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diff --git a/old/wit3110.txt b/old/wit3110.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e7de04 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wit3110.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11773 @@ +Project Gutenberg EBook, Tales and Sketches, by Whittier, Complete +Volume V., The Works of Whittier: Tales and Sketches +#35 in our series by John Greenleaf Whittier + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + + +Title: Tales and Sketches, Complete + Volume V., The Works of Whittier: Tales and Sketches + + +Author: John Greenleaf Whittier + +Release Date: December 2005 [EBook #9590] +[This file was first posted on October 18, 2003] +[Last updated on February 9, 2007] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, TALES AND SKETCHES *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + + + + + + VOLUME V. + + + MARGARET SMITH'S JOURNAL TALES AND SKETCHES + + BY + + JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER + + + +The intelligent reader of the following record cannot fail to notice +occasional inaccuracies in respect to persons, places, and dates; and, +as a matter of course, will make due allowance for the prevailing +prejudices and errors of the period to which it relates. That there are +passages indicative of a comparatively recent origin, and calculated to +cast a shade of doubt over the entire narrative, the Editor would be the +last to deny, notwithstanding its general accordance with historical +verities and probabilities. Its merit consists mainly in the fact that +it presents a tolerably lifelike picture of the Past, and introduces us +familiarly to the hearths and homes of New England in the seventeenth +century. + +A full and accurate account of Secretary Rawson and his family is about +to be published by his descendants, to which the reader is referred who +wishes to know more of the personages who figure prominently in this +Journal. + +1866. + + + + + +MARGARET SMITH'S JOURNAL IN THE PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY, 1678-9 + +TALES AND SKETCHES + + MY SUMMER WITH DR. SINGLETARY: A FRAGMENT + + THE LITTLE IRON SOLDIER + PASSACONAWAY + THE OPIUM EATER + THE PROSELYTES + DAVID MATSON + THE FISH I DID N'T CATCH + YANKEE GYPSIES + THE TRAINING + THE CITY OF A DAY + PATUCKET FALLS + FIRST DAY IN LOWELL + THE LIGHTING UP + TAKING COMFORT + CHARMS AND FAIRY FAITH + MAGICIANS AND WITCH FOLK + THE BEAUTIFUL + THE WORLD'S END + THE HEROINE OF LONG POINT + + + + + +MARGARET SMITH'S JOURNAL + +IN THE PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY + +1678-9. + + +BOSTON, May 8, 1678. + +I remember I did promise my kind Cousin Oliver (whom I pray God to have +always in his keeping), when I parted with him nigh unto three months +ago, at mine Uncle Grindall's, that, on coming to this new country, +I would, for his sake and perusal, keep a little journal of whatsoever +did happen both unto myself and unto those with whom I might sojourn; +as also, some account of the country and its marvels, and mine own +cogitations thereon. So I this day make a beginning of the same; +albeit, as my cousin well knoweth, not from any vanity of authorship, +or because of any undue confiding in my poor ability to edify one justly +held in repute among the learned, but because my heart tells me that +what I write, be it ever so faulty, will be read by the partial eye of +my kinsman, and not with the critical observance of the scholar, and +that his love will not find it difficult to excuse what offends his +clerkly judgment. And, to embolden me withal, I will never forget that +I am writing for mine old playmate at hide-and-seek in the farm-house at +Hilton,--the same who used to hunt after flowers for me in the spring, +and who did fill my apron with hazel-nuts in the autumn, and who was +then, I fear, little wiser than his still foolish cousin, who, if she +hath not since learned so many new things as himself, hath perhaps +remembered more of the old. Therefore, without other preface, I will +begin my record. + +Of my voyage out I need not write, as I have spoken of it in my letters +already, and it greatly irks me to think of it. Oh, a very long, dismal +time of sickness and great discomforts, and many sad thoughts of all +I had left behind, and fears of all I was going to meet in the New +England! I can liken it only to an ugly dream. When we got at last +to Boston, the sight of the land and trees, albeit they were exceeding +bleak and bare (it being a late season, and nipping cold), was like unto +a vision of a better world. As we passed the small wooded islands, +which make the bay very pleasant, and entered close upon the town, and +saw the houses; and orchards, and meadows, and the hills beyond covered +with a great growth of wood, my brother, lifting up both of his hands, +cried out, "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy habitations, O +Israel!" and for my part I did weep for joy and thankfulness of heart, +that God had brought us safely to so fair a haven. Uncle and Aunt +Rawson met us on the wharf, and made us very comfortable at their house, +which is about half a mile from the water-side, at the foot of a hill, +with an oaken forest behind it, to shelter it from the north wind, which +is here very piercing. Uncle is Secretary of the Massachusetts, and +spends a great part of his time in town; and his wife and family are +with him in the winter season, but they spend their summers at his +plantation on the Merrimac River, in Newbury. His daughter, Rebecca, +is just about my age, very tall and lady-looking; she is like her +brother John, who was at Uncle Hilton's last year. She hath, moreover, +a pleasant wit, and hath seen much goodly company, being greatly admired +by the young men of family and distinction in the Province. She hath +been very kind to me, telling me that she looked upon me as a sister. +I have been courteously entertained, moreover, by many of the principal +people, both of the reverend clergy and the magistracy. Nor must I +forbear to mention a visit which I paid with Uncle and Aunt Rawson at +the house of an aged magistrate of high esteem and influence in these +parts. He saluted me courteously, and made inquiries concerning our +family, and whether I had been admitted into the Church. On my telling +him that I had not, he knit his brows, and looked at me very sternly. + +"Mr. Rawson," said he, "your niece, I fear me, has much more need of +spiritual adorning than of such gewgaws as these," and took hold of my +lace ruff so hard that I heard the stitches break; and then he pulled +out my sleeves, to see how wide they were, though they were only half an +ell. Madam ventured to speak a word to encourage me, for she saw I was +much abashed and flustered, yet he did not heed her, but went on talking +very loud against the folly and the wasteful wantonness of the times. +Poor Madam is a quiet, sickly-looking woman, and seems not a little in +awe of her husband, at the which I do not marvel, for he hath a very +impatient, forbidding way with him, and, I must say, seemed to carry +himself harshly at times towards her. Uncle Rawson says he has had much +to try his temper; that there have been many and sore difficulties in +Church as well as State; and he hath bitter enemies, in some of the +members of the General Court, who count him too severe with the Quakers +and other disturbers and ranters. I told him it was no doubt true; but +that I thought it a bad use of the Lord's chastenings to abuse one's +best friends for the wrongs done by enemies; and, that to be made to +atone for what went ill in Church or State, was a kind of vicarious +suffering that, if I was in Madam's place, I should not bear with half +her patience and sweetness. + + + +Ipswitch, near Agawam, May 12. + +We set out day before yesterday on our journey to Newbury. There were +eight of us,--Rebecca Rawson and her sister, Thomas Broughton, his wife, +and their man-servant, my brother Leonard and myself, and young Robert +Pike, of Newbury, who had been to Boston on business, his father having +great fisheries in the river as well as the sea. He is, I can perceive, +a great admirer of my cousin, and indeed not without reason; for she +hath in mind and person, in her graceful carriage and pleasant +discourse, and a certain not unpleasing waywardness, as of a merry +child, that which makes her company sought of all. Our route the first +day lay through the woods and along the borders of great marshes and +meadows on the seashore. We came to Linne at night, and stopped at the +house of a kinsman of Robert Pike's,--a man of some substance and note +in that settlement. We were tired and hungry, and the supper of warm +Indian bread and sweet milk relished quite as well as any I ever ate in +the Old Country. The next day we went on over a rough road to Wenham, +through Salem, which is quite a pleasant town. Here we stopped until +this morning, when we again mounted our horses, and reached this place, +after a smart ride of three hours. The weather in the morning was warm +and soft as our summer days at home; and, as we rode through the woods, +where the young leaves were fluttering, and the white blossoms of the +wind-flowers, and the blue violets and the yellow blooming of the +cowslips in the low grounds, were seen on either hand, and the birds all +the time making a great and pleasing melody in the branches, I was glad +of heart as a child, and thought if my beloved friends and Cousin Oliver +were only with us, I could never wish to leave so fair a country. + +Just before we reached Agawam, as I was riding a little before my +companions, I was startled greatly by the sight of an Indian. He was +standing close to the bridle-path, his half-naked body partly hidden by +a clump of white birches, through which he looked out on me with eyes +like two live coals. I cried for my brother and turned my horse, when +Robert Pike came up and bid me be of cheer, for he knew the savage, and +that he was friendly. Whereupon, he bade him come out of the bushes, +which he did, after a little parley. He was a tall man, of very fair +and comely make, and wore a red woollen blanket with beads and small +clam-shells jingling about it. His skin was swarthy, not black like a +Moor or Guinea-man, but of a color not unlike that of tarnished copper +coin. He spake but little, and that in his own tongue, very harsh and +strange-sounding to my ear. Robert Pike tells me that he is Chief of +the Agawams, once a great nation in these parts, but now quite small and +broken. As we rode on, and from the top of a hill got a fair view of +the great sea off at the east, Robert Pike bade me notice a little bay, +around which I could see four or five small, peaked huts or tents, +standing just where the white sands of the beach met the green line of +grass and bushes of the uplands. + +"There," said he, "are their summer-houses, which they build near unto +their fishing-grounds and corn-fields. In the winter they go far back +into the wilderness, where game is plenty of all kinds, and there build +their wigwams in warm valleys thick with trees, which do serve to +shelter them from the winds." + +"Let us look into them," said I to Cousin Rebecca; "it seems but a +stone's throw from our way." + +She tried to dissuade me, by calling them a dirty, foul people; but +seeing I was not to be put off, she at last consented, and we rode aside +down the hill, the rest following. On our way we had the misfortune to +ride over their corn-field; at the which, two or three women and as many +boys set up a yell very hideous to hear; whereat Robert Pike came up, +and appeased them by giving them some money and a drink of Jamaica +spirits, with which they seemed vastly pleased. I looked into one of +their huts; it was made of poles like unto a tent, only it was covered +with the silver-colored bark of the birch, instead of hempen stuff. A +bark mat, braided of many exceeding brilliant colors, covered a goodly +part of the space inside; and from the poles we saw fishes hanging, and +strips of dried meat. On a pile of skins in the corner sat a young +woman with a child a-nursing; they both looked sadly wild and neglected; +yet had she withal a pleasant face, and as she bent over her little one, +her long, straight, and black hair falling over him, and murmuring a low +and very plaintive melody, I forgot everything save that she was a woman +and a mother, and I felt my heart greatly drawn towards her. So, giving +my horse in charge, I ventured in to her, speaking as kindly as I could, +and asking to see her child. She understood me, and with a smile held +up her little papoose, as she called him,--who, to say truth, I could +not call very pretty. He seemed to have a wild, shy look, like the +offspring of an untamed, animal. The woman wore a blanket, gaudily +fringed, and she had a string of beads on her neck. She took down a +basket, woven of white and red willows, and pressed me to taste of her +bread; which I did, that I might not offend her courtesy by refusing. +It was not of ill taste, although so hard one could scarcely bite it, +and was made of corn meal unleavened, mixed with a dried berry, which +gives it a sweet flavor. She told me, in her broken way, that the whole +tribe now numbered only twenty-five men and women, counting out the +number very fast with yellow grains of corn, on the corner of her +blanket. She was, she said, the youngest woman in the tribe; and her +husband, Peckanaminet, was the Indian we had met in the bridlepath. I +gave her a pretty piece of ribbon, and an apron for the child; and she +thanked me in her manner, going with us on our return to the path; and +when I had ridden a little onward, I saw her husband running towards us; +so, stopping my horse, I awaited until he came up, when he offered me a +fine large fish, which he had just caught, in acknowledgment, as I +judged, of my gift to his wife. Rebecca and Mistress Broughton laughed, +and bid him take the thing away; but I would not suffer it, and so +Robert Pike took it, and brought it on to our present tarrying place, +where truly it hath made a fair supper for us all. These poor heathen +people seem not so exceeding bad as they have been reported; they be +like unto ourselves, only lacking our knowledge and opportunities, +which, indeed, are not our own to boast of, but gifts of God, calling +for humble thankfulness, and daily prayer and watchfulness, that they be +rightly improved. + + + +Newbery on the Merrimac, May 14, 1678. + +We were hardly on our way yesterday, from Agawam, when a dashing young +gallant rode up very fast behind us. He was fairly clad in rich stuffs, +and rode a nag of good mettle. He saluted us with much ease and +courtliness, offering especial compliments to Rebecca, to whom he seemed +well known, and who I thought was both glad and surprised at his coming. +As I rode near, she said it gave her great joy to bring to each other's +acquaintance, Sir Thomas Hale, a good friend of her father's, and her +cousin Margaret, who, like himself, was a new-comer. He replied, that +he should look with favor on any one who was near to her in friendship +or kindred; and, on learning my father's name, said he had seen him at +his uncle's, Sir Matthew Hale's, many years ago, and could vouch for him +as a worthy man. After some pleasant and merry discoursing with us, he +and my brother fell into converse upon the state of affairs in the +Colony, the late lamentable war with the Narragansett and Pequod +Indians, together with the growth of heresy and schism in the churches, +which latter he did not scruple to charge upon the wicked policy of the +home government in checking the wholesome severity of the laws here +enacted against the schemers and ranters. "I quite agree," said he, +"with Mr. Rawson, that they should have hanged ten where they did one." +Cousin Rebecca here said she was sure her father was now glad the laws +were changed, and that he had often told her that, although the +condemned deserved their punishment, he was not sure that it was the +best way to put down the heresy. If she was ruler, she continued, in +her merry way, she would send all the schemers and ranters, and all the +sour, crabbed, busybodies in the churches, off to Rhode Island, where +all kinds of folly, in spirituals as well as temporals, were permitted, +and one crazy head could not reproach another. + +Falling back a little, and waiting for Robert Pike and Cousin Broughton +to come up, I found them marvelling at the coming of the young +gentleman, who it did seem had no special concernment in these parts, +other than his acquaintance with Rebecca, and his desire of her company. +Robert Pike, as is natural, looks upon him with no great partiality, yet +he doth admit him to be wellbred, and of much and varied knowledge, +acquired by far travel as well as study. I must say, I like not his +confident and bold manner and bearing toward my fair cousin; and he hath +more the likeness of a cast-off dangler at the court, than of a modest +and seemly country gentleman, of a staid and well-ordered house. +Mistress Broughton says he was not at first accredited in Boston, but +that her father, and Mr. Atkinson, and the chief people there now, did +hold him to be not only what he professeth, as respecteth his +gentlemanly lineage, but also learned and ingenious, and well-versed in +the Scriptures, and the works of godly writers, both of ancient and +modern time. I noted that Robert was very silent during the rest of our +journey, and seemed abashed and troubled in the presence of the gay +gentleman; for, although a fair and comely youth, and of good family and +estate, and accounted solid and judicious beyond his years, he does, +nevertheless, much lack the ease and ready wit with which the latter +commendeth himself to my sweet kinswoman. We crossed about noon a broad +stream near to the sea, very deep and miry, so that we wetted our hose +and skirts somewhat; and soon, to our great joy, beheld the pleasant +cleared fields and dwellings of the settlement, stretching along for a +goodly distance; while, beyond all, the great ocean rolled, blue and +cold, under an high easterly wind. Passing through a broad path, with +well-tilled fields on each hand, where men were busy planting corn, and +young maids dropping the seed, we came at length to Uncle Rawson's +plantation, looking wellnigh as fair and broad as the lands of Hilton +Grange, with a good frame house, and large barns thereon. Turning up +the lane, we were met by the housekeeper, a respectable kinswoman, who +received us with great civility. Sir Thomas, although pressed to stay, +excused himself for the time, promising to call on the morrow, and rode +on to the ordinary. I was sadly tired with my journey, and was glad to +be shown to a chamber and a comfortable bed. + +I was awakened this morning by the pleasant voice of my cousin, who +shared my bed. She had arisen and thrown open the window looking +towards the sunrising, and the air came in soft and warm, and laden with +the sweets of flowers and green-growing things. And when I had gotten +myself ready, I sat with her at the window, and I think I may say it was +with a feeling of praise and thanksgiving that mine eyes wandered up and +down over the green meadows, and corn-fields, and orchards of my new +home. Where, thought I, foolish one, be the terrors of the wilderness, +which troubled thy daily thoughts and thy nightly dreams! Where be the +gloomy shades, and desolate mountains, and the wild beasts, with their +dismal howlings and rages! Here all looked peaceful, and bespoke +comfort and contentedness. Even the great woods which climbed up the +hills in the distance looked thin and soft, with their faint young +leaves a yellowish-gray, intermingled with pale, silvery shades, +indicating, as my cousin saith, the different kinds of trees, some of +which, like the willow, do put on their leaves early, and others late, +like the oak, with which the whole region aboundeth. A sweet, quiet +picture it was, with a warm sun, very bright and clear, shining over it, +and the great sea, glistening with the exceeding light, bounding the +view of mine eyes, but bearing my thoughts, like swift ships, to the +land of my birth, and so uniting, as it were, the New World with the +Old. Oh, thought I, the merciful God, who reneweth the earth and maketh +it glad and brave with greenery and flowers of various hues and smells, +and causeth his south winds to blow and his rains to fall, that seed- +time may not fail, doth even here, in the ends of his creation, prank +and beautify the work of his hands, making the desert places to rejoice, +and the wilderness to blossom as the rose. Verily his love is over +all,--the Indian heathen as well as the English Christian. And what +abundant cause for thanks have I, that I have been safely landed on a +shore so fair and pleasant, and enabled to open mine eyes in peace and +love on so sweet a May morning! And I was minded of a verse which I +learned from my dear and honored mother when a child,-- + + "Teach me, my God, thy love to know, + That this new light, which now I see, + May both the work and workman show; + Then by the sunbeams I will climb to thee." + +When we went below, we found on the window seat which looketh to the +roadway, a great bunch of flowers of many kinds, such as I had never +seen in mine own country, very fresh, and glistening with the dew. Now, +when Rebecca took them up, her sister said, "Nay, they are not Sir +Thomas's gift, for young Pike hath just left them." Whereat, as I +thought, she looked vexed, and ill at ease. "They are yours, then, +Cousin Margaret," said she, rallying, "for Robert and you did ride aside +all the way from Agawam, and he scarce spake to me the day long. I see +I have lost mine old lover, and my little cousin hath found a new one. +I shall write Cousin Oliver all about it." + +"Nay," said I, "old lovers are better than new; but I fear my sweet +cousin hath not so considered It." She blushed, and looked aside, and +for some space of time I did miss her smile, and she spake little. + + + +May 20. + +We had scarcely breakfasted, when him they Call Sir Thomas called on us, +and with him came also a Mr. Sewall, and the minister of the church, Mr. +Richardson, both of whom did cordially welcome home my cousins, and were +civil to my brother and myself. Mr. Richardson and Leonard fell to +conversing about the state of the Church; and Sir Thomas discoursed us +in his lively way. After some little tarry, Mr. Sewall asked us to go +with him to Deer's Island, a small way up the river, where he and Robert +Pike had some men splitting staves for the Bermuda market. As the day +was clear and warm, we did readily agree to go, and forthwith set out +for the river, passing through the woods for nearly a half mile. When +we came to the Merrimac, we found it a great and broad stream. We took +a boat, and were rowed up the river, enjoying the pleasing view of the +green banks, and the rocks hanging over the water, covered with bright +mosses, and besprinkled with pale, white flowers. Mr. Sewall pointed +out to us the different kinds of trees, and their nature and uses, and +especially the sugar-tree, which is very beautiful in its leaf and +shape, and from which the people of this country do draw a sap wellnigh +as sweet as the juice of the Indian cane, making good treacle and sugar. +Deer's Island hath rough, rocky shores, very high and steep, and is well +covered with a great growth of trees, mostly evergreen pines and +hemlocks which looked exceeding old. We found a good seat on the mossy +trunk of one of these great trees, which had fallen from its extreme +age, or from some violent blast of wind, from whence we could see the +water breaking into white foam on the rocks, and hear the melodious +sound of the wind in the leaves of the pines, and the singing of birds +ever and anon; and lest this should seem too sad and lonely, we could +also hear the sounds of the axes and beetles of the workmen, cleaving +the timber not far off. It was not long before Robert Pike came up and +joined us. He was in his working dress, and his face and hands were +much discolored by the smut of the burnt logs, which Rebecca playfully +remarking, he said there were no mirrors in the woods, and that must be +his apology; that, besides, it did not become a plain man, like himself, +who had to make his own fortune in the world, to try to imitate those +who had only to open their mouths, to be fed like young robins, without +trouble or toil. Such might go as brave as they would, if they would +only excuse his necessity. I thought he spoke with some bitterness, +which, indeed, was not without the excuse, that the manner of our gay +young gentleman towards him savored much of pride and contemptuousness. +My beloved cousin, who hath a good heart, and who, I must think, apart +from the wealth and family of Sir Thomas, rather inclineth to her old +friend and neighbor, spake cheerily and kindly to him, and besought me +privately to do somewhat to help her remove his vexation. So we did +discourse of many things very pleasantly. Mr. Richardson, on hearing +Rebecca say that the Indians did take the melancholy noises of the +pinetrees in the winds to be the voices of the Spirits of the woods, +said that they always called to his mind the sounds in the mulberry- +trees which the Prophet spake of. Hereupon Rebecca, who hath her memory +well provided with divers readings, both of the poets and other writers, +did cite very opportunely some ingenious lines, touching what the +heathens do relate of the Sacred Tree of Dodona, the rustling of whose +leaves the negro priestesses did hold to be the language of the gods. +And a late writer, she said, had something in one of his pieces, which +might well be spoken of the aged and dead tree-trunk, upon which we were +sitting. And when we did all desire to know their import, she repeated +them thus:-- + + "Sure thou didst flourish once, and many springs, + Many bright mornings, much dew, many showers, + Passed o'er thy head; many light hearts and wings, + Which now are dead, lodged in thy living towers." + + "And still a new succession sings and flies, + Fresh groves grow up, and their green branches shoot + Towards the old and still enduring skies, + While the low violet thriveth at their root." + + +These lines, she said, were written by one Vaughn, a Brecknockshire +Welsh Doctor of Medicine, who had printed a little book not many years +ago. Mr. Richardson said the lines were good, but that he did hold the +reading of ballads and the conceits of rhymers a waste of time, to say +nothing worse. Sir Thomas hereat said that, as far as he could judge, +the worthy folk of New England had no great temptation to that sin from +their own poets, and did then, in a drolling tone, repeat some verses of +the 137th Psalm, which he said were the best he had seen in the +Cambridge Psalm Book:-- + + "The rivers of Babylon, + There when we did sit down, + Yea, even then we mourned when + We remembered Sion. + + Our harp we did hang it amid + Upon the willow-tree; + Because there they that us away + Led to captivity! + + Required of us a song, and thus + Asked mirth us waste who laid, + Sing us among a Sion's song + Unto us as then they said." + +"Nay, Sir Thomas," quoth Mr. Richardson, "it is not seemly to jest over +the Word of God. The writers of our Book of Psalms in metre held +rightly, that God's altar needs no polishing; and truly they have +rendered the words of David into English verse with great fidelity." + +Our young gentleman, not willing to displeasure a man so esteemed as Mr. +Richardson, here made an apology for his jesting, and said that, as to +the Cambridge version, it was indeed faithful; and that it was no blame +to uninspired men, that they did fall short of the beauties and richness +of the Lord's Psalmist. It being now near noon, we crossed over the +river, to where was a sweet spring of water, very clear and bright, +running out upon the green bank. Now, as we stood thirsty, having no +cup to drink from, seeing some people near, we called to them, and +presently there came running to us a young and modest woman, with a +bright pewter tankard, which she filled and gave us. I thought her +sweet and beautiful, as Rebecca of old, at her father's fountain. She +was about leaving, when Mr. Richardson said to her, it was a foul shame +for one like her to give heed to the ranting of the Quakers, and bade +her be a good girl, and come to the meeting. + +"Nay," said she, "I have been there often, to small profit. The spirit +which thou persecutest testifieth against thee and thy meeting." + +Sir Thomas jestingly asked her if the spirit she spoke of was not such +an one as possessed Mary Magdalen. + +"Or the swine of the Gadarenes?" asked Mr. Richardson. + +I did smile with the others, but was presently sorry for it; for the +young maid answered not a word to this, but turning to Rebecca, she +said, "Thy father hath been hard with us, but thou seemest kind and +gentle, and I have heard of thy charities to the poor. The Lord keep +thee, for thou walkest in slippery places; there is danger, and thou +seest it not; thou trustest to the hearing of the ear and the seeing of +the eye; the Lord alone seeth the deceitfulness and the guile of man; +and if thou wilt cry mightily to Him, He can direct thee rightly." + +Her voice and manner were very weighty and solemn. I felt an awe come +upon me, and Rebecca's countenance was troubled. As the maiden left us, +the minister, looking after said, "There is a deal of poison under the +fair outside of yonder vessel, which I fear is fitted for destruction." + +"Peggy Brewster is indeed under a delusion," answered Robert Pike, "but +I know no harm of her. She is kind to all, even to them who evil +entreat her." + +"Robert, Robert!" cried the minister, "I fear me you will follow your +honored father, who has made himself of ill repute, by favoring these +people."--"The Quaker hath bewitched him with her bright eyes, perhaps," +quoth Sir Thomas. "I would she had laid a spell on an uncivil tongue I +wot of," answered Robert, angrily. Hereupon, Mr. Sewall proposed that +we should return, and in making ready and getting to the boat, the +matter was dropped. + + + +NEWBURY, June 1, 1678. + +To-day Sir Thomas took his leave of us, being about to go back to +Boston. Cousin Rebecca is, I can see, much taken with his outside +bravery and courtliness, yet she hath confessed to me that her sober +judgment doth greatly incline her towards her old friend and neighbor, +Robert Pike. She hath even said that she doubted not she could live a +quieter and happier life with him than with such an one as Sir Thomas; +and that the words of the Quaker maid, whom we met at the spring on the +river side, had disquieted her not a little, inasmuch as they did seem +to confirm her own fears and misgivings. But her fancy is so bedazzled +with the goodly show of her suitor, that I much fear he can have her for +the asking, especially as her father, to my knowledge, doth greatly +favor him. And, indeed, by reason of her gracious manner, witty and +pleasant discoursing, excellent breeding, and dignity, she would do no +discredit to the choice of one far higher than this young gentleman in +estate and rank. + + + +June 10. + +I went this morning with Rebecca to visit Elnathan Stone, a young +neighbor, who has been lying sorely ill for a long time. He was a +playmate of my cousin when a boy, and was thought to be of great promise +as he grew up to manhood; but, engaging in the war with the heathen, he +was wounded and taken captive by them, and after much suffering was +brought back to his home a few months ago. On entering the house where +he lay, we found his mother, a careworn and sad woman, spinning in the +room by his bedside. A very great and bitter sorrow was depicted on her +features; it was the anxious, unreconciled, and restless look of one who +did feel herself tried beyond her patience, and might not be comforted. +For, as I learned, she was a poor widow, who had seen her young daughter +tomahawked by the Indians; and now her only son, the hope of her old +age, was on his death-bed. She received us with small civility, telling +Rebecca that it was all along of the neglect of the men in authority +that her son had got his death in the wars, inasmuch as it was the want +of suitable diet and clothing, rather than his wounds, which had brought +him into his present condition. Now, as Uncle Rawson is one of the +principal magistrates, my sweet cousin knew that the poor afflicted +creature meant to reproach him; but her good heart did excuse and +forgive the rudeness and distemper of one whom the Lord had sorely +chastened. So she spake kindly and lovingly, and gave her sundry nice +dainty fruits and comforting cordials, which she had got from Boston for +the sick man. Then, as she came to his bedside, and took his hand +lovingly in her own, he thanked her for her many kindnesses, and prayed +God to bless her. He must have been a handsome lad in health, for he +had a fair, smooth forehead, shaded with brown, curling hair, and large, +blue eyes, very sweet and gentle in their look. He told us that he felt +himself growing weaker, and that at times his bodily suffering was +great. But through the mercy of his Saviour he had much peace of mind. +He was content to leave all things in His hand. For his poor mother's +sake, he said, more than for his own, he would like to get about once +more; there were many things he would like to do for her, and for all +who had befriended him; but he knew his Heavenly Father could do more +and better for them, and he felt resigned to His will. He had, he said, +forgiven all who ever wronged him, and he had now no feeling of anger or +unkindness left towards any one, for all seemed kind to him beyond his +deserts, and like brothers and sisters. He had much pity for the poor +savages even, although he had suffered sorely at their hands; for he did +believe that they had been often ill-used, and cheated, and otherwise +provoked to take up arms against us. Hereupon, Goodwife Stone twirled +her spindle very spitefully, and said she would as soon pity the Devil +as his children. The thought of her mangled little girl, and of her +dying son, did seem to overcome her, and she dropped her thread, and +cried out with an exceeding bitter cry,--"Oh, the bloody heathen! Oh, +my poor murdered Molly! Oh, my son, my son!"--"Nay, mother," said the +sick man, reaching out his hand and taking hold of his mother's, with a +sweet smile on his pale face,--"what does Christ tell us about loving +our enemies, and doing good to them that do injure us? Let us forgive +our fellow-creatures, for we have all need of God's forgiveness. I used +to feel as mother does," he said, turning to us; "for I went into the +war with a design to spare neither young nor old of the enemy. + +"But I thank God that even in that dark season my heart relented at the +sight of the poor starving women and children, chased from place to +place like partridges. Even the Indian fighters, I found, had sorrows +of their own, and grievous wrongs to avenge; and I do believe, if we had +from the first treated them as poor blinded brethren, and striven as +hard to give them light and knowledge, as we have to cheat them in +trade, and to get away their lands, we should have escaped many bloody +wars, and won many precious souls to Christ." + +I inquired of him concerning his captivity. He was wounded, he told me, +in a fight with the Sokokis Indians two years before. It was a hot +skirmish in the woods; the English and the Indians now running forward, +and then falling back, firing at each other from behind the trees. He +had shot off all his powder, and, being ready to faint by reason of a +wound in his knee, he was fain to sit down against an oak, from whence +he did behold, with great sorrow and heaviness of heart, his companions +overpowered by the number of their enemies, fleeing away and leaving him +to his fate. The savages soon came to him with dreadful whoopings, +brandishing their hatchets and their scalping-knives. He thereupon +closed his eyes, expecting to be knocked in the head, and killed +outright. But just then a noted chief coming up in great haste, bade +him be of good cheer, for he was his prisoner, and should not be slain. +He proved to be the famous Sagamore Squando, the chief man of the +Sokokis. + +"And were you kindly treated by this chief?" asked Rebecca. + +"I suffered much in moving with him to the Sebago Lake, owing to my +wound," he replied; "but the chief did all in his power to give me +comfort, and he often shared with me his scant fare, choosing rather to +endure hunger himself, than to see his son, as he called me, in want of +food. And one night, when I did marvel at this kindness on his part, he +told me that I had once done him a great service; asking me if I was not +at Black Point, in a fishing vessel, the summer before? I told him I +was. He then bade me remember the bad sailors who upset the canoe of a +squaw, and wellnigh drowned her little child, and that I had threatened +and beat them for it; and also how I gave the squaw a warm coat to wrap +up the poor wet papoose. It was his squaw and child that I had +befriended; and he told me that he had often tried to speak to me, and +make known his gratitude therefor; and that he came once to the garrison +at Sheepscot, where he saw me; but being fired at, notwithstanding his +signs of peace and friendship, he was obliged to flee into the woods. +He said the child died a few days after its evil treatment, and the +thought of it made his heart bitter; that he had tried to live peaceably +with the white men, but they had driven him into the war. + +"On one occasion," said the sick soldier, "as we lay side by side in his +hut, on the shore of the Sebago Lake, Squando, about midnight, began to +pray to his God very earnestly. And on my querying with him about it, +he said he was greatly in doubt what to do, and had prayed for some sign +of the Great Spirit's will concerning him. He then told me that some +years ago, near the place where we then lay, he left his wigwam at +night, being unable to sleep, by reason of great heaviness and distemper +of mind. It was a full moon, and as he did walk to and fro, he saw a +fair, tall man in a long black dress, standing in the light on the +lake's shore, who spake to him and called him by name. + +"'Squando,' he said, and his voice was deep and solemn, like the wind in +the hill pines, 'the God of the white man is the God of the Indian, and +He is angry with his red children. He alone is able to make the corn +grow before the frost, and to lead the fish up the rivers in the spring, +and to fill the woods with deer and other game, and the ponds and +meadows with beavers. Pray to Him always. Do not hunt on His day, nor +let the squaws hoe the corn. Never taste of the strong fire-water, but +drink only from the springs. It, is because the Indians do not worship +Him, that He has brought the white men among them; but if they will pray +like the white men, they will grow very great and strong, and their +children born in this moon will live to see the English sail back in +their great canoes, and leave the Indians all their fishing-places and +hunting-grounds.' + +"When the strange man had thus spoken, Squando told me that he went +straightway up to him, but found where he had stood only the shadow of +a broken tree, which lay in the moon across the white sand of the shore. +Then he knew it was a spirit, and he trembled, but was glad. Ever +since, he told nee, he had prayed daily to the Great Spirit, had drank +no rum, nor hunted on the Sabbath. + +"He said he did for a long time refuse to dig up his hatchet, and make +war upon the whites, but that he could not sit idle in his wigwam, while +his young men were gone upon their war-path. The spirit of his dead +child did moreover speak to him from the land of souls, and chide him +for not seeking revenge. Once, he told me, he had in a dream seen the +child crying and moaning bitterly, and that when he inquired the cause +of its grief, he was told that the Great Spirit was angry with its +father, and would destroy him and his people unless he did join with the +Eastern Indians to cut off the English." + +"I remember," said Rebecca, "of hearing my father speak of this +Squando's kindness to a young maid taken captive some years ago at +Presumpscot." + +"I saw her at Cocheco," said the sick man. "Squando found her in a sad +plight, and scarcely alive, took her to his wigwam, where his squaw did +lovingly nurse and comfort her; and when she was able to travel, he +brought her to Major Waldron's, asking no ransom for her. He might have +been made the fast friend of the English at that time, but he scarcely +got civil treatment." + +"My father says that many friendly Indians, by the ill conduct of the +traders, have been made our worst enemies," said Rebecca. "He thought +the bringing in of the Mohawks to help us a sin comparable to that of +the Jews, who looked for deliverance from the King of Babylon at the +hands of the Egyptians." + +"They did nothing but mischief," said Elnathan Stone; "they killed our +friends at Newichawannock, Blind Will and his family." + +Rebecca here asked him if he ever heard the verses writ by Mr. Sewall +concerning the killing of Blind Will. And when he told her he had not, +and would like to have her repeat them, if she could remember, she did +recite them thus:-- + + "Blind Will of Newiehawannock! + He never will whoop again, + For his wigwam's burnt above him, + And his old, gray scalp is ta'en! + + "Blind Will was the friend of white men, + On their errands his young men ran, + And he got him a coat and breeches, + And looked like a Christian man. + + "Poor Will of Newiehawannock! + They slew him unawares, + Where he lived among his people, + Keeping Sabhath and saying prayers. + + "Now his fields will know no harvest, + And his pipe is clean put out, + And his fine, brave coat and breeches + The Mohog wears about. + + "Woe the day our rulers listened + To Sir Edmund's wicked plan, + Bringing down the cruel Mohogs + Who killed the poor old man. + + "Oh! the Lord He will requite us; + For the evil we have done, + There'll be many a fair scalp drying + In the wind and in the sun! + + "There'll be many a captive sighing, + In a bondage long and dire; + There'll be blood in many a corn-field, + And many a house a-fire. + + "And the Papist priests the tidings + Unto all the tribes will send; + They'll point to Newiehawannock,-- + 'So the English treat their friend!' + + "Let the Lord's anointed servants + Cry aloud against this wrong, + Till Sir Edmund take his Mohogs + Back again where they belong. + + "Let the maiden and the mother + In the nightly watching share, + While the young men guard the block-house, + And the old men kneel in prayer. + + "Poor Will of Newiehawannock! + For thy sad and cruel fall, + And the bringing in of the Mohogs, + May the Lord forgive us all!" + +A young woman entered the house just as Rebecca finished the verses. +She bore in her hands a pail of milk and a fowl neatly dressed, which +she gave to Elnathan's mother, and, seeing strangers by his bedside, was +about to go out, when he called to her and besought her to stay. As she +came up and spoke to him, I knew her to be the maid we had met at the +spring. The young man, with tears in his eyes, acknowledged her great +kindness to him, at which she seemed troubled and abashed. A pure, +sweet complexion she hath, and a gentle and loving look, full of +innocence and sincerity. Rebecca seemed greatly disturbed, for she no +doubt thought of the warning words of this maiden, when we were at the +spring. After she had left, Goodwife Stone said she was sure she could +not tell what brought that Quaker girl to her house so much, unless she +meant to inveigle Elnathan; but, for her part, she would rather see him +dead than live to bring reproach upon his family and the Church by +following after the blasphemers. I ventured to tell her that I did look +upon it as sheer kindness and love on the young woman's part; at which +Elnathan seemed pleased, and said he could not doubt it, and that he did +believe Peggy Brewster to be a good Christian, although sadly led astray +by the Quakers. His mother said that, with all her meek looks, and kind +words, she was full of all manner of pestilent heresies, and did remind +her always of Satan in the shape of an angel of light. + +We went away ourselves soon after this, the sick man thanking us for our +visit, and hoping that he should see us again. "Poor Elnathan," said +Rebecca, as we walked home, "he will never go abroad again; but he is in +such a good and loving frame of mind, that he needs not our pity, as one +who is without hope." + +"He reminds me," I said, "of the comforting promise of Scripture, 'Thou +wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.'" + + + +June 30, 1678. + +Mr. Rawson and Sir Thomas Hale came yesterday from Boston. I was +rejoiced to see mine uncle, more especially as he brought for me a +package of letters, and presents and tokens of remembrance from my +friends on the other side of the water. As soon as I got them, I went +up to my chamber, and, as I read of the health of those who are very +dear to me, and who did still regard me with unchanged love, I wept in +my great joy, and my heart overflowed in thankfulness. I read the 22d +Psalm, and it did seem to express mine own feelings in view of the great +mercies and blessings vouchsafed to me. "My head is anointed with oil; +my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the +days of my life." + +This morning, Sir Thomas and Uncle Rawson rode over to Hampton, where +they will tarry all night. Last evening, Rebecca had a long talk with +her father concerning Sir Thomas, who hath asked her of him. She came +to bed very late, and lay restless and sobbing; whereupon I pressed her +to know the cause of her grief, when she told me she had consented to +marry Sir Thomas, but that her heart was sorely troubled and full of +misgivings. On my querying whether she did really love the young +gentleman, she said she sometimes feared she did not; and that when her +fancy had made a fair picture of the life of a great lady in England, +there did often come a dark cloud over it like the shade of some heavy +disappointment or sorrow. "Sir Thomas," she said, "was a handsome and +witty young man, and had demeaned himself to the satisfaction and good +repute of her father and the principal people of the Colony; and his +manner towards her had been exceeding delicate and modest, inasmuch as +he had presumed nothing upon his family or estate, but had sought her +with much entreaty and humility, although he did well know that some of +the most admired and wealthy Young women in Boston did esteem him not a +little, even to the annoying of herself, as one whom he especially +favored." + +"This will be heavy news to Robert Pike," said I; "and I am sorry for +him, for he is indeed a worthy man." + +"That he is," quoth she; "but he hath never spoken to me of aught beyond +that friendliness which, as neighbors and school companions, we do +innocently cherish for each other." + +"Nay," said I, "my sweet cousin knows full well that he entertaineth so +strong an affection for her, that there needeth no words to reveal it." + +"Alas!" she answered, "it is too true. When I am with him, I sometimes +wish I had never seen Sir Thomas. But my choice is made, and I pray God +I may not have reason to repent of it." + +We said no more, but I fear she slept little, for on waking about the +break of day, I saw her sitting in her night-dress by the window. +Whereupon I entreated her to return to her bed, which she at length did, +and folding me in her arms, and sobbing as if her heart would break, she +besought me to pity her, for it was no light thing which she had done, +and she scarcely knew her own mind, nor whether to rejoice or weep over +it. I strove to comfort her, and, after a time, she did, to my great +joy, fall into a quiet sleep. + +This afternoon, Robert Pike came in, and had a long talk with Cousin +Broughton, who told him how matters stood between her sister and Sir +Thomas, at which he was vehemently troubled, and would fain have gone to +seek Rebecca at once, and expostulate with her, but was hindered on +being told that it could only grieve and discomfort her, inasmuch as the +thing was well settled, and could not be broken off. He said he had +known and loved her from a child; that for her sake he had toiled hard +by day and studied by night; and that in all his travels and voyages, +her sweet image had always gone with him. He would bring no accusation +against her, for she had all along treated him rather as a brother than +as a suitor: to which last condition he had indeed not felt himself at +liberty to venture, after her honored father, some months ago, had given +him to understand that he did design an alliance of his daughter with a +gentleman of estate and family. For himself, he would bear himself +manfully, and endure his sorrow with patience and fortitude. His only +fear was, that his beloved friend had been too hasty in deciding the +matter; and that he who was her choice might not be worthy of the great +gift of her affection. Cousin Broughton, who has hitherto greatly +favored the pretensions of Sir Thomas, told me that she wellnigh changed +her mind in view of the manly and noble bearing of Robert Pike; and that +if her sister were to live in this land, she would rather see her the +wife of him than of any other man therein. + + + +July 3. + +Sir Thomas took his leave to-day. Robert Pike hath been here to wish +Rebecca great joy and happiness in her prospect, which he did in so kind +and gentle a manner, that she was fain to turn away her head to hide her +tears. When Robert saw this, he turned the discourse, and did endeavor +to divert her mind in such sort that the shade of melancholy soon left +her sweet face, and the twain talked together cheerfully as had been +their wont, and as became their years and conditions. + + + +July 6. + +Yesterday a strange thing happened in the meeting-house. The minister +had gone on in his discourse, until the sand in the hour-glass on the +rails before the deacons had wellnigh run out, and Deacon Dole was about +turning it, when suddenly I saw the congregation all about me give a +great start, and look back. A young woman, barefooted, and with a +coarse canvas frock about her, and her long hair hanging loose like a +periwig, and sprinkled with ashes, came walking up the south aisle. +Just as she got near Uncle Rawson's seat she stopped, and turning round +towards the four corners of the house, cried out: "Woe to the +persecutors! Woe to them who for a pretence make long prayers! Humble +yourselves, for this is the day of the Lord's power, and I am sent as a +sign among you!" As she looked towards me I knew her to be the Quaker +maiden, Margaret Brewster. "Where is the constable?" asked Mr. +Richardson. "Let the woman be taken out." Thereupon the whole +congregation arose, and there was a great uproar, men and women climbing +the seats, and many crying out, some one thing and some another. In the +midst of the noise, Mr. Sewall, getting up on a bench, begged the people +to be quiet, and let the constable lead out the poor deluded creature. +Mr. Richardson spake to the same effect, and, the tumult a little +subsiding, I saw them taking the young woman out of the door; and, as +many followed her, I went out also, with my brother, to see what became +of her. + +We found her in the middle of a great crowd of angry people, who +reproached her for her wickedness in disturbing the worship on the +Lord's day, calling her all manner of foul names, and threatening her +with the stocks and the whipping-post. The poor creature stood still +and quiet; she was deathly pale, and her wild hair and sackcloth frock +gave her a very strange and pitiable look. The constable was about to +take her in charge until the morrow, when Robert Pike came forward, and +said he would answer for her appearance at the court the next day, and +besought the people to let her go quietly to her home, which, after some +parley, was agreed to. Robert then went up to her, and taking her hand, +asked her to go with him. She looked up, and being greatly touched by +his kindness, began to weep, telling him that it had been a sorrowful +cross to her to do as she had done; but that it had been long upon her +mind, and that she did feel a relief now that she had found strength for +obedience. He, seeing the people still following, hastened her, away, +and we all went back to the meeting-house. In the afternoon, Mr. +Richardson gave notice that he should preach, next Lord's day, from the +12th and 13th verses of Jude, wherein the ranters and disturbers of the +present day were very plainly spoken of. This morning she hath been had +before the magistrates, who, considering her youth and good behavior +hitherto, did not proceed against her so far as many of the people +desired. A fine was laid upon her, which both she and her father did +profess they could not in conscience pay, whereupon she was ordered to +be set in the stocks; but this Mr. Sewall, Robert Pike, and my brother +would by no means allow, but paid the fine themselves, so that she was +set at liberty, whereat the boys and rude women were not a little +disappointed, as they had thought to make sport of her in the stocks. +Mr. Pike, I hear, did speak openly in her behalf before the magistrates, +saying that it was all along of the cruel persecution of these people +that did drive them to such follies and breaches of the peace, Mr. +Richardson, who hath heretofore been exceeding hard upon the Quakers, +did, moreover, speak somewhat in excuse of her conduct, believing that +she was instigated by her elders; and he therefore counselled the court +that she should not be whipped, + + + +August 1. + +Captain Sewall, R. Pike, and the minister, Mr. Richardson, at our house +to-day. Captain Sewall, who lives mostly at Boston, says that a small +vessel loaded with negroes, taken on the Madagascar coast, came last +week into the harbor, and that the owner thereof had offered the negroes +for sale as slaves, and that they had all been sold to magistrates, +ministers, and other people of distinction in Boston and thereabouts. +He said the negroes were principally women and children, and scarcely +alive, by reason of their long voyage and hard fare. He thought it a +great scandal to the Colony, and a reproach to the Church, that they +should be openly trafficked, like cattle in the market. Uncle Rawson +said it was not so formerly; for he did remember the case of Captain +Smith and one Kesar, who brought negroes from Guinea thirty years ago. +The General Court, urged thereto by Sir Richard Saltonstall and many of +the ministers, passed an order that, for the purpose of "bearing a +witness against the heinous sin of man-stealing, justly abhorred of all +good and just men," the negroes should be taken back to their own +country at the charge of the Colony; which was soon after done. +Moreover, the two men, Smith and Kesar, were duly punished. + +Mr. Richardson said he did make a distinction between the stealing of +men from a nation at peace with us, and the taking of captives in war. +The Scriptures did plainly warrant the holding of such, and especially +if they be heathen. + +Captain Sewall said he did, for himself, look upon all slave-holding as +contrary to the Gospel and the New Dispensation. The Israelites had a +special warrant for holding the heathen in servitude; but he had never +heard any one pretend that he had that authority for enslaving Indians +and blackamoors. + +Hereupon Mr. Richardson asked him if he did not regard Deacon Dole as a +godly man; and if he had aught to say against him and other pious men +who held slaves. And he cautioned him to be careful, lest he should be +counted an accuser of the brethren. + +Here Robert Pike said he would tell of a matter which had fallen under +his notice. "Just after the war was over," said be, "owing to the loss +of my shallop in the Penobscot Bay, I chanced to be in the neighborhood +of him they call the Baron of Castine, who hath a strong castle, with +much cleared land and great fisheries at Byguyduce. I was preparing to +make a fire and sleep in the woods, with my two men, when a messenger +came from the Baron, saying that his master, hearing that strangers were +in the neighborhood, had sent him to offer us food and shelter, as the +night was cold and rainy. So without ado we went with him, and were +shown into a comfortable room in a wing of the castle, where we found a +great fire blazing, and a joint of venison with wheaten loaves on the +table. After we had refreshed ourselves, the Baron sent for me, and I +was led into a large, fair room, where he was, with Modockawando, who +was his father-in-law, and three or four other chiefs of the Indians, +together with two of his priests. The Baron, who was a man of goodly +appearance, received me with much courtesy; and when I told him my +misfortune, he said he was glad it was in his power to afford us a +shelter. He discoursed about the war, which he said had been a sad +thing to the whites as well as the Indians, but that he now hoped the +peace would be lasting. Whereupon, Modockawando, a very grave and +serious heathen, who had been sitting silent with his friends, got up +and spoke a load speech to me, which I did not understand, but was told +that he did complain of the whites for holding as slaves sundry Indian +captives, declaring that it did provoke another war. His own sister's +child, he said, was thus held in captivity. He entreated me to see the +great Chief of our people (meaning the Governor), and tell him that the +cries of the captives were heard by his young men, and that they were +talking of digging up the hatchet which the old men had buried at Casco. +I told the old savage that I did not justify the holding of Indians +after the peace, and would do what I could to have them set at liberty, +at which he seemed greatly rejoiced. Since I came back from Castine's +country, I have urged the giving up of the Indians, and many have been +released. Slavery is a hard lot, and many do account it worse than +death. When in the Barbadoes, I was told that on one plantation, in the +space of five years, a score of slaves had hanged themselves." + +"Mr. Atkinson's Indian," said Captain Sewall, "whom he bought of a +Virginia ship-owner, did, straightway on coming to his house, refuse +meat; and although persuasions and whippings were tried to make him eat, +he would not so much as take a sip of drink. I saw him a day or two +before he died, sitting wrapped up in his blanket, and muttering to +himself. It was a sad, sight, and I pray God I may never see the like +again. From that time I have looked upon the holding of men as slaves +as a great wickedness. The Scriptures themselves do testify, that he +that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity." + +After the company had gone, Rebecca sat silent and thoughtful for a +time, and then bade her young serving-girl, whom her father had bought, +about a year before, of the master of a Scotch vessel, and who had been +sold to pay the cost of her passage, to come to her. She asked her if +she had aught to complain of in her situation. The poor girl looked +surprised, but said she had not. "Are you content to live as a +servant?" asked Rebecca. "Would you leave me if you could?" She here +fell a-weeping, begging her mistress not to speak of her leaving. "But +if I should tell you that you are free to go or stay, as you will, would +you be glad or sorry?" queried her mistress. The poor girl was silent. +"I do not wish you to leave me, Effie," said Rebecca, "but I wish you to +know that you are from henceforth free, and that if you serve me +hereafter, as I trust you will, it will be in love and good will, and +for suitable wages." The bondswoman did not at the first comprehend the +design of her mistress, but, on hearing it explained once more, she +dropped down on her knees, and clasping Rebecca, poured forth her thanks +after the manner of her people; whereupon Rebecca, greatly moved, bade +her rise, as she had only done what the Scriptures did require, in +giving to her servant that which is just and equal. + +"How easy it is to make others happy, and ourselves also!" she said, +turning to me, with the tears shining in her eyes. + + + +August 8, 1678. + +Elnathan Stone, who died two days ago, was buried this afternoon. A +very solemn funeral, Mr. Richardson preaching a sermon from the 23d +psalm, 4th verse: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow +of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy +staff, they comfort me." Deacon Dole provided the wine and spirits, and +Uncle Rawson the beer, and bread, and fish for the entertainment, and +others of the neighbors did, moreover, help the widow to sundry matters +of clothing suitable for the occasion, for she was very poor, and, owing +to the long captivity and sickness of her son, she hath been much +straitened at times. I am told that Margaret Brewster hath been like an +angel of mercy unto her, watching often with the sick man, and helping +her in her work, so that the poor woman is now fain to confess that she +hath a good and kind heart. A little time before Elnathan died, he did +earnestly commend the said Margaret to the kindness of Cousin Rebecca, +entreating her to make interest with the magistrates, and others in +authority, in her behalf, that they might be merciful to her in her +outgoings, as he did verily think they did come of a sense of duty, +albeit mistaken. Mr. Richardson, who hath been witness to her gracious +demeanor and charity, and who saith she does thereby shame many of his +own people, hath often sought to draw her away from the new doctrines, +and to set before her the dangerous nature of her errors; but she never +lacketh answer of some sort, being naturally of good parts, and well +read in the Scriptures. + + + +August 10. + +I find the summer here greatly unlike that of mine own country. The +heat is great, the sun shining very strong and bright; and for more than +a month it hath been exceeding dry, without any considerable fall of +rain, so that the springs fail in many places, and the watercourses are +dried up, which doth bring to mind very forcibly the language of Job, +concerning the brooks which the drouth consumeth: "What time they wax +warm they vanish; when it is hot they are consumed out of their place. +The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing and perish." +The herbage and grass have lost much of the brightness which they did +wear in the early summer; moreover, there be fewer flowers to be seen. +The fields and roads are dusty, and all things do seem to faint and wax +old under the intolerable sun. Great locusts sing sharp in the hedges +and bushes, and grasshoppers fly up in clouds, as it were, when one +walks over the dry grass which they feed upon, and at nightfall +mosquitoes are no small torment. Whenever I do look forth at noonday, +at which time the air is all aglow, with a certain glimmer and dazzle +like that from an hot furnace, and see the poor fly-bitten cattle +whisking their tails to keep off the venomous insects, or standing in +the water of the low grounds for coolness, and the panting sheep lying +together under the shade of trees, I must needs call to mind the summer +season of old England, the cool sea air, the soft-dropping showers, the +fields so thick with grasses, and skirted with hedge-rows like green +walls, the trees and shrubs all clean and moist, and the vines and +creepers hanging over walls and gateways, very plenteous and beautiful +to behold. Ah me I often in these days do I think of Hilton Grange, +with its great oaks, and cool breezy hills and meadows green the summer +long. I shut mine eyes, and lo! it is all before me like a picture; I +see mine uncle's gray hairs beneath the trees, and my good aunt standeth +in the doorway, and Cousin Oliver comes up in his field-dress, from the +croft or the mill; I can hear his merry laugh, and the sound of his +horse's hoofs ringing along the gravel-way. Our sweet Chaucer telleth +of a mirror in the which he that looked did see all his past life; that +magical mirror is no fable, for in the memory of love, old things do +return and show themselves as features do in the glass, with a perfect +and most beguiling likeness. + +Last night, Deacon Dole's Indian--One-eyed Tom, a surly fellow--broke +into his master's shop, where he made himself drunk with rum, and, +coming to the house, did greatly fright the womenfolk by his threatening +words and gestures. Now, the Deacon coming home late from the church- +meeting, and seeing him in this way, wherreted him smartly with his +cane, whereupon he ran off, and came up the road howling and yelling +like an evil spirit. Uncle Rawson sent his Irish man-servant to see +what caused the ado; but he straightway came running back, screaming +"Murther! murther!" at the top of his voice. So uncle himself went to +the gate, and presently called for a light, which Rebecca and I came +with, inasmuch as the Irishman and Effie dared not go out. We found Tom +sitting on the horse-block, the blood running down his face, and much +bruised and swollen. He was very fierce and angry, saying that if he +lived a month, he would make him a tobacco-pouch of the Deacon's scalp. +Rebecca ventured to chide him for his threats, but offered to bind up +his head for him, which she did with her own kerchief. Uncle Rawson +then bade him go home and get to bed, and in future let alone strong +drink, which had been the cause of his beating. This he would not do, +but went off into the woods, muttering as far as one could hear him. + +This morning Deacon Dole came in, and said his servant Tom had behaved +badly, for which he did moderately correct him, and that he did +thereupon run away, and he feared he should lose him. He bought him, +he said, of Captain Davenport, who brought him from the Narragansett +country, paying ten pounds and six shillings for him, and he could ill +bear so great a loss. I ventured to tell him that it was wrong to hold +any man, even an Indian or Guinea black, as a slave. My uncle, who saw +that my plainness was not well taken, bade me not meddle with matters +beyond my depth; and Deacon Dole, looking very surly at me, said I was a +forward one; that he had noted that I did wear a light and idle look in +the meeting-house; and, pointing with his cane to my hair, he said I did +render myself liable to presentment by the Grand Jury for a breach of +the statute of the General Court, made the year before, against "the +immodest laying out of the hair," &c. He then went on to say that he +had lived to see strange times, when such as I did venture to oppose +themselves to sober and grave people, and to despise authority, and +encourage rebellion and disorder; and bade me take heed lest all such +be numbered with the cursed children which the Apostle did rebuke: "Who, +as natural brute beasts, speak evil of things they understand not, and +shall utterly perish in their corruption." My dear Cousin Rebecca here +put in a word in my behalf, and told the Deacon that Tom's misbehavior +did all grow out of the keeping of strong liquors for sale, and that he +was wrong to beat him so cruelly, seeing that he did himself place the +temptation before him. Thereupon the Deacon rose up angrily, bidding +uncle look well to his forward household. "Nay, girls," quoth mine +uncle, after his neighbor had left the house, "you have angered the good +man sorely."--"Never heed," said Rebecca, laughing and clapping her +hands, "he hath got something to think of more profitable, I trow, than +Cousin Margaret's hair or looks in meeting. He has been tything of mint +and anise and cummin long enough, and 't is high time for him to look +after the weightier matters of the law." + +The selling of beer and strong liquors, Mr. Ewall says, hath much +increased since the troubles of the Colony and the great Indian war. +The General Court do take some care to grant licenses only to discreet +persons; but much liquor is sold without warrant. For mine own part, I +think old Chaucer hath it right in his Pardoner's Tale:-- + + "A likerous thing is wine, and drunkenness + Is full of striving and of wretchedness. + O drunken man! disfigured is thy face, + Sour is thy breath, foul art then to embrace; + Thy tongue is lost, and all thine honest care, + For drunkenness is very sepulture + Of man's wit and his discretion." + + + +AGAMENTICUS, August 18. + +The weather being clear and the heat great, last week uncle and aunt, +with Rebecca and myself, and also Leonard and Sir Thomas, thought it a +fitting time to make a little journey by water to the Isles of Shoals, +and the Agamenticus, where dwelleth my Uncle Smith, who hath strongly +pressed me to visit him. One Caleb Powell, a seafaring man, having a +good new boat, with a small cabin, did undertake to convey us. He is a +drolling odd fellow, who hath been in all parts of the world, and hath +seen and read much, and, having a rare memory, is not ill company, +although uncle saith one must make no small allowance for his desire of +making his hearers marvel at his stories and conceits. We sailed with a +good westerly wind down the river, passing by the great salt marshes, +which stretch a long way by the sea, and in which the town's people be +now very busy in mowing and gathering the grass for winter's use. +Leaving on our right hand Plum Island (so called on account of the rare +plums which do grow upon it), we struck into the open sea, and soon came +in sight of the Islands of Shoals. There be seven of them in all, lying +off the town of Hampton on the mainland, about a league. We landed on +that called the Star, and were hospitably entertained through the day +and night by Mr. Abbott, an old inhabitant of the islands, and largely +employed in fisheries and trade, and with whom uncle had some business. +In the afternoon Mr. Abbott's son rowed us about among the islands, and +showed us the manner of curing the dun-fish, for which the place is +famed. They split the fishes, and lay them on the rocks in the sun, +using little salt, but turning them often. There is a court-house on +the biggest island, and a famous school, to which many of the planters +on the main-land do send their children. We noted a great split in the +rocks, where, when the Indians came to the islands many years ago, and +killed some and took others captive, one Betty Moody did hide herself, +and which is hence called Betty Moody's Hole. Also, the pile of rocks +set up by the noted Captain John Smith, when he did take possession of +the Isles in the year 1614. We saw our old acquaintance Peckanaminet +and his wife, in a little birch canoe, fishing a short way off. Mr. +Abbott says he well recollects the time when the Agawams were wellnigh +cut off by the Tarratine Indians; for that early one morning, hearing a +loud yelling and whooping, he went out on the point of the rocks, and +saw a great fleet of canoes filled with Indians, going back from Agawam, +and the noise they made he took to be their rejoicing over their +victory. + +In the evening a cold easterly wind began to blow, and it brought in +from the ocean a damp fog, so that we were glad to get within doors. +Sir Thomas entertained us by his lively account of things in Boston, and +of a journey he had made to the Providence plantations. He then asked +us if it was true, as he had learned from Mr. Mather, of Boston, that +there was an house in Newbury dolefully beset by Satan's imps, and that +the family could get no sleep because of the doings of evil spirits. +Uncle Rawson said he did hear something of it, and that Mr. Richardson +had been sent for to pray against the mischief. Yet as he did count +Goody Morse a poor silly woman, he should give small heed to her story; +but here was her near neighbor, Caleb Powell, who could doubtless tell +more concerning it. Whereupon, Caleb said it was indeed true that there +was a very great disturbance in Goodman Morse's house; doors opening and +shutting, household stuff whisked out of the room, and then falling down +the chimney, and divers other strange things, many of which he had +himself seen. Yet he did believe it might be accounted for in a natural +way, especially as the old couple had a wicked, graceless boy living +with them, who might be able to do the tricks by his great subtlety and +cunning. Sir Thomas said it might be the boy; but that Mr. Josselin, +who had travelled much hereabout, had told him that the Indians did +practise witchcraft, and that, now they were beaten in war, he feared +they would betake themselves to it, and so do by their devilish wisdom +what they could not do by force; and verily this did look much like the +beginning of their enchantments. "That the Devil helpeth the heathen in +this matter, I do myself know for a certainty," said Caleb Powell; "for +when I was at Port Royal, many years ago, I did see with mine eyes the +burning of an old negro wizard, who had done to death many of the +whites, as well as his own people, by a charm which he brought with him +from the Guinea, country." Mr. Hull, the minister of the place, who was +a lodger in the house, said he had heard one Foxwell, a reputable +planter at Saco, lately deceased, tell of a strange affair that did +happen to himself, in a voyage to the eastward. Being in a small +shallop, and overtaken by the night, he lay at anchor a little way off +the shore, fearing to land on account of the Indians. Now, it did +chance that they were waked about midnight by a loud voice from the +land, crying out, Foxwell, come ashore! three times over; whereupon, +looking to see from whence the voice did come, they beheld a great +circle of fire on the beach, and men and women dancing about it in a +ring. Presently they vanished, and the fire was quenched also. In the +morning he landed, but found no Indians nor English, only brands' ends +cast up by the waves; and he did believe, unto the day of his death, +that it was a piece of Indian sorcery. "There be strange stories told +of Passaconaway, the chief of the River Indians," he continued. "I have +heard one say who saw it, that once, at the Patucket Falls, this chief, +boasting of his skill in magic, picked up a dry skin of a snake, which +had been cast off, as is the wont of the reptile, and making some +violent motions of his body, and calling upon his Familiar, or Demon, he +did presently cast it down upon the rocks, and it became a great black +serpent, which mine informant saw crawl off into some bushes, very +nimble. This Passaconaway was accounted by his tribe to be a very +cunning conjurer, and they do believe that he could brew storms, make +water burn, and cause green leaves to grow on trees in the winter; and, +in brief, it may be said of him, that he was not a whit behind the +magicians of Egypt in the time of Moses." + +"There be women in the cold regions about Norway," said Caleb Powell, +"as I have heard the sailors relate, who do raise storms and sink boats +at their will." + +"It may well be," quoth Mr. Hull, "since Satan is spoken of as the +prince and power of the air." + +"The profane writers of old time do make mention of such sorceries," +said Uncle Rawson. "It is long since I have read any of then; but +Virgil and Apulius do, if I mistake not, speak of this power over the +elements." + +"Do you not remember, father," said Rebecca, "some verses of Tibullus, +in which he speaketh of a certain enchantress? Some one hath rendered +them thus:-- + + "Her with charms drawing stars from heaven, I, + And turning the course of rivers, did espy. + She parts the earth, and ghosts from sepulchres + Draws up, and fetcheth bones away from fires, + And at her pleasure scatters clouds in the air, + And makes it snow in summer hot and fair." + +Here Sir Thomas laughingly told Rebecca, that he did put more faith in +what these old writers did tell of the magic arts of the sweet-singing +sirens, and of Circe and her enchantments, and of the Illyrian maidens, +so wonderful in their beauty, who did kill with their looks such as they +were angry with. + +"It was, perhaps, for some such reason," said Rebecca, "that, as Mr. +Abbott tells me; the General Court many years ago did forbid women to +live on these islands." + +"Pray, how was that?" asked Sir Thomas. + +"You must know," answered our host, "that in the early settlement of +the Shoals, vessels coming for fish upon this coast did here make their +harbor, bringing hither many rude sailors of different nations; and the +Court judged that it was not a fitting place for women, and so did by +law forbid their dwelling on the islands belonging to the +Massachusetts." + +He then asked his wife to get the order of the Court concerning her stay +on the islands, remarking that he did bring her over from the Maine in +despite of the law. So his wife fetched it, and Uncle Rawson read it, +it being to this effect,--"That a petition having been sent to the +Court, praying that the law might be put in force in respect to John +Abbott his wife, the Court do judge it meet, if no further complaint +come against her, that she enjoy the company of her husband." Whereat +we all laughed heartily. + +Next morning, the fog breaking away early, we set sail for Agamenticus, +running along the coast and off the mouth of the Piscataqua River, +passing near where my lamented Uncle Edward dwelt, whose fame as a +worthy gentleman and magistrate is still living. We had Mount +Agamenticus before us all day,--a fair stately hill, rising up as it +were from the water. Towards night a smart shower came on, with +thunderings and lightnings such as I did never see or hear before; and +the wind blowing and a great rain driving upon us, we were for a time in +much peril; but, through God's mercy, it suddenly cleared up, and we +went into the Agamenticus River with a bright sun. Before dark we got +to the house of my honored uncle, where, he not being at home, his wife +and daughters did receive us kindly. + + + +September 10. + +I do find myself truly comfortable at this place. My two cousins, Polly +and Thankful, are both young, unmarried women, very kind and pleasant, +and, since my Newbury friends left, I have been learning of them many +things pertaining to housekeeping, albeit I am still but a poor scholar. +Uncle is Marshall of the Province, which takes him much from home; and +aunt, who is a sickly woman, keeps much in her chamber; so that the +affairs of the household and of the plantation do mainly rest upon the +young women. If ever I get back to Hilton Grange again, I shall have +tales to tell of my baking and brewing, of my pumpkin-pies, and bread +made of the flour of the Indian corn; yea, more, of gathering of the +wild fruit in the woods, and cranberries in the meadows, milking the +cows, and looking after the pigs and barnyard fowls. Then, too, we have +had many pleasant little journeys by water and on horseback, young +Mr. Jordan, of Spurwiuk, who hath asked Polly in marriage, going with us. +A right comely youth he is, but a great Churchman, as might be expected, +his father being the minister of the Black Point people, and very bitter +towards the Massachusetts and its clergy and government. My uncle, who +meddles little with Church' matters, thinks him a hopeful young man, and +not an ill suitor for his daughter. He hath been in England for his +learning, and is accounted a scholar; but, although intended for the +Church service, he inclineth more to the life of a planter, and taketh +the charge of his father's plantation at Spurwink. Polly is not +beautiful and graceful like Rebecca Rawson, but she hath freshness of +youth and health, and a certain good-heartedness of look and voice, and +a sweetness of temper which do commend her in the eyes of all. Thankful +is older by some years, and, if not as cheerful and merry as her sister, +it needs not be marvelled at, since one whom she loved was killed in the +Narragansett country two years ago. O these bloody wars. There be few +in these Eastern Provinces who have not been called to mourn the loss of +some near and dear friend, so that of a truth the land mourns. + + + +September 18. + +Meeting much disturbed yesterday,--a ranting Quaker coming in and +sitting with his hat on in sermon time, humming and groaning, and +rocking his body to and fro like one possessed. After a time he got up, +and pronounced a great woe upon the priests, calling them many hard +names, and declaring that the whole land stank with their hypocrisy. +Uncle spake sharply to him, and bid him hold his peace, but he only +cried out the louder. Some young men then took hold of him, and carried +him out. They brought him along close to my seat, he hanging like a bag +of meal, with his eyes shut, as ill-favored a body as I ever beheld. +The magistrates had him smartly whipped this morning, and sent out of +the jurisdiction. I was told he was no true Quaker; for, although a +noisy, brawling hanger-on at their meetings, he is not in fellowship +with the more sober and discreet of that people. + +Rebecca writes me that the witchcraft in William Morse's house is much +talked of; and that Caleb Powell hath been complained of as the wizard. +Mr. Jordan the elder says he does in no wise marvel at the Devil's power +in the Massachusetts, since at his instigation the rulers and ministers +of the Colony have set themselves, against the true and Gospel order of +the Church, and do slander and persecute all who will not worship at +their conventicles. + +A Mr. Van Valken, a young gentleman of Dutch descent, and the agent of +Mr. Edmund Andross, of the Duke of York's Territory, is now in this +place, being entertained by Mr. Godfrey, the late Deputy-Governor. He +brought a letter for me from Aunt Rawson, whom he met in Boston. He is +a learned, serious man, hath travelled a good deal, and hath an air of +high breeding. The minister here thinks him a Papist, and a Jesuit, +especially as he hath not called upon him, nor been to the meeting. He +goes soon to Pemaquid, to take charge of that fort and trading station, +which have greatly suffered by the war. + + + +September 30. + +Yesterday, Cousin Polly and myself, with young Mr. Jordan, went up to +the top of the mountain, which is some miles from the harbor. It is not +hard to climb in respect to steepness, but it is so tangled with bushes +and vines, that one can scarce break through them. The open places were +yellow with golden-rods, and the pale asters were plenty in the shade, +and by the side of the brooks, that with pleasing noise did leap down +the hill. When we got upon the top, which is bare and rocky, we had a +fair view of the coast, with its many windings and its islands, from the +Cape Ann, near Boston, to the Cape Elizabeth, near Casco, the Piscataqua +and Agamenticus rivers; and away in the northwest we could see the peaks +of mountains looking like summer clouds or banks of gray fog. These +mountains lie many leagues off in the wilderness, and are said to be +exceeding lofty. + +But I must needs speak of the color of the woods, which did greatly +amaze me, as unlike anything I had ever seen in old England. As far as +mine eyes could look, the mighty wilderness, under the bright westerly +sun, and stirred by a gentle wind, did seem like a garden in its season +of flowering; green, dark, and light, orange, and pale yellow, and +crimson leaves, mingling and interweaving their various hues, in a +manner truly wonderful to behold. It is owing, I am told, to the sudden +frosts, which in this climate do smite the vegetation in its full life +and greenness, so that in the space of a few days the colors of the +leaves are marvellously changed and brightened. These colors did remind +me of the stains of the windows of old churches, and of rich tapestry. +The maples were all aflame with crimson, the walnuts were orange, the +hemlocks and cedars were wellnigh black; while the slender birches, with +their pale yellow leaves, seemed painted upon them as pictures are laid +upon a dark ground. I gazed until mine eyes grew weary, and a sense of +the wonderful beauty of the visible creation, and of God's great +goodness to the children of men therein, did rest upon me, and I said in +mine heart, with one of old: "O Lord! how manifold are thy works in +wisdom hast thou made them all, and the earth is full of thy riches." + + + +October 6. + +Walked out to the iron mines, a great hole digged in the rocks, many +years ago, for the finding of iron. Aunt, who was then just settled in +housekeeping, told me many wonderful stories of the man who caused it to +be digged, a famous doctor of physic, and, as it seems, a great wizard +also. He bought a patent of land on the south side of the Saco River, +four miles by the sea, and eight miles up into the main-land of Mr. +Vines, the first owner thereof; and being curious in the seeking and +working of metals, did promise himself great riches in this new country; +but his labors came to nothing, although it was said that Satan helped +him, in the shape of a little blackamoor man-servant, who was his +constant familiar. My aunt says she did often see him, wandering about +among the hills and woods, and along the banks of streams of water, +searching for precious ores and stones. He had even been as far as the +great mountains, beyond Pigwackett, climbing to the top thereof, where +the snows lie wellnigh all the year, his way thither lying through +doleful swamps and lonesome woods. He was a great friend of the +Indians, who held him to be a more famous conjurer than their own +powahs; and, indeed, he was learned in all curious and occult arts, +having studied at the great College of Padua, and travelled in all parts +of the old countries. He sometimes stopped in his travels at my uncle's +house, the little blackamoor sleeping in the barn, for my aunt feared +him, as he was reputed to be a wicked imp. Now it so chanced that on +one occasion my uncle had lost a cow, and had searched the woods many +days for her to no purpose, when, this noted doctor coming in, he +besought him to find her out by his skill and learning; but he did +straightway deny his power to do so, saying he was but a poor scholar, +and lover of science, and had no greater skill in occult matters than +any one might attain to by patient study of natural things. But as mine +uncle would in no wise be so put off, and still pressing him to his art, +he took a bit of coal, and began to make marks on the floor, in a very +careless way. + +Then he made a black dot in the midst, and bade my uncle take heed that +his cow was lying dead in that spot; and my uncle looking at it, said he +Could find her, for he now knew where she was, inasmuch as the doctor +had made a fair map of the country round about for many miles. So he +set off, and found the cow lying at the foot of a great tree, close +beside a brook, she being quite dead, which thing did show that he was a +magician of no Mean sort. + +My aunt further said, that in those days there was great talk of mines +of gold and precious stones, and many people spent all their substance +in wandering about over the wilderness country seeking a fortune in this +way. There was one old man, who, she remembered, did roam about seeking +for hidden treasures, until he lost his wits, and might be seen filling +a bag with bright stones and shining sand, muttering and laughing to +himself. He was at last missed for some little time, when he was found +lying dead in the woods, still holding fast in his hands his bag of +pebbles. + +On my querying whether any did find treasures hereabout, my aunt +laughed, and said she never heard of but one man who did so, and that +was old Peter Preble of Saco, who, growing rich faster than his +neighbors, was thought to owe his fortune to the finding of a gold or +silver mine. When he was asked about it, he did by no means deny it, +but confessed he had found treasures in the sea as well as on the land; +and, pointing to his loaded fish-flakes and his great cornfields, said, +"Here are my mines." So that afterwards, when any one prospered greatly +in his estate, it was said of him by his neighbors, "He has been working +Peter Preble's mine." + + + +October 8. + +Mr. Van Valken, the Dutchman, had before Mr. Rishworth, one of the +Commissioners of the Province, charged with being a Papist and a Jesuit. +He bore himself, I am told, haughtily enough, denying the right to call +him in question, and threatening the interference of his friend and +ruler, Sir Edmund, on account of the wrong done him. + +My uncle and others did testify that he was a civil and courteous +gentleman, not intermeddling with matters of a religious nature; and +that they did regard it as a foul shame to the town that he should be +molested in this wise. But the minister put them to silence, by +testifying that he (Van Valken) had given away sundry Papist books; and, +one of them being handed to the Court, it proved to be a Latin Treatise, +by a famous Papist, intituled, "The Imitation of Christ." Hereupon, Mr. +Godfrey asked if there was aught evil in the book. The minister said it +was written by a monk, and was full of heresy, favoring both the Quakers +and the Papists; but Mr. Godfrey told him it had been rendered into the +English tongue, and printed some years before in the Massachusetts Bay; +and asked him if he did accuse such men as Mr. Cotton and Mr. Wilson, +and the pious ministers of their day, of heresy. "Nay," quoth the +minister, "they did see the heresy of the book, and, on their condemning +it, the General Court did forbid its sale." Mr. Rishworth hereupon said +he did judge the book to be pernicious, and bade the constable burn it +in the street, which he did. Mr. Van Valken, after being gravely +admonished, was set free; and he now saith he is no Papist, but that he +would not have said that much to the Court to save his life, inasmuch as +he did deny its right of arraigning him. Mr. Godfrey says the treatment +whereof he complains is but a sample of what the people hereaway are to +look for from the Massachusetts jurisdiction. Mr. Jordan, the younger, +says his father hath a copy of the condemned book, of the Boston +printing; and I being curious to see it, he offers to get it for me. + +Like unto Newbury, this is an old town for so new a country. It was +made a city in 1642, and took the name of Gorgeana, after that of the +lord proprietor, Sir Ferdinando Gorges. The government buildings are +spacious, but now falling into decay somewhat. There be a few stone +houses, but the major part are framed, or laid up with square logs. The +look of the land a little out of the town is rude and unpleasing, being +much covered with stones and stumps; yet the soil is said to be strong, +and the pear and apple do flourish well here; also they raise rye, oats, +and barley, and the Indian corn, and abundance of turnips, as well as +pumpkins, squashes, and melons. The war with the Indians, and the +troubles and changes of government, have pressed heavily upon this and +other towns of the Maine, so that I am told that there be now fewer +wealthy planters here than there were twenty years ago, and little +increase of sheep or horned cattle. The people do seem to me less sober +and grave, in their carriage and conversation, than they of the +Massachusetts,--hunting, fishing, and fowling more, and working on the +land less. Nor do they keep the Lord's Day so strict; many of the young +people going abroad, both riding and walking, visiting each other, and +diverting themselves, especially after the meetings are over. + + + +October 9. + +Goodwife Nowell, an ancient gossip of mine aunt's, looking in this +morning, and talking of the trial of the Dutchman, Van Valken, spake +of the coming into these parts many years ago of one Sir Christopher +Gardiner, who was thought to be a Papist. He sought lodgings at her +house for one whom he called his cousin, a fair young woman, together +with her serving girl, who did attend upon her. She tarried about a +month, seeing no one, and going out only towards the evening, +accompanied by her servant. She spake little, but did seem melancholy +and exceeding mournful, often crying very bitterly. Sir Christopher +came only once to see her, and Good wife Nowell saith she well remembers +seeing her take leave of him on the roadside, and come back weeping and +sobbing dolefully; and that a little time after, bearing that he had +gotten into trouble in Boston as a Papist and man of loose behavior, she +suddenly took her departure in a vessel sailing for the Massachusetts, +leaving to her, in pay for house-room and diet, a few coins, a gold +cross, and some silk stuffs and kerchiefs. The cross being such as the +Papists do worship, and therefore unlawful, her husband did beat it into +a solid wedge privately, and kept it from the knowledge of the minister +and the magistrates. But as the poor man never prospered after, but +lost his cattle and grain, and two of their children dying of measles +the next year, and he himself being sickly, and near his end, he spake +to her of he golden cross, saying that he did believe it was a great sin +to keep it, as he had done, and that it had wrought evil upon him, even +as the wedge of gold, and the shekels, and Babylonish garment did upon +Achan, who was stoned, with all his house, in the valley of Achor; and +the minister coming in, and being advised concerning it, he judged that +although it might be a sin to keep it hidden from a love of riches, it +might, nevertheless, be safely used to support Gospel preaching and +ordinances, and so did himself take it away. The goodwife says, that +notwithstanding her husband died soon after, yet herself and household +did from thenceforth begin to amend their estate and condition. + +Seeing me curious concerning this Sir Christopher and his cousin, +Goodwife Nowell said there was a little parcel of papers which she found +in her room after the young woman went away, and she thought they might +yet be in some part of her house, though she had not seen them for a +score of years. Thereupon, I begged of her to look for them, which she +promised to do. + + + +October 14. + +A strange and wonderful providence! Last night there was a great +company of the neighbors at my uncle's, to help him in the husking and +stripping of the corn, as is the custom in these parts. The barn-floor +was about half-filled with the corn in its dry leaves; the company +sitting down on blocks and stools before it, plucking off the leaves, +and throwing the yellow ears into baskets. A pleasant and merry evening +we had; and when the corn was nigh stripped, I went into the house with +Cousin Thankful, to look to the supper and the laying of the tables, +when we heard a loud noise in the barn, and one of the girls came +running in, crying out, "O Thankful! Thankful! John Gibbins has +appeared to us! His spirit is in the barn!" The plates dropt from my +cousin's hand, and, with a faint cry, she fell back against the wall for +a little space; when, hearing a man's voice without, speaking her name, +she ran to the door, with the look of one beside herself; while I, +trembling to see her in such a plight, followed her. There was a clear +moon, and a tall man stood in the light close to the door. + +"John," said my cousin, in a quick, choking voice, "is it You?" + +"Why, Thankful, don't you know me? I'm alive; but the folks in the barn +will have it that I 'm a ghost," said the man, springing towards her. + +With a great cry of joy and wonder, my cousin caught hold of him: "O +John, you are alive!" + +Then she swooned quite away, and we had a deal to do to bring her to +life again. By this time, the house was full of people, and among the +rest came John's old mother and his sisters, and we all did weep and +laugh at the same time. As soon as we got a little quieted, John told +us that he had indeed been grievously stunned by the blow of a tomahawk, +and been left for dead by his comrades, but that after a time he did +come to his senses, and was able to walk; but, falling into the hands of +the Indians, he was carried off to the French Canadas, where, by reason +of his great sufferings on the way, he fell sick, and lay for a long +time at the point of death. That when he did get about again, the +savage who lodged him, and who had taken him as a son, in the place of +his own, slain by the Mohawks, would not let him go home, although he +did confess that the war was at an end. His Indian father, he said, who +was feeble and old, died not long ago, and he had made his way home by +the way of Crown Point and Albany. Supper being ready, we all sat down, +and the minister, who had been sent for, offered thanks for the +marvellous preserving and restoring of the friend who was lost and now +was found, as also for the blessings of peace, by reason of which every +man could now sit under his own vine and fig-tree, with none to molest +or make him afraid, and for the abundance of the harvest, and the +treasures of the seas, and the spoil of the woods, so that our land +might take up the song of the Psalmist: "The Lord doth build up +Jerusalem; he gathereth the outcasts of Israel; he healeth the broken in +heart. Praise thy God, O Zion I For he strengtheneth the bars of thy +gates, he maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest +of wheat." Oh! a sweet supper we had, albeit little was eaten, for we +were filled fall of joy, and needed not other food. When the company +had gone, my dear cousin and her betrothed went a little apart, and +talked of all that had happened unto them during their long separation. +I left them sitting lovingly together in the light of the moon, and a +measure of their unspeakable happiness did go with me to my pillow. + +This morning, Thankful came to my bedside to pour out her heart to me. +The poor girl is like a new creature. The shade of her heavy sorrow, +which did formerly rest upon her countenance, hath passed off like a +morning cloud, and her eye hath the light of a deep and quiet joy. + +"I now know," said she, "what David meant when he said, 'We are like +them that dream; our mouth is filled with laughter, and our tongue with +singing; the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad!'" + + + +October 18. + +A cloudy wet day. Goody Nowell brought me this morning a little parcel +of papers, which she found in the corner of a closet. They are much +stained and smoked, and the mice have eaten them sadly, so that I can +make little of them. They seem to be letters, and some fragments of +what did take place in the life of a young woman of quality from the +North of England. I find frequent mention made of Cousin Christopher, +who is also spoken of as a soldier in the wars with the Turks, and as a +Knight of Jerusalem. Poorly as I can make out the meaning of these +fragments, I have read enough to make my heart sad, for I gather from +them that the young woman was in early life betrothed to her cousin, and +that afterwards, owing, as I judge, to the authority of her parents, she +did part with him, he going abroad, and entering into the wars, in the +belief that she was to wed another. But it seemed that the heart of the +young woman did so plead for her cousin, that she could not be brought +to marry as her family willed her to do; and, after a lapse of years, +she, by chance hearing that Sir Christopher had gone to the New England, +where he was acting as an agent of his kinsman, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, +in respect to the Maine Province, did privately leave her home, and take +passage in a Boston bound ship. How she did make herself known to Sir +Christopher, I find no mention made; but, he now being a Knight of the +Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and vowed to forego marriage, as is the +rule of that Order, and being, moreover, as was thought, a priest or +Jesuit, her great love and constancy could meet with but a sorrowful +return on his part. It does appear, however, that he journeyed to +Montreal, to take counsel of some of the great Papist priests there, +touching the obtaining of a dispensation from the Head of the Church, +so that he might marry the young woman; but, getting no encouragement +therein, he went to Boston to find a passage for her to England again. +He was there complained of as a Papist; and the coming over of his +cousin being moreover known, a great and cruel scandal did arise from +it, and he was looked upon as a man of evil life, though I find nothing +to warrant such a notion, but much to the contrary thereof. What became +of him and the young woman, his cousin, in the end, I do not learn. + +One small parcel did affect me even unto tears. It was a paper +containing some dry, withered leaves of roses, with these words written +on it "To Anna, from her loving cousin, Christopher Gardiner, being the +first rose that hath blossomed this season in the College garden. St. +Omer's, June, 1630." I could but think how many tears had been shed +over this little token, and how often, through long, weary years, it did +call to mind the sweet joy of early love, of that fairest blossom of the +spring of life of which it was an emblem, alike in its beauty and its +speedy withering. + +There be moreover among the papers sundry verses, which do seem to have +been made by Sir Christopher; they are in the Latin tongue, and +inscribed to his cousin, bearing date many years before the twain were +in this country, and when he was yet a scholar at the Jesuits' College +of St. Omer's, in France. I find nothing of a later time, save the +verses which I herewith copy, over which there are, in a woman's +handwriting, these words: + +"VERSES + +"Writ by Sir Christopher when a prisoner among the Turks in Moldavia, +and expecting death at their hands. + +1. +"Ere down the blue Carpathian hills +The sun shall fall again, +Farewell this life and all its ills, +Farewell to cell and chain + +2. +"These prison shades are dark and cold, +But darker far than they +The shadow of a sorrow old +Is on mine heart alway. + +3. +"For since the day when Warkworth wood +Closed o'er my steed and I,-- +An alien from my name and blood,-- +A weed cast out to die; + +4. +"When, looking back, in sunset light +I saw her turret gleam, +And from its window, far and white, +Her sign of farewell stream; + +5. +"Like one who from some desert shore +Does home's green isles descry, +And, vainly longing, gazes o'er +The waste of wave and sky, + +6. +"So, from the desert of my fate, +Gaze I across the past; +And still upon life's dial-plate +The shade is backward cast + +7. +"I've wandered wide from shore to shore, +I've knelt at many a shrine, +And bowed me to the rocky floor +Where Bethlehem's tapers shine; + +8. +"And by the Holy Sepulchre +I've pledged my knightly sword, +To Christ his blessed Church, and her +The Mother of our Lord! + +9. +"Oh, vain the vow, and vain the strife +How vain do all things seem! +My soul is in the past, and life +To-day is but a dream. + +10. +"In vain the penance strange and long, +And hard for flesh to bear; +The prayer, the fasting, and the thong, +And sackcloth shirt of hair: + +11. +"The eyes of memory will not sleep, +Its ears are open still, +And vigils with the past they keep +Against or with my will. + +12. +"And still the loves and hopes of old +Do evermore uprise; +I see the flow of locks of gold, +The shine of loving eyes. + +13. +"Ah me! upon another's breast +Those golden locks recline; +I see upon another rest +The glance that once was mine! + +14. +"'O faithless priest! O perjured knight!' +I hear the master cry, + +'Shut out the vision from thy sight, +Let earth and nature die.' + +15. +"'The Church of God is now my spouse, +And thou the bridegroom art; +Then let the burden of thy vows +Keep down thy human heart.' + +16. +"In vain!--This heart its grief must know, +Till life itself hath ceased, +And falls beneath the self-same blow +The lover and the priest! + +17. +"O pitying Mother! souls of light, +And saints and martyrs old, +Pray for a weak and sinful knight, +A suffering man uphold. + +18. +"Then let the Paynim work his will, +Let death unbind my chain, +Ere down yon blue Carpathian hill +The sunset falls again!" + + +My heart is heavy with the thought of these unfortunates. Where be they +now? Did the knight forego his false worship and his vows, and so marry +his beloved Anna? Or did they part forever,--she going back to her +kinsfolk, and he to his companions of Malta? Did he perish at the hands +of the infidels, and does the maiden sleep in the family tomb, under her +father's oaks? Alas! who can tell? I must needs leave them, and their +sorrows and trials, to Him who doth not willingly afflict the children +of men; and whatsoever may have been their sins and their follies, my +prayer is, that they may be forgiven, for they loved much. + + + +October 20. + +I do purpose to start to-morrow for the Massachusetts, going by boat to +the Piscataqua River, and thence by horse to Newbury. + +Young Mr. Jordan spent yesterday and last night with us. He is a goodly +youth, of a very sweet and gentle disposition; nor doth he seem to me to +lack spirit, although his father (who liketh not his quiet ways and easy +temper, so contrary to his own, and who is sorely disappointed in that +he hath chosen the life of a farmer to that of a minister, for which he +did intend him) often accuseth him of that infirmity. Last night we had +much pleasant discourse touching the choice he hath made; and when I +told him that perhaps he might have become a great prelate in the +Church, and dwelt in a palace, and made a great lady of our cousin; +whereas now I did see no better prospect for him than to raise corn for +his wife to make pudding of, and chop wood to boil her kettle, he +laughed right merrily, and said he should never have gotten higher than +a curate in a poor parish; and as for Polly, he was sure she was more at +home in making puddings than in playing the fine lady. + +"For my part," he continued, in a serious manner, "I have no notion that +the pulpit is my place; I like the open fields and sky better than the +grandest churches of man's building; and when the wind sounds in the +great grove of pines on the hill near our house, I doubt if there be a +choir in all England so melodious and solemn. These painted autumn +woods, and this sunset light, and yonder clouds of gold and purple, do +seem to me better fitted to provoke devotional thoughts, and to awaken a +becoming reverence and love for the Creator, than the stained windows +and lofty arched roofs of old minsters. I do know, indeed, that there +be many of our poor busy planters, who, by reason of ignorance, ill- +breeding, and lack of quiet for contemplation, do see nothing in these +things, save as they do affect their crops of grain or grasses, or their +bodily comforts in one way or another. But to them whose minds have +been enlightened and made large and free by study and much reflection, +and whose eyes have been taught to behold the beauty and fitness of +things, and whose ears have been so opened that they can hear the +ravishing harmonies of the creation, the life of a planter is very +desirable even in this wilderness, and notwithstanding the toil and +privation thereunto appertaining. There be fountains gushing up in the +hearts of such, sweeter than the springs of water which flow from the +hillsides, where they sojourn; and therein, also, flowers of the summer +do blossom all the year long. The brutish man knoweth not this, neither +doth the fool comprehend it." + +"See, now," said Polly to me, "how hard he is upon us poor unlearned +folk." + +"Nay, to tell the truth," said he, turning towards me, "your cousin here +is to be held not a little accountable for my present inclinations; for +she it was who did confirm and strengthen them. While I had been busy +over books, she had been questioning the fields and the woods; and, as +if the old fables of the poets were indeed true, she did get answers +from them, as the priestesses and sibyls did formerly from the rustling +of leaves and trees, and the sounds of running waters; so that she could +teach me much concerning the uses and virtues of plants and shrubs, and +of their time of flowering and decay; of the nature and habitudes of +wild animals and birds, the changes of the air, and of the clouds and +winds. My science, so called, had given me little more than the names +of things which to her were familiar and common. It was in her company +that I learned to read nature as a book always open, and full of +delectable teachings, until my poor school-lore did seem undesirable and +tedious, and the very chatter of the noisy blackbirds in the spring +meadows more profitable and more pleasing than the angry disputes and +the cavils and subtleties of schoolmen and divines." + +My cousin blushed, and, smiling through her moist eyes at this language +of her beloved friend, said that I must not believe all he said; for, +indeed, it was along of his studies of the heathen poets that he had +first thought of becoming a farmer. And she asked him to repeat some of +the verses which he had at his tongue's end. He laughed, and said he +did suppose she meant some lines of Horace, which had been thus +Englished:-- + + "I often wished I had a farm, + A decent dwelling, snug and warm, + A garden, and a spring as pure + As crystal flowing by my door, + Besides an ancient oaken grove, + Where at my leisure I might rove. + + "The gracious gods, to crown my bliss, + Have granted this, and more than this,-- + They promise me a modest spouse, + To light my hearth and keep my house. + I ask no more than, free from strife, + To hold these blessings all my life!" + +Tam exceedingly pleased, I must say, with the prospect of my cousin +Polly. Her suitor is altogether a worthy young man; and, making +allowances for the uncertainty of all human things, she may well look +forward to a happy life with him. I shall leave behind on the morrow +dear friends, who were strangers unto me a few short weeks ago, but in +whose joys and sorrows I shall henceforth always partake, so far as I do +come to the knowledge of them, whether or no I behold their faces any +more in this life. + + + + +HAMPTON, October 24, 1678. + +I took leave of my good friends at Agamenticus, or York, as it is now +called, on the morning after the last date in my journal, going in a +boat with my uncle to Piscataqua and Strawberry Bank. It was a cloudy +day, and I was chilled through before we got to the mouth of the river; +but, as the high wind was much in our favor, we were enabled to make the +voyage in a shorter time than is common. We stopped a little at the +house of a Mr. Cutts, a man of some note in these parts; but he being +from home, and one of the children sick with a quinsy, we went up the +river to Strawberry Bank, where we tarried over night. The woman who +entertained us had lost her husband in the war, and having to see to the +ordering of matters out of doors in this busy season of harvest, it was +no marvel that she did neglect those within. I made a comfortable +supper of baked pumpkin and milk, and for lodgings I had a straw bed on +the floor, in the dark loft, which was piled wellnigh full with corn- +ears, pumpkins, and beans, besides a great deal of old household +trumpery, wool, and flax, and the skins of animals. Although tired of +my journey, it was some little time before I could get asleep; and it so +fell out, that after the folks of the house were all abed, and still, it +being, as I judge, nigh midnight, I chanced to touch with my foot a +pumpkin lying near the bed, which set it a-rolling down the stairs, +bumping hard on every stair as it went. Thereupon I heard a great stir +below, the woman and her three daughters crying out that the house was +haunted. Presently she called to me from the foot of the stairs, and +asked me if I did hear anything. I laughed so at all this, that it was +some time before I could speak; when I told her I did hear a thumping on +the stairs. "Did it seem to go up, or down?" inquired she, anxiously; +and on my telling her that the sound went downward, she set up a sad +cry, and they all came fleeing into the corn-loft, the girls bouncing +upon my bed, and hiding under the blanket, and the old woman praying and +groaning, and saying that she did believe it was the spirit of her poor +husband. By this time my uncle, who was lying on the settle in the room +below, hearing the noise, got up, and stumbling over the pumpkin, called +to know what was the matter. Thereupon the woman bade him flee up +stairs, for there was a ghost in the kitchen. "Pshaw!" said my uncle, +"is that all? I thought to be sure the Indians had come." As soon as I +could speak for laughing, I told the poor creature what it was that so +frightened her; at which she was greatly vexed; and, after she went to +bed again, I could hear her scolding me for playing tricks upon honest +people. + +We were up betimes in the morning, which was bright and pleasant. Uncle +soon found a friend of his, a Mr. Weare, who, with his wife, was to go +to his home, at Hampton, that day, and who did kindly engage to see me +thus far on my way. At about eight of the clock we got upon our horses, +the woman riding on a pillion behind her husband. Our way was for some +miles through the woods,--getting at times a view of the sea, and +passing some good, thriving plantations. The woods in this country are +by no means like those of England, where the ancient trees are kept +clear of bushes and undergrowth, and the sward beneath them is shaven +clean and close; whereas here they be much tangled with vines, and the +dead boughs and logs which have fallen, from their great age or which +the storms do beat off, or the winter snows and ices do break down. +Here, also, through the thick matting of dead leaves, all manner of +shrubs and bushes, some of them very sweet and fair in their flowering, +and others greatly prized for their healing virtues, do grow up +plenteously. In the season of them, many wholesome fruits abound in the +woods, such as blue and black berries. We passed many trees, well +loaded with walnuts and oilnuts, seeming all alive, as it were, with +squirrels, striped, red, and gray, the last having a large, spreading +tail, which Mr. Weare told me they do use as a sail, to catch the wind, +that it may blow them over rivers and creeks, on pieces of bark, in some +sort like that wonderful shell-fish which transformeth itself into a +boat, and saileth on the waves of the sea. We also found grapes, both +white and purple, hanging down in clusters from the trees, over which +the vines did run, nigh upon as large as those which the Jews of old +plucked at Eschol. The air was sweet and soft, and there was a clear, +but not a hot sun, and the chirping of squirrels, and the noise of +birds, and the sound of the waves breaking on the beach a little +distance off, and the leaves, at every breath of the wind in the tree- +tops, whirling and fluttering down about me, like so many yellow and +scarlet-colored birds, made the ride wonderfully pleasant and +entertaining. + +Mr. Weare, on the way, told me that there was a great talk of the +bewitching of Goodman Morse's house at Newbury, and that the case of +Caleb Powell was still before the Court, he being vehemently suspected +of the mischief. I told him I thought the said Caleb was a vain, +talking man, but nowise of a wizard. The thing most against him, Mr. +Weare said, was this: that he did deny at the first that the house was +troubled by evil spirits, and even went so far as to doubt that such +things could be at all. "Yet many wiser men than Caleb Powell do deny +the same," I said. "True," answered he; "but, as good Mr. Richardson, +of Newbury, well saith, there have never lacked Sadducees, who believe +not in angel or spirit." I told the story of the disturbance at +Strawberry Bank the night before, and how so silly a thing as a rolling +pumpkin did greatly terrify a whole household; and said I did not doubt +this Newbury trouble was something very like it. Hereupon the good +woman took the matter up, saying she had been over to Newbury, and had +seen with her own eyes, and heard with her own ears; and that she could +say of it as the Queen of Sheba did of Solomon's glory, "The half had +not been told her." She then went on to tell me of many marvellous and +truly unaccountable things, so that I must needs think there is an +invisible hand at work there. + +We reached Hampton about one hour before noon; and riding up the road +towards the meeting-house, to my great joy, Uncle Rawson, who had +business with the Commissioners then sitting, came out to meet me, +bidding me go on to Mr. Weare's house, whither he would follow me when +the Court did adjourn. He came thither accordingly, to sup and lodge, +bringing with him Mr. Pike the elder, one of the magistrates, a grave, +venerable man, the father of mine old acquaintance, Robert. Went in the +evening with Mistress Weare and her maiden sister to see a young girl in +the neighborhood, said to be possessed, or bewitched; but for mine own +part I did see nothing in her behavior beyond that of a vicious and +spoiled child, delighting in mischief. Her grandmother, with whom she +lives, lays the blame on an ill-disposed woman, named Susy Martin, +living in Salisbury. Mr. Pike, who dwells near this Martin, saith she +is no witch, although an arrant scold, as was her mother before her; and +as for the girl, he saith that a birch twig, smartly laid on, would cure +her sooner than the hanging of all the old women in the Colony. +Mistress Weare says this is not the first time the Evil Spirit hath been +at work in Hampton; for they did all remember the case of Goody +Marston's child, who was, from as fair and promising an infant as one +would wish to see, changed into the likeness of an ape, to the great +grief and sore shame of its parents; and, moreover, that when the child +died, there was seen by more than one person a little old woman in a +blue cloak, and petticoat of the same color, following on after the +mourners, and looking very like old Eunice Cole, who was then locked +fast in Ipswich jail, twenty miles off. Uncle Rawson says he has all +the papers in his possession touching the trial of this Cole, and will +let me see them when we get back to Newbury. There was much talk on +this matter, which so disturbed my fancy that I slept but poorly. This +afternoon we go over to Newbury, where, indeed, I do greatly long to be +once more. + + + +NEWBURY, October 26. + +Cousin Rebecca gone to Boston, and not expected home until next week. +The house seems lonely without her. R. Pike looked in upon us this +morning, telling us that there was a rumor in Boston, brought by way of +the New York Colony, that a great Papist Plot had been discovered in +England, and that it did cause much alarm in London and thereabout. +R. Pike saith he doubts not the Papists do plot, it being the custom of +their Jesuits so to do; but that, nevertheless, it would be no strange +thing if it should be found that the Bishops and the Government did set +this rumor a-going, for the excuse and occasion of some new persecutions +of Independents and godly people. + + + +October 27. + +Mr. Richardson preached yesterday, from Deuteronomy xviii. 10th, 11th, +and 12th verses. An ingenious and solid discourse, in which he showed +that, as among the heathen nations surrounding the Jews, there were +sorcerers, charmers, wizards, and consulters with familiar spirits, who +were an abomination to the Lord, so in our time the heathen nations of +Indians had also their powahs and panisees and devilish wizards, against +whom the warning of the text might well be raised by the watchmen on the +walls of our Zion. He moreover said that the arts of the Adversary were +now made manifest in this place in a most strange and terrible manner, +and it did become the duty of all godly persons to pray and wrestle with +the Lord, that they who have made a covenant with hell may be speedily +discovered in their wickedness, and cut off from the congregation. An +awful discourse, which made many tremble and quake, and did quite +overcome Goodwife Morse, she being a weakly woman, so that she had to be +carried out of the meeting. + +It being cold weather, and a damp easterly wind keeping me within doors, +I have been looking over with uncle his papers about the Hampton witch, +Eunice Cole, who was twice tried for her mischiefs; and I incline to +copy some of them, as I know they will be looked upon as worthy of, +record by my dear Cousin Oliver and mine other English friends. I find +that as long ago as the year 1656, this same Eunice Cole was complained +of, and many witnesses did testify to her wickedness. Here followeth +some of the evidence on the first trial:-- + +"The deposition of Goody Marston and Goodwife Susanna Palmer, who, being +sworn, sayeth, that Goodwife Cole saith that she was sure there was a +witch in town, and that she knew where he dwelt, and who they are, and +that thirteen years ago she knew one bewitched as Goodwife Marston's +child was, and she was sure that party was bewitched, for it told her +so, and it was changed from a man to an ape, as Goody Marston's child +was, and she had prayed this thirteen year that God would discover that +witch. And further the deponent saith not. + +"Taken on oath before the Commissioners of Hampton, the 8th of the 2nd +mo., 1656. + + "WILLIAM FULLER. + "HENRY DOW. + +"Vera copea: + "THOS. BRADBURY, Recorder. + +"Sworn before, the 4th of September, 1656, + +"EDWARD RAWSON. + + +"Thomas Philbrick testifieth that Goody Cole told him that if any of his +calves did eat of her grass, she hoped it would poison them; and it fell +out that one never came home again, and the other coming home died soon +after. + +"Henry Morelton's wife and Goodwife Sleeper depose that, talking about +Goody Cole and Marston's child, they did hear a great scraping against +the boards of the window, which was not done by a cat or dog. + +"Thomas Coleman's wife testifies that Goody Cole did repeat to another +the very words which passed between herself and her husband, in their +own house, in private; and Thomas Ormsby, the constable of Salisbury, +testifies, that when he did strip Eunice Cole of her shift, to be +whipped, by the judgment of the Court at Salisbury, he saw a witch's +mark under her left breast. Moreover, one Abra. Drake doth depose and +say, that this Goody Cole threatened that the hand of God would be +against his cattle, and forthwith two of his cattle died, and before the +end of summer a third also." + + +About five years ago, she was again presented by the Jury for the +Massachusetts jurisdiction, for having "entered into a covenant with the +Devil, contrary to the peace of our Sovereign Lord the King, his crown +and dignity, the laws of God and this jurisdiction"; and much testimony +was brought against her, tending to show her to be an arrant witch. For +it seems she did fix her evil eye upon a little maid named Ann Smith, to +entice her to her house, appearing unto her in the shape of a little old +woman, in a blue coat, a blue cap, and a blue apron, and a white +neckcloth, and presently changing into a dog, and running up a tree, and +then into an eagle flying in the air, and lastly into a gray cat, +speaking to her, and troubling her in a grievous manner. Moreover, the +constable of the town of Hampton testifies, that, having to supply Goody +Cole with diet, by order of the town, she being poor, she complained +much of him, and after that his wife could bake no bread in the oven +which did not speedily rot and become loathsome to the smell, but the +same meal baked at a neighbor's made good and sweet bread; and, further, +that one night there did enter into their chamber a smell like that of +the bewitched bread, only more loathsome, and plainly diabolical in its +nature, so that, as the constable's wife saith, "she was fain to rise in +the night and desire her husband to go to prayer to drive away the +Devil; and he, rising, went to prayer, and after that, the smell was +gone, so that they were not troubled with it." There is also the +testimony of Goodwife Perkins, that she did see, on the Lord's day, +while Mr. Dalton was preaching, an imp in the shape of a mouse, fall out +the bosom of Eunice Cole down into her lap. For all which, the County +Court, held at Salisbury, did order her to be sent to the Boston Jail, +to await her trial at the Court of Assistants. This last Court, I learn +from mine uncle, did not condemn her, as some of the evidence was old, +and not reliable. Uncle saith she was a wicked old woman, who had been +often whipped and set in the ducking-stool, but whether she was a witch +or no, he knows not for a certainty. + + + +November 8. + +Yesterday, to my great joy, came my beloved Cousin Rebecca from Boston. +In her company also came the worthy minister and doctor of medicine, Mr. +Russ, formerly of Wells, but now settled at a plantation near Cocheco. +He is to make some little tarry in this town, where at this present time +many complain of sickness. Rebecca saith he is one of the excellent of +the earth, and, like his blessed Lord and Master, delighteth in going +about doing good, and comforting both soul and body. He hath a +cheerful, pleasant countenance, and is very active, albeit he is well +stricken in years. He is to preach for Mr. Richardson next Sabhath, and +in the mean time lodgeth at my uncle's house. + +This morning the weather is raw and cold, the ground frozen, and some +snow fell before sunrise. A little time ago, Dr. Russ, who was walking +in the garden, came in a great haste to the window where Rebecca and I +were sitting, bidding us come forth. So, we hurrying out, the good man +bade us look whither he pointed, and to! a flock of wild geese, +streaming across the sky, in two great files, sending down, as it were, +from the clouds, their loud and sonorous trumpetings, "Cronk, cronk, +cronk!" These birds, the Doctor saith, do go northward in March to +hatch their broods in the great bogs and on the desolate islands, and +fly back again when the cold season approacheth. Our worthy guest +improved the occasion to speak of the care and goodness of God towards +his creation, and how these poor birds are enabled, by their proper +instincts, to partake of his bounty, and to shun the evils of adverse +climates. He never looked, he said, upon the flight of these fowls, +without calling to mind the query which was of old put to Job: "Doth the +hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south? Doth +the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?" + + + +November 12, 1678. + +Dr. Russ preached yesterday, having for his text 1 Corinthians, chap. +xiii. verse 5: "Charity seeketh not her own." He began by saying that +mutual benevolence was a law of nature,--no one being a whole of +himself, nor capable of happily subsisting by himself, but rather a +member of the great body of mankind, which must dissolve and perish, +unless held together and compacted in its various parts by the force of +that common and blessed law. The wise Author of our being hath most +manifestly framed and fitted us for one another, and ordained that +mutual charity shall supply our mutual wants and weaknesses, inasmuch +as no man liveth to himself, but is dependent upon others, as others be +upon him. It hath been said by ingenious men, that in the outward world +all things do mutually operate upon and affect each other; and that it +is by the energy of this principle that our solid earth is supported, +and the heavenly bodies are made to keep the rhythmic harmonies of their +creation, and dispense upon us their benign favors; and it may be said, +that a law akin to this hath been ordained for the moral world,--mutual +benevolence being the cement and support of families, and churches, and +states, and of the great community and brotherhood of mankind. It doth +both make and preserve all the peace, and harmony, and beauty, which +liken our world in some small degree to heaven, and without it all +things would rush into confusion and discord, and the earth would become +a place of horror and torment, and men become as ravening wolves, +devouring and being devoured by one another. + +Charity is the second great commandment, upon which hang all the Law +and the Prophets; and it is like unto the first, and cannot be separated +from it; for at the great day of recompense we shall be tried by these +commandments, and our faithfulness unto the first will be seen and +manifested by our faithfulness unto the last. Yea, by our love of one +another the Lord will measure our love of himself. "Inasmuch as ye have +done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto +me." The grace of benevolence is therefore no small part of our +meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light; it is the temper of +heaven; the air which the angels breathe; an immortal grace,--for when +faith which supporteth us here, and hope which is as an anchor to the +tossed soul, are no longer needed, charity remaineth forever, for it is +native in heaven, and partaketh of the divine nature, for God himself is +love. + +"Oh, my hearers," said the preacher, his venerable face brightening as +if with a light shining from within, "Doth not the Apostle tell us that +skill in tongues and gifts of prophecy, and mysteries of knowledge and +faith, do avail nothing where charity is lacking? What avail great +talents, if they be not devoted to goodness? On the other hand, where +charity dwelleth, it maketh the weak strong and the uncomely beautiful; +it sheddeth a glory about him who possesseth it, like that which did +shine on the face of Moses, or that which did sit upon the countenance +of Stephen, when his face was as the face of an angel. Above all, it +conformeth us to the Son of God; for through love he came among us, and +went about doing good, adorning his life with miracles of mercy, and at +last laid it down for the salvation of men. What heart can resist his +melting entreaty: 'Even as I have loved you, love ye also one another.' + +"We do all," he continued, "seek after happiness, but too often blindly +and foolishly. The selfish man, striving to live for himself, shutteth +himself up to partake of his single portion, and marvelleth that he +cannot enjoy it. The good things he hath laid up for himself fail to +comfort him; and although he hath riches, and wanteth nothing for his +soul of all that he desireth, yet hath he not power to partake thereof. +They be as delicates poured upon a mouth shut up, or as meats set upon a +grave. But he that hath found charity to be the temper of happiness, +which doth put the soul in a natural and easy condition, and openeth it +to the solaces of that pure and sublime entertainment which the angels +do spread for such as obey the will of their Creator, hath discovered a +more subtle alchemy than any of which the philosophers did dream,--for +he transmuteth the enjoyments of others into his own, and his large and +open heart partaketh of the satisfaction of all around him. Are there +any here who, in the midst of outward abundance, are sorrowful of +heart,--who go mourning on their way from some inward discomfort,---Who +long for serenity of spirit, and cheerful happiness, as the servant +earnestly desireth the shadow? Let such seek out the poor and forsaken, +they who have no homes nor estates, who are the servants of sin and evil +habits, who lack food for both the body and the mind. Thus shall they, +in rememering others, forget themselves; the pleasure they afford to +their fellow-creatures shall come back larger and fuller unto their own +bosoms, and they shall know of a truth how much the more blessed it is +to give than to receive. In love and compassion, God hath made us +dependent upon each other, to the end that by the use of our affections +we may find true happiness and rest to our souls. He hath united us so +closely with our fellows, that they do make, as it were, a part of our +being, and in comforting them we do most assuredly comfort ourselves. +Therein doth happiness come to us unawares, and without seeking, as the +servant who goeth on his master's errand findeth pleasant fruits and +sweet flowers overhanging him, and cool fountains, which he knew not of, +gushing up by the wayside, for his solace and refreshing." + +The minister then spake of the duty of charity towards even the sinful +and froward, and of winning them by love and good will, and making even +their correction and punishment a means of awakening them to repentance, +and the calling forth of the fruits meet for it. He also spake of self- +styled prophets and enthusiastic people, who went about to cry against +the Church and the State, and to teach new doctrines, saying that +oftentimes such were sent as a judgment upon the professors of the +truth, who had the form of godliness only, while lacking the power +thereof; and that he did believe that the zeal which had been manifested +against such had not always been enough seasoned with charity. It did +argue a lack of faith in the truth, to fly into a panic and a great rage +when it was called in question; and to undertake to become God's +avengers, and to torture and burn heretics, was an error of the Papists, +which ill became those who had gone out from among them. Moreover, he +did believe that many of these people, who had so troubled the Colony of +late, were at heart simple and honest men and women, whose heads might +indeed be unsound, but who at heart sought to do the will of God; and, +of a truth, all could testify to the sobriety and strictness of their +lives, and the justice of their dealings in outward things. He spake +also somewhat of the Indians, who, he said, were our brethren, and +concerning whom we would have an account to give at the Great Day. The +hand of these heathen people had been heavy upon the Colonies, and many +had suffered from their cruel slaughterings, and the captivity of +themselves and their families. Here the aged minister wept, for he +doubtless thought of his son, who was slain in the war; and for a time +the words did seem to die in his throat, so greatly was he moved. But +he went on to say, that since God, in his great and undeserved mercy, +had put an end to the war, all present unkindness and hard dealing +towards he poor benighted heathen was an offence in the eyes of Him who +respecteth not the persons of men, but who regardeth with an equal eye +the white and the red men, both being the workmanship of His hands. It +is our blessed privilege to labor to bring them to a knowledge of the +true God, whom, like the Athenians, some of them do ignorantly worship; +while the greater part, as was said of the heathen formerly, do not, +out of the good pings that are seen, know Him that is; neither by +considering the works do they acknowledge the workmaster, but deem the +fire or wind, or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the +violent water, or the lights of heaven, to be the gods who govern the +world. + +He counselled against mischief-makers and stirrers up of strife, and +such as do desire occasion against their brethren. He said that it did +seem as if many thought to atone for their own sins by their great heat +and zeal to discover wickedness in others; and that he feared such might +be the case now, when there was much talk of the outward and visible +doings of Satan in this place; whereas, the enemy was most to be feared +who did work privily in the heart; it being a small thing for him to +bewitch a dwelling made of wood and stone, who did so easily possess and +enchant the precious souls of men. + +Finally, he did exhort all to keep watch over their own spirits, and to +remember that what measure they do mete to others shall be measured to +them again; to lay aside all wrath, and malice, and evil-speaking; to +bear one another's burdens, and so make this Church in the wilderness +beautiful and comely, an example to the world of that peace and good +will to men, which the angels sang of at the birth of the blessed +Redeemer. + +I have been the more careful to give the substance of Mr. Russ's sermon, +as nearly as I can remember it, forasmuch as it hath given offence to +some who did listen to it. Deacon Dole saith it was such a discourse as +a Socinian or a Papist might have preached, for the great stress it laid +upon works; and Goodwife Matson, a noisy, talking woman,--such an one, +no doubt, as those busybodies whom Saint Paul did rebuke for +forwardness, and command to keep silence in the church,--says the +preacher did go out of his way to favor Quakers, Indians, and witches; +and that the Devil in Goody Morse's house was no doubt well pleased with +the discourse. R. Pike saith he does no wise marvel at her complaints; +for when she formerly dwelt at the Marblehead fishing-haven, she was one +of the unruly women who did break into Thompson's garrison-house, and +barbarously put to death two Saugus Indians, who had given themselves up +for safe keeping, and who had never harmed any, which thing was a great +grief and scandal to all well-disposed people. And yet this woman, who +scrupled not to say that she would as lief stick an Indian as a hog, and +who walked all the way from Marblehead to Boston to see the Quaker woman +hung, and did foully jest over her dead body, was allowed to have her +way in the church, Mr. Richardson being plainly in fear of her ill +tongue and wicked temper. + + + +November 13. + +The Quaker maid, Margaret Brewster, came this morning, inquiring for the +Doctor, and desiring him to visit a sick man at her father's house, a +little way up the river; whereupon he took his staff and went with her. +On his coming back, he said he must do the Quakers the justice to say, +that, with all their heresies and pestilent errors of doctrine, they +were a kind people; for here was Goodman Brewster, whose small estate +had been wellnigh taken from him in fines, and whose wife was a weak, +ailing woman, who was at this time kindly lodging and nursing a poor, +broken-down soldier, by no means likely to repay him, in any sort. As +for the sick man, he had been hardly treated in the matter of his wages, +while in the war, and fined, moreover, on the ground that he did profane +the holy Sabhath; and though he had sent a petition to the Honorable +Governor and Council, for the remission of the same, it had been to no +purpose. Mr. Russ said he had taken a copy of this petition, with the +answer thereto, intending to make another application himself to the +authorities; for although the petitioner might have been blamable, yet +his necessity did go far to excuse it. He gave me the papers to copy, +which are as followeth:-- + + +"To the Hon. the Governor and Council, now sitting in Boston, July 30, +1676. The Petition of Jonathan Atherton humbly showeth: + +"That your Petitioner, being a soldier under Captain Henchman, during +their abode at Concord, Captain H., under pretence of your petitioner's +profanation of the Sabhath, had sentenced your petitioner to lose a +fortnight's pay. Now, the thing that was alleged against your +petitioner was, that he cut a piece of an old hat to put in his shoes, +and emptied three or four cartridges. Now, there was great occasion and +necessity for his so doing, for his shoes were grown so big, by walking +and riding in the wet and dew, that they galled his feet so that he was +not able to go without pain; and his cartridges, being in a bag,--were +worn with continual travel, so that they lost the powder out, so that it +was dangerous to carry them; besides, he did not know how soon he should +be forced to make use of them, therefore he did account it lawful to do +the same; yet, if it be deemed a breach of the Sabhath, he desires to be +humbled before the Lord, and begs the pardon of his people for any +offence done to them thereby. And doth humbly request the favor of your +Honors to consider the premises, and to remit the fine imposed upon him, +and to give order to the committee for the war for the payment of his +wages. So shall he forever pray. . . . " + +11 Aug. 1676.--"The Council sees no cause to grant the petitioner any +relief." + + + + +NEWBURY, November 18, 1678. + +Went yesterday to the haunted house with Mr. Russ and Mr. Richardson, +Rebecca and Aunt Rawson being in the company. Found the old couple in +much trouble, sitting by the fire, with the Bible open before them, and +Goody Morse weeping. Mr. Richardson asked Goodman Morse to tell what he +had seen and heard in the house; which he did, to this effect: That +there had been great and strange noises all about the house, a banging +of doors, and a knocking on the boards, and divers other unaccountable +sounds; that he had seen his box of tools turn over of itself, and the +tools fly about the room; baskets dropping down the chimney, and the +pots hanging over the fire smiting against each other; and, moreover, +the irons on the hearth jumping into the pots, and dancing on the table. +Goodwife Morse said that her bread-tray would upset of its own accord, +and the great woollen wheel would contrive to turn itself upside down, +and stand on its end; and that when she and the boy did make the beds, +the blankets would fly off as fast as they put them on, all of which the +boy did confirm. Mr. Russ asked her if she suspected any one of the +mischief; whereupon she said she did believe it was done by the seaman +Powell, a cunning man, who was wont to boast of his knowledge in +astrology and astronomy, having been brought tip under one Norwood, +who is said to have studied the Black Art. He had wickedly accused her +grandson of the mischief, whereas the poor boy had himself suffered +greatly from the Evil Spirit, having been often struck with stones and +bits of boards, which were flung upon him, and kept awake o' nights by +the diabolical noises. Goodman Morse here said that Powell, coming in, +and pretending to pity their lamentable case, told them that if they +would let him have the boy for a day or two, they should be free of the +trouble while he was with him; and that the boy going with him, they had +no disturbance in that time; which plainly showed that this Powell had +the wicked spirits in his keeping, and could chain them up, or let them +out, as he pleased. + +Now, while she was speaking, we did all hear a great thumping on the +ceiling, and presently a piece of a board flew across the room against +the chair on which Mr. Richardson was sitting; whereat the two old +people set up a dismal groaning, and the boy cried out, "That's the +witch!" Goodman Morse begged of Mr. Richardson to fall to praying, +which he presently did; and, when he had done, he asked Mr. Russ to +follow him, who sat silent and musing a little while, and then prayed +that the worker of the disturbance, whether diabolical or human, might +be discovered and brought to light. After which there was no noise +while we staid. Mr. Russ talked awhile with the boy, who did stoutly +deny what Caleb Powell charged upon him, and showed a bruise which he +got from a stick thrown at him in the cow-house. When we went away, +Mr. Richardson asked Mr. Russ what he thought of it. Mr. Russ said, +the matter had indeed a strange look, but that it might be, +nevertheless, the work of the boy, who was a cunning young rogue, and +capable beyond his years. Mr. Richardson said he hoped his brother was +not about to countenance the scoffers and Sadducees, who had all along +tried to throw doubt upon the matter. For himself, he did look upon it +as the work of invisible demons, and an awful proof of the existence of +such, and of the deplorable condition of all who fall into their bands; +moreover, he did believe that God would overrule this malice of the +Devil for good, and make it a means of awakening sinners and lukewarm +church-members to a sense of their danger. + +Last night, brother Leonard, who is studying with the learned Mr. Ward, +the minister at Haverbill, came down, in the company of the worshipful +Major Saltonstall, who hath business with Esquire Dummer and other +magistrates of this place. Mr. Saltonstall's lady, who is the daughter +of Mr. Ward, sent by her husband and my brother a very kind and pressing +invitation to Rebecca and myself to make a visit to her; and Mr. +Saltonstall did also urge the matter strongly. So we have agreed to go +with them the day after to-morrow. Now, to say the truth, I am not +sorry to leave Newbury at this time, for there is so much talk of the +bewitched house, and such dismal stories told of the power of invisible +demons, added to what I did myself hear and see yesterday, that I can +scarce sleep for the trouble and disquiet this matter causeth. Dr. +Russ, who left this morning, said, in his opinion, the less that was +said and done about the witchcraft the better for the honor of the +Church and the peace of the neighborhood; for it might, after all, turn +out to be nothing more than an "old wife's fable;" but if it were indeed +the work of Satan, it could, he did believe, do no harm to sincere and +godly people, who lived sober and prayerful lives, and kept themselves +busy in doing good. The doers of the Word seldom fell into the snare of +the Devil's enchantments. He might be compared to a wild beast, who +dareth not to meddle with the traveller who goeth straightway on his +errand, but lieth in wait for such as loiter and fall asleep by the +wayside. He feared, he said, that some in our day were trying to get a +great character to themselves, as the old monks did, by their skill in +discerning witcherafts, and their pretended conflicts with the Devil in +his bodily shape; and thus, while they were seeking to drive the enemy +out of their neighbors' houses, they were letting him into their own +hearts, in the guise of deceit and spiritual pride. Repentance and +works meet for it were the best exorcism; and the savor of a good life +driveth off Evil Spirits, even as that of the fish of Tobit, at +Ecbatana, drove the Devil from the chamber of the bride into the +uttermost parts of Egypt. "For mine own part," continued the worthy +man, "I believe the Lord and Master, whom I seek to serve, is over all +the powers of Satan; therefore do I not heed them, being afraid only of +mine own accusing conscience and the displeasure of God." + +We are all loath to lose the good Doctor's company. An Israelite +indeed! My aunt, who once tarried for a little time with him for the +benefit of his skill in physic, on account of sickness, tells me that +he is as a father to the people about him, advising them in all their +temporal concerns, and bringing to a timely and wise settlement all +their disputes, so that there is nowhere a more prosperous and loving +society. Although accounted a learned man, he doth not perplex his +hearers, as the manner of some is, with dark and difficult questions, +and points of doctrine, but insisteth mainly on holiness of life and +conversation. It is said that on one occasion, a famous schoolman and +disputer from abroad, coming to talk with him on the matter of the +damnation of infants, did meet him with a cradle on his shoulder, which +he was carrying to a young mother in his neighborhood, and when the man +told him his errand,--the good Doctor bade him wait until he got back, +"for," said he, "I hold it to be vastly more important to take care of +the bodies of the little infants which God in his love sends among us, +than to seek to pry into the mysteries of His will concerning their +souls." He hath no salary or tithe, save the use of a house and farm, +choosing rather to labor with his own hands than to burden his +neighbors; yet, such is their love and good-will, that in the busy +seasons of the hay and corn harvest, they all join together and help him +in his fields, counting it a special privilege to do so. + + + +November 19. + +Leonard and Mr. Richardson, talking upon the matter of the ministry, +disagreed not a little. Mr. Richardson says my brother hath got into +his head many unscriptural notions, and that he will never be of service +in the Church until he casts them off. He saith, moreover, that he +shall write to Mr. Ward concerning the errors of the young man. His +words troubling me, I straightway discoursed my brother as to the points +of difference between them; but he, smiling, said it was a long story, +but that some time he would tell me the substance of the disagreement, +bidding me have no fear in his behalf, as what had displeasured Mr. +Richardson had arisen only from tenderness of conscience. + + + + +HAVERHILL, November 22. + +Left Newbury day before yesterday. The day cold, but sunshiny, and not +unpleasant. Mr. Saltonstall's business calling him that way, we crossed +over the ferry to Salisbury, and after a ride of about an hour, got to +the Falls of the Powow River, where a great stream of water rushes +violently down the rocks, into a dark wooded valley, and from thence +runs into the Merrimac, about a mile to the southeast. A wild sight it +was, the water swollen by the rains of the season, foaming and dashing +among the rocks and the trees, which latter were wellnigh stripped of +their leaves. Leaving this place, we went on towards Haverhill. Just +before we entered that town, we overtook an Indian, with a fresh wolf's +skin hanging over his shoulder. As soon as he saw us, he tried to hide +himself in the bushes; but Mr. Saltonstall, riding up to him, asked him +if he did expect Haverhill folks to pay him forty shillings for killing +that Amesbury wolf? "How you know Amesbury wolf?" asked the Indian. +"Oh," said Mr. Saltonstall, "you can't cheat us again, Simon. You must +be honest, and tell no more lies, or we will have you whipped for your +tricks." The Indian thereupon looked sullen enough, but at length he +begged Mr. Saltonstall not to tell where the wolf was killed, as the +Amesbury folks did now refuse to pay for any killed in their town; and, +as he was a poor Indian, and his squaw much sick, and could do no work, +he did need the money. Mr. Saltonstall told him he would send his wife +some cornmeal and bacon, when he got home, if he would come for them, +which he promised to do. + +When we had ridden off, and left him, Mr. Saltonstall told us that this +Simon was a bad Indian, who, when in drink, was apt to be saucy and +quarrelsome; but that his wife was quite a decent body for a savage, +having long maintained herself and children and her lazy, cross husband, +by hard labor in the cornfields and at the fisheries. + +Haverhill lieth very pleasantly on the river-side; the land about hilly +and broken, but of good quality. Mr. Saltonstall liveth in a stately +house for these parts, not far from that of his father-in-law, the +learned Mr. Ward. Madam, his wife, is a fair, pleasing young woman, +not unused to society, their house being frequented by many of the first +people hereabout, as well as by strangers of distinction from other +parts of the country. We had hardly got well through our dinner (which +was abundant and savory, being greatly relished by our hunger), when two +gentlemen came riding up to the door; and on their coming in, we found +them to be the young Doctor Clark, of Boston, a son of the old Newbury +physician, and a Doctor Benjamin Thompson, of Roxbury, who I hear is not +a little famous for his ingenious poetry and witty pieces on many +subjects. He was, moreover, an admirer of my cousin Rebecca; and on +learning of her betrothal to Sir Thomas did write a most despairing +verse to her, comparing himself to all manner of lonesome things, so +that when Rebecca showed it to me, I told her I did fear the poor young +gentleman would put an end to himself, by reason of his great sorrow and +disquiet; whereat she laughed merrily, bidding me not fear, for she knew +the writer too well to be troubled thereat, for he loved nobody so well +as himself, and that under no provocation would he need the Apostle's +advice to the jailer, "Do thyself no harm." All which I found to be +true,--he being a gay, witty man, full of a fine conceit of himself, +which is not so much to be marvelled at, as he hath been greatly +flattered and sought after. + +The excellent Mr. Ward spent the evening with us; a pleasant, social old +man, much beloved by his people. He told us a great deal about the +early settlement of the town, and of the grievous hardships which many +did undergo the first season, from cold, and hunger, and sickness. He +thought, however, that, with all their ease and worldly prosperity, the +present generation were less happy and contented than their fathers; for +there was now a great striving to outdo each other in luxury and gay +apparel; the Lord's day was not so well kept as formerly; and the +drinking of spirits and frequenting of ordinaries and places of public +resort vastly increased. Mr. Saltonstall said the war did not a little +demoralize the people, and that since the soldiers cause back, there had +been much trouble in Church and State. The General Court, two years +ago, had made severe laws against the provoking evils of the times: +profaneness, Sabbath-breaking, drinking, and revelling to excess, loose +and sinful conduct on the part of the young and unmarried, pride in +dress, attending Quakers' meetings, and neglect of attendance upon +divine worship; but these laws had never been well enforced; and he +feared too many of the magistrates were in the condition of the Dutch +Justice in the New York Province, who, when a woman was brought before +him charged with robbing a henroost, did request his brother on the +bench to pass sentence upon her; for, said he, if I send her to the +whipping post, the wench will cry out against me as her accomplice. + +Doctor Clark said his friend Doctor Thompson had written a long piece on +this untoward state of our affairs, which he hoped soon to see in print, +inasmuch as it did hold the looking-glass to the face of this +generation, and shame it by a comparison with that of the generation +which has passed. Mr. Ward said he was glad to hear of it, and hoped +his ingenious friend had brought the manuscript with him; whereupon, the +young gentleman said he did take it along with him, in the hope to +benefit it by Mr. Ward's judgment and learning, and with the leave of +the company he would read the Prologue thereof. To which we all +agreeing, he read what follows, which I copy from his book:-- + + +"The times wherein old PUMPKIN was a saint, +When men fared hardly, yet without complaint, +On vilest cates; the dainty Indian maize +Was eat with clam-shells out of wooden trays, +Under thatched roofs, without the cry of rent, +And the best sauce to every dish, content,-- +These golden times (too fortunate to hold) +Were quickly sinned away for love of gold. +'T was then among the bushes, not the street, +If one in place did an inferior meet, +'Good morrow, brother! Is there aught you want? +Take freely of me what I have, you ha'n't.' +Plain Tom and Dick would pass as current now, +As ever since 'Your servant, sir,' and bow. +Deep-skirted doublets, puritanic capes, +Which now would render men like upright apes, +Was comelier wear, our wise old fathers thought, +Than the cast fashions from all Europe brought. +'T was in those days an honest grace would hold +Till an hot pudding grew at heart a-cold, +And men had better stomachs for religion, +Than now for capon, turkey-cock, or pigeon; +When honest sisters met to pray, not prate, +About their own and not their neighbors' state, +During Plain Dealing's reign, that worthy stud +Of the ancient planter-race before the Flood. + +"These times were good: merchants cared not a rush +For other fare than jonakin and mush. +And though men fared and lodged very hard, +Yet innocence was better than a guard. +'T was long before spiders and worms had drawn +Their dingy webs, or hid with cheating lawn +New England's beauties, which still seemed to me +Illustrious in their own simplicity. +'T was ere the neighboring Virgin Land had broke +The hogsheads of her worse than hellish smoke; +'T was ere the Islands sent their presents in, +Which but to use was counted next to sin; +'T was ere a barge had made so rich a freight +As chocolate, dust-gold, and bits of eight; +Ere wines from France and Muscovado too, +Without the which the drink will scarcely do. +From Western Isles, ere fruits and delicacies +Did rot maids' teeth and spoil their handsome faces, +Or ere these times did chance the noise of war +Was from our tines and hearts removed far, +Then had the churches rest: as yet, the coals +Were covered up in most contentious souls; +Freeness in judgment, union in affection, +Dear love, sound truth, they were our grand protection. +Then were the times in which our Councils sat, +These grave prognostics of our future state; +If these be longer lived, our hopes increase, +These wars will usher in a longer peace; +But if New England's love die in its youth, +The grave will open next for blessed truth. + +"This theme is out of date; the peaceful hours +When castles needed not, but pleasant bowers, +Not ink, but blood and tears now serve the turn +To draw the figure of New England's urn. +New England's hour of passion is at hand, +No power except Divine can it withstand. +Scarce hath her glass of fifty years run out, +Than her old prosperous steeds turn heads about; +Tracking themselves back to their poor beginnings, +To fear and fare upon the fruits of sinnings. +So that this mirror of the Christian world +Lies burnt to heaps in part, her streamers furled. +Grief sighs, joys flee, and dismal fears surprise, +Not dastard spirits only, but the wise. + +"Thus have the fairest hopes deceived the eye +Of the big-swoln expectants standing by +So the proud ship, after a little turn, +Sinks in the ocean's arms to find its urn: +Thus hath the heir to many thousands born +Been in an instant from the mother torn; +Even thus thy infant cheek begins to pale, +And thy supporters through great losses fail. +This is the Prologue to thy future woe-- +The Epilogue no mortal yet can know." + +Mr. Ward was much pleased with the verses, saying that they would do +honor to any writer. + +Rebecca thought the lines concerning the long grace at meat happy, and +said she was minded of the wife of the good Mr. Ames, who prided herself +on her skill in housewifery and cookery; and on one occasion, seeing a +nice pair of roasted fowls growing cold under her husband's long grace, +was fain to jog his elbow, telling him that if he did not stop soon, she +feared they would have small occasion for thankfulness for their spoiled +dinner. Mr. Ward said he was once travelling in company with Mr. +Phillips of Rowley, and Mr. Parker of Newbury, and stopping all night at +a poor house near the sea-shore, the woman thereof brought into the room +for their supper a great wooden tray, full of something nicely covered +up by a clean linen cloth. It proved to be a dish of boiled clams, in +their shells; and as Mr. Phillips was remarkable in his thanks for aptly +citing passages of Scripture with regard to whatsoever food was upon the +table before him, Mr. Parker and himself did greatly wonder what he +could say of this dish; but he, nothing put to it, offered thanks that +now, as formerly, the Lord's people were enabled to partake of the +abundance of the seas, and treasures hid in the sands. "Whereat," said +Mr. Ward, "we did find it so hard to keep grave countenances, that our +good hostess was not a little disturbed, thinking we were mocking her +poor fare; and we were fain to tell her the cause of our mirth, which +was indeed ill-timed." + +Doctor Clark spake of Mr. Ward's father, the renowned minister at +Ipswich, whose book of "The Simple Cobbler of Agawam," was much admired. +Mr. Ward said that some of the witty turns therein did give much offence +at the time of its printing, but that his father could never spoil his +joke for the sake of friends, albeit he had no malice towards any one, +and was always ready to do a good, even to his enemies. He once even +greatly angered his old and true friend, Mr. Cotton of Boston. "It fell +out in this wise," said Mr. Ward. "When the arch-heretic and fanatic +Gorton and his crew were in prison in Boston, my father and Mr. Cotton +went to the jail window to see them; and after some little discourse +with them, he told Gorton that if he had done or said anything which he +could with a clear conscience renounce, he would do well to recant the +same, and the Court, he doubted not, would be merciful; adding, that it +would be no disparagement for him to do so, as the best of men were +liable to err: as, for instance, his brother Cotton here generally did +preach that one year which he publicly repented of before his +congregation the next year." + +Mr. Saltonstall told another story of old Mr. Ward, which made us all +merry. There was a noted Antinomian, of Boston, who used to go much +about the country disputing with all who would listen to him, who, +coming to Ipswich one night, with another of his sort with him, would +fain have tarried with Mr. Ward; but he told them that he had scarce hay +and grain enough in his barn for the use of his own cattle, and that +they would do well to take their horses to the ordinary, where they +would be better cared for. But the fellow, not wishing to be so put +off, bade him consider what the Scripture said touching the keeping of +strangers, as some had thereby entertained angels unawares. "True, +my friend," said Mr. Ward, "but we don't read that the angels came +a-horseback!" + +The evening passed away in a very pleasant and agreeable manner. We had +rare nuts, and apples, and pears, of Mr. Saltonstall's raising, +wonderfully sweet and luscious. Our young gentlemen, moreover, seemed +to think the wine and ale of good quality; for, long after we had gone +to our beds, we could hear them talking and laughing in the great hall +below, notwithstanding that Mr. Ward, when he took leave, bade Doctor +Thompson take heed to his own hint concerning the: + + "Wines from France and Muscovado too;" + +to which the young wit replied, that there was Scripture warrant for his +drinking, inasmuch as the command was, to give wine to those that be of +heavy heart. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his +misery no more; and, for his part, he had been little better than +miserable ever since he heard of Rebecca's betrothal. A light, careless +man, but of good parts, and as brave a talker as I have heard since I +have been in the Colony. + + + +November 24. + +Mr. Ward's negro girl Dinah came for me yesterday, saying that her +master did desire to see me. So, marvelling greatly what he wanted, +I went with her, and was shown into the study. Mr. Ward said he had +sent for me to have some discourse in regard to my brother Leonard, who +he did greatly fear was likely to make shipwreck of the faith; and that +Mr. Richardson had written him concerning the young man, telling him +that he did visit the Quakers when at Newbury, and even went over to +their conventicle at Hampton, on the Lord's day, in the company of the +Brewster family, noted Quakers and ranters. He had the last evening had +some words with the lad, but with small satisfaction. Being sorely +troubled by this account, I begged him to send for Leonard, which he +did, and, when he did come into the room, Mr. Ward told him that he +might see by the plight of his sister (for I was in tears) what a great +grief he was like to bring upon his family and friends, by running out +into heresies. Leonard said he was sorry to give trouble to any one, +least of all to his beloved sister; that he did indeed go to the +Quakers' meeting, on one occasion, to judge for himself concerning this +people, who are everywhere spoken against; and that he must say he did +hear or see nothing in their worship contrary to the Gospel. There was, +indeed, but little said, but the words were savory and Scriptural. "But +they deny the Scriptures," cried Mr. Ward, "and set above them what they +call the Light, which I take to be nothing better than their own +imaginations." "I do not so understand them," said Leonard; "I think +they do diligently study the Scripture, and seek to conform their lives +to its teachings; and for the Light of which they speak, it is borne-- +witness to not only in the Bible, but by the early fathers and devout +men of all ages. I do not go to excuse the Quakers in all that they +have done, nor to defend all their doctrines and practices, many of +which I see no warrant in Scripture for, but believe to be pernicious +and contrary to good order; yet I must need look upon them as a sober, +earnest-seeking people, who do verily think themselves persecuted for +righteousness' sake." Hereupon Mr. Ward struck his cane smartly on the +floor, and, looking severely at my brother, bade him beware how he did +justify these canting and false pretenders. "They are," he said, +"either sad knaves, or silly enthusiasts,--they pretend to Divine +Revelation, and set up as prophets; like the Rosicrucians and Gnostics, +they profess to a knowledge of things beyond what plain Scripture +reveals. The best that can be said of them is, that they are befooled +by their own fancies, and the victims of distempered brains and ill +habits of body. Then their ranting against the Gospel order of the +Church, and against the ministers of Christ, calling us all manner of +hirelings, wolves, and hypocrites; belching out their blasphemies +against the ordinances and the wholesome laws of the land for the +support of a sound ministry and faith, do altogether justify the sharp +treatment they have met with; so that, if they have not all lost their +ears, they may thank our clemency rather than their own worthiness to +wear them. I do not judge of them ignorantly, for I have dipped into +their books, where, what is not downright blasphemy and heresy, is +mystical and cabalistic. They affect a cloudy and canting style, as if +to keep themselves from being confuted by keeping themselves from being +understood. Their divinity is a riddle, a piece of black art; the +Scripture they turn into allegory and parabolical conceits, and thus +obscure and debauch the truth. Argue with them, and they fall to +divining; reason with them, and they straightway prophesy. Then their +silent meetings, so called, in the which they do pretend to justify +themselves by quoting Revelation, 'There was silence in heaven;' whereas +they might find other authorities,--as, for instance in Psalm 115, where +hell is expressed by silence, and in the Gospel, where we read of a dumb +devil. As to persecuting these people, we have been quite too +charitable to them, especially of late, and they are getting bolder in +consequence; as, for example, the behavior of that shameless young wench +in Newbury, who disturbed Brother Richardson's church with her antics +not long ago. She should have been tied to the cart-tail and whipped +all the way to Rhode Island." + +"Do you speak of Margaret Brewster?" asked Leonard, his face all +a-crimson, and his lip quivering. "Let me tell you, Mr. Ward, that you +greatly wrong one of Christ's little ones." And he called me to testify +to her goodness and charity, and the blamelessness of her life. + +"Don't talk to me of the blameless life of such an one," said Mr. Ward, +in aloud, angry tone; "it is the Devil's varnish for heresy. The +Manichees, and the Pelagians, and Socinians, all did profess great +strictness and sanctity of life; and there never was heretic yet, from +they whom the Apostle makes mention of, who fasted from meats, giving +heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, down to the Quakers, +Dippers, and New Lights of this generation who have not, like their +fathers of old, put on the shape of Angels of Light, and lived severe +and over-strict lives. I grant that the Quakers are honest in their +dealings, making great show of sobriety and self-denial, and abhor the +practice of scandalous vices, being temperate, chaste, and grave in +their behavior, and thereby they win upon unstable souls, and make +plausible their damnable heresies. I warn you, young man, to take heed +of them, lest you be ensnared and drawn into their way." + +My brother was about to reply, but, seeing Mr. Ward so moved and vexed, +I begged of him to say no more; and, company coming in, the matter was +dropped, to my great joy. I went back much troubled and disquieted for +my brother's sake. + + + +November 28, 1678. + +Leonard hath left Mr. Ward, and given up the thought of fitting for the +ministry. This will be a heavy blow for his friends in England. He +tells me that Mr. Ward spake angrily to him after I left, but that, when +he come to part with him, the old man wept over him, and prayed that the +Lord would enable him to see his error, and preserve him from the +consequences thereof. I have discoursed with my brother touching his +future course of life, and he tells me he shall start in a day or two to +visit the Rhode Island, where he hath an acquaintance, one Mr. Easton, +formerly of Newbury. His design is to purchase a small plantation +there, and betake himself to fanning, of the which he hath some little +knowledge, believing that he can be as happy and do as much good to his +fellow-creatures in that employment as in any other. + +Here Cousin Rebecca, who was by, looking up with that sweet archness +which doth so well become her, queried with him whether he did think to +live alone on his plantation like a hermit, or whether he had not his +eye upon a certain fair-haired young woman, as suitable to keep him +company. Whereat he seemed a little disturbed; but she bade him not +think her against his prospect, for she had known for some weeks that he +did favor the Young Brewster woman, who, setting aside her enthusiastic +notions of religion, was worthy of any man's love; and turning to me, +she begged of me to look at the matter as she did, and not set myself +against the choice of my brother, which, in all respects save the one +she had spoken of, she could approve with all her heart. Leonard goes +back with us o-morrow to Newbury, so I shall have a chance of knowing +how matters stand with him. The thought of his marrying a Quaker would +have been exceedingly grievous to me a few months ago; but this Margaret +Brewster hath greatly won upon me by her beauty, gentleness, and her +goodness of heart; and, besides, I know that she is much esteemed by the +best sort of people in her neighborhood. + +Doctor Thompson left this morning, but his friend Doctor Clark goes with +us to Newbury. Rebecca found in her work-basket, after he had gone, +some verses, which amused us not a little, and which I here copy. + + "Gone hath the Spring, with all its flowers, + And gone the Summer's pomp and show + And Autumn in his leafless bowers + Is waiting for the Winter's snow. + + "I said to Earth, so cold and gray, + 'An emblem of myself thou art:' + 'Not so,' the earth did seem to say, + 'For Spring shall warm my frozen heart. + + "'I soothe my wintry sleep with dreams + Of warmer sun and softer rain, + And wait to hear the sound of streams + And songs of merry birds again. + + "'But thou, from whom the Spring hath gone, + For whom the flowers no longer blow, + Who standest, blighted and forlorn, + Like Autumn waiting for the snow. + + "'No hope is thine of sunnier hours, + Thy winter shall no more depart; + No Spring revive thy wasted flowers, + Nor Summer warm thy frozen heart.'" + +Doctor Clark, on hearing this read, told Rebecca she need not take its +melancholy to heart, for he could assure her that there was no danger of +his friend's acting on her account the sad part of the lover in the old +song of Barbara Allen. As a medical man, he could safely warrant him to +be heart-whole; and the company could bear him witness, that the poet +himself seemed very little like the despairing one depicted in his +verses. + +The Indian Simon calling this forenoon, Rebecca and I went into the +kitchen to see him. He looks fierce and cruel, but he thanked Madain +Saltonstall for her gifts of food and clothing, and, giving her in +return a little basket wrought of curiously stained stuff, he told her +that if there were more like her, his heart would not be so bitter. + +I ventured to ask him why he felt thus; whereupon he drew himself up, +and, sweeping about him with his arms, said: "This all Indian land. The +Great Spirit made it for Indians. He made the great river for them, and +birch-trees to make their canoes of. All the fish in the ponds, and all +the pigeons and deer and squirrels he made for Indians. He made land +for white men too; but they left it, and took Indian's land, because it +was better. My father was a chief; he had plenty meat and corn in his +wigwam. But Simon is a dog. When they fight Eastern Indians, I try to +live in peace; but they say, Simon, you rogue, you no go into woods to +hunt; you keep at home. So when squaw like to starve, I shoot one of +their hogs, and then they whip me. Look!" And he lifted the blanket +off from his shoulder, and showed the marks of the whip thereon. + +"Well, well, Simon," said Mr. Saltonstall, "you do know that our people +then were much frightened by what the Indians had done in other places, +and they feared you would join them. But it is all over now, and you +have all the woods to yourself to range in; and if you would let alone +strong drink, you would do well." + +"Who makes strong drink?" asked the Indian, with an ugly look. "Who +takes the Indian's beaver-skins and corn for it? Tell me that, +Captain." + +So saying, he put his pack on his back, and calling a poor, lean dog, +that was poking his hungry nose into Madam's pots and kettles, he went +off talking to himself. + + + +NEWBURY, December 6. + +We got back from Haverhill last night, Doctor Clark accompanying us, +he having business in Newbury. When we came up to the door, Effie met +us with a shy look, and told her mistress that Mrs. Prudence (uncle's +spinster cousin) had got a braw auld wooer in the east room; and surely +enough we found our ancient kinswoman and Deacon Dole, a widower of +three years' standing, sitting at the supper-table. We did take note +that the Deacon had on a stiff new coat; and as for Aunt Prudence (for +so she was called in the family), she was clad in her bravest, with a +fine cap on her head. They both did seem a little disturbed by our +coming, but plates being laid for us, we sat down with them. After +supper, Rebecca had a fire kindled in uncle's room, whither we did +betake ourselves; and being very merry at the thought of Deacon Dole's +visit, it chanced to enter our silly heads that it would do no harm to +stop the clock in the entry a while, and let the two old folks make a +long evening of it. After a time Rebecca made an errand into the east +room, to see how matters went, and coming back, said the twain were +sitting on the same settle by the fire, smoking--a pipe of tobacco +together. Moreover, our foolish trick did work well, for Aunt Prudence +coming at last into the entry to look at the clock, we heard her tell +the Deacon that it was only a little past eight, when in truth it was +near ten. Not long after there was a loud knocking at the door, and as +Effie had gone to bed, Rebecca did open it, when, whom did she see but +the Widow Hepsy Barnet, Deacon Dole's housekeeper, and with her the +Deacon's son, Moses, and the minister, Mr. Richardson, with a lantern in +his hand! "Dear me," says the woman, looking very dismal, "have you +seen anything of the Deacon?" By this time we were all at the door, the +Deacon and Aunt Prudence among the rest, when Moses, like a great lout +as he is, pulled off his woollen cap and tossed it up in the air, crying +out, "There, Goody Barnet, did n't I tell ye so! There's father now!" +And the widow, holding up both her hands, said she never did in all her +born days see the like of this, a man of the Deacon's years and station +stealing away without letting folks know where to look for him; and then +turning upon poor Mrs. Prudence, she said she had long known that some +folks were sly and artful, and she was glad Mr. Richardson was here to +see for himself. Whereupon Aunt Prudence, in much amazement, said, it +was scarce past eight, as they might see by the clock; but Mr. +Richardson, who could scarce keep a grave face, pulling out his watch, +said it was past ten, and bade her note that the clock was stopped. He +told Deacon Dole, that seeing Goody Barnet so troubled about him, he had +offered to go along with her a little way, and that he was glad to find +that the fault was in the clock. The Deacon, who had stood like one in +a maze, here clapped on his hat, and snatched up his cane and went off, +looking as guilty as if he had been caught a-housebreaking, the widow +scolding him all the way. Now, as we could scarce refrain from +laughing, Mr. Richardson, who tarried a moment, shook his head at +Rebecca, telling her he feared by her looks she was a naughty girl, +taking pleasure in other folk's trouble. We did both feel ashamed and +sorry enough for our mischief, after it was all over; and poor Mistress +Prudence is so sorely mortified, that she told Rebecca this morning not +to mention Deacon Dole's name to her again, and that Widow Hepsy is +welcome to him, since he is so mean-spirited as to let her rule him +as she doth. + + + +December 8. + +Yesterday I did, at my brother's wish, go with him to Goodman Brewster's +house, where I was kindly welcomed by the young woman and her parents. +After some little tarry, I found means to speak privily with her +touching my brother's regard for her, and to assure her that I did truly +and freely consent thereunto; while I did hope, for his sake as well as +her own, that she would, as far as might be consistent with her notion +of duty, forbear to do or say anything which might bring her into +trouble with the magistrates and those in authority. She said that she +was very grateful for my kindness towards her, and that what I said was +a great relief to her mind; for when she first met my brother, she did +fear that his kindness and sympathy would prove a snare to her; and that +she had been sorely troubled, moreover, lest by encouraging him she +should not only do violence to her own conscience, but also bring +trouble and disgrace upon one who was, she did confess, dear unto her, +not only as respects outward things, but by reason of what she did +discern of an innocent and pure inward life in his conversation and +deportment. She had earnestly sought to conform her conduct in this, +as in all things, to the mind of her Divine Master; and, as respected my +caution touching those in authority, she knew not what the Lord might +require of her, and she could only leave all in His hands, being +resigned even to deny herself of the sweet solace of human affection, +and to take up the cross daily, if He did so will. "Thy visit and kind +words," she continued, "have removed a great weight from me. The way +seems more open before me. The Lord bless thee for thy kindness." + +She said this with so much tenderness of spirit, and withal with such an +engaging sweetness of look and voice, that I was greatly moved, and, +pressing her in my arms, I kissed her, and bade her look upon me as her +dear sister. + +The family pressing us, we stayed to supper, and sitting down in silence +at the table, I was about to speak to my brother, but he made a sign to +check me, and I held my peace, although not then knowing wherefore. So +we all sat still for a little space of time, which I afterwards found is +the manner of these people at their meat. The supper was plain, but of +exceeding good relish: warm rye loaves with butter and honey, and bowls +of sweet milk, and roasted apples. Goodwife Brewster, who appeared much +above her husband (who is a plain, unlearned man) in her carriage and +discourse, talked with us very pleasantly, and Margaret seemed to grow +more at ease, the longer we stayed. + +On our way back we met Robert Pike, who hath returned from the eastward. +He said Rebecca Rawson had just told him how matters stood with Leonard, +and that he was greatly rejoiced to hear of his prospect. He had known +Margaret Brewster from a child, and there was scarce her equal in these +parts for sweetness of temper and loveliness of person and mind; and, +were she ten times a Quaker, he was free to say this in her behalf. +I am more and more confirmed in the belief that Leonard hath not done +unwisely in this matter, and do cheerfully accept of his choice, +believing it to be in the ordering of Him who doeth all things well. + + + +BOSTON, December 31. + +It wanteth but two hours to the midnight, and the end of the year. The +family are all abed, and I can hear nothing save the crackling of the +fire now burning low on the hearth, and the ticking of the clock in the +corner. The weather being sharp with frost, there is no one stirring in +the streets, and the trees and bushes in the yard, being stripped of +their leaves, look dismal enough above the white snow with which the +ground is covered, so that one would think that all things must needs +die with the year. But, from my window, I can see the stars shining +with marvellous brightness in the clear sky, and the sight thereof doth +assure me that God still watcheth over the work of His hands, and that +in due season He will cause the flowers to appear on the earth, and the +time of singing-birds to come, and-the voice of the turtle to be heard +in the land. And I have been led, while alone here, to think of the +many mercies which have been vouchsafed unto me in my travels and +sojourn in a strange land, and a sense of the wonderful goodness of God +towards me, and they who are dear unto me, both here and elsewhere, hath +filled mine heart with thankfulness; and as of old time they did use to +set up stones of memorial on the banks of deliverance, so would I at +this season set up, as it were, in my poor journal, a like pillar of +thanksgiving to the praise and honor of Him who hath so kindly cared for +His unworthy handmaid. + + + +January 16, 1679. + +Have just got back from Reading, a small town ten or twelve miles out of +Boston, whither I went along with mine Uncle and Aunt Rawson, and many +others, to attend the ordination of Mr. Brock, in the place of the +worthy Mr. Hough, lately deceased. The weather being clear, and the +travelling good, a great concourse of people got together. We stopped +at the ordinary, which we found wellnigh filled; but uncle, by dint of +scolding and coaxing, got a small room for aunt and myself, with a clean +bed, which was more than we had reason to hope for. The ministers, of +whom there were many and of note (Mr. Mather and Mr. Wilson of Boston, +and Mr. Corbet of Ipswich, being among them), were already together at +the house of one of the deacons. It was quite a sight the next morning +to see the people coming in from the neighboring towns, and to note +their odd dresses, which were indeed of all kinds, from silks and +velvets to coarsest homespun woollens, dyed with hemlock, or oil-nut +bark, and fitting so ill that, if they had all cast their clothes into a +heap, and then each snatched up whatsoever coat or gown came to hand, +they could not have suited worse. Yet they were all clean and tidy, and +the young people especially did look exceeding happy, it being with them +a famous holiday. The young men came with their sisters or their +sweethearts riding behind them on pillions; and the ordinary and all the +houses about were soon noisy enough with merry talking and laughter. +The meeting-house was filled long before the services did begin. There +was a goodly show of honorable people in the forward seats, and among +them that venerable magistrate, Simon Broadstreet, who acteth as Deputy- +Governor since the death of Mr. Leverett; the Honorable Thomas Danforth; +Mr. William Brown of Salem; and others of note, whose names I do not +remember, all with their wives and families, bravely apparelled. The +Sermon was preached by Mr. Higginson of Salem, the Charge was given by +Mr. Phillips of Rowley, and the Right Hand of Fellowship by Mr. Corbet +of Ipswich. When we got back to our inn, we found a great crowd of +young roysterers in the yard, who had got Mr. Corbet's negro man, Sam, +on the top of a barrel, with a bit of leather, cut in the shape of +spectacles, astride of his nose, where he stood swinging his arms, and +preaching, after the manner of his master, mimicking his tone and manner +very shrewdly, to the great delight and merriment of the young rogues +who did set him on. We stood in the door a while to hear him, and, to +say the truth, he did wonderfully well, being a fellow of good parts and +much humor. But, just as he was describing the Devil, and telling his +grinning hearers that he was not like a black but a white man, old Mr. +Corbet, who had come up behind him, gave him a smart blow with his cane, +whereupon Sam cried,-- + +"Dare he be now!" at which all fell to laughing. + +"You rascal," said Mr. Corbet, "get down with you; I'll teach you to +compare me to the Devil." + +"Beg pardon, massa!" said Sam, getting down from his pulpit, and rubbing +his shoulder. "How you think Sam know you? He see nothing; he only +feel de lick." + +"You shall feel it again," said his master, striking at him a great +blow, which Sam dodged. + +"Nay, Brother Corbet," said Mr. Phillips, who was with him, "Sam's +mistake was not so strange after all; for if Satan can transform himself +into an Angel of Light, why not into the likeness of such unworthy +ministers as you and I." + +This put the old minister in a good humor, and Sam escaped without +farther punishment than a grave admonition to behave more reverently for +the future. Mr. Phillips, seeing some of his young people in the crowd, +did sharply rebuke them for their folly, at which they were not a little +abashed. + +The inn being greatly crowded, and not a little noisy, we were not +unwilling to accept the invitation of the provider of the ordination- +dinner, to sit down with the honored guests thereat. I waited, with +others of the younger class, until the ministers and elderly people had +made an end of their meal. Among those who sat at the second table was +a pert, talkative lad, a son of Mr. Increase Mather, who, although but +sixteen years of age, graduated at the Harvard College last year, and +hath the reputation of good scholarship and lively wit. He told some +rare stories concerning Mr. Brock, the minister ordained, and of the +marvellous efficacy of his prayers. He mentioned, among other things, +that, when Mr. Brock lived on the Isles of Shoals, he persuaded the +people there to agree to spend one day in a month, beside the Sabhath, +in religious worship. Now, it so chanced that there was on one occasion +a long season of stormy, rough weather, unsuitable for fishing; and when +the day came which had been set apart, it proved so exceeding fair, that +his congregation did desire him to put off the meeting, that they might +fish. Mr. Brock tried in vain to reason with them, and show the duty of +seeking first the kingdom of God, when all other things should be added +thereto, but the major part determined to leave the meeting. Thereupon +he cried out after them: "As for you who will neglect God's worship, go, +and catch fish if you can." There were thirty men who thus left, and +only five remained behind, and to these he said: "I will pray the Lord +for you, that you may catch fish till you are weary." And it so fell +out, that the thirty toiled all day, and caught only four fishes; while +the five who stayed at meeting went out, after the worship was over, and +caught five hundred; and ever afterwards the fishermen attended all the +meetings of the minister's appointing. At another time, a poor man, who +had made himself useful in carrying people to meeting in his boat, lost +the same in a storm, and came lamenting his loss to Mr. Brock. "Go +home, honest man," said the minister. "I will mention your case to the +Lord: you will have your boat again to-morrow." And surely enough, the +very next day, a vessel pulling up its anchor near where the boat sank, +drew up the poor man's boat, safe and whole, after it. + +We went back to Boston after dinner, but it was somewhat of a cold ride, +especially after the night set in, a keen northerly wind blowing in +great gusts, which did wellnigh benumb us. A little way from Reading, +we overtook an old couple in the road; the man had fallen off his horse, +and his wife was trying to get him up again to no purpose; so young Mr. +Richards, who was with us, helped him up to the saddle again, telling +his wife to hold him carefully, as her old man had drank too much flip. +Thereupon the good wife set upon him with a vile tongue, telling him +that her old man was none other than Deacon Rogers of Wenham, and as +good and as pious a saint as there was out of heaven; and it did ill +become a young, saucy rake and knave to accuse him of drunkenness, and +it would be no more than his deserts if the bears did eat him before he +got to Boston. As it was quite clear that the woman herself had had a +taste of the mug, we left them and rode on, she fairly scolding us out +of hearing. When we got home, we found Cousin Rebecca, whom we did +leave ill with a cold, much better in health, sitting up and awaiting +us. + + + +January 21, 1679. + +Uncle Rawson came home to-day in a great passion, and, calling me to +him, he asked me if I too was going to turn Quaker, and fall to +prophesying? Whereat I was not a little amazed; and when I asked him +what he did mean, he said: "Your brother Leonard hath gone off to them, +and I dare say you will follow, if one of the ranters should take it +into his head that you would make him a proper wife, or company-keeper, +for there's never an honest marriage among them." Then looking sternly +at me, he asked me why I did keep this matter from him, and thus allow +the foolish young man to get entangled in the snares of Satan. Whereat +I was so greatly grieved, that I could answer never a word. + +"You may well weep," said my uncle, "for you have done wickedly. As to +your brother, he will do well to keep where he is in the plantations; +for if he come hither a theeing and thouing of me, I will spare him +never a whit; and if I do not chastise him myself, it will be because +the constable can do it better at the cart-tail. As the Lord lives, I +had rather he had turned Turk!" + +I tried to say a word for my brother, but he cut me straightway short, +bidding me not to mention his name again in his presence. Poor me! I +have none here now to whom I can speak freely, Rebecca having gone to +her sister's at Weymouth. My young cousin Grindall is below, with his +college friend, Cotton Mather; but I care not to listen to their +discourse, and aunt is busied with her servants in the kitchen, so that +I must even sit alone with my thoughts, which be indeed but sad company. + +The little book which I brought with me from the Maine, it being the +gift of young Mr. Jordan, and which I have kept close hidden in my +trunk, hath been no small consolation to me this day, for it aboundeth +in sweet and goodly thoughts, although he who did write it was a monk. +Especially in my low state, have these words been a comfort to me:-- + +"What thou canst not amend in thyself or others, bear thou with patience +until God ordaineth otherwise. When comfort is taken away, do not +presently despair. Stand with an even mind resigned to the will of God, +whatever shall befall, because after winter cometh the summer; after the +dark night the day shineth, and after the storm followeth a great calm. +Seek not for consolation which shall rob thee of the grace of penitence; +for all that is high is not holy, nor all that is pleasant good; nor +every desire pure; nor is what is pleasing to us always pleasant in the +sight of God." + + + +January 23. + +The weather is bitter cold, and a great snow on the ground. By a letter +from Newbury, brought me by Mr. Sewall, who hath just returned from that +place, I hear that Goodwife Morse hath been bound for trial as a witch. +Mr. Sewall tells me the woman is now in the Boston jail. As to Caleb +Powell, he hath been set at liberty, there being no proof of his evil +practice. Yet inasmuch as he did give grounds of suspicion by boasting +of his skill in astrology and astronomy, the Court declared that he +justly deserves to bear his own shame and the costs of his prosecution +and lodging in jail. + +Mr. Sewall tells me that Deacon Dole has just married his housekeeper, +Widow Barnet, and that Moses says he never knew before his father to get +the worst in a bargain. + + + +January 30. + +Robert Pike called this morning, bringing me a letter from my brother, +and one from Margaret Brewster. He hath been to the Providence +Plantations and Rhode Island, and reporteth well of the prospects of my +brother, who hath a goodly farm, and a house nigh upon finished, the +neighbors, being mostly Quakers, assisting him much therein. My +brother's letter doth confirm this account of his temporal condition, +although a great part of it is taken up with a defence of his new +doctrines, for the which he doth ingeniously bring to mind many passages +of Scripture. Margaret's letter being short, I here copy it:-- + +THE PLANTATIONS, 20th of the 1st mo., 1679. + +"DEAR FRIEND,--I salute thee with much love from this new country, where +the Lord hath spread a table for us in the wilderness. Here is a goodly +company of Friends, who do seek to know the mind of Truth, and to live +thereby, being held in favor and esteem by the rulers of the land, and +so left in peace to worship God according to their consciences. The +whole country being covered with snow, and the weather being extreme +cold, we can scarce say much of the natural gifts and advantages of our +new home; but it lieth on a small river, and there be fertile meadows, +and old corn-fields of the Indians, and good springs of water, so that I +am told it is a desirable and pleasing place in the warm season. My +soul is full of thankfulness, and a sweet inward peace is my portion. +Hard things are made easy to me; this desert place, with its lonely +woods and wintry snows, is beautiful in mine eyes. For here we be no +longer gazing-stocks of the rude multitude, we are no longer haled from +our meetings, and railed upon as witches and possessed people. Oh, how +often have we been called upon heretofore to repeat the prayer of one +formerly: 'Let me not fall into the hands of man.' Sweet, beyond the +power of words to express, hath been the change in this respect; and in +view of the mercies vouchsafed unto us, what can we do but repeat the +language of David, 'Praise is comely yea, a joyful and pleasant thing it +is to be thankful. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, to +sing praises unto thy name, O Most High! to show forth thy loving- +kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.' + +"Thou hast doubtless heard that thy dear brother hath been favored to +see the way of truth, according to our persuasion thereof, and hath been +received into fellowship with us. I fear this hath been a trial to +thee; but, dear heart, leave it in the hands of the Lord, whose work I +do indeed count it. Nor needest thou to fear that thy brother's regard +for thee will be lessened thereby, for the rather shall it be increased +by a measure of that Divine love which, so far from destroying, doth but +purify and strengthen the natural affections. + +"Think, then, kindly of thy brother, for his love towards thee is very +great; and of me, also, unworthy as I am, for his sake. And so, with +salutations of love and peace, in which my dear mother joins, I remain +thy loving friend, MARGARET BREWSTER. + +"The Morse woman, I hear, is in your jail, to be tried for a witch. She +is a poor, weak creature, but I know no harm of her, and do believe her +to be more silly than wicked in the matter of the troubles in her house. +I fear she will suffer much at this cold season in the jail, she being +old and weakly, and must needs entreat thee to inquire into her +condition. + "M. B." + + + +February 10. + +Speaking of Goody Morse to-day, Uncle Rawson says she will, he thinks, +be adjudged a witch, as there be many witnesses from Newbury to testify +against her. Aunt sent the old creature some warm blankets and other +necessaries, which she stood much in need of, and Rebecca and I altered +one of aunt's old gowns for her to wear, as she hath nothing seemly of +her own. Mr. Richardson, her minister, hath visited her twice since she +hath been in jail; but he saith she is hardened in her sin, and will +confess nothing thereof. + + + +February 14. +The famous Mr. John Eliot, having business with my uncle, spent the last +night with us, a truly worthy man, who, by reason of his great labors +among the heathen Indians, may be called the chiefest of our apostles. +He brought with him a young Indian lad, the son of a man of some note +among his people, very bright and comely, and handsomely apparelled +after the fashion of his tribe. This lad hath a ready wit, readeth and +writeth, and hath some understanding of Scripture; indeed, he did repeat +the Lord's Prayer in a manner edifying to hear. + +The worshipful Major Gookins coming in to sup with us, there was much +discourse concerning the affairs of the Province: both the Major and his +friend Eliot being great sticklers for the rights and liberties of the +people, and exceeding jealous of the rule of the home government, and +in this matter my uncle did quite agree with them. In a special manner +Major Gookins did complain of the Acts of Trade, as injurious to the +interests of the Colony, and which he said ought not to be submitted to, +as the laws of England were bounded by the four seas, and did not justly +reach America. He read a letter which he had from Mr. Stoughton, one of +the agents of the Colony in England, showing how they had been put off +from time to time, upon one excuse or another, without being able to get +a hearing; and now the Popish Plot did so occupy all minds there, that +Plantation matters were sadly neglected; but this much was certain, the +laws for the regulating of trade must be consented to by the +Massachusetts, if we would escape a total breach. My uncle struck his +hand hard on the table at this, and said if all were of his mind they +would never heed the breach; adding, that he knew his rights as a free- +born Englishman, under Magna Charta, which did declare it the privilege +of such to have a voice in the making of laws; whereas the Massachusetts +had no voice in Parliament, and laws were thrust upon them by strangers. + +"For mine own part," said Major Gookins, "I do hold our brother Eliot's +book on the Christian Commonwealth, which the General Court did make +haste to condemn on the coming in of the king, to be a sound and +seasonable treatise, notwithstanding the author himself hath in some +sort disowned it." + +"I did truly condemn and deny the false and seditious doctrines charged +upon it," said Mr. Eliot, "but for the book itself, rightly taken, and +making allowance for some little heat of discourse and certain hasty +and ill-considered words therein, I have never seen cause to repent. +I quite agree with what my lamented friend and fellow-laborer, Mr. +Danforth, said, when he was told that the king was to be proclaimed at +Boston: 'Whatever form of government may be deduced from Scripture, that +let us yield to for conscience' sake, not forgetting at the same time +that the Apostle hath said, if thou mayest be free use it rather.'" + +My uncle said this was well spoken of Mr. Danforth, who was a worthy +gentleman and a true friend to the liberties of the Colony; and he asked +Rebecca to read some ingenious verses writ by him in one of his +almanacs, which she had copied not long ago, wherein he compareth New +England to a goodly tree or plant. Whereupon, Rebecca read them as +followeth:-- + + "A skilful husbandman he was, who brought + This matchless plant from far, and here hath sought + A place to set it in; and for its sake + The wilderness a pleasant land doth make. + + "With pleasant aspect, Phoebus smiles upon + The tender buds and blooms that hang thereon; + At this tree's root Astrea sits and sings, + And waters it, whence upright Justice springs, + Which yearly shoots forth laws and liberties + That no man's will or wit may tyrannize. + Those birds of prey that sometime have oppressed + And stained the country with their filthy nest, + Justice abhors, and one day hopes to find + A way, to make all promise-breakers grind. + On this tree's top hangs pleasant Liberty, + Not seen in Austria, France, Spain, Italy. + True Liberty 's there ripe, where all confess + They may do what they will, save wickedness. + Peace is another fruit which this tree bears, + The chiefest garland that the country wears, + Which o'er all house-tops, towns, and fields doth spread, + And stuffs the pillow for each weary head. + It bloomed in Europe once, but now 't is gone, + And glad to find a desert mansion. + Forsaken Truth, Time's daughter, groweth here,-- + More precious fruit what tree did ever bear,-- + Whose pleasant sight aloft hath many fed, + And what falls down knocks Error on the head." + +After a little time, Rebecca found means to draw the good Mr. Eliot into +some account of his labors and journeys among the Indians, and of their +manner of life, ceremonies, and traditions, telling him that I was a +stranger in these parts, and curious concerning such matters. So he did +address himself to me very kindly, answering such questions as I +ventured to put to him. And first, touching the Powahs, of whom I had +heard much, he said they were manifestly witches, and such as had +familiar spirits; but that, since the Gospel has been preached here, +their power had in a great measure gone from them. "My old friend, +Passaconaway, the Chief of the Merrimac River Indians," said he, "was, +before his happy and marvellous conversion, a noted Powah and wizard. +I once queried with him touching his sorceries, when he said he had done +wickedly, and it was a marvel that the Lord spared his life, and did not +strike him dead with his lightnings. And when I did press him to tell +me how he did become a Powah, he said he liked not to speak of it, but +would nevertheless tell me. His grandmother used to tell him many +things concerning the good and bad spirits, and in a special manner of +the Abomako, or Chepian, who had the form of a serpent, and who was the +cause of sickness and pain, and of all manner of evils. And it so +chanced that on one occasion, when hunting in the wilderness, three +days' journey from home, he did lose his way, and wandered for a long +time without food, and night coming on, he thought he did hear voices of +men talking; but, on drawing near to the place whence the noise came, he +could see nothing but the trees and rocks; and then he did see a light, +as from a wigwam a little way off, but, going towards it, it moved away, +and, following it, he was led into a dismal swamp, full of water, and +snakes, and briers; and being in so sad a plight, he bethought him of +all he had heard of evil demons and of Chepian, who, he doubted not was +the cause of his trouble. At last, coming to a little knoll in the +swamp, he lay down under a hemlock-tree, and being sorely tired, fell +asleep. And he dreamed a dream, which was in this wise:-- + +"He thought he beheld a great snake crawl up out of the marsh, and stand +upon his tail under a tall maple-tree; and he thought the snake spake to +him, and bade him be of good cheer, for he would guide him safe out of +the swamp, and make of him a great chief and Powah, if he would pray to +him and own him as his god. All which he did promise to do; and when he +awoke in the morning, he beheld before him the maple-tree under which he +had seen the snake in his dream, and, climbing to the top of it, he saw +a great distance off the smoke of a wigwam, towards which he went, and +found some of his own people cooking a plentiful meal of venison. When +he got back to Patucket, he told his dream to his grandmother, who was +greatly rejoiced, and went about from wigwam to wigwam, telling the +tribe that Chepian had appeared to her grandson. So they had a great +feast and dance, and he was thenceforth looked upon as a Powah. Shortly +after, a woman of the tribe falling sick, he was sent for to heal her, +which he did by praying to Chepian and laying his hands upon her; and at +divers other times the Devil helped him in his enchantments and +witcheries." + +I asked Mr. Eliot whether he did know of any women who were Powahs. +He confessed he knew none; which was the more strange, as in Christian +countries the Old Serpent did commonly find instruments of his craft +among the women. + +To my query as to what notion the heathen had of God and a future state, +he said that, when he did discourse them concerning the great and true +God, who made all things, and of heaven and hell, they would readily +consent thereto, saying that so their fathers had taught them; but when +he spake to them of the destruction of the world by fire, and the +resurrection of the body, they would not hear to it, for they pretend to +hold that the spirit of the dead man goes forthwith, after death, to the +happy hunting-grounds made for good Indians, or to the cold and dreary +swamps and mountains, where the bad Indians do starve and freeze, and +suffer all manner of hardships. + +There was, Mr. Eliot told us, a famous Powah, who, coming to Punkapog, +while he was at that Indian town, gave out among the people there that a +little humming-bird did come to him and peck at him when he did aught +that was wrong, and sing sweetly to him when he did a good thing, or +spake the right words; which coming to Mr. Eliot's ear, he made him +confess, in the presence of the congregation, that he did only mean, by +the figure of the bird, the sense he had of right and wrong in his own +mind. This fellow was, moreover, exceeding cunning, and did often ask +questions hard to be answered touching the creation of the Devil, and +the fall of man. + +I said to him that I thought it must be a great satisfaction to him to +be permitted to witness the fruit of his long labors and sufferings in +behalf of these people, in the hopeful conversion of so many of them to +the light and knowledge of the Gospel; to which he replied that his poor +labors had been indeed greatly blest, but it was all of the Lord's +doing, and he could truly say he felt, in view of the great wants of +these wild people, and their darkness and misery, that he had by no +means done all his duty towards them. He said also, that whenever he +was in danger of being puffed up with the praise of men, or the vanity +of his own heart, the Lord had seen meet to abase and humble him, by the +falling back of some of his people to their old heathenish practices. +The war, moreover, was a sore evil to the Indian churches, as some few +of their number were enticed by Philip to join him in his burnings and +slaughterings, and this did cause even the peaceful and innocent to be +vehemently suspected and cried out against as deceivers and murderers. +Poor, unoffending old men, and pious women, had been shot at and killed +by our soldiers, their wigwams burned, their families scattered, and +driven to seek shelter with the enemy; yea, many Christian Indians, he +did believe, had been sold as slaves to the Barbadoes, which he did +account a great sin, and a reproach to our people. Major Gookins said +that a better feeling towards the Indians did now prevail among the +people; the time having been when, because of his friendliness to them, +and his condemnation of their oppressors, he was cried out against and +stoned in the streets, to the great hazard of his life. + +So, after some further discourse, our guests left us, Mr. Eliot kindly +inviting me to visit his Indian congregation near Boston, whereby I +could judge for myself of their condition. + + + +February 22, 1679. + +The weather suddenly changing from a warm rain and mist to sharp, clear +cold, the trees a little way from the house did last evening so shine +with a wonderful brightness in the light of the moon, now nigh unto its +full, that I was fain to go out upon the hill-top to admire them. And +truly it was no mean sight to behold every small twig becrusted with +ice, and glittering famously like silver-work or crystal, as the rays of +the moon did strike upon them. Moreover, the earth was covered with +frozen snow, smooth and hard like to marble, through which the long +rushes, the hazels, and mulleins, and the dry blades of the grasses, did +stand up bravely, bedight with frost. And, looking upward, there were +the dark tops of the evergreen trees, such as hemlocks, pines, and +spruces, starred and bespangled, as if wetted with a great rain of +molten crystal. After admiring and marvelling at this rare +entertainment and show of Nature, I said it did mind me of what the +Spaniards and Portuguese relate of the great Incas of Guiana, who had a +garden of pleasure in the Isle of Puna, whither they were wont to betake +themselves when they would enjoy the air of the sea, in which they had +all manner of herbs and flowers, and trees curiously fashioned of gold +and silver, and so burnished that their exceeding brightness did dazzle +the eyes of the beholders. + +"Nay," said the worthy Mr. Mather, who did go with us, "it should +rather, methinks, call to mind what the Revelator hath said of the Holy +City. I never look upon such a wonderful display of the natural world +without remembering the description of the glory of that city which +descended out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light +like unto a stone most precious, even like unto a jasper stone, clear as +crystal. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper, and the city +was pure gold like unto clear glass. And the twelve gates were twelve +pearls, every several gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city +was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. + +"There never was a king's palace lighted up and adorned like this," +continued Mr. Mather, as we went homewards. "It seemeth to be Gods +design to show how that He can glorify himself in the work of His hands, +even at this season of darkness and death, when all things are sealed +up, and there be no flowers, nor leaves, nor ruining brooks, to speak of +His goodness and sing forth His praises. Truly hath it been said, Great +things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend. For He saith to the snow, +Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain and the great rain of +His strength. He sealeth up the hand of every man, that all men may +know His work. Then the beasts go into their dens, and they remain in +their places. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind, and cold out of +the north. By the breath of God is the frost given, and the breadth of +the waters straitened." + + + +March 10. + +I have been now for many days afflicted with a great cold and pleurisy, +although, by God's blessing on the means used, I am wellnigh free from +pain, and much relieved, also, from a tedious cough. In this sickness I +have not missed the company and kind ministering of my dear Cousin +Rebecca, which was indeed a great comfort. She tells me to-day that the +time hath been fixed upon for her marriage with Sir Thomas, which did +not a little rejoice me, as I am to go back to mine own country in their +company. I long exceedingly to see once again the dear friends from whom +I have been separated by many months of time and a great ocean. + +Cousin Torrey, of Weymouth, coming in yesterday, brought with her a very +bright and pretty Indian girl, one of Mr. Eliot's flock, of the Natick +people. She was apparelled after the English manner, save that she wore +leggings, called moccasins, in the stead of shoes, wrought over daintily +with the quills of an animal called a porcupine, and hung about with +small black and white shells. Her hair, which was exceeding long and +black, hung straight down her back, and was parted from her forehead, +and held fast by means of a strip of birch back, wrought with quills and +feathers, which did encircle her head. She speaks the English well, and +can write somewhat, as well as read. Rebecca, for my amusement, did +query much with her regarding the praying Indians; and on her desiring +to know whether they did in no wise return to their old practices and +worships, Wauwoonemeen (for so she was called by her people) told us +that they did still hold their Keutikaw, or Dance for the Dead; and +that the ministers, although they did not fail to discourage it, had not +forbidden it altogether, inasmuch as it was but a civil custom of the +people, and not a religious rite. This dance did usually take place at +the end of twelve moons after the death of one of their number, and +finished the mourning. The guests invited bring presents to the +bereaved family, of wampum, beaver-skins, corn, and ground-nuts, and +venison. These presents are delivered to a speaker, appointed for the +purpose, who takes them, one by one, and hands them over to the +mourners, with a speech entreating them to be consoled by these tokens +of the love of their neighbors, and to forget their sorrows. After +which, they sit down to eat, and are merry together. + +Now it had so chanced that at a Keutikaw held the present winter, two +men had been taken ill, and had died the next day; and although Mr. +Eliot, when he was told of it, laid the blame thereof upon their hard +dancing until they were in a great heat, and then running out into the +snow and sharp air to cool themselves, it was thought by many that they +were foully dealt with and poisoned. So two noted old Powahs from +Wauhktukook, on the great river Connecticut, were sent for to discover +the murderers. Then these poor heathen got together in a great wigwam, +where the old wizards undertook, by their spells and incantations, to +consult the invisible powers in the matter. I asked Wauwoonemeen if she +knew how they did practise on the occasion; whereupon she said that none +but men were allowed to be in the wigwam, but that she could hear the +beating of sticks on the ground, and the groans and howlings and dismal +mutterings of the Powahs, and that she, with another young woman, +venturing to peep through a hole in the back of the wigwam, saw a great +many people sitting on the ground, and the two Powahs before the fire, +jumping and smiting their breasts, and rolling their eyes very +frightfully. + +"But what came of it?" asked Rebecca. "Did the Evil Spirit whom they +thus called upon testify against himself, by telling who were his +instruments in mischief?" + +The girl said she had never heard of any discovery of the poisoners, if +indeed there were such. She told us, moreover, that many of the best +people in the tribe would have no part in the business, counting it +sinful; and that the chief actors were much censured by the ministers, +and so ashamed of it that they drove the Powahs out of the village, the +women and boys chasing them and beating them with sticks and frozen +snow, so that they had to take to the woods in a sorry plight. + +We gave the girl some small trinkets, and a fair piece of cloth for an +apron, whereat she was greatly pleased. We were all charmed with her +good parts, sweetness of countenance, and discourse and ready wit, being +satisfied thereby that Nature knoweth no difference between Europe and +America in blood, birth, and bodies, as we read in Acts 17 that God hath +made of one blood all mankind. I was specially minded of a saying of +that ingenious but schismatic man, Mr. Roger Williams, in the little +book which he put forth in England on the Indian tongue:-- + + "Boast not, proud English, of thy birth and blood, + Thy brother Indian is by birth as good; + Of one blood God made him and thee and all, + As wise, as fair, as strong, as personal. + + "By nature wrath's his portion, thine, no more, + Till grace his soul and thine in Christ restore. + Make sure thy second birth, else thou shalt see + Heaven ope to Indians wild, but shut to thee!" + + + +March 15. + +One Master O'Shane, an Irish scholar, of whom my cousins here did learn +the Latin tongue, coming in last evening, and finding Rebecca and I +alone (uncle and aunt being on a visit to Mr. Atkinson's), was exceeding +merry, entertaining us rarely with his stories and songs. Rebecca tells +me he is a learned man, as I can well believe, but that he is too fond +of strong drink for his good, having thereby lost the favor of many of +the first families here, who did formerly employ him. There was one +ballad, which he saith is of his own making, concerning the selling of +the daughter of a great Irish lord as a slave in this land, which +greatly pleased me; and on my asking for a copy of it, he brought it to +me this morning, in a fair hand. I copy it in my Journal, as I know +that Oliver, who is curious in such things, will like it. + + +KATHLEEN. + +O NORAH, lay your basket down, +And rest your weary hand, +And come and hear me sing a song +Of our old Ireland. + +There was a lord of Galaway, +A mighty lord was he; +And he did wed a second wife, +A maid of low degree. + +But he was old, and she was young, +And so, in evil spite, +She baked the black bread for his kin, +And fed her own with white. + +She whipped the maids and starved the kern, +And drove away the poor; +"Ah, woe is me!" the old lord said, +"I rue my bargain sore!" + +This lord he had a daughter fair, +Beloved of old and young, +And nightly round the shealing-fires +Of her the gleeman sung. + +"As sweet and good is young Kathleen +As Eve before her fall;" +So sang the harper at the fair, +So harped he in the hall. + +"Oh, come to me, my daughter dear! +Come sit upon my knee, +For looking in your face, Kathleen, +Your mother's own I see!" + +He smoothed and smoothed her hair away, +He kissed her forehead fair; +"It is my darling Mary's brow, +It is my darling's hair!" + +Oh, then spake up the angry dame, +"Get up, get up," quoth she, +"I'll sell ye over Ireland, +I'll sell ye o'er the sea!" + +She clipped her glossy hair away, +That none her rank might know; +She took away her gown of silk, +And gave her one of tow, + +And sent her down to Limerick town +And to a seaman sold +This daughter of an Irish lord +For ten good pounds in gold. + +The lord he smote upon his breast, +And tore his beard so gray; +But he was old, and she was young, +And so she had her way. + +Sure that same night the Banshee howled +To fright the evil dame, +And fairy folks, who loved Kathleen, +With funeral torches came. + +She watched them glancing through the trees, +And glimmering down the hill; +They crept before the dead-vault door, +And there they all stood still! + +"Get up, old man! the wake-lights shine!" +"Ye murthering witch," quoth he, +"So I'm rid of your tongue, I little care +If they shine for you or me." + +"Oh, whoso brings my daughter back, +My gold and land shall have!" +Oh, then spake up his handsome page, +"No gold nor land I crave! + +"But give to me your daughter dear, +Give sweet Kathleen to me, +Be she on sea or be she on land, +I'll bring her back to thee." + +"My daughter is a lady born, +And you of low degree, +But she shall be your bride the day +You bring her back to me." + +He sailed east, he sailed west, +And far and long sailed he, +Until he came to Boston town, +Across the great salt sea. + +"Oh, have ye seen the young Kathleen, +The flower of Ireland? +Ye'll know her by her eyes so blue, +And by her snow-white hand!" + +Out spake an ancient man, "I know +The maiden whom ye mean; +I bought her of a Limerick man, +And she is called Kathleen. + +"No skill hath she in household work, +Her hands are soft and white, +Yet well by loving looks and ways +She doth her cost requite." + +So up they walked through Boston town, +And met a maiden fair, +A little basket on her arm +So snowy-white and bare. + +"Come hither, child, and say hast thou +This young man ever seen?" +They wept within each other's arms, +The page and young Kathleen. + +"Oh give to me this darling child, +And take my purse of gold." +"Nay, not by me," her master said, +"Shall sweet Kathleen be sold. + +"We loved her in the place of one +The Lord hath early ta'en; +But, since her heart's in Ireland, +We give her back again!" + +Oh, for that same the saints in heaven +For his poor soul shall pray, +And Mary Mother wash with tears +His heresies away. + +Sure now they dwell in Ireland; +As you go up Claremore +Ye'll see their castle looking down +The pleasant Galway shore. + +And the old lord's wife is dead and gone, +And a happy man is he, +For he sits beside his own Kathleen, +With her darling on his knee. +1849. + + + +March 27, 1679. + +Spent the afternoon and evening yesterday at Mr. Mather's, with uncle +and aunt, Rebecca and Sir Thomas, and Mr. Torrey of Weymouth, and his +wife; Mr. Thacher, the minister of the South Meeting, and Major Simon +Willard of Concord, being present also. There was much discourse of +certain Antinomians, whose loose and scandalous teachings in respect to +works were strongly condemned, although Mr. Thacher thought there might +be danger, on the other hand, of falling into the error of the +Socinians, who lay such stress upon works, that they do not scruple to +undervalue and make light of faith. Mr. Torrey told of some of the +Antinomians, who, being guilty of scandalous sins, did nevertheless +justify themselves, and plead that they were no longer under the law. +Sir Thomas drew Rebecca and I into a corner of the room, saying he was +a-weary of so much disputation, and began relating somewhat which befell +him in a late visit to the New Haven people. Among other things, he +told us that while he was there, a maid of nineteen years was put upon +trial for her life, by complaint of her parents of disobedience of their +commands, and reviling them; that at first the mother of the girl did +seem to testify strongly against her; but when she had spoken a few +words, the accused crying out with a bitter lamentation, that she should +be destroyed in her youth by the words of her own mother, the woman did +so soften her testimony that the Court, being in doubt upon the matter, +had a consultation with the ministers present, as to whether the accused +girl had made herself justly liable to the punishment prescribed for +stubborn and rebellious children in Deut. xxi. 20, 21. It was thought +that this law did apply specially unto a rebellious son, according to +the words of the text, and that a daughter could not be put to death +under it; to which the Court did assent, and the girl, after being +admonished, was set free. Thereupon, Sir Thomas told us, she ran +sobbing into the arms of her mother, who did rejoice over her as one +raised from the dead, and did moreover mightily blame herself for +putting her in so great peril, by complaining of her disobedience +to the magistrates. + +Major Willard, a pleasant, talkative man, being asked by Mr. Thacher +some questions pertaining to his journey into the New Hampshire, in the +year '52, with the learned and pious Mr. Edward Johnson, in obedience to +an order of the General Court, for the finding the northernmost part of +the river Merrimac, gave us a little history of the same, some parts of +which I deemed noteworthy. The company, consisting of the two +commissioners, and two surveyors, and some Indians, as guides and +hunters, started from Concord about the middle of July, and followed the +river on which Concord lies, until they came to the great Falls of the +Merrimac, at Patucket, where they were kindly entertained at the wigwam +of a chief Indian who dwelt there. They then went on to the Falls of +the Amoskeag, a famous place of resort for the Indians, and encamped at +the foot of a mountain, under the shade of some great trees, where they +spent the next day, it being the Sabhath. Mr. Johnson read a portion +of the Word, and a psalm was sung, the Indians sitting on the ground a +little way off, in a very reverential manner. They then went to +Annahookline, where were some Indian cornfields, and thence over a wild, +hilly country, to the head of the Merrimac, at a place called by the +Indians Aquedahcan, where they took an observation of the latitude, and +set their names upon a great rock, with that of the worshipful Governor, +John Endicott. Here was the great Lake Winnipiseogee, as large over as +an English county, with many islands upon it, very green with trees and +vines, and abounding with squirrels and birds. They spent two days at +the lake's outlet, one of them the Sabhath, a wonderfully still, quiet +day of the midsummer. "It is strange," said the Major, "but so it is, +that although a quarter of a century hath passed over me since that day, +it is still very fresh and sweet in my memory. Many times, in my +musings, I seem to be once more sitting under the beechen trees of +Aquedahcan, with my three English friends, and I do verily seem to see +the Indians squatted on the lake shore, round a fire, cooking their +dishes, and the smoke thereof curling about among the trees over their +heads; and beyond them is the great lake and the islands thereof, some +big and others exceeding small, and the mountains that do rise on the +other side, and whose woody tops show in the still water as in a glass. +And, withal, I do seem to have a sense of the smell of flowers, which +did abound there, and of the strawberries with which the old Indian +cornfield near unto us was red, they being then ripe and luscious to the +taste. It seems, also, as if I could hear the bark of my dog, and the +chatter of squirrels, and the songs of the birds, in the thick woods +behind us; and, moreover, the voice of my friend Johnson, as he did call +to mind these words of the 104th Psalm: 'Bless the Lord, O my soul! who +coverest thyself with light, as with a garment; who stretchest out the +heavens like a curtain; who layeth the beams of his chambers in the +waters; who maketh the clouds his chariot; and walketh upon the wings of +the wind!' Ah me! I shall never truly hear that voice more, unless, +through God's mercy, I be permitted to join the saints of light in +praise and thanksgiving beside stiller waters and among greener pastures +than are those of Aquedahcan." + +"He was a shining light, indeed," said Mr. Mather, "and, in view of his +loss and that of other worthies in Church and State, we may well say, as +of old, Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth!" + +Major Willard said that the works of Mr. Johnson did praise him, +especially that monument of his piety and learning, "The History of New +England; or, Wonder-Working Providence of Sion's Saviour," wherein he +did show himself in verse and in prose a workman not to be ashamed. +There was a piece which Mr. Johnson writ upon birchen bark at the head +of the Merrimac, during the journey of which he had spoken, which had +never been printed, but which did more deserve that honor than much of +the rhymes with which the land now aboundeth. Mr. Mather said he had +the piece of bark then in his possession, on which Mr. Johnson did +write; and, on our desiring to see it, he brought it to us, and, as we +could not well make out the writing thereon, he read it as followeth:-- + + +This lonesome lake, like to a sea, among the mountains lies, +And like a glass doth show their shapes, and eke the clouds and skies. +God lays His chambers' beams therein, that all His power may know, +And holdeth in His fist the winds, that else would mar the show. + +The Lord hath blest this wilderness with meadows, streams, and springs, +And like a garden planted it with green and growing things; +And filled the woods with wholesome meats, and eke with fowls the air, +And sown the land with flowers and herbs, and fruits of savor rare. + +But here the nations know him not, and come and go the days, +Without a morning prayer to Him, or evening song of praise; +The heathen fish upon the lake, or hunt the woods for meat, +And like the brutes do give no thanks for wherewithal to eat. + +They dance in shame and nakedness, with horrid yells to hear, +And like to dogs they make a noise, or screeching owls anear. +Each tribe, like Micah, doth its priest or cunning Powah keep; +Yea, wizards who, like them of old, do mutter and do peep. + +A cursed and an evil race, whom Satan doth mislead, +And rob them of Christ's hope, whereby he makes them poor indeed; +They hold the waters and the hills, and clouds, and stars to be +Their gods; for, lacking faith, they do believe but what they see. + +Yet God on them His sun and rain doth evermore bestow, +And ripens all their harvest-fields and pleasant fruits also. +For them He makes the deer and moose, for them the fishes swim, +And all the fowls in woods and air are goodly gifts from Him. + +Yea, more; for them, as for ourselves, hath Christ a ransom paid, +And on Himself, their sins and ours, a common burden laid. +By nature vessels of God's wrath, 't is He alone can give +To English or to Indians wild the grace whereby we live. + +Oh, let us pray that in these wilds the Gospel may be preached, +And these poor Gentiles of the woods may by its truth be reached; +That ransomed ones the tidings glad may sound with joy abroad, +And lonesome Aquedahcan hear the praises of the Lord! + + + +March 18. + +My cough still troubling me, an ancient woman, coming in yesterday, did +so set forth the worth and virtue of a syrup of her making, that Aunt +Rawson sent Effie over to the woman's house for a bottle of it. The +woman sat with us a pretty while, being a lively talking body, although +now wellnigh fourscore years of age. She could tell many things of the +old people of Boston, for, having been in youth the wife of a man of +some note and substance, and being herself a notable housewife and of +good natural parts, she was well looked upon by the better sort of +people. After she became a widow, she was for a little time in the +family of Governor Endicott, at Naumkeag, whom she describeth as a just +and goodly man, but exceeding exact in the ordering of his household, +and of fiery temper withal. When displeasured, he would pull hard at +the long tuft of hair which he wore upon his chin; and on one occasion, +while sitting in the court, he plucked off his velvet cap, and cast it +in the face of one of the assistants, who did profess conscientious +scruples against the putting to death of the Quakers. + +"I have heard say his hand was heavy upon these people," I said. + +"And well it might be," said the old woman, for more pestilent and +provoking strollers and ranters you shall never find than these same +Quakers. They were such a sore trouble to the Governor, that I do +believe his days were shortened by reason of them. For neither the +jail, nor whipping, nor cropping of ears, did suffice to rid him of +them. At last, when a law was made by the General Court, banishing them +on pain of death, the Governor, coming home from Boston, said that he +now hoped to have peace in the Colony, and that this sharpness would +keep the land free from these troublers. I remember it well, how the +next day he did invite the ministers and chief men, and in what a +pleasant frame he was. In the morning I had mended his best velvet +breeches for him, and he praised my work not a little, and gave me six +shillings over and above my wages; and, says he to me: 'Goody Lake,' +says he, 'you are a worthy woman, and do feel concerned for the good of +Zion, and the orderly carrying of matters in Church and State, and hence +I know you will be glad to hear that, after much ado, and in spite of +the strivings of evil-disposed people, the General Court have agreed +upon a law for driving the Quakers out of the jurisdiction, on pain of +death; so that, if any come after this, their blood be upon their own +heads. It is what I have wrestled with the Lord for this many a month, +and I do count it a great deliverance and special favor; yea, I may +truly say, with David: "Thou hast given me my heart's desire, and hast +not withholden the prayer of my lips. Thy hand shall find out all thine +enemies; thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine +anger; the Lord shall wallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall +devour them." You will find these words, Goody Lake,' says he, 'in the +21st Psalm, where what is said of the King will serve for such as be in +authority at this time.' For you must know, young woman, that the +Governor was mighty in Scripture, more especially in his prayers, +when you could think that he had it all at his tongue's end. + +"There was a famous dinner at the Governor's that day, and many guests, +and the Governor had ordered from his cellar some wine, which was a gift +from a Portuguese captain, and of rare quality, as I know of mine own +tasting, when word was sent to the Governor that a man wished to see +him, whom he bid wait awhile. After dinner was over, he went into the +hall, and who should be there but Wharton, the Quaker, who, without +pulling off his hat, or other salutation, cried out: 'John Endicott, +hearken to the word of the Lord, in whose fear and dread I am come. +Thou and thy evil counsellors, the priests, have framed iniquity by law, +but it shall not avail you. Thus saith the Lord, Evil shall slay the +wicked, and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate!' Now, when +the Governor did hear this, he fell, as must needs be, into a rage, and, +seeing me by the door, he bade me call the servants from the kitchen, +which I did, and they running up, he bade them lay hands on the fellow, +and take him away; and then, in a great passion, he called for his +horse, saying he would not rest until he had seen forty stripes save one +laid upon that cursed Quaker, and that he should go to the gallows yet +for his sauciness. So they had him to jail, and the next morning he was +soundly whipped, and ordered to depart the jurisdiction." + +I, being curious to know more concerning the Quakers, asked her if she +did ever talk with any of them who were dealt with by the authorities, +and what they said for themselves. + +"Oh, they never lacked words," said she, "but cried out for liberty of +conscience, and against persecution, and prophesied all manner of evil +upon such as did put in force the law. Some time about the year '56, +there did come two women of them to Boston, and brought with them +certain of their blasphemous books, which the constables burnt in the +street, as I well remember by this token, that, going near the fire, and +seeing one of the books not yet burnt, I stooped to pick it up, when one +of the constables gave me a smart rap with his staff, and snatched it +away. The women being sent to the jail, the Deputy-Governor, Mr. +Bellingham, and the Council, thinking they might be witches, were for +having them searched; and Madam Bellingham naming me and another woman +to her husband, he sent for us, and bade us go to the jail and search +them, to see if there was any witch-mark on their bodies. So we went, +and told them our errand, at which they marvelled not a little, and one +of them, a young, well-favored woman, did entreat that they might not be +put to such shame, for the jailer stood all the time in the yard, +looking in at the door; but we told them such was the order, and so, +without more ado, stripped them of their clothes, but found nothing save +a mole on the left breast of he younger, into which Goodwife Page thrust +her needle, at which the woman did give a cry as of pain, and the blood +flowed; whereas, if it had been witch's mark, she would not have felt +the prick, for would it have caused blood. So, finding nothing that did +look like witchcraft, we left them; and on being brought before the +Court, Deputy-Governor Bellingham asked us what we had to say concerning +the women. Whereupon Goodwife Page, being the oldest of us, told him +that we did find no appearance of witches upon their bodies, save the +mole on the younger woman's breast (which was but natural), but that +otherwise she was fair as Absalom, who had no blemish from the soles of +his feet to the crown of his head. Thereupon the Deputy-Governor +dismissed us, saying that it might be that the Devil did not want them +for witches, because they could better serve him as Quakers: whereat all +the Court fell to laughing." + +"And what did become of the women?" I asked. + +"They kept them in jail awhile," said Nurse Lake, "and then sent them +back to England. But the others that followed fared harder,--some +getting whipped at the cart-tail, and others losing their ears. The +hangman's wife showed me once the ears of three of them, which her +husband cut off in the jail that very morning." + +"This is dreadful!" said I, for I thought of my dear brother and sweet +Margaret Brewster, and tears filled mine eyes. + +"Nay; but they were sturdy knaves and vagabonds," answered Nurse Lake, +"although one of them was the son of a great officer in the Barbadoes, +and accounted a gentleman before he did run out into his evil practices. +But cropping of ears did not stop these headstrong people, and they +still coming, some were put to death. There were three of them to be +hanged at one time. I do remember it well, for it was a clear, warm day +about the last of October, and it was a brave sight to behold. There +was Marshal Michelson and Captain Oliver, with two hundred soldiers +afoot, besides many on horse of our chief people, and among them the +minister, Mr. Wilson, looking like a saint as he was, with a pleasant +and joyful countenance, and a great multitude of people, men, women, and +children, not only of Boston, but from he towns round about. I got +early on to the ground, and when they were going to the gallows I kept +as near to the condemned ones as I could. There were two young, well- +favored men, and a woman with gray hairs. As they walked hand in band, +the woman in the middle, the Marshal, who was riding beside them, and +who was a merry drolling man, asked her if she was n't ashamed to walk +hand in hand between two young men; whereupon, looking upon him +solemnly, she said she was not ashamed, for this was to her an hour of +great joy, and that no eye could see, no ear hear, no tongue speak, and +no heart understand, the sweet incomes and refreshings of the Lord's +spirit, which she did then feel. This she spake aloud, so that all +about could hear, whereat Captain Oliver bid the drums to beat and drown +her voice. Now, when they did come to the gallows ladder, on each side +of which the officers and chief people stood, the two men kept on their +hats, as is the ill manner of their sort, which so provoked Mr. Wilson, +the minister, that he cried out to them: 'What! shall such Jacks as you +come before authority with your hats on?' To which one of them said: +'Mind you, it is for not putting off our hats that we are put to death.' +The two men then went up the ladder, and tried to speak; but I could not +catch a word, being outside of the soldiers, and much fretted and +worried by the crowd. They were presently turned off, and then the +woman went up the ladder, and they tied her coats down to her feet, and +put the halter on her neck, and, lacking a handkerchief to tie over her +face, the minister lent the hangman his. Just then your Uncle Rawson +comes a-riding up to the gallows, waving his hand, and crying out, +'Stop! she is reprieved!' So they took her down, although she said she +was ready to die as her brethren did, unless they would undo their +bloody laws. I heard Captain Oliver tell her it was for her son's sake +that she was spared. So they took her to jail, and after a time sent +her back to her husband in Rhode Island, which was a favor she did in no +wise deserve; but good Governor Endicott, much as he did abhor these +people, sought not their lives, and spared no pains to get them +peaceably out the country; but they were a stubborn crew, and must needs +run their necks into the halter, as did this same woman; for, coming +back again, under pretence of pleading for the repeal of the laws +against Quakers, she was not long after put to death. The excellent Mr. +Wilson made a brave ballad on the hanging, which I have heard the boys +in the street sing many a time." + +A great number, both men and women, were--"whipped and put in the +stocks," continued the woman, "and I once beheld two of them, one a +young and the other an aged woman, in a cold day in winter, tied to the +tail of a cart, going through Salem Street, stripped to their waists as +naked as they were born, and their backs all covered with red whip- +marks; but there was a more pitiful case of one Hored Gardner, a young +married woman, with a little child and her nurse, who, coming to +Weymouth, was laid hold of and sent to Boston, where both were whipped, +and, as I was often at the jail to see the keeper's wife, it so chanced +that I was there at the time. The woman, who was young and delicate, +when they were stripping her, held her little child in her arms; and +when the jailer plucked it from her bosom, she looked round anxiously, +and, seeing me, said, 'Good woman, I know thou 't have pity on the +babe,' and asked me to hold it, which I did. She was then whipped with +a threefold whip, with knots in the ends, which did tear sadly into her +flesh; and, after it was over, she kneeled down, with her back all +bleeding, and prayed for them she called her persecutors. I must say I +did greatly pity her, and I spoke to the jailer's wife, and we washed +the poor creature's back, and put on it some famous ointment, so that +she soon got healed." + +Aunt Rawson now coming in, the matter was dropped; but, on my speaking +to her of it after Nurse Lake had left, she said it was a sore trial to +many, even those in authority, and who were charged with the putting in +force of the laws against these people. She furthermore said, that +Uncle Rawson and Mr. Broadstreet were much cried out against by the +Quakers and their abettors on both sides of the water, but they did but +their duty in the matter, and for herself she had always mourned over +the coming of these people, and was glad when the Court did set any of +them free. When the woman was hanged, my aunt spent the whole day with +Madam Broadstreet, who was so wrought upon that she was fain to take to +her bed, refusing to be comforted, and counting it the heaviest day of +her life. + +"Looking out of her chamber window," said Aunt Rawson, "I saw the people +who had been to the hanging coming back from the training-field; and +when Anne Broadstreet did hear the sound of their feet in the road, she +groaned, and said that it did seem as if every foot fell upon her heart. +Presently Mr. Broadstreet came home, bringing with him the minister, +Mr. John Norton. They sat down in the chamber, and for some little time +there was scarce a word spoken. At length Madam Broadstreet, turning to +her husband and laying her hand on his arm, as was her loving manner, +asked him if it was indeed all over. 'The woman is dead,' said he; 'but +I marvel, Anne, to see you so troubled about her. Her blood is upon her +own head, for we did by no means seek her life. She hath trodden under +foot our laws, and misused our great forbearance, so that we could do no +otherwise than we have done. So under the Devil's delusion was she, +that she wanted no minister or elder to pray with her at the gallows, +but seemed to think herself sure of heaven, heeding in no wise the +warnings of Mr. Norton, and other godly people.' + +"'Did she rail at, or cry out against any?' asked his wife. 'Nay, not to +my hearing,' he said, 'but she carried herself as one who had done no +harm, and who verily believed that she had obeyed the Lord's will.' + +"'This is very dreadful,' said she, 'and I pray that the death of that +poor misled creature may not rest heavy upon us.' + +"Hereupon Mr. Norton lifted up his head, which had been bowed down upon +his hand; and I shall never forget how his pale and sharp features did +seem paler than their wont, and his solemn voice seemed deeper and +sadder. 'Madam!' he said, 'it may well befit your gentleness and +sweetness of heart to grieve over the sufferings even of the froward and +ungodly, when they be cut off from the congregation of the Lord, as His +holy and just law enjoineth, for verily I also could weep for the +condemned one, as a woman and a mother; and, since her coming, I have +wrestled with the Lord, in prayer and fasting, that I might be His +instrument in snatching her as a brand from the burning. But, as a +watchman on the walls of Zion, when I did see her casting poison into +the wells of life, and enticing unstable souls into the snares and +pitfalls of Satan, what should I do but sound an alarm against her? And +the magistrate, such as your worthy husband, who is also appointed of +God, and set for the defence of the truth, and the safety of the Church +and the State, what can he do but faithfully to execute the law of God, +which is a terror to evil doers? The natural pity which we feel must +give place unto the duty we do severally owe to God and His Church, and +the government of His appointment. It is a small matter to be judged of +man's judgment, for, though certain people have not scrupled to call me +cruel and hard of heart, yet the Lord knows I have wept in secret places +over these misguided men and women. + +"'But might not life be spared?' asked Madam Broadstreet. 'Death is a +great thing.' + +"'It is appointed unto all to die,' said Mr. Norton, 'and after death +cometh the judgment. The death of these poor bodies is a bitter thing, +but the death of the soul is far more dreadful; and it is better that +these people should suffer than that hundreds of precious souls should +be lost through their evil communication. The care of the dear souls of +my flock lieth heavily upon me, as many sleepless nights and days of +fasting do bear witness. I have not taken counsel of flesh and blood in +this grave matter, nor yielded unto the natural weakness of my heart. +And while some were for sparing these workers of iniquity, even as Saul +spared Agag, I have been strengthened, as it were, to hew them in pieces +before the Lord in Gilgal. O madam, your honored husband can tell you +what travail of spirit, what sore trials, these disturbers have cost us; +and as you do know in his case, so believe also in mine, that what we +have done hath been urged, not by hardness and cruelty of heart, but +rather by our love and tenderness towards the Lord's heritage in this +land. Through care and sorrow I have grown old before my time; few and +evil have been the days of my pilgrimage, and the end seems not far off; +and though I have many sins and shortcomings to answer for, I do humbly +trust that the blood of the souls of the flock committed to me will not +then be found upon my garments.' + +"Ah, me! I shall never forget these words of that godly man," continued +my aunt, "for, as he said, his end was not far off. He died very +suddenly, and the Quakers did not scruple to say that it was God's +judgment upon him for his severe dealing with their people. They even +go so far as to say that the land about Boston is cursed because of the +hangings and whippings, inasmuch as wheat will not now grow here, as it +did formerly, and, indeed, many, not of their way, do believe the same +thing." + + + +April 24. + +A vessel from London has just come to port, bringing Rebecca's dresses +for the wedding, which will take place about the middle of June, as I +hear. Uncle Rawson has brought me a long letter from Aunt Grindall, +with one also from Oliver, pleasant and lively, like himself. No +special news from abroad that I hear of. My heart longs for Old England +more and more. + +It is supposed that the freeholders have chosen Mr. Broadstreet for +their Governor. The vote, uncle says, is exceeding small, very few +people troubling themselves about it. + + + +May 2. + +Mr. John Easton, a man of some note in the Providence Plantations, +having occasion to visit Boston yesterday, brought me a message from my +brother, to the effect that he was now married and settled, and did +greatly desire me to make the journey to his house in the company of his +friend, John Easton, and his wife's sister. I feared to break the +matter to my uncle, but Rebecca hath done so for me, and he hath, to my +great joy, consented thereto; for, indeed, he refuseth nothing to her. +My aunt fears for me, that I shall suffer from the cold, as the weather +is by no means settled, although the season is forward, as compared with +the last; but I shall take good care as to clothing; and John Easton +saith we shall be but two nights on the way. + + + +THE PLANTATIONS, May 10, 1679. + +We left Boston on the 4th, at about sunrise, and rode on at a brisk +trot, until we came to the banks of the river, along which we went near +a mile before we found a suitable ford, and even there the water was so +deep that we only did escape a wetting by drawing our feet up to the +saddle-trees. About noon, we stopped at a farmer's house, in the hope +of getting a dinner; but the room was dirty as an Indian wigwam, with +two children in it, sick with the measles, and the woman herself in a +poor way, and we were glad to leave as soon as possible, and get into +the fresh air again. Aunt had provided me with some cakes, and Mr. +Easton, who is an old traveller, had with him a roasted fowl and a good +loaf of Indian bread; so, coming to a spring of excellent water, we got +off our horses, and, spreading our napkins on the grass and dry leaves, +had a comfortable dinner. John's sister is a widow, a lively, merry +woman, and proved rare company for me. Afterwards we rode until the sun +was nigh setting, when we came to a little hut on the shore of a broad +lake at a place called Massapog. It had been dwelt in by a white family +formerly, but it was now empty, and much decayed in the roof, and as we +did ride up to it we saw a wild animal of some sort leap out of one of +its windows, and run into the pines. Here Mr. Easton said we must make +shift to tarry through the night, as it was many miles to the house of a +white man. So, getting off our horses, we went into the hut, which had +but one room, with loose boards for a floor; and as we sat there in the +twilight, it looked dismal enough; but presently Mr. Easton, coming in +with a great load of dried boughs, struck a light in the stone +fireplace, and we soon had a roaring fire. His sister broke off some +hemlock boughs near the door, and made a broom of them, with which she +swept up the floor, so that when we sat down on blocks by the hearth, +eating our poor supper, we thought ourselves quite comfortable and tidy. +It was a wonderful clear night, the moon rising, as we judged, about +eight of the clock, over the tops of the hills on the easterly side of +the lake, and shining brightly on the water in a long line of light, as +if a silver bridge had been laid across it. Looking out into the +forest, we could see the beams of the moon, falling here and there +through the thick tops of the pines and hemlocks, and showing their tall +trunks, like so many pillars in a church or temple. There was a +westerly wind blowing, not steadily, but in long gusts, which, sounding +from a great distance through the pine leaves, did make a solemn and not +unpleasing music, to which I listened at the door until the cold drove +me in for shelter. Our horses having been fed with corn, which Mr. +Easton took with him, were tied at the back of the building, under the +cover of a thick growth of hemlocks, which served to break off the night +wind. The widow and I had a comfortable bed in the corner of the room, +which we made of small hemlock sprigs, having our cloaks to cover us, +and our saddlebags for pillows. My companions were soon asleep, but the +exceeding strangeness of my situation did keep me a long time awake. +For, as I lay there looking upward, I could see the stars shining down a +great hole in the roof, and the moonlight streaming through the seams of +the logs, and mingling with the red glow of the coals on the hearth. I +could hear the horses stamping, just outside, and the sound of the water +on the lake shore, the cry of wild animals in the depth of the woods, +and, over all, the long and very wonderful murmur of the pines in the +wind. At last, being sore weary, I fell asleep, and waked not until I +felt the warm sun shining in my face, and heard the voice of Mr. Easton +bidding me rise, as the horses were ready. + +After riding about two hours we came upon an Indian camp, in the midst +of a thick wood of maples. Here were six spacious wigwams; but the men +were away, except two very old and infirm ones. There were five or six +women, and perhaps twice as many children, who all came out to see us. +They brought us some dried meat, as hard nigh upon as chips of wood, and +which, although hungry, I could feel no stomach for; but I bought of one +of the squaws two great cakes of sugar, made from the sap of the maples +which abound there, very pure and sweet, and which served me instead of +their unsavory meat and cakes of pounded corn, of which Mr. Easton and +his sister did not scruple to partake. Leaving them, we had a long and +hard ride to a place called Winnicinnit, where, to my great joy, we +found a comfortable house and Christian people, with whom we tarried. +The next day we got to the Plantations; and about noon, from the top of +a hill, Mr. Easton pointed out the settlement where my brother dwelt,-- +a fair, pleasant valley, through which ran a small river, with the +houses of the planters on either side. Shortly after, we came to a new +frame house, with a great oak-tree left standing on each side of the +gate, and a broad meadow before it, stretching down to the water. Here +Mr. Easton stopped; and now, who should come hastening down to us but my +new sister, Margaret, in her plain but comely dress, kindly welcoming +me; and soon my brother came up from the meadow, where he was busy with +his men. It was indeed a joyful meeting. + +The next day being the Sabhath, I went with my brother and his wife to +the meeting, which was held in a large house of one of their Quaker +neighbors. About a score of grave, decent people did meet there, +sitting still and quiet for a pretty while, when one of their number, +a venerable man, spake a few words, mostly Scripture; then a young +woman, who, I did afterwards learn, had been hardly treated by the +Plymouth people, did offer a few words of encouragement and exhortation +from this portion of the 34th Psalm: "The angel of the Lord encampeth +round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." When the meeting +was over, some of the ancient women came and spake kindly to me, +inviting me to their houses. In the evening certain of these people +came to my brother's, and were kind and loving towards me. There was, +nevertheless, a gravity and a certain staidness of deportment which I +could but ill conform unto, and I was not sorry when they took leave. +My Uncle Rawson need not fear my joining with them; for, although I do +judge them to be a worthy and pious people, I like not their manner of +worship, and their great gravity and soberness do little accord with my +natural temper and spirits. + + + +May 16. + +This place is in what is called the Narragansett country, and about +twenty miles from Mr. Williams's town of Providence, a place of no small +note. Mr. Williams, who is now an aged man, more than fourscore, was +the founder of the Province, and is held in great esteem by the people, +who be of all sects and persuasions, as the Government doth not molest +any in worshipping according to conscience; and hence you will see in +the same neighborhood Anabaptists, Quakers, New Lights, Brownists, +Antinomians, and Socinians,--nay, I am told there be Papists also. Mr. +Williams is a Baptist, and holdeth mainly with Calvin and Beza, as +respects the decrees, and hath been a bitter reviler of the Quakers, +although he hath ofttimes sheltered them from the rigor of the +Massachusetts Bay magistrates, who he saith have no warrant to deal in +matters of conscience and religion, as they have done. + +Yesterday came the Governor of the Rhode Island, Nicholas Easton, the +father of John, with his youngest daughter Mary, as fair and as ladylike +a person as I have seen for many a day. Both her father and herself do +meet with the "Friends," as they call themselves, at their great house +on the Island, and the Governor sometimes speaks therein, having, as one +of the elders here saith of him, "a pretty gift in the ministry." Mary, +who is about the age of my brother's wife, would fain persuade us to go +back with them on the morrow to the Island, but Leonard's business will +not allow it, and I would by no means lose his company while I tarry in +these parts, as I am so soon to depart for home, where a great ocean +will separate us, it may be for many years. Margaret, who hath been to +the Island, saith that the Governor's house is open to all new-comers, +who are there entertained with rare courtesy, he being a man of +substance, having a great plantation, with orchards and gardens, and +a stately house on an hill over-looking the sea on either hand, where, +six years ago, when the famous George Fox was on the Island, he did +entertain and lodge no less than fourscore persons, beside his own +family and servants. + +Governor Easton, who is a pleasant talker, told a story of a magistrate +who had been a great persecutor of his people. On one occasion, after +he had cast a worthy Friend into jail, he dreamed a dream in this wise: +He thought he was in a fair, delightsome place, where were sweet springs +of water and green meadows, and rare fruit-trees and vines with ripe +clusters thereon, and in the midst thereof flowed a river whose waters +were clearer than crystal. Moreover, he did behold a great multitude +walking on the river's bank, or sitting lovingly in the shade of the +trees which grew thereby. Now, while he stood marvelling at all this, +he beheld in his dream the man he had cast into prison sitting with his +hat on, side by side with a minister then dead, whom the magistrate had +held in great esteem while living; whereat, feeling his anger stirred +within him, he went straight and bade the man take off his hat in the +presence of his betters. Howbeit the twain did give no heed to his +words, but did continue to talk lovingly together as before; whereupon +he waxed exceeding wroth, and would have laid hands upon the man. But, +hearing a voice calling upon him to forbear, he did look about him, and +behold one, with a shining countenance, and clad in raiment so white +that it did dazzle his eyes to look upon it, stood before him. And the +shape said, "Dost thou well to be angry?" Then said the magistrate, +"Yonder is a Quaker with his hat on talking to a godly minister." +"Nay," quoth the shape, "thou seest but after the manner of the world +and with the eyes of flesh. Look yonder, and tell me what thou seest." +So he looked again, and lo! two men in shining raiment, like him who +talked with him, sat under the tree. "Tell me," said the shape, "if thou +canst, which of the twain is the Quaker and which is the Priest?" And +when he could not, but stood in amazement confessing he did see neither +of them, the shape said, "Thou sayest well, for here be neither Priest +nor Quaker, Jew nor Gentile, but all are one in the Lord." Then he +awoke, and pondered long upon his dream, and when it was morning he went +straightway to the jail, and ordered the man to be set free, and hath +ever since carried himself lovingly towards the Quakers. + +My brother's lines have indeed fallen unto him in a pleasant, place. +His house is on a warm slope of a hill, looking to the southeast, with a +great wood of oaks and walnuts behind it, and before it many acres of +open land, where formerly the Indians did plant their corn, much of +which is now ploughed and seeded. From the top of the hill one can see +the waters of the great Bay; at the foot of it runs a small river +noisily over the rocks, making a continual murmur. Going thither this +morning, I found a great rock hanging over the water, on which I sat +down, listening to the noise of the stream and the merriment of the +birds in the trees, and admiring the green banks, which were besprinkled +with white and yellow flowers. I call to mind that sweet fancy of the +lamented Anne Broadstreet, the wife of the new Governor of +Massachusetts, in a little piece which she nameth "Contemplations," +being written on the banks of a stream, like unto the one whereby I was +then sitting, in which the writer first describeth the beauties of the +wood, and the flowing water, with the bright fishes therein, and then +the songs of birds in the boughs over her head, in this sweet and +pleasing verse, which I have often heard repeated by Cousin Rebecca:-- + + "While musing thus, with contemplation fed, + And thousand fancies buzzing in my brain, + A sweet-tongued songster perched above my head, + And chanted forth her most melodious strain; + Which rapt me so with wonder and delight, + I judged my hearing better than my sight, + And wished me wings with her a while to take my flight. + + "O merry bird! said I, that fears no snares, + That neither toils nor hoards up in the barn, + Feels no sad thoughts, nor cruciating cares, + To gain more good, or shun what might thee harm. + Thy clothes ne'er wear, thy meat is everywhere, + Thy bed a bough, thy drink the water clear, + Reminds not what is past, nor what's to come dost fear. + + "The dawning morn with songs thou dost prevent, + Sets hundred notes unto thy feathered crew, + So each one tunes his pretty instrument, + And, warbling out the old, begins the new. + And thus they pass their youth in summer season, + Then follow thee unto a better region, + Where winter's never felt by that sweet airy legion." + +Now, while I did ponder these lines, hearing a step in the leaves, I +looked up, and behold there was an old Indian close beside me; and, +being much affrighted, I gave a loud cry, and ran towards the house. +The old man laughed at this, and, calling after me, said he would not +harm me; and Leonard, hearing my cries, now coming up, bade me never +fear the Indian, for he was a harmless creature, who was well known to +him. So he kindly saluted the old man, asking me to shake hands with +him, which I did, when he struck across the field to a little cleared +spot on the side of the hill. My brother bidding me note his actions, +I saw him stoop down on his knees, with his head to the ground, for some +space of time, and then, getting up, he stretched out his hands towards +the southwest, as if imploring some one whom I could not see. This he +repeated for nigh upon half an hour, when he came back to the house, +where he got some beer and bread to eat, and a great loaf to carry away. +He said but little until he rose to depart, when he told my brother that +he had been to see the graves of his father and his mother, and that he +was glad to find them as he did leave them the last year; for he knew +that the spirits of the dead would be sore grieved, if the white man's +hoe touched their bones. + +My brother promised him that the burial-place of his people should not +be disturbed, and that he would find it as now, when he did again visit +it. + +"Me never come again," said the old Indian. "No. Umpachee is very old. +He has no squaw; he has no young men who call him father. Umpachee is +like that tree;" and he pointed, as he spoke, to a birch, which stood +apart in the field, from which the bark had fallen, and which did show +no leaf nor bud. + +My brother hereupon spake to him of the great Father of both white and +red men, and of his love towards them, and of the measure of light which +he had given unto all men, whereby they might know good from evil, and +by living in obedience to which they might be happy in this life and in +that to come; exhorting him to put his trust in God, who was able to +comfort and sustain him in his old age, and not to follow after lying +Powahs, who did deceive and mislead him. + +"My young brother's talk is good," said the old man. "The Great Father +sees that his skin is white, and that mine is red. He sees my young +brother when he sits in his praying-house, and me when me offer him corn +and deer's flesh in the woods, and he says good. Umpachee's people have +all gone to one place. If Umpachee go to a praying-house, the Great +Father will send him to the white man's place, and his father and his +mother and his sons will never see him in their hunting-ground. No. +Umpachee is an old beaver that sits in his own house, and swims in his +own pond. He will stay where he is, until his Father calls him." + +Saying this, the old savage went on his way. As he passed out of the +valley, and got to the top of the hill on the other side, we, looking +after him, beheld him standing still a moment, as if bidding farewell to +the graves of his people. + + + +May 24. + +My brother goes with me to-morrow on my way to Boston. I am not a +little loath to leave my dear sister Margaret, who hath greatly won upon +me by her gentleness and loving deportment, and who doth at all times, +even when at work in ordering her household affairs, and amidst the +cares and perplexities of her new life, show forth that sweetness of +temper and that simplicity wherewith I was charmed when I first saw her. +She hath naturally an ingenious mind, and, since her acquaintance with +my brother, hath dipped into such of his studies and readings as she had +leisure and freedom to engage in, so that her conversation is in no wise +beneath her station. Nor doth she, like some of her people, especially +the more simple and unlearned, affect a painful and melancholy look and +a canting tone of discourse, but lacketh not for cheerfulness and a +certain natural ease and grace of demeanor; and the warmth and goodness +of her heart doth at times break the usual quiet of her countenance, +like to sunshine and wind on a still water, and she hath the sweetest +smile I ever saw. I have often thought, since I have been with her, +that if Uncle Rawson could see and hear her as I do for a single day, +he would confess that my brother might have done worse than to take a +Quaker to wife. + + + +BOSTON, May 28, 1679. + +Through God's mercy, I got here safe and well, saving great weariness, +and grief at parting with my brother and his wife. The first day we +went as far as a place they call Rehoboth, where we tarried over night, +finding but small comfort therein; for the house was so filled, that +Leonard and a friend who came with us were fain to lie all night in the +barn, on the mow before their horses; and, for mine own part, I had to +choose between lying in the large room, where the man of the house and +his wife and two sons, grown men, did lodge, or to climb into the dark +loft, where was barely space for a bed,--which last I did make choice +of, although the woman thought it strange, and marvelled not a little at +my unwillingness to sleep in the same room with her husband and boys, +as she called them. In the evening, hearing loud voices in a house near +by, we inquired what it meant, and were told that some people from +Providence were holding a meeting there, the owner of the house being +accounted a Quaker. Whereupon, I went thither with Leonard, and found +nigh upon a score of people gathered, and a man with loose hair and +beard speaking to them. My brother whispered to me that he was no +Friend, but a noted ranter, a noisy, unsettled man. He screamed +exceeding loud, and stamped with his feet, and foamed at the mouth, like +one possessed with an evil spirit, crying against all order in State or +Church, and declaring that the Lord had a controversy with Priests and +Magistrates, the prophets who prophesy falsely, and the priests who bear +rule by their means, and the people who love to have it so. He spake of +the Quakers as a tender and hopeful people in their beginning, and while +the arm of the wicked was heavy upon them; but now he said that they, +even as the rest, were settled down into a dead order, and heaping up +worldly goods, and speaking evil of the Lord's messengers. They were a +part of Babylon, and would perish with their idols; they should drink of +the wine of God's wrath; the day of their visitation was at hand. After +going on thus for a while, up gets a tall, wild-looking woman, as pale +as a ghost, and trembling from head to foot, who, stretching out her +long arms towards the man who had spoken, bade the people take notice +that this was the angel spoken of in Revelation, flying through the +midst of heaven, and crying, Woe! woe! to the inhabitants of the earth! +with more of the like wicked rant, whereat I was not a little +discomposed, and, beckoning my brother, left them to foam out their +shame to themselves. + +The next morning, we got upon our horses at an early hour, and after a +hard and long ride reached Mr. Torrey's at Weymouth, about an hour after +dark. Here we found Cousin Torrey in bed with her second child, a boy, +whereat her husband is not a little rejoiced. My brother here took his +leave of me, going back to the Plantations. My heart is truly sad and +heavy with the great grief of parting. + + + +May 30. + +Went to the South meeting to-day, to hear the sermon preached before the +worshipful Governor, Mr. Broadstreet, and his Majesty's Council, it +being the election day. It was a long sermon, from Esther x. 3. Had +much to say concerning the duty of Magistrates to support the Gospel and +its ministers, and to put an end to schism and heresy. Very pointed, +also, against time-serving Magistrates. + + + +June 1. + +Mr. Michael Wigglesworth, the Malden minister, at uncle's house last +night. Mr. Wigglesworth told aunt that he had preached a sermon against +the wearing of long hair and other like vanities, which he hoped, with +God's blessing, might do good. It was from Isaiah iii. 16, and so on +to the end of the chapter. Now, while he was speaking of the sermon, +I whispered Rebecca that I would like to ask him a question, which he +overhearing, turned to me, and bade me never heed, but speak out. So I +told him that I was but a child in years and knowledge, and he a wise +and learned man; but if he would not deem it forward in me, I would fain +know whether the Scripture did anywhere lay down the particular fashion +of wearing the hair. + +Mr. Wigglesworth said that there were certain general rules laid down, +from which we might make a right application to particular cases. The +wearing of long hair by men is expressly forbidden in 1 Corinthians xi. +14, 15; and there is a special word for women, also, in 1 Tim. ii. 9. + +Hereupon Aunt Rawson told me she thought I was well answered; but I +(foolish one that I was), being unwilling to give up the matter so, +ventured further to say that there were the Nazarites, spoken of in +Numbers vi. 5, upon whose heads, by the appointment of God, no razor +was to come. + +"Nay," said Mr. Wigglesworth, "that was by a special appointment only, +and proveth the general rule and practice." + +Uncle Rawson said that long hair might, he judged, be lawfully worn, +where the bodily health did require it, to guard the necks of weakly +people from the cold. + +"Where there seems plainly a call of nature for it," said Mr. +Wigglesworth, "as a matter of bodily comfort, and for the warmth of the +head and neck, it is nowise unlawful. But for healthy, sturdy young +people to make this excuse for their sinful vanity doth but add to their +condemnation. If a man go any whit beyond God's appointment and the +comfort of nature, I know not where he will stop, until he grows to be +the veriest ruffian in the world. It is a wanton and shameful thing for +a man to liken himself to a woman, by suffering his hair to grow, and +curling and parting it in a seam, as is the manner of too many. It +betokeneth pride and vanity, and causeth no small offence to godly, +sober people. + +"The time hath been," continued Mr. Wigglesworth, "when God's people +were ashamed of such vanities, both in the home country and in these +parts; but since the Bishops and the Papists have had their way, and +such as feared God are put down from authority, to give place to +scorners and wantons, there hath been a sad change." + +He furthermore spake of the gay apparel of the young women of Boston, +and their lack of plainness and modesty in the manner of wearing and +ordering their hair; and said he could in no wise agree with some of his +brethren in the ministry that this was a light matter, inasmuch as it +did most plainly appear from Scripture that the pride and haughtiness of +the daughters of Zion did provoke the judgments of the Lord, not only +upon them, but upon the men also. Now, the special sin of women is +pride and haughtiness, and that because they be generally more ignorant, +being the weaker vessel; and this sin venteth itself in their gesture, +their hair and apparel. Now, God abhors all pride, especially pride in +base things; and hence the conduct of the daughters of Zion does greatly +provoke his wrath, first against themselves, secondly their fathers and +husbands, and thirdly against the land they do inhabit. + +Rebecca here roguishly pinched my arm, saying apart that, after all, we +weaker vessels did seem to be of great consequence, and nobody could +tell but that our head-dresses would yet prove the ruin of the country. + + + +June 4 + +Robert Pike, coming into the harbor with his sloop, from the Pemaquid +country, looked in upon us yesterday. Said that since coming to the +town he had seen a Newbury man, who told him that old Mr. Wheelwright, +of Salisbury, the famous Boston minister in the time of Sir Harry Vane +and Madam Hutchinson, was now lying sick, and nigh unto his end. Also, +that Goodman Morse was so crippled by a fall in his barn, that he cannot +get to Boston to the trial of his wife, which is a sore affliction to +him. The trial of the witch is now going on, and uncle saith it looks +much against her, especially the testimony of the Widow Goodwin about +her child, and of John Gladding about seeing one half of the body of +Goody Morse flying about in the sun, as if she had been cut in twain, or +as if the Devil did hide the lower part of her. Robert Pike said such +testimony ought not to hang a cat, the widow being little more than a +fool; and as for the fellow Gladding, he was no doubt in his cups, for +he had often seen him in such a plight that he could not have told Goody +Morse from the Queen of Sheba. + + + +June 8. + +The Morse woman having been found guilty by the Court of Assistants, +she was brought out to the North Meeting, to hear the Thursday Lecture, +yesterday, before having her sentence. The house was filled with +people, they being curious to see the witch. The Marshal and the +constables brought her in, and set her in, front of the pulpit; the old +creature looking round her wildly, as if wanting her wits, and then +covering her face with her dark wrinkled hands; a dismal sight! The +minister took his text in Romans xiii. 3, 4, especially the last clause +of the 4th verse, relating to rulers: For he beareth not the sword in +vain, &c. He dwelt upon the power of the ruler as a Minister of God, +and as a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil; and showeth +that the punishment of witches and such as covenant with the Devil is +one of the duties expressly enjoined upon rulers by the Word of God, +inasmuch as a witch was not to be suffered to live. + +He then did solemnly address himself to the condemned woman, quoting 1 +Tim. v. 20: "Them that sin, rebuke before all, that others also may +fear." The woman was greatly moved, for no doubt the sharp words of the +preacher did prick her guilty conscience, and the terrors of hell did +take hold of her, so that she was carried out, looking scarcely alive. +They took her, when the lecture was over, to the Court, where the +Governor did pronounce sentence of death upon her. But uncle tells me +there be many who are stirring to get her respited for a time, at least, +and he doth himself incline to favor it, especially as Rebecca hath +labored much with him to that end, as also hath Major Pike and Major +Saltonstall with the Governor, who himself sent for uncle last night, +and they had a long talk together, and looked over the testimony against +the woman, and neither did feel altogether satisfied with it. Mr. +Norton adviseth for the hanging; but Mr. Willard, who has seen much of +the woman, and hath prayed with her in the jail, thinks she may be +innocent in the matter of witchcraft, inasmuch as her conversation was +such as might become a godly person in affliction, and the reading of +the Scripture did seem greatly to comfort her. + + + +June 9. + +Uncle Rawson being at the jail to-day, a messenger, who had been sent to +the daughter of Goody Morse, who is the wife of one Hate Evil Nutter, on +the Cocheco, to tell her that her mother did greatly desire to see her +once more before she was hanged, coming in, told the condemned woman +that her daughter bade him say to her, that inasmuch as she had sold +herself to the Devil, she did owe her no further love or service, and +that she could not complain of this, for as she had made her bed, so she +must lie. Whereat the old creature set up a miserable cry, saying that +to have her own flesh and blood turn against her was more bitter than +death itself. And she begged Mr. Willard to pray for her, that her +trust in the Lord might not be shaken by this new affliction. + + + +June 10. + +The condemned woman hath been reprieved by the Governor and the +Magistrates until the sitting of the Court in October. Many people, +both men and women, coming in from the towns about to see the hanging, +be sore disappointed, and do vehemently condemn the conduct of the +Governor therein. For mine own part, I do truly rejoice that mercy hath +been shown to the poor creature; for even if she is guilty, it affordeth +her a season for repentance; and if she be innocent, it saveth the land +from a great sin. The sorrowful look of the old creature at the Lecture +hath troubled me ever since, so forlorn and forsaken did she seem. +Major Pike (Robert's father), coming in this morning, says, next to the +sparing of Goody Morse's life, it did please him to see the bloodthirsty +rabble so cheated out of their diversion; for example, there was Goody +Matson, who had ridden bare-backed, for lack of a saddle, all the way +from Newbury, on Deacon Dole's hard-trotting horse, and was so galled +and lame of it that she could scarce walk. The Major said he met her at +the head of King Street yesterday, with half a score more of her sort, +scolding and railing about the reprieve of the witch, and prophesying +dreadful judgments upon all concerned in it. He said he bade her shut +her mouth and go home, where she belonged; telling her that if he heard +any more of her railing, the Magistrates should have notice of it, and +she would find that laying by the heels in the stocks was worse than +riding Deacon Dole's horse. + + + +June 14. + +Yesterday the wedding took place. It was an exceeding brave one; most +of the old and honored families being at it, so that the great house +wherein my uncle lives was much crowded. Among them were Governor +Broadstreet and many of the honorable Magistrates, with Mr. Saltonstall +and his worthy lady; Mr. Richardson, the Newbury minister, joining the +twain in marriage, in a very solemn and feeling manner. Sir Thomas was +richly apparelled, as became one of his rank, and Rebecca in her white +silk looked comely as an angel. She wore the lace collar I wrought for +her last winter, for my sake, although I fear me she had prettier ones +of her own working. The day was wet and dark, with an easterly wind +blowing in great gusts from the bay, exceeding cold for the season. + +Rebecca, or Lady Hale, as she is now called, had invited Robert Pike +to her wedding, but he sent her an excuse for not coming, to the effect +that urgent business did call him into the eastern country as far as +Monhegan and Pemaquid. His letter, which was full of good wishes for +her happiness and prosperity, I noted saddened Rebecca a good deal; and +she was, moreover, somewhat disturbed by certain things that did happen +yesterday: the great mirror in the hall being badly broken, and the +family arms hanging over the fire-place thrown down, so that it was +burned by the coals kindled on the hearth, on account of the dampness; +which were looked upon as ill signs by most people. Grindall, a +thoughtless youth, told his sister of the burning of the arms, and that +nothing was left save the head of the raven in the crest, at which she +grew very pale, and said it was strange, indeed, and, turning to me, +asked me if I did put faith in what was said of signs and prognostics. +So, seeing her troubled, I laughed at the matter, although I secretly +did look upon it as an ill omen, especially as I could never greatly +admire Sir Thomas. My brother's wife, who seemed fully persuaded that +he is an unworthy person, sent by me a message to Rebecca, to that +effect; but I had not courage to speak of it, as matters had gone so +far, and uncle and aunt did seem so fully bent upon making a great lady +of their daughter. + +The vessel in which we are to take our passage is near upon ready for +the sea. The bark is a London one, called "The Three Brothers," and is +commanded by an old acquaintance of Uncle Rawson. I am happy with the +thought of going home, yet, as the time of departure draws nigh, I do +confess some regrets at leaving this country, where I have been so +kindly cared for and entertained, and where I have seen so many new and +strange things. The great solemn woods, as wild and natural as they +were thousands of years ago, the fierce suns of the summer season and +the great snows of the winter, and the wild beasts, and the heathen +Indians,--these be things the memory whereof will over abide with me. +To-day the weather is again clear and warm, the sky wonderfully bright; +the green leaves flutter in the wind, and the birds are singing sweetly. +The waters of the bay, which be yet troubled by the storm of last night, +are breaking in white foam on the rocks of the main land, and on the +small islands covered with trees and vines; and many boats and sloops +going out with the west wind, to their fishing, do show their white +sails in the offing. How I wish I had skill to paint the picture of all +this for my English friends! My heart is pained, as I look upon it, +with the thought that after a few days I shall never see it more. + + + +June 18. + +To-morrow we embark for home. Wrote a long letter to my dear brother +and sister, and one to my cousins at York. Mr. Richardson hath just +left us, having come all the way from Newbury to the wedding. The +excellent Governor Broadstreet hath this morning sent to Lady Hale a +handsome copy of his first wife's book, entitled "Several Poems by a +Gentlewoman of New England," with these words on the blank page thereof, +from Proverbs xxxi. 30, "A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be +praised," written in the Governor's own hand. All the great folks +hereabout have not failed to visit my cousin since her marriage; but I +do think she is better pleased with some visits she hath had from poor +widows and others who have been in times past relieved and comforted by +her charities and kindness, the gratitude of these people affecting her +unto tears. Truly it may be said of her, as of Job: "When the ear heard +her then it blessed her, and when the eye saw her it gave witness to +her: because she delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and +him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to +perish came upon her; and she caused the widow's heart to sing for joy." + +[Here the diary ends somewhat abruptly. It appears as if some of the +last pages have been lost. Appended to the manuscript I find a note, in +another handwriting, signed "R. G.," dated at Malton Rectory, 1747. One +Rawson Grindall, M. A., was curate of Malton at this date, and the +initials are undoubtedly his. The sad sequel to the history of the fair +Rebecca Rawson is confirmed by papers now on file in the State-House at +Boston, in which she is spoken of as "one of the most beautiful, polite, +and accomplished young ladies in Boston."--Editor.] + +"These papers of my honored and pious grandmother, Margaret Smith, who, +soon after her return from New England, married her cousin, Oliver +Grindall, Esq., of Hilton Grange, Crowell, in Oxfordshire (both of whom +have within the last ten years departed this life, greatly lamented by +all who knew them), having cone into my possession, I have thought it +not amiss to add to them a narrative of what happened to her friend and +cousin, as I have had the story often from her own lips. + +"It appears that the brave gallant calling himself Sir Thomas Hale, +for all his fair seething and handsome address, was but a knave and +impostor, deceiving with abominable villany Rebecca Rawson and most of +her friends (although my grandmother was never satisfied with him, as is +seen in her journal). When they got, to London, being anxious, on +account of sea-sickness and great weariness, to leave the vessel as soon +as possible, they went ashore to the house of a kinsman to lodge, +leaving their trunks and clothing on board. Early on the next morning, +he that called himself Sir Thomas left his wife, taking with him the +keys of her trunks, telling her he would send them up from the vessel in +season for her to dress for dinner. The trunks came, as he said, but +after waiting impatiently for the keys until near the dinner-hour, and +her husband not returning, she had them broken open, and, to her grief +and astonishment, found nothing therein but shavings and other +combustible matter. Her kinsman forthwith ordered his carriage, and +went with her to the inn where they first stopped on landing from the +vessel, where she inquired for Sir Thomas Hale. The landlord told her +there was such a gentleman, but he had not seen him for some days. +'But he was at your house last night,' said the astonished young woman. +'He is my husband, and I was with him.' The landlord then said that one +Thomas Rumsey was at his house, with a young lady, the night before, but +she was not his lawful wife, for he had one already in Kent. At this +astounding news, the unhappy woman swooned outright, and, being taken +back to her kinsman's, she lay grievously ill for many days, during +which time, by letters from Kent, it was ascertained that this Rumsey +was a graceless young spendthrift, who had left his wife and his two +children three years before, and gone to parts unknown. + +"My grandmother, who affectionately watched over her, and comforted her +in her great affliction, has often told me that, on coming to herself, +her poor cousin said it was a righteous judgment upon her, for her pride +and vanity, which had led her to discard worthy men for one of great +show and pretensions, who had no solid merit to boast of. She had +sinned against God, and brought disgrace upon her family, in choosing +him. She begged that his name might never be mentioned again in her +hearing, and that she might only be known as a poor relative of her +English kinsfolk, and find a home among them until she could seek out +some employment for her maintenance, as she could not think of going +back to Boston, to become the laughing-stock of the thoughtless and the +reproach of her father's family. + +"After the marriage of my grandmother, Rebecca was induced to live with +her for some years. My great-aunt, Martha Grindall, an ancient +spinster, now living, remembers her well at that time, describing her as +a young woman of a sweet and gentle disposition, and much beloved by all +the members of the family. Her father, hearing of her misfortunes, +wrote to her, kindly inviting her to return to New England, and live +with him, and she at last resolved to do so. My great-uncle, Robert, +having an office under the government at Port Royal, in the island of +Jamaica, she went out with him, intending to sail from thence to Boston. +From that place she wrote to my grandmother a letter, which I have also +in my possession, informing her of her safe arrival, and of her having +seen an old friend, Captain Robert Pike, whose business concerns had +called him to the island, who had been very kind and considerate in his +attention to her, offering to take her home in his vessel, which was to +sail in a few days. She mentions, in a postscript to her letter, that +she found Captain Pike to be much improved in his appearance and +manners,--a true natural gentleman; and she does not forget to notice +the fact that he was still single. She had, she said, felt unwilling to +accept his offer of a passage home, holding herself unworthy of such +civilities at his hands; but he had so pressed the matter that she had, +not without some misgivings, consented to it. + +"But it was not according to the inscrutable wisdom of Providence that +she should ever be restored to her father's house. Among the victims of +the great earthquake which destroyed Port Royal a few days after the +date of her letter, was this unfortunate lady. It was a heavy blow to +my grandmother, who entertained for her cousin the tenderest affection, +and, indeed, she seems to have been every way worthy of it,--lovely in +person, amiable in deportment, and of a generous and noble nature. She +was, especially after her great trouble, of a somewhat pensive and +serious habit of mind, contrasting with the playfulness and innocent +light-heartedness of her early life, as depicted in the diary of my +grandmother, yet she was ever ready to forget herself in ministering to +the happiness and pleasures of others. She was not, as I learn, a +member of the church, having some scruples in respect to the rituals, as +was natural from her education in New England, among Puritanic +schismatics; but she lived a devout life, and her quiet and +unostentatious piety exemplified the truth of the language of one of the +greatest of our divines, the Bishop of Down and Connor 'Prayer is the +peace of our spirit, the stillness of our thoughts, the issue of a quiet +mind, the daughter of charity, and the sister of meekness.' Optimus +animus est pulcherrimus Dei cultus. + +"R. G." + + + + + + + TALES AND SKETCHES + + MY SUMMER WITH DR. SINGLETARY. + + A FRAGMENT. + + CHAPTER I. + +DR. SINGLETARY is dead! + +Well, what of it? All who live die sooner or later; and pray who was +Dr. Singletary, that his case should claim particular attention? + +Why, in the first place, Dr. Singletary, as a man born to our common +inheritance of joy and sorrow, earthly instincts and heavenward +aspirations,--our brother in sin and suffering, wisdom and folly, love, +and pride, and vanity,--has a claim upon the universal sympathy. +Besides, whatever the living man may have been, death has now invested +him with its great solemnity. He is with the immortals. For him the +dark curtain has been lifted. The weaknesses, the follies, and the +repulsive mental and personal idiosyncrasies which may have kept him +without the sphere of our respect and sympathy have now fallen off, and +he stands radiant with the transfiguration of eternity, God's child, our +recognized and acknowledged brother. + +Dr. Singletary is dead. He was an old man, and seldom, of latter years, +ventured beyond the precincts of his neighborhood. He was a single man, +and his departure has broken no circle of family affection. He was +little known to the public, and is now little missed. The village +newspaper simply appended to its announcement of his decease the +customary post mortem compliment, "Greatly respected by all who knew +him;" and in the annual catalogue of his alma mater an asterisk has been +added to his name, over which perchance some gray-haired survivor of his +class may breathe a sigh, as he calls up, the image of the fresh-faced, +bright-eyed boy, who, aspiring, hopeful, vigorous, started with him on +the journey of life,--a sigh rather for himself than for its unconscious +awakener. + +But, a few years have passed since he left us; yet already wellnigh all +the outward manifestations, landmarks, and memorials of the living man +have passed away or been removed. His house, with its broad, mossy roof +sloping down on one side almost to the rose-bushes and lilacs, and with +its comfortable little porch in front, where he used to sit of a +pleasant summer afternoon, has passed into new hands, and has been sadly +disfigured by a glaring coat of white paint; and in the place of the +good Doctor's name, hardly legible on the corner-board, may now be seen, +in staring letters of black and gold, "VALENTINE ORSON STUBBS, M. D., +Indian doctor and dealer in roots and herbs." The good Doctor's old +horse, as well known as its owner to every man, woman, and child in the +village, has fallen into the new comer's hands, who (being prepared to +make the most of him, from the fact that he commenced the practice of +the healing art in the stable, rising from thence to the parlor) has +rubbed him into comparative sleekness, cleaned his mane and tail of the +accumulated burrs of many autumns, and made quite a gay nag of him. The +wagon, too, in which at least two generations of boys and girls have +ridden in noisy hilarity whenever they encountered it on their way to +school, has been so smartly painted and varnished, that if its former +owner could look down from the hill-slope where he lies, he would +scarcely know his once familiar vehicle as it whirls glittering along +the main road to the village. For the rest, all things go on as usual; +the miller grinds, the blacksmith strikes and blows, the cobbler and +tailor stitch and mend, old men sit in the autumn sun, old gossips stir +tea and scandal, revival meetings alternate with apple-bees and +bushings,--toil, pleasure, family jars, petty neighborhood quarrels, +courtship, and marriage,--all which make up the daily life of a country +village continue as before. The little chasm which his death has made +in the hearts of the people where he lived and labored seems nearly +closed up. There is only one more grave in the burying-ground,--that is +all. + +Let nobody infer from what I have said that the good man died +unlamented; for, indeed, it was a sad day with his neighbors when the +news, long expected, ran at last from house to house and from workshop +to workshop, "Dr. Singletary is dead!" + +He had not any enemy left among them; in one way or another he had been +the friend and benefactor of all. Some owed to his skill their recovery +from sickness; others remembered how he had watched with anxious +solicitude by the bedside of their dying relatives, soothing them, when +all human aid was vain, with the sweet consolations of that Christian +hope which alone pierces the great shadow of the grave and shows the +safe stepping-stones above the dark waters. The old missed a cheerful +companion and friend, who had taught them much without wounding their +pride by an offensive display of his superiority, and who, while making +a jest of his own trials and infirmities, could still listen with real +sympathy to the querulous and importunate complaints of others. For one +day, at least, even the sunny faces of childhood were marked with +unwonted thoughtfulness; the shadow of the common bereavement fell over +the play-ground and nursery. The little girl remembered, with tears, +how her broken-limbed doll had taxed the surgical ingenuity of her +genial old friend; and the boy showed sorrowfully to his playmates the +top which the good Doctor had given him. If there were few, among the +many who stood beside his grave, capable of rightly measuring and +appreciating the high intellectual and spiritual nature which formed the +background of his simple social life, all could feel that no common loss +had been sustained, and that the kindly and generous spirit which had +passed away from them had not lived to himself alone. + +As you follow the windings of one of the loveliest rivers of New +England, a few miles above the sea-mart, at its mouth, you can see on a +hill, whose grassy slope is checkered with the graceful foliage of the +locust, and whose top stands relieved against a still higher elevation, +dark with oaks and walnuts, the white stones of the burying-place. It +is a quiet spot, but without gloom, as befits "God's Acre." Below is +the village, with its sloops and fishing-boats at the wharves, and its +crescent of white houses mirrored in the water. Eastward is the misty +line of the great sea. Blue peaks of distant mountains roughen the +horizon of the north. Westward, the broad, clear river winds away into +a maze of jutting bluffs and picturesque wooded headlands. The tall, +white stone on the westerly slope of the hill bears the name of +"Nicholas Singletary, M. D.," and marks the spot which he selected many +years before his death. When I visited it last spring, the air about it +was fragrant with the bloom of sweet-brier and blackberry and the +balsamic aroma of the sweet-fern; birds were singing in the birch-trees +by the wall; and two little, brown-locked, merry-faced girls were making +wreaths of the dandelions and grasses which grew upon the old man's +grave. The sun was setting behind the western river-bluffs, flooding +the valley with soft light, glorifying every object and fusing all into +harmony and beauty. I saw and felt nothing to depress or sadden me. I +could have joined in the laugh of the children. The light whistle of a +young teamster, driving merrily homeward, did not jar upon my ear; for +from the transfigured landscape, and from the singing birds, and from +sportive childhood, and from blossoming sweetbrier, and from the grassy +mound before me, I heard the whisper of one word only, and that word +was PEACE. + + + + + CHAPTER. II. + + SOME ACCOUNT OF PEEWAWKIN ON THE TOCKETUCK. + +WELL and truly said the wise man of old, "Much study is a weariness to +the flesh." Hard and close application through the winter had left me +ill prepared to resist the baleful influences of a New England spring. +I shrank alike from the storms of March, the capricious changes of +April, and the sudden alternations of May, from the blandest of +southwest breezes to the terrible and icy eastern blasts which sweep our +seaboard like the fabled sanser, or wind of death. The buoyancy and +vigor, the freshness and beauty of life seemed leaving me. The flesh +and the spirit were no longer harmonious. I was tormented by a +nightmare feeling of the necessity of exertion, coupled with a sense of +utter inability. A thousand plans for my own benefit, or the welfare of +those dear to me, or of my fellow-men at large, passed before me; but I +had no strength to lay hold of the good angels and detain them until +they left their blessing. The trumpet sounded in my ears for the +tournament of life; but I could not bear the weight of my armor. In the +midst of duties and responsibilities which I clearly comprehended, I +found myself yielding to the absorbing egotism of sickness. I could +work only when the sharp rowels of necessity were in my sides. + +It needed not the ominous warnings of my acquaintance to convince me +that some decisive change was necessary. But what was to be done? A +voyage to Europe was suggested by my friends; but unhappily I reckoned +among them no one who was ready, like the honest laird of Dumbiedikes, +to inquire, purse in hand, "Will siller do it?" In casting about for +some other expedient, I remembered the pleasant old-fashioned village of +Peewawkin, on the Tocketuck River. A few weeks of leisure, country air, +and exercise, I thought might be of essential service to me. So I +turned my key upon my cares and studies, and my back to the city, and +one fine evening of early June the mail coach rumbled over Tocketuck +Bridge, and left me at the house of Dr. Singletary, where I had been +fortunate enough to secure bed and board. + +The little village of Peewawkin at this period was a well-preserved +specimen of the old, quiet, cozy hamlets of New England. No huge +factory threw its evil shadow over it; no smoking demon of an engine +dragged its long train through the streets; no steamboat puffed at its +wharves, or ploughed up the river, like the enchanted ship of the +Ancient Mariner,-- + + "Against the wind, against the tide, + Steadied with upright keel." + +The march of mind had not overtaken it. It had neither printing-press +nor lyceum. As the fathers had done before them, so did its inhabitants +at the time of my visit. There was little or no competition in their +business; there were no rich men, and none that seemed over-anxious to +become so. Two or three small vessels were annually launched from the +carpenters' yards on the river. It had a blacksmith's shop, with its +clang of iron and roar of bellows; a pottery, garnished with its coarse +earthen-ware; a store, where molasses, sugar, and spices were sold on +one side, and calicoes, tape, and ribbons on the other. Three or four +small schooners annually left the wharves for the St. George's and +Labrador fisheries. Just back of the village, a bright, noisy stream, +gushing out, like a merry laugh, from the walnut and oak woods which +stretched back far to the north through a narrow break in the hills, +turned the great wheel of a grist-mill, and went frolicking away, like a +wicked Undine, under the very windows of the brown, lilac-shaded house +of Deacon Warner, the miller, as if to tempt the good man's handsome +daughters to take lessons in dancing. At one end of the little +crescent-shaped village, at the corner of the main road and the green +lane to Deacon Warner's mill, stood the school-house,--a small, ill- +used, Spanish-brown building, its patched windows bearing unmistakable +evidence of the mischievous character of its inmates. At the other end, +farther up the river, on a rocky knoll open to all the winds, stood the +meeting-house,--old, two story, and full of windows,--its gilded +weathercock glistening in the sun. The bell in its belfry had been +brought from France by Skipper Evans in the latter part of the last +century. Solemnly baptized and consecrated to some holy saint, it had +called to prayer the veiled sisters of a convent, and tolled heavily in +the masses for the dead. At first some of the church felt misgivings as +to the propriety of hanging a Popish bell in a Puritan steeple-house; +but their objections were overruled by the minister, who wisely +maintained that if Moses could use the borrowed jewels and ornaments of +the Egyptians to adorn and beautify the ark of the Lord, it could not be +amiss to make a Catholic bell do service in an Orthodox belfry. The +space between the school and the meeting-house was occupied by some +fifteen or twenty dwellings, many-colored and diverse in age and +appearance. Each one had its green yard in front, its rose-bushes and +lilacs. Great elms, planted a century ago, stretched and interlocked +their heavy arms across the street. The mill-stream, which found its +way into the Tocketuek, near the centre of the village, was spanned by a +rickety wooden bridge, rendered picturesque by a venerable and gnarled +white-oak which hung over it, with its great roots half bared by the +water and twisted among the mossy stones of the crumbling abutment. + +The house of Dr. Singletary was situated somewhat apart from the main +street, just on the slope of Blueberry Will,--a great, green swell of +land, stretching far down from the north, and terminating in a steep +bluff at the river side. It overlooked the village and the river a long +way up and down. It was a brown-looking, antiquated mansion, built by +the Doctor's grandfather in the earlier days of the settlement. The +rooms were large and low, with great beams, scaly with whitewash, +running across them, scarcely above the reach of a tall man's head. +Great-throated fireplaces, filled with pine-boughs and flower-pots, gave +promise of winter fires, roaring and crackling in boisterous hilarity, +as if laughing to scorn the folly and discomfort of our modern stoves. +In the porch at the frontdoor were two seats, where the Doctor was +accustomed to sit in fine weather with his pipe and his book, or with +such friends as might call to spend a half hour with him. The lawn in +front had scarcely any other ornament than its green grass, cropped +short by the Doctor's horse. A stone wall separated it from the lane, +half overrun with wild hop, or clematis, and two noble rock-maples +arched over with their dense foliage the little red gate. Dark belts of +woodland, smooth hill pasture, green, broad meadows, and fields of corn +and rye, the homesteads of the villagers, were seen on one hand; while +on the other was the bright, clear river, with here and there a white +sail, relieved against bold, wooded banks, jutting rocks, or tiny +islands, dark with dwarf evergreens. It was a quiet, rural picture, +a happy and peaceful contrast to all I had looked upon for weary, +miserable months. It soothed the nervous excitement of pain and +suffering. I forgot myself in the pleasing interest which it awakened. +Nature's healing ministrations came to me through all my senses. I felt +the medicinal virtues of her sights, and sounds, and aromal breezes. +From the green turf of her hills and the mossy carpets of her woodlands +my languid steps derived new vigor and elasticity. I felt, day by day, +the transfusion of her strong life. + +The Doctor's domestic establishment consisted of Widow Matson, his +housekeeper, and an idle slip of a boy, who, when he was not paddling +across the river, or hunting in the swamps, or playing ball on the +"Meetin'-'us-Hill," used to run of errands, milk the cow, and saddle the +horse. Widow Matson was a notable shrill-tongued woman, from whom two +long suffering husbands had obtained what might, under the +circumstances, be well called a comfortable release. She was neat and +tidy almost to a fault, thrifty and industrious, and, barring her +scolding propensity, was a pattern housekeeper. For the Doctor she +entertained so high a regard that nothing could exceed her indignation +when any one save herself presumed to find fault with him. Her bark was +worse than her bite; she had a warm, woman's heart, capable of soft +relentings; and this the roguish errand-boy so well understood that he +bore the daily infliction of her tongue with a good-natured unconcern +which would have been greatly to his credit had it not resulted from his +confident expectation that an extra slice of cake or segment of pie +would erelong tickle his palate in atonement for the tingling of his +ears. + +It must be confessed that the Doctor had certain little peculiarities +and ways of his own which might have ruffled the down of a smoother +temper than that of the Widow Matson. He was careless and absent- +minded. In spite of her labors and complaints, he scattered his +superfluous clothing, books, and papers over his rooms in "much-admired +disorder." He gave the freedom of his house to the boys and girls of +his neighborhood, who, presuming upon his good nature, laughed at her +remonstrances and threats as they chased each other up and down the +nicely-polished stairway. Worse than all, he was proof against the +vituperations and reproaches with which she indirectly assailed him from +the recesses of her kitchen. He smoked his pipe and dozed over his +newspaper as complacently as ever, while his sins of omission and +commission were arrayed against him. + +Peewawkin had always the reputation of a healthy town: and if it had +been otherwise, Dr. Singletary was the last man in the world to +transmute the aches and ails of its inhabitants into gold for his own +pocket. So, at the age of sixty, he was little better off, in point of +worldly substance, than when he came into possession of the small +homestead of his father. He cultivated with his own hands his corn- +field and potato-patch, and trimmed his apple and pear trees, as well +satisfied with his patrimony as Horace was with his rustic Sabine villa. +In addition to the care of his homestead and his professional duties, +he had long been one of the overseers of the poor and a member of the +school committee in his town; and he was a sort of standing reference in +all disputes about wages, boundaries, and cattle trespasses in his +neighborhood. He had, nevertheless, a good deal of leisure for reading, +errands of charity, and social visits. He loved to talk with his +friends, Elder Staples, the minister, Deacon Warner, and Skipper Evans. +He was an expert angler, and knew all the haunts of pickerel and trout +for many miles around. His favorite place of resort was the hill back +of his house, which afforded a view of the long valley of the Tocketuck +and the great sea. Here he would sit, enjoying the calm beauty of the +landscape, pointing out to me localities interesting from their +historical or traditional associations, or connected in some way with +humorous or pathetic passages of his own life experience. Some of these +autobiographical fragments affected me deeply. In narrating them he +invested familiar and commonplace facts with something of the +fascination of romance. "Human life," he would say, "is the same +everywhere. If we could but get at the truth, we should find that all +the tragedy and comedy of Shakespeare have been reproduced in this +little village. God has made all of one blood; what is true of one man +is in some sort true of another; manifestations may differ, but the +essential elements and spring of action are the same. On the surface, +everything about us just now looks prosaic and mechanical; you see only +a sort of bark-mill grinding over of the same dull, monotonous grist of +daily trifles. But underneath all this there is an earnest life, rich +and beautiful with love and hope, or dark with hatred, and sorrow, and +remorse. That fisherman by the riverside, or that woman at the stream +below, with her wash-tub,--who knows what lights and shadows checker +their memories, or what present thoughts of theirs, born of heaven or +hell, the future shall ripen into deeds of good or evil? Ah, what have +I not seen and heard? My profession has been to me, in some sort, like +the vial genie of the Salamanca student; it has unroofed these houses, +and opened deep, dark chambers to the hearts of their tenants, which no +eye save that of God had ever looked upon. Where I least expected them, +I have encountered shapes of evil; while, on the other hand, I have +found beautiful, heroic love and self-denial in those who had seemed to +me frivolous and selfish." + +So would Dr. Singletary discourse as we strolled over Blueberry Hill, or +drove along the narrow willow-shaded road which follows the windings of +the river. He had read and thought much in his retired, solitary life, +and was evidently well satisfied to find in me a gratified listener. He +talked well and fluently, with little regard to logical sequence, and +with something of the dogmatism natural to one whose opinions had seldom +been subjected to scrutiny. He seemed equally at home in the most +abstruse questions of theology and metaphysics, and in the more +practical matters of mackerel-fishing, corn-growing, and cattle-raising. +It was manifest that to his book lore he had added that patient and +close observation of the processes of Nature which often places the +unlettered ploughman and mechanic on a higher level of available +intelligence than that occupied by professors and school men. To him +nothing which had its root in the eternal verities of Nature was "common +or unclean." The blacksmith, subjecting to his will the swart genii of +the mines of coal and iron; the potter, with his "power over the clay;" +the skipper, who had tossed in his frail fishing-smack among the +icebergs of Labrador; the farmer, who had won from Nature the occult +secrets of her woods and fields; and even the vagabond hunter and +angler, familiar with the habits of animals and the migration of birds +and fishes,--had been his instructors; and he was not ashamed to +acknowledge that they had taught him more than college or library. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + THE DOCTOR'S MATCH-MAKING. + +"GOOD-MORNING, Mrs. Barnet," cried the Doctor, as we drew near a neat +farm-house during one of our morning drives. + +A tall, healthful young woman, in the bloom of matronly beauty, was +feeding chickens at the door. She uttered an exclamation of delight and +hurried towards us. Perceiving a stranger in the wagon she paused, with +a look of embarrassment. + +"My friend, who is spending a few weeks with me," explained the Doctor. + +She greeted me civilly and pressed the Doctor's hand warmly. + +"Oh, it is so long since you have called on us that we have been talking +of going up to the village to see you, as soon as Robert can get away +from his cornfield. You don't know how little Lucy has grown. You must +stop and see her." + +"She's coming to see me herself," replied the Doctor, beckoning to a +sweet blue-eyed child in the door-way. + +The delighted mother caught up her darling and held her before the +Doctor. + +"Does n't she look like Robert?" she inquired. "His very eyes and +forehead! Bless me! here he is now." + +A stout, hale young farmer, in a coarse checked frock and broad straw +hat, came up from the adjoining field. + +"Well, Robert," said the Doctor, "how do matters now stand with you? +Well, I hope." + +"All right, Doctor. We've paid off the last cent of the mortgage, and +the farm is all free and clear. Julia and I have worked hard; but we're +none the worse for it." + +"You look well and happy, I am sure," said the Doctor. "I don't think +you are sorry you took the advice of the old Doctor, after all." + +The young wife's head drooped until her lips touched those of her child. + +"Sorry!" exclaimed her husband. "Not we! If there's anybody happier +than we are within ten miles of us. I don't know them. Doctor, I'll +tell you what I said to Julia the night I brought home that mortgage. +'Well,' said I, 'that debt's paid; but there's one debt we can never pay +as long as we live.' 'I know it,' says she; 'but Dr. Singletary wants +no better reward for his kindness than to see us live happily together, +and do for others what he has done for us.'" + +"Pshaw!" said the Doctor, catching up his reins and whip. "You owe me +nothing. But I must not forget my errand. Poor old Widow Osborne needs +a watcher to-night; and she insists upon having Julia Barnet, and nobody +else. What shall I tell her?" + +"I'll go, certainly. I can leave Lucy now as well as not." + +"Good-by, neighbors." + +"Good-by, Doctor." + +As we drove off I saw the Doctor draw his hand hastily across his eyes, +and he said nothing for some minutes. + +"Public opinion," said he at length, as if pursuing his meditations +aloud,--"public opinion is, in nine cases out of ten, public folly and +impertinence. We are slaves to one another. We dare not take counsel +of our consciences and affections, but must needs suffer popular +prejudice and custom to decide for us, and at their bidding are +sacrificed love and friendship and all the best hopes of our lives. We +do not ask, What is right and best for us? but, What will folks say of +it? We have no individuality, no self-poised strength, no sense of +freedom. We are conscious always of the gaze of the many-eyed tyrant. +We propitiate him with precious offerings; we burn incense perpetually +to Moloch, and pass through his fire the sacred first-born of our +hearts. How few dare to seek their own happiness by the lights which +God has given them, or have strength to defy the false pride and the +prejudice of the world and stand fast in the liberty of Christians! Can +anything be more pitiable than the sight of so many, who should be the +choosers and creators under God of their own spheres of utility and +happiness, self-degraded into mere slaves of propriety and custom, their +true natures undeveloped, their hearts cramped and shut up, each afraid +of his neighbor and his neighbor of him, living a life of unreality, +deceiving and being deceived, and forever walking in a vain show? Here, +now, we have just left a married couple who are happy because they have +taken counsel of their honest affections rather than of the opinions of +the multitude, and have dared to be true to themselves in defiance of +impertinent gossip." + +"You speak of the young farmer Barnet and his wife, I suppose?" said I. + +"Yes. I will give their case as an illustration. Julia Atkins was the +daughter of Ensign Atkins, who lived on the mill-road, just above Deacon +Warner's. When she was ten years old her mother died; and in a few +months afterwards her father married Polly Wiggin, the tailoress, a +shrewd, selfish, managing woman. Julia, poor girl! had a sorry time of +it; for the Ensign, although a kind and affectionate man naturally, was +too weak and yielding to interpose between her and his strong-minded, +sharp-tongued wife. She had one friend, however, who was always ready +to sympathize with her. Robert Barnet was the son of her next-door +neighbor, about two years older than herself; they had grown up together +as school companions and playmates; and often in my drives I used to +meet them coming home hand in hand from school, or from the woods with +berries and nuts, talking and laughing as if there were no scolding +step-mothers in the world. + +"It so fell out that when Julia was in her sixteenth year there came +a famous writing-master to Peewawkin. He was a showy, dashing fellow, +with a fashionable dress, a wicked eye, and a tongue like the old +serpent's when he tempted our great-grandmother. Julia was one of his +scholars, and perhaps the prettiest of them all. The rascal singled her +out from the first; and, the better to accomplish his purpose, he left +the tavern and took lodgings at the Ensign's. He soon saw how matters +stood in the family, and governed himself accordingly, taking special +pains to conciliate the ruling authority. The Ensign's wife hated young +Barnet, and wished to get rid of her step-daughter. The writing-master, +therefore, had a fair field. He flattered the poor young girl by his +attentions and praised her beauty. Her moral training had not fitted +her to withstand this seductive influence; no mother's love, with its +quick, instinctive sense of danger threatening its object, interposed +between her and the tempter. Her old friend and playmate--he who could +alone have saved her--had been rudely repulsed from the house by her +step-mother; and, indignant and disgusted, he had retired from all +competition with his formidable rival. Thus abandoned to her own +undisciplined imagination, with the inexperience of a child and the +passions of a woman, she was deceived by false promises, bewildered, +fascinated, and beguiled into sin. + +"It is the same old story of woman's confidence and man's duplicity. +The rascally writing-master, under pretence of visiting a neighboring +town, left his lodgings and never returned. The last I heard of him, +he was the tenant of a western penitentiary. Poor Julia, driven in +disgrace from her father's house, found a refuge in the humble dwelling +of an old woman of no very creditable character. There I was called to +visit her; and, although not unused to scenes of suffering and sorrow, I +had never before witnessed such an utter abandonment to grief, shame, +and remorse. Alas! what sorrow was like unto her sorrow? The birth +hour of her infant was also that of its death. + +"The agony of her spirit seemed greater than she could bear. Her eyes +were opened, and she looked upon herself with loathing and horror. She +would admit of no hope, no consolation; she would listen to no +palliation or excuse of her guilt. I could only direct her to that +Source of pardon and peace to which the broken and contrite heart never +appeals in vain. + +"In the mean time Robert Barnet shipped on board a Labrador vessel. The +night before he left he called on me, and put in my hand a sum of money, +small indeed, but all he could then command. + +"'You will see her often,' he said. 'Do not let her suffer; for she is +more to be pitied than blamed.' + +"I answered him that I would do all in my power for her; and added, that +I thought far better of her, contrite and penitent as she was, than of +some who were busy in holding her up to shame and censure. + +"'God bless you for these words!' he said, grasping my hand. 'I shall +think of them often. They will be a comfort to me.' + +"As for Julia, God was more merciful to her than man. She rose from her +sick-bed thoughtful and humbled, but with hopes that transcended the +world of her suffering and shame. She no longer murmured against her +sorrowful allotment, but accepted it with quiet and almost cheerful +resignation as the fitting penalty of God's broken laws and the needed +discipline of her spirit. She could say with the Psalmist, 'The +judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves. Thou art just, +O Lord, and thy judgment is right.' Through my exertions she obtained +employment in a respectable family, to whom she endeared herself by her +faithfulness, cheerful obedience, and unaffected piety. + +"Her trials had made her heart tender with sympathy for all in +affliction. She seemed inevitably drawn towards the sick and suffering. +In their presence the burden of her own sorrow seemed to fall off. She +was the most cheerful and sunny-faced nurse I ever knew; and I always +felt sure that my own efforts would be well seconded when I found her by +the bedside of a patient. Beautiful it was to see this poor young girl, +whom the world still looked upon with scorn and unkindness, cheering the +desponding, and imparting, as it were, her own strong, healthful life to +the weak and faint; supporting upon her bosom, through weary nights, the +heads of those who, in health, would have deemed her touch pollution; or +to hear her singing for the ear of the dying some sweet hymn of pious +hope or resignation, or calling to mind the consolations of the gospel +and the great love of Christ." + +"I trust," said I, "that the feelings of the community were softened +towards her." + +"You know what human nature is," returned the Doctor, "and with what +hearty satisfaction we abhor and censure sin and folly in others. It is +a luxury which we cannot easily forego, although our own experience +tells us that the consequences of vice and error are evil and bitter +enough without the aggravation of ridicule and reproach from without. +So you need not be surprised to learn that, in poor Julia's case, the +charity of sinners like herself did not keep pace with the mercy and +forgiveness of Him who is infinite in purity. Nevertheless, I will do +our people the justice to say that her blameless and self-sacrificing +life was not without its proper effect upon them." + +"What became of Robert Barnet?" I inquired. + +"He came back after an absence of several months, and called on me +before he had even seen his father and mother. He did not mention +Julia; but I saw that his errand with me concerned her. I spoke of her +excellent deportment and her useful life, dwelt upon the extenuating +circumstances of her error and of her sincere and hearty repentance. + +"'Doctor,' said he, at length, with a hesitating and embarrassed manner, +'what should you think if I should tell you that, after all that has +passed, I have half made up my mind to ask her to become my wife?' + +"'I should think better of it if you had wholly made up your mind,' said +I; 'and if you were my own son, I wouldn't ask for you a better wife +than Julia Atkins. Don't hesitate, Robert, on account of what some ill- +natured people may say. Consult your own heart first of all.' + +"'I don't care for the talk of all the busybodies in town,' said he; +'but I wish father and mother could feel as you do about her.' + +"'Leave that to me,' said I. 'They are kindhearted and reasonable, and +I dare say will be disposed to make the best of the matter when they +find you are decided in your purpose.' + +"I did not see him again; but a few days after I learned from his +parents that he had gone on another voyage. It was now autumn, and the +most sickly season I had ever known in Peewawkin. Ensign Atkins and his +wife both fell sick; and Julia embraced with alacrity this providential +opportunity to return to her father's house and fulfil the duties of a +daughter. Under her careful nursing the Ensign soon got upon his feet; +but his wife, whose constitution was weaker, sunk under the fever. She +died better than she had lived,--penitent and loving, asking forgiveness +of Julia for her neglect and unkindness, and invoking blessings on her +head. Julia had now, for the first time since the death of her mother, +a comfortable home and a father's love and protection. Her sweetness of +temper, patient endurance, and forgetfulness of herself in her labors +for others, gradually overcame the scruples and hard feelings of her +neighbors. They began to question whether, after all, it was +meritorious in them to treat one like her as a sinner beyond +forgiveness. Elder Staples and Deacon Warner were her fast friends. +The Deacon's daughters--the tall, blue-eyed, brown-locked girls you +noticed in meeting the other day--set the example among the young people +of treating her as their equal and companion. The dear good girls! +They reminded me of the maidens of Naxos cheering and comforting the +unhappy Ariadne. + +"One mid-winter evening I took Julia with me to a poor sick patient of +mine, who was suffering for lack of attendance. The house where she +lived was in a lonely and desolate place, some two or three miles below +us, on a sandy level, just elevated above the great salt marshes, +stretching far away to the sea. The night set in dark and stormy; a +fierce northeasterly wind swept over the level waste, driving thick +snow-clouds before it, shaking the doors and windows of the old house, +and roaring in its vast chimney. The woman was dying when we arrived, +and her drunken husband was sitting in stupid unconcern in the corner of +the fireplace. A little after midnight she breathed her last. + +"In the mean time the storm had grown more violent; there was a blinding +snow-fall in the air; and we could feel the jar of the great waves as +they broke upon the beach. + +"'It is a terrible night for sailors on the coast,' I said, breaking our +long silence with the dead. 'God grant them sea-room!' + +"Julia shuddered as I spoke, and by the dim-flashing firelight I saw she +was weeping. Her thoughts, I knew, were with her old friend and +playmate on the wild waters. + +"'Julia,' said I, 'do you know that Robert Barnet loves you with all the +strength of an honest and true heart?' + +"She trembled, and her voice faltered as she confessed that when Robert +was at home he had asked her to become his wife. + +"'And, like a fool, you refused him, I suppose?--the brave, generous +fellow!' + +"'O Doctor!' she exclaimed. 'How can you talk so? It is just because +Robert is so good, and noble, and generous, that I dared not take him at +his word. You yourself, Doctor, would have despised me if I had taken +advantage of his pity or his kind remembrance of the old days when we +were children together. I have already brought too much disgrace upon +those dear to me.' + +"I was endeavoring to convince her, in reply, that she was doing +injustice to herself and wronging her best friend, whose happiness +depended in a great measure upon her, when, borne on the strong blast, +we both heard a faint cry as of a human being in distress. I threw up +the window which opened seaward, and we leaned out into the wild night, +listening breathlessly for a repetition of the sound. + +"Once more, and once only, we heard it,--a low, smothered, despairing +cry. + +"'Some one is lost, and perishing in the snow,' said Julia. 'The sound +conies in the direction of the beach plum-bushes on the side of the +marsh. Let us go at once.' + +"She snatched up her hood and shawl, and was already at the door. I +found and lighted a lantern and soon overtook her. The snow was already +deep and badly drifted, and it was with extreme difficulty that we could +force our way against the storm. We stopped often to take breath and +listen; but the roaring of the wind and waves was alone audible. At +last we reached a slightly elevated spot, overgrown with dwarf plum- +trees, whose branches were dimly visible above the snow. + +"'Here, bring the lantern here!' cried Julia, who had strayed a few +yards from me. I hastened to her, and found her lifting up the body of +a man who was apparently insensible. The rays of the lantern fell full +upon his face, and we both, at the same instant, recognized Robert +Barnet. Julia did not shriek nor faint; but, kneeling in the snow, and +still supporting the body, she turned towards me a look of earnest and +fearful inquiry. + +"'Courage!' said I. 'He still lives. He is only overcome with fatigue +and cold.' + +"With much difficulty-partly carrying and partly dragging him through +the snow--we succeeded in getting him to the house, where, in a short +time, he so far recovered as to be able to speak. Julia, who had been +my prompt and efficient assistant in his restoration, retired into the +shadow of the room as soon as he began to rouse himself and look about +him. He asked where he was and who was with me, saying that his head +was so confused that he thought he saw Julia Atkins by the bedside. +'You were not mistaken,' said I; 'Julia is here, and you owe your life +to her.' He started up and gazed round the room. I beckoned Julia to +the bedside; and I shall never forget the grateful earnestness with +which he grasped her hand and called upon God to bless her. Some folks +think me a tough-hearted old fellow, and so I am; but that scene was +more than I could bear without shedding tears. + +"Robert told us that his vessel had been thrown upon the beach a mile or +two below, and that he feared all the crew had perished save himself. +Assured of his safety, I went out once more, in the faint hope of +hearing the voice of some survivor of the disaster; but I listened only +to the heavy thunder of the surf rolling along the horizon of the east. +The storm had in a great measure ceased; the gray light of dawn was just +visible; and I was gratified to see two of the nearest neighbors +approaching the house. On being informed of the wreck they immediately +started for the beach, where several dead bodies, half buried in snow, +confirmed the fears of the solitary survivor. + +"The result of all this you can easily conjecture. Robert Barnet +abandoned the sea, and, with the aid of some of his friends, purchased +the farm where he now lives, and the anniversary of his shipwreck found +him the husband of Julia. I can assure you I have had every reason to +congratulate myself on my share in the match-making. Nobody ventured to +find fault with it except two or three sour old busybodies, who, as +Elder Staples well says, 'would have cursed her whom Christ had +forgiven, and spurned the weeping Magdalen from the feet of her Lord.'" + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + BY THE SPRING. + +IT was one of the very brightest and breeziest of summer mornings that +the Doctor and myself walked homeward from the town poor-house, where +he had always one or more patients, and where his coming was always +welcomed by the poor, diseased, and age-stricken inmates. Dark, +miserable faces of lonely and unreverenced age, written over with the +grim records of sorrow and sin, seemed to brighten at his approach as +with an inward light, as if the good man's presence had power to call +the better natures of the poor unfortunates into temporary ascendency. +Weary, fretful women--happy mothers in happy homes, perchance, half a +century before--felt their hearts warm and expand under the influence of +his kind salutations and the ever-patient good-nature with which he +listened to their reiterated complaints of real or imaginary suffering. +However it might be with others, he never forgot the man or the woman in +the pauper. There was nothing like condescension or consciousness in +his charitable ministrations; for he was one of the few men I have ever +known in whom the milk of human kindness was never soured by contempt +for humanity in whatever form it presented itself. Thus it was that his +faithful performance of the duties of his profession, however repulsive +and disagreeable, had the effect of Murillo's picture of St. Elizabeth +of Hungary binding up the ulcered limbs of the beggars. The moral +beauty transcended the loathsomeness of physical evil and deformity. + +Our nearest route home lay across the pastures and over Blueberry Hill, +just at the foot of which we encountered Elder Staples and Skipper +Evans, who had been driving their cows to pasture, and were now +leisurely strolling back to the village. We toiled together up the hill +in the hot sunshine, and, just on its eastern declivity, were glad to +find a white-oak tree, leaning heavily over a little ravine, from the +bottom of which a clear spring of water bubbled up and fed a small +rivulet, whose track of darker green might be traced far down the hill +to the meadow at its foot. + +A broad shelf of rock by the side of the spring, cushioned with mosses, +afforded us a comfortable resting-place. Elder Staples, in his faded +black coat and white neck-cloth, leaned his quiet, contemplative head on +his silver-mounted cane: right opposite him sat the Doctor, with his +sturdy, rotund figure, and broad, seamed face, surmounted by a coarse +stubble of iron-gray hair, the sharp and almost severe expression of his +keen gray eyes, flashing under their dark penthouse, happily relieved by +the softer lines of his mouth, indicative of his really genial and +generous nature. A small, sinewy figure, half doubled up, with his chin +resting on his rough palms, Skipper Evans sat on a lower projection of +the rock just beneath him, in an attentive attitude, as at the feet of +Gatnaliel. Dark and dry as one of his own dunfish on a Labrador flake, +or a seal-skin in an Esquimaux hut, he seemed entirely exempt from one +of the great trinity of temptations; and, granting him a safe +deliverance from the world and the devil, he had very little to fear +from the flesh. + +We were now in the Doctor's favorite place of resort, green, cool, +quiet, and sightly withal. The keen light revealed every object in the +long valley below us; the fresh west wind fluttered the oakleaves above; +and the low voice of the water, coaxing or scolding its way over bare +roots or mossy stones, was just audible. + +"Doctor," said I, "this spring, with the oak hanging over it, is, I +suppose, your Fountain of Bandusia. You remember what Horace says of +his spring, which yielded such cool refreshment when the dog-star had +set the day on fire. What a fine picture he gives us of this charming +feature of his little farm!" + +The Doctor's eye kindled. "I'm glad to see you like Horace; not merely +as a clever satirist and writer of amatory odes, but as a true lover of +Nature. How pleasant are his simple and beautiful descriptions of his +yellow, flowing Tiber, the herds and herdsmen, the harvesters, the grape +vintage, the varied aspects of his Sabine retreat in the fierce summer +heats, or when the snowy forehead of Soracte purpled in winter sunsets! +Scattered through his odes and the occasional poems which he addresses +to his city friends, you find these graceful and inimitable touches of +rural beauty, each a picture in itself." + +"It is long since I have looked at my old school-day companions, the +classics," said Elder Staples; "but I remember Horace only as a light, +witty, careless epicurean, famous for his lyrics in praise of Falernian +wine and questionable women." + +"Somewhat too much of that, doubtless," said the Doctor; "but to me +Horace is serious and profoundly suggestive, nevertheless. Had I laid +him aside on quitting college, as you did, I should perhaps have only +remembered such of his epicurean lyrics as recommended themselves to the +warns fancy of boyhood. Ah, Elder Staples, there was a time when the +Lyces and Glyceras of the poet were no fiction to us. They played +blindman's buff with us in the farmer's kitchen, sang with us in the +meeting-house, and romped and laughed with us at huskings and quilting- +parties. Grandmothers and sober spinsters as they now are, the change +in us is perhaps greater than in them." + +"Too true," replied the Elder, the smile which had just played over his +pale face fading into something sadder than its habitual melancholy. +"The living companions of our youth, whom we daily meet, are more +strange to us than the dead in yonder graveyard. They alone remain +unchanged!" + +"Speaking of Horace," continued the Doctor, in a voice slightly husky +with feeling, "he gives us glowing descriptions of his winter circles of +friends, where mirth and wine, music and beauty, charm away the hours, +and of summer-day recreations beneath the vine-wedded elms of the Tiber +or on the breezy slopes of Soracte; yet I seldom read them without a +feeling of sadness. A low wail of inappeasable sorrow, an undertone of +dirges, mingles with his gay melodies. His immediate horizon is bright +with sunshine; but beyond is a land of darkness, the light whereof is +darkness. It is walled about by the everlasting night. The skeleton +sits at his table; a shadow of the inevitable terror rests upon all his +pleasant pictures. He was without God in the world; he had no clear +abiding hope of a life beyond that which was hastening to a close. Eat +and drink, he tells us; enjoy present health and competence; alleviate +present evils, or forget them, in social intercourse, in wine, music, +and sensual indulgence; for to-morrow we must die. Death was in his +view no mere change of condition and relation; it was the black end of +all. It is evident that he placed no reliance on the mythology of his +time, and that he regarded the fables of the Elysian Fields and their +dim and wandering ghosts simply in the light of convenient poetic +fictions for illustration and imagery. Nothing can, in my view, be +sadder than his attempts at consolation for the loss of friends. +Witness his Ode to Virgil on the death of Quintilius. He tells his +illustrious friend simply that his calamity is without hope, +irretrievable and eternal; that it is idle to implore the gods to +restore the dead; and that, although his lyre may be more sweet than +that of Orpheus, he cannot reanimate the shadow of his friend nor +persuade 'the ghost-compelling god' to unbar the gates of death. He +urges patience as the sole resource. He alludes not unfrequently to his +own death in the same despairing tone. In the Ode to Torquatus,--one of +the most beautiful and touching of all he has written,--he sets before +his friend, in melancholy contrast, the return of the seasons, and of +the moon renewed in brightness, with the end of man, who sinks into the +endless dark, leaving nothing save ashes and shadows. He then, in the +true spirit of his philosophy, urges Torquatus to give his present hour +and wealth to pleasures and delights, as he had no assurance of +to-morrow." + +"In something of the same strain," said I, "Moschus moralizes on the +death of Bion:-- + + Our trees and plants revive; the rose + In annual youth of beauty glows; + But when the pride of Nature dies, + Man, who alone is great and wise, + No more he rises into light, + The wakeless sleeper of eternal night.'" + +"It reminds me," said Elder Staples, "of the sad burden of +Ecclesiastes, the mournfulest book of Scripture; because, while the +preacher dwells with earnestness upon the vanity and uncertainty of the +things of time and sense, he has no apparent hope of immortality to +relieve the dark picture. Like Horace, he sees nothing better than to +eat his bread with joy and drink his wine with a merry heart. It seems +to me the wise man might have gone farther in his enumeration of the +folly and emptiness of life, and pronounced his own prescription for the +evil vanity also. What is it but plucking flowers on the banks of the +stream which hurries us over the cataract, or feasting on the thin crust +of a volcano upon delicate meats prepared over the fires which are soon +to ingulf us? Oh, what a glorious contrast to this is the gospel of Him +who brought to light life and immortality! The transition from the +Koheleth to the Epistles of Paul is like passing from a cavern, where +the artificial light falls indeed upon gems and crystals, but is +everywhere circumscribed and overshadowed by unknown and unexplored +darkness, into the warm light and free atmosphere of day." + +"Yet," I asked, "are there not times when we all wish for some clearer +evidence of immortal life than has been afforded us; when we even turn +away unsatisfied from the pages of the holy book, with all the +mysterious problems of life pressing about us and clamoring for +solution, till, perplexed and darkened, we look up to the still heavens, +as if we sought thence an answer, visible or audible, to their +questionings? We want something beyond the bare announcement of the +momentous fact of a future life; we long for a miracle to confirm our +weak faith and silence forever the doubts which torment us." + +"And what would a miracle avail us at such times of darkness and strong +temptation?" said the Elder. "Have we not been told that they whom +Moses and the prophets have failed to convince would not believe +although one rose from the dead? That God has revealed no more to +us is to my mind sufficient evidence that He has revealed enough." + +"May it not be," queried the Doctor, "that Infinite Wisdom sees that a +clearer and fuller revelation of the future life would render us less +willing or able to perform our appropriate duties in the present +condition? Enchanted by a clear view of the heavenly hills, and of our +loved ones beckoning us from the pearl gates of the city of God, could +we patiently work out our life-task here, or make the necessary +exertions to provide for the wants of these bodies whose encumbrance +alone can prevent us from rising to a higher plane of existence?" + +"I reckon," said the Skipper, who had been an attentive, although at +times evidently a puzzled, listener, "that it would be with us pretty +much as it was with a crew of French sailors that I once shipped at the +Isle of France for the port of Marseilles. I never had better hands +until we hove in sight of their native country, which they had n't seen +for years. The first look of the land set 'em all crazy; they danced, +laughed, shouted, put on their best clothes; and I had to get new hands +to help me bring the vessel to her moorings." + +"Your story is quite to the point, Skipper," said the Doctor. "If +things had been ordered differently, we should all, I fear, be disposed +to quit work and fall into absurdities, like your French sailors, and so +fail of bringing the world fairly into port." + +"God's ways are best," said the Elder; "and I don't see as we can do +better than to submit with reverence to the very small part of them +which He has made known to us, and to trust Him like loving and dutiful +children for the rest." + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + THE HILLSIDE. + +THE pause which naturally followed the observation of the Elder was +broken abruptly by the Skipper. + +"Hillo!" he cried, pointing with the glazed hat with which he had been +fanning himself. "Here away in the northeast. Going down the coast for +better fishing, I guess." + +"An eagle, as I live!" exclaimed the Doctor, following with his cane the +direction of the Skipper's hat. "Just see how royally he wheels upward +and onward, his sail-broad wings stretched motionless, save an +occasional flap to keep up his impetus! Look! the circle in which he +moves grows narrower; he is a gray cloud in the sky, a point, a mere +speck or dust-mote. And now he is clean swallowed up in the distance. +The wise man of old did well to confess his ignorance of 'the way of an +eagle in the air.'" + +"The eagle," said Elder Staples, "seems to have been a favorite +illustration of the sacred penman. 'They that wait upon the Lord shall +renew their strength; they shall mount upward as on the wings of an +eagle.'" + +"What think you of this passage?" said the Doctor. "'As when a bird +hath flown through the air, there is no token of her way to be found; +but the light air, beaten with the stroke of her wings and parted by the +violent noise and motion thereof, is passed through, and therein +afterward no sign of her path can be found.' + +"I don't remember the passage," said the Elder. + +"I dare say not," quoth the Doctor. "You clergymen take it for granted +that no good thing can come home from the Nazareth of the Apocrypha. +But where will you find anything more beautiful and cheering than these +verses in connection with that which I just cited?--'The hope of the +ungodly is like dust that is blown away by the wind; like the thin foam +which is driven by the storm; like the smoke which is scattered here and +there by the whirlwind; it passeth away like the remembrance of a guest +that tarrieth but a day. But the righteous live forevermore; their +reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them with the Most High. +Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom and a beautiful crown +from the Lord's hand; for with his right hand shall He cover them, and +with his arm shall He protect them.'" + +"That, if I mistake not, is from the Wisdom of Solomon," said the Elder. +"It is a striking passage; and there are many such in the uncanonical +books." + +"Canonical or not," answered the Doctor, "it is God's truth, and stands +in no need of the endorsement of a set of well-meaning but purblind +bigots and pedants, who presumed to set metes and bounds to Divine +inspiration, and decide by vote what is God's truth and what is the +Devil's falsehood. But, speaking of eagles, I never see one of these +spiteful old sea-robbers without fancying that he may be the soul of a +mad Viking of the middle centuries. Depend upon it, that Italian +philosopher was not far out of the way in his ingenious speculations +upon the affinities and sympathies existing between certain men and +certain animals, and in fancying that he saw feline or canine traits and +similitudes in the countenances of his acquaintance." + +"Swedenborg tells us," said I, "that lost human souls in the spiritual +world, as seen by the angels, frequently wear the outward shapes of the +lower animals,--for instance, the gross and sensual look like swine, and +the cruel and obscene like foul birds of prey, such as hawks and +vultures,--and that they are entirely unconscious of the metamorphosis, +imagining themselves marvellous proper men,' and are quite well +satisfied with their company and condition." + +"Swedenborg," said the Elder, "was an insane man, or worse." + +"Perhaps so," said the Doctor; "but there is a great deal of 'method in +his madness,' and plain common sense too. There is one grand and +beautiful idea underlying all his revelations or speculations about the +future life. It is this: that each spirit chooses its own society, and +naturally finds its fitting place and sphere of action,--following in +the new life, as in the present, the leading of its prevailing loves and +desires,--and that hence none are arbitrarily compelled to be good or +evil, happy or miserable. A great law of attraction and gravitation +governs the spiritual as well as the material universe; but, in obeying +it, the spirit retains in the new life whatever freedom of will it +possessed in its first stage of being. But I see the Elder shakes his +head, as much as to say, I am 'wise above what is written,' or, at any +rate, meddling with matters beyond my comprehension. Our young friend +here," he continued, turning to me, "has the appearance of a listener; +but I suspect he is busy with his own reveries, or enjoying the fresh +sights and sounds of this fine morning. I doubt whether our discourse +has edified him." + +"Pardon me," said I; "I was, indeed, listening to another and older +oracle." + +"Well, tell us what you hear," said the Doctor. + +"A faint, low murmur, rising and falling on the wind. Now it comes +rolling in upon me, wave after wave of sweet, solemn music. There was a +grand organ swell; and now it dies away as into the infinite distance; +but I still hear it,--whether with ear or spirit I know not,--the very +ghost of sound." + +"Ah, yes," said the Doctor; "I understand it is the voice of the pines +yonder,--a sort of morning song of praise to the Giver of life and Maker +of beauty. My ear is dull now, and I cannot hear it; but I know it is +sounding on as it did when I first climbed up here in the bright June +mornings of boyhood, and it will sound on just the same when the +deafness of the grave shall settle upon my failing senses. Did it never +occur to you that this deafness and blindness to accustomed beauty and +harmony is one of the saddest thoughts connected with the great change +which awaits us? Have you not felt at times that our ordinary +conceptions of heaven itself, derived from the vague hints and Oriental +imagery of the Scriptures, are sadly inadequate to our human wants and +hopes? How gladly would we forego the golden streets and gates of +pearl, the thrones, temples, and harps, for the sunset lights of our +native valleys; the woodpaths, whose moss carpets are woven with violets +and wild flowers; the songs of birds, the low of cattle, the hum of bees +in the apple-blossom,--the sweet, familiar voices of human life and +nature! In the place of strange splendors and unknown music, should we +not welcome rather whatever reminded us of the common sights and sounds +of our old home?" + +"You touch a sad chord, Doctor," said I. "Would that we could feel +assured of the eternity of all we love!" + +"And have I not an assurance of it at this very moment?" returned the +Doctor. "My outward ear fails me; yet I seem to hear as formerly the +sound of the wind in the pines. I close my eyes; and the picture of my +home is still before me. I see the green hill slope and meadows; the +white shaft of the village steeple springing up from the midst of maples +and elms; the river all afire with sunshine; the broad, dark belt of +woodland; and, away beyond, all the blue level of the ocean. And now, +by a single effort of will, I can call before me a winter picture of the +same scene. It is morning as now; but how different! All night has the +white meteor fallen, in broad flake or minutest crystal, the sport and +plaything of winds that have wrought it into a thousand shapes of wild +beauty. Hill and valley, tree and fence, woodshed and well-sweep, barn +and pigsty, fishing-smacks frozen tip at the wharf, ribbed monsters of +dismantled hulks scattered along the river-side,--all lie transfigured +in the white glory and sunshine. The eye, wherever it turns, aches with +the cold brilliance, unrelieved save where. The blue smoke of morning +fires curls lazily up from the Parian roofs, or where the main channel +of the river, as yet unfrozen, shows its long winding line of dark water +glistening like a snake in the sun. Thus you perceive that the spirit +sees and hears without the aid of bodily organs; and why may it not be +so hereafter? Grant but memory to us, and we can lose nothing by death. +The scenes now passing before us will live in eternal reproduction, +created anew at will. We assuredly shall not love heaven the less that +it is separated by no impassable gulf from this fair and goodly earth, +and that the pleasant pictures of time linger like sunset clouds along +the horizon of eternity. When I was younger, I used to be greatly +troubled by the insecure tenure by which my senses held the beauty and +harmony of the outward world. When I looked at the moonlight on the +water, or the cloud-shadows on the hills, or the sunset sky, with the +tall, black tree-boles and waving foliage relieved against it, or when I +heard a mellow gush of music from the brown-breasted fife-bird in the +summer woods, or the merry quaver of the bobolink in the corn land, the +thought of an eternal loss of these familiar sights and sounds would +sometimes thrill through me with a sharp and bitter pain. I have reason +to thank God that this fear no longer troubles me. Nothing that is +really valuable and necessary for us can ever be lost. The present will +live hereafter; memory will bridge over the gulf between the two worlds; +for only on the condition of their intimate union can we preserve our +identity and personal consciousness. Blot out the memory of this world, +and what would heaven or hell be to us? Nothing whatever. Death would +be simple annihilation of our actual selves, and the substitution +therefor of a new creation, in which we should have no more interest +than in an inhabitant of Jupiter or the fixed stars." + +The Elder, who had listened silently thus far, not without an occasional +and apparently involuntary manifestation of dissent, here interposed. + +"Pardon me, my dear friend," said he; "but I must needs say that I look +upon speculations of this kind, however ingenious or plausible, as +unprofitable, and well-nigh presumptuous. For myself, I only know that +I am a weak, sinful man, accountable to and cared for by a just and +merciful God. What He has in reserve for me hereafter I know not, nor +have I any warrant to pry into His secrets. I do not know what it is to +pass from one life to another; but I humbly hope that, when I am sinking +in the dark waters, I may hear His voice of compassion and +encouragement, 'It is I; be not afraid.'" + +"Amen," said the Skipper, solemnly. + +"I dare say the Parson is right, in the main," said the Doctor. "Poor +creatures at the best, it is safer for us to trust, like children, in +the goodness of our Heavenly Father than to speculate too curiously in +respect to the things of a future life; and, notwithstanding all I have +said, I quite agree with good old Bishop Hall: 'It is enough for me to +rest in the hope that I shall one day see them; in the mean time, let me +be learnedly ignorant and incuriously devout, silently blessing the +power and wisdom of my infinite Creator, who knows how to honor himself +by all those unrevealed and glorious subordinations.'" + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + THE SKIPPER'S STORY. + +"WELL, what's the news below?" asked the Doctor of his housekeeper, +as she came home from a gossiping visit to the landing one afternoon. +"What new piece of scandal is afloat now?" + +"Nothing, except what concerns yourself," answered Widow Matson, tartly. +"Mrs. Nugeon says that you've been to see her neighbor Wait's girl--she +that 's sick with the measles--half a dozen times, and never so much as +left a spoonful of medicine; and she should like to know what a doctor's +good for without physic. Besides, she says Lieutenant Brown would have +got well if you'd minded her, and let him have plenty of thoroughwort +tea, and put a split fowl at the pit of his stomach." + +"A split stick on her own tongue would be better," said the Doctor, +with a wicked grimace. + +"The Jezebel! Let her look out for herself the next time she gets the +rheumatism; I'll blister her from head to heel. But what else is +going?" + +"The schooner Polly Pike is at the landing." + +"What, from Labrador? The one Tom Osborne went in?" + +"I suppose so; I met Tom down street." + +"Good!" said the Doctor, with emphasis. "Poor Widow Osborne's prayers +are answered, and she will see her son before she dies." + +"And precious little good will it do her," said the housekeeper. +"There's not a more drunken, swearing rakeshame in town than Tom +Osborne." + +"It's too true," responded the Doctor. "But he's her only son; and you +know, Mrs. Matson, the heart of a mother." + +The widow's hard face softened; a tender shadow passed over it; the +memory of some old bereavement melted her; and as she passed into the +house I saw her put her checked apron to her eyes. + +By this time Skipper Evans, who had been slowly working his way up +street for some minutes, had reached the gate. + +"Look here!" said he. "Here's a letter that I've got by the Polly Pike +from one of your old patients that you gave over for a dead man long +ago." + +"From the other world, of course," said the Doctor. + +"No, not exactly, though it's from Labrador, which is about the last +place the Lord made, I reckon." + +"What, from Dick Wilson?" + +"Sartin," said the Skipper. + +"And how is he?" + +"Alive and hearty. I tell you what, Doctor, physicking and blistering +are all well enough, may be; but if you want to set a fellow up when +he's kinder run down, there's nothing like a fishing trip to Labrador, +'specially if he's been bothering himself with studying, and writing, +and such like. There's nothing like fish chowders, hard bunks, and sea +fog to take that nonsense out of him. Now, this chap," (the Skipper +here gave me a thrust in the ribs by way of designation,) "if I could +have him down with me beyond sunset for two or three months, would come +back as hearty as a Bay o' Fundy porpoise." + +Assuring him that I would like to try the experiment, with him as +skipper, I begged to know the history of the case he had spoken of. + +The old fisherman smiled complacently, hitched up his pantaloons, took a +seat beside us, and, after extracting a jack-knife from one pocket, and +a hand of tobacco from the other, and deliberately supplying himself +with a fresh quid, he mentioned, apologetically, that he supposed the +Doctor had heard it all before. + +"Yes, twenty times," said the Doctor; "but never mind; it's a good story +yet. Go ahead, Skipper." + +"Well, you see," said the Skipper, "this young Wilson comes down here +from Hanover College, in the spring, as lean as a shad in dog-days. He +had studied himself half blind, and all his blood had got into brains. +So the Doctor tried to help him with his poticary stuff, and the women +with their herbs; but all did no good. At last somebody advised him to +try a fishing cruise down East; and so he persuaded me to take him +aboard my schooner. I knew he'd be right in the way, and poor company +at the best, for all his Greek and Latin; for, as a general thing, I've +noticed that your college chaps swop away their common sense for their +larning, and make a mighty poor bargain of it. Well, he brought his +books with him, and stuck to them so close that I was afraid we should +have to slide him off the plank before we got half way to Labrador. So +I just told him plainly that it would n't do, and that if he 'd a mind +to kill himself ashore I 'd no objection, but he should n't do it aboard +my schooner. 'I'm e'en just a mind,' says I, 'to pitch your books +overboard. A fishing vessel's no place for 'em; they'll spoil all our +luck. Don't go to making a Jonah of yourself down here in your bunk, +but get upon deck, and let your books alone, and go to watching the sea, +and the clouds, and the islands, and the fog-banks, and the fishes, and +the birds; for Natur,' says I, don't lie nor give hearsays, but is +always as true as the Gospels.' + +"But 't was no use talking. There he'd lay in his bunk with his books +about him, and I had e'en a'most to drag him on deck to snuff the sea- +air. Howsomever, one day,--it was the hottest of the whole season,-- +after we left the Magdalenes, and were running down the Gut of Canso, we +hove in sight of the Gannet Rocks. Thinks I to myself, I'll show him +something now that he can't find in his books. So I goes right down +after him; and when we got on deck he looked towards the northeast, and +if ever I saw a chap wonder-struck, he was. Right ahead of us was a +bold, rocky island, with what looked like a great snow bank on its +southern slope; while the air was full overhead, and all about, of what +seemed a heavy fall of snow. The day was blazing hot, and there was n't +a cloud to be seen. + +"'What in the world, Skipper, does this mean?' says he. 'We're sailing +right into a snow-storm in dog-days and in a clear sky.' + +"By this time we had got near enough to hear a great rushing noise in +the air, every moment growing louder and louder. + +"'It's only a storm of gannets,' says I. + +"'Sure enough!' says he; 'but I wouldn't have believed it possible.' + +"When we got fairly off against the island I fired a gun at it: and such +a fluttering and screaming you can't imagine. The great snow-banks +shook, trembled, loosened, and became all alive, whirling away into the +air like drifts in a nor'wester. Millions of birds went up, wheeling +and zigzagging about, their white bodies and blacktipped wings crossing +and recrossing and mixing together into a thick grayish-white haze above +us. + +"'You're right, Skipper,' says Wilson to me; + + Nature is better than books.' + +"And from that time he was on deck as much as his health would allow of, +and took a deal of notice of everything new and uncommon. But, for all +that, the poor fellow was so sick, and pale, and peaking, that we all +thought we should have to heave him overboard some day or bury him in +Labrador moss." + +"But he did n't die after all, did he?" said I. + +"Die? No!" cried the Skipper; "not he!" + +"And so your fishing voyage really cured him?" + +"I can't say as it did, exactly," returned the Skipper, shifting his +quid from one cheek to the other, with a sly wink at the Doctor. "The +fact is, after the doctors and the old herb-women had given him up at +home, he got cured by a little black-eyed French girl on the Labrador +coast." + +"A very agreeable prescription, no doubt," quoth the Doctor, turning to +me. "How do you think it would suit your case?" + +"It does n't become the patient to choose his own nostrums," said I, +laughing. "But I wonder, Doctor, that you have n't long ago tested the +value of this by an experiment upon yourself." + +"Physicians are proverbially shy of their own medicines," said he. + +"Well, you see," continued the Skipper, "we had a rough run down the +Labrador shore; rainstorms and fogs so thick you could cut 'em up into +junks with your jack-knife. At last we reached a small fishing station +away down where the sun does n't sleep in summer, but just takes a bit +of a nap at midnight. Here Wilson went ashore, more dead than alive, +and found comfortable lodgings with a little, dingy French oil merchant, +who had a snug, warm house, and a garden patch, where he raised a few +potatoes and turnips in the short summers, and a tolerable field of +grass, which kept his two cows alive through the winter. The country +all about was dismal enough; as far as you could see there was nothing +but moss, and rocks, and bare hills, and ponds of shallow water, with +now and then a patch of stunted firs. But it doubtless looked pleasant +to our poor sick passenger, who for some days had been longing for land. +The Frenchman gave him a neat little room looking out on the harbor, all +alive with fishermen and Indians hunting seals; and to my notion no +place is very dull where you can see the salt-water and the ships at +anchor on it, or scudding over it with sails set in a stiff breeze, and +where you can watch its changes of lights and colors in fair and foul +weather, morning and night. The family was made up of the Frenchman, +his wife, and his daughter,--a little witch of a girl, with bright black +eyes lighting up her brown, good-natured face like lamps in a binnacle. +They all took a mighty liking to young Wilson, and were ready to do +anything for him. He was soon able to walk about; and we used to see +him with the Frenchman's daughter strolling along the shore and among +the mosses, talking with her in her own language. Many and many a time, +as we sat in our boats under the rocks, we could hear her merry laugh +ringing down to us. + +"We stayed at the station about three weeks; and when we got ready to +sail I called at the Frenchman's to let Wilson know when to come aboard. +He really seemed sorry to leave; for the two old people urged him to +remain with them, and poor little Lucille would n't hear a word of his +going. She said he would be sick and die on board the vessel, but that +if he stayed with them he would soon be well and strong; that they +should have plenty of milk and eggs for him in the winter; and he should +ride in the dog-sledge with her, and she would take care of him as if he +was her brother. She hid his cap and great-coat; and what with crying, +and scolding, and coaxing, she fairly carried her point. + +"'You see I 'm a prisoner,' says he; 'they won't let me go.' + +"'Well,' says I, 'you don't seem to be troubled about it. I tell you +what, young man,' says I, 'it's mighty pretty now to stroll round here, +and pick mosses, and hunt birds' eggs with that gal; but wait till +November comes, and everything freezes up stiff and dead except white +bears And Ingens, and there's no daylight left to speak of, and you 'll +be sick enough of your choice. You won't live the winter out; and it 's +an awful place to die in, where the ground freezes so hard that they +can't bury you.' + +"'Lucille says,' says he, 'that God is as near us in the winter as in +the summer. The fact is, Skipper, I've no nearer relative left in the +States than a married brother, who thinks more of his family and +business than of me; and if it is God's will that I shall die, I may as +well wait His call here as anywhere. I have found kind friends here; +they will do all they can for me; and for the rest I trust Providence.' + +"Lucille begged that I would let him stay; for she said God would hear +her prayers, and he would get well. I told her I would n't urge him any +more; for if I was as young as he was, and had such a pretty nurse to +take care of me, I should be willing to winter at the North Pole. +Wilson gave me a letter for his brother; and we shook hands, and I left +him. When we were getting under way he and Lucille stood on the +landing-place, and I hailed him for the last time, and made signs of +sending the boat for him. The little French girl understood me; she +shook her head, and pointed to her father's house; and then they both +turned back, now and then stopping to wave their handkerchiefs to us. I +felt sorry to leave him there; but for the life of me I could n't blame +him." + +"I'm sure I don't," said the Doctor. + +"Well, next year I was at Nitisquam Harbor; and, although I was doing +pretty well in the way of fishing, I could n't feel easy without running +away north to 'Brador to see what had become of my sick passenger. It +was rather early in the season, and there was ice still in the harbor; +but we managed to work in at last; when who should I see on shore but +young Wilson, so stout and hearty that I should scarcely have known, +him. He took me up to his lodgings and told me that he had never spent +a happier winter; that he was well and strong, and could fish and hunt +like a native; that he was now a partner with the Frenchman in trade, +and only waited the coming of the priest from the Magdalenes, on his +yearly visit to the settlements, to marry his daughter. Lucille was as +pretty, merry, and happy as ever; and the old Frenchman and his wife +seemed to love Wilson as if he was their son. I've never seen him +since; but he now writes me that he is married, and has prospered in +health and property, and thinks Labrador would be the finest country in +the world if it only had heavy timber-trees." + +"One cannot but admire," said the Doctor, "that wise and beneficent +ordination of Providence whereby the spirit of man asserts its power +over circumstances, moulding the rough forms of matter to its fine +ideal, bringing harmony out of discord,--coloring, warming, and lighting +up everything within the circle of its horizon. A loving heart carries +with it, under every parallel of latitude, the warmth and light of the +tropics. It plants its Eden in the wilderness and solitary place, and +sows with flowers the gray desolation of rocks and mosses. Wherever +love goes, there springs the true heart's-ease, rooting itself even in +the polar ices. To the young invalid of the Skipper's story, the dreary +waste of what Moore calls, as you remember, + + 'the dismal shore + Of cold and pitiless Labrador,' + +looked beautiful and inviting; for he saw it softened and irradiated in +an atmosphere of love. Its bare hills, bleak rocks, and misty sky were +but the setting and background of the sweetest picture in the gallery of +life. Apart from this, however, in Labrador, as in every conceivable +locality, the evils of soil and climate have their compensations and +alleviations. The long nights of winter are brilliant with moonlight, +and the changing colors of the northern lights are reflected on the +snow. The summer of Labrador has a beauty of its own, far unlike that +of more genial climates, but which its inhabitants would not forego for +the warm life and lavish luxuriance of tropical landscapes. The dwarf +fir-trees throw from the ends of their branches yellow tufts of stamina, +like small lamps decorating green pyramids for the festival of spring; +and if green grass is in a great measure wanting, its place is supplied +by delicate mosses of the most brilliant colors. The truth is, every +season and climate has its peculiar beauties and comforts; the +footprints of the good and merciful God are found everywhere; and we +should be willing thankfully to own that 'He has made all things +beautiful in their time' if we were not a race of envious, selfish, +ungrateful grumblers." + +"Doctor! Doctor!" cried a ragged, dirty-faced boy, running breathless +into the yard. + +"What's the matter, my lad?" said the Doctor. + +"Mother wants you to come right over to our house. Father's tumbled off +the hay-cart; and when they got him up he didn't know nothing; but they +gin him some rum, and that kinder brought him to." + +"No doubt, no doubt," said the Doctor, rising to go. "Similia similibus +curantur. Nothing like hair of the dog that bites you." + +"The Doctor talks well," said the Skipper, who had listened rather +dubiously to his friend's commentaries on his story; "but he carries too +much sail for me sometimes, and I can't exactly keep alongside of him. +I told Elder. Staples once that I did n't see but that the Doctor could +beat him at preaching. 'Very likely,' says the Elder, says he; 'for you +know, Skipper, I must stick to my text; but the Doctor's Bible is all +creation.'" + +"Yes," said the Elder, who had joined us a few moments before, "the +Doctor takes a wide range, or, as the farmers say, carries a wide swath, +and has some notions of things which in my view have as little +foundation in true philosophy as they have warrant in Scripture; but, +if he sometimes speculates falsely, he lives truly, which is by far +the most important matter. The mere dead letter of a creed, however +carefully preserved and reverently cherished, may be of no more +spiritual or moral efficacy than an African fetish or an Indian +medicine-bag. What we want is, orthodoxy in practice,--the dry bones +clothed with warm, generous, holy life. It is one thing to hold fast +the robust faith of our fathers,--the creed of the freedom-loving +Puritan and Huguenot,--and quite another to set up the five points of +Calvinism, like so many thunder-rods, over a bad life, in the insane +hope of averting the Divine displeasure from sin." + + + + + + + THE LITTLE IRON SOLDIER + + OR, WHAT AMINADAB IVISON DREAMED ABOUT. + +AMINADAB IVISON started up in his bed. The great clock at the head of +the staircase, an old and respected heirloom of the family, struck one. + +"Ah," said he, heaving up a great sigh from the depths of his inner man, +"I've had a tried time of it." + +"And so have I," said the wife. "Thee's been kicking and threshing +about all night. I do wonder what ails thee." + +And well she might; for her husband, a well-to-do, portly, middle-aged +gentleman, being blessed with an easy conscience, a genial temper, and a +comfortable digestion, was able to bear a great deal of sleep, and +seldom varied a note in the gamut of his snore from one year's end to +another. + +"A very remarkable exercise," soliloquized Aminadab; "very." + +"Dear me! what was it?" inquired his wife. + +"It must have been a dream," said Aminadab. + +"Oh, is that all?" returned the good woman. "I'm glad it's nothing +worse. But what has thee been dreaming about?" + +"It's the strangest thing, Hannah, that thee ever heard of," said +Aminadab, settling himself slowly back into his bed. Thee recollects +Jones sent me yesterday a sample of castings from the foundry. Well, I +thought I opened the box and found in it a little iron man, in +regimentals; with his sword by his side and a cocked hat on, looking +very much like the picture in the transparency over neighbor O'Neal's +oyster-cellar across the way. I thought it rather out of place for +Jones to furnish me with such a sample, as I should not feel easy to +show it to my customers, on account of its warlike appearance. However, +as the work was well done, I took the little image and set him up on the +table, against the wall; and, sitting down opposite, I began to think +over my business concerns, calculating how much they would increase in +profit in case a tariff man should be chosen our ruler for the next four +years. Thee knows I am not in favor of choosing men of blood and strife +to bear rule in the land: but it nevertheless seems proper to consider +all the circumstances in this case, and, as one or the other of the +candidates of the two great parties must be chosen, to take the least of +two evils. All at once I heard a smart, quick tapping on the table; +and, looking up, there stood the little iron man close at my elbow, +winking and chuckling. 'That's right, Aminadab!' said he, clapping his +little metal hands together till he rang over like a bell, 'take the +least of two evils.' His voice had a sharp, clear, jingling sound, like +that of silver dollars falling into a till. It startled me so that I +woke up, but finding it only a dream presently fell asleep again. Then +I thought I was down in the Exchange, talking with neighbor Simkins +about the election and the tariff. 'I want a change in the +administration, but I can't vote for a military chieftain,' said +neighbor Simkins, 'as I look upon it unbecoming a Christian people to +elect men of blood for their rulers.' 'I don't know,' said I, 'what +objection thee can have to a fighting man; for thee 's no Friend, and +has n't any conscientious scruples against military matters. For my own +part, I do not take much interest in politics, and never attended a +caucus in my life, believing it best to keep very much in the quiet, and +avoid, as far as possible, all letting and hindering things; but there +may be cases where a military man may be voted for as a choice of evils, +and as a means of promoting the prosperity of the country in business +matters.' 'What!' said neighbor Simkins, 'are you going to vote for a +man whose whole life has been spent in killing people?' This vexed me a +little, and I told him there was such a thing as carrying a good +principle too far, and that he night live to be sorry that he had thrown +away his vote, instead of using it discreetly. 'Why, there's the iron +business,' said I; but just then I heard a clatter beside me, and, +looking round, there was the little iron soldier clapping his hands in +great glee. 'That's it, Aminadab!' said he; 'business first, conscience +afterwards! Keep up the price of iron with peace if you can, but keep +it up at any rate.' This waked me again in a good deal of trouble; but, +remembering that it is said that 'dreams come of the multitude of +business,' I once more composed myself to sleep." + +"Well, what happened next?" asked his wife. + +"Why, I thought I was in the meeting-house, sitting on the facing-seat +as usual. I tried hard to settle my mind down into a quiet and humble +state; but somehow the cares of the world got uppermost, and, before I +was well aware of it, I was far gone in a calculation of the chances of +the election, and the probable rise in the price of iron in the event of +the choice of a President favorable to a high tariff. Rap, tap, went +something on the floor. I opened my eyes, and there was the little +image, red-hot, as if just out of the furnace, dancing, and chuckling, +and clapping his hands. 'That's right, Aminadab!' said he; 'go on as +you have begun; take care of yourself in this world, and I'll promise +you you'll be taken care of in the next. Peace and poverty, or war and +money. It's a choice of evils at best; and here's Scripture to decide +the matter: "Be not righteous overmuch."' Then the wicked-looking +little image twisted his hot lips, and leered at me with his blazing +eyes, and chuckled and laughed with a noise exactly as if a bag of +dollars had been poured out upon the meeting-house floor. This waked me +just now in such a fright. I wish thee would tell me, Hannah, what thee +can make of these three dreams?" + +"It don't need a Daniel to interpret them," answered Hannah. "Thee 's +been thinking of voting for a wicked old soldier, because thee cares +more for thy iron business than for thy testimony against wars and +fightings. I don't a bit wonder at thy seeing the iron soldier thee +tells of; and if thee votes to-morrow for a man of blood, it wouldn't be +strange if he should haunt thee all thy life." + +Aminadab Ivison was silent, for his conscience spoke in the words of his +wife. He slept no more that night, and rose up in the morning a wiser +and better man. + +When he went forth to his place of business he saw the crowds hurrying +to and fro; there were banners flying across the streets, huge placards +were on the walls, and he heard all about him the bustle of the great +election. + +"Friend Ivison," said a red-faced lawyer, almost breathless with his +hurry, "more money is needed in the second ward; our committees are +doing a great work there. What shall I put you down for? Fifty +dollars? If we carry the election, your property will rise twenty per +cent. Let me see; you are in the iron business, I think?" + +Aminadab thought of the little iron soldier of his dream, and excused +himself. Presently a bank director came tearing into his office. + +"Have you voted yet, Mr. Ivison? It 's time to get your vote in. I +wonder you should be in your office now. No business has so much at +stake in this election as yours." + +"I don't think I should feel entirely easy to vote for the candidate," +said Aminadab. + +"Mr. Ivison," said the bank director, "I always took you to be a shrewd, +sensible man, taking men and things as they are. The candidate may not +be all you could wish for; but when the question is between him and a +worse man, the best you can do is to choose the least of the two evils." + +"Just so the little iron man said," thought Aminadab. "'Get thee behind +me, Satan!' No, neighbor Discount," said he, "I've made up my mind. I +see no warrant for choosing evil at all. I can't vote for that man." + +"Very well," said the director, starting to leave the room; "you can do +as you please; but if we are defeated through the ill-timed scruples of +yourself and others, and your business pinches in consequence, you need +n't expect us to help men who won't help themselves. Good day, sir." + +Aminadab sighed heavily, and his heart sank within him; but he thought +of his dream, and remained steadfast. Presently he heard heavy steps +and the tapping of a cane on the stairs; and as the door opened he saw +the drab surtout of the worthy and much-esteemed friend who sat beside +him at the head of the meeting. + +"How's thee do, Aminadab?" said he. "Thee's voted, I suppose?" + +"No, Jacob," said he; "I don't like the candidate. I can't see my way +clear to vote for a warrior." + +"Well, but thee does n't vote for him because he is a warrior, +Aminadab," argued the other; "thee votes for him as a tariff man and an +encourager of home industry. I don't like his wars and fightings better +than thee does; but I'm told he's an honest man, and that he disapproves +of war in the abstract, although he has been brought up to the business. +If thee feels tender about the matter, I don't like to urge thee; but it +really seems to me thee had better vote. Times have been rather hard, +thou knows; and if by voting at this election we can make business +matters easier, I don't see how we can justify ourselves in staying at +home. Thou knows we have a command to be diligent in business as well +as fervent in spirit, and that the Apostle accounted him who provided +not for his own household worse than an infidel. I think it important +to maintain on all proper occasions our Gospel testimony against wars +and fightings; but there is such a thing as going to extremes, thou +knows, and becoming over-scrupulous, as I think thou art in this case. +It is said, thou knows, in Ecclesiastes, 'Be not righteous overmuch: why +shouldst thou destroy thyself?'" + +"Ah," said Aminadab to himself, "that's what the little iron soldier +said in meeting." So he was strengthened in his resolution, and the +persuasions of his friend were lost upon him. + +At night Aminadab sat by his parlor fire, comfortable alike in his inner +and his outer man. "Well, Hannah," said he, "I've taken thy advice. I +did n't vote for the great fighter to-day." + +"I'm glad of it," said the good woman, "and I dare say thee feels the +better for it." + +Aminadab Ivison slept soundly that night, and saw no more of the little +iron soldier. + + + + + + + PASSACONAWAY. + + [1833.] + + I know not, I ask not, what guilt's in thy heart, But I feel + that I love thee, whatever thou art. + Moor. + +THE township of Haverhill, on the Merrimac, contained, in the autumn of +1641, the second year of its settlement, but six dwelling-houses, +situated near each other, on the site of the present village. They were +hastily constructed of rude logs, small and inconvenient, but one remove +from the habitations of the native dwellers of the wilderness. Around +each a small opening had been made through the thick forest, down to the +margin of the river, where, amidst the charred and frequent stumps and +fragments of fallen trees, the first attempts at cultivation had been +made. A few small patches of Indian corn, which had now nearly reached +maturity, exhibited their thick ears and tasselled stalks, bleached by +the frost and sunshine; and, here and there a spot of yellow stubble, +still lingering among the rough incumbrances of the soil, told where a +scanty crop of common English grain had been recently gathered. Traces +of some of the earlier vegetables were perceptible, the melon, the pea, +and the bean. The pumpkin lay ripening on its frosted vines, its sunny +side already changed to a bright golden color; and the turnip spread out +its green mat of leaves in defiance of the season. Everything around +realized the vivid picture of Bryant's Emigrant, who: + + "Hewed the dark old woods away, + And gave the virgin fields to the day + And the pea and the bean beside the door + Bloomed where such flowers ne'er bloomed before; + And the maize stood up, and the bearded rye + Bent low in the breath of an unknown sky." + +Beyond, extended the great forest, vast, limitless, unexplored, whose +venerable trees had hitherto bowed only to the presence of the storm, +the beaver's tooth, and the axe of Time, working in the melancholy +silence of natural decay. Before the dwellings of the white +adventurers, the broad Merrimac rolled quietly onward the piled-up +foliage of its shores, rich with the hues of a New England autumn. +The first sharp frosts, the avant couriers of approaching winter, had +fallen, and the whole wilderness was in blossom. It was like some vivid +picture of Claude Lorraine, crowded with his sunsets and rainbows, a +natural kaleidoscope of a thousand colors. The oak upon the hillside +stood robed in summer's greenness, in strong contrast with the topaz- +colored walnut. The hemlock brooded gloomily in the lowlands, forming, +with its unbroken mass of shadow, a dark background for the light maple +beside it, bright with its peculiar beauty. The solemn shadows of the +pine rose high in the hazy atmosphere, checkered, here and there, with +the pale yellow of the birch. + +"Truly, Alice, this is one of God's great marvels in the wilderness," +said John Ward, the minister, and the original projector of the +settlement, to his young wife, as they stood in the door of their humble +dwelling. "This would be a rare sight for our friends in old Haverhill. +The wood all about us hath, to my sight, the hues of the rainbow, when, +in the words of the wise man, it compasseth the heavens as with a +circle, and the hands of the Most High have bended it. Very beautifully +hath He indeed garnished the excellent works of His wisdom." + +"Yea, John," answered Alice, in her soft womanly tone; "the Lord is, +indeed, no respecter of persons. He hath given the wild savages a more +goodly show than any in Old England. Yet, John, I am sometimes very +sorrowful, when I think of our old home, of the little parlor where you +and I used to sit of a Sunday evening. The Lord hath been very +bountiful to this land, and it may be said of us, as it was said of +Israel of old, 'How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob! and thy tabernacles, +O Israel!' But the people sit in darkness, and the Gentiles know not +the God of our fathers." + +"Nay," answered her husband, "the heathen may be visited and redeemed, +the spirit of the Lord may turn unto the Gentiles; but a more sure evil +hath arisen among us. I tell thee, Alice, it shall be more tolerable in +the day of the Lord, for the Tyre and Sidon, the Sodom and Gomorrah of +the heathen, than for the schemers, the ranters, the Familists, and the +Quakers, who, like Satan of old, are coming among the sons of God." + +"I thought," said Alice, "that our godly governor had banished these out +of the colony." + +"Truly he hath," answered Mr. Ward, "but the evil seed they have sown +here continues to spring up and multiply. The Quakers have, indeed, +nearly ceased to molest us; but another set of fanatics, headed by +Samuel Gorton, have of late been very troublesome. Their family has +been broken up, and the ring-leaders have been sentenced to be kept at +hard labor for the colony's benefit; one being allotted to each of the +old towns, where they are forbidden to speak on matters of religion. +But there are said to be many still at large, who, under the +encouragement of the arch-heretic, Williams, of the Providence +plantation, are even now zealously doing the evil work of their master. +But, Alice," he continued, as he saw his few neighbors gathering around +a venerable oak which had been spared in the centre of the clearing, "it +is now near our time of worship. Let us join our friends." + +And the minister and his wife entered into the little circle of their +neighbors. No house of worship, with spire and tower, and decorated +pulpit, had as yet been reared on the banks of the Merrimac. The stern +settlers came together under the open heavens, or beneath the shadow of +the old trees, to kneel before that God, whose works and manifestations +were around them. + +The exercises of the Sabhath commenced. A psalm of the old and homely +version was sung, with true feeling, if not with a perfect regard to +musical effect and harmony. The brief but fervent prayer was offered, +and the good man had just announced the text for his sermon, when a +sudden tramp of feet, and a confused murmur of human voices, fell on the +ears of the assembly. + +The minister closed his Bible; and the whole group crowded closer +together. "It is surely a war party of the heathen," said Mr. Ward, as +he listened intently to the approaching sound. "God grant they mean us +no evil!" + +The sounds drew nearer. The swarthy figure of an Indian came gliding +through the brush-wood into the clearing, followed closely by several +Englishmen. In answer to the eager inquiries of Mr. Ward, Captain +Eaton, the leader of the party, stated that he had left Boston at +the command of Governor Winthrop, to secure and disarm the sachem, +Passaconaway, who was suspected of hostile intentions towards the +whites. They had missed of the old chief, but had captured his son, +and were taking him to the governor as a hostage for the good faith of +his father. He then proceeded to inform Mr. Ward, that letters had been +received from the governor of the settlements of Good Hoop and Piquag, +in Connecticut, giving timely warning of a most diabolical plot of the +Indians to cut off their white neighbors, root and branch. He pointed +out to the notice of the minister a member of his party as one of the +messengers who had brought this alarming intelligence. + +He was a tall, lean man, with straight, lank, sandy hair, cut evenly all +around his narrow forehead, and hanging down so as to remind one of +Smollett's apt similitude of "a pound of candles." + +"What news do you bring us of the savages?" inquired Mr. Ward. + +"The people have sinned, and the heathen are the instruments whereby the +Lord hath willed to chastise them," said the messenger, with that +peculiar nasal inflection of voice, so characteristic of the "unco' +guid." "The great sachem, Miantonimo, chief of the Narragansetts, hath +plotted to cut off the Lord's people, just after the time of harvest, to +slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children." + +"How have ye known this?" asked the minister. + +"Even as Paul knew of those who had bound themselves together with a +grievous oath to destroy him. The Lord hath done it. One of the bloody +heathens was dreadfully gored by the oxen of our people, and, being in +great bodily pain and tribulation thereat, he sent for Governor Haines, +and told him that the Englishman's god was angry with him for concealing +the plot to kill his people, and had sent the Englishman's cow to kill +him." + +"Truly a marvellous providence," said Mr. Ward; "but what has been done +in your settlements in consequence of it?" + +"We have fasted many days," returned the other, in a tone of great +solemnity, "and our godly men have besought the Lord that he might now, +as of old, rebuke Satan. They have, moreover, diligently and earnestly +inquired, Whence cometh this evil? Who is the Achan in the camp of our +Israel? It hath been greatly feared that the Quakers and the Papists +have been sowing tares in the garden of the true worship. We have +therefore banished these on pain of death; and have made it highly penal +for any man to furnish either food or lodging to any of these heretics +and idolaters. We have ordered a more strict observance of the Sabbath +of the Lord, no, one being permitted to walk or run on that day, except +to and from public worship, and then, only in a reverent and becoming +manner; and no one is allowed to cook food, sweep the house, shave or +pare the nails, or kiss a child, on the day which is to be kept holy. +We have also framed many wholesome laws, against the vanity and +licentiousness of the age, in respect to apparel and deportment, and +have forbidden any young man to kiss a maid during the time of +courtship, as, to their shame be it said, is the manner of many in the +old lands." + +"Ye have, indeed, done well for the spiritual," said Mr. Ward; "what +have you done for your temporal defence?" + +"We have our garrisons and our captains, and a goodly store of carnal +weapons," answered the other. "And, besides, we have the good chief +Uncas, of the Mohegans, to help us against the bloody Narragansetts." + +"But, my friend," said the minister, addressing Captain Eaton, "there +must be surely some mistake about Passaconaway. I verily believe him to +be the friend of the white men. And this is his son Wonolanset? I saw +him last year, and remember that he was the pride of the old savage, his +father. I will speak to him, for I know something of his barbarous +tongue." + +"Wonolanset!" + +The young savage started suddenly at the word, and rolled his keen +bright eye upon the speaker. + +"Why is the son of the great chief bound by my brothers?" + +The Indian looked one instant upon the cords which confined his arms, +and then glanced fiercely upon his conductors. + +"Has the great chief forgotten his white friends? Will he send his +young men to take their scalps when the Narragansett bids him?" + +The growl of the young bear when roused from his hiding-place is not +more fierce and threatening than were the harsh tones of Wonolanset as +he uttered through his clenched teeth:-- + +"Nummus quantum." + +"Nay, nay," said Mr. Ward, turning away from the savage, "his heart is +full of bitterness; he says he is angry, and, verily, I like not his +bearing. I fear me there is evil on foot. But ye have travelled far, +and must needs be weary rest yourselves awhile, and haply, while ye +refresh your bodies, I may also refresh your spirits with wholesome and +comfortable doctrines." + +The party having acquiesced in this proposal, their captive was secured +by fastening one end of his rope to a projecting branch of the tree. +The minister again named his text, but had only proceeded to the minuter +divisions of his sermon, when he was again interrupted by a loud, clear +whistle from the river, and a sudden exclamation of surprise from those +around him. A single glance sufficed to show him the Indian, disengaged +from his rope, and in full retreat. + +Eaton raised his rifle to his eye, and called out to the young sachem, +in his own language, to stop, or he would fire upon him. The Indian +evidently understood the full extent of his danger. He turned suddenly +about, and, pointing, up the river towards the dwelling of his father, +pronounced with a threatening gesture:-- + +"Nosh, Passaconaway!" + +"Hold!" exclaimed Mr. Ward, grasping the arm of Eaton. "He threatens us +with his father's vengeance. For God's sake keep your fire!" It was too +late. The report of the rifle broke sharply upon the Sabbath stillness. +It was answered by a shout from the river, and a small canoe, rowed by +an Indian and a white man, was seen darting along the shore. Wonolanset +bounded on unharmed, and, plunging into the river, he soon reached the +canoe, which was hastily paddled to the opposite bank. Captain Eaton +and his party finding it impossible to retake their prisoner, after +listening to the sermon of Mr. Ward, and partaking of some bodily +refreshment, took their leave of the settlers of Pentucket, and departed +for Boston. + +The evening, which followed the day whose events we have narrated, was +one of those peculiar seasons of beauty when the climate of New England +seems preferable to that of Italy. The sun went down in the soft haze +of the horizon, while the full moon was rising at the same time in the +east. Its mellow silver mingled with the deep gold of the sunset. The +south-west wind, as warm as that of summer, but softer, was heard, at +long intervals, faintly harping amidst the pines, and blending its low +sighing with the lulling murmurs of the river. The inhabitants of +Pentucket had taken the precaution, as night came on, to load their +muskets carefully, and place them in readiness for instant use, in the +event of an attack from the savages. Such an occurrence, was, indeed, +not unlikely, after the rude treatment which the son of old Passaconaway +had received at the settlement. It was well known that the old chief +was able, at a word, to send every warrior from Pennacook to Naumkeag +upon the war-path of Miantonimo; the vengeful character of the Indians +was also understood; and, in the event of an out-breaking of their +resentment, the settlement of Pentucket was, of all others, the most +exposed to danger. + +"Don't go to neighbor Clements's to-night, Mary," said Alice Ward to her +young, unmarried sister; "I'm afraid some of the tawny Indians may be +lurking hereabout. Mr. Ward says he thinks they will be dangerous +neighbors for us." + +Mary had thrown her shawl over her head, and was just stepping out. +"It is but a step, as it were, and I promised good-wife Clements that I +would certainly come. I am not afraid of the Indians. There's none of +them about here except Red Sam, who wanted to buy me of Mr. Ward for his +squaw; and I shall not be afraid of my old spark." + +The girl tripped lightly from the threshold towards the dwelling of her +neighbor. She had passed nearly half the distance when the pathway, +before open to the moonlight, began to wind along the margin of the +river, overhung with young sycamores and hemlocks. With a beating heart +and a quickened step she was stealing through the shadow, when the +boughs on the river-side were suddenly parted, and a tall man sprang +into the path before her. Shrinking back with terror, she uttered a +faint scream. + +"Mary Edmands!" said the stranger, "do not fear me." + +A thousand thoughts wildly chased each other through the mind of the +astonished girl. That familiar voice--that knowledge of her name--that +tall and well-remembered form! She leaned eagerly forward, and looked +into the stranger's face. A straggling gleam of moonshine fell across +its dark features of manly beauty. + +"Richard Martin! can it be possible!" + +"Yea, Mary," answered the other, "I have followed thee to the new world, +in that love which neither sea nor land can abate. For many weary +months I have waited earnestly for such a meeting as this, and, in that +time, I have been in many and grievous perils by the flood and the +wilderness, and by the heathen Indians and more heathen persecutors +among my own people. But I may not tarry, nor delay to tell my errand. +Mary, thou knowest my love; wilt thou be my wife?" + +Mary hesitated. + +"I ask thee again, if thou wilt share the fortunes of one who hath loved +thee ever since thou wast but a child, playing under the cottage trees +in old Haverhill, and who hath sacrificed his worldly estate, and +perilled his soul's salvation for thy sake. Mary, dear Mary, for of a +truth thou art very dear to me; wilt thou go with me and be my wife?" + +The tones of Richard Martin, usually harsh and forbidding, now fell soft +and musical on the ear of Mary. He was her first love, her only one. +What marvel that she consented? + +"Let us hasten to depart," said Martin, "this is no place for me. We +will go to the Providence plantations. Passaconaway will assist us in +our journey." + +The bright flush of hope and joy faded from the face of the young girl. +She started back from the embrace of her lover. + +"What mean you, Richard? What was 't you said about our going to that +sink of wickedness at Providence? Why don't you go back with me to +sister Ward's?" + +"Mary Edmands!" said Martin, in a tone of solemn sternness, "it is +fitting that I should tell thee all. I have renounced the evil +doctrines of thy brother-in-law, and his brethren in false prophecy. It +was a hard struggle, Mary; the spirit was indeed willing, but the flesh +was weak, exceeding weak, for I thought of thee, Mary, and of thy +friends. But I had a measure of strength given me, whereby I have been +enabled to do the work which was appointed me." + +"Oh, Richard!" said Mary, bursting into tears, "I'm afraid you have +become a Williamsite, one of them, who, Mr. Ward says, have nothing to +hope for in this world or in that to come." + +"The Lord rebuke him!" said Martin, with a loud voice. "Woe to such as +speak evil of the witnesses of the truth. I have seen the utter +nakedness of the land of carnal professors, and I have obeyed the call +to come out from among them and be separate. I belong to that +persecuted family whom the proud priests and rulers of this colony have +driven from their borders. I was brought, with many others, before the +wicked magistrates of Boston, and sentenced to labor, without hire, for +the ungodly. But I have escaped from my bonds; and the Lord has raised +up a friend for his servant, even the Indian Passaconaway, whose son I +assisted, but a little time ago, to escape from his captors." + +"Can it be?" sobbed Mary, "can it be? Richard, our own Richard, +following the tribe of Gorton, the Familist! Oh, Richard, if you love +me, if you love God's people and his true worship, do come away from +those wicked fanatics." + +"Thou art in the very gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity," +answered Martin. "Listen, Mary Edmands, to the creed of those whom thou +callest fanatics. We believe in Christ, but not in man-worship. The +Christ we reverence is the shadow or image of God in man; he was +crucified in Adam of old, and hath been crucified in all men since; his +birth, his passion, and his death, were but manifestations or figures of +his sufferings in Adam and his descendants. Faith and Christ are the +same, the spiritual image of God in the heart. We acknowledge no rule +but this Christ, this faith within us, either in temporal or spiritual +things. And the Lord hath blessed us, and will bless us, and truth +shall be magnified and exalted in us; and the children of the heathen +shall be brought to know and partake of this great redemption whereof we +testify. But woe to the false teachers, and to them who prophesy for +hire and make gain of their soothsaying. Their churches are the devices +of Satan, the pride and vanity of the natural Adam. Their baptism is +blasphemy; and their sacrament is an abomination, yea, an incantation +and a spell. Woe to them who take the shadow for the substance, that +bow down to the altars of human device and cunning workmanship, that +make idols of their ceremonies! Woe to the high priests and the +Pharisees, and the captains and the rulers; woe to them who love the +wages of unrighteousness!" + +The Familist paused from utter exhaustion, so vehemently had he poured +forth the abundance of his zeal. Mary Edmands, overwhelmed by his +eloquence, but still unconvinced, could only urge the disgrace and +danger attending his adherence to such pernicious doctrines. She +concluded by telling him, in a voice choked by tears, that she could +never marry him while a follower of Gorton. + +"Stay then," said Martin, fiercely dashing her hand from his, "stay and +partake of the curse of the ungodly, even of the curse of Meroz, who +come not up to the help of the Lord, against the mighty Stay, till the +Lord hath made a threshing instrument of the heathen, whereby the pride +of the rulers, and the chief priests, and the captains of this land +shall be humbled. Stay, till the vials of His wrath are poured out upon +ye, and the blood of the strong man, and the maid, and the little child +is mingled together!" + +The wild language, the fierce tones and gestures of her lover, terrified +the unhappy girl. She looked wildly around her, all was dark and +shadowy, an undefined fear of violence came over her; and, bursting into +tears, she turned to fly. "Stay yet a moment," said Martin, in a hoarse +and subdued voice. He caught hold of her arm. She shrieked as if in +mortal jeopardy. + +"Let go the gal, let her go!" said old Job Clements, thrusting the long +barrel of his gun through the bushes within a few feet of the head of +the Familist. "A white man, as sure as I live! I thought, sartin, 't +was a tarnal In-in." Martin relinquished his hold, and, the next +instant, found himself surrounded by the settlers. + +After a brief explanation had taken place between Mr. Ward and his +sister-in-law, the former came forward and accosted the Familist. +"Richard Martin!" he said, "I little thought to see thee so soon in the +new world, still less to see thee such as thou art. I am exceeding +sorry that I cannot greet thee here as a brother, either in a temporal +or a spiritual nature. My sister tells me that you are a follower of +that servant of Satan, Samuel Gorton, and that you have sought to entice +her away with you to the colony of fanatics at Rhode Island, which may +be fitly compared to that city which Philip of Macedonia peopled with +rogues and vagabonds, and the offscouring of the whole earth." + +"John Ward, I know thee," said the unshrinking Familist; "I know thee +for a man wise above what is written, a man vain, uncharitable, and +given to evil speaking. I value neither thy taunts nor thy wit; for the +one hath its rise in the bitterness, and the other in the vanity, of the +natural Adam. Those who walk in the true light, and who have given over +crucifying Christ in their hearts, heed not a jot of the reproaches and +despiteful doings of the high and mighty in iniquity. For of us it hath +been written: 'I have given them thy word and the world hath hated them +because they are not of the world. If the world hate you, ye know that +it hated me before it hated you. If they have hated me they will hate +you also; if they have persecuted me they will persecute you.' And, of +the scoffers and the scorners, the wise ones of this world, whose wisdom +and knowledge have perverted them, and who have said in their hearts, +There is none beside them, it hath been written, yea, and will be +fulfilled: The day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon every one that is +proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up, and he shall be +brought low; and the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the +haughtiness of man shall be brought low; and the Lord alone shall be +exalted in that day; and the idols shall he utterly abolish.' Of thee, +John Ward, and of thy priestly brotherhood, I ask nothing; and for the +much evil I have received, and may yet receive at your hands, may ye be +rewarded like Alexander the coppersmith, every man according to his +works." + +"Such damnable heresy," said Mr. Ward, addressing his neighbors, "must +not be permitted to spread among the people. My friends, we must send +this man to the magistrates." + +The Familist placed his hands to his month, and gave a whistle, similar +to that which was heard in the morning, and which preceded the escape of +Wonolanset. It was answered by a shout from the river; and a score of +Indians came struggling up through the brush-wood. + +"Vile heretic!" exclaimed Mr. Ward, snatching a musket from the hands of +his neighbor, and levelling it full at the head of Martin; "you have +betrayed us into this jeopardy." + +"Wagh! down um gun," said a powerful Indian, as he laid his rough hand +on the shoulder of the minister. "You catch Wonolanset, tie um, shoot +um, scare squaw. Old sachem come now, me tie white man, shoot um, roast +um;" and the old savage smiled grimly and fiercely in the indistinct +moonlight, as he witnessed the alarm and terror of his prisoner. + +"Hold, Passaconaway!" said Martin, in the Indian tongue. "Will the +great chief forget his promise?" + +The sachem dropped his hold on Mr. Ward's arm. "My brother is good," he +said; "me no kill um, me make um walk woods like Wonolanset." Martin +spoke a few words in the chief's ear. The countenance of the old +warrior for an instant seemed to express dissatisfaction; but, yielding +to the powerful influence which the Familist had acquired over him, he +said, with some reluctance, "My brother is wise, me do so." + +"John Ward," said the Familist, approaching the minister, "thou hast +devised evil against one who hath never injured thee. But I seek not +carnal revenge. I have even now restrained the anger of this heathen +chief whom thou and thine have wronged deeply. Let us part in peace, +for we may never more meet in this world." And he extended his hand and +shook that of the minister. + +"For thee, Mary," he said, "I had hoped to pluck thee from the evil +which is to come, even as a brand from the burning. I had hoped to lead +thee to the manna of true righteousness, but thou last chosen the flesh- +pots of Egypt. I had hoped to cherish thee always, but thou hast +forgotten me and my love, which brought me over the great waters for thy +sake. I will go among the Gentiles, and if it be the Lord's will, +peradventure I may turn away their wrath from my people. When my +wearisome pilgrimage is ended, none shall know the grave of Richard +Martin; and none but the heathen shall mourn for him. Mary! I forgive +thee; may the God of all mercies bless thee! I shall never see thee +more." + +Hot and fast fell the tears of that stern man upon the hand of Mary. +The eyes of the young woman glanced hurriedly over the faces of her +neighbors, and fixed tearfully upon that of her lover. A thousand +recollections of young affection, of vows and meetings in another land, +came vividly before her. Her sister's home, her brother's instructions, +her own strong faith, and her bitter hatred of her lover's heresy were +all forgotten. + +"Richard, dear Richard, I am your Mary as much as ever I was. I'll go +with you to the ends of the earth. Your God shall be my God, and where +you are buried there will I be also." + +Silent in the ecstasy of joyful surprise, the Familist pressed her to +his bosom. Passaconaway, who had hitherto been an unmoved spectator of +the scene, relaxed the Indian gravity of his features, and murmured, in +an undertone, "Good, good." + +"Will my brother go?" he inquired, touching Martin's shoulder; "my +squaws have fine mat, big wigwam, soft samp, for his young woman." + +"Mary," said Martin, "the sachem is impatient; and we must needs go with +him." Mary did not answer, but her head was reclined upon his bosom, +and the Familist knew that she resigned herself wholly to his direction. +He folded the shawl more carefully around her, and supported her down +the precipitous and ragged bank of the river, followed closely by +Passaconaway and his companions. + +"Come back, Mary Edmands!" shouted Mr. Ward. "In God's name come back." + +Half a dozen canoes shot out into the clear moonlight from the shadow of +the shore. "It is too late!" said the minister, as he struggled down to +the water's edge. "Satan hath laid his hands upon her; but I will +contend for her, even as did Michael of old for the body of Moses. +Mary, sister Mary, for the love of Christ, answer me." + +No sound came back from the canoes, which glided like phantoms, +noiselessly and swiftly, through the still waters of the river. +"The enemy hath prevailed," said Mr. Ward; "two women were grinding at +my mill, the one is taken and the other is left. Let us go home, my +friends, and wrestle in prayer against the Tempter." + +The heretic and his orthodox bride departed into the thick wilderness, +under the guidance of Passaconaway, and in a few days reached the +Eldorado of the heretic and the persecuted, the colony of Roger +Williams. Passaconaway, ever after, remained friendly to the white men. +As civilization advanced he retired before it, to Pennacook, now +Concord, on the Merrimac, where the tribes of the Naumkeags, +Piscataquas, Accomentas, and Agawams acknowledged his authority. + + + + + + + THE OPIUM EATER. + + [1833.] + + Heavens! what a revulsion! what an upheaving from its lowest depths + of the inner spirit! what an apocalypse of the world within me! + Here was a panacea, a pharmakon nepenthes for all human woes; here + was the secret of happiness about which philosophers had disputed + for so many ages: happiness might be bought for a penny, and + carried in the waistcoat pocket.--DEQUINCEY's "Confessions of an + Opium Eater." + + +HE was a tall, thin personage, with a marked brow and a sunken eye. + +He stepped towards a closet of his apartment, and poured out a few drops +of a dark liquid. His hand shook, as he raised the glass which +contained them to his lips; and with a strange shuddering, a nervous +tremor, as if all the delicate chords of his system were unloosed and +trembling, he turned away from his fearful draught. + +He saw that my eye was upon him; and I could perceive that his mind +struggled desperately with the infirmity of his nature, as if ashamed of +the utter weakness of its tabernacle. He passed hastily up and down the +room. "You seem somewhat ill," I said, in the undecided tone of partial +interrogatory. + +He paused, and passed his long thin fingers over his forehead. "I am +indeed ill," he said, slowly, and with that quavering, deep-drawn +breathing, which is so indicative of anguish, mental and physical. +"I am weak as a child, weak alike in mind and body, even when I am under +the immediate influence of yonder drug." And he pointed, as he spoke, +to a phial, labelled "Laudanum," upon a table in the corner of the room. + +"My dear sir," said I, "for God's sake abandon your desperate practice: +I know not, indeed, the nature of your afflictions, but I feel assured +that you have yet the power to be happy. You have, at least, warm +friends to sympathize with you. But forego, if possible, your +pernicious stimulant of laudanum. It is hurrying you to your grave." + +"It may be so," he replied, while another shudder ran along his nerves; +"but why should I fear it? I, who have become worthless to myself and +annoying to my friends; exquisitely sensible of my true condition, yet +wanting the power to change it; cursed with a lively apprehension of all +that I ought now to be, yet totally incapable of even making an effort +to be so! My dear sir, I feel deeply the kindness of your motives, but +it is too late for me to hope to profit by your advice." + +I was shocked at his answer. "But can it be possible," said I, "that +the influence of such an excessive use of opium can produce any +alleviation of mental suffering? any real relief to the harassed mind? +Is it not rather an aggravation?" + +"I know not," he said, seating himself with considerable calmness,--"I +know not. If it has not removed the evil, it has at least changed its +character. It has diverted my mind from its original grief; and has +broken up and rendered divergent the concentrated agony which oppressed +me. It has, in a measure, substituted imaginary afflictions for real +ones. I cannot but confess, however, that the relief which it has +afforded has been produced by the counteraction of one pain by another; +very much like that of the Russian criminal, who gnaws his own flesh +while undergoing the punishment of the knout.'" + +"For Heaven's sake," said I, "try to dispossess your mind of such horrid +images. There are many, very many resources yet left you. Try the +effect of society; and let it call into exercise those fine talents +which all admit are so well calculated to be its ornament and pride. +At least, leave this hypochondriacal atmosphere, and look out more +frequently upon nature. Your opium, if it be an alleviator, is, by your +own confession, a most melancholy one. It exorcises one demon to give +place to a dozen others. + + 'With other ministrations, thou, O Nature! + Healest thy wandering and distempered child.'" + +He smiled bitterly; it was a heartless, melancholy relaxation of +features, a mere muscular movement, with which the eye had no sympathy; +for its wild and dreamy expression, the preternatural lustre, without +transparency, remained unaltered, as if rebuking, with its cold, strange +glare, the mockery around it. He sat before me like a statue, whose eye +alone retained its stony and stolid rigidity, while the other features +were moved by some secret machinery into "a ghastly smile." + +"I am not desirous, even were it practicable," he said, "to defend the +use of opium, or rather the abuse of it. I can only say, that the +substitutes you propose are not suited to my condition. The world has +now no enticements for me; society no charms. Love, fame, wealth, +honor, may engross the attention of the multitude; to me they are all +shadows; and why should I grasp at them? In the solitude of my own +thoughts, looking on but not mingling in them, I have taken the full +gauge of their hollow vanities. No, leave me to myself, or rather to +that new existence which I have entered upon, to the strange world to +which my daily opiate invites me. In society I am alone, fearfully +solitary; for my mind broods gloomily over its besetting sorrow, and I +make myself doubly miserable by contrasting my own darkness with the +light and joy of all about me; nay, you cannot imagine what a very hard +thing it is, at such times, to overcome some savage feelings of +misanthropy which will present themselves. But when I am alone, and +under the influence of opium, I lose for a season my chief source of +misery, myself; my mind takes a new and unnatural channel; and I have +often thought that any one, even that of insanity, would be preferable +to its natural one. It is drawn, as it were, out of itself; and I +realize in my own experience the fable of Pythagoras, of two distinct +existences, enjoyed by the same intellectual being. + +"My first use of opium was the consequence of an early and very bitter +disappointment. I dislike to think of it, much more to speak of it. I +recollect, on a former occasion, you expressed some curiosity concerning +it. I then repelled that curiosity, for my mind was not in a situation +to gratify it. But now, since I have been talking of myself, I think I +can go on with my story with a very decent composure. In complying with +your request, I cannot say that my own experience warrants, in any +degree, the old and commonly received idea that sorrow loses half its +poignancy by its revelation to others. It was a humorous opinion of +Sterne, that a blessing which ties up the tongue, and a mishap which +unlooses it, are to be considered equal; and, indeed, I have known some +people happy under all the changes of fortune, when they could find +patient auditors. Tully wept over his dead daughter, but when he +chanced to think of the excellent things he could say on the subject, +he considered it, on the whole, a happy circumstance. But, for my own +part, I cannot say with the Mariner in Coleridge's ballad, that + + "'At an uncertain hour My agony returns; + + And, till my ghastly tale is told, + This heart within me burns.'" + +He paused a moment, and rested his head upon his hand. "You have seen +Mrs. H------, of -------?" he inquired, somewhat abruptly. I replied in +the affirmative. + +"Do you not think her a fine woman?" + +"Yes, certainly, a fine woman. She was once, I am told, very +beautiful." + +"Once? is she not so now?" he asked. "Well, I have heard the same +before. I sometimes think I should like to see her now, now that the +mildew of years and perhaps of accusing recollections are upon her; and +see her toss her gray curls as she used to do her dark ones, and act +over again her old stratagem of smiles upon a face of wrinkles. Just +Heavens! were I revengeful to the full extent of my wrongs, I could wish +her no worse punishment. + +"They told you truly, my dear sir,--she was beautiful, nay, externally, +faultless. Her figure was that of womanhood, just touching upon the +meridian of perfection, from which nothing could be taken, and to which +nothing could be added. There was a very witchery in her smile, +trembling, as it did, over her fine Grecian features, like the play of +moonlight upon a shifting and beautiful cloud. + +"Her voice was music, low, sweet, bewildering. I have heard it a +thousand times in my dreams. It floated around me, like the tones of +some rare instrument, unseen by the hearer; for, beautiful as she was, +you could not think of her, or of her loveliness, while she was +speaking; it was that sweetly wonderful voice, seemingly abstracted from +herself, pouring forth the soft current of its exquisite cadence, which +alone absorbed the attention. Like that one of Coleridge's heroines, +you could half feel, half fancy, that it had a separate being of its +own, a spiritual presence manifested to but one of the senses; a living +something, whose mode of existence was for the ear alone.--[See Memoirs +of Maria Eleonora Schoning.] + +"But what shall I say of the mind? What of the spirit, the resident +divinity of so fair a temple? Vanity, vanity, all was vanity; +a miserable, personal vanity, too, unrelieved by one noble aspiration, +one generous feeling; the whited sepulchre spoken of of old, beautiful +without, but dark and unseemly within. + +"I look back with wonder and astonishment to that period of my life, +when such a being claimed and received the entire devotion of my heart. +Her idea blended with or predominated over all others. It was the +common centre in my mind from which all the radii of thought had their +direction; the nucleus around which I had gathered all that my ardent +imagination could conceive, or a memory stored with all the delicious +dreams of poetry and romances could embody, of female excellence and +purity and constancy. + +"It is idle to talk of the superior attractions of intellectual beauty, +when compared with mere external loveliness. The mind, invisible and +complicated and indefinite, does not address itself directly to the +senses. It is comprehended only by its similitude in others. It +reveals itself, even then, but slowly and imperfectly. But the beauty +of form and color, the grace of motion, the harmony of tone, are seen +and felt and appreciated at once. The image of substantial and material +loveliness once seen leaves an impression as distinct and perfect upon +the retina of memory as upon that of the eyes. It does not rise before +us in detached and disconnected proportions, like that of spiritual +loveliness, but in crowds, and in solitude, and in all the throngful +varieties of thought and feeling and action, the symmetrical whole, the +beautiful perfection comes up in the vision of memory, and stands, like +a bright angel, between us and all other impressions of outward or +immaterial beauty. + +"I saw her, and could not forget her; I sought her society, and was +gratified with it. It is true, I sometimes (in the first stages of my +attachment) had my misgivings in relation to her character. I sometimes +feared that her ideas were too much limited to the perishing beauty of +her person. But to look upon her graceful figure yielding to the dance, +or reclining in its indolent symmetry; to watch the beautiful play of +coloring upon her cheek, and the moonlight transit of her smile; to +study her faultless features in their delicate and even thoughtful +repose, or when lighted up into conversational vivacity, was to forget +everything, save the exceeding and bewildering fascination before me. +Like the silver veil of Khorassan it shut out from my view the mental +deformity beneath it. I could not reason with myself about her; I had +no power of ratiocination which could overcome the blinding dazzle of +her beauty. The master-passion, which had wrestled down all others, +gave to every sentiment of the mind something of its own peculiar +character. + +"I will not trouble you with a connected history of my first love, my +boyish love, you may perhaps call it. Suffice it to say, that on the +revelation of that love, it was answered by its object warmly and +sympathizingly. I had hardly dared to hope for her favor; for I had +magnified her into something far beyond mortal desert; and to hear from +her own lips an avowal of affection seemed more like the condescension +of a pitying angel than the sympathy of a creature of passion and +frailty like myself. I was miserably self-deceived; and self-deception +is of a nature most repugnant to the healthy operation of truth. We +suspect others, but seldom ourselves. The deception becomes a part of +our self-love; we hold back the error even when Reason would pluck it +away from us. + +"Our whole life may be considered as made up of earnest yearnings after +objects whose value increases with the difficulties of obtaining them, +and which seem greater and more desirable, from our imperfect knowledge +of their nature, just as the objects of the outward vision are magnified +and exalted when seen through a natural telescope of mist. Imagination +fills up and supplies the picture, of which we can only catch the +outlines, with colors brighter, and forms more perfect, than those of +reality. Yet, you may perhaps wonder why, after my earnest desire had +been gratified, after my love had found sympathy in its object, I did +not analyze more closely the inherent and actual qualities of her heart +and intellect. But living, as I did, at a considerable distance from +her, and seeing her only under circumstances calculated to confirm +previous impressions, I had few advantages, even had I desired to do so, +of studying her true character. The world had not yet taught me its +ungenerous lesson. I had not yet learned to apply the rack of +philosophical analysis to the objects around me, and test, by a cold +process of reasoning, deduced from jealous observation, the reality of +all which wore the outward semblance of innocence and beauty. And it +may be, too, that the belief, nay, the assurance, from her own lips, and +from the thousand voiceless but eloquent signs which marked our +interviews, that I was beloved, made me anxious to deceive even myself, +by investing her with those gifts of the intellect and the heart, +without which her very love would have degraded its object. It is not +in human nature, at least it was not in mine, to embitter the delicious +aliment which is offered to our vanity, by admitting any uncomfortable +doubts of the source from which it is derived. + +"And thus it was that I came on, careless and secure, dreaming over and +over the same bright dream; without any doubt, without fear, and in the +perfect confidence of an unlimited trust, until the mask fell off, all +at once; without giving me time for preparation, without warning or +interlude; and the features of cold, heartless, systematic treachery +glared full upon me. + +"I saw her wedded to another. It was a beautiful morning; and never had +the sun shone down on a gayer assemblage than that which gathered +together at the village church. I witnessed the imposing ceremony which +united the only one being I had ever truly loved to a happy and favored, +because more wealthy, rival. As the grayhaired man pronounced the +inquiring challenge, 'If any man can show just cause why they may not +lawfully be joined together, let him now speak or else forever after +hold his peace,' I struggled forward, and would have cried out, but the +words died away in my throat. And the ceremony went on, and the death- +like trance into which I had fallen was broken by the voice of the +priest: 'I require and charge ye both, as ye will answer at the dreadful +day of judgment, when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, that +if either of you know of any impediment why ye may not lawfully be +joined together in matrimony, ye do now confess it; for be ye well +assured, that if any persons are joined together otherwise than as God's +word doth allow, their marriage is not lawful.' As the solemn tones of +the old man died away in the church aisles, I almost expected to hear a +supernatural voice calling upon him to forbear. But there was no sound. +For an instant my eyes met those of the bride; the blood boiled rapidly +to her forehead, and then sank back, and she was as pale as if death had +been in the glance I had given her. And I could see the folds of her +rich dress tremble, and her beautiful lips quiver; and she turned away +her eyes, and the solemn rites were concluded. + +"I returned to my lodgings. I heeded not the gay smiles and free +merriment of those around me. I hurried along like one who wanders +abroad in a dark dream; for I could hardly think of the events of the +morning as things of reality. But, when I spurred my horse aside, as +the carriage which contained the newly married swept by me, the terrible +truth came upon me like a tangible substance, and one black and evil +thought passed over my mind, like the whispered suggestion of Satan. It +was a feeling of blood, a sensation like that of grasping the strangling +throat of an enemy. I started from it with horror. For the first time +a thought of murder had risen up in my bosom; and I quenched it with the +natural abhorrence of a nature prone to mildness and peace. + +"I reached my chamber, and, exhausted alike in mind and body, I threw +myself upon my bed, but not to sleep. A sense of my utter desolation +and loneliness came over me, blended with a feeling of bitter and +unmerited wrong. I recollected the many manifestations of affection +which I had received from her who had that day given herself, in the +presence of Heaven, to another; and I called to mind the thousand +sacrifices I had made to her lightest caprices, to every shade and +variation of her temper; and then came the maddening consciousness of +the black ingratitude which had requited such tenderness. Then, too, +came the thought, bitter to a pride like mine, that the cold world had a +knowledge of my misfortunes; that I should be pointed out as a +disappointed man, a subject for the pity of some, and the scorn and +jestings of others. Rage and shame mingled with the keen agony of +outraged feeling. 'I will not endure it,' I said, mentally, springing +from my bed and crossing the chamber with a flushed brow and a strong +step; 'never!' And I ground my teeth upon each other, while a fierce +light seemed to break in upon my brain; it was the light of the +Tempter's smile, and I almost laughed aloud as the horrible thought of +suicide started before me. I felt that I might escape the ordeal of +public scorn and pity; that I might bid the world and its falsehood +defiance, and end, by one manly effort, the agony of an existence whose +every breath was torment. + +"My resolution was fixed. 'I will never see another morrow!' I said, +sternly, but with a calmness which almost astonished me. Indeed, I +seemed gifted with a supernatural firmness, as I made my arrangements +for the last day of suffering which I was to endure. A few friends had +been invited to dine with me, and I prepared to meet them. They came at +the hour appointed with smiling faces and warm and friendly greetings; +and I received them as if nothing had happened, with even a more +enthusiastic welcome than was my wont. + +"Oh! it is terrible to smile when the heart is breaking! to talk +lightly and freely and mirthfully, when every feeling of the mind is +wrung with unutterable agony; to mingle in the laugh and in the gay +volleys of convivial fellowship, + + 'With the difficult utterance of one + Whose heart is with an iron nerve put down.' + +"Yet all this I endured, hour after hour, until my friends departed and I +had pressed their hands as at a common parting, while my heart whispered +an everlasting farewell! + +"It was late when they left me. I walked out to look for the last time +upon Nature in her exceeding beauty. I hardly acknowledged to myself +that such was my purpose; but yet I did feel that it was so; and that I +was taking an everlasting farewell of the beautiful things around me. +The sun was just setting; and the hills, that rose like pillars of the +blue horizon, were glowing with a light which was fast deserting the +valleys. It was an evening of summer; everything was still; not a leaf +stirred in the dark, overshadowing foliage; but, silent and beautiful as +a picture, the wide scenery of rock and hill and woodland, stretched +away before me; and, beautiful as it was, it seemed to possess a newness +and depth of beauty beyond its ordinary appearance, as if to aggravate +the pangs of the last, long farewell. + +"They do not err who believe that man has a sympathy with even inanimate +Nature, deduced from a common origin; a chain of co-existence and +affinity connecting the outward forms of natural objects with his own +fearful and wonderful machinery; something, in short, manifested in his +love of flowing waters, and soft green shadows, and pleasant blowing +flowers, and in his admiration of the mountain, stretching away into +heaven, sublimed and awful in its cloudy distance; the heave and swell +of the infinite ocean; the thunder of the leaping cataract; and the +onward rush of mighty rivers, which tells of its original source, and +bears evidence of its kindred affinities. Nor was the dream of the +ancient Chaldean 'all a dream.' The stars of heaven, the beauty and the +glory above us, have their influences and their power, not evil and +malignant and partial and irrevocable, but holy and tranquillizing and +benignant, a moral influence, by which all may profit if they will do +so. And I have often marvelled at the hard depravity of that human +heart which could sanction a deed of violence and crime in the calm +solitudes of Nature, and surrounded by the enduring evidences of an +overruling Intelligence. I could conceive of crime, growing up rank and +monstrous in the unwholesome atmosphere of the thronged city, amidst the +taint of moral as well as physical pestilence, and surrounded only by +man and the works of man. But there is something in the harmony and +quiet of the natural world which presents a reproving antagonism to the +fiercer passions of the human heart; an eye of solemn reprehension looks +out from the still places of Nature, as if the Great Soul of the +Universe had chosen the mute creations of his power to be the witnesses +of the deeds done in the body, the researchers of the bosoms of men. + +"And then, even at that awful moment, I could feel the bland and gentle +ministrations of Nature; I could feel the fever of my heart cooling, and +a softer haze of melancholy stealing over the blackness of my despair; +and the fierce passions which had distracted me giving place to the calm +of a settled anguish, a profound sorrow, the quiet gloom of an +overshadowing woe, in which love and hatred and wrong were swallowed up +and lost. I no longer hated the world; but I felt that it had nothing +for me; that I was no longer a part and portion of its harmonious +elements; affliction had shut me out forever from the pale of human +happiness and sympathy, and hope pointed only to the resting-place of +the grave! + +"I stood steadily gazing at the setting sun. It touched and sat upon +the hill-top like a great circle of fire. I had never before fully +comprehended the feeling of the amiable but misguided Rousseau, who at +his death-hour desired to be brought into the open air, that the last +glance of his failing eye might drink in the glory of the sunset +heavens, and the light of his great intellect and that of Nature go out +together. For surely never did the Mexican idolater mark with deeper +emotion the God of his worship, for the last time veiling his awful +countenance, than did I, untainted by superstition, yet full of perfect +love for the works of Infinite Wisdom, watch over the departure of the +most glorious of them all. I felt, even to agony, the truth of these +exquisite lines of the Milesian poet: + + 'Blest power of sunshine, genial day! + What joy, what life is in thy ray! + To feel thee is such real bliss, + That, had the world no joy but this, + To sit in sunshine, calm and sweet, + It were a world too exquisite + For man to leave it for the gloom, + The dull, cold shadow of the tomb!' + +"Never shall I forget my sensations when the sun went down utterly from +my sight. It was like receiving the last look of a dying friend. To +others he might bring life and health and joy, on the morrow; but tome +he would never rise. As this thought came over me, I felt a stifling +sensation in my throat, tears started in my eyes, and my heart almost +wavered from its purpose. But the bent bow had only relaxed for a +single instant; it returned again to its strong and abiding tension. + +"I was alone in my chamber once more. A single lamp burned gloomily +before me; and on the table at my side stood a glass of laudanum. I had +prepared everything. I had written my last letter, and had now only to +drink the fatal draught, and lie down to my last sleep. I heard the old +village clock strike eleven. 'I may as well do it now as ever,' I said +mentally, and my hand moved towards the glass. But my courage failed +me; my hand shook, and some moments elapsed before I could sufficiently +quiet my nerves to lift the glass containing the fatal liquid. The +blood ran cold upon my heart, and my brain reeled, as again and again +I lifted the poison to my closed lips. 'It must be done,' thought I, +'I must drink it.' With a desperate effort I unlocked my clenched teeth +and the deed was done! + +"'O God, have mercy upon me!' I murmured, as the empty glass fell from +my hand. I threw myself upon the bed, and awaited the awful +termination. An age of unutterable misery seemed crowded into a brief +moment. All the events of my past life, a life, as it then seemed to +me, made up of folly and crime, rose distinct before me, like accusing +witnesses, as if the recording angel had unrolled to my view the full +and black catalogue of my unnumbered sins:-- + + 'O'er the soul Winters of memory seemed to roll, + And gather, in that drop of time, + A life of pain, an age of crime.' + +"I felt that what I had done was beyond recall; and the Phantom of Death, +as it drew nearer, wore an aspect darker and more terrible. I thought +of the coffin, the shroud, and the still and narrow grave, into whose +dumb and frozen solitude none but the gnawing worm intrudes. And then +my thoughts wandered away into the vagueness and mystery of eternity, I +was rushing uncalled for into the presence of a just and pure God, with +a spirit unrepenting, unannealed! And I tried to pray and could not; +for a heaviness, a dull strange torpor crept over me. Consciousness +went out slowly. 'This is death,' thought I; yet I felt no pain, +nothing save a weary drowsiness, against which I struggled in vain. + +"My next sensations were those of calmness, deep, ineffable, an +unearthly quiet; a suspension or rather oblivion of every mental +affliction; a condition of the mind betwixt the thoughts of wakefulness +and the dreams of sleep. It seemed to me that the gulf between mind and +matter had been passed over, and that I had entered upon a new +existence. I had no memory, no hope, no sorrow; nothing but a dim +consciousness of a pleasurable and tranquil being. Gradually, however, +the delusion vanished. I was sensible of still wearing the fetters of +the flesh, yet they galled no longer; the burden was lifted from my +heart, it beat happily and calmly, as in childhood. As the stronger +influences of my opiate (for I had really swallowed nothing more, as the +druggist, suspecting from the incoherence of my language, that I was +meditating some fearful purpose, furnished me with a harmless, though +not ineffective draught) passed off, the events of the past came back to +me. It was like the slow lifting of a curtain from a picture of which I +was a mere spectator, about which I could reason calmly, and trace +dispassionately its light and shadow. Having satisfied myself that I +had been deceived in the quantity of opium I had taken, I became also +convinced that I had at last discovered the great antidote for which +philosophy had exhausted its resources, the fabled Lethe, the oblivion +of human sorrow. The strong necessity of suicide had passed away; life, +even for me, might be rendered tolerable by the sovereign panacea of +opium, the only true minister to a mind diseased, the sought 'kalon' +found. + +"From that day I have been habitually an opium eater. I am perfectly +sensible that the constant use of the pernicious drug has impaired my +health; but I cannot relinquish it. Some time since I formed a +resolution to abandon it, totally and at once; but had not strength +enough to carry it into practice. The very attempt to do so nearly +drove me to madness. The great load of mental agony which had been +lifted up and held aloof by the daily applied power of opium sank back +upon my heart like a crushing weight. Then, too, my physical sufferings +were extreme; an indescribable irritation, a general uneasiness +tormented me incessantly. I can only think of it as a total +disarrangement of the whole nervous system, the jarring of all the +thousand chords of sensitiveness, each nerve having its own particular +pain.--[ Essay on the Effects of Opium, London, 1763.] + +"De Quincey, in his wild, metaphysical, and eloquent, yet, in many +respects, fancy sketch, considers the great evil resulting from the use +of opium to be the effect produced upon the mind during the hours of +sleep, the fearful inquietude of unnatural dreams. My own dreams have +been certainly of a different order from those which haunted me previous +to my experience in opium eating. But I cannot easily believe that +opium necessarily introduces a greater change in the mind's sleeping +operations, than in those of its wakefulness. + +"At one period, indeed, while suffering under a general, nervous +debility, from which I am even now but partially relieved, my troubled +and broken sleep was overshadowed by what I can only express as +'a horror of thick darkness.' There was nothing distinct or certain in +my visions, all was clouded, vague, hideous; sounds faint and awful, yet +unknown; the sweep of heavy wings, the hollow sound of innumerable +footsteps, the glimpse of countless apparitions, and darkness falling +like a great cloud from heaven. + +"I can scarcely give you an adequate idea of my situation in these +dreams, without comparing it with that of the ancient Egyptians while +suffering under the plague of darkness. I never read the awful +description of this curse, without associating many of its horrors with +those of my own experience. + +"'But they, sleeping the same sleep that night, which was indeed +intolerable, and which came upon them out of the bottoms of inevitable +hell, + +"'Were partly vexed with monstrous apparitions, and partly fainted; for +a sudden fear and not looked for, came upon them.' + +"'For neither might the corner which held them keep them from fear; but +noises, as of waters falling down, sounded about them, and sad visions +appeared unto them, with heavy countenances. + +"'Whether it were a whistling wind, or a melodious voice of birds among +the spreading branches, or a pleasing fall of water running violently; + +"'Or, a terrible sound of stones cast down, or, a running that could not +be seen, of skipping beasts, or a roaring voice of most savage wild +beasts, or a rebounding echo from the hollow mountains: these things +made them to swoon for fear.'--[Wisdom of Solomon, chapter xvii.] + +"That creative faculty of the eye, upon which Mr. De Quincey dwells so +strongly, I have myself experienced. Indeed, it has been the principal +cause of suffering which has connected itself with my habit of opium +eating. It developed itself at first in a recurrence of the childish +faculty of painting upon the darkness whatever suggested itself to the +mind; anon, those figures which had before been called up only at will +became the cause, instead of the effect, of the mind's employment; in +other words, they came before me in the night-time, like real images, +and independent of any previous volition of thought. I have often, +after retiring to my bed, seen, looking through the thick wall of +darkness round about me, the faces of those whom I had not known for +years, nay, since childhood; faces, too, of the dead, called up, as it +were, from the church-yard and the wilderness and the deep waters, and +betraying nothing of the grave's terrible secrets. And in the same way, +some of the more important personages I had read of, in history and +romance, glided often before me, like an assembly of apparitions, each +preserving, amidst the multitudinous combinations of my visions, his own +individuality and peculiar characteristics.--[Vide Emanuel Count +Swedenborg, Nicolai of Berlin's Account of Spectral Illusion, Edinburgh +Phrenological Journal.] + +"These images were, as you may suppose, sufficiently annoying, yet they +came and went without exciting any emotions of terror. But a change at +length came over them, an awful distinctness and a semblance of reality, +which, operating upon nerves weakened and diseased, shook the very +depths of my spirit with a superstitious awe, and against which reason +and philosophy, for a time, struggled in vain. + +"My mind had for some days been dwelling with considerable solicitude +upon an intimate friend, residing in a distant city. I had heard that +he was extremely ill, indeed, that his life was despaired of; and I may +mention that at this period all my mind's operations were dilatory; +there were no sudden emotions; passion seemed exhausted; and when once +any new train of thought had been suggested, it gradually incorporated +itself with those which had preceded it, until it finally became sole +and predominant, just as certain plants of the tropical islands wind +about and blend with and finally take the place of those of another +species. And perhaps to this peculiarity of the mental economy, the +gradual concentring of the mind in a channel, narrowing to that point of +condensation where thought becomes sensible to sight as well as feeling, +may be mainly attributed the vision I am about to describe. + +"I was lying in my bed, listless and inert; it was broad day, for the +easterly light fell in strongly through the parted curtains. I felt, +all at once, a strong curiosity, blended with an unaccountable dread, to +look upon a small table which stood near the bedside. I felt certain of +seeing something fearful, and yet I knew not what; there was an awe and +a fascination upon me, more dreadful from their very vagueness. I lay +for some time hesitating and actually trembling, until the agony of +suspense became too strong for endurance. I opened my eyes and fixed +them upon the dreaded object. Upon the table lay what seemed to me a +corpse, wrapped about in the wintry habiliments of the grave, the corpse +of my friend. + + [William Hone, celebrated for his antiquarian researches, has given + a distinct and highly interesting account of spectral illusion, in + his own experience, in his Every Day Book. The artist Cellini has + made a similar statement.] + +"For a moment, the circumstances of time and place were forgotten; and +the spectre seemed to me a natural reality, at which I might sorrow, but +not wonder. The utter fallacy of this idea was speedily detected; and +then I endeavored to consider the present vision, like those which had +preceded it, a mere delusion, a part of the phenomena of opium eating. +I accordingly closed my eyes for an instant, and then looked again in +full expectation that the frightful object would no longer be visible. +It was still there; the body lay upon its side; the countenance turned +full towards me,--calm, quiet, even beautiful, but certainly that of +death: + + 'Ere yet Decay's effacing fingers + Had swept the lines where Beauty lingers' + +and the white brow, and its light shadowy hair, and the cold, still +familiar features lay evident and manifest to the influx of the +strengthening twilight. A cold agony crept over me; I buried my head in +the bed-clothes, in a child-like fear, and when I again ventured to look +up, the spectre had vanished. The event made a strong impression on my +mind; and I can scarcely express the feeling of relief which was +afforded, a few days after, by a letter from the identical friend in +question, informing me of his recovery of health. + +"It would be a weary task, and one which you would no doubt thank me for +declining, to detail the circumstances of a hundred similar visitations, +most of which were, in fact, but different combinations of the same +illusion. One striking exception I will mention, as it relates to some +passages of my early history which you have already heard. + +"I have never seen Mrs. H since her marriage. Time, and the continued +action of opium, deadening the old sensibilities of the heart and +awakening new ones, have effected a wonderful change in my feelings +towards her. Little as the confession may argue in favor of my early +passion, I seldom think of her, save with a feeling very closely allied +to indifference. Yet I have often seen her in my spectral illusions, +young and beautiful as ever, but always under circumstances which formed +a wide contrast between her spectral appearance and all my recollections +of the real person. The spectral face, which I often saw looking in +upon me, in my study, when the door was ajar, and visible only in the +uncertain lamplight, or peering over me in the moonlight solitude of my +bed-chamber, when I was just waking from sleep, was uniformly subject +to, and expressive of, some terrible hate, or yet more terrible anguish. +Its first appearance was startling in the extreme. It was the face of +one of the fabled furies: the demon glared in the eye, the nostril was +dilated, the pale lip compressed, and the brow bent and darkened; yet +above all, and mingled with all, the supremacy of human beauty was +manifest, as if the dream of Eastern superstition had been realized, and +a fierce and foul spirit had sought out and animated into a fiendish +existence some beautiful sleeper of the grave. The other expression of +the countenance of the apparition, that of agony, I accounted for on +rational principles. Some years ago I saw, and was deeply affected by, +a series of paintings representing the tortures of a Jew in the Holy +Inquisition; and the expression of pain in the countenance of the victim +I at once recognized in that of the apparition, rendered yet more +distressing by the feminine and beautiful features upon which it rested. + +"I am not naturally superstitious; but, shaken and clouded as my mind +had been by the use of opium, I could not wholly divest it of fear when +these phantoms beset me. Yet, on all other occasions, save that of +their immediate presence, I found no difficulty in assigning their +existence to a diseased state of the bodily organs, and a corresponding +sympathy of the mind, rendering it capable of receiving and reflecting +the false, fantastic, and unnatural images presented to it. + + [One of our most celebrated medical writers considers spectral + illusion a disease, in which false perceptions take place in some + of the senses; thus, when the excitement of motion is produced in a + particular organ, that organ does not vibrate with the impression + made upon it, but communicates it to another part on which a + similar impression was formerly made. Nicolai states that he made + his illusion a source of philosophical amusement. The spectres + which haunted him came in the day time as well as the night, and + frequently when he was surrounded by his friends; the ideal images + mingling with the real ones, and visible only to himself. Bernard + Barton, the celebrated Quaker poet, describes an illusion of this + nature in a manner peculiarly striking:-- + + "I only knew thee as thou wert, + A being not of earth! + "I marvelled much they could not see + Thou comest from above + And often to myself I said, + 'How can they thus approach the dead?' + + "But though all these, with fondness warm, + Said welcome o'er and o'er, + Still that expressive shade or form + Was silent, as before! + And yet its stillness never brought + To them one hesitating thought."] + +"I recollected that the mode of exorcism which was successfully adopted +by Nicolai of Berlin, when haunted by similar fantasies, was a resort to +the simple process of blood-letting. I accordingly made trial of it, +but without the desired effect. Fearful, from the representations of my +physicians, and from some of my own sensations, that the almost daily +recurrence of my visions might ultimately lead to insanity, I came to +the resolution of reducing my daily allowance of opium; and, confining +myself, with the most rigid pertinacity, to a quantity not exceeding one +third of what I had formerly taken, I became speedily sensible of a most +essential change in my condition. A state of comparative health, mental +and physical with calmer sleep and a more natural exercise of the organs +of vision, succeeded. I have made many attempts at a further reduction, +but have been uniformly unsuccessful, owing to the extreme and almost +unendurable agony occasioned thereby. + +"The peculiar creative faculty of the eye, the fearful gift of a +diseased vision, still remains, but materially weakened and divested of +its former terrors. My mind has recovered in some degree its shaken and +suspended faculties. But happiness, the buoyant and elastic happiness +of earlier days, has departed forever. Although, apparently, a +practical disciple of Behmen, I am no believer in his visionary creed. +Quiet is not happiness; nor can the absence of all strong and painful +emotion compensate for the weary heaviness of inert existence, +passionless, dreamless, changeless. The mind requires the excitement of +active and changeful thought; the intellectual fountain, like the pool +of Bethesda, has a more healthful influence when its deep waters are +troubled. There may, indeed, be happiness in those occasional 'sabbaths +of the soul,' when calmness, like a canopy, overshadows it, and the +mind, for a brief season, eddies quietly round and round, instead of +sweeping onward; but none can exist in the long and weary stagnation of +feeling, the silent, the monotonous, neverending calm, broken by neither +hope nor fear." + + + + + + + THE PROSELYTES. + + [1833] + +THE student sat at his books. All the day he had been poring over an +old and time-worn volume; and the evening found him still absorbed in +its contents. It was one of that interminable series of controversial +volumes, containing the theological speculations of the ancient fathers +of the Church. With the patient perseverance so characteristic of his +countrymen, he was endeavoring to detect truth amidst the numberless +inconsistencies of heated controversy; to reconcile jarring +propositions; to search out the thread of scholastic argument amidst +the rant of prejudice and the sallies of passion, and the coarse +vituperations of a spirit of personal bitterness, but little in +accordance with the awful gravity of the question at issue. + +Wearied and baffled in his researches, he at length closed the volume, +and rested his care-worn forehead upon his hand. "What avail," he said, +"these long and painful endeavors, these midnight vigils, these weary +studies, before which heart and flesh are failing? What have I gained? +I have pushed my researches wide and far; my life has been one long and +weary lesson; I have shut out from me the busy and beautiful world; I +have chastened every youthful impulse; and at an age when the heart +should be lightest and the pulse the freest, I am grave and silent and +sorrowful,' and the frost of a premature age is gathering around my +heart. Amidst these ponderous tomes, surrounded by the venerable +receptacles of old wisdom, breathing, instead of the free air of heaven, +the sepulchral dust of antiquity, I have become assimilated to the +objects around me; my very nature has undergone a metamorphosis of which +Pythagoras never dreamed. I am no longer a reasoning creature, looking +at everything within the circle of human investigation with a clear and +self-sustained vision, but the cheated follower of metaphysical +absurdities, a mere echo of scholastic subtilty. God knows that my aim +has been a lofty and pure one, that I have buried myself in this living +tomb, and counted the health of this His feeble and outward image as +nothing in comparison with that of the immortal and inward +representation and shadow of His own Infinite Mind; that I have toiled +through what the world calls wisdom, the lore of the old fathers and +time-honored philosophy, not for the dream of power and gratified +ambition, not for the alchemist's gold or life-giving elixir, but with +an eye single to that which I conceived to be the most fitting object of +a godlike spirit, the discovery of Truth,--truth perfect and unclouded, +truth in its severe and perfect beauty, truth as it sits in awe and +holiness in the presence of its Original and Source! + +"Was my aim too lofty? It cannot be; for my Creator has given me a +spirit which would spurn a meaner one. I have studied to act in +accordance with His will; yet have I felt all along like one walking in +blindness. I have listened to the living champions of the Church; I +have pored over the remains of the dead; but doubt and heavy darkness +still rest upon my pathway. I find contradiction where I had looked for +harmony; ambiguity where I had expected clearness; zeal taking the place +of reason; anger, intolerance, personal feuds and sectarian bitterness, +interminable discussions and weary controversies; while infinite Truth, +for which I have been seeking, lies still beyond, or seen, if at all, +only by transient and unsatisfying glimpses, obscured and darkened by +miserable subtilties and cabalistic mysteries." + +He was interrupted by the entrance of a servant with a letter. The +student broke its well-known seal, and read, in a delicate chirography, +the following words:-- + +"DEAR ERNEST,--A stranger from the English Kingdom, of gentle birth and +education, hath visited me at the request of the good Princess Elizabeth +of the Palatine. He is a preacher of the new faith, a zealous and +earnest believer in the gifts of the Spirit, but not like John de +Labadie or the lady Schurmans. + + [J. de Labadie, Anna Maria Schurmans, and others, dissenters from + the French Protestants, established themselves in Holland, 1670.] + +"He speaks like one sent on a message from heaven, a message of wisdom +and salvation. Come, Ernest, and see him; for he hath but a brief hour +to tarry with us. Who knoweth but that this stranger may be +commissioned to lead us to that which we have so long and anxiously +sought for,--the truth as it is in God. + "LEONORA." + +"Now may Heaven bless the sweet enthusiast for this interruption of my +bitter reflections!" said the student, in the earnest tenderness of +impassioned feeling. "She knows how gladly I shall obey her summons; +she knows how readily I shall forsake the dogmas of our wisest +schoolmen, to obey the slightest wishes of a heart pure and generous as +hers." + +He passed hastily through one of the principal streets of the city to +the dwelling of the lady, Eleonora. + +In a large and gorgeous apartment sat the Englishman, his plain and +simple garb contrasting strongly with the richness and luxury around +him. He was apparently quite young, and of a tall and commanding +figure. His countenance was calm and benevolent; it bore no traces of +passion; care had not marked it; there was a holy serenity in its +expression, which seemed a token of that inward "peace which passeth all +understanding." + +"And this is thy friend, Eleonora?" said the stranger, as he offered his +hand to Ernest. "I hear," he said, addressing the latter, "thou hast +been a hard student and a lover of philosophy." + +"I am but a humble inquirer after Truth," replied Ernest. + +"From whence hast thou sought it?" + +"From the sacred volume, from the lore of the old fathers, from the +fountains of philosophy, and from my own brief experience of human +life." + +"And hast thou attained thy object?" + +"Alas, no!" replied the student; "I have thus far toiled in vain." + +"Ah! thus must the children of this world ever toil, wearily, wearily, +but in vain. We grasp at shadows, we grapple with the fashionless air, +we walk in the blindness of our own vain imaginations, we compass heaven +and earth for our objects, and marvel that we find them not. The truth +which is of God, the crown of wisdom, the pearl of exceeding price, +demands not this vain-glorious research; easily to be entreated, it +lieth within the reach of all. The eye of the humblest spirit may +discern it. For He who respecteth not the persons of His children hath +not set it afar off, unapproachable save to the proud and lofty; but +hath made its refreshing fountains to murmur, as it were, at the very +door of our hearts. But in the encumbering hurry of the world we +perceive it not; in the noise of our daily vanities we hear not the +waters of Siloah which go softly. We look widely abroad; we lose +ourselves in vain speculation; we wander in the crooked paths of those +who have gone before us; yea, in the language of one of the old fathers, +we ask the earth and it replieth not, we question the sea and its +inhabitants, we turn to the sun, and the moon, and the stars of heaven, +and they may not satisfy us; we ask our eyes, and they cannot see, and +our ears, and they cannot hear; we turn to books, and they delude us; we +seek philosophy, and no response cometh from its dead and silent +learning. + + [August. Soliloq. Cap. XXXI. "Interrogavi Terram," etc.] + +"It is not in the sky above, nor in the air around, nor in the earth +beneath; it is in our own spirits, it lives within us; and if we would +find it, like the lost silver of the woman of the parable, we must look +at home, to the inward temple, which the inward eye discovereth, and +wherein the spirit of all truth is manifested. The voice of that spirit +is still and small, and the light about it shineth in darkness. But +truth is there; and if we seek it in low humility, in a patient waiting +upon its author, with a giving up of our natural pride of knowledge, a +seducing of self, a quiet from all outward endeavor, it will assuredly +be revealed and fully made known. For as the angel rose of old from the +altar of Manoah even so shall truth arise from the humbling sacrifice of +self-knowledge and human vanity, in all its eternal and ineffable +beauty. + +"Seekest thou, like Pilate, after truth? Look thou within. The holy +principle is there; that in whose light the pure hearts of all time have +rejoiced. It is 'the great light of ages' of which Pythagoras speaks, +the 'good spirit' of Socrates; the 'divine mind' of Anaxagoras; the +'perfect principle' of Plato; the 'infallible and immortal law, and +divine power of reason' of Philo. It is the 'unbegotten principle and +source of all light,' whereof Timmus testifieth; the 'interior guide of +the soul and everlasting foundation of virtue,' spoken of by Plutarch. +Yea, it was the hope and guide of those virtuous Gentiles, who, doing by +nature the things contained in the law, became a law unto themselves. + +"Look to thyself. Turn thine eye inward. Heed not the opinion of the +world. Lean not upon the broken reed of thy philosophy, thy verbal +orthodoxy, thy skill in tongues, thy knowledge of the Fathers. Remember +that truth was seen by the humble fishermen of Galilee, and overlooked +by the High Priest of the Temple, by the Rabbi and the Pharisee. Thou +canst not hope to reach it by the metaphysics of Fathers, Councils, +Schoolmen, and Universities. It lies not in the high places of human +learning; it is in the silent sanctuary of thy own heart; for He, who +gave thee an immortal soul, hath filled it with a portion of that truth +which is the image of His own unapproachable light. The voice of that +truth is within thee; heed thou its whisper. A light is kindled in thy +soul, which, if thou carefully heedest it, shall shine more and more +even unto the perfect day." + +The stranger paused, and the student melted into tears. "Stranger!" he +said, "thou hast taken a weary weight from my heart, and a heavy veil +from my eyes. I feel that thou hast revealed a wisdom which is not of +this world." + +"Nay, I am but a humble instrument in the hand of Him who is the +fountain of all truth, and the beginning and the end of all wisdom. May +the message which I have borne thee be sanctified to thy well-being." + +"Oh, heed him, Ernest!" said the lady. "It is the holy truth which has +been spoken. Let us rejoice in this truth, and, forgetting the world, +live only for it." + +"Oh, may He who watcheth over all His children keep thee in faith of thy +resolution!" said the Preacher, fervently. "Humble yourselves to +receive instruction, and it shall be given you. Turn away now in your +youth from the corrupting pleasures of the world, heed not its hollow +vanities, and that peace which is not such as the world giveth, the +peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall be yours. Yet, let +not yours be the world's righteousness, the world's peace, which shuts +itself up in solitude. Encloister not the body, but rather shut up the +soul from sin. Live in the world, but overcome it: lead a life of +purity in the face of its allurements: learn, from the holy principle of +truth within you, to do justly in the sight of its Author, to meet +reproach without anger, to live without offence, to love those that +offend you, to visit the widow and the fatherless, and keep yourselves +unspotted from the world." + +"Eleonora!" said the humbled student, "truth is plain before us; can we +follow its teachings? Alas! canst thou, the daughter of a noble house, +forget the glory of thy birth, and, in the beauty of thy years, tread in +that lowly path, which the wisdom of the world accounteth foolishness?" + +"Yes, Ernest, rejoicingly can I do it!" said the lady; and the bright +glow of a lofty purpose gave a spiritual expression to her majestic +beauty. "Glory to God in the highest, that He hath visited us in +mercy!" + +"Lady!" said the Preacher, "the day-star of truth has arisen in thy +heart; follow thou its light even unto salvation. Live an harmonious +life to the curious make and frame of thy creation; and let the beauty +of thy person teach thee to beautify thy mind with holiness, the +ornament of the beloved of God. Remember that the King of Zion's +daughter is all-glorious within; and if thy soul excel, thy body will +only set off the lustre of thy mind. Let not the spirit of this world, +its cares and its many vanities, its fashions and discourse, prevail +over the civility of thy nature. Remember that sin brought the first +coat, and thou wilt have little reason to be proud of dress or the +adorning of thy body. Seek rather the enduring ornament of a meek and +quiet spirit, the beauty and the purity of the altar of God's temple, +rather than the decoration of its outward walls. For, as the Spartan +monarch said of old to his daughter, when he restrained her from wearing +the rich dresses of Sicily, 'Thou wilt seem more lovely to me without +them,' so shalt thou seem, in thy lowliness and humility, more lovely in +the sight of Heaven and in the eyes of the pure of earth. Oh, preserve +in their freshness thy present feelings, wait in humble resignation and +in patience, even if it be all thy days, for the manifestations of Him +who as a father careth for all His children." + +"I will endeavor, I will endeavor!" said the lady, humbled in spirit, +and in tears. + +The stranger took the hand of each. "Farewell!" he said, "I must needs +depart, for I have much work before me. God's peace be with you; and +that love be around you, which has been to me as the green pasture and +the still water, the shadow in a weary land." + +And the stranger went his way; but the lady and her lover, in all their +after life, and amidst the trials and persecutions which they were +called to suffer in the cause of truth, remembered with joy and +gratitude the instructions of the pure-hearted and eloquent William +Penn. + + + + + + + DAVID MATSON. + + Published originally in Our Young Folks, 1865. + +WHO of my young friends have read the sorrowful story of "Enoch Arden," +so sweetly and simply told by the great English poet? It is the story +of a man who went to sea, leaving behind a sweet young wife and little +daughter. He was cast away on a desert island, where he remained +several years, when he was discovered and taken off by a passing vessel. +Coming back to his native town, he found his wife married to an old +playmate, a good man, rich and honored, and with whom she was living +happily. The poor man, unwilling to cause her pain and perplexity, +resolved not to make himself known to her, and lived and died alone. +The poem has reminded me of a very similar story of my own New England +neighborhood, which I have often heard, and which I will try to tell, +not in poetry, like Alfred Tennyson's, but in my own poor prose. I can +assure my readers that in its main particulars it is a true tale. + +One bright summer morning, not more than fourscore years ago, David +Matson, with his young wife and his two healthy, barefooted boys, stood +on the bank of the river near their dwelling. They were waiting for +Pelatiah Curtis to come round the point with his wherry, and take the +husband and father to the port, a few miles below. The Lively Turtle +was about to sail on a voyage to Spain, and David was to go in her as +mate. They stood there in the level morning sunshine talking +cheerfully; but had you been near enough, you could have seen tears in +Anna Matson's blue eyes, for she loved her husband and knew there was +always danger on the sea. And David's bluff, cheery voice trembled a +little now and then, for the honest sailor loved his snug home on the +Merrimac, with the dear wife and her pretty boys. But presently the +wherry came alongside, and David was just stepping into it, when he +turned back to kiss his wife and children once more. + +"In with you, man," said Pelatiah Curtis. "There is no time for kissing +and such fooleries when the tide serves." + +And so they parted. Anna and the boys went back to their home, and +David to the Port, whence he sailed off in the Lively Turtle. And +months passed, autumn followed summer, and winter the autumn, and then +spring came, and anon it was summer on the river-side, and he did not +come back. And another year passed, and then the old sailors and +fishermen shook their heads solemnly, and, said that the Lively Turtle +was a lost ship, and would never come back to port. And poor Anna had +her bombazine gown dyed black, and her straw bonnet trimmed in mourning +ribbons, and thenceforth she was known only as the Widow Matson. + +And how was it all this time with David himself? + +Now you must know that the Mohammedan people of Algiers and Tripoli, and +Mogadore and Sallee, on the Barbary coast, had been for a long time in +the habit of fitting out galleys and armed boats to seize upon the +merchant vessels of Christian nations, and make slaves of their crews +and passengers, just as men calling themselves Christians in America +were sending vessels to Africa to catch black slaves for their +plantations. The Lively Turtle fell into the hands of one of these sea- +robbers, and the crew were taken to Algiers, and sold in the market +place as slaves, poor David Matson among the rest. + +When a boy he had learned the trade of ship-carpenter with his father on +the Merrimac; and now he was set to work in the dock-yards. His master, +who was naturally a kind man, did not overwork him. He had daily his +three loaves of bread, and when his clothing was worn out, its place was +supplied by the coarse cloth of wool and camel's hair woven by the +Berber women. Three hours before sunset he was released from work, and +Friday, which is the Mohammedan Sabhath, was a day of entire rest. Once +a year, at the season called Ramadan, he was left at leisure for a whole +week. So time went on,--days, weeks, months, and years. His dark hair +became gray. He still dreamed of his old home on the Merrimac, and of +his good Anna and the boys. He wondered whether they yet lived, what +they thought of him, and what they were doing. The hope of ever seeing +them again grew fainter and fainter, and at last nearly died out; and he +resigned himself to his fate as a slave for life. + +But one day a handsome middle-aged gentleman, in the dress of one of his +own countrymen, attended by a great officer of the Dey, entered the +ship-yard, and called up before him the American captives. The stranger +was none other than Joel Barlow, Commissioner of the United States to +procure the liberation of slaves belonging to that government. He took +the men by the hand as they came up, and told them that they were free. +As you might expect, the poor fellows were very grateful; some laughed, +some wept for joy, some shouted and sang, and threw up their caps, while +others, with David Matson among them, knelt down on the chips, and +thanked God for the great deliverance. + +"This is a very affecting scene," said the commissioner, wiping his +eyes. "I must keep the impression of it for my 'Columbiad';" and +drawing out his tablet, he proceeded to write on the spot an apostrophe +to Freedom, which afterwards found a place in his great epic. + +David Matson had saved a little money during his captivity by odd jobs +and work on holidays. He got a passage to Malaga, where he bought a +nice shawl for his wife and a watch for each of his boys. He then went +to the quay, where an American ship was lying just ready to sail for +Boston. + +Almost the first man he saw on board was Pelatiah Curtis, who had rowed +him down to the port seven years before. He found that his old neighbor +did not know him, so changed was he with his long beard and Moorish +dress, whereupon, without telling his name, he began to put questions +about his old home, and finally asked him if he knew a Mrs. Matson. + +"I rather think I do," said Pelatiah; "she's my wife." + +"Your wife!" cried the other. "She is mine before God and man. I am +David Matson, and she is the mother of my children." + +"And mine too!" said Pelatiah. "I left her with a baby in her arms. +If you are David Matson, your right to her is outlawed; at any rate she +is mine, and I am not the man to give her up." + +"God is great!" said poor David Matson, unconsciously repeating the +familiar words of Moslem submission. "His will be done. I loved her, +but I shall never see her again. Give these, with my blessing, to the +good woman and the boys," and he handed over, with a sigh, the little +bundle containing the gifts for his wife and children. + +He shook hands with his rival. "Pelatiah," he said, looking back as he +left the ship, "be kind to Anna and my boys." + +"Ay, ay, sir!" responded the sailor in a careless tone. He watched the +poor man passing slowly up the narrow street until out of sight. "It's +a hard case for old David," he said, helping himself to a fresh quid of +tobacco, "but I 'm glad I 've seen the last of him." + +When Pelatiah Curtis reached home he told Anna the story of her husband +and laid his gifts in her lap. She did not shriek nor faint, for she +was a healthy woman with strong nerves; but she stole away by herself +and wept bitterly. She lived many years after, but could never be +persuaded to wear the pretty shawl which the husband of her youth had +sent as his farewell gift. There is, however, a tradition that, in +accordance with her dying wish, it was wrapped about her poor old +shoulders in the coffin, and buried with her. + +The little old bull's-eye watch, which is still in the possession of one +of her grandchildren, is now all that remains to tell of David Matson,-- +the lost man. + + + + + + + THE FISH I DID N'T CATCH. + + Published originally in The Little Pilgrim, Philadelphia, 1843. + +OUR old homestead (the house was very old for a new country, having been +built about the time that the Prince of, Orange drove out James the +Second) nestled under a long range of hills which stretched off to the +west. It was surrounded by woods in all directions save to the +southeast, where a break in the leafy wall revealed a vista of low green +meadows, picturesque with wooded islands and jutting capes of upland. +Through these, a small brook, noisy enough as it foamed, rippled, and +laughed down its rocky falls by our gardenside, wound, silently and +scarcely visible, to a still larger stream, known as the Country Brook. +This brook in its turn, after doing duty at two or three saw and grist +mills, the clack of which we could hear in still days across the +intervening woodlands, found its way to the great river, and the river +took it up and bore it down to the great sea. + +I have not much reason for speaking well of these meadows, or rather +bogs, for they were wet most of the year; but in the early days they +were highly prized by the settlers, as they furnished natural mowing +before the uplands could be cleared of wood and stones and laid down to +grass. There is a tradition that the hay-harvesters of two adjoining +towns quarrelled about a boundary question, and fought a hard battle one +summer morning in that old time, not altogether bloodless, but by no +means as fatal as the fight between the rival Highland clans, described +by Scott in "The Fair Maid of Perth." I used to wonder at their folly, +when I was stumbling over the rough hassocks, and sinking knee-deep in +the black mire, raking the sharp sickle-edged grass which we used to +feed out to the young cattle in midwinter when the bitter cold gave them +appetite for even such fodder. I had an almost Irish hatred of snakes, +and these meadows were full of them,--striped, green, dingy water- +snakes, and now and then an ugly spotted adder by no means pleasant to +touch with bare feet. There were great black snakes, too, in the ledges +of the neighboring knolls; and on one occasion in early spring I found +myself in the midst of a score at least of them,--holding their wicked +meeting of a Sabbath morning on the margin of a deep spring in the +meadows. One glimpse at their fierce shining beads in the sunshine, as +they roused themselves at my approach, was sufficient to send me at full +speed towards the nearest upland. The snakes, equally scared, fled in +the same direction; and, looking back, I saw the dark monsters following +close at my heels, terrible as the Black Horse rebel regiment at Bull +Run. I had, happily, sense enough left to step aside and let the ugly +troop glide into the bushes. + +Nevertheless, the meadows had their redeeming points. In spring +mornings the blackbirds and bobolinks made them musical with songs; and +in the evenings great bullfrogs croaked and clamored; and on summer +nights we loved to watch the white wreaths of fog rising and drifting in +the moonlight like troops of ghosts, with the fireflies throwing up ever +and anon signals of their coming. But the Brook was far more +attractive, for it had sheltered bathing-places, clear and white sanded, +and weedy stretches, where the shy pickerel loved to linger, and deep +pools, where the stupid sucker stirred the black mud with his fins. I +had followed it all the way from its birthplace among the pleasant New +Hampshire hills, through the sunshine of broad, open meadows, and under +the shadow of thick woods. It was, for the most part, a sober, quiet +little river; but at intervals it broke into a low, rippling laugh over +rocks and trunks of fallen trees. There had, so tradition said, once +been a witch-meeting on its banks, of six little old women in short, +sky-blue cloaks; and if a drunken teamster could be credited, a ghost +was once seen bobbing for eels under Country Bridge. It ground our corn +and rye for us, at its two grist-mills; and we drove our sheep to it for +their spring washing, an anniversary which was looked forward to with +intense delight, for it was always rare fun for the youngsters. +Macaulay has sung,-- + + "That year young lads in Umbro + Shall plunge the struggling sheep;" + +and his picture of the Roman sheep-washing recalled, when we read it, +similar scenes in the Country Brook. On its banks we could always find +the earliest and the latest wild flowers, from the pale blue, three- +lobed hepatica, and small, delicate wood-anemone, to the yellow bloom of +the witch-hazel burning in the leafless October woods. + +Yet, after all, I think the chief attraction of the Brook to my brother +and myself was the fine fishing it afforded us. Our bachelor uncle who +lived with us (there has always been one of that unfortunate class in +every generation of our family) was a quiet, genial man, much given to +hunting and fishing; and it was one of the great pleasures of our young +life to accompany him on his expeditions to Great Hill, Brandy-brow +Woods, the Pond, and, best of all, to the Country Brook. We were quite +willing to work hard in the cornfield or the haying-lot to finish the +necessary day's labor in season for an afternoon stroll through the +woods and along the brookside. I remember my first fishing excursion as +if it were but yesterday. I have been happy many times in my life, but +never more intensely so than when I received that first fishing-pole +from my uncle's hand, and trudged off with him through the woods and +meadows. It was a still sweet day of early summer; the long afternoon +shadows of the trees lay cool across our path; the leaves seemed +greener, the flowers brighter, the birds merrier, than ever before. +My uncle, who knew by long experience where were the best haunts of +pickerel, considerately placed me at the most favorable point. I threw +out my line as I had so often seen others, and waited anxiously for a +bite, moving the bait in rapid jerks on the surface of the water in +imitation of the leap of a frog. Nothing came of it. "Try again," said +my uncle. Suddenly the bait sank out of sight. "Now for it," thought +I; "here is a fish at last." I made a strong pull, and brought up a +tangle of weeds. Again and again I cast out my line with aching arms, +and drew it back empty. I looked to my uncle appealingly. "Try once +more," he said. "We fishermen must have patience." + +Suddenly something tugged at my line and swept off with it into deep +water. Jerking it up, I saw a fine pickerel wriggling in the sun. +"Uncle!" I cried, looking back in uncontrollable excitement, "I've got a +fish!" "Not yet," said my uncle. As he spoke there was a plash in the +water; I caught the arrowy gleam of a scared fish shooting into the +middle of the stream; my hook hung empty from the line. I had lost my +prize. + +We are apt to speak of the sorrows of childhood as trifles in comparison +with those of grown-up people; but we may depend upon it the young folks +don't agree with us. Our griefs, modified and restrained by reason, +experience, and self-respect, keep the proprieties, and, if possible, +avoid a scene; but the sorrow of childhood, unreasoning and all- +absorbing, is a complete abandonment to the passion. The doll's nose is +broken, and the world breaks up with it; the marble rolls out of sight, +and the solid globe rolls off with the marble. + +So, overcome by my great and bitter disappointment, I sat down on the +nearest hassock, and for a time refused to be comforted, even by my +uncle's assurance that there were more fish in the brook. He refitted +my bait, and, putting the pole again in my hands, told me to try my luck +once more. + +"But remember, boy," he said, with his shrewd smile, "never brag of +catching a fish until he is on dry ground. I've seen older folks doing +that in more ways than one, and so making fools of themselves. It 's no +use to boast of anything until it 's done, nor then either, for it +speaks for itself." + +How often since I have been reminded of the fish that I did not catch! +When I hear people boasting of a work as yet undone, and trying to +anticipate the credit which belongs only to actual achievement, I call +to mind that scene by the brookside, and the wise caution of my uncle in +that particular instance takes the form of a proverb of universal +application: "Never brag of your fish before you catch him." + + + + + + + YANKEE GYPSIES. + + "Here's to budgets, packs, and wallets; Here's to all the wandering + train." + BURNS. + +I CONFESS it, I am keenly sensitive to "skyey influences." I profess no +indifference to the movements of that capricious old gentleman known as +the clerk of the weather. I cannot conceal my interest in the behavior +of that patriarchal bird whose wooden similitude gyrates on the church +spire. Winter proper is well enough. Let the thermometer go to zero if +it will; so much the better, if thereby the very winds are frozen and +unable to flap their stiff wings. Sounds of bells in the keen air, +clear, musical, heart-inspiring; quick tripping of fair moccasined feet +on glittering ice pavements; bright eyes glancing above the uplifted +muff like a sultana's behind the folds of her _yashmac_; schoolboys +coasting down street like mad Greenlanders; the cold brilliance of +oblique sunbeams flashing back from wide surfaces of glittering snow or +blazing upon ice jewelry of tree and roof. There is nothing in all this +to complain of. A storm of summer has its redeeming sublimities,--its +slow, upheaving mountains of cloud glooming in the western horizon like +new-created volcanoes, veined with fire, shattered by exploding +thunders. Even the wild gales of the equinox have their varieties, +--sounds of wind-shaken woods and waters, creak and clatter of sign and +casement, hurricane puffs and down-rushing rain-spouts. But this dull, +dark autumn day of thaw and rain, when the very clouds seem too +spiritless and languid to storm outright or take themselves out of the +way of fair weather; wet beneath and above; reminding one of that +rayless atmosphere of Dante's Third Circle, where the infernal +Priessnitz administers his hydropathic torment,-- + + "A heavy, cursed, and relentless drench,-- + The land it soaks is putrid;" + +or rather, as everything animate and inanimate is seething in warm mist, +suggesting the idea that Nature, grown old and rheumatic, is trying the +efficacy of a Thompsonian steam-box on a grand scale; no sounds save the +heavy plash of muddy feet on the pavements; the monotonous melancholy +drip from trees and roofs; the distressful gurgling of waterducts, +swallowing the dirty amalgam of the gutters; a dim, leaden-colored +horizon of only a few yards in diameter, shutting down about one, beyond +which nothing is visible save in faint line or dark projection; the +ghost of a church spire or the eidolon of a chimney-pot. He who can +extract pleasurable emotions from the alembic of such a day has a trick +of alchemy with which I am wholly unacquainted. + +Hark! a rap at my door. Welcome anybody just now. One gains nothing by +attempting to shut out the sprites of the weather. They come in at the +keyhole; they peer through the dripping panes; they insinuate themselves +through the crevices of the casement, or plump down chimney astride of +the rain-drops. + +I rise and throw open the door. A tall, shambling, loose-jointed +figure; a pinched, shrewd face, sun-browned and wind-dried; small, +quick-winking black eyes. There he stands, the water dripping from his +pulpy hat and ragged elbows. + +I speak to him, but he returns no answer. With a dumb show of misery, +quite touching, he hands me a soiled piece of parchment, whereon I read +what purports to be a melancholy account of shipwreck and disaster, to +the particular detriment, loss, and damnification of one Pietro Frugoni, +who is, in consequence, sorely in want of the alms of all charitable +Christian persons, and who is, in short, the bearer of this veracious +document, duly certified and indorsed by an Italian consul in one of our +Atlantic cities, of a high-sounding, but to Yankee organs +unpronounceable name. + +Here commences a struggle. Every man, the Mohammedans tell us, has two +attendant angels,--the good one on his right shoulder, the bad on his +left. "Give," says Benevolence, as with some difficulty I fish up a +small coin from the depths of my pocket. "Not a cent," says selfish +Prudence; and I drop it from my fingers. "Think," says the good angel, +"of the poor stranger in a strange land, just escaped from the terrors +of the sea-storm, in which his little property has perished, thrown +half-naked and helpless on our shores, ignorant of our language, and +unable to find employment suited to his capacity." "A vile impostor!" +replies the lefthand sentinel. "His paper, purchased from one of those +ready-writers in New York who manufacture beggar-credentials at the low +price of one dollar per copy, with earthquakes, fires, or shipwrecks, to +suit customers." + +Amidst this confusion of tongues I take another survey of my visitant. +Ha! a light dawns upon me. That shrewd old face, with its sharp, +winking eyes, is no stranger to me. Pietro Frugoni, I have seen thee +before. Si, signor, that face of thine has looked at me over a dirty +white neckcloth, with the corners of that cunning mouth drawn downwards, +and those small eyes turned up in sanctimonious gravity, while thou wast +offering to a crowd of halfgrown boys an extemporaneous exhortation in +the capacity of a travelling preacher. Have I not seen it peering out +from under a blanket, as that of a poor Penobscot Indian, who had lost +the use of his hands while trapping on the Madawaska? Is it not the +face of the forlorn father of six small children, whom the "marcury +doctors" had "pisened" and crippled? Did it not belong to that down- +East unfortunate who had been out to the "Genesee country" and got the +"fevern-nager," and whose hand shook so pitifully when held out to +receive my poor gift? The same, under all disguises,--Stephen Leathers, +of Barrington,--him, and none other! Let me conjure him into his own +likeness:-- + +"Well, Stephen, what news from old Barrington?" + +"Oh, well, I thought I knew ye," he answers, not the least disconcerted. +"How do you do? and how's your folks? All well, I hope. I took this +'ere paper, you see, to help a poor furriner, who couldn't make himself +understood any more than a wild goose. I thought I 'd just start him +for'ard a little. It seemed a marcy to do it." + +Well and shiftily answered, thou ragged Proteus. One cannot be angry +with such a fellow. I will just inquire into the present state of his +Gospel mission and about the condition of his tribe on the Penobscot; +and it may be not amiss to congratulate him on the success of the steam- +doctors in sweating the "pisen" of the regular faculty out of him. But +he evidently has no'wish to enter into idle conversation. Intent upon +his benevolent errand, he is already clattering down stairs. +Involuntarily I glance out of the window just in season to catch a +single glimpse of him ere he is swallowed up in the mist. + +He has gone; and, knave as he is, I can hardly help exclaiming, "Luck go +with him!" He has broken in upon the sombre train of my thoughts and +called up before me pleasant and grateful recollections. The old farm- +house nestling in its valley; hills stretching off to the south and +green meadows to the east; the small stream which came noisily down its +ravine, washing the old garden-wall and softly lapping on fallen stones +and mossy roots of beeches and hemlocks; the tall sentinel poplars at +the gateway; the oak-forest, sweeping unbroken to the northern horizon; +the grass-grown carriage-path, with its rude and crazy bridge,--the dear +old landscape of my boyhood lies outstretched before me like a +daguerreotype from that picture within which I have borne with me in all +my wanderings. I am a boy again, once more conscious of the feeling, +half terror, half exultation, with which I used to announce the approach +of this very vagabond and his "kindred after the flesh." + +The advent of wandering beggars, or "old stragglers," as we were wont +to call them, was an event of no ordinary interest in the generally +monotonous quietude of our farm-life. Many of them were well known; +they had their periodical revolutions and transits; we could calculate +them like eclipses or new moons. Some were sturdy knaves, fat and +saucy; and, whenever they ascertained that the "men folks" were absent, +would order provisions and cider like men who expected to pay for them, +seating themselves at the hearth or table with the air of Falstaff,-- +"Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn?" Others, poor, pale, patient, +like Sterne's monk, came creeping up to the door, hat in hand, standing +there in their gray wretchedness with a look of heartbreak and +forlornness which was never without its effect on our juvenile +sensibilities. At times, however, we experienced a slight revulsion of +feeling when even these humblest children of sorrow somewhat petulantly +rejected our proffered bread and cheese, and demanded instead a glass of +cider. Whatever the temperance society might in such cases have done, +it was not in our hearts to refuse the poor creatures a draught of their +favorite beverage; and was n't it a satisfaction to see their sad, +melancholy faces light up as we handed them the full pitcher, and, on +receiving it back empty from their brown, wrinkled hands, to hear them, +half breathless from their long, delicious draught, thanking us for the +favor, as "dear, good children!" Not unfrequently these wandering tests +of our benevolence made their appearance in interesting groups of man, +woman, and child, picturesque in their squalidness, and manifesting a +maudlin affection which would have done honor to the revellers at +Poosie-Nansie's, immortal in the cantata of Burns. I remember some who +were evidently the victims of monomania,--haunted and hunted by some +dark thought,--possessed by a fixed idea. One, a black-eyed, wild- +haired woman, with a whole tragedy of sin, shame, and suffering written +in her countenance, used often to visit us, warm herself by our winter +fire, and supply herself with a stock of cakes and cold meat; but was +never known to answer a question or to ask one. She never smiled; the +cold, stony look of her eye never changed; a silent, impassive face, +frozen rigid by some great wrong or sin. We used to look with awe upon +the "still woman," and think of the demoniac of Scripture who had a +"dumb spirit." + +One--I think I see him now, grim, gaunt, and ghastly, working his slow +way up to our door--used to gather herbs by the wayside and call himself +doctor. He was bearded like a he goat and used to counterfeit lameness, +yet, when he supposed himself alone, would travel on lustily as if +walking for a wager. At length, as if in punishment of his deceit, he +met with an accident in his rambles and became lame in earnest, hobbling +ever after with difficulty on his gnarled crutches. Another used to go +stooping, like Bunyan's pilgrim, under a pack made of an old bed- +sacking, stuffed out into most plethoric dimensions, tottering on a pair +of small, meagre legs, and peering out with his wild, hairy face from +under his burden like a big-bodied spider. That "man with the pack" +always inspired me with awe and reverence. Huge, almost sublime, in its +tense rotundity, the father of all packs, never laid aside and never +opened, what might there not be within it? With what flesh-creeping +curiosity I used to walk round about it at a safe distance, half +expecting to see its striped covering stirred by the motions of a +mysterious life, or that some evil monster would leap out of it, like +robbers from Ali Baba's jars or armed men from the Trojan horse! + +There was another class of peripatetic philosophers--half pedler, half +mendicant--who were in the habit of visiting us. One we recollect, a +lame, unshaven, sinister-eyed, unwholesome fellow, with his basket of +old newspapers and pamphlets, and his tattered blue umbrella, serving +rather as a walking staff than as a protection from the rain. He told +us on one occasion, in answer to our inquiring into the cause of his +lameness, that when a young man he was employed on the farm of the chief +magistrate of a neighboring State; where, as his ill-luck would have it, +the governor's handsome daughter fell in love with him. He was caught +one day in the young lady's room by her father; whereupon the irascible +old gentleman pitched him unceremoniously out of the window, laming him +for life, on the brick pavement below, like Vulcan on the rocks of +Lemnos. As for the lady, he assured us "she took on dreadfully about +it." "Did she die?" we inquired anxiously. There was a cun-ing +twinkle in the old rogue's eye as he responded, "Well, no, she did n't. +She got married." + +Twice a year, usually in the spring and autumn, we were honored with a +call from Jonathan Plummer, maker of verses, pedler and poet, physician +and parson,--a Yankee troubadour,--first and last minstrel of the valley +of the Merrimac, encircled, to my wondering young eyes, with the very +nimbus of immortality. He brought with him pins, needles, tape, and +cotton-thread for my mother; jack-knives, razors, and soap for my +father; and verses of his own composing, coarsely printed and +illustrated with rude wood-cuts, for the delectation of the younger +branches of the family. No lovesick youth could drown himself, no +deserted maiden bewail the moon, no rogue mount the gallows, without +fitting memorial in Plummer's verses. Earthquakes, fires, fevers, and +shipwrecks he regarded as personal favors from Providence, furnishing +the raw material of song and ballad. Welcome to us in our country +seclusion as Autolycus to the clown in Winter's Tale, we listened with +infinite satisfaction to his readings of his own verses, or to his ready +improvisation upon some domestic incident or topic suggested by his +auditors. When once fairly over the difficulties at the outset of a new +subject, his rhymes flowed freely, "as if he had eaten ballads and all +men's ears grew to his tunes." His productions answered, as nearly as I +can remember, to Shakespeare's description of a proper ballad,--"doleful +matter merrily set down, or a very pleasant theme sung lamentably." He +was scrupulously conscientious, devout, inclined to theological +disquisitions, and withal mighty in Scripture. He was thoroughly +independent; flattered nobody, cared for nobody, trusted nobody. When +invited to sit down at our dinner-table, he invariably took the +precaution to place his basket of valuables between his legs for safe +keeping. "Never mind thy basket, Jonathan," said my father; "we +sha'n't steal thy verses."--"I'm not sure of that," returned the +suspicious guest. "It is written, 'Trust ye not in any brother.'" + +Thou too, O Parson B------, with thy pale student's brow and rubicund +nose, with thy rusty and tattered black coat overswept by white flowing +locks, with thy professional white neckcloth scrupulously preserved when +even a shirt to thy back was problematical,--art by no means to be +overlooked in the muster-roll of vagrant gentlemen possessing the entree +of our farm-house. Well do we remember with what grave and dignified +courtesy he used to step over its threshold, saluting its inmates with +the same air of gracious condescension and patronage with which in +better days he had delighted the hearts of his parishioners. Poor old +man! He had once been the admired and almost worshipped minister of the +largest church in the town where he afterwards found support in the +winter season as a pauper. He had early fallen into intemperate habits; +and at the age of threescore and ten, when I remember him, he was only +sober when he lacked the means of being otherwise. Drunk or sober, +however, he never altogether forgot the proprieties of his profession; +he was always grave, decorous, and gentlemanly; he held fast the form of +sound words, and the weakness of the flesh abated nothing of the rigor +of his stringent theology. He had been a favorite pupil of the learned +and astute Emmons, and was to the last a sturdy defender of the peculiar +dogmas of his school. The last time we saw him he was holding a meeting +in our district school-house, with a vagabond pedler for deacon and +travelling companion. The tie which united the ill-assorted couple was +doubtless the same which endeared Tam O'Shanter to the souter:-- + + "They had been fou for weeks thegither." + +He took for his text the first seven verses of the concluding chapter of +Ecclesiastes, furnishing in himself its fitting illustration. The evil +days had come; the keepers of the house trembled; the windows of life +were darkened. A few months later the silver cord was loosened, the +golden bowl was broken, and between the poor old man and the temptations +which beset him fell the thick curtains of the grave. + +One day we had a call from a "pawky auld carle" of a wandering +Scotchman. To him I owe my first introduction to the songs of Burns. +After eating his bread and cheese and drinking his mug of cider he gave +us Bonny Doon, Highland Mary, and Auld Lang Syne. He had a rich, full +voice, and entered heartily into the spirit of his lyrics. I have since +listened to the same melodies from the lips of Dempster, than whom the +Scottish bard has had no sweeter or truer interpreter; but the skilful +performance of the artist lacked the novel charm of the gaberlunzie's +singing in the old farmhouse kitchen. Another wanderer made us +acquainted with the humorous old ballad of "Our gude man cam hame at +e'en." He applied for supper and lodging, and the next morning was set +at work splitting stones in the pasture. While thus engaged the village +doctor came riding along the highway on his fine, spirited horse, and +stopped to talk with my father. The fellow eyed the animal attentively, +as if familiar with all his good points, and hummed over a stanza of the +old poem:-- + + "Our gude man cam hame at e'en, + And hame cam be; + And there he saw a saddle horse + Where nae horse should be. + 'How cam this horse here? + How can it be? + How cam this horse here + Without the leave of me?' + 'A horse?' quo she. + 'Ay, a horse,' quo he. + 'Ye auld fool, ye blind fool,-- + And blinder might ye be,-- + 'T is naething but a milking cow + My mamma sent to me.' + A milch cow?' quo he. + 'Ay, a milch cow,' quo she. + 'Weel, far hae I ridden, + And muckle hae I seen; + But milking cows wi' saddles on + Saw I never nane.'" + +That very night the rascal decamped, taking with him the doctor's horse, +and was never after heard of. + +Often, in the gray of the morning, we used to see one or more +"gaberlunzie men," pack on shoulder and staff in hand, emerging from the +barn or other outbuildings where they had passed the night. I was once +sent to the barn to fodder the cattle late in the evening, and, climbing +into the mow to pitch down hay for that purpose, I was startled by the +sudden apparition of a man rising up before me, just discernible in the +dim moonlight streaming through the seams of the boards. I made a rapid +retreat down the ladder; and was only reassured by hearing the object of +my terror calling after me, and recognizing his voice as that of a +harmless old pilgrim whom I had known before. Our farm-house was +situated in a lonely valley, half surrounded with woods, with no +neighbors in sight. One dark, cloudy night, when our parents chanced to +be absent, we were sitting with our aged grandmother in the fading light +of the kitchen-fire, working ourselves into a very satisfactory state of +excitement and terror by recounting to each other all the dismal stories +we could remember of ghosts, witches, haunted houses and robbers, when +we were suddenly startled by a loud rap at the door. A stripling of +fourteen, I was very naturally regarded as the head of the household; +so,--with many misgivings, I advanced to the door, which I slowly +opened, holding the candle tremulously above my head and peering out +into the darkness. The feeble glimmer played upon the apparition of a +gigantic horseman, mounted on a steed of a size worthy of such a rider-- +colossal, motionless, like images cut out of the solid night. The +strange visitant gruffly saluted me; and, after making several +ineffectual efforts to urge his horse in at the door, dismounted and +followed me into the room, evidently enjoying the terror which his huge +presence excited. Announcing himself as the great Indian doctor, he +drew himself up before the fire, stretched his arms, clenched his fists, +struck his broad chest, and invited our attention to what he called his +"mortal frame." He demanded in succession all kinds of intoxicating +liquors; and, on being assured that we had none to give him, he grew +angry, threatened to swallow my younger brother alive, and, seizing me +by the hair of my head as the angel did the prophet at Babylon, led me +about from room to room. After an ineffectual search, in the course of +which he mistook a jug of oil for one of brandy, and, contrary to my +explanations and remonstrances, insisted upon swallowing a portion of +its contents, he released me, fell to crying and sobbing, and confessed +that he was so drunk already that his horse was ashamed of him. After +bemoaning and pitying himself to his satisfaction he wiped his eyes, and +sat down by the side of my grandmother, giving her to understand that he +was very much pleased with her appearance; adding, that if agreeable to +her, he should like the privilege of paying his addresses to her. While +vainly endeavoring to make the excellent old lady comprehend his very +flattering proposition, he was interrupted by the return of my father, +who, at once understanding the matter, turned him out of doors without +ceremony. + +On one occasion, a few years ago, on my return from the field at +evening, I was told that a foreigner had asked for lodgings during the +night, but that, influenced by his dark, repulsive appearance, my mother +had very reluctantly refused his request. I found her by no means +satisfied with her decision. "What if a son of mine was in a strange +land?" she inquired, self-reproachfully. Greatly to her relief, I +volunteered to go in pursuit of the wanderer, and, taking a cross-path +over the fields, soon overtook him. He had just been rejected at the +house of our nearest neighbor, and was standing in a state of dubious +perplexity in the street. His looks quite justified my mother's +suspicions. He was an olive-complexioned, black-bearded Italian, with +an eye like a live coal, such a face as perchance looks out on the +traveller in the passes of the Abruzzi,--one of those bandit visages +which Salvator has painted. With some difficulty I gave him to +understand my errand, when he overwhelmed me with thanks, and joyfully +followed me back. He took his seat with us at the supper-table; and, +when we were all gathered around the hearth that cold autumnal evening, +he told us, partly by words and, partly by gestures, the story of his +life and misfortunes, amused us with descriptions of the grape- +gatherings and festivals of his sunny clime, edified my mother with a +recipe for making bread of chestnuts; and in the morning, when, after +breakfast, his dark, sullen face lighted up and his fierce eye moistened +with grateful emotion as in his own silvery Tuscan accent he poured out +his thanks, we marvelled at the fears which had so nearly closed our +door against him; and, as he departed, we all felt that he had left with +us the blessing of the poor. + +It was not often that, as in the above instance, my mother's prudence +got the better of her charity. The regular "old stragglers" regarded +her as an unfailing friend; and the sight of her plain cap was to them +an assurance of forthcoming creature-comforts. There was indeed a tribe +of lazy strollers, having their place of rendezvous in the town of +Barrington, New Hampshire, whose low vices had placed them beyond even +the pale of her benevolence. They were not unconscious of their evil +reputation; and experience had taught them the necessity of concealing, +under well-contrived disguises, their true character. They came to us +in all shapes and with all appearances save the true one, with most +miserable stories of mishap and sickness and all "the ills which flesh +is heir to." It was particularly vexatious to discover, when too late, +that our sympathies and charities had been expended upon such graceless +vagabonds as the "Barrington beggars." An old withered hag, known by +the appellation of Hopping Pat,--the wise woman of her tribe,--was in +the habit of visiting us, with her hopeful grandson, who had "a gift for +preaching" as well as for many other things not exactly compatible with +holy orders. He sometimes brought with him a tame crow, a shrewd, +knavish-looking bird, who, when in the humor for it, could talk like +Barnaby Rudge's raven. He used to say he could "do nothin' at exhortin' +without a white handkercher on his neck and money in his pocket,"--a +fact going far to confirm the opinions of the Bishop of Exeter and the +Puseyites generally, that there can be no priest without tithes and +surplice. + +These people have for several generations lived distinct from the great +mass of the community, like the gypsies of Europe, whom in many respects +they closely resemble. They have the same settled aversion to labor and +the same disposition to avail themselves of the fruits of the industry +of others. They love a wild, out-of-door life, sing songs, tell +fortunes, and have an instinctive hatred of "missionaries and cold +water." It has been said--I know not upon what grounds--that their +ancestors were indeed a veritable importation of English gypsyhood; but +if so, they have undoubtedly lost a good deal of the picturesque charm +of its unhoused and free condition. I very much fear that my friend +Mary Russell Mitford,--sweetest of England's rural painters,--who has a +poet's eye for the fine points in gypsy character, would scarcely allow +their claims to fraternity with her own vagrant friends, whose camp- +fires welcomed her to her new home at Swallowfield. + +"The proper study of mankind is man," and, according to my view, no +phase of our common humanity is altogether unworthy of investigation. +Acting upon this belief two or three summers ago, when making, in +company with my sister, a little excursion into the hill-country of New +Hampshire, I turned my horse's head towards Barrington for the purpose +of seeing these semi-civilized strollers in their own home, and +returning, once for all, their numerous visits. Taking leave of our +hospitable cousins in old Lee with about as much solemnity as we may +suppose Major Laing parted with his friends when he set out in search of +desert-girdled Timbuctoo, we drove several miles over a rough road, +passed the Devil's Den unmolested, crossed a fretful little streamlet +noisily working its way into a valley, where it turned a lonely, half- +ruinous mill, and climbing a steep hill beyond, saw before us a wide +sandy level, skirted on the west and north by low, scraggy hills, and +dotted here and there with dwarf pitch-pines. In the centre of this +desolate region were some twenty or thirty small dwellings, grouped +together as irregularly as a Hottentot kraal. Unfenced, unguarded, open +to all comers and goers, stood that city of the beggars,--no wall or +paling between the ragged cabins to remind one of the jealous +distinctions of property. The great idea of its founders seemed visible +in its unappropriated freedom. Was not the whole round world their own? +and should they haggle about boundaries and title-deeds? For them, on +distant plains, ripened golden harvests; for them, in far-off workshops, +busy hands were toiling; for them, if they had but the grace to note it, +the broad earth put on her garniture of beauty, and over them hung the +silent mystery of heaven and its stars. That comfortable philosophy +which modern transcendentalism has but dimly shadowed forth--that poetic +agrarianism, which gives all to each and each to all--is the real life +of this city of unwork. To each of its dingy dwellers might be not +unaptly applied the language of one who, I trust, will pardon me for +quoting her beautiful poem in this connection:-- + + "Other hands may grasp the field or forest, + Proud proprietors in pomp may shine; + Thou art wealthier,--all the world is thine." + + +But look! the clouds are breaking. "Fair weather cometh out of the +north." The wind has blown away the mists; on the gilded spire of John +Street glimmers a beam of sunshine; and there is the sky again, hard, +blue, and cold in its eternal purity, not a whit the worse for the +storm. In the beautiful present the past is no longer needed. +Reverently and gratefully let its volume be laid aside; and when again +the shadows of the outward world fall upon the spirit, may I not lack a +good angel to remind me of its solace, even if he comes in the shape of +a Barrington beggar. + + + + + + + THE TRAINING. + + "Send for the milingtary." + NOAH CLAYPOLE in Oliver Twist. + +WHAT'S now in the wind? Sounds of distant music float in at my window +on this still October air. Hurrying drum-beat, shrill fife-tones, +wailing bugle-notes, and, by way of accompaniment, hurrahs from the +urchins on the crowded sidewalks. Here come the citizen-soldiers, each +martial foot beating up the mud of yesterday's storm with the slow, +regular, up-and-down movement of an old-fashioned churn-dasher. Keeping +time with the feet below, some threescore of plumed heads bob solemnly +beneath me. Slant sunshine glitters on polished gun-barrels and +tinselled uniform. Gravely and soberly they pass on, as if duly +impressed with a sense of the deep responsibility of their position as +self-constituted defenders of the world's last hope,--the United States +of America, and possibly Texas. They look out with honest, citizen +faces under their leathern visors (their ferocity being mostly the work +of the tailor and tinker), and, I doubt not, are at this moment as +innocent of bloodthirstiness as yonder worthy tiller of the Tewksbury +Hills, who sits quietly in his wagon dispensing apples and turnips +without so much as giving a glance at the procession. Probably there is +not one of them who would hesitate to divide his last tobacco-quid with +his worst enemy. Social, kind-hearted, psalm-singing, sermon-hearing, +Sabhath-keeping Christians; and yet, if we look at the fact of the +matter, these very men have been out the whole afternoon of this +beautiful day, under God's holy sunshine, as busily at work as Satan +himself could wish in learning how to butcher their fellow-creatures and +acquire the true scientific method of impaling a forlorn Mexican on a +bayonet, or of sinking a leaden missile in the brain of some unfortunate +Briton, urged within its range by the double incentive of sixpence per +day in his pocket and the cat-o'-nine-tails on his back! + +Without intending any disparagement of my peaceable ancestry for many +generations, I have still strong suspicions that somewhat of the old +Norman blood, something of the grins Berserker spirit, has been +bequeathed to me. How else can I account for the intense childish +eagerness with which I listened to the stories of old campaigners who +sometimes fought their battles over again in my hearing? Why did I, +in my young fancy, go up with Jonathan, the son of Saul, to smite the +garrisoned Philistines of Michmash, or with the fierce son of Nun +against the cities of Canaan? Why was Mr. Greatheart, in Pilgrim's +Progress, my favorite character? What gave such fascination to the +narrative of the grand Homeric encounter between Christian and Apollyon +in the valley? Why did I follow Ossian over Morven's battle-fields, +exulting in the vulture-screams of the blind scald over his fallen +enemies? Still later, why did the newspapers furnish me with subjects +for hero-worship in the half-demented Sir Gregor McGregor, and Ypsilanti +at the head of his knavish Greeks? I can account for it only in the +supposition that the mischief was inhered,--an heirloom from the old +sea-kings of the ninth century. + +Education and reflection have, indeed, since wrought a change in my +feelings. The trumpet of the Cid, or Ziska's drum even, could not now +waken that old martial spirit. The bull-dog ferocity of a half- +intoxicated Anglo-Saxon, pushing his blind way against the converging +cannon-fire from the shattered walls of Ciudad Rodrigo, commends itself +neither to my reason nor my fancy. I now regard the accounts of the +bloody passage of the Bridge of Lodi, and of French cuirassiers madly +transfixing themselves upon the bayonets of Wellington's squares, with +very much the same feeling of horror and loathing which is excited by a +detail of the exploits of an Indian Thug, or those of a mad Malay +running a-muck, creese in hand, through the streets of Pulo Penang. +Your Waterloo, and battles of the Nile and Baltic,--what are they, in +sober fact, but gladiatorial murder-games on a great scale,--human +imitations of bull-fights, at which Satan sits as grand alguazil and +master of ceremonies? It is only when a great thought incarnates itself +in action, desperately striving to find utterance even in sabre-clash +and gun-fire, or when Truth and Freedom, in their mistaken zeal and +distrustful of their own powers, put on battle-harness, that I can feel +any sympathy with merely physical daring. The brawny butcher-work of +men whose wits, like those of Ajax, lie in their sinews, and who are +"yoked like draught-oxen and made to plough up the wars," is no +realization of my ideal of true courage. + +Yet I am not conscious of having lost in any degree my early admiration +of heroic achievement. The feeling remains; but it has found new and +better objects. I have learned to appreciate what Milton calls the +martyr's "unresistible might of meekness,"--the calm, uncomplaining +endurance of those who can bear up against persecution uncheered by +sympathy or applause, and, with a full and keen appreciation of the +value of all which they are called to sacrifice, confront danger and +death in unselfish devotion to duty. Fox, preaching through his prison- +gates or rebuking Oliver Cromwell in the midst of his soldier-court +Henry Vane beneath the axe of the headsman; Mary Dyer on the scaffold at +Boston; Luther closing his speech at Worms with the sublime emphasis of +his "Here stand I; I cannot otherwise; God help me;" William Penn +defending the rights of Englishmen from the baledock of the Fleet +prison; Clarkson climbing the decks of Liverpool slaveships; Howard +penetrating to infected dungeons; meek Sisters of Charity breathing +contagion in thronged hospitals,--all these, and such as these, now help +me to form the loftier ideal of Christian heroism. + +Blind Milton approaches nearly to my conception of a true hero. What a +picture have we of that sublime old man, as sick, poor, blind, and +abandoned of friends, he still held fast his heroic integrity, rebuking +with his unbending republicanism the treachery, cowardice, and servility +of his old associates! He had outlived the hopes and beatific visions +of his youth; he had seen the loudmouthed advocates of liberty throwing +down a nation's freedom at the feet of the shameless, debauched, and +perjured Charles II., crouching to the harlot-thronged court of the +tyrant, and forswearing at once their religion and their republicanism. +The executioner's axe had been busy among his friends. Vane and Hampden +slept in their bloody graves. Cromwell's ashes had been dragged from +their resting-place; for even in death the effeminate monarch hated and +feared the conquerer of Naseby and Marston Moor. He was left alone, in +age, and penury, and blindness, oppressed with the knowledge that all +which his free soul abhorred had returned upon his beloved country. Yet +the spirit of the stern old republican remained to the last unbroken, +realizing the truth of the language of his own Samson Agonistes:-- + + "But patience is more oft the exercise + Of saints, the trial of their fortitude, + Making them each his own deliverer + And victor over all + That tyranny or fortune can inflict." + +The curse of religious and political apostasy lay heavy on the land. +Harlotry and atheism sat in the high places; and the "caresses of +wantons and the jests of buffoons regulated the measures of a government +which had just ability enough to deceive, just religion enough to +persecute." But, while Milton mourned over this disastrous change, +no self-reproach mingled with his sorrow. To the last he had striven +against the oppressor; and when confined to his narrow alley, a prisoner +in his own mean dwelling, like another Prometheus on his rock, he still +turned upon him an eye of unsubdued defiance. Who, that has read his +powerful appeal to his countrymen when they were on the eve of welcoming +back the tyranny and misrule which, at the expense of so much blood and +treasure had been thrown off, can ever forget it? How nobly does +Liberty speak through him! "If," said he, "ye welcome back a monarchy, +it will be the triumph of all tyrants hereafter over any people who +shall resist oppression; and their song shall then be to others, 'How +sped the rebellious English?' but to our posterity, 'How sped the +rebels, your fathers?'" How solemn and awful is his closing paragraph! +"What I have spoken is the language of that which is not called amiss +'the good old cause.' If it seem strange to any, it will not, I hope, +seem more strange than convincing to backsliders. This much I should +have said though I were sure I should have spoken only to trees and +stones, and had none to cry to but with the prophet, 'O earth, earth, +earth!' to tell the very soil itself what its perverse inhabitants are +deaf to; nay, though what I have spoken should prove (which Thou suffer +not, who didst make mankind free; nor Thou next, who didst redeem us +from being servants of sin) to be the last words of our expiring +liberties." + + + + + + + THE CITY OF A DAY. + +The writer, when residing in Lowell, in 1843 contributed this and the +companion pieces to 'The Stranger' in Lowell. + +This, then, is Lowell,--a city springing up, like the enchanted palaces +of the Arabian tales, as it were in a single night, stretching far and +wide its chaos of brick masonry and painted shingles, filling the angle +of the confluence of the Concord and the Merrimac with the sights and +sounds of trade and industry. Marvellously here have art and labor +wrought their modern miracles. I can scarcely realize the fact that a +few years ago these rivers, now tamed and subdued to the purposes of man +and charmed into slavish subjection to the wizard of mechanism, rolled +unchecked towards the ocean the waters of the Winnipesaukee and the +rock-rimmed springs of the White Mountains, and rippled down their falls +in the wild freedom of Nature. A stranger, in view of all this +wonderful change, feels himself, as it were, thrust forward into a new +century; he seems treading on the outer circle of the millennium of +steam engines and cotton mills. Work is here the patron saint. +Everything bears his image and superscription. Here is no place for +that respectable class of citizens called gentlemen, and their much +vilified brethren, familiarly known as loafers. Over the gateways of +this new world Manchester glares the inscription, "Work, or die". +Here + + "Every worm beneath the moon + Draws different threads, and late or soon + Spins, toiling out his own cocoon." + +The founders of this city probably never dreamed of the theory of +Charles Lamb in respect to the origin of labor:-- + + "Who first invented work, and thereby bound + The holiday rejoicing spirit down + To the never-ceasing importunity + Of business in the green fields and the town? + + "Sabbathless Satan,--he who his unglad + Task ever plies midst rotatory burnings + For wrath divine has made him like a wheel + In that red realm from whence are no returnings." + +Rather, of course, would they adopt Carlyle's apostrophe of "Divine +labor, noble, ever fruitful,--the grand, sole miracle of man;" for this +is indeed a city consecrated to thrift,--dedicated, every square rod of +it, to the divinity of work; the gospel of industry preached daily and +hourly from some thirty temples, each huger than the Milan Cathedral or +the Temple of Jeddo, the Mosque of St. Sophia or the Chinese pagoda of a +hundred bells; its mighty sermons uttered by steam and water-power; its +music the everlasting jar of mechanism and the organ-swell of many +waters; scattering the cotton and woollen leaves of its evangel from the +wings of steamboats and rail-cars throughout the land; its thousand +priests and its thousands of priestesses ministering around their +spinning-jenny and powerloom altars, or thronging the long, unshaded +streets in the level light of sunset. After all, it may well be +questioned whether this gospel, according to Poor Richard's Almanac, is +precisely calculated for the redemption of humanity. Labor, graduated +to man's simple wants, necessities, and unperverted tastes, is doubtless +well; but all beyond this is weariness to flesh and spirit. Every web +which falls from these restless looms has a history more or less +connected with sin and suffering, beginning with slavery and ending +with overwork and premature death. + +A few years ago, while travelling in Pennsylvania, I encountered a +small, dusky-browed German of the name of Etzler. He was possessed by a +belief that the world was to be restored to its paradisiacal state by +the sole agency of mechanics, and that he had himself discovered the +means of bringing about this very desirable consummation. His whole +mental atmosphere was thronged with spectral enginery; wheel within +wheel; plans of hugest mechanism; Brobdignagian steam-engines; Niagaras +of water-power; wind-mills with "sail-broad vans," like those of Satan +in chaos, by the proper application of which every valley was to be +exalted and every hill laid low; old forests seized by their shaggy tops +and uprooted; old morasses drained; the tropics made cool; the eternal +ices melted around the poles; the ocean itself covered with artificial +islands, blossoming gardens of the blessed, rocking gently on the bosom +of the deep. Give him "three hundred thousand dollars and ten years' +time," and he would undertake to do the work. + +Wrong, pain, and sin, being in his view but the results of our physical +necessities, ill-gratified desires, and natural yearnings for a better +state, were to vanish before the millennium of mechanism. "It would +be," said he, "as ridiculous then to dispute and quarrel about the means +of life as it would be now about water to drink by the side of mighty +rivers, or about permission to breathe the common air." To his mind the +great forces of Nature took the shape of mighty and benignant spirits, +sent hitherward to be the servants of man in restoring to him his lost +paradise; waiting only for his word of command to apply their giant +energies to the task, but as yet struggling blindly and aimlessly, +giving ever and anon gentle hints, in the way of earthquake, fire, and +flood, that they are weary of idleness, and would fain be set at work. +Looking down, as I now do, upon these huge brick workshops, I have +thought of poor Etzler, and wondered whether he would admit, were he +with me, that his mechanical forces have here found their proper +employment of millennium making. Grinding on, each in his iron harness, +invisible, yet shaking, by his regulated and repressed power, his huge +prison-house from basement to capstone, is it true that the genii of +mechanism are really at work here, raising us, by wheel and pulley, +steam and waterpower, slowly up that inclined plane from whose top +stretches the broad table-land of promise? + +Many of the streets of Lowell present a lively and neat aspect, and are +adorned with handsome public and private buildings; but they lack one +pleasant feature of older towns,--broad, spreading shade-trees. One +feels disposed to quarrel with the characteristic utilitarianism of the +first settlers, which swept so entirely away the green beauty of Nature. +For the last few days it has been as hot here as Nebuchadnezzar's +furnace or Monsieur Chabert's oven, the sun glaring down from a copper +sky upon these naked, treeless streets, in traversing which one is +tempted to adopt the language of a warm-weather poet: + + "The lean, like walking skeletons, go stalking pale and gloomy; + The fat, like red-hot warming-pans, send hotter fancies through me; + I wake from dreams of polar ice, on which I've been a slider, + Like fishes dreaming of the sea and waking in the spider." + +How unlike the elm-lined avenues of New Haven, upon whose cool and +graceful panorama the stranger looks down upon the Judge's Cave, or the +vine-hung pinnacles of West Rock, its tall spires rising white and clear +above the level greenness! or the breezy leafiness of Portland, with its +wooded islands in the distance, and itself overhung with verdant beauty, +rippling and waving in the same cool breeze which stirs the waters of +the beautiful Bay of Casco! But time will remedy all this; and, when +Lowell shall have numbered half the years of her sister cities, her +newly planted elms and maples, which now only cause us to contrast their +shadeless stems with the leafy glory of their parents of the forest, +will stretch out to the future visitor arms of welcome and repose. + +There is one beautiful grove in Lowell,--that on Chapel Hill,--where a +cluster of fine old oaks lift their sturdy stems and green branches, in +close proximity to the crowded city, blending the cool rustle of their +leaves with the din of machinery. As I look at them in this gray +twilight they seem lonely and isolated, as if wondering what has become +of their old forest companions, and vainly endeavoring to recognize in +the thronged and dusty streets before them those old, graceful +colonnades of maple and thick-shaded oaken vistas, stretching from river +to river, carpeted with the flowers and grasses of spring, or ankle deep +with leaves of autumn, through whose leafy canopy the sunlight melted in +upon wild birds, shy deer, and red Indians. Long may these oaks remain +to remind us that, if there be utility in the new, there was beauty in +the old, leafy Puseyites of Nature, calling us back to the past, but, +like their Oxford brethren, calling in vain; for neither in polemics nor +in art can we go backward in an age whose motto is ever "Onward." + +The population of Lowell is constituted mainly of New Englanders; but +there are representatives here of almost every part of the civilized +world. The good-humored face of the Milesian meets one at almost every +turn; the shrewdly solemn Scotchman, the transatlantic Yankee, blending +the crafty thrift of Bryce Snailsfoot with the stern religious heroism +of Cameron; the blue-eyed, fair-haired German from the towered hills +which overlook the Rhine,--slow, heavy, and unpromising in his exterior, +yet of the same mould and mettle of the men who rallied for "fatherland" +at the Tyrtean call of Korner and beat back the chivalry of France from +the banks of the Katzback,--the countrymen of Richter, and Goethe, and +our own Follen. Here, too, are pedlers from Hamburg, and Bavaria, and +Poland, with their sharp Jewish faces, and black, keen eyes. At this +moment, beneath my window are two sturdy, sunbrowned Swiss maidens +grinding music for a livelihood, rehearsing in a strange Yankee land the +simple songs of their old mountain home, reminding me, by their foreign +garb and language, of + + "Lauterbrunnen's peasant girl." + +Poor wanderers, I cannot say that I love their music; but now, as the +notes die away, and, to use the words of Dr. Holmes, "silence comes like +a poultice to heal the wounded ear," I feel grateful for their +visitation. Away from crowded thoroughfares, from brick walls and dusty +avenues, at the sight of these poor peasants I have gone in thought to +the vale of Chamouny, and seen, with Coleridge, the morning star pausing +on the "bald, awful head of sovereign Blanc," and the sun rise and set +upon snowy-crested mountains, down in whose valleys the night still +lingers; and, following in the track of Byron and Rousseau, have watched +the lengthening shadows of the hills on the beautiful waters of the +Genevan lake. Blessings, then, upon these young wayfarers, for they +have "blessed me unawares." In an hour of sickness and lassitude they +have wrought for me the miracle of Loretto's Chapel, and, borne me away +from the scenes around me and the sense of personal suffering to that +wonderful land where Nature seems still uttering, from lake and valley, +and from mountains whose eternal snows lean on the hard, blue heaven, +the echoes of that mighty hymn of a new-created world, when "the morning +stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." + +But of all classes of foreigners the Irish are by far the most numerous. +Light-hearted, wrongheaded, impulsive, uncalculating, with an Oriental +love of hyperbole, and too often a common dislike of cold water and of +that gem which the fable tells us rests at the bottom of the well, the +Celtic elements of their character do not readily accommodate themselves +to those of the hard, cool, self-relying Anglo-Saxon. I am free to +confess to a very thorough dislike of their religious intolerance and +bigotry, but am content to wait for the change that time and the +attrition of new circumstances and ideas must necessarily make in this +respect. Meanwhile I would strive to reverence man as man, irrespective +of his birthplace. A stranger in a strange land is always to me an +object of sympathy and interest. Amidst all his apparent gayety of +heart and national drollery and wit, the poor Irish emigrant has sad +thoughts of the "ould mother of him," sitting lonely in her solitary +cabin by the bog-side; recollections of a father's blessing and a +sister's farewell are haunting him; a grave mound in a distant +churchyard far beyond the "wide wathers" has an eternal greenness in his +memory; for there, perhaps, lies a "darlint child" or a "swate crather" +who once loved him. The new world is forgotten for the moment; blue +Killarney and the Liffey sparkle before him, and Glendalough stretches +beneath him its dark, still mirror; he sees the same evening sunshine +rest upon and hallow alike with Nature's blessing the ruins of the Seven +Churches of Ireland's apostolic age, the broken mound of the Druids, and +the round towers of the Phoenician sun-worshippers; pleasant and +mournful recollections of his home waken within him; and the rough and +seemingly careless and light-hearted laborer melts into tears. It is no +light thing to abandon one's own country and household gods. Touching +and beautiful was the injunction of the prophet of the Hebrews: + +"Ye shall not oppress the stranger; for ye know the heart of the +stranger, seeing that ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." + + + + + + + PATUCKET FALLS. + +MANY years ago I read, in some old chronicle of the early history of New +England, a paragraph which has ever since haunted my memory, calling up +romantic associations of wild Nature and wilder man:-- + +"The Sachem Wonolanset, who lived by the Groat Falls of Patucket, on the +Merrimac." + +It was with this passage in my mind that I visited for the first time +the Rapids of the Merrimac, above Lowell. + +Passing up the street by the Hospital, a large and elegant mansion +surrounded by trees and shrubbery and climbing vines, I found myself, +after walking a few rods farther, in full view of the Merrimac. A deep +and rocky channel stretched between me and the Dracut shore, along which +rushed the shallow water,--a feeble, broken, and tortuous current, +winding its way among splintered rocks, rising sharp and jagged in all +directions. Drained above the falls by the canal, it resembled some +mountain streamlet of old Spain, or some Arabian wady, exhausted by a +year's drought. Higher up, the arches of the bridge spanned the quick, +troubled water; and, higher still, the dam, so irregular in its outline +as to seem less a work of Art than of Nature, crossed the bed of the +river, a lakelike placidity above contrasting with the foam and murmur +of the falls below. And this was all which modern improvements had left +of "the great Patucket Falls" of the olden time. The wild river had +been tamed; the spirit of the falls, whose hoarse voice the Indian once +heard in the dashing of the great water down the rocks, had become the +slave of the arch conjurer, Art; and, like a shorn and blinded giant, +was grinding in the prison-house of his taskmaster. + +One would like to know how this spot must have seemed to the "twenty +goodlie persons from Concord and Woburn" who first visited it in 1652, +as, worn with fatigue, and wet from the passage of the sluggish Concord, +"where ford there was none," they wound their slow way through the +forest, following the growing murmur of the falls, until at length the +broad, swift river stretched before them, its white spray flashing in +the sun. What cared these sturdy old Puritans for the wild beauty of +the landscape thus revealed before them? I think I see them standing +there in the golden light of a closing October day, with their sombre +brown doublets and slouched hats, and their heavy matchlocks,--such men +as Ireton fronted death with on the battle-field of Naseby, or those who +stalked with Cromwell over the broken wall of Drogheda, smiting, "in the +name of the Lord," old and young, "both maid, and little children." +Methinks I see the sunset light flooding the river valley, the western +hills stretching to the horizon, overhung with trees gorgeous and +glowing with the tints of autumn,--a mighty flower-garden, blossoming +under the spell of the enchanter, Frost; the rushing river, with its +graceful water-curves and white foam; and a steady murmur, low, deep +voices of water, the softest, sweetest sound of Nature, blends with the +sigh of the south wind in the pine-tops. But these hard-featured saints +of the New Canaan "care for none of these things." The stout hearts +which beat under their leathern doublets are proof against the sweet +influences of Nature. They see only "a great and howling wilderness, +where be many Indians, but where fish may be taken, and where be meadows +for ye subsistence of cattle," and which, on the whole, "is a +comfortable place to accommodate a company of God's people upon, who +may, with God's blessing, do good in that place for both church and +state." (Vide petition to the General Court, 1653.) + +In reading the journals and narratives of the early settlers of New +England nothing is more remarkable than the entire silence of the worthy +writers in respect to the natural beauty or grandeur of the scenery amid +which their lot was cast. They designated the grand and glorious +forest, broken by lakes and crossed by great rivers, intersected by a +thousand streams more beautiful than those which the Old World has given +to song and romance, as "a desert and frightful wilderness." The wildly +picturesque Indian, darting his birch canoe down the Falls of the +Amoskeag or gliding in the deer-track of the forest, was, in their view, +nothing but a "dirty tawnie," a "salvage heathen," and "devil's imp." +Many of them were well educated,--men of varied and profound erudition, +and familiar with the best specimens of Greek and Roman literature; yet +they seem to have been utterly devoid of that poetic feeling or fancy +whose subtle alchemy detects the beautiful in the familiar. Their very +hymns and spiritual songs seem to have been expressly calculated, like +"the music-grinders" of Holmes,-- + + "To pluck the eyes of sentiment, + And dock the tail of rhyme, + To crack the voice of melody, + And break the legs of time." + +They were sworn enemies of the Muses; haters of stage-play literature, +profane songs, and wanton sonnets; of everything, in brief, which +reminded them of the days of the roistering cavaliers and bedizened +beauties of the court of "the man Charles," whose head had fallen +beneath the sword of Puritan justice. Hard, harsh, unlovely, yet with +many virtues and noble points of character, they were fitted, doubtless, +for their work of pioneers in the wilderness. Sternly faithful to duty, +in peril, and suffering, and self-denial, they wrought out the noblest +of historical epics on the rough soil of New England. They lived a +truer poetry than Homer or Virgil wrote. + +The Patuckets, once a powerful native tribe, had their principal +settlements around the falls at the time of the visit of the white men +of Concord and Woburn in 1652. Gookin, the Indian historian, states +that this tribe was almost wholly destroyed by the great pestilence of +1612. In 1674 they had but two hundred and fifty males in the whole +tribe. Their chief sachem lived opposite the falls; and it was in his +wigwam that the historian, in company with John Eliot, the Indian +missionary, held a "meeting for worshippe on ye 5th of May, 1676," where +Mr. Eliot preached from "ye twenty-second of Matthew." + +The white visitants from Concord and Woburn, pleased with the appearance +of the place and the prospect it afforded for planting and fishing, +petitioned the General Court for a grant of the entire tract of land now +embraced in the limits of Lowell and Chelmsford. They made no account +whatever of the rights of the poor Patuckets; but, considering it +"a comfortable place to accommodate God's people upon," were doubtless +prepared to deal with the heathen inhabitants as Joshua the son of Nun +did with the Jebusites and Perizzites, the Hivites and the Hittites, of +old. The Indians, however, found a friend in the apostle Eliot, who +presented a petition in their behalf that the lands lying around the +Patucket and Wamesit Falls should be appropriated exclusively for their +benefit and use. The Court granted the petition of the whites, with the +exception of the tract in the angle of the two rivers on which the +Patuckets were settled. The Indian title to this tract was not finally +extinguished until 1726, when the beautiful name of Wamesit was lost in +that of Chelmsford, and the last of the Patuckets turned his back upon +the graves of his fathers and sought a new home among the strange +Indians of the North. + +But what has all this to do with the falls? When the rail-cars came +thundering through his lake country, Wordsworth attempted to exorcise +them by a sonnet; and, were I not a very decided Yankee, I might +possibly follow his example, and utter in this connection my protest +against the desecration of Patucket Falls, and battle with objurgatory +stanzas these dams and mills, as Balmawapple shot off his horse-pistol +at Stirling Castle. Rocks and trees, rapids, cascades, and other water- +works are doubtless all very well; but on the whole, considering our +seven months of frost, are not cotton shirts and woollen coats still +better? As for the spirits of the river, the Merrimac Naiads, or +whatever may be their name in Indian vocabulary, they have no good +reason for complaint; inasmuch as Nature, in marking and scooping out +the channel of their stream, seems to have had an eye to the useful +rather than the picturesque. After a few preliminary antics and +youthful vagaries up among the White Hills, the Merrimac comes down to +the seaboard, a clear, cheerful, hard-working Yankee river. Its +numerous falls and rapids are such as seem to invite the engineer's +level rather than the pencil of the tourist; and the mason who piles up +the huge brick fabrics at their feet is seldom, I suspect, troubled with +sentimental remorse or poetical misgivings. Staid and matter of fact as +the Merrimac is, it has, nevertheless, certain capricious and eccentric +tributaries; the Powow, for instance, with its eighty feet fall in a few +rods, and that wild, Indian-haunted Spicket, taking its wellnigh +perpendicular leap of thirty feet, within sight of the village meeting- +house, kicking up its Pagan heels, Sundays and all, in sheer contempt of +Puritan tithing-men. This latter waterfall is now somewhat modified by +the hand of Art, but is still, as Professor Hitchcock's "Scenographical +Geology" says of it, "an object of no little interest." My friend T., +favorably known as the translator of "Undine" and as a writer of fine +and delicate imagination, visited Spicket Falls before the sound of a +hammer or the click of a trowel had been heard beside them. His journal +of "A Day on the Merrimac" gives a pleasing and vivid description of +their original appearance as viewed through the telescope of a poetic +fancy. The readers of "Undine" will thank me for a passage or two from +this sketch:-- + +"The sound of the waters swells more deeply. Something supernatural in +their confused murmur; it makes me better understand and sympathize with +the writer of the Apocalypse when he speaks of the voice of many waters, +heaping image upon image, to impart the vigor of his conception. + +"Through yonder elm-branches I catch a few snowy glimpses of foam in the +air. See that spray and vapor rolling up the evergreen on my left The +two side precipices, one hundred feet apart and excluding objects of +inferior moment, darken and concentrate the view. The waters between +pour over the right-hand and left-hand summit, rushing down and uniting +among the craggiest and abruptest of rocks. Oh for a whole mountain- +side of that living foam! The sun impresses a faint prismatic hue. +These falls, compared with those of the Missouri, are nothing,--nothing +but the merest miniature; and yet they assist me in forming some +conception of that glorious expanse. + +"A fragment of an oak, struck off by lightning, struggles with the +current midway down; while the shattered trunk frowns above the +desolation, majestic in ruin. This is near the southern cliff. Farther +north a crag rises out of the stream, its upper surface covered with +green clover of the most vivid freshness. Not only all night, but all +day, has the dew lain upon its purity. With my eye attaining the +uppermost margin, where the waters shoot over, I look away into the +western sky, and discern there (what you least expect) a cow chewing her +cud with admirable composure, and higher up several sheep and lambs +browsing celestial buds. They stand on the eminence that forms the +background of my present view. The illusion is extremely picturesque,-- +such as Allston himself would despair of producing. 'Who can paint like +Nature'?" + +To a population like that of Lowell, the weekly respite from monotonous +in-door toil afforded by the first day of the week is particularly +grateful. Sabbath comes to the weary and overworked operative +emphatically as a day of rest. It opens upon him somewhat as it did +upon George Herbert, as he describes it in his exquisite little poem:-- + + "Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, + The bridal of the earth and sky!" + +Apart from its soothing religious associations, it brings with it the +assurance of physical comfort and freedom. It is something to be able +to doze out the morning from daybreak to breakfast in that luxurious +state between sleeping and waking in which the mind eddies slowly and +peacefully round and round instead of rushing onward,--the future a +blank, the past annihilated, the present but a dim consciousness of +pleasurable existence. Then, too, the satisfaction is by no means +inconsiderable of throwing aside the worn and soiled habiliments of +labor and appearing in neat and comfortable attire. The moral influence +of dress has not been overrated even by Carlyle's Professor in his +Sartor Resartus. William Penn says that cleanliness is akin to +godliness. A well-dressed man, all other things being equal, is not +half as likely to compromise his character as one who approximates to +shabbiness. Lawrence Sterne used to say that when he felt himself +giving way to low spirits and a sense of depression and worthlessness,-- +a sort of predisposition for all sorts of little meannesses,--he +forthwith shaved himself, brushed his wig, donned his best dress and his +gold rings, and thus put to flight the azure demons of his unfortunate +temperament. There is somehow a close affinity between moral purity and +clean linen; and the sprites of our daily temptation, who seem to find +easy access to us through a broken hat or a rent in the elbow, are +manifestly baffled by the "complete mail" of a clean and decent dress. +I recollect on one occasion hearing my mother tell our family physician +that a woman in the neighborhood, not remarkable for her tidiness, had +become a church-member. "Humph!" said the doctor, in his quick, +sarcastic way, "What of that? Don't you know that no unclean thing can +enter the kingdom of heaven?" + +"If you would see" Lowell "aright," as Walter Scott says of Melrose +Abbey, one must be here of a pleasant First day at the close of what is +called the "afternoon service." The streets are then blossoming like a +peripatetic flower-garden; as if the tulips and lilies and roses of my +friend W.'s nursery, in the vale of Nonantum, should take it into their +heads to promenade for exercise. Thousands swarm forth who during week- +days are confined to the mills. Gay colors alternate with snowy +whiteness; extremest fashion elbows the plain demureness of old- +fashioned Methodism. + +Fair pale faces catch a warmer tint from the free sunshine and fresh +air. The languid step becomes elastic with that "springy motion of the +gait" which Charles Lamb admired. Yet the general appearance of the +city is that of quietude; the youthful multitude passes on calmly, its +voices subdued to a lower and softened tone, as if fearful of breaking +the repose of the day of rest. A stranger fresh from the gayly spent +Sabbaths of the continent of Europe would be undoubtedly amazed at the +decorum and sobriety of these crowded streets. + +I am not over-precise in outward observances; but I nevertheless welcome +with joy unfeigned this first day of the week,--sweetest pause in our +hard life-march, greenest resting-place in the hot desert we are +treading. The errors of those who mistake its benignant rest for the +iron rule of the Jewish Sabbath, and who consequently hedge it about +with penalties and bow down before it in slavish terror, should not +render us less grateful for the real blessing it brings us. As a day +wrested in some degree from the god of this world, as an opportunity +afforded for thoughtful self-communing, let us receive it as a good gift +of our heavenly Parent in love rather than fear. + +In passing along Central Street this morning my attention was directed +by the friend who accompanied me to a group of laborers, with coats off +and sleeves rolled up, heaving at levers, smiting with sledge-hammers, +in full view of the street, on the margin of the canal, just above +Central Street Bridge. I rubbed my eyes, half expecting that I was the +subject of mere optical illusion; but a second look only confirmed the +first. Around me were solemn, go-to-meeting faces,--smileless and +awful; and close at hand were the delving, toiling, mud-begrimed +laborers. Nobody seemed surprised at it; nobody noticed it as a thing +out of the common course of events. And this, too, in a city where the +Sabbath proprieties are sternly insisted upon; where some twenty pulpits +deal out anathemas upon all who "desecrate the Lord's day;" where simple +notices of meetings for moral purposes even can scarcely be read; where +many count it wrong to speak on that day for the slave, who knows no +Sabbath of rest, or for the drunkard, who, imbruted by his appetites, +cannot enjoy it. Verily there are strange contradictions in our +conventional morality. Eyes which, looking across the Atlantic on the +gay Sabbath dances of French peasants are turned upward with horror, are +somehow blind to matters close at home. What would be sin past +repentance in an individual becomes quite proper in a corporation. +True, the Sabbath is holy; but the canals must be repaired. Everybody +ought to go to meeting; but the dividends must not be diminished. +Church indulgences are not, after all, confined to Rome. + +To a close observer of human nature there is nothing surprising in the +fact that a class of persons, who wink at this sacrifice of Sabhath +sanctities to the demon of gain, look at the same time with stern +disapprobation upon everything partaking of the character of amusement, +however innocent and healthful, on this day. But for myself, looking +down through the light of a golden evening upon these quietly passing +groups, I cannot find it in my heart to condemn them for seeking on this +their sole day of leisure the needful influences of social enjoyment, +unrestrained exercise, and fresh air. I cannot think any essential +service to religion or humanity would result from the conversion of +their day of rest into a Jewish Sabbath, and their consequent +confinement, like so many pining prisoners, in close and crowded +boarding-houses. Is not cheerfulness a duty, a better expression of our +gratitude for God's blessings than mere words? And even under the old +law of rituals, what answer had the Pharisees to the question, "Is it +not lawful to do good on the Sabbath day?" + +I am naturally of a sober temperament, and am, besides, a member of that +sect which Dr. More has called, mistakenly indeed, "the most melancholy +of all;" but I confess a special dislike of disfigured faces, +ostentatious displays of piety, pride aping humility. Asceticism, +moroseness, self-torture, ingratitude in view of down-showering +blessings, and painful restraint of the better feelings of our nature +may befit a Hindoo fakir, or a Mandan medicine man with buffalo skulls +strung to his lacerated muscles; but they look to me sadly out of place +in a believer of the glad evangel of the New Testament. The life of the +divine Teacher affords no countenance to this sullen and gloomy +saintliness, shutting up the heart against the sweet influences of human +sympathy and the blessed ministrations of Nature. To the horror and +clothes-rending astonishment of blind Pharisees He uttered the +significant truth, that "the Sabhath was made for man, and not man for +the Sabhath." From the close air of crowded cities, from thronged +temples and synagogues,--where priest and Levite kept up a show of +worship, drumming upon hollow ceremonials the more loudly for their +emptiness of life, as the husk rustles the more when the grain is gone, +--He led His disciples out into the country stillness, under clear +Eastern heavens, on the breezy tops of mountains, in the shade of fruit- +trees, by the side of fountains, and through yellow harvest-fields, +enforcing the lessons of His divine morality by comparisons and parables +suggested by the objects around Him or the cheerful incidents of social +humanity,--the vineyard, the field-lily, the sparrow in the air, the +sower in the seed-field, the feast and the marriage. Thus gently, thus +sweetly kind and cheerful, fell from His lips the gospel of humanity; +love the fulfilling of every law; our love for one another measuring and +manifesting our love of Him. The baptism wherewith He was baptized was +that of divine fulness in the wants of our humanity; the deep waters of +our sorrows went over Him; ineffable purity sounding for our sakes the +dark abysm of sin; yet how like a river of light runs that serene and +beautiful life through the narratives of the evangelists! He broke +bread with the poor despised publican; He sat down with the fishermen by +the Sea of Galilee; He spoke compassionate words to sin-sick Magdalen; +He sanctified by His presence the social enjoyments of home and +friendship in the family of Bethany; He laid His hand of blessing on the +sunny brows of children; He had regard even to the merely animal wants +of the multitude in the wilderness; He frowned upon none of life's +simple and natural pleasures. The burden of His Gospel was love; and in +life and word He taught evermore the divided and scattered children of +one great family that only as they drew near each other could they +approach Him who was their common centre; and that while no ostentation +of prayer nor rigid observance of ceremonies could elevate man to +heaven, the simple exercise of love, in thought and action, could bring +heaven down to man. To weary and restless spirits He taught the great +truth, that happiness consists in making others happy. No cloister for +idle genuflections and bead counting, no hair-cloth for the loins nor +scourge for the limbs, but works of love and usefulness under the +cheerful sunshine, making the waste places of humanity glad and causing +the heart's desert to blossom. Why, then, should we go searching after +the cast-off sackcloth of the Pharisee? Are we Jews, or Christians? +Must even our gratitude for "glad tidings of great joy" be desponding? +Must the hymn of our thanksgiving for countless mercies and the +unspeakable gift of His life have evermore an undertone of funeral +wailing? What! shall we go murmuring and lamenting, looking coldly on +one another, seeing no beauty, nor light, nor gladness in this good +world, wherein we have the glorious privilege of laboring in God's +harvest-field, with angels for our task companions, blessing and being +blessed? + +To him who, neglecting the revelations of immediate duty, looks +regretfully behind and fearfully before him, life may well seem a solemn +mystery, for, whichever way he turns, a wall of darkness rises before +him; but down upon the present, as through a skylight between the +shadows, falls a clear, still radiance, like beams from an eye of +blessing; and, within the circle of that divine illumination, beauty and +goodness, truth and love, purity and cheerfulness blend like primal +colors into the clear harmony of light. The author of Proverbial +Philosophy has a passage not unworthy of note in this connection, when +he speaks of the train which attends the just in heaven:-- + +"Also in the lengthening troop see I some clad in robes of triumph, +Whose fair and sunny faces I have known and loved on earth. +Welcome, ye glorified Loves, Graces, Sciences, and Muses, +That, like Sisters of Charity, tended in this world's hospital; +Welcome, for verily I knew ye could not but be children of the light; +Welcome, chiefly welcome, for I find I have friends in heaven, +And some I have scarcely looked for; as thou, light-hearted Mirth; +Thou, also, star-robed Urania; and thou with the curious glass, +That rejoicest in tracking beauty where the eye was too dull to note it. +And art thou, too, among the blessed, mild, much-injured Poetry? +That quickenest with light and beauty the leaden face of matter, +That not unheard, though silent, fillest earth's gardens with music, +And not unseen, though a spirit, dost look down upon us from the stars." + + + + + + + THE LIGHTING UP. + + "He spak to the spynnsters to spynnen it oute." + PIERS PLOUGHMAN. + +THIS evening, the 20th of the ninth month, is the time fixed upon for +lighting the mills for night-labor; and I have just returned from +witnessing for the first time the effect of the new illumination. + +Passing over the bridge, nearly to the Dracut shore, I had a fine view +of the long line of mills, the city beyond, and the broad sweep of the +river from the falls. The light of a tranquil and gorgeous sunset was +slowly fading from river and sky, and the shadows of the trees on the +Dracut slopes were blending in dusky indistinctness with the great +shadow of night. Suddenly gleams of light broke from the black masses +of masonry on the Lowell bank, at first feeble and scattered, flitting +from window to window, appearing and disappearing, like will-o'-wisps in +a forest or fireflies in a summer's night. Anon tier after tier of +windows became radiant, until the whole vast wall, stretching far up the +river, from basement to roof, became checkered with light reflected with +the starbeams from the still water beneath. With a little effort of +fancy, one could readily transform the huge mills, thus illuminated, +into palaces lighted up for festival occasions, and the figures of the +workers, passing to and fro before the windows, into forms of beauty and +fashion, moving in graceful dances. + +Alas! this music of the shuttle and the daylong dance to it are not +altogether of the kind which Milton speaks of when he invokes the "soft +Lydian airs" of voluptuous leisure. From this time henceforward for +half a weary year, from the bell-call of morning twilight to half-past +seven in the evening, with brief intermissions for two hasty meals, the +operatives will be confined to their tasks. The proverbial facility of +the Yankees in despatching their dinners in the least possible time +seems to have been taken advantage of and reduced to a system on the +Lowell corporations. Strange as it may seem to the uninitiated, the +working-men and women here contrive to repair to their lodgings, make +the necessary preliminary ablutions, devour their beef and pudding, and +hurry back to their looms and jacks in the brief space of half an hour. +In this way the working-day in Lowell is eked out to an average +throughout the year of twelve and a half hours. This is a serious evil, +demanding the earnest consideration of the humane and philanthropic. +Both classes--the employer and the employed--would in the end be greatly +benefited by the general adoption of the "ten-hour system," although the +one might suffer a slight diminution in daily wages and the other in +yearly profits. Yet it is difficult to see how this most desirable +change is to be effected. The stronger and healthier portion of the +operatives might themselves object to it as strenuously as the distant +stockholder who looks only to his semi-annual dividends. Health is too +often a matter of secondary consideration. Gain is the great, +all-absorbing object. Very few, comparatively, regard Lowell as their +"continuing city." They look longingly back to green valleys of +Vermont, to quiet farm-houses on the head-waters of the Connecticut and +Merrimac, and to old familiar homes along the breezy seaboard of New +England, whence they have been urged by the knowledge that here they can +earn a larger amount of money in a given time than in any other place or +employment. They come here for gain, not for pleasure; for high wages, +not for the comforts that cluster about home. Here are poor widows +toiling to educate their children; daughters hoarding their wages to +redeem mortgaged paternal homesteads or to defray the expenses of sick +and infirm parents; young betrothed girls, about to add their savings to +those of their country lovers. Others there are, of maturer age, lonely +and poor, impelled hither by a proud unwillingness to test to its extent +the charity of friends and relatives, and a strong yearning for the +"glorious privilege of being independent." All honor to them! Whatever +may have closed against them the gates of matrimony, whether their own +obduracy or the faithlessness or indifference of others, instead of +shutting themselves up in a nunnery or taxing the good nature of their +friends by perpetual demands for sympathy and support, like weak vines, +putting out their feelers in every direction for something to twine +upon, is it not better and wiser for them to go quietly at work, to show +that woman has a self-sustaining power; that she is something in and of +herself; that she, too, has a part to bear in life, and, in common with +the self-elected "lords of creation," has a direct relation to absolute +being? To such the factory presents the opportunity of taking the first +and essential step of securing, within a reasonable space of time, a +comfortable competency. + +There are undoubtedly many evils connected with the working of these +mills; yet they are partly compensated by the fact that here, more than +in any other mechanical employment, the labor of woman is placed +essentially upon an equality with that of man. Here, at least, one of +the many social disabilities under which woman as a distinct individual, +unconnected with the other sex, has labored in all time is removed; the +work of her hands is adequately rewarded; and she goes to her daily task +with the consciousness that she is not "spending her strength for +naught." + +'The Lowell Offering', which has been for the last four years published +monthly in this city, consisting entirely of articles written by females +employed in the mills, has attracted much attention and obtained a wide +circulation. This may be in part owing to the novel circumstances of +its publication; but it is something more and better than a mere +novelty. In its volumes may be found sprightly delineations of home +scenes and characters, highly wrought imaginative pieces, tales of +genuine pathos and humor, and pleasing fairy stories and fables. +'The Offering' originated in a reading society of the mill girls, which, +under the name of the 'Improvement Circle' was convened once in a month. +At its meetings, pieces written by its members and dropped secretly into +a sort of "lion's mouth," provided for the purpose of insuring the +authors from detection, were read for the amusement and criticism of +the company. This circle is still in existence; and I owe to my +introduction to it some of the most pleasant hours I have passed in +Lowell. + +The manner in which the 'Offering' has been generally noticed in this +country has not, to my thinking, been altogether in accordance with good +taste or self-respect. It is hardly excusable for men, who, whatever +may be their present position, have, in common with all of us, brothers, +sisters, or other relations busy in workshop and dairy, and who have +scarcely washed from their own professional hands the soil of labor, to +make very marked demonstrations of astonishment at the appearance of a +magazine whose papers are written by factory girls. As if the +compatibility of mental cultivation with bodily labor and the equality +and brotherhood of the human family were still open questions, depending +for their decision very much on the production of positive proof that +essays may be written and carpets woven by the same set of fingers! + +The truth is, our democracy lacks calmness and solidity, the repose and +self-reliance which come of long habitude and settled conviction. We +have not yet learned to wear its simple truths with the graceful ease +and quiet air of unsolicitous assurance with which the titled European +does his social fictions. As a people, we do not feel and live out our +great Declaration. We lack faith in man,--confidence in simple +humanity, apart from its environments. + + "The age shows, to my thinking, more infidels to Adam, + Than directly, by profession, simple infidels to God." + + Elizabeth B. Browning. + + + + + + + TAKING COMFORT. + +For the last few days the fine weather has lured me away from books and +papers and the close air of dwellings into the open fields, and under +the soft, warm sunshine, and the softer light of a full moon. The +loveliest season of the whole year--that transient but delightful +interval between the storms of the "wild equinox, with all their wet," +and the dark, short, dismal days which precede the rigor of winter--is +now with us. The sun rises through a soft and hazy atmosphere; the +light mist-clouds melt gradually away before him; and his noontide light +rests warm and clear on still woods, tranquil waters, and grasses green +with the late autumnal rains. The rough-wooded slopes of Dracut, +overlooking the falls of the river; Fort Hill, across the Concord, where +the red man made his last stand, and where may still be seen the trench +which he dug around his rude fortress; the beautiful woodlands on the +Lowell and Tewksbury shores of the Concord; the cemetery; the Patucket +Falls,--all within the reach of a moderate walk,--offer at this season +their latest and loveliest attractions. + +One fine morning, not long ago, I strolled down the Merrimac, on the +Tewksbury shore. I know of no walk in the vicinity of Lowell so +inviting as that along the margin of the river for nearly a mile from +the village of Belvidere. The path winds, green and flower-skirted, +among beeches and oaks, through whose boughs you catch glimpses of +waters sparkling and dashing below. Rocks, huge and picturesque, +jut out into the stream, affording beautiful views of the river and +the distant city. + +Half fatigued with my walk, I threw myself down upon the rocky slope +of the bank, where the panorama of earth, sky, and water lay clear and +distinct about me. Far above, silent and dim as a picture, was the +city, with its huge mill-masonry, confused chimney-tops, and church- +spires; nearer rose the height of Belvidere, with its deserted burial- +place and neglected gravestones sharply defined on its bleak, bare +summit against the sky; before me the river went dashing down its rugged +channel, sending up its everlasting murmur; above me the birch-tree hung +its tassels; and the last wild flowers of autumn profusely fringed the +rocky rim of the water. Right opposite, the Dracut woods stretched +upwards from the shore, beautiful with the hues of frost, glowing with +tints richer and deeper than those which Claude or Poussin mingled, as +if the rainbows of a summer shower had fallen among them. At a little +distance to the right a group of cattle stood mid-leg deep in the river; +and a troop of children, bright-eyed and mirthful, were casting pebbles +at them from a projecting shelf of rock. Over all a warm but softened +sunshine melted down from a slumberous autumnal sky. + +My revery was disagreeably broken. A low, grunting sound, half bestial, +half human, attracted my attention. I was not alone. Close beside me, +half hidden by a tuft of bushes, lay a human being, stretched out at +full length, with his face literally rooted into the gravel. A little +boy, five or six years of age, clean and healthful, with his fair brown +locks and blue eyes, stood on the bank above, gazing down upon him with +an expression of childhood's simple and unaffected pity. + +"What ails you?" asked the boy at length. "What makes you lie there?" + +The prostrate groveller struggled half-way up, exhibiting the bloated +and filthy countenance of a drunkard. He made two or three efforts to +get upon his feet, lost his balance, and tumbled forward upon his face. + +"What are you doing there?" inquired the boy. + +"I'm taking comfort," he muttered, with his mouth in the dirt. + +Taking his comfort! There he lay,--squalid and loathsome under the +bright heaven,--an imbruted man. The holy harmonies of Nature, the +sounds of gushing waters, the rustle of the leaves above him, the wild +flowers, the frost-bloom of the woods,--what were they to him? +Insensible, deaf, and blind, in the stupor of a living death, he lay +there, literally realizing that most bitterly significant Eastern +malediction, "May you eat dirt!" + +In contrasting the exceeding beauty and harmony of inanimate Nature with +the human degradation and deformity before me, I felt, as I confess I +had never done before, the truth of a remark of a rare thinker, that +"Nature is loved as the city of God, although, or rather because, it has +no citizen. The beauty of Nature must ever be universal and mocking +until the landscape has human figures as good as itself. Man is fallen; +Nature is erect."--[Emerson.] As I turned once more to the calm blue +sky, the hazy autumnal hills, and the slumberous water, dream-tinted by +the foliage of its shores, it seemed as if a shadow of shame and sorrow +fell over the pleasant picture; and even the west wind which stirred the +tree-tops above me had a mournful murmur, as if Nature felt the +desecration of her sanctities and the discord of sin and folly which +marred her sweet harmonies. + +God bless the temperance movement! And He will bless it; for it is His +work. It is one of the great miracles of our times. Not Father Mathew +in Ireland, nor Hawkins and his little band in Baltimore, but He whose +care is over all the works of His hand, and who in His divine love and +compassion "turneth the hearts of men as the rivers of waters are +turned," hath done it. To Him be all the glory. + + + + + + + CHARMS AND FAIRY FAITH + + "Up the airy mountain, + Down the rushy glen, + We dare n't go a-hunting + For fear of little men. + Wee folk, good folk, + Trooping all together; + Green jacket, red cap, + Gray cock's feather." + ALLINGHAM. + +IT was from a profound knowledge of human nature that Lord Bacon, in +discoursing upon truth, remarked that a mixture of a lie doth ever add +pleasure. "Doth any man doubt," he asks, "that if there were taken out +of men's minds vain opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, and +imaginations, but it would leave the minds of a number of men poor, +shrunken things, full of melancholy and indisposition, and unpleasing to +themselves?" This admitted tendency of our nature, this love of the +pleasing intoxication of unveracity, exaggeration, and imagination, may +perhaps account for the high relish which children and nations yet in +the childhood of civilization find in fabulous legends and tales of +wonder. The Arab at the present day listens with eager interest to the +same tales of genii and afrits, sorcerers and enchanted princesses, +which delighted his ancestors in the times of Haroun al Raschid. The +gentle, church-going Icelander of our time beguiles the long night of +his winter with the very sagas and runes which thrilled with not +unpleasing horror the hearts of the old Norse sea-robbers. What child, +although Anglo-Saxon born, escapes a temporary sojourn in fairy-land? +Who of us does not remember the intense satisfaction of throwing aside +primer and spelling-book for stolen ethnographical studies of dwarfs, +and giants? Even in our own country and time old superstitions and +credulities still cling to life with feline tenacity. Here and there, +oftenest in our fixed, valley-sheltered, inland villages,--slumberous +Rip Van Winkles, unprogressive and seldom visited,--may be found the +same old beliefs in omens, warnings, witchcraft, and supernatural charms +which our ancestors brought with them two centuries ago from Europe. + +The practice of charms, or what is popularly called "trying projects," +is still, to some extent, continued in New England. The inimitable +description which Burns gives of similar practices in his Halloween may +not in all respects apply to these domestic conjurations; but the +following needs only the substitution of apple-seeds for nuts:-- + +"The auld gude wife's wheel-hoordet nits +Are round an' round divided; +An' mony lads and lassies' fates +Are there that night decided. +Some kindle couthie side by side +An' burn thegither trimly; +Some start awa wi' saucy pride +And jump out owre the chimlie." + +One of the most common of these "projects" is as follows: A young woman +goes down into the cellar, or into a dark room, with a mirror in her +hand, and looking in it, sees the face of her future husband peering at +her through the darkness,--the mirror being, for the time, as potent as +the famous Cambuscan glass of which Chaucer discourses. A neighbor of +mine, in speaking of this conjuration, adduces a case in point. One of +her schoolmates made the experiment and saw the face of a strange man in +the glass; and many years afterwards she saw the very man pass her +father's door. He proved to be an English emigrant just landed, and in +due time became her husband. Burns alludes to something like the spell +above described:-- + +"Wee Jenny to her grannie says, +'will ye go wi' me, grannie, +To eat an apple at the glass +I got from Uncle Johnnie?' +She fuff't her pipe wi' sic a lunt, +In wrath she was so vaporin', +She noticed na an' azle brunt +Her bran new worset apron. + +"Ye little skelpan-limmer's face, +How dare ye try sic sportin', +An' seek the foul thief ony place +For him to try your fortune? +Nae doubt but ye may get a sight; +Great cause ye hae to fear it; +For mony a one has gotten a fright, +An' lived and died delecrit." + +It is not to be denied, and for truth's sake not to be regretted, that +this amusing juvenile glammary has seen its best days in New England. +The schoolmaster has been abroad to some purpose. Not without results +have our lyceum lecturers and travels of Peter Parley brought everything +in heaven above and in the earth below to the level of childhood's +capacities. In our cities and large towns children nowadays pass +through the opening acts of life's marvellous drama with as little +manifestation of wonder and surprise as the Indian does through the +streets of a civilized city which he has entered for the first time. +Yet Nature, sooner or later, vindicates her mysteries; voices from the +unseen penetrate the din of civilization. The child philosopher and +materialist often becomes the visionary of riper years, running into +illuminism, magnetism, and transcendentalism, with its inspired priests +and priestesses, its revelations and oracular responses. + +But in many a green valley of rural New England there are children yet; +boys and girls are still to be found not quite overtaken by the march of +mind. There, too, are huskings, and apple-bees, and quilting parties, +and huge old-fashioned fireplaces piled with crackling walnut, flinging +its rosy light over happy countenances of youth and scarcely less happy +age. If it be true that, according to Cornelius Agrippa, "a wood fire +doth drive away dark spirits," it is, nevertheless, also true that +around it the simple superstitions of our ancestors still love to +linger; and there the half-sportful, half-serious charms of which I have +spoken are oftenest resorted to. It would be altogether out of place to +think of them by our black, unsightly stoves, or in the dull and dark +monotony of our furnace-heated rooms. Within the circle of the light of +the open fire safely might the young conjurers question destiny; for +none but kindly and gentle messengers from wonderland could venture +among them. And who of us, looking back to those long autumnal evenings +of childhood when the glow of the kitchen-fire rested on the beloved +faces of home, does not feel that there is truth and beauty in what the +quaint old author just quoted affirms? "As the spirits of darkness grow +stronger in the dark, so good spirits, which are angels of light, are +multiplied and strengthened, not only by the divine light of the sun and +stars, but also by the light of our common wood-fires." Even Lord +Bacon, in condemning the superstitious beliefs of his day, admits that +they might serve for winter talk around the fireside. + +Fairy faith is, we may safely say, now dead everywhere,--buried, +indeed,--for the mad painter Blake saw the funeral of the last of the +little people, and an irreverent English bishop has sung their requiem. +It never had much hold upon the Yankee mind, our superstitions being +mostly of a sterner and less poetical kind. The Irish Presbyterians who +settled in New Hampshire about the year 1720 brought indeed with them, +among other strange matters, potatoes and fairies; but while the former +took root and flourished among us, the latter died out, after lingering +a few years in a very melancholy and disconsolate way, looking +regretfully back to their green turf dances, moonlight revels, and +cheerful nestling around the shealing fires of Ireland. The last that +has been heard of them was some forty or fifty years ago in a tavern +house in S-------, New Hampshire. The landlord was a spiteful little +man, whose sour, pinched look was a standing libel upon the state of his +larder. He made his house so uncomfortable by his moroseness that +travellers even at nightfall pushed by his door and drove to the next +town. Teamsters and drovers, who in those days were apt to be very +thirsty, learned, even before temperance societies were thought of, to +practice total abstinence on that road, and cracked their whips and +goaded on their teams in full view of a most tempting array of bottles +and glasses, from behind which the surly little landlord glared out upon +them with a look which seemed expressive of all sorts of evil wishes, +broken legs, overturned carriages, spavined horses, sprained oxen, +unsavory poultry, damaged butter, and bad markets. And if, as a matter +of necessity, to "keep the cold out of his stomach," occasionally a +wayfarer stopped his team and ventured to call for "somethin' warmin'," +the testy publican stirred up the beverage in such a spiteful way, that, +on receiving it foaming from his hand, the poor customer was half afraid +to open his mouth, lest the red-hot flip iron should be plunged down his +gullet. + +As a matter of course, poverty came upon the house and its tenants like +an armed man. Loose clapboards rattled in the wind; rags fluttered from +the broken windows; within doors were tattered children and scanty fare. +The landlord's wife was a stout, buxom woman, of Irish lineage, and, +what with scolding her husband and liberally patronizing his bar in his +absence, managed to keep, as she said, her "own heart whole," although +the same could scarcely be said of her children's trousers and her own +frock of homespun. She confidently predicted that "a betther day was +coming," being, in fact, the only thing hopeful about the premises. And +it did come, sure enough. Not only all the regular travellers on the +road made a point of stopping at the tavern, but guests from all the +adjacent towns filled its long-deserted rooms,--the secret of which was, +that it had somehow got abroad that a company of fairies had taken up +their abode in the hostelry and daily held conversation with each other +in the capacious parlor. I have heard those who at the time visited the +tavern say that it was literally thronged for several weeks. Small, +squeaking voices spoke in a sort of Yankee-Irish dialect, in the haunted +room, to the astonishment and admiration of hundreds. The inn, of +course, was blessed by this fairy visitation; the clapboards ceased +their racket, clear panes took the place of rags in the sashes, and the +little till under the bar grew daily heavy with coin. The magical +influence extended even farther; for it was observable that the landlord +wore a good-natured face, and that the landlady's visits to the gin- +bottle were less and less frequent. But the thing could not, in the +nature of the case, continue long. It was too late in the day and on +the wrong side of the water. As the novelty wore off, people began to +doubt and reason about it. Had the place been traversed by a ghost or +disturbed by a witch they could have acquiesced in it very quietly; but +this outlandish belief in fairies was altogether an overtask for Yankee +credulity. As might have been expected, the little strangers, unable to +breathe in an atmosphere of doubt and suspicion, soon took their leave, +shaking off the dust of their elfin feet as a testimony against an +unbelieving generation. It was, indeed, said that certain rude fellows +from the Bay State pulled away a board from the ceiling and disclosed to +view the fairies in the shape of the landlady's three slatternly +daughters. But the reader who has any degree of that charity which +thinks no evil will rather credit the statement of the fairies +themselves, as reported by the mistress of the house, "that they were +tired of the new country, and had no pace of their lives among the +Yankees, and were going back to Ould Ireland." + +It is a curious fact that the Indians had some notion of a race of +beings corresponding in many respects to the English fairies. +Schoolcraft describes them as small creatures in human shape, inhabiting +rocks, crags, and romantic dells, and delighting especially in points of +land jutting into lakes and rivers and which were covered with +pinetrees. They were called Puckweedjinees,--little vanishers. + +In a poetical point of view it is to be regretted that our ancestors did +not think it worth their while to hand down to us more of the simple and +beautiful traditions and beliefs of the "heathen round about" them. +Some hints of them we glean from the writings of the missionary Mayhew +and the curious little book of Roger Williams. Especially would one +like to know more of that domestic demon, Wetuomanit, who presided over +household affairs, assisted the young squaw in her first essay at +wigwam-keeping, gave timely note of danger, and kept evil spirits at a +distance,--a kind of new-world brownie, gentle and useful. + +Very suggestive, too, is the story of Pumoolah,--a mighty spirit, whose +home is on the great Katahdin Mountain, sitting there with his earthly +bride (a beautiful daughter of the Penobscots transformed into an +immortal by her love), in serenest sunshine, above the storm which +crouches and growls at his feet. None but the perfectly pure and good +can reach his abode. Many have from time to time attempted it in vain; +some, after almost reaching the summit, have been driven back by +thunderbolts or sleety whirlwinds. + +Not far from my place of residence are the ruins of a mill, in a narrow +ravine fringed with trees. Some forty years ago the mill was supposed +to be haunted; and horse-shoes, in consequence, were nailed over its +doors. One worthy man, whose business lay beyond the mill, was afraid +to pass it alone; and his wife, who was less fearful of supernatural +annoyance, used to accompany him. The little old white-coated miller, +who there ground corn and wheat for his neighbors, whenever he made a +particularly early visit to his mill, used to hear it in full +operation,--the water-wheel dashing bravely, and the old rickety +building clattering to the jar of the stones. Yet the moment his hand +touched the latch or his foot the threshold all was hushed save the +melancholy drip of water from the dam or the low gurgle of the small +stream eddying amidst willow roots and mossy stones in the ravine below. + +This haunted mill has always reminded me of that most beautiful of +Scottish ballads, the Song of the Elfin Miller, in which fairies are +represented as grinding the poor man's grist without toil:-- + + "Full merrily rings the mill-stone round; + Full merrily rings the wheel; + Full merrily gushes out the grist; + Come, taste my fragrant meal. + The miller he's a warldly man, + And maun hae double fee; + So draw the sluice in the churl's dam + And let the stream gae free!" + +Brainerd, who truly deserves the name of an American poet, has left +behind him a ballad on the Indian legend of the black fox which haunted +Salmon River, a tributary of the Connecticut. Its wild and picturesque +beauty causes us to regret that more of the still lingering traditions +of the red men have not been made the themes of his verse:-- + + + THE BLACK FOX. + + "How cold, how beautiful, how bright + The cloudless heaven above us shines! + But 't is a howling winter's night; + 'T would freeze the very forest pines. + + "The winds are up while mortals sleep; + The stars look forth while eyes are shut; + The bolted snow lies drifted deep + Around our poor and lonely hut. + + "With silent step and listening ear, + With bow and arrow, dog and gun, + We'll mark his track,--his prowl we hear: + Now is our time! Come on! come on! + + "O'er many a fence, through many a wood, + Following the dog's bewildered scent, + In anxious haste and earnest mood, + The white man and the Indian went. + + "The gun is cocked; the bow is bent; + The dog stands with uplifted paw; + And ball and arrow both are sent, + Aimed at the prowler's very jaw. + + "The ball to kill that fox is run + Not in a mould by mortals made; + The arrow which that fox should shun + Was never shaped from earthly reed. + + "The Indian Druids of the wood + Know where the fatal arrows grow; + They spring not by the summer flood; + They pierce not through the winter's snow. + + "Why cowers the dog, whose snuffing nose + Was never once deceived till now? + And why amidst the chilling snows + Does either hunter wipe his brow? + + "For once they see his fearful den; + 'T is a dark cloud that slowly moves + By night around the homes of men, + By day along the stream it loves. + + "Again the dog is on the track, + The hunters chase o'er dale and hill; + They may not, though they would, look back; + They must go forward, forward still. + + "Onward they go, and never turn, + Amidst a night which knows no day; + For nevermore shall morning sun + Light them upon their endless way. + + "The hut is desolate; and there + The famished dog alone returns; + On the cold steps he makes his lair; + By the shut door he lays his bones. + + "Now the tired sportsman leans his gun + Against the ruins on its site, + And ponders on the hunting done + By the lost wanderers of the night. + + "And there the little country girls + Will stop to whisper, listen, and look, + And tell, while dressing their sunny curls, + Of the Black Fox of Salmon Brook." + +The same writer has happily versified a pleasant superstition of the +valley of the Connecticut. It is supposed that shad are led from the +Gulf of Mexico to the Connecticut by a kind of Yankee bogle in the shape +of a bird. + + + + + + + THE SHAD SPIRIT. + + "Now drop the bolt, and securely nail + The horse-shoe over the door; + 'T is a wise precaution; and, if it should fail, + It never failed before. + + "Know ye the shepherd that gathers his flock + Where the gales of the equinox blow + From each unknown reef and sunken rock + In the Gulf of Mexico,-- + + "While the monsoons growl, and the trade-winds bark, + And the watch-dogs of the surge + Pursue through the wild waves the ravenous shark + That prowls around their charge? + + "To fair Connecticut's northernmost source, + O'er sand-bars, rapids, and falls, + The Shad Spirit holds his onward course + With the flocks which his whistle calls. + + "Oh, how shall he know where he went before? + Will he wander around forever? + The last year's shad heads shall shine on the shore, + To light him up the river. + + "And well can he tell the very time + To undertake his task + When the pork-barrel's low he sits on the chine + And drums on the empty cask. + + "The wind is light, and the wave is white + With the fleece of the flock that's near; + Like the breath of the breeze he comes over the seas + And faithfully leads them here. + + "And now he 's passed the bolted door + Where the rusted horse-shoe clings; + So carry the nets to the nearest shore, + And take what the Shad Spirit brings." + +The comparatively innocent nature and simple poetic beauty of this class +of superstitions have doubtless often induced the moralist to hesitate +in exposing their absurdity, and, like Burns in view of his national +thistle, to: + + "Turn the weeding hook aside + And spare the symbol dear." + +But the age has fairly outgrown them, and they are falling away by a +natural process of exfoliation. The wonderland of childhood must +henceforth be sought within the domains of truth. The strange facts of +natural history, and the sweet mysteries of flowers and forests, and +hills and waters, will profitably take the place of the fairy lore of +the past, and poetry and romance still hold their accustomed seats in +the circle of home, without bringing with them the evil spirits of +credulity and untruth. Truth should be the first lesson of the child +and the last aspiration of manhood; for it has been well said that the +inquiry of truth, which is the lovemaking of it, the knowledge of truth, +which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the +enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature. + + + + + + + MAGICIANS AND WITCH FOLK. + +FASCINATION, saith Henry Cornelius Agrippa, in the fiftieth chapter of +his first book on Occult Philosophy, "is a binding which comes of the +spirit of the witch through the eyes of him that is bewitched, entering +to his heart; for the eye being opened and intent upon any one, with a +strong imagination doth dart its beams, which are the vehiculum of the +spirit, into the eyes of him that is opposite to her; which tender +spirit strikes his eyes, stirs up and wounds his heart, and infects his +spirit. Whence Apuleius saith, 'Thy eyes, sliding down through my eyes +into my inmost heart, stirreth up a most vehement burning.' And when +eyes are reciprocally intent upon each other, and when rays are joined +to rays, and lights to lights, then the spirit of the one is joined to +that of the other; so are strong ligations made and vehement loves +inflamed." Taking this definition of witchcraft, we sadly fear it is +still practised to a very great extent among us. The best we can say of +it is, that the business seems latterly to have fallen into younger +hands; its victims do not appear to regard themselves as especial +objects of compassion; and neither church nor state seems inclined to +interfere with it. + +As might be expected in a shrewd community like ours, attempts are not +unfrequently made to speculate in the supernatural,--to "make gain of +sooth-saying." In the autumn of last year a "wise woman" dreamed, or +somnambulized, that a large sum of money, in gold and silver coin, lay +buried in the centre of the great swamp in Poplin, New Hampshire; +whereupon an immediate search was made for the precious metal. Under +the bleak sky of November, in biting frost and sleet rain, some twenty +or more grown men, graduates of our common schools, and liable, every +mother's son of them, to be made deacons, squires, and general court +members, and such other drill officers as may be requisite in the march +of mind, might be seen delving in grim earnest, breaking the frozen +earth, uprooting swamp-maples and hemlocks, and waking, with sledge and +crowbar, unwonted echoes in a solitude which had heretofore only +answered to the woodman's axe or the scream of the wild fowl. The snows +of December put an end to their labors; but the yawning excavation still +remains, a silent but somewhat expressive commentary upon the age of +progress. + +Still later, in one of our Atlantic cities, an attempt was made, +partially at least, successful, to form a company for the purpose of +digging for money in one of the desolate sand-keys of the West Indies. +It appears that some mesmerized "subject," in the course of one of those +somnambulic voyages of discovery in which the traveller, like Satan in +chaos,-- + + "O'er bog, o'er steep, through straight, rough, dense, or rare, + With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way, + And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies,"-- + +while peering curiously into the earth's mysteries, chanced to have his +eyes gladdened by the sight of a huge chest packed with Spanish coins, +the spoil, doubtless, of some rich-freighted argosy, or Carthagena +galleon, in the rare days of Queen Elizabeth's Christian buccaneers. + +During the last quarter of a century, a colored woman in one of the +villages on the southern border of New Hampshire has been consulted by +hundreds of anxious inquirers into the future. Long experience in her +profession has given her something of that ready estimate of character, +that quick and keen appreciation of the capacity, habits, and wishes of +her visitors, which so remarkably distinguished the late famous Madame +Le Normand, of Paris; and if that old squalid sorceress, in her cramped +Parisian attic, redolent of garlic and bestrewn with the greasy +implements of sorry housewifery, was, as has been affirmed, consulted by +such personages as the fair Josephine Beauharnois, and the "man of +destiny," Napoleon himself, is it strange that the desire to lift the +veil of the great mystery before us should overcome in some degree our +peculiar and most republican prejudice against color, and reconcile us +to the disagreeable necessity of looking at futurity through a black +medium? + +Some forty years ago, on the banks of the pleasant little creek +separating Berwick, in Maine, from Somersworth, in New Hampshire, within +sight of my mother's home, dwelt a plain, sedate member of the society +of Friends, named Bantum. He passed throughout a circle of several +miles as a conjurer and skilful adept in the art of magic. To him +resorted farmers who had lost their cattle, matrons whose household +gear, silver spoons, and table-linen had been stolen, or young maidens +whose lovers were absent; and the quiet, meek-spirited old man received +them all kindly, put on his huge iron-rimmed spectacles, opened his +"conjuring book," which my mother describes as a large clasped volume in +strange language and black-letter type, and after due reflection and +consideration gave the required answers without money and without price. +The curious old volume is still in the possession of the conjurer's +family. Apparently inconsistent as was this practice of the black art +with the simplicity and truthfulness of his religious profession, I have +not been able to learn that he was ever subjected to censure on account +of it. It may be that our modern conjurer defended himself on grounds +similar to those assumed by the celebrated knight of Nettesheim, in the +preface to his first Book of Magic: "Some," says he, "may crie oute that +I teach forbidden arts, sow the seed of heresies, offend pious ears, and +scandalize excellent wits; that I am a sorcerer, superstitious and +devilish, who indeed am a magician. To whom I answer, that a magician +doth not among learned men signifie a sorcerer or one that is +superstitious or devilish, but a wise man, a priest, a prophet, and that +the sibyls prophesied most clearly of Christ; that magicians, as wise +men, by the wonderful secrets of the world, knew Christ to be born, and +came to worship him, first of all; and that the name of magicke is +received by philosophers, commended by divines, and not unacceptable to +the Gospel." + +The study of astrology and occult philosophy, to which many of the +finest minds of the Middle Ages devoted themselves without molestation +from the Church, was never practised with impunity after the +Reformation. The Puritans and Presbyterians, taking the Bible for their +rule, "suffered not a witch to live;" and, not content with burning the +books of those who "used curious arts" after the manner of the +Ephesians, they sacrificed the students themselves on the same pile. +Hence we hear little of learned and scientific wizards in New England. +One remarkable character of this kind seems, however, to have escaped +the vigilance of our modern Doctors of the Mosaic Law. Dr. Robert Child +came to this country about the year 1644, and took up his residence in +the Massachusetts colony. He was a man of wealth, and owned plantations +at Nashaway, now Lancaster, and at Saco, in Maine. He was skilful in +mineralogy and metallurgy, and seems to have spent a good deal of money +in searching for mines. He is well known as the author of the first +decided movement for liberty of conscience in Massachusetts, his name +standing at the head of the famous petition of 1646 for a modification +of the laws in respect to religious worship, and complaining in strong +terms of the disfranchisement of persons not members of the Church. A +tremendous excitement was produced by this remonstrance; clergy and +magistrates joined in denouncing it; Dr. Child and his associates were +arrested, tried for contempt of government, and heavily fined. The +Court, in passing sentence, assured the Doctor that his crime was only +equalled by that of Korah and his troop, who rebelled against Moses and +Aaron. He resolved to appeal to the Parliament of England, and made +arrangements for his departure, but was arrested, and ordered to be kept +a prisoner in his own house until the vessel in which he was to sail had +left Boston. He was afterwards imprisoned for a considerable length of +time, and on his release found means to return to England. The Doctor's +trunks were searched by the Puritan authorities while he was in prison; +but it does not appear that they detected the occult studies to which +lie was addicted, to which lucky circumstance it is doubtless owing that +the first champion of religious liberty in the New World was not hung +for a wizard. + +Dr. Child was a graduate of the renowned University of Padua, and had +travelled extensively in the Old World. Probably, like Michael Scott, +he had: + + "Learned the art of glammarye + In Padua, beyond the sea;" + +for I find in the dedication of an English translation of a Continental +work on astrology and magic, printed in 1651 "at the sign of the Three +Bibles," that his "sublime hermeticall and theomagicall lore" is +compared to that of Hermes and Agrippa. He is complimented as a master +of the mysteries of Rome and Germany, and as one who had pursued his +investigations among the philosophers of the Old World and the Indians +of the New, "leaving no stone unturned, the turning whereof might +conduce to the discovery of what is occult." + +There was still another member of the Friends' society in Vermont, of +the name of Austin, who, in answer, as he supposed, to prayer and a +long-cherished desire to benefit his afflicted fellow-creatures, +received, as he believed, a special gift of healing. For several years +applicants from nearly all parts of New England visited him with the +story of their sufferings and praying for a relief, which, it is +averred, was in many instances really obtained. Letters from the sick +who were unable to visit him, describing their diseases, were sent him; +and many are yet living who believe that they were restored miraculously +at the precise period of time when Austin was engaged in reading their +letters. One of my uncles was commissioned to convey to him a large +number of letters from sick persons in his neighborhood. He found the +old man sitting in his plain parlor in the simplest garb of his sect,-- +grave, thoughtful, venerable,--a drab-coated Prince Hohenlohe. He +received the letters in silence, read them slowly, casting them one +after another upon a large pile of similar epistles in a corner of the +apartment. + +Half a century ago nearly every neighborhood in New England was favored +with one or more reputed dealers in magic. Twenty years later there +were two poor old sisters who used to frighten school urchins and +"children of a larger growth" as they rode down from New Hampshire on +their gaunt skeleton horses, strung over with baskets for the +Newburyport market. They were aware of the popular notion concerning +them, and not unfrequently took advantage of it to levy a sort of black +mail upon their credulous neighbors. An attendant at the funeral of one +of these sisters, who when living was about as unsubstantial as Ossian's +ghost, through which the stars were visible, told me that her coffin was +so heavy that four stout men could barely lift it. + +One, of my earliest recollections is that of an old woman, residing +about two miles from the place of my nativity, who for many years had +borne the unenviable reputation of a witch. She certainly had the look +of one,--a combination of form, voice, and features which would have +made the fortune of an English witch finder in the days of Matthew Paris +or the Sir John Podgers of Dickens, and insured her speedy conviction in +King James's High Court of Justiciary. She was accused of divers ill- +doings,--such as preventing the cream in her neighbor's churn from +becoming butter, and snuffing out candles at huskings and quilting- +parties. + + "She roamed the country far and near, + Bewitched the children of the peasants, + Dried up the cows, and lamed the deer, + And sucked the eggs, and killed the pheasants." + +The poor old woman was at length so sadly annoyed by her unfortunate +reputation that she took the trouble to go before a justice of the +peace, and made solemn oath that she was a Christian woman, and no +witch. + +Not many years since a sad-visaged, middle-aged man might be seen in the +streets of one of our seaboard towns at times suddenly arrested in the +midst of a brisk walk and fixed motionless for some minutes in the busy +thoroughfare. No effort could induce him to stir until, in his opinion, +the spell was removed and his invisible tormentor suffered him to +proceed. He explained his singular detention as the act of a whole +family of witches whom he had unfortunately offended during a visit down +East. It was rumored that the offence consisted in breaking off a +matrimonial engagement with the youngest member of the family,--a +sorceress, perhaps, in more than one sense of the word, like that +"winsome wench and walie" in Tam O'Shanter's witch-dance at Kirk +Alloway. His only hope was that he should outlive his persecutors; and +it is said that at the very hour in which the event took place he +exultingly assured his friends that the spell was forever broken, and +that the last of the family of his tormentors was no more. + +When a boy, I occasionally met, at the house of a relative in an +adjoining town, a stout, red-nosed old farmer of the neighborhood. +A fine tableau he made of a winter's evening, in the red light of a +birch-log fire, as he sat for hours watching its progress, with sleepy, +half-shut eyes, changing his position only to reach the cider-mug on the +shelf near him. Although he seldom opened his lips save to assent to +some remark of his host or to answer a direct question, yet at times, +when the cider-mug got the better of his taciturnity, he would amuse us +with interesting details of his early experiences in "the Ohio country." + +There was, however, one chapter in these experiences which he usually +held in reserve, and with which "the stranger intermeddled not." He was +not willing to run the risk of hearing that which to him was a frightful +reality turned into ridicule by scoffers and unbelievers. The substance +of it, as I received it from one of his neighbors, forms as clever a +tale of witchcraft as modern times have produced. + +It seems that when quite a young man he left the homestead, and, +strolling westward, worked his way from place to place until he found +himself in one of the old French settlements on the Ohio River. Here he +procured employment on the farm of a widow; and being a smart, active +fellow, and proving highly serviceable in his department, he rapidly +gained favor in the eyes of his employer. Ere long, contrary to the +advice of the neighbors, and in spite of somewhat discouraging hints +touching certain matrimonial infelicities experienced by the late +husband, he resolutely stepped into the dead man's shoes: the mistress +became the wife, and the servant was legally promoted to the head of the +household.-- + +For a time matters went on cosily and comfortably enough. He was now +lord of the soil; and, as he laid in his crops of corn and potatoes, +salted down his pork, and piled up his wood for winter's use, he +naturally enough congratulated himself upon his good fortune and laughed +at the sinister forebodings of his neighbors. But with the long winter +months came a change over his "love's young dream." An evil and +mysterious influence seemed to be at work in his affairs. Whatever he +did after consulting his wife or at her suggestion resulted favorably +enough; but all his own schemes and projects were unaccountably marred +and defeated. If he bought a horse, it was sure to prove spavined or +wind-broken. His cows either refused to give down their milk, or, +giving it, perversely kicked it over. A fine sow which he had bargained +for repaid his partiality by devouring, like Saturn, her own children. +By degrees a dark thought forced its way into his mind. Comparing his +repeated mischances with the ante-nuptial warnings of his neighbors, he +at last came to the melancholy conclusion that his wife was a witch. +The victim in Motherwell's ballad of the Demon Lady, or the poor fellow +in the Arabian tale who discovered that he had married a ghoul in the +guise of a young and blooming princess, was scarcely in a more sorrowful +predicament. He grew nervous and fretful. Old dismal nursery stories +and all the witch lore of boyhood came back to his memory; and he crept +to his bed like a criminal to the gallows, half afraid to fall asleep +lest his mysterious companion should take a fancy to transform him into +a horse, get him shod at the smithy, and ride him to a witch-meeting. +And, as if to make the matter worse, his wife's affection seemed to +increase just in proportion as his troubles thickened upon him. She +aggravated him with all manner of caresses and endearments. This was +the drop too much. The poor husband recoiled from her as from a waking +nightmare. His thoughts turned to New England; he longed to see once +more the old homestead, with its tall well-sweep and butternut-trees by +the roadside; and he sighed amidst the rich bottom-lands of his new home +for his father's rocky pasture, with its crop of stinted mulleins. So +one cold November day, finding himself out of sight and hearing of his +wife, he summoned courage to attempt an escape, and, resolutely turning +his back on the West, plunged into the wilderness towards the sunrise. +After a long and hard journey he reached his birthplace, and was kindly +welcomed by his old friends. Keeping a close mouth with respect to his +unlucky adventure in Ohio, he soon after married one of his schoolmates, +and, by dint of persevering industry and economy, in a few years found +himself in possession of a comfortable home. + +But his evil star still lingered above the horizon. One summer evening, +on returning from the hayfield, who should meet him but his witch wife +from Ohio! She came riding up the street on her old white horse, with a +pillion behind the saddle. Accosting him in a kindly tone, yet not +without something of gentle reproach for his unhandsome desertion of +her, she informed him that she had come all the way from Ohio to take +him back again. + +It was in vain that he pleaded his later engagements; it was in vain +that his new wife raised her shrillest remonstrances, not unmingled with +expressions of vehement indignation at the revelation of her husband's +real position; the witch wife was inexorable; go he must, and that +speedily. Fully impressed with a belief in her supernatural power of +compelling obedience, and perhaps dreading more than witchcraft itself +the effects of the unlucky disclosure on the temper of his New England +helpmate, he made a virtue of the necessity of the case, bade farewell +to the latter amidst a perfect hurricane of reproaches, and mounted the +white horse, with his old wife on the pillion behind him. + +Of that ride Burger might have written a counterpart to his ballad:-- + + "Tramp, tramp, along the shore they ride, + Splash, splash, along the sea." + +Two or three years had passed away, bringing no tidings of the +unfortunate husband, when he once more made his appearance in his native +village. He was not disposed to be very communicative; but for one +thing, at least, he seemed willing to express his gratitude. His Ohio +wife, having no spell against intermittent fever, had paid the debt of +nature, and had left him free; in view of which, his surviving wife, +after manifesting a due degree of resentment, consented to take him back +to her bed and board; and I could never learn that she had cause to +regret her clemency. + + + + + + + THE BEAUTIFUL + + "A beautiful form is better than a beautiful face; + a beautiful behavior is better than a beautiful form; + it gives a higher pleasure than statues or pictures; + it is the finest of the fine arts." + EMERSON'S Essays, Second Series, iv., p. 162. + +A FEW days since I was walking with a friend, who, unfortunately for +himself, seldom meets with anything in the world of realities worthy of +comparison with the ideal of his fancy, which, like the bird in the +Arabian tale, glides perpetually before him, always near yet never +overtaken. He was half humorously, half seriously, complaining of the +lack of beauty in the faces and forms that passed us on the crowded +sidewalk. Some defect was noticeable in all: one was too heavy, another +too angular; here a nose was at fault, there a mouth put a set of +otherwise fine features out of countenance; the fair complexions had red +hair, and glossy black locks were wasted upon dingy ones. In one way or +another all fell below his impossible standard. + +The beauty which my friend seemed in search of was that of proportion +and coloring; mechanical exactness; a due combination of soft curves and +obtuse angles, of warm carnation and marble purity. Such a man, for +aught I can see, might love a graven image, like the girl of Florence +who pined into a shadow for the Apollo Belvidere, looking coldly on her +with stony eyes from his niche in the Vatican. One thing is certain,-- +he will never find his faultless piece of artistical perfection by +searching for it amidst flesh-and-blood realities. Nature does not, +as far as I can perceive, work with square and compass, or lay on her +colors by the rules of royal artists or the dunces of the academies. +She eschews regular outlines. She does not shape her forms by a common +model. Not one of Eve's numerous progeny in all respects resembles her +who first culled the flowers of Eden. To the infinite variety and +picturesque inequality of Nature we owe the great charm of her uncloying +beauty. Look at her primitive woods; scattered trees, with moist sward +and bright mosses at their roots; great clumps of green shadow, where +limb intwists with limb and the rustle of one leaf stirs a hundred +others,--stretching up steep hillsides, flooding with green beauty the +valleys, or arching over with leaves the sharp ravines, every tree and +shrub unlike its neighbor in size and proportion,--the old and storm- +broken leaning on the young and vigorous,--intricate and confused, +without order or method. Who would exchange this for artificial French +gardens, where every tree stands stiff and regular, clipped and trimmed +into unvarying conformity, like so many grenadiers under review? Who +wants eternal sunshine or shadow? Who would fix forever the loveliest +cloudwork of an autumn sunset, or hang over him an everlasting +moonlight? If the stream had no quiet eddying place, could we so admire +its cascade over the rocks? Were there no clouds, could we so hail the +sky shining through them in its still, calm purity? Who shall venture +to ask our kind Mother Nature to remove from our sight any one of her +forms or colors? Who shall decide which is beautiful, or otherwise, in +itself considered? + +There are too many, like my fastidious friend, who go through the world +"from Dan to Beersheba, finding all barren,"--who have always some fault +or other to find with Nature and Providence, seeming to consider +themselves especially ill used because the one does not always coincide +with their taste, nor the other with their narrow notions of personal +convenience. In one of his early poems, Coleridge has well expressed a +truth, which is not the less important because it is not generally +admitted. The idea is briefly this: that the mind gives to all things +their coloring, their gloom, or gladness; that the pleasure we derive +from external nature is primarily from ourselves:-- + + "from the mind itself must issue forth + A light, a glory, a fair luminous mist, + Enveloping the earth." + +The real difficulty of these lifelong hunters after the beautiful exists +in their own spirits. They set up certain models of perfection in their +imaginations, and then go about the world in the vain expectation of +finding them actually wrought out according to pattern; very +unreasonably calculating that Nature will suspend her everlasting laws +for the purpose of creating faultless prodigies for their especial +gratification. + +The authors of Gayeties and Gravities give it as their opinion that no +object of sight is regarded by us as a simple disconnected form, but +that--an instantaneous reflection as to its history, purpose, or +associations converts it into a concrete one,--a process, they shrewdly +remark, which no thinking being can prevent, and which can only be +avoided by the unmeaning and stolid stare of "a goose on the common or a +cow on the green." The senses and the faculties of the understanding +are so blended with and dependent upon each other that not one of them +can exercise its office alone and without the modification of some +extrinsic interference or suggestion. Grateful or unpleasant +associations cluster around all which sense takes cognizance of; the +beauty which we discern in an external object is often but the +reflection of our own minds. + +What is beauty, after all? Ask the lover who kneels in homage to one +who has no attractions for others. The cold onlooker wonders that he +can call that unclassic combination of features and that awkward form +beautiful. Yet so it is. He sees, like Desdemona, her "visage in her +mind," or her affections. A light from within shines through the +external uncomeliness,--softens, irradiates, and glorifies it. That +which to others seems commonplace and unworthy of note is to him, in the +words of Spenser,-- + + "A sweet, attractive kind of grace; + A full assurance given by looks; + Continual comfort in a face; + The lineaments of Gospel books." + +"Handsome is that handsome does,--hold up your heads, girls!" was the +language of Primrose in the play when addressing her daughters. The +worthy matron was right. Would that all my female readers who are +sorrowing foolishly because they are not in all respects like Dubufe's +Eve, or that statue of the Venus "which enchants the world," could be +persuaded to listen to her. What is good looking, as Horace Smith +remarks, but looking good? Be good, be womanly, be gentle,--generous in +your sympathies, heedful of the well-being of all around you; and, my +word for it, you will not lack kind words of admiration. Loving and +pleasant associations will gather about you. Never mind the ugly +reflection which your glass may give you. That mirror has no heart. +But quite another picture is yours on the retina of human sympathy. +There the beauty of holiness, of purity, of that inward grace which +passeth show, rests over it, softening and mellowing its features just +as the full calm moonlight melts those of a rough landscape into +harmonious loveliness. "Hold up your heads, girls!" I repeat after +Primrose. Why should you not? Every mother's daughter of you can be +beautiful. You can envelop yourselves in an atmosphere of moral and +intellectual beauty, through which your otherwise plain faces will look +forth like those of angels. Beautiful to Ledyard, stiffening in the +cold of a northern winter, seemed the diminutive, smokestained women of +Lapland, who wrapped him in their furs and ministered to his necessities +with kindness and gentle words of compassion. Lovely to the homesick +heart of Park seemed the dark maids of Sego, as they sung their low and +simple song of welcome beside his bed, and sought to comfort the white +stranger, who had "no mother to bring him milk and no wife to grind him +corn." Oh, talk as we may of beauty as a thing to be chiselled from +marble or wrought out on canvas, speculate as we may upon its colors and +outlines, what is it but an intellectual abstraction, after all? The +heart feels a beauty of another kind; looking through the outward +environment, it discovers a deeper and more real loveliness. + +This was well understood by the old painters. In their pictures of +Mary, the virgin mother, the beauty which melts and subdues the gazer is +that of the soul and the affections, uniting the awe and mystery of that +mother's miraculous allotment with the irrepressible love, the +unutterable tenderness, of young maternity,--Heaven's crowning miracle +with Nature's holiest and sweetest instinct. And their pale Magdalens, +holy with the look of sins forgiven,--how the divine beauty of their +penitence sinks into the heart! Do we not feel that the only real +deformity is sin, and that goodness evermore hallows and sanctifies its +dwelling-place? When the soul is at rest, when the passions and desires +are all attuned to the divine harmony,-- + + "Spirits moving musically + To a lute's well-ordered law," + The Haunted Palace, by Edgar A. Poe. + +do we not read the placid significance thereof in the human countenance? +"I have seen," said Charles Lamb, "faces upon which the dove of peace +sat brooding." In that simple and beautiful record of a holy life, the +Journal of John Woolman, there is a passage of which I have been more +than once reminded in my intercourse with my fellow-beings: "Some +glances of real beauty may be seen in their faces who dwell in true +meekness. There is a harmony in the sound of that voice to which divine +love gives utterance." + +Quite the ugliest face I ever saw was that of a woman whom the world +calls beautiful. Through its "silver veil" the evil and ungentle +passions looked out hideous and hateful. On the other hand, there are +faces which the multitude at the first glance pronounce homely, +unattractive, and such as "Nature fashions by the gross," which I always +recognize with a warm heart-thrill; not for the world would I have one +feature changed; they please me as they are; they are hallowed by kind +memories; they are beautiful through their associations; nor are they +any the less welcome that with my admiration of them "the stranger +intermeddleth not." + + + + + + + THE WORLD'S END. + + + + "Our Father Time is weak and gray, + Awaiting for the better day; + See how idiot-like he stands, + Fumbling his old palsied hands!" + SHELLEY's Masque of Anarchy. + +"STAGE ready, gentlemen! Stage for campground, Derry! Second Advent +camp-meeting!" + +Accustomed as I begin to feel to the ordinary sights and sounds of this +busy city, I was, I confess, somewhat startled by this business-like +annunciation from the driver of a stage, who stood beside his horses +swinging his whip with some degree of impatience: "Seventy-five cents to +the Second Advent camp-ground!" + +The stage was soon filled; the driver cracked his whip and went rattling +down the street. + +The Second Advent,--the coming of our Lord in person upon this earth, +with signs, and wonders, and terrible judgments,--the heavens robing +together as a scroll, the elements melting with fervent heat! The +mighty consummation of all things at hand, with its destruction and its +triumphs, sad wailings of the lost and rejoicing songs of the glorified! +From this overswarming hive of industry,--from these crowded treadmills +of gain,--here were men and women going out in solemn earnestness to +prepare for the dread moment which they verily suppose is only a few +months distant,--to lift up their warning voices in the midst of +scoffers and doubters, and to cry aloud to blind priests and careless +churches, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!" + +It was one of the most lovely mornings of this loveliest season of the +year; a warm, soft atmosphere; clear sunshine falling on the city spires +and roofs; the hills of Dracut quiet and green in the distance, with +their white farm-houses and scattered trees; around me the continual +tread of footsteps hurrying to the toils of the day; merchants spreading +out their wares for the eyes of purchasers; sounds of hammers, the sharp +clink of trowels, the murmur of the great manufactories subdued by +distance. How was it possible, in the midst of so much life, in that +sunrise light, and in view of all abounding beauty, that the idea of the +death of Nature--the baptism of the world in fire--could take such a +practical shape as this? Yet here were sober, intelligent men, gentle +and pious women, who, verily believing the end to be close at hand, had +left their counting-rooms, and workshops, and household cares to publish +the great tidings, and to startle, if possible, a careless and +unbelieving generation into preparation for the day of the Lord and for +that blessed millennium,--the restored paradise,--when, renovated and +renewed by its fire-purgation, the earth shall become as of old the +garden of the Lord, and the saints alone shall inherit it. + +Very serious and impressive is the fact that this idea of a radical +change in our planet is not only predicted in the Scriptures, but that +the Earth herself, in her primitive rocks and varying formations, on +which are lithographed the history of successive convulsions, darkly +prophesies of others to come. The old poet prophets, all the world +over, have sung of a renovated world. A vision of it haunted the +contemplations of Plato. It is seen in the half-inspired speculations +of the old Indian mystics. The Cumaean sibyl saw it in her trances. +The apostles and martyrs of our faith looked for it anxiously and +hopefully. Gray anchorites in the deserts, worn pilgrims to the holy +places of Jewish and Christian tradition, prayed for its coming. It +inspired the gorgeous visions of the early fathers. In every age since +the Christian era, from the caves, and forests, and secluded "upper +chambers" of the times of the first missionaries of the cross, from the +Gothic temples of the Middle Ages, from the bleak mountain gorges of the +Alps, where the hunted heretics put up their expostulation, "How long, +O Lord, how long?" down to the present time, and from this Derry +campground, have been uttered the prophecy and the prayer for its +fulfilment. + +How this great idea manifests itself in the, lives of the enthusiasts of +the days of Cromwell! Think of Sir Henry Vane, cool, sagacious +statesman as he was, waiting with eagerness for the foreshadowings of +the millennium, and listening, even in the very council hall, for the +blast of the last trumpet! Think of the Fifth Monarchy Men, weary with +waiting for the long-desired consummation, rushing out with drawn swords +and loaded matchlocks into the streets of London to establish at once +the rule of King Jesus! Think of the wild enthusiasts at Munster, +verily imagining that the millennial reign had commenced in their mad +city! Still later, think of Granville Sharpe, diligently laboring in +his vocation of philanthropy, laying plans for the slow but beneficent +amelioration of the condition of his country and the world, and at the +same time maintaining, with the zeal of Father Miller himself, that the +earth was just on the point of combustion, and that the millennium would +render all his benevolent schemes of no sort of consequence! + +And, after all, is the idea itself a vain one? Shall to-morrow be as +to-day? Shall the antagonism of good and evil continue as heretofore +forever? Is there no hope that this world-wide prophecy of the human +soul, uttered in all climes, in all times, shall yet be fulfilled? Who +shall say it may not be true? Nay, is not its truth proved by its +universality? The hope of all earnest souls must be realized. That +which, through a distorted and doubtful medium, shone even upon the +martyr enthusiasts of the French revolution,--soft gleams of heaven's +light rising over the hell of man's passions and crimes,--the glorious +ideal of Shelley, who, atheist as he was through early prejudice and +defective education, saw the horizon of the world's future kindling with +the light of a better day,--that hope and that faith which constitute, +as it were, the world's life, and without which it would be dark and +dead, cannot be in vain. + +I do not, I confess, sympathize with my Second Advent friends in their +lamentable depreciation of Mother Earth even in her present state. I +find it extremely difficult to comprehend how it is that this goodly, +green, sunlit home of ours is resting under a curse. It really does not +seem to me to be altogether like the roll which the angel bore in the +prophet's vision, "written within and without with mourning, +lamentation, and woe." September sunsets, changing forests, moonrise +and cloud, sun and rain,--I for one am contented with them. They fill +my heart with a sense of beauty. I see in them the perfect work of +infinite love as well as wisdom. It may be that our Advent friends, +however, coincide with the opinions of an old writer on the prophecies, +who considered the hills and valleys of the earth's surface and its +changes of seasons as so many visible manifestations of God's curse, and +that in the millennium, as in the days of Adam's innocence, all these +picturesque inequalities would be levelled nicely away, and the flat +surface laid handsomely down to grass. + +As might be expected, the effect of this belief in the speedy +destruction of the world and the personal coming of the Messiah, acting +upon a class of uncultivated, and, in some cases, gross minds, is not +always in keeping with the enlightened Christian's ideal of the better +day. One is shocked in reading some of the "hymns" of these believers. +Sensual images,--semi-Mahometan descriptions of the condition of the +"saints,"--exultations over the destruction of the "sinners,"--mingle +with the beautiful and soothing promises of the prophets. There are +indeed occasionally to be found among the believers men of refined and +exalted spiritualism, who in their lives and conversation remind one of +Tennyson's Christian knight-errant in his yearning towards the hope set +before him: + + "to me is given + Such hope I may not fear; + I long to breathe the airs of heaven, + Which sometimes meet me here. + + "I muse on joys that cannot cease, + Pure spaces filled with living beams, + White lilies of eternal peace, + Whose odors haunt my dreams." + +One of the most ludicrous examples of the sensual phase of Millerism, +the incongruous blending of the sublime with the ridiculous, was +mentioned to me not long since. A fashionable young woman in the +western part of this State became an enthusiastic believer in the +doctrine. On the day which had been designated as the closing one of +time she packed all her fine dresses and toilet valuables in a large +trunk, with long straps attached to it, and, seating herself upon it, +buckled the straps over her shoulders, patiently awaiting the crisis,-- +shrewdly calculating that, as she must herself go upwards, her goods and +chattels would of necessity follow. + +Three or four years ago, on my way eastward, I spent an hour or two at a +camp-ground of the Second Advent in East Kingston. The spot was well +chosen. A tall growth of pine and hemlock threw its melancholy shadow +over the multitude, who were arranged upon rough seats of boards and +logs. Several hundred--perhaps a thousand people--were present, and +more were rapidly coming. Drawn about in a circle, forming a background +of snowy whiteness to the dark masses of men and foliage, were the white +tents, and back of them the provision-stalls and cook-shops. When I +reached the ground, a hymn, the words of which I could not distinguish, +was pealing through the dim aisles of the forest. I could readily +perceive that it had its effect upon the multitude before me, kindling +to higher intensity their already excited enthusiasm. The preachers +were placed in a rude pulpit of rough boards, carpeted only by the dead +forest-leaves and flowers, and tasselled, not with silk and velvet, but +with the green boughs of the sombre hemlocks around it. One of them +followed the music in an earnest exhortation on the duty of preparing +for the great event. Occasionally he was really eloquent, and his +description of the last day had the ghastly distinctness of Anelli's +painting of the End of the World. + +Suspended from the front of the rude pulpit were two broad sheets of +canvas, upon one of which was the figure of a man, the head of gold, the +breast and arms of silver, the belly of brass, the legs of iron, and +feet of clay,--the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. On the other were depicted +the wonders of the Apocalyptic vision,--the beasts, the dragons, the +scarlet woman seen by the seer of Patmos, Oriental types, figures, and +mystic symbols, translated into staring Yankee realities, and exhibited +like the beasts of a travelling menagerie. One horrible image, with its +hideous heads and scaly caudal extremity, reminded me of the tremendous +line of Milton, who, in speaking of the same evil dragon, describes him +as + + "Swinging the scaly horrors of his folded tail." + +To an imaginative mind the scene was full of novel interest. The white +circle of tents; the dim wood arches; the upturned, earnest faces; the +loud voices of the speakers, burdened with the awful symbolic language +of the Bible; the smoke from the fires, rising like incense,--carried me +back to those days of primitive worship which tradition faintly whispers +of, when on hill-tops and in the shade of old woods Religion had her +first altars, with every man for her priest and the whole universe for +her temple. + +Wisely and truthfully has Dr. Channing spoken of this doctrine of the +Second Advent in his memorable discourse in Berkshire a little before +his death:-- + +"There are some among us at the present moment who are waiting for the +speedy coming of Christ. They expect, before another year closes, to +see Him in the clouds, to hear His voice, to stand before His judgment- +seat. These illusions spring from misinterpretation of Scripture +language. Christ, in the New Testament, is said to come whenever His +religion breaks out in new glory or gains new triumphs. He came in the +Holy Spirit in the day of Pentecost. He came in the destruction of +Jerusalem, which, by subverting the old ritual law and breaking the +power of the worst enemies of His religion, insured to it new victories. +He came in the reformation of the Church. He came on this day four +years ago, when, through His religion, eight hundred thousand men were +raised from the lowest degradation to the rights, and dignity, and +fellowship of men. Christ's outward appearance is of little moment +compared with the brighter manifestation of His spirit. The Christian, +whose inward eyes and ears are touched by God, discerns the coming of +Christ, hears the sound of His chariot-wheels and the voice of His +trumpet, when no other perceives them. He discerns the Saviour's advent +in the dawning of higher truth on the world, in new aspirations of the +Church after perfection, in the prostration of prejudice and error, in +brighter expressions of Christian love, in more enlightened and intense +consecration of the Christian to the cause of humanity, freedom, and +religion. Christ comes in the conversion, the regeneration, the +emancipation, of the world." + + + + + + + THE HEROINE OF LONG POINT. + + [1869.] + +LOOKING at the Government Chart of Lake Erie, one sees the outlines of a +long, narrow island, stretching along the shore of Canada West, opposite +the point where Loudon District pushes its low, wooded wedge into the +lake. This is Long Point Island, known and dreaded by the navigators of +the inland sea which batters its yielding shores, and tosses into +fantastic shapes its sandheaps. The eastern end is some twenty miles +from the Canada shore, while on the west it is only separated from the +mainland by a narrow strait known as "The Cut." It is a sandy, desolate +region, broken by small ponds, with dreary tracts of fenland, its ridges +covered with a low growth of pine, oak, beech, and birch, in the midst +of which, in its season, the dogwood puts out its white blossoms. Wild +grapes trail over the sand-dunes and festoon the dwarf trees. Here and +there are almost impenetrable swamps, thick-set with white cedars, +intertwisted and contorted by the lake winds, and broken by the weight +of snow and ice in winter. Swans and wild geese paddle in the shallow, +reedy bayous; raccoons and even deer traverse the sparsely wooded +ridges. The shores of its creeks and fens are tenanted by minks and +muskrats. The tall tower of a light-house rises at the eastern +extremity of the island, the keeper of which is now its solitary +inhabitant. + +Fourteen years ago, another individual shared the proprietorship of Long +Point. This was John Becker, who dwelt on the south side of the island, +near its westerly termination, in a miserable board shanty nestled +between naked sand-hills. He managed to make a poor living by trapping +and spearing muskrats, the skins of which he sold to such boatmen and +small-craft skippers as chanced to land on his forlorn territory. His +wife, a large, mild-eyed, patient young woman of some twenty-six years, +kept her hut and children as tidy as circumstances admitted, assisted +her husband in preparing the skins, and sometimes accompanied him on his +trapping excursions. + +On that lonely coast, seldom visited in summer, and wholly cut off from +human communication in winter, they might have lived and died with as +little recognition from the world as the minks and wildfowl with whom +they were tenants in common, but for a circumstance which called into +exercise unsuspected qualities of generous courage and heroic self- +sacrifice. + +The dark, stormy close of November, 1854, found many vessels on Lake +Erie, but the fortunes of one alone have special interest for us. About +that time the schooner Conductor, owned by John McLeod, of the +Provincial Parliament, a resident of Amherstburg, at the mouth of the +Detroit River, entered the lake from that river, bound for Port +Dalhousie, at the mouth of the Welland Canal. + +She was heavily loaded with grain. Her crew consisted of Captain +Hackett, a Highlander by birth, and a skilful and experienced navigator, +and six sailors. At nightfall, shortly after leaving the head of the +lake, one of those terrific storms, with which the late autumnal +navigators of that "Sea of the Woods" are all too familiar, overtook +them. The weather was intensely cold for the season; the air was filled +with snow and sleet; the chilled water made ice rapidly, encumbering the +schooner, and loading down her decks and rigging. As the gale +increased, the tops of the waves were shorn off by the fierce blasts, +clouding the whole atmosphere with frozen spray, or what the sailors +call "spoondrift," rendering it impossible to see any object a few rods +distant. Driving helplessly before the wind, yet in the direction of +her place of destination, the schooner sped through the darkness. At +last, near midnight, running closer than her crew supposed to the +Canadian shore, she struck on the outer bar off Long Point Island, beat +heavily across it, and sunk in the deeper water between it and the inner +bar. The hull was entirely submerged, the waves rolling in heavily, and +dashing over the rigging, to which the crew betook themselves. Lashed +there, numb with cold, drenched by the pitiless waves, and scourged by +the showers of sleet driven before the wind, they waited for morning. +The slow, dreadful hours wore away, and at length the dubious and +doubtful gray of a morning of tempest succeeded to the utter darkness of +night. + +Abigail Becker chanced at that time to be in her hut with none but her +young children. Her husband was absent on the Canada shore, and she was +left the sole adult occupant of the island, save the light-keeper, at +its lower end, some fifteen miles off. Looking out at daylight on the +beach in front of her door, she saw the shattered boat of the Conductor, +east up by the waves. Her experience of storm and disaster on that +dangerous coast needed nothing more to convince her that somewhere in +her neighborhood human life had been, or still was, in peril. She +followed the southwesterly trend of the island for a little distance, +and, peering through the gloom of the stormy morning, discerned the +spars of the sunken schooner, with what seemed to be human forms +clinging to the rigging. The heart of the strong woman sunk within her, +as she gazed upon those helpless fellow-creatures, so near, yet so +unapproachable. She had no boat, and none could have lived on that wild +water. After a moment's reflection she went back to her dwelling, put +the smaller children in charge of the eldest, took with her an iron +kettle, tin teapot, and matches, and returned to the beach, at the +nearest point to the vessel; and, gathering up the logs and drift-wood +always abundant, on the coast, kindled a great fire, and, constantly +walking back and forth between it and the water, strove to intimate to +the sufferers that they were at least not beyond human sympathy. As the +wrecked sailors looked shoreward, and saw, through the thick haze of +snow and sleet, the red light of the fire and the tall figure of the +woman passing to and fro before it, a faint hope took the place of the +utter despair which had prompted them to let go their hold and drop into +the seething waters, that opened and closed about them like the jaws of +death. But the day wore on, bringing no abatement of the storm that +tore through the frail spars, and clutched at and tossed them as it +passed, and drenched them with ice-cold spray,--a pitiless, unrelenting +horror of sight, sound, and touch! At last the deepening gloom told +them that night was approaching, and night under such circumstances was +death. + +All day long Abigail Becker had fed her fire, and sought to induce the +sailors by signals--for even her strong voice could not reach them--to +throw themselves into the surf, and trust to Providence and her for +succor. In anticipation of this, she had her kettle boiling over the +drift-wood, and her tea ready made for restoring warmth and life to the +half-frozen survivors. But either they did not understand her, or the +chance of rescue seemed too small to induce them to abandon the +temporary safety of the wreck. They clung to it with the desperate +instinct of life brought face to face with death. Just at nightfall +there was a slight break in the west; a red light glared across the +thick air, as if for one instant the eye of the storm looked out upon +the ruin it had wrought, and closed again under lids of cloud. Taking +advantage of this, the solitary watcher ashore made one more effort. +She waded out into the water, every drop of which, as it struck the +beach, became a particle of ice, and stretching out and drawing in her +arms, invited, by her gestures, the sailors to throw themselves into the +waves, and strive to reach her. Captain Hackett understood her. He +called to his mate in the rigging of the other mast: "It is our last +chance. I will try! If I live, follow me; if I drown, stay where you +are!" With a great effort he got off his stiffly frozen overcoat, +paused for one moment in silent commendation of his soul to God, and, +throwing himself into the waves, struck out for the shore. Abigail +Becker, breast-deep in the surf, awaited him. He was almost within her +reach, when the undertow swept him back. By a mighty exertion she +caught hold of him, bore him in her strong arms out of the water, and, +laying him down by her fire, warmed his chilled blood with copious +draughts of hot tea. The mate, who had watched the rescue, now +followed, and the captain, partially restored, insisted upon aiding him. +As the former neared the shore, the recoiling water baffled him. +Captain Hackett caught hold of him, but the undertow swept them both +away, locked in each other's arms. The brave woman plunged after them, +and, with the strength of a giantess, bore them, clinging to each other, +to the shore, and up to her fire. The five sailors followed in +succession, and were all rescued in the same way. + +A few days after, Captain Hackett and his crew were taken off Long Point +by a passing vessel; and Abigail Becker resumed her simple daily duties +without dreaming that she had done anything extraordinary enough to win +for her the world's notice. In her struggle every day for food and +warmth for her children, she had no leisure for the indulgence of self- +congratulation. Like the woman of Scripture, she had only "done what +she could," in the terrible exigency that had broken the dreary monotony +of her life. + +It so chanced, however, that a gentleman from Buffalo, E. P. Dorr, who +had, in his early days, commanded a vessel on the lake, found himself, +shortly after, at a small port on the Canada shore, not far from Long +Point Island. Here he met an old shipmate, Captain Davis, whose vessel +had gone ashore at a more favorable point, and who related to him the +circumstances of the wreck of the Conductor. Struck by the account, +Captain Dorr procured a sleigh and drove across the frozen bay to the +shanty of Abigail Becker. He found her with her six children, all +thinly clad and barefooted in the bitter cold. She stood there six feet +or more of substantial womanhood,--not in her stockings, for she had +none,--a veritable daughter of Anak, broad-bosomed, large-limbed, with +great, patient blue eyes, whose very smile had a certain pathos, as if +one saw in it her hard and weary life-experience. She might have passed +for any amiable giantess, or one of those much--developed maids of honor +who tossed Gulliver from hand to hand in the court of Brobdingnag. The +thing that most surprised her visitor was the childlike simplicity of +the woman, her utter unconsciousness of deserving anything for an action +that seemed to her merely a matter of course. When he expressed his +admiration with all the warmth of a generous nature, she only opened her +wide blue eyes still wider with astonishment. + +"Well, I don't know," she said, slowly, as if pondering the matter for +the first time,--"I don't know as I did more 'n I'd ought to, nor more'n +I'd do again." + +Before Captain Dorr left, he took the measure of her own and her +children's feet, and on his return to Buffalo sent her a box containing +shoes, stockings, and such other comfortable articles of clothing as +they most needed. He published a brief account of his visit to the +heroine of Long Point, which attracted the attention of some members of +the Provincial Parliament, and through their exertions a grant of one +hundred acres of land, on the Canada shore, near Port Rowan, was made to +her. Soon after she was invited to Buffalo, where she naturally excited +much interest. A generous contribution of one thousand dollars, to +stock her farm, was made by the merchants, ship-owners and masters of +the city, and she returned to her family a grateful and, in her own +view, a rich woman. + +When the story of her adventure reached New York, the Life-Saving +Benevolent Association sent her a gold medal with an appropriate +inscription, and a request that she would send back a receipt in her own +name. As she did not know how to write, Captain Dorr hit upon the +expedient of having her photograph taken with the medal in her hand, and +sent that in lieu of her autograph. + +In a recent letter dictated at Walsingham, where Abigail Becker now +lives,--a widow, cultivating with her own hands her little farm in the +wilderness,--she speaks gratefully of the past and hopefully of the +future. She mentions a message received from Captain Hackett, who she +feared had almost forgotten her, that he was about to make her a visit, +adding with a touch of shrewdness: "After his second shipwreck last +summer, I think likely that I must have recurred very fresh to him." + +The strong lake winds now blow unchecked over the sand-hills where once +stood the board shanty of Abigail Becker. But the summer tourist of the +great lakes, who remembers her story, will not fail to give her a place +in his imagination with Perry's battle-line and the Indian heroines of +Cooper and Longfellow. Through her the desolate island of Long Point is +richly dowered with the interest which a brave and generous action gives +to its locality. + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, TALES AND SKETCHES *** +By John Greenleaf Whittier + +**** This file should be named wit3110.txt or wit3110.zip ***** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, wit3111.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, wit3110a.txt + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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