diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:32:54 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:32:54 -0700 |
| commit | 1c4045dfe865c89839e20b8a4f22aa4513bac8bd (patch) | |
| tree | 4e912e08983320cf2ed81891650a217309fede25 /9239-h/9239-h.htm | |
Diffstat (limited to '9239-h/9239-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | 9239-h/9239-h.htm | 1400 |
1 files changed, 1400 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/9239-h/9239-h.htm b/9239-h/9239-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd21a85 --- /dev/null +++ b/9239-h/9239-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1400 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Old News, by Nathaniel Hawthorne</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Old News, by Nathaniel Hawthorne</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Old News</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: September 18, 2003 [eBook #9239]<br /> +[Most recently updated: May 16, 2022]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Widger</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD NEWS ***</div> + +<h1>Old News</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">by Nathaniel Hawthorne</h2> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p> +There is a volume of what were once newspapers each on a small half-sheet, +yellow and time-stained, of a coarse fabric, and imprinted with a rude old +type. Their aspect conveys a singular impression of antiquity, in a species of +literature which we are accustomed to consider as connected only with the +present moment. Ephemeral as they were intended and supposed to be, they have +long outlived the printer and his whole subscription-list, and have proved more +durable, as to their physical existence, than most of the timber, bricks, and +stone of the town where they were issued. These are but the least of their +triumphs. The government, the interests, the opinions, in short, all the moral +circumstances that were contemporary with their publication, have passed away, +and left no better record of what they were than may be found in these frail +leaves. Happy are the editors of newspapers! Their productions excel all others +in immediate popularity, and are certain to acquire another sort of value with +the lapse of time. They scatter their leaves to the wind, as the sibyl did, and +posterity collects them, to be treasured up among the best materials of its +wisdom. With hasty pens they write for immortality. +</p> + +<p> +It is pleasant to take one of these little dingy half-sheets between the thumb +and finger, and picture forth the personage who, above ninety years ago, held +it, wet from the press, and steaming, before the fire. Many of the numbers bear +the name of an old colonial dignitary. There he sits, a major, a member of the +council, and a weighty merchant, in his high-backed arm-chair, wearing a solemn +wig and grave attire, such as befits his imposing gravity of mien, and +displaying but little finery, except a huge pair of silver shoe-buckles, +curiously carved. Observe the awful reverence of his visage, as he reads his +Majesty’s most gracious speech; and the deliberate wisdom with which he +ponders over some paragraph of provincial politics, and the keener intelligence +with which he glances at the ship-news and commercial advertisements. Observe, +and smile! He may have been a wise man in his day; but, to us, the wisdom of +the politician appears like folly, because we can compare its prognostics with +actual results; and the old merchant seems to have busied himself about +vanities, because we know that the expected ships have been lost at sea, or +mouldered at the wharves; that his imported broadcloths were long ago worn to +tatters, and his cargoes of wine quaffed to the lees; and that the most +precious leaves of his ledger have become waste-paper. Yet, his avocations were +not so vain as our philosophic moralizing. In this world we are the things of a +moment, and are made to pursue momentary things, with here and there a thought +that stretches mistily towards eternity, and perhaps may endure as long. All +philosophy that would abstract mankind from the present is no more than words. +</p> + +<p> +The first pages of most of these old papers are as soporific as a bed of +poppies. Here we have an erudite clergyman, or perhaps a Cambridge professor, +occupying several successive weeks with a criticism on Tate and Brady, as +compared with the New England version of the Psalms. Of course, the preference +is given to the native article. Here are doctors disagreeing about the +treatment of a putrid fever then prevalent, and blackguarding each other with a +characteristic virulence that renders the controversy not altogether +unreadable. Here are President Wigglesworth and the Rev. Dr. Colman, +endeavoring to raise a fund for the support of missionaries among the Indians +of Massachusetts Bay. Easy would be the duties of such a mission now! +Here—for there is nothing new under the sun—are frequent complaints +of the disordered state of the currency, and the project of a bank with a +capital of five hundred thousand pounds, secured on lands. Here are literary +essays, from the Gentleman’s Magazine; and squibs against the Pretender, +from the London newspapers. And here, occasionally, are specimens of New +England honor, laboriously light and lamentably mirthful, as if some very sober +person, in his zeal to be merry, were dancing a jig to the tune of a +funeral-psalm. All this is wearisome, and we must turn the leaf. +</p> + +<p> +There is a good deal of amusement, and some profit, in the perusal of those +little items which characterize the manners and circumstances of the country. +New England was then in a state incomparably more picturesque than at present, +or than it has been within the memory of man; there being, as yet, only a +narrow strip of civilization along the edge of a vast forest, peopled with +enough of its original race to contrast the savage life with the old customs of +another world. The white population, also, was diversified by the influx of all +sorts of expatriated vagabonds, and by the continual importation of +bond-servants from Ireland and elsewhere, so that there was a wild and +unsettled multitude, forming a strong minority to the sober descendants of the +Puritans. Then, there were the slaves, contributing their dark shade to the +picture of society. The consequence of all this was a great variety and +singularity of action and incident, many instances of which might be selected +from these columns, where they are told with a simplicity and quaintness of +style that bring the striking points into very strong relief. It is natural to +suppose, too, that these circumstances affected the body of the people, and +made their course of life generally less regular than that of their +descendants. There is no evidence that the moral standard was higher then than +now; or, indeed, that morality was so well defined as it has since become. +There seem to have been quite as many frauds and robberies, in proportion to +the number of honest deeds; there were murders, in hot-blood and in malice; and +bloody quarrels over liquor. Some of our fathers also appear to have been yoked +to unfaithful wives, if we may trust the frequent notices of elopements from +bed and board. The pillory, the whipping-post, the prison, and the gallows, +each had their use in those old times; and, in short, as often as our +imagination lives in the past, we find it a ruder and rougher age than our own, +with hardly any perceptible advantages, and much that gave life a gloomier +tinge. In vain we endeavor to throw a sunny and joyous air over our picture of +this period; nothing passes before our fancy but a crowd of sad-visaged people, +moving duskily through a dull gray atmosphere. It is certain that winter rushed +upon them with fiercer storms than now, blocking up the narrow forest-paths, +and overwhelming the roads along the sea-coast with mountain snow drifts; so +that weeks elapsed before the newspaper could announce how many travellers had +perished, or what wrecks had strewn the shore. The cold was more piercing then, +and lingered further into the spring, making the chimney-corner a comfortable +seat till long past May-day. By the number of such accidents on record, we +might suppose that the thunder-stone, as they termed it, fell oftener and +deadlier on steeples, dwellings, and unsheltered wretches. In fine, our fathers +bore the brunt of more raging and pitiless elements than we. There were +forebodings, also, of a more fearful tempest than those of the elements. At two +or three dates, we have stories of drums, trumpets, and all sorts of martial +music, passing athwart the midnight sky, accompanied with the—roar of +cannon and rattle of musketry, prophetic echoes of the sounds that were soon to +shake the land. Besides these airy prognostics, there were rumors of French +fleets on the coast, and of the march of French and Indians through the +wilderness, along the borders of the settlements. The country was saddened, +moreover, with grievous sicknesses. The small-pox raged in many of the towns, +and seems, though so familiar a scourge, to have been regarded with as much +affright as that which drove the throng from Wall Street and Broadway at the +approach of a new pestilence. There were autumnal fevers too, and a contagious +and destructive throat-distemper,—diseases unwritten in medical hooks. +The dark superstition of former days had not yet been so far dispelled as not +to heighten the gloom of the present times. There is an advertisement, indeed, +by a committee of the Legislature, calling for information as to the +circumstances of sufferers in the “late calamity of 1692,” with a +view to reparation for their losses and misfortunes. But the tenderness with +which, after above forty years, it was thought expedient to allude to the +witchcraft delusion, indicates a good deal of lingering error, as well as the +advance of more enlightened opinions. The rigid hand of Puritanism might yet be +felt upon the reins of government, while some of the ordinances intimate a +disorderly spirit on the part of the people. The Suffolk justices, after a +preamble that great disturbances have been committed by persons entering town +and leaving it in coaches, chaises, calashes, and other wheel-carriages, on the +evening before the Sabbath, give notice that a watch will hereafter be set at +the “fortification-gate,” to prevent these outrages. It is amusing +to see Boston assuming the aspect of a walled city, guarded, probably, by a +detachment of church-members, with a deacon at their head. Governor Belcher +makes proclamation against certain “loose and dissolute people” who +have been wont to stop passengers in the streets, on the Fifth of November, +“otherwise called Pope’s Day,” and levy contributions for the +building of bonfires. In this instance, the populace are more puritanic than +the magistrate. +</p> + +<p> +The elaborate solemnities of funerals were in accordance with the sombre +character of the times. In cases of ordinary death, the printer seldom fails to +notice that the corpse was “very decently interred.” But when some +mightier mortal has yielded to his fate, the decease of the +“worshipful” such-a-one is announced, with all his titles of +deacon, justice, councillor, and colonel; then follows an heraldic sketch of +his honorable ancestors, and lastly an account of the black pomp of his +funeral, and the liberal expenditure of scarfs, gloves, and mourning rings. The +burial train glides slowly before us, as we have seen it represented in the +woodcuts of that day, the coffin, and the bearers, and the lamentable friends, +trailing their long black garments, while grim Death, a most misshapen +skeleton, with all kinds of doleful emblems, stalks hideously in front. There +was a coach maker at this period, one John Lucas, who scents to have gained the +chief of his living by letting out a sable coach to funerals. It would not be +fair, however, to leave quite so dismal an impression on the reader’s +mind; nor should it be forgotten that happiness may walk soberly in dark +attire, as well as dance lightsomely in a gala-dress. And this reminds us that +there is an incidental notice of the “dancing-school near the +Orange-Tree,” whence we may infer that the salutatory art was +occasionally practised, though perhaps chastened into a characteristic gravity +of movement. This pastime was probably confined to the aristocratic circle, of +which the royal governor was the centre. But we are scandalized at the attempt +of Jonathan Furness to introduce a more reprehensible amusement: he challenges +the whole country to match his black gelding in a race for a hundred pounds, to +be decided on Metonomy Common or Chelsea Beach. Nothing as to the manners of +the times can be inferred from this freak of an individual. There were no daily +and continual opportunities of being merry; but sometimes the people rejoiced, +in their own peculiar fashion, oftener with a calm, religious smile than with a +broad laugh, as when they feasted, like one great family, at Thanksgiving time, +or indulged a livelier mirth throughout the pleasant days of Election-week. +This latter was the true holiday season of New England. Military musters were +too seriously important in that warlike time to be classed among amusements; +but they stirred up and enlivened the public mind, and were occasions of solemn +festival to the governor and great men of the province, at the expense of the +field-offices. The Revolution blotted a feast-day out of our calendar; for the +anniversary of the king’s birth appears to have been celebrated with most +imposing pomp, by salutes from Castle William, a military parade, a grand +dinner at the town-house, and a brilliant illumination in the evening. There +was nothing forced nor feigned in these testimonials of loyalty to George the +Second. So long as they dreaded the re-establishment of a popish dynasty, the +people were fervent for the house of Hanover: and, besides, the immediate +magistracy of the country was a barrier between the monarch and the occasional +discontents of the colonies; the waves of faction sometimes reached the +governor’s chair, but never swelled against the throne. Thus, until +oppression was felt to proceed from the king’s own hand, New England +rejoiced with her whole heart on his Majesty’s birthday. +</p> + +<p> +But the slaves, we suspect, were the merriest part of the population, since it +was their gift to be merry in the worst of circumstances; and they endured, +comparatively, few hardships, under the domestic sway of our fathers. There +seems to have been a great trade in these human commodities. No advertisements +are more frequent than those of “a negro fellow, fit for almost any +household work”; “a negro woman, honest, healthy, and +capable”; “a negro wench of many desirable qualities”; +“a negro man, very fit for a taylor.” We know not in what this +natural fitness for a tailor consisted, unless it were some peculiarity of +conformation that enabled him to sit cross-legged. When the slaves of a family +were inconveniently prolific,—it being not quite orthodox to drown the +superfluous offspring, like a litter of kittens,—notice was promulgated +of “a negro child to be given away.” Sometimes the slaves assumed +the property of their own persons, and made their escape; among many such +instances, the governor raises a hue-and-cry after his negro Juba. But, without +venturing a word in extenuation of the general system, we confess our opinion +that Caesar, Pompey, Scipio, and all such great Roman namesakes, would have +been better advised had they stayed at home, foddering the cattle, cleaning +dishes,—in fine, performing their moderate share of the labors of life, +without being harassed by its cares. The sable inmates of the mansion were not +excluded from the domestic affections: in families of middling rank, they had +their places at the board; and when the circle closed round the evening hearth, +its blaze glowed on their dark shining faces, intermixed familiarly with their +master’s children. It must have contributed to reconcile them to their +lot, that they saw white men and women imported from Europe as they had been +from Africa, and sold, though only for a term of years, yet as actual slaves to +the highest bidder. Slave labor being but a small part of the industry of the +country, it did not change the character of the people; the latter, on the +contrary, modified and softened the institution, making it a patriarchal, and +almost a beautiful, peculiarity of the times. +</p> + +<p> +Ah! We had forgotten the good old merchant, over whose shoulder we were +peeping, while he read the newspaper. Let us now suppose him putting on his +three-cornered gold-laced hat, grasping his cane, with a head inlaid of ebony +and mother-of-pearl, and setting forth, through the crooked streets of Boston, +on various errands, suggested by the advertisements of the day. Thus he +communes with himself: I must be mindful, says he, to call at Captain +Scut’s, in Creek Lane, and examine his rich velvet, whether it be fit for +my apparel on Election-day,—that I may wear a stately aspect in presence +of the governor and my brethren of the council. I will look in, also, at the +shop of Michael Cario, the jeweller: he has silver buckles of a new fashion; +and mine have lasted me some half-score years. My fair daughter Miriam shall +have an apron of gold brocade, and a velvet mask,—though it would be a +pity the wench should hide her comely visage; and also a French cap, from +Robert Jenkins’s, on the north side of the town-house. He hath beads, +too, and ear-rings, and necklaces, of all sorts; these are but vanities, +nevertheless, they would please the silly maiden well. My dame desireth another +female in the kitchen; wherefore, I must inspect the lot of Irish lasses, for +sale by Samuel Waldo, aboard the schooner Endeavor; as also the likely negro +wench, at Captain Bulfinch’s. It were not amiss that I took my daughter +Miriam to see the royal waxwork, near the town-dock, that she may learn to +honor our most gracious King and Queen, and their royal progeny, even in their +waxen images; not that I would approve of image-worship. The camel, too, that +strange beast from Africa, with two great humps, to be seen near the Common; +methinks I would fain go thither, and see how the old patriarchs were wont to +ride. I will tarry awhile in Queen Street, at the bookstore of my good friends +Kneeland & Green, and purchase Dr. Colman’s new sermon, and the +volume of discourses by Mr. Henry Flynt; and look over the controversy on +baptism, between the Rev. Peter Clarke and an unknown adversary; and see +whether this George Whitefield be as great in print as he is famed to be in the +pulpit. By that time, the auction will have commenced at the Royal Exchange, in +King Street. Moreover, I must look to the disposal of my last cargo of West +India rum and muscovado sugar; and also the lot of choice Cheshire cheese, lest +it grow mouldy. It were well that I ordered a cask of good English beer, at the +lower end of Milk Street. +</p> + +<p> +Then am I to speak with certain dealers about the lot of stout old Vidonia, +rich Canary, and Oporto-wines, which I have now lying in the cellar of the Old +South meeting-house. But, a pipe or two of the rich Canary shall be reserved, +that it may grow mellow in mine own wine-cellar, and gladden my heart when it +begins to droop with old age. +</p> + +<p> +Provident old gentleman! But, was he mindful of his sepulchre? Did he bethink +him to call at the workshop of Timothy Sheaffe, in Cold Lane, and select such a +gravestone as would best please him? There wrought the man whose handiwork, or +that of his fellow-craftsmen, was ultimately in demand by all the busy +multitude who have left a record of their earthly toil in these old +time-stained papers. And now, as we turn over the volume, we seem to be +wandering among the mossy stones of a burial-ground. +</p> + +<h3>II. THE OLD FRENCH WAR.</h3> + +<p> +At a period about twenty years subsequent to that of our former sketch, we +again attempt a delineation of some of the characteristics of life and manners +in New England. Our text-book, as before, is a file of antique newspapers. The +volume which serves us for a writing-desk is a folio of larger dimensions than +the one before described; and the papers are generally printed on a whole +sheet, sometimes with a supplemental leaf of news and advertisements. They have +a venerable appearance, being overspread with a duskiness of more than seventy +years, and discolored, here and there, with the deeper stains of some liquid, +as if the contents of a wineglass had long since been splashed upon the page. +Still, the old book conveys an impression that, when the separate numbers were +flying about town, in the first day or two of their respective existences, they +might have been fit reading for very stylish people. Such newspapers could have +been issued nowhere but in a metropolis the centre, not only of public and +private affairs, but of fashion and gayety. Without any discredit to the +colonial press, these might have been, and probably were, spread out on the +tables of the British coffee-house, in king Street, for the perusal of the +throng of officers who then drank their wine at that celebrated establishment. +To interest these military gentlemen, there were bulletins of the war between +Prussia and Austria; between England and France, on the old battle-plains of +Flanders; and between the same antagonists, in the newer fields of the East +Indies,—and in our own trackless woods, where white men never trod until +they came to fight there. Or, the travelled American, the petit-maitre of the +colonies,—the ape of London foppery, as the newspaper was the semblance +of the London journals,—he, with his gray powdered periwig, his +embroidered coat, lace ruffles, and glossy silk stockings, +golden-clocked,—his buckles of glittering paste, at knee-band and +shoe-strap,—his scented handkerchief, and chapeau beneath his arm, even +such a dainty figure need not have disdained to glance at these old yellow +pages, while they were the mirror of passing times. For his amusement, there +were essays of wit and humor, the light literature of the day, which, for +breadth and license, might have proceeded from the pen of Fielding or Smollet; +while, in other columns, he would delight his imagination with the enumerated +items of all sorts of finery, and with the rival advertisements of half a dozen +peruke-makers. In short, newer manners and customs had almost entirely +superseded those of the Puritans, even in their own city of refuge. +</p> + +<p> +It was natural that, with the lapse of time and increase of wealth and +population, the peculiarities of the early settlers should have waxed fainter +and fainter through the generations of their descendants, who also had been +alloyed by a continual accession of emigrants from many countries and of all +characters. It tended to assimilate the colonial manners to those of the +mother-country, that the commercial intercourse was great, and that the +merchants often went thither in their own ships. Indeed, almost every man of +adequate fortune felt a yearning desire, and even judged it a filial duty, at +least once in his life, to visit the home of his ancestors. They still called +it their own home, as if New England were to them, what many of the old +Puritans had considered it, not a permanent abiding-place, but merely a lodge +in the wilderness, until the trouble of the times should be passed. The example +of the royal governors must have had much influence on the manners of the +colonists; for these rulers assumed a degree of state and splendor which had +never been practised by their predecessors, who differed in nothing from +republican chief-magistrates, under the old charter. The officers of the crown, +the public characters in the interest of the administration, and the gentlemen +of wealth and good descent, generally noted for their loyalty, would constitute +a dignified circle, with the governor in the centre, bearing a very passable +resemblance to a court. Their ideas, their habits, their bode of courtesy, and +their dress would have all the fresh glitter of fashions immediately derived +from the fountain-head, in England. To prevent their modes of life from +becoming the standard with all who had the ability to imitate them, there was +no longer an undue severity of religion, nor as yet any disaffection to British +supremacy, nor democratic prejudices against pomp. Thus, while the colonies +were attaining that strength which was soon to render them an independent +republic, it might have been supposed that the wealthier classes were growing +into an aristocracy, and ripening for hereditary rank, while the poor were to +be stationary in their abasement, and the country, perhaps, to be a sister +monarchy with England. Such, doubtless, were the plausible conjectures deduced +from the superficial phenomena of our connection with a monarchical government, +until the prospective nobility were levelled with the mob, by the mere +gathering of winds that preceded the storm of the Revolution. The portents of +that storm were not yet visible in the air. A true picture of society, +therefore, would have the rich effect produced by distinctions of rank that +seemed permanent, and by appropriate habits of splendor on the part of the +gentry. +</p> + +<p> +The people at large had been somewhat changed in character, since the period of +our last sketch, by their great exploit, the conquest of Louisburg. After that +event, the New-Englanders never settled into precisely the same quiet race +which all the world had imagined them to be. They had done a deed of history, +and were anxious to add new ones to the record. They had proved themselves +powerful enough to influence the result of a war, and were thenceforth called +upon, and willingly consented, to join their strength against the enemies of +England; on those fields, at least, where victory would redound to their +peculiar advantage. And now, in the heat of the Old French War, they might well +be termed a martial people. Every man was a soldier, or the father or brother +of a soldier; and the whole land literally echoed with the roll of the drum, +either beating up for recruits among the towns and villages, or striking the +march towards the frontiers. Besides the provincial troops, there were +twenty-three British regiments in the northern colonies. The country has never +known a period of such excitement and warlike life; except during the +Revolution,—perhaps scarcely then; for that was a lingering war, and this +a stirring and eventful one. +</p> + +<p> +One would think that no very wonderful talent was requisite for an historical +novel, when the rough and hurried paragraphs of these newspapers can recall the +past so magically. We seem to be waiting in the street for the arrival of the +post-rider—who is seldom more than twelve hours beyond his +time—with letters, by way of Albany, from the various departments of the +army. Or, we may fancy ourselves in the circle of listeners, all with necks +stretched out towards an old gentleman in the centre, who deliberately puts on +his spectacles, unfolds the wet newspaper, and gives us the details of the +broken and contradictory reports, which have been flying from mouth to mouth, +ever since the courier alighted at Secretary Oliver’s office. Sometimes +we have an account of the Indian skirmishes near Lake George, and how a ranging +party of provincials were so closely pursued, that they threw away their arms, +and eke their shoes, stockings, and breeches, barely reaching the camp in their +shirts, which also were terribly tattered by the bushes. Then, there is a +journal of the siege of Fort Niagara, so minute that it almost numbers the +cannon-shot and bombs, and describes the effect of the latter missiles on the +French commandant’s stone mansion, within the fortress. In the letters of +the provincial officers, it is amusing to observe how some of them endeavor to +catch the careless and jovial turn of old campaigners. One gentleman tells us +that he holds a brimming glass in his hand, intending to drink the health of +his correspondent, unless a cannon ball should dash the liquor from his lips; +in the midst of his letter he hears the bells of the French churches ringing, +in Quebec, and recollects that it is Sunday; whereupon, like a good Protestant, +he resolves to disturb the Catholic worship by a few thirty-two pound shot. +While this wicked man of war was thus making a jest of religion, his pious +mother had probably put up a note, that very Sabbath-day, desiring the +“prayers of the congregation for a son gone a soldiering.” We +trust, however, that there were some stout old worthies who were not ashamed to +do as their fathers did, but went to prayer, with their soldiers, before +leading them to battle; and doubtless fought none the worse for that. If we had +enlisted in the Old French War, it should have been under such a captain; for +we love to see a man keep the characteristics of his country.* +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[* The contemptuous jealousy of the British army, from the general downwards, +was very galling to the provincial troops. In one of the newspapers, there is +an admirable letter of a New England man, copied from the London Chronicle, +defending the provincials with an ability worthy of Franklin, and somewhat in +his style. The letter is remarkable, also, because it takes up the cause of the +whole range of colonies, as if the writer looked upon them all as constituting +one country, and that his own. Colonial patriotism had not hitherto been so +broad a sentiment.] +</p> + +<p> +These letters, and other intelligence from the army, are pleasant and lively +reading, and stir up the mind like the music of a drum and fife. It is less +agreeable to meet with accounts of women slain and scalped, and infants dashed +against trees, by the Indians on the frontiers. It is a striking circumstance, +that innumerable bears, driven from the woods, by the uproar of contending +armies in their accustomed haunts, broke into the settlements, and committed +great ravages among children, as well as sheep and swine. Some of them prowled +where bears had never been for a century, penetrating within a mile or two of +Boston; a fact that gives a strong and gloomy impression of something very +terrific going on in the forest, since these savage beasts fled townward to +avoid it. But it is impossible to moralize about such trifles, when every +newspaper contains tales of military enterprise, and often a huzza for victory; +as, for instance, the taking of Ticonderoga, long a place of awe to the +provincials, and one of the bloodiest spots in the present war. Nor is it +unpleasant, among whole pages of exultation, to find a note of sorrow for the +fall of some brave officer; it comes wailing in, like a funeral strain amidst a +peal of triumph, itself triumphant too. Such was the lamentation over Wolfe. +Somewhere, in this volume of newspapers, though we cannot now lay our finger +upon the passage, we recollect a report that General Wolfe was slain, not by +the enemy, but by a shot from his own soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +In the advertising columns, also, we are continually reminded that the country +was in a state of war. Governor Pownall makes proclamation for the enlisting of +soldiers, and directs the militia colonels to attend to the discipline of their +regiments, and the selectmen of every town to replenish their stocks of +ammunition. The magazine, by the way, was generally kept in the upper loft of +the village meeting-house. The provincial captains are drumming up for +soldiers, in every newspaper. Sir Jeffrey Amherst advertises for batteaux-men, +to be employed on the lakes; and gives notice to the officers of seven British +regiments, dispersed on the recruiting service, to rendezvous in Boston. +Captain Hallowell, of the province ship-of-war King George, invites able-bodied +seamen to serve his Majesty, for fifteen pounds, old tenor, per month. By the +rewards offered, there would appear to have been frequent desertions from the +New England forces: we applaud their wisdom, if not their valor or integrity. +Cannon of all calibres, gunpowder and balls, firelocks, pistols, swords, and +hangers, were common articles of merchandise. Daniel Jones, at the sign of the +hat and helmet, offers to supply officers with scarlet broadcloth, gold-lace +for hats and waistcoats, cockades, and other military foppery, allowing credit +until the payrolls shall be made up. This advertisement gives us quite a +gorgeous idea of a provincial captain in full dress. +</p> + +<p> +At the commencement of the campaign of 1759, the British general informs the +farmers of New England that a regular market will be established at Lake +George, whither they are invited to bring provisions and refreshments of all +sorts, for the use of the army. Hence, we may form a singular picture of petty +traffic, far away from any permanent settlements, among the hills which border +that romantic lake, with the solemn woods overshadowing the scene. Carcasses of +bullocks and fat porkers are placed upright against the huge trunks of the +trees; fowls hang from the lower branches, bobbing against the heads of those +beneath; butter-firkins, great cheeses, and brown loaves of household bread, +baked in distant ovens, are collected under temporary shelters or pine-boughs, +with gingerbread, and pumpkin-pies, perhaps, and other toothsome dainties. +Barrels of cider and spruce-beer are running freely into the wooden canteens of +the soldiers. Imagine such a scene, beneath the dark forest canopy, with here +and there a few struggling sunbeams, to dissipate the gloom. See the shrewd +yeomen, haggling with their scarlet-coated customers, abating somewhat in their +prices, but still dealing at monstrous profit; and then complete the picture +with circumstances that bespeak war and danger. A cannon shall be seen to belch +its smoke from among the trees, against some distant canoes on the lake; the +traffickers shall pause, and seem to hearken, at intervals, as if they heard +the rattle of musketry or the shout of Indians; a scouting-party shall be +driven in, with two or three faint and bloody men among them. And, in spite of +these disturbances, business goes on briskly in the market of the wilderness. +</p> + +<p> +It must not be supposed that the martial character of the times interrupted all +pursuits except those connected with war. On the contrary, there appears to +have been a general vigor and vivacity diffused into the whole round of +colonial life. During the winter of 1759, it was computed that about a thousand +sled-loads of country produce were daily brought into Boston market. It was a +symptom of an irregular and unquiet course of affairs, that innumerable +lotteries were projected, ostensibly for the purpose of public improvements, +such as roads and bridges. Many females seized the opportunity to engage in +business: as, among others, Alice Quick, who dealt in crockery and hosiery, +next door to Deacon Beautineau’s; Mary Jackson, who sold butter, at the +Brazen-Head, in Cornhill; Abigail Hiller, who taught ornamental work, near the +Orange-Tree, where also were to be seen the King and Queen, in wax-work; Sarah +Morehead, an instructor in glass-painting, drawing, and japanning; Mary Salmon, +who shod horses, at the South End; Harriet Pain, at the Buck and Glove, and +Mrs. Henrietta Maria Caine, at the Golden Fan, both fashionable milliners; Anna +Adams, who advertises Quebec and Garrick bonnets, Prussian cloaks, and scarlet +cardinals, opposite the old brick meeting-house; besides a lady at the head of +a wine and spirit establishment. Little did these good dames expect to reappear +before the public, so long after they had made their last courtesies behind the +counter. Our great-grandmothers were a stirring sisterhood, and seem not to +have been utterly despised by the gentlemen at the British coffee-house; at +least, some gracious bachelor, there resident, gives public notice of his +willingness to take a wife, provided she be not above twenty-three, and possess +brown hair, regular features, a brisk eye, and a fortune. Now, this was great +condescension towards the ladies of Massachusetts Bay, in a threadbare +lieutenant of foot. +</p> + +<p> +Polite literature was beginning to make its appearance. Few native works were +advertised, it is true, except sermons and treatises of controversial divinity; +nor were the English authors of the day much known on this side of the +Atlantic. But catalogues were frequently offered at auction or private sale, +comprising the standard English books, history, essays, and poetry, of Queen +Anne’s age, and the preceding century. We see nothing in the nature of a +novel, unless it be “The Two Mothers, price four coppers.” There +was an American poet, however, of whom Mr. Kettell has preserved no +specimen,—the author of “War, an Heroic Poem”; he publishes +by subscription, and threatens to prosecute his patrons for not taking their +books. We have discovered a periodical, also, and one that has a peculiar claim +to be recorded here, since it bore the title of “T<small>HE</small> +N<small>EW</small> E<small>NGLAND</small> M<small>AGAZINE</small>,” a +forgotten predecessor, for which we should have a filial respect, and take its +excellence on trust. The fine arts, too, were budding into existence. At the +“old glass and picture shop,” in Cornhill, various maps, plates, +and views are advertised, and among them a “Prospect of Boston,” a +copperplate engraving of Quebec, and the effigies of all the New England +ministers ever done in mezzotinto. All these must have been very salable +articles. Other ornamental wares were to be found at the same shop; such as +violins, flutes, hautboys, musical books, English and Dutch toys, and London +babies. About this period, Mr. Dipper gives notice of a concert of vocal and +instrumental music. There had already been an attempt at theatrical +exhibitions. +</p> + +<p> +There are tokens, in every newspaper, of a style of luxury and magnificence +which we do not usually associate with our ideas of the times. When the +property of a deceased person was to be sold, we find, among the household +furniture, silk beds and hangings, damask table-cloths, Turkey carpets, +pictures, pier-glasses, massive plate, and all things proper for a noble +mansion. Wine was more generally drunk than now, though by no means to the +neglect of ardent spirits. For the apparel of both sexes, the mercers and +milliners imported good store of fine broadcloths, especially scarlet, crimson, +and sky-blue, silks, satins, lawns, and velvets, gold brocade, and gold and +silver lace, and silver tassels, and silver spangles, until Cornhill shone and +sparkled with their merchandise. The gaudiest dress permissible by modern taste +fades into a Quaker-like sobriety, compared with the deep, rich, glowing +splendor of our ancestors. Such figures were almost too fine to go about town +on foot; accordingly, carriages were so numerous as to require a tax; and it is +recorded that, when Governor Bernard came to the province, he was met between +Dedham and Boston by a multitude of gentlemen in their coaches and chariots. +</p> + +<p> +Take my arm, gentle reader, and come with me into some street, perhaps trodden +by your daily footsteps, but which now has such an aspect of half-familiar +strangeness, that you suspect yourself to be walking abroad in a dream. True, +there are some brick edifices which you remember from childhood, and which your +father and grandfather remembered as well; but you are perplexed by the absence +of many that were here only an hour or two since; and still more amazing is the +presence of whole rows of wooden and plastered houses, projecting over the +sidewalks, and bearing iron figures on their fronts, which prove them to have +stood on the same sites above a century. Where have your eyes been that you +never saw them before? Along the ghostly street,—for, at length, you +conclude that all is unsubstantial, though it be so good a mockery of an +antique town,—along the ghostly street, there are ghostly people too. +Every gentleman has his three-cornered hat, either on his head or under his +arm; and all wear wigs in infinite variety,—the Tie, the Brigadier, the +Spencer, the Albemarle, the Major, the Ramillies, the grave Full-bottom, or the +giddy Feather-top. Look at the elaborate lace-ruffles, and the square-skirted +coats of gorgeous hues, bedizened with silver and gold! Make way for the +phantom-ladies, whose hoops require such breadth of passage, as they pace +majestically along, in silken gowns, blue, green, or yellow, brilliantly +embroidered, and with small satin hats surmounting their powdered hair. Make +way; for the whole spectral show will vanish, if your earthly garments brush +against their robes. Now that the scene is brightest, and the whole street +glitters with imaginary sunshine,—now hark to the bells of the Old South +and the Old North, ringing out with a sudden and merry peal, while the cannon +of Castle William thunder below the town, and those of the Diana frigate repeat +the sound, and the Charlestown batteries reply with a nearer roar! You see the +crowd toss up their hats in visionary joy. You hear of illuminations and +fire-works, and of bonfires, built oil scaffolds, raised several stories above +the ground, that are to blaze all night in King Street and on Beacon Hill. And +here come the trumpets and kettle-drums, and the tramping hoofs of the Boston +troop of horseguards, escorting the governor to King’s Chapel, where he +is to return solemn thanks for the surrender of Quebec. March on, thou shadowy +troop! and vanish, ghostly crowd! and change again, old street! for those +stirring times are gone. +</p> + +<p> +Opportunely for the conclusion of our sketch, a fire broke out, on the +twentieth of March, 1760, at the Brazen-Head, in Cornhill, and consumed nearly +four hundred buildings. Similar disasters have always been epochs in the +chronology of Boston. That of 1711 had hitherto been termed the Great Fire, but +now resigned its baleful dignity to one which has ever since retained it. Did +we desire to move the reader’s sympathies on this subject, we would not +be grandiloquent about the sea of billowy flame, the glowing and crumbling +streets, the broad, black firmament of smoke, and the blast or wind that sprang +up with the conflagration and roared behind it. It would be more effective to +mark out a single family at the moment when the flames caught upon an angle of +their dwelling: then would ensue the removal of the bedridden grandmother, the +cradle with the sleeping infant, and, most dismal of all, the dying man just at +the extremity of a lingering disease. Do but imagine the confused agony of one +thus awfully disturbed in his last hour; his fearful glance behind at the +consuming fire raging after him, from house to house, as its devoted victim; +and, finally, the almost eagerness with which he would seize some calmer +interval to die! The Great Fire must have realized many such a scene. +</p> + +<p> +Doubtless posterity has acquired a better city by the calamity of that +generation. None will be inclined to lament it at this late day, except the +lover of antiquity, who would have been glad to walk among those streets of +venerable houses, fancying the old inhabitants still there, that he might +commune with their shadows, and paint a more vivid picture of their times. +</p> + +<h3>III. THE OLD TORY.</h3> + +<p> +Again we take a leap of about twenty years, and alight in the midst of the +Revolution. Indeed, having just closed a volume of colonial newspapers, which +represented the period when monarchical and aristocratic sentiments were at the +highest,—and now opening another volume printed in the same metropolis, +after such sentiments had long been deemed a sin and shame,—we feel as if +the leap were more than figurative. Our late course of reading has tinctured +us, for the moment, with antique prejudices; and we shrink from the strangely +contrasted times into which we emerge, like one of those immutable old Tories, +who acknowledge no oppression in the Stamp Act. It may be the most effective +method of going through the present file of papers, to follow out this idea, +and transform ourself, perchance, from a modern Tory into such a sturdy +King-man as once wore that pliable nickname. +</p> + +<p> +Well, then, here we sit, an old, gray, withered, sour-visaged, threadbare sort +of gentleman, erect enough, here in our solitude, but marked out by a depressed +and distrustful mien abroad, as one conscious of a stigma upon his forehead, +though for no crime. We were already in the decline of life when the first +tremors of the earthquake that has convulsed the continent were felt. Our mind +had grown too rigid to change any of its opinions, when the voice of the people +demanded that all should be changed. We are an Episcopalian, and sat under the +High-Church doctrines of Dr. Caner; we have been a captain of the provincial +forces, and love our king the better for the blood that we shed in his cause on +the Plains of Abraham. Among all the refugees, there is not one more loyal to +the backbone than we. Still we lingered behind when the British army evacuated +Boston, sweeping in its train most of those with whom we held communion; the +old, loyal gentlemen, the aristocracy of the colonies, the hereditary +Englishman, imbued with more than native zeal and admiration for the glorious +island and its monarch, because the far-intervening ocean threw a dim reverence +around them. When our brethren departed, we could not tear our aged roots out +of the soil. +</p> + +<p> +We have remained, therefore, enduring to be outwardly a freeman, but idolizing +King George in secrecy and silence,—one true old heart amongst a host of +enemies. We watch, with a weary hope, for the moment when all this turmoil +shall subside, and the impious novelty that has distracted our latter years, +like a wild dream, give place to the blessed quietude of royal sway, with the +king’s name in every ordinance, his prayer in the church, his health at +the board, and his love in the people’s heart. Meantime, our old age +finds little honor. Hustled have we been, till driven from town-meetings; dirty +water has been cast upon our ruffles by a Whig chambermaid; John +Hancock’s coachman seizes every opportunity to bespatter us with mud; +daily are we hooted by the unbreeched rebel brats; and narrowly, once, did our +gray hairs escape the ignominy of tar and feathers. Alas! only that we cannot +bear to die till the next royal governor comes over, we would fain be in our +quiet grave. +</p> + +<p> +Such an old man among new things are we who now hold at arm’s-length the +rebel newspaper of the day. The very figure-head, for the thousandth time, +elicits it groan of spiteful lamentation. Where are the united heart and crown, +the loyal emblem, that used to hallow the sheet on which it was impressed, in +our younger days? In its stead we find a continental officer, with the +Declaration of Independence in one hand, a drawn sword in the other, and above +his head a scroll, bearing the motto, “W<small>E APPEAL TO</small> +H<small>EAVEN</small>.” Then say we, with a prospective triumph, let +Heaven judge, in its own good time! The material of the sheet attracts our +scorn. It is a fair specimen of rebel manufacture, thick and coarse, like +wrapping-paper, all overspread with little knobs; and of such a deep, dingy +blue color, that we wipe our spectacles thrice before we can distinguish a +letter of the wretched print. Thus, in all points, the newspaper is a type of +the times, far more fit for the rough hands of a democratic mob, than for our +own delicate, though bony fingers. Nay we will not handle it without our +gloves! +</p> + +<p> +Glancing down the page, our eyes are greeted everywhere by the offer of lands +at auction, for sale or to be leased, not by the rightful owners, but a rebel +committee; notices of the town constable, that he is authorized to receive the +taxes on such all estate, in default of which, that also is to be knocked down +to the highest bidder; and notifications of complaints filed by the +attorney-general against certain traitorous absentees, and of confiscations +that are to ensue. And who are these traitors? Our own best friends; names as +old, once as honored, as any in the land where they are no longer to have a +patrimony, nor to be remembered as good men who have passed away. We are +ashamed of not relinquishing our little property, too; but comfort ourselves +because we still keep our principles, without gratifying the rebels with our +plunder. Plunder, indeed, they are seizing everywhere,—by the strong hand +at sea, as well as by legal forms oil shore. Here are prize-vessels for sale; +no French nor Spanish merchantmen, whose wealth is the birthright of British +subjects, but hulls of British oak, from Liverpool, Bristol, and the Thames, +laden with the king’s own stores, for his army in New York. And what a +fleet of privateers—pirates, say we—are fitting out for new +ravages, with rebellion in their very names! The Free Yankee, the General +Greene, the Saratoga, the Lafayette, and the Grand Monarch! Yes, the Grand +Monarch; so is a French king styled, by the sons of Englishmen. And here we +have an ordinance from the Court of Versailles, with the Bourbon’s own +signature affixed, as if New England were already a French province. Everything +is French,—French soldiers, French sailors, French surgeons, and French +diseases too, I trow; besides French dancing-masters and French milliners, to +debauch our daughters with French fashions! Everything in America is French, +except the Canadas, the loyal Canadas, which we helped to wrest, from France. +And to that old French province the Englishman of the colonies must go to find +his country! +</p> + +<p> +O, the misery of seeing the whole system of things changed in my old days, when +I would be loath to change even a pair of buckles! The British coffee-house, +where oft we sat, brimful of wine and loyalty, with the gallant gentlemen of +Amherst’s army, when we wore a redcoat too,—the British +coffee-house, forsooth, must now be styled the American, with a golden eagle +instead of the royal arms above the door. Even the street it stands in is no +longer King Street! Nothing is the king’s, except this heavy heart in my +old bosom. Wherever I glance my eyes, they meet something that pricks them like +a needle. This soap-maker, for instance, this Hobert Hewes, has conspired +against my peace, by notifying that his shop is situated near Liberty Stump. +But when will their misnamed liberty have its true emblem in that Stump, hewn +down by British steel? +</p> + +<p> +Where shall we buy our next year’s almanac? Not this of +Weatherwise’s, certainly; for it contains a likeness of George +Washington, the upright rebel, whom we most hate, though reverentially, as a +fallen angel, with his heavenly brightness undiminished, evincing pure fame in +an unhallowed cause. And here is a new book for my evening’s +recreation,—a History of the War till the close of the year 1779, with +the heads of thirteen distinguished officers, engraved on copperplate. A plague +upon their heads! We desire not to see them till they grin at us from the +balcony before the town-house, fixed on spikes, as the heads of traitors. How +bloody-minded the villains make a peaceable old man! What next? An Oration, on +the Horrid Massacre of 1770. When that blood was shed,—the first that the +British soldier ever drew from the bosoms of our countrymen,—we turned +sick at heart, and do so still, as often as they make it reek anew from among +the stones in King Street. The pool that we saw that night has swelled into a +lake,—English blood and American,—no! all British, all blood of my +brethren. And here come down tears. Shame on me, since half of them are shed +for rebels! Who are not rebels now! Even the women are thrusting their white +hands into the war, and come out in this very paper with proposals to form a +society—the lady of George Washington at their head—for clothing +the continental troops. They will strip off their stiff petticoats to cover the +ragged rascals, and then enlist in the ranks themselves. +</p> + +<p> +What have we here? Burgoyne’s proclamation turned into Hudibrastic rhyme! +And here, some verses against the king, in which the scribbler leaves a blank +for the name of George, as if his doggerel might yet exalt him to the pillory. +Such, after years of rebellion, is the heart’s unconquerable reverence +for the Lord’s anointed! In the next column, we have scripture parodied +in a squib against his sacred Majesty. What would our Puritan great-grandsires +have said to that? They never laughed at God’s word, though they cut off +a king’s head. +</p> + +<p> +Yes; it was for us to prove how disloyalty goes hand in hand with irreligion, +and all other vices come trooping in the train. Nowadays men commit robbery and +sacrilege for the mere luxury of wickedness, as this advertisement testifies. +Three hundred pounds reward for the detection of the villains who stole and +destroyed the cushions and pulpit drapery of the Brattle Street and Old South +churches. Was it a crime? I can scarcely think our temples hallowed, since the +king ceased to be prayed for. But it is not temples only that they rob. Here a +man offers a thousand dollars—a thousand dollars, in Continental +rags!—for the recovery of his stolen cloak, and other articles of +clothing. Horse-thieves are innumerable. Now is the day when every beggar gets +on horseback. And is not the whole land like a beggar on horseback riding post +to the Davil? Ha! here is a murder, too. A woman slain at midnight, by all +unknown ruffian, and found cold, stiff, and bloody, in her violated bed! Let +the hue-and-cry follow hard after the man in the uniform of blue and buff who +last went by that way. My life on it, he is the blood-stained ravisher! These +deserters whom we see proclaimed in every column,—proof that the banditti +are as false to their Stars and Stripes as to the Holy Red Cross,—they +bring the crimes of a rebel camp into a soil well suited to them; the bosom of +a people, without the heart that kept them virtuous,—their king! +</p> + +<p> +Here flaunting down a whole column, with official seal and signature, here +comes a proclamation. By whose authority? Ah! the United States,—these +thirteen little anarchies, assembled in that one grand anarchy, their Congress. +And what the import? A general Fast. By Heaven! for once the traitorous +blockheads have legislated wisely! Yea; let a misguided people kneel down in +sackcloth and ashes, from end to end, from border to border, of their wasted +country. Well may they fast where there is no food, and cry aloud for whatever +remnant of God’s mercy their sins may not have exhausted. We too will +fast, even at a rebel summons. Pray others as they will, there shall be at +least an old man kneeling for the righteous cause. Lord, put down the rebels! +God save the king! +</p> + +<p> +Peace to the good old Tory! One of our objects has been to exemplify, without +softening a single prejudice proper to the character which we assumed, that the +Americans who clung to the losing side in the Revolution were men greatly to be +pitied and often worthy of our sympathy. It would be difficult to say whose lot +was most lamentable, that of the active Tories, who gave up their patrimonies +for a pittance from the British pension-roll, and their native land for a cold +reception in their miscalled home, or the passive ones who remained behind to +endure the coldness of former friends, and the public opprobrium, as despised +citizens, under a government which they abhorred. In justice to the old +gentleman who has favored us with his discontented musings, we must remark that +the state of the country, so far as can be gathered from these papers, was of +dismal augury for the tendencies of democratic rule. It was pardonable in the +conservative of that day to mistake the temporary evils of a change for +permanent diseases of the system which that change was to establish. A +revolution, or anything that interrupts social order, may afford opportunities +for the individual display of eminent virtues; but its effects are pernicious +to general morality. Most people are so constituted that they can be virtuous +only in a certain routine; and an irregular course of public affairs +demoralizes them. One great source of disorder was the multitude of disbanded +troops, who were continually returning home, after terms of service just long +enough to give them a distaste to peaceable occupations; neither citizens nor +soldiers, they were very liable to become ruffians. Almost all our impressions +in regard to this period are unpleasant, whether referring to the state of +civil society, or to the character of the contest, which, especially where +native Americans were opposed to each other, was waged with the deadly hatred +of fraternal enemies. It is the beauty of war, for men to commit mutual havoc +with undisturbed good-humor. +</p> + +<p> +The present volume of newspapers contains fewer characteristic traits than any +which we have looked over. Except for the peculiarities attendant on the +passing struggle, manners seem to have taken a modern cast. Whatever antique +fashions lingered into the War of the Revolution, or beyond it, they were not +so strongly marked as to leave their traces in the public journals. Moreover, +the old newspapers had an indescribable picturesqueness, not to be found in the +later ones. Whether it be something in the literary execution, or the ancient +print and paper, and the idea that those same musty pages have been handled by +people once alive and bustling amid the scenes there recorded, yet now in their +graves beyond the memory of man; so it is, that in those elder volumes we seem +to find the life of a past age preserved between the leaves, like a dry +specimen of foliage. It is so difficult to discover what touches are really +picturesque, that we doubt whether our attempts have produced any similar +effect. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD NEWS ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> +<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</div> + +</body> +</html> + |