these encounters have proved fatal, the survivors, as I have stated, +have, occasionally, gone mad. It is not very common, to be sure, for duels +to produce such melancholy consequences, as those, which occurred, after +that, between Cameron and McLean, in 1722. McLean was killed. Upon +receiving the intelligence, his aged mother lost her reason, and closed +her days in a mad-house. The lady, to whom he was betrothed, expired in +convulsions, upon the third day, after the event--_n'importe!_ + + + + +No. CXLIX. + + +It is quite unpleasant, after having diligently read a volume of memoirs, +or voyages, or travels, and carefully transferred a goodly number of +interesting items to one's common-place book--to discover, that the work, +_ab ovo usque ad mala_, is an ingenious tissue of deliberate lies. It is +no slight aggravation of this species of affliction, to reflect, that one +has highly commended the work, to some of his acquaintances, who are no +way remarkable, for their bowels of compassion, and whose intelligible +smile he is certain to encounter, when they first meet again, after the +_éclaircissement_. + +There is very little of the _hæc olim meminisse juvabit_, in store, for +those, who have been thus misled. If there had been, absolutely, no +foundation for the story, in the credulity of certain members of the Royal +Society, Butler would not, probably, have produced his pleasant account of +"_the elephant in the moon_." There were some very grave gentlemen, of +lawful age, who were inclined to receive, for sober truth, that +incomparable hoax, of which Sir John Herschell was represented, as the +hero. + +Damberger's travels, in Africa, and his personal adventures there gave me +great pleasure, when I was a boy; and I remember to have felt excessively +indignant, when I discovered, that the work was written, in a garret, in +the city of Amsterdam, by a fellow who had never quitted Europe. + +I never derived much pleasure or instruction, from Wraxall's memoirs of +the Kings of France of the race of Valois, nor from his tour through the +Southern Provinces, published in 1777. But his Historical memoirs of his +own time, prepared, somewhat after the manner of De Thou, and Bishop +Burnet, and extending from 1772 to 1784, I well remember to have read, +with very considerable pleasure, in 1816; and was pained to find them cut +up, however unmercifully, with so much irresistible justice, in the +Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews, and the British Critic. Mr. Wraxall made +matters immeasurably worse, by his defence. There could be no adequate +defence, for a man, who had asserted, that Lord Dorset told him an +anecdote, touching an event, _which event did not happen, till Lord Dorset +was dead_. A single instance of this kind, in a writer of common accuracy, +might be carried, in charity, to the debit of chance, or forgetfulness; +but the catalogue, presented by the reviewers, is truly overpowering. To +close the account, Sir N. W. Wraxall was, in May, 1816, convicted of a +libel, in these very memoirs, upon Count Woronzow, the Russian minister; +and Mr. Wraxall was imprisoned in Newgate, for that offence. + +After this disqualification of my witness, I am, nevertheless, about to +vouch in Mr. Wraxall, by reciting one of his stories, in illustration of a +principle. I quote from memory--I have not the work--the reviewers +prevented me from buying it. June 16, 1743, the battle of Dettingen was +fought, and won, by George II. in person, and the Earl of Stair, against +the Marechal de Noailles and the Duke de Grammont. Mr. Wraxall +relates--_me memoria mea non fallente_--the following incident. After the +battle, the Earl gave a dinner, at his quarters; and, among the guests, +were several of the French prisoners of war. Of course, the Earl of Stair +presided, at one end of the table--at the other sat a gentleman, of very +common-place appearance, of small stature, thin and pale, evidently an +invalid, and who, unless addressed, scarcely opened his lips, during the +entertainment. This unobtrusive, and rather unprepossessing, young man was +the Lord Mark Kerr, the nephew, and the aid-de-camp of the Earl. After the +removal of the cloth, the gentlemen discussed the subject of the battle, +and the manoeuvres, by which the victory had been achieved. A difference +of opinion arose, between the Earl and one of the French Colonels, as to +the time of a particular movement. The latter became highly excited, and +very confident he was right. The Earl referred to Lord Mark Kerr, whose +position, at the time of that movement, rendered his decision conclusive. +Lord Mark politely assured the French Colonel, that he was mistaken; upon +which the Frenchman instantly insulted him, without saying a word, but in +that felicitous manner, which enables a Frenchman to convey an insult, +even by his mode of taking snuff. Soon after, the party broke up, and the +Earl of Stair was left alone. In about half an hour, Lord Mark Kerr +returned, and found his uncle very much disturbed. + +"Nephew," said he, "you know my strong dislike of duelling. In our +situation we are sometimes, perhaps, unable to avoid it. The French +Colonel insulted you, at table; others noticed it, besides myself. I fear, +my dear nephew, you will have to ask him to apologize." + +"I noticed it myself, my Lord," replied the Lord Mark; "you need have no +trouble, on that account--we have already met--I ran him through the body; +and they are now burying him, in the outer court." + +Duels are often produced, by a foolish, and fatal misestimate, which one +man makes of another's temperament. The diminutive frame, the pale cheek, +and small voice, modest carriage, youth, and inexperience, afford no +certain indicia: _nimium ne crede colori_. Men of small stature, are +sometimes the more _brusque_, and more on the _qui vive_, from this very +circumstance. + + Ingentes animos angusto in pectore volvunt. + +That a man will not fight, like a dragon, simply because he has neither +the stature of Falstaff, nor the lungs of Bottom, is a well authenticated +_non sequitur_. + +A well told, and well substantiated illustration of all this, may be +found, in Mackenzie's Life of Decatur, page 55. I refer to the case of +Joseph Bainbridge, who, in 1803, when a midshipman, and an inexperienced +boy, was purposely and wantonly insulted, at Malta, by a professed +duellist, the Secretary of Sir Alexander Ball, the Governor. No one can +read Mackenzie's Narrative, without a conviction, that Bainbridge owed the +preservation of his life, to the address of Decatur. They met--fired +twice, at four paces; and, at the second fire, the English duellist fell, +mortally wounded in the head: Bainbridge was untouched. + +When I was a school boy, more than fifty years ago, I remember to have +read, in an English journal, whose name I have now forgotten, a story, +which may have been a fiction; but which was very naturally told, and made +a deep impression upon me then. I will endeavor to draw it forth from the +locker of my memory; and engage, beforehand, to be very much indebted to +any one, who will indicate its original source. + +Three young gentlemen, who had finished the most substantial part of their +repast, were lingering over their fruit and wine, at an eating-house, in +London; when a man, of middle age, and middle stature, entered the public +room, where they were sitting; seated himself, at one end of a small, +unoccupied table; and, calling the waiter, ordered a simple mutton chop, +and a glass of ale. His appearance, at first view, was not likely to +arrest the attention of any one. His hair was getting to be thin and gray; +the expression of his countenance was sedate, with a slight touch, +perhaps, of melancholy; and he wore a gray surtout, with a standing +collar, which, manifestly, had seen service, if the wearer had not--just +such a thing, as an officer would bestow upon his serving man. He might be +taken for a country magistrate, or an attorney, of limited practice, or a +schoolmaster. + +He continued to masticate his chop, and sip his ale, in silence, without +lifting his eyes from the table, until a melon seed, sportively snapped, +from between the thumb and finger of one of the gentlemen, at the opposite +table, struck him upon the right ear. His eye was instantly upon the +aggressor; and his ready intelligence gathered, from the illy suppressed +merriment of the party, that this petty impertinence was intentional. + +The stranger stooped, and picked up the melon seed, and a scarcely +perceptible smile passed over his features, as he carefully wrapped up the +seed, in a piece of paper, and placed it in his pocket. This singular +procedure, with their preconceived impressions of their customer, somewhat +elevated, as they were, by the wine they had partaken, capsized their +gravity entirely, and a burst of irresistible laughter proceeded from the +group. + +Unmoved by this rudeness, the stranger continued to finish his frugal +repast, in quiet, until another melon seed, from the same hand, struck +him, upon the right elbow. This also, to the infinite amusement of the +other party, he picked from the floor, and carefully deposited with the +first. + +Amidst shouts of laughter, a third melon seed was, soon after, discharged, +which hit him, upon the left breast. This also he, very deliberately took +from the floor, and deposited with the other two. + +As he rose, and was engaged in paying for his repast, the gayety of these +sporting gentlemen became slightly subdued. It was not easy to account for +this. Lavater would not have been able to detect the slightest evidence of +irritation or resentment, upon the features of the stranger. He seemed a +little taller, to be sure, and the carriage of his head might have +appeared to them rather more erect. He walked to the table, at which they +were sitting, and with that air of dignified calmness, which is a thousand +times more terrible than wrath, drew a card from his pocket, and presented +it, with perfect civility, to the offender, who could do no less than +offer his own, in return. While the stranger unclosed his surtout, to take +the card from his pocket, they had a glance at the undress coat of a +military man. The card disclosed his rank, and a brief inquiry at the bar +was sufficient for the rest. He was a captain, whom ill health and long +service had entitled to half pay. In earlier life he had been engaged in +several affairs of honor, and, in the dialect of the fancy, was a dead +shot. + +The next morning a note arrived at the aggressor's residence, containing a +challenge, in form, and one only of the melon seeds. The truth then +flashed before the challenged party--it was the challenger's intention to +make three bites at this cherry, three separate affairs out of this +unwarrantable frolic! The challenge was accepted, and the challenged +party, in deference to the challenger's reputed skill with the pistol, had +half decided upon the small sword; but his friends, who were on the alert, +soon discovered, that the captain, who had risen by his merit, had, in the +earlier days of his necessity, gained his bread, as an accomplished +instructor, in the use of that very weapon. They met and fired, +alternately, by lot; the young man had elected this mode, thinking he +might win the first fire--he did--fired, and missed his opponent. The +captain levelled his pistol and fired--the ball passed through the flap of +the right ear, and grazed the bone; and, as the wounded man involuntarily +put his hand to the place, he remembered that it was on the right ear of +his antagonist, that the first melon seed had fallen. Here ended the first +lesson. A month had passed. His friends cherished the hope, that he would +hear nothing more from the captain, when another note--a challenge of +course--and another of those accursed melon seeds arrived, with the +captain's apology, on the score of ill-health, for not sending it before. + +Again they met--fired simultaneously, and the captain, who was unhurt, +shattered the right elbow of his antagonist--the very point upon which he +had been struck by the second melon seed: and here ended the second +lesson. There was something awfully impressive, in the _modus operandi_, +and exquisite skill of this antagonist. The third melon seed was still in +his possession, and the aggressor had not forgotten, that it had struck +the unoffending gentleman, upon the left breast! A month had +past--another--and another, of terrible suspense; but nothing was heard +from the captain. Intelligence had been received, that he was confined to +his lodgings, by illness. At length, the gentleman who had been his +second, in the former duels, once more presented himself, and tendered +another note, which, as the recipient perceived, on taking it, contained +the last of the melon seeds. The note was superscribed in the captain's +well known hand, but it was the writing evidently of one, who wrote +_deficiente manu_. There was an unusual solemnity also, in the manner of +him, who delivered it. The seal was broken, and there was the melon seed, +in a blank envelope--"And what, sir, am I to understand by this?"--"You +will understand, sir, that my friend forgives you--he is dead." + + + + +No. CL. + + +A curious story of vicarious hanging is referred to, by several of the +earlier historians, of New England. The readers of Hudibras will remember +the following passage, Part ii. 407-- + + "Justice gives sentence, many times, + On one man for another's crimes. + Our brethren of New England use + Choice malefactors to excuse, + And hang the guiltless in their stead, + Of whom the churches have less need: + As lately 't happen'd:--in a town + There liv'd a cobbler, and but one, + That out of doctrine could cut use, + And mend men's lives, as well as shoes. + This precious brother having slain, + In times of peace, an Indian, + Not out of malice, but mere zeal, + Because he was an infidel; + The mighty Tottipottymoy + Sent to our ciders an envoy; + Complaining sorely of the breach + Of league, held forth by brother Patch, + Against the articles in force + Between both churches, his and ours, + For which he crav'd the saints to render + Into his hands, or hang th' offender: + But they, maturely having weigh'd + They had no more but him o' the trade, + A man that served them, in a double + Capacity, to teach and cobble, + Resolved to spare him; yet to do + The Indian Hoghan Moghan too + Impartial Justice, in his stead did + Hang an old weaver, that was bedrid." + +This is not altogether the sheer _poetica licentia_, that common readers +may suppose it to be. Hubbard, Mass. Hist. Coll. xv. 77, gives the +following version, after having spoken of the theft--"the company, as some +report pretended, in way of satisfaction, to punish him, that did the +theft, but in his stead, hanged a poor, decrepit, old man, that was +unserviceable to the company, and burthensome to keep alive, which was +the ground of the story, with which the merry gentleman, that wrote the +poem, called Hudibras, did, in his poetical fancy, make so much sport. Yet +the inhabitants of Plymouth tell the story much otherwise, as if the +person hanged was really guilty of stealing, as may be were many of the +rest, and if they were driven by necessity to content the Indians, at that +time to do justice, there were some of Mr. Weston's company living, it is +possible it might be executed not on him that most deserved, but on him +that could be best spared, or was not likely to live long, if let alone." + +Morton published his English Canaan, in 1637, and relates the story Part +iii. ch. iv. p. 108, but he states, that it was a proposal only, which was +very well received, but being opposed by one person, "they hanged up the +real offender." + +As the condemned draw nigh unto death--the scaffold--the gibbet--it would +be natural to suppose, that every avenue to the heart would be effectually +closed, against the entrance of all impressions, but those of terrible +solemnity; yet no common truth is more clearly established, than that +ill-timed levity, vanity, pride, and an almost inexplicable pleasure, +arising from a consciousness of being the observed of all observers, have +been exhibited, by men, on their way to the scaffold, and even with the +halter about their necks. + +The story is well worn out, of the wretched man, who, observing the crowd +eagerly rushing before him, on his way to the gallows, exclaimed, +"gentlemen, why so fast--there can be no sport, till I come!" + +In Jesse's memoirs of George Selwyn, i. 345, it is stated, that John +Wisket, who committed a most atrocious burglary, in 1763, the evidence of +which was perfectly clear and conclusive, insisted upon wearing a large +white cockade, on the scaffold, as a token of his innocence, and was swung +off, bearing that significant appendage. + +In the same volume, page 117, it is said of the famous Lord Lovat, that, +in Scotland, a story is current, that, when upon his way to the Tower, +after his condemnation, an old woman thrust her head into the window of +the coach, which conveyed him, and exclaimed--"_You old rascal, I begin to +think you will be hung at last_." To which he instantly replied--"_You old +b----h, I begin to think I shall_." + +In Walpole's letters to Mann, 163, a very interesting and curious account +may be found, of the execution of the Lords Kilmarnock, and Balmarino. +These Lords, with the Lord Cromartie, who was pardoned, were engaged, on +the side of the Pretender, in the rebellion of 1745. "Just before they +came out of the Tower, Lord Balmarino drank a bumper to King James's +health. As the clock struck ten, they came forth, on foot, Lord Kilmarnock +all in black, his hair unpowdered, in a bag, supported by Forster, the +great Presbyterian, and by Mr. Home, a young clergyman, his friend. Lord +Balmarino followed, alone, in a blue coat, turned up with red, _his +rebellious regimentals_, a flannel waistcoat, and his shroud beneath, the +hearses following. They were conducted to a house near the scaffold; the +room forwards had benches for the spectators; in the second was Lord +Kilmarnock; and in the third backwards Lord Balmarino--all three chambers +hung with black. Here they parted! Balmarino embraced the other, and +said--'My lord, I wish I could suffer for both.'" + +When Kilmarnock came to the scaffold, continues Walpole,--"He then took +off his bag, coat, and waistcoat, with great composure, and, after some +trouble, put on a napkin cap, and then several times tried the block, the +executioner, who was in white, with a white apron, out of tenderness +concealing the axe behind himself. At last the Earl knelt down, with a +visible unwillingness to depart, and, after five minutes, dropped his +handkerchief, the signal, and his head was cut off at once, only hanging +by a bit of skin, and was received in a scarlet cloth, by four +undertakers' men kneeling, who wrapped it up, and put it into the coffin +with the body; orders having been given not to expose the heads, as used +to be the custom. The scaffold was immediately new strewed with sawdust, +the block new covered, the executioner new dressed, and a new axe brought. +Then came old Balmarino, treading with the air of a general. As soon as he +mounted the scaffold, he read the inscription on his coffin, as he did +again afterwards: he then surveyed the spectators, who were in amazing +numbers, even upon masts of ships in the river; and, pulling out his +spectacles, read a treasonable speech, which he delivered to the sheriff, +and said the young Pretender was so sweet a prince, that flesh and blood +could not resist following him; and, lying down to try the block, he +said--'if I had a thousand lives I would lay them all down here in the +same cause.' He said, if he had not taken the sacrament the day before, +he would have knocked down Williamson, the Lieutenant of the Tower, for +his ill usage of him. He took the axe and felt of it, and asked the +headsman how many blows he had given Lord Kilmarnock, and gave him two +guineas. Then he went to the corner of the scaffold, and called very loud +to the Warder, to give him his periwig, which he took off, and put on a +night cap of Scotch plaid, and then pulled off his coat and waistcoat and +lay down; but being told he was on the wrong side, vaulted round, and +immediately gave the sign, by tossing up his arm, as if he were giving the +signal for battle. He received three blows, but the first certainly took +away sensation. As he was on his way to the place of execution, seeing +every window open, and the roofs covered with spectators--'Look, look,' he +cried, 'see how they are piled up like rotten oranges!'" + +Following the English custom, the clergymen of Boston were in the habit, +formerly, of preaching to those, who were under sentence of death. I have +before me, while I write, the following manuscript memoranda of Dr. Andrew +Eliot--"1746, July 24. Thursday lecture preached by Dr. Sewall to three +poor malefactors, who were executed P. M." "1747, Oct. 8. Went to +Cambridge to attend Eliza Wakefield, this day executed. Mr. Grady began +with prayer. Mr. Appleton preached and prayed." There is a printed sermon, +preached by Dr. Andrew Eliot, on the Lords' day before the execution of +Levi Ames, who was hung for burglary Oct. 21, 1773. Ames was present, and +the sermon was preached, by his particular request. The desire of +distinction dies hard, even in the hearts of malefactors. + +Dr. Andrew Eliot was a man of excellent sense, and disapproved of the +practice, then in vogue, of lionizing burglars and murderers, of which, +few, at the present day, I believe, have any just conception. For their +edification I subjoin a portion of a manuscript note, in the hand writing +of the late Dr. Ephraim Eliot, appended to the last page of the sermon, +delivered by his father. "Levi Ames was a noted offender--though a young +man, he had gone through all the routine of punishment; and there was now +another indictment against him, where there was positive proof, in +addition to his own confession. He was tried and condemned, for breaking +into the house of Martin Bicker, in Dock Square. His condemnation excited +extraordinary sympathy. _He was every Sabbath carried through the streets +with chains about his ankles and handcuffed, in custody of the Sheriff's +officers and constables, to some public meeting, attended by an +innumerable company of boys, women and men._ Nothing was talked of but +Levi Ames. The ministers were successively employed in delivering +occasional discourses. Stillman improved the opportunity several times, +and absolutely persuaded the fellow, that he was to step from the cart +into Heaven." + +It is quite surprising, that our fathers should have suffered this +interesting burglar--"_misguided_" of course--to be hung by the neck, till +he was dead. When an individual, as sanguine, as Dr. Stillman appears to +have been, in regard to Levi Ames, remarked of a notorious burglar, a few +days after his execution, that he had certainly been _born again_, an +incredulous bystander observed, that he was sorry to hear it, for some +dwelling-house or store would surely be broken open before morning. + + + + +No. CLI. + + +We are sufficiently acquainted with the Catholic practice of roasting +heretics--that of boiling thieves and other offenders is less generally +known. _Caldariis decoquere_, to boil them in cauldrons, was a punishment, +inflicted in the middle ages, on thieves, false coiners, and others. In +1532, seventeen persons, in the family of the Bishop of Rochester, were +poisoned by Rouse, a cook; the offence was, in consequence, made treason, +by 23 Henry VIII., punishable, by boiling to death. Margaret Davie was +boiled to death, for the like crime, in 1541. Quite a number of Roman +ladies, in the year 331 B. C., formed a poisoning society, or club; and +adopted this quiet mode of divorcing themselves from their husbands: +seventy of the sisterhood were denounced, by a slave, to the consul, +Fabius Maximus, who ordered them to be executed. None of these ladies were +boiled. + +Boiling the dead has been very customary, after beheading or hanging, and +drawing, and quartering, whenever the criminal was sentenced to be hung +afterwards, in chains. Thus father Strype--"1554.--Sir Thomas Wyatt's +fatal day was come, being the 11th of April, when, between nine and ten of +the clock, aforenoon, on Tower Hill, he was beheaded; and, by eleven of +the clock, he was quartered on the scaffold, and his bowels and members +burnt beside the scaffold; and, a car and basket being at hand, the four +quarters and the head were put into the basket, and conveyed to Newgate, +to be parboiled." One more quotation from Strype--"1557.--May 28th, was +Thomas Stafford beheaded on Tower Hill, by nine of the clock, Mr. Wode +being his ghostly father; and, after, three more, viz., Stowel, Proctor, +and Bradford were drawn from the Tower, through London, unto Tyburn, and +there hanged and quartered: and, the morrow after, was Stafford quartered, +and his quarters hanged on a car, and carried to Newgate to boil." + +How very ingenious we have been, since the days of Cain, in torturing one +another! Boiling and roasting are not to be thought of. The Turkish +bowstring will never be adopted here, nor the Chinese drop, nor their mode +of capital punishment, in which the criminal, having been stripped naked, +is so confined, that he can scarcely move a muscle, and, being smeared +with honey, is exposed to myriads of insects, and thus left to perish. +Crucifixion will never be popular in Massachusetts, though quite common +among the Syrians, Egyptians, Persians, Africans, Greeks, Romans, and +Jews. Starving to death, sawing in twain, and rending asunder, by strong +horses, have all been tried, but are not much approved of, by the moderns. +The rack may answer well enough, in Catholic countries, but, in this +quarter, there is a strong prejudice against it. Exposure to wild beasts +is objectionable, for two reasons; one of these reasons resembles the +first of twenty-four, offered to the Queen of Hungary, for not ringing the +bells upon her arrival,--there were no bells in the village--we have no +wild beasts. The second reason is quite germain--man is savage enough, +without any foreign assistance. Burying alive, though it has been +employed, as a punishment, in other countries, is, literally, too much for +flesh and blood; and, I am happy to say, there is not a sexton in this +city, who would, knowingly, be a party to such a barbarous proceeding. + +Death has been produced, by preventing sleep, as a mode of punishment. +Impaling, and flaying alive, tearing to pieces with red hot pincers, +casting headlong from high rocks, eviscerating the bowels, firing the +criminals from the mouths of canons, and pressing them slowly to death, by +weights, gradually increased, upon the breast, the _peine forte et dure_, +are very much out of fashion; though one and all have been frequently +employed, in other times. There is a wheel of fashion, as well as a wheel +of fortune, in the course of whose revolutions, some of these obsolete +modes of capital punishment may come round again, like polygon porcelain, +and antiquated chair-backs. Should our legislature think proper to revive +the practice, in capital cases, of heading up the criminal in a barrel, +filled with nails, driven inward, a sort of inverted _cheval de frize_, +and rolling him down hill, I have often thought the more elevated corner +of our Common would be an admirable spot for the commencement of the +execution, were it not for interrupting the practice of coasting, during +the winter; by which several innocent persons, in no way parties to the +process, have been very nearly executed already. + +Shooting is apt to be performed, in a bungling manner. Hanging by the +heels, till the criminal is dead, is very objectionable, and requires too +much time. The mode adopted here and in England, and also in some other +countries, of hanging by the neck, is, in no respect agreeable, even if +the operator be a skilful man; and, if not, it is highly offensive. The +rope is sometimes too long, and the victim touches the ground--it is too +frail, and breaks, and the odious act must be performed again--or the +noose is unskilfully adjusted, the neck is not broken, and the struggles +are terrible. + +The sword, in a Turkish hand, performs the work well. It was used in +France. Charles Henry Sanson, the hereditary executioner, on the third of +March, 1792, presented a memorial to the Constituent Assembly, in which he +objected to decollation, and stated that he had but two swords; that they +became dull immediately; and were wholly insufficient, when there were +many to be executed, at one time. Monsieur Sanson knew nothing then of +that delightful instrument, which, not long afterward, became a mere +plaything, in his hands. + +Stoning to death and flaying alive have been employed, occasionally, since +the days of Stephen and Bartholomew. The axe, so much in vogue, formerly, +in England, was a ruffianly instrument, often mangling the victim, in a +horrible manner. + +After all, there is nothing like the guillotine; and, should it ever be +thought expedient to erect one here, I should recommend, for a location, +the knoll, near the fountain, on our Common, which would enable a very +large concourse of men, women, and children, to witness the performances +of both, at the same moment. + +The very best account of the guillotine, that I have ever met with, is +contained in the London Quarterly Review, vol. lxxiii. page 235. It is +commonly supposed, that this instrument was invented by Dr. Guillotin, +whose name it bears. It has been frequently asserted, that Dr. Guillotin +was one of the earliest, who fell victims to its terrible agency. It has +been still more generally believed, that this awfully efficient machine +was conceived in sin and begotten in iniquity, or in other words, that its +original contrivers were moved, by the spirit of cruelty. All these +conjectures are unfounded. + +The guillotine, before its employment, in France, was well known in +England, under the name of the Halifax gibbet. A copy of a print, by John +Doyle, bearing date 1650, and representing the instrument, may be found, +in the work, to which I have, just now, referred. Pennant, in his Tour, +vol. iii. page 365, affirms, that he saw one of the same kind, "in a room, +under the Parliament house, at Edinburgh, where it was introduced by the +Regent, Morton, who took a model of it, as he passed through Halifax, and, +at length, suffered by it, himself." + +The writer in the London Quarterly, puts the question of invention at +rest, by exhibiting, on page 258, a copy of an engraving, by Henry +Aldgrave, bearing date 1553, representing the death of Titus Manlius, +under the operation of "an instrument, identical with the guillotine." + +During the revolution, Dr. Guillotin was committed to prison, from which +he was released, after a tedious confinement. He died in his bed, at +Paris, an obscure and inoffensive, old man; deeply deploring, to the day +of his decease, the association of his name, with this terrible +instrument--an instrument, which he attempted to introduce, in good faith, +and with a merciful design, but which had been employed by the devils +incarnate of the revolution, for the purposes of reckless and +indiscriminating carnage. + +Dr. Guillotin was a weak, consequential, well-meaning man, willing to +mount any hobby, that would lift him from the ground. He is described, in +the _Portraits des Personnes célebres_, 1796, as a simple busybody, +meddling with everything, _à tort et à travers_, and being both +mischievous and ridiculous. + +He had sundry benevolent visions, in regard to capital punishment, and the +suppression, _by legal enactment_, of the _sentiment_ of prejudice, +against the families of persons, executed for crime! Among the members of +the faculty, in every large city, there are commonly two or three, at +least, exhibiting striking points of resemblance to Dr. Guillotin. In +urging the merits of this machine, upon merciful considerations, his +integrity was unimpeachable. He considered hanging a barbarous and cruel +punishment; and, by the zeal and simplicity of his arguments, produced, +even upon so grave a topic, universal laughter, in the constituent +assembly--having represented hanging, as a tedious and painful process, he +exclaimed, "Now, with my machine, _Je vous sauter le tête_, I strike off +your head, in the twinkling of an eye, and you never feel it." + + + + +No. CLII. + + +The Sansons, hereditary executioners, in Paris, were gentlemen. In 1684, +Carlier, executioner of Paris, was dismissed. His successor was Charles +Sanson a lieutenant in the army, born in Abbeville, in Picardy, and a +relative of Nicholas Sanson, the celebrated geographer. Charles Sanson +married the daughter of the executioner of Normandy, and hence a long line +of illustrious executioners. Charles died in 1695; and was succeeded by +his son Charles. + +Charles Sanson, the second, was succeeded by his son, Charles John +Baptiste, who died Aug. 4, 1778, when his son Charles Henry was appointed +in his place; and, in 1795, retired on a pension. By his hand, with the +assistance of two of his brothers, the King, Louis XVI. was guillotined. +This Charles Henry had two sons. His eldest, the heir-apparent to the +guillotine, was killed, by a fall from the scaffold, while holding forth +the head of a man, executed for the forgery of assignats. Henry, the +younger son of Charles Henry, therefore became his successor, at the time +of his retirement, in 1795. To fill this office, he gave up his military +rank, as captain of artillery. He died Aug. 18, 1840. He was an elector, +and had a taste for music and literature. He was succeeded by his son, +Henry Clement, Dec. 1, 1840. These particulars will be found on page 27 of +_Recherches Historiques et Physiologiques, sur la Guillotine, &c._, par M. +Louis du Bois. Paris, 1843. Monsieur du Bois informs us, that all these +Sansons were very worthy men, and that the present official possesses a +fine figure, features stamped with nobility, and an expression sweet and +attractive. How very little all this quadrates with our popular +impressions of the common hangman! + +The objection to the guillotine, which was called, for a time, _Louison_, +after M. Louis, Secretary of the College of Surgeons, that it would make +men familiar with the sight of blood, was urged by the Abbé Maury, and +afterwards, by A. M. La Cheze. The Duke de Liancourt, inclined to _mercy_, +that is, to the employment of the guillotine. He contended, that it was +necessary to efface all recollections of hanging, which, he gravely +remarked, had recently been so _irregularly applied_, referring to the +summary process of lynching, as we term it--_à la lanterne_. + +It is curious to note the doubt and apprehension, which existed, as to the +result of the first experiment of decollation. March 3, 1792, the +minister, Duport du Tertre, writes thus to the Legislative Assembly--"It +appears, by the communications, made to me, by the executioners +themselves, that, without some precautions, the act of decollation will be +horrible to the spectators. It will either prove them to be monsters, if +they are able to bear such a spectacle; or the executioner, himself, +alarmed, will fall before the wrath of the people." + +The matter being referred to Louis, then Secretary of the Academy of +Surgeons, he made his report, March 7, 1792. The new law required, that +the criminal should be decapitated--_aura la tête tranchée_; and that the +punishment should be inflicted _without torture_. Louis shows how +difficult the execution of such a law must be--"We should recollect," says +he, "the occurrences at M. de Lally's execution. He was upon his knees, +with his eyes covered--the executioner struck him, on the back of his +neck--the blow was insufficient. He fell upon his face, and three or four +cuts of the sabre severed the head. Such _hacherie_ excited a feeling of +horror." To such a polite and gentle nation, this must have been highly +offensive. + +April 25, 1798. Roederer, Procureur Genéral, wrote a letter to Lafayette, +telling him, that a public trial of the new instrument would take place, +that day, in the _Place de Grève_, and would, doubtless, draw a great +crowd, and begging him not to withdraw the gens d'armes, till the +apparatus had been removed. In the Courrier Extraordinaire, of April 27, +1792, is the following notice--"They made yesterday (meaning the 25th) the +first trial of the _little Louison_, and cut off a head, one Pelletier. I +never in my life could bear to see a man hanged; but I own I feel a +greater aversion to this species of execution. The preparations make me +shudder, and increase the moral suffering. The people seemed to wish, that +M. Sanson had his old gallows." + +After the _Louison_, or guillotine, had been in operation rather more than +a year, the following interesting letter was sent, by the Procureur +Genéral, Roederer, to citizen Guideu. "13 May, 1793. I enclose, citizen, +the copy of a letter from citizen Chaumette, solicitor to the commune of +Paris, by which you will perceive, that complaints are made, that, after +these public executions, the blood of the criminals remains in pools, upon +the _Place de Grève_, that dogs came to drink it, and that crowds of men +feed their eyes with this spectacle, which naturally instigates their +hearts to ferocity and blood. I request you therefore to take the earliest +and most convenient opportunity, to remove from the eyes of men a sight so +afflicting to humanity." + +Voltaire, who thought very gravely, before he delivered the sentiment to +the world, has stated of his countrymen, that they were a mixture of the +monkey and the tiger. Undoubtedly he knew. In the revolution of 1793, and +in every other, that has occurred in France--those excepted which may have +taken place, since the arrival of the last steamer--the tiger has had the +upper hand. Prudhomme, the prince of pamphleteers, having published +fifteen hundred, on political subjects, and author of the General History +of the crimes, committed, during the revolution, writing of the execution +of Louis XVI. remarks--"Some individuals steeped their handkerchiefs in +his blood. A number of armed volunteers crowded also to dip in the blood +of the despot their pikes, their bayonets, and their sabres. Several +officers of the Marseillais battalion, and others, dipped the covers of +letters in this impure blood, and carried them, on the points of their +swords, at the head of their companies, exclaiming 'this is the blood of a +tyrant.' One citizen got up to the guillotine itself, and plunging his +whole arm into the blood of Capet, of which a great quantity remained; he +took up handsful of the clotted gore, and sprinkled it over the crowd +below, which pressed round the scaffold, each anxious to receive a drop on +his forehead. 'Friends,' said this citizen in sprinkling them, 'we were +threatened, that the blood of Louis should be on our heads, and so you see +it is.'" Rev. de Paris, No. 185, p. 205. + +Upon the earnest request of the inhabitants of several streets, through +which the gangs of criminals were carried, the guillotine was removed, +June 8, 1794, from the _Place de la Revolution_ to the _Place St. +Antoine_, in front of the ruins of the Bastile; where it remained five +days only, during which time, it took off ninety-six heads. The proximity +of this terrible revolutionary plaything annoyed the shopkeepers. The +purchasers of finery were too forcibly reminded of the uncertainty of +life, and the brief occasion they might have, for all such things, +especially for neckerchiefs and collars. Once again then, the guillotine, +after five days' labor, was removed; and took its station still farther +off, at the _Barrière du Trône_. There it stood, from June 9 till the +overthrow of Robespierre, July 27, 1794: and, during those forty-nine +days, twelve hundred and seventy heads dropped into its voracious basket. +July 28, it was returned to the _Place de la Revolution_. + +Sanson, Charles Henry, the executioner of Louis XVI. had not a little +_bonhomie_ in his composition--his infernal profession seems not to have +completely ossified his heart. He reminds me, not a little, of Sir Thomas +Erpingham, who, George Colman, the younger, says, carried on his wars, in +France, in a benevolent spirit, and went about, I suppose, like dear, old +General Taylor, in Mexico, "pitying and killing." On the day, when +Robespierre fell, forty-nine victims were ascending the carts, to proceed +to the guillotine, about three in the afternoon. Sanson, at the moment, +met that incomparable bloodhound, the _Accusateur Public_, Fouquier de +Tinville, going to dinner. Sanson suggested the propriety of delaying the +execution, as a new order of things might cause the lives of the condemned +to be spared. Fouquier briefly replied, "the law must take its course;" +and went to dine--the forty-nine to die; and, shortly after, their fate +was his. + +The guillotine, viewed as an instrument of justice, in cases of execution, +for capital offences, is certainly a most merciful contrivance, liable, +undoubtedly, during a period of intense excitement, to be converted into a +terrible toy. + +During the reign of terror, matters of extreme insignificancy, brought +men, women, and children to the guillotine. The record is, occasionally, +awfully ridiculous. A few examples may suffice--Jean Julian, wagoner, +sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment, took it into his head, on the +way--_s'avisa_--to cry--_Vive le Roi_; executed September, 1792.--Jean +Baptiste Henry sawed a tree of liberty; executed Sept. 6, 1793.--M. +Baulny, ex-noble, assisted his son to emigrate; executed Jan. 31, +1794.--La veuve Marbeuf _hoped_ the Austrians would come; executed Feb. 5, +1794.--Francis Bertrand, publican, sold sour wine; executed May 15, +1793.--Marie Angelique Plaisant, sempstress, exclaimed--"a fig for the +nation;" executed July 19, 1794. + + + + +No. CLIII. + + +An interesting, physiological question arose, in 1796, whether death, by +decollation, under the guillotine, were instantaneous or not. Men of +science and talent, and among them Dr. Sue, and a number of German +physicians, maintained, that, in the brain, after decapitation, there was +a certain degree--_un reste_--of thought, and, in the nerves, a measure of +sensibility. An opposite opinion seems to have prevailed. The controversy, +which was extremely interesting, acquired additional interest and +activity, from an incident, which occurred, on the scaffold, immediately +after the execution of Marie Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont--commonly +known, under the imperishable name of _Charlotte Corday_. A brute, +François Le Gros, one of the assistant executioners, held up the beautiful +and bleeding head, and slapped the cheek with his hand. A blush was +instantly visible to the spectators. In connection with the physiological +question, to which I have referred, a careful inquiry was instituted, and +it was proved, very satisfactorily, that the color--the blush--appeared on +_both_ cheeks, after the blow was given. Dr. Sue's account of this matter +runs thus--"The countenance of Charlotte Corday expressed the most +unequivocal marks of indignation. Let us look back to the facts--the +executioner held the head, suspended in one hand; the face was then pale, +but had no sooner received the slap, which the sanguinary wretch +inflicted, than both cheeks visibly reddened. Every spectator was struck, +by the change of color, and with loud murmurs cried out for vengeance, on +this cowardly and atrocious barbarity. It can not be said, that the +redness was caused by the blow--for we all know, that no blows will recall +anything like color to the cheeks of a corpse; besides this blow was +given on one cheek, and the other equally reddened." _Sue; Opinion sur le +supplice de la guillotine, p. 9._ + +Sir Thomas Browne, in his Religio Medici, remarked, that he had never +known a religion, in which there were impossibilities enough to give full +exercise to an active faith. This remark greatly delighted Sir Kenelm +Digby, who was an ultra Catholic. The faith of Browne, in regard to things +spiritual, was not an overmatch for his credulity, in regard to things +temporal, which is the more remarkable, as he gave so much time to his +Pseudodoxia, or exposition of vulgar errors? He was a believer in the +existence of invisible beings, holding rank between men and angels--in +apparitions; and affirmed, _from his own knowledge_, the certainty of +witchcraft. Hutchinson, in his essay on witchcraft, repeats the testimony +of Dr. Browne, in the case of Amy Duny and Rose Cullender, who were tried, +before Sir Matthew Hale, in 1664; and executed, at St. Edmunds Bury, as +witches. Sir Thomas stated in court, "_that the fits were natural, but +heightened, by the devil's coöperating with the malice of the witches, at +whose instance he did the villanies_." He added that "a great discovery +had lately been made, in Denmark, of witches, who used the very same way +of afflicting persons, by conveying pins into them." Now it would be +curious to know what Sir Thomas thought of the famous and apposite story +of Sir Everard Digby, the father of Sir Kenelm, and if the faith of Sir +Thomas were strong enough, to credit that extraordinary tale. + +Charlotte Corday was _beheaded_, and Sir Everard Digby was _hanged_. The +difference must be borne in mind, while considering this interesting +subject. Sir Everard, who was an amiable young man, was led astray, and +executed Jan. 30, 1606, for the part he bore, in the gunpowder plot. Wood, +in his "Athenæ Oxonienses," vol. iii. p. 693, Lond. 1817, has the +following passage--"Sir Everard Digby, father to Sir Kenelme, was a goodly +gentleman, and the handsomest man of his time, but much pitied, for that +it was his ill fate to suffer for the powder plot, in 1605, aged 24, at +which time, when the executioner pluck'd out the heart, when the body was +to be quartered, and, according to the manner, held it up, saying, _here +is the heart of a traytor_, Sir Everard made answer, _thou liest_. This a +most famous author mentions, but tells us not his name, in his _Historia +Vitæ et Mortis_." This most famous author is Lord Bacon--Hist. Vit. et +Mort., vol. viii. p. 446, Lond. 1824. The passage is so curious, that I +give it entire--"Anguillæ, serpentes et insecta diu moventur singulis +partibus, post concisionem. Etiam aves, capitibus avulsis, ad tempus +subsultant: quin et corda animalium avulsa diu palpitant. Equidem +meminimus ipsi vidisse hominis cor, qui evisceratus erat (supplicii genere +apud nos versus proditores recepto) quod in ignem, de more, injectum, +saltabat in altum, primo ad sesquipedem, et deinde gradatim ad minus; +durante spatio (ut meminimus) septem aut octo minutarum. Etiam vetus et +fide digna traditio est, de bove sub evisceratione mugiente. At magis +certa de homine, qui co supplicii genere (quod diximus) evisceratus, +postquam cor avulsum penitus esset, et in carnificis manu, tria aut +quatuor verba precum auditus est proferre"--which may be Englished +thus--Snakes, serpents, and insects move, a long time, after they have +been cut into parts. Birds also hop about, for a time, after their heads +have been wrung off. Even the hearts of animals, after they have been torn +out, continue long to palpitate. Indeed, we ourselves remember to have +seen the heart of a man, who had been drawn, or eviscerated, in that kind +of punishment, which we employ against traitors, and which, when cast upon +the fire, according to custom, leapt on high, at first, a foot and a half, +and gradually less and less, during the space, if we justly remember, of +seven or eight minutes. There is also an ancient tradition, well entitled +to credit, of a cow, that bellowed, under the process of evisceration. And +more certain is the story of the man, who was eviscerated, according to +the mode of punishment we have referred to, who, when his heart was +actually torn out, and in the hands of the executioner, was heard to utter +three or four words of imprecation. Sir Everard was executed, as I have +stated, in 1605. Lord Bacon was born Jan. 22, 1561, and died April 9, +1626, twenty-one years only after Digby's execution, and at the age of 65. +Lord Bacon was therefore 44 years old, when Digby's execution took place, +which fact has some bearing upon the authenticity of this extraordinary +story. Lord Bacon speaks confidently of the fact; and his suppression of +the name was very natural, as the family of Sir Everard were then upon the +stage. + +A writer in the London Quarterly Review remarks, in a note on page 274, +vol. 73, comparing the case of Charlotte Corday with that of Sir Everard +Digby--"This" (Sir Everard's) "was a case of _evisceration_, and not of +_decapitation_, which makes the whole difference, as to the credibility of +the story." + +Chalmers relates the anecdote, and refers to Wood's Athenæ, and Lord +Bacon's Historia Vitæ et Mortis, but speaks of the tale, as "_a story, +which will scarcely now obtain belief_." In the Harleian Miscellany, vol. +iii. page 5, Lond. 1809, there is an account of the discovery of the +gunpowder plot, imprinted at London, by Robert Barker, 1605. On page 47, a +very brief cotemporaneous account is given of Digby's execution, in St. +Paul's churchyard, which contains no allusion whatever to the +circumstance, stated by Wood, and so very confidently, by Lord Bacon. + +I suppose few will really believe, that any man's conversational abilities +can be worth much, after his head is off, or his heart is out. From the +expression of the Quarterly reviewer, it may be inferred, that he did not +consider the story of Sir Everard Digby utterly impossible and incredible. +For my own part, I am very much inclined to hand over this extraordinary +legend to Judæus Appella. Every man, who has not, by long experience, like +George Selwyn, acquired great self-possession, while enjoying an +execution, inclines to the marvellous. Sir Everard, before the work of +evisceration began, it must be remembered, had been hanged, the usual +length of time; and the words--"_thou liest_"--are stated to have been +uttered, at the moment, when the heart, having been plucked out, was held +up by the executioner. It is more easy of belief, that some guttural +noise, like that, spasmodically uttered by certain birds, after their +heads have been chopped off, may have sounded to the gaping bystanders, +who looked and listened, _auribus arrectis_, not very unlike the words in +question. The belief, that Digby spoke these words, seems to be analogous +to the belief, that, in _hydrophobia_, the sufferers bark like dogs, +simply because, oppressed with phlegm, and nearly strangled, their +terrific efforts, to clear the breathing passages, are accompanied with a +variety of unintelligible, and horrible sounds. + +There are some curious cases, on record, which may have something to do +with our reasoning, upon this subject. A similar species of death, +attended by spasms or convulsions, is said to have been produced, by the +bite of other animals. Dr. Fothergill relates cases of death, from the +bite of a cat. Thiermayer recites two cases, both terminating fatally, +from the bite of a goose, and a hen. Le Cat, Receuil Periodique, ii. page +90, presents a similar case, from the bite of a duck. But we are not +informed, that, the patient, in either of these cases, during the spasms, +mewed, quacked, cackled, or hissed; and yet there seems to be no rational +apology for a patient's _barking_, simply because he has been bitten, by a +cat, or a duck, a goose, or a hen. + +Spasmodic or convulsive motion, in a human body, which has been hung, or +shot, or eviscerated, is a very different thing, from an intelligent +exercise of the will, over the organs of speech, producing the utterance +even of a word or syllable. + +In the cases of persons, who have been shot through the heart, violent +spasmodic action is no unusual phenomenon. When I was a boy, the duel took +place, between Rand and Millar, at Dorchester Point, then a locality as +solitary, as Hoboken, or the Hebrides. The movements of the parties were +observed, and their purposes readily surmised, by the officers, on Castle +William; and a barge was immediately despatched, from the fort. Shots were +exchanged, between the combatants, while the barge was passing over. Rand +fell, wounded through the heart; and, after lying motionless, for a very +brief space, was seen to leap into the air several feet, and fall again, +upon the earth. + + + + +No. CLIV. + + +We are living and learning, forever. Life is a court of cassation, where +truth sits, as chancellor, daily reversing the most incomparably beautiful +decrees of theoretical philosophy. + +It is not unlikely, that a very interesting volume of 600 pages, folio, +might be prepared, to be called the _Mistakes of Science_. The elephant in +the moon, and the weighing of the fish have furnished amusement, in their +day. Even in our own times, philosophers, of considerable note, have +seriously _doubted_ the truth of that incomparable hoax, concerning Sir +John Herschell's lunar discoveries. + +Savans were completely deceived, for a considerable period, by the +electrical beatifications of Mr. Bose. One of the most amusing +occurrences, upon record, on which occasion, the philosopher, unlike Mr. +Bose, was a perfectly honest man, befell the famous mathematical +instrument-maker, Mr. Troughton. He became fully possessed, by the idea, +that certain persons, a select few, were capable of exerting a magnetic +influence, over the needle, by advancing their faces towards it. So far +from being common, this power was limited to a very small number. The +statements of Mr. Troughton, and his well-established reputation, for +integrity, caused the subject to be gravely discussed, by members of the +Royal Society. + +Every individual of the very small number, who possessed this remarkable +power--every _medium_--was carefully examined. Collusion seemed utterly +impossible. A new theory appeared to be established. Amazement ran through +the learned assembly. A careful inquiry was instituted, in relation to the +manner of life of these _mediums_, from their youth upwards, their +occupations, diet, &c., and some very learned papers would, erelong, have +been read, before the Royal Society, if Mr. Troughton himself had not +previously made a most fortunate discovery--he discovered, that he wore a +wig, constructed with _steel_ springs--such, also, was the case with every +other _medium_! + +The tendency to predicate certainty, of things, manifestly doubtful, is +exceedingly common. I fell, recently, into the society of some very +intelligent gentlemen, who were _certain_, that Sir John Franklin was +lost, irrecoverably lost. + +There are some--perhaps their name is not Legion--whose faith is of +superior dimensions to the mustard seed, and who believe, that Sir John +Franklin is not destroyed; that he yet lives; and, that, sooner or later, +he will come back to his friends and the world, with a world of wonders to +relate, of all that he has seen and suffered. God, all merciful, grant it +may be so. To all human observation, after a careful balancing of +probabilities, there is certainly nothing particularly flattering in the +prospect. Yet, on the other hand, absolute, unqualified despair is +irrational, and unjustifiable. + +The present existence of Sir John Franklin is certainly _possible_. No +one, I presume, will say it is _probable_. Some half a dozen good, +substantial words are greatly needed, to mark shades between these two, +and to designate what is more than _possible_, and less than _probable_. + +A careful consideration of the narrative of Sir John Ross, the narrative, +I mean, of his second voyage, in quest of a northwest passage, and of his +abode in the Arctic regions, and of the opinion, very generally +entertained, for a great length of time, that he was lost, will strengthen +the impression, that Sir John Franklin also may be yet alive, _somewhere_! +Even then, a question may arise, in connection with the force of certain +currents, referred to, by those, who have lately returned, from an +unsuccessful search for Sir John Franklin, whether it may be possible to +return, against those currents, with such means and appliances, as he +possessed; and whether, even on this side the grave, there may not be a +bourne, from which no presumptuous voyager ever shall return. + +The residence of Sir John Ross, in the Arctic regions, continued, through +five consecutive years, 1829, '30, '31, '32, '33. To such, as imagine +there is any effective summer, in those regions, and who have been +accustomed to associate spring and summer, with flowers and fruits, it may +not be amiss, by way of corrective, to administer a brief passage, from +the journal of Sir John Ross, in August, 1832--"But to see, to have seen, +ice and snow, to have felt snow and ice forever, and nothing forever but +snow and ice, during all the months of a year; to have seen and felt but +uninterrupted and unceasing ice and snow, during all the months of four +years, this it is, that has made the sight of those most chilling and +wearisome objects an evil, which is still one in recollection, as if the +remembrance would never cease." + +At this period, August, 1832, very little hope was entertained, that Sir +John Ross and his companions were living. Even a year before, they were +generally supposed to be lost. + +The abandonment of their ship, which had been locked fast in the ice, for +years, and their almost inconceivable toil, while crossing, with their +boats, on sledges, to the confluence of Regent's Inlet, and Barrow's +Strait, are fully presented in the narrative. Their hour of deliverance +came at last, and the event cannot be better described, than in the words +of Sir John Ross himself. As they were standing along the southern shore +of Harrow's Strait, in their boats, on the 26th of August, a sail, to +their inexpressible joy, hove in sight. After a period of great anxiety, +lest she should not observe their signals of distress, their deep delight +may be imagined, even by an unpractised landsman, when they first became +assured, that they had attracted the notice of the crew, in one of the +ship's boats. The reader will be better satisfied with an account from +the lips of the [Greek: polytropos os malla polla], himself. + +"She was soon along side, when the mate in command addressed us, by +presuming, that we had met with some misfortune and lost our ship. This +being answered in the affirmative, I requested to know the name of his +vessel, and expressed our wish to be taken on board. I was answered, that +it was the 'Isabella, of Hull, once commanded by Captain Ross;' on which I +stated, that I was the identical man in question, and my people the crew +of the Victory. That the mate, who commanded this boat, was as much +astonished, as he appeared to be, I do not doubt; while, with the usual +blunderheadedness of men, on such occasions, he assured me, that I had +been dead two years. I easily convinced him, however, that what ought to +have been true, according to his estimate, was a somewhat premature +conclusion; as the bear-like form of the whole set of us, might have shown +him, had he taken time to consider, that we were certainly not whaling +gentlemen, and that we carried tolerable evidence of our being 'true men +and no imposters,' on our backs, and in our starved and unshaven +countenances." + +However close the resemblance, between Sir John Ross and his comrades to +_bears_, they soon become _lions_ on board the Isabella. Sir John +continues thus-- + +"A hearty congratulation followed, of course, in the true seaman style, +and, after a few natural inquiries, he added, that the Isabella was +commanded by Captain Humphreys; when he immediately went off in his boat +to communicate his information on board; repeating, that we had long been +given up as lost, not by them alone, but by all England." + +In this precedent, there is kindling stuff for hope, if not substantial +fuel. After reading this account, the hearts of the strong-hearted cannot +fail to be strengthened the more. A scientific and elaborate comparison of +all the facts and circumstances, in the respective cases of Ross and +Franklin, may lead to dissipate our hope. But hope is a vivacious +principle, like the polypus, from the minutest particle remaining, growing +up to be the integral thing, that it was. Science, philosophy, perched +upon theoretical stilts, occasionally walk confidently into the mire. Sir +John Franklin may yet be among the living, notwithstanding those negative +demonstrations, in which many so very plausibly indulge themselves. + +Let us follow Sir John Ross and his companions on board the Isabella.--"As +we approached slowly after him (the mate of the Isabella) he jumped up the +side, and, in a minute, the rigging was manned; while we were saluted with +three cheers, as we came within cable's length, and were not long in +getting on board my old vessel, where we were all received, by Captain +Humphreys, with a hearty seaman's welcome. Though we had not been +supported by our names and characters, we should not the less have +claimed, from charity, the attentions we received; for never was seen a +more miserable looking set of wretches. If to be poor, wretchedly poor, as +far as all our present property was concerned, were to have a claim on +charity, none could well deserve it more; but, if to look so, be to +frighten away the so called charitable, no beggar, that wanders in +Ireland, could have outdone us, in exciting the repugnance of those, who +know not what poverty can be. Unshaven, since I know not when, dirty, +dressed in the rags of wild beasts, instead of the tatters of +civilization, and starved to the very bones, our gaunt and grim looks, +when contrasted with those of the well dressed and well fed men around us, +made us all feel, I believe, for the first time, what we really were, as +well as what we seemed to others." + +Very considerable training must, doubtless, be required, to reconcile a +Mohawk Indian to a feather bed. A short passage from the Journal of Sir +John Ross forcibly illustrates the truth, that we are the creatures of +habit. "Long accustomed, however, to a cold bed, on the hard snow or the +bare rock, few could sleep, amid the comforts of our new accommodations. I +was myself compelled to leave the bed, which had been kindly assigned me, +and take my abode in a chair for the night, nor did it fare much better +with the rest. It was for time to reconcile us to this sudden and violent +change, to break through what had become habit, and to inure us, once +more, to the usages of our former days." + + + + +No. CLV. + + +Good, old Sir William Dugdale was certainly the prince of antiquaries. His +labors and their products were greater, than could have been anticipated, +even from his long and ever busy life. He was born, Sept. 12, 1605, and +died, in his eighty-first year, while sitting quietly, in his antiquarian +chair, Feb. 6, 1686. + +It seemed not to have occurred, so impressively, to other men, how very +important was the diligent study of ancient wills, not only to the +antiquarian, but to the historian, of any age or nation. Dugdale's +annotations, upon the royal and noble wills of England, are eminently +useful and curious. A collection of "royal wills" was published, by Mr. +John Nicholls, the historian of Leicestershire, and the "Testamenta +Vetusta," by Mr. Nicolas. These works are in very few hands, and some of +them almost as rarely to be met with, as those of Du Cange, Charpentiere, +Spelman, or Lacombe. + +There is no small amount of information and amusement, to be gathered from +these ancient declarations of the purposes of men, contemplating death, at +a distance, or about to die; though it cannot be denied, that the wills of +our immediate ancestors, especially, if they have amassed great wealth, +and, after a few unimportant legacies to others, have made us their +residuary legatees, furnish a far more interesting species of reading, to +the rising generation. + +There are worthy persons, who entertain a superstitious horror, upon the +subject of making a will: they seem to have an actual fear, that the +execution of a will is very much in the nature of a dying speech; that it +is an expression of their willingness to go; and that the King of Terrors +may possibly take them, at their word. + +There are others, who are so far from being oppressed, by any +apprehension, of this nature, that one of their most common amusements +consists in the making, and mending of their wills. + +"Who," says the compiler of the Testamenta Vetusta, "would have the +hardihood to stain with those evil passions, which actuate mankind, in +this world, that deed, which cannot take effect, until he is before the +Supreme Judge, and consequently immediately responsible for his conduct?" +To this grave inquiry I, unhesitatingly answer--_thousands_! The secret +motives of men, upon such occasions, if fairly brought to light, would +present a very curious record. That record would, by no means, sustain the +sentiment, implied, in the preceding interrogatory. Malice and caprice, +notoriously, have governed the testator's pen, upon numberless occasions. +The old phrase--_cutting off with a shilling_--has been reduced to +practice, in a multitude of instances, for considerations of mere hatred +and revenge, or of pique and displeasure. The malevolent testator, who +would be heartily ashamed, to avow what he had done, on this side the +grave, is regardless of his reputation, on the other. + +Goldsmith places in the mouth of one of his characters, a declaration, +that he was disinherited, for liking gravy. This, however it may have been +intended as a pleasantry, by the author, is, by no means, beyond the +region of probability. Considerations, equally absurd and frivolous, have, +occasionally, operated upon the minds of passionate and capricious people, +especially in the decline of life; and, though they are sensible of the +Bible truth, that they can carry nothing with them, they may, yet a little +while, enjoy the prospective disappointment of another. + +The Testamenta Vetusta contain abstracts of numerous wills of the English +kings, and of the nobility, and gentry, for several centuries, from the +time of Henry second, who began to reign, in 1154. The work, as I have +stated, is rare; and I am mistaken, if the general reader, any more than +he, who has an antiquarian diathesis, will complain of the exhumation I +propose to make of some, among the "reliques of thae antient dayes." + +It is almost impossible, to glance over one of these venerable testaments +of the old English nobility, without perceiving, that the testator's +thoughts were pretty equally divided, between beds, masses, and wax +tapers. Beds, with the gorgeous trappings, appurtenant thereto, form a +common subject of bequest, and of entailment, as heir-looms. + +Edward, the Black Prince, son of Edward III., died June 8, 1376. In his +will, dated the day before his death, he bequeaths "To our son Richard,[6] +the bed, which the King our father gave us. To Sir Roger de Clarendon,[7] +a silk bed. To Sir Robert de Walsham, our confessor, a large bed of red +camora, with our arms embroidered at each corner; also embroidered with +the arms of Hereford. To Monsr. Allayne Cheyne our bed of camora, powdered +with blue eagles. And we bequeath all our goods and chattels, jewels, &c., +for the payment of our funeral and debts; after which we will, that our +executors pay certain legacies to our poor servants. All annuities, which +we have given to our Knights, Esquires, and other, our followers, we +desire to be fully paid. And we charge our son Richard, on our blessing, +that he fulfil our bequests to them. And we appoint our very dear and +beloved brother of Spain, Duke of Lancaster,[8] &c., &c., executors," &c. + +Joan, Princess of Wales, was daughter of Edmund Plantagenet. From her +extreme beauty, she was styled the "_Fair Maid of Kent_." I find the +following record in regard to Joan--"She entered into a contract of +marriage with Thomas Montacute, Earl of Salisbury; but Sir Thomas Holland, +H. G., on a petition to Pope Clement VI. alleged a precontract, _consensus +et concubitus_, but that, he being abroad, the Earl of Salisbury unjustly +kept her from him; and his Holiness gave her to Sir Thomas." + +Joan seems to have been a wilful body, and the reader may like to know +what sort of a will she made, four hundred and sixty-six years ago. She +finally became the wife of Edward, the Black Prince, and, by him, the +mother of Richard II. An abstract of her will runs thus--"In the year of +our Lord, 1385, and of the reign of my dear son, Richard, King of England +and France, the 9th at my castle of Walyngford, in the Diocese of +Salisbury, the 7th of August, I, Joan, Princess of Wales, Duchess of +Cornwall, Countess of Chester, and Lady Wake. My body to be buried, in my +chapel, at Stanford, near the monument of our late lord and father, the +Earl of Kent. To my dear son, the King, my new bed of red velvet, +embroidered with ostrich feathers of silver, and heads of leopards of +gold, with boughs and leaves issuing out of their mouths. To my dear son, +Thomas, Earl of Kent, my bed of red camak, paied with red and rays of +gold. To my dear son, John Holland, a bed of red camak." + +Katherine of Arragon wills, _inter alia_--"I supplicate, that my body be +buried in a convent of Observant Friars. Item, that for my soul be said C. +masses. Item, that some personage go to our Lady of Walsingham, in +pilgrimage, and in going by the way, dole XX nobles. Item, I ordain that +the collar of gold, that I brought out of Spain be to my daughter. * * * +Item, if it may please the King, my good Lord, that the house ornaments of +the church be made of my gowns, which he holdeth, for to serve the +convent thereat I shall be buried. And the furs of the same I give for my +daughter." + +William de Longspee, Earl of Salisbury, was a natural son of Henry II., by +Fair Rosamond, daughter of Walter de Clifford, and distinguished himself +in the Holy Land. He bequeaths to the Monastery of the Carthusians--"A cup +of gold, set with emeralds and rubies; also a pix of gold with XLII. s. +and two goblets of silver, one of which is gilt; likewise a chesible and +cope of red silk; a tunicle and dalmatick of yellow cendal; an alba, +amice, and stole; also a favon and towel, and all my reliques; likewise a +thousand sheep, three hundred muttons, forty-eight oxen, and fifteen +bulls." + +It was not unusual, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, to +dedicate children, at the hour of their baptism, to the _military_ service +of _God_, in Palestine. An example of this may be found, in the will of +William de Beauchamp, who was the father of the first Earl of Warwick, and +died before 1269--"My body to be buried in the Church of Friars Minors at +Worcester. I will, that a horse, completely harnessed with all military +caparisons, precede my corpse: to a priest to sing mass daily, in my +chapel without the city of Worcester, near unto that house of Friars, +which I gave for the health of my soul, and for the soul of Isabel my +wife, Isabel de Mortimer, and all the faithful deceased, all my rent of +the fee of Richard Bruli, in Wiche and Winchester, with supply of what +should be short, out of my own proper goods. * * * To William, my oldest +son, the cup and horns of St. Hugh. * * * To Isabel, my wife, ten +marks[9]: to the Church and nuns of Westwood one mark: to the Church and +nuns without Worcester one mark: to every Anchorite in Worcester and the +parts adjacent four shillings: to the Church of Salewarp, a house and +garden, near the parsonage, to find a lamp to burn continually therein to +the honor of God, the blessed Virgins St. Katherine, and St. Margaret." + +The will of his son, the Earl of Warwick, is full of the spirit of the +age. He died in 1298--"My heart to be buried wheresoever the Countess, my +dear consort, may, herself, resolve to be interred: to the place, where I +may be buried two great horses, viz., those which shall carry my armor at +my funeral, for the solemnizing of which, I bequeath two hundred pounds: +to the maintenance of two soldiers in the Holy Land one hundred pounds: +to Maud, my wife, all my silver vessels, with the cross, wherein is +contained part of the wood of the very cross, on which our Saviour died. * +* * To my said wife a cup, which the Bishop of Worcester gave me, and all +my other cups, with my lesser sort of jewels and rings, to distribute for +the health of my soul, where she may think best: to my two daughters, nuns +at Shouldham, fifty marks." + +Elizabeth De Burgh, Lady of Clare, was the daughter of Gilbert de Clare, +Earl of Gloucester, by Joan D'Acres, daughter of Edward I. She was thrice +married. Her will is a curious affair, and bears date Sept. 25, 1355. She +leaves legacies to her "servants" numbering, about one hundred and forty, +and among whom are several knights and "peres."--"My body to be buried in +the Sisters Minories, beyond Aldgate. I devise c. c. lb. of wax, to burn +round my corpse. I will that my body be not buried for fifteen days after +my decease. * * * For masses to be sung for the souls of Monsr. John de +Bourg, Monsr. Theobaud de Verdon, and Monsr. Roger Dammory, my lords, my +soul, and for the souls of all my good and loyal servants, who have died +or may die in my service CXL., li.: To find five men for the Holy Land C. +marks, to be spent, in the service of God and destruction of his enemies, +if any general voyage be made within seven years after my decease: To my +daughter Bardoff my bed of green velvet." + +Elizabeth, Countess of Northampton, wife of William de Bohnn, made her +will, in 1356. To the Church of the Friars Preachers, in London, she +bequeaths: "C. marks sterling, and also the cross, made of the very wood +of our Saviour's cross which I was wont to carry about me, and wherein is +contained one of the thorns of his crown; and I bequeath to the said +Church two fair altar cloths of one suit, two of cloth of gold, one +chalice, one missal, one graille,[10] and one silver bell; likewise +thirty-one ells of linen cloth for making of albes, one pulpitory, one +portfory,[11] and a holy water pot of silver." She also wills, that "one +hundred and fifty marks be distributed to several other convents of Friars +Preachers, in such manner as Friar David de Stirrington shall think best, +for my soul's health: To the Grey Friars, in London five marks: To the +Carmelites five marks: and to the Augustines five marks * * * to Elizabeth +my daughter a bed of red worsted embroidered: To my sister, the Countess +of Oxford a black horse and a nonche.[12]" + +Believers in the doctrine of transubstantation must extend their faith to +the very cross; for, to comprehend all the wood, in possession of the +faithful, it must have consisted of many cords of substantial timber. + + + + +No. CLVI. + + +The testamentary recognition of bastards, _eo nomine_, was very common, in +the olden time. There were some, to whom funereal extravagance and pomp +were offensive. Sir Ottro De Grandison says, in his will, dated Sept. 18, +1358--"I entreat, that no armed horse or armed man be allowed to go before +my body, on my burial day, nor that my body be covered with any cloth, +painted, or gilt, or signed with my arms; but that it be only of white +cloth, marked with a red cross; and I give for the charges thereof XX_l._ +and X. quarters of wheat: to a priest to celebrate divine service, in the +church at Chellesfield for three years after my decease, XV_l._: to +Thomas, my son, all my armor, four horses, twelve oxen, and two hundred +ewe sheep. * * * * To my bastard son," &c. + +Henry, Duke of Lancaster, 1360, wills, "that our body be not buried for +three weeks after the departure of our soul." + +Humphrey De Bohun, Earl of Hereford, 1361, bequeaths to his nephew +Humphrey--"a nonche[13] of gold, surrounded with large pearls, with a ruby +between four pearls, three diamonds, and a pair of gold paternosters of +fifty pieces, with ornaments, together with a cross of gold, in which is a +piece of the true cross of our Lord: to Elizabeth, our niece of +Northampton, a bed with the arms of England. * * * * We will also that a +chaplain of good condition be sent to Jerusalem, principally for my Lady +my mother, my Lord my father, and for us; and that the chaplain be charged +to say masses by the way, at all times that he can conveniently, for the +souls." + +Agnes, Countess of Pembroke, daughter of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, +wills, in 1367, that her body be buried, "within two days after my death, +without any other cost than a blue cloth and two tapers of ten pound +weight." + +Robert, Earl of Suffolk, 1368--"I will, that five square tapers and four +mortars,[14] besides torches, shall burn about my corpse, at my funeral: +To William my oldest son my sword, which the King gave me, in name of the +Earldom, also my bed with the eagle, and my summer vestment, powdered with +leopards." + +Roger, Lord de Warre, personally took John, King of France, prisoner, at +the battle of Poictiers, and obtained the crampet or chape of his sword, +as a memorial of his chivalry. His will bears date 1368--"My body to be +buried without pomp, and I will that, on my funeral day, twenty-four +torches be placed about my corpse, and two tapers, one at my head and one +at my feet, and also that my best horse shall be my principal, without any +armour or man armed, according to the custom of mean people." He orders +his estate to be divided into three parts--"one to be disposed of for the +health of my soul." + +Joan, Lady Cobham, 1369--"I will that VII. thousand masses be said for my +soul by the canons of Tunbrugge and Tanfugge and the four orders of Friars +in London, viz. the Friars Preachers, Minors, Augustines, and Carmelites, +who, for so doing shall have XXIX_l._ III_s._ IV_d._ Also I will that, on +my funeral day, twelve poor persons, clothed in black gowns and hoods, +shall carry twelve torches." + +Sir Walter Manney, 1371--"My body to be buried at God's pleasure * * * but +without any great pomp * * * twenty masses to be said for my soul, and +that every poor person coming to my funeral shall have a penny to pray for +me, and for the remission of my sins. * * * To my two bastard daughters, +nuns, viz., Mailosel and Malplesant, the one cc. franks, the other c. +franks. * * * To Margaret Mareschall, my dear wife, my plate, which I +bought of Robert Francis; also a girdle of gold, and a hook for a mantle, +and likewise a garter of gold, with all my girdles and knives, and all my +beds and clossers in my wardrobe, excepting my folding bed, paly of blue +and red, which I bequeath to my daughter of Pembroke." + +Thomas, Earl of Oxford, 1371--"For my funeral expenses CXXXIII_l._ To Maud +my wife all my reliques now in my own keeping, and a cross made of the +very wood of Christ's cross. To Sir Alberic de Vere, my brother, a coat of +mail, which Sir William de Wingfield gave me, also a new helmet and a +pair of gauntlets." + +Anne, Lady Maltravers, 1374--"No cloth of gold to be put upon my corpse, +nor any more than five tapers, each weighing five pounds, be put about +it." + +Edward, Lord Despencer, 1375--"To the Abbot and Convent of Tewksbury one +whole suit of my best vestments, also two gilt chalices, one gilt hanap, +likewise a ewer, wherein to put the body of Christ, on Corpus Christi day, +which was given to me by the King of France. To Elizabeth, my wife, my +great bed of blue camaka with griffins; also another bed of camaka, +striped with white and black, with all the furniture, thereto belonging." + +Mary, Countess of Pembroke, 1376--"To the Abbey of Westminster a cross +with a foot of gold and emeralds, which Sir William de Valence, Kt., +brought from the Holy Land." + +Philipa, Countess of March, 1378--"To Edmond, my son, a bed, &c. Also a +gold ring, with a piece of the true cross, with this writing, _In nomine +Patris, et Filii, el Spiritus Sancti, Amen_. Which I charge him, on my +blessing to keep." + +Sir John Northwood, Knight, 1378--"I will that two Pilgrims be sent to +visit the shadow of St. Peter, Paul, and James, in Gallacia." + +Sir Roger Beauchamp, Kt., 1379--"My body to be buried in the church of the +Friars Preachers, near to the grave, where Sybil, my wife resteth. And I +desire, that, at my funeral, there be a _placebo_ and _dirige_ with note, +and, on the morrow after, two masses, one of our Lady, and another of +Requiem. And whereas I am bound to do a service on the Infidels, by devise +of my grandsire, Sir Walter Beauchamp, to the expense of two hundred +marks, I will, that Roger, son to Roger, my son, shall perform the same, +when he comes of age. To my Chauntrey of Bletnesho one hundred pounds, for +the maintenance of one priest, to sing there perpetually, for my soul, and +also for the soul of Sybil, late my wife, and for all Christian souls." + +William, Lord Latimer, 1380--"I will that my house in the parish of St. +Mary's be sold, to found prayers for King Edward's soul." + +Guichard, Earl of Huntington, 1380--"I will that my heart be taken out of +my body and preserved with spices, and deposited in the said church of +Engle. I will that the expenses of my funeral, if celebrated with pomp, +be bestowed in masses for my soul." + +Edmond, Earl of March, was a man of great note. His will is dated May 1, +1380--"To the Abbey of Wigmore a large cross of gold, set with stones with +a relique of the cross of our Lord, a bone of St. Richard the Confessor, +Bishop of Chicester, and a finger of St. Thomas de Cantelowe, Bishop of +Hereford, and the reliques of St. Thomas, Bishop of Canterbury. To Roger, +our son and heir, the cup of gold with a cover called _Benesonne_, and our +sword, garnished with gold, which belonged to the good King Edward, with +God's blessing and ours. * * * Also our large bed of black satin, +embroidered with white lions and gold roses." + +William, Earl of Suffolk, 1381--"I will that, on the eve and day of my +funeral, there shall be five square tapers of the height, which my nearest +of kin shall think fit, and four morters; also forty-eight torches borne +by forty-eight poor men, clothed in white. * * * I will that a picture of +a horse and man, armed with my arms, be made in silver, and offered to the +altar of our Lady of Walsingham; and another the like be made and offered +at Bromeholme." + +One of the most interesting, among the olden wills, is that of John, Duke +of Lancaster--the famous John of Gaunt. He died in February, 1399. His +will bears date Feb. 3, 1397--"My body to be buried, in the Cathedral +church of St. Paul of London, near the principal altar, beside my most +dear wife, Blanch, who is there interred. If I die out of London, I desire +that the night my body arrives there, it be carried direct to the Friars +Carmelites, in Fleet Street, and the next day taken strait to St. Paul's, +and that it be not buried for forty days, during which I charge my +executors, that there be no cering or embalming my corpse. * * * I desire +that chauntries and obits be founded for the souls of my late dear wives +Blanch and Constance, whom God pardon; to the altar of St. Paul's my +vestment of satin embroidered, which I bought of Courtnay, embroider of +London. * * * To my most dear wife, Katherine, my two best nonches, which +I have, excepting that, which I have allowed to my Lord and nephew, the +King, and my large cup of gold, which the Earl of Wilts gave to the King, +my Lord, upon my going into Guienne, together with all the buckles, rings, +diamonds, rubies and other things, that will be found, in a little box of +cypress wood, of which I carry the key myself, and all the robes, which I +bought of my dear cousin, the Duchess of Norfolk;[15] also my large bed of +black velvet, embroidered with a circle of fetter locks[16] and garters, +all the beds, made for my body, called trussing beds, my best stay with a +good ruby, my best collar, all which my said wife had before her marriage +with me, also all the goods and jewels, which I have given her, since my +marriage. To my Lord and nephew, the king,[17] the best nonche, which I +have, on the day of my death, my best cup of gold, which my dear wife +Katherine gave me, on New Year's day last, my gold salt-cellar with a +garter, and the piece of arras, which the Duke of Burgoyne gave me, when I +was in Calais." This is a mere extract. The will bequeaths numerous +legacies of nonches, beds, and cups of gold; and abundantly provides for +chauntries, masses, and obits. + +Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, 1399--"To the Abbess and Convent of the +Sisters Minoresses, near London, without Aldgate, VI_l._ XIII_s._ IIII_d._ +and a tonel of good wine. * * * To my Lady and mother, the Countess of +Hereford, a pair of paternosters of coral." + +Thomas Mussenden, 1402--"I will, that all my arms, swords, bastard,[18] +and dagger be sold, and disposed of, for my soul." + +William Heron, Lord Say, 1404--"Whereas I have been a soldier, and taken +wages from King Richard and the Realm, as well by land as by water, and +peradventure received more than my desert, I will that my Executor pay six +score marks to the most needful men, unto whom King Richard was debtor, in +discharge of his soul." + +Sir Lewis Clifford, Kt.--"I, Lewis Clifford, false and traitor to my Lord +God, and to all the blessed company of Heaven, and unworthy to be called a +Christian man, make and ordaine my testament and my last will the 17th of +September, 1404. At the beginning, I, most unworthy and God's traitor, +recommend my wretched and sinful soul to the grace and to the mercy of the +blissful Trinity, and my wretched carrion to be buried in the furthest +corner of the churchyard, in which parish my wretched soul departeth from +my body. And I pray and charge my executors, as they will answer before +God, that on my stinking carrion be neither laid cloth of gold nor of +silk, but a black cloth, and a taper at my head and another at my feet; +no stone nor other thing, whereby any man may know where my stinking +carrion lieth." In the original, this word is written _careyne_. + +The reader will be amused to know the cause of all this humility. Sir +Lewis had joined the Lollards, who rejected the doctrines of the mass, +penance for sins, extreme unction, &c.; but was brought back to the church +of Rome; and thus records his penitence. + + + + +No. CLVII. + + "Tell thou the Earl his divination lies." SHAKSPEARE. + + +An impertinent desire to pry into the future, by unnatural means--to +penetrate the hidden purposes of God--is coeval with the earliest +development of man's finite powers. It is Titanic insolence--and resembles +the audacity of the giants, who piled Pelion upon Ossa, to be upon a level +with the gods. + +Divination, however old it may be, seems not to wear out its welcome with +a credulous world, nor to grow bald with time. It has been longer upon the +earth, than from the time, when Joseph's silver cup, "whereby he +divineth," was deposited, in Benjamin's sack, to the days of Moll Pitcher +of Lynn, whose divining cup was of crockery ware. + +"_Mediums_" are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles--"_And it came to +pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel, possessed with a spirit of +divination, met us, which brought her masters much gain, by soothsaying_." +Paul cast out the evil spirit; an example worthy of consideration, by +those, to whom the power is given, in the statute, to commit "_all +persons, who use any juggling_," to the house of correction, unless their +exhibitions are licensed, according to law. + +All manner of rogues and roguery has immemorially delighted in _aliases_. +So has it been with that species of imposture, which assumes, that man's +_finite_ powers are sufficient, for _infinite_ purposes. The black art, +magic, fortune telling, sorcery, divination, soothsaying, augury, oracular +responses, witchcraft, judicial astrology, palmistry, which is the same +thing as chiromancy, or divination, by the lines of the hand or palm, +horoscopy, which is a part of judicial astrology, haruspicy, or +divination, from an inspection of entrails, aeromancy, the art of divining +by the air, pyromancy, by flame or fire, hydromancy, by water, geomancy, +by cracks or clefts in the earth, hepatoscopy, by the liver, stareomancy, +by the elements, theomancy, by the spirit, demonomancy, by the revelation +of genii or devils, idolomancy, by images, psychomancy, by the will or +inward movement of the soul, antinopomancy, by the viscera of animals, +theriomancy, by beasts, ornithomancy, by birds, icthyomancy, by fishes, +botanomancy, by herbs, lithomancy, by stones, cleromancy, by lots, +oneiromancy, by dreams, onomancy, by names, arithmancy, by numbers, +logarithmancy, by logarithms, sternomancy, by the chest, gastromancy, by +abdominal sounds, omphelomancy, by the signs of the navel, pedomancy, by +the feet, onychomancy, by the nails, cephaleonomancy, by the marks of the +head, tuphramancy, by ashes, capnomancy, by smoke, livanomancy, by the +burning of frankincense, carromancy, by the burning of wax, lecanomancy, +by basins of water, catoxtromancy, by mirrors, chartomancy, by certain +writings on paper, machanomancy, by knives, chrystallomancy, by glasses, +dactylomancy, by rings, coseinomancy, by seives, axinomancy, by saws, +cattobomancy, by brazen chalices, roadomancy, by stars, spatalamancy, by +bones and skins, sciomancy, by shadows, astragalomancy, by dice, +oinomancy, by wine, sycomancy, by figs, typomancy, by the coagulation of +cheese, alphitomancy, by flour or bran, crithomancy, by grain or corn, +alectromancy, by cocks and hens, gyromancy, by rounds and circles, +lampadomancy, by candles and lamps, nagomancy, or necromancy, by +consulting, or divining with, by, or from the dead. + +The reader must bear in mind, that this list of absurdities is brief and +imperfect. All these _mancies_, and many more may be found in Gaule's +Mag-Astro-Mancer, page 165, and many of them are described in the Fabricii +Bibliographia Antiquaria. + +These mischievous follies have prevailed, in a greater or less degree, in +every age, and among every people. During the very days of auguries, +nevertheless, individuals have appeared, whose rough, common sense tore +itself forcibly away, from the prevailing delusions of the age. A pleasant +tale is related, by Claude Millot, of an old Roman Admiral. He was in +pursuit of the Carthagenian fleet; and, as he gained upon the enemy, and a +battle seemed to be unavoidable, the haruspex, or priest, who, as usual, +accompanied the expedition, with the birds of omen, and who had probably +become alarmed, for his personal safety, came suddenly on deck, +exclaiming, that the sacred pullets _would not eat_, and that, under such +circumstances, it would be unsafe to engage. The old Roman tar ordered the +sacred pullets, then in their cage, to be brought before him, and, kicking +them overboard, exclaimed, "_let them drink then_." + +The etymology of the word necromancy, [Greek: nekros mantis], shows its +direct application to the scandalous orgies, which are matters of weekly +exhibition, in many of our villages and cities, under the name of +_spiritual knockings_. Though Sir Thomas Browne could mark, learn, and +inwardly digest a witch, a _necromancer_ was beyond his powers; and in +Book I., Chap. X. of his Pseudodoxia, he speaks, with deep contempt, of +such as "can believe in the real resurrection of Samuel, or that there is +anything but delusion, in the practice of _necromancy_, and popular +raising of ghosts." + +_Necromancers_ are those, who pretend to a power of communing with the +dead, that is, conjuring up spirits, and of consulting them, in regard to +the affairs of this or the other world. In the strictest sense, the Fishes +and the Foxes and their numerous imitators are _necromancers_, of course. + +This impious and eminently pernicious practice has been condemned, in +every age, and by every civilized nation. It was condemned, by the law of +Moses--"There shall not be found among you any one, that maketh his son or +his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an +observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a +consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard or a necromancer. For all +that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord." Deut. xviii. 10, +11, 12. + +Conjurers may justly be accounted disturbers of the public peace; and such +undoubtedly they are, most effectually, by unsettling the minds of +credulous people, murdering sleep, and, occasionally, as in repeated +instances, during the progress of the present delusion, by driving their +infatuated victims to despair, insanity, and suicide. Severe laws have +often been enacted, against these pestilent impostors. Conjuration was +made felony by statute 1, James I., 1603. This was repealed by 9 Geo. II., +1763. This repeal was in keeping with the ascendancy of common sense, +which decreed, that all conjuration was an absurdity: but, at the same +time, all _pretensions_ to exercise this or any similar art was made +punishable, as a misdemeanor. All laws, against witchcraft and sorcery, +founded on the presumption of their possibility, are now justly accounted +cruel and absurd. Laws, for the punishment of such, as disturb the public +repose, by pretending to exercise these unnatural agencies, are no less +judicious; though they have not always been effectual, against the +prejudices of the people. The _Genethliaci_, who erected their horoscopes +in Rome, for the purpose of foretelling future events, by judicial +astrology, were expelled, by a formal decree of the senate; yet they long +retained their hold, upon the affections of a credulous people. + +This species of divination, by the heavenly bodies, commenced with the +Chaldeans, and, from them, passed to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. +Henault informs us, that it was much in vogue, in France, during the days +of Catherine de Medicis. Roger Bacon was greatly devoted to the practice +of Judicial Astrology. Cecil, Lord Burleigh, is known, gravely and +elaborately to have calculated the nativity of Queen Elizabeth, who was +feverishly addicted to magic. The judicial astrologers of the middle ages +were a formidable body, and their conjuring cups and glasses were in high +esteem. In Sweden, judicial astrology was in the greatest favor, with +kings and commoners. A particular influence was ascribed to the conjuring +cup of Erricus, king of Sweden. The Swedes firmly believed, that +Herlicius, their famous astrologer, had truly predicted the death of the +monarch, Gustavus Adolphus, in 1632, at the battle of Lutzengen, or +Lippstadt. + +In the reigns of Henry III. and Henry IV. of France, this absurd delusion +was in such repute, that judicial astrologers were consulted, upon the +most trivial occasions; and their daily predictions were the theme of +grave and constant conversation, with every class of society. It was no +uncommon thing, even in England, for those, who were desirous of +communicating with the dead, to make a previous arrangement with some +favorite astrologer, and _bespeak a spirit_, as we bespeak a coach, for +some particular hour. + +In the Autobiography of William Lilly, the famous astrologer, in the time +of the Stuarts, a curious account is given of Alexander Hart, an +astrologer, living in Houndsditch, about the year 1632. It seems, that +Hart had entered into a contract with a countryman, who had paid him +twenty or thirty pounds, to arrange a meeting between this countryman and +a particular spirit, at an appointed time. But, either Hart's powers of +raising the dead were unequal to the task, or the spirit had no +inclination to keep up the countryman's acquaintance; certain it is, the +spirit was unpunctual; and, the patience of the countryman becoming +exhausted, he caused the astrologer to be indicted, for a cheat. He was +convicted, and about to be set in the pillory, when John Taylor, the water +poet, persuaded Chief Justice Richardson to bail him, and Hart was fairly +spirited away. He then fled into Holland, where, a few years after, he +gave up the spirit, in reality. + +Its unintelligible quality is the very essence of delusion. Nothing can be +more unreasonable, therefore, than to mistake our inability to explain a +mystery, for conclusive evidence of its reality and truth. That it is +unintelligible or inexplicable surely affords less evidence of its +reality, and truth, than is furnished of its falsehood, by its manifest +inconsistency with all known natural laws. Bruce informs us, that the +inhabitants of the western coasts of Africa pretend to hold a direct +communication with the devil; and the evidence of the thing they assert is +so very curious and imposing, that he and other travellers are entirely at +fault, in their attempts to explain the mystery. Yet no one, for a moment, +supposes, that Bruce had the slightest confidence in these absurdities. + +And yet, so great, so profound, was the belief of Friar Bacon, in this +preposterous delusion, that, in his Opus Majus, page 65, he exclaims--"Oh, +how happy had it been for the church of God, and how many mischiefs would +it have prevented, if the aspects and qualities of the Heavenly bodies had +been predicted, by learned men, and known to the princes and prelates of +those times! There would not then have been so great a slaughter of +Christians, nor would so many miserable souls have been sent to hell." + +This eminently learned man, Roger Bacon, refers, in this remarkable +passage, to the various calamities, which existed, in England, Spain, and +Italy, during the year 1264. + +The word, mathematician, seems to have been applied, in that age, +exclusively to astrologers. Peter de Blois, one of the most learned +writers of his time, who died A. D. 1200, says, in the folio edition of +his works, by Gussanville, page 596--"Mathematicians are those, who, from +the position of the stars, the aspect of the firmament, and the motion of +the planets, discover things, that are to come." + +"These prognosticators," says Henry, in his History of Great Britain, vol. +vi. page 109, "were so much admired and credited, that there was hardly a +prince, or even an earl, or great baron, in Europe, who did not keep one +or more of them, in his family, to cast the horoscopes of his children, +discover the success of his designs, and the public events, that were to +happen." + + + + +No. CLVIII. + + +There are sundry precepts, delivered by Heathen poets, some eighteen +hundred years ago, which modern philosophy may not disregard with +impunity. If it be true, and doubtless it is true, that a certain +blindness to the future is given, in mercy, to man, how utterly unwise are +all our efforts to rend the veil, and how preposterous withal! + +The wiser, even among those, who were not confirmed in the belief, that +there was absolutely nothing, in the doctrines of auguries, and omens, and +judicial astrology, have discountenanced all attempts to pry into the +future, by a resort to such mystical agencies. The counsel of Horace to +Leuconoe is fresh in the memory of every classical reader:-- + + "Tu ne quæsieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi + Finem Dì dederint, Leuconoë, neu Babylonios + Tentàris numeros. Ut melius, quidquid erit pati! + Seu plures hyemes, seu tribuit Jupiter ultimam, + Quæ nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare + Tyrrhenum"---- + +The version of Francis, however imperfect, may not be unwelcome to the +English reader:-- + + "Strive not, Leuconoe, to pry + Into the secret will of fate; + Nor impious magic vainly try + To know our live's uncertain date. + + Whether th' indulgent Power divine + Hath many seasons yet in store, + Or this the latest winter thine, + Which breaks its waves against the shore." + +This passage from Horace is not required, to establish the fact, that +magical arts were practised, among the Babylonians. A certain measure of +superstition seems to belong to the nature of man; and to grow greater or +less, in proportion to the exercise, or neglect, of his reasoning +faculties. From this general rule history has furnished us with eminent +exceptions. Cunning, and cupidity, and credulity are destined to be ever +present: it is therefore to be expected, that, from age to age, the most +egregious absurdities will pass, upon a portion of the community, for +sober truths. + +The fact, that popular absurdities have won the patient, if not the +respectful, consideration of certain distinguished individuals, who have +spoken, and written, doubtingly, if not precisely, in their favor, goes +but a very little way, in their behalf. There was a time, when all the +world believed, that the sun revolved around the earth, and that the blood +was a stagnant pool, in the human body. There are none, I presume, of all, +who give their confidence to any marvel of modern times, who are more +learned or more wise, than Sir Matthew Hale, or Sir Thomas Browne. Yet +both these wise and learned men were firm believers, in witchcraft; and +two miserable people, Cullender and Duny, were given over to be hung, by +Sir Matthew, partly upon the testimony of Sir Thomas. + +Though nobody, whose sense is of the common kind, believes in witchcraft, +at the present day, there was formerly no lack of believers, in any rank, +or profession, in society. The matter was taken for a fixed and +incontrovertible fact. The evidence was clear and conclusive, in the +opinion of some, among the most eminent judges. If to doubt was not +exactly to be damned, it often brought the audacious unbeliever, in danger +of being hanged. Competent witnesses gravely swore, that pins and needles +were run into their bodies, by persons, at the distance of a mile or more. +For this offence, the witches were sentenced to be hanged; and, upon the +gallows, confessed, with tears in their eyes, that they did really stick +those identical pins, into the bodies of their accusers, being at the +time, at the distance of a mile or more; and were swung off; having thus +made their peace with God. Witnesses actually swore, that their houses +were rocked, by old women, apparently too feeble to rock an infant's +cradle, and that tables and chairs were turned topsy turvy; and the old +ladies confessed, that they had actually rocked two-story houses and +upset those tables, and seemed to be pleased with the distinction of being +hanged, for the achievement. + +Whoever doubted these miracles was called upon to _explain_, or _believe_; +and, if he could not indicate clearly the mode, in which this jugglery was +effected, he was required to believe in a thing, which was manifestly not +_in rerum natura_. In this dilemma, he might suggest an example of +legerdemain, familiar to us all--a juggler puts an egg into an ordinary +hat, and, apparently, in an instant, the egg is converted into a pancake. +If the beholder cannot demonstrate how this is done, he, of course, must +believe in the actual conversion, that is in transubstantiation. I have +seen this little miracle performed, and confess I do not understand it; +and yet I exceedingly doubt, if an egg can be so instantly converted into +a pancake. + +The witch of Endor pretended to conjure up the dead. The effigy was +supposed to be made manifest to the eye. Our modern witches and wizards +conjure, up or down, whichever it may be, invisible spirits. These spirits +have no power of audible speech; thus far, at least, they seem not to have +recovered the use of their tongues. To be sure, spirit without matter +cannot be supposed to emit sounds; but such is not the case here, for they +convey their responses, audibly, by knockings. This is rather a circuitous +mode of conveying intelligence, with their fingers and toes, which might +be more easily conveyed by the voice. + +The difference, between our Blitzes and Samees, and the Fishes and the +Foxes, consists in this--the former never, for a moment, pretend, that +eggs are in reality pancakes, or that they actually perform the pretty +miracles, which they seem to perform--the latter gravely contend, as it +was contended, in the days of witchcraft, those days, that tried old +women's souls, that their achievements are realities. + +So long as these matters are merely harmless, even though they consume +much valuable time, that might be more worthily employed, and transfer the +illy-spared coin of the credulous poor, from their own pockets, to the +pockets of unprincipled jugglers and impostors, perhaps it may be well to +suffer the evil to correct itself, and die even a lingering death. But, +when it is manifestly spreading, broadcast, over the land, and even +receiving a dash of something like grave importance from the pen, +occasionally, of some professional gentleman, whose very doubt may dignify +delusion; the matter seems really to demand some little consideration, at +least: not that the doubts, even of a respectable physician, elaborately +uttered, in a journal of fair repute, can do more to establish the power +of mother Fish or mother Fox, to raise the dead, than was achieved, by the +opinion of Lord Chief Justice Hale, in favor of witchcraft. That has +fallen, as, in due time, this will fall, into merited contempt. But the +expression of doubts, from a respectable quarter, upon an occasion like +the present, tends, obviously, to strengthen those hands, which probably +deserve to be paralyzed. + +So long, as a matter, like this, is confined to speculation, it may be +suffered to flit by, like the folly of a day. But the pestilent thing, of +which I am speaking, has, long ago, assumed an entirely different, and a +severer, type. At this very time, individuals, who are strictly entitled +to the name of vagabonds, male and female, are getting their bread, by +cheating the curious and the credulous, in a great number of our towns and +villages, by the performance of these frightful antics. This term is +altogether too feeble, to express the meaning, which I would gladly fix, +in the public mind. By these infernal agencies, children are imbued with a +superstitious fear, which tends to enfeeble their intellects, and has a +mischievous influence, upon life and conduct, to the end of their +days--upon children of a larger growth, especially upon those of nervous +temperament, and feeble health, the pernicious effect is incalculable. The +fact is perfectly well known, and thoroughly established, that these +diabolical orgies, and mystical teachings have not only inflicted the +deepest misery on many minds, but have induced several infatuated persons, +to commit self murder; and driven others to despair; deprived them of +their reason; and caused them to be placed, in asylums for the insane. + +It is no longer therefore the part of wisdom to treat this evil, with +sheer contempt. The conflagration has advanced too far, for us to hope it +will go out, erelong, of its own accord. What is then the part of wisdom? + +There are individuals, whose opinions are certainly entitled to respect, +and who conceive, that these mysteries deserve a full and formal +examination, by a committee of wise and learned men, that the world may be +guided by their decision. I am fearful, that such a course would result in +nothing better than disappointment, if in nothing worse. + +These mysteries are Protean, in their character-- + + "Verum, ubi correptum manibus vinclisque tenebis, + Turn variæ eludent species atque ora ferarum." + +If the members of the learned inquisition should furnish an explanation of +one, or more, of these _mirabilia_, a new series of perplexing novelties +would speedily arise, and demand their attention;--so that the _savans_ +would, necessarily, become a standing committee, on modern miracles. The +incomparable Blitz, if the process were discovered, by which he appears, +instantaneously, to convert an egg into a pancake, would challenge you to +explain another, by which he rapidly deduces some thirty yards of ribbon +from the nose of a bystander. And, if we cannot explain this mystery, he +may as reasonably demand of us to believe it a reality, as goody Fox or +goody Fish may require her _customers_--for raising the dead is a +trade--to believe in her power, to conjure up spirits, because we may not +be able to discover the process, by which the rappings are produced. + +But, even if an investigation were made, by the most competent +physiologists, and the decree should go forth, _ex cathedra_; it would, +probably, produce a very slight impression upon the whole community. That +same self-conceit, which often fills an old woman to the brim, with the +belief, that she is a more skilful leech, than Æsculapius ever was, will +continue to stand the credulous instead; and the rappings will go on, in +spite of the decree of the _savans_; the spirits of the dead will continue +to be raised, as they are, at present, at fifty cents apiece; men, women, +and children will insist upon their inalienable right to believe, that +eggs are pancakes, and that, in violation of all the established laws of +nature, ghosts may be conjured up, at the shortest notice; and examples +will continue to occur, of distressing nervous excitement, domestic +misery, self-murder, and madness. + +The question recurs--what shall be done, for the correction of this +increasing evil? Some suggestions have been made, sufficiently germain to +several of the extraordinary pretensions of the present day. Thus, in +respect to _clairvoyance_, a standing offer of several thousand francs has +been made, by certain persons, in Paris, to any individual, who will prove +his ability to see through a pine plank. In regard also to the assumption +of knowledge, obtained, through a pretended communication with spirits, a +purse of gold has been offered to any person, who, with the aid of all +the spirits he can conjure up to his assistance, will truly declare the +amount it contains, with a moderate forfeit, in case of failure. + +This whole matter of conjuration, and spiritual rapping has become an +insufferable evil. It is a crying nuisance, and should be dealt with +accordingly. It is, by no means, necessary, before we proceed to abate a +nuisance, to inquire, in what manner it is produced. It is not possible to +distinguish, between the _chevaliers d'industrie_, who swindle the +credulous out of their money, by the exhibition of these highly pernicious +orgies, from conjurors and jugglers. If this construction be correct, and +I perceive nothing to the contrary, then these mischief-makers come within +the fifth section of chapter 143 of the Revised Statutes of Massachusetts. +Any police court or justice of the peace, has power to send to the house +of correction, "_all persons who use any juggling_." It would be a public +service to apply this wholesome law to goody Fox, or goody Fish, or any +other goody, of either sex, holding these conjurations within our +precinct. Upon a complaint, the question would necessarily arise if the +offence charged were "_juggling_" or not; and the rule of evidence, +_cuique in sua arte_, would bring out the opinions of men, learned in +their profession. I am aware of no other mode, by which those persons are +likely to be gratified, who believe these proceedings entitled to serious +examination. Let us not drop this interesting subject here. + + + + +No. CLIX. + + +In the olden time, almanacs were exclusively the work of judicial +astrologers. The calendar, in addition to the registration of remarkable +events, and times, and tides, and predictions, in relation to the weather, +presumed to foretell the affairs of mankind, and the prospective changes, +in the condition of the world; not by any processes of reasoning, but by a +careful contemplation of the heavenly bodies. + +On most occasions, these predictions were sufficiently vague, for the +soothsayer's security; quite as much so, as our more modern +foreshadowings, in relation to the weather, whose admonitions, to _expect +a change_, _about these times_, are frequently extended from the beginning +to the end of the calendar month. An example of this wariness appears, in +a letter of John of Salisbury, written in 1170. "The astrologers," says +he, "call this year the wonderful year, from the singular situation of the +planets and constellations; and say, that, in the course of it, the +councils of kings will be changed, wars will be frequent, and the world +will be troubled with seditions; that learned men will be discouraged; +but, towards the end of the year, they will be exalted." + +Emboldened, by the almost universal deference, paid to their predictions, +the astrologers soon began to venture, on a measure of precision, which +was somewhat hazardous. + +In the commencement of the year 1186, the most distinguished judicial +astrologers, not only in England, but upon the continent, proclaimed, that +there existed an unprecedented conjunction of the planets, in the sign +Libra. Hence they predicted, that, on Tuesday, the sixteenth day of +September, at three o'clock in the morning, a storm would arise, such as +the world had never known before. They asserted, with an amazing +confidence, that, not only individual structures would be destroyed, by +this terrible storm, but that great cities would be swept away, before its +fury. This tempest, according to their predictions, would be followed, by +a far spreading pestilence, and by wars of unexampled severity. A +particular account of these remarkable predictions may be found, on page +356 of the annals of Roger de Hoveden. + +No more conclusive evidence is necessary of the implicit, and universal +confidence, which then prevailed, in the teachings of judicial astrology, +than the wide spread dismay and consternation, produced by these bold and +positive predictions. It is not possible to calculate the sum of human +misery, inflicted upon society, by the terrible anticipations of these +coming events. As the fatal day drew near, extraordinary preparations were +everywhere made, to secure property, from the devastating effects of the +approaching tempest. Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, commanded a solemn +fast of three days' continuance, throughout his precinct. On the night of +the fifteenth of September, very many persons sat up, in solemn +expectation of the coming tempest. + +It has been cruelly observed of medical men, that, to some of their +number, the death of a patient would, on the whole, be rather more +agreeable, than that he should falsify their prediction, by the recovery +of his health. How powerfully a sentiment, similar to this, must have +exercised the spirits of these astrologers, as the appointed hour drew +nigh! It came at last--bright and cloudless--followed by a day of unusual +serenity. The season was one of extraordinary mildness; the harvest and +vintage were abundant; and the general health of the people was a subject +of universal observation. Old Gervase, of Tilbury, in his Chronicles, +alluding to the Archbishop's fears and fastings, remarks, that there were +no storms, during the whole year, other than such, as the Archbishop +himself raised in the church, by his own absurdity and violence. + +The astrologers hung their heads, for very shame, and lost caste, for a +time, with the people. + +Divination was, of old, emphatically, a royal folly; and kings have been +its dupes and votaries, from the earliest ages of the world. The secret +manner, in which Saul betook himself to the witch of Endor, arose, partly, +from his knowledge, that such orgies were a violation of divine and human +laws. The evils, resulting from such absurdities, had become so apparent, +that Saul, himself, had already banished all the soothsayers and magicians +from his kingdom. It is manifest, from the experience of Saul, that it is +unwise to consult a witch, upon an empty stomach--"_Then Saul fell +straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the +words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no +bread all the day, nor all the night_." + +Lucan, lib. vi. v. 570, et seq., represents young Pompey, just before the +battle of Pharsalia, as paying a nocturnal visit, to a sorceress of +Thessaly, of whom he inquires, in relation to the issue of the combat. +With the ordinary preliminaries, charms, and incantations, the necromancer +conjures up the ghost of a soldier, who had recently fallen in battle. At +length, she pronounces a denunciation, between which and the prediction of +the witch of Endor, delivered to Saul, the resemblance is certainly +remarkable. + +The laws of France, in the time of Louis XIV., were extremely rigorous, +against sorcery and divination, inflicting the severest penalties, upon +all, who pretended to exercise their skill, in these worse than +unprofitable mysteries. Nevertheless, an extraordinary story is related, +in the autobiography of Madame Du Barri, as communicated to her, by Louis +XV., of several visits stealthily paid, by Louis XIV., and Madame de +Maintenon, to a celebrated judicial astrologer, in Paris. This narrative +may be found recorded, at length, in the first volume of Madame Du Barri's +Memoirs, commencing on page 286. + +The age of Louis XIV. was an age of superstition. An Italian priest, a +secret professor of the art of necromancy, was induced, upon the King's +promise of protection, against the parliament, in the event of a +discovery, to satisfy the royal curiosity, and open the book of fate. At +the hour appointed, being midnight, Madame de Maintenon and the _Duc de +Noailles_ were conveyed to a house in Sevrès, where they met the sorcerer, +who had celebrated the mass alone, and consecrated several wafers. After +performing a variety of ceremonies, he drew the horoscope of the King, and +Madame de Maintenon. He promised the King, that he should succeed, in all +his undertakings. He then gave his Majesty a parcel, wrapped in new +parchment, and carefully sealed, saying to the King--"the day, in which +you form the fatal resolution of acquainting yourself with the contents of +this package, will be the last of your prosperity; but, if you desire to +carry your good fortune to the highest pitch, be careful, upon every great +festival, Easter, Whitsunday, the Assumption, and Christmas, to pierce +this talisman with a pin; do this, and be happy." + +Certain events confirmed the sorcerer's predictions--others gave them the +lie direct. The royal confidence was shaken. + +Upon one occasion, the Bishop of Meaux, the great Bossuet, chanced to be +at the apartments of Madame de Maintenon; and the subject of magic and +sorcery being introduced, the good Bishop expressed himself, with such +abhorrence of the profanation, as effectually to stir up a sentiment of +compunction, in the bosom of the King and Madame. At length, they +disclosed the secret to their confessors, to whom the most effectual means +of breaking the charm appeared to be, to break open the talismanic +package; and this was accordingly imposed, as a penance, on the King. + +His sacred Majesty was thus painfully placed, _inter cornua_, or, as we +trivially say, between hawk and buzzard--between the priest and the +sorcerer. His good sense, if not his devotion, prevailed. The package was +torn open, in the presence of Madame de Maintenon, and father la Chaise. +It contained a consecrated wafer, pierced with as many holes, as there had +been saints' days in the calendar, since it had been in the King's +possession. That consternation fell upon the King, which becomes a good +Catholic, when he believes, that he has committed sacrilege. He was long +disordered, by the recollection, and all, that masses and starvation could +avail, to purge the offence, was cheerfully submitted to, by the King. +Louis XV. closes this farcical account, with a grave averment, that his +ancestor, after this, lost as many male descendants, in the right line, as +he had stuck pins, in the holy wafer. There may, possibly, be some little +consolation, in the reflection, that, if the private history of Louis le +Grand be entitled to any credit, like Charles the Second of England, he +could well afford the sacrifice--of whom Butler pleasantly remarks-- + + "Go on, brave Charles, and if thy back, + As well as purse, but hold thee tack, + Most of thy realm, in time, the rather + Than call thee king, shall call thee father." + +The Millennarians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries--and these +enthusiasts are, by no means, of modern origin--may be said to have +hunted, in company with the judicial astrologers. Herlicius and the +Millennarians solemnly predicted the destruction of the Turkish Empire, in +1665, the one relying upon the aspect of the stars, and the other upon +their fantastical interpretation of the Scriptures; and both, in all +likelihood, chiefly, upon the good sword and stubborn will of the Emperor; +who, to their infinite disappointment and mortification, finally made +peace with the Ottomans. Yet David Herlicius was no impostor, or if so, +there was no greater dupe to his astrological doctrines than himself. He +was a learned, pious, and honest man. + +There is, probably, no more extensively popular error, than that a +deceiver must possess, on all occasions, a greater measure of knowledge +than the deceived. Herlicius was an eminent physician; and Bayle says of +him, vol. vi. page 137--"One can hardly imagine why a man, who had so much +business, in the practice of physic, and who never had any children, +should fear to want bread in his old age, unless he drew horoscopes." + +This eminent man had doubtless some little misgivings, as to the +infallibility of the art, after the failure of his prediction, in relation +to the Ottomans. Bayle recites an extract of a letter, from Herlicius to a +friend, in which the writer says: "Oh that fortune would look kindly upon +me! that, without meddling with those astrological trifles, I might make +provision for old age, which threatens me with blindness; and I would +never draw any horoscope. In the mean time, when a great many persons +inquire for, and desire to know more things, than are within the compass +of our art, or more than it can explain, I choose rather to act with +conscience, than to disgrace, and, as it were, to defile, our sacred +Astrology, and to cast a blemish upon it. For our art abounds with a great +number of Chaldean superstitions, which several of our countrymen are +still obstinately fond of. A great many ask me what color of clothes and +horses will be lucky for them? Sometimes I laugh heartily, at these and +other such absurd questions, but I do also often abhor them. For I am +enamored with the virgin state of our art, nor can I suffer that it should +be so abominably defiled, as to give the enemies of astrology an +opportunity to object to us those abuses, to the contempt of the art +itself." + +At the period, when Herlicius unfortunately predicted the destruction of +the Ottoman power, Judicial Astrology was in the highest favor in England. +The date of the prediction, 1665, was the sixth year of Charles the +Second. Whatever space remained, unoccupied by other follies, during the +reign of the Stuarts, and even during the interregnum, was filled by the +preposterous doctrines of Judicial Astrology. It is perfectly well +established, that Charles the First, when meditating his escape from +Carisbrook castle, in 1647, consulted the famous astrologer, Sir William +Lilly. + + + + +No. CLX. + + +Isabel, Countess of Warwick, 1439--"My body is to be buried, in the Abbey +of Tewksbury; and I desire, that my great Templys[19] with the Baleys[20] +be sold to the utmost, and delivered to the monks of that house, so that +they grutched not my burial there. Also I will that my statue be made, all +naked, with my hair cast backwards, according to the design and model, +which Thomas Porchalion[21] has, for that purpose, with Mary Magdalen +laying her hand across, and St. John the Evangelist on the right side, and +St. Anthony on the left." The singularity of this provision would lead one +to believe that the testatrix made her will, under the influence of St. +Anthony's fire. + +John, Lord Fanhope, 1443--"To John, my bastard son, now at Ampthill, ccc. +marks; and, in case he should die, before he attain the age of twenty-one, +I will that Thomas, my other bastard son, shall have the said ccc. marks." + +Henry Beaufort was the second son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, by +Katherine Swinford, a bastard born, but with his brothers and sister, +legitimated by act of Parliament, 20 Rich. II., became Bishop of Lincoln +1397--translated to Winchester, 1404, and made a Cardinal. He was +remarkable, for his immense wealth, prudence, and frugality. He was four +times Chancellor of England. He is reported to have clung to life with a +remarkable tenacity. Rapin says, he died for grief, that wealth could not +save him from death. The death bed of this Cardinal is admirably described +by Shakspeare, in the second part of King Henry VI., Act III., Scene III.: + + _K. Henry._ How fares my lord? Speak Beaufort to thy Sovereign. + + _Cardinal._ If thou be'st Death, I'll give thee England's treasure, + Enough to purchase such another island, + So thou wilt let me live, and feel no pain. + + * * * * * + + _Warwick._ See how the pangs of death do make him grin. + + _Salisbury._ Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably. + + _K. Henry._ Peace to his soul, if God's good pleasure be! + Lord Cardinal, if think'st on Heaven's bliss, + Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope. + He dies, and makes no sign; Oh God forgive him! + + _Warwick._ So bad a death argues a monstrous life. + + _K. Henry._ Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all-- + Close up his eyes, and draw the curtains close. + +The Cardinal's will, though without date, was made about 1443.--"I will +that ten thousand masses be said for my soul, as soon as possible after +my decease, three thousand of requiem, three thousand of _de rorate coeli +desuper_, three thousand of the Holy Ghost, and one thousand of the +Trinity. * * * * Item, I bequeath to my Lord, King Henry, a tablet with +reliques, which is called the tablet of Bourbon, and a cup of gold with a +ewer, which belonged to the illustrious prince, his father, and offered by +him on Easter Eve, and out of which cup he usually drunk, and for the last +time drank. * * * * Item, I bequeath to my Lord the King, my dish or plate +of gold for spices, and my cup of gold, enamelled with images." + +In two codicils to this will, Cardinal Beaufort refers to certain crown +jewels, and vessels of silver and gold, pledged to him by the King and +Parliament, for certain sums lent. When the King went into France and +Normandy, and upon other subsequent occasions, the Cardinal had loaned the +King £22,306 18_s._ 8_d._ It appears in Rymer, vol. x. page 502, that the +King redeemed the sword of Spain and sundry jewels, pledged to the +Cardinal, for £493 6_s._ 8_d._ + +John, Duke of Exeter, 1447--"I will that four honest and cunning priests +be provided, to pray perpetually every year, for my soul." He then conveys +certain manors to his son Henry, "provided always, that an annuity of +XL_l._ be reserved for my two bastard sons, William and Thomas." + +William Burges, garter King of Arms, 1449, bequeaths to the church of St. +George at Staunford--"to the seyd chirch for ther solempne feste dayes to +stand upon the high awter 11 grete basque of silver, and 11 high +candlesticks of sylver, 1 coupe of sylver, in the whych is one litel box +of yvory, to put in the blessid sacrament." He also gives to said church +"two greter candelstykkes, and for eiche of these candelstykkes to be +ordayned a taper of waxe of 1 pound wight, and so served, to be lighted +atte dyvyne servyce at pryncipal fest dayes, and al other solempne festes, +as, at matyns, pryme, masse, and the yeven songs." + +John, Lord Scrope, 1451--"To the altar, in the chapel of St. Mary, at +York, a jewel, with a bone of St. Margaret, and XL_s._ for ringing their +bells, at my funeral." + +Ann, Duchess of Exeter, 1457--"I forbid my executors to make any great +feast, or to have a solemn hearse, or any costly lights, or largess of +liveries according to the glory or vain pomp of the world, at my funeral, +but only to the worship of God, after the discretion of Mr. John +Pynchebeke, Doctor of Divinity." + +Edmund Brudenell, 1457--"To Agmondesham Church; to the Provosts of the +Church for the maintenance of the great light before the cross XX_s._ To +the maintenance of the light before St. Katherine's Cross, III_s._ IV_d._" + +John Younge, 1458--"To the fabrick of the Church of Herne, viz., to make +seats, called puyinge, X. marks." + +John Sprot, Clerk, 1461--"To each of my parishioners XL_d._" + +The passion for books, merely because of their antique rarity, and not for +their intrinsic value, is not less dangerous, for the pursuer, than that, +for collecting rare animals, and forming a private menagerie, at vast +expense. Even the entomologist has been known to diminish the comforts of +his family, by investing his ready money in rare and valuable bugs. It has +been pleasantly said of him, + + "He leaves his children, when he dies, + The richest cabinet of flies." + +There is no doubt, that, in those superstitious days, the traffic in +relics must have been a source of very great profit to the priests; equal, +at least, to the traffic in _ancient terra cottas_, in the days of +Nollekens. The sleeves of those crafty friars could not have been large +enough, to hold their laughter, at the expense of the faithful. The heir +apparent, whose grief, for the death of his ancestor, was sufficiently +subdued, by his refreshing anticipations of some thousands of marks in +ready money, must have been somewhat startled, upon the reading of the +will, to find himself residuary legatee, _for life_, of the testator's +"reliques, remainder over to the Carthusian Friars!" + +Such, and similar, things were of actual occurrence. William Haute, +Esquire, made his will, May 9, 1462, of course, in the reign of Edward the +Fourth. This worthy gentleman ordains--"My body to be buried, in the +Church of the Augustine Friars, before the image of St. Catherine, between +my wives. * * * * I bequeath one piece of that stone, on which the +Archangel Gabriel descended, when he saluted the Blessed Virgin Mary, to +the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Church of Bourne, the same to +stand under the foot of the said image. I bequeath one piece of the bone +of St. Bartholomew to the Church of Waltham. One piece of the hair cloth +of St. Catherine, the Virgin, and a piece of the bone of St. Nicholas, to +the Church of the Augustine Friars aforesaid. I bequeath all the remainder +of my relicks to my son William, _for life_, with remainder to the +Augustine Friars forever." + +Humphrey, Earl of Devon, 1463--"I will, that Mr. Nicholas Goss and Mr. +Watts, Warden of the Grey Friars, at Exeter, shall, for the salvation of +my soul, go to every Parish Church, in the Counties of Dorset, Somerset, +Wilts, Devon, and Cornwall, and say a sermon, in every Church, town, or +other; and as I cannot recompense such as I have offended, I desire them +to forgive my poor soul, that it be not endangered." + +William, Earl of Pembroke, 1469--"In nomine Jesu, &c. And wyfe, that ye +remember your promise to me, that ye take the ordre of widowhood, as ye +may the better mayster your owne * * * * Wyfe pray for me, and take the +said ordre, that ye promised me, as ye had, in my lyfe, my hert and love." +This lady, who was the daughter of Sir Walter Devereux, observed her vow, +and died the widow of the Earl; which is the more remarkable, as these +injunctions have often produced an opposite effect, and abbreviated the +term of continency. + +Sir Harry Stafford, Kt., 1471--"To my son-in-law, the Earl of Richmond, a +trappur, four new horse harness of velvet; to my brother, John, Earl of +Wiltshire, my bay courser; to Reynold Bray, my Receiver General, my +grizzled horse." + +Cecilia Lady Kirriel, 1472--"In my pure widowhood, &c. To John Kirriel, +bastard, &c." + +It is not unusual for the consciences of men, in a dying hour, to clutch, +for security, at the veriest straws. It is instructive to consider the +evidences, exhibited in these ancient testaments, of superfluous +compunction. Sir Walter Moyle, Knt., 1479, directs his feoffees "to make +an estate, in two acres of land, more or less, lying in the parish of +Estwell, in a field called Calinglond, and deliver the same, in fee +simple, to three or four honest men, to the use and behoof of the Church +of Estwell aforesaid, in recompense of a certain annual rent of £2 of wax, +by me wrested and detained from the said Church, against my conscience." + +It was not unusual, to appoint overseers, to have an eye upon executors; a +provision, which may not be without its advantages, occasionally, even in +these days of more perfect morality, and higher law. Sir Ralph Verney, +Knt., 1478, appoints four executors, and "my trewe lover, John Browne, +Alderman of London, to be one of the _overseers_ of this my present +testament, and to have a remembrance upon my soul, one of my cups, +covered with silver gilt." + +Monks and Friars were pleasant fellows in the olden time, and Nuns are not +supposed to have been without their holy comforts. Landseer's fine picture +of Bolton Abbey is a faithful illustration. The fat of the land, when +offered to idols, has commonly been eaten up by deputy. However shadowy +and attenuated the souls of their humble and confiding tributaries, the +carcasses of abbots are commonly represented as superlatively fat and +rubicund. + +Bequests and devises to Lights and Altars were very common. Eustace +Greville, Esquire, 1479, bequeaths "to the Light of the Blessed Mary, in +the said Church of Wolton, three pounds of wax in candles and two torches; +to the Altar of the Blessed Mary in the said church, one bushel of wheat +and as much of barley; and to the Lights of the Holy Cross there one +bushel of barley and as much of beans; and the same to the Light of St. +Katherine there." + + +FINIS. + + + + +DUST TO DUST. + + +In utter disregard of all precedent, I have placed this dedication at the +end of the volume, deeming it meet and right, that the corpse should go +before. + +How very often the publication of a ponderous tome has been found to +resemble the interment of a portly corpse! How truly, ere long, it may be +equally affirmed, of both--the places, that knew them, shall know them no +more! + +Mæcenas was the friend and privy counsellor of Augustus Cæsar; and, +accordingly, became, in some measure, the dispenser of executive +patronage. The name of Mæcenas has been employed, ever since, to signify a +patron of letters and the arts. Dedications are said to have been coeval +with the days of his power. + +In almost every case, a dedication is neither more nor less, than an +application for convoy, from the literary mariner, who is scarcely willing +to venture, with his fragile bark, "_in mare Creticum_" or _criticum_, +unaided and alone. He solicits permission to dedicate his work to some +distinguished individual--in other words, to place his influential name, +upon the very front of the volume, as an amulet--a sort of passover--to +keep evil spirits and critics, at a distance. If the permission be +granted, of which the public is sure to be informed, the presumption, that +the patron has read and approved the work, amounts to a sanction, of +course, to the extent of his credit and authority. In some cases, however, +I have reason to believe, that the only part of the work, which the patron +ever reads, is the dedication itself. That most amiable and excellent man, +and high-minded bibliopolist, the late Mr. JAMES BROWN, informed me, that +an author once requested permission, to dedicate his work, to a certain +professor, in the State of New York, tendering the manuscript, for his +perusal; and that the professor declined reading the work, as superfluous; +but readily accepted the dedication, observing, that he usually received +five dollars, on such occasions. + +There was one, to whom it would afford me real pleasure to dedicate this +volume, were he here, in the flesh; but he has gone to his account. +GROSSMAN is numbered with the dead! + +READER--if you can lay your hand upon your heart, and honestly say, that +you have read these pages, or any considerable portion of them, with +pleasure--that they have afforded you instruction, or amusement--I +dedicate this volume--with your permission, of course--most respectfully, +to you; having conceived the most exalted opinion of your taste and +judgment. + + L. M. SARGENT, + ROCK HILL, DECEMBER, 1855. + + + + +GENERAL INDEX. + + +The figures refer to the numbers--not to the pages. + + A. + + ABNER, cautioned by his father, as to his behavior to aged people, 1. + + ADAMS, John, anecdote of, 45: + --lines written under his name, in a lady's album, 46. + + AIRS, national, authorship of, 106. + + ALMSGIVING, 56. + + AMBASSADORS, from U. S. A. to G. B. 73. + + ANCESTRY, pride of, 97. + + ANTIQUARIES, sometimes malicious, 126. + + APOTHECARIES, in Boston--some notice of, 112. + + ARISTOCRACY, of Boston--examples of, 90: + --among the dead, 1. + + ARMS, reversed, at military funerals, of great antiquity, 30. + + ARNOLD, Benedict, what made him a traitor, 87. + + ARUNDINES CAMI, 92. + + ASCLEPIADES, of Prusa, his medical practice, 114. + + ASTROLOGERS, Judicial, formerly part of a nobleman's household, 157. + --False prediction of, in 1186. Ibid. + --Consulted by Louis XIV. and Madame de Maintenon, 159. + + ASTROLOGY, Judicial, Q. Elizabeth addicted to.--Much practised, in the + middle ages, 157, 159. + + AVARICE, 31. + + AVERY, steals three negroes:--attempts to sell them:--their rescue, 47. + + AYMAR, James, a famous impostor, 113. + + AUCTIONS, various modes of:--by inch of candle:--by sand glass:--of fish + among the Dutch:--various modes of notifying, and bidding at, 139. + + AUCTIONEER'S BELL, used at the Hague:--formerly in Boston, 139. + + + B. + + BABYLONIANS, their mode of obtaining husbands, for homely women, 115. + + BACHELORS punished by the Lacedemonians for their celibacy:--not trusted + with affairs of state at Athens, 115. + + BARBERS, 140, 141, 142, 143: + --their antiquity, 140: + --formerly peripatetics, 141: + --their shops and poles, 141: + --female, 141: + --their citternes and "knack with the fingers," 142. + + BAPTISM, vicarious, 109. + + BATHS, ancient, 114. + + BATTEL, wager of, 145. + + BEARDS, habits of the ancients, respecting, 140: + --modern, 142: + --dyeing them an ancient practice, 142. + + BELKNAP, Jeremy, Rev. 47: + --his desire for a sudden death, 75: + --regard for historical truth, 75: + --error, as to Gosnold, 75. + + BELLS, and bell ringing:--weight of several:--a terror to "evill + spirytes," 37. + + BENEVOLENCE, remarkable example of, 55. + + BENTHAM, Jeremy, dissected by his own request, 8. + + "BLEED AND PURGE all Kensington," 111. + + BODIES, posthumous preservation of, 20. + + BODKIN, the famous root and herb doctor, 109. + + BOILING TO DEATH, a mode of punishment, 151. + + BOODLE, William, his self-conceit, 49. + + BOORN, Stephen and Jesse, remarkable case of erroneous conviction, on + circumstantial evidence, 79 to 85, both inclusive. + + BORRI, Joseph Francis, a famous impostor, 113. + + BRADFORD, Sheriff, anecdote of, 5. + + BROCKLEBANK, Parson, anecdote of, 49. + + BURIAL, joint stock companies, 58: + --their profits enormous, 58: + --of weapons, by the slaves, at Charleston, 34. + + "BRING OUT YOUR DEAD," 27. + + BUCHANAN, James, his errors, in relation to Major André, corrected, 19. + + BURKE AND BISHOP, executed, for murder, with intent to sell the bodies, + 7. + + BURYING THE DEAD, manner of, commended, 21: + --in cities and under churches, objections to, 10, 11, 60, 61: + --manner of, and practices, connected therewith, in different ages and + nations, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 21, 30, 38, 96, 101: + --premature, 15, 91, 95: + --means for preventing, 91, 95. + + BULL JOHN, and brother Jonathan, 104: + --John, the musician, author of "God save the King," 106. + + BYLES, Mather, anecdotes of, 93, 94. + + + C. + + CADES, sexton, how he lost his office, 44. + + CALIFORNIA fever, 31. + + CAMPBELL, hung for killing Boyd in a duel, 145. + + CAMPBELL, Captain, steals an heiress, 115. + + CANDLES, burnt in the day, at a church, in Nantucket, 24: + --of wax, at Popish funerals, in old times, 2. + --by inch of, ancient mode of selling at auction, 139. + + CANER, Rev. Dr., some notice of, 78. + + CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, 50, 51, 53, 54, 57, 89. + + CAPITAL OFFENCES, in Massachusetts, in 1618, 62. + + CARTER, sexton, insulted by a chirurgeon, 43. + + CATACOMBS, 10: + --of Paris, 12, 13. + + CATAFALQUE, its import, 103. + + CHADWICK, Edwin, his report on interments, to the British Parliament, 58. + + CHAPEL, King's, some account of, 78. + + CHARLES I. funeral of, 39: + --his body discovered, in 1813, 40: + --V. legend of his mock funeral, denied, 99. + + CHILDREN, female, destruction of, in China, and elsewhere, 29. + + CHINESE, habits of the, 101. + + CHUANG-TSZE, story of, 119, 120. + + CLARENDON, in error, as to the burial place of King Charles I. 40. + + CLARKE, Barnabas, anecdote of, 90. + + CLARK, Alvan, his versatility of talent, 46. + + CLAY, Henry, his frequent leavetakings, 99. + + COBBETT, William, his letter to Lord Liverpool, on the American + triumphs, 104. + + CONGRESS, American, Lord Chatham's opinion of, 104. + + COURAGE, personal, externals no sure criterion of--two remarkable + examples, 149. + + CONSCIENCE PARTIES, 29. + + CORDAY, CHARLOTTE de, an interesting question, connected with her + decapitation, 153. + + CREMATION, cost of--least expensive mode, excepting the urns, 74: + --of Henry Laurens, 95: + --of Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley:--their diet in prison, 74. + + CRIMINALS, how to dispose of, 89: + --bodies of, delivered for dissection, 7: + --number waiting to be hung, 51. + + CROMWELL, Oliver, various estimates of his character:--views and handles + the dead body of Charles I.:--his funeral:--his body dug up, and hung, + at Tyburn, 39. + + CRUCIFIXION, 151. + + + D. + + DADDY OSGOOD, sold at auction, 139. + + DANFORTH, Dr. Samuel, notice of, 111. + + DEACONS, their dispute about a tomb, 11. + + DEAD SEA, some account of, 35, 36. + + DEATH, certain evidence of, 91: + --condition of the soul, after, 96: + --imitation of, 137: + --by shipwreck, 102. + + DENTISTS, in Boston, some notice of, 112. + + DESECRATION, of the dead, 14, 21, 23. + + DICKSON, provost of Dundee, his epitaph, 9. + + DIEDRICK VAN PRONK'S widow, anecdote of, 7. + + DIGBY, Everard, account of his having spoken, after the removal of his + heart, 153. + + DINAH FURBUSH, her corpse insulted, 77. + + DIOGENES, anecdote of, 4. + + DISTILLERS, in Boston, number of, 112. + + DIVINATION, some account of, 157, 158. + + DIVINING ROD, of James Aymar, 113. + + "DON'T GO too near that hedge," 91. + + DREAMS, of Martin Smith and King's Chapel, by the Old Sexton, 76, 77, 78. + + DRUNKENNESS, at ordinations, 37. + + DRYDEN, John, disturbance at his funeral, 118. + + DUELS, between Benjamin Woodbridge and Henry Phillips, on Boston Common, + 133 to 136, both inclusive: + --various, 144 to 149, both inclusive: + --punishment of, 145: + --number killed in, 145: + --Decatur and Barron, 146: + --Lord Bruce and Sir Edward Sackville, 147: + --Lords Mohun and Hamilton, 147: + --Sheridan and Matthews, 147: + --M'keon and Reynolds, 147: + --Campbell and Boyd, 147: + --Colclough and Alcock, 147: + --David and Goliath, 147: + --Titus Manlius and the Gaul, 148: + --Hector and Ajax, 148: + --Turnus and Æneas, 148: + --Rauber and a Spanish gentleman, 148: + --Cameron, and McLean, 148: + --Lord Mark Kerr and a French Colonel, 149: + --Joseph Bainbridge and the Secretary of Sir Alexander Ball, 149: + --Rand and Millar, 153. + + DUGDALE, Sir William, the antiquary, 155. + + DYONISIUS, to save his throat, taught his daughters to shave, 140. + + + E. + + EFFIGIES of the dead, made of cinnamon, and carried in the procession, + 30. + + EGYPTIANS, trials of their kings, after death, 5: + --every Egyptian a doctor, 107. + + ELI, the sexton, his hallucinations, 55. + + ELIOT, Rev. Andrew, gloves and rings, given him at funerals, and the + sale of, 28. + + EMBALMING, process of, 4. + + EMPIRICS, 109, 110, 111, 113, 114. + + EPITAPHS, 5, 9. + + ESTIMATE OF AMERICANS by the English people, in 1775 and 1812, 104. + + EVIDENCE, circumstantial, remarkable examples of, 79 to 85, both + inclusive: + --Webster's case, 86. + + EXECUTION, in Ballyconnel, 54. + + + F. + + FAKEER, East India, account of his apparent death, and resurrection, + 137, 138. + + FAMINE, Keayne's granary in case of, 112. + + FANEUIL HALL, origin of:--burnt:--rebuilt and enlarged, 130, 131. + + FANEUIL PETER, and his relatives, some account of, 122 to 132, both + inclusive: + --aids Henry Phillips, to escape, after his fatal duel, with + Woodbridge, 134. + + FOOD for ghosts, 25. + + FORTUNE-HUNTERS, remarkable disappointment of one, 115, 116. + + FRANKLIN, Benjamin, his account of the resurrection of flies, drowned in + wine, 138: + --his letter to Thomas Percival, on duelling, 144: + --Sir John, probably lost, 154. + + FREEMAN, Dr., manner of his ordination, 78. + + FRIENDSHIPS, rarely lifelong:--examples of, 59: + --Cicero's first law of, 59. + + FRIZZELL'S BELL, 37. + + FUNERALS, invitations to, 8: + --baked meats at:--games, and festivals at, 25. + + + G. + + GIFTS, New Year's, 117. + + GLOVES and rings, at funerals, 28. + + GOSNOLD, Bartholomew, his abode, at Cuttyhunk, 75. + + GOVERNOR of Mass., anecdote of a, 52. + + GRANNY, anecdote of skinning, 58. + + GROSSMAN threatened to be shot, 13. + + GUILLOTIN, Dr. 151: + --the instrument that bears his name, 151, 152. + + + H. + + HAIR, management of the, 143. + + HALLEY, Thomas, great pomp, and much guzzling, at his funeral, 25. + + HALIFAX GIBBET and the guillotine identical, 151. + + HANDEL, rivalry, between him, and Senesino, and Buononeini, 105: + --Swift's epigram, on their squabbles, 105. + + HANGING, sensations produced by, 95: + --vicarious, 150: + --persons differently moved, in prospect of, 150. + + HANWAY, Sir Jonas, his account of the practice of giving vales, 28. + + HAPPINESS, 48. + + HASTÆ, why auctions were so called, at Rome, 139. + + HAWES, Dr. William, his work on premature interment, 95. + + HEIRESS, stealing an, made felony:--remarkable examples of, 115. + + HENRY VIII. bone stolen from his corpse, 39: + --some account of his funeral, 103. + + HERSE, ancient import of the word, 103. + + HOOK, Theodore, anecdote of, 24. + + "HOW could the poor Abbé sustain himself against you all four?" 113. + + HOWLERS, at funerals, ancient and modern, 32, 38. + + HUGUENOTS, in Boston:--their early settlement, in Oxford, Mass. 122: + --their church in Boston, 122, 123. + + + I. + + IDLENESS, effects of, 22. + + INFANTICIDE, 29. + + INNHOLDERS, in Boston, number of, 112. + + INTOLERANCE, in Massachusetts, 62. + + + J. + + JAMES II., his gallantry, when Duke of York, in a sea-fight, 66. + + JEWS usurious, 15,000 banished, 52. + + JE vous sauter le tête, 151. + + + L. + + LACERATION, of the cheeks and hair, at funerals, in Greece, Rome, and + elsewhere, 30, 32, 38. + + LARGESSES at funerals, 25. + + LAURENS, Henry, his body burnt, after death, by his request, 95. + + LAWYERS, in Boston, their number at different periods, 112. + + LE MERCIER, André, minister of the Huguenots, in Boston, 132. + + LEVI, M. de, his pride of ancestry, 97. + + LIBERTY TREE, 41, 42. + Philip Billes devises his estate, on condition of being buried under + that tree, 42. + + LICINIUS, P., games, &c., at his funeral, 25. + + LILLY, Sir William, the astrologer, notice of, 157. + + LIND, Jenny, some account of, 105. + + LLOYD, Dr. James, his appearance, 111. + + LOCALITIES, certain interesting, 7. + + LONGEVITY, some examples of, 45. + + LOT'S WIFE, pillar of salt, &c., 35, 36: + --seen by Irenæuis and others, after she was salted, 36. + + LOUIS XVI., brutal behaviour of the French people, at his execution, 152. + + LOVAT, Lord, his repartee, on his way to be hung, 150. + + LUDII, HISTRIONES, SCURRÆ, 30. + + LUXURY, ever injurious, and often fatal, to Republics, 87, 88. + + LYMAN, Theodore, notice of him, and his public and private charities, 56. + + + M. + + MARCUS FLAVIUS, anecdote of, 25. + + MARRIAGES, taxed:--first celebration of, in churches:--forbidden during + Lent, 115. + + MARINER bound for Africa, reaches Norway, 48. + + MARSHALL, Tommy, anecdote of, 90. + + MARTYRS, cremation of:--cost of burning Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, 24. + + MASHEE, Tooley, plays corpse, 137. + + MCPHEE, widow Nelly, anecdote of, 7. + + MEDICINE, origin of the practice of, 107: + --practice of, among the Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians, Israelites, + and Hindoos, 108. + + MEDIUMS, some notice of, 157. + + MEXICAN BEGGARS, how employed by Montezuma, 142. + + MILTON, John, his marriages, 98: + --writes in favor of polygamy, 98: + --desecration of his remains, 118. + + MINGLING the ashes of dear friends, in the same urn, practice of, 21. + + MINISTERS of the Gospel, in Boston, in 1740, 132. + + MIRTHFULNESS, its advantages, 92. + + MONEY, George Herbert's address to, 31. + + MONTGOMERY, Gen. Richard, his exhumation, and reinterment, 18. + + MONUMENTS, Dryden's, Ben Jonson's, and Cowley's, mutilation of, 118. + + MOONCURSERS, laws for their punishment:--anecdote of, 102. + + MOORHEAD, Rev. John, some notice of, 99. + + MOSES, an apothecary, 107. + + MOURNERS, their peculiar consolations, 32: + --for the year 1848, 33. + + MOURNING, time allowed for:--color of the vesture, in different + countries, 32. + Irish, consists in the number of coaches and the quantity of whiskey, + 74. + + MULE, a bad one, 30. + + + N. + + NAPOLEON'S last words, 31. + + NEW YEAR'S DAY, when, 117, 123. + + NEW NORTH CHURCH, uproar there, 37. + + NORTH CHURCH, peal of bells there, 37. + + NUISANCE, affecting the air, not necessary to prove it noxious, 60. + + + O. + + OBSEQUIES, provisions for, by persons, while living, 7. + + OTIS, James, anecdote of, 90. + + + P. + + PARKMAN, Dr. George, his murder:--his peculiarities, 72. + + PENN, William, reply to Macaulay's abuse of:--memoir of, 62 to 71, both + inclusive: + --death bed of his son, 71. + + PERCIVAL, Thomas, his work, on duelling, 144. + + PERE LA CHAISE, 11. + + PESTILENCE, numbers destroyed by, 27. + + PHILADELPHIANS, saved from being Welchmen, 68. + + PHYSICIANS, various schools of, named by Pliny, 110, 114: + --number of the old Boston doctors, and their residences, 112. + + PIPERS, at funerals, 8. + + PIRATES, hung on Boston Common, 50. + + PITCAIRN, Major, the honor of killing him, claimed by many:--the + remains, under Westminster Abbey, said to have been erroneously + selected, from under the North Church, 17. + + PLAGUE, some account of the, 27. + + PLINY, in favor of herb doctoring, 114. + + PLANTER, funeral of an old, in St. Croix, 30. + + POLHAMUS, the good Samaritan, 83. + + POMPADOUR, Madame de, her remains transferred to the Catacombs, 13. + + PONTRACI, the prince of undertakers, 12. + + PORTLAND VASE, history of the, 20. + + PRIDE AND POVERTY, excess of, dangerous, 87. + + PUNISHMENT, various kinds of, 151. + + PUNSTERS habitual, nuisances, 94. + + PWAN YAKOO, and other Chinese, their visit to Boston:--description of + her golden lilies, 102. + + + Q. + + QUACKS of great use to sextons, 27. + + QUAKERS, persecution of, in Massachusetts, 62, 63. + + + R. + + RAND, Dr. Isaac, brief notice of, 111. + + RAZORS, their antiquity:--mentioned by Homer, Samuel, Ezekiel:--how + sharpened:--of brass, 140: + --the best formerly from Palermo, 142. + + RECHERCHES, Historiques et Physiologiques sur la Guilotine, 152. + + RELICS, traffic and jugglery in, by the priests, 17. + + REPUBLICS, extravagance fatal to, 87, 88. + + REVENGE Church of Christ, 37. + + REVIVAL, amusing example of, on the way to the grave, 91: + --of a child of Henry Laurens, which caused him to order his own + corpse to be burnt, 95. + + ROCHEFOUCAULT, maxim erroneously ascribed to, 59. + + ROMAN CATHOLICS, persecution of, in Massachusetts, 29. + + ROSS, Sir John, his residence, in the Arctic regions:--discovery of him + and his company, 154. + + ROTHSCHILD, Nathan Meyer, his funeral solemnities, 3. + + RUM, mainspring of the slave trade in Massachusetts, 47. + + RUSH, Dr. Benjamin, alluded to:--anecdote of, 111. + + + S. + + "SACRED TO THE MEMORY"! 77. + + SANTA CRUZ, gross extortion there, from surviving friends, 16. + + SANSONS, the hereditary executioners of Paris, 151, 152. + + SAYINGS, of eminent men, in articulo, or just before death, 100. + + SCOTCH WEAVER'S VANITY, 39. + + SELWYN, George, seldom absent from an execution, 50. + + SENECA, quotation from, 48. + + SEXTONS, their office, its origin, and duties, of old:--their extortion, + occasionally, in the hour of affliction, 16 + --their business much benefited by steam, 2. + + SCIENCE, some curious mistakes of, 154. + + SHAYS, his insurrection, 29. + + SHAVING, suggestions concerning, 140. + + SHELLEY, the poet, cremation of, 20. + + SHIPWRECKS, their number, 102. + + SLAVERY, 34: + --in Boston, 43, 47: + --early attempts to abolish, in Massachusetts, 44: + --how and when abolished there, 47: + --Slave trade, in Boston, 47. + + SLAVES, example of their ingenuity, 34. + + SMITH, Martin, sexton of King's Chapel, his apparition to the sexton of + the old school, 76, 77, 78. + + SOLDIERS, their sufferings, as statesmen, 100. + + SONS OF LIBERTY, some account of the, 41. + + SOUTHERN STATES, liberality to Boston, in 1774, 44. + + SPARTANS, their mode of selecting wives, 115. + + SPIDER and chambermaid, 29. + + SPIRITUAL KNOCKINGS, sometimes resulting in madness, and self-murder, + 157, 158: + --remedy for, 158. + + STAMP ACT, resolutions in Faneuil Hall, 58. + + STEAM, of great benefit to sextons, 27. + + STERNHOLD AND HOPKINS, their version of the Psalms gave place to that of + Tate and Brady:--motive of Sternhold little suspected, 100. + + STONECUTTER, anecdote of a, 6. + + STYLE, old and new, some account of, 117. + + SUCCESSION, Apostolic, 78. + + SUMNER, Governor, funeral of, 39. + + SUMPTUARY LAWS, some account of, 88. + + SURGEONS, the earliest:--limited nature of their functions, 107: + --among the Israelites, 108. + + SUTTEES, description of, 74. + + SWANS, their musical power fabulous, 105. + + SWEATING SICKNESS, some account of, 27. + + SWEDENBORG, his notions of Heaven:--of the soul, 96. + + + T. + + TALLOW CHANDLER, retired from business, anecdote of, 22. + + TASMAN'S BOWL, used for conjuration, in Tongataboo, 38. + + TEA, thrown overboard, 44. + + TEARS, power of shedding at will, 32. + + TEMPERANCE "has done for funerals," 2. + + TETOTUM DOCTOR, 111. + + THATCHER, Rev. Peter, installation of, 37. + + THREE CHEERS for the elephant, 39. + + TOMBS, reasons for preferring graves:--outrage upon five, in Salem, + Massachusetts, 13, 14. + + "TOO HEARTILY of nutmegs," 103. + + TORIES, their faith in the royal cause, 125. + + TREASURES, buried with the dead, 21. + + TURENNE, singular fate of his remains, 23. + + + U. + + URNS, funeral, forms, and materials of, 20: + --occasionally large enough to contain the mingled ashes of whole + families, 21. + + USURY, some remarks on, 48, 52. + + + V. + + VALES, practice of giving, 27. + + VANITY, illustration of, 49. + + VIANDS, deposited near the dead, 25. + + VISCERATION among the ancients, 25. + + VOLTAIRE, his description of a Frenchman, 152. + + + W. + + WADE, Sir Claude M. his account of the East India Fakeer, who was + restored, after a suspension of consciousness, for six weeks, 137, + 138. + + WAGER OF BATTEL, the law of England, so late, as 1819, 145. + + WAKES, their origin:--some account of, 91. + + WARREN, Gen. Joseph, manner of discovering his remains:--the bullet, by + which he was killed, in possession of the Montague family, 17. + + WASHINGTON, George, illustration of the reverence for his memory, in New + England:--opinion of, by Lords Erskine and Brougham:--national + neglect of his monument:--sale of some of his effects, 26. + + WATERHOUSE, Dr. Benjamin, anecdote of, 111. + + "WEEL THEN sing as mony as there be," 99. + + WEBSTER, Dr. John White, his trial for the murder of Dr. Parkman, 72: + --his case stated, at the close of, 89. + + WEEVER'S funeral monuments, 24. + + "WHAT that boy says is true," 113. + + WIDOWS, Numa severe upon:--marrying within ten months accounted + infamous, 32: + --unjustly censured, 98: + --"with the great fan," 119. + + WIGS, scratches, bobs, and full bottomed:--their antiquity, 142, 143: + --periwigs in N. England, 142: + --Roman, 143. + + WILLS, ANCIENT, 155, 156, 160: + --superstitious dread of making, 155: + --Andrew Faneuil's, 127. + + WITCHES, their right to travel through the air, decided by Lord + Mansfield, 29. + + WOODBRIDGE, Benjamin, killed in a duel on Boston Common, 133 to 137: + both inclusive. + + WRAXALL'S MEMOIRS, inaccurate, 149. + + + Z. + + ZISCA, John, anecdote of, 7. + + + + +INDEX TO PROPER NAMES. + + +The figures refer to the pages--not to the numbers. + + A. + + Abbeville, 635. + + Abbott, 112, 204. + + Abel, 429. + + Aberdeen, 364. + + Abner, 9, 13, 108, 172, 173, 197, 289. + + Absalom, 591. + + Achilles, 12, 17, 67, 107. + + Adam, 70, 429, 605. + + Adams, 596. + + Adams, John, 142, 156, 157, 160, 275, 276, 394. + + Adams, John Q., 156, 394. + + Adams, Samuel, 142. + + Addison, 35, 38, 454, 606. + + Admetus, 12. + + Adrian, 584. + + Æneas, 382. + + Æsculapius, 433, 436, 445, 667. + + Affslager, 587. + + Africa, 33, 168, 435, 622, 662. + + Africans, 632. + + Africanus, 583. + + Agamemnon, 17, 430. + + Agathias, 16. + + Agrigentum, 373. + + Agmondesham, 676. + + Agrippa, 261. + + Agrippa, Cornelius, 445. + + Ahaziah, 431. + + Alaricus, 65. + + Albany, 38, 415. + + Alcock, 614. + + Aldgate, 652. + + Aldgrave, 634. + + Aleet Mong, 398. + + Alexander, 373. + + Allen, 353, 495, 502, 503, 601, 610. + + Allwick, 69. + + Almotanah, 123. + + Almshouse, 24. + + Alvanley, 606. + + America, 265, 416. + + Ames, 91, 630, 631. + + Ammianus, 64. + + Amphytrion, 217, 581. + + Amoon, 398. + + Amory, 94. + + Amsterdam, 456, 622. + + Anderson, 309. + + Andover, 561. + + André, 57 to 62, passim. + + Andrews, 24, 159. + + Andros, 298. + + Anecy, 56. + + Angouleme, 124. + + Anio, 617. + + Annan, 286. + + Anne Boleyn, 477. + + Annelly, 423. + + Anne of Cleves, 78, 81, 410. + + Anne, Queen, 186, 248, 262, 365, 406. + + Antijacobin, 612. + + Antoninus, 67. + + Antony, 579. + + Antwerp, 618. + + Appleton, 450, 506, 538, 630. + + Apthorp, 297. + + Arabian Nights, 269. + + Arabs, 119, 123. + + Aratus, 12. + + Archelaus, 102, 591. + + Archimimus, 98. + + Arcueil, 39, 42. + + Argiletum, 587. + + Aristotle, 186, 217, 218. + + Arkwright, 420. + + Arnaud, 419. + + Arnold, 62, 228, 338, 339, 340. + + Arundel, 157. + + Asa, 430, 434. + + Aselepiades, 358, 373, 443, 460, 461. + + Ashford, 604. + + Ashmole Museum, 613. + + Asiatic Researches, 435. + + Athenæ Oxonienses, 133, 135, 136, 232, 248, 250, 425, 640, 642. + + Athens, 11, 88, 343, 373, 420, 442. + + Atherton, 30, 167. + + Atossa, 465. + + Atticus, 51, 474. + + Attleborough, 31. + + Auchterpool, 603. + + Augustines, 652, 654, 677. + + Augustus, 99, 583. + + Auld Reekie, 334. + + Aulus Gellius, 218. + + Austin, 449. + + Austria, 321. + + Austrians, 539. + + Auxerre, 220. + + Avery, 166, 167. + + Aviola, 49, 373. + + Avis, 92. + + Aymar, 438, 454, 455. + + Azotus, 33. + + + B. + + Bacon, Roger, 360, 361, 362. + + Bacon, Lord, 185, 188, 375, 376, 445, 641, 642. + + Babylon, 406, 422, 432, 433. + + Babylonians, 664. + + Baiæ, 320. + + Bahar Loth, 123. + + Bailey, 246. + + Bainbridge, 610, 624. + + Balch, 269, 353. + + Baldwin, 57, 181, 303, 311. + + Ball, 624. + + Ballyconnel, 194. + + Ballymahon, 195. + + Ballyshannon, 355. + + Balmarino, 629. + + Bancroft, 277. + + Banians, 377. + + Banks, 298, 424. + + Barataria, 123, 265. + + Barbaroux, 426. + + Barbary, 88. + + Barbut, 29. + + Barcephas, 120. + + Barclay, 252. + + Barker, 642. + + Barlow, 288, 361. + + Barnes, 451. + + Barnard, 24. + + Barra Durree, 570. + + Barré, 140, 145, 416. + + Barrington, 606. + + Barron, 608, 609. + + Barrow, 398, 400, 402, 403. + + Barrow's Strait, 645. + + Barton, 561, 562, 563. + + Bartholomew, 633. + + Bartholomew's Eve, 93. + + Bassorah, 88. + + Bastile, 84. + + Bate, 601. + + Battenkill, 303. + + Baulny, 639. + + Baulston, 228. + + Baxter, 252. + + Bayard, 393. + + Bayeaux, 519. + + Bayle, 56, 358, 380, 388, 391, 455, 672, 673. + + Bayley, 597. + + Baynton, 516, 519. + + Bay State, 163. + + Beattie, 360. + + Beauchamp, 529, 651, 655. + + Beaufort, 607, 674, 675. + + Beccaria, 207. + + Beckford, 145. + + Bedouin, 119. + + Beecher, 372. + + Belcher, 298. + + Belfast, 389. + + Belknap, 163 to 167, and 283 to 286, passim: 368. + + Bellamont, 605. + + Bellingham, 228, 229, 230. + + Belochus, 465. + + Belzoni, 33. + + Bengal, 281. + + Benin, 33. + + Bennington, 415. + + Bentham, 27, 52, 176, 605. + + Benton, 159. + + Bergen-op-Zoom, 549, 613. + + Berlin, 89. + + Bernon, 496, 508. + + Berthier, 109. + + Bertrand, 639. + + Bethune, 495, 506, 508, 514, 567. + + Beuoron, 607. + + Bias, 217, 218. + + Bichat, 357. + + Bildad, 217. + + Billes, 147. + + Biographia Brittanica, 363. + + Bishop, 27, 227. + + Blackburn, 508, 523. + + Black Prince, 649. + + Blackstone, 301. + + Blackwood's Mag., 243. + + Blaisdell, 182, 183. + + Blanche, 608. + + Blin, 562. + + Blitheman, 426. + + Blitz, 665. + + Blundell, 606. + + Boccacio, 218, 422. + + Bodkin, 189, 190, 192, 440, 441. + + Bogle, 195. + + Boies, 159. + + Bolton Abbey, 678. + + Bondet, 497. + + Bonet, 49. + + Bonner, 506, 550, 562. + + Bonrepaux, 239, 240, 242. + + Boodle, 171, 172, 173. + + Boorn, 301 to 331, passim. + + Borri, 456. + + Borromeo, 220. + + Bose, 643, 644. + + Bosius, 437. + + Bosphorus, 22. + + Bosson, 597. + + Bossuet, 671. + + Boston, 66, 125, 151, 153, 165, 167, 179, 184, 191, 194, 210, 221, 223, + 270, 351, 452, 497, 514, 536. + + Boston Athen'm, 269, 324. + + Boston Common, 549. + + Boswell, 601, 602, 603, 606. + + Bottom, 592, 624. + + Boudinot, 496. + + Bourbon, 393, 675. + + Bourbon, Jeanne of, 74. + + Bourdeaux, 210. + + Boutineau, 496, 498, 510, 512, 514, 531, 566. + + Bouttville, 607. + + Bowdoin, 284, 496, 498, 508, 538. + + Bowen, 557. + + Bowers, 82. + + Boyd, 606, 614. + + Boyle, 243, 535, 597. + + Brachmans, 377. + + Brackett, 592. + + Braddock, 394. + + Bradford, 19, 301, 632. + + Brady, 31, 55, 597. + + Brague, 220. + + Brand, 402, 589. + + Brandreth, 86. + + Brandywine, 415. + + Branodunum, 65. + + Bray, 81, 677. + + Braybrooke, 577. + + Breck, 270, 271. + + Breckenridge, 605. + + Breed, 597. + + Briareus, 56, 91. + + Briar's Creek, 415. + + Briggs, 175. + + Brighton, 508, 525, 527. + + Bristol, 508. + + British Critic, 622. + + Britons, 585. + + Brocklebank, 174. + + Brockwell, 297. + + Bromeholme, 656. + + Bromfield, 269, 564. + + Brooks, 352, 353, 553, 554, 609. + + Brougham, 84, 347. + + Brouillan, 529. + + Brown, 580. + + Browne, 42, 65, 67, 118, 122, 131, 180, 215, 227, 282, 419, 431, 478, + 640, 660, 664, 677. + + Bruce, 549, 551, 662. + + Bruli, 651. + + Buchanan, 58, 59, 61, 436. + + Buckingham, 479. + + Buckley, 532. + + Buddikin, 108. + + Buffon, 420. + + Buissiere, 455. + + Bulfinch, 450. + + Bull, 414, 415, 426, 427. + + Bullivant, 298. + + Bulwer, 592. + + Bungs, 463. + + Bunker's Hill, 54, 55, 415. + + Buononcini, 422. + + Burdett, 606. + + Bureau, 507, 530. + + Burgoyne, 353, 617. + + Burgundy, 614. + + Burke, 27, 268, 613. + + Burleigh, 76, 661. + + Burnett, 33, 76, 233, 262, 551. + + Burney, 427. + + Burr, 332, 605. + + Burritt, 177. + + Burton, 26, 66. + + Busching, 119. + + Bute, 140, 146. + + Butler, 56, 208, 361, 454, 622. + + Byles, 143, also 363 to 372, passim: also 546. + + + C. + + Cades, 152. + + Cæsar, Augustus, 29, 36, 99, 595, 679. + + Cæsar, Julius, 29, 474, 579, 585. + + Cæsars, the twelve, 67. + + Cæsar, the slave, 31. + + Caffraria, 103. + + Cain, 377, 429, 556, 615. + + Cairo, 241. + + Caius, 88, 585. + + Calabria, 87. + + Calais, 657. + + Calhoun, 114. + + Calcraft, 346. + + California, 101. + + Calinglond, 677. + + Callender, 163. + + Calmet, 119, 120, 187, 436, 582, 615. + + Callowhill, 267. + + Calvin, 548, 549. + + Calypso, 420. + + Cambridge, 630. + + Camden, 145, 146, 383, 415. + + Camerarius, 373. + + Cameron, 621. + + Camillus Papers, 277. + + Campbell, 614. + + Caner, 289 to 300, passim. + + Canning, 606. + + Canso, 567. + + Canterbury, 520, 656, 669. + + Cape Anne, 16. + + Capet, 73, 81, 637. + + Capulets, 351. + + Cardigan, 606. + + Caribs, 130. + + Carisbroke Castle, 606, 673. + + Carmelites, 652, 654. + + Carne, 117, 119. + + Carroll, 181. + + Carter, 148. + + Carthago, 152. + + Carthusians, 651. + + Cartwright, 240. + + Cass, 85, 110. + + Cassieres, 59. + + Castalio, 549. + + Castellan, 358. + + Castelnau, 384. + + Castlereagh, 606. + + Catanea, 33. + + Catholics, 535. + + Catlin, 23. + + Cato, 71, 431, 442, 443, 444. + + Catti, 585. + + Caulfield, 382. + + Cavan, 193. + + Cecil, 661. + + Cecrops, 64. + + Celsus, 429, 462. + + Cemetery des Innocens, 39, 43, 65. + + Cephrenes, 384. + + Chace, 310 to 330, passim. + + Chadsey, 80. + + Chadwick, 212, 278, 320, 321, 322, 333, 569. + + Chaise, Père la, 672. + + Chaldeans, 661. + + Chalmers, 49, 238, 248, 249, 268, 363, 427, 480, 516, 612. + + Chamberlain, 77, 80. + + Chamouni, 400. + + Chantilly, 419, 420. + + Chapel Yard, 225. + + Chapotin, 568. + + Chappelle, 612. + + Chardon, 533, 534, 538, 541. + + Charles, Archduke, 620. + + Charles I., 133, 134, 135, 137, 138, 157, 177, 248, 436, 477, 673. + + Charles II., 99, 136, 159, 170, 177, 248, 249, 259, 309, 426, 479, 592, + 606, 672, 673. + + Charles V., 25, 74, 390, 392, 619. + + Charles IX., 475. + + Charles XII., 217. + + Charleston, 112, 405. + + Charlestown, 608. + + Charlemagne, 37, 73. + + Charlotte, Queen, 145. + + Charlton, 125. + + Charon, 68. + + Charpentiere, 648. + + Chartreuse, 162. + + Chateaubriand, 117, 118, 119, 122. + + Chatham, 146, 417. + + Chaumette, 637. + + Chauncey, 148, 546. + + Chazlett, 244. + + Checkley, 546. + + Cheever, 450. + + Chelesfield, 653. + + Chenoo, 129. + + Cheops, 384. + + Chesapeake, 608, 609. + + Chester, 239, 240, 650. + + Chesterfield, 108. + + Chevy Chace, 425. + + Cheverus, 210, 410. + + Cheyne, 649. + + Chicago, 357. + + Chigwell, 248. + + Childe, 426. + + Chilperic, 66, 67. + + China, 93, 94, 106, 397, 401, 481, 586. + + Chinese, 67, 632. + + Chiron, 429. + + Chitty, 192. + + Christ Church, 143. + + Christian Observer, 281. + + Christianstadt, 97. + + Christina, 456. + + Christmas, 124, 671. + + Christopherson, 228. + + Chronicles, 122, 430. + + Chrysippus, 442, 443. + + Chrysostom, 437. + + Chuang-tsze, 482 to 494, passim. + + Cicero, 51, 64, 79, 97, 176, 214, 217, 218, 279, 282, 377, 381, 419, + 443, 578, 579, 583. + + Cimon, 11. + + Circe, 445. + + Claflin, 124. + + Clarendon, 135, 136, 137, 649. + + Clarissa, 320. + + Clare, 606, 652. + + Clarke, 121, 122, 129, 132, 159, 378. + + Clarkson, 237 to 269, pas. + + Claudius, 67, 99. + + Claudius Pulcher, 432. + + Clemens Alexandrinus, 429. + + Clement, 121, 650. + + Cleomenes, 590, 600. + + Clerimont, 591. + + Clifford, 271, 651, 657. + + Clinton, 60, 62. + + Clytemnestra, 11. + + Cobbett, 417, 447. + + Cobham, 20, 654. + + Coke, 181. + + Colclough, 614. + + Colebrooke, 22. + + Colman, 214, 638. + + Columbus, 362. + + Colvin, 301 to 331, passim. + + Commodus, 67. + + Concord, 415. + + Condé, 455. + + Condy, 516. + + Coneyball, 299. + + Confucius, 383. + + Congo, 129. + + Conrad, 556, 564. + + Constantinople, 22, 55, 87, 88. + + Constantius, 55. + + Conway, 145, 458, 538. + + Cook, 129, 561. + + Cooley, 316. + + Coolidge, 180. + + Cooper, 181, 546. + + Copeland, 227. + + Copley, 371, 508. + + Corday, 639, 640, 641. + + Cornish, 237, 332. + + Cornwall, 650, 676. + + "Corpse Hill," 92. + + Corry, 232. + + Cortez, 593. + + Cossart, 507. + + Cotton, 229, 230. + + Courland, 227. + + Courrier Extraordinaire, 639. + + Courtnay, 656. + + Coventry, 180. + + Cow Lane, 596. + + Cowley, 478. + + Cowper, 222, 596. + + Cox, 252. + + Cranmer, 279. + + Crawford, 436. + + Creech, 244. + + Crequi, 606. + + Crespigney, 606. + + Creusa, 382. + + Crinas, 443. + + Cripplegate, 477. + + Crocker, 405. + + Crockett, 209. + + Croese, 239, 240, 242, 262. + + Crofts, 616. + + Cromartic, 629. + + Cromwell, 134, 135, 170, 177. + + Cromwell's Head, 597. + + Crosby, 598. + + Croyland Abbey, 124. + + Cruikshanks, 401. + + Cullender, 33, 664. + + Cunningham, 538. + + Curran, 605. + + Curwen, 513, 595. + + Cushing, 537. + + Cutbeard, 591. + + Cuthbert, 37, 606. + + Cutler, 508, 546, 551, 553, 554, 563. + + Cutter, 509. + + Cyclops, 430. + + Cyrus, 332. + + + D. + + Daddy Osgood, 578. + + Dagobert, 74. + + Daillé, 497, 498, 507, 546. + + Damberger, 622. + + Dammory, 652. + + Dana, 142, 190, 191, 276, 337. + + Danes, 614. + + Danforth, 448. + + Darden, 184. + + Davenport, 299, 509, 510, 512, 531, 535, 546, 547, 566. + + David, 16, 221, 617, 618, 619, 620. + + Davis, 397, 399, 400, 402, 586. + + Dead Sea, 116, 118, 119, 121, 123. + + D'Acres, 652. + + D'Arblay, 105. + + De Blois, 24, 662. + + De Burgh, 652. + + Decatur, 609, 610, 611, 624. + + Dedication, 679. + + Defoe, 87. + + De Grandison, 653. + + De Henricourt, 607. + + Dehon, 597. + + De Hoveden, 669. + + De la Croix, 507. + + Delancey, 509. + + Delaware, 252. + + Delia, 100. + + Demades, 52. + + Demarat, 58, 59. + + De Medicis, 661. + + Demetrius, 97. + + Deming, 302, 312, 322. + + Democritus, 360. + + Demosthenes, 97. + + Dentrecolles, 481. + + Denmark, 52, 53, 88, 640. + + De Pauw, 400, 402. + + Deptford, 267. + + De Ris, 607. + + Desdemona, 82. + + Deshon, 538. + + Despencer, 655. + + De Thou, 622. + + Dettingen, 623. + + De Uzerches, 607. + + De Valence, 655. + + De Vassor, 612. + + De Verdon, 652. + + Devergie, 357. + + Devereux, 677. + + Devon, 677. + + De Warre, 654. + + De Worde, 125. + + Dexter, 25, 450. + + Didian Law, 342. + + Dido, 382. + + Dickens, 568. + + Dickson, 31. + + Diemerbroeck, 49. + + Diemschid, 475. + + Digby, 640, 641, 642. + + Diodorus, 18, 342. + + Diogenes, 16, 17, 18, 217. + + Diogenes Laertius, 373. + + Dionysius, 12, 98, 583. + + Dirk Hatteraick, 238. + + Dodsley's Annual Register, 578. + + Domitian, 67, 106, 120. + + Don Quixote, 591. + + Doolittle, 330. + + Dorchester Neck, 575. + + Dorchester Point, 643. + + Doring, 564. + + Dorsett, 66, 613, 622, 677. + + Douglas, 425, 536. + + Dover, 319. + + Doyle, 634. + + Dowse, 541. + + Draco, 206, 207, 209, 226. + + Draper, 91. + + Drury, 361. + + Druses, 400, 401. + + Dryden, 478, 480, 481, 576. + + Du Barri, 671. + + Dublin, 89, 249. + + Dubois, 635. + + Ducange, 648. + + Dudley, 181, 298, 497. + + Duff, 129, 435. + + Dugdale, 647, 648, 674. + + Du Halde, 402. + + Dulany, 601. + + Dummer, 550, 551, 552, 556. + + Dumont, 605. + + Dundee, 31. + + Dunciad, 480. + + Dunmow, 124. + + Duny, 331, 640, 664. + + Duport, 636. + + Durandus, 124. + + Dutch, 578. + + Dyer, 232. + + + E. + + Earle, 94. + + Easter Eve, 675. + + Eastman, 182, 183. + + Easton, 158. + + Eatooa, 378. + + Ecclesiastes, 111, 267. + + Ecclesiasticus, 431. + + Echeloot Indians, 378. + + Eckley, 597. + + Eden, 70. + + Edes, 596. + + Edessa, 57. + + Edgeworth, 103. + + Edinburgh, 89, 241. + + Edinburgh Review, 178, 209, 346. + + Edmund I., 124. + + Edmund Plantagenet, 650. + + Edom, 116. + + Edward, I., 26, 187, 589, 652. + + Edward III., 342, 406, 649. + + Edward IV., 342, 589, 676. + + Edward, the Confessor, 595. + + Egypt, 33, 88, 106, 129, 400, 436. + + Egyptians, 19, 102, 110, 111, 129, 131, 206, 377, 378, 400, 517, 632, + 661. + + Ekron, 431. + + Elah, 617. + + Eldon, 192, 193, 230. + + El Dorado, 71, 103. + + Eli, 197, 198. + + Eliot, 91, 495, 502, 630. + + Elliot, 610. + + Eliphaz, 217. + + Elizabeth, 103, 170, 407, 409, 593, 661. + + Elizabeth Island, 285. + + Embomma, 129, 130. + + Empedocles, 373. + + Encyclopædia Britannica, 268. + + Endor, 363, 480, 665, 670, 678. + + England, 188, 206, 210, 229, 253, 268, 346, 407, 409, 576, 588, 591, + 595, 599, 600, 601, 604, 605, 606, 614, 632, 633, 634. + + English Canaan, 628. + + English Mark, 651. + + Enoch, 57. + + Epicurus, 481. + + Erasistratus, 442, 443. + + Erasmus, 152. + + Erfurth, 125. + + Erpingham, 638. + + Erricus, 661. + + Erskine, 84. + + Erving, 515. + + Estwell, 677. + + Espinasse, 588. + + Ethiopia, 106. + + Europe, 106, 131, 576, 622, 663. + + Eurypus, 443. + + Eusebius, 465. + + Eustis, 450. + + Eutaw Springs, 415. + + Evans, 610. + + Eve, 429. + + Evelyn, 134. + + Everett, 55, 204, 277. + + Ewins, 159. + + Exeter, 20, 204, 211, 675, 677. + + Ezekiel, 582, 583, 587. + + + F. + + Fabius Maximus, 631. + + Fabrieii Bibliographia Antiquaria, 659. + + Fagan, 193. + + Fairbanks, 190, 191, 337. + + Fakeer, 570, 571, 573, 576. + + Fales, 190, 337. + + Falmouth, 243. + + Falstaff, 624. + + Faneuil, 476:--495 to 563, passim. + + Faneuil Hall, 211, 199, 500, 501, 535. + + Fanhope, 674. + + Farmer, 496. + + Farnham, 597. + + Farnsworth, 314, 327, 328. + + Farquhar, 480. + + Farraday, 103. + + Farrar, 159. + + Farrago, 189, 347. + + Fasti, 426. + + Faulconbridge, 321. + + Favor, 98. + + Feild, 228. + + Fenelon, 472. + + Fenner, 228. + + Ferrari, 27. + + Fielding, 272. + + Fillebrown, 493. + + Fire Island, 406. + + Fish, 665, 666, 667. + + Flaccus, 106, 337. + + Flanders, 88. + + Florence, 125, 596. + + Fleet, 147. + + Fleet Prison, 268. + + Fleet Street, 656. + + Fleta, 614. + + Flagg, 431. + + Flaherty, 196. + + Flechier, 215. + + Flucker, 514. + + Folsom, 189. + + Fontenelle, 357. + + Fonnereau, 521. + + Foote, 367, 371. + + Ford, 25, 268, 391. + + Fordyce, 27. + + Forresters, 286. + + Forest Hills, 68, 225. + + Forster, 629. + + Fosbroke, 591. + + Fothergill, 642. + + Fox, 597, 665, 666, 667. + + Foxcroft, 298. + + France, 68, 88, 188, 426, 438, 595, 606, 607, 633, 634, 637, 638, 661, + 670, 675. + + Francis I., 73, 97, 619, 654. + + Francis, 598, 663. + + Frankfort, 15. + + Franklin, 20, 142, 574, 599, 603, 604, 644, 645, 646. + + Franks, 614. + + Freand, 56. + + Frederick I., 28. + + Freedly, 181. + + Freeman, 165. + + French Church, 521. + + Frescati, 64. + + Frizzell, 126. + + Frizzles, 189. + + Fuller, 66, 265, 466. + + Fullerton, 605. + + + G. + + Gabriel, 57, 119. + + Galen, 459. + + Galilee, 57. + + Gannett, 92, 286. + + Gardner, 299, 601. + + Garth, 480. + + Gates, 77, 81. + + Gath, 617. + + Gato, 33. + + Gaul, 617, 618, 619. + + Gaule, 659. + + Gauls, 618. + + Gaunt, 237, 656, 674. + + Gavett, 596. + + Gawler, 606. + + Gellia, 107. + + Genesis, 122, 429. + + Genethliaci, 661. + + Genevieve, 73, 75. + + Genoa, 89. + + Gentleman's Magazine, 376, 594. + + George I., 28, 248, 406. + + George II., 406, 407, 551, 623, 660. + + George III., 59, 90, 103, 144, 145, 147, 275, 604. + + George IV., 207, 209. + + Gerard, 469. + + Germanicus, 29. + + Germans, 614. + + Germantown, 415. + + Germany, 88, 426, 620. + + Gervais, 475, 670. + + Ghizeh, 33. + + Gibraltar, 88. + + Gideon, 597. + + Gill, 61. + + Gillies, 514. + + Gilpin, 74. + + Girondists, 68, 74. + + Glossin, 388. + + Gloucester, 349, 404, 652, 657. + + Goethe, 287. + + Golgotha, 35. + + Goliath, 437, 617, 618, 619. + + Gold, 227. + + Goldsmith, 24, 123, 362, 481, 584, 587, 649. + + Gomorrah, 117, 119, 221. + + Good, 49. + + Goode, 181, 184, 338. + + Gooseberry, 70. + + Gordon, 62, 147, 153, 416, 417. + + Gore, 277. + + Gorton, 480. + + Gosnold, 283. + + Goss, 677. + + Gould, 598. + + Gracchus, 431. + + Grady, 601. + + Grammont, 623. + + Granger, 260. + + Granary, 24, 46, 48, 148, 197, 428, 525, 543. + + Grant, 401, 606. + + Grattan, 606. + + Gratz, 620. + + Graunt, 103. + + Gray, 161, 162, 269, 546, 556. + + Great Britain, 186, 207, 277, 347, 416, 474, 580, 663. + + Great Tom, 125. + + Greece, 105, 128, 204, 355, 373, 430, 595. + + Greeks, 68, 106, 131, 632, 661. + + Green, 596. + + Greene, 62, 159, 474. + + Greenlanders, 35. + + Greenleaf, 192, 329, 330. + + Green Mount, 38. + + Greenwood, 300, 451, 534. + + Gregory, Pope, 474. + + Grey, 347. + + Grey Friars, 652. + + Greville, 678. + + Gridley, 142. + + Griswold, 160, 360. + + Grossman, 7, 8, 18, 24, 25, 44, 50, 115, 132, 288, 680. + + Grotius, 437. + + Grouchy, 132. + + Grozier, 397. + + Grubb, 596. + + Guardian, 613. + + Guerriere, 417. + + Guiana, 130. + + Guideu, 637. + + Guienne, 656. + + Guilford, 415. + + Guillotin, 634, 635. + + Guillotine, 634, 635, 638. + + Guinneau, 519. + + Gundebald, 614, 615. + + Gussanville, 663. + + Gustavus Adolphus, 661. + + + H. + + Hades, 345. + + Hague, 445. + + Hakin, 400. + + Hale, 62, 124, 177, 188, 189, 190, 209, 220, 301, 310, 315, 324, 331, + 332, 334, 640, 664, 666. + + Halford, 134, 135, 136, 139. + + Halifax, 223, 479, 480, 634. + + Hall, 130. + + Hallam, 361. + + Haller, 157. + + Halley, 81. + + Hamilton, 277, 298, 605, 613. + + Hammond, 180. + + Hancock, 142, 143, 166, 299, 417, 498, 589. + + Handel, 297, 422, 427. + + Handy, 561. + + Hanan, 585. + + Hannibal, 45. + + Hanover Square, 140. + + Hanway, 90. + + Harleian Miscellany, 217, 445, 642. + + Harper, 227. + + Harris, 555. + + Harrison, 265, 395, 396. + + Hart, 661, 662. + + Hartop, 158. + + Harvey, 157, 436. + + Haslett, 597. + + Hatch, 555, 564, 565. + + Haute, 676. + + Hawes, 375. + + Hawkins, 426. + + Hawles, 332. + + Hawtrey, 361. + + Haydn, 346, 407, 577, 579, 580. + + Hayes, 301. + + Hayley, 477. + + Haynes, 302, 307, 310, 316, 317, 321, 322. + + Hayward, 450, 561, 597. + + Hazael, 431. + + Hazzard, 226, 545. + + Heath, 172, 610, 611. + + Heber, 360. + + Hebrews, 33, 431. + + Hebrides, 643. + + Hector, 619. + + Heemskerck, 588. + + Helen, 619. + + Henault, 661. + + Henderson, 304. + + Henry II., 649, 651. + + Henry III., 187, 241, 661. + + Henry IV., 73, 74, 342, 352, 409, 606, 661. + + Henry VI., 349, 674. + + Henry VII., 87, 88, 134, 185. + + Henry VIII., 78, 133, 136, 138, 139, 170, 185, 188, 342, 346, 385, 409, + 411, 413, 477, 589, 631. + + Henry, 639, 663. + + Hephestion, 373. + + Herbert, 104, 133, 138, 607. + + Hercules, 436. + + Hereford, 649, 656, 657. + + Herlicius, 661, 672, 673. + + Hermes, 428. + + Herne, 676. + + Herod, 93. + + Herodotus, 18, 21, 436. + + Heron, 657. + + Herophylus, 443, 459. + + Herr Driesbach, 613. + + Herschell, 622, 643. + + Hertford, 133, 135. + + Highgate, 37. + + Hildanus, 49, 373. + + Hill, 298, 307, 308, 310, 368, 369, 597. + + Hiller, 553. + + Hindoos, 22, 436. + + Hindostan, 93, 100. + + Hippocrates, 436, 442, 459. + + Hirst, 508. + + Hobart, 134, 605. + + Hobkirk's Hill, 415. + + Hoboken, 615, 643. + + Hodgson, 361. + + Hodson, 601. + + Hog Alley, 562. + + Hogarth, 271. + + Holborn, 134. + + Holbrook, 408. + + Holden, 124, 227. + + Holinshed, 87, 424. + + Holland, 88, 506, 650, 662. + + Holme, 591. + + Holmes, 365, 499, 546. + + Holy Land, 651, 652. + + Homans, 450. + + Homer, 15, 17, 143, 429, 430, 585, 586. + + Hone, 591. + + Hook, 76, 367. + + Hooper, 309, 546. + + Hopkins, 221, 422, 424. + + Horace, 36, 51, 97, 168, 360, 367, 404, 568, 587, 592, 663, 664. + + Horatio, 599, 600. + + Horne, 178. + + Horstius, 373. + + Hossack, 605. + + Hottentots, 34. + + Hough, 245, 246. + + Houndsditch, 661. + + Howe, 55, 597. + + Hubbard, 627. + + Hudibras, 260, 454, 627, 628. + + Huger, 496. + + Huguenots, 496 to 500, passim: also, 506, 507, 523, 545, 546. + + Hull, 66, 274, 646. + + Hume, 186, 241. + + Humphreys, 646, 647. + + Hungary, 632. + + Hungerford, 233. + + Hunt, 506. + + Huntington, 655. + + Hutchinson, 226, 228, 229, 230, 515, 538, 586, 592, 640. + + Hydriotaphia, 42, 65, 131, 281. + + Hydrophobia, 193. + + Hyperion, 582. + + + I. + + Idumea, 116. + + Inman, 513. + + Innocent III., 466. + + Ireland, 87, 93. + + Irenæus, 171. + + Ireton, 134. + + Irish, 193. + + Irving, 557. + + Isabella, 646. + + Israel, 431. + + Israelites, 102. + + Isis, 428. + + Islip, 406. + + Istampol, 186. + + + J. + + Jabbok, 118. + + Jackson, 55, 500, 605. + + Jacobs, 312. + + Jahn, 33, 432, 433, 434, 435. + + Jamaica Pond, 69. + + James I., 170, 612, 660. + + James II., 232, 243, 248, 253, 259. + + Jardin des Plantes, 75. + + Jasper, 256. + + Jay, 276. + + Jefferson, 85, 163, 344, 392. + + Jeffrey, 603. + + Jeffreys, 235. + + Jeffries, 450, 479, 480, 537. + + Jekyll, 532, 555. + + Jenkins, 157. + + Jenks, 117, 118. + + Jenyns, 42. + + Jepson, 597. + + Jeremiah, 105. + + Jerusalem, 119. + + Jesse, 615, 620, 628. + + Jew, 620. + + Jews, 106, 131, 170, 186, 188, 632. + + Job, 217, 225, 430. + + Jonathan, 116, 167, 414, 417. + + Jones, 159, 181, 435, 510, 513, 531, 541, 551, 566. + + Johnson Samuel, 31, 90, 107, 108, 183, 277, 409, 421, 477, 480, 481, + 601, 602, 603, 604. + + Johnson, 55, 305, 308, 475. + + Johonnot, 493. + + Jonny Armstrong, 425. + + Jonson Ben, 59, 479, 591. + + Jordan, 117, 118. + + Joseph, 57, 429. + + Josephus, 118, 120. + + Josselyn, 283. + + Judah, 116. + + Judæus Apella, 642. + + Judd, 77. + + Judea, 105, 116, 128, 355. + + Judicial Astrology, 661, 673. + + Judson, 616. + + Julia, 67. + + Junius, 525, 578. + + Juno, 421. + + Juvenal, 79, 585. + + + K. + + Kaimes, 367. + + Kamschatka, 35. + + Kast, 450. + + Katherine of Arragon, 650. + + Keatinge, 128. + + Keayne, 454. + + Keith, 239. + + Kensall Green, 37. + + Kent, 650. + + Kerr, 623. + + Kidd, 285. + + Kidder, 86. + + Kilby, 567. + + Kilmarnock, 629, 630. + + King, 276. + + Kings, 431. + + King's Chapel, 48, 55, 288, 297, 510, 534. + + Kingsmill, 227. + + Kingstreet, 509. + + Kingstown, 507. + + Kircherus, 434. + + Kirchmaun, 106. + + Kirriel, 677. + + Kishon, 118. + + Kitchen, 231, 232. + + Kittal-al-Machaid, 401. + + Knox, 369. + + Koran, 21. + + + L. + + Lacedemonians, 12, 13, 17. + + La Cheze, 636. + + Lacombe, 648. + + Lafayette, 62, 84, 636. + + Lahore, 570. + + Lally, 636. + + Lamartine, 68. + + Lambert, 555. + + Lamia, 49, 373. + + Lancashire, 420. + + Lancaster, 650. + + Landgrave of Hesse, 387. + + Landseer, 678. + + Lane, 598. + + Langdon, 92, 427. + + Langstaff, 92. + + Lansdowne, 365. + + Laou-Keun, 481. + + Larassy, 179. + + Lares, 64. + + Larkin, 101 + + Larrey, 607. + + Larvæ, 64. + + Lathrop, 595. + + Latimer, 75, 279, 655. + + Laurel Hill, 38. + + Laurens, 374, 496. + + Lavater, 625. + + Lavinia, 619. + + Lazarus, 56. + + Leadenhall Market, 213, 220. + + Le Cat, 643. + + Lechemere, 554. + + Lectouse, 37. + + Ledea, 228. + + Lee, 126, 276. + + L'Etombe, 166. + + Le Gros, 639. + + Leibnitz, 438. + + Leicestershire, 68, 648. + + Le Mercier, 497, 498, 546, 547, 548, 549. + + Lemures, 64. + + Lenoie, 40. + + Lenox, 605. + + Leopard, 608. + + Lepidus, 52. + + Leuconoe, 663. + + Levi, 382. + + Leviticus, 230. + + Lewis, 378. + + Lewyn, 81. + + Lexington, 415. + + Liancourt, 636. + + Libo, 99. + + Licinius, 80. + + Lilly, 591, 661, 673. + + Lincoln, 94, 312, 674. + + Lincoln's Inn, 593. + + Lind, 420. + + Lindsey, 133, 135. + + Linnæus, 399. + + Linnington, 533. + + Lippstadt, 661. + + Lithered, 560. + + Little Belt, 417. + + Liverpool, 417. + + Livingston, 276. + + Livy, 52, 80, 617, 619. + + Lizard, 407. + + Lloyd, 35, 265, 367, 448, 449. + + Lloyd's Lists, 404. + + Locke, 266. + + Locrian Law, 342. + + Loe, 248, 249. + + Lollards, 658. + + Lombards, 186. + + London, 37, 56, 67, 76, 87, 88, 89, 94, 118, 211, 213, 220, 237, 346, + 421, 588, 589, 591, 624, 632, 652, 676. + + London Quarterly Review, 212, 356, 357, 391, 622, 634, 641. + + London Times, 358. + + Long, 513. + + Long Branch, 320. + + Long Island, 62. + + Longshanks, 187, 583. + + Longspee, 651. + + Lot's Wife, 116, 119, 120, 121, 122. + + Loudon, 213, 214. + + Louis, 636. + + Louis XI., 74. + + Louis XII., 73. + + Louis XIII., 74, 352, 607. + + Louis XIV., 38, 74, 75, 351, 607, 612, 670, 671. + + Louis XV., 671, 672. + + Louis XVI., 635, 637, 638. + + Louison, 636, 637. + + Lovat, 628. + + Lovell, 159:--496 to 530, passim. + + Lowell, 83. + + Lucan, 670. + + Lucilius, 106, 107, 168, 377, 443. + + Ludlow, 226. + + Lum Akum, 398. + + Luther, 388. + + Lutton, 123, 132. + + Lutzengen, 661. + + Lycurgus, 17. + + Lyman, 202, 203. + + Lynn, 658. + + Lyon, 324. + + Lyons, 438. + + + M. + + Mabillon, 124. + + Macabe, 195. + + McAndrew, 181. + + Macartney, 402, 605. + + Macaulay, 231 to 269, passim:--also 361. + + McDonough, 418. + + McGammon, 196. + + McGill, 332. + + Machaon, 430. + + Machiavelli, 95, 115, 220, 234. + + Machyl, 82. + + McKeon, 614. + + Mackenzie, 606, 610, 611, 624. + + Mackintosh, 207, 316. + + McLean, 621. + + McNamara, 197. + + McNaughten, 573. + + Machpelah, 299. + + Mæcenas, 36, 679. + + Mag-Astro-Mancer, 659. + + Magdalen College, 243, 244, 246. + + Magdalene, 56. + + Magee, 195. + + Magnalia, 582. + + Mahomet, 171. + + Mahoney, 195. + + Maillard, 73. + + Mailosel, 654. + + Maintenon, 671, 672. + + Majoribanks, 401. + + Mahnsbury, 87. + + Malone, 481. + + Malplesant, 654. + + Malta, 33, 624. + + Maltravers, 655. + + Mammon, 170. + + Mamre, 299. + + Manchester, 303 to 325, passim. + + Mandans, 23, 51. + + Mandeville, 118, 344, 345, 599. + + Manlius, 617, 618, 619, 634. + + Manes, 64. + + Manigault, 496. + + Mann, 382, 629. + + Mannering, 360. + + Manney, 654. + + Mansfield, 95, 115, 220, 234. + + Mantua, 422. + + Marat, 217. + + Marbeuf, 639. + + Marc Antony, 387. + + Marcellinus, 64. + + March, 653, 655, 666. + + Marco Polo, 400. + + Marcus Antoninus, 584. + + Mareschall, 654. + + Maret, 37. + + Mariner, 129. + + Marion, 496. + + Mariti, 88. + + Marius, 63. + + Marseillais, 426, 637. + + Marseilles, 88. + + Marshall, 55, 83, 355. + + Martel, 73. + + Martial, 107, 419, 586, 587, 595. + + Martin, 189. + + Martinico, 166. + + Martinique, 29. + + Mary, Bloody, 75, 82, 93, 405. + + Maryland, 153, 154. + + Mashee, 596. + + Mason, 101, 102. + + Massachusetts, 84, 94, 114, 155, 156, 164, 165, 166, 176, 187, 231, 276, + 632. + + Mather, 94, 280, 327, 364, 367, 546, 582, 668. + + Matthews, 180, 367, 613. + + Matooara, 378. + + Maury, 636. + + Maverick, 163. + + Maximilian II., 620, 621. + + Maynard, 81. + + Mazarin, 135. + + Mazzei, 163. + + Mead, 588. + + Mears, 497, 563. + + Meaux, 671. + + Mediterranean, 118. + + Megret, 217. + + Melancthon, 388. + + Melli Melli, 568. + + Mena, 130, 583, 587, 592. + + Menalcas, 90. + + Menander, 217. + + Menu, 130. + + Merrick, 221. + + Merrill, 313 to 325, passim. + + Mewins, 464. + + Mexico, 101, 638. + + Michaelis, 119. + + Midsummer Night's Dream, 592. + + Milan, 220, 456. + + Mildmay, 133. + + Miletum, 342. + + Milford Haven, 88. + + Millar, 643. + + Millenarians, 672. + + Millengen, 36, 49. + + Millens, 92. + + Miller, 555. + + Millot, 659. + + Mills, 435. + + Miltiades, 11. + + Milton, 159, 386, 387, 477. + + Minzies, 555. + + Minoresses, 657. + + Minors, 654. + + Minshull, 386. + + Mirepoix, 382. + + Mirfield, 380. + + Misson, 56. + + Missouri, 23. + + Mitford, 477. + + Moab, 116. + + Mock, 597. + + Mohawk Indian, 647. + + Mohun, 605, 613. + + Momus, 368. + + Monmouth, 235. + + Montacute, 650. + + Montaigne, 27, 104, 343, 443. + + Montague, 55. + + Montefiore, 15. + + Monte Notte, 381. + + Montesquieu, 342. + + Montezuma, 63, 593. + + Montmorenci, 607. + + Moody, 30, 189, 471. + + Moore, 472. + + Moorhead, 150, 286, 389, 531, 532, 546. + + Moors, 138. + + Moravians, 379. + + More, 359, 361. + + Morin, 419, 420. + + Morland, 466 to 470, passim. + + Morose, 591. + + Morris, 420, 609, 611. + + Mortimer, 651, 653. + + Morton, 628, 634. + + Moses, 429, 660. + + Mount Auburn, 38, 46, 68, 225. + + Mounts Bay, 407. + + Mount Hope, 33. + + Moyle, 677. + + Mudge, 608. + + Mullowny, 194. + + Mun Chung, 398. + + Murphy, 101, 102, 107, 193. + + Murray, 477. + + Murullus, 106. + + Muses, 421. + + Muskerry, 243. + + Mussenden, 657. + + Mydas, 591. + + Mysore, 436. + + Mytelene, 12. + + + N. + + Naaman, 431. + + Nain, 320. + + Nantasket, 408. + + Nantes, 37. + + Nantucket, 77. + + Naples, 33, 88. + + Napoleon, 105, 381, 393. + + Narcissa, 22. + + Nares, 580, 591, 593. + + Narragansett Bay, 283, 284. + + Naseby, 134, 386. + + Natchez, 587. + + Nau, 122. + + Negoose, 189, 190, 191, 347. + + Nemours, 607. + + New, 581. + + Newcastle, 90. + + New England, 177, 221, 283, 408, 476, 607, 627. + + Newgate, 179, 183, 259, 622, 632. + + New London, 363. + + New North Church, 125, 126. + + New Orleans, 604. + + New Rochelle, 523, 530. + + Newton, 66. + + New York, 576. + + New York Evening Post, 330, 331. + + New Zealand, 23, 94. + + Nicholls, 193, 422, 648. + + Nicolas, 648. + + Ninkempaup, 456. + + Niobe, 121. + + Nipmug, 496. + + Noah, 176. + + Noailles, 623, 671. + + Noble, 262. + + Noddle's Island, 163. + + Nollekens, 676. + + Norfolk, 677. + + Norman, 453. + + Normandy, 635, 675. + + Norris, 232. + + North American Review, 330. + + Norway, 88, 168. + + Norwich, 346. + + Notre Dame, 124. + + Nova Scotia, 568. + + Noyes, 506. + + Numa, 69, 105, 106. + + Numbers, 122. + + Nunhead, 37. + + + O. + + Oak Hall, 133. + + O'Brien, 355. + + O'Connell, 606. + + Odyssey, 11. + + Ogilvie, 606. + + Oglethorpe, 601, 603, 604. + + Ogygia, 420. + + Olam Fodla, 93. + + Old Brick, 123, 132, 128, 567. + + Oldmixon, 268. + + Oliver, 140, 141, 142, 513, 538. + + Omnibus, 191, 347. + + Oporto, 55. + + Orde, 188. + + Orfila, 219. + + Origen, 436. + + Orinoco, 130. + + Orleans, 135. + + Orrery, 250. + + Osborne, 573. + + Osiris, 428. + + O'Shane, 194. + + Ossa, 658. + + Ossoli, 406. + + Otis, Harrison Gray, 159. + + Otis, James, 211, 354. + + Ottomans, 672, 673. + + Outhier, 51. + + Ovid, 64, 98, 105, 106, 223, 248, 392, 413, 558. + + Oxford, 87, 125, 244, 245, 248, 249, 360, 497, 498, 499, 653, 654. + + Oxnard, 513. + + + P. + + Packinett, 498. + + Page, 566. + + Paine, 598. + + Palestine, 34, 121, 204, 651. + + Palermo, 591. + + Palinurus, 168. + + Pallas, 99. + + Palmer, 536, 537, 597. + + Pantagathus, 586. + + Parant Duchatelet, 219. + + Paré, 589. + + Pareicus, 588. + + Parian Marbles, 382. + + Paris, 37, 39, 73, 89, 249, 438, 634, 635, 637, 667, 671. + + Parker, 246, 506. + + Parkman, 270 to 273, passim:--also 278, 335, 336. + + Parr, 157. + + Parsees, 130. + + Parsons, 276, 451. + + Passy, 599. + + Patchogue, 406. + + Patroclus, 15, 67, 107. + + Pauketpeeker, 457. + + Paulding, 62. + + Paul, 658. + + Paull, 606. + + Pausanias, 421. + + Pavice, 565. + + Paxton, 513. + + Paybody, 175. + + Peake, 192. + + Pearson, 175, 189. + + Peck, 498. + + Pecker, 449. + + Peel, 207, 346. + + Pekin, 481. + + Pelion, 658. + + Pelletier, 637. + + Pemberton, 536, 563, 566. + + Pembroke, 653, 654, 655, 677. + + Penn, 231 to 269 passim:--also 339. + + Pennant, 634. + + Pennsylvania, 94. + + Pendleton, 605. + + Pepin, 73. + + Pepperell, 508. + + Pepusch, 427. + + Pepys, 466, 468, 577. + + Percival, 599, 603. + + Percy, 425. + + Perry, 418, 610, 611. + + Persepolis, 475. + + Persia, 475. + + Persians, 632. + + Persius, 592. + + Peters, 450. + + Petre, 281. + + Petronel, 620, 621. + + Pew, 49. + + Peyret, 508. + + Pharamond, 72. + + Pharsalia, 670. + + Phelps, 227. + + Philadelphia, 36, 38, 268, 339, 614. + + Philip Augustus, 39. + + Philip the Bold, 73. + + Philippus, 588. + + Phillips, 408, 421, 495, 505, 531, 541, 542:--also 550 to 566 + passim:--also 568. + + Philistines, 617, 618, 619. + + Philomela, 42. + + Picardy, 635. + + Pickering, 165, 221, 439. + + Pickett, 189. + + Pickworth, 283. + + Pierce, 597. + + Pierre de Nemours, 39. + + Pierson, 226. + + Pigot, 555. + + Pinchbeke, 675. + + Pinckney, 277. + + Pindar, 96. + + Pineau, 49. + + Pinohe, 81. + + Pitcairn, 54, 223. + + Pitcher, 363, 658. + + Pitt, 145, 146, 606. + + Pittacus, 12. + + Place de Grève, 73, 636, 637. + + Place de la Revolution, 638. + + Place St. Antoine, 638. + + Plaine de Mont Louis, 40. + + Plaisant, 639. + + Plaistowe, 230. + + Plato, 20, 49, 373, 377, 429. + + Plautus, 577, 587. + + Pleydell, 360. + + Plimouth, 283, 628. + + Pliny, 79, 99, 117, 121, 419, 430, 442, 443, 450, 459, 461, 462, 582, + 583, 588. + + Plutarch, 105, 106, 217, 400, 591. + + Pococke, 111, 118. + + Podalirius, 430. + + Poeon, 430. + + Poictiers, 654. + + Poictou, 358. + + Polack, 23. + + Pole, 75. + + Polhamus, 319, 320, 323. + + Pollard, 29. + + Pompadour, 41, 43. + + Pompey, 443, 444, 670. + + Ponthia, 373. + + Pontraçi, 39, 40, 54, 89. + + Popayan, 130. + + Pope, 111, 334, 364, 453, 480. + + Popple, 263. + + Porchalion, 674. + + Portland, 64, 65. + + Port Mahon, 42. + + Potter, 12. + + Powell, 386. + + Pratt, 314, 327. + + Pretender, 629. + + Prevot, 49. + + Priam, 322. + + Price, 520, 541. + + Priest, 612. + + Primrose, 111. + + Prince of Orange, 233. + + Pringle, 496. + + Prioleau, 496. + + Prior, 54, 233. + + Pritchard, 550. + + Proctor, 632. + + Prudhomme, 637. + + Psamatticus, 33. + + Pseudodoxia, 431, 660. + + Puddifant, 131, 133. + + Pudding Lane, 596. + + Purchase Street, 597. + + Puzzlepot, 189. + + Pwan Yekoo, 398. + + Pyramus, 592. + + Pythagoras, 377. + + + Q. + + Quakers, 445. + + Quincy, 43, 156, 404, 416, 605. + + Quintilius Varus, 614. + + Quintus, 578. + + + R. + + Rachel, 569. + + Radziville, 121. + + Rand, 449, 643. + + Randall, 228. + + Randolph, 85, 605. + + Ranelagh, 266. + + Rapin, 87, 185, 186, 241, 349, 612, 674. + + Rauber, 620, 621. + + Ravaillac, 73. + + Ravenscroft, 298. + + Raymond, 309, 315, 326, 327. + + Read, 520. + + Reason, 562. + + Receuil Periodique, 643. + + Reese, 357. + + Regent's Inlet, 645. + + Religio Medici, 640. + + Remus, 64. + + Reuben, 116. + + Revallion, 532. + + Richard II., 649, 650, 657. + + Richardson, 662. + + Richelieu, 612. + + Richmond, 133, 135, 677. + + Ridley, 279, 571. + + Riley, 181. + + Rivet, 20. + + Robertson, 241, 299, 391, 392, 393. + + Robespierre, 638. + + Robinson, 232, 260, 261, 514. + + Robin Hood, 517. + + Rochelle, 495, 506, 507, 551. + + Rochester, 216, 266, 424, 480, 587, 631. + + Rochefoucault, 217, 218, 338. + + Rockingham, 145. + + Rockport, 16. + + Roebuck, 606. + + Roederer, 636, 637. + + Rogers, 279, 417. + + Rogerson, 450. + + Roma, 617. + + Roman, 618, 619. + + Romans, 68, 106, 131, 475, 592, 594, 595, 617, 632, 661. + + Roman Catholics, 600. + + Rome, 87, 89, 263, 343, 442, 460, 475, 614, 658, 661. + + Romilly, 207, 346. + + Romulus, 105, 474, 591, 595. + + Rosamond, 651. + + Roscius, 215. + + Rose Cullender, 640. + + Rose in Bloom, 405. + + Ross, 641, 645, 646, 647. + + Rothschild, 15, 54. + + Rous, 227. + + Rouse, 631. + + Rousseau, 476. + + Rowlett, 82. + + Roxbury, 220, 221, 227, 566. + + Royal Society, 622, 644. + + Rue d'Enfer, 39, 42. + + Rufus, 320. + + Runjeet Singh, 570, 571, 572, 573. + + Russell, 29. + + Rush, 447. + + Rushworth, 424. + + Russia, 276. + + Russians, 129, 474. + + Ruthven, 606. + + Rutland Herald, 318, 331. + + Rymer's Foedera, 349, 675. + + + S. + + St. Andrew, 55. + + St. Anne, 56. + + St. Augustine, 51. + + St. Clara, 52. + + St. Christophers, 533. + + St. Croix, 11, 52, 98, 422. + + St. Denis, 73, 75. + + St. Edmunds Bury, 640. + + St. James, 424. + + St. Katherine, 651. + + St. Luke, 55. + + St. Margaret, 651, 675. + + St. Martins, 124. + + St. Mary, 655, 675. + + St. Matthew, 217. + + St. Michael, 57, 124. + + St. Omers, 263, 426. + + St. Paul, 437. + + St. Paul's, 225, 642, 656. + + St. Peter, 56. + + St. Pierre, 476. + + St. Richard, 656. + + St. Saba, 122. + + St. Saturnin, 37. + + St. Thomas, 56, 321, 656. + + Sabine, 510. + + Saburra, 587. + + Sackville, 145, 549, 551, 613. + + Salem, 54. + + Salewarp, 651. + + Salisbury, 307, 650, 651, 669, 674. + + Sallust, 381. + + Salmon, 87. + + Salter, 550. + + Saltonstall, 533. + + Samee, 665. + + Samson, 437. + + Samuel, 111, 363, 434, 585, 620, 660, 670. + + Samuels, 15. + + Sancho Panza, 192, 265. + + Sanderson, 131. + + Sanson, 633, 635, 636, 637, 638. + + Sardinia, 88. + + Sargent, 180, 538. + + Sarsaparilla, 133. + + Sarum, 363. + + Saul, 16, 67, 434, 617, 618, 670. + + Saulien, 37. + + Saunders, 176. + + Sauvages, 101. + + Savage, 55. + + Savoy, 606. + + Scaliger, 437. + + Scharsegin, 620, 621. + + Schmidt, 381. + + Schridieder, 356. + + Scipio Africanus, 22, 216. + + Scott, 49, 227, 269, 360, 375, 376, 422, 426, 606. + + Scrope, 675. + + Scutari, 22. + + Segor, 117. + + Seignelay, 239. + + Seltridge, 449. + + Selkirk, 171. + + Selwyn, 179, 237, 615, 628, 642. + + Seneca, 106, 107, 168, 169, 377, 443, 585. + + Senisino, 421. + + Serampore, 281. + + Sergius Orator, 461. + + Servius, 97, 279. + + Sevrès, 671. + + Sewall, 142, 165, 513, 546, 553, 558, 561, 630. + + Seymour, 133, 136, 608. + + Shades, 587. + + Shakspeare, 83, 409, 419, 658. + + Shandois, 77, 82. + + Sharp, 93. + + Shattuck, 222, 439, 440. + + Shaw, 112, 221, 459. + + Shays, 94. + + Shea, 54. + + Sheerness, 558, 564. + + Shelburne, 605. + + Shelden, 261. + + Sheldon, 314, 327. + + Shelson, 299. + + Sheridan, 613. + + Shirley, 291, 297, 530. + + Shochoh, 615. + + Shouldham, 652. + + Shrewsbury, 320. + + Shute, 298. + + Shylock, 171. + + Siberia, 35. + + Sicily, 33, 591. + + Sicilies, the Two, 89. + + Siddim, 117. + + Sidney, 425. + + Sigal, 515. + + Sigourney, 496, 498. + + Simmons, 130. + + Skinner, 309, 331. + + Smallpiece, 598. + + Smith, Sidney, 367. + + Smith, 24, 27, 71, 152, 164, 227, 289, 509, 591. + + Smink, 101. + + Smollett, 241, 243. + + Snow, 537. + + Socrates, 592. + + Sodom, 117, 119, 120, 123, 215, 221. + + Sodoma, 122. + + Solomon, 192. + + Solon, 209. + + Somersett, 677. + + Somnium Scipionis, 373. + + Soo Chune, 398. + + Soong, 482. + + Sophia Charlotte, 28. + + Sorbiere, 437, 457. + + Sosigenes, 474. + + Southampton, 135. + + Southwick, 227. + + Spain, 650, 662, 675. + + Spaniards, 130. + + Sparks, 62, 561. + + Speed, 76, 424, 677. + + Spelman, 648. + + Spitalfields, 67, 256. + + Spooner, 450. + + Spring, 512. + + Springett, 252. + + Sprott, 676. + + Stafford, 632. + + Stair, 623. + + Stanford, 650. + + Stanhope, 593. + + Starkie, 192. + + Staunford, 675. + + Steele, 555. + + Stephanus, 105. + + Stephens, 117, 118, 121, 122, 123. + + Sterne, 37. + + Sternhold, 231, 424, 425. + + Steuben, 62. + + Stevens, 554. + + Stevenson, 232. + + Stewart, 609. + + Stillman, 631. + + Stirling Castle, 95. + + Stirrington, 652. + + Stockholm, 52. + + Stone Chapel, 296. + + Story, 268. + + Stow, 20, 67, 346, 349, 424. + + Stowell, 632. + + Strabo, 592. + + Streatfield, 105. + + Strype, 77, 81, 82, 88, 139, 279, 280, 281, 409, 410, 424, 631, 632. + + Stuart, 603, 605, 606. + + Stuarts, 661. + + Stubbe, 594. + + Sue, 639, 640. + + Suetonius, 29, 67, 79, 98, 99, 107, 462. + + Suffolk, 654. + + Sully, 352, 606. + + Sulmo, 390. + + Sumner, 19, 132. + + Sunderland, 89, 233. + + Surinam, 351. + + Sweden, 661. + + Swedenborg, 378, 379. + + Swedes, 661. + + Swift, 32, 193, 367, 422. + + Swingford, 674. + + Switzerland, 394. + + Sykes, 244. + + Sylla, 63, 97. + + Sylvester, 596. + + Syracuse, 33. + + Syrens, 421. + + Syria, 34, 88. + + Syrians, 632. + + + T. + + Tacitus, 29, 99, 107. + + Taheite, 378, 380. + + Tailor, 554. + + Tappan, 58, 60. + + Tarpeian Rock, 618. + + Tasman, 129. + + Tate, 31, 596. + + Taylor, 84, 110, 157, 215, 394, 395, 396, 397, 638, 662. + + Taunton, 235. + + Tees, 379. + + Templeman, 451. + + Terence, 587. + + Tertullian, 122. + + Testamenta Vetusta, 648, 649. + + Tewksbury, 655, 673. + + Thacher, 31, 58, 61, 126, 127, 568, 605. + + Thebes, 16, 32. + + Theodolphus, 37. + + Theodosius, 36. + + Theophrastus, 587. + + Thessalus, 443. + + Thessaly, 670. + + Thevet, 118. + + Thiermeyer, 642. + + Thomas, 346, 480. + + Thomas of Canterbury, 281. + + Thompson, 86. + + Thornton, 477, 604. + + Thurlow, 589. + + Tiberius, 98. + + Tibullus, 100, 160. + + Tierney, 606. + + Tilbury, 670. + + Tillotson, 178, 238, 240, 262, 266. + + Timoleon, 12. + + Tinville, 638. + + Tonga Islands, 129. + + Tongataboo, 129. + + Tonstrina, 588. + + Tortugas, 407. + + Touchet, 380. + + Tournay, 67. + + Tower Hill, 631, 632. + + Townshend, 145. + + Trajan, 476. + + Trenchard, 265. + + Trent, 606. + + Tresham, 77. + + Treviso, 381. + + Troughton, 644. + + Troutbeck, 297. + + Troy, 322, 430. + + Trunnion, 221. + + Truro, 406. + + Tanfugge, 654. + + Tubero, 373. + + Tuck, 564, 566. + + Tuckett, 606. + + Tuckey, 129, 130. + + Tudor, 76. + + Tunbrugge, 654. + + Turkey, 106. + + Turkish Empire, 672. + + Turks, 123. + + Turenne, 73, 75. + + Turner, 155, 157, 231, 570, 575. + + Twiss, 230. + + Tyburn, 340, 632. + + Tyler, 500. + + + U. + + Ucalegon, 143. + + Ula-Deguisi, 123. + + Ulysses, 106, 109, 420. + + United States, 347, 407, 434, 610. + + Usher, 561. + + Uxbridge, 16. + + + V. + + Val de Grace, 68. + + Valentia, 606. + + Valerius Maximus, 374. + + Vallemont, 455. + + Valois, 622. + + Valvasor, 620. + + Van Buren, 85, 95, 96. + + Van Butchell, 445, 447. + + Vandyke, 137. + + Van Gelder, 59. + + Van Pronk, 25. + + Vans, 184. + + Van Wart, 63. + + Varden, 401. + + Vardy, 564. + + Varro, 583. + + Vassal, 296. + + Vaughan, 361. + + Velleius Paterculus, 614. + + Vere, 654. + + Verney, 677. + + Vermont, 114. + + Veronica, 57. + + Verulam, 258. + + Vespasian, 29, 67, 98. + + Vesuvius, 121. + + Vexius Valens, 443. + + Victoria, 208. + + Victory, 646. + + Vieq d'Azyr, 37. + + Vienna, 433. + + Villars, 607. + + Vincent, 256, 257, 258. + + Virgil, 76, 79, 97, 99, 419, 422. + + Virginia, 153, 154. + + Volney, 117, 119, 121. + + Voltaire, 217, 637. + + + W. + + Wade, 570, 572, 573, 575. + + Wakefield, 359, 466. + + Waldo, 90, 302. + + Walpole, 382, 431, 629, 674. + + Waltham, 676. + + Walsingham, 65, 83, 84, 650, 656. + + Ward, 281, 282, 528, 529, 595. + + Ward's Curwen, 510. + + Warre, 235, 236. + + Warren, 55, 66, 222, 446, 450, 597. + + Warwick, 651. + + Washington, 62, 277, 394, 511. + + Waterhouse, 448. + + Waterloo, 132. + + Watts, 366, 677. + + Webb, 91, 126, 546. + + Webster, 159, 160, 271, 280, 335, 336, 337. + + Wedgewood, 64. + + Weever, 76, 124. + + Wellesley, 606. + + Wellington, 606. + + Wells, 273. + + Welsh, 450. + + Wendell, 538. + + Wentworth, 554. + + Westminster, 37, 134. + + Westminster Abbey, 34, 78, 136, 290, 478. + + Weston, 628. + + Westwood, 651. + + Wharton, 227. + + Whelpley, 322. + + Whipple, 450, 596. + + Whiston, 120. + + White, 82. + + Whitehall, 134. + + Whitehead, 256, 257, 258. + + Whitehurst, 158. + + White Plains, 351, 415. + + Wiche, 651. + + Wigmore, 656. + + Wilkes, 145, 605. + + Willard, 520, 566. + + William the Conqueror, 614. + + William and Mary, 248. + + William III., 232, 233, 248, 253. + + William IV., 37, 207, 208. + + Williams, 27, 29, 63, 164, 204. + + Williamson, 630. + + Willis, 88, 181. + + Wilts, 656. + + Wiltshire, 677. + + Winchelsea, 606. + + Winchester, 220, 400, 651. + + Windsor, 133, 135, 136. + + Winkle, 281. + + Winslow, 555, 564, 565, 595. + + Winterbottom, 435. + + Winthrop, 535, 538. + + Wisigoths, 407. + + Wisket, 628. + + Wode, 632. + + Wolton, 678. + + Wood, 133, 181, 232, 248, 249, 424, 425, 426, 613, 642. + + Woodbridge, 550 to 564, passim. + + Woodcock, 386. + + Woods, 127. + + Worcester, 124, 651, 652. + + Woronzow, 622. + + Wraxall, 622, 623. + + Wyatt, 631. + + + Y. + + Yale, 580. + + York, 675. + + York, Duke of, 252, 256. + + Yorktown, 415. + + Younge, 676. + + + Z. + + Zaire, 129. + + Zeleucus, 342. + + Zeno, 49. + + Zeres, 56. + + Zimmerman, 347. + + Zion, 423. + + Zisca, 26. + + Zoar, 121. + + Zophar, 217. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Hist, of Charles V., vol. v. page 139, Oxford ed. 1825. + +[2] Lond. Quart. Rev., vol. lxxvi. page 161. + +[3] Nearly opposite the residence of Dr. Lemuel Hayward, deceased, where +Hayward Place now is. + +[4] Woodbridge, I suppose, belonged to some military company, whose arms +and accoutrements were probably kept at the White Horse tavern, under the +charge of Robert Handy. + +[5] _Hog Alley._ See Bonner's plan, of 1722. + +[6] Afterwards Richard II. + +[7] His natural son. + +[8] John of Gaunt. + +[9] An English mark was two-thirds of a pound sterling, or 13s. 4d. + +[10] A church book. + +[11] Breviary. + +[12] A button of gold. + +[13] A button. + +[14] Round funeral tapers. + +[15] Margaret Plantagenet, grand-daughter of King Edward I. + +[16] The badge of the house of Lancaster. + +[17] Richard II. + +[18] A culverin. + +[19] Dugdale says these were jewels, hanging over the forehead, on +bodkins, thrust through the hair. + +[20] Pale or peach-colored rubies. + +[21] This effigy is referred to by Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, +vol. i. p. 37. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. + +The original text includes Greek characters. 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