Datasets:

NicholasSynovic
/

Modified-VEAA

Dataset card Data Studio Files Files and versions Community

Split (2)

train · 42.9k rows

text stringlengths 1.96k 5.76k	author int64 1 50
a wall before us to change our direction and instead of proceeding parallel to the to strike suddenly towards it we had now a close view of some of the obstacles which bar the approach to the of on which we were about to enter seemed to me absolutely the only relief to the white snow and ice before us was an occasional rock thrusting its sharp point above their surface and too steep to permit the snow to lodge on it one of these rocks or rather a chain of them called the grand which we had destined for our resting place for ae was vm but above our heads at the of four or five miles the however still lo defy all attempts to approach it the of uke the rest of the of the is an immense mass of ice filling a valley which stretches down the mountain side and is formed by the snow and ice which are constantly in the summer months sliding from above while the are thus constantly increasing on the surface die internal heat of the earth is slowly melting them below hence when they are large there generally proceeds from under them a considerable stream such are the sources of the and of the their surface often that of a sea suddenly they are frequently of several in breadth and from to feet in depth the snow which falls on them to the depth of several feet every winter is softened by the sun s rays in summer and again at the return of cold weather but in a more solid state forms a successive every year this may be easily measured as each of them is distinctly separated from its neighbour by a dark line at the section made by those cracks which every in all directions these cracks or are occasioned by ae irregular sinking of part of the whose support below has been gradually melted away this effect takes place principally in summer with a noise that may be heard at the distance of several miles and with a shock that makes the neighbouring country tremble these rents are from a few to or even or feet in breadth and generally of immense depth probably extending to the bottom of the they offer the greatest danger and to the passenger they are often concealed by the snow which gives no indication on its surface of the want of and it often happens that the i i m a visit to the summit of ing all his caution suddenly sinks through this veil into the chasm beneath we remained a couple of hours at our resting place to take some refreshment and to regain strength for our next difficult task our feet seemed to linger and to leave with reluctance the last ground we were to touch until our return we however entered on the with confidence in the skill and prudence of our guides several of whom being hunters and accustomed to chase the over such were acquainted with all the precautions that it was necessary to take for our safety to avoid the danger of falling into the especially those washed by the snow we fastened ourselves three persons together at the distance of or feet apart by a cord round the body so that in case of one falling into one of these the other two could support urn each person was provided with a pole six feet long and pointed at the bottom with iron which we found to be a necessary article where the were not more than two or three feet broad we over them with the assistance of our others we passed on natural bridges of snow that threatened to sink into the abyss and over others we made a bridge of the ladder which was extremely alight as otherwise it would have been impossible to carry it up the we had ascended without it we could not have passed the over this slender support we crawled with caution over a chasm into which we could see to an immense depth but of which we could see no bottom we were sometimes forced to pass on a narrow ridge of treacherous ice not more than a foot in breadth with one of these terrific on either side the firm step with which we saw our guides pass these difficulties inspired us with confidence but i can not even now think of some of the situations we were placed in without a sentiment of dread and especially when in and in the silence of the night they present themselves to my vol i to the summit of imagination i involuntarily shrink with horror at the i and am astonished in what little sensation i felt at the moment we threw down into some of the narrow cracks pieces of ice and fragments of rock and heard for a considerable time the noise and more distant sound as they bounded from side to side in no instance could we perceive the stone strike the bottom but the sound instead of suddenly as would then have been the case grew fainter and fainter until it was too feeble to be heard what then must be the immense depth of these when in these silent regions the noise of a large stone striking the bottom b too distant to be heard at the the number of we met with which were broader than the length of our ladder and which of course we had no means of crossing rendered our we were often enabled	48
by the ladder s assistance to scale high and perpendicular banks of snow it some times proved too short to reach to the top but where the steep was not absolutely perpendicular we continued in several instances to remedy this inconvenience one of the guides standing on the top of the ladder enabled die rest who up by his assistance to reach the summit when there we easily drew up him and the ladder with we were occasionally compelled to our steps and we were frequently so involved in an intricate path that we had to remain without proceeding a considerable time until the guides who were dispersed in every direction on the dis could find a practicable path to us in addition to these difficulties i had not been long on the before i perceived that my boot had given way which as every thing depended upon the good health of our feet was a serious misfortune necessity however is the mother of invention and i contrived to bind it with in such a that it served me tolerably well the rest of the journey in consequence of all these we only arrived at o clock at the grand not more than four or five miles distant in a straight line from the point where we on the but from the route we had taken we could not have walked less in this distance than fourteen or fifteen miles we were now feet above the level of the sea an d feet above the village of a on the steep side and near the t p of the rock about a hundred and fifty feet from its base and to which we had much difficulty in climbing was selected our lodging place indeed it was the only part of the rock that any thing like a level place we were fortunate in finding the day had been so warm that there was wa tier in some of the of the ice which circumstance us to our the sun shone bright on our side of the rock but as soon as it sunk the horizon the eternal frost around us regained its and the air became very cold we had however time to dry our boots and and i found a pair of large stockings that i had with me an invaluable article our guides stretched the ladder from one point of die rock to another and throwing over it a couple of sheets they had brought for the purpose formed a kind of tent just large enough for r and myself to creep in a single blanket upon the rock was our bed the guides were so loaded with articles that we had not been able to bring a blanket or even an extra coat to cover us after a cold and uncomfortable supper we crept into our den soon after die genial sun left us and endeavoured by every means our ingenuity could suggest but to keep ourselves warm we suffered much from die cold all night but principally towards morning as the was several degrees below the night ass the seemed to last at least twenty hours at one time i thought the day must certainly be not distant and was surprised at look ing at my watch by the light of the moon to find it only o clock tired of lying and shivering with the cold i crawled out about midnight to warm myself by on die rock the view around me was sublime the sky was very clear but perfectly black the moon and stars whose rays were not obscured by passing through the lower dense region of the atmosphere shone with a brilliancy of what i had ever observed from below and the with its bright formed in the north west a beautiful object nothing was to be seen around the rock on whidi we were placed but white and some heavy clouds that floating below us shut out the valley from my view the guides were all asleep and the only interruption to the silence of death was the occasional rolling with the sound of distant thunder from the highest part of the surrounding and the feelings of awful which our situation was so calculated to inspire as our lodging was far from comfortable in eveiy point of view we were under no temptation of lying till a late hour in the morning on the contrary we hailed with joy the first appearance of the dawn which enabled us to substitute the warmth of marching for the odd from which we had suffered all night we set out at three o clock leaving most of our provisions and other articles on the rock four hours of laborious but not dangerous walking brought us to a large plain called the grand which is nearly surrounded on the one hand by a spur of and the du on the other by the e de la while presents itself directly in front these mountains form a steep around this plain there we stopped an hour to breakfast and strength for the last and most difficult part of our ascent we were now more than is xx above the level of the sea and to th of only feet lower than the summit was in view before us ut i looked around in vain for any part of its steep sides that seemed to a of it and when the guides pointed out the route we were to take among and over and huge broken masses of snow and up almost i involuntarily shrunk at the prospect and could not forbear casting my eye wistfully at our road back but it would not have done to be at this time by difficulties and a moment s reflection on the skill and experience of our guides renewed my confidence and we began cheerfully to mount the first steep before us we here	48
been by the du and when we recollected the promises of our friends there to watch our progress with their glasses and were convinced that they were at that moment observing us we felt relieved from the sensation which we had previously experienced of being shut out from die world in fact we learned afterwards that they had seen us distinctly counted our number and observed that one of the party was missing this was the guide we had left at the our final object was now close at hand we turned with renewed to accomplish it continuing our path till after infinite suffering and gasping for breath we stood at half an hour after noon on the highest point of europe our first impulse on arriving was to enjoy the pleasure of throwing our eyes around without any obstacle the world was at our feet the sensations i felt were rather of awe than of it seemed that i no longer trod on this globe but that i was removed to some higher planet from which i could look down on a scene which i had lately inhabited and where i had left behind me the passions the sufferings and the vices of men the houses of appeared like dwellings of and the river which flows through the valley seemed not sufficient to drown one of these animals these emotions made me for ome time to tho cold the piercing wind which here had free scope m oa put an end to my ing dream ami me to examine more calmly die objects notwithstanding the pleasure inspired by the view it was certainly more terrific than beautiful the distant objects appeared as if covered by a veil to the north west was the chain of with a mist hanging on its whole extent which prevented the eye from penetrating into france la that direction on the was the lake of of black colour and surrounded by mountains which we had thought high when we were on its banks but which now insignificant and the lake itself seemed scarcely enough for a bathing place to the east were the only mountains that appeared of a considerable size among which the most conspicuous were the and horn in and on the borders of which raises its and magnificent head to within a few feet of the level of the grand su was at our feet to the south east scarce ly appearing to rise more than a hill s height above the adjoining the obstacles which had to encounter in leading his army over this even in winter appeared so diminished in our eyes that this undertaking lost at the moment in our estimation much of its heroism and grandeur the view below and im around presented a collection of points among which the needles were easily distinguished we could hardly trust our senses when we saw beneath our feet those rocks from below appear higher than itself and which seem to penetrate into the of the stars and to threaten to disturb the moon in passing by our view may be compared with that from the top of an elevated over an extensive city of the most lofty of which the roofs only are seen this vol i m the summit of only that we could perceive was the narrow valley of and the two by the side of st the portion of the earth that was not covered with snow of a gloomy and dark gray colour the world an image of chaos and offered but little to tempt our return to it the top of is a ridge of perhaps feet in length and or in breadth it is entirely composed of which is probably of immense depth and is constantly we could see no traces of the is feet in height which had been set up about ten years before one of our guides was of the number of those who placed it and to us its position the highest rock which appears above the snow is a small one of granite six hun feet below the summit we remained but a few minutes immediately on the top as the wind blew hard and c descending a few feet on the south side we were partially sheltered from the wind and here the sun shone with an excessive brightness every part of the body exposed to his rays but the least breath of wind which reached us at intervals was sufficient to make us shiver with cold s in the sun was two degrees below and five and a half in the shade it must be recollected that we suffered a much greater degree of cold than die indicated from the rapid from the surface of our bodies of the insensible occasioned by the and great of the surrounding air this cause familiar to affected our sensations and could not influence the most of our guides stretched themselves on the snow in the sun and yielded to the strong inclination to sleep which we all felt only one or two of them ate the others on the contrary evinced an aversion from the provision we did not suffer the great thirst which and his party experienced this we prevented by drinking vine the summit and water which was very grateful to us instead of pure water our were increased in and and we had all the of i occupied myself the to action which i felt in making a few and in stopping and very carefully a bottle which i had filled with the air of the summit intended for examination on my return the colour of the sky had gradually assumed a deeper tint of blue as we ascended its present colour was dark in approaching nearly to black there was something awful in this appearance so different from any we had ever witnessed it was as if	48
the sun were shining at midnight during some of the first attempts that were made to ascend this appearance produced such an effect on the minds of the guides who imagined that heaven was frown ing on their undertaking that they refused to proceed the portion of atmosphere above us was entirely free from the which the lower always contain and truly the pure seldom seen by mortal eyes we had all our life beheld the sun through a mist but we now saw him face to face in all his splendour the guides asserted that the stars can be seen in full day by a person placed in the shade it being near noon the sun almost over our heads we could not find shade to enable us to make the experiment the r on the is of than half the of that at the surface of the ocean according to an of the height of the on the summit was sixteen and a half inches while that of a corresponding one at was twenty eight inches in consequence of this of the air a pistol heavily charged which we fired several times made scarcely more noise than the crack of a s whip we remained an hour and a quarter on the summit and then began to descend we found this as first an easy task q f though than the n of the greater risk of slipping we passed under the where the threatened our heads with even caution and more rapidly than before as we found that a small had actually fallen and covered our path since we had gone up we arrived in about an hour at the grand where we stopped to refresh ourselves and gratify our returning we found the whom we had left quite relieved here the sun reflected from ae of snow which surrounded us on three sides poured down on us with the most burning heat that i ever experienced from its rays while our feet cold from being in the prevented perspiration and thus increased its power wherever its rays could penetrate as between the cap and or even to the hands it the of a heated iron we were compelled in addition to the aa of our to keep our e half nd even then the light was too powerful for them we continued with ease and cheerfulness our an q difficulty occurred where in the we had cut our footsteps with an axe we now found the snow so much softened by the sun that we sunk in it every third or fourth step to die middle of the body r and my self were more subject io than the on account of the of our boots presenting a less to the snow than those of their large shoes after plunge ing on in this manner or time we began to despair of reaching our rock which was yet four or ve miles distant but there was no alternative but to we kept on though with excessive fatigue we frequently fell forward and one limb being tightly engaged in the snow was violently and constantly subject to be which in our situation have been a serious misfortune the ere vices too wore from their become softened more dangerous than before perseverance and to the of s however over all these difficulties and we reach ed the grand half an hour after five our boots stockings and completely soaked these were immediately stretched on the rock to dry which the heat of the sun soon effected i had the disappointment to find on examining my pockets that the which i had so carefully filled with the air of the summit had been broken in one of my frequent falls and of course my hopes of with it experiments were now destroyed the was also broken notwithstanding the labour of the day and the we experienced at the time we had not been long on our rock before we felt strong and as if just risen from a comfortable night s repose this effect of the mountain air has been remarked we had even sufficient strength and time to enable us to continue our descent with ease to but in the present softened state of the snow it would have been madness to attempt to cross the which we found difficult and dangerous the preceding day before the sun s ray had affected it in feet while two of the guides were looking down on our path over the they saw a bridge of snow which we all crossed the day before suddenly sink into the chasm beneath imprisoned thus by the which was now all that us and we quietly resolved to remain where we were and made the same arrangements for passing the night that we had done the evening before we were however at present better off i mentioned that we had been so fortunate as to find a sufficient supply of water in the neighbourhood of our rock in consequence of which most of the we had brought to melt the snow remained with this i made a small fire at our feet and by blowing almost constantly kept it up during the night the cold was notwithstanding so great that whenever i fell asleep i was awakened in a few minutes to shiver and chatter my m to the of our guides t in the o air huddled as dose together as possible july th the dawning of the day was truly welcome as it promised a near termination to our toil and while the gratification of having accomplished a difficult and interesting object remained we left our hard bed without reluctance and were impatient at the with which the guides made their preparations for packing up their numerous articles we began to descend as the sun ed the white top of but long before his beams penetrated below above our heads the	48
sky was perfectly clear while the beneath and all except a few of the highest of the surrounding mountains were concealed by a sea of clouds the appearance of the clouds when seen from above is singular they resemble immense floating masses of light cotton we our path of the first day and took the same precaution as then of ourselves together when the sun s began to shine on the snow around us i found that my eyes were so much i could scarcely bear open to see the path notwithstanding the veil i had constancy used my face was in a terrible condition the outer skin had fallen and permitted the moisture of the blood to through r s eyes were in a worse condition than mine and his face nearly as bad at one part of the where the snow had been so hard at our passing up that our feet left no impression we lost our path which was a misfortune as we had chosen a much better path in ascending than we could have done in descending we however fell in with the track of two which our guides followed with confidence on the instinct which they attribute to these animals of finding a practicable path over the most difficult when we had at last entirely passed the our feet seemed to rejoice at once more touching firm ground and the of felt as if to world from m distant the rest of our task offered no difficulty being a constant descent down the rocky side except what was oc by our almost total blindness and the pain we in our eyes it was however very as the descent from a mountain is generally more so than the ascent to it we stopped at the same w two days before we had bid adieu to the and were by the old man and his daughters with a delicious draught of milk and cream we reached die village soon after in the morning having been absent fifty three hours during forty five of which we were on the ice we were received with many congratulations by the honest villagers who had taken considerable interest in our success as soon as my companion and myself reached our inn we buried ourselves in our chamber to enjoy die luxury of a good bed and of darkness which was necessary for our eyes it was not until the sun had set and the was not too strong for them that we ventured out to ourselves with a meal two english who watched with a g ass our progress on the top of had expressed a determination to follow our example but our account of the difficulties we met with and still more the view of the condition we were in soon induced them to abandon the design we walked out under the needles and as we saw the hang half way up rocks whidi pierce the sky and on whose clear heads the stars seemed to repose we could scarcely realize the idea that they were the same we had seen only thirty hours before far below our feet the next day after our return to our eyes had become so much stronger that we were enabled without much inconvenience to proceed to where we have since remained to recover from our sufferings though now than a week has elapsed my is yet much n but my eyes have regained their usual au r has suffered in the same manner but on the whole rather less than wherever die sun s could penetrate even behind the ears to the level of the die skin has fallen off and i have exchanged the hue of an italian and sun for the bar complexion of a german or englishman we have purchased perhaps too dearly the indulgence of our curiosity but at present when the difficulties are passed and the gratification remains i cannot regret it especially if i succeed in making you partake of the one without suffering from the other iii on translated from the late work of count on the national industry of france continued from p it might be observed at once that every manufacture some productive capital and the nation more or less by manual labour and that under the double duty it may be more useful than the receipt of fifteen or twenty per cent in duties upon foreign productions of the same nature but let us examine the question in point of view all the arts have their infancy and have only attained present state of perfection by slow degrees excellence in the arts is the result of knowledge and of the for their exercise which have not always been the same in different countries whence it follows that the pro of the arts should vary with the causes which influence their development and their prosperity neither nor ought to be every where equal it cannot be denied that in modem times we have seen some kinds of industry established and prosper in england which have for many years rendered all other nations for their productions we have made every effort to ap these to ourselves the spinning by on machinery cotton and the light have all at once become the object of our ambition but in the machines and having to depend upon every step in the process could it be supposed that we should have these arts in every particular could it be supposed that we should already possess the almost infinite details the of hand and mechanical habits which are the soul of industry it is only by time and experience that these are to be acquired the f t cost of our is twenty five an ell to the the english offer theirs to the for half this price the the badly we return at from seven to eight per ell the english offer theirs at three must	48
make proof that the tide was imported the ought to do more still it ought to the upon the foreign manufacture by the amount of the duty imposed upon the raw material in order to g ve a fair chance for competition at home the laws duties ought to be settled and in a manner nothing so much private fortune nothing so much confidence as to permit frequent changes in this respect a of the duty upon an article ruins him who has a stock on hand and him who has not an produces a contrary effect upon the same individuals a the best planned and every calculation a duty trifling in appearance laid upon the of an article might destroy a manufacture of great importance and government would run the risk of sacrificing a national advantage of some millions to effect the receipt of a few thousand when any kind of industry is established under a known system of whoever the enterprise his fortune and his labour upon the which it gives him this system cannot be changed to the injury of the manufacture but in of good faith and abuse of power when a government certain to create or impart a new kind of industry it cannot withdraw them as soon as the occasion for this industry ceases it is bound to the by a solemn compact it has so to speak itself directed the employment of his capital time and labour and to it with his ruin would be in of every law of justice and humanity whatsoever kind of domestic industry is the government owes it protection from its first existence the only inquiries should be whether it will be advantageous dr to the country whether other may not be in by it whether the might not be better employed for instance in wool than cotton these being satisfied it is sufficient that it exists government ought to consider the capital invested in these the of labour in which so great a part of the population is employed and it would be equally unjust for them to sacrifice the fortune of the as to take away from the his art in sketches of travels in italy and france in a series of letters addressed to a friend in the united states by john james m d c continued from page has it is well known spread its vast in the neighbourhood of dr james does not mention the distance of from the metropolis but tells us that he reached it on a ride from before sunrise the village of is built upon the field of which covers ancient this city was destroyed by the first recorded of in the time of and the seventy ninth year of the christian era it is well known that the situation of this city was forgotten and lost for more than fifteen hundred years and was accidentally discovered in making a through the for the purpose of finding water the village of was built before this discovery it is now a and beautiful city its distance from is about six miles from the top of three miles and from the bay of three miles the view of and the bay are fine from every part of and a more delightful place of residence in every respect cannot be imagined the people do not even feel the least degree of apprehension in of vol i dr t to but it at a object which adds and interest to their the of mountain do not the inhabitants of the villages and cities around its base though the in flowed down to more distant from the and a few of its progress was so slow that the people had ample time to escape the king s palace at was erected before the discovery of in and extent it is not exceeded by any edifice at it consists of four wings a spacious square or court through which the road passes to the two arched gates are ornamented with columns and and form the principal of two fronts of the palace arranged in a suit of apartments in this edifice we saw a collection of statues paintings and other of the paintings are all of that description called done in water colours upon or in order to preserve them it has been necessary to remove the walls where the upon which they were traced could not be detached and unless broken or in their removal they are in astonishing preservation the colours are strong and the light and shade disposed as in modem paintings but we noticed many faults in the perspective and what artists term the execution seems not to have been much and a french gentleman who had spent considerable time at that they were copies of good paintings done in a coarse way as rooms are painted at the present time one of the largest pictures of this valuable collection represents the of the picture is in the form of an arch and was taken from one of the of the is of gigantic size compared with the other figures the is under the feet of who holds him by one of his three young men placed at the side of the picture seem to be the combat i could not assent to the justice of s remark as applied to this and several other pictures which seem to have been executed with eat and skill in the apartments which contain the paintings are a great number of statues of bronze and marble small images of bronze lamps instruments of ture and domestic of all descriptions which have been found at and the hook was nearly of the same size and form as those we in the hands of the vine near and wc could hardly distinguish the s tools from those now in use there is a saw in perfect preservation but of coarse as are all the	48
iron an iron a brazen and other pieces of reminded us of the pursuits of men who had been buried in oblivion near two thousand years in another apartment is a most singular collection of articles which were found in a state and admirably preserved among these we noticed wheat beans dates c many of these articles were perfectly preserved without the least change of shape or appearance of decay there were also small of bread pieces of cloth and of thread equally well preserved upon a loaf of bread about nine inches in we ob served several letters and words distinctly impressed i did not copy them at the moment but i find by turning to la the words and as follow c the various remains which have been found at do not show the effect of heat in this are a skull j dr and bones of an arm from that city not only entire but and strong after spending several hours in the galleries of we descended into the city from which most of its treasures have been recovered the entrance to is but a few yards from the palace the leading to the ancient theatre has been through compact of about forty feet in depth and as the is we walked perhaps sixty feet upon stairs which have been through the solid rock a guide went before us with a lighted and in a single moment we opened our eyes upon objects furniture and human which had been lost in oblivion more than sixteen hundred years in the silence the obscurity and solitude we seemed to have ourselves among the spirits of forgotten and we paused in breathless expectation might not the grave disclose some phantom to welcome and receive us or to chase us from the threshold of the tomb where no living may enter the imperfect light just enabled us to discover the extent of the apartment in which we stood we had passed the of the to the or stage be fore the the seats for and the rows for spectators rising one behind another were nearly entire but how silent and dark the echo of our own steps seemed an sound interrupting the sacred repose of the dead where are now the thousands and of thousands who have spent their nights of within these walls the god of nature has laid the foundations of their everlasting monument to which the pilgrim of the world may repair to wonder and forever the which overwhelmed did not throw down and prostrate the which like die were built with stone this theatre was dr travels ornamented with a great number of statues of bronze and marble which were all found entire and have been removed either to the museum of to the or other cities of italy we regretted extremely that we could not have seen these in their original places whence they have been torn away the stone employed in the walls of the was the fine marble of and the plan of the building so perfect that made it a model for the theatre at the of the of this building including the corridor is feet the length of the feet the number of or rows of seats it is said to be large enough to contain six thousand persons the statues and marble of various kinds in if removed with great care were found to be the is the largest edifice which has been uncovered though now on account of the rubbish thrown into it inaccessible to the traveller it is a square building surrounded by a or ornamented with forty two columns and paved with marble the is composed of five each ornamented with statues two noble statues this building are now at the the is joined by a common to two temples of smaller size which are also ornamented with columns and their painted in another building concealed from our view by the rubbish is a tomb near the of about the same size as the tomb of we presume from the description it is similar in design and probably of the same period it is ornamented on the outside with columns but its interior is an apartment formed with brick twelve feet by nine surrounded by in which were placed that were found standing in their places i dr the floors of many of the temples and dwellings were covered with or pavement tliis beautiful work was made with small pieces of of va colours so placed as to present a smooth polished sur upon which were traced by means of the arrangement of the coloured pieces pictures of animals and in the windows sheets of and thin plates of transparent were used instead of glass we understand that some fine window glass and broken were found at but the pieces of this description deposited in the museum at escaped our notice at present the are the reason assigned is the danger of the palace of probably this is only an apology for a want of funds or as the is so compact that it is to the least danger of disturbing the foundation of the palace the king is accused of a great want of curiosity and public spirit in things of this kind another very substantial reason assigned for the is the fear of what been already recovered by the public curiosity with too many similar articles we must to our readers m the great length of the above extract which was necessary in order to give an adequate idea of the subject we owe a similar apology for the introduction of the account of at the same time that was destroyed situated on the opposite side of was covered with ashes earth and it was buried to such a depth that like its site was forgotten for ages it does not appear that the matter which concealed this city for so many centuries was	48
either heated or that it fell in such a rapid manner as to destroy the inhabitants the earth was probably thrown from the of by the explosion which when it forced with it the au dr y me of earth the light small and were projected so high in the air as to like a shower upon that a great part of the escaped seems evident from the that so few hu man remains have been discovered and no small articles of any considerable value yet that many perished seems ly evident since about sixty have already found the perished during this a little distance from his body was found three days after he had left about three miles distant only in part covered with sand and ashes we had walked half a mile along a lonely road and entered a on the site of it is situated near the foot of the mountain upon a piece of ground which has a gentle descent to the south and no building or village near except the half a mile distant where he had left our carriage within twenty or thirty rods we observed i long bank of apparently thrown out of a ditch or canal which on our approach proved to be a street extending north and south in a straight line about half a mile having followed this to its northern termination we entered the gate of the city the street before us was narrow not exceeding eighteen feet and paved with large blocks of of irregular shape but so fitted together as to present an even on this pavement we observed the marks of carriage wheels which had worn considerable not more than four feet asunder and left a stain of iron upon the stones on each side were raised walks or for foot passengers three feet wide and twelve inches above the level of the street leaving the space for carriages twelve feet near the gate we observed on each side of the way a number of plain monuments but one larger than the rest and of a different construction called the tomb of the it is nearly of a square form and placed a higher than the of die pavement on the west dr of the street its front is ornamented with well executed representing a combat the earth has been removed from around this beautiful building its delicate which has been as perfectly preserved as it could possibly have been in the cabinet the marks of the appear upon it distinct and recent as if it had been very lately we now crossed the street and entered a house the front of which was almost entire it consists of several small square which open outward into a court or where were the remains of a fountain the rooms were about ten feet by twelve and the court perhaps twelve feet square there were no windows toward the street and the height of the building fourteen or at most eighteen feet the walls are painted and ornamented with and in all the smooth of the walls are painted light red or green which serves as a ground upon which small figures are painted representing birds flowers fruits c the pavement is a beautiful of marble in pieces about the eighth of an inch square and the colour so disposed as to represent figures of animals and the houses were all with small bricks but and painted both inside and of the same height and none larger than that we first in a building nearly opposite to the first we entered we observed the greatest from the plan of the dwelling houses this had a cellar or story which opened into a garden in the cellar we saw a long row of of a form standing in the places where they were found they are supposed to have contained wine as we continued our walk toward the of the city we examined a building which is called a shop from the paintings in front indicating it as well as some glasses and measures having been found when it was uncovered upon dr travels a ledge of brick which probably served as a counter stands an ancient hand mill for grinding wheat it consists of two stones on one side and on the other the upper stone is so above that it served as a and is in the centre the occasioned by giving the upper stone a motion upon the rough face of the under one produced the flour as in mills of modern construction the whole apparatus is about four and an half feet in several temples have uncovered which contained statues and as well as a great variety of marble and which have been removed to and but their principal ornaments were of and their interior merely lined with polished of marble the columns were principally brick covered with and many are yet standing on their the largest of the temples was to the outer walls are entire and the marble remain in many places the length of this temple is ninety feet its width sixty the columns are nine and a half feet in height with marble we saw at statues of and taken from the of this temple as far as the have been extended the dwelling houses are found to be very similar to the one above described and the streets are equally narrow after leaving the street by which we entered and turning at right angles from it towards the centre of the ancient city we came to the which has lately been uncovered it was surrounded by of marble and about fourteen feet in height some of which now remain upon their on the most elevated side and the area of the to the north stood a building ornamented with a we judged that the design of this building and the of which it formed a part must have been singularly	48
elegant continuing our walk through this part vol i dr of the we two small called the tragic and comic a temple of and an for games and the last is nearly entire as jt stood in the highest part of the was barely covered with earth it is large enough to contain fifteen thousand spectators the is of an oval form and its largest one hundred and fifty feet the walls of the temples and theatres were all of brick and the marble ornaments consisted of thin and in the add general design of ae city good taste and skill both in and architecture are evident we saw no exceptions to this remark unless the manner of painting die interior of walls was such was evidently a city of less wealth than the perusal of this volume has afforded us much gratification we take our leave with sentiments of sincere respect for the author and if our approbation be of any weight we gladly give it to his purpose of an additional volume remarks on the actual condition of england will be valuable from a man of his and information indeed we cannot but think he will appear to more advantage there than in the character of a through italy he with very frankness and modesty all pretensions to classical taste and learning which is infinitely more respectable than to affect the like hall and many other and his descriptions are by no means picturesque but he gives his readers a good general idea of the objects that fell under his notice and the qualities of good sense and are perceptible in all his observations we hope in the next edition the numerous faults in so to a scholar that has attained the rank of an m d will be corrected art v the deaf and dumb the attempt to procure means of instruction for this unfortunate class in our country originated at in about five years it was so ordered by providence that a gentleman of liberal views benevolent feelings and high standing in society should witness in his own family that some of the most interesting of our fellow creatures might l e cut off in a great measure from the of life and the hopes of happiness by being deprived of the faculty of hearing and consequently of speech he gathered round him a few friends by whose assistance funds were raised to enable a person to visit europe for the purpose of himself to become an of the deaf and dumb this and interesting enterprise was undertaken by the rev mr of whose merits we can hardly trust ourselves to speak lest we should be suspected of enthusiasm a simple account of what he has done and of the success of the institution under his charge will form his best we will barely observe that his classical amiable character and eminent piety were an earnest of his success he went in the first place to england not meeting with a satisfactory reception at the london asylum he proceeded to a very had been imposed upon the institution in that city with regard to teachers in the art which again the views of his mission we would fain stop to upon an instance of in this grand of literature and science had not a simple allusion to it already produced sufficient indication of conscientious they seem to have been sensible of the of an attempt to the means of charity or at least of the scandal which a publication of it was likely to bring upon their institutions we are the less inclined to dwell upon it because it was the occasion of mr s subsequent introduction to the benevolent si the de tf and dumb card in whose kind and friendly aid his most sanguine hopes were realized the doors of the school at paris were thrown open to him and being the french language his were greatly he was enabled to return to this much sooner than had been expected in consequence of an arrangement formed with one of the most intelligent and accomplished professors in that institution mr who was induced to accompany him this also added great interest to the cause in this country they arrived in august and soon after visited some of our principal towns for the purpose of raising funds to commence an establishment they were generally received with the most cordial welcome a deep interest was excited liberal were made and with the aid of from the of in april the asylum was opened since that time its prosperity has been such as must delight the heart of every whether we regard the admirable economy of its domestic arrangements the prudent manage ment of the board of the of the the good conduct and rapid progress of the pupils or the liberality of the public we know not which most to admire on the first of june it appears there were but about twenty pupils at the date of the last annual report there were forty seven aud at this time there are upwards of sixty from eleven states in the union a number considerably greater than is contained in the celebrated institution at in which by the last accounts there were but forty three pupils the terms which the benefits of the asylum are a are truly liberal and worthy of the public by which it has been endowed the an sum of two hundred dollars is the whole charge for each pupil we may form some idea of its charity by the following statements the deaf and dumb there had been june ist after the asylum was opened on account of the expenses and of messrs and furniture expenses of the agents for collecting books and and expenses the sum of at the same time the advances made by scholars amounted to but s by the second annual report may th it appears	48
that the the year preceding for boarding the pupils furniture for the asylum expenses c amounted to the sum ot ib the from pupils during the same period were the annual report for a statement of by order of the for similar objects to while the from the pupils were but the sum paid by them does not in fact cover the actual expense of boarding and we can readily conceive how the of such an institution should at the outset be very considerable and that there must be many in the way of affording instruction to the deaf and dumb and taking charge of such a family which those who are not familiar with them might not understand we rejoice that the liberality of the public has enabled the not only to meet these expenses but to extend their views and lay the foundation of better for these children of misfortune it was feared that the proposed of the asylum might excite associations of a political nature which would operate to its disadvantage but there was a spirit in the cause itself superior to all prejudices and the have generally been most liberal if there is cause for complaint any where it is against the f the state of one would suppose that the the deaf and dumb of a state for the piety of its clergy and the of its and which has a fund of more than a million appropriated fe th u e of would have the to found a school for the deaf and dumb within its limits by more than a grant of fire sum barely equal to what the of has determined to appropriate for four years t purchase the benefits of this institution for her own unfortunate children it should not be forgotten however that this is a small state where ideas of public expenditure are formed upon p of the economy the highest salary under their government does not exceed one thousand dollars it is presumed that a view of the which have been made on account of this and the state of the funds at the date of their last report will not be uninteresting amount of individual grant from the state of this to constitute a fond for the education of their own deaf and dumb of mrs from churches in by the of l for the education of their own deaf v and dumb s a year for four years j grant from the united states twenty three o thousand acres of land estimated at j the places which have been most distinguished for private in this cause are boston philadelphia upwards of has been contributed by the inhabitants of this city near a thousand dollars was presented to mr on account of the asylum by the at and in august some instances of private have been truly noble the deaf and dumb mr of new and mn william of boston gave each pf them five i dollars messrs gray and of boston van of and daniel of gave each three hundred dollars we observe several of one and two hundred dollars and there were many others no doubt upon a scale of liberality to the foregoing the relative ability of the the grant of was by the hon r clay and by many distinguished members from the south and west and may be considered as one of those ties in hich bind the different parts of this nation together and will help to preserve our union entire amid the storms of party politics with regard to the state of the funds after to the purchase of the place an eligible property in the vicinity of for the accommodation of the a and the of suitable buildings the s last account presents the following exhibit bank stock cash in hand r from which we should borrowed from bank this sum together with a fair estimate of the of the grant of say s certainly a respectable foundation for usefulness without taking into view the of by the s to the expense of their own deaf and dumb we cannot but hope the deaf and dumb that something further will be done by the state of after the example of liberality which has been exhibited throughout the union since the grant of upon application of the the name has been changed from the asylum c to that of the american asylum at for the education and instruction of the deaf and dumb having given this view of the origin of the american asylum the public liberality towards it and the state of its funds it remains for us to furnish some little historical sketch of the art of teaching the deaf and dumb o exhibit the advantages which it and the degree of mental improvement which they are capable of the early opinion appears to have been that the deaf and dumb were incapable of acquiring knowledge a very limited degree and even as late as dr johnson s time their education was a philosophical so that the art now successfully practised is of modem discovery frequent attempts however were made during die century in different parts of europe with various but limited success in more recent it has been and successfully practised in paris london and see s article we are there informed also that the accounts given to the public of these various efforts have had but limited circulation and all claim to be the indeed the most eminent of later times published no account whatever of their systems with the exceptions of the benevolent de and his successor the theirs have been full and satisfactory the work of the former has been translated into english but that of the which is better has not it is entitled d instruction d un de pour a i education des c figures et par r and was printed at paris in the year the	48
the md i return to the in order to die period i my forefinger on the th u and convey ing my right hand to my pupil s breast i give him a few gentle making him notice i him and that he is likewise to look at me i next lay my finger on the word the second person and having delivered him the volume i make signs for him to perform what he has just seen me perform he laughs takes the and his commission very well his ability to explain any idea however com or d is in his own words there is perhaps no word more difficult to explain by signs than this i believe i effect the explanation of it in die following manner having written upon the table believe i draw four lines in different directions thus i say yes with the mind i think yet say yea with the heart i love to i with die mouth do not see with my eyes which my mind my heart my but i do not see with my i then take tip what is written upon four lines and carry it to die word to make it understood die whole is if after c don i have occasion to dictate die word believe f by signs i first make the sign for die singular of the personal as i have shown in its place i next put my right fore finger to my forehead the part of it being deemed the seat of the mind that is the faculty of thinking and i make the sign for yes after that i make die same sign for yes putting my finger to that part which is considered as the seat of die heart in the mental economy that is our faculty of loving i proceed to make die same sign for yes upon my mouth moving my lips i put my hand upon eyes and the deaf and m the far no show i do see there re the sign for the present to be made and then i write down believe but when written it is better understood my pupils than by the of those who hear it is perhaps superfluous to repeat that all these signs are in the twinkling of an eye for a more particular of the course pursued see the works referred to and the admirable address of mr which we think will be found to something more than a philosophical curiosity the term might perhaps be applied still with considerable propriety to that part of their education which consists in teaching them to speak an attempt which for the best reasons has not been made at the better opinion certainly is that this is a comparatively useless branch of the education of the deaf and dumb as such it has been entirely abandoned the although it appears to have received considerable attention from his and has been carried to some degree of perfection at and london it is attended however with very great labour and waste of time and as mr this artificial speech not being susceptible of complete improvement nor of and by the sense of hearing is almost always very painful harsh and nevertheless he pays a just compliment to the of mr s and dr s pupils in particular whom he visited in com with the the reasons for it altogether in the american asylum are assigned in the last annual report of the and appear to us sufficient the situation of the deaf and dumb in ever point of view it is regarded calls loudly for whether they have any idea of god and a future state is one of mr s answers relative to his situation before he was instructed is to this effect the deaf and dumb i had a mind and did not think i had a heart and not feel we have ourselves had occasion to observe their liar emotions upon the of a friend they seem to regard death as an act of arbitrary cruelty they look upon the lifeless clay with a cold and despairing horror there is no reference to a governing no idea of a continued existence of the spirit no glimpse of a future no hope of again meeting in a better world all other sorrow upon such occasions is swallowed up in sympathy with these unhappy objects the grave to them is the lone abode of misery no tear their grief no sigh their anguish the full weight of the curse of sin seems to be upon their souls independent of this first and most important consideration they are necessarily deprived of a great part of the enjoy ments of social intercourse upon which they are made peculiarly dependent for their limited happiness and often become a burden to themselves to their friends and to society the expression of their speaking eyes however upon every little attention their gratitude for kindness their rapidity of comprehension and their active ingenuity indicate the of mind and heart and seldom fail to excite a lively interest in all their acquaintance to develop and call into action these powers to teach their minds to think their hearts to and their souls to pray to bring them into the pale of society from which misfortune had excluded them and to prepare them to inherit a better world hereafter is the object of their instruction the result shows that they are capable not only of becoming useful and happy members of society but of grasping the most sublime and intricate truths all upon this subject will be put to rest by a mere perusal of mr s address the advances made by the pupils at as appears by the different reports of the and more particularly by the specimens of their composition accompany explanation of the plate the second annual report are truly gratifying and	48
wonderful d art explanation of the coloured from a in c k i om instead of dwelling upon the of the reader will be perhaps better pleased to be made one in a party to the hill fortress of which is distant about sixteen miles up the after passing through the village of memorable for the surrender of the entire saxon army to the great during the seven years war we soon arrived at the foot of the rock on which the stands where we left our carriages and commenced the ascent as soon as we reached the first gate we were by a posted on the walls above and after a short delay received permission to approach by a very steep road cut through the living rock which reminded me of a similar but smaller path in the rock of castle in scotland the buildings are placed on the summit of an enormous mass of free stone like that of and hanging over the as the latter does over the the height is feet perpendicular and wherever a weaker spot occurred the rock has been and walls added so as to render impossible there is no other approach than that before mentioned and all provisions stores c are lifted into the body of the fortress by means of a and the works were commenced during the sixteenth century by the christian the first succeeding have added magazines and proof and the present has considerably the and for troops it is now an place of deposit for the and treasures of and commands the passage into by the s of ike fuu we were shown a surprising well whidi tlie with water it is feet in depth and four feet in cut through solid rock and has generally feet of water standing in it the sinking of this well was die labour of forty years it was finished in since which time the spring has never been known to and is calculated ur supply a garrison of men which the contain in the event of a siege from this well thirty six buck of water are daily drawn up by means of a large wheel trodden round by four men each requiring steps we drank of its waters in a wooden turned the hands of the the first within one of the towers is a dining room visited by he it was formerly with but these have been shivered and by the frequent of the electric during thunder storms the tower has been lately supplied with conducting rods of which have put an end to these disastrous from a window below we were shown a projecting called or the page s bed to which a singular anecdote is attached it is recorded that one day while the john george the second was dining in this tower charles van one of his pages having got excessively crept out from a window and himself down upon the edge of the rock the fell fast asleep the on being his perilous situation first caused him to be well secured by means of ropes and then to be awakened by a flourish of drums and trumpets and after permitting him to contemplate the terrific spot on which his had placed him he was drawn up in safety to the window art vii miscellaneous articles american it is obviously incumbent upon tbe of a literary journal to a strict as to all questions that divide the political parties either of the united states or any particular state this rule does not however as we conceive forbid a comment upon the of arguments published in books or on either side provided always that such remarks are made with perfect fully persuaded of the g at importance of the question which has agitated the public mind in a degree by no means adequate to its consequence and now the attention of in the discussion of the proposed new we long since invited a of it in our pages we hoped that some new light perchance be and other drawn towards a subject that was evidently not generally understood these expectations have not been fully realized the subject not yet been placed fully before the nation the will probably supply us with an able of tiie doctrines cf political economy which apply to the occasion meantime in of our original design we the following essays which bare been lately communicated repeating however the opinion formerly expressed are still wanting and that the neglect of facts is much greater on the part of the anti than on that of their economy there are few subjects so interesting to mankind as political economy which is in its broad liberal the occasion of national wealth and power and individual happiness errors always injurious are above all so in political economy and frequently destroy the energies of entire nations and their hap vol i for centuries together tn deed a large portion of the miseries of mankind may be traced to this source wisdom on this point is no lest of advantages than en or it of misery to is not necessary a few of the most prominent may be showing spain and are and examples by nature with every advantage m wretched policy has rendered them poor and dependent for the very necessaries life upon the of other countries affords the example because the cause of her ascertained and her progress from prosperity to im was singularly rapid about the close of the k were established there which supplied all the demands of the country and the colonies yielded immense wealth to the nation and profitable employ to a considerable portion of the people the of goods was until a treaty was in l by the british minister mr which removed tbe at to british which were how ever subject to a duty of twenty three per cent notwithstanding this duty and the flourishing state of the such	48
of british were thrown into the market and sold at such reduced prices that the domestic manufacture was e ma and their workmen thrown out of employment mr s treaty by taking off the of and by providing that neither these nor any of the british in should hereafter be was the immediate ruin of ail the in that country british vol p articles let it not be that the ruin the the whole nation deeply felt the it was drained of its to pay for the which it and ht to have made at home a al of industry took place the nation that treaty s taking place the balance of trade began to take and the year was the t year we began to bring off the silver of that nation ib had we any balance before from and do we not now gain year a million by that treaty ib after off that we brought away so much of their silver as to leave them very little for their necessary occasions and then we began to bring away their gold ib this case is worthy of the most serious consideration of our it a lesson of importance which cannot be neglected without the most consequences all its details may be seen in the british merchant a valuable work the joint production of charles king child and other of great eminence england affords a strong case on the other side of the question that country owes a large portion of its power influence and resources to the sound policy of iv and queen elizabeth who held out liberal encouragement to foreign artists and to introduce those branches of business which at present enable her to the world under contribution the seeds of prosperity sown by those struck deep root and brought forth fruit in abundance the wise policy of and gave a great to the prosperity and of france and enabled her to draw from most of the io europe as great britain does at present these cases to additions might readily be made are sufficient to the great importance of this science and the necessity for iti being generally studied than it hat in a country where the avenues te public patronage are man of good character to an unknown in every other this like every other has its and an attention to which is necessary to a as an attention to the of a difficult coast is to a they are to be found scattered through the writings of eminent philosophers and and worthy of being deeply studied by every man who desires to form a correct estimate of policy are a few of these more shall be hereafter of or finished should be permitted only from countries receiving from the a greater quantity and more in value of their natural or s lectures on the of commerce p of from countries which do not any of the of the country then ought to be entered only for but the permitting them to be imported for home even though they were to pay a duty of forty per cent is highly and if you have a rival in at home it is in the extreme p trade requires as much policy as matters of state and can never bo kept in a regular motion by accidents when the frame ol it is out of order we know not where to begin io mend it of of ready to and able to judge where the defect lies p the of our trade and greatly depends upon taking less of the produce and of other nations as they decline in the of ours and in the of tbe produce of those countries which increase in their of our produce and s dictionary i p that nation is certainly the wisest that so its affairs as to sell more to other nations than it of them in order to keep the in its favour by rather foreign materials for than things p the advantages and increase of riches expected by trade depends upon our more goods than we import to which nothing can so much as the producing and at home as many sorts of goods as is possible or having them from foreign parts for so cheap and good as that they may be preferred by and sold again to other foreigners before the g of such other nations as are our p without an extensive and commerce we cannot find either in or a country well peopled plenty or splendour armies or to protect and render us considerable nor can an extensive and profitable commerce without the of many good od commerce vol i p not only occasion a positive of the produce and of society but they contribute essentially to rendering them than they could possibly be without such s report the himself a new source of profit and support from the increased industry of his wife and daughters invited and stimulated by the demands of the neighbouring the of foreign for domestic is a transfer to foreign nations of the advantages from the employment oc in the modes in which it is capable of being with most utility to the great t extent political economy this science of political economy is comparatively new it is only within m few years that iti principles have been properly and ascertained frequent result of the improvement made in any art or science is that the and principles are artificial are explained and much of false doctrine is and discarded it has so with the science in question and the smith say have the of intricate and unnatural and as of advancing national wealth or commercial prosperity it is our misfortune however in this country to look more to the established systems of europe than to the reasons for continuing or changing them thus just as the absurdity of the english system of poor laws is	48
universally admitted there and their existence acknowledged to be a vital evil we are them in their most objectionable extent preferring to learn by experience rather than by example that we could better have done without them thus also just as the light of has taught the world the of m um upon forced ail the artificial of corn laws c we are likely to adopt the cast off of and ourselves with the which she is throwing aside the change will to be sure be gradual there and the more natural scheme of industry must be slowly for the one which now line the excitement of a fever a and false appearance of health to the political body but it is impossible not to see that the change is taking place the public mind is preparing for it the corn laws enable the farmer to pay higher rents for his farm but without him because he must pay more in proportion and all his expenses are the effect of this policy is to enable the wealthy land owners to the hard of their in their splendid palaces at the metropolis or to support a more style in the luxurious of italy and france this system is fast england considered to the continent to what ireland has long been in relation to england the irish labour and are half starved in order that the duke of and the rest of the great lords and gentry may riot in in england and at this moment england is not more full of these irish than the is of the corn laws and all the rest of the system tend to keep prices high a man therefore who within the country is paid according to these prices and pays also at the same rate is in no better circumstances than if he lived cheaper and received less but a land owner that receives high rents because the price of com is high where his land is and hie it io a country where the price of com is low has advantage this it is that sends thousands of englishmen of property to in the cheaper countries of france and italy where there are no com laws the money from the oppressed and suffering english a policy so cannot last long and though the aristocracy interested in its is powerful their opposition cannot avail against the force lie opinion and the evident interests of the nation a of the com laws would at once render the happy and contented for they would easily on cheap provisions wages would fall in rents would the whole part of the community would be but the rich would find themselves cut down to half their present income just half therefore of the sums now expended upon french and italian industry would be saved to the country and would make the nation so much the richer notwithstanding these plain facts we are urged to adopt the system with the light of england s example before our eyes our ships are to be tamed into spinning and our into and the used are plausible though our industry it is said must be encouraged our promoted our people employed c in short national pride and national are in favour of the spinning and now it may safely be admitted that the circumstances of this country it from the of all those rules which the political philosophers of the old world have from the collected experience of ages bat how much is g ned by this admission let us see the first and t that our when we to the peculiar situation of the united states is that there is a vast amount of capital and the inquiry therefore is how to dispose of that capital to the and most permanent advantage it is that the most plan would be to induce its in and to guard these from the dangers of foreign competition by duties in the first place it is worthy of consideration that wealth does not constitute prosperity nor power nor happiness and that if ten millions of people are employed at easy labour to produce an of one hundred millions of dollars the system is to one which leaving nine millions of the people idle will enable the one million that labour to produce twice the amount or two hundred millions of dollars that is to say custom house are no safe on which to found speculations on national prosperity because the amount of money poured into a country to purchase its is not a sure of the happiness or wealth of that country since it may all be destined to purchase the labour of a few which few have an artificial value pot upon their in consequence of the imposed on all other modes of industry thus spain when first possessed of america was supplied with immense so called by the labour of a small proportion of her people those to wit who dog the gold mm mines of bat this wealth was and the country in fact grew poorer as the of gold and silver increased poorer in all the of power happiness and virtue the great of england therefore is no proof of the success of her system let us look to the happiest not the richest for our model in the next it is to be observed that we prove nothing in merely establishing that the of capital in secured from foreign competition would be of profit to the or even to the nation the inquiry remains whether the same capital otherwise employed would not be more profitable or at least productive of equal profit with less inconvenience and capital lying idle is certainly worse occupied than tested in any scheme of but may nevertheless not be the best employment for it the condition of our also of consideration such has been the demand for the of our	48
soil that the prices which they brought would pay not only for tiie production but also for the of over the worst roads in the world to a ery great distance this season has gone by and flour is now at half its former price but is not the remedy ia our hands lands near the sea ports are held at a very high price and the com raised on them cannot in consequence sold to much profit nor can it be brought from the interior because of the cost of suppose then this idle capital alluded to above should be applied to the from the interior of the country where land can be bought for three or four dollars the acre to the sea ports suppose that it should be expended in roads and so as to render it as easy and cheap to bring flour from county for in as it is now to bring it from county floor raised in land for between fifty and one hundred dollars the acre will pay the farmer well at two the if miscellaneous it be brought expense from that cost only dollars surely it would pay much better at one dollar per the fact is that only a small part of our soil is now for the purposes of profitable because of the want of lie let them be made and we shall still supply the world with bread great bring immense profits to large but are liable to numerous accidents by fire and flood are interrupted or destroyed by wars and are subject to the caprice of leg for the protection to their e and once established are not subject to these accidents nor dependent on such protection let our general and stale a fair for all in such and when they are made it will be time to let take care of itself then will be the proper subject of our care but let us beware how we into a doubtful and capital which applied to internal would establish complete inland furnish us with fine roads and rail ways into county and thus render our country the garden and the of the world ei philadelphia society or it has been lately determined by this association to publish their transactions more frequently than heretofore and of course in smaller this change of plan is much for the better and as it is in with the opinion we ventured to advance upon this subject in the march no p it also the only cause of complaint against the conduct of an association eminently fitted by talents and zeal to be of the g utility and we know this society has constantly supported an with eminent in europe and the of its transactions will we be widely and through the country is much reason to regret that a want of funds prevents the more frequent of to successful experiments of on book ix from the original by b e o ra y no recent publication has excited so much curiosity as this whidi comes from the ex emperor himself it is however a volume as to historical and contains but more than has already appeared ia the work of gen whether it be really from the of napoleon is a question which cannot be very decided by any evidence the blame cast on all the officers with important under his orders may be considered characteristic or the according to our opinions of napoleon s temper a od disposition it would seem to be an unaccountable want of to the of the brave men that were to his cause and yet it is in the bitterness of to seek consolation in throwing the reproach of from himself the praises repeatedly given to napoleon s would be ridiculous uttered by himself and there is still another reason for doubting the of the work that the evident of the and the of with which the account of the for war are given so his former style of on the other hand the reasons the plan of the campaign which was adopted and the comparison of it with others that were proposed but not approved and the descriptions of the military operations pre to the battle of are given with a spirit and animation worthy of the great captain on the whole we consider it but just to suppose it not the production of napoleon until at least he has had an opportunity of acknowledging or it and at all events it matters little for there ii no disclosure of circumstances or motives before unknown nor any details given that others beside napoleon had not opportunities to be acquainted with some have been published by upon that part which attacks his military reputation and him for not being at he the author be he who he may of some palpable errors and and he ai es perhaps as the mode of contradiction that napoleon could not have made such and therefore that the book does not proceed from him the london literary treats the belief of its being the work of napoleon with vehement ridicule and scorn or ff a at philadelphia by m and son t this tale is intended to mingle amusement with instruction by the manners and customs of modem turkey and egypt in the form of a romance the minor british speak of the work in terms of the most praise and some of them go so far as to compare it with we confess it seemed to us rather heavy and although full of striking and picturesque descriptions the adventures of the hero are imagined after the models of bias and don and are by no interesting every thing relative to greece must possess indeed a degree of interest but it is not agreeable to be obliged to associate with the idea of classic ground such scenes of vulgar of which the book	48
before us is almost entirely made up it is attributed to the pen of mr thomas hope and is believed to convey an accurate picture of the present degraded condition of the country of and tales rf landlord a new edition of the three series of these novels is about to be published in a uniform style by mr philadelphia the first series has just appeared in three volumes mo neatly printed on good paper and with a beautiful drawn and engraved bv mr the subject of which taken from the introduction to is old the circumstance which will probably be thought most in this undertaking is that the price is to be sixty two and a half cents for each little more than half the usual cost of books of the same and appearance the sketch book has been and highly praised in the new monthly magazine s magazine and the a new journal published in london there is a journal published semi weekly at en america depicted by herself it is in the german language but is devoted to the politics and literature of the united states american society the historical and literary committee are about to publish two volumes of the original between william founder and james the first secretary of the articles judge a new and it io by the and e t of are io be i c iu r dr member of the royal academy of hat submitted to a careful in the of the academy of the surprising of mr of of the bu of concentrated on wood and linen he has not only fully confirmed this so as to y before the academy an essay on the and show the product from the original experiments but also extended his own experiments with equal to other similar such as old paper both printed and written upon and cut straw by the with a due addition of water cut linen paper were into and matter it must excite great interest in ail reflecting minds to see an substance like the of wood converted by re action into two new bodies and thus exercise a power which but lately appeared to belong to nature alone and in particular to vegetation for this artificial formation of sugar and now discovered must not be confounded with the of these two from bodies io which they already existed a process which has been known from time what has now been discovered u a a of which the most ingenious had previously no idea and it affords a new proof of the boundless extent of the domain of practical a paper upon dr s repetition and investigation of mr s experiments and those added by himself im in one of the next of the journal of arts and published by the society dry rot this destructive enemy of building which generally its in the may be prevented or its progress checked by white washing them mixing with the wash as much as will give it a clear yellow hue i made from straw straw may be melted into a glass with a blow pipe without any addition straw into a glass of a yellow colour origin f the ancient used to upon certain square sticks about a foot in length the courses of the for tlie whole year whereby they could always certainly tell when the new full and changes should happen and such carved they called al mon all moon u e the ard or observation of all the there it in t john s college cambridge a saxon exactly answering to the above description in hebrew mr of the grand duke of has translated the of into the hebrew language and to publish them under the title of the of arts and trades of this city has received an order to the product of their for the purpose of forming an exhibition of them without delay this is the first time that such an attempt to attract public and to excite a spirit of patriotism by a measure so well calculated to fulfil that intention hat been adopted in this the capital of die and the centre of resort of from very many the magazine new ab of new from french journals and from the most esteemed british vol i no vi june and published bt s of an the magazine june art i account of the and writings of the samuel d d l l d late president of college samuel smith late president of college was bom on the sixteenth day of march in the year of our lord at in the of and county of in the then colony and at present state of his father the rev robert smith an from ireland was a celebrated preacher and eminent divine of the church and for many years a respectable academy established by himself and under his care many pious and worthy of that church were reared hb mother was elizabeth daughter of the rev samuel and sister of those distinguished samuel and john than whom the church has seldom possessed a more judicious and profound than the former and a more fervent and successful minister of the gospel than the latter he was into the elements of his own language by his mother who was a woman of an excellent native understanding adorned with the and most pleasing manners his parents being encouraged by the prompt parts and virtuous dispositions of their son which began very early to display themselves determined that no exertions should be wanted i k ufe of dr smith to the cultivation of them and that he should enjoy all the advantages of a liberal education which his country at that time at the age of six or seven he commenced the study of the learned languages in his father s academy which besides a general by his	48
father was to the care of who had come out from ireland and brought with them those rigid notions of discipline and that minute accuracy in the system of teaching which were in their native country it was the custom of this school to require the pupils not merely to dip into the latin and greek or pass in rapid transition from one to another by which means a very superficial knowledge of any is obtained but when once they had commenced an author to read carefully and attentively the entire work besides this and custom the scholars of this academy were stimulated to exertion by being brought into frequent competition and by having conferred upon the successful for distinction such honours as were calculated to awake their boyish and to their diligence and attention latin was the habitual language of the school and after the pupils had passed through a few of the works as the of and the of any error which they committed in propriety either in addressing the teacher or in speaking with one another was as a fault one literary exercise in the school was with more than when any class had advanced in its course beyond the of and the of the members of it were permitted to enter into voluntary for on alternate eight or ten of the better scholars from different classes were allowed to try their skill in the languages in the presence of the principal teacher each was suffered to select a sentence within a certain compass of one or two hundred lines con life of dr smith of not more than six or seven verses on this selected portion he was the sole and was permitted to inquire about every thing with which he could make himself acquainted by the most previous investigation such as the construction of the sentences the of words their composition relations and quantity the history or referred to in the passage the beauty and of the figures and allusions together with the taste and delicacy of sentiment displayed by the poet after the whole contest which usually lasted several hours was concluded rewards were bestowed by the master upon those who discovered the address and ingenuity in conducting it of this nature with his school fellows were all that the early life of mr smith and on these occasions he is said to have discovered remarkable and intelligence for a lad of his age generally surpassing those who were much older than himself although as dr johnson is reported to have had a who in this kind of warfare and him so our scholar found in a young man by the name of a formidable who often from him the palm of victory at this early age mr smith not only discovered that the sentiments of religion had taken deep root in his heart by publicly joining the communion of the church but evinced a strong for that sacred profession which he afterwards adopted and in which he so eminently taking little pleasure and to no distinction in the exercises and sports of his school fellows he was remarked even at this early period to be prone to and reflection at church he was unusually attentive to the services and the sermon and at his return home would give his father an accurate account not only of the text and the general distribution of the parts but of the most life of dr smith minute together with the striking and remarks in the absence of his father from home he seemed to take great pleasure in turn with his pious and ex mother in performing divine service in the and on some occasions forming the of a pulpit and collecting his little brothers and companions round him he would go through with great gravity and earnestness all the exercises of public worship from his father s academy he was transferred in his sixteenth year to the college of in the state of new the president of that the rev dr samuel having lately died and the president elect the rev dr john not having yet arrived from scotland the college at this time was under the direction of the rev dr professor of mr joseph professor of and mr james professor of languages here those talents which had just to themselves in his father s school were displayed on a wider and more conspicuous theatre of action with the studies of the junior year which in that was devoted for the most part to and natural philosophy mr smith maintained throughout the whole of his distinguished reputation both for capacity and department before the conclusion of the first year he was publicly presented by the faculty in the presence of his class as the reward of his success in his studies with the works of the professor of that branch of science in university of oxford in england similar of respect were bestowed upon him by the professors during the different stages of his progress both before and after the arrival of dr who at this period entered upon the duties of the and in the year of his age he took his first degree m the arts under of dr smith of and superiority in a high degree gratifying to his ambition during his residence in as an he had been consigned more especially to the care of mr who had rendered himself distinguished in the institution and his country by a acquaintance with and natural philosophy accustomed to the study of abstract mr it appears had not confined himself exclusively to the cultivation of the branches which it was his province to teach but had extended his inquiries to also and became with the doctrines of bishop which consist as is generally known in denying the existence of a material universe and every object of the senses into a train of fugitive how this professor who had been to the hardy	48
a process which has been known from lime what has now been discovered u a a om of which the most ingenious had previously no idea and it a new proof of the boundless extent of the domain of practical a paper upon dr s repetition and investigation of mr s experiments and those added by himself is promised in one of the next numbers of the journal of arts and published by the society dry rot this destructive enemy of building which generally its in the may be prevented or its progress checked by white them mixing with the wash as much as will give it a clear yellow hue ib made from straw wheat straw may be melted into a glass with a blow pipe without any addition straw into a glass of a yellow colour origin of the ancient used to upon certain square sticks about a foot in length the courses of the for tlie whole year whereby they could always certainly tell when the new full and changes should happen and such carved they al mon au moon i e the regard or observation of all the there is in st john s college cambridge a saxon exactly answering to the above description in hebrew mr of the g duke of has translated the of into the hebrew language and to publish them under the title of the of arts and trades of this city has received an order to the product of their industry for the purpose of forming an exhibition of them without delay this is the first time that such an attempt to attract public notice and to excite a spirit of patriotism by a measure so well calculated to fulfil that intention has been adopted in this city the capital of the and the centre of resort of strangers from very many surrounding countries the magazine series original t ab of new public from french journals and from the most esteemed british vol i no vi june philadelphia printed and published bt james e or m d the magazine june art l of the life and writings of the re d d l l d late president of college samuel smith late president of college was bom on the sixteenth day of march in the of our lord at in the of and county of in the then colony and at present state of his father the rev robert smith an from ireland was a celebrated preacher and eminent divine of the church and for many years a respectable academy established by himself and under his care many pious and worthy of that church were reared hb mother was elizabeth daughter of the rev samuel and sister of those distinguished samuel and john than whom the church has seldom possessed a more judicious and profound than the former and a more fervent and successful minister of the gospel than the latter he was into the elements of his own language by his mo ther who was a woman of an excellent native understanding adorned with the and most pleasing manners his parents being encouraged by the prompt parts and virtuous dispositions of their son which began very early to display themselves determined that no exertions should be wanted life of dr smith to the cultivation of them and that he should enjoy all the advantages of a liberal education which his country at that time afforded at the age of six or seven he commenced the study of the learned languages in his father s academy which besides a general by his father was to the care of who had come out from ireland and brought with them those d notions of discipline and that minute accuracy in the system of teaching which were in their native country it was the custom of this school to require die not merely to dip into the latin and greek or pass in rapid transition from one to another by which means a very superficial knowledge of any is obtained but when once they had commenced an author to read carefully and attentively the entire work besides and custom the scholars of this academy were stimulated to exertion by being brought into frequent competition and by having conferred upon the successful for distinction such honours as were calculated to awake their boyish and to their diligence and attention latin was the habitual of the school and after tiie pupils had passed through a few of the works as the of and the of i any error which they committed in propriety in addressing the teacher or in speaking with one another was as a fault one literary exercise in the school was with more than when any class had advanced in its course beyond the of and the of the members of it were permitted to enter into voluntary for on alternate eight or ten of the better scholars from different classes were allowed to try their skill in the languages in the presence of the principal teacher each was suffered to select a sentence within a certain compass of one or two hundred lines con life of dr smith of not more than six or seven verses on this selected portion he was the sole and was permitted to inquire about every thing with which he could make himself acquainted by the most previous investigation such as the construction of the sentences the of words their composition relations and quantity the history or referred to in the passage the beauty and of the figures and allusions together with the taste and delicacy of sentiment displayed by the poet after the whole contest which usually lasted several hours was concluded rewards were bestowed by the master upon those who discovered the greatest address and ingenuity in conducting it of this nature with his school fellows were all that the early life of	48
house such idle and are as in truth as they are disgraceful to philosophy and are calculated to bring the noble science of into utter and contempt by upon the minds of reflecting men the opinion that in order to be into its mysteries they must be of their senses would it not be as well founded in truth and right reason to assert that he who does not perceive a difficulty in the of can make no in science there is as good reason for the first truths in as there is for the first truths in that science which rests upon ex life of dr smith and observation and which by a very apt and beautiful figure has been by lord bacon the interpretation of nature and surely among all those truths which are regarded as and in this latter science none has a higher claim and more venerable and right to be considered as than the existence of an external world the grounds upon which rest the truths of and science are different in but equally solid and having its foundations in certainty and knowledge in what may be sensitive certainty or the evidence of the senses if therefore it be allowed to have been a proof of and genius as it undoubtedly was in mr smith at his early age and un skilled as he must have been in the grounds of human knowledge to perceive a real difficulty in proving by arguments derived from reason the existence of a material universe or in other words by necessary consequence the real existence of the objects of our perception from our having of them yet it must be admitted at the same time that the knowledge of that man must be extremely limited in the science of the human mind who does not readily perceive the method by which he can himself from that difficulty and arrive at certainty from the testimony of the senses of the real existence in of external objects accordingly mr smith although at first by the of the bishop of had too much sober sense and penetration to be long held in bondage by the silken chains of such a fantastic theory dr arrived from scotland and bringing with him we are told the recently principles of and furnished him with a clue by which he was conducted out of the dark into which he had been betrayed by bishop and his professor from the cloudy speculations vol i f of dr smith of he was now brought back to the clear light of common sense nature was again in her rights and the external world which had been banished for a while returned and resumed its place in creation this progress in the understanding and opinions of mr smith will appear natural when it is recollected that the powers of his mind were as yet that he was by the guidance of a and that the utmost maturity of the intellectual powers is in all cases necessary to enable us to detect the errors and comprehend the subjects of science in an understanding ingenious and as was his and prone to the pursuits of philosophy the first tendencies perhaps uniformly are to expect by argument to prove every thing forgetting that in all the branches of human knowledge there are some principles and that must be taken for granted and upon which as a foundation we must erect our various otherwise as has long since remarked we must suppose the human mind capable of an indefinite advancement in the pursuit of truths if mankind had refused to cultivate the science of until they had proved the truth of its and by arguments drawn from reason that interesting branch of human knowledge had remained until this time barren and in like manner if we refuse our assent to the truths which have been established in the under which head are included the science of mind and that of matter until we have by strict the existence of an external world we shall forever remain involved in doubt and uncertainty after the publication of the of mr upon human understanding in which with wonderful accuracy he has traced the progress of the mind in the acquisition of knowledge from its simplest to its while at the same time with the most skill and address he has ascertained and settled the grounds of all human knowledge or the life of dr smith tions upon which rest all kinds of truth and certainty it would seem strange indeed that any persons could be found an acquaintance with his system who could allow themselves to be by the philosophical of a or a such persons cannot have studied and understood the of mr they must be wanting either in the capacity or the pains to enter into his views or thoroughly to comprehend his meaning never could any of errors be more complete and satisfactory than that which may be drawn from the works of this illustrious of the principles of and the above mentioned are to their share of praise inasmuch as they have drawn the attention of the public to a subject which important as it is is by no means as they appear also to have been inspired with becoming sentiments of indignation and of that abominable and introduced by mr and to have set themselves with so much zeal in opposition to them had they limited their pretensions to the humble sphere of becoming the of the doctrines of mr and the preceding philosophers and making a skilful application of them to the discomfiture and overthrow of their merit as far as it extended would have been acknowledged and their claims in by all succeeding ages but when we find them assume to themselves a credit to which they are not entitled laying claim to of which mr was the au to themselves the merit of having been the	48
first who applied the true method of prescribed by lord bacon to the science of mind when in this very circumstance consisted the merit of the great english all the philosophers who preceded them of being by and in their pursuit of truth by an ideal and fanciful theory in nature and destructive to common when we see them maintaining that the of lift of dr smith and intellectual of were leg mate from the principles of that sublime philosophy whose foundation was laid by the and whose structure was carried on and completed by des and above all mr who may be the great of human nature we leave to enter our protest against the admission of such magnificent pretensions and our most decided of such all that has been done in the science of that is of any importance to the interests of truth and mankind has been accomplished by butler and the philosophers who preceded them not a single doctrine has been taught or a single made in this branch of science which is not to be found their writings it was the precise purpose of mr and a purpose which he fully to apply the method of investigation recommended by bacon to the s fence of mind as applied it to matter and with equal and force he might have declared non fin o his theory is founded in nature and it will remain entire as long as the human mind shall retain its present properties be governed by the same laws and exhibit the same dr indeed throughout his himself very freely in upon the principles of mr in more than half the instances in which he himself his errors he is in truth maintaining his doctrines and fighting with of his own creation and wherever he has departed from the track marked out by the illustrious englishman he has wandered from the truth the very ideal theory itself the grand of which he all the philosophers from to mr and out of which as a fountain he their errors to have flowed was unknown to the system of des and and in but a slight degree the doctrines of ther it appears to have been the offspring of the those ufe of dr smith miserable and of the opinions of whose crude brains were sufficiently productive of monsters and although for sometime after the revival of learning while the school philosophy remain ed in the during its continuance was still used in scientific works yet no one has more completely thrown off the of that system than mr or more heartily despised its and idle it is a little singular that dr should have so frequently repeated as an accusation against mr what that writer blamed for having attempted that is to explain the manner of perception to explain the manner of our perceiving external objects it is asserted all the philosophers agreed in having recourse to the ideal theory but we venture to assert that this matter shall have been thoroughly it will be found to have been ascribed to the best of them and as to mr he repeatedly and all attempts to explain the manner of perception but to proceed from this short with our account of the life and writings of the subject of these after taking his first degree in the arts mr smith returned to his father s family here we find him his knowledge of the latin and greek by assisting his father in his school and at the same time extending his with science and literature by the perusal of the best writers with which the library of the family supplied him the works of pope swift and which were now read with served to form his taste upon the best models and his mind with the principles of polite literature while those of butler and and strengthened the powers of the understanding and introduced him to an acquaintance with the more subjects of and divinity to the circumstance of his having thus accidentally become life of l r smith to models of writings may in all pro be ascribed that delicacy and of taste which are perceptible in all his productions in the more elegant fields of the he seems however to have taken the greatest pleasure and to this species of exertion his intellectual powers appear to have been best adapted by nature inspired by the natural of youth and wrought up to enthusiasm he occasionally at this period attempted to give vent to his feelings in and a an or an was the result but discovering in himself no native impulse to such pursuits or promising much success of this nature he soon all efforts to cultivate the and directed his attention to objects more suited to his genius during his continuance at as a student his talents and had not passed unnoticed by that able divine and nice observer of men and things dr and accordingly a in the offices of the college mr smith received from him a pressing tion to return to the institution with the view as expressed in the letter written on the occasion of taking under his immediate charge the classical studies of tiie college while he should assist also in among the students a taste for the in this station he spent the two next years of his life performing with acknowledged ability the duties of his office in the institution and at the same time his studies as he had now determined as well from the of his understanding as the impulse of his feelings to devote himself to the as soon as he had finished the usual course of reading prescribed to students of divinity he left and was to preach the gospel by the of new in having his health by his application to his studies and for some time under the attacks of an fever which long	48
held his life in suspense he of dr smith determined in order to restore his health and at the same time to contribute to the utmost of his power towards the advancement of that sacred cause in whose interests he was now to spend some time before his settlement in any parish in voluntarily as a missionary in the western of virginia he found i his arrival in this country a people lately removed from ireland among whom were many pious and intelligent persons attached to the principles of the church who received him with irish hospitality and gave that warm and cordial encouragement to him in his labours which a pious people scarcely ever fail to bestow upon a worthy clergyman here he spent some time during two successive missionary performed in the year in giving instruction to the young in preaching the gospel at every opportunity and in the people in the principles of the christian faith in all these labours he was successful in the cause of his divine master as a preacher or pulpit orator he was universally regarded by them with the highest admiration there were many circumstances in the church of virginia at this time that prepared the way for his favourable reception his success in the and soon enabled him to rear and establish for himself the most distinguished reputation as a preacher the people ef virginia generally belonged to the established church of england whether it was owing to neglect and on the part of the english in sending out to supply the in this colony or to the that they were too much occupied at home with their numerous and duties to be able to pay that attention to an affair of this kind which their own sense of duty as well as interest required it is certain that the clergy who were despatched from england and placed in possession of the in this state were in too many instances most in all those moral which u e of dr smith would have fitted to become faithful and spiritual teachers and guides to their flocks the and even gross of many of them were and notorious violent often arose between the and their which were ned with equal bitterness and on both sides and which sprang out of the disgust of the people at a whose lives were at with their doctrines and during the maintained about the of the church its spiritual concerns were entirely disregarded or forgotten even among those of the clergy who were best fitted from their piety talents and learning to become able of the flock of christ the style of preaching which prevailed was by no means to e great body of the people that cold and manner which in order to avoid the of had become fashionable in england from the time of charles the second however suited it may have been to brought up in the immediate vicinity of a polished capital enjoying the advantages of a finished education and the enlightened intercourse of a court and who of consequence would be more under the influence of their and less under that of their feelings was little suited to and interest the simple and inhabitants of the country this was the style of preaching generally among the clergy of the church of england at this time in virginia it was indeed judicious and even profound but altogether without power to influence the will or reach and affect the heart on the other hand the mode of preaching which prevailed among the other of christians who did not belong to the established church while it was more passionate earnest and vehement and of course more attractive to the people went equally into the opposite and worse extreme as the were for the most part but pious men their pulpit addresses too frequently life of dr into mere empty and e which wanting the weight of sound sense and solid learning to recommend them produced little that was permanent and were offensive to the intelligent and reflecting part of the community in this state of things it is little to be wondered at if mr smith soon gained among them the highest reputation as a pulpit orator and awoke no common interest in his favour having a mind already with elegant literature and a taste improved by familiarity with the finest models of writing in the latin greek english and french languages and withal a genius that kindled into enthusiasm at the success of those celebrated whose praises and whose triumphs of eloquence he had seen recorded in and above all a heart deeply touched and interested with the great truths which it was his province to the doctrines of the gospel were presented to his hearers in a more attractive and imposing form than they had ever before been able to conceive la mr smith they found solid sense and deep learning by their the simple and sublime truths of religion and the influence of the whole by all the graces of style composition and delivery the result was such as might have been anticipated the people from all quarters to listen to the popular missionary on the sundays in which it was known that he was to preach the churches within miles of the one in which he was to were deserted and the forgetting in the pleasure which they felt those differences of opinions and forms of worship by which they were separated from each other assembled in the same place attracted by the charm of his and impressive eloquence so strong at length did the public sentiment in his favour become that some of wealth and influence who had long felt the want of a of learning for the education of their sons determined to avail themselves of this op vol i m lift of dr smith ef to important an object and let a for the hb and weight of	48
character them waa now aa dial thousand were for laying die of a college of which it was that he should become the president no sooner was the plan and the list filled up than those ardent and men commenced the of the buildings of that which was afterwards ed by die and in compliment to those distinguished of england john and college having now completed his tour thus y undertaken daring die in whidi the were the he returned to the and connected himself as his venerable president and by ties even in and than those which die professor and pupil by marrying his eldest daughter a lady of great gentleness of disposition and amiable soon after this event he returned to virginia to take upon him the two fold charge of principal of die and of the church in both these he self with the greatest talents and address and fulfilled to those who had confidence in him their most sanguine his reputation both aa a pious and learned divine and an eloquent and every day increased and the attachment of his flock a students of the college to his person was and during the whole of his residence among them the and vehemence of his mode of preaching however added to his in die were too trying for a constitution which al naturally sound was not robust and in the course of three or four years health was great and his z of bit smith s succeeding die exercises of die became with thia appearance did not ai first his zeal or restrain his exertions but at he was found to discharge od in considerable quantities from his breast and it became necessary that for a time hb should from repeating this painful and dangerous experiment upon his lungs in order to his strength and recover his health it was thought advisable by his friends that he should retire for a season to a watering place among tha western mountains of virginia known by the name of the sweet springs which was just beginning to be held in great for the qualities of its waters on his way to springs an incident occurred to him which would not be worthy of an here except as it strongly to view the tenderness of that connection which between a good and his flock and may serve as an encouragement to the clergy to the cultivation of that of intercourse with the members of their communion which may lead to the formation of so ble to both parties during his journey to the springs he was one evening passing by a yard where an elderly lady the wife of colonel christian so famous in our indian wars was standing among her servants and as soon as she saw him she stepped forward asking pardon for her intrusion and begged to know if he was in any way related to that most worthy of all men as she said mr samuel his maternal uncle i consider him she continued as my spiritual father many many years ago no man was more dear to me and on seeing you as you were passing so strong a resemblance of his countenance struck me that i could not resist the impulse which induced me to make this abrupt inquiry however improbable or almost impossible it may seem to see any one of mr s relations in these remote ends of the earth mr smith informed her that she was not deceived in the had life of dr smith traced for that he was a near relation of mr and then stated the connection that between them forgive me my dear sir she continued with great earnestness if my affection for that good man me to urge you to pass this night as the day is far spent with my family i cannot help hoping to meet with his spirit in his perfect image and let me have reason to my god and for this unexpected interview which strikes my mind as a special act of his gracious providence designed for the consolation of one of the most unworthy of his servants tribute of regard and attachment whatever may be the difficulties and of the such a testimony of respect and affection from one pious woman an affection too springing out of so pure and sacred a fountain amply the for a life of toil when placed in competition with a sacred veneration of this kind for the memory of a good clergyman all the glory of the conqueror and the loud applause of the thoughtless multitude are but as tile dust of the balance it his memory his ashes and without producing the effects supposed to result from his to him its happiest rewards by his enjoyment in a future state of existence after a few weeks at the springs above mentioned mr smith found the of blood from his lungs to cease and the slow fever which attended it disappear on his return to hb family with recovered health new prospects opened to him in life and the way had been paved for his entrance upon a theatre in which the sphere of his usefulness would be extended and extraordinary powers he possessed be more displayed through the influence of dr who learned more to estimate the talents of mr smith in proportion to the intimacy of his connection with him a in the higher offices of the of college he was invited of dr smith to return to the seat of his former studies and appointed professor of moral philosophy as it was known that this was his favourite branch of science and one which he had cultivated with the greatest diligence and success in the year therefore and th of age he received this appointment which was so well suited to his wishes and which introduced him into field of exertion in which he was eminently qualified to leaving his	48
brother the rev john in whom he entire confidence and who was worthy of it to take charge of the infant reared under his care in virginia he removed to the that was to become the scene of his future labours upon his arrival at to enter upon the duties of his new appointment the college was in a state of ruin the war which had raged for some years before between the colonies and the mother country had driven the president of the institution from the state of new dispersed the students and reduced the buildings to a state of complete the whole interior of that noble edifice and of the church attached to it had been torn out and destroyed by the british and american forces who occupied it as for the during their passing and through the state of new the roof had been made a field of sport for idle soldiers and vagabond boys from the village until its use as a defence against the injuries of the weather was almost destroyed its windows an doors were all shattered and many of them burnt the had been through with and the torn off for the purpose of their fires and the floors had been so generally cut by and as to be utterly unfit for use added to this state of the building and the general of the students were the difficulties which arose from the injury sustained by the funds of the institution from the financial of the nation and the general distress of the ufe of dr smith an event occurred which had well nigh deprived him of life and the institution and the country of his future usefulness and eminence so great was his activity and to duty that besides his labours as an be had been in the habit of also as preacher to the students these exertions being above his strength and to the natural delicacy of his constitution occasioned a of the symptoms of his former complaint one evening in the beginning of november the burst forth apparently from the same part of the or upper region of the breast from which it had formerly in smaller quantities but now with greatly increased violence it resembled the spring of the blood from a vein or minute which had been by the the first flow of this alarming e for the blood to a distance from his mouth was checked in a short time by bleeding in the arm and feet to the however returned the next evening about three quarters of an hour later than the evening preceding and was again restrained by a still more free use of the evening after evening the same scene returned only at each successive being somewhat later than on the preceding day but with a stronger impulse and circumstances more alarming on this occasion when death seemed inevitable the resignation of mr smith to the will of god his confidence in his just and righteous providence and firm reliance on the merits of his that he was not merely a public teacher of the doctrines of religion but that he deeply felt its power while he was tranquil self collected and humbly resigned to the will of god his presence of mind and nice in marking the progress of his disorder and suggesting the best by which to obtain relief are well worthy of remark and even admiration learning from the experience of several anxious days that the of blood returned at stated intervals he proposed to lift smith the to endeavour to anticipate lis approach by opening his veins just before the time of its regular return as such a large quantity of blood had been discharged already not less than two in a few days the attending were averse from making so an ment declaring that by repeating the operation beyond the absolute necessity of the case they were only increasing the of the system which would be done at the imminent danger of life but mr smith remarked in contradiction of their theory that although so much blood had been lost his system especially towards the approach of the time in which the took place was unusually strong and the indication of its approach was a slight rise of the pulse and a gentle at the spot on the fifth evening the u of its return mr smith with uncommon fortitude and pi of mind perceiving the symptoms one of the who happened to be alone with him watching by his bed side instantly to open his vein and if possible to prevent the from his breast the good doctor by his own theory refused to with mr urgent request and while he was proceeding with his argument to justify his refusal the blood released from the which it into his face at the same time running in a small stream from his mouth frightened at his own mistake as soon as he could recover from his surprise he promoted its flow as much as possible by increasing the upon the superior part of his arm and opening another vein when by these means the from the mouth was arrested for the time mr smith somewhat impatient at the objections of his and their delay in to what he conceived to be the only remedy that was likely to be effectual in his critical situation earnestly the doctor to leave a with him he believe that urged by a sense of danger he could summon resolution to perform vol i m of dr smith the operation on and thought that guided b the symptoms he could prevent the return of the disease when a might not always be present to afford his aid he thought moreover that by daily the period in which the blood flowed from the part he might so far check the impulse of the on that part as to allow the sides of the	48
wound to and heal since the current in the veins might be preserved in that calm and temperate motion which would not again force them asunder the physician after much persuasion consented at last to resign the to him trembling lest he was putting the life of his friend at great hazard mr smith however confident of the of his own views resolutely but cautiously opened a vein the next day somewhat earlier than the usual time of the a person holding him up in bed while he performed the operation on himself he drew from his arm nearly if not quite the quantity which had been found since the accident took place which according to his calculations prevented the for that day blood however which had been collected in large quantities in the of the and there excited a slight disposition to cough and it was that from six to eight must have been by him during as hours this appearance though alarming did not his cool and reflecting mind from repeating the experiment which had been so successful on the preceding day although he was apparently almost exhausted even of the small quantity of blood requisite to maintain the functions of life the experiment was now completely successful the violence in the action of the system day after day the same course was pursued with the same result he was now indeed reduced to a state of extreme and decay that he was unable to move a limb could not speak to his attendants except in whispers could not be raised in bed without fainting and truly appear life of dr smith ed to be rapidly approaching the period of his dissolution but his heavenly father thought proper to determine otherwise and to raise him from the valley of the shadow of death to become a chosen instrument of usefulness to his ch a blessing to the and an ornament to his country he was raised from the bed of illness before the complete of his health so great was his solicitude about the prosperity of the college and so deep his sense of duty and responsibility that for some time he was in the habit of attending to the of his class in his own room before he was able to appear in his in the institution being able now to walk and ride out as the season approached he was soon restored to his usual health and able to attend to his duties as a professor but was obliged for some years to from all exertions in the pulpit except occasionally and with great caution and under much restraint during his future life it is said to have been his constant practice when he felt any of a tendency to his old complaint or any unusual action in his system to resort to the for relief which he had learnt to use for himself without difficulty or apprehension and contrary to the opinion usually entertained on that subject he did not find the necessity of to it increase but during his advancing years thus was this eminent servant of god once more restored by a providence to hi family and usefulness he had still the same difficulties to contend with during the life of dr whose time was occupied at first with his duties in and afterwards at the instance of the board of in paying a sit to england on the hopeless errand of endeavouring to collect money to the exhausted funds of the college soon after this event also that venerable man was afflicted with total blindness and many which almost deprived him of power to attend to his duties so that the whole m and of die upon mr smith all men of real talent his powers only became more conspicuous aa they were called into more vigorous exertion the of the becoming every day more sensible of his capacity and distinguished usefulness added to his titles and in the institution besides the one of professor of moral philosophy those of professor of and vice president of the college nor was his reputation any longer confined to die college alone he was beginning to attract the attention and respect of the literary public in he was elected an member of the american philosophical society in philadelphia the first institution of that kind in our country and which among its members men of the high est distinction in science and literature as his reputation both as an orator and scholar began to be appreciated he was appointed this same year by that learned body t deliver their address on this occasion it was that he chose for his subject to explain the causes of the variety in the figure and complexion of the human species and establish the identity of the race this so well selected for the occasion was published in the philosophical of the society and obtained for its author deserved reputation as a philosopher both in his own and foreign countries this same has since been enlarged and improved by him and together with some upon the principles of lord mr white of c published in a separate v n the year following the publication of this work while attending a commencement at college in the state of he was unexpectedly to himself honoured with the degree oi doctor in divinity as some years afterwards he received from cambridge in the state of of doctor of laws his reputation as a philosopher a divine and pulpit orator was now established whenever he i in ik the u lie excited l mid c in the to he wm tent he aa a with h mind close thinking by habits e study of those authors the most for and extensive an imagination which to its natural had added the riches of all that it could in from the finest productions in poetry and prose and a ready and commanding eloquence which he	48
or perhaps the giving a solitary card to some formal dinner or crowded all which if any one chooses to distinguish by the term hospitality he is at liberty so to do but he must allow me the privilege of from his construction the traveller notwithstanding who visits may dismiss all fears in regard to the fate of his if he comes properly recommended he will be received with a frank and generous kindness and if he sketches of an excursion any share of he will away with deep and lasting impressions of gratitude towards my own countrymen particularly i am persuade ed that a more than common good will is entertained by all the better as well as the classes of inhabitants in this city the present friendly intercourse between great britain and the united states is regarded with great satisfaction it is a topic which i have often beard to and whenever mentioned is accompanied with the being at a friend s house last evening and happening to turn upon the late between the two countries i was amused with the remarks of a lady who maintained that not only was it for their mutual interest to the present harmony but that it had been the wish of england to preserve it in confirmation of her though with a smile which somewhat betrayed her confidence in the weight of the evidence she referred to a little d t hich appeared in an american paper on occasion of mr rose going out minister to the united states in the year that britain seeks for peace these facts disclose she sends as messenger of peace a rose the bark which bears that of peace is named that s anger cease but further recollections i have at present no leisure to trace the vessel in which i have taken passage will weigh anchor probably about meanwhile a few leave the traveller s remain to be attended to for myself i can truly say may d on board the samuel and thomas irish sea yesterday at the hour appointed i left and embarked in the present vessel for in england the breeze though favourable was light and we were m to ty at first much in descending the and entering fairly the bay this however allowed me to survey more leisurely the beauties of the latter and i must say that they disappointed me not a little i have often heard this bay compared with that of as indeed every fine bay in the world has been i believe in its turn but certainly if the bay of is no better than this of they are both decidedly by that of boston itself is far from making that fine figure viewed from the water which i had supposed it lies low instead of crowning an eminence at the head of the bay which might have made it a noble object it is destitute also of a number of and requisite to every fine city it has it is true a few and these are striking beauties the private houses too of are large and regularly built and so far make a good appearance whether seen from water or land the custom house and the extending from it three miles into the ocean are magnificent objects the numerous shipping in the harbour and river with their groves of all looked well but still much was wanting to the scene to the high which i have heard upon it i mean from that point of view to which i am at present but as we down lower into the bay the appearance of things improved the scenery on the left shore became picturesque and pleasing several neat and were discovered and the houses being well white washed formed a pretty relief to the deep around on the right were seen the blue mountains which skirt the county of and to the east the more distant but no less heights of the bay was covered with the of vessels each improving like ourselves a favourable change in the wind to leave the port of most of these were distinguished by the flags of their respective countries and i could not avoid smiling at sketches of an excursion a contrast a deeply laden and constructed seemingly during the earliest of ship building and a stately american ship outward bound for new york which was gallantly through the waters as though she wore the ocean crown the banner which from her mast head i beheld with a throb of pride towards night the wind and the coast began rapidly to having remained on deck during most of the afternoon i descended to the cabin at eight in the evening when casting a last glance at isle and the mountains of i bade adieu to dear probably forever dawn found us near the isle of man the shore is rocky and bold and we very near it this island is thirty miles long and about twelve broad in its general aspect it is rugged and and very much most of the highest grounds seemed covered with and other small under wood there were no trees which i could discern and the captain that there are none upon the island this of course cannot be strictly true the more level tracts appeared well cultivated and the whole island seemed we saw very plainly the towns of and and sailed so near to the second of these that we people passing on horseback or on foot along the strand the town is pleasantly built and is situated at the head of a small semi circular the duke of has a fine seat near it which the captain says for he is my just is occupied by the bishop i suppose he means the bishop of and man the house is situated near the	48
water s edge and is built in the style in front of it is erected a low fort surmounted by a a fit emblem it might be thought of a church near the small town of and above it i noticed a lake of considerable size from from to the position in which i viewed it it seemed in momentary readiness to its banks and pour itself upon the village below it is now about the wind has continued fresh and an half hour ago we parted from the island standing over from s head direct to distant twenty five miles we hope to reach it in three hours my on board are tolerable nothing better the captain is disposed to be obliging enough but as a commander of a vessel seems destitute of skill and some other needful he kept his birth almost the whole of last night even during his own watch which was from to o clock what this criminal neglect of duty was the circumstance that the mate of the vessel was drunk and had been so ever since our weighing anchor half past two p m the weather having been cloudy all day we did not come within sight of the english coast as soon as i had hoped st bee s head a large high bluff was the first land which we and then it was scarcely five miles distant the captain has since been all hands in the of its to save eighteen shillings or a pound which he would be otherwise obliged to pay to have it removed from the vessel on his getting into harbour the consequence is that she rolls with considerable violence and if the wind should increase the result might be much more unpleasant is the of its coal mines are very valuable and have been worked it is said that the in following several veins of coal after sinking the perpendicular shaft to a great depth have opened passages fairly under the sea that is to say to a considerable distance without the line of low water mark admitting this report to be true it is singular to reflect that in entering the harbour of we may be sailing above the heads of human beings who some hun sketches of an feet at least beneath us are digging in the of the harmless earth co saturday evening at three p m we anchor in the port of and the next minute found me once more upon english ground this was a pleasure of no small kind and in stepping foot again upon the soil of that country which contains much that i prize and more that i admire i could not refrain from repeating to myself england with all thy faults i love thee still the same rich which renders the fields of ireland so lovely i found the hills of the country too immediately round is with low of earth clothed with a fine green turf instead of hedges of thorn in the same manner as are most of the enclosed lands which i saw in ireland the of are numerous and excellent but the town itself of little beauty the poorer inhabitants whether men women or children wear large clumsy wooden shoes which make a very disagreeable as they tread the pavement but disagreeable as the sound is i am much more pleased with it than being obliged to see the same classes of people walking the streets as is the case among the irish to an inn i learnt that no would proceed to before monday a place which i wish much to take in my route to and finding also no post horses disengaged i was obliged though very reluctantly to make up my mind to stay in over sunday but my was of short continuance a few minutes after a vehicle precisely similar to the irish drove to the door and on going to the window from the impulse of curiosity wondering how these singular machines should have found their way into england i ascertained with surprise and pleasure that it was an to conveyance was stopping to take in passengers for a small town somewhat more than half way to all this by the by though a stated daily arrangement the good landlord for very obvious reasons had taken care not to me of himself finding one seat i immediately threw my into the vehicle and the next instant it drove off of the other three passengers one was a native of and just landed from the isle of man a very intelligent and pleasant companion he was familiar with the road and being rather more than englishmen generally are gave me much information of places and things as we drove along the road for the first three or four miles followed pretty close by the coast but afterwards into the interior of the country the face of this was and broken into high but by no means we passed a few villages the houses of which exhibited a neat appearance numerous farm houses and cottages also were scattered in every direction and in front of most of them might be seen little or gardens or the women whom we passed were all neat and those that were young and blooming improved in this respect contrasted with the irish after a ride of eight miles we came in view of the a little stream rolling its waters over a bed of pebbles and through a succession of richly it accompanied us during the remainder of the way and amused me much by its and one mile further i caught the first glimpse of it is not as i conceived a single mountain rising in a lofty but a broken towering chain of loose lazy clouds were floating around their alternately and them to view as we	48
proceeded the scenery rose in character assuming at every step a more composed and vol i sketches of an excursion air and after a delightful ride of fourteen miles which gave ample of higher in prospect i alighted at the door of an inn which promised all the comforts which a fatigued traveller might royal oak may a what those comforts were in other words what is meant in general by the boasted comforts of an english inn those only can well understand who have actually experienced them the house in which i lodged last night was no ways remarkably good indeed comparatively indifferent yet it fully the promise which i have said it made on my to any one of equally plain habits and tastes with myself it might be enough to refer as some evidence of this to the supper table which rose like an before me within ten minutes after my arrival being spread with the finest from the the best mutton sparkling ale and port of excellent body and but after all perhaps the greatest recommendation of an english inn is the excellence of its beds these are luxurious indeed and last night i occupied one which might have envied with all the roses and of or for her couch but this en early in the morning i walked out to sur ey the town of c it is situated on the is built and very old in its appearance the immense ruins of a once noble castle gray with moss and finely clothed with ivy crown an eminence which the town and the river the pile now the property of lord was once and a place of great strength erected as a defence against the border of the scotch at the hour of divine service went to church it was well attended and the exercises throughout were conducted with great solemnity and decorum the sermon was to by a young man and possessed much merit it was and nervous in style with excellent sentiments and delivered with judicious action and a modest manly tone of voice the church is antique and a number of curious old monuments which are ranged around the interior of its walls anxious to continue my route northward with as delay as possible early in the afternoon i mounted g horse and in company with the gentleman who was my fellow passenger from yesterday proceeded towards this place a ride of such varied beauty and grandeur for an equal distance i never before enjoyed the road on leaving c soon entered the mountains and continued either winding along their feet or climbing and their the of the way two or three miles we descended into the beautiful of it is an extensive and well cultivated tract enclosed on all sides by high and steep mountains the pretty village of with its venerable church stands in the centre and at the of the valley are two or three neat near the latter were several very flourishing of as we rode along i noticed the new england of the willow called in this neighbourhood the palm and the tree in full leaf the hedges of and displayed also a luxuriant foliage over them the wild was creeping and on the green turf beneath the violet and smiled in full bloom passing from the of i we penetrated hills of a grandeur than those which we had left for a considerable distance not a single appeared and scarcely a fit for cultivation except where some mountain brook dashed from the precipice and an opening amidst the opposing these streams were frequent and from their channels it is evident are always much swollen by spring and of an rains the hills presented every species of bold and forms the clouds as they floated heavily by cast their long dark shadows upon them and these often produced a fine effect by falling at the feet of one of the and ascending by a slow solemn motion to its very summit presently the harsh features of the landscape immediately around us began to soften into a expression the tints of the little vegetation which had remain ed gradually disappeared of grass disputed the soil with the heath and which extending their surface at length stretched into rich pastures on which flocks of sheep were feeding the scene with their and the ear with their bells the whom i saw were generally attended with a pair of dogs of a strong and active breed and distinguished for their wonderful sagacity several striking proofs of the latter quality i accidentally witnessed and judging also from other and mutual indications i could not help thinking that these humble animals would hardly have suffered in the comparison of their instinct with the reason of the masters whom they served the right of sheep upon the tracts the hill sides in this neighbourhood belongs equally to all in the adjoining it is given to them when they receive of their lands on the ride i occasionally noticed a after sailing round the peaks of the mountains for a time over a certain spot and my companion told me that it was watching to seize and prey upon some young lamb these birds he represented as exceedingly and bold the country at length opened somewhat and disclosed more the bold outline of near the base of which our road conducted us beyond and directly in front arose the towering heights of and further to the right the lofty ridge of the to mountains besides these numerous other steep hills and appeared in every direction all forming one vast which enclosed within its magnificent the of but before dwelling upon the beauties of this i must return to the point where the whole valley to most of which gives name opened first on the view my companion i would here remark with genuine native had previously	48
assured me that i should find the scene which would be there unfolded the most beautiful which i had ever witnessed and in that he was not mistaken turning a sudden angle in the road i first discerned the little lake of beneath and reflecting from its placid bosom the purple shadows of that mountain next appeared a pretty extent of which spread themselves along its borders and for some distance into the valley a was seen issuing from the and hurrying through the as if eager to bear its crystal tribute to the lake near it was a modest stream and seemed to shrink from observation occasionally concealing entirely its matters among the which it pursued but the grass with g betrayed the secret of its silent course the valley of k encircled by the mountains i have already named with this lake of and the adjacent thence it extends six or eight miles and embraces a beautifully varied landscape in the centre of which stands the town of not far from the lake of that name called also indifferently the lake of it with the romantic hamlet of at the mouth of the wild pass which opens into the of the whole of this valley is with the richest tion and even at this early season it presents some of the i of william esq and loveliest tints which i ever saw spread over the face of nature its beauty is strikingly heightened by the savage grandeur of the surrounding mountains indeed they each add powerfully by contrast to the effect of the other the valley is several villages are scattered over it each distinguished by the gray tower of its church while around in every direction may be seen white cottages and farm houses and country seats some of them indeed partly among trees or by creeping shrubs but all serving to vary the expression and the romantic beauty of the landscape lake is an irregular sheet of water about three miles in length its clearly defined border is prettily fringed with trees and several islands which dot its are also well wooded the appearance of these islands b highly picturesque and they are happily disposed for the effect of perspective on one of them a little country box has lately been erected its just peeping from a hood of is all however which is presented to the eye it was after five p m when we reached having dined i out and took a bird s eye survey of the town and i soon found myself upon the beach of the lake and lingered among the beauties of the scene till twilight veiled them from my view art iv of the late william esq of the philadelphia bar william the son of a plain and respectable farmer in county was bom on the second of february o s when of a proper age he was put to a common country school at in the neighbourhood of his residence from which he was afterwards removed to a of a higher order established by the society of friends at of william esq there his progress was so rapid as quickly to require beyond the usual course and the extraordinary trouble of the was rewarded by a double compensation at a very early age he expressed a strong inclination for the profession of the law which though it received his sanction was of by his mother both of whom were members of the society of friends and he continued on the farm assisting in the usual labours of until his year it was probably about this time that the following incident occurred which he related to the writer of this having driven his father s wagon to the county town he found the court in curiosity led him to enter the court room for the first time in his life when he was so much by the of the lawyers and the conduct of a trial that the domestic who accompanied him was unable to persuade him away the latter was compelled to return with the wagon to the farm leaving young on the spot who remained till the court rose late in the evening early next morning he appeared at his father s house to which he had returned on foot with a stronger resolution before to study the law if the consent of his parents could be obtained his mother having at length agreed he was removed to the city and placed under the of robert proud who then had the care of the friends public school for the purpose of receiving instruction in the latin language he continued about eighteen months with his venerable whose cautious and correct history of forms the only literary attempt to do justice to a subject which ought long ere this to have more fully employed the philosopher and the historian after leaving proud he went for a few months to a german school in which language it is not recollected that he made much at that time the proportion of persons in who made of j esq use of that language alone was much greater than at present and an acquaintance with it was deemed very useful by those who practised in the country courts which the most eminent members of the philadelphia bar were then in the habit of regularly attending these generally extended as far as to the northward and york to the westward in the year mr had the gratification of the study of the law under who although still a man had acquired a high degree of eminence at the bar here mr s application was intense and and assisted by a quick perception and memory his for admission at the of his time were seldom surpassed before his expired he had more than an usual share of the student s duties to perform he had been in this office about a	48
year when mr who had been one of the most gay and animated as well as one of the most industrious members of the bar was suddenly struck with serious religious impressions which he evinced by unexpectedly kneeling down in a public meeting of worship and uttering a and eloquent prayer after recovering from a fit of illness that ensued he determined to the practice of the law mr remained in the office his attachment and fidelity to his friend and the abilities he had already manifested and his knowledge of the business under the care of mr secured his confidence and the to whose it was left to employ other counsel and receive back their or at least in those cases where trials in court were not to take place to leave the causes under mr s care in many instances preferred the latter he was admitted in the court of common on the motion of at december term being then nearly twenty two years of age of william esq the period was not to a young of the elder class only mr and john continued in practice in the year mr was appointed chief justice the declining health of mr with some other causes rendered him no formidable opponent mr joseph reed and mr had also attained great eminence and possessed a considerable share of practice among his younger brethren of whom the court of that day exhibit many truly respectable names mr had to work his way and he worked it with success the of the last term of the common under the royal government that in the number of actions he then led the bar this was the term of june on the fourth of july the declaration of in suspended till a new organization all the business of the courts the first of the common at philadelphia when the of process was altered from the king to the was held in september only six were entered as admitted to practice whose names are recorded in the following order john john william jacob rush and d the british was at that time on its march from the head of to philadelphia and before the end of the month the occupation of the city removed from it every of the new form of government and drove away every individual attached to it who had the means of escape mr political opinions were always in favor of his country s rights in some of the subsequent of party he was not charged with contrary sentiments but his views were liberal his spirit was independent and he vas sometimes because he never gave way to popular delusion or popular violence when the british standard was hoisted in philadelphia he retired to his friends vol i of william esq in county with whom he continued pursuing however his practice at those courts which were beyond the reach of the enemy s power until the departure of the army re stored to the city its republican character mn then resumed his station at the bar which as well in its members as its character soon exhibited material changes subjects of higher importance than those which commonly fall to the lot of provincial were brought forward motives competent to rouse all the latent energies of the mind were constantly presenting themselves the bar was chiefly composed of young men possessing minds and industrious habits mr who had practised with great reputation at george from edward from reading occasionally and occasionally joseph reed till he was chosen a member of the supreme council in with mr who in august was appointed attorney general and mr formed an assemblage of powerful and splendid talents which might have with an equal number of any other in america the addition of mr who returned from france in and of mr who shortly afterwards removed from york and on the resignation of mr was appointed attorney general in its power and its the whole faculties of the bar were soon put in by the which were commenced against some of the to the british cause the popular excitement against them was high and the defence appeared to many a service of danger but the of the bar did not allow them to shrink from the conflict among the and took the lead mr was however frequently employed and always distinguished himself in the defence of he urged with force and success the right of an individual on the commencement of a civil war to choose of esq his party m chief justice was a zealous and steady republican but independent in his principles and conduct he discharged the duties of his office and his decision in favor of evinced the of his judgment and the disdain he for the popular excited by the occasion from the performance of these duties often as painful as they were honorable we trace the progress of mr to one more delightful to humanity in the year the took the lead in a public declaration of the of that odious and disgraceful of fellow creatures which had so long stained the character of america a provision perhaps imperfect but carried as far as then appeared practicable was made in favor of the of africa by which a chance of to those then living and a certainty of it to their issue was secured in support of this act an association of private individuals was speedily formed for the purpose of securing its benefits to those who were from ignorance poverty and depression to defend themselves mr became the champion of this order with a voluntary of all professional he and boldly pursued oppression into its artful recesses and succeeded in securing to the injured african all the protection to be found in the text of the law hundreds of the present generation of coloured people are unconsciously indebted to him for his exertions anxiety and exposure be fore they were bom this	48
benevolent association was subsequently by an act of the assembly was the first president and mr retained till his death the rank of first and for a long time the most efficient of its in the regular business of his profession mr soon acquired that to which by his talents and of william tion he was entitled in him it was that genius never shines more brightly than when it is enforced by the industry the great number of causes in which he was concerned the judgment which directed and the energies which accompanied both the preparation and the management of the trials evinced the justice of the general confidence that was in him in the doctrine of pleading in questions on and the nature of estates he was peculiarly in law he was perhaps equally eminent whatever points he made in a cause he was generally able to support as well by authority as by argument the of his reasoning was seldom weakened by unnecessary nor by the of wit or the illusions of fancy although pleasant and in social conversation his public speaking was rather of the grave and serious cast and often of the highest order the premises he laid being finally carried on to conclusions which the did not anticipate but was ultimately obliged to acknowledge much of the business in those days was in the court of common on the bench of which until mr accepted a seat in no lawyer was found hence a custom prevailed of introducing into jury trials authorities at full length the bench was to be instructed as well as the jury and the latter were naturally placed on a level with the former by the manner in which those authorities were explained and applied it was usual to load the table with books and to give a sort of discussion to ever question that arose there was a method a clearness a force in the manner of mr on such occasions aided by a voice a and an earnestness of which raised him high in the rank of popular esq his language indeed could not be said to be always the most classical or correct it possessed few of the higher of verbal selection few of the nice and delicate which are the natural results of a regular education he had been into business at so early an age he had so closely pursued the solid and the useful that he had had no leisure to attain the beautiful in the year he was elected a member of the of in which he soon attained a great and rendered the most important services to hb fellow citizens many measures of the highest interest adopt ed by that body originated with him one of these was the of the of the college of philadelphia which in a of political jealousy had been taken from it in but a more important was the alteration of the constitution of the state perhaps a more singular contrivance to produce and in that department where deliberation was a duty and to and when vigour and secrecy were required was never exhibited than in this constitution a single without check or control possessing a power of hastily passing the most important laws restrained only by the necessity of the bill for the consideration of yet without being required to wait any length of time to obtain a knowledge of their opinion on it an council composed of a member from every county as the number of increased a and an council of who were to the proceedings of the without the power to what they saw the strongest reason to condemn formed some of the features of this extraordinary frame of government the name of had been used to recommend it to popular acceptance although it was believed by many that his placid acquiescence together with some ef of william in answer to objections raised against it was the greatest extent of the s exertions in its favour to relieve the people of from the operation of such a system was one of the earliest efforts of mr it was necessary however that he should proceed with caution in some parts of the state it had still many friends as a product of the revolution to approve it was sometimes considered as a test of political it was asserted that its aimed at not with the spirit of on this account a somewhat novel was adopted at the close of one of the of the mr proposed and it was agreed that the members should at their next state to the house the sentiments of their on this important subject the result was favourable and in a majority was secured in favor of calling a not openly to make a new constitution but to consider in what respects the old one required alteration and at the election in ir mr was returned a member both of the and of this to the latter however he the chief portion of his time it was composed of the first talents that afforded and it is much to be regretted that no report has been preserved of those of science argument and eloquence which its the mere of the old constitution was abandoned as hopeless but in the composition of a new one some variety of opinion was manifested inclinations prevailed with one party while the other sought in the establishment of a firm and active in an independent in a of two branches and in most carefully the limits of each and preventing on the functions of others not to establish an aristocracy but to secure a self balanced government william esq sing the united properties of cautious deliberation energetic action and decision no one of the subjects before them occasioned more animated discussion than the question of in this mr was unsuccessful the weight of mr s influence thrown into the opposite scale and a	48
right of nearly unlimited has formed what has been deemed the only of the work in all other respects and even in this respect by some the constitution of has been considered as an admirable model as a careful in practice and a sound in principle of a representative republic securing force to the government and freedom to the people with these services terminated the labours of bin as a in the year the present constitution of the united states having come into operation he had the honour to receive from the father of his country the appointment of attorney of the united states for the district of the commission bore date september th on the death of mr in mr accepted the appointment of judge of the district court of the united states he retained this station too short a time to afford more than a transient evidence of the and precision the patience and which a good judge and which in him were fully developed in the year pecuniary considerations induced him to return to the bar at which he remained until a year or two before his death he did not find the eminence of his rank affected by his temporary absence his business as counsel in matters of difficulty and value continued to be great and for a long time his industry was the supreme court and the other of the united states with the higher of were the chief theatres of his employment and his were of william j as considerable as his reputation was exalted but he was not a selfish sordid man his were warm his he had not the talent of laying up money and when his business subsequently declined his friends regretted that while it was in his power he had not made a more comfortable provision for himself in his old age although no longer in office mr was not indifferent or in respect to political subjects warmly and uniformly attached to the interest in habits of close intimacy with many of the leading members of the general government much respected by our illustrious president and always alive to the true interests of his country he on every occasion where it was suitable or proper rendered his services to the public cause his sentiments were sometimes conveyed to the public by his own signature but his readers were more left to discover the author by the and of hb arguments and the vigor and of his it is to be regretted that he never employed himself in a regular series of political which his hand might have rendered of public and permanent utility he did not confine himself to the pen he attended public meetings here his opinions were delivered without disguise he assisted at a meeting of from different parts of the state who assembled at in the year and he was ready to in those and which the nature of our government so frequently on its active citizens his health had at times suffered violent and truth requires the acknowledgment that whether from this cause from the advance of age or rather from the temptations of his industry and attention began a few years before his death to the success of a lawyer depends upon the exercise of these qualities self interest is the motive of confidence and he who finds that his anecdotes of george iii ue not attended to diligently will prefer the employ ing of an inferior mind to the of brilliant genius or profound knowledge the advance of age has been stated as one of the possible causes in the present instance but mr s faculties did not appear to have suffered from the of time and it is perhaps just to affirm as a general that until the powers give way it rests with the individual himself to preserve and improve the energies of his mind and continue his usefulness in society the last two years of his life were spent at his delightful country seat on the banks of the where he gratified his fondness for and his taste for the beauties of nature in the summer of his constitution appeared to have received a fatal shock under which he lingered about two months and on the th of august he expired with a tranquillity and composure which could not be surpassed a few days before his death he drew up his own will in the most correct form and appeared indeed to the last moments to possess the most serene and mind his remains were in the burial ground of st peter s church in philadelphia in the presence of a numerous of the members of the bar who assembled to render the last tribute of respect to his memory and agreed to wear the of mourning for his loss art iv george the thirds his court and family london vo from the journal of is a pleasing well written of the events of the late long and interesting reign it is neither nor very political with anecdote and statements of facts and consequently offers especially at the present moment when all mind are so alive vol i anecdote hi to the subject a very agreeable either for or regular reading after a brief account of the family of it starts with the birth of prince george in and from that the principle of his life to the date of its lamented termination a few will best display the character of this publication and we select them with little regard to arrangement observing the order of time rather than the of subject and only looking that we do not on matters generally known instead of the which the volume contains on the first of the birth day of the infant heir there was a great of nobility and gentry at house to congratulate their royal accompanied with a exhibition of sixty youths all under twelve years of age sons	48
of eminent citizens who had formed themselves into a company of foot soldiers in proper military clothing and arrived at house in when the prince went to receive them with an invitation to enter they accordingly alighted formed into close column and marched into the residence with drums beating colours flying and music playing before them in this order they proceeded up stairs into the drawing room where they were received by their elected colonel prince george who was adorned with a hat and feather after which they were permitted to kiss his hand as well as those of the new bom edward and the princess that s mode of administration was certainly corrupt we are afraid cannot be a fact too which he never denied bearing the jokes of his friends upon subject with great good humour hanging at a dinner party repeated a line from g the word pray sir says one of his friends is that good latin why i think anecdotes of george what objection have you to it why says the other i did not know but the word might be ri in your though prince george on the death of his father in became heir apparent yet he did not succeed of course as prince of wales nor he particularly distinguished from the rest of the royal family until that creation took place for even in the new form of prayer he was merely included the form being to pray for their royal the princess of wales the duke the the issue of the prince and princess of wales and all the royal family anecdotes of george ii hasty and rather obstinate in his disposition he often found it difficult to yield to the state reasons or other m of policy by which the cabinet were generally guided on one occasion he had promised a vacant situation of some consequence to one whom he wished to oblige but the ca were as obstinate as himself and resolved to carry their accordingly the next time when they sat in the palace in an apartment next to the king s closet a blank appointment was drawn up in order that they might pay to his majesty the empty compliment of asking what name should be inserted in the commission the difficulty was however to fix upon the individual member who should brave the royal anger in the closet and the choice fell upon the witty lord who boldly but respectfully entered the closet with a pen in one hand and the blank com mission in the other and inquired of the king to whom he pleased that the should be given give it to the devil replied the angry monarch when very coolly prepared to fill up the blank but stopped short saying would your majesty please that this commission should run in the usual form to our and well beloved of george iii cousin the the clouded brow was instantly into a smile and the cabinet carried their point george ii and his queen preferred the theatre to the one in s inn fields which latter was notwithstanding always the most and crowded so that lord coming into it one night and being asked if he had been at the other house yes said he but there was nobody there except the king and queen and as i thought they might be talking business i came away on another occasion george ii was sitting at the and the had delayed their appearance to the great annoyance of the audience but shortly after to their great amusement a cat leaped upon the stage two gentlemen were sitting next each other in the boxes one of whom was known to be as enthusiastic a tory as the other was a rigid but loyal the tory observed that this made good the old that a cat might look at the king yes replied the with gravity and a very good king too to which the tory a little replied his gravity yes and a very good cat tool when george the third was crowned it is stated the king s whole behaviour at the was admired and commended by every one and particularly his manner of ascending and himself on his throne after his no actor in the character of in the distressed mother not even himself who was celebrated for it in the spectator ever ascended the throne so much grace and dignity amongst other anecdotes connected with this event it has been noticed of that he had the honour of his majesty him when prince of wales marrying him at st james s and crowning him at westminster besides which he his present ma the duke of york and some others of the royal anecdotes of george iii a series of distinguished circumstances which can hardly be in the history of any other it has been confidently stated that it was the king s intention at this period to a new order of to be called the order of for the encouragement of literature the fine arts and learned professions the order was to consist of twenty four knights and the sovereign and to be next in dignity to the military order of the bath the knights were to wear a silver star of nine points and a straw coloured ribbon from the right shoulder to the left a figure of was to have been embroidered in the centre of the star with the motto so certain were the of the measure being adopted that some actually took place amongst the for the new honours and it is extremely probable that the only c use of its failure was the king s apprehension that the numerous which would arise even from the fairest selection of talent and ability would render its institution an evil rather than a benefit especially at a moment when party measures ran so very high	48
upon political subjects in the distribution of honors the king never forgot his own personal feelings though he sometimes granted to political what was by no means agreeable to himself indeed in one instance he is said to have yielded a for a d the late dr had never been a favourite and when lord george requested his majesty to confer the title on that physician the king manifested much saying at length but if i do he shall no be my physician no sir replied his he shall be your majesty s and my physician this excited the royal smile and the bloody hand was added to the doctor s arms anecdotes george ii l the king was always of his promises and this year he conferred the of on lord north s brother then bishop of in compliance with an engagement pledged to lord north a few years before obtained under circumstances which display a little of the general system of court lord north had been particularly anxious to procure the see of for his brother and took a singular method of obtaining it by asking for him the of york on the of dr he well knew that the king intended to confer this dignity upon the bishop of dr as a reward for the particular care which he had taken of the prince of wales s education he asked it therefore expecting a refusal but still appeared to use the privilege of a prime minister in urging his claim his majesty as he was well aware continued resolute and the as if on a forlorn hope said i hope then your majesty will have no objection to him to when that see may become vacant to this the king assented and the death of dr thomas shortly after completed the arrangement besides attending divine worship he made it a rule to read s sermons every sunday evening having previously marked off with a pencil the divisions which he intended to read so that the entire collection with a little lasted all the round he was always a friend to religious liberty the king s was a preacher and his body coachman was a rank the person last alluded to was old it was known to the king that his coachman was a but that never caused him to get one unkind word and his majesty when the old man had retired if he met him never to stop his carriage to say how do you do lord on making a report to the king of the conviction of mr a catholic priest who was found guilty in the county of of mass was induced by a sense of reason and humanity to represent to his majesty the excessive severity of the penalty which the law imposed for the offence the king in a tone of the most immediately answered god forbid my lord that religious in opinion should sanction persecution or admit of one man within my suffering issue a pardon immediately for mr and see that he is set at liberty on another occasion passing through a town near a were collected interrupting the of some when the king inquiring the cause of the riot was told that it was only some affair between the and these but he immediately replied the are a very quiet kind of people and will disturb nobody and if i learn that any persons in my employ disturb them they shall instantly be dismissed this soon spread through the place and tranquillity was almost instantly restored was once engaged as a portrait painter of whom the following anecdote has been related when he commenced his first picture of the royal family there were ten children he made his sketch accordingly and attending two or three times went on with finishing the figures various circumstances prevented him from proceeding his majesty was engaged in business of more consequence her majesty was engaged some of the princes were the completion of the picture was consequently delayed when a messenger came to inform the artist that another prince was bom and must be introduced into the picture this was not easy but it was done with some difficulty all this took up much time when a second messenger arrived to announce the birth of a princess and to him that the illustrious stranger must have a mr place on the this was impossible without a new arrangement one half of the figures were therefore ted in order that the might be closer to make room to do this was the business of some months and before it was finished a letter came from one of the of honour informing the painter that there was another addition to the family for whom a place must be found this cried the artist is too much if they cannot sit with more regularity i cannot paint with more expedition and must give it up art v airs poems a new candidate for the has lately appeared before the british public in the person of mrs a lady who is said to be very young and ver amiable she certainly writes exceedingly sweet verses and deserves to be with the genuine poets of the day her works already published are tales and historic poems restoration of the works of art to italy modem greece s to a poem which gained a offered for the best on that subject and the the following extract from the will show the style of mrs but thou whose thoughts have no home above captive of earth and thou dare to love to nurse such feelings as delight to rest within that d shrine a parent s breast to fix each hope every tie on one frail idol destined but to die yet mock the faith that points to worlds of light where d souls made perfect re unite then tremble cling to every passing joy twin	48
d with the life a moment may destroy if there be sorrow in a parting tear still let r ever on thine ear mr poems if some bright hour on rapture s wing hath flown find more than anguish in the thought tis gone go to a voice such magic influence give thou not lose its melody and live and make an eye the star of thy soul and let a glance the springs of thought control gaze on a mortal form with fond delight till the fair vision with thy sight there seek thy blessings there repose thy trust lean on the willow the dust then when thy treasure best thy care think on that dread for ever and despair oh what is s strength the vacant eye by mind deserted hath a dread reply the wild laughter of despair the mirth of seek an answer there turn not away though pity s cheek grow pale close not thine ear against their awful tale they tell thee reason wandering from the ray of faith the blazing pillar of her way in the mid darkness of the stormy wave the struggling soul she could not save weep not sad o er desert plains d with the of grandeur arches of triumph long with weeds o and cities now the serpent s own earth has more aw ul ruins one lost mind whose star is d hath lessons for mankind of deeper import than each prostrate dome mingling its marble with the dust of rome he that hath beheld the parting spirit by its fears d cling in weak terror to its earthly chain vol statue of and from the dizzy brink in vain he that hath seen the last the union form d and d in wo well knows that hour is awful in the pride of youth and health by sufferings yet we talk of death as something which sweet in glory s arms to meet a closing triumph a majestic scene here gazing nations watch the hero s mien as d amidst the tears of all he folds his mantle to fall hush fond still obscure and lone yet not less terrible because is the last hour of they retire from life s throng d path unnoticed to as the light leaf whose fall to ruin bears some trembling insect s little world of cares in silence while around on the mighty forest reckless what is gone such is man s nd ere an hour be flown start not thou such may be thine own art vi statue of ton by this magnificent work of art has been designed and executed by the great for the of north the size is colossal of the future destination of it we cannot give any information it is supposed to be intended as an ornament to the chamber the following account of is taken from the london new monthly magazine the celebrated artist who is the subject of the present was bom in the year in the village of in the states he very early evinced a genius lor the art in which he has since become so distinguished when only twelve years of age he a lion in butter and sent it to the table of the rich notice of who was a liberal of the young artist s rising talent at the age of seventeen executed a half the size of life he then left his a of and went to study at the academy of fine arts where he obtained several in the expressed their approval of the talent he displayed in a group of and by presenting him with the sum of and sending him to finish his studies in rome he first distinguished himself in that capital by his seated on the which has been very well engraved by a group of and was the first production which afforded an idea of the originality of s taste in the expression of the softer affections this was followed in close succession by the group of and the of xiii erected in the church of st peter at rome the figure of holding a butterfly between her fingers the penitent one of his d now in the possession of m at paris and the statue of after this period also devoted his talents to subjects of a very different style of which his two and are the most successful examples m de says speaking of the every thing is expressed the style is broad and full there is nothing mean nothing borrowed it is all ease even to the execution among the works which he afterwards executed the most remarkable are another group of and the of the of wife of the duke of the idea of which is new and original though rather confused and the statue of king of which was not executed in marble until the year though the model was completed in in left italy to accompany prince on a journey through on his return to rome he executed his holding the head of which has been of can va to equal the at least as for as regards execution and beauty of form the pope purchased it to fill the place of the in the museum of the and appointed the artist general of the fine arts at rome shortly after produced a companion to the in the statue of when pope vii in token of his approbation created him a ro man knight and with his own hands presented to him the of the order about this period he received an invitation from napoleon to visit paris for the purpose of his bust but he refused to until the pope who happened at that time to be in france sent his to that effect which was instantly obeyed by on being asked by napoleon why he had not attended to	48
spirits of his crew but who was not to be subdued by one unsuccessful occurrence called out to his men well my lads you have seen an english up and now let s see what figure a spanish one will make in the same situation this well timed raised their spirits immediately and in less than an hour he set his on fire there my lads said he i knew we should hare our revenge soon k preacher once observing that several of his congregation had fallen asleep suddenly exclaimed with a loud voice a fire a fire where where cried his whom he had roused from their in hell added the for those who sleep under the of the holy gospel another preacher of a different persuasion more remarkable for drowsy finding himself in the same unpleasant situation with his or more literally speaking suddenly stopped in his discourse and himself in a whispering tone to a number of noisy children in the gallery silence silence children said he keep up such a noise ou will awake all the old folks be c ignorance of ear a child of one at the crew of his majesty s ship during the action with the united states vessel himself witli chasing a goat between decks not in the least terrified by destruction and death all round him he persisted till a cannon ball came and took off both the bind legs of the goat when her he jumped her crying now i ve caught you this singular anecdote is related in a work called visits of mercy being the second journal of the stated preacher to the hospital and in the city of new york by the rev e s lord this eminent lawyer s superiority of abilities was very early manifested both at school and at college they submission from his equals and impress ed his with respect the following anecdote is told of him having been absent from chapel or committed some other offence which came under the of the dean of the college who though a man of wit was not re for his learning the dean set as a task a paper in the spectator to into greek this he performed extreme ly well and in very little time but instead of carrying it up to the dean as he ought to have done he took it to the who was a good scholar and a very respectable character at this the dean was exceedingly and had mr before masters and fellows to answer fur his conduct was asked what he had to say for himself he coolly perhaps replied that what he had done proceeded not from but from a feeling of tenderness for the dean he did not wish to puzzle the dean greatly irritated ordered him out of the room and then insisted that the masters and fellows ought immediately to or him this request was nearly complied with when two of the fellows wiser than the rest observed that or a young man for such an office would do much injury to the college and expose it to ridicule and that as he would soon quit the college of his own accord to attend the temple it would be better to let the matter rest than him by so se miscellaneous articles ft proceeding was at length adopted was not of the kindness which he experienced on this occasion when he rose to the he procured for one of the gentlemen who recommended measures the of the of such was the consciousness which felt of his towering ties that before he was called to the bar he often declared to his friends that he would one day be of england and that the title he would take for his would be lord of an apt the late dr adam of the grammar school was supposed by his scholars to exercise a strong partiality for such as were of descent and on one occasion was very reminded of it by a boy of moan whom he was rather severely for his ignorance much more so than the boy thought he would hare done had he been the son of a right or oven of a plain you exclaimed the i don t think you can even the motto of your own native place of the town of what sir does mean ht means sir rejoined the boy that unless we are lords sons we need not come here upon the whole these are entertaining books for the lovers of anecdote and excellent presents for children in addition to what we have stated the discovery of de we may add that another ms the second part of some ancient works the first part of which was discovered by m mai at some time ago these originally belonged to a at whence they were removed at the commence ment of the century and conveyed partly to rome and to the second manuscript also contains some correspondence between and and the conclusion of the valuable on the commencement of which has already been published at of the lately passed in the par the act to be for more effectually preventing meetings and and is to continue in force five years no meeting of more than fifty except called by the lord lieutenant the five the major part of the grand jury or except it be a city or town meeting or a ward meeting or a meeting of c c can be held but in the parish or if that be divided into within the in which the persons calling it may reside and before the meeting be held six days notice in writing must be given by seven persons to some justice of the peace near the parish or the descriptions and places of abode of the persons are to be given in the notice a justice of the peace	48
to suffer death the exertions of the and newspaper of london and elsewhere procured an of this and the word was inserted in the bill in place of any action or suit against any justice of the peace or other for any thing done by them in of this act must be commenced within three months after the fact committed and must be tried in the county where the fact was committed ed et u de la par louis ex de such is the title of a work said to be of that was to appear at london in the month of march this work contains event relating to the political or financial situation of holland from the commencement of the reign of louis until the close of his government sketches of the invasion of italy and expedition in egypt in both of which the author was relations of most of the important events in spain and his refusal of the crown of that kingdom on the of charles th to his son aad the formal of the latter miscellaneous articles to copies of the letters of charles th to relating to the conspiracy of the latter against his father the hitherto secret motives of the marriage of the author with the daughter of the and their subsequent mutual agreement to a separation the events which occurred on the separation of the emperor and the the various proposed to napoleon the reason of his selecting the daughter of the emperor of numerous characteristic and interesting letters from napoleon to the author ex ing his views situation and purposes an history of the family of extracted from various histories of italy and other public documents all of which prove beyond doubt the illustrious rank they in italy even in the th century and it is somewhat singular that years ago bon was grand or governor of where is now the wife of napoleon as grand an important letter from the due de explaining the intentions of the emperor relating to holland the various united of france and russia to accommodate with england and a variety of anecdotes of the author of napoleon and of his family ed french at all times the carpet have been remarkable for designs and brilliant and colours the sale of these carpets has always been extremely limited they were at vast expense and were in some measure exclusively destined for the palaces of the royal family owing to recent improvements carpets may be now with equal perfection at a moderate price however the jury are of that the labour may be still further and the g ld is offered to the first who shall attain this object the french paper which were long with respect to the articles used for size and the manner of applying them are improvements at the last exhibition the paper of surpassed all the specimens of preceding years in some the vast is employed and this method which is doubly economical as it manual labour and the quality of the paper will probably be universally adopted the art of making entirely by is a invention sheets of paper six hundred feet long by tliis method were presented to the public at the late exhibition the manufacture of ornamental paper is constantly improving in france specimens of both coloured and after the antique prove the surprising advancement made in of industry among recent improvements the jury remarked a new method of gold ornaments the improvements in the art of preparing iron have a greater interest as france now possesses nearly hundred large or which produce a million of cast and wrought iron the use of iron and the process of with coal at the furnace are among the new which promise the happiest results great activity in the steel and brass the preparation of which is rendered by a newly discovered process and the working of the tin mines of and present new resources to french industry finally the manufacture of all of iron in articles such was my state the popular throb just b p to my heart when a expected from a dined with me that day and when the leg of mutton or rather the bone was removed we offered up the of an additional glass of punch for the health and of days and heaven heard the prayer of the kind mother that had remembered the necessities of her absent child in the evening we repaired to the devils one of them was upon his legs a fellow of whom it was impossible to decide whether be was most distinguished by the of his person or by the of his tongue just such another as harry flood would have called the highly gifted gentleman with the dirty and greasy found this learned personage in the act of bj the most preposterous and as i believe i shortly after told him the illustrious dead by affecting a confidential intercourse with them as he would with some nobleman his very behind bis back who if present would indignantly the of so insulting an intimacy he upon the glory of the roman spoke of as the famous contemporary and rival of and in the short space of one half hour transported the straits of three several times to the plains of thinking that i had a right to know something of these matters i looked at him with sur and whether it was the money in my pocket or my classical chivalry or most probably the of punch that gave my face a of confidence when our eyes met there was something like of battle in mine upon which the gentleman instantly changed his against antiquity into an against me and concluded by a few words of friendly counsel to orator who be doubted not possessed wonderful talents for although he would recommend him to show it in future by some more popular method his silence i his advice	48
being gradually worn away by time but more by modem fashion they resemble those picturesque of architecture which we see crumbling in various parts of the country partly by the waste of ages and lost in the additions and alterations of latter days poetry however with cherish ing fondness about the rural game and from which it has derived so many of its as the ivy winds its rich foliage about the arch and tower gratefully their support by clasping together their tottering remains and as it were them in of all the old however that of christ the strongest and most associations there is a tone of solemn and sacred feeling that with our and lifts the spirit to a state of and elevated enjoyment the services of the church about this season are extremely tender and inspiring they d on the beautiful story of the origin of our and the pastoral scenes that accompanied its they gradually increase in pathos during the season of advent until they break in full on the morning that t peace and good will to men i do not know a effect of music on the moral feel c a ia than to hear the full choir and the g a christmas in a cathedral and fitting every part of the vast pile with triumphant harmony it is a beautiful arrangements also derived from days that this festival which s the announcement of the religion of peace and love has been made the season for together of family and drawing closer a n those a of kindred hearts which the cares and and sorrows of the world are to cast loose of calling back the children a family who have launched forth in life and wan widely asunder once more to the paternal hearth that place of the affections there to grow young and loving again among the of childhood there is something in the very season of the year that gives a charm to the of christmas at other times we derive a great portion of our pleasures from the mere beauties of nature our feelings sally forth and themselves over the sunny landscape and we live abroad and every where the song of the bird the murmur of the stream the breathing fragrance of spring the soft of summer the golden pomp of autumn earth with its of refreshing and heaven with its deep delicious blue and its b cloudy magnificence all us with mute but exquisite delight and we in the luxury of mere sensation but in the depth of winter when nature lies of every charm and wrapped in of snow we turn for our to moral sources the and desolation of the landscape the short gloomy days and n while they our wanderings shut in our feelings also fi om rambling abroad arid make us keenly disposed for the pleasures of the social le our th are e concentrated our friendly sympathies more aroused we feel more sensibly the of each other s society and are brought more closely together by dependence on each other for enjoyment heart unto heart and we draw our pleasures from the deep wells of living kindness which lie in the quiet recesses of our and which when resorted to furnish forth the pure element of the gloom in makes the heart on entering the ro m filled with the glow and warmth of the evening fire the ruddy blaze an artificial summer and sunshine through the room and up each countenance into a welcome where does the honest face of hospitality into a broader and more cordial smile where is the shy glance of love more sweetly christmas by tbe fireside f and as the hollow blast of wintry wind rushes through th hall the distant door about the ment and down the chimney what can be more grateful than that feeling oi sober and sheltered security with which we look round upon the comfortable chamber and the scene of domestic i the english from the great of rural habits throughout every of have always been fond oi those and which agreeably interrupt the stillness of country life and were in former days particularly observant of the religious and social rites of christmas it is inspiring to read even the dry details which some have given of the quaint the the complete to and good fellowship with which this festival was celebrated it seemed to throw open every door and every heart it brought the peasant and the peer together and blended all ranks in one warm generous flow of joy and kindness the old of castles and houses with the harp and the christmas and their ample boards groaned under the weight of hospitality even the poorest cottage welcomed the season with green of bay and the cheerful fire glanced its rays through the in b the passenger to raise the latch and join thi gossip knot huddled round the hearth the long evening with jokes and oft told christmas tales one of the least pleasing of modem is the it has made among the hearty old customs it has completely taken off i the sharp and spirited of these i of life and has worn down society into a more smooth and but certainly a less characteristic surface many of the games and of christmas have entirely and like the sack of old are come matters of speculation and dispute among they flourished in times full of and when men enjoyed life roughly but heartily and vigorously times wild and picturesque which have furnished poetry with and the drama with its most ti active of characters and the is more worldly there is more of and less of enjoyment pleasure has expanded into a broader but a and has forsaken many of those deep and quiet channels where it flowed sweetly through the calm b of domestic life society has acquired a more enlightened and elegant	48
tone but it has lost many of its peculiarities christmas its fireside delights hie customs of golden hearted antiquity its and have passed away with the castles and stately houses in which they were celebrated they with the shadowy hall the great and the parlour but to the and gay drawing rooms of the modern however as it is of its ancient and honours christmas is still a period of delightful ex in england it is gratifying to see hat home feeling completely aroused which em hold so powerful a place in every i the preparations making on every side for the board that is again to unite friends and kindred i the presents of good cheer and ing those tokens of regard and of kind fee h he distributed about houses and of p ace and gladness these have the most pleasing effect in g fond associations and benevolent even the sound of the waits be breaks upon the a winter night with the effect of et j as i have been awakened by in that still hour when deep sleep i e d with a hushed li and christmas ing them with the sacred and joyous have almost fancied into another celestial choir peace and good will to mankind how delightfully the imagination when wrought upon by these moral influences turns every thing to melody and beauty the very of the cock who i sometimes heard in the profound repose of the country telling the night watches to his was thought by the common people to an the approach of this sacred festival some say tiiat ever that season comes birth it celebrated this bird of dawning sing th all night long and then they say no spirit dares stir abroad the nights are wholesome then no strike no fairy takes no witch hath power to charm so and so b the amidst the general call to happiness the bustle of the spirits and of die affections which prevail at this period what bosom can remain insensible f it is indeed the season of feeling the season for not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall but the genial flame of charity in the heart the scene of early love again rises green to memory beyond the waste of years and the idea of home with the fragrance of home dwelling joys the drooping spirit christmas as the breeze will sometimes the freshness of the distant fields to the weary pilgrim of the desert stranger and as i am in the land though for me no social hearth may blaze no hospitable roof throw open its doors nor the warm grasp of friendship welcome me at the threshold yet i feel the influence of the season beaming into my soul from the happy looks of those around me surely happiness is like the light of v ven and every countenance bright with smiles and glowing with innocent enjoyment is a mirror to others the rays of a supreme and ever shining benevolence he who can turn away from contemplating the felicity of his fellow beings and sit down and in his loneliness when all around is joyful may have his moments of strong excitement and selfish gratification but he wants the genial and social sympathies which constitute the charm of a merry christmas the stage coach est old in the preceding paper i have made some general observations on the christmas of england and am tempted to illustrate them by some anecdotes of a christmas passed in the country id which i would most courteously invite my reader to lay aside the of wisdom and to put on that genuine spirit which is of folly and anxious only for amusement in the course of a december tour in i rode for a long distance in one of the public on the day preceding christmas the coach was crowded both inside and out with passengers who by their talk principally bound to the of relations or friends to eat the stage coach the christmas dinner it was loaded also with of game and baskets and boxes of and hung dangling their long ears about the s box presents from distant friends for the impending feast i had three fine rosy school boys for my fellow passengers inside full of the health and manly spirit which i have observed in the children in this country they were returning home for the in high glee and promising themselves a world of enjoyment it was delightful to hear the gigantic plans of pleasure of the little and the they were to perform during their six weeks from the of book they were full of of the meeting with the family and hon down to the very cat and dog and of the joy they were to give their little sisters by the presents with which their pockets were but the to they seemed to look forward with the greatest impatience was with which i found to be a pony and according to their possessed of more than any the days of how he trot how he could run and then such leaps as be would i ke there was not a hedge in the whole country that he could not clear they were under the particular of the stage coach to whom whenever an opportunity presented they a host of questions and pronounced him one of the best fellows in the whole world indeed i could not but notice the more than ordinary air of bustle and importance of the who wore his hat a little on one side and had a large bunch of christmas stuck in the button hole of his coat he is always a personage full of mighty care and business but he is so during this season so many to execute in consequence of the great of presents and here per it may not be to	48
my readers to have a sketch that may serve as a general f of this very numerous and important class of who have a dress a manner a language an air peculiar to themselves and throughout the so that wherever an english stage coachman may be seen he cannot be mistaken for one of any other craft n he has commonly a broad full face with red as if the blood had been forced by hard feeding into every vessel of die skin he is swelled into jolly dimensions by of and his bulk is still further increased by a of coats in which he is buried like a the upper one to his heels he wears a broad low crowned hat a the stage coach of coloured handkerchief about his knotted tucked in at the bosom in time a large of his the present probably of some country his of some bright colour striped and his small extend far below the knees to meet a pair of boots which reach about half way up his all this costume is with much be has a pride in having his materials and notwithstanding the l of his appearance there is still that neatness and propriety of person which is almost inherent in an englishman he consequence and consideration along the road has with the village who look upon him as a man of great trust and dependence and he seems to have a good with bright eyed country the he arrives where the horses are to be changed he throws down the reins with some of an air and the cattle to the care of the his duty being merely to drive them from one stage to another when off the box his hands are in the pockets of his great co t and he rolls about the yard with an air of the most absolute here he is generally thb coach d g of boys aad those bat aod and run errands and do all kind of odd for the privilege of on th of the kitchen and the of the tap the e all look up to him as to an up his cant phrases echo his opinions ut horses and other topics of lore and above all endeavour to imitate his air und carriage every that has a coat to his back his hands in the pockets rolls in his gait talks and is an perhaps it might be owing to the pleading i that reigned in my own mind that i fancied z a w cheerfulness in every countenance throughout the journey a stage coach however carries animation always with it and puts the world in motion as it along the horn sounded at the entrance of a village produces a general bustle some hasten forth to meet friends with bundles and to secure places and in the of the moment can hardly take leave of the that them in the mean time the coachman has a world of small to sometimes he a hare or sometimes a small parcel or newspaper to the door of a public house and sometimes with knowing and words of sly import hands vol ii c the stage coach half blushing half laughing an shaped from some rustic admirer as the coach through the village every runs to the window and you have glances on ev side of fresh country faces and blooming girls at the comers are assembled of village and wise men who take r stations there for the important purpose of seeing company pass but the knot is generally at the blacksmith s to whom the passing of the coach is an event fruitful of much speculation the smith with the horse s heel in his lap pauses as the vehicle by the round the ir ringing and suffer the iron to grow and the in brown paper cap at the on the handle for a moment and the engine to heave a long drawn sigh while he through the smoke and of the perhaps the impending might have given a more than usual animation to the country for it seemed to me as if every body was in good looks and good spirits game poultry and other luxuries of the table were in brisk circulation in villages and shops were thronged with the were stirring briskly about putting their dwellings stage coach the glossy of with their bright ed began to appear at the dow the scene to mind an old writer s account of christmas preparations now and besides and ducks with beef and mutton must all die r for in twelve days a multitude of people not be fed with a little now and sugar and honey square it among and now or never must be in tune for the youth must dance and sing to get them a while the aged sit by the fire the country n aid leaves half her market and must be sent again if she forgets a pair of cards on christmas eve great is the of and ivy whether or dame wears the breeches and cards benefit the butler and if the cook do not lack wit he will sweetly his fingers i was roused from this fit of luxurious meditation by a shout from my little travelling companions they had been looking out of the coach windows for the last few miles every tree and cottage as they approached home and now the e was a general burst of joy there s john and there s old i and there s cried tbe happy le clapping their at the end of a lane there was an old sober look ing servant ia waiting for them he was accompanied by a and by c q the stage coach e a little old rat of a with a shaggy mane and long rusty tail who quietly by the road side little dreaming of the	48
bustling times that awaited him i was pleased to see the fondness with which tb fellows leaped about the steady old footman and the who his for joy but was the great object pf interest all wanted to mount at once and it with some difficulty that john arranged th t th y should ride by turns and the eldest should ride first off they sat at last one on the pony with the dog bounding and barking before him and others holding john s hands both talking at once and overpowering him with questions about home and with school anecdotes i looked after them i with a feeling in which i do not know whether pleasure or melancholy for i was reminded of those days when like them i had neither known care nor sorrow and a was the summit of earthly felicity we stopped a few moments afterwards to water the horses and on our route a turn of the road brought us in sight of a neat country seat i could just distinguish the forms of a lady and two young girls in the and i saw my little with and old john along the carriage road i leaned out of the coach window in hopes the stage coach of witnessing the happy meeting but a grove of trees shut it from my sight in the evening we reached a village where i had determined to pass the night as we drove into great of the inn i saw on one side the light of a rousing kitchen fire beaming through a window i entered and admired for the time that picture of convenience neatness and broad honest ment the kitchen of an english inn it was of spacious dimensions hung round with copper and tin vessels highly polished and decorated here and there with a christmas green tongues and of bacon were suspended from the ceiling a jack made its ceaseless beside the fire ce and a clock in one corner a deal table extended along one side of the kitchen wi h a cold round of beef and other hearty upon it over which two foaming of ale seemed mounting guard travellers of order were preparing to attack this stout while others sat smoking and over their ale on two high backed seats beside the fire trim were hurrying backwards and forwards under the directions of a fresh bustling landlady j but still seizing an occasional moment to exchange a word and have a laugh with the group around the fire the scene completely realized c the stage coach poor robin s humble idea of the comforts of mid winter now trees their leafy hats do bare to reverence winter s silver a handsome hostess merry host a pot of ale now and a toast tobacco and a good coal fire are things thb season doth i had not been long at the inn when a post chaise drove up to the door a young gentleman stepped out and by the light of the lamps i caught a glimpse of a countenance which i thought i knew i moved forward to get a nearer view when his eye caught mine i was not mistaken it was frank a good humoured young fellow with whom i had once travelled on the our meeting was extremely cordial for the countenance of an old fellow traveller always brings the recollection of a thousand pleasant scenes odd adventures and excellent jokes to discuss all these in a transient interview at an inn was and finding that i was not pressed for time and was merely making a tour of observation he insisted that i should give him a day or two at his father s country seat to which he was going to pass the and lay a few miles distance foot robin s the stage coach it is better than eating a solitary christmas dinner at at inn said he and i can assure you of a hearty welcome in something of the old fashioned style his reasoning was and i must confess the preparation i had seen for universal and social enjoyment had made me feel a little impatient of my loneliness i closed therefore at once with his invitation the chaise drove up to the door and in a few moments i was on my way to the family mansion of the c christmas eve saint saint tliis house from wicked the mare and the that is good fellow robin keep it from all evil spirits rats and from time to tlie next prime right it was a brilliant moonlight night but extremely cold our chaise whirled rapidly over the frozen ground the post boy cracked his whip incessantly and a part of the time his horses were on a gallop he knows where he is going said my companion laughing and is eager to arrive in time for some of the merriment and good cheer of the servants hall my father you must know is a of the old school and himself upon keeping up something of old english hospitality he is a tolerable specimen of what you will rarely meet with now a days in its purity christmas eve the old english country gentleman for our men of fortune spend so much of their time in town and fashion is carried so much into the country that the strong rich peculiarities of ancient rural life are almost polished away my father however from early years took honest for his text book instead of he determined in his own mind that there was no condition more truly honourable and than that of a country gentleman on his paternal lands and therefore passes the whole of his time on his estate he is a advocate for the revival of the old rural games and and is deeply read in the writers ancient and modem who have treated on the subject indeed his favourite range of	48
reading is among the authors who flourished at l two centuries since who he wrote d thought more like true than of their he even regrets sometimes that he had not been bom a few earlier when england was and h i its peculiar and customs as he lives at some distance from the main road in rather a lonely part of the without any rival gentry near him he has that most of all blessings to an englishman an of indulging in the bent of his own s complex gentleman christmas eve vi humour without being representative of the oldest family in the neighbourhood and a great part of the b ing his tenants he is much looked up to and in general is known simply by the of the squire a tide which has been accorded to the head of the family since time i think it best to give you these hints about my worthy old father to prepare you for any little tiiat might otherwise appear absurd we had passed for some time along the wall of a park and at length the chaise stopped at the gate it was in a heavy magnificent old of iron bars wrought at top into and flowers the huge square columns that supported the gate were surmounted by the crest close adjoining was the porter s k sheltered under dark fir trees and almost buried in the post boy rung a large porter s bell which through the still frosty air and was an by the distant barking of dogs with which the mansion house seemed an old woman immediately appeared at the gate as the moonlight fell strongly upon her i had a full view of a primitive dame dressed very much in the antique taste with a neat and and her silver hair peeping from under a cap of snowy whiteness she came forth with many expressions of simple joy at ing her young master her husband it seemed was up at the house keeping christmas eve in the hall they could not do without him as he was the best hand at a song and story in the household my friend proposed that we should alight and walk through the park to the hall which was at no great distance while the chaise should follow on our road wound through a noble avenue of trees among the naked branches of which the moon glittered as she rolled through the deep vault of a sky the lawn beyond was with a slight covering of snow which here and there sparkled as the moon beams caught a frosty and at a distance might be seen a thin transparent stealing up from the low grounds and threatening gradually to the landscape my companion looked round him with transport how often said he have i up this avenue on returning home on school how often have i played under these trees when a boy i feel a degree of filial reverence for them as we look up to those who have cherished us in childhood my father was always scrupulous in our and having us around him on family he used to direct and christmas our games with the that some parents do the studies of their children he was very particular that we should play the old english games according to their original form and consulted old books for precedent and authority for every yet i assure you there never was so delightful it was the policy of the good old gentleman to make his children feel that home was the happiest place in the world and this delicious home feeling as one of the gifts a parent could bestow we were interrupted by the of a troop of dogs of all sorts and size and hound and of low degree that disturbed by the ringing of the porter s bell and the rattling of the chaise came bounding across the lawn the dogs and all aad sweetheart see they bark at me v cried laughing at the sound of his voice the bark was changed into a of delight and in a moment he was surrounded and almost overpowered by the caresses of the faithful animals we had now come in full view of the old family mansion partly thrown in deep shadow and partly lit up by the cold it was an irregular so as building of aod seemed the architecture of different periods wing was evidently very ancient with heavy bow windows out and over ran with ivy from among the foliage of which the small diamond shaped panes of glass glittered with the beams the rest of the house was in the french taste of charles the second s time having been repaired and altered as my friend told me by one of his ancestors who returned with that monarch at the restoration the grounds about the were laid out in the old formal manner of artificial flower beds raised and heavy stone ornamented with a leaden statue or two and a jet of water the old gentleman i was told was extremely careful to preserve this finery in all its original state he admired this fashion in it had an air of magnificence was and noble and good old family style the boasted imitation of nature in modern had sprung up with modern republican notions but did not suit a government it of the system i could not help smiling at this introduction of politics into though i expressed some apprehension that i should find the old gentleman rather in his creed frank assured me however th t it was as m in which he r he iti hi with politics and he believed he had got this notion from a member of par who once passed a few weeks with him the squire was glad of any argument to defend his trees and formal which bad been occasionally attacked by	48
modem land as we tbe we heard the of music and now and then a burst of from one end of the building this said must from the servants hall where a great of was permitted and even encouraged by the squire the twelve days of christmas provided every thing was done to ancient age here were kept up the old games of blind shoe the wild mare hot steal the white loaf bob apple and snap the and christmas candle were regularly burnt and the with its white hung up to the of all the pretty house maids so intent were the servants upon their sports that we had to ring repeatedly before we could the is still bang up in farm and st and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it each time a from the bush when the are plucked the privilege ceases i eve make ourselves heard on our l fm ti die squire came out to receive by his two sons a ye g of the army home on leave of absence other an just from the university the squire was a fine looking old with silver hair curling lightly round an countenance in which a the like myself of a previous hint or t might discover a singular mixture of whim aiid benevolence the meeting was warm and affectionate a the evening was far advanced the would not permit us to change our travelling dresses but ushered us at once to the company which was am in a large old fashioned hall ik was composed of different branches of a family where there were the usual s of old and comfortable blooming country cousins and eyed boarding school they were occupied some at a round game of conversing around the fire place at one end of the hall was a group of the young folks some nearly grown up others of a more tender and age engrossed by a merry ai ca of wooden horses trumpets eve p about tbe floor showed traces oi a of little fairy beings having a happy day had been carried off to her a peaceful nights t the mutual greetings were going cm be ti ii and his relatives i had time to the i have o it a hall for so it certainly in old times and the squire evidently endeavoured to restore it to some of its primitive state over the heavy pro fire place was suspended a of a in standing by a white horse and on wall hung a and home at hie end an pair of inserted in the the branches serving as which to hats and spurs and in the comers of die apartment were pieces fishing rods and other sporting implements the furniture was of the of former days though some articles of modem convenience had been added and tt e oak i floor had been the whole presented an odd mixture of parlour and hall the grate had been removed from the wide overwhelming fire to make way for a fire of wood ib the midst of which was an enormous log glowing blazing and sending forth a vast volume of tight and heat this i understood was the vol ii d m christmas eve the was particular in brought in aud on a christmas eve ancient custom it was really delightful to see e old squire his hereditary elbow by the hospitable fir side of his ancestors and looking around bim like the sun of a system beaming w and to every heart even the very dog that th cl is oi great lo of wood sometimes the of a brought into the with great ceremony on christmas eve laid in the fire place and lighted with the brand of last year s while ted there was great drinking singing and telling of tales sometimes il was accompanied by christmas bat in the ta s the only light was from the ruddy of the great wood fire the was to bum all night if it went out it was a sign of ill lock il it in one of his songs come bring with a noise my the christmas log to the firing while my good she bids ye all be free and drink to your hearts desiring the is still burnt in many farm h uses and in england io tbe north and there are several with it among the if a person come to the house while it is burning or a son bare footed it is considered an ill omen the brand remaining from the is put away to light the next s christmas fire at his as he lazily shifted i f position and yawned would look fondly up in his master s face wag his tail against the floor and himself to sleeps c of kind b protection there is an the heart in genuine hospitality cannot d ed but is felt and puts th at at his ease i had not been seated m iy minutes by the comfortable hearth of the worthy old before j found as much at as if i had been one of the s w announced shortly after our arrival it as served up in a spacious the m of which shone with wax and around which be family portraits decorated with aiid ivy beside the d fights two great ix called christmas g ns were placed on a highly tie the family plate the table with substantial fare but the supper of a dish made wheat cakes boiled in milk with rich being a di h in old tim for christmas eve i u find my old friend pie in e of ie feast and finding him to be o and that i tt d not be of i greeted him with all the warmth v a d v we usually t ii old and g	48
i his partner wo it might not she however waa ly of any such application for never looked at the singer but kept her eyes cast upon the her face was it is true it beautiful blush and there was a gentle heaving of the bosom but all that was doubtless caused by the exercise of the dance indeed so great was her indifference that she was amusing herself with to pieces a choice of hot house flowers and by the time the song was concluded the lay in ruins on the floor c b si a the party n w up for ih witb th kind hearted old custom of shaking a i passed through the hall on way to my the dying e rs of the c till nt forth i dusky glow and had it not been the season no spirit dares abroad i should have been half tempted to steal my room at midnight and peep whether the might not be at their about the hearth my chamber was in the old part of the mansion the ponderous furniture of which might have been in the days of the giants the room was with of heavy carved work in which flowers and grotesque faces were strangely and a row of black looking portraits stared mournfully at me from the walls the bed s of rich though faded with a lofty and stood in a opposite a bow window i had scarcely got into bed when a strain of music ed to break foi th in the air just below the i listened and found it proceeded from a band which i concluded to be the waits from some i village they went round the house laying under the windows i drew aside the to hear them more distinctly the fell through the upper part of the partially lighting up the apartment th sounds as they became more soft and christmas ev and seemed to accord with quiet and i listened and listened they became more and more tender and remote and as they gradually died away my head sunk upon the pillow and i fell asleep i r ii r christmas day and give the to this that sees december d to may why does the winter s like a field beset with com or smell like to a home thus on tiie sudden ac ome and sea the wh j things be n i awoke the next it ds it all the events of the preceding evening had been a dream and nothing but the identity of the ancient chamber convinced me of their reality while i lay musing on my pillow i heard the sound of feet outside of the door and a whispering consultation presently a choir of small voices forth an old christmas the burden of which was oar he was bom on d y in the christmas i rose on my clothes opened the door suddenly and beheld one of the most fill little fairy groups that a painter could imagine it consisted of a boy and two girls the eldest not more than six and lovely as they were going the rounds of the house and singing at every chamber door but my sudden appearance frightened them into mute they remained for a moment playing on their lips with their and now then stealing a shy glance from under their eyebrows until as if by one impulse they away and as they turned an angle of the g i heard them laughing in triumph at their escape every thing to produce kind and happy feelings in this strong hold of old fashioned the of my chamber looked o t upon what in summer would have been a landscape there was a sloping lawn a fine stream winding at the foot of it and a tract of park l w ith noble p of trees and herds of deer at a distance w s a hamlet with the smoke from tl cottage hai u over it d a church with its dark in relief against the clear cold sky the house was sur rounded with according to the english custom which an appearance of summer but th was extremely ch as bay ihe light of die preceding had be a by the cold and covered all ae trees and every blade of grass with its fine the rays of a bright morning sun had a dazzling effect among the glittering foliage a robin perched upon the top of a mountain ash that hung its clusters of red just before my window was himself in the sunshine and a few notes and a was all the glories of his train and shutting with the pride and gravity of a on the terrace walk below i had scarcely dressed myself when a servant appeared to invite me to family prayers he showed me the way to a small chapel in the old wing of the where i found the part of the family assembled in a kind of aw with cushion large r books the servants were seated on below the old read prayers from a desk in front of the gallery and as clerk and made the and i must do him the justice to say that he himself ith great gravity and decorum c j the service was followed by a m himself had his favourite r and it ad adapted to an old church melody by i as re w e good among t e ko the effect was extremely e i but i was particularly gratified by the a of hearty and sudden sally of grateful with which the worthy squire delivered one his eye glistening and voice rambling out of all the bounds of time and tune tis that crown st mj mi f t m k to tin hut miles my aad	48
singer being exceed and capricious and very liable to accident as the morning though frosty was remarkably fine and clear the most of the family walked to the church which was a very old building of grey tone and stood near a village about half a mile from the park gate adjoining it was a low snug which seemed with the church the front of it was perfectly with a tree that had been trained against its walls y through the dense foliage of which had been formed to light into the small antique as we passed this sheltered nest the parson issued forth and preceded us i had expected to see a sleek such as is often found in a snug living in vicinity of a rich patron s table but i was the pardon was a meagre black looking man with a wig that was too wide and stood off from each ear so that his head seemed to have shrunk away within it like a dried in its shell he wore a rusty coat with great skirts and pockets that would have held the church bible and prayer book and his small legs seemed e christmas day still smaller from being planted in large shoes decorated with enormous i was informed by frank that the parson had been a of his father s at oxford and had received this living shortly after the latter had come to his estate he was a complete hunter and would scarcely read a work printed in the roman character the of and de were his delight and he was in his after such old english writers as have fallen into oblivion from their in deference perhaps to the notions of mr he had made into the rites and customs of former times and had been as zealous in the inquiry as if he had been a boon companion but it was merely with that spirit with which men of temperament follow up any tract of study merely because it is learning indifferent to its nature whether it be the illustration of the wisdom or of the and of antiquity he had over these old volumes so intensely that they seemed to have been reflected into his countenance which if the face be indeed an index of the mind might be compared to a title page of black letter on reaching the church porch we found the parson the grey headed for having christmas day used among the with the church was decorated it was he observed an plant by having been used by the in their mystic ceremonies and though it might be innocently employed in the of halls and yet it had been deemed by the fathers of the church as and totally unfit for sacred purposes so was he on this point that the poor was obliged tp strip down great part of the humble of bis taste before the parson would consent to enter upon the service of the day the interior of the church was venerable but simple on the walls were several r ments of the and just beside the altar was a tomb of ancient on which lay the of a warrior in with his legs crossed a sign of his having been a i was told it was one of the family who had in the holy land and the same whose picture hung over the fire place in the hall during service master stood up in the and repeated the very audibly that kind of devotion observed by a gentleman of the old school and a man of old family i observed too that he turned over the leaves of a prayer book with something of a flourish possibly to e show oflf au en seal ring which enriched one of his fingers and which had the look of a family but he was evidently most about the musical of the service keeping his eye fixed intently on the and beating time with much and emphasis the was in a small gallery and presented a most of heads piled one above the other which i noticed that of the village tailor a pale fellow with a re treating forehead and chin who played on the and seemed to h ave blown his face to a point and there was another a short many stooping and at a bass so as to show nothing but the top of a round bald head like the egg of an there were two or three pretty faces among the female singers to which the keen air of a frosty morning had given a bright rosy tint but the gentlemen had evidently been like old more for tone than looks and as several had to sing from the same book there were of odd not unlike those groups of we sometimes see on country th usual services of the choir were managed tolerably well the parts generally a little behind the instruments and some now and then making up for lost time by christmas day over a passage with prodigious and more bars than the keenest fox hunter to be in at the death but the great trial was ah that had been prepared and arranged by master and on which he had founded great expectation there was a blunder at the very outset the became master was in a fever every thing went on and until they came to a chorus beginning now let us sing with one accord which seemed to be a signal for parting company all became discord and confusion each shifted and got to the end as or rather as soon as he could excepting one old in a pair of horn spectacles and a long nose who happening to stand apart and being wrapped up in his own melody kept on a course his d his book and winding all up by a of at least three bars duration the parson gave	48
us a most sermon the rites and ceremonies of christmas and propriety of it not merely as a day of but of rejoicing supporting of his opinions by the earliest of the and them by the authorities of of st st t and a cloud more of saints christmas day aad fathers from whom he made copious i was a little at a loss to perceive the of such a mighty array of forces to maintain a point which no one present seemed inclined to dispute but i soon found that the good man had a of ideal to contend with having in the course of his on the subject of christmas got completely in the of the revolution the made such a fierce assault upon the of the church and poor old christmas was driven out of the land by of ment the worthy parson lived but with times past and knew but a little of the present shut up among worm in the retirement of his little study the pages of old times were to him as the of the day while th from the flying eagle a small published december th the house spent much tone day about the of the navy for settling the lit nod mate they rose were presented with a terrible remonstrance ag christmas day upon divine v xv and in honour of the lord s day upon these john xx rev i xvi a in which is called s and those and who observe it c in consequence of which parliament spent some time in consultation about the of christmas day passed orders to that effect and resolved to sit on the following day which was commonly called christmas day christmas day q era of the revolution was mere modem he foi ot that nearly two centuries had elapsed since the fiery persecution of poor pie throughout the land when was as mere and roast beef as and that christmas had been brought in again triumphantly the merry court of king charles at the restoration he kindled into warmth the of his contest and the host of imaginary foes with whom he had to combat had a stubborn conflict with old and two or three other forgotten of the round heads the subject of christmas and concluded by urging his hearers in the most solemn and af manner to stand to the customs of their fathers and feast and make merry on this joyful of the church i have seldom known a sermon attended apparently with more immediate for on leaving the church the congregation seemed one and all with the of spirit so earnestly by their the elder folks gathered in knots in the church yard greeting and shaking hands and the children ran about crying and repeating some uncouth three in a crack nuts and cry christmas day the parson who had joined us informed me had been handed down from days of the villagers their hats to the squire as he passed giving him the good wishes of the with every appearance of sincerity and were invited by him to the hall to take something to keep out the cold of the weather and i heard blessings uttered by several of the poor which con me that in the midst of his the worthy old had not forgotten the true christmas virtue of charity on our way homeward his heart seemed overflowing with generous and happy feelings as we passed over a rising ground which commanded something of a prospect the sounds of rustic merriment no v and then reached our ears the squire paused for a few moments and looked around with an air of the beauty of the day was of itself sufficient to inspire notwithstanding the of the morning the sun in his journey had ac sufficient power to melt away the thin covering of snow from every and to bring out the living green which an english landscape even in mid winter large tracts of smiling contrasted with the dazzling whiteness of the sha ed slopes and hollows every bank on which the broad rays rested i its silver of cold and through the dripping grass and sent up slight to contribute to the thin that hung just above the surface of the earth there something truly cheering in this triumph of warmth and over the frosty of winter it was as the squire observed an of christmas hospitality breaking through the of ceremony and selfishness and every heart into a flow he pointed with to the indications of good cheer from the of the houses and low cottages i love said he to see this day well kept by rich and poor it is a great thing to have one day in the year at least when you are sure of being welcome wherever you go and of having as it were the all thrown open to you and i am almost disposed to join with robin in his on every enemy to this honest festival those at christmas do and would hence him may they with old duke dine or else may squire catch m the squire went on to lament the deplorable decay of the games and amusements which were once at this season among the lower christmas bay orders and bj the higher when the old halls of castles and houses were thrown open at daylight when the tables were covered with and beef and humming ale when the harp and the all day long and when rich and poor were alike welcome to enter and make merry our old games and local customs said he had a great effect in making the peasant fond of his home and the promotion of them by the gentry made him fond of his lord they made the times and kinder and better and i can truly say with one of our old poets i like them well the curious	48
ss and ah pretended gravity of that seek to banish hence these harmless sports have away much ancient honesty the nation continued he is altered we have almost lost our simple true hearted they have broken asunder from the higher classes an english gentleman at the opening of the great day i e on christmas day in the morning had all his tenants and neighbours entered his hall by day break the strong beer was and the black went about with toast sugar and good cheese the the great must be boiled by daybreak or else two young men must take the maiden e the cook by the arms and run her round the market place till she is ashamed of her b about our sea coal fire christmas day s and seem to think their interests are separate they have become too knowing and begin to read newspapers listen to ale house and talk of reform i think one mode to keep them in good in these hard times would be for the nobility and gentry to pass more time on estates mingle more among the country people nd set the merry old english games going again such was the good squire s project for public discontent and indeed he had once attempted to put his doctrine in practice and a few years before had kept open house during the in the old style the country people however did not understand how to play their parts in the scene of hospitality many uncouth circumstances occurred the was by all the of the county and e beggars drawn into the neighbourhood in one week than the parish officers could get rid of in a year since then he had contented himself with inviting the decent part of the neighbouring to call at the hall on christmas day and beef and bread and ale among the poor that they might make merry in their own dwellings we had not been long home when the sound of music was heard from a distance a band df country lads without coats their shirt sleeves tied with their decorated with christmas day and clubs in hands were seen r ing up the avenue followed by a large number of villagers and they stopped before the hall door where the music struck up a peculiar air and the lads performed a curious and intricate dance advancing retreating and striking their clubs together keeping exact time to the music while one crowned with a fox s skin the tail of which down his back kept round the skirts of the dance and rattling a christmas box with many the squire eyed this fanciful exhibition with great interest and delight and gave me a full account of its origin which he traced to the times when the held possession of the island plainly proving that this was a of the sword dance of the it was now he said nearly but he had accidentally met with traces of it in the neighbourhood and had encouraged its revival though to tell the truth too apt to be followed up by rough play and broken heads in the evening after the dance was concluded the whole party was entertained with and beef and the squire himself mingled among the and was received with awkward de of deference and regard it is true i perceived two or three of the younger as christmas day were raising their to their mouths when the squire s back was turned making something of a and giving each other the wink but the moment they caught my eye they pulled grave faces arid were exceedingly with master however they all seemed more at their ease his varied occupations and amusements had made him well known throughout the neighbourhood he was a visitor at every farm house and cottage the farmers and their wives with their daughters and like that type of a bachelor the humble bee the sweets from all the rosy lips of tlie country round the of the guests soon gave way before good cheer and there is something genuine and affectionate in the gaiety of the lower orders when it is excited by the and familiarity of those above them the warm glow of gratitude enters into their mirth and a kind word or a small frankly uttered by a patron the heart of the more than oil an wine when the squire had retired the merriment increased and there was much joking and laughter particularly between master and a hale ruddy faced white headed farmer who appeared to be the wit of the village for i observed all his companions to wait with open mouths for vol ii f christmas a and burst into a laugh could well understand whole house indeed seemed abandoned to merriment as i passed to my room to dress for dinner i heard the sound of music in a co and looking through a window that commanded iu i perceived a band of wandering with an pipes and a pretty was dancing a with a smart country lad while several of the other servants were looking on in the midst of her sport the girl caught a glimpse of my ace at the window and colouring up ran an air of affected r sion the christmas now is come our joyful st feast let be vith leaves is and every post with all our neighbours chimneys smoke and christmas blocks are burning their they t meals choke and all their are turning the door let lie and if for cold it to die le bury t is a and he i i had finished my toilet and was with frank in the library when we heard a distant sounds which he informed me was a signal for the serving up of the dinner the squire kept up old customs in kitchen as well as hall and the rolling pin struck upon the by	48
the cook summoned the servants to carry in the in this nick the cook knocked thrice au a ui did each serving man with dish in hand d up like our presented and away ie tf t the christmas the dinner was served up in the great hall where the squire always held his christmas banquet a blazing fire of logs had been heaped on to warm the spacious apartment and the flame went sparkling and up the wide mouthed chimney the great picture of the and his white horse had been decorated with for the occasion j and and ivy had likewise been round the and weapons on the opposite wall which i understood were the arms of the same warrior i must own by the bye i had strong doubts about the of the painting and as having belonged to the they certainly having the stamp of more recent days but i was told that the painting had been so considered time out of mind and that as to the it had been found in a lumber room and elevated to its present situation by the squire who at once determined it to be the of the family hero and as he was absolute authority on all such subjects in his own household the matter had passed into current a was set out just under this on which was a display of plate that might have at least in variety with a parade of the vessels of the temple cups and the gorgeous of good companionship that had gradually the christmas through many generations of jovial house before these stood the two candles beaming like two stars of the first magnitude other lights were distributed in branches and the whole array glittered like a of silver we were ushered into this scene with the sound of the old being on a stool beside the fire place and his instrument with a vast deal more power than melody never did christmas board display a more goodly and gracious assemblage of counter those who were not handsome were at least happy and happiness is a rare of your hard favoured i always consider an old english family as well worth studying as a collection of s portraits or s prints there is much lore to be ac much knowledge of the of former times perhaps it may be from having continually before their eyes those rows of old family portraits with which the of this country are certain it is that the quaint features pf antiquity are often most faithfully in these ancient lines and i have traced an old family nose through a whole picture gallery handed down from generation to generation almost from the time of the conquest something of the kind was to be observed in the worthy company me many of their had evidently in a age and been merely copied by succeeding and there was one in particular of with a high roman nose and an antique aspect who a great of the squire s beings as he a all over and tiie very counter part of one of hia ancestors who figured in the of henry parson said grace was not a short fa one such as is addressed to the deity in these days bnt a long vi lt w one of the ancient school there now a pause as if something was suddenly the butler entered the degree of bustle he was attended by a servant on each side with a wax light and bore a silver dish on was an enormous pig s head decorated with a in its mouth which was placed great formality at the head of the table the moment this made its appearance the struck up a flourish at the of which the young on receiving a hint from the squire gave with an air of the most comic gravity an old the first of which was as follows the in i with gay and i pray you all qui in though prepared to witness many of th little from being df th peculiar of mine ho st yet i confess the parade which so odd u dish vas somewhat perplexed me until i gathered the pf the squire and the parson that it was to represent the bringing in of the s head a dish served ip ti and the sound of and song at great tables christmas day i like the old custom said the squire not because it is stately and pleasing in itself but because it was observed at the college at oxford at which i was educated when i hear the old song it brings to mind the time when i was young arid and the noble old college fellow about it in their black gowns many of whom poor lads are now in th ir graves the parson mind was not haunted by such as t tions arid who as always more taken up with ihe the objected to the s version of the which he affirmed was different from that sung at college he went on with the dry perseverance of a com f th christmas to give the college accompanied by sundry addressing himself at first to the company at large but finding their attention gradually diverted to other talk and other objects he lowered his tone as his number of diminished until he concluded his remarks in an under voice to a fat headed old gentleman next him who silently engaged in the discussion of a huge plate full of turkey the old ceremony of serving up the s head on christmas day is still observed in the hall of queen s college oxford i was by the parson ith a copy of the as now sang and as it may be acceptable to of my readers as are in these grave and learned matters i give it entire the s bead in hand	48
bear i with and and i pray you my masters be merry in the s head as i understand is the dish in all this land which thus d with a gay let us c our steward hath provided this in honour of the king of bliss which on this day to be served is in c c c the christmas dinner the table was literally loaded with good cheer and presented an of country abundance in this season of overflowing a distinguished post was allotted to ancient as mine host termed it being as he added the standard of old english hospitality and a joint of goodly presence and full of expectation there were several dishes decorated and which had evidently something in their but about which as i did not like to appear over curious i asked no questions i could not however but notice a pie decorated with s feathers in imitation of the tail of that bird which a considerable tract of the table this the squire confessed with some little hesitation was a pie though a pie was certainly the most but there had been such a among the this season that he could not prevail upon himself to have one killed the was in great demand for stately sometimes it was made into a pie at one end of which the head appeared above the crust in all its with the richly gilt at the other end the tail was displayed such were served up at the solemn of chivalry when knights pledged themselves to undertake any perilous whence came the ancient oath used by justice shallow by cock and pie the was also an important dish for the christmas feast and in his city madam gives some idea of the t t ft it would be tedious to my t who not have that fondness odd had things to which i am ia little given were i to mention the other of this old t by which he i endeavouring to follow up though distance the customs of antiquity i was pleased however to see the respect shown to his by his en end relatives who indeed readily into the full spirit of and seemed all well in their parts having doubtless present at many a i was unused too at the air of profound gravity with which the butler and other servants executed the duties assigned them however they had an old look for the been brought ip in the household ud into keeping with the the of its lord aud probably looked upon all his as the i laws of honourable housekeeping when the cloth was removed the butler brought with which this as well as other dishes was prepared for the gorgeous of th times men their thirty pound d their les of e p mis d the of three fat the christmas dinner in a huge silver of rare curious he placed before the squire its appearance was hailed with being the bowl bo renowned in christmas the contents had been prepared by ae squire himself for it was a in the skilful mixture of which he particularly himself that it too and complex for the comprehension of an ordinary servant it was a tion indeed that might well make the heart of a leap within him being composed of the richest and highly and with apples about the surface the old gentleman s whole countenance beamed with a serene look of delight as he stirred this mighty bowl having raised it to his lips with a hearty wish of a merry christmas to all the bowl was sometimes composed of ale instead of wine with sugar and in this way the nut brown is still prepared in some old and round the of substantial farmers at christmas it is also called lamb s wool and is celebrated by in his night next the full with gentle lamb s add sugar and with store of ale too and thus ye must to make the a w i the christmas dinner present he sent it round the boards for every one to follow his example according to the primitive style it the ancient fountain of good feeling where all hearts met together there was much laughing and as the honest emblem of christmas and was kissed rather by the ladies when it reached master he raised it in both hands and with the air of a boon companion struck up an old the brown the merry brown as it goes round about a fill stiu let tlie world say what it will and drink your fill all out a the deep the merry deep as thou dost freely a sing fling be as merry as a king and sound a laugh a the custom of drinking out of the same cup gave place to each having his cup when the steward to the with the he was to cry three times and then the was to answer with a song l t from poor robin s the christmas dinner much of the conversation during dinner turned upon family topics to which i was a stranger there was however a great deal of of master about some gay widow with whom he was accused of having a this attack was commenced by the ladies but it was continued throughout the dinner by the fat headed old gentleman next the parson with the of a slow hound being one of those long wind who though rather dull at starting game are for their talents in hunting it down at every pause in the general conversation he renewed his in pretty much the same terms hard at me with both eyes whenever he gave master what he considered a home thrust the latter indeed seemed fond of being on the subject as old are apt to be and he took occasion to inform me in an under tone that the	48
lady in question was a fine woman and drove her own the dinner time passed away in this flow of innocent and though the old hall may have in its time with many a scene of broader and yet i doubt whether it ever witnessed more honest and genuine enjoyment how easy it is for one benevolent being to pleasure around him and how truly is a kind heart a fountain of gladness making every thing in its christmas to into smiles the disposition of the worthy squire is as he was happy himself aod disposed to make all the world happy and the little of his humour did but season in a the ness of his wh n the ladies had retired the as usual became still more animated many good things were which had been of during dinner but which would ei do for a lady s ear and though i cannot positively affirm thai there was much wit uttered yet i h m d many of ram wit produce less laughter wit after all is a t and much too fi r some but honest good humour is the oil and wine of a merry meetings and there is no jovial companionship e to that where the jokes ace ther small and the laughter abundant the squire told several long stories of college and es in some of which the bad been a t the latter it required of imagination m figure such a little dark of a man into the of a mad cap indeed the two college presented pictures of what men bu he made by their di rent life the had left to live j lily i his the i in the vigorous enjoyment of prosperity and sunshine and had flourished on to a hearty and old age whilst the poor parson on the contrary had dried and withered away among dusty in the silence and shadow of his study still there seemed to be a spark of almost fire feebly glimmering in the bottom of his soul and as the squire hinted at a sly story of the parson and a pretty milk maid whom they once met on tke banks of the the old made an of faces as far a i could his i e was of laughter indeed i have rarely met with an old gentleman that took ab offence at the of his i found die tide of wine on the dry land of sober judgment the con any grew and louder as their jokes master waa as a as a filled with dew his old sl grew of a warmer and he began about the he a long song about of a widow which he informed me lis had gathered from an black letter entitled ci id s for love store of good for and he promised to lend me f the first verse was to effect the christmas he that will a widow must not he must make hay while the sun doth shine he must not stand with her shall i shall i but boldly say widow thou must be mine this song inspired the fat headed old gentleman who made several attempts to tell a rather broad v story out of joe miller that was pat to the purpose but he always stuck in the middle every body the latter part excepting himself the parson too began to show the effects of good cheer having gradually settled down into a do a and his wig setting most suspiciously on one side just at this juncture we were summoned to tha drawing room and i suspect at the private of mine host whose seemed always tempered with a proper love of decorum after the dinner table v as removed the hall was given up to the younger members of the family who prompted to all kind of noisy mirth by the and master made its old walls ring with merriment as they played at games i delight in witnessing the of children and particularly at this happy season and could not help stealing out of the drawing room on hearing one of their of laughter i found them at the game of s master who was the leader of their and seemed on all occasions to fulfil the christmas dinner the office of that the of was blinded in the midst of the hall the little beings were as busy about him as the mock about him pluck ing at the skirts of his coat and him with one fine blue eyed girl of about thirteen with her hair all in beautiful confusion her face in a glow her frock half torn off her shoulders a complete picture of a was the chief and from the with which master avoided the smaller game and hemmed this wild little in comers and obliged her to jump shrieking over chairs i suspected the rogue of being not a whit more blinded than convenient when i returned to the drawing room i found the company seated round the fire listening to the parson who was deeply in a high backed chair the work of some cunning of which had been brought from the library for his particular accommodation from this venerable piece of furniture with which his shadowy figure and dark face so admirably accorded he was dealing forth strange accounts of the popular at there wa iu the was lodged a or of and the like had ye in the house of every nobleman of honor or good worshipped were he or vol ii g toe christmas dinner iq er and legends of the surrounding lay with which he had acquainted in the course of his i am half in dined to think that the old gentleman was himself somewhat with superstition as men are very apt to be who a and life a fi part of the country and pore	48
the street great bo w windows with diamond set in lead grotesque and low arched door ways in most venerable and sheltered little nest have i passed quiet of existence com lodged in the second floor of one of the but oldest my sitting is an old chamber with small and set off with a array of i have a particular respect for three b backed footed chairs covered with which bear the marks of seen better days and have doubtless in some of the old palaces of little britain they seem to me to keep together and to look down with sovereign contempt upon their neighbours as i have seen decayed gentry carry a high head among the society which they were reduced to associate the whole front it is evident that the author of interesting communication has included in his general title of little britain many of and that belong immediately to fair little britain of my sitting room is up with a bow window on the panes of which are recorded the names of previous occupants for many generations mingled with scraps of very indifferent gentleman like poetry written in characters which i can scarcely and which the charms of many a beauty of little britain who has long long since faded and passed away as i am an idle personage with ho apparent occupation and pay my bill regularly every week i am upon as the only independent gentleman of the neighbourhood and being curious to learn the state of a so apparently shut up within itself i have managed to work my way into all the concerns and secrets of the place little britain may truly be called he heart s core of the city the strong of true john it is a fragment of london as it was in its better days with its folks and fashions here flourish in great preservation many of the games and customs of the inhabitants most eat pan cakes on tuesday on good friday and roast goose at they send love letters on s day bum the pope on the fifth of november and kiss all the girls under the at christmas roast beef and are also held in superstitious veneration and port and uttle britain their grounds a the only true english all others being considered vile little britain has its long catalogue of city which its inhabitants consider the wonders of the world such as the great bell of st paul s which all the beer when it the figures that strike the hours at st s clock the monument the lions in the tower and the wooden giants in they still believe in dreams and fortune telling and an old woman that lives in and m street makes a tolerable by stolen goods and promising the girls good husbands they are apt to be rendered uncomfortable by and and if a dog at night it is looked upon as a sure sign of a death in the there are even many ghost stories current particularly concerning the old mansion houses in several of which it is said strange sights are sometimes seen and ladies the former in full hanging sleeves and swords the latter in stays and have been seen walking up and down the great waste chambers on moonlight nights and are supposed to be the of the ancient in their court dresses little britain has likewise its and great men one of th most important of the former vol h britain v is a tall dry old gentleman of ae name of who keeps a small s shop he has a countenance full of and with a brown circle round each eye like a pair of horn spectacles he is much thought of by the old women who consider him as a kind of because he has two or three stuffed hanging up in his shop and in bottles he is a great reader of and newspapers and is much given to pore over alarming accounts of plots fires and which last he considers as signs of the times he has always some dismal tale of the kind io deal out to his customers with their and thus at the same time puts both soul and body into an uproar he is a in om and and has the of robert and mother by heart no man can make so much out of an or even an unusually dark day and he shook the tail of the last con et over the heads of his customers and until they were nearly frightened out of their wits he has lately got hold of a popular legend or prophecy on which he has been unusually eloquent there has been a saying current among the ancient who treasure np these that when the on die top of due shook hands with the on the top of bow church fearful would take place this strange it seems has as strangely come to pass the same has been engaged lately on the of the ot the exchange and the of bow church and fearful to relate the and the actually lie cheek by in the yard of his others as mr k accustomed to say may go star and look for in the heavens but here is a on the earth near at home and under our own eyes which sur passes all the signs and calculations of c ers since these have thus laid th heads together wonderful events had already the good old king notwithstanding that he had lived eighty two years had all at once given up the ghost another king had mounted the throne a royal duke had died suddenly another in france had been murdered there had been radical meetings in all parts of the kingdom the bloody scenes at the great plot in street and above all the queen had returned to england all these sinister events are by	48
old in a double chin who never exactly the subject managed some how or other to decide in favour of both parties all however says some philosopher or historian are doomed to changes and luxury and creep in arisen and families now and then spring up whose and throw the whole system confusion thus in latter days has the tranquillity of little britain been and its golden simplicity of manners threatened with total by the family of a retired butcher the family of the had long been among the most and popular in the the miss were the of britain and every body was pleased when old lamb had made money enough to shut up shop and put his name on a brass plate on his w in an evil hour one of the miss had the honour of being a lady in attendance on the lady at her grand annual ball on which occasion she wore three towering feathers on her head the never got over it they were immediately smitten with a passion for high life set up a one horse carriage put a bit of gold lace round the boy s hat and have been the talk and of the whole neighbourhood ever since they could no longer be induced to play at pope or blind they could endure no dances but which no body had ever heard of in little britain and they took to reading novels talking bad french and playing upon the piano their brother too who had been to an attorney set up for a and a critic characters hitherto unknown in these parts and he confounded the worthy folks exceedingly by talking about the opera and die review what was still worse the gave a grand ball to which they neglected to invite any of their neighbours but they had a great deal of genteel company from s road red lion square and other parts towards the west there were several of their brothers acquaintance from gray s inn lane and garden and not less than three s ladies with their i britain ill daughters this was not to foe forgotten or all little britain was in an uproar with the of the of horses and the rattling and of the of the neighbourhood might be seen their night caps out at every window watching the crazy by and there was a knot of old that kept a look out from a house just opposite the retired butcher s and and every one that knocked at the door this dance was a cause of almost open war and die whole neighbourhood declared they would have nothing more to say to the it is true that mrs lamb when she had no engagements with her quality acquaintance would give little hum drum tea to some of her old quite as she would say in a friendly way and it is equally true that her invitations were always accepted in spite of all previous vow s to the contrary nay the good ladies would sit and be delighted with the music of the miss who would to an irish melody for them on the piano and they would listen with wonderful interest to mrs lamb s anecdotes of s family of port ward and the miss the of but then they re little britain their and averted the reproaches of their by at the next every thing that had passed and pulling the and their route all to pieces the only one of the family that could not be made fashionable s the retired butcher himself honest lamb in spite of the of his name was a rough hearty old fellow with the voice of a lion a head of black hair like a and a broad face like his own beef it was in vain that the daughters always spoke of him as the old gentleman addressed him as in tones of infinite softness and to him into a dressing gown and slippers and other gentlemanly habits do what they might there was no keeping down the butcher his sturdy nature would break through all their he had a hearty vulgar good humour that was irrepressible his very jokes made his sensitive daughters shudder and he persisted in wearing his blue cotton coat of a morning dining at two o clock and having a bit of with his tea he was doomed however to share the of his family he found his old comrades gradually growing cold and civil to him no longer laughing at his joke and now and then lis a at a quality this both and p i j l ed the honest butcher and bi wife tm daughters with f sex taking advantage of length prevailed upon him w ve up hi after no and at t r sit after dinner by himself and take his pint of a he detested and to nod his toy and dismal the miss might now be seen along the street in french with and talking and so loud it distressed die nerves of every la ly within hearing they even went se far as to attempt patronage and actually induced a dancing master to set op in the but the worthy folks of britain took fir at it and did so the that he w s to pack up fiddle and dancing and with such that he foi t to pay for his lodgings i had flattered myself at first with the idea si this fiery ind nation on the part of the was merely the overflowing of their f good old english manners their of and i applauded the silent so in expressing vol i little britain pride french fashions and the miss but i grieve to say that i soon perceived the had taken hold and that my neighbours aft r were beginning to follow their example i overheard my landlady her to let their daughters have one quarter	48
at and music and that they might take k few lessons in the i even saw in the of a few sundays no less than five french precisely like those of the miss about little britain i stiu had my hopes that all this folly would gradually die away that the might move out of the neighbourhood might die or might run away with and that quiet and simplicity might be again restored to the but a rival power arose an oil man died and left a widow with a large and a family of daughters the young ladies had long been in secret at the of a prudent father which kept down all their elegant their ambition being now no longer restrained broke out into a blaze and they openly took the field against the family of the butcher it is true that the having had the first start had naturally an advantage of them in the fashionable career they could speak a little bad little in ll french y the piano dance and ha formed high acquaintances but the were v not to be when the appeared with two feathers in their hats the miss counted four and of twice as if the gave a dance the were sure not to be behind hand and though they might not boast of as good company yet they had double the number and were twice as merry the whole community has at length divided into fashionable under the o e two families the old games of pope and tom me are entirely discarded there is no such thing as getting up country dance and on my attempting to kiss ar young lady under the last christmas i was indignantly the miss having pronounced it shocking vulgar bitter has also broken out as to the most fashionable part of little britain the standing up for the dignity of cross keys square and the for the vicinity of st s thus is this little territory torn by and internal like the great empire whose name it bears and what will be the result would puzzle the himself with all his talent at to determine though i apprehend i it in the total of genuine john the immediate effects are extremely unpleasant to me being a single man and as i observed before rather an idle good for nothing personage i have been considered the only gentleman by profession in the place i stand therefore in high favour with both parties and have to hear all counsels and mutual as i am too civil not to agree with the ladies on all occasions i have committed myself most horribly with both parties by their i might manage to reconcile this to my conscience which is a truly one but i cannot to my apprehensions if the and ever come to a reconciliation and notes i am ruined i have determined therefore to beat a retreat in time and am actually looking out for some other nest in this great city where old english manners are still kept up where french is neither eaten drank danced nor spoken and where there are no fashionable families of retired this found i will like a rat hasten away before i have an old house about my ears bid a long though a sorrowful adieu to my present abode and leave the rival of the and the to divide the distracted empire of little britain on l on soft flowing by thy silver stream of things more than mortal sweet shakespeare dream the by moonlight dance round his green bed for the turf is which his head to a man who has no spot on this wide world which he can truly call his own there is a momentary feeling of something like independence and consequence when after a weary day s travel he off his boots his feet into slippers and stretches himself before an inn fire let the world without go as it may let rise or fall so long as he has the to pay his bill he is for the time being the very monarch of all he the arm chair is his throne the his and the little parlour of some twelve feet square his empire it is a morsel of certainty snatched from the midst of the of life it is a sunny moment gleaming out kindly on a cloudy day and he who has i on advanced some way on the pilgrimage of existence knows the importance of even and moments of enjoyment shall i not take mine ease in inn v thought i as i gave the fire a stir back in my elbow chair and cast a look about the little parlour of the red horse at on the words of sweet shakespeare were just passing through my mind as the clock struck from the tower ch in which he lies buried there was a gentle tap at the door and a pretty chamber maid putting in her smiling face inquired with a hesitating air whether i had rung i understood af a modest hint that it was t r my d of absolute wa at an nd so my like a prudent to being and putting the book u der my arm as a pillow on i we t to bed and all night of shakespeare the and david tl e m was one of e mornings which we sometimes have in early spring for it was about this middle of march the of a long winter had suddenly given way the north wind had spent its last gasp and a mild air came stealing from the west breathing the breath of life into nd bud and flower to burst into fragrance beauty on i e u on a poetical pilgrimage my first visit was to the house where shakespeare was bom and where according to tradition he was brought up to his father s	48
craft of wool it is a small mean looking edifice of wood and plaster a true of genius which seems to delight in its spring in bye corners the walls of its chambers are covered with names and in every language by of all nations ranks and con from the prince to the peasant and pre sent a s but striking instance of the and universal homage of mankind to the great poet of nature the is shown by a old lady in a frosty red face lighted up by a cold blue anxious eye and with artificial locks of hair curling from under an exceedingly dirty cap she was peculiarly in exhibiting the relics with which this like all other celebrated there was the shattered stock of the very with which shakespeare shot the deer on his there too was hia tobacco box which proves that he was a rival of sir walter the sword also with which he played hamlet and the identical with which discovered and at the tomb there was an ample supply i d on also of shakespeare s which seems to have as extraordinary powers of self tion as the wood of the true cross of which there v is to build a ship of the line the most favourite object of curiosity is shakespeare s chair it stands in the chimney nook of a small gloomy chamber just behind what was his father s shop here he may many a time have sat when a boy watching the slowly revolving spit with all the longing of an or of an evening listening to the and of dealing forth church yard tales and anecdotes of the troublesome times of england in this chair it is the custom for every one that visits the house to sit whether this be done with the hope of any of the inspiration of the bard i am at a loss to say i merely mention the fact and mine hostess privately assured me that though built of solid oak such was the fervent zeal of that the chair had to be new at least once in three years it is worthy of notice also in the history of this extraordinary chair that it something of the nature of the of or the flying chair of the for though sold some few years since to a northern princess yet strange to tell it ha found its way back again to th old chimney corner on i am always of easy faith in such matters and am ever willing to be deceived where the deceit i pleasant and costs nothing i am therefore a ready in relics legends and local anecdotes of and great men and would advise all travellers who travel for their gratification to be the same what is it to us whether these stories be true or so long as we can persuade our into the belief of them and enjoy all the charm of the reality f there is nothing like resolute good humoured in these matters and on this occasion i went even so far as willingly to believe the claims of mine hostess to a descent from the poet when for my faith she put into my hands a play of her own composition which set all belief in her at defiance from the birth place of shakespeare a few paced brought me to his grave he lies buried in the of the parish church a large and venerable pile with age but richly ornamented it stands on the banks of the on an red point and separated by adjoining gardens from the of the town its situation is quiet and retired the river runs murmuring at the foot of the church yard and the elms which upon it banks their branches into its clear bosom an avenue of the boughs of which are so as to form in summer on way of leads up from the gate of the yard to the church porch the graves are overgrown with grass the grey tomb stones some of them nearly sunk into the are half covered wi moss which has likewise tinted the reverend old building small birds have built their nests among the and of the walls and keep up a continual flutter and and are sailing and about its lofty grey spire in the course of my i met with the grey headed old and accompanied him home to get the key of the church he had lived in man and boy for eighty years and seemed still to consider himself a vigorous man with the trivial exception that he had nearly lost the use of his legs for a few years past his dwelling was a cottage looking out upon the and its meadows and was a picture of that neatness order and comfort which the dwellings in this country a low room with a stone floor carefully served for parlour kitchen and hall rows of and dishes glittered along the on an old table well rubbed and polished lay the family bible and book and the drawer contained the family library composed of about half a score of well volumes an ancient clock that important article on of cottage furniture on the opposite side of the room with a bright warming pan hanging on one side of it and the old man s horn handled sunday cane on the other the fire place as usual was wide and deep enough to admit a gossip knot within its in one corner sat the old man s sewing a pretty blue eyed girl and in the opposite corner was a whom he addressed by the john and who i found had been his companion from childhood they had played together in infancy they had w ed together in manhood they were now tottering about and away the evening of life and in a short time they will probably be buried together	48
in the neighbouring church yard it is not often that we see two streams of existence running thus side by side it is only in such quiet bosom scenes of life that they are met with i had hoped to gather some of the bard from these ancient but they had nothing new to impart the long interval during which shakespeare s writings lay in comparative neglect has spread its shadow over his history and it is his good or evil lot that scarcely any thing remains to his but a scanty handful of conjectures the and his companion had been em as on the preparations for the on n celebrated and th y r d the prime of the f te who superior tended the arrangements and who according to the was a short punch man very lively and bustling john had assisted also in cutting down shakespeare s tree of which he had a morsel in his pocket for sale no doubt a reign ot literary conception t i was grieved to hear these two worthy speak very of the eloquent dame who shows the shakespeare house john shook his head when i mentioned her valuable and collection of relics particularly her remains of the tree and the old even expressed a doubt as to shakespeare having been bom in her house soon discovered that he looked upon her mansion with an evil eye as a rival to the poet s tomb the latter having comparatively visitors thus it is that differ at the very outset and mere pebbles make the stream of truth into different channels even at the fountain head we approached the church through the avenue and entered by a porch highly with carved doors of massive oak the interior is spacious and the architecture and em superior to those of most country churches there are several ancient monuments of on and gentry over some of which hang ml and dropping pick from the walls the tomb of shakespeare is in the the place is solemn and tall elms wave before the pointed windows and the which runs at a short distance from the walls keeps up a low perpetual murmur a flat stone marks the spot where the bard is buried there are four lines inscribed on it said to have been written by himself and which have in them something extremely awful if they are indeed bis own they show that solicitude about the quiet of the grave which seems natural to ne and thoughtful minds good friend for sake to dig the dust enclosed here blessed be he that these stones and be he that moves mj bones just over the grave in a of the wall is a bust of shakespeare put up shortly after death and considered as a resemblance the aspect is pleasant and serene with a finely arched forehead and i thought i could read in it clear indications of that cheerful social disposition by which he was as much among his as by the of his genius the inscription tions his age at the time of his fifty three years an death for the world for what might not have been expected from the autumn of such a mind sheltered as it was stormy of life and flourishing in the sunshine of popular and royal favour the inscription on the tomb stone has not been without its effect it has prevented the removal of his remains from the bosom of his native place to westminster abbey which was at one time con t a few years since also as some were digging to make an adjoining the earth in so as to leave a vacant space almost like an arch through which one might have reached into his grave no one however presumed to with his remains so awfully guarded by a and lest any of the idle or the curious or any of relics should be tempted to commit the old kept ik over the place for t o days until the fault was finished and the closed again he told ne that he had made bold to look in at die hole but could see neither coffin nor bones n but dust it was i thought to have seen die dust d shakespeare next to his grave are of his wife daughter mrs hall and rs of his on a tomb dose also is a lull length of om friend join of an whom said to a pi t th other mind refuses to dwell on any thing that is con with shakespeare the place r tiie wh e p le s ms but a ins the no longer and by h re indulge in perfect trace f him be or i and absolute certainty as i trod the pavement th l m s in tense and thrilling iti the n very the r mi be feet it was a before i could prevail to die place and t passed th l a b from i of ith tree only i have from d j i had ow visited th usual a devotion but i had a d ire to s e the seat of the at and to through the park where in with some of the of committed his youthful offence of deer stealing in t his we sure told t he waa taken prisoner and carried to the i lodge where he remained all night in when brought into the presence of sir his treatment must have been and vol ii k iso on for u upon his spirit as to produce a rough which m as to the park gate at this attack upon the dignity of the knight so him that he applied to a lawyer at to put the severity of the laws in force against the deer shakespeare did not wait to brave the united of a knight of the and	48
a country attorney he forthwith abandoned the pleasant banks of the and his paternal trade wandered away to london became a on to the theatres then an actor and finally wrote for the stage and thus through the persecution of sir thomas lost an indifferent and the world gained an immortal poet he retained however for a long a sense of the harsh treatment of the lord of and himself in his writings but in way of a good natured mind sir is tiie of a parliament member a justice of peace at home a poor at london an if is as some it in whatever befall it he thinks i yet an in his state we allow by his ears bat with to mate if is as it then sing whatever it d on r a to be the original of justice low and the satire is fixed upon him by the justice s bearings which like those of th knight had white in the various attempts have been made by his to soften and explain away this early of the poet but i look upon it as one of those thoughtless exploits natural to his situation turn of mind shakespeare when doubtless all the and of an ardent and genius the temperament has naturally something in it of when left to itself it runs loosely and wildly and delights in every thing eccentric and it is often a turn up of a die in the of fate whether a natural genius turn out a great rogue or a great poet and had not shakespeare s mind fortunately taken a literary bias he might have as civil as he has all dramatic laws i have little doubt that in early life when running like an unbroken about the neighbourhood of he was to be found in the company of all kinds of odd characters that he associated with all the of the place and the is a or jack and ia the about k s was those of w m shake tl heads thai the i to him the an thomas s as like a to a knight liis eager and as yet as delightfully lo a proof of s habits and associates in his days may be found in a anecdote picked up at by the elder ireland and mentioned in his picturesque views rom lies the town of b d rd oa its ale two societies of the village used to meet under the of the and to of good ale of the neighbouring villages t fl contest of ttie people of ni l tt l tl a d in tbe r of the s was who in spite of the b that they who k beer will beer as to his as to his sack hie of was ed at the and a to them off the field they had scarcely m a th legs failing r them they were forced to lie down under a where they passed th it i s till an goes by the name of shakespeare s in he awakened the bard and proposed fo l d saying be h l had with dancing haunted hungry pa and mi of t i iii i icy j g this bu b m of the s the e stood t little j il i i t i re ly a pe i through of those horn which shakespeare ii u l derived ideas s j the country was yet naked and hut english scenery is always nd the sudden change in the temperature of the weather was surprising in its effects upon the landscape it was inspiring and to witness this first awakening of spring to feel its warm breath stealing over the senses to see the moist mellow earth beginning to put forth the green and the tender blade and the tr es and in their tints and bursting giving the promise of returning foliage and flower the cold snow th the s ii t of to be se n with te white ib small gardens before the cottages the th j h re alluded to says f still bear thus given them the people of are for n the r ii v haunted and i mi ua for the p v of its k i n of the new wa s from the the about the edges the note into his late wintry strain and the lark springing up from the bosom of the meadow away into the bright cloud pouring forth torrents of as i watched the mounting up higher and higher until his body was a mere speck on the white bosom of the cloud while the ear was still filled with his music it called to mind shakespeare s exquisite song in bark hark the at if j ate and arise to water at those springs on flowers that lies h to their golden eyes with every thing that pretty hip my lady sweet arise indeed the whole about here is poetic ground everything is associated with the idea of shakespeare every old cottage that i saw i fancied into some resort of his boyhood where he liad acquired his intimate knowledge of rustic life and manners and heard those tales and wild which he has woven like n craft into his for in bis time we are tom it was a popular amusement in winter evenings to sit round the fire and teu merry tales of knights queens lovers lords ladies giants thieves and my route for a part of die way lay in sight of the which made a variety of the most fanciful and through a wide and fertile sometimes glittering from among willow which fringed its borders sometimes disappearing among groves or beneath green banks and rambling out into full view and making an sweep round	48
a slope of land this beautiful bosom of country is called die of the red horse a distant line of blue seems to be its boundary whilst all the soft inter landscape lies in a manner in the silver links of the after pursuing the road for about three miles i in his of a t these fire fancies and they have so us with bull beg spirits with the can good fellow the the mare the man in the the the tom tom and such other that we were afraid of our own sha owes k h v tamed off a l d die f field i d u k b of tbe i a tiie tn foi of the f ii right of tke u r j iii these hospitable estates in which every a k f p op s r fo is c iii se oi i fe r m it s what i of his j tb to b v l p i r i f he w as and as j m f r tl im the i of te if ii ni p pf au that ae s p i ha i t at the same of it and it ia order among of aid a o va tm i centuries the wind ol in tl j aad the awed s here nests in the tree tops the eye ranged with t int t the view but some distant statue or a deer st king like a shadow across the ther is something about e stately old ave that has the effect of architecture merely from the pretended of form but from their bearing the evidence of long tb t n which we as they also the long settled dignity and proudly concentrated independence of an ancient family and i but aristocratic old friend observe when speaking of the palaces of modem gentry that could do much with stone and r but thank heaven there was no such thing as suddenly building up an avenue of oaks it was from wandering in early life among this ud about the of the park of which then formed va part of the estate that some of s s supposed he derived hi noble forest meditations of and the en pictures as you like it tt is in lonely wanderings through such scenes that the mind drinks deep but quiet draughts of and intensely sensible of he beauty and majesty the inn into reverie and rapture vague but exquisite images and ideas keep breaking upon it and we in a and almost luxury of thought it was i me such n od and perhaps under one of those very tr es before which their broad ov the grassy banks and g waters of the that the poet s may have s tim n forth that little song which the very soul of a under the green wood tree who to lie with ne and tune his merry throat unto the sweet bird s note come hither come hither come hither here shall he see no bat winter and rough weather i had now come in sight of the house it is a large building of bricks with stone and is in the style of queen elizabeth s day been built in the first year of her reign the exterior remains very nearly in its original state and be a fair specimen of the residence of a wealthy country gentleman of those days a great opens from the park into a kind of court yard in front of the house ornamented with a grass plot shrubs and flower beds the is in imitation of the ancient being a kind of out post and by towers though evidently for mere ornament instead of defence the front of the house is completely in the old style with stone a great bow window of heavy stone work and a bearings over it carved in stone m e of die building is aa tower surmounted by a gilt ball and the which winds through the park makes a bend just at the foot of a gently sloping bank which sweeps down from the rear of the house large herds of deer were feeding or upon its borders and were sailing upon its bosom as i contemplated the venerable old mansion i called to mind on justice shallow s abode and the affected indifference and real vanity of the latter you have here a goodly dwelling and a rich barren beggars all beggars all sir john marry good air whatever may have been the of the old mansion in the days of shakespeare it had now an w of stillness and the great iron gate way that opened into the court yard was locked there was no show of servants bustling about the place the deer gazed quietly at me as i passed being no longer by the moss of the only signs of domestic life that i met with was a white cat stealing with wary look and pace towards the stables as if on some expedition i must not omit to mention the of a scoundrel crow which i saw r d th e t as it still inherit that it ce of of power was so manifested in the the bard r about for some time i at l found my way to a waa die every day to mansion i courteously i by a worthy who with the civility and of her r showed me the interior of the house the greater part has undergone alterations and been adapted to modem tastes and modes of living r there is a fine old staircase and the great hall that noble feature in an ancient house still much of the appearance it must have had in the days of shakespeare the ceiling is arched and ty	48
i would take some refreshment an instance of good old hospitality which i grieve to say we castle hunters seldom meet with in modern days i m e no doubt it is a virtue which the present representative of the from his ancestors for shakespeare even in his makes justice shallow in this respect as witness his pressing to by cock and sir you shall not away to night i will not excuse you you shall not be excused excuses shall not be admitted there is no excuse shall serve you shall not be excused some a couple of short legged a joint of mutton and any pretty little tiny kick tell william cook i now bade a reluctant farewell to the old hall my mind had become so completely possessed by the imaginary s and characters connected with it that i seemed to be actually living among them every thing brought them as it were before my eyes and as the door of the dining room opened i almost expected to hear the feeble voice of master silence forth his favourite tis in hall wag all and merry vol ii on on returning to my inn i could not but reflect on t e singular of the poet to be able thus to spread the magic of his mind over the very face of nature to give to things and places a charm and character not own and to turn this ing lay world into a perfect fairy land he is indeed the true whose spell not upon the senses but upon the imagination and the heart under the influence of shakespeare i had b en walking all day in a complete delusion i had surveyed the landscape through the of poetry which tinged every object with the of the rainbow i had been surrounded with fancied beings with mere airy up by poetic power yet which to me had all the charm of reality i had beard beneath his oak had beheld the fair and her companion through the and above all had been once more present in spirit with fat jack and his from the august justice shallow down to the gentle master slender and the sweet anne page ten thousand honours and blessings on the bard who has thus gilded the dull realities of life with innocent illusions who has spread exquisite and pleasures in my path and my spirit in many a lonely hour with all the cordial and cheerful sympathies of social life i on m as i crossed the bridge oyer the on my return i paused to contemplate the in which the lies buried and not but in the which has kept his ashes undisturbed in its quiet and what could his name have derived from being in dusty companionship with the and and of a multitude what a crowded in west abbey have been compared with this re y pile which seems to stand in beautiful as his sole the solicitude the grave may be but the offspring of an sensibility but human nature is made up of and prejudices and its best and tenderest tions are mingled with these feelings he who has sought renown about the world and has a full harvest of wo favour wilt find after all that there is no love no admiration no applause so sweet to the soul as that which springs up in his native place it is there that he seeks to be gathered in peace and honour among his kindred and his early friends and when the weary heart and failing head begin to warn him that the evening of life is drawing on he turns as fondly as does the infant to the mother s arms to sink to sleep in the bosom of the scene of his childhood how would it have cheered the spirit of ih l on youthful bard wandering forth in disgrace upon a world he cast back a heavy look upon his paternal home could he have foreseen that before many years he should return to it covered with renown that his name should become the boast and glory of his native place that his ashes should be guarded as its most precious treasure and that its spire on which his eyes were fixed in tearful contemplation should one day the towering amidst the gentle land to guide the literary pilgrim of every to his tomb traits of indian character l traits of indian character i appeal to any white man if ever he entered s cabin hungry and he gave him not to eat if ever he came cold aud naked and he clothed him not of an indian chief there is something in the character and habits of the north american savage taken in with the scenery which he is accustomed to range its vast lakes boundless forests majestic rivers and plains that is to my mind wonderfully striking and sublime he is formed for the wilderness as the is for the desert his nature is stem simple and enduring fitted to with difficulties and to support there seems but little soil in his heart for the growth of the kindly virtues and yet if we would but take the trouble to penetrate through that l traits ot indian character proud and habitual which lock up his character from casual observation we should find him linked to his fellow man of civilized life s by more of those sympathies and affections than are usually ascribed to him it has been the lot of the unfortunate of america in the early periods of to v be doubly wronged by the white men they have been of their hereditary possessions by and frequently wanton warfare and their characters have been by and interested writers has often treated them like beasts of the forest and the author has endeavoured to justify him in his out	48
the former found it easier to than to the latter to than to the of savage and pagan were deemed sufficient to sanction the of both and thus the poor of the forest were persecuted and not because they were guilty but because they were ignorant the rights of the savage have seldom been properly appreciated or respected by the white man in peace he has too often been the of artful traffic in war he has been regarded as a ferocious animal whose life or death was a question of mere precaution and convenience man is cruelly of life when his own safety is and traits of indian character tie is sheltered by and little mercy is t be expected from bim when he feels the sting of the and is conscious of the power to destroy the same prejudices which were indulged thus early exist in common circulation at the present day certain learned societies have it is true with diligence endeavoured to investigate and record the real characters and manners of the indian tribes the american government too has wisely and exerted itself to a friendly and spirit towards them and to protect them from fraud and injustice the current opinion of the indian character however is too apt to be formed from the miserable which the and hang on the skirts of the these are too commonly composed of beings and i by the vices of society without being f by its civilization that proud which formed the main pillar of savage virtue has been shaken down and the whole tiie american has been in its exertions to the situation of the indians and to introduce among them the arts of and civil and knowledge to protect them from the of the white no purchase of land from by individuals is permitted nor is any person allowed to receive lands from them as a present without the express sanction of government these precautions are strictly enforced traits of indian moral fabric lies in ruins their spirits are and by a i of inferiority and their native courage and by the superior knowledge and power of their enlightened neighbours society has advanced upon them like one of those withering airs that will sometimes breathe desolation over a whole region of it has their strength multiplied their diseases and upon their original the low vices of artificial life it has given them a thousand superfluous wants whilst it ha diminished their means of mere existence it has driven before it the animals of the base who fly from the sound of the axe aod the smoke of the settlement and seek refuge in the depths of re forests and yet thus do we too often find the indians on our to be mere and of once powerful tribes who have lingered in the vicinity of the and sunk into precarious and vagabond existence poverty and hopeless poverty a of the mind unknown in savage life their spirits and every free and noble quality of their natures they become drunken indolent feeble and they like about the among spacious dwellings with elaborate comforts which only render them sensible of the traits of indian character i wretchedness of their own condition luxury its ample board before their eyes but they are excluded from the banquet plenty over the fields but they are starving in the midst of its abundance the whole wilderness has into a garden but they feel as that it how different was their state while yet the lords of the soil their wants were few and the means of gratification within their reach they saw every one round them sharing the same lot enduring the same hardships feeding on the same arrayed in the same rude garment no roof then rose but was open to the stranger no smoke curled among the trees but he was welcome to sit down by its fire and join the hunter in his for says old historian of new england their life is so void of care and they are so loving also that they make use of those things they enjoy as common goods and are therein so compassionate that rather than one should starve through want they would starve all thus do they pass their time merrily not regarding our but are better content with their own which some men esteem so of such were indians whilst in the pride and energy of their primitive natures they resemble those wild plants which best in the shades of the forest but shrink from the hand of cultivation and perish beneath the influence of the sun of indian in the savage character writers have been too prone to indulge in vulgar prejudice and passionate exaggeration instead of the candid per of true philosophy they have not considered the peculiar circumstances in v the indians have been placed and the peculiar principles under which they have been educated no being acts more rigidly from rule than the indian his whole conduct is regulated according to some general early in his mind the moral laws that govern him are to be sure but few but then he to them all the white man in laws of religion morals and manners but how many does he a frequent ground of accusation against the indians is disregard of and the treachery and with which in time of apparent peace they will suddenly fly to the intercourse of the white men with the indians however is too apt to be cold oppressive and insulting they seldom treat them with that confidence and frankness which are indispensable to real friendship nor is sufficient caution observed not to ofi end against those feelings of pride or superstition which often prompt the indian to hostility quicker than mere considerations of interest thej savage feels but his are not over so wide a of indian character io surface as those of the white man but they run in j	48
ca as in or tne man out run m a nd deeper channels his pride tions his are all directed towards fewer objects but the wounds inflicted on them are severe and furnish motives of hostility which we cannot sufficiently appreciate where a community is also limited in number and forms one great family as in an indian tribe the injury of an individual is the injury of the whole and the sentiment of vengeance is almost diffused one council fire is sufficient for the discussion and arrangement of a plan of here all the fighting men and eloquence and superstition combine to the minds of the the orator their martial and they are wrought up to a kind of religious desperation by the visions of the prophet and the an instance of one of those sudden arising from a motive peculiar to the indian character is in an old record of the early settlement of the of had the monuments of the dead at and had the grave of the s mother of some skins with which it had been decorated the indians are remarkable for the reverence which they entertain for the of their kindred tribes that have passed traits of indian character generations from the of their ancestors when by chance they have been travelling in the vicinity have been known to turn aside from the high way and guided by wonderfully accurate tradition have crossed the country for miles to some buried perhaps in woods where the bones of their tribe were deposited and there v have passed hours in silent meditation influenced by this sublime and holy feeling the whose mother s tomb had been gathered his men together and addressed them in the following beautifully simple and pathetic a curious specimen of indian eloquence and an in ance of filial piety in a savage when last the glorious light of all the sky was underneath this globe and birds grew silent i began to settle as my custom is to take repose before mine eyes were fast closed i saw a vision at which my spirit was much troubled and at that sight a spirit cried aloud behold my son whom i have cherished see the breasts that gave thee the hands that thee warm and fed thee oft thou forget to take revenge of those wild people who have my monument in a manner our and honourable customs see now the s grave lies like the common people by an race thy mother traits of indian character doth complain and thy aid against this people have newly on our land if this be suffered i shall not rest quiet in my everlasting habitation this said the spirit vanished and i all in a sweat not able scarce to speak began to get some strength and recollect my spirits that were and determined to demand your counsel and assistance i have this anecdote at some length as it to show how these sudden acts of hostility which have been attributed to caprice and may often arise from deep and generous motives which our to indian character and customs prevents our properly another ground of violent against the indians is their to the this had its origin partly in policy and partly in superstition the tribes though sometimes nations were never so formidable in their numbers but that the loss of several warriors was sensibly felt this was particularly the case when they had been frequently engaged in warfare and many an instance occurs in indian history where a tribe that had long been formidable to its neighbours has been broken up and driven away by the capture and of its principal fighting men there was a strong temptation therefore to the victor to be merciless not so much to gratify any cruel revenge l traits of indian li i to id for future security the indians had the superstitious among nations and also among the that the of their friends who had fallen in battle were soothed by the blood of the the prisoners however who are not thus sacrificed are adopted into their families in place of the slain and are treated the confidence and affection of relatives nd friends nay so hospitable and tender is their that when the alternative is offered them they will often prefer to remain with their adopted brethren rather than return to the home and the friends of their youth the cruelty of the indians towards their prisoners has been heightened since the of the what was a with and superstition has exasperated into a gratification of vengeance th y cannot be sensible that the white men are the of their ancient dominion the cause of their degradation and the gradual of their race they go forth to battle with injuries and which they have suffered and they are driven to madness and despair by the wide spreading desolation and the overwhelming ruin of european the have too frequently set them an example of violence by burning their villages and laying waste their slender means of sub traits of indian i l and yet they wonder that savages do not show moderation and those have left them nothing but mere and wretchedness we the indians as cowardly a because they use in warfare in preference to open force but in this they are fully justified by their rude code of honour they ire early taught that is warrior thinks it disgrace to in silence and take every advantage of his foe he triumphs in the superior craft and sagacity by which he has been enabled to surprise and destroy an n my indeed man is naturally more prone to than open owing to his physical weakness in comparison with other animals they are endowed with natural of defence with horns with with h and but man has to depend on his superior sagacity in all his with these his proper enemies he sorts to and	48
when he turns his against his fellow man he at con the same subtle mode of warfare the natural principle of war is to do the most i arm to our enemy with the least harm to ourselves y this of course is to be effected by that courage which us to de the suggestions of prudence and to rush in vol ii m v l i traits ov indian character die face of certain danger is the offspring of society and produced by education it is honourable b cause it is in fact the triumph of lofty sentiment over an instinctive to pain and over those after personal ease and security which society has condemned as it is kept alive by pride and the fear of shame and thus the dread of real evil is overcome by the superior dread of an evil which exists but in the imagination it has been cherished and stimulated also by various means it has been the theme of spirit stirring song and story the poet and have delighted to shed round it the of fiction and even the historian has forgotten the sober gravity of and broken forth into enthusiasm and in its praise triumphs and gorgeous have been its reward monuments on which art has exhausted its skill and its treasures have been erected to a nation s gratitude and admiration thus excited courage has risen to an extraordinary and degree of heroism and arrayed in all the glorious pomp and circumstance of war this turbulent quality has even been able to many of those quiet but invaluable virtues which the human character and swell the tide of human happiness but if courage consists in the ance of danger and pain the life of the indian is a traits of indian los continual exhibition of it he in a state cf hostility and risk peril and adventure are congenial to his nature or rather seem to arouse his faculties and to give an interest to his existence surrounded by hostile tribes whose mode of warfare is by and he is always prepared for fight and lives with his weapons m his hands as the ship fearful through the of ocean as the bird among clouds and storms and wings its way a mere speck across the fields of air so the indian holds hid course silent solitary but through the boundless bosom of the wilderness his tions may in distance and danger with the of the or the of the knight he vast forests exposed to the of sickness of lurking enemies and famine stormy lakes those great inland seas are no obstacles to his wanderings in his light of bark he sports like a feather on their waves and with the swiftness of an arrow down the roaring of the river his very is snatched from the midst of toil and peril he gains his food by the hardships and dangers of the chase he himself in the spoils of the bear the and the and sleeps among the of the m traits of indian character no hero of ancient or modern days can he indian in his lofty contempt of death and the fortitude with which h its indeed we here behold him rising superior to the white man in consequence of his peculiar the latter rushes to glorious death at the cannon s mouth the former calmly plates its approach and triumphantly it amidst the varied of surrounding foes and the protracted agonies of fire he even takes a pride in his and provoking their ingenuity of torture and as the devouring flames prey on his very and the flesh from the he raises his last song of triumph breathing the defiance of an heart and the spirits of his fathers to witness that he dies without a groan notwithstanding the with which the early have the characters of the unfortunate natives some bright occasionally break through which throw a degree of melancholy lustre on their memories facts are occasionally to be met with in the rude annals of the eastern provinces which though recorded with the colouring of prejudice and yet speak for themselves and will be dwelt on with applause and sympathy when prejudice shall have passed a traits of indian l p in one of the of the wars in new england there is a touching account of the desolation carried into the tribe of the indians humanity from the cold blooded detail of in one place we read of the of an indian fort in the night when the were wrapped in flames and the miserable inhabitants shot down and slain in attempting to escape all being and ended in the course of an hour after a of similar transactions our soldiers as the being resolved by god s assistance to make a final destruction of them the unhappy savages being hunted from their homes and and pursued with fire and sword a scanty but gallant band the sad remnant of the warriors with their wives and children took refuge in a swamp burning with indignation and rendered sullen by despair with hearts bursting with grief at the destruction of their tribe and spirits and sore at the fancied of their defeat they refused to ask their lives at the hands of an insulting foe and preferred to submission as the night drew on they were surrounded in their retreat so as to render escape thus situated their enemy plied them vith shot ail the time by which means many were m traits of indian character and buried in the mire in the darkness and fog that preceded the dawn of day some few broke through the and escaped into the woods the rest were left to the of which many were killed in the swamp like sullen dogs who would rather in their self and madness sit still and be shot through or cut to pieces than for mercy when	48
the day broke upon this handful of forlorn but spirits the soldiers we are told entering the swamp saw several heaps of them sitting close together upon whom they discharged their pieces laden with ten or twelve pistol bullets at a time putting the of their pieces under the boughs within a few yards of them so as besides those that were found dead many more were killed and sunk into the mire and never were minded more by friend and foe can any one read this plain tale without admiring the stem resolution the pride the of spirit that seemed to nerve the hearts of these self taught heroes and to raise them above the instinctive feelings of human nature when the laid waste the city of rome they found the clothed in their robes and seated with stem tranquillity in their chairs in this manner they death without resistance or even such conduct was in them ap traits of indian r as noble and in the indians it was as obstinate and sullen how truly are we the of show and circumstance how different is virtue clothed in purple and in state from virtue naked and destitute and in a wilderness but i forbear to dwell on these gloomy picture the eastern tribes have long since disappeared the forests that d them have been laid low and scarce any traces remain of them in the states of new england excepting here and there the indian name of a village or a stream and such must sooner or later be the fate of those other tribes which skirt the and have occasionally been from their forests to mingle in the wars of white in a little and they will go the way that their brethren have gone before the few which still linger about the shores of and superior and the streams of the will share the fate of those tribes that once spread over and and it along the proud banks of the of that gigantic race said to have existed on the borders of the and of those various nations that flourished about the and the and that peopled the forests of the vast valley of they will vanish like a from the face of the earth their very m j traits of indian character history will be lost in and the places that now know them will know them no more for ever or if perchance some memorial of them should survive the lapse of time it may be in the romantic dreams of the poet to people in imagination hi and groves like e and and of antiquity but should he venture upon the dark story of their wrongs and wretchedness should he tell how they were invaded driven from th ir native and the of their hunted like wild beasts about the earth and down with violence and to the grave posterity will either turn with horror and incredulity from the tale or blush with indignation at the of their for we are driven back aid an old warrior until we can retreat o further our are broken our bows are snapped our fires are nearly extinguished a little and the white man will cease to us for we shall cease to exist philip of an indian as his look a soul that pity touch d but never shook d from his tree rock d cradle to his the fierce extremes of good and ill to brook fearing but the shame of a of the man without a tear it is be regretted that early writers who treated of the discovery and settlement pf america have not given us more particular and candid accounts of the remarkable characters that flourished in savage life the scanty anecdotes which have reached us are full of peculiarity and interest they furnish us with nearer glimpses of human nature and show what man is in a comparatively primitive state and what he owes to civilization there is of something of the charm of discovery in lighting upon these wild and tracts of human nature in witnessing as it were the native growth of moral sentiment and perceiving those generous and romantic qualities which have been cultivated by society in spontaneous and rude magnificence in civilized life where the happiness and indeed almost the existence of man depends so much upon the opinion of his fellow men he is constantly acting a studied part the bold and peculiar traits of native character are refined away or softened down by the influence of what is termed good breeding and he so many petty and so many generous sentiments for the purposes of popularity that it is difficult to distinguish his real from his artificial character the indian on the contrary free from the and of polished life and in a great degree ia solitary and independent being the impulses of his inclination or the of his judgment and thus the attributes of his being freely indulged grow singly great and striking society is like a lawn where every is smoothed every and where the eye is delighted by the smiling of a velvet surface he however who would study nature in its wild ness and variety must into the forest must i p of explore the must stem the torrent and dare the precipice these reflections arose on casually looking through a volume of early history wherein are recorded with great bitterness the of the indians and their wars with the of new england it is painful to perceive even from these partial how the footsteps of civilization may be traced in the blood of the how easily the were moved to hostility by the lust of conquest how merciless and was their warfare the imagination at the idea how many intellectual beings were hunted from the earth how many brave and noble hearts of nature s sterling	48
and decay the events the war to us b j a worthy of the who dwells witb horror and indignation on every hostile act of ike indians however whilst he v with applause the most of the philip is as a d k traitor without considering that he was a true bom prince gallantly fighting at the head of his subjects to the wrongs of his family to tottering power of his line and to deliver his native land from ae oppression of strangers the project of a wide and revolt if such had really been formed was worthy of k mind and had it not been discovered might have been overwhelming in its the war that actually broke out was but a war of detail a mere succession of casual exploits and still it sets n id of forth the and daring of philip and wherever in the prejudiced and passionate that have been given of it we can at facts we find him displaying a vigorous mind a in a contempt of suffering and hardship and an resolution that our sympathy and ap from his paternal at mount hope he threw himself into the depths of those vast and forests that skirted the and were almost to any thing but a wild beast or an indian her he gathered together his forces like the storm its stores of mischief in the bosom of the thunder cloud and would suddenly en at a time and place least expected carrying and dismay into the there were now and then indications of these impending that filled the minds of the with awe and apprehension the report of a distant gun would perhaps be heard from the solitary where there was known to be po white man the cattle which had been wandering in the woods would sometimes return home wounded or an indian or two would be seen lurking about the skirts of the forests and suddenly disappearing as the lightning will sometimes be of seen playing about the edge of cl md that is up the tempest thou sometimes pursued and even surrounded by the yet philip as often escaped almost from their toils and plunging into the would be lost to all search or inquiry until he again emerged at some far distant quarter laying the country desolate among his holds were the great or which extend in parts of new england composed of loose of deep mud perplexed with rank weeds the shattered and trunks of fallen trees and by the uncertain footing and the tangled of these der hem almost to the white n m though the indian could their with the s of a deer into one of these the great of neck was philip once driven a band of his followers the english did not dare to pursue him fearing to venture into these dark and frightful recesses where they might in and or be shot down by lurking foes they therefore invested the entrance to the neck and began to build a fort with the thought of starving out the foe but philip and his warriors themselves a over an arm of the sea in the dead of night leaving the women and children n f of fo u slid escaped to the kind ling tke flames of w sir among the of aad die and the of in way ip became a theme of the mystery in which he was enveloped exaggerated his real terrors he was an evil that walked in darkness whose coming none re and s knew hen to be on the alert the whole country ms seemed of for in part of the frontier an from die forest took philip said to be its leader many notions were ing he was said to deal in mid to be by i old indian witch or whom he consulted who assisted him by her charms and this indeed was case with indian their own or to act upon that of their and the influence of die and the over indian superstition has been in recent instances of savage warfare at the time that effected from his fortunes were m a desperate condition his forces had repeated fights and philip of he had lost whole of his in this time of he a friend in chief the he was the son and heir of the great who s after f the been privately to death at the of the se the heir says the old of s pride and insolence as well as of his malice towards ihe he was heir of his and io and the legitimate of his though be had to take an active part in this hopeless war yet he received philip and his broken forces with open arms and gave them the most generous countenance and support this at upon him the hostility of the english it was determined to e a s that should involve both the ki one common a great force was therefore gathered together from a and was sent into the country in the depth of winter when the being and could be traversed with com and would no longer afford dart and impenetrable to the indians of had conveyed the greater part of his stores together with ike om of the women and children of his tribe tb a strong fortress where he and philip had likewise drawn up the flower of their forces this fortress deemed by the indians was situated upon a rising mound or kind of island of five or six acres in the midst of a swamp it was constructed with a degree of judgment and skill vastly superior to what is usually displayed in indian and of the martial genius of these two guided by a indian the english through december to this strong hold and came upon the garrison by surprise the fight was fierce and tumultuous the	48
were in their first attack and several of their officers were shot in the act of the fortress sword in hand the assault was renewed with greater success a was effected the indians were driven from one post to another they disputed their ground inch by inch fighting with the fury of despair most of their were cut to pieces and after a long and bloody battle philip and with a handful of warriors retreated from the fort and took refuge in the of the surrounding forest the set fire to the and the fort the whole was in a blaze many of the old philip of the women and the children perished in the this last outrage overcame even the of the the neighbouring v with the of rage and despair uttered by the fugitive warriors as they beheld the destruction of their dwellings and heard the cries of their wives and offspring the burning of the wig says a contemporary writer the shrieks and cries of the women and children and the yelling of the warriors exhibited a most horrible and ing scene so that it greatly moved some of the soldiers the same writer cautiously adds they were in much doubt then and afterwards seriously inquired whether burning their enemies alive could be consistent with humanity and the benevolent principles of the gospel the fate of the brave and generous is worthy of particular the last scene of his life is one of the noblest instances on record of indian broken down in his power and resources by this signal defeat yet faithful to his ally and to the cause which he had he rejected all of peace offered on condition of ing philip and his followers and declared that he would fight it out to the last man rather than be come a servant to the english his home being ms of rev w s philip of destroyed his country harassed and laid by the of the he was obliged to wander away to the banks of the where he formed a point to the whole body t f western indians and laid waste several of die english early in the spring he departed on a expedition with only thirty chosen men to to in the vicinity of hope and procure seed com to for the of his troops this little band of passed safely through the country and were in the centre of the resting at some near river when an alarm was given of an approaching enemy having but men by him at the time two of them to die top of a neighbouring hill to bring intelligence of the foe panic struck by the appearance of a troop of english and indians rapidly advancing they fled iti breathless terror past their without stopping to of the danger sent another who did the same he then sent two more one of hurrying back in confusion and told him that the whole british army was at hand saw there was no but immediate flight he attempted to escape round the hill but was perceived and hotly pursued by the bi and a few of the of i t li k finding the close upon he threw off first his then his silver coat and belt of by which his enemies knew him to be and the eagerness of pursuit at length in dashing through the river his foot slipped upon a stone and he fell so deep as to wet his this accident so struck l m with despair that as he afterwards confessed his heart and his turned within him and he became like a rotten stick void of strength to such a degree was he that being seized by a indian within a short distance of the river he made no resistance though a man of great vigour of body and of heart but on made prisoner the whole pride of his spirit arose within him and from that moment we find in the anecdotes given by his enemies nothing but repeated flashes of elevated and prince like sm being questioned by one of the english who first came up with him and who had not attained his twenty second year the proud hearted warrior looking with lofty contempt upon his youthful countenance replied you are a child you cannot understand matters of war let your brother or your chief come him will i answer though repeated offers were made to him of his life on condition of with his nation to ot the english yet he rejected them with disdain and refused to send any proposals of the kind to the great body of his subjects saying that he knew none of them would being reproached with his breach of faith towards the his boast that he would not deliver up a nor the par ing of a s nail and his threat that would bum the english alive in their houses he to justify himself answering that others were as forward for the war as himself add he desired to hear no more thereof so noble and a spirit so true a fidelity to his cause and his friend might have touched the feelings of the generous and the brave but ca was an indian a being towards whom war had no courtesy humanity no law religion no compassion he was condemned to die the last words of his that are recorded are worthy the greatness of his soul when sentence of death was passed upon him he observed that he liked it well for he should die before his heart was soft or he had spoken anything unworthy of himself his enemies gave him the death of a soldier for he was shot at by three young of his own rank the defeat at the fortress and the death of c were fatal blows to the fortunes of philip he made an ineffectual attempt	48
of to raise a head of war by up the to take arms but though possessed of the native talents of a his arts were by the superior arts of his enlightened enemies and the terror of their warlike skill began to subdue die resolution of the neighbouring tribes the saw himself daily stripped of power and his ranks rapidly around him some were by the others fell victims to hunger and fatigue and to the frequent attacks by which they were harassed his stores were all captured his chosen friends were swept away from before his eyes his uncle was shot down by his side his sister was carried into and in one of his narrow escapes he was compelled to leave his beloved wife and only son to the mercy of the enemy his ruin says the historian being thus gradually carried on his misery was not prevented but thereby being himself made acquainted with the sense and feeling of the of his children loss of friends slaughter of his subjects of all family relations and being stripped of all outward comforts before his own life should be taken away to fill up the measure of his misfortunes his own followers began to plot against his life that by sacrificing him they might purchase of safety through treachery a of his fill the of aa princess of and con of philip were betrayed into the hands of the enemy was among them at the time and attempted to make her escape by crossing a neighbouring river either exhausted by swimming or starved with cold and hunger she was found dead and naked near die water side but tion ceased not at the grave even the refuge of the wretched where the wicked commonly cease from troubling was no protection to this outcast female whose great crime was affectionate fidelity to her and her friends her corpse was the object of and vengeance the head was severed from the body and set upon a pole and was thus exposed at to the view of her captive subjects they immediately recognised the features of their queen and were so affected at this barbarous spectacle that we are told they broke forth into the most horrid and however philip had borne up against the complicated miseries and misfortunes that surrounded him the treachery of his followers seemed to his heart and reduce him to despondency it is said that he never rejoiced afterwards nor had success in any of his designs the spring of hope r philip of was the of enterprise was extinguished he looked around and all was danger and darkness there was no eye to pity nor any arm that could bring with a scanty band of followers who still remained true to his desperate fortunes the unhappy philip wandered back to the vicinity of mount hope the ancient dwelling of his here he about like a among the scenes of former power and prosperity now of home of family and friend there needs no better picture of his destitute and piteous situation than that furnished by the homely pen of the who is the feelings of the reader in favour of the warrior whom he v philip he says like a savage wild beast having been hunted by the english forces through the woods above a hundred miles backward and forward at last was driven to his own den upon mount hope where he retired with a few of his best friends into a swamp which proved but a prison to keep him fast till the messengers of death came by divine permission to execute vengeance upon him even in this last refuge of desperation and despair a sullen grandeur round his memory we picture him to ourselves seated among his followers brooding in silence over his ii o philip of and acquiring a savage from tbe i and of his lurking place h fi but not dismayed crushed to the but not he seemed to grow more haughty and to experience a fierce in the last of bitterness are tamed and subdued by great minds rise above it the very idea of awakened the fury of philip and k smote to one of his followers who proposed an expedient of peace the brother of the victim his escape and in revenge betrayed the retreat of his a body of white men and indians were immediately despatched to the swamp philip lay crouched glaring with and despair he was aware of their approach they had begun to surround him in a while he saw five of his followers laid dead at his feet all resistance was vain he rushed forth from his covert and made a headlong attempt at escape but was shot through the heart by a indian of his own nation such is tbe scanty story of the brave but unfortunate philip persecuted while living and when dead if however we consider even the prejudiced anecdotes us by his enemies we may perceive in them of amiable and lofty character sufficient to philip of n sympathy for his and r t t for we find that all the ha and of warfare b was alive to the softer love and paternal tenderness and to the generous sentiment of friendship the of his wife and only son are mentioned with exultation as causing him misery the death of any near friend is triumphantly recorded as a new blow on his but the treachery and desertion of many of his followers in whose affections he had confided is said to have his heart aiid to have him of all further comfort he was a attached to his native soil a prince true to his subjects and indignant of their wrongs a soldier daring in battle firm in patient of fatigue of hunger of every variety of bodily and ready to perish in the cause he had proud of	48
heart and with an love of natural he preferred to enjoy it among the beasts of the forests or in the dismal and recesses of and than bow his haughty spirit to submission and live dependent and despised in the ease and luxury of the with heroic qualities and bold achievements that would have a civilized warrior and have rendered him the theme of the poet and the historian he lived a wanderer and a o philip of fugitive in his native land and went n like a lonely bark amid darkness and a pitying eye to weep his fall or a friendly hand to record his struggle john bull o john an old song by au aged old of an old gentleman bad a great estate that kept a brave at a and an old porter to relieve the poor at gate with an old study fuu of learned old books a om you might by u with an old b quite off and aa old kitchen that maintained hat a dozen old is no species of humour hi english more than that which consists in and giving or in this way they have not merely individual s but nations and in their fondness for pushing a joke they have not spared even themselves one would think that m itself a nation would be apt to picture something grand heroic and imposing but it is characteristic of the humour of the english and of their we for what is blunt comic and that they have embodied l national in the figure of a sturdy o john bull with a three hat red waistcoat leather breeches and stout thus they have taken a singular delight in exhibiting their most private in a point of view and have been so successful in their that there is scarcely a being in actual existence more absolutely present to the public mind than that eccentric personage john bull perhaps the continual contemplation of the character thus drawn of them has contributed to fix it upon the nation and thus to give reality to what at first may have been painted in a great measure from the imagination men are apt to acquire peculiarities that are continually ascribed to them the common orders of english seem wonderfully with the beau ideal which they have formed of john bull and endeavour to act up to the broad that is perpetually before their eyes they sometimes make their boasted bull an apology for their prejudice or and this i have especially noticed among those truly home bred and genuine sons of the soil who have never beyond the sound of bow bells if one of these should be a little uncouth in speech and apt to utter impertinent truths he that he is a real john bull and always speaks his mind if he now and then flies into an unreasonable burst of passion about trifles john bull he that j bull is a old blade but then his passion is over in a moment and he bears no malice if he a of taste and an to foreign he thanks heaven for his ignorance he is a plain john bull and has no relish for and nick his to be by strangers and to pay for is excused under the plea of john is always more generous than wise thus under the name of john bull he will contrive to argue every fault into a merit and will frankly himself of being the fellow in existence however little therefore the character may have suited in the first instance it has gradually adapted itself to the nation or rather they have themselves to each and a stranger who wishes to study ei peculiarities may gather much valuable information from the innumerable portraits of john bull as exhibited in the windows of the shops still however he is one of those fertile that are continually throwing out new traits and ent aspects from different points of view and often as he has been described i cannot resist the to give a slight sketch of him such as he met my ye john to all appearance is a plain down john bull right of fellow with less of about bim than rich prose there is little of in his but a vast deal oi strong he in more than ib wit is than gay easily be moved to a tear or surprised into a broad laugh but be and has no turn for light he ia a boon companion if jou allow him to have hia humour and to talk himself aad he stand by a friend ki a i with hfe aad purse however be nay be in this last respect to ae truth he has a to be somewhat too ready he is a busy personage who not ha and but for ail the and is most disposed to be s he ia ins to settle his and takes it in great if they engage in matter of without his advice though he engines in any fr y office of the finishing i getting into a with ail parties and then railing at their ingratitude he ki y lessons in bis in the science of defence accomplished himself in the use of his and his and become a perfect master at box john bull and play he has had a life of it ever he cannot bear of a quarrel between the st distant his neighbours but lie begins to with the bead of and consider whether of does require that he should in the indeed be has extended his of pride and so over the country that no event can take place without in some his rights and in his little domain with these forth in every c he is like bottle old spider who bis web over a chamber sa that a fly cannot nor a breeze blow starts ling bis repose	48
and causing him to sally from his really a good good old fellow at bottom yet he is food of being in the midst of it is me of his however that be the of an f ray be always goes into a w di alacrity but out of it grumbling e when victorious aud though no one with more to carry a when the battle is over and he comes to the he is so the men shaking of hands that he is apt to bull pocket they have been about it i not therefore fighting that he ought so much to be on his guard against as making it is difficult to him out of a but put him in a good humour and you may bargain him out of all the money in his pocket he is like one of his own ships which will weather the storm but roll its overboard in the succeeding calm he is a little fond of playing the abroad of pulling out a long flinging his money bravely about at matches horse races and cock fights and carrying a high head among gentlemen of the fancy but immediately after one of these fits of extravagance he will be taken with violent of economy stop short at the most trivial expenditure talk desperately of being ruined and brought upon the parish and in such moods pay the smallest s bill without violent he is in fact the most punctual and discontented in the world drawing his coin out of his breeches pocket with infinite reluctance paying to the but accompanying every guinea a growl with all his talk of economy however he is a and a hospitable housekeeper his economy is of a kind its chief bull object being to devise how he may afford to be extravagant for he will himself a and pint of port one day that he may roast an ox whole a head of and treat all his neighbours on the next his establishment is expensive not so much from any great outward parade as from the great consumption of solid beef and the vast number of followers he and clothes and his singular disposition to pay for small services he is a most kind and indulgent master and provided his servants humour his peculiarities flatter his vanity a little now and then and do not on him before his face they may manage him to perfection every thing that lives on him to and grow fat his house servants are well paid and and have little to do his horses are sleek and lazy and slowly before his state carriage and his house dogs sleep quietly about the door and will hardly bark at a house his family mansion is an old house grey with age and of a most venerable though weather beaten appearance it has been built upon no regular plan but is a vast of parts erected in various tastes and ages the centre bears evident traces of saxon john bull and is as solid as ponderous stone and old english oak can make it like all the relics of that style it is full of obscure passages intricate dusky chambers and though these have been partially lighted up in modern days yet are many places where you must still in the dark additions have been made to the original edifice from time to time and great tions have taken place towers and have been erected during wars and wings built in times of peace and out houses and offices run up according to the whim or convenience of generations until it has become one of the most spacious rambling ments imaginable an entire wing is taken up with the family chapel a reverend pile that once have been exceedingly and deed in spite of having been altered and at various periods has still a look of religious pomp its walls within are with the monuments of john s ancestors and it is fitted up with soft cushions and well lined chairs where such of his family as are inclined to church services may comfortably in the discharge of their duties to keep up this chapel has cost john much but he is in his religion and in his zeal from the circumstance that j t have been erected in his vicinity and several of his with he has had are strong to do the duties of the chapel he at a large expense a pious and family he is a most learned and personage and a truly well bred christian who always backs the old gentleman in his opinions at his the children when and is of great use in the tenants to read their say their prayers and above all to pay their rents and grumbling the family apartments are in a very taste somewhat heavy and often inconvenient but full of the solemn magnificence of former times fitted up with rich though faded furniture and loads of gorgeous old plate the vast fire places ample extensive and halls all speak of the roaring hospitality of days of of which the modern at the house is but a shadow there are however complete of apparently deserted and time worn and towers and that are tottering to decay so that in high winds there is danger of their tumbling about the ears of the household john has been advised to have the s john bull old edifice and io have some of useless parts pulled down and the others strengthened with their materials but the old gentleman always grows on this subject he the house is an excellent house that it is tight and weather proof and not to be shaken by that it has stood for several hundred years and therefore is not likely to tumble down now that as to its being his family is accustomed to the and not be comfortable without	48
them that as to its size and irregular construction these result from its being the growth of centuries and being improved by the wisdom of every generation that an old family like his requires a large house to dwell in new families may live in modem cottages and snug boxes but an old english family should an old english if you point out any part of the building as superfluous he that it is material to the strength or of the rest and the harmony of the whole and that the parts are so built into each other that if you pull down one you run the risk of having the whole about your ears the secret of the matter is that john has a great disposition to protect and he thinks it indispensable to the dignity of an ancient john d aod family to in its and to be eaten up by and so partly from pride and partly kind he makes it a rule always to give shelter and maintenance to his servants the is that like many ie family his is by old retained he cannot turn off and old style which he cannot lay do his is k hospital of invalid and with all its is not a whit too large its not a nook ot but is of use in ing useless personage groups of beef and retired heroes of and the are seen about its crawling over its under or themselves upon the benches its i every and out house is by these and their families for they are and when th y die off are to leave john a of to be provided for a cannot be struck again the most tumble down tower but out from some or hole the ey of some n has lived at john s expense all his life and makes the most grievous at their pulling down the roof from over the head of a worn out servant of ii p john bull t this is an appeal that john s honest heart never can withstand so that a man who has faithfully eaten his beef and all his life is e to be rewarded with a pipe and in his old a great part of his park also is turned into his broken down are turned loose to undisturbed for the remainder of their a worthy example of grateful which if some of his neighbours would not be to their indeed it is one of his great pleasures to point out these old to his visitors to dwell on their good their past services and boast with some vain glory of the perilous adventures and hardy e through which they have carried him he is given however to indulge his veneration for family and family to a his is by of yet he will not suffer them to be driven off because they have the place time out of mind and been regular npon every generation of the family he will scarcely permit a dry branch to be from the great trees that surround the house lest it should the that have bred there for centuries have possession of the but they are here and must not be disturbed john bull h ve choked up every chimney with their nests build in every and flutter about the towers and perch on and old grey headed rats may be seen in every quarter of the house running in out of their holes in broad daylight in short john has such a reverence for every thing that has been long in the family that he hear even of being because they are good old family all these and habits have to drain the old gentleman s purse and as he himself on in money matters and wishes to maintain his credit in the neighbour hood they have caused him great perplexity iii meeting his engagements this too has been in by the and heart which are continually taking place in his his children have been brought up to different and are of different ways of thinking and as they have always been allowed to speak their s freely they do not fail to exercise the privilege t in the present posture of his some stand up for the honour of the race and clear that the old establishment should be kept up in all its state whatever may be the c st who are more prudent and considerate entreat old gentleman to his expenses and to his whole system of housekeeping on a more j bull footing he has indeed at times seemed to listen to their opinions but their some advice has been completely defeated by the ob conduct of one of his sons this is noisy rattle fellow of rather low habits who his business to frequent ale houses is the orator of village clubs and a among the poorest of his father s tenants no sooner does he hear any of his brothers mention reform or than up he the words out of their mouths and out for an when his tongue is once going nothing an stop it he about the room the old about his his tastes and pursuits that he shall turn the old servants put of doors give the broken down horses to the hounds send the fat pack ing and take a field preacher in his place nay that the whole family mansion shall be with the ground and a plain one of brick and mortar place he rails at every social family and away growling to the ale house whenever an drives up to the door though constantly complaining of the of his purse yet he scruples not to spend all his pocket money in these tavern con and even runs up scores for the liquor over which he about his father s extravagance john bull it may readily be imagined how little	48
such with the old s fiery he has become so irritable from repeated that the mere m of re or reform is a signal for a between him and the tavern as the latter is too sturdy and for paternal discipline having grown out of all fear of the they have frequent scenes of warfare which at times run so high that john is fain to call in the aid of his son tom an officer who has served abroad but is at present living at home on half pay this last is sure to stand by the old gentleman right or wrong likes nothing so much as a and is ready at a wink or a nod to and flourish it over the orator s head if he dares to array himself against paternal authority these family as usual have got abroad and are rare food for scandal in john s neighbourhood people to look wise and shake their heads whenever his affairs are they all hope that matters are not so bad with him as represented but when a man s own children begin to ail at his extravagance things must be badly managed they understand he is over head and ears and is continually with he is certainly an open handed old gentleman but they fear he has lived too fast indeed ihey never knew p john bull any good come of this fondness for hunting racing and prize fighting in short mr bull s estate is a very fine one and has been in the a long while but for all that they have known many finer estates come to the hammer what is worst of all is the which these pecuniary and domestic have had on the poor man himself instead of that jolly round and snug rosy face which he used to present he has of late become as and shrunk as a bitten apple his scarlet waistcoat which out so bravely in those prosperous days when he sailed before the wind now hangs loosely about him like a in a calm his leather breeches are all in folds and wrinkles and apparently have much to hold up the boots that on both sides of his once sturdy legs instead of about as formerly with his three hat on one side flourishing his and bringing it every moment with a hearty upon the ground looking every one in the face and out a of a catch or a drinking song he now goes about whistling thoughtfully to himself with his head drooping down his tucked under his arm and his hands thrust to the bottom of his breeches pockets which are evidently empty such is plight of honest john bull at pre john bull sent yet for all this the old fellow s spirit is as tall and s gallant as ever if you drop the least expression of sympathy or concern he takes fire in an instant that he is the richest and fellow in the country talks of laying out large sums to adorn his house or to buy another estate and with a and grasping of his exceedingly to have another at though there may be something rather in all this yet i confess i cannot look upon john s situation without strong feelings of interest with all his odd and obstinate prejudices he is a sterling hearted old blade he may not be so wonderfully fine a fellow as he thinks himself but he is at least twice as good as his neighbours represent him his virtues are all his own all plain and unaffected his very faults of the of his good qualities his extravagance of his generosity his of his courage his of his open faith his vanity of his pride and his of his sincerity they are all the of a rich and liberal character he is like his own oak rough without but and solid within whose bark with in proportion to the growth and grandeur of the timber and whose branches make a fearful groaning and murmuring in the least storm from their very magnitude and p i john there lu m m tiie of his old family that is poetical and aod as r long as it can be i i tremble to ee it during the x t of c me of hia are o doubt good that tie of service b t i ear j e mere who when they had once got their e would they t ter d e buried tl hm nm l u that i wi is that j n fr f f ent v e be i i y x e s r other people s tbat he may give up the attempt to pi the good of neighbours the peace ud of ib by dint the that he y al gradually get his into repair cultivate his rich estate to his fancy his income if he thinks proper bring his into if be can renew the j scenes of prosperity and long i y on his lands a an honourable and a n age the pride of the village the pride of the village may do no stir a wing about thy no winds or come hither to starve or thy soft sweet earth but like a spring love keep it ever flourishing in the course of an excursion through one of the remote of england i had struck into one of those cross roads that lead through the more secluded parts of the country and stopped one afternoon at a village the situation of which waa beautifully rural and retired there was an air of primitive simplicity about its inhabitants not to be found in the villages which lie on the t roads i determined to pass the night there and having taken an early dinner strolled out to enjoy th neighbouring scenery the pride of the	48
village my as is usually the case with travellers soon led me to the church which stood at a little distance from the village indeed it was an object of some curiosity its old tower being completely with ivy so that only here and there a an angle of grey wall or a carved ornament peered through the covering it was a lovely evening the early part of the day had been dark and but in the afternoon it had cleared up and though sullen clouds still hung over head yet there was a broad tract of golden sky in the west from which the setting sun gleamed through the dripping leaves and lit up all nature into a melancholy smile it seemed like the parting hour of a good christian smiling on the sins and sorrows of the world and giving in the serenity of his decline an assurance that he will rise again in glory i had seated myself on a half sunken and was as one is apt to do at this sober hour on past scenes and early n those who were distant and those who dead and indulging in that kind of melancholy which has in it something sweeter even than pleasure every now and then the stroke of a bell from the neighbouring tower fell n my ear its tones were in with the scene and instead of in with my pride f the s feelings and it some time before i d that it must be the of some new tenant of the tomb presently i saw a funeral train moving the village green it wound slowly along a lane was lost and re appeared through the breaks of the hedges until it passed the place where i was sitting the pall was by young girls dressed in white aiid another about the age of seventeen walked before bearing a of white flowers a token that the deceased waa a young and unmarried female the corpse was followed by the parents they were a couple of the better order of the father seemed to repress his feelings but his fixed eye contracted brow and deeply face showed the struggle that was passing within his wife hung on his arm and wept aloud with the bursts of a mother s sorrow i followed the funeral into the church the placed in the aisle and the of flowers with a pair of white gloves were hung over the seat which the deceased had occupied every one knows the soul of the funeral service for who is so fortunate as never to have followed some one he has loved to die tomb but when performed over the remains of s the ap bid low of e can be more affecting p at that simple but most solemn of the body to the grave earth to earth ashes to ashes dust to the tears of the youthful companions of the deceased flowed the father still seemed to struggle with his feelings and to comfort die assurance that the dead are blessed which die in the lord but the mother only thought of her child as a flower of the fields cut down and withered in the midst of its sweetness she was like mourning over her children and would not be comforted on returning to the inn i learnt the whole story of the deceased it was a simple one and such as has often been told she had been the beauty and pride of the village her father had once been an farmer but was reduced in circumstances this was an only child and brought up entirely at home in the simplicity of rural life she had been the pupil of the village the favourite lamb of his little flock the good man watched over her education with paternal care it was limited and suitable to the sphere in which she was to move for he only sought to make her an ornament to her station in life not to raise her above iu the tenderness and indulgence of her parents and the from all ordinary oc thb t the village l a natural of character that accorded with the loveliness of her form she appeared like tender plant of the garden blooming accidentally amid die natives of the fields the superiority of her charms was felt and by her com but without envy for it was surpassed by the gentleness and winning kindness of h r manners it be truly said of her s this is the prettiest low born that ever ran on the green nothing she does or seems bat of something herself too noble for this place the village was one of those spots which still retain some of old english customs it had its rural and and still kept up some faint of the once popular rites of may these indeed had been promoted by its present who was a lover of old customs and one of those simple christians that think their mission fulfilled by joy on earth and good will among mankind under his the may pole stood from year to year in the centre of the village green on may day it was decorated with and and a queen or lady of the may was appointed as in former times to at the s fr b or the ll c c sports tbe of the village the b of te would the notice pf casual visitors these on one may day was a young officer whose had been recently in the he s wi the taste that but above all with the of the queen of may it the village favourite who was crowned with blushing and smiling in all the beautiful confusion of girlish and delight the of rural habits enabled him readily to make her acquaintance he gradually w il his her intimacy and paid his court to	48
village city the white cottage the along the silver brook and up the hedge and the village maid along it leaning on his th pride of the village and listening to him with eyes beaming with unconscious affection the which the poor girl had received in the destruction of all her ideal world had indeed been cruel and had at first shaken her tender frame and were succeeded by a si and melancholy she had beheld from her window the march of the departing troops she had seen her lover borne off as if in triumph amidst the sound of drum and trumpet and th pomp of arms she strained a last ing gaze after him as the morning sun about his figure and his waved in the breeze he passed away like a bright vision from her sight and left her all in darkness it would be to dwell on the particulars of her after story it was like other tales of she avoided society and out alone in the walks she had most with lover she sought like the stricken d e f to weep in silence and loneliness and brood the sorrow that in her soul i she would be seen late of an sitting in the porch of the village church and the maids returning from the fields would now aft then her singing some in the walk she became fervent in her at church and as the old people q the pride of the her so wasted away yet with a bloom and that air which melancholy round the form they would make way ft her as for something spiritual and looking after would shake their heads in she a conviction that she wa h to the tomb but looked forward to it as a place of rest the cord that had bound her to existence was and there seemed to be no more re under the if ever her gentle bosom had entertained resentment against her lover it was extinguished she was of angry and in a moment of s he him a farewell letter tt was touched in the simplest language but touching from its very she told him that she was dying and did not conceal from him that his conduct was the cause she even depicted the sufferings hich she had experienced but concluded with saying that she could not die in peace until she had bent him her forgiveness and her blessing by degrees her strength declined and she could longer leave the cottage she could only to the window where propped up ki her chair it was her enjoyment to sit all day and look out upon the landscape still she uttered no complaint to any the malady that was pf on her heart she never even mentioned her the pride of the lover s name but would lay her head ob her mother s bosom aod weep in silence her poor parents hung in mute anxiety over this fading blossom of their hopes still flattering themselves that it might again revive to freshness and that tiie bright bloom whidi sometimes flushed her cheek might be the promise of returning in this way was seated between them one sunday her hands were clasped in their s the was thrown open and the soft air that stole brought with it the fragrant of the her own bands had trained round the window her father had just been reading a chapter in die bible it o the vanity of worldly things and of the joys of heaven it deemed to comfort and serenity through her her eye y s fix oa the distant village cl di t he bell had for t te evening service the was the porch and every thing had sunk into that stillness liar to the day of rest her parents were on her with yearning hearts sorrow which pass so ly over bad given to her s die of a s a tear in her soft blue eye was she thinking of her lover i or were her thoughts wan to tiiat distant yard whose bosom she might soon be gathered q i the pride of the village suddenly tbe of hoofs ere heard a galloped to the cottage he dismounted before the window the poor girl gave a faint exclamation and sunk back in her chair it was her lover he rushed into the house and flew to her to his bosom but her wasted her death countenance so wan yet so lovely in its desolation smote him to the soul and he threw in an agony at her feet she v as too faint to rise to extend h trembling hand her lips moved as if she but up word was she looked down upon him with a smile of unutterable tenderness and closed her eyes for ever such are the particulars which i gathered of this village story they are but scanty and i am conscious have little novelty to recommend them in the present rage also for strange incident and narrative they may appear and insignificant but they interested me strongly at the time and taken in with the affecting ceremony which i had just witnessed left a deeper impression on my mind than many circumstances of a more striking nature i have passed through the place since and visited the church again from a better motive than mere curiosity it was a wintry evening the trees were stripped of their foliage the church yard looked naked and mournful and the pride of the village the wind coldly through the dry grass however had been planted about the grave of the village favourite and were bent over it to keep the turf the church door was open and i stepped in hung the of flowers and the gloves as on the day of the funeral the flowers were withered it is	48
his companions was a ragged vol ii r the the look of an and wail nt could find his way to any gentleman s fish pond in the neighbourhood in the darkest night the other was a tall awkward country lad with a lounging gait and apparently somewhat of a rustic beau the old man was busied examining the of a t out which he had just killed to discover by its contents what insects were for bait and was on die to who appeared to listen with infinite deference i have a kind feeling towards all brothers of the angle ever since i read are he of a mild sweet and spirit and my esteem for has been increased since i met with an old of fishing with the angle in whidi are set forth many of the of their take good feed this honest little that iii going about your ye man s gates but that ye them ye not use for no to the ing and of your money only but principally for your and to cause the of your body and of your from this same it would appear that is a more industrious and devout employment than it is generally considered for when ye to go on you in ye will the s i that i could perceive in the before me an of ii hat i had read and there was a cheerful in his looks that quite drew me to him i could not but remark the gallant manner in which he from one brook to another waving his rod in the air to keep tke line m dragging on the catching ig the and the which he would throw his fly to any place jt lightly rapid casting it into one of dark holes hy a root or overhanging bank in w i apt to in the he was giving instructions to his two the manner in which they handle their fix their flies and play along of the stream the scene brought to the of the sage to his t the country around was of that which is fond of describing it was it tha plain of close by the beautiful of and just where the inferior hills begin to not many persons with you g t let you of ve aod that ye may god devoutly in effectually your prayers and thus ye shall and also many vices as which is cause to induce man to many vices as it is light well known r the er swell up om among sweet meadows the day too like that recorded in his work was mild and with now and then a soft dropping shower that the whole earth with diamonds i soon fell into conversation with the old and was so much entertained that under pi of receiving instructions in his art i kept with him almost the whole day wandering along the banks of the stream and listening to his talk he was veiy having all the easy of cheerful old age and i fancy was a little flattered by having an opportunity of display ing his lore for who does not like now and then to play the sage i he had been much of a in his day and had passed some years of his youth in america particularly in where he had entered into trade and had been ruined by the of a partner he had afterwards experienced many i and downs in life until he got into the navy where his leg was carried away by a cannon at the battle of this was the only stroke of really good fortune he had ever experienced for it got him a which together with some paternal property brought him in a of v nearly forty pound s on this he retired to his native village where he lived quietly and thb and devoted the remainder of his life to the noble art of i found that he had read attentively and he seemed to have all his simple frankness and good humour though t he had been sorely about the world he was satisfied that the world in itself was good and f beautiful though he had been as roughly used in different countries as a poor sheep that is by every hedge and thicket yet he spoke of every nation with and kindness appearing to look only on the good side of things and above all he was almost the only man i had ever met with who had been an unfortunate adventurer in america laid had honesty and enough to take the fault to his own door and not to curse the country the lad that was receiving his instructions i learnt was the son and heir apparent of a fat old widow who kept the village inn and of course a of some expectation and much by the i gentleman like personages of the place in taking him under his care therefore the old man had pro a an eye to a privileged corner in the tap room and an occasional cup of cheerful ale free of ex i there is certainly something in if we could forget which are apt to do the i ties and inflicted on worms and that us the produce a gentleness of spirit and a serenity of mind as the english are even in their and al e the most of it has been among to rule and system indeed it is i ment adapted to the mild and highly d scenery of england where every s has been softened away from the landscape it is delightful to along those streams which wander like of silver through the bosom of this beautiful country leading one through a of small home scenery sometimes wind ing through ornamented grounds brim through rich where the fresh green is mingled with sweet smelling flowers sometimes venturing in sight	48
of and y and then running way shady the sweetness and s er of nature and the quiet of the sport gradually bring on pleasant fits of how and then agreeably interrupted by the song of a bird the distant whistle of the peasant or perhaps the of some aa out of the still water and about its surface when i would content and confidence in the power and and providence of god i will walk the by some gliding thb stream and there contemplate the lilies that take no care and those very many other little living that are not only created but fed knows not how by the goodness of the of nature and therefore trust in him i cannot forbear to give another quotation from one of those ancient of which breathes the same innocent and happy spirit let me live and near the brink of or have a dwelling place where i may see my or cork down sink witli eager bite of or bleak or and on the world and ray creator think t whilst some men strive ill gotten goods t embrace and others spend their time in base excess of wine or worse in war or let them that will these still pursue and on such pleasing fancies feed their fill so i the fields and meadows green may view and daily by fresh rivers walk at will among the and the blue red and yellow on parting with the old i inquired after his place of abode and happening to be in the neighbourhood of the village a few evenings afterwards i had the curiosity to seek him out i found him living in a small cottage containing only one room but a perfect fi its method and j r ths arrangement it was on the skirts of the village on a green bank a little back from the road with a small garden in front with kitchen and adorned with a few flowers the whole front of the cottage was with a on the top was a ship for a the interior was fitted up in a truly style his ideas of comfort and having been ac on the birth deck of a man of war a was from the ceiling which in the was lashed up so as to take but little room from the centre of the chamber hung a model of a ship of his own two or three chairs a table and a large sea chest the principal about the walls were stuck up naval such as admiral s ghost all in the downs and tom with pictures of sea fights which the battle i of held a distinguished place the i was decorated with sea shells over which hung a by two wood cuts of most bitter looking naval his implements for were carefully disposed on nails and hooks about the room on a shelf was j arranged his library containing a work on much worn a bible covered with an odd volume of two voyages a and a book of songs his family consisted of a large black cat with the one eye and a which he had caught and tamed and educated himself in the course of one of his voyages and which uttered a variety of sea phrases with the hoarse tone of a the establishment reminded me of that of the renowned robinson it was kept in neat order every thing being away with the regularity of a ship of war and he informed me that he the deck every morning and swept it between meals i found him seated on a bench before the door smoking his pipe in the soft evening sunshine his cat was on the threshold and his describing some strange in au iron ring that swung in the centre of his cage he had been all day and gave me a history of his sport with as much as a general would talk over a campaign being particularly animated in relating the manner in which he had taken a large which had completely all his skill and and which he had sent as a to mine hostess of the inn how comforting it is to see a cheerful and contented old age and to behold a poor fellow like this after being tempest through life safely in a snug and quiet harbour in the evening of his days his happiness however sprung from within himself and was independent of external for he had good which is the itself like over the u sea of thought and ing the smooth and in the on further about him i learnt that he was a favourite in e and the the tap room wh re he ed the with his songs and like astonished them with his stories of strange lands ai d ship he was much noticed too by gentlemen of the had taught several of them the art of and was a privileged visitor to their the whole tenor of his life was quiet and being principally passed about the neighbouring streams when die n and season were able employed at home preparing his fishing tackle forth next campaign or and for his and pupils among the gentry he was a regular attendant at on sun i days though he generally fell asleep during the sermon he had made it his request when he died he should be t in a green spot which he could see from his seat in church and which he had ever since he was a boy and had often thought of from home on i the the raging sea in danger of being food for fishes it was the spot where his father and mother had been buried i have done for i fear that my reader is growing weary but i could not refrain from drawing the picture of this worthy brother of the angle who	48
has made me more than ever in love with the theory though i fear i shall never be in the practice of his art and i will conclude this rambling sketch in the words of honest by craving the blessing of st peter s master upon my reader and upon all that are true lovers of virtue and dare trust in his pro and be quiet and go a the legend of sleepy hollow the legend of sleepy hollow among the papers of the late a pleasing land of head it was of dreams that before the half shut eye ai d of gay in the clouds that pass for ever flushing round a summer sky ti b of in the of one of the spacious which the eastern shore of the at that broad of the river by the ancient dutch the and where they always sail and implored the protection of st when they crossed there lies a small market town or rural port which by some is called but which is more generally and properly known by the name of town this name was given the legend of sleepy hollow we are told in former days by the good of the adjacent country from tlie of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days be that as it may i do not for the fact but merely to it for the sake of being precise and not far from this village perhaps about three miles there is a little valley or rather lap of land among high hills which is one of the in the whole world a small brook it with just murmur enough to lull one to repose and the occasional whistle of a or tapping of a is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquillity i recollect that when a my first in shooting was in a grove of tall trees that shades one side of the valley i had wandered into it at noon time when all nature is peculiarly quiet and was startled by the roar of my own gun as it broke the sabbath around and was prolonged and by the angry echoes if ever i should wish for a retreat i might steal from the world and its and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life i know of none more promising than this little valley from the repose of the place and the peculiar character of its inhabitants who are de the of sleepy s from the original dutch this has long been known by the name of hollow and its rustic lads are called the sleepy hollow boys throughout all the neighbouring country a drowsy dreamy influence seems to hang over the land and to the very atmosphere some say that the place was by a high german doctor during the early days of the settlement others that an old indian chief the prophet or of his tribe held his there before the country was discovered by master certain it is the place still under the sway of some power that holds a spell over the minds of the good people causing them to walk in a continual reverie they are given to all kinds of marvellous are subject to and visions and see strange sights and music and voices in the air the whole ne with local tales haunted spots and twilight stars shoot and glare oftener across the valley than in any other part of the country and the night mare with her whole nine fold seems to make it the favourite scene of her the dominant spirit however that haunts this enchanted region and seems to be in chief of all the powers of the air is the apparition vol ii s of h of a e on without a head it k said by to be the ghost of a whose head had been carried away by a ball in some nameless battle daring l e war and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of n ht as if on the win of the wind his are not con ned to the valley but extend at to the adjacent roads and to the a church that is at no great distance indeed certain of the most of those parts who have been careful in and l the floating concerning this that the body of the per been buried in the church die ghost rides to tbe scene of battle in nightly quest of his head and that the rushing speed with which he passes along the a blast is owing to his being and in to get back to the church yard before day such is the purport of this which has materials for story in that region and die is known at all tlie country by the name of the of sleepy t it is remarkable that the visionary i liave m is not confined to the native the nd sl ow bit of p m y but is unconsciously by one o there for a time however wide wake tbey may have been before they entered sleepy region th y are sure in a little time to the influence of the air and begin to grow to dream dreams see i mention this peaceful spot with all possible for it is in little retired dutch found here and there in the great state of new york that population manners s id customs remain fixed while the great torrent of and improvement which is making such incessant changes in other parts of this restless country sweeps by them unobserved they are e those little of still water which border a rapid stream where we may see the straw and riding quietly at anchor or slowly revolving in their harbour undisturbed by the rush of the passing current though m ny years	48
have elapsed since i trod the drowsy shades of sleepy hollow yet i question whether i should not still find the same trees and the same families in its sheltered bosom in this by place of nature there abode in a remote period of american history that is to say some thirty years since a worthy pf the name of i who or as he ths sleepy hollow pressed it in sleepy hollow for the purpose of the children of the hie was a native of a state which supplies the union with for the mind as well as for the forest and sends forth yearly its of frontier and country the of was not to his person he was tall but exceedingly with narrow shoulders long arms and legs hands that a mile out of his sleeves that might have served for and his whole frame most loosely hung together his head was small and flat at top with huge ears large green eyes and a long nose so that it looked like a perched upon his neck to tell which way the wind blew to see him along the of a hill on a windy day with his clothes and fluttering about him one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth or some from a his school house was a low building of one room rudely constructed of logs the windows partly glazed and partly patched with leaves of old copy books it was most secured at vacant hours by a twisted in the handle of the door and set against the window shutters so that though a thief might get in with per the legend of sleepy hollow feet ease he find some embarrassment in getting out an idea most probably borrowed by the van from the of an the school house stood in a rather lonely but pleasant situation just at the foot of a hill with a brook running close by and a formidable tree growing at one end of it from hence the low murmur of his pupil s voices over their lessons might be heard iu a drowsy summer s day like the hum of a bee hive interrupted now and then by the voice of the master in the tone of menace or or by the appalling sound of the as he urged some along the path of knowledge truth to say he waa a conscientious man that ever bore in m d the golden spare die rod and spoil the child s scholars certainly not spoiled i would not have it imagined however that he was one of those cruel of the school who joy in the smart of their subjects on the contrary he administered justice with rather than severity taking the off the backs of the weak and laying it on those of the strong your mere that at the least flourish of the rod was passed by with indulgence but the claims of justice were satisfied s the legend of sleepy by a double portion on some wrong headed broad skirted who and swelled and grew dogged arid beneath the all this he called doing duty by their parents and he never inflicted a without following it by the so to ihe that he would remember it and thank him for it the longest day he had to live when school hours were over he was even the companion and of the larger boys and on would some of the smaller ones home who happened to have pretty sisters or good for mothers noted foi the comforts of the cupboard indeed it bim to keep on good terms with his pupils the arising from his school was small and would have been scarcely to him with daily bread for he was a huge and though had the powers of an ia but to help out his maintenance he was according to country custom in those parts land lodged at the houses of the farmers whose children he instructed he lived a week at a time going the rounds of the n with all his worldly effects tied in a cotton handkerchief that all this might not be too on the oe s rustic who are apt to consider tbe costs of a and ers as mere he had various ways both useful and agreeable he assisted the occasionally in the lighter labours x f their f ms helped to make hay mended the fences took the to water drove the cows from pasture and cut wood for the winter he laid aside too all the nt dignity and ah sway which he it in his little empire the school and became and he found favour in the eyes pf the mothers by the children particular the youngest and like the lion bold which so the li hold he would sit with a child on one knee and rock a cradle with hi for whole hours together in addition to his other be was the singing master of the neighbourhood and picked up many shillings by the young folks in it was a matter of no little va to him on sundays to take his station in front of the church gallery with a band of chosen singers where in his own he completely carried away the palm from the par on certain it is his voice far above all the r st of the and there are peculiar still to be he rd in that and may even be beard ba f s the legend of sleepy w mile off quite to the opposite side of the mill pond on a sunday morning which are said to be descended from the nose of thus by divers uttle make in that ingenious y which is commonly by and by the worthy got on tolerably enough and was thought by all who understood nothing of the labour of	48
to have a won easy life of it the is generally a man of in the female circle of a rural neighbourhood being considered a kind of idle gentleman like personage of vastly superior taste and accomplishments to the rough country and indeed inferior in learning only to the parson his appearance therefore is apt to occasion some little stir at the tea table of a farm house and the addition of a dish of cakes or or adventure the parade of a silver tea pot our man of letters therefore was peculiarly happy in the smiles of all the country how be would figure among them in the church yard services on sundays gathering grapes for them from the wild vines the surrounding trees for their amusement all the on the tomb stones or with a whole of them along the banks of die adjacent pond while the more country thk of hollow sh bad his superior address from his half life also he a of ti carrying the whole ofi l from house to house so that his ap was always greeted with satisfaction was moreover esteemed by the as a of great for he had read several quite through and was a perfect master of s history of new england in which by the way he most firmly and j he was in fact an odd mixture of small ness and simple his appetite for marvellous and his powers of it were equally extraordinary and both had been increased by his residence in this spell bound region n tale was too gross or monstrous for his swallow it was often his delight after his school wa dismissed in the afternoon to stretch himself on the rich bed of the little brook that by his school house and there con over old s tales until the gathering dusk of evening made the printed page a mere mist before his eyes then as he his way by swamp and stream and awful to the farm house where he happened to be ever sound of nature at that hour fluttered hu i m of hollow ttie moan of tbe whip from the hill side the cry of the that of storm the dreary of the owl or the sudden rustling in the thicket of frightened from their the fire too which sparkled most vividly in the darkest places now and then startled him as one of uncommon brightness would stream across his and if by chance a huge of a came his flight against him the poor was ready to give up the ghost with the idea that he was struck with a witch s token his only resource on such occasions either to drown thought or drive away evil spirits was to sing tunes and the good people of sleepy hollow as they sat by their doors of an evening were often filled with awe at hearing his melody in sweetness long drawn out floating from the distant or along the dusky road another of his sources of fearful pleasure was to pass long winter evenings with the old dutch wives as they sat spinning by the fire with a row apples and along the hearth aad listen to their marvellous tales of ghosts and and haunted fields and haunted the whip poor will is a bird which is only heard at night it receives its name from its note which is thought to resemble those words the legend of sleepy h ll v i f md haunted bridges arid haunted houses j of ot h e of mb s they called him he would delight equally by his of and of the em ns and sights and sounds in the which pr in the f of frighten them with upon and s and with the fact that the world did ab o and that they were half he little i but if there a in all this in the y of b that was all of a ruddy glow from the wood fire and where of course no dared to show its face it was by the terrors of his subsequent walk what shapes and shadows beset f t the dim and ghastly glare of a night l what wistful look did he eye every of light streaming across the waste fields from distant window w often was he ll d by some covered wi i snow which beset his very how often did shrink with awe at the sound of his steps on the frosty crust beneath his feet and to look over his shoulder lest he behold some uncouth being close behind the en of sleepy hollow and how often was he thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast howling among the trees in the idea that it was the galloping on one of his nightly ah these however were mere terrors of the night of the mind that walk in darkness and though he had seen many in his time and been more than once beset by satan in divers shapes in his lonely yet day light put an end to all these evils and he would have passed a pleasant life of it in despite of the devil and all his works if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts and the whole race of put together and that was a woman among the musical who assembled one evening in each week to receive his instructions in was van the daughter and only child of a substantial dutch farmer she was a blooming of fresh eighteen plump as a ripe and melting and rosy as one of her father s and universally not merely for her beauty but her vast expectations she was withal a little of a as might be perceived even in her dress which was a mixture of	48
ancient and modem fashions as most suited to set off her charms she wore the ornaments of pure yellow which her great great th o sleep y hollow brought over from the tempting of the time and withal a short to display the prettiest foot and in the country round had a soft and foolish heart toward the sex and it is not to be wondered at that so tempting a morsel soon found favour in his eyes more especially after he had visited her in her paternal mansion old van was a perfect picture of a contented liberal hearted farmer he seldom it is true sent either his eyes or his thoughts beyond the boundaries of his farm but within those every thing was snug happy and he was satisfied with h s wealth but not proud of it and himself upon the hearty abundance rather than the style in which he lived his strong hold was situated on he banks of the in one of those sheltered fertile in which the dutch farmers are so fond of a great elm tree spread its broad branches over it at the foot of which up a spring of the and sweetest water in a well formed of a barrel and stole sparkling away through the grass to a neighbouring brook that along among elders and dwarf hard by the was a vast that might have served for a church every and of which seemed bursting with t p h of hollow i p of the mc the was bu f it from to night d in about the e and rows of some with oi e eye up if watching the some with their heads under th ir wings or buried in their and o ers ii g and and bowing about their we e ing the on the roof ui were in the repose d of their pens from whence forth np w and troops of pig if tp the air a stately of snowy g se were in an adjoining pond whole of ducks of were the yard and ea fowls it like ill t with their discontented cry before the barn the cock that pattern of a hu a warrior and a fine gentleman clapping nd in the pride and s pf his heart tim s tearing up he earth ith his f et and then ly calling his family of wives and r n to the rich which he had discovered s mouth watered as he iq promise of lu winter fore jn his devouring s eye he are to f every pig about with a i n of fill its belly and an apple in its mon li the were ni put to bed in a comfortable pie and tucked in a of were swimming in own and ducks in dishes like snug married couples with a decent of in the he saw carved out the future sleek side of bacon and ham not a tor key but he beheld up with its under its wing and venture a of and even bright himself l y on bis back in a with uplifted as if cr g that quarter his spirit to ask while living as the fancied all this and as he rolled his great i eyes over the fat meadow the rich fields of of at and com and the ed with ruddy fruit which surrounded the w ai t of van his heart after the who was to inherit these and his expanded with the how they b readily turned into cash and the money in t immense tracts f wild land aad palaces mi the ess nay busy fancy already re his hopes and present to with a whole on the top of a w with t the legend of sleepy hollow with pots and dangling beneath and he beheld himself a pacing mare a at her heels setting out for or the knows where when he entered the house the conquest of his heart was complete it was one of those spacious farm houses with high but lowly roofs built in the style handed down from the first dutch the low projecting formed a along the front capable of being closed up in bad weather under this were hung harness various of and for fishing in the neighbouring river benches were built along the sides for summer use and a great spinning wheel at one end and a at the other showed the various uses to which this important porch might be devoted from this the wondering entered the hall which formed the centre of the mansion and the place of usual residence here rows of ranged on a long dazzled his eyes in one corner stood a huge bag of wool ready to be spun in another a quantity of just from the loom ears of indian com and strings of dried apples and hung in gay along walls mingled with the of red and a door left gave him a peep into the best parlour where the footed chairs and dark the legend sleepy hollow mahogany tables shone like with their accompanying and from their covert of tops mock and shells decorated the strings of various coloured birds eggs were suspended above it a great egg was hung from the centre of the room and a corner cupboard left open displayed immense treasures of old silver and well mended china from the moment laid his eyes upon these regions of delight the peace of his mind was at an end and his only study was how to gain the affections of the daughter of van in this however he had more real than generally fell to the lot of a knight of who seldom had any thing but giants fiery and such like easily conquered to contend with and had to make his way merely through gates of iron and brass	48
and walls of to the castle keep where the lady of his heart was confined all which he achieved as easily as a man would his way to the centre of a christmas pie and then the lady gave him her hand as a matter of course on the contrary had to win his way to the heart of a country beset with a of and which were for ever presenting new difficulties and and vol ii t he had to encounter a ho t df ef red flesh this who beset every to her keeping a watchful and angry eye upon each other but ready to fly out in the common t against any new the most formidable was ai blade of the name of or according to the dutch hero of the which d his of strength and od h shouldered double short curly hair and not unpleasant having a mingled air f from his and great powers he had received he name of i s by as known he was great knowledge and in being as on horseback as a he was foremost at all races and cock fights t the which bodily strength ac hi ra the in all setting his hat on one side and giving his with an air that c no or he was ready for a mi than ill n and with all m i there w a da h of a g i humour at bottom he had three or four boon the i op hollow of us own regarded him k u aad at tlie head of he the c every scent of or merriment for miles round in cold w he fl l a fur cap surmounted wi a fox s tail and when the folks at a co ui ti this well known crest at a about among d of they always stood by for a sometimes his crew would be dashing along past the b at with and a don and the out f their steep i em ot u t n till the and then e bones and his gang p the neighbours looked upon mm with a mixture of aw admiration and good win and any mad cap or rustic bi in the vicinity always k their h and bones bo t of it hero had for some time out the blooming for th c j ct of his uncouth and though bis were gentle s ma of ki was ff that she did g certain it is his w e rival e to retire no ii to a lion in his t the of sleepy hollow ip that when his horse was seen tied van s a sunday a that his mast i wa counting or as it is within all other passed by n despair and the war into other q such the formidable rival with whom i cr to contend and g a man than he would have from the competition and a wiser man would hav he had however a happy ture q and perseverance in h nature s i form and spirit like a jack yielding but though he bent he never broke and though be bowed beneath the slightest pressure the it was away jerk he was as erect and carried his head as high as ever to have taken the field openly against his rival have been madness for he was not a man to b in his any n ore than that stormy lover therefore made his advances in a quiet and gently man ner under r pf his er of singing master he made frequent visits at the farm not that he had anything to apprehend from th interference of parents which is pi often a stumbling block in the path of van was an easy indulgent soul he lo ed his daughter better even than his pipe and like a reasonable man and an excellent father let her the legend of sleepy f have her in every thing his notable wife too had enough to do to attend to hei housekeeping and manage the poultry for as she ducks and are foolish things and must be looked after but girls can take care of themselves thus while busy dame about the or plied her spinning el a t end of the honest bait would smoking his pipe at the the achievements of a wooden ih armed with a word in hand w s most fighting the wind on the of bam iti the mean time wo carry on his the daughter by the side of the spring th great elm or along in the twilight t hour so favourable to the lover s eloquence i profess not to know how women s hearts are and won to me they have always matters of riddle and admiration some td have but one point or door of access while others have a thousand avenues may bo captured in a thousand different ways it is a triumph of skill to gain the former but a still proof of to maintain possession of latter for a man must battle for his fortress at door and window he that wins a thousand iti t mon hearts is therefore entitled to some renown but he who keeps sway over the r the legend of w of a i indeed a hero certain was not the case with the and from the moment made his the interests of the former evidently his horse was no longer seen tied at ie on nigh and a deadly arose him and the of sleepy who had a degree of rough in nature would have carried makers to open warfare have settled to the to the mode of those and simple the knights of by single but was too conscious of the superior might of his adversary to je ta the lists against him	48
he had ov heard the boast t f bonds he would double the up and put him on a shelf and he was too wary to give him an opportunity there was g extremely provoking in this it left no but to the funds v f rustic in his i d to play off practical jokes upon bis rival became the object of tion to bones and his they his hitherto peaceful out his singing school by stopping up the broke into tiie house at night in of formidable of and window tub lo a na oe si y d ev ry top tl at p d t r h g n to think all the the country held meetings i m wh t t l re y i r of turning in ice f im and had a l j g he t to in the u i ne nd introduced as a rival of d s her in in this way went n for some out effect a the r of the powers op a fine in pensive t on the lofty stool from h watched all of bis uttle ut r i r in his hand he swayed a that pf power the of on e behind the one a t to evil do ers while the desk j e r hi ne be seen lid a ct pi f ar detected up tho p r o ip m i a ji i b e ns of lit k paper oc apparently dome a li a ii f j s r c t i fm his bis all intent upon b f pr f h ii m with pi k t master a b stillness the of ow reigned throughout the school r it was interrupted by the appearance of a negro in tow cloth jacket and a round crowned fragment of a hat i like the cap of and mounted on the back of a ragged wild half which he with a rope by way of r he came up to the school with an invitation to to attend a merry y or to be held r ing at van s and delivered bis message with that of importance and effort at fine language which a negro is apt to s ay on petty of the kind he dashed over the k and was seen away up the hollow full of the importance hurry of his mis sion all was now bustle and in the late school room the scholars were their lessons without stopping at trifles those who were unable over half with and those who were had a smart application now and then in the rear to their speedy or help them over a tall word books were flung aside without being put away on the shelves stands were benches thrown down and the whole school was turned loose an hour the usual time bursting forth like a of young and about the green in joy at their e ly thb legend of sleepy the now spent at ti half at his toilet ami u his best and indeed only suit of t lack and arranging his looks by a bit of broken that hung up in the school house that he might make his appearance before his in the true style of a he borrowed a horse from the farmer with whom he was a old of the name of and thus gallantly mounted like a knight in quest of adventures but it is meet i should in the true spirit of romantic give some account of the looks and of my hero and his the animal he was a broken down plough horse that had almost every thing but his he was gaunt and with a end a head like a hammer his rusty mane and were tangled and knotted with one eye had lost its pupil and was glaring and but th other had the gleam of a genuine devil in it he must have had fire and in his day if we may judge from his name which was he had in fact been a favourite of his master s the van who was a rider and had very probably some of his own spirit into the animal for old and as he looked there was more lurking in him than in any young in the country oi si low was figure for ih k a he rode vith short which ht his knees nearly up to the the saddle us sharp elbows out uke he car his whip in his a and as the horse the of his arms was ot unlike he flapping of a pair of wings a wool hat rested on the top of his nose for so his might ke called and the of his coat fluttered out almost to ae horse s the appearance of and his as they out of the gate of van and it was altogether such an apparition as is seldom to be met with in broad day li t it was as i have said a fine day the sky was dear and serene and nature wore rich and golden livery whidi we always associate with the idea of abundance the forests had put on their sober brown and yellow while some trees of the kind bad been by die into of orange purple and scarlet streaming of wild ducks began td n their appearance high the k of tke might be heard from the groves of nuts and the pensive whistle of die at from the n i field the small n thb of sleepy ms r in the ofi re they fluttered and fi m bush nd to tree capricious from the profusion aad was the honest cock robin the g o with its note and the m clouds and the	48
wood with his crest his broad et red t wings o feather and the that in ms gay and white under and nodding and ind to be on good with every of ae i as his his eye open to every of abundance with delight over the pf on all sides he vast store of some hanging fin oppressive on th trees some gathered into baskets and for the market others heaped up in for the further oh he great fields of indian com with its golden ears p pin from their leafy and holding out the promise of md hasty and ae beneath turning up their fair ro to i of hollow tie and giving ample prospects of the most of and anon he passed the fragrant fields breathing the of the bee hive and as he beheld them soft stole over his mind of dainty slap well and honey or by the hand of van thus feeding his mind with many sweet thoughts and st he along thb si of a range of hills which look out scenes of the mighty th wheeled his broad down into the west the wide bosom of the lay motionless and excepting that here a waved and prolonged the shadow of the distant mountain a few floated in the sky without a breath of air to move them horizon was of a fine golden tint changing gradually into a pure apple green and from that into the deep blue of the mid heaven a ray lingered on the of the that some parts of the river giving greater depth to the dark grey and purple of their rocky sides a was in the down with the tide her sail hanging against the mast and as the re of the sky gleamed along the still water it seemed as if the vessel was suspended in the air legend of i w mi evening that sit castle of the van which be thronged with the pride and flower of th a ac at country old farmers a spare le faced ip hon coats and breeches blue stockings huge shoes and m ld their withered in close p d d short gowns home p th and and gay e t pi the outside bu om ah as their mothers e a i a or perhaps a frock gay e of city the sons in square skirted coats with rows of bi and their hair generally t a ith fashion of the times especially if pf up an skin for the purpose it being i au fl throughout the country a a potent r m of the hair bones however the the r having to the on his a creature like fi l and mischief and which ip one bu l manage he was in fact noted for p e g i animals given to all kinds of kept the rider in constant risk of his neck i et held a well broken horse as unworthy lad of spirit i upon the w f that upon the f hero as he entered the state p of ii n t those of th ef ir iu display of n d and ae ample a i r lime in the time ol heaped up et of of various and il only dutch wives there the y and the crisp h s and short cake s then th re were apple s and pie f of ham and beef i and e dishes i f pi served is s nd to d md c together with of milk and am all pretty a i ha e them witb he tea pot of t bless ki i want bt and to discuss a it i j and am tc t get my t ry i was in so as but did to t t j a kind and thankful whose the legend of sleepy in proportion as bis skin d ih good cheer and m spirits rose with eating as men s do with he could not too rolling his large eyes round as he ate and with the possibility that he might one day be lord of all this scene of almost and splendour then he thought how soon he d turn his back the old school house snap his fingers in the fa e x f van and every and kick any out of to call him old van about his a face dilated with i and good round and jolly as the his hospitable were brief but expressive a shake of the hand a slap on the a loud and a pressing to fell to and help r i and now th sound of the music thb common room or hall summoned to the dance the was ah old grey headed negro who had the n more than half a century his as sand as l d of the time he scraped away on two or three accompanying ev ry of thi with a of hollow with foot whenever a fresh c were to start himself upon his dancing as much as upon his powers not a not a fibre him was idle and to have seen his loosely frame in foil motion and about ae you would have thought saint himself blessed patron of the dance was b you in person he was the admiration of all tne r who having gathered of all ages and sizes from and the neighbourhood stood forming a of shining black faces at door and window gazing with delight at die their white eye balls and showing rows of ivory firom ear to ear how could the of be otherwise than animated an joyous the lady of his heart was his partner in the and smiled graciously in reply to all his while bones sorely love and jealousy sat brooding by himself m one oo ner when the	48
dance was at an end was attracted to a knot of the folks who il van sat smoking at one end of the over former times and out stories about the war this neighbourhood at the e of was one of those fa favoured faces t m mo of and great british and american line had run near it during the war been the scene of and with cow and all kinds of border chivalry just time bad elapsed to enable each story to dress up tale with a becoming fiction and in the of his recollection to make himself the hero of every there was the story of d ue a large bearded who had taken a british with ap old iron from a ip d bi only that his gun burst at the di charge and there was an old gentleman who shall be nameless being too a to be lightly mentioned who in the battle of being an excellent master of defence a ball with a small swords that he felt it the blade and glance off at the in proof pf h he was ready at any time to show the sword with the hit a l bent there were several more who bad been equally great in ihe fields not one of whom but was persuaded that he had a considerable h d ill the war to a happy but all these were nothing ta the of ghosts df that succeeded the is rich in treasures of vol ii u jl ta and be l ia sheltered long seized but are trampled iu foot by the throng that if of t of our country places t e e i do eat for ghosts in most of our s for they have ad time to lake their t nap and in their win friends ha e ti away from the neighbourhood so that when they turn out at night lip k th ir ri id ey have no acquaintance tp upon die reason why we h he of es in our long tar d pi the of the i st la these parts waa q i th i f s there was a in air that blew t t b pi t c po it f m th f v i f big all the d several sleepy present at an w e l were th ap r ul legends many dismal w i i tr and he r a the great tree where the unfortunate taken and which in the neighbourhood mention was m of i whit that haunt d the at n rock and was often heard to legend ot sleepy hollow winter nights before a ha f m there in the snow the chief part of the however turned upon the favourite j hollow the who had been heard several times of late the country and it was said his horse nightly the graves in the church yard the situation of this church is always to have made it a favourite haunt of troubled spirits it stands off a surrounded by trees and lofty elms from among which its w s shine forth like christian purity beaming through the shaded of a gentle from if to a silver she t of water bordered by high trees which may be caught at blue hills of th to look upon its grass grown where the quietly one would think that there at least the dead might rest in peace on one of the church a wide along a large brook among broken rocks and trunks of over a deep hack part of the stream not far from the church was formerly thrown a wooden bridge the road that led to it and th e itself were thickly shaded by overhanging trees which cast a about it even in the day time but occasioned a s at night such was one of the u q the legend of sleepy j i favourite haunts of the and the where he most frequently encountered the tale was told of old a most jo ghosts how he met the returning from his into sleepy hollow and was to get up behind him how they galloped over bush and over hill and swamp until they reached the bridge when the suddenly turned into a skeleton threw old into the brook and sprang away over the tree tops a clap of this story was immediately matched by a thrice adventure of bones who made ht of the galloping as an h e affirmed that on returning one night from the village of sing sing he had been overtaken by midnight that he had offered to race with him for a bowl of punch have won it too for beat the bo i se all hollow but just as they to i church bridge the bolted and in a flash of fire an these tales told in that drowsy under tone men talk in the dark the countenances o thb only now and then receiving a gleam from the glare of a pipe sunk deep of he repaid them in kind with from his invaluable author the legend of hollow and added many very mar s that had taken in his native o and fearful sights which he had in nightly walks about sleepy hollow he now gradually broke i farmers gathered together their families m i b and v ere heard for some time along the hollow and oyer the distant ib v some of the mounted pit b hind their favourite and b laughter mingling with the clatter hop ed along the silent r fainter until they gradually died away aod the m scene of noise and was all d only lingered b ai rd to the custom of country lovers to h ve al ten t te with the on vii ed if now	48
on the high f to success pa a th s i will not ay for foot i something ho fi ij fear n i must have gone wrong for he c a ii after no very great interval with wi desolate and these j th v could that have been playing iq of her tricks waa her the poor a sham to co iq of rival i heaven j tr not i let it suffice to say stole forth u the legend of sleepy hollow with the air of one who had been a hen rather than a fair lady s heart without looking to the right or left to notice the scene of rural wealth on which he had so often he went straight to the stable and with several hearty and roused his most on ly from the comfortable quarters in which he was soundly sleeping dreaming of mountains of corn and whole of and it was the very time of night that heavy hearted and crest fallen pursued his travel along the sides of the lofty hills which rise above town and which he had traversed so cheerily in the afternoon the hour was as dismal as himself far below him the spread its dusky and indistinct of waters with here and there the tall mast of a riding quietly at anchor under the land in the dead hush of midnight he could even hear the barking of the from the of shore of the was so vague and faint as only to give an idea of his distance from this faithful companion of man now and then too the drawn of a cock accidentally awakened would sound far far t ff from some farm house way ig the hills hut it a d in ear no signs near r of sleepy hollow but occasionally the of a or perhaps the of a bull a neighbouring marsh as if sleeping turning suddenly in bed all the stories of ghosts and that he had heard in the afternoon now came crowding upon hi recollection the night grew darker and darker the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky and driving hid them from his sight he had never felt so lonely and dismal he was moreover approaching the very place where many of the scenes of the ghost stories had been laid in the centre of the road stood an enormous tree which like a giant above all the other trees of the neighbourhood and formed a kind of land mark its limbs and fantastic large enough to form trunks for ordinary trees twisting down almost to the earth and rising again into the air it was connected with the story of the unfortunate who had been taken prisoner hard by add was universally known by the name of major s tree the common people regarded it with a mixture of respect and superstition partly out of sympathy for the fate of its ill and partly from the of strange sights and told concerning it as fearful tree he of i w fan t lie whistle i s it was but blast i approached a little j he he saw white th n of di tree he paused and ceased i bat on more narrowly it a where the tree had been by ht laid bare suddenly he a a and his knees the saddle it was bnt the it one t huge as they were s by e he passed the tree ia safe r i but perils lay before him i about hundred yards from the tree a brook the and ran into a and thickly by the of a a few logs laid side by side b this stream on that side of road wh re the brook entered the wood of and chestnut thick with wild dis a gloom ov r it td this was die i that the unfortunate and under the covert those and were the concealed who this has ver since been ed a haunted and fearful are the feelings o the i who has to it alone after dark le op s b p i o as a stream us he how liis horse a score of ii to da b ke r but instead of ig the p ih t w old a and against tbe fence k die delay jerked the reins and kicked last m th f all started to to the opposite aid into f aad elder the i now bestowed both whip aad u f ii tbe ribs of d forward and to a i t by the a that had sent his rider head just at this moment a i side of die bridge t the sensitive ear of in of the grove oa the of th and towering st stirred but up in the b some c ready to spring tbe traveller u i i the hair of the rose upon head with or what was to be done turn and fly was now too late and besides what chance there of escaping ghost or if such it was which could ride upon the wings of the of hollow i up therefore a show of courage he demanded in accents who are you he received no reply he repeated his demand in a still agitated still there was no answer once more he the sides of tl e and shutting his eyes broke forth with into a tune just then the shadowy of alarm put itself in motion and with a scramble and a bound stood at once in the middle of the road though the night was dark and dismal yet the form of the unknown might now in degree foe ascertained he appeared to be a of large dimensions and mounted on a black horse of powerful frame he made no o fer of	48
to the city and how he was the original founder of the battery contents chap vi how the people of the east country were suddenly afflicted with a evil and their judicious measures for the thereof chap vii which records the rise and renown of a commander showing that a man like a may be puffed up to greatness and importance by mere wind book vi containing the second part of the reign of peter the and his gallant achievements on the chap i in which is exhibited a warlike portrait of the great peter and how general von distinguished himself at fort chap ii showing how secrets are often brought to light with the proceedings of peter the when he heard of the misfortunes of von chap iii containing peter s voyage up the and the wonders and delights of that renowned river chap iv describing the powerful army that assembled at the city of new together with the interview between peter the and ge von and peter s sentiments touching unfortunate great men ill chap v in which the author very of himself after which is to be found much interesting history about peter the and his followers chap vi showing the great advantage that the author has over his reader in time of battle together with divers movements which that something terrible is about to happen contents chap vii containing the most horrible battle ever recorded in poetry or prose with the admirable exploits of peter the chap viii in which the author and the reader while after the battle fall into a very grave after which is recorded the conduct of peter after his victory book vn containing thb part of the of peter the head his troubles with the british nation and the decline and fall of the dutch chap i how peter relieved the sovereign people from the of taking care of the nation with sundry particulars of his conduct in time of peace chap ii how peter was much by the moss of the east and the giants of and how a dark and horrid conspiracy was carried on in the british cabinet against the prosperity of the chap ih of peter s expedition into the east country showing that though an old bird he did not understand trap chap iv how the people of new were thrown into a great panic by the news of a threatened invasion and the manner in which they fortified themselves chap v showing how the grand council of the new came to be gifted with long tongues together with a great triumph of economy chap vi in which the troubles of new appear to showing the bravery in time of contents perils of a who defend themselves by i chap vii containing a disaster of and how peter like a sea suddenly dissolved a parliament i viii i defended the of new for several days by dint of strength of his head chap ix containing the dignified retirement mortal surrender of the chap x the author s reflections upon what has b said i book v containing tap t va t of th ov nt np t wit tu council l j in which the death of a great man is shown to he no very matter of sorrow and acquired a great name from the strength of his head to s wa u wh m apt t h s dip pe pie p of people but half w y th e o c l and manifest tim e of a m n is a of h e in as we ii of i ui i es mu as may h f f i ef it is i us do but m e n ll pa w r a and it vol ii b loss of great men little felt is equally certain that even that small space is quickly supplied when we leave it vacant of what consequence is it said that individuals appear or make their exit the world is a theatre whose scenes and actors are continually changing never did philosopher speak more correctly and i only wonder that so wise a remark could have existed so many ages and mankind not have laid it more to heart sage follows on in the footsteps of sage one hero just steps out of his car to make way for the hero who comes after him and of the monarch it is merely said that he slept with his and his successor reigned in his stead the world to tell the private truth cares but little for their loss and if left to itself would soon forget to grieve and though a nation hats often been drowned in tears on the death of a great man yet it is ten chances to one if an individual has been shed on the occasion excepting from the forlorn pen of hungry author it the historian the and the poet who have the whole burden m f grief to sustain who kind like in england act the part of chief t occasioned no s ho a nation with sighs it never heaved and it with tears it never of shedding thus while the patriotic author is weeping and howling in prose in blank and in and collecting the drops of public sorrow into his volume as into a it is more than probable his fellow citizens eating and drinking and d i as ignorant of the bitter made in their name as are those men of straw john and richard of the for whom they are generously pleased on divers occasions to become the most glorious and hero that ev r nations might have into among the rubbish of his own	48
monument did not some historian take him into favour and his name to and as the william worried and and while he had the pf a whole colony in his hand i question seriously whether he will not be obliged to this history fox all his future his exit occasioned no in the city pf or its vicinity the earth did stars shoot b their th ne w f not in k w fain persuade us they ham oft th unfortunate death of a hero the hard h rt d melted not into tears did the hang their heads in silent sorrow md as to the he lay the next night just as long and showed as a face when he as he did on the same day of the month in any year either before or the good people of new one and all declared that had be n a very busy active got or that he was the father of his country that he was the noblest work of god hat h was a man take him for all in all a y ne i r should look upon his like again together with sundry other civil and that are regularly said on the death of m great after which they their pipes thought no more about him and i to his station pet was the la and like th renowned van r he was also th best of our ancient dutch surpassed ah who preceded him and tut pie as be was ih by the old w io i re r to g n er equalled by he was m tlie fitted ip r tha of d had not th m moat mid of in to say merely that he a would he doing great ha vas in truth a r of a with a pair of round would have r no hia lion s hide wh he iq old of hia load he was more over as d not le r the of his ana hut likewise of m which as though it came of a aad like th warrior b a n contempt for the t and an iron aspect which was of is io of his wi al and dismay all this en f q ce was aa ad which i si d neither nor v ii gi d k thi was hm than a wooden leg which was the only prize he had gained in y fighting i a his silver leg but of which he was so proud that he was often heard to declare he valued it more than all his other limbs put together indeed so highly did he esteem it he had it gallantly and with silver devices which caused it to be related in divers histories and legends that he wore a silver leg like that warrior he was somewhat subject to bursts of passion which were oft times rather unpleasant to his and attendants whose he was apt to aft er the manner of his illustrious peter the great by their shoulders with his walking staff though i cannot find that he had read or or or bacon or or tom yet did he sometimes manifest a and sagacity in his measures that one would hardly expect firom a man who did not know greek and had never studied the true it is and i confess it with sorrow that he had an unreasonable aversion to ex and was fond of governing his province after the simplest manner but then he contrived to keep it in better order than did the see the of masters jo and his though he had all the rd and modem to assist and him i must likewise own that he made but very few laws but then again he took care that those few were rigidly and enforced and i do not know but justice on the whole was as well administered as if there had been volumes of sage acts and yearly made and daily neglected and forgotten he was in fact the very reverse of his being neither tranquil and like walter the nor restless and like william the but a man or rather a governor of such uncommon activity and decision of mind that he never sought or accepted the advice of others depending confidently upon his single head as did the heroes of upon their single arms to work his way through all difficulties and dangers to tell the simple truth he wanted no other requisite for a perfect than to think always right for no one can deny that he always acted as he thought and if he wanted in he made up for it in perseverance an excellent quality since it i surely more dignified for a ruler to be and con in error than wavering and contradictory in endeavouring to do what is right this much is certain and it is a t ie a to e both great and who the w without to k who acts to his own is ib s tf while he who s s to die wishes and of a great nobody the clock s till und stead in one di is right twice in the i im while may keep going and be going wrongs i or did this virtue escape the di c i of the good people of on the contrary so high an opinion had they of the independent mind and of new governor that they him hard hoping or peter the a great to his understanding i if all have thou y reader t t peter was a tough i b df weather some i i d ed hon hearted old g v either i have written to hot purpose or thou at drawing il this m w se i e thus	48
o hi im ti s of may l m t a f in of tlie lame have to by the of as he and official dig lie into with t the goodly ir of the ro n van d for in e manner as the d ire le s in for the of be an i ig to that i e of the elements together its be that day f the week termed hanging ay did not f i to excite e divers iq ei ng the move and and several of the sex who were i t p to he not a in the and did declare they w re f a disastrous administration an event that came to he and which proves beyond dispute the wisdom of attending to those by dreams and visions the flying of birds falling of stones and of to perils of the state on which the and rulers of times placed such reliance or to those shooting of stars of the moon of dog and of candles carefully noted and ii by the of our day wh in my humble opinion are the legitimate and of the ancient science of d this much is certain that succeeded to the chair of state nt turbulent period when foes thronged and from without when and stiff reigned within the of their high the lord states general though founded on the dutch bottom of supported by economy and defended by speeches yet to its ver centre and when the great city of new dam though fortified by flag and seemed like some fair lady of virtue to lie open to attack and ready to yield t the first l i chapter n owing peter the himself among the rats and on entering into office and the pe mistake he was of in his dealings with the u th very first mo ments of the great peter on taking the of government displayed the of mind though they occasioned i ot a little marvel uneasiness among the pie of the finding himself con interrupted by the opposition and annoyed advice of his council the members of hich had acquired the unreasonable habit of thinking and speaking for themselves during the preceding reign he determined at once to put a op to such grievous scarcely y therefore had he entered upon his authority be turned out of office all those spirits that composed the cabinet of am the in place of whom he chose to himself from those fat respectable families that had flourished nd under the easy reign of walter the i ic the all these he caused to be furnished with abundance of fair long pipes and to be with frequent dinners them to smoke and eat and sleep for th good of the nation while he took all the of government upon his own shoulders an ar to which they all gave hearty nor did he stop but a hideous i the aad of his learned his and like mighty giants guarded the of new r to the e whole of guns up gallows where were su by the and m a word turning the whole philosophic d system ct immortal sage of u the of new ui now for the fate of ihe who had pr favour in the eyes of the hy m u ef his whiskers d his t him id p the cause to be brought into hi and him for a from t with a that would have conduct to an co is any than a of brass pi and what art thou said he replied the other in dismayed fer my name it is van for my i am the son of my mother for my profession i am champion and garrison of thia city of new i doubt me said peter that thou art ome how t acquire this honour and dignity t marry sir the other uke many a m man before me simply by sounding my ay is it so the governor then let us have a relish of thy art he put his instrument to his lips and a charge with such a tremendous outset di a and such a triumphant it was to make your heart out of your mouth only to be within a mile of like as a war worn while sporting in p plains if by chance he hear the strains of made up his ears and and and at die noise so did the mi ity peter joy to bear tf the r of him might truly was cf the renowned st made his of england there was nothing in all the that more rejoiced his heart than to hear the pleasant sound of war and see the soldiers forth their weapons casting his eyed more kindly therefore upon the sturdy van and finding him to be a uttle shrewd in his discourse yet of great and wind he straightway b vast kindness for him and him the troublesome duty of and alarming the city ever after retained about his person as his chief favourite and squire instead of ing the city with disastrous notes he was in to play so as to delight the governor while at his as did the of the days of glorious chivalry and on all occasions to rejoice the ears of the people warlike melody thereby keeping alive a and martial spirit many other alterations and for the better and for the worse did the make of which my tune will not serve me to record the particulars suffice it to say he contrived to make the province feel that he was iti master and treated the sovereign people with from providence that they were au fain to hold tongues stay at home and attend to their	48
business that party and tions were forgotten and many l of and shops were for want of business indeed the critical state of public affairs at this time demanded the utmost vigilance and the formidable council of the which had caused so much to the fortunate still continued its forces and threatened to within its union all the mighty and powers of the east lu the very year following the of governor a grand from the city of providence famous for dusty streets and women in behalf of the plantation of island pray to be admitted into the league the following mention is made of this in certain records of that assemblage of which are still mr will and captain of band presented this request to in col their iu in our request in in of il nd that tbe of may be into combination all the united of new in perpetual of and of and defence advice and upon all just occasions for our sa ty and ire e wai there is certainly something in the very of this document that might well apprehension the name of alexander er mis has been warlike in every age wi though its is in some measure by being coupled with the gentle of still uke the colour of scarlet it an exceeding great resemblance to the sound of from the style of the letter moreover and the ignorance of by the noble captain p in his own name we may picture to this mighty man of in arm potent in the field aiid i s great a scholar though he had been educated among that learned of people of who us could not count beyond the number four but whatever might be the threatening aspect of this famous peter was not man to be kept in a state of and vague apprehension he liked nothing so much as to meet danger face to face and take it by the beard determined therefore to put an end to au these petty on the borders he wrote pr t letters to grand which though neither in ba yet by about wolves and and flies yet had more effect than all die elaborate and of bis put ther in consequence of his urgent proposition eat of the east agreed to enter fu ui tb nt of and settlement of to the end that a perpetual and u t place between th two for purpose gk r two to with com from the grand council of the league mid a treaty was solemnly concluded at on receiving intelligence of this event the whole community was in an uproar of exultation the n c peace and illumination trumpet of the sturdy van sounded a day with joyful from the i fort and at night the city was ma illuminated with two hundred and candles besides a barrel of tar which burnt before the governor s house on the ing aspect of public affairs and now my worthy reader is doubtless the great and good peter with the idea that his feelings will no longer t by details of stolen horse broken heads and all the catalogue of heart that these border wars but if he should ii in such expectations it is a proof that he but little in the ways of cab to convince him of which i his ous attention to my next chapter wherein i wi show that peter has already ted a great error in politics and by peace has materially the tranquillity i the province speculations on war chapter m on and thai a treaty of peace is a great national it was the opinion of that poetical philosopher that war was the original state of man whom he described as being a savage beast of prey engaged in a constant state of with his own and that this ferocious was tamed and by society the same opinion has been by have there been wanting many other to admit and defend it for my part though fond of these speculations so complimentary to yet in this instance i am inclined to the proposition by believing with t part i chap t ac et post hon u c so man s inventions that though war may have been originally the favourite amusement and industrious employment of our yet like many other excellent habits so far from being it has been cultivated and confirmed by refinement and civilization and in exact proportion as y t approach towards that state of perfection is the ne of modem philosophy the first conflict between man and man was the mere exertion of physical force by weapons his arm was his his fist was his and a broken head the of his the battle of strength was succeeded by the more rugged one of stones and and war assumed as man advanced in refinement as fate faculties expanded and h rapidly more md experienced in the art of his beings he invented a thousand devices to d fold and to the the the the sword the dart and the prepared him to the wound as well as to tiie on in the and career of invention he and powers of defence and injury fighting y si r the and the a ir and to war and its glory by increasing its though armed with ma to the limits of and to yield a power of injury even with the desires of revenge still deeper must be made in the with furious zeal he into the die earth he toils midst poisonous and deadly the sublime discovery of gun powder upon the world and finally the art ofi by to th of war and is grand indeed marks mind and that divine of reason which us from animals our the s content themselves with the native force which providence has assigned them the angry bull with	48
his horns as did his before him the lion the and the tiger only with their and their to fury and even the ihe same and uses the s improvements in war and as did his before the flood man blessed with the mind goes on from to discovery and his powers of destruction the tremendous weapons of deity itself and tasks creation to assist him in his brother worm in proportion as the art of war has in improvement has the art of preserving peace ad in equal and as we have discovered in this age of wonders and inventions that is the most formidable in war so have we discovered the no less ingenious of maintaining peace by perpetual a treaty or to speak more correctly a therefore according to the o experienced learned in these matters is no longer an attempt to accommodate to ascertain rights and to exchange of kind offices but a of skill between two powers which shall over reach and take in the other it is a cunning en to obtain by peaceful and th of those advantages which nation would otherwise have by force o arms in the same manner that a and becomes an excellent no t are the best s citizen himself with eating his neighbour out of that property he ould formerly have seized with open violence in bet the only time when two nations can be said to be in a state of perfect is when a is open and a treaty then as there are no entered into no bonds to the will no specific limits to awaken the jealousy of right in out nature as each party has some advantage to hope and expect from the other then it is that the two nations are so gracious and friendly to each other their ministers the highest mutual regard exchanging making fine speeches and indulging in all those little and that do so the good humour of the respective nations thus it may be aid that there is never so good an understanding between two nations as when there is a little misunderstanding and that so long as they are on no terms they are on the best terms in the world i do not by any means pretend to claim the merit of having made the above political discovery it has in ct long been secretly acted upon by j h w td ruin enlightened and is er divers other notable theories privately copied out of the common place book of an gen who has been member of and the unlimited confidence of heads of de j to this principle may be ingenuity that has been op years in hence the cunning measure of ai some im and and u m the art of or whose errors and may be a plea for refusing to iii engagements and hence too that most l so popular with our of sending out a brace of who i m h an individual will to consult character establish and interest to promote you ma as well look for and n tm lovers with one mistress two dogs with one or two naked with one pair of breeches this therefore is continually breed ing and in consequence o which the goes on much as there is no prospect of its ever coming a war fu d v by md but in a to i exposed all time is in so much time with what does modem political economy i now au that i have here advanced so i to take up the readers with treating of matters many a time have stared them in the face but die to which i would most call attention is this that though a be the most hi of all na yet a treaty of peace is a great political evil and one of the most fruitful sources l ha e rarely seen an instance of any special contract between individuals that did not produce j and often downright between them nor did i ever know of a between two nations that did not occasion how many worthy neighbours have i known who after living in and good fellowship for years have been into a state of distrust and by some ill agreement about fences when are binding runs of water and stray cattle and how many well meaning nations who would otherwise have remained in the most disposition towards each other have been brought to swords points about the or of some treaty which in an evil hour they had concluded by way of making their more sure at best are but with so as interest requires their consequently they are binding on the weaker party only or in plain truth they are not binding at all no nation will go to war with an other if it has nothing to gain thereby and therefore needs no treaty to restrain it from violence and if it have any thing to gain i much question from what i have witnessed of the righteous conduct of nations whether any treaty could be made so strong that it could not thrust the sword through nay i would hold ten to one the treaty itself would be the very source to which resort would be had to find a pretext for thus therefore i conclude that though it is the best of all for a nation to keep up a constant with its neighbours yet it is the summit of folly for it ever to be into a treaty for then comes on the non fulfilment uke courtship and then remonstrance then then then and finally open war in a word is like courtship a time of sweet words gallant speeches soft looks and caresses but the marriage ceremony is the signal for s chapter iv how peter was greatly by his the moss	48
establish a character for patriotism by blowing the of party until the whole furnace of politics is red hot with sparks and and who have just cunning enough to know that there is no time so favourable for getting oh the people s backs as when they are in a state of turmoil and attending to every body s business but their own this of who was called a great because he had secured a seat in council by all his he i say con against this a fit to strike a should secure his popularity among his who lived on the borders of and were die greatest in excepting the scotch border like a second peter the therefore he stood and preached up a again peter and devoted city he made a speech which lasted six hours so to the ancient custom in these parts in which he represented the dutch as a race of pious who believed in nor the sovereign virtues of horse shoes who left their for the of gain not like s es for the enjoyment of of r who in short were a race of mere and inasmuch as they never ate fish on devoured swine s flesh and held in utter contempt this speech had the desired effect for the being awakened by the at arms rubbed their eyes and that it was just and to declare instant war against these u t christian anti but it was necessary that the people at large should first be prepared for this measure and for this purpose die thb anti ts of the orator were preached from the pulpit sundays subsequent and earnestly to the consideration of every good who professed as weu as practised the ine of charity and the forgiveness this is the first time we hear of the ma beating up for political re i our country and it proved of signal t at it has since been called into frequent e throughout our union a cunning often found under the with an outside all religion and an things and things are strangely together like on an s shelf and ad of a devout sermon the simple folk have often a political thrust i their throats with a pious text scripture peter s wise precautions chapter v hem the new became great in im of the catastrophe of a mighty army with peter s measures to the and how he was the original founder of the battery but notwithstanding that the grand i have shown were discreet i their proceedings respecting the new lands and conducted the whole with almost i much silence and mystery as does the sage bi cabinet one of its ill secret expedition yet did the ever watchful peter receive as ft and accurate information of every movement i does the court of france of all the notable i have mentioned he accordingly set self to work to render the of b bitter i know that many will censure the of this stout hearted old governor in that he hu into the expenses of without a whether they were necessary by train bands s until the enemy was at the door but they should recollect that peter bad not the benefit of an insight into the modem of politics and was strangely to certain of the old school among which he firmly that to render a respected abroad it was necessary to make it formidable at home and that a nation should place its for peace and security more upon its own strength than on the justice or good win of its neighbours he proceeded therefore with all diligence to put the province and metropolis in a strong posture of defence among the few of ingenious inventions which remained from the days of william the were those of public safety laws by which the inhabitants were obliged to turn out twice a year with such military as it pleased god and were put under the command of very and man who though on ordinary occasions the hearted little men in the world were very devils at and court when they had cocked hats on their heads and swords by their sides under the instructions of these warriors the a small mistake gallant made marvellous m the mystery of they were taught to face to the right to wheel to the left to snap off empty fire locks without to turn a corner without any great uproar or and to through sun and rain from one id of the town to the other without until in he end they became so they ed off blank without so much as turning away heads could hear the largest discharged without stopping their ears or falling into much and would even go through all the and perils of a summer day s parade without having their ranks much by desertion true it is the genius of this truly pacific people was so little given to war that during the intervals which occurred between lays they generally contrived to all the military they had received so that when they re appeared on parade they scarcely knew the butt end of the from the and invariably the right shoulder for the left a mistake which however was soon by their left arms but whatever might be their and awkwardness the sagacious s them to be of but aa be one would be of to them than a though two of them be food for powder ai the other ae did run a way would become meet experienced the great had no particular for the experiments and of his shrewd and among other held the stem in very contempt which he was heard ta in joke for he was sometimes fond of a joke governor s broken reed as however the present was pressing he was obliged to	48
avail of such means of defence as were next at hand and appointed a general in and parade of train bands but oh and and all ye other powers of war both great and small what a turning out was here came men without and without men long pieces and short of all and sizes some without others without locks others without stocks and many without lock stock or barrel boxes shot putting a nation in powder horns swords and all mingled like one of our continental armies at the breaking out of the revolution this sudden of a pacific community into a band of warriors is doubtless what is meant in modem days by putting a nation in and fixing it in an attitude in which and attitude it makes as martial a figure and is likely to itself with as much as the renowned when suddenly equipped to defend his island of the sturdy peter eyed this ragged regiment with some such aspect as a man would eye the devil but knowing like a wise man that all he had to do was to make the best out of a bad bargain he determined to give his heroes a having therefore them through the manual exercise over and over again he ordered the to strike up a quick march and his sturdy boots backwards and forwards about the streets of new and the fields adjacent their short legs ached and their fat sides again but this was not all the martial spirit of the old governor caught fire from the music of the and he awful dissolution of the regiment to try the of his and give im a taste of the hardships of iron war to end he them as the shades of upon a hill formerly called s at some distance from the town with a full of them into the discipline of and of the next day the toils and of the field but so it came to pass that the night there a great and heavy rain descended in torrents upon the camp and mighty army strangely melted away before it that when came to shed his beams upon the place saving peter and his van scarce one i to be found of all the multitude that had there the night before his awful dissolution of his army would have called a commander of less nerve than peter but he considered it as a matter of small importance though he the system with ten times greater than ever and took care to provide with a good garrison of chosen men he kept in pay of whom he boasted that y at least possessed the quality indispensable soldiers of being water proof a prodigious strong wall the next care of the was t strengthen and new for this purpose he caused to be built a fence that reached across the island from to river being intended to the city not merely from the sudden of foreign enemies but from the of the neighbouring savages some traditions it is true have ascribed the of this wall to a later period but they are wholly for a in the manuscript dated towards the laid die of the governor s reign this wall particularly as a very strong and piece of and the admiration of all the savages in the neighbourhood and it moreover the alarming circumstance of a drove of stray cows breaking through the grand in an view of new taken some years after tiie above period is a representation of wall whidi k ng the course of wall street so called in of great one gate called the land opened upon broad way hard by where at present stands the church and another called the water stood about where the coffee house is at present opening upon or as it is commonly called smith fly then a valley with a creek t extending up what we call maiden op the of a dark night by which the whole of new was thrown into a tt panic in addition to this great wall he cast up to fort to protect die at the point of the island these of formidable mud after the manner of the in those days with shells these frowning in process of time came to be pleasantly by a of grass and and their high by wide spreading among whose the uttle birds about rejoicing the ear with their melodious notes the old would repair of an afternoon to smoke their es under the shade of their branches contemplating the golden sim as he gradually sunk into the west an emblem of that tranquil end toward which themselves were hastening while the young men and the of the town would take many a moonlight stroll among these favourite haunts watching the silver beams of tremble along the calm bosom of the bay or light up the white sail of some bark and the honest vol ii e or the t of constant affection such was the origin of that renowned walk the battery which though devoted to the purposes of war has ever been consecrated to the sweet delights of peace the favourite walk of declining age the resort of the feeble the sunday refreshment of the dusty scene of many a boyish the of many a tender the comfort of the the ornament of new york and the pride of ihe lovely island of hostile of the league chapter vi the people of the east country were suddenly afflicted with a and their judicious measures for the thereof thus provided for the temporary security of new and guarded it against any sudden surprise the gallant peter took a pinch of snuff and snapping his fingers set the great council of and their champion the at defiance it is impossible to say notwithstanding what might have been	48
the issue of this affair had not the council been all at once involved in sad perplexity and as much sown among its members as of was stirred up in the camp of the warriors of greece the council of the league as i have shown iii my last chapter had already announced its hostile and already was the mighty colony of new haven and the town of otherwise called famous for its its and the great trading e how d house of and all the other border towns in a prodigious up their rusty pieces and shouting aloud for war by which they anticipated easy and gorgeous spoils from the uttle fat dutch but this joyous was soon silenced by the conduct of the colony of struck with the gallant spirit of the brave old peter and convinced by the frankness heroic warmth of his they him guilty of the infamous plot most laid at his door with a generosity for which i would yield them immortal honour they declared that no determination of the grand council of the league should bind the general court of to join in an offensive war which should appear to such general court to be unjust this refusal immediately involved the colony of and the other combined colonies in very serious difficulties and and would no doubt have produced a dissolution of the but that the council of finding that they could not stand alone if hm col s new england horribly by the loss of so important a member as were to abandon for the pre their hostile against the such is the marvellous energy and the of those composed of a number of sturdy self willed parts loosely blinded together by a general government as it was however the warlike towns of had no cause to this of their martial for by my faith though the combined powers of the league might have been too potent in the end for the warriors of the yet in the would the lion hearted peter and his have choked the heroes of with their own and have given the other little border towns such a that i warrant they would have had no stomach to on the land or the of a new for a century to come indeed there was more than one cause to di the attention of the good people of the east from their hostile purposes for just about tim s were they horribly and harassed by the of the prince of darkness divers of whose subjects they detected lurking within of the mob camp au of whom they as so many and dangerous enemies not to speak in we are informed that at this juncture the new england provinces were exceedingly troubled by multitudes of who wrought strange devices to and distress the multitude and notwithstanding ous judicious and bloody laws had been against all conversing or with the by way of or the like yet did the dark crime of continue to increase to an alarming degree that would were not the fact too well to be even doubted for an instant what is particularly worthy of is that this terrible art which so long baffled the painful and studies of and other was chiefly confined to the most ig and ugly old women in the who had scarcely more brains than the they rode upon when once an alarm is sounded the who love dearly to be in a panic are not long is new record scrutiny for want of to it raise but theory o yellow b and immediately very head ache and and overflowing of the ia pronounced the terrible in like manner in die present instance whoever was troubled a or was sure to woe to any old woman that his such a howling could hot be suffered to remain long unnoticed and it accordingly soon attracted the fiery i of the sober and part of the com lore of those who liad evinced so much active benevolence in the of and the grand of the set their faces against so deadly and dangerous a sin and a severe scrutiny took place after those who were easily detected by devil s c cats and the of their being able to weep three tears and these of the left eye it is incredible the number of that were detected for every one of which says the profound and reverend cotton mother in that excellent work the history of new england we have such a sufficient evidence that no marvellous instance of obstinacy man in this whole country ever did tion them and it will be unreasonable to do ii in any other indeed that and judicious john us with facts on this subject there are none he that beg in this country but there be too many bottle and others that produce many strange if you will believe report of a at sea with and of a ship and great red horse by the main mast the ship being in a to the eastward vanished of a den c x the number of however and their devices were not more remarkable than i heir obstinacy though in solemn and affectionate ner to confess themselves guilty and be burnt for good of religion and the entertainment of the yet d they most persist jn asserting their innocence such incredible ol f was in itself deserving of immediate punishment and was sufficient proof if proof s new b ch j if of necessary that they were in league with the devil who is itself but their judges just and merciful and were determined to punish none that were not convicted on the best of not that they needed any evidence to their own minds for like true nd judges their minds were perfectly up aiid they thoroughly satisfied of the of the before they	48
proceeded to try them but still something was necessary to the community at large to quiet who come after in the world must be satisfied oh the world the world t all the world knows the world of trouble the world is the worthy judges therefore were driven to the necessity of and making evident as noon day matters which were at the commencement all clearly understood and firmly decided upon in their so that it may truly be said that the were burnt the of the day but were tried for the tion of the whole world that should come after them if therefore that neither found reason nor friendly entreaty had any all old w n on these they resorted to the more urgent arguments of the torture and thus absolutely wrung the truth from their bom lips they condemned them to undergo the due unto the crimes th had confessed some even carried their nest so far as to under the torture protesting their innocence to the last but these were looked upon as thoroughly and absolutely possessed by the devil and the pious only lamented that they had not lived a little longer to have perished in the flames in the city of we are told thai the plague was by a ragged ad beggar to deaths whom pointed out as being the evil spirit that caused it and who actually showed himself to be a demon by change ing into a dog in like manner and by measures equally sagacious a check was given to this growing evil the were all burnt banished or panic struck and in a little while there was not an ugly old woman to be found throughout new england which is doubtless one reason why all the yoimg women there are so handsome those honest folk who had suffered from their circumstance si excepting such as had been afflicted and which however the less alarming aspects of and and the good people of england the study of the oc turned their attention to the more table of trade and soon became rt in the art of turning a penny however a tinge of the old is even unto this day in their characters start up among them in rent as and tes the people at large show a and a of wisdom that strongly of and it has been that whenever any stones fall from the the greater part of them is sure to tumble new england protecting care of st chapter records the rise and renown of a commander showing that a man like a may be to greatness and importance by mere wind when treating of these the unknown writer of the manuscript out into a vehement in praise the good st to whose protecting he entirely the strange broke out in the council of the and the that prevailed in the east country whereby the hostile the were for a time and his favourite city of new preserved firom imminent peril and deadly warfare darkness and lowering superstition hung over the fair valleys of the east the pleasant banks of the no longer echoed with the sounds of rustic gaiety and were seen in the air ing haunted every wild brook and dreary strange voices made by vo t h forms were heard in desert and the towns were so occupied in and the knowing old women that had produced these alarming appearances that for a the province of and its inhabitants were totally forgotten the great peter therefore finding that nothing was to be immediately apprehended from liis eastern neighbours turned himself about a vigilance that ever him to put a stop to the of the these my attentive reader will recollect had to be very troublesome towards the latter part of the reign of william the having set the of that uttle governor at naught and put the to a perfect non peter however as has already l een shown was a governor of different habits and turn of mind without more he issued orders for raising a corps of troops to be stationed on the southern frontier under he command of general von this illustrious warrior had risen to importance during the reign of his character and if histories speak true was second in command to the van when he and his ragged regiment w re kicked out of fort good hope by the in consequence of having been in such a affair and of having received more wounds on a certain honourable part that shall be nameless than any of his comrades he was ever considered as a hero who had seen some vice certain it is he enjoyed the unlimited confidence and friendship of william the who would sit for hours and listen with to his of surprising he had never gained and dreadful from which he had run away it was observed by honest old that heaven had into some men at their birth a portion of intellectual gold into others of intellectual silver while others were furnished out with abundance of brass and iron now of this last class was undoubtedly the great general von and from the display he continually made thereof i am lined to think that dame nature who will sometimes be partial had blessed him with enough of valuable materials to have fitted up a but what is most to be is that he to pass off all hi brass and copper upon who was no great judge of base coin as pure and genuine gold the consequence was that upon the resignation of van who after the loss of fort good hope retired like a ran general to live under the shade of his the mighty copper captain was promoted to his station this he filled with great importance always himself commander in chief of the armies of	48
the seat of a pf coloured trunk breeches a style among the warrior of our day and which is in to the of heroes who scorned to defend in rear his face rendered exceeding terrible and warlike by a pair of black j is s on each side in y ear locks and descending in a rat tail below his waist a shining stock of black leather supporting his chin and a little but fierce his port cocked hat stuck with a gallant and fiery air over his left eye such was the port of peter the and when he made a sudden halt planted himself firmly on his solid with his wooden leg with silver a little in advance in order to strengthen his position his right hand grasping a gold headed cane his left resting upon the of his sword his head dressing to the right with a most and hard favoured frown upon he presented altogether one of the most commanding bitter looking and figures that ever upon proceed we now to inquire the cause of this warlike preparation the disposition of the on the south or river has been recorded in the of the reign of william the these having been endured with that heroic which is the comer stone of true courage had been repeated and the who were of that class of cunning to christianity who read the bible down whenever it with their interests the golden and when op s their neighbour suffered them to him on the one cheek they generally smote him on the other also whether turned to them or not re had been among the numerous sources of vexation that to keep the irritable of in a constant fever and it was only owing to the un fortunate circumstance that he had always a hundred things to do at once that he did not take such vengeance as their but they had now a of a character to deal with and they were soon guilty of a piece of treachery that threw his honest blood in a and all further the governor of the province of new being either deceased or removed for of this ct some uncertainty exists was succeeded by a gigantic and who had he not been rather knock and footed ought have served for the model of a or he was no less than mighty withal as as he was so that in ct there is very little doubt had he some four or five centuries before he would have been thb governor one of those wicked giants who took such a pleasure in distressed about the world and them up i enchanted castles without a toilet a ge linen or any other convenience in of which they fell under the high di pleasure of chivalry and all true loyal and knights were instructed to attack and ou right any they might happen to fin above six feet high which is doubtless one that the race of large men is nearly extinct as the generations of latter ages so exceeding no sooner did governor enter his office than he immediately cast his eyes the important post of fort and the righteous resolution of taking it into his po the only thing that remained to was the mode of carrying his resolution int effect and here i must do him the justice to sa that he exhibited a humanity rarely to be n with among leaders and which i have never sec equalled in modem times excepting among tl english in their glorious at willing to spare the of blood and tl miseries of open warfare he conduct thing like hostility or regular siege and resorted to the less glorious hut more expedient of treachery under pretence therefore of paying a visit to general yon at his post of fort he made requisite preparation sailed in great state up the his flag with the most and honoured the fortress with a royal salute previous to dropping anchor the unusual noise awakened a dutch who was faithfully at his post and who having his match to go out contrived to return tiie compliment hy his rusty th the spark of a pipe which he borrowed from ne of his comrades the salute indeed would liave by the guns of the fort had they not unfortunately been out of order and the deficient in accidents to have in all ages been liable and which the more in the present instance s fort had only b en erected about two years and yon its mighty had been fully occupied witli matters much greater importance highly satisfied with thia van po s to his salute treated the fort to a second for he well knew its commander was delighted with these little which he considered as so many acts of homage paid unto his greatness he then landed in great state tended by a of thirty men a prodigious and vain glorious for a petty governor of a petty settlement in those days of primitive simplicity and to the full as great an army as generally the pomp and in the rear bi our frontier at the day the number in fact might have awakened suspicion had not the mind of the great von been so completely engrossed with h all idea of himself that he had not to admit a thought besides in fact he considered the of s followers as a compliment to himself so apt are great men to stand between themselves and the sun complete the by their own shadow it may readily be imagined how much general was flattered by a visit from so august a personage his only embarrassment was how he should receive him in such a manner as to appear to the greatest advantage and make the most advantageous impression the main n of fort guard was ordered immediately to turn out	48
the ann and of whip i the garrison ei s d fuu ha a dozen suit w e distributed t ie soldiers one tail fellow appeared in a coat intended for a the of which reached a little b low his the buttons were between his shoulder and the sleeves half way to his wrists so that lu bands looked uke a couple of hu e ae not being large enough to meet in was ed together by made of a pair of re another had an old cocked on the of his heads and with a h of cock s tails a third had a pair of hanging about bis heels a who was md duck wa equipped in a huge pair of the general s ca t off be held up with one while be grasped us with the other the rest were ac in similar excepting three la who bad no and but a pair and a half of between wherefore were sent to the black hole to keep them out of there is nothing in which the talents of a prudent commander are more completely than in thus setting matters off to the greatest vol ii g meeting of the two heroes and it is for this reason that our frontier posts at the present day that of for example display their best suit of on the back of the who stands in sight of travellers his men being thus gallantly arrayed those who lacked and and every man being ordered to in his shirt tail and pull up his general yon first took a sturdy draught of foam ing ale which uke the more of more hall was his invariable practice on all great occasions which done he put himself at their head ordered the pine which served as a to be laid down and issued forth from his castle like a mighty giant just refreshed with wine but when the two heroes met then began a scene of parade and that beggars all description who as i before hinted was a shrewd cunning and had grown gray much before his time in consequence of his saw at one as soon as he rose to make him strong and mighty he drank by the ta e six pots of ale and a of y im a grand review glance the ruling passion of the great yon and humoured him in all his their were accordingly drawn up in front of each other they carried arms and they presented arms they gave the standing salute and the passing salute they rolled their drums and flourished their and they waved their colours they faced to the left and they faced to the right and they faced to the they wheeled forward and they wheeled backward and they wheeled into they and they hy grand by single divisions and by sub y by sections and by in quick in slow time and in no time at all for gone through all the of two armies including the eighteen f having exhausted all that they could or imagine of including strange and irregular the like f which were never seen before or since among certain of our newly raised the wo great and their respective troops at length to a dead halt completely by the toils of never did two survey ov or in the renowned of or any other and heavy s with more glory and these military finished von escorted his visitor with great into the t tended him throughout the showed the crown works half load various other or rather where they ought to foe erected and where he erected if he pleased plainly demon that it was a place of great and u at present bat a httle yet at it was a formidable in em this o i r he next had the whole garrison put under arms and and concluded by ordering the birds to be out of the brought up to the and tile amusement of his visitor and convince him thai he was a great the while he pretended to he struck with the of the an afternoon s great took note of the of his garrison of w hi he g iy to has followers who tipped e b ae laughed in the inspection review and the party to the table for among his other great qualities the general wa to huge tr rather and in one afternoon s campaign would leave more dead men on the field than h ever the whole course of his military many of these do tiu remain record and the whole province once thrown m by the return of one of wherein it was stated that like captain he had only twenty back him yet in the short space of ix he had conquered and utterly sixty oxen ninety one hundred sheep ten thousand one thousand of potatoes one hundred and fifty of small beer two thousand hundred and thirty five pipes ity eight pounds of sugar and forty bars of iron besides sundry small poultry and garden stuff von s banquet since the days of and his all army and which showed that it was only necessary to let potent von and his garrison loose m an enemy s country and in a little while they would breed a famine and starve all the inhabitants no sooner therefore had the general received the first intimation of the visit of governor than he ordered a great dinner to be and privately sent out a of his most experienced to rob all the in the neighbourhood and lay the under contribution a service to which they had been long and which they discharged with such incredible zeal and that the garrison table groaned under the weight of their spoils i wish with all my heart my readers could see the	48
von as he presided at the head of the banquet it was a sight worth beholding there he sat in his greatest glory surrounded by his soldiers uke that famous alexander whose thirsty virtues he did most imitate telling stories of his hair breadth adventures and heroic exploits at which though all his knew them to be capture of fort ca most and outrageous yet did they cast up their eyes in admiration and utter many of astonishment nor could the general pronounce any thing that bore the remotest semblance to a joke but the stout would strike his fist upon the table till every glass rattled again throwing himself back in the chair and uttering gigantic of laughter swearing most horribly it was the best joke he ever heard in his life all was and and hideous within fort and so did yon the bottle that in less than four short hours he made himself and his whole garrison who all the deeds of their dead drunk and singing songs and drinking patriotic none of which but was as long as a or a plea in no sooner did things come to this pass than the and his who had kept themselves sober rose on their tied them neck and heels and took formal possession of the fort and all its in the name of queen of at the same time an oath of to the dutch soldiers who could be made sober of the c enough to swallow it then put the ft order appointed his discreet and ti bolt friend a wind dried drinking to the command and bearing with him this truly amiable garrison m their who when to himself by a sound bore no semblance to a fish or i caught upon dry land the of the hi was done j the of ace to ne for as much as the cunning e in his m he dreaded the n of the sturdy peter spread as much terror in the as did that of the set among his enemies the p chapter ir profound secrets are h u i the proceedings of peter he of the of general van whoever first described common fame or as belonging to the was a very owl for she has in truth certain qualities to an astonishing degree particularly that benevolent anxiety to take care of ihe of others which keeps her continually hunting after secrets and about them whatever is done openly and iu the of the world she takes but transient notice of but whenever a transaction is done in corner and attempted to be in mystery then her goddess ship is at her wits end to find it out and takes a most mischievous and lady like pleasure in it to the world it is this truly feminine that her continually to be into of history of princes listening at the key holes of chambers and peering through and when our worthy are sitting with closed doors between a dozen excellent modes of the nation it is this which makes her so to all wary and such a stumbling block to private and secret which she often by means and instruments which never would have been thought of by any but a female head thus it was in the case of the affair of fort no doubt the cunning securing the garrison he should for a long time prevent the history of its fate from reaching the ears of the gallant but his was blown to the world when he least expected it and by one of the last beings he would ever have suspected of as peter to the wide mouthed deity this was one or a kind of on to the garrison who seemed to belong to nobody and in a manner to be he was one of those vagabond who about the world as if they had no right or business in it and who the skirts of his described society like and garrison and country village has one or more of this kind whose life is a kind of whose existence is without motive who from the lord knows where who lives the lord knows how and seems to be made for no other earthly purpose but to keep up the ancient and honourable order of idleness this philosopher was supposed to have some indian blood in his veins which was manifested by a tain indian complexion and cast of countenance but more especially by his and habits he was a tall fellow swift of foot and long he was generally equipped in a half indian dress with belt and his hair hung in straight gallows locks about his ears and added not a little to his it is an old remark that persons of indian mixture are half civilized half and half devil a third half being expressly pro for their particular convenience it is for similar reasons and probably with equal truth that the back wood men of are half man half horse and half by the on the and held accordingly hi great respect t the lime to as a to whom they familiarly gallows certain it is he acknowledged to no one was an to holding it in no of bnt about depending upon chance for a getting drunk whenever he could get liquor and whatever he could lay his hands on every day or two be was sure of his which however as it broke no bones he made very light of and not to repeat the offence whenever another opportunity presented sometimes in consequence of some he would from the garrison and be absent for a month at a time about the woods and witli a long piece on his shoulder lying in for game or himself down on the edge of a pond catching fish for together and bearing no little to that notable bird	48
the mud when he thought his crimes had been forgotten or forgiven he would back to the fort with a bundle of skins or a of poultry which perchance he had stolen and would exchange his or s t with which soaked us he ue m the son and ah the of that x he was the terror of all the in the into which he made and he would make in the garrison at the whole at his like the scoundrel thief of a fox detected in us and hunted to his hole such was and from the total indifference he showed to the world or its concerns and from his truly indian and no one ever have that he would have the of the treachery of when die was going on which proved so to ae brave von and his garrison about from room to room being a kind of privileged or whom nobody noticed but though a allow of few words yet like your people eyes and ears were always open id in ae me he overheard the whole plot of the immediately in ins own mind how he should turn the his flight to matter to his own advantage he played the perfect jack of both sides that is to say a prize of every thing that came in his reach robbed both parties stuck the copper cocked hat of the von oil his head whipped a huge pair of s under his arms and took to his heels just before the catastrophe and at the son finding himself completely from his haunt in this quarter he directed his flight forwards his native place new from whence he had formerly been obliged to of misfortune in business that is to say having been detected in the act of sheep stealing after wandering many days in the woods toiling through swimming various rivers and a world of hardships that have killed any other being but an indian a back wood man or the devil he at length arrived half and as a starved at where he stole a and over to new immediately on landing he repaired to governor and in more for action words than he had ever spoken before in the whole course of his life gave an account of the disastrous affair on receiving these tidings the peter started from his seat dashed the pipe he was smoking against the back of the chimney thrust a prodigious of tobacco into his left cheek pulled up his and strode up and down the room humming as was customary with him when in a passion a hideous north west but as i have before shown he was not a man to vent his in idle his first measure after the of wrath had subsided was to stump up stairs to a huge wooden chest which served as his from whence he drew forth that identical suit of described in the preceding chapter in these he arrayed himself like in the of maintaining all the while a most appalling silence knitting his brows and drawing his breath through his teeth being hastily equipped he strode down into the parlour jerked down his sword from over the fireplace where it was suspended but before he it on his he drew it from its and as he a along tbe i a smile stole oyer his iron it was th smile that had visited his countenance for long weeks but every one who beheld it that there would soon be warm work in the province thus armed at all points with war de in each feature his very cocked hat ing an air of uncommon defiance he instantly himself upon the alert and despatched van hither and thither this way and that way through all the muddy streets and crooked lanes of the city by sound of trumpet his to in instant council this done by way of matters accord ing to the custom of people in a hurry he kept m continual bustle shifting from chair to chair his head out of every window and ing up and down stairs with his wooden leg ill such brisk and incessant motion that as we are informed by an historian of the the continual clatter bore no small resemblance to the music of a a flour barrel a summons so and from a of the governor s was not to be with the forthwith repaired to the speeches of ancient heroes ber seated themselves with the utmost tranquil and lighting their long pipes gazed with b ed composure on his and his being as all should be not easily or taken by the go looking for a moment with a lofty and soldier like air and resting one hand on the of his sword and flinging the other forth in a free and spirited manner addressed them in a short but soul stirring i am extremely sorry that i have not the advantages of and of my who were furnished as i am told with the speeches of all their great and taken down in short hand by the most accurate of the time whereby they were enabled wonderfully to their histories and delight their readers with sublime strains of eloquence not having important i cannot possibly pronounce what was the tenor of governor s speech i am bold however to say from the tenor of his character that he did not wrap his rugged subject in and and t ther sickly of phrase but spoke forth like a man of nerve and vigour who scorned to vol ii h in from those which he ready to encounter in very deed this is that he concluded by his de termination of leading on his troops in person and these from their quarters at fort to hardy resolution such of his as were awake gave their usual signal of and as to the	48
expedient similar to one which we are told was used by that flower of chivalry king arthur who before he admitted any knight to his intimacy first required that he should show himself superior to danger or hardships by unheard of some dozen giants wicked not to say a word of and fiery on a similar principle i led my readers at the first sally into two or three chapters where they were f himself most and by a host of pi an philosophers and writers though naturally a very grave man yet could i scarce refrain from smiling outright at seeing the utter and dismay of my some dropped down dead asleep on the field others threw down my book in the middle of the first chapter took to their heels and never ceased until they had fairly run it out of sight when they stopped to take breath to tell their friends what troubles they had undergone and to warn all others from venturing on so an expedition every page my ranks more and more and of the vast multitude that first set out but a comparatively few made shift to survive in exceedingly battered condition through the five chapters what then would have had me take such sunshine faint hearted to my bosom at our first acquaintance no no i reserved my friendship for those who deserved it for those who bore me company in despite of difficulties dangers and and now as to those who to me at present i take them affectionately by the hand worthy and readers brave and well tried comrades van s who have faithfully followed my footsteps through all my wanderings i salute you from my heart i pledge myself to stand by you to the last and u conduct you so heaven speed this weapon which i now hold between my fingers triumphantly to the end of this our im but hark while we are thus the city of new am is in a bu the host of warriors in the green are striking their tents the brazen trumpet of van makes the to with the drums beat the standards of the of hell gate and pf wave proudly in the air and behold where the are busily employed the sails of yon and those built which are to the army of the to gather immortal honours on the the entire population of the city man woman and child turned out to behold the chivalry of new as it the streets previous to many a handkerchief was waved out of the windows many a nose was blown in melodious sorrow on the mournful oc the expedition tub the grief of the and of have been more on the of the gallant tribe of es than was that of the ir ones of new on the de of their warriors every love sick maid fondly crammed the pockets of her hero with and nuts many a copper ring was exchanged and crooked sixpence broken in pledge of eternal constancy and there to this day some love verses written on that occasion sufficiently and to confound the whole universe but it was a moving sight to see the how they hung about the van for he was a jolly rosy faced bachelor fond of his joke and withal a desperate rogue among the women fain would they have kept him to comfort them while the army was away for besides what i have said of him it is no more than justice to add that he was a soul noted for his benevolent attentions m comforting wives during the ce of h ds and this made him to be very much regarded by the honest of city but nothing could keep the aa popularity op peter from following the heels of the old governor whom he loved as he did his very soul so embracing all the young and giving every one of them that had good teeth and rosy lips a dozen hearty he departed loaded with then kind wishes nor was the departure of the gallant peter among the least causes of public distress though the old governor was by no means indulgent to the follies and of his subjects yet somehow or other he had become strangely popular among the people there is something so in personal bravery that with the common mass of mankind it takes the lead of most other merits the simple folk of new looked upon peter as a of his wooden leg that of his martial was regarded with reverence and admiration every old had a of miraculous stories to tell about the exploits of wherewith he i his children of a long winter night and on which he dwelt with as much delight and exaggeration as do our honest country on the hardy adventures of old general or as he is familiarly d old put during our glorious his address revolution not an individual but verily believed the old governor was a match for himself and there was even a story told with great mystery and imder the rose of his having shot the devil with a silver bullet one dark stormy night as he was sailing in a through but this i do not record as being an absolute fact perish the man who would let fall a drop to the pure stream of history certain it is not an old woman in new but considered peter as a tower of strength and rested satisfied that the public welfare was secure so long as he was in the city it is not surprising then that they looked upon his departure as a sore affliction with heavy hearts they dragged at the heels of his troop as they marched down to the river side to the governor from the stern of his gave a short but truly address to his citizens wherein he	48
recommended them to like loyal and subjects to go to church regularly on sundays and to mind their business all the week besides that the women should be dutiful and affectionate to their husbands after nobody s s his concerns but their own all and morning and carrying short and long that the men should ab tain from in concerns en trusting the cares of government to the offices appointed to support staying at home good citizens making money lor and getting i fer the benefit of their x that the should look well to the public interest not the poor nor the rich not their to devise new laws but faithfully those which were already made rather bending their attention to prevent evil than to it that civil der themselves more as of than rat employed to finally he than one and all high and low rich and poor to conduct themselves as weu as they could then that if they and plied with this golden rule these vas no but that they would all conduct themselves enough this done he gave them a paternal the sturdy sounded a m t loving farewell witb his trumpet he final departure of the put up a shout of and the invincible swept o down the bay the good of new crowded down to the battery that resort from whence so many a tender prayer has been so many a fair hand waved so many a tearful look been cast by love sick after the bearing her adventurous to distant her the watched with straining eyes the gallant as it slowly floated do the bay when the intervening land at he shut it from their sight gradually dispersed with silent tongues and downcast a gloom hung over the late bustling city honest smoked their pipes in casting many a wistful look to tbe on the church of st and the old women having no longer the of peter to them gathered their home and he and windows every evening at w lai the meanwhile the of the sturdy peter proceeded on its voyage and after about as many storms and vol ii k iso it arrives in the water and and other horrors and phenomena as generally adventurous in perilous voyages of the kind and after a severe from that and malady called sea sickness the whole arrived safely in the without so much as dropping anchor giving his wearied ships time to breathe after so long in the ocean the peter pursued his course up the and made a sudden appearance before fort having the astonished garrison by a c from the trumpet of the van he demanded in a tone of thunder an instant surrender of the fort to this demand the wind dried replied in a shrill voice which by reason of his extreme sounded like the wind whistling through a broken that he had no very strong reason for refusing except that the demand was particularly disagreeable as he had been ordered to maintain his post to the last extremity he requested time therefore to consult with governor and proposed a for that purpose the peter at us attacks fort fort bo taken from him and thus withheld refused the proposed and swore by the pipe of st which like the sacred fire was never extinguished that unless the fort were surrendered in ten minutes he would storm the works make all the garrison run the and split their scoundrel of a commander like a to give this menace the greater effect he drew forth his sword and shook it at them with such a fierce and vigorous motion that doubtless if it had not been exceeding rusty it would have terror into the eyes and hearts of the enemy he then ordered his men to bring a to bear upon the fort consisting of two three a long duck piece and two brace of horse pistols in the mean time the sturdy van all his forces and commenced his warlike operations his cheeks like a very he kept up a most of his trumpet the of sing sing broke forth into a hideous song of battle the warriors of and the blew a potent and blast on their altogether forming as outrageous a as s the garrison though five thousand french w their skill in a modern whether the formidable front of war thus presented smote the garrison with sore may or whether the concluding terms of tb summons which mentioned that he should render at discretion were mistaken by who though a was a very rate easy tempered man as a compliment to ht discretion i will not take upon me to say it is he found it impossible to resist so courteous j demand accordingly in the very of time just as the cabin boy had gone after a coal of fire to e the a was beat oi the by the only drum in the garrison u the no small satisfaction of both parties who notwithstanding their great stomach for f had full as good an to eat a dinner as to exchange black eyes and noses thus did this fortress once return to the of their high and his garrison of twenty were allowed to march out with the honours o war and the victorious peter who was as as brave permitted them to keep possession of al their and the same on inspection being found totally unfit for service having long m the magazine of the even before it was by the from the but windy von but i must not omit to mention that the governor was so well pleased with the services of his faithful squire van in the of this great fortress that he made him on the spot lord of a goodly domain in the vicinity of new which	48
usual in such cases were turned upon fort the sun like a little man in a crowd at a show about the heavens his head here and there and endeavouring to get a peep between the clouds that themselves in his way the filled their the poets went without their dinners either that they might buy paper and goose vol ii l conduct of the heathen or because they could not get any thing to eat antiquity out of its grave to see itself while even posterity stood mute gazing in gaping ecstasy of o i the field the immortal who had seen service at the affair of now mounted their feather bed clouds and sailed over the plain or mingled among the in different all to have a finger m e pie sent off his to a noted to have it up for the occasion swore by her she would the and in semblance of a eyed the of fort accompanied by as a s widow of the noted bully stuck two horse pistols into his belt shouldered a rusty gallantly at their elbow as a while in their rear as a legged playing most out of tune on the other side the ox eyed who had gained a pair of black eyes over nigh in one of her curtain lectures with old displayed and peter haughty beauties on a baggage as a gin tucked up her skirts fists and swore most in exceeding bad dutch having but lately studied the language by way of keeping up the spirits of the soldiers while halted as a footed lately promoted to be a captain of au was silent horror or bustling preparation war reared his horrid loud his iron f and shook his crest of and now the mighty out their hosts here stood firm as a thousand rocks with and to the chin in mud his lined the breast work in grim array each his fiercely and his hair back and so stiffly that he grinned above the like a death s head there came on the peter his brows his teeth set his fists almost breathing forth volumes of smoke so fierce was the fire that raged within his bosom his van at his with his trumpet with l of the hosts red and yellow the of his fair at the then came on the sturdy chivalry of the there were the van and the van the ten the van the van the van die van the and the van e van the van the van the van the van and the van there were the van homes the van hooks the van the van the van and the van the van der the hoofs the the the and the there came the the the die the the the the ro the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the ten and the tough it host more of whose named re to to be written or if they could be written peter s before the battle it would be impossible for man to utter all fortified with a mighty dinner and to use the words of a great poet of wrath and for an instant the mighty peter paused in midst of his career and mounting on a stump addressed his troops in eloquent low dutch them to fight like and assuring them that if they conquered they should get plenty of if they fell they should be allowed the satisfaction while dying of reflecting that it was m the service of country and after they were dead of seeing their names inscribed in the temple of renown and handed down in company with all the other great men of the year for the admiration of finally he swore to them on the word of a governor and they knew him too well to doubt it for a moment that if he caught any mother s son of them looking pale or playing he would his hide till he made him run out of it like a snake in spring time then out his he it three times bis head ordered van to sound a terrific tremendous charge and shouting the word and the forwards his warlike followers who had employed the interval in their pipes instantly stuck them in their mouths gave a furious puff and charged gallantly under cover of the smoke the garrison ordered by the cunning not to fire until they could distinguish the of their eyes stood in horrid silence on the covert way until the eager had ascended the then did they pour into them such a tremendous that the hills around and were ter even unto an of water that springs burst forth from sides which continue to run unto the present day not a but have bitten the dust beneath that dreadful fire had not the protecting kindly taken care that the should one and all observe their usual custom of shutting their eyes and turning away their heads at the moment of discharge the followed up their fire by the and falling tooth and nail upon the foe with and now might be t l seen of of iv h neither history nor song have ever recorded a parallel here was beheld the sturdy his quarter like the terrible giant his oak tree for he scorned ta carry any other weapon and a upon the heads of whole of there were the v an posted at a distance like the o and it most with the long bow for which they were so justly renowned at another place were collected on a rising die of sing sing who assisted in the fight by forth the great song of st but as to the of they were absent from the battle been sent	48
out on a party to lay waste the neighbouring water patches in a di part of the field might be seen the van s of s nose but they were horribly perplexed in a between two little hills by reason of the length of their noses there were the van of and so renowned for kicking with their left foot but their skill availed them little at present short of wind in consequence of the hearty dinner of michael jove in some measure their a bucket of water thrown on fighting yet did they but pause for aj moment to return with to the charge each other with black and bloody just at this juncture was seen a vast and dense column of smoke slowly rolling towards the scene of battle which for a while made to stay arms in mute astonishment but the wind for a moment dis the cloud from the midst thereof emerged the banner of the michael this noble came oh leading a solid of fed who had remained behind partly as a corps de reserve and partly to the enormous dinner they had eaten these sturdy nothing did forward smoking their pipes with outrageous vigour so to raise the awful cloud that has been but marching exceedingly slow being short ot leg and of great in the belt and now the protecting of the army of new having left the field and into a neighbouring tavern to refresh themselves with a pot of beer a destruction of tobacco pipes s bad well nigh chanced to the i scarcely had the of the attained the front of battle before the by the cunning of blows full at their tobacco pipes astounded at this unexpected assault and at seeing their pipes broken the va fell in vast confusion already ihey begin to fly like a frightened drove of they throw their own army in an uproar bearing down a whole of little the sacred banner on which is the gigantic of is trampled in the dirt the pluck up new spirits and press ing on their rear apply their feet a with a vigour that their motions nor doth the renowned himself fail to receive divers grievous and of shoe leather but what oh muse was the rage of the gallant peter when from afar he saw his army yield with a voice of thunder did he roar after his re warriors the men of the plucked up new courage when they heard their leader or rather they dreaded his fierce sure of which they stood in more awe than of all heroic of the in but the daring peter not waiting for their aid plunged sword in into the of the foe then did he display some such incredible achievements as have never been known since the miraculous days of the giants wherever he went the enemy shrunk before him with fierce he pushed fo ward driving the like dogs into their own ditch but as he advanced the foe thronged in his rear and hung upon his flank with fearful peril one advancing on one side drove his sword full at the hero s heart but the protecting power that watches over the safety of all great and good men turned aside the hostile blade and directed it to a side pocket where an enormous iron tobacco box endowed like the shield of with supernatural powers no doubt in of its being decorated with a trait of the blessed st thus was the dreadful blow but not without ing to the great peter a loss of wind like as a furious bear when by turns fiercely round his teeth and springs upon the foe so did our hero turn upon the treacherous the miserable sought in the fight flight for safety but the active peter seizing him by an that from his head ah f roared he here is what shall make dog s meat of thee i so saying he whirled his sword and made a blow that would have him but that the pitying steel struck short and shaved the lor ever from his crown at this very moment a cunning perched on the sum of a neighbouring mound his deadly instrument and would have sent the gallant a wailing ghost to haunt the shore had not the who had just stop to tie up her saw the great peril of her chief and despatched old with his who in the very nick of time just as the match descended to the pan gave such a lucky blast as blew all the from the touch hole thus the horrid fight when the stout surveying the battle from the top of a little perceived his faithful troops beaten and kicked by the invincible peter language cannot describe the with which he was seized at the he only stopped for a to himself of five thousand b his combat with peter and then drawing his down to the field of combat with some such thundering strides as is said by to have taken when he strode down the to at the no sooner did these two rival heroes come to face than they each made a prodigious starts such as is made by your most experienced stage then did they regard each other for a moment with bitter aspect like two cats on the very point of a did they throw themselves in one attitude another striking their swords on the ground on the right side then on the left at last at it they went with incredible ferocity words can not tell the of strength and displayed on this encounter an encounter compared to which the far battles of with of with i of with the or of that renowned sir of the mountains with the giant were all gentle sports and holiday	48
at length the peter watching his ot po aimed a fearful blow with the full intention of peter s fall and what broke it his adversary to very but raising his sword it off so narrowly that glancing on one side it shaved away a that he always carried swung on one side thence pursuing its course it severed off a deep coat pocket stored with bread and cheese all which rolling among the armies occasioned a fearful between the and and made the general battle to wax ten times more furious than ever to see his military stores thus laid waste the stout collecting all his forces aimed a mighty blow full at the hero s crest in vain did his fierce little cocked hat oppose its course the biting steel through the stubborn ram and would have cracked his crown but that the skull was of such ne hardness that the weapon shivered into pieces shedding a thousand sparks like beams of glory round his stunned with the blow the peter tamed up his eyes and beheld fifty thousand besides and stars dancing about the at length missing his footing by reason of wooden leg down he came on his seat retort on h of with a crash that shook the surrounding hills and would have wrecked his system had he not been received into a cushion softer than velvet which providence or or st or some kindly cow had prepared for his reception the furious in despite of that noble cherished by all true knights that ir play is a jewel hastened to take advantage of the hero s fall but just as he was stooping to give the blow the ever peter bestowed him a sturdy over the with his wooden leg that set some dozen of ringing triple bob in his the bewildered staggered with the blow and in the mean time the wary peter a pocket pistol lying hard by which had dropped from the of his faithful squire and van during his furious encounter with the discharged it full at the head of the let not my reader mistake it was not fl weapon loaded with powder and ball but a httle sturdy stone charged to the with a double of true dutch courage which the knowing van always carried fall of fort about him by way of his the hideous sung through the air and true to its course as was the mighty fragment of a rock discharged at by bully encountered the huge head of the gigantic with match less violence this heaven directed blow decided the battle the ponderous of general sunk upon his breast his knees under him a death like seized upon his giant frame and he tumbled to the earth with such tremendous violence that old started with lest he should have broken through the roof of his infernal palace his fall was the signal of defeat and victory the gave way the dutch pressed forward the former took to their heels the latter hotly pursued some entered with them through the sally port others the and others scrambled over the curtain thus in a little while the fortress of fort which like another had stood a siege of full ten hours was finally carried by assault without the loss of a single man on either side victory in the likeness of a gigantic vol ii m r tj a s immortal ox fly sat perched upon the cocked of the gallant and it was universally de by all the writers whom he hired to write the of his expedition that on this day he gained a sufficient quantity of glory to a dozen of the greatest heroes in anticipated chapter viii n which the author and the reader while after the battle fall into a very grave discourse after which is recorded the conduct of peter after his victory thanks to st we have safely finished his tremendous battle let us sit down my reader and cool ourselves for i am in a sweat and agitation truly this fighting rf battles is hot work and if your great did but know what trouble they give heir they would not have the to achieve so many horrible but i hear my reader complain that this boasted battle there is not the least laughter nor a single individual if we the unhappy who was of his by the blade of peter which he is a great outrage on ability and highly injurious to the interest of the m the author s excuse this is certainly an objection of no little moment but it arises entirely from the obscurity that the remote periods of time about which i have undertaken to write thus though doubtless from the importance of the object and the of the parties concerned there must have been terrible of displayed before the walls of yet notwithstanding that i have consulted every history manuscript and tradition touching this memorable though long forgotten battle i cannot find mention made of a single man killed or wounded in the whole affair this is without doubt owing to the extreme modesty of our forefathers who hke their descendants were never prone to of their achievements but it is a virtue that places their historian in a most embarrassing for having promised my readers a hideous and battle and having worked them up into a warlike and state of mind to put them off without any and slaughter was as bitter a disappointment as to summon a multitude of good people to attend an execution and then cruelly them by a had the inexorable only allowed me some the author s difficulties half a score dead men i bad been content for i would have made such heroes as in the time but whose race is now unfortunately extinct any one of whom if we may believe those	48
writers the poets could drive great armies uke sheep before him and conquer and desolate whole cities by his single arm but seeing that i had not a single life at my disposal all that was left me was to make the most i could of my battle by means of and and and such like wounds and here i cannot but compare my a in some sort to that of the divine milton who having arrayed with sublime preparation his immortal hosts against each other is sadly put to it how to manage them and how he shall make the end of his battle answer to the beginning inasmuch as mere spirits he cannot deal a mortal blow nor even give a flesh wound to any of his for my part the greatest difficulty i found was if hen i had once put my warriors in a passion and let them loose into the midst of the enemy to keep them from doing mischief many a time had i to the sturdy peter from a gigantic to the very or half a dozen little fellows on his sword like so many s and when i lad set flying in tbe air i did not dare to fer one of them to reach the ground lest it should i put an end to some unlucky the reader cannot conceive how it is to a writer thus in a manner to have his hands tied and how many tempting opportunities i had wink at where i might have made as fine a death blow as any recorded in history or song from my own experience i begin to doubt most of the of many of s stories i verily believe that when he had one of his favourite heroes among a crowd of the enemy he cut down many an honest without any authority for so doing excepting that he presented a fair mark and that often a poor was sent to grim s merely because he had a name that would give a sounding turn to a period but i all such let me but have truth and the law on my side and no man would fight harder than but since the various records i consulted did not warrant it i had too much conscience to kill a single soldier by st but it would have been a pretty piece of business my enemies the critics who i foresee will be ready enough t a lay any crime they can discover at my door might have charged me with murder outright and j have esteemed myself lucky to escape with ho verdict than and now gentle reader that we are sitting down here smoking our pipes permit me to indulge in a melancholy reflection which at moment passes across my mind how vain how fleeting how uncertain are all those gaudy after which we are panting and in this world of fair the wealth which the has with so many weary days so many sleepless nights a heir may away in the noblest monuments which pride has ever reared to a name the hand of time will shortly tumble into ruins and even the brightest gained by of arms may and be for ever by the neglect of mankind how many illustrious heroes says the good who were once the pride and glory of the age hath the silence of buried in eternal oblivion and this it was that induced he when they went to battle solemnly to sacrifice to the that their achievements should be recorded had importance of thb not his lofty the v ur of had remained and such too after all the t and perils he had after all the gallant actions he had achieved such too had nearly been the fate of the peter but that i fortunately stepped in and engraved his name on the of history just as the time was silently brushing it away for ever the more i reflect the more am i astonished at the important character of the historian he is the sovereign to decide upon the renown or of his men he is the patron of kings and on whom it depends whether they shall live in after ages or be forgotten as were their ancestors before them the tyrant may while the object of his tyranny exists but the historian possesses superior might for his power extends even beyond the grave the shades of departed and long forgotten heroes anxiously bend down from above while watching each movement of his pen whether it shall pass by their names with neglect or them on the pages of renown even the drop of ink that hangs trembling on his pen which he may either dash upon the floor waste in idle his awful responsibility that very drop which to him is not worth the twentieth part of a may be of value to some departed may half a score in one moment to immortality who would have given worlds had they them to the glorious let not my readers imagine however that i am indulging in vain glorious or am anxious to forth the importance of my tribe on the contrary i shrink when i reflect on the awful responsibility we assume i shudder to think what and we occasion in the world i swear to thee honest reader as i am a man i weep at the very idea why let me ask are so many illustrious men daily tearing themselves away from the embraces of their families the smiles of beauty the of fortune and exposing themselves to the miseries of war why are kings and whole countries in short what all great men of all ages and countries to commit so many and and inflict so many miseries upon mankind and on themselves but the mere hope	48

Subsets and Splits

No saved queries yet

Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.