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diff --git a/old/14583-8.txt b/old/14583-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f5d074 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14583-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9773 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Continental Monthly - Volume 1 - Issue 3, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Continental Monthly - Volume 1 - Issue 3 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: January 4, 2005 [EBook #14583] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTINENTAL MONTHLY VOL.1 ISS.3 *** + + + + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Josephine Paolucci +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY: + +DEVOTED TO + +LITERATURE AND NATIONAL POLICY. + +VOL. I.--MARCH, 1862.--No. III. + + * * * * * + +SOUTHERN AIDS TO THE NORTH. + + +Perhaps the most difficult question at present before the American +people is that so often and so insolently put by Southern journals, and +so ignorantly babbled in weak imitation of them by English newspapers, +asking what, after all, in case of a victory, or even of many victories, +can we do with the revolted provinces? The British press, prompt to put +the worst construction on every hope of the Union, prophesies endless +guerilla warfare,--a possibility which, like the blocking up of +Charleston harbor by means of the stone fleet, is, of course, something +which calls for the instant interference of all cotton-spinning +Christian nations. Even among our own countrymen it must be confessed +there has been no little indecision as to the end and the means of +securing the conquest of a country whose outlines are counted by +thousands instead of hundreds of miles, and whose whole extent, it is +too generally believed, forms a series of regions where dismal swamps, +bayous, lagoons, dense forests, and all manner of impenetrabilities, bid +defiance to any save the natives, and where the most deadly fevers are +ever being born in the jungles and wafted on the wings of every summer +morn over the whole plantation land. The truth is, that the simple facts +and figures relative to this country are not generally known. Let the +Northern people but once learn the truths existing in their favor, and +there will be an end to this misapprehension. There has been thus far no +hesitation or irresolution among the people in the conduct of the war. +'Conquer them first,' has been the glorious war-cry from millions of the +freest men on earth. But when we are driving a nail it is well to know +that it will be possible to eventually clench it. And when the country +shall fully understand the ease with which this Union nail may be +clenched, there will be, let us hope, a greatly revived spirit in all +now interested in forwarding the war. + +It is evident enough that if all the millions of the South remain united +to the death in the cause of secession, little else than a guerilla +warfare of endless length is to be hoped for. The accounts of the +enthusiasm and harmony at present prevailing in Eastern Virginia, and in +other places controlled by the active secessionists, have struck terror +to the hearts of many. But, united though they be, they must be more +than mortal if they could resist the influences of a counter-revolution, +and of strong bodies of enemies in the heart of their country, aided by +a mighty foe without. 'Hercules was a strong man,' says the proverb, +'but he could not pay money when he had none;' and the South may be +strong, but she can hardly fail to be entirely crippled when certain +agencies shall be brought to bear against her. Let us examine them, and +find wherein her weakness consists. + +The first is the easy possibility of a _counter-revolution_ among the +inhabitants of the mountain districts, who hold but few slaves, who have +preserved a devoted love for the Union, and who are, if not at positive +feud, at least on anything but social harmony with their aristocratic +neighbors of the lowlands and of the plantation. Unlike the 'mean +whites' who live among slaves and slave-holders, and are virtually more +degraded than the blacks, these mountaineers are men of strong character +and common-sense, combining the industrious disposition of the North +with the fierce pride of the South. And so numerous are they, and so +wide is the range of country which they inhabit, that it would seem +miraculous if with their aid, and that of other causes which will be +referred to, a counter-revolution could not be established, which would +sweep the slaveocracy from existence. + +In a pamphlet entitled 'Alleghania,' by James W. Taylor, published at +Saint Paul, Minnesota, by James Davenport, the reader will find 'a +geographical and statistical memoir, exhibiting the strength of the +Union, and the weakness of slavery in the mountain districts of the +South,' which is well worth careful study at this crisis. Let the reader +take the map and trace on it the dark caterpillar-like lines of the +Alleghanies from Pennsylvania southward. Not until he reaches Northern +Alabama will he find its end. In these mountain districts which form +'the Switzerland of the South,' a population exists on whom slavery has +no hold, who are free and lovers of freedom, and who will undoubtedly +co-operate with the Union in reestablishing its power. This 'Alleghania' +embraces thirteen counties of North Carolina, three of South Carolina, +twenty of Georgia, fifteen of Alabama, and twenty-six of Tennessee. + +According to Humboldt and other writers on climatology, an elevation of +two hundred and sixty-seven feet above the level of the sea is +equivalent in general influence upon vegetation to a degree of latitude +northward, at the level of the ocean. Therefore we are not surprised to +learn from Olmsted that 'Alleghania' does not differ greatly in climate +from Long Island, Southern New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. 'The usual +crops are the same, those of most consequence being corn, rye, oats and +grass. Fruit is a more precarious crop, from a greater liability to +severe frosts after the swelling of the buds in the spring. Snow has +fallen several inches in the month of April.'[A] + +The Western Virginia portion of Alleghania, which in the +counter-secession programme of its inhabitants was to have formed the +State of 'Kanawha,' embraced in its total population of 284,796 only +10,820 slaves. Its area is 4,211 square miles larger than the entire +State of Maryland. With this we have 'Middle Virginia,' in the valley of +the Shenandoah, which extends east of the main Alleghany range to the +Blue Ridge. This region also is broadly distinguishable in respect to +slavery from the Atlantic counties. With 200,262 freemen according to +the census of 1850, it has only 44,742 slaves, and there is reason to +believe that this population has largely diminished in favor of freedom. +Yet again we have the mountain district of South-western Virginia, where +in its ten counties the proportion of freemen to slaves is nearly ten to +one, or 76,892 to 8,693. As regards internal resources, beautiful +scenery, and all that conduces to pleasant life and profitable labor, +this portion of Virginia far surpasses the eastern division, and will +eventually attract the great mass of immigration. + +The reader is aware that Eastern Kentucky, embracing the counties along +the western base of the Cumberland Mountains, 'has nobly responded to +the cause of the Union.' 'They represent a population which from the +first outbreak have been on fire with loyal zeal, repudiating all +sympathy with this war of slavery against the Union.' The proportion of +slaves to freemen in these counties, according to the census of 1850, is +as follows:-- + +COUNTIES FREE SLAVE +Letcher, 2,440 62 +Floyd, 5,503 149 +Harlan, 4,108 123 +Whitley, 7,222 201 +Knox, 6,238 612 +Perry, 2,972 117 +Clay, 4,734 515 +Breathitt, 3,603 170 +Morgan, 7,305 187 +Johnson, 3,843 30 +Lawrence, 6,142 137 +Carter, 5,000 257 + +In contrast to this healthy, temperate Eastern Kentucky, 'a portion of +the great central district of mountain slopes and valleys,' let the +reader turn to the secession hot-bed of the State. He will find it the +largest slaveholding district of Kentucky. It is worth noting that +secession is matured in the slave regions, for though it is popularly +identified with slavery, they are not wanting among its leaders--no, nor +among their traitorous and cowardly sympathizers here at the North--who +constantly assert that secession is simply a geographical necessity, and +slavery only a secondary cause--that the South will, in fact, eventually +emancipate, and that race and latitude are the great fundamental causes +of national difference, constituting us in fact 'two peoples.' How +completely false and puerile are all these assertions, appears from an +examination of the mountain region now under discussion. + +Of all these sections of 'Alleghania,' none is of more importance to the +Federal Union than East Tennessee. Immensely rich in minerals, with a +healthy and agreeable climate and much rich soil, it is one of the +finest countries on earth, lying under the temperate zone, and developes +the most extraordinary physical perfection in the human form. Its +proportion of slaves to freemen is no greater than in the other mountain +regions of the South--its area is about equivalent to that of +Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island united. In considering this +with the loyalty of its inhabitants, and in studying 'Cumberland Gap,' +the great natural highway of the Alleghany Range, the observer +appreciates with pleasure the remark of Secretary Chase, who, in a +recent interview with certain eastern capitalists, disclaimed on behalf +of the Government and of General M'Clellan any purpose to send the army +into winter quarters, remarking with much significance that 'a glance at +the map will perhaps astonish those who have never reflected, _how short +is the distance from East Tennessee to Port Royal Harbor, and may +suggest the possibility of cutting a great rebellion into two small +pieces_.' + +In the mountain region of North Carolina we have 'the Piedmont of the +Alleghanies.' Its seventeen counties embrace a larger area (11,700 +square miles) than the whole of Vermont. Its scenery is of extraordinary +beauty, its peaks are the highest east of the Rocky Mountains. There is +full ground for the belief that in North Carolina a majority of the +people are Union at heart. The following extract from 'Alleghania' will +be read with interest as illustrating the assertion: + + In the Union camps of East Tennessee, there are numerous + volunteers from Watauga and other adjacent counties over the + border. At the only popular election suffered to be held upon the + question of Union and secession, the Union majority was as two to + one; and even after the storm of Sumter, the vote in the + convention of North Carolina on a proposition to submit the + ordinance of secession to a vote of the people, received + thirty-four yeas to seventy-three nays. I have confidence that + those thirty-four names, representing one-third of the State, were + given by delegates from the western counties,--the Alleghany + counties,--from the base and sides of the Blue Ridge,--from a land + of corn and cattle, not of cotton. Again, when the news of the + capture of Hatteras was announced in the legislature of North + Carolina, it is evident from the language of the Raleigh + newspapers that an irrepressible explosion of Union feeling--even + to an outburst of cheers, according to one statement--occurred. + Nor is such a state of feeling surprising, when we remember that + not even in Kentucky is the memory of Henry Clay more a fireside + treasure of the people. In this respect, the quiet, unobtrusive + 'North' State was in striking contrast to its immediate + neighbors--South Carolina in one direction, and Atlantic Virginia + in the other. Politically, when the pennons of Clay and Calhoun + rode the gale, the vote and voice of North Carolina were ever + given for the great Kentucky leader. Let us accept these omens for + the winter campaign, which will open with the triumph of the Union + and the Constitution on the Cumberland heights of East Tennessee. + +'In one-fifth of Georgia, over an area of 12,000 square miles, slavery +only exists by the usurpation of the cotton aristocracy of the lowland +districts of the State.' In all of them, slaves, though in a greater +proportion than in the rest of Alleghania, are very greatly in the +minority, as appears from the following table:-- + +COUNTIES FREE SLAVE +Madison, 3,763 1,933 +Hart,* +Franklin, 9,076 2,382 +Jackson, 6,808 2,941 +Banks,* +Hall, 7,370 1,336 +Habersham, 7,675 1,218 +Rabun, 2,338 110 +Towns,* +Union, 6,955 278 +Lumpkin, 7,995 939 +Dawson,* +Forsyth, 7,812 1,027 +Milton,* +Cherokee, 11,630 1,157 +Pickens,* +Gilmer, 8,236 200 +Faunin* +Murphy,* +Whitefield,* +Gordon, 5,156 828 +Cass, 10,271 3,008 +Floyd, 5,202 2,999 +Chattoga, 5,131 1,680 +Walker, 11,408 1,664 +Catoosa,* +Dade, 2,532 148 + +* Counties marked with an asterisk, organized after the census of 1850, +of which the foregoing are returns. + +Last in the list we have North-east Alabama, in which we find the +following counties:-- + +COUNTIES FREE SLAVE +Cherokee, 12,170 1,691 +DeKalb, 7,730 506 +Marshall, 7,952 868 +Jackson, 11,754 2,292 +Morgan, 6,636 3,437 +Madison, 11,937 14,329 +Limestone, 8,399 8,063 +Lawrence, 8,342 6,858 + +'It will be observed,' says Mr. Taylor, + + That the three counties last named have a slave population, in the + case of Madison exceeding, and in Limestone and Lawrence nearly + equal to the number of free inhabitants. They would seem to be an + exception to our former generalization, and are only included + because there is other evidence that Athens, in Limestone County, + and Huntsville, in Morgan County, were to the last possible moment + the head-quarters of resistance to the Montgomery conspirators. It + was the Union vote of these highland counties, notwithstanding the + number of slaves in some of them, which would inevitably have been + rolled down in condemnation of an ordinance of secession. This was + well known by Yancey and his associates, and it was to avoid this + revelation of their weakness over a compact and populous area of + the State, which was in direct communication with East Tennessee, + that they refused the ordeal of the ballot upon the consummation + of their treason to the Union. + + I estimate that the district which could readily be rallied in + support of a loyal organization of the government of Alabama, with + its capital at Huntsville, to be equal to the area of New Jersey, + or 8,320 square miles. With the occupation of the Alleghanies by + an army of the Union, and such a base of operations, civil and + military, in North Alabama, a counter-revolution in that State + would not be difficult of accomplishment.[B] + +It will thus be seen, that, in the South itself, there exists a +tremendous groundwork of aid to the North, and of weakness to +secession. The love of this region for the Union, and its local hatred +for planterdom with its arrogance towards free labor, is no chimera; nor +do we make the wish the father to the thought when we assert that a +Union victory would light up a flame of counter-revolution which would +in time, with Northern aid, crush out the foul rebellion. And relying on +this fact, we grow confident and exultant. If Europe will only let us +alone--if England will refrain from stretching out a helping hand to +that slaveocracy for which she has suddenly developed such a strange and +unnatural love, we may yet be, at no distant day, great, powerful, and +far more united than ever. + +But we have, in addition to all these districts of Alleghania, a vast +reserve in Texas--that Texas which is now more than half cultivated by +free labor, and which is amply capable of producing six times as much +cotton as is now raised in the entire South. An armed occupation of +Texas, a copious stream of emigration thither, to be encouraged by very +liberal grants to settlers, and a speedy completion of its railroads, +would be an offset to secession, well worth of itself all that the war +has cost. With Texas in our power, with Cumberland Gap firmly held, with +the negroes in South Carolina fairly disorganized from slavery, with +free Yankee colonies in the Palmetto State, with New Orleans taken--a +blockade without and complete financial disorder within, what more could +we desire as a basis to secure thorough reėstablishment of power? Here +our superiority to the South in possessing not only a navy, but, what is +of far more importance, a vast merchant marine containing all the +elements necessary to form a navy of unparalleled power, appears in +clearest light, giving us cause for much congratulation. To effect all +this, _time_ is required. Let those who fret, look over the map of a +hemisphere--let them reflect on the condition to which Southern perfidy +and theft had reduced us ere the war begun, and then let them moderate +their cries. It will all be done; but the programme is a tremendous one, +and the future of the most glorious country on earth requires that it +shall be done thoroughly, and that no risks shall be taken. + +But, beyond all the aid which is to be expected from a +counter-revolution in the South, to be drawn from the 'Alleghania' +region, there is one of vast importance, insisted upon in a series of +articles published during the past year in the New York _Knickerbocker +Magazine_, and which may be appropriately reconsidered in this +connection. Should the government of the United States, by one or more +victories, obtain even a temporary sway over the South, it will only +rest with itself to produce a powerful counter-revolution even in those +districts which are blackest with slavery. _Let it, when the time shall +seem fit_,--and we urge no undue haste, and no premature meddling with +the present plans or programme of those in power,--_simply proclaim +Emancipation_, offering to pay all loyal men for their slaves according +to a certain rate. The proportion of Union men who will then start into +life, even in South Carolina, will be, doubtless, enormous. It may be +objected that many of these will merely profess Union sentiments for the +time being. But, on the other hand, those noted rebels who can have no +hope of selling their slaves, save indeed to the Union professors, will +have small love for the latter, and two parties can not fail to show +themselves at once. Those who hope to see the slave principle ultimately +triumphant will oppose selling the chattels; those who wish to 'realize' +at once on them, owing to temporary embarrassments, will urge it; and +dissension of the most formidable character will be at once +organized,--precisely such dissension as the Southern press has long +hoped to see between the dough-faces and patriots of the North, or +between its labor and capital, or in any other disastrous dissension. + +Be it borne in mind that the price of slaves is at present greatly +depressed in the South. Those who would sell would speedily acquire +more, in the hope of a profit by selling to government. Those too who +would willingly act as brokers between those who wished to sell, but who +would not dare to openly do so, would be very numerous. Between these +and the leaders of the ultra pro-slavery party there would be bitter +feud. Let a counter-revolutionary party once succeed in holding its own +in the South, and the days of secession would speedily be numbered. In a +land where all rushes so rapidly to extremes, we should soon see the war +carried on for us with a bitterness fully equal to that now manifested +towards the North. + +It is with no pleasant feelings that we thus commend counter-revolution. +It is the worst of war that it drives us to such considerations. But +what is to be done when our existence as a nation is at stake, and when +we are opposed by a remorseless foe which would gladly ruin us +irretrievably? There is no halting half-way. It was these endless +scruples which interfered with the prevention of the war under the +imbecile or traitorous Buchanan; it is lingering scruple and timidity +which still inspires in thousands of cowardly hearts a dislike to face +the grim danger and prevent it. + + * * * * * + +WESTWARD! + + + How the pink-hued morning clouds + Go sailing into the west! + And the pearl-white breath of noon, + Or the mists round the silver moon, + In silent, sheeny crowds + Go sailing into the west! + + The glowing, fire-eyed sun + In glory dies in the west; + And the bird with dreamy crest, + And soft, sun-loving breast, + When throbbing day is done, + Floats slowly into the west. + + Oh, everything lovely and fair + Is floating into the west. + 'Tis an unknown land, where our hopes must go, + And all things beautiful, fluttering slow; + Our joys all wait for us there,-- + Far out in the dim blue west. + + * * * * * + +IS COTTON OUR KING? + +BY A COTTON-SPINNER. + + +No falsehood has been so persistently adhered to by the Southern +planters and their advocates, and so successfully forced upon the +credulity of the North, as the statement that white men can not perform +field labor in the cotton States, coupled with the equally false +assertion that the emancipated negro lapses into barbarism, and ceases +to be an industrious laborer. + +It is one of the chief points of weakness in a bad cause, that, although +a _single_ advocate may succeed in rendering it plausible, _many_ are +certain to present utterly irreconcilable arguments. An impartial man, +examining De Bow's _Review_ for a series of years, would arrive at +conclusions in regard to the economy of slave labor, and the necessity +of colored laborers in the Southern States, the very reverse of what the +writers have intended to enforce. + +It is constantly asserted that white men can not labor in the tropics, +which we may freely admit; but the inference that the climate of the +Southern States is tropical we have the best authority for denying: +firstly, from the testimony of all Southern writers when describing +their own section of country, and _not_ arguing upon the slavery +question; and, secondly, from Humboldt's isothermal lines, by which we +find that the temperature of the cotton States is the same as that of +Portugal, the south of Spain, Italy, and Australia. Do we find +Australian emigrants writing home to their friends not to come out +because they will not be able to work? We know they do not; and yet the +mean annual temperature of Australia is 70°--greater by five to six +degrees than that of Texas; and, from the best accounts we can get, the +extreme of heat is very much greater. + +Examine De Bow's analysis of the census of 1850, and we find him +compelled to admit that one-ninth of the force then cultivating cotton +were white men. If one-ninth were white men in 1850, when the price of +cotton was much less and the crop much smaller than of late years, how +many are there now? + +One of the most reliable witnesses to the cultivation of cotton by free +labor is a Quaker gentleman in Philadelphia, who conducts a cotton +factory supplied entirely with free-grown cotton, the goods being sold +to the Quakers, who will not use the product of slave labor of any kind. +This gentleman writes:-- + + I learned by correspondence with several intelligent Germans in + Texas, that their experiment of raising cotton by their own labor, + without the help of slaves, was a complete success. One planter + offered to supply me at once with one hundred and forty bales + raised in this way. The ground taken by thee that cotton can be + raised by white men, as well as by colored men, is entirely + correct. A very large portion is every year so raised. I have had + particular information of its being thus raised in Texas, + Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and North + Carolina. In some neighborhoods thousands of bales are thus raised + within the limits of two or three adjacent counties. + +It may be urged that this is upon uplands almost exclusively, and that +upon bottom lands it is not possible, on account of their being +unhealthy. + +Two statements will be made to disprove this latter assertion, and we +will then admit it to be true, and prove it to be of no consequence. + + The cotton planters, deserting the rolling land, are fast pouring + in upon the 'swamp.' Indeed, the impression of the sickliness of + the South generally has been rapidly losing ground (i.e. among the + whites of the South), and that blessing, health, is now sought + with as much confidence on the swamp lands of the Yazoo and the + Mississippi, as among the hills and plains of Carolina and + Virginia.--_De Bow's Resources of the South and West_. + +Dr. Barton, of New Orleans, in a paper read before the Academy of +Science, says: + + The class of diseases most fatal at the South are mainly those of + a preventable nature. In another place I have shown that the + direct temperature of the sun is not near so great in the South + during the summer as in the North. In fact, the climate is much + more endurable, all the year round, with our refreshing breezes, + and particularly in some of the more elevated parts of it, or + within one hundred miles of the coast. + +Dr. Barton had forgotten that white men can not perform field labor in +the South. + +But admit that white men had better work upon uplands,--the crop is +surer, owing to the less liability to frost and overflow; and good +cultivation will give an equal crop. Intelligent Northern men have taken +up exhausted plantations upon the uplands of North Carolina, and, by the +application of moderate quantities of guano, phosphate of lime, etc., +have carried the crop from two hundred up to eight hundred pounds of +clean cotton per acre; and for the last three years the writer has been +in the habit of selecting the North Carolina guano-grown cotton, in the +New York market, where it has been shipped via Wilmington or Norfolk, on +account of its good staple, good color, and extra strength. + +There is nothing in the cultivation of cotton involving harder work than +that of corn. In the early stages of its growth it is more tender than +corn, and requires more care,--which it does not get, since we find +Southern writers deploring that the cut-worm and the louse are charged +with many sins which are caused by careless cultivation and the bruises +inflicted by the clumsy negro hoes. The soil is very light, and most of +the work might be done by the plow and cultivator. Except upon very poor +soil there is only one plant allowed to eight and even ten square feet. +By the admission of Texas planters themselves, in the accounts of their +country which they have written to induce emigration and sell their +surplus land, there is very little work to be done during the hottest +part of the summer; the cultivation taking place in the spring, and the +picking in the fall and winter. Dr. J.S. Wilson, of Columbus, Ga., +writing upon the diseases of negroes, says there is no article of +clothing so needful to them, and so seldom supplied, as an overcoat. +Should some shrewd Yankee, starting South to go into the business of +raising cotton, lay in a large supply of flannel shirts, thick Guernsey +frocks, and woolen stockings, for his field hands, how many of his +neighbors would remind him of Lord Timothy Dexter's noted shipment to +the West Indies, and ask him why he did not take some warming-pans; and +yet, for his supply of thick, warm clothing he would have the authority +of all Southern physicians. + +Examine the directions given for the cultivation of cotton, and see how +much labor could be saved, provided slaves could be induced to use good +tools; planting the seed and covering it requiring one horse or mule and +_four_ hands,--one to smooth the ground, one to open the furrow, one to +plant, and one to cover. All of these operations can be performed by one +man with a planting machine. But the negro can not be trusted with one; +for the moment you begin to teach him the reasons for using it, you +begin to teach him the benefit of using another complicated machine, +which he has not before known much about--his own head and arms, and, +worse than all, his own legs, all of which you have stolen from him; and +then he will misapply his knowledge, as an old fugitive once told me he +had done: 'I took my own legs for security, and walked off.' + +I know a fugitive slave who was taught the trade of a blacksmith, and +who stole the art of writing; and a sad use he made of his +accomplishments; he forged free papers with his pen, and the sacred seal +of the State of Alabama with his tools, and then started North. In +Tennessee he got out of money, and stopped to work at his trade, was +suspected, brought before a court, his papers examined and pronounced +genuine, and he passed on to Canada or elsewhere. Surely this man did +not know how to take care of himself! + +There is no great reason why the slave should exert himself very much, +and why he should not, cannot be better stated than by the Rev. Mr. +McTeyire, the son of a large planter in South Carolina. 'Men,' he says, +'who own few slaves, and who share the labors of the field or workshop +with them, are very liable to deceive themselves by a specious process +of reasoning: they say, "I carry row for row with my negroes, and I put +no more on them than I take on myself." But the master who thus reasons +is forgetful or ignorant of the great truth that the negroes' powers of +endurance are less than his, while in the case of the latter there are +wanting those incentives which animate and actually strengthen the +master. This labor is for him, the gains of this excess of industry are +to make him rich. What is the servant bettered by the additional bale of +cotton extorted from exhausted nature, only that next year he shall have +more companions in the field, and the field be enlarged?' This is +extremely well put; but Rev. Mr. McTeyire, of South Carolina, must have +been unaware of the fact that it is not possible for a white man to work +row for row on cotton! + +But Southern planters are not without some ingenious machines. In a +_premium_ essay upon the cultivation of cotton, read before the Georgia +Agricultural Society, the Hon. Mr. Chambers thus describes one invented +by himself for covering the seed: 'I would cover with a board made of +some hard wood, an inch or an inch and a half thick, about eight inches +broad, beveled on the lower edge to make it sharp, slightly notched in +the middle so as to _straddle_ the row, and screwed on the foot of a +common shovel.' Very safe for negroes to use, not being complicated. + +But in the protests of intelligent Southern men, when they occasionally +wake up to the terrible results of their mode of cultivation, may be +found their own condemnation. + +Dr. Cloud, of Alabama, editor of the '_Cotton Plant_,' mourning the want +of pasturage in his own State, writes thus: 'Our climate is remarkably +favorable to rich and luxuriant pasturage. The red man of the forest and +the pioneer white man that came here in advance of our _scratching +plow_, tell us they found the wild oat and native grasses waving thick, +as high as a man's head, and so entwined with the wild pea-vine as to +make it difficult to ride among it, all over this country. Every cotton +planter has heard of these fine primitive pasture ranges, and many have +seen them. _If the country or the climate has been cursed in our +appearance as planters here, it has been in the wasting system, that we +introduced and continue to practice_.' + +Gov. Wise, in an address upon the agriculture of Virginia, condenses the +whole case in an epigram,--' The negroes skin the land, and the white +men skin the negroes.' + +The limit to the production of cotton is in the capacity of the +plantation force to pick the amount cultivated by the field hands; but +the whole available force is insufficient, and large quantities are +lost. The policy of the planters being to buy out the small landholders +in their neighborhood, they have no extra force upon which to draw. +Olmsted says: 'I much doubt if the harvest demand of the principal +cotton districts of Mississippi adds five per cent. to their field-hand +force. I observed the advantage of the free-labor system exemplified in +Western Texas, the cotton-fields in the vicinity of the German village +of New Braunfils having been picked far closer than any I had before +seen,--in fact perfectly clean. One woman was pointed out to me who had, +in the first year she had seen a cotton field, picked more cotton in a +day than any slave in the county.' + +'Substitute the French system (that of small allotment or +_parcellement_) for the Mississippi system in cotton-growing, and who +can doubt that the cotton supply of the United States would be greatly +increased?' + +Dr. Cloud, the most intelligent writer upon cotton cultivation I have +been able to find, is urgent in his advice to manure the land, practice +rotation of crops, and produce larger crops upon fewer acres. But the +universal practice is precisely the reverse; the process of exhaustion +is followed year after year; cotton is planted year after year; the +seed--which Northern men would cultivate for oil alone, and which +exhausts the land ten times faster than the fibre--is mostly wasted; in +the words of a Southern paper, 'The seed is left to rot about the +gin-house, producing foul odors, and a constant cause of sickness.' The +land is cropped until it is literally skinned, and then the planter +migrates to some new region, again to drive out the poor whites, +monopolize the soil, and leave it once more to grow up to 'piney woods.' + +Note again the warning words of Dr. Cloud: 'With a climate and soil +peculiarly adapted to the production of cotton, our country is equally +favorable to the production of all the necessary cereals, and as +remarkably favorable to the perfect development of the animal economy, +in fine horses, good milch cows, sheep and hogs; and for fruit of every +variety, _not tropical_, it is eminently superior. Why is it, then, that +we find so many _wealthy cotton planters_, whose riches consist entirely +of their slaves and worn-out plantations?' + +No crop would be more remunerative to a small farmer, with a moderate +family to assist in the picking season, than cotton. + +Upon the fertile lands of Texas, which produce one to two bales of +cotton to the acre, ten acres of cotton is the usual allotment to each +hand, with also sufficient land in corn and vegetables to furnish food +for the laborer and his proportion of the idle force upon the +plantation, which are two to one, without reckoning the planter and +overseer and their families. Now, upon the absurd supposition that a +free man, with a will in his work, would do no more work than a slave, +what would be the result of his labor? 1st, food for his family; 2d, 10 +acres of cotton, at 500 pounds to the acre, 5000 pounds, at 10 cents per +pound, or $500. But the result would be much greater, for, as a Southern +man has well said, 'the maximum of slave labor would be the minimum of +free labor;' and the writer can bring proof of many instances where each +field hand has produced 13, 15, and even 18 bales of cotton in a year. +With the denser population which would follow the emancipation of the +slaves and the breaking up of the plantation system, a harvest force for +the picking season would be available, and one man would as easily +cultivate 20 to 25 acres of cotton, with assistance in the picking +season, as he could thirty acres of corn, the usual allotment to each +hand upon the corn land of Texas. + +The very expense of slave labor is a proof of the profit which must be +derived from it. The writer has elsewhere estimated the cost of slave +labor at $20 per month, which statement has been questioned, because no +allowance was made for the increase of the live stock. Now it is well +understood that where the women are worked in the fields in such a +manner as to make their labor pay, the increase of live stock is much +smaller, and the business of breeding is left to the first families in +Virginia and other localities where the land has been exhausted (readers +will pardon a plain statement,--it will cause them to realize the full +horror of the business). The slaves in the cotton States increased from +1850 to 1860 33-88/100 per cent., in all the other slave States 9-61/100 +per cent. The surplus increase in the cotton States, above the average, +was 190,632. Where did they come from?[C] At $900 each, this surplus +represents a capital of $171,568,800. How was this sum earned, and to +whom was it paid? + +Let us examine the estimate of $20 per month, and, although it is +admitted that female field hands do not bear many children, take the +average increase of the country, or 2-335/1000 per cent. per annum. + +The standard of value for an A 1 field hand is $100 for each cent per +pound of the price of cotton, say ten cents per pound, $1000, and the +standard of value for all the slaves upon a plantation is one-half the +value of a field hand. + + Suppose a plantation stocked with + 100 slaves, men, women, and piccaninnies, + at 8500 each, $50,000 + Interest at 8 per cent., a low rate + for the South, 4,000 + Customary allowance for life insurance + or mortality, 1,000 + Overseer's wages, 1,000 + House and provisions, 500 + Doctor's fees, hospital, and medicines, 500 + Renewal and repairs of negro quarters, 500 + Clothing and food, at $1 per week + for each slave, 5,200 + ______ + 12,700 + + _Credit_. + + Increase to keep good the mortality, 2 + Annual gain, 2-335/1000, say 3 + Gain, 5, at $500 2,500 + Net cost, 10,200 + +The usual allowance for field hands is one-third,--allow it to be forty +in a hundred, the cost of each would be $255 per annum, or $21.25 per +month. + +Let each one make his own allowance for the disadvantage of having the +larger portion of the capital of a State locked up in a tool which would +do more and better work if recognized as a man and representing no +invested capital. How much productive industry would there be in New +England, if every laborer or mechanic cost his employer $800 to $1500 +before he could be set to work, and if each one who undertook to labor +upon his own account, and was not so purchased, were stigmatized and +degraded and termed 'mean white trash?' + +It will again be objected that the theory of the cotton planter is to +raise all the food and make all the clothing on the plantation. The +cultivation of cotton in the best manner is described by Southern +writers as a process of _gardening_. Now what would be thought of a +market gardener at the North who should keep a large extra force for the +purpose of spinning yarn on a frame of six to ten spindles, and weaving +it up on a rude hand loom? Would this not be protection to home industry +in its most absurd extreme? But this is the plantation system. + +The correctness of the estimate of cost can be tested in some degree by +the rates at which able-bodied slaves are hired out. Many lists can be +found in Southern papers; the latest found by the writer is in De Bow's +_Review_ of 1860. + +A list of fourteen slaves, comprising 'a blacksmith, his wife, eight +field hands, a lame negro, an old man, an old woman and a young woman,' +were hired out for the year 1860, in Claiborne Parish, La., at an +average of $289 each, the highest being $430 for the blacksmith, and +$171 for 'Juda, old woman.' + +The Southern States have thus far retained almost a monopoly of the +cotton trade of the civilized world by promptly furnishing a fair supply +of cotton of the best quality, and at prices which defied competition +from the only region from which it was to be feared, viz., India. This +monopoly has been retained, notwithstanding the steadily increasing +demand and higher prices of the last few years. + +Improvements in machinery have enabled manufacturers to pay full wages +to their operatives, both in this country and in England, and to pay +higher prices for their cotton than they did a few years since, without +materially enhancing the cost of their goods, the larger product of +cloth from a less number of hands and the saving of waste offsetting the +higher price of cotton; but it is not probable that the cost of labor +upon cotton goods can be hereafter materially reduced. The cost of labor +upon the heavy sheetings and drills which form the larger part of our +exports is now only one and one-half cents per yard, and the cost of +oil, starch, and all other materials except cotton, less than one-half +cent, making less than two cents for cost of manufacturing; but with +cotton at ten cents to the planter and twelve and one-half cents to the +spinner, the cost of cotton in the yard of same goods is five cents. + +With cotton at the average price of the last few years, we have supplied +a very small portion of India and China with goods, in competition with +their hand-made goods of same material. With new markets opening in +Japan and China, and by the building of railroads in India, we have to +meet a constantly decreasing supply of raw material as compared with the +demand. Give us cotton at six to seven cents, at which free labor and +skill could well afford it, and the manufacturing industry of New +England would receive a development unknown before. But when we ask more +cotton of slavery, we are answered by its great prophet, De Bow; that +because we are willing to pay a high price we can not have it; for he +says, 'Although land is to be had in unlimited quantities, whenever +cotton rises to ten cents, labor becomes too dear to increase production +rapidly.' + +And this is what the great system of slave labor has accomplished. The +production of its great staple, cotton, is in the hands of less than +100,000 men. In 1850 there were in all the Southern States only 170,000 +men owning more than five slaves each, and they owned 2,800,000 out of +3,300,000. + +These men have by their system rendered labor degrading,--they have +driven out their non-slaveholding neighbors by hundreds of thousands to +find homes and self-respect in the free air of the great West,--they +have reduced those who remain to a condition of ignorance scarcely to be +found in any other country claiming to be civilized--so low that even +the slaves look down upon the 'mean white trash,'--they have sapped the +very foundations of honor and morality, so that 'Southern chivalry' has +become the synonym for treachery, theft, and dishonor in every +form,--they have reached a depth of degradation only to be equalled by +those Northern men who would now prevent this war from utterly +destroying slavery,--they have literally skinned over a vast area of +country, leaving it for the time a desert, and with an area of +368,312,320 acres in the eight cotton States, they have now under +cultivation in cotton less than 6,000,000 (an area scarcely larger than +the little State of Massachusetts); they have less than two slave +laborers to the square mile; and their only opposition to the re-opening +of the African slave-trade is upon the ground that an increase of +laborers will but reduce the price of cotton, give the planters a great +deal more trouble and less profit, and only benefit their enemies in New +and Old England. + +Have not the manufacturer, the consumer, the business man, the farmer, +the soldier, every free man, every friend of the poor whites of the +South who are not yet free men, a right and an interest in claiming that +this monopoly of 100,000 cotton planters shall cease, their estates be +confiscated for their treason, and divided among our soldiers, to repay +them for their sacrifices in the cause of their country? First of all, +however, let us claim the 100,000,000 acres, not the property of any +individual, but fought for and paid for by the United States, and then +given to that most ungrateful of all the rebel States, Texas--the great +'Cotton State.' + +Upon these fertile lands, and in this most profitable branch of +agriculture, let us find the bounty for our soldiers, the reward for +their sacrifices, and our own security for the future good order of the +state. + +By so doing we shall silence the outcry of the South that ours is a war +of conquest (since the right of the government to the public lands of +Texas is unquestionable), and, at the same time, furnish a powerful +incentive to the zeal of our soldiers. + +I have compiled a few facts and statements in regard to the soil and +climate of Texas from Capt. Marcy's Exploration of the Red River, in +which he was accompanied by Captain, now General, McLellan, from the +_Texas Almanac_, a most violent pro-slavery publication, and from the +letters of a friend, a loyal Texan, who has been driven from his home, +and is now in the North. + +In advocating the Memphis and El Paso route for the Pacific Railroad, +Captain Marcy writes as follows:-- + + The road alluded to, immediately after leaving Fulton, Ark., leads + to an elevated ridge dividing the waters that flow into Red River + from those of the Sulphur and Trinity, and continues upon it, with + but few deviations from the direct course for El Paso and Dona Ana + to near the Brazos River, a distance of three hundred and twenty + miles, and mostly through the northern part of Texas. This portion + of the route has its locality in a country of surpassing beauty + and fertility, and possesses all the requisites for attracting and + sustaining a dense farming population. It is diversified with + prairies and woodland, and is bountifully watered with numerous + spring brooks, which flow off upon either side of the ridge + above-mentioned. The crest of the ridge is exceedingly smooth and + level, and is altogether the best natural or artificial road I + ever traveled over for the same distance. + + After leaving this ridge, the road crosses the Brazos near very + extensive fields of bituminous coal, which burns readily, with a + clear flame, and is very superior in quality. + + From the Brazos, the road skirts small affluents of that stream + and the Colorado for two hundred miles. The soil upon this section + is principally a red argillaceous loam, similar to that in the Red + River bottoms, which is so highly productive. + + As this route is included within the thirty-second and + thirty-fourth parallels of latitude, it would never be obstructed + with snow. The whole surface of the country is covered with a + dense coating of the most nutritious grass, which remains green + for nine months in the year, and enables cattle to subsist the + entire winter without any other forage. + + The line of this road east from Fort Smith would intersect the + Mississippi in the vicinity of Memphis, Tenn., and would pass + through the country bordering the Arkansas River, which can not be + surpassed for fertility.--_Marcy's Red River Exploration_. + +The route thus described lies through the following counties, and +attention is specially directed to their several products in 1858:-- + + Acres + County White Slave Corn Wheat Cotton Sug. Misc'l Total. + +Bowie 2,077 2,321 10,392 1,421 8,240 23 3,232 23,308 +Cass 6,112 4,816 28,474 5,552 20,168 36 4,368 58,508 +Titus 6,025 1,891 18,987 2,272 9,872 92 6,227 36,450 +Upshur 5,999 2,801 22,515 3,092 16,692 45 3,122 46,065 +Wood 3,254 733 8,336 1,090 3,194 31 1,841 14,501 +Van Zandt 2,548 242 6,504 837 1,213 8 596 8,160 +Henderson 2,758 827 8,470 845 4,768 70 908 15,061 +Navarro 2,885 1,579 10,531 2,785 4,678 127 2,609 20,730 +Hill 1,858 508 5,161 3,189 181 201 761 9,493 +Bosque 887 182 2,702 872 224 45 83 4,026 + ______ ______ _______ ______ ______ ___ ______ _______ + 34,403 15,800 121,072 22,564 69,330 678 22,748 236,392 + +Let us allow the usual proportion of field hands to the whole number of +slaves, viz., one-third, and we have a force of 5297; if whites do not +labor in the field, each field hand must cultivate 44 64/100 acres of +land. The customary allotment is ten cotton and five corn, or, where +corn and wheat are the principal products, from twenty to twenty-five +acres. + + July 15, 1852. We were in motion at two o'clock in the morning, + and, taking a north-east course towards the base of the mountain + chain, passed through mezquite groves, intersected by brooks of + pure water flowing into the south branch of Cache Creek, upon one + of which we are encamped. + + We find the soil good at all places near the mountains, and the + country well wooded and watered. The grass, consisting of several + varieties of the grama, is of a superior quality, and grows + luxuriantly. The climate is salubrious, _and the almost constant + cool and bracing breezes of the summer months_, with the entire + absence of anything like marshes or stagnant water, remove all + sources of noxious malaria, with its attendant evils of autumnal + fevers.--_Marcy's Exploration of the Red River_, p. 11. + + Our camp is upon the creek last occupied by the Witchitas before + they left the mountains. The soil, in point of fertility, + surpasses anything we have before seen, and the vegetation in the + old corn-fields is so dense that it was with great difficulty I + could force my horse through it. It consisted of rank weeds + growing to the height of twelve feet. Soil of this character must + have produced an enormous yield of corn. The timber is + sufficiently abundant for all purposes of the agriculturist, and + of a superior quality. + + We have now reached the eastern extremity of the Witchita chain + of mountains, and shall to-morrow strike our course for Fort + Asbuekl. + + The more we have seen of the country about these mountains, the + more pleased we have been with it. Bounteous nature seems here to + have strewed her favors with a lavish hand, and to have held out + every inducement for civilized man to occupy it. The numerous + tributaries of Cache Creek, flowing from granite fountains, and + winding like net-work through the valleys, with the advantages of + good timber, soil and grass, the pure, elastic and delicious + climate, with a bracing atmosphere, all unite in presenting rare + inducements to the husbandman.--_Marcy's Red River Exploration_. + +This section of country is in latitude 34°, longitude 99°; the latitude +the same as the central part of South Carolina and the southern part of +Arkansas. + +We will now give statements from the _Texas Almanac_. + + The south winds are the source of comfort and positive luxury to + the inhabitants of Texas during the hot weather of summer. The + nearer the sea-coast, the cooler and more brisk the current; but + the entire area of prairie, and a large portion of the timbered + country, feel it as a pleasant, healthful breeze, rendering our + highest temperature tolerable.--_Prof. Forshey, of the Texas + Military Institute_. + + + TRINITY RIVER AND ITS VALLEY. + + So far as I have described the river, the climate is pleasant and + salubrious, and favorable for planting. The forests and + cane-brakes mitigate the cold of the northers in winter, and the + south breezes temper the heat of summer. Contrary to the usual + opinion, plantations, when once cleared of decaying timber, are + found to be remarkably healthy. In fact, there are no causes of + sickness. The river in summer is only a deep, sandy ravine, with a + clear and rapid stream of water running at its bottom, and in the + rear of the plantations, instead of swamps, are high rolling + cane-brakes. + + The paradox, that there is more good land on the Trinity than on + the Mississippi, is one which will be readily sustained by those + who are acquainted with the subject.--_Texas Almanac, 1861_. + + + TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS. + + The soil is exceedingly rich, from two to ten feet deep, and when + the seasons are favorable it produces from sixty to one hundred + bushels of corn, and from one and a half to two bales of cotton, + per acre. From twenty-five to thirty acres of corn, or twelve to + fifteen acres of cotton to the hand, are usually cultivated. + + Our country upon the whole is fertile and well watered, has timber + enough to supply its demands, and an everlasting amount of stone + for building; it has an eternal range of mesquit grass, on which + horses and cattle that never smell corn keep perfectly fat all + winter. The climate is delightful, the nights pleasant, a fine + south breeze in summer continually playing over the face of our + broad prairies, and the atmosphere so pure and invigorating, that + it is more conducive to good health to sleep out in the open air + than to sleep in-doors. There is something so attractive in this + section of country, that those who live here a short time are + seldom satisfied to live anywhere else. + + Our citizens are generally intelligent, enterprising, industrious, + religious, sober, and, _laying politics aside_, honest.--_Texas + Almanac_. + + + COMAL COUNTY. + + BY THE ASSESSOR. + + Mostly settled by Germans. In this county there are in cultivation + 600 acres in cotton, 15,000 acres in corn, 500 acres in wheat. The + acre yields 500 pounds of clean cotton, 40 bushels of corn, 20 + bushels of wheat. From 3,500 to 4,000 white inhabitants; 188 + slaves; 396 farms. Improved lands $30, unimproved $3 an acre. + _Most of the farms are cultivatd by white labor_; a white hand + cultivates thirty acres of corn. Peaches yield abundantly; apples + and quinces have been tried successfully. The wild grape, plum, + cherry, _mulberry_, and blackberry grow luxuriantly. Wine of good + quality has been made here. + + New Braunfels is the county seat. It has 2,000 inhabitants, and + boasts of having the only free school in the State, supported by + aid from the State school fund, and by direct taxation on the + property of the school district. Four teachers are employed, and + there are 250 pupils. + +The letters of my Texas friend give the following description of the +climate of Texas:-- + + The climate of Texas is very peculiar. This is owing to the body + of water to the eastward of it, and to the dry and elevated plain + of the Llano Estacado, and the lofty mountains which lie to the + westward. To these two causes are due the moisture and the cool + temperature, and at times and in certain localities the excessive + dryness of Texas. + + The Gulf stream, in its course along the coast of Florida and in + the Gulf of Mexico, has beneath it, running to the south, a cold + stream, nearly down to the freezing point. The great equatorial + current which strikes north of Cape St. Roque and through the + Caribbean Sea is suddenly narrowed between Cape San Antonio and + Cape Catoche; here the upper and warmer current, being condensed, + strikes deeper, and forces to the surface the cold water from the + under current, sometimes occasioning a roaring and very peculiar + noise. By this means the Gulf stream is divided, part turning to + the eastward around Cuba and between that island and Florida, and + part turning to the westward, north of the banks of Campeachy, and + striking Padre Island, an island upon the coast of Texas, about + one hundred and forty miles this current strikes, there are very + deep soundings, almost up with the land. South of this point, upon + the beach, are found mahogany and other tropical drift-wood, + brought there from the tropics; while north of it the drift wood + is oak, ash, and cotton-wood, brought from the north by a current + running counter to the Gulf stream, which I will hereafter + describe. From Padre Island the Gulf stream strikes off to the + north-east to the mouth of the Mississippi, thence around the + coast of Florida and through her keys, until it joins the other + branch. Inside the Gulf stream, along the coast of Texas, is the + counter-current before referred to, making down the coast at the + rate of two to three miles per hour, and bringing down the silt + and mud of the Mississippi, Sabine, etc. I have seen the water off + the Island of Galveston the color of chocolate, after a long + norther. + + Above the centre of Padre Island the coast of Texas deepens at the + rate of about a fathom to the mile, until at twenty fathoms there + is a coral reef, and on the easterly side of this reef the water + deepens, as by the side of a perpendicular wall, to a very great + depth. This reef marks the boundary of the Gulf stream, and also + the boundary of the terrible tornado. The tornado of the Gulf of + Mexico never passes this barrier, never strikes the land, nor has + it been known within memory of man upon the coast. + + It seems to confine itself to the course of the warm water of the + stream, and the great 'Father of the Waters' spreads his + counter-current down the coast of Texas, like a long flowing + garment, fending off the storm and the whirlwind, and thus still + better fitting Texas for the white man and the white man's labor. + + With this freedom from violent storms comes the delicious + southerly wind in the summer, which gives health and moisture to + the larger part of Texas. This wind varies in the point from which + it flows. From Sabine to Matagorda its course is from south-east + to south-south-east, growing more and more to the south as the + coast tends to the south, until at the Rio Grande it blows from + due south with perhaps a little westing in it. The course of this + wind will explain the three belts of Texas, the rainy, that of + less rain, and that of great drought. + + This wind from the south-east corner from across the ocean and + gulf (being a continuation of the south-east trades) laden with + moisture and of a delightful temperature, when it is met by the + cool air from the mountains, and condensed, giving the rains of + Eastern and Central Texas. The more southing they have in them, + the less moisture, until the extreme south-eastern portion of + Texas, or the country near the mouth of the Rio Grande, is one of + almost constant drought. There are thus three belts of moisture: + first, from the Sabine to the mouth of the Brazos, may be called + the belt of greatest rain,--from the Brazos to Lavaca or Victoria, + that of moderate rain,--and from Lavaca to the Rio Grande, the dry + belt. But even in the dry belt there is moisture enough to give + fine grasses, and make the country a fine one for grazing, and the + streams taking their rise in great springs, which probably have + their source in the melting snows of the Rocky Mountains, flowing + under the Llano Estacado and breaking out in great numbers in a + line almost north and south, never dry up, even in the dryest + seasons. + + In the winter months, Texas has winds from the north, which come + on very suddenly, and produce great variation in the temperature. + They are disagreeable, but wholesome, and clear the atmosphere. + They do not extend north of the Red River, nor very far west, but + increase in intensity as they go south. + + No country in the world can be healthier than Texas, and + consumption and pectoral complaints never originate in the area of + the northers. + + Eastern Texas is generally well wooded; Middle and Western Texas + have wood on the banks of the streams, and frequent spots of + timber on the prairies. + + Most of the country is covered with nutritious grass, affording + good pasture throughout the year, capable of supporting an endless + number of cattle and sheep, and almost all the soil is suited to + the growth of cotton. There are more than five thousand square + miles of bituminous coal in Texas, presenting seams five feet + thick, and hills of pure gypsum seven hundred feet high. These are + all covered by a generous sky and climate beneath which the white + man can live and work without fear of malaria or sickness, and + where he can enjoy all the blessings of the tropics without their + attendant disadvantages. + +It is this superb country which we trust General Lane and his forces may +soon redeem from the curse of slavery. + +The woolen manufacturer has an equal interest with the cotton-spinner in +demanding that this shall be done, for with this unequaled country for +the production of wool remaining under the curse of slavery, we import +annually nearly thirty million pounds of wool,--about one-third of our +whole consumption. With Texas free, and emigration from abroad--for a +long time reduced almost to nothing--freely encouraged, we should become +exporters of wool, not importers. + +But I am warned that I have exceeded the space allotted me. The absurd +assertion that the emancipated negro lapses into barbarism and will not +work, can only be met by the question, 'If he will not work except by +compulsion, why does he work extra after his compulsory labor is over?' +Evidence that he does so work can be presented _ad infinitum_, upon +Southern testimony; witness that De Bow's _Review_ makes only a _few_ +selections. + +The _peculium_ of Southern servants, even on the plantation, is +sometimes not trifling. We make a _few_ selections, showing-- + + THE NEGROES' CROP.--A friend has reported to us a sale, on + Tuesday, of a crop of cotton belonging to Elijah Cook, of Harris + Co., Ga., amounting to $1424 96-100.--_Columbus_ (Ga.) _Sun_, Dec. + 29, 1858. + + Mr. J.S. Byington informs us that he made two cotton purchases + lately. One was the cotton crop of the negroes of Dr. Lucas, of + this vicinity, for which he paid $1,800 in cash, every dollar of + which goes to the negroes.--_Montgomery (Ala.) Mail_, Jan. 21, + 1859. + + Speaking of negroes' crops, the sales of which our contemporaries + are chronicling in various amounts,--the largest which has come to + our knowledge is one made in Macon, for the negroes of Allen + McWalker. It amounted to $1969.65.--_Macon (Ga.) Telegraph_, Feb. + 3, 1859. + +Upon Louisiana sugar plantations, the exhausting work of the grinding +season can only be maintained by a system of premiums and rewards +equivalent to the payment of wages. Under that system the negroes of the +sugar plantations are among the most healthy and contented in the South; +while the same labor performed in Cuba, under the most severe +compulsion, causes an annual decrease of the slave population, and the +product of the island is only maintained by fresh importations of slaves +from Africa. + +With the following Southern testimony as to the intelligence of the +negro, I leave this subject:-- + + Without book learning the Southern slave will partake more and + more of the life-giving civilization of the master. As it is, his + intimate relations with the superior race, and the unsystematic + instruction he receives in the family, have placed him in point of + intelligence above a large portion of the white laborers of + Europe.--_Plantation Life, by Rev. Dr. McTeyire_. + +We claim emancipation for the white man; it can only be secured by the +freedom of the negro. The infinite justice of the Almighty demands both. + +If we now fail to accomplish it, to bear in the future the name of +'American Citizen' will be a badge of shame and dishonor. + + * * * * * + +GENERAL PATTERSON'S CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA. + + +It seldom happens that the history of any series of events can be +written soon after they have transpired. The idea of history implies +correctness, impartiality and completeness; and it is of rare occurrence +that all these requisites can be obtained in their fullness within a +brief period after the time of which the history is required. The +historians of this day write of the past; and the historian of our +present civil war is not yet born, who shall emulate the completeness +and conciseness of Irving's Columbus, or Prescott's Ferdinand and +Isabella, or Motley's Dutch Republic. Nor can we expect an early +solution to the 'Fremont question,' which shall be full and +satisfactory, though the length of time involved be but one hundred +days. But it is different with Gen. Patterson. It is true that his +loyalty is disputed, and in this question may be involved many +complicated issues; but the question of the general result of his three +months' campaign in Virginia admits but one answer;--it was a failure. +And it is an exception to the general rule that we can, within a few +months after his campaign closed, see and understand exactly why and how +he failed. + +It is not proposed in this article to discuss the loyalty of Gen. +Patterson, or to take sides with either those who claim for him a +patriot's laurels or those who would have him suffer a traitor's fate. +We shall ignore this question entirely, simply examining the acts of his +last campaign, with reference to his capability and efficiency, the +nature and effects of his policy, and the reasons of his failure. We +propose to try him in the same manner and by the same standard as we +would if his loyalty had never been questioned. + +The early morning of the 12th day of June, 1861, found the writer a +volunteer soldier of less than two months' experience in camp, just +arrived with his regiment, from the distant Badger State, at +Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, where it was to join Patterson's division +of the Federal army. For the next two months ensuing, the writer +possessed all the facilities attainable to a private in the ranks for +observing the progress of events in that division of the army, judging +as to the propriety or necessity of the various movements, and forming +opinions as to whether Patterson was using to the best advantage the +military means within his control. These facilities were not many, it is +true; but the public opinion of the North demanded certain actions from +the general, and the writer, though but a private, could judge as to +whether those demands of the loyal North were reasonable, and as to +whether Patterson could accomplish what was required, if he chose. He +was expected to _do something_; it did not matter in what particular +manner; but it was deemed essential that he should in some way hold +Johnston in check, and prevent his junction with the main rebel force at +Manassas. And this was precisely what Patterson did not do. Bull Run was +fought and lost, and the very result attained which Patterson was +expected to prevent. Could it have been prevented? + +It is fashionable in these days to set up the cry of inefficiency when a +general does not do everything that public opinion requires. The +Americans are proverbially a fault-finding people; and it will of course +be as easy to make out an _ex parte_ case against Gen. Patterson as +against our other generals. We propose, nevertheless, at the risk of +being unfashionable, to discuss candidly these expectations of the +American people which were not realized, together with the actual doings +of the unsuccessful general. We deem it susceptible of logical proof +that Patterson might and should have prevented Johnston's junction with +Beauregard. + +Tents pitched, and the dust of travel from a journey of a thousand miles +washed off, the 'boys' of the 1st Wisconsin regiment stretched their +weary limbs on the fragrant clover of Pennsylvania, and, like American +soldiers everywhere, discussed with earnestness and warmth the causes, +progress, and prospects of the war. Our own position was not a little +interesting. The strength of Patterson's division was not precisely +known, but troops were arriving daily, and it was supposed to consist of +about twenty thousand men. As was well understood, it was intended to +menace Harper's Ferry, a strong natural, military and strategic +position, then held by the rebels. A severe struggle was anticipated if +the Ferry were attacked, and many were the pictures drawn of bloody +scenes and terrible carnage. But the writer, doubting the assumed +strength of the rebels at that point, freely expressed the opinion that +there would be no fight there, but that the rebels would evacuate the +post. And before his regiment left Chambersburg, this prediction was +verified. The rebels, alarmed at the prospect which loomed up before +them of a strong column of Federal troops, burned the Armory and +Arsenal, and fled. And here we may find a key to the whole of the rebel +manoeuvring--they were weak, and unable to cope with Patterson, _and +they knew it_. Upon no other hypothesis can we account for their +evacuating so strong and so important a point as Harper's Ferry. + +Up to this time it had been a foregone conclusion with the army, as well +as with the American people, that Patterson was to occupy Harper's +Ferry. No other course of action was for a moment thought of. Even so +late as the 30th of June, when the different brigades were called +together, preparatory to crossing the Potomac, very many were sanguine +that Harper's Ferry was to be made the base of operations, and did not +give up that opinion till they found themselves _en route_ for +Williamsport. But the strong strategic position was neglected for more +than a month; and finally, on the very day when Johnston poured his +fresh legions upon the bloody field of Bull Run, and forced the Federals +to fall back, Patterson, with his back to the foe, entered Harper's +Ferry, with his three months' men, whose term of enlistment was +expiring, by the very road by which Johnston had left it in June. + +This neglect of Patterson to occupy the strongest point in his field of +operations puts the stamp of imbecility upon him at the commencement of +his campaign. The rebels expected him to occupy that point, as, even so +late as the time of his crossing the Potomac, the force which disputed +his onward march into the valley of Virginia was not so great as that +held at Charleston to dispute his march from Harper's Ferry in case he +entered the valley there. Patterson himself confessed his mistake, by +retiring to the Ferry in July, for the avowed reason that his three +months' men must soon go home, and he must be in such a position as not +to tempt an attack from the rebels while his column was thus weakened +and disorganized, and before he could be reinforced by three years' men. +Why did not this necessity, and the propriety of holding Harper's Ferry +as a base of operations for this reason alone, if for no other, occur to +the cautious general before, as it did to so many of less military +experience than himself? Patterson, at the last day, thus confesses his +error. It was the first great mistake of his campaign. The second was +one of a different nature. + +On the 2d day of July, the army crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, by +means of the ford. The crossing was commenced at daylight, and consumed +the whole of the day. Just before daylight, a little passage at arms +occurred on the Virginia side of the stream, the companies who had been +thrown over the night before as pickets having been fired on by a +detachment of the 'Berkeley Border Guard,' and returning the fire +promptly. But this served only to stimulate the already keen energies of +the Federal forces, who waded knee-deep through the clear Potomac, and +trudged along over the 'sacred soil' with a willingness unchecked by the +cold nor'wester that raged on that July morning. That portion of +Berkeley County, Virginia, which lies opposite to Willlamsport, is +called 'the Neck,' being in the shape of a horse-shoe, and nearly +surrounded by the detour of the Potomac. The turnpike leading from +Williamsport to Martinsburg and Winchester traverses the whole length of +'the Neck;' and it was on this road that the advance guard of the +division, Abercrombie's Brigade, took its line of march, a brush with +the rebels being momentarily expected. The first view of their pickets, +after leaving Williamsport, was obtained at Falling Waters, by which +sonorous appellation the Virginians designate a small and pretty +mill-pond, which loses itself over the dam of a solitary grist-mill, +within a stone's throw of the Potomac. Here was a strong natural +position, and an excellent place for waging a defensive war, if the +rebels had been so disposed. But they did not make a stand till a point +was reached a mile south from Falling Waters, and about five miles from +Williamsport, where their skirmishers opened fire at 9.15, A.M. The +skirmish which ensued, and which has since been styled the Battle of +Falling Waters, was sustained on the part of the Federals by +Abercrombie's Brigade, consisting of the 1st Wisconsin and the 11th +Pennsylvania regiments, McMullen's Philadelphia company of Independent +Rangers, the Philadelphia City Troop of cavalry, and Perkins' Field +Battery of six guns. This force speedily dislodged a superior force of +the enemy, and pursued them for two miles, as far as the hamlet of +Hainesville, where orders from Gen. Patterson to cease the pursuit +allowed the rear-guard of the rebels to elude their grasp. The contest +and the chase lasted but two hours, and at noon the advance guard +encamped at Hainesville. The remainder of the day was consumed by the +army in selecting grounds and pitching tents; and by night, Gen. +Patterson, with twenty thousand men, had succeeded in marching seven +miles, routing Col. Jackson's rebel brigade, and occupying Camp Jackson, +distant about two and one-half miles from the Maryland shore of the +Potomac. On Tuesday, the 3d of July, the indomitable general advanced +five and one-half miles farther, to Martinsburg, the county seat of +Berkeley County, and occupied the town with his whole force, without +firing a gun; the rebel rear-guard leaving Martinsburg for the south as +the Federal advance entered it from the north. + +It would seem that at such a moment a skillful general would take +advantage of such a little success, and follow it up, especially when he +had spent as much time in preparation as had Patterson, by a series of +crushing blows, if anything could be found to crush. And in view of the +facts that Gen. Johnston had thus far made almost no opposition to the +advance of the Unionists, and that Patterson's soldiers were without +exception eager and anxious to push on, the policy of holding back seems +almost unaccountable. But Patterson tarried at Martinsburg for nearly +two weeks, and telegraphed for more troops; and on the 15th of July, +when he commenced his forward march toward Winchester, he suddenly +discovered that Johnston had so fortified that place that it would be +unsafe to attack it! It may be that he could get no accurate information +as to the strength of the rebel force, and that he supposed them to be +superior to himself. Still, there were many signs which a capable +general could have read plainly. It was well known that there were in +Johnston's advance force no really good troops, except the 'Berkeley +Border Guard,' a company of cavalry, composed of citizens of Berkeley +County, who, from their complete and minute knowledge of the country, +their skill in the saddle, and their zeal in the rebel cause, were as +formidable, though not so notorious, as the Black Horse Cavalry of +Fairfax and Prince William. The rout of the rebels at Hainesville, or +Falling Waters, partook of the nature of a panic, as was evidenced by +the profuse scattering of knapsacks, clothing, canteens and provisions +along the 'pike.' Indeed, the conduct of the Virginia militia scarcely +sustained the loud professions of desire to 'fight and die in defending +the sacred soil of Virginia from the invader,' as announced by the +letters and papers found in their knapsacks. And the whole course of +these events convinced the private soldiers, if not the commanding +general, that Johnston's highest ambition at that time was to gain time. +Did he not know as well as any one that the time of enlistment of many +of Patterson's men had nearly expired? And what more natural than for +him to keep the latter at bay till such a time as the withdrawal of very +many of his best troops would force him to retire? There were many true +Unionists, too, in the ranks of the rebels, who would have been glad of +opportunities to escape; this was well known. It seems impossible to +resist the conclusion that Patterson should have acceded to the +unanimous wish of his rank and file, and followed up his success at +Hainesville, by occupying Martinsburg on the 2d, advancing to 'Bunker +Hill' on the 3d, and dispersing the small rebel force known to be there, +and celebrating the 4th of July by marching on Winchester, and attacking +and reducing that post, as it seems he might easily have done at that +time. This would of course prevent the apprehended junction of Johnston +with Beauregard. The history of the war in the Old Dominion would then +have been differently written; Bull Run and its panic would not be a +stain upon our national honor, and--but who can not read the rest? It is +true, Patterson should bear none of the blame of the Bull Run disaster, +if he could have done nothing to avoid it; but we have shown that he +could have done what was necessary, and that there were reasons existing +at the time for taking such a course, of which he should have been +cognizant. + +The army left Martinsburg for the south, as we have seen, on Monday, +July 15th. The whole division, with trifling exceptions, moved forward, +and advanced on that day as far as 'Bunker Hill,' ten miles from +Martinsburg. An insignificant rebel force fell back as Patterson +advanced, and at 'Bunker Hill' the army encamped around the smoking +brands of the rebel camp-fires, just deserted. Here was a small +post-town called Mill Creek; and near by, the high ridge called 'Bunker +Hill' formed another fine natural position for defence; but the rebels +were not disposed to defend it. Patterson lay here two days, within +twelve miles of the rebel strong-hold at Winchester, the pickets of the +two armies watching each other by night and day. On the 17th the Federal +army was astir before daylight, and an advance to the south was +commenced. But before the rear-guard filed down from 'Bunker Hill' to +the turnpike, a counter-march was ordered; and the whole division +proceeded twelve miles to the east, leaving Winchester on their flank, +and occupying Charlestown, in Jefferson County. What could have pleased +Johnston better? What wonder that he should take the opportunity, as +soon as satisfied that this flank movement was not intended to operate +against him, to leave his fortifications at Winchester in charge of a +small force, and rush to reinforce Beauregard? And is it not more than +remarkable that Patterson, after occupying Charlestown for four days, +should fall back to Harper's Ferry on the very day when his foe had +effected his _ruse de guerre_, and was actually turning the tide of +battle at Bull Run? + +There is nothing in all this to change the opinion, previously formed, +that Patterson should have pushed on to Winchester early in July. The +whole of Johnston's manoeuvering seems to have been calculated merely to +deceive Patterson, and to gain time. And so clever was he in his +strategy, that, when his march to Manassas commenced, Patterson, +learning either of the main movement or of a feint towards himself, +aroused his army at midnight, and held them in readiness to fight, in +apprehension of instant attack. As early as the middle of June, when +Patterson threw a brigade over the Potomac at Williamsport, on a +reconnoitering expedition, Johnston heard of the movement, and advanced +a small force to engage and delay the Federals, which fell back as soon +as the latter retired, as has since been learned from escaped prisoners +and deserters. Indeed, the whole of Patterson's campaign shows far +superior generalship on the part of his adversary. + +Scarcely had the cautious general occupied from necessity that point +whose strength and natural facilities he had previously despised, when +the term of his appointment as general of the division expired, and the +government allowed him to retire to private life. His successor's first +act was to retire across the Potomac and occupy the Maryland Heights, +opposite to Harper's Ferry, leaving not a foot of rebel soil to be held +by our army as an evidence of the 'something' which had been expected of +the venerable commander of the army of the Shenandoah. He had spent +three months of time, and ten millions of money, and had only emulated +the acts of that Gallic sovereign whose great deeds are immortalized in +the brief couplet, + + 'The king of France, with twice ten thousand men, + Marched up the hill, and then--marched down again.' + +He had done more. He had committed another grave error, which has +received but little public attention, but which told with disastrous +effect upon the Union cause in Northern Virginia. That section of the +State, as is well known, contained many true Union men. Previous to +Patterson's entry into Virginia, they had been proscribed and severely +treated by the secessionists. Many had been impressed by the rebel +troops; the 'Berkeley Border Guard' had dragged many a peaceable +Unionist from his bed at night to serve in the ranks of Johnston's army. +But many others had been able to keep their true sentiments wholly to +themselves, and had feigned sympathy with secession; while many more had +fled from their homes across the Potomac, and sought refuge in loyal +Maryland, where they hung around the Federal camps, vainly urging an +early advance, that they might go home and take care of their families +and their crops. Thus was Berkeley County completely shackled, and a +reign of terror fully established. And on that bright morning of the 2d +of July, as the Federal army marched over the 'sacred soil,' the cleanly +cut grain fields, with their deserted houses, told plainly of +secessionist owners, who could stay at home and cut their grain while +the rebels were in force, but who fled before the advance of Union +troops, and deserted their homes; while the fields of standing grain, +with the golden kernels ripe and almost rotting on the stalks, and the +cheerless-looking houses, tenanted only by women and children, told as +plainly of the poor Unionists, driven from home and family by the +'Border Guard' who so bravely 'defended the sacred soil.' With the +advance of the Union army came back hundreds of Union refugees from +Maryland; poor, half-starved men crept out to the roadside from their +hiding-places, and told the Union troops that they now first saw +daylight for several weeks; and the lonely yet brave women displayed +from their hovels the Union flags, the true 'Red, White, and Blue,' +which their loyalty had kept for months concealed. And as the army +tarried at Martinsburg, and reinforcements came in, the secret Unionists +avowed their real sentiments; the Union flag was displayed from many a +dwelling; and the fair hands of Martinsburg women stitched beautiful +banners, which, with words of eloquent loyalty, were presented to the +favorite Union regiments, and even now are cherished in Northern homes, +or in Union encampments, as mementos of the gratitude of Berkeley County +for its deliverance from the reign of terror. Yet how was the confidence +repaid which these loyal people thus reposed in Gen. Patterson? In less +than three weeks, not a Union soldier was left in Martinsburg, and +before the first of August they were withdrawn wholly from Berkeley and +Jefferson Counties. And the poor refugees who had returned to their +homes in good faith, and the loyalists who in equal good faith had +spoken out their true patriotism and their love of the Union, were left +to the tender mercies of the 'Berkeley Border Guard,' and such braves as +the Texan Rangers, the Mississippi Bowie-knives, and the Louisiana Tiger +Zouaves. Gray-headed men like Pendleton and Strother were dragged from +their homes to languish for weeks in Richmond jails, and the old reign +of terror was reėstablished with renewed virulence. Shall we ask these +poor, deceived Unionists of Northern Virginia what they think of Gen. +Patterson, and of the success of his campaign? How can we estimate the +injury to the cause of the Union inflicted in this way alone by a +grossly inefficient Federal general? + +There were other reasons than those already enumerated why Patterson +should have occupied Harper's Ferry at an early day, and these were +reasons of economy, which commended themselves to the judgment of almost +every one except the commanding general. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad +is the natural and only good thoroughfare along the valley of the upper +Potomac. Harper's Ferry, confessedly the strongest and best military +point in Northern Virginia, and the one best fitted for a base of +offensive operations, is on this railroad, and, of course, of easy +access from Baltimore and Washington. In June last the road was open +from Baltimore to the Point of Rocks, between which last place and the +Ferry were some rebel obstructions easy to be removed. Had Gen. +Patterson occupied Harper's Ferry in June, and opened the railroad to +that point, and from thence carried on the campaign like a brave +general, worthy to command the brave men who filled the ranks of his +army, the government might by this time have made the whole line of the +Baltimore and Ohio Railroad of use, as a means of transporting troops +and munitions between Cincinnati and Baltimore,--a desideratum then, as +now, very strongly urged, as the shortest route between those points is +the circuitous one _via_ Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. It could have been +of great use, too, to Patterson's division of the army, in transporting +supplies from Baltimore, by the most natural and expeditious route. But +it was his plan to enter Virginia at Williamsport, so that all supplies +for his division must go from Baltimore and Philadelphia to Harrisburg, +and thence by rail to Hagerstown, where they were loaded upon army +wagons, and transported thus to and across the Potomac, and for fifteen +or twenty miles into Virginia, to the Federal camps, at very great +outlay and expense. So earnest did Gen. Patterson seem to be, either in +doing nothing, or else in causing all the expenditure possible. + +These are the arguments which address themselves to our reason, as +bearing on the question of Patterson's success or failure, and as +explanatory of the latter. As before stated, they are urged, not to show +that Patterson should have possessed prophetic knowledge or any +extraordinary powers, but to illustrate his failure to understand what +was transpiring before his face and eyes. He is culpable, not because he +did not achieve impossibilities, but because he did not do what plain +common-sense seemed to require. The writer heard, among the Federal +camps, but one reason suggested for Patterson's neglect to occupy +Harper's Ferry in June, which was, that probably the rebels had +concealed sundry infernal machines in its vicinity, which would destroy +thousands of the Union soldiers at the proper time. This was building a +great military policy on a very small basis. If there was running +through Gen. Patterson's policy any such plan of military strategy, or, +in fact, any plan whatever, we have the curious spectacle presented of a +general of an army ignoring common-sense, and building up a plan of a +great campaign solely upon improbabilities. And it strikes us that this +may be the key to the general's system of warfare, and a very plain and +lucid explanation of his failure. + +It is not deemed desirable here to treat of Patterson's other faults, +such as his indulgent treatment of rebel spies, his failure to +confiscate rebel property, and his distinguishing between the property +of rebels and loyalists, by placing strong guards over the former, and +neglecting to take equal care of the latter. Such acts only prove him to +be either more nice than wise, or less nice than foolish; unless we +argue him to be, as many do, a secret secessionist. But we leave it to +others to draw inferences as to his loyalty or disloyalty. Our task is +accomplished if we have shown that whether loyal or false, whether a +patriot or a traitor, his three months' campaign in Virginia proves him +unfit to be a commander, by revealing three great faults, each injuring +the cause he professed to aid, all combining to render his campaign a +failure, and two of the three assisting directly in our disaster at Bull +Run, and deepening that dark stain upon our national escutcheon. His +neglect to occupy Harper's Ferry in June, his failure to push on against +Johnston when there was an opportunity to injure him, and his cool +betrayal of the Unionists of Northern Virginia into the clutches of the +rebel Thugs, will place the name of Patterson by the side of the names +of Lee, Hull, Winder, and Buchanan, who, though not the open enemies of +their country, were its false and inefficient friends. + + * * * * * + +THE GAME OF FATE. + + + Ever above this earthly ball, + There sit two forms, unseen by all, + Playing, with fearful earnestness, + Through life and death, a game of chess. + + Feather of pride and wolfish eye, + Judas-bearded, glancing sly; + Many a pawn you have gathered in, + Through circling ages of shame and sin! + + Fair as an angel, tender and true, + Is he who measures his might with you; + Oft he has lost, in times long gone, + But ever the terrible game goes on. + + But where are the chessmen to be found?-- + Where the picket paces his dangerous round; + Where the general sits, with chart and map; + Where the scout is scrawling his hurried scrap. + + Where the Cabinet weigh the chances dread; + Where the soldier sleeps with the stars o'erhead; + Where rifles are ringing the peal of death, + And the dying hero yields his breath. + + Where the mother and sister in silence sit, + And far into midnight sew and knit, + And pray for the soldier-brother or son,-- + God's blessing on all that the four have done! + + Where the traitors plot, in foul debate, + To war with God and strive with fate; + Digging pitfalls to catch them slaves,-- + Pitfalls, to serve for their own deep graves. + + Where the Bishop-General proves that the rod + Which lashes women is blest of God. + There's a rod to come, ere the red leaves fall, + Which will swallow your rattlesnake, scales and all. + + Where the wretched Northern renegade + On a Southern journal plies his trade, + Swearing and writing, with scowl or smile, + That all that is Yankee is low and vile. + + Where the cowardly dough-face talks of war + But fears we are going a little too far;-- + Hoping the North may win the fight, + But thinking the South is 'partially right.' + + Where the trembling, panting contraband + Makes tracks in haste from the happy land; + And where the officer-gentlemen + Catch him and order him home again! + + Where the sutler acts like an arrant scamp, + And aids the contractor to rob the camp; + Both of them serving the South in its sin, + And all of them helping the devil to win. + + So the game goes on from day to day, + But there's ONE behind all who watches the play; + Well he knows who at last must beat, + And well he will reckon up every cheat. + + Wolfish dark player, do your best! + There's a reckoning for you as well as the rest; + Eastward or westward your glance may wend, + But the devil always trips up in the end. + + * * * * * + +JONATHAN EDWARDS AND THE OLD CLERGY. + + +Of late years the attention of many thinking men has been much turned to +the early clergy of America. One reads of St. Peter's Church that, +notwithstanding its immense size above ground, it has an equal amount of +masonry under ground. Of the iceberg even more can be said, since its +submerged proportions are of vastly greater extent than its visible +surface. One may well inquire how much of American greatness is hidden +in its foundation. How massive indeed must be the hidden corner-stone on +which rests the structure of national character. New England is now +turning its attention to the histories of ancient families; genealogy is +no small feature in modern literature, and thus the age seems to confess +that such research is a token of advance. + +I believe that the strength of our ancestors was owing to their pure and +simple piety; indeed, one can not go back even for a century without +meeting this element in clear developement. The old New England +preachers were of a character peculiarly adapted to the severe +exigencies of their day. They stood as iron men in an iron age. However +rude in other social features, the early settlers, as they worked their +way to the frontier, demanded the soothing influences of pastoral care, +and the first institution reared in the forest was the pulpit, the next +the school-house. The pastors were settled for life, and minister and +people abode in communion, with little change but that of age. In +seeking a field, the youth just launched into his profession +'candidated' among vacant churches, and was heard with solemn attention +by the selectmen and bench of deacons. Notes were taken by the more +fastidious for subsequent criticism, and the matter was discussed with +all the importance of a national treaty. When the call had been +accepted, the stipend was generally fixed at one hundred pounds, and a +rude parsonage opened its doors of welcome. To this was almost +invariably attached a farm, whose native sterility called for such +expenditure of toil that it might truly have been said, + + 'The furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke.' + +These men indeed united mental and physical labor in a remarkable +degree. The long winters were devoted to study, to sermons, or to +meetings,--the summer to the plow and the harvest. One instance is on +record in which the entire stock of a year's sermons were written +between December and April. But, notwithstanding the inevitable drudgery +of such a life, the ministry was, upon the whole, noted for study. The +course held at Harvard required close application, and even at the +chapel exercises the Scriptures were daily read in the original +languages. These labors and studies are recorded in that quaintest of +all American books, Mather's Magnalia. Whatever be the pedantry and +vanity of its author, he is undeniably worthy of rank among the men whom +he chronicled. Indeed, the Mathers, father and son, illustrated a race +of rare moral and intellectual power. The first of these, who enjoyed +the profitable name of 'Increase,' was equally popular and successful as +president of Harvard or pastor of the church of Cambridge, and the son +takes little pains to conceal his filial pride as he blazons the virtues +of 'Crescentius Madderus.' He is particular in recording him as the +first American divine who received the honorary title D.D. As one looks +back upon the primitive days of the nascent university, he is struck by +the contrast between the present numerous and stately array of halls, +the magnificent library, and all the pomp of a modern commencement, and +the slender procession of rudely clad youth led by Increase Mather. As +they marched out of the old shaky college and filed into the antique +meeting-house, what would they have said to a glimpse of Gore Hall and +its surroundings? But those were the beginnings of greatness, simple as +they were. + +The pages of the Magnalia are filled with portraits hit off in a +masterly style. Mather was a true 'Porte Crayon,' and knew how to bring +out salient points with a few happy touches. His picture-gallery is like +an ancient Valhalla, full of demigods. Among their characteristics are +strong contrasts. Here are piety and poverty and learning, hand in hand. +These men, as we have stated, could swing the axe, or chop logic, at a +moment's notice; could pull vegetables, or dig out Hebrew roots, with +alternate ease. Notwithstanding their long days of labor, their minds +kept their edge, being freshly set by incessant doctrinal disputations. +Such, indeed, was the public appetite for controversy that polemic +warfare never slumbered. Our view of their character is assisted by a +contrast with the English clergy of the same day, and which reveals +shameful deformities on the part of the latter--avarice, indolence, and +gluttony. Of such, Milton spake in Lycidas, with withering contempt, as +those who + + 'for their bellies' sake + Creep, and intrude, and climb into the fold.' + +If the Puritan poet be charged with prejudice, we have only to turn to +the pages of Macaulay for confirmation. Where, indeed, if this be true, +did Fielding obtain the originals for the ordinary at Newgate, or +'parson Trulliber' in Joseph Andrews? + +Sad and strange was that disappointment which awaited the first +emigrants to Massachusetts Bay. But there was a divine mercy in it; they +came to seek peace, but a sword awaited them. I refer to the famous Anne +Wheelright controversy, which rent the infant settlement of Boston for +more than ten years. The excitement extended through the entire colony, +affording many a bitter and vindictive argument. The pulpit belabored it +in sermons of two hours' length, after which the deacons in their +official seats occasionally expatiated to audiences whose patience on +this theme was inexhaustible. As the controversy waxed hot, it got into +the hands of the civil authorities, and some of its disputants were +thrust into jail as heretical. Anna Wheelright was a woman of great +mental vigor, and could hold her own in a debate with her reverend +disputants. Unfortunate as this controversy may appear, it proved a +benefit, by sharpening the public mind to a prodigious degree. Indeed, +the very children of Boston could define the terms of the covenant of +grace. Weary of a controversy bordering on persecution, Anne Wheelright +sought a new home in the wilderness, and was subsequently murdered by +the Indians. But the force of mental exercise which she had put in +motion still continued. It is worthy of remark that almost the only +intellectual peculiarity to which Franklin refers, in speaking of his +father, is 'a turn for polemics.' The great features of New England +character were, at that day, opinion and faith. It was these, as boldly +and defiantly expressed, which excited the fears and jealousy of Charles +the Second, and instigated the deprival of the colonial charters. + +The studious and prayerful habits of the clergy continued from +generation to generation, and their piety was most tender and touching +in their ministrations. We might dwell, had we time, on the Cottons, the +Mitchells, and the Sheppards, but, revered above all others, comes +before us the venerable form of John Elliott, the missionary, clad in +homespun apparel, his face shining with inward peace, while his silver +locks overhang his shoulders. He was the Nestor of divines, and the +character of his labors might be judged from his motto--' Prayers and +pains with faith in Christ Jesus can accomplish anything.' His efforts +and successes amongst the Indians were remarkable, and it was commonly +reported that he possessed the gift of prophecy. But he was not the only +man of that day who dwelt so close to the confines of the spiritual +world as to be alternately visited by angels and devils. Indeed, what +tales of the supernatural Mather relates, what a juxtaposition of saints +and demons! Of course, there was a foundation to build upon,--had not +Mather himself in his family for more than a year a possessed girl, +whose familiar haunted the house and made it ring at times like a +bedlam? It was a peculiar characteristic in this chapter of _diablerie_, +that when the Scriptures were being read, or prayers attended, the +spasms became terrific; but when any ungodly book was substituted in +place of the Bible, there was an immediate relief. + +The age was one of wonders, and Mather devotes an entire book to what he +calls Thaumaturgia. Many of its statements are bold impositions on the +reader's credulity; but there was much which, in those days of +ignorance, must have seemed to Mather to be undeniable phenomena of a +mysterious nature. After the colony had escaped many minor dangers, a +new ordeal of suffering awaited it in a faith in sorcery, resulting in +the horrible episode of Salem witchcraft, which may be considered the +darkest stain upon the age. The death-beds and parting scenes in such a +community were cherished features in domestic history, and almost every +cottage could boast its Euthanasy. Ministering angels not only hovered +over the couch, but touched their harps in melodies, whose music +sometimes reached the human ear. Youth tender and inexperienced claimed +a share in these triumphs, and Nathanael Mather, though but seventeen, +expires in all the maturity of a saintly old age. + +Coming down to the survivors of the first emigration, we find them +lingering amid the respect and veneration of the community, and their +graves were deemed worthy of patriarchal honor. After their departure +the ministry seems to have lost tone and fervor. The union of church and +state swept them into secularities, and thus impaired their strength. So +great was the decline, that by the close of the first century, formality +chilled the churches, and the people bewailed their coldness, while the +aged wept at the remembrance of by-gone days. Cotton Mather had +prophesied of a coming time when churches would have to be gathered _out +of the churches_ in the colony. The cry of the saints was 'Return, how +long, O Lord, and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.' Some of +the more hopeful maintained that the midnight only heralded an +approaching dawn. Two ministers on Long Island, Barber and Davenport, +had received divine assurance of a return of power, and held themselves +in anxious waiting. At last, brilliant flashes began to play athwart the +sky, and instead of the meteoric glare which some feared, it indicated +the purer sunbeam, in whose genial power the church was to rejoice for +more than a third of a century. Whitefield's advent sent a thrill +through all New England. He sailed from Charleston to Newport, where +venerable parson Clapp, tottering with age, welcomed him as though he +had been an angel of God. Whitefield's power was comparable to the +supernatural, and it was in this view John Foster, at a later day, found +the only solution of his success. In the pulpit his appearance and +manners exceeded the dreams of apostolic grace--a youth of elegant form, +with voice of enchanting melody, clear blue eyes, an endurance which +knew no exhaustion--a fancy which ranged both worlds--were all fused by +a burning zeal for the salvation of souls. Such was Whitefield at +twenty-five, and as such he was worthy of that ovation which he received +at Boston, when governor and council went out in form to welcome him. +The evangelist bore his honors meekly, and hospitality did not weaken +the vials of wrath which he poured upon the unfaithful. He found, as he +said, in New England 'a darkness which might be felt.' At Cambridge, he +thundered at the deadness of Harvard and its faculty, and electrified +the land by striking at its glory. The hearers alternately wept and +shivered, and the professors, headed by old Dr. Holyoke (who afterwards +lived to celebrate his hundredth birthday), levelled a defensive and +aggressive pamphlet at their castigator; but Governor Belcher kissed the +dauntless preacher, and bade him 'cry aloud and spare not, but show the +people their sins.' + +The second century, like the first, opened with fierce ecclesiastical +tumult. Whitefield's itineracy, like the blazing cross in the Lady of +the Lake, was the signal for an uprising. Fired by his passionate +oratory, the masses revolted from the chill formalism of a dead +ministry. The effect of the excitement which pervaded New England, when +considered merely as an appetizer of the intellect, can not be +over-estimated, and the vigor which the colonial mind thus acquired +astonished in an after day the dullards of the British Parliament. The +chief throb was felt in Connecticut, where strolling preachers of a new +order held forth in barns and school-houses. Among these imitators of +Whitefield were some men of high character, such as Tennant and Finley +(afterwards president of Nassau Hall, Princeton), while others were +frenzied enthusiasts. Davenport, the chief of these, was 'a +heavenly-minded youth,' whose usefulness was wrecked by fanaticism. In +his journey he was attended by one whom he called his armor-bearer, and +their entrance into each village was signaled by a loud hymn sung by the +excited pair. The very tone in which Davenport preached has been +perpetuated by his admirers; it was a nasal twang, which had great +effect. A law was passed against those irregularities, and Davenport was +thrown into Hartford jail, where he sang hymns all night, to the great +admiration of his friends. On being released he went to Lyme, where, +after sermon, a bonfire of idols was made, to which the women +contributed their ornaments and fine dresses, and the men their vain +books. This religious movement was marred by much evil; yet its fruits, +as we have stated, were found in that mental strength which subsequently +bore the brunt of the Revolution. Its excited scenes are hit off by such +reports as these,--'Sally Sparhawk fell and was carried out of meeting;' +this statement being frequently repeated. The style of preaching in +vogue may be imagined when we read of Tennant's appearance in the +pulpit, with long locks flowing down his back, his gaunt form encased in +a coarse garment, girt about the loins with a leathern girdle, in +imitation of the prophet Elijah. His discourses were 'awful and solemn,' +and the houses were crowded, though the cold was so intense as to sheet +Long Island Sound with ice. Other memorials of this great awakening are +found in Edwards' thrilling sermons, such as 'Sinners in the hands of an +angry God,' 'Wicked men only useful in their destruction,' etc. For +years after, the grand idea of New England was piety and good morals, +and as there were no journals, except here and there a dwarfed weekly, +the power of the pulpit was unrivaled. Religion was a common theme in +every house. As a result, it is stated that during the whole Revolution, +there was but one case of wilful murder in Massachusetts, and Dwight +informs us that up to his day there had never been a lawsuit in +Northampton, nor a loss by fire in which the damage was not mutually +shared by the citizens. He also adds that on a given Sabbath five-sixths +of the community were found in meeting. The minister in each town was +supported by tax, and being in some sense a public officer, the ceremony +of ordination was sometimes celebrated with procession and band of +music. + +Jonathan Edwards, the great light of New England, at this time could +have been found in a quiet village on the Connecticut, whence his fame +had already spread to the mother country. How Northampton gloried in her +matchless preacher! For sixty years his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, +had labored there. Let us linger a moment over those scenes which, +though fled like a dream, once witnessed the joys and sorrows of a +lifetime. Here in this retired street stands the weather-stained +parsonage, graced by a pair of saplings, planted by his own hands, to +which Northampton points as 'the Edwards elms,' and which now fling +giant shadows across the lawn. This dwelling, though scant of +furniture, is passing rich in its domestic treasures. Here is a wife of +lustrous beauty, sweet of disposition, fervent of spirit, and 'mighty in +prayer.' She is a matchless judge of sermons, wise in human nature, and +being wiser still in grace, must long rank as a model of the ministerial +wife. Here, too, is her group of daughters, well worthy of such +parentage, Esther, Sarah, Mary, and Jerusha, all beautiful and artless +as herself. Here a world of daily interest is found in the studies and +duties of a New England home. But who is he, of tall and attenuated +form, whose days are passed in his solitary study, secluded like a +hermit from the common experience of life? Like Moses, he is slow of +speech, and might be considered almost severe of countenance. The +lineaments tell their story of childlike simplicity of character, and +yet they are inspired by an expression of power, which at first seems +repellant. Those large black eyes seem to pierce and read on every +thought. I have referred to this family in a previous article,[D] but +would now speak at more length of its paternal head. This man has but +two pursuits, study and prayer. Of the outer world he has ever remained +in blissful ignorance, and even of his own parish he only knows what he +has learned of his wife. He has no 'turn' for visiting, and can not +afford time for vain talk. The secret of this is, that he breathes an +atmosphere of his own; his soul is like a star, and dwells apart. Behold +him seated at his table, jotting down casual thoughts on the backs of +letters and scraps of paper (for paper is very dear); he is building up +some great argument, whose vast proportions will in due time be +developed, like the uncovering of a colossus. Beware, Mr. Solomon +Williams of Hatfield, and you, Chubb and Tyndal, and John Taylor of +Norwich, for you will each and all of you find your master in this +secluded parson. Thirteen hours per day are given to study, and this has +been the average for years. + +And _such_ study to create realities out of the fogs of metaphysics, and +to span the concrete and the abstract with a bridge such as Milton threw +across space. This man can spend hours in pursuit of 'volitions' with +all the excitement of the chamois-hunt. Now his eye brightens, for he +has transfixed an idea, and holds it up in all the nicety of artistic +touch, while he dissects it to its ramifications. It is all _con amore_ +with him, though his readers will need a clue to the maze of intricate +reasoning. + +One can not pass through the streets of Northampton, so broad, so rural, +and so picturesque, without being overshadowed by that memory, which may +be expressed in the sweet lines of Longfellow,-- + + 'Here in patience and in sorrow, laboring still with busy hand, + Like an emigrant he wandered, seeking for the better land.' + +It is gratifying to know that his memory is honored in Northampton by +the naming of a church, though all may not understand the connection. +The old 'meeting-house' (for the Puritans used the word church only in a +spiritual sense) stood fronting the site of the present enormous +edifice. It was torn down in 1812. Here for nearly a quarter of a +century the tall form, and face pale and meagre from intense thinking, +appeared each Sabbath before a people among whom his recluse habits +rendered him almost a stranger. Here, having rested upon the desk, upon +the elbow of his left arm, whose hand held a tiny book of closely +written MS., he read with stooping form and low tones those solemn +arguments and tremendous appeals which now thrill us from the printed +page. Each of those tiny books was a sermon. Many of these are still +preserved, and Dr. Tryon Edwards, of New London, has a chest filled with +these memorials of his great ancestor. They are written in so fine a +hand as to be hardly legible except to one practiced in their +deciphering--a result of the extreme economy of one who, with all +carefulness, was the largest consumer of paper and ink in New England. +Solemn as was the deportment of this reverend man, sundry practical +jokes at his expense are on record. It is said that the house dog was +his close attendant, and on Sabbath day would invade even the pulpit in +search of his master. Hence he was carefully fastened during 'holy +time.' On one occasion, however, some wag not only loosed the animal, +but actually garnished his neck with a pair of ministerial bands. The +poor dog, unwitting of his sacred insignia, made his way into the pulpit +without being noticed by his absent minded master, until some one showed +him the dog, _a la parson_, perched up behind him on the pulpit bench. + +As a public speaker Edwards' delivery was the minimum of force, and in +this feature he admitted his utter failure. Indeed, when driven from +Northampton, he replied to Erskine's invitation to remove to Scotland, +that he was assured that his style would not be acceptable. After his +dismission, the sorrows of poverty fell heavily upon him, and he writes +to the same correspondent that 'he and his large and helpless family +were to be cast upon the world.' A collection was made for him in +Scotland, and forwarded at this time of need. The Scottish saints, +indeed, held strong sympathy with the colonies, and it was their +'benefactions' which supported the mission of Brainerd, the most +successful of modern days. Edwards remained more than a year at +Northampton after leaving its pulpit, and was humbled by seeing the +people assemble to hear sermons read by laymen in preference to his own +ministrations. What a bitter cup this must have been: but Sarah cheered +his heart, and grace reigned. In the mean time the girls wrought fancy +work, which was sent to Boston, and sold in their behalf, and thus they +were spared from want. Subsequently he was appointed missionary to the +Stockbridge Indians. It was Orpheus among the wild beasts, but without +his success. President Wayland quotes this fact in order to support a +theory which is palpably false, that a preacher should not be much above +the literary platform of his people; whereas, Edwards' ill success was +in a large measure owing to the troubles and opposition incident to +frontier life. With all his sorrows, however, he had one great +satisfaction. His chief assailant, Joseph Ashley, of Northampton, who +had borne so large a part in his expulsion, came in deep penitence, and +besought his forgiveness, which was granted with Christian tenderness. +Ashley's compunctions continued, and after Edwards' death increased in +horror so greatly that to obtain relief he published to the world an +explicit confession of his sins against 'that eminent servant of God.' + +Edwards, like Milton, had long meditated a work which 'the world would +not willingly let die,' but, although he had for some years been +gathering materials, yet it was not until his removal to Stockbridge +that he addressed himself fully to the mighty task of authorship. His +habits of abstraction grew upon him amazingly during this effort, and +the notable Sarah sheltered him from intrusion, and anticipated his +wants. She was conscious of the greatness of the work with which he had +grappled, and stood by his side like a guardian angel while he +demolished errorists. It was her custom after the labors of the day to +steal up to the study, where, like Numa and Egeria, they held serene +communion. This was his sole medium of secular information, for in his +occasional walks he was like one in a dream. The whole man was engrossed +in what he alone could perform; indeed, to reconcile liberty and +necessity were a task for which he seemed providentially set apart. But +beneath these arguments, which rise Alp on Alp, there lurked a quiet +perception of humor, and the _reductio ad absurdum_, which he +occasionally drives home, showed the keenness of Puritan wit. How he +must have smiled, nay even laughed, in the midst of his abstractions at +that[E] metaphysical animal which illustrates the absurdity of his +opponents. When 'The Freedom of the Will' was finished, and the author +had sent it forth to do battle, he felt that the work of his life was +done. + +Just at this time a deputation waited on him to solicit his acceptance +of the presidency of Nassau Hall. It was a strange sight to that rude +hamlet of Stockbridge--those reverend forms finishing their long journey +at the feet of the poor exiled missionary. When their errand was +announced, he burst into tears, overcome by a sense of unworthiness, and +in a subsequent letter he confirms his unfitness by reference to his +'flaccid solids and weak and sizy fluids.' But the demand was pressed, +and Northampton learns with astonishment the exaltation of her banished +pastor. The successful deputation possessed one member of rare interest. +This was John Brainerd, who had succeeded his brother David as a +missionary, and whom Edwards had met ten years before at the bedside of +his dying brother. David would have been, had both lived, the husband of +Jerusha--but now they slept side by side in Northampton burial-ground, +and the surviving brother reappeared bearing this invitation. It was one +not easily resisted; and so, amid dangers and infirmity, he was fain to +say, + + 'To-morrow to fresh woods and pastures new.' + +Before another spring, a higher glory awaited him; and the same year, +five of his family, including the incomparable Sarah, were likewise +'received up.' A sad year was that to Princeton and to the church. + +We have stated our opinion, that the activity of the New England mind +arose from the digestion of strong doctrine; that very activity now +generated a new style of preaching, which may be termed the metaphysical +school. The days of _thaumaturgia_ were passed, and in place of +discussing demonology and temptation, an appetite for subtle dogma +prevailed. I doubt if Britain and Germany, with their combined +universities, could have equaled, during the last century, the New +England pulpit in mental acuteness or philosophical discrimination. A +reference to Edwards recalls mention among his followers of such names +as Smally, Bellamy, Emmons, and Hopkins. Those who listened to the +preaching of such men could not avoid becoming thinkers, and thought has +made our country what it is. Very possibly what is known as 'Yankee +ingenuity' arose from the thinking habits of careful sermon-hearers. A +man who could follow the subtle theories of the pulpit, could think out +the most elaborate machinery. Next to Jonathan Edwards, Dr. Emmons +possessed the most philosophical mind of the age. So severe and +invincible is his logic, that it is said that the New Haven lawyers +often sharpened their minds on Emmons' sermons. His scheme of making God +the author of sin may be considered one of the errors of a great mind. A +modern novelist has placed old Dr. Hopkins among the characters of a +romance. But however great may be the powers of Mrs. Stowe, it was quite +impossible for an ęsthetic and poetic mind to grasp that bundle of +dried-up syllogisms which once occupied the Newport pulpit. Hopkins had +preached the church at Great Barrington empty, and that of Newport died +by lingering degrees. Only to think of that tall, ungainly form, the +head covered with a linen cap, stiff and white, coming forth like an +apparition once a week to the public gaze. We do not wonder at the +child's inquiry '_if it was God that stood up there_.' Hopkins' scheme +of 'indifferent affection' was a grand conception, but as unnatural as +grand: yet it showed an amazing boldness for a public teacher to lay +down as a postulate that a willingness to be damned was a condition of +salvation. + +From a survey of the earlier clergy, even as superficial as the present +one, we are struck with its ambition of a lofty range of doctrine. They + + 'reasoned high + Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate, + Fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute, + And found no end in wandering mazes lost. + Of good and evil much they argued then, + Of happiness, and final misery, + Passion, and apathy, glory, and shame.' + +The highest tribute which Milton could offer the fallen angels was that +mental power which survived the general wreck. And no lesser flight +would have satisfied the subjects of this sketch. Their lifelong effort +was still to climb higher, ever exclaiming + + '--Paula majora canamus.' + +Their services in the cause of public education are beyond our +appreciation, and it may be well for us to remember that Harvard, Yale, +Williams, Union, Princeton, Amherst, Hanover, and other institutions, +sprang from the bold philanthrophy of men so poor as often to be objects +of pity. They saw that knowledge is power, and that power they would not +only possess, but bequeath to coming generations. + +Long as these rambles have been, they would still be incomplete without +a tribute to the influence of wives and mothers which soothed and +mellowed the sterner aspect of primitive life; but this can only be +referred to as a theme worthy of distinct treatment. It should not be +forgotten that the children reared under such influences have often been +counted worthy of the highest stations of honor and trust; and although +the scapegrace character of ministers' sons is a common fling, yet +careful research has proved that it has many and brilliant exceptions. + +While penning these pages, my mind has often wandered over ancient +burial-grounds where pastor and people sleep side by side. One may find +them in every New England town, and they chain with a spell of which the +modern cemetery with its showy marbles knows nothing! We turn from the +fresh mortality, which chills us with its recent sorrows, to those massy +headstones whose faint inscriptions tell of generations long since freed +from toil. Here one may find the rude monuments of those who still walk +the earth and lead its progress, and here the heart may run over, as +Byron says, + + 'With silent worship of the great of old! + The dead but sceptered sovereigns who still rule + Our spirits from their urns.' + + * * * * * + +HEMMING COTTON. + + + 'Hem them in!' is the country's cry; + See how the bayonet needles fly! + Nothing neglect and nothing leave, + Hem them in from the skirt to sleeve. + Little they reek of scratch or hurt + Who toil at hemming the Southern shirt; + Little they'll care, as they shout aloud, + If the Southern shirt prove a Southern shroud. + Hurrah for the needles sharp and thin! + Cotton is saved by hemming it in.' + + * * * * * + +ONE OF MY PREDECESSORS. + + +No books have quite the same fascination for me as the narratives of old +travelers. Give me a rainy day, a state of affairs which renders the +performance of a more serious task impossible, and a volume of Hakluyt +or Purchas, or even of Pinkerton's agreeable collection, and I +experience a condition of felicity which leaves Gray and his new novel +far in the background. For I thus not only behold again the familiar +scenery of the earth,--never forgetting a landscape that I have once +seen,--but I am also a living participant in the adventures of those who +have wandered the same paths, hundreds of years before. I visit +Constantinople while the Porphyrogenite emperors still sit upon the +throne of the East; I look upon the barbaric court of Muscovy before the +name of Russia is known in the world; I make acquaintance with Genghis +Khan at Karakorum, and with Aurungzebe at Delhi; I invade Japan with +Kampfer, penetrate the Arctic Seas with Barentz, or view the gardens of +Ispahan in the company of the gallant Sir John Chardin. + +This taste was not the cause, but is the result, of my own experience. +My far-off, unknown Arab progenitor says, in one of his poems: 'Fly thy +home, and journey, if thou strivest for great deeds. Five advantages +thou wilt at least procure by traveling. Thou wilt have pleasure and +profit; thou wilt enlarge thy prospects, cultivate thyself, and acquire +friends. It is better to be dead, than, like an insect, to remain always +chained to the same spot of earth.' In the Middle Ages, and especially +among the members of the enlightened Saracenic race, the instinct of +travel was mainly an instinctive desire for education. There was no +other school of knowledge so complete and practical, in the dearth of +books and the absence of other than commercial intercourse between the +ends of the earth, I fancy that this instinct, skipping over some +centuries, reappeared, in my case, in its original form; for it was not +until after I had seen a large portion of the earth, that I became +acquainted with the narratives of my predecessors, and recognized my +kinship with them. With the ghost of the mercantile Marco Polo, or those +of the sharp fellows, Bernier and Tavernier, I do not anticipate much +satisfaction, in the next world; but--if they are not too far off--I +shall shake hands at once with the old monk Rubruquis, and the Knight +Arnold von der Harff, and the far traveled son of the Atlas, Ibn Batuta. + +These old narratives have a charm for me, which I do not find in the +works of modern tourists. There is an honest homeliness and unreserve +about them, which I would not exchange for any graces of style. The +writers need no apologetic or explanatory preface; they sit down with +the pressure of a solemn duty upon them. When much of the world was but +dimly known, the man who had reached India, China, or the Islands of the +Sea, and returned to describe his adventures, made his narrative a +matter of conscience, and justly considered that he had added something +to the stock of human knowledge. The world of fable had not then +contracted into as narrow limits as at present; foreign countries were +full of marvels, and science had not made clear the phenomena of nature. +The old travelers had all the wonder and the credulity of children. All +was fish that came to their nets, and their works are singular compounds +of personal adventure, historical episodes, statistics of trade, and +reflections on the laws, manners and religions of races, interwoven with +many astonishing stories, and with the most amusing conjectures and +speculations. Their sincerity is apparent on every page. How delightful +is that remark of honest old Bernal Diaz, when, in describing the +battle of Tlascala, he states that many of the Spanish soldiers believed +that St. James and St. Thomas fought in person against the pagans, and +adds, in the simplicity of his heart, 'Sinner that I am, it was not +given to my eyes to behold either the one or the other of those holy +persons.' Montanus, in his travels through Muscovy, speaks of a +wonderful plant on the borders of Tartary, which resembled a +pumpkin-vine in appearance, only that instead of pumpkins it produced +lambs covered with wool. He calls this 'a mighty pleasant story,' but +takes care to say that he had never seen with his own eyes the lambs +growing upon the vines, but only the wool thereof, which the natives +manufactured into garments. + +Another characteristic of the old books of travel is, that they are, +unconsciously, autobiographical. The honest pilgrim, in his desire to +give a faithful description of new lands, is little aware that he is all +the time describing himself as well. His prejudice, his likings, his +disappointments and aspirations are all transparently revealed to us, +and through him we lay hold on the living character of his age. We +follow him, step by step, on his slow and wearisome journey, enjoying +his fatigues and dangers with the better zest, since we know in advance +that he reached home safely at last. One of the most popular modern +books of travel--Eothen--is a poem which gives us the very atmosphere +and odor of the Orient, but nothing more; and the author floats before +our vision in so dim and wraith-like a manner, that many readers have +doubted whether the work was founded on actual experience. On the other +hand, those old narratives, of which Robinson Crusoe is the ideal type, +bear unmistakable stains of the soil on every page. You not only feel +the vital personality of the traveler, but you would distinguish his +doublet and hose among a thousand. He does not soar, with an airy grace, +from one hill-top to another, picking out for you a choice scene here +and there, as he skims the land--he plods along the road, laboriously +and with muddy shoes, and sees the common much oftener than the sublime. + +In all that concerns man, indeed, a much plainer speech was permitted to +the old traveler. There were no squeamish readers in those days, and +hence, in some respects, he is too candid for modern taste. But it often +happens that precisely the characteristics or customs of strange races +which are of most value to the anthropologist, belong to those cryptic +mysteries of human nature, to which, in our refined age, one is +prohibited from referring. At least, the absence of constraint--the +possibility of entire frankness, even though the writer should have no +occasion to avail himself of the privilege--imparts a rare loveliness +and raciness to the narrative. On the other hand, in modern works which +I have tested by my own personal knowledge of the subject, I have been +quite as much struck with the amount of suppressed as with that of +expressed truth. Mansfield Parkyns and Captain Burton, I have no doubt, +will bear me out in this statement. Why has no African explorer, for +instance, yet ventured to announce the fact,--at once interesting and +important,--that if a traveler in the central regions of that continent +could be accompanied by his wife, the chances of his success would be +greatly improved? In the apparent celibacy of explorers, barbarous races +perceive simply an absence or perversion of the masculine instinct, +which at once excites their distrust. + +Let me resume the volume which I have laid down to pursue the foregoing +reflections, and, while the eastern storm drives through the autumn +woods, hurling its mingled volume of rain and leaves against my window, +ask the reader to look over my shoulder and follow with me for a while +the pilgrimage of Abou Abdallah Mohammed, better known under the name of +Ibn Batuta,--'may God be satisfied with him, and confound those who have +an aversion towards him!'--to apply to himself his own invocation in +favor of another. + +Ibn Batuta, a native of Tangier, in Morocco, unquestionably takes the +first rank among the travelers of the Middle Ages, if we consider the +distances he traversed, the remote points he reached, or the number of +years consumed by his wanderings. From Pekin to Timbuctoo, from the +Volga to the Ganges, from Bukhara to Zanzibar, he vibrated to and fro, +making himself acquainted, with the exception of Christian Europe, with +the greater part of the known world. He touched, in many directions, the +borderland of darkness, beyond which the earth fell off precipitously +into chaotic depths which no mortal might explore. Having reached home +again after uncounted perils, he sat down to tell the story of his +adventures. Many of his notes had been lost by the way, and he was +obliged to depend mainly on his memory; but as this is a faculty which +all genuine travelers must not only possess, but cultivate by constant +exercise, his narrative is remarkably clear, complete, and truthful. + +Born on the 24th of February, 1304, he set out, in his twenty-second +year, on a pilgrimage to Mecca, traversing the Barbary States and Egypt +on the way. Once fairly launched in the world, twenty-four years elapsed +before he again saw his native town. He explored the various provinces +of Arabia; visited Syria, Persia, and Armenia; resided for a while in +Southern Russia (Kipchak), then belonging to princes of the line of +Genghis Khan; traveled by land to Constantinople, where he was presented +to the emperor; repeated his pilgrimage to Mecca, and reached Zanzibar. +Then, returning, he made his way to Bukhara, and through Afghanistan to +the Indus; exercised, for two years, the functions of a _Kadi_, or +judge, at Delhi; was appointed by the Sultan Mohammed, the son of Togluk +Khan, on an embassy to the emperor of China, but, missing the Chinese +vessel, was obliged to remain a year and a half among the Maldive +Islands. Nothing daunted by the delay, he started again, by way of +Ceylon and the Indian Archipelago, and finally succeeded in reaching +Pekin. He appears to have returned to Tangier in the year 1349, and to +have taken up his residence soon afterwards in Granada, under the +protection of the caliph Yusef. His thirst for exploration, however, was +not yet quenched, and in two years he was ready to undertake a second +journey of greater difficulty and danger. Leaving Fez with a caravan, in +the year 1351, he crossed the Sahara, and spent three years in Central +Africa, visiting the great cities Melli and Timbuctoo. He was thus the +first to give the world an authentic account of those regions. His +descriptions correspond, in almost all respects, with those given by the +travelers of modern times. + +Ibn Batuta returned to Morocco in 1354, and there remained until his +death, in 1378. During the year after his arrival, he dictated the +history of his travels to Ibn Djozay, a young Moorish poet, who, having +been unjustly treated by Yusef, in Granada, fled to Fez, where he was +appointed secretary to the Sultan, Abau Inau Faris. The latter, it +appears, commanded that the work should be written, and it was also, no +doubt, by his order that Ibn Djozay became the amanuensis of our +traveler. 'He was recommended,' says the introduction, 'to bestow great +care on the correctness and elegance of the style, to render it clear +and intelligible, in order that the reader may better enjoy the rare +adventures, and draw the greatest profit from the pearl, after it shall +have been extracted from its shell!' To Ibn Djozay, therefore, we are +indebted for the abundant poetic quotations interspersed throughout the +work--the ornaments which hang, sometimes with curious effect, on the +plain, straight-forward story which Ibn Batuta tells us. Making the +usual allowance for Oriental exaggeration, and the occasional confusion +which must occur in a memory so overcharged, we do not hesitate to +pronounce the work worthy of all credit. Burkhardt, Seetzen, and Carl +Ritter have expressed their entire confidence in the fidelity of the +narrative. + +This interesting work was known to European scholars, until quite +recently, in a fragmentary condition, frequently disfigured by errors of +transcription. Since the French occupation of Algiers, however, two or +three perfect copies have been discovered, one of which, now in the +Imperial Library at Paris, bears the autograph of Ibn Djozay. The +publications of the _Société Asiatique_ furnish us with the narrative, +carefully collated, and differing but slightly, in all probability, from +the original text. Let us now run over it, freely translating for the +reader as we go. The introduction, which is evidently from the elegant +hand of the amanuensis, is so characteristic that we must extract a few +Title and all, it opens as follows: + + A PRESENT MADE TO OBSERVERS, + TREATING OF THE + CURIOSITIES OFFERED BY THE CITIES AND + OTHER WONDERS ENCOUNTERED IN + TRAVEL. + +'In the name of God, the Clement, the Merciful: Behold what says the +Shekh, the judge, the learned man, the truthful, the noble, the devout, +the very benevolent, the guest of God; who has acquitted himself of the +visit to the holy places, to the honor of religion; who, in the course +of his travels, has placed his confidence in the Lord of all +creatures--Abou Abdallah Mohammed, son of Abdallah, son of Ibrahim +Allewatee Alhandjee, known under the name of Ibn Batuta: may God be +merciful to him, and be content with him, in his great bounty and +generosity! Amen. + +'Praise be to God, who has subjected the earth to those who serve him, +in order that they may march by spacious roads--who has placed them on +the earth, and there located the three vicissitudes of their destiny: +the creation, the return to the earth, and the resurrection from its +bowels. He has extended it by his power, and it has become a bed for his +servants. He has fixed it by means of inaccessible mountains, of +considerable elevation, and has raised over it the summit of heaven, +unsupported by a pillar. He has made the stars to appear as a guide in +the midst of the darkness of the land and the sea; he has made a lamp of +the moon, and a torch of the sun. From heaven he has caused waters to +descend, which vivified the ground when it was dried up. He has made all +varieties of fruits to grow, and has created diversified regions, giving +them all sorts of plants. He has caused the two seas to flow--one of +sweet and refreshing waters, the other salt and bitter. He has completed +his bounties towards his creatures, in subjecting to them the camels, +and in submitting to them the ships, similar to mountains, serving them +as vehicles, instead of the surface of the desert, or the back of the +sea.' + +After having, in like manner, pronounced a benediction on Mohammed, the +Prophet's friends, and all others in any way connected with him, he +greets the Sultan of Morocco with a panegyric so dazzling, so +unapproachable in the splendor of its assertions, that we must quote it +as a standard whereby all similar compositions may be measured, sure +that it will maintain its pre-eminence through all time. + +'It is his reign (that of Abou Inau Faris) which has cured Religion of +her sickness, which has caused the sword of Injustice to return into the +scabbard whence it had been drawn, which has corrected fortune, when it +had been corrupted, and which has procured custom for the markets of +Science, formerly given up to stagnation. He has rendered manifest the +rules of piety when they would have been obliterated; he has calmed the +regions of the earth when they were agitated; he has caused the +tradition of acts of generosity to revive after his death; he has +occasioned the death of tyrannic customs; he has abated the flame of +discord at the moment when it was most enkindled; he has destroyed the +commands of tyranny, when they exercised an absolute power; he has +elevated the edifices of equity on the pillars of the fear of God, and +has assured himself, by the strongest evidences, that he possesses +confidence in the Eternal. His reign possesses a glory, the crown +whereof is placed on the forehead of Orion, and an illumination which +covers the Milky Way with the skirts of his robe; a beneficence which +has given a new youth to the age; a justice which incloses the righteous +within its vast tent; a liberality similar to a cloud which waters at +once the leaves that have fallen from the trees and the trees +themselves; a courage which, even when the clouds shed torrents of rain, +causes a torrent of blood to flow; a patience which never tires of +hoping; a prudence which prevents his enemies from approaching his +pastures; a resolution which puts their troops to flight before the +action commences; a mildness which delights to pluck pardon from the +tree of crime; a goodness which gains him all hearts; a science, the +lustre whereof enlightens the darkest difficulties; a conduct +conformable to his sincerity, and acts conformable to his designs!' + +Let us here take a long breath, and rest a minute. O, Abou Inau Faris! +we envy the blessed people that were gathered under thy wing; we weep +for our degenerate age, wherein thy like is nowhere to be found. No +wonder that Ibn Batuta declares that he lays aside forever his pilgrim's +staff--that, after traversing the Orient, he sits down under the full +moon of the Occident, preferring it to all other regions, 'as one +prefers gold-dust to the sands of the highway.' We, too, had we found +such a ruler, would have laid aside our staff, and taken the oath of +allegiance. + +The traveler gives us the day of his departure from home: June 14, 1325. +'I was alone,' says he, 'without a companion with whom I could live +familiarly, without a caravan of which I could have made part; but I was +forced onward by a spirit firm in its resolution, and the desire of +visiting the Holy Places was implanted in my bosom. I therefore +determined to separate myself from my friends of both sexes, and I +abandoned my home as the birds abandon their nest. My father and mother +were still alive. I resigned myself, with grief, to separate from them, +and this was a common cause of sorrow. I was then in my twenty-second +year.' + +Having safely reached the town of Tlemeen, he found two ambassadors of +the king of Tunis, about to set out on their return, and attached +himself to their suite. On arriving at Bougie, he was attacked with a +violent fever, and was advised to remain behind. 'No,' said the +determined youth, 'if God wills that I should die, let me die on the +road to Mecca,' and pushed on, through Constantina and Bona, in such a +state of weakness that he was obliged to unwind his turban and bind +himself to his saddle, in order to avoid falling from the horse. He thus +reached Tunis, in a state of extreme exhaustion and despondency. 'No one +saluted me,' says he, 'for I was not acquainted with a single person +there. I was seized with such an emotion of sadness that I could not +suppress my sobs, and my tears flowed in abundance. One of the pilgrims, +remarking my condition, advanced towards me, saluting and comforting me. +He did not cease to cheer me up with his conversation, until I had +entered the city.' + +In a short time, he seems to have recovered both his health and spirits; +for, on reaching the town of Sefakos, he married the daughter of one of +the syndics of the corporation of Tunis. This proceeding strikes us as a +singular preparation for a long and dangerous journey, but it is a +preliminary which would immediately suggest itself to a Mussulman of +good character. In fact, it was equivalent in those days--and still +would be, in some parts of the Orient--to a proclamation of his +respectability. Ibn Batuta, however, was not fortunate in this +matrimonial adventure. Two months afterwards, he naļvely informs us: +'There arose such a disagreement between myself and my father-in-law, +that I was obliged to separate from my wife. I thereupon married the +daughter of an official of Fez. The marriage was consummated at the +castle of Zanah, and I celebrated it by a feast, for which I detained +the caravan for a whole day.' + +After this announcement, he is silent concerning his domestic relations. +Perhaps the number of his connubial changes was too great to be +recorded; perhaps no son was born to establish his honor among men; +perhaps, with increasing sanctity, he forswore the sex. The last +conjecture is probably correct, as it tallies with the reputation for +wisdom and purity which he gradually acquired. + +Finally, in April, 1326, our traveler reached Alexandria, the first +strange city which impressed him by its size and splendor. 'Alexandria,' +says he, 'is a jewel whereof the brilliancy is manifest--a virgin which +sparkles with her ornaments. She illumines the Occident with her +splendor: she unites the most diverse beauties, on account of her +situation midway between the Rising and the Setting.' At that time the +celebrated Pharos was still standing, and the following description of +it, though not very clear, will interest the reader: 'It is a square +edifice, which towers into the air. Its gate is raised above the surface +of the earth, and opposite to it there is an edifice of similar height, +which serves to support planks, across which one must wait to arrive at +the gate of the Pharos. When these planks are taken away, there is no +means of crossing. Inside of the entrance is a space where the guardian +of the edifice is stationed. The interior of the Pharos contains many +apartments. Each of its four sides is a hundred and forty spans in +length. The building is situated on a high hill, one parasang from the +city, and on a tongue of land which the sea surrounds on three sides. +One can therefore only reach the Pharos from the land side, by leaving +the city. I directed my course towards the Pharos a second time, on my +return to the West, in the year 1349, and I found that its ruin was +complete, so that one could neither enter, nor even reach the gate.' + +Commencing with Alexandria, Ibn Batuta is careful, in every city which +he visits, to give an account of the distinguished _shekhs_ or _imams_, +with characteristic anecdotes of their saintly or miraculous lives. The +value and interest of these sketches reconcile us to the brevity of his +descriptions. He tells us, for example, that the _kadi_ (judge) of +Alexandria, who was likewise a master of the art of eloquence, 'covered +his head with a turban which surpassed in volume all the turbans then to +be seen. I have never beheld, neither in the East nor the West, one so +voluminous. He was one day seated in a mosque, before the pulpit, and +his turban filled almost the entire space.' At the town of Fooah, in the +Delta, on his way to Cairo, occurred his first marvelous adventure. +'During the night,' says he, 'while I slept on the roof of the dwelling +of the shekh Abou Abdallah, I saw myself, in a dream, carried on the +wing of a great bird, which flew in the direction of Mecca, then in that +of Yemen; then it transported me to the East, after which it passed +towards the South; then it flew again far to the East, alighted upon a +dark and misty country, and there abandoned me. I was amazed at this +vision, and said to myself, "If the shekh can interpret my dream, he is +truly as holy as he is said to be." When I presented myself, in the +morning, to take part in the early prayer, he charged me to take the +lead, in the quality of _imam_. Afterwards he called me to him, and +explained my dream; in fact, when I had related it to him, he said: +"Thou wilt make the pilgrimage to Mecca, thou wilt visit the tomb of the +Prophet, thou wilt traverse Yemen, Irak, the country of the Turks, and +India; thou wilt remain a long time in the latter country, where thou +wilt see my brother Dilehad, who will extricate thee from an affliction +into which thou shalt fall." Having spoken, he provided me with money, +and small biscuits for the journey. I said my farewells and departed. +Since I left him, I have experienced nothing but good treatment in the +course of my travels, and his benedictions always came to my aid.' + +Passing over the traveler's visit to Damietta and the other towns of the +Delta, let us hear his enthusiastic description of Cairo, at the time of +its greatest prosperity: 'Finally, I reached the city of Cairo, the +metropolis of the country and the ancient residence of Pharaoh the +Impaler; mistress of rich and extended regions, attaining the utmost +limits of possibility in the multitude of its population, and exalting +itself on account of its beauty and splendor. It is the rendezvous of +travelers, the station of the weak and the powerful. Thou wilt there +find all that thou desirest--the wise and the ignorant, the industrious +and the trifling, the mild or the angry, men of low extraction or of +lofty birth, the illustrious and the obscure. The number of its +inhabitants is so considerable that their currents resemble those of an +agitated sea, and the city lacks very little of being too small to +contain them, notwithstanding its extent and capacity. Although founded +long since, it enjoys a youth forever renewed; the star of its horoscope +does not cease to inhabit a fortunate house. It is in speaking of Cairo +that Wasr ed-deen has written: + + "It is a paradise in truth; its gardens ever smile, + Adorned and fed so plenteously by all the waves of Kile, + Which, fretted by the blowing wind, from shore across to shore, + Mimic the armor's azure scales the prophet David wore; + Within its fluid element the naked fear to glide, + And ships, like winged heavenly spheres, go up and down the tide.'" + +Ibn Batuta's description of the pyramids is very curious, and we can +account for it on no other supposition than that he merely saw them in +the distance (probably from the citadel of Cairo), relying on hearsay +for further particulars. After stating that they were built by the +ancient _Hermes_, whom he supposes to be identical with Enoch, as a +repository for the antediluvian arts and sciences, he says: 'The +pyramids are built of hard, well-cut stone. They are of a very +considerable elevation, and of a circular form, capacious at the base +and narrow at the summit, _in the fashion of cones_. They have no doors, +and one is ignorant of the manner in which they have been constructed.' + +In his journey up the Nile, Ibn Batuta never fails to give an account of +every Moslem saint or theologian whom he meets, but only in one or two +instances does he mention the antiquities, which, in that age, must have +been still more conspicuous than now. He even passes over the plain of +Thebes without the slightest notice of the great temple of Karnak. +Disappointed in his plan of crossing the Red Sea to Jidda, he returned +to Cairo, and at once set out for Syria. Here, the first place of +interest which he visited was Hebron, where he performed his devotions +at the tombs of the patriarchs. We learn that there were archęcological +writings in those days, for he quotes from a work entitled 'The Torch of +Hearts, on the Subject of the Authenticity of the Tombs of Abraham, +Isaac, and Jacob.' Unfortunately, the evidence adduced would not be very +satisfactory to us, for it rests entirely on the following statement +made by Mohammed to a certain Abou Horairah: 'When the angel Gabriel +took me on the noctural journey to Jerusalem, we passed above the tomb +of Abraham, and he said to me, "Descend, and make a prayer of two +genuflexions, for here is the sepulchre of thy father Abraham!" Then we +traversed Bethlehem, and he said also, "Descend, make a prayer of two +genuflexions, for here was born thy brother Jesus!"' + +Of Jerusalem, which he calls 'the noble, the holy--may God glorify it!' +he says: 'Among the sanctuaries on the borders of the valley known under +the name of Gehenna, east of the city and on an elevated hill (the Mount +of Olives), one sees an edifice which is said to stand on the spot +whence Jesus ascended to heaven. In the middle of the same valley there +is a church where the Christians worship: they affirm that it contains +the sepulchre of Mary. There is also another church, equally venerated, +to which the Christians make a pilgrimage. The reason whereof, however, +is a lie, for they pretend that it contains the tomb of Jesus. Each +person who goes thither as a pilgrim is obliged to pay a certain tribute +to the Mussulmans, and to undergo divers sorts of humiliations, which +the Christians perform very much against their will. They there see the +place where the cradle of Jesus stood, and come to implore his +intercession.' + +I have not space to follow our traveler through all the cities of the +Syrian coast, northward to Aleppo, but I can not omit offering one +flower from the garland of poetical quotations which Ibu Batuta (or +rather his amanuensis, Ibn Djozay) hangs on the citadel of the latter +capital. I presume the city then occupied the same position as at +present, on a plain surrounding the rocky acropolis, which is so +striking and picturesque a feature as to justify the enthusiasm of the +Oriental bards. Djemal ed-deen All, however, surpasses them all in the +splendor of his images. Hear him:-- + + 'So lofty soars this castle, so high its summit stands, + Immense and far uplifted above the lower lands, + It lacks but little, truly, that with the heavenly sphere + Around the earth revolving, its towers would interfere. + And they who dwell within it must seek the Milky Way; + There is no nearer cistern which win their thirst allay: + Their horses there go browsing, and crop the stars that pass, + As other beasts the blossoms that open in the grass!' + +After this flight, I think I can afford to omit the string of quotations +concerning Damascus, which is celebrated with an equal extravagance. Ibn +Batuta gives a very careful account of the great mosque, including its +priests and scholars. During his stay the plague raged with such +violence that the deaths at one time amounted to two thousand a day. He +relates one circumstance which shows that even religious intolerance +vanished in times of distress. 'All the inhabitants of the city, men, +women, large and small, took part in a procession to the Mosque of +El-Akdam, two miles south of Damascus. The Jews came forth with their +Pentateuch, and the Christians with their Gospel, followed by their +women and children. All wept, supplicated, and sought help from God, +through the means of his Word and his prophets. They repaired to the +mosque, where they remained, praying and invoking God, until three +o'clock in the afternoon. Then they returned to the city, made the +prayer of Friday, and the Lord consoled them.' + +On the 1st of September, 1326, he left Damascus, with the great caravan +of pilgrims, for Mecca. He enumerates all the stations on the route, and +his itinerary is almost identical with that which the caravan follows at +the present day. Much space is devoted to a description of the religious +observances which he followed; and, singularly enough, if any +confirmation of his fidelity as a narrator were needed, it is furnished +by the work of Captain Burton. The account of the sacred cities of +Medineh and Mecca corresponds in every important particular with that of +the modern traveler. Thus the integrity of Ibn Batuta, like that of +Marco Polo, is established, after the lapse of five hundred years. + +In speaking of the chair of Mohammed, which is preserved in the mosque +at Medineh, he relates the following beautiful tradition: 'It is said +that the ambassador of God at first preached near the trunk of a +palm-tree in the mosque, and that after he had constructed the chair and +transported it thither, the trunk of the palm-tree groaned, as the +female camel groans after her young. Mohammed thereupon went down to the +tree and embraced it; after which it remained silent. The Prophet said, +"If I had not embraced it, it would have continued to groan until the +day of the resurrection."' + +After faithfully performing all the observances prescribed for the +pilgrim to Mecca, Ibn Batuta left that city and returned to Medineh. He +then crossed the Arabian peninsula in a north-eastern direction, to the +city of Meshed Ali, near the Euphrates, and thence descended that river +to Bassora. Here he gives us two amusing anecdotes, which reflectively +illustrate his shrewdness and the sturdiness with which he maintained +his religious views. 'The inhabitants of Bassora,' says he, 'are gifted +with a generous character. They are familiar with strangers, rendering +them that which is their due, in such a manner that no one finds a +sojourn among them tiresome. They make their Sunday prayers in the +mosque of the Prince of Believers, Ali. I once attended the prayers in +this mosque; and when the preacher arose and began to recite the sermon, +he made numerous and evident faults. I was surprised thereat, and spoke +of it to the judge Hodjat-ed-deen, who answered, "In this city, there is +no longer an individual who has any knowledge of grammar." This is an +instruction for whoever reflects thereon, and let us praise God, who +changes things and reverses the face of affairs! In fact, this city of +Bassora, the inhabitants whereof had obtained preėminence in grammar, +which there had its origin and received its development,--this city, +which gave to the world the master of this noble science, whose priority +no one contests,--does not now possess a single preacher who pronounces +the Sunday sermon according to grammatical rules! + +'The mosque has seven minarets, one of which, according to the belief of +the inhabitants, shakes whenever the name of Ali, son of Abou Talib, is +invoked. I ascended to the terrace (roof) of this mosque, accompanied by +one of the men of Bassora. There I saw, at one of the corners, a piece +of wood nailed to the minaret, and resembling the handle of a mason's +trowel. He who was with me took hold of it, saying, "By the head of the +prince of believers, Ali, shake thyself!" Therewith he shook the handle, +and the minaret trembled. In turn, I placed my hand upon it, and I said +to the man, "And _I_ say, by the head of Abou Bekr, successor to the +Ambassador of God, shake thyself!" Therewith I shook the handle, and the +minaret trembled as before. The people were very much astonished.' The +amanuensis, Ibn Djozay, here interpolates the following remark: 'I have +seen, in a town in the valley of Almansura, in Spain,--which may God +defend!--a tower which shakes without the name of a caliph, or anybody +else, being mentioned.' + +At the city of Idhedj, in Irak, then the capital of one of the many +Mongol sultans who at that time reigned in southern Persia, Ibn Batuta +gives another proof of his boldness. Calling upon the Sultan Afrasiab, +who was notorious for his drunken and dissolute habits, the traveler +found him seated upon a divan, with two covered vases--one of gold and +one of silver--before him. A green carpet was brought and placed near +him, upon which the traveler was invited to take his seat, after which +the sultan asked him many questions concerning his travels. 'It seemed +to me, however,' says Ibn Batuta, 'that he was quite intoxicated, for I +had been previously apprized of his habit of giving himself up to drink. +Finally, he said to me in Arabic, which he spoke with elegance. "Speak!" +I said to him, "If thou wouldst listen to me, I would say to thee--Thou +art one of the children of Sultan Ahmed, celebrated for his piety and +devotion; there is no cause of reproach to thee, in thy manner of life, +except _that_!" and I pointed with my finger to the two vases. These +words covered him with shame, and he was silent. I wished to withdraw, +but he ordered me to keep my seat, and said, "It is a mark of the Divine +mercy to meet with such as thou!" Afterwards, seeing that he swayed from +side to side, and desired to sleep, I left him. I had placed my sandals +at the door, and could not find them again. The Fakir Fadhill sought for +them in the hall, and at last brought them to me. His kindness +embarrassed me, and I made apologies. Thereupon he kissed my sandals, +placed them upon his head, in token of respect, and said to me, "May God +bless thee! What thou hast said to our sultan, nobody else would have +dared to say. I hope it will make an impression on him!"' + +Continuing his journey to Ispahan and Shiraz, he gives us, as usual, +conscientious accounts of the mosques, priests, and holy men, but no +hint whatever as to his manner of travel, or the character of the +country through which he passed. This portion of his work, however, +contains many interesting historical fragments, relating to the reigns +of the Mongol sultans of Persia, and the dissensions between the two +Moslem sects. After a stay of some length at Shiraz, he returned through +Irak to the celebrated city of Cufa, and thence to Bagdad, which was +then the residence of a simple Mongol prince. Here he describes at +length the mosques, colleges, mausoleums and baths, while Ibn Djozay +takes occasion to introduce his favorite quotations from the poets. The +reader, we think, will find the following more picturesque than the +somewhat formal descriptions of Ibn Batuta:-- + + 'Yea, Bagdad is a spacious place for him who's gold, to spend, + But for the poor it is the house of suffering without end: + I wander idly through its streets, as lost us if I were + A Koran in an atheist's house, which hath no welcome there.' + 'A sigh, a sigh for Bagdad, a sigh for Irak's land! + For all its lovely peacocks, and the splendors they expand: + They walk beside the Tigris, and the looks they turn on me + Shine o'er the jeweled necklace, like moons above the sea!' + +Our traveler, also, was the forerunner of Layard. In visiting Mosul, he +writes: 'Near this place one sees the hill of Jonah, upon whom be +blessing! and a mile distant from it the fountain which bears his name. +It is said that he commanded the people to purify themselves there; that +afterwards they ascended the aforesaid hill; that he prayed, and they +also, in such manner that God turned the chastisement from their heads. +In the neighborhood is a great ruin, and the people pretend that it is +the remains of the city known under the name of Nineveh, the city of +Jonah. One perceives the vestiges of the wall which surrounded it, as +well as the situation of its gates. On the hill stands a large edifice, +and a monastery, which contains numerous cells, apartments, places of +purification, and fountains, all closed by a single gate. In the middle +of the monastery one sees a cell with a silken curtain, and a door +encrusted with gold and precious stones. This, they say, is the spot +where Jonah dwelt; and they add that the choir of the mosque attached to +the monastery covers the cell in which he prayed to God.' + +Returning to Bagdad, Ibn Batuta crossed the Arabian Desert a second +time, and took up his residence in Mecca for the space of three years. +His account of the voyage along the eastern coast of Africa, as far +south as Quiloa, is brief and uninteresting; but on his return he +visited Oman, of which province he gives us the first authentic account. +From the Pearl Islands in the Persian Gulf, he bent his way once more +across Arabia to Mecca, whence he crossed the Red Sea to the Nubian +coast, and descended the Nile to Cairo. I shall omit his subsequent +journeys through Syria and Asia Minor, although they contain many +amusing and picturesque incidents, and turn, instead, to his adventures +in Kipchak (Southern Russia), which was then governed by a sultan +descended in a direct line from Genghis Khan. Embarking at Sinope, he +crossed the Black Sea to Caffa, in the Crimea, which was at that time a +Genoese city. Here a singular circumstance occurred:-- + +'We lodged in the mosque of the Mussulmans. After we had been resting +there about an hour, we suddenly heard the sound of bells resounding on +all sides. I had then never heard such a sound; I was extremely +terrified, and ordered my companions to ascend the minaret, read the +Koran, praise God, and recite the call to prayer,--which they did. We +now perceived a man who had approached us: he was armed, and wore a +cuirass. He saluted us, and we begged him to inform us who he was. He +gave us to understand that he was the Kadi of the Mussulmans of the +place, and added: "When I heard the reading of the Koran and the call to +prayers, I trembled for your safety, and therefore came to seek you." +Then he departed; but, nevertheless, we received nothing but good +treatment.' + +From Caffa, Ibn Eatuta traveled in a chariot to Azof, near which place +he found the camp of the Sultan Mohammed Uzbek Khan, of whose court he +gives a very circumstantial description. He also devotes considerable +space to an account of their manner of keeping the fast of Ramadan. The +favorite wife of the sultan was a daughter of the Greek emperor, who at +the time of the traveler's visit was preparing to set out for +Constantinople, in order that her expected child might be born in the +palace of her fathers. 'I prayed the sultan,' says Ibn Batuta, 'to +permit me to journey in company with the princess, in order that I might +behold Constantinople the Great. He at first refused, out of fear for my +safety, but I solicited him, saying, "I will not enter Constantinople +except under thy protection and thy patronage, and therefore I will fear +no one." He then gave me permission to depart, making me a present of +fifteen hundred ducats, a robe of honor, and a great number of horses.' + +The journey to Constantinople was made entirely by land, and consumed +more than two months. It is rather difficult to locate the precise route +traversed by the caravan, except that it must have skirted the shore of +the Black Sea; for I find mention of three great canals, which must +refer to the three arms of the Danube. At the frontier of the Greek +empire, they were received by the brothers of the princess, with a +mounted guard. Ibn Batuta's chronology is a little confused, and we can +only guess that the reigning emperor at that time was Andronicus H. +Palęologus. The description of the entry into Constantinople, and the +interview with the emperor, are among the most curious and interesting +passages in the work. + +'We encamped at the distance of ten miles from Constantinople, and on +the following morning the population of the city came forth--men, women, +and children, on foot and on horseback, in their most beautiful costumes +and most magnificent vestments. From daybreak the cymbals, clarions, and +trumpets sounded; the soldiers mounted their horses, and the emperor, +with his wife, the mother of the princess, the great men of the empire, +and the courtiers, issued from the city. Over the head of the emperor +there was a canopy, carried by a certain number of cavaliers and +foot-soldiers, holding in their hands long staves, terminated at the top +by a sort of leather ball, with which they upheld the canopy. In the +centre thereof was a dais, supported on staves by the cavaliers. When +the emperor had advanced, the troops mixed together, and the noise +became great. I was not able to penetrate into the middle of the crowd, +and remained near the baggage of the princess and her companions, +fearing for my safety. It was related to me that when the princess +approached her parents, she alighted and kissed the ground before them; +then she kissed their shoes, and her principal officers did the same. +Our entry into Constantinople the Great took place towards noon, or a +little after. Meanwhile the inhabitants caused the bells to sound, in +such measure that the heavens were shattered with the mixed uproar of +their noise. + +'When we had arrived at the outer gate of the palace, we there found +about a hundred men, accompanied by their chief, who was stationed on a +platform. I heard them saying, "The Saracens, the Saracens"--a term by +which they designate the Mussulmans,--and they prevented us from +entering. The companions of the princess said to them. "These people +belong to our suite;" but they answered, "They shall not enter here +without permission." We therefore waited at the gate, and one of the +officers sent some one to inform her of this incident. She was then with +her father, to whom she spoke concerning us. The emperor ordered us to +be admitted, and assigned us a house near that of the princess. +Furthermore, he wrote, in our favor, an order prohibiting any one from +interrupting us in whatever part of the city we might go, and this was +proclaimed in the markets. We remained three days in our residence, +whither they sent us provisions, namely, flour, bread, sheep, fowls, +butter, fish and fruits, also money and carpets. + +'On the fourth day after our arrival at Constantinople the princess sent +to me the eunuch Sunbul, the Indian, who took me by the hand and +conducted me into the palace. We passed four gates, near each one of +which were benches, with armed men, the captain occupying a raised +platform covered with carpets. When we had reached the fifth gate, the +eunuch Sunbul left me and entered; then he returned, accompanied by four +Greek eunuchs. These latter searched me, for fear lest I might have a +knife about me. The chief said to me, "Such is their custom; we can not +dispense with a minute examination of whoever approaches the emperor, +whether a high personage or one of the people, a stranger or a native." +This is also the custom in India. + +'After I had submitted to this examination, the guardian of the gate +arose, took my hand, and opened. Four individuals surrounded me, two of +whom took hold of my sleeves, while the other two held me from behind. +They conducted me into a grand audience-hall, the walls of which were in +mosaic; the figures of natural productions, whether animal or mineral, +were there represented. In the middle of the hall there was a brook, +both banks of which were bordered with trees; men stood on the right and +on the left, but no one spoke. In the centre of the hall of reception +stood three other men, to whom my four conductors confided me, and who +took me by the garments as the first had done. Another individual having +made a sign to them, they advanced with me. One of them, who was a Jew, +said to me in Arabic, "Fear not; it is their custom to act thus towards +strangers. I am the interpreter, and am a native of Syria." I demanded +of him what salutation I ought to make, and he replied, "Say--May +blessing be upon you!" + +'I arrived, finally, at the grand dais, where I beheld the emperor +seated on his throne, having before him his wife, the mother of the +princess. The latter, with her brothers, were stationed at the foot of +the throne. At the right of the sovereign there were six men, four at +his left, and as many behind him; all were armed. Before allowing me to +salute him, or to approach nearer to him, he made me a sign that I +should sit down for a moment, in order to recover from my fear. I did +so, after which I advanced nearer, and saluted him. He invited me, by a +gesture, to sit, but I did not comply. Then he questioned me on the +subject of Jerusalem, the blessed rock (of Jacob), the holy sepulchre, +and the cradle of Jesus, Bethlehem and Hebron, Damascus and Cairo, Irak +and Asia Minor. I replied to all his demands, the Jew performing the +office of interpreter between us. My words pleased him, and he said to +his children, "Treat this man with consideration, and protect him!" Then +he caused me to be clothed with a robe of honor, and assigned to me a +horse, saddled and bridled, as well as an umbrella from among those +which were carried over his own head--which was a mark of protection. I +prayed him to designate some one who should ride with me each day +through the city, in order that I might behold its rarities and marvels, +and speak of them in my own country. He granted my desire. One of the +customs of this people is, that the individual who receives a robe of +honor from the emperor, and mounts a horse from his stables, must be +conducted through the squares of the city, to the sound of trumpets, +clarions and cymbals, so that the population may behold him. This is +oftenest done with those Turks who come from the dominions of the Uzbek +sultan, in order that they may suffer no annoyance. I was conducted +through the markets in the same manner.' + +But the autumn night is closing in, and we must shut up the volume. We +can not, to-day, follow the brave old traveler through all the +vicissitudes of his long pilgrimage. He allows us to perceive much that +he does not tell us outright, and it is a satisfaction to learn, from +his pages, that if society were less ordered, secure, and externally +proper five hundred years ago, individual generosity and magnanimity +were more marked, and the good in the human race, as now, overbalanced +the evil. One more story Ibn Batuta must tell us, before we take leave +of him,--one story, which must warm every heart which can appreciate +that rarest of virtues, tolerance. The father of the Greek emperor was +still living, having abdicated the crown in favor of his son Andronicus, +and become a monk. The Moslem traveler thus describes his interview with +the old Christian monarch:-- + +'I was one day in company with the Greek who was appointed to ride with +me through the city, when we suddenly encountered the old emperor, +walking on foot, clothed in hair garments, and with a felt cap on his +head. He had a long white beard and a noble face, which presented traces +of the pious practices whereto his life was devoted. Before and behind +him walked a troop of monks. He held a staff in his hand, and had a +rosary about his neck. When the Greek beheld him, he alighted, and said +to me, "Dismount; it is the father of the emperor." When the Greek had +saluted him, he demanded who I was, then stopped, and summoned me to +him. I approached; he took my hand, and said to the Greek, who knew the +Arabic language,--"Say to this Saracen (that is to say, Mussulman), that +I press the hand which has entered Jerusalem, and the foot which has +walked by the Holy Rock, and the Holy Sepulchre, and in Bethlehem," +Having spoken, he placed his hand on my feet, and then passed it over +his own face. I was amazed at the respect which these people exhibit +towards an individual of another religion than their own, who has +visited the holy places. The old emperor then took me by the hand, and I +walked along with him. He questioned me on the subject of Jerusalem and +the Christians who dwell there. In his company I entered the consecrated +ground belonging to the church. As he approached the principal gate, a +crowd of priests and monks issued to salute him, for he was now one of +their chiefs. When he saw them, he let go of my hand, and I said to him, +"I desire to enter the church with thee." He said to the interpreter, +"Inform him that whoever enters is absolutely obliged to prostrate +himself before the principal crucifix. It is a thing prescribed by the +Fathers, and can not be transgressed." I then left him, he entered +alone, and I never saw him again.' + + * * * * * + +THE LATE LORD CHANCELLOR CAMPBELL. + + +It is worthy of note that the English statesmen of the present century +have mostly originated in two totally distinct ranks of society. They +have either been the scions of noble and powerful families; or they have +arisen, in spite of circumstance, from humble parents, by the sole +recommendation of personal worth. Of the great middle class, the class +which is certainly the most respectable of the English community, and +which is at present the controlling power in the state, but few have +recently attained great eminence. That the titled and wealthy should +advance to power and influence in a government peculiarly influenced by +such recommendations, is not strange. Any son of a great English house, +who has ambition, and a reasonable share of brains, may attain, with +comparative ease, eminence in the state. An apt example is Lord Russell, +who, with but little genius, with no oratorical force, and hardly more +than medium capacity as a statesman, has become the leader of the +predominant party, by dint of shrewdness, a persevering spirit, and +ambition, backed by the powerful influence of the noble house of +Bedford. And that the master-spirits born in poverty should shake off +the incubus of humble birth, and advance to a level with the noblest, is +not so unnatural or improbable but that the history of every nation +affords us abundant examples of such men; while the middle class, who +are neither stimulated by the calls of penury, nor pushed forward by +hereditary interest, naturally retain a contented mediocrity of renown +and honor. + +If any of our readers have visited the House of Lords within the past +two years, they doubtless had their attention directed to the venerable +statesman who for that period has occupied, with eminent dignity and +grace, the office of chairman to that body, and whose recent decease has +been noticed with such profound regret in British journals. On inquiry, +they doubtless learned that this was Lord Chancellor Campbell. He had +risen from the lowest drudgery to the highest eminence of the legal +profession. By the prolific arts of perseverance and industry, he had +scaled each successive round in the ladder of promotion, until now, in +his declining years, with accumulated honor and respect, he had thus +reached the summit, taking precedence after the Archbishop of +Canterbury, holding the great seal, and presiding over the peers of the +realm. + +He was one of those rare examples of unconquerable pluck, who have +mastered the prejudice of wealth and power, and to whom has been yielded +a position envied by the most worthy descendants of the most illustrious +nobles. In America, where public distinction is within the reach of all, +it is difficult to conceive of the restraints which beset the humble +aspirant in the old country. But notwithstanding such obstacles, the +examples of such men as Eldon, Stowell, Truro, St. Leonards, Ashburton, +Canning, and Campbell exhibit the gratifying fact, that hereditary power +or wealth can not bide the dignity of great genius; that greatness will +thrust aside the lesser privilege of worldly circumstance, whether it be +born in a palace or a cottage; and that you can no more control the +operation of a superior mind by the vanities of title and lucre, than +you can subordinate truth to error, or eternity to time. The glittering +train of peers and nabobs who followed in the path of the great +Elizabeth lie forgotten under the stately arches of the old cathedrals; +while the poverty-stricken player, William Shakspeare, has adorned every +library with his name, and reigns in every appreciative heart, as a +perfect master of nature and lofty thought. The names of the brilliant +court which welcomed George the Third to the throne of the Plantagenets +no longer linger on the lips of men; while every household boasts its +'Rasselas,' and the civilized world holds sacred the memory of the +illustrious 'Rambler.' + +John Campbell was born in 1781, and was the son of an obscure Scotch +clergyman. His father destined him for the clergy; in consequence of +which he was sent to the University of St. Andrews, where he met the +great Dr. Chalmers, then a student like himself. But young Campbell +became averse to the profession which had been chosen for him, and soon +turned his attention to the law. Soon after graduation, he betook +himself to London, where he studied with great zeal, meanwhile supplying +his wants by acting as the theatrical critic of the '_Morning +Chronicle_.' There, seated in an obscure corner of the pit or upper +gallery, we may imagine the Chancellor in embryo, jotting down the petty +excellences and failings of the players, to pamper the taste of the +frivolous on the morrow; while below him, in the decorated boxes and +circles, lolled the vain crowd of coroneted simpletons and courtly +beauties, now long forgotten, while he is honored as the benefactor of +his country's laws. He was called to the bar by the Society of Lincoln's +Inn, and then commenced a long life, replete with arduous study, with +untiring interest in duty, and stubborn perseverance. He early espoused +the liberal doctrines of Fox and Grey; and inasmuch as for many years +after the Tories monopolized the power, his politics were an effectual +bar to his professional preferment. He remained, however, through his +whole life, an earnest and consistent advocate of his early convictions. +Owing to the prejudice which Lord Chancellor Eldon entertained against +the Whigs, he did not obtain the silk gown of King's Counsel till the +venerable Jacobite gave place, in 1827, to the more courteous and +liberal Lyndhurst. + +He entered the House of Commons in the year 1830, and was soon +recognized as one of the leading members of the British bar. The period +of his debut in public life is one of peculiar significance in the party +history of England. The long dominion of the statesmen of the Pitt, and +Liverpool school was at last overthrown. The political dogmas which had +resisted Catholic toleration, which had sustained the continental powers +in their persecution of the French Emperor, which had resisted the right +of a neighboring people to choose their own rulers, which had held in +imprisonment the first genius of the century, which had opposed the +abolition of the test act, which had sustained the most licentious and +most obstinate sovereign of modern times, now yielded to the more +enlightened views of such statesmen as Russell and Lansdowne, Brougham +and Grey. Several causes operated to bring about this auspicious change. +George the Fourth, whose partiality for the Tories was only surpassed by +his animosity against the Whigs, had given place to a liberal and +enlightened prince, renowned for his zealous attachment to the popular +weal. Again, Canning's influence in moderating the maxims of Tory +theorists was greatly felt among the gentry. Finally, the rapid growth +of general intelligence, developments in the history of nations, and +juster conceptions of the true relations of sovereign and people, +prepared the public mind for extensive reforms in the constitution. Earl +Grey, a statesman eminent no less for his eloquence and sagacity than +for the worth of his private character, succeeded to the premiership in +1830, being the first Whig who held that office since the cabinet of +'all the talents,' in 1806. + +It was at such a juncture that Campbell entered the House of Commons. +The sanguine dreams of his youth were dawning into reality; and he was +gratified to see his cherished principles fully adopted by the country, +and to know that he was a participant in the glories of the great +reform. + +In 1832, when he had been a member of the House but two years, and a +King's Counsel but five years, and in the same year that the reform of +Russell and Grey received the royal sign-manual, he was elevated to the +dignity of Solicitor General. No one of the long line of his illustrious +predecessors brought to the discharge of this eminent trust greater +learning and acuteness than Lord Campbell evinced; who, at the same time +of this appointment, was honored with the order of Knighthood. In 1834, +after serving as solicitor with the marked approbation of the +government, he was promoted to the Attorney Generalship. + +He now re-entered Parliament as the representative of the capital of his +native Scotland, and became a leader in debate and the transaction of +the public business. He continued Attorney General through the +conservative ministry of Sir Robert Peel, and the subsequent Whig +government of Lord Melbourne. In 1841, he held for a brief period the +Chancellorship of Ireland; being at the same time elevated to the rank +of a peer of England, with the title of John, first Lord Campbell. He +retired from office when Sir Robert Peel returned to power in the autumn +of 1841, and turned his thoughts to the gentle and graceful pursuit of +literature. The first production of his pen was the 'Lives of the Lord +Chancellors,' from the earliest times to the close of Lord Eldon's +Chancellorship, in 1827. For the spirited interest of its style, the +clear and precise detail of fact, and the simple yet elegant course of +its manner, it is surpassed by no work of the present century. It is +regarded by eminent critics as a masterpiece of biography, and may +justly rank with the first books of that character in the English +tongue. It has probably been as serviceable to perpetuate the name of +the author, if not more so, than the numerous profound and equitable +decisions which he has left on the records of the Courts of King's Bench +and Chancery. + +It was soon followed by 'The Lives of the Chief Justices of England,' +which only enhanced the reputation of the former work; and we would +heartily recommend both of these books to the perusal of all who are +interested, either professionally or as a matter of taste, in this +branch of literature, as a deeply interesting as well as instructive +entertainment. + +In 1846, Lord John Russell assumed office, and Lord Campbell was +recalled from the occupation which had proved so congenial to his mind, +to take a seat in the ministry as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. +While he held this position, he was a frequent and popular debater in +the House of Peers, where he zealously defended the policy of the +government. In 1850, Lord Chief Justice Denman retired from the King's +Bench, ripe in years and in honorable renown, and Lord Campbell was at +once designated as his successor. In this exalted place, he was removed +from the harassing uncertainties of political life; and he continued for +nine years to administer justice with promptitude, skill, and equity. + +It was while Chief Justice that he became eminent for the great light he +brought to bear upon many important and intricate questions of law; and +his fame may be said to rest mainly upon the profound ability with which +he exercised the functions of this trust. In 1859, when Lord Palmerston +succeeded to the brief administration of Lord Derby, Lord Campbell was +finally raised to the summit of his profession. He was the fourth +Scotchman who has been Lord Chancellor within the century, and is a +worthy compeer of such men as Loughborough, Erskine, and Brougham. The +long years of unremitting toil were at length crowned with glorious +success; and the great man died in the midst of duty, affluence, honor +and power, while enjoying the prerogatives of the highest judicial +trust, during the summer of the past year. + +Whether we consider him as a lawyer, statesman, author, or man, his +character appears in a most amiable light. Profound without pedantry, +subtle without craft, zealous without bigotry, and humane without +effeminacy, he lived a philanthropic, pure, and consistent life. His +highest eulogium is that he lived and died in the service of his +country; that through every vicissitude his chief care was the national +weal; that his chief fame rests in the love and veneration which he +awakened in his countrymen; and that few Englishmen of the present +century have left more enduring monuments of public wisdom and private +example. + + 'O, civic music, to such a name, + To such a name for ages long, + To such a name, + Preserve the broad approach of fame, + And ever ringing avenues of song.' + + * * * * * + +CHILD'S CALL AT EVENTIDE. + + + Bright and fair,-- + Golden hair, + Still white hands and face; + Not a plea + Moveth thee; + Nor the wind's wild chase, + As yesterday, calling thee, + Even as I, in vain. + Come--wake up, Gerda! + Come out and play in the lane! + + See! the wind, + From behind, + Sporteth with thy locks, + From the land's + Desert sands + And the sea-beat rocks + Cometh and claspeth thy hands, + Even as I, in vain. + Come--wake up, Gerda! + Come out and play in the lane! + + Closed thine eyes, + Gently wise, + Dost thou dream the while? + Falls my kiss + All amiss, + Waketh not a smile! + Sweet mouth, is't feigning this? + Then do not longer feign. + Come--wake up, Gerda! + Come out and play in the lane! + + Forehead Bold, + White and cold; + Sealed thy lips and all; + I am made + Half afraid + In this lonely hall. + Night cometh quick through the glade! + I fear it is all in vain,-- + All too late, Gerda,-- + Too late to play in the lane! + + * * * * * + +THE GOOD WIFE: A NORWEGIAN STORY. + + +PART I. + +NOTHING LOST BY GOOD HUMOR. + + +For more than a month I had been ransacking my memory in search of some +story or narrative to offer our readers, but with rather poor success. I +thought of all the good things I had ever heard, and tumbled and tossed +my books in vain--nothing could I find that was suitable for either +children or parents. So I was, very reluctantly, about to abandon the +enterprise, when it chanced that, being unable to compose myself to +sleep, a few nights since, I took up, according to my custom on such +occasions, an old copy of Montaigne, the usual companion of my vigils, +the fellow-occupant of my pillow, and the only moralist whose musings +one can read with pleasure on the wrong side of forty. + +I opened the _Essays_ carelessly, for each and every page of them is +precious and replete with themes for meditation. In so doing, I alighted +upon the chapter entitled, 'Of three Good Women,'--which commences thus: +'They are not to be found by the dozen, as every one knows, and +especially not in the duties of married life, for that is a market full +of such thorny circumstances that it is no easy matter for a woman's +will to keep whole and sound in it for any length of time.' + +'Montaigne is an impertinent fellow!' I exclaimed, slamming to the book. +'What? this close reader of antiquity, this fine analyst of the human +heart, has been able to find only three good women, only three devoted +wives, in all the Greek and Roman annals! This is playing the joker out +of season. Goodness is the special attribute of woman. Every married +woman is good, or supposed to be such. I bethink me, too, that our old +jurists always make the law presume this goodness to exist, at the +outset,' + +Thus meditating, I wandered into my library, and there took up a fine +old volume, bound in red morocco, and entitled 'The Dream of Vergier;' a +book full of wisdom and logic, and written by some venerable clerk, +during the reign of Charles V., king of France. I looked for the page +that had struck my fancy, but--alas! how oddly one's memory changes with +the lapse of years--instead of finding, in that grave old book, the just +panegyric of woman's goodness, I discovered, to my great surprise, only +a violent satire all spiced with texts borrowed from St. Augustine, the +Roman laws and the ancient canons, with this sage conclusion, full +worthy of the exordium:-- + +'I do not say, however, that there is no good woman at all, but the +species is rare; and hence an old law says that no _law concerning good +women_ should be made, for that laws are to be made concerning things of +usual occurrence, as it is written in _Auth. sinc prohib_., etc., _quia +vero_ and L. _Nam ad ca_, Dig. _De Leffibus_.' + +These juridical epigrams, these cool pleasantries, in a serious book, +shocked me more than even the hard hits of the Gascon philosopher. 'Good +women,' I thought to myself, 'are found everywhere. In history? No; +history is written by men who love and admire heroes only, that is to +say, those who rob, subjugate, or slay them. In theology? No; it has not +yet forgiven the daughters of Eve the fault which ruined us,--a sin of +which they have retained at least a little share. In the records of the +law, then? No, again; for men make the laws. Woman is, in their eyes, +nothing but a minor, legally incapable of governing herself. God only +knows what is, here, as in all things, the difference between the fact +and the law. Are these good women to be found in plays, romances, or +novels? No, still; for they are but the perpetual recital of feminine +artfulness. Where, then, shall we look for good women?--In the realm of +fable and fiction, in the kingdom of fancy--the dominion of the ideal. + +These are the only regions in which merit holds the place it is entitled +to or justice is done to the claims of virtue. What is the tenderness of +Baucis, or the long fidelity of Penelope? Fiction only. And the +resignation of the gentle Griseldis--what is it? An old tale of other +days. In order to find the good woman we are looking for, this is the +ivory portal at which we must knock. + +Acting upon this conviction, I reperused all the old traditions, I +called to my aid that peculiar lore of nations which is embodied in +their legends, and which is so vividly, so amiably, and so ingenuously +expressed. I interrogated the story-tellers of every country, Indian, +Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, French, German, +English, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Russian, Lithuanian, and +even the hoary old wayside narrators of the far Thibet. I plunged into +this ocean of fancy with the recklessness of an accomplished diver, +but,--must I acknowledge it?--less fortunate than even Montaigne with +his history, I have succeeded in bringing back only one woman that I can +call really good, and her I have had to disinter from under the ice and +snows of the North, in a wild country, too, and among a people who are +not so delicate and refined as though Paris were in Norway. From Cadiz +to Stockholm, from London to Cairo and Delhi, from Paris to Teheran and +Samarcand, if the stories are to be believed, there are artful girls and +scheming mothers, in any quantity; but the _good woman_!--where does she +lie hid, and why do they never tell us anything about her? Here is a +hiatus to which I specially call the attention of the learned. In +observing it myself, I feel the more emboldened to relate the story of +the only good woman and wife I have unearthed. It is a simple narrative, +and not thoroughly in accordance with every-day experience, and, indeed, +there may be some squeamish people who will say that it is ridiculous. +No matter--it has one good quality which no one can dispute--it is not +in the ordinary style of either adventure or narration. Novelty is all +the rage at the present day, and what imparts value to things is not +their intrinsic merit, but their strangeness. + +Here, then, is my story presented to you, kind reader, just as Messrs. +Asbjoernsen and Moe give it, in their curious collection of Norwegian +tales and legends. + + +PART II. + +GUDBRAND AND HIS WIFE. + + +There was once a man called Gudbrand, who lived in a lonely little +farm-house on a remote hillside. From this circumstance he got the name +among his neighbors of Gudbrand of the Hill. + +Now, you must know that Gudbrand had an excellent wife, as sometimes +happens to a man. But the rarest thing about it was, that Gudbrand knew +the value of such a treasure; and so the two lived in perfect harmony, +enjoying their own happiness, and giving themselves no concern about +either wealth or the lapse of years. No matter what Gudbrand might do, +his wife had foreseen and desired that very thing; so that her good man +could not touch or change or move anything about the house without her +coming forward to thank him for having divined and forestalled her +wishes. + +Besides, it was easy for them to get along, since the farm belonged to +them, and they had a hundred solid crowns in a drawer of their closet +and two excellent cows in their stable. They lacked nothing, and could +quietly pass their old age without fear of poverty or toil, and without +having to look to the friendship or the commiseration of any of their +fellow-creatures. + +One evening, while they were talking over their various little tasks and +projects, says the wife of Gudbrand to her husband,-- + +'Husband, I've got a new notion in my head: you must take one of our +cows to town and sell her. We'll keep the other, and she'll be quite +enough to furnish us with all the milk and butter we can use. Why +should we toil for other people? We've money lying in the drawer, and +have no children to look after. So, wouldn't it be better to spare these +arms of ours, now that they are growing old? You will always find +something to occupy your time about the house;--there'll be no lack of +furniture and things to mend, and I'll be more than ever beside you with +my distaff and my knitting-needles.' + +Gudbrand bethought him that his wife was right, as usual, and so, as the +next morning was a beautiful one, he set off for the town, at an early +hour, with the cow he wanted to sell. But it was not market day, and he +found no purchaser to take the animal off his hands. + +'Well! well!' said Gudbrand, 'at all events, I can take Sukey back to +the place I brought her from; I've got hay and litter in plenty, there, +for the poor brute, and it's no farther returning than it was coming +hither.' Whereupon, he very quietly started again on the road to his +home. + +After walking on for a few hours, and just as he was beginning to feel a +little tired, he met a man leading a horse by the bridle toward the +town. The horse was in fine condition, and was all saddled and ready for +a rider. 'The way is long and night rapidly coming on,' thought +Gudbrand. 'I can hardly drag my cow along, and to-morrow I'll have to +take this same walk over again. Now, here's an animal that would suit me +a great deal better, and I'd go back home with him, as proud as a lord. +Who would be delighted to see her husband returning in triumph, like a +Roman general? Why, the wife of Gudbrand!' + +Upon this happy thought, Gudbrand stopped the trader and exchanged his +cow for the horse. + +Once mounted on the charger's back, our hero felt some qualms of regret, +for he was old and heavy, while the horse was young, frisky, and +headstrong, so that, in less than half an hour, behold, our would-be +cavalier was on foot again, vainly striving to drag along by the bridle +a creature that cocked up his head at every puff of wind, and capered +and pranced at every stone that lay in his path. + +'This is a poor bargain I've made,' thought Gudbrand, when, just at that +moment, he descried a peasant driving along a hog so fine and fat that +its stomach touched the ground. + +'A nail that is useful is better than a diamond that glitters and can be +turned to nothing, as my wife often says,' reflected Gudbrand; and, with +that, he traded off his horse for the hog. + +It was a bright idea to be sure, but our good man had counted without +his host. Don Porker was tired, and wouldn't budge an inch. Gudbrand +talked to him, coaxed him, swore at him, but all in vain; he dragged him +by the snout, he pushed him from behind, he whacked him on both his fat +sides with a cudgel, but it was only labor lost, and Mr. Hog remained +there in the middle of the dusty road like a stranded whale. The poor +farmer was yielding to despair, when, at the very nick of time, there +came along a country lad leading a she-goat, that, with an udder all +swollen with milk, skipped, ran, and played about, in a manner charming +to behold. + +'There! that's the very thing I want!' exclaimed Gudbrand. 'I'd far +rather have that gay, sprightly creature than this huge, stupid brute.' +Whereupon, without an instant's hesitation, he exchanged the hog for the +she-goat. + +All went well for another half-hour. The young madam with her long horns +greatly amused Gudbrand, who laughed at her pranks till his sides ached. +In fact, too, the goat pulled him along; but, when one is on the wrong +side of forty, one soon gets tired of scrambling over the rocks; and so +the farmer, happening to meet a shepherd feeding his flock, traded his +she-goat for a ewe. 'I'll have just as much milk,' mused he, 'from that +animal as from the other, and, at least, she will keep quiet, and not +worry either my wife or me.' + +Gudbrand was right, in one respect, for there is nothing more gentle +than a ewe. This one had no tricks; she neither capered nor butted with +her head, but she stood perfectly still and bleated all the time. +Finding herself separated from her companions, she wanted to rejoin +them, and the more Gudbrand tugged at her tether, the more piteously she +baaed. + +'Deuce take the silly brute!' shouted Gudbrand; 'she's as obstinate and +whimpering as my neighbor's wife. Who'll rid me of this bawling, +bellowing little beast? I must get clear of her, at any price.' + +'It's a bargain, if you choose, neighbor,' said a country fellow who was +just passing, with a fat goose under his arm. 'Here, take this fine +bird, instead; she's worth two of that ugly sheep that's going to split +its throat in less than an hour, anyhow.' + +'Done!' said Gudbrand; 'a live goose is as good as a dead ewe, any day;' +and so he took the goose in exchange. + +But it was no easy matter to manage his new bargain. The goose turned +out to be a very disagreeable companion; for, finding itself no longer +on the ground, it fought with its bill, its feet, and its wings, so that +Gudbrand was soon tired of struggling to hold it. + +'Pah!' growled he; 'the goose is an ugly, ill-grained creature, and my +wife never would have one about the house.' With this reflection, he +changed the goose, at the first farm-house he came to, for a fine +rooster of rich plumage and furnished with a grand pair of spurs. + +This time, he was thoroughly satisfied. The rooster, it is true, +squawked from time to time, in a voice rather too hoarse to gratify most +delicate ears; but as his claws had been tied together with twine and he +was carried head downwards, he finally gave up and resigned himself to +his fate. The only unpleasant circumstance now remaining was that the +day was rapidly drawing to a close. Gudbrand, who had started before +dawn, now found himself fasting, at sundown, without a farthing in his +pocket. He still had a long walk before him, and the good man felt that +his legs were giving out and that his stomach craved refreshment. Some +bold step must be taken; and so, at the first wayside tavern, Gudbrand +sold his rooster for a shilling, and as he had a raging appetite, he +spent the last doit of it for his supper. + +'After all,' said he, the while, 'what use would a rooster be to me, if +I had to die of hunger?' + +As he, at length, drew near his own dwelling, however, Gudbrand began to +meditate seriously on the curious turn things had taken with him, and, +before entering his home, he stopped at the door of Peter the Gray +beard, as a neighbor of his was called in the surrounding country. + +'Well, neighbor,' said Peter, 'how have you prospered in the town?' + +'Oh! so, so,' answered Gudbrand; 'I can't say that I've been very lucky, +nor have I much to complain of either;' and he went on to tell all that +had happened. + +'Neighbor, you've made a pretty mess of it!' said Peter the Graybeard; +'you'll have a nice time of it when you get home. Heaven protect you +from your dame! I wouldn't be in your shoes for ten crowns.' + +'Good!' rejoined Gudbrand of the Hill; 'things might have turned out +still worse for me; but, now, I'm quiet in my mind about it, for my wife +is so clever that, right or wrong, no matter what I've done, well or +ill, she'll not say one word about it.' + +'I hear and admire your statement, neighbor,' retorted Peter, 'but, with +all respect for you, I do not believe a word of it.' + +'Will you lay a wager on it?' said Gudbrand. 'I have a hundred crowns in +my drawer at home, and I'll bet twenty of them against as many from +you.' + +'Done, on the spot!' replied Peter. So, joining hands on it, the two +friends entered Gudbrand's house. Peter stood back at the door to hear +what the husband and wife would have to say. + +'Good evening, wife!' said Gudbrand. 'Good evening, husband,' said the +good woman; 'you've come back, then, God be praised! How did you fare +all day?' + +'Neither well nor ill,' replied Gudbrand. When I got to the town, I +could find no one there to buy our cow, and so I traded her off for a +horse.' + +'For a horse!' said the wife. 'An excellent idea, and I thank you with +all my heart. We can go to church, then, in a wagon, like plenty of +other folks who look down upon us, but are no better than we. If we +choose to keep a horse and can feed him, we have a right to do it, I +suppose, for we ask no odds of anybody. Where is the horse? We must put +him into the stable.' + +'I did not bring him all the way home,' answered Gudbrand, 'for, on the +road, I changed my mind; I exchanged the horse for a hog.' + +'Come, now,' said the wife, 'that's just what I'd have done, in your +place! Thanks, a hundred times over! Now, when my neighbors come to see +me, I'll have, like everybody else, a bite of ham to offer them. What +need had we of a horse? The folks around us would have said, "See the +saucy things! they think it beneath them to walk to church." Let us put +the hog in a pen!' + +'I didn't bring him with me,' said Gudbrand, 'for on the way I exchanged +him for a she-goat.' + +'Bravo!' said the good wife. 'What a sensible man you are! When I come +to think of it, what could I have done with a hog? The neighbors would +have pointed us out and have said, "Look at those people--all they make +they eat! But, with a she-goat, I shall have milk and cheese, not to +speak of the little kids. Come, let us put her into the stable." + +'I didn't bring the she-goat with me, either,' said Gudbrand; 'I traded +her again, for a ewe.' + +'There! That's just like you,' exclaimed the wife, with evident +satisfaction. 'It was for my sake that you did that. Am I young enough +to scamper, over hill and dale, after a she-goat? No, indeed. But, a ewe +will yield me her wool as well as her milk; so let us get her housed at +once.' + +'I didn't bring the ewe home, either,' stammered Gudbrand, once more, +'but swapped her for a goose.' + +'What? a goose! oh! thanks, thanks a thousand times, with all my +heart--for, after all, how could I have got along with the ewe? I have +neither card nor comb, and spinning is a heavy job, at best. When you've +spun, too, you have to cut and fit and sew. It's far easier to buy our +clothes ready-made, as we've always done. But a goose--a fat one, too, +no doubt--why, that's the very thing I want! I've need of down for our +quilt, and my mouth has watered this many a day for a bit of roast +goose. Put the bird in the poultry-coop.' + +'Ah! I've not brought the goose, for I took a rooster in his stead.' + +'Good husband!' said the wife, 'you're wiser than I would have been. A +rooster! splendid!--why, a rooster's better than an eight-day clock. The +rooster will crow every morning, at four, and tell us when it is time to +pray to God and set about our work. What would we have done with a +goose? I don't know how to cook one, and as for the quilt, Heaven be +praised, there's no lack of moss a great deal softer than down. So, let +us put the rooster in the corn-yard!' + +'I have not brought even the rooster,' murmured Gudbrand, 'for, at +sundown, I felt very hungry, and had to sell my rooster for a shilling +to buy something to eat. If it hadn't been for that I must have starved +to death.' + +'God be thanked for giving you that lucky thought,' replied the wife. +'All that you do, Gudbrand, is just after my own heart. What need we of +a rooster? We are our own masters, I think; there is no one to give us +orders, and we can stay in bed just as long as we please. Here you are, +my dear husband, safe and sound. I am perfectly satisfied, and have need +of nothing more than your presence to make me happy.' + +Upon this, Gudbrand opened the door;--'Well! neighbor Peter, what do you +say to that? Go, now, and bring me your twenty crowns!' So saying, +Gudbrand hugged and kissed his wife with as much fervor and heartiness +as though he and she had just been wedded, in the bloom of youth. + + +PART III. + +But the narrative does not end with the events described in the last +chapter. There is a reverse to every medal, and even daylight would not +be so charming were it not followed by night. However good and perfect +woman may, generally, be, there are some who by no means share the easy +disposition of Gudbrand's better half. Need I say that the fault is, +usually, in the husband? If he were only to yield, on all occasions, +would he be troubled? Yield? exclaim some fierce moustachioed +individuals. Yes, indeed, yield, or hear the penalty that awaits you. + + +PART IV. + +PETER THE GRAYBEARD. + + +Peter the Graybeard did not at all resemble Gudbrand. He was +self-willed, imperious, passionate, and had no more patience than a dog +when you snatch away his bone or a cat when you're trying to strangle +her. He would have been insufferable, had not Heaven, in its mercy, +given him a wife who was a match for him. She was headstrong, +quarrelsome, discontented and morose--always ready to keep quiet when +her husband preserved silence, and just as ready to scream at the top of +her voice the moment he opened his mouth. + +It was great good fortune for Peter to have such a spouse. Without her, +would he ever have known that patience is not the merit of fools? + +One day, in the mowing Season, when he came home, after a fifteen hours' +spell of hard work, in worse humor than usual, and was swearing, cursing +and execrating all women and their laziness, because his soup was not +yet ready for him, his wife exclaimed,-- + +'Good Lord! Peter, you talk away at a fine rate. Would you like to +change places? To-morrow, I will mow, instead of you, and you stay at +home here and play housekeeper. Then, we'll see which of us will have +the hardest task and come out of it the best.' + +'Agreed!' thundered Peter; 'you'll have a chance to find out, once for +all, what a poor husband has to suffer. The trial will teach you a +lesson of respect--something you greatly need.' + +So, the next morning, at day-break, the wife set out afield with the +rake over her shoulder and the sickle by her side, all joyous at the +sight of the bright sunshine, and singing like a lark. + +Now, who felt not a little surprised, and a little foolish too, to find +himself shut up at home? Our friend Peter the Graybeard. Still, he +wasn't going to own himself beaten, but fell to work churning butter, as +though he had never done anything else all the days of his life. + +It's no hard matter to get over-heated when one takes up a new trade, +and Peter soon, feeling very dry, went down into the cellar to draw a +mug of beer from the cask. He had just knocked out the bung and was +applying the spigot, when he heard an ominous crunching and grunting +overhead. It was the sow, devastating the kitchen. + +'Oh Lord! my butter's lost!' yelled Peter the Graybeard, as he rushed +pell-mell up the steps, with the spigot in his hand. What a spectacle +was there! the churn upset, the cream spilt all over the floor, and the +huge sow fairly wallowing in the rich and savory tide. + +Now even a wiser man would have lost all patience; as for Peter, he +rushed upon the brute, who, with piercing screams, strove to escape; but +it was a hapless day to the thief, for her master caught her in the +doorway and dealt her so well applied and vigorous a blow on the side of +her skull with the spigot that the sow fell dead on the spot. + +As he drew back his novel weapon, now covered with blood, Peter +recollected that he had not closed the bung-hole of his cask, and that +all this time his beer was running to waste. So down he rushed again to +the cellar. Fortunately, the beer had ceased to run, but then that was +because not a drop remained in the cask. + +He had now to begin his morning's work again, and churn some more butter +if he expected to see any dinner that day. So Peter visited the +dairy-house, and there found enough cream to replaced what he had just +lost. At it he goes again, and churns and churns away, more vigorously +than ever. But, in the midst of his churning, he remembers--a little +late to be sure, but better late than never--that the cow was still in +the stable, and that she had neither food nor water, although the sun +was now high above the horizon. Away he runs then to the stable. But +experience has made him wise: 'I've my little child there rolling on the +floor; now, if I leave the churn, the greedy scamp will turn it over, +and something worse might easily happen!' Whereupon, he takes up the +churn on his back and hastens to the well to draw water for the cow. The +well was deep, and the buckets did not go down far enough. So Peter +leans with all his might, in hot haste, on the rope, and away goes the +cream out of the churn, over his head and shoulders, into the well! + +'Confound it!' said Peter between his teeth, 'it's clear that I'm to +have no butter to-day. Let's attend to the cow; it's too late to take +her out to pasture, but there's a fine lot of hay on the house-thatch +that hasn't been cut, and so she'll lose nothing by staying at home.' To +get the cow out of the stable and to put her on the house-roof was no +great trouble, for the dwelling was set in a hollow in the hill-side, so +that the thatch was almost on a level with the ground. A plank served +the purpose of a bridge, and behold the cow comfortably installed in her +elevated pasture! Peter, of course, could not remain upon the roof to +watch the animal; he had to make the mid-day porridge and take it to the +mowers. But he was a prudent man, and did not want to leave his cow +exposed to the risk of breaking her bones; so he tied a small rope +around her neck, and this rope he passed carefully down the chimney of +the cottage into the kitchen below. Having effected this, he descended +himself, and, entering the kitchen, attached the other end of the rope +to his own leg. + +'In this way,' said he, 'I make sure that the cow will keep quiet, and +that nothing bad can happen to her.' + +He now filled the kettle, dropped into it a good 'lump' of lard, the +necessary vegetables and condiments, placed it on the well-piled fagots, +struck fire with flint and steel, and was applying the match to the +wood, blowing it well the while, when, all at once, crish--crash! away +goes the cow, slipping down over the roof, and dragging our good man, +with one leg in the air and head downwards, clear up the chimney. What +would have become of him, no one could tell, had not a thick bar of iron +arrested his upward flight. And now there they are, both together, +dangling in the air, the cow outside and Peter within; both, too, +uttering the most frightful cries of distress. + +As good luck would have it, the wife was just as impatient as her +husband, and, when she had waited just three seconds to see whether +Peter would bring her porridge at the stated time, she darted off for +the house as though it were on fire. When she saw the cow swinging +between heaven and earth, she drew her sickle and cut the rope, greatly +to the delight of the poor brute, who now found herself safe again, on +the only sort of floor she liked. It was a chance no less fortunate for +Peter, who was not accustomed to gazing at the sky with his feet in the +air. But he fell smack into the kettle, head foremost. It had been +decreed, however, that all should come out right with him, that day; the +fire had died out, the water was cold, and the kettle awry, so that he +got off with nothing worse than a scratched forehead, a peeled nose, and +two well scraped cheeks, and, thank Heaven! nothing was broken but the +saucepan. + +When his better half entered the kitchen, she found Master Graybeard +looking very sheepish and bloody. + +'Well! well!' said she, planting her arms akimbo and her two fists on +her haunches: 'who's the best housekeeper, pray? I have mowed and +reaped, and here I am as good as I was yesterday, while you, _you_, +Mister Cook, Mister Stay-at-home, Mr. Nurse, where is the butter, +where's the sow, where's the cow, and where's our dinner? If our little +one's alive yet, no thanks to you. Poor little fellow!--what would +become of it without kind and careful mamma?' + +Whereupon, Mrs. Peter begins to snivel and sob. Indeed, she has need to, +for is not sensibility woman's field of triumph, and are not tears the +triumph of sensibility? + +Peter bore the storm in silence, and did well, for resignation is the +virtue of great souls! + + +PART V. + +There, you have my story exactly as it is related, on winter evenings, +to impress ideas of wisdom on the minds of the young Norwegians. Between +the wife of Gudbrand and the wife of Peter the Graybeard they must +choose, at their own risk and peril. + +'The choice is an easy one,' says an amiable lady-friend of mine, who +has just become a grandmother. 'Gudbrand's wife is the one to imitate, +not only on account of her prudence, but for her worth. You men are much +more amusing than you fancy: when your own self-esteem is at stake, you +love truth and justice about as much as bats love a glare of light. The +greatest enjoyment these gentlemen experience is in pardoning us when +they are guilty, and in generously offering to overlook our errors when +they alone are in the wrong. The wisest thing we can do is to let them +talk, and to pretend to believe them. That is the way to tame these +proud, magnificent creatures, and, by pursuing the plan perseveringly, +one may lead them about by the nose, like Italian oxen. + +'But, aunty,' says a fair young thing beside us, 'one can't keep quiet +all the time. Not to yield when you're not in the wrong, is a right.' + +'And when you're wrong, my dear niece, to yield is a royal pleasure. +What woman ever abandoned this exalted privilege? We are all somewhat +akin to that amiable lady who, when all other arguments had been +exhausted, crushed her husband with a magnificent look, as she said,-- + +'"Sir, I give you my word of honor that I am in the right." + +'What could he reply? Can one contradict the veracity of one's own wife? +And what is strength fit for if not to yield to weakness? The poor +husband hung his head, and did not utter another word. But to keep still +is not to acknowledge defeat, and _silence is not peace_!' + +'Madame,' says a young married woman, 'it seems to me that there is no +choice left; when a woman loves her husband all is easy; it is a +pleasure to think and act as he does.' + +'Yes, my child, that is the secret of the comedy. Every one knows it, +but no one avails herself of it. So long as even the last glow of the +honey-moon illuminates the chamber of a young couple, all goes along of +itself. So long as the husband hastens to anticipate every wish, we have +merit and sense enough to let him do it. But at a later moment, the +scene changes. How, then, are we to retain our sway? Youth and beauty +decay, and the charm of wit and intelligence is not sufficient. In order +to remain mistresses of our homes, we must practice the most divine of +all the virtues--gentleness--a blind, dumb, deaf gentleness of demeanor, +that pardons everything for the sake of pardoning.' + +To love a great deal,--to love unconditionally, so as to be loved a +little in return,--that is the whole moral of the story of Gudbrand. + + * * * * * + +THE HUGUENOT FAMILIES IN AMERICA. + +II. + + +The brave Admiral Coligny first conceived the plan of a colony in +America for the safety of his persecuted Huguenot brethren of France. +Such an enterprise was undertaken as early as the year 1555, with two +vessels, having on board mechanics, laborers, and gentlemen, and a few +ministers of the Reformed faith. They entered the great river which the +Portuguese had already named _Rio Janeiro_, and built a fort, calling it +'Coligny.' Here they sought a new country, where they might adore God in +freedom. Unforeseen difficulties, however, discouraged these bold +Frenchmen, and the pious expedition failed, some dispersing in different +directions, while others regained the shores of France with great +difficulty. A second attempt was also unsuccessful. Coligny, in 1562, +obtained permission from Charles IX. to found a Protestant colony in +Florida. Two ships left Dieppe with emigrants, and, reaching the +American shores, entered a large, deep river called _Port Royal_, which +name it still retains, and is, by coincidence, the spot recently +captured by the United States forces.[F] Fort Charles, in honor of the +reigning king of France, was built near by, and in a fertile land of +flowers, fruits, and singing birds. The country itself was called +_Carolina_. Reduced to the most cruel extremities of famine and death, +the remaining colonists returned to Europe. + +Still undismayed by these two disastrous attempts, Coligny, the Huguenot +leader, dispatched a third expedition of three vessels to our shores, +making another attempt near the mouth of the St. John's River (Fort +Caroline). Philip II. was then on the throne, and would not brook the +heresy of the Huguenots, or Calvinism, in his American provinces. +Priests, soldiers, and Jesuits were dispatched to Florida, where the new +settlers, 'Frenchmen and Lutherans,' were destroyed in blood. Such was +the melancholy issue of the earliest attempts to establish a Huguenot or +Protestant settlement in North America. And nearly one hundred years +before it was occupied by the English, Carolina, for an instant, as it +were, was occupied by a band of Christian colonists, but, through the +remorseless spirit of religious persecution, again fell under the +dominion of the uncivilized savages. We refer to these earliest efforts +as proper to the general historical connection of our subject, although +not absolutely necessary to its investigation. + +At the commencement of the seventeenth century, England, on her own +behalf, took up the generous plans of Coligny. Possessing twelve +colonies in America, when the edict of Nantes was revoked, that nation +resolved here to offer peaceful homes to persecuted Huguenots from +France. This mercy she had extended to them in England and Ireland; now +her inviting American colonies were thrown open for the same generous +purpose. Even before that insane and fatal measure of Louis XIV., the +Revocation, and especially after the fall of brave La Rochelle, numerous +Protestant fugitives, mostly from the western provinces of France, had +already emigrated, for safety, to British America. In 1662 the French +government made it a crime for the ship-owners of Rochelle to convey +emigrants to any country or dependency of Great Britain. The fine for +such an offence was ten livres to the king, nine hundred for charitable +objects, three hundred to the palace chapel, one hundred for prisoners, +and five hundred to the mendicant monks. One sea-captain, Brunet, was +accused of having favored the escape of thirty-six young men, and +condemned to return them within a year, or to furnish a legal +certificate of their death, on pain of one thousand livres, with +exemplary punishment.[G] It is imagined that these young voluntary +Huguenot exiles emigrated to Massachusetts, from the fact that the same +year when this strange cause was tried in France, Jean Touton, a French +doctor, requested from the authorities of that colony the privilege of +sojourning there. This favor was immediately granted; and from that +period _Boston_ possessed establishments formed by Huguenots, which +attracted new emigrants. + +In 1679, Elie Nean, the head of an eminent family from the principality +of Soubise, in Saintonge, reached that city. This refugee, sailing +afterwards in his own merchant vessel for the island of Jamaica, was +captured by a privateer, carried back to France, confined in the +galleys, and only restored to his liberty through the intercession of +Lord Portland. + +One of the first acts of the Boston Huguenots was to settle a minister, +giving him forty pounds a year, and increasing his salary afterwards. +Surrounded by the savages on every side, they erected a fort, the traces +of which, it is said, can still be seen, and now overgrown with roses, +currant bushes, and other shrubbery. Mrs. Sigourney, herself the wife of +a Huguenot descendant, during a visit to this time-honored spot, wrote +the beautiful lines,-- + + 'Green vine, that mantlest in thy fresh embrace + Yon old gray rock, I hear that thou with them + Didst brave the ocean surge. + Say, drank thus from + The dews of Languedoc? or slow uncoiled + An infant fibre 'mid the faithful mold + Of smiling Roussillon? Didst thou shrink + From the fierce footsteps of fighting unto death + At fair Rochelle? + Hast thou no tale for me?' + +Their fort did not render the French settlers safe from the murderous +assaults of savage enemies. A.W. Johnson, with his three children, were +massacred here by them; his wife was a sister of Mr. Andrew Sigourney, +one of the earliest Huguenots. After this murderous attack the French +Protestants deserted their forest home, repairing to Boston in 1696, +where vestiges of their industry and agricultural taste long remained; +to this day many of the pears retain their French names, and the region +is celebrated for its excellence and variety of this delicious fruit. +The Huguenots erected a church at Boston in 1686, and ten years +afterwards received as pastor a refugee minister from France, named +Diaillé.[H] The Rev. M. Lawrie is also mentioned as one of their +pastors. But from official records we learn more of the Rev. Daniel +Boudet, A.M. He was a native of France, born in 1652, and studied +theology at Geneva. On the revocation, he fled to England, receiving +holy orders from the Lord Bishop of London. In the summer of 1686 he +accompanied the Huguenot emigrants to Massachusetts; and Cotton Mather +speaks of him as a faithful minister 'to the French congregation at New +Oxford, in the _Nipmog_ (Indian) counties.' This was New Oxford, near +Boston. He labored for eight years, 'propagating the Christian faith,' +both among the French and the Indians. He complains, as we do in our +day, of the progress of the sale of rum among the savages,'_without +order or measure_' (July 6, 1691). We shall learn more of him at New +Rochelle, where he removed, probably, in 1695, and could preach to both +English and French emigrants. Soon after the revocation of the Edict of +Nantes, Joseph Dudley, with other proprietors, introduced into +Massachusetts thirty French Protestant families, settling them on the +easternmost part of the 'Oxford tract.'[I] + +Massachusetts, peopled in part by the rigid Protestant Dissenters, +naturally favored these new victims, persecuted by a church still more +odious to them than that of England. Their sympathies were deeply +excited by the arrival of the French exiles. The destitute were +liberally relieved, the towns of Massachusetts making collections for +this purpose, and also furnishing them with large tracts of land to +cultivate. In 1686 the colony at Oxford thus received a noble grant of +11,000 acres; and other provinces followed the liberal example. Every +traveler through New England has seen 'Faneuil Hall,' which has been +called the 'Cradle of Liberty,' and where so many assemblages for the +general good have been held. This noble edifice was presented to Boston, +for patriotic purposes, by the son of a Huguenot. + +Much of our knowledge concerning the Huguenots of New York has been +obtained from the documentary papers at Albany. Some of the families, +before the revocation, as early as the year 1625, reached the spot where +the great metropolis now stands, then a Dutch settlement. The first +birth in New Amsterdam, of European parents, was a daughter of George +Jansen de Rapelje, of a Huguenot family which fled to Holland after the +St. Bartholomew's massacre, and thence sailed for America. Her name was +Sarah. Her father was a Walloon from the confines of France and Belgium, +and settling on Long Island, at the _Waal-bogt_, or Walloon's Bay, +became the father of that settlement. In 1639 his brother, Antonie +Jansen de Rapelje, obtained a grant of one hundred 'morgens,' or nearly +two hundred acres of land, opposite Coney Island, and commenced the +settlement of Gravesend. Here most numerous and respectable descendants +of this Walloon are met with to this day. Jansen de Rapelje, as he was +called, was a man of gigantic strength and stature, and reputed to be a +Moor by birth. This report, probably, arose from his adjunct of _De +Salee_, the name under which his patent was granted; but it was a +mistake; he was a native Walloon, and this suffix to his name, we doubt +not, was derived from the river Saale, in France, and not Salee, or Fez, +the old piratical town of Morocco. For many years after the Dutch +dynasty, his farm at Gravesend continued to be known as Anthony Jansen's +Bowery. The third brother of this family, William Jansen de Rapelje, was +among the earliest settlers of Long Island and founders of Brooklyn. +Singularly, the descendants of _Antonie_ have dropped the Rapelje, and +retained the name of Jansen, or Johnson, as they are more commonly +called. On the contrary, George's family have left off Jansen, and are +now known as Rapelje or Rapelyea. + +Most of the Huguenots who went to Ulster, N.Y., at first sought +deliverance from persecutions among the Germans, and thence sailed for +America. Ascending the Hudson, these emigrants landed at Wiltonyck, now +Kingston, and were welcomed by the Hollanders, who had prepared the way +in this wilderness for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. +Here was a Reformed Dutch church, and Hermanus Blomm, its pastor, +commissioned by the Classis of Amsterdam to preach 'both on water and on +the land, and in all the neighborhood, but principally in _Esopus_.' +This region, selected by the French Protestants for their future land, +was like their own delightful native France for great natural beauties. +Towards the east and west flowed the waters of the noble ever-rolling +Hudson, while on the north the Shamangunk Mountains, the loftiest of our +Fishkill monarchs, looked like pillars upon which the arch of heaven +there rested. No streams can charm the eye more than those which enrich +this region,--the Rosendale, far from the interior, the Walkill, with +its rapid little falls, 'the foaming, rushing, warsteed-like' Esopus +Creek, with the dashing, romantic Saugerties, fresh from the +mountain-side. Both the Dutch and the French emigrants followed these +beautiful rivers towards the south, and made their earliest settlements +there. On these quiet and retired banks their ashes repose. Hallowed be +their memories, virtues, and piety! In those regions thousands of their +descendants now enjoy the rich and glorious patrimony which have +followed their industry and frugality. + +In the year 1663, the savages attacked Kingston and massacred a part of +its inhabitants, slaying twenty-four, and took forty-five prisoners. +The dominie, Blomin, escaped, and has left a description of the tragical +event.[J] 'There lay,' he writes, 'the burnt and slaughtered bodies, +together with those wounded by bullets and axes. The last agonies and +the moans and lamentations were dreadful to hear.... The houses were +converted into heaps of stones, so that I might say with Micah, "We are +made desolate;" and with Jeremiah, "A piteous wail may go forth in his +distress." With Paul I say, "Brothers, pray for us." I have every +evening, during a whole month, offered up prayers with the congregation, +on the four points of our fort, under the blue sky.... Many heathen have +been slain, and full twenty-two of our people have been delivered out of +their hands by our arms. The Lord our God will again bless our arms, and +grant that the foxes who have endeavored to lay waste the vineyard of +the Lord shall be destroyed.' + +Among the prisoners were Catharine Le Fever, the wife of Louis Dubois, +with three of their children. These were Huguenots; and a friendly +Indian gave information where they could be found. The pursuers were +directed to follow the Rondout, the Walkill, and then a third stream; +and a small, bold band, with their knapsacks, rifles, and dogs, +undertook the perilous journey. Towards evening, Dubois, in advance of +the party, discovered the Indians within a few feet of him, and one was +in the act of drawing his bow, but, missing its string, from fear or +surprise, the Huguenot sprang forward and killed him with his sword, but +without any alarm. The party then resolved to delay the attack until +dark; at which hour the savages were preparing for slaughter one of +their unfortunate captives, which was none other than the missing wife +of Dubois himself. She had already been placed upon the funeral pile, +and at this trying moment was singing a martyr's psalm, the strains of +which had often cheered the pious Huguenots in days of the rack and +bloody trials. The sacred notes moved the Indians, and they made signs +to continue them, which she did, fortunately, until the approach of her +deliverers. 'White man's dogs! white man's dogs!' was the first cry +which alarmed the cruel foes. They fled instantly, taking their +prisoners with them. Dubois calling his wife by name, she was soon +restored to her anxious friends, with the other captives. At the moment +of their rescue, the prisoners were preparing for the bloody sacrifice +to savage cruelty, and singing the beautiful psalm of the 'Babylonish +Captives.' Heaven heard those strains, and the deliverance came. During +this fearful expedition the Ulster Huguenots first discovered the rich +lowlands of Paltz. + +This was the section which they selected for their homes, distant some +eighty-five miles from New York, along the west shores of the Hudson, +and extending from six to ten miles in the interior. It was called _New +Paltz_, and its patent obtained from Gov. Andreas; twelve of their +brethren were religiously selected by the emigrants as the _Patentees_, +and known by the appellation of the '_Duzine_,' or the twelve patentees, +and these were regarded as the patriarchs in this little Christian +community. A list of the original purchasers has been preserved, and +were as follows: Louis Dubois, Christian Dian, since Walter Deyo, +Abraham Asbroucq, now spelt Hasbrouck, Andros Le Fever, often Le Febre +and Le Febore, John Brook, said to have been changed into Hasbrouck, +Peter Dian, or Deyo, Louis Bevier, Anthony Cuspell, Abraham Du Bois, +Hugo Freir, Isaac Dubois, Simon Le Fever. + +A copy of this agreement with the Indians still exists, and the +antiquarian may find it among the State records at Albany. It is a +curious document, with the signatures of both parties, the patentees' +written in the antique French character, with the hieroglyphic marks of +the Indians. A few Indian goods--kettles, axes, beads, bars of lead, +powder, casks of wine, blankets, needles, awls, and a 'clean +pipe'--were the insignificant articles given, about two centuries ago, +for these lands, now proverbially rich, and worth millions of dollars. +The treaty was mutually executed, according to the records from which we +quote, on the 20th of May, 1677. + +The patentees immediately took possession of their newly-acquired +property, their first conveyances being three wagons, which would be +rare curiosities in our day. The wheels were very low, shaped like +old-fashioned spinning-wheels, with short spokes, wide rim, and without +any iron. The settlers were three days on their way from Kingston to New +Paltz, a distance of only sixteen miles. The place of their first +encampment is still known by the name of '_Tri Cor_,' or three cars, in +honor of these earliest conveyances. Soon, however, they selected a more +elevated site, on the banks of the beautiful Walkill, where the village +now stands. Log houses were erected not far apart, for mutual defence, +and afterwards stone edifices, with port-holes, some of which still +remain. + + * * * * * + +MACCARONI AND CANVAS. + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Rome is the cradle of art,--which accounts for its sleeping there. + +Nature, however, is nowhere more wide awake than it is in and around +this city: therefore, Mr. James Caper, animal painter, determined to +repose there for several months. + +The following sketches correctly describe his Roman life. + + +ARRIVAL IN ROME. + +It was on an Autumn night that the traveling carriage in which sat James +Caper arrived in Rome; and as he drove through that fine street, the +Corso, he saw coming towards him a two-horse open carriage, filled with +Roman girls of the working class (_minenti_). Dressed in their +picturesque costumes, bonnetless, their black hair tressed with flowers, +they stood up, waving torches, and singing in full voice one of those +songs in which you can go but few feet, metrically speaking, without +meeting _amore_. And then another and another carriage, with flashing +torches and sparkling-eyed girls. It was one of the turnouts of the +_minenti_; they had been to Monte Testaccio, had drank all the wine they +could pay for; and, with a prudence our friend Caper could not +sufficiently admire, he noticed that the women were in separate +carriages from the men. It was the Feast Day of Saint Crispin, and all +the cobblers, or artists in leather, as they call themselves, were +keeping it up bravely. + +'Eight days to make a pair of shoes?' he once asked a shoemaker. 'Si, +Signore, there are three holidays in that time.' Argument unanswerable. + +As the carriages rolled by, Caper determined to observe the festivals. + +The next day our artist entered his name in his banker's register, and +had the horror of seeing it mangled to 'Jams Scraper' in the list of +arrivals published in the _Giornale di Roma_. For some time after his +arrival in Rome, he was pained to receive cards, circulars, notices, +letters, advertisements, etc., from divers tradesmen, all directed to +the above name. In revenge, he here gives them a public airing. One firm +announces,-- + +'Manafactury of Remain Seltings, Mosaļques, Cameas, Medalls, Erasofines, +&c.' (Erasofines is the Roman-English for crucifixes.) And on a slip of +paper, handsomely printed, is an announcement that they make 'Romain +Perles of all Couloueurs'--there's color for you! + +A tailor, under the head of '_Ici un parle Franēais_,' prints, 'Merchant +_and_ tailor. Cloths (clothes?) Reddy maid, Mercery Roman; Scarfs, etc.' + +Another, 'Roman Artickles Manofactorer'--hopes to be 'honnoured with our +Custom, (American?), and flaters himsself we will find things to our +likings.' Everything but the English, you know--that is not exactly to +our liking. Another, from a lady, reads,-- + +_A VENTRE!_ + +_une Galérie decomposée de 300 d'Anciens Maitres, et de l'école romaine +peintres sur bois, sur cuivre et sur toit, &c._ + +_Ventre_ for _Vendre_ is bad enough, but a 'gallery of decomposed old +masters and of Roman school painters on wood and on the roof,' when it +was intended to say 'A gallery composed of 300 of the old masters--' But +let us leave it untranslated; it is already _decomposée_. + + +A SHORT WALK. + +Mr. Caper having indignantly rejected the services of all professors of +the guiding art or 'commissionaires,' slowly sauntered out of his hotel +the morning after his arrival, and, map in hand, made his way to the +tower on the Capitoline Hill. Threading several narrow, dirty streets, +he at last went through one where in one spot there was such a heap of +garbage and broccoli stumps that he raised his eyes to see how high up +it reached against the walls of a palace; and there read, in black +letters, + +_Immondezzaio_; + +literally translated, A Place for Dirt. On the opposite wall, which was +the side of a church, he saw a number of black placards on which were +large white skulls and crossbones, and while examining these, a +bare-headed, brown-bearded, stout Franciscan monk passed him. From a +passing glance, Caper saw he looked good-natured, and so, hailing him, +asked why the skulls and bones were pasted there. + +'Who knows?' answered the monk. 'I came this morning from the Campagna; +this is the first time in all my life I have been in this magnificent +city.' + +'Can you tell me what that word means up there?' said Caper, pointing to +_immondezzaio_. + +'Signore, I can not read.' + +'Perhaps it is the name of the street, maybe of the city?' + +'It must be so,' answered the priest, 'unless it's a sign of a lottery +office, or a caution against blasphemy up and down the pavement. Those +are the only signs we have in the country, except the government salt +and cigar shops.' ... He took a snuff-box from a pocket in his sleeve, +and with a bow offered a pinch to Mr. Caper. This accepted, they bid +each other profoundly farewell. + +'There goes a brick!' remarked the traveler. + +Arrived at the entrance-door to the tower of the Capitoline Hill, James +Caper first felt in one pocket for a silver piece and in the other for a +match-box, and finding them both there, rang the bell, and then mounted +to the top of the tower. Lighting a _zigarro scelto_ or papal cigar, he +leaned on both elbows on the parapet, and gazed long and fixedly over +the seven-hilled city. + +'And this,' soliloquized he, _is_ Rome. Many a day have I been kept in +school without my dinner because I was not able to parse thee idly by, +_Roma_--Rome--noun of the first declension, feminine gender, that a +quarter of a century ago caused me punishment, I have thee now literally +under foot, and (knocking his cigar) throw ashes on thy head. + +'My mission in this great city is not that of a picture-peddler or art +student. I come to investigate the eating, drinking, sleeping +arrangements of the Eternal City--its wine more than its vinegar, its +pretty girls more than its galleries, its _cafés_ more than its +churches. I see from here that I have a fine field to work in. Down +there, clambering over the fallen ruins of the Palace of the Cęsars, is +a donkey. Could one have a finer opportunity to see in this a moral and +twist a tail? From those fallen stones, Memory-glorious old +architect--rears a fabric wondrously beautiful; peoples it with eidolons +white and purple-robed, and gleaming jewel-gemmed; or, iron armed, +glistening with flashing light from polished steel--heroes and slaves, +conquerors and conquered; my blood no longer flows to the slow, jerking +measure of a nineteenth-century piece of mechanism, but freely, fully, +and completely. Hurrah, my blood is up! dark, liquid eyes; black, +flowing locks; strange, pleasing perfumes are around me. There is a rush +as of a strong south wind through a myriad of floating banners, and I am +borne onward through triumphal arches, past pillared temples, under the +walls of shining palaces, into the Coliseum.... + +'Pray, and can you tell me--if that pile of d----d old rubbish--down +there, you know--is the Forum--for I do not--see it in Murray--though +I'm sure--I have looked very clearly--and Murray you know--has +everything down in him--that a traveler.... + +'A commercial traveler?' ... interrupted Mr. Caper, speaking slowly, and +looking coolly into the eyes of the blackguard Bagman.... 'The ruins you +see there are those of the Forum. Good morning.' + + +MODERN ART. + +'Lucrezia Borgia at the Tomb of Don Giovanni! You see,' said the artist, +'I have chosen a good name for my painting, ... and it's a great point +gained. Forty or fifty years ago, some of those fluffy old painters +would have had Venus worshiping at the shrine of Bacchus.' + +'Whereas, you think it would be more appropriate for her to worship +Giove?' ... asked Capar. + +'No _sir_!... I run dead against classic art: it's a drug. I tried my +hand at it when I first came to Rome. Will you believe me, I never sold +a picture. Why that very painting'--pointing to the Borgia--'is on a +canvas on which I commenced The Subjugation of Adonis.' + +'H'm! You find the class of Middle Age subjects most salable then?' + +'I should think I did. Something with brilliant colors, stained glass +windows, armor, and all that, sells well. The only trouble is, +ultramarine costs dear, although Dovizzelli's is good and goes a great +ways. I sold a picture to an Ohio man last week for two hundred dollars, +and it is a positive fact there was twenty _scudi_ (dollars) worth of +blue in it. But the infernal Italians spoil trade here. Why, that fellow +who paints Guide's Speranzas up there at San Pietro in Vineulo is as +smart as a Yankee. He has found out that Americans from Rhode Island +take to the Speranza, because Hope is the motto of their State, and he +turns out copies hand over fist. He has a stencil plate of the face, and +three or four fellows to paint for him; one does the features of the +face, another the hand, and another rushes in the background. Why, sir, +those paintings can be sold for five _scudi_, and money made on them at +that. But then what are they? Wretched daubs not worth house-room. Have +you any thoughts of purchasing paintings?' + +Caper smiled gently.... 'I had not when I first came to Rome, but how +long I may continue to think so is doubtful. The temptations' (glancing +at the Borgia) 'are very great.' ... + +'Rome,' ... interrupted the artist, ... 'is the cradle of art.' + + +A ROOM HUNT. + +Caper, on his first arrival in Home, went to the Hotel Europe, in the +Piazza di Spagna. There for two weeks he lived like a _milordo_. He +formed many acquaintances among the resident colony of American artists, +and was received by them with much kindness. Some of the mercenary ones +of their number, having formed the opinion that he came there to buy +paintings, ignorant of his profession, were excessively polite;--but +their offers of services were declined. When Caper finally moved to +private lodgings in Babuino Street and opened a studio, hope for a +season bade these salesmen all farewell; they groaned, and owned that +they had tried but could not sell. + +Among the acquaintances formed by Caper, was a French artist named +Rocjean. Born in France, he had passed eight or ten years in the United +States, learned to speak English very well, and was residing in Rome 'to +perfect himself as an artist.' He had, when Caper first met him, been +there two years. In all this time he had never entered the Vatican, and +having been told that Michael Angelo's Last Judgment was found to have a +flaw in it, he had been waiting for repairs before passing his opinion +thereon. On the other hand, he had studied the Roman _plebe_, the +people, with all his might. He knew how they slept, eat, drank, loved, +made their little economies, clothed themselves, and, above all, how +they blackguarded each other. When Caper mentioned to him that he wished +to leave his hotel, take a studio and private lodgings, then Rocjean +expanded from an old owl into a spread eagle. Hurriedly taking Caper by +the arm, he rushed him from one end of Rome to the other, up one +staircase and down another; until, at last, finding out that Rocjean +invariably presented him to fat, fair, jolly-looking landladies +(_padrone_), with the remark, 'Signora, the Signor is an Englishman and +very wealthy,' he began to believe that something was wrong. But Rocjean +assured him that it was not--that, as in Paris, it was Madame who +attended to renting rooms, so it was the _padrona_ in Rome, and that the +remark, 'he is an Englishman, and very wealthy,' were synonymous, and +always went together. 'If I were to tell them you were an American it +would do just as well--in fact, better, but for one thing, and that is, +you would be swindled twice as much. The expression "and very wealthy," +attached to the name of an Englishman, is only a delicate piece of +flattery, for the majority of the present race of traveling English are +by no means lavish in their expenditures or very wealthy. In taking you +to see all these pretty women, I have undoubtedly given you pleasure, at +the same time I have gratified a little innocent curiosity of mine:--but +then the chance is such a good one! We will now visit the Countess ----, +for she has a very desirable apartment to let; after which we will +proceed seriously to take rooms with a home-ly view.' + +The Countess ---- was a very lovely woman, consequently Caper was +fascinated with the apartment, and told her he would reflect over it. + +'Right,' said Rocjean, after they had left; 'better reflect over it than +in it--as the enormous draught up chimney would in a short time compel +you to.' + +'How so?' + +'I have a German friend who has rooms there. He tells me that a cord of +firewood lasts about long enough to warm one side of him; when he turns +to warm the other it is gone. He has lived there three years reflecting +over this; the Countess occasionally condoles with him over the draught +of that chimney.' + +'H'm! Let us go to the homely: better a drawn sword than a draught.' + +They found a homely landlady with neat rooms in the via Babuino, and +having bargained for them for twelve _scudi_ a month, their labors were +over. + + +MACCARONICAL. + +There was, when Caper first came to Rome, an eating-house, nearly +opposite the fountain Trevi, called the Gabioni. It was underground,--in +fact, a series of cellars, popularly conjectured to have been part of +the catacombs. In one of these cellars, resembling with its arched roof +a tunnel, the ceiling so low that you could touch the apex of the round +arch with your hand, every afternoon in autumn and winter, between the +hours of five and six, there assembled, by mutual consent, eight or ten +artists. The table at which they sat would hold no more, and they did +not want it to. Two waiters attended them, Giovanni for food, Santi for +wine and cigars. The long-stemmed Roman lamps of burnished brass, the +bowl that held the oil and wicks resembling the united prows of four +vessels, shedding their light on the white cloth and white walls, made +the old place cheerful. The white and red wine in the thin glass flasks +gleamed brightly, and the food was well cooked and wholesome. Here in +early winter came the sellers of 'sweet olives,' as they called them, +and for two or three cents (_baiocchi_) you could buy a plateful. These +olives were green, and, having been soaked in lime-water, the bitter +taste was taken from them, and they had the flavor of almonds. + +But the maccaroni was the great dish in the Gabioni; a four-cent plate +of it would take the sharp edge from a fierce appetite, assisted as it +was by a large one-cent roll of bread. There was the white pipe-stem and +the dark ribbon (_fettucia_) species; and it was cooked with sauce (_al +sugo_), with cheese, Neapolitan, Roman and Milan fashion, +and--otherways. Wild boar steaks came in winter, and were cheap. Veal +never being sold in Rome until the calf is a two-year-old heifer, was no +longer veal, but tender beef, and was eatable. Sardines fried in oil and +batter were good. Game was plenty, and very reasonable in price, except +venison, which was scarce. The average cost of a substantial dinner was +from thirty to forty baiocchi, and said Rocjean, 'I can live like a +prince--like the Prince B----, who dines here occasionally--for half +that sum.' + +The first day Caper dined in the Gabioni, what with a dog-fight under +the table, cats jumping upon the table, a distressed marchioness (fact) +begging him for a small sum, a beautiful girl from the Trastevere, +shining like a patent-leather boot, with gold ear-rings, and brooch, and +necklace, and coral beads, who sat at another table with a French +soldier--these and those other little _piquante_ things, that the +traveler learns to smile at and endure, worried him. But the dinner was +good, his companions at table were companionable, and as he finished an +extra _foglietta_ (pint) of wine, price eight cents, with Rocjean, he +concluded to give it another trial. He kept at giving it trials until +the old Gabioni was closed, and from it arose the Four Nations or +Quattre Nazione in Turkey Cock Alley (_viccolo Gallmaccio_), which, as +any one knows, is near Two Murderers' Street. (_Via Due Macelli_) + +'Now that we have finished dinner,' spoke Rocjean, 'we will smoke: then +to the Caffe or Café Greco and have our cup of black coffee.' + + +AMERICA IN ROME. + +It may be a good thing to have the conceit taken out of us--but not by +the corkscrew of ignorance; the operation is too painful. Caper, proud +of his country, and believing her in the front rank of nations, was +destined to learn, while in Rome and the Papal States, that America was +geographically unknown. + +He consoled himself for this with the fact that geography is not taught +in the 'Elementary Schools' there;--and for the people there are no +others. + +The following translation of a notice advertising for a schoolmaster, +copied from the walls of a palace where it was posted, shows the sum +total taught in the common schools:-- + + The duties of the Master are to teach Reading, Writing, the First + Four Rules of Arithmetic; to observe the duties prescribed in the + law '_Quod divina sapientia_;' and to be subject to the biennial + committee like other salaried officers of the department; as an + equivalent for which he shall enjoy (_godrį_) an annual salary of + $60, payable in monthly shares. + + (Signed) + + IL GONFALONIERE ---- ----. + +But what can you expect when one of the rulers of the land asserted to +Caper that he knew that 'pop-corn grew in America on the banks of the +Nile, after the water went down,--for it never rains in America'? + +It was a handsome man, an advocate for Prince Doria, who, once traveling +in a _vetturo_ with Caper, asked him why he did not go to America by +land, since he knew that it was in the south of England; and gently +corrected a companion of his, who told Caper he had read and thought it +strange that all Americans lived in holes in the ground, by saying to +him that if such houses were agreeable to the _Signori Americani_ they +had every right to inhabit them. + +The landlord of a hotel in a town about thirty miles from Rome asked +Caper if, when he returned to New York, he would not some morning call +and see his cousin--in Peru! + +This same landlord once drew his knife on a man, when, accompanied by +Caper, he went to observe a saint's day in a neighboring town. The cause +of the quarrel was this--the landlord, having been asked by a man who +Caper was, told him he was an American. The man asserted that Americans +always wore long feathers in their hair, and that he did not see any on +Caper's head. The landlord, determined to stand by Caper, swore by all +the saints that they were under his hat. The man disbelieved it. Out +came the 'hardware' with that jarring cr-r-r-rick the blade makes when +the notched knife-back catches in the spring, but Caper jumped between +them, and they put off stabbing one another--until the next saint's day. + +It was with pleasure that Caper, passing down the Corso one morning, saw +there was an Universal Panorama, including views of America, advertised +to be exhibited in the Piazza Colonna. 'Here is an opportunity,' thought +he, 'for the Romans to acquire some knowledge of a land touching which +they are very much at sea. The views undoubtedly will do for them what +the tabooed geographies are not allowed to do--give them a little +education to slow music.' + +Accompanied by Rocjean, he went one evening to see it, and found it on +wheels in a traveling van, drawn up at one side of the Colonna Square. + +'Hawks inspected it the other evening,' said Rocjean; 'and he describes +it as well worth seeing. The explainer of the Universal Panorama +resembles the wandering Jew, exactly, with perhaps a difference about +the change in his pockets; and the paintings, comical enough in +themselves, considering that they are supposed to be serious likenesses +of the places represented, are made still funnier by the explanations of +the manager.' + +Securing tickets from a stout, showy ticket-seller, adorned with a +stunning silk dress, crushing bracelets, and an overpowering bonnet, +they subduedly entered a room twenty feet long by six or eight wide, +illuminated with the mellow glow of what appeared to be about thirty +moons. The first things that caught their eye were several French +soldiers who were acting as inspection guard over several rooms, having +stacked their muskets in one corner. Their exclamations of delight or +sorrow, their criticisms of the art panoramic, in short, were full of +humor and trenchant fun. But 'the explanator' was before them; where he +came from they could not see, for his footsteps were light as velvet, +evidently having 'gums' on his feet; his milk-white hair, parted in the +middle of his forehead, hung down his back for a couple of feet, while +his milk-white beard, hanging equally low in front, gave him the +appearance of a venerable billy goat. He was an Albino, and his eyes +kept blinking like a white owl's at mid-day. He had a voice slightly +tremulous, and mild as a cat's in a dairy. + +'Gen-till-men, do me the playshure to gaze within this first hole. 'Tis +the be-yu-ti-fool land of Sweet-sir-land. Vi-yew from the some-mut of +the Riggy Cool'm. Day break-in' in the dis-tant yeast. He has a blan-kit +round him, sir; for it is cold upon the moun-tin tops at break of day. +[Madame, the stupen-doss irrup-tion of Ve-soov-yus is two holes from the +corner.] + +'Gen-till-men, do me the play-zure to gaze upon the second hole. 'Tis +Flor-renz the be-yu-ti-fool, be the bangs off the flowin' Arno. 'Twas +here that--' + +'No matter about all that,' said Caper; 'show off America to us.' He +slipped a couple of _pauls_ into his hand, and instantly the Venerable +skipped four moons. + +'Gen-till-men, do me the play-zure to gaze upon this hole. 'Tis the +be-yu-ti-fool city of Nuova Jorck in Ay-mer-i-kay, with the +flour-ish-ing cities of Brook-lyn, Nuova Jer-sais, and Long Is-lad. The +impo-sing struc-ture of rotund form is the Gr-rand Coun-cill Hall +con-tain-ing the coun-cill chamber of the Amer-i-can nations.... [You +say it is the Bat-tai-ree? It may be the Bat-tai-ree.] _What is that +road in Broo-klin_? that is the ra'l-road to Nuova Or-lins di-rect. +_What is that wash-tub_? "Tis not a wash-tub--'tis a stim-boat. They +make the stim out of coal, which is found on the ground. _Is that the +Ay-mer-i-cain eagill_? 'Tis not; 'tis a hoarse-fly which has +in-tro-doo-ced hisself behind the glass. _Are those savages in Nuova +Jer-sais_? (New Jersey.) Those are trees.' + +'Pass on, illustrious gen-till-men, to the next hole. 'Tis the +be-yu-ti-fool city of Filadelfia. The houses here are all built of +woo-ood. The two rivaires that cir-cum-vent the city are the Lavar +(Delaware?) and the Hud-soon. I do not know what is "a pum-king cart," +but the car-riage which you see before you is a fi-ah engine, be-cause +the city is all built of woo-ood. The tall stee-ple belongs to the +kay-ker (Quaker) temple of San Cristo.' + +Rocjean now gave the Venerable a _paul_, requesting him to dwell at +length upon these scenes, as he was a Frenchman in search of a little of +geography. + +'Excellencies, I will do my en-dea-vors. The gran-diose ship as lies in +the Lavar (Delaware) riv-aire is fool of em-i-gr-rants. The signora +de-scen-din' the side of the ship is in a dreadful sit-u-a-tion tru-ly. +[Per-haps the artist was in a boat and de-scri-bed the scene as he saw +it.] The elephant you see de-scen-din' the street is a nay-tive of this +tropi-cal re-gion, and the cock-a-toos infest the sur-round-in' air. The +Moors you see along the wharves are the spon-ta-ne-ous born of the soil. +Those are kay-kers (Quakers?) on mules with broad-brimmed hats onto +their heads; the sticks in their hands are to beat the Moors who live on +their su-gar plan-tay-tions.... Music? did you ask, Madame? We have none +in this establish-ment. Kone. + +'Excellencies, the next hole. 'Tis the be-yu-ti-fool city of +Bal-ti-mory. You behold in the be-fore ground a gr-rand feast day of +Amer-i-cain peas-ants; they are be-hold-ing their noble Count +re-pair-ring to the chase with a serf on a white hoarse-bag +(horse-back?). The little joke of the cattle is a play-fool fan-cy of +the jocose artiste as did the panorama. I am un-ac-count-able for +veg-garies such as them. The riv-aire in the bag-ground is the +Signora-pippi'.... + +'The what?' asked Caper, shaking with laughter. + +'A gen-till-man the other day told me that only the peasants in Americay +say Missus or Mis-triss, and that the riv-aire con-se-kwen-tilly was not +Missus-pippi, but, as I have had the honor of saying, the Signora-pippi +rivaire. The next hole, Excel-len-cies!--'Tis the be-yu-ti-fool city of +Vaskmenton (Washington), also on the Signora-pippi riv-aire. The white +balls on the trees is cot-ton. Those are not white balls on the ground, +those are ship;--ships as have woolen growin' onto their sides (sheep?). +'Tis not a white bar-racks: 'tis the Palazzo di Vaskmenton, a nobil +gen-e-ral woo lives there, and was for-mer-ly king of the A-mer-i-cain +nations. What does that Moor, with the white lady in his arms? it is a +negro peas-sant taking his mis-triss out to air,--'tis the customs in +those land.... That negress or fe-mail Moor with some childs is also +airring, and, the white 'ooman tyin' up her stockings is a sportive of +the artiste. He is much for the hum-or-ous. + +'Excellencies, the last hole A-mer-i-cain. 'Tis the stoo-pen-doss +Signora-pippi rivaire in all its mag-gnif-fi-cent booty. What is that +cockatoo doing there? He is taking a fly. _You do not see the fly_? I +mean a flight. _What is that bust to flin-ders_? That is a stim-boat was +carryin' on too much stim, and the stim, which is made of coal, goes, +off like gun-pow-dair if you put lights onto it. This is a fir-ful and +awe-fool sight. The other stim-boat is not bustin', it is sailin'. What +is that man behind the whil-house with the cards while another signer +kicks into him on his coat-tails, I do not know. It is steel the +sportifs of the artiste.' + +'Excel-len-cies, the last hole. 'Tis the be-yu-ti-fool bustin'--no, not +bustin', but ex-plo-sion of Vee-soov-yus. You can see the sublime sight, +un-terrupt-ted be me ex-play-nations. I thank you for your attentions +auri-cu-lar and pe-coo-niar-ry. _Adio_, until I have the play-shure of +seein' you oncet more.' + +'I tell you what, Rocjean,' said Caper, as he came out from the +panorama, 'America has but a POOR SHOW in the Papal dominions.' + + * * * * * + +JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. + + +Grand with all that the young earth had of vigorous and queenly to adorn +her, rich with the spoils of victories not all bought with battle-axe +and sword, stately with a pride that had won its just and inalienable +majesty from elastic centuries of progress and culture, History, the +muse to whom fewest songs were sung, yet whose march was music's +sublimest voice, trembled upon the brink of the Dark Ages, and leaped, +in her armor, into the abyss of ignorance before her. A poetry the +purest, an art the noblest, a religion deeply symbolical, a freedom bold +and magnificent, had given to the world-histories of those early days a +melody varied and faultless, a form flowing yet well-defined, an +earnestness that was sacred, a truth that was divine. A philosophy rich +and largely suggestive had made the great men of Greece and Rome alert, +vigilant, penetrating, before luxury and oppression had dragged them +down to ruin and ignorance; and at last Ambition, splendid but +destructive, becoming the world's artist, blended the midnight tints of +decline and suffering with the carnation of triumph and liberty, and +cast over the pictures of History the Rembrandt-like shadows, heavy and +wavering, that add a fearful intensity to their charms. + +To these eras, once splendid and promising, succeeded a night, long, +hopeless, disastrous. Its hours were counted by contentions, its +darkness was deepened by crime. The sun had set upon a mighty empire, +regnant upon her seven hills, glorious with conquest, drunken with +power: when the day dawned upon the thousandth year of the Christian +era, its crumbled arches and moss-grown walls alone testified to the +truth of History that had survived the universal destruction. + +And now came the age of knight and paladin, of crusades and talismans. +The rough, vigorous life that had been developing at the North, +exuberant with a strength not yet so mature that it could be employed in +the wise and practical pursuits of civilized life, burst forth into an +enthusiasm half military, half religious, that pervaded all ranks, but +was 'mightiest in the mighty.' The Saxons, fair-haired, with wild blue +eyes, whence looked an inflexible perseverance, the dark-browed Normans, +and the men of fair Bretagne, swooped down falcon-like from their nests +among the rocks and by the seas of Northern Europe upon the impetuous +Saracens, and fought brave poems that were written on sacred soil with +their blood. From the strife of years the heroes returned, their flowing +locks whitened by years and suffering, the fair Saxon faces browned by +the fervent suns of the distant East. From hardship and imprisonment +they marched with gay songs amid acclamations and welcome to their homes +upon the Northern shores. Their once shining armor was dimmed and +rusted with their own blood; but they bore upon their 'spears the light' +of a culture more refined, a knowledge more subtle, than those high +latitudes had ever before known. + +From this marriage of the barbaric vigor of the North with the delicate +and infinitely pliable sensuousness of the South, the classic union of +Strength and Desire, Chivalry was born. Leaping forth to light and +power, a majestic creation, glittering in the knightly panoply, noble by +its knightly vows, it stood resplendent against the dark background of +the past ages, the inevitable and legitimate offspring of the times and +circumstances that gave it birth. The courtly baptism was eagerly +sought, its requirements rigidly obeyed. The lands bristled with the +lances of their valiant sons, and Quixotic expeditions were the order of +the age. But not alone with sword and spear were gallant contests +decided; the gauntlet thrown at the feet of a proud foe was not always +of iron. _El gai saber_, the _gaye science_, held its august courts, +where princesses entered the lists and vanquished gallant troubadours +with the concord of their sweet measures. Slowly, yet with resistless +strength, a new social world was rising upon the splendid ruins of the +old. Its principles were just, if their garb was fantastical. It began +with that almost superstitious reverence for woman, which had borrowed +its religion from the Teuton, its romance from the Minnesinger and the +Trouveur: it will end in the honesty and freedom of a world mature for +its enjoyment. + +Thus, while the kingdoms of Europe were rising to a height where to +oppress, to torture, to fight, were to seem their sole aim and purpose, +in a hitherto obscure corner of the great theatre of modern life an +unknown element was developing itself, which was in time to shake the +greatest nations with its power, to inflame all Europe with jealousy and +cupidity, and to dictate to empires the very terms of their existence. +And this element was LABOR. The rich lowlands of the 'double-armed' +Rhine teemed with a busy life, that, king-like, demanded a tribute of +the sea, and wrenched from the greedy waves a treasure that its industry +made priceless. Each man became a prince in his own divine right, and +every occupation had its lords and its lore, its 'mysteries,' and its +social rights. The seamen, merchants, and artisans of the Netherlands +had made their country the richest in Europe. They ranged the seas and +learned the value of the land; and while they fed the great despot of +the Middle Ages, the light of intelligence, born of energy and nurtured +by activity, cast its benignant gleams from the central island of the +Rhine, and drove from their mountain nooks the owls and bats of tyranny +and superstition. They fought first, these lords of the soil, among +themselves, for local privileges, advancing in their continuous +struggles upon the very threshold of the church. By strong alliances +they kept at bay their feudal lords, and fettered the ecclesiastical +power with the yoke of a justice, meagre, indeed, and sadly unfruitful, +but still ominous of a better day. Within the alabaster vase of +despotism, frail, yet old as ambition, the lamp of freedom had long +burned dimly: now its flames were licking, with serpent-like tongues, +the enclosure so long deemed sacred, and threatened, as they dyed the +air with their amber flood of light, to shiver their temple to +fragments. The theory of the divine right of kings was but another 'Luck +of Edenhall.' Its slender stem trembled now within the rough grasp of +the sacrilegious and burly Netherlanders, who hesitated not long ere +they dashed it with the old superstition to the ground, shaking the +civilized world to its centre by the shock. But out of the ruins a +statelier edifice was to rise, whose windows, like those of the old +legend, were stained by the lifeblood of its architect. + +The historian who would worthily depict such an age, such a people, such +principles, must be an artist, but one in whom the creative faculty does +not blind the moral obligations. He must bring to the work a republican +sympathy, must be governed by a republican justice, and wear a character +as noble as the struggle that he paints. And such an artist, such a +historian, such a man, we have in JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. + +The honors of Harvard, early and nobly earned, had given to the boy at +seventeen the privileges and dignity of manhood. He was destined to +become a scholar, eminent, even among the rarely and richly cultured +minds of his own New England, for his universal knowledge, clearness of +intellect, prompt energy, and indomitable perseverance. Inspired by +these gifts and attainments, it was only natural, almost inevitable, +that his first appearance upon the literary stage should have been in +the _rōle_ of a novelist. The active young intellect was pliant and +strong, but had not yet learned its power. Before him lay the broad +fields of romance, fascinating with their royal _fleurs de lis_, rich +with the contributions of every age, some quaint and laughter-moving, +some pompous and exaggerated, some soul-stirring and grand. Impelled, +perhaps, less by a thirst for fame than a desire to satisfy the +resistless impulses of an energetic nature, and lay those fair ghosts of +enterprises dimly recognized that beckoned him onward, he followed the +first path that lay before him, and became a romance writer. His first +work, _Morton's Hope, or the Memoirs of a Provincial_, was published in +1839, and subsequently appeared _Merry Mount, a Romance of +Massachusetts_. It is curious to trace in these first flights of a +genius that has since learned its legitimate field, a tendency to the +breadth of Motley's later efforts, an instinctive and evidently +unconscious passion for the descriptive, an admirably curbed yet still +powerful impatience of the light fetters, the toy regulations of the +realm of Fiction, and an earnestness that has since bloomed in the world +of Fact and History. The very imperfections of the novelist have become +the charms of the historian. His student-life in Germany, his after-plot +in the stirring Revolutionary times, strongly as they are drawn, +animated as they are with dashes of that vivid power that stamps every +page of the histories of their author, yet lack the proof of that +unquestioned yet unobtrusive consciousness of genius that harden the +telling sentences of the _Rise of the Dutch Republic_ and the _United +Netherlands_ into blocks of adamant, polished by friction with each +other to a diamond brightness, and reflecting only the noblest +sentiments, the most profound principles. The dice had been thrown a +second time, and Motley had not won a victory. The applause of the press +was insufficient to the man, who felt that he had not yet struck the +key-note of his destiny. To be counted the follower of Cooper was not +the meet guerdon of an intellect to which the shapely monuments of +ancient literature yielded the clue to their hieroglyphic labyrinths of +knowledge, and that pierced with lightning swiftness the shell of +events, and possessed the latent principles of life in their warm +hearts. He returned, therefore, to Europe, leaving behind him a +reputation which at no distant day was destined to spring from a new and +more noble foundation into a lasting and more stately pile. + +To a mind like Motley's, the department of history presented the most +attractive features. There could honestly be no dabbling with the +specious and seductive alchemy of Fiction. Truth had molded every period +of the world's life. Truth defied had tripped up nations in their +headlong race after dominion and unrighteous power. Truth victorious had +smiled upon their steady growth to greatness and honor. To write history +was to write poetry, art, philosophy, religion, life. The pen that +sketched the rise, the progress, and the fate of nations, was in fact +the chisel of a sculptor, whose theme was humanity. + +And what work so fitting for the American author as the record of a +nation struggling away from the oppression of feudal institutions, which +stifled all growth either towards knowledge or civil greatness, +throwing off the trammels of religious intolerance, defying the most +powerful nation of Christendom, which had breathed an air of bigotry in +its long contest with the Moors, and waging an exhaustive war of nearly +a century's duration against fearful odds, only to win an independent +existence? We had treasured as rare heirlooms the Mechlin laces of our +grandmothers, had our favorite sets of Tournay porcelain, awaited with +curious and enthusiastic patience our shares in the floral exportations +of Harlem, trodden daily the carpetings of Brussels, and esteemed +ourselves rich with a fragment of its tapestry, or a rifle of Namur; we +had honored the vast manufacturing interest of the Netherlands, their +commercial prosperity and noble enterprise; but here all thought of them +had ended. Schiller had not taught us that the ancestors of the miners +of Mons, the artisans of Brussels, the seamen of Antwerp, the professors +of Leyden, were heroes, worthy to stand beside Leonidas and Bozzaris; +Strāda had failed to rouse us to enthusiasm at the thought of their +long, noble battle for life. Grotius had indeed painted for us with a +very Flemish nicety of detail their manners and customs, but had +forgotten to round his skeleton of a nation with the passions that +animated every stage of its development. It remained for Motley, with +all the quick sympathies of an American heart, to rouse our affections +and to command our reverence for a people so unfortunate and so brave. +It was reserved for him to teach us that William of Orange was not less +a martyr to the truth than Huss or Latimer. + +It was no common scholar who so worthily finished this task. It was not +enough that the intellectual integrity of oar historian was +unquestioned, his judgment mature, his knowledge vast and comprehensive. +During the years of preparation he had become thoroughly cosmopolite; +all the _petty_ prejudices of country and blood had been swept away +before the advancing dignity of a reason that became daily more truly +and completely the master of itself. All the thousand minute refinements +of an extensive and intimate association with the commanding and courtly +minds of the age fitted him to cope more successfully with the spirit of +subtle intrigue, the fox-like sagacity, the wolfish rapacity, the cruel +lack of diplomatic honor, and the illimitable and terrible intolerance +that distinguished in so wonderful a degree the historical era of +Motley's choice. He came with all the zeal of a true lover of liberty, +himself republican, as earth's most cultured sons have been in every +age, in thought, habit, and sentiment, to trace for the future and for +us the records of a people who were willing to suffer a master, but who +revolted from a tyrant; who, with a rare but unappreciated and too nice +honor, strove to keep to the yoke that their forefathers had worn, only +asking from their ruler the respect and consideration due the faithful +servants of his crown, who were no longer the abject slaves of a +monarchy, and yet, through an inveterate habit of servitude, were +scarcely prepared for the independence of a republic. How nobly he has +fulfilled his mission, the hearty applause of two nations sufficiently +testifies. + +To the wide, comprehensive vision of Motley, history appears in its true +light as a science, demanding the assistance of other sciences to the +due and harmonious development of all its parts. It relies not more upon +the correctness of the recorder's authorities and the profoundness of +his researches in the mere region of the events and mutual relation of +nations, than upon his universal acquaintance with general literature +and the sister arts of politics and philosophy. It was for the +treacherous and elegant Bolingbroke to reduce the noble art of +Thucydides from the height of sublimity and grandeur to the parlor level +of the conversations of the Hotel de Rambouillet, to introduce into the +most serious political disquisitions, concerning perhaps the welfare of +society, an imperceptible yet carefully elaborated and most effective +tone of levity that speedily proved disastrous to their object. It was +be who forced the vapid but imposing ceremonial of the _bon ton_ into +the records of church and state; who clothed his empty but pompous +periods with the ermine of royalty, to ensure them the reverence of a +deluded multitude; who stripped Virtue of her ancient prerogatives, and +fed her with the crumbs from his table. His polished diction, undeniable +talent and fine acquisitions served most unhappily to disguise his real +poverty of sentiment, and for a time, at least, diverted the current of +popular feeling from the true, beautiful, and reliable in early +literature and art, no less than in history. With what success his +faulty and imperfect theories were engrafted upon the literature of his +nation, the learned and sagacious Schlosser conclusively proves in his +_History of the Eighteenth Century_. Says this ripe scholar and deep +thinker, 'All that Bolingbroke ridicules as tedious and without talent, +all that he laughs at as useless and without taste, all that which, +urged by his labors and those of his like-minded associates, had for +eighty years disappeared from ancient history, is again brought back in +our day. So short is the triumph of falsehood.' Well may we pervert the +verses of Horace,-- + + 'Nullę placere diu, nec vivere _historię_ possunt + Quę scribuntur aquę potoribus.' + +That was an ungenerous fountain whence Bolingbroke drank even his +chilling draughts of inspiration. Splendid, in sooth, as the great +_Brunnen_ of the luckless Abderites of Wieland, with its sea-god of +marble surrounded by a stately train of nymphs, tritons, and dolphins, +from whose jets the water only dripped like tears, because, says the +writer, with grave naļveté, 'there was scarcely enough to moisten the +lips of a single nymph.' Truly the purple wine of inspiration is as +necessary to the historian as to the poet; and if the laughing Bacchus +that holds the beaker to the student's eager lips be not clothed in the +classic robes of the senate-chamber or the flowing garments of the +professor, he wears at least the fawn's dappled hide, and in his hand + + 'His thyrsus holds--an ivy-crowned spear.' + +Does not the gentle Euripides show us the god, 'his horned head with +dragon wreath entwined?' And those two sacred horns point back to the +dread mysteries of the Ogdoad sublime, + + 'The great Cabiri of earth's dawning prime.' + +They trace with lines that never swerve from truth the history of the +primeval world, the early days of Noah and his ark. They recall to us +the old story of life and suffering, of deluge and salvation; on their +crescent points hangs the eternal principle of the efficacy of +sacrifice. They float with the moon-ark of Astarté Mylitta on +hyacinthine seas of night-clouds, and their high import, dimmed and lost +in the great stream of Time, rises again in the ages, uncrowned with the +early luxuriance of symbol and mystery. The mystic horns appear over the +brow of the queenly Sappho of Grillparzer, upon whose hair + + 'Rested the diadem, _like the pale moon_ + Upon the brow of night, a silver crest;' + +and the white-robed Madonna, with child-like face upraised, and deep, +tender eyes uplifted, yet rests her slender, sandaled foot upon the +horned moon, floating below her in misty clouds. + +A hiatus for which we crave indulgence; a dream, and yet not all a +dream, for each of these old types encloses a living truth, and unfolds +into a history, tangled, perhaps, and imperfect, but suggestive and +reliable, of races and religions that had else passed away into +oblivion. And the earnest student of the present, or the historian of +the past, can never disregard these dim old treasures, but must draw +from them a fresher faith in his own humanity and in the eternal laws of +God, that are unchangeable as he is immortal. + +The art of history advances with the art of poetry; both, and indeed all +literature, correspond aesthetically with the manners, customs, +theology, and politics of the nation of their birth. The severe +grandeur of Thucydides, the invariable sweetness of Xenophon, and the +cheerful elegance of Herodotus, recall, with their just conceptions of +harmony, their noble and sustained flow of thought, and their freedom +from the adventitious ornaments of an exaggerated rhetoric or a +sentimental morality, the golden age of Greece. We seem to stand within +the Parthenon, to gaze upon the Venus of Cnidus, to be jostled by the +gay crowd at the Olympic games. It was indeed a golden age, when all +that was beautiful in nature was reverently and assiduously nurtured, +and all that was noble and natural in art was magnificently encouraged; +an age in which refinement and nobility were not accidents, but +necessities; when politics had reached the high grade of an art, and +oratory attained a beauty and power beyond which no Pitt, Canning, or +Brougham has ever yet aspired; an age when the gifted Aspasia held her +splendid court, and Alcibiades and Socrates were proud to sit at the +Milesian's feet; when Pericles, who 'well deserved the lofty title of +Olympian,' lived and ruled: the golden age when Socrates thought and +taught, bearing in its bosom the guilty day when Socrates died. + +Not less faithful portraitures of the influences that formed them are +the histories of Livy, of Sallust, and of Tacitus. They wrote in a +language that had been sublimated into electric clouds by the warm and +splendid diffuseness of Cicero, and reduced to a granite-like strength +by the cold and exquisite simplicity of Terence. The amiable fustian, +the Falstaffian bombast of Lucan and Ovid's brilliant imagination, all +stamp their indelible seal upon the vivid coloring of Livy, the somewhat +affected severity of Sallust, and the elegant morality of Tacitus. The +banner of the monarchy flaunts across every page of these writers. They +even bear the impress of an architecture whose splendor and strength did +not atone for its disregard of the old Hellenic lines and rules. They +bear the same relation to Thucydides and Herodotus that a pillar of the +Roman Ionic order, with its angularly turned volutes and arbitrary +perpendicularity of outline, does to its graceful Greek mother, with her +primitive and expressive scrolls, and the slightly convex profile of her +shaft. In more modern times, a black-letter, quaint sentence of +Froissart or Monstrelet is like a knight in full armor, bristling with +quaint, beautiful devices, golden dragons inlaid on Milan cuirasses, +golden vines on broad Venetian blades, apes on the hilts of +grooved-bladed, firm stilettoes, or the illuminated margins of old +metrical romances. The pages of Strada are darkened by the stormy +passions of a battling age, crossed with the lurid light of Moorish +tragedies; an _ay de mi Alhama_ moans under his pride and bigotry. +Torquemadas grind each sentence into dullness and inquisitorial +harmlessness, yet now and then sweeps by a trace of Lope de Vega, a word +that reminds us of Calderon, while still oftener the euphuism of Gongora +pervades the writer's mind and flows in platitudes from his guarded pen. + +As we near our own day, history is invested with new dignities; its arms +float, sea-weed like, on the raging waves of political life, as if to +grasp from some fragment of shipwrecked treaties or some passing argosy +of government a precious jewel to light its deep researches. It takes in +with nervous grasp the tendencies of literature; its keen gaze drinks in +the features of popular belief and searches out the fountains of popular +error. Fully equal to the requirements of the exacting age, Motley has +produced a work whose lightest merit is its equal conformity to the new +rules of his art. He possesses in an eminent degree the first +qualification which the old Abbé de Mably, in his _Maničre d'ecrire +l'histoire_, insists upon for the historian. He recognizes the natural +rights of man, those rights which are the same in every age, and as +powerful in their demands in the sixteenth century as in the nineteenth. +His well-balanced mind acknowledges and respects the duties of man as +citizen and magistrate, and the mutual rights of nations. No splendor, +no power, no prejudice, has been able to seduce him from his high +principles, neither does a warm and manifest sympathy with his subject +delude him even into the passing extravagance of an undue praise. If he +comprehends the greatness of the national character he almost flings +upon the canvas before us, he appreciates as profoundly its weaknesses +too. Strada's history is a poison, which strikes at the very roots of +society, and would wither all the fresh young leaves of its vigorous +spring. Motley's is its powerful antidote, which restores the juices of +life to the brittle fibres, smooths out the shriveled leaves, and +clothes them again with the fresh green of hope and promise. Strada is +the slave of the victor; Motley is the champion of the vanquished. +Strada bends the dignity of Justice before the painted sceptre of +Despotism; Motley exalts the honest title of the man above the will of +the perjured monarch. Strada gilds with the false gold of sophistry the +very chains that gall his soul; Motley sharpens on the clear crystal of +his unobtrusive logic, the two-handed sword of power, and cuts his way +through an army of protocols and pacts to the fortress of Liberty. + +It is, we believe, an exploded theory that the characters of modern +times are inferior to those of antiquity. 'Under the toga as under the +modern dress,' says Guizot, 'in the senate as in our councils, men were +what they still are;' and the old Jesuit takes a narrow view of the +progress of mankind, who asserts that the masculine and vigorous +treatment that was necessary to Thucydides and Livy is not required by +the historians of our puny and degenerate day. Even the Count Gobineau, +who so ably and, to his followers, conclusively proves the fallacy of +the dearest hope of every learned philanthropist and patriot, does not, +in his most earnest antagonism to the doctrine of human progress, +insinuate the existence of a principle urging the systematic and +inevitable decline of individual power from age to age. So far from +exacting less of the historian, the present age demands even a firmer +handling. Our era has its Alexanders and Cęsars; its Hannibals and +Hectors; and if these men of antiquity rise before us with an +unapproachable air of grandeur, it is because the light shining from our +distant stand-point surrounds them with deeper shadows, and throws them +in bolder relief against the background of their vanished ages. It is a +simple triumph of _chiaro-scuro_, and by no means the proof of the truth +of an absurd theory. + +It is mournful enough to see the dead nations that were once young and +glorious pacing onward through an inferno like so many headless Bertrand +de Borns, bearing by the hair + + 'The severed member, lantern-wise + Pendent in hand.' + +For ourselves, we have no fear of lighting our own spirit thus through +any Malabolge of purification. And this bold faith animates Motley; it +invigorates all his work with a firmness that inspires full confidence +in his readers. Free as he is from every puerile superstition, his +mastery of his subject is complete. He exercises over it a sort of +magistracy which extends even to his own flashing impulses. Never +pausing to display his moral learning, he avoids the tedious diffuseness +of Rollin; steering adroitly around the quicksands of political +dissertation, he escapes the pragmatical essayism of Guiccardini. Not +easily fascinated by the trifles that swim like vapid foam upon the tide +of history,--petty domestic details, the Königsmark intrigues of +royalty, the wines and flowers of the banquet table, the laces and +jewels of the court,--he leaves far in the distance the entertaining +Davila, who, says the sarcastic Schlosser, 'wrote memoirs after the +French fashion for good society,' yet whom the arbitrary and adventurous +Bolingbroke does not scruple to declare 'in many respects the equal of +Livy!' And yet no single stroke is omitted which is needed to preserve +the unity of the work. Tacitus himself did not embellish with more +commanding morality his histories. The jots and tittles of the _Groot +Privilegie_, the terms of the famous 'Pacification of Ghent,' the +solemn import of the _Act of Adjuration_, and the political ambition of +the church, are as faithfully drawn as the Siege of Leyden, or the +'Spanish Fury' of Antwerp. + +Hume, in the narrowness of a so-called philosophical indifference to the +appeals of domestic life and the details of national theology and art, +gives us only a running commentary upon mere chronological events, +galvanized by the touch of his keen intellect and fine rhetoric into a +deceitful vigor, and ornamented with the poisonous night-shade blossoms +of a spurious philosophy. We may more justly seek some analogy between +Gibbon and Motley, even if the search but discover points of difference +so radical that a comparison is impossible. The solemn, measured, and +splendid rhetoric of Gibbon is met by the animated, impetuous, and +brilliant flow of Motley's thought. Neither leans to the ideal; with +both the actual prevails. The policy of a government is summoned by +neither before the partial tribunal of a sentiment, or the intricate +scheme of some Machiavelli subjected to the imperfect analysis of a +headstrong imagination. But Gibbon, though he writes in the vernacular, +has lost all the honest nationality that should give an air of sincerity +to his work; his brilliant antithesis belongs to the ornate school of +the French literature of the day; and, fascinating as is the pomp and +commanding march of his sentences, we are rather dazzled by his +eloquence than convinced by his argument. He is picturesque, rich; but +it is the picturesqueness and richness of the truly bewildering Roman +architecture of the Renaissance--half Byzantine, three-eighths Gothic, +and the remainder Greek. But Motley, with all his varied learning and +association, is still perfectly and nobly Anglo-Saxon. His short, +epigrammatic sentences ring like the click of musketry before the +charge, and swell into length and grandeur with the progress of his +theme. The simplicity, not of ignorance but of genius, characterizes +him. He does not cater to our hungry fancy, he appeals grandly to our +noblest impulses. In Motley a spirit of the most refined humanity is +everywhere visible; he is guilty of no Voltairean satiric stabs at +purity, no petulant Voltairean flings at the faith he does not share. +All is manly, terse, frank, undisguised. Honorable himself, he does not, +like Gibbon, distrust all mankind, and question with a sarcasm the very +sincerity of a martyr at the stake. + +Among Americans, Motley is what Botta is to the historians of Southern +Europe. The same grand principles actuate both writers; the same +tendency to philosophical generalization is evident in the structure of +their works, the same inflexible pursuit of a fixed and visible aim, the +same enthusiastic love for freedom. But with Botta the poetical element, +which is only secondary with Motley, predominates. He holds the nervous +pen of a true Italian--more than that, of a true Italian patriot. All +the hitherto suppressed fire of his nation flames out on his pages in an +indignation as natural as it is superb. His lines vibrate with passion, +his words are tremulous with a noble pain. His very pathos is impatient, +stern, and proud; it cleaves our hearts like a battle-axe, rather than +meets them as with summer showers. His sarcasm is as keen and effective, +but far more startling; it hisses its way from some iron-cold comment, +and stabs the monarch whom it crowns. His fertility of imagination is +not weakened by contact with the details of government. The same pen +that draws in such inimitably graceful lines the sugar-plums of starving +Genoa, lingering about flower-wreathed baskets of bonbons sold in the +public squares to famishing men and women, sketches in a style as +nervous and appropriate the complex detail of governmental policy. He +unfolds his subject with the skill of an epic poet; its general effect +is sublime, and its petty details arranged with a rarely careless skill. +If he is sometimes diverted by a burst of enthusiasm, of indignation, or +of horror, into an inequality, the rough island thrown up in the sea of +his fancy is speedily verdured over with the wonderful luxuriance of his +genius. If he bends sometimes to amuse, to revel among his sonorous +Italian adjectives in the description of a coronation at Milan, or an +opera of Valetta, it is part of his purpose, giving to his picture the +rich and glowing tints that bring out, by violence of contrast, the more +elaborate tinting in of dark upon dark behind them. + +Something of this we recognize in Motley; but none of Botta's tendency +to proverbial sayings, bitter with a sarcasm that wounds most deeply its +creator; as, 'To believe that abstract principle will prevail over full +purses is the folly of a madman.' Neither do we find in Motley the +occasional terse conciseness of Botta,--little epics enclosed in a short +sentence. 'Napoleon had redeemed France; but he had created Italy.' But +the Italian can not be impartial. Just he is, but it is the accident of +his political position, not the deference paid by the historian to his +art. He writes of an age from whose injustice he has suffered, of a +country whose miseries he has shared, of a people whose brother he is. +And here Motley stands second only to Thucydides among historians. In +the Greek, impartiality was almost divine, for he wrote in the very +smoke of the conflict, wrote as if with his dripping lance upon rocks +dyed with the blood of his countrymen. With Motley impartiality is the +product of a nature strictly noble, that aims through its art not only +to delight the present, but to instruct the future, and which bases its +doctrines of right and wrong upon the principles that govern universal +nature. The temper of Thucydides is lofty and even; though never genial, +he is always calm and accessible; though often sublime, he is never +pathetic; too grand to be sarcastic, he is also too proud to be selfish. + +Motley, if lacking the great and admirable element of sublimity, which +Longinus extols, compensates for it by the animation and variety of his +style, which changes, as does his mood, with his subject. He enters with +all the vigor of his manhood into the spirit of the scenes which he +sketches. He describes a character, and his strokes are bold, quick, +decided; he follows the intricacies of political intrigue, and his +movement is slow, continuous, wary, while it still remains firm, +confident, and successful. He can administer the finances with Escovedo, +while his wide, keen intelligence, undismayed, masters at a glance the +wily policy of Alexander of the '_fel Gesicht_.' No modern historian has +given more comprehensive sketches of character. No quality escapes his +vigilance; he yields every faculty the consideration which is its due. +The portraits of Alva, of Navarre, of Farnese, of Orange, of Don John of +Austria, are so many colossal statues, that seem to unite in themselves +all the possible features and characteristics of humanity. He is indeed +rather a sculptor than a painter. His figures are round, perfect, +throbbing with life, and their hard and striking outlines, springing +sharply from the background of despotism and persecution, are more +imposing than any Rubens-like vividness of coloring which could warm +them. He treats of diplomacy as a diplomat, unwinds the reel of protocol +and treaty, and binds up with the inflexible cord the rich sheaves of +his deep researches. His reflections are suggestive but short, and his +details never weary. + +He loves, too, to mark the sympathies of nature with event--the rain +falling upon the black-hung scaffold, or the laughter of gay sunshine +mingling with the shouts of a great victory. And here he differs, as +indeed he does in almost every other respect, with Macaulay. The +Englishman thinks little of nature; as he himself says of Dante, 'He +leaves to others the earth, the ocean, and the sky; his business is with +man.' Indeed, the absence of a true and universal sympathy is the one +vast defect of Macaulay. No position is so high that it may not be +overshadowed by the giant form of his violent partisanship, no character +so small that it may not be raised to the semblance of greatness by the +mere force of his political preferences. His scholarship was splendid, +his genius commanding, the beauty of his style unsurpassed; but he +perverted his knowledge to subserve certain public ends, and wielded his +magnificent powers too often in the defence of an undeserving cause. +Fascinated by his dazzling rhetoric, borne along by its rapid and +tumultuous current to the most brilliant conclusions, we forget the +narrowness of the stream. His scope of vision was indeed great, but it +had its limits, and these were not imposed by time or necessity, but by +the unyielding will of his own prejudices. As his virtues were massive, +so were his errors grievous. He ventured to grasp the great speculative +themes of existence with a mind that was neither profound nor +suggestive. He swam with all the wondrous ease of an athlete through the +billows and across the currents and counter-currents of elegant +literature, of politics, of theology, yet possessed not the diver's +power to win their sunken but priceless jewels. Rich he was with the +accumulated intellectual spoil of centuries, but the power of exhaustive +generalization was denied him. His perceptions were vigorous and acute, +and none knew more perfectly to exhaust a subject, if its requirements +were of the actual and tangible rather than of the ideal and spiritual +order. He was a thorough logician, but a superficial philosopher; a +master of style, but oblivious of those great religious truths of which +the events of his great history were but the natural outgrowth and +product. But nothing can exceed the power of his rhetoric, that is +uncontrolled by any laws, yet offends none, unless it be the +arbitrariness of his dogmatism, that concedes no favors and asks no +gifts. + +Less vehement, less ornate, possibly less learned than Macaulay, with +frequent though trifling inequalities of style, Motley goes far beyond +him in real practical insight into the heart of affairs. There is a +unity in all visible life, whether of nation, of individual, of church, +or of inarticulate nature, that escaped Macaulay and impresses Motley. +The one would govern the universe with the arbitrary rules of a +political clique; the other applies to all the infallible test of a +universal philosophy. Both writers are thoroughly incorporated with +their subject; but where Macaulay was the captive of a mighty and often +just prejudice, Motley is the exponent of a living principle. Everywhere +Macaulay was a Whig and an Englishman; everywhere Motley is a Republican +and a cosmopolite. + +Motley is indeed inferior to his English contemporary in many striking +points whose value every reader will determine for himself; but his +occasional and rare inaccuracies of expression and inelegances of +language are on the surface, and may be removed by the stroke of a pen +without marring the general effect of his work. He possesses, among many +charms, an unfailing geniality, which, united with his fine dramatic +powers, fascinates us completely. He abounds also in fine poetical +touches, that give us glimpses of a mind cultured to the last degree of +literary refinement. His 'rows of whispering limes and poplars' are like +arabesques of gold straying over the margins of some old _romanceros_. +His descriptions glow with the fresh and ever-varying delight of the +observant traveler, who seems to see before him for the first time the +cities which, with a few vigorous and simple strokes, he transfers to +big pages. His pictures have the charm of naturalness and a simplicity +that is more effective than the most ornate diffuseness. Thus he says of +the picturesque little city of Namur: 'Seated at the confluence of the +Sambre with the Meuse, and throwing over each river a bridge of solid +but graceful structure, it lay in the lap of a most fruitful valley. A +broad, crescent-shaped plain, fringed by the rapid Meuse, and enclosed +by gently-rolling hills, cultivated to their crests, or by abrupt +precipices of limestone crowned with verdure, was divided by numerous +hedgerows, and dotted all over with corn-fields, vine-yards, and +flower-gardens. Many eyes have gazed with delight upon that well-known +and most lovely valley, and many torrents of blood have mingled with +those glancing waters since that long-buried and most sanguinary age +which forms our theme; and still, placid as ever is the valley, brightly +as ever flows the stream. Even now, as in that banished but +never-forgotten time, nestles the little city in the angle of the two +rivers; still directly over its head seems to hang in mid-air the +massive and frowning fortress, like the gigantic helmet in the fiction, +as if ready to crush the pigmy town below.' How like the _Ueberfahrt_ of +Uhland:-- + + 'Ueber diesen Strohm, vor Jahren, + Bin ich einmal schon gefahren, + Hier die Burg, im Abendschimmer, + Drüben rauscht das Wehr, wie immer.' + +We may quote his description of the great square of Brussels, the scene +of the double execution of Montmorency, of Horn, and the gallant and +unfortunate 'Count d'Egmont,' not only as an example of his dignified +and sustained style, but also as an evidence of his sensitiveness to +those minor refinements of association and place that bespeaks the +talented artist. 'The great square of Brussels had always a striking and +theatrical aspect. Its architectural effects, suggesting in some degree +the meretricious union between Oriental and a corrupt Grecian art, +accomplished in the mediaeval midnight, have amazed the eyes of many +generations. The splendid Hotel de Ville, with its daring spire and +elaborate front, ornamented one side of the place; directly opposite was +the graceful but incoherent faēade of the Brood-huis, now the last +earthly resting place of the two distinguished victims; while grouped +around these principal buildings rose the fantastic palaces of the +Archers, Mariners, and other guilds, with their festooned walls and +toppling gables bedizened profusely with emblems, statues, and quaint +decorations. The place had been alike the scene of many a brilliant +tournament and of many a bloody execution. Gallant knights had contended +within its precincts, while bright eyes rained influences from all those +picturesque balconies and decorated windows. Martyrs to religious and to +political liberty had upon the same spot endured agonies which might +have roused every stone of its pavement to mutiny or softened them to +pity. Here Egmont himself, in happier days, had often borne away the +prize of skill or of valor, the cynosure of every eye; and hence, almost +in the noon of a life illustrated by many brilliant actions, he was to +be sent, by the hand of tyranny, to his great account.' + +There are, too, dashes of a healthy sarcasm among these records, not, +however, of such frequent occurrence as to darken the flow of the +narrative, but sufficiently indicative of the strength and energy of the +writer. Never attacking the honest faith of any man, his satires are +levelled at hypocrisy, never error, as when he says of the venerable +tyrant, the master of the Invincible Armada, when he had received from +the trembling secretary the assurance of the failure of the hope of +Spain: 'So the king, as fortune flew away from him, wrapped himself in +his virtue, and his counsellors, imitating their sovereign, arrayed +themselves in the same garment;' a scanty mantle, in truth, but, no +doubt, amply sufficient for the denizens of that torrid atmosphere of +bigotry in which Spain has lived for centuries. + +Of what earnest stuff Motley's dreams of religious freedom are made, we +read in his terse comments upon the declaration of the principles of +liberty of conscience by the States General. 'Such words shine through +the prevailing darkness of the religious atmosphere at that epoch like +characters of light. They are beacons in the upward path of mankind. +Never before had so bold and wise a tribute to the genius of the +Reformation been paid by an organized community. Individuals walking in +advance of their age had enunciated such truths, and their voices had +seemed to die away, but at last, a little, struggling, half-developed +commonwealth had proclaimed the rights of conscience for all mankind.' + +Thus we have no longer a wearisome compilation of events strung upon the +thread of chronology, but a practical history of the most momentous +epoch of modern times. No hand has before pointed out so faithfully its +great motive power or adjusted so nicely its apparent contradictions. +The structure is grand; it is the expression of a glorious faith. In the +accomplishment of so vast a design, Motley has won our warmest +gratitude, while he has awakened our deepest sympathies. Not alone to +the learned, the scholarly, and the elegant, are these volumes +addressed; their high-toned thought has met response in the people's +heart, and children bend with flushed faces over the high romance of the +struggle that cost the lives of thousands, and recognize, perhaps dimly, +the import of that great advance from the darkness of intolerance to the +light of freedom, that was so well worth the treasure of blood with +which it was bought. + +And here we part with Motley the historian, only to clasp hands with +Motley the patriot. In the present tremendous struggle of people against +progress, this fierce contest between labor and the lords, these last +convulsions of the expiring giant of feudal aristocracy, whose monstrous +conception dates far back among the Middle Ages, Motley has shown +himself the true champion of the doctrines advocated in his histories. +His platform is still the same, but how changed the theatre of his +action! His letter to the London _Times_ on the 'Causes of the American +Civil War' is a masterly exposition of facts, whose naked power is +obscured by no useless displays of rhetoric. Its tone is calm, +dignified, confident; its statements are strongly maintained, its logic +convincing. All honor to the man who from his quiet researches in royal +archives and busy deciphering of dusty MSS. turned to his country in her +hour of need, and defended her where defence should have been +superfluous, but was, unhappily, of small avail. And still he works +nobly for the dear old flag, and, intimately _lié_ as he is with the +first literati and politicians of Europe, it is not easy to measure his +influence. His purely literary habits forbid all suspicion of his +disinterestedness, and will go far to commend him to the sympathies of +the commanding intellects of the age. Let us hope for the time when, +with renewed faith in his mighty theories and still renewing love for +his motherland, he shall return to the retirement which has already +produced such noble fruits, and add works as worthy to our American +classics. Meanwhile, _vive qui vince!_ + + * * * * * + +THE LESSON OF THE HOUR. + + + Thou who for years hast watched the course of nature, + What time the changing seasons swept their round, + And, 'mid the play of every varying feature, + New founts of pleasure for thyself hast found; + Who, when dark clouds upon the mountain glooming, + Threaten destruction to the smiling plain, + Canst pierce the shadow and foresee the blooming + Of budding blossoms brighter for the rain: + + To whom, when the dread winter's icy fingers + Have chilled to silence the gay babbling stream, + A memory of its summer music lingers, + Or April violets in the future beam; + To whom the darkness whispers of the dawning, + And sorrow's night tells of the coming day; + And even death is but the twilight morning + Of glory which shall never fade away;-- + + _Teach us thy lesson_. Unto us be given + The trusting faith the April flowers display; + Looking in their meek confidence to heaven,-- + Trusting to God the future of the day. + Our night is dark, and perils vast surround us, + But, firm in truth and right, what shall we fear? + Has danger ever yet base cravens found us? + Who has sustained thus far will guide us here. + + Ye countless legions, where each man is holding + Himself a bulwark for the cause of right, + In war's fierce furnace, where our God is molding + Each soul for his own ends in Freedom's fight, + March on to victory in overwhelming number, + Singing the peans of the noble free; + Our Liberty has just awaked from slumber, + To carry out the world's great destiny. + + O mighty nation! all thy early glory + Shall be as nothing to the great renown + Which in the future ages shall come o'er thee, + For thine is Liberty's immortal crown. + Heed not the jealousies forever thronging,-- + The petty envyings which gird thee round; + 'Tis thine to carry out the world's great longing, + To find that liberty none else has found. + + What though across the swelling, broad Atlantic + Comes scornful menace? it is naught to thee-- + 'Tis but the jealous raving, wild and frantic, + Of those who would, but never can, be free;-- + Who, slaves to selfish passions bold ambition, + Hold up their shackled arms in heaven's broad light, + And prate of freedom, boast their high position, + And strive to turn to interest Truth and Right. + + _We need more faith!_ What though the means be weakness? + With God supreme, the victory must be ours! + From imperfection he works out completeness; + From feeble means makes overwhelming powers. + How shall this be? The knowledge is not given; + Each to his duty in the field of Right; + Sure as th' Almighty ruleth earth and heaven, + His arm will do it in resistless might. + + * * * * * + +AMONG THE PINES. + + +'Dee ye tink Massa Davy wud broke his word, sar?' said the old negress, +bridling up her bent form, and speaking in a tone in which indignation +mingled with wounded dignity; 'p'raps gemmen do dat at de Norf--dey +neber does it har.' + +'Excuse me, Aunty; I know your master is a man of honor; but he's very +much excited, and very angry with Scip.' + +'No matter for dat, sar; Massa Davy neber done a mean ting sense he war +born.' + +'Massa K---- tinks a heap ob de Gunnel, Aunty; but he reckons he'm sort +o' crazy now; dat make him afeard,' said Scip, in an apologetic tone. + +'What ef he am crazy? You'se safe _har_,' rejoined the old woman, +dropping her aged limbs into a chair, and rocking away with much the +same air which ancient white ladies occasionally assume. + +'Won't you ax Massa K---- to a cheer?' said Scip; 'he hab ben bery kine +to me.' + +The negress then offered me a seat; but it was some minutes before I +rendered myself sufficiently agreeable to thaw out the icy dignity of +her manner. Meanwhile I glanced around the apartment. + +Though the exterior of the cabin was like the others on the plantation, +the interior had a rude, grotesque elegance about it far in advance of +any negro hut I had ever seen. The logs were chinked with clay, and the +one window, though destitute of glass, and ornamented with the +inevitable board-shutter, had a green moreen curtain, which kept out the +wind and the rain. A worn but neat and well-swept carpet partly covered +the floor, and on the low bed was spread a patch-work counterpane. +Against the side of the room opposite the door stood an antique, +brass-handled bureau, and an old-fashioned table, covered with a faded +woolen cloth, occupied the centre of the apartment. In the corner near +the fire was a curiously-contrived side-board, made of narrow strips of +yellow pine, tongued and grooved together, and oiled so as to bring out +the beautiful grain of the wood. On it were several broken and cracked +glasses, and an array of irregular crockery. The rocking-chair, in which +the old negress passed the most of her time, was of mahogany, wadded and +covered with chintz, and the arm-seat I occupied, though old and patched +in many places, had evidently moved in good society. + +The mistress of this second-hand furniture establishment was arrayed in +a mass of cast-off finery, whose gay colors were in striking contrast +with her jet-black skin and bent, decrepit form. Her gown, which was +very short, was of flaming red and yellow worsted stuff, and the +enormous turban that graced her head and hid all but a few tufts of her +frizzled, 'pepper-and-salt' locks, was evidently a contribution from the +family stock of worn-out pillow-cases. She was very aged,--upwards of +seventy,--and so thin that, had she not been endowed with speech and +motion, she might have passed for a bundle of whalebone thrown into +human shape, and covered with a coating of gutta-percha. It was evident +she had been a valued house-servant, whose few remaining years were +being soothed and solaced by the kind and indulgent care of a grateful +master. + +Scip, I soon saw, was a favorite with the old-negress, and the marked +respect he showed me quickly dispelled the angry feeling excited by my +doubts of 'Massa Davy,' and opened her heart and her mouth at the same +moment. She was terribly garrulous; her tongue, as soon as it got under +way, ran on as if propelled by machinery and acquainted with the secret +of perpetual motion; but she was an interesting study. The +single-hearted attachment she showed for her master and his family gave +me a new insight into the practical working of 'the peculiar +institution,' and convinced me that even slavery, in some of its +aspects, is not so black as it is painted. + +When we were seated, I said to Scip, 'What induced you to lay hands on +the Colonel? It is death, you know, if he enforces the law.' + +'I knows dat, massa; I knows dat; but I had to do it. Dat Moye am de ole +debil, but de folks round har wud hab turned on de Cunnel, shore, ef +he'd killed him. Dey don't like de Cunnel; dey say he'm a stuck-up +seshener.' + +'The Colonel, then, has befriended you at some time?' + +'No, no, sar; 'twarn't dat; dough I'se know'd him a long w'ile,--eber +sense my ole massa fotched me from de Habana,--but 'twarn't dat.' + +'Then _why_ did you do it?' + +The black hesitated a moment, and glanced at the old negress, then +said,-- + +'You see, massa, w'en I fuss come to Charles'n, a pore little ting, wid +no friend in all de worle, dis ole aunty war a mudder to me. She nussed +de Cunnel; he am jess like her own chile, and I know'd 'twud kill her ef +he got hisself enter trubble.' + +I noticed certain convulsive twitchings about the corners of the old +woman's mouth as she rose from her seat, threw her arms around Scip, +and, in words broken by sobs, faltered out,-- + +'_You_ am my chile; I loves you better dan Massa Davy--better dan all de +worle.' + +The scene, had they not been black, would have been one for a painter. + +'You were the Colonel's nurse, Aunty,' I said, when she had regained her +composure. 'Have you always lived with him?' + +'Yas, sar, allers; I nussed him, and den de chil'ren--all ob 'em.' + +'All the children? I thought the Colonel had but one--Miss Clara.' + +'Wal, he habn't, massa, only de boys.' + +'What boys? I never heard he had sons.' + +'Neber heerd of young Massa Davy, nor Massa Tommy! Hain't you _seed_ +Massa Tommy, sar?' + +'Tommy! I was told he was Madam P----'s son.' + +'So he am; Massa Davy had _her_ long afore he had missus.' + +The truth flashed upon me; but could it be possible? Was I in South +Carolina or in Utah? + +'Who is Madam P----?' I asked. + +The old woman hesitated a moment, as if in doubt whether she had not +said too much; but Scip quietly replied,-- + +'She'm jess what aunty am--_de Cunnel's slave!_' + +'His _slave_! it can't be possible; she is white!' + +'No, massa; she am brack, and de Cunnel's slave!' + +Not to weary the reader with a long repetition of negro-English, I will +tell in brief what I gleaned from an hour's conversation with the two +blacks. + +Madam P---- was the daughter of Ex-Gov. ----, of Virginia, by a +quarteron woman. She was born a slave, but was acknowledged as her +father's child, and reared in his family with his legitimate children. +When she was ten years of age her father died, and his estate proving +insolvent, the land and negroes were brought under the hammer. His +daughter, never having been manumitted, was inventoried and sold with +the other property. The Colonel, then just of age, and a young man of +fortune, bought her and took her to the residence of his mother in +Charleston. A governess was provided for her, and a year or two +afterwards she was taken to the North to be educated. There she was +frequently visited by the Colonel; and when fifteen her condition became +such that she was obliged to return home. He conveyed her to the +plantation, where her elder son, David, was soon afterwards born, 'Aunt +Lucy' officiating on the occasion. When the child was two years old, +leaving it in charge of the aged negress, she accompanied the Colonel to +Europe, where they remained for a year. Subsequently she passed another +year at a Northern seminary; and then, returning to the plantation, was +duly installed as its mistress, and had ever since presided over its +domestic affairs. She was kind and good to the negroes, who were greatly +attached to her, and much of the Colonel's wealth was due to her +excellent management of the estate. + +Six years after the birth of 'young Massa Davy,' the Colonel married his +present wife, that lady having full knowledge of his left-handed +connection with Madam P----, and consenting that the 'bond-woman' should +remain on the plantation, as its mistress. The legitimate wife resided, +during most of the year, in Charleston, and when at the homestead took +little interest in domestic matters. On one of her visits to the +plantation, twelve years before, her daughter, Miss Clara, was born, and +within a week, and under the same roof, Madam P---- presented the +Colonel with a son,--the lad Thomas, of whom I have spoken. As the +mother was a slave, the children were so also at their birth, but _they_ +had been manumitted by their father. One of them was being educated in +Germany; and it was intended that both should spend their lives in that +country, the taint in their blood being an insuperable bar to their ever +acquiring social position at the South. + +As she finished the story, the old woman said, 'Massa Davy am bery kind +to de missus, sar, but he _love_ de ma'am; an' he can't help it, 'cause +she'm jess so good as de angels.'[K] + +I looked at my watch,--it was nearly ten o'clock, and I rose to go. As I +did so the old negress said,-- + +'Don't yer gwo, massa, 'fore you hab sum ob aunty's wine; you'm good +friends wid Scip, and I knows _you'se_ not too proud to drink wid brack +folks, ef you am from de Norf.' + +Being curious to know what quality of wine a plantation slave indulged +in, I accepted the invitation. She went to the side-board, and brought +out a cut-glass decanter, and three cracked tumblers, which she placed +on the table. Filling the glasses to the brim, she passed one to Scip, +and one to me, and, with the other in her hand, resumed her seat. +Wishing her a good many happy years, and Scip a pleasant journey home, I +emptied the glass. It was Scuppernong, and the pure juice of the grape! + +'Aunty,' I said, 'this wine is as fine as I ever tasted.' + +'Oh yas, massa, it am de raal stuff. I growed de grapes myseff.' + +'You grew them?' + +'Yas, sar, an' Massa Davy make de wine. He do it ebery yar for de ole +nuss.' + +'The Colonel is very good. Do you raise anything else?' + +'Yas, I hab collards and taters, a little corn, and most ebery ting.' + +'But who does your work? _You_ certainly can't do it?' + +'Oh, de ma'am looks arter dat, sar; she'm bery good to de ole aunty.' + +Shaking hands with both the negroes, I left the cabin, fully convinced +that all the happiness in this world is not found within plastered +apartments. + +The door of the mansion was bolted and barred; but, rapping for +admission, I soon heard the Colonel's voice asking, 'Who is there?' +Giving a satisfactory answer, I was admitted. Explaining that he +supposed I had retired to my room, he led the way to the library. + +That apartment was much more elegantly furnished than the drawing-rooms. +Three of its sides were lined with books, and on the centre-table, +papers, pamphlets, and manuscripts were scattered in promiscuous +confusion. In an armchair near the fire, Madam P---- was seated, +reading. The Colonel's manner was as composed as if nothing had +disturbed the usual routine of the plantation; no trace of the recent +terrible excitement was visible; in fact, had I not been a witness to +the late tragedy, I should have thought it incredible that he, within +two hours, had been an actor in a scene which had cost a human being his +life. + +'Where in creation have you been, my dear fellow?' he asked, as we took +our seats. + +'At old Lucy's cabin, with Scip,' I replied. + +'Indeed. I supposed the darky had gone.' + +'No, he doesn't go till the morning.' + +'I told you he wouldn't, David,' said Madam P----; 'now, send for +him,--do make friends with him before he goes.' + +'No, Alice, it won't do. I bear him no ill-will, but it won't do. It +would be all over the plantation in an hour.' + +'No matter for that; our people would like you the better for it.' + +'No, no. I can't do it. I mean him no harm, but I can't do that.' + +'He told me _why_ he interfered between you and Moye,' I remarked. + +'Why did he?' + +'He says old Lucy, years ago, was a mother to him; that she is greatly +attached to you, and it would kill her if any harm happened to you; and +that your neighbors bear you no good-will, and would have enforced the +law had you killed Moye.' + +'It is true, David; you would have had to answer for it.' + +'Nonsense! what influence could this North County scum have against +_me_?' + +'Perhaps none. But that makes no difference; Scipio did right, and you +should tell him you forgive him.' + +The Colonel then rang a small bell, and a negro woman soon appeared. +'Sue,' he said, 'go to Aunt Lucy's and ask Scip to come here. Bring him +in at the front door, and, mind, let no one know he comes.' + +The woman in a short time returned with Scip. There was not a trace of +fear or embarrassment in the negro's manner as he entered the room. +Making a respectful bow, he bade us 'good evening.' + +'Good evening, Scip,' said the Colonel, rising and giving the black his +hand; 'let us be friends. Madam tells me I should forgive you, and I +do.' + +'Aunt Lucy say ma'am am an angel, sar, and it am tru,--it am tru, sar,' +replied the negro, with considerable feeling. + +The lady rose, also, and took Scip's hand, saying, '_I_ not only forgive +you, Scipio, but I _thank_ you for what you have done. I shall never +forget it.' + +'You'se too good, ma'am; you'se too good to say dat,' replied the darky, +the moisture coming to his eyes; 'but I meant nuffin' wrong,--I meant +nuffin' dis'specful to de Cunnel.' + +'I know you didn't, Scip; but we'll say no more about it;--good-by,' +said the Colonel. + +Shaking hands with each one of us, the darky left the apartment. + +One who does not know that the high-bred Southern gentleman considers +the black as far below him as the horse he drives, or the dog he kicks, +can not realize the amazing sacrifice of pride which the Colonel made in +seeking a reconciliation with Scip. It was the cutting off of his right +hand. The circumstance showed the powerful influence held over him by +the octoroon woman. Strange that she, his slave, cast out from society +by her blood and her life, despised, no doubt, by all the world, save by +him and a few ignorant blacks, should thus control a proud, self-willed, +passionate man, and control him, too, only for good. + +After the black had gone, I said to the Colonel, 'I was much interested +in old Lucy. A few more such instances of cheerful and contented old +age might lead me to think better of slavery.' + +'Such cases are not rare, sir. They show the paternal character of our +"institution." We are _forced_ to care for our servants in their old +age.' + +'But have your other aged slaves the same comforts that Aunt Lucy has?' + +'No; they don't need them. She has been accustomed to live in my house, +and to fare better than the plantation hands; she therefore requires +better treatment.' + +'Is not the support of that class a heavy tax upon you?' + +'Yes, it _is_ heavy. We have, of course, to deduct it from the labor of +the able-bodied hands.' + +'What is the usual proportion of sick and infirm on your plantation?' + +'Counting in the child-bearing women, I reckon about twenty per cent.' + +'And what does it cost you to support each hand?' + +'Well, it costs _me_, for children and all, about seventy-five dollars a +year. In some places it costs less. _I_ have to buy all my provisions.' + +'What proportion of your slaves are able-bodied hands?' + +'Somewhere about sixty per cent. I have, all told, old and young,--men, +women, and children,--two hundred and seventy. Out of that number I have +now equal to a hundred and fifty-four _full_ hands. You understand that +we classify them: some do only half tasks, some three-quarters. I have +_more_ than a hundred and fifty-four working men and women, but they do +only that number of full tasks.' + +'What does the labor of a _full_ hand yield?' + +'At the present price of turpentine, my calculation is about two hundred +dollars a year.' + +'Then your crop brings you about thirty-one thousand dollars, and the +support of your negroes costs you twenty thousand.' + +'Yes.' + +'If that's the case, my friend, let me advise you to sell your +plantation, free your niggers, and go North.' + +'Why so, my dear fellow?' asked the Colonel, laughing. + +'Because you'd make money by the operation.' + +'I never was good at arithmetic; go into the figures,' he replied, still +laughing, while Madam P----, who had laid aside her book, listened very +attentively. + +'Well, you have two hundred and seventy negroes, whom you value, we'll +say, with your mules, "stills," and movable property, at two hundred +thousand dollars; and twenty thousand acres of land, worth about three +dollars and a half an acre; all told, two hundred and seventy thousand +dollars. A hundred and fifty-four able-bodied hands produce you a yearly +profit of eleven thousand dollars, which, saying nothing about the cost +of keeping your live stock, the wear and tear of your mules and +machinery, and the yearly loss of your slaves by death, is only four per +cent. on your capital. Now, with only the price of your land, say +seventy thousand dollars, invested in safe stocks at the North, you +could realize eight per cent.--five thousand six hundred dollars,--and +live at your ease; and that, I judge, if you have many runaways, or many +die on your hands, is as much as you really _clear_ now. Besides, if you +should invest seventy thousand dollars in almost any legitimate business +at the North, and should add to it, _as you now do_, your _time_ and +_labor_, you would realize far more than you do at present from your +entire capital.' + +'I never looked at the matter in that light. But I have given you my +profits as they _now_ are; some years I make more; six years ago I made +twenty-five thousand dollars.' + +'Yes; and six years hence you may make nothing.' + +'That's true. But it would cost me more to live at the North.' + +'There you are mistaken. What do you pay for your corn, your pork, and +your hay, for instance?' + +'Well, my corn I have to bring round by vessel from Washington (North +Carolina), and it costs me high when it gets here,--about ten bits (a +dollar and twenty-five cents), I think.' + +'And in New York you could buy it now at sixty to seventy cents. What +does your hay cost?' + +'Thirty-five dollars. I pay twenty for it in New York,--the balance is +freight and hauling.' + +'Your pork costs you two or three dollars, I suppose, for freight and +hauling.' + +'Yes; about that.' + +'Then in those items you might save nearly a hundred per cent.; and they +are the principal articles you consume.' + +'Yes; there's no denying that. But another thing is just as certain: it +costs less to support one of my niggers than one of your laboring men.' + +'That may be true. But it only shows that our laborers fare better than +your slaves.' + +'I'm not sure of that. I _am_ sure, however, that our slaves are more +contented than the run of laboring men at the North.' + +'That proves nothing. Your blacks have no hope, no chance to rise; and +they submit--though I judge not cheerfully--to an iron necessity. The +Northern laborer, if very poor, may be discontented; but discontent +urges him to effort, and leads to the bettering of his condition. I tell +you, my friend, slavery is an expensive luxury. You Southern nabobs +_will_ have it; and you have to _pay for it_.' + +'Well, we don't complain. But, seriously, my good fellow, I feel that +I'm carrying out the design of the Almighty in holding my niggers. I +think he made the black to serve the white.' + +'_I_ think,' I replied, 'that whatever He designs works perfectly. Your +institution certainly does not. It keeps the producer, who, in every +society, is the really valuable citizen, in the lowest poverty, while it +allows those who do nothing to be "clad in fine linen, and to fare +sumptuously every day."' + +'It does more than that, sir,' said Madam P----, with animation; 'it +brutalizes and degrades the _master_ and the _slave_; it separates +husband and wife, parent and child; it sacrifices virtuous women to the +lust of brutal men; and it shuts millions out from the knowledge of +their duty and their destiny. A good and just God could not have +designed it; and it must come to an end.' + +If lightning had struck in the room I could not have been more startled +than I was by the abrupt utterance of such language in a planter's +house, in his very presence, and _by his slave_. The Colonel, however, +expressed no surprise and no disapprobation. It was evidently no new +thing to him. + +'It is rare, madam,' I said, 'to hear such sentiments from a Southern +lady--one reared among slaves.' + +Before she could reply, the Colonel laughingly said,-- + +'Bless you, Mr. K----, madam is an out-and-out abolitionist, worse by +fifty per cent. than Garrison or Wendell Phillips. If she were at the +North she would take to pantaloons, and "stump" the entire Free States; +wouldn't you, Alice?' + +'I've no doubt of it,' rejoined the lady, smiling. 'But I fear I should +have poor success. I've tried for ten years to convert _you_, and Mr. +K---- can see the result.' + +It had grown late; and, with my head full of working niggers and white +slave-women, I went to my apartment. + +The next day was Sunday. It was near the close of December, yet the air +was as mild and the sun as warm as in our Northern October. It was +arranged at the breakfast-table that we all should attend service at +'the meeting-house,' a church of the Methodist persuasion, located some +eight miles away; but as it wanted some hours of the time for religious +exercises to commence, I strolled out after breakfast, with the Colonel, +to inspect the stables of the plantation. 'Massa Tommy' accompanied us, +without invitation; and in the Colonel's intercourse with him I observed +as much freedom and familiarity as he would have shown to an +acknowledged son. The youth's manners and conversation showed that great +attention had been given to his education and training, and made it +evident that the mother whose influence was forming his character, +whatever a false system of society had made her life, possessed some of +the best traits of her sex. + +The stables, a collection of one-story framed buildings, about a hundred +rods from the house, were well lighted and ventilated, and contained all +'the modern improvements.' They were better built, warmer, more +commodious, and in every way more comfortable than the shanties occupied +by the human cattle of the plantation. I remarked as much to the +Colonel, adding that one who did not know would infer that he valued his +horses more than his slaves. + +'That may be true,' he replied, laughing. 'Two of my horses here are +worth more than any eight of my slaves;' at the same time calling my +attention to two magnificent thorough-breds, one of which had made +'2.32' on the Charleston course. The establishment of a Southern +gentleman is not complete until it includes one or two of these useless +appendages. I had an argument with my host as to their value compared +with that of the steam-engine, in which I forced him to admit that the +iron horse is the better of the two, because it performs more work, eats +less, has greater speed, and is not liable to the spavin or the heaves; +but he wound up by saying, 'After all, I go for the thorough-breds. You +Yankees have but one test of value--use.' + +A ramble through the negro-quarters, which followed our visit to the +stables, gave me some further glimpses of plantation life. Many of the +hands were still away in pursuit of Moye, but enough remained to make it +evident that Sunday is the happiest day in the darky calendar. Groups of +all ages and colors were gathered in front of several of the cabins, +some singing, some dancing, and others chatting quietly together, but +all enjoying themselves as heartily as so many young animals let loose, +in a pasture. They saluted the Colonel and me respectfully, but each one +had a free, good-natured word for 'Massa Tommy,' who seemed an especial +favorite with them. The lad took their greetings in good part, but +preserved an easy, unconscious dignity of manner that plainly showed he +did not know that _he_ too was of their despised, degraded race. + +The Colonel, in a rapid way, gave me the character and peculiarities of +nearly every one we met. The titles of some of them amused me greatly. +At every step we encountered individuals whose names have become +household words in every civilized country.[L] Julius Cęsar, slightly +stouter than when he swam the Tiber, and somewhat tanned from long +exposure to a Southern sun, was seated on a wood-pile, quietly smoking a +pipe; while near him, Washington, divested of regimentals, and clad in a +modest suit of reddish-gray, his thin locks frosted by time, and his +fleshless visage showing great age, was gazing, in rapt admiration, at a +group of dancers in front of old Lucy's cabin. + +In this group about thirty men and women were making the ground quake +and the woods ring with their unrestrained jollity. Marc Antony was +rattling away at the bones, Nero fiddling as if Rome were burning, and +Hannibal clawing at a banjo as if the fate of Carthage hung on its +strings. Napoleon, as young and as lean as when he mounted the bridge of +Lodi, with the battle-smoke still on his face, was moving his legs even +faster than in the Russian retreat; and John Wesley was using his heels +in a way that showed _they_ didn't belong to the Methodist church. But +the central figures of the group were Cato and Victoria. The lady had a +face like a thunder-cloud, and a form that, if whitewashed, would have +outsold the 'Greek Slave.' She was built on springs, and 'floated in +the dance' like a feather in a high wind. Cato's mouth was like an +alligator's, but when it opened, it issued notes that would draw the +specie even in this time of general suspension. As we approached he was +singing a song, but he paused on perceiving us, when the Colonel, +tossing a handful of coin among them, called out, 'Go on, boys; let the +gentleman have some music; and you, Vic, show your heels like a beauty.' + +A general scramble followed, in which 'Vic's' sense of decorum forbade +her to join, and she consequently got nothing. Seeing that, I tossed her +a silver piece, which she caught. Grinning her thanks, she shouted, +'Now, clar de track, you nigs; start de music. I'se gwine to gib de +gemman de breakdown.' + +And she did; and such a breakdown! 'We w'ite folks,' though it was no +new thing to the Colonel or Tommy, almost burst with laughter. + +In a few minutes nearly every negro on the plantation, attracted by the +presence of the Colonel and myself, gathered around the performers; and +a shrill voice at my elbow called out, 'Look har, ye lazy, +good-for-nuffin' niggers, carn't ye fotch a cheer for Massa Davy and de +strange gemman?' + +'Is that you, Aunty?' said the Colonel. 'How d'ye do?' + +'Sort o' smart, Massa Davy; sort o' smart; how is ye?' + +'Pretty well, Aunty; pretty well. Have a seat.' And the Colonel helped +her to one of the chairs that were brought for us, with as much +tenderness as he would have shown to an aged white lady. + +The 'exercises,' which had been suspended for a moment, recommenced, and +the old negress entered into them as heartily as the youngest present. A +song from Cato followed the dance, and then about twenty 'gentleman and +lady' darkies joined, two at a time, in a half 'walk-round' half +breakdown, which the Colonel told me was what suggested the well-known +'white-nigger' dance and song of Lucy Long. Other performances +succeeded, and the whole formed a scene impossible to describe. Such +uproarious jollity, such full and perfect enjoyment, I had never seen in +humanity, black or white. The little nigs, only four or five years old, +would rush into the ring and shuffle away at the breakdowns till I +feared their short legs would come off; while all the darkies joined in +the songs, till the branches of the old pines above shook as if they too +had caught the spirit of the music. In the midst of it, the Colonel said +to me, in an exultant tone,-- + +'Well, my friend, what do you think of slavery _now_?' + +'About the same that I thought yesterday. I see nothing to change my +views.' + +'Why, are not these people happy? Is not this perfect enjoyment?' + +'Yes; just the same enjoyment that aunty's pigs are having; don't you +hear them singing to the music? I'll wager they are the happier of the +two.' + +'No; you are wrong. The higher faculties of the darkies are being +brought out here.' + +'I don't know that,' I replied. 'Within the sound of their voices, two +of their fellows--victims to the inhumanity of slavery--are lying dead, +and yet they make _Sunday_ 'hideous' with wild jollity, while they do +not know but Sam's fate may be theirs to-morrow.' + +Spite of his genuine courtesy and high breeding, a shade of displeasure +passed over the Colonel's face as I made this remark. Rising to go, he +said, a little impatiently, 'Ah, I see how it is; that d---- Garrison's +sentiments have impregnated even you. How can the North and the South +hold together when even moderate men like you and me are so far apart?' + +'But you,' I rejoined, good-humoredly, 'are not a moderate man. You and +Garrison are of the same stripe, both extremists. You have mounted one +hobby, _he_ another; that is all the difference.' + +'I should be sorry,' he replied, recovering his good-nature, 'to think +myself like Garrison. I consider him the ---- scoundrel unhung.' + +'No; I think he means well. But you are both fanatics, both 'bricks' of +the same material; we conservatives, like mortar, will hold you together +and yet keep you apart.' + +'I, for one, _won't_ be held. If I can't get out of this cursed Union in +any other way, I'll emigrate to Cuba.' + +I laughed, and just then, looking up, caught a glimpse of Jim, who +stood, hat in hand, waiting to speak to the Colonel, but not daring to +interrupt a white conversation. + +'Hallo, Jim,' I said; 'have you got back?' + +'Yas, sar,' replied Jim, grinning all over as if he had some agreeable +thing to communicate. + +'Where is Moye?' asked the Colonel. + +'Kotched, massa; I'se got de padlocks on him.' + +'Kotched,' echoed half a dozen darkies, who stood near enough to hear; +'Ole Moye is kotched,' ran through the crowd, till the music ceased, and +a shout went up from two hundred black throats that made the old trees +tremble. + +'Now gib him de lashes, Massa Davy,' cried the old nurse. 'Gib him what +he gabe pore Sam; but mine dat you keeps widin de law.' + +'Never fear, Aunty,' said the Colonel; 'I'll give him ----.' + +How the Colonel kept his word will be told in another number. + + * * * * * + + +ACTIVE SERVICE; OR, CAMPAIGNING IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. + + +I have been to the war; I have seen armed secessionists, and I have seen +them run; but, more than that, I have seen _Active Service_. It was +_active_, and no mistake. + +In April last, my country needed my services; I had been playing +soldier, and I felt it my duty to respond to the call of the President. +I did respond. I uncovered my head, raised my right hand, and solemnly +swore to obey the President of the United States for three months. The +three months have expired, and I am once more a free American citizen, +and for the first time in my life I know what it is to be _free_. + +ACTIVE SERVICE! That's what the military men call it. I have often read +of it; I have heard men talk about it; but now I have seen it. I meet +people every day who congratulate me on my safe return, and say, 'I +suppose you are going again?' Perhaps I am. + +It was a beautiful day when our company left home, and what a crowd of +people assembled to see us off! What a waving of banners and +handkerchiefs; what shouting and cheering; what an endless amount of +hand-shaking; how many 'farewells,' 'good-bys,' and +'take-care-of-yourselves,' were spoken; all of this had to be gone +through with, and our company run the gauntlet and nobody was hurt. + +Going to war is no child's play, as many seem to suppose. Once sworn in +as a _private_, you become a tool, a mere thing, to do another's +bidding. I do not say this to discourage enlistments,--far from it. I am +only speaking the truth. 'Forewarned, forearmed.' If there is a hard +life upon earth, it is that of a common soldier; he may be the bravest +man in the army, he may perform an endless amount of daring deeds, but +it is seldom that he gains a tangible reward. He does all the fighting, +he performs all the drudgery, he is plundered by the sutler, he lives +on pork and hard-bread, but he gets none of the honors of a victory. As +Biglow says,-- + + 'Lieutenants are the lowest grade that help pick up the coppers.' + +I belonged to an artillery company. I joined this because somebody told +me I could ride. I wish I had that _somebody_ by the throat. The idea of +a man's _riding_ over the mountains of Western Virginia! I won't call it +ridiculous, for that's no name for it. + +I will pass over the uninteresting part of the campaign, that of lying +in camp, as everybody now-a-days has ample opportunity to judge of camp +life, in the cities, and take the reader at once into 'active service,' +and show the hardships and trials, together with the fun (for soldiers +_do_ have their good times) of campaigning. + +On the 29th day of May, 1861, we arrived at Parkersburgh, Va. It was my +first visit to the Old Dominion. We had been taught when youngsters at +school to regard Virginia as a sort of Holy Land, 'flowing with milk and +honey,' and the mother of all that is great and noble in the United +States, if not in the world. We were 'going South.' + +It was at the close of a warm spring day that we landed there; the sun +was just sinking in the west as the boat rounded-to at the wharf. We +jumped ashore, and for the first time in our lives inhaled the 'sacred +atmosphere' of the so-called Southern Confederacy. All was bustle and +confusion; but we soon had our traps, _i.e._, guns, caissons and horses, +unloaded, and a little after dark were on the march. We proceeded a few +miles out of town, and at midnight halted, pitched our tents, stationed +guards, and all who were so fortunate as not to be detailed for duty +were soon sound asleep. + +At Grafton, one hundred miles east of Parkersburgh, we were told there +was a party of some two thousand rebels. This then was the object of our +visit to Western Virginia, to drive these men east of the +mountains,--from whence most of them came,--and to protect the honor of +our flag in that portion of Virginia now known by the name of Kanawha. + +At sunrise on the 30th, we marched to the depot of the north-western +branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and, after a hard half-day's +work in loading our guns, horses and wagons, stowed ourselves away in +cattle cars, and were once more ready for a start. As we rattled along +over the railroad, the scenery for the first few miles was beautiful, +and we began to think that Old Virginny was really the flower of the +Union. But a 'change soon came over the spirit of our dreams.' + +After passing a small shanty, called Petroleum,--from the numerous +oil-wells in the vicinity,--we met with the first really hard work we +had seen since we began the life of a soldier. Here the rebels had burnt +one of the railroad bridges, and all hands had to 'fall in' and repair +damages. Never did men work with a better will. Slender youths, who, if +they had been told one month before, that on the 30th day of May, 1861, +they would be laying rails and cutting timber for Uncle Sam, for eleven +dollars a month, would have pitied their informant as insane, were here +working with a will that showed what a man can do if he only sets +himself about it. For two days and a night we toiled and ceased not, and +when, on the evening of the second day, we passed over the 'soldiers' +bridge' in safety, such a shout rent the air as I never heard before. + +A few miles beyond the burnt bridge, the scenery began to change. In the +clear starlight, instead of beautiful streams and fine farms, we beheld +hills and mountains covered with an almost impenetrable growth of +underbrush, and large rocks hanging over our heads, ready to be hurled +down upon us by some unseen hand, and to crush our little handful of +men. On we went, at a snail's pace, till about ten o'clock, P.M., when +our joy was again turned to woe, for here too the dogs of Jeff Davis had +been doing their work, and had burnt another bridge. We waited until +morning, and then, after some hard swearing, were once more transformed +into 'greasy mechanics,' and before the sun went down had passed to the +'other side of Jordan' in safety. + +Here began our first experience of the hospitality of the sons, or +rather daughters, of Virginia. + +A small farm-house stood near the bridge, numerous cows were grazing in +the pasture close by, and everything denoted a home of comfort and +plenty. This, I thought, must be the home of some F.F.V., and I will +take a pail--or rather camp kettle--and 'sarah forth' to buy a few +quarts of milk. Wending my way to the house, I knocked at the door, and +instantly six female heads protruded from the window. Presently one of +them, an elderly woman, opened the door, and inquired what I wanted. + +'Have you any milk to spare?' I said. + +'I reckon,' replied the woman. + +'I would like to get a few quarts,' I said, handing her my kettle. I +took a seat on the door-step, and wondered what these six women were +doing in this lonely spot. They evidently lived alone, for not a man was +to be seen around. The table was spread for dinner, six cups, six +plates, six spoons, and no more. I was about to ask for the man of the +house, when the old woman returned with my kettle of milk. + +'How much?' I asked, as I thrust my hand deep into my pocket, and drew +forth one of the few coins it was my fortune to possess. + +'Only four bits,' said the ancient female. + +I thought milk must have 'riz' lately, but I paid the money and left. + +From observations since taken, I infer these six women were 'grass +widows,' whose husbands had enlisted in the rebel army, and left them +behind to plunder the Union troops by selling corn-bread and milk for +ten times its value. + +I took a seat on a log, and congratulated myself on the prospect of a +good dinner. By the aid of a stone I managed to crumble 'two shingles' +of hard bread into a cup of the milk, and then, with an appetite such as +I never enjoyed in _America_, sat to work. I took one mouthful, when, +lo! the milk was sour! Hurling cup and contents toward the hospitable +mansion, I fell back upon my regular diet of salt pork. + +Leaving the Virginia damsels to plunder the next regiment of Federals +that came along, we were soon once more on our way, and on Saturday, the +1st of June, arrived at Clarksburgh. Here we learned that the rebels had +left Grafton and gone to Phillippi, some twenty miles back in the +country. We remained at Clarksburgh until Sunday morning, when, once +more stowing ourselves 'three deep' on flats and stock cars, we +proceeded as far as Webster. Here we left the railroad, and pursued the +rebels afoot. + +Webster is a big name, and there we flattered ourselves we could get +some of the comforts of life. But once again we were doomed to +disappointment. Two stores, a dozen or so of shanties, and a secession +pole, make up this mighty town. Parkersburgh is a 'right smart place;' +Clarksburgh 'isn't much to speak of;' the only thing of interest about +it is the home of Senator Carlisle; but Webster is a little the worst +place I have ever seen. I am sorry to say, in the language of the great +man whose name it bears, 'It still lives.' + +Observing a shanty on the summit of a small hill, with the words, 'Meals +at all hours,' over the door, I wended my way over sundry cow-paths and +through by-lanes towards it, until at last, fatigued, and with hands +torn and bleeding from catching hold of roots and bushes to keep myself +from falling, I arrived at the summit of the hill. A young woman stood +in the door-way of the shanty, and I asked her if I could obtain a +dinner. + +'Yes,' she said. 'Walk in and take a cheer.' She shoved a three-legged +stool towards me, and I took it. + +She was about eighteen years of age, and had a very pretty +face,--though it was thickly covered with a coating of the sacred +soil,--a musical voice, and a small hand. Her eyes sparkled like +fire-flies on a June night, and her hair hung in wavy ringlets over what +would have been an 'alabaster brow,' had it not been for the +superabundance of _dirt_ above mentioned. She was the only good-looking +woman I saw in Western Virginia. + +I took a seat at the table, and from a broken cup drank a few swallows +of tolerable coffee. As for the edibles, 'twas the same old story,--corn +bread and maple molasses, fried pork and onions. I staid there perhaps +fifteen minutes, and learned from my hostess that Webster was, previous +to the war 'a right smart village,' but that the male inhabitants had +mostly joined the rebel army, then at Phillippi. She, different from +most women I met in Virginia, expressed sympathy for the Union cause. It +seemed so strange to find a _Union_ woman in that part of the country, I +was induced to ask if Webster had the honor of being her birth-place. + +'Oh no,' she said; 'I was born in 'Hio.' + +That solved the whole mystery. I willingly paid the 'four bits' for my +dinner; and, as a storm was coming on, made all haste back to the +railroad, where we were getting ready to march on Phillippi, distance +thirteen Virginian, or about twenty _American_, miles. + +'Fall in, Company Q!' shouted the orderly. 'Numbers one, two, three, and +four, do so and so; five, six, seven, and eight, do this, that, and the +other!' So at it we went; and never in my life did I perform a harder +afternoon's work than on Sunday, the 2d of June, 1861. It was a warm, +sultry day, and our morning's ride in the cars had been dusty and +fatiguing; and when, about dusk, a heavy rain-storm set in and drenched +us to the skin, we were sorry-looking objects indeed. + +Although we had been in service six weeks, we had but just received our +uniforms that morning. My pants, when I put them on, were about six +inches too long, and the sleeves of my blouse ditto. After marching all +night in the rain, my trowsers only came down as far as my knees; they +shrank two feet in twelve hours. Many of the men threw away their shoddy +uniforms after wearing them one day, as they were totally unfit for use. +They tore as easily as so much paper, and were no protection whatever +from the weather. Somebody, I don't pretend to say who, made a good +thing when he furnished them to the government. No doubt they were +supplied by some _loyal_ and _respectable_ citizen, who would not +knowingly cheat his country out of a penny! We have reaped a bountiful +harvest of such patriots during the past year. May the Lord love them! + +At eleven o'clock on the night of the 2d of June we started for +Phillippi. It commenced raining about seven o'clock in the evening, and +we were all wet to the skin. The night was very dark, and the road, +though they called it a 'pike,' was one of the worst imaginable; it +wound 'round and round,'-- + + 'It turned in and turned out, + Leaving beholders still in doubt + Whether the wretched muddy track + Were going South or coming back,'-- + +and seemed to run in every direction but the right one. It was a road +such as can be found only in Virginia. The mud was almost up to the hubs +of the wagon-wheels; the horses pulled, the drivers laid on the lash and +a string of oaths at the same time; the wind blew, and the rain came +down in torrents. More than once on that awful march did we lend a +helping hand to get the horses out of some 'slough of Despond.' Over the +mountains and through the woods we went, at the rate of about two miles +an hour. Many gave out and lay down by the wayside; and when at last +morning dawned, a more pitiable set of beings never were seen upon +earth. The men looked haggard and wan, the horses could hardly stand, +and we were in anything but a good condition for invading an enemy's +country. + +At daylight we were within two miles of Phillippi. Col. (now General) +Lander was with the advance, and had discovered that the enemy were +ready for a retreat. Their baggage was loaded, and if we did not make +the last two miles at 'double-quick,' he was fearful we would be too +late to accomplish the object of the expedition. So the order was given, +'Double-quick!' and jaded horses and almost lifeless men rushed forward, +buoyed up with the prospect of having a brush with the rascals who had +given us so much trouble. + +We had gone about a mile and a half, when, at a turn in the road, an old +woman rushed out from a log cabin, and, in a loud and commanding voice, +exclaimed,-- + +'Halt, artillery, or I'll shoot every one of you!' + +Not obeying the order, she fired three shots at us, none of which took +effect. At the same time three men rushed from the back of the house +toward the rebel camp at the foot of the hill, shouting at the top of +their voices to give warning of our approach. A squad of our fellows +took after them, and soon overtook them in a corn-field, when they +denied coming from the house, and said they were out planting corn! A +likely story, as it was hardly daylight, and the rain was falling in +torrents. However, during the forenoon they took _oath_, and were set +free! + +Past the log house we went at 'double-quick,' and in less time than it +takes to tell it, the artillery took position in a small piece of wood +on the summit of a hill overlooking the town. At once the order was +given, 'Action front!' and the first the rebels knew of our approach was +the rattling of canister among their tents. Out they swarmed, like bees +from a molested hive. This way and that the chivalry flew, and yet +scarcely knew which way to run. 'Bould sojer boys,' with nothing but +their underclothes on, mounted their nags bareback, and fled 'over the +hills and far away' towards Beverley, firing as they ran a few random +shots. Before the infantry reached the town most of them had made good +their escape, leaving behind, however, nearly all their baggage, a large +number of horses, wagons, tents, and about eight hundred stand of arms, +together with a nicely-cooked breakfast, which they had no idea they +were preparing for 'Lincoln's hirelings.' + +We took about fifty prisoners, among them the man who wounded Col. (now +General) Kelley. They were retained until the next day, when the oath +was administered, and they were let loose to rejoin their companions in +arms. About four weeks after this, we had the pleasure of retaking, +several of these fellows; some of them, in fact, were taken three or +four times, each time taking the oath, and being set at liberty, and +each time, true to their nature--and Jeff Davis--immediately taking up +arms again against the government. + +Phillippi, from any of the neighboring hills, or rather mountains, +presents a rather picturesque appearance. It was, previous to the war, a +place of about one thousand inhabitants. It boasts a good court-house, a +bank, and two hotels, and was by far the most civilized-looking town we +had then seen in Virginia. But, alas! what a change had come over its +once happy populace. When we entered it, not a dozen inhabitants were +left. We were told that Phillippi was the head-quarters of rebellion in +Western Virginia. Here was published the Barbour County _Jeffersonian_, +a rabid secession newspaper, now no more, for the press was demolished, +and the types thrown into a well. The editor had joined the rebel army a +few days before our arrival, and was among the loudest denunciators of +our government. He boasted he would shed the last drop of his blood (he +was very careful as to shedding the first) before he would retreat one +inch before the _Abolitionists_. We afterwards learned from some of his +men that he was among the first to mount his horse and run to the +mountains; the last that was seen of him he was going at lightning speed +toward Richmond, and in all probability _il court encore_,--he is +running yet. + +We had taken possession of the town and most of the enemy's baggage and +equipments; still our commanding officer was not satisfied, neither were +the men. We had intended to completely surround the enemy and to cut off +every possible chance of his retreat. The attack was to have been made +at five o'clock, A.M.; but one column, that which marched from Grafton, +was about twenty minutes too late, and when at last it did make its +appearance, it entered town by the wrong road, having been misled by the +guide. The consequence was, the enemy retreated on the Beverley road, +where they met with little or no resistance. Our men were too much +fatigued to follow the fast-fleeing traitors, and most of them made good +their escape. + +After the excitement of the attack, the men dropped down wherever they +stood, in the streets, in the fields, or in the woods, and slept soundly +until noon, the rain continuing to fall in torrents. But what was that +to men worn out with marching? I never slept better than when lying in a +newly-plowed corn-field, with the mud over my ankles, the rain pelting +me in the face, and not a blanket to cover me. + +_Bang! bang! bang!_ and up I jumped from my bed of mud, thinking the +fight had again commenced. Somewhat bewildered, I rubbed the 'sacred +soil' from my eyes and looked about me. It was noon; the rain had +ceased, and from the constant sound of musketry, I supposed a battle was +then raging. But instead of fighting the 'secesh,' I soon found the +Indiana boys were making havoc among the fowls of the chivalry. They +fired too much at random to suit my taste, and I made tracks for a safer +abode. Beating a hasty retreat to the hill where my company was +stationed, I found a large crowd gathered around some of the captured +wagons, overhauling the plunder. And what a mixed-up mess! Old guns, +sabres, bowie-knives, pistols made in Richmond in 1808, old uniforms +that looked like the property of some strolling actor, and love-letters +which the bold chivalry had received from fair damsels, who all +expressed the desire that, their 'lovyers' would bring home, Old Abe's +scalp. These letters afforded great amusement to our boys, though it was +hard to read many of them, and were they put into print, Artemus Ward +would have to look to his 'lorrels.' + +Bang! bang! bang! they kept on shooting till dark. It is useless to say +we had chickens for supper that night; and I would not be surprised if +the chicken crop of Phillippi and vicinity should be rather small for a +few years to come. + +Wild rumors were running through the camp all day that the 'secesh' had +been reinforced, were ten thousand strong, and, with forty pieces of +cannon, would attack us that night. Some said they were commanded by +Gov. Wise, the lunatic, others by Beauregard, and some positively +asserted that Jeff Davis led the rebel forces himself. At all events, it +was pretty well settled that we were to be attacked forthwith. Our men +slept on their arms, but not a secesh appeared. + +I, as usual, was on guard that night, and, feeling that a great +responsibility rested on my shoulders, was 'doubly armed.' A well-known +professor, a member of the same company as myself, was on the first +relief; I was on the second. I went on duty at ten o'clock, P.M., and +the professor kindly loaned me his revolver, and, in addition, soon +returned with an extra musket, a secession sabre, and one of the +captured pistols. Thus loaded down with swords, pistols, and muskets, +and guarding a six-pounder, I felt _tolerably_ safe. After walking up +and down my beat a few times, I found the two muskets began to feel +rather heavy, and the two sabres to be rather uncomfortable dangling +about my legs; and thinking that two revolvers and a _secesh_ pistol +would be all that I could use to advantage, I divested myself of the +extra equipments, and passed the residue of my 'two-hours' watch' in +committing to memory 'my last dying words,' for use in case the secesh +put an end to my existence. + +Our colonel's name was Barnett; the countersign for the night was Buena +Vista. About eleven o'clock I observed a man coming towards me. 'Halt!' +I exclaimed; 'who goes there?' + +'A _friendt_,' was the reply. + +'Advance, friend, and give the countersign.' + +The man walked towards me, and whispered in my ear 'Barnett's Sister!' +at the same time attempting to pass. Placing my bayonet close against +his breast, I ordered him to 'halt!' and called for the corporal of the +guard. The Dutchman--for such he was--begged and plead, but it was of no +use; I told him he was trying to 'run the guard,' and he must go to the +guard-house. + +'Barnett's Sister! Barnett's Sister! Barnett's Sister!' shouted the +Dutchman. 'I know nothing about Barnett's Sister,' said I; 'stop your +noise, or you will rouse the camp.' + +Just then, the officer of the guard came round. I stated the case to +him, and the man was taken to the guard-house. The next morning he was +released, and on inquiry at head-quarters it was found that he had the +password, but had confounded 'Buena Vista' with 'Barnett's Sister.' We +all enjoyed a good laugh over it, and ever after 'Barnett's Sister' was +the password for all who attempted to 'run the guard.' + +We lay at Phillippi nearly six weeks. Every day or two an alarm would +occur, the long roll would beat, and the men would form in line of +battle. It is needless to say the alarms were all false. There are +always hundreds of rumors in every camp, and ours was not an exception. +But after the first week we paid little attention to the many wild +reports which were in circulation. Although Gov. Wise had said he would +take dinner in Phillippi or in ---- on the fourth of July; +notwithstanding Gov. Letcher had issued a proclamation warning us to +leave the State in twenty-four hours or he would hang every one of us; +although a proclamation dated Staunton, Va., June 7th, 1861, stated to +the people of Western Virginia that their little band of _volunture (?)_ +had been forced from Phillippi by the ruthless Northern foe, led on by +traitors and tories, and that Jeff Davis and John Letcher had sent to +their aid a force of cavalry, artillery and rifles; and although the +proclamation wound up by saying To-morrow an ARMY will follow! we felt +tolerably safe at Phillippi. We had determined, if the aforesaid army +did appear, it should have a warm reception. + +Every day or two scouting parties went out and captured a few stray +'Bush-Whackers,' to whom the oath was administered, and they were +released. Days and weeks passed, but the army of Davis, Beauregard, and +Co., failed to appear. They had, however, congregated and entrenched +themselves at Laurel Hill, about thirteen miles east of Phillippi. + +We were reinforced from time to time, until our force numbered some +forty-five hundred men, when Gen. McClellan determined to rout the enemy +from Laurel Hill and Rich Mountain. How well he succeeded, history will +tell. + +On the night of the 6th of July, we left Phillippi for Laurel Hill, +starting at midnight. The road was rather rough, but much better than we +expected to find it. When we were within about five miles of the enemy's +camps; we passed a toll-gate, where an old woman came to the door to +'collect toll.' Some of our boys stopped at the house to get a drink of +water, and asked the old lady how far it was to camp,--meaning the rebel +camp. 'About four miles,' she said, 'but you can't get in without a +pass.' + +The artillery was just then passing her door; the boys pointed to that, +and told her 'they thought they had a pass that would take them in.' + +'Oh!' she exclaimed, as the thought struck her that we were Federals, +'you won't find it as easy work as you did at Phillippi; they're going +to fight this time.' + +On our return home this same woman was at the door, but she didn't +demand _toll_ this time. 'Well, old lady,' said one of our fellows, +'what do you think _now_ about the fighting qualities of your men?' + + 'They who fight and run away, + Will live to fight another day,' + +she exclaimed, and, slamming the door, vanished from sight, I trust +forever. + +At daylight we drove in the rebel pickets at Laurel Hill. We were within +a mile and a half of their main camp, and halted there to await orders +from Gen. McClellan, before beginning the attack. He was advancing on +the enemy at Rich Mountain and Beverley. + +We threw a few shells into the rebel camp, producing great consternation +among their men and horses. For four days we kept up skirmishing, but on +the fifth day it rained, and little was done. All were anxious to +commence the attack, but, as we had heard nothing from Gen. McClellan, +all had to 'wait for orders.' That night the enemy, hearing of the +Federal victory at Rich Mountain, and the occupation of Beverley by +McClellan, and evidently thinking himself in a 'bad fix,' retreated from +Laurel Hill toward St. George. In the morning our forces took possession +of his camp and fortifications, and part of our column pursued the +flying forces, overtaking them at Cornick's Ford, where a sharp +engagement ensued, which resulted in a total rout of the rebels, and the +death of Gen. Garnett. Only a portion of his army escaped over the +mountains to Eastern Virginia. + +So hasty was the retreat from Laurel Hill, that the enemy left behind +all the sick and wounded, telling them the Union troops would kill them +as soon as they took possession of their camp. A large number of tents, +a quantity of flour, and a few muskets, fell into our hands. The +fortifications at Laurel Hill were strong, and evidently planned and +constructed by men who understood their business. + +Among the numerous letters which we found in the rebel camp, was one +written to one of the Richmond papers, during the _siege_ of Laurel +Hill. In that part of the letter which was intended for publication, the +writer said:-- + +'The Yankees have at last arrived, about ten thousand strong. For the +past two days we have had some sharp skirmishing, during which time we +have killed one hundred of the Hessians. We have, as yet, lost but one +man.' + +In a _private note_ to the editor, the writer adds:-- + +'I guess the Yankees have got us this time. There is a regiment here who +call themselves the Indiana Ninth, but they lie,--they are regulars. +They have got good rifles, and they take good aim. If it wasn't for +this, we would attack them.' + +This little item shows how the masses of the Southern people are +deceived. Through the medium of the press they are made to believe they +are gaining great victories, and repulsing the 'abolitionists' at every +step, killing hundreds of our men, and losing none of their own. Our +total loss at Laurel Hill was six men. The rebel loss, as near as could +be ascertained, was forty. The rebel leaders know they are playing a +game for life or death, and so long as they can keep in power by +deceiving the people, just so long will this rebellion continue. Could +the _truth_ be forced upon the people of the South, the rebellion would +go down as quickly as it rose. + +Many laughable incidents occurred while we were skirmishing with the +enemy at Laurel Hill. We received a newspaper containing the message of +President Lincoln. One of the Indiana boys, thinking it might do the +secesh good to hear a few loyal sentiments, mounted a stump, paper in +hand, and exclaimed, 'I say, secesh, don't you want to hear old Abe's +message?' He then commenced reading, but had proceeded only a short way, +before 'ping, ping' came the rifle balls around the stump; down jumped +Indiana, convinced that reading even a President's message amidst a +shower of bullets isn't so agreeable, after all. + +We staid at Laurel Hill about two weeks. The enemy had been completely +routed from that part of Virginia, and our term of enlistment having +expired, our thoughts began to turn homeward. That ninety days' +soldiering was the longest three months we ever experienced. It seemed +an age since we had tasted a good meal, and all were anxious to once +more cross the Ohio, and see a civilized country. The long looked-for +order came at last, ''Bout face!' and we were on our homeward march. A +more jovial, ragged, dirty, and hungry set of men, were never mustered +out of service. We reached Camp Chase at Columbus, Ohio, about the last +of July, and as each man delivered up his knapsack and etceteras, he +felt as if a 'great weight' had been taken from his shoulders. We were +once more free men; no one could order us about, tell us where we should +or where we should not go. There was no more touching of hats to upstart +lieutenants and half-witted captains or colonels. We could go where we +liked, and do as we pleased, and not be reported, or sent to the +guard-house. If my memory serves me aright, we _did_ do pretty much as +we pleased; in other words, for two days, 'we made Rome howl!' + +What we saw of Western Virginia and its inhabitants left anything but a +favorable impression on our minds. The country is wild and romantic, but +good for little or nothing for farming purposes. The houses are mostly +built of logs, being little more than mere huts, and around each of +these 'mansions' may be seen at least a dozen young 'tow-heads,' who are +brought up in ignorance and filth. The inhabitants are lazy and +ignorant, raising hardly enough to keep starvation from their doors. +School houses are almost unknown; we did not see one in the whole course +of our march; the consequence is, not more than one in ten of the +population can read or write. And the few who 'can just make out to +spell' are worse off than their more ignorant brethren. + + 'A little learning is a dangerous thing.' + +And these people know just enough to make them _dangerous_. They have +read in some of their county newspapers that Vice-President Hamlin is a +negro, and that Lincoln is waging this war for the purpose of liberating +the slaves and killing their masters. This they believe, and any amount +of reasoning cannot convince them to the contrary. It seems to be enough +for them to know that they are _Virginians_; upon this, and this alone, +they live and have their being. They are by far the most wretched and +degraded people in America,--I had almost said in the world. The women, +if possible, are worse than the men; they go dressed in a loose, uncouth +manner, barefooted and bareheaded; their principal occupation is chewing +tobacco and plundering Union troops by getting ten prices for their +eggs, butter, and corn bread. And these are the people our children--and +their fathers before them--have been taught to regard as the true +_chivalry_ of America! The people of the United States are beginning to +see that Virginia and her sons have been greatly over-estimated. That +Virginia has produced true and great men, no one will deny. There are a +few such still within her borders; but, taking her as a whole, the +picture I have drawn is a true one. + +By my soldiering experience I learned some things which it would have +been impossible to learn had I never 'gone for a soger.' First, I +ascertained--shall I say from my _personal_ experience?--that a man +dressed in soldier-clothes can stand twice as much bad liquor as one +clothed in the garb of a citizen. Secondly, that to be a good soldier a +man should be able to go at least forty-eight hours without eating, +drinking, or sleeping, and then endure guard-duty all night in a +drenching rain, without grumbling or fault-finding. Thirdly, I _think_ I +have discovered that the martial road to glory '_is a hard road to +travel_.' + + * * * * * + +A CABINET SESSION. + + +_The President: Secretaries Seward, Chase, Bates, Smith, Blair and +Welles. Enter Mr. Stanton._ + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Gentlemen, I officially present Mr. Stanton! + +[_Mr. Stanton, bowing with graceful dignity, seats himself at the +table._] + +_Mr. Seward (breaking the momentary pause in his jocular way)._ +Remember, Mr. Secretary of War, you are now in the old chair of Floyd +and Davis: and sit thee down as if on nettles. + +_Mr. Chase._ Aye; but out of the 'nettle danger' pluck thou 'the flower +safety.' + +_Mr. Stanton (with emphasis)._ Believe me, I appreciate not so much the +honor as the responsibilities of my new position. I claim a good omen, +for, as I turned just now towards the gate, a little boy, seated upon +one of the granite blocks for the new building hereabout, trolled out as +my salutation the lines of the national air,-- + + 'Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just, + And this be our motto, In God is our trust.' + +_Mr. Welles._ Amen! + +_Mr. Bates._ I suppose you passed not a few interesting hours in this +room at the twilight of Mr. Buchanan's day, whilst holding _my_ +portfolio? + +_Mr. Stanton._ Too momentous to be called by _me_ interesting. +Posterity, reading, will say _that_. And those twilight hours, as you +felicitously term them, were followed by anxious vigils. But these +belong to confidences. + +_Mr. Lincoln (abruptly and familiarly)._ Talking of confidences, what do +you think of the news about Zollicoffer? + +_Mr. Stanton._ It appears reliable, and is a most providential success. +Eastern Tennessee was tending to the position which Lucknow sustained +towards the Indian rebellion. It is now relieved, and a fortnight or so +will bring intelligence that the whole of it has practically joined +forces to Western Virginia. I regard it as of the highest importance to +prove, by industrious acts, that we recognize and reward the sufferings +of these American Albigenses in their Cumberland fastnesses. How grandly +would swell the old Miltonian hymn, properly paraphrased, when a brigade +of the loyal Tennessians may sing + + 'Avenge, Columbia, thy slaughtered hosts, whose bones + Lie scattered on the Western mountains cold,' + +and so forth! + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Now, you are stepping into Seward's province. _He_ is the +poet of my cabinet! + +_Mr. Seward._ Granted for the argument: but there is more truth than +poetry in what our new brother has just said. Throughout how many weary +months have those brave thousands who voted against secession awaited +the crack of our rifles and our cannon-smoke--true music and sacred +incense to them. + +_Mr. Blair (practically)._ Next to the border States we must take care +of the newspapers. + +_Mr. Welles._ Ah, those newspapers: bothersome as urchins in a nursery, +and yet as necessary to the perfect development of life's enjoyment. + +_Mr. Chase._ Well said for the navy. But what do you say of the +magnificent Neckars, whose monied articles from Boston to Chicago would +swamp the treasury in a week, if they were believed in? + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Being born and raised so far from the great metropolitan +centres, I don't seem to take to newspapers so kindly as the rest of you +do. + +_Mr. Stanton._ With great respect to your Honor (as we say in court), I +deem it a great mistake to neglect newspaper suggestions, however +provincial. 'Do you hear (as Hamlet says), let them be well used; for +they are the abstract and brief chronicles of the time.' And your +metropolitan editor, after all, follows the bent of the public opinion +of the provinces as he scissors it from his thousand and one exchanges. +The village or country editor has time to mix among the people, and +hears them talk to reproduce it artistically. The city editor finds +little time for this. Besides, there _is_ very little of reliable public +opinion amid cities. The American mind is styled fickle; so it may be in +the great marts. From _them_ come your sensations and spasms. The +interior is more stable, and less swayed by impulses. Aggregate a +hundred county editorials all over the North, then strike an average, +and you will find the product in the last big journal. The misfortune of +Washington social life is that we walk in it over a circle. Hither come +'needy knife-grinders,' and axe-sharpeners, and place-hunters, who say +what they think will be agreeable to the ears of power. But the other +kind of mails, presided over by Mr. Blair, bring us wholesome, although +sometimes disagreeable, truths. They are worth attending to, Mr. +President. Let us 'strike,' but let us 'hear.' + +_Mr. Seward._ In the matter of newspapers, my son Fred and I divide +reading. He distils the metropolitan gazettes, and I those of England +and France. Then we exchange commodities at breakfast time. Fred, having +been an editor, can boil down the news very rapidly, and so put its +essence into our coffee-pot. The foreign journals, however, have so much +in them that is dissimulative and latent, they require more care and +discernment. Mr. Hunter aids me in dissecting them. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ You are the son of an editor, Montgomery; how do you +stand on this subject of Colfax's bill to carry all the papers in your +mails? The rebel postmaster-general, in _his_ report, made, you +remember, an elaborate argument to justify the Jeff Davis law, which +forbids the sending of newspapers and periodicals by expressmen. + +_Mr. Blair._ When Colfax will accept as an amendment a prohibition of +telegrams, and the obliging our mails to transmit _all_ intelligence, +then I will consider of his views. + +_Mr. Smith._ Well said; as good an extract that from the last edition of +Blair's rhetoric as could be wished for. + +_Mr. Chase._ Or in the Tribune satires of Horace! But let me ask Mr. +Blair what he thinks of a newspaper tax. + +_Mr. Blair._ Very favorably. I am for a mill stamp on every paper, +obliging every ten readers to pay the government one cent. + +_Mr. Stanton._ Mr. Secretary of the Interior, what is the average +circulation of newspapers in the loyal section? + +_Mr. Smith._ A thousand million. + +_Mr. Chase_ (rapidly computing). Which on Mr. Blair's proposition would +yield a million dollars revenue. + +_Mr. Welles._ And support the government at our present rate of +expenditure _for one day!_ + +_Mr. Seward._ The public would bear half a cent on each paper. The +publisher could make his readers insensibly pay the tax, and improve +both paper and issue by receiving another half cent: and so add one cent +of charge per copy. + +_Mr. Chase._ Which would yield a revenue of five millions per year. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Would the people stand such a charge? + +_Mr. Stanton (good humoredly)._ Will our friend the Secretary of State +smoke fewer cigars when you come to tax tobacco? + +_Mr. Welles (naļvely)._ But newspaper reading is not a vice. + +_Mr. Bates._ Be not so sure of that. The passion for newspapers excites +the minds of the whole republic. Now-a-days your servant reads the news +as he works. The clergy peruse the Sunday extras, and the +crossing-sweeper begs your worn-out copy instead of a cigar-stump. + +_Mr. Blair._ Yet Gen. McClellan has not read a newspaper in three +months. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ The subject brings to my mind a good old parson in +Springfield who used to complain that the _Weekly Republican_ was as bad +as himself. He was preaching his old sermons over and over again with +new texts. Come to find out, he had a waggish grandson who for three +previous weeks had neatly gummed the fresh date over the old one, and +the dear divine had been perusing the same paper as many times. + +_(Omnes laughing heartily.)_ + +_Mr. Stanton._ Talking of General McClellan,--I had my first engagement +with him last night at one o'clock. + +_Mr. Welles (startled)._ One o'clock! No wonder he has had typhoid +fever. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ I think he is napping it now. He has a wonderful facility +at the sleep business. Forty winks seem to refresh him as much as four +hours do other people. At my last levee, according to the newspapers, he +and his wife retired early. _He_ went up stairs and napped for two +hours, desiring to see me for half an hour alone afterward. Then he +spent several hours at the topographical bureau, hunting for some old +maps which he insisted had been there since the Creek campaign. He was +rewarded for his industry by finding also an admirable map and survey of +the situation around New Orleans. + +_Mr. Seward._ The General is a believer in Robert Bruce's spider. The +American spider's-web didn't reach Richmond in July, nor Columbus in +November, but McClellan has kept on busily spinning. + +_Mr. Blair._ Can any one tell me what is the General's platform? + +_Mr. Stanton._ I can. Long before I dreamed of being here, he told me. +It is in three words. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ That's the shortest I ever heard of next to that of the +English parson--'What _I_ say is orthodox, what I don't believe is +heterodox.' + +_Mr. Smith._ But the three words? + +_Mr. Seward._ Cęsar's was in these words: _Veni, vidi, vici_. + +_Mr. Stanton._ It is to be fervently hoped _they_ will become the Latin +translation of his own platform. McClellan's is, 'TO RETRIEVE BULL RUN!' + +_Mr. Lincoln (laughing)._ Then, if the General told you that, he is a +plagiarist: for that is _my_ platform. When he was made commander here, +he asked me what I wanted done. Said I, 'Retrieve Bull Run.' He said he +would, and turned to go. I jocularly added, 'But can't you tell us how +you are going to do it?' He mused a moment, and then said, 'I must work +it out algebraically, and from unknown quantities produce the certain +result. "Drill" shall be my "_x_" and "Transportation" my "_y_" and +"Patience" my "_z_." Then _x_ + _y_ + _z_ = success.' And now that Mr. +Stanton is here, I doubt not the slate is ready for the figuring. + +_Mr. Stanton._ Thank you, Mr. President, for the compliment. May it +prove a simple equation. + +_Mr. Chase (with energy)._ Now we call for your platform, Mr. Secretary +of War. + +_Mr. Stanton (gracefully bowing)._ The President's--yours--_ours +(looking all around)_. + +_Mr. Seward._ But the allusion is a proper personal one, nevertheless. +Remember court-martial law--the youngest always speaks first! + +(_Omnes compose themselves in a listening attitude._) + +_Mr. Stanton._ First and foremost, I believe slavery to be the _casus +belli_. To treat the _casus belli_ above and beyond all other +considerations I hold to be the duty of the true commander-in-chief: as +the surgeon disregards secondary symptoms and probes the wound. I would +treat this _casus belli_ as the Constitution allows us to treat it--not +one hair's breadth from the grand old safeguard would I step. Under the +Constitution I believe slavery to be a purely local institution. In +Louisiana and Texas, a slave is an immovable by statute, and is annexed +to the realty as hop-poles are in the law of New York. In Alabama and +Mississippi, the slave is a chattel. In the first-named States he passes +by deed of national act and registration; in the other, by simple +receipt or delivery. Thus even among slave States there is no uniform +system respecting the slave property. To the Northern States the slave +is a person in his ballot relation to congressional quota and +constituency, and also an apprentice to labor, to be delivered up on +demand. The slave escaping from Maryland to Pennsylvania is not to be +delivered up, nor cared about, nor thought about, until he is demanded. +Liberty is the law of nature. Every man is presumed free in choice, and +not even to be trammeled by apprenticeship, until the contrary is made +clearly to appear. One man may be a New York discharged convict, for +instance--an unpardoned convict. He emigrates southward, he obtains +property, according to local law, in a slave. The slave escapes to New +York. The convict--unpardoned--master enters the tribunal there on his +demand. Quoth the escaped apprentice, producing the record of the +conviction, 'Mr. Claimant, you have no standing in court. Your civil +rights are suspended in this State until you are pardoned. You are _not_ +pardoned, therefore I will not answer aye or no to your claim, until you +are legitimately in court, and recognized by the judges.' I take it that +plea would avail. And if the crier wanted to employ a person to sweep +the court-room the next moment, he could employ that defendant to do it. +There is not a man in the rebel States (_whom we publicly know of_) who +has a standing under the Constitution regarding this slavery question. +By his own argument he lives in a foreign country; by our own argument +he is not _rectus in curia_. Were I an invading general and wanted +horses, I would decoy them from the rebels with hay and stable +enticements. If I wanted trench-diggers, camp scullions, or +artillerists, or pilots, or oarsmen, or guides, and, being that general, +saw negroes about me, I should press them into my service. Time enough +to talk about the rights of some one to possess the negroes by better +claim of title to service when that somebody, with the Constitution in +one hand and stipulation of allegiance in the other, demands legal +possession. Even the fugitive slave is emancipated practically whilst in +Ohio, and whilst not yet demanded. Rebel soldiers daily leave their +plantations and abandon their negroes. _Pro tem_, at least, the latter +are then emancipated. Let them, when within Our lines, continue +emancipated. + +_Mr. Welles._ Would you arm them? + +_Mr. Stanton._ Yes, if exigencies of situation so demanded. The +beleaguered garrison at Lucknow armed every one about the place--natives +or not, servants or masters. Did General Washington spare the whisky +stills in the time of the insurrection in Western Virginia when they +were in his way? Yet the stills were universally agreed to be property, +and were not taken by due process of law. Shall we fight a rebel in +Charleston streets, and at the same time protect his negro by a guard in +the Charleston jail? + +_Mr. Blair._ But what instructions would you give to the soldiers about +this _casus belli_? + +_Mr. Stanton._ None at all. The soldier should know nothing about _casus +belli_. General Buell answered the correspondent well when he said, 'I +know nothing about the cause of this war. I am to fight the rebels and +obey orders.' Cries a general to a subaltern--'Yonder smokes a +battery--go and take it.' Do we issue specific instructions to the +troops about the women, the children, the chickens, the forage, the +mules-persons or property--whom they encounter? The circumstances and +the exigencies of the situation determine their conduct. A household +mastiff who will pin a rebel by the throat when he passes his kennel, +flying from pursuit, is just as serviceable as would prove a loyal +bullet sped to the rebel's brain. I believe that the acknowledged fact, +the necessary fact, that wherever our army advances, emancipation +practically ensues, will carry more terror to the slave-owner than any +other warlike incident. But I would have them understand that this +result is not our design, but a necessity of _their_ rebellion. + +_Mr. Bates._ You are like the last witness upon the stand--subjected to +a vigorous cross-examination upon everything gone before. Have you ever +thought what is to be the upshot of the contention? + +_Mr. Stanton._ Restoration of the Union! + +_Mr. Bates._ Aye, but how to be brought about? Are not the pride and the +obstinacy growing stronger every day at the South? + +_Mr. Stanton._ 'Men are but children of a larger growth.' Who of us has +not conquered pride and obstinacy in the nursery? I have seen the boy of +a mild-tempered father fairly admire the parent when he broke the truce +of affection and vigorously thrashed him. The large majority of the +Southern people have been educated to believe the men of the North +cowardly, mean, and avaricious. Cowardly, because they persistently +refused the duel. Mean, because all classes worked, and there seemed +among them no arrogance of birth. Avaricious, because they crouched to +the planters with calico and manufactures, or admired their bullying for +the sake of their cotton. + +And the great masses of the South have been and are learning how the +present leaders have duped them upon all these points. They have +discovered we are not cowards. Every prisoner, from the chivalric +Corcoran to the urchin drummer-boy at Richmond who spat on the sentinel, +has afforded proof of courage and fortitude, whilst thousands and +thousands of people have secretly admired it. The very death vacancies +at family boards throughout the plantations perpetually remind the +Southrons that _we are not_ cowards in fight. They have learned, too, +that we are neither mean nor avaricious, when the millionaire merchant, +whom they knew two years ago, cheerfully accepts the poor man's lot of +to-day; or when they behold all classes without one murmur hear of a +million dollars per day being spent on the war, and then _clamor to be +taxed_! If they perceive the negroes leaving them, they at once also +perceive that in loyal Maryland, loyal Virginia, loyal Kentucky and +loyal Missouri,--in Baltimore, St. Louis, and Louisville,--the slaves +under local laws are protected to their owners. Thus the most stupid +will reason, It is our own act which has placed in jeopardy this our +property. With a restored Union, Georgia and Louisiana must be as +Maryland and Kentucky continued even in the midst of camps. Who, during +the acme of the French revolution, could have believed that the people +of Paris would so soon and so readily accept even despotism as the +panacea of turmoil? Show a real grievance, and I grant you that +rebellion achieves the dignity of revolution. Provide an imaginary or a +colored evil as the basis of insurrection, and even pride and obstinacy +will eventually comprehend the sophistry of the leaders. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Seward's secret correspondence with Southern loyalists +proves these things. Mr. Stanton must read that last letter from.... + +_Mr. Stanton._ Indeed! You surprise me. Pray how could you receive +intelligence from him? + +_Mr. Lincoln (opening a drawer)._ Do you see this button? I unscrew this +eye. The two discs now separate. Between them you can put a sheet of +French letter paper. When the troops advanced to Bull Run, certain of +the soldiers were provided with such buttons. Various deserters have had +them. + +_Mr. Seward (laughing.)_ Who knows but General Scott's coachman had one +or two?[M] + +_Mr. Stanton._ This practically corroborates my theories. If we in +Washington find it so difficult to repress communication and spies, is +it not fair to presume that in Richmond, Savannah, New Orleans and +Memphis (where there is _real_ incentive from suffering and +persecution), it is equally impossible to stop information? It was +impossible to procure it when the three rifled cannon at the Richmond +foundry were found spiked. It would prove serviceable to the patience of +the nation, could it only step behind the scenes and learn much--known +to us--which it must ere long understand. + + * * * * * + +_Mr. Lincoln._ I have just received by our secret mail a very affecting +letter from Col. Corcoran. I will read an extract. [_Reads._] + +'Of my physical suffering I will not speak. If restored to friends and +home I shall, however, be a memorable example of the victory of mind +over body. I determined to lay down my life for my country when I left +that home; and if it will serve the cause, as I have repeatedly told the +people here, to hang, or draw, or quarter me, I am ready for the +sacrifice. But there are hundreds among the prisoners whose minds are +not so buoyant as mine, who do suffer terribly. Can not some means be +devised to clothe and feed _them_, or to exchange for them?' + +_Mr. Blair._ A patriot soul. The clerkship left in the New York +post-office when the Colonel departed for the war has been retained for +him. + +_Mr. Lincoln (quickly)._ Ah! _that_ heroic sufferer shall have something +better than a clerkship if he ever returns. + +_Mr. Stanton._ I have thought much of this exchange of prisoners and +captivity amelioration. When the insurrection was inchoate, we could +afford to be punctilious. But its present gigantic proportions surely +affect the question (so to term it) of ransom. When our countrymen were +in the Algerine prisons we took means to treat for them. What say you, +gentlemen, against sending commissioners to Richmond for the purpose of +supervising the medicines, clothing, food and exchange of our prisoners? + +_Mr. Seward._ That may only be conceded by accepting commissioners for a +similar purpose from the rebel government. + +_Mr. Chase._ Our plans are now so perfectly matured that even the danger +of spies recedes. I am in favor of Mr. Stanton's proposition. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ I think you can try it. There are so many prisoners, from +all parts of the country, that public sentiment must uphold the measure. + +_Mr. Smith._ Mr. Secretary of State, you were taking notes whilst Mr. +Stanton was giving his views upon the restoration question. Were they on +that subject? + +_Mr. Seward._ Yes. Some fleeting thoughts occurred to me which I was +desirous of preserving for to-morrow. _I_ have a great deal of faith in +establishing Southern 'doughfacery.' + +_Mr. Welles._ Doughfacery? + +_Mr. Seward._ Yes: that supremacy of pocket over pride which so long +afflicted the North. Above and beyond the slave-owners must rise the +great class of manufacturers and merchants,--almost every third man of +Northern origin, too,--whose pocket is the great sufferer, and without +whose property, hereafter, plantations can not prosper. Given a decent +pretext for adjustment, when pride will go to the wall. Once allow the +masses to grasp the reins, and the slave-owners will be driven to the +wall-side of the political highway also. This I call Southern +doughfacery for the sake of a phrase well understood. + +_Mr. Blair._ Then your old plan of the great national convention comes +in vogue? + +_Mr. Lincoln._ _My_ plan! (_Good humoredly._) You must not _all_ steal +my thunder. By the way, Seward, your pleasant friend Judge D----, who +came from New York about Col. Corcoran, told me the meaning of that +phrase. It seems a Dublin stage manager got up a scenic play with +thunder in it perfectly imitated by a diapason of bass drums. A rival +got up another scenic play, to which, out of jealous _pique_, the +inventor repaired as a spectator. To his surprise he heard his own +invention from behind the scenes. He instantly exclaimed aloud, 'The +rascal, he's stolen my thunder!' + +_Mr. Seward (jocularly)._ The President finds a parallel between a +national convention and thunder. Well, well, the clearest atmosphere is +breathed after the clouds culminate in thunder and lightning. I accept +the application. + +_Mr. Chase._ But if the South is to surrender pride, what are _we_ to +surrender? + +_Mr. Seward (quickly)._ _Political_ pride. The battle of freedom was +fought and won when the Inaugural was pronounced. The South can not +recover from the present stagnation in a quarter-century, by which time +it will again have accepted contentedly the original belief that +slavery, like one of the lotteries of Georgia, or one of the red-dog +banks of Arkansas, is a purely local institution. + +_Mr. Stanton._ I heartily accept the project of a national convention. +But I am against any agitation or committal to leading ideas which are +to control it. One convention ruined France, and another saved it. We +can better obtain consent of North and South to holding a convention by +forbearance from discussing its probable platform. Let it meet. No fear +but it will elucidate _some_ satisfactory result. + +_Mr. Welles._ You have just discussed this question of war. I wish +something could be done to settle this affair of privateering. To my +reflection it appears to embrace a very important consideration of +'policy' as well as of law. A man does not always punish his embezzling +clerk because the law gives him authority to do so. The ocean rebel who +to-day captures our transports laden with soldiers, may to-morrow put +off twenty boats in the Potomac, and capture our men on the river +schooner. The Attorney General's opinion and the law of Judge Kelson in +New York hang the former; but military law will exchange the latter +whenever a satisfactory opportunity presents itself. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ The policy question has become a grave one. I have been +much struck by the letter of Judge Daly, of New York, to Senator +Harris--a most opportune, learned, and temperate paper. + +[_Enter an attendant._] + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Gen. McClellan is at the door. Invite him in. + +_Mr. Stanton._ By all means. He is 'the very head and front of our +offending.' + +[_Enter Gen. McClellan._] + +_Gen. McC._ Good evening, Mr. President and Cabinet. (_Speaking rapidly +and brusquely._) The bridge equipages are now entirely complete. Here is +a dispatch acknowledging the receipt of the last supply. With February +is ushered in the Southern spring, which, as you all know, _must_ end +'this winter of our discontent.' The Western V now is perfect from Cairo +and Harper's Ferry at the top to Cumberland Gap at the bottom. It is the +first letter in Victory. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ When the General becomes oratorical, then indeed has he +good news. + +_Gen. McC._ I have, sir; but, with great respect to all these our +friends, it must be for your own ears, to-night at least. + +_Mr. Lincoln (rising)._ We will withdraw to the library. Gentlemen, pray +come to some understanding during our absence respecting the reply to be +sent to M. Thouvenel's extraordinary secret dispatch. I will rejoin you +in-- + +_Gen, McC._ Seven minutes, Mr. President--those are all I can spare. +Good evening, gentlemen. + + * * * * * + +LITERARY NOTICES. + + +BORDER LINES OF KNOWLEDGE IN SOME PROVINCES OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. An +Introductory Lecture delivered before the Medical Class of Harvard +University, Nov. 6, 1861. By Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D., Parkman +Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1861. + +It is a pleasant thing to realize, in reading a work like this, how +perfectly GENIUS is capable of rendering deeply interesting to the most +general reader topics which in the hands of mere _talent_ become +intolerably 'professional' and dry. The mind which has once flowed +through the golden land of poetry becomes, indeed, like the brook of +Scottish story, more or less alchemizing,--communicating an aureate hue +even to the wool of the sheep which it washes, and turning all its fish +into 'John Dorées.' And in doing this, far from injuring the practical +and market value of either, it positively improves them. For genius is +always general and human, and rises intuitively above conventional +poetry and conventional science, to that higher region where fact and +fancy become identified in truth. And such is the characteristic of the +lecture before us, in which solid, nutritive learning loses none of its +alimentary value for being cooked with all the skill of a _Ude_ or of a +_Francatelli_. Many passages in the work illustrate this power of +ęsthetic illustration in a truly striking manner. + + In certain points of view, human anatomy may be considered an + almost exhausted science. From time to time some small organ, + which had escaped earlier observers, has been pointed out,--such + parts as the _tensor tarsi_, the otic ganglion, or the Pacinian + bodies; but some of the best anatomical works are those which have + been classic for many generations. The plates of the bones of + Vesalius, three centuries old, are still masterpieces of accuracy, + as of art. The magnificent work of Albinus on the muscles, + published in 1747, is still supreme in its department, as the + constant references of the most thorough recent treatise on the + subject--that of Theile--sufficiently show. More has been done in + unravelling the mysteries of the facię, but there has been a + tendency to overdo this kind of material analysis. Alexander + Thompson split them up into cobwebs, as you may see in the plates + to Velpeau's Surgical Anatomy. I well remember how he used to + shake his head over the coarse work of Scarpa and Astley + Cooper;--_as if Denner, who painted the separate hairs of the head + and pores of the skin, in his portraits, had spoken lightly of the + pictures of Rubens and Vandyck_. + +Laymen can not decide, where doctors disagree; but there are few who +will not at least read this lecture with pleasure. + + +JOHN BRENT. By Major Theodore Winthrop. +Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1862. + +It is strange that so soon after the appearance of _Tom Tiddler's +Ground_, with its one good story of a wild gallop over the Plains, a +novel should have appeared in which the same scenes are reproduced,--the +whole full of wild-fire and gallop.--American life-fever and +prairie-dust,--uneasy contrasts of the feelings of gentlemen and +memories of _salons_ with pork-frying, hickory shirts, and whisky. The +excitement and movement of _John Brent_ are wonderful. Had the author +been an artist, we should have had in him an American Correggio,--with +strong lights and shadows, bright colors, figures of desperadoes +inspired with the air of gentlemen, and gentlemen, real or false, who +play their parts in no mild scenes. It is the first good novel which has +given us a picture of the West since California and Mormondom added to +it such vivid and extraordinary coloring, and since the 'ungodly +Pike'--that 'rough' of the wilderness--has taken the place of the +well-nigh traditional frontiersman. It is entertaining and exciting, and +will attain a very great popularity, having in it all the elements to +secure such success. Those who recognized in _Cecil Dreeme_ the +vividly-photographed scenes and characters of New York, will be pleased +to find the same talent employed on a wider field, among more vigorous +natures, and assuming a far more active development. Never have we felt +more keenly regret at the untimely decease of an author than for +WINTHROP, while perusing the pages of _John Brent_. There went out a +light which _might_ have shown, in Rembrandt shadows and gleams, the +most striking scenes of this country and this age. + + +MEMOIR, LETTERS AND REMAINS OF ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE. Translated from +the French, by the Translator of Napoleon's Correspondence with King +Joseph. In two volumes. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1862. + +No French writer enjoys a more truly enviable popularity in America than +M. DE TOCQUEVILLE. That he should have discussed the vital principles of +our political and social life, in a manner which not only made him no +enemies among us, but established his 'Democracy' as a classic +reference, is as wonderful as it was well deserved. The present work is, +however, a delightful one by itself, and will be read with a relish. We +sympathize with the translator (a most capable one by the way) when he +declares that he leaves his task with regret, fearing lest he never +again may have an opportunity of associating so long and so intimately +with such a mind. The typography and paper are of superior quality. + + +POEMS BY WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. ('Blue and gold.') First American Edition. +Boston: Ticknor & Fields. + +'Fresh, beautiful, and winsome.'--Among the living poets of England +there may be many who are popularly regarded as 'greater,' but certainly +there is none more unaffectedly natural or simply delightful than +WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. We are pleased at his probably unconscious Irish-isms +in his humbler lyrics, which have deservedly attained the proud eminence +of veritable 'Folk-songs' in the mouths of the people, and are touched +by the exquisite music, the tender feeling, and the beautiful picturing +which we find inspiring his lays. It requires but little knowledge of +them to be impressed with the evident love of his art with which our +Irish bard is filled. It would be difficult to find in the same number +of songs by any contemporary so little evident effort allied to such +success. + + +THE CHURCH MONTHLY. Edited by Rev. George M. Randall, D.D., and Rev. +F.D. Huntington, D.D. Vol. II. No. 6. Boston: E.P. Dutton & Co. 1861. + +This beautiful and scholarly magazine, which abounds in 'the elegant +expression of sound learning,' contains, in the present number, a noble +article on _Loyalty in the United States_, by Rev. B.B. BABBITT, which +we would gladly have read by every one. Almost amusing, and yet really +beautiful, is the following Latin version of 'Now I lay me down to +sleep,' by Rev. EDWARD BALLARD. + + _In Canabulis_. + + 'Nunc recline ut dormirem, + Precor te, O Domine, + Ut defendas animam; + Ante diem si obirem, + Precor te, O Domine, + Us servares animam. + Hoc que precor pro Iesu!' + + +WORKS OF BAYARD TAYLOR. Vols. I. & II. +New York: G.P. Putnam. + +BAYARD TAYLOR has the pleasant art of communicating personal experiences +in a personal way. It is not an unknown X, an invisible essence of +criticism, which travels for us in his sketches, but a veritable +traveler, speaking, Irving-like, of what he sees, so that we see and +feel with him. In these volumes, the ups and downs, the poverties and +even the ignorances of the young traveler are set forth--not +paraded--with great vividness, and we come to the end of each chapter as +if it were the scene of a good old-fashioned comedy. CORYATT without his +crudities, if we can imagine such a thing, suggests himself, with +alternations of 'HERODOTUS his gossip' without his craving credulity. +Perhaps these volumes explain more than any of their predecessors the +causes of TAYLOR'S popularity, and like them will do good work in +stimulating that love of travel which with many becomes the absorbing +passion sung by MULLER,--'_Wandern! ach! Wandern!_' + + +THOMAS HOOD'S WORKS. Edited by Epes +Sargent. New York: G.P. Putnam. 1862. + +A beautifully printed and bound volume, on the best paper, with two fine +illustrations,--one by HOPPIN, setting forth Miss Kilmansegg and her +golden leg with truly Teutonic grotesquerie. It contains Hood's Poems, +never made more attractively readable than in this edition. As a gift it +would be difficult to find a work which would be more generally +acceptable to either old or young. + + +NATIONAL MILITARY SERIES. Part First. +By Captain W.W. Van Ness. New York: +Carleton, 413 Broadway. + +A neat little work on military tactics, conforming to the army +regulations adopted and approved by the War Department of the United +States. It is thoroughly practical, 'being arranged on the plainest +possible principle of question and answer,' and being within the reach +of the dullest capacity, and thoroughly comprehensive of all required of +the soldier, will probably become, as its author trusts, 'a standard +military work.' + + +FORT LAFAYETTE; OR, LOVE AND SECESSION. +By Benjamin Wood. New York: +Carleton, 413 Broadway. 1862. + +Even while a tree is being blown down by the hurricane, small fungi or +other minute vegetation spring up in its rifts; every social shock of +the day is promptly scened and 'tagged' at the minor theatres; and shall +this war escape its novels? Mr. WOOD votes in the negative, and supplies +us with a somewhat sensational yet not badly manufactured article, +which, like the melo-dramas referred to, will be received with delight +by a certain line of patrons, and, we presume, be also relished. It is a +first-rate specimen of a second-rate romance. + + +HEROES AND MARTYRS: Notable Men of the Time. With Portraits on Steel. +New York: G.P. Putnam, 532 Broadway. C.T. Evans, General Agent. 1862. +Price 25 cents. + +The first number of a large quarto, exquisitely printed, biographical +series of sketches of the military and naval heroes, statesmen, and +orators, distinguished in the American crisis of 1861-62, and edited by +FRANK MOORE. The portraits of Commodore S.F. DUPONT and Major THEODORE +WINTHROP, in this first number, are excellent; while the literary +portion, devoted to WINFIELD SCOTT, deserves praise. The cheapness of +the publication is truly remarkable. + + +TRANSACTIONS of THE MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, FOR THE YEAR +1861. Boston: Henry W. Dutton & Son, Printers, Transcript Building. +1862. + +A work testifying to the great extent and efficacy of the labors of the +society, and one which, among a mass of merely business detail, contains +much interesting information. An article on the first discovery of the +heather in America, by EDWARD S. RAND, is well worth reading. Can any of +our wise men re-discover the lost Pictish art of making good beer from +that plant? + + * * * * * + +BOOKS RECEIVED. + + +DINAH. New York: Charles Scribner, 124 Grand Street. Boston: Brown & +Taggard. 1861. + +THE REBELLION RECORD. A Diary of American Events, with Documents, +Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, and Poetry. Edited by Frank Moore. +New York: G.P. Putnam. + +THE BROKEN ENGAGEMENT; OR, SPEAKING THE TRUTH FOR A DAY. By Mrs. Emma +D.E.N. Southworth. Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson. Price 25 cents. 1861. + +THE AMERICAN CRISIS: Its Cause, Significance, and Solution. By Americus. +Chicago, Illinois: Joshua R. Walsh, 1861. + + * * * * * + +EDITOR'S TABLE. + +Step by step the vast net is closing in on the enemy,--little by little +the vice is tightening,--and if no incalculable calamity overtake the +armies of the Union, it is but fair to assume that at no distant day the +rebel South will find itself in the last extremity, overwhelmed by +masses from without and demoralized by want of means within. Government +at present holds the winning cards,--if they are only skillfully played +the game is its own. It is impossible to study the map and the present +position of our forces with our resources, and not realize this. 'Hemmed +in!' is the despairing cry from Southern journals, which but the other +day insolently threatened to transfer the war to Northern soil, and to +sack New York and Philadelphia; and, with their proverbial fickleness +and fire, we find many of them half rebelling against the management of +Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS and his coadjutors. + +This is all encouraging. On the other hand, we are beginning to feel +more acutely the miseries of war, and its enormous cost. The time is at +hand when the whole country will be called on to show its heroism by +patient endurance of many trials, and by _living_ as well as dying for +the great cause of liberty and Union. Let it all be done patiently and +without a murmur. Every suffering will be repaid tenfold in the hour of +triumph. Let it be remembered that as we suffer our chances of victory +increase, and that every pain felt by us is a death-pang to the foe. +Now, if ever, the Northern quality of stubborn endurance must show +itself. We, too, can suffer as heroically as the South boasts of doing. +It is this which in the course of events must inevitably give us the +victory, for no spirit of chivalry, no enthusiasm, can ultimately resist +sturdy Saxon pluck. The South, foolishly enough, has vaunted that it is +inspired by the blood and temper of the Latin races of Southern Europe, +and it can not be denied that their climate has given them the +impulsiveness of their ideal heroes. In this fiery impatience lies the +element which renders them incapable of sustaining defeat, and which, +after any disaster, must stimulate dissension among them. + +It should also be borne in mind that the most direct causes of our +sufferings all involve very practical benefits. The Southern press +taunts our soldiers with enlisting for pay. Let us admit that vast +numbers have truly been partially induced by the want of employment at +home to enter the army. It is a peculiar characteristic of all Northern +blood that it can and does combine intelligence and interest with the +strongest enthusiasm. No man was ever made a worse soldier by being +prudent, any more than by being a religious Christian. Taunts and jeers +can not affect the truth. The Protestant mechanic soldiery of Germany +during the wars of the Reformation, the men of Holland, and the Puritans +of England, were all reviled for the same cause--but they conquered. God +never punishes men for common-sense, nor did it ever yet blind zeal, +though it may prevent zeal from degenerating into sheer madness. The +war, while it has crippled industry, has also kept it alive,--it has +become a great industrial central force, giving work to millions. Again, +in the creation of a debt we shall find such a stimulus to industry as +we never before knew. Taxation, which kills a weak country crippled by +feudal laws and nightmared by an extravagant court and nobility, simply +induces fresh and vigorous effort to make additional profits in a land +of endless resources and of vast territory, where every man is free to +work at what he chooses. Taxation may come before us like a raging lion, +but, in the words of BEECHER, we shall find honey in the carcass. Let us +only cheerfully make the best of everything, and uphold the +administration and the war with a right good will, and we shall learn as +we never did before the extent of the incredible elasticity and +recuperative power of the American. + +It is evident that the present war will have a beneficial result in +making us acquainted with the real nature of this arrogant and peculiar +South-land. It was said that the Crimean struggle did much good by +dispelling the cloudy hobgoblin mystery which hung over Russia, and, +while it destroyed its prestige as a bugbear, more than compensated for +this, by giving it a proper place abreast of civilized nations in the +great march of industry and progress. Just so we are learning that the +South is perfectly capable of receiving white labor, that it is not +strangely and peculiarly different from the rest of the cis-tropical +regions, that the negro is no more its necessity than he is to Spain or +Italy, and that, in short, white labor may march in, undisturbed, so +soon as industry ceases to be regarded as disgraceful in it. We have +learned the vital necessity of union and identity of feeling between all +the States, and found out the folly of suffering petty local state +attachments to blind us to the glory of citizenship in a nation, which +should cover a continent. We have learned what the boasted philanthropy +of England is worth when put to the test of sacrifice, and also how the +British lion can put forth the sharpest and most venomous of feline +claws when an opportunity presents itself of ruining a possible rival. +More than this, we have learned to be self-reliant, to take greater and +more elevated views of political duty, and to be heroic without being +extravagant. Since we were a republic no one year has witnessed such +national and social progress among us as the past. We have had severe +struggles, and we have surmounted them; we have had hard lessons, and we +have learned them; we have had trials of pride, and we have profited by +them. And as we contend for principles based in reason and humanity and +confirmed by history, it follows that we must inevitably come forth +gloriously triumphant, if we but bravely persevere in enforcing those +principles. + +The large amount of political information regarding the South and its +resources which has been of late widely disseminated in the North, is a +striking proof that, disguise the question as we will, the extension of +free labor is, from a politico-economical point of view (which is, in +fact, the only sound one), the real, or at least ultimate basis of this +struggle. The matter in hand is the restitution of the Union, laying +everything else aside; but the great fact, which will not step aside, is +the consideration whether ten white men or one negro are to occupy a +certain amount of soil. There is no evading this finality, there is no +impropriety in its discussion, and it SHALL be discussed, so long as +free speech or a free pen is left in the North. So far from interfering +with the war, it is a stimulus to the thousands of soldiers who hope +eventually to settle in the South in districts where their labor will +not be compared with that of 'slaves,' and it is right and fit that they +should anticipate the great and inevitable truth in all its relations to +their own welfare and that of the country. + +We cheerfully agree with those who try with so much energy that +Emancipation is not the matter in hand, and quite as cheerfully assent +when they insist that the enemy, and not the negro, demands all our +present energy. But this has nothing to do with the great question, +whether slavery is or is not to ultimately remain as a great barrier to +free labor in regions where free labor is clamoring for admission. That +is all we ask, nothing more. The instant the North and West are assured +that at some time, though remote, and by any means or encouragements +whatever, which expediency may dictate, the great cause of secession and +sedition--will be removed from our land, then there will be witnessed an +enthusiasm compared to which that of the South will be but lukewarm. +That this will be done, no rational person now doubts, or that +government will cheerfully act on it so soon as the fortunes of war or +the united voice of the people strengthen it in the good work. And until +it _is_ done, let every intelligent freeman bear it in mind, thinking +intelligently and acting earnestly, so that the great work may be +advanced rapidly and carried out profitably and triumphantly. + +The leading minds of the South, shrewder than our Northern +anti-emancipation half traitors and whole dough-faces, foreseeing the +inevitable success of ultimate emancipation, have given many signs of +willingness to employ even it, if needs must be, as a means of +effectually achieving their 'independence.' They have baited their hooks +with it to fish for European aid--they have threatened it armed, as a +last resort of desperation, if conquered by the North. Knowing as well +as we that the days of slavery are numbered, they have used it as a +pretense for separation, they would just as willingly destroy it to +maintain that separation. Since the war began, projects of home +manufactures, and other schemes involving the encouragement of free +labor, have been largely discussed in the South,--and yet in spite of +this, thousands among us violently oppose Emancipation. In plain, +truthful words they uphold the ostensible platform of the enemy, and yet +avow themselves friends of the Union. + +We have said it before, we repeat it: we ask for no undue haste, no +unwise measures, nothing calculated to irritate or disorganize or impede +the measures which government may now have in hand. But we hold firmly +that Emancipation be calmly regarded as a measure which _must_ at some +time be fully carried out. Be it limited for the time, or for years, to +the Border States, be it assumed partially or entirely under the +modified form of apprenticeship, be it proclaimed only in Texas or South +Carolina, it has in some way a claim to recognition, and _must_ be +recognized. Its friends are too many to be ignored in the day of +settlement. + + * * * * * + +It is proper that every detail of contract corruption should be brought +fully to light, and the country owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. DAWES +for his manly attack on the wretches who have crippled the war, robbed +the soldier, swindled the tax-payers, and aided the enemy by their +wicked rapacity. Let it be remembered that whatever his sentiments may +have been, every man who has been instrumental, directly or indirectly, +in cheating the treasury and the my during this period of distress, has +been one of its enemies, and far more deadly than if he had been openly +enlisted under the banners of JEFFERSON DAVIS. Were we anything but the +best-natured and most enduring public in the world, such revelations as +have by the been made would long since have driven these rapacious +traitors beyond sea or into the congenial Dixie for which they have +indirectly labored. + +We have been accustomed to read much since infancy of the sufferings of +our army during the Revolution,--how they were hatless, ragged, starved, +and badly armed. We have shuddered at the pictures of the snow at Valley +Forge, tracked by the blood from the feet of shoeless soldiers. Yet, in +the year 1861, with abundant means and with all the sympathy and aid of +a wealthy country, there has been more suffering in the army than the +Revolution witnessed, and it was due in a great measure to men who +hastened to the spoil like vultures to their prey. If the army has not +in advanced, if proper weapons are not even yet ready, let the reader +reflect how much the army is still crippled owing to imperfect supplies, +and have patience. + +It is not the soldier alone who has been robbed by the contractor. The +manufacturer who sees only a government order between himself and +failure, and who is willing to do anything to keep his operatives +employed, is asked to supply inferior goods at a low price. He may take +the order or leave it,--if he will not, another will,--and with it is +expected to take the risk of a return. When a man sees ruin before him, +he will often yield to such temptations. The contractor takes the goods, +sells them if he can, and pockets the profits, sometimes ten times over +what the manufacturer gains. He thereby robs outright, not only the +soldier, but also the operatives who make the goods, since the +manufacturer must reduce their wages to the lowest living point, in +order to save himself. + +It will all come to light. There is a discovery of all evil, and there +is a grace which money cannot remove, neither from the thief nor from +his children. And we rejoice to see that so much is being made known, +and that in all probability the public will be fully informed as to who +were principally guilty in these enormous and treasonable corruptions. + + * * * * * + +It is stated, on good authority, that the only objection urged by the +President to adopting the policy of Emancipation, is the danger which +would be thereby incurred of effectually losing the allegiance of the +loyal slave-holders in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. + +The obvious answer to this is, that by paying these loyal slave-holders +for their chattels they could not fail to become firmer friends than +ever. When we reflect on the extremely precarious tenure of all such +property on the Border it becomes apparent that the man must be a +lunatic indeed to hope for the permanency of the institution in the +tobacco States. Since the war began nearly the two-thirds of the slaves +in Missouri have changed their _habitat_,--about one-half of the number +having been 'sold South,' while the other moiety have traveled North, +without reference to ownership. + +The administration need be under no apprehension as to the popularity of +this measure. It would be hailed with joy by millions. The capitalists +of our Northern cities, who now await with impatience some indications +of A REGULAR POLICY, will welcome with enthusiasm a proposition which +would at once render the debatable land no longer debatable, and which +would effectually disorganize the entire South, by rendering numbers +desirous of selling their slaves in order to secure what must sooner or +later be irrecoverably lost. If government has a policy in this matter, +it is time that the public were informed of it. The public is ready to +be taxed to any extent, it is making tremendous sacrifices; all that it +asks in return is some nucleus around which it may gather,--a settled +principle by which its victories in war may be made to form the basis of +a permanent peace. + + * * * * * + +The English press, statesmen and orators have been pleased to regard our +democratic government as a failure. + +But we have at least one advantage. When an enormous wrong is +perpetrated on the people by a secretary, _he can be hustled out of the +way_, and the accomplices be punished. + +In England we have seen of late the most enormous political and social +outrage of the century coolly committed, without the slightest regard to +consequences, and without the slightest fear of any punishment whatever. + +The truth has come to light, and every investigation, in the opinion of +the ablest and most sagacious men, confirms the assertion that the late +MASON and SLIDELL difficulty was simply an immense stock-jobbing +swindle, played in the most heartless manner on this country and on +England, without heed as to the terrible consequences. + +The London _Times_, as is well known, is the organ of the ROTHSCHILDS. +During the late iniquitous war-flurry it acted perfectly in concert with +Lord PALMERSTON. While that gentleman kept back _for three weeks_ +dispatches, which, if published, would have had the immediate effect of +establishing a peaceful feeling, his Hebrew accomplices bought literally +right and left of securities of every kind. Grand pickings they had; +everything had tumbled down. England was roused by the _Times_ to a +fury; a feeling of fierce injury was excited in this country, which an +age will not now allay; and right in the midst of this, when one word +might have changed the whole, the official ministerial organ _explicitly +denied the existence of those 'peace' dispatches_ which have since come +to light! + +Let us anticipate some of the results of this precious +Palmerston-Hebrew-_Times_ swindle. + +It has cost England twenty millions of dollars. + +It has aroused such a feeling in this country against England as no one +can remember. + +It has effectually killed the American market for English goods, and put +the tariff up to prohibition _en permanence_. + +It has, by doing this, struck the most deadly blow at English prosperity +which history has ever witnessed; for all that was needed to stimulate +American industry up to the pitch of competing with England in foreign +markets was such a prohibitory tariff as would compel us to manufacture +for ourselves what we formerly bought. + +Who will say now that a republic does not work as well as a monarchy? + + * * * * * + +We have read with pleasure a recently written and extensively +republished article by SINCLAIR TOUSEY, of New York, condemnatory of the +proposed stamp tax, and in which we most cordially concur; not because +it is a tax materially affecting the interests of publishers, but +because, as Mr. TOUSEY asserts, the diffusion of knowledge among the +people is a powerful element of strength _in government itself_. In +these times, it is essential, far more than during peace, that the +newspaper should circulate very freely, stimulating the public, aiding +government and the war, and keeping the mind of the country in living +union. Nothing would more rapidly produce a torpor--and there is too +much torpor now--than a measure which would have the effect of killing +off perhaps one half of the country press, the great mass of which is +barely able to live as it is. 'Let the press be as free as possible. Let +it be free from onerous taxation, and left unfettered by special duties +to do its just work.' This is a war for freedom, and the test of freedom +is a free press. + + * * * * * + +We are indebted to a valued correspondent in Illinois for the following +communication, setting forth the state of affairs in Southern Missouri +during the past summer. Few of our readers are ignorant that since that +time the region in question has been 'harried and shorn' even to +desolation by the brigands of Secessia. + + In conversing lately with Dr. R., who fled for his life, last + July, from Ripley County, Southern Missouri, I collected some + information which may not be unacceptable to your readers. + + Dr. R. states that early last summer the citizens of Southern + Missouri began gathering into companies of armed men opposed to + the general government, and that it was a fear that the general + government would not protect their lives and property which + induced great numbers of really Union men to take sides with the + rebels. They saw their country thronging with secession soldiers; + were told it was the will of the State government that they enlist + for the protection of the State: if they did not do this + voluntarily, they would be drafted; and all drafted ones would in + camp take a subordinate position, have to perform the cooking and + washing, in short, all the drudgery for those who volunteered. + This falsehood drove hundreds of the ignorant Missourians into the + rebel ranks. Captain LOWE, afterwards Col. LOWE, who was killed at + the battle of Fredericktown, was the recruiting officer in Ripley + and its adjoining counties. He arrested Dr. R. on the 4th of July, + on a charge of expressing sentiments 'dangerous to the welfare of + the community.' Dr. R. was tried by a court-martial, in presence + of the three hundred soldiers then assembled. Witnesses against + the Doctor were produced, but he was not allowed time to summon + witnesses in his behalf, nor to procure counsel. One novel + circumstance in the trial was occasioned by the absence of any + justice of the peace to administer the usual oath to the + witnesses. None were procurable, from the fact that all had + resigned, refusing to act officially under a government they had + repudiated. In this dilemma the prisoner came to their relief. + 'Gentlemen, I am a justice of the peace, as most of you already + know, and, as I have not yet resigned, I will swear in the + witnesses for you.' 'Wall, I reckon he kin act as justice afore + he's convicted,' suggested one of the crowd. So the Doctor + administered the oath in the usual solemn manner. This + self-possession and fearlessness seemed to have an effect on his + judges, for, after the testimony, he was permitted to + cross-question the witnesses and plead his own cause. He was able + to neutralize some of the charges against him. The jury, after an + absence of fifteen minutes, returned verdict that 'as there was + nothing proved against the prisoner which would make him dangerous + to the community, he was permitted to be discharged. But,' added + the foreman, 'I am instructed by the committee to say they believe + Dr. R. to be a Black Republican, and to tell him that if he wants + to utter Black Republican sentiments, he has got to go somewhere + else to do it.' It was well known the Doctor had voted for + DOUGLAS. But here followed an animated conversation between the + prisoner and LOWE'S men as to what constituted Black + Republicanism; the result of which was, as the Doctor turned to + depart, Captain LOWE informed him he was re-arrested! + + By the influence of some of the soldiers, the prisoner succeeded + next day in effecting his escape. Traveling by night and + concealing himself by day, he finally reached the federal lines in + safety. His family were not permitted to follow him, and did not + succeed in eluding the vigilance of their enemies and joining him + until the middle of January. When a Union man escapes them, the + rebels are always opposed to the removal of his wife and children, + as, by retaining them, they hope to get the husband and father + again into their hands. And, as all communication by letter is cut + off, many a man, during the last six months, has stolen back to + see his family at the risk of his life, and lost it. + + Dr. R. was the first man arrested in Ripley County; but LOWE + immediately began a lively persecution of suspected Unionists. + Some escaped with life, their enemies being satisfied with + scourging and plundering them, but scores were hung. LOWE'S + soldiers furnished and equipped themselves by robbing Union houses + and the country stores. + + Many suspected Union men shielded themselves by denouncing others, + giving information of the property of others, and being forward in + insulting and quartering lawless soldiers upon defenceless + families. So that, Dr. R. states, there are created between + neighbors, all through that section, feuds which will never cease + to exist. Many a man has suffered family wrongs from his neighbor + which he thirsts to go back to revenge, which he swears yet to + revenge, and which he feels nothing but the blood of the offender + can revenge! And should peace be declared to-morrow, a social war + would still exist in Missouri! + + People dwelling in the free States, where the schoolhouse is not + abolished, where the laws still live and restrain, can have no + conception of the state of society where the whole community has + returned suddenly to savage life; a life wherein the reaction from + a former restraint renders the viciously disposed far more + intensely barbarous than his red brother of the plain. + + LOWE'S men, and all similarly recruited by order of ex-Governor + JACKSON, remained in service six months, and were to be paid in + State scrip. But as that was worthless, they never received + anything in rations, clothing, or money, but what they plundered + from their fellow-citizens. Many of these state rights soldiers + have since enlisted in the Confederate army; but Confederate paper + being fifty per cent. below par, and not rising, the legitimate + pay of the Southern soldier is likely to be small. + + In Northern Arkansas, all males between fifteen and forty-five + years of age have been ordered to be ready for the Confederate + service when called upon. This has caused a fear of failure in + next year's crops from scarcity of men in that section. There is + great suffering among them now. Salt rose to $25 a sack. The + authorities prohibited the holders from charging more than $12, + the present price. Pins are $1.50 per paper; jeans $5 per yard; + and everything else in proportion. + + One word in comment. Every additional fact of the deplorable + condition of things in the slave States is an additional reason + why the North should firmly meet the cause of this misery. If the + North should have the manhood to strike a blow at slavery _now_, + still a generation must pass before harmony would ensue; but if + the North _evades and dallies_, scores of generations must live + and die before America sees unbroken peace again. + + * * * * * + +While the war goes on, the contrabands go off. A writer in the Norfolk +_Day Book_ complains that slaves are escaping from that city in great +numbers, asserting that they get away through the instrumentality of +_secret societies_ in Norfolk, which hold their meetings weekly, and in +open day. No one can doubt that this war is clearing the Border of its +black chattels in double-quick time. Why not strike boldly, and secure +it by offering to pay all its loyal slave-holders for their property? Of +one thing, let the country rest assured--the friends of Emancipation +will not brook much longer delay. It MUST and SHALL be carried +through,--_and we are strong enough to do it_. + + * * * * * + +Thurlow Weed grows apace, and occasionally writes a good thing from +London--as, for instance, in the following:-- + + At breakfast, a few days since, a distinguished member of + Parliament, who has been much in America, remarked, with emphasis, + that he had formerly entertained a high opinion of 'JUDGE LYNCH,' + looking with much favor upon that species of impromptu + jurisprudence known as 'Lynch law,' but since it failed to hang + FLOYD, COBB and THOMPSON, of BUCHANAN'S cabinet, he had ignored + and was disgusted with the system. + +What would the distinguished member have said had he been familiar with +the Catiline steamer case, the mysteries of shoddy contracts, the +outfitting of the Burnside expedition, and innumerable other +rascalities? The gentleman was right,--Lynch law has proved a failure; +and, if we err not, another kind of law has of late months been not very +far behind it in inefficiency. Our Southern foes have at least one noble +trait--they hang their rascals. + + * * * * * + +'_Non dum_,' 'not yet,' was the motto of a great king, who, when the +time came, shook Europe with his victories. 'Not yet,' says the +Christian, struggling through trial and temptation towards the peace +which passeth understanding and a heavenly crown. 'Not yet,' says the +brave reformer, fighting through lies and petty malice, and all the +meanness of foes lying in wait, ere he can convince the world that he is +in the right. 'Not yet,' says the soldier, as he marches his weary +round, waiting to be relieved, and musing on the battle and the war for +which he has pledged his life and his honor--and they are a world to +_him_. 'Not yet,' says every great man and woman, laying hands to every +noble task in time, which is to roll onward in result into eternity. +Wait, wait, thou active soul,--even in thy most vigorous activity let +thy work be one of waiting, and of great patience in thy fiercest toil. +There will come a day of triumph, when the fresh wind will banish the +heat, and fan the laurel on thy brow. Such is the true moral of the +following lyric:-- + + FALLEN. + + BY EDWARD S. RAND. + + Blow gently, Oh ye winter winds, + Along the ferny reaches, + Nor whirl the yellow leaves which cling + Upon the saddened beeches; + And gently breathe upon the hills + Where spring's first violets perished,-- + Died like the budding summer hopes + Our hearts too fondly cherished. + + Oh memory, bring not back the past, + To brim our cup of sorrow; + The drear to-day creeps on to bring + A drearier to-morrow. + Can streaming eyes and aching hearts + Glow at the battle's story, + Or they who stake their all and lose + Exult in fame and glory? + + Oh, lay them tenderly to rest, + Those for their country dying,-- + Let breaking hearts and trembling lips + Pour the sad dirge of sighing. + Yet louder than the requiem raise + The song of exultation, + That the great heritage is ours + _To die to save the nation_. + + In patience wait, nor think that yet + Shall Right and Freedom perish, + Nor yet Oppression trample down + The heritage we cherish! + For still remember, precious things + Are won by stern endeavor,-- + Though in the strife our heart-strings break, + The Right lives on forever. + + * * * * * + +When you write let your chirography be legible. Strive not overmuch +after beauty of finish, make not your _a_'s like unto _u_'s or your +_o_'s like _v_'s; let not your heart be seduced by the loveliness of +flourishes, and be not tempted of long-tailed letters. Above all, write +your own name distinctly,--which is more than many do, and much more +than was done by the gentleman described in the following letter from a +kindly correspondent:-- + + MADISON, WIS. + + DEAR CONTINENTAL: + + The holder of any considerable quantity of Wisconsin currency is + liable not only to the occasional loss consequent upon the + absquatulation of a tricksy wild-cat, but also to great perplexity + as to the name of the gentleman who countersigns the bills. These + inscrutable counter-signatures are accomplished by ROBERT MENZIES, + our excellent Deputy Bank Comptroller. His cabalistic 'R. Menzies' + does not greatly resemble a well-executed specimen of copperplate + engraving. The initial 'R' is always plain enough, but the + 'Menzies' is sometimes read Moses, and sometimes Muggins, and is + always liable to be translated Meazles. + + Mr. MENZIES is a Scotchman, brimful of Caledonian lore and + enthusiasm. His penmanship is not always so sublimely obscure as + his performances on bank-paper would indicate; but in its best + estate it is capable of sometimes more than one reading. Witness + the following instance: In the winter of 1858 and '9, Mr. MENZIES + delivered a very interesting lecture, before a literary society, + in Prairie du Chien; subject, THE SONG-WRITERS OF SCOTLAND. Mr. M. + not residing at Prairie du Chien, the lecture was, of course, the + subject of a preliminary correspondence. At the meeting of the + society next previous to the one when the lecture was delivered, + Elder BRUNSON, the president, announced that he had received a + letter from Mr. MENZIES, accepting the invitation to lecture + before the society, and naming as the subject of his lecture 'THE + LONG WINTERS or SCOTLAND.' + + * * * * * + +Readers who are afflicted with the isothermal doctrine may experience +some benefit from the perusal of a letter for which we are indebted to a +friend not very far 'out West:'-- + + SPRINGFIELD, MASS. + + DEAR CONTINENTAL: + + I have a friend who would be sound on the goose, as I verily + believe, and a patriotic anti-Jeff Davis platform Emancipator, if + he hadn't unfortunately picked up a fine learned word. That word + is + + ISOTHERMAL. + + And that word he carries about as a hen carries a boiled + potato--something too big to swallow but nice to peck at. And he + pecks at it continually. + + 'I could admit that the slaves should be free,' he says, 'but then + nature, you know, has fixed an isothermal line. She has + isothermally deemed that south of that line the black is + isothermally fitted to isothermalize or labor according to the + climate as a slave.' + + 'Good,' I replied. 'So you admit that all anthropological + characteristics as developed by climate are quite right?' + + [He liked that word 'anthropological,' and assented.] + + 'Good again. Well, then, you must admit that to judge by + statistics there is an isothermal line of unchastity, or "what + gods call gallantry," and further north, one of drunkenness? How + much morality is there in a tropical climate? How many temperate + men to the dozen in Scandinavia or Russia?' + + My isothermalist attempted a weak parry, but failed. When he + recovers I will inform you. + + YOURS TRULY. + + P.S. I am preparing a series of tables by which I hope to prove + the existence of the following isothermalities: + + A Lager-beer line. + A Tobacco-chewing line. + A reading of TUPPER and COVENTRY PATMORE line. + A CREAM CHEESE line. + A Doughface line. + And a Clothes line. + + * * * * * + +We are indebted to R. WOLCOTT for the following sketch of War Life:-- + + 'TAKEN PRISONER.' + + It was a terrible battle. Amid the rattle of musketry and + whistling of bullets, the clashing of sabres, the unearthly cries + of wounded horses and the wild shouting of men, the clear voice of + Lieutenant Hugh Gregory rang out: 'Rally! my brave boys, rally, + and avenge the Captain's death!' + + 'Not quite so fast, sir,' quietly remarked a rebel officer, + bringing his sword to a salute; 'you observe that your men are + retreating and you are my prisoner.' + + Hugh saw that it was so, and with a heavy heart gave himself up. + + 'Hurrah for the stars and stripes!' shouted a brave young soldier, + attempting to raise himself upon his elbow, but falling back, + exhausted from the loss of blood. + + 'Damn you, I'll stripe you!' exclaimed a brutal fellow, rising in + his stirrups and aiming a blow at the wounded man. + + 'Dare to strike a helpless man!' shouted his commander; and he + warded off the blow with a stroke that sent the fellow's sabre + spinning into the air. 'Now dismount, and help him if you can.' + But it was too late; the brave soul had gone out with those last + words. + + 'Lieutenant,' said the rebel officer, whom we will know as Captain + Dumars, 'I see that you are wounded. Let me assist you upon this + horse, and one of my sergeants will show you the surgeon's + quarters.' And he bound up the wounded arm as well as he could, + helped him upon the horse, and, with a playful _Au revoir_, rode + on. + + Hugh's wound was too painful, and he was too weak and tired, to + wonder or to think clearly of anything; he only felt grateful that + his captor was a gentleman, and quietly submitted himself to the + sergeant's guidance. + + The battle was ended,--in whose favor it does not matter, so far + as this story is concerned,--and Captain Dumars obtained + permission to take Lieutenant Gregory to his mother's house until + he should recover from his wound or be exchanged. + + When Hugh found himself established in a pleasant little chamber + with windows looking out upon the flower-garden and the woods + beyond, fading away into his own loved North land, he thought + that, after all, it was not so terrible to be a prisoner of war. + He was decidedly confirmed in this opinion when he occasionally + caught a glimpse of the lithe form of Annie Dumars flitting about + among the flowers; and being somewhat of a philosopher, in his + way, he determined to take it easy. + + The presence of one of the 'Hessians' at Mrs. Dumars' house gave + it much the same attraction that is attached to a menagerie. + Feminine curiosity is an article that the blockade can not keep + out of Dixie, and many were the morning calls that Annie received, + and many and various were the methods of pumping adopted to learn + something of the prisoner,--how he looked, how he acted, how he + was dressed, and so forth. + + 'Impertinence!' he heard Annie exclaim, as one of these gossips + passed through the gate, after putting her through a more minute + inquisition than usual. And he heard dainty shoe-heels impatiently + tapping along the hall, and when she brought in a bouquet of fresh + flowers he saw in her face traces of vexation. + + 'I seem to be quite a "What-is-it?"' + + 'Shame!'--and she broke off a stem and threw it out of the window + with altogether unnecessary vehemence. + + 'Splendid girl!' thought Hugh; 'where have I seen her?' + + And he turned his thoughts back through the years that were past, + calling up the old scenes; the balls, with their mazy, passionate + waltzes, and their promenades on the balcony in the moonlight's + mild glow, when sweet lips recited choice selections from Moore, + and white hands swayed dainty sandal-wood fans with the potency of + the most despotic sceptres; the sleigh-rides, with their wild + rollicking fun, keeping time to the merry music of the bells and + culminating in the inevitable upset; the closing exercises of the + seminary, when blooming girls, in the full efflorescence of + hot-house culture, make a brief but brilliant display before + retiring to the domestic sphere--Oh, yes-- + + 'Miss Dumars, were you not at the ---- Institute last year?' + + 'Yes.' + + 'Then you know my cousin,--Jennie Gregory?' + + 'Yes, indeed:--and you are her cousin. How stupid in me not to + recollect it.' + + And she told him how that 'Jennie' was her dearest friend, and + how in their intimacy of confidence she had told her all about + him, and shown her his picture, and--in short, Hugh and Annie + began to feel much better acquainted. + + It was a few days after this that Hugh sat by the open window, + listening to Annie reading from the virtuous and veracious + _Richmond Enquirer_. Distressed by what he heard, not knowing + whether it was true or not, he begged her to cease torturing him. + She laid aside the paper with an emphatic 'I don't believe it!' + that could not but attract his attention, and he looked up in + surprise. + + 'I must tell you, Mr. Gregory--I have been tortured long enough by + this forced secrecy--_I am a rebel!_' + + 'That is the name we know you by,' he replied, smiling. + + 'But I am a _rebellious_ rebel. Yes,' she added, rising, 'I detest + with all my heart this wicked, causeless rebellion. I detest the + very names of the leaders of it. And yet I am compelled to go + about with lies upon my lips, and to act lies, till I detest + myself more than all else! I have consoled myself somewhat by + making a flag and worshiping it in secret. I will get it and show + it to you.' + + 'This,' she continued, returning with a miniature specimen of the + dear old flag, 'a _real_ flag, the emblem of a real living nation, + must be kept hidden, its glorious lustre fading away in the dark, + while that,' pointing to where the 'stars and bars' were + fluttering in the breeze, 'that miserable abortion is insolently + flaunted before our eyes, nothing about it original or + suggestive--except its stolen colors, reminding us of the + financial operations of Floyd! Oh, if hope could be prophecy--if a + life that is an unceasing prayer for the success of the federal + arms could avail, it would not be long before this bright banner + would wave in triumph over all the land, its starry folds gleaming + with a purer, more glorious light than ever!' + + And as she stood there, with eyes uplifted as in mute prayer, and + fervently kissed the silken folds of the flag, Hugh wished that + his station in life had been that of an American flag. + + Time passed on, and the prisoner was to be exchanged for a rebel + officer of equal rank. Captain Dumars brought him the + intelligence, and was surprised at the seeming indifference with + which he received it. + + 'You don't seern particularly elated by the prospect of getting + among the Yankees again.' + + 'I am eager to take my sword again; but my stay here has been far + from unpleasant. You, Captain, have been away so much that I have + not been able to thank you for making my imprisonment so pleasant. + I am at a loss to know why you have shown such favor to me + especially.' + + 'This is the cause,' replied the Captain, laying his finger upon a + breast-pin that Hugh always wore upon his coat, at the same time + unbuttoning his own; 'you see that I wear the same.' + + It was a simple jewel, embellished only by a few Greek characters, + but it was the emblem of one of those college societies, in which + secrecy and mystery add a charm to the ties of brotherhood. And it + was this fraternal tie, stronger than that of Free-Masonry, + because more exclusive, that made Hugh's a pleasant imprisonment, + and made him happy in the love of one faithful among the + faithless, loyal among many traitors. For of course the reader has + surmised--for poetic justice demands it--that Hugh fell + desperately in love with Annie, and Annie _ditto_ Hugh. How he + told the tender tale, and how she answered him,--whether with the + conventional quantity of blushes and sighs, or not,--is none of + your business, reader, or mine; so don't ask me any questions. + + It was the evening of the day before Hugh's departure. They, Annie + and Hugh, sat in the little porch, silent and sad, watching the + shadows slowly creeping up the mountain side towards its + sun-kissed summit, like a sombre pall of sorrow shrouding a bright + hope. + + 'And to-morrow you are free.' + + 'No, Annie, not free. My sword will be free, but my heart will + still linger here, a prisoner. But when the war is over, and the + old flag restored--' + + 'Then,' and here her eyes were filled with the glorious light of + prophetic hope, '_I_ will be _your_ prisoner.' + + And still Hugh is fighting for the dear old flag; and still Annie + is praying for it, and waiting for the sweet imprisonment. + +There has been many as sweet a romance as this, reader, acted ere this, +during the war. Would that all captivity were as pleasant! + + * * * * * + +'I would not live alway,' says the hymn, and the sentiment has, like +every great truth, been set forth in a thousand forms. One of the most +truly beautiful which we have ever met is that of + + THE CITY OF THE LIVING. + + In a long-vanished age, whose varied story + No record has to-day, + So long ago expired its grief and glory-- + There flourished, far away, + + In a broad realm, whose beauty passed all measure + A city fair and wide, + Wherein the dwellers lived in peace and pleasure + And never any died. + + Disease and pain and death, those stern marauders, + Which mar our world's fair face, + Never encroached upon the pleasant borders + Of that bright dwelling-place. + + No fear of parting and no dread of dying + Could ever enter there-- + No mourning for the lost, no anguished crying + Made any face less fair. + + Without the city's walls, death reigned as ever, + And graves rose side by side-- + Within, the dwellers laughed at his endeavor, + And never any died. + + O, happiest of all earth's favored places! + O, bliss, to dwell therein-- + To live in the sweet light of loving faces + And fear no grave between! + + To feel no death-damp, gathering cold and colder, + Disputing life's warm truth-- + To live on, never lonelier or older, + Radiant in deathless youth! + + And hurrying from the world's remotest quarters + A tide of pilgrims flowed + Across broad plains and over mighty waters, + To find that blest abode, + + Where never death should come between, and sever + Them from their loved apart-- + Where they might work, and will, and live forever, + Still holding heart to heart. + + And so they lived, in happiness and pleasure, + And grew in power and pride, + And did great deeds, and laid up stores of treasure, + And never any died. + + And many yers rolled on, and saw them striving + With unabated breath, + And other years still found and left them living, + And gave no hope of death. + + Yet listen, hapless soul whom angels pity, + Craving a boon like this-- + Mark how the dwellers in the wondrous city + Grew weary of their bliss. + + One and another, who had been concealing + The pain of life's long thrall, + Forsook their pleasant places, and came stealing + Outside the city wall, + + Craving, with wish that brooked no more denying, + So long had it been crossed, + The blessed possibility of dying,-- + The treasure they had lost. + + Daily the current of rest-seeking mortals + Swelled to a broader tide, + Till none were left within the city's portals, + And graves grew green outside. + + Would it be worth the having or the giving, + The boon of endless breath? + Ah, for the weariness that comes of living + There is no cure but death! + + Ours were indeed a fate deserving pity, + Were that sweet rest denied; + And few, methinks, would care to find the city + Where never any died! + + * * * * * + +Does the reader recall DEAN SWIFT'S account of the immortal Strudlbrugs +and their undying miseries--it is in the City of Laputu, we believe. +Their life was passed as if in such a city. Ah, death! it is, after all, +only birth in another form. And to step to the ridiculous, we are +reminded of an + + EPITAPH IN A DEDHAM CHURCHYARD. + + I've paid the debt which all must pay, + Though awful to my view, + On frightful rocks where billows poured, + And broken buildings flew. + The cruel Death has conquered me; + The victory is but small, + For I shall rise and live again,-- + And Death himself shall fall. + + * * * * * + +There are not many of those who 'read the papers,' who have not met from +time to time with the quaint experiences of THE FAT CONTRIBUTOR,--a +gentleman who, in the columns of the _Buffalo Republican_, and more +recently in the spicy _Cleveland Plain Dealer_, has often wished that +his too, too solid flesh would melt. It is with pleasure that we welcome +him to our pages in the following original sketch:-- + +THE 'FAT CONTRIBUTOR' AS A GYMNAST. + + 'But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks.' + + RICHARD III. + + Says the cardinal in the play--'In the bright lexicon of youth + there's no such word as fail.' Without stopping to discuss the + reliability of a lexicon that omits words in that careless manner, + I must say that in the dictionary of fat men who aspire to + gymnastics that word distinctly occurs. I had my misgivings, but + was over-persuaded by my friends. They said gymnastics would + develop muscular strength, thus enabling me to _hold_ my flesh in + case it attempted to run away. They added, as an additional + incentive, that the spectacle of a man who weighs nearly three + hundred pounds, doing the horizontal ladder, climbing a slack-rope + hand over hand, or suspending his weight by his little finger, + would be a 'big thing.' I asked them how I was to attain that end. + 'By practice,' was the reply; 'practice makes perfect.' It + did;--it made a perfect fool of me, as you shall see. + + I never had much taste for feats requiring physical effort, except + lifting--lifting with my teeth. The amount of beef, pork, mutton + and vegetables that I have lifted in that way is immense. After + hearing Dr. WINSHIP lecture, I practiced lifting a flour barrel + with a man inside of it, and finally succeeded in holding it out + at arm's length. [I may remark incidentally that the barrel _had + no heads in it_.] + + To return to the case in hand (and a case in hand is worth two in + the bush): I was deluded into purchasing a season ticket in the + gymnasium, and one afternoon I sought the locality. A number were + exercising in various ways, and I laid off my coat preparatory to + 'going in.' As I bent down to adjust a pair of slippers, I heard + some rapid steps behind me, and the next instant a pair, of hands + and a man's head fell squarely on my back, a pair of heels smote + together in the air, and with a somersault the gymnast regained + the ground several feet in advance of me. I assumed an indignant + perpendicular, when the fellow turned with well-feigned amazement + and stammered forth an apology. Bent over as I was, he had + mistaken me for a heavily padded 'wooden horse,' which formed a + portion of the apparatus. + + Desiring to be weighed from time to time, in order that I might + note the effect of gymnastics upon my tonnage, I asked one, who + was resting after prodigious efforts to wrench his arms off at a + lifting machine, if there were scales convenient. He surveyed me + for a moment--looked puzzled--and finally replied + hesitatingly,--'Y-e-s, I think we can manage it.' He led the way + to a window overlooking the Ohio canal. 'Do you see that + building?' said he, pointing to a low structure on the heel path + side, extending partly over the canal. I intimated that the fabric + in question produced a distinct impression on the optic nerves, + and inquired its use. '_Weigh-lock_' he shrieked; '_go and be + weighed!_' + + '_Go and be d----d!_' I yelled, furious at being thus victimized; + but my angry and profane rejoinder was lost in the shout of + laughter that went up from the assembled athletes. + + Natural abhorrence of jokes, practical or otherwise, is a trait + among my people; it runs in the family, like wooden legs. I + immediately sought the boss gymnaster and related the manner in + which I had been introduced to his elevating establishment. I told + him I had come there neither to be made a horse of by one nor an + ass of by another. He pledged his word that the like should not + occur again, and I was appeased. + + I first attempted the parallel bars, but they were never intended + for men of my breadth. My hands giving way, I became so firmly + wedged between the bars that it was necessary to cut one of them + away in order to release me. A wag pronounced it a feat without a + parallel. + + The horizontal bar next claimed my attention. I had seen others + hang with their heads down, suspended by their legs alone, and the + trick appeared quite easy of execution. I succeeded in suspending + myself in the manner indicated, but--_revocare gradum_--when I + attempted to regain the bar with my hands, it was no go. I was in + a perspiration of alarm at once; my legs grew weak; my head swam + from the rush of blood; twist and squirm as I would, I couldn't + reach the bar with the tip end of a finger even. My head was four + or five feet from the ground, so that a fall was likely to break + my neck, and when my frantic efforts to clutch the bar with my + hands failed, I shrieked in very desperation. Men came running to + my aid. They raked the tan bark, with which the ground was strewn, + in a pile beneath me, to break my fall as much as possible, and, + relaxing my hold of the bar, I came down in a heap, rolled up like + a gigantic caterpillar, and dived head and shoulders into the tan + bark, where I was nearly smothered before I could be extracted. It + was a terrible fright, but I escaped with a few bruises. + + My brief career as a gymnast terminated with the 'ladder act.' I + felt unequal to the task of drawing myself up the ladder (which + was slightly inclined from the perpendicular), as I had seen + others do, but once at the top I believed I could lower myself + down. A purchase was rigged in the roof, by which I was hoisted to + the top of the ladder, some thirty feet from the ground, when, + grasping a round firmly with my hands, the purchase was + disconnected from my waist belt, and I began the descent. It was + very severe on the arms, and I desired to rest myself by placing + my feet on a round, but my protuberant paunch would not permit it. + When I had accomplished about half the distance in safety, a round + snapped suddenly with the unusual weight. I remember clutching + frantically at the next, which broke as did the other; then + followed a sensation of falling, succeeded by a collision as + between two express trains at full speed, and I knew no more. When + I recovered consciousness, I was in my own bed, and four surgeons + were endeavoring to set my broken leg with a stump extractor. + Gymnastics are a little out of my line. + + FAT CONTRIBUTOR. + +Unlike BRUMMEL, _we_ know who our fat friend is, and shall be happy to +see him again. + + * * * * * + +'Talbot,' of Washington, one of those who keep the many chronicles of +government, gives us the following from his repertoire:-- + + Shortly after the inauguration of President Lincoln, and during + the period in which the throng of office-seekers was greatest, an + applicant for a clerkship in one of the departments received + notification to appear before the 'examining committee' for + examination as to qualifications. In due time he appeared, and + announced himself 'ready.' The aforesaid 'committee,' supposing + that they had before them a decidedly 'soft one,' determined to + enjoy a little 'sport' at the poor fellow's expense. After having + put a great many questions to him, none of which in the least + applied to the duties he would be expected to perform, he was + asked how he would ascertain the number of square feet occupied by + the Patent Office building. This question aroused in him + suspicions that 'all was not right,' and, with a promptness and + emphasis that effectually dampened the hopes of his questioners, + he replied, '_Well, gentlemen, I should employ an experienced + surveyor._' + +The same correspondent tells us that-- + + In one of the rural towns of Illinois lived, a few years agone, a + very eccentric individual known as 'DICKEY BULARD,' whose original + sayings afforded no little amusement to his neighbors. + + DICKEY had his troubles, the saddest of which was the loss of his + only son. Shortly after this event, in speaking of it to some + friends, he broke out in the following pathetic expression of + feeling: + + 'I'd rather a' lost the best cow I have, and ten dollars besides, + than that boy. If it had been a gal, it wouldn't a' made so much + difference; but it was the only boy I had.' + + On another occasion, in referring to the death of his grandmother, + who had been fatally injured by a butt from a pet ram, DICKEY gave + vent to his feelings as follows: + + 'I never felt so bad in all my life as I did when grandmother + died. She had got so old, and we had kept her so long, _we wanted + to see how long we could keep her_. + + * * * * * + +It is the 'turn of the tune' which gives point to the far-famed legend +of 'The Arkansaw Traveler,'--which legend, in brief, is to the effect +that a certain fiddling 'Rackensackian,' who could never learn more than +the first half of a certain tune, once bluntly refused all manner of +hospitality to a weary wayfarer, avowing with many an oath that his +house boasted neither meat nor whisky, bed nor hay. But being taught by +the stranger the 'balance' of the tune,--'the turn,' as he called +it,--he at once overwhelmed his musical guest with all manner of +dainties and kindnesses. And it is the 'turn of the tune,' in the +following lyric, from the soft tinkle of the guitar to the harsh notes +of the 'beaten parchment,' which gives it a peculiar charm. + + THE GUITAR AND THE DRUM. + + BY R. WOLCOTT, CO. B., TENTH ILLINOIS + + + Evening draws nigh, and the daylight + In golden splendor dies; + And the stars look down through the gloaming + With soft and tender eyes. + + I sit alone in the twilight, + And lazily whiff my cigar, + Watching the blue wreaths curling, + And thrumming my old guitar: + + Old, and battered, and dusty,-- + A veteran covered with scars; + Yet to me the most precious of treasures, + The sweetest of all guitars. + + For a gentle spirit dwells in it, + That speaks through the trembling strings, + And in echo to my thrumming + A wonderful melody sings. + + As I softly strike the measures, + The spirit murmurs low + A song of departed pleasures, + A dream of the long ago. + + And like a weird enchanter + It paints in the star-lit sky + Pictures from memory's record, + Scenes of the days gone by. + + And as the ripples of music + Float out on the evening air, + There comes to me a vision + Of the girl with the golden hair. + + Kindly she turns upon me. + Those lustrous, violet eyes, + And my heart with passionate yearnings + To meet her eagerly flies. + + Nearer she comes, and yet nearer, + At the beck of the spirit's wand, + And I feel the gentle pressure + On my brow of her warm, white hand-- + + _Tr-r-r-rum-ti-tum-tum, tr-r-r-rum-ti-tum-tum!_ + 'Tis the warning voice of the rolling drum. + Through the awakened night air come + The stern command and the busy hum + Of hurried preparation. + 'Tis no time now for idle strumming + Of light guitars: in that loud drumming + Is fearful meaning; the hour is coming + That for some of us will be the summing + Of all life's preparation. + + Quick, quick, my boys: fall in! fall in! + Now is the hour when we begin + The battle with this monstrous sin. + Onward to victory!--or to win + A patriot's martyrdom! + Stay no longer to bandy words; + Trust we now to our gleaming swords; + For foul rebellion's dastardly hordes + A terrible hour has come. + + By all that you love beneath the skies; + By the world of cherished memories; + By your hopes for the coming years; + By the tender light of your loved one's eyes; + By the warm, white hands you so highly prize; + By your mothers' parting tears, + Swear the horrible wrong to crush! + What though you fall in the battle's rush, + And the velvet leaves of the greensward blush + With your young life's crimson tide? + The angels look down with pitying love, + And your tale will be told in the record above: + 'For his country's honor he died.' + + The gentle strings of the light guitar, + Waking soft echoes from memory's chords, + And tender dreams of home-- + The noise, and the pomp, and the glitter of war; + The furious charge, and the clashing swords; + The song of the rolling drum. + +How many a young heart has, in these later days, been turned from soft +guitar-tones of idleness, to the brave, rattling measures of drum-life! +It will do good, this war of ours; and many a brave fellow will, in +after years, look back upon it as the school in which he first learned +to be a thoroughly practical and sensible MAN. + + * * * * * + +We are indebted to a gossiping and ever most welcome New Haven friend +for the following anecdote of one of the men who, clothed in a little +brief authority, 'go about 'restin' people:' + + Our village we consider one of the most pleasant in the country; + our boys full of life and activity, and our officers men of energy + and perseverance, and men who understand their importance. In + proof of these assertions, I offer the following sketch of an + occurrence a few years ago. + + DICK BARNES was a blacksmith, and a man of considerable notoriety + in those days, and from the peculiar prominence of his front upper + teeth he had derived, from the boys of the village, the singular + nick-name of 'Tushy.' For two or three successive years he had + been elected constable, and the duties of this great public office + appeared to demand that he should neglect his legitimate private + business, so that it was said that the safest place for him to + secrete himself--the most unlikely place where he would be + sought--would be behind his own anvil. Like many others 'clothed + with a little brief authority' he was not overmodest in showing + his importance. + + The boys were then, as they are now, fond of skating, and there + was a large pond near the centre of the village on which they used + to have fine times on moonlight evenings, and especially Sunday + evenings, and, as a natural consequence, when large numbers of + boys are engaged in sport, they were somewhat noisy. + + One Sunday evening, when the ice was very smooth and the boys were + enjoying themselves, BARNES made his appearance on the ice and + ordered them off, in tones, and exclamations of authority. The + boys did not like this interference in their sports and couldn't + see the justice of his demand. 'That's old Tushy,' says one, and + the cry of 'Tushy,' 'Tushy,' soon passed among the crowd of + skaters, till BARNES began to think it personal, and was + determined to catch one of them and make of him an example. The + ice was 'glib,' as they termed it, and as they all had skates + except 'Tushy,' they were rather rude in their behavior towards + him,--a not very uncommon circumstance,--and though they were + careful to keep out of harm's way, they kept near enough to him to + annoy him. Finding all efforts to catch one of them fruitless, + with the advantage they had,--for 'the wicked _stand_ on slippery + places,'--he announced his determination to catch one of them + anyhow, and started for the shore. + + Boys are usually quicker in arriving at conclusions than older + people, and one of them suggested that he had gone for his skates. + 'Good! now we'll have some fun, boys,' says Phil Clark, who was a + good skater, and withal a good leader in a frolic. 'You follow me + and do as I tell you, and I don't believe old "Tushy" will follow + us far.' By general consent he led them to the dry, sandy shore, + and such as had them filled their handkerchiefs, and such as could + not boast of that superfluity filled their caps, with sand. 'Now,' + says Phil, 'when he comes back, and it won't be long, we'll form a + line and wait till he gets his skates on, when he'll put chase for + some of us. If he gets near any of us, some one sing out "Bully," + and every boy drop his sand, and if he catches any one we'll all + pitch in.' + + 'Tushy' in a little while made his appearance, and soon had his + skates strapped to his feet, and after a few stamps upon the ice, + to see that they were properly secured, glided a few strokes and + started off for the boys. The moon was shining 'as bright as day,' + and old Tushy's movements were perfectly apparent. The pond was + huge, and afforded a good opportunity for a trial of speed, and, + though many of the boys were good skaters, 'Tushy' perseveringly + determined to capture one of them, and started for the one + nearest. This was 'Phil,' who was the master spirit of the frolic, + and as 'Tushy' approached with almost the certainty of capturing + him, he would glide gracefully aside and let him pass on. He had + almost caught up with a group of the smaller boys who were going + at full speed, when 'Phil' shouted out the word 'Bully.' In an + instant the contents of handkerchiefs and caps was deposited on + the glaring ice, the boys continuing their flying course. 'Tushy,' + elated with the prospect of capturing at least one of the urchins, + increased his speed with lunger strides, and was in the act of + grasping one, when the sparks from his steel runners, the sudden + arrest of his feet and the onward movement of his body, convinced + him that _he_ was caught. The impetus he had acquired with the few + last strokes on the smooth ice, and the sudden check his feet had + received from the sand, sent him sliding headlong many yards + towards an air-hole,--one of those dangerous places on ponds + suddenly frozen,--and soon the ice began to crack around him. The + water in the pond was not deep, but the ice continued to break + with his efforts to extricate himself. He found that the boys had + successfully entrapped him, and it was not until he had made a + promise not again to interfere with their sport that they + consented to assist him out. He kept his promise, and the boys + ever after, when they designed any extra sport on the ice, had his + nick-name for a by-word. + + JAY G. BEE. + + * * * * * + +'Salt,' according to MORESINUS, 'is sacred to the infernal +deities,'--for which reason, we presume, those who were seated 'below +the salt' at the banquets of the Middle Ages were always 'poor devils.' +Attic salt is always held to be more pungent when there is a touch of +the diabolical and caustic in it,--and therefore caustic itself is known +as _lapis infernalis_. 'Poor Mr. N----,' said a country dame, of a +recently deceased neighbor who was over-thrifty, 'he always saved his +salt and lost his pork.' 'Yes,' replied a friend, 'and now the salt has +lost its Saver.' The reader has doubtless heard of the lively young +lady, named Sarah, whom her friends rechristened Sal Volatile. +Apropos--a New Haven friend writes us that-- + + My chum, Dr. B., is not a little of a wag. At a social gathering, + shortly after he had received his diploma, the young ladies were + very anxious to put his knowledge of medicine to the test. + 'Doctor,' queried one of the fair, 'what will cure a man who has + been hanged?' 'Salt is the best thing I know of,' replied the + tormented, with great solemnity. + + * * * * * + +According to a cotemporary--the Boston _Herald_--the best Christians may +be known by the pavements before their houses being cleaned of ice and +snow. This reminds us of a spiritual anecdote. A deceased friend having +been summoned through a medium and asked where he had spent the first +month after his decease, rapped out,-- + +'I-n--p-u-r-g-a-t-o-r-y.' + +'Did you find it uncomfortable?' + +'Not very. While I lived I always had my pavements cleared in winter, +and all the ice and snow shoveled away was given back to me in +orange-water ices, Roman punch, vanilla and pistachio creams, frozen +fruits, cobblers, juleps, and smashes.' + +Somebody has spoken in an Arctic voyage of the musical vibrations of the +ice. There is certainly music in the article. 'Take care,' said a Boston +girl to her companion, as they were navigating the treacherously +slippery pavement of our city a few days since; 'it's See sharp or Be +flat.' + + * * * * * + +Somebody once wrote a book on visiting-cards. There is a great variety +of that article; an English ambassador once papered his entire suit of +rooms with that with which a Chinese mandarin honored him. MICHAEL +ANGELO left a straight line as a card, and was recognized by it. Our +friend H---- once distributed blank pasteboards in Philadelphia, and +everybody said, 'Why, H---- has been here!' Not long since, a lady +dwelling in New York asked her seven-year-old GEORGY where he had been. + +'Out visiting.' + +'Did you leave your card?' + +'No; I hadn't any, so I left a marble!' + +GEORGY'S idea was that cards were playthings. And _cartes de visite_ are +most assuredly the playthings for children of an older growth, most in +vogue at the present day. Go where you will, the albums are examined, +nay, some collectors have even one or two devoted solely to children, or +officers, or literary men, or young ladies. The following anecdote +records, however, as we believe, 'an entirely new style' of +visiting-card:-- + + Madam X. was busy the other morning. Miss Fanny Z. 'just ran in to + see her' _en amie_, without visiting-cards. + + The waiter carried her name to Madam X. Meanwhile Miss Fannie, + circulating through the parlors, saw that there was dust on the + lower shelf of an étagére, so she delicately traced the letters + + _Smut_ + + thereon and therefore. Waiter enters, and regrets that Madam X. is + so very much engaged that she is invisible. Miss Fanny flies home. + + In the evening she meets Madam X., who is 'perfectly enchanted' to + see her. 'Ah, Fanny, dear, I am charmed to see you; the waiter + forgot your name this morning, but I was delighted to see your + ingenuity. Would you believe it, the first thing I saw on entering + the parlor was your card on the étagére!' + + * * * * * + +The Naugatuck railroad, according to a friend of the CONTINENTAL, + + Is in many places cut through a rugged country, and the rocks + thereabout have an ugly trick of rolling down upon the track when + they get tired of lying still. So the company employ sentinels + who traverse the dangerous territory before the morning train goes + through. One of these,--Pat K. by name,--while on his beat, met + Dennis, whose hand he had last shaken on the 'Green Isle.' After + mutual inquiries and congratulations, says Dennis, 'What are you + doin' these days, Pat?' 'Oh, I'm consarned in this railroad + company. I go up the road fur the likes o' four miles ivry mornin' + to see is there ony rocks on the thrack.' 'And if there is?' 'Why, + I stops the trains, sure.' 'Faith,' said Dennis, 'what the divil's + the good o' that--_wouldn't the rocks stop 'em?_' + + * * * * * + +The Hibernian idea of a meeting is, we should judge, peculiar, and not, +as a rule, amicable. 'What are ye doing here, Pat?' inquired one of the +Green Islanders who found a friend one morning in a lonely spot. 'Troth, +Dinnis, and it's waiting to mate a gintleman here I'm doing.' 'Waiting +for a frind is it?' replied Dennis; 'but where is yer shillaly thin?' +This was indeed a misapprehension, and of the kind which, as a +benevolent clergyman complained, who was actively engaged in home +mission work, was one of the most constant sources of his frequent +annoyances. 'Why,' he remarked, 'it was only the other morning that I +heard of a poor girl who was dying near the Five Points, and went to +administer to her such comfort as it might be in my power to render. I +met an impudent miss leaving the room, who, when I inquired for the +sufferer by name, replied, "It's no use; you're too late, old +fellow,--she's give me her pocket-book and all her things."' + + * * * * * + +A friend has called our attention to the following extract from an +advertisement in a New York evening paper, and requests an +explanation:-- + + STRABISMUS, OR CROSS-EYE, IN ITS WORST STAGES, CURED IN ONE + MINUTE. READ! + + NEWARK, August 14th, 1861. + + Dear Doctor: I write to express my thanks for the great difference + you have made in my appearance by your operation on my eye. I have + had a _squint_, or _cross-eye_, since birth, and in less than one + minute, and with VERY LITTLE PAIN, you have made my eyes perfectly + straight and natural. Having consulted in Europe the greatest + _Aurists_, I, therefore, can testify that your system of restoring + the _hearing_ to the deaf is at once scientific, safe and sure; + and I confidently recommend all deaf to place themselves under + your care. W.T. + +There's a nut to crack. Having had a cross-eye cured in one minute, Mr. +T. can _therefore_ testify that the system by which he was enabled to +see is just the thing to enable the deaf to hear! But an instant's +reflection convinced us of the true state of the case. There is an old +German song which translated saith: + + 'I am the Doctor Iron-beer, + The one who makes the blind to hear, + The man who makes the deaf to see:-- + Come with your invalids to me.' + +We evidently have a Doctor Iron-beer among us. 'He still lives,' and +enables people to outdo the clairvoyants, who read with their fingers, +by qualifying his patients to peruse the papers with their auricular +organs. + + * * * * * + +Walter will receive our thanks for the following ęsthetic +communication:-- + + DEAR CONTINENTAL: + + Do you know the superb picture of Judith and Holofernes, by + ALLORI? Of course. But the legend? + + The painter ALLORI was blessed and cursed with a mistress, one of + the most beautiful women in an age of beauty. He loved her, and + she tormented him, until, to set forth his sufferings, he painted + _la belle dame sans mercy_ as Judith, holding his own decapitated + head by the hair. + + 'She was more than a match for her lover,' said a young lady, + who--between us--I think is more beautiful than the 'Judith.' + + 'Yes,' was the answer; 'the engraving proves that she got a-head + of him.' + + Of course it was Holofernally bad. I once heard a better one on + the same subject, of scriptural be-head-edness. Where is a centaur + first mentioned? John's head on a charger. The postage stamp on + your lawyer's bill--mine especially--represents the same thing, + with the substitution of General Washington for John. Rarey tamed + Cruiser--I wonder if he could do anything by way of 'taking down' + this legal 'charger' of mine. + + Yours truly, + WALTER + + * * * * * + +Much has been written on oysters. There was a time when England sent +nothing else abroad. 'The poor Britons--they are good for something,' +says SALLUST, in 'The Last Days of Pompeii;' 'they produce an oyster.' +In these days, they export no oysters, but in lieu thereof give us +plenty of pepper-sauce. But to the point,--we mean to the poem,--for +which we are indebted to a Philadelphia contributor:-- + + OYSTERS! + + He stood beside the oysters. Near him lay + A dozen raw upon the half-shell: he + With fork stood ready to engulf them all, + When to his side a reverend gray-beard came. + Pointing his index finger to the Natives, + Slowly he spoke, with measured voice and low:-- + 'They are the same, THE SAME! I've eaten them + In London, small and coppery; at Ostend, + A little better; and in the Condotti, + Yea, in the Lepré--'tis an eating-house + Frequented by the many-languaged artists + Of great imperial Rome. At Baię: also + I've tasted that nice kind described by MARTIAL, + Who calls them ears of Venus;--there I've had 'em. + Also at Memphis--now I'm coming to it: + I've seen amid the desert sands of Egypt, + Exposed among the hieroglyphs, these Natives. + (The hieroglyphs, you know, are outward forms + Of things or creatures which unfold strange myths, + Read by the common eye in vulgar way, + But to the learned are types of truths gigantic.) + Thus unto you those oysters are but bivalves; + But unto me they're--P'raps you'll stand a dozen?' + 'Well, I will, old hoss; it seems to me you need 'em!' + 'Good! Then to me they are as hieroglyphs + Of our poor human state; as PLATO says, + "The soul of man, a substance different from + The body as the oyster from the shell, + Does stick to it, and is imprisoned in it. + Its weight of shell doth keep it down and force it + To stay upon its muddy bottom. So does + Man's body hold his soul in these dark regions, + Keeping it ever steadily from rising + To those superior heights where are abodes + More fitting its serene and noble nature." + Good as a quarter-dollar lecture. Boy! fork over.' + 'Another "doz." to this old gentleman; + For I perceive he plainly hath it in him + To swallow down two dozen oysters' souls. + See what it is to be a philosopher!' + +This is indeed finding sermons in 'shells.' + + * * * * * + +'Punning is a power,' according to somebody, and, like most power, is +sadly abused. Take, for illustration, the following specimen of the +'narrative pun:' + + The reader knows that BYRON once punned on the word Bullet-in, and + was proud of it; distinctly proud, be it remembered. After which + comes the following:-- + + Some years ago it was summer time, and in the office of the + Philadelphia _Evening Bulletin_, one, as the French say, was + preparing the daily paper. Along Third Street streamed Shinners, + Bulls, Bears, and Newsboys,--in the sanctum, Editors wrote and + clipped,--proof rose up and down in the dumb waiter,--there was + the shrill scream of the whistle calling to the foreman far on + high,-- + + Suddenly there was a tremendous run in the front office. + + A maddened cow,--an infuriate, delirious, over-driven + animal,--breaking loose from the cow-herdly creature who had her + in charge,--careered wildly past the _Ledger_ building. + + One would have thought that the straw paper on which that sheet + was then printed might have tempted her to repose. + + It didn't. + + Past FORNEY'S paper:--he was proprietor of the _Pennsylvanian_ in + those days. Those days!--when he was Warwick, the king-maker, and + carried Pennsylvania for Old Buck. Bitter were the changes in + aftertimes, and bitterly did Forney give fits where he had before + bestowed benefits. On went the cow. + + Right smack into the office of the evening paper, then engineered + by ALEXANDER CUMMINGS, now held by GIBSON PEACOCK. + + Rush! went the cow. Right into the next door--turn to the left, + oh, infuriate--charge into the newsboys! By Santa Maria, little + DUCKEY is down--ha! Saint Joseph! the beast gains the front + office--she faceth streetwards--she jaculates herself + outwards--she is gone. + + By the door stood a Philadelphia punster. + + The cow switched him with her tail; he heeded it not. His soul + felt the morning gleam of a revelation,--the flash of a Boehmic + Aurora,-- + + Far, far above the world, oh dreamer!--in the pure land of + Pun-light, where the silent Calembergs rise in the sunset sea. + + And he spake,-- + + '_I see you have_ A COW LET OUT _there, and a_ BULL LET IN HERE!' + + This is going through a great deal to get at a pun, says some + over-heated and perspiring disciple. + + Well--and why not? + + Have you never heard of the clergyman who preached an entire + sermon on the slave-trade, and gave a detailed account of its + head-quarters, the kingdom of Abomi? + + And why? + + Merely that he might ring it into them bitterly, fiercely, with + this conclusion: + + 'My hearers, let us pray that this Abomi-Nation may be rooted out + from the face of the earth.' + + That was so. _Consummatum est_. + +No wonder we hear so much of the sufferings and sorrows of the Third +Estate--which is the editorial. + + * * * * * + +'Wine is _sometimes_ wine, but not very often in these days:' what it +very often is not when labelled 'Heidsick' and 'Rheims.' 'But then the +_cork_ proves it, you know,'--for, by a strange superstition, it is +assumed that when the cork is correct the wine is not less so; a theory +which is exploded by a revelation in the following by no means +Bacchanalian lyric:-- + + BOGUS CHAMPAGNE. + + Fill up your glass with turnip-juice, + And let us swindled be; + Except in England's cloudy clime + Such trash you may not see. + With marble-dust and vitriol, + 'Twill sparkle bright and foam,-- + Who will not pledge me in a cup + Of champagne--made at home? + + We do not heed the label fair + That's stuck upon the glass; + It's counterfeit,--an ugly cheat, + That takes in many an ass. + The cork is branded right, and we + Know that it once corked wine; + They give the hotel-waiters tin + To save the genuine! + +Think of this when you next 'wish you had given the price of that last +bottle of champagne to the Tract Society,' as _Cecil Dreeme_ hath it. + + * * * * * + +One of the best repartees on record is that of WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, +who, having been reproached with inconsistency for having taken from his +journal the old motto, 'The Constitution is a league with Death and a +covenant with Hell,' replied that 'when he hoisted that motto, he had no +idea _that either death or hell intended to secede_. Circumstances alter +cases, and definitions modify both. Slavery, it now appears, is death, +as every political economist claims, while the South is--the other +place. + + * * * * * + +The following is from one who was not 'well off for soap:'-- + + DEAR CONTINENTAL: + + It was my fortune, some time ago, while traveling through the New + England States, to lose my trunk, on my way to a very thriving + manufacturing village. Arrived at the principal hotel a few + minutes before the dinner hour, I was shown up to my room, every + article of furniture in which sparkled with newness,--its carpet + shining like fireworks, curtains painfully stiff, and the air + redolent of novelty. + + One article of furniture, which I took to be a cottage piano or + melodeon, turned out, on raising the lid, to be a wash-stand, + amply munitioned with water, towels, and a new piece of soap. + Having noticed that the article had never been used, and my own + being lost with my trunk, I determined to put it to its legitimate + destination. + + I commenced rubbing it between my hands, immersing it in water, + passing it quickly from one hand to the other, and using all other + persuasive attempts to solve it into lather. Useless; it was + _un-lather-able_, and hearing the gong sound for dinner, I gave it + up as a hopeless job. + + After dinner, in conversation with the landlord, he asked me how I + liked my room. I told him that it pleased me very well, and that I + had but one fault to find,--that was, that the soap in the + wash-stand was the hardest I had ever seen, and I believed it was + made of iron. + + 'Well,' said he, with a diabolical smile, 'it _is_ hard soap, and + it ort to be--it's iron-y--for it's Cast-Steel!' + + * * * * * + +The annexed may be read with profit by the charitable:-- + + H---- has never yet been known to give one cent in charity. A + Christian called on him, the other day, and begged him to give + something to a soup society. + + 'Ah-h-h!' said H., 'war times, now. Can't give anything.' + + 'The soup society is very poor, and would be thankful for the + _smallest sum_.' + + 'Would it?' said H., cheerfully. 'Why, then, twice one are two. + Good-morning.' + +This, we presume, may be called figuring as a benefactor. + + * * * * * + +Our Arabic-studying friend has supplied us with a fresh batch of +oriental proverbs:-- + + 'A monkey solicited hospitality from devils. "Young gentleman," + they replied, "the house is quite empty of provisions."' + + 'Eat whatever thou likest, but dress as others do.' + + 'Like a needle, that clothes people, and is itself naked.' + + 'He who makes chaff of himself the cows will eat.' + + 'Give me wool to-day, and take sheep to-morrow.' + + 'He is high-minded but empty-bellied.' + + 'Easier to be broken than the house of a spider.' + + 'He descends like the foot of a crow, and ascends (like) the hoof + of a camel.' + +But all yield in grim drollery to the last given:-- + + 'There are no fans in hell.' + +Which, as our friend declares, 'sounds as Western as Eastern.' Verily, +extremes meet. + + * * * * * + +Many of our exchanges have spoken of the series entitled 'Among the +Pines,' now publishing in this Magazine, as being written by FREDERICK +LAW OLMSTED. In justice to Mr. OLMSTED we would state that he is not the +author of the articles in question, and regret that the unauthorized +statement should have obtained such general credence. + +A statement has also appeared in many journals declaring that the +literary matter of the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY is the same with that +published in the KNICKERBOCKER Magazine. We need not say that it is +_entirely false_, as any reader may ascertain for himself who will take +the pains to compare the two publications. Not one line has ever +appeared in common in the Magazines. The _Knickerbocker_ is printed and +PUBLISHED in New York, at No. 532 Broadway, the CONTINENTAL in Boston, +at No. 110 Tremont Street. + + * * * * * + +The editor of the CONTINENTAL begs leave to repeat that as the principal +object of the Magazine is to draw forth such views as may be practically +useful in the present crisis, its pages will always be open to +contributions even of a widely varying character, the only condition +being that they shall be written by friends of the Union. And we call +special attention to the fact that while holding firmly to our own +views, as set forth under the Editorial heading, we by no means profess +to endorse those of our contributors, but shall leave the reader to make +his own comments on these. + + * * * * * + +Readers will confer a favor by forwarding to us any pamphlets, secession +or Union, on the war, which they may be disposed to spare. + + + + +THE KNICKERBOCKER + +FOR 1862. + + +In the beginning of the last year, when its present proprietors assumed +control of the Knickerbocker, they announced their determination to +spare no pains to place it in its true position as the leading +_literary_ Monthly in America. When rebellion had raised a successful +front, and its armies threatened the very existence of the Republic, it +was impossible to permit a magazine, which in its circulation reached +the best intellects in the land, to remain insensible or indifferent to +the dangers which threatened the Union. The proprietors accordingly gave +notice, that it would present in its pages, forcible expositions with +regard to the great question of the times,--_how to preserve the_ UNITED +STATES OF AMERICA _in their integrity and unity_. How far this pledge +has been redeemed the public must judge. It would, however, be mere +affectation to ignore the seal approbation which has been placed on +these efforts. The proprietors gratefully acknowledge this, and it has +led them to embark in a fresh undertaking, as already announced,--the +publication of the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY, devoted to Literature and +National Policy; in which magazine, those who have sympathized with the +political opinions recently set forth in the KNICKERBOCKER, will find +the same views more fully enforced and maintained by the ablest and most +energetic minds in America. + +The KNICKERBOCKER, while it will continue firmly pledged to the cause of +the Union, will henceforth be more earnestly devoted to literature, and +will leave no effort untried to attain the highest excellence in those +departments of letters which it has adopted as specialties. + +The January number commences its thirtieth year. With such antecedents +as it possesses, it seems unnecessary to make any especial pledges as to +its future, but it may not be amiss to say that it will be the aim of +its conductors to make it more and more deserving of the liberal support +it has hitherto received. The same eminent writers who have contributed +to it during the past year will continue to enrich its pages, and in +addition, contributions will appear from others of the highest +reputation, as well as from many rising authors. While it will, as +heretofore, cultivate the genial and humorous, it will also pay +assiduous attention to the higher departments of art and letters, and +give fresh and spirited articles on such biographical, historical, +scientific, and general subjects as are of especial interest to the +public. + +In the January issue will commence a series of papers by CHARLES GODFREY +LELAND, entitled "SUNSHINE IN LETTERS," which will be found interesting +to scholars as well as to the general reader, and in an early number +will appear the first chapters of a NEW and INTERESTING NOVEL, +descriptive of American life and character. + +According to the unanimous opinion of the American press, the +KNICKERBOCKER has been greatly improved during the past year, _and it is +certain that at no period of its long career did it ever attract more +attention or approbation_. Confident of their enterprise and ability, +the proprietors are determined that it shall be still more eminent in +excellence, containing all that is best of the old, and being +continually enlivened by what is most brilliant of the new. + +TERMS.--Three dollars a year, in advance. Two copies for Four Dollars +and fifty cents. Three copies for Six dollars. Subscribers remitting +Three Dollars will receive as a premium, (post-paid,) a copy of Richard +B. Kimball's great work, "THE REVELATIONS OF WALL STREET," to be +published by G.P. Putnam, early in February next, (price $1.) +Subscribers remitting Four Dollars will receive the KNICKERBOCKER and +the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY for one year. As but one edition of each number +of the Knickerbocker is printed, those desirous of commencing with the +volume should subscribe at once. + +The publisher, appreciating the importance of literature to the soldier +on duty, will send a copy _gratis_, during the continuance of the war, +to any regiment in active service, on application being made by its +Colonel or Chaplain. Subscriptions will also be received from those +desiring it sent to soldiers in the ranks at _half price_, but in such +cases it must be mailed from the office of publication. + +J.R. GILMORE, 532 Broadway, New York. + +C.T. EVANS, General Agent, 532 Broadway, New York. + +All communications and contributions, intended for the Editorial +department, should be addressed to CHARLES G. LELAND, Editor of the +"Knickerbocker," care of C.T. EVANS, 532 Broadway, New York. + +Newspapers copying the above and giving the Magazine monthly notices, +will be entitled to an exchange. + + + + +PROSPECTUS OF The Continental Monthly + + * * * * * + +There are periods in the world's history marked by extraordinary and +violent crises, sudden as the breaking forth of a volcano, or the +bursting of a storm on the ocean. These crimes sweep away in a moment +the landmarks of generations. They call out fresh talent, and give to +the old a new direction. It is then that new ideas are born, new +theories developed. Such periods demand fresh exponents, and new men for +expounders. + +This Continent has lately been convulsed by an upheaving so sudden and +terrible that the relations of all men and all classes to each other are +violently disturbed, and people look about for the elements with which +to sway the storm and direct the whirlwind. Just at present, we do not +know what all this is to bring forth; but we do know that great results +MUST flow from such extraordinary commotions. + +At a juncture so solemn and so important, there is a special need that +the intellectual force of the country should be active and efficient. It +is a time for great minds to speak their thoughts boldly, and to take +position as the advance guard. To this end, there is a special want +unsupplied. It is that of an Independent Magazine, which shall be open +to the first intellects of the land, and which shall treat the issues +presented, and to be presented to the country, in a tone no way tempered +by partisanship, or influenced by fear, favor, or the hope of reward; +which shall seize and grapple with the momentous subjects that the +present disturbed state of affairs heave to the surface, and which CAN +NOT be laid aside or neglected. + +To meet this want, the undersigned have commenced, under the editorial +charge of CHARLES GODFREY LELAND, the publication of a new Magazine, +devoted to Literature and National Policy. + +In POLITICS, it will advocate, with all the force at its command, +measures best adapted to preserve the oneness and integrity of these +United States. It will never yield to the idea of any disruption of this +Republic, peaceably or otherwise; and it will discuss with honesty and +impartiality what must be done to save it. In this department, some of +the most eminent statesmen of the time will contribute regularly to its +pages. + +In LITERATURE, it will be sustained by the best writers and ablest +thinkers of this country. Life, by RICHARD B. KIMBALL, ESQ., the very +popular author of "The Revelations of Wall Street," "St. Leger," &c. A +series of papers by HON. HORACE GREELEY, embodying the distinguished +author's observations on the growth and development of the Great West. A +series of articles by the author of "Through the Cotton States," +containing the result of an extended tour in the seaboard Slave States, +just prior to the breaking out of the war, and presenting a startling +and truthful picture of the real condition of that region. No pains will +be spared to render the literary attractions of the CONTINENTAL both +brilliant and substantial. The lyrical or descriptive talents of the +most eminent literati have been promised to its pages; and nothing will +be admitted which will not be distinguished by marked energy, +originality, and solid strength. Avoiding every influence or association +partaking of clique or coterie, it will be open to all contributions of +real merit, even from writers differing materially in their views; the +only limitation required being that of devotion to the Union, and the +only standard of acceptance that of intrinsic excellence. + +The EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT will embrace, in addition to vigorous and +fearless comments on the events of the times, genial gossip with the +reader on all current topics, and also devote abundant space to those +racy specimens of American wit and humor, without which there can be no +perfect exposition of our national character. Among those who will +contribute regularly to this department may be mentioned the name of +CHARLES F. BROWNE ("Artemus Ward"), from whom we have promised an +entirely new and original series of SKETCHES OF WESTERN LIFE. + +The CONTINENTAL will be liberal and progressive, without yielding to +chimeras and hopes beyond the grasp of the age; and it will endeavor to +reflect the feelings and interests of the American people, and to +illustrate both their serious and humorous peculiarities. In short, no +pains will be spared to make it the REPRESENTATIVE MAGAZINE of the time. + +TERMS:--Three Dollars per year, in advance (postage paid by the +Publishers;) Two Copies for Five Dollars; Three Copies for Six Dollars, +(postage unpaid); Eleven copies for Twenty Dollars, (postage unpaid). +Single numbers can be procured of any News-dealer in the United States. +The KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE and the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY will be furnished +for one year at FOUR DOLLARS. + +Appreciating the importance of literature to the soldier on duty, the +publisher will send the CONTINENTAL, _gratis_, to any regiment in active +service, on application being made by its Colonel or Chaplain; he will +also receive subscriptions from those desiring to furnish it to soldiers +in the ranks at half the regular price; but in such cases it must be +mailed from the office of publication. + +J.R. GILMORE, 110 Tremont Street, Boston. + +CHARLES T. EVANS, at G.P. PUTNAM'S, 532 Broadway, New York, is +authorized to receive Subscriptions in that City. + +N.B.--Newspapers publishing this Prospectus, and giving the CONTINENTAL +monthly notices, will be entitled to an exchange. + + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] _Journey in the Back Country_. By Frederick Law Olmsted. + +[B] The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, _Sentinel_, of June 3, contained a +confirmation of these statements in regard to Northern Alabama. A +gentleman returned from 'a prolonged tour through the cotton States' +communicated a narrative, which demonstrated that the people of +Huntsville and vicinity were very hostile to secession in January, that +'at Athens the stars and stripes floated over the court house long after +the State had enacted the farce of secession,' and that, even in May, +open opposition to secession existed '_in the mountain portion of +Alabama, a large tract of country, embracing about one-third of the +State, lying adjacent to and south of the Tennessee valley_.' The writer +added, 'IN THEIR MOUNTAIN FASTNESSES THEY DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE +SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, OR THE POWER OF ITS RULERS.' + +[C] It is proved, by the great increase of the cotton crop during this +period, that the surplus increase of slaves was mainly composed of field +hands purchased in the border States. + +[D] 'The Edwards Family;' page 11. + +[E] 'If some learned philosopher who had been abroad, in giving an +account of the curious observations he had made in his travels, should +say he had been in _Terra del Fuego_, and there had seen an animal, +which he calls by a certain name, that begat and brought forth itself, +and yet had a sire and dam distinct from itself; that it had an appetite +and was hungry before it had a being; that his master, who led him and +governed by him, and driven by him where he pleased; that when he moved +he always took a step before the first step; that he went with his head +first, and yet always went tail foremost, and this though he had neither +head nor tail,' etc. etc.--_Freedom of the Will_, part 4. + +[F] Sismondi's History of the French. + +[G] Benōit, Hist. Rev. Edict of Nantes, book 7. + +[H] Dr. Baird, vol. I. p. 174. + +[I] Oxford town records. + +[J] Vandenkemp's Alb. Rec. viii. + +[K] Instances are frequent where Southern gentlemen form these +left-handed connections, and rear two sets of differently colored +children; but it is not often that the two families occupy the same +domicil. The only other case within my _personal_ knowledge was that of +the well-known President of the Bank of St. M----, at Columbia, Ga. That +gentleman, whose note ranked in Wall Street, when the writer was +acquainted with that locality, as 'A No. 1,' lived for fifteen years +with two 'wives' under one roof. One--an accomplished white woman, and +the mother of several children--did the honors of his table, and moved +with him in 'the best society;' the other--a beautiful quadroon, also +the mother of several children--filled the humbler office of nurse to +her own and the other's offspring. + +In conversation with a well-known Southern gentleman, not long since, I +mentioned these two cases, and commented on them as a man educated with +New England ideas might be supposed to do. The gentleman admitted that +he knew of twenty such instances, and gravely defended the practice as +being infinitely more moral and respectable than _the more relation_ +existing between masters and slaves. + +[L] Among the things of which slavery has deprived the black is a +_name_. A slave has no family designation. It may be for that reason +that a high-sounding appellation is usually selected for the single one +he is allowed to appropriate. + +[M] It is not now improper to broach this button ruse, because it was +recently discovered at the South and is guarded against. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Continental Monthly - Volume 1 - Issue +3, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTINENTAL MONTHLY VOL.1 ISS.3 *** + +***** This file should be named 14583-8.txt or 14583-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/5/8/14583/ + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Josephine Paolucci +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Continental Monthly - Volume 1 - Issue 3 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: January 4, 2005 [EBook #14583] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTINENTAL MONTHLY VOL.1 ISS.3 *** + + + + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Josephine Paolucci +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="text"> +<div class="front"> + +<div class="div"> +<h2>The Continental Monthly</h2> +<h2 class="sub">Devoted to Literatre and National Policy.</h2> +<p>VOL. I.—MARCH, 1862.—No. III.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="div" id="toc"><a name="toc_1"></a><h2>Contents</h2><ul class="toc"> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_1">Contents</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_2">Southern Aids To The North.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_3">WESTWARD!</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_4">Is Cotton Our King?</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_5">General Patterson's Campaign In Virginia.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_6">The Game Of Fate.</a></li> + +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_7">JONATHAN EDWARDS AND THE OLD CLERGY.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_8">Hemming Cotton.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_9">One Of My Predecessors.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_10">The Late Lord Chancellor Campbell.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_11">Child's Call At Eventide.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_12">The Good Wife: A Norwegian Story.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_13">Part I.—Nothing Lost By Good Humor</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_14">Part II.—Gudbrand And His Wife.</a></li> + +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_15">Part III.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_16">Part IV.—Peter The Graybeard.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_17">Part V.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_18">The Huguenot Families In America.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_19">Maccaroni And Canvas.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_20">Introduction.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_21">Arrival In Rome.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_22">A Short Walk.</a></li> + +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_23">Modern Art.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_24">A Room Hunt.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_25">Maccaronical.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_26">America In Rome.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_27">John Lothrop Motley.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_28">The Lesson Of The Hour.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_29">Among The Pines.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_30">Active Service; Or, Campaigning In Western Virginia.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_31">A Cabinet Session.</a></li> + +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_32">Literary Notices.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_33">Books Received.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_34">Editor's Table.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_35">The Knickerbocker</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_36">Prospectus Of The Continental Monthly</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_37">Notes</a></li> +</ul></div> + +</div> + +<div class="body"> + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_2"></a> +<h2>Southern Aids To The North.</h2> + + +<p>Perhaps the most difficult question +at present before the American people +is that so often and so insolently put by +Southern journals, and so ignorantly +babbled in weak imitation of them by +English newspapers, asking what, after +all, in case of a victory, or even of many +victories, can we do with the revolted +provinces? The British press, prompt +to put the worst construction on every +hope of the Union, prophesies endless +guerilla warfare,—a possibility which, +like the blocking up of Charleston harbor +by means of the stone fleet, is, of +course, something which calls for the instant +interference of all cotton-spinning +Christian nations. Even among our +own countrymen it must be confessed +there has been no little indecision as to +the end and the means of securing the +conquest of a country whose outlines are +counted by thousands instead of hundreds +of miles, and whose whole extent, +it is too generally believed, forms a series +of regions where dismal swamps, bayous, +lagoons, dense forests, and all manner +of impenetrabilities, bid defiance to any +save the natives, and where the most +deadly fevers are ever being born in the +jungles and wafted on the wings of every +summer morn over the whole plantation +land. The truth is, that the simple facts +and figures relative to this country are +not generally known. Let the Northern +people but once learn the truths existing +in their favor, and there will be +an end to this misapprehension. There +has been thus far no hesitation or +irresolution among the people in the conduct of +the war. 'Conquer them first,' has been +the glorious war-cry from millions of the +freest men on earth. But when we are +driving a nail it is well to know that +it will be possible to eventually clench +it. And when the country shall fully +understand the ease with which this +Union nail may be clenched, there will +be, let us hope, a greatly revived spirit +in all now interested in forwarding the +war.</p> + +<p>It is evident enough that if all the +millions of the South remain united to +the death in the cause of secession, little +else than a guerilla warfare of endless +length is to be hoped for. The accounts +of the enthusiasm and harmony at present +prevailing in Eastern Virginia, and +in other places controlled by the active +secessionists, have struck terror to the +hearts of many. But, united though +they be, they must be more than mortal +if they could resist the influences of a +counter-revolution, and of strong bodies +of enemies in the heart of their country, + +aided by a mighty foe without. 'Hercules +was a strong man,' says the proverb, +'but he could not pay money when +he had none;' and the South may be +strong, but she can hardly fail to be +entirely crippled when certain agencies +shall be brought to bear against her. +Let us examine them, and find wherein +her weakness consists.</p> + +<p>The first is the easy possibility of a +<em>counter-revolution</em> among the inhabitants +of the mountain districts, who hold but +few slaves, who have preserved a devoted +love for the Union, and who are, +if not at positive feud, at least on +anything but social harmony with their +aristocratic neighbors of the lowlands and +of the plantation. Unlike the 'mean +whites' who live among slaves and slave-holders, +and are virtually more degraded +than the blacks, these mountaineers are +men of strong character and common-sense, +combining the industrious disposition +of the North with the fierce pride +of the South. And so numerous are +they, and so wide is the range of country +which they inhabit, that it would +seem miraculous if with their aid, and +that of other causes which will be referred +to, a counter-revolution could not +be established, which would sweep the +slaveocracy from existence.</p> + +<p>In a pamphlet entitled 'Alleghania,' +by James W. Taylor, published at Saint +Paul, Minnesota, by James Davenport, +the reader will find 'a geographical and +statistical memoir, exhibiting the strength +of the Union, and the weakness of slavery +in the mountain districts of the South,' +which is well worth careful study at this +crisis. Let the reader take the map and +trace on it the dark caterpillar-like lines +of the Alleghanies from Pennsylvania +southward. Not until he reaches Northern +Alabama will he find its end. In +these mountain districts which form 'the +Switzerland of the South,' a population +exists on whom slavery has no hold, who +are free and lovers of freedom, and who +will undoubtedly co-operate with the +Union in reestablishing its power. This +'Alleghania' embraces thirteen counties +of North Carolina, three of South Carolina, +twenty of Georgia, fifteen of Alabama, +and twenty-six of Tennessee.</p> + +<p>According to Humboldt and other +writers on climatology, an elevation of +two hundred and sixty-seven feet above +the level of the sea is equivalent in +general influence upon vegetation to a +degree of latitude northward, at the level +of the ocean. Therefore we are not surprised +to learn from Olmsted that 'Alleghania' + +does not differ greatly in climate +from Long Island, Southern New +Jersey, and Pennsylvania. 'The usual +crops are the same, those of most consequence +being corn, rye, oats and grass. +Fruit is a more precarious crop, from a +greater liability to severe frosts after the +swelling of the buds in the spring. Snow +has fallen several inches in the month +of April.'<a href="#note_1"><span class="footnoteref">1</span></a></p> + +<p>The Western Virginia portion of Alleghania, +which in the counter-secession +programme of its inhabitants was to have +formed the State of 'Kanawha,' embraced +in its total population of 284,796 +only 10,820 slaves. Its area is 4,211 +square miles larger than the entire State +of Maryland. With this we have 'Middle +Virginia,' in the valley of the Shenandoah, +which extends east of the main +Alleghany range to the Blue Ridge. +This region also is broadly distinguishable +in respect to slavery from the Atlantic +counties. With 200,262 freemen +according to the census of 1850, it has +only 44,742 slaves, and there is reason +to believe that this population has largely +diminished in favor of freedom. Yet +again we have the mountain district of +South-western Virginia, where in its ten +counties the proportion of freemen to +slaves is nearly ten to one, or 76,892 to +8,693. As regards internal resources, +beautiful scenery, and all that conduces +to pleasant life and profitable labor, this +portion of Virginia far surpasses the +eastern division, and will eventually +attract the great mass of immigration.</p> + +<p>The reader is aware that Eastern +Kentucky, embracing the counties along +the western base of the Cumberland + +Mountains, 'has nobly responded to the +cause of the Union.' 'They represent a +population which from the first outbreak +have been on fire with loyal zeal, +repudiating all sympathy with this war of +slavery against the Union.' The proportion +of slaves to freemen in these +counties, according to the census of 1850, +is as follows:—</p> + +<p></p><table><colgroup span="3"></colgroup><tbody> +<tr> + <th>COUNTIES</th><th>FREE</th><th>SLAVE</th> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Letcher</td><td>2,440</td><td>62</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Floyd</td><td>5,503</td><td>149</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Harlan</td><td>4,108</td><td>123</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Whitley</td><td>7,222</td><td>201</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Knox</td><td>6,238</td><td>612</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + + <td>Perry</td><td>2,972</td><td>117</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Clay</td><td>4,734</td><td>515</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Breathitt</td><td>3,603</td><td>170</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Morgan</td><td>7,305</td><td>187</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Johnson</td><td>3,843</td><td>30</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Lawrence</td><td>6,142</td><td>137</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td>Carter</td><td>5,000</td><td>257</td> +</tr> +</tbody></table><p></p> + +<p>In contrast to this healthy, temperate +Eastern Kentucky, 'a portion of the +great central district of mountain slopes +and valleys,' let the reader turn to the +secession hot-bed of the State. He will +find it the largest slaveholding district +of Kentucky. It is worth noting that +secession is matured in the slave regions, +for though it is popularly identified with +slavery, they are not wanting among its +leaders—no, nor among their traitorous +and cowardly sympathizers here at the +North—who constantly assert that secession +is simply a geographical necessity, +and slavery only a secondary cause—that +the South will, in fact, eventually +emancipate, and that race and latitude are +the great fundamental causes of national +difference, constituting us in fact 'two +peoples.' How completely false and puerile +are all these assertions, appears from +an examination of the mountain region +now under discussion.</p> + +<p>Of all these sections of 'Alleghania,' +none is of more importance to the +Federal Union than East Tennessee. +Immensely rich in minerals, with a healthy +and agreeable climate and much rich soil, +it is one of the finest countries on earth, +lying under the temperate zone, and +developes the most extraordinary physical +perfection in the human form. Its proportion +of slaves to freemen is no greater +than in the other mountain regions of +the South—its area is about equivalent +to that of Massachusetts, Connecticut, +and Rhode Island united. In considering +this with the loyalty of its inhabitants, +and in studying 'Cumberland +Gap,' the great natural highway of the +Alleghany Range, the observer appreciates +with pleasure the remark of Secretary +Chase, who, in a recent interview +with certain eastern capitalists, disclaimed +on behalf of the Government +and of General M'Clellan any purpose +to send the army into winter quarters, +remarking with much significance that + +'a glance at the map will perhaps +astonish those who have never reflected, <em>how +short is the distance from East Tennessee +to Port Royal Harbor, and may suggest +the possibility of cutting a great rebellion +into two small pieces</em>.'</p> + +<p>In the mountain region of North Carolina +we have 'the Piedmont of the Alleghanies.' +Its seventeen counties embrace +a larger area (11,700 square miles) +than the whole of Vermont. Its scenery +is of extraordinary beauty, its peaks are +the highest east of the Rocky Mountains. +There is full ground for the belief that +in North Carolina a majority of the +people are Union at heart. The following +extract from 'Alleghania' will be read +with interest as illustrating the assertion:</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p> +In the Union camps of East Tennessee, there +are numerous volunteers from Watauga and +other adjacent counties over the border. At +the only popular election suffered to be held +upon the question of Union and secession, the +Union majority was as two to one; and even +after the storm of Sumter, the vote in the +convention of North Carolina on a proposition to +submit the ordinance of secession to a vote of +the people, received thirty-four yeas to seventy-three +nays. I have confidence that those thirty-four +names, representing one-third of the State, +were given by delegates from the western counties,—the +Alleghany counties,—from the base +and sides of the Blue Ridge,—from a land of +corn and cattle, not of cotton. Again, when the +news of the capture of Hatteras was announced +in the legislature of North Carolina, it is evident +from the language of the Raleigh newspapers + +that an irrepressible explosion of Union feeling—even +to an outburst of cheers, according to +one statement—occurred. Nor is such a state +of feeling surprising, when we remember that +not even in Kentucky is the memory of Henry +Clay more a fireside treasure of the people. In +this respect, the quiet, unobtrusive 'North' + +State was in striking contrast to its immediate +neighbors—South Carolina in one direction, +and Atlantic Virginia in the other. Politically, +when the pennons of Clay and Calhoun rode +the gale, the vote and voice of North Carolina +were ever given for the great Kentucky leader. +Let us accept these omens for the winter campaign, +which will open with the triumph of the +Union and the Constitution on the Cumberland +heights of East Tennessee.</p> +</div> + +<p>'In one-fifth of Georgia, over an area +of 12,000 square miles, slavery only +exists by the usurpation of the cotton +aristocracy of the lowland districts of +the State.' In all of them, slaves, though +in a greater proportion than in the rest +of Alleghania, are very greatly in the +minority, as appears from the following +table:—</p> + +<p> +</p><table><tbody> +<tr> +<td>COUNTIES</td> +<td>FREE</td> + +<td>SLAVE</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Madison,</td> +<td>3,763</td> +<td> 1,933</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Hart,*</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Franklin,</td> +<td>9,076</td> +<td>2,382</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Jackson,</td> +<td>6,808</td> +<td>2,941</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Banks,*</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Hall,</td> +<td>7,370</td> +<td>1,336</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + +<td>Habersham,</td> +<td>7,675</td> +<td>1,218</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Rabun,</td> +<td>2,338</td> +<td>110</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Towns,*</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Union,</td> +<td>6,955</td> +<td>278</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Lumpkin,</td> + +<td>7,995</td> +<td>939</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Dawson,*</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Forsyth,</td> +<td>7,812</td> +<td>1,027</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Milton,*</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Cherokee,</td> +<td>11,630</td> +<td>1,157</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + +<td>Pickens,*</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Gilmer,</td> +<td>8,236</td> +<td>200</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Faunin*</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Murphy,*</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Whitefield,*</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Gordon,</td> +<td>5,156</td> +<td>828</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Cass,</td> +<td>10,271</td> +<td>3,008</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Floyd,</td> +<td>5,202</td> +<td>2,999</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Chattoga,</td> +<td>5,131</td> +<td>1,680</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Walker,</td> +<td>11,408</td> +<td>1,664</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Catoosa,*</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Dade,</td> +<td>2,532</td> +<td>148</td> +</tr> +</tbody></table><p> +</p> + +<p>* Counties marked with an asterisk, organized +after the census of 1850, of which the foregoing +are returns.</p> + +<p>Last in the list we have North-east +Alabama, in which we find the following +counties:—</p> + +<p> +</p><table><tbody> +<tr> +<td>COUNTIES</td> +<td>FREE</td> +<td>SLAVE</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Cherokee,</td> +<td>12,170</td> +<td> 1,691</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>DeKalb,</td> +<td>7,730</td> +<td>506</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Marshall,</td> +<td>7,952</td> +<td>868</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Jackson,</td> +<td>11,754</td> +<td>2,292</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Morgan,</td> +<td>6,636</td> +<td>3,437</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Madison,</td> +<td>11,937</td> +<td>14,329</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Limestone,</td> +<td>8,399</td> +<td>8,063</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Lawrence,</td> +<td>8,342</td> +<td>6,858</td> + +</tr> +</tbody></table><p> + +</p> + +<p>'It will be observed,' says Mr. Taylor,</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>That the three counties last named have a +slave population, in the case of Madison exceeding, +and in Limestone and Lawrence nearly +equal to the number of free inhabitants. They +would seem to be an exception to our former +generalization, and are only included because +there is other evidence that Athens, in Limestone +County, and Huntsville, in Morgan County, +were to the last possible moment the head-quarters +of resistance to the Montgomery conspirators. +It was the Union vote of these highland +counties, notwithstanding the number of +slaves in some of them, which would inevitably +have been rolled down in condemnation of an +ordinance of secession. This was well known +by Yancey and his associates, and it was to +avoid this revelation of their weakness over a +compact and populous area of the State, which +was in direct communication with East Tennessee, +that they refused the ordeal of the ballot +upon the consummation of their treason to the +Union.</p> + +<p>I estimate that the district which could readily +be rallied in support of a loyal organization +of the government of Alabama, with its capital +at Huntsville, to be equal to the area of New +Jersey, or 8,320 square miles. With the occupation +of the Alleghanies by an army of the Union, +and such a base of operations, civil and military, +in North Alabama, a counter-revolution +in that State would not be difficult of accomplishment.<a href="#note_2"><span class="footnoteref">2</span></a></p> + +</div> + +<p>It will thus be seen, that, in the South +itself, there exists a tremendous groundwork + +of aid to the North, and of weakness +to secession. The love of this region +for the Union, and its local hatred +for planterdom with its arrogance towards +free labor, is no chimera; nor do +we make the wish the father to the +thought when we assert that a Union +victory would light up a flame of counter-revolution +which would in time, with +Northern aid, crush out the foul rebellion. +And relying on this fact, we grow +confident and exultant. If Europe will +only let us alone—if England will refrain +from stretching out a helping hand +to that slaveocracy for which she has +suddenly developed such a strange and +unnatural love, we may yet be, at no distant +day, great, powerful, and far more +united than ever.</p> + +<p>But we have, in addition to all these +districts of Alleghania, a vast reserve in +Texas—that Texas which is now more +than half cultivated by free labor, and +which is amply capable of producing six +times as much cotton as is now raised in +the entire South. An armed occupation +of Texas, a copious stream of emigration +thither, to be encouraged by very liberal +grants to settlers, and a speedy completion +of its railroads, would be an offset +to secession, well worth of itself all that +the war has cost. With Texas in our +power, with Cumberland Gap firmly +held, with the negroes in South Carolina +fairly disorganized from slavery, with +free Yankee colonies in the Palmetto +State, with New Orleans taken—a +blockade without and complete financial +disorder within, what more could we desire +as a basis to secure thorough reėstablishment +of power? Here our superiority +to the South in possessing not +only a navy, but, what is of far more importance, +a vast merchant marine containing +all the elements necessary to +form a navy of unparalleled power, appears +in clearest light, giving us cause +for much congratulation. To effect all +this, <em>time</em> is required. Let those who +fret, look over the map of a hemisphere—let +them reflect on the condition to +which Southern perfidy and theft had +reduced us ere the war begun, and then +let them moderate their cries. It will +all be done; but the programme is a +tremendous one, and the future of the +most glorious country on earth requires +that it shall be done thoroughly, and that +no risks shall be taken.</p> + +<p>But, beyond all the aid which is to be +expected from a counter-revolution in +the South, to be drawn from the 'Alleghania' + +region, there is one of vast importance, +insisted upon in a series of articles +published during the past year in +the New York <em>Knickerbocker Magazine</em>, +and which may be appropriately reconsidered +in this connection. Should the +government of the United States, by one +or more victories, obtain even a temporary +sway over the South, it will only +rest with itself to produce a powerful +counter-revolution even in those districts +which are blackest with slavery. <em>Let it, +when the time shall seem fit</em>,—and we +urge no undue haste, and no premature +meddling with the present plans or programme +of those in power,—<em>simply proclaim +Emancipation</em>, offering to pay all +loyal men for their slaves according to a +certain rate. The proportion of Union +men who will then start into life, even in +South Carolina, will be, doubtless, enormous. +It may be objected that many of +these will merely profess Union sentiments +for the time being. But, on the +other hand, those noted rebels who can +have no hope of selling their slaves, save +indeed to the Union professors, will have +small love for the latter, and two parties +can not fail to show themselves at once. +Those who hope to see the slave principle +ultimately triumphant will oppose +selling the chattels; those who wish to +'realize' at once on them, owing to temporary +embarrassments, will urge it; and +dissension of the most formidable character +will be at once organized,—precisely +such dissension as the Southern + +press has long hoped to see between the +dough-faces and patriots of the North, or +between its labor and capital, or in any +other disastrous dissension.</p> + +<p>Be it borne in mind that the price of +slaves is at present greatly depressed in +the South. Those who would sell would +speedily acquire more, in the hope of a +profit by selling to government. Those +too who would willingly act as brokers +between those who wished to sell, but +who would not dare to openly do so, +would be very numerous. Between these +and the leaders of the ultra pro-slavery +party there would be bitter feud. Let +a counter-revolutionary party once succeed +in holding its own in the South, and +the days of secession would speedily be +numbered. In a land where all rushes +so rapidly to extremes, we should soon +see the war carried on for us with a bitterness +fully equal to that now manifested +towards the North.</p> + +<p>It is with no pleasant feelings that we +thus commend counter-revolution. It is +the worst of war that it drives us to such +considerations. But what is to be done +when our existence as a nation is at +stake, and when we are opposed by a +remorseless foe which would gladly ruin +us irretrievably? There is no halting +half-way. It was these endless scruples +which interfered with the prevention of +the war under the imbecile or traitorous +Buchanan; it is lingering scruple and +timidity which still inspires in thousands +of cowardly hearts a dislike to face the +grim danger and prevent it.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_3"></a> +<h2>WESTWARD!</h2> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">How the pink-hued morning clouds</p> +<p class="l">Go sailing into the west!</p> +<p class="l">And the pearl-white breath of noon,</p> + +<p class="l">Or the mists round the silver moon,</p> +<p class="l">In silent, sheeny crowds</p> +<p class="l">Go sailing into the west!</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">The glowing, fire-eyed sun</p> +<p class="l">In glory dies in the west;</p> +<p class="l">And the bird with dreamy crest,</p> +<p class="l">And soft, sun-loving breast,</p> + +<p class="l">When throbbing day is done,</p> +<p class="l">Floats slowly into the west.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Oh, everything lovely and fair</p> +<p class="l">Is floating into the west.</p> +<p class="l">'Tis an unknown land, where our hopes must go,</p> +<p class="l">And all things beautiful, fluttering slow;</p> +<p class="l">Our joys all wait for us there,—</p> + +<p class="l">Far out in the dim blue west.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_4"></a> +<h2>Is Cotton Our King?</h2> + +<h2 class="sub">By A Cotton-Spinner.</h2> + +<p>No falsehood has been so persistently +adhered to by the Southern planters +and their advocates, and so successfully +forced upon the credulity of the North, +as the statement that white men can not +perform field labor in the cotton States, +coupled with the equally false assertion +that the emancipated negro lapses into +barbarism, and ceases to be an industrious +laborer.</p> + +<p>It is one of the chief points of weakness +in a bad cause, that, although a <em>single</em> +advocate may succeed in rendering +it plausible, <em>many</em> are certain to present +utterly irreconcilable arguments. An +impartial man, examining De Bow's <em>Review</em> +for a series of years, would arrive +at conclusions in regard to the economy +of slave labor, and the necessity of colored +laborers in the Southern States, +the very reverse of what the writers +have intended to enforce.</p> + +<p>It is constantly asserted that white +men can not labor in the tropics, which +we may freely admit; but the inference +that the climate of the Southern States +is tropical we have the best authority +for denying: firstly, from the testimony +of all Southern writers when describing +their own section of country, and <em>not</em> +arguing upon the slavery question; and, +secondly, from Humboldt's isothermal +lines, by which we find that the temperature +of the cotton States is the +same as that of Portugal, the south of +Spain, Italy, and Australia. Do we +find Australian emigrants writing home +to their friends not to come out because +they will not be able to work? We +know they do not; and yet the mean +annual temperature of Australia is 70°—greater +by five to six degrees than +that of Texas; and, from the best accounts +we can get, the extreme of heat +is very much greater.</p> + +<p>Examine De Bow's analysis of the +census of 1850, and we find him compelled +to admit that one-ninth of the +force then cultivating cotton were white +men. If one-ninth were white men in +1850, when the price of cotton was much +less and the crop much smaller than of +late years, how many are there now?</p> + +<p>One of the most reliable witnesses to +the cultivation of cotton by free labor is +a Quaker gentleman in Philadelphia, who +conducts a cotton factory supplied entirely +with free-grown cotton, the goods +being sold to the Quakers, who will not +use the product of slave labor of any kind. +This gentleman writes:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>I learned by correspondence with several intelligent +Germans in Texas, that their experiment +of raising cotton by their own labor, without +the help of slaves, was a complete success. +One planter offered to supply me at once with +one hundred and forty bales raised in this way. +The ground taken by thee that cotton can be +raised by white men, as well as by colored men, +is entirely correct. A very large portion is every +year so raised. I have had particular information +of its being thus raised in Texas, Arkansas, +Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and +North Carolina. In some neighborhoods thousands +of bales are thus raised within the limits +of two or three adjacent counties.</p> + +</div> + +<p>It may be urged that this is upon uplands +almost exclusively, and that upon +bottom lands it is not possible, on account +of their being unhealthy.</p> + +<p>Two statements will be made to disprove +this latter assertion, and we will +then admit it to be true, and prove it to +be of no consequence.</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>The cotton planters, deserting the rolling +land, are fast pouring in upon the 'swamp.' +Indeed, the impression of the sickliness of the +South generally has been rapidly losing ground +(i.e. among the whites of the South), and that +blessing, health, is now sought with as much +confidence on the swamp lands of the Yazoo +and the Mississippi, as among the hills and +plains of Carolina and Virginia.—<em>De Bow's Resources +of the South and West</em>.</p> + +</div> + +<p>Dr. Barton, of New Orleans, in a paper + +read before the Academy of Science, +says:</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>The class of diseases most fatal at the South +are mainly those of a preventable nature. In +another place I have shown that the direct +temperature of the sun is not near so great in +the South during the summer as in the North. +In fact, the climate is much more endurable, all +the year round, with our refreshing breezes, +and particularly in some of the more elevated +parts of it, or within one hundred miles of the +coast.</p> +</div> + +<p>Dr. Barton had forgotten that white +men can not perform field labor in the +South.</p> + +<p>But admit that white men had better +work upon uplands,—the crop is surer, +owing to the less liability to frost and +overflow; and good cultivation will give +an equal crop. Intelligent Northern +men have taken up exhausted plantations +upon the uplands of North Carolina, and, +by the application of moderate quantities +of guano, phosphate of lime, etc., have +carried the crop from two hundred up to +eight hundred pounds of clean cotton per +acre; and for the last three years the +writer has been in the habit of selecting +the North Carolina guano-grown cotton, +in the New York market, where it has +been shipped via Wilmington or Norfolk, +on account of its good staple, good color, +and extra strength.</p> + +<p>There is nothing in the cultivation +of cotton involving harder work than +that of corn. In the early stages of its +growth it is more tender than corn, and +requires more care,—which it does not +get, since we find Southern writers deploring +that the cut-worm and the louse +are charged with many sins which are +caused by careless cultivation and the +bruises inflicted by the clumsy negro +hoes. The soil is very light, and most of +the work might be done by the plow and +cultivator. Except upon very poor soil +there is only one plant allowed to eight +and even ten square feet. By the admission +of Texas planters themselves, in +the accounts of their country which they +have written to induce emigration and +sell their surplus land, there is very little +work to be done during the hottest +part of the summer; the cultivation taking +place in the spring, and the picking +in the fall and winter. Dr. J.S. Wilson, +of Columbus, Ga., writing upon the +diseases of negroes, says there is no +article of clothing so needful to them, +and so seldom supplied, as an overcoat. +Should some shrewd Yankee, starting +South to go into the business of raising +cotton, lay in a large supply of flannel +shirts, thick Guernsey frocks, and woolen +stockings, for his field hands, how many +of his neighbors would remind him of +Lord Timothy Dexter's noted shipment +to the West Indies, and ask him why he +did not take some warming-pans; and +yet, for his supply of thick, warm clothing +he would have the authority of all +Southern physicians.</p> + +<p>Examine the directions given for the +cultivation of cotton, and see how much +labor could be saved, provided slaves +could be induced to use good tools; +planting the seed and covering it requiring +one horse or mule and <em>four</em> +hands,—one to smooth the ground, one +to open the furrow, one to plant, and +one to cover. All of these operations +can be performed by one man with a +planting machine. But the negro can +not be trusted with one; for the moment +you begin to teach him the reasons for +using it, you begin to teach him the benefit +of using another complicated machine, +which he has not before known +much about—his own head and arms, +and, worse than all, his own legs, all of +which you have stolen from him; and +then he will misapply his knowledge, as +an old fugitive once told me he had +done: 'I took my own legs for security, +and walked off.'</p> + +<p>I know a fugitive slave who was taught +the trade of a blacksmith, and who stole +the art of writing; and a sad use he +made of his accomplishments; he forged +free papers with his pen, and the sacred +seal of the State of Alabama with his +tools, and then started North. In Tennessee +he got out of money, and stopped +to work at his trade, was suspected, +brought before a court, his papers examined +and pronounced genuine, and + +he passed on to Canada or elsewhere. +Surely this man did not know how to +take care of himself!</p> + +<p>There is no great reason why the +slave should exert himself very much, +and why he should not, cannot be better +stated than by the Rev. Mr. McTeyire, +the son of a large planter in South Carolina. +'Men,' he says, 'who own few +slaves, and who share the labors of the +field or workshop with them, are very +liable to deceive themselves by a specious +process of reasoning: they say, +"I carry row for row with my negroes, +and I put no more on them than I take +on myself." But the master who thus +reasons is forgetful or ignorant of the +great truth that the negroes' powers of +endurance are less than his, while in the +case of the latter there are wanting those +incentives which animate and actually +strengthen the master. This labor is for +him, the gains of this excess of industry +are to make him rich. What is the servant +bettered by the additional bale of +cotton extorted from exhausted nature, +only that next year he shall have more +companions in the field, and the field be +enlarged?' This is extremely well put; +but Rev. Mr. McTeyire, of South Carolina, +must have been unaware of the fact +that it is not possible for a white man to +work row for row on cotton!</p> + +<p>But Southern planters are not without +some ingenious machines. In a <em>premium</em> +essay upon the cultivation of cotton, +read before the Georgia Agricultural +Society, the Hon. Mr. Chambers thus +describes one invented by himself for +covering the seed: 'I would cover with +a board made of some hard wood, an +inch or an inch and a half thick, about +eight inches broad, beveled on the lower +edge to make it sharp, slightly notched +in the middle so as to <em>straddle</em> the row, +and screwed on the foot of a common +shovel.' Very safe for negroes to use, +not being complicated.</p> + +<p>But in the protests of intelligent +Southern men, when they occasionally +wake up to the terrible results of their +mode of cultivation, may be found their +own condemnation.</p> + +<p>Dr. Cloud, of Alabama, editor of the +'<em>Cotton Plant</em>,' mourning the want of +pasturage in his own State, writes thus: +'Our climate is remarkably favorable to +rich and luxuriant pasturage. The red +man of the forest and the pioneer white +man that came here in advance of our +<em>scratching plow</em>, tell us they found the +wild oat and native grasses waving +thick, as high as a man's head, and so +entwined with the wild pea-vine as to +make it difficult to ride among it, all +over this country. Every cotton planter +has heard of these fine primitive pasture +ranges, and many have seen them. <em>If +the country or the climate has been +cursed in our appearance as planters +here, it has been in the wasting system, +that we introduced and continue to practice</em>.'</p> + +<p>Gov. Wise, in an address upon the +agriculture of Virginia, condenses the +whole case in an epigram,—' The negroes +skin the land, and the white men +skin the negroes.'</p> + +<p>The limit to the production of cotton +is in the capacity of the plantation force +to pick the amount cultivated by the +field hands; but the whole available +force is insufficient, and large quantities +are lost. The policy of the planters being +to buy out the small landholders in their +neighborhood, they have no extra force +upon which to draw. Olmsted says: 'I +much doubt if the harvest demand of the +principal cotton districts of Mississippi +adds five per cent. to their field-hand +force. I observed the advantage of the +free-labor system exemplified in Western +Texas, the cotton-fields in the vicinity +of the German village of New Braunfils +having been picked far closer than +any I had before seen,—in fact perfectly +clean. One woman was pointed out +to me who had, in the first year she had +seen a cotton field, picked more cotton +in a day than any slave in the county.'</p> + +<p>'Substitute the French system (that +of small allotment or <em>parcellement</em>) for +the Mississippi system in cotton-growing, +and who can doubt that the cotton +supply of the United States would be +greatly increased?'</p> + + + +<p>Dr. Cloud, the most intelligent writer +upon cotton cultivation I have been able +to find, is urgent in his advice to manure +the land, practice rotation of crops, +and produce larger crops upon fewer +acres. But the universal practice is precisely +the reverse; the process of exhaustion +is followed year after year; cotton +is planted year after year; the seed—which +Northern men would cultivate for +oil alone, and which exhausts the land +ten times faster than the fibre—is mostly +wasted; in the words of a Southern +paper, 'The seed is left to rot about the +gin-house, producing foul odors, and a +constant cause of sickness.' The land +is cropped until it is literally skinned, +and then the planter migrates to some +new region, again to drive out the poor +whites, monopolize the soil, and leave it +once more to grow up to 'piney woods.'</p> + +<p>Note again the warning words of Dr. +Cloud: 'With a climate and soil peculiarly +adapted to the production of cotton, +our country is equally favorable to +the production of all the necessary cereals, +and as remarkably favorable to the +perfect development of the animal economy, +in fine horses, good milch cows, +sheep and hogs; and for fruit of every +variety, <em>not tropical</em>, it is eminently superior. +Why is it, then, that we find +so many <em>wealthy cotton planters</em>, whose +riches consist entirely of their slaves and +worn-out plantations?'</p> + +<p>No crop would be more remunerative +to a small farmer, with a moderate family +to assist in the picking season, than +cotton.</p> + +<p>Upon the fertile lands of Texas, which +produce one to two bales of cotton to +the acre, ten acres of cotton is the usual +allotment to each hand, with also sufficient +land in corn and vegetables to furnish +food for the laborer and his proportion +of the idle force upon the plantation, +which are two to one, without reckoning +the planter and overseer and their families. +Now, upon the absurd supposition +that a free man, with a will in his work, +would do no more work than a slave, +what would be the result of his labor? +1st, food for his family; 2d, 10 acres of +cotton, at 500 pounds to the acre, 5000 +pounds, at 10 cents per pound, or $500. +But the result would be much greater, +for, as a Southern man has well said, 'the +maximum of slave labor would be the +minimum of free labor;' and the writer +can bring proof of many instances where +each field hand has produced 13, 15, and +even 18 bales of cotton in a year. With +the denser population which would follow +the emancipation of the slaves and +the breaking up of the plantation system, +a harvest force for the picking season +would be available, and one man would +as easily cultivate 20 to 25 acres of cotton, +with assistance in the picking season, +as he could thirty acres of corn, the +usual allotment to each hand upon the +corn land of Texas.</p> + +<p>The very expense of slave labor is a +proof of the profit which must be derived +from it. The writer has elsewhere +estimated the cost of slave labor +at $20 per month, which statement has +been questioned, because no allowance +was made for the increase of the live +stock. Now it is well understood that +where the women are worked in the +fields in such a manner as to make their +labor pay, the increase of live stock is +much smaller, and the business of breeding +is left to the first families in Virginia +and other localities where the land +has been exhausted (readers will pardon +a plain statement,—it will cause +them to realize the full horror of the +business). The slaves in the cotton +States increased from 1850 to 1860 +33-88/100 per cent., in all the other slave +States 9-61/100 per cent. The surplus increase +in the cotton States, above the +average, was 190,632. Where did they +come from?<a href="#note_3"><span class="footnoteref">3</span></a> At $900 each, this surplus +represents a capital of $171,568,800. +How was this sum earned, and to +whom was it paid?</p> + +<p>Let us examine the estimate of $20 +per month, and, although it is admitted +that female field hands do not bear + +many children, take the average increase +of the country, or 2-335/1000 per cent. +per annum.</p> + +<p>The standard of value for an A 1 field +hand is $100 for each cent per pound +of the price of cotton, say ten cents per +pound, $1000, and the standard of value +for all the slaves upon a plantation is +one-half the value of a field hand.</p> + +<h2>Suppose a plantation stocked with +100 slaves, men, women, and piccaninnies,</h2> + +<table><tbody> + +<tr> +<td>at 8500 each,</td> +<td>$50,000</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Interest at 8 per cent., a low rate for the South,</td> +<td>4,000</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Customary allowance for life insurance or mortality,</td> +<td>1,000</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Overseer's wages,</td> + +<td>1,000</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>House and provisions,</td> +<td>500</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Doctor's fees, hospital, and medicines,</td> +<td>500</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Renewal and repairs of negro quarters,</td> +<td>500</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Clothing and food, at $1 per week for each slave,</td> +<td>5,200</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + +<td></td> +<td>______</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>12,700</td> +</tr> +</tbody></table><p> +</p> + +<h2><em>Credit</em>.</h2> + +<table><tbody> + +<tr> +<td>Increase to keep good the mortality,</td> +<td></td> +<td>2</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Annual gain, 2-335/1000, say</td> +<td></td> +<td>3</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>Gain, 5, at $500</td> +<td>2,500</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>Net cost,</td> +<td>10,200</td> +</tr> +</tbody></table><p> +</p> + +<p>The usual allowance for field hands is +one-third,—allow it to be forty in a +hundred, the cost of each would be $255 +per annum, or $21.25 per month.</p> + +<p>Let each one make his own allowance +for the disadvantage of having the larger +portion of the capital of a State locked +up in a tool which would do more and +better work if recognized as a man and +representing no invested capital. How +much productive industry would there +be in New England, if every laborer or +mechanic cost his employer $800 to +$1500 before he could be set to work, +and if each one who undertook to labor +upon his own account, and was not +so purchased, were stigmatized and degraded +and termed 'mean white trash?'</p> + +<p>It will again be objected that the theory +of the cotton planter is to raise all +the food and make all the clothing on +the plantation. The cultivation of cotton +in the best manner is described by +Southern writers as a process of <em>gardening</em>. +Now what would be thought of a +market gardener at the North who should +keep a large extra force for the purpose +of spinning yarn on a frame of six to ten +spindles, and weaving it up on a rude +hand loom? Would this not be protection +to home industry in its most absurd +extreme? But this is the plantation +system.</p> + +<p>The correctness of the estimate of cost +can be tested in some degree by the rates +at which able-bodied slaves are hired +out. Many lists can be found in Southern +papers; the latest found by the +writer is in De Bow's <em>Review</em> of 1860.</p> + +<p>A list of fourteen slaves, comprising 'a +blacksmith, his wife, eight field hands, a +lame negro, an old man, an old woman +and a young woman,' were hired out for +the year 1860, in Claiborne Parish, La., +at an average of $289 each, the highest +being $430 for the blacksmith, and $171 +for 'Juda, old woman.'</p> + +<p>The Southern States have thus far +retained almost a monopoly of the cotton +trade of the civilized world by promptly +furnishing a fair supply of cotton of the +best quality, and at prices which defied +competition from the only region from +which it was to be feared, viz., India. +This monopoly has been retained, notwithstanding +the steadily increasing demand +and higher prices of the last few +years.</p> + +<p>Improvements in machinery have enabled +manufacturers to pay full wages +to their operatives, both in this country +and in England, and to pay higher +prices for their cotton than they did a +few years since, without materially enhancing +the cost of their goods, the +larger product of cloth from a less number +of hands and the saving of waste +offsetting the higher price of cotton; but +it is not probable that the cost of labor +upon cotton goods can be hereafter materially +reduced. The cost of labor upon +the heavy sheetings and drills which form +the larger part of our exports is now +only one and one-half cents per yard, + +and the cost of oil, starch, and all other +materials except cotton, less than one-half +cent, making less than two cents +for cost of manufacturing; but with cotton +at ten cents to the planter and +twelve and one-half cents to the spinner, +the cost of cotton in the yard of +same goods is five cents.</p> + +<p>With cotton at the average price of +the last few years, we have supplied a +very small portion of India and China +with goods, in competition with their +hand-made goods of same material. +With new markets opening in Japan +and China, and by the building of railroads +in India, we have to meet a constantly +decreasing supply of raw material +as compared with the demand. Give +us cotton at six to seven cents, at which +free labor and skill could well afford it, +and the manufacturing industry of New +England would receive a development +unknown before. But when we ask +more cotton of slavery, we are answered +by its great prophet, De Bow; that because +we are willing to pay a high price +we can not have it; for he says, 'Although +land is to be had in unlimited +quantities, whenever cotton rises to ten +cents, labor becomes too dear to increase +production rapidly.'</p> + +<p>And this is what the great system of +slave labor has accomplished. The production +of its great staple, cotton, is in +the hands of less than 100,000 men. In +1850 there were in all the Southern +States only 170,000 men owning more +than five slaves each, and they owned +2,800,000 out of 3,300,000.</p> + +<p>These men have by their system rendered +labor degrading,—they have driven +out their non-slaveholding neighbors +by hundreds of thousands to find homes +and self-respect in the free air of the +great West,—they have reduced those +who remain to a condition of ignorance +scarcely to be found in any other country +claiming to be civilized—so low that +even the slaves look down upon the +'mean white trash,'—they have sapped +the very foundations of honor and morality, +so that 'Southern chivalry' has become +the synonym for treachery, theft, +and dishonor in every form,—they have +reached a depth of degradation only to +be equalled by those Northern men who +would now prevent this war from utterly +destroying slavery,—they have literally +skinned over a vast area of country, +leaving it for the time a desert, and +with an area of 368,312,320 acres in the +eight cotton States, they have now under +cultivation in cotton less than 6,000,000 +(an area scarcely larger than the little +State of Massachusetts); they have less +than two slave laborers to the square +mile; and their only opposition to the +re-opening of the African slave-trade is +upon the ground that an increase of laborers +will but reduce the price of cotton, +give the planters a great deal more +trouble and less profit, and only benefit +their enemies in New and Old England.</p> + +<p>Have not the manufacturer, the consumer, +the business man, the farmer, the +soldier, every free man, every friend of +the poor whites of the South who are not +yet free men, a right and an interest in +claiming that this monopoly of 100,000 +cotton planters shall cease, their estates +be confiscated for their treason, and divided +among our soldiers, to repay them +for their sacrifices in the cause of their +country? First of all, however, let us +claim the 100,000,000 acres, not the +property of any individual, but fought +for and paid for by the United States, +and then given to that most ungrateful +of all the rebel States, Texas—the great +'Cotton State.'</p> + +<p>Upon these fertile lands, and in this +most profitable branch of agriculture, +let us find the bounty for our soldiers, +the reward for their sacrifices, and our +own security for the future good order +of the state.</p> + +<p>By so doing we shall silence the outcry +of the South that ours is a war of +conquest (since the right of the government +to the public lands of Texas is unquestionable), +and, at the same time, +furnish a powerful incentive to the zeal +of our soldiers.</p> + +<p>I have compiled a few facts and statements +in regard to the soil and climate +of Texas from Capt. Marcy's Exploration + +of the Red River, in which he was +accompanied by Captain, now General, +McLellan, from the <em>Texas Almanac</em>, a +most violent pro-slavery publication, and +from the letters of a friend, a loyal Texan, +who has been driven from his home, +and is now in the North.</p> + +<p>In advocating the Memphis and El +Paso route for the Pacific Railroad, Captain +Marcy writes as follows:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>The road alluded to, immediately after leaving +Fulton, Ark., leads to an elevated ridge +dividing the waters that flow into Red River +from those of the Sulphur and Trinity, and +continues upon it, with but few deviations +from the direct course for El Paso and Dona +Ana to near the Brazos River, a distance of +three hundred and twenty miles, and mostly +through the northern part of Texas. This portion +of the route has its locality in a country of +surpassing beauty and fertility, and possesses +all the requisites for attracting and sustaining +a dense farming population. It is diversified +with prairies and woodland, and is bountifully +watered with numerous spring brooks, which +flow off upon either side of the ridge above-mentioned. +The crest of the ridge is exceedingly +smooth and level, and is altogether the +best natural or artificial road I ever traveled +over for the same distance.</p> + +<p>After leaving this ridge, the road crosses the +Brazos near very extensive fields of bituminous +coal, which burns readily, with a clear flame, +and is very superior in quality.</p> + +<p>From the Brazos, the road skirts small affluents +of that stream and the Colorado for two +hundred miles. The soil upon this section is +principally a red argillaceous loam, similar to +that in the Red River bottoms, which is so +highly productive.</p> + +<p>As this route is included within the thirty-second +and thirty-fourth parallels of latitude, +it would never be obstructed with snow. The +whole surface of the country is covered with +a dense coating of the most nutritious grass, +which remains green for nine months in the +year, and enables cattle to subsist the entire +winter without any other forage.</p> + +<p>The line of this road east from Fort Smith +would intersect the Mississippi in the vicinity +of Memphis, Tenn., and would pass through +the country bordering the Arkansas River, +which can not be surpassed for fertility.—<em>Marcy's +Red River Exploration</em>.</p> + +</div> + +<p>The route thus described lies through +the following counties, and attention is +specially directed to their several products +in 1858:—</p> + +<p></p><table><tbody> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td></td> +<td></td> +<td>Acres</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> County</td> + +<td>White</td> +<td>Slave</td> +<td>Corn</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Cotton</td> +<td>Sug.</td> +<td>Misc'l</td> +<td>Total.</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Bowie</td> +<td>2,077</td> +<td>2,321</td> +<td>10,392</td> +<td>1,421</td> +<td>8,240</td> +<td>23</td> + +<td>3,232</td> +<td>23,308</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Cass</td> +<td>6,112</td> +<td>4,816</td> +<td>28,474</td> +<td>5,552</td> + +<td>20,168</td> +<td>36</td> +<td>4,368</td> +<td>58,508</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Titus</td> +<td>6,025</td> +<td>1,891</td> + +<td>18,987</td> +<td>2,272</td> +<td>9,872</td> +<td>92</td> +<td>6,227</td> +<td>36,450</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Upshur</td> + +<td>5,999</td> +<td>2,801</td> +<td>22,515</td> +<td>3,092</td> +<td>16,692</td> +<td>45</td> +<td>3,122</td> +<td>46,065</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Wood</td> +<td>3,254</td> +<td>733</td> +<td>8,336</td> +<td>1,090</td> +<td>3,194</td> +<td>31</td> +<td>1,841</td> + +<td>14,501</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Van Zandt</td> +<td>2,548</td> +<td>242</td> +<td>6,504</td> +<td>837</td> +<td>1,213</td> + +<td>8</td> +<td>596</td> +<td>8,160</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Henderson</td> +<td>2,758</td> +<td>827</td> +<td>8,470</td> + +<td>845</td> +<td>4,768</td> +<td>70</td> +<td>908</td> +<td>15,061</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Navarro</td> +<td>2,885</td> + +<td>1,579</td> +<td>10,531</td> +<td>2,785</td> +<td>4,678</td> +<td>127</td> +<td>2,609</td> +<td>20,730</td> +</tr> + +<tr> + +<td>Hill</td> +<td>1,858</td> +<td>508</td> +<td>5,161</td> +<td>3,189</td> +<td>181</td> +<td>201</td> +<td>761</td> +<td>9,493</td> + +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Bosque</td> +<td>887</td> +<td>182</td> +<td>2,702</td> +<td>872</td> +<td>224</td> +<td>45</td> + +<td>83</td> +<td>4,026</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>34,403</td> +<td>15,800</td> +<td>121,072</td> +<td>22,564</td> +<td>69,330</td> + +<td>678</td> +<td>22,748</td> +<td>236,392</td> +</tr> +</tbody></table><p> +</p> + +<p>Let us allow the usual proportion of +field hands to the whole number of slaves, +viz., one-third, and we have a force of +5297; if whites do not labor in the field, +each field hand must cultivate 44 64/100 +acres of land. The customary allotment +is ten cotton and five corn, or, where +corn and wheat are the principal products, +from twenty to twenty-five acres.</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>July 15, 1852. We were in motion at two +o'clock in the morning, and, taking a north-east +course towards the base of the mountain chain, +passed through mezquite groves, intersected +by brooks of pure water flowing into the south +branch of Cache Creek, upon one of which we +are encamped.</p> + +<p>We find the soil good at all places near the +mountains, and the country well wooded and +watered. The grass, consisting of several varieties +of the grama, is of a superior quality, +and grows luxuriantly. The climate is salubrious, +<em>and the almost constant cool and bracing +breezes of the summer months</em>, with the entire +absence of anything like marshes or stagnant +water, remove all sources of noxious malaria, +with its attendant evils of autumnal fevers.—<em>Marcy's +Exploration of the Red River</em>, p. 11.</p> + +<p>Our camp is upon the creek last occupied by +the Witchitas before they left the mountains. +The soil, in point of fertility, surpasses anything +we have before seen, and the vegetation +in the old corn-fields is so dense that it was +with great difficulty I could force my horse +through it. It consisted of rank weeds growing +to the height of twelve feet. Soil of this +character must have produced an enormous +yield of corn. The timber is sufficiently abundant +for all purposes of the agriculturist, and +of a superior quality.</p> + +<p>We have now reached the eastern extremity + +of the Witchita chain of mountains, and shall +to-morrow strike our course for Fort Asbuekl.</p> + +<p>The more we have seen of the country about +these mountains, the more pleased we have +been with it. Bounteous nature seems here to +have strewed her favors with a lavish hand, +and to have held out every inducement for civilized +man to occupy it. The numerous tributaries +of Cache Creek, flowing from granite +fountains, and winding like net-work through +the valleys, with the advantages of good timber, +soil and grass, the pure, elastic and delicious +climate, with a bracing atmosphere, all +unite in presenting rare inducements to the +husbandman.—<em>Marcy's Red River Exploration</em>.</p> + +</div> + +<p>This section of country is in latitude +34°, longitude 99°; the latitude the same +as the central part of South Carolina +and the southern part of Arkansas.</p> + +<p>We will now give statements from the +<em>Texas Almanac</em>.</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>The south winds are the source of comfort +and positive luxury to the inhabitants of Texas +during the hot weather of summer. The nearer +the sea-coast, the cooler and more brisk the +current; but the entire area of prairie, and a +large portion of the timbered country, feel it +as a pleasant, healthful breeze, rendering our +highest temperature tolerable.—<em>Prof. Forshey, +of the Texas Military Institute</em>.</p> + +<div class="div"> +<h4 class="sub">TRINITY RIVER AND ITS VALLEY.</h4> + +<p>So far as I have described the river, the climate +is pleasant and salubrious, and favorable +for planting. The forests and cane-brakes mitigate +the cold of the northers in winter, and the +south breezes temper the heat of summer. +Contrary to the usual opinion, plantations, +when once cleared of decaying timber, are +found to be remarkably healthy. In fact, there +are no causes of sickness. The river in summer +is only a deep, sandy ravine, with a clear +and rapid stream of water running at its bottom, +and in the rear of the plantations, instead +of swamps, are high rolling cane-brakes.</p> + +<p>The paradox, that there is more good land +on the Trinity than on the Mississippi, is one +which will be readily sustained by those who +are acquainted with the subject.—<em>Texas Almanac, 1861</em>.</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<h4 class="sub">TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS.</h4> + +<p>The soil is exceedingly rich, from two to ten +feet deep, and when the seasons are favorable +it produces from sixty to one hundred bushels +of corn, and from one and a half to two bales +of cotton, per acre. From twenty-five to thirty +acres of corn, or twelve to fifteen acres of cotton +to the hand, are usually cultivated.</p> + +<p>Our country upon the whole is fertile and +well watered, has timber enough to supply its +demands, and an everlasting amount of stone +for building; it has an eternal range of mesquit +grass, on which horses and cattle that +never smell corn keep perfectly fat all winter. +The climate is delightful, the nights pleasant, +a fine south breeze in summer continually playing +over the face of our broad prairies, and the +atmosphere so pure and invigorating, that it is +more conducive to good health to sleep out in +the open air than to sleep in-doors. There is +something so attractive in this section of country, +that those who live here a short time are +seldom satisfied to live anywhere else.</p> + +<p>Our citizens are generally intelligent, enterprising, +industrious, religious, sober, and, <em>laying +politics aside</em>, honest.—<em>Texas Almanac</em>.</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<h4 class="sub">COMAL COUNTY.</h4> + +<h4 class="sub">BY THE ASSESSOR.</h4> + +<p>Mostly settled by Germans. In this county +there are in cultivation 600 acres in cotton, +15,000 acres in corn, 500 acres in wheat. The +acre yields 500 pounds of clean cotton, 40 +bushels of corn, 20 bushels of wheat. From +3,500 to 4,000 white inhabitants; 188 slaves; 396 +farms. Improved lands $30, unimproved $3 +an acre. <em>Most of the farms are cultivatd by +white labor</em>; a white hand cultivates thirty +acres of corn. Peaches yield abundantly; apples +and quinces have been tried successfully. +The wild grape, plum, cherry, <em>mulberry</em>, and +blackberry grow luxuriantly. Wine of good +quality has been made here.</p> + +<p>New Braunfels is the county seat. It has +2,000 inhabitants, and boasts of having the only +free school in the State, supported by aid from +the State school fund, and by direct taxation +on the property of the school district. Four +teachers are employed, and there are 250 pupils.</p> +</div> + +<p>The letters of my Texas friend give +the following description of the climate +of Texas:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>The climate of Texas is very peculiar. This is +owing to the body of water to the eastward of +it, and to the dry and elevated plain of the +Llano Estacado, and the lofty mountains which +lie to the westward. To these two causes are +due the moisture and the cool temperature, and +at times and in certain localities the excessive +dryness of Texas.</p> + +<p>The Gulf stream, in its course along the coast +of Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico, has beneath +it, running to the south, a cold stream, + +nearly down to the freezing point. The great +equatorial current which strikes north of Cape +St. Roque and through the Caribbean Sea is +suddenly narrowed between Cape San Antonio +and Cape Catoche; here the upper and warmer +current, being condensed, strikes deeper, and +forces to the surface the cold water from the +under current, sometimes occasioning a roaring +and very peculiar noise. By this means the +Gulf stream is divided, part turning to the +eastward around Cuba and between that island +and Florida, and part turning to the westward, +north of the banks of Campeachy, and striking +Padre Island, an island upon the coast of +Texas, about one hundred and forty miles +this current strikes, there are very deep soundings, +almost up with the land. South of this +point, upon the beach, are found mahogany +and other tropical drift-wood, brought there +from the tropics; while north of it the drift +wood is oak, ash, and cotton-wood, brought +from the north by a current running counter to +the Gulf stream, which I will hereafter describe. +From Padre Island the Gulf stream +strikes off to the north-east to the mouth of the +Mississippi, thence around the coast of Florida +and through her keys, until it joins the other +branch. Inside the Gulf stream, along the +coast of Texas, is the counter-current before +referred to, making down the coast at the rate +of two to three miles per hour, and bringing +down the silt and mud of the Mississippi, +Sabine, etc. I have seen the water off the Island +of Galveston the color of chocolate, after +a long norther.</p> + +<p>Above the centre of Padre Island the coast +of Texas deepens at the rate of about a fathom +to the mile, until at twenty fathoms there is a +coral reef, and on the easterly side of this reef +the water deepens, as by the side of a perpendicular +wall, to a very great depth. This reef +marks the boundary of the Gulf stream, and +also the boundary of the terrible tornado. The +tornado of the Gulf of Mexico never passes this +barrier, never strikes the land, nor has it been +known within memory of man upon the +coast.</p> + +<p>It seems to confine itself to the course of the +warm water of the stream, and the great 'Father +of the Waters' spreads his counter-current +down the coast of Texas, like a long flowing +garment, fending off the storm and the whirlwind, +and thus still better fitting Texas for the +white man and the white man's labor.</p> + +<p>With this freedom from violent storms comes +the delicious southerly wind in the summer, which +gives health and moisture to the larger part of +Texas. This wind varies in the point from +which it flows. From Sabine to Matagorda its +course is from south-east to south-south-east, +growing more and more to the south as the +coast tends to the south, until at the Rio +Grande it blows from due south with perhaps +a little westing in it. The course of this wind +will explain the three belts of Texas, the rainy, +that of less rain, and that of great drought.</p> + +<p>This wind from the south-east corner from +across the ocean and gulf (being a continuation +of the south-east trades) laden with moisture +and of a delightful temperature, when it is met +by the cool air from the mountains, and condensed, +giving the rains of Eastern and Central +Texas. The more southing they have in +them, the less moisture, until the extreme +south-eastern portion of Texas, or the country +near the mouth of the Rio Grande, is one of almost +constant drought. There are thus three +belts of moisture: first, from the Sabine to the +mouth of the Brazos, may be called the belt of +greatest rain,—from the Brazos to Lavaca or +Victoria, that of moderate rain,—and from Lavaca +to the Rio Grande, the dry belt. But even +in the dry belt there is moisture enough to give +fine grasses, and make the country a fine one +for grazing, and the streams taking their rise +in great springs, which probably have their +source in the melting snows of the Rocky +Mountains, flowing under the Llano Estacado +and breaking out in great numbers in a line almost +north and south, never dry up, even in +the dryest seasons.</p> + +<p>In the winter months, Texas has winds from +the north, which come on very suddenly, and +produce great variation in the temperature. +They are disagreeable, but wholesome, and +clear the atmosphere. They do not extend +north of the Red River, nor very far west, but +increase in intensity as they go south.</p> + +<p>No country in the world can be healthier +than Texas, and consumption and pectoral +complaints never originate in the area of the +northers.</p> + +<p>Eastern Texas is generally well wooded; +Middle and Western Texas have wood on the +banks of the streams, and frequent spots of +timber on the prairies.</p> + +<p>Most of the country is covered with nutritious +grass, affording good pasture throughout +the year, capable of supporting an endless +number of cattle and sheep, and almost all the +soil is suited to the growth of cotton. There +are more than five thousand square miles of +bituminous coal in Texas, presenting seams +five feet thick, and hills of pure gypsum seven +hundred feet high. These are all covered by a + +generous sky and climate beneath which the +white man can live and work without fear of +malaria or sickness, and where he can enjoy all +the blessings of the tropics without their attendant +disadvantages.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p>It is this superb country which we +trust General Lane and his forces may +soon redeem from the curse of slavery.</p> + +<p>The woolen manufacturer has an +equal interest with the cotton-spinner +in demanding that this shall be done, +for with this unequaled country for the +production of wool remaining under the +curse of slavery, we import annually +nearly thirty million pounds of wool,—about +one-third of our whole consumption. +With Texas free, and emigration +from abroad—for a long time reduced +almost to nothing—freely encouraged, +we should become exporters of wool, not +importers.</p> + +<p>But I am warned that I have exceeded +the space allotted me. The absurd +assertion that the emancipated negro +lapses into barbarism and will not work, +can only be met by the question, 'If he +will not work except by compulsion, why +does he work extra after his compulsory +labor is over?' Evidence that he does +so work can be presented <em>ad infinitum</em>, +upon Southern testimony; witness that +De Bow's <em>Review</em> makes only a <em>few</em> selections.</p> + +<p>The <em>peculium</em> of Southern servants, +even on the plantation, is sometimes not +trifling. We make a <em>few</em> selections, showing—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>THE NEGROES' CROP.—A friend has reported +to us a sale, on Tuesday, of a crop of cotton +belonging to Elijah Cook, of Harris Co., Ga., +amounting to $1424 96-100.—<em>Columbus</em> (Ga.) + +<em>Sun</em>, Dec. 29, 1858.</p> + +<p>Mr. J.S. Byington informs us that he made +two cotton purchases lately. One was the cotton +crop of the negroes of Dr. Lucas, of this +vicinity, for which he paid $1,800 in cash, every +dollar of which goes to the negroes.—<em>Montgomery +(Ala.) Mail</em>, Jan. 21, 1859.</p> + +<p>Speaking of negroes' crops, the sales of which +our contemporaries are chronicling in various +amounts,—the largest which has come to our +knowledge is one made in Macon, for the +negroes of Allen McWalker. It amounted to +$1969.65.—<em>Macon (Ga.) Telegraph</em>, Feb. 3, 1859.</p> +</div> + +<p>Upon Louisiana sugar plantations, the +exhausting work of the grinding season +can only be maintained by a system of +premiums and rewards equivalent to the +payment of wages. Under that system +the negroes of the sugar plantations are +among the most healthy and contented in +the South; while the same labor performed +in Cuba, under the most severe compulsion, +causes an annual decrease of the +slave population, and the product of the +island is only maintained by fresh importations +of slaves from Africa.</p> + +<p>With the following Southern testimony +as to the intelligence of the negro, I +leave this subject:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>Without book learning the Southern slave +will partake more and more of the life-giving +civilization of the master. As it is, his intimate +relations with the superior race, and the +unsystematic instruction he receives in the +family, have placed him in point of intelligence +above a large portion of the white laborers of +Europe.—<em>Plantation Life, by Rev. Dr. McTeyire</em>.</p> +</div> + +<p>We claim emancipation for the white +man; it can only be secured by the freedom +of the negro. The infinite justice +of the Almighty demands both.</p> + +<p>If we now fail to accomplish it, to bear +in the future the name of 'American Citizen' +will be a badge of shame and dishonor.</p> +</div> + + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_5"></a> +<h2>General Patterson's Campaign In Virginia.</h2> + +<p>It seldom happens that the history of +any series of events can be written soon +after they have transpired. The idea of +history implies correctness, impartiality +and completeness; and it is of rare occurrence +that all these requisites can be +obtained in their fullness within a brief +period after the time of which the history +is required. The historians of this +day write of the past; and the historian +of our present civil war is not yet +born, who shall emulate the completeness +and conciseness of Irving's Columbus, or +Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, or +Motley's Dutch Republic. Nor can we +expect an early solution to the 'Fremont +question,' which shall be full and +satisfactory, though the length of time +involved be but one hundred days. +But it is different with Gen. Patterson. +It is true that his loyalty is disputed, +and in this question may be involved +many complicated issues; but the question +of the general result of his three +months' campaign in Virginia admits but +one answer;—it was a failure. And it +is an exception to the general rule that +we can, within a few months after his +campaign closed, see and understand exactly +why and how he failed.</p> + +<p>It is not proposed in this article to discuss +the loyalty of Gen. Patterson, or to +take sides with either those who claim +for him a patriot's laurels or those who +would have him suffer a traitor's fate. +We shall ignore this question entirely, +simply examining the acts of his last +campaign, with reference to his capability +and efficiency, the nature and effects +of his policy, and the reasons of his failure. +We propose to try him in the same +manner and by the same standard as we +would if his loyalty had never been questioned.</p> + +<p>The early morning of the 12th day of +June, 1861, found the writer a volunteer +soldier of less than two months' experience +in camp, just arrived with his regiment, +from the distant Badger State, at +Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, where +it was to join Patterson's division of the +Federal army. For the next two months +ensuing, the writer possessed all the facilities +attainable to a private in the +ranks for observing the progress of events +in that division of the army, judging as to +the propriety or necessity of the various +movements, and forming opinions as to +whether Patterson was using to the best +advantage the military means within his +control. These facilities were not many, +it is true; but the public opinion of the +North demanded certain actions from +the general, and the writer, though but +a private, could judge as to whether +those demands of the loyal North were +reasonable, and as to whether Patterson +could accomplish what was required, if +he chose. He was expected to <em>do something</em>; +it did not matter in what particular +manner; but it was deemed essential +that he should in some way hold +Johnston in check, and prevent his junction +with the main rebel force at Manassas. +And this was precisely what +Patterson did not do. Bull Run was +fought and lost, and the very result attained +which Patterson was expected to +prevent. Could it have been prevented?</p> + +<p>It is fashionable in these days to set +up the cry of inefficiency when a general +does not do everything that public +opinion requires. The Americans are +proverbially a fault-finding people; and +it will of course be as easy to make out +an <em>ex parte</em> case against Gen. Patterson +as against our other generals. We propose, +nevertheless, at the risk of being +unfashionable, to discuss candidly these +expectations of the American people +which were not realized, together with +the actual doings of the unsuccessful +general. We deem it susceptible of +logical proof that Patterson might and +should have prevented Johnston's junction +with Beauregard.</p> + + +<p>Tents pitched, and the dust of travel +from a journey of a thousand miles +washed off, the 'boys' of the 1st Wisconsin +regiment stretched their weary limbs +on the fragrant clover of Pennsylvania, +and, like American soldiers everywhere, +discussed with earnestness and warmth +the causes, progress, and prospects of +the war. Our own position was not a +little interesting. The strength of Patterson's +division was not precisely known, +but troops were arriving daily, and it +was supposed to consist of about twenty +thousand men. As was well understood, +it was intended to menace Harper's Ferry, +a strong natural, military and strategic +position, then held by the rebels. +A severe struggle was anticipated if the +Ferry were attacked, and many were +the pictures drawn of bloody scenes and +terrible carnage. But the writer, doubting +the assumed strength of the rebels +at that point, freely expressed the opinion +that there would be no fight there, +but that the rebels would evacuate the +post. And before his regiment left +Chambersburg, this prediction was verified. +The rebels, alarmed at the prospect +which loomed up before them of a +strong column of Federal troops, burned +the Armory and Arsenal, and fled. +And here we may find a key to the +whole of the rebel manoeuvring—they +were weak, and unable to cope with +Patterson, <em>and they knew it</em>. Upon no +other hypothesis can we account for +their evacuating so strong and so important +a point as Harper's Ferry.</p> + +<p>Up to this time it had been a foregone +conclusion with the army, as well +as with the American people, that Patterson +was to occupy Harper's Ferry. +No other course of action was for a moment +thought of. Even so late as the +30th of June, when the different brigades +were called together, preparatory +to crossing the Potomac, very many +were sanguine that Harper's Ferry was +to be made the base of operations, and +did not give up that opinion till they +found themselves <em>en route</em> for Williamsport. +But the strong strategic position +was neglected for more than a month; +and finally, on the very day when Johnston +poured his fresh legions upon the +bloody field of Bull Run, and forced the +Federals to fall back, Patterson, with +his back to the foe, entered Harper's +Ferry, with his three months' men, whose +term of enlistment was expiring, by the +very road by which Johnston had left it +in June.</p> + +<p>This neglect of Patterson to occupy +the strongest point in his field of operations +puts the stamp of imbecility upon +him at the commencement of his campaign. +The rebels expected him to occupy +that point, as, even so late as the +time of his crossing the Potomac, the +force which disputed his onward march +into the valley of Virginia was not so +great as that held at Charleston to dispute +his march from Harper's Ferry in +case he entered the valley there. Patterson +himself confessed his mistake, by +retiring to the Ferry in July, for the +avowed reason that his three months' +men must soon go home, and he must be +in such a position as not to tempt an attack +from the rebels while his column +was thus weakened and disorganized, +and before he could be reinforced by +three years' men. Why did not this +necessity, and the propriety of holding +Harper's Ferry as a base of operations +for this reason alone, if for no other, occur +to the cautious general before, as it +did to so many of less military experience +than himself? Patterson, at the +last day, thus confesses his error. It +was the first great mistake of his campaign. +The second was one of a different nature.</p> + +<p>On the 2d day of July, the army +crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, +by means of the ford. The crossing was +commenced at daylight, and consumed +the whole of the day. Just before daylight, +a little passage at arms occurred +on the Virginia side of the stream, the +companies who had been thrown over +the night before as pickets having been +fired on by a detachment of the 'Berkeley +Border Guard,' and returning the fire +promptly. But this served only to stimulate +the already keen energies of the + +Federal forces, who waded knee-deep +through the clear Potomac, and trudged +along over the 'sacred soil' with a willingness +unchecked by the cold nor'wester +that raged on that July morning. +That portion of Berkeley County, +Virginia, which lies opposite to Willlamsport, +is called 'the Neck,' being in +the shape of a horse-shoe, and nearly +surrounded by the detour of the Potomac. +The turnpike leading from Williamsport +to Martinsburg and Winchester +traverses the whole length of 'the +Neck;' and it was on this road that the +advance guard of the division, Abercrombie's +Brigade, took its line of march, +a brush with the rebels being momentarily +expected. The first view of their +pickets, after leaving Williamsport, was +obtained at Falling Waters, by which +sonorous appellation the Virginians designate +a small and pretty mill-pond, +which loses itself over the dam of a solitary +grist-mill, within a stone's throw of +the Potomac. Here was a strong natural +position, and an excellent place for +waging a defensive war, if the rebels +had been so disposed. But they did not +make a stand till a point was reached +a mile south from Falling Waters, and +about five miles from Williamsport, +where their skirmishers opened fire at +9.15, A.M. The skirmish which ensued, +and which has since been styled +the Battle of Falling Waters, was sustained +on the part of the Federals by +Abercrombie's Brigade, consisting of the +1st Wisconsin and the 11th Pennsylvania +regiments, McMullen's Philadelphia +company of Independent Rangers, the +Philadelphia City Troop of cavalry, and +Perkins' Field Battery of six guns. This +force speedily dislodged a superior force +of the enemy, and pursued them for two +miles, as far as the hamlet of Hainesville, +where orders from Gen. Patterson +to cease the pursuit allowed the rear-guard +of the rebels to elude their grasp. +The contest and the chase lasted but +two hours, and at noon the advance +guard encamped at Hainesville. The +remainder of the day was consumed by +the army in selecting grounds and pitching +tents; and by night, Gen. Patterson, +with twenty thousand men, had succeeded +in marching seven miles, routing Col. +Jackson's rebel brigade, and occupying +Camp Jackson, distant about two and +one-half miles from the Maryland shore +of the Potomac. On Tuesday, the 3d +of July, the indomitable general advanced +five and one-half miles farther, +to Martinsburg, the county seat of +Berkeley County, and occupied the +town with his whole force, without firing +a gun; the rebel rear-guard leaving +Martinsburg for the south as the Federal +advance entered it from the north.</p> + +<p>It would seem that at such a moment +a skillful general would take advantage +of such a little success, and follow it up, +especially when he had spent as much +time in preparation as had Patterson, by +a series of crushing blows, if anything +could be found to crush. And in view +of the facts that Gen. Johnston had thus +far made almost no opposition to the advance +of the Unionists, and that Patterson's +soldiers were without exception eager +and anxious to push on, the policy +of holding back seems almost unaccountable. +But Patterson tarried at Martinsburg +for nearly two weeks, and telegraphed +for more troops; and on the +15th of July, when he commenced his +forward march toward Winchester, he +suddenly discovered that Johnston had +so fortified that place that it would be +unsafe to attack it! It may be that he +could get no accurate information as +to the strength of the rebel force, and +that he supposed them to be superior to +himself. Still, there were many signs +which a capable general could have +read plainly. It was well known that +there were in Johnston's advance force +no really good troops, except the 'Berkeley +Border Guard,' a company of cavalry, +composed of citizens of Berkeley +County, who, from their complete and +minute knowledge of the country, their +skill in the saddle, and their zeal in the +rebel cause, were as formidable, though +not so notorious, as the Black Horse +Cavalry of Fairfax and Prince William. +The rout of the rebels at Hainesville, or + +Falling Waters, partook of the nature +of a panic, as was evidenced by the profuse +scattering of knapsacks, clothing, +canteens and provisions along the 'pike.' +Indeed, the conduct of the Virginia militia +scarcely sustained the loud professions +of desire to 'fight and die in defending +the sacred soil of Virginia from +the invader,' as announced by the letters +and papers found in their knapsacks. +And the whole course of these +events convinced the private soldiers, if +not the commanding general, that Johnston's +highest ambition at that time was +to gain time. Did he not know as well +as any one that the time of enlistment +of many of Patterson's men had nearly +expired? And what more natural than +for him to keep the latter at bay till such +a time as the withdrawal of very many +of his best troops would force him to retire? +There were many true Unionists, +too, in the ranks of the rebels, who +would have been glad of opportunities +to escape; this was well known. It +seems impossible to resist the conclusion +that Patterson should have acceded to +the unanimous wish of his rank and file, +and followed up his success at Hainesville, +by occupying Martinsburg on the +2d, advancing to 'Bunker Hill' on the +3d, and dispersing the small rebel force +known to be there, and celebrating the +4th of July by marching on Winchester, +and attacking and reducing that post, +as it seems he might easily have done at +that time. This would of course prevent +the apprehended junction of Johnston +with Beauregard. The history of the +war in the Old Dominion would then +have been differently written; Bull Run +and its panic would not be a stain upon +our national honor, and—but who can +not read the rest? It is true, Patterson +should bear none of the blame of the +Bull Run disaster, if he could have done +nothing to avoid it; but we have shown +that he could have done what was +necessary, and that there were reasons +existing at the time for taking such a +course, of which he should have been +cognizant.</p> + +<p>The army left Martinsburg for the +south, as we have seen, on Monday, +July 15th. The whole division, with +trifling exceptions, moved forward, and +advanced on that day as far as 'Bunker +Hill,' ten miles from Martinsburg. An +insignificant rebel force fell back as Patterson +advanced, and at 'Bunker Hill' +the army encamped around the smoking +brands of the rebel camp-fires, just deserted. +Here was a small post-town +called Mill Creek; and near by, the high +ridge called 'Bunker Hill' formed another +fine natural position for defence; +but the rebels were not disposed to defend +it. Patterson lay here two days, +within twelve miles of the rebel strong-hold +at Winchester, the pickets of the +two armies watching each other by night +and day. On the 17th the Federal army +was astir before daylight, and an advance +to the south was commenced. +But before the rear-guard filed down +from 'Bunker Hill' to the turnpike, a +counter-march was ordered; and the +whole division proceeded twelve miles +to the east, leaving Winchester on their +flank, and occupying Charlestown, in +Jefferson County. What could have +pleased Johnston better? What wonder +that he should take the opportunity, +as soon as satisfied that this flank +movement was not intended to operate +against him, to leave his fortifications at +Winchester in charge of a small force, +and rush to reinforce Beauregard? And +is it not more than remarkable that Patterson, +after occupying Charlestown for +four days, should fall back to Harper's +Ferry on the very day when his foe had +effected his <em>ruse de guerre</em>, and was actually +turning the tide of battle at Bull +Run?</p> + +<p>There is nothing in all this to change +the opinion, previously formed, that Patterson +should have pushed on to Winchester +early in July. The whole of +Johnston's manoeuvering seems to have +been calculated merely to deceive Patterson, +and to gain time. And so clever +was he in his strategy, that, when his +march to Manassas commenced, Patterson, +learning either of the main movement +or of a feint towards himself, + +aroused his army at midnight, and held +them in readiness to fight, in apprehension +of instant attack. As early as the +middle of June, when Patterson threw a +brigade over the Potomac at Williamsport, +on a reconnoitering expedition, +Johnston heard of the movement, and +advanced a small force to engage and +delay the Federals, which fell back as +soon as the latter retired, as has since +been learned from escaped prisoners and +deserters. Indeed, the whole of Patterson's +campaign shows far superior generalship +on the part of his adversary.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the cautious general occupied +from necessity that point whose +strength and natural facilities he had +previously despised, when the term of +his appointment as general of the division +expired, and the government allowed +him to retire to private life. His +successor's first act was to retire across +the Potomac and occupy the Maryland +Heights, opposite to Harper's Ferry, +leaving not a foot of rebel soil to be +held by our army as an evidence of the +'something' which had been expected +of the venerable commander of the army +of the Shenandoah. He had spent three +months of time, and ten millions of money, +and had only emulated the acts of that +Gallic sovereign whose great deeds are +immortalized in the brief couplet,</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'The king of France, with twice ten thousand men,</p> + +<p class="l">Marched up the hill, and then—marched down again.'</p> +</div> + +<p>He had done more. He had committed +another grave error, which has +received but little public attention, but +which told with disastrous effect upon +the Union cause in Northern Virginia. +That section of the State, as is well +known, contained many true Union +men. Previous to Patterson's entry into +Virginia, they had been proscribed +and severely treated by the secessionists. +Many had been impressed by the rebel +troops; the 'Berkeley Border Guard' +had dragged many a peaceable Unionist +from his bed at night to serve in the +ranks of Johnston's army. But many +others had been able to keep their true +sentiments wholly to themselves, and +had feigned sympathy with secession; +while many more had fled from their +homes across the Potomac, and sought +refuge in loyal Maryland, where they +hung around the Federal camps, vainly +urging an early advance, that they might +go home and take care of their families +and their crops. Thus was Berkeley +County completely shackled, and a reign +of terror fully established. And on that +bright morning of the 2d of July, as the +Federal army marched over the 'sacred +soil,' the cleanly cut grain fields, with +their deserted houses, told plainly of secessionist +owners, who could stay at +home and cut their grain while the +rebels were in force, but who fled before +the advance of Union troops, and deserted +their homes; while the fields of +standing grain, with the golden kernels +ripe and almost rotting on the stalks, +and the cheerless-looking houses, tenanted +only by women and children, told +as plainly of the poor Unionists, driven +from home and family by the 'Border +Guard' who so bravely 'defended the +sacred soil.' With the advance of the +Union army came back hundreds of +Union refugees from Maryland; poor, +half-starved men crept out to the roadside +from their hiding-places, and told +the Union troops that they now first saw +daylight for several weeks; and the lonely +yet brave women displayed from their +hovels the Union flags, the true 'Red, +White, and Blue,' which their loyalty +had kept for months concealed. And as +the army tarried at Martinsburg, and reinforcements +came in, the secret Unionists +avowed their real sentiments; the +Union flag was displayed from many a +dwelling; and the fair hands of Martinsburg +women stitched beautiful banners, +which, with words of eloquent loyalty, +were presented to the favorite Union +regiments, and even now are cherished +in Northern homes, or in Union encampments, +as mementos of the gratitude of +Berkeley County for its deliverance +from the reign of terror. Yet how +was the confidence repaid which these +loyal people thus reposed in Gen. Patterson? + +In less than three weeks, not +a Union soldier was left in Martinsburg, +and before the first of August they were +withdrawn wholly from Berkeley and +Jefferson Counties. And the poor refugees +who had returned to their homes in +good faith, and the loyalists who in equal +good faith had spoken out their true patriotism +and their love of the Union, were +left to the tender mercies of the 'Berkeley +Border Guard,' and such braves as +the Texan Rangers, the Mississippi +Bowie-knives, and the Louisiana Tiger +Zouaves. Gray-headed men like Pendleton +and Strother were dragged from +their homes to languish for weeks in +Richmond jails, and the old reign of terror +was reėstablished with renewed virulence. +Shall we ask these poor, deceived +Unionists of Northern Virginia +what they think of Gen. Patterson, and +of the success of his campaign? How +can we estimate the injury to the cause +of the Union inflicted in this way alone +by a grossly inefficient Federal general?</p> + +<p>There were other reasons than those already +enumerated why Patterson should +have occupied Harper's Ferry at an +early day, and these were reasons of +economy, which commended themselves +to the judgment of almost every one except +the commanding general. The +Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is the natural +and only good thoroughfare along +the valley of the upper Potomac. Harper's +Ferry, confessedly the strongest +and best military point in Northern Virginia, +and the one best fitted for a base +of offensive operations, is on this railroad, +and, of course, of easy access from +Baltimore and Washington. In June +last the road was open from Baltimore +to the Point of Rocks, between which +last place and the Ferry were some +rebel obstructions easy to be removed. +Had Gen. Patterson occupied Harper's +Ferry in June, and opened the railroad +to that point, and from thence carried +on the campaign like a brave general, +worthy to command the brave men who +filled the ranks of his army, the government +might by this time have made the +whole line of the Baltimore and Ohio +Railroad of use, as a means of transporting +troops and munitions between Cincinnati +and Baltimore,—a desideratum +then, as now, very strongly urged, as +the shortest route between those points +is the circuitous one <em>via</em> Harrisburg and +Pittsburgh. It could have been of great +use, too, to Patterson's division of the +army, in transporting supplies from Baltimore, +by the most natural and expeditious +route. But it was his plan to enter +Virginia at Williamsport, so that all supplies +for his division must go from Baltimore +and Philadelphia to Harrisburg, +and thence by rail to Hagerstown, where +they were loaded upon army wagons, +and transported thus to and across the +Potomac, and for fifteen or twenty miles +into Virginia, to the Federal camps, at +very great outlay and expense. So earnest +did Gen. Patterson seem to be, +either in doing nothing, or else in causing +all the expenditure possible.</p> + +<p>These are the arguments which address +themselves to our reason, as bearing +on the question of Patterson's success +or failure, and as explanatory of +the latter. As before stated, they are +urged, not to show that Patterson should +have possessed prophetic knowledge or +any extraordinary powers, but to illustrate +his failure to understand what was +transpiring before his face and eyes. +He is culpable, not because he did not +achieve impossibilities, but because he +did not do what plain common-sense +seemed to require. The writer heard, +among the Federal camps, but one reason +suggested for Patterson's neglect to +occupy Harper's Ferry in June, which +was, that probably the rebels had concealed +sundry infernal machines in its +vicinity, which would destroy thousands +of the Union soldiers at the proper time. +This was building a great military policy +on a very small basis. If there was running +through Gen. Patterson's policy +any such plan of military strategy, or, +in fact, any plan whatever, we have the +curious spectacle presented of a general +of an army ignoring common-sense, and +building up a plan of a great campaign +solely upon improbabilities. And it + +strikes us that this may be the key to +the general's system of warfare, and a +very plain and lucid explanation of his +failure.</p> + +<p>It is not deemed desirable here to +treat of Patterson's other faults, such as +his indulgent treatment of rebel spies, +his failure to confiscate rebel property, +and his distinguishing between the property +of rebels and loyalists, by placing +strong guards over the former, and neglecting +to take equal care of the latter. +Such acts only prove him to be either +more nice than wise, or less nice than +foolish; unless we argue him to be, as +many do, a secret secessionist. But we +leave it to others to draw inferences as +to his loyalty or disloyalty. Our task +is accomplished if we have shown that +whether loyal or false, whether a patriot +or a traitor, his three months' campaign +in Virginia proves him unfit to be a +commander, by revealing three great +faults, each injuring the cause he professed +to aid, all combining to render +his campaign a failure, and two of the +three assisting directly in our disaster +at Bull Run, and deepening that dark +stain upon our national escutcheon. +His neglect to occupy Harper's Ferry +in June, his failure to push on against +Johnston when there was an opportunity +to injure him, and his cool betrayal +of the Unionists of Northern Virginia +into the clutches of the rebel Thugs, will +place the name of Patterson by the side +of the names of Lee, Hull, Winder, and +Buchanan, who, though not the open +enemies of their country, were its false +and inefficient friends.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_6"></a> +<h2>The Game Of Fate.</h2> + + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Ever above this earthly ball,</p> +<p class="l">There sit two forms, unseen by all,</p> +<p class="l">Playing, with fearful earnestness,</p> +<p class="l">Through life and death, a game of chess.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Feather of pride and wolfish eye,</p> +<p class="l">Judas-bearded, glancing sly;</p> +<p class="l">Many a pawn you have gathered in,</p> + +<p class="l">Through circling ages of shame and sin!</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Fair as an angel, tender and true,</p> +<p class="l">Is he who measures his might with you;</p> +<p class="l">Oft he has lost, in times long gone,</p> +<p class="l">But ever the terrible game goes on.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">But where are the chessmen to be found?—</p> + +<p class="l">Where the picket paces his dangerous round;</p> +<p class="l">Where the general sits, with chart and map;</p> +<p class="l">Where the scout is scrawling his hurried scrap.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Where the Cabinet weigh the chances dread;</p> +<p class="l">Where the soldier sleeps with the stars o'erhead;</p> +<p class="l">Where rifles are ringing the peal of death,</p> +<p class="l">And the dying hero yields his breath.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Where the mother and sister in silence sit,</p> +<p class="l">And far into midnight sew and knit,</p> +<p class="l">And pray for the soldier-brother or son,—</p> +<p class="l">God's blessing on all that the four have done!</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Where the traitors plot, in foul debate,</p> + +<p class="l">To war with God and strive with fate;</p> +<p class="l">Digging pitfalls to catch them slaves,—</p> +<p class="l">Pitfalls, to serve for their own deep graves.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Where the Bishop-General proves that the rod</p> +<p class="l">Which lashes women is blest of God.</p> +<p class="l">There's a rod to come, ere the red leaves fall,</p> +<p class="l">Which will swallow your rattlesnake, scales and all.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Where the wretched Northern renegade</p> +<p class="l">On a Southern journal plies his trade,</p> +<p class="l">Swearing and writing, with scowl or smile,</p> +<p class="l">That all that is Yankee is low and vile.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Where the cowardly dough-face talks of war</p> +<p class="l">But fears we are going a little too far;—</p> + +<p class="l">Hoping the North may win the fight,</p> +<p class="l">But thinking the South is 'partially right.'</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Where the trembling, panting contraband</p> +<p class="l">Makes tracks in haste from the happy land;</p> +<p class="l">And where the officer-gentlemen</p> +<p class="l">Catch him and order him home again!</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Where the sutler acts like an arrant scamp,</p> +<p class="l">And aids the contractor to rob the camp;</p> +<p class="l">Both of them serving the South in its sin,</p> +<p class="l">And all of them helping the devil to win.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">So the game goes on from day to day,</p> +<p class="l">But there's ONE behind all who watches the play;</p> + +<p class="l">Well he knows who at last must beat,</p> +<p class="l">And well he will reckon up every cheat.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Wolfish dark player, do your best!</p> +<p class="l">There's a reckoning for you as well as the rest;</p> +<p class="l">Eastward or westward your glance may wend,</p> +<p class="l">But the devil always trips up in the end.</p> +</div> + +</div> + + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_7"></a> +<h2>JONATHAN EDWARDS AND THE OLD CLERGY.</h2> + + +<p>Of late years the attention of many +thinking men has been much turned to +the early clergy of America. One reads +of St. Peter's Church that, notwithstanding +its immense size above ground, it +has an equal amount of masonry under +ground. Of the iceberg even more can +be said, since its submerged proportions +are of vastly greater extent than its visible +surface. One may well inquire how +much of American greatness is hidden +in its foundation. How massive indeed +must be the hidden corner-stone on +which rests the structure of national character. +New England is now turning its +attention to the histories of ancient families; +genealogy is no small feature in +modern literature, and thus the age seems +to confess that such research is a token +of advance.</p> + +<p>I believe that the strength of our ancestors +was owing to their pure and simple +piety; indeed, one can not go back +even for a century without meeting this +element in clear developement. The +old New England preachers were of +a character peculiarly adapted to the +severe exigencies of their day. They +stood as iron men in an iron age. However +rude in other social features, the +early settlers, as they worked their way +to the frontier, demanded the soothing +influences of pastoral care, and the first +institution reared in the forest was the +pulpit, the next the school-house. The +pastors were settled for life, and minister +and people abode in communion, +with little change but that of age. In +seeking a field, the youth just launched +into his profession 'candidated' +among vacant churches, and was heard +with solemn attention by the selectmen +and bench of deacons. Notes were taken +by the more fastidious for subsequent +criticism, and the matter was discussed +with all the importance of a national +treaty. When the call had been accepted, +the stipend was generally fixed at +one hundred pounds, and a rude parsonage +opened its doors of welcome. To +this was almost invariably attached a +farm, whose native sterility called for +such expenditure of toil that it might +truly have been said,</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'The furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke.'</p> +</div> + +<p>These men indeed united mental +and physical labor in a remarkable degree. +The long winters were devoted +to study, to sermons, or to meetings,—the +summer to the plow and the harvest. +One instance is on record in +which the entire stock of a year's sermons +were written between December +and April. But, notwithstanding the inevitable +drudgery of such a life, the +ministry was, upon the whole, noted for +study. The course held at Harvard required +close application, and even at the +chapel exercises the Scriptures were +daily read in the original languages. +These labors and studies are recorded +in that quaintest of all American books, +Mather's Magnalia. Whatever be the +pedantry and vanity of its author, he is +undeniably worthy of rank among the +men whom he chronicled. Indeed, the +Mathers, father and son, illustrated a +race of rare moral and intellectual power. +The first of these, who enjoyed the +profitable name of 'Increase,' was equally +popular and successful as president +of Harvard or pastor of the church of +Cambridge, and the son takes little +pains to conceal his filial pride as he +blazons the virtues of 'Crescentius Madderus.' + +He is particular in recording +him as the first American divine who +received the honorary title D.D. As +one looks back upon the primitive days +of the nascent university, he is struck by +the contrast between the present numerous +and stately array of halls, the +magnificent library, and all the pomp of +a modern commencement, and the slender +procession of rudely clad youth led + +by Increase Mather. As they marched +out of the old shaky college and filed into +the antique meeting-house, what would +they have said to a glimpse of Gore Hall +and its surroundings? But those were +the beginnings of greatness, simple as +they were.</p> + +<p>The pages of the Magnalia are filled +with portraits hit off in a masterly style. +Mather was a true 'Porte Crayon,' and +knew how to bring out salient points +with a few happy touches. His picture-gallery +is like an ancient Valhalla, full +of demigods. Among their characteristics +are strong contrasts. Here are piety +and poverty and learning, hand in hand. +These men, as we have stated, could +swing the axe, or chop logic, at a moment's +notice; could pull vegetables, or +dig out Hebrew roots, with alternate ease. +Notwithstanding their long days of labor, +their minds kept their edge, being freshly +set by incessant doctrinal disputations. +Such, indeed, was the public appetite for +controversy that polemic warfare never +slumbered. Our view of their character +is assisted by a contrast with the English +clergy of the same day, and which +reveals shameful deformities on the part +of the latter—avarice, indolence, and +gluttony. Of such, Milton spake in Lycidas, +with withering contempt, as those +who</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'for their bellies' sake</p> +<p class="l">Creep, and intrude, and climb into the fold.'</p> + +</div> + +<p>If the Puritan poet be charged with prejudice, +we have only to turn to the pages +of Macaulay for confirmation. Where, +indeed, if this be true, did Fielding obtain +the originals for the ordinary at +Newgate, or 'parson Trulliber' in Joseph +Andrews?</p> + +<p>Sad and strange was that disappointment +which awaited the first emigrants +to Massachusetts Bay. But there was a +divine mercy in it; they came to seek +peace, but a sword awaited them. I refer +to the famous Anne Wheelright controversy, +which rent the infant settlement +of Boston for more than ten years. The +excitement extended through the entire +colony, affording many a bitter and vindictive +argument. The pulpit belabored +it in sermons of two hours' length, after +which the deacons in their official seats +occasionally expatiated to audiences +whose patience on this theme was inexhaustible. +As the controversy waxed +hot, it got into the hands of the civil +authorities, and some of its disputants +were thrust into jail as heretical. Anna +Wheelright was a woman of great mental +vigor, and could hold her own in a +debate with her reverend disputants. +Unfortunate as this controversy may appear, +it proved a benefit, by sharpening +the public mind to a prodigious degree. +Indeed, the very children of Boston could +define the terms of the covenant of grace. +Weary of a controversy bordering on +persecution, Anne Wheelright sought a +new home in the wilderness, and was +subsequently murdered by the Indians. +But the force of mental exercise which +she had put in motion still continued. It +is worthy of remark that almost the only +intellectual peculiarity to which Franklin +refers, in speaking of his father, is 'a +turn for polemics.' The great features +of New England character were, at that +day, opinion and faith. It was these, as +boldly and defiantly expressed, which +excited the fears and jealousy of Charles +the Second, and instigated the deprival +of the colonial charters.</p> + +<p>The studious and prayerful habits of +the clergy continued from generation to +generation, and their piety was most tender +and touching in their ministrations. +We might dwell, had we time, on the +Cottons, the Mitchells, and the Sheppards, +but, revered above all others, +comes before us the venerable form of +John Elliott, the missionary, clad in +homespun apparel, his face shining with +inward peace, while his silver locks overhang +his shoulders. He was the Nestor +of divines, and the character of his labors +might be judged from his motto—' Prayers +and pains with faith in Christ +Jesus can accomplish anything.' His efforts +and successes amongst the Indians +were remarkable, and it was commonly +reported that he possessed the gift of +prophecy. But he was not the only man +of that day who dwelt so close to the confines + +of the spiritual world as to be alternately +visited by angels and devils. Indeed, +what tales of the supernatural +Mather relates, what a juxtaposition of +saints and demons! Of course, there +was a foundation to build upon,—had +not Mather himself in his family for more +than a year a possessed girl, whose familiar +haunted the house and made it ring +at times like a bedlam? It was a peculiar +characteristic in this chapter of <em>diablerie</em>, +that when the Scriptures were +being read, or prayers attended, the +spasms became terrific; but when any +ungodly book was substituted in place of +the Bible, there was an immediate relief.</p> + +<p>The age was one of wonders, and +Mather devotes an entire book to what +he calls Thaumaturgia. Many of its +statements are bold impositions on the +reader's credulity; but there was much +which, in those days of ignorance, must +have seemed to Mather to be undeniable +phenomena of a mysterious nature. +After the colony had escaped many minor +dangers, a new ordeal of suffering awaited +it in a faith in sorcery, resulting in +the horrible episode of Salem witchcraft, +which may be considered the darkest +stain upon the age. The death-beds and +parting scenes in such a community were +cherished features in domestic history, +and almost every cottage could boast its +Euthanasy. Ministering angels not only +hovered over the couch, but touched +their harps in melodies, whose music +sometimes reached the human ear. +Youth tender and inexperienced claimed +a share in these triumphs, and Nathanael +Mather, though but seventeen, expires +in all the maturity of a saintly old age.</p> + +<p>Coming down to the survivors of the +first emigration, we find them lingering +amid the respect and veneration of the +community, and their graves were +deemed worthy of patriarchal honor. +After their departure the ministry seems +to have lost tone and fervor. The union +of church and state swept them into secularities, +and thus impaired their strength. +So great was the decline, that by the +close of the first century, formality chilled +the churches, and the people bewailed +their coldness, while the aged wept at the +remembrance of by-gone days. Cotton +Mather had prophesied of a coming time +when churches would have to be gathered +<em>out of the churches</em> in the colony. +The cry of the saints was 'Return, how +long, O Lord, and let it repent thee concerning +thy servants.' Some of the more +hopeful maintained that the midnight +only heralded an approaching dawn. +Two ministers on Long Island, Barber +and Davenport, had received divine assurance +of a return of power, and held +themselves in anxious waiting. At last, +brilliant flashes began to play athwart +the sky, and instead of the meteoric +glare which some feared, it indicated the +purer sunbeam, in whose genial power +the church was to rejoice for more than +a third of a century. Whitefield's advent +sent a thrill through all New England. +He sailed from Charleston to Newport, +where venerable parson Clapp, tottering +with age, welcomed him as though he +had been an angel of God. Whitefield's +power was comparable to the supernatural, +and it was in this view John Foster, at +a later day, found the only solution of his +success. In the pulpit his appearance +and manners exceeded the dreams of +apostolic grace—a youth of elegant form, +with voice of enchanting melody, clear +blue eyes, an endurance which knew no +exhaustion—a fancy which ranged both +worlds—were all fused by a burning +zeal for the salvation of souls. Such was +Whitefield at twenty-five, and as such +he was worthy of that ovation which he +received at Boston, when governor and +council went out in form to welcome +him. The evangelist bore his honors +meekly, and hospitality did not weaken +the vials of wrath which he poured upon +the unfaithful. He found, as he said, in +New England 'a darkness which might +be felt.' At Cambridge, he thundered +at the deadness of Harvard and its faculty, +and electrified the land by striking at +its glory. The hearers alternately wept +and shivered, and the professors, headed +by old Dr. Holyoke (who afterwards +lived to celebrate his hundredth birthday), + +levelled a defensive and aggressive +pamphlet at their castigator; but +Governor Belcher kissed the dauntless +preacher, and bade him 'cry aloud and +spare not, but show the people their sins.'</p> + +<p>The second century, like the first, +opened with fierce ecclesiastical tumult. +Whitefield's itineracy, like the blazing +cross in the Lady of the Lake, was the +signal for an uprising. Fired by his passionate +oratory, the masses revolted from +the chill formalism of a dead ministry. +The effect of the excitement which pervaded +New England, when considered +merely as an appetizer of the intellect, +can not be over-estimated, and the vigor +which the colonial mind thus acquired +astonished in an after day the dullards of +the British Parliament. The chief throb +was felt in Connecticut, where strolling +preachers of a new order held forth in +barns and school-houses. Among these +imitators of Whitefield were some men +of high character, such as Tennant and +Finley (afterwards president of Nassau +Hall, Princeton), while others were frenzied +enthusiasts. Davenport, the chief +of these, was 'a heavenly-minded youth,' +whose usefulness was wrecked by fanaticism. +In his journey he was attended by +one whom he called his armor-bearer, +and their entrance into each village was +signaled by a loud hymn sung by the excited +pair. The very tone in which Davenport +preached has been perpetuated +by his admirers; it was a nasal twang, +which had great effect. A law was +passed against those irregularities, and +Davenport was thrown into Hartford +jail, where he sang hymns all night, to +the great admiration of his friends. On +being released he went to Lyme, where, +after sermon, a bonfire of idols was made, +to which the women contributed their +ornaments and fine dresses, and the men +their vain books. This religious movement +was marred by much evil; yet its +fruits, as we have stated, were found in +that mental strength which subsequently +bore the brunt of the Revolution. Its +excited scenes are hit off by such reports +as these,—'Sally Sparhawk fell and was +carried out of meeting;' this statement +being frequently repeated. The style +of preaching in vogue may be imagined +when we read of Tennant's appearance +in the pulpit, with long locks flowing +down his back, his gaunt form encased +in a coarse garment, girt about the loins +with a leathern girdle, in imitation of +the prophet Elijah. His discourses were +'awful and solemn,' and the houses were +crowded, though the cold was so intense +as to sheet Long Island Sound with ice. +Other memorials of this great awakening +are found in Edwards' thrilling sermons, +such as 'Sinners in the hands of an angry +God,' 'Wicked men only useful in +their destruction,' etc. For years after, +the grand idea of New England was +piety and good morals, and as there +were no journals, except here and there +a dwarfed weekly, the power of the pulpit +was unrivaled. Religion was a common +theme in every house. As a result, +it is stated that during the whole Revolution, +there was but one case of wilful +murder in Massachusetts, and Dwight +informs us that up to his day there had +never been a lawsuit in Northampton, +nor a loss by fire in which the damage +was not mutually shared by the citizens. +He also adds that on a given Sabbath +five-sixths of the community were found +in meeting. The minister in each town +was supported by tax, and being in some +sense a public officer, the ceremony of +ordination was sometimes celebrated +with procession and band of music.</p> + +<p>Jonathan Edwards, the great light of +New England, at this time could have +been found in a quiet village on the +Connecticut, whence his fame had already +spread to the mother country. +How Northampton gloried in her matchless +preacher! For sixty years his grandfather, +Solomon Stoddard, had labored +there. Let us linger a moment over +those scenes which, though fled like a +dream, once witnessed the joys and sorrows +of a lifetime. Here in this retired +street stands the weather-stained parsonage, +graced by a pair of saplings, +planted by his own hands, to which +Northampton points as 'the Edwards +elms,' and which now fling giant shadows + +across the lawn. This dwelling, though +scant of furniture, is passing rich in its +domestic treasures. Here is a wife of +lustrous beauty, sweet of disposition, +fervent of spirit, and 'mighty in prayer.' +She is a matchless judge of sermons, +wise in human nature, and being wiser +still in grace, must long rank as a model +of the ministerial wife. Here, too, is +her group of daughters, well worthy of +such parentage, Esther, Sarah, Mary, +and Jerusha, all beautiful and artless as +herself. Here a world of daily interest +is found in the studies and duties of a +New England home. But who is he, of +tall and attenuated form, whose days are +passed in his solitary study, secluded like +a hermit from the common experience +of life? Like Moses, he is slow of speech, +and might be considered almost severe +of countenance. The lineaments tell +their story of childlike simplicity of +character, and yet they are inspired by +an expression of power, which at first +seems repellant. Those large black +eyes seem to pierce and read on every +thought. I have referred to this family +in a previous article,<a href="#note_4"><span class="footnoteref">4</span></a> but would now +speak at more length of its paternal +head. This man has but two pursuits, +study and prayer. Of the outer world +he has ever remained in blissful ignorance, +and even of his own parish he only +knows what he has learned of his wife. +He has no 'turn' for visiting, and can +not afford time for vain talk. The +secret of this is, that he breathes an atmosphere +of his own; his soul is like a +star, and dwells apart. Behold him seated +at his table, jotting down casual +thoughts on the backs of letters and +scraps of paper (for paper is very dear); +he is building up some great argument, +whose vast proportions will in due time +be developed, like the uncovering of a +colossus. Beware, Mr. Solomon Williams +of Hatfield, and you, Chubb and +Tyndal, and John Taylor of Norwich, +for you will each and all of you find your +master in this secluded parson. Thirteen +hours per day are given to study, and +this has been the average for years. +And <em>such</em> study to create realities out +of the fogs of metaphysics, and to span +the concrete and the abstract with a +bridge such as Milton threw across space. +This man can spend hours in pursuit of + +'volitions' with all the excitement of the +chamois-hunt. Now his eye brightens, +for he has transfixed an idea, and holds +it up in all the nicety of artistic touch, +while he dissects it to its ramifications. +It is all <em>con amore</em> with him, though his +readers will need a clue to the maze of +intricate reasoning.</p> + +<p>One can not pass through the streets +of Northampton, so broad, so rural, and +so picturesque, without being overshadowed +by that memory, which may be +expressed in the sweet lines of Longfellow,—</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'Here in patience and in sorrow, laboring still with busy hand,</p> +<p class="l">Like an emigrant he wandered, seeking for the better land.'</p> +</div> + +<p>It is gratifying to know that his memory +is honored in Northampton by the +naming of a church, though all may +not understand the connection. The +old 'meeting-house' (for the Puritans +used the word church only in a spiritual +sense) stood fronting the site of the present +enormous edifice. It was torn down +in 1812. Here for nearly a quarter of a +century the tall form, and face pale and +meagre from intense thinking, appeared +each Sabbath before a people among +whom his recluse habits rendered him +almost a stranger. Here, having rested +upon the desk, upon the elbow of his left +arm, whose hand held a tiny book of +closely written MS., he read with stooping +form and low tones those solemn +arguments and tremendous appeals +which now thrill us from the printed +page. Each of those tiny books was a +sermon. Many of these are still preserved, +and Dr. Tryon Edwards, of New +London, has a chest filled with these memorials +of his great ancestor. They are +written in so fine a hand as to be hardly +legible except to one practiced in their +deciphering—a result of the extreme +economy of one who, with all carefulness, +was the largest consumer of paper and + +ink in New England. Solemn as was +the deportment of this reverend man, +sundry practical jokes at his expense are +on record. It is said that the house dog +was his close attendant, and on Sabbath +day would invade even the pulpit in +search of his master. Hence he was carefully +fastened during 'holy time.' On one +occasion, however, some wag not only +loosed the animal, but actually garnished +his neck with a pair of ministerial bands. +The poor dog, unwitting of his sacred insignia, +made his way into the pulpit without +being noticed by his absent minded +master, until some one showed him the +dog, <em>a la parson</em>, perched up behind him +on the pulpit bench.</p> + +<p>As a public speaker Edwards' delivery +was the minimum of force, and in +this feature he admitted his utter failure. +Indeed, when driven from Northampton, +he replied to Erskine's invitation +to remove to Scotland, that he was +assured that his style would not be acceptable. +After his dismission, the sorrows +of poverty fell heavily upon him, +and he writes to the same correspondent +that 'he and his large and helpless family +were to be cast upon the world.' A +collection was made for him in Scotland, +and forwarded at this time of need. The +Scottish saints, indeed, held strong sympathy +with the colonies, and it was their + +'benefactions' which supported the mission +of Brainerd, the most successful of +modern days. Edwards remained more +than a year at Northampton after leaving +its pulpit, and was humbled by seeing +the people assemble to hear sermons read +by laymen in preference to his own ministrations. +What a bitter cup this must +have been: but Sarah cheered his heart, +and grace reigned. In the mean time +the girls wrought fancy work, which was +sent to Boston, and sold in their behalf, +and thus they were spared from want. +Subsequently he was appointed missionary +to the Stockbridge Indians. It was +Orpheus among the wild beasts, but +without his success. President Wayland +quotes this fact in order to support a +theory which is palpably false, that a +preacher should not be much above the +literary platform of his people; whereas, +Edwards' ill success was in a large +measure owing to the troubles and opposition +incident to frontier life. With +all his sorrows, however, he had one +great satisfaction. His chief assailant, +Joseph Ashley, of Northampton, who had +borne so large a part in his expulsion, +came in deep penitence, and besought +his forgiveness, which was granted with +Christian tenderness. Ashley's compunctions +continued, and after Edwards' +death increased in horror so greatly that +to obtain relief he published to the world +an explicit confession of his sins against +'that eminent servant of God.'</p> + +<p>Edwards, like Milton, had long meditated +a work which 'the world would not +willingly let die,' but, although he had +for some years been gathering materials, +yet it was not until his removal to Stockbridge +that he addressed himself fully to +the mighty task of authorship. His habits +of abstraction grew upon him amazingly +during this effort, and the notable +Sarah sheltered him from intrusion, and +anticipated his wants. She was conscious +of the greatness of the work with which +he had grappled, and stood by his side +like a guardian angel while he demolished +errorists. It was her custom after +the labors of the day to steal up to the +study, where, like Numa and Egeria, they +held serene communion. This was his sole +medium of secular information, for in his +occasional walks he was like one in a +dream. The whole man was engrossed +in what he alone could perform; indeed, +to reconcile liberty and necessity were +a task for which he seemed providentially +set apart. But beneath these arguments, +which rise Alp on Alp, there +lurked a quiet perception of humor, and +the <em>reductio ad absurdum</em>, which he occasionally +drives home, showed the +keenness of Puritan wit. How he must +have smiled, nay even laughed, in the +midst of his abstractions at that<a href="#note_5"><span class="footnoteref">5</span></a> metaphysical +animal which illustrates the + +absurdity of his opponents. When 'The +Freedom of the Will' was finished, and +the author had sent it forth to do battle, +he felt that the work of his life was done.</p> + +<p>Just at this time a deputation waited +on him to solicit his acceptance of +the presidency of Nassau Hall. It was +a strange sight to that rude hamlet of +Stockbridge—those reverend forms finishing +their long journey at the feet of +the poor exiled missionary. When their +errand was announced, he burst into tears, +overcome by a sense of unworthiness, and +in a subsequent letter he confirms his +unfitness by reference to his 'flaccid +solids and weak and sizy fluids.' But +the demand was pressed, and Northampton +learns with astonishment the +exaltation of her banished pastor. The +successful deputation possessed one member +of rare interest. This was John +Brainerd, who had succeeded his brother +David as a missionary, and whom Edwards +had met ten years before at the +bedside of his dying brother. David +would have been, had both lived, the +husband of Jerusha—but now they +slept side by side in Northampton burial-ground, +and the surviving brother reappeared +bearing this invitation. It +was one not easily resisted; and so, amid +dangers and infirmity, he was fain to say,</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'To-morrow to fresh woods and pastures new.'</p> +</div> + +<p>Before another spring, a higher glory +awaited him; and the same year, five of +his family, including the incomparable +Sarah, were likewise 'received up.' A +sad year was that to Princeton and to +the church.</p> + +<p>We have stated our opinion, that the +activity of the New England mind +arose from the digestion of strong doctrine; +that very activity now generated +a new style of preaching, which may be +termed the metaphysical school. The +days of <em>thaumaturgia</em> were passed, and +in place of discussing demonology and +temptation, an appetite for subtle dogma +prevailed. I doubt if Britain and Germany, +with their combined universities, +could have equaled, during the last century, +the New England pulpit in mental +acuteness or philosophical discrimination. +A reference to Edwards recalls mention +among his followers of such names as +Smally, Bellamy, Emmons, and Hopkins. +Those who listened to the preaching of +such men could not avoid becoming +thinkers, and thought has made our +country what it is. Very possibly what +is known as 'Yankee ingenuity' arose +from the thinking habits of careful sermon-hearers. +A man who could follow +the subtle theories of the pulpit, could +think out the most elaborate machinery. +Next to Jonathan Edwards, Dr. Emmons +possessed the most philosophical +mind of the age. So severe and invincible +is his logic, that it is said that the +New Haven lawyers often sharpened +their minds on Emmons' sermons. His +scheme of making God the author of sin +may be considered one of the errors of +a great mind. A modern novelist has +placed old Dr. Hopkins among the characters +of a romance. But however great +may be the powers of Mrs. Stowe, it was +quite impossible for an ęsthetic and +poetic mind to grasp that bundle of +dried-up syllogisms which once occupied +the Newport pulpit. Hopkins had +preached the church at Great Barrington +empty, and that of Newport died by lingering +degrees. Only to think of that +tall, ungainly form, the head covered +with a linen cap, stiff and white, coming +forth like an apparition once a week +to the public gaze. We do not wonder +at the child's inquiry '<em>if it was God that +stood up there</em>.' Hopkins' scheme of 'indifferent +affection' was a grand conception, +but as unnatural as grand: yet +it showed an amazing boldness for a public +teacher to lay down as a postulate +that a willingness to be damned was a +condition of salvation.</p> + +<p>From a survey of the earlier clergy, + +even as superficial as the present one, +we are struck with its ambition of a +lofty range of doctrine. They</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'reasoned high</p> +<p class="l">Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate,</p> +<p class="l">Fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute,</p> +<p class="l">And found no end in wandering mazes lost.</p> +<p class="l">Of good and evil much they argued then,</p> +<p class="l">Of happiness, and final misery,</p> + +<p class="l">Passion, and apathy, glory, and shame.'</p> +</div> + + +<p>The highest tribute which Milton +could offer the fallen angels was that +mental power which survived the general +wreck. And no lesser flight would have +satisfied the subjects of this sketch. +Their lifelong effort was still to climb +higher, ever exclaiming</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'—Paula majora canamus.'</p> +</div> + +<p>Their services in the cause of public +education are beyond our appreciation, +and it may be well for us to remember +that Harvard, Yale, Williams, Union, +Princeton, Amherst, Hanover, and other +institutions, sprang from the bold philanthrophy +of men so poor as often to be +objects of pity. They saw that knowledge +is power, and that power they +would not only possess, but bequeath +to coming generations.</p> + +<p>Long as these rambles have been, they +would still be incomplete without a tribute +to the influence of wives and mothers +which soothed and mellowed the sterner +aspect of primitive life; but this can only +be referred to as a theme worthy of distinct +treatment. It should not be forgotten +that the children reared under such +influences have often been counted worthy +of the highest stations of honor and +trust; and although the scapegrace character +of ministers' sons is a common fling, +yet careful research has proved that it +has many and brilliant exceptions.</p> + +<p>While penning these pages, my mind +has often wandered over ancient burial-grounds +where pastor and people sleep +side by side. One may find them in +every New England town, and they +chain with a spell of which the modern +cemetery with its showy marbles knows +nothing! We turn from the fresh mortality, +which chills us with its recent sorrows, +to those massy headstones whose +faint inscriptions tell of generations long +since freed from toil. Here one may find +the rude monuments of those who still +walk the earth and lead its progress, and +here the heart may run over, as Byron +says,</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'With silent worship of the great of old!</p> +<p class="l">The dead but sceptered sovereigns who still rule</p> +<p class="l">Our spirits from their urns.'</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> + +<a name="toc_8"></a> +<h2>Hemming Cotton.</h2> + + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'Hem them in!' is the country's cry;</p> +<p class="l">See how the bayonet needles fly!</p> +<p class="l">Nothing neglect and nothing leave,</p> +<p class="l">Hem them in from the skirt to sleeve.</p> + +<p class="l">Little they reek of scratch or hurt</p> +<p class="l">Who toil at hemming the Southern shirt;</p> +<p class="l">Little they'll care, as they shout aloud,</p> +<p class="l">If the Southern shirt prove a Southern shroud.</p> +<p class="l">Hurrah for the needles sharp and thin!</p> +<p class="l">Cotton is saved by hemming it in.'</p> +</div> + +</div> + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_9"></a> +<h2>One Of My Predecessors.</h2> + + +<p>No books have quite the same fascination +for me as the narratives of old travelers. +Give me a rainy day, a state of +affairs which renders the performance of +a more serious task impossible, and a +volume of Hakluyt or Purchas, or even +of Pinkerton's agreeable collection, and +I experience a condition of felicity which +leaves Gray and his new novel far in the +background. For I thus not only behold +again the familiar scenery of the +earth,—never forgetting a landscape +that I have once seen,—but I am also a +living participant in the adventures of +those who have wandered the same +paths, hundreds of years before. I visit +Constantinople while the Porphyrogenite +emperors still sit upon the throne of +the East; I look upon the barbaric court +of Muscovy before the name of Russia is +known in the world; I make acquaintance +with Genghis Khan at Karakorum, +and with Aurungzebe at Delhi; I invade +Japan with Kampfer, penetrate the Arctic +Seas with Barentz, or view the gardens +of Ispahan in the company of the +gallant Sir John Chardin.</p> + +<p>This taste was not the cause, but is +the result, of my own experience. My +far-off, unknown Arab progenitor says, +in one of his poems: 'Fly thy home, and +journey, if thou strivest for great deeds. +Five advantages thou wilt at least procure +by traveling. Thou wilt have +pleasure and profit; thou wilt enlarge +thy prospects, cultivate thyself, and acquire +friends. It is better to be dead, +than, like an insect, to remain always +chained to the same spot of earth.' In +the Middle Ages, and especially among +the members of the enlightened Saracenic +race, the instinct of travel was +mainly an instinctive desire for education. +There was no other school of +knowledge so complete and practical, in +the dearth of books and the absence of +other than commercial intercourse between +the ends of the earth, I fancy +that this instinct, skipping over some +centuries, reappeared, in my case, in its +original form; for it was not until after +I had seen a large portion of the earth, +that I became acquainted with the narratives +of my predecessors, and recognized +my kinship with them. With the +ghost of the mercantile Marco Polo, or +those of the sharp fellows, Bernier and +Tavernier, I do not anticipate much satisfaction, +in the next world; but—if +they are not too far off—I shall shake +hands at once with the old monk Rubruquis, +and the Knight Arnold von der +Harff, and the far traveled son of the +Atlas, Ibn Batuta.</p> + +<p>These old narratives have a charm for +me, which I do not find in the works of +modern tourists. There is an honest +homeliness and unreserve about them, +which I would not exchange for any +graces of style. The writers need no +apologetic or explanatory preface; they +sit down with the pressure of a solemn +duty upon them. When much of the +world was but dimly known, the man +who had reached India, China, or the +Islands of the Sea, and returned to describe +his adventures, made his narrative +a matter of conscience, and justly considered +that he had added something to +the stock of human knowledge. The +world of fable had not then contracted +into as narrow limits as at present; foreign +countries were full of marvels, and +science had not made clear the phenomena +of nature. The old travelers had all +the wonder and the credulity of children. +All was fish that came to their nets, and +their works are singular compounds of +personal adventure, historical episodes, +statistics of trade, and reflections on the +laws, manners and religions of races, interwoven +with many astonishing stories, +and with the most amusing conjectures +and speculations. Their sincerity is apparent +on every page. How delightful +is that remark of honest old Bernal + +Diaz, when, in describing the battle of +Tlascala, he states that many of the +Spanish soldiers believed that St. James +and St. Thomas fought in person against +the pagans, and adds, in the simplicity +of his heart, 'Sinner that I am, it was +not given to my eyes to behold either +the one or the other of those holy persons.' +Montanus, in his travels through +Muscovy, speaks of a wonderful plant +on the borders of Tartary, which resembled +a pumpkin-vine in appearance, +only that instead of pumpkins it produced +lambs covered with wool. He +calls this 'a mighty pleasant story,' but +takes care to say that he had never seen +with his own eyes the lambs growing +upon the vines, but only the wool thereof, +which the natives manufactured into +garments.</p> + +<p>Another characteristic of the old books +of travel is, that they are, unconsciously, +autobiographical. The honest pilgrim, +in his desire to give a faithful description +of new lands, is little aware that he +is all the time describing himself as well. +His prejudice, his likings, his disappointments +and aspirations are all transparently +revealed to us, and through him +we lay hold on the living character of +his age. We follow him, step by step, +on his slow and wearisome journey, enjoying +his fatigues and dangers with the +better zest, since we know in advance +that he reached home safely at last. +One of the most popular modern books +of travel—Eothen—is a poem which +gives us the very atmosphere and odor +of the Orient, but nothing more; and +the author floats before our vision in so +dim and wraith-like a manner, that many +readers have doubted whether the work +was founded on actual experience. On +the other hand, those old narratives, of +which Robinson Crusoe is the ideal type, +bear unmistakable stains of the soil on +every page. You not only feel the vital +personality of the traveler, but you would +distinguish his doublet and hose among +a thousand. He does not soar, with an +airy grace, from one hill-top to another, +picking out for you a choice scene here +and there, as he skims the land—he +plods along the road, laboriously and +with muddy shoes, and sees the common +much oftener than the sublime.</p> + +<p>In all that concerns man, indeed, a +much plainer speech was permitted to +the old traveler. There were no squeamish +readers in those days, and hence, in +some respects, he is too candid for modern +taste. But it often happens that +precisely the characteristics or customs +of strange races which are of most value +to the anthropologist, belong to those +cryptic mysteries of human nature, to +which, in our refined age, one is prohibited +from referring. At least, the +absence of constraint—the possibility +of entire frankness, even though the +writer should have no occasion to avail +himself of the privilege—imparts a rare +loveliness and raciness to the narrative. +On the other hand, in modern works +which I have tested by my own personal +knowledge of the subject, I have been +quite as much struck with the amount +of suppressed as with that of expressed +truth. Mansfield Parkyns and Captain +Burton, I have no doubt, will bear me +out in this statement. Why has no African +explorer, for instance, yet ventured +to announce the fact,—at once interesting +and important,—that if a traveler +in the central regions of that continent +could be accompanied by his wife, the +chances of his success would be greatly +improved? In the apparent celibacy of +explorers, barbarous races perceive simply +an absence or perversion of the masculine +instinct, which at once excites +their distrust.</p> + +<p>Let me resume the volume which I +have laid down to pursue the foregoing +reflections, and, while the eastern storm +drives through the autumn woods, hurling +its mingled volume of rain and leaves +against my window, ask the reader to +look over my shoulder and follow with +me for a while the pilgrimage of Abou +Abdallah Mohammed, better known under +the name of Ibn Batuta,—'may +God be satisfied with him, and confound +those who have an aversion towards +him!'—to apply to himself his own invocation +in favor of another.</p> + + + +<p>Ibn Batuta, a native of Tangier, in +Morocco, unquestionably takes the first +rank among the travelers of the Middle +Ages, if we consider the distances he +traversed, the remote points he reached, +or the number of years consumed by his +wanderings. From Pekin to Timbuctoo, +from the Volga to the Ganges, from Bukhara +to Zanzibar, he vibrated to and fro, +making himself acquainted, with the exception +of Christian Europe, with the +greater part of the known world. He +touched, in many directions, the borderland +of darkness, beyond which the +earth fell off precipitously into chaotic +depths which no mortal might explore. +Having reached home again after uncounted +perils, he sat down to tell the +story of his adventures. Many of his +notes had been lost by the way, and he +was obliged to depend mainly on his +memory; but as this is a faculty which +all genuine travelers must not only possess, +but cultivate by constant exercise, +his narrative is remarkably clear, complete, +and truthful.</p> + +<p>Born on the 24th of February, 1304, +he set out, in his twenty-second year, on +a pilgrimage to Mecca, traversing the +Barbary States and Egypt on the way. +Once fairly launched in the world, +twenty-four years elapsed before he +again saw his native town. He explored +the various provinces of Arabia; +visited Syria, Persia, and Armenia; resided +for a while in Southern Russia +(Kipchak), then belonging to princes of +the line of Genghis Khan; traveled by +land to Constantinople, where he was +presented to the emperor; repeated his +pilgrimage to Mecca, and reached Zanzibar. +Then, returning, he made his +way to Bukhara, and through Afghanistan +to the Indus; exercised, for two +years, the functions of a <em>Kadi</em>, or judge, +at Delhi; was appointed by the Sultan +Mohammed, the son of Togluk Khan, on +an embassy to the emperor of China, +but, missing the Chinese vessel, was +obliged to remain a year and a half +among the Maldive Islands. Nothing +daunted by the delay, he started again, +by way of Ceylon and the Indian Archipelago, +and finally succeeded in reaching +Pekin. He appears to have returned to +Tangier in the year 1349, and to have +taken up his residence soon afterwards +in Granada, under the protection of the +caliph Yusef. His thirst for exploration, +however, was not yet quenched, and in +two years he was ready to undertake a +second journey of greater difficulty and +danger. Leaving Fez with a caravan, +in the year 1351, he crossed the Sahara, +and spent three years in Central Africa, +visiting the great cities Melli and Timbuctoo. +He was thus the first to give +the world an authentic account of those +regions. His descriptions correspond, in +almost all respects, with those given by +the travelers of modern times.</p> + +<p>Ibn Batuta returned to Morocco in +1354, and there remained until his death, +in 1378. During the year after his arrival, +he dictated the history of his travels +to Ibn Djozay, a young Moorish poet, +who, having been unjustly treated by +Yusef, in Granada, fled to Fez, where +he was appointed secretary to the Sultan, +Abau Inau Faris. The latter, it appears, +commanded that the work should be written, +and it was also, no doubt, by his order +that Ibn Djozay became the amanuensis +of our traveler. 'He was recommended,' + +says the introduction, 'to bestow +great care on the correctness and elegance +of the style, to render it clear and +intelligible, in order that the reader may +better enjoy the rare adventures, and +draw the greatest profit from the pearl, +after it shall have been extracted from +its shell!' To Ibn Djozay, therefore, +we are indebted for the abundant poetic +quotations interspersed throughout the +work—the ornaments which hang, sometimes +with curious effect, on the plain, +straight-forward story which Ibn Batuta +tells us. Making the usual allowance +for Oriental exaggeration, and the occasional +confusion which must occur in a +memory so overcharged, we do not hesitate +to pronounce the work worthy of all +credit. Burkhardt, Seetzen, and Carl +Ritter have expressed their entire confidence +in the fidelity of the narrative.</p> + +<p>This interesting work was known to + +European scholars, until quite recently, +in a fragmentary condition, frequently +disfigured by errors of transcription. +Since the French occupation of Algiers, +however, two or three perfect copies +have been discovered, one of which, now +in the Imperial Library at Paris, bears +the autograph of Ibn Djozay. The publications +of the <em>Société Asiatique</em> furnish +us with the narrative, carefully collated, +and differing but slightly, in all probability, +from the original text. Let us now +run over it, freely translating for the +reader as we go. The introduction, +which is evidently from the elegant hand +of the amanuensis, is so characteristic +that we must extract a few +Title and all, it opens as follows:</p> + +<p>A PRESENT MADE TO OBSERVERS,</p> +<p>TREATING OF THE</p> + +<p>CURIOSITIES OFFERED BY THE CITIES AND</p> +<p>OTHER WONDERS ENCOUNTERED IN</p> +<p>TRAVEL.</p> + +<p>'In the name of God, the Clement, +the Merciful: Behold what says the +Shekh, the judge, the learned man, the +truthful, the noble, the devout, the very +benevolent, the guest of God; who has +acquitted himself of the visit to the holy +places, to the honor of religion; who, in +the course of his travels, has placed his +confidence in the Lord of all creatures—Abou +Abdallah Mohammed, son of Abdallah, +son of Ibrahim Allewatee Alhandjee, +known under the name of Ibn Batuta: +may God be merciful to him, and be +content with him, in his great bounty +and generosity! Amen.</p> + +<p>'Praise be to God, who has subjected +the earth to those who serve him, in order +that they may march by spacious +roads—who has placed them on the +earth, and there located the three vicissitudes +of their destiny: the creation, the +return to the earth, and the resurrection +from its bowels. He has extended it by +his power, and it has become a bed for +his servants. He has fixed it by means +of inaccessible mountains, of considerable +elevation, and has raised over it the summit +of heaven, unsupported by a pillar. +He has made the stars to appear as a +guide in the midst of the darkness of the +land and the sea; he has made a lamp of +the moon, and a torch of the sun. From +heaven he has caused waters to descend, +which vivified the ground when it was +dried up. He has made all varieties of +fruits to grow, and has created diversified +regions, giving them all sorts of plants. +He has caused the two seas to flow—one +of sweet and refreshing waters, the +other salt and bitter. He has completed +his bounties towards his creatures, in +subjecting to them the camels, and in +submitting to them the ships, similar to +mountains, serving them as vehicles, instead +of the surface of the desert, or the +back of the sea.'</p> + +<p>After having, in like manner, pronounced +a benediction on Mohammed, +the Prophet's friends, and all others in +any way connected with him, he greets +the Sultan of Morocco with a panegyric +so dazzling, so unapproachable in the +splendor of its assertions, that we must +quote it as a standard whereby all similar +compositions may be measured, sure +that it will maintain its pre-eminence +through all time.</p> + +<p>'It is his reign (that of Abou Inau +Faris) which has cured Religion of her +sickness, which has caused the sword of +Injustice to return into the scabbard +whence it had been drawn, which has +corrected fortune, when it had been corrupted, +and which has procured custom +for the markets of Science, formerly +given up to stagnation. He has rendered +manifest the rules of piety when they +would have been obliterated; he has +calmed the regions of the earth when +they were agitated; he has caused the +tradition of acts of generosity to revive +after his death; he has occasioned the +death of tyrannic customs; he has abated +the flame of discord at the moment +when it was most enkindled; he has destroyed +the commands of tyranny, when +they exercised an absolute power; he +has elevated the edifices of equity on the +pillars of the fear of God, and has assured +himself, by the strongest evidences, that +he possesses confidence in the Eternal. +His reign possesses a glory, the crown +whereof is placed on the forehead of + +Orion, and an illumination which covers +the Milky Way with the skirts of his +robe; a beneficence which has given a +new youth to the age; a justice which +incloses the righteous within its vast +tent; a liberality similar to a cloud which +waters at once the leaves that have fallen +from the trees and the trees themselves; +a courage which, even when the +clouds shed torrents of rain, causes a torrent +of blood to flow; a patience which +never tires of hoping; a prudence which +prevents his enemies from approaching +his pastures; a resolution which puts +their troops to flight before the action +commences; a mildness which delights to +pluck pardon from the tree of crime; a +goodness which gains him all hearts; a +science, the lustre whereof enlightens +the darkest difficulties; a conduct conformable +to his sincerity, and acts conformable +to his designs!'</p> + +<p>Let us here take a long breath, and +rest a minute. O, Abou Inau Faris! +we envy the blessed people that were +gathered under thy wing; we weep for +our degenerate age, wherein thy like is +nowhere to be found. No wonder that +Ibn Batuta declares that he lays aside +forever his pilgrim's staff—that, after +traversing the Orient, he sits down under +the full moon of the Occident, preferring +it to all other regions, 'as one prefers +gold-dust to the sands of the highway.' +We, too, had we found such a ruler, +would have laid aside our staff, and taken +the oath of allegiance.</p> + +<p>The traveler gives us the day of his +departure from home: June 14, 1325. +'I was alone,' says he, 'without a companion +with whom I could live familiarly, +without a caravan of which I could have +made part; but I was forced onward by +a spirit firm in its resolution, and the desire +of visiting the Holy Places was implanted +in my bosom. I therefore determined +to separate myself from my friends +of both sexes, and I abandoned my home +as the birds abandon their nest. My +father and mother were still alive. I resigned +myself, with grief, to separate +from them, and this was a common cause +of sorrow. I was then in my twenty-second +year.'</p> + +<p>Having safely reached the town of +Tlemeen, he found two ambassadors of +the king of Tunis, about to set out on +their return, and attached himself to +their suite. On arriving at Bougie, he +was attacked with a violent fever, and +was advised to remain behind. 'No,' +said the determined youth, 'if God wills +that I should die, let me die on the road +to Mecca,' and pushed on, through Constantina +and Bona, in such a state of +weakness that he was obliged to unwind +his turban and bind himself to his saddle, +in order to avoid falling from the horse. +He thus reached Tunis, in a state of extreme +exhaustion and despondency. 'No +one saluted me,' says he, 'for I was not +acquainted with a single person there. +I was seized with such an emotion of +sadness that I could not suppress my +sobs, and my tears flowed in abundance. +One of the pilgrims, remarking my condition, +advanced towards me, saluting +and comforting me. He did not cease to +cheer me up with his conversation, until +I had entered the city.'</p> + +<p>In a short time, he seems to have recovered +both his health and spirits; for, +on reaching the town of Sefakos, he married +the daughter of one of the syndics +of the corporation of Tunis. This proceeding +strikes us as a singular preparation +for a long and dangerous journey, +but it is a preliminary which would immediately +suggest itself to a Mussulman +of good character. In fact, it was equivalent +in those days—and still would be, +in some parts of the Orient—to a proclamation +of his respectability. Ibn Batuta, +however, was not fortunate in this +matrimonial adventure. Two months +afterwards, he naļvely informs us: + +'There arose such a disagreement between +myself and my father-in-law, that +I was obliged to separate from my wife. +I thereupon married the daughter of an +official of Fez. The marriage was consummated +at the castle of Zanah, and I +celebrated it by a feast, for which I detained +the caravan for a whole day.'</p> + + + +<p>After this announcement, he is silent +concerning his domestic relations. Perhaps +the number of his connubial changes +was too great to be recorded; perhaps +no son was born to establish his honor +among men; perhaps, with increasing +sanctity, he forswore the sex. The last +conjecture is probably correct, as it tallies +with the reputation for wisdom and +purity which he gradually acquired.</p> + +<p>Finally, in April, 1326, our traveler +reached Alexandria, the first strange +city which impressed him by its size and +splendor. 'Alexandria,' says he, 'is a +jewel whereof the brilliancy is manifest—a +virgin which sparkles with her ornaments. +She illumines the Occident with +her splendor: she unites the most diverse +beauties, on account of her situation +midway between the Rising and the +Setting.' At that time the celebrated +Pharos was still standing, and the following +description of it, though not very +clear, will interest the reader: 'It is a +square edifice, which towers into the air. +Its gate is raised above the surface of the +earth, and opposite to it there is an edifice +of similar height, which serves to +support planks, across which one must +wait to arrive at the gate of the Pharos. +When these planks are taken away, there +is no means of crossing. Inside of the +entrance is a space where the guardian +of the edifice is stationed. The interior +of the Pharos contains many apartments. +Each of its four sides is a hundred and +forty spans in length. The building is +situated on a high hill, one parasang from +the city, and on a tongue of land which +the sea surrounds on three sides. One +can therefore only reach the Pharos from +the land side, by leaving the city. I directed +my course towards the Pharos a +second time, on my return to the West, +in the year 1349, and I found that its +ruin was complete, so that one could +neither enter, nor even reach the gate.'</p> + +<p>Commencing with Alexandria, Ibn +Batuta is careful, in every city which he +visits, to give an account of the distinguished +<em>shekhs</em> or <em>imams</em>, with characteristic +anecdotes of their saintly or miraculous +lives. The value and interest of +these sketches reconcile us to the brevity +of his descriptions. He tells us, for example, +that the <em>kadi</em> (judge) of Alexandria, +who was likewise a master of the +art of eloquence, 'covered his head with +a turban which surpassed in volume all +the turbans then to be seen. I have +never beheld, neither in the East nor +the West, one so voluminous. He was +one day seated in a mosque, before the +pulpit, and his turban filled almost the +entire space.' At the town of Fooah, in +the Delta, on his way to Cairo, occurred +his first marvelous adventure. 'During +the night,' says he, 'while I slept on the +roof of the dwelling of the shekh Abou +Abdallah, I saw myself, in a dream, carried +on the wing of a great bird, which +flew in the direction of Mecca, then in +that of Yemen; then it transported me +to the East, after which it passed towards +the South; then it flew again far to the +East, alighted upon a dark and misty +country, and there abandoned me. I was +amazed at this vision, and said to myself, +"If the shekh can interpret my dream, he +is truly as holy as he is said to be." When +I presented myself, in the morning, to +take part in the early prayer, he charged +me to take the lead, in the quality of + +<em>imam</em>. Afterwards he called me to him, +and explained my dream; in fact, when +I had related it to him, he said: "Thou +wilt make the pilgrimage to Mecca, thou +wilt visit the tomb of the Prophet, thou +wilt traverse Yemen, Irak, the country +of the Turks, and India; thou wilt remain +a long time in the latter country, +where thou wilt see my brother Dilehad, +who will extricate thee from an affliction +into which thou shalt fall." Having +spoken, he provided me with money, +and small biscuits for the journey. I +said my farewells and departed. Since +I left him, I have experienced nothing +but good treatment in the course of my +travels, and his benedictions always came +to my aid.'</p> + +<p>Passing over the traveler's visit to Damietta +and the other towns of the Delta, +let us hear his enthusiastic description of +Cairo, at the time of its greatest prosperity: +'Finally, I reached the city of Cairo, + +the metropolis of the country and the +ancient residence of Pharaoh the Impaler; +mistress of rich and extended regions, +attaining the utmost limits of possibility +in the multitude of its population, +and exalting itself on account of its +beauty and splendor. It is the rendezvous +of travelers, the station of the weak +and the powerful. Thou wilt there find +all that thou desirest—the wise and the +ignorant, the industrious and the trifling, +the mild or the angry, men of low extraction +or of lofty birth, the illustrious +and the obscure. The number of its inhabitants +is so considerable that their +currents resemble those of an agitated +sea, and the city lacks very little of being +too small to contain them, notwithstanding +its extent and capacity. Although +founded long since, it enjoys a youth forever +renewed; the star of its horoscope +does not cease to inhabit a fortunate +house. It is in speaking of Cairo that +Wasr ed-deen has written:</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">"It is a paradise in truth; its gardens ever smile,</p> +<p class="l">Adorned and fed so plenteously by all the waves of Kile,</p> +<p class="l">Which, fretted by the blowing wind, from shore across to shore,</p> + +<p class="l">Mimic the armor's azure scales the prophet David wore;</p> +<p class="l">Within its fluid element the naked fear to glide,</p> +<p class="l">And ships, like winged heavenly spheres, go up and down the tide.'"</p> +</div> + +<p>Ibn Batuta's description of the pyramids +is very curious, and we can account +for it on no other supposition than that +he merely saw them in the distance +(probably from the citadel of Cairo), relying +on hearsay for further particulars. +After stating that they were built by the +ancient <em>Hermes</em>, whom he supposes to be +identical with Enoch, as a repository for +the antediluvian arts and sciences, he +says: 'The pyramids are built of hard, +well-cut stone. They are of a very considerable +elevation, and of a circular +form, capacious at the base and narrow +at the summit, <em>in the fashion of cones</em>. +They have no doors, and one is ignorant +of the manner in which they have +been constructed.'</p> + +<p>In his journey up the Nile, Ibn Batuta +never fails to give an account of every +Moslem saint or theologian whom he +meets, but only in one or two instances +does he mention the antiquities, which, +in that age, must have been still more +conspicuous than now. He even passes +over the plain of Thebes without the +slightest notice of the great temple of +Karnak. Disappointed in his plan of +crossing the Red Sea to Jidda, he returned +to Cairo, and at once set out for +Syria. Here, the first place of interest +which he visited was Hebron, where he +performed his devotions at the tombs of +the patriarchs. We learn that there +were archęcological writings in those +days, for he quotes from a work entitled +'The Torch of Hearts, on the Subject of +the Authenticity of the Tombs of Abraham, +Isaac, and Jacob.' Unfortunately, +the evidence adduced would not be very +satisfactory to us, for it rests entirely on +the following statement made by Mohammed +to a certain Abou Horairah: +'When the angel Gabriel took me on +the noctural journey to Jerusalem, we +passed above the tomb of Abraham, and +he said to me, "Descend, and make a +prayer of two genuflexions, for here is +the sepulchre of thy father Abraham!" +Then we traversed Bethlehem, and he +said also, "Descend, make a prayer of +two genuflexions, for here was born thy +brother Jesus!"'</p> + +<p>Of Jerusalem, which he calls 'the noble, +the holy—may God glorify it!' he +says: 'Among the sanctuaries on the +borders of the valley known under the +name of Gehenna, east of the city and +on an elevated hill (the Mount of +Olives), one sees an edifice which is said +to stand on the spot whence Jesus ascended +to heaven. In the middle of the +same valley there is a church where the +Christians worship: they affirm that it +contains the sepulchre of Mary. There +is also another church, equally venerated, +to which the Christians make a pilgrimage. +The reason whereof, however, +is a lie, for they pretend that it contains +the tomb of Jesus. Each person who +goes thither as a pilgrim is obliged to +pay a certain tribute to the Mussulmans, +and to undergo divers sorts of humiliations, + +which the Christians perform very +much against their will. They there +see the place where the cradle of Jesus +stood, and come to implore his intercession.'</p> + +<p>I have not space to follow our traveler +through all the cities of the Syrian coast, +northward to Aleppo, but I can not omit +offering one flower from the garland +of poetical quotations which Ibu Batuta +(or rather his amanuensis, Ibn Djozay) +hangs on the citadel of the latter capital. +I presume the city then occupied the +same position as at present, on a plain +surrounding the rocky acropolis, which +is so striking and picturesque a feature +as to justify the enthusiasm of the Oriental +bards. Djemal ed-deen All, however, +surpasses them all in the splendor +of his images. Hear him:—</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'So lofty soars this castle, so high its summit stands,</p> +<p class="l">Immense and far uplifted above the lower lands,</p> +<p class="l">It lacks but little, truly, that with the heavenly sphere</p> +<p class="l">Around the earth revolving, its towers would interfere.</p> +<p class="l">And they who dwell within it must seek the Milky Way;</p> +<p class="l">There is no nearer cistern which win their thirst allay:</p> +<p class="l">Their horses there go browsing, and crop the stars that pass,</p> +<p class="l">As other beasts the blossoms that open in the grass!'</p> + +</div> + + +<p>After this flight, I think I can afford to +omit the string of quotations concerning +Damascus, which is celebrated with an +equal extravagance. Ibn Batuta gives a +very careful account of the great mosque, +including its priests and scholars. During +his stay the plague raged with such +violence that the deaths at one time +amounted to two thousand a day. He +relates one circumstance which shows +that even religious intolerance vanished +in times of distress. 'All the inhabitants +of the city, men, women, large and small, +took part in a procession to the Mosque +of El-Akdam, two miles south of Damascus. +The Jews came forth with their +Pentateuch, and the Christians with +their Gospel, followed by their women +and children. All wept, supplicated, and +sought help from God, through the means +of his Word and his prophets. They repaired +to the mosque, where they remained, +praying and invoking God, until +three o'clock in the afternoon. Then +they returned to the city, made the +prayer of Friday, and the Lord consoled +them.'</p> + +<p>On the 1st of September, 1326, he left +Damascus, with the great caravan of pilgrims, +for Mecca. He enumerates all +the stations on the route, and his itinerary +is almost identical with that which +the caravan follows at the present day. +Much space is devoted to a description +of the religious observances which he +followed; and, singularly enough, if any +confirmation of his fidelity as a narrator +were needed, it is furnished by the work +of Captain Burton. The account of the +sacred cities of Medineh and Mecca corresponds +in every important particular +with that of the modern traveler. Thus +the integrity of Ibn Batuta, like that of +Marco Polo, is established, after the lapse +of five hundred years.</p> + +<p>In speaking of the chair of Mohammed, +which is preserved in the mosque at Medineh, +he relates the following beautiful +tradition: 'It is said that the ambassador +of God at first preached near the trunk +of a palm-tree in the mosque, and that +after he had constructed the chair and +transported it thither, the trunk of the +palm-tree groaned, as the female camel +groans after her young. Mohammed +thereupon went down to the tree and +embraced it; after which it remained silent. +The Prophet said, "If I had not +embraced it, it would have continued to +groan until the day of the resurrection."'</p> + +<p>After faithfully performing all the observances +prescribed for the pilgrim to +Mecca, Ibn Batuta left that city and returned +to Medineh. He then crossed +the Arabian peninsula in a north-eastern +direction, to the city of Meshed Ali, +near the Euphrates, and thence descended +that river to Bassora. Here he +gives us two amusing anecdotes, which +reflectively illustrate his shrewdness and +the sturdiness with which he maintained +his religious views. 'The inhabitants of +Bassora,' says he, 'are gifted with a generous + +character. They are familiar with +strangers, rendering them that which is +their due, in such a manner that no one +finds a sojourn among them tiresome. +They make their Sunday prayers in the +mosque of the Prince of Believers, Ali. +I once attended the prayers in this +mosque; and when the preacher arose +and began to recite the sermon, he made +numerous and evident faults. I was +surprised thereat, and spoke of it to the +judge Hodjat-ed-deen, who answered, +"In this city, there is no longer an individual +who has any knowledge of grammar." +This is an instruction for whoever +reflects thereon, and let us praise +God, who changes things and reverses +the face of affairs! In fact, this city of +Bassora, the inhabitants whereof had obtained +preėminence in grammar, which +there had its origin and received its development,—this +city, which gave to the +world the master of this noble science, +whose priority no one contests,—does +not now possess a single preacher who +pronounces the Sunday sermon according +to grammatical rules!</p> + +<p>'The mosque has seven minarets, one +of which, according to the belief of the +inhabitants, shakes whenever the name +of Ali, son of Abou Talib, is invoked. I +ascended to the terrace (roof) of this +mosque, accompanied by one of the men +of Bassora. There I saw, at one of the +corners, a piece of wood nailed to the +minaret, and resembling the handle of a +mason's trowel. He who was with me +took hold of it, saying, "By the head of +the prince of believers, Ali, shake thyself!" +Therewith he shook the handle, +and the minaret trembled. In turn, I +placed my hand upon it, and I said to +the man, "And <em>I</em> say, by the head of +Abou Bekr, successor to the Ambassador +of God, shake thyself!" Therewith I +shook the handle, and the minaret trembled +as before. The people were very +much astonished.' The amanuensis, Ibn +Djozay, here interpolates the following +remark: 'I have seen, in a town in the +valley of Almansura, in Spain,—which +may God defend!—a tower which shakes +without the name of a caliph, or anybody +else, being mentioned.'</p> + +<p>At the city of Idhedj, in Irak, then +the capital of one of the many Mongol +sultans who at that time reigned in +southern Persia, Ibn Batuta gives another +proof of his boldness. Calling upon +the Sultan Afrasiab, who was notorious +for his drunken and dissolute habits, +the traveler found him seated upon a +divan, with two covered vases—one of +gold and one of silver—before him. A +green carpet was brought and placed +near him, upon which the traveler was +invited to take his seat, after which the +sultan asked him many questions concerning +his travels. 'It seemed to me, +however,' says Ibn Batuta, 'that he was +quite intoxicated, for I had been previously +apprized of his habit of giving himself +up to drink. Finally, he said to me +in Arabic, which he spoke with elegance. +"Speak!" I said to him, "If thou +wouldst listen to me, I would say to thee—Thou +art one of the children of Sultan +Ahmed, celebrated for his piety and +devotion; there is no cause of reproach +to thee, in thy manner of life, except + +<em>that</em>!" and I pointed with my finger to +the two vases. These words covered +him with shame, and he was silent. I +wished to withdraw, but he ordered me +to keep my seat, and said, "It is a mark +of the Divine mercy to meet with such +as thou!" Afterwards, seeing that he +swayed from side to side, and desired to +sleep, I left him. I had placed my sandals +at the door, and could not find them +again. The Fakir Fadhill sought for +them in the hall, and at last brought +them to me. His kindness embarrassed +me, and I made apologies. Thereupon +he kissed my sandals, placed them upon +his head, in token of respect, and said to +me, "May God bless thee! What thou +hast said to our sultan, nobody else would +have dared to say. I hope it will make +an impression on him!"'</p> + +<p>Continuing his journey to Ispahan and +Shiraz, he gives us, as usual, conscientious +accounts of the mosques, priests, +and holy men, but no hint whatever as + +to his manner of travel, or the character +of the country through which he passed. +This portion of his work, however, contains +many interesting historical fragments, +relating to the reigns of the Mongol +sultans of Persia, and the dissensions +between the two Moslem sects. After a +stay of some length at Shiraz, he returned +through Irak to the celebrated +city of Cufa, and thence to Bagdad, +which was then the residence of a simple +Mongol prince. Here he describes at +length the mosques, colleges, mausoleums +and baths, while Ibn Djozay takes +occasion to introduce his favorite quotations +from the poets. The reader, we +think, will find the following more picturesque +than the somewhat formal descriptions +of Ibn Batuta:—</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'Yea, Bagdad is a spacious place for him who's gold, to spend,</p> +<p class="l">But for the poor it is the house of suffering without end:</p> +<p class="l">I wander idly through its streets, as lost us if I were</p> +<p class="l">A Koran in an atheist's house, which hath no welcome there.'</p> + +<p class="l">'A sigh, a sigh for Bagdad, a sigh for Irak's land!</p> +<p class="l">For all its lovely peacocks, and the splendors they expand:</p> +<p class="l">They walk beside the Tigris, and the looks they turn on me</p> +<p class="l">Shine o'er the jeweled necklace, like moons above the sea!'</p> +</div> + + +<p>Our traveler, also, was the forerunner +of Layard. In visiting Mosul, he writes: +'Near this place one sees the hill of Jonah, +upon whom be blessing! and a mile +distant from it the fountain which bears +his name. It is said that he commanded +the people to purify themselves there; +that afterwards they ascended the aforesaid +hill; that he prayed, and they also, +in such manner that God turned the +chastisement from their heads. In the +neighborhood is a great ruin, and the +people pretend that it is the remains of +the city known under the name of Nineveh, +the city of Jonah. One perceives +the vestiges of the wall which surrounded +it, as well as the situation of its gates. +On the hill stands a large edifice, and +a monastery, which contains numerous +cells, apartments, places of purification, +and fountains, all closed by a single gate. +In the middle of the monastery one sees +a cell with a silken curtain, and a door +encrusted with gold and precious stones. +This, they say, is the spot where Jonah +dwelt; and they add that the choir of the +mosque attached to the monastery covers +the cell in which he prayed to God.'</p> + +<p>Returning to Bagdad, Ibn Batuta +crossed the Arabian Desert a second +time, and took up his residence in Mecca +for the space of three years. His account +of the voyage along the eastern +coast of Africa, as far south as Quiloa, is +brief and uninteresting; but on his return +he visited Oman, of which province +he gives us the first authentic account. +From the Pearl Islands in the Persian +Gulf, he bent his way once more across +Arabia to Mecca, whence he crossed the +Red Sea to the Nubian coast, and descended +the Nile to Cairo. I shall omit +his subsequent journeys through Syria +and Asia Minor, although they contain +many amusing and picturesque incidents, +and turn, instead, to his adventures in +Kipchak (Southern Russia), which was +then governed by a sultan descended in +a direct line from Genghis Khan. Embarking +at Sinope, he crossed the Black +Sea to Caffa, in the Crimea, which was +at that time a Genoese city. Here a +singular circumstance occurred:—</p> + +<p>'We lodged in the mosque of the +Mussulmans. After we had been resting +there about an hour, we suddenly +heard the sound of bells resounding on +all sides. I had then never heard such +a sound; I was extremely terrified, and +ordered my companions to ascend the +minaret, read the Koran, praise God, +and recite the call to prayer,—which +they did. We now perceived a man +who had approached us: he was armed, +and wore a cuirass. He saluted us, and +we begged him to inform us who he was. +He gave us to understand that he was +the Kadi of the Mussulmans of the place, +and added: "When I heard the reading +of the Koran and the call to prayers, I +trembled for your safety, and therefore +came to seek you." Then he departed; +but, nevertheless, we received nothing +but good treatment.'</p> + + + +<p>From Caffa, Ibn Eatuta traveled in +a chariot to Azof, near which place he +found the camp of the Sultan Mohammed +Uzbek Khan, of whose court he gives a +very circumstantial description. He also +devotes considerable space to an account +of their manner of keeping the fast of +Ramadan. The favorite wife of the sultan +was a daughter of the Greek emperor, +who at the time of the traveler's +visit was preparing to set out for Constantinople, +in order that her expected +child might be born in the palace of her +fathers. 'I prayed the sultan,' says Ibn +Batuta, 'to permit me to journey in +company with the princess, in order +that I might behold Constantinople the +Great. He at first refused, out of fear +for my safety, but I solicited him, saying, +"I will not enter Constantinople +except under thy protection and thy +patronage, and therefore I will fear no +one." He then gave me permission to +depart, making me a present of fifteen +hundred ducats, a robe of honor, and a +great number of horses.'</p> + +<p>The journey to Constantinople was +made entirely by land, and consumed +more than two months. It is rather difficult +to locate the precise route traversed +by the caravan, except that it +must have skirted the shore of the Black +Sea; for I find mention of three great +canals, which must refer to the three +arms of the Danube. At the frontier of +the Greek empire, they were received +by the brothers of the princess, with a +mounted guard. Ibn Batuta's chronology +is a little confused, and we can only +guess that the reigning emperor at that +time was Andronicus H. Palęologus. +The description of the entry into Constantinople, +and the interview with the +emperor, are among the most curious +and interesting passages in the work.</p> + +<p>'We encamped at the distance of ten +miles from Constantinople, and on the +following morning the population of the +city came forth—men, women, and +children, on foot and on horseback, in +their most beautiful costumes and most +magnificent vestments. From daybreak +the cymbals, clarions, and trumpets +sounded; the soldiers mounted their +horses, and the emperor, with his wife, +the mother of the princess, the great +men of the empire, and the courtiers, +issued from the city. Over the head of +the emperor there was a canopy, carried +by a certain number of cavaliers +and foot-soldiers, holding in their hands +long staves, terminated at the top by a +sort of leather ball, with which they upheld +the canopy. In the centre thereof +was a dais, supported on staves by the +cavaliers. When the emperor had advanced, +the troops mixed together, and +the noise became great. I was not able +to penetrate into the middle of the +crowd, and remained near the baggage +of the princess and her companions, fearing +for my safety. It was related to me +that when the princess approached her +parents, she alighted and kissed the +ground before them; then she kissed +their shoes, and her principal officers did +the same. Our entry into Constantinople +the Great took place towards noon, +or a little after. Meanwhile the inhabitants +caused the bells to sound, in such +measure that the heavens were shattered +with the mixed uproar of their noise.</p> + +<p>'When we had arrived at the outer +gate of the palace, we there found about +a hundred men, accompanied by their +chief, who was stationed on a platform. +I heard them saying, "The Saracens, +the Saracens"—a term by which they +designate the Mussulmans,—and they +prevented us from entering. The companions +of the princess said to them. +"These people belong to our suite;" but +they answered, "They shall not enter +here without permission." We therefore +waited at the gate, and one of the officers +sent some one to inform her of this incident. +She was then with her father, to +whom she spoke concerning us. The +emperor ordered us to be admitted, and +assigned us a house near that of the +princess. Furthermore, he wrote, in our +favor, an order prohibiting any one from +interrupting us in whatever part of the +city we might go, and this was proclaimed +in the markets. We remained +three days in our residence, whither they + +sent us provisions, namely, flour, bread, +sheep, fowls, butter, fish and fruits, also +money and carpets.</p> + +<p>'On the fourth day after our arrival +at Constantinople the princess sent to +me the eunuch Sunbul, the Indian, who +took me by the hand and conducted me +into the palace. We passed four gates, +near each one of which were benches, +with armed men, the captain occupying +a raised platform covered with carpets. +When we had reached the fifth gate, the +eunuch Sunbul left me and entered; then +he returned, accompanied by four Greek +eunuchs. These latter searched me, for +fear lest I might have a knife about me. +The chief said to me, "Such is their +custom; we can not dispense with a minute +examination of whoever approaches +the emperor, whether a high personage +or one of the people, a stranger or a native." +This is also the custom in India.</p> + +<p>'After I had submitted to this examination, +the guardian of the gate arose, +took my hand, and opened. Four individuals +surrounded me, two of whom +took hold of my sleeves, while the other +two held me from behind. They conducted +me into a grand audience-hall, +the walls of which were in mosaic; the +figures of natural productions, whether +animal or mineral, were there represented. +In the middle of the hall there +was a brook, both banks of which were +bordered with trees; men stood on the +right and on the left, but no one spoke. +In the centre of the hall of reception +stood three other men, to whom my four +conductors confided me, and who took +me by the garments as the first had +done. Another individual having made +a sign to them, they advanced with me. +One of them, who was a Jew, said to +me in Arabic, "Fear not; it is their custom +to act thus towards strangers. I am +the interpreter, and am a native of +Syria." I demanded of him what salutation +I ought to make, and he replied, +"Say—May blessing be upon you!"</p> + +<p>'I arrived, finally, at the grand dais, +where I beheld the emperor seated on +his throne, having before him his wife, +the mother of the princess. The latter, +with her brothers, were stationed at the +foot of the throne. At the right of the +sovereign there were six men, four at his +left, and as many behind him; all were +armed. Before allowing me to salute +him, or to approach nearer to him, he +made me a sign that I should sit down +for a moment, in order to recover from +my fear. I did so, after which I advanced +nearer, and saluted him. He +invited me, by a gesture, to sit, but I +did not comply. Then he questioned +me on the subject of Jerusalem, the +blessed rock (of Jacob), the holy sepulchre, +and the cradle of Jesus, Bethlehem +and Hebron, Damascus and Cairo, Irak +and Asia Minor. I replied to all his +demands, the Jew performing the office +of interpreter between us. My words +pleased him, and he said to his children, +"Treat this man with consideration, and +protect him!" Then he caused me to +be clothed with a robe of honor, and assigned +to me a horse, saddled and bridled, +as well as an umbrella from among those +which were carried over his own head—which +was a mark of protection. I +prayed him to designate some one who +should ride with me each day through +the city, in order that I might behold its +rarities and marvels, and speak of them +in my own country. He granted my +desire. One of the customs of this people +is, that the individual who receives +a robe of honor from the emperor, and +mounts a horse from his stables, must be +conducted through the squares of the +city, to the sound of trumpets, clarions +and cymbals, so that the population may +behold him. This is oftenest done with +those Turks who come from the dominions +of the Uzbek sultan, in order that +they may suffer no annoyance. I was +conducted through the markets in the +same manner.'</p> + +<p>But the autumn night is closing in, and +we must shut up the volume. We can +not, to-day, follow the brave old traveler +through all the vicissitudes of his long +pilgrimage. He allows us to perceive +much that he does not tell us outright, +and it is a satisfaction to learn, from his +pages, that if society were less ordered, + +secure, and externally proper five hundred +years ago, individual generosity +and magnanimity were more marked, and +the good in the human race, as now, +overbalanced the evil. One more story +Ibn Batuta must tell us, before we take +leave of him,—one story, which must +warm every heart which can appreciate +that rarest of virtues, tolerance. The +father of the Greek emperor was still +living, having abdicated the crown in +favor of his son Andronicus, and become +a monk. The Moslem traveler thus describes +his interview with the old Christian monarch:—</p> + +<p>'I was one day in company with the +Greek who was appointed to ride with +me through the city, when we suddenly +encountered the old emperor, walking on +foot, clothed in hair garments, and with +a felt cap on his head. He had a long +white beard and a noble face, which +presented traces of the pious practices +whereto his life was devoted. Before +and behind him walked a troop of +monks. He held a staff in his hand, +and had a rosary about his neck. When +the Greek beheld him, he alighted, and +said to me, "Dismount; it is the father +of the emperor." When the Greek had +saluted him, he demanded who I was, +then stopped, and summoned me to him. +I approached; he took my hand, and +said to the Greek, who knew the Arabic +language,—"Say to this Saracen (that +is to say, Mussulman), that I press the +hand which has entered Jerusalem, and +the foot which has walked by the Holy +Rock, and the Holy Sepulchre, and in +Bethlehem," Having spoken, he placed +his hand on my feet, and then passed it +over his own face. I was amazed at the +respect which these people exhibit towards +an individual of another religion +than their own, who has visited the holy +places. The old emperor then took me +by the hand, and I walked along with +him. He questioned me on the subject +of Jerusalem and the Christians who +dwell there. In his company I entered +the consecrated ground belonging to the +church. As he approached the principal +gate, a crowd of priests and monks +issued to salute him, for he was now one +of their chiefs. When he saw them, he +let go of my hand, and I said to him, "I +desire to enter the church with thee." +He said to the interpreter, "Inform +him that whoever enters is absolutely +obliged to prostrate himself before the +principal crucifix. It is a thing prescribed +by the Fathers, and can not be +transgressed." I then left him, he entered +alone, and I never saw him again.'</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> + +<a name="toc_10"></a> +<h2>The Late Lord Chancellor Campbell.</h2> + + +<p>It is worthy of note that the English +statesmen of the present century have +mostly originated in two totally distinct +ranks of society. They have either been +the scions of noble and powerful families; +or they have arisen, in spite of circumstance, +from humble parents, by the +sole recommendation of personal worth. +Of the great middle class, the class which +is certainly the most respectable of the +English community, and which is at +present the controlling power in the +state, but few have recently attained +great eminence. That the titled and +wealthy should advance to power and +influence in a government peculiarly influenced +by such recommendations, is not +strange. Any son of a great English +house, who has ambition, and a reasonable +share of brains, may attain, with +comparative ease, eminence in the state. +An apt example is Lord Russell, who, +with but little genius, with no oratorical +force, and hardly more than medium capacity + +as a statesman, has become the +leader of the predominant party, by dint +of shrewdness, a persevering spirit, and +ambition, backed by the powerful influence +of the noble house of Bedford. +And that the master-spirits born in poverty +should shake off the incubus of +humble birth, and advance to a level +with the noblest, is not so unnatural or +improbable but that the history of every +nation affords us abundant examples of +such men; while the middle class, who +are neither stimulated by the calls of +penury, nor pushed forward by hereditary +interest, naturally retain a contented +mediocrity of renown and honor.</p> + +<p>If any of our readers have visited the +House of Lords within the past two years, +they doubtless had their attention directed +to the venerable statesman who for +that period has occupied, with eminent +dignity and grace, the office of chairman +to that body, and whose recent decease +has been noticed with such profound +regret in British journals. On inquiry, +they doubtless learned that this was +Lord Chancellor Campbell. He had +risen from the lowest drudgery to the +highest eminence of the legal profession. +By the prolific arts of perseverance and +industry, he had scaled each successive +round in the ladder of promotion, until +now, in his declining years, with accumulated +honor and respect, he had thus +reached the summit, taking precedence +after the Archbishop of Canterbury, +holding the great seal, and presiding +over the peers of the realm.</p> + +<p>He was one of those rare examples of +unconquerable pluck, who have mastered +the prejudice of wealth and power, +and to whom has been yielded a position +envied by the most worthy descendants +of the most illustrious nobles. In America, +where public distinction is within +the reach of all, it is difficult to conceive +of the restraints which beset the humble +aspirant in the old country. But +notwithstanding such obstacles, the examples +of such men as Eldon, Stowell, +Truro, St. Leonards, Ashburton, Canning, +and Campbell exhibit the gratifying +fact, that hereditary power or wealth +can not bide the dignity of great genius; +that greatness will thrust aside the lesser +privilege of worldly circumstance, +whether it be born in a palace or a cottage; +and that you can no more control +the operation of a superior mind by the +vanities of title and lucre, than you can +subordinate truth to error, or eternity +to time. The glittering train of peers +and nabobs who followed in the path of +the great Elizabeth lie forgotten under +the stately arches of the old cathedrals; +while the poverty-stricken player, William +Shakspeare, has adorned every library +with his name, and reigns in every +appreciative heart, as a perfect master of +nature and lofty thought. The names +of the brilliant court which welcomed +George the Third to the throne of the +Plantagenets no longer linger on the +lips of men; while every household boasts +its 'Rasselas,' and the civilized world +holds sacred the memory of the illustrious + +'Rambler.'</p> + +<p>John Campbell was born in 1781, +and was the son of an obscure Scotch +clergyman. His father destined him for +the clergy; in consequence of which he +was sent to the University of St. Andrews, +where he met the great Dr. Chalmers, +then a student like himself. But +young Campbell became averse to the +profession which had been chosen for him, +and soon turned his attention to the law. +Soon after graduation, he betook himself +to London, where he studied with great +zeal, meanwhile supplying his wants by +acting as the theatrical critic of the +'<em>Morning Chronicle</em>.' There, seated in +an obscure corner of the pit or upper +gallery, we may imagine the Chancellor +in embryo, jotting down the petty excellences +and failings of the players, to +pamper the taste of the frivolous on the +morrow; while below him, in the decorated +boxes and circles, lolled the vain +crowd of coroneted simpletons and courtly +beauties, now long forgotten, while +he is honored as the benefactor of his +country's laws. He was called to the +bar by the Society of Lincoln's Inn, and +then commenced a long life, replete with +arduous study, with untiring interest in + +duty, and stubborn perseverance. He +early espoused the liberal doctrines of +Fox and Grey; and inasmuch as for +many years after the Tories monopolized +the power, his politics were an +effectual bar to his professional preferment. +He remained, however, through +his whole life, an earnest and consistent +advocate of his early convictions. Owing +to the prejudice which Lord Chancellor +Eldon entertained against the +Whigs, he did not obtain the silk gown +of King's Counsel till the venerable +Jacobite gave place, in 1827, to the more +courteous and liberal Lyndhurst.</p> + +<p>He entered the House of Commons in +the year 1830, and was soon recognized +as one of the leading members of the +British bar. The period of his debut +in public life is one of peculiar significance +in the party history of England. +The long dominion of the statesmen of +the Pitt, and Liverpool school was at +last overthrown. The political dogmas +which had resisted Catholic toleration, +which had sustained the continental powers +in their persecution of the French +Emperor, which had resisted the right +of a neighboring people to choose their +own rulers, which had held in imprisonment +the first genius of the century, +which had opposed the abolition of the +test act, which had sustained the most +licentious and most obstinate sovereign +of modern times, now yielded to the +more enlightened views of such statesmen +as Russell and Lansdowne, Brougham +and Grey. Several causes operated +to bring about this auspicious change. +George the Fourth, whose partiality for +the Tories was only surpassed by his +animosity against the Whigs, had given +place to a liberal and enlightened +prince, renowned for his zealous attachment +to the popular weal. Again, Canning's +influence in moderating the maxims +of Tory theorists was greatly felt +among the gentry. Finally, the rapid +growth of general intelligence, developments +in the history of nations, and juster +conceptions of the true relations of sovereign +and people, prepared the public +mind for extensive reforms in the +constitution. Earl Grey, a statesman +eminent no less for his eloquence and +sagacity than for the worth of his private +character, succeeded to the premiership +in 1830, being the first Whig who +held that office since the cabinet of 'all +the talents,' in 1806.</p> + +<p>It was at such a juncture that Campbell +entered the House of Commons. +The sanguine dreams of his youth were +dawning into reality; and he was gratified +to see his cherished principles fully +adopted by the country, and to know +that he was a participant in the glories +of the great reform.</p> + +<p>In 1832, when he had been a member +of the House but two years, and a King's +Counsel but five years, and in the same +year that the reform of Russell and +Grey received the royal sign-manual, he +was elevated to the dignity of Solicitor +General. No one of the long line of +his illustrious predecessors brought to +the discharge of this eminent trust greater +learning and acuteness than Lord +Campbell evinced; who, at the same +time of this appointment, was honored +with the order of Knighthood. In 1834, +after serving as solicitor with the marked +approbation of the government, he +was promoted to the Attorney Generalship.</p> + +<p>He now re-entered Parliament as the +representative of the capital of his native +Scotland, and became a leader in +debate and the transaction of the public +business. He continued Attorney General +through the conservative ministry +of Sir Robert Peel, and the subsequent +Whig government of Lord Melbourne. +In 1841, he held for a brief period the +Chancellorship of Ireland; being at the +same time elevated to the rank of a peer +of England, with the title of John, first +Lord Campbell. He retired from office +when Sir Robert Peel returned to power +in the autumn of 1841, and turned his +thoughts to the gentle and graceful pursuit +of literature. The first production +of his pen was the 'Lives of the Lord +Chancellors,' from the earliest times to +the close of Lord Eldon's Chancellorship, +in 1827. For the spirited interest of its + +style, the clear and precise detail of fact, +and the simple yet elegant course of its +manner, it is surpassed by no work of +the present century. It is regarded by +eminent critics as a masterpiece of biography, +and may justly rank with the first +books of that character in the English +tongue. It has probably been as serviceable +to perpetuate the name of the author, +if not more so, than the numerous +profound and equitable decisions which +he has left on the records of the Courts +of King's Bench and Chancery.</p> + +<p>It was soon followed by 'The Lives of +the Chief Justices of England,' which +only enhanced the reputation of the +former work; and we would heartily +recommend both of these books to the +perusal of all who are interested, either +professionally or as a matter of taste, in +this branch of literature, as a deeply interesting +as well as instructive entertainment.</p> + +<p>In 1846, Lord John Russell assumed +office, and Lord Campbell was recalled +from the occupation which had proved +so congenial to his mind, to take a seat +in the ministry as Chancellor of the +Duchy of Lancaster. While he held +this position, he was a frequent and +popular debater in the House of Peers, +where he zealously defended the policy +of the government. In 1850, Lord Chief +Justice Denman retired from the King's +Bench, ripe in years and in honorable +renown, and Lord Campbell was at once +designated as his successor. In this exalted +place, he was removed from the +harassing uncertainties of political life; +and he continued for nine years to administer +justice with promptitude, skill, +and equity.</p> + +<p>It was while Chief Justice that he became +eminent for the great light he +brought to bear upon many important +and intricate questions of law; and his +fame may be said to rest mainly upon +the profound ability with which he exercised +the functions of this trust. In 1859, +when Lord Palmerston succeeded to the +brief administration of Lord Derby, Lord +Campbell was finally raised to the summit +of his profession. He was the fourth +Scotchman who has been Lord Chancellor +within the century, and is a worthy +compeer of such men as Loughborough, +Erskine, and Brougham. The long years +of unremitting toil were at length crowned +with glorious success; and the great +man died in the midst of duty, affluence, +honor and power, while enjoying the +prerogatives of the highest judicial trust, +during the summer of the past year.</p> + +<p>Whether we consider him as a lawyer, +statesman, author, or man, his character +appears in a most amiable light. Profound +without pedantry, subtle without +craft, zealous without bigotry, and humane +without effeminacy, he lived a philanthropic, +pure, and consistent life. His +highest eulogium is that he lived and +died in the service of his country; that +through every vicissitude his chief care +was the national weal; that his chief +fame rests in the love and veneration +which he awakened in his countrymen; +and that few Englishmen of the present +century have left more enduring monuments +of public wisdom and private example.</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'O, civic music, to such a name,</p> +<p class="l">To such a name for ages long,</p> +<p class="l">To such a name,</p> + +<p class="l">Preserve the broad approach of fame,</p> +<p class="l">And ever ringing avenues of song.'</p> +</div> +</div> + + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_11"></a> +<h2>Child's Call At Eventide.</h2> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l"> Bright and fair,—</p> +<p class="l"> Golden hair,</p> +<p class="l">Still white hands and face;</p> +<p class="l"> Not a plea</p> +<p class="l"> Moveth thee;</p> +<p class="l">Nor the wind's wild chase,</p> + +<p class="l"> As yesterday, calling thee,</p> +<p class="l">Even as I, in vain.</p> +<p class="l"> Come—wake up, Gerda!</p> +<p class="l">Come out and play in the lane!</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l"> See! the wind,</p> + +<p class="l"> From behind,</p> +<p class="l">Sporteth with thy locks,</p> +<p class="l"> From the land's</p> +<p class="l"> Desert sands</p> +<p class="l">And the sea-beat rocks</p> +<p class="l"> Cometh and claspeth thy hands,</p> + +<p class="l">Even as I, in vain.</p> +<p class="l"> Come—wake up, Gerda!</p> +<p class="l">Come out and play in the lane!</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l"> Closed thine eyes,</p> +<p class="l"> Gently wise,</p> + +<p class="l">Dost thou dream the while?</p> +<p class="l"> Falls my kiss</p> +<p class="l"> All amiss,</p> +<p class="l">Waketh not a smile!</p> +<p class="l"> Sweet mouth, is't feigning this?</p> +<p class="l">Then do not longer feign.</p> +<p class="l"> Come—wake up, Gerda!</p> + +<p class="l">Come out and play in the lane!</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l"> Forehead Bold,</p> +<p class="l"> White and cold;</p> +<p class="l">Sealed thy lips and all;</p> +<p class="l"> I am made</p> +<p class="l"> Half afraid</p> + +<p class="l">In this lonely hall.</p> +<p class="l"> Night cometh quick through the glade!</p> +<p class="l">I fear it is all in vain,—</p> +<p class="l"> All too late, Gerda,—</p> +<p class="l">Too late to play in the lane!</p> +</div> +</div> + + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_12"></a> +<h2>The Good Wife: A Norwegian Story.</h2> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_13"></a> +<h3>Part I.—Nothing Lost By Good Humor</h3> + + +<p>For more than a month I had been +ransacking my memory in search of some +story or narrative to offer our readers, +but with rather poor success. I thought +of all the good things I had ever heard, +and tumbled and tossed my books in +vain—nothing could I find that was +suitable for either children or parents. +So I was, very reluctantly, about to abandon +the enterprise, when it chanced that, +being unable to compose myself to sleep, +a few nights since, I took up, according +to my custom on such occasions, an old +copy of Montaigne, the usual companion +of my vigils, the fellow-occupant of my +pillow, and the only moralist whose musings +one can read with pleasure on the +wrong side of forty.</p> + +<p>I opened the <em>Essays</em> carelessly, for +each and every page of them is precious +and replete with themes for meditation. +In so doing, I alighted upon the chapter +entitled, 'Of three Good Women,'—which +commences thus: 'They are not +to be found by the dozen, as every one +knows, and especially not in the duties +of married life, for that is a market full +of such thorny circumstances that it is no +easy matter for a woman's will to keep +whole and sound in it for any length of +time.'</p> + +<p>'Montaigne is an impertinent fellow!' +I exclaimed, slamming to the book. +'What? this close reader of antiquity, +this fine analyst of the human heart, has +been able to find only three good women, +only three devoted wives, in all the +Greek and Roman annals! This is playing +the joker out of season. Goodness +is the special attribute of woman. Every +married woman is good, or supposed to +be such. I bethink me, too, that our old +jurists always make the law presume this +goodness to exist, at the outset,'</p> + +<p>Thus meditating, I wandered into my +library, and there took up a fine old volume, +bound in red morocco, and entitled +'The Dream of Vergier;' a book full of +wisdom and logic, and written by some +venerable clerk, during the reign of +Charles V., king of France. I looked +for the page that had struck my fancy, +but—alas! how oddly one's memory +changes with the lapse of years—instead +of finding, in that grave old book, +the just panegyric of woman's goodness, +I discovered, to my great surprise, only +a violent satire all spiced with texts borrowed +from St. Augustine, the Roman +laws and the ancient canons, with this +sage conclusion, full worthy of the exordium:—</p> + +<p>'I do not say, however, that there is +no good woman at all, but the species +is rare; and hence an old law says that +no <em>law concerning good women</em> should +be made, for that laws are to be made +concerning things of usual occurrence, +as it is written in <em>Auth. sinc prohib</em>., +etc., <em>quia vero</em> and L. <em>Nam ad ca</em>, Dig. + +<em>De Leffibus</em>.'</p> + +<p>These juridical epigrams, these cool +pleasantries, in a serious book, shocked +me more than even the hard hits of the +Gascon philosopher. 'Good women,' I +thought to myself, 'are found everywhere. +In history? No; history is +written by men who love and admire +heroes only, that is to say, those who rob, +subjugate, or slay them. In theology? +No; it has not yet forgiven the daughters +of Eve the fault which ruined us,—a +sin of which they have retained at +least a little share. In the records of the +law, then? No, again; for men make +the laws. Woman is, in their eyes, +nothing but a minor, legally incapable +of governing herself. God only knows +what is, here, as in all things, the difference +between the fact and the law. +Are these good women to be found in +plays, romances, or novels? No, still; +for they are but the perpetual recital of + +feminine artfulness. Where, then, shall +we look for good women?—In the realm +of fable and fiction, in the kingdom of +fancy—the dominion of the ideal.</p> + +<p>These are the only regions in which +merit holds the place it is entitled to or +justice is done to the claims of virtue. +What is the tenderness of Baucis, or the +long fidelity of Penelope? Fiction only. +And the resignation of the gentle Griseldis—what +is it? An old tale of other +days. In order to find the good woman +we are looking for, this is the ivory portal +at which we must knock.</p> + +<p>Acting upon this conviction, I reperused +all the old traditions, I called to +my aid that peculiar lore of nations which +is embodied in their legends, and which +is so vividly, so amiably, and so ingenuously +expressed. I interrogated the +story-tellers of every country, Indian, +Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Chinese, Italian, +Spanish, French, German, English, +Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, +Russian, Lithuanian, and even the hoary +old wayside narrators of the far Thibet. +I plunged into this ocean of fancy with +the recklessness of an accomplished diver, +but,—must I acknowledge it?—less fortunate +than even Montaigne with his history, +I have succeeded in bringing back +only one woman that I can call really +good, and her I have had to disinter from +under the ice and snows of the North, in +a wild country, too, and among a people +who are not so delicate and refined as +though Paris were in Norway. From +Cadiz to Stockholm, from London to +Cairo and Delhi, from Paris to Teheran +and Samarcand, if the stories are to be +believed, there are artful girls and scheming +mothers, in any quantity; but the +<em>good woman</em>!—where does she lie hid, +and why do they never tell us anything +about her? Here is a hiatus to which I +specially call the attention of the learned. +In observing it myself, I feel the +more emboldened to relate the story of +the only good woman and wife I have +unearthed. It is a simple narrative, and +not thoroughly in accordance with every-day +experience, and, indeed, there may +be some squeamish people who will say +that it is ridiculous. No matter—it has +one good quality which no one can dispute—it +is not in the ordinary style of +either adventure or narration. Novelty +is all the rage at the present day, and +what imparts value to things is not their +intrinsic merit, but their strangeness.</p> + +<p>Here, then, is my story presented to +you, kind reader, just as Messrs. Asbjoernsen +and Moe give it, in their curious +collection of Norwegian tales and +legends.</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_14"></a> + +<h3>Part II.—Gudbrand And His Wife.</h3> + + +<p>There was once a man called Gudbrand, +who lived in a lonely little farm-house +on a remote hillside. From this +circumstance he got the name among his +neighbors of Gudbrand of the Hill.</p> + +<p>Now, you must know that Gudbrand +had an excellent wife, as sometimes happens +to a man. But the rarest thing +about it was, that Gudbrand knew the +value of such a treasure; and so the two +lived in perfect harmony, enjoying their +own happiness, and giving themselves no +concern about either wealth or the lapse +of years. No matter what Gudbrand +might do, his wife had foreseen and desired +that very thing; so that her good +man could not touch or change or move +anything about the house without her +coming forward to thank him for having +divined and forestalled her wishes.</p> + +<p>Besides, it was easy for them to get +along, since the farm belonged to them, +and they had a hundred solid crowns in +a drawer of their closet and two excellent +cows in their stable. They lacked +nothing, and could quietly pass their old +age without fear of poverty or toil, and +without having to look to the friendship +or the commiseration of any of their fellow-creatures.</p> + +<p>One evening, while they were talking +over their various little tasks and projects, +says the wife of Gudbrand to her +husband,—</p> + +<p>'Husband, I've got a new notion in +my head: you must take one of our cows +to town and sell her. We'll keep the +other, and she'll be quite enough to furnish + +us with all the milk and butter we +can use. Why should we toil for other +people? We've money lying in the +drawer, and have no children to look after. +So, wouldn't it be better to spare +these arms of ours, now that they are +growing old? You will always find +something to occupy your time about the +house;—there'll be no lack of furniture +and things to mend, and I'll be more +than ever beside you with my distaff and +my knitting-needles.'</p> + +<p>Gudbrand bethought him that his wife +was right, as usual, and so, as the next +morning was a beautiful one, he set off +for the town, at an early hour, with the +cow he wanted to sell. But it was not +market day, and he found no purchaser +to take the animal off his hands.</p> + +<p>'Well! well!' said Gudbrand, 'at all +events, I can take Sukey back to the +place I brought her from; I've got hay +and litter in plenty, there, for the poor +brute, and it's no farther returning than +it was coming hither.' Whereupon, he +very quietly started again on the road to +his home.</p> + +<p>After walking on for a few hours, and +just as he was beginning to feel a little +tired, he met a man leading a horse by +the bridle toward the town. The horse +was in fine condition, and was all saddled +and ready for a rider. 'The way is long +and night rapidly coming on,' thought +Gudbrand. 'I can hardly drag my cow +along, and to-morrow I'll have to take +this same walk over again. Now, here's +an animal that would suit me a great +deal better, and I'd go back home with +him, as proud as a lord. Who would be +delighted to see her husband returning +in triumph, like a Roman general? +Why, the wife of Gudbrand!'</p> + +<p>Upon this happy thought, Gudbrand +stopped the trader and exchanged his +cow for the horse.</p> + +<p>Once mounted on the charger's back, +our hero felt some qualms of regret, for +he was old and heavy, while the horse +was young, frisky, and headstrong, so +that, in less than half an hour, behold, +our would-be cavalier was on foot again, +vainly striving to drag along by the bridle +a creature that cocked up his head +at every puff of wind, and capered and +pranced at every stone that lay in his +path.</p> + +<p>'This is a poor bargain I've made,' +thought Gudbrand, when, just at that +moment, he descried a peasant driving +along a hog so fine and fat that its stomach +touched the ground.</p> + +<p>'A nail that is useful is better than a +diamond that glitters and can be turned +to nothing, as my wife often says,' reflected +Gudbrand; and, with that, he +traded off his horse for the hog.</p> + +<p>It was a bright idea to be sure, but +our good man had counted without +his host. Don Porker was tired, and +wouldn't budge an inch. Gudbrand +talked to him, coaxed him, swore at him, +but all in vain; he dragged him by the +snout, he pushed him from behind, he +whacked him on both his fat sides with +a cudgel, but it was only labor lost, and +Mr. Hog remained there in the middle +of the dusty road like a stranded whale. +The poor farmer was yielding to despair, +when, at the very nick of time, there +came along a country lad leading a she-goat, +that, with an udder all swollen with +milk, skipped, ran, and played about, in +a manner charming to behold.</p> + +<p>'There! that's the very thing I want!' + +exclaimed Gudbrand. 'I'd far rather +have that gay, sprightly creature than +this huge, stupid brute.' Whereupon, +without an instant's hesitation, he exchanged +the hog for the she-goat.</p> + +<p>All went well for another half-hour. +The young madam with her long horns +greatly amused Gudbrand, who laughed +at her pranks till his sides ached. In +fact, too, the goat pulled him along; but, +when one is on the wrong side of forty, +one soon gets tired of scrambling over +the rocks; and so the farmer, happening +to meet a shepherd feeding his flock, +traded his she-goat for a ewe. 'I'll have +just as much milk,' mused he, 'from that +animal as from the other, and, at least, +she will keep quiet, and not worry either +my wife or me.'</p> + +<p>Gudbrand was right, in one respect, +for there is nothing more gentle than a + +ewe. This one had no tricks; she neither +capered nor butted with her head, +but she stood perfectly still and bleated +all the time. Finding herself separated +from her companions, she wanted to rejoin +them, and the more Gudbrand tugged +at her tether, the more piteously she +baaed.</p> + +<p>'Deuce take the silly brute!' shouted +Gudbrand; 'she's as obstinate and whimpering +as my neighbor's wife. Who'll +rid me of this bawling, bellowing little +beast? I must get clear of her, at any +price.'</p> + +<p>'It's a bargain, if you choose, neighbor,' +said a country fellow who was just +passing, with a fat goose under his arm. +'Here, take this fine bird, instead; she's +worth two of that ugly sheep that's going +to split its throat in less than an hour, +anyhow.'</p> + +<p>'Done!' said Gudbrand; 'a live goose +is as good as a dead ewe, any day;' and +so he took the goose in exchange.</p> + +<p>But it was no easy matter to manage +his new bargain. The goose turned out +to be a very disagreeable companion; for, +finding itself no longer on the ground, it +fought with its bill, its feet, and its wings, +so that Gudbrand was soon tired of struggling +to hold it.</p> + +<p>'Pah!' growled he; 'the goose is an +ugly, ill-grained creature, and my wife +never would have one about the house.' + +With this reflection, he changed the +goose, at the first farm-house he came +to, for a fine rooster of rich plumage and +furnished with a grand pair of spurs.</p> + +<p>This time, he was thoroughly satisfied. +The rooster, it is true, squawked from +time to time, in a voice rather too hoarse +to gratify most delicate ears; but as his +claws had been tied together with twine +and he was carried head downwards, he +finally gave up and resigned himself to +his fate. The only unpleasant circumstance +now remaining was that the day +was rapidly drawing to a close. Gudbrand, +who had started before dawn, now +found himself fasting, at sundown, without +a farthing in his pocket. He still +had a long walk before him, and the +good man felt that his legs were giving +out and that his stomach craved refreshment. +Some bold step must be taken; +and so, at the first wayside tavern, Gudbrand +sold his rooster for a shilling, and +as he had a raging appetite, he spent +the last doit of it for his supper.</p> + +<p>'After all,' said he, the while, 'what +use would a rooster be to me, if I had to +die of hunger?'</p> + +<p>As he, at length, drew near his own +dwelling, however, Gudbrand began to +meditate seriously on the curious turn +things had taken with him, and, before +entering his home, he stopped at the +door of Peter the Gray beard, as a neighbor +of his was called in the surrounding +country.</p> + +<p>'Well, neighbor,' said Peter, 'how +have you prospered in the town?'</p> + +<p>'Oh! so, so,' answered Gudbrand; 'I +can't say that I've been very lucky, nor +have I much to complain of either;' +and he went on to tell all that had happened.</p> + +<p>'Neighbor, you've made a pretty mess +of it!' said Peter the Graybeard; 'you'll +have a nice time of it when you get +home. Heaven protect you from your +dame! I wouldn't be in your shoes for +ten crowns.'</p> + +<p>'Good!' rejoined Gudbrand of the +Hill; 'things might have turned out still +worse for me; but, now, I'm quiet in my +mind about it, for my wife is so clever +that, right or wrong, no matter what I've +done, well or ill, she'll not say one word +about it.'</p> + +<p>'I hear and admire your statement, +neighbor,' retorted Peter, 'but, with all +respect for you, I do not believe a word +of it.'</p> + +<p>'Will you lay a wager on it?' said +Gudbrand. 'I have a hundred crowns +in my drawer at home, and I'll bet +twenty of them against as many from +you.'</p> + +<p>'Done, on the spot!' replied Peter. +So, joining hands on it, the two friends +entered Gudbrand's house. Peter stood +back at the door to hear what the husband +and wife would have to say.</p> + +<p>'Good evening, wife!' said Gudbrand. +'Good evening, husband,' said the good + +woman; 'you've come back, then, God +be praised! How did you fare all day?'</p> + +<p>'Neither well nor ill,' replied Gudbrand. +When I got to the town, I +could find no one there to buy our cow, +and so I traded her off for a horse.'</p> + +<p>'For a horse!' said the wife. 'An +excellent idea, and I thank you with all +my heart. We can go to church, then, +in a wagon, like plenty of other folks +who look down upon us, but are no +better than we. If we choose to keep a +horse and can feed him, we have a right +to do it, I suppose, for we ask no odds +of anybody. Where is the horse? We +must put him into the stable.'</p> + +<p>'I did not bring him all the way home,' +answered Gudbrand, 'for, on the road, +I changed my mind; I exchanged the +horse for a hog.'</p> + +<p>'Come, now,' said the wife, 'that's +just what I'd have done, in your place! +Thanks, a hundred times over! Now, +when my neighbors come to see me, I'll +have, like everybody else, a bite of ham +to offer them. What need had we of a +horse? The folks around us would have +said, "See the saucy things! they think +it beneath them to walk to church." Let +us put the hog in a pen!'</p> + +<p>'I didn't bring him with me,' said +Gudbrand, 'for on the way I exchanged +him for a she-goat.'</p> + +<p>'Bravo!' said the good wife. 'What +a sensible man you are! When I come +to think of it, what could I have done +with a hog? The neighbors would have +pointed us out and have said, "Look at +those people—all they make they eat! +But, with a she-goat, I shall have milk +and cheese, not to speak of the little kids. +Come, let us put her into the stable."</p> + +<p>'I didn't bring the she-goat with me, +either,' said Gudbrand; 'I traded her +again, for a ewe.'</p> + +<p>'There! That's just like you,' exclaimed +the wife, with evident satisfaction. +'It was for my sake that you did +that. Am I young enough to scamper, +over hill and dale, after a she-goat? +No, indeed. But, a ewe will yield me +her wool as well as her milk; so let us +get her housed at once.'</p> + +<p>'I didn't bring the ewe home, either,' + +stammered Gudbrand, once more, 'but +swapped her for a goose.'</p> + +<p>'What? a goose! oh! thanks, thanks +a thousand times, with all my heart—for, +after all, how could I have got along +with the ewe? I have neither card nor +comb, and spinning is a heavy job, at +best. When you've spun, too, you have +to cut and fit and sew. It's far easier +to buy our clothes ready-made, as we've +always done. But a goose—a fat one, +too, no doubt—why, that's the very +thing I want! I've need of down for +our quilt, and my mouth has watered +this many a day for a bit of roast goose. +Put the bird in the poultry-coop.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! I've not brought the goose, for I +took a rooster in his stead.'</p> + +<p>'Good husband!' said the wife, 'you're +wiser than I would have been. A rooster! +splendid!—why, a rooster's better +than an eight-day clock. The rooster +will crow every morning, at four, and +tell us when it is time to pray to God +and set about our work. What would +we have done with a goose? I don't +know how to cook one, and as for the +quilt, Heaven be praised, there's no lack +of moss a great deal softer than down. +So, let us put the rooster in the corn-yard!'</p> + +<p>'I have not brought even the rooster,' +murmured Gudbrand, 'for, at sundown, +I felt very hungry, and had to sell my +rooster for a shilling to buy something to +eat. If it hadn't been for that I must +have starved to death.'</p> + +<p>'God be thanked for giving you that +lucky thought,' replied the wife. 'All +that you do, Gudbrand, is just after my +own heart. What need we of a rooster? +We are our own masters, I think; there +is no one to give us orders, and we can +stay in bed just as long as we please. +Here you are, my dear husband, safe +and sound. I am perfectly satisfied, and +have need of nothing more than your +presence to make me happy.'</p> + +<p>Upon this, Gudbrand opened the door;—'Well! +neighbor Peter, what do you +say to that? Go, now, and bring me +your twenty crowns!' + +So saying, Gudbrand hugged and +kissed his wife with as much fervor and +heartiness as though he and she had just +been wedded, in the bloom of youth.</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_15"></a> + +<h3>Part III.</h3> + +<p>But the narrative does not end with +the events described in the last chapter. +There is a reverse to every medal, and +even daylight would not be so charming +were it not followed by night. However +good and perfect woman may, generally, +be, there are some who by no means +share the easy disposition of Gudbrand's +better half. Need I say that the fault +is, usually, in the husband? If he were +only to yield, on all occasions, would he +be troubled? Yield? exclaim some +fierce moustachioed individuals. Yes, +indeed, yield, or hear the penalty that +awaits you.</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_16"></a> +<h3>Part IV.—Peter The Graybeard.</h3> + + +<p>Peter the Graybeard did not at all +resemble Gudbrand. He was self-willed, +imperious, passionate, and had no more +patience than a dog when you snatch +away his bone or a cat when you're trying +to strangle her. He would have +been insufferable, had not Heaven, in +its mercy, given him a wife who was a +match for him. She was headstrong, +quarrelsome, discontented and morose—always +ready to keep quiet when her +husband preserved silence, and just as +ready to scream at the top of her voice +the moment he opened his mouth.</p> + +<p>It was great good fortune for Peter to +have such a spouse. Without her, would +he ever have known that patience is not +the merit of fools?</p> + +<p>One day, in the mowing Season, when +he came home, after a fifteen hours' spell +of hard work, in worse humor than usual, +and was swearing, cursing and execrating +all women and their laziness, because +his soup was not yet ready for him, +his wife exclaimed,—</p> + +<p>'Good Lord! Peter, you talk away +at a fine rate. Would you like to change +places? To-morrow, I will mow, instead +of you, and you stay at home here and +play housekeeper. Then, we'll see which +of us will have the hardest task and come +out of it the best.'</p> + +<p>'Agreed!' thundered Peter; 'you'll +have a chance to find out, once for all, +what a poor husband has to suffer. The +trial will teach you a lesson of respect—something +you greatly need.'</p> + +<p>So, the next morning, at day-break, +the wife set out afield with the rake +over her shoulder and the sickle by her +side, all joyous at the sight of the bright +sunshine, and singing like a lark.</p> + +<p>Now, who felt not a little surprised, +and a little foolish too, to find himself +shut up at home? Our friend Peter +the Graybeard. Still, he wasn't going +to own himself beaten, but fell to work +churning butter, as though he had never +done anything else all the days of his +life.</p> + +<p>It's no hard matter to get over-heated +when one takes up a new trade, and +Peter soon, feeling very dry, went down +into the cellar to draw a mug of beer +from the cask. He had just knocked +out the bung and was applying the spigot, +when he heard an ominous crunching +and grunting overhead. It was the +sow, devastating the kitchen.</p> + +<p>'Oh Lord! my butter's lost!' yelled +Peter the Graybeard, as he rushed pell-mell +up the steps, with the spigot in his +hand. What a spectacle was there! the +churn upset, the cream spilt all over the +floor, and the huge sow fairly wallowing +in the rich and savory tide.</p> + +<p>Now even a wiser man would have +lost all patience; as for Peter, he rushed +upon the brute, who, with piercing +screams, strove to escape; but it was a +hapless day to the thief, for her master +caught her in the doorway and dealt her +so well applied and vigorous a blow on +the side of her skull with the spigot that +the sow fell dead on the spot.</p> + +<p>As he drew back his novel weapon, +now covered with blood, Peter recollected +that he had not closed the bung-hole +of his cask, and that all this time his +beer was running to waste. So down +he rushed again to the cellar. Fortunately, +the beer had ceased to run, but + +then that was because not a drop remained +in the cask.</p> + +<p>He had now to begin his morning's +work again, and churn some more butter +if he expected to see any dinner that +day. So Peter visited the dairy-house, +and there found enough cream to replaced +what he had just lost. At it he +goes again, and churns and churns away, +more vigorously than ever. But, in the +midst of his churning, he remembers—a +little late to be sure, but better late than +never—that the cow was still in the stable, +and that she had neither food nor +water, although the sun was now high +above the horizon. Away he runs then +to the stable. But experience has made +him wise: 'I've my little child there +rolling on the floor; now, if I leave the +churn, the greedy scamp will turn it +over, and something worse might easily +happen!' Whereupon, he takes up the +churn on his back and hastens to the +well to draw water for the cow. The +well was deep, and the buckets did not +go down far enough. So Peter leans +with all his might, in hot haste, on the +rope, and away goes the cream out of +the churn, over his head and shoulders, +into the well!</p> + +<p>'Confound it!' said Peter between +his teeth, 'it's clear that I'm to have no +butter to-day. Let's attend to the cow; +it's too late to take her out to pasture, +but there's a fine lot of hay on the +house-thatch that hasn't been cut, and so +she'll lose nothing by staying at home.' +To get the cow out of the stable and to +put her on the house-roof was no great +trouble, for the dwelling was set in a +hollow in the hill-side, so that the thatch +was almost on a level with the ground. +A plank served the purpose of a bridge, +and behold the cow comfortably installed +in her elevated pasture! Peter, of +course, could not remain upon the roof +to watch the animal; he had to make +the mid-day porridge and take it to the +mowers. But he was a prudent man, +and did not want to leave his cow exposed +to the risk of breaking her bones; +so he tied a small rope around her neck, +and this rope he passed carefully down +the chimney of the cottage into the +kitchen below. Having effected this, +he descended himself, and, entering the +kitchen, attached the other end of the +rope to his own leg.</p> + +<p>'In this way,' said he, 'I make sure +that the cow will keep quiet, and that +nothing bad can happen to her.'</p> + +<p>He now filled the kettle, dropped into +it a good 'lump' of lard, the necessary +vegetables and condiments, placed it on +the well-piled fagots, struck fire with +flint and steel, and was applying the +match to the wood, blowing it well the +while, when, all at once, crish—crash! +away goes the cow, slipping down over +the roof, and dragging our good man, +with one leg in the air and head downwards, +clear up the chimney. What +would have become of him, no one +could tell, had not a thick bar of iron +arrested his upward flight. And now +there they are, both together, dangling +in the air, the cow outside and Peter +within; both, too, uttering the most +frightful cries of distress.</p> + +<p>As good luck would have it, the wife +was just as impatient as her husband, +and, when she had waited just three seconds +to see whether Peter would bring +her porridge at the stated time, she darted +off for the house as though it were on +fire. When she saw the cow swinging +between heaven and earth, she drew her +sickle and cut the rope, greatly to the +delight of the poor brute, who now found +herself safe again, on the only sort of +floor she liked. It was a chance no less +fortunate for Peter, who was not accustomed +to gazing at the sky with his feet +in the air. But he fell smack into the +kettle, head foremost. It had been decreed, +however, that all should come out +right with him, that day; the fire had +died out, the water was cold, and the +kettle awry, so that he got off with +nothing worse than a scratched forehead, +a peeled nose, and two well scraped +cheeks, and, thank Heaven! nothing +was broken but the saucepan.</p> + +<p>When his better half entered the +kitchen, she found Master Graybeard +looking very sheepish and bloody.</p> + + +<p>'Well! well!' said she, planting her +arms akimbo and her two fists on her +haunches: 'who's the best housekeeper, +pray? I have mowed and reaped, and +here I am as good as I was yesterday, +while you, <em>you</em>, Mister Cook, Mister +Stay-at-home, Mr. Nurse, where is the +butter, where's the sow, where's the +cow, and where's our dinner? If our +little one's alive yet, no thanks to you. +Poor little fellow!—what would become +of it without kind and careful mamma?'</p> + +<p>Whereupon, Mrs. Peter begins to snivel +and sob. Indeed, she has need to, for +is not sensibility woman's field of triumph, +and are not tears the triumph of sensibility?</p> + +<p>Peter bore the storm in silence, and +did well, for resignation is the virtue of +great souls!</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_17"></a> +<h3>Part V.</h3> + +<p>There, you have my story exactly as +it is related, on winter evenings, to impress +ideas of wisdom on the minds of +the young Norwegians. Between the +wife of Gudbrand and the wife of Peter +the Graybeard they must choose, at their +own risk and peril.</p> + +<p>'The choice is an easy one,' says an +amiable lady-friend of mine, who has just +become a grandmother. 'Gudbrand's +wife is the one to imitate, not only on +account of her prudence, but for her +worth. You men are much more amusing +than you fancy: when your own +self-esteem is at stake, you love truth +and justice about as much as bats love a +glare of light. The greatest enjoyment +these gentlemen experience is in pardoning +us when they are guilty, and in +generously offering to overlook our errors +when they alone are in the wrong. +The wisest thing we can do is to let them +talk, and to pretend to believe them. +That is the way to tame these proud, +magnificent creatures, and, by pursuing +the plan perseveringly, one may lead +them about by the nose, like Italian oxen.</p> + +<p>'But, aunty,' says a fair young thing +beside us, 'one can't keep quiet all the +time. Not to yield when you're not in +the wrong, is a right.'</p> + +<p>'And when you're wrong, my dear +niece, to yield is a royal pleasure. +What woman ever abandoned this exalted +privilege? We are all somewhat +akin to that amiable lady who, when all +other arguments had been exhausted, +crushed her husband with a magnificent +look, as she said,—</p> + +<p>'"Sir, I give you my word of honor +that I am in the right."</p> + +<p>'What could he reply? Can one contradict +the veracity of one's own wife? +And what is strength fit for if not to +yield to weakness? The poor husband +hung his head, and did not utter another +word. But to keep still is not to acknowledge +defeat, and <em>silence is not +peace</em>!'</p> + +<p>'Madame,' says a young married woman, +'it seems to me that there is no +choice left; when a woman loves her +husband all is easy; it is a pleasure to +think and act as he does.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, my child, that is the secret of +the comedy. Every one knows it, but +no one avails herself of it. So long as +even the last glow of the honey-moon +illuminates the chamber of a young couple, +all goes along of itself. So long as +the husband hastens to anticipate every +wish, we have merit and sense enough +to let him do it. But at a later moment, +the scene changes. How, then, are we +to retain our sway? Youth and beauty +decay, and the charm of wit and intelligence +is not sufficient. In order to remain +mistresses of our homes, we must +practice the most divine of all the virtues—gentleness—a +blind, dumb, deaf +gentleness of demeanor, that pardons +everything for the sake of pardoning.'</p> + +<p>To love a great deal,—to love unconditionally, +so as to be loved a little in +return,—that is the whole moral of the +story of Gudbrand.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_18"></a> +<h2>The Huguenot Families In America.</h2> + +<h2 class="sub">II.</h2> + + +<p>The brave Admiral Coligny first conceived +the plan of a colony in America +for the safety of his persecuted Huguenot +brethren of France. Such an enterprise +was undertaken as early as the +year 1555, with two vessels, having on +board mechanics, laborers, and gentlemen, +and a few ministers of the Reformed +faith. They entered the great river +which the Portuguese had already named +<em>Rio Janeiro</em>, and built a fort, calling it +'Coligny.' Here they sought a new +country, where they might adore God +in freedom. Unforeseen difficulties, however, +discouraged these bold Frenchmen, +and the pious expedition failed, +some dispersing in different directions, +while others regained the shores of +France with great difficulty. A second +attempt was also unsuccessful. Coligny, +in 1562, obtained permission from +Charles IX. to found a Protestant colony +in Florida. Two ships left Dieppe with +emigrants, and, reaching the American +shores, entered a large, deep river called +<em>Port Royal</em>, which name it still retains, +and is, by coincidence, the spot recently +captured by the United States forces.<a href="#note_6"><span class="footnoteref">6</span></a> +Fort Charles, in honor of the reigning +king of France, was built near by, and in +a fertile land of flowers, fruits, and singing +birds. The country itself was called +<em>Carolina</em>. Reduced to the most cruel +extremities of famine and death, the remaining +colonists returned to Europe.</p> + +<p>Still undismayed by these two disastrous +attempts, Coligny, the Huguenot +leader, dispatched a third expedition +of three vessels to our shores, making +another attempt near the mouth of the +St. John's River (Fort Caroline). Philip +II. was then on the throne, and would +not brook the heresy of the Huguenots, +or Calvinism, in his American provinces. +Priests, soldiers, and Jesuits were dispatched +to Florida, where the new settlers, +'Frenchmen and Lutherans,' were +destroyed in blood. Such was the melancholy +issue of the earliest attempts to +establish a Huguenot or Protestant settlement +in North America. And nearly +one hundred years before it was occupied +by the English, Carolina, for an instant, +as it were, was occupied by a band of +Christian colonists, but, through the remorseless +spirit of religious persecution, +again fell under the dominion of the uncivilized +savages. We refer to these +earliest efforts as proper to the general +historical connection of our subject, although +not absolutely necessary to its investigation.</p> + +<p>At the commencement of the seventeenth +century, England, on her own +behalf, took up the generous plans of +Coligny. Possessing twelve colonies in +America, when the edict of Nantes was +revoked, that nation resolved here to +offer peaceful homes to persecuted Huguenots +from France. This mercy she +had extended to them in England and +Ireland; now her inviting American colonies +were thrown open for the same +generous purpose. Even before that insane +and fatal measure of Louis XIV., +the Revocation, and especially after the +fall of brave La Rochelle, numerous Protestant +fugitives, mostly from the western +provinces of France, had already +emigrated, for safety, to British America. +In 1662 the French government +made it a crime for the ship-owners of +Rochelle to convey emigrants to any +country or dependency of Great Britain. +The fine for such an offence was +ten livres to the king, nine hundred for +charitable objects, three hundred to the +palace chapel, one hundred for prisoners, +and five hundred to the mendicant +monks. One sea-captain, Brunet, was +accused of having favored the escape of +thirty-six young men, and condemned to +return them within a year, or to furnish + +a legal certificate of their death, on pain +of one thousand livres, with exemplary +punishment.<a href="#note_7"><span class="footnoteref">7</span></a> It is imagined that these +young voluntary Huguenot exiles emigrated +to Massachusetts, from the fact +that the same year when this strange +cause was tried in France, Jean Touton, +a French doctor, requested from the authorities +of that colony the privilege of +sojourning there. This favor was immediately +granted; and from that period +<em>Boston</em> possessed establishments formed +by Huguenots, which attracted new emigrants.</p> + +<p>In 1679, Elie Nean, the head of an +eminent family from the principality of +Soubise, in Saintonge, reached that city. +This refugee, sailing afterwards in his +own merchant vessel for the island of +Jamaica, was captured by a privateer, +carried back to France, confined in the +galleys, and only restored to his liberty +through the intercession of Lord Portland.</p> + +<p>One of the first acts of the Boston Huguenots +was to settle a minister, giving +him forty pounds a year, and increasing +his salary afterwards. Surrounded by +the savages on every side, they erected +a fort, the traces of which, it is said, can +still be seen, and now overgrown with +roses, currant bushes, and other shrubbery. +Mrs. Sigourney, herself the wife +of a Huguenot descendant, during a visit +to this time-honored spot, wrote the +beautiful lines,—</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'Green vine, that mantlest in thy fresh embrace</p> +<p class="l">Yon old gray rock, I hear that thou with them</p> +<p class="l">Didst brave the ocean surge.</p> +<p class="l"> Say, drank thus from</p> +<p class="l">The dews of Languedoc? or slow uncoiled</p> + +<p class="l">An infant fibre 'mid the faithful mold</p> +<p class="l">Of smiling Roussillon? Didst thou shrink</p> +<p class="l">From the fierce footsteps of fighting unto death</p> +<p class="l">At fair Rochelle?</p> +<p class="l">Hast thou no tale for me?'</p> +</div> + + +<p>Their fort did not render the French +settlers safe from the murderous assaults +of savage enemies. A.W. Johnson, +with his three children, were massacred +here by them; his wife was a sister of +Mr. Andrew Sigourney, one of the earliest +Huguenots. After this murderous +attack the French Protestants deserted +their forest home, repairing to Boston in +1696, where vestiges of their industry +and agricultural taste long remained; +to this day many of the pears retain their +French names, and the region is celebrated +for its excellence and variety of +this delicious fruit. The Huguenots +erected a church at Boston in 1686, and +ten years afterwards received as pastor +a refugee minister from France, named +Diaillé.<a href="#note_8"><span class="footnoteref">8</span></a> The Rev. M. Lawrie is also +mentioned as one of their pastors. But +from official records we learn more of +the Rev. Daniel Boudet, A.M. He was +a native of France, born in 1652, and +studied theology at Geneva. On the +revocation, he fled to England, receiving +holy orders from the Lord Bishop of +London. In the summer of 1686 he +accompanied the Huguenot emigrants +to Massachusetts; and Cotton Mather +speaks of him as a faithful minister 'to +the French congregation at New Oxford, +in the <em>Nipmog</em> (Indian) counties.' + +This was New Oxford, near Boston. He +labored for eight years, 'propagating +the Christian faith,' both among the +French and the Indians. He complains, +as we do in our day, of the progress of +the sale of rum among the savages,'<em>without +order or measure</em>' (July 6, 1691). +We shall learn more of him at New Rochelle, +where he removed, probably, in +1695, and could preach to both English +and French emigrants. Soon after the +revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Joseph +Dudley, with other proprietors, +introduced into Massachusetts thirty +French Protestant families, settling them +on the easternmost part of the 'Oxford +tract.'<a href="#note_9"><span class="footnoteref">9</span></a></p> + +<p>Massachusetts, peopled in part by the +rigid Protestant Dissenters, naturally +favored these new victims, persecuted +by a church still more odious to them +than that of England. Their sympathies +were deeply excited by the arrival of +the French exiles. The destitute were +liberally relieved, the towns of Massachusetts +making collections for this purpose, + +and also furnishing them with large +tracts of land to cultivate. In 1686 the +colony at Oxford thus received a noble +grant of 11,000 acres; and other provinces +followed the liberal example. Every +traveler through New England has +seen 'Faneuil Hall,' which has been +called the 'Cradle of Liberty,' and where +so many assemblages for the general +good have been held. This noble edifice +was presented to Boston, for patriotic +purposes, by the son of a Huguenot.</p> + +<p>Much of our knowledge concerning +the Huguenots of New York has been +obtained from the documentary papers +at Albany. Some of the families, before +the revocation, as early as the year +1625, reached the spot where the great +metropolis now stands, then a Dutch +settlement. The first birth in New +Amsterdam, of European parents, was +a daughter of George Jansen de Rapelje, +of a Huguenot family which fled +to Holland after the St. Bartholomew's +massacre, and thence sailed for America. +Her name was Sarah. Her father +was a Walloon from the confines of +France and Belgium, and settling on +Long Island, at the <em>Waal-bogt</em>, or Walloon's +Bay, became the father of that +settlement. In 1639 his brother, Antonie +Jansen de Rapelje, obtained a grant +of one hundred 'morgens,' or nearly two +hundred acres of land, opposite Coney +Island, and commenced the settlement +of Gravesend. Here most numerous +and respectable descendants of this Walloon +are met with to this day. Jansen +de Rapelje, as he was called, was a man +of gigantic strength and stature, and reputed +to be a Moor by birth. This report, +probably, arose from his adjunct of +<em>De Salee</em>, the name under which his +patent was granted; but it was a mistake; +he was a native Walloon, and this +suffix to his name, we doubt not, was +derived from the river Saale, in France, +and not Salee, or Fez, the old piratical +town of Morocco. For many years after +the Dutch dynasty, his farm at Gravesend +continued to be known as Anthony +Jansen's Bowery. The third brother +of this family, William Jansen de Rapelje, +was among the earliest settlers of +Long Island and founders of Brooklyn. +Singularly, the descendants of <em>Antonie</em> +have dropped the Rapelje, and retained +the name of Jansen, or Johnson, as they +are more commonly called. On the contrary, +George's family have left off Jansen, +and are now known as Rapelje or +Rapelyea.</p> + +<p>Most of the Huguenots who went to +Ulster, N.Y., at first sought deliverance +from persecutions among the Germans, +and thence sailed for America. Ascending +the Hudson, these emigrants landed +at Wiltonyck, now Kingston, and were +welcomed by the Hollanders, who had +prepared the way in this wilderness for +the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. +Here was a Reformed Dutch +church, and Hermanus Blomm, its pastor, +commissioned by the Classis of Amsterdam +to preach 'both on water and +on the land, and in all the neighborhood, +but principally in <em>Esopus</em>.' This region, +selected by the French Protestants for +their future land, was like their own delightful +native France for great natural +beauties. Towards the east and +west flowed the waters of the noble +ever-rolling Hudson, while on the north +the Shamangunk Mountains, the loftiest +of our Fishkill monarchs, looked like +pillars upon which the arch of heaven +there rested. No streams can charm +the eye more than those which enrich +this region,—the Rosendale, far from +the interior, the Walkill, with its rapid +little falls, 'the foaming, rushing, warsteed-like' +Esopus Creek, with the dashing, +romantic Saugerties, fresh from the +mountain-side. Both the Dutch and +the French emigrants followed these +beautiful rivers towards the south, and +made their earliest settlements there. +On these quiet and retired banks their +ashes repose. Hallowed be their memories, +virtues, and piety! In those regions +thousands of their descendants now enjoy +the rich and glorious patrimony +which have followed their industry and +frugality.</p> + +<p>In the year 1663, the savages attacked +Kingston and massacred a part of its + +inhabitants, slaying twenty-four, and +took forty-five prisoners. The dominie, +Blomin, escaped, and has left a description +of the tragical event.<a href="#note_10"><span class="footnoteref">10</span></a> 'There lay,' + +he writes, 'the burnt and slaughtered +bodies, together with those wounded by +bullets and axes. The last agonies and +the moans and lamentations were dreadful +to hear.... The houses +were converted into heaps of stones, so +that I might say with Micah, "We are +made desolate;" and with Jeremiah, +"A piteous wail may go forth in his +distress." With Paul I say, "Brothers, +pray for us." I have every evening, +during a whole month, offered up prayers +with the congregation, on the four +points of our fort, under the blue sky.... Many +heathen have been +slain, and full twenty-two of our people +have been delivered out of their hands +by our arms. The Lord our God will +again bless our arms, and grant that the +foxes who have endeavored to lay waste +the vineyard of the Lord shall be destroyed.'</p> + +<p>Among the prisoners were Catharine +Le Fever, the wife of Louis Dubois, +with three of their children. These +were Huguenots; and a friendly Indian +gave information where they could be +found. The pursuers were directed to +follow the Rondout, the Walkill, and +then a third stream; and a small, bold +band, with their knapsacks, rifles, and +dogs, undertook the perilous journey. +Towards evening, Dubois, in advance +of the party, discovered the Indians +within a few feet of him, and one was in +the act of drawing his bow, but, missing +its string, from fear or surprise, the Huguenot +sprang forward and killed him +with his sword, but without any alarm. +The party then resolved to delay the +attack until dark; at which hour the +savages were preparing for slaughter +one of their unfortunate captives, which +was none other than the missing wife +of Dubois himself. She had already +been placed upon the funeral pile, and +at this trying moment was singing a martyr's +psalm, the strains of which had often +cheered the pious Huguenots in days of +the rack and bloody trials. The sacred +notes moved the Indians, and they made +signs to continue them, which she did, +fortunately, until the approach of her +deliverers. 'White man's dogs! white +man's dogs!' was the first cry which +alarmed the cruel foes. They fled instantly, +taking their prisoners with them. +Dubois calling his wife by name, she +was soon restored to her anxious friends, +with the other captives. At the moment +of their rescue, the prisoners were preparing +for the bloody sacrifice to savage +cruelty, and singing the beautiful psalm +of the 'Babylonish Captives.' Heaven +heard those strains, and the deliverance +came. During this fearful expedition +the Ulster Huguenots first discovered +the rich lowlands of Paltz.</p> + +<p>This was the section which they selected +for their homes, distant some +eighty-five miles from New York, along +the west shores of the Hudson, and extending +from six to ten miles in the interior. +It was called <em>New Paltz</em>, and +its patent obtained from Gov. Andreas; +twelve of their brethren were religiously +selected by the emigrants as the <em>Patentees</em>, +and known by the appellation of +the '<em>Duzine</em>,' or the twelve patentees, +and these were regarded as the patriarchs +in this little Christian community. +A list of the original purchasers has been +preserved, and were as follows: Louis +Dubois, Christian Dian, since Walter +Deyo, Abraham Asbroucq, now spelt +Hasbrouck, Andros Le Fever, often Le +Febre and Le Febore, John Brook, said +to have been changed into Hasbrouck, +Peter Dian, or Deyo, Louis Bevier, Anthony +Cuspell, Abraham Du Bois, Hugo +Freir, Isaac Dubois, Simon Le Fever.</p> + +<p>A copy of this agreement with the +Indians still exists, and the antiquarian +may find it among the State records at +Albany. It is a curious document, with +the signatures of both parties, the patentees' +written in the antique French +character, with the hieroglyphic marks +of the Indians. A few Indian goods—kettles, +axes, beads, bars of lead, powder, +casks of wine, blankets, needles, + +awls, and a 'clean pipe'—were the insignificant +articles given, about two centuries +ago, for these lands, now proverbially +rich, and worth millions of dollars. +The treaty was mutually executed, according +to the records from which we +quote, on the 20th of May, 1677.</p> + +<p>The patentees immediately took possession +of their newly-acquired property, +their first conveyances being three +wagons, which would be rare curiosities +in our day. The wheels were very +low, shaped like old-fashioned spinning-wheels, +with short spokes, wide rim, and +without any iron. The settlers were +three days on their way from Kingston +to New Paltz, a distance of only sixteen +miles. The place of their first encampment +is still known by the name +of '<em>Tri Cor</em>,' or three cars, in honor of +these earliest conveyances. Soon, however, +they selected a more elevated site, +on the banks of the beautiful Walkill, +where the village now stands. Log +houses were erected not far apart, for +mutual defence, and afterwards stone +edifices, with port-holes, some of which +still remain.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_19"></a> +<h2>Maccaroni And Canvas.</h2> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_20"></a> +<h3>Introduction.</h3> + + +<p>Rome is the cradle of art,—which +accounts for its sleeping there.</p> + +<p>Nature, however, is nowhere more +wide awake than it is in and around +this city: therefore, Mr. James Caper, +animal painter, determined to repose +there for several months.</p> + +<p>The following sketches correctly describe +his Roman life.</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_21"></a> +<h3>Arrival In Rome.</h3> + +<p>It was on an Autumn night that the +traveling carriage in which sat James +Caper arrived in Rome; and as he drove +through that fine street, the Corso, he +saw coming towards him a two-horse +open carriage, filled with Roman girls of +the working class (<em>minenti</em>). Dressed +in their picturesque costumes, bonnetless, +their black hair tressed with flowers, +they stood up, waving torches, and singing +in full voice one of those songs in +which you can go but few feet, metrically +speaking, without meeting <em>amore</em>. And +then another and another carriage, with +flashing torches and sparkling-eyed girls. +It was one of the turnouts of the <em>minenti</em>; +they had been to Monte Testaccio, had +drank all the wine they could pay for; +and, with a prudence our friend Caper +could not sufficiently admire, he noticed +that the women were in separate carriages +from the men. It was the Feast +Day of Saint Crispin, and all the cobblers, +or artists in leather, as they call +themselves, were keeping it up bravely.</p> + +<p>'Eight days to make a pair of shoes?' +he once asked a shoemaker. 'Si, Signore, +there are three holidays in that +time.' Argument unanswerable.</p> + +<p>As the carriages rolled by, Caper determined +to observe the festivals.</p> + +<p>The next day our artist entered his +name in his banker's register, and had +the horror of seeing it mangled to 'Jams +Scraper' in the list of arrivals published +in the <em>Giornale di Roma</em>. For some +time after his arrival in Rome, he was +pained to receive cards, circulars, notices, +letters, advertisements, etc., from divers +tradesmen, all directed to the above +name. In revenge, he here gives them +a public airing. One firm announces,—</p> + +<p>'Manafactury of Remain Seltings, +Mosaļques, Cameas, Medalls, Erasofines, +&c.' (Erasofines is the Roman-English +for crucifixes.) And on a slip of paper, +handsomely printed, is an announcement + +that they make 'Romain Perles of all +Couloueurs'—there's color for you!</p> + +<p>A tailor, under the head of '<em>Ici un +parle Franēais</em>,' prints, 'Merchant <em>and</em> + +tailor. Cloths (clothes?) Reddy maid, +Mercery Roman; Scarfs, etc.'</p> + +<p>Another, 'Roman Artickles Manofactorer'—hopes +to be 'honnoured with +our Custom, (American?), and flaters +himsself we will find things to our likings.' +Everything but the English, you +know—that is not exactly to our liking. +Another, from a lady, reads,—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p><em>A VENTRE!</em></p> + +<p><em>une Galérie decomposée de 300 d'Anciens Maitres, +et de l'école romaine peintres sur bois, sur +cuivre et sur toit, &c.</em></p> + +</div> + +<p><em>Ventre</em> for <em>Vendre</em> is bad enough, but +a 'gallery of decomposed old masters +and of Roman school painters on wood +and on the roof,' when it was intended +to say 'A gallery composed of 300 of +the old masters—' But let us leave it +untranslated; it is already <em>decomposée</em>.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_22"></a> +<h3>A Short Walk.</h3> + +<p>Mr. Caper having indignantly rejected +the services of all professors of the guiding +art or 'commissionaires,' slowly sauntered +out of his hotel the morning after +his arrival, and, map in hand, made his +way to the tower on the Capitoline Hill. +Threading several narrow, dirty streets, +he at last went through one where in +one spot there was such a heap of garbage +and broccoli stumps that he raised +his eyes to see how high up it reached +against the walls of a palace; and there +read, in black letters,</p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><em>Immondezzaio</em>;</p> + +<p>literally translated, A Place for Dirt. +On the opposite wall, which was the side +of a church, he saw a number of black +placards on which were large white +skulls and crossbones, and while examining +these, a bare-headed, brown-bearded, +stout Franciscan monk passed him. +From a passing glance, Caper saw he +looked good-natured, and so, hailing him, +asked why the skulls and bones were +pasted there.</p> + +<p>'Who knows?' answered the monk. +'I came this morning from the Campagna; +this is the first time in all my life I have +been in this magnificent city.'</p> + +<p>'Can you tell me what that word +means up there?' said Caper, pointing +to <em>immondezzaio</em>.</p> + +<p>'Signore, I can not read.'</p> + +<p>'Perhaps it is the name of the street, +maybe of the city?'</p> + +<p>'It must be so,' answered the priest, +'unless it's a sign of a lottery office, or a +caution against blasphemy up and down +the pavement. Those are the only signs +we have in the country, except the government +salt and cigar shops.' ... He +took a snuff-box from a pocket in his +sleeve, and with a bow offered a pinch +to Mr. Caper. This accepted, they bid +each other profoundly farewell.</p> + +<p>'There goes a brick!' remarked the +traveler.</p> + +<p>Arrived at the entrance-door to the +tower of the Capitoline Hill, James +Caper first felt in one pocket for a silver +piece and in the other for a match-box, +and finding them both there, rang +the bell, and then mounted to the top of +the tower. Lighting a <em>zigarro scelto</em> or +papal cigar, he leaned on both elbows on +the parapet, and gazed long and fixedly +over the seven-hilled city.</p> + +<p>'And this,' soliloquized he, <em>is</em> Rome. +Many a day have I been kept in school +without my dinner because I was not +able to parse thee idly by, <em>Roma</em>—Rome—noun +of the first declension, +feminine gender, that a quarter of a century +ago caused me punishment, I have +thee now literally under foot, and (knocking +his cigar) throw ashes on thy head.</p> + +<p>'My mission in this great city is not +that of a picture-peddler or art student. +I come to investigate the eating, drinking, +sleeping arrangements of the Eternal +City—its wine more than its vinegar, +its pretty girls more than its galleries, +its <em>cafés</em> more than its churches. I see +from here that I have a fine field to work +in. Down there, clambering over the fallen +ruins of the Palace of the Cęsars, is a +donkey. Could one have a finer opportunity +to see in this a moral and twist a +tail? From those fallen stones, Memory-glorious + +old architect—rears a fabric +wondrously beautiful; peoples it with +eidolons white and purple-robed, and +gleaming jewel-gemmed; or, iron armed, +glistening with flashing light from polished +steel—heroes and slaves, conquerors +and conquered; my blood no longer +flows to the slow, jerking measure of a +nineteenth-century piece of mechanism, +but freely, fully, and completely. Hurrah, +my blood is up! dark, liquid eyes; +black, flowing locks; strange, pleasing +perfumes are around me. There is a +rush as of a strong south wind through a +myriad of floating banners, and I am +borne onward through triumphal arches, +past pillared temples, under the walls of +shining palaces, into the Coliseum....</p> + +<p>'Pray, and can you tell me—if that +pile of d——d old rubbish—down there, +you know—is the Forum—for I do not—see +it in Murray—though I'm sure—I +have looked very clearly—and Murray +you know—has everything down in +him—that a traveler....</p> + +<p>'A commercial traveler?' ... interrupted +Mr. Caper, speaking slowly, +and looking coolly into the eyes of the +blackguard Bagman.... 'The ruins +you see there are those of the Forum. +Good morning.'</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_23"></a> +<h3>Modern Art.</h3> + +<p>'Lucrezia Borgia at the Tomb of Don +Giovanni! You see,' said the artist, 'I +have chosen a good name for my painting, ... +and it's a great point +gained. Forty or fifty years ago, some +of those fluffy old painters would have +had Venus worshiping at the shrine of +Bacchus.'</p> + +<p>'Whereas, you think it would be more +appropriate for her to worship Giove?' +... asked Capar.</p> + +<p>'No <em>sir</em>!... I run dead against +classic art: it's a drug. I tried my hand +at it when I first came to Rome. Will +you believe me, I never sold a picture. +Why that very painting'—pointing to +the Borgia—'is on a canvas on which I +commenced The Subjugation of Adonis.'</p> + +<p>'H'm! You find the class of Middle +Age subjects most salable then?'</p> + +<p>'I should think I did. Something +with brilliant colors, stained glass windows, +armor, and all that, sells well. The +only trouble is, ultramarine costs dear, +although Dovizzelli's is good and goes a +great ways. I sold a picture to an Ohio +man last week for two hundred dollars, +and it is a positive fact there was twenty +<em>scudi</em> (dollars) worth of blue in it. But +the infernal Italians spoil trade here. +Why, that fellow who paints Guide's +Speranzas up there at San Pietro in +Vineulo is as smart as a Yankee. He +has found out that Americans from +Rhode Island take to the Speranza, +because Hope is the motto of their State, +and he turns out copies hand over fist. +He has a stencil plate of the face, and +three or four fellows to paint for him; +one does the features of the face, another +the hand, and another rushes in the background. +Why, sir, those paintings can +be sold for five <em>scudi</em>, and money made +on them at that. But then what are +they? Wretched daubs not worth house-room. +Have you any thoughts of purchasing +paintings?'</p> + +<p>Caper smiled gently.... 'I had +not when I first came to Rome, but how +long I may continue to think so is doubtful. +The temptations' (glancing at the +Borgia) 'are very great.' ...</p> + +<p>'Rome,' ... interrupted the artist, ... 'is the cradle of art.'</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_24"></a> +<h3>A Room Hunt.</h3> + +<p>Caper, on his first arrival in Home, +went to the Hotel Europe, in the Piazza +di Spagna. There for two weeks he +lived like a <em>milordo</em>. He formed many +acquaintances among the resident colony +of American artists, and was received +by them with much kindness. +Some of the mercenary ones of their +number, having formed the opinion that +he came there to buy paintings, ignorant +of his profession, were excessively +polite;—but their offers of services +were declined. When Caper finally +moved to private lodgings in Babuino +Street and opened a studio, hope for +a season bade these salesmen all farewell; + +they groaned, and owned that they +had tried but could not sell.</p> + +<p>Among the acquaintances formed by +Caper, was a French artist named Rocjean. +Born in France, he had passed +eight or ten years in the United States, +learned to speak English very well, and +was residing in Rome 'to perfect himself +as an artist.' He had, when Caper first +met him, been there two years. In all +this time he had never entered the Vatican, +and having been told that Michael +Angelo's Last Judgment was found to +have a flaw in it, he had been waiting +for repairs before passing his opinion +thereon. On the other hand, he had +studied the Roman <em>plebe</em>, the people, +with all his might. He knew how they +slept, eat, drank, loved, made their little +economies, clothed themselves, and, above +all, how they blackguarded each other. +When Caper mentioned to him that he +wished to leave his hotel, take a studio +and private lodgings, then Rocjean expanded +from an old owl into a spread +eagle. Hurriedly taking Caper by the +arm, he rushed him from one end of +Rome to the other, up one staircase and +down another; until, at last, finding +out that Rocjean invariably presented +him to fat, fair, jolly-looking landladies +(<em>padrone</em>), with the remark, 'Signora, +the Signor is an Englishman and very +wealthy,' he began to believe that something +was wrong. But Rocjean assured +him that it was not—that, as in Paris, it +was Madame who attended to renting +rooms, so it was the <em>padrona</em> in Rome, +and that the remark, 'he is an Englishman, +and very wealthy,' were synonymous, +and always went together. 'If I +were to tell them you were an American +it would do just as well—in fact, better, +but for one thing, and that is, you would +be swindled twice as much. The expression +"and very wealthy," attached +to the name of an Englishman, is only a +delicate piece of flattery, for the majority +of the present race of traveling English +are by no means lavish in their expenditures +or very wealthy. In taking you +to see all these pretty women, I have undoubtedly +given you pleasure, at the +same time I have gratified a little innocent +curiosity of mine:—but then the +chance is such a good one! We will now +visit the Countess ——, for she has a +very desirable apartment to let; after +which we will proceed seriously to take +rooms with a home-ly view.'</p> + +<p>The Countess —— was a very lovely +woman, consequently Caper was fascinated +with the apartment, and told her +he would reflect over it.</p> + +<p>'Right,' said Rocjean, after they had +left; 'better reflect over it than in it—as +the enormous draught up chimney +would in a short time compel you to.'</p> + +<p>'How so?'</p> + +<p>'I have a German friend who has +rooms there. He tells me that a cord +of firewood lasts about long enough to +warm one side of him; when he turns to +warm the other it is gone. He has lived +there three years reflecting over this; +the Countess occasionally condoles with +him over the draught of that chimney.'</p> + +<p>'H'm! Let us go to the homely: better +a drawn sword than a draught.'</p> + +<p>They found a homely landlady with +neat rooms in the via Babuino, and having +bargained for them for twelve <em>scudi</em> +a month, their labors were over.</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_25"></a> +<h3>Maccaronical.</h3> + +<p>There was, when Caper first came to +Rome, an eating-house, nearly opposite +the fountain Trevi, called the Gabioni. +It was underground,—in fact, a series of +cellars, popularly conjectured to have +been part of the catacombs. In one of +these cellars, resembling with its arched +roof a tunnel, the ceiling so low that you +could touch the apex of the round arch +with your hand, every afternoon in autumn +and winter, between the hours of +five and six, there assembled, by mutual +consent, eight or ten artists. The table +at which they sat would hold no more, +and they did not want it to. Two waiters +attended them, Giovanni for food, +Santi for wine and cigars. The long-stemmed +Roman lamps of burnished +brass, the bowl that held the oil and +wicks resembling the united prows of +four vessels, shedding their light on the + +white cloth and white walls, made the +old place cheerful. The white and red +wine in the thin glass flasks gleamed +brightly, and the food was well cooked +and wholesome. Here in early winter +came the sellers of 'sweet olives,' as +they called them, and for two or three +cents (<em>baiocchi</em>) you could buy a plateful. +These olives were green, and, having +been soaked in lime-water, the bitter +taste was taken from them, and they had +the flavor of almonds.</p> + +<p>But the maccaroni was the great dish +in the Gabioni; a four-cent plate of it +would take the sharp edge from a fierce +appetite, assisted as it was by a large +one-cent roll of bread. There was the +white pipe-stem and the dark ribbon +(<em>fettucia</em>) species; and it was cooked +with sauce (<em>al sugo</em>), with cheese, Neapolitan, +Roman and Milan fashion, and—otherways. +Wild boar steaks came +in winter, and were cheap. Veal never +being sold in Rome until the calf is a +two-year-old heifer, was no longer veal, +but tender beef, and was eatable. Sardines +fried in oil and batter were good. +Game was plenty, and very reasonable in +price, except venison, which was scarce. +The average cost of a substantial dinner +was from thirty to forty baiocchi, and +said Rocjean, 'I can live like a prince—like +the Prince B——, who dines here +occasionally—for half that sum.'</p> + +<p>The first day Caper dined in the Gabioni, +what with a dog-fight under the table, +cats jumping upon the table, a distressed +marchioness (fact) begging him +for a small sum, a beautiful girl from +the Trastevere, shining like a patent-leather +boot, with gold ear-rings, and +brooch, and necklace, and coral beads, +who sat at another table with a French +soldier—these and those other little <em>piquante</em> +things, that the traveler learns +to smile at and endure, worried him. +But the dinner was good, his companions +at table were companionable, and +as he finished an extra <em>foglietta</em> (pint) +of wine, price eight cents, with Rocjean, +he concluded to give it another trial. +He kept at giving it trials until the old +Gabioni was closed, and from it arose +the Four Nations or Quattre Nazione in +Turkey Cock Alley (<em>viccolo Gallmaccio</em>), +which, as any one knows, is near +Two Murderers' Street. (<em>Via Due Macelli</em>)</p> + +<p>'Now that we have finished dinner,' +spoke Rocjean, 'we will smoke: then to +the Caffe or Café Greco and have our +cup of black coffee.'</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_26"></a> +<h3>America In Rome.</h3> + +<p>It may be a good thing to have the +conceit taken out of us—but not by the +corkscrew of ignorance; the operation +is too painful. Caper, proud of his country, +and believing her in the front rank +of nations, was destined to learn, while +in Rome and the Papal States, that +America was geographically unknown.</p> + +<p>He consoled himself for this with the +fact that geography is not taught in the + +'Elementary Schools' there;—and for +the people there are no others.</p> + +<p>The following translation of a notice +advertising for a schoolmaster, copied +from the walls of a palace where it was +posted, shows the sum total taught in +the common schools:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>The duties of the Master are to teach Reading, +Writing, the First Four Rules of Arithmetic; +to observe the duties prescribed in the law +'<em>Quod divina sapientia</em>;' and to be subject to +the biennial committee like other salaried officers +of the department; as an equivalent for +which he shall enjoy (<em>godrį</em>) an annual salary +of $60, payable in monthly shares.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">(Signed)</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">IL GONFALONIERE —— ——.</p> +</div> + +<p>But what can you expect when one +of the rulers of the land asserted to Caper +that he knew that 'pop-corn grew +in America on the banks of the Nile, after +the water went down,—for it never +rains in America'?</p> + +<p>It was a handsome man, an advocate +for Prince Doria, who, once traveling in +a <em>vetturo</em> with Caper, asked him why he +did not go to America by land, since he +knew that it was in the south of England; +and gently corrected a companion +of his, who told Caper he had read +and thought it strange that all Americans +lived in holes in the ground, by + +saying to him that if such houses were +agreeable to the <em>Signori Americani</em> they +had every right to inhabit them.</p> + +<p>The landlord of a hotel in a town +about thirty miles from Rome asked Caper +if, when he returned to New York, +he would not some morning call and see +his cousin—in Peru!</p> + +<p>This same landlord once drew his knife +on a man, when, accompanied by Caper, +he went to observe a saint's day in a +neighboring town. The cause of the +quarrel was this—the landlord, having +been asked by a man who Caper was, +told him he was an American. The +man asserted that Americans always +wore long feathers in their hair, and +that he did not see any on Caper's head. +The landlord, determined to stand by +Caper, swore by all the saints that they +were under his hat. The man disbelieved +it. Out came the 'hardware' +with that jarring cr-r-r-rick the blade +makes when the notched knife-back +catches in the spring, but Caper jumped +between them, and they put off stabbing +one another—until the next saint's +day.</p> + +<p>It was with pleasure that Caper, passing +down the Corso one morning, saw +there was an Universal Panorama, including +views of America, advertised to +be exhibited in the Piazza Colonna. + +'Here is an opportunity,' thought he, +'for the Romans to acquire some knowledge +of a land touching which they are +very much at sea. The views undoubtedly +will do for them what the tabooed +geographies are not allowed to do—give +them a little education to slow music.'</p> + +<p>Accompanied by Rocjean, he went one +evening to see it, and found it on wheels +in a traveling van, drawn up at one side +of the Colonna Square.</p> + +<p>'Hawks inspected it the other evening,' +said Rocjean; 'and he describes +it as well worth seeing. The explainer +of the Universal Panorama resembles +the wandering Jew, exactly, with perhaps +a difference about the change in +his pockets; and the paintings, comical +enough in themselves, considering that +they are supposed to be serious likenesses +of the places represented, are made still +funnier by the explanations of the manager.'</p> + +<p>Securing tickets from a stout, showy +ticket-seller, adorned with a stunning +silk dress, crushing bracelets, and an +overpowering bonnet, they subduedly entered +a room twenty feet long by six or +eight wide, illuminated with the mellow +glow of what appeared to be about thirty +moons. The first things that caught +their eye were several French soldiers +who were acting as inspection guard +over several rooms, having stacked their +muskets in one corner. Their exclamations +of delight or sorrow, their criticisms +of the art panoramic, in short, +were full of humor and trenchant fun. +But 'the explanator' was before them; +where he came from they could not see, +for his footsteps were light as velvet, evidently +having 'gums' on his feet; his +milk-white hair, parted in the middle of +his forehead, hung down his back for a +couple of feet, while his milk-white beard, +hanging equally low in front, gave him +the appearance of a venerable billy goat. +He was an Albino, and his eyes kept +blinking like a white owl's at mid-day. +He had a voice slightly tremulous, and +mild as a cat's in a dairy.</p> + +<p>'Gen-till-men, do me the playshure to +gaze within this first hole. 'Tis the be-yu-ti-fool +land of Sweet-sir-land. Vi-yew +from the some-mut of the Riggy Cool'm. +Day break-in' in the dis-tant yeast. He +has a blan-kit round him, sir; for it is +cold upon the moun-tin tops at break of +day. [Madame, the stupen-doss irrup-tion +of Ve-soov-yus is two holes from the +corner.]</p> + +<p>'Gen-till-men, do me the play-zure to +gaze upon the second hole. 'Tis Flor-renz +the be-yu-ti-fool, be the bangs off +the flowin' Arno. 'Twas here that—'</p> + +<p>'No matter about all that,' said Caper; + +'show off America to us.' He slipped +a couple of <em>pauls</em> into his hand, and +instantly the Venerable skipped four +moons.</p> + +<p>'Gen-till-men, do me the play-zure to +gaze upon this hole. 'Tis the be-yu-ti-fool +city of Nuova Jorck in Ay-mer-i-kay, + +with the flour-ish-ing cities of Brook-lyn, +Nuova Jer-sais, and Long Is-lad. The +impo-sing struc-ture of rotund form is +the Gr-rand Coun-cill Hall con-tain-ing +the coun-cill chamber of the Amer-i-can +nations.... [You say it is the Bat-tai-ree? +It may be the Bat-tai-ree.] +<em>What is that road in Broo-klin</em>? that is +the ra'l-road to Nuova Or-lins di-rect. +<em>What is that wash-tub</em>? "Tis not a wash-tub—'tis +a stim-boat. They make the +stim out of coal, which is found on the +ground. <em>Is that the Ay-mer-i-cain eagill</em>? + +'Tis not; 'tis a hoarse-fly which has in-tro-doo-ced +hisself behind the glass. <em>Are +those savages in Nuova Jer-sais</em>? (New +Jersey.) Those are trees.'</p> + +<p>'Pass on, illustrious gen-till-men, to the +next hole. 'Tis the be-yu-ti-fool city of +Filadelfia. The houses here are all built +of woo-ood. The two rivaires that cir-cum-vent +the city are the Lavar (Delaware?) +and the Hud-soon. I do not know +what is "a pum-king cart," but the car-riage +which you see before you is a fi-ah +engine, be-cause the city is all built of +woo-ood. The tall stee-ple belongs to +the kay-ker (Quaker) temple of San +Cristo.'</p> + +<p>Rocjean now gave the Venerable a +<em>paul</em>, requesting him to dwell at length +upon these scenes, as he was a Frenchman +in search of a little of geography.</p> + +<p>'Excellencies, I will do my en-dea-vors. +The gran-diose ship as lies in the +Lavar (Delaware) riv-aire is fool of +em-i-gr-rants. The signora de-scen-din' + +the side of the ship is in a dreadful sit-u-a-tion +tru-ly. [Per-haps the artist was +in a boat and de-scri-bed the scene as he +saw it.] The elephant you see de-scen-din' +the street is a nay-tive of this tropi-cal +re-gion, and the cock-a-toos infest the +sur-round-in' air. The Moors you see +along the wharves are the spon-ta-ne-ous +born of the soil. Those are kay-kers +(Quakers?) on mules with broad-brimmed +hats onto their heads; the sticks in +their hands are to beat the Moors who +live on their su-gar plan-tay-tions.... Music? +did you ask, Madame? We +have none in this establish-ment. Kone.</p> + +<p>'Excellencies, the next hole. 'Tis the +be-yu-ti-fool city of Bal-ti-mory. You +behold in the be-fore ground a gr-rand +feast day of Amer-i-cain peas-ants; they +are be-hold-ing their noble Count re-pair-ring +to the chase with a serf on a +white hoarse-bag (horse-back?). The +little joke of the cattle is a play-fool +fan-cy of the jocose artiste as did +the panorama. I am un-ac-count-able +for veg-garies such as them. The riv-aire +in the bag-ground is the Signora-pippi'....</p> + +<p>'The what?' asked Caper, shaking +with laughter.</p> + +<p>'A gen-till-man the other day told +me that only the peasants in Americay +say Missus or Mis-triss, and that the riv-aire +con-se-kwen-tilly was not Missus-pippi, +but, as I have had the honor of +saying, the Signora-pippi rivaire. The +next hole, Excel-len-cies!—'Tis the be-yu-ti-fool +city of Vaskmenton (Washington), +also on the Signora-pippi riv-aire. +The white balls on the trees is +cot-ton. Those are not white balls on +the ground, those are ship;—ships as +have woolen growin' onto their sides +(sheep?). 'Tis not a white bar-racks: +'tis the Palazzo di Vaskmenton, a nobil +gen-e-ral woo lives there, and was for-mer-ly +king of the A-mer-i-cain nations. +What does that Moor, with the white +lady in his arms? it is a negro peas-sant +taking his mis-triss out to air,—'tis the +customs in those land.... That negress +or fe-mail Moor with some childs is also +airring, and, the white 'ooman tyin' up +her stockings is a sportive of the artiste. +He is much for the hum-or-ous.</p> + +<p>'Excellencies, the last hole A-mer-i-cain. +'Tis the stoo-pen-doss Signora-pippi +rivaire in all its mag-gnif-fi-cent booty. +What is that cockatoo doing there? He +is taking a fly. <em>You do not see the fly</em>? +I mean a flight. <em>What is that bust to +flin-ders</em>? That is a stim-boat was carryin' + +on too much stim, and the stim, +which is made of coal, goes, off like gun-pow-dair +if you put lights onto it. This +is a fir-ful and awe-fool sight. The +other stim-boat is not bustin', it is sailin'. +What is that man behind the whil-house +with the cards while another signer kicks + +into him on his coat-tails, I do not know. +It is steel the sportifs of the artiste.'</p> + +<p>'Excel-len-cies, the last hole. 'Tis +the be-yu-ti-fool bustin'—no, not bustin', +but ex-plo-sion of Vee-soov-yus. You +can see the sublime sight, un-terrupt-ted +be me ex-play-nations. I thank you for +your attentions auri-cu-lar and pe-coo-niar-ry. +<em>Adio</em>, until I have the play-shure +of seein' you oncet more.'</p> + +<p>'I tell you what, Rocjean,' said Caper, +as he came out from the panorama, + +'America has but a POOR SHOW in the +Papal dominions.'</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_27"></a> +<h2>John Lothrop Motley.</h2> + + +<p>Grand with all that the young earth +had of vigorous and queenly to adorn +her, rich with the spoils of victories not +all bought with battle-axe and sword, +stately with a pride that had won its +just and inalienable majesty from elastic +centuries of progress and culture, +History, the muse to whom fewest songs +were sung, yet whose march was music's +sublimest voice, trembled upon the +brink of the Dark Ages, and leaped, in +her armor, into the abyss of ignorance +before her. A poetry the purest, an art +the noblest, a religion deeply symbolical, +a freedom bold and magnificent, had +given to the world-histories of those +early days a melody varied and faultless, +a form flowing yet well-defined, an +earnestness that was sacred, a truth that +was divine. A philosophy rich and +largely suggestive had made the great +men of Greece and Rome alert, vigilant, +penetrating, before luxury and oppression +had dragged them down to ruin and +ignorance; and at last Ambition, splendid +but destructive, becoming the world's +artist, blended the midnight tints of decline +and suffering with the carnation of +triumph and liberty, and cast over the +pictures of History the Rembrandt-like +shadows, heavy and wavering, that add +a fearful intensity to their charms.</p> + +<p>To these eras, once splendid and +promising, succeeded a night, long, hopeless, +disastrous. Its hours were counted +by contentions, its darkness was deepened +by crime. The sun had set upon a +mighty empire, regnant upon her seven +hills, glorious with conquest, drunken +with power: when the day dawned upon +the thousandth year of the Christian +era, its crumbled arches and moss-grown +walls alone testified to the truth of History +that had survived the universal destruction.</p> + +<p>And now came the age of knight and +paladin, of crusades and talismans. The +rough, vigorous life that had been developing +at the North, exuberant with a +strength not yet so mature that it could +be employed in the wise and practical +pursuits of civilized life, burst forth into +an enthusiasm half military, half religious, +that pervaded all ranks, but was +'mightiest in the mighty.' The Saxons, +fair-haired, with wild blue eyes, whence +looked an inflexible perseverance, the +dark-browed Normans, and the men of +fair Bretagne, swooped down falcon-like +from their nests among the rocks +and by the seas of Northern Europe upon +the impetuous Saracens, and fought +brave poems that were written on sacred +soil with their blood. From the strife of +years the heroes returned, their flowing +locks whitened by years and suffering, +the fair Saxon faces browned by the +fervent suns of the distant East. From +hardship and imprisonment they marched +with gay songs amid acclamations +and welcome to their homes upon the +Northern shores. Their once shining + +armor was dimmed and rusted with their +own blood; but they bore upon their +'spears the light' of a culture more refined, +a knowledge more subtle, than +those high latitudes had ever before +known.</p> + +<p>From this marriage of the barbaric +vigor of the North with the delicate and +infinitely pliable sensuousness of the +South, the classic union of Strength and +Desire, Chivalry was born. Leaping +forth to light and power, a majestic creation, +glittering in the knightly panoply, +noble by its knightly vows, it stood resplendent +against the dark background +of the past ages, the inevitable and legitimate +offspring of the times and circumstances +that gave it birth. The +courtly baptism was eagerly sought, its +requirements rigidly obeyed. The lands +bristled with the lances of their valiant +sons, and Quixotic expeditions were the +order of the age. But not alone with +sword and spear were gallant contests +decided; the gauntlet thrown at the +feet of a proud foe was not always of +iron. <em>El gai saber</em>, the <em>gaye science</em>, +held its august courts, where princesses +entered the lists and vanquished gallant +troubadours with the concord of their +sweet measures. Slowly, yet with resistless +strength, a new social world was +rising upon the splendid ruins of the old. +Its principles were just, if their garb +was fantastical. It began with that almost +superstitious reverence for woman, +which had borrowed its religion from +the Teuton, its romance from the Minnesinger +and the Trouveur: it will end +in the honesty and freedom of a world +mature for its enjoyment.</p> + +<p>Thus, while the kingdoms of Europe +were rising to a height where to oppress, +to torture, to fight, were to seem +their sole aim and purpose, in a hitherto +obscure corner of the great theatre of +modern life an unknown element was +developing itself, which was in time to +shake the greatest nations with its power, +to inflame all Europe with jealousy +and cupidity, and to dictate to empires +the very terms of their existence. And +this element was LABOR. The rich +lowlands of the 'double-armed' Rhine +teemed with a busy life, that, king-like, +demanded a tribute of the sea, and +wrenched from the greedy waves a treasure +that its industry made priceless. +Each man became a prince in his own +divine right, and every occupation had +its lords and its lore, its 'mysteries,' +and its social rights. The seamen, merchants, +and artisans of the Netherlands +had made their country the richest in +Europe. They ranged the seas and +learned the value of the land; and while +they fed the great despot of the Middle +Ages, the light of intelligence, born of +energy and nurtured by activity, cast +its benignant gleams from the central +island of the Rhine, and drove from +their mountain nooks the owls and +bats of tyranny and superstition. They +fought first, these lords of the soil, among +themselves, for local privileges, advancing +in their continuous struggles upon +the very threshold of the church. By +strong alliances they kept at bay their +feudal lords, and fettered the ecclesiastical +power with the yoke of a justice, +meagre, indeed, and sadly unfruitful, +but still ominous of a better day. Within +the alabaster vase of despotism, frail, +yet old as ambition, the lamp of freedom +had long burned dimly: now its flames +were licking, with serpent-like tongues, +the enclosure so long deemed sacred, +and threatened, as they dyed the air +with their amber flood of light, to shiver +their temple to fragments. The theory +of the divine right of kings was but another +'Luck of Edenhall.' Its slender +stem trembled now within the rough +grasp of the sacrilegious and burly Netherlanders, +who hesitated not long ere +they dashed it with the old superstition +to the ground, shaking the civilized +world to its centre by the shock. But +out of the ruins a statelier edifice was +to rise, whose windows, like those of the +old legend, were stained by the lifeblood +of its architect.</p> + +<p>The historian who would worthily depict +such an age, such a people, such +principles, must be an artist, but one in +whom the creative faculty does not blind + +the moral obligations. He must bring to +the work a republican sympathy, must +be governed by a republican justice, +and wear a character as noble as the +struggle that he paints. And such an +artist, such a historian, such a man, we +have in JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY.</p> + +<p>The honors of Harvard, early and nobly +earned, had given to the boy at +seventeen the privileges and dignity of +manhood. He was destined to become a +scholar, eminent, even among the rarely +and richly cultured minds of his own +New England, for his universal knowledge, +clearness of intellect, prompt energy, +and indomitable perseverance. +Inspired by these gifts and attainments, +it was only natural, almost inevitable, +that his first appearance upon the literary +stage should have been in the <em>rōle</em> + +of a novelist. The active young intellect +was pliant and strong, but had not +yet learned its power. Before him lay +the broad fields of romance, fascinating +with their royal <em>fleurs de lis</em>, rich with +the contributions of every age, some +quaint and laughter-moving, some pompous +and exaggerated, some soul-stirring +and grand. Impelled, perhaps, less by +a thirst for fame than a desire to satisfy +the resistless impulses of an energetic +nature, and lay those fair ghosts of enterprises +dimly recognized that beckoned +him onward, he followed the first path +that lay before him, and became a romance +writer. His first work, <em>Morton's +Hope, or the Memoirs of a Provincial</em>, +was published in 1839, and subsequently +appeared <em>Merry Mount, a Romance of +Massachusetts</em>. It is curious to trace in +these first flights of a genius that has +since learned its legitimate field, a tendency +to the breadth of Motley's later +efforts, an instinctive and evidently unconscious +passion for the descriptive, an +admirably curbed yet still powerful impatience +of the light fetters, the toy regulations +of the realm of Fiction, and an +earnestness that has since bloomed in +the world of Fact and History. The +very imperfections of the novelist have +become the charms of the historian. +His student-life in Germany, his after-plot +in the stirring Revolutionary times, +strongly as they are drawn, animated as +they are with dashes of that vivid power +that stamps every page of the histories +of their author, yet lack the proof of +that unquestioned yet unobtrusive consciousness +of genius that harden the telling +sentences of the <em>Rise of the Dutch +Republic</em> and the <em>United Netherlands</em> +into blocks of adamant, polished by +friction with each other to a diamond +brightness, and reflecting only the noblest +sentiments, the most profound principles. +The dice had been thrown a +second time, and Motley had not won a +victory. The applause of the press was +insufficient to the man, who felt that he +had not yet struck the key-note of his +destiny. To be counted the follower of +Cooper was not the meet guerdon of an +intellect to which the shapely monuments +of ancient literature yielded the +clue to their hieroglyphic labyrinths of +knowledge, and that pierced with lightning +swiftness the shell of events, and +possessed the latent principles of life in +their warm hearts. He returned, therefore, +to Europe, leaving behind him a +reputation which at no distant day was +destined to spring from a new and more +noble foundation into a lasting and more +stately pile.</p> + +<p>To a mind like Motley's, the department +of history presented the most attractive +features. There could honestly +be no dabbling with the specious and seductive +alchemy of Fiction. Truth had +molded every period of the world's life. +Truth defied had tripped up nations in +their headlong race after dominion and +unrighteous power. Truth victorious +had smiled upon their steady growth to +greatness and honor. To write history +was to write poetry, art, philosophy, religion, +life. The pen that sketched the +rise, the progress, and the fate of nations, +was in fact the chisel of a sculptor, +whose theme was humanity.</p> + +<p>And what work so fitting for the +American author as the record of a nation +struggling away from the oppression +of feudal institutions, which stifled +all growth either towards knowledge or + +civil greatness, throwing off the trammels +of religious intolerance, defying the +most powerful nation of Christendom, +which had breathed an air of bigotry in +its long contest with the Moors, and +waging an exhaustive war of nearly a +century's duration against fearful odds, +only to win an independent existence? +We had treasured as rare heirlooms the +Mechlin laces of our grandmothers, had +our favorite sets of Tournay porcelain, +awaited with curious and enthusiastic +patience our shares in the floral exportations +of Harlem, trodden daily the carpetings +of Brussels, and esteemed ourselves +rich with a fragment of its tapestry, +or a rifle of Namur; we had honored +the vast manufacturing interest of +the Netherlands, their commercial prosperity +and noble enterprise; but here +all thought of them had ended. Schiller +had not taught us that the ancestors of the +miners of Mons, the artisans of Brussels, +the seamen of Antwerp, the professors of +Leyden, were heroes, worthy to stand +beside Leonidas and Bozzaris; Strāda +had failed to rouse us to enthusiasm at +the thought of their long, noble battle +for life. Grotius had indeed painted for +us with a very Flemish nicety of detail +their manners and customs, but had forgotten +to round his skeleton of a nation +with the passions that animated every +stage of its development. It remained +for Motley, with all the quick sympathies +of an American heart, to rouse our +affections and to command our reverence +for a people so unfortunate and so +brave. It was reserved for him to teach +us that William of Orange was not less +a martyr to the truth than Huss or Latimer.</p> + +<p>It was no common scholar who so +worthily finished this task. It was not +enough that the intellectual integrity of +oar historian was unquestioned, his judgment +mature, his knowledge vast and +comprehensive. During the years of +preparation he had become thoroughly +cosmopolite; all the <em>petty</em> prejudices of +country and blood had been swept away +before the advancing dignity of a reason +that became daily more truly and completely +the master of itself. All the +thousand minute refinements of an extensive +and intimate association with the +commanding and courtly minds of the +age fitted him to cope more successfully +with the spirit of subtle intrigue, the +fox-like sagacity, the wolfish rapacity, +the cruel lack of diplomatic honor, and +the illimitable and terrible intolerance +that distinguished in so wonderful a degree +the historical era of Motley's choice. +He came with all the zeal of a true +lover of liberty, himself republican, as +earth's most cultured sons have been in +every age, in thought, habit, and sentiment, +to trace for the future and for us +the records of a people who were willing +to suffer a master, but who revolted +from a tyrant; who, with a rare but unappreciated +and too nice honor, strove +to keep to the yoke that their forefathers +had worn, only asking from their ruler +the respect and consideration due the +faithful servants of his crown, who were +no longer the abject slaves of a monarchy, +and yet, through an inveterate habit +of servitude, were scarcely prepared for +the independence of a republic. How +nobly he has fulfilled his mission, the +hearty applause of two nations sufficiently +testifies.</p> + +<p>To the wide, comprehensive vision of +Motley, history appears in its true light +as a science, demanding the assistance +of other sciences to the due and harmonious +development of all its parts. It +relies not more upon the correctness of +the recorder's authorities and the profoundness +of his researches in the mere +region of the events and mutual relation +of nations, than upon his universal +acquaintance with general literature and +the sister arts of politics and philosophy. +It was for the treacherous and elegant +Bolingbroke to reduce the noble art of +Thucydides from the height of sublimity +and grandeur to the parlor level of the +conversations of the Hotel de Rambouillet, +to introduce into the most serious +political disquisitions, concerning perhaps +the welfare of society, an imperceptible +yet carefully elaborated and most +effective tone of levity that speedily + +proved disastrous to their object. It +was be who forced the vapid but imposing +ceremonial of the <em>bon ton</em> into the +records of church and state; who clothed +his empty but pompous periods with the +ermine of royalty, to ensure them the +reverence of a deluded multitude; who +stripped Virtue of her ancient prerogatives, +and fed her with the crumbs from +his table. His polished diction, undeniable +talent and fine acquisitions served +most unhappily to disguise his real poverty +of sentiment, and for a time, at +least, diverted the current of popular +feeling from the true, beautiful, and reliable +in early literature and art, no less +than in history. With what success his +faulty and imperfect theories were engrafted +upon the literature of his nation, +the learned and sagacious Schlosser conclusively +proves in his <em>History of the +Eighteenth Century</em>. Says this ripe +scholar and deep thinker, 'All that Bolingbroke +ridicules as tedious and without +talent, all that he laughs at as useless +and without taste, all that which, +urged by his labors and those of his like-minded +associates, had for eighty years +disappeared from ancient history, is again +brought back in our day. So short is +the triumph of falsehood.' Well may we +pervert the verses of Horace,—</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'Nullę placere diu, nec vivere <em>historię</em> possunt</p> + +<p class="l">Quę scribuntur aquę potoribus.'</p> +</div> + +<p>That was an ungenerous fountain +whence Bolingbroke drank even his +chilling draughts of inspiration. Splendid, +in sooth, as the great <em>Brunnen</em> of +the luckless Abderites of Wieland, with +its sea-god of marble surrounded by a +stately train of nymphs, tritons, and dolphins, +from whose jets the water only +dripped like tears, because, says the +writer, with grave naļveté, 'there was +scarcely enough to moisten the lips of a +single nymph.' Truly the purple wine +of inspiration is as necessary to the historian +as to the poet; and if the laughing +Bacchus that holds the beaker to the student's +eager lips be not clothed in the +classic robes of the senate-chamber or the +flowing garments of the professor, he +wears at least the fawn's dappled hide, +and in his hand</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'His thyrsus holds—an ivy-crowned spear.'</p> + +</div> + +<p>Does not the gentle Euripides show us +the god, 'his horned head with dragon +wreath entwined?' And those two sacred +horns point back to the dread mysteries +of the Ogdoad sublime,</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'The great Cabiri of earth's dawning prime.'</p> +</div> + +<p>They trace with lines that never swerve +from truth the history of the primeval +world, the early days of Noah and his +ark. They recall to us the old story of +life and suffering, of deluge and salvation; +on their crescent points hangs the +eternal principle of the efficacy of sacrifice. +They float with the moon-ark of +Astarté Mylitta on hyacinthine seas of +night-clouds, and their high import, +dimmed and lost in the great stream of +Time, rises again in the ages, uncrowned +with the early luxuriance of symbol and +mystery. The mystic horns appear over +the brow of the queenly Sappho of Grillparzer, +upon whose hair</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'Rested the diadem, <em>like the pale moon</em></p> +<p class="l">Upon the brow of night, a silver crest;'</p> +</div> + +<p>and the white-robed Madonna, with +child-like face upraised, and deep, tender +eyes uplifted, yet rests her slender, +sandaled foot upon the horned moon, +floating below her in misty clouds.</p> + +<p>A hiatus for which we crave indulgence; +a dream, and yet not all a dream, +for each of these old types encloses a +living truth, and unfolds into a history, +tangled, perhaps, and imperfect, but +suggestive and reliable, of races and religions +that had else passed away into +oblivion. And the earnest student of +the present, or the historian of the past, +can never disregard these dim old treasures, +but must draw from them a fresher +faith in his own humanity and in the +eternal laws of God, that are unchangeable +as he is immortal.</p> + +<p>The art of history advances with the +art of poetry; both, and indeed all literature, +correspond aesthetically with the +manners, customs, theology, and politics +of the nation of their birth. The severe + +grandeur of Thucydides, the invariable +sweetness of Xenophon, and the cheerful +elegance of Herodotus, recall, with their +just conceptions of harmony, their noble +and sustained flow of thought, and their +freedom from the adventitious ornaments +of an exaggerated rhetoric or a sentimental +morality, the golden age of +Greece. We seem to stand within the +Parthenon, to gaze upon the Venus of +Cnidus, to be jostled by the gay crowd +at the Olympic games. It was indeed a +golden age, when all that was beautiful +in nature was reverently and assiduously +nurtured, and all that was noble and +natural in art was magnificently encouraged; +an age in which refinement and +nobility were not accidents, but necessities; +when politics had reached the high +grade of an art, and oratory attained a +beauty and power beyond which no Pitt, +Canning, or Brougham has ever yet aspired; +an age when the gifted Aspasia +held her splendid court, and Alcibiades +and Socrates were proud to sit at the +Milesian's feet; when Pericles, who +'well deserved the lofty title of Olympian,' + +lived and ruled: the golden age +when Socrates thought and taught, +bearing in its bosom the guilty day +when Socrates died.</p> + +<p>Not less faithful portraitures of the +influences that formed them are the histories +of Livy, of Sallust, and of Tacitus. +They wrote in a language that had been +sublimated into electric clouds by the +warm and splendid diffuseness of Cicero, +and reduced to a granite-like strength +by the cold and exquisite simplicity of +Terence. The amiable fustian, the +Falstaffian bombast of Lucan and Ovid's +brilliant imagination, all stamp their indelible +seal upon the vivid coloring of +Livy, the somewhat affected severity of +Sallust, and the elegant morality of +Tacitus. The banner of the monarchy +flaunts across every page of these writers. +They even bear the impress of an +architecture whose splendor and strength +did not atone for its disregard of the old +Hellenic lines and rules. They bear the +same relation to Thucydides and Herodotus +that a pillar of the Roman Ionic +order, with its angularly turned volutes +and arbitrary perpendicularity of outline, +does to its graceful Greek mother, with +her primitive and expressive scrolls, and +the slightly convex profile of her shaft. +In more modern times, a black-letter, +quaint sentence of Froissart or Monstrelet +is like a knight in full armor, bristling +with quaint, beautiful devices, golden +dragons inlaid on Milan cuirasses, +golden vines on broad Venetian blades, +apes on the hilts of grooved-bladed, firm +stilettoes, or the illuminated margins +of old metrical romances. The pages +of Strada are darkened by the stormy +passions of a battling age, crossed with +the lurid light of Moorish tragedies; an +<em>ay de mi Alhama</em> moans under his pride +and bigotry. Torquemadas grind each +sentence into dullness and inquisitorial +harmlessness, yet now and then sweeps +by a trace of Lope de Vega, a word that +reminds us of Calderon, while still oftener +the euphuism of Gongora pervades +the writer's mind and flows in platitudes +from his guarded pen.</p> + +<p>As we near our own day, history is +invested with new dignities; its arms +float, sea-weed like, on the raging waves +of political life, as if to grasp from some +fragment of shipwrecked treaties or some +passing argosy of government a precious +jewel to light its deep researches. It +takes in with nervous grasp the tendencies +of literature; its keen gaze drinks +in the features of popular belief and +searches out the fountains of popular error. +Fully equal to the requirements of +the exacting age, Motley has produced +a work whose lightest merit is its equal +conformity to the new rules of his art. +He possesses in an eminent degree the +first qualification which the old Abbé de +Mably, in his <em>Maničre d'ecrire l'histoire</em>, +insists upon for the historian. He recognizes +the natural rights of man, those +rights which are the same in every age, +and as powerful in their demands in the +sixteenth century as in the nineteenth. +His well-balanced mind acknowledges +and respects the duties of man as citizen +and magistrate, and the mutual rights of +nations. No splendor, no power, no + +prejudice, has been able to seduce him +from his high principles, neither does a +warm and manifest sympathy with his +subject delude him even into the passing +extravagance of an undue praise. +If he comprehends the greatness of the +national character he almost flings upon +the canvas before us, he appreciates as +profoundly its weaknesses too. Strada's +history is a poison, which strikes at the +very roots of society, and would wither +all the fresh young leaves of its vigorous +spring. Motley's is its powerful antidote, +which restores the juices of life to +the brittle fibres, smooths out the shriveled +leaves, and clothes them again with +the fresh green of hope and promise. +Strada is the slave of the victor; Motley +is the champion of the vanquished. +Strada bends the dignity of Justice before +the painted sceptre of Despotism; +Motley exalts the honest title of the man +above the will of the perjured monarch. +Strada gilds with the false gold of sophistry +the very chains that gall his soul; +Motley sharpens on the clear crystal +of his unobtrusive logic, the two-handed +sword of power, and cuts his way through +an army of protocols and pacts to the +fortress of Liberty.</p> + +<p>It is, we believe, an exploded theory +that the characters of modern times are +inferior to those of antiquity. 'Under +the toga as under the modern dress,' +says Guizot, 'in the senate as in our +councils, men were what they still are;' +and the old Jesuit takes a narrow view +of the progress of mankind, who asserts +that the masculine and vigorous treatment +that was necessary to Thucydides +and Livy is not required by the historians +of our puny and degenerate day. Even +the Count Gobineau, who so ably and, to +his followers, conclusively proves the fallacy +of the dearest hope of every learned +philanthropist and patriot, does not, in his +most earnest antagonism to the doctrine +of human progress, insinuate the existence +of a principle urging the systematic +and inevitable decline of individual +power from age to age. So far from exacting +less of the historian, the present +age demands even a firmer handling. +Our era has its Alexanders and Cęsars; +its Hannibals and Hectors; and if these +men of antiquity rise before us with an +unapproachable air of grandeur, it is because +the light shining from our distant +stand-point surrounds them with deeper +shadows, and throws them in bolder relief +against the background of their vanished +ages. It is a simple triumph of +<em>chiaro-scuro</em>, and by no means the proof +of the truth of an absurd theory.</p> + +<p>It is mournful enough to see the dead +nations that were once young and glorious +pacing onward through an inferno +like so many headless Bertrand de +Borns, bearing by the hair</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'The severed member, lantern-wise</p> + +<p class="l">Pendent in hand.'</p> +</div> + +<p>For ourselves, we have no fear of lighting +our own spirit thus through any +Malabolge of purification. And this +bold faith animates Motley; it invigorates +all his work with a firmness that inspires +full confidence in his readers. Free +as he is from every puerile superstition, +his mastery of his subject is complete. +He exercises over it a sort of magistracy +which extends even to his own flashing +impulses. Never pausing to display his +moral learning, he avoids the tedious +diffuseness of Rollin; steering adroitly +around the quicksands of political dissertation, +he escapes the pragmatical essayism +of Guiccardini. Not easily fascinated +by the trifles that swim like vapid +foam upon the tide of history,—petty +domestic details, the Königsmark intrigues +of royalty, the wines and flowers +of the banquet table, the laces and jewels +of the court,—he leaves far in the +distance the entertaining Davila, who, +says the sarcastic Schlosser, 'wrote memoirs +after the French fashion for good +society,' yet whom the arbitrary and adventurous +Bolingbroke does not scruple +to declare 'in many respects the equal +of Livy!' And yet no single stroke is +omitted which is needed to preserve the +unity of the work. Tacitus himself did +not embellish with more commanding +morality his histories. The jots and tittles +of the <em>Groot Privilegie</em>, the terms of +the famous 'Pacification of Ghent,' the + +solemn import of the <em>Act of Adjuration</em>, +and the political ambition of the church, +are as faithfully drawn as the Siege of +Leyden, or the 'Spanish Fury' of Antwerp.</p> + +<p>Hume, in the narrowness of a so-called +philosophical indifference to the appeals +of domestic life and the details of national +theology and art, gives us only a running +commentary upon mere chronological +events, galvanized by the touch +of his keen intellect and fine rhetoric into +a deceitful vigor, and ornamented with +the poisonous night-shade blossoms of a +spurious philosophy. We may more +justly seek some analogy between Gibbon +and Motley, even if the search but +discover points of difference so radical +that a comparison is impossible. The +solemn, measured, and splendid rhetoric +of Gibbon is met by the animated, impetuous, +and brilliant flow of Motley's +thought. Neither leans to the ideal; +with both the actual prevails. The policy +of a government is summoned by +neither before the partial tribunal of a +sentiment, or the intricate scheme of +some Machiavelli subjected to the imperfect +analysis of a headstrong imagination. +But Gibbon, though he writes +in the vernacular, has lost all the honest +nationality that should give an air of sincerity +to his work; his brilliant antithesis +belongs to the ornate school of the +French literature of the day; and, fascinating +as is the pomp and commanding +march of his sentences, we are rather +dazzled by his eloquence than convinced +by his argument. He is picturesque, +rich; but it is the picturesqueness and +richness of the truly bewildering Roman +architecture of the Renaissance—half +Byzantine, three-eighths Gothic, and the +remainder Greek. But Motley, with all +his varied learning and association, is +still perfectly and nobly Anglo-Saxon. +His short, epigrammatic sentences ring +like the click of musketry before the +charge, and swell into length and grandeur +with the progress of his theme. +The simplicity, not of ignorance but of +genius, characterizes him. He does not +cater to our hungry fancy, he appeals +grandly to our noblest impulses. In +Motley a spirit of the most refined humanity +is everywhere visible; he is guilty +of no Voltairean satiric stabs at purity, +no petulant Voltairean flings at the +faith he does not share. All is manly, +terse, frank, undisguised. Honorable +himself, he does not, like Gibbon, distrust +all mankind, and question with a +sarcasm the very sincerity of a martyr +at the stake.</p> + +<p>Among Americans, Motley is what +Botta is to the historians of Southern +Europe. The same grand principles actuate +both writers; the same tendency +to philosophical generalization is evident +in the structure of their works, the same +inflexible pursuit of a fixed and visible +aim, the same enthusiastic love for freedom. +But with Botta the poetical element, +which is only secondary with Motley, +predominates. He holds the nervous +pen of a true Italian—more than that, +of a true Italian patriot. All the hitherto +suppressed fire of his nation flames +out on his pages in an indignation as +natural as it is superb. His lines vibrate +with passion, his words are tremulous +with a noble pain. His very pathos +is impatient, stern, and proud; it +cleaves our hearts like a battle-axe, rather +than meets them as with summer +showers. His sarcasm is as keen and effective, +but far more startling; it hisses +its way from some iron-cold comment, +and stabs the monarch whom it crowns. +His fertility of imagination is not weakened +by contact with the details of government. +The same pen that draws +in such inimitably graceful lines the sugar-plums +of starving Genoa, lingering +about flower-wreathed baskets of bonbons +sold in the public squares to famishing +men and women, sketches in a +style as nervous and appropriate the +complex detail of governmental policy. +He unfolds his subject with the skill of +an epic poet; its general effect is sublime, +and its petty details arranged with +a rarely careless skill. If he is sometimes +diverted by a burst of enthusiasm, +of indignation, or of horror, into an inequality, +the rough island thrown up in + +the sea of his fancy is speedily verdured +over with the wonderful luxuriance of +his genius. If he bends sometimes to +amuse, to revel among his sonorous Italian +adjectives in the description of a +coronation at Milan, or an opera of Valetta, +it is part of his purpose, giving to +his picture the rich and glowing tints +that bring out, by violence of contrast, +the more elaborate tinting in of dark upon +dark behind them.</p> + +<p>Something of this we recognize in +Motley; but none of Botta's tendency to +proverbial sayings, bitter with a sarcasm +that wounds most deeply its creator; as, +'To believe that abstract principle will +prevail over full purses is the folly of a +madman.' Neither do we find in Motley +the occasional terse conciseness of Botta,—little +epics enclosed in a short +sentence. 'Napoleon had redeemed +France; but he had created Italy.' + +But the Italian can not be impartial. +Just he is, but it is the accident of his +political position, not the deference paid +by the historian to his art. He writes +of an age from whose injustice he has +suffered, of a country whose miseries he +has shared, of a people whose brother he +is. And here Motley stands second only +to Thucydides among historians. In +the Greek, impartiality was almost divine, +for he wrote in the very smoke of +the conflict, wrote as if with his dripping +lance upon rocks dyed with the blood of +his countrymen. With Motley impartiality +is the product of a nature strictly +noble, that aims through its art not only +to delight the present, but to instruct +the future, and which bases its doctrines +of right and wrong upon the principles +that govern universal nature. +The temper of Thucydides is lofty and +even; though never genial, he is always +calm and accessible; though often sublime, +he is never pathetic; too grand to +be sarcastic, he is also too proud to be +selfish.</p> + +<p>Motley, if lacking the great and admirable +element of sublimity, which Longinus +extols, compensates for it by the +animation and variety of his style, which +changes, as does his mood, with his subject. +He enters with all the vigor of +his manhood into the spirit of the scenes +which he sketches. He describes a character, +and his strokes are bold, quick, decided; +he follows the intricacies of political +intrigue, and his movement is +slow, continuous, wary, while it still remains +firm, confident, and successful. +He can administer the finances with +Escovedo, while his wide, keen intelligence, +undismayed, masters at a glance +the wily policy of Alexander of the '<em>fel +Gesicht</em>.' No modern historian has given +more comprehensive sketches of character. +No quality escapes his vigilance; +he yields every faculty the consideration +which is its due. The portraits of Alva, +of Navarre, of Farnese, of Orange, of +Don John of Austria, are so many colossal +statues, that seem to unite in themselves +all the possible features and characteristics +of humanity. He is indeed +rather a sculptor than a painter. His figures +are round, perfect, throbbing with +life, and their hard and striking outlines, +springing sharply from the background +of despotism and persecution, are more +imposing than any Rubens-like vividness +of coloring which could warm them. He +treats of diplomacy as a diplomat, unwinds +the reel of protocol and treaty, +and binds up with the inflexible cord +the rich sheaves of his deep researches. +His reflections are suggestive but short, +and his details never weary.</p> + +<p>He loves, too, to mark the sympathies +of nature with event—the rain falling +upon the black-hung scaffold, or the +laughter of gay sunshine mingling with +the shouts of a great victory. And here +he differs, as indeed he does in almost +every other respect, with Macaulay. +The Englishman thinks little of nature; +as he himself says of Dante, 'He leaves +to others the earth, the ocean, and the +sky; his business is with man.' Indeed, +the absence of a true and universal sympathy +is the one vast defect of Macaulay. +No position is so high that it may not be +overshadowed by the giant form of his +violent partisanship, no character so +small that it may not be raised to the +semblance of greatness by the mere + +force of his political preferences. His +scholarship was splendid, his genius +commanding, the beauty of his style unsurpassed; +but he perverted his knowledge +to subserve certain public ends, +and wielded his magnificent powers too +often in the defence of an undeserving +cause. Fascinated by his dazzling rhetoric, +borne along by its rapid and tumultuous +current to the most brilliant +conclusions, we forget the narrowness +of the stream. His scope of vision was +indeed great, but it had its limits, and +these were not imposed by time or necessity, +but by the unyielding will of his +own prejudices. As his virtues were +massive, so were his errors grievous. +He ventured to grasp the great speculative +themes of existence with a mind +that was neither profound nor suggestive. +He swam with all the wondrous +ease of an athlete through the billows +and across the currents and counter-currents +of elegant literature, of politics, +of theology, yet possessed not the diver's +power to win their sunken but +priceless jewels. Rich he was with the +accumulated intellectual spoil of centuries, +but the power of exhaustive generalization +was denied him. His perceptions +were vigorous and acute, and none +knew more perfectly to exhaust a subject, +if its requirements were of the actual +and tangible rather than of the +ideal and spiritual order. He was a +thorough logician, but a superficial philosopher; +a master of style, but oblivious +of those great religious truths of which +the events of his great history were but +the natural outgrowth and product. +But nothing can exceed the power of +his rhetoric, that is uncontrolled by any +laws, yet offends none, unless it be the +arbitrariness of his dogmatism, that concedes +no favors and asks no gifts.</p> + +<p>Less vehement, less ornate, possibly +less learned than Macaulay, with frequent +though trifling inequalities of +style, Motley goes far beyond him in +real practical insight into the heart of +affairs. There is a unity in all visible +life, whether of nation, of individual, of +church, or of inarticulate nature, that +escaped Macaulay and impresses Motley. +The one would govern the universe with +the arbitrary rules of a political clique; +the other applies to all the infallible test +of a universal philosophy. Both writers +are thoroughly incorporated with their +subject; but where Macaulay was the +captive of a mighty and often just prejudice, +Motley is the exponent of a living +principle. Everywhere Macaulay +was a Whig and an Englishman; everywhere +Motley is a Republican and a +cosmopolite.</p> + +<p>Motley is indeed inferior to his English +contemporary in many striking +points whose value every reader will determine +for himself; but his occasional +and rare inaccuracies of expression and +inelegances of language are on the surface, +and may be removed by the stroke +of a pen without marring the general effect +of his work. He possesses, among +many charms, an unfailing geniality, +which, united with his fine dramatic +powers, fascinates us completely. He +abounds also in fine poetical touches, +that give us glimpses of a mind cultured +to the last degree of literary refinement. +His 'rows of whispering limes and poplars' +are like arabesques of gold straying +over the margins of some old <em>romanceros</em>. +His descriptions glow with the +fresh and ever-varying delight of the observant +traveler, who seems to see before +him for the first time the cities which, +with a few vigorous and simple strokes, +he transfers to big pages. His pictures +have the charm of naturalness and a simplicity +that is more effective than the +most ornate diffuseness. Thus he says +of the picturesque little city of Namur: +'Seated at the confluence of the Sambre +with the Meuse, and throwing over each +river a bridge of solid but graceful structure, +it lay in the lap of a most fruitful +valley. A broad, crescent-shaped plain, +fringed by the rapid Meuse, and enclosed +by gently-rolling hills, cultivated +to their crests, or by abrupt precipices +of limestone crowned with verdure, was +divided by numerous hedgerows, and +dotted all over with corn-fields, vine-yards, +and flower-gardens. Many eyes + +have gazed with delight upon that well-known +and most lovely valley, and many +torrents of blood have mingled with +those glancing waters since that long-buried +and most sanguinary age which +forms our theme; and still, placid as +ever is the valley, brightly as ever flows +the stream. Even now, as in that banished +but never-forgotten time, nestles +the little city in the angle of the two +rivers; still directly over its head seems +to hang in mid-air the massive and +frowning fortress, like the gigantic helmet +in the fiction, as if ready to crush +the pigmy town below.' How like the +<em>Ueberfahrt</em> of Uhland:—</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'Ueber diesen Strohm, vor Jahren,</p> +<p class="l">Bin ich einmal schon gefahren,</p> +<p class="l">Hier die Burg, im Abendschimmer,</p> +<p class="l">Drüben rauscht das Wehr, wie immer.'</p> +</div> + +<p>We may quote his description of the +great square of Brussels, the scene of the +double execution of Montmorency, of +Horn, and the gallant and unfortunate +'Count d'Egmont,' not only as an example +of his dignified and sustained style, but +also as an evidence of his sensitiveness to +those minor refinements of association +and place that bespeaks the talented artist. + +'The great square of Brussels had +always a striking and theatrical aspect. +Its architectural effects, suggesting in +some degree the meretricious union between +Oriental and a corrupt Grecian +art, accomplished in the mediaeval midnight, +have amazed the eyes of many +generations. The splendid Hotel de +Ville, with its daring spire and elaborate +front, ornamented one side of the place; +directly opposite was the graceful but incoherent +faēade of the Brood-huis, now +the last earthly resting place of the two +distinguished victims; while grouped +around these principal buildings rose the +fantastic palaces of the Archers, Mariners, +and other guilds, with their festooned +walls and toppling gables bedizened +profusely with emblems, statues, +and quaint decorations. The place had +been alike the scene of many a brilliant +tournament and of many a bloody execution. +Gallant knights had contended +within its precincts, while bright eyes +rained influences from all those picturesque +balconies and decorated windows. +Martyrs to religious and to political liberty +had upon the same spot endured +agonies which might have roused every +stone of its pavement to mutiny or softened +them to pity. Here Egmont himself, +in happier days, had often borne +away the prize of skill or of valor, the +cynosure of every eye; and hence, almost +in the noon of a life illustrated by +many brilliant actions, he was to be sent, +by the hand of tyranny, to his great account.'</p> + +<p>There are, too, dashes of a healthy sarcasm +among these records, not, however, +of such frequent occurrence as to darken +the flow of the narrative, but sufficiently +indicative of the strength and energy of +the writer. Never attacking the honest +faith of any man, his satires are levelled +at hypocrisy, never error, as when he +says of the venerable tyrant, the master +of the Invincible Armada, when he had +received from the trembling secretary +the assurance of the failure of the hope +of Spain: 'So the king, as fortune flew +away from him, wrapped himself in his +virtue, and his counsellors, imitating +their sovereign, arrayed themselves in +the same garment;' a scanty mantle, in +truth, but, no doubt, amply sufficient for +the denizens of that torrid atmosphere +of bigotry in which Spain has lived for +centuries.</p> + +<p>Of what earnest stuff Motley's dreams +of religious freedom are made, we read +in his terse comments upon the declaration +of the principles of liberty of conscience +by the States General. 'Such +words shine through the prevailing darkness +of the religious atmosphere at that +epoch like characters of light. They +are beacons in the upward path of mankind. +Never before had so bold and +wise a tribute to the genius of the Reformation +been paid by an organized community. +Individuals walking in advance +of their age had enunciated such truths, +and their voices had seemed to die away, +but at last, a little, struggling, half-developed +commonwealth had proclaimed +the rights of conscience for all mankind.'</p> + + +<p>Thus we have no longer a wearisome +compilation of events strung upon the +thread of chronology, but a practical +history of the most momentous epoch of +modern times. No hand has before +pointed out so faithfully its great motive +power or adjusted so nicely its +apparent contradictions. The structure is +grand; it is the expression of a glorious +faith. In the accomplishment of so vast +a design, Motley has won our warmest +gratitude, while he has awakened our +deepest sympathies. Not alone to the +learned, the scholarly, and the elegant, +are these volumes addressed; their +high-toned thought has met response in the +people's heart, and children bend with +flushed faces over the high romance of +the struggle that cost the lives of +thousands, and recognize, perhaps dimly, the +import of that great advance from the +darkness of intolerance to the light of +freedom, that was so well worth the +treasure of blood with which it was bought.</p> + +<p>And here we part with Motley the +historian, only to clasp hands with Motley +the patriot. In the present tremendous +struggle of people against progress, this +fierce contest between labor and the +lords, these last convulsions of the +expiring giant of feudal aristocracy, whose +monstrous conception dates far back +among the Middle Ages, Motley has +shown himself the true champion of the +doctrines advocated in his histories. +His platform is still the same, but how +changed the theatre of his action! His +letter to the London <em>Times</em> on the +'Causes of the American Civil War' +is a masterly exposition of facts, whose +naked power is obscured by no useless +displays of rhetoric. Its tone is calm, +dignified, confident; its statements are +strongly maintained, its logic convincing. +All honor to the man who from his quiet +researches in royal archives and busy +deciphering of dusty MSS. turned to his +country in her hour of need, and +defended her where defence should have +been superfluous, but was, unhappily, of +small avail. And still he works nobly +for the dear old flag, and, intimately <em>lié</em> +as he is with the first literati and politicians +of Europe, it is not easy to measure +his influence. His purely literary habits +forbid all suspicion of his disinterestedness, +and will go far to commend him to +the sympathies of the commanding +intellects of the age. Let us hope for the time +when, with renewed faith in his mighty +theories and still renewing love for his +motherland, he shall return to the +retirement which has already produced such +noble fruits, and add works as worthy +to our American classics. Meanwhile, +<em>vive qui vince!</em></p> +</div> + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_28"></a> +<h2>The Lesson Of The Hour.</h2> + + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Thou who for years hast watched the course of nature,</p> +<p class="l">What time the changing seasons swept their round,</p> +<p class="l">And, 'mid the play of every varying feature,</p> +<p class="l">New founts of pleasure for thyself hast found;</p> +<p class="l">Who, when dark clouds upon the mountain glooming,</p> + +<p class="l">Threaten destruction to the smiling plain,</p> +<p class="l">Canst pierce the shadow and foresee the blooming</p> +<p class="l">Of budding blossoms brighter for the rain:</p> + +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">To whom, when the dread winter's icy fingers</p> +<p class="l">Have chilled to silence the gay babbling stream,</p> +<p class="l">A memory of its summer music lingers,</p> + +<p class="l">Or April violets in the future beam;</p> +<p class="l">To whom the darkness whispers of the dawning,</p> +<p class="l">And sorrow's night tells of the coming day;</p> +<p class="l">And even death is but the twilight morning</p> +<p class="l">Of glory which shall never fade away;—</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l"><em>Teach us thy lesson</em>. Unto us be given</p> + +<p class="l">The trusting faith the April flowers display;</p> +<p class="l">Looking in their meek confidence to heaven,—</p> +<p class="l">Trusting to God the future of the day.</p> +<p class="l">Our night is dark, and perils vast surround us,</p> +<p class="l">But, firm in truth and right, what shall we fear?</p> +<p class="l">Has danger ever yet base cravens found us?</p> +<p class="l">Who has sustained thus far will guide us here.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> + +<p class="l">Ye countless legions, where each man is holding</p> +<p class="l">Himself a bulwark for the cause of right,</p> +<p class="l">In war's fierce furnace, where our God is molding</p> +<p class="l">Each soul for his own ends in Freedom's fight,</p> +<p class="l">March on to victory in overwhelming number,</p> +<p class="l">Singing the peans of the noble free;</p> +<p class="l">Our Liberty has just awaked from slumber,</p> +<p class="l">To carry out the world's great destiny.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">O mighty nation! all thy early glory</p> +<p class="l">Shall be as nothing to the great renown</p> +<p class="l">Which in the future ages shall come o'er thee,</p> +<p class="l">For thine is Liberty's immortal crown.</p> +<p class="l">Heed not the jealousies forever thronging,—</p> +<p class="l">The petty envyings which gird thee round;</p> + +<p class="l">'Tis thine to carry out the world's great longing,</p> +<p class="l">To find that liberty none else has found.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">What though across the swelling, broad Atlantic</p> +<p class="l">Comes scornful menace? it is naught to thee—</p> +<p class="l">'Tis but the jealous raving, wild and frantic,</p> +<p class="l">Of those who would, but never can, be free;—</p> +<p class="l">Who, slaves to selfish passions bold ambition,</p> + +<p class="l">Hold up their shackled arms in heaven's broad light,</p> +<p class="l">And prate of freedom, boast their high position,</p> +<p class="l">And strive to turn to interest Truth and Right.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l"><em>We need more faith!</em> What though the means be weakness?</p> +<p class="l">With God supreme, the victory must be ours!</p> +<p class="l">From imperfection he works out completeness;</p> + +<p class="l">From feeble means makes overwhelming powers.</p> +<p class="l">How shall this be? The knowledge is not given;</p> +<p class="l">Each to his duty in the field of Right;</p> +<p class="l">Sure as th' Almighty ruleth earth and heaven,</p> +<p class="l">His arm will do it in resistless might.</p> +</div> + +</div> + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_29"></a> +<h2>Among The Pines.</h2> + + +<p>'Dee ye tink Massa Davy wud broke +his word, sar?' said the old negress, bridling +up her bent form, and speaking in +a tone in which indignation mingled with +wounded dignity; 'p'raps gemmen do dat +at de Norf—dey neber does it har.'</p> + +<p>'Excuse me, Aunty; I know your +master is a man of honor; but he's very +much excited, and very angry with +Scip.'</p> + +<p>'No matter for dat, sar; Massa Davy +neber done a mean ting sense he war +born.'</p> + +<p>'Massa K—— tinks a heap ob de +Gunnel, Aunty; but he reckons he'm sort +o' crazy now; dat make him afeard,' +said Scip, in an apologetic tone.</p> + +<p>'What ef he am crazy? You'se safe +<em>har</em>,' rejoined the old woman, dropping +her aged limbs into a chair, and rocking +away with much the same air which ancient +white ladies occasionally assume.</p> + +<p>'Won't you ax Massa K—— to a +cheer?' said Scip; 'he hab ben bery +kine to me.'</p> + +<p>The negress then offered me a seat; +but it was some minutes before I rendered +myself sufficiently agreeable to +thaw out the icy dignity of her manner. +Meanwhile I glanced around the apartment.</p> + +<p>Though the exterior of the cabin was +like the others on the plantation, the interior +had a rude, grotesque elegance +about it far in advance of any negro hut +I had ever seen. The logs were chinked +with clay, and the one window, though +destitute of glass, and ornamented with +the inevitable board-shutter, had a green +moreen curtain, which kept out the wind +and the rain. A worn but neat and +well-swept carpet partly covered the +floor, and on the low bed was spread a +patch-work counterpane. Against the +side of the room opposite the door stood +an antique, brass-handled bureau, and +an old-fashioned table, covered with a +faded woolen cloth, occupied the centre +of the apartment. In the corner near +the fire was a curiously-contrived side-board, +made of narrow strips of yellow +pine, tongued and grooved together, and +oiled so as to bring out the beautiful +grain of the wood. On it were several +broken and cracked glasses, and an array +of irregular crockery. The rocking-chair, +in which the old negress passed +the most of her time, was of mahogany, +wadded and covered with chintz, and +the arm-seat I occupied, though old and +patched in many places, had evidently +moved in good society.</p> + +<p>The mistress of this second-hand furniture +establishment was arrayed in a +mass of cast-off finery, whose gay colors +were in striking contrast with her jet-black +skin and bent, decrepit form. Her +gown, which was very short, was of flaming +red and yellow worsted stuff, and +the enormous turban that graced her +head and hid all but a few tufts of her +frizzled, 'pepper-and-salt' locks, was evidently +a contribution from the family +stock of worn-out pillow-cases. She was +very aged,—upwards of seventy,—and +so thin that, had she not been endowed +with speech and motion, she might have +passed for a bundle of whalebone thrown +into human shape, and covered with a +coating of gutta-percha. It was evident +she had been a valued house-servant, +whose few remaining years were being +soothed and solaced by the kind and indulgent +care of a grateful master.</p> + +<p>Scip, I soon saw, was a favorite with +the old-negress, and the marked respect +he showed me quickly dispelled the angry +feeling excited by my doubts of +'Massa Davy,' and opened her heart +and her mouth at the same moment. +She was terribly garrulous; her tongue, +as soon as it got under way, ran on as if +propelled by machinery and acquainted +with the secret of perpetual motion; but +she was an interesting study. The single-hearted +attachment she showed for + +her master and his family gave me a new +insight into the practical working of 'the +peculiar institution,' and convinced me +that even slavery, in some of its aspects, +is not so black as it is painted.</p> + +<p>When we were seated, I said to Scip, +'What induced you to lay hands on the +Colonel? It is death, you know, if he +enforces the law.'</p> + +<p>'I knows dat, massa; I knows dat; but +I had to do it. Dat Moye am de ole debil, +but de folks round har wud hab turned +on de Cunnel, shore, ef he'd killed him. +Dey don't like de Cunnel; dey say he'm +a stuck-up seshener.'</p> + +<p>'The Colonel, then, has befriended +you at some time?'</p> + +<p>'No, no, sar; 'twarn't dat; dough I'se +know'd him a long w'ile,—eber sense +my ole massa fotched me from de Habana,—but + +'twarn't dat.'</p> + +<p>'Then <em>why</em> did you do it?'</p> + +<p>The black hesitated a moment, and +glanced at the old negress, then said,—</p> + +<p>'You see, massa, w'en I fuss come to +Charles'n, a pore little ting, wid no +friend in all de worle, dis ole aunty war +a mudder to me. She nussed de Cunnel; +he am jess like her own chile, and +I know'd 'twud kill her ef he got hisself +enter trubble.'</p> + +<p>I noticed certain convulsive twitchings +about the corners of the old woman's +mouth as she rose from her seat, +threw her arms around Scip, and, in +words broken by sobs, faltered out,—</p> + +<p>'<em>You</em> am my chile; I loves you better +dan Massa Davy—better dan all de +worle.'</p> + +<p>The scene, had they not been black, +would have been one for a painter.</p> + +<p>'You were the Colonel's nurse, Aunty,' + +I said, when she had regained her +composure. 'Have you always lived +with him?'</p> + +<p>'Yas, sar, allers; I nussed him, and +den de chil'ren—all ob 'em.'</p> + +<p>'All the children? I thought the +Colonel had but one—Miss Clara.'</p> + +<p>'Wal, he habn't, massa, only de boys.'</p> + +<p>'What boys? I never heard he had +sons.'</p> + +<p>'Neber heerd of young Massa Davy, +nor Massa Tommy! Hain't you <em>seed</em> +Massa Tommy, sar?'</p> + +<p>'Tommy! I was told he was Madam +P——'s son.'</p> + +<p>'So he am; Massa Davy had <em>her</em> long +afore he had missus.'</p> + +<p>The truth flashed upon me; but could +it be possible? Was I in South Carolina +or in Utah?</p> + +<p>'Who is Madam P——?' I asked.</p> + +<p>The old woman hesitated a moment, +as if in doubt whether she had not said +too much; but Scip quietly replied,—</p> + +<p>'She'm jess what aunty am—<em>de Cunnel's +slave!</em>'</p> + +<p>'His <em>slave</em>! it can't be possible; she +is white!'</p> + +<p>'No, massa; she am brack, and de +Cunnel's slave!'</p> + +<p>Not to weary the reader with a long +repetition of negro-English, I will tell in +brief what I gleaned from an hour's conversation +with the two blacks.</p> + +<p>Madam P—— was the daughter of +Ex-Gov. ——, of Virginia, by a quarteron +woman. She was born a slave, but +was acknowledged as her father's child, +and reared in his family with his legitimate +children. When she was ten +years of age her father died, and his estate +proving insolvent, the land and negroes +were brought under the hammer. +His daughter, never having been manumitted, +was inventoried and sold with +the other property. The Colonel, then +just of age, and a young man of fortune, +bought her and took her to the residence +of his mother in Charleston. A governess +was provided for her, and a year or +two afterwards she was taken to the North +to be educated. There she was frequently +visited by the Colonel; and +when fifteen her condition became such +that she was obliged to return home. +He conveyed her to the plantation, +where her elder son, David, was soon +afterwards born, 'Aunt Lucy' officiating +on the occasion. When the child was +two years old, leaving it in charge of +the aged negress, she accompanied the +Colonel to Europe, where they remained +for a year. Subsequently she passed +another year at a Northern seminary; + +and then, returning to the plantation, +was duly installed as its mistress, and +had ever since presided over its domestic +affairs. She was kind and good to +the negroes, who were greatly attached +to her, and much of the Colonel's wealth +was due to her excellent management +of the estate.</p> + +<p>Six years after the birth of 'young +Massa Davy,' the Colonel married his +present wife, that lady having full +knowledge of his left-handed connection +with Madam P——, and consenting that +the 'bond-woman' should remain on the +plantation, as its mistress. The legitimate +wife resided, during most of the +year, in Charleston, and when at the +homestead took little interest in domestic +matters. On one of her visits to +the plantation, twelve years before, her +daughter, Miss Clara, was born, and +within a week, and under the same roof, +Madam P—— presented the Colonel with +a son,—the lad Thomas, of whom I have +spoken. As the mother was a slave, +the children were so also at their birth, +but <em>they</em> had been manumitted by their +father. One of them was being educated +in Germany; and it was intended +that both should spend their lives in +that country, the taint in their blood +being an insuperable bar to their ever +acquiring social position at the South.</p> + +<p>As she finished the story, the old woman +said, 'Massa Davy am bery kind to +de missus, sar, but he <em>love</em> de ma'am; +an' he can't help it, 'cause she'm jess so +good as de angels.'<a href="#note_11"><span class="footnoteref">11</span></a></p> + +<p>I looked at my watch,—it was nearly +ten o'clock, and I rose to go. As I did +so the old negress said,—</p> + +<p>'Don't yer gwo, massa, 'fore you hab +sum ob aunty's wine; you'm good friends +wid Scip, and I knows <em>you'se</em> not too +proud to drink wid brack folks, ef you +am from de Norf.'</p> + +<p>Being curious to know what quality +of wine a plantation slave indulged in, I +accepted the invitation. She went to +the side-board, and brought out a cut-glass +decanter, and three cracked tumblers, +which she placed on the table. +Filling the glasses to the brim, she passed +one to Scip, and one to me, and, with the +other in her hand, resumed her seat. +Wishing her a good many happy years, +and Scip a pleasant journey home, I +emptied the glass. It was Scuppernong, +and the pure juice of the grape!</p> + +<p>'Aunty,' I said, 'this wine is as fine +as I ever tasted.'</p> + +<p>'Oh yas, massa, it am de raal stuff. I +growed de grapes myseff.'</p> + +<p>'You grew them?'</p> + +<p>'Yas, sar, an' Massa Davy make de +wine. He do it ebery yar for de ole +nuss.'</p> + +<p>'The Colonel is very good. Do you +raise anything else?'</p> + +<p>'Yas, I hab collards and taters, a little +corn, and most ebery ting.'</p> + +<p>'But who does your work? <em>You</em> +certainly can't do it?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, de ma'am looks arter dat, sar; +she'm bery good to de ole aunty.'</p> + +<p>Shaking hands with both the negroes, +I left the cabin, fully convinced that all +the happiness in this world is not found +within plastered apartments.</p> + +<p>The door of the mansion was bolted +and barred; but, rapping for admission, +I soon heard the Colonel's voice asking, + +'Who is there?' Giving a satisfactory +answer, I was admitted. Explaining + +that he supposed I had retired to my +room, he led the way to the library.</p> + +<p>That apartment was much more elegantly +furnished than the drawing-rooms. +Three of its sides were lined with books, +and on the centre-table, papers, pamphlets, +and manuscripts were scattered +in promiscuous confusion. In an armchair +near the fire, Madam P—— was +seated, reading. The Colonel's manner +was as composed as if nothing had disturbed +the usual routine of the plantation; no +trace of the recent terrible excitement +was visible; in fact, had I not been a +witness to the late tragedy, I should +have thought it incredible that he, within +two hours, had been an actor in a scene +which had cost a human being his life.</p> + +<p>'Where in creation have you been, +my dear fellow?' he asked, as we took +our seats.</p> + +<p>'At old Lucy's cabin, with Scip,' I +replied.</p> + +<p>'Indeed. I supposed the darky had +gone.'</p> + +<p>'No, he doesn't go till the morning.'</p> + +<p>'I told you he wouldn't, David,' said +Madam P——; 'now, send for him,—do +make friends with him before he goes.'</p> + +<p>'No, Alice, it won't do. I bear him +no ill-will, but it won't do. It would be +all over the plantation in an hour.'</p> + +<p>'No matter for that; our people would +like you the better for it.'</p> + +<p>'No, no. I can't do it. I mean him +no harm, but I can't do that.'</p> + +<p>'He told me <em>why</em> he interfered between +you and Moye,' I remarked.</p> + +<p>'Why did he?'</p> + +<p>'He says old Lucy, years ago, was a +mother to him; that she is greatly attached +to you, and it would kill her if +any harm happened to you; and that +your neighbors bear you no good-will, +and would have enforced the law had +you killed Moye.'</p> + +<p>'It is true, David; you would have had +to answer for it.'</p> + +<p>'Nonsense! what influence could this +North County scum have against <em>me</em>?'</p> + +<p>'Perhaps none. But that makes no +difference; Scipio did right, and you +should tell him you forgive him.'</p> + +<p>The Colonel then rang a small bell, and +a negro woman soon appeared. 'Sue,' +he said, 'go to Aunt Lucy's and ask Scip +to come here. Bring him in at the front +door, and, mind, let no one know he +comes.'</p> + +<p>The woman in a short time returned +with Scip. There was not a trace of +fear or embarrassment in the negro's +manner as he entered the room. Making +a respectful bow, he bade us 'good +evening.'</p> + +<p>'Good evening, Scip,' said the Colonel, +rising and giving the black his hand; 'let +us be friends. Madam tells me I should +forgive you, and I do.'</p> + +<p>'Aunt Lucy say ma'am am an angel, +sar, and it am tru,—it am tru, sar,' replied +the negro, with considerable feeling.</p> + +<p>The lady rose, also, and took Scip's +hand, saying, '<em>I</em> not only forgive you, +Scipio, but I <em>thank</em> you for what you +have done. I shall never forget it.'</p> + +<p>'You'se too good, ma'am; you'se too +good to say dat,' replied the darky, the +moisture coming to his eyes; 'but I meant +nuffin' wrong,—I meant nuffin' dis'specful +to de Cunnel.'</p> + +<p>'I know you didn't, Scip; but we'll +say no more about it;—good-by,' said +the Colonel.</p> + +<p>Shaking hands with each one of us, +the darky left the apartment.</p> + +<p>One who does not know that the high-bred +Southern gentleman considers the +black as far below him as the horse he +drives, or the dog he kicks, can not realize +the amazing sacrifice of pride which +the Colonel made in seeking a reconciliation +with Scip. It was the cutting off +of his right hand. The circumstance +showed the powerful influence held over +him by the octoroon woman. Strange +that she, his slave, cast out from society +by her blood and her life, despised, no +doubt, by all the world, save by him and +a few ignorant blacks, should thus control +a proud, self-willed, passionate man, +and control him, too, only for good.</p> + +<p>After the black had gone, I said to the +Colonel, 'I was much interested in old +Lucy. A few more such instances of + +cheerful and contented old age might +lead me to think better of slavery.'</p> + +<p>'Such cases are not rare, sir. They +show the paternal character of our "institution." +We are <em>forced</em> to care for +our servants in their old age.'</p> + +<p>'But have your other aged slaves the +same comforts that Aunt Lucy has?'</p> + +<p>'No; they don't need them. She has +been accustomed to live in my house, +and to fare better than the plantation +hands; she therefore requires better +treatment.'</p> + +<p>'Is not the support of that class a +heavy tax upon you?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, it <em>is</em> heavy. We have, of course, +to deduct it from the labor of the able-bodied +hands.'</p> + +<p>'What is the usual proportion of sick +and infirm on your plantation?'</p> + +<p>'Counting in the child-bearing women, +I reckon about twenty per cent.'</p> + +<p>'And what does it cost you to support +each hand?'</p> + +<p>'Well, it costs <em>me</em>, for children and +all, about seventy-five dollars a year. In +some places it costs less. <em>I</em> have to buy +all my provisions.'</p> + +<p>'What proportion of your slaves are +able-bodied hands?'</p> + +<p>'Somewhere about sixty per cent. I +have, all told, old and young,—men, women, +and children,—two hundred and +seventy. Out of that number I have +now equal to a hundred and fifty-four +<em>full</em> hands. You understand that we +classify them: some do only half tasks, +some three-quarters. I have <em>more</em> than a +hundred and fifty-four working men and +women, but they do only that number +of full tasks.'</p> + +<p>'What does the labor of a <em>full</em> hand +yield?'</p> + +<p>'At the present price of turpentine, +my calculation is about two hundred +dollars a year.'</p> + +<p>'Then your crop brings you about +thirty-one thousand dollars, and the support +of your negroes costs you twenty +thousand.'</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'If that's the case, my friend, let me +advise you to sell your plantation, free +your niggers, and go North.'</p> + +<p>'Why so, my dear fellow?' asked the +Colonel, laughing.</p> + +<p>'Because you'd make money by the +operation.'</p> + +<p>'I never was good at arithmetic; go +into the figures,' he replied, still laughing, +while Madam P——, who had laid +aside her book, listened very attentively.</p> + +<p>'Well, you have two hundred and +seventy negroes, whom you value, we'll +say, with your mules, "stills," and movable +property, at two hundred thousand +dollars; and twenty thousand acres of +land, worth about three dollars and a +half an acre; all told, two hundred and +seventy thousand dollars. A hundred +and fifty-four able-bodied hands produce +you a yearly profit of eleven thousand +dollars, which, saying nothing about +the cost of keeping your live stock, the +wear and tear of your mules and machinery, +and the yearly loss of your +slaves by death, is only four per cent. +on your capital. Now, with only the +price of your land, say seventy thousand +dollars, invested in safe stocks at +the North, you could realize eight per +cent.—five thousand six hundred dollars,—and +live at your ease; and that, I +judge, if you have many runaways, or +many die on your hands, is as much as +you really <em>clear</em> now. Besides, if you +should invest seventy thousand dollars in +almost any legitimate business at the +North, and should add to it, <em>as you now +do</em>, your <em>time</em> and <em>labor</em>, you would realize +far more than you do at present from +your entire capital.'</p> + +<p>'I never looked at the matter in that +light. But I have given you my profits +as they <em>now</em> are; some years I make +more; six years ago I made twenty-five +thousand dollars.'</p> + +<p>'Yes; and six years hence you may +make nothing.'</p> + +<p>'That's true. But it would cost me +more to live at the North.'</p> + +<p>'There you are mistaken. What do +you pay for your corn, your pork, and +your hay, for instance?'</p> + + +<p>'Well, my corn I have to bring round +by vessel from Washington (North Carolina), +and it costs me high when it gets +here,—about ten bits (a dollar and +twenty-five cents), I think.'</p> + +<p>'And in New York you could buy it +now at sixty to seventy cents. What +does your hay cost?'</p> + +<p>'Thirty-five dollars. I pay twenty for +it in New York,—the balance is freight +and hauling.'</p> + +<p>'Your pork costs you two or three +dollars, I suppose, for freight and hauling.'</p> + +<p>'Yes; about that.'</p> + +<p>'Then in those items you might save +nearly a hundred per cent.; and they +are the principal articles you consume.'</p> + +<p>'Yes; there's no denying that. But +another thing is just as certain: it costs +less to support one of my niggers than +one of your laboring men.'</p> + +<p>'That may be true. But it only shows +that our laborers fare better than your +slaves.'</p> + +<p>'I'm not sure of that. I <em>am</em> sure, however, +that our slaves are more contented +than the run of laboring men at the +North.'</p> + +<p>'That proves nothing. Your blacks +have no hope, no chance to rise; and +they submit—though I judge not cheerfully—to +an iron necessity. The Northern +laborer, if very poor, may be discontented; +but discontent urges him to effort, +and leads to the bettering of his condition. +I tell you, my friend, slavery is an +expensive luxury. You Southern nabobs +<em>will</em> have it; and you have to <em>pay for it</em>.'</p> + +<p>'Well, we don't complain. But, seriously, +my good fellow, I feel that I'm +carrying out the design of the Almighty +in holding my niggers. I think he made +the black to serve the white.'</p> + +<p>'<em>I</em> think,' I replied, 'that whatever +He designs works perfectly. Your institution +certainly does not. It keeps +the producer, who, in every society, is +the really valuable citizen, in the lowest +poverty, while it allows those who do +nothing to be "clad in fine linen, and +to fare sumptuously every day."'</p> + +<p>'It does more than that, sir,' said +Madam P——, with animation; 'it brutalizes +and degrades the <em>master</em> and the +<em>slave</em>; it separates husband and wife, +parent and child; it sacrifices virtuous +women to the lust of brutal men; and +it shuts millions out from the knowledge +of their duty and their destiny. A good +and just God could not have designed +it; and it must come to an end.'</p> + +<p>If lightning had struck in the room I +could not have been more startled than +I was by the abrupt utterance of such +language in a planter's house, in his +very presence, and <em>by his slave</em>. The +Colonel, however, expressed no surprise +and no disapprobation. It was evidently +no new thing to him.</p> + +<p>'It is rare, madam,' I said, 'to hear +such sentiments from a Southern lady—one +reared among slaves.'</p> + +<p>Before she could reply, the Colonel +laughingly said,—</p> + +<p>'Bless you, Mr. K——, madam is an +out-and-out abolitionist, worse by fifty +per cent. than Garrison or Wendell +Phillips. If she were at the North she +would take to pantaloons, and "stump" +the entire Free States; wouldn't you, +Alice?'</p> + +<p>'I've no doubt of it,' rejoined the +lady, smiling. 'But I fear I should have +poor success. I've tried for ten years to +convert <em>you</em>, and Mr. K—— can see +the result.'</p> + +<p>It had grown late; and, with my head +full of working niggers and white slave-women, +I went to my apartment.</p> + +<p>The next day was Sunday. It was +near the close of December, yet the air +was as mild and the sun as warm as in +our Northern October. It was arranged +at the breakfast-table that we all should +attend service at 'the meeting-house,' a +church of the Methodist persuasion, located +some eight miles away; but as it +wanted some hours of the time for religious +exercises to commence, I strolled +out after breakfast, with the Colonel, to +inspect the stables of the plantation. +'Massa Tommy' accompanied us, without +invitation; and in the Colonel's intercourse +with him I observed as much freedom +and familiarity as he would have + +shown to an acknowledged son. The +youth's manners and conversation +showed that great attention had been +given to his education and training, and +made it evident that the mother whose +influence was forming his character, +whatever a false system of society had +made her life, possessed some of the best +traits of her sex.</p> + +<p>The stables, a collection of one-story +framed buildings, about a hundred rods +from the house, were well lighted and +ventilated, and contained all 'the modern +improvements.' They were better +built, warmer, more commodious, and in +every way more comfortable than the +shanties occupied by the human cattle +of the plantation. I remarked as much +to the Colonel, adding that one who did +not know would infer that he valued his +horses more than his slaves.</p> + +<p>'That may be true,' he replied, laughing. +'Two of my horses here are worth +more than any eight of my slaves;' at +the same time calling my attention to +two magnificent thorough-breds, one of +which had made '2.32' on the Charleston +course. The establishment of a +Southern gentleman is not complete +until it includes one or two of these useless +appendages. I had an argument with +my host as to their value compared with +that of the steam-engine, in which I forced +him to admit that the iron horse is the +better of the two, because it performs +more work, eats less, has greater speed, +and is not liable to the spavin or the +heaves; but he wound up by saying, +'After all, I go for the thorough-breds. +You Yankees have but one test of value—use.'</p> + +<p>A ramble through the negro-quarters, +which followed our visit to the stables, +gave me some further glimpses of +plantation life. Many of the hands were still +away in pursuit of Moye, but enough +remained to make it evident that +Sunday is the happiest day in the darky +calendar. Groups of all ages and colors +were gathered in front of several of the +cabins, some singing, some dancing, and +others chatting quietly together, but all +enjoying themselves as heartily as so +many young animals let loose, in a +pasture. They saluted the Colonel and me +respectfully, but each one had a free, +good-natured word for 'Massa Tommy,' + +who seemed an especial favorite with +them. The lad took their greetings in +good part, but preserved an easy, +unconscious dignity of manner that plainly +showed he did not know that <em>he</em> too was +of their despised, degraded race.</p> + +<p>The Colonel, in a rapid way, gave me +the character and peculiarities of nearly +every one we met. The titles of some +of them amused me greatly. At every +step we encountered individuals whose +names have become household words in +every civilized country.<a href="#note_12"><span class="footnoteref">12</span></a> Julius Cęsar, +slightly stouter than when he swam the +Tiber, and somewhat tanned from long +exposure to a Southern sun, was seated +on a wood-pile, quietly smoking a pipe; +while near him, Washington, divested of +regimentals, and clad in a modest suit of +reddish-gray, his thin locks frosted by +time, and his fleshless visage showing +great age, was gazing, in rapt admiration, +at a group of dancers in front of old +Lucy's cabin.</p> + +<p>In this group about thirty men and +women were making the ground quake +and the woods ring with their +unrestrained jollity. Marc Antony was +rattling away at the bones, Nero fiddling +as if Rome were burning, and Hannibal +clawing at a banjo as if the fate of +Carthage hung on its strings. Napoleon, +as young and as lean as when he +mounted the bridge of Lodi, with the +battle-smoke still on his face, was moving his +legs even faster than in the Russian +retreat; and John Wesley was using his +heels in a way that showed <em>they</em> didn't +belong to the Methodist church. But +the central figures of the group were +Cato and Victoria. The lady had a +face like a thunder-cloud, and a form +that, if whitewashed, would have +outsold the 'Greek Slave.' She was built + +on springs, and 'floated in the dance' + +like a feather in a high wind. Cato's +mouth was like an alligator's, but when +it opened, it issued notes that would +draw the specie even in this time of +general suspension. As we approached he +was singing a song, but he paused on +perceiving us, when the Colonel, tossing +a handful of coin among them, called +out, 'Go on, boys; let the gentleman +have some music; and you, Vic, show +your heels like a beauty.'</p> + +<p>A general scramble followed, in which +'Vic's' sense of decorum forbade her to +join, and she consequently got nothing. +Seeing that, I tossed her a silver piece, +which she caught. Grinning her thanks, +she shouted, 'Now, clar de track, you +nigs; start de music. I'se gwine to gib +de gemman de breakdown.'</p> + +<p>And she did; and such a breakdown! +'We w'ite folks,' though it was no new +thing to the Colonel or Tommy, almost +burst with laughter.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes nearly every negro +on the plantation, attracted by the +presence of the Colonel and myself, gathered +around the performers; and a shrill voice +at my elbow called out, 'Look har, ye +lazy, good-for-nuffin' niggers, carn't ye +fotch a cheer for Massa Davy and de +strange gemman?'</p> + +<p>'Is that you, Aunty?' said the Colonel. +'How d'ye do?'</p> + +<p>'Sort o' smart, Massa Davy; sort o' + +smart; how is ye?'</p> + +<p>'Pretty well, Aunty; pretty well. +Have a seat.' And the Colonel helped +her to one of the chairs that were brought +for us, with as much tenderness as he +would have shown to an aged white lady.</p> + +<p>The 'exercises,' which had been +suspended for a moment, recommenced, +and the old negress entered into them +as heartily as the youngest present. A +song from Cato followed the dance, and +then about twenty 'gentleman and lady' +darkies joined, two at a time, in a half +'walk-round' half breakdown, which the +Colonel told me was what suggested the +well-known 'white-nigger' dance and +song of Lucy Long. Other +performances succeeded, and the whole formed +a scene impossible to describe. Such +uproarious jollity, such full and perfect +enjoyment, I had never seen in +humanity, black or white. The little nigs, only +four or five years old, would rush into +the ring and shuffle away at the breakdowns +till I feared their short legs would +come off; while all the darkies joined in +the songs, till the branches of the old +pines above shook as if they too had +caught the spirit of the music. In the +midst of it, the Colonel said to me, in an +exultant tone,—</p> + +<p>'Well, my friend, what do you think +of slavery <em>now</em>?'</p> + +<p>'About the same that I thought yesterday. +I see nothing to change my views.'</p> + +<p>'Why, are not these people happy? +Is not this perfect enjoyment?'</p> + +<p>'Yes; just the same enjoyment that +aunty's pigs are having; don't you hear +them singing to the music? I'll wager +they are the happier of the two.'</p> + +<p>'No; you are wrong. The higher +faculties of the darkies are being brought +out here.'</p> + +<p>'I don't know that,' I replied. 'Within +the sound of their voices, two of their +fellows—victims to the inhumanity of +slavery—are lying dead, and yet they +make <em>Sunday</em> 'hideous' with wild jollity, +while they do not know but Sam's fate +may be theirs to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>Spite of his genuine courtesy and high +breeding, a shade of displeasure passed +over the Colonel's face as I made this +remark. Rising to go, he said, a little +impatiently, 'Ah, I see how it is; that +d—— Garrison's sentiments have impregnated +even you. How can the North +and the South hold together when even +moderate men like you and me are so +far apart?'</p> + +<p>'But you,' I rejoined, good-humoredly, +'are not a moderate man. You and +Garrison are of the same stripe, both extremists. +You have mounted one hobby, +<em>he</em> another; that is all the difference.'</p> + +<p>'I should be sorry,' he replied, +recovering his good-nature, 'to think myself +like Garrison. I consider him the —— scoundrel unhung.'</p> + +<p>'No; I think he means well. But + +you are both fanatics, both 'bricks' of the +same material; we conservatives, like +mortar, will hold you together and yet +keep you apart.'</p> + +<p>'I, for one, <em>won't</em> be held. If I can't +get out of this cursed Union in any +other way, I'll emigrate to Cuba.'</p> + +<p>I laughed, and just then, looking up, +caught a glimpse of Jim, who stood, +hat in hand, waiting to speak to the +Colonel, but not daring to interrupt a +white conversation.</p> + +<p>'Hallo, Jim,' I said; 'have you got +back?'</p> + +<p>'Yas, sar,' replied Jim, grinning all +over as if he had some agreeable thing +to communicate.</p> + +<p>'Where is Moye?' asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>'Kotched, massa; I'se got de padlocks +on him.'</p> + +<p>'Kotched,' echoed half a dozen +darkies, who stood near enough to hear; +'Ole Moye is kotched,' ran through the +crowd, till the music ceased, and a shout +went up from two hundred black throats +that made the old trees tremble.</p> + +<p>'Now gib him de lashes, Massa Davy,' +cried the old nurse. 'Gib him what he +gabe pore Sam; but mine dat you keeps +widin de law.'</p> + +<p>'Never fear, Aunty,' said the Colonel; +'I'll give him ——.'</p> + +<p>How the Colonel kept his word will +be told in another number.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_30"></a> + +<h2>Active Service; Or, Campaigning In Western Virginia.</h2> + + +<p>I have been to the war; I have seen +armed secessionists, and I have seen +them run; but, more than that, I have +seen <em>Active Service</em>. It was <em>active</em>, and +no mistake.</p> + +<p>In April last, my country needed my +services; I had been playing soldier, and +I felt it my duty to respond to the call of +the President. I did respond. I +uncovered my head, raised my right hand, +and solemnly swore to obey the President +of the United States for three +months. The three months have +expired, and I am once more a free +American citizen, and for the first time in my +life I know what it is to be <em>free</em>.</p> + +<p>ACTIVE SERVICE! That's what the +military men call it. I have often read of +it; I have heard men talk about it; but +now I have seen it. I meet people every +day who congratulate me on my safe +return, and say, 'I suppose you are going +again?' Perhaps I am.</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful day when our company +left home, and what a crowd of +people assembled to see us off! What +a waving of banners and handkerchiefs; +what shouting and cheering; what an +endless amount of hand-shaking; how +many 'farewells,' 'good-bys,' and +'take-care-of-yourselves,' were spoken; all of +this had to be gone through with, and +our company run the gauntlet and +nobody was hurt.</p> + +<p>Going to war is no child's play, as +many seem to suppose. Once sworn +in as a <em>private</em>, you become a tool, a +mere thing, to do another's bidding. I +do not say this to discourage enlistments,—far +from it. I am only speaking the +truth. 'Forewarned, forearmed.' If there +is a hard life upon earth, it is that of a +common soldier; he may be the bravest +man in the army, he may perform an +endless amount of daring deeds, but it +is seldom that he gains a tangible reward. +He does all the fighting, he performs all +the drudgery, he is plundered by the + +sutler, he lives on pork and hard-bread, +but he gets none of the honors of a +victory. As Biglow says,—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>'Lieutenants are the lowest grade that help +pick up the coppers.'</p> +</div> + +<p>I belonged to an artillery company. +I joined this because somebody told me +I could ride. I wish I had that <em>somebody</em> +by the throat. The idea of a man's +<em>riding</em> over the mountains of Western +Virginia! I won't call it ridiculous, for +that's no name for it.</p> + +<p>I will pass over the uninteresting part +of the campaign, that of lying in camp, +as everybody now-a-days has ample +opportunity to judge of camp life, in the +cities, and take the reader at once into +'active service,' and show the hardships +and trials, together with the fun (for +soldiers <em>do</em> have their good times) of +campaigning.</p> + +<p>On the 29th day of May, 1861, we +arrived at Parkersburgh, Va. It was +my first visit to the Old Dominion. +We had been taught when youngsters +at school to regard Virginia as a sort +of Holy Land, 'flowing with milk and +honey,' and the mother of all that is +great and noble in the United States, +if not in the world. We were 'going +South.'</p> + +<p>It was at the close of a warm spring day +that we landed there; the sun was just +sinking in the west as the boat +rounded-to at the wharf. We jumped ashore, +and for the first time in our lives inhaled +the 'sacred atmosphere' of the so-called +Southern Confederacy. All was bustle +and confusion; but we soon had our traps, +<em>i.e.</em>, guns, caissons and horses, unloaded, +and a little after dark were on the march. +We proceeded a few miles out of town, +and at midnight halted, pitched our tents, +stationed guards, and all who were so +fortunate as not to be detailed for duty +were soon sound asleep.</p> + +<p>At Grafton, one hundred miles east of +Parkersburgh, we were told there was +a party of some two thousand rebels. +This then was the object of our visit to +Western Virginia, to drive these men +east of the mountains,—from whence +most of them came,—and to protect the +honor of our flag in that portion of +Virginia now known by the name of Kanawha.</p> + +<p>At sunrise on the 30th, we marched to +the depot of the north-western branch +of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and, +after a hard half-day's work in loading +our guns, horses and wagons, stowed +ourselves away in cattle cars, and were +once more ready for a start. As we +rattled along over the railroad, the scenery +for the first few miles was beautiful, +and we began to think that Old Virginny +was really the flower of the Union. +But a 'change soon came over the spirit +of our dreams.'</p> + +<p>After passing a small shanty, called +Petroleum,—from the numerous +oil-wells in the vicinity,—we met with the +first really hard work we had seen since +we began the life of a soldier. Here +the rebels had burnt one of the railroad +bridges, and all hands had to 'fall in' +and repair damages. Never did men +work with a better will. Slender youths, +who, if they had been told one month +before, that on the 30th day of May, +1861, they would be laying rails and +cutting timber for Uncle Sam, for +eleven dollars a month, would have +pitied their informant as insane, were +here working with a will that showed +what a man can do if he only sets +himself about it. For two days and a night +we toiled and ceased not, and when, on +the evening of the second day, we passed +over the 'soldiers' bridge' in safety, such +a shout rent the air as I never heard +before.</p> + +<p>A few miles beyond the burnt bridge, +the scenery began to change. In the +clear starlight, instead of beautiful +streams and fine farms, we beheld hills +and mountains covered with an almost +impenetrable growth of underbrush, +and large rocks hanging over our heads, +ready to be hurled down upon us by some +unseen hand, and to crush our little +handful of men. On we went, at a snail's +pace, till about ten o'clock, P.M., when +our joy was again turned to woe, for here +too the dogs of Jeff Davis had been + +doing their work, and had burnt another +bridge. We waited until morning, and +then, after some hard swearing, were +once more transformed into 'greasy +mechanics,' and before the sun went down +had passed to the 'other side of Jordan' +in safety.</p> + +<p>Here began our first experience of the +hospitality of the sons, or rather +daughters, of Virginia.</p> + +<p>A small farm-house stood near the +bridge, numerous cows were grazing in +the pasture close by, and everything +denoted a home of comfort and plenty. +This, I thought, must be the home of +some F.F.V., and I will take a +pail—or rather camp kettle—and 'sarah +forth' to buy a few quarts of milk. +Wending my way to the house, I +knocked at the door, and instantly six +female heads protruded from the +window. Presently one of them, an elderly +woman, opened the door, and inquired +what I wanted.</p> + +<p>'Have you any milk to spare?' I said.</p> + +<p>'I reckon,' replied the woman.</p> + +<p>'I would like to get a few quarts,' I +said, handing her my kettle. I took a seat +on the door-step, and wondered what +these six women were doing in this +lonely spot. They evidently lived alone, for +not a man was to be seen around. The +table was spread for dinner, six cups, six +plates, six spoons, and no more. I was +about to ask for the man of the house, +when the old woman returned with my +kettle of milk.</p> + +<p>'How much?' I asked, as I thrust +my hand deep into my pocket, and drew +forth one of the few coins it was my +fortune to possess.</p> + +<p>'Only four bits,' said the ancient female.</p> + +<p>I thought milk must have 'riz' lately, +but I paid the money and left.</p> + +<p>From observations since taken, I +infer these six women were 'grass +widows,' whose husbands had enlisted in +the rebel army, and left them behind to +plunder the Union troops by selling +corn-bread and milk for ten times its +value.</p> + +<p>I took a seat on a log, and congratulated +myself on the prospect of a good +dinner. By the aid of a stone I managed +to crumble 'two shingles' of hard bread +into a cup of the milk, and then, with an +appetite such as I never enjoyed in +<em>America</em>, sat to work. I took one mouthful, +when, lo! the milk was sour! Hurling +cup and contents toward the +hospitable mansion, I fell back upon my +regular diet of salt pork.</p> + +<p>Leaving the Virginia damsels to +plunder the next regiment of Federals that +came along, we were soon once more +on our way, and on Saturday, the 1st of +June, arrived at Clarksburgh. Here we +learned that the rebels had left Grafton +and gone to Phillippi, some twenty miles +back in the country. We remained +at Clarksburgh until Sunday morning, +when, once more stowing ourselves +'three deep' on flats and stock cars, we +proceeded as far as Webster. Here we +left the railroad, and pursued the rebels +afoot.</p> + +<p>Webster is a big name, and there we +flattered ourselves we could get some of +the comforts of life. But once again we +were doomed to disappointment. Two +stores, a dozen or so of shanties, and +a secession pole, make up this mighty +town. Parkersburgh is a 'right smart +place;' Clarksburgh 'isn't much to speak +of;' the only thing of interest about it is +the home of Senator Carlisle; but +Webster is a little the worst place I have ever +seen. I am sorry to say, in the language +of the great man whose name it bears, + +'It still lives.'</p> + +<p>Observing a shanty on the summit of +a small hill, with the words, 'Meals at all +hours,' over the door, I wended my way +over sundry cow-paths and through +by-lanes towards it, until at last, fatigued, +and with hands torn and bleeding from +catching hold of roots and bushes to keep +myself from falling, I arrived at the +summit of the hill. A young woman stood +in the door-way of the shanty, and I +asked her if I could obtain a dinner.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' she said. 'Walk in and take a +cheer.' She shoved a three-legged stool +towards me, and I took it.</p> + +<p>She was about eighteen years of age, + +and had a very pretty face,—though it +was thickly covered with a coating of the +sacred soil,—a musical voice, and a small +hand. Her eyes sparkled like fire-flies +on a June night, and her hair hung in +wavy ringlets over what would have +been an 'alabaster brow,' had it not +been for the superabundance of <em>dirt</em> +above mentioned. She was the only +good-looking woman I saw in Western +Virginia.</p> + +<p>I took a seat at the table, and from a +broken cup drank a few swallows of +tolerable coffee. As for the edibles, 'twas +the same old story,—corn bread and +maple molasses, fried pork and onions. +I staid there perhaps fifteen minutes, +and learned from my hostess that +Webster was, previous to the war 'a right +smart village,' but that the male +inhabitants had mostly joined the rebel army, +then at Phillippi. She, different from +most women I met in Virginia, expressed +sympathy for the Union cause. It +seemed so strange to find a <em>Union</em> + +woman in that part of the country, I was +induced to ask if Webster had the honor +of being her birth-place.</p> + +<p>'Oh no,' she said; 'I was born in 'Hio.'</p> + +<p>That solved the whole mystery. I +willingly paid the 'four bits' for my +dinner; and, as a storm was coming on, +made all haste back to the railroad, +where we were getting ready to march +on Phillippi, distance thirteen Virginian, +or about twenty <em>American</em>, miles.</p> + +<p>'Fall in, Company Q!' shouted the +orderly. 'Numbers one, two, three, and +four, do so and so; five, six, seven, and +eight, do this, that, and the other!' So +at it we went; and never in my life did +I perform a harder afternoon's work +than on Sunday, the 2d of June, 1861. +It was a warm, sultry day, and our +morning's ride in the cars had been dusty +and fatiguing; and when, about dusk, +a heavy rain-storm set in and drenched +us to the skin, we were sorry-looking +objects indeed.</p> + +<p>Although we had been in service six +weeks, we had but just received our +uniforms that morning. My pants, when I +put them on, were about six inches too +long, and the sleeves of my blouse ditto. +After marching all night in the rain, my +trowsers only came down as far as my +knees; they shrank two feet in twelve +hours. Many of the men threw away +their shoddy uniforms after wearing +them one day, as they were totally unfit +for use. They tore as easily as so much +paper, and were no protection whatever +from the weather. Somebody, I don't +pretend to say who, made a good thing +when he furnished them to the government. +No doubt they were supplied by +some <em>loyal</em> and <em>respectable</em> citizen, who +would not knowingly cheat his country +out of a penny! We have reaped a +bountiful harvest of such patriots +during the past year. May the Lord love +them!</p> + +<p>At eleven o'clock on the night of the +2d of June we started for Phillippi. It +commenced raining about seven o'clock +in the evening, and we were all wet to +the skin. The night was very dark, +and the road, though they called it a +'pike,' was one of the worst imaginable; +it wound 'round and round,'—</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'It turned in and turned out,</p> +<p class="l">Leaving beholders still in doubt</p> +<p class="l">Whether the wretched muddy track</p> + +<p class="l">Were going South or coming back,'—</p> +</div> + +<p>and seemed to run in every direction +but the right one. It was a road such +as can be found only in Virginia. The +mud was almost up to the hubs of the +wagon-wheels; the horses pulled, the +drivers laid on the lash and a string of +oaths at the same time; the wind blew, +and the rain came down in torrents. +More than once on that awful march +did we lend a helping hand to get the +horses out of some 'slough of Despond.' +Over the mountains and through the +woods we went, at the rate of about two +miles an hour. Many gave out and lay +down by the wayside; and when at last +morning dawned, a more pitiable set of +beings never were seen upon earth. The +men looked haggard and wan, the horses +could hardly stand, and we were in +anything but a good condition for invading +an enemy's country.</p> + +<p>At daylight we were within two miles + +of Phillippi. Col. (now General) +Lander was with the advance, and had +discovered that the enemy were ready for +a retreat. Their baggage was loaded, +and if we did not make the last two +miles at 'double-quick,' he was fearful +we would be too late to accomplish the +object of the expedition. So the order +was given, 'Double-quick!' and jaded +horses and almost lifeless men rushed +forward, buoyed up with the prospect of +having a brush with the rascals who had +given us so much trouble.</p> + +<p>We had gone about a mile and a half, +when, at a turn in the road, an old +woman rushed out from a log cabin, and, +in a loud and commanding voice, exclaimed,—</p> + +<p>'Halt, artillery, or I'll shoot every one +of you!'</p> + +<p>Not obeying the order, she fired three +shots at us, none of which took effect. +At the same time three men rushed from +the back of the house toward the rebel +camp at the foot of the hill, shouting at +the top of their voices to give warning +of our approach. A squad of our +fellows took after them, and soon overtook +them in a corn-field, when they denied +coming from the house, and said they +were out planting corn! A likely story, +as it was hardly daylight, and the rain +was falling in torrents. However, +during the forenoon they took <em>oath</em>, and +were set free!</p> + +<p>Past the log house we went at +'double-quick,' and in less time than it takes +to tell it, the artillery took position in a +small piece of wood on the summit of a +hill overlooking the town. At once the +order was given, 'Action front!' and the +first the rebels knew of our approach +was the rattling of canister among their +tents. Out they swarmed, like bees +from a molested hive. This way and +that the chivalry flew, and yet scarcely +knew which way to run. 'Bould sojer +boys,' with nothing but their underclothes +on, mounted their nags bareback, +and fled 'over the hills and far +away' towards Beverley, firing as they +ran a few random shots. Before the +infantry reached the town most of them +had made good their escape, leaving +behind, however, nearly all their baggage, +a large number of horses, wagons, tents, +and about eight hundred stand of arms, +together with a nicely-cooked breakfast, +which they had no idea they were +preparing for 'Lincoln's hirelings.'</p> + +<p>We took about fifty prisoners, among +them the man who wounded Col. (now +General) Kelley. They were retained +until the next day, when the oath was +administered, and they were let loose to +rejoin their companions in arms. About +four weeks after this, we had the pleasure +of retaking, several of these fellows; +some of them, in fact, were taken three +or four times, each time taking the oath, +and being set at liberty, and each time, +true to their nature—and Jeff +Davis—immediately taking up arms again +against the government.</p> + +<p>Phillippi, from any of the neighboring +hills, or rather mountains, presents +a rather picturesque appearance. It +was, previous to the war, a place of about +one thousand inhabitants. It boasts a +good court-house, a bank, and two hotels, +and was by far the most civilized-looking +town we had then seen in Virginia. +But, alas! what a change had +come over its once happy populace. +When we entered it, not a dozen +inhabitants were left. We were told that +Phillippi was the head-quarters of +rebellion in Western Virginia. Here was +published the Barbour County <em>Jeffersonian</em>, +a rabid secession newspaper, now +no more, for the press was demolished, +and the types thrown into a well. The +editor had joined the rebel army a few +days before our arrival, and was among +the loudest denunciators of our government. +He boasted he would shed the +last drop of his blood (he was very careful +as to shedding the first) before he +would retreat one inch before the +<em>Abolitionists</em>. We afterwards learned from +some of his men that he was among the +first to mount his horse and run to the +mountains; the last that was seen of him +he was going at lightning speed toward +Richmond, and in all probability <em>il court +encore</em>,—he is running yet.</p> + + +<p>We had taken possession of the town +and most of the enemy's baggage and +equipments; still our commanding officer +was not satisfied, neither were the men. +We had intended to completely surround +the enemy and to cut off every +possible chance of his retreat. The +attack was to have been made at five +o'clock, A.M.; but one column, that +which marched from Grafton, was about +twenty minutes too late, and when at +last it did make its appearance, it +entered town by the wrong road, having +been misled by the guide. The consequence +was, the enemy retreated on the +Beverley road, where they met with little +or no resistance. Our men were too +much fatigued to follow the fast-fleeing +traitors, and most of them made good +their escape.</p> + +<p>After the excitement of the attack, +the men dropped down wherever they +stood, in the streets, in the fields, or in +the woods, and slept soundly until noon, +the rain continuing to fall in torrents. +But what was that to men worn out +with marching? I never slept better +than when lying in a newly-plowed +corn-field, with the mud over my ankles, +the rain pelting me in the face, +and not a blanket to cover me.</p> + +<p><em>Bang! bang! bang!</em> and up I jumped +from my bed of mud, thinking the fight +had again commenced. Somewhat bewildered, +I rubbed the 'sacred soil' +from my eyes and looked about me. It +was noon; the rain had ceased, and from +the constant sound of musketry, I supposed +a battle was then raging. But +instead of fighting the 'secesh,' I soon +found the Indiana boys were making +havoc among the fowls of the chivalry. +They fired too much at random to suit +my taste, and I made tracks for a safer +abode. Beating a hasty retreat to the +hill where my company was stationed, I +found a large crowd gathered around +some of the captured wagons, overhauling +the plunder. And what a mixed-up +mess! Old guns, sabres, bowie-knives, +pistols made in Richmond in 1808, old +uniforms that looked like the property +of some strolling actor, and love-letters +which the bold chivalry had received +from fair damsels, who all expressed +the desire that, their 'lovyers' would +bring home, Old Abe's scalp. These +letters afforded great amusement to our +boys, though it was hard to read many +of them, and were they put into print, +Artemus Ward would have to look to +his 'lorrels.'</p> + +<p>Bang! bang! bang! they kept on +shooting till dark. It is useless to say +we had chickens for supper that night; +and I would not be surprised if the +chicken crop of Phillippi and vicinity +should be rather small for a few years +to come.</p> + +<p>Wild rumors were running through the +camp all day that the 'secesh' had been +reinforced, were ten thousand strong, +and, with forty pieces of cannon, would +attack us that night. Some said they +were commanded by Gov. Wise, the +lunatic, others by Beauregard, and some +positively asserted that Jeff Davis led +the rebel forces himself. At all events, +it was pretty well settled that we were +to be attacked forthwith. Our men +slept on their arms, but not a secesh appeared.</p> + +<p>I, as usual, was on guard that night, +and, feeling that a great responsibility +rested on my shoulders, was 'doubly +armed.' A well-known professor, a +member of the same company as myself, +was on the first relief; I was on the second. +I went on duty at ten o'clock, +P.M., and the professor kindly loaned me +his revolver, and, in addition, soon returned +with an extra musket, a secession +sabre, and one of the captured pistols. +Thus loaded down with swords, pistols, +and muskets, and guarding a six-pounder, +I felt <em>tolerably</em> safe. After walking +up and down my beat a few times, I +found the two muskets began to feel +rather heavy, and the two sabres to be +rather uncomfortable dangling about +my legs; and thinking that two revolvers +and a <em>secesh</em> pistol would be all +that I could use to advantage, I divested +myself of the extra equipments, and +passed the residue of my 'two-hours' + +watch' in committing to memory 'my + +last dying words,' for use in case the secesh +put an end to my existence.</p> + +<p>Our colonel's name was Barnett; the +countersign for the night was Buena +Vista. About eleven o'clock I observed +a man coming towards me. 'Halt!' I +exclaimed; 'who goes there?'</p> + +<p>'A <em>friendt</em>,' was the reply.</p> + +<p>'Advance, friend, and give the countersign.'</p> + +<p>The man walked towards me, and +whispered in my ear 'Barnett's Sister!' +at the same time attempting to pass. +Placing my bayonet close against his +breast, I ordered him to 'halt!' and +called for the corporal of the guard. The +Dutchman—for such he was—begged +and plead, but it was of no use; I told +him he was trying to 'run the guard,' + +and he must go to the guard-house.</p> + +<p>'Barnett's Sister! Barnett's Sister! +Barnett's Sister!' shouted the Dutchman. +'I know nothing about Barnett's +Sister,' said I; 'stop your noise, or you +will rouse the camp.'</p> + +<p>Just then, the officer of the guard +came round. I stated the case to him, +and the man was taken to the guard-house. +The next morning he was released, +and on inquiry at head-quarters +it was found that he had the password, +but had confounded 'Buena Vista' with + +'Barnett's Sister.' We all enjoyed a +good laugh over it, and ever after +'Barnett's Sister' was the password for all +who attempted to 'run the guard.'</p> + +<p>We lay at Phillippi nearly six weeks. +Every day or two an alarm would occur, +the long roll would beat, and the men +would form in line of battle. It is needless +to say the alarms were all false. +There are always hundreds of rumors in +every camp, and ours was not an exception. +But after the first week we paid +little attention to the many wild reports +which were in circulation. Although +Gov. Wise had said he would take dinner +in Phillippi or in —— on the fourth +of July; notwithstanding Gov. Letcher +had issued a proclamation warning us +to leave the State in twenty-four hours +or he would hang every one of us; although +a proclamation dated Staunton, +Va., June 7th, 1861, stated to the people +of Western Virginia that their little +band of <em>volunture (?)</em> had been forced +from Phillippi by the ruthless Northern +foe, led on by traitors and tories, and +that Jeff Davis and John Letcher had +sent to their aid a force of cavalry, +artillery and rifles; and although the +proclamation wound up by saying To-morrow +an ARMY will follow! we felt tolerably +safe at Phillippi. We had determined, if +the aforesaid army did appear, it should +have a warm reception.</p> + +<p>Every day or two scouting parties +went out and captured a few stray +'Bush-Whackers,' to whom the oath +was administered, and they were released. +Days and weeks passed, but the +army of Davis, Beauregard, and Co., +failed to appear. They had, however, +congregated and entrenched themselves +at Laurel Hill, about thirteen miles east +of Phillippi.</p> + +<p>We were reinforced from time to time, +until our force numbered some forty-five +hundred men, when Gen. McClellan determined +to rout the enemy from Laurel +Hill and Rich Mountain. How well he +succeeded, history will tell.</p> + +<p>On the night of the 6th of July, we +left Phillippi for Laurel Hill, starting at +midnight. The road was rather rough, +but much better than we expected to +find it. When we were within about five +miles of the enemy's camps; we passed a +toll-gate, where an old woman came to +the door to 'collect toll.' Some of our +boys stopped at the house to get a drink +of water, and asked the old lady how +far it was to camp,—meaning the rebel +camp. 'About four miles,' she said, + +'but you can't get in without a pass.'</p> + +<p>The artillery was just then passing her +door; the boys pointed to that, and told +her 'they thought they had a pass that +would take them in.'</p> + +<p>'Oh!' she exclaimed, as the thought +struck her that we were Federals, 'you +won't find it as easy work as you did at +Phillippi; they're going to fight this +time.'</p> + +<p>On our return home this same woman +was at the door, but she didn't demand + + +<em>toll</em> this time. 'Well, old lady,' said +one of our fellows, 'what do you think +<em>now</em> about the fighting qualities of your +men?'</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'They who fight and run away,</p> +<p class="l">Will live to fight another day,'</p> + +</div> + +<p>she exclaimed, and, slamming the door, +vanished from sight, I trust forever.</p> + +<p>At daylight we drove in the rebel +pickets at Laurel Hill. We were within +a mile and a half of their main camp, +and halted there to await orders from +Gen. McClellan, before beginning the attack. +He was advancing on the enemy +at Rich Mountain and Beverley.</p> + +<p>We threw a few shells into the rebel +camp, producing great consternation +among their men and horses. For four +days we kept up skirmishing, but on the +fifth day it rained, and little was done. +All were anxious to commence the attack, +but, as we had heard nothing from +Gen. McClellan, all had to 'wait for +orders.' That night the enemy, hearing +of the Federal victory at Rich Mountain, +and the occupation of Beverley by +McClellan, and evidently thinking himself +in a 'bad fix,' retreated from Laurel +Hill toward St. George. In the morning +our forces took possession of his +camp and fortifications, and part of our +column pursued the flying forces, overtaking +them at Cornick's Ford, where +a sharp engagement ensued, which resulted +in a total rout of the rebels, and +the death of Gen. Garnett. Only a portion +of his army escaped over the mountains +to Eastern Virginia.</p> + +<p>So hasty was the retreat from Laurel +Hill, that the enemy left behind all the +sick and wounded, telling them the +Union troops would kill them as soon +as they took possession of their camp. +A large number of tents, a quantity of +flour, and a few muskets, fell into our +hands. The fortifications at Laurel Hill +were strong, and evidently planned and +constructed by men who understood +their business.</p> + +<p>Among the numerous letters which +we found in the rebel camp, was one +written to one of the Richmond papers, +during the <em>siege</em> of Laurel Hill. In that +part of the letter which was intended +for publication, the writer said:—</p> + +<p>'The Yankees have at last arrived, +about ten thousand strong. For the +past two days we have had some sharp +skirmishing, during which time we have +killed one hundred of the Hessians. We +have, as yet, lost but one man.'</p> + +<p>In a <em>private note</em> to the editor, the +writer adds:—</p> + +<p>'I guess the Yankees have got us this +time. There is a regiment here who call +themselves the Indiana Ninth, but they +lie,—they are regulars. They have got +good rifles, and they take good aim. If +it wasn't for this, we would attack them.'</p> + +<p>This little item shows how the masses +of the Southern people are deceived. +Through the medium of the press they +are made to believe they are gaining +great victories, and repulsing the 'abolitionists' +at every step, killing hundreds +of our men, and losing none of their +own. Our total loss at Laurel Hill was +six men. The rebel loss, as near as could +be ascertained, was forty. The rebel +leaders know they are playing a game +for life or death, and so long as they can +keep in power by deceiving the people, +just so long will this rebellion continue. +Could the <em>truth</em> be forced upon the people +of the South, the rebellion would go +down as quickly as it rose.</p> + +<p>Many laughable incidents occurred +while we were skirmishing with the +enemy at Laurel Hill. We received a +newspaper containing the message of +President Lincoln. One of the Indiana +boys, thinking it might do the secesh good +to hear a few loyal sentiments, mounted +a stump, paper in hand, and exclaimed, +'I say, secesh, don't you want to hear +old Abe's message?' He then commenced +reading, but had proceeded only +a short way, before 'ping, ping' came +the rifle balls around the stump; down +jumped Indiana, convinced that reading +even a President's message amidst a +shower of bullets isn't so agreeable, after +all.</p> + +<p>We staid at Laurel Hill about two +weeks. The enemy had been completely +routed from that part of Virginia, and + +our term of enlistment having expired, +our thoughts began to turn homeward. +That ninety days' soldiering was the longest +three months we ever experienced. +It seemed an age since we had tasted a +good meal, and all were anxious to once +more cross the Ohio, and see a civilized +country. The long looked-for order +came at last, ''Bout face!' and we were +on our homeward march. A more jovial, +ragged, dirty, and hungry set of men, +were never mustered out of service. We +reached Camp Chase at Columbus, Ohio, +about the last of July, and as each man +delivered up his knapsack and etceteras, +he felt as if a 'great weight' had been +taken from his shoulders. We were +once more free men; no one could order +us about, tell us where we should or +where we should not go. There was no +more touching of hats to upstart lieutenants +and half-witted captains or colonels. +We could go where we liked, and do as +we pleased, and not be reported, or sent +to the guard-house. If my memory +serves me aright, we <em>did</em> do pretty much +as we pleased; in other words, for two +days, 'we made Rome howl!'</p> + +<p>What we saw of Western Virginia and +its inhabitants left anything but a +favorable impression on our minds. The +country is wild and romantic, but good +for little or nothing for farming purposes. +The houses are mostly built of logs, being +little more than mere huts, and +around each of these 'mansions' may be +seen at least a dozen young 'tow-heads,' + +who are brought up in ignorance and +filth. The inhabitants are lazy and ignorant, +raising hardly enough to keep +starvation from their doors. School +houses are almost unknown; we did not +see one in the whole course of our +march; the consequence is, not more +than one in ten of the population can +read or write. And the few who 'can +just make out to spell' are worse off +than their more ignorant brethren.</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'A little learning is a dangerous thing.'</p> +</div> + +<p>And these people know just enough to +make them <em>dangerous</em>. They have read +in some of their county newspapers that +Vice-President Hamlin is a negro, and +that Lincoln is waging this war for the +purpose of liberating the slaves and killing +their masters. This they believe, +and any amount of reasoning cannot +convince them to the contrary. It +seems to be enough for them to know +that they are <em>Virginians</em>; upon this, and +this alone, they live and have their being. +They are by far the most wretched and +degraded people in America,—I had almost +said in the world. The women, if +possible, are worse than the men; they +go dressed in a loose, uncouth manner, +barefooted and bareheaded; their principal +occupation is chewing tobacco and +plundering Union troops by getting ten +prices for their eggs, butter, and corn +bread. And these are the people our +children—and their fathers before +them—have been taught to regard as +the true <em>chivalry</em> of America! The +people of the United States are beginning +to see that Virginia and her sons have +been greatly over-estimated. That Virginia +has produced true and great men, +no one will deny. There are a few such +still within her borders; but, taking her +as a whole, the picture I have drawn is +a true one.</p> + +<p>By my soldiering experience I learned +some things which it would have been +impossible to learn had I never 'gone +for a soger.' First, I ascertained—shall +I say from my <em>personal</em> experience?—that +a man dressed in soldier-clothes +can stand twice as much bad liquor as +one clothed in the garb of a citizen. +Secondly, that to be a good soldier a +man should be able to go at least forty-eight +hours without eating, drinking, or +sleeping, and then endure guard-duty +all night in a drenching rain, without +grumbling or fault-finding. Thirdly, I +<em>think</em> I have discovered that the martial +road to glory '<em>is a hard road to travel</em>.'</p> +</div> + + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_31"></a> +<h2>A Cabinet Session.</h2> + + +<p><em>The President: Secretaries Seward, +Chase, Bates, Smith, Blair and Welles. +Enter Mr. Stanton.</em></p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> Gentlemen, I officially +present Mr. Stanton!</p> + +<p>[<em>Mr. Stanton, bowing with graceful +dignity, seats himself at the table.</em>]</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward (breaking the momentary +pause in his jocular way).</em> Remember, +Mr. Secretary of War, you are now in +the old chair of Floyd and Davis: and +sit thee down as if on nettles.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Chase.</em> Aye; but out of the +'nettle danger' pluck thou 'the flower +safety.'</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton (with emphasis).</em> +Believe me, I appreciate not so much the +honor as the responsibilities of my new +position. I claim a good omen, for, as I +turned just now towards the gate, a little +boy, seated upon one of the granite +blocks for the new building hereabout, +trolled out as my salutation the lines of +the national air,—</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,</p> +<p class="l">And this be our motto, In God is our trust.'</p> +</div> + +<p><em>Mr. Welles.</em> Amen!</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Bates.</em> I suppose you passed not +a few interesting hours in this room at +the twilight of Mr. Buchanan's day, +whilst holding <em>my</em> portfolio?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> Too momentous to be +called by <em>me</em> interesting. Posterity, +reading, will say <em>that</em>. And those twilight +hours, as you felicitously term them, +were followed by anxious vigils. But +these belong to confidences.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln (abruptly and familiarly).</em> +Talking of confidences, what do +you think of the news about Zollicoffer?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> It appears reliable, and +is a most providential success. Eastern +Tennessee was tending to the position +which Lucknow sustained towards the +Indian rebellion. It is now relieved, +and a fortnight or so will bring intelligence +that the whole of it has practically +joined forces to Western Virginia. +I regard it as of the highest importance +to prove, by industrious acts, that we +recognize and reward the sufferings of +these American Albigenses in their +Cumberland fastnesses. How grandly +would swell the old Miltonian hymn, +properly paraphrased, when a brigade +of the loyal Tennessians may sing</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'Avenge, Columbia, thy slaughtered hosts, whose bones</p> +<p class="l">Lie scattered on the Western mountains cold,'</p> +</div> + +<p>and so forth!</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> Now, you are stepping +into Seward's province. <em>He</em> is the poet +of my cabinet!</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward.</em> Granted for the argument: +but there is more truth than +poetry in what our new brother has just +said. Throughout how many weary +months have those brave thousands who +voted against secession awaited the +crack of our rifles and our +cannon-smoke—true music and sacred incense +to them.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Blair (practically).</em> Next to the +border States we must take care of the +newspapers.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Welles.</em> Ah, those newspapers: +bothersome as urchins in a nursery, and +yet as necessary to the perfect development +of life's enjoyment.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Chase.</em> Well said for the navy. +But what do you say of the magnificent +Neckars, whose monied articles from Boston +to Chicago would swamp the treasury +in a week, if they were believed in?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> Being born and raised +so far from the great metropolitan centres, +I don't seem to take to newspapers +so kindly as the rest of you do.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> With great respect to +your Honor (as we say in court), I deem +it a great mistake to neglect newspaper +suggestions, however provincial. 'Do +you hear (as Hamlet says), let them be +well used; for they are the abstract and +brief chronicles of the time.' And your + +metropolitan editor, after all, follows the +bent of the public opinion of the provinces +as he scissors it from his thousand +and one exchanges. The village or +country editor has time to mix among +the people, and hears them talk to reproduce +it artistically. The city editor +finds little time for this. Besides, there +<em>is</em> very little of reliable public opinion +amid cities. The American mind is +styled fickle; so it may be in the great +marts. From <em>them</em> come your sensations +and spasms. The interior is more stable, +and less swayed by impulses. Aggregate +a hundred county editorials all +over the North, then strike an average, +and you will find the product in the last +big journal. The misfortune of Washington +social life is that we walk in it +over a circle. Hither come 'needy knife-grinders,' + +and axe-sharpeners, and place-hunters, +who say what they think will +be agreeable to the ears of power. But +the other kind of mails, presided over +by Mr. Blair, bring us wholesome, although +sometimes disagreeable, truths. +They are worth attending to, Mr. President. +Let us 'strike,' but let us 'hear.'</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward.</em> In the matter of newspapers, +my son Fred and I divide reading. +He distils the metropolitan gazettes, +and I those of England and +France. Then we exchange commodities +at breakfast time. Fred, having +been an editor, can boil down the news +very rapidly, and so put its essence into +our coffee-pot. The foreign journals, +however, have so much in them that is +dissimulative and latent, they require +more care and discernment. Mr. Hunter +aids me in dissecting them.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> You are the son of an +editor, Montgomery; how do you stand +on this subject of Colfax's bill to carry +all the papers in your mails? The +rebel postmaster-general, in <em>his</em> report, +made, you remember, an elaborate argument +to justify the Jeff Davis law, +which forbids the sending of newspapers +and periodicals by expressmen.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Blair.</em> When Colfax will accept +as an amendment a prohibition of telegrams, +and the obliging our mails to +transmit <em>all</em> intelligence, then I will consider +of his views.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Smith.</em> Well said; as good an +extract that from the last edition of +Blair's rhetoric as could be wished for.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Chase.</em> Or in the Tribune satires +of Horace! But let me ask Mr. Blair +what he thinks of a newspaper tax.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Blair.</em> Very favorably. I am +for a mill stamp on every paper, obliging +every ten readers to pay the government +one cent.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> Mr. Secretary of the +Interior, what is the average circulation +of newspapers in the loyal section?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Smith.</em> A thousand million.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Chase</em> (rapidly computing). +Which on Mr. Blair's proposition would +yield a million dollars revenue.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Welles.</em> And support the government +at our present rate of expenditure +<em>for one day!</em></p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward.</em> The public would bear +half a cent on each paper. The publisher +could make his readers insensibly +pay the tax, and improve both paper +and issue by receiving another half cent: +and so add one cent of charge per copy.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Chase.</em> Which would yield a +revenue of five millions per year.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> Would the people stand +such a charge?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton (good humoredly).</em> Will +our friend the Secretary of State smoke +fewer cigars when you come to tax tobacco?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Welles (naļvely).</em> But newspaper +reading is not a vice.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Bates.</em> Be not so sure of that. +The passion for newspapers excites the +minds of the whole republic. Now-a-days +your servant reads the news as he +works. The clergy peruse the Sunday +extras, and the crossing-sweeper begs +your worn-out copy instead of a cigar-stump.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Blair.</em> Yet Gen. McClellan has +not read a newspaper in three months.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> The subject brings to +my mind a good old parson in Springfield +who used to complain that the +<em>Weekly Republican</em> was as bad as himself. +He was preaching his old sermons + +over and over again with new texts. +Come to find out, he had a waggish +grandson who for three previous weeks +had neatly gummed the fresh date over +the old one, and the dear divine had +been perusing the same paper as many +times.</p> + +<p><em>(Omnes laughing heartily.)</em></p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> Talking of General +McClellan,—I had my first engagement +with him last night at one o'clock.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Welles (startled).</em> One o'clock! +No wonder he has had typhoid fever.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> I think he is napping +it now. He has a wonderful facility at +the sleep business. Forty winks seem +to refresh him as much as four hours +do other people. At my last levee, according +to the newspapers, he and his +wife retired early. <em>He</em> went up stairs +and napped for two hours, desiring to +see me for half an hour alone afterward. +Then he spent several hours at the topographical +bureau, hunting for some old +maps which he insisted had been there +since the Creek campaign. He was +rewarded for his industry by finding +also an admirable map and survey of +the situation around New Orleans.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward.</em> The General is a believer +in Robert Bruce's spider. The +American spider's-web didn't reach +Richmond in July, nor Columbus in +November, but McClellan has kept on +busily spinning.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Blair.</em> Can any one tell me what +is the General's platform?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> I can. Long before I +dreamed of being here, he told me. It +is in three words.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> That's the shortest I +ever heard of next to that of the English +parson—'What <em>I</em> say is orthodox, +what I don't believe is heterodox.'</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Smith.</em> But the three words?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward.</em> Cęsar's was in these +words: <em>Veni, vidi, vici</em>.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> It is to be fervently +hoped <em>they</em> will become the Latin translation +of his own platform. McClellan's +is, 'TO RETRIEVE BULL RUN!'</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln (laughing).</em> Then, if +the General told you that, he is a plagiarist: +for that is <em>my</em> platform. When he +was made commander here, he asked +me what I wanted done. Said I, 'Retrieve +Bull Run.' He said he would, +and turned to go. I jocularly added, +'But can't you tell us how you are going +to do it?' He mused a moment, and then +said, 'I must work it out algebraically, +and from unknown quantities produce +the certain result. "Drill" shall be my +"<em>x</em>" and "Transportation" my "<em>y</em>" and +"Patience" my "<em>z</em>." Then <em>x</em> + <em>y</em> + <em>z</em> = +success.' And now that Mr. Stanton is +here, I doubt not the slate is ready for +the figuring.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> Thank you, Mr. President, +for the compliment. May it prove +a simple equation.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Chase (with energy).</em> Now we +call for your platform, Mr. Secretary of +War.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton (gracefully bowing).</em> +The President's—yours—<em>ours (looking +all around)</em>.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward.</em> But the allusion is a +proper personal one, nevertheless. Remember +court-martial law—the youngest +always speaks first!</p> + +<p>(<em>Omnes compose themselves in a listening +attitude.</em>)</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> First and foremost, I +believe slavery to be the <em>casus belli</em>. To +treat the <em>casus belli</em> above and beyond +all other considerations I hold to be the +duty of the true commander-in-chief: +as the surgeon disregards secondary +symptoms and probes the wound. I +would treat this <em>casus belli</em> as the Constitution +allows us to treat it—not one +hair's breadth from the grand old safeguard +would I step. Under the Constitution +I believe slavery to be a purely +local institution. In Louisiana and Texas, +a slave is an immovable by statute, +and is annexed to the realty as hop-poles +are in the law of New York. In Alabama +and Mississippi, the slave is a chattel. +In the first-named States he passes +by deed of national act and registration; +in the other, by simple receipt or delivery. +Thus even among slave States +there is no uniform system respecting the +slave property. To the Northern States + +the slave is a person in his ballot relation +to congressional quota and constituency, +and also an apprentice to labor, +to be delivered up on demand. The +slave escaping from Maryland to Pennsylvania +is not to be delivered up, nor +cared about, nor thought about, until +he is demanded. Liberty is the law of +nature. Every man is presumed free in +choice, and not even to be trammeled +by apprenticeship, until the contrary is +made clearly to appear. One man may +be a New York discharged convict, for +instance—an unpardoned convict. He +emigrates southward, he obtains property, +according to local law, in a slave. +The slave escapes to New York. The +convict—unpardoned—master enters +the tribunal there on his demand. Quoth +the escaped apprentice, producing the +record of the conviction, 'Mr. Claimant, +you have no standing in court. Your +civil rights are suspended in this State +until you are pardoned. You are <em>not</em> + +pardoned, therefore I will not answer +aye or no to your claim, until you are +legitimately in court, and recognized by +the judges.' I take it that plea would +avail. And if the crier wanted to employ +a person to sweep the court-room +the next moment, he could employ that +defendant to do it. There is not a man +in the rebel States (<em>whom we publicly +know of</em>) who has a standing under the +Constitution regarding this slavery question. +By his own argument he lives in +a foreign country; by our own argument +he is not <em>rectus in curia</em>. Were I +an invading general and wanted horses, +I would decoy them from the rebels with +hay and stable enticements. If I wanted +trench-diggers, camp scullions, or artillerists, +or pilots, or oarsmen, or guides, +and, being that general, saw negroes +about me, I should press them into my +service. Time enough to talk about the +rights of some one to possess the negroes +by better claim of title to service when +that somebody, with the Constitution in +one hand and stipulation of allegiance +in the other, demands legal possession. +Even the fugitive slave is emancipated +practically whilst in Ohio, and whilst not +yet demanded. Rebel soldiers daily +leave their plantations and abandon their +negroes. <em>Pro tem</em>, at least, the latter +are then emancipated. Let them, when +within Our lines, continue emancipated.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Welles.</em> Would you arm them?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> Yes, if exigencies of +situation so demanded. The beleaguered +garrison at Lucknow armed every one +about the place—natives or not, servants +or masters. Did General Washington +spare the whisky stills in the time +of the insurrection in Western Virginia +when they were in his way? Yet the +stills were universally agreed to be property, +and were not taken by due process +of law. Shall we fight a rebel in +Charleston streets, and at the same time +protect his negro by a guard in the +Charleston jail?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Blair.</em> But what instructions +would you give to the soldiers about +this <em>casus belli</em>?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> None at all. The soldier +should know nothing about <em>casus +belli</em>. General Buell answered the correspondent +well when he said, 'I know +nothing about the cause of this war. I +am to fight the rebels and obey orders.' +Cries a general to a subaltern—'Yonder +smokes a battery—go and take it.' + +Do we issue specific instructions to the +troops about the women, the children, +the chickens, the forage, the mules-persons +or property—whom they encounter? +The circumstances and the +exigencies of the situation determine +their conduct. A household mastiff +who will pin a rebel by the throat +when he passes his kennel, flying from +pursuit, is just as serviceable as would +prove a loyal bullet sped to the rebel's +brain. I believe that the acknowledged +fact, the necessary fact, that wherever +our army advances, emancipation practically +ensues, will carry more terror to +the slave-owner than any other warlike +incident. But I would have them understand +that this result is not our design, +but a necessity of <em>their</em> rebellion.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Bates.</em> You are like the last witness +upon the stand—subjected to a +vigorous cross-examination upon everything + +gone before. Have you ever +thought what is to be the upshot of the +contention?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> Restoration of the +Union!</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Bates.</em> Aye, but how to be +brought about? Are not the pride and +the obstinacy growing stronger every +day at the South?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> 'Men are but children +of a larger growth.' Who of us has not +conquered pride and obstinacy in the +nursery? I have seen the boy of a mild-tempered +father fairly admire the parent +when he broke the truce of affection +and vigorously thrashed him. The +large majority of the Southern people +have been educated to believe the men +of the North cowardly, mean, and avaricious. +Cowardly, because they persistently +refused the duel. Mean, because +all classes worked, and there seemed +among them no arrogance of birth. +Avaricious, because they crouched to +the planters with calico and manufactures, +or admired their bullying for the +sake of their cotton.</p> + +<p>And the great masses of the South +have been and are learning how the +present leaders have duped them upon +all these points. They have discovered +we are not cowards. Every prisoner, +from the chivalric Corcoran to the urchin +drummer-boy at Richmond who spat on +the sentinel, has afforded proof of courage +and fortitude, whilst thousands and +thousands of people have secretly admired +it. The very death vacancies at +family boards throughout the plantations +perpetually remind the Southrons that +<em>we are not</em> cowards in fight. They have +learned, too, that we are neither mean +nor avaricious, when the millionaire merchant, +whom they knew two years ago, +cheerfully accepts the poor man's lot of +to-day; or when they behold all classes +without one murmur hear of a million +dollars per day being spent on the war, +and then <em>clamor to be taxed</em>! If they +perceive the negroes leaving them, they +at once also perceive that in loyal Maryland, +loyal Virginia, loyal Kentucky and +loyal Missouri,—in Baltimore, St. Louis, +and Louisville,—the slaves under local +laws are protected to their owners. +Thus the most stupid will reason, It is +our own act which has placed in jeopardy +this our property. With a restored +Union, Georgia and Louisiana must be +as Maryland and Kentucky continued +even in the midst of camps. Who, during +the acme of the French revolution, +could have believed that the people of +Paris would so soon and so readily accept +even despotism as the panacea of +turmoil? Show a real grievance, and I +grant you that rebellion achieves the +dignity of revolution. Provide an imaginary +or a colored evil as the basis of insurrection, +and even pride and obstinacy +will eventually comprehend the sophistry +of the leaders.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> Seward's secret correspondence +with Southern loyalists proves +these things. Mr. Stanton must read +that last letter from....</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> Indeed! You surprise +me. Pray how could you receive intelligence +from him?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln (opening a drawer).</em> Do +you see this button? I unscrew this eye. +The two discs now separate. Between +them you can put a sheet of French letter paper. +When the troops advanced +to Bull Run, certain of the soldiers were +provided with such buttons. Various +deserters have had them.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward (laughing.)</em> Who knows +but General Scott's coachman had one +or two?<a href="#note_13"><span class="footnoteref">13</span></a></p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> This practically corroborates +my theories. If we in Washington +find it so difficult to repress communication +and spies, is it not fair to presume +that in Richmond, Savannah, New +Orleans and Memphis (where there is +<em>real</em> incentive from suffering and persecution), +it is equally impossible to stop +information? It was impossible to procure +it when the three rifled cannon +at the Richmond foundry were found +spiked. It would prove serviceable to +the patience of the nation, could it only + +step behind the scenes and learn much—known +to us—which it must ere long +understand.</p> + +<br> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> I have just received by +our secret mail a very affecting letter +from Col. Corcoran. I will read an extract. +[<em>Reads.</em>]</p> + +<p>'Of my physical suffering I will not +speak. If restored to friends and home +I shall, however, be a memorable example +of the victory of mind over body. I +determined to lay down my life for my +country when I left that home; and if +it will serve the cause, as I have repeatedly +told the people here, to hang, or +draw, or quarter me, I am ready for the +sacrifice. But there are hundreds among +the prisoners whose minds are not so +buoyant as mine, who do suffer terribly. +Can not some means be devised to clothe +and feed <em>them</em>, or to exchange for them?'</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Blair.</em> A patriot soul. The +clerkship left in the New York post-office +when the Colonel departed for +the war has been retained for him.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln (quickly).</em> Ah! <em>that</em> +heroic sufferer shall have something better +than a clerkship if he ever returns.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> I have thought much +of this exchange of prisoners and captivity +amelioration. When the insurrection +was inchoate, we could afford to be +punctilious. But its present gigantic +proportions surely affect the question +(so to term it) of ransom. When our +countrymen were in the Algerine prisons +we took means to treat for them. What +say you, gentlemen, against sending commissioners +to Richmond for the purpose +of supervising the medicines, clothing, +food and exchange of our prisoners?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward.</em> That may only be conceded +by accepting commissioners for a +similar purpose from the rebel government.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Chase.</em> Our plans are now so +perfectly matured that even the danger +of spies recedes. I am in favor of Mr. +Stanton's proposition.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> I think you can try it. +There are so many prisoners, from all +parts of the country, that public sentiment +must uphold the measure.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Smith.</em> Mr. Secretary of State, +you were taking notes whilst Mr. Stanton +was giving his views upon the restoration +question. Were they on that subject?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward.</em> Yes. Some fleeting +thoughts occurred to me which I was +desirous of preserving for to-morrow. <em>I</em> +have a great deal of faith in establishing +Southern 'doughfacery.'</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Welles.</em> Doughfacery?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward.</em> Yes: that supremacy +of pocket over pride which so long afflicted +the North. Above and beyond +the slave-owners must rise the great +class of manufacturers and merchants,—almost +every third man of Northern +origin, too,—whose pocket is the great +sufferer, and without whose property, +hereafter, plantations can not prosper. +Given a decent pretext for adjustment, +when pride will go to the wall. Once +allow the masses to grasp the reins, and +the slave-owners will be driven to the +wall-side of the political highway also. +This I call Southern doughfacery for the +sake of a phrase well understood.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Blair.</em> Then your old plan of +the great national convention comes in +vogue?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> <em>My</em> plan! (<em>Good humoredly.</em>) +You must not <em>all</em> steal my +thunder. By the way, Seward, your +pleasant friend Judge D——, who came +from New York about Col. Corcoran, +told me the meaning of that phrase. It +seems a Dublin stage manager got up a +scenic play with thunder in it perfectly +imitated by a diapason of bass drums. +A rival got up another scenic play, to +which, out of jealous <em>pique</em>, the inventor +repaired as a spectator. To his surprise +he heard his own invention from behind +the scenes. He instantly exclaimed +aloud, 'The rascal, he's stolen my thunder!'</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward (jocularly).</em> The President +finds a parallel between a national +convention and thunder. Well, well, +the clearest atmosphere is breathed after + +the clouds culminate in thunder and +lightning. I accept the application.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Chase.</em> But if the South is to +surrender pride, what are <em>we</em> to surrender?</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Seward (quickly).</em> <em>Political</em> + +pride. The battle of freedom was +fought and won when the Inaugural +was pronounced. The South can not +recover from the present stagnation in +a quarter-century, by which time it will +again have accepted contentedly the +original belief that slavery, like one of +the lotteries of Georgia, or one of the red-dog +banks of Arkansas, is a purely local +institution.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> I heartily accept the +project of a national convention. But +I am against any agitation or committal +to leading ideas which are to control it. +One convention ruined France, and +another saved it. We can better obtain +consent of North and South to holding +a convention by forbearance from discussing +its probable platform. Let it +meet. No fear but it will elucidate +<em>some</em> satisfactory result.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Welles.</em> You have just discussed +this question of war. I wish something +could be done to settle this affair of privateering. +To my reflection it appears +to embrace a very important consideration +of 'policy' as well as of law. A +man does not always punish his embezzling +clerk because the law gives him +authority to do so. The ocean rebel +who to-day captures our transports laden +with soldiers, may to-morrow put +off twenty boats in the Potomac, and +capture our men on the river schooner. +The Attorney General's opinion and the +law of Judge Kelson in New York hang +the former; but military law will exchange +the latter whenever a satisfactory +opportunity presents itself.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> The policy question +has become a grave one. I have been +much struck by the letter of Judge Daly, +of New York, to Senator Harris—a most +opportune, learned, and temperate paper.</p> + +<p>[<em>Enter an attendant.</em>]</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> Gen. McClellan is at +the door. Invite him in.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Stanton.</em> By all means. He is +'the very head and front of our offending.'</p> + +<p>[<em>Enter Gen. McClellan.</em>]</p> + +<p><em>Gen. McC.</em> Good evening, Mr. President +and Cabinet. (<em>Speaking rapidly +and brusquely.</em>) The bridge equipages +are now entirely complete. Here is a +dispatch acknowledging the receipt of +the last supply. With February is +ushered in the Southern spring, which, +as you all know, <em>must</em> end 'this winter of +our discontent.' The Western V now +is perfect from Cairo and Harper's Ferry +at the top to Cumberland Gap at the bottom. +It is the first letter in Victory.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln.</em> When the General becomes +oratorical, then indeed has he +good news.</p> + +<p><em>Gen. McC.</em> I have, sir; but, with +great respect to all these our friends, it +must be for your own ears, to-night at +least.</p> + +<p><em>Mr. Lincoln (rising).</em> We will withdraw +to the library. Gentlemen, pray +come to some understanding during our +absence respecting the reply to be sent +to M. Thouvenel's extraordinary secret +dispatch. I will rejoin you in—</p> + +<p><em>Gen, McC.</em> Seven minutes, Mr. President—those +are all I can spare. Good +evening, gentlemen.</p> +</div> + + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_32"></a> +<h2>Literary Notices.</h2> + +<div class="div"> + +<p>BORDER LINES OF KNOWLEDGE IN SOME +PROVINCES OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. An +Introductory Lecture delivered before the +Medical Class of Harvard University, Nov. +6, 1861. By Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D., +Parkman Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. +Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1861.</p> + +<p>It is a pleasant thing to realize, in +reading a work like this, how perfectly +GENIUS is capable of rendering deeply +interesting to the most general reader +topics which in the hands of mere <em>talent</em> +become intolerably 'professional' and +dry. The mind which has once flowed +through the golden land of poetry becomes, +indeed, like the brook of Scottish +story, more or less alchemizing,—communicating +an aureate hue even to the +wool of the sheep which it washes, and +turning all its fish into 'John Dorées.' +And in doing this, far from injuring the +practical and market value of either, it +positively improves them. For genius +is always general and human, and rises +intuitively above conventional poetry and +conventional science, to that higher region +where fact and fancy become identified +in truth. And such is the characteristic +of the lecture before us, in which +solid, nutritive learning loses none of its +alimentary value for being cooked with +all the skill of a <em>Ude</em> or of a <em>Francatelli</em>. +Many passages in the work illustrate +this power of ęsthetic illustration in a +truly striking manner.</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>In certain points of view, human anatomy +may be considered an almost exhausted science. +From time to time some small organ, +which had escaped earlier observers, has been +pointed out,—such parts as the <em>tensor tarsi</em>, +the otic ganglion, or the Pacinian bodies; but +some of the best anatomical works are those +which have been classic for many generations. +The plates of the bones of Vesalius, three centuries +old, are still masterpieces of accuracy, as +of art. The magnificent work of Albinus on +the muscles, published in 1747, is still supreme +in its department, as the constant references +of the most thorough recent treatise on the +subject—that of Theile—sufficiently show. +More has been done in unravelling the mysteries +of the facię, but there has been a tendency +to overdo this kind of material analysis. Alexander +Thompson split them up into cobwebs, +as you may see in the plates to Velpeau's Surgical +Anatomy. I well remember how he used +to shake his head over the coarse work of +Scarpa and Astley Cooper;—<em>as if Denner, who +painted the separate hairs of the head and pores +of the skin, in his portraits, had spoken lightly +of the pictures of Rubens and Vandyck</em>.</p> +</div> + +<p>Laymen can not decide, where doctors +disagree; but there are few who will not +at least read this lecture with pleasure.</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<p> +JOHN BRENT. By Major Theodore Winthrop. +Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1862. +</p> + +<p>It is strange that so soon after the appearance +of <em>Tom Tiddler's Ground</em>, with +its one good story of a wild gallop over +the Plains, a novel should have appeared +in which the same scenes are reproduced,—the +whole full of wild-fire and +gallop.—American life-fever and prairie-dust,—uneasy +contrasts of the feelings +of gentlemen and memories of <em>salons</em> + +with pork-frying, hickory shirts, and +whisky. The excitement and movement +of <em>John Brent</em> are wonderful. Had the +author been an artist, we should have +had in him an American Correggio,—with +strong lights and shadows, bright +colors, figures of desperadoes inspired +with the air of gentlemen, and gentlemen, +real or false, who play their parts +in no mild scenes. It is the first good +novel which has given us a picture of +the West since California and Mormondom +added to it such vivid and extraordinary +coloring, and since the 'ungodly +Pike'—that 'rough' of the wilderness—has +taken the place of the well-nigh +traditional frontiersman. It is entertaining +and exciting, and will attain a + +very great popularity, having in it all +the elements to secure such success. +Those who recognized in <em>Cecil Dreeme</em> +the vividly-photographed scenes and +characters of New York, will be pleased +to find the same talent employed on +a wider field, among more vigorous natures, +and assuming a far more active +development. Never have we felt more +keenly regret at the untimely decease +of an author than for WINTHROP, while +perusing the pages of <em>John Brent</em>. There +went out a light which <em>might</em> have shown, +in Rembrandt shadows and gleams, the +most striking scenes of this country and +this age.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<p>MEMOIR, LETTERS AND REMAINS OF ALEXIS +DE TOCQUEVILLE. Translated from the +French, by the Translator of Napoleon's +Correspondence with King Joseph. In two +volumes. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1862.</p> + +<p>No French writer enjoys a more truly +enviable popularity in America than M. +DE TOCQUEVILLE. That he should have +discussed the vital principles of our political +and social life, in a manner which +not only made him no enemies among +us, but established his 'Democracy' as a +classic reference, is as wonderful as it +was well deserved. The present work +is, however, a delightful one by itself, and +will be read with a relish. We sympathize +with the translator (a most capable +one by the way) when he declares that +he leaves his task with regret, fearing +lest he never again may have an opportunity +of associating so long and so intimately +with such a mind. The typography +and paper are of superior quality.</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> + +<p>POEMS BY WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. ('Blue and +gold.') First American Edition. Boston: +Ticknor & Fields.</p> + +<p>'Fresh, beautiful, and winsome.'—Among +the living poets of England there +may be many who are popularly regarded +as 'greater,' but certainly there is none +more unaffectedly natural or simply delightful +than WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. +We are pleased at his probably unconscious +Irish-isms in his humbler lyrics, +which have deservedly attained the proud +eminence of veritable 'Folk-songs' in the +mouths of the people, and are touched +by the exquisite music, the tender feeling, +and the beautiful picturing which we find +inspiring his lays. It requires but little +knowledge of them to be impressed with +the evident love of his art with which +our Irish bard is filled. It would be +difficult to find in the same number of +songs by any contemporary so little evident +effort allied to such success.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<p>THE CHURCH MONTHLY. Edited by Rev. +George M. Randall, D.D., and Rev. F.D. +Huntington, D.D. Vol. II. No. 6. Boston: +E.P. Dutton & Co. 1861.</p> + +<p>This beautiful and scholarly magazine, +which abounds in 'the elegant expression +of sound learning,' contains, in the +present number, a noble article on <em>Loyalty +in the United States</em>, by Rev. B.B. +BABBITT, which we would gladly have +read by every one. Almost amusing, +and yet really beautiful, is the following +Latin version of 'Now I lay me down to +sleep,' by Rev. EDWARD BALLARD.</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<h3><em>In Canabulis</em>.</h3> +<p class="l">'Nunc recline ut dormirem,</p> +<p class="l">Precor te, O Domine,</p> +<p class="l">Ut defendas animam;</p> +<p class="l">Ante diem si obirem,</p> +<p class="l">Precor te, O Domine,</p> +<p class="l">Us servares animam.</p> + +<p class="l">Hoc que precor pro Iesu!'</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="div"> + +<p> +WORKS OF BAYARD TAYLOR. Vols. I. & II. +New York: G.P. Putnam. +</p> + +<p>BAYARD TAYLOR has the pleasant +art of communicating personal experiences +in a personal way. It is not an +unknown X, an invisible essence of +criticism, which travels for us in his +sketches, but a veritable traveler, speaking, +Irving-like, of what he sees, so that +we see and feel with him. In these volumes, +the ups and downs, the poverties +and even the ignorances of the young +traveler are set forth—not paraded—with +great vividness, and we come to the +end of each chapter as if it were the +scene of a good old-fashioned comedy. +CORYATT without his crudities, if we +can imagine such a thing, suggests himself, +with alternations of 'HERODOTUS +his gossip' without his craving credulity. +Perhaps these volumes explain more + +than any of their predecessors the causes +of TAYLOR'S popularity, and like them +will do good work in stimulating that +love of travel which with many becomes +the absorbing passion sung by MULLER,—'<em>Wandern! +ach! Wandern!</em>'</p> + +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<p>THOMAS HOOD'S WORKS. Edited by Epes +Sargent. New York: G.P. Putnam. 1862. +</p> + +<p>A beautifully printed and bound volume, +on the best paper, with two fine +illustrations,—one by HOPPIN, setting +forth Miss Kilmansegg and her golden +leg with truly Teutonic grotesquerie. +It contains Hood's Poems, never made +more attractively readable than in this +edition. As a gift it would be difficult +to find a work which would be more generally +acceptable to either old or young.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<p>NATIONAL MILITARY SERIES. Part First. +By Captain W.W. Van Ness. New York: +Carleton, 413 Broadway.</p> + +<p>A neat little work on military tactics, +conforming to the army regulations +adopted and approved by the War Department +of the United States. It is +thoroughly practical, 'being arranged on +the plainest possible principle of question +and answer,' and being within the +reach of the dullest capacity, and thoroughly +comprehensive of all required of +the soldier, will probably become, as its +author trusts, 'a standard military work.'</p> +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<p>FORT LAFAYETTE; OR, LOVE AND SECESSION. +By Benjamin Wood. New York: +Carleton, 413 Broadway. 1862. +</p> + +<p>Even while a tree is being blown down +by the hurricane, small fungi or other +minute vegetation spring up in its rifts; +every social shock of the day is promptly +scened and 'tagged' at the minor +theatres; and shall this war escape its +novels? Mr. WOOD votes in the negative, +and supplies us with a somewhat +sensational yet not badly manufactured +article, which, like the melo-dramas referred +to, will be received with delight +by a certain line of patrons, and, we presume, +be also relished. It is a first-rate +specimen of a second-rate romance.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<p>HEROES AND MARTYRS: Notable Men of the +Time. With Portraits on Steel. New York: +G.P. Putnam, 532 Broadway. C.T. Evans, +General Agent. 1862. Price 25 cents.</p> + +<p>The first number of a large quarto, exquisitely +printed, biographical series of +sketches of the military and naval heroes, +statesmen, and orators, distinguished +in the American crisis of 1861-62, and +edited by FRANK MOORE. The portraits +of Commodore S.F. DUPONT and +Major THEODORE WINTHROP, in this +first number, are excellent; while the +literary portion, devoted to WINFIELD +SCOTT, deserves praise. The cheapness +of the publication is truly remarkable.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="div"> +<p>TRANSACTIONS of THE MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL +SOCIETY, FOR THE YEAR 1861. +Boston: Henry W. Dutton & Son, Printers, +Transcript Building. 1862.</p> + +<p>A work testifying to the great extent +and efficacy of the labors of the society, +and one which, among a mass of merely +business detail, contains much interesting +information. An article on the first +discovery of the heather in America, by +EDWARD S. RAND, is well worth reading. +Can any of our wise men re-discover +the lost Pictish art of making good +beer from that plant?</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_33"></a> +<h2>Books Received.</h2> + + +<p>DINAH. New York: Charles Scribner, 124 +Grand Street. Boston: Brown & Taggard. +1861.</p> + +<p>THE REBELLION RECORD. A Diary of American +Events, with Documents, Narratives, +Illustrative Incidents, and Poetry. Edited +by Frank Moore. New York: G.P. Putnam.</p> + +<p>THE BROKEN ENGAGEMENT; OR, SPEAKING +THE TRUTH FOR A DAY. By Mrs. Emma +D.E.N. Southworth. Philadelphia: T.B. +Peterson. Price 25 cents. 1861.</p> + +<p>THE AMERICAN CRISIS: Its Cause, Significance, +and Solution. By Americus. Chicago, +Illinois: Joshua R. Walsh, 1861.</p> +</div> + + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_34"></a> + +<h2>Editor's Table.</h2> + +<p>Step by step the vast net is closing in +on the enemy,—little by little the vice +is tightening,—and if no incalculable +calamity overtake the armies of the +Union, it is but fair to assume that at no +distant day the rebel South will find itself +in the last extremity, overwhelmed +by masses from without and demoralized +by want of means within. Government +at present holds the winning cards,—if +they are only skillfully played the game +is its own. It is impossible to study the +map and the present position of our +forces with our resources, and not realize +this. 'Hemmed in!' is the despairing +cry from Southern journals, which but +the other day insolently threatened to +transfer the war to Northern soil, and to +sack New York and Philadelphia; and, +with their proverbial fickleness and fire, +we find many of them half rebelling +against the management of Mr. JEFFERSON +DAVIS and his coadjutors.</p> + +<p>This is all encouraging. On the other +hand, we are beginning to feel more +acutely the miseries of war, and its enormous +cost. The time is at hand when +the whole country will be called on to +show its heroism by patient endurance +of many trials, and by <em>living</em> as well as +dying for the great cause of liberty and +Union. Let it all be done patiently and +without a murmur. Every suffering will +be repaid tenfold in the hour of triumph. +Let it be remembered that as we suffer +our chances of victory increase, and that +every pain felt by us is a death-pang to +the foe. Now, if ever, the Northern +quality of stubborn endurance must show +itself. We, too, can suffer as heroically +as the South boasts of doing. It is this +which in the course of events must inevitably +give us the victory, for no spirit +of chivalry, no enthusiasm, can ultimately +resist sturdy Saxon pluck. The South, +foolishly enough, has vaunted that it is +inspired by the blood and temper of the +Latin races of Southern Europe, and it +can not be denied that their climate has +given them the impulsiveness of their +ideal heroes. In this fiery impatience +lies the element which renders them incapable +of sustaining defeat, and which, +after any disaster, must stimulate dissension +among them.</p> + +<p>It should also be borne in mind that +the most direct causes of our sufferings +all involve very practical benefits. The +Southern press taunts our soldiers with +enlisting for pay. Let us admit that +vast numbers have truly been partially +induced by the want of employment at +home to enter the army. It is a peculiar +characteristic of all Northern blood that +it can and does combine intelligence and +interest with the strongest enthusiasm. +No man was ever made a worse soldier +by being prudent, any more than by being +a religious Christian. Taunts and +jeers can not affect the truth. The Protestant +mechanic soldiery of Germany +during the wars of the Reformation, the +men of Holland, and the Puritans of +England, were all reviled for the same +cause—but they conquered. God never +punishes men for common-sense, nor did +it ever yet blind zeal, though it may prevent +zeal from degenerating into sheer +madness. The war, while it has crippled +industry, has also kept it alive,—it +has become a great industrial central +force, giving work to millions. Again, +in the creation of a debt we shall find +such a stimulus to industry as we never +before knew. Taxation, which kills a +weak country crippled by feudal laws +and nightmared by an extravagant +court and nobility, simply induces fresh + +and vigorous effort to make additional +profits in a land of endless resources and +of vast territory, where every man is +free to work at what he chooses. Taxation +may come before us like a raging +lion, but, in the words of BEECHER, we +shall find honey in the carcass. Let us +only cheerfully make the best of everything, +and uphold the administration and +the war with a right good will, and we +shall learn as we never did before the +extent of the incredible elasticity and +recuperative power of the American.</p> + +<p>It is evident that the present war will +have a beneficial result in making us acquainted +with the real nature of this arrogant +and peculiar South-land. It was +said that the Crimean struggle did much +good by dispelling the cloudy hobgoblin +mystery which hung over Russia, and, +while it destroyed its prestige as a bugbear, +more than compensated for this, +by giving it a proper place abreast of +civilized nations in the great march of +industry and progress. Just so we are +learning that the South is perfectly capable +of receiving white labor, that it is +not strangely and peculiarly different +from the rest of the cis-tropical regions, +that the negro is no more its necessity +than he is to Spain or Italy, and that, +in short, white labor may march in, undisturbed, +so soon as industry ceases to +be regarded as disgraceful in it. We +have learned the vital necessity of union +and identity of feeling between all the +States, and found out the folly of suffering +petty local state attachments to +blind us to the glory of citizenship in a +nation, which should cover a continent. +We have learned what the boasted philanthropy +of England is worth when put +to the test of sacrifice, and also how the +British lion can put forth the sharpest +and most venomous of feline claws when +an opportunity presents itself of ruining +a possible rival. More than this, we +have learned to be self-reliant, to take +greater and more elevated views of political +duty, and to be heroic without being +extravagant. Since we were a republic +no one year has witnessed such +national and social progress among us as +the past. We have had severe struggles, +and we have surmounted them; we have +had hard lessons, and we have learned +them; we have had trials of pride, and we +have profited by them. And as we contend +for principles based in reason and +humanity and confirmed by history, it follows +that we must inevitably come forth +gloriously triumphant, if we but bravely +persevere in enforcing those principles.</p> + +<p>The large amount of political information +regarding the South and its resources +which has been of late widely +disseminated in the North, is a striking +proof that, disguise the question as we +will, the extension of free labor is, from +a politico-economical point of view (which +is, in fact, the only sound one), the real, +or at least ultimate basis of this struggle. +The matter in hand is the restitution of +the Union, laying everything else aside; +but the great fact, which will not step +aside, is the consideration whether ten +white men or one negro are to occupy +a certain amount of soil. There is no +evading this finality, there is no impropriety +in its discussion, and it SHALL +be discussed, so long as free speech or a +free pen is left in the North. So far +from interfering with the war, it is a +stimulus to the thousands of soldiers who +hope eventually to settle in the South in +districts where their labor will not be +compared with that of 'slaves,' and it is +right and fit that they should anticipate +the great and inevitable truth in all its +relations to their own welfare and that +of the country.</p> + +<p>We cheerfully agree with those who +try with so much energy that Emancipation +is not the matter in hand, and +quite as cheerfully assent when they insist +that the enemy, and not the negro, +demands all our present energy. But +this has nothing to do with the great +question, whether slavery is or is not to +ultimately remain as a great barrier to +free labor in regions where free labor +is clamoring for admission. That is all +we ask, nothing more. The instant the +North and West are assured that at some +time, though remote, and by any means + +or encouragements whatever, which expediency +may dictate, the great cause +of secession and sedition—will be removed +from our land, then there will +be witnessed an enthusiasm compared +to which that of the South will be but +lukewarm. That this will be done, no +rational person now doubts, or that government +will cheerfully act on it so soon +as the fortunes of war or the united voice +of the people strengthen it in the good +work. And until it <em>is</em> done, let every intelligent +freeman bear it in mind, thinking +intelligently and acting earnestly, so +that the great work may be advanced +rapidly and carried out profitably and +triumphantly.</p> + +<p>The leading minds of the South, +shrewder than our Northern anti-emancipation +half traitors and whole dough-faces, +foreseeing the inevitable success +of ultimate emancipation, have given +many signs of willingness to employ +even it, if needs must be, as a means of +effectually achieving their 'independence.' +They have baited their hooks +with it to fish for European aid—they +have threatened it armed, as a last resort +of desperation, if conquered by the +North. Knowing as well as we that the +days of slavery are numbered, they have +used it as a pretense for separation, +they would just as willingly destroy it +to maintain that separation. Since the +war began, projects of home manufactures, +and other schemes involving the +encouragement of free labor, have been +largely discussed in the South,—and yet +in spite of this, thousands among us violently +oppose Emancipation. In plain, +truthful words they uphold the ostensible +platform of the enemy, and yet avow +themselves friends of the Union.</p> + +<p>We have said it before, we repeat it: +we ask for no undue haste, no unwise +measures, nothing calculated to irritate +or disorganize or impede the measures +which government may now have in +hand. But we hold firmly that Emancipation +be calmly regarded as a measure +which <em>must</em> at some time be fully carried +out. Be it limited for the time, or for +years, to the Border States, be it assumed +partially or entirely under the +modified form of apprenticeship, be it +proclaimed only in Texas or South Carolina, +it has in some way a claim to recognition, +and <em>must</em> be recognized. Its +friends are too many to be ignored in +the day of settlement.</p> + +<br> + +<p>It is proper that every detail of contract +corruption should be brought fully +to light, and the country owes a debt of +gratitude to Mr. DAWES for his manly +attack on the wretches who have crippled +the war, robbed the soldier, swindled +the tax-payers, and aided the enemy by +their wicked rapacity. Let it be remembered +that whatever his sentiments +may have been, every man who has +been instrumental, directly or indirectly, +in cheating the treasury and the +my during this period of distress, has +been one of its enemies, and far more +deadly than if he had been openly enlisted +under the banners of JEFFERSON +DAVIS. Were we anything but the +best-natured and most enduring public +in the world, such revelations as have +by the been made would long since have +driven these rapacious traitors beyond +sea or into the congenial Dixie for +which they have indirectly labored.</p> + +<p>We have been accustomed to read +much since infancy of the sufferings of +our army during the Revolution,—how +they were hatless, ragged, starved, and +badly armed. We have shuddered at the +pictures of the snow at Valley Forge, +tracked by the blood from the feet of +shoeless soldiers. Yet, in the year 1861, +with abundant means and with all the +sympathy and aid of a wealthy country, +there has been more suffering in the +army than the Revolution witnessed, +and it was due in a great measure to +men who hastened to the spoil like vultures +to their prey. If the army has not +in advanced, if proper weapons are not +even yet ready, let the reader reflect +how much the army is still crippled owing +to imperfect supplies, and have patience.</p> + +<p>It is not the soldier alone who has + +been robbed by the contractor. The +manufacturer who sees only a government +order between himself and failure, +and who is willing to do anything to +keep his operatives employed, is asked +to supply inferior goods at a low price. +He may take the order or leave it,—if +he will not, another will,—and with it +is expected to take the risk of a return. +When a man sees ruin before him, he will +often yield to such temptations. The +contractor takes the goods, sells them if +he can, and pockets the profits, sometimes +ten times over what the manufacturer +gains. He thereby robs outright, +not only the soldier, but also the operatives +who make the goods, since the +manufacturer must reduce their wages +to the lowest living point, in order to +save himself.</p> + +<p>It will all come to light. There is a +discovery of all evil, and there is a +grace which money cannot remove, neither +from the thief nor from his children. +And we rejoice to see that so much is +being made known, and that in all probability +the public will be fully informed +as to who were principally guilty in +these enormous and treasonable corruptions.</p> + +<br> + +<p>It is stated, on good authority, that +the only objection urged by the President +to adopting the policy of Emancipation, +is the danger which would be +thereby incurred of effectually losing +the allegiance of the loyal slave-holders +in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri.</p> + +<p>The obvious answer to this is, that by +paying these loyal slave-holders for their +chattels they could not fail to become +firmer friends than ever. When we reflect +on the extremely precarious tenure +of all such property on the Border it becomes +apparent that the man must be a +lunatic indeed to hope for the permanency +of the institution in the tobacco +States. Since the war began nearly the +two-thirds of the slaves in Missouri have +changed their <em>habitat</em>,—about one-half +of the number having been 'sold South,' +while the other moiety have traveled +North, without reference to ownership.</p> + +<p>The administration need be under no +apprehension as to the popularity of +this measure. It would be hailed with +joy by millions. The capitalists of our +Northern cities, who now await with impatience +some indications of A REGULAR +POLICY, will welcome with enthusiasm a +proposition which would at once render +the debatable land no longer debatable, +and which would effectually disorganize +the entire South, by rendering +numbers desirous of selling their slaves +in order to secure what must sooner or +later be irrecoverably lost. If government +has a policy in this matter, it is +time that the public were informed of it. +The public is ready to be taxed to any +extent, it is making tremendous sacrifices; +all that it asks in return is some +nucleus around which it may gather,—a +settled principle by which its victories +in war may be made to form the basis +of a permanent peace.</p> + +<br> + +<p>The English press, statesmen and orators +have been pleased to regard our +democratic government as a failure.</p> + +<p>But we have at least one advantage. +When an enormous wrong is perpetrated +on the people by a secretary, <em>he can be +hustled out of the way</em>, and the accomplices +be punished.</p> + +<p>In England we have seen of late the +most enormous political and social outrage +of the century coolly committed, +without the slightest regard to consequences, +and without the slightest fear of +any punishment whatever.</p> + +<p>The truth has come to light, and every +investigation, in the opinion of the ablest +and most sagacious men, confirms the +assertion that the late MASON and +SLIDELL difficulty was simply an immense +stock-jobbing swindle, played in +the most heartless manner on this country +and on England, without heed as to +the terrible consequences.</p> + +<p>The London <em>Times</em>, as is well known, +is the organ of the ROTHSCHILDS. +During the late iniquitous war-flurry it +acted perfectly in concert with Lord +PALMERSTON. While that gentleman + +kept back <em>for three weeks</em> dispatches, +which, if published, would have had the +immediate effect of establishing a peaceful +feeling, his Hebrew accomplices +bought literally right and left of securities +of every kind. Grand pickings they +had; everything had tumbled down. +England was roused by the <em>Times</em> to a +fury; a feeling of fierce injury was +excited in this country, which an age +will not now allay; and right in the +midst of this, when one word might have +changed the whole, the official ministerial +organ <em>explicitly denied the existence +of those 'peace' dispatches</em> which have +since come to light!</p> + +<p>Let us anticipate some of the results +of this precious Palmerston-Hebrew-<em>Times</em> +swindle.</p> + +<p>It has cost England twenty millions of +dollars.</p> + +<p>It has aroused such a feeling in this +country against England as no one can +remember.</p> + +<p>It has effectually killed the American +market for English goods, and put the +tariff up to prohibition <em>en permanence</em>.</p> + +<p>It has, by doing this, struck the most +deadly blow at English prosperity which +history has ever witnessed; for all that +was needed to stimulate American industry +up to the pitch of competing with +England in foreign markets was such a +prohibitory tariff as would compel us to +manufacture for ourselves what we formerly +bought.</p> + +<p>Who will say now that a republic does +not work as well as a monarchy?</p> + +<br> + +<p>We have read with pleasure a recently +written and extensively republished +article by SINCLAIR TOUSEY, of New +York, condemnatory of the proposed +stamp tax, and in which we most cordially +concur; not because it is a tax +materially affecting the interests of publishers, +but because, as Mr. TOUSEY asserts, +the diffusion of knowledge among +the people is a powerful element of +strength <em>in government itself</em>. In these +times, it is essential, far more than during +peace, that the newspaper should +circulate very freely, stimulating the +public, aiding government and the war, +and keeping the mind of the country in +living union. Nothing would more rapidly +produce a torpor—and there is +too much torpor now—than a measure +which would have the effect of killing +off perhaps one half of the country press, +the great mass of which is barely able to +live as it is. 'Let the press be as free +as possible. Let it be free from onerous +taxation, and left unfettered by special +duties to do its just work.' This is a war +for freedom, and the test of freedom is a +free press.</p> + +<br> + +<p>We are indebted to a valued correspondent +in Illinois for the following +communication, setting forth the state +of affairs in Southern Missouri during +the past summer. Few of our readers +are ignorant that since that time the +region in question has been 'harried +and shorn' even to desolation by the +brigands of Secessia.</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>In conversing lately with Dr. R., who fled +for his life, last July, from Ripley County, +Southern Missouri, I collected some information +which may not be unacceptable to +your readers.</p> + +<p>Dr. R. states that early last summer the +citizens of Southern Missouri began gathering +into companies of armed men opposed +to the general government, and that it was +a fear that the general government would +not protect their lives and property which +induced great numbers of really Union men +to take sides with the rebels. They saw +their country thronging with secession soldiers; +were told it was the will of the State +government that they enlist for the protection +of the State: if they did not do this +voluntarily, they would be drafted; and all +drafted ones would in camp take a subordinate +position, have to perform the cooking +and washing, in short, all the drudgery for +those who volunteered. This falsehood +drove hundreds of the ignorant Missourians +into the rebel ranks. Captain LOWE, afterwards +Col. LOWE, who was killed at the battle +of Fredericktown, was the recruiting officer +in Ripley and its adjoining counties. +He arrested Dr. R. on the 4th of July, on a +charge of expressing sentiments 'dangerous +to the welfare of the community.' Dr. R. + +was tried by a court-martial, in presence of +the three hundred soldiers then assembled. +Witnesses against the Doctor were produced, +but he was not allowed time to summon witnesses +in his behalf, nor to procure counsel. +One novel circumstance in the trial was occasioned +by the absence of any justice of the +peace to administer the usual oath to the +witnesses. None were procurable, from the +fact that all had resigned, refusing to act +officially under a government they had repudiated. +In this dilemma the prisoner came +to their relief. 'Gentlemen, I am a justice +of the peace, as most of you already know, +and, as I have not yet resigned, I will swear +in the witnesses for you.' 'Wall, I reckon +he kin act as justice afore he's convicted,' + +suggested one of the crowd. So the Doctor +administered the oath in the usual solemn +manner. This self-possession and fearlessness +seemed to have an effect on his judges, +for, after the testimony, he was permitted to +cross-question the witnesses and plead his +own cause. He was able to neutralize some +of the charges against him. The jury, after +an absence of fifteen minutes, returned verdict +that 'as there was nothing proved +against the prisoner which would make him +dangerous to the community, he was permitted +to be discharged. But,' added the foreman, +'I am instructed by the committee to +say they believe Dr. R. to be a Black Republican, +and to tell him that if he wants to +utter Black Republican sentiments, he has +got to go somewhere else to do it.' It was +well known the Doctor had voted for DOUGLAS. +But here followed an animated conversation +between the prisoner and LOWE'S men +as to what constituted Black Republicanism; +the result of which was, as the Doctor turned +to depart, Captain LOWE informed him he +was re-arrested!</p> + +<p>By the influence of some of the soldiers, +the prisoner succeeded next day in effecting +his escape. Traveling by night and concealing +himself by day, he finally reached +the federal lines in safety. His family were +not permitted to follow him, and did not +succeed in eluding the vigilance of their enemies +and joining him until the middle of +January. When a Union man escapes them, +the rebels are always opposed to the removal +of his wife and children, as, by retaining +them, they hope to get the husband and +father again into their hands. And, as all +communication by letter is cut off, many a +man, during the last six months, has stolen +back to see his family at the risk of his life, +and lost it.</p> + +<p>Dr. R. was the first man arrested in Ripley +County; but LOWE immediately began +a lively persecution of suspected Unionists. +Some escaped with life, their enemies being +satisfied with scourging and plundering them, +but scores were hung. LOWE'S soldiers furnished +and equipped themselves by robbing +Union houses and the country stores.</p> + +<p>Many suspected Union men shielded themselves +by denouncing others, giving information +of the property of others, and being forward +in insulting and quartering lawless +soldiers upon defenceless families. So that, +Dr. R. states, there are created between +neighbors, all through that section, feuds +which will never cease to exist. Many a +man has suffered family wrongs from his +neighbor which he thirsts to go back to revenge, +which he swears yet to revenge, and +which he feels nothing but the blood of the +offender can revenge! And should peace +be declared to-morrow, a social war would +still exist in Missouri!</p> + +<p>People dwelling in the free States, where +the schoolhouse is not abolished, where the +laws still live and restrain, can have no conception +of the state of society where the +whole community has returned suddenly to +savage life; a life wherein the reaction +from a former restraint renders the viciously +disposed far more intensely barbarous +than his red brother of the plain.</p> + +<p>LOWE'S men, and all similarly recruited +by order of ex-Governor JACKSON, remained +in service six months, and were to be +paid in State scrip. But as that was worthless, +they never received anything in rations, +clothing, or money, but what they plundered +from their fellow-citizens. Many of these +state rights soldiers have since enlisted in +the Confederate army; but Confederate paper +being fifty per cent. below par, and not +rising, the legitimate pay of the Southern +soldier is likely to be small.</p> + +<p>In Northern Arkansas, all males between +fifteen and forty-five years of age have been +ordered to be ready for the Confederate service +when called upon. This has caused a +fear of failure in next year's crops from scarcity +of men in that section. There is great +suffering among them now. Salt rose to $25 +a sack. The authorities prohibited the holders +from charging more than $12, the present +price. Pins are $1.50 per paper; jeans $5 +per yard; and everything else in proportion.</p> + + +<p>One word in comment. Every additional +fact of the deplorable condition of things in +the slave States is an additional reason why +the North should firmly meet the cause of +this misery. If the North should have the +manhood to strike a blow at slavery <em>now</em>, +still a generation must pass before harmony +would ensue; but if the North <em>evades and +dallies</em>, scores of generations must live and +die before America sees unbroken peace +again.</p> + +</div> + +<br> + +<p>While the war goes on, the contrabands +go off. A writer in the Norfolk +<em>Day Book</em> complains that slaves are escaping +from that city in great numbers, +asserting that they get away through +the instrumentality of <em>secret societies</em> in +Norfolk, which hold their meetings weekly, +and in open day. No one can doubt +that this war is clearing the Border of +its black chattels in double-quick time. +Why not strike boldly, and secure it by +offering to pay all its loyal slave-holders +for their property? Of one thing, let +the country rest assured—the friends +of Emancipation will not brook much +longer delay. It MUST and SHALL be +carried through,—<em>and we are strong +enough to do it</em>.</p> + +<br> + +<p>Thurlow Weed grows apace, and +occasionally writes a good thing from +London—as, for instance, in the following:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>At breakfast, a few days since, a distinguished +member of Parliament, who has +been much in America, remarked, with emphasis, +that he had formerly entertained a +high opinion of 'JUDGE LYNCH,' looking +with much favor upon that species of impromptu +jurisprudence known as 'Lynch +law,' but since it failed to hang FLOYD, COBB +and THOMPSON, of BUCHANAN'S cabinet, he +had ignored and was disgusted with the system.</p> + +<p>What would the distinguished member +have said had he been familiar with the +Catiline steamer case, the mysteries of +shoddy contracts, the outfitting of the +Burnside expedition, and innumerable +other rascalities? The gentleman was +right,—Lynch law has proved a failure; +and, if we err not, another kind of +law has of late months been not very far +behind it in inefficiency. Our Southern +foes have at least one noble trait—they +hang their rascals.</p> + +<p>'<em>Non dum</em>,' 'not yet,' was the motto +of a great king, who, when the time came, +shook Europe with his victories. 'Not +yet,' says the Christian, struggling +through trial and temptation towards +the peace which passeth understanding +and a heavenly crown. 'Not yet,' says +the brave reformer, fighting through +lies and petty malice, and all the meanness +of foes lying in wait, ere he can +convince the world that he is in the +right. 'Not yet,' says the soldier, as he +marches his weary round, waiting to be +relieved, and musing on the battle and +the war for which he has pledged his +life and his honor—and they are a +world to <em>him</em>. 'Not yet,' says every +great man and woman, laying hands to +every noble task in time, which is to roll +onward in result into eternity. Wait, +wait, thou active soul,—even in thy +most vigorous activity let thy work be +one of waiting, and of great patience in +thy fiercest toil. There will come a day +of triumph, when the fresh wind will +banish the heat, and fan the laurel on +thy brow. Such is the true moral of the +following lyric:—</p> + +<div class="div"> +<h4>FALLEN.</h4> + +<h4 class="sub">BY EDWARD S. RAND.</h4> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Blow gently, Oh ye winter winds,</p> +<p class="l">Along the ferny reaches,</p> +<p class="l">Nor whirl the yellow leaves which cling</p> +<p class="l">Upon the saddened beeches;</p> + +<p class="l">And gently breathe upon the hills</p> +<p class="l">Where spring's first violets perished,—</p> +<p class="l">Died like the budding summer hopes</p> +<p class="l">Our hearts too fondly cherished.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Oh memory, bring not back the past,</p> +<p class="l">To brim our cup of sorrow;</p> +<p class="l">The drear to-day creeps on to bring</p> + +<p class="l">A drearier to-morrow.</p> +<p class="l">Can streaming eyes and aching hearts</p> +<p class="l">Glow at the battle's story,</p> +<p class="l">Or they who stake their all and lose</p> +<p class="l">Exult in fame and glory?</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Oh, lay them tenderly to rest,</p> +<p class="l">Those for their country dying,—</p> + +<p class="l">Let breaking hearts and trembling lips</p> +<p class="l">Pour the sad dirge of sighing.</p> + +<p class="l">Yet louder than the requiem raise</p> +<p class="l">The song of exultation,</p> +<p class="l">That the great heritage is ours</p> +<p class="l"><em>To die to save the nation</em>.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> + +<p class="l">In patience wait, nor think that yet</p> +<p class="l">Shall Right and Freedom perish,</p> +<p class="l">Nor yet Oppression trample down</p> +<p class="l">The heritage we cherish!</p> +<p class="l">For still remember, precious things</p> +<p class="l">Are won by stern endeavor,—</p> +<p class="l">Though in the strife our heart-strings break,</p> +<p class="l">The Right lives on forever.</p> +</div> + +</div> +</div> + +<br> + +<p>When you write let your chirography +be legible. Strive not overmuch +after beauty of finish, make not your +<em>a</em>'s like unto <em>u</em>'s or your <em>o</em>'s like <em>v</em>'s; let +not your heart be seduced by the +loveliness of flourishes, and be not tempted +of long-tailed letters. Above all, write +your own name distinctly,—which is +more than many do, and much more +than was done by the gentleman +described in the following letter from a +kindly correspondent:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>MADISON, WIS.</p> + +<p>DEAR CONTINENTAL:</p> + +<p>The holder of any considerable quantity +of Wisconsin currency is liable not only to +the occasional loss consequent upon the +absquatulation of a tricksy wild-cat, but also to +great perplexity as to the name of the +gentleman who countersigns the bills. These +inscrutable counter-signatures are accomplished +by ROBERT MENZIES, our excellent +Deputy Bank Comptroller. His cabalistic +'R. Menzies' does not greatly resemble +a well-executed specimen of copperplate +engraving. The initial 'R' is always +plain enough, but the 'Menzies' is sometimes +read Moses, and sometimes Muggins, +and is always liable to be translated Meazles.</p> + +<p>Mr. MENZIES is a Scotchman, brimful of +Caledonian lore and enthusiasm. His +penmanship is not always so sublimely obscure +as his performances on bank-paper would +indicate; but in its best estate it is capable +of sometimes more than one reading. Witness +the following instance: In the winter of +1858 and '9, Mr. MENZIES delivered a very +interesting lecture, before a literary society, +in Prairie du Chien; subject, THE SONG-WRITERS +OF SCOTLAND. Mr. M. not residing +at Prairie du Chien, the lecture was, +of course, the subject of a preliminary +correspondence. At the meeting of the society +next previous to the one when the lecture +was delivered, Elder BRUNSON, the president, +announced that he had received a letter from +Mr. MENZIES, accepting the invitation to lecture +before the society, and naming as the subject of +his lecture 'THE LONG WINTERS or SCOTLAND.'</p> +</div> + +<p>Readers who are afflicted with the +isothermal doctrine may experience some +benefit from the perusal of a letter for +which we are indebted to a friend not +very far 'out West:'—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>SPRINGFIELD, MASS.</p> + +<p>DEAR CONTINENTAL:</p> + +<p>I have a friend who would be sound on +the goose, as I verily believe, and a +patriotic anti-Jeff Davis platform Emancipator, +if he hadn't unfortunately picked up a fine +learned word. That word is</p> + +<p style="text-align: center">ISOTHERMAL.</p> + +<p>And that word he carries about as a hen +carries a boiled potato—something too big +to swallow but nice to peck at. And he +pecks at it continually.</p> + +<p>'I could admit that the slaves should be +free,' he says, 'but then nature, you know, +has fixed an isothermal line. She has +isothermally deemed that south of that line the +black is isothermally fitted to isothermalize +or labor according to the climate as a slave.'</p> + +<p>'Good,' I replied. 'So you admit that +all anthropological characteristics as +developed by climate are quite right?'</p> + +<p>[He liked that word 'anthropological,' +and assented.]</p> + +<p>'Good again. Well, then, you must admit +that to judge by statistics there is an +isothermal line of unchastity, or "what +gods call gallantry," and further north, +one of drunkenness? How much morality +is there in a tropical climate? How many +temperate men to the dozen in Scandinavia +or Russia?'</p> + +<p>My isothermalist attempted a weak parry, +but failed. When he recovers I will inform +you.</p> + +<p>YOURS TRULY.</p> + +<p>P.S. I am preparing a series of tables +by which I hope to prove the existence of +the following isothermalities: +</p> + +<p>A Lager-beer line.</p> +<p>A Tobacco-chewing line.</p> +<p>A reading of TUPPER and COVENTRY PATMORE line.</p> +<p>A CREAM CHEESE line.</p> +<p>A Doughface line.</p> + +<p>And a Clothes line.</p> +</div> + + + +<br> + +<p>We are indebted to R. WOLCOTT for +the following sketch of War Life:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>'TAKEN PRISONER.'</p> + +<p>It was a terrible battle. Amid the rattle +of musketry and whistling of bullets, the +clashing of sabres, the unearthly cries of +wounded horses and the wild shouting of +men, the clear voice of Lieutenant Hugh +Gregory rang out: 'Rally! my brave boys, +rally, and avenge the Captain's death!'</p> + +<p>'Not quite so fast, sir,' quietly remarked +a rebel officer, bringing his sword to a salute; +'you observe that your men are retreating +and you are my prisoner.'</p> + +<p>Hugh saw that it was so, and with a +heavy heart gave himself up.</p> + +<p>'Hurrah for the stars and stripes!' shouted +a brave young soldier, attempting to raise +himself upon his elbow, but falling back, +exhausted from the loss of blood.</p> + +<p>'Damn you, I'll stripe you!' exclaimed +a brutal fellow, rising in his stirrups and +aiming a blow at the wounded man.</p> + +<p>'Dare to strike a helpless man!' shouted +his commander; and he warded off the blow +with a stroke that sent the fellow's sabre +spinning into the air. 'Now dismount, and +help him if you can.' But it was too late; +the brave soul had gone out with those last +words.</p> + +<p>'Lieutenant,' said the rebel officer, whom +we will know as Captain Dumars, 'I see +that you are wounded. Let me assist you +upon this horse, and one of my sergeants +will show you the surgeon's quarters.' And +he bound up the wounded arm as well as +he could, helped him upon the horse, and, +with a playful <em>Au revoir</em>, rode on.</p> + +<p>Hugh's wound was too painful, and he +was too weak and tired, to wonder or to +think clearly of anything; he only felt +grateful that his captor was a gentleman, +and quietly submitted himself to the sergeant's +guidance.</p> + +<p>The battle was ended,—in whose favor it +does not matter, so far as this story is concerned,—and +Captain Dumars obtained permission +to take Lieutenant Gregory to his +mother's house until he should recover from +his wound or be exchanged.</p> + +<p>When Hugh found himself established in +a pleasant little chamber with windows looking +out upon the flower-garden and the woods +beyond, fading away into his own loved +North land, he thought that, after all, it was +not so terrible to be a prisoner of war. He +was decidedly confirmed in this opinion +when he occasionally caught a glimpse of +the lithe form of Annie Dumars flitting +about among the flowers; and being somewhat +of a philosopher, in his way, he determined +to take it easy.</p> + +<p>The presence of one of the 'Hessians' at +Mrs. Dumars' house gave it much the same +attraction that is attached to a menagerie. +Feminine curiosity is an article that the +blockade can not keep out of Dixie, and +many were the morning calls that Annie +received, and many and various were the +methods of pumping adopted to learn something +of the prisoner,—how he looked, +how he acted, how he was dressed, and so +forth.</p> + +<p>'Impertinence!' he heard Annie exclaim, +as one of these gossips passed through the +gate, after putting her through a more minute +inquisition than usual. And he heard +dainty shoe-heels impatiently tapping +along the hall, and when she brought in a +bouquet of fresh flowers he saw in her face +traces of vexation.</p> + +<p>'I seem to be quite a "What-is-it?"'</p> + +<p>'Shame!'—and she broke off a stem +and threw it out of the window with altogether +unnecessary vehemence.</p> + +<p>'Splendid girl!' thought Hugh; 'where +have I seen her?'</p> + +<p>And he turned his thoughts back through +the years that were past, calling up the old +scenes; the balls, with their mazy, passionate +waltzes, and their promenades on the +balcony in the moonlight's mild glow, when +sweet lips recited choice selections from +Moore, and white hands swayed dainty sandal-wood +fans with the potency of the most +despotic sceptres; the sleigh-rides, with +their wild rollicking fun, keeping time to +the merry music of the bells and culminating +in the inevitable upset; the closing exercises +of the seminary, when blooming +girls, in the full efflorescence of hot-house +culture, make a brief but brilliant display +before retiring to the domestic sphere—Oh, +yes—</p> + +<p>'Miss Dumars, were you not at the —— Institute +last year?'</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'Then you know my cousin,—Jennie +Gregory?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, indeed:—and you are her cousin. +How stupid in me not to recollect it.'</p> + +<p>And she told him how that 'Jennie' was + +her dearest friend, and how in their intimacy +of confidence she had told her all about +him, and shown her his picture, and—in +short, Hugh and Annie began to feel much +better acquainted.</p> + +<p>It was a few days after this that Hugh +sat by the open window, listening to Annie +reading from the virtuous and veracious +<em>Richmond Enquirer</em>. Distressed by what he +heard, not knowing whether it was true or +not, he begged her to cease torturing him. +She laid aside the paper with an emphatic +'I don't believe it!' that could not but attract +his attention, and he looked up in surprise.</p> + +<p>'I must tell you, Mr. Gregory—I have +been tortured long enough by this forced +secrecy—<em>I am a rebel!</em>'</p> + +<p>'That is the name we know you by,' he +replied, smiling.</p> + +<p>'But I am a <em>rebellious</em> rebel. Yes,' she +added, rising, 'I detest with all my heart +this wicked, causeless rebellion. I detest +the very names of the leaders of it. And +yet I am compelled to go about with lies +upon my lips, and to act lies, till I detest +myself more than all else! I have consoled +myself somewhat by making a flag and +worshiping it in secret. I will get it and +show it to you.'</p> + +<p>'This,' she continued, returning with a +miniature specimen of the dear old flag, 'a +<em>real</em> flag, the emblem of a real living nation, +must be kept hidden, its glorious lustre fading +away in the dark, while that,' pointing +to where the 'stars and bars' were fluttering +in the breeze, 'that miserable abortion is insolently +flaunted before our eyes, nothing +about it original or suggestive—except its +stolen colors, reminding us of the financial +operations of Floyd! Oh, if hope could be +prophecy—if a life that is an unceasing +prayer for the success of the federal arms +could avail, it would not be long before this +bright banner would wave in triumph over +all the land, its starry folds gleaming with a +purer, more glorious light than ever!'</p> + +<p>And as she stood there, with eyes uplifted +as in mute prayer, and fervently kissed the +silken folds of the flag, Hugh wished that +his station in life had been that of an American +flag.</p> + +<p>Time passed on, and the prisoner was to +be exchanged for a rebel officer of equal +rank. Captain Dumars brought him the +intelligence, and was surprised at the seeming +indifference with which he received it.</p> + +<p>'You don't seern particularly elated by +the prospect of getting among the Yankees +again.'</p> + +<p>'I am eager to take my sword again; but +my stay here has been far from unpleasant. +You, Captain, have been away so much +that I have not been able to thank you for +making my imprisonment so pleasant. I am +at a loss to know why you have shown such +favor to me especially.'</p> + +<p>'This is the cause,' replied the Captain, +laying his finger upon a breast-pin that Hugh +always wore upon his coat, at the same time +unbuttoning his own; 'you see that I wear +the same.'</p> + +<p>It was a simple jewel, embellished only by +a few Greek characters, but it was the emblem +of one of those college societies, in +which secrecy and mystery add a charm to +the ties of brotherhood. And it was this +fraternal tie, stronger than that of Free-Masonry, +because more exclusive, that made +Hugh's a pleasant imprisonment, and made +him happy in the love of one faithful among +the faithless, loyal among many traitors. +For of course the reader has surmised—for +poetic justice demands it—that Hugh fell +desperately in love with Annie, and Annie +<em>ditto</em> Hugh. How he told the tender tale, +and how she answered him,—whether with +the conventional quantity of blushes and +sighs, or not,—is none of your business, +reader, or mine; so don't ask me any questions.</p> + +<p>It was the evening of the day before Hugh's +departure. They, Annie and Hugh, sat in +the little porch, silent and sad, watching the +shadows slowly creeping up the mountain +side towards its sun-kissed summit, like a +sombre pall of sorrow shrouding a bright +hope.</p> + +<p>'And to-morrow you are free.'</p> + +<p>'No, Annie, not free. My sword will be +free, but my heart will still linger here, a +prisoner. But when the war is over, and +the old flag restored—'</p> + +<p>'Then,' and here her eyes were filled with +the glorious light of prophetic hope, '<em>I</em> will +be <em>your</em> prisoner.'</p> + +<p>And still Hugh is fighting for the dear old +flag; and still Annie is praying for it, and +waiting for the sweet imprisonment.</p> +</div> + +<p>There has been many as sweet a romance +as this, reader, acted ere this, +during the war. Would that all captivity +were as pleasant!</p> + + + +<br> + +<p>'I would not live alway,' says the +hymn, and the sentiment has, like every +great truth, been set forth in a thousand +forms. One of the most truly beautiful +which we have ever met is that of</p> + +<div class="div"> + +<h3>The City Of The Living.</h3> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">In a long-vanished age, whose varied story</p> +<p class="l">No record has to-day,</p> +<p class="l">So long ago expired its grief and glory—</p> +<p class="l">There flourished, far away,</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">In a broad realm, whose beauty passed all measure</p> + +<p class="l">A city fair and wide,</p> +<p class="l">Wherein the dwellers lived in peace and pleasure</p> +<p class="l">And never any died.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Disease and pain and death, those stern marauders,</p> +<p class="l">Which mar our world's fair face,</p> +<p class="l">Never encroached upon the pleasant borders</p> +<p class="l">Of that bright dwelling-place.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">No fear of parting and no dread of dying</p> +<p class="l">Could ever enter there—</p> +<p class="l">No mourning for the lost, no anguished crying</p> +<p class="l">Made any face less fair.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Without the city's walls, death reigned as ever,</p> + +<p class="l">And graves rose side by side—</p> +<p class="l">Within, the dwellers laughed at his endeavor,</p> +<p class="l">And never any died.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">O, happiest of all earth's favored places!</p> +<p class="l">O, bliss, to dwell therein—</p> +<p class="l">To live in the sweet light of loving faces</p> +<p class="l">And fear no grave between!</p> + +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">To feel no death-damp, gathering cold and colder,</p> +<p class="l">Disputing life's warm truth—</p> +<p class="l">To live on, never lonelier or older,</p> +<p class="l">Radiant in deathless youth!</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">And hurrying from the world's remotest quarters</p> + +<p class="l">A tide of pilgrims flowed</p> +<p class="l">Across broad plains and over mighty waters,</p> +<p class="l">To find that blest abode,</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Where never death should come between, and sever</p> +<p class="l">Them from their loved apart—</p> +<p class="l">Where they might work, and will, and live forever,</p> +<p class="l">Still holding heart to heart.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">And so they lived, in happiness and pleasure,</p> +<p class="l">And grew in power and pride,</p> +<p class="l">And did great deeds, and laid up stores of treasure,</p> +<p class="l">And never any died.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">And many yers rolled on, and saw them striving</p> +<p class="l">With unabated breath,</p> + +<p class="l">And other years still found and left them living,</p> +<p class="l">And gave no hope of death.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Yet listen, hapless soul whom angels pity,</p> +<p class="l">Craving a boon like this—</p> +<p class="l">Mark how the dwellers in the wondrous city</p> +<p class="l">Grew weary of their bliss.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">One and another, who had been concealing</p> +<p class="l">The pain of life's long thrall,</p> +<p class="l">Forsook their pleasant places, and came stealing</p> +<p class="l">Outside the city wall,</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Craving, with wish that brooked no more denying,</p> +<p class="l">So long had it been crossed,</p> + +<p class="l">The blessed possibility of dying,—</p> +<p class="l">The treasure they had lost.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Daily the current of rest-seeking mortals</p> +<p class="l">Swelled to a broader tide,</p> +<p class="l">Till none were left within the city's portals,</p> +<p class="l">And graves grew green outside.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Would it be worth the having or the giving,</p> +<p class="l">The boon of endless breath?</p> +<p class="l">Ah, for the weariness that comes of living</p> +<p class="l">There is no cure but death!</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Ours were indeed a fate deserving pity,</p> +<p class="l">Were that sweet rest denied;</p> + +<p class="l">And few, methinks, would care to find the city</p> +<p class="l">Where never any died!</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Does the reader recall DEAN SWIFT'S +account of the immortal Strudlbrugs and +their undying miseries—it is in the City +of Laputu, we believe. Their life was +passed as if in such a city. Ah, death! it +is, after all, only birth in another form. +And to step to the ridiculous, we are reminded +of an</p> + +<div class="div"> +<h3>Epitaph In A Dedham Churchyard.</h3> + +<div class="lg"> + +<p class="l">I've paid the debt which all must pay,</p> +<p class="l">Though awful to my view,</p> +<p class="l">On frightful rocks where billows poured,</p> +<p class="l">And broken buildings flew.</p> +<p class="l">The cruel Death has conquered me;</p> +<p class="l">The victory is but small,</p> +<p class="l">For I shall rise and live again,—</p> +<p class="l">And Death himself shall fall.</p> + +</div> +</div> + +<br> + +<p>There are not many of those who +'read the papers,' who have not met +from time to time with the quaint experiences +of THE FAT CONTRIBUTOR,—a + +gentleman who, in the columns of the +<em>Buffalo Republican</em>, and more recently +in the spicy <em>Cleveland Plain Dealer</em>, +has often wished that his too, too solid +flesh would melt. It is with pleasure +that we welcome him to our pages in the +following original sketch:—</p> + +<div class="display"> + +<h3>THE 'FAT CONTRIBUTOR' AS A GYMNAST.</h3> + +<p>'But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks.'</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">RICHARD III.</p> + +<p>Says the cardinal in the play—'In the +bright lexicon of youth there's no such word +as fail.' Without stopping to discuss the +reliability of a lexicon that omits words in +that careless manner, I must say that in the +dictionary of fat men who aspire to gymnastics +that word distinctly occurs. I had +my misgivings, but was over-persuaded by +my friends. They said gymnastics would +develop muscular strength, thus enabling +me to <em>hold</em> my flesh in case it attempted to +run away. They added, as an additional incentive, +that the spectacle of a man who +weighs nearly three hundred pounds, doing +the horizontal ladder, climbing a slack-rope +hand over hand, or suspending his weight +by his little finger, would be a 'big thing.' + +I asked them how I was to attain that end. +'By practice,' was the reply; 'practice makes +perfect.' It did;—it made a perfect fool of +me, as you shall see.</p> + +<p>I never had much taste for feats requiring +physical effort, except lifting—lifting with +my teeth. The amount of beef, pork, mutton +and vegetables that I have lifted in that +way is immense. After hearing Dr. WINSHIP +lecture, I practiced lifting a flour barrel +with a man inside of it, and finally succeeded +in holding it out at arm's length. [I +may remark incidentally that the barrel <em>had +no heads in it</em>.]</p> + +<p>To return to the case in hand (and a case +in hand is worth two in the bush): I was deluded +into purchasing a season ticket in the +gymnasium, and one afternoon I sought the +locality. A number were exercising in various +ways, and I laid off my coat preparatory +to 'going in.' As I bent down to adjust +a pair of slippers, I heard some rapid +steps behind me, and the next instant a pair, +of hands and a man's head fell squarely on +my back, a pair of heels smote together in +the air, and with a somersault the gymnast +regained the ground several feet in advance +of me. I assumed an indignant perpendicular, +when the fellow turned with well-feigned +amazement and stammered forth an apology. +Bent over as I was, he had mistaken me for +a heavily padded 'wooden horse,' which +formed a portion of the apparatus.</p> + +<p>Desiring to be weighed from time to time, +in order that I might note the effect of gymnastics +upon my tonnage, I asked one, who +was resting after prodigious efforts to wrench +his arms off at a lifting machine, if there +were scales convenient. He surveyed me +for a moment—looked puzzled—and finally +replied hesitatingly,—'Y-e-s, I think we +can manage it.' He led the way to a window +overlooking the Ohio canal. 'Do you +see that building?' said he, pointing to a +low structure on the heel path side, extending +partly over the canal. I intimated that +the fabric in question produced a distinct +impression on the optic nerves, and inquired its +use. '<em>Weigh-lock</em>' he shrieked; '<em>go and be +weighed!</em>'</p> + +<p>'<em>Go and be d——d!</em>' I yelled, furious at +being thus victimized; but my angry and +profane rejoinder was lost in the shout of +laughter that went up from the assembled +athletes.</p> + +<p>Natural abhorrence of jokes, practical or +otherwise, is a trait among my people; it +runs in the family, like wooden legs. I immediately +sought the boss gymnaster and +related the manner in which I had been +introduced to his elevating establishment. I +told him I had come there neither to be +made a horse of by one nor an ass of by another. +He pledged his word that the like +should not occur again, and I was appeased.</p> + +<p>I first attempted the parallel bars, but they +were never intended for men of my breadth. +My hands giving way, I became so firmly +wedged between the bars that it was necessary +to cut one of them away in order to release me. +A wag pronounced it a feat +without a parallel.</p> + +<p>The horizontal bar next claimed my attention. +I had seen others hang with their +heads down, suspended by their legs alone, +and the trick appeared quite easy of execution. +I succeeded in suspending myself in +the manner indicated, but—<em>revocare +gradum</em>—when I attempted to regain the bar +with my hands, it was no go. I was in a +perspiration of alarm at once; my legs +grew weak; my head swam from the rush +of blood; twist and squirm as I would, I +couldn't reach the bar with the tip end of a + +finger even. My head was four or five feet +from the ground, so that a fall was likely to +break my neck, and when my frantic efforts +to clutch the bar with my hands failed, I +shrieked in very desperation. Men came running +to my aid. They raked the tan bark, +with which the ground was strewn, in a pile +beneath me, to break my fall as much as possible, +and, relaxing my hold of the bar, I +came down in a heap, rolled up like a gigantic +caterpillar, and dived head and shoulders +into the tan bark, where I was nearly smothered +before I could be extracted. It was a +terrible fright, but I escaped with a few +bruises.</p> + +<p>My brief career as a gymnast terminated +with the 'ladder act.' I felt unequal to the +task of drawing myself up the ladder (which +was slightly inclined from the perpendicular), +as I had seen others do, but once at the top +I believed I could lower myself down. A +purchase was rigged in the roof, by which I +was hoisted to the top of the ladder, some +thirty feet from the ground, when, grasping a +round firmly with my hands, the purchase +was disconnected from my waist belt, and I +began the descent. It was very severe on +the arms, and I desired to rest myself by +placing my feet on a round, but my protuberant +paunch would not permit it. When I +had accomplished about half the distance in +safety, a round snapped suddenly with the +unusual weight. I remember clutching frantically +at the next, which broke as did the +other; then followed a sensation of falling, +succeeded by a collision as between two express +trains at full speed, and I knew no +more. When I recovered consciousness, I was +in my own bed, and four surgeons were endeavoring +to set my broken leg with a stump +extractor. Gymnastics are a little out of my +line.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">FAT CONTRIBUTOR.</p> +</div> + +<p>Unlike BRUMMEL, <em>we</em> know who our +fat friend is, and shall be happy to see +him again.</p> + +<br> + +<p>'Talbot,' of Washington, one of those +who keep the many chronicles of government, +gives us the following from his +repertoire:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>Shortly after the inauguration of President +Lincoln, and during the period in which +the throng of office-seekers was greatest, an +applicant for a clerkship in one of the +departments received notification to appear +before the 'examining committee' for +examination as to qualifications. In due time he +appeared, and announced himself 'ready.' +The aforesaid 'committee,' supposing that +they had before them a decidedly 'soft one,' + +determined to enjoy a little 'sport' at the +poor fellow's expense. After having put a +great many questions to him, none of which +in the least applied to the duties he would +be expected to perform, he was asked how +he would ascertain the number of square +feet occupied by the Patent Office building. +This question aroused in him suspicions +that 'all was not right,' and, with a +promptness and emphasis that effectually dampened +the hopes of his questioners, he replied, +'<em>Well, gentlemen, I should employ an +experienced surveyor.</em>'</p> +</div> + +<p>The same correspondent tells us that—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>In one of the rural towns of Illinois lived, +a few years agone, a very eccentric individual +known as 'DICKEY BULARD,' whose original +sayings afforded no little amusement to +his neighbors.</p> + +<p>DICKEY had his troubles, the saddest of +which was the loss of his only son. Shortly +after this event, in speaking of it to some +friends, he broke out in the following pathetic +expression of feeling:</p> + +<p>'I'd rather a' lost the best cow I have, +and ten dollars besides, than that boy. If it +had been a gal, it wouldn't a' made so much +difference; but it was the only boy I had.'</p> + +<p>On another occasion, in referring to the +death of his grandmother, who had been +fatally injured by a butt from a pet ram, +DICKEY gave vent to his feelings as follows:</p> + +<p>'I never felt so bad in all my life as I did +when grandmother died. She had got so +old, and we had kept her so long, <em>we wanted +to see how long we could keep her</em>.</p> + +</div> + +<br> + +<p>It is the 'turn of the tune' which +gives point to the far-famed legend of +'The Arkansaw Traveler,'—which legend, +in brief, is to the effect that a certain +fiddling 'Rackensackian,' who could +never learn more than the first half of a +certain tune, once bluntly refused all +manner of hospitality to a weary wayfarer, +avowing with many an oath that +his house boasted neither meat nor whisky, +bed nor hay. But being taught by +the stranger the 'balance' of the tune,—'the +turn,' as he called it,—he at +once overwhelmed his musical guest with + +all manner of dainties and kindnesses. +And it is the 'turn of the tune,' in the +following lyric, from the soft tinkle of the +guitar to the harsh notes of the 'beaten +parchment,' which gives it a peculiar +charm.</p> + +<div class="div"> +<h3>The Guitar And The Drum.</h3> + +<h3 class="sub">By R. Wolcott, Co. B., Tenth Illinois</h3> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Evening draws nigh, and the daylight</p> +<p class="l">In golden splendor dies;</p> +<p class="l">And the stars look down through the gloaming</p> +<p class="l">With soft and tender eyes.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">I sit alone in the twilight,</p> +<p class="l">And lazily whiff my cigar,</p> +<p class="l">Watching the blue wreaths curling,</p> +<p class="l">And thrumming my old guitar:</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Old, and battered, and dusty,—</p> +<p class="l">A veteran covered with scars;</p> + +<p class="l">Yet to me the most precious of treasures,</p> +<p class="l">The sweetest of all guitars.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">For a gentle spirit dwells in it,</p> +<p class="l">That speaks through the trembling strings,</p> +<p class="l">And in echo to my thrumming</p> +<p class="l">A wonderful melody sings.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">As I softly strike the measures,</p> +<p class="l">The spirit murmurs low</p> +<p class="l">A song of departed pleasures,</p> +<p class="l">A dream of the long ago.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">And like a weird enchanter</p> +<p class="l">It paints in the star-lit sky</p> +<p class="l">Pictures from memory's record,</p> + +<p class="l">Scenes of the days gone by.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">And as the ripples of music</p> +<p class="l">Float out on the evening air,</p> +<p class="l">There comes to me a vision</p> +<p class="l">Of the girl with the golden hair.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Kindly she turns upon me.</p> + +<p class="l">Those lustrous, violet eyes,</p> +<p class="l">And my heart with passionate yearnings</p> +<p class="l">To meet her eagerly flies.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Nearer she comes, and yet nearer,</p> +<p class="l">At the beck of the spirit's wand,</p> +<p class="l">And I feel the gentle pressure</p> +<p class="l">On my brow of her warm, white hand—</p> + +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l"><em>Tr-r-r-rum-ti-tum-tum, tr-r-r-rum-ti-tum-tum!</em></p> +<p class="l">'Tis the warning voice of the rolling drum.</p> +<p class="l">Through the awakened night air come</p> +<p class="l">The stern command and the busy hum</p> +<p class="l">Of hurried preparation.</p> +<p class="l">'Tis no time now for idle strumming</p> +<p class="l">Of light guitars: in that loud drumming</p> + +<p class="l">Is fearful meaning; the hour is coming</p> +<p class="l">That for some of us will be the summing</p> +<p class="l">Of all life's preparation.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Quick, quick, my boys: fall in! fall in!</p> +<p class="l">Now is the hour when we begin</p> +<p class="l">The battle with this monstrous sin.</p> +<p class="l">Onward to victory!—or to win</p> + +<p class="l"> A patriot's martyrdom!</p> +<p class="l">Stay no longer to bandy words;</p> +<p class="l">Trust we now to our gleaming swords;</p> +<p class="l">For foul rebellion's dastardly hordes</p> +<p class="l"> A terrible hour has come.</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> + +<p class="l">By all that you love beneath the skies;</p> +<p class="l">By the world of cherished memories;</p> +<p class="l"> By your hopes for the coming years;</p> +<p class="l">By the tender light of your loved one's eyes;</p> +<p class="l">By the warm, white hands you so highly prize;</p> +<p class="l"> By your mothers' parting tears,</p> + +<p class="l">Swear the horrible wrong to crush!</p> +<p class="l">What though you fall in the battle's rush,</p> +<p class="l">And the velvet leaves of the greensward blush</p> +<p class="l"> With your young life's crimson tide?</p> +<p class="l">The angels look down with pitying love,</p> +<p class="l">And your tale will be told in the record above:</p> +<p class="l"> 'For his country's honor he died.'</p> + +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">The gentle strings of the light guitar,</p> +<p class="l">Waking soft echoes from memory's chords,</p> +<p class="l"> And tender dreams of home—</p> +<p class="l">The noise, and the pomp, and the glitter of war;</p> +<p class="l">The furious charge, and the clashing swords;</p> +<p class="l"> The song of the rolling drum.</p> + +</div> +</div> + +<p>How many a young heart has, in these +later days, been turned from soft guitar-tones +of idleness, to the brave, rattling +measures of drum-life! It will do good, +this war of ours; and many a brave fellow +will, in after years, look back upon +it as the school in which he first learned +to be a thoroughly practical and sensible +MAN.</p> + +<br> + +<p>We are indebted to a gossiping and +ever most welcome New Haven friend +for the following anecdote of one of the +men who, clothed in a little brief authority, +'go about 'restin' people:'</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>Our village we consider one of the most +pleasant in the country; our boys full of +life and activity, and our officers men of +energy and perseverance, and men who understand +their importance. In proof of these +assertions, I offer the following sketch of an +occurrence a few years ago.</p> + +<p>DICK BARNES was a blacksmith, and a +man of considerable notoriety in those days, +and from the peculiar prominence of his +front upper teeth he had derived, from the +boys of the village, the singular nick-name +of 'Tushy.' For two or three successive + +years he had been elected constable, and +the duties of this great public office appeared +to demand that he should neglect his legitimate +private business, so that it was said +that the safest place for him to secrete himself—the +most unlikely place where he +would be sought—would be behind his +own anvil. Like many others 'clothed with +a little brief authority' he was not overmodest +in showing his importance.</p> + +<p>The boys were then, as they are now, +fond of skating, and there was a large pond +near the centre of the village on which they +used to have fine times on moonlight evenings, +and especially Sunday evenings, and, +as a natural consequence, when large numbers +of boys are engaged in sport, they were +somewhat noisy.</p> + +<p>One Sunday evening, when the ice was +very smooth and the boys were enjoying +themselves, BARNES made his appearance on +the ice and ordered them off, in tones, and +exclamations of authority. The boys did +not like this interference in their sports and +couldn't see the justice of his demand. + +'That's old Tushy,' says one, and the cry +of 'Tushy,' 'Tushy,' soon passed among +the crowd of skaters, till BARNES began to +think it personal, and was determined to +catch one of them and make of him an example. +The ice was 'glib,' as they termed +it, and as they all had skates except 'Tushy,' +they were rather rude in their behavior towards +him,—a not very uncommon circumstance,—and +though they were careful to +keep out of harm's way, they kept near +enough to him to annoy him. Finding all +efforts to catch one of them fruitless, with +the advantage they had,—for 'the wicked + +<em>stand</em> on slippery places,'—he announced +his determination to catch one of them anyhow, +and started for the shore.</p> + +<p>Boys are usually quicker in arriving at +conclusions than older people, and one of +them suggested that he had gone for his +skates. 'Good! now we'll have some fun, +boys,' says Phil Clark, who was a good +skater, and withal a good leader in a frolic. +'You follow me and do as I tell you, and I +don't believe old "Tushy" will follow us +far.' By general consent he led them to the +dry, sandy shore, and such as had them +filled their handkerchiefs, and such as could +not boast of that superfluity filled their caps, +with sand. 'Now,' says Phil, 'when he +comes back, and it won't be long, we'll form +a line and wait till he gets his skates on, +when he'll put chase for some of us. If he +gets near any of us, some one sing out +"Bully," and every boy drop his sand, and +if he catches any one we'll all pitch in.'</p> + +<p>'Tushy' in a little while made his appearance, +and soon had his skates strapped +to his feet, and after a few stamps upon the +ice, to see that they were properly secured, +glided a few strokes and started off for the +boys. The moon was shining 'as bright as +day,' and old Tushy's movements were perfectly +apparent. The pond was huge, and +afforded a good opportunity for a trial of +speed, and, though many of the boys were +good skaters, 'Tushy' perseveringly determined +to capture one of them, and started +for the one nearest. This was 'Phil,' who +was the master spirit of the frolic, and as +'Tushy' approached with almost the certainty +of capturing him, he would glide gracefully +aside and let him pass on. He had almost +caught up with a group of the smaller boys +who were going at full speed, when 'Phil' + +shouted out the word 'Bully.' In an instant +the contents of handkerchiefs and caps +was deposited on the glaring ice, the boys +continuing their flying course. 'Tushy,' +elated with the prospect of capturing at least +one of the urchins, increased his speed with +lunger strides, and was in the act of grasping +one, when the sparks from his steel runners, +the sudden arrest of his feet and the onward +movement of his body, convinced +him that <em>he</em> was caught. The impetus he +had acquired with the few last strokes on +the smooth ice, and the sudden check his +feet had received from the sand, sent him +sliding headlong many yards towards an air-hole,—one +of those dangerous places on +ponds suddenly frozen,—and soon the ice +began to crack around him. The water in +the pond was not deep, but the ice continued +to break with his efforts to extricate +himself. He found that the boys had successfully +entrapped him, and it was not until +he had made a promise not again to interfere +with their sport that they consented +to assist him out. He kept his promise, and +the boys ever after, when they designed any +extra sport on the ice, had his nick-name for +a by-word.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">JAY G. BEE.</p> +</div> + +<br> + +<p>'Salt,' according to MORESINUS, 'is +sacred to the infernal deities,'—for +which reason, we presume, those who +were seated 'below the salt' at the banquets +of the Middle Ages were always + +'poor devils.' Attic salt is always held +to be more pungent when there is a +touch of the diabolical and caustic in it,—and +therefore caustic itself is known +as <em>lapis infernalis</em>. 'Poor Mr. N——,' + +said a country dame, of a recently deceased +neighbor who was over-thrifty, +'he always saved his salt and lost his +pork.' 'Yes,' replied a friend, 'and now +the salt has lost its Saver.' The reader +has doubtless heard of the lively young +lady, named Sarah, whom her friends +rechristened Sal Volatile. Apropos—a +New Haven friend writes us that—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>My chum, Dr. B., is not a little of a wag. +At a social gathering, shortly after he had +received his diploma, the young ladies were +very anxious to put his knowledge of medicine +to the test. 'Doctor,' queried one of +the fair, 'what will cure a man who has +been hanged?' 'Salt is the best thing I +know of,' replied the tormented, with great +solemnity.</p> + +</div> + +<br> + +<p>According to a cotemporary—the +Boston <em>Herald</em>—the best Christians may +be known by the pavements before their +houses being cleaned of ice and snow. +This reminds us of a spiritual anecdote. +A deceased friend having been summoned +through a medium and asked where +he had spent the first month after his +decease, rapped out,—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>'I-n—p-u-r-g-a-t-o-r-y.'</p> + +<p>'Did you find it uncomfortable?'</p> + +<p>'Not very. While I lived I always +had my pavements cleared in winter, and +all the ice and snow shoveled away was +given back to me in orange-water ices, +Roman punch, vanilla and pistachio +creams, frozen fruits, cobblers, juleps, +and smashes.'</p> + +<p>Somebody has spoken in an Arctic +voyage of the musical vibrations of the +ice. There is certainly music in the article. +'Take care,' said a Boston girl to +her companion, as they were navigating +the treacherously slippery pavement of +our city a few days since; 'it's See sharp +or Be flat.'</p> +</div> + +<br> + +<p>Somebody once wrote a book on visiting-cards. +There is a great variety of +that article; an English ambassador once +papered his entire suit of rooms with +that with which a Chinese mandarin +honored him. MICHAEL ANGELO left a +straight line as a card, and was recognized +by it. Our friend H—— once +distributed blank pasteboards in Philadelphia, +and everybody said, 'Why, +H—— has been here!' Not long since, +a lady dwelling in New York asked her +seven-year-old GEORGY where he had +been.</p> + +<p>'Out visiting.'</p> + +<p>'Did you leave your card?'</p> + +<p>'No; I hadn't any, so I left a marble!'</p> + +<p>GEORGY'S idea was that cards were +playthings. And <em>cartes de visite</em> are +most assuredly the playthings for children +of an older growth, most in vogue +at the present day. Go where you will, +the albums are examined, nay, some collectors +have even one or two devoted +solely to children, or officers, or literary +men, or young ladies. The following anecdote +records, however, as we believe, +'an entirely new style' of visiting-card:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>Madam X. was busy the other morning. +Miss Fanny Z. 'just ran in to see her' <em>en +amie</em>, without visiting-cards.</p> + +<p>The waiter carried her name to Madam +X. Meanwhile Miss Fannie, circulating +through the parlors, saw that there was dust +on the lower shelf of an étagére, so she delicately +traced the letters</p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><em>Smut</em></p> + +<p>thereon and therefore. Waiter enters, and +regrets that Madam X. is so very much engaged +that she is invisible. Miss Fanny +flies home.</p> + +<p>In the evening she meets Madam X., who +is 'perfectly enchanted' to see her. 'Ah, +Fanny, dear, I am charmed to see you; the +waiter forgot your name this morning, but I +was delighted to see your ingenuity. Would +you believe it, the first thing I saw on entering +the parlor was your card on the étagére!'</p> +</div> + +<br> + +<p>The Naugatuck railroad, according to +a friend of the CONTINENTAL,</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>Is in many places cut through a rugged +country, and the rocks thereabout have an +ugly trick of rolling down upon the track +when they get tired of lying still. So the + +company employ sentinels who traverse the +dangerous territory before the morning train +goes through. One of these,—Pat K. by +name,—while on his beat, met Dennis, whose +hand he had last shaken on the 'Green Isle.' + +After mutual inquiries and congratulations, +says Dennis, 'What are you doin' these +days, Pat?' 'Oh, I'm consarned in this +railroad company. I go up the road fur the +likes o' four miles ivry mornin' to see is there +ony rocks on the thrack.' 'And if there +is?' 'Why, I stops the trains, sure.' +'Faith,' said Dennis, 'what the divil's the +good o' that—<em>wouldn't the rocks stop 'em?</em>'</p> + +</div> + +<p>The Hibernian idea of a meeting is, +we should judge, peculiar, and not, as a +rule, amicable. 'What are ye doing +here, Pat?' inquired one of the Green +Islanders who found a friend one morning +in a lonely spot. 'Troth, Dinnis, +and it's waiting to mate a gintleman here +I'm doing.' 'Waiting for a frind is it?' +replied Dennis; 'but where is yer shillaly +thin?' This was indeed a misapprehension, +and of the kind which, +as a benevolent clergyman complained, +who was actively engaged in home mission +work, was one of the most constant +sources of his frequent annoyances. +'Why,' he remarked, 'it was only the +other morning that I heard of a poor +girl who was dying near the Five Points, +and went to administer to her such comfort +as it might be in my power to render. +I met an impudent miss leaving +the room, who, when I inquired for the +sufferer by name, replied, "It's no use; +you're too late, old fellow,—she's give +me her pocket-book and all her things."'</p> + +<br> + +<p>A friend has called our attention to +the following extract from an advertisement +in a New York evening paper, +and requests an explanation:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>STRABISMUS, OR CROSS-EYE, IN ITS +WORST STAGES, CURED IN ONE MINUTE. +READ!</p> + +<p>NEWARK, August 14th, 1861.</p> + +<p>Dear Doctor: I write to express my +thanks for the great difference you have +made in my appearance by your operation +on my eye. I have had a <em>squint</em>, or <em>cross-eye</em>, +since birth, and in less than one minute, +and with VERY LITTLE PAIN, you have +made my eyes perfectly straight and natural. +Having consulted in Europe the greatest + +<em>Aurists</em>, I, therefore, can testify that your +system of restoring the <em>hearing</em> to the deaf +is at once scientific, safe and sure; and I +confidently recommend all deaf to place +themselves under your care. </p> + +<p style="text-align: right">W.T.</p> +</div> + +<p>There's a nut to crack. Having had +a cross-eye cured in one minute, Mr. T. +can <em>therefore</em> testify that the system by +which he was enabled to see is just the +thing to enable the deaf to hear! But +an instant's reflection convinced us of +the true state of the case. There is an +old German song which translated saith:</p> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">'I am the Doctor Iron-beer,</p> +<p class="l">The one who makes the blind to hear,</p> +<p class="l">The man who makes the deaf to see:—</p> +<p class="l">Come with your invalids to me.'</p> +</div> + +<p>We evidently have a Doctor Iron-beer +among us. 'He still lives,' and enables +people to outdo the clairvoyants, who +read with their fingers, by qualifying his +patients to peruse the papers with their +auricular organs.</p> + +<br> + +<p>Walter will receive our thanks for +the following ęsthetic communication:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>DEAR CONTINENTAL:</p> + +<p>Do you know the superb picture of Judith +and Holofernes, by ALLORI? Of +course. But the legend?</p> + +<p>The painter ALLORI was blessed and +cursed with a mistress, one of the most beautiful +women in an age of beauty. He loved +her, and she tormented him, until, to set +forth his sufferings, he painted <em>la belle dame +sans mercy</em> as Judith, holding his own decapitated +head by the hair.</p> + +<p>'She was more than a match for her +lover,' said a young lady, who—between +us—I think is more beautiful than the +'Judith.'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' was the answer; 'the engraving +proves that she got a-head of him.'</p> + +<p>Of course it was Holofernally bad. I once +heard a better one on the same subject, of +scriptural be-head-edness. Where is a centaur +first mentioned? John's head on a +charger. The postage stamp on your lawyer's +bill—mine especially—represents the +same thing, with the substitution of General +Washington for John. Rarey tamed Cruiser—I +wonder if he could do anything by +way of 'taking down' this legal 'charger' of +mine.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">Yours truly,</p> +<p style="text-align: right">WALTER</p> +</div> + + + +<br> + +<p>Much has been written on oysters. +There was a time when England sent +nothing else abroad. 'The poor Britons—they +are good for something,' says +SALLUST, in 'The Last Days of Pompeii;' + +'they produce an oyster.' In these +days, they export no oysters, but in lieu +thereof give us plenty of pepper-sauce. +But to the point,—we mean to the +poem,—for which we are indebted to a +Philadelphia contributor:—</p> + +<div class="div"> +<h3>Oysters!</h3> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">He stood beside the oysters. Near him lay</p> +<p class="l">A dozen raw upon the half-shell: he</p> +<p class="l">With fork stood ready to engulf them all,</p> + +<p class="l">When to his side a reverend gray-beard came.</p> +<p class="l">Pointing his index finger to the Natives,</p> +<p class="l">Slowly he spoke, with measured voice and low:—</p> +<p class="l">'They are the same, THE SAME! I've eaten them</p> +<p class="l">In London, small and coppery; at Ostend,</p> +<p class="l">A little better; and in the Condotti,</p> +<p class="l">Yea, in the Lepré—'tis an eating-house</p> +<p class="l">Frequented by the many-languaged artists</p> + +<p class="l">Of great imperial Rome. At Baię: also</p> +<p class="l">I've tasted that nice kind described by MARTIAL,</p> +<p class="l">Who calls them ears of Venus;—there I've had 'em.</p> +<p class="l">Also at Memphis—now I'm coming to it:</p> +<p class="l">I've seen amid the desert sands of Egypt,</p> + +<p class="l">Exposed among the hieroglyphs, these Natives.</p> +<p class="l">(The hieroglyphs, you know, are outward forms</p> +<p class="l">Of things or creatures which unfold strange myths,</p> +<p class="l">Read by the common eye in vulgar way,</p> +<p class="l">But to the learned are types of truths gigantic.)</p> +<p class="l">Thus unto you those oysters are but bivalves;</p> +<p class="l">But unto me they're—P'raps you'll stand a dozen?'</p> + +<p class="l">'Well, I will, old hoss; it seems to me you need 'em!'</p> +<p class="l">'Good! Then to me they are as hieroglyphs</p> +<p class="l">Of our poor human state; as PLATO says,</p> +<p class="l">"The soul of man, a substance different from</p> +<p class="l">The body as the oyster from the shell,</p> +<p class="l">Does stick to it, and is imprisoned in it.</p> +<p class="l">Its weight of shell doth keep it down and force it</p> +<p class="l">To stay upon its muddy bottom. So does</p> + +<p class="l">Man's body hold his soul in these dark regions,</p> +<p class="l">Keeping it ever steadily from rising</p> +<p class="l">To those superior heights where are abodes</p> +<p class="l">More fitting its serene and noble nature."</p> +<p class="l">Good as a quarter-dollar lecture. Boy! fork over.'</p> +<p class="l">'Another "doz." to this old gentleman;</p> +<p class="l">For I perceive he plainly hath it in him</p> +<p class="l">To swallow down two dozen oysters' souls.</p> + +<p class="l">See what it is to be a philosopher!'</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p>This is indeed finding sermons in +'shells.'</p> + +<br> + +<p>'Punning is a power,' according to +somebody, and, like most power, is sadly +abused. Take, for illustration, the following +specimen of the 'narrative pun:'</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>The reader knows that BYRON once +punned on the word Bullet-in, and was +proud of it; distinctly proud, be it remembered. +After which comes the following:—</p> + +<p>Some years ago it was summer time, +and in the office of the Philadelphia <em>Evening +Bulletin</em>, one, as the French say, was +preparing the daily paper. Along Third +Street streamed Shinners, Bulls, Bears, and +Newsboys,—in the sanctum, Editors wrote +and clipped,—proof rose up and down in +the dumb waiter,—there was the shrill +scream of the whistle calling to the foreman +far on high,—</p> + +<p>Suddenly there was a tremendous run in +the front office.</p> + +<p>A maddened cow,—an infuriate, delirious, +over-driven animal,—breaking loose +from the cow-herdly creature who had her +in charge,—careered wildly past the <em>Ledger</em> + +building.</p> + +<p>One would have thought that the straw +paper on which that sheet was then printed +might have tempted her to repose.</p> + +<p>It didn't.</p> + +<p>Past FORNEY'S paper:—he was proprietor +of the <em>Pennsylvanian</em> in those days. +Those days!—when he was Warwick, the +king-maker, and carried Pennsylvania for +Old Buck. Bitter were the changes in aftertimes, +and bitterly did Forney give fits +where he had before bestowed benefits. +On went the cow.</p> + +<p>Right smack into the office of the evening +paper, then engineered by ALEXANDER +CUMMINGS, now held by GIBSON +PEACOCK.</p> + +<p>Rush! went the cow. Right into the +next door—turn to the left, oh, infuriate—charge +into the newsboys! By Santa Maria, +little DUCKEY is down—ha! Saint +Joseph! the beast gains the front office—she +faceth streetwards—she jaculates herself +outwards—she is gone.</p> + +<p>By the door stood a Philadelphia punster.</p> + + +<p>The cow switched him with her tail; he +heeded it not. His soul felt the morning +gleam of a revelation,—the flash of a +Boehmic Aurora,—</p> + +<p>Far, far above the world, oh dreamer!—in +the pure land of Pun-light, where the +silent Calembergs rise in the sunset sea.</p> + +<p>And he spake,—</p> + +<p>'<em>I see you have</em> A COW LET OUT <em>there, and +a</em> BULL LET IN HERE!'</p> + +<p>This is going through a great deal to get +at a pun, says some over-heated and perspiring +disciple.</p> + +<p>Well—and why not?</p> + +<p>Have you never heard of the clergyman +who preached an entire sermon on the +slave-trade, and gave a detailed account of +its head-quarters, the kingdom of Abomi?</p> + +<p>And why?</p> + +<p>Merely that he might ring it into them +bitterly, fiercely, with this conclusion:</p> + +<p>'My hearers, let us pray that this Abomi-Nation +may be rooted out from the face of +the earth.'</p> + +<p>That was so. <em>Consummatum est</em>.</p> +</div> + +<p>No wonder we hear so much of the +sufferings and sorrows of the Third Estate—which +is the editorial.</p> + +<br> + +<p>'Wine is <em>sometimes</em> wine, but not +very often in these days:' what it very +often is not when labelled 'Heidsick' + +and 'Rheims.' 'But then the <em>cork</em> +proves it, you know,'—for, by a strange +superstition, it is assumed that when the +cork is correct the wine is not less so; +a theory which is exploded by a revelation +in the following by no means Bacchanalian +lyric:—</p> + +<div class="div"> +<h3>Bogus Champagne.</h3> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">Fill up your glass with turnip-juice,</p> + +<p class="l">And let us swindled be;</p> +<p class="l">Except in England's cloudy clime</p> +<p class="l">Such trash you may not see.</p> +<p class="l">With marble-dust and vitriol,</p> +<p class="l">'Twill sparkle bright and foam,—</p> +<p class="l">Who will not pledge me in a cup</p> +<p class="l">Of champagne—made at home?</p> +</div> + +<div class="lg"> +<p class="l">We do not heed the label fair</p> +<p class="l">That's stuck upon the glass;</p> +<p class="l">It's counterfeit,—an ugly cheat,</p> +<p class="l">That takes in many an ass.</p> +<p class="l">The cork is branded right, and we</p> +<p class="l">Know that it once corked wine;</p> + +<p class="l">They give the hotel-waiters tin</p> +<p class="l">To save the genuine!</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Think of this when you next 'wish +you had given the price of that last bottle +of champagne to the Tract Society,' +as <em>Cecil Dreeme</em> hath it.</p> + +<br> + +<p>One of the best repartees on record +is that of WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, +who, having been reproached with inconsistency +for having taken from his +journal the old motto, 'The Constitution +is a league with Death and a covenant +with Hell,' replied that 'when he hoisted +that motto, he had no idea <em>that either +death or hell intended to secede</em>. Circumstances +alter cases, and definitions +modify both. Slavery, it now appears, +is death, as every political economist +claims, while the South is—the other +place.</p> + +<br> + +<p>The following is from one who was not +'well off for soap:'—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>DEAR CONTINENTAL:</p> + +<p>It was my fortune, some time ago, while +traveling through the New England States, +to lose my trunk, on my way to a very +thriving manufacturing village. Arrived at +the principal hotel a few minutes before the +dinner hour, I was shown up to my room, +every article of furniture in which sparkled +with newness,—its carpet shining like fireworks, +curtains painfully stiff, and the air +redolent of novelty.</p> + +<p>One article of furniture, which I took to +be a cottage piano or melodeon, turned out, +on raising the lid, to be a wash-stand, amply +munitioned with water, towels, and a new +piece of soap. Having noticed that the article +had never been used, and my own being +lost with my trunk, I determined to put it to +its legitimate destination.</p> + +<p>I commenced rubbing it between my +hands, immersing it in water, passing it +quickly from one hand to the other, and using +all other persuasive attempts to solve it +into lather. Useless; it was <em>un-lather-able</em>, +and hearing the gong sound for dinner, I +gave it up as a hopeless job.</p> + +<p>After dinner, in conversation with the landlord, +he asked me how I liked my room. I +told him that it pleased me very well, and +that I had but one fault to find,—that was, +that the soap in the wash-stand was the hardest +I had ever seen, and I believed it was +made of iron.</p> + + +<p>'Well,' said he, with a diabolical smile, +'it <em>is</em> hard soap, and it ort to be—it's +iron-y—for it's Cast-Steel!'</p> +</div> + +<br> + +<p>The annexed may be read with profit +by the charitable:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>H—— has never yet been known to give +one cent in charity. A Christian called on +him, the other day, and begged him to give +something to a soup society.</p> + +<p>'Ah-h-h!' said H., 'war times, now. +Can't give anything.'</p> + +<p>'The soup society is very poor, and would +be thankful for the <em>smallest sum</em>.'</p> + +<p>'Would it?' said H., cheerfully. 'Why, +then, twice one are two. Good-morning.'</p> +</div> + +<p>This, we presume, may be called figuring +as a benefactor.</p> + +<br> + +<p>Our Arabic-studying friend has supplied +us with a fresh batch of oriental +proverbs:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>'A monkey solicited hospitality from devils. +"Young gentleman," they replied, "the house +is quite empty of provisions."'</p> + +<p>'Eat whatever thou likest, but dress as others +do.'</p> + +<p>'Like a needle, that clothes people, and is +itself naked.'</p> + +<p>'He who makes chaff of himself the cows will +eat.'</p> + +<p>'Give me wool to-day, and take sheep to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>'He is high-minded but empty-bellied.'</p> + +<p>'Easier to be broken than the house of a +spider.'</p> + +<p>'He descends like the foot of a crow, and ascends +(like) the hoof of a camel.'</p> +</div> + +<p>But all yield in grim drollery to the +last given:—</p> + +<div class="display"> +<p>'There are no fans in hell.'</p> + +</div> + +<p>Which, as our friend declares, 'sounds +as Western as Eastern.' Verily, extremes +meet.</p> + +<br> + +<p>Many of our exchanges have spoken +of the series entitled 'Among the Pines,' +now publishing in this Magazine, as +being written by FREDERICK LAW +OLMSTED. In justice to Mr. OLMSTED +we would state that he is not the author +of the articles in question, and regret +that the unauthorized statement should +have obtained such general credence.</p> + +<p>A statement has also appeared in many +journals declaring that the literary matter +of the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY is the +same with that published in the KNICKERBOCKER +Magazine. We need not say +that it is <em>entirely false</em>, as any reader +may ascertain for himself who will take +the pains to compare the two publications. +Not one line has ever appeared +in common in the Magazines. The + +<em>Knickerbocker</em> is printed and PUBLISHED +in New York, at No. 532 Broadway, the +CONTINENTAL in Boston, at No. 110 +Tremont Street.</p> + +<br> + +<p>The editor of the CONTINENTAL +begs leave to repeat that as the principal +object of the Magazine is to draw +forth such views as may be practically +useful in the present crisis, its pages will +always be open to contributions even of +a widely varying character, the only condition +being that they shall be written by +friends of the Union. And we call special +attention to the fact that while holding +firmly to our own views, as set forth +under the Editorial heading, we by no +means profess to endorse those of our +contributors, but shall leave the reader +to make his own comments on these.</p> + +<br> + +<p>Readers will confer a favor by forwarding +to us any pamphlets, secession +or Union, on the war, which they may +be disposed to spare.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_35"></a> + +<h2>The Knickerbocker</h2> + +<h2 class="sub">FOR 1862.</h2> + + +<p>In the beginning of the last year, when its present proprietors assumed +control of the Knickerbocker, they announced their determination to +spare no pains to place it in its true position as the leading +<em>literary</em> Monthly in America. When rebellion had raised a successful +front, and its armies threatened the very existence of the Republic, it +was impossible to permit a magazine, which in its circulation reached +the best intellects in the land, to remain insensible or indifferent to +the dangers which threatened the Union. The proprietors accordingly gave +notice, that it would present in its pages, forcible expositions with +regard to the great question of the times,—<em>how to preserve the</em> UNITED +STATES OF AMERICA <em>in their integrity and unity</em>. How far this pledge +has been redeemed the public must judge. It would, however, be mere +affectation to ignore the seal approbation which has been placed on +these efforts. The proprietors gratefully acknowledge this, and it has +led them to embark in a fresh undertaking, as already announced,—the +publication of the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY, devoted to Literature and +National Policy; in which magazine, those who have sympathized with the +political opinions recently set forth in the KNICKERBOCKER, will find +the same views more fully enforced and maintained by the ablest and most +energetic minds in America.</p> + +<p>The KNICKERBOCKER, while it will continue firmly pledged to the cause of +the Union, will henceforth be more earnestly devoted to literature, and +will leave no effort untried to attain the highest excellence in those +departments of letters which it has adopted as specialties.</p> + +<p>The January number commences its thirtieth year. With such antecedents +as it possesses, it seems unnecessary to make any especial pledges as to +its future, but it may not be amiss to say that it will be the aim of +its conductors to make it more and more deserving of the liberal support +it has hitherto received. The same eminent writers who have contributed +to it during the past year will continue to enrich its pages, and in +addition, contributions will appear from others of the highest +reputation, as well as from many rising authors. While it will, as +heretofore, cultivate the genial and humorous, it will also pay +assiduous attention to the higher departments of art and letters, and +give fresh and spirited articles on such biographical, historical, +scientific, and general subjects as are of especial interest to the +public.</p> + +<p>In the January issue will commence a series of papers by CHARLES GODFREY +LELAND, entitled "SUNSHINE IN LETTERS," which will be found interesting +to scholars as well as to the general reader, and in an early number +will appear the first chapters of a NEW and INTERESTING NOVEL, +descriptive of American life and character.</p> + +<p>According to the unanimous opinion of the American press, the +KNICKERBOCKER has been greatly improved during the past year, <em>and it is +certain that at no period of its long career did it ever attract more +attention or approbation</em>. Confident of their enterprise and ability, +the proprietors are determined that it shall be still more eminent in +excellence, containing all that is best of the old, and being +continually enlivened by what is most brilliant of the new.</p> + +<p>TERMS.—Three dollars a year, in advance. Two copies for Four Dollars +and fifty cents. Three copies for Six dollars. Subscribers remitting +Three Dollars will receive as a premium, (post-paid,) a copy of Richard +B. Kimball's great work, "THE REVELATIONS OF WALL STREET," to be +published by G.P. Putnam, early in February next, (price $1.) +Subscribers remitting Four Dollars will receive the KNICKERBOCKER and +the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY for one year. As but one edition of each number +of the Knickerbocker is printed, those desirous of commencing with the +volume should subscribe at once.</p> + +<p>The publisher, appreciating the importance of literature +to the soldier on duty, will send a copy <em>gratis</em>, during the +continuance of the war, to any regiment in active service, on +application being made by its Colonel or Chaplain. Subscriptions will +also be received from those desiring it sent to soldiers in the ranks at +<em>half price</em>, but in such cases it must be mailed from the office of +publication.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">J.R. GILMORE, 532 Broadway, New York.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">C.T. EVANS, General Agent, 532 Broadway, New York.</p> + +<p>All communications and contributions, intended for the +Editorial department, should be addressed to CHARLES G. LELAND, Editor +of the "Knickerbocker," care of C.T. EVANS, 532 Broadway, New York.</p> + +<p>Newspapers copying the above and giving the Magazine monthly notices, +will be entitled to an exchange.</p> +</div> + + + +<hr class="page"> + +<div class="div"> +<a name="toc_36"></a> +<h2>Prospectus Of The Continental Monthly</h2> + +<p>There are periods in the world's history marked by extraordinary and +violent crises, sudden as the breaking forth of a volcano, or the +bursting of a storm on the ocean. These crimes sweep away in a moment +the landmarks of generations. They call out fresh talent, and give to +the old a new direction. It is then that new ideas are born, new +theories developed. Such periods demand fresh exponents, and new men for +expounders.</p> + +<p>This Continent has lately been convulsed by an upheaving so sudden and +terrible that the relations of all men and all classes to each other are +violently disturbed, and people look about for the elements with which +to sway the storm and direct the whirlwind. Just at present, we do not +know what all this is to bring forth; but we do know that great results +MUST flow from such extraordinary commotions.</p> + +<p>At a juncture so solemn and so important, there is a special need that +the intellectual force of the country should be active and efficient. It +is a time for great minds to speak their thoughts boldly, and to take +position as the advance guard. To this end, there is a special want +unsupplied. It is that of an Independent Magazine, which shall be open +to the first intellects of the land, and which shall treat the issues +presented, and to be presented to the country, in a tone no way tempered +by partisanship, or influenced by fear, favor, or the hope of reward; +which shall seize and grapple with the momentous subjects that the +present disturbed state of affairs heave to the surface, and which CAN +NOT be laid aside or neglected.</p> + +<p>To meet this want, the undersigned have commenced, under the editorial +charge of CHARLES GODFREY LELAND, the publication of a new Magazine, +devoted to Literature and National Policy.</p> + +<p>In POLITICS, it will advocate, with all the force at its command, +measures best adapted to preserve the oneness and integrity of these +United States. It will never yield to the idea of any disruption of this +Republic, peaceably or otherwise; and it will discuss with honesty and +impartiality what must be done to save it. In this department, some of +the most eminent statesmen of the time will contribute regularly to its +pages.</p> + +<p>In LITERATURE, it will be sustained by the best writers and ablest +thinkers of this country. Life, by RICHARD B. KIMBALL, ESQ., the very +popular author of "The Revelations of Wall Street," "St. Leger," &c. A +series of papers by HON. HORACE GREELEY, embodying the distinguished +author's observations on the growth and development of the Great West. A +series of articles by the author of "Through the Cotton States," +containing the result of an extended tour in the seaboard Slave States, +just prior to the breaking out of the war, and presenting a startling +and truthful picture of the real condition of that region. No pains will +be spared to render the literary attractions of the CONTINENTAL both +brilliant and substantial. The lyrical or descriptive talents of the +most eminent literati have been promised to its pages; and nothing will +be admitted which will not be distinguished by marked energy, +originality, and solid strength. Avoiding every influence or association +partaking of clique or coterie, it will be open to all contributions of +real merit, even from writers differing materially in their views; the +only limitation required being that of devotion to the Union, and the +only standard of acceptance that of intrinsic excellence.</p> + +<p>The EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT will embrace, in addition to vigorous and +fearless comments on the events of the times, genial gossip with the +reader on all current topics, and also devote abundant space to those +racy specimens of American wit and humor, without which there can be no +perfect exposition of our national character. Among those who will +contribute regularly to this department may be mentioned the name of +CHARLES F. BROWNE ("Artemus Ward"), from whom we have promised an +entirely new and original series of SKETCHES OF WESTERN LIFE.</p> + +<p>The CONTINENTAL will be liberal and progressive, without yielding to +chimeras and hopes beyond the grasp of the age; and it will endeavor to +reflect the feelings and interests of the American people, and to +illustrate both their serious and humorous peculiarities. In short, no +pains will be spared to make it the REPRESENTATIVE MAGAZINE of the time.</p> + +<p><span class="hi" style="font-weight: bold;">TERMS</span>:—Three Dollars per year, in advance (postage paid by the +Publishers;) Two Copies for Five Dollars; Three Copies for Six Dollars, +(postage unpaid); Eleven copies for Twenty Dollars, (postage unpaid). +Single numbers can be procured of any News-dealer in the United States. +The KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE and the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY will be furnished +for one year at FOUR DOLLARS.</p> + +<p>Appreciating the importance of literature to the soldier on duty, the +publisher will send the CONTINENTAL, <em>gratis</em>, to any regiment in active +service, on application being made by its Colonel or Chaplain; he will +also receive subscriptions from those desiring to furnish it to soldiers +in the ranks at half the regular price; but in such cases it must be +mailed from the office of publication.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">J.R. GILMORE, 110 Tremont Street, Boston.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">CHARLES T. EVANS, at G.P. PUTNAM'S, 532 Broadway, New York, +is authorized to receive Subscriptions in that City.</p> + +<p>N.B.—Newspapers publishing this Prospectus, and giving the CONTINENTAL +monthly notices, will be entitled to an exchange.</p> +</div> + +</div> + +<hr class="doublepage"> + +<div class="back"> + <div class="div" id="footnotes"><a name="toc_37"></a><h2>Notes</h2><dl class="footnote"> + +<dt><a name="note_1">1.</a></dt><dd><p><em>Journey in the Back Country</em>. By +Frederick Law Olmsted.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_2">2.</a></dt><dd> +<p>The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, <em>Sentinel</em>, of +June 3, contained a confirmation of these statements +in regard to Northern Alabama. A +gentleman returned from 'a prolonged tour +through the cotton States' communicated a +narrative, which demonstrated that the people +of Huntsville and vicinity were very hostile to +secession in January, that 'at Athens the stars +and stripes floated over the court house long +after the State had enacted the farce of secession,' +and that, even in May, open opposition to +secession existed '<em>in the mountain portion of +Alabama, a large tract of country, embracing +about one-third of the State, lying adjacent to +and south of the Tennessee valley</em>.' The writer +added, 'IN THEIR MOUNTAIN FASTNESSES +THEY DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE SOUTHERN +CONFEDERACY, OR THE POWER OF ITS +RULERS.'</p></dd><dt><a name="note_3">3.</a></dt><dd><p>It is proved, by the great increase of the +cotton crop during this period, that the surplus +increase of slaves was mainly composed of +field hands purchased in the border States.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_4">4.</a></dt><dd><p>'The Edwards Family;' page 11.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_5">5.</a></dt><dd><p>'If some learned philosopher who had been +abroad, in giving an account of the curious observations +he had made in his travels, should +say he had been in <em>Terra del Fuego</em>, and there +had seen an animal, which he calls by a certain +name, that begat and brought forth itself, and +yet had a sire and dam distinct from itself; that +it had an appetite and was hungry before it had +a being; that his master, who led him and governed +by him, and driven by him where he pleased; +that when he moved he always took a step before +the first step; that he went with his head +first, and yet always went tail foremost, and +this though he had neither head nor tail,' etc. +etc.—<em>Freedom of the Will</em>, part 4.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_6">6.</a></dt><dd><p>Sismondi's History of the French.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_7">7.</a></dt><dd><p>Benōit, Hist. Rev. Edict of Nantes, book 7.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_8">8.</a></dt><dd><p>Dr. Baird, vol. I. p. 174.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_9">9.</a></dt><dd><p>Oxford town records.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_10">10.</a></dt><dd><p>Vandenkemp's Alb. Rec. viii.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_11">11.</a></dt><dd><p>Instances are frequent where Southern +gentlemen form these left-handed connections, +and rear two sets of differently colored children; +but it is not often that the two families occupy +the same domicil. The only other case within +my <em>personal</em> knowledge was that of the well-known +President of the Bank of St. M——, at +Columbia, Ga. That gentleman, whose note +ranked in Wall Street, when the writer was +acquainted with that locality, as 'A No. 1,' lived +for fifteen years with two 'wives' under one +roof. One—an accomplished white woman, +and the mother of several children—did the +honors of his table, and moved with him in + +'the best society;' the other—a beautiful +quadroon, also the mother of several children—filled +the humbler office of nurse to her own +and the other's offspring.</p> + +<p>In conversation with a well-known Southern +gentleman, not long since, I mentioned these +two cases, and commented on them as a man +educated with New England ideas might be +supposed to do. The gentleman admitted that +he knew of twenty such instances, and gravely +defended the practice as being infinitely more +moral and respectable than <em>the more +relation</em> existing between masters and slaves.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_12">12.</a></dt><dd><p>Among the things of which slavery has +deprived the black is a <em>name</em>. A slave has no +family designation. It may be for that reason +that a high-sounding appellation is usually +selected for the single one he is allowed to appropriate.</p></dd><dt><a name="note_13">13.</a></dt><dd><p>It is not now improper to broach this button +ruse, because it was recently discovered at +the South and is guarded against.</p></dd></dl></div> + +</div> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Continental Monthly - Volume 1 - Issue +3, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTINENTAL MONTHLY VOL.1 ISS.3 *** + +***** This file should be named 14583-h.htm or 14583-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/5/8/14583/ + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Josephine Paolucci +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Continental Monthly - Volume 1 - Issue 3 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: January 4, 2005 [EBook #14583] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTINENTAL MONTHLY VOL.1 ISS.3 *** + + + + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Josephine Paolucci +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY: + +DEVOTED TO + +LITERATURE AND NATIONAL POLICY. + +VOL. I.--MARCH, 1862.--No. III. + + * * * * * + +SOUTHERN AIDS TO THE NORTH. + + +Perhaps the most difficult question at present before the American +people is that so often and so insolently put by Southern journals, and +so ignorantly babbled in weak imitation of them by English newspapers, +asking what, after all, in case of a victory, or even of many victories, +can we do with the revolted provinces? The British press, prompt to put +the worst construction on every hope of the Union, prophesies endless +guerilla warfare,--a possibility which, like the blocking up of +Charleston harbor by means of the stone fleet, is, of course, something +which calls for the instant interference of all cotton-spinning +Christian nations. Even among our own countrymen it must be confessed +there has been no little indecision as to the end and the means of +securing the conquest of a country whose outlines are counted by +thousands instead of hundreds of miles, and whose whole extent, it is +too generally believed, forms a series of regions where dismal swamps, +bayous, lagoons, dense forests, and all manner of impenetrabilities, bid +defiance to any save the natives, and where the most deadly fevers are +ever being born in the jungles and wafted on the wings of every summer +morn over the whole plantation land. The truth is, that the simple facts +and figures relative to this country are not generally known. Let the +Northern people but once learn the truths existing in their favor, and +there will be an end to this misapprehension. There has been thus far no +hesitation or irresolution among the people in the conduct of the war. +'Conquer them first,' has been the glorious war-cry from millions of the +freest men on earth. But when we are driving a nail it is well to know +that it will be possible to eventually clench it. And when the country +shall fully understand the ease with which this Union nail may be +clenched, there will be, let us hope, a greatly revived spirit in all +now interested in forwarding the war. + +It is evident enough that if all the millions of the South remain united +to the death in the cause of secession, little else than a guerilla +warfare of endless length is to be hoped for. The accounts of the +enthusiasm and harmony at present prevailing in Eastern Virginia, and in +other places controlled by the active secessionists, have struck terror +to the hearts of many. But, united though they be, they must be more +than mortal if they could resist the influences of a counter-revolution, +and of strong bodies of enemies in the heart of their country, aided by +a mighty foe without. 'Hercules was a strong man,' says the proverb, +'but he could not pay money when he had none;' and the South may be +strong, but she can hardly fail to be entirely crippled when certain +agencies shall be brought to bear against her. Let us examine them, and +find wherein her weakness consists. + +The first is the easy possibility of a _counter-revolution_ among the +inhabitants of the mountain districts, who hold but few slaves, who have +preserved a devoted love for the Union, and who are, if not at positive +feud, at least on anything but social harmony with their aristocratic +neighbors of the lowlands and of the plantation. Unlike the 'mean +whites' who live among slaves and slave-holders, and are virtually more +degraded than the blacks, these mountaineers are men of strong character +and common-sense, combining the industrious disposition of the North +with the fierce pride of the South. And so numerous are they, and so +wide is the range of country which they inhabit, that it would seem +miraculous if with their aid, and that of other causes which will be +referred to, a counter-revolution could not be established, which would +sweep the slaveocracy from existence. + +In a pamphlet entitled 'Alleghania,' by James W. Taylor, published at +Saint Paul, Minnesota, by James Davenport, the reader will find 'a +geographical and statistical memoir, exhibiting the strength of the +Union, and the weakness of slavery in the mountain districts of the +South,' which is well worth careful study at this crisis. Let the reader +take the map and trace on it the dark caterpillar-like lines of the +Alleghanies from Pennsylvania southward. Not until he reaches Northern +Alabama will he find its end. In these mountain districts which form +'the Switzerland of the South,' a population exists on whom slavery has +no hold, who are free and lovers of freedom, and who will undoubtedly +co-operate with the Union in reestablishing its power. This 'Alleghania' +embraces thirteen counties of North Carolina, three of South Carolina, +twenty of Georgia, fifteen of Alabama, and twenty-six of Tennessee. + +According to Humboldt and other writers on climatology, an elevation of +two hundred and sixty-seven feet above the level of the sea is +equivalent in general influence upon vegetation to a degree of latitude +northward, at the level of the ocean. Therefore we are not surprised to +learn from Olmsted that 'Alleghania' does not differ greatly in climate +from Long Island, Southern New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. 'The usual +crops are the same, those of most consequence being corn, rye, oats and +grass. Fruit is a more precarious crop, from a greater liability to +severe frosts after the swelling of the buds in the spring. Snow has +fallen several inches in the month of April.'[A] + +The Western Virginia portion of Alleghania, which in the +counter-secession programme of its inhabitants was to have formed the +State of 'Kanawha,' embraced in its total population of 284,796 only +10,820 slaves. Its area is 4,211 square miles larger than the entire +State of Maryland. With this we have 'Middle Virginia,' in the valley of +the Shenandoah, which extends east of the main Alleghany range to the +Blue Ridge. This region also is broadly distinguishable in respect to +slavery from the Atlantic counties. With 200,262 freemen according to +the census of 1850, it has only 44,742 slaves, and there is reason to +believe that this population has largely diminished in favor of freedom. +Yet again we have the mountain district of South-western Virginia, where +in its ten counties the proportion of freemen to slaves is nearly ten to +one, or 76,892 to 8,693. As regards internal resources, beautiful +scenery, and all that conduces to pleasant life and profitable labor, +this portion of Virginia far surpasses the eastern division, and will +eventually attract the great mass of immigration. + +The reader is aware that Eastern Kentucky, embracing the counties along +the western base of the Cumberland Mountains, 'has nobly responded to +the cause of the Union.' 'They represent a population which from the +first outbreak have been on fire with loyal zeal, repudiating all +sympathy with this war of slavery against the Union.' The proportion of +slaves to freemen in these counties, according to the census of 1850, is +as follows:-- + +COUNTIES FREE SLAVE +Letcher, 2,440 62 +Floyd, 5,503 149 +Harlan, 4,108 123 +Whitley, 7,222 201 +Knox, 6,238 612 +Perry, 2,972 117 +Clay, 4,734 515 +Breathitt, 3,603 170 +Morgan, 7,305 187 +Johnson, 3,843 30 +Lawrence, 6,142 137 +Carter, 5,000 257 + +In contrast to this healthy, temperate Eastern Kentucky, 'a portion of +the great central district of mountain slopes and valleys,' let the +reader turn to the secession hot-bed of the State. He will find it the +largest slaveholding district of Kentucky. It is worth noting that +secession is matured in the slave regions, for though it is popularly +identified with slavery, they are not wanting among its leaders--no, nor +among their traitorous and cowardly sympathizers here at the North--who +constantly assert that secession is simply a geographical necessity, and +slavery only a secondary cause--that the South will, in fact, eventually +emancipate, and that race and latitude are the great fundamental causes +of national difference, constituting us in fact 'two peoples.' How +completely false and puerile are all these assertions, appears from an +examination of the mountain region now under discussion. + +Of all these sections of 'Alleghania,' none is of more importance to the +Federal Union than East Tennessee. Immensely rich in minerals, with a +healthy and agreeable climate and much rich soil, it is one of the +finest countries on earth, lying under the temperate zone, and developes +the most extraordinary physical perfection in the human form. Its +proportion of slaves to freemen is no greater than in the other mountain +regions of the South--its area is about equivalent to that of +Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island united. In considering this +with the loyalty of its inhabitants, and in studying 'Cumberland Gap,' +the great natural highway of the Alleghany Range, the observer +appreciates with pleasure the remark of Secretary Chase, who, in a +recent interview with certain eastern capitalists, disclaimed on behalf +of the Government and of General M'Clellan any purpose to send the army +into winter quarters, remarking with much significance that 'a glance at +the map will perhaps astonish those who have never reflected, _how short +is the distance from East Tennessee to Port Royal Harbor, and may +suggest the possibility of cutting a great rebellion into two small +pieces_.' + +In the mountain region of North Carolina we have 'the Piedmont of the +Alleghanies.' Its seventeen counties embrace a larger area (11,700 +square miles) than the whole of Vermont. Its scenery is of extraordinary +beauty, its peaks are the highest east of the Rocky Mountains. There is +full ground for the belief that in North Carolina a majority of the +people are Union at heart. The following extract from 'Alleghania' will +be read with interest as illustrating the assertion: + + In the Union camps of East Tennessee, there are numerous + volunteers from Watauga and other adjacent counties over the + border. At the only popular election suffered to be held upon the + question of Union and secession, the Union majority was as two to + one; and even after the storm of Sumter, the vote in the + convention of North Carolina on a proposition to submit the + ordinance of secession to a vote of the people, received + thirty-four yeas to seventy-three nays. I have confidence that + those thirty-four names, representing one-third of the State, were + given by delegates from the western counties,--the Alleghany + counties,--from the base and sides of the Blue Ridge,--from a land + of corn and cattle, not of cotton. Again, when the news of the + capture of Hatteras was announced in the legislature of North + Carolina, it is evident from the language of the Raleigh + newspapers that an irrepressible explosion of Union feeling--even + to an outburst of cheers, according to one statement--occurred. + Nor is such a state of feeling surprising, when we remember that + not even in Kentucky is the memory of Henry Clay more a fireside + treasure of the people. In this respect, the quiet, unobtrusive + 'North' State was in striking contrast to its immediate + neighbors--South Carolina in one direction, and Atlantic Virginia + in the other. Politically, when the pennons of Clay and Calhoun + rode the gale, the vote and voice of North Carolina were ever + given for the great Kentucky leader. Let us accept these omens for + the winter campaign, which will open with the triumph of the Union + and the Constitution on the Cumberland heights of East Tennessee. + +'In one-fifth of Georgia, over an area of 12,000 square miles, slavery +only exists by the usurpation of the cotton aristocracy of the lowland +districts of the State.' In all of them, slaves, though in a greater +proportion than in the rest of Alleghania, are very greatly in the +minority, as appears from the following table:-- + +COUNTIES FREE SLAVE +Madison, 3,763 1,933 +Hart,* +Franklin, 9,076 2,382 +Jackson, 6,808 2,941 +Banks,* +Hall, 7,370 1,336 +Habersham, 7,675 1,218 +Rabun, 2,338 110 +Towns,* +Union, 6,955 278 +Lumpkin, 7,995 939 +Dawson,* +Forsyth, 7,812 1,027 +Milton,* +Cherokee, 11,630 1,157 +Pickens,* +Gilmer, 8,236 200 +Faunin* +Murphy,* +Whitefield,* +Gordon, 5,156 828 +Cass, 10,271 3,008 +Floyd, 5,202 2,999 +Chattoga, 5,131 1,680 +Walker, 11,408 1,664 +Catoosa,* +Dade, 2,532 148 + +* Counties marked with an asterisk, organized after the census of 1850, +of which the foregoing are returns. + +Last in the list we have North-east Alabama, in which we find the +following counties:-- + +COUNTIES FREE SLAVE +Cherokee, 12,170 1,691 +DeKalb, 7,730 506 +Marshall, 7,952 868 +Jackson, 11,754 2,292 +Morgan, 6,636 3,437 +Madison, 11,937 14,329 +Limestone, 8,399 8,063 +Lawrence, 8,342 6,858 + +'It will be observed,' says Mr. Taylor, + + That the three counties last named have a slave population, in the + case of Madison exceeding, and in Limestone and Lawrence nearly + equal to the number of free inhabitants. They would seem to be an + exception to our former generalization, and are only included + because there is other evidence that Athens, in Limestone County, + and Huntsville, in Morgan County, were to the last possible moment + the head-quarters of resistance to the Montgomery conspirators. It + was the Union vote of these highland counties, notwithstanding the + number of slaves in some of them, which would inevitably have been + rolled down in condemnation of an ordinance of secession. This was + well known by Yancey and his associates, and it was to avoid this + revelation of their weakness over a compact and populous area of + the State, which was in direct communication with East Tennessee, + that they refused the ordeal of the ballot upon the consummation + of their treason to the Union. + + I estimate that the district which could readily be rallied in + support of a loyal organization of the government of Alabama, with + its capital at Huntsville, to be equal to the area of New Jersey, + or 8,320 square miles. With the occupation of the Alleghanies by + an army of the Union, and such a base of operations, civil and + military, in North Alabama, a counter-revolution in that State + would not be difficult of accomplishment.[B] + +It will thus be seen, that, in the South itself, there exists a +tremendous groundwork of aid to the North, and of weakness to +secession. The love of this region for the Union, and its local hatred +for planterdom with its arrogance towards free labor, is no chimera; nor +do we make the wish the father to the thought when we assert that a +Union victory would light up a flame of counter-revolution which would +in time, with Northern aid, crush out the foul rebellion. And relying on +this fact, we grow confident and exultant. If Europe will only let us +alone--if England will refrain from stretching out a helping hand to +that slaveocracy for which she has suddenly developed such a strange and +unnatural love, we may yet be, at no distant day, great, powerful, and +far more united than ever. + +But we have, in addition to all these districts of Alleghania, a vast +reserve in Texas--that Texas which is now more than half cultivated by +free labor, and which is amply capable of producing six times as much +cotton as is now raised in the entire South. An armed occupation of +Texas, a copious stream of emigration thither, to be encouraged by very +liberal grants to settlers, and a speedy completion of its railroads, +would be an offset to secession, well worth of itself all that the war +has cost. With Texas in our power, with Cumberland Gap firmly held, with +the negroes in South Carolina fairly disorganized from slavery, with +free Yankee colonies in the Palmetto State, with New Orleans taken--a +blockade without and complete financial disorder within, what more could +we desire as a basis to secure thorough reestablishment of power? Here +our superiority to the South in possessing not only a navy, but, what is +of far more importance, a vast merchant marine containing all the +elements necessary to form a navy of unparalleled power, appears in +clearest light, giving us cause for much congratulation. To effect all +this, _time_ is required. Let those who fret, look over the map of a +hemisphere--let them reflect on the condition to which Southern perfidy +and theft had reduced us ere the war begun, and then let them moderate +their cries. It will all be done; but the programme is a tremendous one, +and the future of the most glorious country on earth requires that it +shall be done thoroughly, and that no risks shall be taken. + +But, beyond all the aid which is to be expected from a +counter-revolution in the South, to be drawn from the 'Alleghania' +region, there is one of vast importance, insisted upon in a series of +articles published during the past year in the New York _Knickerbocker +Magazine_, and which may be appropriately reconsidered in this +connection. Should the government of the United States, by one or more +victories, obtain even a temporary sway over the South, it will only +rest with itself to produce a powerful counter-revolution even in those +districts which are blackest with slavery. _Let it, when the time shall +seem fit_,--and we urge no undue haste, and no premature meddling with +the present plans or programme of those in power,--_simply proclaim +Emancipation_, offering to pay all loyal men for their slaves according +to a certain rate. The proportion of Union men who will then start into +life, even in South Carolina, will be, doubtless, enormous. It may be +objected that many of these will merely profess Union sentiments for the +time being. But, on the other hand, those noted rebels who can have no +hope of selling their slaves, save indeed to the Union professors, will +have small love for the latter, and two parties can not fail to show +themselves at once. Those who hope to see the slave principle ultimately +triumphant will oppose selling the chattels; those who wish to 'realize' +at once on them, owing to temporary embarrassments, will urge it; and +dissension of the most formidable character will be at once +organized,--precisely such dissension as the Southern press has long +hoped to see between the dough-faces and patriots of the North, or +between its labor and capital, or in any other disastrous dissension. + +Be it borne in mind that the price of slaves is at present greatly +depressed in the South. Those who would sell would speedily acquire +more, in the hope of a profit by selling to government. Those too who +would willingly act as brokers between those who wished to sell, but who +would not dare to openly do so, would be very numerous. Between these +and the leaders of the ultra pro-slavery party there would be bitter +feud. Let a counter-revolutionary party once succeed in holding its own +in the South, and the days of secession would speedily be numbered. In a +land where all rushes so rapidly to extremes, we should soon see the war +carried on for us with a bitterness fully equal to that now manifested +towards the North. + +It is with no pleasant feelings that we thus commend counter-revolution. +It is the worst of war that it drives us to such considerations. But +what is to be done when our existence as a nation is at stake, and when +we are opposed by a remorseless foe which would gladly ruin us +irretrievably? There is no halting half-way. It was these endless +scruples which interfered with the prevention of the war under the +imbecile or traitorous Buchanan; it is lingering scruple and timidity +which still inspires in thousands of cowardly hearts a dislike to face +the grim danger and prevent it. + + * * * * * + +WESTWARD! + + + How the pink-hued morning clouds + Go sailing into the west! + And the pearl-white breath of noon, + Or the mists round the silver moon, + In silent, sheeny crowds + Go sailing into the west! + + The glowing, fire-eyed sun + In glory dies in the west; + And the bird with dreamy crest, + And soft, sun-loving breast, + When throbbing day is done, + Floats slowly into the west. + + Oh, everything lovely and fair + Is floating into the west. + 'Tis an unknown land, where our hopes must go, + And all things beautiful, fluttering slow; + Our joys all wait for us there,-- + Far out in the dim blue west. + + * * * * * + +IS COTTON OUR KING? + +BY A COTTON-SPINNER. + + +No falsehood has been so persistently adhered to by the Southern +planters and their advocates, and so successfully forced upon the +credulity of the North, as the statement that white men can not perform +field labor in the cotton States, coupled with the equally false +assertion that the emancipated negro lapses into barbarism, and ceases +to be an industrious laborer. + +It is one of the chief points of weakness in a bad cause, that, although +a _single_ advocate may succeed in rendering it plausible, _many_ are +certain to present utterly irreconcilable arguments. An impartial man, +examining De Bow's _Review_ for a series of years, would arrive at +conclusions in regard to the economy of slave labor, and the necessity +of colored laborers in the Southern States, the very reverse of what the +writers have intended to enforce. + +It is constantly asserted that white men can not labor in the tropics, +which we may freely admit; but the inference that the climate of the +Southern States is tropical we have the best authority for denying: +firstly, from the testimony of all Southern writers when describing +their own section of country, and _not_ arguing upon the slavery +question; and, secondly, from Humboldt's isothermal lines, by which we +find that the temperature of the cotton States is the same as that of +Portugal, the south of Spain, Italy, and Australia. Do we find +Australian emigrants writing home to their friends not to come out +because they will not be able to work? We know they do not; and yet the +mean annual temperature of Australia is 70 deg.--greater by five to six +degrees than that of Texas; and, from the best accounts we can get, the +extreme of heat is very much greater. + +Examine De Bow's analysis of the census of 1850, and we find him +compelled to admit that one-ninth of the force then cultivating cotton +were white men. If one-ninth were white men in 1850, when the price of +cotton was much less and the crop much smaller than of late years, how +many are there now? + +One of the most reliable witnesses to the cultivation of cotton by free +labor is a Quaker gentleman in Philadelphia, who conducts a cotton +factory supplied entirely with free-grown cotton, the goods being sold +to the Quakers, who will not use the product of slave labor of any kind. +This gentleman writes:-- + + I learned by correspondence with several intelligent Germans in + Texas, that their experiment of raising cotton by their own labor, + without the help of slaves, was a complete success. One planter + offered to supply me at once with one hundred and forty bales + raised in this way. The ground taken by thee that cotton can be + raised by white men, as well as by colored men, is entirely + correct. A very large portion is every year so raised. I have had + particular information of its being thus raised in Texas, + Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and North + Carolina. In some neighborhoods thousands of bales are thus raised + within the limits of two or three adjacent counties. + +It may be urged that this is upon uplands almost exclusively, and that +upon bottom lands it is not possible, on account of their being +unhealthy. + +Two statements will be made to disprove this latter assertion, and we +will then admit it to be true, and prove it to be of no consequence. + + The cotton planters, deserting the rolling land, are fast pouring + in upon the 'swamp.' Indeed, the impression of the sickliness of + the South generally has been rapidly losing ground (i.e. among the + whites of the South), and that blessing, health, is now sought + with as much confidence on the swamp lands of the Yazoo and the + Mississippi, as among the hills and plains of Carolina and + Virginia.--_De Bow's Resources of the South and West_. + +Dr. Barton, of New Orleans, in a paper read before the Academy of +Science, says: + + The class of diseases most fatal at the South are mainly those of + a preventable nature. In another place I have shown that the + direct temperature of the sun is not near so great in the South + during the summer as in the North. In fact, the climate is much + more endurable, all the year round, with our refreshing breezes, + and particularly in some of the more elevated parts of it, or + within one hundred miles of the coast. + +Dr. Barton had forgotten that white men can not perform field labor in +the South. + +But admit that white men had better work upon uplands,--the crop is +surer, owing to the less liability to frost and overflow; and good +cultivation will give an equal crop. Intelligent Northern men have taken +up exhausted plantations upon the uplands of North Carolina, and, by the +application of moderate quantities of guano, phosphate of lime, etc., +have carried the crop from two hundred up to eight hundred pounds of +clean cotton per acre; and for the last three years the writer has been +in the habit of selecting the North Carolina guano-grown cotton, in the +New York market, where it has been shipped via Wilmington or Norfolk, on +account of its good staple, good color, and extra strength. + +There is nothing in the cultivation of cotton involving harder work than +that of corn. In the early stages of its growth it is more tender than +corn, and requires more care,--which it does not get, since we find +Southern writers deploring that the cut-worm and the louse are charged +with many sins which are caused by careless cultivation and the bruises +inflicted by the clumsy negro hoes. The soil is very light, and most of +the work might be done by the plow and cultivator. Except upon very poor +soil there is only one plant allowed to eight and even ten square feet. +By the admission of Texas planters themselves, in the accounts of their +country which they have written to induce emigration and sell their +surplus land, there is very little work to be done during the hottest +part of the summer; the cultivation taking place in the spring, and the +picking in the fall and winter. Dr. J.S. Wilson, of Columbus, Ga., +writing upon the diseases of negroes, says there is no article of +clothing so needful to them, and so seldom supplied, as an overcoat. +Should some shrewd Yankee, starting South to go into the business of +raising cotton, lay in a large supply of flannel shirts, thick Guernsey +frocks, and woolen stockings, for his field hands, how many of his +neighbors would remind him of Lord Timothy Dexter's noted shipment to +the West Indies, and ask him why he did not take some warming-pans; and +yet, for his supply of thick, warm clothing he would have the authority +of all Southern physicians. + +Examine the directions given for the cultivation of cotton, and see how +much labor could be saved, provided slaves could be induced to use good +tools; planting the seed and covering it requiring one horse or mule and +_four_ hands,--one to smooth the ground, one to open the furrow, one to +plant, and one to cover. All of these operations can be performed by one +man with a planting machine. But the negro can not be trusted with one; +for the moment you begin to teach him the reasons for using it, you +begin to teach him the benefit of using another complicated machine, +which he has not before known much about--his own head and arms, and, +worse than all, his own legs, all of which you have stolen from him; and +then he will misapply his knowledge, as an old fugitive once told me he +had done: 'I took my own legs for security, and walked off.' + +I know a fugitive slave who was taught the trade of a blacksmith, and +who stole the art of writing; and a sad use he made of his +accomplishments; he forged free papers with his pen, and the sacred seal +of the State of Alabama with his tools, and then started North. In +Tennessee he got out of money, and stopped to work at his trade, was +suspected, brought before a court, his papers examined and pronounced +genuine, and he passed on to Canada or elsewhere. Surely this man did +not know how to take care of himself! + +There is no great reason why the slave should exert himself very much, +and why he should not, cannot be better stated than by the Rev. Mr. +McTeyire, the son of a large planter in South Carolina. 'Men,' he says, +'who own few slaves, and who share the labors of the field or workshop +with them, are very liable to deceive themselves by a specious process +of reasoning: they say, "I carry row for row with my negroes, and I put +no more on them than I take on myself." But the master who thus reasons +is forgetful or ignorant of the great truth that the negroes' powers of +endurance are less than his, while in the case of the latter there are +wanting those incentives which animate and actually strengthen the +master. This labor is for him, the gains of this excess of industry are +to make him rich. What is the servant bettered by the additional bale of +cotton extorted from exhausted nature, only that next year he shall have +more companions in the field, and the field be enlarged?' This is +extremely well put; but Rev. Mr. McTeyire, of South Carolina, must have +been unaware of the fact that it is not possible for a white man to work +row for row on cotton! + +But Southern planters are not without some ingenious machines. In a +_premium_ essay upon the cultivation of cotton, read before the Georgia +Agricultural Society, the Hon. Mr. Chambers thus describes one invented +by himself for covering the seed: 'I would cover with a board made of +some hard wood, an inch or an inch and a half thick, about eight inches +broad, beveled on the lower edge to make it sharp, slightly notched in +the middle so as to _straddle_ the row, and screwed on the foot of a +common shovel.' Very safe for negroes to use, not being complicated. + +But in the protests of intelligent Southern men, when they occasionally +wake up to the terrible results of their mode of cultivation, may be +found their own condemnation. + +Dr. Cloud, of Alabama, editor of the '_Cotton Plant_,' mourning the want +of pasturage in his own State, writes thus: 'Our climate is remarkably +favorable to rich and luxuriant pasturage. The red man of the forest and +the pioneer white man that came here in advance of our _scratching +plow_, tell us they found the wild oat and native grasses waving thick, +as high as a man's head, and so entwined with the wild pea-vine as to +make it difficult to ride among it, all over this country. Every cotton +planter has heard of these fine primitive pasture ranges, and many have +seen them. _If the country or the climate has been cursed in our +appearance as planters here, it has been in the wasting system, that we +introduced and continue to practice_.' + +Gov. Wise, in an address upon the agriculture of Virginia, condenses the +whole case in an epigram,--' The negroes skin the land, and the white +men skin the negroes.' + +The limit to the production of cotton is in the capacity of the +plantation force to pick the amount cultivated by the field hands; but +the whole available force is insufficient, and large quantities are +lost. The policy of the planters being to buy out the small landholders +in their neighborhood, they have no extra force upon which to draw. +Olmsted says: 'I much doubt if the harvest demand of the principal +cotton districts of Mississippi adds five per cent. to their field-hand +force. I observed the advantage of the free-labor system exemplified in +Western Texas, the cotton-fields in the vicinity of the German village +of New Braunfils having been picked far closer than any I had before +seen,--in fact perfectly clean. One woman was pointed out to me who had, +in the first year she had seen a cotton field, picked more cotton in a +day than any slave in the county.' + +'Substitute the French system (that of small allotment or +_parcellement_) for the Mississippi system in cotton-growing, and who +can doubt that the cotton supply of the United States would be greatly +increased?' + +Dr. Cloud, the most intelligent writer upon cotton cultivation I have +been able to find, is urgent in his advice to manure the land, practice +rotation of crops, and produce larger crops upon fewer acres. But the +universal practice is precisely the reverse; the process of exhaustion +is followed year after year; cotton is planted year after year; the +seed--which Northern men would cultivate for oil alone, and which +exhausts the land ten times faster than the fibre--is mostly wasted; in +the words of a Southern paper, 'The seed is left to rot about the +gin-house, producing foul odors, and a constant cause of sickness.' The +land is cropped until it is literally skinned, and then the planter +migrates to some new region, again to drive out the poor whites, +monopolize the soil, and leave it once more to grow up to 'piney woods.' + +Note again the warning words of Dr. Cloud: 'With a climate and soil +peculiarly adapted to the production of cotton, our country is equally +favorable to the production of all the necessary cereals, and as +remarkably favorable to the perfect development of the animal economy, +in fine horses, good milch cows, sheep and hogs; and for fruit of every +variety, _not tropical_, it is eminently superior. Why is it, then, that +we find so many _wealthy cotton planters_, whose riches consist entirely +of their slaves and worn-out plantations?' + +No crop would be more remunerative to a small farmer, with a moderate +family to assist in the picking season, than cotton. + +Upon the fertile lands of Texas, which produce one to two bales of +cotton to the acre, ten acres of cotton is the usual allotment to each +hand, with also sufficient land in corn and vegetables to furnish food +for the laborer and his proportion of the idle force upon the +plantation, which are two to one, without reckoning the planter and +overseer and their families. Now, upon the absurd supposition that a +free man, with a will in his work, would do no more work than a slave, +what would be the result of his labor? 1st, food for his family; 2d, 10 +acres of cotton, at 500 pounds to the acre, 5000 pounds, at 10 cents per +pound, or $500. But the result would be much greater, for, as a Southern +man has well said, 'the maximum of slave labor would be the minimum of +free labor;' and the writer can bring proof of many instances where each +field hand has produced 13, 15, and even 18 bales of cotton in a year. +With the denser population which would follow the emancipation of the +slaves and the breaking up of the plantation system, a harvest force for +the picking season would be available, and one man would as easily +cultivate 20 to 25 acres of cotton, with assistance in the picking +season, as he could thirty acres of corn, the usual allotment to each +hand upon the corn land of Texas. + +The very expense of slave labor is a proof of the profit which must be +derived from it. The writer has elsewhere estimated the cost of slave +labor at $20 per month, which statement has been questioned, because no +allowance was made for the increase of the live stock. Now it is well +understood that where the women are worked in the fields in such a +manner as to make their labor pay, the increase of live stock is much +smaller, and the business of breeding is left to the first families in +Virginia and other localities where the land has been exhausted (readers +will pardon a plain statement,--it will cause them to realize the full +horror of the business). The slaves in the cotton States increased from +1850 to 1860 33-88/100 per cent., in all the other slave States 9-61/100 +per cent. The surplus increase in the cotton States, above the average, +was 190,632. Where did they come from?[C] At $900 each, this surplus +represents a capital of $171,568,800. How was this sum earned, and to +whom was it paid? + +Let us examine the estimate of $20 per month, and, although it is +admitted that female field hands do not bear many children, take the +average increase of the country, or 2-335/1000 per cent. per annum. + +The standard of value for an A 1 field hand is $100 for each cent per +pound of the price of cotton, say ten cents per pound, $1000, and the +standard of value for all the slaves upon a plantation is one-half the +value of a field hand. + + Suppose a plantation stocked with + 100 slaves, men, women, and piccaninnies, + at 8500 each, $50,000 + Interest at 8 per cent., a low rate + for the South, 4,000 + Customary allowance for life insurance + or mortality, 1,000 + Overseer's wages, 1,000 + House and provisions, 500 + Doctor's fees, hospital, and medicines, 500 + Renewal and repairs of negro quarters, 500 + Clothing and food, at $1 per week + for each slave, 5,200 + ______ + 12,700 + + _Credit_. + + Increase to keep good the mortality, 2 + Annual gain, 2-335/1000, say 3 + Gain, 5, at $500 2,500 + Net cost, 10,200 + +The usual allowance for field hands is one-third,--allow it to be forty +in a hundred, the cost of each would be $255 per annum, or $21.25 per +month. + +Let each one make his own allowance for the disadvantage of having the +larger portion of the capital of a State locked up in a tool which would +do more and better work if recognized as a man and representing no +invested capital. How much productive industry would there be in New +England, if every laborer or mechanic cost his employer $800 to $1500 +before he could be set to work, and if each one who undertook to labor +upon his own account, and was not so purchased, were stigmatized and +degraded and termed 'mean white trash?' + +It will again be objected that the theory of the cotton planter is to +raise all the food and make all the clothing on the plantation. The +cultivation of cotton in the best manner is described by Southern +writers as a process of _gardening_. Now what would be thought of a +market gardener at the North who should keep a large extra force for the +purpose of spinning yarn on a frame of six to ten spindles, and weaving +it up on a rude hand loom? Would this not be protection to home industry +in its most absurd extreme? But this is the plantation system. + +The correctness of the estimate of cost can be tested in some degree by +the rates at which able-bodied slaves are hired out. Many lists can be +found in Southern papers; the latest found by the writer is in De Bow's +_Review_ of 1860. + +A list of fourteen slaves, comprising 'a blacksmith, his wife, eight +field hands, a lame negro, an old man, an old woman and a young woman,' +were hired out for the year 1860, in Claiborne Parish, La., at an +average of $289 each, the highest being $430 for the blacksmith, and +$171 for 'Juda, old woman.' + +The Southern States have thus far retained almost a monopoly of the +cotton trade of the civilized world by promptly furnishing a fair supply +of cotton of the best quality, and at prices which defied competition +from the only region from which it was to be feared, viz., India. This +monopoly has been retained, notwithstanding the steadily increasing +demand and higher prices of the last few years. + +Improvements in machinery have enabled manufacturers to pay full wages +to their operatives, both in this country and in England, and to pay +higher prices for their cotton than they did a few years since, without +materially enhancing the cost of their goods, the larger product of +cloth from a less number of hands and the saving of waste offsetting the +higher price of cotton; but it is not probable that the cost of labor +upon cotton goods can be hereafter materially reduced. The cost of labor +upon the heavy sheetings and drills which form the larger part of our +exports is now only one and one-half cents per yard, and the cost of +oil, starch, and all other materials except cotton, less than one-half +cent, making less than two cents for cost of manufacturing; but with +cotton at ten cents to the planter and twelve and one-half cents to the +spinner, the cost of cotton in the yard of same goods is five cents. + +With cotton at the average price of the last few years, we have supplied +a very small portion of India and China with goods, in competition with +their hand-made goods of same material. With new markets opening in +Japan and China, and by the building of railroads in India, we have to +meet a constantly decreasing supply of raw material as compared with the +demand. Give us cotton at six to seven cents, at which free labor and +skill could well afford it, and the manufacturing industry of New +England would receive a development unknown before. But when we ask more +cotton of slavery, we are answered by its great prophet, De Bow; that +because we are willing to pay a high price we can not have it; for he +says, 'Although land is to be had in unlimited quantities, whenever +cotton rises to ten cents, labor becomes too dear to increase production +rapidly.' + +And this is what the great system of slave labor has accomplished. The +production of its great staple, cotton, is in the hands of less than +100,000 men. In 1850 there were in all the Southern States only 170,000 +men owning more than five slaves each, and they owned 2,800,000 out of +3,300,000. + +These men have by their system rendered labor degrading,--they have +driven out their non-slaveholding neighbors by hundreds of thousands to +find homes and self-respect in the free air of the great West,--they +have reduced those who remain to a condition of ignorance scarcely to be +found in any other country claiming to be civilized--so low that even +the slaves look down upon the 'mean white trash,'--they have sapped the +very foundations of honor and morality, so that 'Southern chivalry' has +become the synonym for treachery, theft, and dishonor in every +form,--they have reached a depth of degradation only to be equalled by +those Northern men who would now prevent this war from utterly +destroying slavery,--they have literally skinned over a vast area of +country, leaving it for the time a desert, and with an area of +368,312,320 acres in the eight cotton States, they have now under +cultivation in cotton less than 6,000,000 (an area scarcely larger than +the little State of Massachusetts); they have less than two slave +laborers to the square mile; and their only opposition to the re-opening +of the African slave-trade is upon the ground that an increase of +laborers will but reduce the price of cotton, give the planters a great +deal more trouble and less profit, and only benefit their enemies in New +and Old England. + +Have not the manufacturer, the consumer, the business man, the farmer, +the soldier, every free man, every friend of the poor whites of the +South who are not yet free men, a right and an interest in claiming that +this monopoly of 100,000 cotton planters shall cease, their estates be +confiscated for their treason, and divided among our soldiers, to repay +them for their sacrifices in the cause of their country? First of all, +however, let us claim the 100,000,000 acres, not the property of any +individual, but fought for and paid for by the United States, and then +given to that most ungrateful of all the rebel States, Texas--the great +'Cotton State.' + +Upon these fertile lands, and in this most profitable branch of +agriculture, let us find the bounty for our soldiers, the reward for +their sacrifices, and our own security for the future good order of the +state. + +By so doing we shall silence the outcry of the South that ours is a war +of conquest (since the right of the government to the public lands of +Texas is unquestionable), and, at the same time, furnish a powerful +incentive to the zeal of our soldiers. + +I have compiled a few facts and statements in regard to the soil and +climate of Texas from Capt. Marcy's Exploration of the Red River, in +which he was accompanied by Captain, now General, McLellan, from the +_Texas Almanac_, a most violent pro-slavery publication, and from the +letters of a friend, a loyal Texan, who has been driven from his home, +and is now in the North. + +In advocating the Memphis and El Paso route for the Pacific Railroad, +Captain Marcy writes as follows:-- + + The road alluded to, immediately after leaving Fulton, Ark., leads + to an elevated ridge dividing the waters that flow into Red River + from those of the Sulphur and Trinity, and continues upon it, with + but few deviations from the direct course for El Paso and Dona Ana + to near the Brazos River, a distance of three hundred and twenty + miles, and mostly through the northern part of Texas. This portion + of the route has its locality in a country of surpassing beauty + and fertility, and possesses all the requisites for attracting and + sustaining a dense farming population. It is diversified with + prairies and woodland, and is bountifully watered with numerous + spring brooks, which flow off upon either side of the ridge + above-mentioned. The crest of the ridge is exceedingly smooth and + level, and is altogether the best natural or artificial road I + ever traveled over for the same distance. + + After leaving this ridge, the road crosses the Brazos near very + extensive fields of bituminous coal, which burns readily, with a + clear flame, and is very superior in quality. + + From the Brazos, the road skirts small affluents of that stream + and the Colorado for two hundred miles. The soil upon this section + is principally a red argillaceous loam, similar to that in the Red + River bottoms, which is so highly productive. + + As this route is included within the thirty-second and + thirty-fourth parallels of latitude, it would never be obstructed + with snow. The whole surface of the country is covered with a + dense coating of the most nutritious grass, which remains green + for nine months in the year, and enables cattle to subsist the + entire winter without any other forage. + + The line of this road east from Fort Smith would intersect the + Mississippi in the vicinity of Memphis, Tenn., and would pass + through the country bordering the Arkansas River, which can not be + surpassed for fertility.--_Marcy's Red River Exploration_. + +The route thus described lies through the following counties, and +attention is specially directed to their several products in 1858:-- + + Acres + County White Slave Corn Wheat Cotton Sug. Misc'l Total. + +Bowie 2,077 2,321 10,392 1,421 8,240 23 3,232 23,308 +Cass 6,112 4,816 28,474 5,552 20,168 36 4,368 58,508 +Titus 6,025 1,891 18,987 2,272 9,872 92 6,227 36,450 +Upshur 5,999 2,801 22,515 3,092 16,692 45 3,122 46,065 +Wood 3,254 733 8,336 1,090 3,194 31 1,841 14,501 +Van Zandt 2,548 242 6,504 837 1,213 8 596 8,160 +Henderson 2,758 827 8,470 845 4,768 70 908 15,061 +Navarro 2,885 1,579 10,531 2,785 4,678 127 2,609 20,730 +Hill 1,858 508 5,161 3,189 181 201 761 9,493 +Bosque 887 182 2,702 872 224 45 83 4,026 + ______ ______ _______ ______ ______ ___ ______ _______ + 34,403 15,800 121,072 22,564 69,330 678 22,748 236,392 + +Let us allow the usual proportion of field hands to the whole number of +slaves, viz., one-third, and we have a force of 5297; if whites do not +labor in the field, each field hand must cultivate 44 64/100 acres of +land. The customary allotment is ten cotton and five corn, or, where +corn and wheat are the principal products, from twenty to twenty-five +acres. + + July 15, 1852. We were in motion at two o'clock in the morning, + and, taking a north-east course towards the base of the mountain + chain, passed through mezquite groves, intersected by brooks of + pure water flowing into the south branch of Cache Creek, upon one + of which we are encamped. + + We find the soil good at all places near the mountains, and the + country well wooded and watered. The grass, consisting of several + varieties of the grama, is of a superior quality, and grows + luxuriantly. The climate is salubrious, _and the almost constant + cool and bracing breezes of the summer months_, with the entire + absence of anything like marshes or stagnant water, remove all + sources of noxious malaria, with its attendant evils of autumnal + fevers.--_Marcy's Exploration of the Red River_, p. 11. + + Our camp is upon the creek last occupied by the Witchitas before + they left the mountains. The soil, in point of fertility, + surpasses anything we have before seen, and the vegetation in the + old corn-fields is so dense that it was with great difficulty I + could force my horse through it. It consisted of rank weeds + growing to the height of twelve feet. Soil of this character must + have produced an enormous yield of corn. The timber is + sufficiently abundant for all purposes of the agriculturist, and + of a superior quality. + + We have now reached the eastern extremity of the Witchita chain + of mountains, and shall to-morrow strike our course for Fort + Asbuekl. + + The more we have seen of the country about these mountains, the + more pleased we have been with it. Bounteous nature seems here to + have strewed her favors with a lavish hand, and to have held out + every inducement for civilized man to occupy it. The numerous + tributaries of Cache Creek, flowing from granite fountains, and + winding like net-work through the valleys, with the advantages of + good timber, soil and grass, the pure, elastic and delicious + climate, with a bracing atmosphere, all unite in presenting rare + inducements to the husbandman.--_Marcy's Red River Exploration_. + +This section of country is in latitude 34 deg., longitude 99 deg.; the latitude +the same as the central part of South Carolina and the southern part of +Arkansas. + +We will now give statements from the _Texas Almanac_. + + The south winds are the source of comfort and positive luxury to + the inhabitants of Texas during the hot weather of summer. The + nearer the sea-coast, the cooler and more brisk the current; but + the entire area of prairie, and a large portion of the timbered + country, feel it as a pleasant, healthful breeze, rendering our + highest temperature tolerable.--_Prof. Forshey, of the Texas + Military Institute_. + + + TRINITY RIVER AND ITS VALLEY. + + So far as I have described the river, the climate is pleasant and + salubrious, and favorable for planting. The forests and + cane-brakes mitigate the cold of the northers in winter, and the + south breezes temper the heat of summer. Contrary to the usual + opinion, plantations, when once cleared of decaying timber, are + found to be remarkably healthy. In fact, there are no causes of + sickness. The river in summer is only a deep, sandy ravine, with a + clear and rapid stream of water running at its bottom, and in the + rear of the plantations, instead of swamps, are high rolling + cane-brakes. + + The paradox, that there is more good land on the Trinity than on + the Mississippi, is one which will be readily sustained by those + who are acquainted with the subject.--_Texas Almanac, 1861_. + + + TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS. + + The soil is exceedingly rich, from two to ten feet deep, and when + the seasons are favorable it produces from sixty to one hundred + bushels of corn, and from one and a half to two bales of cotton, + per acre. From twenty-five to thirty acres of corn, or twelve to + fifteen acres of cotton to the hand, are usually cultivated. + + Our country upon the whole is fertile and well watered, has timber + enough to supply its demands, and an everlasting amount of stone + for building; it has an eternal range of mesquit grass, on which + horses and cattle that never smell corn keep perfectly fat all + winter. The climate is delightful, the nights pleasant, a fine + south breeze in summer continually playing over the face of our + broad prairies, and the atmosphere so pure and invigorating, that + it is more conducive to good health to sleep out in the open air + than to sleep in-doors. There is something so attractive in this + section of country, that those who live here a short time are + seldom satisfied to live anywhere else. + + Our citizens are generally intelligent, enterprising, industrious, + religious, sober, and, _laying politics aside_, honest.--_Texas + Almanac_. + + + COMAL COUNTY. + + BY THE ASSESSOR. + + Mostly settled by Germans. In this county there are in cultivation + 600 acres in cotton, 15,000 acres in corn, 500 acres in wheat. The + acre yields 500 pounds of clean cotton, 40 bushels of corn, 20 + bushels of wheat. From 3,500 to 4,000 white inhabitants; 188 + slaves; 396 farms. Improved lands $30, unimproved $3 an acre. + _Most of the farms are cultivatd by white labor_; a white hand + cultivates thirty acres of corn. Peaches yield abundantly; apples + and quinces have been tried successfully. The wild grape, plum, + cherry, _mulberry_, and blackberry grow luxuriantly. Wine of good + quality has been made here. + + New Braunfels is the county seat. It has 2,000 inhabitants, and + boasts of having the only free school in the State, supported by + aid from the State school fund, and by direct taxation on the + property of the school district. Four teachers are employed, and + there are 250 pupils. + +The letters of my Texas friend give the following description of the +climate of Texas:-- + + The climate of Texas is very peculiar. This is owing to the body + of water to the eastward of it, and to the dry and elevated plain + of the Llano Estacado, and the lofty mountains which lie to the + westward. To these two causes are due the moisture and the cool + temperature, and at times and in certain localities the excessive + dryness of Texas. + + The Gulf stream, in its course along the coast of Florida and in + the Gulf of Mexico, has beneath it, running to the south, a cold + stream, nearly down to the freezing point. The great equatorial + current which strikes north of Cape St. Roque and through the + Caribbean Sea is suddenly narrowed between Cape San Antonio and + Cape Catoche; here the upper and warmer current, being condensed, + strikes deeper, and forces to the surface the cold water from the + under current, sometimes occasioning a roaring and very peculiar + noise. By this means the Gulf stream is divided, part turning to + the eastward around Cuba and between that island and Florida, and + part turning to the westward, north of the banks of Campeachy, and + striking Padre Island, an island upon the coast of Texas, about + one hundred and forty miles this current strikes, there are very + deep soundings, almost up with the land. South of this point, upon + the beach, are found mahogany and other tropical drift-wood, + brought there from the tropics; while north of it the drift wood + is oak, ash, and cotton-wood, brought from the north by a current + running counter to the Gulf stream, which I will hereafter + describe. From Padre Island the Gulf stream strikes off to the + north-east to the mouth of the Mississippi, thence around the + coast of Florida and through her keys, until it joins the other + branch. Inside the Gulf stream, along the coast of Texas, is the + counter-current before referred to, making down the coast at the + rate of two to three miles per hour, and bringing down the silt + and mud of the Mississippi, Sabine, etc. I have seen the water off + the Island of Galveston the color of chocolate, after a long + norther. + + Above the centre of Padre Island the coast of Texas deepens at the + rate of about a fathom to the mile, until at twenty fathoms there + is a coral reef, and on the easterly side of this reef the water + deepens, as by the side of a perpendicular wall, to a very great + depth. This reef marks the boundary of the Gulf stream, and also + the boundary of the terrible tornado. The tornado of the Gulf of + Mexico never passes this barrier, never strikes the land, nor has + it been known within memory of man upon the coast. + + It seems to confine itself to the course of the warm water of the + stream, and the great 'Father of the Waters' spreads his + counter-current down the coast of Texas, like a long flowing + garment, fending off the storm and the whirlwind, and thus still + better fitting Texas for the white man and the white man's labor. + + With this freedom from violent storms comes the delicious + southerly wind in the summer, which gives health and moisture to + the larger part of Texas. This wind varies in the point from which + it flows. From Sabine to Matagorda its course is from south-east + to south-south-east, growing more and more to the south as the + coast tends to the south, until at the Rio Grande it blows from + due south with perhaps a little westing in it. The course of this + wind will explain the three belts of Texas, the rainy, that of + less rain, and that of great drought. + + This wind from the south-east corner from across the ocean and + gulf (being a continuation of the south-east trades) laden with + moisture and of a delightful temperature, when it is met by the + cool air from the mountains, and condensed, giving the rains of + Eastern and Central Texas. The more southing they have in them, + the less moisture, until the extreme south-eastern portion of + Texas, or the country near the mouth of the Rio Grande, is one of + almost constant drought. There are thus three belts of moisture: + first, from the Sabine to the mouth of the Brazos, may be called + the belt of greatest rain,--from the Brazos to Lavaca or Victoria, + that of moderate rain,--and from Lavaca to the Rio Grande, the dry + belt. But even in the dry belt there is moisture enough to give + fine grasses, and make the country a fine one for grazing, and the + streams taking their rise in great springs, which probably have + their source in the melting snows of the Rocky Mountains, flowing + under the Llano Estacado and breaking out in great numbers in a + line almost north and south, never dry up, even in the dryest + seasons. + + In the winter months, Texas has winds from the north, which come + on very suddenly, and produce great variation in the temperature. + They are disagreeable, but wholesome, and clear the atmosphere. + They do not extend north of the Red River, nor very far west, but + increase in intensity as they go south. + + No country in the world can be healthier than Texas, and + consumption and pectoral complaints never originate in the area of + the northers. + + Eastern Texas is generally well wooded; Middle and Western Texas + have wood on the banks of the streams, and frequent spots of + timber on the prairies. + + Most of the country is covered with nutritious grass, affording + good pasture throughout the year, capable of supporting an endless + number of cattle and sheep, and almost all the soil is suited to + the growth of cotton. There are more than five thousand square + miles of bituminous coal in Texas, presenting seams five feet + thick, and hills of pure gypsum seven hundred feet high. These are + all covered by a generous sky and climate beneath which the white + man can live and work without fear of malaria or sickness, and + where he can enjoy all the blessings of the tropics without their + attendant disadvantages. + +It is this superb country which we trust General Lane and his forces may +soon redeem from the curse of slavery. + +The woolen manufacturer has an equal interest with the cotton-spinner in +demanding that this shall be done, for with this unequaled country for +the production of wool remaining under the curse of slavery, we import +annually nearly thirty million pounds of wool,--about one-third of our +whole consumption. With Texas free, and emigration from abroad--for a +long time reduced almost to nothing--freely encouraged, we should become +exporters of wool, not importers. + +But I am warned that I have exceeded the space allotted me. The absurd +assertion that the emancipated negro lapses into barbarism and will not +work, can only be met by the question, 'If he will not work except by +compulsion, why does he work extra after his compulsory labor is over?' +Evidence that he does so work can be presented _ad infinitum_, upon +Southern testimony; witness that De Bow's _Review_ makes only a _few_ +selections. + +The _peculium_ of Southern servants, even on the plantation, is +sometimes not trifling. We make a _few_ selections, showing-- + + THE NEGROES' CROP.--A friend has reported to us a sale, on + Tuesday, of a crop of cotton belonging to Elijah Cook, of Harris + Co., Ga., amounting to $1424 96-100.--_Columbus_ (Ga.) _Sun_, Dec. + 29, 1858. + + Mr. J.S. Byington informs us that he made two cotton purchases + lately. One was the cotton crop of the negroes of Dr. Lucas, of + this vicinity, for which he paid $1,800 in cash, every dollar of + which goes to the negroes.--_Montgomery (Ala.) Mail_, Jan. 21, + 1859. + + Speaking of negroes' crops, the sales of which our contemporaries + are chronicling in various amounts,--the largest which has come to + our knowledge is one made in Macon, for the negroes of Allen + McWalker. It amounted to $1969.65.--_Macon (Ga.) Telegraph_, Feb. + 3, 1859. + +Upon Louisiana sugar plantations, the exhausting work of the grinding +season can only be maintained by a system of premiums and rewards +equivalent to the payment of wages. Under that system the negroes of the +sugar plantations are among the most healthy and contented in the South; +while the same labor performed in Cuba, under the most severe +compulsion, causes an annual decrease of the slave population, and the +product of the island is only maintained by fresh importations of slaves +from Africa. + +With the following Southern testimony as to the intelligence of the +negro, I leave this subject:-- + + Without book learning the Southern slave will partake more and + more of the life-giving civilization of the master. As it is, his + intimate relations with the superior race, and the unsystematic + instruction he receives in the family, have placed him in point of + intelligence above a large portion of the white laborers of + Europe.--_Plantation Life, by Rev. Dr. McTeyire_. + +We claim emancipation for the white man; it can only be secured by the +freedom of the negro. The infinite justice of the Almighty demands both. + +If we now fail to accomplish it, to bear in the future the name of +'American Citizen' will be a badge of shame and dishonor. + + * * * * * + +GENERAL PATTERSON'S CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA. + + +It seldom happens that the history of any series of events can be +written soon after they have transpired. The idea of history implies +correctness, impartiality and completeness; and it is of rare occurrence +that all these requisites can be obtained in their fullness within a +brief period after the time of which the history is required. The +historians of this day write of the past; and the historian of our +present civil war is not yet born, who shall emulate the completeness +and conciseness of Irving's Columbus, or Prescott's Ferdinand and +Isabella, or Motley's Dutch Republic. Nor can we expect an early +solution to the 'Fremont question,' which shall be full and +satisfactory, though the length of time involved be but one hundred +days. But it is different with Gen. Patterson. It is true that his +loyalty is disputed, and in this question may be involved many +complicated issues; but the question of the general result of his three +months' campaign in Virginia admits but one answer;--it was a failure. +And it is an exception to the general rule that we can, within a few +months after his campaign closed, see and understand exactly why and how +he failed. + +It is not proposed in this article to discuss the loyalty of Gen. +Patterson, or to take sides with either those who claim for him a +patriot's laurels or those who would have him suffer a traitor's fate. +We shall ignore this question entirely, simply examining the acts of his +last campaign, with reference to his capability and efficiency, the +nature and effects of his policy, and the reasons of his failure. We +propose to try him in the same manner and by the same standard as we +would if his loyalty had never been questioned. + +The early morning of the 12th day of June, 1861, found the writer a +volunteer soldier of less than two months' experience in camp, just +arrived with his regiment, from the distant Badger State, at +Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, where it was to join Patterson's division +of the Federal army. For the next two months ensuing, the writer +possessed all the facilities attainable to a private in the ranks for +observing the progress of events in that division of the army, judging +as to the propriety or necessity of the various movements, and forming +opinions as to whether Patterson was using to the best advantage the +military means within his control. These facilities were not many, it is +true; but the public opinion of the North demanded certain actions from +the general, and the writer, though but a private, could judge as to +whether those demands of the loyal North were reasonable, and as to +whether Patterson could accomplish what was required, if he chose. He +was expected to _do something_; it did not matter in what particular +manner; but it was deemed essential that he should in some way hold +Johnston in check, and prevent his junction with the main rebel force at +Manassas. And this was precisely what Patterson did not do. Bull Run was +fought and lost, and the very result attained which Patterson was +expected to prevent. Could it have been prevented? + +It is fashionable in these days to set up the cry of inefficiency when a +general does not do everything that public opinion requires. The +Americans are proverbially a fault-finding people; and it will of course +be as easy to make out an _ex parte_ case against Gen. Patterson as +against our other generals. We propose, nevertheless, at the risk of +being unfashionable, to discuss candidly these expectations of the +American people which were not realized, together with the actual doings +of the unsuccessful general. We deem it susceptible of logical proof +that Patterson might and should have prevented Johnston's junction with +Beauregard. + +Tents pitched, and the dust of travel from a journey of a thousand miles +washed off, the 'boys' of the 1st Wisconsin regiment stretched their +weary limbs on the fragrant clover of Pennsylvania, and, like American +soldiers everywhere, discussed with earnestness and warmth the causes, +progress, and prospects of the war. Our own position was not a little +interesting. The strength of Patterson's division was not precisely +known, but troops were arriving daily, and it was supposed to consist of +about twenty thousand men. As was well understood, it was intended to +menace Harper's Ferry, a strong natural, military and strategic +position, then held by the rebels. A severe struggle was anticipated if +the Ferry were attacked, and many were the pictures drawn of bloody +scenes and terrible carnage. But the writer, doubting the assumed +strength of the rebels at that point, freely expressed the opinion that +there would be no fight there, but that the rebels would evacuate the +post. And before his regiment left Chambersburg, this prediction was +verified. The rebels, alarmed at the prospect which loomed up before +them of a strong column of Federal troops, burned the Armory and +Arsenal, and fled. And here we may find a key to the whole of the rebel +manoeuvring--they were weak, and unable to cope with Patterson, _and +they knew it_. Upon no other hypothesis can we account for their +evacuating so strong and so important a point as Harper's Ferry. + +Up to this time it had been a foregone conclusion with the army, as well +as with the American people, that Patterson was to occupy Harper's +Ferry. No other course of action was for a moment thought of. Even so +late as the 30th of June, when the different brigades were called +together, preparatory to crossing the Potomac, very many were sanguine +that Harper's Ferry was to be made the base of operations, and did not +give up that opinion till they found themselves _en route_ for +Williamsport. But the strong strategic position was neglected for more +than a month; and finally, on the very day when Johnston poured his +fresh legions upon the bloody field of Bull Run, and forced the Federals +to fall back, Patterson, with his back to the foe, entered Harper's +Ferry, with his three months' men, whose term of enlistment was +expiring, by the very road by which Johnston had left it in June. + +This neglect of Patterson to occupy the strongest point in his field of +operations puts the stamp of imbecility upon him at the commencement of +his campaign. The rebels expected him to occupy that point, as, even so +late as the time of his crossing the Potomac, the force which disputed +his onward march into the valley of Virginia was not so great as that +held at Charleston to dispute his march from Harper's Ferry in case he +entered the valley there. Patterson himself confessed his mistake, by +retiring to the Ferry in July, for the avowed reason that his three +months' men must soon go home, and he must be in such a position as not +to tempt an attack from the rebels while his column was thus weakened +and disorganized, and before he could be reinforced by three years' men. +Why did not this necessity, and the propriety of holding Harper's Ferry +as a base of operations for this reason alone, if for no other, occur to +the cautious general before, as it did to so many of less military +experience than himself? Patterson, at the last day, thus confesses his +error. It was the first great mistake of his campaign. The second was +one of a different nature. + +On the 2d day of July, the army crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, by +means of the ford. The crossing was commenced at daylight, and consumed +the whole of the day. Just before daylight, a little passage at arms +occurred on the Virginia side of the stream, the companies who had been +thrown over the night before as pickets having been fired on by a +detachment of the 'Berkeley Border Guard,' and returning the fire +promptly. But this served only to stimulate the already keen energies of +the Federal forces, who waded knee-deep through the clear Potomac, and +trudged along over the 'sacred soil' with a willingness unchecked by the +cold nor'wester that raged on that July morning. That portion of +Berkeley County, Virginia, which lies opposite to Willlamsport, is +called 'the Neck,' being in the shape of a horse-shoe, and nearly +surrounded by the detour of the Potomac. The turnpike leading from +Williamsport to Martinsburg and Winchester traverses the whole length of +'the Neck;' and it was on this road that the advance guard of the +division, Abercrombie's Brigade, took its line of march, a brush with +the rebels being momentarily expected. The first view of their pickets, +after leaving Williamsport, was obtained at Falling Waters, by which +sonorous appellation the Virginians designate a small and pretty +mill-pond, which loses itself over the dam of a solitary grist-mill, +within a stone's throw of the Potomac. Here was a strong natural +position, and an excellent place for waging a defensive war, if the +rebels had been so disposed. But they did not make a stand till a point +was reached a mile south from Falling Waters, and about five miles from +Williamsport, where their skirmishers opened fire at 9.15, A.M. The +skirmish which ensued, and which has since been styled the Battle of +Falling Waters, was sustained on the part of the Federals by +Abercrombie's Brigade, consisting of the 1st Wisconsin and the 11th +Pennsylvania regiments, McMullen's Philadelphia company of Independent +Rangers, the Philadelphia City Troop of cavalry, and Perkins' Field +Battery of six guns. This force speedily dislodged a superior force of +the enemy, and pursued them for two miles, as far as the hamlet of +Hainesville, where orders from Gen. Patterson to cease the pursuit +allowed the rear-guard of the rebels to elude their grasp. The contest +and the chase lasted but two hours, and at noon the advance guard +encamped at Hainesville. The remainder of the day was consumed by the +army in selecting grounds and pitching tents; and by night, Gen. +Patterson, with twenty thousand men, had succeeded in marching seven +miles, routing Col. Jackson's rebel brigade, and occupying Camp Jackson, +distant about two and one-half miles from the Maryland shore of the +Potomac. On Tuesday, the 3d of July, the indomitable general advanced +five and one-half miles farther, to Martinsburg, the county seat of +Berkeley County, and occupied the town with his whole force, without +firing a gun; the rebel rear-guard leaving Martinsburg for the south as +the Federal advance entered it from the north. + +It would seem that at such a moment a skillful general would take +advantage of such a little success, and follow it up, especially when he +had spent as much time in preparation as had Patterson, by a series of +crushing blows, if anything could be found to crush. And in view of the +facts that Gen. Johnston had thus far made almost no opposition to the +advance of the Unionists, and that Patterson's soldiers were without +exception eager and anxious to push on, the policy of holding back seems +almost unaccountable. But Patterson tarried at Martinsburg for nearly +two weeks, and telegraphed for more troops; and on the 15th of July, +when he commenced his forward march toward Winchester, he suddenly +discovered that Johnston had so fortified that place that it would be +unsafe to attack it! It may be that he could get no accurate information +as to the strength of the rebel force, and that he supposed them to be +superior to himself. Still, there were many signs which a capable +general could have read plainly. It was well known that there were in +Johnston's advance force no really good troops, except the 'Berkeley +Border Guard,' a company of cavalry, composed of citizens of Berkeley +County, who, from their complete and minute knowledge of the country, +their skill in the saddle, and their zeal in the rebel cause, were as +formidable, though not so notorious, as the Black Horse Cavalry of +Fairfax and Prince William. The rout of the rebels at Hainesville, or +Falling Waters, partook of the nature of a panic, as was evidenced by +the profuse scattering of knapsacks, clothing, canteens and provisions +along the 'pike.' Indeed, the conduct of the Virginia militia scarcely +sustained the loud professions of desire to 'fight and die in defending +the sacred soil of Virginia from the invader,' as announced by the +letters and papers found in their knapsacks. And the whole course of +these events convinced the private soldiers, if not the commanding +general, that Johnston's highest ambition at that time was to gain time. +Did he not know as well as any one that the time of enlistment of many +of Patterson's men had nearly expired? And what more natural than for +him to keep the latter at bay till such a time as the withdrawal of very +many of his best troops would force him to retire? There were many true +Unionists, too, in the ranks of the rebels, who would have been glad of +opportunities to escape; this was well known. It seems impossible to +resist the conclusion that Patterson should have acceded to the +unanimous wish of his rank and file, and followed up his success at +Hainesville, by occupying Martinsburg on the 2d, advancing to 'Bunker +Hill' on the 3d, and dispersing the small rebel force known to be there, +and celebrating the 4th of July by marching on Winchester, and attacking +and reducing that post, as it seems he might easily have done at that +time. This would of course prevent the apprehended junction of Johnston +with Beauregard. The history of the war in the Old Dominion would then +have been differently written; Bull Run and its panic would not be a +stain upon our national honor, and--but who can not read the rest? It is +true, Patterson should bear none of the blame of the Bull Run disaster, +if he could have done nothing to avoid it; but we have shown that he +could have done what was necessary, and that there were reasons existing +at the time for taking such a course, of which he should have been +cognizant. + +The army left Martinsburg for the south, as we have seen, on Monday, +July 15th. The whole division, with trifling exceptions, moved forward, +and advanced on that day as far as 'Bunker Hill,' ten miles from +Martinsburg. An insignificant rebel force fell back as Patterson +advanced, and at 'Bunker Hill' the army encamped around the smoking +brands of the rebel camp-fires, just deserted. Here was a small +post-town called Mill Creek; and near by, the high ridge called 'Bunker +Hill' formed another fine natural position for defence; but the rebels +were not disposed to defend it. Patterson lay here two days, within +twelve miles of the rebel strong-hold at Winchester, the pickets of the +two armies watching each other by night and day. On the 17th the Federal +army was astir before daylight, and an advance to the south was +commenced. But before the rear-guard filed down from 'Bunker Hill' to +the turnpike, a counter-march was ordered; and the whole division +proceeded twelve miles to the east, leaving Winchester on their flank, +and occupying Charlestown, in Jefferson County. What could have pleased +Johnston better? What wonder that he should take the opportunity, as +soon as satisfied that this flank movement was not intended to operate +against him, to leave his fortifications at Winchester in charge of a +small force, and rush to reinforce Beauregard? And is it not more than +remarkable that Patterson, after occupying Charlestown for four days, +should fall back to Harper's Ferry on the very day when his foe had +effected his _ruse de guerre_, and was actually turning the tide of +battle at Bull Run? + +There is nothing in all this to change the opinion, previously formed, +that Patterson should have pushed on to Winchester early in July. The +whole of Johnston's manoeuvering seems to have been calculated merely to +deceive Patterson, and to gain time. And so clever was he in his +strategy, that, when his march to Manassas commenced, Patterson, +learning either of the main movement or of a feint towards himself, +aroused his army at midnight, and held them in readiness to fight, in +apprehension of instant attack. As early as the middle of June, when +Patterson threw a brigade over the Potomac at Williamsport, on a +reconnoitering expedition, Johnston heard of the movement, and advanced +a small force to engage and delay the Federals, which fell back as soon +as the latter retired, as has since been learned from escaped prisoners +and deserters. Indeed, the whole of Patterson's campaign shows far +superior generalship on the part of his adversary. + +Scarcely had the cautious general occupied from necessity that point +whose strength and natural facilities he had previously despised, when +the term of his appointment as general of the division expired, and the +government allowed him to retire to private life. His successor's first +act was to retire across the Potomac and occupy the Maryland Heights, +opposite to Harper's Ferry, leaving not a foot of rebel soil to be held +by our army as an evidence of the 'something' which had been expected of +the venerable commander of the army of the Shenandoah. He had spent +three months of time, and ten millions of money, and had only emulated +the acts of that Gallic sovereign whose great deeds are immortalized in +the brief couplet, + + 'The king of France, with twice ten thousand men, + Marched up the hill, and then--marched down again.' + +He had done more. He had committed another grave error, which has +received but little public attention, but which told with disastrous +effect upon the Union cause in Northern Virginia. That section of the +State, as is well known, contained many true Union men. Previous to +Patterson's entry into Virginia, they had been proscribed and severely +treated by the secessionists. Many had been impressed by the rebel +troops; the 'Berkeley Border Guard' had dragged many a peaceable +Unionist from his bed at night to serve in the ranks of Johnston's army. +But many others had been able to keep their true sentiments wholly to +themselves, and had feigned sympathy with secession; while many more had +fled from their homes across the Potomac, and sought refuge in loyal +Maryland, where they hung around the Federal camps, vainly urging an +early advance, that they might go home and take care of their families +and their crops. Thus was Berkeley County completely shackled, and a +reign of terror fully established. And on that bright morning of the 2d +of July, as the Federal army marched over the 'sacred soil,' the cleanly +cut grain fields, with their deserted houses, told plainly of +secessionist owners, who could stay at home and cut their grain while +the rebels were in force, but who fled before the advance of Union +troops, and deserted their homes; while the fields of standing grain, +with the golden kernels ripe and almost rotting on the stalks, and the +cheerless-looking houses, tenanted only by women and children, told as +plainly of the poor Unionists, driven from home and family by the +'Border Guard' who so bravely 'defended the sacred soil.' With the +advance of the Union army came back hundreds of Union refugees from +Maryland; poor, half-starved men crept out to the roadside from their +hiding-places, and told the Union troops that they now first saw +daylight for several weeks; and the lonely yet brave women displayed +from their hovels the Union flags, the true 'Red, White, and Blue,' +which their loyalty had kept for months concealed. And as the army +tarried at Martinsburg, and reinforcements came in, the secret Unionists +avowed their real sentiments; the Union flag was displayed from many a +dwelling; and the fair hands of Martinsburg women stitched beautiful +banners, which, with words of eloquent loyalty, were presented to the +favorite Union regiments, and even now are cherished in Northern homes, +or in Union encampments, as mementos of the gratitude of Berkeley County +for its deliverance from the reign of terror. Yet how was the confidence +repaid which these loyal people thus reposed in Gen. Patterson? In less +than three weeks, not a Union soldier was left in Martinsburg, and +before the first of August they were withdrawn wholly from Berkeley and +Jefferson Counties. And the poor refugees who had returned to their +homes in good faith, and the loyalists who in equal good faith had +spoken out their true patriotism and their love of the Union, were left +to the tender mercies of the 'Berkeley Border Guard,' and such braves as +the Texan Rangers, the Mississippi Bowie-knives, and the Louisiana Tiger +Zouaves. Gray-headed men like Pendleton and Strother were dragged from +their homes to languish for weeks in Richmond jails, and the old reign +of terror was reestablished with renewed virulence. Shall we ask these +poor, deceived Unionists of Northern Virginia what they think of Gen. +Patterson, and of the success of his campaign? How can we estimate the +injury to the cause of the Union inflicted in this way alone by a +grossly inefficient Federal general? + +There were other reasons than those already enumerated why Patterson +should have occupied Harper's Ferry at an early day, and these were +reasons of economy, which commended themselves to the judgment of almost +every one except the commanding general. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad +is the natural and only good thoroughfare along the valley of the upper +Potomac. Harper's Ferry, confessedly the strongest and best military +point in Northern Virginia, and the one best fitted for a base of +offensive operations, is on this railroad, and, of course, of easy +access from Baltimore and Washington. In June last the road was open +from Baltimore to the Point of Rocks, between which last place and the +Ferry were some rebel obstructions easy to be removed. Had Gen. +Patterson occupied Harper's Ferry in June, and opened the railroad to +that point, and from thence carried on the campaign like a brave +general, worthy to command the brave men who filled the ranks of his +army, the government might by this time have made the whole line of the +Baltimore and Ohio Railroad of use, as a means of transporting troops +and munitions between Cincinnati and Baltimore,--a desideratum then, as +now, very strongly urged, as the shortest route between those points is +the circuitous one _via_ Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. It could have been +of great use, too, to Patterson's division of the army, in transporting +supplies from Baltimore, by the most natural and expeditious route. But +it was his plan to enter Virginia at Williamsport, so that all supplies +for his division must go from Baltimore and Philadelphia to Harrisburg, +and thence by rail to Hagerstown, where they were loaded upon army +wagons, and transported thus to and across the Potomac, and for fifteen +or twenty miles into Virginia, to the Federal camps, at very great +outlay and expense. So earnest did Gen. Patterson seem to be, either in +doing nothing, or else in causing all the expenditure possible. + +These are the arguments which address themselves to our reason, as +bearing on the question of Patterson's success or failure, and as +explanatory of the latter. As before stated, they are urged, not to show +that Patterson should have possessed prophetic knowledge or any +extraordinary powers, but to illustrate his failure to understand what +was transpiring before his face and eyes. He is culpable, not because he +did not achieve impossibilities, but because he did not do what plain +common-sense seemed to require. The writer heard, among the Federal +camps, but one reason suggested for Patterson's neglect to occupy +Harper's Ferry in June, which was, that probably the rebels had +concealed sundry infernal machines in its vicinity, which would destroy +thousands of the Union soldiers at the proper time. This was building a +great military policy on a very small basis. If there was running +through Gen. Patterson's policy any such plan of military strategy, or, +in fact, any plan whatever, we have the curious spectacle presented of a +general of an army ignoring common-sense, and building up a plan of a +great campaign solely upon improbabilities. And it strikes us that this +may be the key to the general's system of warfare, and a very plain and +lucid explanation of his failure. + +It is not deemed desirable here to treat of Patterson's other faults, +such as his indulgent treatment of rebel spies, his failure to +confiscate rebel property, and his distinguishing between the property +of rebels and loyalists, by placing strong guards over the former, and +neglecting to take equal care of the latter. Such acts only prove him to +be either more nice than wise, or less nice than foolish; unless we +argue him to be, as many do, a secret secessionist. But we leave it to +others to draw inferences as to his loyalty or disloyalty. Our task is +accomplished if we have shown that whether loyal or false, whether a +patriot or a traitor, his three months' campaign in Virginia proves him +unfit to be a commander, by revealing three great faults, each injuring +the cause he professed to aid, all combining to render his campaign a +failure, and two of the three assisting directly in our disaster at Bull +Run, and deepening that dark stain upon our national escutcheon. His +neglect to occupy Harper's Ferry in June, his failure to push on against +Johnston when there was an opportunity to injure him, and his cool +betrayal of the Unionists of Northern Virginia into the clutches of the +rebel Thugs, will place the name of Patterson by the side of the names +of Lee, Hull, Winder, and Buchanan, who, though not the open enemies of +their country, were its false and inefficient friends. + + * * * * * + +THE GAME OF FATE. + + + Ever above this earthly ball, + There sit two forms, unseen by all, + Playing, with fearful earnestness, + Through life and death, a game of chess. + + Feather of pride and wolfish eye, + Judas-bearded, glancing sly; + Many a pawn you have gathered in, + Through circling ages of shame and sin! + + Fair as an angel, tender and true, + Is he who measures his might with you; + Oft he has lost, in times long gone, + But ever the terrible game goes on. + + But where are the chessmen to be found?-- + Where the picket paces his dangerous round; + Where the general sits, with chart and map; + Where the scout is scrawling his hurried scrap. + + Where the Cabinet weigh the chances dread; + Where the soldier sleeps with the stars o'erhead; + Where rifles are ringing the peal of death, + And the dying hero yields his breath. + + Where the mother and sister in silence sit, + And far into midnight sew and knit, + And pray for the soldier-brother or son,-- + God's blessing on all that the four have done! + + Where the traitors plot, in foul debate, + To war with God and strive with fate; + Digging pitfalls to catch them slaves,-- + Pitfalls, to serve for their own deep graves. + + Where the Bishop-General proves that the rod + Which lashes women is blest of God. + There's a rod to come, ere the red leaves fall, + Which will swallow your rattlesnake, scales and all. + + Where the wretched Northern renegade + On a Southern journal plies his trade, + Swearing and writing, with scowl or smile, + That all that is Yankee is low and vile. + + Where the cowardly dough-face talks of war + But fears we are going a little too far;-- + Hoping the North may win the fight, + But thinking the South is 'partially right.' + + Where the trembling, panting contraband + Makes tracks in haste from the happy land; + And where the officer-gentlemen + Catch him and order him home again! + + Where the sutler acts like an arrant scamp, + And aids the contractor to rob the camp; + Both of them serving the South in its sin, + And all of them helping the devil to win. + + So the game goes on from day to day, + But there's ONE behind all who watches the play; + Well he knows who at last must beat, + And well he will reckon up every cheat. + + Wolfish dark player, do your best! + There's a reckoning for you as well as the rest; + Eastward or westward your glance may wend, + But the devil always trips up in the end. + + * * * * * + +JONATHAN EDWARDS AND THE OLD CLERGY. + + +Of late years the attention of many thinking men has been much turned to +the early clergy of America. One reads of St. Peter's Church that, +notwithstanding its immense size above ground, it has an equal amount of +masonry under ground. Of the iceberg even more can be said, since its +submerged proportions are of vastly greater extent than its visible +surface. One may well inquire how much of American greatness is hidden +in its foundation. How massive indeed must be the hidden corner-stone on +which rests the structure of national character. New England is now +turning its attention to the histories of ancient families; genealogy is +no small feature in modern literature, and thus the age seems to confess +that such research is a token of advance. + +I believe that the strength of our ancestors was owing to their pure and +simple piety; indeed, one can not go back even for a century without +meeting this element in clear developement. The old New England +preachers were of a character peculiarly adapted to the severe +exigencies of their day. They stood as iron men in an iron age. However +rude in other social features, the early settlers, as they worked their +way to the frontier, demanded the soothing influences of pastoral care, +and the first institution reared in the forest was the pulpit, the next +the school-house. The pastors were settled for life, and minister and +people abode in communion, with little change but that of age. In +seeking a field, the youth just launched into his profession +'candidated' among vacant churches, and was heard with solemn attention +by the selectmen and bench of deacons. Notes were taken by the more +fastidious for subsequent criticism, and the matter was discussed with +all the importance of a national treaty. When the call had been +accepted, the stipend was generally fixed at one hundred pounds, and a +rude parsonage opened its doors of welcome. To this was almost +invariably attached a farm, whose native sterility called for such +expenditure of toil that it might truly have been said, + + 'The furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke.' + +These men indeed united mental and physical labor in a remarkable +degree. The long winters were devoted to study, to sermons, or to +meetings,--the summer to the plow and the harvest. One instance is on +record in which the entire stock of a year's sermons were written +between December and April. But, notwithstanding the inevitable drudgery +of such a life, the ministry was, upon the whole, noted for study. The +course held at Harvard required close application, and even at the +chapel exercises the Scriptures were daily read in the original +languages. These labors and studies are recorded in that quaintest of +all American books, Mather's Magnalia. Whatever be the pedantry and +vanity of its author, he is undeniably worthy of rank among the men whom +he chronicled. Indeed, the Mathers, father and son, illustrated a race +of rare moral and intellectual power. The first of these, who enjoyed +the profitable name of 'Increase,' was equally popular and successful as +president of Harvard or pastor of the church of Cambridge, and the son +takes little pains to conceal his filial pride as he blazons the virtues +of 'Crescentius Madderus.' He is particular in recording him as the +first American divine who received the honorary title D.D. As one looks +back upon the primitive days of the nascent university, he is struck by +the contrast between the present numerous and stately array of halls, +the magnificent library, and all the pomp of a modern commencement, and +the slender procession of rudely clad youth led by Increase Mather. As +they marched out of the old shaky college and filed into the antique +meeting-house, what would they have said to a glimpse of Gore Hall and +its surroundings? But those were the beginnings of greatness, simple as +they were. + +The pages of the Magnalia are filled with portraits hit off in a +masterly style. Mather was a true 'Porte Crayon,' and knew how to bring +out salient points with a few happy touches. His picture-gallery is like +an ancient Valhalla, full of demigods. Among their characteristics are +strong contrasts. Here are piety and poverty and learning, hand in hand. +These men, as we have stated, could swing the axe, or chop logic, at a +moment's notice; could pull vegetables, or dig out Hebrew roots, with +alternate ease. Notwithstanding their long days of labor, their minds +kept their edge, being freshly set by incessant doctrinal disputations. +Such, indeed, was the public appetite for controversy that polemic +warfare never slumbered. Our view of their character is assisted by a +contrast with the English clergy of the same day, and which reveals +shameful deformities on the part of the latter--avarice, indolence, and +gluttony. Of such, Milton spake in Lycidas, with withering contempt, as +those who + + 'for their bellies' sake + Creep, and intrude, and climb into the fold.' + +If the Puritan poet be charged with prejudice, we have only to turn to +the pages of Macaulay for confirmation. Where, indeed, if this be true, +did Fielding obtain the originals for the ordinary at Newgate, or +'parson Trulliber' in Joseph Andrews? + +Sad and strange was that disappointment which awaited the first +emigrants to Massachusetts Bay. But there was a divine mercy in it; they +came to seek peace, but a sword awaited them. I refer to the famous Anne +Wheelright controversy, which rent the infant settlement of Boston for +more than ten years. The excitement extended through the entire colony, +affording many a bitter and vindictive argument. The pulpit belabored it +in sermons of two hours' length, after which the deacons in their +official seats occasionally expatiated to audiences whose patience on +this theme was inexhaustible. As the controversy waxed hot, it got into +the hands of the civil authorities, and some of its disputants were +thrust into jail as heretical. Anna Wheelright was a woman of great +mental vigor, and could hold her own in a debate with her reverend +disputants. Unfortunate as this controversy may appear, it proved a +benefit, by sharpening the public mind to a prodigious degree. Indeed, +the very children of Boston could define the terms of the covenant of +grace. Weary of a controversy bordering on persecution, Anne Wheelright +sought a new home in the wilderness, and was subsequently murdered by +the Indians. But the force of mental exercise which she had put in +motion still continued. It is worthy of remark that almost the only +intellectual peculiarity to which Franklin refers, in speaking of his +father, is 'a turn for polemics.' The great features of New England +character were, at that day, opinion and faith. It was these, as boldly +and defiantly expressed, which excited the fears and jealousy of Charles +the Second, and instigated the deprival of the colonial charters. + +The studious and prayerful habits of the clergy continued from +generation to generation, and their piety was most tender and touching +in their ministrations. We might dwell, had we time, on the Cottons, the +Mitchells, and the Sheppards, but, revered above all others, comes +before us the venerable form of John Elliott, the missionary, clad in +homespun apparel, his face shining with inward peace, while his silver +locks overhang his shoulders. He was the Nestor of divines, and the +character of his labors might be judged from his motto--' Prayers and +pains with faith in Christ Jesus can accomplish anything.' His efforts +and successes amongst the Indians were remarkable, and it was commonly +reported that he possessed the gift of prophecy. But he was not the only +man of that day who dwelt so close to the confines of the spiritual +world as to be alternately visited by angels and devils. Indeed, what +tales of the supernatural Mather relates, what a juxtaposition of saints +and demons! Of course, there was a foundation to build upon,--had not +Mather himself in his family for more than a year a possessed girl, +whose familiar haunted the house and made it ring at times like a +bedlam? It was a peculiar characteristic in this chapter of _diablerie_, +that when the Scriptures were being read, or prayers attended, the +spasms became terrific; but when any ungodly book was substituted in +place of the Bible, there was an immediate relief. + +The age was one of wonders, and Mather devotes an entire book to what he +calls Thaumaturgia. Many of its statements are bold impositions on the +reader's credulity; but there was much which, in those days of +ignorance, must have seemed to Mather to be undeniable phenomena of a +mysterious nature. After the colony had escaped many minor dangers, a +new ordeal of suffering awaited it in a faith in sorcery, resulting in +the horrible episode of Salem witchcraft, which may be considered the +darkest stain upon the age. The death-beds and parting scenes in such a +community were cherished features in domestic history, and almost every +cottage could boast its Euthanasy. Ministering angels not only hovered +over the couch, but touched their harps in melodies, whose music +sometimes reached the human ear. Youth tender and inexperienced claimed +a share in these triumphs, and Nathanael Mather, though but seventeen, +expires in all the maturity of a saintly old age. + +Coming down to the survivors of the first emigration, we find them +lingering amid the respect and veneration of the community, and their +graves were deemed worthy of patriarchal honor. After their departure +the ministry seems to have lost tone and fervor. The union of church and +state swept them into secularities, and thus impaired their strength. So +great was the decline, that by the close of the first century, formality +chilled the churches, and the people bewailed their coldness, while the +aged wept at the remembrance of by-gone days. Cotton Mather had +prophesied of a coming time when churches would have to be gathered _out +of the churches_ in the colony. The cry of the saints was 'Return, how +long, O Lord, and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.' Some of +the more hopeful maintained that the midnight only heralded an +approaching dawn. Two ministers on Long Island, Barber and Davenport, +had received divine assurance of a return of power, and held themselves +in anxious waiting. At last, brilliant flashes began to play athwart the +sky, and instead of the meteoric glare which some feared, it indicated +the purer sunbeam, in whose genial power the church was to rejoice for +more than a third of a century. Whitefield's advent sent a thrill +through all New England. He sailed from Charleston to Newport, where +venerable parson Clapp, tottering with age, welcomed him as though he +had been an angel of God. Whitefield's power was comparable to the +supernatural, and it was in this view John Foster, at a later day, found +the only solution of his success. In the pulpit his appearance and +manners exceeded the dreams of apostolic grace--a youth of elegant form, +with voice of enchanting melody, clear blue eyes, an endurance which +knew no exhaustion--a fancy which ranged both worlds--were all fused by +a burning zeal for the salvation of souls. Such was Whitefield at +twenty-five, and as such he was worthy of that ovation which he received +at Boston, when governor and council went out in form to welcome him. +The evangelist bore his honors meekly, and hospitality did not weaken +the vials of wrath which he poured upon the unfaithful. He found, as he +said, in New England 'a darkness which might be felt.' At Cambridge, he +thundered at the deadness of Harvard and its faculty, and electrified +the land by striking at its glory. The hearers alternately wept and +shivered, and the professors, headed by old Dr. Holyoke (who afterwards +lived to celebrate his hundredth birthday), levelled a defensive and +aggressive pamphlet at their castigator; but Governor Belcher kissed the +dauntless preacher, and bade him 'cry aloud and spare not, but show the +people their sins.' + +The second century, like the first, opened with fierce ecclesiastical +tumult. Whitefield's itineracy, like the blazing cross in the Lady of +the Lake, was the signal for an uprising. Fired by his passionate +oratory, the masses revolted from the chill formalism of a dead +ministry. The effect of the excitement which pervaded New England, when +considered merely as an appetizer of the intellect, can not be +over-estimated, and the vigor which the colonial mind thus acquired +astonished in an after day the dullards of the British Parliament. The +chief throb was felt in Connecticut, where strolling preachers of a new +order held forth in barns and school-houses. Among these imitators of +Whitefield were some men of high character, such as Tennant and Finley +(afterwards president of Nassau Hall, Princeton), while others were +frenzied enthusiasts. Davenport, the chief of these, was 'a +heavenly-minded youth,' whose usefulness was wrecked by fanaticism. In +his journey he was attended by one whom he called his armor-bearer, and +their entrance into each village was signaled by a loud hymn sung by the +excited pair. The very tone in which Davenport preached has been +perpetuated by his admirers; it was a nasal twang, which had great +effect. A law was passed against those irregularities, and Davenport was +thrown into Hartford jail, where he sang hymns all night, to the great +admiration of his friends. On being released he went to Lyme, where, +after sermon, a bonfire of idols was made, to which the women +contributed their ornaments and fine dresses, and the men their vain +books. This religious movement was marred by much evil; yet its fruits, +as we have stated, were found in that mental strength which subsequently +bore the brunt of the Revolution. Its excited scenes are hit off by such +reports as these,--'Sally Sparhawk fell and was carried out of meeting;' +this statement being frequently repeated. The style of preaching in +vogue may be imagined when we read of Tennant's appearance in the +pulpit, with long locks flowing down his back, his gaunt form encased in +a coarse garment, girt about the loins with a leathern girdle, in +imitation of the prophet Elijah. His discourses were 'awful and solemn,' +and the houses were crowded, though the cold was so intense as to sheet +Long Island Sound with ice. Other memorials of this great awakening are +found in Edwards' thrilling sermons, such as 'Sinners in the hands of an +angry God,' 'Wicked men only useful in their destruction,' etc. For +years after, the grand idea of New England was piety and good morals, +and as there were no journals, except here and there a dwarfed weekly, +the power of the pulpit was unrivaled. Religion was a common theme in +every house. As a result, it is stated that during the whole Revolution, +there was but one case of wilful murder in Massachusetts, and Dwight +informs us that up to his day there had never been a lawsuit in +Northampton, nor a loss by fire in which the damage was not mutually +shared by the citizens. He also adds that on a given Sabbath five-sixths +of the community were found in meeting. The minister in each town was +supported by tax, and being in some sense a public officer, the ceremony +of ordination was sometimes celebrated with procession and band of +music. + +Jonathan Edwards, the great light of New England, at this time could +have been found in a quiet village on the Connecticut, whence his fame +had already spread to the mother country. How Northampton gloried in her +matchless preacher! For sixty years his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, +had labored there. Let us linger a moment over those scenes which, +though fled like a dream, once witnessed the joys and sorrows of a +lifetime. Here in this retired street stands the weather-stained +parsonage, graced by a pair of saplings, planted by his own hands, to +which Northampton points as 'the Edwards elms,' and which now fling +giant shadows across the lawn. This dwelling, though scant of +furniture, is passing rich in its domestic treasures. Here is a wife of +lustrous beauty, sweet of disposition, fervent of spirit, and 'mighty in +prayer.' She is a matchless judge of sermons, wise in human nature, and +being wiser still in grace, must long rank as a model of the ministerial +wife. Here, too, is her group of daughters, well worthy of such +parentage, Esther, Sarah, Mary, and Jerusha, all beautiful and artless +as herself. Here a world of daily interest is found in the studies and +duties of a New England home. But who is he, of tall and attenuated +form, whose days are passed in his solitary study, secluded like a +hermit from the common experience of life? Like Moses, he is slow of +speech, and might be considered almost severe of countenance. The +lineaments tell their story of childlike simplicity of character, and +yet they are inspired by an expression of power, which at first seems +repellant. Those large black eyes seem to pierce and read on every +thought. I have referred to this family in a previous article,[D] but +would now speak at more length of its paternal head. This man has but +two pursuits, study and prayer. Of the outer world he has ever remained +in blissful ignorance, and even of his own parish he only knows what he +has learned of his wife. He has no 'turn' for visiting, and can not +afford time for vain talk. The secret of this is, that he breathes an +atmosphere of his own; his soul is like a star, and dwells apart. Behold +him seated at his table, jotting down casual thoughts on the backs of +letters and scraps of paper (for paper is very dear); he is building up +some great argument, whose vast proportions will in due time be +developed, like the uncovering of a colossus. Beware, Mr. Solomon +Williams of Hatfield, and you, Chubb and Tyndal, and John Taylor of +Norwich, for you will each and all of you find your master in this +secluded parson. Thirteen hours per day are given to study, and this has +been the average for years. + +And _such_ study to create realities out of the fogs of metaphysics, and +to span the concrete and the abstract with a bridge such as Milton threw +across space. This man can spend hours in pursuit of 'volitions' with +all the excitement of the chamois-hunt. Now his eye brightens, for he +has transfixed an idea, and holds it up in all the nicety of artistic +touch, while he dissects it to its ramifications. It is all _con amore_ +with him, though his readers will need a clue to the maze of intricate +reasoning. + +One can not pass through the streets of Northampton, so broad, so rural, +and so picturesque, without being overshadowed by that memory, which may +be expressed in the sweet lines of Longfellow,-- + + 'Here in patience and in sorrow, laboring still with busy hand, + Like an emigrant he wandered, seeking for the better land.' + +It is gratifying to know that his memory is honored in Northampton by +the naming of a church, though all may not understand the connection. +The old 'meeting-house' (for the Puritans used the word church only in a +spiritual sense) stood fronting the site of the present enormous +edifice. It was torn down in 1812. Here for nearly a quarter of a +century the tall form, and face pale and meagre from intense thinking, +appeared each Sabbath before a people among whom his recluse habits +rendered him almost a stranger. Here, having rested upon the desk, upon +the elbow of his left arm, whose hand held a tiny book of closely +written MS., he read with stooping form and low tones those solemn +arguments and tremendous appeals which now thrill us from the printed +page. Each of those tiny books was a sermon. Many of these are still +preserved, and Dr. Tryon Edwards, of New London, has a chest filled with +these memorials of his great ancestor. They are written in so fine a +hand as to be hardly legible except to one practiced in their +deciphering--a result of the extreme economy of one who, with all +carefulness, was the largest consumer of paper and ink in New England. +Solemn as was the deportment of this reverend man, sundry practical +jokes at his expense are on record. It is said that the house dog was +his close attendant, and on Sabbath day would invade even the pulpit in +search of his master. Hence he was carefully fastened during 'holy +time.' On one occasion, however, some wag not only loosed the animal, +but actually garnished his neck with a pair of ministerial bands. The +poor dog, unwitting of his sacred insignia, made his way into the pulpit +without being noticed by his absent minded master, until some one showed +him the dog, _a la parson_, perched up behind him on the pulpit bench. + +As a public speaker Edwards' delivery was the minimum of force, and in +this feature he admitted his utter failure. Indeed, when driven from +Northampton, he replied to Erskine's invitation to remove to Scotland, +that he was assured that his style would not be acceptable. After his +dismission, the sorrows of poverty fell heavily upon him, and he writes +to the same correspondent that 'he and his large and helpless family +were to be cast upon the world.' A collection was made for him in +Scotland, and forwarded at this time of need. The Scottish saints, +indeed, held strong sympathy with the colonies, and it was their +'benefactions' which supported the mission of Brainerd, the most +successful of modern days. Edwards remained more than a year at +Northampton after leaving its pulpit, and was humbled by seeing the +people assemble to hear sermons read by laymen in preference to his own +ministrations. What a bitter cup this must have been: but Sarah cheered +his heart, and grace reigned. In the mean time the girls wrought fancy +work, which was sent to Boston, and sold in their behalf, and thus they +were spared from want. Subsequently he was appointed missionary to the +Stockbridge Indians. It was Orpheus among the wild beasts, but without +his success. President Wayland quotes this fact in order to support a +theory which is palpably false, that a preacher should not be much above +the literary platform of his people; whereas, Edwards' ill success was +in a large measure owing to the troubles and opposition incident to +frontier life. With all his sorrows, however, he had one great +satisfaction. His chief assailant, Joseph Ashley, of Northampton, who +had borne so large a part in his expulsion, came in deep penitence, and +besought his forgiveness, which was granted with Christian tenderness. +Ashley's compunctions continued, and after Edwards' death increased in +horror so greatly that to obtain relief he published to the world an +explicit confession of his sins against 'that eminent servant of God.' + +Edwards, like Milton, had long meditated a work which 'the world would +not willingly let die,' but, although he had for some years been +gathering materials, yet it was not until his removal to Stockbridge +that he addressed himself fully to the mighty task of authorship. His +habits of abstraction grew upon him amazingly during this effort, and +the notable Sarah sheltered him from intrusion, and anticipated his +wants. She was conscious of the greatness of the work with which he had +grappled, and stood by his side like a guardian angel while he +demolished errorists. It was her custom after the labors of the day to +steal up to the study, where, like Numa and Egeria, they held serene +communion. This was his sole medium of secular information, for in his +occasional walks he was like one in a dream. The whole man was engrossed +in what he alone could perform; indeed, to reconcile liberty and +necessity were a task for which he seemed providentially set apart. But +beneath these arguments, which rise Alp on Alp, there lurked a quiet +perception of humor, and the _reductio ad absurdum_, which he +occasionally drives home, showed the keenness of Puritan wit. How he +must have smiled, nay even laughed, in the midst of his abstractions at +that[E] metaphysical animal which illustrates the absurdity of his +opponents. When 'The Freedom of the Will' was finished, and the author +had sent it forth to do battle, he felt that the work of his life was +done. + +Just at this time a deputation waited on him to solicit his acceptance +of the presidency of Nassau Hall. It was a strange sight to that rude +hamlet of Stockbridge--those reverend forms finishing their long journey +at the feet of the poor exiled missionary. When their errand was +announced, he burst into tears, overcome by a sense of unworthiness, and +in a subsequent letter he confirms his unfitness by reference to his +'flaccid solids and weak and sizy fluids.' But the demand was pressed, +and Northampton learns with astonishment the exaltation of her banished +pastor. The successful deputation possessed one member of rare interest. +This was John Brainerd, who had succeeded his brother David as a +missionary, and whom Edwards had met ten years before at the bedside of +his dying brother. David would have been, had both lived, the husband of +Jerusha--but now they slept side by side in Northampton burial-ground, +and the surviving brother reappeared bearing this invitation. It was one +not easily resisted; and so, amid dangers and infirmity, he was fain to +say, + + 'To-morrow to fresh woods and pastures new.' + +Before another spring, a higher glory awaited him; and the same year, +five of his family, including the incomparable Sarah, were likewise +'received up.' A sad year was that to Princeton and to the church. + +We have stated our opinion, that the activity of the New England mind +arose from the digestion of strong doctrine; that very activity now +generated a new style of preaching, which may be termed the metaphysical +school. The days of _thaumaturgia_ were passed, and in place of +discussing demonology and temptation, an appetite for subtle dogma +prevailed. I doubt if Britain and Germany, with their combined +universities, could have equaled, during the last century, the New +England pulpit in mental acuteness or philosophical discrimination. A +reference to Edwards recalls mention among his followers of such names +as Smally, Bellamy, Emmons, and Hopkins. Those who listened to the +preaching of such men could not avoid becoming thinkers, and thought has +made our country what it is. Very possibly what is known as 'Yankee +ingenuity' arose from the thinking habits of careful sermon-hearers. A +man who could follow the subtle theories of the pulpit, could think out +the most elaborate machinery. Next to Jonathan Edwards, Dr. Emmons +possessed the most philosophical mind of the age. So severe and +invincible is his logic, that it is said that the New Haven lawyers +often sharpened their minds on Emmons' sermons. His scheme of making God +the author of sin may be considered one of the errors of a great mind. A +modern novelist has placed old Dr. Hopkins among the characters of a +romance. But however great may be the powers of Mrs. Stowe, it was quite +impossible for an aesthetic and poetic mind to grasp that bundle of +dried-up syllogisms which once occupied the Newport pulpit. Hopkins had +preached the church at Great Barrington empty, and that of Newport died +by lingering degrees. Only to think of that tall, ungainly form, the +head covered with a linen cap, stiff and white, coming forth like an +apparition once a week to the public gaze. We do not wonder at the +child's inquiry '_if it was God that stood up there_.' Hopkins' scheme +of 'indifferent affection' was a grand conception, but as unnatural as +grand: yet it showed an amazing boldness for a public teacher to lay +down as a postulate that a willingness to be damned was a condition of +salvation. + +From a survey of the earlier clergy, even as superficial as the present +one, we are struck with its ambition of a lofty range of doctrine. They + + 'reasoned high + Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate, + Fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute, + And found no end in wandering mazes lost. + Of good and evil much they argued then, + Of happiness, and final misery, + Passion, and apathy, glory, and shame.' + +The highest tribute which Milton could offer the fallen angels was that +mental power which survived the general wreck. And no lesser flight +would have satisfied the subjects of this sketch. Their lifelong effort +was still to climb higher, ever exclaiming + + '--Paula majora canamus.' + +Their services in the cause of public education are beyond our +appreciation, and it may be well for us to remember that Harvard, Yale, +Williams, Union, Princeton, Amherst, Hanover, and other institutions, +sprang from the bold philanthrophy of men so poor as often to be objects +of pity. They saw that knowledge is power, and that power they would not +only possess, but bequeath to coming generations. + +Long as these rambles have been, they would still be incomplete without +a tribute to the influence of wives and mothers which soothed and +mellowed the sterner aspect of primitive life; but this can only be +referred to as a theme worthy of distinct treatment. It should not be +forgotten that the children reared under such influences have often been +counted worthy of the highest stations of honor and trust; and although +the scapegrace character of ministers' sons is a common fling, yet +careful research has proved that it has many and brilliant exceptions. + +While penning these pages, my mind has often wandered over ancient +burial-grounds where pastor and people sleep side by side. One may find +them in every New England town, and they chain with a spell of which the +modern cemetery with its showy marbles knows nothing! We turn from the +fresh mortality, which chills us with its recent sorrows, to those massy +headstones whose faint inscriptions tell of generations long since freed +from toil. Here one may find the rude monuments of those who still walk +the earth and lead its progress, and here the heart may run over, as +Byron says, + + 'With silent worship of the great of old! + The dead but sceptered sovereigns who still rule + Our spirits from their urns.' + + * * * * * + +HEMMING COTTON. + + + 'Hem them in!' is the country's cry; + See how the bayonet needles fly! + Nothing neglect and nothing leave, + Hem them in from the skirt to sleeve. + Little they reek of scratch or hurt + Who toil at hemming the Southern shirt; + Little they'll care, as they shout aloud, + If the Southern shirt prove a Southern shroud. + Hurrah for the needles sharp and thin! + Cotton is saved by hemming it in.' + + * * * * * + +ONE OF MY PREDECESSORS. + + +No books have quite the same fascination for me as the narratives of old +travelers. Give me a rainy day, a state of affairs which renders the +performance of a more serious task impossible, and a volume of Hakluyt +or Purchas, or even of Pinkerton's agreeable collection, and I +experience a condition of felicity which leaves Gray and his new novel +far in the background. For I thus not only behold again the familiar +scenery of the earth,--never forgetting a landscape that I have once +seen,--but I am also a living participant in the adventures of those who +have wandered the same paths, hundreds of years before. I visit +Constantinople while the Porphyrogenite emperors still sit upon the +throne of the East; I look upon the barbaric court of Muscovy before the +name of Russia is known in the world; I make acquaintance with Genghis +Khan at Karakorum, and with Aurungzebe at Delhi; I invade Japan with +Kampfer, penetrate the Arctic Seas with Barentz, or view the gardens of +Ispahan in the company of the gallant Sir John Chardin. + +This taste was not the cause, but is the result, of my own experience. +My far-off, unknown Arab progenitor says, in one of his poems: 'Fly thy +home, and journey, if thou strivest for great deeds. Five advantages +thou wilt at least procure by traveling. Thou wilt have pleasure and +profit; thou wilt enlarge thy prospects, cultivate thyself, and acquire +friends. It is better to be dead, than, like an insect, to remain always +chained to the same spot of earth.' In the Middle Ages, and especially +among the members of the enlightened Saracenic race, the instinct of +travel was mainly an instinctive desire for education. There was no +other school of knowledge so complete and practical, in the dearth of +books and the absence of other than commercial intercourse between the +ends of the earth, I fancy that this instinct, skipping over some +centuries, reappeared, in my case, in its original form; for it was not +until after I had seen a large portion of the earth, that I became +acquainted with the narratives of my predecessors, and recognized my +kinship with them. With the ghost of the mercantile Marco Polo, or those +of the sharp fellows, Bernier and Tavernier, I do not anticipate much +satisfaction, in the next world; but--if they are not too far off--I +shall shake hands at once with the old monk Rubruquis, and the Knight +Arnold von der Harff, and the far traveled son of the Atlas, Ibn Batuta. + +These old narratives have a charm for me, which I do not find in the +works of modern tourists. There is an honest homeliness and unreserve +about them, which I would not exchange for any graces of style. The +writers need no apologetic or explanatory preface; they sit down with +the pressure of a solemn duty upon them. When much of the world was but +dimly known, the man who had reached India, China, or the Islands of the +Sea, and returned to describe his adventures, made his narrative a +matter of conscience, and justly considered that he had added something +to the stock of human knowledge. The world of fable had not then +contracted into as narrow limits as at present; foreign countries were +full of marvels, and science had not made clear the phenomena of nature. +The old travelers had all the wonder and the credulity of children. All +was fish that came to their nets, and their works are singular compounds +of personal adventure, historical episodes, statistics of trade, and +reflections on the laws, manners and religions of races, interwoven with +many astonishing stories, and with the most amusing conjectures and +speculations. Their sincerity is apparent on every page. How delightful +is that remark of honest old Bernal Diaz, when, in describing the +battle of Tlascala, he states that many of the Spanish soldiers believed +that St. James and St. Thomas fought in person against the pagans, and +adds, in the simplicity of his heart, 'Sinner that I am, it was not +given to my eyes to behold either the one or the other of those holy +persons.' Montanus, in his travels through Muscovy, speaks of a +wonderful plant on the borders of Tartary, which resembled a +pumpkin-vine in appearance, only that instead of pumpkins it produced +lambs covered with wool. He calls this 'a mighty pleasant story,' but +takes care to say that he had never seen with his own eyes the lambs +growing upon the vines, but only the wool thereof, which the natives +manufactured into garments. + +Another characteristic of the old books of travel is, that they are, +unconsciously, autobiographical. The honest pilgrim, in his desire to +give a faithful description of new lands, is little aware that he is all +the time describing himself as well. His prejudice, his likings, his +disappointments and aspirations are all transparently revealed to us, +and through him we lay hold on the living character of his age. We +follow him, step by step, on his slow and wearisome journey, enjoying +his fatigues and dangers with the better zest, since we know in advance +that he reached home safely at last. One of the most popular modern +books of travel--Eothen--is a poem which gives us the very atmosphere +and odor of the Orient, but nothing more; and the author floats before +our vision in so dim and wraith-like a manner, that many readers have +doubted whether the work was founded on actual experience. On the other +hand, those old narratives, of which Robinson Crusoe is the ideal type, +bear unmistakable stains of the soil on every page. You not only feel +the vital personality of the traveler, but you would distinguish his +doublet and hose among a thousand. He does not soar, with an airy grace, +from one hill-top to another, picking out for you a choice scene here +and there, as he skims the land--he plods along the road, laboriously +and with muddy shoes, and sees the common much oftener than the sublime. + +In all that concerns man, indeed, a much plainer speech was permitted to +the old traveler. There were no squeamish readers in those days, and +hence, in some respects, he is too candid for modern taste. But it often +happens that precisely the characteristics or customs of strange races +which are of most value to the anthropologist, belong to those cryptic +mysteries of human nature, to which, in our refined age, one is +prohibited from referring. At least, the absence of constraint--the +possibility of entire frankness, even though the writer should have no +occasion to avail himself of the privilege--imparts a rare loveliness +and raciness to the narrative. On the other hand, in modern works which +I have tested by my own personal knowledge of the subject, I have been +quite as much struck with the amount of suppressed as with that of +expressed truth. Mansfield Parkyns and Captain Burton, I have no doubt, +will bear me out in this statement. Why has no African explorer, for +instance, yet ventured to announce the fact,--at once interesting and +important,--that if a traveler in the central regions of that continent +could be accompanied by his wife, the chances of his success would be +greatly improved? In the apparent celibacy of explorers, barbarous races +perceive simply an absence or perversion of the masculine instinct, +which at once excites their distrust. + +Let me resume the volume which I have laid down to pursue the foregoing +reflections, and, while the eastern storm drives through the autumn +woods, hurling its mingled volume of rain and leaves against my window, +ask the reader to look over my shoulder and follow with me for a while +the pilgrimage of Abou Abdallah Mohammed, better known under the name of +Ibn Batuta,--'may God be satisfied with him, and confound those who have +an aversion towards him!'--to apply to himself his own invocation in +favor of another. + +Ibn Batuta, a native of Tangier, in Morocco, unquestionably takes the +first rank among the travelers of the Middle Ages, if we consider the +distances he traversed, the remote points he reached, or the number of +years consumed by his wanderings. From Pekin to Timbuctoo, from the +Volga to the Ganges, from Bukhara to Zanzibar, he vibrated to and fro, +making himself acquainted, with the exception of Christian Europe, with +the greater part of the known world. He touched, in many directions, the +borderland of darkness, beyond which the earth fell off precipitously +into chaotic depths which no mortal might explore. Having reached home +again after uncounted perils, he sat down to tell the story of his +adventures. Many of his notes had been lost by the way, and he was +obliged to depend mainly on his memory; but as this is a faculty which +all genuine travelers must not only possess, but cultivate by constant +exercise, his narrative is remarkably clear, complete, and truthful. + +Born on the 24th of February, 1304, he set out, in his twenty-second +year, on a pilgrimage to Mecca, traversing the Barbary States and Egypt +on the way. Once fairly launched in the world, twenty-four years elapsed +before he again saw his native town. He explored the various provinces +of Arabia; visited Syria, Persia, and Armenia; resided for a while in +Southern Russia (Kipchak), then belonging to princes of the line of +Genghis Khan; traveled by land to Constantinople, where he was presented +to the emperor; repeated his pilgrimage to Mecca, and reached Zanzibar. +Then, returning, he made his way to Bukhara, and through Afghanistan to +the Indus; exercised, for two years, the functions of a _Kadi_, or +judge, at Delhi; was appointed by the Sultan Mohammed, the son of Togluk +Khan, on an embassy to the emperor of China, but, missing the Chinese +vessel, was obliged to remain a year and a half among the Maldive +Islands. Nothing daunted by the delay, he started again, by way of +Ceylon and the Indian Archipelago, and finally succeeded in reaching +Pekin. He appears to have returned to Tangier in the year 1349, and to +have taken up his residence soon afterwards in Granada, under the +protection of the caliph Yusef. His thirst for exploration, however, was +not yet quenched, and in two years he was ready to undertake a second +journey of greater difficulty and danger. Leaving Fez with a caravan, in +the year 1351, he crossed the Sahara, and spent three years in Central +Africa, visiting the great cities Melli and Timbuctoo. He was thus the +first to give the world an authentic account of those regions. His +descriptions correspond, in almost all respects, with those given by the +travelers of modern times. + +Ibn Batuta returned to Morocco in 1354, and there remained until his +death, in 1378. During the year after his arrival, he dictated the +history of his travels to Ibn Djozay, a young Moorish poet, who, having +been unjustly treated by Yusef, in Granada, fled to Fez, where he was +appointed secretary to the Sultan, Abau Inau Faris. The latter, it +appears, commanded that the work should be written, and it was also, no +doubt, by his order that Ibn Djozay became the amanuensis of our +traveler. 'He was recommended,' says the introduction, 'to bestow great +care on the correctness and elegance of the style, to render it clear +and intelligible, in order that the reader may better enjoy the rare +adventures, and draw the greatest profit from the pearl, after it shall +have been extracted from its shell!' To Ibn Djozay, therefore, we are +indebted for the abundant poetic quotations interspersed throughout the +work--the ornaments which hang, sometimes with curious effect, on the +plain, straight-forward story which Ibn Batuta tells us. Making the +usual allowance for Oriental exaggeration, and the occasional confusion +which must occur in a memory so overcharged, we do not hesitate to +pronounce the work worthy of all credit. Burkhardt, Seetzen, and Carl +Ritter have expressed their entire confidence in the fidelity of the +narrative. + +This interesting work was known to European scholars, until quite +recently, in a fragmentary condition, frequently disfigured by errors of +transcription. Since the French occupation of Algiers, however, two or +three perfect copies have been discovered, one of which, now in the +Imperial Library at Paris, bears the autograph of Ibn Djozay. The +publications of the _Societe Asiatique_ furnish us with the narrative, +carefully collated, and differing but slightly, in all probability, from +the original text. Let us now run over it, freely translating for the +reader as we go. The introduction, which is evidently from the elegant +hand of the amanuensis, is so characteristic that we must extract a few +Title and all, it opens as follows: + + A PRESENT MADE TO OBSERVERS, + TREATING OF THE + CURIOSITIES OFFERED BY THE CITIES AND + OTHER WONDERS ENCOUNTERED IN + TRAVEL. + +'In the name of God, the Clement, the Merciful: Behold what says the +Shekh, the judge, the learned man, the truthful, the noble, the devout, +the very benevolent, the guest of God; who has acquitted himself of the +visit to the holy places, to the honor of religion; who, in the course +of his travels, has placed his confidence in the Lord of all +creatures--Abou Abdallah Mohammed, son of Abdallah, son of Ibrahim +Allewatee Alhandjee, known under the name of Ibn Batuta: may God be +merciful to him, and be content with him, in his great bounty and +generosity! Amen. + +'Praise be to God, who has subjected the earth to those who serve him, +in order that they may march by spacious roads--who has placed them on +the earth, and there located the three vicissitudes of their destiny: +the creation, the return to the earth, and the resurrection from its +bowels. He has extended it by his power, and it has become a bed for his +servants. He has fixed it by means of inaccessible mountains, of +considerable elevation, and has raised over it the summit of heaven, +unsupported by a pillar. He has made the stars to appear as a guide in +the midst of the darkness of the land and the sea; he has made a lamp of +the moon, and a torch of the sun. From heaven he has caused waters to +descend, which vivified the ground when it was dried up. He has made all +varieties of fruits to grow, and has created diversified regions, giving +them all sorts of plants. He has caused the two seas to flow--one of +sweet and refreshing waters, the other salt and bitter. He has completed +his bounties towards his creatures, in subjecting to them the camels, +and in submitting to them the ships, similar to mountains, serving them +as vehicles, instead of the surface of the desert, or the back of the +sea.' + +After having, in like manner, pronounced a benediction on Mohammed, the +Prophet's friends, and all others in any way connected with him, he +greets the Sultan of Morocco with a panegyric so dazzling, so +unapproachable in the splendor of its assertions, that we must quote it +as a standard whereby all similar compositions may be measured, sure +that it will maintain its pre-eminence through all time. + +'It is his reign (that of Abou Inau Faris) which has cured Religion of +her sickness, which has caused the sword of Injustice to return into the +scabbard whence it had been drawn, which has corrected fortune, when it +had been corrupted, and which has procured custom for the markets of +Science, formerly given up to stagnation. He has rendered manifest the +rules of piety when they would have been obliterated; he has calmed the +regions of the earth when they were agitated; he has caused the +tradition of acts of generosity to revive after his death; he has +occasioned the death of tyrannic customs; he has abated the flame of +discord at the moment when it was most enkindled; he has destroyed the +commands of tyranny, when they exercised an absolute power; he has +elevated the edifices of equity on the pillars of the fear of God, and +has assured himself, by the strongest evidences, that he possesses +confidence in the Eternal. His reign possesses a glory, the crown +whereof is placed on the forehead of Orion, and an illumination which +covers the Milky Way with the skirts of his robe; a beneficence which +has given a new youth to the age; a justice which incloses the righteous +within its vast tent; a liberality similar to a cloud which waters at +once the leaves that have fallen from the trees and the trees +themselves; a courage which, even when the clouds shed torrents of rain, +causes a torrent of blood to flow; a patience which never tires of +hoping; a prudence which prevents his enemies from approaching his +pastures; a resolution which puts their troops to flight before the +action commences; a mildness which delights to pluck pardon from the +tree of crime; a goodness which gains him all hearts; a science, the +lustre whereof enlightens the darkest difficulties; a conduct +conformable to his sincerity, and acts conformable to his designs!' + +Let us here take a long breath, and rest a minute. O, Abou Inau Faris! +we envy the blessed people that were gathered under thy wing; we weep +for our degenerate age, wherein thy like is nowhere to be found. No +wonder that Ibn Batuta declares that he lays aside forever his pilgrim's +staff--that, after traversing the Orient, he sits down under the full +moon of the Occident, preferring it to all other regions, 'as one +prefers gold-dust to the sands of the highway.' We, too, had we found +such a ruler, would have laid aside our staff, and taken the oath of +allegiance. + +The traveler gives us the day of his departure from home: June 14, 1325. +'I was alone,' says he, 'without a companion with whom I could live +familiarly, without a caravan of which I could have made part; but I was +forced onward by a spirit firm in its resolution, and the desire of +visiting the Holy Places was implanted in my bosom. I therefore +determined to separate myself from my friends of both sexes, and I +abandoned my home as the birds abandon their nest. My father and mother +were still alive. I resigned myself, with grief, to separate from them, +and this was a common cause of sorrow. I was then in my twenty-second +year.' + +Having safely reached the town of Tlemeen, he found two ambassadors of +the king of Tunis, about to set out on their return, and attached +himself to their suite. On arriving at Bougie, he was attacked with a +violent fever, and was advised to remain behind. 'No,' said the +determined youth, 'if God wills that I should die, let me die on the +road to Mecca,' and pushed on, through Constantina and Bona, in such a +state of weakness that he was obliged to unwind his turban and bind +himself to his saddle, in order to avoid falling from the horse. He thus +reached Tunis, in a state of extreme exhaustion and despondency. 'No one +saluted me,' says he, 'for I was not acquainted with a single person +there. I was seized with such an emotion of sadness that I could not +suppress my sobs, and my tears flowed in abundance. One of the pilgrims, +remarking my condition, advanced towards me, saluting and comforting me. +He did not cease to cheer me up with his conversation, until I had +entered the city.' + +In a short time, he seems to have recovered both his health and spirits; +for, on reaching the town of Sefakos, he married the daughter of one of +the syndics of the corporation of Tunis. This proceeding strikes us as a +singular preparation for a long and dangerous journey, but it is a +preliminary which would immediately suggest itself to a Mussulman of +good character. In fact, it was equivalent in those days--and still +would be, in some parts of the Orient--to a proclamation of his +respectability. Ibn Batuta, however, was not fortunate in this +matrimonial adventure. Two months afterwards, he naively informs us: +'There arose such a disagreement between myself and my father-in-law, +that I was obliged to separate from my wife. I thereupon married the +daughter of an official of Fez. The marriage was consummated at the +castle of Zanah, and I celebrated it by a feast, for which I detained +the caravan for a whole day.' + +After this announcement, he is silent concerning his domestic relations. +Perhaps the number of his connubial changes was too great to be +recorded; perhaps no son was born to establish his honor among men; +perhaps, with increasing sanctity, he forswore the sex. The last +conjecture is probably correct, as it tallies with the reputation for +wisdom and purity which he gradually acquired. + +Finally, in April, 1326, our traveler reached Alexandria, the first +strange city which impressed him by its size and splendor. 'Alexandria,' +says he, 'is a jewel whereof the brilliancy is manifest--a virgin which +sparkles with her ornaments. She illumines the Occident with her +splendor: she unites the most diverse beauties, on account of her +situation midway between the Rising and the Setting.' At that time the +celebrated Pharos was still standing, and the following description of +it, though not very clear, will interest the reader: 'It is a square +edifice, which towers into the air. Its gate is raised above the surface +of the earth, and opposite to it there is an edifice of similar height, +which serves to support planks, across which one must wait to arrive at +the gate of the Pharos. When these planks are taken away, there is no +means of crossing. Inside of the entrance is a space where the guardian +of the edifice is stationed. The interior of the Pharos contains many +apartments. Each of its four sides is a hundred and forty spans in +length. The building is situated on a high hill, one parasang from the +city, and on a tongue of land which the sea surrounds on three sides. +One can therefore only reach the Pharos from the land side, by leaving +the city. I directed my course towards the Pharos a second time, on my +return to the West, in the year 1349, and I found that its ruin was +complete, so that one could neither enter, nor even reach the gate.' + +Commencing with Alexandria, Ibn Batuta is careful, in every city which +he visits, to give an account of the distinguished _shekhs_ or _imams_, +with characteristic anecdotes of their saintly or miraculous lives. The +value and interest of these sketches reconcile us to the brevity of his +descriptions. He tells us, for example, that the _kadi_ (judge) of +Alexandria, who was likewise a master of the art of eloquence, 'covered +his head with a turban which surpassed in volume all the turbans then to +be seen. I have never beheld, neither in the East nor the West, one so +voluminous. He was one day seated in a mosque, before the pulpit, and +his turban filled almost the entire space.' At the town of Fooah, in the +Delta, on his way to Cairo, occurred his first marvelous adventure. +'During the night,' says he, 'while I slept on the roof of the dwelling +of the shekh Abou Abdallah, I saw myself, in a dream, carried on the +wing of a great bird, which flew in the direction of Mecca, then in that +of Yemen; then it transported me to the East, after which it passed +towards the South; then it flew again far to the East, alighted upon a +dark and misty country, and there abandoned me. I was amazed at this +vision, and said to myself, "If the shekh can interpret my dream, he is +truly as holy as he is said to be." When I presented myself, in the +morning, to take part in the early prayer, he charged me to take the +lead, in the quality of _imam_. Afterwards he called me to him, and +explained my dream; in fact, when I had related it to him, he said: +"Thou wilt make the pilgrimage to Mecca, thou wilt visit the tomb of the +Prophet, thou wilt traverse Yemen, Irak, the country of the Turks, and +India; thou wilt remain a long time in the latter country, where thou +wilt see my brother Dilehad, who will extricate thee from an affliction +into which thou shalt fall." Having spoken, he provided me with money, +and small biscuits for the journey. I said my farewells and departed. +Since I left him, I have experienced nothing but good treatment in the +course of my travels, and his benedictions always came to my aid.' + +Passing over the traveler's visit to Damietta and the other towns of the +Delta, let us hear his enthusiastic description of Cairo, at the time of +its greatest prosperity: 'Finally, I reached the city of Cairo, the +metropolis of the country and the ancient residence of Pharaoh the +Impaler; mistress of rich and extended regions, attaining the utmost +limits of possibility in the multitude of its population, and exalting +itself on account of its beauty and splendor. It is the rendezvous of +travelers, the station of the weak and the powerful. Thou wilt there +find all that thou desirest--the wise and the ignorant, the industrious +and the trifling, the mild or the angry, men of low extraction or of +lofty birth, the illustrious and the obscure. The number of its +inhabitants is so considerable that their currents resemble those of an +agitated sea, and the city lacks very little of being too small to +contain them, notwithstanding its extent and capacity. Although founded +long since, it enjoys a youth forever renewed; the star of its horoscope +does not cease to inhabit a fortunate house. It is in speaking of Cairo +that Wasr ed-deen has written: + + "It is a paradise in truth; its gardens ever smile, + Adorned and fed so plenteously by all the waves of Kile, + Which, fretted by the blowing wind, from shore across to shore, + Mimic the armor's azure scales the prophet David wore; + Within its fluid element the naked fear to glide, + And ships, like winged heavenly spheres, go up and down the tide.'" + +Ibn Batuta's description of the pyramids is very curious, and we can +account for it on no other supposition than that he merely saw them in +the distance (probably from the citadel of Cairo), relying on hearsay +for further particulars. After stating that they were built by the +ancient _Hermes_, whom he supposes to be identical with Enoch, as a +repository for the antediluvian arts and sciences, he says: 'The +pyramids are built of hard, well-cut stone. They are of a very +considerable elevation, and of a circular form, capacious at the base +and narrow at the summit, _in the fashion of cones_. They have no doors, +and one is ignorant of the manner in which they have been constructed.' + +In his journey up the Nile, Ibn Batuta never fails to give an account of +every Moslem saint or theologian whom he meets, but only in one or two +instances does he mention the antiquities, which, in that age, must have +been still more conspicuous than now. He even passes over the plain of +Thebes without the slightest notice of the great temple of Karnak. +Disappointed in his plan of crossing the Red Sea to Jidda, he returned +to Cairo, and at once set out for Syria. Here, the first place of +interest which he visited was Hebron, where he performed his devotions +at the tombs of the patriarchs. We learn that there were archaecological +writings in those days, for he quotes from a work entitled 'The Torch of +Hearts, on the Subject of the Authenticity of the Tombs of Abraham, +Isaac, and Jacob.' Unfortunately, the evidence adduced would not be very +satisfactory to us, for it rests entirely on the following statement +made by Mohammed to a certain Abou Horairah: 'When the angel Gabriel +took me on the noctural journey to Jerusalem, we passed above the tomb +of Abraham, and he said to me, "Descend, and make a prayer of two +genuflexions, for here is the sepulchre of thy father Abraham!" Then we +traversed Bethlehem, and he said also, "Descend, make a prayer of two +genuflexions, for here was born thy brother Jesus!"' + +Of Jerusalem, which he calls 'the noble, the holy--may God glorify it!' +he says: 'Among the sanctuaries on the borders of the valley known under +the name of Gehenna, east of the city and on an elevated hill (the Mount +of Olives), one sees an edifice which is said to stand on the spot +whence Jesus ascended to heaven. In the middle of the same valley there +is a church where the Christians worship: they affirm that it contains +the sepulchre of Mary. There is also another church, equally venerated, +to which the Christians make a pilgrimage. The reason whereof, however, +is a lie, for they pretend that it contains the tomb of Jesus. Each +person who goes thither as a pilgrim is obliged to pay a certain tribute +to the Mussulmans, and to undergo divers sorts of humiliations, which +the Christians perform very much against their will. They there see the +place where the cradle of Jesus stood, and come to implore his +intercession.' + +I have not space to follow our traveler through all the cities of the +Syrian coast, northward to Aleppo, but I can not omit offering one +flower from the garland of poetical quotations which Ibu Batuta (or +rather his amanuensis, Ibn Djozay) hangs on the citadel of the latter +capital. I presume the city then occupied the same position as at +present, on a plain surrounding the rocky acropolis, which is so +striking and picturesque a feature as to justify the enthusiasm of the +Oriental bards. Djemal ed-deen All, however, surpasses them all in the +splendor of his images. Hear him:-- + + 'So lofty soars this castle, so high its summit stands, + Immense and far uplifted above the lower lands, + It lacks but little, truly, that with the heavenly sphere + Around the earth revolving, its towers would interfere. + And they who dwell within it must seek the Milky Way; + There is no nearer cistern which win their thirst allay: + Their horses there go browsing, and crop the stars that pass, + As other beasts the blossoms that open in the grass!' + +After this flight, I think I can afford to omit the string of quotations +concerning Damascus, which is celebrated with an equal extravagance. Ibn +Batuta gives a very careful account of the great mosque, including its +priests and scholars. During his stay the plague raged with such +violence that the deaths at one time amounted to two thousand a day. He +relates one circumstance which shows that even religious intolerance +vanished in times of distress. 'All the inhabitants of the city, men, +women, large and small, took part in a procession to the Mosque of +El-Akdam, two miles south of Damascus. The Jews came forth with their +Pentateuch, and the Christians with their Gospel, followed by their +women and children. All wept, supplicated, and sought help from God, +through the means of his Word and his prophets. They repaired to the +mosque, where they remained, praying and invoking God, until three +o'clock in the afternoon. Then they returned to the city, made the +prayer of Friday, and the Lord consoled them.' + +On the 1st of September, 1326, he left Damascus, with the great caravan +of pilgrims, for Mecca. He enumerates all the stations on the route, and +his itinerary is almost identical with that which the caravan follows at +the present day. Much space is devoted to a description of the religious +observances which he followed; and, singularly enough, if any +confirmation of his fidelity as a narrator were needed, it is furnished +by the work of Captain Burton. The account of the sacred cities of +Medineh and Mecca corresponds in every important particular with that of +the modern traveler. Thus the integrity of Ibn Batuta, like that of +Marco Polo, is established, after the lapse of five hundred years. + +In speaking of the chair of Mohammed, which is preserved in the mosque +at Medineh, he relates the following beautiful tradition: 'It is said +that the ambassador of God at first preached near the trunk of a +palm-tree in the mosque, and that after he had constructed the chair and +transported it thither, the trunk of the palm-tree groaned, as the +female camel groans after her young. Mohammed thereupon went down to the +tree and embraced it; after which it remained silent. The Prophet said, +"If I had not embraced it, it would have continued to groan until the +day of the resurrection."' + +After faithfully performing all the observances prescribed for the +pilgrim to Mecca, Ibn Batuta left that city and returned to Medineh. He +then crossed the Arabian peninsula in a north-eastern direction, to the +city of Meshed Ali, near the Euphrates, and thence descended that river +to Bassora. Here he gives us two amusing anecdotes, which reflectively +illustrate his shrewdness and the sturdiness with which he maintained +his religious views. 'The inhabitants of Bassora,' says he, 'are gifted +with a generous character. They are familiar with strangers, rendering +them that which is their due, in such a manner that no one finds a +sojourn among them tiresome. They make their Sunday prayers in the +mosque of the Prince of Believers, Ali. I once attended the prayers in +this mosque; and when the preacher arose and began to recite the sermon, +he made numerous and evident faults. I was surprised thereat, and spoke +of it to the judge Hodjat-ed-deen, who answered, "In this city, there is +no longer an individual who has any knowledge of grammar." This is an +instruction for whoever reflects thereon, and let us praise God, who +changes things and reverses the face of affairs! In fact, this city of +Bassora, the inhabitants whereof had obtained preeminence in grammar, +which there had its origin and received its development,--this city, +which gave to the world the master of this noble science, whose priority +no one contests,--does not now possess a single preacher who pronounces +the Sunday sermon according to grammatical rules! + +'The mosque has seven minarets, one of which, according to the belief of +the inhabitants, shakes whenever the name of Ali, son of Abou Talib, is +invoked. I ascended to the terrace (roof) of this mosque, accompanied by +one of the men of Bassora. There I saw, at one of the corners, a piece +of wood nailed to the minaret, and resembling the handle of a mason's +trowel. He who was with me took hold of it, saying, "By the head of the +prince of believers, Ali, shake thyself!" Therewith he shook the handle, +and the minaret trembled. In turn, I placed my hand upon it, and I said +to the man, "And _I_ say, by the head of Abou Bekr, successor to the +Ambassador of God, shake thyself!" Therewith I shook the handle, and the +minaret trembled as before. The people were very much astonished.' The +amanuensis, Ibn Djozay, here interpolates the following remark: 'I have +seen, in a town in the valley of Almansura, in Spain,--which may God +defend!--a tower which shakes without the name of a caliph, or anybody +else, being mentioned.' + +At the city of Idhedj, in Irak, then the capital of one of the many +Mongol sultans who at that time reigned in southern Persia, Ibn Batuta +gives another proof of his boldness. Calling upon the Sultan Afrasiab, +who was notorious for his drunken and dissolute habits, the traveler +found him seated upon a divan, with two covered vases--one of gold and +one of silver--before him. A green carpet was brought and placed near +him, upon which the traveler was invited to take his seat, after which +the sultan asked him many questions concerning his travels. 'It seemed +to me, however,' says Ibn Batuta, 'that he was quite intoxicated, for I +had been previously apprized of his habit of giving himself up to drink. +Finally, he said to me in Arabic, which he spoke with elegance. "Speak!" +I said to him, "If thou wouldst listen to me, I would say to thee--Thou +art one of the children of Sultan Ahmed, celebrated for his piety and +devotion; there is no cause of reproach to thee, in thy manner of life, +except _that_!" and I pointed with my finger to the two vases. These +words covered him with shame, and he was silent. I wished to withdraw, +but he ordered me to keep my seat, and said, "It is a mark of the Divine +mercy to meet with such as thou!" Afterwards, seeing that he swayed from +side to side, and desired to sleep, I left him. I had placed my sandals +at the door, and could not find them again. The Fakir Fadhill sought for +them in the hall, and at last brought them to me. His kindness +embarrassed me, and I made apologies. Thereupon he kissed my sandals, +placed them upon his head, in token of respect, and said to me, "May God +bless thee! What thou hast said to our sultan, nobody else would have +dared to say. I hope it will make an impression on him!"' + +Continuing his journey to Ispahan and Shiraz, he gives us, as usual, +conscientious accounts of the mosques, priests, and holy men, but no +hint whatever as to his manner of travel, or the character of the +country through which he passed. This portion of his work, however, +contains many interesting historical fragments, relating to the reigns +of the Mongol sultans of Persia, and the dissensions between the two +Moslem sects. After a stay of some length at Shiraz, he returned through +Irak to the celebrated city of Cufa, and thence to Bagdad, which was +then the residence of a simple Mongol prince. Here he describes at +length the mosques, colleges, mausoleums and baths, while Ibn Djozay +takes occasion to introduce his favorite quotations from the poets. The +reader, we think, will find the following more picturesque than the +somewhat formal descriptions of Ibn Batuta:-- + + 'Yea, Bagdad is a spacious place for him who's gold, to spend, + But for the poor it is the house of suffering without end: + I wander idly through its streets, as lost us if I were + A Koran in an atheist's house, which hath no welcome there.' + 'A sigh, a sigh for Bagdad, a sigh for Irak's land! + For all its lovely peacocks, and the splendors they expand: + They walk beside the Tigris, and the looks they turn on me + Shine o'er the jeweled necklace, like moons above the sea!' + +Our traveler, also, was the forerunner of Layard. In visiting Mosul, he +writes: 'Near this place one sees the hill of Jonah, upon whom be +blessing! and a mile distant from it the fountain which bears his name. +It is said that he commanded the people to purify themselves there; that +afterwards they ascended the aforesaid hill; that he prayed, and they +also, in such manner that God turned the chastisement from their heads. +In the neighborhood is a great ruin, and the people pretend that it is +the remains of the city known under the name of Nineveh, the city of +Jonah. One perceives the vestiges of the wall which surrounded it, as +well as the situation of its gates. On the hill stands a large edifice, +and a monastery, which contains numerous cells, apartments, places of +purification, and fountains, all closed by a single gate. In the middle +of the monastery one sees a cell with a silken curtain, and a door +encrusted with gold and precious stones. This, they say, is the spot +where Jonah dwelt; and they add that the choir of the mosque attached to +the monastery covers the cell in which he prayed to God.' + +Returning to Bagdad, Ibn Batuta crossed the Arabian Desert a second +time, and took up his residence in Mecca for the space of three years. +His account of the voyage along the eastern coast of Africa, as far +south as Quiloa, is brief and uninteresting; but on his return he +visited Oman, of which province he gives us the first authentic account. +From the Pearl Islands in the Persian Gulf, he bent his way once more +across Arabia to Mecca, whence he crossed the Red Sea to the Nubian +coast, and descended the Nile to Cairo. I shall omit his subsequent +journeys through Syria and Asia Minor, although they contain many +amusing and picturesque incidents, and turn, instead, to his adventures +in Kipchak (Southern Russia), which was then governed by a sultan +descended in a direct line from Genghis Khan. Embarking at Sinope, he +crossed the Black Sea to Caffa, in the Crimea, which was at that time a +Genoese city. Here a singular circumstance occurred:-- + +'We lodged in the mosque of the Mussulmans. After we had been resting +there about an hour, we suddenly heard the sound of bells resounding on +all sides. I had then never heard such a sound; I was extremely +terrified, and ordered my companions to ascend the minaret, read the +Koran, praise God, and recite the call to prayer,--which they did. We +now perceived a man who had approached us: he was armed, and wore a +cuirass. He saluted us, and we begged him to inform us who he was. He +gave us to understand that he was the Kadi of the Mussulmans of the +place, and added: "When I heard the reading of the Koran and the call to +prayers, I trembled for your safety, and therefore came to seek you." +Then he departed; but, nevertheless, we received nothing but good +treatment.' + +From Caffa, Ibn Eatuta traveled in a chariot to Azof, near which place +he found the camp of the Sultan Mohammed Uzbek Khan, of whose court he +gives a very circumstantial description. He also devotes considerable +space to an account of their manner of keeping the fast of Ramadan. The +favorite wife of the sultan was a daughter of the Greek emperor, who at +the time of the traveler's visit was preparing to set out for +Constantinople, in order that her expected child might be born in the +palace of her fathers. 'I prayed the sultan,' says Ibn Batuta, 'to +permit me to journey in company with the princess, in order that I might +behold Constantinople the Great. He at first refused, out of fear for my +safety, but I solicited him, saying, "I will not enter Constantinople +except under thy protection and thy patronage, and therefore I will fear +no one." He then gave me permission to depart, making me a present of +fifteen hundred ducats, a robe of honor, and a great number of horses.' + +The journey to Constantinople was made entirely by land, and consumed +more than two months. It is rather difficult to locate the precise route +traversed by the caravan, except that it must have skirted the shore of +the Black Sea; for I find mention of three great canals, which must +refer to the three arms of the Danube. At the frontier of the Greek +empire, they were received by the brothers of the princess, with a +mounted guard. Ibn Batuta's chronology is a little confused, and we can +only guess that the reigning emperor at that time was Andronicus H. +Palaeologus. The description of the entry into Constantinople, and the +interview with the emperor, are among the most curious and interesting +passages in the work. + +'We encamped at the distance of ten miles from Constantinople, and on +the following morning the population of the city came forth--men, women, +and children, on foot and on horseback, in their most beautiful costumes +and most magnificent vestments. From daybreak the cymbals, clarions, and +trumpets sounded; the soldiers mounted their horses, and the emperor, +with his wife, the mother of the princess, the great men of the empire, +and the courtiers, issued from the city. Over the head of the emperor +there was a canopy, carried by a certain number of cavaliers and +foot-soldiers, holding in their hands long staves, terminated at the top +by a sort of leather ball, with which they upheld the canopy. In the +centre thereof was a dais, supported on staves by the cavaliers. When +the emperor had advanced, the troops mixed together, and the noise +became great. I was not able to penetrate into the middle of the crowd, +and remained near the baggage of the princess and her companions, +fearing for my safety. It was related to me that when the princess +approached her parents, she alighted and kissed the ground before them; +then she kissed their shoes, and her principal officers did the same. +Our entry into Constantinople the Great took place towards noon, or a +little after. Meanwhile the inhabitants caused the bells to sound, in +such measure that the heavens were shattered with the mixed uproar of +their noise. + +'When we had arrived at the outer gate of the palace, we there found +about a hundred men, accompanied by their chief, who was stationed on a +platform. I heard them saying, "The Saracens, the Saracens"--a term by +which they designate the Mussulmans,--and they prevented us from +entering. The companions of the princess said to them. "These people +belong to our suite;" but they answered, "They shall not enter here +without permission." We therefore waited at the gate, and one of the +officers sent some one to inform her of this incident. She was then with +her father, to whom she spoke concerning us. The emperor ordered us to +be admitted, and assigned us a house near that of the princess. +Furthermore, he wrote, in our favor, an order prohibiting any one from +interrupting us in whatever part of the city we might go, and this was +proclaimed in the markets. We remained three days in our residence, +whither they sent us provisions, namely, flour, bread, sheep, fowls, +butter, fish and fruits, also money and carpets. + +'On the fourth day after our arrival at Constantinople the princess sent +to me the eunuch Sunbul, the Indian, who took me by the hand and +conducted me into the palace. We passed four gates, near each one of +which were benches, with armed men, the captain occupying a raised +platform covered with carpets. When we had reached the fifth gate, the +eunuch Sunbul left me and entered; then he returned, accompanied by four +Greek eunuchs. These latter searched me, for fear lest I might have a +knife about me. The chief said to me, "Such is their custom; we can not +dispense with a minute examination of whoever approaches the emperor, +whether a high personage or one of the people, a stranger or a native." +This is also the custom in India. + +'After I had submitted to this examination, the guardian of the gate +arose, took my hand, and opened. Four individuals surrounded me, two of +whom took hold of my sleeves, while the other two held me from behind. +They conducted me into a grand audience-hall, the walls of which were in +mosaic; the figures of natural productions, whether animal or mineral, +were there represented. In the middle of the hall there was a brook, +both banks of which were bordered with trees; men stood on the right and +on the left, but no one spoke. In the centre of the hall of reception +stood three other men, to whom my four conductors confided me, and who +took me by the garments as the first had done. Another individual having +made a sign to them, they advanced with me. One of them, who was a Jew, +said to me in Arabic, "Fear not; it is their custom to act thus towards +strangers. I am the interpreter, and am a native of Syria." I demanded +of him what salutation I ought to make, and he replied, "Say--May +blessing be upon you!" + +'I arrived, finally, at the grand dais, where I beheld the emperor +seated on his throne, having before him his wife, the mother of the +princess. The latter, with her brothers, were stationed at the foot of +the throne. At the right of the sovereign there were six men, four at +his left, and as many behind him; all were armed. Before allowing me to +salute him, or to approach nearer to him, he made me a sign that I +should sit down for a moment, in order to recover from my fear. I did +so, after which I advanced nearer, and saluted him. He invited me, by a +gesture, to sit, but I did not comply. Then he questioned me on the +subject of Jerusalem, the blessed rock (of Jacob), the holy sepulchre, +and the cradle of Jesus, Bethlehem and Hebron, Damascus and Cairo, Irak +and Asia Minor. I replied to all his demands, the Jew performing the +office of interpreter between us. My words pleased him, and he said to +his children, "Treat this man with consideration, and protect him!" Then +he caused me to be clothed with a robe of honor, and assigned to me a +horse, saddled and bridled, as well as an umbrella from among those +which were carried over his own head--which was a mark of protection. I +prayed him to designate some one who should ride with me each day +through the city, in order that I might behold its rarities and marvels, +and speak of them in my own country. He granted my desire. One of the +customs of this people is, that the individual who receives a robe of +honor from the emperor, and mounts a horse from his stables, must be +conducted through the squares of the city, to the sound of trumpets, +clarions and cymbals, so that the population may behold him. This is +oftenest done with those Turks who come from the dominions of the Uzbek +sultan, in order that they may suffer no annoyance. I was conducted +through the markets in the same manner.' + +But the autumn night is closing in, and we must shut up the volume. We +can not, to-day, follow the brave old traveler through all the +vicissitudes of his long pilgrimage. He allows us to perceive much that +he does not tell us outright, and it is a satisfaction to learn, from +his pages, that if society were less ordered, secure, and externally +proper five hundred years ago, individual generosity and magnanimity +were more marked, and the good in the human race, as now, overbalanced +the evil. One more story Ibn Batuta must tell us, before we take leave +of him,--one story, which must warm every heart which can appreciate +that rarest of virtues, tolerance. The father of the Greek emperor was +still living, having abdicated the crown in favor of his son Andronicus, +and become a monk. The Moslem traveler thus describes his interview with +the old Christian monarch:-- + +'I was one day in company with the Greek who was appointed to ride with +me through the city, when we suddenly encountered the old emperor, +walking on foot, clothed in hair garments, and with a felt cap on his +head. He had a long white beard and a noble face, which presented traces +of the pious practices whereto his life was devoted. Before and behind +him walked a troop of monks. He held a staff in his hand, and had a +rosary about his neck. When the Greek beheld him, he alighted, and said +to me, "Dismount; it is the father of the emperor." When the Greek had +saluted him, he demanded who I was, then stopped, and summoned me to +him. I approached; he took my hand, and said to the Greek, who knew the +Arabic language,--"Say to this Saracen (that is to say, Mussulman), that +I press the hand which has entered Jerusalem, and the foot which has +walked by the Holy Rock, and the Holy Sepulchre, and in Bethlehem," +Having spoken, he placed his hand on my feet, and then passed it over +his own face. I was amazed at the respect which these people exhibit +towards an individual of another religion than their own, who has +visited the holy places. The old emperor then took me by the hand, and I +walked along with him. He questioned me on the subject of Jerusalem and +the Christians who dwell there. In his company I entered the consecrated +ground belonging to the church. As he approached the principal gate, a +crowd of priests and monks issued to salute him, for he was now one of +their chiefs. When he saw them, he let go of my hand, and I said to him, +"I desire to enter the church with thee." He said to the interpreter, +"Inform him that whoever enters is absolutely obliged to prostrate +himself before the principal crucifix. It is a thing prescribed by the +Fathers, and can not be transgressed." I then left him, he entered +alone, and I never saw him again.' + + * * * * * + +THE LATE LORD CHANCELLOR CAMPBELL. + + +It is worthy of note that the English statesmen of the present century +have mostly originated in two totally distinct ranks of society. They +have either been the scions of noble and powerful families; or they have +arisen, in spite of circumstance, from humble parents, by the sole +recommendation of personal worth. Of the great middle class, the class +which is certainly the most respectable of the English community, and +which is at present the controlling power in the state, but few have +recently attained great eminence. That the titled and wealthy should +advance to power and influence in a government peculiarly influenced by +such recommendations, is not strange. Any son of a great English house, +who has ambition, and a reasonable share of brains, may attain, with +comparative ease, eminence in the state. An apt example is Lord Russell, +who, with but little genius, with no oratorical force, and hardly more +than medium capacity as a statesman, has become the leader of the +predominant party, by dint of shrewdness, a persevering spirit, and +ambition, backed by the powerful influence of the noble house of +Bedford. And that the master-spirits born in poverty should shake off +the incubus of humble birth, and advance to a level with the noblest, is +not so unnatural or improbable but that the history of every nation +affords us abundant examples of such men; while the middle class, who +are neither stimulated by the calls of penury, nor pushed forward by +hereditary interest, naturally retain a contented mediocrity of renown +and honor. + +If any of our readers have visited the House of Lords within the past +two years, they doubtless had their attention directed to the venerable +statesman who for that period has occupied, with eminent dignity and +grace, the office of chairman to that body, and whose recent decease has +been noticed with such profound regret in British journals. On inquiry, +they doubtless learned that this was Lord Chancellor Campbell. He had +risen from the lowest drudgery to the highest eminence of the legal +profession. By the prolific arts of perseverance and industry, he had +scaled each successive round in the ladder of promotion, until now, in +his declining years, with accumulated honor and respect, he had thus +reached the summit, taking precedence after the Archbishop of +Canterbury, holding the great seal, and presiding over the peers of the +realm. + +He was one of those rare examples of unconquerable pluck, who have +mastered the prejudice of wealth and power, and to whom has been yielded +a position envied by the most worthy descendants of the most illustrious +nobles. In America, where public distinction is within the reach of all, +it is difficult to conceive of the restraints which beset the humble +aspirant in the old country. But notwithstanding such obstacles, the +examples of such men as Eldon, Stowell, Truro, St. Leonards, Ashburton, +Canning, and Campbell exhibit the gratifying fact, that hereditary power +or wealth can not bide the dignity of great genius; that greatness will +thrust aside the lesser privilege of worldly circumstance, whether it be +born in a palace or a cottage; and that you can no more control the +operation of a superior mind by the vanities of title and lucre, than +you can subordinate truth to error, or eternity to time. The glittering +train of peers and nabobs who followed in the path of the great +Elizabeth lie forgotten under the stately arches of the old cathedrals; +while the poverty-stricken player, William Shakspeare, has adorned every +library with his name, and reigns in every appreciative heart, as a +perfect master of nature and lofty thought. The names of the brilliant +court which welcomed George the Third to the throne of the Plantagenets +no longer linger on the lips of men; while every household boasts its +'Rasselas,' and the civilized world holds sacred the memory of the +illustrious 'Rambler.' + +John Campbell was born in 1781, and was the son of an obscure Scotch +clergyman. His father destined him for the clergy; in consequence of +which he was sent to the University of St. Andrews, where he met the +great Dr. Chalmers, then a student like himself. But young Campbell +became averse to the profession which had been chosen for him, and soon +turned his attention to the law. Soon after graduation, he betook +himself to London, where he studied with great zeal, meanwhile supplying +his wants by acting as the theatrical critic of the '_Morning +Chronicle_.' There, seated in an obscure corner of the pit or upper +gallery, we may imagine the Chancellor in embryo, jotting down the petty +excellences and failings of the players, to pamper the taste of the +frivolous on the morrow; while below him, in the decorated boxes and +circles, lolled the vain crowd of coroneted simpletons and courtly +beauties, now long forgotten, while he is honored as the benefactor of +his country's laws. He was called to the bar by the Society of Lincoln's +Inn, and then commenced a long life, replete with arduous study, with +untiring interest in duty, and stubborn perseverance. He early espoused +the liberal doctrines of Fox and Grey; and inasmuch as for many years +after the Tories monopolized the power, his politics were an effectual +bar to his professional preferment. He remained, however, through his +whole life, an earnest and consistent advocate of his early convictions. +Owing to the prejudice which Lord Chancellor Eldon entertained against +the Whigs, he did not obtain the silk gown of King's Counsel till the +venerable Jacobite gave place, in 1827, to the more courteous and +liberal Lyndhurst. + +He entered the House of Commons in the year 1830, and was soon +recognized as one of the leading members of the British bar. The period +of his debut in public life is one of peculiar significance in the party +history of England. The long dominion of the statesmen of the Pitt, and +Liverpool school was at last overthrown. The political dogmas which had +resisted Catholic toleration, which had sustained the continental powers +in their persecution of the French Emperor, which had resisted the right +of a neighboring people to choose their own rulers, which had held in +imprisonment the first genius of the century, which had opposed the +abolition of the test act, which had sustained the most licentious and +most obstinate sovereign of modern times, now yielded to the more +enlightened views of such statesmen as Russell and Lansdowne, Brougham +and Grey. Several causes operated to bring about this auspicious change. +George the Fourth, whose partiality for the Tories was only surpassed by +his animosity against the Whigs, had given place to a liberal and +enlightened prince, renowned for his zealous attachment to the popular +weal. Again, Canning's influence in moderating the maxims of Tory +theorists was greatly felt among the gentry. Finally, the rapid growth +of general intelligence, developments in the history of nations, and +juster conceptions of the true relations of sovereign and people, +prepared the public mind for extensive reforms in the constitution. Earl +Grey, a statesman eminent no less for his eloquence and sagacity than +for the worth of his private character, succeeded to the premiership in +1830, being the first Whig who held that office since the cabinet of +'all the talents,' in 1806. + +It was at such a juncture that Campbell entered the House of Commons. +The sanguine dreams of his youth were dawning into reality; and he was +gratified to see his cherished principles fully adopted by the country, +and to know that he was a participant in the glories of the great +reform. + +In 1832, when he had been a member of the House but two years, and a +King's Counsel but five years, and in the same year that the reform of +Russell and Grey received the royal sign-manual, he was elevated to the +dignity of Solicitor General. No one of the long line of his illustrious +predecessors brought to the discharge of this eminent trust greater +learning and acuteness than Lord Campbell evinced; who, at the same time +of this appointment, was honored with the order of Knighthood. In 1834, +after serving as solicitor with the marked approbation of the +government, he was promoted to the Attorney Generalship. + +He now re-entered Parliament as the representative of the capital of his +native Scotland, and became a leader in debate and the transaction of +the public business. He continued Attorney General through the +conservative ministry of Sir Robert Peel, and the subsequent Whig +government of Lord Melbourne. In 1841, he held for a brief period the +Chancellorship of Ireland; being at the same time elevated to the rank +of a peer of England, with the title of John, first Lord Campbell. He +retired from office when Sir Robert Peel returned to power in the autumn +of 1841, and turned his thoughts to the gentle and graceful pursuit of +literature. The first production of his pen was the 'Lives of the Lord +Chancellors,' from the earliest times to the close of Lord Eldon's +Chancellorship, in 1827. For the spirited interest of its style, the +clear and precise detail of fact, and the simple yet elegant course of +its manner, it is surpassed by no work of the present century. It is +regarded by eminent critics as a masterpiece of biography, and may +justly rank with the first books of that character in the English +tongue. It has probably been as serviceable to perpetuate the name of +the author, if not more so, than the numerous profound and equitable +decisions which he has left on the records of the Courts of King's Bench +and Chancery. + +It was soon followed by 'The Lives of the Chief Justices of England,' +which only enhanced the reputation of the former work; and we would +heartily recommend both of these books to the perusal of all who are +interested, either professionally or as a matter of taste, in this +branch of literature, as a deeply interesting as well as instructive +entertainment. + +In 1846, Lord John Russell assumed office, and Lord Campbell was +recalled from the occupation which had proved so congenial to his mind, +to take a seat in the ministry as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. +While he held this position, he was a frequent and popular debater in +the House of Peers, where he zealously defended the policy of the +government. In 1850, Lord Chief Justice Denman retired from the King's +Bench, ripe in years and in honorable renown, and Lord Campbell was at +once designated as his successor. In this exalted place, he was removed +from the harassing uncertainties of political life; and he continued for +nine years to administer justice with promptitude, skill, and equity. + +It was while Chief Justice that he became eminent for the great light he +brought to bear upon many important and intricate questions of law; and +his fame may be said to rest mainly upon the profound ability with which +he exercised the functions of this trust. In 1859, when Lord Palmerston +succeeded to the brief administration of Lord Derby, Lord Campbell was +finally raised to the summit of his profession. He was the fourth +Scotchman who has been Lord Chancellor within the century, and is a +worthy compeer of such men as Loughborough, Erskine, and Brougham. The +long years of unremitting toil were at length crowned with glorious +success; and the great man died in the midst of duty, affluence, honor +and power, while enjoying the prerogatives of the highest judicial +trust, during the summer of the past year. + +Whether we consider him as a lawyer, statesman, author, or man, his +character appears in a most amiable light. Profound without pedantry, +subtle without craft, zealous without bigotry, and humane without +effeminacy, he lived a philanthropic, pure, and consistent life. His +highest eulogium is that he lived and died in the service of his +country; that through every vicissitude his chief care was the national +weal; that his chief fame rests in the love and veneration which he +awakened in his countrymen; and that few Englishmen of the present +century have left more enduring monuments of public wisdom and private +example. + + 'O, civic music, to such a name, + To such a name for ages long, + To such a name, + Preserve the broad approach of fame, + And ever ringing avenues of song.' + + * * * * * + +CHILD'S CALL AT EVENTIDE. + + + Bright and fair,-- + Golden hair, + Still white hands and face; + Not a plea + Moveth thee; + Nor the wind's wild chase, + As yesterday, calling thee, + Even as I, in vain. + Come--wake up, Gerda! + Come out and play in the lane! + + See! the wind, + From behind, + Sporteth with thy locks, + From the land's + Desert sands + And the sea-beat rocks + Cometh and claspeth thy hands, + Even as I, in vain. + Come--wake up, Gerda! + Come out and play in the lane! + + Closed thine eyes, + Gently wise, + Dost thou dream the while? + Falls my kiss + All amiss, + Waketh not a smile! + Sweet mouth, is't feigning this? + Then do not longer feign. + Come--wake up, Gerda! + Come out and play in the lane! + + Forehead Bold, + White and cold; + Sealed thy lips and all; + I am made + Half afraid + In this lonely hall. + Night cometh quick through the glade! + I fear it is all in vain,-- + All too late, Gerda,-- + Too late to play in the lane! + + * * * * * + +THE GOOD WIFE: A NORWEGIAN STORY. + + +PART I. + +NOTHING LOST BY GOOD HUMOR. + + +For more than a month I had been ransacking my memory in search of some +story or narrative to offer our readers, but with rather poor success. I +thought of all the good things I had ever heard, and tumbled and tossed +my books in vain--nothing could I find that was suitable for either +children or parents. So I was, very reluctantly, about to abandon the +enterprise, when it chanced that, being unable to compose myself to +sleep, a few nights since, I took up, according to my custom on such +occasions, an old copy of Montaigne, the usual companion of my vigils, +the fellow-occupant of my pillow, and the only moralist whose musings +one can read with pleasure on the wrong side of forty. + +I opened the _Essays_ carelessly, for each and every page of them is +precious and replete with themes for meditation. In so doing, I alighted +upon the chapter entitled, 'Of three Good Women,'--which commences thus: +'They are not to be found by the dozen, as every one knows, and +especially not in the duties of married life, for that is a market full +of such thorny circumstances that it is no easy matter for a woman's +will to keep whole and sound in it for any length of time.' + +'Montaigne is an impertinent fellow!' I exclaimed, slamming to the book. +'What? this close reader of antiquity, this fine analyst of the human +heart, has been able to find only three good women, only three devoted +wives, in all the Greek and Roman annals! This is playing the joker out +of season. Goodness is the special attribute of woman. Every married +woman is good, or supposed to be such. I bethink me, too, that our old +jurists always make the law presume this goodness to exist, at the +outset,' + +Thus meditating, I wandered into my library, and there took up a fine +old volume, bound in red morocco, and entitled 'The Dream of Vergier;' a +book full of wisdom and logic, and written by some venerable clerk, +during the reign of Charles V., king of France. I looked for the page +that had struck my fancy, but--alas! how oddly one's memory changes with +the lapse of years--instead of finding, in that grave old book, the just +panegyric of woman's goodness, I discovered, to my great surprise, only +a violent satire all spiced with texts borrowed from St. Augustine, the +Roman laws and the ancient canons, with this sage conclusion, full +worthy of the exordium:-- + +'I do not say, however, that there is no good woman at all, but the +species is rare; and hence an old law says that no _law concerning good +women_ should be made, for that laws are to be made concerning things of +usual occurrence, as it is written in _Auth. sinc prohib_., etc., _quia +vero_ and L. _Nam ad ca_, Dig. _De Leffibus_.' + +These juridical epigrams, these cool pleasantries, in a serious book, +shocked me more than even the hard hits of the Gascon philosopher. 'Good +women,' I thought to myself, 'are found everywhere. In history? No; +history is written by men who love and admire heroes only, that is to +say, those who rob, subjugate, or slay them. In theology? No; it has not +yet forgiven the daughters of Eve the fault which ruined us,--a sin of +which they have retained at least a little share. In the records of the +law, then? No, again; for men make the laws. Woman is, in their eyes, +nothing but a minor, legally incapable of governing herself. God only +knows what is, here, as in all things, the difference between the fact +and the law. Are these good women to be found in plays, romances, or +novels? No, still; for they are but the perpetual recital of feminine +artfulness. Where, then, shall we look for good women?--In the realm of +fable and fiction, in the kingdom of fancy--the dominion of the ideal. + +These are the only regions in which merit holds the place it is entitled +to or justice is done to the claims of virtue. What is the tenderness of +Baucis, or the long fidelity of Penelope? Fiction only. And the +resignation of the gentle Griseldis--what is it? An old tale of other +days. In order to find the good woman we are looking for, this is the +ivory portal at which we must knock. + +Acting upon this conviction, I reperused all the old traditions, I +called to my aid that peculiar lore of nations which is embodied in +their legends, and which is so vividly, so amiably, and so ingenuously +expressed. I interrogated the story-tellers of every country, Indian, +Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, French, German, +English, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Russian, Lithuanian, and +even the hoary old wayside narrators of the far Thibet. I plunged into +this ocean of fancy with the recklessness of an accomplished diver, +but,--must I acknowledge it?--less fortunate than even Montaigne with +his history, I have succeeded in bringing back only one woman that I can +call really good, and her I have had to disinter from under the ice and +snows of the North, in a wild country, too, and among a people who are +not so delicate and refined as though Paris were in Norway. From Cadiz +to Stockholm, from London to Cairo and Delhi, from Paris to Teheran and +Samarcand, if the stories are to be believed, there are artful girls and +scheming mothers, in any quantity; but the _good woman_!--where does she +lie hid, and why do they never tell us anything about her? Here is a +hiatus to which I specially call the attention of the learned. In +observing it myself, I feel the more emboldened to relate the story of +the only good woman and wife I have unearthed. It is a simple narrative, +and not thoroughly in accordance with every-day experience, and, indeed, +there may be some squeamish people who will say that it is ridiculous. +No matter--it has one good quality which no one can dispute--it is not +in the ordinary style of either adventure or narration. Novelty is all +the rage at the present day, and what imparts value to things is not +their intrinsic merit, but their strangeness. + +Here, then, is my story presented to you, kind reader, just as Messrs. +Asbjoernsen and Moe give it, in their curious collection of Norwegian +tales and legends. + + +PART II. + +GUDBRAND AND HIS WIFE. + + +There was once a man called Gudbrand, who lived in a lonely little +farm-house on a remote hillside. From this circumstance he got the name +among his neighbors of Gudbrand of the Hill. + +Now, you must know that Gudbrand had an excellent wife, as sometimes +happens to a man. But the rarest thing about it was, that Gudbrand knew +the value of such a treasure; and so the two lived in perfect harmony, +enjoying their own happiness, and giving themselves no concern about +either wealth or the lapse of years. No matter what Gudbrand might do, +his wife had foreseen and desired that very thing; so that her good man +could not touch or change or move anything about the house without her +coming forward to thank him for having divined and forestalled her +wishes. + +Besides, it was easy for them to get along, since the farm belonged to +them, and they had a hundred solid crowns in a drawer of their closet +and two excellent cows in their stable. They lacked nothing, and could +quietly pass their old age without fear of poverty or toil, and without +having to look to the friendship or the commiseration of any of their +fellow-creatures. + +One evening, while they were talking over their various little tasks and +projects, says the wife of Gudbrand to her husband,-- + +'Husband, I've got a new notion in my head: you must take one of our +cows to town and sell her. We'll keep the other, and she'll be quite +enough to furnish us with all the milk and butter we can use. Why +should we toil for other people? We've money lying in the drawer, and +have no children to look after. So, wouldn't it be better to spare these +arms of ours, now that they are growing old? You will always find +something to occupy your time about the house;--there'll be no lack of +furniture and things to mend, and I'll be more than ever beside you with +my distaff and my knitting-needles.' + +Gudbrand bethought him that his wife was right, as usual, and so, as the +next morning was a beautiful one, he set off for the town, at an early +hour, with the cow he wanted to sell. But it was not market day, and he +found no purchaser to take the animal off his hands. + +'Well! well!' said Gudbrand, 'at all events, I can take Sukey back to +the place I brought her from; I've got hay and litter in plenty, there, +for the poor brute, and it's no farther returning than it was coming +hither.' Whereupon, he very quietly started again on the road to his +home. + +After walking on for a few hours, and just as he was beginning to feel a +little tired, he met a man leading a horse by the bridle toward the +town. The horse was in fine condition, and was all saddled and ready for +a rider. 'The way is long and night rapidly coming on,' thought +Gudbrand. 'I can hardly drag my cow along, and to-morrow I'll have to +take this same walk over again. Now, here's an animal that would suit me +a great deal better, and I'd go back home with him, as proud as a lord. +Who would be delighted to see her husband returning in triumph, like a +Roman general? Why, the wife of Gudbrand!' + +Upon this happy thought, Gudbrand stopped the trader and exchanged his +cow for the horse. + +Once mounted on the charger's back, our hero felt some qualms of regret, +for he was old and heavy, while the horse was young, frisky, and +headstrong, so that, in less than half an hour, behold, our would-be +cavalier was on foot again, vainly striving to drag along by the bridle +a creature that cocked up his head at every puff of wind, and capered +and pranced at every stone that lay in his path. + +'This is a poor bargain I've made,' thought Gudbrand, when, just at that +moment, he descried a peasant driving along a hog so fine and fat that +its stomach touched the ground. + +'A nail that is useful is better than a diamond that glitters and can be +turned to nothing, as my wife often says,' reflected Gudbrand; and, with +that, he traded off his horse for the hog. + +It was a bright idea to be sure, but our good man had counted without +his host. Don Porker was tired, and wouldn't budge an inch. Gudbrand +talked to him, coaxed him, swore at him, but all in vain; he dragged him +by the snout, he pushed him from behind, he whacked him on both his fat +sides with a cudgel, but it was only labor lost, and Mr. Hog remained +there in the middle of the dusty road like a stranded whale. The poor +farmer was yielding to despair, when, at the very nick of time, there +came along a country lad leading a she-goat, that, with an udder all +swollen with milk, skipped, ran, and played about, in a manner charming +to behold. + +'There! that's the very thing I want!' exclaimed Gudbrand. 'I'd far +rather have that gay, sprightly creature than this huge, stupid brute.' +Whereupon, without an instant's hesitation, he exchanged the hog for the +she-goat. + +All went well for another half-hour. The young madam with her long horns +greatly amused Gudbrand, who laughed at her pranks till his sides ached. +In fact, too, the goat pulled him along; but, when one is on the wrong +side of forty, one soon gets tired of scrambling over the rocks; and so +the farmer, happening to meet a shepherd feeding his flock, traded his +she-goat for a ewe. 'I'll have just as much milk,' mused he, 'from that +animal as from the other, and, at least, she will keep quiet, and not +worry either my wife or me.' + +Gudbrand was right, in one respect, for there is nothing more gentle +than a ewe. This one had no tricks; she neither capered nor butted with +her head, but she stood perfectly still and bleated all the time. +Finding herself separated from her companions, she wanted to rejoin +them, and the more Gudbrand tugged at her tether, the more piteously she +baaed. + +'Deuce take the silly brute!' shouted Gudbrand; 'she's as obstinate and +whimpering as my neighbor's wife. Who'll rid me of this bawling, +bellowing little beast? I must get clear of her, at any price.' + +'It's a bargain, if you choose, neighbor,' said a country fellow who was +just passing, with a fat goose under his arm. 'Here, take this fine +bird, instead; she's worth two of that ugly sheep that's going to split +its throat in less than an hour, anyhow.' + +'Done!' said Gudbrand; 'a live goose is as good as a dead ewe, any day;' +and so he took the goose in exchange. + +But it was no easy matter to manage his new bargain. The goose turned +out to be a very disagreeable companion; for, finding itself no longer +on the ground, it fought with its bill, its feet, and its wings, so that +Gudbrand was soon tired of struggling to hold it. + +'Pah!' growled he; 'the goose is an ugly, ill-grained creature, and my +wife never would have one about the house.' With this reflection, he +changed the goose, at the first farm-house he came to, for a fine +rooster of rich plumage and furnished with a grand pair of spurs. + +This time, he was thoroughly satisfied. The rooster, it is true, +squawked from time to time, in a voice rather too hoarse to gratify most +delicate ears; but as his claws had been tied together with twine and he +was carried head downwards, he finally gave up and resigned himself to +his fate. The only unpleasant circumstance now remaining was that the +day was rapidly drawing to a close. Gudbrand, who had started before +dawn, now found himself fasting, at sundown, without a farthing in his +pocket. He still had a long walk before him, and the good man felt that +his legs were giving out and that his stomach craved refreshment. Some +bold step must be taken; and so, at the first wayside tavern, Gudbrand +sold his rooster for a shilling, and as he had a raging appetite, he +spent the last doit of it for his supper. + +'After all,' said he, the while, 'what use would a rooster be to me, if +I had to die of hunger?' + +As he, at length, drew near his own dwelling, however, Gudbrand began to +meditate seriously on the curious turn things had taken with him, and, +before entering his home, he stopped at the door of Peter the Gray +beard, as a neighbor of his was called in the surrounding country. + +'Well, neighbor,' said Peter, 'how have you prospered in the town?' + +'Oh! so, so,' answered Gudbrand; 'I can't say that I've been very lucky, +nor have I much to complain of either;' and he went on to tell all that +had happened. + +'Neighbor, you've made a pretty mess of it!' said Peter the Graybeard; +'you'll have a nice time of it when you get home. Heaven protect you +from your dame! I wouldn't be in your shoes for ten crowns.' + +'Good!' rejoined Gudbrand of the Hill; 'things might have turned out +still worse for me; but, now, I'm quiet in my mind about it, for my wife +is so clever that, right or wrong, no matter what I've done, well or +ill, she'll not say one word about it.' + +'I hear and admire your statement, neighbor,' retorted Peter, 'but, with +all respect for you, I do not believe a word of it.' + +'Will you lay a wager on it?' said Gudbrand. 'I have a hundred crowns in +my drawer at home, and I'll bet twenty of them against as many from +you.' + +'Done, on the spot!' replied Peter. So, joining hands on it, the two +friends entered Gudbrand's house. Peter stood back at the door to hear +what the husband and wife would have to say. + +'Good evening, wife!' said Gudbrand. 'Good evening, husband,' said the +good woman; 'you've come back, then, God be praised! How did you fare +all day?' + +'Neither well nor ill,' replied Gudbrand. When I got to the town, I +could find no one there to buy our cow, and so I traded her off for a +horse.' + +'For a horse!' said the wife. 'An excellent idea, and I thank you with +all my heart. We can go to church, then, in a wagon, like plenty of +other folks who look down upon us, but are no better than we. If we +choose to keep a horse and can feed him, we have a right to do it, I +suppose, for we ask no odds of anybody. Where is the horse? We must put +him into the stable.' + +'I did not bring him all the way home,' answered Gudbrand, 'for, on the +road, I changed my mind; I exchanged the horse for a hog.' + +'Come, now,' said the wife, 'that's just what I'd have done, in your +place! Thanks, a hundred times over! Now, when my neighbors come to see +me, I'll have, like everybody else, a bite of ham to offer them. What +need had we of a horse? The folks around us would have said, "See the +saucy things! they think it beneath them to walk to church." Let us put +the hog in a pen!' + +'I didn't bring him with me,' said Gudbrand, 'for on the way I exchanged +him for a she-goat.' + +'Bravo!' said the good wife. 'What a sensible man you are! When I come +to think of it, what could I have done with a hog? The neighbors would +have pointed us out and have said, "Look at those people--all they make +they eat! But, with a she-goat, I shall have milk and cheese, not to +speak of the little kids. Come, let us put her into the stable." + +'I didn't bring the she-goat with me, either,' said Gudbrand; 'I traded +her again, for a ewe.' + +'There! That's just like you,' exclaimed the wife, with evident +satisfaction. 'It was for my sake that you did that. Am I young enough +to scamper, over hill and dale, after a she-goat? No, indeed. But, a ewe +will yield me her wool as well as her milk; so let us get her housed at +once.' + +'I didn't bring the ewe home, either,' stammered Gudbrand, once more, +'but swapped her for a goose.' + +'What? a goose! oh! thanks, thanks a thousand times, with all my +heart--for, after all, how could I have got along with the ewe? I have +neither card nor comb, and spinning is a heavy job, at best. When you've +spun, too, you have to cut and fit and sew. It's far easier to buy our +clothes ready-made, as we've always done. But a goose--a fat one, too, +no doubt--why, that's the very thing I want! I've need of down for our +quilt, and my mouth has watered this many a day for a bit of roast +goose. Put the bird in the poultry-coop.' + +'Ah! I've not brought the goose, for I took a rooster in his stead.' + +'Good husband!' said the wife, 'you're wiser than I would have been. A +rooster! splendid!--why, a rooster's better than an eight-day clock. The +rooster will crow every morning, at four, and tell us when it is time to +pray to God and set about our work. What would we have done with a +goose? I don't know how to cook one, and as for the quilt, Heaven be +praised, there's no lack of moss a great deal softer than down. So, let +us put the rooster in the corn-yard!' + +'I have not brought even the rooster,' murmured Gudbrand, 'for, at +sundown, I felt very hungry, and had to sell my rooster for a shilling +to buy something to eat. If it hadn't been for that I must have starved +to death.' + +'God be thanked for giving you that lucky thought,' replied the wife. +'All that you do, Gudbrand, is just after my own heart. What need we of +a rooster? We are our own masters, I think; there is no one to give us +orders, and we can stay in bed just as long as we please. Here you are, +my dear husband, safe and sound. I am perfectly satisfied, and have need +of nothing more than your presence to make me happy.' + +Upon this, Gudbrand opened the door;--'Well! neighbor Peter, what do you +say to that? Go, now, and bring me your twenty crowns!' So saying, +Gudbrand hugged and kissed his wife with as much fervor and heartiness +as though he and she had just been wedded, in the bloom of youth. + + +PART III. + +But the narrative does not end with the events described in the last +chapter. There is a reverse to every medal, and even daylight would not +be so charming were it not followed by night. However good and perfect +woman may, generally, be, there are some who by no means share the easy +disposition of Gudbrand's better half. Need I say that the fault is, +usually, in the husband? If he were only to yield, on all occasions, +would he be troubled? Yield? exclaim some fierce moustachioed +individuals. Yes, indeed, yield, or hear the penalty that awaits you. + + +PART IV. + +PETER THE GRAYBEARD. + + +Peter the Graybeard did not at all resemble Gudbrand. He was +self-willed, imperious, passionate, and had no more patience than a dog +when you snatch away his bone or a cat when you're trying to strangle +her. He would have been insufferable, had not Heaven, in its mercy, +given him a wife who was a match for him. She was headstrong, +quarrelsome, discontented and morose--always ready to keep quiet when +her husband preserved silence, and just as ready to scream at the top of +her voice the moment he opened his mouth. + +It was great good fortune for Peter to have such a spouse. Without her, +would he ever have known that patience is not the merit of fools? + +One day, in the mowing Season, when he came home, after a fifteen hours' +spell of hard work, in worse humor than usual, and was swearing, cursing +and execrating all women and their laziness, because his soup was not +yet ready for him, his wife exclaimed,-- + +'Good Lord! Peter, you talk away at a fine rate. Would you like to +change places? To-morrow, I will mow, instead of you, and you stay at +home here and play housekeeper. Then, we'll see which of us will have +the hardest task and come out of it the best.' + +'Agreed!' thundered Peter; 'you'll have a chance to find out, once for +all, what a poor husband has to suffer. The trial will teach you a +lesson of respect--something you greatly need.' + +So, the next morning, at day-break, the wife set out afield with the +rake over her shoulder and the sickle by her side, all joyous at the +sight of the bright sunshine, and singing like a lark. + +Now, who felt not a little surprised, and a little foolish too, to find +himself shut up at home? Our friend Peter the Graybeard. Still, he +wasn't going to own himself beaten, but fell to work churning butter, as +though he had never done anything else all the days of his life. + +It's no hard matter to get over-heated when one takes up a new trade, +and Peter soon, feeling very dry, went down into the cellar to draw a +mug of beer from the cask. He had just knocked out the bung and was +applying the spigot, when he heard an ominous crunching and grunting +overhead. It was the sow, devastating the kitchen. + +'Oh Lord! my butter's lost!' yelled Peter the Graybeard, as he rushed +pell-mell up the steps, with the spigot in his hand. What a spectacle +was there! the churn upset, the cream spilt all over the floor, and the +huge sow fairly wallowing in the rich and savory tide. + +Now even a wiser man would have lost all patience; as for Peter, he +rushed upon the brute, who, with piercing screams, strove to escape; but +it was a hapless day to the thief, for her master caught her in the +doorway and dealt her so well applied and vigorous a blow on the side of +her skull with the spigot that the sow fell dead on the spot. + +As he drew back his novel weapon, now covered with blood, Peter +recollected that he had not closed the bung-hole of his cask, and that +all this time his beer was running to waste. So down he rushed again to +the cellar. Fortunately, the beer had ceased to run, but then that was +because not a drop remained in the cask. + +He had now to begin his morning's work again, and churn some more butter +if he expected to see any dinner that day. So Peter visited the +dairy-house, and there found enough cream to replaced what he had just +lost. At it he goes again, and churns and churns away, more vigorously +than ever. But, in the midst of his churning, he remembers--a little +late to be sure, but better late than never--that the cow was still in +the stable, and that she had neither food nor water, although the sun +was now high above the horizon. Away he runs then to the stable. But +experience has made him wise: 'I've my little child there rolling on the +floor; now, if I leave the churn, the greedy scamp will turn it over, +and something worse might easily happen!' Whereupon, he takes up the +churn on his back and hastens to the well to draw water for the cow. The +well was deep, and the buckets did not go down far enough. So Peter +leans with all his might, in hot haste, on the rope, and away goes the +cream out of the churn, over his head and shoulders, into the well! + +'Confound it!' said Peter between his teeth, 'it's clear that I'm to +have no butter to-day. Let's attend to the cow; it's too late to take +her out to pasture, but there's a fine lot of hay on the house-thatch +that hasn't been cut, and so she'll lose nothing by staying at home.' To +get the cow out of the stable and to put her on the house-roof was no +great trouble, for the dwelling was set in a hollow in the hill-side, so +that the thatch was almost on a level with the ground. A plank served +the purpose of a bridge, and behold the cow comfortably installed in her +elevated pasture! Peter, of course, could not remain upon the roof to +watch the animal; he had to make the mid-day porridge and take it to the +mowers. But he was a prudent man, and did not want to leave his cow +exposed to the risk of breaking her bones; so he tied a small rope +around her neck, and this rope he passed carefully down the chimney of +the cottage into the kitchen below. Having effected this, he descended +himself, and, entering the kitchen, attached the other end of the rope +to his own leg. + +'In this way,' said he, 'I make sure that the cow will keep quiet, and +that nothing bad can happen to her.' + +He now filled the kettle, dropped into it a good 'lump' of lard, the +necessary vegetables and condiments, placed it on the well-piled fagots, +struck fire with flint and steel, and was applying the match to the +wood, blowing it well the while, when, all at once, crish--crash! away +goes the cow, slipping down over the roof, and dragging our good man, +with one leg in the air and head downwards, clear up the chimney. What +would have become of him, no one could tell, had not a thick bar of iron +arrested his upward flight. And now there they are, both together, +dangling in the air, the cow outside and Peter within; both, too, +uttering the most frightful cries of distress. + +As good luck would have it, the wife was just as impatient as her +husband, and, when she had waited just three seconds to see whether +Peter would bring her porridge at the stated time, she darted off for +the house as though it were on fire. When she saw the cow swinging +between heaven and earth, she drew her sickle and cut the rope, greatly +to the delight of the poor brute, who now found herself safe again, on +the only sort of floor she liked. It was a chance no less fortunate for +Peter, who was not accustomed to gazing at the sky with his feet in the +air. But he fell smack into the kettle, head foremost. It had been +decreed, however, that all should come out right with him, that day; the +fire had died out, the water was cold, and the kettle awry, so that he +got off with nothing worse than a scratched forehead, a peeled nose, and +two well scraped cheeks, and, thank Heaven! nothing was broken but the +saucepan. + +When his better half entered the kitchen, she found Master Graybeard +looking very sheepish and bloody. + +'Well! well!' said she, planting her arms akimbo and her two fists on +her haunches: 'who's the best housekeeper, pray? I have mowed and +reaped, and here I am as good as I was yesterday, while you, _you_, +Mister Cook, Mister Stay-at-home, Mr. Nurse, where is the butter, +where's the sow, where's the cow, and where's our dinner? If our little +one's alive yet, no thanks to you. Poor little fellow!--what would +become of it without kind and careful mamma?' + +Whereupon, Mrs. Peter begins to snivel and sob. Indeed, she has need to, +for is not sensibility woman's field of triumph, and are not tears the +triumph of sensibility? + +Peter bore the storm in silence, and did well, for resignation is the +virtue of great souls! + + +PART V. + +There, you have my story exactly as it is related, on winter evenings, +to impress ideas of wisdom on the minds of the young Norwegians. Between +the wife of Gudbrand and the wife of Peter the Graybeard they must +choose, at their own risk and peril. + +'The choice is an easy one,' says an amiable lady-friend of mine, who +has just become a grandmother. 'Gudbrand's wife is the one to imitate, +not only on account of her prudence, but for her worth. You men are much +more amusing than you fancy: when your own self-esteem is at stake, you +love truth and justice about as much as bats love a glare of light. The +greatest enjoyment these gentlemen experience is in pardoning us when +they are guilty, and in generously offering to overlook our errors when +they alone are in the wrong. The wisest thing we can do is to let them +talk, and to pretend to believe them. That is the way to tame these +proud, magnificent creatures, and, by pursuing the plan perseveringly, +one may lead them about by the nose, like Italian oxen. + +'But, aunty,' says a fair young thing beside us, 'one can't keep quiet +all the time. Not to yield when you're not in the wrong, is a right.' + +'And when you're wrong, my dear niece, to yield is a royal pleasure. +What woman ever abandoned this exalted privilege? We are all somewhat +akin to that amiable lady who, when all other arguments had been +exhausted, crushed her husband with a magnificent look, as she said,-- + +'"Sir, I give you my word of honor that I am in the right." + +'What could he reply? Can one contradict the veracity of one's own wife? +And what is strength fit for if not to yield to weakness? The poor +husband hung his head, and did not utter another word. But to keep still +is not to acknowledge defeat, and _silence is not peace_!' + +'Madame,' says a young married woman, 'it seems to me that there is no +choice left; when a woman loves her husband all is easy; it is a +pleasure to think and act as he does.' + +'Yes, my child, that is the secret of the comedy. Every one knows it, +but no one avails herself of it. So long as even the last glow of the +honey-moon illuminates the chamber of a young couple, all goes along of +itself. So long as the husband hastens to anticipate every wish, we have +merit and sense enough to let him do it. But at a later moment, the +scene changes. How, then, are we to retain our sway? Youth and beauty +decay, and the charm of wit and intelligence is not sufficient. In order +to remain mistresses of our homes, we must practice the most divine of +all the virtues--gentleness--a blind, dumb, deaf gentleness of demeanor, +that pardons everything for the sake of pardoning.' + +To love a great deal,--to love unconditionally, so as to be loved a +little in return,--that is the whole moral of the story of Gudbrand. + + * * * * * + +THE HUGUENOT FAMILIES IN AMERICA. + +II. + + +The brave Admiral Coligny first conceived the plan of a colony in +America for the safety of his persecuted Huguenot brethren of France. +Such an enterprise was undertaken as early as the year 1555, with two +vessels, having on board mechanics, laborers, and gentlemen, and a few +ministers of the Reformed faith. They entered the great river which the +Portuguese had already named _Rio Janeiro_, and built a fort, calling it +'Coligny.' Here they sought a new country, where they might adore God in +freedom. Unforeseen difficulties, however, discouraged these bold +Frenchmen, and the pious expedition failed, some dispersing in different +directions, while others regained the shores of France with great +difficulty. A second attempt was also unsuccessful. Coligny, in 1562, +obtained permission from Charles IX. to found a Protestant colony in +Florida. Two ships left Dieppe with emigrants, and, reaching the +American shores, entered a large, deep river called _Port Royal_, which +name it still retains, and is, by coincidence, the spot recently +captured by the United States forces.[F] Fort Charles, in honor of the +reigning king of France, was built near by, and in a fertile land of +flowers, fruits, and singing birds. The country itself was called +_Carolina_. Reduced to the most cruel extremities of famine and death, +the remaining colonists returned to Europe. + +Still undismayed by these two disastrous attempts, Coligny, the Huguenot +leader, dispatched a third expedition of three vessels to our shores, +making another attempt near the mouth of the St. John's River (Fort +Caroline). Philip II. was then on the throne, and would not brook the +heresy of the Huguenots, or Calvinism, in his American provinces. +Priests, soldiers, and Jesuits were dispatched to Florida, where the new +settlers, 'Frenchmen and Lutherans,' were destroyed in blood. Such was +the melancholy issue of the earliest attempts to establish a Huguenot or +Protestant settlement in North America. And nearly one hundred years +before it was occupied by the English, Carolina, for an instant, as it +were, was occupied by a band of Christian colonists, but, through the +remorseless spirit of religious persecution, again fell under the +dominion of the uncivilized savages. We refer to these earliest efforts +as proper to the general historical connection of our subject, although +not absolutely necessary to its investigation. + +At the commencement of the seventeenth century, England, on her own +behalf, took up the generous plans of Coligny. Possessing twelve +colonies in America, when the edict of Nantes was revoked, that nation +resolved here to offer peaceful homes to persecuted Huguenots from +France. This mercy she had extended to them in England and Ireland; now +her inviting American colonies were thrown open for the same generous +purpose. Even before that insane and fatal measure of Louis XIV., the +Revocation, and especially after the fall of brave La Rochelle, numerous +Protestant fugitives, mostly from the western provinces of France, had +already emigrated, for safety, to British America. In 1662 the French +government made it a crime for the ship-owners of Rochelle to convey +emigrants to any country or dependency of Great Britain. The fine for +such an offence was ten livres to the king, nine hundred for charitable +objects, three hundred to the palace chapel, one hundred for prisoners, +and five hundred to the mendicant monks. One sea-captain, Brunet, was +accused of having favored the escape of thirty-six young men, and +condemned to return them within a year, or to furnish a legal +certificate of their death, on pain of one thousand livres, with +exemplary punishment.[G] It is imagined that these young voluntary +Huguenot exiles emigrated to Massachusetts, from the fact that the same +year when this strange cause was tried in France, Jean Touton, a French +doctor, requested from the authorities of that colony the privilege of +sojourning there. This favor was immediately granted; and from that +period _Boston_ possessed establishments formed by Huguenots, which +attracted new emigrants. + +In 1679, Elie Nean, the head of an eminent family from the principality +of Soubise, in Saintonge, reached that city. This refugee, sailing +afterwards in his own merchant vessel for the island of Jamaica, was +captured by a privateer, carried back to France, confined in the +galleys, and only restored to his liberty through the intercession of +Lord Portland. + +One of the first acts of the Boston Huguenots was to settle a minister, +giving him forty pounds a year, and increasing his salary afterwards. +Surrounded by the savages on every side, they erected a fort, the traces +of which, it is said, can still be seen, and now overgrown with roses, +currant bushes, and other shrubbery. Mrs. Sigourney, herself the wife of +a Huguenot descendant, during a visit to this time-honored spot, wrote +the beautiful lines,-- + + 'Green vine, that mantlest in thy fresh embrace + Yon old gray rock, I hear that thou with them + Didst brave the ocean surge. + Say, drank thus from + The dews of Languedoc? or slow uncoiled + An infant fibre 'mid the faithful mold + Of smiling Roussillon? Didst thou shrink + From the fierce footsteps of fighting unto death + At fair Rochelle? + Hast thou no tale for me?' + +Their fort did not render the French settlers safe from the murderous +assaults of savage enemies. A.W. Johnson, with his three children, were +massacred here by them; his wife was a sister of Mr. Andrew Sigourney, +one of the earliest Huguenots. After this murderous attack the French +Protestants deserted their forest home, repairing to Boston in 1696, +where vestiges of their industry and agricultural taste long remained; +to this day many of the pears retain their French names, and the region +is celebrated for its excellence and variety of this delicious fruit. +The Huguenots erected a church at Boston in 1686, and ten years +afterwards received as pastor a refugee minister from France, named +Diaille.[H] The Rev. M. Lawrie is also mentioned as one of their +pastors. But from official records we learn more of the Rev. Daniel +Boudet, A.M. He was a native of France, born in 1652, and studied +theology at Geneva. On the revocation, he fled to England, receiving +holy orders from the Lord Bishop of London. In the summer of 1686 he +accompanied the Huguenot emigrants to Massachusetts; and Cotton Mather +speaks of him as a faithful minister 'to the French congregation at New +Oxford, in the _Nipmog_ (Indian) counties.' This was New Oxford, near +Boston. He labored for eight years, 'propagating the Christian faith,' +both among the French and the Indians. He complains, as we do in our +day, of the progress of the sale of rum among the savages,'_without +order or measure_' (July 6, 1691). We shall learn more of him at New +Rochelle, where he removed, probably, in 1695, and could preach to both +English and French emigrants. Soon after the revocation of the Edict of +Nantes, Joseph Dudley, with other proprietors, introduced into +Massachusetts thirty French Protestant families, settling them on the +easternmost part of the 'Oxford tract.'[I] + +Massachusetts, peopled in part by the rigid Protestant Dissenters, +naturally favored these new victims, persecuted by a church still more +odious to them than that of England. Their sympathies were deeply +excited by the arrival of the French exiles. The destitute were +liberally relieved, the towns of Massachusetts making collections for +this purpose, and also furnishing them with large tracts of land to +cultivate. In 1686 the colony at Oxford thus received a noble grant of +11,000 acres; and other provinces followed the liberal example. Every +traveler through New England has seen 'Faneuil Hall,' which has been +called the 'Cradle of Liberty,' and where so many assemblages for the +general good have been held. This noble edifice was presented to Boston, +for patriotic purposes, by the son of a Huguenot. + +Much of our knowledge concerning the Huguenots of New York has been +obtained from the documentary papers at Albany. Some of the families, +before the revocation, as early as the year 1625, reached the spot where +the great metropolis now stands, then a Dutch settlement. The first +birth in New Amsterdam, of European parents, was a daughter of George +Jansen de Rapelje, of a Huguenot family which fled to Holland after the +St. Bartholomew's massacre, and thence sailed for America. Her name was +Sarah. Her father was a Walloon from the confines of France and Belgium, +and settling on Long Island, at the _Waal-bogt_, or Walloon's Bay, +became the father of that settlement. In 1639 his brother, Antonie +Jansen de Rapelje, obtained a grant of one hundred 'morgens,' or nearly +two hundred acres of land, opposite Coney Island, and commenced the +settlement of Gravesend. Here most numerous and respectable descendants +of this Walloon are met with to this day. Jansen de Rapelje, as he was +called, was a man of gigantic strength and stature, and reputed to be a +Moor by birth. This report, probably, arose from his adjunct of _De +Salee_, the name under which his patent was granted; but it was a +mistake; he was a native Walloon, and this suffix to his name, we doubt +not, was derived from the river Saale, in France, and not Salee, or Fez, +the old piratical town of Morocco. For many years after the Dutch +dynasty, his farm at Gravesend continued to be known as Anthony Jansen's +Bowery. The third brother of this family, William Jansen de Rapelje, was +among the earliest settlers of Long Island and founders of Brooklyn. +Singularly, the descendants of _Antonie_ have dropped the Rapelje, and +retained the name of Jansen, or Johnson, as they are more commonly +called. On the contrary, George's family have left off Jansen, and are +now known as Rapelje or Rapelyea. + +Most of the Huguenots who went to Ulster, N.Y., at first sought +deliverance from persecutions among the Germans, and thence sailed for +America. Ascending the Hudson, these emigrants landed at Wiltonyck, now +Kingston, and were welcomed by the Hollanders, who had prepared the way +in this wilderness for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. +Here was a Reformed Dutch church, and Hermanus Blomm, its pastor, +commissioned by the Classis of Amsterdam to preach 'both on water and on +the land, and in all the neighborhood, but principally in _Esopus_.' +This region, selected by the French Protestants for their future land, +was like their own delightful native France for great natural beauties. +Towards the east and west flowed the waters of the noble ever-rolling +Hudson, while on the north the Shamangunk Mountains, the loftiest of our +Fishkill monarchs, looked like pillars upon which the arch of heaven +there rested. No streams can charm the eye more than those which enrich +this region,--the Rosendale, far from the interior, the Walkill, with +its rapid little falls, 'the foaming, rushing, warsteed-like' Esopus +Creek, with the dashing, romantic Saugerties, fresh from the +mountain-side. Both the Dutch and the French emigrants followed these +beautiful rivers towards the south, and made their earliest settlements +there. On these quiet and retired banks their ashes repose. Hallowed be +their memories, virtues, and piety! In those regions thousands of their +descendants now enjoy the rich and glorious patrimony which have +followed their industry and frugality. + +In the year 1663, the savages attacked Kingston and massacred a part of +its inhabitants, slaying twenty-four, and took forty-five prisoners. +The dominie, Blomin, escaped, and has left a description of the tragical +event.[J] 'There lay,' he writes, 'the burnt and slaughtered bodies, +together with those wounded by bullets and axes. The last agonies and +the moans and lamentations were dreadful to hear.... The houses were +converted into heaps of stones, so that I might say with Micah, "We are +made desolate;" and with Jeremiah, "A piteous wail may go forth in his +distress." With Paul I say, "Brothers, pray for us." I have every +evening, during a whole month, offered up prayers with the congregation, +on the four points of our fort, under the blue sky.... Many heathen have +been slain, and full twenty-two of our people have been delivered out of +their hands by our arms. The Lord our God will again bless our arms, and +grant that the foxes who have endeavored to lay waste the vineyard of +the Lord shall be destroyed.' + +Among the prisoners were Catharine Le Fever, the wife of Louis Dubois, +with three of their children. These were Huguenots; and a friendly +Indian gave information where they could be found. The pursuers were +directed to follow the Rondout, the Walkill, and then a third stream; +and a small, bold band, with their knapsacks, rifles, and dogs, +undertook the perilous journey. Towards evening, Dubois, in advance of +the party, discovered the Indians within a few feet of him, and one was +in the act of drawing his bow, but, missing its string, from fear or +surprise, the Huguenot sprang forward and killed him with his sword, but +without any alarm. The party then resolved to delay the attack until +dark; at which hour the savages were preparing for slaughter one of +their unfortunate captives, which was none other than the missing wife +of Dubois himself. She had already been placed upon the funeral pile, +and at this trying moment was singing a martyr's psalm, the strains of +which had often cheered the pious Huguenots in days of the rack and +bloody trials. The sacred notes moved the Indians, and they made signs +to continue them, which she did, fortunately, until the approach of her +deliverers. 'White man's dogs! white man's dogs!' was the first cry +which alarmed the cruel foes. They fled instantly, taking their +prisoners with them. Dubois calling his wife by name, she was soon +restored to her anxious friends, with the other captives. At the moment +of their rescue, the prisoners were preparing for the bloody sacrifice +to savage cruelty, and singing the beautiful psalm of the 'Babylonish +Captives.' Heaven heard those strains, and the deliverance came. During +this fearful expedition the Ulster Huguenots first discovered the rich +lowlands of Paltz. + +This was the section which they selected for their homes, distant some +eighty-five miles from New York, along the west shores of the Hudson, +and extending from six to ten miles in the interior. It was called _New +Paltz_, and its patent obtained from Gov. Andreas; twelve of their +brethren were religiously selected by the emigrants as the _Patentees_, +and known by the appellation of the '_Duzine_,' or the twelve patentees, +and these were regarded as the patriarchs in this little Christian +community. A list of the original purchasers has been preserved, and +were as follows: Louis Dubois, Christian Dian, since Walter Deyo, +Abraham Asbroucq, now spelt Hasbrouck, Andros Le Fever, often Le Febre +and Le Febore, John Brook, said to have been changed into Hasbrouck, +Peter Dian, or Deyo, Louis Bevier, Anthony Cuspell, Abraham Du Bois, +Hugo Freir, Isaac Dubois, Simon Le Fever. + +A copy of this agreement with the Indians still exists, and the +antiquarian may find it among the State records at Albany. It is a +curious document, with the signatures of both parties, the patentees' +written in the antique French character, with the hieroglyphic marks of +the Indians. A few Indian goods--kettles, axes, beads, bars of lead, +powder, casks of wine, blankets, needles, awls, and a 'clean +pipe'--were the insignificant articles given, about two centuries ago, +for these lands, now proverbially rich, and worth millions of dollars. +The treaty was mutually executed, according to the records from which we +quote, on the 20th of May, 1677. + +The patentees immediately took possession of their newly-acquired +property, their first conveyances being three wagons, which would be +rare curiosities in our day. The wheels were very low, shaped like +old-fashioned spinning-wheels, with short spokes, wide rim, and without +any iron. The settlers were three days on their way from Kingston to New +Paltz, a distance of only sixteen miles. The place of their first +encampment is still known by the name of '_Tri Cor_,' or three cars, in +honor of these earliest conveyances. Soon, however, they selected a more +elevated site, on the banks of the beautiful Walkill, where the village +now stands. Log houses were erected not far apart, for mutual defence, +and afterwards stone edifices, with port-holes, some of which still +remain. + + * * * * * + +MACCARONI AND CANVAS. + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Rome is the cradle of art,--which accounts for its sleeping there. + +Nature, however, is nowhere more wide awake than it is in and around +this city: therefore, Mr. James Caper, animal painter, determined to +repose there for several months. + +The following sketches correctly describe his Roman life. + + +ARRIVAL IN ROME. + +It was on an Autumn night that the traveling carriage in which sat James +Caper arrived in Rome; and as he drove through that fine street, the +Corso, he saw coming towards him a two-horse open carriage, filled with +Roman girls of the working class (_minenti_). Dressed in their +picturesque costumes, bonnetless, their black hair tressed with flowers, +they stood up, waving torches, and singing in full voice one of those +songs in which you can go but few feet, metrically speaking, without +meeting _amore_. And then another and another carriage, with flashing +torches and sparkling-eyed girls. It was one of the turnouts of the +_minenti_; they had been to Monte Testaccio, had drank all the wine they +could pay for; and, with a prudence our friend Caper could not +sufficiently admire, he noticed that the women were in separate +carriages from the men. It was the Feast Day of Saint Crispin, and all +the cobblers, or artists in leather, as they call themselves, were +keeping it up bravely. + +'Eight days to make a pair of shoes?' he once asked a shoemaker. 'Si, +Signore, there are three holidays in that time.' Argument unanswerable. + +As the carriages rolled by, Caper determined to observe the festivals. + +The next day our artist entered his name in his banker's register, and +had the horror of seeing it mangled to 'Jams Scraper' in the list of +arrivals published in the _Giornale di Roma_. For some time after his +arrival in Rome, he was pained to receive cards, circulars, notices, +letters, advertisements, etc., from divers tradesmen, all directed to +the above name. In revenge, he here gives them a public airing. One firm +announces,-- + +'Manafactury of Remain Seltings, Mosaiques, Cameas, Medalls, Erasofines, +&c.' (Erasofines is the Roman-English for crucifixes.) And on a slip of +paper, handsomely printed, is an announcement that they make 'Romain +Perles of all Couloueurs'--there's color for you! + +A tailor, under the head of '_Ici un parle Francais_,' prints, 'Merchant +_and_ tailor. Cloths (clothes?) Reddy maid, Mercery Roman; Scarfs, etc.' + +Another, 'Roman Artickles Manofactorer'--hopes to be 'honnoured with our +Custom, (American?), and flaters himsself we will find things to our +likings.' Everything but the English, you know--that is not exactly to +our liking. Another, from a lady, reads,-- + +_A VENTRE!_ + +_une Galerie decomposee de 300 d'Anciens Maitres, et de l'ecole romaine +peintres sur bois, sur cuivre et sur toit, &c._ + +_Ventre_ for _Vendre_ is bad enough, but a 'gallery of decomposed old +masters and of Roman school painters on wood and on the roof,' when it +was intended to say 'A gallery composed of 300 of the old masters--' But +let us leave it untranslated; it is already _decomposee_. + + +A SHORT WALK. + +Mr. Caper having indignantly rejected the services of all professors of +the guiding art or 'commissionaires,' slowly sauntered out of his hotel +the morning after his arrival, and, map in hand, made his way to the +tower on the Capitoline Hill. Threading several narrow, dirty streets, +he at last went through one where in one spot there was such a heap of +garbage and broccoli stumps that he raised his eyes to see how high up +it reached against the walls of a palace; and there read, in black +letters, + +_Immondezzaio_; + +literally translated, A Place for Dirt. On the opposite wall, which was +the side of a church, he saw a number of black placards on which were +large white skulls and crossbones, and while examining these, a +bare-headed, brown-bearded, stout Franciscan monk passed him. From a +passing glance, Caper saw he looked good-natured, and so, hailing him, +asked why the skulls and bones were pasted there. + +'Who knows?' answered the monk. 'I came this morning from the Campagna; +this is the first time in all my life I have been in this magnificent +city.' + +'Can you tell me what that word means up there?' said Caper, pointing to +_immondezzaio_. + +'Signore, I can not read.' + +'Perhaps it is the name of the street, maybe of the city?' + +'It must be so,' answered the priest, 'unless it's a sign of a lottery +office, or a caution against blasphemy up and down the pavement. Those +are the only signs we have in the country, except the government salt +and cigar shops.' ... He took a snuff-box from a pocket in his sleeve, +and with a bow offered a pinch to Mr. Caper. This accepted, they bid +each other profoundly farewell. + +'There goes a brick!' remarked the traveler. + +Arrived at the entrance-door to the tower of the Capitoline Hill, James +Caper first felt in one pocket for a silver piece and in the other for a +match-box, and finding them both there, rang the bell, and then mounted +to the top of the tower. Lighting a _zigarro scelto_ or papal cigar, he +leaned on both elbows on the parapet, and gazed long and fixedly over +the seven-hilled city. + +'And this,' soliloquized he, _is_ Rome. Many a day have I been kept in +school without my dinner because I was not able to parse thee idly by, +_Roma_--Rome--noun of the first declension, feminine gender, that a +quarter of a century ago caused me punishment, I have thee now literally +under foot, and (knocking his cigar) throw ashes on thy head. + +'My mission in this great city is not that of a picture-peddler or art +student. I come to investigate the eating, drinking, sleeping +arrangements of the Eternal City--its wine more than its vinegar, its +pretty girls more than its galleries, its _cafes_ more than its +churches. I see from here that I have a fine field to work in. Down +there, clambering over the fallen ruins of the Palace of the Caesars, is +a donkey. Could one have a finer opportunity to see in this a moral and +twist a tail? From those fallen stones, Memory-glorious old +architect--rears a fabric wondrously beautiful; peoples it with eidolons +white and purple-robed, and gleaming jewel-gemmed; or, iron armed, +glistening with flashing light from polished steel--heroes and slaves, +conquerors and conquered; my blood no longer flows to the slow, jerking +measure of a nineteenth-century piece of mechanism, but freely, fully, +and completely. Hurrah, my blood is up! dark, liquid eyes; black, +flowing locks; strange, pleasing perfumes are around me. There is a rush +as of a strong south wind through a myriad of floating banners, and I am +borne onward through triumphal arches, past pillared temples, under the +walls of shining palaces, into the Coliseum.... + +'Pray, and can you tell me--if that pile of d----d old rubbish--down +there, you know--is the Forum--for I do not--see it in Murray--though +I'm sure--I have looked very clearly--and Murray you know--has +everything down in him--that a traveler.... + +'A commercial traveler?' ... interrupted Mr. Caper, speaking slowly, and +looking coolly into the eyes of the blackguard Bagman.... 'The ruins you +see there are those of the Forum. Good morning.' + + +MODERN ART. + +'Lucrezia Borgia at the Tomb of Don Giovanni! You see,' said the artist, +'I have chosen a good name for my painting, ... and it's a great point +gained. Forty or fifty years ago, some of those fluffy old painters +would have had Venus worshiping at the shrine of Bacchus.' + +'Whereas, you think it would be more appropriate for her to worship +Giove?' ... asked Capar. + +'No _sir_!... I run dead against classic art: it's a drug. I tried my +hand at it when I first came to Rome. Will you believe me, I never sold +a picture. Why that very painting'--pointing to the Borgia--'is on a +canvas on which I commenced The Subjugation of Adonis.' + +'H'm! You find the class of Middle Age subjects most salable then?' + +'I should think I did. Something with brilliant colors, stained glass +windows, armor, and all that, sells well. The only trouble is, +ultramarine costs dear, although Dovizzelli's is good and goes a great +ways. I sold a picture to an Ohio man last week for two hundred dollars, +and it is a positive fact there was twenty _scudi_ (dollars) worth of +blue in it. But the infernal Italians spoil trade here. Why, that fellow +who paints Guide's Speranzas up there at San Pietro in Vineulo is as +smart as a Yankee. He has found out that Americans from Rhode Island +take to the Speranza, because Hope is the motto of their State, and he +turns out copies hand over fist. He has a stencil plate of the face, and +three or four fellows to paint for him; one does the features of the +face, another the hand, and another rushes in the background. Why, sir, +those paintings can be sold for five _scudi_, and money made on them at +that. But then what are they? Wretched daubs not worth house-room. Have +you any thoughts of purchasing paintings?' + +Caper smiled gently.... 'I had not when I first came to Rome, but how +long I may continue to think so is doubtful. The temptations' (glancing +at the Borgia) 'are very great.' ... + +'Rome,' ... interrupted the artist, ... 'is the cradle of art.' + + +A ROOM HUNT. + +Caper, on his first arrival in Home, went to the Hotel Europe, in the +Piazza di Spagna. There for two weeks he lived like a _milordo_. He +formed many acquaintances among the resident colony of American artists, +and was received by them with much kindness. Some of the mercenary ones +of their number, having formed the opinion that he came there to buy +paintings, ignorant of his profession, were excessively polite;--but +their offers of services were declined. When Caper finally moved to +private lodgings in Babuino Street and opened a studio, hope for a +season bade these salesmen all farewell; they groaned, and owned that +they had tried but could not sell. + +Among the acquaintances formed by Caper, was a French artist named +Rocjean. Born in France, he had passed eight or ten years in the United +States, learned to speak English very well, and was residing in Rome 'to +perfect himself as an artist.' He had, when Caper first met him, been +there two years. In all this time he had never entered the Vatican, and +having been told that Michael Angelo's Last Judgment was found to have a +flaw in it, he had been waiting for repairs before passing his opinion +thereon. On the other hand, he had studied the Roman _plebe_, the +people, with all his might. He knew how they slept, eat, drank, loved, +made their little economies, clothed themselves, and, above all, how +they blackguarded each other. When Caper mentioned to him that he wished +to leave his hotel, take a studio and private lodgings, then Rocjean +expanded from an old owl into a spread eagle. Hurriedly taking Caper by +the arm, he rushed him from one end of Rome to the other, up one +staircase and down another; until, at last, finding out that Rocjean +invariably presented him to fat, fair, jolly-looking landladies +(_padrone_), with the remark, 'Signora, the Signor is an Englishman and +very wealthy,' he began to believe that something was wrong. But Rocjean +assured him that it was not--that, as in Paris, it was Madame who +attended to renting rooms, so it was the _padrona_ in Rome, and that the +remark, 'he is an Englishman, and very wealthy,' were synonymous, and +always went together. 'If I were to tell them you were an American it +would do just as well--in fact, better, but for one thing, and that is, +you would be swindled twice as much. The expression "and very wealthy," +attached to the name of an Englishman, is only a delicate piece of +flattery, for the majority of the present race of traveling English are +by no means lavish in their expenditures or very wealthy. In taking you +to see all these pretty women, I have undoubtedly given you pleasure, at +the same time I have gratified a little innocent curiosity of mine:--but +then the chance is such a good one! We will now visit the Countess ----, +for she has a very desirable apartment to let; after which we will +proceed seriously to take rooms with a home-ly view.' + +The Countess ---- was a very lovely woman, consequently Caper was +fascinated with the apartment, and told her he would reflect over it. + +'Right,' said Rocjean, after they had left; 'better reflect over it than +in it--as the enormous draught up chimney would in a short time compel +you to.' + +'How so?' + +'I have a German friend who has rooms there. He tells me that a cord of +firewood lasts about long enough to warm one side of him; when he turns +to warm the other it is gone. He has lived there three years reflecting +over this; the Countess occasionally condoles with him over the draught +of that chimney.' + +'H'm! Let us go to the homely: better a drawn sword than a draught.' + +They found a homely landlady with neat rooms in the via Babuino, and +having bargained for them for twelve _scudi_ a month, their labors were +over. + + +MACCARONICAL. + +There was, when Caper first came to Rome, an eating-house, nearly +opposite the fountain Trevi, called the Gabioni. It was underground,--in +fact, a series of cellars, popularly conjectured to have been part of +the catacombs. In one of these cellars, resembling with its arched roof +a tunnel, the ceiling so low that you could touch the apex of the round +arch with your hand, every afternoon in autumn and winter, between the +hours of five and six, there assembled, by mutual consent, eight or ten +artists. The table at which they sat would hold no more, and they did +not want it to. Two waiters attended them, Giovanni for food, Santi for +wine and cigars. The long-stemmed Roman lamps of burnished brass, the +bowl that held the oil and wicks resembling the united prows of four +vessels, shedding their light on the white cloth and white walls, made +the old place cheerful. The white and red wine in the thin glass flasks +gleamed brightly, and the food was well cooked and wholesome. Here in +early winter came the sellers of 'sweet olives,' as they called them, +and for two or three cents (_baiocchi_) you could buy a plateful. These +olives were green, and, having been soaked in lime-water, the bitter +taste was taken from them, and they had the flavor of almonds. + +But the maccaroni was the great dish in the Gabioni; a four-cent plate +of it would take the sharp edge from a fierce appetite, assisted as it +was by a large one-cent roll of bread. There was the white pipe-stem and +the dark ribbon (_fettucia_) species; and it was cooked with sauce (_al +sugo_), with cheese, Neapolitan, Roman and Milan fashion, +and--otherways. Wild boar steaks came in winter, and were cheap. Veal +never being sold in Rome until the calf is a two-year-old heifer, was no +longer veal, but tender beef, and was eatable. Sardines fried in oil and +batter were good. Game was plenty, and very reasonable in price, except +venison, which was scarce. The average cost of a substantial dinner was +from thirty to forty baiocchi, and said Rocjean, 'I can live like a +prince--like the Prince B----, who dines here occasionally--for half +that sum.' + +The first day Caper dined in the Gabioni, what with a dog-fight under +the table, cats jumping upon the table, a distressed marchioness (fact) +begging him for a small sum, a beautiful girl from the Trastevere, +shining like a patent-leather boot, with gold ear-rings, and brooch, and +necklace, and coral beads, who sat at another table with a French +soldier--these and those other little _piquante_ things, that the +traveler learns to smile at and endure, worried him. But the dinner was +good, his companions at table were companionable, and as he finished an +extra _foglietta_ (pint) of wine, price eight cents, with Rocjean, he +concluded to give it another trial. He kept at giving it trials until +the old Gabioni was closed, and from it arose the Four Nations or +Quattre Nazione in Turkey Cock Alley (_viccolo Gallmaccio_), which, as +any one knows, is near Two Murderers' Street. (_Via Due Macelli_) + +'Now that we have finished dinner,' spoke Rocjean, 'we will smoke: then +to the Caffe or Cafe Greco and have our cup of black coffee.' + + +AMERICA IN ROME. + +It may be a good thing to have the conceit taken out of us--but not by +the corkscrew of ignorance; the operation is too painful. Caper, proud +of his country, and believing her in the front rank of nations, was +destined to learn, while in Rome and the Papal States, that America was +geographically unknown. + +He consoled himself for this with the fact that geography is not taught +in the 'Elementary Schools' there;--and for the people there are no +others. + +The following translation of a notice advertising for a schoolmaster, +copied from the walls of a palace where it was posted, shows the sum +total taught in the common schools:-- + + The duties of the Master are to teach Reading, Writing, the First + Four Rules of Arithmetic; to observe the duties prescribed in the + law '_Quod divina sapientia_;' and to be subject to the biennial + committee like other salaried officers of the department; as an + equivalent for which he shall enjoy (_godra_) an annual salary of + $60, payable in monthly shares. + + (Signed) + + IL GONFALONIERE ---- ----. + +But what can you expect when one of the rulers of the land asserted to +Caper that he knew that 'pop-corn grew in America on the banks of the +Nile, after the water went down,--for it never rains in America'? + +It was a handsome man, an advocate for Prince Doria, who, once traveling +in a _vetturo_ with Caper, asked him why he did not go to America by +land, since he knew that it was in the south of England; and gently +corrected a companion of his, who told Caper he had read and thought it +strange that all Americans lived in holes in the ground, by saying to +him that if such houses were agreeable to the _Signori Americani_ they +had every right to inhabit them. + +The landlord of a hotel in a town about thirty miles from Rome asked +Caper if, when he returned to New York, he would not some morning call +and see his cousin--in Peru! + +This same landlord once drew his knife on a man, when, accompanied by +Caper, he went to observe a saint's day in a neighboring town. The cause +of the quarrel was this--the landlord, having been asked by a man who +Caper was, told him he was an American. The man asserted that Americans +always wore long feathers in their hair, and that he did not see any on +Caper's head. The landlord, determined to stand by Caper, swore by all +the saints that they were under his hat. The man disbelieved it. Out +came the 'hardware' with that jarring cr-r-r-rick the blade makes when +the notched knife-back catches in the spring, but Caper jumped between +them, and they put off stabbing one another--until the next saint's day. + +It was with pleasure that Caper, passing down the Corso one morning, saw +there was an Universal Panorama, including views of America, advertised +to be exhibited in the Piazza Colonna. 'Here is an opportunity,' thought +he, 'for the Romans to acquire some knowledge of a land touching which +they are very much at sea. The views undoubtedly will do for them what +the tabooed geographies are not allowed to do--give them a little +education to slow music.' + +Accompanied by Rocjean, he went one evening to see it, and found it on +wheels in a traveling van, drawn up at one side of the Colonna Square. + +'Hawks inspected it the other evening,' said Rocjean; 'and he describes +it as well worth seeing. The explainer of the Universal Panorama +resembles the wandering Jew, exactly, with perhaps a difference about +the change in his pockets; and the paintings, comical enough in +themselves, considering that they are supposed to be serious likenesses +of the places represented, are made still funnier by the explanations of +the manager.' + +Securing tickets from a stout, showy ticket-seller, adorned with a +stunning silk dress, crushing bracelets, and an overpowering bonnet, +they subduedly entered a room twenty feet long by six or eight wide, +illuminated with the mellow glow of what appeared to be about thirty +moons. The first things that caught their eye were several French +soldiers who were acting as inspection guard over several rooms, having +stacked their muskets in one corner. Their exclamations of delight or +sorrow, their criticisms of the art panoramic, in short, were full of +humor and trenchant fun. But 'the explanator' was before them; where he +came from they could not see, for his footsteps were light as velvet, +evidently having 'gums' on his feet; his milk-white hair, parted in the +middle of his forehead, hung down his back for a couple of feet, while +his milk-white beard, hanging equally low in front, gave him the +appearance of a venerable billy goat. He was an Albino, and his eyes +kept blinking like a white owl's at mid-day. He had a voice slightly +tremulous, and mild as a cat's in a dairy. + +'Gen-till-men, do me the playshure to gaze within this first hole. 'Tis +the be-yu-ti-fool land of Sweet-sir-land. Vi-yew from the some-mut of +the Riggy Cool'm. Day break-in' in the dis-tant yeast. He has a blan-kit +round him, sir; for it is cold upon the moun-tin tops at break of day. +[Madame, the stupen-doss irrup-tion of Ve-soov-yus is two holes from the +corner.] + +'Gen-till-men, do me the play-zure to gaze upon the second hole. 'Tis +Flor-renz the be-yu-ti-fool, be the bangs off the flowin' Arno. 'Twas +here that--' + +'No matter about all that,' said Caper; 'show off America to us.' He +slipped a couple of _pauls_ into his hand, and instantly the Venerable +skipped four moons. + +'Gen-till-men, do me the play-zure to gaze upon this hole. 'Tis the +be-yu-ti-fool city of Nuova Jorck in Ay-mer-i-kay, with the +flour-ish-ing cities of Brook-lyn, Nuova Jer-sais, and Long Is-lad. The +impo-sing struc-ture of rotund form is the Gr-rand Coun-cill Hall +con-tain-ing the coun-cill chamber of the Amer-i-can nations.... [You +say it is the Bat-tai-ree? It may be the Bat-tai-ree.] _What is that +road in Broo-klin_? that is the ra'l-road to Nuova Or-lins di-rect. +_What is that wash-tub_? "Tis not a wash-tub--'tis a stim-boat. They +make the stim out of coal, which is found on the ground. _Is that the +Ay-mer-i-cain eagill_? 'Tis not; 'tis a hoarse-fly which has +in-tro-doo-ced hisself behind the glass. _Are those savages in Nuova +Jer-sais_? (New Jersey.) Those are trees.' + +'Pass on, illustrious gen-till-men, to the next hole. 'Tis the +be-yu-ti-fool city of Filadelfia. The houses here are all built of +woo-ood. The two rivaires that cir-cum-vent the city are the Lavar +(Delaware?) and the Hud-soon. I do not know what is "a pum-king cart," +but the car-riage which you see before you is a fi-ah engine, be-cause +the city is all built of woo-ood. The tall stee-ple belongs to the +kay-ker (Quaker) temple of San Cristo.' + +Rocjean now gave the Venerable a _paul_, requesting him to dwell at +length upon these scenes, as he was a Frenchman in search of a little of +geography. + +'Excellencies, I will do my en-dea-vors. The gran-diose ship as lies in +the Lavar (Delaware) riv-aire is fool of em-i-gr-rants. The signora +de-scen-din' the side of the ship is in a dreadful sit-u-a-tion tru-ly. +[Per-haps the artist was in a boat and de-scri-bed the scene as he saw +it.] The elephant you see de-scen-din' the street is a nay-tive of this +tropi-cal re-gion, and the cock-a-toos infest the sur-round-in' air. The +Moors you see along the wharves are the spon-ta-ne-ous born of the soil. +Those are kay-kers (Quakers?) on mules with broad-brimmed hats onto +their heads; the sticks in their hands are to beat the Moors who live on +their su-gar plan-tay-tions.... Music? did you ask, Madame? We have none +in this establish-ment. Kone. + +'Excellencies, the next hole. 'Tis the be-yu-ti-fool city of +Bal-ti-mory. You behold in the be-fore ground a gr-rand feast day of +Amer-i-cain peas-ants; they are be-hold-ing their noble Count +re-pair-ring to the chase with a serf on a white hoarse-bag +(horse-back?). The little joke of the cattle is a play-fool fan-cy of +the jocose artiste as did the panorama. I am un-ac-count-able for +veg-garies such as them. The riv-aire in the bag-ground is the +Signora-pippi'.... + +'The what?' asked Caper, shaking with laughter. + +'A gen-till-man the other day told me that only the peasants in Americay +say Missus or Mis-triss, and that the riv-aire con-se-kwen-tilly was not +Missus-pippi, but, as I have had the honor of saying, the Signora-pippi +rivaire. The next hole, Excel-len-cies!--'Tis the be-yu-ti-fool city of +Vaskmenton (Washington), also on the Signora-pippi riv-aire. The white +balls on the trees is cot-ton. Those are not white balls on the ground, +those are ship;--ships as have woolen growin' onto their sides (sheep?). +'Tis not a white bar-racks: 'tis the Palazzo di Vaskmenton, a nobil +gen-e-ral woo lives there, and was for-mer-ly king of the A-mer-i-cain +nations. What does that Moor, with the white lady in his arms? it is a +negro peas-sant taking his mis-triss out to air,--'tis the customs in +those land.... That negress or fe-mail Moor with some childs is also +airring, and, the white 'ooman tyin' up her stockings is a sportive of +the artiste. He is much for the hum-or-ous. + +'Excellencies, the last hole A-mer-i-cain. 'Tis the stoo-pen-doss +Signora-pippi rivaire in all its mag-gnif-fi-cent booty. What is that +cockatoo doing there? He is taking a fly. _You do not see the fly_? I +mean a flight. _What is that bust to flin-ders_? That is a stim-boat was +carryin' on too much stim, and the stim, which is made of coal, goes, +off like gun-pow-dair if you put lights onto it. This is a fir-ful and +awe-fool sight. The other stim-boat is not bustin', it is sailin'. What +is that man behind the whil-house with the cards while another signer +kicks into him on his coat-tails, I do not know. It is steel the +sportifs of the artiste.' + +'Excel-len-cies, the last hole. 'Tis the be-yu-ti-fool bustin'--no, not +bustin', but ex-plo-sion of Vee-soov-yus. You can see the sublime sight, +un-terrupt-ted be me ex-play-nations. I thank you for your attentions +auri-cu-lar and pe-coo-niar-ry. _Adio_, until I have the play-shure of +seein' you oncet more.' + +'I tell you what, Rocjean,' said Caper, as he came out from the +panorama, 'America has but a POOR SHOW in the Papal dominions.' + + * * * * * + +JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. + + +Grand with all that the young earth had of vigorous and queenly to adorn +her, rich with the spoils of victories not all bought with battle-axe +and sword, stately with a pride that had won its just and inalienable +majesty from elastic centuries of progress and culture, History, the +muse to whom fewest songs were sung, yet whose march was music's +sublimest voice, trembled upon the brink of the Dark Ages, and leaped, +in her armor, into the abyss of ignorance before her. A poetry the +purest, an art the noblest, a religion deeply symbolical, a freedom bold +and magnificent, had given to the world-histories of those early days a +melody varied and faultless, a form flowing yet well-defined, an +earnestness that was sacred, a truth that was divine. A philosophy rich +and largely suggestive had made the great men of Greece and Rome alert, +vigilant, penetrating, before luxury and oppression had dragged them +down to ruin and ignorance; and at last Ambition, splendid but +destructive, becoming the world's artist, blended the midnight tints of +decline and suffering with the carnation of triumph and liberty, and +cast over the pictures of History the Rembrandt-like shadows, heavy and +wavering, that add a fearful intensity to their charms. + +To these eras, once splendid and promising, succeeded a night, long, +hopeless, disastrous. Its hours were counted by contentions, its +darkness was deepened by crime. The sun had set upon a mighty empire, +regnant upon her seven hills, glorious with conquest, drunken with +power: when the day dawned upon the thousandth year of the Christian +era, its crumbled arches and moss-grown walls alone testified to the +truth of History that had survived the universal destruction. + +And now came the age of knight and paladin, of crusades and talismans. +The rough, vigorous life that had been developing at the North, +exuberant with a strength not yet so mature that it could be employed in +the wise and practical pursuits of civilized life, burst forth into an +enthusiasm half military, half religious, that pervaded all ranks, but +was 'mightiest in the mighty.' The Saxons, fair-haired, with wild blue +eyes, whence looked an inflexible perseverance, the dark-browed Normans, +and the men of fair Bretagne, swooped down falcon-like from their nests +among the rocks and by the seas of Northern Europe upon the impetuous +Saracens, and fought brave poems that were written on sacred soil with +their blood. From the strife of years the heroes returned, their flowing +locks whitened by years and suffering, the fair Saxon faces browned by +the fervent suns of the distant East. From hardship and imprisonment +they marched with gay songs amid acclamations and welcome to their homes +upon the Northern shores. Their once shining armor was dimmed and +rusted with their own blood; but they bore upon their 'spears the light' +of a culture more refined, a knowledge more subtle, than those high +latitudes had ever before known. + +From this marriage of the barbaric vigor of the North with the delicate +and infinitely pliable sensuousness of the South, the classic union of +Strength and Desire, Chivalry was born. Leaping forth to light and +power, a majestic creation, glittering in the knightly panoply, noble by +its knightly vows, it stood resplendent against the dark background of +the past ages, the inevitable and legitimate offspring of the times and +circumstances that gave it birth. The courtly baptism was eagerly +sought, its requirements rigidly obeyed. The lands bristled with the +lances of their valiant sons, and Quixotic expeditions were the order of +the age. But not alone with sword and spear were gallant contests +decided; the gauntlet thrown at the feet of a proud foe was not always +of iron. _El gai saber_, the _gaye science_, held its august courts, +where princesses entered the lists and vanquished gallant troubadours +with the concord of their sweet measures. Slowly, yet with resistless +strength, a new social world was rising upon the splendid ruins of the +old. Its principles were just, if their garb was fantastical. It began +with that almost superstitious reverence for woman, which had borrowed +its religion from the Teuton, its romance from the Minnesinger and the +Trouveur: it will end in the honesty and freedom of a world mature for +its enjoyment. + +Thus, while the kingdoms of Europe were rising to a height where to +oppress, to torture, to fight, were to seem their sole aim and purpose, +in a hitherto obscure corner of the great theatre of modern life an +unknown element was developing itself, which was in time to shake the +greatest nations with its power, to inflame all Europe with jealousy and +cupidity, and to dictate to empires the very terms of their existence. +And this element was LABOR. The rich lowlands of the 'double-armed' +Rhine teemed with a busy life, that, king-like, demanded a tribute of +the sea, and wrenched from the greedy waves a treasure that its industry +made priceless. Each man became a prince in his own divine right, and +every occupation had its lords and its lore, its 'mysteries,' and its +social rights. The seamen, merchants, and artisans of the Netherlands +had made their country the richest in Europe. They ranged the seas and +learned the value of the land; and while they fed the great despot of +the Middle Ages, the light of intelligence, born of energy and nurtured +by activity, cast its benignant gleams from the central island of the +Rhine, and drove from their mountain nooks the owls and bats of tyranny +and superstition. They fought first, these lords of the soil, among +themselves, for local privileges, advancing in their continuous +struggles upon the very threshold of the church. By strong alliances +they kept at bay their feudal lords, and fettered the ecclesiastical +power with the yoke of a justice, meagre, indeed, and sadly unfruitful, +but still ominous of a better day. Within the alabaster vase of +despotism, frail, yet old as ambition, the lamp of freedom had long +burned dimly: now its flames were licking, with serpent-like tongues, +the enclosure so long deemed sacred, and threatened, as they dyed the +air with their amber flood of light, to shiver their temple to +fragments. The theory of the divine right of kings was but another 'Luck +of Edenhall.' Its slender stem trembled now within the rough grasp of +the sacrilegious and burly Netherlanders, who hesitated not long ere +they dashed it with the old superstition to the ground, shaking the +civilized world to its centre by the shock. But out of the ruins a +statelier edifice was to rise, whose windows, like those of the old +legend, were stained by the lifeblood of its architect. + +The historian who would worthily depict such an age, such a people, such +principles, must be an artist, but one in whom the creative faculty does +not blind the moral obligations. He must bring to the work a republican +sympathy, must be governed by a republican justice, and wear a character +as noble as the struggle that he paints. And such an artist, such a +historian, such a man, we have in JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. + +The honors of Harvard, early and nobly earned, had given to the boy at +seventeen the privileges and dignity of manhood. He was destined to +become a scholar, eminent, even among the rarely and richly cultured +minds of his own New England, for his universal knowledge, clearness of +intellect, prompt energy, and indomitable perseverance. Inspired by +these gifts and attainments, it was only natural, almost inevitable, +that his first appearance upon the literary stage should have been in +the _role_ of a novelist. The active young intellect was pliant and +strong, but had not yet learned its power. Before him lay the broad +fields of romance, fascinating with their royal _fleurs de lis_, rich +with the contributions of every age, some quaint and laughter-moving, +some pompous and exaggerated, some soul-stirring and grand. Impelled, +perhaps, less by a thirst for fame than a desire to satisfy the +resistless impulses of an energetic nature, and lay those fair ghosts of +enterprises dimly recognized that beckoned him onward, he followed the +first path that lay before him, and became a romance writer. His first +work, _Morton's Hope, or the Memoirs of a Provincial_, was published in +1839, and subsequently appeared _Merry Mount, a Romance of +Massachusetts_. It is curious to trace in these first flights of a +genius that has since learned its legitimate field, a tendency to the +breadth of Motley's later efforts, an instinctive and evidently +unconscious passion for the descriptive, an admirably curbed yet still +powerful impatience of the light fetters, the toy regulations of the +realm of Fiction, and an earnestness that has since bloomed in the world +of Fact and History. The very imperfections of the novelist have become +the charms of the historian. His student-life in Germany, his after-plot +in the stirring Revolutionary times, strongly as they are drawn, +animated as they are with dashes of that vivid power that stamps every +page of the histories of their author, yet lack the proof of that +unquestioned yet unobtrusive consciousness of genius that harden the +telling sentences of the _Rise of the Dutch Republic_ and the _United +Netherlands_ into blocks of adamant, polished by friction with each +other to a diamond brightness, and reflecting only the noblest +sentiments, the most profound principles. The dice had been thrown a +second time, and Motley had not won a victory. The applause of the press +was insufficient to the man, who felt that he had not yet struck the +key-note of his destiny. To be counted the follower of Cooper was not +the meet guerdon of an intellect to which the shapely monuments of +ancient literature yielded the clue to their hieroglyphic labyrinths of +knowledge, and that pierced with lightning swiftness the shell of +events, and possessed the latent principles of life in their warm +hearts. He returned, therefore, to Europe, leaving behind him a +reputation which at no distant day was destined to spring from a new and +more noble foundation into a lasting and more stately pile. + +To a mind like Motley's, the department of history presented the most +attractive features. There could honestly be no dabbling with the +specious and seductive alchemy of Fiction. Truth had molded every period +of the world's life. Truth defied had tripped up nations in their +headlong race after dominion and unrighteous power. Truth victorious had +smiled upon their steady growth to greatness and honor. To write history +was to write poetry, art, philosophy, religion, life. The pen that +sketched the rise, the progress, and the fate of nations, was in fact +the chisel of a sculptor, whose theme was humanity. + +And what work so fitting for the American author as the record of a +nation struggling away from the oppression of feudal institutions, which +stifled all growth either towards knowledge or civil greatness, +throwing off the trammels of religious intolerance, defying the most +powerful nation of Christendom, which had breathed an air of bigotry in +its long contest with the Moors, and waging an exhaustive war of nearly +a century's duration against fearful odds, only to win an independent +existence? We had treasured as rare heirlooms the Mechlin laces of our +grandmothers, had our favorite sets of Tournay porcelain, awaited with +curious and enthusiastic patience our shares in the floral exportations +of Harlem, trodden daily the carpetings of Brussels, and esteemed +ourselves rich with a fragment of its tapestry, or a rifle of Namur; we +had honored the vast manufacturing interest of the Netherlands, their +commercial prosperity and noble enterprise; but here all thought of them +had ended. Schiller had not taught us that the ancestors of the miners +of Mons, the artisans of Brussels, the seamen of Antwerp, the professors +of Leyden, were heroes, worthy to stand beside Leonidas and Bozzaris; +Strada had failed to rouse us to enthusiasm at the thought of their +long, noble battle for life. Grotius had indeed painted for us with a +very Flemish nicety of detail their manners and customs, but had +forgotten to round his skeleton of a nation with the passions that +animated every stage of its development. It remained for Motley, with +all the quick sympathies of an American heart, to rouse our affections +and to command our reverence for a people so unfortunate and so brave. +It was reserved for him to teach us that William of Orange was not less +a martyr to the truth than Huss or Latimer. + +It was no common scholar who so worthily finished this task. It was not +enough that the intellectual integrity of oar historian was +unquestioned, his judgment mature, his knowledge vast and comprehensive. +During the years of preparation he had become thoroughly cosmopolite; +all the _petty_ prejudices of country and blood had been swept away +before the advancing dignity of a reason that became daily more truly +and completely the master of itself. All the thousand minute refinements +of an extensive and intimate association with the commanding and courtly +minds of the age fitted him to cope more successfully with the spirit of +subtle intrigue, the fox-like sagacity, the wolfish rapacity, the cruel +lack of diplomatic honor, and the illimitable and terrible intolerance +that distinguished in so wonderful a degree the historical era of +Motley's choice. He came with all the zeal of a true lover of liberty, +himself republican, as earth's most cultured sons have been in every +age, in thought, habit, and sentiment, to trace for the future and for +us the records of a people who were willing to suffer a master, but who +revolted from a tyrant; who, with a rare but unappreciated and too nice +honor, strove to keep to the yoke that their forefathers had worn, only +asking from their ruler the respect and consideration due the faithful +servants of his crown, who were no longer the abject slaves of a +monarchy, and yet, through an inveterate habit of servitude, were +scarcely prepared for the independence of a republic. How nobly he has +fulfilled his mission, the hearty applause of two nations sufficiently +testifies. + +To the wide, comprehensive vision of Motley, history appears in its true +light as a science, demanding the assistance of other sciences to the +due and harmonious development of all its parts. It relies not more upon +the correctness of the recorder's authorities and the profoundness of +his researches in the mere region of the events and mutual relation of +nations, than upon his universal acquaintance with general literature +and the sister arts of politics and philosophy. It was for the +treacherous and elegant Bolingbroke to reduce the noble art of +Thucydides from the height of sublimity and grandeur to the parlor level +of the conversations of the Hotel de Rambouillet, to introduce into the +most serious political disquisitions, concerning perhaps the welfare of +society, an imperceptible yet carefully elaborated and most effective +tone of levity that speedily proved disastrous to their object. It was +be who forced the vapid but imposing ceremonial of the _bon ton_ into +the records of church and state; who clothed his empty but pompous +periods with the ermine of royalty, to ensure them the reverence of a +deluded multitude; who stripped Virtue of her ancient prerogatives, and +fed her with the crumbs from his table. His polished diction, undeniable +talent and fine acquisitions served most unhappily to disguise his real +poverty of sentiment, and for a time, at least, diverted the current of +popular feeling from the true, beautiful, and reliable in early +literature and art, no less than in history. With what success his +faulty and imperfect theories were engrafted upon the literature of his +nation, the learned and sagacious Schlosser conclusively proves in his +_History of the Eighteenth Century_. Says this ripe scholar and deep +thinker, 'All that Bolingbroke ridicules as tedious and without talent, +all that he laughs at as useless and without taste, all that which, +urged by his labors and those of his like-minded associates, had for +eighty years disappeared from ancient history, is again brought back in +our day. So short is the triumph of falsehood.' Well may we pervert the +verses of Horace,-- + + 'Nullae placere diu, nec vivere _historiae_ possunt + Quae scribuntur aquae potoribus.' + +That was an ungenerous fountain whence Bolingbroke drank even his +chilling draughts of inspiration. Splendid, in sooth, as the great +_Brunnen_ of the luckless Abderites of Wieland, with its sea-god of +marble surrounded by a stately train of nymphs, tritons, and dolphins, +from whose jets the water only dripped like tears, because, says the +writer, with grave naivete, 'there was scarcely enough to moisten the +lips of a single nymph.' Truly the purple wine of inspiration is as +necessary to the historian as to the poet; and if the laughing Bacchus +that holds the beaker to the student's eager lips be not clothed in the +classic robes of the senate-chamber or the flowing garments of the +professor, he wears at least the fawn's dappled hide, and in his hand + + 'His thyrsus holds--an ivy-crowned spear.' + +Does not the gentle Euripides show us the god, 'his horned head with +dragon wreath entwined?' And those two sacred horns point back to the +dread mysteries of the Ogdoad sublime, + + 'The great Cabiri of earth's dawning prime.' + +They trace with lines that never swerve from truth the history of the +primeval world, the early days of Noah and his ark. They recall to us +the old story of life and suffering, of deluge and salvation; on their +crescent points hangs the eternal principle of the efficacy of +sacrifice. They float with the moon-ark of Astarte Mylitta on +hyacinthine seas of night-clouds, and their high import, dimmed and lost +in the great stream of Time, rises again in the ages, uncrowned with the +early luxuriance of symbol and mystery. The mystic horns appear over the +brow of the queenly Sappho of Grillparzer, upon whose hair + + 'Rested the diadem, _like the pale moon_ + Upon the brow of night, a silver crest;' + +and the white-robed Madonna, with child-like face upraised, and deep, +tender eyes uplifted, yet rests her slender, sandaled foot upon the +horned moon, floating below her in misty clouds. + +A hiatus for which we crave indulgence; a dream, and yet not all a +dream, for each of these old types encloses a living truth, and unfolds +into a history, tangled, perhaps, and imperfect, but suggestive and +reliable, of races and religions that had else passed away into +oblivion. And the earnest student of the present, or the historian of +the past, can never disregard these dim old treasures, but must draw +from them a fresher faith in his own humanity and in the eternal laws of +God, that are unchangeable as he is immortal. + +The art of history advances with the art of poetry; both, and indeed all +literature, correspond aesthetically with the manners, customs, +theology, and politics of the nation of their birth. The severe +grandeur of Thucydides, the invariable sweetness of Xenophon, and the +cheerful elegance of Herodotus, recall, with their just conceptions of +harmony, their noble and sustained flow of thought, and their freedom +from the adventitious ornaments of an exaggerated rhetoric or a +sentimental morality, the golden age of Greece. We seem to stand within +the Parthenon, to gaze upon the Venus of Cnidus, to be jostled by the +gay crowd at the Olympic games. It was indeed a golden age, when all +that was beautiful in nature was reverently and assiduously nurtured, +and all that was noble and natural in art was magnificently encouraged; +an age in which refinement and nobility were not accidents, but +necessities; when politics had reached the high grade of an art, and +oratory attained a beauty and power beyond which no Pitt, Canning, or +Brougham has ever yet aspired; an age when the gifted Aspasia held her +splendid court, and Alcibiades and Socrates were proud to sit at the +Milesian's feet; when Pericles, who 'well deserved the lofty title of +Olympian,' lived and ruled: the golden age when Socrates thought and +taught, bearing in its bosom the guilty day when Socrates died. + +Not less faithful portraitures of the influences that formed them are +the histories of Livy, of Sallust, and of Tacitus. They wrote in a +language that had been sublimated into electric clouds by the warm and +splendid diffuseness of Cicero, and reduced to a granite-like strength +by the cold and exquisite simplicity of Terence. The amiable fustian, +the Falstaffian bombast of Lucan and Ovid's brilliant imagination, all +stamp their indelible seal upon the vivid coloring of Livy, the somewhat +affected severity of Sallust, and the elegant morality of Tacitus. The +banner of the monarchy flaunts across every page of these writers. They +even bear the impress of an architecture whose splendor and strength did +not atone for its disregard of the old Hellenic lines and rules. They +bear the same relation to Thucydides and Herodotus that a pillar of the +Roman Ionic order, with its angularly turned volutes and arbitrary +perpendicularity of outline, does to its graceful Greek mother, with her +primitive and expressive scrolls, and the slightly convex profile of her +shaft. In more modern times, a black-letter, quaint sentence of +Froissart or Monstrelet is like a knight in full armor, bristling with +quaint, beautiful devices, golden dragons inlaid on Milan cuirasses, +golden vines on broad Venetian blades, apes on the hilts of +grooved-bladed, firm stilettoes, or the illuminated margins of old +metrical romances. The pages of Strada are darkened by the stormy +passions of a battling age, crossed with the lurid light of Moorish +tragedies; an _ay de mi Alhama_ moans under his pride and bigotry. +Torquemadas grind each sentence into dullness and inquisitorial +harmlessness, yet now and then sweeps by a trace of Lope de Vega, a word +that reminds us of Calderon, while still oftener the euphuism of Gongora +pervades the writer's mind and flows in platitudes from his guarded pen. + +As we near our own day, history is invested with new dignities; its arms +float, sea-weed like, on the raging waves of political life, as if to +grasp from some fragment of shipwrecked treaties or some passing argosy +of government a precious jewel to light its deep researches. It takes in +with nervous grasp the tendencies of literature; its keen gaze drinks in +the features of popular belief and searches out the fountains of popular +error. Fully equal to the requirements of the exacting age, Motley has +produced a work whose lightest merit is its equal conformity to the new +rules of his art. He possesses in an eminent degree the first +qualification which the old Abbe de Mably, in his _Maniere d'ecrire +l'histoire_, insists upon for the historian. He recognizes the natural +rights of man, those rights which are the same in every age, and as +powerful in their demands in the sixteenth century as in the nineteenth. +His well-balanced mind acknowledges and respects the duties of man as +citizen and magistrate, and the mutual rights of nations. No splendor, +no power, no prejudice, has been able to seduce him from his high +principles, neither does a warm and manifest sympathy with his subject +delude him even into the passing extravagance of an undue praise. If he +comprehends the greatness of the national character he almost flings +upon the canvas before us, he appreciates as profoundly its weaknesses +too. Strada's history is a poison, which strikes at the very roots of +society, and would wither all the fresh young leaves of its vigorous +spring. Motley's is its powerful antidote, which restores the juices of +life to the brittle fibres, smooths out the shriveled leaves, and +clothes them again with the fresh green of hope and promise. Strada is +the slave of the victor; Motley is the champion of the vanquished. +Strada bends the dignity of Justice before the painted sceptre of +Despotism; Motley exalts the honest title of the man above the will of +the perjured monarch. Strada gilds with the false gold of sophistry the +very chains that gall his soul; Motley sharpens on the clear crystal of +his unobtrusive logic, the two-handed sword of power, and cuts his way +through an army of protocols and pacts to the fortress of Liberty. + +It is, we believe, an exploded theory that the characters of modern +times are inferior to those of antiquity. 'Under the toga as under the +modern dress,' says Guizot, 'in the senate as in our councils, men were +what they still are;' and the old Jesuit takes a narrow view of the +progress of mankind, who asserts that the masculine and vigorous +treatment that was necessary to Thucydides and Livy is not required by +the historians of our puny and degenerate day. Even the Count Gobineau, +who so ably and, to his followers, conclusively proves the fallacy of +the dearest hope of every learned philanthropist and patriot, does not, +in his most earnest antagonism to the doctrine of human progress, +insinuate the existence of a principle urging the systematic and +inevitable decline of individual power from age to age. So far from +exacting less of the historian, the present age demands even a firmer +handling. Our era has its Alexanders and Caesars; its Hannibals and +Hectors; and if these men of antiquity rise before us with an +unapproachable air of grandeur, it is because the light shining from our +distant stand-point surrounds them with deeper shadows, and throws them +in bolder relief against the background of their vanished ages. It is a +simple triumph of _chiaro-scuro_, and by no means the proof of the truth +of an absurd theory. + +It is mournful enough to see the dead nations that were once young and +glorious pacing onward through an inferno like so many headless Bertrand +de Borns, bearing by the hair + + 'The severed member, lantern-wise + Pendent in hand.' + +For ourselves, we have no fear of lighting our own spirit thus through +any Malabolge of purification. And this bold faith animates Motley; it +invigorates all his work with a firmness that inspires full confidence +in his readers. Free as he is from every puerile superstition, his +mastery of his subject is complete. He exercises over it a sort of +magistracy which extends even to his own flashing impulses. Never +pausing to display his moral learning, he avoids the tedious diffuseness +of Rollin; steering adroitly around the quicksands of political +dissertation, he escapes the pragmatical essayism of Guiccardini. Not +easily fascinated by the trifles that swim like vapid foam upon the tide +of history,--petty domestic details, the Koenigsmark intrigues of +royalty, the wines and flowers of the banquet table, the laces and +jewels of the court,--he leaves far in the distance the entertaining +Davila, who, says the sarcastic Schlosser, 'wrote memoirs after the +French fashion for good society,' yet whom the arbitrary and adventurous +Bolingbroke does not scruple to declare 'in many respects the equal of +Livy!' And yet no single stroke is omitted which is needed to preserve +the unity of the work. Tacitus himself did not embellish with more +commanding morality his histories. The jots and tittles of the _Groot +Privilegie_, the terms of the famous 'Pacification of Ghent,' the +solemn import of the _Act of Adjuration_, and the political ambition of +the church, are as faithfully drawn as the Siege of Leyden, or the +'Spanish Fury' of Antwerp. + +Hume, in the narrowness of a so-called philosophical indifference to the +appeals of domestic life and the details of national theology and art, +gives us only a running commentary upon mere chronological events, +galvanized by the touch of his keen intellect and fine rhetoric into a +deceitful vigor, and ornamented with the poisonous night-shade blossoms +of a spurious philosophy. We may more justly seek some analogy between +Gibbon and Motley, even if the search but discover points of difference +so radical that a comparison is impossible. The solemn, measured, and +splendid rhetoric of Gibbon is met by the animated, impetuous, and +brilliant flow of Motley's thought. Neither leans to the ideal; with +both the actual prevails. The policy of a government is summoned by +neither before the partial tribunal of a sentiment, or the intricate +scheme of some Machiavelli subjected to the imperfect analysis of a +headstrong imagination. But Gibbon, though he writes in the vernacular, +has lost all the honest nationality that should give an air of sincerity +to his work; his brilliant antithesis belongs to the ornate school of +the French literature of the day; and, fascinating as is the pomp and +commanding march of his sentences, we are rather dazzled by his +eloquence than convinced by his argument. He is picturesque, rich; but +it is the picturesqueness and richness of the truly bewildering Roman +architecture of the Renaissance--half Byzantine, three-eighths Gothic, +and the remainder Greek. But Motley, with all his varied learning and +association, is still perfectly and nobly Anglo-Saxon. His short, +epigrammatic sentences ring like the click of musketry before the +charge, and swell into length and grandeur with the progress of his +theme. The simplicity, not of ignorance but of genius, characterizes +him. He does not cater to our hungry fancy, he appeals grandly to our +noblest impulses. In Motley a spirit of the most refined humanity is +everywhere visible; he is guilty of no Voltairean satiric stabs at +purity, no petulant Voltairean flings at the faith he does not share. +All is manly, terse, frank, undisguised. Honorable himself, he does not, +like Gibbon, distrust all mankind, and question with a sarcasm the very +sincerity of a martyr at the stake. + +Among Americans, Motley is what Botta is to the historians of Southern +Europe. The same grand principles actuate both writers; the same +tendency to philosophical generalization is evident in the structure of +their works, the same inflexible pursuit of a fixed and visible aim, the +same enthusiastic love for freedom. But with Botta the poetical element, +which is only secondary with Motley, predominates. He holds the nervous +pen of a true Italian--more than that, of a true Italian patriot. All +the hitherto suppressed fire of his nation flames out on his pages in an +indignation as natural as it is superb. His lines vibrate with passion, +his words are tremulous with a noble pain. His very pathos is impatient, +stern, and proud; it cleaves our hearts like a battle-axe, rather than +meets them as with summer showers. His sarcasm is as keen and effective, +but far more startling; it hisses its way from some iron-cold comment, +and stabs the monarch whom it crowns. His fertility of imagination is +not weakened by contact with the details of government. The same pen +that draws in such inimitably graceful lines the sugar-plums of starving +Genoa, lingering about flower-wreathed baskets of bonbons sold in the +public squares to famishing men and women, sketches in a style as +nervous and appropriate the complex detail of governmental policy. He +unfolds his subject with the skill of an epic poet; its general effect +is sublime, and its petty details arranged with a rarely careless skill. +If he is sometimes diverted by a burst of enthusiasm, of indignation, or +of horror, into an inequality, the rough island thrown up in the sea of +his fancy is speedily verdured over with the wonderful luxuriance of his +genius. If he bends sometimes to amuse, to revel among his sonorous +Italian adjectives in the description of a coronation at Milan, or an +opera of Valetta, it is part of his purpose, giving to his picture the +rich and glowing tints that bring out, by violence of contrast, the more +elaborate tinting in of dark upon dark behind them. + +Something of this we recognize in Motley; but none of Botta's tendency +to proverbial sayings, bitter with a sarcasm that wounds most deeply its +creator; as, 'To believe that abstract principle will prevail over full +purses is the folly of a madman.' Neither do we find in Motley the +occasional terse conciseness of Botta,--little epics enclosed in a short +sentence. 'Napoleon had redeemed France; but he had created Italy.' But +the Italian can not be impartial. Just he is, but it is the accident of +his political position, not the deference paid by the historian to his +art. He writes of an age from whose injustice he has suffered, of a +country whose miseries he has shared, of a people whose brother he is. +And here Motley stands second only to Thucydides among historians. In +the Greek, impartiality was almost divine, for he wrote in the very +smoke of the conflict, wrote as if with his dripping lance upon rocks +dyed with the blood of his countrymen. With Motley impartiality is the +product of a nature strictly noble, that aims through its art not only +to delight the present, but to instruct the future, and which bases its +doctrines of right and wrong upon the principles that govern universal +nature. The temper of Thucydides is lofty and even; though never genial, +he is always calm and accessible; though often sublime, he is never +pathetic; too grand to be sarcastic, he is also too proud to be selfish. + +Motley, if lacking the great and admirable element of sublimity, which +Longinus extols, compensates for it by the animation and variety of his +style, which changes, as does his mood, with his subject. He enters with +all the vigor of his manhood into the spirit of the scenes which he +sketches. He describes a character, and his strokes are bold, quick, +decided; he follows the intricacies of political intrigue, and his +movement is slow, continuous, wary, while it still remains firm, +confident, and successful. He can administer the finances with Escovedo, +while his wide, keen intelligence, undismayed, masters at a glance the +wily policy of Alexander of the '_fel Gesicht_.' No modern historian has +given more comprehensive sketches of character. No quality escapes his +vigilance; he yields every faculty the consideration which is its due. +The portraits of Alva, of Navarre, of Farnese, of Orange, of Don John of +Austria, are so many colossal statues, that seem to unite in themselves +all the possible features and characteristics of humanity. He is indeed +rather a sculptor than a painter. His figures are round, perfect, +throbbing with life, and their hard and striking outlines, springing +sharply from the background of despotism and persecution, are more +imposing than any Rubens-like vividness of coloring which could warm +them. He treats of diplomacy as a diplomat, unwinds the reel of protocol +and treaty, and binds up with the inflexible cord the rich sheaves of +his deep researches. His reflections are suggestive but short, and his +details never weary. + +He loves, too, to mark the sympathies of nature with event--the rain +falling upon the black-hung scaffold, or the laughter of gay sunshine +mingling with the shouts of a great victory. And here he differs, as +indeed he does in almost every other respect, with Macaulay. The +Englishman thinks little of nature; as he himself says of Dante, 'He +leaves to others the earth, the ocean, and the sky; his business is with +man.' Indeed, the absence of a true and universal sympathy is the one +vast defect of Macaulay. No position is so high that it may not be +overshadowed by the giant form of his violent partisanship, no character +so small that it may not be raised to the semblance of greatness by the +mere force of his political preferences. His scholarship was splendid, +his genius commanding, the beauty of his style unsurpassed; but he +perverted his knowledge to subserve certain public ends, and wielded his +magnificent powers too often in the defence of an undeserving cause. +Fascinated by his dazzling rhetoric, borne along by its rapid and +tumultuous current to the most brilliant conclusions, we forget the +narrowness of the stream. His scope of vision was indeed great, but it +had its limits, and these were not imposed by time or necessity, but by +the unyielding will of his own prejudices. As his virtues were massive, +so were his errors grievous. He ventured to grasp the great speculative +themes of existence with a mind that was neither profound nor +suggestive. He swam with all the wondrous ease of an athlete through the +billows and across the currents and counter-currents of elegant +literature, of politics, of theology, yet possessed not the diver's +power to win their sunken but priceless jewels. Rich he was with the +accumulated intellectual spoil of centuries, but the power of exhaustive +generalization was denied him. His perceptions were vigorous and acute, +and none knew more perfectly to exhaust a subject, if its requirements +were of the actual and tangible rather than of the ideal and spiritual +order. He was a thorough logician, but a superficial philosopher; a +master of style, but oblivious of those great religious truths of which +the events of his great history were but the natural outgrowth and +product. But nothing can exceed the power of his rhetoric, that is +uncontrolled by any laws, yet offends none, unless it be the +arbitrariness of his dogmatism, that concedes no favors and asks no +gifts. + +Less vehement, less ornate, possibly less learned than Macaulay, with +frequent though trifling inequalities of style, Motley goes far beyond +him in real practical insight into the heart of affairs. There is a +unity in all visible life, whether of nation, of individual, of church, +or of inarticulate nature, that escaped Macaulay and impresses Motley. +The one would govern the universe with the arbitrary rules of a +political clique; the other applies to all the infallible test of a +universal philosophy. Both writers are thoroughly incorporated with +their subject; but where Macaulay was the captive of a mighty and often +just prejudice, Motley is the exponent of a living principle. Everywhere +Macaulay was a Whig and an Englishman; everywhere Motley is a Republican +and a cosmopolite. + +Motley is indeed inferior to his English contemporary in many striking +points whose value every reader will determine for himself; but his +occasional and rare inaccuracies of expression and inelegances of +language are on the surface, and may be removed by the stroke of a pen +without marring the general effect of his work. He possesses, among many +charms, an unfailing geniality, which, united with his fine dramatic +powers, fascinates us completely. He abounds also in fine poetical +touches, that give us glimpses of a mind cultured to the last degree of +literary refinement. His 'rows of whispering limes and poplars' are like +arabesques of gold straying over the margins of some old _romanceros_. +His descriptions glow with the fresh and ever-varying delight of the +observant traveler, who seems to see before him for the first time the +cities which, with a few vigorous and simple strokes, he transfers to +big pages. His pictures have the charm of naturalness and a simplicity +that is more effective than the most ornate diffuseness. Thus he says of +the picturesque little city of Namur: 'Seated at the confluence of the +Sambre with the Meuse, and throwing over each river a bridge of solid +but graceful structure, it lay in the lap of a most fruitful valley. A +broad, crescent-shaped plain, fringed by the rapid Meuse, and enclosed +by gently-rolling hills, cultivated to their crests, or by abrupt +precipices of limestone crowned with verdure, was divided by numerous +hedgerows, and dotted all over with corn-fields, vine-yards, and +flower-gardens. Many eyes have gazed with delight upon that well-known +and most lovely valley, and many torrents of blood have mingled with +those glancing waters since that long-buried and most sanguinary age +which forms our theme; and still, placid as ever is the valley, brightly +as ever flows the stream. Even now, as in that banished but +never-forgotten time, nestles the little city in the angle of the two +rivers; still directly over its head seems to hang in mid-air the +massive and frowning fortress, like the gigantic helmet in the fiction, +as if ready to crush the pigmy town below.' How like the _Ueberfahrt_ of +Uhland:-- + + 'Ueber diesen Strohm, vor Jahren, + Bin ich einmal schon gefahren, + Hier die Burg, im Abendschimmer, + Drueben rauscht das Wehr, wie immer.' + +We may quote his description of the great square of Brussels, the scene +of the double execution of Montmorency, of Horn, and the gallant and +unfortunate 'Count d'Egmont,' not only as an example of his dignified +and sustained style, but also as an evidence of his sensitiveness to +those minor refinements of association and place that bespeaks the +talented artist. 'The great square of Brussels had always a striking and +theatrical aspect. Its architectural effects, suggesting in some degree +the meretricious union between Oriental and a corrupt Grecian art, +accomplished in the mediaeval midnight, have amazed the eyes of many +generations. The splendid Hotel de Ville, with its daring spire and +elaborate front, ornamented one side of the place; directly opposite was +the graceful but incoherent facade of the Brood-huis, now the last +earthly resting place of the two distinguished victims; while grouped +around these principal buildings rose the fantastic palaces of the +Archers, Mariners, and other guilds, with their festooned walls and +toppling gables bedizened profusely with emblems, statues, and quaint +decorations. The place had been alike the scene of many a brilliant +tournament and of many a bloody execution. Gallant knights had contended +within its precincts, while bright eyes rained influences from all those +picturesque balconies and decorated windows. Martyrs to religious and to +political liberty had upon the same spot endured agonies which might +have roused every stone of its pavement to mutiny or softened them to +pity. Here Egmont himself, in happier days, had often borne away the +prize of skill or of valor, the cynosure of every eye; and hence, almost +in the noon of a life illustrated by many brilliant actions, he was to +be sent, by the hand of tyranny, to his great account.' + +There are, too, dashes of a healthy sarcasm among these records, not, +however, of such frequent occurrence as to darken the flow of the +narrative, but sufficiently indicative of the strength and energy of the +writer. Never attacking the honest faith of any man, his satires are +levelled at hypocrisy, never error, as when he says of the venerable +tyrant, the master of the Invincible Armada, when he had received from +the trembling secretary the assurance of the failure of the hope of +Spain: 'So the king, as fortune flew away from him, wrapped himself in +his virtue, and his counsellors, imitating their sovereign, arrayed +themselves in the same garment;' a scanty mantle, in truth, but, no +doubt, amply sufficient for the denizens of that torrid atmosphere of +bigotry in which Spain has lived for centuries. + +Of what earnest stuff Motley's dreams of religious freedom are made, we +read in his terse comments upon the declaration of the principles of +liberty of conscience by the States General. 'Such words shine through +the prevailing darkness of the religious atmosphere at that epoch like +characters of light. They are beacons in the upward path of mankind. +Never before had so bold and wise a tribute to the genius of the +Reformation been paid by an organized community. Individuals walking in +advance of their age had enunciated such truths, and their voices had +seemed to die away, but at last, a little, struggling, half-developed +commonwealth had proclaimed the rights of conscience for all mankind.' + +Thus we have no longer a wearisome compilation of events strung upon the +thread of chronology, but a practical history of the most momentous +epoch of modern times. No hand has before pointed out so faithfully its +great motive power or adjusted so nicely its apparent contradictions. +The structure is grand; it is the expression of a glorious faith. In the +accomplishment of so vast a design, Motley has won our warmest +gratitude, while he has awakened our deepest sympathies. Not alone to +the learned, the scholarly, and the elegant, are these volumes +addressed; their high-toned thought has met response in the people's +heart, and children bend with flushed faces over the high romance of the +struggle that cost the lives of thousands, and recognize, perhaps dimly, +the import of that great advance from the darkness of intolerance to the +light of freedom, that was so well worth the treasure of blood with +which it was bought. + +And here we part with Motley the historian, only to clasp hands with +Motley the patriot. In the present tremendous struggle of people against +progress, this fierce contest between labor and the lords, these last +convulsions of the expiring giant of feudal aristocracy, whose monstrous +conception dates far back among the Middle Ages, Motley has shown +himself the true champion of the doctrines advocated in his histories. +His platform is still the same, but how changed the theatre of his +action! His letter to the London _Times_ on the 'Causes of the American +Civil War' is a masterly exposition of facts, whose naked power is +obscured by no useless displays of rhetoric. Its tone is calm, +dignified, confident; its statements are strongly maintained, its logic +convincing. All honor to the man who from his quiet researches in royal +archives and busy deciphering of dusty MSS. turned to his country in her +hour of need, and defended her where defence should have been +superfluous, but was, unhappily, of small avail. And still he works +nobly for the dear old flag, and, intimately _lie_ as he is with the +first literati and politicians of Europe, it is not easy to measure his +influence. His purely literary habits forbid all suspicion of his +disinterestedness, and will go far to commend him to the sympathies of +the commanding intellects of the age. Let us hope for the time when, +with renewed faith in his mighty theories and still renewing love for +his motherland, he shall return to the retirement which has already +produced such noble fruits, and add works as worthy to our American +classics. Meanwhile, _vive qui vince!_ + + * * * * * + +THE LESSON OF THE HOUR. + + + Thou who for years hast watched the course of nature, + What time the changing seasons swept their round, + And, 'mid the play of every varying feature, + New founts of pleasure for thyself hast found; + Who, when dark clouds upon the mountain glooming, + Threaten destruction to the smiling plain, + Canst pierce the shadow and foresee the blooming + Of budding blossoms brighter for the rain: + + To whom, when the dread winter's icy fingers + Have chilled to silence the gay babbling stream, + A memory of its summer music lingers, + Or April violets in the future beam; + To whom the darkness whispers of the dawning, + And sorrow's night tells of the coming day; + And even death is but the twilight morning + Of glory which shall never fade away;-- + + _Teach us thy lesson_. Unto us be given + The trusting faith the April flowers display; + Looking in their meek confidence to heaven,-- + Trusting to God the future of the day. + Our night is dark, and perils vast surround us, + But, firm in truth and right, what shall we fear? + Has danger ever yet base cravens found us? + Who has sustained thus far will guide us here. + + Ye countless legions, where each man is holding + Himself a bulwark for the cause of right, + In war's fierce furnace, where our God is molding + Each soul for his own ends in Freedom's fight, + March on to victory in overwhelming number, + Singing the peans of the noble free; + Our Liberty has just awaked from slumber, + To carry out the world's great destiny. + + O mighty nation! all thy early glory + Shall be as nothing to the great renown + Which in the future ages shall come o'er thee, + For thine is Liberty's immortal crown. + Heed not the jealousies forever thronging,-- + The petty envyings which gird thee round; + 'Tis thine to carry out the world's great longing, + To find that liberty none else has found. + + What though across the swelling, broad Atlantic + Comes scornful menace? it is naught to thee-- + 'Tis but the jealous raving, wild and frantic, + Of those who would, but never can, be free;-- + Who, slaves to selfish passions bold ambition, + Hold up their shackled arms in heaven's broad light, + And prate of freedom, boast their high position, + And strive to turn to interest Truth and Right. + + _We need more faith!_ What though the means be weakness? + With God supreme, the victory must be ours! + From imperfection he works out completeness; + From feeble means makes overwhelming powers. + How shall this be? The knowledge is not given; + Each to his duty in the field of Right; + Sure as th' Almighty ruleth earth and heaven, + His arm will do it in resistless might. + + * * * * * + +AMONG THE PINES. + + +'Dee ye tink Massa Davy wud broke his word, sar?' said the old negress, +bridling up her bent form, and speaking in a tone in which indignation +mingled with wounded dignity; 'p'raps gemmen do dat at de Norf--dey +neber does it har.' + +'Excuse me, Aunty; I know your master is a man of honor; but he's very +much excited, and very angry with Scip.' + +'No matter for dat, sar; Massa Davy neber done a mean ting sense he war +born.' + +'Massa K---- tinks a heap ob de Gunnel, Aunty; but he reckons he'm sort +o' crazy now; dat make him afeard,' said Scip, in an apologetic tone. + +'What ef he am crazy? You'se safe _har_,' rejoined the old woman, +dropping her aged limbs into a chair, and rocking away with much the +same air which ancient white ladies occasionally assume. + +'Won't you ax Massa K---- to a cheer?' said Scip; 'he hab ben bery kine +to me.' + +The negress then offered me a seat; but it was some minutes before I +rendered myself sufficiently agreeable to thaw out the icy dignity of +her manner. Meanwhile I glanced around the apartment. + +Though the exterior of the cabin was like the others on the plantation, +the interior had a rude, grotesque elegance about it far in advance of +any negro hut I had ever seen. The logs were chinked with clay, and the +one window, though destitute of glass, and ornamented with the +inevitable board-shutter, had a green moreen curtain, which kept out the +wind and the rain. A worn but neat and well-swept carpet partly covered +the floor, and on the low bed was spread a patch-work counterpane. +Against the side of the room opposite the door stood an antique, +brass-handled bureau, and an old-fashioned table, covered with a faded +woolen cloth, occupied the centre of the apartment. In the corner near +the fire was a curiously-contrived side-board, made of narrow strips of +yellow pine, tongued and grooved together, and oiled so as to bring out +the beautiful grain of the wood. On it were several broken and cracked +glasses, and an array of irregular crockery. The rocking-chair, in which +the old negress passed the most of her time, was of mahogany, wadded and +covered with chintz, and the arm-seat I occupied, though old and patched +in many places, had evidently moved in good society. + +The mistress of this second-hand furniture establishment was arrayed in +a mass of cast-off finery, whose gay colors were in striking contrast +with her jet-black skin and bent, decrepit form. Her gown, which was +very short, was of flaming red and yellow worsted stuff, and the +enormous turban that graced her head and hid all but a few tufts of her +frizzled, 'pepper-and-salt' locks, was evidently a contribution from the +family stock of worn-out pillow-cases. She was very aged,--upwards of +seventy,--and so thin that, had she not been endowed with speech and +motion, she might have passed for a bundle of whalebone thrown into +human shape, and covered with a coating of gutta-percha. It was evident +she had been a valued house-servant, whose few remaining years were +being soothed and solaced by the kind and indulgent care of a grateful +master. + +Scip, I soon saw, was a favorite with the old-negress, and the marked +respect he showed me quickly dispelled the angry feeling excited by my +doubts of 'Massa Davy,' and opened her heart and her mouth at the same +moment. She was terribly garrulous; her tongue, as soon as it got under +way, ran on as if propelled by machinery and acquainted with the secret +of perpetual motion; but she was an interesting study. The +single-hearted attachment she showed for her master and his family gave +me a new insight into the practical working of 'the peculiar +institution,' and convinced me that even slavery, in some of its +aspects, is not so black as it is painted. + +When we were seated, I said to Scip, 'What induced you to lay hands on +the Colonel? It is death, you know, if he enforces the law.' + +'I knows dat, massa; I knows dat; but I had to do it. Dat Moye am de ole +debil, but de folks round har wud hab turned on de Cunnel, shore, ef +he'd killed him. Dey don't like de Cunnel; dey say he'm a stuck-up +seshener.' + +'The Colonel, then, has befriended you at some time?' + +'No, no, sar; 'twarn't dat; dough I'se know'd him a long w'ile,--eber +sense my ole massa fotched me from de Habana,--but 'twarn't dat.' + +'Then _why_ did you do it?' + +The black hesitated a moment, and glanced at the old negress, then +said,-- + +'You see, massa, w'en I fuss come to Charles'n, a pore little ting, wid +no friend in all de worle, dis ole aunty war a mudder to me. She nussed +de Cunnel; he am jess like her own chile, and I know'd 'twud kill her ef +he got hisself enter trubble.' + +I noticed certain convulsive twitchings about the corners of the old +woman's mouth as she rose from her seat, threw her arms around Scip, +and, in words broken by sobs, faltered out,-- + +'_You_ am my chile; I loves you better dan Massa Davy--better dan all de +worle.' + +The scene, had they not been black, would have been one for a painter. + +'You were the Colonel's nurse, Aunty,' I said, when she had regained her +composure. 'Have you always lived with him?' + +'Yas, sar, allers; I nussed him, and den de chil'ren--all ob 'em.' + +'All the children? I thought the Colonel had but one--Miss Clara.' + +'Wal, he habn't, massa, only de boys.' + +'What boys? I never heard he had sons.' + +'Neber heerd of young Massa Davy, nor Massa Tommy! Hain't you _seed_ +Massa Tommy, sar?' + +'Tommy! I was told he was Madam P----'s son.' + +'So he am; Massa Davy had _her_ long afore he had missus.' + +The truth flashed upon me; but could it be possible? Was I in South +Carolina or in Utah? + +'Who is Madam P----?' I asked. + +The old woman hesitated a moment, as if in doubt whether she had not +said too much; but Scip quietly replied,-- + +'She'm jess what aunty am--_de Cunnel's slave!_' + +'His _slave_! it can't be possible; she is white!' + +'No, massa; she am brack, and de Cunnel's slave!' + +Not to weary the reader with a long repetition of negro-English, I will +tell in brief what I gleaned from an hour's conversation with the two +blacks. + +Madam P---- was the daughter of Ex-Gov. ----, of Virginia, by a +quarteron woman. She was born a slave, but was acknowledged as her +father's child, and reared in his family with his legitimate children. +When she was ten years of age her father died, and his estate proving +insolvent, the land and negroes were brought under the hammer. His +daughter, never having been manumitted, was inventoried and sold with +the other property. The Colonel, then just of age, and a young man of +fortune, bought her and took her to the residence of his mother in +Charleston. A governess was provided for her, and a year or two +afterwards she was taken to the North to be educated. There she was +frequently visited by the Colonel; and when fifteen her condition became +such that she was obliged to return home. He conveyed her to the +plantation, where her elder son, David, was soon afterwards born, 'Aunt +Lucy' officiating on the occasion. When the child was two years old, +leaving it in charge of the aged negress, she accompanied the Colonel to +Europe, where they remained for a year. Subsequently she passed another +year at a Northern seminary; and then, returning to the plantation, was +duly installed as its mistress, and had ever since presided over its +domestic affairs. She was kind and good to the negroes, who were greatly +attached to her, and much of the Colonel's wealth was due to her +excellent management of the estate. + +Six years after the birth of 'young Massa Davy,' the Colonel married his +present wife, that lady having full knowledge of his left-handed +connection with Madam P----, and consenting that the 'bond-woman' should +remain on the plantation, as its mistress. The legitimate wife resided, +during most of the year, in Charleston, and when at the homestead took +little interest in domestic matters. On one of her visits to the +plantation, twelve years before, her daughter, Miss Clara, was born, and +within a week, and under the same roof, Madam P---- presented the +Colonel with a son,--the lad Thomas, of whom I have spoken. As the +mother was a slave, the children were so also at their birth, but _they_ +had been manumitted by their father. One of them was being educated in +Germany; and it was intended that both should spend their lives in that +country, the taint in their blood being an insuperable bar to their ever +acquiring social position at the South. + +As she finished the story, the old woman said, 'Massa Davy am bery kind +to de missus, sar, but he _love_ de ma'am; an' he can't help it, 'cause +she'm jess so good as de angels.'[K] + +I looked at my watch,--it was nearly ten o'clock, and I rose to go. As I +did so the old negress said,-- + +'Don't yer gwo, massa, 'fore you hab sum ob aunty's wine; you'm good +friends wid Scip, and I knows _you'se_ not too proud to drink wid brack +folks, ef you am from de Norf.' + +Being curious to know what quality of wine a plantation slave indulged +in, I accepted the invitation. She went to the side-board, and brought +out a cut-glass decanter, and three cracked tumblers, which she placed +on the table. Filling the glasses to the brim, she passed one to Scip, +and one to me, and, with the other in her hand, resumed her seat. +Wishing her a good many happy years, and Scip a pleasant journey home, I +emptied the glass. It was Scuppernong, and the pure juice of the grape! + +'Aunty,' I said, 'this wine is as fine as I ever tasted.' + +'Oh yas, massa, it am de raal stuff. I growed de grapes myseff.' + +'You grew them?' + +'Yas, sar, an' Massa Davy make de wine. He do it ebery yar for de ole +nuss.' + +'The Colonel is very good. Do you raise anything else?' + +'Yas, I hab collards and taters, a little corn, and most ebery ting.' + +'But who does your work? _You_ certainly can't do it?' + +'Oh, de ma'am looks arter dat, sar; she'm bery good to de ole aunty.' + +Shaking hands with both the negroes, I left the cabin, fully convinced +that all the happiness in this world is not found within plastered +apartments. + +The door of the mansion was bolted and barred; but, rapping for +admission, I soon heard the Colonel's voice asking, 'Who is there?' +Giving a satisfactory answer, I was admitted. Explaining that he +supposed I had retired to my room, he led the way to the library. + +That apartment was much more elegantly furnished than the drawing-rooms. +Three of its sides were lined with books, and on the centre-table, +papers, pamphlets, and manuscripts were scattered in promiscuous +confusion. In an armchair near the fire, Madam P---- was seated, +reading. The Colonel's manner was as composed as if nothing had +disturbed the usual routine of the plantation; no trace of the recent +terrible excitement was visible; in fact, had I not been a witness to +the late tragedy, I should have thought it incredible that he, within +two hours, had been an actor in a scene which had cost a human being his +life. + +'Where in creation have you been, my dear fellow?' he asked, as we took +our seats. + +'At old Lucy's cabin, with Scip,' I replied. + +'Indeed. I supposed the darky had gone.' + +'No, he doesn't go till the morning.' + +'I told you he wouldn't, David,' said Madam P----; 'now, send for +him,--do make friends with him before he goes.' + +'No, Alice, it won't do. I bear him no ill-will, but it won't do. It +would be all over the plantation in an hour.' + +'No matter for that; our people would like you the better for it.' + +'No, no. I can't do it. I mean him no harm, but I can't do that.' + +'He told me _why_ he interfered between you and Moye,' I remarked. + +'Why did he?' + +'He says old Lucy, years ago, was a mother to him; that she is greatly +attached to you, and it would kill her if any harm happened to you; and +that your neighbors bear you no good-will, and would have enforced the +law had you killed Moye.' + +'It is true, David; you would have had to answer for it.' + +'Nonsense! what influence could this North County scum have against +_me_?' + +'Perhaps none. But that makes no difference; Scipio did right, and you +should tell him you forgive him.' + +The Colonel then rang a small bell, and a negro woman soon appeared. +'Sue,' he said, 'go to Aunt Lucy's and ask Scip to come here. Bring him +in at the front door, and, mind, let no one know he comes.' + +The woman in a short time returned with Scip. There was not a trace of +fear or embarrassment in the negro's manner as he entered the room. +Making a respectful bow, he bade us 'good evening.' + +'Good evening, Scip,' said the Colonel, rising and giving the black his +hand; 'let us be friends. Madam tells me I should forgive you, and I +do.' + +'Aunt Lucy say ma'am am an angel, sar, and it am tru,--it am tru, sar,' +replied the negro, with considerable feeling. + +The lady rose, also, and took Scip's hand, saying, '_I_ not only forgive +you, Scipio, but I _thank_ you for what you have done. I shall never +forget it.' + +'You'se too good, ma'am; you'se too good to say dat,' replied the darky, +the moisture coming to his eyes; 'but I meant nuffin' wrong,--I meant +nuffin' dis'specful to de Cunnel.' + +'I know you didn't, Scip; but we'll say no more about it;--good-by,' +said the Colonel. + +Shaking hands with each one of us, the darky left the apartment. + +One who does not know that the high-bred Southern gentleman considers +the black as far below him as the horse he drives, or the dog he kicks, +can not realize the amazing sacrifice of pride which the Colonel made in +seeking a reconciliation with Scip. It was the cutting off of his right +hand. The circumstance showed the powerful influence held over him by +the octoroon woman. Strange that she, his slave, cast out from society +by her blood and her life, despised, no doubt, by all the world, save by +him and a few ignorant blacks, should thus control a proud, self-willed, +passionate man, and control him, too, only for good. + +After the black had gone, I said to the Colonel, 'I was much interested +in old Lucy. A few more such instances of cheerful and contented old +age might lead me to think better of slavery.' + +'Such cases are not rare, sir. They show the paternal character of our +"institution." We are _forced_ to care for our servants in their old +age.' + +'But have your other aged slaves the same comforts that Aunt Lucy has?' + +'No; they don't need them. She has been accustomed to live in my house, +and to fare better than the plantation hands; she therefore requires +better treatment.' + +'Is not the support of that class a heavy tax upon you?' + +'Yes, it _is_ heavy. We have, of course, to deduct it from the labor of +the able-bodied hands.' + +'What is the usual proportion of sick and infirm on your plantation?' + +'Counting in the child-bearing women, I reckon about twenty per cent.' + +'And what does it cost you to support each hand?' + +'Well, it costs _me_, for children and all, about seventy-five dollars a +year. In some places it costs less. _I_ have to buy all my provisions.' + +'What proportion of your slaves are able-bodied hands?' + +'Somewhere about sixty per cent. I have, all told, old and young,--men, +women, and children,--two hundred and seventy. Out of that number I have +now equal to a hundred and fifty-four _full_ hands. You understand that +we classify them: some do only half tasks, some three-quarters. I have +_more_ than a hundred and fifty-four working men and women, but they do +only that number of full tasks.' + +'What does the labor of a _full_ hand yield?' + +'At the present price of turpentine, my calculation is about two hundred +dollars a year.' + +'Then your crop brings you about thirty-one thousand dollars, and the +support of your negroes costs you twenty thousand.' + +'Yes.' + +'If that's the case, my friend, let me advise you to sell your +plantation, free your niggers, and go North.' + +'Why so, my dear fellow?' asked the Colonel, laughing. + +'Because you'd make money by the operation.' + +'I never was good at arithmetic; go into the figures,' he replied, still +laughing, while Madam P----, who had laid aside her book, listened very +attentively. + +'Well, you have two hundred and seventy negroes, whom you value, we'll +say, with your mules, "stills," and movable property, at two hundred +thousand dollars; and twenty thousand acres of land, worth about three +dollars and a half an acre; all told, two hundred and seventy thousand +dollars. A hundred and fifty-four able-bodied hands produce you a yearly +profit of eleven thousand dollars, which, saying nothing about the cost +of keeping your live stock, the wear and tear of your mules and +machinery, and the yearly loss of your slaves by death, is only four per +cent. on your capital. Now, with only the price of your land, say +seventy thousand dollars, invested in safe stocks at the North, you +could realize eight per cent.--five thousand six hundred dollars,--and +live at your ease; and that, I judge, if you have many runaways, or many +die on your hands, is as much as you really _clear_ now. Besides, if you +should invest seventy thousand dollars in almost any legitimate business +at the North, and should add to it, _as you now do_, your _time_ and +_labor_, you would realize far more than you do at present from your +entire capital.' + +'I never looked at the matter in that light. But I have given you my +profits as they _now_ are; some years I make more; six years ago I made +twenty-five thousand dollars.' + +'Yes; and six years hence you may make nothing.' + +'That's true. But it would cost me more to live at the North.' + +'There you are mistaken. What do you pay for your corn, your pork, and +your hay, for instance?' + +'Well, my corn I have to bring round by vessel from Washington (North +Carolina), and it costs me high when it gets here,--about ten bits (a +dollar and twenty-five cents), I think.' + +'And in New York you could buy it now at sixty to seventy cents. What +does your hay cost?' + +'Thirty-five dollars. I pay twenty for it in New York,--the balance is +freight and hauling.' + +'Your pork costs you two or three dollars, I suppose, for freight and +hauling.' + +'Yes; about that.' + +'Then in those items you might save nearly a hundred per cent.; and they +are the principal articles you consume.' + +'Yes; there's no denying that. But another thing is just as certain: it +costs less to support one of my niggers than one of your laboring men.' + +'That may be true. But it only shows that our laborers fare better than +your slaves.' + +'I'm not sure of that. I _am_ sure, however, that our slaves are more +contented than the run of laboring men at the North.' + +'That proves nothing. Your blacks have no hope, no chance to rise; and +they submit--though I judge not cheerfully--to an iron necessity. The +Northern laborer, if very poor, may be discontented; but discontent +urges him to effort, and leads to the bettering of his condition. I tell +you, my friend, slavery is an expensive luxury. You Southern nabobs +_will_ have it; and you have to _pay for it_.' + +'Well, we don't complain. But, seriously, my good fellow, I feel that +I'm carrying out the design of the Almighty in holding my niggers. I +think he made the black to serve the white.' + +'_I_ think,' I replied, 'that whatever He designs works perfectly. Your +institution certainly does not. It keeps the producer, who, in every +society, is the really valuable citizen, in the lowest poverty, while it +allows those who do nothing to be "clad in fine linen, and to fare +sumptuously every day."' + +'It does more than that, sir,' said Madam P----, with animation; 'it +brutalizes and degrades the _master_ and the _slave_; it separates +husband and wife, parent and child; it sacrifices virtuous women to the +lust of brutal men; and it shuts millions out from the knowledge of +their duty and their destiny. A good and just God could not have +designed it; and it must come to an end.' + +If lightning had struck in the room I could not have been more startled +than I was by the abrupt utterance of such language in a planter's +house, in his very presence, and _by his slave_. The Colonel, however, +expressed no surprise and no disapprobation. It was evidently no new +thing to him. + +'It is rare, madam,' I said, 'to hear such sentiments from a Southern +lady--one reared among slaves.' + +Before she could reply, the Colonel laughingly said,-- + +'Bless you, Mr. K----, madam is an out-and-out abolitionist, worse by +fifty per cent. than Garrison or Wendell Phillips. If she were at the +North she would take to pantaloons, and "stump" the entire Free States; +wouldn't you, Alice?' + +'I've no doubt of it,' rejoined the lady, smiling. 'But I fear I should +have poor success. I've tried for ten years to convert _you_, and Mr. +K---- can see the result.' + +It had grown late; and, with my head full of working niggers and white +slave-women, I went to my apartment. + +The next day was Sunday. It was near the close of December, yet the air +was as mild and the sun as warm as in our Northern October. It was +arranged at the breakfast-table that we all should attend service at +'the meeting-house,' a church of the Methodist persuasion, located some +eight miles away; but as it wanted some hours of the time for religious +exercises to commence, I strolled out after breakfast, with the Colonel, +to inspect the stables of the plantation. 'Massa Tommy' accompanied us, +without invitation; and in the Colonel's intercourse with him I observed +as much freedom and familiarity as he would have shown to an +acknowledged son. The youth's manners and conversation showed that great +attention had been given to his education and training, and made it +evident that the mother whose influence was forming his character, +whatever a false system of society had made her life, possessed some of +the best traits of her sex. + +The stables, a collection of one-story framed buildings, about a hundred +rods from the house, were well lighted and ventilated, and contained all +'the modern improvements.' They were better built, warmer, more +commodious, and in every way more comfortable than the shanties occupied +by the human cattle of the plantation. I remarked as much to the +Colonel, adding that one who did not know would infer that he valued his +horses more than his slaves. + +'That may be true,' he replied, laughing. 'Two of my horses here are +worth more than any eight of my slaves;' at the same time calling my +attention to two magnificent thorough-breds, one of which had made +'2.32' on the Charleston course. The establishment of a Southern +gentleman is not complete until it includes one or two of these useless +appendages. I had an argument with my host as to their value compared +with that of the steam-engine, in which I forced him to admit that the +iron horse is the better of the two, because it performs more work, eats +less, has greater speed, and is not liable to the spavin or the heaves; +but he wound up by saying, 'After all, I go for the thorough-breds. You +Yankees have but one test of value--use.' + +A ramble through the negro-quarters, which followed our visit to the +stables, gave me some further glimpses of plantation life. Many of the +hands were still away in pursuit of Moye, but enough remained to make it +evident that Sunday is the happiest day in the darky calendar. Groups of +all ages and colors were gathered in front of several of the cabins, +some singing, some dancing, and others chatting quietly together, but +all enjoying themselves as heartily as so many young animals let loose, +in a pasture. They saluted the Colonel and me respectfully, but each one +had a free, good-natured word for 'Massa Tommy,' who seemed an especial +favorite with them. The lad took their greetings in good part, but +preserved an easy, unconscious dignity of manner that plainly showed he +did not know that _he_ too was of their despised, degraded race. + +The Colonel, in a rapid way, gave me the character and peculiarities of +nearly every one we met. The titles of some of them amused me greatly. +At every step we encountered individuals whose names have become +household words in every civilized country.[L] Julius Caesar, slightly +stouter than when he swam the Tiber, and somewhat tanned from long +exposure to a Southern sun, was seated on a wood-pile, quietly smoking a +pipe; while near him, Washington, divested of regimentals, and clad in a +modest suit of reddish-gray, his thin locks frosted by time, and his +fleshless visage showing great age, was gazing, in rapt admiration, at a +group of dancers in front of old Lucy's cabin. + +In this group about thirty men and women were making the ground quake +and the woods ring with their unrestrained jollity. Marc Antony was +rattling away at the bones, Nero fiddling as if Rome were burning, and +Hannibal clawing at a banjo as if the fate of Carthage hung on its +strings. Napoleon, as young and as lean as when he mounted the bridge of +Lodi, with the battle-smoke still on his face, was moving his legs even +faster than in the Russian retreat; and John Wesley was using his heels +in a way that showed _they_ didn't belong to the Methodist church. But +the central figures of the group were Cato and Victoria. The lady had a +face like a thunder-cloud, and a form that, if whitewashed, would have +outsold the 'Greek Slave.' She was built on springs, and 'floated in +the dance' like a feather in a high wind. Cato's mouth was like an +alligator's, but when it opened, it issued notes that would draw the +specie even in this time of general suspension. As we approached he was +singing a song, but he paused on perceiving us, when the Colonel, +tossing a handful of coin among them, called out, 'Go on, boys; let the +gentleman have some music; and you, Vic, show your heels like a beauty.' + +A general scramble followed, in which 'Vic's' sense of decorum forbade +her to join, and she consequently got nothing. Seeing that, I tossed her +a silver piece, which she caught. Grinning her thanks, she shouted, +'Now, clar de track, you nigs; start de music. I'se gwine to gib de +gemman de breakdown.' + +And she did; and such a breakdown! 'We w'ite folks,' though it was no +new thing to the Colonel or Tommy, almost burst with laughter. + +In a few minutes nearly every negro on the plantation, attracted by the +presence of the Colonel and myself, gathered around the performers; and +a shrill voice at my elbow called out, 'Look har, ye lazy, +good-for-nuffin' niggers, carn't ye fotch a cheer for Massa Davy and de +strange gemman?' + +'Is that you, Aunty?' said the Colonel. 'How d'ye do?' + +'Sort o' smart, Massa Davy; sort o' smart; how is ye?' + +'Pretty well, Aunty; pretty well. Have a seat.' And the Colonel helped +her to one of the chairs that were brought for us, with as much +tenderness as he would have shown to an aged white lady. + +The 'exercises,' which had been suspended for a moment, recommenced, and +the old negress entered into them as heartily as the youngest present. A +song from Cato followed the dance, and then about twenty 'gentleman and +lady' darkies joined, two at a time, in a half 'walk-round' half +breakdown, which the Colonel told me was what suggested the well-known +'white-nigger' dance and song of Lucy Long. Other performances +succeeded, and the whole formed a scene impossible to describe. Such +uproarious jollity, such full and perfect enjoyment, I had never seen in +humanity, black or white. The little nigs, only four or five years old, +would rush into the ring and shuffle away at the breakdowns till I +feared their short legs would come off; while all the darkies joined in +the songs, till the branches of the old pines above shook as if they too +had caught the spirit of the music. In the midst of it, the Colonel said +to me, in an exultant tone,-- + +'Well, my friend, what do you think of slavery _now_?' + +'About the same that I thought yesterday. I see nothing to change my +views.' + +'Why, are not these people happy? Is not this perfect enjoyment?' + +'Yes; just the same enjoyment that aunty's pigs are having; don't you +hear them singing to the music? I'll wager they are the happier of the +two.' + +'No; you are wrong. The higher faculties of the darkies are being +brought out here.' + +'I don't know that,' I replied. 'Within the sound of their voices, two +of their fellows--victims to the inhumanity of slavery--are lying dead, +and yet they make _Sunday_ 'hideous' with wild jollity, while they do +not know but Sam's fate may be theirs to-morrow.' + +Spite of his genuine courtesy and high breeding, a shade of displeasure +passed over the Colonel's face as I made this remark. Rising to go, he +said, a little impatiently, 'Ah, I see how it is; that d---- Garrison's +sentiments have impregnated even you. How can the North and the South +hold together when even moderate men like you and me are so far apart?' + +'But you,' I rejoined, good-humoredly, 'are not a moderate man. You and +Garrison are of the same stripe, both extremists. You have mounted one +hobby, _he_ another; that is all the difference.' + +'I should be sorry,' he replied, recovering his good-nature, 'to think +myself like Garrison. I consider him the ---- scoundrel unhung.' + +'No; I think he means well. But you are both fanatics, both 'bricks' of +the same material; we conservatives, like mortar, will hold you together +and yet keep you apart.' + +'I, for one, _won't_ be held. If I can't get out of this cursed Union in +any other way, I'll emigrate to Cuba.' + +I laughed, and just then, looking up, caught a glimpse of Jim, who +stood, hat in hand, waiting to speak to the Colonel, but not daring to +interrupt a white conversation. + +'Hallo, Jim,' I said; 'have you got back?' + +'Yas, sar,' replied Jim, grinning all over as if he had some agreeable +thing to communicate. + +'Where is Moye?' asked the Colonel. + +'Kotched, massa; I'se got de padlocks on him.' + +'Kotched,' echoed half a dozen darkies, who stood near enough to hear; +'Ole Moye is kotched,' ran through the crowd, till the music ceased, and +a shout went up from two hundred black throats that made the old trees +tremble. + +'Now gib him de lashes, Massa Davy,' cried the old nurse. 'Gib him what +he gabe pore Sam; but mine dat you keeps widin de law.' + +'Never fear, Aunty,' said the Colonel; 'I'll give him ----.' + +How the Colonel kept his word will be told in another number. + + * * * * * + + +ACTIVE SERVICE; OR, CAMPAIGNING IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. + + +I have been to the war; I have seen armed secessionists, and I have seen +them run; but, more than that, I have seen _Active Service_. It was +_active_, and no mistake. + +In April last, my country needed my services; I had been playing +soldier, and I felt it my duty to respond to the call of the President. +I did respond. I uncovered my head, raised my right hand, and solemnly +swore to obey the President of the United States for three months. The +three months have expired, and I am once more a free American citizen, +and for the first time in my life I know what it is to be _free_. + +ACTIVE SERVICE! That's what the military men call it. I have often read +of it; I have heard men talk about it; but now I have seen it. I meet +people every day who congratulate me on my safe return, and say, 'I +suppose you are going again?' Perhaps I am. + +It was a beautiful day when our company left home, and what a crowd of +people assembled to see us off! What a waving of banners and +handkerchiefs; what shouting and cheering; what an endless amount of +hand-shaking; how many 'farewells,' 'good-bys,' and +'take-care-of-yourselves,' were spoken; all of this had to be gone +through with, and our company run the gauntlet and nobody was hurt. + +Going to war is no child's play, as many seem to suppose. Once sworn in +as a _private_, you become a tool, a mere thing, to do another's +bidding. I do not say this to discourage enlistments,--far from it. I am +only speaking the truth. 'Forewarned, forearmed.' If there is a hard +life upon earth, it is that of a common soldier; he may be the bravest +man in the army, he may perform an endless amount of daring deeds, but +it is seldom that he gains a tangible reward. He does all the fighting, +he performs all the drudgery, he is plundered by the sutler, he lives +on pork and hard-bread, but he gets none of the honors of a victory. As +Biglow says,-- + + 'Lieutenants are the lowest grade that help pick up the coppers.' + +I belonged to an artillery company. I joined this because somebody told +me I could ride. I wish I had that _somebody_ by the throat. The idea of +a man's _riding_ over the mountains of Western Virginia! I won't call it +ridiculous, for that's no name for it. + +I will pass over the uninteresting part of the campaign, that of lying +in camp, as everybody now-a-days has ample opportunity to judge of camp +life, in the cities, and take the reader at once into 'active service,' +and show the hardships and trials, together with the fun (for soldiers +_do_ have their good times) of campaigning. + +On the 29th day of May, 1861, we arrived at Parkersburgh, Va. It was my +first visit to the Old Dominion. We had been taught when youngsters at +school to regard Virginia as a sort of Holy Land, 'flowing with milk and +honey,' and the mother of all that is great and noble in the United +States, if not in the world. We were 'going South.' + +It was at the close of a warm spring day that we landed there; the sun +was just sinking in the west as the boat rounded-to at the wharf. We +jumped ashore, and for the first time in our lives inhaled the 'sacred +atmosphere' of the so-called Southern Confederacy. All was bustle and +confusion; but we soon had our traps, _i.e._, guns, caissons and horses, +unloaded, and a little after dark were on the march. We proceeded a few +miles out of town, and at midnight halted, pitched our tents, stationed +guards, and all who were so fortunate as not to be detailed for duty +were soon sound asleep. + +At Grafton, one hundred miles east of Parkersburgh, we were told there +was a party of some two thousand rebels. This then was the object of our +visit to Western Virginia, to drive these men east of the +mountains,--from whence most of them came,--and to protect the honor of +our flag in that portion of Virginia now known by the name of Kanawha. + +At sunrise on the 30th, we marched to the depot of the north-western +branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and, after a hard half-day's +work in loading our guns, horses and wagons, stowed ourselves away in +cattle cars, and were once more ready for a start. As we rattled along +over the railroad, the scenery for the first few miles was beautiful, +and we began to think that Old Virginny was really the flower of the +Union. But a 'change soon came over the spirit of our dreams.' + +After passing a small shanty, called Petroleum,--from the numerous +oil-wells in the vicinity,--we met with the first really hard work we +had seen since we began the life of a soldier. Here the rebels had burnt +one of the railroad bridges, and all hands had to 'fall in' and repair +damages. Never did men work with a better will. Slender youths, who, if +they had been told one month before, that on the 30th day of May, 1861, +they would be laying rails and cutting timber for Uncle Sam, for eleven +dollars a month, would have pitied their informant as insane, were here +working with a will that showed what a man can do if he only sets +himself about it. For two days and a night we toiled and ceased not, and +when, on the evening of the second day, we passed over the 'soldiers' +bridge' in safety, such a shout rent the air as I never heard before. + +A few miles beyond the burnt bridge, the scenery began to change. In the +clear starlight, instead of beautiful streams and fine farms, we beheld +hills and mountains covered with an almost impenetrable growth of +underbrush, and large rocks hanging over our heads, ready to be hurled +down upon us by some unseen hand, and to crush our little handful of +men. On we went, at a snail's pace, till about ten o'clock, P.M., when +our joy was again turned to woe, for here too the dogs of Jeff Davis had +been doing their work, and had burnt another bridge. We waited until +morning, and then, after some hard swearing, were once more transformed +into 'greasy mechanics,' and before the sun went down had passed to the +'other side of Jordan' in safety. + +Here began our first experience of the hospitality of the sons, or +rather daughters, of Virginia. + +A small farm-house stood near the bridge, numerous cows were grazing in +the pasture close by, and everything denoted a home of comfort and +plenty. This, I thought, must be the home of some F.F.V., and I will +take a pail--or rather camp kettle--and 'sarah forth' to buy a few +quarts of milk. Wending my way to the house, I knocked at the door, and +instantly six female heads protruded from the window. Presently one of +them, an elderly woman, opened the door, and inquired what I wanted. + +'Have you any milk to spare?' I said. + +'I reckon,' replied the woman. + +'I would like to get a few quarts,' I said, handing her my kettle. I +took a seat on the door-step, and wondered what these six women were +doing in this lonely spot. They evidently lived alone, for not a man was +to be seen around. The table was spread for dinner, six cups, six +plates, six spoons, and no more. I was about to ask for the man of the +house, when the old woman returned with my kettle of milk. + +'How much?' I asked, as I thrust my hand deep into my pocket, and drew +forth one of the few coins it was my fortune to possess. + +'Only four bits,' said the ancient female. + +I thought milk must have 'riz' lately, but I paid the money and left. + +From observations since taken, I infer these six women were 'grass +widows,' whose husbands had enlisted in the rebel army, and left them +behind to plunder the Union troops by selling corn-bread and milk for +ten times its value. + +I took a seat on a log, and congratulated myself on the prospect of a +good dinner. By the aid of a stone I managed to crumble 'two shingles' +of hard bread into a cup of the milk, and then, with an appetite such as +I never enjoyed in _America_, sat to work. I took one mouthful, when, +lo! the milk was sour! Hurling cup and contents toward the hospitable +mansion, I fell back upon my regular diet of salt pork. + +Leaving the Virginia damsels to plunder the next regiment of Federals +that came along, we were soon once more on our way, and on Saturday, the +1st of June, arrived at Clarksburgh. Here we learned that the rebels had +left Grafton and gone to Phillippi, some twenty miles back in the +country. We remained at Clarksburgh until Sunday morning, when, once +more stowing ourselves 'three deep' on flats and stock cars, we +proceeded as far as Webster. Here we left the railroad, and pursued the +rebels afoot. + +Webster is a big name, and there we flattered ourselves we could get +some of the comforts of life. But once again we were doomed to +disappointment. Two stores, a dozen or so of shanties, and a secession +pole, make up this mighty town. Parkersburgh is a 'right smart place;' +Clarksburgh 'isn't much to speak of;' the only thing of interest about +it is the home of Senator Carlisle; but Webster is a little the worst +place I have ever seen. I am sorry to say, in the language of the great +man whose name it bears, 'It still lives.' + +Observing a shanty on the summit of a small hill, with the words, 'Meals +at all hours,' over the door, I wended my way over sundry cow-paths and +through by-lanes towards it, until at last, fatigued, and with hands +torn and bleeding from catching hold of roots and bushes to keep myself +from falling, I arrived at the summit of the hill. A young woman stood +in the door-way of the shanty, and I asked her if I could obtain a +dinner. + +'Yes,' she said. 'Walk in and take a cheer.' She shoved a three-legged +stool towards me, and I took it. + +She was about eighteen years of age, and had a very pretty +face,--though it was thickly covered with a coating of the sacred +soil,--a musical voice, and a small hand. Her eyes sparkled like +fire-flies on a June night, and her hair hung in wavy ringlets over what +would have been an 'alabaster brow,' had it not been for the +superabundance of _dirt_ above mentioned. She was the only good-looking +woman I saw in Western Virginia. + +I took a seat at the table, and from a broken cup drank a few swallows +of tolerable coffee. As for the edibles, 'twas the same old story,--corn +bread and maple molasses, fried pork and onions. I staid there perhaps +fifteen minutes, and learned from my hostess that Webster was, previous +to the war 'a right smart village,' but that the male inhabitants had +mostly joined the rebel army, then at Phillippi. She, different from +most women I met in Virginia, expressed sympathy for the Union cause. It +seemed so strange to find a _Union_ woman in that part of the country, I +was induced to ask if Webster had the honor of being her birth-place. + +'Oh no,' she said; 'I was born in 'Hio.' + +That solved the whole mystery. I willingly paid the 'four bits' for my +dinner; and, as a storm was coming on, made all haste back to the +railroad, where we were getting ready to march on Phillippi, distance +thirteen Virginian, or about twenty _American_, miles. + +'Fall in, Company Q!' shouted the orderly. 'Numbers one, two, three, and +four, do so and so; five, six, seven, and eight, do this, that, and the +other!' So at it we went; and never in my life did I perform a harder +afternoon's work than on Sunday, the 2d of June, 1861. It was a warm, +sultry day, and our morning's ride in the cars had been dusty and +fatiguing; and when, about dusk, a heavy rain-storm set in and drenched +us to the skin, we were sorry-looking objects indeed. + +Although we had been in service six weeks, we had but just received our +uniforms that morning. My pants, when I put them on, were about six +inches too long, and the sleeves of my blouse ditto. After marching all +night in the rain, my trowsers only came down as far as my knees; they +shrank two feet in twelve hours. Many of the men threw away their shoddy +uniforms after wearing them one day, as they were totally unfit for use. +They tore as easily as so much paper, and were no protection whatever +from the weather. Somebody, I don't pretend to say who, made a good +thing when he furnished them to the government. No doubt they were +supplied by some _loyal_ and _respectable_ citizen, who would not +knowingly cheat his country out of a penny! We have reaped a bountiful +harvest of such patriots during the past year. May the Lord love them! + +At eleven o'clock on the night of the 2d of June we started for +Phillippi. It commenced raining about seven o'clock in the evening, and +we were all wet to the skin. The night was very dark, and the road, +though they called it a 'pike,' was one of the worst imaginable; it +wound 'round and round,'-- + + 'It turned in and turned out, + Leaving beholders still in doubt + Whether the wretched muddy track + Were going South or coming back,'-- + +and seemed to run in every direction but the right one. It was a road +such as can be found only in Virginia. The mud was almost up to the hubs +of the wagon-wheels; the horses pulled, the drivers laid on the lash and +a string of oaths at the same time; the wind blew, and the rain came +down in torrents. More than once on that awful march did we lend a +helping hand to get the horses out of some 'slough of Despond.' Over the +mountains and through the woods we went, at the rate of about two miles +an hour. Many gave out and lay down by the wayside; and when at last +morning dawned, a more pitiable set of beings never were seen upon +earth. The men looked haggard and wan, the horses could hardly stand, +and we were in anything but a good condition for invading an enemy's +country. + +At daylight we were within two miles of Phillippi. Col. (now General) +Lander was with the advance, and had discovered that the enemy were +ready for a retreat. Their baggage was loaded, and if we did not make +the last two miles at 'double-quick,' he was fearful we would be too +late to accomplish the object of the expedition. So the order was given, +'Double-quick!' and jaded horses and almost lifeless men rushed forward, +buoyed up with the prospect of having a brush with the rascals who had +given us so much trouble. + +We had gone about a mile and a half, when, at a turn in the road, an old +woman rushed out from a log cabin, and, in a loud and commanding voice, +exclaimed,-- + +'Halt, artillery, or I'll shoot every one of you!' + +Not obeying the order, she fired three shots at us, none of which took +effect. At the same time three men rushed from the back of the house +toward the rebel camp at the foot of the hill, shouting at the top of +their voices to give warning of our approach. A squad of our fellows +took after them, and soon overtook them in a corn-field, when they +denied coming from the house, and said they were out planting corn! A +likely story, as it was hardly daylight, and the rain was falling in +torrents. However, during the forenoon they took _oath_, and were set +free! + +Past the log house we went at 'double-quick,' and in less time than it +takes to tell it, the artillery took position in a small piece of wood +on the summit of a hill overlooking the town. At once the order was +given, 'Action front!' and the first the rebels knew of our approach was +the rattling of canister among their tents. Out they swarmed, like bees +from a molested hive. This way and that the chivalry flew, and yet +scarcely knew which way to run. 'Bould sojer boys,' with nothing but +their underclothes on, mounted their nags bareback, and fled 'over the +hills and far away' towards Beverley, firing as they ran a few random +shots. Before the infantry reached the town most of them had made good +their escape, leaving behind, however, nearly all their baggage, a large +number of horses, wagons, tents, and about eight hundred stand of arms, +together with a nicely-cooked breakfast, which they had no idea they +were preparing for 'Lincoln's hirelings.' + +We took about fifty prisoners, among them the man who wounded Col. (now +General) Kelley. They were retained until the next day, when the oath +was administered, and they were let loose to rejoin their companions in +arms. About four weeks after this, we had the pleasure of retaking, +several of these fellows; some of them, in fact, were taken three or +four times, each time taking the oath, and being set at liberty, and +each time, true to their nature--and Jeff Davis--immediately taking up +arms again against the government. + +Phillippi, from any of the neighboring hills, or rather mountains, +presents a rather picturesque appearance. It was, previous to the war, a +place of about one thousand inhabitants. It boasts a good court-house, a +bank, and two hotels, and was by far the most civilized-looking town we +had then seen in Virginia. But, alas! what a change had come over its +once happy populace. When we entered it, not a dozen inhabitants were +left. We were told that Phillippi was the head-quarters of rebellion in +Western Virginia. Here was published the Barbour County _Jeffersonian_, +a rabid secession newspaper, now no more, for the press was demolished, +and the types thrown into a well. The editor had joined the rebel army a +few days before our arrival, and was among the loudest denunciators of +our government. He boasted he would shed the last drop of his blood (he +was very careful as to shedding the first) before he would retreat one +inch before the _Abolitionists_. We afterwards learned from some of his +men that he was among the first to mount his horse and run to the +mountains; the last that was seen of him he was going at lightning speed +toward Richmond, and in all probability _il court encore_,--he is +running yet. + +We had taken possession of the town and most of the enemy's baggage and +equipments; still our commanding officer was not satisfied, neither were +the men. We had intended to completely surround the enemy and to cut off +every possible chance of his retreat. The attack was to have been made +at five o'clock, A.M.; but one column, that which marched from Grafton, +was about twenty minutes too late, and when at last it did make its +appearance, it entered town by the wrong road, having been misled by the +guide. The consequence was, the enemy retreated on the Beverley road, +where they met with little or no resistance. Our men were too much +fatigued to follow the fast-fleeing traitors, and most of them made good +their escape. + +After the excitement of the attack, the men dropped down wherever they +stood, in the streets, in the fields, or in the woods, and slept soundly +until noon, the rain continuing to fall in torrents. But what was that +to men worn out with marching? I never slept better than when lying in a +newly-plowed corn-field, with the mud over my ankles, the rain pelting +me in the face, and not a blanket to cover me. + +_Bang! bang! bang!_ and up I jumped from my bed of mud, thinking the +fight had again commenced. Somewhat bewildered, I rubbed the 'sacred +soil' from my eyes and looked about me. It was noon; the rain had +ceased, and from the constant sound of musketry, I supposed a battle was +then raging. But instead of fighting the 'secesh,' I soon found the +Indiana boys were making havoc among the fowls of the chivalry. They +fired too much at random to suit my taste, and I made tracks for a safer +abode. Beating a hasty retreat to the hill where my company was +stationed, I found a large crowd gathered around some of the captured +wagons, overhauling the plunder. And what a mixed-up mess! Old guns, +sabres, bowie-knives, pistols made in Richmond in 1808, old uniforms +that looked like the property of some strolling actor, and love-letters +which the bold chivalry had received from fair damsels, who all +expressed the desire that, their 'lovyers' would bring home, Old Abe's +scalp. These letters afforded great amusement to our boys, though it was +hard to read many of them, and were they put into print, Artemus Ward +would have to look to his 'lorrels.' + +Bang! bang! bang! they kept on shooting till dark. It is useless to say +we had chickens for supper that night; and I would not be surprised if +the chicken crop of Phillippi and vicinity should be rather small for a +few years to come. + +Wild rumors were running through the camp all day that the 'secesh' had +been reinforced, were ten thousand strong, and, with forty pieces of +cannon, would attack us that night. Some said they were commanded by +Gov. Wise, the lunatic, others by Beauregard, and some positively +asserted that Jeff Davis led the rebel forces himself. At all events, it +was pretty well settled that we were to be attacked forthwith. Our men +slept on their arms, but not a secesh appeared. + +I, as usual, was on guard that night, and, feeling that a great +responsibility rested on my shoulders, was 'doubly armed.' A well-known +professor, a member of the same company as myself, was on the first +relief; I was on the second. I went on duty at ten o'clock, P.M., and +the professor kindly loaned me his revolver, and, in addition, soon +returned with an extra musket, a secession sabre, and one of the +captured pistols. Thus loaded down with swords, pistols, and muskets, +and guarding a six-pounder, I felt _tolerably_ safe. After walking up +and down my beat a few times, I found the two muskets began to feel +rather heavy, and the two sabres to be rather uncomfortable dangling +about my legs; and thinking that two revolvers and a _secesh_ pistol +would be all that I could use to advantage, I divested myself of the +extra equipments, and passed the residue of my 'two-hours' watch' in +committing to memory 'my last dying words,' for use in case the secesh +put an end to my existence. + +Our colonel's name was Barnett; the countersign for the night was Buena +Vista. About eleven o'clock I observed a man coming towards me. 'Halt!' +I exclaimed; 'who goes there?' + +'A _friendt_,' was the reply. + +'Advance, friend, and give the countersign.' + +The man walked towards me, and whispered in my ear 'Barnett's Sister!' +at the same time attempting to pass. Placing my bayonet close against +his breast, I ordered him to 'halt!' and called for the corporal of the +guard. The Dutchman--for such he was--begged and plead, but it was of no +use; I told him he was trying to 'run the guard,' and he must go to the +guard-house. + +'Barnett's Sister! Barnett's Sister! Barnett's Sister!' shouted the +Dutchman. 'I know nothing about Barnett's Sister,' said I; 'stop your +noise, or you will rouse the camp.' + +Just then, the officer of the guard came round. I stated the case to +him, and the man was taken to the guard-house. The next morning he was +released, and on inquiry at head-quarters it was found that he had the +password, but had confounded 'Buena Vista' with 'Barnett's Sister.' We +all enjoyed a good laugh over it, and ever after 'Barnett's Sister' was +the password for all who attempted to 'run the guard.' + +We lay at Phillippi nearly six weeks. Every day or two an alarm would +occur, the long roll would beat, and the men would form in line of +battle. It is needless to say the alarms were all false. There are +always hundreds of rumors in every camp, and ours was not an exception. +But after the first week we paid little attention to the many wild +reports which were in circulation. Although Gov. Wise had said he would +take dinner in Phillippi or in ---- on the fourth of July; +notwithstanding Gov. Letcher had issued a proclamation warning us to +leave the State in twenty-four hours or he would hang every one of us; +although a proclamation dated Staunton, Va., June 7th, 1861, stated to +the people of Western Virginia that their little band of _volunture (?)_ +had been forced from Phillippi by the ruthless Northern foe, led on by +traitors and tories, and that Jeff Davis and John Letcher had sent to +their aid a force of cavalry, artillery and rifles; and although the +proclamation wound up by saying To-morrow an ARMY will follow! we felt +tolerably safe at Phillippi. We had determined, if the aforesaid army +did appear, it should have a warm reception. + +Every day or two scouting parties went out and captured a few stray +'Bush-Whackers,' to whom the oath was administered, and they were +released. Days and weeks passed, but the army of Davis, Beauregard, and +Co., failed to appear. They had, however, congregated and entrenched +themselves at Laurel Hill, about thirteen miles east of Phillippi. + +We were reinforced from time to time, until our force numbered some +forty-five hundred men, when Gen. McClellan determined to rout the enemy +from Laurel Hill and Rich Mountain. How well he succeeded, history will +tell. + +On the night of the 6th of July, we left Phillippi for Laurel Hill, +starting at midnight. The road was rather rough, but much better than we +expected to find it. When we were within about five miles of the enemy's +camps; we passed a toll-gate, where an old woman came to the door to +'collect toll.' Some of our boys stopped at the house to get a drink of +water, and asked the old lady how far it was to camp,--meaning the rebel +camp. 'About four miles,' she said, 'but you can't get in without a +pass.' + +The artillery was just then passing her door; the boys pointed to that, +and told her 'they thought they had a pass that would take them in.' + +'Oh!' she exclaimed, as the thought struck her that we were Federals, +'you won't find it as easy work as you did at Phillippi; they're going +to fight this time.' + +On our return home this same woman was at the door, but she didn't +demand _toll_ this time. 'Well, old lady,' said one of our fellows, +'what do you think _now_ about the fighting qualities of your men?' + + 'They who fight and run away, + Will live to fight another day,' + +she exclaimed, and, slamming the door, vanished from sight, I trust +forever. + +At daylight we drove in the rebel pickets at Laurel Hill. We were within +a mile and a half of their main camp, and halted there to await orders +from Gen. McClellan, before beginning the attack. He was advancing on +the enemy at Rich Mountain and Beverley. + +We threw a few shells into the rebel camp, producing great consternation +among their men and horses. For four days we kept up skirmishing, but on +the fifth day it rained, and little was done. All were anxious to +commence the attack, but, as we had heard nothing from Gen. McClellan, +all had to 'wait for orders.' That night the enemy, hearing of the +Federal victory at Rich Mountain, and the occupation of Beverley by +McClellan, and evidently thinking himself in a 'bad fix,' retreated from +Laurel Hill toward St. George. In the morning our forces took possession +of his camp and fortifications, and part of our column pursued the +flying forces, overtaking them at Cornick's Ford, where a sharp +engagement ensued, which resulted in a total rout of the rebels, and the +death of Gen. Garnett. Only a portion of his army escaped over the +mountains to Eastern Virginia. + +So hasty was the retreat from Laurel Hill, that the enemy left behind +all the sick and wounded, telling them the Union troops would kill them +as soon as they took possession of their camp. A large number of tents, +a quantity of flour, and a few muskets, fell into our hands. The +fortifications at Laurel Hill were strong, and evidently planned and +constructed by men who understood their business. + +Among the numerous letters which we found in the rebel camp, was one +written to one of the Richmond papers, during the _siege_ of Laurel +Hill. In that part of the letter which was intended for publication, the +writer said:-- + +'The Yankees have at last arrived, about ten thousand strong. For the +past two days we have had some sharp skirmishing, during which time we +have killed one hundred of the Hessians. We have, as yet, lost but one +man.' + +In a _private note_ to the editor, the writer adds:-- + +'I guess the Yankees have got us this time. There is a regiment here who +call themselves the Indiana Ninth, but they lie,--they are regulars. +They have got good rifles, and they take good aim. If it wasn't for +this, we would attack them.' + +This little item shows how the masses of the Southern people are +deceived. Through the medium of the press they are made to believe they +are gaining great victories, and repulsing the 'abolitionists' at every +step, killing hundreds of our men, and losing none of their own. Our +total loss at Laurel Hill was six men. The rebel loss, as near as could +be ascertained, was forty. The rebel leaders know they are playing a +game for life or death, and so long as they can keep in power by +deceiving the people, just so long will this rebellion continue. Could +the _truth_ be forced upon the people of the South, the rebellion would +go down as quickly as it rose. + +Many laughable incidents occurred while we were skirmishing with the +enemy at Laurel Hill. We received a newspaper containing the message of +President Lincoln. One of the Indiana boys, thinking it might do the +secesh good to hear a few loyal sentiments, mounted a stump, paper in +hand, and exclaimed, 'I say, secesh, don't you want to hear old Abe's +message?' He then commenced reading, but had proceeded only a short way, +before 'ping, ping' came the rifle balls around the stump; down jumped +Indiana, convinced that reading even a President's message amidst a +shower of bullets isn't so agreeable, after all. + +We staid at Laurel Hill about two weeks. The enemy had been completely +routed from that part of Virginia, and our term of enlistment having +expired, our thoughts began to turn homeward. That ninety days' +soldiering was the longest three months we ever experienced. It seemed +an age since we had tasted a good meal, and all were anxious to once +more cross the Ohio, and see a civilized country. The long looked-for +order came at last, ''Bout face!' and we were on our homeward march. A +more jovial, ragged, dirty, and hungry set of men, were never mustered +out of service. We reached Camp Chase at Columbus, Ohio, about the last +of July, and as each man delivered up his knapsack and etceteras, he +felt as if a 'great weight' had been taken from his shoulders. We were +once more free men; no one could order us about, tell us where we should +or where we should not go. There was no more touching of hats to upstart +lieutenants and half-witted captains or colonels. We could go where we +liked, and do as we pleased, and not be reported, or sent to the +guard-house. If my memory serves me aright, we _did_ do pretty much as +we pleased; in other words, for two days, 'we made Rome howl!' + +What we saw of Western Virginia and its inhabitants left anything but a +favorable impression on our minds. The country is wild and romantic, but +good for little or nothing for farming purposes. The houses are mostly +built of logs, being little more than mere huts, and around each of +these 'mansions' may be seen at least a dozen young 'tow-heads,' who are +brought up in ignorance and filth. The inhabitants are lazy and +ignorant, raising hardly enough to keep starvation from their doors. +School houses are almost unknown; we did not see one in the whole course +of our march; the consequence is, not more than one in ten of the +population can read or write. And the few who 'can just make out to +spell' are worse off than their more ignorant brethren. + + 'A little learning is a dangerous thing.' + +And these people know just enough to make them _dangerous_. They have +read in some of their county newspapers that Vice-President Hamlin is a +negro, and that Lincoln is waging this war for the purpose of liberating +the slaves and killing their masters. This they believe, and any amount +of reasoning cannot convince them to the contrary. It seems to be enough +for them to know that they are _Virginians_; upon this, and this alone, +they live and have their being. They are by far the most wretched and +degraded people in America,--I had almost said in the world. The women, +if possible, are worse than the men; they go dressed in a loose, uncouth +manner, barefooted and bareheaded; their principal occupation is chewing +tobacco and plundering Union troops by getting ten prices for their +eggs, butter, and corn bread. And these are the people our children--and +their fathers before them--have been taught to regard as the true +_chivalry_ of America! The people of the United States are beginning to +see that Virginia and her sons have been greatly over-estimated. That +Virginia has produced true and great men, no one will deny. There are a +few such still within her borders; but, taking her as a whole, the +picture I have drawn is a true one. + +By my soldiering experience I learned some things which it would have +been impossible to learn had I never 'gone for a soger.' First, I +ascertained--shall I say from my _personal_ experience?--that a man +dressed in soldier-clothes can stand twice as much bad liquor as one +clothed in the garb of a citizen. Secondly, that to be a good soldier a +man should be able to go at least forty-eight hours without eating, +drinking, or sleeping, and then endure guard-duty all night in a +drenching rain, without grumbling or fault-finding. Thirdly, I _think_ I +have discovered that the martial road to glory '_is a hard road to +travel_.' + + * * * * * + +A CABINET SESSION. + + +_The President: Secretaries Seward, Chase, Bates, Smith, Blair and +Welles. Enter Mr. Stanton._ + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Gentlemen, I officially present Mr. Stanton! + +[_Mr. Stanton, bowing with graceful dignity, seats himself at the +table._] + +_Mr. Seward (breaking the momentary pause in his jocular way)._ +Remember, Mr. Secretary of War, you are now in the old chair of Floyd +and Davis: and sit thee down as if on nettles. + +_Mr. Chase._ Aye; but out of the 'nettle danger' pluck thou 'the flower +safety.' + +_Mr. Stanton (with emphasis)._ Believe me, I appreciate not so much the +honor as the responsibilities of my new position. I claim a good omen, +for, as I turned just now towards the gate, a little boy, seated upon +one of the granite blocks for the new building hereabout, trolled out as +my salutation the lines of the national air,-- + + 'Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just, + And this be our motto, In God is our trust.' + +_Mr. Welles._ Amen! + +_Mr. Bates._ I suppose you passed not a few interesting hours in this +room at the twilight of Mr. Buchanan's day, whilst holding _my_ +portfolio? + +_Mr. Stanton._ Too momentous to be called by _me_ interesting. +Posterity, reading, will say _that_. And those twilight hours, as you +felicitously term them, were followed by anxious vigils. But these +belong to confidences. + +_Mr. Lincoln (abruptly and familiarly)._ Talking of confidences, what do +you think of the news about Zollicoffer? + +_Mr. Stanton._ It appears reliable, and is a most providential success. +Eastern Tennessee was tending to the position which Lucknow sustained +towards the Indian rebellion. It is now relieved, and a fortnight or so +will bring intelligence that the whole of it has practically joined +forces to Western Virginia. I regard it as of the highest importance to +prove, by industrious acts, that we recognize and reward the sufferings +of these American Albigenses in their Cumberland fastnesses. How grandly +would swell the old Miltonian hymn, properly paraphrased, when a brigade +of the loyal Tennessians may sing + + 'Avenge, Columbia, thy slaughtered hosts, whose bones + Lie scattered on the Western mountains cold,' + +and so forth! + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Now, you are stepping into Seward's province. _He_ is the +poet of my cabinet! + +_Mr. Seward._ Granted for the argument: but there is more truth than +poetry in what our new brother has just said. Throughout how many weary +months have those brave thousands who voted against secession awaited +the crack of our rifles and our cannon-smoke--true music and sacred +incense to them. + +_Mr. Blair (practically)._ Next to the border States we must take care +of the newspapers. + +_Mr. Welles._ Ah, those newspapers: bothersome as urchins in a nursery, +and yet as necessary to the perfect development of life's enjoyment. + +_Mr. Chase._ Well said for the navy. But what do you say of the +magnificent Neckars, whose monied articles from Boston to Chicago would +swamp the treasury in a week, if they were believed in? + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Being born and raised so far from the great metropolitan +centres, I don't seem to take to newspapers so kindly as the rest of you +do. + +_Mr. Stanton._ With great respect to your Honor (as we say in court), I +deem it a great mistake to neglect newspaper suggestions, however +provincial. 'Do you hear (as Hamlet says), let them be well used; for +they are the abstract and brief chronicles of the time.' And your +metropolitan editor, after all, follows the bent of the public opinion +of the provinces as he scissors it from his thousand and one exchanges. +The village or country editor has time to mix among the people, and +hears them talk to reproduce it artistically. The city editor finds +little time for this. Besides, there _is_ very little of reliable public +opinion amid cities. The American mind is styled fickle; so it may be in +the great marts. From _them_ come your sensations and spasms. The +interior is more stable, and less swayed by impulses. Aggregate a +hundred county editorials all over the North, then strike an average, +and you will find the product in the last big journal. The misfortune of +Washington social life is that we walk in it over a circle. Hither come +'needy knife-grinders,' and axe-sharpeners, and place-hunters, who say +what they think will be agreeable to the ears of power. But the other +kind of mails, presided over by Mr. Blair, bring us wholesome, although +sometimes disagreeable, truths. They are worth attending to, Mr. +President. Let us 'strike,' but let us 'hear.' + +_Mr. Seward._ In the matter of newspapers, my son Fred and I divide +reading. He distils the metropolitan gazettes, and I those of England +and France. Then we exchange commodities at breakfast time. Fred, having +been an editor, can boil down the news very rapidly, and so put its +essence into our coffee-pot. The foreign journals, however, have so much +in them that is dissimulative and latent, they require more care and +discernment. Mr. Hunter aids me in dissecting them. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ You are the son of an editor, Montgomery; how do you +stand on this subject of Colfax's bill to carry all the papers in your +mails? The rebel postmaster-general, in _his_ report, made, you +remember, an elaborate argument to justify the Jeff Davis law, which +forbids the sending of newspapers and periodicals by expressmen. + +_Mr. Blair._ When Colfax will accept as an amendment a prohibition of +telegrams, and the obliging our mails to transmit _all_ intelligence, +then I will consider of his views. + +_Mr. Smith._ Well said; as good an extract that from the last edition of +Blair's rhetoric as could be wished for. + +_Mr. Chase._ Or in the Tribune satires of Horace! But let me ask Mr. +Blair what he thinks of a newspaper tax. + +_Mr. Blair._ Very favorably. I am for a mill stamp on every paper, +obliging every ten readers to pay the government one cent. + +_Mr. Stanton._ Mr. Secretary of the Interior, what is the average +circulation of newspapers in the loyal section? + +_Mr. Smith._ A thousand million. + +_Mr. Chase_ (rapidly computing). Which on Mr. Blair's proposition would +yield a million dollars revenue. + +_Mr. Welles._ And support the government at our present rate of +expenditure _for one day!_ + +_Mr. Seward._ The public would bear half a cent on each paper. The +publisher could make his readers insensibly pay the tax, and improve +both paper and issue by receiving another half cent: and so add one cent +of charge per copy. + +_Mr. Chase._ Which would yield a revenue of five millions per year. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Would the people stand such a charge? + +_Mr. Stanton (good humoredly)._ Will our friend the Secretary of State +smoke fewer cigars when you come to tax tobacco? + +_Mr. Welles (naively)._ But newspaper reading is not a vice. + +_Mr. Bates._ Be not so sure of that. The passion for newspapers excites +the minds of the whole republic. Now-a-days your servant reads the news +as he works. The clergy peruse the Sunday extras, and the +crossing-sweeper begs your worn-out copy instead of a cigar-stump. + +_Mr. Blair._ Yet Gen. McClellan has not read a newspaper in three +months. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ The subject brings to my mind a good old parson in +Springfield who used to complain that the _Weekly Republican_ was as bad +as himself. He was preaching his old sermons over and over again with +new texts. Come to find out, he had a waggish grandson who for three +previous weeks had neatly gummed the fresh date over the old one, and +the dear divine had been perusing the same paper as many times. + +_(Omnes laughing heartily.)_ + +_Mr. Stanton._ Talking of General McClellan,--I had my first engagement +with him last night at one o'clock. + +_Mr. Welles (startled)._ One o'clock! No wonder he has had typhoid +fever. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ I think he is napping it now. He has a wonderful facility +at the sleep business. Forty winks seem to refresh him as much as four +hours do other people. At my last levee, according to the newspapers, he +and his wife retired early. _He_ went up stairs and napped for two +hours, desiring to see me for half an hour alone afterward. Then he +spent several hours at the topographical bureau, hunting for some old +maps which he insisted had been there since the Creek campaign. He was +rewarded for his industry by finding also an admirable map and survey of +the situation around New Orleans. + +_Mr. Seward._ The General is a believer in Robert Bruce's spider. The +American spider's-web didn't reach Richmond in July, nor Columbus in +November, but McClellan has kept on busily spinning. + +_Mr. Blair._ Can any one tell me what is the General's platform? + +_Mr. Stanton._ I can. Long before I dreamed of being here, he told me. +It is in three words. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ That's the shortest I ever heard of next to that of the +English parson--'What _I_ say is orthodox, what I don't believe is +heterodox.' + +_Mr. Smith._ But the three words? + +_Mr. Seward._ Caesar's was in these words: _Veni, vidi, vici_. + +_Mr. Stanton._ It is to be fervently hoped _they_ will become the Latin +translation of his own platform. McClellan's is, 'TO RETRIEVE BULL RUN!' + +_Mr. Lincoln (laughing)._ Then, if the General told you that, he is a +plagiarist: for that is _my_ platform. When he was made commander here, +he asked me what I wanted done. Said I, 'Retrieve Bull Run.' He said he +would, and turned to go. I jocularly added, 'But can't you tell us how +you are going to do it?' He mused a moment, and then said, 'I must work +it out algebraically, and from unknown quantities produce the certain +result. "Drill" shall be my "_x_" and "Transportation" my "_y_" and +"Patience" my "_z_." Then _x_ + _y_ + _z_ = success.' And now that Mr. +Stanton is here, I doubt not the slate is ready for the figuring. + +_Mr. Stanton._ Thank you, Mr. President, for the compliment. May it +prove a simple equation. + +_Mr. Chase (with energy)._ Now we call for your platform, Mr. Secretary +of War. + +_Mr. Stanton (gracefully bowing)._ The President's--yours--_ours +(looking all around)_. + +_Mr. Seward._ But the allusion is a proper personal one, nevertheless. +Remember court-martial law--the youngest always speaks first! + +(_Omnes compose themselves in a listening attitude._) + +_Mr. Stanton._ First and foremost, I believe slavery to be the _casus +belli_. To treat the _casus belli_ above and beyond all other +considerations I hold to be the duty of the true commander-in-chief: as +the surgeon disregards secondary symptoms and probes the wound. I would +treat this _casus belli_ as the Constitution allows us to treat it--not +one hair's breadth from the grand old safeguard would I step. Under the +Constitution I believe slavery to be a purely local institution. In +Louisiana and Texas, a slave is an immovable by statute, and is annexed +to the realty as hop-poles are in the law of New York. In Alabama and +Mississippi, the slave is a chattel. In the first-named States he passes +by deed of national act and registration; in the other, by simple +receipt or delivery. Thus even among slave States there is no uniform +system respecting the slave property. To the Northern States the slave +is a person in his ballot relation to congressional quota and +constituency, and also an apprentice to labor, to be delivered up on +demand. The slave escaping from Maryland to Pennsylvania is not to be +delivered up, nor cared about, nor thought about, until he is demanded. +Liberty is the law of nature. Every man is presumed free in choice, and +not even to be trammeled by apprenticeship, until the contrary is made +clearly to appear. One man may be a New York discharged convict, for +instance--an unpardoned convict. He emigrates southward, he obtains +property, according to local law, in a slave. The slave escapes to New +York. The convict--unpardoned--master enters the tribunal there on his +demand. Quoth the escaped apprentice, producing the record of the +conviction, 'Mr. Claimant, you have no standing in court. Your civil +rights are suspended in this State until you are pardoned. You are _not_ +pardoned, therefore I will not answer aye or no to your claim, until you +are legitimately in court, and recognized by the judges.' I take it that +plea would avail. And if the crier wanted to employ a person to sweep +the court-room the next moment, he could employ that defendant to do it. +There is not a man in the rebel States (_whom we publicly know of_) who +has a standing under the Constitution regarding this slavery question. +By his own argument he lives in a foreign country; by our own argument +he is not _rectus in curia_. Were I an invading general and wanted +horses, I would decoy them from the rebels with hay and stable +enticements. If I wanted trench-diggers, camp scullions, or +artillerists, or pilots, or oarsmen, or guides, and, being that general, +saw negroes about me, I should press them into my service. Time enough +to talk about the rights of some one to possess the negroes by better +claim of title to service when that somebody, with the Constitution in +one hand and stipulation of allegiance in the other, demands legal +possession. Even the fugitive slave is emancipated practically whilst in +Ohio, and whilst not yet demanded. Rebel soldiers daily leave their +plantations and abandon their negroes. _Pro tem_, at least, the latter +are then emancipated. Let them, when within Our lines, continue +emancipated. + +_Mr. Welles._ Would you arm them? + +_Mr. Stanton._ Yes, if exigencies of situation so demanded. The +beleaguered garrison at Lucknow armed every one about the place--natives +or not, servants or masters. Did General Washington spare the whisky +stills in the time of the insurrection in Western Virginia when they +were in his way? Yet the stills were universally agreed to be property, +and were not taken by due process of law. Shall we fight a rebel in +Charleston streets, and at the same time protect his negro by a guard in +the Charleston jail? + +_Mr. Blair._ But what instructions would you give to the soldiers about +this _casus belli_? + +_Mr. Stanton._ None at all. The soldier should know nothing about _casus +belli_. General Buell answered the correspondent well when he said, 'I +know nothing about the cause of this war. I am to fight the rebels and +obey orders.' Cries a general to a subaltern--'Yonder smokes a +battery--go and take it.' Do we issue specific instructions to the +troops about the women, the children, the chickens, the forage, the +mules-persons or property--whom they encounter? The circumstances and +the exigencies of the situation determine their conduct. A household +mastiff who will pin a rebel by the throat when he passes his kennel, +flying from pursuit, is just as serviceable as would prove a loyal +bullet sped to the rebel's brain. I believe that the acknowledged fact, +the necessary fact, that wherever our army advances, emancipation +practically ensues, will carry more terror to the slave-owner than any +other warlike incident. But I would have them understand that this +result is not our design, but a necessity of _their_ rebellion. + +_Mr. Bates._ You are like the last witness upon the stand--subjected to +a vigorous cross-examination upon everything gone before. Have you ever +thought what is to be the upshot of the contention? + +_Mr. Stanton._ Restoration of the Union! + +_Mr. Bates._ Aye, but how to be brought about? Are not the pride and the +obstinacy growing stronger every day at the South? + +_Mr. Stanton._ 'Men are but children of a larger growth.' Who of us has +not conquered pride and obstinacy in the nursery? I have seen the boy of +a mild-tempered father fairly admire the parent when he broke the truce +of affection and vigorously thrashed him. The large majority of the +Southern people have been educated to believe the men of the North +cowardly, mean, and avaricious. Cowardly, because they persistently +refused the duel. Mean, because all classes worked, and there seemed +among them no arrogance of birth. Avaricious, because they crouched to +the planters with calico and manufactures, or admired their bullying for +the sake of their cotton. + +And the great masses of the South have been and are learning how the +present leaders have duped them upon all these points. They have +discovered we are not cowards. Every prisoner, from the chivalric +Corcoran to the urchin drummer-boy at Richmond who spat on the sentinel, +has afforded proof of courage and fortitude, whilst thousands and +thousands of people have secretly admired it. The very death vacancies +at family boards throughout the plantations perpetually remind the +Southrons that _we are not_ cowards in fight. They have learned, too, +that we are neither mean nor avaricious, when the millionaire merchant, +whom they knew two years ago, cheerfully accepts the poor man's lot of +to-day; or when they behold all classes without one murmur hear of a +million dollars per day being spent on the war, and then _clamor to be +taxed_! If they perceive the negroes leaving them, they at once also +perceive that in loyal Maryland, loyal Virginia, loyal Kentucky and +loyal Missouri,--in Baltimore, St. Louis, and Louisville,--the slaves +under local laws are protected to their owners. Thus the most stupid +will reason, It is our own act which has placed in jeopardy this our +property. With a restored Union, Georgia and Louisiana must be as +Maryland and Kentucky continued even in the midst of camps. Who, during +the acme of the French revolution, could have believed that the people +of Paris would so soon and so readily accept even despotism as the +panacea of turmoil? Show a real grievance, and I grant you that +rebellion achieves the dignity of revolution. Provide an imaginary or a +colored evil as the basis of insurrection, and even pride and obstinacy +will eventually comprehend the sophistry of the leaders. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Seward's secret correspondence with Southern loyalists +proves these things. Mr. Stanton must read that last letter from.... + +_Mr. Stanton._ Indeed! You surprise me. Pray how could you receive +intelligence from him? + +_Mr. Lincoln (opening a drawer)._ Do you see this button? I unscrew this +eye. The two discs now separate. Between them you can put a sheet of +French letter paper. When the troops advanced to Bull Run, certain of +the soldiers were provided with such buttons. Various deserters have had +them. + +_Mr. Seward (laughing.)_ Who knows but General Scott's coachman had one +or two?[M] + +_Mr. Stanton._ This practically corroborates my theories. If we in +Washington find it so difficult to repress communication and spies, is +it not fair to presume that in Richmond, Savannah, New Orleans and +Memphis (where there is _real_ incentive from suffering and +persecution), it is equally impossible to stop information? It was +impossible to procure it when the three rifled cannon at the Richmond +foundry were found spiked. It would prove serviceable to the patience of +the nation, could it only step behind the scenes and learn much--known +to us--which it must ere long understand. + + * * * * * + +_Mr. Lincoln._ I have just received by our secret mail a very affecting +letter from Col. Corcoran. I will read an extract. [_Reads._] + +'Of my physical suffering I will not speak. If restored to friends and +home I shall, however, be a memorable example of the victory of mind +over body. I determined to lay down my life for my country when I left +that home; and if it will serve the cause, as I have repeatedly told the +people here, to hang, or draw, or quarter me, I am ready for the +sacrifice. But there are hundreds among the prisoners whose minds are +not so buoyant as mine, who do suffer terribly. Can not some means be +devised to clothe and feed _them_, or to exchange for them?' + +_Mr. Blair._ A patriot soul. The clerkship left in the New York +post-office when the Colonel departed for the war has been retained for +him. + +_Mr. Lincoln (quickly)._ Ah! _that_ heroic sufferer shall have something +better than a clerkship if he ever returns. + +_Mr. Stanton._ I have thought much of this exchange of prisoners and +captivity amelioration. When the insurrection was inchoate, we could +afford to be punctilious. But its present gigantic proportions surely +affect the question (so to term it) of ransom. When our countrymen were +in the Algerine prisons we took means to treat for them. What say you, +gentlemen, against sending commissioners to Richmond for the purpose of +supervising the medicines, clothing, food and exchange of our prisoners? + +_Mr. Seward._ That may only be conceded by accepting commissioners for a +similar purpose from the rebel government. + +_Mr. Chase._ Our plans are now so perfectly matured that even the danger +of spies recedes. I am in favor of Mr. Stanton's proposition. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ I think you can try it. There are so many prisoners, from +all parts of the country, that public sentiment must uphold the measure. + +_Mr. Smith._ Mr. Secretary of State, you were taking notes whilst Mr. +Stanton was giving his views upon the restoration question. Were they on +that subject? + +_Mr. Seward._ Yes. Some fleeting thoughts occurred to me which I was +desirous of preserving for to-morrow. _I_ have a great deal of faith in +establishing Southern 'doughfacery.' + +_Mr. Welles._ Doughfacery? + +_Mr. Seward._ Yes: that supremacy of pocket over pride which so long +afflicted the North. Above and beyond the slave-owners must rise the +great class of manufacturers and merchants,--almost every third man of +Northern origin, too,--whose pocket is the great sufferer, and without +whose property, hereafter, plantations can not prosper. Given a decent +pretext for adjustment, when pride will go to the wall. Once allow the +masses to grasp the reins, and the slave-owners will be driven to the +wall-side of the political highway also. This I call Southern +doughfacery for the sake of a phrase well understood. + +_Mr. Blair._ Then your old plan of the great national convention comes +in vogue? + +_Mr. Lincoln._ _My_ plan! (_Good humoredly._) You must not _all_ steal +my thunder. By the way, Seward, your pleasant friend Judge D----, who +came from New York about Col. Corcoran, told me the meaning of that +phrase. It seems a Dublin stage manager got up a scenic play with +thunder in it perfectly imitated by a diapason of bass drums. A rival +got up another scenic play, to which, out of jealous _pique_, the +inventor repaired as a spectator. To his surprise he heard his own +invention from behind the scenes. He instantly exclaimed aloud, 'The +rascal, he's stolen my thunder!' + +_Mr. Seward (jocularly)._ The President finds a parallel between a +national convention and thunder. Well, well, the clearest atmosphere is +breathed after the clouds culminate in thunder and lightning. I accept +the application. + +_Mr. Chase._ But if the South is to surrender pride, what are _we_ to +surrender? + +_Mr. Seward (quickly)._ _Political_ pride. The battle of freedom was +fought and won when the Inaugural was pronounced. The South can not +recover from the present stagnation in a quarter-century, by which time +it will again have accepted contentedly the original belief that +slavery, like one of the lotteries of Georgia, or one of the red-dog +banks of Arkansas, is a purely local institution. + +_Mr. Stanton._ I heartily accept the project of a national convention. +But I am against any agitation or committal to leading ideas which are +to control it. One convention ruined France, and another saved it. We +can better obtain consent of North and South to holding a convention by +forbearance from discussing its probable platform. Let it meet. No fear +but it will elucidate _some_ satisfactory result. + +_Mr. Welles._ You have just discussed this question of war. I wish +something could be done to settle this affair of privateering. To my +reflection it appears to embrace a very important consideration of +'policy' as well as of law. A man does not always punish his embezzling +clerk because the law gives him authority to do so. The ocean rebel who +to-day captures our transports laden with soldiers, may to-morrow put +off twenty boats in the Potomac, and capture our men on the river +schooner. The Attorney General's opinion and the law of Judge Kelson in +New York hang the former; but military law will exchange the latter +whenever a satisfactory opportunity presents itself. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ The policy question has become a grave one. I have been +much struck by the letter of Judge Daly, of New York, to Senator +Harris--a most opportune, learned, and temperate paper. + +[_Enter an attendant._] + +_Mr. Lincoln._ Gen. McClellan is at the door. Invite him in. + +_Mr. Stanton._ By all means. He is 'the very head and front of our +offending.' + +[_Enter Gen. McClellan._] + +_Gen. McC._ Good evening, Mr. President and Cabinet. (_Speaking rapidly +and brusquely._) The bridge equipages are now entirely complete. Here is +a dispatch acknowledging the receipt of the last supply. With February +is ushered in the Southern spring, which, as you all know, _must_ end +'this winter of our discontent.' The Western V now is perfect from Cairo +and Harper's Ferry at the top to Cumberland Gap at the bottom. It is the +first letter in Victory. + +_Mr. Lincoln._ When the General becomes oratorical, then indeed has he +good news. + +_Gen. McC._ I have, sir; but, with great respect to all these our +friends, it must be for your own ears, to-night at least. + +_Mr. Lincoln (rising)._ We will withdraw to the library. Gentlemen, pray +come to some understanding during our absence respecting the reply to be +sent to M. Thouvenel's extraordinary secret dispatch. I will rejoin you +in-- + +_Gen, McC._ Seven minutes, Mr. President--those are all I can spare. +Good evening, gentlemen. + + * * * * * + +LITERARY NOTICES. + + +BORDER LINES OF KNOWLEDGE IN SOME PROVINCES OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. An +Introductory Lecture delivered before the Medical Class of Harvard +University, Nov. 6, 1861. By Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D., Parkman +Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1861. + +It is a pleasant thing to realize, in reading a work like this, how +perfectly GENIUS is capable of rendering deeply interesting to the most +general reader topics which in the hands of mere _talent_ become +intolerably 'professional' and dry. The mind which has once flowed +through the golden land of poetry becomes, indeed, like the brook of +Scottish story, more or less alchemizing,--communicating an aureate hue +even to the wool of the sheep which it washes, and turning all its fish +into 'John Dorees.' And in doing this, far from injuring the practical +and market value of either, it positively improves them. For genius is +always general and human, and rises intuitively above conventional +poetry and conventional science, to that higher region where fact and +fancy become identified in truth. And such is the characteristic of the +lecture before us, in which solid, nutritive learning loses none of its +alimentary value for being cooked with all the skill of a _Ude_ or of a +_Francatelli_. Many passages in the work illustrate this power of +aesthetic illustration in a truly striking manner. + + In certain points of view, human anatomy may be considered an + almost exhausted science. From time to time some small organ, + which had escaped earlier observers, has been pointed out,--such + parts as the _tensor tarsi_, the otic ganglion, or the Pacinian + bodies; but some of the best anatomical works are those which have + been classic for many generations. The plates of the bones of + Vesalius, three centuries old, are still masterpieces of accuracy, + as of art. The magnificent work of Albinus on the muscles, + published in 1747, is still supreme in its department, as the + constant references of the most thorough recent treatise on the + subject--that of Theile--sufficiently show. More has been done in + unravelling the mysteries of the faciae, but there has been a + tendency to overdo this kind of material analysis. Alexander + Thompson split them up into cobwebs, as you may see in the plates + to Velpeau's Surgical Anatomy. I well remember how he used to + shake his head over the coarse work of Scarpa and Astley + Cooper;--_as if Denner, who painted the separate hairs of the head + and pores of the skin, in his portraits, had spoken lightly of the + pictures of Rubens and Vandyck_. + +Laymen can not decide, where doctors disagree; but there are few who +will not at least read this lecture with pleasure. + + +JOHN BRENT. By Major Theodore Winthrop. +Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1862. + +It is strange that so soon after the appearance of _Tom Tiddler's +Ground_, with its one good story of a wild gallop over the Plains, a +novel should have appeared in which the same scenes are reproduced,--the +whole full of wild-fire and gallop.--American life-fever and +prairie-dust,--uneasy contrasts of the feelings of gentlemen and +memories of _salons_ with pork-frying, hickory shirts, and whisky. The +excitement and movement of _John Brent_ are wonderful. Had the author +been an artist, we should have had in him an American Correggio,--with +strong lights and shadows, bright colors, figures of desperadoes +inspired with the air of gentlemen, and gentlemen, real or false, who +play their parts in no mild scenes. It is the first good novel which has +given us a picture of the West since California and Mormondom added to +it such vivid and extraordinary coloring, and since the 'ungodly +Pike'--that 'rough' of the wilderness--has taken the place of the +well-nigh traditional frontiersman. It is entertaining and exciting, and +will attain a very great popularity, having in it all the elements to +secure such success. Those who recognized in _Cecil Dreeme_ the +vividly-photographed scenes and characters of New York, will be pleased +to find the same talent employed on a wider field, among more vigorous +natures, and assuming a far more active development. Never have we felt +more keenly regret at the untimely decease of an author than for +WINTHROP, while perusing the pages of _John Brent_. There went out a +light which _might_ have shown, in Rembrandt shadows and gleams, the +most striking scenes of this country and this age. + + +MEMOIR, LETTERS AND REMAINS OF ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE. Translated from +the French, by the Translator of Napoleon's Correspondence with King +Joseph. In two volumes. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1862. + +No French writer enjoys a more truly enviable popularity in America than +M. DE TOCQUEVILLE. That he should have discussed the vital principles of +our political and social life, in a manner which not only made him no +enemies among us, but established his 'Democracy' as a classic +reference, is as wonderful as it was well deserved. The present work is, +however, a delightful one by itself, and will be read with a relish. We +sympathize with the translator (a most capable one by the way) when he +declares that he leaves his task with regret, fearing lest he never +again may have an opportunity of associating so long and so intimately +with such a mind. The typography and paper are of superior quality. + + +POEMS BY WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. ('Blue and gold.') First American Edition. +Boston: Ticknor & Fields. + +'Fresh, beautiful, and winsome.'--Among the living poets of England +there may be many who are popularly regarded as 'greater,' but certainly +there is none more unaffectedly natural or simply delightful than +WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. We are pleased at his probably unconscious Irish-isms +in his humbler lyrics, which have deservedly attained the proud eminence +of veritable 'Folk-songs' in the mouths of the people, and are touched +by the exquisite music, the tender feeling, and the beautiful picturing +which we find inspiring his lays. It requires but little knowledge of +them to be impressed with the evident love of his art with which our +Irish bard is filled. It would be difficult to find in the same number +of songs by any contemporary so little evident effort allied to such +success. + + +THE CHURCH MONTHLY. Edited by Rev. George M. Randall, D.D., and Rev. +F.D. Huntington, D.D. Vol. II. No. 6. Boston: E.P. Dutton & Co. 1861. + +This beautiful and scholarly magazine, which abounds in 'the elegant +expression of sound learning,' contains, in the present number, a noble +article on _Loyalty in the United States_, by Rev. B.B. BABBITT, which +we would gladly have read by every one. Almost amusing, and yet really +beautiful, is the following Latin version of 'Now I lay me down to +sleep,' by Rev. EDWARD BALLARD. + + _In Canabulis_. + + 'Nunc recline ut dormirem, + Precor te, O Domine, + Ut defendas animam; + Ante diem si obirem, + Precor te, O Domine, + Us servares animam. + Hoc que precor pro Iesu!' + + +WORKS OF BAYARD TAYLOR. Vols. I. & II. +New York: G.P. Putnam. + +BAYARD TAYLOR has the pleasant art of communicating personal experiences +in a personal way. It is not an unknown X, an invisible essence of +criticism, which travels for us in his sketches, but a veritable +traveler, speaking, Irving-like, of what he sees, so that we see and +feel with him. In these volumes, the ups and downs, the poverties and +even the ignorances of the young traveler are set forth--not +paraded--with great vividness, and we come to the end of each chapter as +if it were the scene of a good old-fashioned comedy. CORYATT without his +crudities, if we can imagine such a thing, suggests himself, with +alternations of 'HERODOTUS his gossip' without his craving credulity. +Perhaps these volumes explain more than any of their predecessors the +causes of TAYLOR'S popularity, and like them will do good work in +stimulating that love of travel which with many becomes the absorbing +passion sung by MULLER,--'_Wandern! ach! Wandern!_' + + +THOMAS HOOD'S WORKS. Edited by Epes +Sargent. New York: G.P. Putnam. 1862. + +A beautifully printed and bound volume, on the best paper, with two fine +illustrations,--one by HOPPIN, setting forth Miss Kilmansegg and her +golden leg with truly Teutonic grotesquerie. It contains Hood's Poems, +never made more attractively readable than in this edition. As a gift it +would be difficult to find a work which would be more generally +acceptable to either old or young. + + +NATIONAL MILITARY SERIES. Part First. +By Captain W.W. Van Ness. New York: +Carleton, 413 Broadway. + +A neat little work on military tactics, conforming to the army +regulations adopted and approved by the War Department of the United +States. It is thoroughly practical, 'being arranged on the plainest +possible principle of question and answer,' and being within the reach +of the dullest capacity, and thoroughly comprehensive of all required of +the soldier, will probably become, as its author trusts, 'a standard +military work.' + + +FORT LAFAYETTE; OR, LOVE AND SECESSION. +By Benjamin Wood. New York: +Carleton, 413 Broadway. 1862. + +Even while a tree is being blown down by the hurricane, small fungi or +other minute vegetation spring up in its rifts; every social shock of +the day is promptly scened and 'tagged' at the minor theatres; and shall +this war escape its novels? Mr. WOOD votes in the negative, and supplies +us with a somewhat sensational yet not badly manufactured article, +which, like the melo-dramas referred to, will be received with delight +by a certain line of patrons, and, we presume, be also relished. It is a +first-rate specimen of a second-rate romance. + + +HEROES AND MARTYRS: Notable Men of the Time. With Portraits on Steel. +New York: G.P. Putnam, 532 Broadway. C.T. Evans, General Agent. 1862. +Price 25 cents. + +The first number of a large quarto, exquisitely printed, biographical +series of sketches of the military and naval heroes, statesmen, and +orators, distinguished in the American crisis of 1861-62, and edited by +FRANK MOORE. The portraits of Commodore S.F. DUPONT and Major THEODORE +WINTHROP, in this first number, are excellent; while the literary +portion, devoted to WINFIELD SCOTT, deserves praise. The cheapness of +the publication is truly remarkable. + + +TRANSACTIONS of THE MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, FOR THE YEAR +1861. Boston: Henry W. Dutton & Son, Printers, Transcript Building. +1862. + +A work testifying to the great extent and efficacy of the labors of the +society, and one which, among a mass of merely business detail, contains +much interesting information. An article on the first discovery of the +heather in America, by EDWARD S. RAND, is well worth reading. Can any of +our wise men re-discover the lost Pictish art of making good beer from +that plant? + + * * * * * + +BOOKS RECEIVED. + + +DINAH. New York: Charles Scribner, 124 Grand Street. Boston: Brown & +Taggard. 1861. + +THE REBELLION RECORD. A Diary of American Events, with Documents, +Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, and Poetry. Edited by Frank Moore. +New York: G.P. Putnam. + +THE BROKEN ENGAGEMENT; OR, SPEAKING THE TRUTH FOR A DAY. By Mrs. Emma +D.E.N. Southworth. Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson. Price 25 cents. 1861. + +THE AMERICAN CRISIS: Its Cause, Significance, and Solution. By Americus. +Chicago, Illinois: Joshua R. Walsh, 1861. + + * * * * * + +EDITOR'S TABLE. + +Step by step the vast net is closing in on the enemy,--little by little +the vice is tightening,--and if no incalculable calamity overtake the +armies of the Union, it is but fair to assume that at no distant day the +rebel South will find itself in the last extremity, overwhelmed by +masses from without and demoralized by want of means within. Government +at present holds the winning cards,--if they are only skillfully played +the game is its own. It is impossible to study the map and the present +position of our forces with our resources, and not realize this. 'Hemmed +in!' is the despairing cry from Southern journals, which but the other +day insolently threatened to transfer the war to Northern soil, and to +sack New York and Philadelphia; and, with their proverbial fickleness +and fire, we find many of them half rebelling against the management of +Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS and his coadjutors. + +This is all encouraging. On the other hand, we are beginning to feel +more acutely the miseries of war, and its enormous cost. The time is at +hand when the whole country will be called on to show its heroism by +patient endurance of many trials, and by _living_ as well as dying for +the great cause of liberty and Union. Let it all be done patiently and +without a murmur. Every suffering will be repaid tenfold in the hour of +triumph. Let it be remembered that as we suffer our chances of victory +increase, and that every pain felt by us is a death-pang to the foe. +Now, if ever, the Northern quality of stubborn endurance must show +itself. We, too, can suffer as heroically as the South boasts of doing. +It is this which in the course of events must inevitably give us the +victory, for no spirit of chivalry, no enthusiasm, can ultimately resist +sturdy Saxon pluck. The South, foolishly enough, has vaunted that it is +inspired by the blood and temper of the Latin races of Southern Europe, +and it can not be denied that their climate has given them the +impulsiveness of their ideal heroes. In this fiery impatience lies the +element which renders them incapable of sustaining defeat, and which, +after any disaster, must stimulate dissension among them. + +It should also be borne in mind that the most direct causes of our +sufferings all involve very practical benefits. The Southern press +taunts our soldiers with enlisting for pay. Let us admit that vast +numbers have truly been partially induced by the want of employment at +home to enter the army. It is a peculiar characteristic of all Northern +blood that it can and does combine intelligence and interest with the +strongest enthusiasm. No man was ever made a worse soldier by being +prudent, any more than by being a religious Christian. Taunts and jeers +can not affect the truth. The Protestant mechanic soldiery of Germany +during the wars of the Reformation, the men of Holland, and the Puritans +of England, were all reviled for the same cause--but they conquered. God +never punishes men for common-sense, nor did it ever yet blind zeal, +though it may prevent zeal from degenerating into sheer madness. The +war, while it has crippled industry, has also kept it alive,--it has +become a great industrial central force, giving work to millions. Again, +in the creation of a debt we shall find such a stimulus to industry as +we never before knew. Taxation, which kills a weak country crippled by +feudal laws and nightmared by an extravagant court and nobility, simply +induces fresh and vigorous effort to make additional profits in a land +of endless resources and of vast territory, where every man is free to +work at what he chooses. Taxation may come before us like a raging lion, +but, in the words of BEECHER, we shall find honey in the carcass. Let us +only cheerfully make the best of everything, and uphold the +administration and the war with a right good will, and we shall learn as +we never did before the extent of the incredible elasticity and +recuperative power of the American. + +It is evident that the present war will have a beneficial result in +making us acquainted with the real nature of this arrogant and peculiar +South-land. It was said that the Crimean struggle did much good by +dispelling the cloudy hobgoblin mystery which hung over Russia, and, +while it destroyed its prestige as a bugbear, more than compensated for +this, by giving it a proper place abreast of civilized nations in the +great march of industry and progress. Just so we are learning that the +South is perfectly capable of receiving white labor, that it is not +strangely and peculiarly different from the rest of the cis-tropical +regions, that the negro is no more its necessity than he is to Spain or +Italy, and that, in short, white labor may march in, undisturbed, so +soon as industry ceases to be regarded as disgraceful in it. We have +learned the vital necessity of union and identity of feeling between all +the States, and found out the folly of suffering petty local state +attachments to blind us to the glory of citizenship in a nation, which +should cover a continent. We have learned what the boasted philanthropy +of England is worth when put to the test of sacrifice, and also how the +British lion can put forth the sharpest and most venomous of feline +claws when an opportunity presents itself of ruining a possible rival. +More than this, we have learned to be self-reliant, to take greater and +more elevated views of political duty, and to be heroic without being +extravagant. Since we were a republic no one year has witnessed such +national and social progress among us as the past. We have had severe +struggles, and we have surmounted them; we have had hard lessons, and we +have learned them; we have had trials of pride, and we have profited by +them. And as we contend for principles based in reason and humanity and +confirmed by history, it follows that we must inevitably come forth +gloriously triumphant, if we but bravely persevere in enforcing those +principles. + +The large amount of political information regarding the South and its +resources which has been of late widely disseminated in the North, is a +striking proof that, disguise the question as we will, the extension of +free labor is, from a politico-economical point of view (which is, in +fact, the only sound one), the real, or at least ultimate basis of this +struggle. The matter in hand is the restitution of the Union, laying +everything else aside; but the great fact, which will not step aside, is +the consideration whether ten white men or one negro are to occupy a +certain amount of soil. There is no evading this finality, there is no +impropriety in its discussion, and it SHALL be discussed, so long as +free speech or a free pen is left in the North. So far from interfering +with the war, it is a stimulus to the thousands of soldiers who hope +eventually to settle in the South in districts where their labor will +not be compared with that of 'slaves,' and it is right and fit that they +should anticipate the great and inevitable truth in all its relations to +their own welfare and that of the country. + +We cheerfully agree with those who try with so much energy that +Emancipation is not the matter in hand, and quite as cheerfully assent +when they insist that the enemy, and not the negro, demands all our +present energy. But this has nothing to do with the great question, +whether slavery is or is not to ultimately remain as a great barrier to +free labor in regions where free labor is clamoring for admission. That +is all we ask, nothing more. The instant the North and West are assured +that at some time, though remote, and by any means or encouragements +whatever, which expediency may dictate, the great cause of secession and +sedition--will be removed from our land, then there will be witnessed an +enthusiasm compared to which that of the South will be but lukewarm. +That this will be done, no rational person now doubts, or that +government will cheerfully act on it so soon as the fortunes of war or +the united voice of the people strengthen it in the good work. And until +it _is_ done, let every intelligent freeman bear it in mind, thinking +intelligently and acting earnestly, so that the great work may be +advanced rapidly and carried out profitably and triumphantly. + +The leading minds of the South, shrewder than our Northern +anti-emancipation half traitors and whole dough-faces, foreseeing the +inevitable success of ultimate emancipation, have given many signs of +willingness to employ even it, if needs must be, as a means of +effectually achieving their 'independence.' They have baited their hooks +with it to fish for European aid--they have threatened it armed, as a +last resort of desperation, if conquered by the North. Knowing as well +as we that the days of slavery are numbered, they have used it as a +pretense for separation, they would just as willingly destroy it to +maintain that separation. Since the war began, projects of home +manufactures, and other schemes involving the encouragement of free +labor, have been largely discussed in the South,--and yet in spite of +this, thousands among us violently oppose Emancipation. In plain, +truthful words they uphold the ostensible platform of the enemy, and yet +avow themselves friends of the Union. + +We have said it before, we repeat it: we ask for no undue haste, no +unwise measures, nothing calculated to irritate or disorganize or impede +the measures which government may now have in hand. But we hold firmly +that Emancipation be calmly regarded as a measure which _must_ at some +time be fully carried out. Be it limited for the time, or for years, to +the Border States, be it assumed partially or entirely under the +modified form of apprenticeship, be it proclaimed only in Texas or South +Carolina, it has in some way a claim to recognition, and _must_ be +recognized. Its friends are too many to be ignored in the day of +settlement. + + * * * * * + +It is proper that every detail of contract corruption should be brought +fully to light, and the country owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. DAWES +for his manly attack on the wretches who have crippled the war, robbed +the soldier, swindled the tax-payers, and aided the enemy by their +wicked rapacity. Let it be remembered that whatever his sentiments may +have been, every man who has been instrumental, directly or indirectly, +in cheating the treasury and the my during this period of distress, has +been one of its enemies, and far more deadly than if he had been openly +enlisted under the banners of JEFFERSON DAVIS. Were we anything but the +best-natured and most enduring public in the world, such revelations as +have by the been made would long since have driven these rapacious +traitors beyond sea or into the congenial Dixie for which they have +indirectly labored. + +We have been accustomed to read much since infancy of the sufferings of +our army during the Revolution,--how they were hatless, ragged, starved, +and badly armed. We have shuddered at the pictures of the snow at Valley +Forge, tracked by the blood from the feet of shoeless soldiers. Yet, in +the year 1861, with abundant means and with all the sympathy and aid of +a wealthy country, there has been more suffering in the army than the +Revolution witnessed, and it was due in a great measure to men who +hastened to the spoil like vultures to their prey. If the army has not +in advanced, if proper weapons are not even yet ready, let the reader +reflect how much the army is still crippled owing to imperfect supplies, +and have patience. + +It is not the soldier alone who has been robbed by the contractor. The +manufacturer who sees only a government order between himself and +failure, and who is willing to do anything to keep his operatives +employed, is asked to supply inferior goods at a low price. He may take +the order or leave it,--if he will not, another will,--and with it is +expected to take the risk of a return. When a man sees ruin before him, +he will often yield to such temptations. The contractor takes the goods, +sells them if he can, and pockets the profits, sometimes ten times over +what the manufacturer gains. He thereby robs outright, not only the +soldier, but also the operatives who make the goods, since the +manufacturer must reduce their wages to the lowest living point, in +order to save himself. + +It will all come to light. There is a discovery of all evil, and there +is a grace which money cannot remove, neither from the thief nor from +his children. And we rejoice to see that so much is being made known, +and that in all probability the public will be fully informed as to who +were principally guilty in these enormous and treasonable corruptions. + + * * * * * + +It is stated, on good authority, that the only objection urged by the +President to adopting the policy of Emancipation, is the danger which +would be thereby incurred of effectually losing the allegiance of the +loyal slave-holders in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. + +The obvious answer to this is, that by paying these loyal slave-holders +for their chattels they could not fail to become firmer friends than +ever. When we reflect on the extremely precarious tenure of all such +property on the Border it becomes apparent that the man must be a +lunatic indeed to hope for the permanency of the institution in the +tobacco States. Since the war began nearly the two-thirds of the slaves +in Missouri have changed their _habitat_,--about one-half of the number +having been 'sold South,' while the other moiety have traveled North, +without reference to ownership. + +The administration need be under no apprehension as to the popularity of +this measure. It would be hailed with joy by millions. The capitalists +of our Northern cities, who now await with impatience some indications +of A REGULAR POLICY, will welcome with enthusiasm a proposition which +would at once render the debatable land no longer debatable, and which +would effectually disorganize the entire South, by rendering numbers +desirous of selling their slaves in order to secure what must sooner or +later be irrecoverably lost. If government has a policy in this matter, +it is time that the public were informed of it. The public is ready to +be taxed to any extent, it is making tremendous sacrifices; all that it +asks in return is some nucleus around which it may gather,--a settled +principle by which its victories in war may be made to form the basis of +a permanent peace. + + * * * * * + +The English press, statesmen and orators have been pleased to regard our +democratic government as a failure. + +But we have at least one advantage. When an enormous wrong is +perpetrated on the people by a secretary, _he can be hustled out of the +way_, and the accomplices be punished. + +In England we have seen of late the most enormous political and social +outrage of the century coolly committed, without the slightest regard to +consequences, and without the slightest fear of any punishment whatever. + +The truth has come to light, and every investigation, in the opinion of +the ablest and most sagacious men, confirms the assertion that the late +MASON and SLIDELL difficulty was simply an immense stock-jobbing +swindle, played in the most heartless manner on this country and on +England, without heed as to the terrible consequences. + +The London _Times_, as is well known, is the organ of the ROTHSCHILDS. +During the late iniquitous war-flurry it acted perfectly in concert with +Lord PALMERSTON. While that gentleman kept back _for three weeks_ +dispatches, which, if published, would have had the immediate effect of +establishing a peaceful feeling, his Hebrew accomplices bought literally +right and left of securities of every kind. Grand pickings they had; +everything had tumbled down. England was roused by the _Times_ to a +fury; a feeling of fierce injury was excited in this country, which an +age will not now allay; and right in the midst of this, when one word +might have changed the whole, the official ministerial organ _explicitly +denied the existence of those 'peace' dispatches_ which have since come +to light! + +Let us anticipate some of the results of this precious +Palmerston-Hebrew-_Times_ swindle. + +It has cost England twenty millions of dollars. + +It has aroused such a feeling in this country against England as no one +can remember. + +It has effectually killed the American market for English goods, and put +the tariff up to prohibition _en permanence_. + +It has, by doing this, struck the most deadly blow at English prosperity +which history has ever witnessed; for all that was needed to stimulate +American industry up to the pitch of competing with England in foreign +markets was such a prohibitory tariff as would compel us to manufacture +for ourselves what we formerly bought. + +Who will say now that a republic does not work as well as a monarchy? + + * * * * * + +We have read with pleasure a recently written and extensively +republished article by SINCLAIR TOUSEY, of New York, condemnatory of the +proposed stamp tax, and in which we most cordially concur; not because +it is a tax materially affecting the interests of publishers, but +because, as Mr. TOUSEY asserts, the diffusion of knowledge among the +people is a powerful element of strength _in government itself_. In +these times, it is essential, far more than during peace, that the +newspaper should circulate very freely, stimulating the public, aiding +government and the war, and keeping the mind of the country in living +union. Nothing would more rapidly produce a torpor--and there is too +much torpor now--than a measure which would have the effect of killing +off perhaps one half of the country press, the great mass of which is +barely able to live as it is. 'Let the press be as free as possible. Let +it be free from onerous taxation, and left unfettered by special duties +to do its just work.' This is a war for freedom, and the test of freedom +is a free press. + + * * * * * + +We are indebted to a valued correspondent in Illinois for the following +communication, setting forth the state of affairs in Southern Missouri +during the past summer. Few of our readers are ignorant that since that +time the region in question has been 'harried and shorn' even to +desolation by the brigands of Secessia. + + In conversing lately with Dr. R., who fled for his life, last + July, from Ripley County, Southern Missouri, I collected some + information which may not be unacceptable to your readers. + + Dr. R. states that early last summer the citizens of Southern + Missouri began gathering into companies of armed men opposed to + the general government, and that it was a fear that the general + government would not protect their lives and property which + induced great numbers of really Union men to take sides with the + rebels. They saw their country thronging with secession soldiers; + were told it was the will of the State government that they enlist + for the protection of the State: if they did not do this + voluntarily, they would be drafted; and all drafted ones would in + camp take a subordinate position, have to perform the cooking and + washing, in short, all the drudgery for those who volunteered. + This falsehood drove hundreds of the ignorant Missourians into the + rebel ranks. Captain LOWE, afterwards Col. LOWE, who was killed at + the battle of Fredericktown, was the recruiting officer in Ripley + and its adjoining counties. He arrested Dr. R. on the 4th of July, + on a charge of expressing sentiments 'dangerous to the welfare of + the community.' Dr. R. was tried by a court-martial, in presence + of the three hundred soldiers then assembled. Witnesses against + the Doctor were produced, but he was not allowed time to summon + witnesses in his behalf, nor to procure counsel. One novel + circumstance in the trial was occasioned by the absence of any + justice of the peace to administer the usual oath to the + witnesses. None were procurable, from the fact that all had + resigned, refusing to act officially under a government they had + repudiated. In this dilemma the prisoner came to their relief. + 'Gentlemen, I am a justice of the peace, as most of you already + know, and, as I have not yet resigned, I will swear in the + witnesses for you.' 'Wall, I reckon he kin act as justice afore + he's convicted,' suggested one of the crowd. So the Doctor + administered the oath in the usual solemn manner. This + self-possession and fearlessness seemed to have an effect on his + judges, for, after the testimony, he was permitted to + cross-question the witnesses and plead his own cause. He was able + to neutralize some of the charges against him. The jury, after an + absence of fifteen minutes, returned verdict that 'as there was + nothing proved against the prisoner which would make him dangerous + to the community, he was permitted to be discharged. But,' added + the foreman, 'I am instructed by the committee to say they believe + Dr. R. to be a Black Republican, and to tell him that if he wants + to utter Black Republican sentiments, he has got to go somewhere + else to do it.' It was well known the Doctor had voted for + DOUGLAS. But here followed an animated conversation between the + prisoner and LOWE'S men as to what constituted Black + Republicanism; the result of which was, as the Doctor turned to + depart, Captain LOWE informed him he was re-arrested! + + By the influence of some of the soldiers, the prisoner succeeded + next day in effecting his escape. Traveling by night and + concealing himself by day, he finally reached the federal lines in + safety. His family were not permitted to follow him, and did not + succeed in eluding the vigilance of their enemies and joining him + until the middle of January. When a Union man escapes them, the + rebels are always opposed to the removal of his wife and children, + as, by retaining them, they hope to get the husband and father + again into their hands. And, as all communication by letter is cut + off, many a man, during the last six months, has stolen back to + see his family at the risk of his life, and lost it. + + Dr. R. was the first man arrested in Ripley County; but LOWE + immediately began a lively persecution of suspected Unionists. + Some escaped with life, their enemies being satisfied with + scourging and plundering them, but scores were hung. LOWE'S + soldiers furnished and equipped themselves by robbing Union houses + and the country stores. + + Many suspected Union men shielded themselves by denouncing others, + giving information of the property of others, and being forward in + insulting and quartering lawless soldiers upon defenceless + families. So that, Dr. R. states, there are created between + neighbors, all through that section, feuds which will never cease + to exist. Many a man has suffered family wrongs from his neighbor + which he thirsts to go back to revenge, which he swears yet to + revenge, and which he feels nothing but the blood of the offender + can revenge! And should peace be declared to-morrow, a social war + would still exist in Missouri! + + People dwelling in the free States, where the schoolhouse is not + abolished, where the laws still live and restrain, can have no + conception of the state of society where the whole community has + returned suddenly to savage life; a life wherein the reaction from + a former restraint renders the viciously disposed far more + intensely barbarous than his red brother of the plain. + + LOWE'S men, and all similarly recruited by order of ex-Governor + JACKSON, remained in service six months, and were to be paid in + State scrip. But as that was worthless, they never received + anything in rations, clothing, or money, but what they plundered + from their fellow-citizens. Many of these state rights soldiers + have since enlisted in the Confederate army; but Confederate paper + being fifty per cent. below par, and not rising, the legitimate + pay of the Southern soldier is likely to be small. + + In Northern Arkansas, all males between fifteen and forty-five + years of age have been ordered to be ready for the Confederate + service when called upon. This has caused a fear of failure in + next year's crops from scarcity of men in that section. There is + great suffering among them now. Salt rose to $25 a sack. The + authorities prohibited the holders from charging more than $12, + the present price. Pins are $1.50 per paper; jeans $5 per yard; + and everything else in proportion. + + One word in comment. Every additional fact of the deplorable + condition of things in the slave States is an additional reason + why the North should firmly meet the cause of this misery. If the + North should have the manhood to strike a blow at slavery _now_, + still a generation must pass before harmony would ensue; but if + the North _evades and dallies_, scores of generations must live + and die before America sees unbroken peace again. + + * * * * * + +While the war goes on, the contrabands go off. A writer in the Norfolk +_Day Book_ complains that slaves are escaping from that city in great +numbers, asserting that they get away through the instrumentality of +_secret societies_ in Norfolk, which hold their meetings weekly, and in +open day. No one can doubt that this war is clearing the Border of its +black chattels in double-quick time. Why not strike boldly, and secure +it by offering to pay all its loyal slave-holders for their property? Of +one thing, let the country rest assured--the friends of Emancipation +will not brook much longer delay. It MUST and SHALL be carried +through,--_and we are strong enough to do it_. + + * * * * * + +Thurlow Weed grows apace, and occasionally writes a good thing from +London--as, for instance, in the following:-- + + At breakfast, a few days since, a distinguished member of + Parliament, who has been much in America, remarked, with emphasis, + that he had formerly entertained a high opinion of 'JUDGE LYNCH,' + looking with much favor upon that species of impromptu + jurisprudence known as 'Lynch law,' but since it failed to hang + FLOYD, COBB and THOMPSON, of BUCHANAN'S cabinet, he had ignored + and was disgusted with the system. + +What would the distinguished member have said had he been familiar with +the Catiline steamer case, the mysteries of shoddy contracts, the +outfitting of the Burnside expedition, and innumerable other +rascalities? The gentleman was right,--Lynch law has proved a failure; +and, if we err not, another kind of law has of late months been not very +far behind it in inefficiency. Our Southern foes have at least one noble +trait--they hang their rascals. + + * * * * * + +'_Non dum_,' 'not yet,' was the motto of a great king, who, when the +time came, shook Europe with his victories. 'Not yet,' says the +Christian, struggling through trial and temptation towards the peace +which passeth understanding and a heavenly crown. 'Not yet,' says the +brave reformer, fighting through lies and petty malice, and all the +meanness of foes lying in wait, ere he can convince the world that he is +in the right. 'Not yet,' says the soldier, as he marches his weary +round, waiting to be relieved, and musing on the battle and the war for +which he has pledged his life and his honor--and they are a world to +_him_. 'Not yet,' says every great man and woman, laying hands to every +noble task in time, which is to roll onward in result into eternity. +Wait, wait, thou active soul,--even in thy most vigorous activity let +thy work be one of waiting, and of great patience in thy fiercest toil. +There will come a day of triumph, when the fresh wind will banish the +heat, and fan the laurel on thy brow. Such is the true moral of the +following lyric:-- + + FALLEN. + + BY EDWARD S. RAND. + + Blow gently, Oh ye winter winds, + Along the ferny reaches, + Nor whirl the yellow leaves which cling + Upon the saddened beeches; + And gently breathe upon the hills + Where spring's first violets perished,-- + Died like the budding summer hopes + Our hearts too fondly cherished. + + Oh memory, bring not back the past, + To brim our cup of sorrow; + The drear to-day creeps on to bring + A drearier to-morrow. + Can streaming eyes and aching hearts + Glow at the battle's story, + Or they who stake their all and lose + Exult in fame and glory? + + Oh, lay them tenderly to rest, + Those for their country dying,-- + Let breaking hearts and trembling lips + Pour the sad dirge of sighing. + Yet louder than the requiem raise + The song of exultation, + That the great heritage is ours + _To die to save the nation_. + + In patience wait, nor think that yet + Shall Right and Freedom perish, + Nor yet Oppression trample down + The heritage we cherish! + For still remember, precious things + Are won by stern endeavor,-- + Though in the strife our heart-strings break, + The Right lives on forever. + + * * * * * + +When you write let your chirography be legible. Strive not overmuch +after beauty of finish, make not your _a_'s like unto _u_'s or your +_o_'s like _v_'s; let not your heart be seduced by the loveliness of +flourishes, and be not tempted of long-tailed letters. Above all, write +your own name distinctly,--which is more than many do, and much more +than was done by the gentleman described in the following letter from a +kindly correspondent:-- + + MADISON, WIS. + + DEAR CONTINENTAL: + + The holder of any considerable quantity of Wisconsin currency is + liable not only to the occasional loss consequent upon the + absquatulation of a tricksy wild-cat, but also to great perplexity + as to the name of the gentleman who countersigns the bills. These + inscrutable counter-signatures are accomplished by ROBERT MENZIES, + our excellent Deputy Bank Comptroller. His cabalistic 'R. Menzies' + does not greatly resemble a well-executed specimen of copperplate + engraving. The initial 'R' is always plain enough, but the + 'Menzies' is sometimes read Moses, and sometimes Muggins, and is + always liable to be translated Meazles. + + Mr. MENZIES is a Scotchman, brimful of Caledonian lore and + enthusiasm. His penmanship is not always so sublimely obscure as + his performances on bank-paper would indicate; but in its best + estate it is capable of sometimes more than one reading. Witness + the following instance: In the winter of 1858 and '9, Mr. MENZIES + delivered a very interesting lecture, before a literary society, + in Prairie du Chien; subject, THE SONG-WRITERS OF SCOTLAND. Mr. M. + not residing at Prairie du Chien, the lecture was, of course, the + subject of a preliminary correspondence. At the meeting of the + society next previous to the one when the lecture was delivered, + Elder BRUNSON, the president, announced that he had received a + letter from Mr. MENZIES, accepting the invitation to lecture + before the society, and naming as the subject of his lecture 'THE + LONG WINTERS or SCOTLAND.' + + * * * * * + +Readers who are afflicted with the isothermal doctrine may experience +some benefit from the perusal of a letter for which we are indebted to a +friend not very far 'out West:'-- + + SPRINGFIELD, MASS. + + DEAR CONTINENTAL: + + I have a friend who would be sound on the goose, as I verily + believe, and a patriotic anti-Jeff Davis platform Emancipator, if + he hadn't unfortunately picked up a fine learned word. That word + is + + ISOTHERMAL. + + And that word he carries about as a hen carries a boiled + potato--something too big to swallow but nice to peck at. And he + pecks at it continually. + + 'I could admit that the slaves should be free,' he says, 'but then + nature, you know, has fixed an isothermal line. She has + isothermally deemed that south of that line the black is + isothermally fitted to isothermalize or labor according to the + climate as a slave.' + + 'Good,' I replied. 'So you admit that all anthropological + characteristics as developed by climate are quite right?' + + [He liked that word 'anthropological,' and assented.] + + 'Good again. Well, then, you must admit that to judge by + statistics there is an isothermal line of unchastity, or "what + gods call gallantry," and further north, one of drunkenness? How + much morality is there in a tropical climate? How many temperate + men to the dozen in Scandinavia or Russia?' + + My isothermalist attempted a weak parry, but failed. When he + recovers I will inform you. + + YOURS TRULY. + + P.S. I am preparing a series of tables by which I hope to prove + the existence of the following isothermalities: + + A Lager-beer line. + A Tobacco-chewing line. + A reading of TUPPER and COVENTRY PATMORE line. + A CREAM CHEESE line. + A Doughface line. + And a Clothes line. + + * * * * * + +We are indebted to R. WOLCOTT for the following sketch of War Life:-- + + 'TAKEN PRISONER.' + + It was a terrible battle. Amid the rattle of musketry and + whistling of bullets, the clashing of sabres, the unearthly cries + of wounded horses and the wild shouting of men, the clear voice of + Lieutenant Hugh Gregory rang out: 'Rally! my brave boys, rally, + and avenge the Captain's death!' + + 'Not quite so fast, sir,' quietly remarked a rebel officer, + bringing his sword to a salute; 'you observe that your men are + retreating and you are my prisoner.' + + Hugh saw that it was so, and with a heavy heart gave himself up. + + 'Hurrah for the stars and stripes!' shouted a brave young soldier, + attempting to raise himself upon his elbow, but falling back, + exhausted from the loss of blood. + + 'Damn you, I'll stripe you!' exclaimed a brutal fellow, rising in + his stirrups and aiming a blow at the wounded man. + + 'Dare to strike a helpless man!' shouted his commander; and he + warded off the blow with a stroke that sent the fellow's sabre + spinning into the air. 'Now dismount, and help him if you can.' + But it was too late; the brave soul had gone out with those last + words. + + 'Lieutenant,' said the rebel officer, whom we will know as Captain + Dumars, 'I see that you are wounded. Let me assist you upon this + horse, and one of my sergeants will show you the surgeon's + quarters.' And he bound up the wounded arm as well as he could, + helped him upon the horse, and, with a playful _Au revoir_, rode + on. + + Hugh's wound was too painful, and he was too weak and tired, to + wonder or to think clearly of anything; he only felt grateful that + his captor was a gentleman, and quietly submitted himself to the + sergeant's guidance. + + The battle was ended,--in whose favor it does not matter, so far + as this story is concerned,--and Captain Dumars obtained + permission to take Lieutenant Gregory to his mother's house until + he should recover from his wound or be exchanged. + + When Hugh found himself established in a pleasant little chamber + with windows looking out upon the flower-garden and the woods + beyond, fading away into his own loved North land, he thought + that, after all, it was not so terrible to be a prisoner of war. + He was decidedly confirmed in this opinion when he occasionally + caught a glimpse of the lithe form of Annie Dumars flitting about + among the flowers; and being somewhat of a philosopher, in his + way, he determined to take it easy. + + The presence of one of the 'Hessians' at Mrs. Dumars' house gave + it much the same attraction that is attached to a menagerie. + Feminine curiosity is an article that the blockade can not keep + out of Dixie, and many were the morning calls that Annie received, + and many and various were the methods of pumping adopted to learn + something of the prisoner,--how he looked, how he acted, how he + was dressed, and so forth. + + 'Impertinence!' he heard Annie exclaim, as one of these gossips + passed through the gate, after putting her through a more minute + inquisition than usual. And he heard dainty shoe-heels impatiently + tapping along the hall, and when she brought in a bouquet of fresh + flowers he saw in her face traces of vexation. + + 'I seem to be quite a "What-is-it?"' + + 'Shame!'--and she broke off a stem and threw it out of the window + with altogether unnecessary vehemence. + + 'Splendid girl!' thought Hugh; 'where have I seen her?' + + And he turned his thoughts back through the years that were past, + calling up the old scenes; the balls, with their mazy, passionate + waltzes, and their promenades on the balcony in the moonlight's + mild glow, when sweet lips recited choice selections from Moore, + and white hands swayed dainty sandal-wood fans with the potency of + the most despotic sceptres; the sleigh-rides, with their wild + rollicking fun, keeping time to the merry music of the bells and + culminating in the inevitable upset; the closing exercises of the + seminary, when blooming girls, in the full efflorescence of + hot-house culture, make a brief but brilliant display before + retiring to the domestic sphere--Oh, yes-- + + 'Miss Dumars, were you not at the ---- Institute last year?' + + 'Yes.' + + 'Then you know my cousin,--Jennie Gregory?' + + 'Yes, indeed:--and you are her cousin. How stupid in me not to + recollect it.' + + And she told him how that 'Jennie' was her dearest friend, and + how in their intimacy of confidence she had told her all about + him, and shown her his picture, and--in short, Hugh and Annie + began to feel much better acquainted. + + It was a few days after this that Hugh sat by the open window, + listening to Annie reading from the virtuous and veracious + _Richmond Enquirer_. Distressed by what he heard, not knowing + whether it was true or not, he begged her to cease torturing him. + She laid aside the paper with an emphatic 'I don't believe it!' + that could not but attract his attention, and he looked up in + surprise. + + 'I must tell you, Mr. Gregory--I have been tortured long enough by + this forced secrecy--_I am a rebel!_' + + 'That is the name we know you by,' he replied, smiling. + + 'But I am a _rebellious_ rebel. Yes,' she added, rising, 'I detest + with all my heart this wicked, causeless rebellion. I detest the + very names of the leaders of it. And yet I am compelled to go + about with lies upon my lips, and to act lies, till I detest + myself more than all else! I have consoled myself somewhat by + making a flag and worshiping it in secret. I will get it and show + it to you.' + + 'This,' she continued, returning with a miniature specimen of the + dear old flag, 'a _real_ flag, the emblem of a real living nation, + must be kept hidden, its glorious lustre fading away in the dark, + while that,' pointing to where the 'stars and bars' were + fluttering in the breeze, 'that miserable abortion is insolently + flaunted before our eyes, nothing about it original or + suggestive--except its stolen colors, reminding us of the + financial operations of Floyd! Oh, if hope could be prophecy--if a + life that is an unceasing prayer for the success of the federal + arms could avail, it would not be long before this bright banner + would wave in triumph over all the land, its starry folds gleaming + with a purer, more glorious light than ever!' + + And as she stood there, with eyes uplifted as in mute prayer, and + fervently kissed the silken folds of the flag, Hugh wished that + his station in life had been that of an American flag. + + Time passed on, and the prisoner was to be exchanged for a rebel + officer of equal rank. Captain Dumars brought him the + intelligence, and was surprised at the seeming indifference with + which he received it. + + 'You don't seern particularly elated by the prospect of getting + among the Yankees again.' + + 'I am eager to take my sword again; but my stay here has been far + from unpleasant. You, Captain, have been away so much that I have + not been able to thank you for making my imprisonment so pleasant. + I am at a loss to know why you have shown such favor to me + especially.' + + 'This is the cause,' replied the Captain, laying his finger upon a + breast-pin that Hugh always wore upon his coat, at the same time + unbuttoning his own; 'you see that I wear the same.' + + It was a simple jewel, embellished only by a few Greek characters, + but it was the emblem of one of those college societies, in which + secrecy and mystery add a charm to the ties of brotherhood. And it + was this fraternal tie, stronger than that of Free-Masonry, + because more exclusive, that made Hugh's a pleasant imprisonment, + and made him happy in the love of one faithful among the + faithless, loyal among many traitors. For of course the reader has + surmised--for poetic justice demands it--that Hugh fell + desperately in love with Annie, and Annie _ditto_ Hugh. How he + told the tender tale, and how she answered him,--whether with the + conventional quantity of blushes and sighs, or not,--is none of + your business, reader, or mine; so don't ask me any questions. + + It was the evening of the day before Hugh's departure. They, Annie + and Hugh, sat in the little porch, silent and sad, watching the + shadows slowly creeping up the mountain side towards its + sun-kissed summit, like a sombre pall of sorrow shrouding a bright + hope. + + 'And to-morrow you are free.' + + 'No, Annie, not free. My sword will be free, but my heart will + still linger here, a prisoner. But when the war is over, and the + old flag restored--' + + 'Then,' and here her eyes were filled with the glorious light of + prophetic hope, '_I_ will be _your_ prisoner.' + + And still Hugh is fighting for the dear old flag; and still Annie + is praying for it, and waiting for the sweet imprisonment. + +There has been many as sweet a romance as this, reader, acted ere this, +during the war. Would that all captivity were as pleasant! + + * * * * * + +'I would not live alway,' says the hymn, and the sentiment has, like +every great truth, been set forth in a thousand forms. One of the most +truly beautiful which we have ever met is that of + + THE CITY OF THE LIVING. + + In a long-vanished age, whose varied story + No record has to-day, + So long ago expired its grief and glory-- + There flourished, far away, + + In a broad realm, whose beauty passed all measure + A city fair and wide, + Wherein the dwellers lived in peace and pleasure + And never any died. + + Disease and pain and death, those stern marauders, + Which mar our world's fair face, + Never encroached upon the pleasant borders + Of that bright dwelling-place. + + No fear of parting and no dread of dying + Could ever enter there-- + No mourning for the lost, no anguished crying + Made any face less fair. + + Without the city's walls, death reigned as ever, + And graves rose side by side-- + Within, the dwellers laughed at his endeavor, + And never any died. + + O, happiest of all earth's favored places! + O, bliss, to dwell therein-- + To live in the sweet light of loving faces + And fear no grave between! + + To feel no death-damp, gathering cold and colder, + Disputing life's warm truth-- + To live on, never lonelier or older, + Radiant in deathless youth! + + And hurrying from the world's remotest quarters + A tide of pilgrims flowed + Across broad plains and over mighty waters, + To find that blest abode, + + Where never death should come between, and sever + Them from their loved apart-- + Where they might work, and will, and live forever, + Still holding heart to heart. + + And so they lived, in happiness and pleasure, + And grew in power and pride, + And did great deeds, and laid up stores of treasure, + And never any died. + + And many yers rolled on, and saw them striving + With unabated breath, + And other years still found and left them living, + And gave no hope of death. + + Yet listen, hapless soul whom angels pity, + Craving a boon like this-- + Mark how the dwellers in the wondrous city + Grew weary of their bliss. + + One and another, who had been concealing + The pain of life's long thrall, + Forsook their pleasant places, and came stealing + Outside the city wall, + + Craving, with wish that brooked no more denying, + So long had it been crossed, + The blessed possibility of dying,-- + The treasure they had lost. + + Daily the current of rest-seeking mortals + Swelled to a broader tide, + Till none were left within the city's portals, + And graves grew green outside. + + Would it be worth the having or the giving, + The boon of endless breath? + Ah, for the weariness that comes of living + There is no cure but death! + + Ours were indeed a fate deserving pity, + Were that sweet rest denied; + And few, methinks, would care to find the city + Where never any died! + + * * * * * + +Does the reader recall DEAN SWIFT'S account of the immortal Strudlbrugs +and their undying miseries--it is in the City of Laputu, we believe. +Their life was passed as if in such a city. Ah, death! it is, after all, +only birth in another form. And to step to the ridiculous, we are +reminded of an + + EPITAPH IN A DEDHAM CHURCHYARD. + + I've paid the debt which all must pay, + Though awful to my view, + On frightful rocks where billows poured, + And broken buildings flew. + The cruel Death has conquered me; + The victory is but small, + For I shall rise and live again,-- + And Death himself shall fall. + + * * * * * + +There are not many of those who 'read the papers,' who have not met from +time to time with the quaint experiences of THE FAT CONTRIBUTOR,--a +gentleman who, in the columns of the _Buffalo Republican_, and more +recently in the spicy _Cleveland Plain Dealer_, has often wished that +his too, too solid flesh would melt. It is with pleasure that we welcome +him to our pages in the following original sketch:-- + +THE 'FAT CONTRIBUTOR' AS A GYMNAST. + + 'But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks.' + + RICHARD III. + + Says the cardinal in the play--'In the bright lexicon of youth + there's no such word as fail.' Without stopping to discuss the + reliability of a lexicon that omits words in that careless manner, + I must say that in the dictionary of fat men who aspire to + gymnastics that word distinctly occurs. I had my misgivings, but + was over-persuaded by my friends. They said gymnastics would + develop muscular strength, thus enabling me to _hold_ my flesh in + case it attempted to run away. They added, as an additional + incentive, that the spectacle of a man who weighs nearly three + hundred pounds, doing the horizontal ladder, climbing a slack-rope + hand over hand, or suspending his weight by his little finger, + would be a 'big thing.' I asked them how I was to attain that end. + 'By practice,' was the reply; 'practice makes perfect.' It + did;--it made a perfect fool of me, as you shall see. + + I never had much taste for feats requiring physical effort, except + lifting--lifting with my teeth. The amount of beef, pork, mutton + and vegetables that I have lifted in that way is immense. After + hearing Dr. WINSHIP lecture, I practiced lifting a flour barrel + with a man inside of it, and finally succeeded in holding it out + at arm's length. [I may remark incidentally that the barrel _had + no heads in it_.] + + To return to the case in hand (and a case in hand is worth two in + the bush): I was deluded into purchasing a season ticket in the + gymnasium, and one afternoon I sought the locality. A number were + exercising in various ways, and I laid off my coat preparatory to + 'going in.' As I bent down to adjust a pair of slippers, I heard + some rapid steps behind me, and the next instant a pair, of hands + and a man's head fell squarely on my back, a pair of heels smote + together in the air, and with a somersault the gymnast regained + the ground several feet in advance of me. I assumed an indignant + perpendicular, when the fellow turned with well-feigned amazement + and stammered forth an apology. Bent over as I was, he had + mistaken me for a heavily padded 'wooden horse,' which formed a + portion of the apparatus. + + Desiring to be weighed from time to time, in order that I might + note the effect of gymnastics upon my tonnage, I asked one, who + was resting after prodigious efforts to wrench his arms off at a + lifting machine, if there were scales convenient. He surveyed me + for a moment--looked puzzled--and finally replied + hesitatingly,--'Y-e-s, I think we can manage it.' He led the way + to a window overlooking the Ohio canal. 'Do you see that + building?' said he, pointing to a low structure on the heel path + side, extending partly over the canal. I intimated that the fabric + in question produced a distinct impression on the optic nerves, + and inquired its use. '_Weigh-lock_' he shrieked; '_go and be + weighed!_' + + '_Go and be d----d!_' I yelled, furious at being thus victimized; + but my angry and profane rejoinder was lost in the shout of + laughter that went up from the assembled athletes. + + Natural abhorrence of jokes, practical or otherwise, is a trait + among my people; it runs in the family, like wooden legs. I + immediately sought the boss gymnaster and related the manner in + which I had been introduced to his elevating establishment. I told + him I had come there neither to be made a horse of by one nor an + ass of by another. He pledged his word that the like should not + occur again, and I was appeased. + + I first attempted the parallel bars, but they were never intended + for men of my breadth. My hands giving way, I became so firmly + wedged between the bars that it was necessary to cut one of them + away in order to release me. A wag pronounced it a feat without a + parallel. + + The horizontal bar next claimed my attention. I had seen others + hang with their heads down, suspended by their legs alone, and the + trick appeared quite easy of execution. I succeeded in suspending + myself in the manner indicated, but--_revocare gradum_--when I + attempted to regain the bar with my hands, it was no go. I was in + a perspiration of alarm at once; my legs grew weak; my head swam + from the rush of blood; twist and squirm as I would, I couldn't + reach the bar with the tip end of a finger even. My head was four + or five feet from the ground, so that a fall was likely to break + my neck, and when my frantic efforts to clutch the bar with my + hands failed, I shrieked in very desperation. Men came running to + my aid. They raked the tan bark, with which the ground was strewn, + in a pile beneath me, to break my fall as much as possible, and, + relaxing my hold of the bar, I came down in a heap, rolled up like + a gigantic caterpillar, and dived head and shoulders into the tan + bark, where I was nearly smothered before I could be extracted. It + was a terrible fright, but I escaped with a few bruises. + + My brief career as a gymnast terminated with the 'ladder act.' I + felt unequal to the task of drawing myself up the ladder (which + was slightly inclined from the perpendicular), as I had seen + others do, but once at the top I believed I could lower myself + down. A purchase was rigged in the roof, by which I was hoisted to + the top of the ladder, some thirty feet from the ground, when, + grasping a round firmly with my hands, the purchase was + disconnected from my waist belt, and I began the descent. It was + very severe on the arms, and I desired to rest myself by placing + my feet on a round, but my protuberant paunch would not permit it. + When I had accomplished about half the distance in safety, a round + snapped suddenly with the unusual weight. I remember clutching + frantically at the next, which broke as did the other; then + followed a sensation of falling, succeeded by a collision as + between two express trains at full speed, and I knew no more. When + I recovered consciousness, I was in my own bed, and four surgeons + were endeavoring to set my broken leg with a stump extractor. + Gymnastics are a little out of my line. + + FAT CONTRIBUTOR. + +Unlike BRUMMEL, _we_ know who our fat friend is, and shall be happy to +see him again. + + * * * * * + +'Talbot,' of Washington, one of those who keep the many chronicles of +government, gives us the following from his repertoire:-- + + Shortly after the inauguration of President Lincoln, and during + the period in which the throng of office-seekers was greatest, an + applicant for a clerkship in one of the departments received + notification to appear before the 'examining committee' for + examination as to qualifications. In due time he appeared, and + announced himself 'ready.' The aforesaid 'committee,' supposing + that they had before them a decidedly 'soft one,' determined to + enjoy a little 'sport' at the poor fellow's expense. After having + put a great many questions to him, none of which in the least + applied to the duties he would be expected to perform, he was + asked how he would ascertain the number of square feet occupied by + the Patent Office building. This question aroused in him + suspicions that 'all was not right,' and, with a promptness and + emphasis that effectually dampened the hopes of his questioners, + he replied, '_Well, gentlemen, I should employ an experienced + surveyor._' + +The same correspondent tells us that-- + + In one of the rural towns of Illinois lived, a few years agone, a + very eccentric individual known as 'DICKEY BULARD,' whose original + sayings afforded no little amusement to his neighbors. + + DICKEY had his troubles, the saddest of which was the loss of his + only son. Shortly after this event, in speaking of it to some + friends, he broke out in the following pathetic expression of + feeling: + + 'I'd rather a' lost the best cow I have, and ten dollars besides, + than that boy. If it had been a gal, it wouldn't a' made so much + difference; but it was the only boy I had.' + + On another occasion, in referring to the death of his grandmother, + who had been fatally injured by a butt from a pet ram, DICKEY gave + vent to his feelings as follows: + + 'I never felt so bad in all my life as I did when grandmother + died. She had got so old, and we had kept her so long, _we wanted + to see how long we could keep her_. + + * * * * * + +It is the 'turn of the tune' which gives point to the far-famed legend +of 'The Arkansaw Traveler,'--which legend, in brief, is to the effect +that a certain fiddling 'Rackensackian,' who could never learn more than +the first half of a certain tune, once bluntly refused all manner of +hospitality to a weary wayfarer, avowing with many an oath that his +house boasted neither meat nor whisky, bed nor hay. But being taught by +the stranger the 'balance' of the tune,--'the turn,' as he called +it,--he at once overwhelmed his musical guest with all manner of +dainties and kindnesses. And it is the 'turn of the tune,' in the +following lyric, from the soft tinkle of the guitar to the harsh notes +of the 'beaten parchment,' which gives it a peculiar charm. + + THE GUITAR AND THE DRUM. + + BY R. WOLCOTT, CO. B., TENTH ILLINOIS + + + Evening draws nigh, and the daylight + In golden splendor dies; + And the stars look down through the gloaming + With soft and tender eyes. + + I sit alone in the twilight, + And lazily whiff my cigar, + Watching the blue wreaths curling, + And thrumming my old guitar: + + Old, and battered, and dusty,-- + A veteran covered with scars; + Yet to me the most precious of treasures, + The sweetest of all guitars. + + For a gentle spirit dwells in it, + That speaks through the trembling strings, + And in echo to my thrumming + A wonderful melody sings. + + As I softly strike the measures, + The spirit murmurs low + A song of departed pleasures, + A dream of the long ago. + + And like a weird enchanter + It paints in the star-lit sky + Pictures from memory's record, + Scenes of the days gone by. + + And as the ripples of music + Float out on the evening air, + There comes to me a vision + Of the girl with the golden hair. + + Kindly she turns upon me. + Those lustrous, violet eyes, + And my heart with passionate yearnings + To meet her eagerly flies. + + Nearer she comes, and yet nearer, + At the beck of the spirit's wand, + And I feel the gentle pressure + On my brow of her warm, white hand-- + + _Tr-r-r-rum-ti-tum-tum, tr-r-r-rum-ti-tum-tum!_ + 'Tis the warning voice of the rolling drum. + Through the awakened night air come + The stern command and the busy hum + Of hurried preparation. + 'Tis no time now for idle strumming + Of light guitars: in that loud drumming + Is fearful meaning; the hour is coming + That for some of us will be the summing + Of all life's preparation. + + Quick, quick, my boys: fall in! fall in! + Now is the hour when we begin + The battle with this monstrous sin. + Onward to victory!--or to win + A patriot's martyrdom! + Stay no longer to bandy words; + Trust we now to our gleaming swords; + For foul rebellion's dastardly hordes + A terrible hour has come. + + By all that you love beneath the skies; + By the world of cherished memories; + By your hopes for the coming years; + By the tender light of your loved one's eyes; + By the warm, white hands you so highly prize; + By your mothers' parting tears, + Swear the horrible wrong to crush! + What though you fall in the battle's rush, + And the velvet leaves of the greensward blush + With your young life's crimson tide? + The angels look down with pitying love, + And your tale will be told in the record above: + 'For his country's honor he died.' + + The gentle strings of the light guitar, + Waking soft echoes from memory's chords, + And tender dreams of home-- + The noise, and the pomp, and the glitter of war; + The furious charge, and the clashing swords; + The song of the rolling drum. + +How many a young heart has, in these later days, been turned from soft +guitar-tones of idleness, to the brave, rattling measures of drum-life! +It will do good, this war of ours; and many a brave fellow will, in +after years, look back upon it as the school in which he first learned +to be a thoroughly practical and sensible MAN. + + * * * * * + +We are indebted to a gossiping and ever most welcome New Haven friend +for the following anecdote of one of the men who, clothed in a little +brief authority, 'go about 'restin' people:' + + Our village we consider one of the most pleasant in the country; + our boys full of life and activity, and our officers men of energy + and perseverance, and men who understand their importance. In + proof of these assertions, I offer the following sketch of an + occurrence a few years ago. + + DICK BARNES was a blacksmith, and a man of considerable notoriety + in those days, and from the peculiar prominence of his front upper + teeth he had derived, from the boys of the village, the singular + nick-name of 'Tushy.' For two or three successive years he had + been elected constable, and the duties of this great public office + appeared to demand that he should neglect his legitimate private + business, so that it was said that the safest place for him to + secrete himself--the most unlikely place where he would be + sought--would be behind his own anvil. Like many others 'clothed + with a little brief authority' he was not overmodest in showing + his importance. + + The boys were then, as they are now, fond of skating, and there + was a large pond near the centre of the village on which they used + to have fine times on moonlight evenings, and especially Sunday + evenings, and, as a natural consequence, when large numbers of + boys are engaged in sport, they were somewhat noisy. + + One Sunday evening, when the ice was very smooth and the boys were + enjoying themselves, BARNES made his appearance on the ice and + ordered them off, in tones, and exclamations of authority. The + boys did not like this interference in their sports and couldn't + see the justice of his demand. 'That's old Tushy,' says one, and + the cry of 'Tushy,' 'Tushy,' soon passed among the crowd of + skaters, till BARNES began to think it personal, and was + determined to catch one of them and make of him an example. The + ice was 'glib,' as they termed it, and as they all had skates + except 'Tushy,' they were rather rude in their behavior towards + him,--a not very uncommon circumstance,--and though they were + careful to keep out of harm's way, they kept near enough to him to + annoy him. Finding all efforts to catch one of them fruitless, + with the advantage they had,--for 'the wicked _stand_ on slippery + places,'--he announced his determination to catch one of them + anyhow, and started for the shore. + + Boys are usually quicker in arriving at conclusions than older + people, and one of them suggested that he had gone for his skates. + 'Good! now we'll have some fun, boys,' says Phil Clark, who was a + good skater, and withal a good leader in a frolic. 'You follow me + and do as I tell you, and I don't believe old "Tushy" will follow + us far.' By general consent he led them to the dry, sandy shore, + and such as had them filled their handkerchiefs, and such as could + not boast of that superfluity filled their caps, with sand. 'Now,' + says Phil, 'when he comes back, and it won't be long, we'll form a + line and wait till he gets his skates on, when he'll put chase for + some of us. If he gets near any of us, some one sing out "Bully," + and every boy drop his sand, and if he catches any one we'll all + pitch in.' + + 'Tushy' in a little while made his appearance, and soon had his + skates strapped to his feet, and after a few stamps upon the ice, + to see that they were properly secured, glided a few strokes and + started off for the boys. The moon was shining 'as bright as day,' + and old Tushy's movements were perfectly apparent. The pond was + huge, and afforded a good opportunity for a trial of speed, and, + though many of the boys were good skaters, 'Tushy' perseveringly + determined to capture one of them, and started for the one + nearest. This was 'Phil,' who was the master spirit of the frolic, + and as 'Tushy' approached with almost the certainty of capturing + him, he would glide gracefully aside and let him pass on. He had + almost caught up with a group of the smaller boys who were going + at full speed, when 'Phil' shouted out the word 'Bully.' In an + instant the contents of handkerchiefs and caps was deposited on + the glaring ice, the boys continuing their flying course. 'Tushy,' + elated with the prospect of capturing at least one of the urchins, + increased his speed with lunger strides, and was in the act of + grasping one, when the sparks from his steel runners, the sudden + arrest of his feet and the onward movement of his body, convinced + him that _he_ was caught. The impetus he had acquired with the few + last strokes on the smooth ice, and the sudden check his feet had + received from the sand, sent him sliding headlong many yards + towards an air-hole,--one of those dangerous places on ponds + suddenly frozen,--and soon the ice began to crack around him. The + water in the pond was not deep, but the ice continued to break + with his efforts to extricate himself. He found that the boys had + successfully entrapped him, and it was not until he had made a + promise not again to interfere with their sport that they + consented to assist him out. He kept his promise, and the boys + ever after, when they designed any extra sport on the ice, had his + nick-name for a by-word. + + JAY G. BEE. + + * * * * * + +'Salt,' according to MORESINUS, 'is sacred to the infernal +deities,'--for which reason, we presume, those who were seated 'below +the salt' at the banquets of the Middle Ages were always 'poor devils.' +Attic salt is always held to be more pungent when there is a touch of +the diabolical and caustic in it,--and therefore caustic itself is known +as _lapis infernalis_. 'Poor Mr. N----,' said a country dame, of a +recently deceased neighbor who was over-thrifty, 'he always saved his +salt and lost his pork.' 'Yes,' replied a friend, 'and now the salt has +lost its Saver.' The reader has doubtless heard of the lively young +lady, named Sarah, whom her friends rechristened Sal Volatile. +Apropos--a New Haven friend writes us that-- + + My chum, Dr. B., is not a little of a wag. At a social gathering, + shortly after he had received his diploma, the young ladies were + very anxious to put his knowledge of medicine to the test. + 'Doctor,' queried one of the fair, 'what will cure a man who has + been hanged?' 'Salt is the best thing I know of,' replied the + tormented, with great solemnity. + + * * * * * + +According to a cotemporary--the Boston _Herald_--the best Christians may +be known by the pavements before their houses being cleaned of ice and +snow. This reminds us of a spiritual anecdote. A deceased friend having +been summoned through a medium and asked where he had spent the first +month after his decease, rapped out,-- + +'I-n--p-u-r-g-a-t-o-r-y.' + +'Did you find it uncomfortable?' + +'Not very. While I lived I always had my pavements cleared in winter, +and all the ice and snow shoveled away was given back to me in +orange-water ices, Roman punch, vanilla and pistachio creams, frozen +fruits, cobblers, juleps, and smashes.' + +Somebody has spoken in an Arctic voyage of the musical vibrations of the +ice. There is certainly music in the article. 'Take care,' said a Boston +girl to her companion, as they were navigating the treacherously +slippery pavement of our city a few days since; 'it's See sharp or Be +flat.' + + * * * * * + +Somebody once wrote a book on visiting-cards. There is a great variety +of that article; an English ambassador once papered his entire suit of +rooms with that with which a Chinese mandarin honored him. MICHAEL +ANGELO left a straight line as a card, and was recognized by it. Our +friend H---- once distributed blank pasteboards in Philadelphia, and +everybody said, 'Why, H---- has been here!' Not long since, a lady +dwelling in New York asked her seven-year-old GEORGY where he had been. + +'Out visiting.' + +'Did you leave your card?' + +'No; I hadn't any, so I left a marble!' + +GEORGY'S idea was that cards were playthings. And _cartes de visite_ are +most assuredly the playthings for children of an older growth, most in +vogue at the present day. Go where you will, the albums are examined, +nay, some collectors have even one or two devoted solely to children, or +officers, or literary men, or young ladies. The following anecdote +records, however, as we believe, 'an entirely new style' of +visiting-card:-- + + Madam X. was busy the other morning. Miss Fanny Z. 'just ran in to + see her' _en amie_, without visiting-cards. + + The waiter carried her name to Madam X. Meanwhile Miss Fannie, + circulating through the parlors, saw that there was dust on the + lower shelf of an etagere, so she delicately traced the letters + + _Smut_ + + thereon and therefore. Waiter enters, and regrets that Madam X. is + so very much engaged that she is invisible. Miss Fanny flies home. + + In the evening she meets Madam X., who is 'perfectly enchanted' to + see her. 'Ah, Fanny, dear, I am charmed to see you; the waiter + forgot your name this morning, but I was delighted to see your + ingenuity. Would you believe it, the first thing I saw on entering + the parlor was your card on the etagere!' + + * * * * * + +The Naugatuck railroad, according to a friend of the CONTINENTAL, + + Is in many places cut through a rugged country, and the rocks + thereabout have an ugly trick of rolling down upon the track when + they get tired of lying still. So the company employ sentinels + who traverse the dangerous territory before the morning train goes + through. One of these,--Pat K. by name,--while on his beat, met + Dennis, whose hand he had last shaken on the 'Green Isle.' After + mutual inquiries and congratulations, says Dennis, 'What are you + doin' these days, Pat?' 'Oh, I'm consarned in this railroad + company. I go up the road fur the likes o' four miles ivry mornin' + to see is there ony rocks on the thrack.' 'And if there is?' 'Why, + I stops the trains, sure.' 'Faith,' said Dennis, 'what the divil's + the good o' that--_wouldn't the rocks stop 'em?_' + + * * * * * + +The Hibernian idea of a meeting is, we should judge, peculiar, and not, +as a rule, amicable. 'What are ye doing here, Pat?' inquired one of the +Green Islanders who found a friend one morning in a lonely spot. 'Troth, +Dinnis, and it's waiting to mate a gintleman here I'm doing.' 'Waiting +for a frind is it?' replied Dennis; 'but where is yer shillaly thin?' +This was indeed a misapprehension, and of the kind which, as a +benevolent clergyman complained, who was actively engaged in home +mission work, was one of the most constant sources of his frequent +annoyances. 'Why,' he remarked, 'it was only the other morning that I +heard of a poor girl who was dying near the Five Points, and went to +administer to her such comfort as it might be in my power to render. I +met an impudent miss leaving the room, who, when I inquired for the +sufferer by name, replied, "It's no use; you're too late, old +fellow,--she's give me her pocket-book and all her things."' + + * * * * * + +A friend has called our attention to the following extract from an +advertisement in a New York evening paper, and requests an +explanation:-- + + STRABISMUS, OR CROSS-EYE, IN ITS WORST STAGES, CURED IN ONE + MINUTE. READ! + + NEWARK, August 14th, 1861. + + Dear Doctor: I write to express my thanks for the great difference + you have made in my appearance by your operation on my eye. I have + had a _squint_, or _cross-eye_, since birth, and in less than one + minute, and with VERY LITTLE PAIN, you have made my eyes perfectly + straight and natural. Having consulted in Europe the greatest + _Aurists_, I, therefore, can testify that your system of restoring + the _hearing_ to the deaf is at once scientific, safe and sure; + and I confidently recommend all deaf to place themselves under + your care. W.T. + +There's a nut to crack. Having had a cross-eye cured in one minute, Mr. +T. can _therefore_ testify that the system by which he was enabled to +see is just the thing to enable the deaf to hear! But an instant's +reflection convinced us of the true state of the case. There is an old +German song which translated saith: + + 'I am the Doctor Iron-beer, + The one who makes the blind to hear, + The man who makes the deaf to see:-- + Come with your invalids to me.' + +We evidently have a Doctor Iron-beer among us. 'He still lives,' and +enables people to outdo the clairvoyants, who read with their fingers, +by qualifying his patients to peruse the papers with their auricular +organs. + + * * * * * + +Walter will receive our thanks for the following aesthetic +communication:-- + + DEAR CONTINENTAL: + + Do you know the superb picture of Judith and Holofernes, by + ALLORI? Of course. But the legend? + + The painter ALLORI was blessed and cursed with a mistress, one of + the most beautiful women in an age of beauty. He loved her, and + she tormented him, until, to set forth his sufferings, he painted + _la belle dame sans mercy_ as Judith, holding his own decapitated + head by the hair. + + 'She was more than a match for her lover,' said a young lady, + who--between us--I think is more beautiful than the 'Judith.' + + 'Yes,' was the answer; 'the engraving proves that she got a-head + of him.' + + Of course it was Holofernally bad. I once heard a better one on + the same subject, of scriptural be-head-edness. Where is a centaur + first mentioned? John's head on a charger. The postage stamp on + your lawyer's bill--mine especially--represents the same thing, + with the substitution of General Washington for John. Rarey tamed + Cruiser--I wonder if he could do anything by way of 'taking down' + this legal 'charger' of mine. + + Yours truly, + WALTER + + * * * * * + +Much has been written on oysters. There was a time when England sent +nothing else abroad. 'The poor Britons--they are good for something,' +says SALLUST, in 'The Last Days of Pompeii;' 'they produce an oyster.' +In these days, they export no oysters, but in lieu thereof give us +plenty of pepper-sauce. But to the point,--we mean to the poem,--for +which we are indebted to a Philadelphia contributor:-- + + OYSTERS! + + He stood beside the oysters. Near him lay + A dozen raw upon the half-shell: he + With fork stood ready to engulf them all, + When to his side a reverend gray-beard came. + Pointing his index finger to the Natives, + Slowly he spoke, with measured voice and low:-- + 'They are the same, THE SAME! I've eaten them + In London, small and coppery; at Ostend, + A little better; and in the Condotti, + Yea, in the Lepre--'tis an eating-house + Frequented by the many-languaged artists + Of great imperial Rome. At Baiae: also + I've tasted that nice kind described by MARTIAL, + Who calls them ears of Venus;--there I've had 'em. + Also at Memphis--now I'm coming to it: + I've seen amid the desert sands of Egypt, + Exposed among the hieroglyphs, these Natives. + (The hieroglyphs, you know, are outward forms + Of things or creatures which unfold strange myths, + Read by the common eye in vulgar way, + But to the learned are types of truths gigantic.) + Thus unto you those oysters are but bivalves; + But unto me they're--P'raps you'll stand a dozen?' + 'Well, I will, old hoss; it seems to me you need 'em!' + 'Good! Then to me they are as hieroglyphs + Of our poor human state; as PLATO says, + "The soul of man, a substance different from + The body as the oyster from the shell, + Does stick to it, and is imprisoned in it. + Its weight of shell doth keep it down and force it + To stay upon its muddy bottom. So does + Man's body hold his soul in these dark regions, + Keeping it ever steadily from rising + To those superior heights where are abodes + More fitting its serene and noble nature." + Good as a quarter-dollar lecture. Boy! fork over.' + 'Another "doz." to this old gentleman; + For I perceive he plainly hath it in him + To swallow down two dozen oysters' souls. + See what it is to be a philosopher!' + +This is indeed finding sermons in 'shells.' + + * * * * * + +'Punning is a power,' according to somebody, and, like most power, is +sadly abused. Take, for illustration, the following specimen of the +'narrative pun:' + + The reader knows that BYRON once punned on the word Bullet-in, and + was proud of it; distinctly proud, be it remembered. After which + comes the following:-- + + Some years ago it was summer time, and in the office of the + Philadelphia _Evening Bulletin_, one, as the French say, was + preparing the daily paper. Along Third Street streamed Shinners, + Bulls, Bears, and Newsboys,--in the sanctum, Editors wrote and + clipped,--proof rose up and down in the dumb waiter,--there was + the shrill scream of the whistle calling to the foreman far on + high,-- + + Suddenly there was a tremendous run in the front office. + + A maddened cow,--an infuriate, delirious, over-driven + animal,--breaking loose from the cow-herdly creature who had her + in charge,--careered wildly past the _Ledger_ building. + + One would have thought that the straw paper on which that sheet + was then printed might have tempted her to repose. + + It didn't. + + Past FORNEY'S paper:--he was proprietor of the _Pennsylvanian_ in + those days. Those days!--when he was Warwick, the king-maker, and + carried Pennsylvania for Old Buck. Bitter were the changes in + aftertimes, and bitterly did Forney give fits where he had before + bestowed benefits. On went the cow. + + Right smack into the office of the evening paper, then engineered + by ALEXANDER CUMMINGS, now held by GIBSON PEACOCK. + + Rush! went the cow. Right into the next door--turn to the left, + oh, infuriate--charge into the newsboys! By Santa Maria, little + DUCKEY is down--ha! Saint Joseph! the beast gains the front + office--she faceth streetwards--she jaculates herself + outwards--she is gone. + + By the door stood a Philadelphia punster. + + The cow switched him with her tail; he heeded it not. His soul + felt the morning gleam of a revelation,--the flash of a Boehmic + Aurora,-- + + Far, far above the world, oh dreamer!--in the pure land of + Pun-light, where the silent Calembergs rise in the sunset sea. + + And he spake,-- + + '_I see you have_ A COW LET OUT _there, and a_ BULL LET IN HERE!' + + This is going through a great deal to get at a pun, says some + over-heated and perspiring disciple. + + Well--and why not? + + Have you never heard of the clergyman who preached an entire + sermon on the slave-trade, and gave a detailed account of its + head-quarters, the kingdom of Abomi? + + And why? + + Merely that he might ring it into them bitterly, fiercely, with + this conclusion: + + 'My hearers, let us pray that this Abomi-Nation may be rooted out + from the face of the earth.' + + That was so. _Consummatum est_. + +No wonder we hear so much of the sufferings and sorrows of the Third +Estate--which is the editorial. + + * * * * * + +'Wine is _sometimes_ wine, but not very often in these days:' what it +very often is not when labelled 'Heidsick' and 'Rheims.' 'But then the +_cork_ proves it, you know,'--for, by a strange superstition, it is +assumed that when the cork is correct the wine is not less so; a theory +which is exploded by a revelation in the following by no means +Bacchanalian lyric:-- + + BOGUS CHAMPAGNE. + + Fill up your glass with turnip-juice, + And let us swindled be; + Except in England's cloudy clime + Such trash you may not see. + With marble-dust and vitriol, + 'Twill sparkle bright and foam,-- + Who will not pledge me in a cup + Of champagne--made at home? + + We do not heed the label fair + That's stuck upon the glass; + It's counterfeit,--an ugly cheat, + That takes in many an ass. + The cork is branded right, and we + Know that it once corked wine; + They give the hotel-waiters tin + To save the genuine! + +Think of this when you next 'wish you had given the price of that last +bottle of champagne to the Tract Society,' as _Cecil Dreeme_ hath it. + + * * * * * + +One of the best repartees on record is that of WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, +who, having been reproached with inconsistency for having taken from his +journal the old motto, 'The Constitution is a league with Death and a +covenant with Hell,' replied that 'when he hoisted that motto, he had no +idea _that either death or hell intended to secede_. Circumstances alter +cases, and definitions modify both. Slavery, it now appears, is death, +as every political economist claims, while the South is--the other +place. + + * * * * * + +The following is from one who was not 'well off for soap:'-- + + DEAR CONTINENTAL: + + It was my fortune, some time ago, while traveling through the New + England States, to lose my trunk, on my way to a very thriving + manufacturing village. Arrived at the principal hotel a few + minutes before the dinner hour, I was shown up to my room, every + article of furniture in which sparkled with newness,--its carpet + shining like fireworks, curtains painfully stiff, and the air + redolent of novelty. + + One article of furniture, which I took to be a cottage piano or + melodeon, turned out, on raising the lid, to be a wash-stand, + amply munitioned with water, towels, and a new piece of soap. + Having noticed that the article had never been used, and my own + being lost with my trunk, I determined to put it to its legitimate + destination. + + I commenced rubbing it between my hands, immersing it in water, + passing it quickly from one hand to the other, and using all other + persuasive attempts to solve it into lather. Useless; it was + _un-lather-able_, and hearing the gong sound for dinner, I gave it + up as a hopeless job. + + After dinner, in conversation with the landlord, he asked me how I + liked my room. I told him that it pleased me very well, and that I + had but one fault to find,--that was, that the soap in the + wash-stand was the hardest I had ever seen, and I believed it was + made of iron. + + 'Well,' said he, with a diabolical smile, 'it _is_ hard soap, and + it ort to be--it's iron-y--for it's Cast-Steel!' + + * * * * * + +The annexed may be read with profit by the charitable:-- + + H---- has never yet been known to give one cent in charity. A + Christian called on him, the other day, and begged him to give + something to a soup society. + + 'Ah-h-h!' said H., 'war times, now. Can't give anything.' + + 'The soup society is very poor, and would be thankful for the + _smallest sum_.' + + 'Would it?' said H., cheerfully. 'Why, then, twice one are two. + Good-morning.' + +This, we presume, may be called figuring as a benefactor. + + * * * * * + +Our Arabic-studying friend has supplied us with a fresh batch of +oriental proverbs:-- + + 'A monkey solicited hospitality from devils. "Young gentleman," + they replied, "the house is quite empty of provisions."' + + 'Eat whatever thou likest, but dress as others do.' + + 'Like a needle, that clothes people, and is itself naked.' + + 'He who makes chaff of himself the cows will eat.' + + 'Give me wool to-day, and take sheep to-morrow.' + + 'He is high-minded but empty-bellied.' + + 'Easier to be broken than the house of a spider.' + + 'He descends like the foot of a crow, and ascends (like) the hoof + of a camel.' + +But all yield in grim drollery to the last given:-- + + 'There are no fans in hell.' + +Which, as our friend declares, 'sounds as Western as Eastern.' Verily, +extremes meet. + + * * * * * + +Many of our exchanges have spoken of the series entitled 'Among the +Pines,' now publishing in this Magazine, as being written by FREDERICK +LAW OLMSTED. In justice to Mr. OLMSTED we would state that he is not the +author of the articles in question, and regret that the unauthorized +statement should have obtained such general credence. + +A statement has also appeared in many journals declaring that the +literary matter of the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY is the same with that +published in the KNICKERBOCKER Magazine. We need not say that it is +_entirely false_, as any reader may ascertain for himself who will take +the pains to compare the two publications. Not one line has ever +appeared in common in the Magazines. The _Knickerbocker_ is printed and +PUBLISHED in New York, at No. 532 Broadway, the CONTINENTAL in Boston, +at No. 110 Tremont Street. + + * * * * * + +The editor of the CONTINENTAL begs leave to repeat that as the principal +object of the Magazine is to draw forth such views as may be practically +useful in the present crisis, its pages will always be open to +contributions even of a widely varying character, the only condition +being that they shall be written by friends of the Union. And we call +special attention to the fact that while holding firmly to our own +views, as set forth under the Editorial heading, we by no means profess +to endorse those of our contributors, but shall leave the reader to make +his own comments on these. + + * * * * * + +Readers will confer a favor by forwarding to us any pamphlets, secession +or Union, on the war, which they may be disposed to spare. + + + + +THE KNICKERBOCKER + +FOR 1862. + + +In the beginning of the last year, when its present proprietors assumed +control of the Knickerbocker, they announced their determination to +spare no pains to place it in its true position as the leading +_literary_ Monthly in America. When rebellion had raised a successful +front, and its armies threatened the very existence of the Republic, it +was impossible to permit a magazine, which in its circulation reached +the best intellects in the land, to remain insensible or indifferent to +the dangers which threatened the Union. The proprietors accordingly gave +notice, that it would present in its pages, forcible expositions with +regard to the great question of the times,--_how to preserve the_ UNITED +STATES OF AMERICA _in their integrity and unity_. How far this pledge +has been redeemed the public must judge. It would, however, be mere +affectation to ignore the seal approbation which has been placed on +these efforts. The proprietors gratefully acknowledge this, and it has +led them to embark in a fresh undertaking, as already announced,--the +publication of the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY, devoted to Literature and +National Policy; in which magazine, those who have sympathized with the +political opinions recently set forth in the KNICKERBOCKER, will find +the same views more fully enforced and maintained by the ablest and most +energetic minds in America. + +The KNICKERBOCKER, while it will continue firmly pledged to the cause of +the Union, will henceforth be more earnestly devoted to literature, and +will leave no effort untried to attain the highest excellence in those +departments of letters which it has adopted as specialties. + +The January number commences its thirtieth year. With such antecedents +as it possesses, it seems unnecessary to make any especial pledges as to +its future, but it may not be amiss to say that it will be the aim of +its conductors to make it more and more deserving of the liberal support +it has hitherto received. The same eminent writers who have contributed +to it during the past year will continue to enrich its pages, and in +addition, contributions will appear from others of the highest +reputation, as well as from many rising authors. While it will, as +heretofore, cultivate the genial and humorous, it will also pay +assiduous attention to the higher departments of art and letters, and +give fresh and spirited articles on such biographical, historical, +scientific, and general subjects as are of especial interest to the +public. + +In the January issue will commence a series of papers by CHARLES GODFREY +LELAND, entitled "SUNSHINE IN LETTERS," which will be found interesting +to scholars as well as to the general reader, and in an early number +will appear the first chapters of a NEW and INTERESTING NOVEL, +descriptive of American life and character. + +According to the unanimous opinion of the American press, the +KNICKERBOCKER has been greatly improved during the past year, _and it is +certain that at no period of its long career did it ever attract more +attention or approbation_. Confident of their enterprise and ability, +the proprietors are determined that it shall be still more eminent in +excellence, containing all that is best of the old, and being +continually enlivened by what is most brilliant of the new. + +TERMS.--Three dollars a year, in advance. Two copies for Four Dollars +and fifty cents. Three copies for Six dollars. Subscribers remitting +Three Dollars will receive as a premium, (post-paid,) a copy of Richard +B. Kimball's great work, "THE REVELATIONS OF WALL STREET," to be +published by G.P. Putnam, early in February next, (price $1.) +Subscribers remitting Four Dollars will receive the KNICKERBOCKER and +the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY for one year. As but one edition of each number +of the Knickerbocker is printed, those desirous of commencing with the +volume should subscribe at once. + +The publisher, appreciating the importance of literature to the soldier +on duty, will send a copy _gratis_, during the continuance of the war, +to any regiment in active service, on application being made by its +Colonel or Chaplain. Subscriptions will also be received from those +desiring it sent to soldiers in the ranks at _half price_, but in such +cases it must be mailed from the office of publication. + +J.R. GILMORE, 532 Broadway, New York. + +C.T. EVANS, General Agent, 532 Broadway, New York. + +All communications and contributions, intended for the Editorial +department, should be addressed to CHARLES G. LELAND, Editor of the +"Knickerbocker," care of C.T. EVANS, 532 Broadway, New York. + +Newspapers copying the above and giving the Magazine monthly notices, +will be entitled to an exchange. + + + + +PROSPECTUS OF The Continental Monthly + + * * * * * + +There are periods in the world's history marked by extraordinary and +violent crises, sudden as the breaking forth of a volcano, or the +bursting of a storm on the ocean. These crimes sweep away in a moment +the landmarks of generations. They call out fresh talent, and give to +the old a new direction. It is then that new ideas are born, new +theories developed. Such periods demand fresh exponents, and new men for +expounders. + +This Continent has lately been convulsed by an upheaving so sudden and +terrible that the relations of all men and all classes to each other are +violently disturbed, and people look about for the elements with which +to sway the storm and direct the whirlwind. Just at present, we do not +know what all this is to bring forth; but we do know that great results +MUST flow from such extraordinary commotions. + +At a juncture so solemn and so important, there is a special need that +the intellectual force of the country should be active and efficient. It +is a time for great minds to speak their thoughts boldly, and to take +position as the advance guard. To this end, there is a special want +unsupplied. It is that of an Independent Magazine, which shall be open +to the first intellects of the land, and which shall treat the issues +presented, and to be presented to the country, in a tone no way tempered +by partisanship, or influenced by fear, favor, or the hope of reward; +which shall seize and grapple with the momentous subjects that the +present disturbed state of affairs heave to the surface, and which CAN +NOT be laid aside or neglected. + +To meet this want, the undersigned have commenced, under the editorial +charge of CHARLES GODFREY LELAND, the publication of a new Magazine, +devoted to Literature and National Policy. + +In POLITICS, it will advocate, with all the force at its command, +measures best adapted to preserve the oneness and integrity of these +United States. It will never yield to the idea of any disruption of this +Republic, peaceably or otherwise; and it will discuss with honesty and +impartiality what must be done to save it. In this department, some of +the most eminent statesmen of the time will contribute regularly to its +pages. + +In LITERATURE, it will be sustained by the best writers and ablest +thinkers of this country. Life, by RICHARD B. KIMBALL, ESQ., the very +popular author of "The Revelations of Wall Street," "St. Leger," &c. A +series of papers by HON. HORACE GREELEY, embodying the distinguished +author's observations on the growth and development of the Great West. A +series of articles by the author of "Through the Cotton States," +containing the result of an extended tour in the seaboard Slave States, +just prior to the breaking out of the war, and presenting a startling +and truthful picture of the real condition of that region. No pains will +be spared to render the literary attractions of the CONTINENTAL both +brilliant and substantial. The lyrical or descriptive talents of the +most eminent literati have been promised to its pages; and nothing will +be admitted which will not be distinguished by marked energy, +originality, and solid strength. Avoiding every influence or association +partaking of clique or coterie, it will be open to all contributions of +real merit, even from writers differing materially in their views; the +only limitation required being that of devotion to the Union, and the +only standard of acceptance that of intrinsic excellence. + +The EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT will embrace, in addition to vigorous and +fearless comments on the events of the times, genial gossip with the +reader on all current topics, and also devote abundant space to those +racy specimens of American wit and humor, without which there can be no +perfect exposition of our national character. Among those who will +contribute regularly to this department may be mentioned the name of +CHARLES F. BROWNE ("Artemus Ward"), from whom we have promised an +entirely new and original series of SKETCHES OF WESTERN LIFE. + +The CONTINENTAL will be liberal and progressive, without yielding to +chimeras and hopes beyond the grasp of the age; and it will endeavor to +reflect the feelings and interests of the American people, and to +illustrate both their serious and humorous peculiarities. In short, no +pains will be spared to make it the REPRESENTATIVE MAGAZINE of the time. + +TERMS:--Three Dollars per year, in advance (postage paid by the +Publishers;) Two Copies for Five Dollars; Three Copies for Six Dollars, +(postage unpaid); Eleven copies for Twenty Dollars, (postage unpaid). +Single numbers can be procured of any News-dealer in the United States. +The KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE and the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY will be furnished +for one year at FOUR DOLLARS. + +Appreciating the importance of literature to the soldier on duty, the +publisher will send the CONTINENTAL, _gratis_, to any regiment in active +service, on application being made by its Colonel or Chaplain; he will +also receive subscriptions from those desiring to furnish it to soldiers +in the ranks at half the regular price; but in such cases it must be +mailed from the office of publication. + +J.R. GILMORE, 110 Tremont Street, Boston. + +CHARLES T. EVANS, at G.P. PUTNAM'S, 532 Broadway, New York, is +authorized to receive Subscriptions in that City. + +N.B.--Newspapers publishing this Prospectus, and giving the CONTINENTAL +monthly notices, will be entitled to an exchange. + + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] _Journey in the Back Country_. By Frederick Law Olmsted. + +[B] The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, _Sentinel_, of June 3, contained a +confirmation of these statements in regard to Northern Alabama. A +gentleman returned from 'a prolonged tour through the cotton States' +communicated a narrative, which demonstrated that the people of +Huntsville and vicinity were very hostile to secession in January, that +'at Athens the stars and stripes floated over the court house long after +the State had enacted the farce of secession,' and that, even in May, +open opposition to secession existed '_in the mountain portion of +Alabama, a large tract of country, embracing about one-third of the +State, lying adjacent to and south of the Tennessee valley_.' The writer +added, 'IN THEIR MOUNTAIN FASTNESSES THEY DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE +SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, OR THE POWER OF ITS RULERS.' + +[C] It is proved, by the great increase of the cotton crop during this +period, that the surplus increase of slaves was mainly composed of field +hands purchased in the border States. + +[D] 'The Edwards Family;' page 11. + +[E] 'If some learned philosopher who had been abroad, in giving an +account of the curious observations he had made in his travels, should +say he had been in _Terra del Fuego_, and there had seen an animal, +which he calls by a certain name, that begat and brought forth itself, +and yet had a sire and dam distinct from itself; that it had an appetite +and was hungry before it had a being; that his master, who led him and +governed by him, and driven by him where he pleased; that when he moved +he always took a step before the first step; that he went with his head +first, and yet always went tail foremost, and this though he had neither +head nor tail,' etc. etc.--_Freedom of the Will_, part 4. + +[F] Sismondi's History of the French. + +[G] Benoit, Hist. Rev. Edict of Nantes, book 7. + +[H] Dr. Baird, vol. I. p. 174. + +[I] Oxford town records. + +[J] Vandenkemp's Alb. Rec. viii. + +[K] Instances are frequent where Southern gentlemen form these +left-handed connections, and rear two sets of differently colored +children; but it is not often that the two families occupy the same +domicil. The only other case within my _personal_ knowledge was that of +the well-known President of the Bank of St. M----, at Columbia, Ga. That +gentleman, whose note ranked in Wall Street, when the writer was +acquainted with that locality, as 'A No. 1,' lived for fifteen years +with two 'wives' under one roof. One--an accomplished white woman, and +the mother of several children--did the honors of his table, and moved +with him in 'the best society;' the other--a beautiful quadroon, also +the mother of several children--filled the humbler office of nurse to +her own and the other's offspring. + +In conversation with a well-known Southern gentleman, not long since, I +mentioned these two cases, and commented on them as a man educated with +New England ideas might be supposed to do. The gentleman admitted that +he knew of twenty such instances, and gravely defended the practice as +being infinitely more moral and respectable than _the more relation_ +existing between masters and slaves. + +[L] Among the things of which slavery has deprived the black is a +_name_. A slave has no family designation. It may be for that reason +that a high-sounding appellation is usually selected for the single one +he is allowed to appropriate. + +[M] It is not now improper to broach this button ruse, because it was +recently discovered at the South and is guarded against. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Continental Monthly - Volume 1 - Issue +3, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTINENTAL MONTHLY VOL.1 ISS.3 *** + +***** This file should be named 14583.txt or 14583.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/5/8/14583/ + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Josephine Paolucci +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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