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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March
+1863, 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: The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March 1863
+       Devoted To Literature And National Policy
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: April 27, 2008 [EBook #25191]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTNENTAL MONTHLY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Joshua Hutchinson and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by Cornell
+University Digital Collections)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE
+
+CONTINENTAL MONTHLY:
+
+DEVOTED TO
+
+LITERATURE AND NATIONAL POLICY.
+
+
+VOL. III.--MARCH, 1863.--No. III.
+
+
+
+
+TURKEY.
+
+
+The decline of the Turkish Empire has furnished an eloquent theme for
+historians, who have ever made it the 'point and commendation of their
+tale.' Judging from its decline, they have predicted its fall. Half a
+century ago, the historian of the middle ages expected with an assurance
+that 'none can deem extravagant,' the approaching subversion of the
+Ottoman power. Although deprived of some of its richest possessions and
+defeated in many a well-fought field, the house of Othman still
+stands--amid crumbling monarchies and subjugated countries; the crescent
+still glitters on the Bosphorus, and still the 'tottering arch of
+conquest spans the ample region from Bagdad to Belgrade.'
+
+Yet, how sadly changed is Turkey from her former self--how varied the
+fortunes of her classic fields! The physical features of the country are
+the same as in the days of Solyman the Magnificent; the same noble
+rivers water the fertile valleys, and the same torrents sweep down the
+mountain sides; the waves of the �gean and Mediterranean wash the same
+shores, fertile in vines and olive trees; the same heaven smiles over
+the tombs of the storied brave--but here no longer is the abode of the
+rulers and lawgivers of one half the world.
+
+It has been said, and with some degree of truth, that the Turks are
+encamped, not settled in Europe. In their political and social
+institutions they have never comported themselves as if they anticipated
+to make it their continuing home. Their oriental legends relate how the
+belief arose in the very hour of conquest that the standard of the Cross
+should at some future day be carried to the Bosphorus, and that the
+European portion of the empire would he regained by Christians. From
+this superstitious belief they selected the Asiatic shore for the burial
+of true Mussulmans; nor was it altogether a fanciful belief, for in the
+sudden rise of Russia, Turkey foresaw the harbinger of her fall, and
+recognized in Muscovite warriors the antagonists of fate.
+
+A nation to be long-lived must rise higher and higher in the scale of
+civilization; must approach nearer and nearer its meridian, but never
+culminate. The Athenians reached the zenith of their glory in the age of
+Pericles, and lost in fifty years what they had acquired in centuries.
+The Turks attained their meridian greatness in the reign of Solyman the
+Magnificent--from which time dates their decline.
+
+If we make a comparison between Turkey and her formidable neighbor,
+Russia, we shall find that the latter adopted, while the former resisted
+reforms. Turkey was in the fulness of her power when Russia had not yet
+a name. The spirit of the Ottomans was remarkably exclusive. They
+regarded themselves as a separate and distinct people; they were
+conquerors, and as such thought themselves a superior race--men who were
+to teach and not to learn. In their intercourse with other nations, they
+borrowed nothing, and out of themselves looked for nothing. Their
+feeling of national glory was not extinguished by national degradation,
+but cherished through ages of slavery and shame. But the world is a
+world of progress. A nation cannot remain stationary; she must advance
+or retrograde. Turkey is not what she was, while Russia, with the rest
+of Christendom, has advanced; her faults grew with her strength, but did
+not die with her decay. It will not be sufficient for her merely to
+regain her former power; she must overtake Christendom in the progress
+made during her decadence. Her spirit of vitality is not yet extinct; it
+wants guidance and development to strengthen and elevate it. There is
+still hope of reforming the Turkish empire without that baptism of blood
+which many have urged and are still urging. Indeed, Lord Palmerston
+declared in Parliament that Turkey has made a more rapid advance and
+been improved more during the last ten years (he made this statement in
+1854, and Turkey has been rapidly progressing since) than any other
+country in Europe.
+
+Before considering the question of reform, it will be necessary to take
+a cursory view of Turkish history and character.
+
+While the monarchs of Constantinople were waging war with Persia, and
+both empires were tottering; while the Christian religion gave rise to
+different sects, hating each other with intense and fanatical hatred, a
+silent power was rising among the Turks, which was destined to subvert
+empires and found a new religion. Their original seat was among the
+Altai mountains, where they were employed by their masters in working
+iron mines. They rose in rebellion, threw off their allegiance, and made
+incursions into Persia and China, proving themselves formidable enemies.
+From being a weak and enslaved people they became the allies and
+conquerors of the Byzantine emperors. 'With the Koran in one hand,' says
+Macaulay, 'and the sword in the other, they went forth conquering and
+converting eastward to the Bay of Bengal, and westward to the Pillars of
+Hercules.' They became a terror to the nations that had beheld with
+contempt their rising greatness. Amid the expiring glories of the Roman
+world they made Constantinople the capital of their empire. It was all
+that the oriental imagination could desire. Rendered by its
+fortifications impregnable, and situated on the Bosphorus, whose dark
+blue waters flow between shores of unrivalled beauty, where nature and
+art had reared their grandest monuments, it surpassed in wealth and
+grandeur Nineveh and Babylon.
+
+From this stronghold, which had been the cradle of Christianity, and
+which had witnessed the dying struggle of the Roman empire, the
+conquerors, maddened with the victories and crowned with the wealth
+which years of perpetual war had heaped upon them, mustered their armies
+and sallied forth. They subjugated many countries, but copied none of
+their virtues; and to-day their degenerate descendants still retain most
+of their original traits of character. Their religious sense is deep,
+but theirs is a religion which blunts and stupefies the intellectual
+faculties, and makes man fit only to perform a score of prostrations
+each day. It inspires courage in war, but it also teaches blind
+resignation to defeat and disgrace: it teaches morality, but sensuality
+and ferocity are not inconsistent with its doctrines. Eat, drink,
+smoke--indulge all the passions to-day, for immortality begins
+to-morrow! No Turk is so high that he has not a master, none so low that
+he has not a slave; the grand vizier kisses the sultan's foot, the pasha
+kisses the vizier's, the bey the pasha's, and so on. Yet their many
+virtues half redeem their faults. They are proverbial for their
+hospitality, and charity, which 'covereth a multitude of sins,' is an
+oriental virtue. They have, too, great love of nationality. The beggar
+who seeks alms of the Turk with cries and entreaties, will not ask a
+single para of the Frank (a name applied to all foreigners).
+
+Turkey in Europe, though smaller in extent than the Asiatic division of
+the empire, is by far the wealthier and more important. It extends from
+Russia to the Adriatic, and from Hungary to the Euxine sea, the command
+of which it shares jointly with Russia. The Straits of Constantinople,
+the Dardanelles, and the Sea of Marmora are free to all friendly
+nations. The situation of the country, its numerous and safe harbors,
+are all favorable to commerce. There is every variety of climate, and
+the soil in every part of the empire is fertile, and, when cultivated,
+yields productions in the greatest abundance. The agricultural, like the
+manufacturing industry, owing to the indolence of the people, is much
+neglected. This indolence is, in a great measure, the result of
+oppression. Before Russia extended her protection over the provinces,
+the Turks left agriculture to their tributaries, whom, when wealthy and
+prosperous, they plundered.
+
+Let us now consider the causes which led to the decline of the empire.
+In the reign of Solyman, poetry, science, and art flourished. New
+privileges were conferred upon the ministers of religion; the
+Janissaries received increased pay; the coffers of the empire were
+filled to overflowing; the condition of the rayas was ameliorated;
+security to life, honor, and property was given to all, without
+distinction of creed or race. But even then there were causes at work
+destined to effect a decline. The sultan in person was ever at the head
+of his troops. Thus the vizier, or prime minister, who remained in the
+capital, became, by degrees, a more influential personage than 'the
+grand seignior' himself. The intrigues of the eunuchs in the imperial
+harem began to exert their baneful influences on the administration. The
+seraglio--in which many hundred females are immured, the most beautiful
+that can be found in the contiguous realms of Europe and Asia, wherever
+the Turk bears sway--from being the most beautiful appendage, became the
+moving spring of the Ottoman Porte. The inmates formed a faction hostile
+to the ministers of religion. The administration was transferred to
+Greeks, Jews, and Armenians, who filled the treasury of the sultan and
+enriched themselves by impoverishing the people, who, since they could
+no longer enjoy the fruits of their labor, became indolent. The army was
+more eager for booty and captives than for glory; slaves were
+multiplied; the higher classes revelled in wealth and luxury, while the
+poorer classes with difficulty obtained a livelihood.
+
+It would be strange, indeed, if in an empire so extensive and with an
+immense and motley population, we did not find it difficult to introduce
+reforms, and instruct the people in the arts of more civilized nations,
+and remove old abuses, guarded by the fanaticism of the clergy.
+Political reforms can be made only by those in high places of authority;
+and to be sanctioned by the prejudiced and infatuated Ottoman they must
+assume the garb of religion. The sultan himself, wielding the sceptre
+over millions of subjects, uniting in his own person all the powers of
+the state, claiming to reign by divine commission, and profanely styling
+himself the shadow of God--even he dares not venture to vary one iota
+from the teachings of the Koran and the Sunnah.
+
+Selim III was the first royal reformer. While Europe was shaken to its
+very centre, and the continental monarchs trembled on their thrones, he
+applied himself assiduously to those civil and military reforms, which
+his successors promoted, and without which Turkey could not have
+maintained her position as a European power. Selim made a new
+organization of the army, made innovations in the judicial and
+administrative branches of the government, changed the system of
+taxation, and gave a decidedly new organization to the divan, where
+reform was most needed. He also attempted to make innovations in the
+financial department, but by depreciating the coin, in order to fill an
+exhausted treasury, signally failed. He deposed the then reigning
+hospodars of the Moldo-Wallachian provinces, and established others more
+favorable to his work of reform. Russia and England remonstrated at this
+measure, and war was declared. The Turkish army was defeated and driven
+across the Danube. The Janissaries, ignorantly attributing their defeat
+to Selim's reforms in military discipline, rose in rebellion. The
+well-meant but too mild sultan fell a victim to their violence, and was
+succeeded by Mustapha, who had instigated the insurgents to revolt. His
+short reign is signalized by the vigorous measures he took to destroy
+Selim's reforms. Shortly after his accession to the throne, the defeat
+of the Turkish fleet by the Russians spread consternation and terror
+through the capital. It was at this critical juncture that an Asiatic
+pasha, a friend of the deposed sultan, advanced with a powerful army,
+and laid siege to Constantinople, which yielded to him after a vigorous
+resistance of one year. Mahmoud ascended the throne. From Selim, his
+cousin, he had learned the lamentable condition of the empire and the
+necessity of reform. He had no sooner ascended the throne, than the
+Janissaries began to manifest a feverish anxiety for revolt. No time was
+to be lost; and Mahmoud acted with that energy which was one of the few
+redeeming traits of his character. Mustapha, the murderer of Selim and
+the destroyer of the work of a lifetime, was put to death; his son and
+wives shared his fate. Mahmoud was now firmly established. He was the
+last scion of the Othman race, and as such was vested with _sacrosancta
+potestas_. He resolved to annihilate the unruly corps and anathematize
+their name. He engaged the services of their aga, or commander-in-chief,
+to whom he made known his plans. His next step was to issue an order
+commanding each regiment to furnish one hundred and fifty men to be
+drilled after the manner of European soldiers. The friends of Mahmoud
+asked: 'Is he mad?' The soldiers exclaimed: 'Bismillah! he wants to make
+infidels of us. Does he think we are no better than infidel dogs?' The
+Janissaries reversed their kettles (the signal of revolt) in the
+Byzantine hippodrome, and calling upon their patron saint, proceeded to
+attack the royal palace. But Mahmoud was prepared to receive them. All
+his other troops, artillery, marines, and infantry, were under arms and
+at his command. The ulemas pronounced a curse of eternal dissolution
+upon the insurgents. Mahmoud unfurled the sacred standard of the
+prophet, and called on his people for assistance. A hundred cannon
+opened fire upon their barracks, and in an hour twenty-five thousand
+Janissaries were mowed down by grapeshot and scimitars. Their bodies
+broke the lingering fast of the hungry dogs, or were cast into the
+Bosphorus, and hurried by its rapid currents into the Sea of Marmora.
+The annihilation of the Janissaries took place in 1826.
+
+It is more than probable that Mahmoud could have effected a salutary
+reform in the military system without resorting to extreme violence. He
+was naturally of a cruel disposition, and was also deficient in prudence
+and moderation. He gave the Janissaries cause to revolt; he made
+frivolous innovations in their long-cherished customs, by commanding
+them to shave their beards and forbidding them to wear the turban, a
+beautiful headdress, an ornament at once national and religious. These
+measures excited the disgust of all 'true believers,' while his enemies
+called him an infidel, and his warmest supporters and the strongest
+advocates of reform despaired of success. Innovations are expedient only
+when they remove evil, and when men are prepared to receive them.
+Command a Turk to shave his beard--by which he swears--the idol of his
+life. As well bid him cut off his right arm or pluck out an eye--he
+would obey one as soon as the other. The impolicy of changing the
+customs and dress of a half-civilized, warlike nation, has been made
+obvious in many instances--none more impressive than the mutiny of the
+Anglo-Indian army at Velore in 1806.
+
+Mahmoud in destroying the Janissaries took for his model Peter the
+Great. Never were two sovereigns more unlike each other. Peter, generous
+and humane, leaving his throne and travelling in disguise to educate
+himself, stands in bold contrast with the parsimonious and cruel sultan.
+Moreover, Mahmoud's was a more difficult undertaking. The Strelitzes
+whom the czar annihilated were unsupported, were famous by no
+illustrious victory, and had not an enthusiastic religious feeling. The
+Janissaries, on the other hand, had strong family interests; they, too,
+had decided the fate of the empire at the battle of Varna, where their
+bravery established the Ottoman power, whose brightest triumphs were
+clustered around their names; they had fought many a bloody battle, and
+had never turned their backs to the foe; their leader was chosen from
+their own ranks, and no nobility controlled their ambition or prevented
+them from receiving the honor due to enterprise and valor; they held the
+sultan in check; the ulemas gave sanction to their laws, and they in
+turn sustained the authority of the ulemas with their swords. As long as
+they experienced no change in their discipline and customs they were
+invincible. But they too had participated in the universal degeneracy.
+Like the Pr�torian bands of Rome, they had become the absolute masters
+of the empire. They pulled down and set up sultans at their will; their
+valor had departed, but their unconquerable pride remained as part of
+their heritage. Their ranks were filled with crowds of Greeks, Jews, and
+Moslems, without discipline and without order. Many who had purchased
+the privilege of being numbered in this formidable body, lived outside
+of the barracks, and assembled only on pay day or in times of tumult and
+rebellion. They despised all laws, civil and religious, and were a
+constant source of annoyance to the people, whose lives and property
+were at their mercy. Such were the subjects upon whom Mahmoud was to
+operate. In the destruction of the Strelitzes and the Janissaries, Peter
+and Mahmoud may be compared to two physicians: one practises on a
+healthy savage, while the other attempts to cut out a malignant cancer
+reaching the vitals, from the pampered sensualist. In annihilating these
+troops, as in his other reforms, Mahmoud began where he should have
+ended his labors; he mistook the end for the means.
+
+Had he stopped with this act of violence, his supporters might defend
+him on the doubtful ground of expediency; but he did not stop here. For
+centuries the tyranny of the sultans had been restrained by the
+derebeys, or lords of the valleys. They had been confirmed in the
+possession of their lands by Mohammed II, from which time they had
+continued to pay tribute to the sultan, and furnished him with quotas of
+troops. The sultan had no control over their lives or property. The
+subjects who tilled the productive lands of the valleys were suitably
+rewarded for their labor. The happiest and wealthiest peasants of the
+empire were found among the vassals of the beys, to whom they showed
+great devotion. These feudal lords, at a moment's warning, could summon
+twenty thousand men before their palace gates. They furnished the
+greater part of the sultan's cavalry force in war; and, unlike the
+pashas, had never raised the standard of rebellion; they had never
+wished for revolutions, and had never sanctioned insurrections. The
+possession of their property was guaranteed to them by inheritance, and
+they had no need of money with which to bribe the Sublime Porte.
+
+Mahmoud was bent on depriving them of their wealth and curtailing their
+privileges. They were rich, did not bribe him, and held hereditary
+possessions. These were unpardonable crimes in the sight of this
+exemplary reformer. The beys, who never dealt in treachery, were
+unsuspicious of others, and fell an easy prey. The peasants ceased to
+cultivate the lands from which they could no longer profit; and many of
+the wealthiest possessions became desolate. We must not think it
+strange, therefore, that the military power was prostrated, when, after
+having annihilated the Janissaries, Mahmoud deprived the derebeys of
+their ancient authority; for the military power of the empire rested
+chiefly in these two bodies. These innovations were made in the midst of
+a destructive Greek war, and at a time when the Danube and the Balkan
+were no longer formidable barriers to the Muscovite descendants of Ivan
+the Terrible, who brought back memories of the past, and threatened to
+avenge deeply treasured wrongs. Even at this critical period, when his
+army was annihilated, his fleet defeated, and the legions of Russia
+within a few days' march of Constantinople, Mahmoud threatened to feed
+his horses at the high altar of St. Peter's, and proclaim the religion
+of the prophet in the Muscovite capital. A threat that savored more of
+the seraglio than of the throne!
+
+His next step was to assail the privileges of the great provincial
+cities, the inhabitants of which elected from their own number ayans, or
+magistrates, distinguished for their wisdom and virtue. These
+magistrates had much influence among the people; they had always
+resisted exorbitant taxes and unjust decrees; their protection was
+extended to Mussulmans and Christians without distinction. Their power
+of veto was almost as effective as that of the _tribuni plebis_ of Rome;
+they could point back to Solyman, the Solon of his time, as the author
+of their protective system. But their power originated with the people.
+To this Mahmoud would not submit. All power must emanate from him, the
+all-wise and innovating sultan, who raised the low and humbled the
+great, not as they were honest or corrupt, but as they fawned upon him,
+or refused to yield implicit obedience to his nod.
+
+In their endeavors to institute a new financial system, the predecessors
+of Mahmoud reduced the standard of money gradually, in order not to
+produce a panic. But he wished to accomplish in one day the work of
+years. He issued a decree commanding the people to bring all their coin,
+gold and silver, to their respective governors--where they would receive
+less than half its value! He threatened the refractory with death. The
+capital resounded with the dreaded cry of rebellion; and the exasperated
+multitude that had surrounded the royal palace was not appeased until it
+witnessed the public execution of the mint officers, whose only crime
+was obedience to their master. This impolitic measure in the financial
+department impoverished the people, and left the treasury still empty.
+Foreign speculators bought the money--the circulation of which had
+become illegal--and resold it to the sultan for sterling value!
+
+Shortly after this he expelled about thirty thousand Christians from the
+capital, which they had embellished and enriched by their labor. Their
+fidelity had never been doubted. For this despicable act--their
+expulsion--Mahmoud could adduce no better reason than that 'it was
+solely on political grounds.' Strange politics this, for a sovereign,
+who professed to have the magnanimity of Christian rulers! On the
+expulsion of the Christians, Russia commenced hostilities, and a war
+followed, in which the sultan paid dearly for his rashness.
+
+In short, Mahmoud could not have given a better lesson to his subjects
+than by reforming himself. He was cruel beyond measure--if the grand
+seignior can ever be so called, who is taught that he may lop off a
+score of heads each day 'for divine inspiration.' Still if he had been
+as thoroughly skilled as he professed to have been, he should have shown
+himself a humane as well as an innovating sovereign. Those who assisted
+him in his reforms, he rewarded with the bowstring. His character was
+blackened by ingratitude, an instinctive vice in oriental rulers.
+Obstinate as he was suspicious, deceitful as he was cunning, he could
+not rule his own passions, much less could he control the corrupt morals
+of his people. He was to an extraordinary degree avaricious, a quality
+everywhere odious, but especially in a land where generosity measures
+love--where in the highest and in the lowest stations liberality is the
+moving spring. While he mistook parsimony for economy, he did not
+scruple to make war on trifling pretexts and waste his amassed treasures
+in a hopeless cause.
+
+In every attempted reform he wounded Ottoman pride and prejudice. Unlike
+his cousin, he did not humor the faults of the people while making
+innovations; he neither amused them with imposing shows, nor flattered
+them by the pompous spectacle of his appearance in public--in one word,
+he wanted the tact of a reformer. Selim, while he increased the navy and
+established manufactories, built gorgeous palaces, and by his
+magnificence dazzled the people, who were blind to his real designs;
+they even permitted him to set up printing presses in the large cities,
+on receiving assurance that the Koran would not be submitted to the
+unholy process of squeezing!
+
+Mahmoud thought, or pretended to think, that he could reform the empire
+by imitating only the vices of Christianity, and manifesting a contempt
+for Moslem virtues. While he drank wine--and in many other breaches of
+the teachings of the sacred book provoked the faithful--his
+proclamations breathed a most orthodox and fanatical spirit. He was a
+sceptic; neither Mussulman nor Christian, but surprisingly inconsistent
+and capricious. His, we fear, were 'hangman's hands,' and 'not ordained
+to build a temple unto peace.'
+
+Under Solyman the Magnificent, at once the most warlike monarch and
+munificent patron of literature and art, the constitution of the
+Janissaries was wise and effective. The children of Christians, taken by
+the Turks in war or in their predatory incursions, were exposed in the
+public markets of Constantinople, whence any person was at liberty to
+take them into his service, on making a contract with the government to
+return them at the demand of the sultan. These children were instructed
+in Islamism, and were trained by manly exercise and labor, calculated to
+strengthen the body and give elasticity to the spirits. From these hardy
+orphans the ranks of the Janissaries were recruited. They came eagerly
+to the camp; for they had been taught to regard it as the theatre of
+their future glory. From earliest infancy they looked forward with joy
+to the time when they should be numbered among those brave soldiers,
+whose arms had maintained for a long series of years the supremacy of
+the crescent. There was no rank, no dignity in the Turkish army to which
+a Janissary could not aspire--a strong incentive to the display of
+bravery. Such was the constitution of the army when it was the most
+powerful in Europe: then it gained its victories, not by force of
+numbers, but by superior military discipline and valor. In the middle of
+the nineteenth century the capture of Christian children was abandoned.
+The land forces degenerated into a wretchedly organized army of less
+than three hundred thousand men, drafted from the lowest classes.
+Mothers put their children to death that they might be spared the pangs
+of seeing them torn away to pass their days in scenes of shame and
+dissipation.
+
+Not till the army had become a laughing stock to the weakest European
+power did the sultans perceive the necessity of military reform. Selim
+III established a school for artillery and naval officers, and engaged
+Europeans, especially Frenchmen, as instructors in military science. We
+can readily comprehend the degeneracy of the Turkish army, when we
+remember that since the establishment of the school at Sulitzi for
+engineers, the Turks have learned from foreign teachers military tactics
+of which their own ancestors were the inventors, and which had been
+forgotten, although full accounts of them lay hidden in musty volumes in
+their military archives.
+
+Foreign officers were at first regarded with contempt by Turkish
+soldiers, whose unconquerable pride has ever proved a great impediment
+to the regeneration of the empire. Moslem talent was not equal to the
+exigencies that arose from the impolitic measures of Mahmoud. We find a
+parallel case in Russia. Had Peter trusted to Muscovite genius to form
+and command the troops which superseded the Strelitzes, Charles XII
+would have quartered in the Kremlin.
+
+Kutchuk Husseyin, the relative and favorite of Selim, made valuable
+additions to the navy in which his master took such pride. Husseyin, who
+had the welfare of his country at heart, was liberal and disinterested.
+Vested with the office of captain pasha, he sent to Greece for
+architects and engineers, with whose assistance he fortified Stamboul,
+Sinope, and Rhodes; he built arsenals and extensive docks, which he
+supplied with the necessary equipments of a powerful fleet. In a short
+time, twenty sail of the line, constructed on the newest European
+models, rode at anchor within sight of his palace. He also erected
+barracks for the troops, and greatly improved the naval school. The
+sudden death of Selim paralyzed the navy, which soon resumed its
+accustomed languor.
+
+The events of 1821, in which the Turkish fleet was defeated by armed
+merchant vessels of Greece, gave a fresh impulse to the navy.
+Experienced officers were placed in command, who, as they grew in
+strength, grew in confidence, and trusted more to their own resources
+than to the protection of Allah. Six years after the defeat, the navy
+was in a state of greater practical efficiency than at any other time.
+After a protracted struggle of five years it had gained the undisputed
+supremacy of the Archipelago; and had it not been for the disastrous
+defeat at Navarino, it would have proved equal, if not superior, to the
+Russian fleet in the Black sea. The Turkish navy, to-day, numbers about
+sixty war vessels, six of which are ships of the line, and six steam
+frigates, built partly at London and Toulon.
+
+The standing army in times of peace consists of 150,000 regulars; 60,000
+auxiliaries (such as the Egyptian forces); and those of the northern
+provinces, 110,000; with a corps de reserve of 150,000--an aggregate of
+470,000 men. The army is recruited by lot and conscription (as in
+France), and not as formerly, by arbitrary compulsion. Christians are
+excluded from service in the infidel ranks, but pay a military tax.
+Partial infringements, however, have been made in this exclusion, by
+employing Armenians in the marine service and at the arsenals. Active
+service in the army continues for a period of seven years; and the
+discharged soldiers belong to the reserved force for five years more.
+The organization of the corps de reserve is the same as that of the
+regular army. Their arms and equipments are kept in the state arsenals,
+and are produced only when the soldiers are called out, which takes
+place once a year, after the harvest season. During one month, the
+members of this corps de reserve lead a military life, and receive
+regular pay.
+
+The army is divided into six divisions of 25,000 each. The artillery is
+modelled after the most approved Prussian system, while the infantry and
+cavalry drill according to French tactics, and use French accoutrements
+and arms. Thus, Turkey, with a standing army of 150,000 men, can muster
+a force of nearly 500,000 at a few hours' notice; provided, however, she
+has money to pay the troops, for the religious prejudices of the
+Osmanlee do not tolerate the system of loans. So that Turkey, though she
+has neither the formidable land force of France nor the navy of England,
+is not crushed by the weight of a public debt, the principal of which
+can never be paid. This military system is the result of the labors of
+Rija Pasha and Redschid Pasha, by turn rivals and colleagues, disputing
+on matters of secondary importance, but ever cordially cooperating in
+the regeneration of the empire.
+
+More attention has been given to military than to political reforms. The
+intolerant Moslem spirit manifests direct opposition to all innovation
+in the administration. As their fathers were, so they wish to be. Before
+the time of Selim no reform movements of importance had been made in the
+administrative branches. For five centuries the sultans had received, as
+an aphorism in their political education, that the subjects existed for
+the good of the sultan, and not the sultan for the welfare of the
+people. Selim proclaimed the rights of his subjects and their supremacy;
+and his words were confirmed by his deeds.
+
+The administrative system was purely oriental, and bore scarcely any
+analogy to that of any other country. From the reign of Solyman to that
+of Selim--the protector (from whom there is no appeal) was kept closely
+confined in the seraglio walls; indeed, he was a state prisoner from his
+cradle to the day when he girt around him the imperial sabre. As the
+sultan reigned by divine commission, no education was considered good
+enough for him. Moreover, since his power was absolute, it had been
+received as a recognized principle of state policy that he should be as
+ignorant as possible, in order that he might prove more faithful to the
+will of Allah. Selim banished these antiquated notions, and instituted a
+new system--not that he lessened his own power, but established
+representative bodies to assist him in making laws, and tribunals to
+pass judgment upon and execute them.
+
+The sultan is assisted by a divan; or council of ministers, and others,
+who are nominated to that dignity by himself. The grand vizier presides
+over this body, and is responsible for all measures adopted by it.
+
+The legislative as well as the military system is borrowed from the
+French; but the sultan is the source of all law, civil and military; he
+is the summit, while the municipal institutions are the base, of the
+political fabric. In theory at least, these institutions are established
+on the broadest principles of freedom. Each community, like the communes
+of France, sends an aga, or representative, to the supreme council. By
+the famous ordinance of Gulhana, Mussulmans, Jews, and Christians are
+represented, without distinction, in proportion to their number.
+
+The administration of the interior belongs to the prime minister, who
+appoints civil governors to take charge of the general administration.
+The pashas had hitherto been both civil and military officers; purchased
+their appointments at extravagant prices, and repaid themselves by
+extortions practised upon the unfortunate subjects over whom they ruled.
+The appointment of civil governors removed this old abuse, and left the
+pashas vested only with military power. Each of the military chiefs has
+command of one of the six divisions of which the army is composed. All
+these officers receive a fixed salary; and the people, no longer subject
+to their avarice and tyranny, pay regular rates of taxation.
+
+The reforms I have mentioned, great as they were, were only preliminary
+to the publishing of the hatti-scheriff of Gulhana, the magna charta and
+bill of rights of Turkey. The son of Mahmoud, Abdul Medjid, on ascending
+the throne, published this ordinance, which was to effect a reform in
+the internal administration more beneficial than any other, either
+before or after the destruction of the Janissaries. The ulemas, state
+officers, foreign ambassadors, and a vast multitude of subjects had
+assembled on the plains of Gulhana. The illustrious writings (as the
+name signifies) were read aloud in the presence of this solemn assembly
+by Redschid Pasha. The sultan, 'under the direct inspiration of the Most
+High and of his prophet,' desired to look for the prosperity of the
+empire in a good administration. The ulemas addressed a thanksgiving to
+heaven amid the acclamations of the assembled thousands. These reforms
+were threefold: The first guaranteed security to life, honor, and
+property; the second is a new system of taxation; the third, a
+remodelled plan for levying soldiers, and defining their time of
+service. The subject can best be illustrated by quoting a few extracts
+from the hatti-scheriff itself:
+
+     'The cause of every accused person shall be adjudged publicly, in
+     conformity to our divine law, after due inquiry and investigation;
+     and as long as sentence shall not have been regularly pronounced,
+     no one shall, either publicly or privately, cause another to perish
+     by prison or any other deadly means.'
+
+     'It shall not be permitted to any one to injure another,
+     _whosoever_ he may be.'
+
+     'Every man shall possess his own property, and shall dispose of it
+     with the most entire liberty. Thus, for example, the innocent heirs
+     of a criminal shall not be deprived of their legal rights, and the
+     goods of the criminal shall not be confiscated.'
+
+     'The imperial concessions extend to _all_ subjects, whatever may be
+     their religion or sect; they shall reap the benefit of them without
+     exception.'
+
+     'As to the other points, since they must be regulated by the
+     concourse of enlightened opinion, our council of justice, with whom
+     shall assemble, on certain days to be fixed by us, the notables of
+     the land, shall meet together to lay down guiding laws on the
+     points that affect the security of life, honor, and fortune, and
+     the assessment of imposts.'
+
+     'As soon as a law shall be defined, in order to render it valid and
+     binding, it shall be laid before us to receive our sanction, which
+     we Will write with our imperial hand.'
+
+     'As these present institutions have no other object than to give
+     fresh life and vigor to religion, the government, the nation, and
+     the empire, we pledge ourselves to do nothing to counteract them.
+     Whoever of the ulemas or chief men of the empire, or any other sort
+     of person, shall violate these institutions, shall undergo the
+     punishment awarded to his offence, without respect to his rank, or
+     personal consideration and credit.'
+
+     'As all the functionaries of the government receive at the present
+     day suitable salaries, and as those that are not sufficient shall
+     be increased, a vigorous law shall be enacted against traffic in
+     posts and favors, which the divine law reprobates, and which is one
+     of the principal causes of the decline of the empire.'
+
+As a pledge of his promise, the sultan, after having deposited the
+documents in the hall that contains the 'glorious mantle' of the
+prophet, in the presence of the ulemas and chief men, swore to them in
+the name of God, and administered the same oath to the priests and
+officers. The hatti-scheriff was published in every part of the empire,
+and was well received, except by a few of the retrograde party, who
+lived by the old abuses, and vigorously resisted all attempts at
+reformation.
+
+By this ordinance, the sources of the revenue consist of the frontier
+customs, the tithes, and a property tax. In two of these three sources
+of revenue there are great abuses. In collecting the taxes, the tax
+gatherers make exhorbitant demands, for which (owing to the partiality
+of justice) there is no redress, The salguin, or land tax, is also the
+cause of constant complaint. It presses equally upon the richest and the
+poorest provinces; in consequence of which many of the most fertile
+districts have been deserted. The government is not ignorant of these
+facts. Abdul Medjid, a short time previous to his death, ordered a new
+registration of property to be made, which will, in a great measure,
+remedy this evil. This new registration caused not a little astonishment
+and fear among the peasants, who could not approve of persons taking an
+inventory of their property and their flocks. We must not be surprised
+at this, for a parallel case is close at hand. When the Emperor Joseph
+endeavored to introduce the mode of distinguishing houses in the
+principal streets of _Vienna_, by numbers instead of the antiquated mode
+by printed signs, the people were impressed with the idea that the
+numbers were affixed for the purpose of more conveniently collecting a
+new house tax!
+
+The new system of farming the revenue proved especially beneficial to
+the Christians. Under the old regime the Turks had been greatly favored.
+The poll tax formerly levied on all who were not professed followers of
+the prophet, has been abolished.
+
+The empire is wealthy--immensely wealthy; but the money is in the hands
+of the few. If we except the province of Servia, feudal lords, and tax
+collectors, the whole Turkish population consists of peasants, who till
+the soil on an equality of wretchedness. Yet it is to these same
+suffering peasants, the bone and sinew of the land, that reformers must
+look for support. It was the peasantry of Servia, headed by George the
+Black, that in 1800-1812, rose in rebellion, and whose success infused
+life and vigor into the more passive provinces. They, too, were
+peasants--those brave and resolute men who expelled from the provinces
+the robber princes, and almost gained a national existence. Many of
+these same peasants, men in whose breasts still lingered the valor that
+made their ancestors famous, joined the Grecian army in the successful
+struggle for independence; even Moslem peasants left their ploughs in
+the furrow and their herds unattended, to join the insurgents, to whose
+success they greatly contributed. The heroes of all Turkish rebellions
+have been peasants--the men of strong arms and unswerving energy. They
+are naturally of a passive disposition, but when once roused to action
+by religion or patriotism, they are as firm and unyielding in their
+purpose as their own
+
+                       'Pontic sea,
+   Whose icy currents and compulsive course
+   Ne'er feels returning ebb, but keeps due on
+   To the Propontic and the Hellespont.'
+
+In the hands of the peasantry lies the destiny of the empire, its
+regeneration or its fall. By ameliorating their condition and gaining
+their good will, the sultans cannot fail to succeed in their reforms. By
+working in opposition to them and exciting their enmity, success is
+impossible.
+
+The social system introduced by the victorious Othmans among the
+conquered nations was not as oppressive as is generally believed. The
+Turks, unlike the Germanic nations, the Huns and Normans, did not take
+forcible possession of private property and divide it among their
+conquering hordes. From those who acknowledged themselves subject to
+their rule, the Turks exacted tribute, but protected their liberties and
+political institutions. The conquerors introduced their laws into the
+country, but not forcibly. To those who still adhered to the Christian
+religion, they extended the rights of self-government, subject, however,
+to a military tax. This was very far from degrading the cultivators of
+the soil to servitude; this did not deprive them of their possessions,
+inherited or purchased. But by a gradual change in the government this
+civil equality and liberty in the possession of property was superseded
+by an aristocratic and almost absolute despotism. The Ottomans came in
+contact with a people ruling under Byzantine law, of which (as of the
+feudal system) they had but a confused knowledge. The feudal system
+having taken root in Greece, and having been already introduced into
+Albania, had necessarily much influence on the contiguous provinces of
+Moldavia and Wallachia, Servia and Bulgaria. Here the Greek emperors,
+with correct notions of right and wrong, had governed wisely and justly
+in a simple administration, which gave place to a complicated system of
+laws and refinements, as unintelligible as they were useless and
+ineffective. In the double heritage of Greece and Rome, the conquerors
+imitated only their faults, moral and intellectual, and thus made more
+prominent the fall of the two countries. The Turks were not sufficiently
+enlightened to understand the laws and customs of the Greeks and Romans,
+and profit thereby; nor could they resist the charm thrown around
+aristocracy and venality, but succumbed to their baneful influences. The
+degeneracy of the laws caused the misery of the peasantry, and paralyzed
+the energies of the empire. The pashas gained almost unlimited power,
+founded on the ruins of civil liberty. They did not scruple to persecute
+the suffering peasant, even in the sanctuary of his family--held in the
+highest veneration by the Turk. The peasants in many instances had no
+other alternative than to fly to the mountains for safety, and lead a
+wretched existence by rapine and murder. Some left Turkey to settle in
+Russia and Austria, in search of that liberty and protection which was
+denied them at home.
+
+The Turkish peasants are not insensible to the degradation in which they
+are languishing. But accustomed, in suffering and privation, to find
+consolation in fatalism--which teaches implicit acquiescence in and
+obedience to the will of Allah--they drag out their days in passive
+submission. Seditions are almost always excited by unbelievers, who feel
+their wrongs more deeply. The devout Turkish peasant seeks no better
+fortune than the means wherewith to build a little cabin, with windows
+and doors religiously closed to vulgar eyes. He finds comfort in the
+words of his holy book: 'He is the happiest of mortals to whom God has
+given contentment.' He performs his daily labor, makes his prostrations,
+smokes his chibouk, and lives oblivious of care. He is far from being
+indifferent to reforms, but is loth to take the initiative in political
+innovations and social wars. His heart is with the cause, but here also
+he is resigned: 'God is great--His will be done.' This same spirit of
+resignation and submission to the divine will, from being a virtue
+becomes his greatest curse.
+
+The Servians, a hardy and vigorous race, who pride themselves on their
+victories over the Moslems, stand in the van of the reform movement. By
+the new constitution given to Servia in 1838, there exists no longer any
+distinction of classes. All pay taxes, in proportion to the value of
+their property, to the municipal and general government. All the
+peasants are proprietors, and all the proprietors are peasants. The
+Servians and Albanians have never refused foreign aid. They gave a kind
+welcome to the legions that Nicholas sent across the Pruth, and worked
+in concert with the brave warriors of the north, in the hope of gaining
+a nationality and a recognized name.
+
+The moral condition of the Bulgarians does not differ essentially from
+that of the Servians; but there is a wide difference in their political
+organization. The Bulgarians are yet only peasants, unprotected against
+the violence and exactions of the sultan. They are more enterprising
+than the Servians, and, could they enjoy an equitable legislation, would
+soon vie with them in wealth and prosperity. They envy the national and
+democratic institutions of the Servians, who are related to them by
+blood, by religion, and a common tongue. They are eager for reforms,
+both social and political, which shall give them a constitution similar
+to that of Servia. In this they must ultimately succeed. The two people
+are one in their sympathies: one cannot enjoy privileges without
+exciting the jealousy of the other. Unless concessions are made, the day
+is not far distant when the Bulgarians will revolt, as the Servians did
+under Tzerny George, and gain the right of self-government.
+
+The Illyrian peasants have not as promising a future. They are divided
+among themselves, both in politics and religion; the several clans and
+parties are engaged in ceaseless strife and bickering. On the most
+trivial pretence a community will rise in arms and carry ruin and
+desolation to its neighbor. The face of the country everywhere shows
+signs of the terror under which it groans. In many districts the
+humblest dwellings are fortified citadels, gloomy and threatening;
+observatories are stationed in trees and on high cliffs, to guard
+against surprisals; the streets of the towns and villages are traversed
+by gloomy figures of athletic savage warriors, with fierce and sinister
+expression of countenance, and their right hand resting on a belt
+garnished with its brace of pistols. They are in such a deplorable state
+of ignorance, and so blinded by mutual hatred, that they are incapable
+of perceiving their wants and obtaining their rights by concerted
+action.
+
+The Servians and Bulgarians, although by nature not less warlike than
+the Illyrians, are more pacific. This quality is, to a certain degree,
+attributable to a better government; but their great advantage consists
+in their being friends of labor. They are not divided by internal
+factions; their pistols serve for ornaments, not offensive weapons;
+their rude exterior hides within a gentle, childlike nature. Though
+laborious, they seek not to amass wealth; kind to each other, to
+strangers they are hospitable and generous. They are extremely courteous
+and polite, and theirs is not the humility of the Austrian peasant, who
+kisses the scornful hand of his superior; it is the deference and
+respect that youth bears to age, or the attention which the host gives
+to a welcome guest.
+
+In Servia and Bulgaria, Christianity has gained the ascendancy; the
+light of the gospel imparts comfort and happiness to all; but the
+Illyrians, through a blind zeal in their social dissensions, have
+debarred themselves from its vivifying and soothing influence.
+
+During the early part of the last century, the peasants of the
+Moldo-Wallachian provinces were enfranchised, but have not yet obtained
+the right of property legislation. Being contiguous to Poland and
+Hungary, their attention is naturally called to all the noise of reform
+and to all the social questions that agitate the two countries. Unless
+concessions are made, unless the peasant is recognized as proprietor of
+the soil of which to-day he is but the farmer, a revolution will take
+place, in which the Sublime Porte will lose these provinces as
+effectually as it did the pashalies. It is not absolutely necessary,
+though it would be judicious, to give Moldavia and Wallachia the same
+political organization as Servia enjoys. The question now, is not of
+rulers, whether they shall be sent from the divan or chosen from the
+people; but is of property legislation and municipal institutions.
+
+In all his reforms, the sultan should remember that the material upon
+which he is to operate lies in the peasantry.
+
+The empire, however, cannot be thoroughly reformed merely by
+enfranchising the peasants, by introducing European customs, by
+organizing new armies, building barracks, and establishing custom
+houses. These improvements are the sign of a vigorous national impulse
+and prosperity; they are the result, not the rudiments of civilization.
+The fact that the sultan wears French boots and supplies his seraglio
+with the latest Parisian modes signifies nothing.
+
+In its palmy days, Turkey relied for success on its courage and love of
+military glory; now its welfare and very existence depend upon the
+peaceful arts of civilized life. The prosperity of the people measures
+the condition of the empire. But how can an ignorant people prosper? The
+time has come when a reform in the educational system of Turkey is
+emphatically demanded. There must be intelligence among the people, and
+educated men in the cabinet as well as brave men in the field. The
+innovating sultans of the last century have done much for the
+reconstruction of the broken political fabric of the empire; they have
+organized a new and powerful army and navy; they have facilitated
+commercial intercourse, but have done scarcely anything for the
+diffusion of knowledge among their subjects.
+
+All the knowledge in the empire is concentrated in the ulemas and
+lawyers. The members of the Sublime Porte and other state officers, with
+but few exceptions, are unlettered men, who owe their elevation, to
+partiality or bribery. Under Mahmoud, beauty of person was the best
+recommendation to favor and promotion!
+
+But Turkey has had her golden age of letters as well as her age of
+military glory. Her libraries and archives are filled with unread, musty
+manuscripts, comprising treatises on philosophy and metaphysics,
+histories, biographies, and poems, rich in the classic erudition of the
+Orient. In 1336, Sultan Orkan found leisure from war and conquest to
+establish, at Brusa, a literary institution, which became so famous for
+its learning, that Persians and Arabians did not disdain to avail
+themselves of its instruction. But with the death of its founder its
+glory passed away. It was no longer the fountain head of learning in the
+East.
+
+The Turks, forgetful of the fact that antiquity is the youth of the
+world, still follow Aristotle as their guide in philosophy and
+metaphysics, and Ptolemy in geography! Missionaries have succeeded in
+introducing modern text books into some of the schools, but owing to the
+peculiar system of Turkish education, the result has not been so
+favorable as was anticipated.
+
+To each mosque is attached a school, where the pupils devote several
+years in acquiring the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic;
+which completes their education. But few foreign instructors are
+employed to teach in the schools, because the government is unwilling to
+pay a suitable salary. While on state officers wealth is lavished with
+the prodigality of oriental munificence, instructors receive only a
+nominal recompense, often not exceeding six cents a day!
+
+A few favored youths receive a European education, especially in French
+and Austrian colleges. The oriental academy, established at Vienna by
+Maria Theresa for the education of diplomatists to conduct intercourse
+with the Porte, has formed many illustrious Turkish scholars. It is a
+singular but not unpleasant commentary on the vicissitudes of fortune,
+that Turkey should send her sons to be educated at Vienna, which only
+two centuries ago a sultan besieged at the head of an army of two
+hundred thousand men, and before whose gates he was defeated by the
+combined Christian forces, who recovered eighty thousand Christian
+captives, among whom were fourteen thousand maidens, and fifty thousand
+children of both sexes!
+
+The Christian subjects of the empire have made visible progress in their
+educational system, although it is yet in a very imperfect state. In the
+middle of the last century a body of Armenian monks formed a society for
+promoting the educational interests of their countrymen. These pious and
+benevolent men dwell alone on the little island of San Lazzaro, and
+publish works on literature, science, and religion, which are
+distributed among the Turkish Armenians.
+
+Printing presses have lately been set up in the large cities, and books
+are rapidly multiplying. In Constantinople several newspapers are
+printed in French, Turkish, and Arabic; they are read in every coffee
+house and barber shop, the common lounging places of the Ottoman, where
+he smokes his pipe and discusses politics. Their columns are chiefly
+devoted to the discussion of state affairs, and notices of public
+functionaries. The sultan is the virtual editor, and consequently the
+papers are popular, as containing opinions on state policy _ex
+cathedra_. These presses were established with the reluctant sanction of
+the ulemas, and the vigorous opposition of the scribes, an influential
+body, protesting against the introduction of machinery, which was to
+supersede the use of their fingers.
+
+The council of public instruction at Constantinople has established a
+medical and polytechnic school; in both, French, English, and German
+teachers are employed. To the medical college is attached a botanical
+garden and a natural history museum. The medical library consists
+chiefly of French works. The implements used to experiment in the
+physical sciences were made at Paris, London, and Vienna, and are of the
+most approved kind. The number of students in attendance, on an average,
+is seven hundred, comprising Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, all of
+whom not only pay no tuition, but receive pecuniary assistance from the
+government. As science cannot well be taught in Turkish, French is the
+language of the school.
+
+It should be borne in mind that Turkey, in her reform movement,
+commenced this century, four hundred years behind Europe. When we
+consider this, her advance in educational reformation appears in a
+better light. The present law makes it a penal offence in a Turkish
+parent not to send his children to school.
+
+The universities, as well as the mosques and hospitals, are under the
+control of the ulemas, who have always been a privileged and a
+sanctioned order, and by their sanctity and great wealth are rendered
+the most formidable body in the empire. Selim and his successors
+somewhat lessened their power. By the innovations of 1854 an important
+change was effected in the vacoof, or church property. The church had
+hitherto held enormous possessions; and had not a check been placed on
+the system, in the course of a few centuries all the lands would have
+belonged to the priests. The property annexed to the mosques is held
+sacred by all, both high and low. True believers, Greeks, Armenians, and
+Jews, alike, by a reversion of their property on failure of male issue,
+transferred it to the ulemas. The decree above mentioned restricted this
+privilege of the priests. The entire system will soon be abolished.
+
+As before stated, the ulemas have charge of the schools connected with
+the principal mosques. The average number of scholars in each school, in
+the reign of Mahmoud, was four hundred. They were, for the most part,
+worthless, indolent fellows, and entirely under the control of the
+ulemas, who used them as tools, and made them figure conspicuously in
+all tumults and revolts. Their attempted assassination of Abdul Medjid
+was their death warrant. Each ulema was restricted to four, in place of
+four hundred scholars. This measure caused not a little ill feeling
+among those opposed to reform; but as the most successful attempt at
+restricting the despotic power of the religious order, the decree was of
+vital importance, and gave the ulemas to understand that the power on
+the throne was paramount to theirs.
+
+The ulemas--whose functions do not differ materially from those of the
+old doctors of the law among the Hebrews--have always claimed and
+enjoyed both magisterial and ecclesiastical authority; and, indeed,
+since the Mussulman's law and religion are convertible terms, we would
+expect priests to be vested with the same powers, and performing the
+same duties. Mohammed designed it should be so, and as long as war was
+waged in the name of religion, as long as the Koran and the sword went
+hand in hand together, the two professions were not incompatible; but
+when Islamism had gained undisputed ascendency, there arose an obvious
+discrepancy between the peaceful adoration of Allah and the settlements
+of disputes between man and man. Priest and jurist, each had distinct
+and qualified duties to perform. Before justice can be administered
+properly the religious and legal professions must be separated; the
+statutes must be distinct from the Koran and Sunnah, in the obscurities
+of which they are at present involved. The sheik-ul-Islam (pontifex
+maximus) is the head of the church and the bar; he appoints the bishops
+and the judges; and in his twofold character of minister and lawyer, he
+is the expounder of the Koran, the source of all laws, civil and
+religious; his decisions serve as precedents, and are as
+incontrovertible as the Koran itself.
+
+By the late reforms, Christian testimony is admitted in courts of
+justice. But this is merely a nominal privilege; for what avails it that
+Christian evidence is received, if the Koran and Sunnah are to
+constitute the law, and a Mussulman judge is to be the expounder? Is it
+not evident that the 'true believer,' whether right or wrong, will be
+shielded by the strong arm of prejudice at the expense of the Christian?
+The purity of Turkish justice may be understood from the following
+humorous account given by Dr. Hamlin:
+
+     'I once had a case of law with a Turkish judge. It was tried nine
+     times, and each time decided against me. After the ninth trial, the
+     judge sent me word that if I gave him 9,000 piastres (about $800),
+     he would decide the case in my favor, for all the world knew that
+     justice was on my side!'
+
+I look, however, upon the religious toleration extended to Christians in
+1854 as the most important of all reforms; it is the keystone of the
+arch. Christianity has been on a gradual increase in Turkey; and it may
+not be deemed extravagant to hope that when a few generations shall have
+passed away, its supremacy will be acknowledged. As Constantine, finding
+the Christian element predominant in the Roman empire, made the religion
+of Christ that of his people, so some Selim or Abdul Medjid, urged by a
+power behind the throne, and more potent than the throne itself, will
+substitute the Bible for the Koran!
+
+The fall of Islamism does not imply the downfall of Turkish rule. The
+one is religious, the other a civil power; the one may wane, the other
+rise.
+
+The wars which brought the European powers in Turkish waters made a deep
+impression upon the Turks, and convinced them that they had been rescued
+from annihilation by foreign arms. This led to an important measure,
+viz.: the promulgation of the imperial edict of 1850, which was
+translated into all the languages of the empire, and read in all the
+mosques and churches. Besides securing the freedom of conscience and the
+equality of rights, it grants the right of apostasy, which had hitherto
+been a capital offence: 'As all forms of religious worship are and shall
+be freely professed in the empire, no person shall be hindered in the
+practice of the religion which he professes; nor shall he in any way be
+annoyed in this kind: in the matter of a man _changing_ his religion,
+and _joining_ another, no force shall be applied to him.' The decree
+bore directly upon Islamism. Turks, both private and official, now
+discuss freely the doctrines of the New Testament. The Bible, to-day, is
+widely circulated among the Turks. About seven thousand copies are sold
+annually to Mohammedans, while ten years ago they would not have been
+accepted as gifts. By all classes of people the Bible is purchased,
+read, and made the subject of discussion. The sultan himself reads it.
+Discussion leads to investigation, and investigation to the
+establishment of truth. This is one of the causes that have been
+silently at work, destined to effect the fall of Islamism.
+
+In all parts of the empire, the Christian element is growing stronger
+and stronger; the Mohammedan weaker. Even in Asia, the chosen abode of
+the faithful, we find Christian cities and villages prosperous, and
+Mohammedan cities falling to decay. In another century the Sublime Porte
+will depend chiefly on the Christian element for its influence. To-day,
+the Mussulman mosque, the pagoda of the Hindoo, the fire temple of the
+Parsee, the Roman and Greek churches, meet together.
+
+The adoration and prostrations of the Turk afford an imposing sight even
+to the Christian. 'Praises be to God, for He is great,' resounds at
+sunrise and at sunset, from ship to ship at sea, from kiosk to minaret
+on land.
+
+According to the Koran, there is a paradise for all true believers. This
+paradise, Al Janat, signifies a pleasure garden, from which flows a
+river, the river of life, whose water is clear as crystal, cold as snow,
+and sweet as nectar. The believer who takes a draught shall thirst no
+more. Even the oriental imagination fails to describe the glories of
+this paradise--its fountains and flowers, pearls and gems, nectar and
+ambrosia, all in unmeasured profusion. To crown the enchantment of the
+place, to each faithful Moslem is allotted seventy-two houris,
+resplendent beings, free from every human defect, perpetually renewing
+their youth and beauty. Such is the Mohammedan conception of the future
+world.
+
+The Turks, in common with other Mohammedans, believe in angels, and in
+the prophets Adam, Noah, Moses, and _Jesus_. One might suppose that such
+a belief would assist missionaries in converting the infidel; but far
+from assisting, its tendency is to make more difficult the inculcation
+of Christian doctrines. When asked to accept the religion of Christ, the
+Turk's ready answer is: 'We believe in Jesus! we believe in him already;
+you know only a part of the true faith; Mohammed has superseded Jesus.'
+Notwithstanding this, many Turks in Europe and Asia believe that in a
+long series of years, Jesus will return to earth, reanimate their faith
+and ancient valor, and with one unbroken religion, give them dominion to
+the end of the world. They, in short, expect Jesus--the same Jesus whom
+Christians worship--in the fullness of time to accomplish the work which
+their prophet only began. Christian missionaries should avail themselves
+of this remarkable belief, and turn it to the spiritual advantage of
+those who entertain it.
+
+     'Let the Turkish Government remain, if by her standing Islamism may
+     fall! that we may carry back a purer literature to the land of
+     Homer, a purer law to the land of Moses, and the Gospel of Christ
+     to the land of the apostles.'
+
+It only remains for me to say one word in regard to the now reigning
+sovereign. The ulemas--who have become what the Janissaries were, the
+hotbed of fanaticism--in their endeavors to overthrow the late sultan,
+Abdul Medjid, looked upon the present sultan as their champion. If he
+permits himself to become a tool in their hands, Turkey will lose
+during his reign what she gained in a century. If, on the other hand, he
+has the energy of Mahmoud, the humanity of Selim, and practises the
+conciliatory policy of his brother, a glorious future awaits the empire.
+
+
+
+
+FALSE ESTIMATIONS.
+
+
+   As one, who under pay of priest or pope,
+   Painteth an altar picture boldly bad,
+   Yet winning worship from the common eye,
+   Is less than one, who faltering day by day
+   Before the untouched canvas, dreams, and feels
+   An unaccomplished greatness: so is he
+   Who scrapes the skies and cleaves the patient air
+   For rhyming ecstasies to cheat the crowd,
+   That sees not in the stiller worshipper
+   The truer genius, who, in heights lone lost,
+   Forgets to interpret to a lesser sense.
+
+   O there do dwell among us minds divine,
+   In which th' etherial is so subtly mixed,
+   That only matter in its outward mien
+   To the observer shows. Such ever live
+   Unto themselves alone, in sweet still lives,
+   And die by all men misinterpreted.
+
+   Within a churchyard rise two honored urns
+   O'er graves not far removed. The one records
+   The 'genius of a Poet,' whose fitter fame
+   Lies in the volumes which his facile pen
+   Filled with the measure of redundant verse:
+   Before this urn the oft frequented sod
+   Is flattened with the tread of pensive feet.
+   The other simply bears the name and age
+   Of one who was 'a Merchant,' and bequeathed
+   A fair estate with numerous charities:
+   Before this urn the grass grows rank and green.
+
+   I knew them both in life, and thus to me
+   They measured in their lives their effigies:
+   He who the pen did wield with facile power,
+   Created what he wrote, and to the ear
+   With tact, not inspiration, wrought the sounds
+   To careful cadence; but the heart was cold
+   As the chill marble where the sculptor traced
+   Curious conceits of fancy. Let him pass,
+   His name not undervalued, for his fame
+   Shall in maturer ages lie as still
+   As doth his neighbor's now.
+
+                              Turn we to him.
+   He was a man to whom the general eye
+   Bent with the confidence of daily trust
+   In things of daily use: a man 'of means,
+   --Sagacious, honest, plodding, punctual,--
+   Revolving in the rank of those whose shields
+   Bear bags of argent on a field of gold,
+   His life, to most men, was what most men's are,--
+   Unceasing calculation and keen thrift;
+   Unvarying as the ever-plying loom,
+   Which, moving in same limits day by day,
+   Weaves mesh on mesh, in tireless gain of goods.
+   But I, that knew him better than the herd,
+   Yet saw him less, knew that in him which lives
+   Still gracious and still plentiful to me
+   Now he hath passed away from me and them.
+   This man, whose talk on busy marts to men
+   Teemed with the current coin of thrifty trade,
+   --Exchanges, credits, money rates, and all,--
+   Hath stood with me upon a silent hill,
+   When the last flush of the dissolving day
+   Fainted before the moonlight, and, as 'twere
+   Unconscious of my listening, uttered there
+   The comprehensions of a soul true poised
+   With elemental beauty, giving tongue
+   Unto the dumbness of the blissful air.
+   So have I seen him, too, within his home,
+   When, newspaper on knee, his earnest gaze
+   Seemed scanning issues from the money list;
+   But comments came not, till my curious eye
+   Led out his meditation into words,
+   Thought-winding upward into sphery light,
+   So utterly unearthly and sublime,
+   That all the man of fact fled out of sense,
+   And visual refinement filled the space.
+   Oft hath he told me, nothing was so blind
+   As the far-seeing wisdom of the world,
+   And none within it knew him, save himself,
+   And that so scantily, that but for faith
+   In a redeeming knowledge yet to come,
+   He would lie down and let his weakness die
+   In self-reclaiming dust.
+
+                           After his death,
+   I searched his papers, vainly, for a scrap
+   Whereon some dropped memento might record
+   His inner nature; but he nothing left--
+   Nothing of that deep life whose wondrous light
+   Guided him onward through the realms of sense,
+   And in a world of practical self-need
+   Sustained him with a glory unexpressed.
+
+   And thus it is that round the Poet's urn,
+   The sod is beaten down with pensive feet:
+   And thus it is that where the Merchant lies,
+   The grass, untrodden, groweth rank and green.
+
+
+
+
+THE BLUE HANDKERCHIEF.
+
+
+I had passed my last examinations, and had received my diploma
+authorizing me to practise medicine, and I still lingered in the
+vicinity of Edinburgh, partly because my money was nearly exhausted, and
+partly from the very natural aversion I felt from quitting a place where
+three very happy and useful years had been spent. After waiting many
+weeks--for the communication between the opposite shores of the Atlantic
+were not then so rapid as now--I received a large packet of letters from
+'home,' all of them filled with congratulations on my success, and among
+them were letters from my dear father and a beloved uncle, at whose
+instance (he was himself a physician) my father had sent me abroad to
+complete my medical education. My father's letter was even more
+affectionate than usual, for he was highly gratified with my success,
+and he counselled me to take advantage of the peace secured by the
+battle of Waterloo to visit the continent, which for many years (with
+the exception of a brief period) had been closed to all persons from
+Great Britain; he enclosed me a draft on a London banker for a thousand
+pounds. My uncle's letter was scarcely less affectionate; my Latin
+thesis (I had sent my father and him a copy) had especially pleased him;
+and after urging me to take advantage of my father's kindness, he added
+that he had placed a thousand pounds at my disposition, with the same
+London banker on whom my draft was drawn. A letter of introduction to a
+French family was enclosed in the letter, and he engaged me to visit
+them, for they had been his guests for a long time when the first
+Revolution caused them to fly France, and they were under other
+obligations to him; which I afterward learned from themselves was a
+pecuniary favor more than once renewed during their residence with him.
+Ten thousand dollars was a good deal of money to be placed at the
+disposition of a young man as his pocket money for eighteen months, even
+after a large deduction had been made from it for a library and
+professional instruments.
+
+Before I quitted Edinburgh, I received a letter from the gentleman to
+whom my uncle had given me an introduction; he acquainted me that my
+uncle had informed him that I was about visiting France, and that he had
+taken the liberty of introducing me to him. The Marquis de ---- (such
+was his title--his name I omit for obvious reasons) expressed with
+great warmth his delight at having it in his power to exhibit the
+gratitude he felt to my uncle, and urged me with the most pressing terms
+to come at once to his home, and pass away there at least so much time
+as might accustom me to the _spoken_ French language (I could easily
+read it), that my visit to Paris might be more profitable and
+agreeable--and it should be both, he was so good as to say, at least as
+far as it depended on himself and his friends. I wrote him by the return
+mail to thank him for his kindness, and to inform him that I should at
+once set out for his hospitable home. I shall never forget the six
+months I passed away in the Chateau de Bardy: the happiness of those
+days was checkered only by my departure and by the incident I shall
+presently relate. And even after I quitted that noble mansion, the
+kindness of its inmates still watched over me, and opened homes to me
+even in that great Maelstrom of life--Paris.
+
+It was toward the end of the month of October--the most delightful month
+of the seasons in France--as I was returning on foot from Orleans to the
+Chateau de Bardy, from a rather prolonged pedestrian exploration in that
+interesting neighborhood, where I had accurately examined all of the
+curiosities, thanks to an ample memoir of my noble host (in those days
+'Handbooks' were unknown, and Murray was busy publishing Byron and
+Moore), when I thought I caught a glimpse of some soldiers. I was not
+mistaken: on the road before me a Prussian regiment was marching. I
+quickened my pace to hear the military music, for I was extremely
+partial to it; but the band ceased playing, and no sound was heard
+except an occasional roll of the kettle-drum at long intervals to mark
+the uniform step of the soldiers. After following them for a half hour,
+I saw the regiment enter a small plain, surrounded by a fir grove. I
+asked a captain, whose acquaintance I had made, if his men were about to
+be drilled.
+
+'No,' said he, 'they are about to try, and perhaps to shoot, a soldier
+of my company for having stolen something from the house where he was
+billeted.'
+
+'What,' said I, 'are they going to try, condemn, and execute him, all in
+the same moment?'
+
+'Yes,' said he, 'those are the provisions of the capitulation.'
+
+This word 'capitulation' was to him an unanswerable argument, as if
+everything had been provided for in the capitulation, the crime and the
+punishment, justice and humanity.
+
+'And if you have any curiosity to see it,' added the captain, 'I will
+place you where you may see everything. It won't be long.'
+
+It may be from my professional education, but the truth is, I have
+always been fond of witnessing these melancholy spectacles; I persuade
+myself that I shall discover the solution of the enigma--death--on the
+face of a man in full health, whose life is suddenly severed. I followed
+the captain. The regiment was formed in a hollow square; in the rear of
+the second rank and near the edge of the grove, some soldiers were
+digging a grave. They were commanded by the third lieutenant, for in the
+regiment everything was done with order, and there is a certain form
+observed even in the digging of a man's grave. In the centre of the
+hollow square eight officers were seated on drums; a ninth officer was
+on their right, and some distance before them, negligently writing
+something, and using his knees as his desk; he was evidently filling up
+the forms simply because it was against the 'regulations' that a man
+should be killed without the usual forms. The accused was called up. He
+was a tall, fine-looking young man, with a noble and gentle face. A
+woman (the only witness in the cause) came up with him. But when the
+colonel began the examination of the woman, the soldier stopped him,
+saying:
+
+'It is useless asking her any questions. I am going to confess
+everything: I stole a handkerchief in that lady's house.
+
+THE COLONEL. What! Piter! You have been stealing! We all thought _you_
+incapable of such a thing!
+
+PITER. It is true, Colonel, I have always tried to pass as an honest
+man, and a good fellow. Oh! I tell you, it wan't for me I stole the
+handkerchief. 'Twas for Mary.
+
+THE COLONEL. Who is Mary?
+
+PITER. Mary? Oh! she lives yonder.... at home.... just outside of
+Areneberg.... don't you remember the big apple-tree?.... Oh! I shall
+never see her again....
+
+THE COLONEL. I don't understand you, Piter; explain yourself.
+
+PITER. Why, Colonel.... but read this letter.
+
+He gave the colonel a letter, which the latter read aloud, and every
+word of which was engraved on my mind, and still is as present to my
+memory as though I heard them an hour ago. It was as follows:
+
+MY DEAR, DEAR PITER:--I take advantage of recruit Arnold's leaving, for
+he has enlisted in your regiment, to send you this letter, and a silk
+purse I have made for you. Oh! I have hidden from father to work it, for
+he is always scolding me for loving you so much, and is always telling
+me that you will never come back. But you will come back, won't you!
+Even if you never come back, I will always love you just the same. I
+promised myself to you the day you picked up my blue handkerchief at the
+Areneberg dance, and brought it to me. Oh! when shall I see you again?
+The only pleasure I have is to hear that your officers esteem you, and
+your comrades love you. Everybody says you are an honest man and a good
+fellow. But you have still two years to serve. Serve them quickly,
+because then we shall be married. Good-by, dear, dear Piter, and believe
+me, your own dear
+
+     MARY.
+
+P.S. Try to send me, too, something from France, not because I'm afraid
+I shall forget you, but I want something from you to carry always about
+me. Kiss what you send me. I know I shall find at once where you kissed
+it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the colonel finished reading the letter, Piter said:
+
+'Arnold gave me this letter last night when I received my billet paper.
+For my life's sake I could not sleep; I lay awake all night long,
+thinking of home and of Mary. She asked for something from France. I had
+no money. I drew three months' advance last week to send home to my
+brother and my cousin. This morning, when I got up to go, I opened my
+window. A blue handkerchief was hanging on a clothes line; it looked
+like Mary's; it was the same color, the same white lines; I was so weak
+as to take it, and put it in my knapsack. I went out into the street; I
+was sorry for what I had done; I was going back to the house with it
+just when this lady ran after me. The handkerchief was found in my
+knapsack. This is all the truth. The capitulation orders me to be shot.
+Shoot me, but don't despise me.'
+
+The judges could not conceal their emotion; but when the balloting took
+place, he was unanimously condemned to death. He heard his sentence with
+sang-froid; after it was passed on him, he went up to his captain and
+asked him to lend him four francs. The captain gave them to him. I then
+saw Piter go to the woman to whom the blue handkerchief had been
+restored, and I heard him say:
+
+'Madame, here are four francs; I don't know whether your handkerchief is
+worth more, but even if it is, I pay dear enough for it to engage you to
+knock off the rest.'
+
+Taking the handkerchief from her, he kissed it, and gave it to the
+captain.
+
+'Captain,' said he, 'in two years you'll be returning home; when you go
+toward Areneberg, ask for Mary; give her this blue handkerchief, but
+don't tell her how dearly I purchased it.'
+
+Piter then kneeled and prayed fervently; when his prayers were ended, he
+arose and walked with a firm step to the place of execution. I forgot
+that I was a scientific man, and I walked down into the woods to avoid
+seeing the end of this cruel tragedy. A volley of musketry soon told me
+that all was over.
+
+I returned to the fatal spot an hour afterward; the regiment had marched
+away; all was calm and silent. While following the edge of the grove,
+going to the highway, I perceived at a short distance before me traces
+of blood, and a mound of freshly heaped earth. I took a branch from one
+of the fir trees, and made a rude cross.
+
+I placed it at the head of poor Piter's grave, now forgotten by every
+body except by me, and perhaps by Mary.
+
+
+
+
+GOLD.
+
+
+Gold, next to iron, is the most widely diffused metal upon the surface
+of our globe. It occurs in granite, the oldest rock known to us, and in
+all the rocks derived from it; it is also found in the veinstones which
+traverse other geological formations, but has never been found in any
+secondary formation. It is, however, much more common in alluvial
+grounds than among primitive and pyrogenous rocks. It is found
+disseminated, under the form of spangles, in the silicious,
+argillaceous, and ferruginous sands of certain plains and rivers,
+especially in their junction, at the season of low water, and after
+storms and temporary floods. It is the only metal of a yellow color; it
+is readily crystallizable, and always assumes one or more of the
+symmetrical shapes, such as the cube or regular octahedron. It affords a
+resplendent polish, and may be exposed to the atmosphere for any length
+of time, without suffering any change; it is remarkable for its beauty;
+is nineteen times heavier than water, and, next to platinum, the
+heaviest known substance; its malleability is such, that a cubic inch
+will cover thirty-five hundred square feet; its ductility is such, that
+a lump of the value of four hundred dollars could be drawn into a wire
+which would extend around the globe. It is first mentioned in Genesis
+ii, 11. It was found in the country of Havilah, where the rivers
+Euphrates and Tigris unite and discharge their waters into the Persian
+gulf.
+
+The relative value of gold to silver in the days of the patriarch
+Abraham was one to eight; at the period of B.C. 1000, it was one to
+twelve; B.C. 500, it was one to thirteen; at the commencement of the
+Christian era, it was one to nine; A.D. 500, it was one to eighteen;
+A.D. 1100, it was one to eight; A.D. 1400, it was one to eleven; A.D.
+1613, it was one to thirteen; A.D. 1700, it was one to fifteen and a
+half; which latter ratio, with but slight variation, it has maintained
+to the present day. Gold was considered bullion in Palestine for a long
+period after silver had been current as money. The first mention of gold
+money in the Bible is in David's reign (B.C. 1056), when that king
+purchased the threshing floor of Oman for six hundred shekels of gold by
+weight. In the early period of Grecian history the quantity of the
+precious metals increased but slowly; the circulating medium did not
+increase in proportion with the quantity of bullion. In the earliest
+days of Greece, the precious metals existed in great abundance in the
+Levant. Cabul and Little Thibet (B.C. 500) were abundant in gold. It
+seems to be a well ascertained fact, that it was obtained near the
+surface; so that countries, which formerly yielded the metal in great
+abundance, are now entirely destitute of it. Croesus (B.C. 560) coined
+the golden _stater_, which contained one hundred and thirty-three grains
+of pure metal. Darius, son of Hystaspes (B.C. 538), coined _darics_,
+containing one hundred and twenty-one grains of pure metal, which were
+preferred, for several ages throughout the East, for their fineness.
+Next to the _darics_ were some coins of the reigns of the tyrants of
+Sicily: of Gelo (B.C. 491); of Hiero (B.C. 478); and of Dionysius (B.C,
+404). Specimens of the two former are still preserved in modern
+cabinets. _Darics_ are supposed to be mentioned in the latter books of
+the Old Testament, under the name of _drams_. Very few specimens of the
+_daric_ have come down to us; their scarcity may he accounted for by the
+fact that they were melted down under the type of Alexander. Gold coin
+was by no means plenty in Greece until Philip of Macedon had put the
+mines of Thrace into full operation, about B.C. 360. Gold was also
+obtained by the Greeks from Asia Minor, the adjacent islands, which
+possessed it in abundance, and from India, Arabia, Armenia, Colchis, and
+Troas. It was found mixed with the sands of the Pactolus and other
+rivers. There are only about a dozen Greek coins in existence, three of
+which are in the British Museum; and of the latter, two are _staters_,
+of the weight of one hundred and twenty-nine grains each. About B.C.
+207, gold coins were first struck off at Rome, and were denominated
+_aurei_, four specimens of which are in the institution before alluded
+to. Their weight was one hundred and twenty-one grains. Gold coins were
+first issued in France by Clovis, A.D. 489; about the same time they
+were issued in Spain by Amalric, the Gothic king; in both kingdoms they
+were called _trientes_. They were first issued in England A.D. 1257, in
+the shape of a penny. Florins were next issued, in 1344, of the value of
+six shillings. The guinea was first issued in 1663, of Guinea gold. In
+1733 all the gold coins--nobles, angels, rials, crowns, units, lions,
+exurgats, etc., etc., were called in and forbidden to circulate. The
+present sovereign was first issued in 1817.
+
+From the commencement of the Christian era to the discovery of America,
+the amount of gold obtained from the surface and bowels of the earth is
+estimated to be thirty-eight hundred millions of dollars; from the date
+of the latter event to the close of 1842, an addition of twenty-eight
+hundred millions was obtained. The discovery and extensive working of
+the Russian mines added, to the close of 1852, six hundred millions
+more. The double discovery of the California mines in 1848, and of the
+Australia mines in 1851 has added, to the present time, twenty-one
+hundred millions; making a grand total of ninety-three hundred millions
+of dollars. The average loss by wear and tear of coin is estimated to be
+one-tenth of one per cent, per annum; and the loss by consumption in the
+arts, by fire and shipwreck, at from one to three millions per annum.
+
+A cubic inch of gold is worth (at �3 17_s._ 10-1/2_d._, or $18.69 per
+ounce) two hundred and ten dollars; a cubic foot, three hundred and
+sixty-two thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars; a cubic yard, nine
+millions nine hundred and seventeen thousand seven hundred and sixty
+dollars. The amount of gold in existence, at the commencement of the
+Christian era, is estimated to be four hundred and twenty-seven millions
+of dollars; at the period of the discovery of America, it had diminished
+to fifty-seven millions; after the occurrence of that event, it
+gradually increased, and in 1600, it attained to one hundred and five
+millions; in 1700, to three hundred and fifty-one millions; in 1800, to
+eleven hundred and twenty-five millions; in 1843, to two thousand
+millions; in 1853 to three thousand millions; and at the present time,
+the amount of gold in existence is estimated to be forty-eight hundred
+millions of dollars; which, welded into one mass, could be contained in
+a cube of twenty-four feet. Of the amount now in existence, three
+thousand millions is estimated to be in coin and bullion, and the
+remainder in watches, jewelry, plate, etc., etc.
+
+The Russian gold mines were discovered in 1819, and extend over one
+third of the circumference of the globe, upon the parallel of 55� of
+north latitude. Their product, since their discovery to the present
+time, has amounted to eight hundred millions of dollars. The California
+gold mines were discovered by William Marshall, on the ninth day of
+February, 1848, at Sutter's Mill, upon the American Fork, a tributary of
+the Sacramento, and extend from 34� to 49� of north latitude. Their
+product, since their discovery to the present time, has amounted to one
+thousand and forty-seven millions of dollars. The Australia gold mines
+were discovered by Edward Hammond Hargraves, on the twelfth day of
+February, 1851, in the Bathurst and Wellington districts, and extend
+from 30� to 38� of south latitude. Their product, since their discovery
+to the present time, has amounted to nine hundred and eleven millions of
+dollars. The finest gold is obtained at Ballurat, and the largest nugget
+yet obtained weighed twenty-two hundred and seventeen ounces, valued at
+forty-one thousand dollars. In shape it resembled a continent with a
+peninsula attached by a narrow isthmus. The annual product of gold at
+the commencement of the Christian era is estimated at eight hundred
+thousand dollars; at the period of the discovery of America it had
+diminished to one hundred thousand dollars; after the occurrence of that
+event it gradually increased, and in 1600 it attained to two millions;
+and in 1700, to five millions; in 1800, to fifteen millions; in 1843, to
+thirty-four millions; in 1850, to eighty-eight millions; in 1852, to two
+hundred and thirty-six millions; but owing to the falling off of the
+California as well as the Australia mines, the product of the present
+year will not probably exceed one hundred and ninety millions.
+
+Since 1792 to the present time, the gold coinage of the United States
+mint has amounted to seven hundred and forty millions of dollars, of
+which six hundred and fifty-five millions have been issued since 1850.
+The gold coinage of the French mint, since 1726, has amounted to
+eighty-seven hundred millions of francs, of which fifty-two hundred and
+fifty millions have been issued since 1850. The gold coinage of the
+British mint, since 1603, has amounted to two hundred and eighty
+millions of pounds sterling; of which seventy-five millions have been
+issued since 1850. The gold coinage of the Russian mint, since 1664, has
+amounted to five hundred and twenty-six millions of roubles, of which
+two hundred and sixty millions have been issued since 1850. The
+sovereign of England contains one hundred and twelve grains of pure
+metal; the new doubloon of Spain, one hundred and fifteen; the half
+eagle of the United States, one hundred and sixteen; the gold lion of
+the Netherlands, and the double ounce of Sicily, one hundred and
+seventeen grains each; the ducat of Austria, one hundred and six; the
+twenty-franc piece of France, ninety; and the half imperial of Russia,
+ninety-one grains. A commissioner has been despatched by the United
+States Government to England, France, and other countries of Europe, to
+confer with their respective governments upon the expediency of adopting
+a uniform system of coinage throughout the world, so that the coins of
+one country may circulate in any other, without the expense of
+recoinage--a consummation most devoutly to be wished.
+
+The fact that the large amount of gold which has been thrown into the
+monetary circulation of the world within the last fourteen years, has
+exercised so little influence upon the money market or prices generally,
+is at variance with the predictions of financial writers upon both sides
+of the Atlantic. The increase in the present production of gold,
+compared with former periods, is enormous; and it would not be
+surprising if, in view of the explorations which are going on in Africa,
+Japan, Borneo, and other countries bordering upon the equator, the
+product of the precious metals within the next decade should be a
+million of dollars _daily_. The price of gold has not diminished,
+although the annual product has increased fivefold within twenty years.
+
+
+
+
+LAST WORDS.
+
+
+I am at last resolved. This taunting devil shall possess me no longer.
+At least I will meet him face to face. I have read that the face of a
+dead man is as though he understood the cause of all things, and was
+therefore profoundly at rest, _I_ will know the cause of my wretched
+fate, and will be at rest. My pistols lie loaded by my side--I shall die
+to-night. To-morrow, twelve awestruck and trembling men will come and
+look at me. They will ask each other: 'What could have been his motive
+for the rash act.' Rash! my face will be calmer than theirs, for my
+struggles in this life will be over; and I shall have gained--perhaps
+knowledge, perhaps oblivion, but certainly victory. And to-night, as the
+clock strikes twelve, there will be shrieks and horror in this room. No
+matter: I shall have been more kind to those who utter them than they
+know of, for they will not have known the cause until they have read
+these lines.
+
+And yet most people would esteem me a happy man. I am rich in all that
+the world calls riches. I sit in a room filled with luxuries; a few
+steps would bring me into the midst of guests, among whom are noble men
+and women, sweet music, rare perfumes, glitter and costly show. My life
+has been spent amid the influences of kind friends, good parents, and
+culture in all that is highest and worthiest in literature and art; and
+I can recall scenes as I write, of days that would have been most happy
+but for the blight that has been upon me always. I think I see now the
+pleasant parlor in the old house at home. Here sits our mother, a little
+gray, but brisk and merry as a cricket; there our father, a
+well-preserved gentleman of fifty, rather gratified at feeling the first
+aristocratic twinges of gout, and whose double eyeglass is a chief
+feature in all he says; there is Bill, poring over Sir William Napier's
+'Peninsular War;' there is Charles, just rushing in, with a face the
+principal features in which are redness and hair, to tell us that there
+is another otter in the mill stream in the meadow; there is my little
+sister, holding grave talk with dear Dollie, and best (or worst) of all,
+there is cousin Lucy--cousin Lucy, with her brown hair, and soft, loving
+eyes and quiet ways. Where are they all now? Charley went to London, was
+first the favorite of the clubs, next a heartless rake, and finally,
+being worn out, and, like Solomon, convinced that all was vanity, went
+into the Church to become that most contemptible of all creatures, a
+fashionable preacher; my father and mother are laid side by side in the
+aisle of the old church on the hill, where their virtues are sculptured
+in marble, for the information of anxiously curious mankind; sister Mary
+no longer talks to dolls, though a flock of little girls, who call her
+mother, do. Bill, poor Bill, lies far away in the Crimea, with the
+bullet of a gray-coated Russian in his heart. And Lucy--but it is to her
+I owe what I am, and what I am about to do.
+
+I loved her--love her still. Will she _know_ what these words mean, when
+she finds them here? I cannot tell. They are enough for me. Not for you
+are they written, ball-room lounger, whispering of endless devotion
+between every qaudrille; not to you, proud beauty, taking and absorbing
+declarations as you would an ice; not for you, chattering monkey of the
+Champs Elyse�s, raving of your _grande passion_ for Eloise, so
+_charmante_, so _spirituelle_; nor for you, Eloise aforesaid, with your
+devilish devices, stringing hearts in your girdle as Indians do scalps;
+not for you, dancing Spaniard, with your eternal castagnets, whispering
+just one word to your dark-eyed se�orita, as you hand her another
+perfumed cigarette; not for you, lounging Italian, hissing intrigues
+under the shadow of an Athenian portico, or stealing after your veiled
+incognita, as her shadow flits over the place where the blood of C�sar
+dyed the floor of the Capitol, or where the knife of Virginius flashed
+in the summer sun--not for one of you, for I have seen and despise you
+all. To you all love is a sealed book, which you shall never open--a
+tree of knowledge that will never turn into a curse for you--a beautiful
+serpent that, as you gaze upon its changing hues, will never sting you
+to the death.
+
+I never told her. I would wait for hours to see her pass, if she went
+out alone--but I never told her. I would trace her footsteps where she
+had taken her daily walk; I would wait beneath her window at night, to
+see but her shadow upon the blind, until she put out her lamp, and left
+the stars and myself the only watchers there--but I never told her. I
+would lay flowers in her way, happy if she wore them on her bosom, or
+wreathed them in her hair, as she sometimes would--but she never knew
+from whom they came. I sickened at my heart for her; I pined, oh! how I
+pined for her, and worshipped her as a saint, the hope, the glory, the
+heaven of my life--but I never told her.
+
+Did she love me? No. And, while I loved, I feared her. She never made me
+her companion, never took my arm; would always sit opposite me in the
+carriage instead of by my side; if in a game of forfeits, I forced the
+embrace I had won, she would struggle with tears of anger, though she
+had given her cheek to William with a blush but a few minutes before. If
+I had not been her abject slave, I could have torn her in pieces. Alas!
+alas! we were but boys, and she a girl still. How many, long years I
+have suffered since then!
+
+One night I could not sleep, but sat up in my room thinking. Why should
+she not love me? I am esteemed well-looking and intelligent, thought I,
+looking into the glass, as if to confirm my satisfactory judgment of
+myself. I gazed long and earnestly. Yes, certainly handsome, said I with
+my lips, but--fool! fool! said my mocking eyes; for at that moment there
+came out of their depths--there came a devil! Yes, a devil that glared
+at me from the glass! a devil that was, and yet was not, myself! a devil
+that had my form, and looked out of my face, but with its own cruel,
+mocking eyes! And he and I confronted each other in that horrible glass.
+I know not how long, but they told me afterward that I was found next
+morning making ghastly faces at myself.
+
+And then I was carried by spirits into a land of visions, where for a
+hundred years, or for a moment of time, I was flying through space, and
+clouds, and fire!--groping through dark caverns, millions of miles
+long, crying wildly for light and air; now a giant, entangled in myriads
+of chains that I could not break; now a reptile, writhing away from
+footsteps that made the earth reel and tremble beneath their tread; and
+at last waking, as if out of sleep, a poor, puny thing, with limbs like
+shadows, laughing or crying by turns for very feebleness.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As I arose from that bed I knew that I was changed. It was a secret
+thought, a secret that I have kept till now. I was not quite sure at
+first, but it thus fell out that I knew it well:
+
+One day William and I had been sitting for some time in the library, he
+reading and I looking at the faces that glowed in the red-hot coal, and
+thinking of Lucy and him.
+
+'Where is Lucy?' said I, at length,
+
+'Gone out into the village,' he answered, without looking from the book;
+'first to buy gloves, then to see Miss Trip, the dancing mistress, who
+is ill, then to Hurst Park to tea, whence I am to fetch her at nine
+o'clock.'
+
+'You seem to know all her movements,' I said, with a sneer.
+
+'Certainly, he rejoined, 'she told me all that I have told you.'
+
+'You always _are_ in her confidence,' said I, very angrily, as my blood
+rose.
+
+'I believe so,' said he, calmly; though he looked at me with some
+surprise.
+
+'And I never,' said I, between my teeth.
+
+'That,' he said, 'is a matter with which I have no concern.'
+
+I ground my teeth, but I kept quiet. I kept quiet, though every nerve in
+my body tingled with rage, and my boiling blood rushed into my eyes till
+I could hardly see. 'Do you know,' I shouted, 'do you know that I love
+her--would die a thousand deaths for her?'
+
+He clasped his hands with a quick motion, as he said in a low voice,
+'And so do I; and so would I.'
+
+'Beast, fiend!' I screamed, 'does she--does she----' I could not get out
+the accursed words.
+
+'We have been engaged,' he answered, divining what I would have asked,
+'we have been engaged for some time, and----'
+
+He did not finish the sentence, for I sprang at him, crushed him to the
+floor, squeezed his throat till his face grew black and the froth oozed
+out from his lips, beat his head upon the hearthstones till he lay still
+and bleeding, and then sought my knife. It was up stairs. I flew to get
+it. It lay upon my dressing table before the glass, and I snatched at
+it. Great God! as I did so, another arm was thrust forth--not mine, I
+swear, if I live a thousand years; and as I recoiled, I saw in that
+glass a fiend step back. Not me, not me!--but a fiend with bloody hands,
+and a foul leer upon its face, and a fierce, cruel laugh in its
+glittering eyes. It was he, it was he! It was the devil that had
+possessed me before, come back again. And as I shuddered and gasped, and
+turned away, and then looked again into those eyes that pierced _me_
+through, and saw the cold, bitter smile that was on the face before me,
+I knew that the fiend would leave me never more, and that I was mad!
+
+What was a quarrel with my brother now? I stole back, and, lifting him
+up, carried him to his room, where I washed the blood from his face.
+When he came to himself I fell at his feet and besought his pardon, and
+that he would keep what had happened a secret. He forgave me. And I
+believe the only lie he ever told in all his life was when he told Lucy
+that he had cut his head by falling on a jagged stone.
+
+Oh, how often after that my fingers itched to be at his throat again;
+but I always quailed before his steady eye.
+
+I pass over the next few years, except to say that I went to college,
+where I was shunned by all, though never alone: was a dunce, and plucked
+twice. Perhaps it was I who shunned others, for had I not society in
+the constant presence of my Familiar? I was of course a dunce, for my
+brain was never steady enough to carry me over the _Pons Asinorum_, or
+to make a Latin verse with even decent correctness. I went away in
+disgust. I think if I had stayed longer I should have torn somebody, or
+else myself.
+
+I went next into the army. It was a new era in my life, and, strange to
+say, my devil left me for a while, so that I was able to master the
+details of my profession, and to be esteemed a good and careful officer.
+There was hope, too, of active service; for the Russian Eagle was slowly
+unfolding his vast wings for a new descent into the plains of Europe.
+William, married to Her now, who was a lieutenant in the Foot Guards,
+wrote to me to say that he hoped we should be really brothers, now that
+we were to meet before an enemy; and the next day out came the
+declaration of war. When I had read it, I drew my sword, and, as I ran
+my eye along its cold, sharp blade from hilt to point, I thought how
+strange was its power to let out a man's life, and turn him, in a
+moment, into a heap of inanimate carrion.
+
+Of course I am not going to tell the history of the great siege in the
+Crimea, for every child knows by heart the tale of the clambering fight
+up the Alma's steeps, of the withering volley that suddenly crashed out
+of the gray twilight on the hill of Inkerman, of the long months of
+starvation, of the final _feu d'enfer_, beneath which the Russian host
+crowded over the narrow bridge that saved them from their foe. But of
+the fatal charge of the Six Hundred I must speak, for I was one of them,
+and I have cursed its memory a thousand times.
+
+I well remember that day--how restless I was the night before, and how I
+listened to the dropping shots on either side, hoping almost that one
+would find its way to my heart.
+
+We were brigaded by daylight. Some manoeuvres on an extensive scale
+were to be attempted, I believe, one of which was to outflank some
+batteries of field artillery by which we had suffered much loss. They
+were drawn up at the side and end of the valley of Balaklava, and we
+were at the other end, and were ordered, it has since been said in
+error, to charge down the valley upon them.
+
+How beautiful the sun rose that day! The dewy odors from a thousand
+flowers came floating up from that green valley as he rolled away the
+mists from the mountain tops, and showed us the dusky masses far below,
+from which the shot came whizzing every now and then. Gods! how we
+exulted at the sight. Along our line rose a wild cheer, as our horses
+tugged and strained at their bits, and every man's bridle was drawn
+tight. Soon a puff of smoke came from a hillock near, and the stern
+command 'draw swords' ran along from troop to troop, as the bright steel
+flashed in the sunshine like a river of light. Then out pealed the
+trumpets, and away we went, amidst a storm of ringing harness, and
+clashing scabbards, and flying banners, and thundering hoofs that made
+the ground shake. On we dashed, straight across the valley, in front of
+a point-blank fire, that emptied many a saddle as we flew along,
+straight upon the mass of smoke and flame which hid those fatal
+batteries--straight at the gunners, dealing out wild blows upon them,
+while they fought with swords, or axes, or clubbed muskets, or gun
+spongers, or anything that could cut or strike a blow.
+
+As for me, I only know that I was in the first line, and among the first
+in the m�l�e; where my first blow lighted upon the bare head of a
+Russian, whose blood spouted high as I cut at him with all my force; for
+after that a mist came over my eyes, and I fought in the dark, and then
+came oblivion.
+
+When I awoke to consciousness, which I did not for several days, I found
+that I was wounded, and had been in danger of my life, though I should
+most probably recover. As soon as I was strong enough to talk much, I
+was told that my bravery had been very conspicuous, and that I had been
+honorably mentioned in the order of the day. Four Russians, it seemed,
+had died by my hand, and being at last cut on the head by a sabre, I was
+with difficulty held on my horse when the retreat was sounded. I had
+raved, it also appeared, incessantly; but now the fever had left me.
+Good. It was fever, they thought, which had held possession of me. But
+those who said so did not know what power it was that nerved my arm, and
+then, having worked his devilish wile, flung me away like a broken toy.
+Fever! They did not know that it was a 'fever' that had cursed me for
+twelve long years.
+
+But I got well, as those who were about me said, and, having been
+reported fit for duty, made my appearance at parade, and afterward, the
+same day, at mess.
+
+My brother was dead. One day, while I lay ill, he and a party of his
+brother officers were idly chatting in one of the more advanced
+trenches, when a mini� ball struck him, and he died without a word or
+groan. They carried him out, and he lies at the little graveyard at
+Scutari, with thousands of others who fell in the Great Siege. His sword
+and other relics had been kept for me, and among them was a portrait of
+Cousin Lucy, which he had worn next his heart. I should have to take it
+to her. The general in command had already written to her, with the news
+of her bereavement.
+
+I was saying that I rejoined the mess. All my comrades congratulated me
+but one. He was a young fellow, recently exchanged from another
+regiment, who would one day wear the strawberry leaf upon his coronet--a
+cold, supercilious, prying puppy, whom I hated at once. When we were
+introduced, our mutual bow was studied in its cold formality--on his
+side so much so as to be almost insulting, considering the place and
+circumstances. To this day I believe that he, the only one of all there,
+had suspected me, and I felt that I must be perpetually on my guard
+against his curious glances. I was sure that one day we should have to
+strive for the mastery. And we did--sooner than I expected; for, as the
+colonel filled his glass, and, calling upon the rest to follow his
+example, drank a welcome to me back among them, this knave, sitting
+opposite at the time, fixed his eyes upon me as he lifted his glass to
+his lips, and did not drink. As our looks met, I knew that he mocked me,
+and I flung my wine in his face, and raved.
+
+Those present forced me away, and took me to my tent, where they made me
+lie down. I was supposed to be delirious from weakness and the effects
+of my wound, and I heard them say, 'He has come out too soon; that wine
+he drank at dinner was too much for him.' Good again! It was the wine!
+'But,' thought I, 'as soon as this arm shall be able to strike or
+thrust, I will have the life of that sneering devil, or he mine.' And I
+kept my word. I met him within ten days afterward, walking at some
+distance from the camp, quite alone, as I was myself.
+
+'Good morning,' said he; 'you are about again, as I am glad to see.'
+
+I said to him, 'Do you forget the time when I was out before?'
+
+'Surely not,' said he; 'but I knew that you had been ill, and was not
+master of yourself.'
+
+'And so forgave me?' I rejoined, in a passion.
+
+'And so forgave,' said he; 'why not?'
+
+'Then learn,' said I, 'that I _was_ master of myself; that I am now;
+that you insulted me grossly; that the only words I have for you
+are--draw, sir, draw!'
+
+'Stop!' he cried, as I drew my sword; 'pray come back with me to the
+camp. You are ill; pray, come back; I have no quarrel with you, believe
+me.'
+
+But I struck him on the breast with my swordhilt, so that he nearly
+fell. Then he recovered himself, and, still crying out that he had no
+quarrel with me, drew and stood upon his guard, while I rushed upon him.
+
+He was cool, and I furious. I believe he could have killed me easily if
+he had wished, but he only parried my rapid blows. At last, however, as
+I pressed him more closely, he grew paler, and began to fight in
+earnest. What _then_ could he do against a madman? I bore him back, step
+by step, till a mass of rock stopped him; and there I kept him, with the
+hissing steel playing about his head, until he dropped upon one knee and
+his sword fell from his hand. Then I paused, waiting to see him die as I
+would a wounded hare, as die I knew he must, for I had pierced him with
+twenty wounds. He knelt thus, and looked, not at me, but at the setting
+sun; and then his head drooped and he rolled over, and was dead.
+
+And as I wiped my sword on the grass, I shouted with glee.
+
+Of course, I told no one. It was but another secret added to the many
+that had torn my heart and brain. Nor, when the body was found, stripped
+by camp followers, and supposed to be killed by a reconnoitring party of
+the enemy, did I betray myself by word or look.
+
+At last the war was over, and we were ordered home. I bade farewell to
+the blue hills of the Crimea with secret joy, and as the shore faded
+from my sight, the memory of all that had happened to me during the
+Great Siege faded from my memory like a dream.
+
+Upon our landing, I went as soon as possible home. How green the hedges
+were, how sweet the scent of the violets, how soft the grass, how grand
+the arching oaks and giant elms, as I journeyed along on foot. Surely I
+have suffered enough, I said to myself, as I passed through meadow, and
+copse, and lane, and over stiles, and to the old park at last. Surely I
+have suffered enough, I said, as I came to the lodge gate, where the
+keeper's wife looked curiously at my uniform and bronzed face, and the
+crape on my arm, and then ran into the lodge to tell her husband that
+here was Master Horace come back. Surely there was peace in that old
+house, with its pointed gables, and moss-clad turrets, and ivied walls,
+and little gothic windows--where the old butler grasped my hand; and the
+maids came peeping out; and the old dog licked my face; where poor Lucy
+wept upon my breast--wept for that I had come back alone; and then put
+her little girl into my arms, to kiss dear Uncle Horace, come home once
+more.
+
+But, when I went to bed that night, in the same glass that showed me my
+Enemy years before, I saw him looking at me, with his cruel smile,
+shining out of my own eyes.
+
+What more remains to be told? But little; for it was but the old story.
+It is enough to say that I struggled on, hoping against hope; that I
+cheated myself with the maddest hope of all--that she might be brought
+to love me; that I one day prayed her to become my wife, and that she
+broke from me with terror and loathing; that I fled her presence, and
+was once more a wanderer over the earth; that my weary feet dragged me
+over the snows of Siberia, where the furred noble and the chained serf
+worked side by side; over the burning sands, where the brown Arab
+careers along upon his steed, his white burnous fluttering in the hot
+wind; over the broad prairies of America, where the Indian prowls with
+his trusty rifle, waiting for the wild beast; over the paths of the
+trackless deep; over the still wilder deserts and still more lonely
+deeps of revelry and vice;--what more than that I have come back again;
+that many guests are here to do honor to my return; that these are the
+last words which I shall ever write!
+
+
+
+
+PARTING
+
+   When 'mid the loud notes of the drum
+     And fife tones shrilling on the ear,
+   The music of our nation's hymns
+     Rose 'neath the elm trees loud and clear;
+   When on the Common's grassy plain
+     The city poured her countless throng,
+   And blessings fell like April rain
+     On each one as he marched along;
+
+   We parted,--hand close clasped in hand,
+     Telling the thoughts tongue could not speak;
+   Was it unmanly that our eyes
+     O'erflowed with love upon the cheek?
+   I hear thy cheery voice outspeak,
+     'Courage, the months will quickly fly,
+   And ere November chill and bleak
+     We meet at home, Ned, you and I.'
+
+   A livelier strain came from the band,
+     'God bless you' went from each to each;
+   A gazing eye, a waving hand,
+     Where hearts were all too full for speech.
+   He marched, obeying duty's call,
+     Of noblest nature, first to hear;
+   I, bound by fond domestic thrall,
+     In path of duty lingered here.
+
+   Slowly the summer months rolled on,
+     October harvested the corn,
+   November came with shortening days,
+     Passed by in mist and rain,--was gone,--
+   Yet still he came not; winter's snow
+     In feathery vesture clothed the trees,
+   Or, iceclad in a jewelled glow,
+     They sparkled in the chilly breeze.
+
+   Spring glowed along Potomac vales,
+     While north her footsteps tardier came,
+   For him the golden jasmine trails
+     O'er bright azaleas all aflame;
+   Still upon Yorktown's trampled fields,
+     O'er grassy plain and wooded swell,
+   Her sunny wealth the summer yields,
+     And still the word comes, 'All is well.'
+
+
+
+
+A MERCHANT'S STORY.
+
+
+     'All of which I saw, and part of which I was.'
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+In the afternoon the exercises at the meeting house were conducted by
+Preston, who publicly catechized the negroes very much in the manner
+that is practised in Northern Sunday schools. When the services were
+over, and the family had gathered around the supper table, I said to
+him:
+
+'I've an idea of passing the evening with Joe; he has invited me. Would
+it be proper for you and Mrs. Preston to go?'
+
+'Oh, yes; and we will. I would like to have you see his mother. She is a
+wonderful woman, and, if in the mood, will astonish you.'
+
+'I think you told me she is a native African?'
+
+'Yes, she is. She was brought from Africa when a child. She has a dim
+recollection of her life there, and retains the language and
+superstitions of her race,' replied Preston, rising from the table. 'I
+think you had better go at once, for she retires early; Lucy and I will
+follow you as soon as we can.'
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Joe's cabin was located nearly in the centre of the little collection of
+negro houses, and a few hundred yards from the mansion. It was of logs,
+a story and a half high, and had originally been only about twenty feet
+square. To the primitive structure, however, an addition of the same
+dimensions had been made, and as it then stretched for more than forty
+feet along the narrow bypath which separated the two rows of negro
+shanties, it presented quite an imposing appearance. A second addition
+in its rear, though it did not increase its dignity in the eyes of
+'street' observers, added largely to its proportions and convenience.
+
+The various epochs in Joe's history were plainly written on his
+dwelling. The original building noted the time when, a common field
+hand, he had married a wife, and set up housekeeping; the front addition
+marked the era when his industry, intelligence, and devotion to his
+master's interest had raised him above the dead level of black
+servitude, and given him the management of the plantation; and the rear
+structure spoke pleasantly of the time when old Deborah, disabled by age
+from longer service at 'the great house,' and too infirm to clamber up
+the steep ladder which led to Joe's attic bedrooms, had come to doze
+away the remainder of her days under her son's roof.
+
+The cabin was furnished with two entrance doors, and suspecting that the
+one in the older portion led directly into the kitchen, I rapped lightly
+at the other. In a moment it opened, and Joe ushered me into the living
+room.
+
+That apartment occupied the whole of the newer front, and had a
+cheerful, cosy appearance. Its floor was covered with a tidy rag carpet,
+evidently of home manufacture, and its plastered walls were decorated
+with tasteful paper, and hung with a number of neatly framed engravings.
+Opposite the doorway stood a large mahogany bureau, and over it,
+suspended from the ceiling by leathern cords, was a curiously contrived
+shelving, containing a score or more of well-worn books. Among them I
+noticed a small edition of 'Shakespeare,' Milton's 'Poems,' Goldsmith's
+'England,' the six volumes of 'Comprehensive Commentary,' Taylor's 'Holy
+Living and Dying,' the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' a 'United States
+Gazetteer,' and a complete set of the theological writings of
+Swedenborg. Neat chintz curtains covered the small windows, a number of
+brightly burnished brass candlesticks ornamented a plain wooden mantle
+over the broad fireplace, and a yellow-pine table, oiled and varnished,
+on which the 'tea things' were still standing, occupied the centre of
+the apartment.
+
+Through an open door, at the right of the bureau, I caught a glimpse of
+the dormitory of the aged Africaness. As on the exterior of the building
+a brief epitome of Joe's history was written, so in that room a portion
+of his character was traced. Its comfortable and almost elegant
+furnishings told, plainer than any words, that he was a devoted and
+affectionate son. With its rich Brussels carpet, red window hangings,
+cosy lounge, neat centre table, and small black-walnut bureau, it might
+have been mistaken for the private apartment of a white lady of some
+pretensions.
+
+It was a little after nightfall when I entered the cabin, but a bright
+fire, blazing on the hearth, gave me a full view of its occupants. Aggy,
+a tidily clad, middle-aged yellow woman, was clearing away the supper
+table, and Joe's mother was smoking a pipe in a large arm chair, in the
+chimney corner.
+
+The old negress wore a black levantine gown, open in front, and gathered
+about the waist by a silken cord; a red and yellow turban, from
+underneath which escaped a few frosted locks, and a white cambric
+neckerchief that fell carelessly over her shoulders, and almost hid her
+withered, scrawny neck. She was upward of seventy, but so infirm that
+she appeared nearly a hundred. One of her lean, skinny arms, escaping
+from the loose sleeve of her dress, rested on her knee; and her bowed,
+bony frame leaned against the arm of her chair, as if incapable of
+sitting upright. Her features, with the exception of her nose, which
+curved slightly upward, were thin and regular; and her eyes were large,
+deep, and densely black, and seemed turned inward, as if gazing with a
+half-wondering stare at the strange mechanism which held together her
+queer frame-work of bones and gutta percha.
+
+She was the old woman who had greeted Preston so affectionately on our
+arrival.
+
+Turning to her as he tendered me a chair, Joe said:
+
+'Mudder, dis am Mr. Kirke.'
+
+Making a feeble effort to rise, and reaching out her trembling hand she
+exclaimed, in a voice just above a whisper:
+
+'You'm welcome yere, right welcome, sar.'
+
+'Thank you, aunty. Pray keep your seat; don't rise on my account.'
+
+'Tank _you_, massa Kirke, fur comin' yere. It'm bery good ob you. Ole
+missy lub you, sar; you'm so good ter massa Robert. He'm my own chile,
+sar!'
+
+This was undoubtedly a figure of speech, for the old woman's skin was
+altogether too black not to have given a trifle of its shading to the
+complexion of her children. It was not only black, but blue black, and
+of that peculiar hue which is seen only on the faces of native Africans.
+
+Seeing that she had relinquished smoking, I said:
+
+'Never mind me, aunty; I smoke myself sometimes.'
+
+'Tank you, sar,' she replied, resuming her pipe, and relapsing into her
+previous position; 'ole wimmin lub 'backer, sar.'
+
+The low tone in which this was said made me conclude that further
+conversation would be exhausting to her, so turning to Joe and Aggy--the
+latter had hurried through her domestic employments, and taken a seat
+near the fire--I entered into a general discussion of the old worthies
+that occupied Joe's book shelves.
+
+I found the negro had taxed them for house room. He had levied on their
+best thoughts, and I soon experienced the uneasy sensation which one
+feels when he encounters a man who can 'talk him dry' on almost any
+subject. On the single topic of the business to which I was educated, I
+might have displayed, had it not been Sunday night, a greater amount of
+information; but in the knowledge of every subject that was broached,
+the black was my superior.
+
+The conversation had rambled on for a full half hour, the old negress
+meanwhile puffing steadily away, and giving no heed to it; when suddenly
+her pipe dropped from her mouth, her eyes closed, her bent figure became
+erect, and a quick, convulsive shiver passed over her. Thinking she was
+about to fall in a fit, I exclaimed:
+
+'Joe! See! your mother!'
+
+'Neber mind, sar,' he quietly replied; 'it'm nuffin'. Only de power am
+on her.'
+
+A few more convulsive spasms succeeded, when the old woman's face
+assumed a settled expression; and swaying her body back and forth with a
+slow, steady motion, she commenced humming a low chant. Gradually it
+grew louder, till it broke into a strange, wild song, filling the room,
+and coming back in short, broken echoes from the adjoining apartments.
+Struck with astonishment, I was about to speak, when Joe, laying his
+hand on my arm, said:
+
+'Hush, sar! It am de song ob de kidnap slave!'
+
+It was sung in the African tongue, but I thought I heard, as it rose and
+fell in a wild, irregular cadence, the thrilling story of the stolen
+black; his smothered cries, and fevered moans in the slaver's hold; the
+shriek of the wind, and the sullen sound of the surging waves as they
+broke against the accursed ship; and, then--as the old negress rose and
+poured forth quick, broken volumes of song--the loud mirth of the
+drunken crew, mingling with what seemed dying groans, and the heavy
+splash of falling bodies striking the sea.
+
+As she concluded, with a firm, stately step--showing none of her
+previous decrepitude--she approached me:
+
+Seeing that I regarded her movements with a look of startled interest,
+Joe said:
+
+'Leff har do what she likes, sar. She hab suffin' to say to you.'
+
+Taking a small bag[1] from her bosom, and placing it in the open front
+of my waistcoat, she reached out her long, skinny arm, and placing her
+skeleton hand on the top of my head, chanted a low song. The words were
+mostly English, and the few I caught were something as follows:
+
+   'Oh, bress de swanga buckra man;
+   Bress wife an' chile ob buckra man.'
+   Bress all dat b'long to buckra man;
+   Barimo[2] bress de buckra man;
+   De good Lord bress de buckra man;
+   Bress, bress de swanga buckra man.'
+
+As she finished the invocation, she took both my hands in hers, and
+leaning forward, and muttering a few low words, seemed trying to read
+the story imprinted on my palms. Her eyes were closed, and thinking she
+might be troubled to see me without the use of those organs, I looked
+inquiringly at her son.
+
+'She don't need eyes, sar,' said Joe, answering my thought; 'she'll tell
+all 'bout you widout dem.'
+
+As he said this, she dropped one of my hands, and raising her right arm,
+made several passes over my head, then resting her hand again upon it,
+she began chanting another low song:
+
+'What der yer see, mudder?' asked Joe, leaning forward, with a look of
+intense interest on his face.
+
+'A tall gemman-de swanga gemman--in a big city. De night am dark an'
+cole--bery cole. Pore little chile am wid him, an' he cole--bery cole;
+him cloes pore--bery pore. Dey come to a big hous'n--great light in de
+winders--an' dey gwo in--swanga gemman an' pore chile. A great room
+dar, wid big fire, an' oh! sweet young missus. She jump up-swanga gemman
+speak to har, an' show de pore chile. She look sorry like, an' cry; den
+she frow har arm 'roun' de pore chile; take him to de fire, an' kiss
+him--kiss him ober an' ober agin.'
+
+It was the scene when Kate first saw Frank, on the night of his mother's
+death. I said nothing, but Joe asked:
+
+'Any more, mudder?'
+
+'Yas. I sees a big city, anoder city, in de daytime. In dark room,
+upstars, am swanga gemman an' anoder buckra man--he bad buckra man.
+Buckra angel dar, too, a standin' 'side de swanga gemman, but swanga
+gemman doan't see har. She look jess like de pore chile. De swanga
+gemman git up, an' 'pear angry, bery angry, but he keep in. Talk hard to
+oder buckra man, who shake him head, an' look down. Swanga gemman den
+walk de room, an' talk fasser yit, but bad buckra man keep shakin' him
+head. Den swanga gemman stan' right ober de oder buckra man, an' de
+strong words come inter him froat. Him 'pears gwine to curse de buckra
+man, but de angel put har han' ober him moufh, an' say suffin' to him.
+Swanga gemman yeres, dough he doan't see har. Den he say nuffin' more,
+but gwo right 'way.'
+
+It was the scene in Hallet's office, when I told him of his victim's
+death, and entreated him to provide for, if he did not acknowledge his
+child. The words which flashed upon my brain, and stayed the curse which
+rose to my lips, were those of the dying girl: 'Leave him to GOD!'
+
+'Go on. Tell me what she _said_,' I exclaimed.
+
+'Mudder doan't _yere_; she only see de pictur ob what hab been. Listen!'
+said Joe; and the old woman again spoke:
+
+'I sees a big city--de fuss city, an' great hous'n--de fuss hous'n. De
+young missus am dar, wid de pore chile, an' a little chile dat look jess
+like she do; an' dar'm anoder bery little chile dar, too. Dey'm upstars
+in a room, wid a bed an' a candle burnin'. Dey'm gwine to bed. Young
+missus kneel down wid de two chil'ren, an' pray. An' side de pore chile,
+an' kneelin' down wid har arm roun' him neck, am de buckra angel. She
+pray, too. Swanga gemman in anoder room yere dem aprayin', an' he come
+an' look. He say nuffin', but he stan' dar, an' de big tear run down him
+cheek. De time come back to him when _he_ wus a little chile, an' he
+pray like dem. He doan't pray 'nuff now!'
+
+It was the last night I had passed at home. A feeling of indescribable
+awe crept over me, and I rose halfway from my seat.
+
+'Sit still, sar,' said Joe, almost forcing me back into the chair.
+'You'll break de power.'
+
+'You know the past, old woman,' I exclaimed. 'Tell me the future!'
+
+'Hush!' she replied, with an imperious tone. 'Dey'm comin'.'
+
+During all this time she had stood with her hand on my head, as
+immovable as a marble statue. Her voice had a deep, strong tone, and her
+face wore a look of calm power. Nothing about her reminded me of the
+weak, decrepit old woman she had been but an hour before.
+
+'Dey'm yere!' she said; and in another moment the door opened, and
+Preston and his wife entered.
+
+Without rising or speaking, Joe motioned them to two vacant chairs. As
+they seated themselves, I exclaimed:
+
+'She has told me all things that ever I did!'
+
+'She has strange powers,' replied Preston.
+
+'Hush, Robert Preston! De swanga gemman ax fur de future!'
+
+Shading then her closed eyes with one hand, and leaning forward, as if
+peering into the far distance, the old negress laid her other hand again
+on my head, and continued:
+
+'I see a deep, wide riber flowin' on to de great sea. De swanga gemman,
+in strong boat, am on it; an' de young missus, an' de pore chile, an'
+one, two oder chile, am wid him. De storm strike de riber, an' raise de
+big wave, but de boat gwo on jess de same. De swanga gemman he doan't
+keer fur de storm, or de big wave, fur he got 'em all dar! An' I see
+anoder riber--not so deep, not so wide--flowin' on 'side de big riber,
+to de great sea; an' you' (looking at Preston), 'an' de good missus, an'
+one, two, free, four chile am dar. De wind blow ober dat riber an' raise
+de big wave, but de swanga gemman reach out him hand, an' de wave gwo
+down. An' I see a little riber flow out ob de big riber, an' de pore
+chile in a little boat am on it. An' a little riber come out ob de oder
+riber an' gwo into de oder little riber, an' a chile am on dat, too. De
+two little boats meet, an' de two chile gwo on togedder, but--de storm
+come dar, an'--de great rocks--oh! oh!' and, covering her face with her
+hands, she turned away.
+
+'What more do you see? Tell me, Deborah!' exclaimed Preston, bending
+forward with breathless eagerness.
+
+She raised her head, and seemed to look again in the same direction;
+then, in a low tone, said:
+
+'I sees no more.'
+
+'What of the other river? What of that?' he exclaimed, with the same
+breathless anxiety.
+
+'I sees--de boat 'mong de rocks--de great rocks--an' you--dar--all by
+you'seff--all by you'seff--an'--O Barimo!' and, giving a low scream, she
+started back as if palsied with dread.
+
+Springing to his feet, Preston seized her by both arms, and screamed
+out:
+
+'What more! Tell me WHAT MORE!'
+
+Drawing her tall form up to its full height, and looking at him with her
+closed eyes, she said, in a voice inexpressibly sad and tender:
+
+'I sees de great rocks--de great fall--de great sea!' then pausing a
+moment, and pointing upward, she added: 'Robert Preston! Trust in GOD!'
+
+Overcome with emotion, she staggered back to her seat. A few convulsive
+shudders passed over her; her eyes slowly opened, and--she was the same
+weak, old woman as before.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next morning I bade adieu to my kind friends, and started again on
+my journey. Preston accompanied me as far as Wilmington, where we
+parted; he going on to Whitesville, in search of the new turpentine
+location; and I, proceeding by the Charleston boat, southward.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+On my return to my home, a few weeks after the events narrated in the
+previous chapter, in pursuance of a promise made to Preston, I inserted
+an advertisement in the papers, which read somewhat as follows:
+
+     'WANTED, a suitable person to go South, as governess in a planter's
+     family. She must be thoroughly educated, and competent to instruct
+     a boy of twelve. Such a one may apply by letter;' etc., etc.
+
+A score of replies flowed in within the few following days, but being
+excessively occupied with a mass of personal business, which had
+accumulated in my absence, I laid them all aside, till more than one
+week had elapsed. Then, one evening I took them home, and Kate and I
+opened the batch. As each one was read by my wife or myself, we
+commented on the character of the writers as indicated by the
+handwriting and general style of the epistles. Rejecting about two
+thirds as altogether unworthy of attention, we reserved the remaining
+half dozen for a second inspection. Among these, the one with the
+cramped, precise chirography was thought to come from an old maid.
+Another, whose five lines of rail fence covered a sheet nearly as large
+as a ten-acre lot, was the production of a strong-minded woman. A third,
+on tinted paper, and dotted with blots and erasures, was from a fat
+lady, who wore her shoes down at the heel, and got up too late for
+breakfast. 'But here, Kate,' I exclaimed, as I opened the fourth
+missive, 'this one, in this firm yet lady-like hand--this one will do.
+Hear what it says:
+
+     SIR:--I think I can answer your requirements. A line addressed to
+     Catharine Walley, B----, N.H., with full particulars, will receive
+     immediate attention.
+
+'That's the woman, Kate. A business man in petticoats! _She_ can manage
+a boy of twelve!'
+
+'Or a man of twice that age,' said Kate, quietly reading the letter. 'I
+wouldn't have that woman in _my_ house.'
+
+'Why not? She has character--take my word for it. Her letter is as short
+and sweet as a 'promise to pay.''
+
+'She has too much character, and not of the right sort. There is no
+womanliness about her.'
+
+'You women are always hard on your own sex. She'll have to manage Joe,
+and she'll need to be half man to do that. I think I had better write
+her to come here. I can tell what she is when I see her. I can read a
+woman like a book.'
+
+There was a slight twinkle in my wife's eyes when I said this, and she
+made some further objections, but I overruled them; and, on the
+following morning, dispatched a letter, inviting Miss Walley to the
+city.
+
+Returning to my office from ''Change,' one afternoon, a few days
+afterward, I found a lady awaiting me. She rose as I entered, and gave
+her name as Miss Walley. She was prepossessing and lady-like in
+appearance, and there was a certain ease and self-possession in her
+manner, which I was surprised to see in one directly from a remote
+country town. She wore a plain gray dress, with a cape of the same
+material; a straw hat, neatly trimmed with brown ribbon, and, on the
+inside, a bunch of deep pink flowers, which gave a slight coloring to
+her otherwise pale and sallow but intellectual face. Her whole dress
+bespoke refinement and taste. She was tall and slender, with an almost
+imperceptible stoop in the shoulders, indicative of a studious habit;
+but you forgot this seeming defect in her easy and graceful movements.
+Her brown hair was combed plainly over a rather low and narrow forehead;
+her face was long and thin, and her small, clear gray eyes were shaded
+by brown eyebrows meeting together, and, when she was talking earnestly,
+or listening attentively, slightly contracting, and deepening her keen
+and thoughtful expression. Her nose was long and rather prominent; and
+her mouth and chin were large, showing character and will; but their
+masculine expression was relieved by a short upper lip, which displayed
+to full advantage the finest set of teeth I ever saw.
+
+Referring at once to the object of her visit, she handed me a number of
+credentials, highly commendatory of her character and ability as a
+teacher. I glanced over them, and assured her they were satisfactory.
+She then questioned me as to the compensation she would receive, and the
+position of the family needing her services. Answering these inquiries,
+I added that I was prepared to engage her on the terms I had named.
+
+'I have been in receipt of the same salary as assistant in a school in
+my native village, sir,' she replied; 'but what you say of the family of
+Mr. Preston, and a desire to visit the South, will induce me to accept
+the situation.'
+
+'When will you be ready to go, madam?' I asked.
+
+'At once, sir. To-day, if necessary.'
+
+Surprised and yet pleased with her promptness, I said:
+
+'And are you entirely ready to go so far on so short notice?'
+
+'Yes, sir. The cars leave in the morning, I am told. I will start
+then.'
+
+'And alone?'
+
+'Yes, sir. We Yankee girls are accustomed to taking care of ourselves.'
+
+'I admire your independence. But you pass the night in town; you will, I
+trust, spend it at my residence?'
+
+'Thank you, sir.'
+
+Ordering a carriage and stopping on the way at a hotel to get the single
+trunk which contained her wardrobe, I conveyed her at once to my
+residence.
+
+After supper we all gathered in the parlor, and I set about entertaining
+our guest. I had to make little effort to do that, for her conversation
+soon displayed a knowledge of books and people, and a wit and keenness
+of intellect, as decidedly entertained me. She was not only brilliant,
+but agreeable; and in the course of the evening made some pleasant
+overtures to the children. Frank, with a book in his hand, had drawn his
+chair off to another part of the room, and showed, at first, uncommon
+reserve for a lad of his warm and genial nature; but gradually, as if in
+spite of himself, he edged his chair nearer to her. Our little 'four
+year old,' however, resisting the offered temptation of watch and chain,
+and even sugar-plums, repelled her advances, and hid his curly head only
+the more closely in the folds of his mother's dress. Kate listened and
+laughed, but I caught occasionally, as her eyes studied the visitor
+attentively, a troubled expression, which I well understood. After a
+while the lady expressed a readiness to retire that she might obtain the
+rest needed for an early start by the morning train, and Kate conducted
+her to her apartment.
+
+I felt highly delighted with the idea of being able to send Mrs. Preston
+so agreeable a companion, and not a little vexed with my wife for not
+sharing my enthusiasm. When she returned to the parlor, I said:
+
+'Kate, why do you not like her?'
+
+'I can hardly tell _why_,' she replied, 'but my first impression is
+confirmed. I would not trust her. Why does she go South for the same
+salary she has had in New Hampshire?'
+
+'Because she wants to see the world; she's a stirring Yankee woman.'
+
+'No; because you told her of Mr. Preston's position in society; and
+because she hopes to win a plantation and a rich planter.'
+
+'Nonsense,' I replied. 'You misjudge her.'
+
+'I tell you, Edmund, she is a cold, selfish, sordid woman; all
+intellect, and no heart. If I had never seen her face, I should have
+known that by her voice, and the shake of her hand.'
+
+But it was too late--I had engaged her; and at seven o'clock on the
+following morning she was on her way to the South.
+
+I soon received information of her safe arrival at her destination, and
+the warm thanks of Preston for having sent him so agreeable a person,
+and one so well fitted to instruct his children.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The turpentine location was soon secured, and early in the following
+spring, Joe, with about a hundred 'prime hands,' commenced operations in
+the new field. Constantly increasing shipments soon gave evidence of the
+energy with which the negro entered upon his work; and by the end of the
+year, Preston had not only paid the advances we made on receiving the
+deed of the land, but also the note I had given for the purchase of
+Phyllis. For the first time in five years he was entirely out of our
+debt.
+
+The next season he hired a force of nearly two hundred negroes, and
+generously gave Joe a small interest in the new business, with a view to
+the black's ultimately buying his freedom. His transactions soon became
+large and profitable both to him and to us. Shortly afterward he paid
+off the last of his floating debt, and his balances in our hands grew
+from nothing till they reached five and seven and often ten thousand
+dollars.
+
+But heavy affliction overtook him in the midst of his prosperity. His
+wife and two eldest daughters were stricken down by a prevailing
+epidemic, and died within a fortnight of each other. A letter which I
+received from him at this time, will best relate these events. It was as
+follows:
+
+     MY DEAR FRIEND:--I have sad, very sad news to tell you. A week ago
+     to-day I followed the remains of my beloved wife to the grave.
+     Overcome by watching with our children, and grief at their loss,
+     about three weeks since she took their disease, and sinking
+     rapidly, soon resigned her spotless spirit to the hands of her
+     MAKER. Overwhelmed by this treble affliction, I have not been able
+     to write you before. Even now I can hardly hold a pen. I am
+     perfectly paralyzed; I can neither act nor think--I can only
+     _feel_.
+
+     You, who have seen her in our home, can realize what she was to my
+     family, but none can know what she was to me: companion, friend,
+     guide! My stay and support through long years of trial, she is
+     taken from me just as prosperity is dawning on me, and I was hoping
+     to repay, by a life of devotion, some part of what she had borne
+     and suffered on my account. Another angel has been welcomed in
+     heaven, but I am left here alone--alone with my grief and my
+     remorse!
+
+     My son is inconsolable, and even little Selly seems to realize the
+     full extent of her loss. The poor little thing will not leave me
+     for a moment. She is now the only comfort I have. Miss Walley has
+     been unremitting in her kindness and attention, taking the burden
+     of everything upon herself. Indeed, I do not know what I should
+     have done without her.
+
+     Time may temper my affliction, but _now_, my dear friend, I am not
+
+          ROBERT PRESTON.
+
+
+
+Nothing worthy of special mention occurred to the persons whose history
+I am relating till about a year after the death of Mrs. Preston. Then,
+one day late in the autumn, I received information of her husband's
+approaching marriage with the governess. In the letter which invited me
+to be present at the ceremony, Preston said: 'No one can ever fill the
+place in my heart that is occupied, and ever will be occupied by the
+memory of my sainted wife; but Miss Walley has rendered herself
+indispensable to me and my family. My studious habits and ignorance of
+business made me, as you know, even in my full health and strength, a
+poor manager; and during the past year, grief has so broken my spirits
+that I have been utterly unfitted for attending to the commonest duties.
+But for Miss Walley, everything would have gone to waste and ruin. With
+the efficiency of a business man, she has attended to my household,
+overseen my plantation, and managed my entire affairs. In the first
+moments of my bereavement, when grief so entirely overwhelmed me that I
+saw no one, I did not know to what censurious remark her disinterested
+devotion to my interests was subjecting her; but recently I have
+realized the impropriety of a young, unmarried woman occupying the
+position she holds in my household. Miss Walley, also, has felt this,
+and some time since notified me, though with evident reluctance, that
+she felt it imperatively necessary to leave my service. What, then,
+could I do? My people needed a mistress; my children a mother. She was
+both. Only one course seemed open, and after mature deliberation I
+offered her my hand, frankly stating that my heart was with the angel
+who, lost to me here, will be mine hereafter. Satisfied with my
+friendship and esteem, she has accepted me; and we are to be married on
+the 26th inst.; when I most sincerely trust that you, my dear friend,
+and your estimable wife, will be present.
+
+That night I took the letter home to my wife. She read it, and laying it
+down, sadly said:
+
+'Oh, Edmund! He is, indeed, 'among the rocks!''
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Two years went by, and I did not meet Preston, but our business
+relations kept us in frequent correspondence, and his letters
+occasionally alluded to his domestic affairs.
+
+Very soon after his marriage with the governess, his son went to live
+with his uncle, Mr. James Preston, of Mobile, a wealthy bachelor, who
+long before had expressed the intention of having the boy succeed to his
+business and estate. 'Boss Joe' continued in charge of the turpentine
+plantation, and had built him a house, and removed his wife and aged
+mother to his new home. On one of my visits to the South I stopped
+overnight with him, and was delighted with his model establishment. Two
+hundred as cheerful-looking darkies as ever swung a turpentine axe, were
+gathered in tents and small shanties around his neat log cabin, and Joe
+seemed as happy as if he were governor of a province.
+
+His operations had grown to such magnitude that Preston then ranked
+among the largest producers of the North Carolina staple, and his
+'account' had become one of the most valuable on our books. Though we
+sent 'account currents' and duplicates of each 'account sales' to his
+master, our regular 'returns' were made to Joe, and no one of our
+correspondents held us to so strict an accountability, or so often
+expressed dissatisfaction with the result of his shipments, as he.
+
+'I thinks a heap of you, Mr. Kirke,' he said at the close of one of his
+letters about this time; 'but the fact am, thar's no friendship in
+trade, and you _did_ sell that lass pile of truck jess one day too
+sudden.'
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Two more years rolled away. Frank was nearly sixteen. He had grown up a
+fine, manly lad, and never for one moment had Kate or I regretted the
+care we had bestowed on his education and training. He was all we could
+have wished for in our own son, and in his warm love and cheerful
+obedience we both found the blessing invoked on us by his dying mother.
+
+His affection for Kate was something more than the common feeling of a
+child for a parent. With that was blended a sort of half worship, which
+made him listen to her every word, and hang on her every look, as if she
+were a being of some higher order than he. They were inseparable. He
+preferred her society to that of his young companions, and often, when
+he was a child, seated by her knee, and listening, when she told of his
+'other mother' in the 'beautiful heaven,' have I seen his eye wander to
+her face with an expression, which plainly said: 'My heart knows no
+'other mother' than you.' Kate was proud of him, and well she might be,
+for he was a comely youth; and his straight, closely knit, sinewy frame;
+dark, deepset eyes; and broad, open forehead, overhung with thick, brown
+hair; only outshadowed a beautiful mind, an open, upright, manly nature,
+whose firm and steady integrity nothing could shake.
+
+About this time I received a letter from his father, which, as it had an
+important bearing on the lad's future career, I give to the reader:
+
+   BOSTON, _September 20th, 185-._
+
+DEAR SIR:--A recent illness has brought my past life in its true light
+before me. I see its sin, and I would make all the atonement in my
+power. I cannot undo the wrong I have done to one who is gone, but I can
+do my duty to her child. You, I am told, have been a father to him. _I_
+would now assume that relation, and make you such recompense for what
+you have done, as you may require. I am too weak to travel, or indeed,
+to leave my house, but I am impatient to see my son. May I not ask you
+to bring him to me at once? Then I will arrange all things to your
+satisfaction.
+
+I need not tell you, after saying what I have, that I should feel
+greatly gratified to once more possess your confidence, and regard.
+
+   I am, sincerely yours,
+        JOHN HALLET.
+
+
+In another hand was the following postscript:
+
+MY DEAR BOY:--John is sincere. Thee can trust him. He has told me _all_.
+He will do the right thing. Come on with the lad as soon as thee can.
+Love to Kate. Thy old friend,
+
+   DAVID.
+
+
+After conferring with my wife, I sent the following reply to these
+communications:
+
+   NEW YORK, _September 22d, 185-._
+
+DAVID OF OLD;--Thou man after the Lord's own heart. I have Hallet's
+letter, seasoned with your P.S. He is shrewd; he knew that nothing but
+your old-fashioned hand would draw a reply from _me_, to anything
+written by _him_.
+
+I've no faith in sick-bed repentances; and none in John Hallet, sick or
+well:
+
+   'When the devil was sick,
+   The devil a monk would be;
+   When the devil got well,
+   The devil a monk was he.'
+
+
+However, as Hallet is capable of cheating his best friend, even the
+devil, I will take his letter into consideration; but it having taken
+him sixteen years to make up his mind to do a right action, it may take
+me as many days to come to a decision on this subject.
+
+Frank is everything to us, and nothing but the clearest conviction that
+his ultimate good will be promoted by going to his father, will induce
+us to consent to it.
+
+I do not write Hallet. You may give him as much or as little of this
+letter as you think will be good for him.
+
+Kate sends love to you and to Alice; and dear David, with all the love I
+felt for you when I wore a short jacket, and sat on the old stool,
+
+   I am your devoted friend.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a dingy old sign. It had hung there in sun and rain till its
+letters were faint and its face was furrowed. It had looked down on a
+generation that had passed away, and seen those who placed it there go
+out of that doorway never to return; still it clung to that dingy old
+warehouse, and still Russell, Rollins & Co. was signed in the dingy old
+counting room at the head of the stairway. It was known the world over.
+It was heard of on the cotton fields of Texas, in the canebrakes of
+Cuba, and amid the rice swamps of Carolina. The Chinaman spoke of it as
+he sipped his tea and plied his chopsticks in the streets of Canton, and
+the half-naked negro rattled its gold as he gathered palm oil and the
+copal gum on the western coast of Africa. Its plain initials, painted in
+black on a white ground, waved from tall masts over many seas, and its
+simple 'promise to pay,' scrawled in a bad hand on a narrow strip of
+paper, unlocked the vaults of the best bankers in Europe. And yet it was
+a dingy old sign! Men looked up to it as they passed by, and wondered
+that a cracked, weather-beaten board, that would not sell for a dollar,
+should be counted 'good for a million.'
+
+It was a dingy old warehouse, with narrow, dark, cobwebbed windows, and
+wide, rusty iron shutters, which, as the bleak October wind swept up old
+Long Wharf, swung slowly on their hinges with a sharp, grating creak. I
+heard them in my boyhood. Perched on a tall stool at that old desk, I
+used to listen, in the long winter nights, to those strange, wild cries,
+till I fancied they were voices of the uneasy dead, come back to take
+the vacant seats beside me, and to pace again, with ghostly tread, the
+floor of that dark old counting room. They were a mystery and a terror
+to me; but they never creaked so harshly, or cried so wildly, as on that
+October night, when for the first time in nine years I turned my steps
+up the trembling old stairway.
+
+It was just after nightfall. A single gas burner threw a dim, uncertain
+light over the old desk, and lit up the figure of a tall, gray-haired
+man, who was bending over it. He had round, stooping shoulders, and
+long, spindling limbs. One of his large feet, encased in a thick,
+square-toed shoe, rested on the round of the desk; the other, planted
+squarely on the floor, upheld his spare, gaunt frame. His face was thin
+and long, and two deep, black lines under his eyes contrasted strangely
+with the pallid whiteness of his features. His clothes were of the
+fashion of those good people called 'Friends,' and had served long as
+his 'Sunday best' before being degraded to daily duty. They were of
+plain brown, and, though not shabby, were worn and threadbare, and of
+decidedly economical appearance. Everything about him, indeed, wore an
+economical look. His scant coat tails, narrow pants, and short waistcoat
+showed that the cost of each inch of material had been counted, while
+his thin hair, brushed carefully over his bald head, had not a lock to
+spare; and even his large, sharp bones were covered with only just
+enough flesh to hold them comfortably together. He had stood there till
+his eye was dim and his step feeble, and though he had, for twenty
+years--when handing in each semiannual trial balance to the head of the
+house--declared that was his last, everybody said he would continue to
+stand there till his own trial balance was struck, and his earthly
+accounts were closed forever.
+
+As I entered, he turned his mild blue eye upon me, and, taking my hand
+warmly in his, exclaimed:
+
+'My dear boy, I am glad to see thee!'
+
+'I am glad to see _you_, David. Is Alice well?'
+
+'Very well. And Kate, and thy babies?'
+
+'All well,' I replied.
+
+'Thee has come to see John?'
+
+'Yes. How is he?'
+
+'Oh, better; he got out several days ago. He's inside now,' and opening
+the door of an inner office, separated from the outer one by a glass
+partition, he said, 'John, Edmund is here.'
+
+A tall, dark man came to the door, and, with a slightly flurried and
+embarrassed manner, said:
+
+'Ah, Mr. Kirke! I'm glad to see you. Please step in.'
+
+As he tendered me a chair, a shorter and younger gentleman, who was
+writing at another desk, sprang from his seat, and slapping me
+familiarly on the back, exclaimed:
+
+'My dear fellow, how are you?'
+
+'Very well, Cragin; how are _you_?' I replied, returning his cordial
+greeting.
+
+'Good as new--never better in my life. It's good for one's health to see
+you _here_.'
+
+'I have come at Mr. Hallet's invitation.'
+
+'Yes, I know, Hallet has told me you've a smart boy you want us to take.
+Send him along. Boston's the place to train a youngster to business.'
+
+The last speaker was not more than thirty, but a bald spot on the top of
+his head, and a slight falling-in of his mouth, caused by premature
+decay of the front teeth, made him seem several years older. He had
+marked but not regular features, and a restless, dark eye, that opened
+and shut with a peculiar wink, which kept time with the motion of his
+lips in speaking. His clothes were cut in a loose, jaunty style, and his
+manner, though brusque and abrupt, betokened, like his face, a free,
+frank, whole-souled character. He was several years the junior of the
+other, and as unlike him as one man can be unlike another.
+
+The older gentleman, as I have said, was tall and dark. He had a high,
+bold forehead, a pale, sallow complexion, and wore heavy gray whiskers,
+trimmed with the utmost nicety, and meeting under a sharp, narrow chin.
+His face was large, his jaws wide, and his nose pointed and prominent,
+but his mouth was small and gathered in at the corners like a rat's;
+and, as if to add to the rat resemblance, its puny, white teeth seemed
+borrowed from that animal. There was a stately precision in his manner
+and a stealthy softness in his tread not often seen in combination,
+which might have impressed a close observer as indicative of a bold,
+pompous, and yet cunning character.
+
+These two gentlemen--Mr. Hallet and Mr. Cragin--were the only surviving
+partners of the great house of Russell, Rollins & Co.
+
+'Have you brought him with you?' asked Hallet, his voice trembling a
+little, and his pale face flushing slightly as he spoke.
+
+'No, sir,' I replied; 'I thought I would confer with you first. I have
+not yet broached the subject to the lad.'
+
+Some unimportant conversation followed, when Hallet, turning to Cragin,
+asked:
+
+'Are all the letters written for tomorrow's steamers?'
+
+'Yes,' said Cragin, rising; 'and I believe I'll leave you two together.
+As you've not spoken for ten years, you must have a good deal to say.
+Come, David,' he called out, as he drew on his outside coat, 'let's go.'
+
+'No, don't take David,' I exclaimed; 'I want to talk with the old
+gentleman.'
+
+'But you can see him to-morrow.'
+
+'No, I return in the morning.'
+
+'Well, David, I'll tell Alice you'll be home by nine.'
+
+'Oh, that's it,' I said, laughing. 'It's Alice who makes you leave so
+early on steamer night.'
+
+'Yes, _sir_; Alice that _is_, and Mrs. Augustus Cragin that is _to
+be_--when I get a new set of teeth. Good night,' and saying this, he
+took up his cane, and left the office.
+
+When he was gone, Hallet said to me:
+
+'Do you desire to have David a witness to our conversation?'
+
+'I want him to be a _party_ to it. We can come to no arrangement without
+his co�peration.'
+
+Hallet asked the bookkeeper in. When he was seated, I said:
+
+'Well, Mr. Hallet, what do you propose to do for your son?'
+
+'To treat him as I do my other children. Do all but acknowledge him.
+That would injure _him_.'
+
+'That is not important. But please be explicit as to what you will do.'
+
+'David tells me that his inclinations tend to business, and that you
+have meant to take him into your office. I will take him into _mine_,
+and when he is twenty-one, if he has conducted himself properly, I will
+give him an interest.'
+
+'I shall be satisfied with no _contingent_ arrangement, sir. I know
+Frank will prove worthy of the position.'
+
+'Very well; then I will agree definitely to make him a partner when he
+is of age.'
+
+'Well, Mr. Hallet, if Frank will consent to come, I will agree to that
+with certain conditions. I told his mother, when she was dying, that I
+would consider him my own child; therefore I cannot give up the control
+of him. He must regard me and depend on me as he does now. Again, I
+cannot let him come here, and have no home whose influence shall protect
+him from the temptations which beset young men in a large city. David
+must take him into his family, and treat him as he treated me when I was
+a boy, and--this must be reduced to writing.'
+
+Hallet showed some emotion when I spoke of Frank's mother, but his face
+soon assumed its usual expression, and he promptly replied:
+
+'I will agree to all that, but I would suggest that the fact of his
+being my son should not be communicated to him; that it be confined to
+us three. I ask this, believe me, only for the sake of my family.
+
+'I see no objection to that, sir, and I think, Frank, for his own sake,
+should not know what his prospects are.'
+
+Hallet signified assent, and turning to David, I asked:
+
+'David, what do _you_ say? Will you take him?'
+
+'I will,' said the old bookkeeper, showing in his expenditure of breath
+the close economy which was the rule of his life.
+
+'Nothing remains but to arrange his salary and the share he shall have
+when he becomes a partner,' I remarked to Hallet.
+
+'Will an average of seven hundred a year, and an eighth interest when
+he's twenty-one, be satisfactory?'
+
+'Entirely so. An eighth in your house will be better than a quarter in
+ours. As it is now all understood, let David draw up the papers. We will
+sign them, and leave them with him till I see Frank.'
+
+'Very well. David, please to draw them up,' said Hallet; and then, his
+voice again trembling a little, he added, 'All is understood, Mr. Kirke,
+but the compensation I shall make you for your fatherly care of my much
+neglected son. Money cannot pay for such service, but it will relieve me
+to reimburse you for your expenditures.'
+
+'I have had my pay, sir, in the love of the boy. I ask no more.'
+
+Hallet was sensibly affected, but without speaking, he turned to the
+desk, and took down his bankbook. In a few moments he handed me a check.
+It was for five thousand dollars. I took it, and, hesitating an instant,
+said:
+
+'I will keep this, sir; not for myself, but for Frank. It may be of
+service to him at some future time.'
+
+'Keep it for yourself, sir, not for him. He will not need it. He shall
+share equally with my other children.'
+
+'I am glad to see this spirit in you, sir. Frank will be worthy of all
+you may do for him.'
+
+'It is not for _his_ sake that I will do it,' replied Hallet, his voice
+tremulous with emotion; 'it is that I may have the forgiveness of the
+one I--I--' He said no more, but leaning his head on his hand, he wept!
+
+If there is joy among the angels over one that repents, was there not,
+then, forgiveness in _her_ heart for _him_?
+
+No one spoke for some minutes; then David rose, and handing me one of
+the papers, laid the other before Hallet.
+
+'This appears right,' I said, after reading it over carefully.
+
+'Yes,' replied Hallet, taking up a pen and signing the other. Passing it
+to me, he added: 'Keep them both--take them now.'
+
+'But Frank may not wish to come.'
+
+'Then I will find some other way of helping him. He is my son! Take the
+papers.'
+
+'Well, as you say,' I replied. 'David, please to witness this.'
+
+Hallet pressed me to pass the night at his house, but I declined, and
+rode out to Cambridge with the old bookkeeper. With many injunctions to
+watch carefully over Frank, I left him about twelve o'clock, rode into
+town with Cragin, and the next morning started for New York.
+
+That night, as I recounted the interview to Kate, I said:
+
+'I never did believe in these double-quick conversions; but Hallet _is_
+an altered man.'
+
+'Then, indeed, can the leopard change his spots.'
+
+As usual, her womanly intuitions were right; my worldly wisdom was
+wrong!
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Not long after the events I have just related, the mail brought me the
+following letter from Preston:
+
+MY VERY DEAR FRIEND:--Circumstances, which I cannot explain by letter,
+render it _imperatively_ necessary that I should provide another home
+for my daughter. Her education has been sadly neglected, and she should
+be where she can have experienced tutors, and good social surroundings.
+With her delicate organization, and sensitive and susceptible nature,
+she needs _motherly_ care and affection, and I shrink from committing
+her to the hands of strangers. I should feel at rest about her only with
+_you_. You have been my steadfast friend through many years; you have
+stood by me in, sore trials--may I not then ask you to do me now a
+greater service than you have ever done, by receiving my little daughter
+into your family? I know this is an unusual, almost presumptuous
+request; but if you knew her as she is--gentle, loving, obedient--the
+light and joy of all about her, I am sure you, and your excellent lady,
+would love her, and be willing to make her the companion of your
+children. She is my only earthly comfort, and it will rend my heart to
+part with her, but--I _must_.
+
+Write me at once. You are yourself a father--_do not refuse me_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To this, on the next day, I sent the following reply:
+
+MY DEAR FRIEND:--I would most cheerfully take your daughter into my
+family, did my wife's health, which has been failing all the summer,
+allow of her assuming any additional care.
+
+I think, however, I can provide Selma with a home equally as good as my
+own; one where good influences will be about her, and she will have the
+best educational advantages. I refer to the family of Mr. David Gray, of
+Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was my father's friend. The years I was a
+boy with Russell, Rollins & Co., I was an inmate of his house, and my
+adopted son, Frank, is now in his care. His daughter Alice is a most
+suitable person to have charge of a young girl. She is like a sister to
+me, and to oblige me, would no doubt take Selma.
+
+Please advise me of your wishes; and believe, my dear friend, I will do
+all in my power to serve you.
+
+I was sitting down at supper, one evening, about a fortnight after
+sending this letter, when a gentleman was announced as wishing to see
+me. I rose and went into the parlor. It was Preston, and with him was
+Selma, then a beautiful little girl of about eleven years.
+
+Asking Preston to lay aside his outside coat, I was struck by his
+altered appearance. It was four years since we had met, but looking at
+him, I imagined it might be ten. His eyes were sunken, deep furrows were
+about his mouth, and his brown hair was thickly streaked with gray.
+
+'My dear friend,' I exclaimed, as I grasped his hand a second time, 'you
+are not well!'
+
+'I am as well as usual, Kirke. Time has not done this!'
+
+Fatigued with the long journey, Selma had retired, and our own little
+ones were in bed, when Kate joined us in the parlor.
+
+'You _do_ look ill, Mr. Preston,' she said, seating herself beside him.
+'You must stay a while with us, and rest.'
+
+'I would be glad to stay here, madam--anywhere away from home.'
+
+'The care of two plantations, such as yours, must be a burden!'
+
+'It is not that, madam; Joe relieves me entirely from oversight of one
+of them. My difficulty is at home--mine is not what yours is.'
+
+Kate's sympathizing words soon drew him out (she has a way of winning
+the confidence of people, and is the depositary of more family secrets
+than any other woman in the State); and he told us what his home had
+become since his union with the governess.
+
+Within two months after the marriage her real character began to display
+itself, and she soon developed into a genuine Xantippe. Getting control
+of Mulock, who had been made overseer, she had the negroes dreadfully
+whipped and overworked; she treated young master Joe so badly that the
+lad rebelled, and in his father's absence ran away to his uncle at
+Mobile; and locking Selma up in a dark room without food, or beating her
+till her back was actually discolored, she made the child's home
+intolerable to her.
+
+After master Joe went away, no one dared complain; and shut up in his
+library, brooding over his still fresh grief for the death of his wife,
+Preston knew nothing of the real state of affairs till more than a year
+had elapsed. Then one day he found Selma in tears. He questioned her,
+and learned the whole. A scene followed, in which Mrs. Preston asserted
+her rights as mistress of the plantation, and defied him. She had run
+into all sorts of extravagance, the yearly bills which had come in a
+short time previous were appallingly large, but to secure peace, Preston
+consented to buy and furnish a winter residence at Newbern. To that she
+had removed, but with the coming spring she would return to the
+plantation, and in the mean time Selma must be provided with another
+home.
+
+'Feel no anxiety about her, sir,' said Kate, as he concluded; 'if Alice
+Gray will not take her, we will.'
+
+'I thank you, madam; I cannot thank you enough for saying that,' replied
+Preston, his eyes filling with tears.
+
+I wrote at once to David, and soon received a letter from Alice
+consenting to take charge of the little girl. Thanksgiving, at which
+time Kate made annual visits to her early home, was approaching, and it
+was decided that Selma should accompany her to Boston.
+
+This being arranged, Preston, at the end of a fortnight, took leave of
+us, and returned to the South. The parting between the father and the
+child gave evidence of what they were to each other. Preston wept like a
+woman; but as Kate brushed back the brown curls from the broad forehead
+of little Selly, she raised her eyes to my wife's face, and while her
+thin nostrils dilated, and her sensitive chin slightly quivered, said;
+
+'I must not cry for poor papa's sake--it is so _very_ hard for him to go
+home alone; and he will miss his little girl _so_ much.'
+
+'You are right, dear child,' said Kate, and, as if looking into the far
+future of the woman, and feeling that such a nature must suffer as well
+as enjoy keenly, she inwardly thanked God that with her delicate
+organization He had given her the unselfish and brave heart which those
+words expressed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Four years had wrought great changes in David's quiet home. Alice had
+become Mrs. Augustus Cragin, and a little Alice tottled about the floor;
+but after supper, David still found his evening cigar on the oak stand,
+his needle-work slippers--wrought by Alice's own hand--in their place
+before the fender, and his big armchair rolled up close to the gas
+burner in the little back parlor at Cambridge.
+
+Frank was twenty, and had fulfilled all the promises of his boyhood. His
+father, after the honeymoon of his repentance was over, showed no great
+interest in him, but Cragin, who knew nothing of my arrangement with
+Hallet, had given him all the advantages in his power.
+
+Selma was only fifteen, but, like the flowers of her own South, she had
+blossomed early, and was already a woman. Preston had visited her every
+summer, but she never returned with him, having preferred passing her
+vacations at my house.
+
+In David's loving household nothing had occurred to disturb her peaceful
+life. Beloved by her teachers and schoolmates, she everywhere received
+the homage due to her beauty and her goodness; and in the gay world into
+which her joyous nature often led her, she was the acknowledged and
+_unenvied_ queen! Her father had spared no pains in her education; the
+best tutors had trained her fine ear and sweet voice, and taught her to
+give form and coloring to the pictures her glowing imagination created;
+and, whether her fingers ran over the keys of a musical instrument, or
+wielded the brush, there was a delicacy and yet _spirit_ in her touch
+which were the wonder and admiration of all.
+
+I was not surprised, when visiting Boston about this time, to have Frank
+tell me that he loved her, and ask my consent to his regarding her as
+his future wife.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Kate and I were to leave for home the following day, and, calling at the
+office in the afternoon, I said to Frank:
+
+'I have tickets for the opera, including Selma; of course you'd like to
+have her go.'
+
+'Yes, father; she has never been, and I have promised to take her this
+winter. She'll be able now to appreciate it.'
+
+The box I had selected was at a happy distance from the stage, and we
+gave Selma a front seat, that she might see to the best advantage. She
+was in high spirits; indeed, she was radiant in her beauty. She wore a
+dark blue dress of silk, fitting closely to her neck, and its short
+sleeves allowed the plump, fair arms to half disclose themselves from
+beneath the scarlet mantle Which fell around her shoulders. Her hair
+fell over her neck in the same simple fashion as in her childhood,
+except that the thick curls, which had lost their golden tint, and were
+darker and longer, were looped back from her broad brow, with a few
+simple flowers. There was the same contour of face and feature, but
+ennobled by thought and culture; the same sensitive mouth, only that the
+lips were fuller and of a deeper color; and as she talked or listened,
+the same rose tint deepened and faded beneath her rich, soft, dark skin,
+as sunlight shifts and fades across the evening sky. Her eyes, in whose
+dark depths the soul was reflected, met a stranger's calmly, but took a
+soft look of loving trust when meeting Frank's. They were shaded by long
+lashes, as black as the night; and when the lids fell suddenly, as they
+often did, and her face became quiet, and almost sad, you felt that she
+was communing with the angels.
+
+The overture burst forth, and with glowing face, and eyes fixed upon the
+stage, Selma seemed lost to all but the enrapturing sounds; even Frank's
+whispered words were unheeded. As the opera--'Lucia di
+Lammermoor'--proceeded, I saw that every eye was attracted to our box,
+and, bending forward to catch Selma's expression, I called Kate's
+attention to her. With her head thrown slightly back, a bright spot
+burning on either cheek, her breath suspended, the large tears coursing
+from her eyes, and motionless as a statue, she sat with her small hands
+clasped on the front of the box, as if entranced, and all unconscious of
+the hundred eyes that were fixed upon her. I thought of the pictures I
+had seen in the old galleries of Europe, but I said, 'Surely, art cannot
+equal nature!'
+
+When it was over, she took Frank's arm; I turned to question her, but
+Kate said:
+
+'Let her alone; she cannot talk now.'
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The transactions of Russell, Rollins & Co. extended the world over; but,
+since the death of Mr. Rollins, which occurred prior to Frank's going
+with them, they had cultivated particularly the Southern trade, and
+their operations in cotton had grown to be enormous. They bought largely
+of that staple on their own account, and for some extensive
+manufacturing establishments in England. Their purchases were mainly
+made in New Orleans, and, to attend to this business, Hallet had passed
+the winters in that city for several years.
+
+His wealth had grown rapidly, and at the date of which I am writing, he
+ranked among the 'solid men' of Boston. Cragin was not nearly so
+wealthy. Being on intimate terms with the latter, I remarked, as we were
+enjoying a cigar together one evening at David's, on the occasion of
+the visit to which I have referred in the last chapter:
+
+'How is it, Cragin, that you pass for only a hundred thousand, when
+Hallet is rated at a million?'
+
+'Because, Ned, I'm not worth any more.'
+
+'But how is that, when you have two fifths of the concern?'
+
+'Well, Hallet went into cotton like the devil some eight years ago; and
+I told him I wouldn't stand it; I like to feel the ground under me.
+Since then he has speculated on his own account--he and old Roye go it
+strong, and I guess they've made some pretty heavy lifts.'
+
+'That's uncertain business.'
+
+'Yes, devilish uncertain; but somehow they manage always to hold winning
+cards. Hallet has told me his New Orleans operations have netted him
+five hundred thousand.'
+
+'And that, with what he got by his wife, has rolled him into a
+millionaire before he's forty-five! He's a lucky fellow.'
+
+'Lucky! I wouldn't stand in his boots. What goes up _may_ come down. He
+has no peace. His wife's a hyena. She makes home too hot for him; and
+somehow he's never easy. He walks about as if treading on torpedoes.
+
+'If you dislike speculation, why don't you increase your legitimate
+business?'
+
+'Hallet's away so much, I can't do it. I'm glued to the old office. I
+should have been in Europe half of the time the last three years, but I
+haven't been able to get away.'
+
+'Why not send Frank? He's old enough now.'
+
+'I mean to, in the spring, and I'm d--d if he shan't be a partner soon,
+and take some of this load off my shoulders. But do you know that Hallet
+has a decided dislike to him?'
+
+'No! On what account?' I exclaimed. I had met Hallet only twice during
+four years, but on both occasions he had spoken favorably of his son.
+Frank himself had never alluded in other than respectful terms to his
+father.
+
+'Well, I don't know, and it makes no difference. I'm captain at this end
+of the towline, and I swear he shall go in.
+
+'As you feel so kindly toward Frank, I'll give him a chance to
+conciliate Hallet. I'll take him South this winter, and introduce him to
+our correspondents. With his address he ought to do something with them.
+Will you let him go?'
+
+'Yes, and be right down glad to have him. When do you start?'
+
+'About the middle of December.'
+
+A fortnight afterward, with Selma and Frank, I again visited Preston's
+plantation.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+It was Christmas morning when we rode up the long, winding avenue, and
+halted before the doorway of 'Silver Lake'--the new name which the
+Yankee schoolmistress, aping the custom of her Yankee cousins, had
+bestowed on Preston's plantation. The day was mild and sunshiny, and the
+whole population of the little patriarchate was gathered on the green in
+front of the mansion, distributing Christmas presents among the negroes.
+When we came in sight, from behind the thick cluster of live oaks which
+bordered the miniature lake, the whole assemblage sent up a glad shout,
+and hurried up to welcome us. And such a welcome! As she sprang from the
+carriage, Selma was caught in her father's arms, then in 'master Joe's,'
+and then, encircled by a cloud of dark beauties, each one vieing with
+the others in boisterous expressions of affection, she was the victim of
+such a demonstration as would have done the heart of Hogarth good to
+witness. In the midst of it a slight, delicate woman rushed from the
+house, and, crowding into the thick group around Selma, threw her arms
+about her neck, and, nearly smothering her with kisses, exclaimed:
+
+'My chile! my chile! I sees you at last!'
+
+'Yes, Phylly!' said Selma, returning her caresses; 'and haven't I grown?
+I thought you wouldn't know me.'
+
+'Know you! Ain't you my chile--my own dear chile!' and pressing Selma's
+cheeks between her two hands, and gazing at her beautiful face for a
+moment, she kissed her over and over again.
+
+My arms had been nearly shaken off, when I noticed 'Boss Joe' limping
+toward me, his head uncovered, and his broad face shining from out his
+gray wool like the full moon breaking through a mass of clouds.
+
+'How are you, old gentleman?' I exclaimed, grasping him warmly by the
+hand.
+
+'Right smart! right smart, massa Kirke. Glad you'm come, sar.'
+
+'And you're home for Christmas?'
+
+'Yes, sar. I'se come to see massa Robert, an' to tend to hirin' a new
+gang. But darkies 'am high dis yar, sar.'
+
+'How much are they?'
+
+'Well, dey ax, round yere, one fifty, an' 'spences dar an' back; an'
+it'm a pile, when you tink we hab used up 'most all de new trees.'
+
+'But you must have many second-year cuttings.'
+
+'Yas, right smart; but No. 2 rosum doan't pay at sech prices fur
+darkies.'
+
+Turning to Preston in a moment, I said:
+
+'Do not let us interfere with the 'doin's'--it's just what we want to
+see.'
+
+'Well, come, you folks,' said Joe, hobbling back to the green; 'leff us
+gwo on now.'
+
+Preston, Selma, and Phylly went into the house, but the rest of us
+followed the grinning group of Africans to the centre of the lawn, where
+several large packing boxes, and a long table, something like a
+carpenter's bench, were piled high with a miscellaneous assortment of
+dry goods and groceries.
+
+'Now, all you dat hab heads, come up yere,' shouted Joe, seating himself
+on the bench; 'but don't all come ter onst.'
+
+One by one the men and boys filed past him, and, selecting a hat or cap
+from a couple of boxes near, he adjusted a covering to each woolly
+cranium that presented itself; interspersing the exercise with humorous
+remarks on their respective phrenological developments:
+
+'Pomp, you's made fur a preacher, shore. Dat dar head ob your'n gwoes up
+jess like a steeple. I'll hab ter gib you a cap, Dave; you'm so big
+ahind de yeres none ob dese hats'll fit, nohow. Jess show de back ob
+you' head to any gemman, an' he'll say you'm one ob de great ones ob de
+'arth. None ob dese am big 'nuff fur you, Ally,' he continued, as a
+tall, well-clad mulatto man stepped up to him. 'You' bumps hab growed so
+sense you took to de swamp, dat nuffin'll cober you 'cept massa Robert's
+hat, or de gal Rosey's sunshade.'
+
+The yellow man laughed, but kept on trying the hats. Finding one at last
+of suitable dimensions, he turned away to make room for another
+candidate for cranial honors. As I caught a full view of his face, I
+exclaimed:
+
+'Why, Ally, is that you?'
+
+'Yas, massa; it'm me,' he replied, making a respectful bow.
+
+'And you live here yet?'
+
+'Yas, massa. Hope you's well, massa?'
+
+'Very well; and your mother--how is she?'
+
+'Oh, she'm right smart, sar.'
+
+'Yas, massa, I'se right smart; an' I'se bery glad ter see 'ou, massa,'
+said a voice at my elbow. It was Dinah, no longer clad in coarse
+osnaburg, but arrayed in a worsted gown, and a little grayer and a
+little bulkier than when I saw her eight years before.
+
+'Why, Dinah, how well you look!' I exclaimed, giving her my hand. 'And
+you've come up to spend Christmas with Ally?'
+
+'No, massa, I _libs_ yere. I'se FREE now, massa!'
+
+'Free! So you've made enough to buy yourself? I'm glad to hear it.'
+
+'No, massa. Ally--de good chile--he done it, massa.'
+
+'Ally did it! How could he? He's not more than twenty now!'
+
+'No more'n he hain't, massa; but he'm two yar in massa Preston's swamp,
+wid a hired gang. Massa Preston put de chile ober 'em, an' gib him a
+haff ob all he make, an' he'm doin' a heap dar, massa.'
+
+'And with his first earnings he bought his mother!'
+
+'Yas, massa; wid de bery fuss.'
+
+'Ally, give me your hand,' I exclaimed, with unaffected pleasure;
+'you're a man! You're worthy of such a mother!'
+
+'Yas, he am dat, massa! He'm wordy ob anyting, an' he'm gwine to hab a
+wife ter day, massa. Boss Joe am gwine ter marry 'em, an' ter gib 'em
+him own cabin fur dar Chrismus giff.'
+
+'Well, Joe _is_ a trump. I'll remember him in my will for that, aunty,
+sure.'
+
+'Dat'm bery good ob 'ou, massa; but I reckon 'ou can't tink who Ally'm
+gwine ter hab, massa,' said the old woman, her face beaming all over.
+
+'No, I can't, Dinah. Who is she?'
+
+'It'm little Rosey, dat 'ou buy ob de trader, massa; an' she'm de
+pootiest little gal all roun' yere; ebery one say dat, massa.'
+
+'Indeed! And they are to be married to-day?'
+
+'Yas, massa, ter day--dis evenin'. 'Ou'll be dar, woan't 'ou, massa?'
+
+'Yes, certainly I will.'
+
+The old woman and Ally then mingled with the crowd of negroes, and I
+turned my attention once more to Joe's operations. The men had been
+supplied with head gear, and the women were receiving their
+turbans--gaudy pieces of red and yellow muslin.
+
+'Now, all you boys an' gals,' shouted Joe, as he dealt out a
+handkerchief to the last of the dusky demoiselles, 'you all squat on de
+groun', an' shovel off you' shoes.'
+
+Down they went in every conceivable attitude, and, uncovering their
+feet, commenced pelting each other with the cast-off leathers. When the
+sport had lasted a few minutes, Joe sang out:
+
+'Come! 'nuff ob dat; now ter bisness. Yere, you yaller monkeys (to
+several small specimens of copper and chrome yellow), tote dese 'mong
+'em.'
+
+The young chattels did as they were bidden, and, as each heavy brogan
+was fitted to the pedal extremity of some one of the darkies, the
+newly-shod individual sprang to his feet, and commenced dancing about as
+if he were the happiest mortal in existence.
+
+'Dat'm it,' shouted Joe; 'frow up you' heels; an' some ob you gwo
+an' fotch de big fiddle. We'll hab a dance, an' show dese Nordern
+gemmen de raal poker.'
+
+'But we hain't hed de dresses--nor de soogar--nor de 'backer--nor none
+ob de whiskey,' cried a dozen voices.
+
+'Shet up, you brack crows! You can't hab anudder ting till ye'se hed a
+high ole heel-scrapin'. Yere, massa Joe; you come up yere, an' holp me
+wid de 'strumentals,' said Boss Joe, grinning widely, and getting up on
+the carpenter's bench.
+
+In a few moments, the 'big fiddle,' one or two smaller fiddles, and
+three or four banjoes were brought out, and the two Joes, and several
+ebony gentlemen, seating themselves on the boxes of clothing, began
+tuning the instruments. Soon 'Boss Joe' commenced sawing away with a
+gusto that might have been somewhat out of keeping with his gray hairs,
+his sixty years, and his clerical profession. 'Massa Joe' and the others
+striking in, the male and female darkies paired off two by two, and to a
+lively air began dancing a sort of 'cotillion breakdown.' Other dances
+followed, in which the little negroes joined, and soon the air rang with
+the creak of the fiddles and the merry shouts of the negroes. In the
+midst of it my arm was touched lightly, and, turning round, I saw Rosey
+and Dinah.
+
+'I'se got de little gal yere, massa,' said the latter, looking as proud
+as a hen over her first brood of chickens. 'She glad to see 'ou, massa.'
+
+I gave Rosey my hand, and made a few good-natured compliments on her
+beauty and her tidy appearance. She had a simple, guileless expression,
+and met my half-bantering remarks with an innocent frankness that
+charmed me. She was only sixteen, but had developed into a beautiful
+woman. Her form was slight and graceful, with just enough _embonpoint_
+to give the appearance of full health; and her thin, delicate features,
+large, wide-set eyes, and clear, rosy complexion bore a strong
+resemblance to Selma's. It was evident they were children of the same
+father; and yet, one was to be the wife of a poor negro, the other to
+marry the son of a 'merchant prince.'
+
+As the dancing concluded, Boss Joe's fiddle gave out a dying scream,
+and, turning to me, he sang out:
+
+'War dar eber sprightlier nigs dan dese, massa Kirke? Don't dey beat
+you' country folks all holler?'
+
+'Yes, they do, Joe. They handle their heels as nimbly as elephants.'
+
+I spoke the truth; most of them did.
+
+The distribution of the presents was resumed; and, as each negro
+received his full supply of flour, sugar, tea, coffee, molasses,
+tobacco, and calico, grinning with joy over his new acquisitions, he
+staggered off to his quarters. When the last box was nearly emptied,
+with young Preston and Frank, I adjourned to the mansion.
+
+The exterior of the 'great house' was unchanged, but its interior had
+undergone a complete transformation. The plain oak flooring of the hall
+had been replaced by porcelain tiling, and the neat, simple furniture of
+the parlors by huge mirrors; rosewood and brocatelle sofas and lounges;
+velvet tapestry carpets, in which one's feet sank almost out of sight;
+and immense paintings, whose aggregate cost might have paid off one half
+of the mortgage that encumbered the plantation.
+
+Selma and her father were engaged in earnest conversation when we
+entered the drawing room, and, being unwilling to interrupt them, I was
+about to retire, but he rose, and said:
+
+'Come in, Kirke; I will call Mrs. Preston. She will be glad to see you.'
+
+The lady soon entered. It was eight years since we had met, but time had
+touched her gently. Her face wore its old, decided, yet quiet
+expression, and her manner showed the easy self-possession I had noticed
+at our first interview. She was richly dressed, and had on a heavy satin
+pelisse, and a blue velvet bonnet, as if about to ride out.
+
+When the usual greetings were over, she remarked:
+
+'You have been here some time, sir?'
+
+'Yes, madam; we arrived about two hours ago; but I met some old friends
+outside, and the pleasure of seeing them has made me a little tardy in
+paying my respects to you.'
+
+'The negroes, you mean, sir,' she replied, with a slight toss of the
+head, and a look of cool dignity which well became her.
+
+'Yes, madam. I have many friends among the blacks. On many plantations
+they look for my coming as they do for Christmas.'
+
+'It is quite rare to find a white gentleman so fond of negroes,' she
+rejoined, with an air slightly more supercilious.
+
+I remembered her as the humble schoolmistress, whose entire possessions
+were packed in one trunk; and, forgetting myself, said, in a tone which
+bore a slight trace of indignation:
+
+'More rare, I fear, than it should be; and you and I, madam, who are
+Yankees, and have 'worked for a living,' surely cannot despise the
+negroes because they are _compelled_ to work for theirs.'
+
+'Oh! no, sir! not by any means! But you must excuse me; the carriage is
+waiting to take me to church;' and, rising, she bowed herself stiffly
+out of the door.
+
+'Ah, you hit her there!' exclaimed Joe, springing to his feet in great
+glee, and striding to the window. 'See here, Mr. Kirke! See what a
+turnout the Yankee 'schulemarm' has worried out of father!'
+
+'My son, you must not speak so; she is your mother!' said Preston.
+
+'No, I'm d--d if she is! Call her anything but that, father; that's
+an--'he checked himself; but I thought he would have added--'insult to
+my dead mother!'
+
+Preston made no reply.
+
+Looking out of the window, I saw Mrs. Preston being handed into a
+magnificent barouche by one of the black gentry she so much despised.
+Another one in gaudy gold livery sat on the box, and a mounted outrider,
+also bound up in gold braid, stood behind the carriage.
+
+'There's a two-thousand-dollar turnout, and two fifteen-hundred-dollar
+niggers, to tote a woman who ought to go afoot. It's a poor investment,
+I swear,' said Joe, turning away from the window.
+
+Preston made no reply; but I laughingly remarked:
+
+'Come, Joe, she isn't _your_ wife. Let your father spend his money as he
+pleases; he can afford it.'
+
+'He _can't_ afford it; that woman is running him to the devil at a
+two-forty gait. You have more influence with him than any one, Mr.
+Kirke--_do_ try to stop it!'
+
+The young man spoke in a decided but regretful tone, and his manner
+showed more respect to his father than his words implied. Unwilling to
+interfere in such an affair, I said nothing; but Preston, in a moment,
+remarked:
+
+'It is true, Kirke! Her extravagance has ruined my credit at home, and
+forced me to use Joe's indorsements; besides, I have had to borrow ten
+thousand dollars of him to keep my head above water.'
+
+[Mr. James Preston--the Squire's uncle--had died the year before, and
+the young man had succeeded to his large property and business.]
+
+I was thunderstruck; but, before I could reply, Joe said:
+
+'I don't care a rush for the money. Father can have every dollar I've
+got; but I _do_ want to see him rid of that woman. I've been here sick
+for two months, and I've seen the whole. She is worrying the very life
+out of him. She's made him an old man at forty.'
+
+It was true. His face was lean and haggard, and his hair already thickly
+streaked with white.
+
+Preston rose, and, walking the room, said:
+
+'But what am I to do? You yourself, Joe, would not have all this made
+public. You've as much pride about it as I have.'
+
+'I've not a bit of pride about it, father; and it's public now.
+Everybody knows it, and everybody says you ought to cut her adrift.'
+
+'What had I better do? Tell me, my friend,' said Preston, still walking
+the room.
+
+'I cannot advise, you, Preston. An outsider should express no opinion on
+such matters.'
+
+In a moment Preston said:
+
+'Well, Joe, no more of this now. I'll do what is right, however much it
+may wound my pride.'
+
+The conversation turned to other subjects, till Mrs. Preston's return
+from church, shortly after which dinner was announced. The lady presided
+at the table with as much ease and grace as if she had been born to the
+position; and in her charming conversation, I almost forgot the
+revelations of the morning. The rest of the day I spent with Joe and
+Frank, strolling over the plantation and mingling among the negroes,
+who, freed from work, were enjoying themselves in a very 'miscellaneous
+manner.' Preston remained at the house with Selma.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+It was nearly dark when we returned to the mansion. Looking in at the
+parlor, and not finding his father there, Joe led the way at once to the
+library. The door was ajar, and, as we entered the passage way, loud
+voices were issuing from it.
+
+'I tell you, Mr. Preston, I am mistress of this plantation. He shall NOT
+go!'
+
+'Pardon me, madam, he _shall_, and to-night,' returned a mild but
+decided voice, which I recognized as Preston's. Being unwilling to
+overhear more, I turned away, but Joe caught me by the arm, exclaiming:
+
+'If you are my father's friend, go in. If you don't, he will back down;
+he has done so forty times.'
+
+Preston was a man of more than ordinary firmness, but his wife had the
+stronger will. She seemed possessed of a sort of magnetic power, which
+enabled her to control others almost arbitrarily.
+
+Reluctantly I followed the young man into the room. Preston was seated
+before the fire; and Selma, with her arm around his neck, was standing
+near him. Mulock, better clad than when I witnessed his purchase by the
+'fast' young planter, and wearing a sullen, dogged expression, was
+leaning against the centre table; and Mrs. Preston, gesticulating
+wildly, and her face glowing with mingled rage and defiance, stood
+within a few feet of her husband. Not heeding our entrance, she
+exclaimed:
+
+'I _will_ have my way. If you send him off, I will never darken your
+doors again.'
+
+'That is as you please, madam,' replied Preston. 'Mr. Kirke and Frank,
+pray be seated.'
+
+Stung by her husband's coolness, the lady turned fiercely upon Joe, and,
+shaking her clenched hand in his face, cried out:
+
+'This is _your_ work. I will teach you better than to meddle with my
+affairs.'
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+'Madam, you act well,' said the young man, taking a step toward the
+door. 'Pray come out to the quarters; poor as they are, every negro will
+give a bit to see _you_ play.'
+
+In uncontrollable rage, she struck him a smart blow in the face, and
+rushed from the room.
+
+When she had gone, Preston turned to Mulock:
+
+'Now go. The amount due you I shall retain to offset, in part, what you
+have tempted the negroes to steal. You can come here once a week--on
+Sunday--to see Phylly; but if you have any more dealings with the hands,
+I will prosecute you on the instant.'
+
+Mulock rose, put on his slouched hat, and, a dull fire burning in his
+cold, snake-like eyes, slowly said:
+
+'Wall, Squire, I'll gwo, but 'counts 'tween you an' me ain't settled
+yit.'
+
+As he went, Selma leaned forward, and, kissing Preston's cheek, said;
+
+'O father! I'm so glad _you_ didn't speak harshly to her.'
+
+Preston put his arm about her, and replied:
+
+'You helped me, my child. I should be a better, happier man, if you were
+with me.'
+
+'And I will be, father; I won't go away any more.'
+
+'But Frank?' said Preston, again kissing her.
+
+'Oh, you know we're not to be married for a good while yet. I'll stay
+with you _till then_, father.'
+
+'Ah! there she goes,' said Joe, looking out at the window, which
+commanded a view of the _porte cochere_; 'she can't get to Newbern till
+ten, but the night air won't hurt _her_.'
+
+'Then she makes Newbern her home now?'
+
+'Yes, she spends the winters there; she came here only yesterday.'
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+Ally and Rosey were to be married[3] in the little church, and, directly
+after supper, we all went to the wedding. The seats had been removed
+from the centre of the building, for, though duly consecrated to the use
+of the saints, the sinners were to exercise their heels in it after the
+ceremony was over. At its farther extremity, the carpenter's bench of
+which I have spoken, elongated at both ends, and covered with a white
+table cloth, was piled high with eatables; indicating that a time of
+'great refreshment' was at hand. The bounteous supply of ham, chicken,
+wild duck, roast pig, fish, hoecake, wheat bread, tea, coffee, milk, and
+pumpkin and sweet-potato pies under which the bench groaned, showed that
+some liberal hand had catered for the occasion.
+
+Black Joe, dressed in his 'Sunday best,' was seated on the rustic settee
+at the back of the desk, and Phyllis and Dinah occupied chairs inside
+the low railing, which faced the pulpit. Phyllis looked careworn and
+sad, but Ally's mother was as radiant as a brass kettle in a blaze of
+light wood. She wore a white dress, stiffly starched and expanded by
+immense hoops, and a crimped nightcap, whose broad border flapped about
+like the wings of a crowing rooster; and she looked, for all the world,
+like a black ghost in a winding sheet, escaped from below, and bound on
+a 'good time generally.' Two 'shining lights,' on either side of the
+pulpit, held aloft blazing torches of pine, which illuminated the sea of
+grinning darkness, and sent up a smoke like that arising from the pit
+which is said to be bottomless. About a hundred darkies were present;
+and the number of glossy coats, fancy turbans, gaudy bonnets, red
+shawls, and flaming dresses, which the light disclosed, was amazing. The
+poor worm that grubbed in the earth, had appeared ('for that occasion
+only') as a butterfly; and Lazarus, rid of his rags, had come forth
+dressed like a Broadway dandy.
+
+Any person of sensitive olfactories would have halted in the doorway;
+but I elbowed through the woolly gathering, and followed Frank and Selma
+to the family pew. Tittering, laughing, and flaunting their red and
+yellow kerchiefs, the black people were enjoying themselves amazingly,
+when 'Dar dey comes,' 'Dar'm de happy pussons,' went round the
+assemblage, and the bride and groom, attended by two sable couples,
+entered the building. After some ludicrous mistakes, they got 'into
+position' in front of the railing, and Black Joe took a stand before
+them.
+
+Rosey was dressed in white, with a neat fillet of pink and blue ribbon
+about her head; and Ally wore a black frock coat, with white vest, and
+white cotton gloves. One of the groomsmen--a rustic beau from a
+neighboring plantation--wore an immensely long-tailed blue coat with
+brass buttons, a flaming red waistcoat, yellow woollen mittens, and a
+neckerchief that looked like a secession flag hugging a lamp-post. Both
+of these gentry had hats of stove-pipe pattern, very tall, and with
+narrow brims; and--they wore them during the ceremony.
+
+'Silence in de meetin',' cried Joe.
+
+The boisterous sea of black wool subsided to a dead calm. Those not
+already standing rose, and Joe commenced reading the marriage service of
+the Episcopal Church.
+
+The parties immediately interested appeared to have conned their lessons
+well; for they made all the responses with great propriety; but some of
+the congregation seemed less familiar with the service. When Joe
+repeated the words, 'If any man kin show cause why dese folks should not
+be lawfully jined togedder, leff him now speak, or else foreber hole
+his peace,' Dinah turned to the audience, and cried out:
+
+'Yas, jess leff him come out wid it _now_. I'd like ter see de man dat's
+got onyting agin it.'
+
+No one appeared to have 'onyting agin it,' and Joe proceeded to read the
+words: 'I require and charge you, if either of you know any impediment,'
+etc. In the midst of it a voice called out:
+
+'Dar ain't no 'pedimen', Boss Joe; I knows dat. Gwo on, sar!' 'Dat's so,
+brudder,' said another voice. 'Dat's de Lord's trufh,' echoed a third.
+'Doan't be 'sturbin' de meetin'; de young folks want de 'splicin' done,'
+cried a fourth; and 'Amen,' shouted a dozen.
+
+'Shet up, all on you,' yelled Joe, turning on them with an imperious
+gesture; 'ef you hain't no more manners dan dat, clar out.'
+
+Silence soon ensued, and Joe went on without interruption to the place
+where the minister asks the bride-groom: 'Wilt thou have this woman to
+thy wedded wife?' Then Dinah, unable to contain herself longer, joyfully
+exclaimed:
+
+'Ob course he will--ony youn' feller'd be glad to hab _har_.'
+
+[Never having gone through the ceremony herself, the poor woman could
+not be expected to know what was appropriate to the occasion.]
+
+No further interruption occurred, and soon the happy couple were 'bone
+of one bone, and flesh of one flesh.' The assemblage still standing, Joe
+then turned to Ally and Rosey, and, with a manner so solemn and
+impressive that he seemed altogether a different person from the merry
+darky who had entered so heartily into the 'high ole heel scrapin'' of
+the morning; he spoke somewhat as follows:
+
+'My chil'ren, love one anoder; bar wid one anoder; be faithful to one
+anoder. You hab started on a long journey; many rough places am in de
+road; many trubbles will spring up by de wayside; but gwo on hand an'
+hand togedder; love one anoder; an' no matter what come onter you, you
+will be happy--fur love will sweeten ebery sorrer, lighten ebery load,
+make de sun shine in eben de bery cloudiest wedder. I knows it will, my
+chil'ren, 'case I'se been ober de groun'. Ole Aggy an' I hab trabbled de
+road. Hand in hand we hab gone ober de rocks; fru de mud; in de hot,
+burnin' sand; ben out togedder in the cole, an' de rain, an' de storm,
+fur nigh onter forty yar, but we hab clung to one anoder; we hab loved
+one anoder; and fru eberyting, in de bery darkest days, de sun ob joy
+an' peace hab broke fru de clouds, an' sent him blessed rays down inter
+our hearts. We started jess like two young saplin's you's seed a growin'
+side by side in de woods. At fust we seemed way 'part, fur de brambles,
+an' de tick bushes, an' de ugly forns--dem war our bad ways--war atween
+us; but love, like de sun, shone down on us, and we grow'd. We grow'd
+till our heads got above de bushes; till dis little branch an' dat
+little branch--dem war our holy feelin's--put out toward one anoder, an'
+we come closer an' closer togedder. And dough we'm old trees now, an'
+sometime de wind blow, an' de storm rage fru de tops, and freaten to
+tear off de limbs, an' to pull up de bery roots, we'm growin' closer an'
+closer, an' nearer an' nearer togedder ebery day. And soon de old tops
+will meet; soon de ole branches, all cobered ober wid de gray moss, will
+twine round one anoder; soon de two ole trunks will come togedder and
+grow inter _one_ foreber--grow inter one up dar in de sky, whar de wind
+neber'll blow, whar de storm neber'll beat; whar we shill blossom an'
+bar fruit to de glory ob de Lord, an' in His heabenly kingdom foreber!
+
+'Yas, my chil'ren, you hab started on a long journey, an' nuffin' will
+git you fru it but _love_. Nuttin' will hole you up, nuffin' will keep
+you faithful to one anoder, nuffin' will make you bar wid one anoder,
+but love. None ob us kin lib widout it; but married folks want it most
+ob all. Dey need it more dan de bread dey eat, de water dey drink, or de
+air dey breafe. De worle couldn't gwo on widout it. De bery sun would
+gwo out in de heabens but fur dat! An' shill I tell you why? You hab
+heerd massa Robert talk 'bout de great law dat make de apple fall from
+de tree, de rock sink in de water; dat bines our feet to de round 'arth
+so we don't drop off as it gwo fru de air; dat holes de sun an' de stars
+in dar 'pointed places, so dat, day after day, an' yar after yar, dough
+dey'm trabblin' fasser dan de lightnin' eber went, dey'm right whar dey
+should be. He call it 'traction, an' all de great men call it so; but
+dat ain't de name! It am LOVE. It am GOD, fur GOD am love, an' love am
+GOD, an' love bines de whole creashun togedder! An' shill I tell you how
+it do it? Does you see dis hand? how I open de fingers; how I shet'm up;
+how I rise de whole arm? Does you see dis foot, dat I does wid jess de
+same? Does you see dis whole body, how I make it, in a twinklin', do
+jess what I like? Now what am it dat make my hand move, an' my whole
+'body turn round so sudden, dat I'se only to say: 'Do it,' an' it'm
+done? Why, it am ME. It'm _me_, dat libs up yere in de brain, an' sends
+my _will_ fru ebery part--fru ebery siner, an' ebery muscle, an' ebery
+little jint, an' make'm all do jess what I like. Now man am made in de
+image of GOD, an' dis pore, weak ole body am a small pattern ob de whole
+creashun. Eberyting go on jess as _it_ do. Eberyting am held togedder,
+an' moved 'bout, jess as _it_ am--but it'm GOD dat move it, not me! He
+libs up dar in de sky--which am His brain--wid de stars fur His hands,
+de planets fur His feet, an' de whole univarse fur His body; an' He
+sends His will--which am love--fru ebery part ob de whole, an' moves it
+'bout, an' make it do jess as He likes. So you see, it am my will sent
+fru ebery muscle, an' ebery little siner, dat moves my body; so it am
+_His_ will sent fru what de'stronomers an' de poets call de heabenly
+ether, dat moves _His_ body--which am de 'arth, an' de sun, an' de
+stars, an' you an' me, an' ebery libin' ting in all creashun! His will
+move 'em all; AN' HIS WILL AM LOVE! An' don't you see dat you can't do
+widout His love? Dat it am de bery breaf ob life? Dat, ef it war tooken
+'way from you, fur jess one moment, you'd drop down, an' die, an' neber
+come to life agin--no, not in dis worle, nor in any oder worle? It am
+so, my chil'ren; an' de more you hab ob dat love, de happier you'll be;
+de more you'll love one ander; de easier you'll gwo fru you' life--de
+more joyfuller you'll meet you' deafh--de happier you'll be all fru de
+long, long ages dat'm comin' in de great Yereafter! Den, O my chil'ren!
+Love God, Love one anoder! You can't be happy widout you love GOD, an'
+you can't love Him widout you love one anoder!'
+
+When Joe had concluded, he saluted the bride in a manner that many
+another sooty gentleman present would have been glad to imitate, and
+then took a stand at the head of the supper table. An immense tureen,
+filled with steaming oysters, was soon brought in and placed before him,
+and looking up, he said grace, in which he thanked Him who feedeth the
+ravens for putting it into his master's heart to feed His other black
+creatures, the darkies present on that occasion. He asked for his master
+many a happy 'Chrismus down yere,' and an eternal 'Chrismus in heaben,'
+and he added: 'An' knowin' dat dou hatest long prayers, an' long faces,
+an' dose folks dat gwo 'bout grumblin', as ef dy happy 'arth war nuffin'
+but a graveyard; may we enjoy dis feast an' dis day as dy true
+chil'ren--de chil'ren ob a good Fader, who am all joy an' all
+gladness--an' while we'm eatin' an' drinkin' an' dancin', may we make
+merry in our hearts to _Thee_. Amen.'
+
+When he concluded, Preston stepped to his side, and taking the big
+ladle from his hand, said:
+
+'Stand aside, Joe, you have done work enough for to-night;' and turning
+to 'we white folks' in the family pew, he added: 'If any man among you
+would be master, let him now be the servant of all. Let him try his hand
+at the waiter business, and see if he can't throw these shady people
+into the _shade_.'
+
+Selma, Frank, 'massa Joe,' and I went forward, and tying the negroes'
+aprons about our waists, took appropriate places around the table.
+
+'Now all of you find seats,' cried Preston; and amid a hurricane of
+giggling and merry laughter, the black people seated themselves on the
+floor, on the platform, and on the row of benches ranged along the
+walls. Preston proceeded to fill up the bowls with the savory stew, and
+we dispensed the eatables among them, and for half an hour I witnessed
+as much enjoyment as often falls to the lot of black sinners in this
+'vale of tears.'
+
+'Now, ef dis doan't beat all,' exclaimed old Dinah, as I handed her a
+huge chunk of gingerbread; 'ef 'ou ain't right smart at waitin', massa
+Kirke, I'd like ter know it.'
+
+'Keep dark, ole 'ooman,' shouted Black Joe; 'doan't you say nuffin'
+'bout dat, or de traders'll be a hole ob him. He'd sell fur a right
+likely hand, _shore_.'
+
+'I woan't do nuffin' but keep dark, Boss Joe,' rejoined Dinah, grinning
+till her face opened from ear to ear. 'I'll hab 'ou know, sar, dat none
+but white ladies paints!'
+
+'Good fur you, ole lady,' cried the preacher. 'After dat you'll gib me
+de pleasure ob your hand in de fuss dance.'
+
+'Ob course, I will, _mister_ Joe; an' ef 'ou'm tired ob de ole 'ooman,
+I'll gib 'ou my han' in anoder dance.'
+
+'No, you woan't, I doan't gwo fur second marridges,' rejoined Joe,
+looking slyly at Preston; 'dey ain't made in heaben.'
+
+'No more' dey ain't,' said the old woman, heaving a long sigh, and also
+looking at Preston.
+
+'You ain't a gwine to leff dese folks dance in de church, am you, Boss
+Joe?' asked a prim, demure-looking darky, in a black suit, with a white
+neckerchief and stiff shirt collar; probably some neighboring preacher.
+
+'I reckon so,' replied Joe, dryly.
+
+'An' _I_ reckons so, too, mister I scare-you-out (Iscariot),' cried the
+old negress. 'Ain't de planets de Lord's feet, an' doant dey dance! I
+reckons we ain't no better dan de Lord is; an' ef He mobes him feet,
+'ou'd better mobe 'our'n. _We_ b'lieve in sarvin' HIM wid our han's an'
+our feet, too; we does, mister I-scare-you-out.'
+
+She did scare him out, for the 'pious gemman' left suddenly.
+
+When about all of the eatables had found their way down the
+cavernous--and ravenous--throats of the darkies, Boss Joe rose and
+called out:
+
+'Yere, you massa Joe, you pull off you' apern, an' take de big
+fiddle--I'm 'gaged fur de fuss dance.'
+
+Young Preston seated himself on the platform, and several sable
+gentlemen with banjoes and fiddles took places beside him.
+
+'Now all you men folks s'lect you' pardners,' cried the preacher, taking
+Dinah by the hand, and leading her out to the middle of the floor.
+
+They all paired off, the fiddles broke into a merry tune, and soon the
+little church, which had so often echoed with the groans of the saints,
+shook with the heels of the sinners. When the first dance was over, Boss
+Joe again called out:
+
+'Now, massa Joe, strike up de waltz--Dinah an' I am gwine to show dese
+folks some highfalutin dancin'.'
+
+The waltz struck up, and off they whirled; Dinah went into it as if she
+were working for pay, and as Joe held her closely in his arms, her wide
+hoops expanded till she looked like a topsail schooner scudding under
+bare poles.
+
+As Joe was wiping the perspiration from his face, at the end of the
+waltz, an old negro entered, and whispered something in his ear. Joe's
+countenance fell in an instant, and, without saying a word, he left the
+room.
+
+'Massa Joe,' relinquishing the big fiddle, then took the floor with
+Rosey, and gave the audience a genuine breakdown. His heels bobbed
+around like balls at a cricket match, and Rosey's petticoats fluttered
+about like the contents of a clothes line caught out in a hurricane. A
+better-looking couple were never seen in a ball room.
+
+'He's a natural born darky,' said his father, laughing; 'he takes to
+dancing as a duck takes to water.'
+
+A general dance followed. In the midst of it the old negro who had
+called Joe out, again came in, and making his way to where Preston and I
+were standing, said, in a low tone:
+
+'Massa Robert, Ole Jack am dyin'; will 'ou come?'
+
+'Dying!' exclaimed Preston. 'Yes, I'll be there at once. Kirke, you
+remember the old man--come with me.'
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: This was the conjuror's bag of the Africans. It is called
+'waiter,' or 'kunger,' by the Southern blacks, and is supposed to have
+the power to charm away evil spirits, and to do all manner of
+miraculously good things for its wearer. Those that I have seen are
+harmless little affairs, consisting only of small pieces of rags sewed
+up in coarse muslin.]
+
+[Footnote 2: The name of the African god.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Usually there is no marriage performed at the union of
+slaves. They simply agree, tacitly or otherwise, to live together till
+death or their master parts them.]
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTAIN OF '63 TO HIS MEN.
+
+
+   Come to the field, boys, come!
+   Come at the call of the stirring drum--
+             Come, boys, come!
+   Yonder's the foe to our country's fame,
+   Waiting to blot out her very name--
+   Where is the man that would see her shame?
+             Come, boys, come!
+
+   Form, my brave men, form!
+   Stand in good order to 'meet the storm'--
+             Form, men, form!
+   Sacred to us is our native land!
+   Shrivelled for aye be each traitor hand
+   Lifted to shatter so bright a band--
+             Form, men, form!
+
+   Charge, my soldiers, charge!
+   From the steep hill to the river's marge,
+             Charge! charge! charge!
+   Think of our wives and mothers dear;
+   Think of the hopes that have led us here;
+   Think of the hearts that will give us cheer--
+             Charge, boys, charge!
+
+   Die with me, boys, die!
+   There's a place for all in yon bannered sky,
+             If we die, boys, die!
+   Think of the names that are shining bright,
+   Written in letters of living light!
+   Rather than give up the sacred Right,
+     Let's die, boys, die!
+
+
+
+
+THE VISION OF THE MONK GABRIEL.
+
+
+   'Tis the soft twilight. 'Round the shining fender,
+     Two at my feet and one upon my knee,
+       Dreamy-eyed Elsie, bright-lipped Isabel,
+       And thou, my golden-headed Raphael,
+         My fairy, small and slender,
+           Listen to what befel
+             Monk Gabriel,
+     In the old ages ripe with mystery--
+   Listen, my darlings, to the legend tender.
+
+     A bearded man, with grave, but gentle look--
+         His silence sweet with sounds
+   With which the simple-hearted Spring abounds:
+   Lowing of cattle from the abbey grounds,
+     Chirping of insect, and the building rook,
+   Mingled like murmurs of a dreaming shell;
+     Quaint tracery of bird and branch and brook
+       Flitting across the pages of his book,
+       Until the very words a freshness took--
+             Deep in his cell,
+           Sate the Monk Gabriel.
+
+             In his book he read
+     The words the Master to His dear ones said:
+             'A little while and ye
+                   Shall see,
+               Shall gaze on Me;
+             A little while, again,
+             Ye shall not see Me then.'
+                 _A little while!_
+         The monk looked up--a smile
+   Making his visage brilliant, liquid-eyed:
+             'O Thou, who gracious art
+             Unto the poor of heart,
+           O Blessed Christ!' he cried,
+               'Great is the misery
+               Of mine iniquity;
+             But would _I_ now might see,
+               Might feast on Thee!'
+             The blood, with sudden start,
+             Nigh rent his veins apart--
+       (O condescension of the Crucified!)
+             In all the brilliancy
+             Of His Humanity,
+           The Christ stood by his side!
+
+   Pure as the early lily was His skin,
+         His cheek out blushed the rose,
+             His lips, the glows
+     Of autumn sunset on eternal snows:
+           And His deep eyes within,
+     Such nameless beauties, wondrous glories dwelt,
+     The monk in speechless adoration knelt.
+   In each fair hand, in each fair foot, there shone
+     The peerless stars He took from Calvary:
+     Around His brows, in tenderest lucency,
+   The thorn-marks lingered, like the flush of dawn;
+     And from the opening in His side there rilled
+     A light, so dazzling, that the room was filled
+   With heaven: and transfigured in his place,
+           His very breathing stilled,
+   The friar held his robe before his face,
+         And heard the angels singing!
+     'Twas but a moment--then, upon the spell
+   Of this sweet Presence, lo! a something broke:
+   A something, trembling, in the belfry woke,
+       A shower of metal music flinging
+   O'er wold and moat, o'er park and lake and fell,
+     And, through the open windows of the cell,
+       In silver chimes came ringing.
+
+             It was the bell
+         Calling Monk Gabriel
+           Unto his daily task,
+     To feed the paupers at the abbey gate.
+             No respite did he ask,
+     Nor for a second summons idly wait;
+       But rose up, saying in his humble way:
+             'Fain would I stay,
+             O Lord! and feast alway
+   Upon the honeyed sweetness of Thy beauty--
+       But 'tis _Thy_ will, not mine, I must obey;
+           Help me to do my duty!'
+         The while the Vision smiled,
+   The monk went forth, light-hearted as a child.
+
+     An hour thence, his duty nobly done,
+             Back to his cell he came.
+   Unasked, unsought, lo! his reward was won!
+     Rafters and walls and floor were yet aflame
+       With all the matchless glory of that Sun,
+     And in the centre stood the Blessed One--
+           (Praised be His Holy Name!)
+   Who, for our sakes, our crosses made His own.
+           And bore our weight of shame!
+       Down on the threshold fell
+           Monk Gabriel,
+   His forehead pressed upon the floor of clay;
+   And, while in deep humility he lay,
+   Tears raining from his happy eyes away,
+   'Whence is this favor, Lord?' he strove to say.
+         The Vision only said,
+         Lifting its shining head:
+   'If thou hadst staid, O son! _I_ must have fled!'
+
+        PHILADELPHIA
+
+
+
+
+THE CENTURY OF INVENTIONS.
+
+CONTAINING A FEW COMMENTS ON THE WORK OF THAT NAME, PUBLISHED BY THE
+MARQUIS OF WORCESTER, IN 1663.
+
+
+There is nothing which the world dreads so much as an unpitying truth.
+The history of ideas is that of men trying to persuade themselves that
+special miracles of amiability are ever being worked, from the cradle to
+the grave, in their favor. Of the tremendous inconsistency and
+destructiveness which such miracles imply, they take no heed. The most
+unpalatable fact in physics is that of the Struggle for Life.
+
+Ideas once born may never die, but it is worth noting how many men must
+die ere their ideas can live. The Indo-Germanic race has always been
+blessed with many of those self-cursed martyrs, the Anticipators, or the
+men who have outstripped their age. Like the advance guard of the summer
+swallows, they have generally died by frosts and lived in fables.
+
+Germany is very proud of her Berchthold Schwartz, and in her pride has
+made a proverb declaring that his invention was the proof of supreme
+wisdom. When they describe a fool, they say there that he did not
+discover gunpowder. But 'the first handful of gunpowder' did not, as
+Carlyle claims, drive Monk Schwartz's pestle through the ceiling. Long
+before Schwartz, lived Bacon; and a century or so before Bacon, there
+were in existence Norman-Latin recipes, says Palsgrave--who had seen
+them--_ad faciendum le crak�_, for making firecrackers--at least, for
+making gunpowder which would crack merrily when fired. Stained glass
+windows, according to the cheap and easy explanations of those who used
+to send us to natural scenery for every origin in architecture, were
+suggested by beholding the winter sunset lines of the sky through the
+bare gothic-window tracery of a leafless forest. Recent research finds
+the stained window in the antique burning East, where no studies were
+made by frost or forest light--nay, the leaves carved by
+tradition-loving Gothic Free Masons in churches often keep a peculiar
+Eastern form.
+
+I am not, however, lecturing of Lost Arts in the strain which sings
+'there is nothing new under the sun,' and which in a chilling manner
+benumbs the faith in progress by shaking with a grin before the wearied
+inventor some skeleton puppet of buried ages, which resembles his great
+thought as a hut resembles a palace. On the contrary, I find in this
+strange frequency of anticipation among Indo-Germanic races, and in its
+premature failures, a vast proof of inventive vitality and of promise of
+great rising truths into all future ages. 'Steam power is nothing new,'
+say the advocates of the genius of the past. Hero of Alexandria invented
+a steam toy--as he who can read his _Spiritalia_ published by the
+Jesuits in 1693 may learn for himself. But the power now roaring and
+whizzing all over the world, and which would build every pyramid and
+every monument of Egypt now extant in twenty-four hours, is no toy. When
+I think of this, there is no ingenious trifle for amusement which does
+not inspire a droll awe. Possibly those walking dolls now performing
+their weary pilgrimages on level glass-pane floors in Broadway
+windows--gravely lifting those enormous gilded boots, which remind me of
+Miss Kilmansegg and Queen Berta _� grands pi�s_, in one--have a good
+reason for their dignity of gait. For may they not be golden-footed and
+solemn, like her who rose from the waves of old to prophesy to her
+son?--and if she was _silver_-footed, it makes no difference, for so are
+some of the _autoperiper_--nay, _that_ word finishes me, and I go no
+further. Such a block of Greek would bring even a German sentence down
+with a crash to a verbless conclusion. What I would have said was, that
+it may be that these dolls are heralds of greater dolls yet to come,
+which shall be wound up to fetch and carry, to sew on buttons--nay, it
+is even possible (in the wildest of dreams) that they may be made to
+boil potatoes properly. And I have been told that a recent improvement
+in boys' rocking horses, by means of which a trotting motion is given to
+the legs of those docile animals, has suggested to a mechanic of this
+city the construction of a very good automatic steed, whose only fault
+is slowness. May I suggest that a very great improvement indeed may yet
+be made on that horse, and that the two-forty of a coming generation may
+be the result, not of oats and hay, but of steel springs and cylinders?
+The first wooden horse burnt Troy--what will the last do?
+
+I have been reminded of the strange tendency in man--but more especially
+of the Indo-Germanic or Aryan man--to anticipate by invention the wants
+of an age, sometimes centuries beforehand--by turning over that very
+curious work, the 'Century of Inventions,' by the Marquis of Worcester,
+in which, as in the commonplace book of an author, one may find jotted
+down many an undeveloped idea of great promise. In this connection we
+may be allowed to borrow somewhat from a biography by Charles F.
+Partington, published in 1825.
+
+Edward Lord Herbert, the sixth earl and second Marquis of Worcester, was
+born at Ragland near Monmouth; and his family, long distinguished for
+the most devoted loyalty, possessed the largest landed estate of any
+then attached to the British court. What this was in those times is set
+forth by the fact that in 1628 the father of the marquis had a revenue
+of upward of twenty thousand pounds. In 1642, the year in which his son
+was created marquis, the young heir raised, supported, and commanded an
+army of 1,500 foot and near 500 horse soldiers.
+
+He had a stormy life before him, this young marquis, with many more
+scenes, adventures, and changes than are to be found in Woodstock and
+Peveril of the Peak. How he fought well, recapturing Monmouth among
+other things from the Puritan General Massey, how he was appointed, in
+consequence of his daring cavaliering raids, by Charles II to negotiate
+with the Irish Catholics; how the king often visited him at Ragland, is
+all a fine story, well worth reading. We can get glimpses of that REGAL
+life--as Mr. Partington admiringly small-caps his climax, from the 'list
+of the Ragland household' with the earl's order of dining--castle gates
+closed at eleven o'clock in the morning, the entry of the earl with a
+grand escort, 'the retiral of the steward'--the advance of 'the
+Comptroller, Mr. Holland, attended by _his_ staff'--'as did the sewer,
+the daily waiters, and many gentlemen's sons, with estates from two to
+seven hundred pounds a year, who were bred up in the castle, and my
+lady's gentlemen of the chamber.' Therein, too, we see the rattling of
+trenchers, and hear the gurgling of bottles, at the first table, of the
+noble family, and such stray nobility as came there; at the second
+table, of knights and honorables--at the second 'first table' in the
+hall of 'Sir Ralph Blackstone, Steward; the Comptroller, the Master of
+the Horse, the Master of the Fish Ponds, my Lord Herbert's Preceptor,'
+and such gentlemen as were under degree of a knight--these all being
+'plentifully served with wine.' Of the second table there is no note of
+much wine, but it still had 'hot meats from my Lord's table,' and at it
+sat the Sewer with gentlemen waiters and pages to the number of
+twenty-four--and even now we are not yet come to the vulgar. For at the
+_third_ table sat my Lord's Chief Auditor, his Purveyor of the Castle,
+Keeper of the Records--Ushers of the Hall--Clerk--Closet Keeper--Master
+of the Armory--and below these divers Masters of the Hounds--Twelve
+Master Grooms of the Stables, Master Falconer--Keepers of the Red Deer
+Park--and below these yet one hundred and fifty 'footmen, grooms, and
+other menial servants.'
+
+Bright gleams vanish--the stately dinner parties grow dim, Masters of
+Horses and Hounds go to battle, the plate is melted down, and all is sad
+and sere. The young lord is sent by King Charles abroad, and
+Parliamentary Fairfax comes thundering at the gate, where admittance is
+refused by the venerable old marquis. Fairfax besieges boldly and is
+gallantly attacked by repeated sallies. I had rather the Puritans, with
+whom all my head goes, and with it half my heart, had behaved better
+than they did on this occasion. For after the venerable old marquis had
+fought nobly and surrendered on honorable terms, I am sorry to say he
+was most dishonorably treated, the conditions of capitulation being
+disgracefully violated, and the old marquis put in close prison, where
+he soon died in his eighty-fifth year.--Well, well--there was abundance
+of such false faith and dark villany on both sides ere the war was over.
+Be it remembered that these same nobles had kept the honor too closely
+to themselves, and ridiculed it out of life quite too sharply in the
+'base mechanicals' to fairly expect mastery in gentility from them. And
+in these same Partingtonian Biographies, I am often inclined to suspect
+that the lions do some of their own carving.
+
+Puritans sequestered and smashed the estate right and left--lead sold
+for six thousand pounds, woods cut down and sold for one hundred
+thousand more. 'Pity!' do you say? Reader mine, there is enough land in
+parks at this present day in broad England to feed that wretched one
+eighth of her population who are now buried at public expense. That
+dis-parking business was at any rate not badly done.
+
+Little more is seen of the young lord through the war. In 1654 he is at
+King Charles's court in France--is sent to London to procure supplies of
+money for the king--is caught and Towered, where he rests for several
+years, sorrowfully poor, if we may judge from a letter to Colonel
+Copley, in which he declares that 'I am forced to begge, if you could
+possible, eyther to helpe me with tenne pownds to this bearer, or to
+make vse of the coache and to goe to Mr. Clerke, and if he could this
+daye helpe me to fifty pownds then to paye yourself the five pownds I
+owe you out of them.' A melancholy letter, after all that glittering
+Arthur's-court splendor of first, second, and third tables of nobility,
+Masters of Robes and Records--a letter in which there seems some trace
+of getting money by 'projects' and 'bubbles'--whether of doing little
+bills or by Notable Inventions, I will not say. Prison does not, it is
+true, last forever, but its doors open on a scene of baseness blacker
+than that which brought the brave old marquis with sorrow to his grave.
+The tale is told in a paragraph:
+
+     'On the king's restoration, the Marquis of Worcester was one of the
+     first to congratulate his Majesty on the happy event, though the
+     situation of the unfortunate nobleman was little bettered by the
+     change; indeed it appeared but as the signal for new persecutions,
+     as one of the earliest public acts of the ungrateful monarch may be
+     characterized as an insidious attempt to set aside the claims of
+     his earliest and best friend.'
+
+'Put not thy trust in princes.' To contrast this treatment of poor
+Worcester with the fervent written promises of the ungrateful 'C. R.' or
+Carolus Rex, might have shook the faith of Dr. Johnson in his beloved
+'merry monarch.' The earlier letters of the king to the marquis, when
+something was expected of the 'gallant cavalier,' and the latter had
+'money to lend,' are painfully amusing:
+
+     OXFORD, _Feb. 12._ * * 'I am sensible of the dangers yu will
+     undergo, and ye greate trouble and expences you must be at, not
+     being able to assist yu who have already spente aboue a Million of
+     Crowns in my Service, neither can I saye more then I well remembr
+     to have spoke and written to you that allready words could not
+     expresse your merits nor my gratitude: and that next to my wife and
+     children I was most bound to take care of you, whereof I have
+     besides others, particularly assured yor Cosin Biron as a person
+     deare unto you. * * And rest assured, if God should crosse me wth
+     your miscarrying I will treate your Sonne as myne owne, and that
+     yw labour for a deare friende as well as a thankfull Master when
+     tyme shall afforde meanes to acknowledge how much I am
+
+         'Yor most assured real constant
+                   and thankfull friend
+                           'CHARLES R.'
+
+
+
+There are other letters from Charles R., very little to his credit as
+regards the keeping of promises, and likewise several strange papers of
+the Worcester people, showing that they had their clouds and humors,
+like other families. Of our marquis--the reader will readily pardon me
+all that I have digressed to say of his early history--it must suffice
+to tell that, after the Restoration, he appears as a poor inventor, and
+that on the 3d April, 1663, a bill was brought into Parliament for
+granting to him and his successors the whole of the profits that might
+arise from the use of a water-raising engine, described in the last
+article in the 'Century' of Inventions. The 'Century' itself had been
+presented to the king and commons some months previously. This
+invention, coupled with its penultimate and antepenultimate ninety-ninth
+and ninety-eighth inventions, may indeed be justly considered as the
+wonder of the 'Century,' since, when united with the sixty-eighth, they
+appear, in Partington's opinion, to suggest all the data essential for
+the construction of a modern steam engine. The injustice which he
+encountered during life, seems to have followed Worcester for two
+centuries after death; for Lord Orford declares that the bill granting
+the marquis such advantages as his invention might give birth to, was
+passed on a simple affirmation of the discovery that he (the marquis)
+had made. 'His lordship's want of candour in this statement will be
+apparent when it is known that there were no less than seven meetings of
+committees on the subject, composed of some of the most learned men in
+the house, who, after considerable amendments, finally passed it on the
+12 May.'
+
+It is touching to see the absolute, extreme, life-giving faith in the
+merit of his invention which inspired the marquis--and in this strange
+faith, like a prophecy, even more than in his invention itself,
+considering the way in which he probably came by it, do we recognize
+that Genius which rises here and there in the past history of the Aryan
+races, and that so all-sidedly and confidingly as to seem miraculous. I
+confess that when I look closely and deeply into the knowledge of Dante
+and Lionardo da Vinci, of Fiar Bacon, and the Cavalier Marquis of
+Worcester, an awe comes over me. All of them seem to have been so
+great, some of their order so _unearthly_ great; and they held the keys
+to so many mysteries, and to doors of science which were not unlocked
+for long centuries after their death; and there was in all of them such
+a strange sympathy and knowledge with the other great men as yet unborn,
+who were to come after them, and for whom they seem to have labored, and
+to whom they talked with the confidence of friends. I never pause before
+a certain passage in Dante's 'Inferno,' without the feelings of one
+standing before a great prophet--some marvellous earthly ancient of
+days, who foresaw all to come:
+
+   'Di l� fosti cotanto quant'io scesi:
+   Quando mi volsi, tu possasti 'l punto
+   Alqual si troggon d'ogni parte i pasi.'
+
+   'Thou wast on the other side so long as I
+   Descended; when I turned thou didst o'erpass
+   That point to which from every part is dragged
+   All heavy unbalance!'
+
+It was well thought by Monti that, had this passage been noted by
+Newton, it might have given him a better hint than the falling apple.
+Perhaps it did, for Newton was no poet, and it is the poetic,
+associative-minded men of genius who have always preceded the greatest,
+strictly scientific minds, and far surpassed the latter in the
+comprehensiveness of their views. Bear with me, ye men of Induction, for
+I believe in the coming age, at whose threshold we even now stand, when
+ye and the poets shall be one.
+
+The Marquis of Worcester was not like the indifferentist philosopher, so
+well set forth by Charles Woodruff Shields in his _Philosophia
+Ultima_,[4] as one who would not invade, but only ignore the province of
+revelation, regarding its mysteries as matters entirely too vague to be
+taken into the slightest account in his exact science. For our good Lord
+Herbert thought Heaven had a great deal to do with his inventions, as is
+proved by his 'ejaculatory and extemporary Thanksgiving Prayer, when
+first with his corporeal eyes he did see finished a perfect trial of his
+Water-commanding Engine, delightful and useful to whomsoever hath in
+recommendation either knowledge, profit, or pleasure.' And--never mind
+the delay, reader--we will even look at that prayer, in which this world
+and the next blend so strangely;
+
+     'Oh! infinitely omnipotent GOD! whose mercies are fathomless, and
+     whose knowledge is immense and inexhaustible; next to my creation
+     and redemption I render thee most humble thanks from the very
+     bottom of my heart and bowels, for thy vouchsafing me (the meanest
+     in understanding) an insight in soe great a secret of nature,
+     beneficent to all mankind, as this my water-commanding engine.
+     Suffer me not to be puffed up, O Lord, by the knowing of it, and
+     many more rare and unheard off, yea, unparalleled inventions,
+     tryals, and experiments. But humble my haughty heart, by the true
+     knowledge of myne owne ignorant, weake, and unworthy nature; proane
+     to all euill. O most merciful Father my creator, most
+     compassionatting Sonne my redeemers, and Holyest of Spiritts the
+     sanctifier, three diuine persons and one God, grant me a further
+     concurring grace with fortitude to take hould of thy goodnesse, to
+     the end that whatever I doe, unanimously and courageously to serve
+     my king and country, to disabuse, rectifie, and convert my
+     undeserved yet wilfully incredulous enemyes, to reimburse
+     thankfully my creditors, to reimmunerate my benefactors, to
+     reinhearten my distressed family, and with complacence to gratifie
+     my suffering and confiding friends, may, voyde of vanity or selfe
+     ends, be only directed to thy honour and glory everlastingly.
+     _Amen!_'
+
+How this great invention faded and was forgotten till the days of Watt
+and Fulton, is hardly worth surmising. It had been born and died long
+before. Was it not in 1514 that Blasco de Garay set a steamboat afloat
+on the Tagus? Sometimes, as in the case of John Fitch, it seems to have
+grown spontaneously from the instinctive impulse to create, as Fichte
+calls art. I have seen old men, who had known Fitch: their account of
+his severely won improvements, and more recently his 'Life,' make me
+believe that he owed nothing to precedent. But the marquis, I am sorry
+to say, notwithstanding his prayer and his bold claim to originality,
+cannot come off with so clear a record, so far as invention is
+concerned. He certainly gave a good, plausible account of the discovery,
+or it was given for him, and this went current for many years in books
+of inventions. It was said that the marquis, while confined in the Tower
+of London, was preparing some food in his apartment, and the cover of
+the vessel, having been closely fitted, was, by the expansion of the
+steam, suddenly forced off and driven up the chimney. 'This
+circumstance, attracting his attention, led him to a train of thought,
+which terminated in the completion of his 'water-commanding engine.''
+
+_E ben trovato._ Unfortunately, within a few years, and since Partington
+published the 'Century of Invention,' there was unearthed from the
+gossiping letters of a gay French court-belle, who little dreamed what
+ill service she was doing her gallant, and what good service to history,
+a chance bit of trifling, as she probably deemed it, which sends the
+marquis's story exploding up the chimney after the lid of his apocryphal
+kettle. It seems that when the marquis was in France, he, in accordance
+with the elegant and refined custom which prevailed there and in
+England, as the reader may gather from Boswell's 'Johnson'--went with
+this lady to visit the madmen confined in the public prison.
+
+I have already digressed so widely in this article, that a sin more or
+less, of the kind, need not be noted too severely. Reader, if you are
+one of those who think that mankind do not progress in heart, what think
+you of this pretty custom of the last century, according to which
+gentlemen and ladies of the highest rank, 'persons of quality,' made up
+parties to visit public madhouses, which, by the way, were common shows,
+at one penny entrance fee, and where the young gentlemen poked the mad
+people with sticks, and pelted them, shook their chains, and jeered
+them, till they foamed and raved, and the young misses giggled and gave
+pretty screams, and cried, 'Oh, fie!' and 'lor!' and then the visitors
+all laughed together? Then Miss ----, a little bolder, hissed at the
+lunatics herself, and poked them with a stick--and then there was a
+fresh storm of tears and howls and blasphemy and obscenity; and the
+keepers, rushing in with heavy cudgels, beat the 'patients' right and
+left like cattle--and it was all 'so horrible!' _Bad_, think you? These
+were the ladies and gentlemen of the old school--the Grandisons and
+Chesterfields and their dames. At the present day there are still vulgar
+people who haunt insane asylums and prisons, and scenes of domestic
+affliction and courts, for the sake of gratifying a gross love of
+excitement, which they disguise to themselves under various ingenious
+pretences. But the tendency of the age is to discourage such meddling
+and prying into the mysteries and miseries of humanity. It is low, it is
+mean, and the better nurtured and higher minded leave it to boors--be
+they of Peoria or the Fifth avenue.
+
+Well, our marquis, then the first gentleman in Great Britain, one of
+'the barons of England who fought for the crown,' when in France as
+particular friend of His Majesty Charles II, went one day on such a
+party of pleasure, and somewhat annoyed his pretty companion by
+persisting in listening to the drivelling talk of a madman--one Solomon
+de Caus--who, while he rattled his chains, talked of a great invention
+he had made, whereby chariots were to go by steam, and weights be
+raised, and all manner of brave work be effected, at small cost or labor
+to man. And the marquis talked to the madman, and the lady laughed, and
+the chains rattled, and the straw rustled, and--well, it _has_ been made
+the subject of a very good picture--which you, reader, may have seen,
+either in original or engraving.
+
+I will not pretend to say how far what is known of the life of this
+French inventor is reconcilable with this story of the madhouse. It is
+certain that Solomon de Caus, a French engineer, architect, and author,
+died about 1635, that he was born probably at Dieppe, and devoted
+himself to mathematics. The marquis might have met him in a better place
+than a bedlam, since in 1612 De Caus went to London, where he was
+attached to the Prince of Wales, and afterward to Charles I. From 1614
+to 1620 he lived in Heidelberg at the court of the Elector Frederic V,
+and returned to France in 1624, where he received the title of royal
+engineer and architect. More than this, he wrote books on mechanics, in
+one of which, _Les Raysons des Forces Mouvantes_, he speaks of the
+expansion and condensation of steam in a manner which has been supposed
+to suggest the alternate action of the piston, the principle of the
+steam engine, and, finally, 'the great discovery' of and to the Marquis
+of Worcester. How far all this may be supposed to contradict the lady's
+story, I will not say. Certain it is, that many a man who has done quite
+as well in worldly honors, has, after all, come to misery and madness
+through unfortunately making an invention.
+
+Inventors have, on the whole, a little easier time of it in these
+days--and yet not so very much easier, as the reader who has chanced,
+like myself, to study law in an office where there are many 'patent
+cases,' will bear witness. Eighteen hundred years ago, the inventor was
+crucified--lest his malleable glass should injure Ephesian or other
+silversmiths. During the middle ages, they burnt him alive. In the times
+of Worcester he seldom escaped prison, for to be a 'projector' was a
+charge which greatly aggravated that of treason; while in France, where
+they managed these things better, according to the views of the day,
+they simply cast him into a dungen among madmen. In America in the
+nineteenth century he has indeed occasionally better luck, and yet in
+most cases not so much better as most think. For, apart from the fact
+that he must generally sell his invention to richer men endowed with
+business faculty, who get nearly all the profits, and, not unfrequently,
+by clapping their names to the project, all the credit, he must also
+wage a weary, heart-breaking legal war on infringers of patents and
+other thieves; so that by the time his time has expired, he has seldom
+much to show for his brain-work.[5] 'Serves him right, he has no
+business capacity,' cry the multitude. We need not look far for
+examples. I am not sure that Eli Whitney, when he fell with his cotton
+gin among the thieves of the South, did not fare quite as badly and
+suffer quite as much as Solomon de Caus. For to be clapped fair and
+square into a dungeon is at all events a plain martyrdom, with which one
+can grapple philosophically or go mad _� discretion_, while to be only
+half honored and nine-tenths plundered, dragged meanwhile through courts
+and newspapers, may be better or worse, according to one's measure.
+After all, the good old Roman plan of putting a man to death for
+inventing malleable glass had its advantages--it was at least more
+merciful from a Christian point of view, and would, at the present day,
+save a vast amount of yards of Patent Law red tape.
+
+_Artis et Natur� proles_, 'the offspring of Nature and of Art.' Such is
+the motto with which the Marquis of Worcester prefaced his 'Century of
+the Names and Scantlings of such inventions as he could in the year 1663
+call to mind,' and which he presented to Government in the bold hope
+that by their purchase or other disposition he might even out-go the six
+or seven hundred thousand pounds already sacrificed for the king, as he
+asserts, but rather meaning, I imagine, that he might get some portion
+of it back again. Let no one laugh at the character of many of these
+'Scantlings.' Science was young then; thaumaturgy, or the working of
+mere wonders, was still the elder sister of art; astrology might be
+found in every street; alchemists still labored in lonely towers all
+over England; and witches were still burned to the glory of GOD. The
+'Mathematicall Magick, or the Wonders that may be performed by
+Mechanicall Geometry'--now by chance open before me--by Bishop Wilkins,
+the brother-in-law of Cromwell, with its disquisitions on 'Perpetuall
+Motion,' 'Volant Automata,' and 'Perpetuall Lamps,' passed for sound
+sense, and with it passed much occult nonsense of a darker dye. Manners
+and morals were as yet badly organized. Gambling was a daily amusement
+with all the gentry, and its imitators; for the Revolution, though it
+had very promptly driven out of England the very little merriment and
+cheerfulness which the Reformation had spared, had by no means taken
+away vice, and to cheat at cards was a part of all play in the best
+society--which it had not been in the olden time. Political plots were
+still rife, and cipher alphabets, signals by knots and signs, deadly
+secret weapons, and devices to escape prison were in daily demand, just
+as patent apple-parers and ice-cream freezers are at the present day.
+The marquis, who had lived well through his times, knew what would be
+popular, and, though a man of honor as times went, and a pious
+Christian, never dreamed that he did not play his part as a good citizen
+in supplying such grotesque wants.
+
+First among his Inventions is one which, revived in modern times, meets
+the eye of every one daily on the face of every letter. As he designed
+it, it was, however, very elaborate, embracing 'several sorts of seals,
+some showing by screws, others by gauges, fastening or unfastening all
+the marks at once: others by additional points and imaginary places,
+proportionable to ordinary escutcheons and seals at arms, each way
+palpably and punctually setting down (yet private from all others but
+the owner, and by his assent) the day of the month, the day of the week,
+the month of the year, the year of our Lord, the names of the witnesses,
+and the individual place where anything was sealed, though in ten
+thousand several places, together with the very number of lines
+contained in a contract, whereby falsification may be discovered and
+manifestly proved.' Upon these seals, too, one could keep accounts of
+receipts and disbursements, from one farthing to millions, and, finally,
+as a climax to their mystery, by their means any letter, 'though written
+but in English, may be read and understood in eight several languages,
+and in English itself, to clear contrary and different sense, unknown to
+any but the correspondent, and not to be read or understood by him
+neither, if opened before it arrive unto him.'
+
+It is believed that the secret of these seals is simply this: a number
+of movable metallic circles are made to slide within each other, on one
+common centre, the whole being enclosed in an outer frame. Within these
+circles may be placed either movable types, or letters and figures may
+be engraved on the circles themselves, and these, according to a key, of
+which the corresponding parties must possess a duplicate. To fully
+understand the secret of the composition of a sentence 'in eight several
+languages,' we must have recourse to invention No. 32 of the 'Century,'
+teaching 'how to compose an universal character, methodical and easily
+to be written, yet intelligible in _any_ language .... distinguishing
+the verbs from the nouns, the numbers, tenses, and cases, as properly
+expressed in their own language as it was written in English.' Such a
+system was composed by the Bishop Wilkins already referred to; Bacon
+had busied himself with a 'pasigraphy' long before; Leibnitz, Dalgaru,
+Frischius, Athanasius Kircher, P�re Besnier, and some twenty others have
+done the same. The most practical solution of the problem seems to have
+been that of John Joachim Becher, who in 1661 published a Latin folio,
+which, apart from its main subject, is valuable from its observations on
+grammar, and on the affinities existing between seven of the ancient and
+modern tongues. With this he gives a Latin dictionary, in which every
+word corresponds with one or more Arabic numerals. 'Every word is
+assumed as distinctive, or denoting the same word in all languages; and
+consequently nothing more is required than to compose a dictionary for
+each, similar to that which he has given for the Latin.' Certain
+determinate numbers being given for the declensions and conjugations,
+and the cases, moods, tenses, and persons, the whole grammar becomes
+extremely easy of acquisition. Let us suppose that a Frenchman wishes to
+write to a German: _La guerre est un grand mal_--'War is a great evil.'
+He seeks in his index _guerre_, and finds 13. The verb _etre_, 'to be,'
+is 33. _Grand_, or 'great,' is 67; and _mal_, or 'evil,' is 68. The
+sentence then reads:
+
+   13. 33. 67. 68.
+
+The sentence might be understood by these four numbers, but the author
+perfects it. _Guerre_, or 'war,' is the nominative case, and is
+appropriately designated by the Arabic numeral 1. The third person,
+singular, present tense, of the indicative mood of a verb, is
+characterized by 15. _Grand_ and _mal_ being each in the nominative
+case, also require the figure 1. He will therefore write:
+
+   13. 1 | 33. 15 | 67. 1 | 68.1
+
+--the numbers being separated by a vertical dash, to avoid confusion.
+The German, inverting the process, turns to _his_dictionary, and finds
+_Der Krieg ist ein grosses Uebel_.
+
+If the world were to be persuaded to adopt these dictionaries, and with
+them some uniform oral system of counting, such as might be learned in a
+day, who shall say in what conversation might result! Fancy an orator
+counting '83.1--10.16--225.2'--interrupted by enthusiastic cries of
+'2.30' and '11.45!' Fancy a lover breathing his tender passion in
+'837.25--29.1,' and extracting a reluctant '12' from his adored. Fancy a
+drunken Delaware Democrat--a SAULSBURY--flourishing a revolver, and
+gurgling out '54.40' to the Sergeant-at-Arms in particular, and decency
+in general, as a proof of his fitness to be regarded as a mate for his
+Southern colleagues. Fancy Brignoli singing '1.2.3,' as he reminds us by
+his good singing and wooden acting of a nightingale imprisoned in a
+pump--
+
+Or fancy the appearance of a page of Shakspeare or Homer thus
+metamorphosed.
+
+     'He lisped in numbers for, the numbers came.'
+
+It is something to the marquis's credit that he evidently, to judge from
+the sixth article of his 'Century,' had discovered the telegraph, an
+invention not much used in Europe until the commencement of the French
+Revolution. It had indeed been understood in a rude form by the
+ancients. 'Polybius describes a method of communication which was
+invented by Cleoxenus, which answered both by day and night,' but that
+of Worcester's is thought to have been far superior to anything known
+before his time. The following paragraphs all indicate inventions
+greatly in advance of his age:
+
+     'No. IX.--An engine portable in one's pocket, which may be carried
+     and fastened in the inside of the greatest ship, _tanquam aliud
+     agens_, and at any appointed minute, though a week after, either of
+     day or night, it shall irrecoverably sink that ship.'
+
+A bombshell filled with gunpowder, a gunlock, and a small clock, have
+been suggested as forming the components of this invention. I am
+satisfied however, that several very dangerous detonating powders were
+well known to the alchemists; and the condensed pocket size of the
+machine described, would evidently require some such preparation.
+
+     'No. X.--A way from a mile off to dive and fasten a like engine to
+     any ship so as it may punctually work the same effect either for
+     time or execution.'
+
+Precisely the same experiment has within a week of the time at which I
+am now writing, been made at Washington, as it was by Mr. Fulton half a
+century ago with his Torpedo-harpoon. If the marquis contemplated simply
+human agency as the aid to apply his portable powder-machine, it must be
+admitted that he had at least contemplated a more effective diving bell
+than any known to modern times. Submarine transit was indeed a subject
+to which he had devoted special study.
+
+     'No. XI.--How to prevent and safeguard any ship from such an
+     attempt by day or night.
+
+     'No. XII.--A way to make a ship not possible to be sunk, though
+     shot at an hundred times between wood and water by cannon, and
+     should she lose a whole plank, yet, in half an hour's time, should
+     be made to sail as fit as before.'
+
+It is thought that a great number of airtight compartments was the
+secret here hinted at; but the spirit of positive confidence with which
+the marquis speaks, and the great number of successful shots which he
+defies, seems to hint at something like the Ericsson Monitor of these
+days. Not without interest is the following:
+
+     'No. XIII--How to make such false decks as in a moment should kill
+     and take prisoners as many as should board the ship, without
+     blowing the real decks up, or destroying them from being reducible;
+     and in a quarter of an hour's time should recover their former
+     shape, and to be made fit for any employment, _without discovering
+     the secret_.'
+
+The words italicized set forth the startling marvel of the whole. It is
+said that a false deck of thick plank may be easily blown into the air,
+when a number of small iron boxes, open at the top, and filled with
+gunpowder, are placed beneath. How this could be done and yet kept
+secret is indeed a wonder, and we must therefore conjecture that the
+marquis had some other device in his mind. Certain it is, that the idea
+of converting vessels into traps of destruction, or of so defending them
+as to destroy assailants after boarding the decks, has not been very
+extensively developed.
+
+     'No. XVI.--How to make a sea castle or a fortification _cannon
+     proof_, capable of a thousand men, yet sailable at pleasure to
+     defend a passage, or in an hour's time to divide itself into three
+     ships, as fit and trimmed to sail as before; and even whilst it is
+     a fort or castle, they shall be unanimously steered, and
+     effectually be driven by an indifferent strong wind.'
+
+It is to be regretted that Parliamentary or other inducements were not
+employed to obtain from the marquis, at least the publication of his
+views as regards making vessels cannon proof. From the general character
+of his inventions, and from comparison of them, it appears he had full
+faith in cannon-proof floating batteries as a means of defence, and, we
+may consequently and justly infer, as superior to the latter. Among his
+inventions there are but two in reference to 'fortifications,' and both
+of these are after a manner a transfer of the floating battery to land,
+or an application of the principle of mobile defences. These are as
+follows:
+
+     'No. XXIX.--A portable fortification, able to contain five hundred
+     fighting men, and yet, in six hours' time, may be set up and made
+     cannon proof, upon the side of a river or pass, with cannon mounted
+     upon it, and as complete as a regular fortification, with halfmoons
+     and counterscarps.
+
+     'No. XXX.--A way in one night's time to raise a bulwark, twenty or
+     thirty foot high, cannon proof, and cannon mounted upon it; with
+     men to overlook, command, and batter a town, for though it (the
+     bulwark) contain but four pieces, they shall be able to discharge
+     two hundred bullets each hour.'
+
+There can be but little question, from all I have cited, that the
+Marquis of Worcester was singularly in advance of his age as regarded
+the great principles of warfare. We have found him thus far, in all
+probability, acquainted with the construction of permutable seals, and
+indeed of the grand principle of permutation applied to technology in
+several respects (vide "Century" Nos. III, IV, V,) of the telegraph, of
+sinking vessels by torpedoes, and, finally, of floating batteries and
+cannon-proof vessels. In No. 30, we have, however, a hint that the
+marquis had studied the principles of revolving firearms, when he
+speaks of four cannon discharging two hundred bullets each hour. That he
+had, theoretically, at least, anticipated Colt, appears from
+
+     'No. LVIII.--How to make a pistol discharge a dozen times with one
+     loading, and without so much as once new priming requisite, _or to
+     change it out of one hand into the other_, or stop one's horse.'
+
+I call attention to the words which I have italicized. It is well known
+that the mere principle of revolving barrels in firearms was already
+old, even when Worcester wrote. I have seen guns of the kind over three
+hundred years old, and they are not uncommon in foreign museums. But it
+would appear that the marquis was acquainted with the principle of the
+self-cocking pistol. How else could he propose to discharge a gun a
+dozen times, without changing it from one hand to another? And this, I
+believe, was not known before his day. But how this could have been
+conveniently carried out, without some application of detonating powders
+in place of flint, steel, and gunpowder, I do not understand. That he
+was very probably familiar with the application of such chemical
+detonating agents has already been suggested. In another number, he
+suggests the application of this principle to 'carbines.' So in No.
+LXII, he proposes 'a way for a harquebuss, a crock, or ship musket, six
+upon a carriage, shooting with such expedition as, without danger, one
+may charge, level, and discharge them sixty times in a minute of an
+hour, two or three together.' To which he adds the following:
+
+     'No. LXIV.--A seventh, tried and approved before the late king (of
+     ever blessed memory), and an hundred lords and commons, in a cannon
+     of eight inches and half a quarter, to shoot bullets of sixty-four
+     pounds weight, and twenty-four pounds of powder, twenty times in
+     six minutes; so clear from danger, that after all were discharged,
+     a pound of butter did not melt, being laid upon the cannon britch,
+     nor the green oil discoloured that was first anointed and used
+     between the barrel thereof, and the engine having never in it, nor
+     within six foot, but one charge at a time.'
+
+Several improvements of this kind are suggested in the 'Century,' which
+evidently involve different principles from that of the modern revolver,
+in reference to which difference we are informed in a 'note by the
+author,' that 'when I first gave my thoughts to make guns shoot often, I
+thought there had been but one only exquisite way inventible; yet, by
+several trials, and much charge, I have perfectly tried all of these.'
+
+I cannot venture in a single article to exhaust the suggestions in the
+Century, and must refer my reader to the volume himself, assuring him
+that he will there find many curious hints, several of which have, since
+its publication, been very practically realized. It is worth noting,
+however, that the author seems to have fully anticipated a very
+remarkable modern invention, in declaring that 'a woman even may with
+her delicate hand, vary the ways of coming to open a lock ten millions
+of times, beyond the knowledge of the smith that made it, or of me who
+invented it.' From this, as I have already suggested, it appears that he
+had, far in advance of his age, mastered a very great principle in
+mechanics; and as he appears to have understood, in theory at least,
+several others, it is no more than justice to rank him far above those
+mere charlatans of science, and hunters for marvels by means of
+isolated observation and experiment, with whom many would place him.
+That the 'Century' contains much which would be very discreditable to
+any man of science at the present day, is very true. Perpetual motion,
+perfect aerostation, devices for idle tricks and mere thaumaturgy,
+appear in company with schemes to take unfair advantages at card
+playing, and for the construction of false dice boxes--of which latter
+it is indignantly observed by honest Partington, that, there are few who
+profess the science of cheating at cards or dice, or to be encouragers
+of those who do; and it may fairly be conceded that there are not two
+periods in our regal annals, in which this detestable meanness had
+become fashionable enough to sanction a nobleman in inscribing to a king
+and his parliament a method by which it might be advantageously
+effected! We may, however, believe that a second period has at the
+present dawned over England, not much inferior as regards 'detestable
+meanness,' to that of Charles the Second. A recent transaction has shown
+that noblemen and their friends in the year 1862, are not above
+ascertaining from Johnson's Dictionary, the obsolete spelling of a word,
+such as _rain_-deer, betting a hundred pounds with an American as to its
+true orthography, and agreeing with him to abide by Johnson's authority;
+a piece of swindling quite as detestable in its meanness as the using of
+loaded dice. Neither can I see that the conduct of a majority of the
+British people, in fomenting Abolition for many years, and then giving
+her aid and countenance to our Southern rebels, on the flimsy, and, at
+best, brazenly selfish plea of the Morrill Tariff, is less detestable or
+less mean. We may regret to see a vice in individuals tolerated in high
+places; but when the blackest inconsistency, and the most contemptible
+avarice are elevated by a Christian nation into principles of conduct
+toward another nation struggling to free the oppressed, we may well
+doubt whether another period has not approached in England, over which
+the future historiographer may not sigh as deeply as over that of
+Charles the Second.
+
+I attach no serious value to the efforts of the Marquis of Worcester,
+save as illustrating the principle with which I prefaced this article:
+that according to the mental peculiarities of the most vigorous of
+races--the Indo-Germanic above others--there is a tendency in certain
+active minds to generalize and draw practical conclusions, not
+unfrequently centuries in advance of the wants of their age. The partial
+and premature forcing of these principles into practice, is sometimes
+quoted in after years as derogatory to the merit due to modern
+inventors, and as illustrating to a degree never contemplated by him who
+uttered it, the maxim that there's 'nothing new under the sun.'
+_Nothing?_ Why, _everything_ is new under the sun when it first assumes
+fit time and place. Were this not true, we might as well return to
+'Nature's Centenary of Inventions,' as set forth by a pleasant pen in
+_Household Words_:
+
+     'Before the first clumsy sail was hoisted by a savage hand, the
+     little Portuguese man-of-war, that frailest and most graceful
+     nautilus boat, had skimmed over the seas with all its feathery
+     sails set in the pleasant breeze; and before the great British
+     Admiralty marked its anchors with the Broad Arrow, mussels and
+     pinna had been accustomed to anchor themselves by flukes to the
+     full as effective as the iron one in the Government dockyards. The
+     duck used oars before we did; and rudders were known by every fish
+     with a tail, countless ages before human pilots handled tillers;
+     the floats on the fishermen's nets were pre-figured in the bladders
+     on the sea weed; the glowworm and firefly held up their
+     light-houses before pharas or beacon-tower guided the wanderer
+     among men; and, as long before Phipps brought over the diving bell
+     to this country as the creation, spiders were making and using
+     airpumps to descend into the deep. Our bones were moved by tendons
+     and muscles long before chains and cords were made to pull heavy
+     weights from place to place. Nay, until quite lately--leaving these
+     discoveries to themselves--we took no heed of the pattern set us
+     in the backbone, with the arching ribs springing from it, to
+     construct the large cylinder which we often see now attaching all
+     the rest of a set of works. This has been a very modern discovery;
+     but, prior even to the first man, Nature had cast such a cylinder
+     in every ribbed and vertebrate animal she had made. The cord of
+     plaited iron, too, now used to drag machinery up inclined planes,
+     was typified in the backbone of the eels and snakes in Eden;
+     tubular bridges and hollow columns had been in use since the first
+     bird with hollow bones flew through the wood, or the first reed
+     waved in the wind. Strange that the principle of the Menai Straits'
+     railway bridge, and of the iron pillars in the Crystal Palace,
+     existed is the Arkite dove, and in the bulrushes that grew round
+     the cradle of Moses! Our railway tunnels are wonderful works of
+     science, but the mole tunnelled with its foot, and the pholas with
+     one end of its shell, before our navvies handled pick or spade upon
+     the heights of the iron roads: worms were prior to gimlets,
+     ant-lions were the first funnel makers, a beaver showed men how to
+     make the milldams, and the pendulous nests of certain birds swung
+     gently in the air before the keen wit of even the most loving
+     mother laid her nursling in a rocking cradle. The carpenter of
+     olden time lost many useful hours in studying how to make the
+     ball-and-socket joint which he bore about with him in his own hips
+     and shoulders; the universal joint, which filled all men with
+     wonder when first discovered, he had in his wrist; in the jaws of
+     all flesh-eating animals his huge one-hinge joint; in the
+     graminivora and herbivora the joint of free motion; for grinding
+     millstones were set up in our molars and in the gizzards of birds
+     before the Egyptian women ground their corn between two stones; and
+     the crushing teeth of the hyena make the best models we know of for
+     hammers to break stones on the road. The tongue of certain shell
+     fish--of the limpet, for instance--is full of siliceous spines
+     which serve as rasp and drill; and knives and scissors were carried
+     about in the mandibles and beaks of primeval bees and parrots.
+
+Yes, they were all there--and if the undeveloped germ may be taken for
+the great fruit-bearing tree, there is nothing new under the sun, labor
+and effort are of no avail, and it is not worth while for man to live
+threescore years and ten, since a much less time would suffice to show
+his utter worthlessness. But the bee and the wild bird, the pearly
+nautilus driving before the fresh breeze, and the reed waving in the
+wind, should teach us a higher lesson. They teach us that life is
+beautiful and to be enjoyed, that infinite laws and infinite ingenuity
+were not displayed to be called idle and vain, and that, as the insect
+works according to his instinct, man should labor, from the dictates of
+reason, with heart and soul to do his best to turn to higher advantage
+the innumerable advantages afforded him.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 4: _Philosophia Ultima_, CHARLES WOODRUFF SHIELDS.
+Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott, 1861.]
+
+[Footnote 5: One of the greatest inventors of this or of any age, and
+one whom the world regards as 'successful,' is said to have advised an
+ingenious friend, never in any case or under any circumstances to take
+out a patent for an invention. He 'had been through the mill,' and knew
+what it cost.]
+
+
+
+
+THE LADY AND HER SLAVE.
+
+A Tale.
+
+LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO MY SISTERS IN THE SOUTH.
+
+   'Nor private grief nor malice holds my pen,
+   I owe but kindness to my fellow men.
+   And, South or North, wherever hearts of prayer
+   Their woes and weakness to our Father bear,
+   Wherever fruits of Christian love are found
+   In holy lives, to me is holy ground.'
+
+   --WHITTIER.
+
+
+   My young mistress! frown not on me! come! my heart is beating low!
+   Softly raise the quilt--my babe! Ah, smile on her ere I go!
+
+   Yes, the smile comes warm as sunshine, and it falls on my sick heart
+   As if Heaven were shining through it, and new hopes within me start.
+
+   Your clear eyes shine blue upon me through the clouds of sunny curls,
+   Sadder now, but still as kindly, as when we were little girls.
+
+   Your poor slave and you, fair mistress, were born in the same hour,
+   As if God himself had marked me from my birth to be your dower.
+
+   Oft have I laid my dusky hand upon your neck of snow,
+   To see it sparkle through the jet--how long that seems ago!
+
+   So long! before young master came to woo Virginia's daughter,
+   And tempt her to the cotton fields on Mississippi's water.
+
+   I could not leave you, mistress, so I followed to the swamp,
+   Where fevers fire the burning blood and the long moss hangs damp.
+
+   I left poor Sam, he loved me well, but you were my heart's god;
+   My mother's tears fell hot and fast--I followed where you trod.
+
+   Sin and sorrow fell upon me! and soon you felt it shame
+   To have lost Amy near you, and you blushed to hear her name.
+
+   Reared near virgin purity, you could not understand
+   How I could break from virtue's laws, and form a lawless band.
+
+   Then you questioned kindly, sternly,--but you could not make me tell;
+   I would not wring your trusting heart with tales scarce fit for hell!
+
+   You deemed me hardened, sunk in vice; I choked down every moan,
+   Turned from your breast the poisoned dart to bury in my own.
+
+   Driven from your presence, mistress, in agony and shame
+   I bore a wretched infant--she must never know her name!
+
+   How I crawled around your windows when your joyous boy was born,
+   To hear your voice, to catch a glimpse,--the sun rose fair that morn.
+
+   Ah! not mine to hold your darling! not mine to soothe his cries
+   When the stern death-angel seized him and bore him to the skies!
+
+   Then judgment came--the fever fell--young master gasped for breath--
+   God's hand was on him--vain were prayers,--how still he lay in death!
+
+   I heard you shriek--I rushed within--I held you in my arms
+   That frenzied night when sudden woe had wrought its worst of harms.
+
+   When reason dawned on you again, sweet pity stirred within,
+   You heard my cough, my labored breath, and saw me ghastly, thin.
+
+   Then you took my hand so kindly, gazing on my faded face:
+   'Speak, and tell me truly, Amy, how you fell in such disgrace.'
+
+   If he had lived, sweet mistress, I had borne it to the grave;
+   I would not mar your happiness, child, self or race to save.
+
+   Say! must I speak of one you loved now sleeping 'neath the sod?
+   Your 'yes' is bitter; but we owe the naked truth to God!
+
+   The truth to God, for guiltless you must stand before His face,
+   Nor wrong my pallid baby, nor scorn my suffering race.
+
+   Am I too bold? Death equals all--my heart beats faint and low;
+   Turn not away, sweet mistress, hear the truth before I go!
+
+   Gaze upon my shivering baby, scan the little pallid face,
+   Mark the forehead, eyes of azure--Ha! you do the likeness trace!
+
+   Nay, start not in horror from me! Oh, it was no fault of mine;
+   I would have died a thousand deaths ere wronged a thought of thine.
+
+   He came at midnight to my hut--abhorrent to my sense--
+   Force--threats of shame--foul violence--a slave has no defence!
+
+   Wronged--soiled--and outraged--sick at heart--what right had I to feel?
+   He deemed his chattel honored,--God! how brain and senses reel!
+
+   We're women, though our hair is crisped, and though our skin be black:
+   Men, ask your virgin daughters what's the maiden's deadliest rack!
+
+   I scorned myself! I hated him! but felt a living goad
+   Writhe and crawl beneath my bosom--shameful burden! sinful load!
+
+   Sick and faint, I loathed my master, loathed his inant, loathed my life
+   Till its flame burned dim within me, choked by shame, rage, hate, and strife.
+
+   Better feelings woke within me when the helpless girl was born;
+   Mother's love poured wild upon her: how love conquers rage and scorn!
+
+   But my tortured heart was broken, and a slave girl ought to die
+   When a tyrant master wrongs her, and she dreads her mistress' eye:
+
+   Dreads one she loves may read in her, in spite of silence deep,
+   That which would blight all happiness, and pale the rosy cheek:
+
+   Dreads that a wife may shuddering read a husband's naked heart--
+   Humbled and crushed by treachery, may into madness start.
+
+   But Amy dies: she has forgiven--forgive with her the wrong!
+   Smile on the helpless baby--make her truthful, pure, and strong.
+
+   Let her wait upon you, mistress; twine your ringlets golden still;
+   Take her back to old Virginia, to the homestead by the hill.
+
+   My heart clings to you with wild love--wherefore I scarce dare whisper--
+   Forgive--I am your father's child! pity your ruined sister!
+
+   The hot white blood in my baby's veins, though mixed with duskier flow,
+   Will make her wretched if a slave; let her in freedom go!
+
+   Oh make her free, sweet mistress, that such a fate as mine
+   Blanch not her cheek with agony, nor blast her ere her prime!
+
+   You smile--I need no promise; angel-like to me you seem;
+   Will you open heaven for me? bring the seraphs? how I dream!
+
+   I go to God. He made me. All His children, black and white,
+   Will meet in heaven if pure and true, clad in the eternal Light.
+
+   I die--God bless you, mistress!'... Sigh, and gasp--then all is o'er!
+   And the lady kneels beside a corpse upon the cabin floor.
+
+   Her thoughts are busy with the past, with love in falsehood spoken,
+   While her dusky sister's faithful heart had in silent anguish broken.
+
+   She takes the cold hand in her own: 'Poor Amy, can it be
+   That thou wert of a race accursed, unworthy to be free?
+
+   Man's falsehood! God! Thy right hand rests upon the dusky brow;
+   Thou starr'st it round with virtues brighter than our boasted snow!
+
+   I have learned a bitter lesson; to my slave I've been to school;
+   God has humbled me, but chastened; I will keep His Golden Rule.
+
+   Slaves and chattels! God forgive us! they are men and women--Thine!
+   If Christ may dwell within them, shall I dare to call them _mine_?
+
+   No woman must be outraged, nor owned by man, if we
+   Would hold _our_ sanctity intact--all women must be free.
+
+   Sacred from every touch profane, yes, holy things and pure;
+   A wrong to one is wrong to all; we must the weak secure.
+
+   United we must strike the shame; if known aright our power,
+   Slavery and crime would perish: Sisters, peal their final hour!
+
+   Mothers, maidens, wives, no longer aid your dusky sisters' shame!
+   Strike for our common womanhood, uphold our spotless fame!
+
+   Its majesty is in your hands, trail it not in the dust,
+   Nor keep your shrinking slaves as prey for lovers', husbands' lust!
+
+   All womanhood is holy! it shall not be profaned!
+   Our sanctity is threatened: Men! it shall not thus be stained!
+
+   Break up your harems! free our slaves! we will not share your shame!
+   O mothers of the living, chaste must be life's sacred flame!
+
+   Fathers, brothers, sons, and husbands, their chains must be untwined!
+   Touch not the ark where purity in woman's form is shrined!
+
+   Poor Amy! love has conquered! the veil is raised, I see
+   Sister spirits 'neath the dusky hue; thy people shall go free!'
+
+   The lady rose with high resolve upon her pale sad face;
+   And moved among the slave girls, the angel of their race.
+
+   Angel of freedom, charity, she breathes, and fetters melt,
+   And the holy might of Purity in Southern heart is felt.
+
+   Ah! the stars upon our banner, driven apart and dimmed with blood,
+   Might again in glory cluster through a perfect womanhood!
+
+
+
+
+FOR AND AGAINST.
+
+
+When his father called Fred Fontevrault, then a boy of fifteen, into his
+sick chamber, and made him subscribe to the whimsical conditions of the
+will, the female _gendarmerie_, so well versed in my affairs, declared
+that my husband had wretchedly repented his early marriage, and
+resolving his son should walk into fate with eyes unbandaged, forbade
+his alliance before the age of twenty-six. Though Mr. Fontevrault was
+fifty and I sixteen when I married him, he was not unhappy. He occupied
+himself in looking after his money, and making a collection of mosaics.
+We never had any matrimonial disturbances. I think they are vulgar. Any
+woman can do as she pleases without a remonstrant word, provided she has
+mind enough. It is the brainless women who scold. But scolds do not
+rule.
+
+Fred was unreasonably fond of his father, and assented to his wishes
+without demur, even when the great Fontevrault estates hung on his
+fidelity to a useless oath. Then he died, and I settled into the blank
+stupidity of my widowhood. I, who had known no master but my own sweet
+will, now found myself in a hundred ways restricted. I was ruled through
+Fred. He must graduate at Harvard; the great establishment, splendid but
+tedious, must be maintained. So our residence in Boston was
+necessitated. I shut myself up in the legitimate manner, and--mourned of
+course. If it had not been for novels, worsted work, and my beauty, I
+should have gaped myself out of existence the first year. What nonsense
+it is to say the prime of a woman's loveliness passes before the
+thirties! For, look at me, am I old or faded? Would you believe that
+Fred, so tall and splendidly developed, was my son? From me he took his
+wealth of nature, for Mr. Fontevrault was one of those dried, wrinkled
+old men, women like me often marry; not because of the settlements only,
+but because of the foil. My figure was moulded like the Venus they
+copied in the colder marble from Pauline. Shoulders and arms, delicious
+in their curves, shining with a rosy fairness. A creamy skin, with a
+faint coralline tinge in the cheeks. The forehead is too low, some say;
+and yet artists have praised its bend, and the Greek line of the nose;
+not intellectual, but womanly, you know. Hair of a bright brown, feeling
+like floss silk. Eyes, I believe, few people ever fairly saw. Men are
+bewitched by them, women cannot understand their charm. Perhaps you have
+seen Wilson's portrait of me, the one with the grayish green background;
+you notice that the eyes were turned from the spectator, and half shaded
+by white lid and gilded lash. He could not catch the flitting spark that
+made them mine, and refused to paint them at all. My son promises to be
+as perfect in his way as I in mine. Just now a student, he is too
+Raphael-angel-like to suit me; but the very fellow to bewilder girls and
+set the boarding schools crazy. Luckily he is bound against inthralment.
+
+By and by the house grew so lonely that I was fain to send for Leonora
+to make durance less vile. It was positively refreshing to hear her
+voice sing through the solemn old hall. Very warm was the welcome she
+received from both Fred and me. He had often said she was the only woman
+he could talk to without suppressing a yawn. It was ungallant of him,
+but I could sympathize with the sentiment. Women usually weary me. I
+told Leonora she must make up her mind to stay with me, as long as she
+remained unmarried.
+
+Fred, holding her hand, laughingly made her promise never to take a
+husband without his consent. While I passed on, he drew her back; the
+mirror above the door framed a picture prettier than I liked to see.
+
+'There is but one man I will authorize you to marry,' said my son.
+
+Then it suddenly flashed on my mind that Fred was of the age of Scott's
+heroes, and would be sure to fall in love with a woman older than
+himself. The love did not matter so much, but marriage would be an
+absurdity. I expected to have a daughter-in-law some day or other; but
+it was never to be Leonora. In a hundred ways she had resisted me, and
+overcome me. I was as resolutely opposed to her, as if she had been my
+enemy. She was a connection of the family, independent, yet in some sort
+alone in the world. If it had been conferring a favor on her, to ask her
+to stay with me, be sure I never would have uttered a persuasive word.
+But it was asking her to leave gay society, and the incense of
+admiration, to bury herself in a dull house. Then she was 'ornamental;'
+I liked to see her about; she was satirical, and pleased me by a little
+spicy abuse. They called her handsome. She _was_ too small, I think, too
+slight, perhaps; and then her complexion was almost swarthy. But her
+hair was fine, her eyes large and brilliant, and her mouth mobile and
+sweet. The face was nothing to me; but her companionship was enlivening.
+
+The young lady professed herself glad of a winter of exclusion, and when
+I saw how she set herself at work with books and embroidery, I confess I
+was astonished at her resignation. Then I saw her look at my son, and
+perceived she did not find it so _very_ stupid after all. Slowly she
+snarled him in her meshes.
+
+One time my husband had a friendless youth for his secretary, called
+Denis Christopher. His name attracted me before his person. Mr.
+Fontevrault became so deeply interested in his character and talents,
+that he used his extensive influence, and gave Mr. Christopher an
+enviable lift over the world's rough places. Fontevrault was like a
+grieved child when he left us. I was sorry, but concealed it. One of the
+young man's agreeable privileges had been to attend me in public, thus
+relieving Mr. Fontevrault. I assure you he was more knightly than his
+master, whose stiff protection I never missed while under Launcelot's
+tender care. I never fully admitted to myself the power I found in the
+hitherto unknown fascination of a _young_ man's society; nor how much
+pleasure I took in touching those hidden chords that only respond to a
+woman's touch. That he adored me, I saw in his eyes. I liked it well,
+and the strange, unwonted feeling that shivered through me, now, when by
+chance my hand touched his.
+
+Well--people began to talk, as people will, and Mr. Fontevrault sent him
+to Malaga. He came to bid me good-by; 'forever,' he thought; ah me! It
+was forever in one sense. Fred was a mere boy then, who heard and saw
+everything. I had hard work to get him out of the house that morning. I
+wanted Denis's last look all to myself. Before he left me, Christopher
+offered me a bracelet of cornelians, cut rarely as seals. Each gem bore
+an exquisite device. On one were a few words in Latin. When I was alone,
+I pressed the seal on a drop of hot wax, and read his dedication.
+
+All that was years ago; he is here again, and I am free. I sat before
+the glass long the day I expected him, threading my brown hair, and
+longing to wear his color--blue. But then the widow's cap suited me
+divinely, and the folds of crape set off my peculiar tints as nothing
+else can. I came before him; he started forward to seize both hands, and
+gaze in my face, to find no change. Then he pressed his lips to my warm
+white fingers. A new boldness became his, a new timidity mine.
+
+Fresh from lessons of my own, I could read a change in Leonora, and
+perceive mischief in the air. Her extreme quietness when my son entered
+the apartment, the faint shade of shyness in his manner of addressing
+her attracted me curiously. He began to linger in our haunts so long and
+on such frivolous pretexts, that I began seriously to think what was to
+be done with such a lovesick page. To oppose Fred would be worse than
+useless. Opposition determined him. If I could have sent her away,
+solitude would be my bane; for not one of the Fontevraults could I
+endure. Then as I pondered, I laughed at the absurdity of the whole
+thing. Not only was Leonora older than the student, a woman in society,
+but she had been engaged (with that fact I resolved to frighten Fred),
+nor would she wait five years for him to declare his passion. And his
+flickering fancy the slightest breath of doubt would change: a nature
+easily moulded by the inexorable. I resolved to let affairs take their
+own course, and trust her common sense, and my own gentle diplomacy.
+
+What memorable meetings had we four during those sharp winter days! I
+lived as in an Arabian dream. There was Denis Christopher, with his
+brown face and thrilling eyes; Fred lackadaisical, but handsome as
+Antinous; Leonora, and I.
+
+A very orderly company, but what hot feeling repressed, what romantic
+possibility, what fates unfulfilled lay under the courteous
+conventionality of the time! Fred leaned over Leonora at the piano.
+Their voices sounded well together, and if he could not declare his
+admiration of her, no doubt he conveyed it to her in some tender refrain
+or serenade. Their blended, passionate voices often moved me in a
+strange excitement, for I was not musical. I had no way of relieving
+myself, as these singers and painters have, who crystallize an emotion
+or a sorrow into a picture or a cadence. I can only gnaw the bedpost, or
+tear up something, in the mere need of expression. Denis watched them
+awhile, and then it became a trio instead of a duet. Mr. Christopher
+brought Spanish music. Light, rippling airs, dances, whose strange
+swaying rhythm had been borne to his ears in the Malaga nights.
+
+My son grew jealous, therefore unreasonable. He would not play
+subordinate, so left Leonora no choice but to lend herself gracefully to
+Denis's companionship. These two were sure to misunderstand one another.
+Fred was contradictory. With intense and variable feeling, he possessed
+the traits of slower natures. A kind of natural prudence retarded him.
+He puzzled Leonora. One moment he cooed over her, the next became
+Horatian. Painfully sensitive, and proud withal, she was never sure of
+his opinion of her. Having little faith in the firmness of any man's
+admiration of _her_, she believed less than was avowed. And Fred,
+exacting much, was too inexperienced to understand her. They were
+drifting apart, I thought; but in avoiding Scylla, had I not plunged
+into Charybdis?
+
+I had been a widow a year when Mr. Christopher left Spain. Another had
+now passed, and with it my seclusion. While Denis had talked to me, I
+had cared to hear no other man speak; but now, in a kind of thirst, I
+drank deep of pleasure. I played with the warm avowals of men past the
+reasoning age, and made Fred's classmates melancholy. Denis did not even
+disapprove. He was often near me now, but silent as a shadow.
+
+How it stormed the night of the seventh of February, and like the
+whirling snow I danced! Christopher led me through the last Lancers, and
+then we stopped to rest. Hanging on his arm, and heedless of to-morrow,
+was I not happy? We passed through the long rooms, while the soft waltz
+music began to swell, and the untiring dancers took the floor.
+
+I remember he asked for Leonora, and then if Fred meant to marry her. I
+would not say no, but would acknowledge that his fancy was heated.
+
+'She will be a pleasant vision of boy-love a few years hence,' I said.
+'Leonora has too much good sense to marry him, Mr. Christopher.'
+
+'I don't know,' said he, meditatively, and drew my hand through his arm.
+The cornelian bracelet slipped into view. 'Mrs. Fontevrault,' uttered
+he, in a ceremonious tone--my warm pulse grew still--'do you never
+forget?'
+
+'Do you desire it?' I answered, gaily:
+
+   ''If to remember, or forget,
+   Can give a longing, or regret,
+
+command me.'
+
+He smiled, and, stopping at a side table, poured out two glasses of
+wine.
+
+'Here's to the past,' said he, eagerly; 'drink Lethe.'
+
+We drained the glasses. Then I understood he withdrew his claim.
+
+I wanted to go home after _that_; so Mr. Christopher summoned the
+carriage. The walks were white, and I trembled--was it with cold?--as he
+handed me in, and bade me good night.
+
+The house at midnight was silent and warm. I went up stairs, and stood
+in the threshold of the library. The sleet driving against the window
+panes prevented their hearing me, I suppose. They seemed to be
+translating something or other. Fred's arm lay over the back of her
+chair. Very fast and earnestly he was talking. Marginal notes suggested
+by the text of Sismondi?
+
+'What, home so early!' was his exclamation, on discovering me.
+
+Leonora looked, up with a deep rose in her dark cheeks, a dangerous fire
+melting in her eyes. I had left her pale, with a headache.
+
+'You are better, I conclude. I expected to find you among your pillows,'
+said I, accusative.
+
+'I have cured her,' said Fred, coming forward and clasping my hands in
+his firm, cool hold. 'What ails you, mamma? You look as if you had a
+fever, and wickedly handsome. What have you been about?' He slipped off
+my ermine cloak, and kissed me with a mixture of pride and love. The boy
+bewildered me.
+
+As fate would have it, Fred was right. I felt very ill. I believe I
+_resisted_ a fever, for I have a sensation of struggle connected with
+that sickness. But I cannot separate the pictures of my distempered
+fancy from the actualities of the time. Leonora took devoted care of me.
+Night after night Fred sat by me, and they relieved each other. Like one
+bound in an enchantment, I lay unable to prevent their mutual
+confidence, and the return of her young lover's adoring regard.
+
+He sat beside her as the fire burned low; his blonde hair touched her
+dusky cheek as he bent over her.
+
+'Leo, darling, I wish I was sick, like mamma.'
+
+'Hush!' said she.
+
+'Then you would soothe me, and part my hair with your soft fingers, that
+refuse to touch mine now. You would be sorry for me, and give me a
+little caressing, and I should be so happy I would not get well.'
+
+'Don't talk so, Fred. You used to be an even-tempered, comfortable kind
+of young man to know. But now you are really teasing.'
+
+'Do I really annoy you?'
+
+'Very much.'
+
+'And you don't believe in me. Sometimes a dumb kind of philosophy
+possesses me, and I say to myself, let her think of me as she will. I
+cannot be frank, and must take the consequences. Then again----'
+
+Here she rose, and he put both arms around her. Audacious boy!
+
+'Fred!' was uttered in a stifled voice.
+
+'Promise me to send off Christopher,' ejaculated the young man.
+
+The corners of the room seemed to stretch away indefinitely. A heavy
+perfume suffocated me. I groaned. In another moment Leonora was beside
+me, and the fresh air was blowing in from a window my son had opened.
+
+I made haste to get well. The physicians say my constitution and good
+nursing saved me; but it was all resolution. My _will_ was stronger than
+the disease. As soon as I could sit up and see him, Denis Christopher
+was admitted. I used to hear a dulcet strain on the stairs, formed by
+her delicate note and his melodious base, and then he would follow
+Leonora in to pay his respects to me; always bringing something to
+brighten up my boudoir, and render her imprisonment less unendurable.
+Afterward he would never be exiled to the drawing rooms. Fred frowned at
+the ease with which he invaded our retirement, but only frowned. He and
+I began to wonder if Christopher would win her. Valiantly but cautiously
+was he wooing. Fred went off on a boating excursion, and I grew weary. I
+wished I had died. The secret of my good looks was confessed. Perfect
+health had kept my beauty undimmed. But colorless and hollow-eyed the
+fever left me. I could look at myself no more; so I looked at Leonora.
+She was pretty, with a charm that did not depend on tint or outline. Her
+new friend was penetrated by her real graces and his ideal rendering of
+them; but would he conquer? I was sure not. Because separation is sure
+alienation at a certain age, I resolved on Fred's speedy withdrawal from
+the scene. Why not go abroad immediately after his graduation, which was
+to occur in a few weeks? On his return I suggested it. He gloomily
+consented.
+
+'Will you come, too, mamma?'
+
+'Not yet; in the course of a year perhaps;' and I looked over to the
+corner where Leonora was winding worsted from Mr. Christopher's fingers.
+
+'Come, now,' said he, 'take Leonora, and we will set up housekeeping in
+the easy continental style.'
+
+'She has her hands full just now.' Literally as well as figuratively
+true, for she had wound two enormous green balls.
+
+'Perhaps she will go over with Mr. Christopher. Would you like a call
+from the bride and groom?'
+
+My young Fontevrault looked at me.
+
+'Do you speak as you know, mamma?'
+
+'Look for yourself, my hoodwinked Cupid. Girls are all alike, Fred. He
+can ask her to marry him, and has that advantage over you.'
+
+So it was decided that Fred should go to Paris, and be happy. Mrs.
+Blanchard gave him a farewell party, and all the young ladies were at
+their sweetest. Fred behaved with sullen dignity, as a lion should. He
+refused to be comforted by Adelaide and Rose, walking about with one or
+another, and looking at Leonora, at whom all mankind were gazing that
+night. She was in dashing spirits, a glorious color diffused her cheeks,
+her eyes fairly danced. Her dress was of feathery black tulle, and a
+broad silver ribbon, like an order, went over her shoulders. In the
+shining black braids glistened fern leaves of silver filigree.
+Fortunately, Fred and I discovered them--Leonora and her inseparable
+cavalier, Denis, I mean--in an alcove of roses and jessamines. She
+admiring the flowers, and he talking with a fervor very easy to read.
+She listening, as women always listen when the pleader is eloquent. But
+in her downcast face I read only pain, while my son translated the deep
+blush differently. When we were at home, and I waited to bid him good
+night, he took me in his strong arms:
+
+'You love me, mamma, don't you?'
+
+He was all I had in the world, so I told him.
+
+Then followed a week we long remembered--the first week of Denis's
+absence. Leonora was gloomy and _distraite_; Fred cool as a peak of the
+Andes, and about as unapproachable; I immersed in the hurry and
+confusion of my son's departure. He had a suite of rooms over mine,
+and, the night before he went away, leaned over the ballusters, and
+called, as in old time:
+
+'Leonora!'
+
+She gave a glad start, and ran up to him. So I followed, of course. I
+wanted to put some flannels into his trunk, which stood in his bedroom.
+The doors were open between us. He had a bundle of her letters tied up
+in a bulky packet, and began to talk with great discretion.
+
+'I have been putting my affairs in order,' said the systematic young
+man. 'I may never come back, and at any rate, my absence will be long. I
+thought it would be better to give you these, lest they fall into alien
+hands.'
+
+'Why not burn them?' suggested his listener.
+
+'I could not, Leo.'
+
+'I am not so sentimental,' she returned, taking up the packet. 'They
+shall blaze directly. Do you want your own?'
+
+'Oh, Fred, what a bungler you are!' I thought.
+
+'You misunderstand,' he began, in a desperate tone.
+
+'Fred!' I screamed, as if I were twenty rods distant, 'do come and open
+this bureau drawer. I can't move it.'
+
+He came, pulling it open, with such needless strength, that all the
+toilette bottles garnishing the top were shaken off, and lay in
+fragments on the floor. She followed to note the disaster, and I took
+her down stairs, and watched over her like a dragon all that evening. I
+would not let Leonora go to the steamer with us, but compelled him to
+say farewell in my presence, I _like_ a scene. He held her hand long,
+uttering some incoherent sentences. Admirable was the self-composure she
+showed! The delicate muscles about the mouth were as steady as if she
+did not love him. She never raised her eyes until the last. As I saw
+their sad beauty, a pang seized me, and I turned away. He came after,
+hurried me into the carriage, and off we whirled.
+
+'Are you going to write to her?' I asked.
+
+'She says no,' Fontevrault answered, and looked vigorously out of the
+window.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One evening, two years after my son left me, we were sitting round the
+library fire. Christoper, now a captain in one of the famous
+Massachusetts regiments, sat near me, a little older and a little graver
+than when I saw him last. We were talking with flushed cheeks and
+beating hearts of the subject nearest our hearts just then--war.
+
+A familiar foot pressed the stair. All the color left Leonora's lips;
+she knew who was coming. In another moment I was in my darling's arms.
+He shook hands with Leonora, but neither of them spoke a word; then
+turned to Cristopher, who welcomed him with the hearty cordiality men
+use.
+
+'You have come home to fight, I know, Fontevrault.'
+
+'So I have,' answered my son. 'Every true-hearted American should be
+striking his blow. I couldn't travel fast enough. Mother, are you a
+Spartan?'
+
+He looked at Leonora. What did she think of this magnificent-mustached
+Saxon? Not much like the fair-cheeked student we remembered.
+
+'Let us be army nurses,' said Leonora, when they had gone to Washington.
+Indeed we could not stay where we were, nor flit off to Newport to
+banish care. I grew sleepless, and a sudden sound would send the blood
+to my heart. Leonora maintained an undaunted front, but she grew thin in
+spite of her cheerfulness. At last I said:
+
+'We will follow the army; I shall die to live in this way.'
+
+So, just before the battle of Antietam, we were in Washington.
+
+Just after--ah me!--a singular scene occurred. We four had met again,
+not as in the happy nights long gone. Denis, the veteran of seven
+battles, still stood unscathed; but my boy could fight no more.
+Manfully he bore his affliction; I only wept.
+
+This morning of which I write, he was so bright, that we admitted Denis
+at once, who came to bid us farewell before leaving to join his
+regiment.
+
+'Stop a minute,' said Fred. 'Leonora.' She came toward him with a face
+of gentle inquiry.
+
+'To-day is my birthday,' prefaced the soldier. 'I am twenty-six, and a
+free man to say I love you.' Denis minced and motioned to withdraw his
+hand. (Not so fast, old fellow.) This I say because I have been waiting
+years to speak my mind on this day. But now, I have nothing to offer
+you. I have no future. I am a cripple; even my love for you has been a
+cheat to you; and now is selfishness in me. Here stands a man as true to
+you as I; I know how he loves you. Which of us will you marry, Leonora?'
+
+While he was speaking, the lost carnation came back to her cheeks. The
+soft eyes kindled to a languid fire. She never looked at Denis, who
+stood in his erect strength, his worshipping eyes on her face. She came
+to Fred's bedside, and knelt down there. Denis dropped his hand.
+
+'You do not answer,' Fred whispered; 'I cannot bear suspense.'
+
+How did she satisfy him? I do not know. In emotion that almost
+overmastered me, I snapped the bracelet--Denis's bracelet; it lay upon
+the floor. He passed me without a word, without a look. His heavy heel
+ground the enchased seal to rosy dust. I heard the door swung loudly to,
+and then the clatter of his horse's hoofs, as he rode rapidly away.
+
+
+
+
+EUROPEAN OPINION.
+
+
+We are indebted to an accomplished gentleman in Philadelphia for the
+following translation from the _Revue Nationale_ of M. Laboulaye. Any
+extended comment from our pen would only serve to weaken the effect of
+this eloquent and truthful passage. We may, however, express our
+gratification to find that some generous spirits in Europe still remain
+superior to the jealousies and the malevolence which have so largely
+affected the ruling classes there, and led them so generally to hope for
+and to predict the downfall of our suffering country. Hitherto we have
+indeed recognized the truth that 'the opinion of Europe is a power;' but
+we have felt it chiefly in its worst influence, against us, and in favor
+of the rebellion. Now, however, in this the darkest hour of our mortal
+struggle, it affords real relief to hear the most enlightened men of
+that continent proclaiming that 'the arguments of the South are
+beginning to fail,' and 'that all the ingenuity in the world cannot lift
+up its fallen cause.' Nor is it at all difficult to give entire credence
+to these statements, for there is evidently an altered tone even in
+those organs of European opinion which have been, and still are
+consistently hostile to us. It was perhaps unavoidable that
+misunderstanding should prevail in the outset, and that the ear of
+Europe should have been complacently open to the representations of the
+plausible South, urged as they were by the ablest and most unscrupulous
+of her advocates. But truth was destined certainly to make its way in
+the end. It was only doubtful whether the triumph of right would take
+place soon enough to bring the force of European opinion to bear on the
+contest and to deprive the South of that moral support which alone has
+enabled her to prolong the hopeless struggle to the present time. But,
+according to M. Laboulaye, the 'fatal service' which its advocates have
+done the South, is just now about to bear its appropriate fruit; for the
+delusive promise of support which has thus far sustained the rebel cause
+is utterly gone, and with it, all possibility of ultimate success.
+
+Seldom have we read a nobler passage than that in which this
+accomplished writer appeals to the French sentiment of national unity to
+justify our Northern people in their mighty struggle to subdue this
+'impious revolt.' Americans themselves, though fully imbued with the
+instinctive feeling which it defends, could not more forcibly have
+presented the point. And, indeed, if we may believe the statements now
+prevalent, attributing to eminent statesmen and large parties a
+disposition to accede to the separation of the sections, the very
+sentiment of nationality has lost it force among us, and we would be
+compelled to acknowledge our obligations to this eminent Frenchman for
+stimulating our expiring patriotism and awakening us to the vital
+importance of our national unity and to the shame and disgrace of
+surrendering it. If any American has ever, for a moment, admitted the
+idea of consenting to a separation of the Union, let him read the
+burning words of this enlightened and disinterested foreigner, and blush
+for his want of comprehension of the true interests and glory of his
+country. It is not a mere sentimental enthusiasm which leads us to
+combat disunion and to cherish the greatness and oneness of our country.
+Our dearest rights and our noblest interests are alike involved, and we
+would be craven wretches, unworthy of our high destiny, if we did not
+risk everything and sacrifice everything to preserve them. 'The North
+only defends itself,' says M. Laboulaye. 'It is its very life that it
+wishes to save.'
+
+Briefly, but with the hand of a master, does this article point out the
+consequences of disunion. The touches by which the sketch is drawn, are
+few and rapidly made; but they faithfully portray the great features of
+the case, and present a true and living picture to the mind of every
+thoughtful man. The jealousies, the rivalries, the antipathies of the
+sections; the foreign intrigues and eventual foreign domination among
+our fragmentary governments; the large standing armies, and the
+competing naval forces; and finally, 'the endless war and numberless
+miseries' which will inevitably result--all these mighty evils will not
+only afflict our own unhappy country, but 'peace will be exiled from the
+world.' The interests of mankind are involved in this tremendous
+struggle.
+
+But we no longer keep our readers from the perusal of this interesting
+extract. Let it be remembered that it comes from the quarter understood
+to be most unfriendly to us, where the wily emperor of the French is
+supposed to be plotting for the destruction of our nationality and
+power. The appeal to the interests of France against the ambition of
+England is striking and powerful. Whatever disposition the emperor may
+cherish against us, the French people ought to be our friends; they have
+a common interest in maintaining the freedom of the seas, and
+we have yet to complain that any port of France has sent out cruisers to
+assail our commerce on the ocean.
+
+Let us take courage, even in this hour of disaster. Noble spirits abroad
+are still watching us with generous sympathy and praying for the success
+of our sacred cause. Let us be true to ourselves and to our country, and
+the hour of final triumph will soon be at hand. Though dissensions tend
+now to distract and weaken us, and though darkness, more impenetrable
+than ever before, seems lately to have gathered around us, we already
+discern the first glimmerings of the dawn in the east. The full day will
+soon break upon us, and we shall rejoice in the splendor of returning
+peace and renewed prosperity.
+
+
+REASONS WHY THE NORTH CANNOT PERMIT SECESSION.
+
+(_From the French of_ EDOUARD LABOULAYE, _published in the_ 'Revue
+Nationale,' _December 10th, 1862._)
+
+The civil war which has been dividing and ruining the United States for
+two years also affects us in Europe. The scarcity of cotton causes great
+suffering. The workmen of Rouen and Mulhouse are as severely tried as
+the spinners and weavers of Lancashire; entire populations are reduced
+to beggary, and to exist through the winter they have no resource and no
+hope save in special charity or assistance from the government. In so
+severe a crisis, and in the midst of such unmerited sufferings, it is
+but natural that public opinion should become restless in Europe, and
+condemn the ambition of those who prolong a fratricidal war. Peace in
+America, peace is a necessity at any price, is the cry of thousands of
+men among us who are suffering from hunger, innocent victims of the
+passions and madness which steep the United States in blood.
+
+These complaints are only too just. The civilized world is at present,
+so bound together, that peace is one great condition of the existence of
+modern industrial nations; unhappily, although it is easy to point out
+the remedy, it is almost impossible to apply it. Just now it is by war
+alone that ending of the war may be looked for. To throw herself armed
+between the combatants would be an attempt in which Europe would exhaust
+her strength; and to what purpose? As Mr. Cobden has justly said, it
+would be less costly to feed the work people who are ruined by the
+American crisis _on game and champagne_. To offer to-day our friendly
+mediation is not only to expose ourselves to a refusal, and perhaps so
+exasperate one of the parties as to push it to more violent measures,
+but to diminish the chances of our mediation being accepted at a more
+favorable moment. Thus we are forced to remain spectators of a
+deplorable war, which is the cause of infinite evil to us; thus forced
+to offer up prayers that exhaustion and misery may appease these mortal
+enemies and oblige them to accept either reunion or separation. A sad
+situation, doubtless, but one which neutrals have always occupied, and
+from which they cannot depart without throwing themselves among unknown
+dangers.
+
+If we have not the right to interfere, we can at least complain, and try
+to discover those who are really wrong in this war, which so affects us.
+The opinion of Europe is a power. It can hasten matters and restore
+peace better than arms can. Unfortunately, for two years opinion has
+wandered from the proper path, and by taking the wrong side of the
+question, prolongs instead of stopping resistance. The South has found
+many and clever advocates in England and in France, who have presented
+her cause as that of justice and liberty. They have proclaimed the right
+of secession, and have not feared to apologize for slavery. Their
+arguments to-day are beginning to fail. Thanks to those publicists who
+do not traffic with humanity; thanks to M. de Gasparin, above all, the
+light has made things clear; we know now how things stand as to the
+origin and character of the rebellion. To every disinterested observer,
+it is evident that the South is wrong in every way. It needs not a
+Montesquieu to understand that a party not menaced in the least, which,
+through ambition or pride, tears its country to pieces and destroys its
+national unity, has no right to the sympathies of the French. As to
+declaring slavery sacred, that is a work which must be left to the
+preachers of the South. All the ingenuity in the world cannot lift up
+this fallen cause. Had the confederates a thousand reasons for complaint
+and for revolt, there would always rest on their rebellion an indelible
+stain. No Christian, no liberal person will ever interest himself for
+men who, in this nineteenth century, insolently proclaim their desire to
+perpetuate and extend slavery. Though it is still permitted to the
+planters to listen to theories that have infatuated and lost them, such
+sophistries will never cross the ocean.
+
+The advocates of the South have done it a fatal service; they have made
+it believe that Europe, enlightened or seduced, would range itself on
+its side and finally throw into the balance something more than empty
+promises. This delusion has and still maintains the resistance of the
+South, it prolongs the war, and with it our sufferings. If, as the North
+had a right to expect, the friends of liberty had, from the first,
+boldly pronounced against the policy of slavery, if the advocates of
+peace upon the seas, if the defenders of the rights of neutrals had
+spoken in favor of the Union and rejected a separation, which could only
+profit England, it is probable that the South would have been less
+anxious to start on a journey without visible end. If, in spite of the
+courage and devotion of its soldiers; if, in spite of the ability of its
+generals, the South fails in an enterprise which, in my opinion, cannot
+be too much blamed, let it lay the fault on those who have so poor an
+opinion of Europe as to imagine that they will subject _its_ opinion to
+a policy against which patriotism protests, and which the gospel and
+humanity condemn.
+
+We will grant, they may say, that the South is altogether wrong;
+nevertheless it wishes to separate, it can no longer live with the
+people of the North. The war alone, whatever may be its origin, is a new
+cause of disunion. By what right can twenty millions of men force ten
+millions (of those ten millions there are four millions of slaves whose
+will is not consulted in the least) of their countrymen to continue a
+detested alliance, to respect a contract which they wish to break at any
+price? Is it possible to imagine that after two or three years of
+fighting and misery, conquerors and conquered can be made to live
+harmoniously together? Can a country two or three times the size of
+France be subjugated? Would there not always be bloodshed between the
+parties? Separation is perhaps a misfortune, but now it is an
+irreparable one. Let us grant that the North has law, the letter and
+spirit of the Constitution on her side; there always remains an
+indisputable point--the South wishes to govern itself. You have no right
+to crush a people that defends itself so valiantly. Give it up!
+
+If we were less enervated by the luxury of modern life and by the
+idleness of a long peace, if there still lingered in our hearts some
+remnant of that patriotism which, in 1792, urged our forefathers to the
+banks of the Rhine, the answer would be simple; to-day I fear it will
+not be understood. If the south of France should revolt to-morrow and
+demand a separation; if Alsace and Lorraine should wish to withdraw,
+what would be, I will not say our right only, but our duty? Would we
+count voices to see if a third or a half of the French had a right to
+destroy our nationality, to annihilate France, to break up the glorious
+heritage our sires bought for us with their blood? No! we would shoulder
+our muskets and march. Woe to the man who does not feel his country to
+be sacred, and that it is a noble act to defend it, even at the price of
+extreme misery and every danger!
+
+'America is not like France; it is a confederation, not a nation.' Who
+says this? It is the South, and to justify its faults; the North asserts
+the contrary, and for two years she has declared, by numberless
+sacrifices, that the Americans are one people, and that no one shall
+divide their country. This is a grand and noble sentiment, and if
+anything astonishes me, it is that France can witness this patriotism
+unmoved. Is not love of country the crowning virtue of the Frenchman?
+
+What is this South, and whence does it derive this right of secession it
+proclaims so loudly? Is it a conquered nation which resumes its
+independence, as Lombardy has done? Is it a distinct race which will not
+continue an oppressive alliance? No! it is a number of colonies,
+established on the territory of the Union by American hands. Take a map
+of the United States. Except Virginia, the two Carolinas and Georgia,
+which are old English colonies, all the rest of the South is situated on
+lands purchased and paid for by the Union. This proves that the North
+has sustained the greatest part of the expense. Ancient Louisiana was
+sold to the Americans, in 1804, by the first consul at a price of
+fifteen millions of dollars; Florida was bought from Spain, in 1820, for
+five millions; and it required the war with Mexico, a payment of ten
+millions, and heavy losses besides, to acquire Texas. In a few words, of
+all the rich countries which border on the Mississippi and Missouri,
+from their sources to their mouths, there is not one inch of ground for
+which the Union has not paid, and which does not belong to her. The
+Union has driven out or indemnified the Indians. The Union has built
+fortifications, constructed shipyards, light-houses, and harbors. It is
+the Union that has made all this wilderness valuable and rendered its
+settlement possible. It is the men of the North as well as those of the
+South who have cleared and planted these lands, and transformed them
+from barren solitudes to a flourishing condition. Show us, if you can,
+in old Europe, where unity is entirely the result of conquest, a title
+to property so sacred, a country which is more the common work of one
+people! And shall it now be allowed to a minority to take possession of
+a territory which belongs to all, and, moreover, to choose the best
+portion of it? Shall a minority be permitted to destroy the Union, and
+to imperil those who were its first benefactors, and without whom it
+would never have existed? If this does not constitute an impious revolt,
+then any whim that seizes a people is just and right. It is not only
+political reasons that oppose a separation; geography, the positions of
+places force the United States to form a single nation. Strabo,
+meditating on this vast country now called France, said, with the
+certainty of genius, that, to look at the nature of the territory, and
+the course of the waters, it was evident that the forests of Gaul,
+inhabited by a thinly scattered people, would become the abode of a
+great people. Nature has disposed our territory to be the theatre of a
+great civilization. This is also true of America, which is really but a
+double valley, whose place of separation is imperceptible, and which
+contains two large water courses, the Mississippi, and the St. Lawrence.
+There are no high mountains which isolate and separate the people, no
+natural barriers like the Alps and Pyrenees. The West cannot live
+without the Mississippi; it is a question of life and death to the
+Western farmers to hold the mouth of the river. The United States felt
+this from the first day of their existence. When the Ohio and
+Mississippi were yet but streams lost in the forest, when the first
+planters were only a handful of men scattered in the wilderness, the
+Americans already knew that New Orleans was _the key of the house_. They
+would not leave it either to Spain or France. Napoleon understood this;
+he held in his hands the future greatness of the United States; he was
+glad to cede this vast territory to America, with the intention, he
+said, 'to give to England a maritime rival which sooner or later would
+lower the pride of our enemies.' (Here the author refers to his
+pamphlet, entitled, _Les Etats Unis et la France_, and to _L'histoire de
+la Louisiane_, by Barb� Marbois.) He could have satisfied the United
+States by only giving up the left bank of the river, which was all they
+asked for then; he did more (and in this I think he was very wrong),
+with a stroke of his pen he ceded a country as large as the half of
+Europe, and renounced our last rights on this beautiful river which we
+had discovered. Sixty years have quickly passed since this cession. The
+States which are now called Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa,
+Minnesota, Kansas, Oregon, and the territories of Nebraska, Dacotah,
+Jefferson and Washington, which will soon become States, have been
+established on the immense domain abandoned by Napoleon. Without
+counting the slaveholding population which wishes to break up the Union,
+there are ten millions of free citizens between Pittsburg and Fort
+Union, who claim the course and mouth of the Mississippi as having been
+ceded to them by France. It is from us that they hold their title and
+their possession. They have a right of sixty years, a right consecrated
+by labors and cultivation, a right which they have received from a
+contract, and, better still, from nature, and from God.
+
+See what it is they are reproached for defending; they are, forsooth,
+usurpers and tyrants, because they wish to hold what is their own,
+because they will not place themselves at the mercy of an ambitious
+minority. What would we say, if, to-morrow, Normandy, rising, should
+pretend to hold for herself alone Rouen and Havre, and yet what is the
+interest of the Seine compared to that of the Mississippi, which has a
+course of two thousand two hundred and fifty miles, and which receives
+all the waters of the West?
+
+To possess New Orleans is to command a valley which embraces two thirds
+of the United States.
+
+They say 'we will neutralize the river.' We know what such promises are
+worth. We have seen what Russia did at the mouth of the Danube; the war
+of the Crimea was necessary to give to Germany the free use of her great
+river. If a new war were to break out between Austria and Russia, we
+might be sure that the possession of the Danube would be the stake
+played for. It could not be otherwise in America, from the day the
+Mississippi would flow for more than three hundred miles between two
+foreign servile banks: the effect of the war has already been to prevent
+the exportation of wheat and corn, the riches of the West. In 1861 it
+was necessary to burn useless harvests, to the great prejudice of
+Europe, who profited by their exportation. The South itself feels the
+strength of its position so well that its ambition is to separate the
+valley of the Mississippi from the Eastern States, and to unite itself
+to the West, consigning the Yankees of New England to a solitude which
+would ruin them. With the Mississippi for a bait, the Confederates hope
+to reestablish to their profit, that is, to the profit of slavery, the
+Union which they have broken for fear of liberty[6]. We now see what is
+to be thought of the pretended tyranny of the North, and if it is true
+that it wishes to oppress and to subjugate the South. On the contrary,
+the North only defends itself. In maintaining the Union, it defends its
+rights, and it is its very life that it wishes to save.
+
+Thus far I have only spoken of the material interests--interests which
+are lawful, and which, founded on solemn titles, give sacred rights; but
+if we examine moral and political interests which are of a superior
+order, we will understand better still that the North cannot give up
+without destroying itself. The United States is a republic, the most
+free, and at the same time the mildest and most happy form of government
+the world has ever seen. Whence comes this prosperity of the Americans?
+Because they are alone upon an immense territory; they have never been
+obliged to concentrate their power and enfeeble liberty in order to
+resist the jealousy and ambition of their neighbors. In the United
+States there was no standing army, no naval force; the Americans
+employed the immense sums which we expend to avert or to sustain war, in
+opening schools, and in giving to all their citizens, poor or rich, that
+education and that instruction which form the moral greatness and the
+true riches of the people. Their foreign policy was comprised in this
+maxim: 'Never to mingle in the quarrels of Europe on the sole condition
+that Europe will not interfere with their affairs, and will respect the
+liberty of the seas.' Thanks to these wise principles, which Washington
+left them in his immortal testament, the United States have enjoyed, for
+eighty years, a peace which has only been disturbed by Europe when, in
+1812, they were forced to resist England and sustain the rights of
+neutrals. We must count by hundreds of millions those sums that we have
+used during the last seventy years in the upholding our liberty in
+Europe; these hundreds of millions the United States have employed in
+improvements of every description. Here is the secret of their
+prodigious fortune; it is their perfect independence which makes their
+prosperity.
+
+Let us now suppose the separation finally accomplished, and that the new
+confederation comprises all the Slave States; the North has at once lost
+both its power and the foundations of that power. The Republic has
+received a mortal blow. There are in America two nations, side by side,
+two jealous rivals who are always on the point of attacking each other.
+Peace will not remove their antipathies; it will not efface the memory
+of the past greatness of the Union now destroyed; the victorious South
+will, without doubt, be quite as friendly toward slavery, and as fond of
+domination as ever. The enemies of slavery, now masters of their own
+policy, will certainly not be soothed by the separation. What will the
+Southern confederacy be to the North! It will be a foreign power
+established in America, with a frontier of one thousand five hundred
+miles, unprotected on every side, and consequently continually
+threatening or menaced. This power, hostile, because of its vicinity
+alone, and still more so by its institutions, will possess a very
+considerable portion of the New World; it will have half the coasts of
+the Union; it will command the Gulf of Mexico, an inland sea one third
+the size of the Mediterranean; it will be the mistress of the mouths of
+the Mississippi, and can ruin at its pleasure the inhabitants of the
+West. The fragments of the old Union will have to be always ready to
+defend themselves against their rivals. Questions of customs and of
+frontiers; rivalries, jealousies, in fact all the scourges of old Europe
+will overwhelm America at once and together; she will have to establish
+custom houses over an extent of five hundred leagues; to build and arm
+forts on this immense frontier, to keep on foot large standing armies,
+to maintain a naval force; in other words, she will have to renounce her
+old Constitution, to weaken her municipal independence by the
+centralization of power. Farewell to the old and glorious liberty!
+Farewell to those institutions which made America the common refuge of
+all who could not exist in Europe! The work of Washington will be
+destroyed; the situation will be full of dangers and difficulties. I
+understand how the prospect of such a future can delight those who have
+never been able to forgive America her prosperity and greatness; history
+is full of such sad jealousies. Still better I understand and approve of
+this, that a people accustomed to liberty should risk its last man and
+give its last dollar to preserve the inheritance of its fathers. I do
+not understand why there are persons in Europe who believe themselves
+liberal when they reproach the North for its generous resistance by
+advising her disgracefully to relinquish her rights. War is certainly a
+frightful evil, but from war a durable peace may issue, the
+South may tire of a struggle which exhausts its strength, the old Union
+may again arise in its glory, and the future may be saved. What but
+endless war and numberless miseries can result from a separation? This
+dismemberment of a country is an irreparable evil; no people, no nation,
+will submit to such a calamity until it no longer has any power to
+resist.
+
+Up to this time I have reasoned in the supposition that the South would
+remain an independent power. But unless the West joins the confederates,
+and the Union reestablishes itself against New England, this
+independence is a chimera: it might last for some time; but in ten or
+twenty years, when the free population of the West would have doubled or
+trebled itself, how would the South, necessarily much enfeebled by slave
+culture, compare with a people, thirty millions in number, enclosing it
+on two sides? To resist successfully, the South would be forced to rely
+on Europe; it could only live when protected by a great naval power, and
+England is the only one in a condition to guarantee for it its
+sovereignty. Here is a new danger for free America and for Europe. The
+South has no commercial marine, nor with slavery ever will have; England
+will at once seize the monopoly of cotton, and will furnish capital and
+vessels to the South. In two words, the triumph of the South is the
+reinstatement of England on the continent, whence the policy of Louis
+XVI and Napoleon has driven her; it is enfeebled neutrality; it is
+France plunged anew into all the questions concerning the liberty of the
+seas, which have already cost her two centuries of struggles and
+suffering. In defending its own rights, the American Union assured the
+independence of the ocean. The Union once destroyed, the English will
+again resume their preponderance, peace will be exiled from the world,
+and a policy will return which has only benefited our rivals.
+
+This is what Napoleon felt; this is what is forgotten to-day. It would
+seem that history is but a collection of frivolous tales, good enough,
+perhaps, to amuse children; it would seem that no one wishes to
+understand the lessons of the past. If the experience of our fathers
+were not lost on our ignorance, we would see that, while fighting for
+her independence, while upholding her national unity, the North is
+defending our cause as well as her own. All our prayers should be for
+our old and faithful friends. The weakness of the United States will be
+our weakness, and on the first quarrel with England, we will too late
+regret having abandoned a policy that for forty years has been our
+security.
+
+In writing these pages, I do not expect to convert those persons who
+have in their hearts an innate love of slavery; _I_ write for those
+honest souls who allow themselves to be captivated by the grand visions
+of national independence which are continually shown to them in order to
+dazzle and mislead. The South has never been menaced, and at this late
+hour can return to the Union even with her slaves [the reader will
+remember that this article was published in December, 1862], and is only
+required not to destroy the national unity, and not to ruin political
+liberty. It cannot be repeated too often that the North is not an
+aggressor--it only defends what every true citizen will defend--the
+national compact, the integrity of the country. It is very sad that it
+should have found so little sympathy in Europe, and, above all, in
+France. It counted on us, its hopes were in us; we have forsaken it, as
+if those sacred words Country and Liberty no longer found an echo in
+our breasts. Where is the time when all France cheered the young
+Lafayette giving his sword to serve the Americans? Who has imitated him?
+Who has recalled this glorious memory? Have we become so old that our
+memory has failed?
+
+It is impossible to foresee what will be the issue of this war. The
+South may succeed; the North may split up, and wear itself out in
+internal struggles. Perhaps the Union is already but a great memory.
+But, whatever fortune may have in the future, it is the plain duty of
+every man who has not allowed himself to be carried away by present
+successes, to sustain and encourage the North to the last, to condemn
+those whose ambition threatens the most beautiful and patriotic work the
+world has ever beheld, to remain faithful until the end of the war, and
+even after defeat, should it come, to those who will have fought to the
+last for the right and for liberty.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 6: This point of view has been thoroughly exposed by one of
+the wisest citizens of America, EDWARD EVERETT, in 'The Questions of the
+Day,' New York, 1861.]
+
+
+
+
+THE HUGUENOTS OF VIRGINIA.
+
+
+The warmer climes of the South induced many Huguenots to settle in the
+colony of Virginia, and their neat little cottages, covered with French
+grapevines, and the wild honeysuckle, might be seen scattered along
+James river, not far above Richmond. One writer of that day, says: 'Most
+of the French who lived at that town (_Monacan_) on James river, removed
+to Trent river, in North Carolina, where the rest were expected daily to
+come to them, when I came away, which was in August, 1708.' In 1690,
+King William sent to Virginia many of the Huguenot Refugees, his
+followers, who had taken shelter in England. Here they were naturalized
+by an especial act in 1699. Six hundred more came over, conducted by
+their pastor, Philip de Richebourg, locating themselves, about twenty
+miles above Richmond, on lands formerly occupied by a powerful tribe of
+Indians. There is a church now near the spot, retaining its Indian name
+to this day. In 1700, the Virginia assembly exempted these French
+settlers from taxation, and fully protected their rights.
+
+We have seen a curious relic of the Huguenots in Virginia, which was
+found in the family of a descendant. It is entitled: 'A register,
+containing the baptisms made within the church of the French Refugees,
+in the Manakin town, in Virginia, within the parish of King William, in
+the year of our Lord 1721, the 25th of March. Done by Jacques Soblet,
+clerk.' This manuscript contains about twenty-five pages of foolscap
+paper, and remains a standing evidence of the fidelity of the Virginia
+Huguenots to their Christian duties and ordinances. As a specimen of
+their entries, we copy the following, literally, not even correcting
+their orthography:
+
+     'Jean Chastain fils de Jean ett de Marianne Chastain les pere et
+     mere nee le 26 Septembre, 1721, est baptise le 5 Octobre, par M.
+     Fountaine. Ils ava pour parun et marene Pierre David et Anne sa
+     femme le quels ont declaree que cest enfan nee le jour et an que
+     deshus.
+
+          Segnee
+             JACQUE SOBLET,
+                Clerk.'
+
+     John Chastain, son of John Chastain and of Marianne Chastain, the
+     father and mother, born the 26th of September, 1721, was baptized
+     the 5th of October, by Mr. Fontaine. He had for godfather and
+     godmother Peter David and Anne, his wife, who have declared that
+     this infant was born the day and year aforesaid.
+
+          Signed, JACQUE SOBLET, Clerk.
+
+Two or three of the pages contain records of deaths. Here is one:
+
+     'Le 29 de Janvier, 1723-4, morut le Sieur Authonoine Trabue, agee
+     danviron sinquaint six a sept annees fut en terree le 30 du meme
+     moy.
+
+          J. SOBLETT, Clerk.'
+
+     Jan. 29th, 1723-4, died Sir Anthony Trabue, aged about fifty six or
+     seven years. He was buried the 30th of the same month.
+
+          J. SOBLETT, Clerk.
+
+
+
+Huguenot names found in this old register of baptism:
+
+     'Chastain, David, Monford, Dykar, Neim, (_Minister_) Dupuy, Bilbo,
+     Dutoi, Salle, Martain, Allaigre, Vilain, Soblet, Chambou, Levilain,
+     Trabu, Loucadon, Harris, Gasper, Wooldridge, Flournoy, Amis,
+     Banton, Ford, Laisain, Lolaigre, Givodan, Mallet, Dubruil,
+     Guerrant, Sabbatie, Dupre, Bernard, Amonet, Porter, Rapine, Lacy,
+     Watkins, Cocke, Bondurant, Goin, Pero, Pean, Deen, Robinson,
+     Edmond, Brook, Brian, Faure, Don, Bingli, Reno, Lesuer, Pionet,
+     Trent, Sumpter, Moiriset, Jordin, Gavain.
+
+     Names of Negroes: Thomberlin (Northumberland), Ivan, Jaque, Janne,
+     Anibal, Guillaume, Jean, Pierre, Olive, Robert, Jak, Julienne,
+     Francois, Susan, Primus, Moll, Chamberlain, Dick, Pegg, Nanny,
+     Tobie, Dorole, Agar, Agge, Pompe, Frank, C�sar, Amy, Joham, Debora,
+     Tom, Harry, Cipio, Bosen, Sam, Tabb, Jupiter, Essek, Cuffy, Orange,
+     Robin, Belin, Samson, Pope, Dina, Fillis, Matilda, Ester, Yarmouth,
+     Judy, and Adam.'
+
+We find in Beverly's 'History of Virginia,' a very interesting account
+of the Manakin French Refugees: 'The assembly was very bountiful to
+those who remained at this town, bestowing on them large donations,
+money and provisions for their support; they likewise freed them from
+every public tax for several years to come, and addressed the governor
+to grant them a brief to entitle them to the charity of all
+well-disposed persons throughout the country, which, together with the
+king's benevolence, supported them very comfortably, till they could
+sufficiently supply themselves with necessaries, which they now do
+indifferently well, and begin to have stocks of cattle, which are said
+to give abundantly more milk than any other in the country. I have heard
+that these people are upon a design of getting into the breed of
+buffaloes, to which end they lay in wait for their calves, that they may
+tame and raise a stock of them; in which, if they succeed, it will in
+all probability be greatly for their advantage; for these are much
+larger than other cattle, and have the benefit of being natural to the
+climate. They now make many of their own clothes, and are resolved, as
+soon as they have improved that manufacture, to apply themselves to the
+making of wine and brandy, which they do not doubt to bring to
+perfection.' The Rev. J. Fontaine, a Calvinistic clergyman, first
+preached to his Refugee French brethren in England and Ireland (1688).
+Then his sons emigrated to Virginia, and became settled ministers. From
+this stock alone, including his son-in-law, Mr. Maury, have descended
+hundreds of the best citizens of that commonwealth--ministers, members
+of the bar, legislators, and public officers. The Rev. Dr. Hawks
+estimates the relations of these Fontaine families, in the United
+States, at not less than _two thousand_.
+
+A few years ago, he found in a family under his parochial charge, a
+manuscript autobiography of one of its ancestors. This was a James
+Fontaine, who was a persecuted Huguenot, and endured much for the sake
+of his religion. The work has been translated and published, and is full
+of interest--'A Tale of the Huguenots; or, Memoirs of a French Refugee
+Family, with an Introduction, by F. L. Hawks, D.D.'
+
+M. Fontaine was a noble example of a true Huguenot. In his early life,
+he was accustomed to the enjoyments of wealth, education, and refined
+society; but, for conscience' sake, he was stripped of them all, and
+forced to leave his native land. An exile in England, ignorant of its
+language, and unaccustomed to labor, he soon accommodated himself to his
+altered circumstances. He became a skillful artisan, and worked
+successfully at his trade; at first he opened a little store, with a
+school also, to teach the French language, and he says: 'We were in
+great hopes, that with both together we should be able to pay our way.'
+M. Fontaine next undertook the manufactory of worsted goods, which he
+profitably carried on for some time, but became tired of the business.
+He was anxious to unite with a French church, and, knowing that there
+were many Refugees in the land, went to Cork in 1695.
+
+At first he preached in the English church, after its regular pastor had
+finished his services. Next, the French Refugees obtained the court room
+for their worship, and, finally, he gave up a large apartment on the
+lower floor of his own house, which was properly arranged with a pulpit
+and seats for religious meetings. M. Fontaine writes at the time: 'I was
+now at the height of my ambition; I was beloved by my hearers, to whom I
+preached gratuitously. Great numbers of zealous, pious, and upright
+persons had joined our communion. This state of things was altogether
+too good to last. My cup of happiness was now full to overflowing, and,
+like all the enjoyments of this world, it proved very transitory.'
+Dissensions grew up; M. Fontaine was a Presbyterian, and some of his
+hearers required him to receive Episcopal ordination, and this
+circumstance produced discussion, until he felt it his duty to resign
+his charge. In answer to his request, his elders gave a reluctant and
+sorrowful consent, thanking him most humbly for the service he had
+rendered to this church, during two years and a half, without receiving
+any stipend or equivalent whatsoever for his unceasing exertions. '...
+We have been extremely edified by his preaching, which has always been
+in strict accordance with the pure Word of God. He has imparted
+consolation to the sick and afflicted, and set a bright example to the
+flock of the most exemplary piety and good conduct.'
+
+Our French Refugee next removed to Bear Haven, and entered largely into
+the fishing business; and now he became a justice of the peace, exerting
+himself to break up the contraband traffic, which he found generally
+carried on 'between the Irish robbers and the French privateers,' then
+swarming the Irish coast. From eight to ten of these desperate
+characters were sent to Cork for trial at every assize of Bear Haven.
+They swore vengeance upon the upright magistrate; and in the year
+1704, a French privateer hove in sight--soon anchoring, he faced M.
+Fontaine's house. The vessel mounted ten guns, with a crew of eighty
+seamen. The Huguenot mustered all his men, amounting to twenty, and,
+sending the Papists away, he supplied the Protestants with muskets. This
+reduced his force to seven men, besides himself, wife, and children, and
+four or five of these were of but little use.
+
+Fontaine posting himself in a tower over the door, the rest of the party
+occupied the different windows. The lieutenant now landed with twenty
+men, and, approaching the dwelling, he took aim and fired at M.
+Fontaine, but missed him. The Huguenot then discharged a blunderbuss,
+with small leaden balls, one of which entered the neck of the
+privateersman, and another his side, when his men carried him back
+wounded to the ship. This unexpected resistance from a minister made the
+captain furious, when he sent to the attack twenty more men, under
+another commander, with two small cannons. 'I must acknowledge,' he
+says, 'that being unaccustomed to this sort of music, I felt some little
+tremors of fear when the first cannon ball struck the house; but I
+instantly humbled myself before my Maker, and having committed myself,
+both soul and body, to His keeping, my courage revived, and I suffered
+no more from fear. I put my head out of the window to see what effect
+the ball had produced on our stone wall, and when I perceived it had
+only made a slight scratch, I cried out for joy, 'Courage, my dear
+children, their cannon balls have no more effect on our stone walls than
+if they were so many apples.'
+
+The wife of M. Fontaine displayed the greatest self-possession and
+bravery on this trying occasion, carrying ammunition, acting as surgeon,
+and encouraging all by her words and actions. 'Courage, my children,'
+said she, 'we are in the hands of God, and it is not fear that will
+insure our safety; on the contrary, God will bless our courage. If you
+cannot fire yourselves, you can load the muskets for your father and
+others who are older and stronger than you are; drive away all fear, if
+you can, and leave the care of your persons to God.' The fight continued
+from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon, without
+intermission. Only two of the Huguenot family were wounded--a man, and
+one of the children slightly in his finger. The pirates finally
+withdrew, with three men killed and seven wounded. During the whole
+action the Huguenot minister did not permit any one 'to taste a drop of
+wine or spirits, or strong beer.' A second attack was feared, but soon
+the privateer weighed anchor and sailed away; when the pious family
+returned thanks to God for their 'glorious deliverance.'
+
+A full account of this bold and courageous affair was transmitted to
+Lord Cox, then chancellor of Ireland, and the Duke of Ormond, the lord
+lieutenant. Fontaine recommended to them that a fort should be built
+there, when 'it would be a great place for the settlement of French
+Refugees, and would also prove a safeguard to the commerce of the whole
+kingdom.' In the year 1704, he himself erected a fortification at the
+back of his house, purchased some six-pounders, which had been obtained
+from a vessel lost on the Irish coast, and the Government supplied him
+with powder and balls. The Council of Dublin also voted him �50, and
+Queen Anne, in 1705, granted him a pension of five shillings a day for
+his services, and as a French Refugee.
+
+From this daring defence, the name of M. Fontaine and wife became known
+and famous throughout all Europe. The French corsairs especially
+remembered it, and threatened another attack. Indeed, the family
+constantly apprehended such a visit, and it did take place in 1704.
+Leaving their vessels at midnight, the enemy soon reached the dwelling
+of the Huguenot, and, firing the outbuildings and stacks of grain, in
+less than half an hour the whole were completely enveloped in flames. On
+this occasion, the entire garrison consisted of the two parents,
+children, with four servants, two of whom were cowboys. By two o'clock
+in the afternoon, the pirates had made a breach through the wall of the
+house; but the children, protected by a mattress, in front of the
+opening, fired one after another at the assailants as they possibly
+could. The Huguenot leader, having overcharged his musket, it burst,
+throwing him down, and broke three of his ribs and right collar bone.
+For a short time he was insensible, but remarks: 'I had already done my
+part, for, during the course of the morning, I had fired five pounds of
+swan shot from my now disabled piece. Notwithstanding this unfortunate
+accident, an incessant fire was kept up on both sides, until a parley
+took place. Life and liberty were then guaranteed to the family, as the
+terms of capitulation, while the pirates were to have the plunder; and
+they swore to these conditions as Frenchmen and men of honor. When the
+officer and men entered the dwelling, and, looking anxiously around, saw
+only five youths, and four cowherds, they suspected that an ambush had
+been laid for them.
+
+'You need not fear anything dishonorable from me,' said the French
+preacher; 'you see all our garrison.'
+
+'Impossible!' he replied; 'these children could not possibly have kept
+up all the firing.'
+
+The house was then stripped of everything, not excepting the coats,
+which had been thrown off in the heat of the action; and the booty
+filled six boats. When they departed, M. Fontaine with his two eldest
+boys and two servants were taken away as prisoners. In vain did the
+brave good man protest that this was an infraction of the treaty. The
+remonstrance availed nothing with the freebooters. In a few days, the
+children with the servants were set ashore, but he was detained, when
+orders were given to raise the anchor. During all these severe trials,
+his noble and pious companion did not sit down, quietly lamenting her
+misfortunes. She first went to the parish priest, who was under great
+obligations to her husband, entreating him for his liberation. But he
+positively refused. Perceiving the privateer under sail, she resolved to
+follow it along the shore, as long as she could, and, reaching a
+promontory, she made a signal with her apron, on the top of a stick. A
+boat came near the shore, and she carried on a conversation with its
+crew through a speaking trumpet. After much bargaining, they agreed to
+set M. Fontaine at liberty, upon the payment of �100 sterling. Of this
+sum the excellent lady could only borrow �30, and the captain of the
+privateer consented to take this amount, with one of her sons as a
+hostage, until the remaining �70 were paid, calling her at the same time
+'a second Judith.'
+
+Mrs. Fontaine repaired forthwith to Cork, for the purpose of raising the
+sum wanted, and could easily have obtained it, but the merchants of that
+city objected to any payment of the kind. The privateer hovered about
+the Irish coast for some time, expecting the ransom money; but when the
+governor of Brest heard the circumstances, he condemned the captain
+strongly for bringing a hostage away with him, contrary to the law of
+nations. The difficulty did not terminate here. As soon as he was able,
+the French preacher visited Kinsale, and made an affidavit of the
+outrage he had suffered. At this place were a government officer and a
+prison, and immediately all the French officers who had been taken in
+the war then existing were ironed. Numbers of the same description were
+treated in a similar manner. These retaliatory measures excited great
+public feeling against the captain of the privateer, and he was summoned
+to appear before the governor of Brest, who imprisoned and even
+threatened to hang him. Upon his promising to set at liberty the young
+hostage, and convey him to the place from whence he had been taken, the
+officer was liberated.
+
+M. Fontaine now determined to live in Dublin, and support his family by
+teaching the Latin, Greek, and French languages; and in the mean time
+the grand jury of Cork awarded him �800 for his losses at Bear Haven. In
+his new abode he was able to give his children an excellent education;
+one became an officer in the British service, and three entered college.
+The former was John Fontaine, and the family determined that he should
+visit America for information; and after travelling through
+Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, he purchased a
+plantation in Virginia. Peter, another brother, received ordination from
+the bishop of London, and with Moses, who studied law, both embarked for
+Virginia in 1716. Francis, the last son, remained at college.
+
+There were two daughters in his family. The eldest, Mary Anne, married
+Matthew Maury, a Protestant Refugee from Gascony, in 1716, and the next
+year he joined his relations in this country. His son was the Rev. James
+Maury, of Albemarle, Virginia, a very estimable and useful clergyman of
+the Church of England. James was another son of the French preacher who
+made America his home, bringing with him his wife, child, mother-in-law,
+and thirteen servants, in 1717. Francis, in 1719, was ordained by the
+Bishop of London, on the particular recommendation of the Archbishop of
+Dublin, and then also sailed for Virginia. He became a very eloquent and
+popular preacher, and settled in St. Margaret's parish, King William
+county.
+
+In the year 1721, Mr. Fontaine lost his most faithful, exemplary, and
+pious companion. 'A melancholy day,' he records in his autobiography,
+'it was, that deprived me of my greatest earthly comfort and
+consolation. I was bowed down to the very dust; but it made me think of
+my own latter end, and made preparations to join her once more.' At the
+conclusion of his memoirs, he uses the following remarkable language:
+
+     'I feel the strongest conviction, that if you will take care of
+     these memoirs, your descendants will read them with pleasure; and I
+     here declare that I have been most particular as to the truth of
+     all that is herein recorded.
+
+     'I hope God will bless the work, and that by His grace it may be a
+     bond of union among you and your descendants, and that it may be an
+     humble means of confirming you all in the fear of the Lord.
+
+          I am, dear children,
+            'Your tender father,
+              'JAMES FONTAINE.'
+
+
+
+Little did the faithful Huguenot preacher imagine that a century after
+he wrote thus kindly to his own children, myriads who have been born
+from the same noble and holy ancestry would be animated, cheered, and
+profited by his useful life and example. Though dead he yet speaketh.
+
+We have dwelt thus at length upon the heroic history of this Huguenot
+minister and his family; for where can we find an example so worthy of
+imitation? He was a Huguenot in its fullest sense, bearing himself, at
+all times, with a noble spirit of the true man, for the work before him.
+Never losing trust in God, nor proper confidence in himself, he proved
+that, when thus true, no man need ever despair. His long line of
+descendants in the United States may well cherish and honor his memory.
+
+As we have said before, we dwell more particularly upon the character
+and history of Mr. Fontaine, as a striking example of a true Huguenot;
+and how truth and the right will finally triumph over all obstacles.
+Wherever the French Protestants settled in America, they exhibited this
+same excellent trait; and among their families of Virginia were those
+who distinguished themselves as brave soldiers and able magistrates in
+the councils of the then young Republic.
+
+
+
+
+TO-MORROW!
+
+[G. H. BOKER.]
+
+
+   'The sun is sinking low,
+   Upon the ashes of his fading pyre;
+   The evening star is stealing after him,
+   Fixed, like a beacon on the prow of night;
+   The world is shutting up its heavy eye
+   Upon the stir and bustle of _to-day_;--
+   _On what shall it awake?_'
+
+
+
+
+MONTGOMERY IN SECESSION TIME.
+
+
+In the beginning of the year 1860, there existed in the city of
+Montgomery, Alabama, a strong, active, and apparently indestructible
+Union party. Three months after the close of the year there remained in
+the city no trace of Union sentiment. To show how this feeling was
+destroyed, sinking slowly, and with many reactions, under influences in
+themselves insignificant, and to narrate, as they fell under personal
+observation, that short train of events which make up the historic
+period of this first capital of the Southern confederacy, will be the
+object of the present sketch.
+
+Early in the summer of 1860 it became evident to every dispassionate
+observer in the South that the country was swiftly approaching a great
+crisis. So dexterously had politicians managed the excitement which
+arose on the discovery of the plot of John Brown, that at the very
+beginning of the year a small and united party had been formed, having
+for its aim the immediate separation of the States. This party,
+following this well-defined object, was the only fixed thing in Southern
+society during the year. In the midst of all changes it was permanent.
+Even before the presidential election, when men's minds wavered about
+things so permanent as party lines and party creeds, about old political
+dogmas associated with favorite political leaders, it remained
+unaffected. The presence of this restless and determined insurrectionary
+element in the party politics of the time gave to the struggle preceding
+the presidential election a character of unusual intensity. The city of
+Montgomery, as the home of Mr. Yancey, and consequently of his warmest
+admirers, and most bitter opponents, felt the full influence of this
+excitement, and soon became one of the natural centres of the growing
+struggle of opinions.
+
+From causes difficult then to trace, there appeared early in the year in
+the money market of the South an unusual condition of prostration. Banks
+were unaccountably cautious. Money was scarce. Debts of more than a
+year's standing were unpaid, and business of all kinds languished. Not
+even were the customary advances made by the banks in the East for the
+purchase of cotton, nor did the money scattered through the country by
+those sales which did take place relieve the financial pressure under
+which everything labored. In October capitalists refused to venture
+their funds on anything which did not promise the most immediate return.
+
+In these signs, in the inexplicable shrinking of capital to its hiding
+places, and in the universal darkening of business, it would seem that
+all might have discovered the approach of that storm which has since
+burst with such fury upon the land. But this was not the case. Although
+every one looked forward with anxiety to the time of election, it was
+only a portion of the so-called BRECKINRIDGE party who saw with any
+distinctness the point toward which all things were tending. Nor did
+these men make public the extent of their hopes.
+
+They were satisfied at first to do nothing more than familiarize the
+minds of the people with the idea of secession. They spread the doctrine
+that the only hope of Union lay in the defeat of Mr. Lincoln. Expressing
+the worst fears of all, this doctrine was thought to be peculiarly
+calculated to increase the numbers of the Union or Bell party, and was
+therefore readily adopted by those who would at first have repelled with
+patriotic horror the alternative it suggested.
+
+It is impossible to estimate the influence of this lurking fallacy. Not
+merely were multitudes of well-meaning, but unreasoning men, who were
+confident of the success of their party, brought to acquiesce in a
+proposition utterly false in its base, but the whole conservative
+element in society was placed in a position from which it would be
+thrown by defeat into a most dangerous reaction. Thus consciously or
+unconsciously all parties were using every effort in their power to
+prepare the popular mind for the question of secession.
+
+But the period was not without its traits of patriotism. In October
+strong efforts were made in the States of Alabama and Georgia to unite
+the three parties in the South on one of the three candidates; thus
+securing a President to the South, and the certainty of the Union. The
+Breckinridge Democrats, however, contemptuously refused to be party to
+every arrangement of the kind. The insurrectionary element, gathering to
+itself the excitable and disaffected spirits of every class, had now
+gained the command of this party, and no longer attempted to conceal its
+revolutionary intentions. At the head of this element, exercising a vast
+influence over all its movements, and embodying in himself, more than
+any other man (except, perhaps, Mr. Yancey), the fierceness of its
+spirit, stood Mr. Toombs, of Georgia. He was now invited to speak in
+Montgomery. As a man of large political experience, some statesmanship,
+and master of a grave and sonorous eloquence, it was expected that he
+would influence a class of men who had hitherto held themselves
+studiously aloof from the insurrectionary ranks--that calm, conservative
+class, which is recognized by all as the basis of every society which
+has acquired, or having acquired, hopes to retain, stability of
+government and security of morals. The sentiments of the speaker were
+too well known to admit of any doubts as to the probable character of
+his address. He appeared as the undisguised advocate of secession. No
+form of appeal or argument was neglected which could have had weight
+with a people peculiarly susceptible to the influence of oratory.
+Setting aside the question of the approaching election, to which he
+scarcely alluded, the orator strove only to show that it was an
+imperative social necessity that the South should have a vast and
+constantly increasing slave territory; that in the path of this
+necessity the only obstacle was the Federal Union, and that the time for
+its destruction had now come. These were the representative arguments of
+his party before the election, and he did not speak to an unsympathizing
+audience. For when toward the close, raising his voice until it broke
+almost in a scream, he exclaimed, 'Let the night which decides the
+election of Mr. Lincoln be ushered in by the booming of the hostile
+cannon of the South,' the hall rang again and again with the shouts of
+his excited hearers. But _nemo repente turpissimus semper fuit_. These
+were not the sentiments of all. There was a large class present who did
+not applaud--but neither did they hiss. They seemed for the time
+overawed by the energy of the spirit which had suddenly sprung up among
+them.
+
+In the following week, however, a singular, though, unfortunately, but
+momentary check was given to the progress of insurrectionary sentiments
+in the vicinity of the city. Senator DOUGLAS, who had been slowly
+advancing, in his oratorical tour, down the coast, was about this time
+announced to speak in Montgomery. Since his speech in Norfolk, where he
+was thought to have expressed himself too clearly against secession, a
+strong prejudice had grown up in the South against him, and it now
+threatened to manifest itself in acts of positive violence. Such was the
+state of popular feeling, that for a time it seemed uncertain whether it
+would be desirable for him to attempt to speak. Hints of peculiar
+personal outrages were thrown out by men of a certain class; and
+threats were made of something still more ominous in case he should
+attempt to repeat the sentiments of his Norfolk speech.
+
+He arrived in the evening, and was met at the cars by a large crowd, and
+a procession formed from a coalition, for the occasion, of his party
+with that of Mr. Bell. It was feared that the short ride to the hotel
+would not be accomplished without some act of violence on the part of
+the excited throng by which his carriage was surrounded. A few eggs were
+thrown, but otherwise the ride was performed without interruption. From
+further outrages the crowd restrained itself until something positive
+should appear on the part of the orator himself. Unintimidated, however,
+by these unmistakable evidences of the public feeling, Mr. Douglas on
+the following morning presented himself on the steps in front of the
+capitol, where it had been announced that his speech would be delivered.
+The city was filled with strangers, who had come from all parts of the
+country to be present at the State fair which was held there that week.
+On Capitol Hill, therefore, an immense throng was early assembled, which
+coldly awaited the arrival of the orator. Everything was chilly and
+unfavorable. But the spirit of the obstinate debater seemed to rise with
+the difficulties by which he was surrounded. At first even his manner of
+speaking operated to his disadvantage. The sharp, syllabic emphasis,
+which he was accustomed to adopt in addressing large assemblages in the
+open air, grated harshly on ears accustomed to the smooth and carefully
+modulated elocution of Mr. Yancey. Beginning, however, by enunciating
+general principles of government, in which all could agree, he gradually
+conciliated, by an unexpected appearance of moderation, the favorable
+attention of his audience. As he advanced upon his customary sketch of
+the history of the different political parties during the past few
+years--a work which a hundred repetitions enabled him to perform with a
+dramatic energy of style and expression singularly effective--he was
+occasionally interrupted by exclamations of acquiescence. As he
+described the various successes of the Democratic party, these became
+frequent, and before he had finished the _resum�_, his voice was drowned
+amid the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd.
+
+It was a triumph of oratory. He repeated every sentiment of his Norfolk
+speech, and the men who in the morning had thrown out dark hints of
+'stoning,' joined in the applause. He accepted as a certainty the
+election of Mr. Lincoln, but caused the crowd to shout with exultation
+at the prospect of tying all his activity by the constitutional check of
+a Democratic majority in Congress. In short, he came amid general
+execration, and departed amid universal regret. I had heard Mr. Douglas
+before, but never when he gave any evidence of the wonderful power which
+he exhibited on this occasion. With few tricks of rhetoric, with no
+extraordinary bursts of eloquence, he accomplished all the results of
+the most impassioned oratory. The qualities of a great debater--unshaken
+presence of mind, tact in adapting himself to his audience, the power of
+arranging facts in a form at once simple and coherent, and yet most
+favorable to his own cause, the strange influence by which one mind
+compels from others the recognition of its supremacy--have long been
+conceded to the late Senator from Illinois, but never did he exhibit
+these qualities with greater effect than before the excited populace of
+Montgomery.
+
+This was the last strictly Union speech which was delivered in that
+city. No one after this was found bold enough to stand up in the defence
+of the cause that from this day began slowly to succumb to the fierce
+spirit to which it was opposed. For several days the effects of the
+speech were visible in the moderate tone of 'popular feeling;' but they
+were soon lost in the tumultuous excitement attending the return of Mr.
+Yancey from his tour in the North, and the still more intense feeling
+produced by the election which immediately followed.
+
+It was impossible in these last hours of distinct political
+organizations not to be struck with the differences that characterized
+the opposing parties--differences which, both before and since, have had
+much to do with the progress of the rebellion. The Union gatherings were
+easy, jovial, fond of speeches adorned with the quips and turns of
+political oratory, and filled with the spirit 't'will all come right in
+the end.' In the Breckinridge--or, as they had now practically
+become--the secession meetings, a different spirit prevailed. It was the
+spirit of insurrection, fierce, stormy, unrestrained. It was the spirit
+of hatred; hatred of the North, hatred of the Union, hatred of Mr. Bell,
+whose success would deprive them of their only weapon for the
+destruction of that Union.
+
+But with the 4th of November came a change. Three days after election
+there remained in Montgomery no trace of party organizations. All the
+widely divergent streams of public opinion seemed suddenly to have
+joined in one, and that running fiercely, and unrestrained toward
+disunion. The election of Mr. Lincoln united the people. On all sides
+prevailed the deepest enthusiasm in favor of secession. Mass meetings,
+attended by all parties, were held, and passed resolutions advocating in
+the strongest terms immediate disunion. Secessionists were astonished at
+the change, and in their anxiety to avoid anything which might shock the
+newly awakened sentiment, appeared in many cases the most conservative
+members of the community. But indeed nothing was too violent for the
+state of public feeling. War committees were appointed, and active
+measures taken to put the State in a position to maintain her
+independence as soon as the ordinance of secession should have received
+the sanction of the convention. Troops were despatched to take
+possession of the arsenal, and agents were sent North to purchase
+additions to the already large supply of arms in the State. Immediate
+secession seemed to be the desire of every class. But this condition of
+things was not always to continue. The reaction which had carried the
+Unionists from a state of perfect confidence in the success of their
+candidate, to one of deep disappointment, and of rage at the section to
+which they attributed their defeat, having at length spent itself, signs
+of a returning movement began to make their appearance. At first these
+were not strongly marked. All were yet in favor of secession, but a
+large party, composed of most of the former partisans of Mr. Bell,
+together with the conservative element of every class, began at length
+to object to a too great precipitancy, and finally to demand that the
+action of Alabama should be made to depend upon the decision of the
+other Southern States. This movement was understood by the secessionists
+to have for its ultimate object the defeat of their hopes of disunion;
+and such, unquestionably, was its aim; for whatever may have been the
+plans of some of the leaders of the Co�perationists, as this party was
+called, it is certain that the great body of the party had no other end
+in view, and was sustained in its action by no other hope than the
+perpetuation of the Union.
+
+At the caucus meetings which preceded the election of delegates to the
+State convention the two parties, as now formed, first came into
+conflict. At once important differences became apparent. Although nearly
+equal in numbers, in spirit the two parties were signally unequal. While
+the secessionists were bold, vigilant, and uncompromising, the
+Co�perationists were timid and passionless, though full of a passive
+confidence that the Union would in some way be preserved. A knowledge
+of this difference explains many things, in themselves apparently
+inexplicable. It shows how it was possible that a State so confessedly
+loyal that it would have rejected the ordinance of secession if it had
+been submitted directly to the people, could yet, on this very issue,
+elect a convention with a majority in favor of disunion. The whole
+question was decided in the caucus meetings. The secessionists of all
+parts of the State were bound together by watchful associations, and
+were everywhere on the alert. In counties where by their number they
+were entitled to no representative, attending the caucus meeting in
+force, they effected--as they easily could while there was no distinct
+party organization--a union of the tickets, and thus secured to
+themselves one of the two candidates. So frequently was this repeated in
+different parts of the country, that it was afterward estimated that by
+this simple expedient of a union ticket the whole question of the
+secession of this State was decided.
+
+From these political struggles, however, the interest of the community
+was suddenly withdrawn by an event which instantly absorbed all
+attention, and struck terror into every household. In the little town of
+Pine Level, a village situated a few miles from Montgomery, traces were
+discovered of a plot having for its object a general uprising of the
+negroes on the evening preceding Christmas.
+
+In the progress of the investigations which were immediately begun, it
+came to light that the plot was not simply local, but extended over many
+counties, including in its circuit the city of Montgomery, and involving
+in its movements many hundred negroes. Further examination revealed all
+the horrible details which were to attend the consummation of the
+plot--the butchery of the whites, the allotment of females, the division
+of property. The whole surrounding country was alive with excitement.
+Active measures were taken to crush at once the spirit of insurrection.
+The ringleaders and some of the poor whites, with whom the plot is said
+to have originated, were seized and, after a brief trial, immediately
+hung. In Montgomery feeling was such as to demand the adoption of the
+most stringent precautionary measures. Military companies were called
+out and placed in nightly guard over the capitol and arsenal. On
+Christmas eve the plot was to go into execution, and as the time
+approached, the anxiety became painfully intense. It was whispered that
+one of Mr. Yancey's slaves had been detected in an attempt to poison her
+master. The police was doubled, soldiers with loaded muskets were
+stationed in all the prominent streets, while mounted guards ranged the
+thinly inhabited section of the outskirts. The night, however, passed
+without alarm, and the excitement from that time slowly subsided.
+
+It is scarcely worthy of notice, perhaps, that with the returning sense
+of security came also the flippant confidence which had been for a time
+put to flight. The blacks were again a timid and affectionate race, and
+it was soon not difficult to find multitudes who declared themselves
+willing to meet alone a hundred insurrectionary slaves. Sitting in this
+evening calm, listening to such remarks, it was difficult to accept as
+real the events of the hot and excited day which had gone before. Surely
+they were dreams--the hurried trials, the hangings, the nightly tread of
+soldiers, the brooding terror that whitened the lips of mothers. A home
+guard, however, was immediately formed, including all citizens,
+irrespective of age or station, capable of bearing arms, and not in
+other military organizations.
+
+On the 7th of January, the convention met. South Carolina had already
+passed her ordinance of secession; but what others would follow the
+example of this excitable State was yet uncertain. All eyes were now
+anxiously directed toward Alabama, upon whose decision would to a great
+degree depend that of the two great conservative States, Louisiana and
+Georgia. Nor was this anxiety diminished by the accounts given of the
+composition of the convention of this State. Both sides claimed a
+majority; and it was evident that, without some unexpected defection,
+the two parties would narrowly escape a tie. This singular uncertainty
+was soon, however, to cease. Immediately on convening, it became evident
+that the command of the body lay with the secessionists. It was found by
+secret estimates that the two parties were divided by ten votes. Of the
+hundred delegates, fifty-five were in favor of disunion. Although this
+majority gave the secessionists power to carry their wishes into instant
+effect, it was not thought politic to do so while the difference between
+the two parties remained so small. The passage of the ordinance was,
+therefore, for several days delayed, while the Co�perationists were
+plied with arguments to induce them to acquiesce in that which it was
+now impossible for them to prevent. At length, after four days of
+deliberation, it became evident that all of this party had succumbed
+whom it seemed possible to change, and on the morning of the 11th of
+January it was publicly announced that the ordinance of secession had
+passed the convention by a vote of sixty-one in the affirmative against
+thirty-nine in the negative.
+
+By the insurrectionists the announcement was received with transports of
+joy, but by the Unionists it was met with demonstrations of grief, which
+they made no efforts to conceal. Women wept, and houses were closed as
+for a day of mourning. In the northern part of the State the
+manifestations of disappointment were still more unmistakable.
+Indignation meetings were held, and one of the delegates received a
+telegram from his constituents, charging him with having betrayed them
+on the very issue for which he was elected, and demanding explanations.
+At length the loyal feeling of the State seemed aroused, and had the
+ordinance of secession been now submitted to the people, all admitted
+that it would have been rejected by an unquestionable majority. But the
+ordinance was not submitted to the people, and the Union sentiment,
+which had already, within the interval of a few weeks, passed through
+two complete oscillations--vibrating from the loyalty which preceded the
+presidental election through all the changes of the strong disunion
+reaction which followed--was now again in the ascendant. But from this
+point it soon began to recede, descending slowly along an arc of which
+no eye can see the end, with a momentum that permits no prediction as to
+the time of its return.
+
+A multitude of influences began at once to weaken the energy of the
+Union sentiment. From the first, it had been the policy of the disunion
+leaders to represent the question of secession as lying wholly with the
+South. In case this section should decide upon disunion, there would be
+little reason, it was said, to fear any prolonged opposition on the part
+of the North--least of all a war. Nothing appeared on the part of the
+Federal Executive to refute these assertions. It was by a large class
+believed, therefore, that the leaders were right when they said that the
+secession would be a mere withdrawal of the Southern States, for the
+formation of a government perfectly friendly to the North, with which,
+indeed, a board of commissioners would soon arrange the terms of a
+peaceful international trade. After the passage of this ordinance,
+however, a slight modification of this argument became necessary. Peace
+was conditioned upon unanimity. Unionists were now called upon to render
+their support to the new government in order to secure peace. If it was
+clear that the State was united in favor of the changed condition of
+things, there would be no difficulty, it was said, to procure, amid the
+divisions of the North, a peaceful recognition of the confederacy. The
+factions of the Northern States would never allow the Federal Government
+to attempt to coerce a united people. Thus the very weapons which
+loyalty had used to arm herself were here wrested to her own
+destruction. To insure peace, men became insurrectionists.
+
+It is useless now to surmise what would have been the result if the
+action of the Federal Government in reference to the question of
+secession at the beginning of the rebellion, had been less ambiguous. It
+is enough to know, what was for many weeks so painfully realized by
+every Northerner in the South, that had the Southern people, by any
+means, been brought to understand that Federal laws were protected by
+sanctions, and that an attempt at disunion would certainly be followed
+by war, the question of secession would never have become a formidable
+issue. But while men believed, as many of the Unionists did, that
+secession was an experiment, attended with no danger to themselves, and
+which would more than likely result, after a few years, in a peaceful
+reconstruction of the Union on terms more favorable to the South, there
+is little occasion for wonder that the cause of disunion met with no
+very earnest, or, at least, prolonged opposition.
+
+The passage of the ordinance of secession gave to the disunionists an
+incalculable advantage. It is true, the Union feeling was deep, and in
+many places strongly aroused, but the State had seceded, the new
+government was quietly and apparently solidly forming itself, profitable
+offices were in its gift, and, added to all, the conservative spirit
+whispered its old motto, _quieta non movere_, and the hands which had
+been raised in weak resistance fell harmlessly back.
+
+In the mean while, at the capitol, another work was going on. The
+convention, having established by ordinance the independence of the
+State, was now engaged in tearing down and remodelling to meet the petty
+wants of the Republic of Alabama the august structure of the Federal
+Constitution. The work was soon completed, and on the 29th of January
+this body, which in a brief session of three weeks had carried through
+measures involving some of the most stupendous changes possible to a
+civil State, adjourned to meet again on the 4th of March, cutting off,
+by this, all possibility of any of the questions which it had discussed
+being brought before the people by a new election. On the week following
+the adjournment of the convention, the confederate congress assembled in
+Montgomery.
+
+This body immediately showed a fine appreciation of the state of public
+feeling, and drew to itself the confidence of the people by selecting
+for president and vice-president of the temporary government men who
+were thought to represent the more conservative element in community.
+Mr. Davis, at the time of his election, was in Mississippi, but on
+receiving the official announcement of the event, started at once for
+Montgomery, passing through Southern Tennessee, then a loyal State,
+along a path nearly parallel to the one in which Mr. Lincoln was at the
+same time moving a little farther north.
+
+He reached the city in the night, but a large crowd was awaiting his
+arrival at the depot. A procession of carriages, filled with members of
+the confederate congress, led the way to the hotel. It was preceded by a
+military band, and at regular intervals rockets were discharged,
+announcing to the distant beholder the progress of the procession. All
+felt that by attention to these honorary details they were assisting to
+give dignity to the newly formed confederacy. On arriving at the hotel,
+Mr. Davis was announced to speak from the balcony. The crowd pressed
+curiously forward. Two candles threw a faint, yellow light over a
+spare, angular form, rather below the medium height, lighting up, at the
+same time, the sunken cheeks and strongly marked jaws of a face now
+working with the emotions which the unusual events of the evening were
+so well calculated to excite.
+
+The ceremonies of inauguration were postponed to the beginning of the
+following week. Early on Monday morning, however, the hill before the
+capitol was covered with a vast throng, collected from all parts of the
+new confederacy. For the accomodation of the members of congress, a
+temporary platform had been erected in front of the capitol. Standing on
+this, and glancing over the city, the eye rested on the rich valley of
+the Alabama, stretching away many miles to the north, broken here and
+there by the dark green foliage of the pine forests, which now twinkled
+in the soft light of a day mild even for the latitude. At the extreme
+rear of the platform, behind a small table, was seated the chairman of
+the congress, Howell Cobb. Corpulent even to grossness, he formed a
+curious contrast to the small and wasted forms of the two presidents
+elect, who sat at his side. The events of this day have given to every
+trait of these men a lasting and unenviable interest. Neither looked
+like a great man, neither like a man thoroughly bad. All the impressions
+produced by the first appearance of Mr. Davis were strengthened, without
+being changed, by a farther acquaintance. To a physique by no means
+imposing, he joins a manner too reserved to make him at any time a
+favorite of the populace. His whole bearing, in fact, declares him a
+stranger to that deep and contagious enthusiasm which has so often in
+enterprises like this drawn to a leader the admiration and unconquerable
+fidelity of the common people. Nor, on the other hand, is there anything
+in his appearance to indicate the presence of the broad and
+comprehensive energy which, in the mind of the thoughtful, can take the
+place of such an enthusiasm. Still, he is in many respects peculiarly
+suited to take the head of the rebellion. Elected at a time when State
+distinctions were lost sight of in the warmth of the first formation of
+the confederacy, he soon lost his sectional character, and represents,
+as no one now elected could, the people alike of Virginia and those
+along the Gulf. He is shrewd, cautious, determined. But his caution may
+easily become scarcely distinguishable in its results from timidity. His
+determination is never far removed from stubbornness. Mr. Stevens, who
+sat, or, rather, had sunk, in his chair by the side of Mr. Davis, was a
+thin, sickly looking man, whose small round face was characterized by
+the pallid self-concentrated expression peculiar to invalids. On rising
+at the administration of the oath, which he did with the laborious
+movement of one to whom weakness had become a habit, he revealed a form
+of about the medium height, but broken, as by some physical
+disfigurement. During most of the ceremonies, he wore the air of an
+uninterested spectator, amusing himself with the head of a slight and
+rather jaunty cane, which he held between his knees. Although greatly
+inferior, so far as mere physical appearances are concerned, to his
+colleague, there is yet something in the expression and bearing of Mr.
+Stevens which suggests a depth and comprehensiveness of intellect for
+which one searches in vain the face of Mr. Davis. On the platform were
+gathered nearly all those restless spirits which have, during the past
+twenty years, disturbed the peace of the country. Conspicuous among them
+appeared the bristling head of Mr. Toombs. He sat during the whole
+ceremony, with his face, wearing the imperious expression which had
+become habitual to it, turned upon the people. With uncovered heads, and
+in perfect silence, the crowd listened to the oath of office.
+Immediately on the completion of this ceremony the two presidents and
+the congress withdrew to the senate chamber.
+
+A levee was announced for the evening. The hall which had been selected
+for this gathering was a large, low room in the upper story of a
+building near the centre of the city.
+
+Some efforts had been made by the ladies to conceal the rudeness of the
+apartment, but it was expected that every deficiency of this kind would
+be forgotten in the presence of that courtly society which had hitherto
+given all the attractiveness to occasions like this on the banks of the
+Potomac. It is but fair to suppose that these expectations were
+disappointed, for early in the evening the hall was crowded with a
+throng of men and boys, who, standing with uncovered heads, talking
+loudly of the hopes of the new confederacy, or moved uneasily about,
+seeking a favorable position from which to watch the 'president shake
+hands.' This was the ambition of the evening. Every standing point in
+the vicinity of Mr. Davis was taken advantage of. Chairs and benches
+served as footstools to elevate into positions of prominence long rows
+of men dressed in the yellow jeans of the country, who stood, during all
+the long hours of the evening, watching with unchanging countenances the
+multiplied repetitions of the short double shake and spasmodic smile
+which Mr. Davis meted out to each of the constantly forming column that
+filed before him. The platform was filled with the same class, and even
+the arch of evergreen, under which it was intended that Mr. Davis should
+stand, was pushed aside, to give place to those unwinking faces which
+pressed to every loophole of observation. The ladies, who appeared here
+and there in the crowd, sparkling with jewels, and dressed in the rich
+robes naturally suited to the occasion, only increased by their presence
+the rude incongruities of the gathering. Men were surprised at the
+manifestations on every hand of a vulgarity and coarseness which they
+had been accustomed to think the natural products and exclusive
+characteristics of a state of society farther north. To the eyes of the
+fastidious, a new class had suddenly arisen in their midst. Perhaps the
+lesson was not a new one. Many nations before, when in the midst of
+revolutions, have been called mournfully to learn that there are grades
+in every society, that rebellions are not always tractable, and that the
+class which guides their opening rarely controls their close. But if the
+scene of the evening had any prophecies of this kind--and I do not say
+that it had--it wailed them, like Cassandra, to ears divinely closed.
+
+From this time the ferment of public opinion disappeared. A tangible
+government existed, against which to speak was treason, and the friends
+of the Union--and in spite of all changes, the number of these was yet
+considerable--now for the first time ceased from the expression of those
+objections by which they had hitherto indicated the direction of their
+sympathies. All classes of men were longing for something permanent, and
+eagerly grasped at these appearances of a settled government, as
+promising to supply that which they so much desired. The establishment
+of a calm and united state of public feeling seemed, therefore, the
+almost instant effect of the inauguration of Mr. Davis. As might be
+expected, the events which have been related had not taken place in the
+South without affecting the condition of the Northern stranger who
+chanced to be within the gate. To him every change had been for the
+worse. During the fluctuations of public opinion in the early part of
+the season, his position, though unpleasant, had still some relieving
+circumstances; the condition of the country was not yet utterly
+hopeless, and the vanity of being stable in the midst of universal
+change, ministered a mild though secret pleasure, which, in the painful
+anxieties of the period, was not without its consolatory value. But when
+the tide of public opinion had turned strongly in one direction, and
+that in favor of secession, all those pleasures, so mild and spiritual,
+were at once destroyed. Nor was this a condition without change. Every
+week added some new restraints to those by which the Unionist was
+already surrounded. But never was the pressure of these restraints felt
+to be so great as in this singular calm, which followed the inauguration
+of Mr. Davis. The loyal spirit seemed extinct. Union sentiments were no
+longer expressed in even the private circles. Now, however, hints were
+occasionally dropped of the possibility of a future reconstruction, and
+in this direction it was evident the small remnant of the Union party
+was now turning its hopes.
+
+Notwithstanding the general appearance of unanimity, one thing remained
+which seemed to indicate a want of perfect confidence on the part of the
+people generally in the permanency of the new order of affairs. This
+was, the little interest which was manifested in the transactions of the
+rebel congress. With nothing else to occupy their minds, the people
+allowed the most important measures of public policy to pass almost
+without remark. To the congress itself this apathy did not extend. There
+appeared here, on the contrary, a germ even of the old State
+antagonisms; for when Mr. Toombs, carrying out the former policy of his
+State, introduced a bill imposing a tax on imports, declaring, at the
+same time, that no government could ever be sustained without depending
+chiefly upon this source of revenue, every member from South Carolina
+was on his legs. After a warm debate, and against the strongest protests
+of these members, the bill was carried and went into effect.
+Notwithstanding this, many in England still secretly believe that the
+Federal tariff was the real cause of the secession.
+
+The astonishing promptness with which the rebel government, immediately
+after the fall of Fort Sumter, equipped and placed upon the field an
+enormous and fairly organized army, has given rise to a strong
+impression concerning the energy put forth by the executive department
+during the two months which intervened between this event and the
+inauguration. No mistake could be greater. On the very day of the
+election of Mr. Lincoln the South possessed a military establishment
+quite equal, in proportion to its population, to that of either France
+or Russia. At the time of the John Brown excitement, a rumor was spread
+through the South that large bodies of men were gathering in different
+parts of the North, having for their object an invasion of the Southern
+States. Among all the reports which this excited period produced, none
+was more sedulously diffused, and none more generally believed.
+
+Whatever had been the original design of the story, its instant effect,
+in the excited state of the public mind, was the formation of companies
+in every county and village throughout the South for military drill.
+
+These organizations, of which there were frequently several in a single
+village, were equipped entirely at the expense of the individual
+members. As they were under constant drill during the winter and summer,
+they presented at the opening of the year 1861 the singular spectacle of
+a great army, organized and equipped at its own expense, ready at any
+moment to march at the command of the recognized government. This, it is
+unnecessary to say, was the grand basis of that army which was afterward
+placed upon the field; and thus it was that a secretary of war so
+palpably inefficient as Mr. Walker was able, with an empty treasury, for
+many months to surpass the North in the supply of troops, equipped, and
+at once prepared for duty.
+
+It was in full appreciation of this great armed mass that lay at his
+hand in a condition to be easily formed into an organized and efficient
+army, that Mr. Davis, after much entreaty, and repeated postponement,
+reluctantly gave his assent to the first strong act of the executive
+department, and ordered the attack upon Fort Sumter.
+
+Without anticipating what were to be the effects of this act in the
+North, which was, indeed, open to the conjecture of no man, Mr. Davis on
+this occasion simply exhibited a hesitancy in venturing on extreme
+measures, which will be found to be a characteristic feature of his
+administration.
+
+For several days the city was filled with rumors concerning the
+anticipated attack, but early on Friday morning it was announced that
+the bombardment had already begun. In the general excitement, business
+was suspended. Crowds filled the streets. The war department was in
+constant receipt of telegraphic messages announcing the progress of the
+bombardment. But nothing came during the day to diminish the growing
+anxiety. It was found that the fleet of war vessels said to be outside
+the bar would take advantage of the night to come to the succor of the
+fort. Sleep was impossible. Men who had gone to bed arose again and
+joined the crowd which thronged the streets. At length, shortly after
+midnight, Mr. Walker came forth and announced the last and most
+favorable telegraphic report concerning the progress of the siege,
+uttering at the same time the famous boast which has linked his name
+with an indissoluble association of folly. Shortly past noon on
+Saturday, the message came which announced the surrender of the fort.
+The city was frantic with joy. For hours, no forms of manifestation
+seemed adequate to express the excitement which filled all classes of
+society. Standing on the housetop in the evening, a wild crowd could be
+seen flitting before bonfires, or ranging the streets, and shouting in
+the ecstasy of an excitement which none could control. Immediately on
+the arrival of the despatch, messengers had started into the country
+with the welcome tidings, and deep in the night the ear was startled by
+the dull roar of the cannon announcing the arrival in some distant
+village of the joyful intelligence.
+
+'That will be the end of the war,' said a man of well known
+conservatism, who stood by at the announcement in Montgomery of the
+surrender of the fort. It was the last expression of that fatal fallacy
+which had lured so large a class quietly to acquiesce in the fact of
+secession in the hope of thus securing the peaceful recognition of the
+North. In a few days more, the whole deception had passed away. But the
+correction had come too late. The Union party was extinct. Twice, in the
+course of that great change, by the progress of which, a people, in
+majority loyal, was converted into one totally disloyal and
+revolutionary, it lay within the power of the Federal Executive, by
+firmness and a proper exhibition of its powers, to have sustained the
+Union party in the South and crushed the rebellion--before the election
+of Mr. Lincoln, and at the time of the strong Union reaction in the
+election of delegates to the State convention. At both these periods the
+Union feeling was strong and increasing, immediately after each; pressed
+upon by arguments which the course of the Executive had failed to
+answer, it slowly declined. But no great sentiment is destroyed at once.
+There is reason to believe that, if left to itself, the tide of Union
+feeling might again have flowed back, and the faint traces of a
+reconstruction party which appeared in the short interval of quiet that
+belonged to the rebel confederacy indicates, perhaps, the path along
+which it would have returned. But the time for these things had passed.
+
+The fall of Sumter brought the doctrines of secession into instant
+popularity, and roused a spirit of military enthusiasm in the South
+scarcely less intense than that which the same event excited in the
+North. At once, in every direction, disappeared all those sober scruples
+which, during the hottest excitement of the preceding months, had
+quietly controlled the judgment of a small but influential class in
+every community. The change in north Alabama and central Tennessee,
+where the principles of secession had been steadily rejected by the
+people, was almost instantaneous. The excitement and pride of a
+sectional victory, and a false sympathy for the individuals who had
+ventured their lives in a cause in itself, perhaps, objectionable,
+effected what the most cunning fallacies of the leaders had been unable
+to accomplish. As this movement of the popular feeling had many points
+of resemblance with the revolution of feeling which took place just
+after the election of Mr. Lincoln, there were some who believed that it
+would be followed by a similar reaction. The excitement of the war into
+which the whole country was immediately precipitated, cut off, however,
+every chance of any such retrogressive movement. No reaction took place.
+The surrender of Fort Sumter completed the change of opinion which had
+been so long progressing in the South.
+
+Those who look for an immediate restitution of Union feeling in the
+South, as a result of Federal victories, will be disappointed. It will
+be the result of a gradual movement--a movement resembling in every
+important particular that by which the secession sentiment was
+established in the interval between the election of Mr. Lincoln and the
+surrender of Fort Sumter. Operating particularly upon that class in
+society which is by nature passive rather than active, conservative
+rather than headlong, the movement, as in that case, will be at first
+slow and attended with many reactions, but the result will not be
+uncertain. Already the progress of the war has destroyed nearly all the
+motives by which the Union party of the South was formerly led to adopt
+the cause of secession. This great party, therefore, stretching through
+all parts of the South, forming an important element in the population
+of every village and county which threatened at one time with its
+passive resistance to overturn the whole scheme of the rebellion, stands
+now exposed to the full influence of the reactionary tide which has now
+begun to set back toward the Union. The change may not be at once, but
+the same motive which led the Union man of Tennessee to return to
+loyalty, will prove equally effective with his whole party, wherever
+distributed.
+
+
+
+
+SHAKSPEARE FOR 1863.
+
+
+   'O England!--model to thy inward greatness,
+   Like little body with, a mighty heart,--
+   What might'st thou do, that honor would thee do,
+   Were all thy children kind and natural!
+   But see thy fault! the SOUTH in thee finds out
+   A nest of hollow bosoms, which it fills
+   With treacherous crowns! they would o'erthrow our country,
+   And by their hands the grace of Freedom die,
+   If hell and treason hold their promises.'
+
+        _Henry V_, Act II, Scene i.
+
+
+
+
+THE UNION.
+
+V.
+
+ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI COMPARED.
+
+
+My previous numbers, comparing the progress, in the aggregate, of all
+the Slave States, with all the Free States, of Massachusetts and New
+Jersey, with Maryland and South Carolina, and of New York with Virginia,
+demonstrate the fatal effect of slavery upon material advance, and moral
+and intellectual development. In further proof of the uniformity of this
+great law, I now institute a similar comparison between two great
+neighboring Western States, Missouri and Illinois. The comparison is
+just, for while Missouri has increased since 1810, in wealth and
+population, much more rapidly than any of the Slave States, there are
+several Free States whose relative advance has exceeded that of
+Illinois. The rapid growth of Missouri is owing to her immense area, her
+fertile soil, her mighty rivers (the Mississippi and Missouri), her
+central and commanding position, and to the fact, that she has so small
+a number of slaves to the square mile, as well as to the free
+population.
+
+The population of Illinois, in 1810, was 12,282, and in 1860, 1,711,951;
+the ratio of increase from 1810 to 1860 being 13,838.70. (Table 1, Cens.
+1860.) The population of Missouri in 1810, was 20,845, and in 1860,
+1,182,012; the ratio of increase from 1810 to 1860 being 5,570.48. (Ib.)
+The rank of Missouri in 1810 was 22, and of Illinois 23. The rank of
+Missouri in 1860 was 8, and of Illinois, 4.
+
+AREA.--The area of Missouri is 67,380 square miles, being the 4th in
+rank, as to area, of all the States. The area of Illinois is 55,405
+square miles, ranking the 10th. Missouri, then, has 11,975 more square
+miles than Illinois. This excess is greater by 749 square miles than the
+aggregate area of Massachusetts, Delaware, and Rhode Island, containing
+in 1860 a population of 1,517,902. The population of Missouri per square
+mile in 1810 exceeded that of Illinois .08; but, in 1860, the population
+of Missouri per square mile was 17.54, ranking the 22d, and that of
+Illinois, 30.90, ranking the 13th. Illinois, with her ratio to the
+square mile and the area of Missouri, would have had in 1860 a
+population of 2,082,042; and Missouri; with her ratio and the area of
+Illinois, would have had in 1860 a population of 971,803, making a
+difference in favor of Illinois of 1,110,239 instead of 529,939. The
+absolute increase of population of Illinois per square mile from 1850 to
+1860 was 15.54, and of Missouri 7.43, Illinois ranking the 6th in this
+ratio and Missouri the 14th. These facts prove the vast advantages which
+Missouri possessed in her larger area as compared with Illinois.
+
+But Missouri in 1810, we have seen, had nearly double the population of
+Illinois. Now, reversing their numbers in 1810, the ratio of increase of
+each remaining the same, the population of Illinois in 1860 would have
+been 2,005,014, and of Missouri, 696,983. If we bring the greater area
+of Missouri as an element into this calculation the population of
+Illinois in 1860 would have exceeded that of Missouri more than two
+millions and a half.
+
+MINES.--By Census Tables 9, 10, 13 and 14, Missouri produced, in 1860,
+pig iron of the value of $575,000; Illinois, none. Bar and rolled
+iron--Missouri, $535,000; Illinois, none. Lead--Missouri, $356,660;
+Illinois, $72,953. Coal--Missouri, $8,200; Illinois, $964,-187.
+Copper--Missouri, $6,000; Illinois, none. As to mines, then, Missouri
+has a decided advantage over Illinois. Indeed, the iron mountains of
+Missouri are unsurpassed in the world. That Illinois approaches so near
+to Missouri in mineral products, is owing to her railroads and canals,
+and not to equal natural advantages. The number of miles of railroad in
+operation in 1860 was, 2,868 in Illinois, and 817 in Missouri; of
+canals, Illinois, 102 miles; Missouri, none. (Tables 38, 39.) But if
+Missouri had been a free State, she would have at least equalled
+Illinois in internal improvements, and the Pacific Railroad would have
+long since united San Francisco, St. Louis, and Chicago.
+
+Illinois is increasing in a _progressive_ ratio, as compared with
+Missouri. Thus, from 1840 to 1850 the increase of numbers in Illinois
+was 78.81, and from 1850 to 1860, 101.01 per cent., while the increase
+of Missouri from 1840 to 1850 was 77.75, and from 1850 to 1860, 73.30.
+Thus, the ratio is augmenting in Illinois, and decreasing in Missouri.
+If Illinois and Missouri should each increase from 1860 to 1870, in the
+same ratio as from 1850 to 1860, Illinois would then number 3,441,448,
+and Missouri, 2,048,426. (Table 1.) In 1850, Chicago numbered 29,963,
+and in 1860, 109,260. St. Louis, 77,860 in 1850, and 160,773 in 1860.
+(Table 40.) From 1840 to 1850 the ratio of increase of Chicago was
+570.31, and from 1850 to 1860, 264.65, and of St. Louis, from 1840 to
+1850, 372.26 per cent., and from 1850 to 1860, 106.49. If both increased
+in their respective ratios from 1860 to 1870 as from 1850 to 1860,
+Chicago would number 398,420 in 1870, and St. Louis, 331,879. It would
+be difficult to say which city has the greatest natural advantages, and
+yet when St. Louis was a city, Chicago was but the site of a fort.
+
+PROGRESS OF WEALTH.--By Census Table 36, the cash value of the farms of
+Illinois in 1860, was $432,531,072, and of Missouri, $230,632,126,
+making a difference in favor of Illinois, of $201,898,946, which is the
+loss which Missouri has sustained by slavery in the single item of the
+value of her farm lands. Abolish slavery there, and the value of the
+farm lands of Missouri would soon equal those of Illinois, and augment
+the wealth of the farmers of Missouri over two hundred millions of
+dollars. But these farm lands of Missouri embrace only 19,984,809 acres
+(Table 36), leaving unoccupied 23,138,391 acres. The difference between
+the value of the unoccupied lands of Missouri and Illinois, is six
+dollars per acre, at which rate the increased value of the unoccupied
+lands of Missouri, in the absence of slavery, would be $138,830,346.
+Thus, it appears, that the loss to Missouri in the value of her lands,
+caused by slavery, is $340,729,292. If we add to this the diminished
+value of town and city property in Missouri, from the same cause, the
+total loss in that State in the value of real estate, exceeds
+$400,000,000, which is nearly twenty times the value of her slaves. By
+Table 35, the increase in the value of the real and personal property of
+Illinois from 1850 to 1860, was $715,595,276, being 457.93 per cent.,
+and of Missouri, $363,966,691, being 265.18 per cent. At the same rate
+of increase from 1860 to 1870, the total wealth of Illinois would then
+be $3,993,000,000, and of Missouri, $1,329,000,000, making the
+difference against Missouri, in 1870, caused by slavery, $2,664,000,000,
+which is much more than three times the whole debt of the nation, and
+more than twice the value of all the slaves in the Union. While, then,
+the $20,000,000 proposed to be appropriated to aid Missouri in
+emancipating her slaves, is erroneously denounced as increasing federal
+taxation, the effect is directly the reverse. The disappearance of
+slavery from Missouri would ensure the overthrow of the rebellion, and
+the perpetuity of the Union, and bring the war much sooner to a close,
+thus saving a monthly expenditure, far exceeding the whole
+appropriation. But this vast increase of the wealth of Missouri, caused
+by her becoming a free State, if far less than one billion of dollars,
+would, by increasing her contribution to the national revenue, in
+augmented payments of duties and internal taxes, diminish to that extent
+the rate of taxation to be paid by every State, Missouri included.
+
+The total wealth of the Union in 1860 exceeded $16,000,000,000. If this
+were increased $1,000,000,000 in time, by the augmented wealth of
+Missouri, and our revenue from duties and taxes should be $220,000,000,
+as estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury, the increased income,
+being one-seventeenth of the whole, would exceed $12,000,000 per annum;
+or, if the increase of wealth should be only $200,000,000, then the
+augmented proportional annual revenue would be $2,750,000, or nearly
+one-eightieth part of the whole revenue, thus soon extinguishing the
+principal and interest of the debt of $20,000,000, and leaving a large
+surplus to decrease the percentage of taxation in every State, Missouri
+included. The bill then might be justly entitled, _an act to restore the
+Union, to advance the public credit, to hasten the overthrow of the
+rebellion, to augment the national wealth, and_ DECREASE THE RATE OF
+TAXATION. By overthrowing the rebellion, the taxes to pay the national
+debt will be collected from all the States, instead of being confined to
+those that are loyal. The rebel confederate debt, never having had any
+existence in law or justice, but having been created only to support a
+wicked rebellion, will of course be expunged by the re�stablishment of
+the Union. Indeed, by a new mathematical and philosophical principle,
+far transcending the most sublime discoveries of Newton, Leibnitz, or La
+Place, the rebel debt is redeemable six months _after the end of
+eternity_, namely, six months after it is an _independent nation_, they
+shall have ratified a _treaty_ of peace with us! All the rebel State
+debts incurred since the revolt, for the purpose of overthrowing the
+Government, will, of course, have no legal existence. Under the Federal
+Constitution, no State Legislature can have any lawful existence, except
+in conformity with its provisions, accompanied by a prior oath of every
+member to support the Constitution of the United States. These
+assemblages, then, since the revolt in the several States, calling
+themselves State Legislatures, never had any legal existence or
+authority, and were mere assemblages of traitors. Such is the clear
+provision of the Federal Constitution, and of the law of nations and of
+justice. It would be strange, indeed, if conventicles of traitors in
+revolted States, could legally or rightfully impose taxes on the people
+of such States, loyal or disloyal, to overthrow the Government. Indeed,
+if justice could have her full sway, the whole debt of this Government,
+incurred to suppress this rebellion, ought to be paid by the traitors
+alone.
+
+With a restoration of the Union, the prosperity of all sections will be
+enormously increased. The South, with peace and with ports reopened,
+relieved from rebel taxes and conscription, will again have a profitable
+market for their cotton, rice, naval stores, sugar, and tobacco; the
+West for breadstuffs and provisions; the North for commerce, navigation
+and manufactures; and our revenue, from duties, would be vastly
+augmented, soon justifying a reduction of internal taxation. There is
+one item of almost fabulous value that must not be omitted. The cotton
+now in the Confederate States, of the unsold crops of 1860-'61,
+1861-'62, and 1862-'63, exceeds 5,000,000 of bales. This cotton, sold at
+present prices, payable in federal paper, would be worth $1,800,000,000,
+or $1,134,000,000 in gold. If we diminish this one-half, as cotton might
+fall in price from time to time by the gradual reopening of our ports,
+this cotton would still be worth $900,000,000 in our paper, and
+$567,000,000 in gold. This cotton, while putting all our spindles and
+those of the world into full operation, would turn the balance of
+foreign trade at once immensely in our favor, and bring back streams of
+gold to our shores. We would at once commence the liquidation of the
+national debt, with a large sinking fund, as a sacred trust applicable
+to that important subject.
+
+Next to maintaining our finances and the public credit, followed by
+decisive victories in the field, the speedy success of emancipation in
+Missouri is most important. Missouri is larger by more than 6,000 square
+miles than any State east of the Mississippi, and occupies a central
+position between the North and the South, the East and the West. She is
+larger by 16,458 square miles than England proper, containing a
+population of nineteen millions. She is larger by 1,098 square miles
+than New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Delaware. She
+is larger by 5,264 square miles than all the New England States. She has
+a greater white population than the aggregate numbers of North and South
+Carolina and Florida, or of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, or of
+Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, or of Florida, Arkansas, South
+Carolina and Mississippi, or Louisiana; and a larger white population
+than all Virginia, East and West. She had, if disloyal, by her position
+and large white population, more power to imperil the Union than any of
+the slaveholding States. She has been true--she has suffered much in our
+cause, her fields and towns have been laid waste, thousands of her brave
+sons now fill our armies, and thousands more have fallen in our cause,
+and we will be recreant to truth and justice, to the safety of the
+Union, and forfeit the nation's pledge, if we do not now aid her in
+becoming a Free State. The southern boundary of Missouri (lat. 36�) is
+several miles south of Nashville, Tennessee; but, if we take altitude
+also into consideration, then, according to well established
+meteorological principles, the southern boundary of Missouri is at least
+a degree south of Nashville, reaching the northern boundary of Alabama.
+There is then a very large area of Missouri well calculated for the
+production of cotton. To accomplish this, the levee system of the
+Mississippi must be extended from the southern boundary of Missouri to
+the first highlands in that State, above the mouth of the Ohio; and a
+proper system of drainage adopted. These lands would thus be entirely
+secured from overflow, and greatly improved in salubrity. With these
+improvements, Missouri would contain an area of rich alluvial lands,
+well adapted to the profitable culture of cotton, embracing an extent
+capable of producing at least one million of bales of the great staple.
+These lands, considering latitude and altitude, would possess a climate
+similar to that of Middle Tennessee and North Alabama, where cotton is
+already cultivated with great profit. If emancipation prevailed in
+Missouri, these lands would soon be cultivated in cotton by free labor,
+and its immense superiority over the servile system would soon be
+demonstrated. Such a proof of the superiority of free over slave labor,
+even in the culture of cotton, would soon have an immense effect in
+reconciling the South to the disappearance of a system so fatal to her
+own prosperity, and endangering so much the harmony and perpetuity of
+the Union. This Missouri cotton would be nearer the North and Northwest
+than that grown in any other part of the Southwest, and thus supplied at
+a cheaper rate to our manufacturers, while opening new and augmented
+markets for the provisions and breadstuffs of the Northwest. This cotton
+would, in part, pass up the Ohio to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and
+thence to New York, Philadelphia, and New England. It would also in part
+pass through Indiana and Ohio by their railroads and canals. The great
+central railroad of Illinois would carry large portions of it also from
+Cairo to Chicago; but perhaps the largest portion eventually would pass
+up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and enlarged canals to Chicago,
+and thence eastward. With the proposed enlargement of the canal
+connecting the Illinois river with Lake Michigan, and the enlargement of
+the locks of the great Erie canal, extended by a similar enlargement of
+the Chenango branch, and down the Susquehanna to tide water, cotton
+steam propellers would carry the great staple by this route to the
+Hudson and New England, to Baltimore or Philadelphia, at a rate much
+lower than any other Southwestern cotton. The Mississippi would thus
+have a _quintuple_ outlet, as well into the lakes and the Hudson, the
+St. Lawrence, the Delaware, and Chesapeake, as into the Gulf of Mexico,
+and Missouri would be united by new ties with the North, and Northwest,
+as well as with the Middle States. Cairo, St. Louis, Chicago,
+Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo would become considerable
+cotton depots, and slave labor would cease to monopolize the cotton
+culture. But there are other considerations still more momentous.
+Missouri extends from the 36th parallel to 40-1/2, and from the 89th
+meridian to the 96th, thus embracing four degrees and a half of
+latitude, and seven degrees of longitude. She fronts for many hundred
+miles upon the great Mississippi, and commands its western shore; she
+commands also the mouth of the Missouri river, and both its banks for
+several hundred miles, and all its tributaries. The Missouri river and
+its tributaries are nearly double the length of the Mississippi and its
+branches. Missouri by her position dominates the whole valley of her
+great river, and commands Kansas and Western Iowa, and Nebraska, and
+Colorado, Dacotah and New Mexico. If Missouri had joined the Southern
+confederacy, and its power had ever been established, she would have
+forced with her all the vast region to which we have referred,
+containing, including Missouri, an area equal to twenty States of the
+size of Ohio. To separate Missouri forever from the proposed Southern
+confederacy, is to render the permanent establishment of such a
+government impossible. It not only severs Missouri from them, but all
+the vast region identified with the destiny of that great State. Secure
+Missouri permanently and cordially to the Union, and the rebellion is
+doomed to certain overthrow. With the fall of slavery in Missouri by her
+consent, and her cordial co�peration and sympathy with the North and
+Northwest, the days of the rebellion are numbered. With Missouri as a
+Free State, Arkansas, adjacent, cannot retain the institution. Such a
+result, aided by victories, and the re�stablishment of our finances,
+would soon give full effect to the edict of emancipation in Arkansas,
+and Louisiana would soon follow. With Missouri as a Free State by her
+consent, and her cordial co�peration and sympathy, slavery would soon
+disappear from the whole region west of the Mississippi, and Louisiana
+cordially be reunited to the Republic. With such a result, holding New
+Orleans and the mouth of the Mississippi and all the region west of that
+great stream, how could Tennessee or Mississippi remain in the Southern
+confederacy? The truth is, Missouri is the pivot upon which the
+rebellion turns. Had she gone with the South, and given to its cause a
+cordial support, it would have been difficult to subdue the rebellion.
+That she has gone with the Union is a momentous fact, and demands for
+her our heartfelt gratitude. I have shown, it is true, how greatly it is
+the interest of Missouri to become a Free State; but it is still more
+the interest of the nation to secure this great result. Give her what is
+needed to render emancipation certain, and we shall have secured the
+perpetuity of the Union. Missouri had no participation in introducing
+African slaves into this continent. The slaves that cultivate her soil
+are the descendants of those who were forced here under the British
+flag, or by the ships of the North, then in a state of colonial
+dependence; and it is just, and the national honor demands, that she
+should receive full compensation. As the existence of slavery in any
+State is a great evil and reproach, and a source of much weakness to the
+whole country, so should the nation compensate for any loss that may be
+occasioned by the abandonment of the system in any loyal State. Not only
+is this just, but the faith of the nation is solemnly pledged by
+resolutions adopted by Congress at its last session to carry this policy
+into full effect with the consent of any State. Twenty millions of
+dollars to secure such a result should be regarded as of little moment.
+Gladly would the nation pay a much larger sum for a single victory. But
+the moral and geographical and strategical victory secured by
+emancipation in Missouri by her consent, will be far more important than
+any triumph yet achieved by our arms. It is a victory that relieves a
+great State now and forever from the curse of slavery. It is a victory
+that secures the whole valley of the mighty Missouri to the Union. It is
+a triumph that sweeps slavery from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas,
+dissevers the Southern confederacy, and restores the whole Mississippi,
+from its mouth to its source, to the Union.
+
+The entire constitutionality of such a proceeding by _compact with a
+State_, was demonstrated by me in the November number of the CONTINENTAL
+MONTHLY, p. 575. Referring to the case of Texas, I there said: 'The
+principle, however, was adopted of State action by irrevocable _compact_
+with the Federal Government, by which provision therein was made for
+abolishing slavery in all such States, north of a certain parallel of
+latitude (embracing a territory larger than New England), as might be
+thereafter admitted by the subdivision of the State of Texas. The power
+of action on this subject, by compact of a State with the General
+Government, was then clearly established, in perfect accordance with
+repeated previous acts of Congress then cited by me. The doctrine rests
+upon the elemental principle of the combined authority of the nation,
+and a State, acting by compact within its limits.' When Missouri, with
+her consent, shall have become a Free State, the leaders of the Southern
+rebellion will feel that they have received a mortal blow. Especially
+will this be the case in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee,
+Mississippi, and Alabama. We shall have cut the gordian knot of slavery,
+and the death agonies of the hydra would soon be visible. The importance
+of the result would be felt in the North also, and the wretched traitors
+there, far more guilty even than those of the South, will shrink from
+their atrocious conspiracy to dissolve this Union. The dark plot of
+severing New England from the Republic and of reuniting the rest of the
+States with the Southern confederacy, will be abandoned. That such a
+scheme is contemplated by Northern traitors, and that it is tolerated in
+the South, _on condition_ that all shall become Slave States, is beyond
+controversy. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the Northwest are
+to abandon their free institutions, become slaveholding States, and be
+admitted as such into the Southern confederacy. I had supposed that
+crime had achieved its climax when the Southern rebellion was
+inaugurated; but something more base, more vile, more cowardly,
+debasing, and pusillanimous, it seems, is now contemplated. It is that
+New England shall be expelled, and that the rest of the Free States
+shall come under the dominion of the Southern confederacy. But the
+leaders of this scheme seem to have forgotten the fact, that New
+England, to a vast extent, has peopled the Northwest, and carried there
+their love of free institutions. The descendants of the pilgrims are
+scattered throughout the Northwest, and churches, and free schools, and
+love of liberty have gone with them. The scheme is as base and cowardly
+as it is impracticable. No! New England can never be expelled from this
+Union. There the grand idea of the American Union was first conceived;
+there the cradle of liberty was first rocked, before as well as amid the
+storms of the Revolution; there the first blood was shed, the first
+battles fought, the first flag of Union and Liberty unfurled, and there
+it shall float forever. There are Lexington, and Concord, and Bunker
+Hill, and no traitor hand shall ever sever them from the American Union.
+Not an acre of the soil of New England or a drop of all its waters shall
+ever be surrendered by this great Republic; and from Lake Champlain and
+the Housatonick to the St. Croix and St. Johns, the flag of the Union
+shall ever float in undiminished glory. Lake Champlain unites Vermont
+and New England with the Hudson, the lakes, and St. Lawrence; and Long
+Island Sound, commanding the deepest approaches to New York, completes
+the connection, which is a geographical and political necessity. I am
+not a New Englander by parentage, birth, or education, but if the other
+Free States of the North and Northwest should submit to the disgrace of
+uniting themselves with a Southern confederacy, I should remove to New
+England, and breathe an air uncontaminated by slavery or treason. And
+there are hundreds of thousands who would pursue the same course. When,
+in 1798, the great Washington feared that the South might be separated
+by traitors from the Union, he declared that, in such an event, he would
+remove to the North; and, in such a contingency, there are thousands,
+even in the South, who would remove to New England.[7]
+
+Those of the North and Northwest, who should remain and carry their
+States into the Southern confederacy, would be regarded in the South
+with loathing and contempt; the whole civilized world would consider
+their degradation as complete and eternal. They would soon loathe
+themselves, and feel that it was not only the negroes who were enslaved,
+but that they had put fetters upon their own limbs, and rendered
+themselves worthy to be worked as slaves on the plantations of Southern
+masters. I do not believe any of the Free States of the North and
+Northwest can thus be disgraced and humiliated. There is one of these
+States, I am sure, that will never submit to such degradation. It is the
+State of Pennsylvania. There the Declaration of American Independence
+was first proclaimed. There the Articles of Confederation and the
+Constitution were framed. There are Germantown, Paoli, and Brandywine:
+there Washington crossed the Delaware at midnight, and fought the two
+great battles of the war of independence. There Franklin sleeps within
+her soil, the great patriot, philosopher, and statesman whom New England
+gave to Pennsylvania, the Union, and the world. No! No! from the
+Delaware and Susquehanna to the Ohio and Lake Erie, the people of a
+mighty State would consign to the scaffold and the block the wretched
+traitors who would attempt to sever Pennsylvania from New England. Ice
+and granite are called the principal products of New England, but our
+Revolution and this rebellion prove that her great staples are
+intellect, education, liberty, courage, and patriotism. She is said to
+have Puritan angularities and to love money; but she pours out now, as
+in 1776, lavish expenditures of her treasure in defence of the Union;
+and the blood of her sons empurples the ocean and the lakes in every
+naval conflict, and moistens all the battle fields of the nation. No!
+all the traitors of the South, and all the Burrs, Arnolds, and Catalines
+of the North can never sever New England from the Republic. And now, in
+this hour of our country's peril, Missouri stretches her hands to New
+England, and to all the free and loyal States, and proposes, with their
+assistance, to abolish slavery, and link her destiny with theirs in the
+bonds of a perpetual Union. And shall we hesitate for a moment, on such
+a question? The money consideration is far less than a month's cost of
+the war, and sinks into insignificance compared with the momentous
+results and consequences. Emancipation in Missouri, with her consent and
+the aid of Congress, is the first grand decisive victory of the Union in
+this contest, insures eventual success, and must now be placed beyond
+all hazard or contingency.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 7: 7th vol. Hamilton's 'Republic,' p. 189, and Jefferson's
+'Autograph.']
+
+
+
+
+THE SOLDIER'S BURIAL.
+
+
+   Where shall we lay our comrade down?
+     Where shall the brave one sleep?
+   The battle's past, the victory won,
+     Now we have time to weep!
+       Bury him on the mountain's brow,
+         Where he fought so well;
+       Bury him where the laurels grow--
+         There he bravely fell!
+
+   There lay him in his generous blood,
+     For there first comes the light
+   When morning earliest breaks the cloud,
+     And lingers last at night!
+
+   What though no flow'ret there may bloom
+     To scent the chilly air,
+   The sky shall stoop to wrap his tomb,
+     The stars will watch him there!
+
+   What though no stone may mark his grave,
+     Yet Fame shall tell his race
+   Where sleeps the one so kind, so brave,
+     And God will find the place!
+        Bury him on the mountain's brow,
+          Where he fought so well;
+        Bury him where the laurels grow--
+          There he bravely fell!
+
+
+
+LITERARY NOTICES.
+
+
+     THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION, by AUGUSTIN COCHIN, Ex-Mayor and
+     Municipal Councillor of Paris. Work crowned by the Institute of
+     France. Translated by MARY L. BOOTH, translator of Count de
+     Gasparin's works on America, &c. Boston: Walker, Wise & Co. 1863.
+
+AUGUSTIN COCHIN, author of the work before us, is a man of a class in
+France from which we are specially well pleased to see vindications of
+Emancipation and of the policy of the Federal Union arise. His position
+is well and briefly stated in the preface as that of a Legitimist, a
+fast friend and ally of Count de Montalembert in his effort to raise up
+a Catholic Liberal party for the development of republican sentiments
+and institutions, and the ardent coadjutor of P�re Lacordaire,
+Monseigneur d'Orleans, Viscount de Melun, and a host of other moderate
+reformers in behalf of freedom. He has some little reputation as a
+writer on public and political topics; is highly connected, and, what is
+perhaps more to the purpose than aught else, is a very practical man,
+and son-in-law to Benoist d'Azy, who, possessed of an immense fortune,
+an extensive landowner and proprietor of iron forges, has done perhaps
+more than any other man to advance the material interests of his country
+by railway building, mining, and agricultural improvements. We say that
+this is more to the purpose, since it is of importance that the men who
+_actively_ employ capital should understand the falsehood of slavery as
+a productive force in any system of labor, anywhere, at the present day.
+And it is highly significant when we find such men so far enlightened in
+France at this time, where, although, as we learn, very advanced views
+in political economy are set forth, we have still apprehended that a
+deeply based attachment to slavery, common to all the Latin races,
+prevails. That the Radicals should oppose slavery is but natural, but
+such views among the highly cultivated aristocracy are indeed
+encouraging.
+
+We cannot agree with M. Villemain, who, in his report from the Academy,
+decreeing a prize of three thousand francs to M. Cochin for this work,
+speaks of it as inspired with 'eloquent zeal' and 'ardor.' It is very
+far from what it might have been as a _literary_ production; and to one
+not interested in the facts and subject, is even--with the exception of
+its excellent Introduction--dry. The author is decidedly an economist,
+but he is _not_ 'an apostle,' as his eulogist claims, unless it be in
+the sense in which any great collector and publisher of truths may be
+termed such. But on its true basis the work is indeed a great one, fully
+deserving the publisher's advertisement words, 'opportune and
+important.' The volume before us is a complete history, in a minor
+degree, of Slavery, and to a very full degree of Emancipation in the
+English and French colonies, with some account of the same in those
+belonging to Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. Having made for many years a
+specialty of the subject, and having had placed at his disposal the
+published and unpublished papers and records of every ministry of
+Europe, as, for instance, of the English Board of Trade, M. Cochin has
+accumulated a mass of extremely valuable material--all of which is
+presented in a very clear, perfectly well arranged form--and which we
+need not say should be read by every one in public, since there is
+certainly no intelligent American at the present day on whom the
+necessity of acquiring full information on this subject is not almost a
+solemn duty. Next after crushing rebellion, the great task of the
+Federal Government should be to organize labor and adopt a vigorous
+_central_ and _industrial_ policy. To do this, the relations of free and
+of slave labor to circumstances should be extensively studied. As in the
+case of all wars involving an institution, the question between the
+North and the South at the present day is simply one between ignorance
+and knowledge--knowledge such as books like this are eminently adapted
+to disseminate.
+
+Passing by religious and philosophic argument, neither of which has been
+of much practical avail in this country, since we see the Church of the
+South quite as zealous in upholding slavery on Biblical grounds as that
+of the North is in opposing it, we come to Cochin's first real
+argument--that political economy affirms the superiority of free over
+forced labor. Policy and charity unite in this--'charity detests slavery
+because it oppresses; policy, more elevated, condemns it _because it
+corrupts the inferior race_.'
+
+We call attention to this sentence because it accurately expresses the
+difference between mere 'Abolition,' which regarded only the sufferings
+of the blacks, and that higher and more comprehensive policy of
+'EMANCIPATION FOR THE SAKE OF THE WHITE MAN,' which declares that
+slavery always in time inevitably makes of the slaveholder an
+intolerable neighbor to the free white laborer. From this point our
+author sets forth the gradual growth of the aversion to slavery all over
+the Continent, with the reactionary tendency in its favor in the Cotton
+United States and in England. It is needless to say that, before the
+overwhelming light of _facts_ presented, especially when these facts are
+drawn from the past as well as the present, and from every country
+instead of _one_, slavery is shown to be more than deadly-conservative;
+more than cruel; more than a mere dead wall in the way of the onward
+march of the century. The time will come when such a curse will be
+rooted out of a country by the strong hand of all civilized nations. Had
+England and France been truly enlightened to their own interests, this
+war would never have taken place.
+
+The history of the African slave trade and the efforts to destroy it,
+the Emancipation of the French Convention and the re�stablishment of
+slavery by the Consulate, from 1794 to 1802, form the first chapter of
+this work. Hence we have its history, its abolition in 1848, and, after
+this, that most important part, a careful examination of the results of
+Emancipation, showing--as Sewall and others have done--the grossness of
+the current falsehood to the effect that it has led to evil results. For
+those who can see only a part instead of the whole, who regard the
+amount of good done to themselves as the test of everything, who make no
+allowance for a social transition, or for a future (like our own
+'treason-Democrats'), and who see in the black, whether slave or free,
+simply a creature whose whole mission is to benefit the white, it is
+true that Emancipation in certain isolated cases may not appear to have
+fully succeeded. The _truth_ is, that freed labor has nowhere
+diminished--it has simply assumed _new forms_, more advantageous, for
+the time, to the laborer, while in most cases it has increased its
+profits. If slaves were overworked, there was no real gain;--if schools
+and marriage, cleanly independence and good clothing have increased
+tenfold among those who were once naked, starved, and ignorant, there
+has been a gain, although here and there less sugar is exported. And so
+the reader may trace the arguments and facts to the end.
+
+Yet, after all, we feel almost ashamed that such a book should be really
+needed! What true _scholar_ and honest man requires arguments of this
+kind? A thousand or two years ago, any king's daughter, any young lady,
+anybody walking in a lonely spot, was in danger of being kidnapped and
+sold to prostitution or slavery. Philosophers, poets, and artists were
+owned by brutal wretches; pious priests purchased gentlemen of noble
+birth for slaves. The pirate's galley swept every coast to steal any
+human being. Time rolled on, and slavery was modified. White slaves
+became serfs, serfs became free. The cause of emancipation is clear as
+that of any progressive reform--and yet, right in the face of history
+and God's truth, we see the Southern Confederacy and the British people
+daring to put themselves forward as the advocates of a crime so rapidly
+becoming obsolete. Yes--that is what the land of Wilberforce is now
+_practically_ doing, while several of her writers, turning on their
+tracks, are beginning to 'reconsider' the subject in their writings!
+
+
+     WAR SONGS FOR FREEMEN. Dedicated to the Army of the United States.
+     Third Edition. Printed for the New York Volunteers. Boston: Ticknor
+     & Fields.
+
+Have you a friend in the army, especially one who sings occasionally, or
+if he be not canorous, say a friend who likes to read songs and hear
+them sung by others? In other words, would you, young lady reader (or
+any other reader), like to give some soldier at least half an hour's
+amusement for a very trivial outlay? In such case we recommend you to
+purchase this little pamphlet, and investing in a postage stamp, send it
+off without delay to the Army of the ----, whatever _that_ may be.
+
+The work in question contains thirty songs of the war, mostly written
+expressly for the book, and each accompanied by the music, in nearly all
+cases with the bass. Among the contributors are Dr. O. W. Holmes, who
+has given two capital lyrics, 'Union' and 'Liberty,' and a superb
+trumpet song, well adapted to _Was blasen die Trompeten?_ or 'What are
+the trumpets blowing?' a spirited German air. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe
+contributes a 'Harvard Student's Song', which is of course brilliant,
+earnest, and beautiful. It is set to the glorious old
+Slavonian--subsequently German air:
+
+   'Denkst du duran mein tapf'rer Lagienka?'
+
+which no one ever heard without loving. C. T. Brooks, has given to the
+grand and swelling _Landesvater_ words in every way worthy of it:
+
+           'Comrades plighted,
+           Fast united,
+       Firm to death for Freedom stand!
+   See your country torn and bleeding,
+   Hear a mother's solemn pleading!
+       Rescue Freedom's promised land.'
+
+The same author also gives the well known 'Korner's Prayer,' and 'The
+Vow.' From Mrs. T. Sedgwick we find a fine bold song, 'For a' that and
+a' that,' of course to the good old air of that name--a lyric of such
+decided merit in most respects that we regret to notice in it the
+venerable bull of 'polar stars,' quizzed long ago in another writer. Our
+contributor, Henry Perry Leland, has in this collection two songs, both
+strongly marked with the camp, neither setting forth the slightest
+earthly claim to be regarded as 'elevated poesie,' yet both remarkably
+sing-able, and probably destined to become broadly popular. Of these,
+'Bully Boy Billy,' is set to a lilting 'devil may care' Low-Dutch camp
+tune--one of the kind which 'sings itself,' and is well adapted to a
+roaring chorus. From the same we find a lyric detailing the loss of a
+briarwood pipe stolen in a raid, which the grieving 'sojer' trusts (as
+we most sincerely do with him) may be found when Richmond's taken. Among
+the remaining lyrics are five by Charles Godfrey Leland, including
+'We're at War,' to the bold French air of the _Choeur des Girondins_,
+'Northmen Come Out,' to the _Burschen heraus_, and 'Shall Freedom Droop
+and Die?' to the fine old air of 'Trelawney.' 'The Cavalry Song' has a
+brave air, composed for it by John K. Paine. Very spirited and merry is
+'Overtures from Richmond,' set to the quaint air of '_Lilliburlero,
+bullen a la_,' which is said to have 'sung a deluded prince out of three
+kingdoms.' We trust that some of the old charm still sticks to the magic
+words, and that it may do as much for King Jeff. as it once did for King
+James. Among the remaining lyrics are the following: 'Put it Through,'
+and 'Old Faneuil Hall,' by E. E. Hale; 'Our Country is Calling,' to
+'_Wohlauf Kameraden!_' by Rev. F. H. Hedge, and a translation of
+Luther's _Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott_ by the same; Hauff's 'Night
+Guard,' an exquisite German air, and 'I'll be a Sergeant,' and 'Would
+you be a Soldier, Laddy?' both of them capital spirited soldier-songs.
+Last, not least, we have the 'Lass of the Pamunkey,' by F. J. Child. We
+know not whether the incident detailed be strictly autobiographic or
+borrowed; it is at any rate well told and merrily music-ed.
+
+The reader will do well to observe that this collection, which has
+already become immensely popular, and has furnished material for more
+than one excellent patriotic concert, is prepared solely for the benefit
+of the solders, _and that the proceeds of the sale of the book are all
+devoted to distributing it in the army_. All who wish to make a most
+acceptable little gift at a trifling price; all who are 'sending things'
+to the army; all who would secure an interesting specimen of the songs
+of the war, and, finally, all who would own a really excellent musical
+work, should send an order for the above mentioned to Messrs. Ticknor &
+Fields.
+
+
+     THE NATIONAL ALMANAC AND ANNUAL RECORD FOR 1863. 12mo, pp. 704.
+     Philadelphia: George W. Childs. New York: Charles T. Evans.
+
+If Dickens's illustrious statistician, Mr. Gradgrind, were in the flesh
+to-day, how he would gloat over this book! The 'facts' presented in its
+seven hundred double-columned pages would satisfy, even to repletion,
+his voracious cravings; and once crammed with them, he would go forth
+into society a walking cyclopedia of all that appertained to the civil,
+military, agricultural, industrial, financial, educational, charitable,
+and religious condition of these United States.
+
+But though we make no claim to belong to the Gradgrind family, we
+acknowledge with pleasure our gratification with this book. It has long
+been matter of reproach against us on the part of foreign writers on
+commerce and statistical science, that we produced no statistical works
+worthy the name. The publication of this work will forever put that
+reproach to silence. We have examined the book with care, and have been
+at a loss which most to admire, the patient and extraordinary labor
+which had brought together so vast a collection of important facts, or
+the complete and exhaustive treatment of every subject.
+
+It is a marked characteristic of the work that, while omitting nothing
+necessary to a full elucidation of the past condition of the country, it
+brings all its statistics up to the latest dates. The United States debt
+is given to December 1, 1862; the Government receipts and expenditures
+for the financial year 1862; the issues of the mint to the autumn of
+1862; the contributions of each State to the volunteer army to December,
+1862; the finances of most of the States to the same date; even the
+Pacific States being brought up to last autumn; and the condition of the
+Rebel army and finances to January 1, 1863. Such enterprise deserves,
+and must achieve success.
+
+Noticeable, too, for its completeness and thoroughness, is the 'Record
+of Events' of the war, occupying nearly eighty pages, and forming a
+continuous and admirable journal of the war up to the close of last
+year. In the States, also, the fulness and variety of detail of the
+finances, debts, banks, railroads (a new feature), educational
+institutions, charitable and correctional organizations, agriculture,
+manufactures, and military organization of each State, possess a deep
+interest to any man who desires to know the actual condition and
+resources of his country. We were particularly pleased with a series of
+diagrams, prepared by Prof. Gillespie of Union College, illustrating at
+a glance the changes which have taken place in the relative population
+of the different States, the relative proportion of increase of white
+and of slave population, and the effect produced by this upon different
+sections. We have not, at the late hour at which we write, time or room
+to indicate a tithe of the valuable features of this remarkable book; we
+can only say, that whoever expends the small sum necessary for its
+purchase, will most assuredly obtain an ample equivalent for his money.
+
+
+     THE ORPHEUS C. KERR PAPERS. Second Series. New York: Carleton, 413
+     Broadway. 1863.
+
+During the present decade the American public has welcomed almost
+annually a new humorist. Thus we have seen in rapid succession John
+Phoenix, Doesticks, Fanny Fern, and Artemus Ward enjoying
+extraordinary popularity, and then new 'lords of misrule' 'reigning in
+their stead.' The last popular favorite is 'Orpheus C. Kerr'--a name
+thinly disguising that of Office Seeker, and which is not indeed too
+well chosen, since in the volume before us little or nothing relative to
+the very suggestive subject of office-seeking, on the part of the author
+at least, is to be found. The book itself is, however, marvellously
+laugh provoking, abounding in the oddest conceits, strangest stories,
+and drollest extravaganzas in the most ultra American vein. If the men
+who best ridicule great failures in war and in politics, are the ones
+most to be dreaded, it must be admitted that 'Orpheus C. Kerr' is the
+sharpest thorn which has been as yet planted in the side of the 'Young
+Napoleons' of our army, whose ability seems to consist in building up
+the strength of the enemy by delay and in canvassing indirectly for the
+Presidency. There is no cause so good as to be without abuses, and the
+abuses which have crept into our management of the war are touched off
+in these papers as merrily as unmercifully. They have done 'yeoman's
+service' in the press, hitting all sides, but bearing most heavily on
+'Young Napoleon' and the _status quo_ Democracy. It cannot be denied
+that the humor of these sketches is often merely extravagant, sometimes
+harshly strained, and occasionally bare and thin enough in all
+conscience, while the stories of the Cosmopolite Club seem like mere
+'filling up' to 'make pages;' yet with all this there is more real wit,
+humor, and life-knowledge in this volume than would give tone and
+strength to half a dozen ordinary popular essayists of the Country
+Parson school. Extravagance is however to American narrative what it is
+to Arab conversation, something much less _outr�_ to those who are born
+to it than to strangers, who are unable to discount like the natives as
+fast as the sums total are set down. Making every allowance for every
+defect, there remains in 'Orpheus C. Kerr' a residuum of irresistible
+humor, provoking scores of hearty laughs, and many indications of a
+basis of thought and of literary ability which place him far in advance
+of the later writers of his school. He takes a wider range, too wide
+indeed at times, since he occasionally becomes 'Cockneyfied.' We wish
+that 'Villiam' and the Willis-y 'my boy' were less frequently mentioned.
+Yet as all this is atoned for by abundance of true American fun, we
+readily pardon such echoes, trusting that in his future writings our
+humorist will endeavor to be in all things truly original. He can be so
+by the very simple process of pruning.
+
+
+     POEMS. By THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH. New York: Carleton. 1863.
+
+Most of these very pleasant little strains of word-music and of graceful
+thought have been frequently brought before the American public, and
+become familiar favorites. They now reappear to advantage in a delicate
+blue-and-gold volume, with a medallion portrait of the poet.
+
+
+     MODERN WAR: Its Theory and Practice Illustrated from Celebrated
+     Campaigns and Battles. With Maps and Diagrams. By EMERIC SZABAD,
+     Captain U. S. A. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1863.
+
+An excellent work, of an eminently practical nature, which may be read
+with interest and profit by every one in a time when there
+are so few who do not assume to be more or less critical in the art of war.
+
+
+     THE PIRATES OF THE PRAIRIES; or, Adventures in the American Desert.
+     By GUSTAVE AIMARD. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson. New York: Frederic
+     A. Brady. 1863.
+
+A very trashy wildcat romance, highly spiced with sensation sentiment,
+"r-r-revenge," and other melo-dramatic attributes. Its author is well
+known as an extensive contributor to what may be called the
+Sadly-Neglected-Apprentice school of literature and of readers.
+
+
+     ANDREE DE TAVERNEY, or the Downfall of French Monarchy. By
+     ALEXANDER DUMAS. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson & Brothers. 1863.
+
+When we, on the publishers' authority, inform the reader that this is
+really 'the _final_ conclusion' of the 'Countess of Charny,' the
+'Memoirs of a Physician,' and a small library of other works, we shall
+doubtless send a thrill of joy to more than one heart. Incredible as it
+may appear, the Dumas factory, as _Maquet_ termed it, has actually
+finished one of its valuable historical series--unless indeed the
+director-in-chief should see fit to republish the long-forgotten first
+volume, as a subsequent final conclusion to this of 'Andree de
+Taverney.'
+
+
+     VERNER'S PRIDE; a Tale of Domestic Life. By Mrs. HENRY WOOD. In two
+     volumes. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson & Brothers. 1863.
+
+A decidedly English novel, of a type well known to our public, embracing
+few novelties of character, yet well written, with the story well told.
+It has, we believe, been so fortunate as to secure a wide circulation.
+
+
+
+
+EDITOR'S TABLE.
+
+
+It is a dangerous task for the editor of a monthly review, in times like
+these, to comment on what has been or is likely to be done by the army,
+when no one knows what a day may bring forth. But, as regards those of
+the enemy among us who are scheming to aid and abet their Southern
+friends, we may speak more confidently. These traitors, though they have
+of late cast off the mask, and no longer pretend to aid the
+Administration and the cause of the Union, are still obliged to move
+with the caution without which trachery and cowardice would soon perish.
+It is, however, a bitter and a humiliating thought that they are so
+openly active among us, that they hold meetings where the ruin of the
+country is calmly meditated, that they form clubs, that they stir up the
+mob of their degraded hangers-on to hurrah for JEFFERSON DAVIS in our
+streets, and that finally no amount of exposure and of denunciation in
+the patriotic press seems to have the slightest effect in attracting to
+them the punishment they deserve.
+
+The traitors of whom we speak are of two classes, the leaders and the
+dupes. The latter, careless of the fact that even if a _sudden_ peace
+could be brought about it must overwhelm the country in financial ruin,
+believe in a restitution of the _status quo ante bellum_. They think
+that their leaders will, in unison with DAVIS and his colleagues,
+reunite, annul Emancipation, disavow the acts of the Lincoln
+Administration, and re�stablish Slavery. Cotton is again to be king, and
+all go on as of old, save that New England is to be thrown out of the
+confederacy. They are encouraged in this belief by lying or cunningly
+managed letters from the South, and by assurances that the confederate
+leaders are secretly working to this end and aim. 'We got along very
+well before the war,' is their constant complaint, 'and we could do as
+well again, were it not for the Emancipationists.' Among the lukewarm,
+the cowardly, the meanly selfish and avaricious, and the habitual
+grumblers, such doctrines are readily made plausible. Those especially,
+who measure the propriety of carrying on a war solely by the amount of
+success which they desire, and who are incapable of great thoughts and
+principles, are easily duped by intriguing villany.
+
+The leaders of these dupes have no faith whatever in restoring the
+Union. They have no desire to restore it. Men like Fernando Wood hope
+from their very hearts for a complete disintegration--the more thorough,
+for them, the better. They could never expect to command the ship, and
+so they are willing to wreck her, in the hope of each securing a
+fragment. Ruined in character in the eyes of all honest men, their names
+a byword for treason, and in most cases for literal crimes, political
+outcasts of the stamp who are said to vibrate between the legislature
+and the penitentiary, these desperadoes are now working with all their
+might to mass the cowardice of the North into a body powerful enough to
+do collectively, that for which an individual has in all countries and
+in all ages been judged worthy the gallows. But for this war they must
+have been confined to representing the dangerous classes of our
+cities--the ignorance and vice which finds in them congenial leaders. As
+it is, they hope for wider fields and more absolute sway.
+
+There is reason to apprehend that the men who are really true to the
+Union do not appreciate the extent to which treason is working among us.
+Worse than all, there are many, who, while believing themselves true to
+the good cause, are, by constant grumbling and complaint, aiding the
+very worst form of disunion. Could we prevail with one prayer upon the
+heart of every Federal freeman, it would be to implore him in this hour
+of trial not to withold his warmest support from the Administration and
+to fall into the common weakness of fault-finding and despairing. Such
+enormous wars as this never have been ended in a few months; wars
+especially which involve the deepest antagonism of social principles in
+existence. And our winnings have been neither few nor light. The
+Southern Border States, with little exception, are now ours, and will
+inevitably be fully won in time: New Orleans is a pledge, with other
+important points, and the enemy admit that every Southern seaboard town
+is destined to be taken. Does this look like the wild boasting of the
+South two years ago, when the North was to be plundered, Washington
+taken, and the Free States trampled under the heel of a chivalry
+fiercely crying, _V� victis!_'--'Woe to the conquered!'? There is no
+danger now from the enemy: as he himself admits, two years more of the
+war would not, at the rate in which we progress, leave him a single
+State; and be it borne in mind that a _speedy_ return to peace is only
+to be purchased at the price of a terrible financial crisis.
+
+But we are in danger from the traitors _at home_. JEFFERSON DAVIS is
+less deadly to the Federal Union and less to be dreaded than the men who
+are scheming to make of New York a free city, and of every State and
+county a feudal principality.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The intentions of Louis Napoleon as regards Mexico are beginning to
+excite interest. Whatever they may be, there is one thing which it would
+be well for the French Emperor never to forget. He holds France simply
+as a pledge to the Revolution. So long as he remains true to the cause
+of liberty--and, despite names and circumstances, he has been truer to
+it than many suppose--he will remain in power. When he is false to it he
+will perish. It was through forgetting this that his uncle died at St.
+Helena--it was through forgetting this that Louis Philippe quitted Paris
+in a very citizenly but most un-kingly manner. The _bourgeoisie_ of
+France and the gossips of Paris may storm at the Federal Union,
+_�piciers_ may growl for our sugar, and operatives for cotton, but this
+class--on whom Louis Philippe made the mistake of solely relying, with a
+little help from the aristocracy--are not the men who guide the storms
+of revolution in France. The arch spirits of mischief are more secret,
+and of late years they have learned much. They are no longer so much
+inclined to Socialism, P�re Cab�t and 'national ateli�rs,' still less to
+guillotines and noyades. But they are firm as ever, as jealous of
+despotism as ever, and, for an oppressor, as powerful as ever. And we
+believe that this class of men are firmly attached to the great cause of
+progressive freedom as represented by the Federal States and by the
+present Administration. Every day sees the truth spreading in France,
+and with its extension goes a deeply seated interest in the abolition of
+slavery. France--unlike England--feels shame at the idea of being
+chronicled in history as aiding oppression. The Frenchman is not so
+enormously conceited, so pitiably vain as to believe, like the Briton,
+that a crime is a virtue when for _his_ own peculiar interest. Vain as
+the French may be, they have not quite come to _that_.
+
+It must be admitted that the French are a shrewd nation. We were wont to
+think of old that there was more spite than intelligence in the epithet
+by which they characterized John Bull as 'perfidious.' They were right,
+for time has shown us that Venice, in the full bloom of her night-shade
+iniquity and poniard policy, was never falser at heart than this great,
+brawling, boasting, beef-eating England--this 'merry England' of paupers
+and prisons, where one man in every eight is buried at public
+expense--this Mother England, which starves away annually half a million
+of emigrants--this Honest Old England, which floods the world with
+pick-pockets, burglars, and correspondents for the _Times_.
+
+It was a trifling thing which brought on the French Revolution of
+1848--the return of foreign refugees to Austria, and other significant
+indications of joining with the old powers in oppressing freedom. Let
+Louis Napoleon beware of an anti-American policy--for to every such
+policy there will be an opposition, with a spectre of the Revolution in
+the background.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When these remarks meet the eye of the reader, the infamous conduct of
+the drunken Delaware Southern-ape Senator, SAULSBURY, will in all
+probability have been forgotten. We have for so many years been so
+familiarized with the ribald or rowdy pranks of the chivalry, and of
+those more miserable wretches their Northern servants, that the mass of
+the public seems even yet quite willing to endure, for the poor payment
+of an apology, conduct which should anywhere have promptly consigned to
+imprisonment, at least, the guilty one. Not but that the apology of
+SAULSBURY was humble enough in all conscience. But it is time that our
+halls of legislation were thoroughly purified, now that 'chivalric'
+brigandage and the Southern system of personal retaliation no longer
+prevail. The first legislator who shall dare to draw a weapon in a place
+sacred to the councils of his country, should be permanently expelled
+from those councils, and made to feel by rigorous imprisonment, and
+life-long disfranchisement, the enormous infamy of his offence. We
+wonder that the English press treats us as a nation of boors and fools,
+and yet permit a representative on the floor of the Senate to set forth
+in his own person the worst of which a boor or fool is capable, and
+accept as full reparation a drunken-headaching apology!
+
+These are the days of reform, and we sincerely trust that the reform
+will extend to the conduct of all our representatives, especially in
+Congress. The man who shall dare to apply, not merely to the President,
+but to any fellow member, while in either House, any terms of personal
+abuse, should incur a punishment which would teach him for the future to
+keep a civil tongue in his head, and make him endeavor to assume in
+future, at least the outward deportment of a gentleman. The going armed
+into such an assembly should however be promptly visited with a penalty
+of the extremest severity. It is time that the North freed itself
+entirely of these Southern 'dead rabbits' of the Saulsbury stamp, and
+indicated by every means in its power its determination to progress in
+the path of justice, order, and civilization.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All contributions, letters, &c., intended for the editors of THE
+CONTINENTAL MAGAZINE, should be addressed to the care of JOHN F. TROW,
+Esquire, No. 50 Greene street, New York. Correspondents directing to Mr.
+LELAND are particularly requested to bear this address in mind, as that
+gentleman is no longer a resident of Boston.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We publish the poetical tale, THE LADY AND HER SLAVE, by an American
+lady, subscribing herself _Incognita_. This is a poem of great genius
+and power. Whilst it possesses the inspiration of poetry, it has all the
+merits of a truthful and most interesting tale, combined with a splendid
+intellectual argument against slavery. This poem unites the logic of
+Pope with the genius and poetical inspiration of Goldsmith. It is a
+tragedy, and might be transferred to the stage. We trust _Incognita_
+will continue her favors to THE CONTINENTAL.
+
+R. J. W.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The rise in specie and in exchange is, we observe, spoken of as
+'unprecedented'. The following extract from a work entitled, 'The
+British Empire in America,' written in 1740, shows that we are as yet
+far from having attained the differences in these respects:
+
+     'As to Money, they have none, Gold or Silver: About 50 Years ago
+     they had some coined at _Boston_; but there's not enough now for
+     Retailers. All Payments are in Province Bills, even so low as _Half
+     a Crown_; thus every Man's Money is his Pocket Book. This makes the
+     Course of Exchange so exorbitant, that 100_l._ in _London_ made out
+     lately 225_l._ in _New-England_; and if a Merchant sells his Goods
+     from _England_ at 220_l._ Advance upon 100_l._ in the Invoice, he
+     would be a Loser by the Bargain, considering the incidental Charges
+     on his Invoice.'
+
+So that after all, they had as great 'ups and downs' of old as do we of
+the present day.
+
+Apropos of the old book in question, it abounds in quaint bits of
+information, given in a dry, free and easy style seldom found at the
+present day in any work of the kind. Thus it tells us, among the
+anecdotes of ELLIOT the missionary, that an Indian in a religious
+conference asked how GOD could create man in his own image, since
+according to the second commandment it was forbidden to make any such
+image?
+
+'To qualify him for the Work he was going about, Mr _Elliot_ learnt the
+_Indian_ Language as barbarous as can come out of the Mouth of Man, as
+will be seen by these Instances:
+
+'_Nummatchekodtantamoonganunnonash_, is in English, _Our Lusts_; a Word
+that the Reverend Mr _Elliot_ must often have occasion to make Use of.
+As long as it is, we meet with a longer still:
+
+'_Kummogkodonattoottummoooctiteaongannunonash_, meaning Our Question.
+
+'_Gannunonash_' seems to be 'our,' because we find it in the End of the
+First Word, as well as the second, * * and this appears again in another
+Word:
+
+'_Noowomantammooonkanunnonash_, 'Our Loves.'
+
+'The longest of these _Indian_ Words is to be measured by the Inch, and
+reaches to near half a Foot; and if Mr _Elliot_ did put as many of these
+Words in a Sermon of his, as Mr _Peters_ put _English_ Words in one of
+his Sermons, everyone of them must have made a sizeable Book and have
+taken up three or four Hours in utterance.'
+
+The Peters referred to was the celebrated Hugh Peters, Cromwell's
+chaplain. Our author vindicates this clergyman from certain scandalous
+charges, declaring that he had asked of his daughter, Miss Peters, if
+they were so, which she had utterly denied! Less credulous is he as
+regarded 'William Pen' (with whom he seems to have been on terms of
+great personal intimacy), since he hints very broadly in one passage,
+that he put no faith whatever in a certain assertion of 'Pen' as to his
+own (Penn's) good behavior when amiably smiled on by a _belle sauvage_,
+who, as the French would say, was not savage at all. 'Scandal, scandal
+all,' we doubt not. There are gossipers in every age, tattlers in every
+corner of history, and who escapes them? Cato did not, Washington could
+not, and 'Mr Pen' even must fill his place with the great maligned. Let
+us trust that our incautious dip from the old work may not, suggest to
+any novel maker 'Penn and the Princess,--a Tale of the Olden Time.'
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following poem, which we find in the Philadelphia _Press_, is among
+the best of the many sad lyrics which the war has inspired. The music of
+the refrain is remarkable:
+
+
+DIRGE FOR A SOLDIER.
+
+By George H. Boker
+
+   Close his eyes; his work is done!
+     What to him is friend or foeman,
+   Rise of moon, or set of sun,
+     Hand of man, or kiss of woman?
+       Lay him low, lay him low,
+       In the clover or the snow:
+       What cares he? he cannot know:
+         Lay him low!
+
+   As man may, he fought his fight,
+     Proved his truth by his endeavor;
+   Let him sleep in solemn night,
+     Sleep forever and forever.
+       Lay him low, lay him low,
+       In the clover or the snow:
+       What cares he? he cannot know:
+         Lay him low!
+
+   Fold him in his country's stars;
+     Roll the drum and fire the volley!
+   What to him are all our wars,
+     What but death bemocking folly?
+       Lay him low, lay him low,
+       In the clover or the snow:
+       What cares he? he cannot know:
+         Lay him low!
+
+   Leave him to God's watching eye;
+     Trust him to the Hand that made him.
+   Mortal love weeps idly by:
+     God alone has power to aid him.
+       Lay him low, lay him low,
+       In the clover or the snow:
+       What cares he? he cannot know:
+         Lay him low!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Much has been said of the high price paid to opera singers. The
+celebrated BERLIOZ once reduced it to details in the following word:
+
+     'The first tenor,' he said, 'has 100,000 frcs. per annum, and he
+     sings for it about seven times during the month, or eighty-four
+     times during the year. This would be about 1,100 francs per
+     evening. Admitted then that his part would contain 1,100 notes or
+     syllables, the price of each syllable would be 1 franc.
+     Consequently in William Tell:
+
+   'Ma (1 fr.) presence (3 fr.) pourvous est peut etre un outrage (9 fr.)
+   Mathilde (3 fr.) mes pas indiscret (100 sous).
+   On os�e jusqu'a vous se frayer une passage! (13 fr.)
+
+     'These three lines therefore cost 34 francs. A great sum! Engaging
+     under these circumstances a Prima Donna, at the miserable pittance
+     of 40,000 francs, the answer of Mathilde amounts to much less, for
+     every syllable would then cost but 8 sous: but even that is not so
+     bad after all.
+
+     'We laugh,' adds Berlioz, 'but the theatres have to pay. They will
+     pay until the treasury is empty, and after that the 'Immortals'
+     will have to condescend to give singing lessons (i.e., those who
+     know enough for it), or to sing at public places with accompaniment
+     of one guitar, four candles, and a green carpet. After that we may
+     be able to construct the Temple of Music on a firmer basis.'
+
+At these rates, the old form of declaring that any thing went for 'a
+mere song,' would not say much for its cheapness. But if--as Berlioz
+seems to think--these high prices are to be regretted, we still cannot
+see how they are to be remedied. The public, for want of better
+amusement, keep up the opera, and the different opera houses keep up
+the prices by outbidding each other. When municipal governments shall
+recognize the fact that amusement is a constant quantity in the
+administration of a state, and provide first-class entertainments
+_gratis_ or at nominal rates, there will be much vice done away with and
+many rum shops closed--which would be bad, by the way, for the
+Democrato-Rum-elected Governor Seymour, for the whole alcoholic vote was
+cast in his favor. There will, we believe, come a time when the party of
+progress will urge an enlarged provision of education and recreation for
+the people, with the same earnestness which it now shows in forwarding
+Emancipation.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+England has by her Southern sympathy fairly put a serpent girdle of her
+treachery around the earth. For further particulars consult the
+following:
+
+
+TO JOHN BULL.
+
+   Oh don't you remember sweet Ireland, John Bull?
+     Green Erin beyond the blue sea?
+   And the patriots there whom you starved, hung, and shot,
+     Because they desired to be free.
+   On the lone heather wild, in the dark silent glen,
+     The peasant still shows you the graves
+   Of the heroes who fell in the year ninety-eight
+     And died ere they'd live as your slaves.
+
+   And don't you remember your own words, John Bull,
+     Of the Southern Confed--er--a--cie?
+   When you said in the _Times_, that your heart went of course
+   With a brave race which sought to be free.
+     Oh what do you think of Old Ireland, John Bull?
+     There's a race that's as brave as your own,
+   And one that would like very well to be free,
+     If you only would let it alone.
+
+   And don't you remember great India, John Bull?
+     With the Sepoys you blew from your guns,
+   And the insult and murder of Brahmins, John Bull,
+     For some outrage endured from their sons?
+   The outrage was proved a black lie, as you know,
+     A lie, as your own books declare:
+   Your hell-hounds of HAVELOCKS stirred up the war,
+     And what business had they to be there?
+
+   And don't you remember great China, John Bull,
+     Where you smeared yourself blacker with sin?
+   Where the Emperor tried to keep opium out,
+     And you fought to force opium in?
+   It was _Government_ opium from India, too,
+     Which poisons both body and soul;
+   You have fought against freedom with steel, Johnny Bull;
+     With the steel and the cord and the bowl.
+
+   And do you believe in a GOD, Johnny Bull,
+     Or _anything_ after the grave?
+   Then tell us what waits for the sinner who aids
+     The tyrant to trample the slave?
+   I'll not ask if you've faith in a Devil, John Bull:
+     One might think he were laid on the shelf,
+   To see you unpunished--but now I believe
+     That you are the False One himself.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We are indebted to a friend for the following tales of foraging, which
+are vouched for as authentic:
+
+     A company of the Two--th cavalry of volunteers, no matter in what
+     State, were out on a forage, with the usual orders to respect the
+     enemy's property. But coming on a plantation where chickens and
+     turkeys were dallying in the sunshine, the officer in command,
+     tired of pork and plaster-pies, alias hard biscuit, gave the boys
+     leave to club over as many of the 'two-legged things in feathers'
+     as they could conveniently come at. The result was that a good
+     number were despatched, and being tied together by the legs, were
+     slung over the pommel of the saddle of 'Benny,' an old _sabreur_,
+     who had frontiered it for years, been in more Indian fights than
+     you could shake a stick at, and could tell, if he wanted to, of
+     some high-old-hard times with these same Mdewakantonwar, Wahpekute,
+     Ihanktonwannas, and Minnikanyewazhipu red-skinned fiends.
+
+     Returning to camp, as ill luck would have it, they met the colonel
+     of their regiment riding out to a neighboring camp. Just before
+     they met him, in fact when they were nearly up to him, for a curve
+     in the road had hid him from sight till then, the officer in
+     command rode by Benny with the command:
+
+     'D--n it, man, why don't you sling those chickens the other side
+     your saddle? The colonel will see them, hanging that way.'
+
+     'Can't be done! got fourteen turkeys _there_ on a balance!'
+
+     By remarkably good fortune the colonel did not see the chickens, so
+     they and the turkeys were safely smuggled into camp, Benny getting
+     full credit for maintaining the balance of power, when the odds
+     were dead against him.
+
+Story ye second:
+
+     When the Forty-eleventh P.M. were camped near Boonesboro', what
+     time the rebels were driven out of Maryland, the colonel of the
+     said regiment duly issued orders that all provender taken by troops
+     under his command should be fairly paid for without defalcation for
+     value received. Now it happened one bright morning that the major
+     of the aforesaid regiment riding out near camp, saw a private
+     deliberately lift up what is known in Southern tongue as a 'rock,'
+     and throwing the same with great skill, instantly kill a small pig
+     that with half a dozen other small pigs were following their mother
+     at full speed away from the neighborhood of this same private.
+
+     The soldier, who was an Irishman, picked up the pig, and hiding it
+     under his army sack, was returning to camp, when, lifting up his
+     head, he saw before him the major, who, assuming his most solemn
+     look, thus spoke to him:
+
+     'What have you under your coat, there?'
+
+     'Shure it's an empty stomach, sirr!--and a small pig that's hurted
+     itself--poor little thing!--and I'm taking it home to mend its leg,
+     to be sure:--the poor crayture wud be after dying if left all alone
+     in the cold, the raw morning.'
+
+     The major dearly relished the joke, but discipline is discipline,
+     and there was but one way to overlook this breach of it: that was
+     to punish Paddy by giving him a three-mile walk down the road, and
+     over the fields back to camp, before he could bring his pig in.
+
+     'You say the pig is lame?' asked the officer.
+
+     'Shure, that's the truth, sirr; and I'm afther belaving it'll niver
+     be able to run any more at all, at all: be the same token its
+     tail's out of curl entirely; and had'nt I better be afther taking
+     it home than letting it die like a haythin in the road here?'
+
+     'Do you see that old sow down the road there with those other pigs?
+     you follow her home at _once_, sir, and leave the lame pig
+     _there_!'
+
+     Saying which, the major continued his ride, and the Irishman duly
+     followed the old sow to--a turn in the road, when he 'obeyed
+     orders,' and left the lame pig 'at home,' where that night at least
+     one mess had roast pig with '_ubi_ beans _ibi patria_,' sauce at
+     discretion.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TO
+
+THE MARINERS OF ENGLAND
+
+ON BOARD THE PRINCESS ROYAL
+
+   Ye Mariners of England,
+     That shame your country's fame;
+   That peddle chains to bind the slave,
+     In the blood-royal name!
+   Your glorious standard hide away,
+     Hoist slave flags in its place,
+   And steal o'er the deep,
+     With our Yankee ships in chase:
+   And ye peddlers, shun the starry flag,
+     While the Yankee cruisers chase.
+
+   The spirits of your fathers
+     Shall start from every wave!
+   For the ocean was their field of fame,
+     And ye insult their grave.
+   Where they like bold men fought and fell,
+     Ye take a part that's base,
+   And steal o'er the deep
+     With our Yankee ships in chase:
+   And ye peddlers, shun the starry flag,
+     While the Yankee cruisers chase.
+
+   Britannia needeth cotton,
+     And so your honor'll sleep;
+   Your market's o'er the mounting wave,
+     Your greed of gain lies deep.
+   Your sovereign bids you walk upright;--
+     Her fair fame you disgrace,
+   And steal o'er the deep,
+     With our Yankee ships in chase:
+   And ye peddlers, shun the starry flag,
+     While our Yankee cruisers chase.
+
+   The meteor flag of England
+     Should redder burn for shame,
+   When it waves o'er chains for slaves
+     In Princess Royal's name.
+   Mourn, mourn, ye ocean hucksters!
+     Your goods and ships are lost:
+   To the shame of your name
+     Get you home and count the cost:
+   For your Princess Royal's gone for good;
+     Get you home and count the cost.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+  The
+  Continental Monthly.
+
+The readers of the CONTINENTAL are aware of the important
+position it has assumed, of the influence which it exerts, and of the
+brilliant array of political and literary talent of the highest order
+which supports it. No publication of the kind has, in this country, so
+successfully combined the energy and freedom of the daily newspaper with
+the higher literary tone of the first-class monthly; and it is very
+certain that no magazine has given wider range to its contributors, or
+preserved itself so completely from the narrow influences of party or of
+faction. In times like the present, such a journal is either a power in
+the land or it is nothing. That the CONTINENTAL is not the
+latter is abundantly evidenced _by what it has done_--by the reflection
+of its counsels in many important public events, and in the character
+and power of those who are its staunchest supporters.
+
+Though but little more than a year has elapsed since the
+CONTINENTAL was first established, it has during that time
+acquired a strength and a political significance elevating it to a
+position far above that previously occupied by any publication of the
+kind in America. In proof of which assertion we call attention to the
+following facts:
+
+1. Of its POLITICAL articles republished in pamphlet form, a
+single one has had, thus far, a circulation of _one hundred and six
+thousand_ copies.
+
+2. From its LITERARY department, a single serial novel, "Among
+the Pines," has, within a very few months, sold nearly _thirty-five
+thousand_ copies. Two other series of its literary articles have also
+been republished in book form, while the first portion of a third is
+already in press.
+
+No more conclusive facts need be alleged to prove the excellence of the
+contributions to the CONTINENTAL, or their _extraordinary
+popularity;_ and its conductors are determined that it shall not fall
+behind. Preserving all "the boldness, vigor, and ability" which a
+thousand journals have attributed to it, it will greatly enlarge its
+circle of action, and discuss, fearlessly and frankly, every principle
+involved in the great questions of the day. The first minds of the
+country, embracing the men most familiar with its diplomacy and most
+distinguished for ability, are among its contributors; and it is no mere
+"flattering promise of a prospectus" to say that this "magazine for the
+times" will employ the first intellect in America, under auspices which
+no publication ever enjoyed before in this country.
+
+While the CONTINENTAL will express decided opinions on the
+great questions of the day, it will not be a mere political journal:
+much the larger portion of its columns will be enlivened, as heretofore,
+by tales, poetry, and humor. In a word, the CONTINENTAL will be
+found, under its new staff of Editors, occupying a position and
+presenting attractions never before found in a magazine.
+
+
+TERMS TO CLUBS.
+
+  Two copies for one year,                    Five dollars.
+  Three copies for one year,                   Six dollars.
+  Six copies for one year,                  Eleven dollars.
+  Eleven copies for one year,                Twenty dollars.
+  Twenty copies for one year,            Thirty-six dollars.
+                           PAID IN ADVANCE
+
+_Postage, Thirty-six cents a year_, to be paid BY THE
+SUBSCRIBER.
+
+SINGLE COPIES.
+
+Three dollars a year, IN ADVANCE. _Postage paid by the
+Publisher_.
+
+  JOHN F. TROW, 50 Greene St., N. Y.,
+  PUBLISHER FOR THE PROPRIETORS.
+
+[Illustration: pointing finger] As an Inducement to new subscribers, the
+Publisher offers the following liberal premiums:
+
+[Illustration: pointing finger] Any person remitting $3, in advance,
+will receive the magazine from July, 1862, to January, 1864, thus
+securing the whole of Mr. KIMBALL'S and Mr. KIRKE'S new serials, which
+are alone worth the price of subscription. Or, if preferred, a
+subscriber can take the magazine for 1863 and a copy of "Among the
+Pines," or of "Undercurrents of Wall Street," by R. B. KIMBALL, bound in
+cloth, or of "Sunshine in Thought," by CHARLES GODFREY LELAND (retail
+price, $1. 25.) The book to be sent postage paid.
+
+[Illustration: pointing finger] Any person remitting $4.50, will receive
+the magazine from its commencement, January, 1862, to January, 1864,
+thus securing Mr. KIMBALL'S "Was He Successful? "and Mr. KIRKE'S "Among
+the Pines," and "Merchant's Story," and nearly 3,000 octavo pages of the
+best literature in the world. Premium subscribers to pay their own
+postage.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+[Illustration: THE FINEST FARMING LANDS WHEAT CORN COTTON FRUITS &
+VEGETABLES]
+
+~EQUAL TO ANY IN THE WORLD!!!~
+
+MAY BE PROCURED
+
+~At FROM $8 to $12 PER ACRE,~
+
+Near Markets, Schools, Railroads, Churches, and all the blessings of
+Civilization.
+
+1,200,000 Acres, in Farms of 40, 80, 120, 160 Acres and upwards, in
+ILLINOIS, the Garden State of America.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Illinois Central Railroad Company offer, ON LONG CREDIT, the
+beautiful and fertile PRAIRIE LANDS lying along the whole line of their
+Railroad. 700 MILES IN LENGTH, upon the most Favorable Terms for
+enabling Farmers, Manufacturers, Mechanics and Workingmen to make for
+themselves and their families a competency, and a HOME they can call
+THEIR OWN, as will appear from the following statements:
+
+ILLINOIS.
+
+Is about equal in extent to England, with a population of 1,722,666, and
+a soil capable of supporting 20,000,000. No State in the Valley of the
+Mississippi offers so great an inducement to the settler as the State of
+Illinois. There is no part of the world where all the conditions of
+climate and soil so admirably combine to produce those two great
+staples, CORN and WHEAT.
+
+CLIMATE.
+
+Nowhere can the Industrious farmer secure such immediate results from
+his labor as on these deep, rich, loamy soils, cultivated with so much
+ease. The climate from the extreme southern part of the State to the
+Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad, a distance of nearly 200
+miles, is well adapted to Winter.
+
+WHEAT, CORN, COTTON, TOBACCO.
+
+Peaches, Pears, Tomatoes, and every variety of fruit and vegetables is
+grown in great abundance, from which Chicago and other Northern markets
+are furnished from four to six weeks earlier than their immediate
+vicinity. Between the Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis Railway and the
+Kankakee and Illinois Rivers, (a distance of 115 miles on the Branch,
+and 136 miles on the Main Trunk,) lies the great Corn and Stock raising
+portion of the State.
+
+THE ORDINARY YIELD
+
+of Corn is from 60 to 80 bushels per acre. Cattle, Horses, Mules, Sheep
+and Hogs are raised here at a small cost, and yield large profits. It is
+believed that no section of country presents greater inducements for
+Dairy Farming than the Prairies of Illinois, a branch of farming to
+which but little attention has been paid, and which must yield sure
+profitable results. Between the Kankakee and Illinois Rivers, and
+Chicago and Dunleith, (a distance of 56 miles on the Branch and 147
+miles by the Main Trunk,) Timothy Hay, Spring Wheat, Corn, &c., are
+produced in great abundance.
+
+AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.
+
+The Agricultural products of Illinois are greater than those of any
+other State. The Wheat crop of 1861 was estimated at 35,000,000 bushels,
+while the Corn crop yields not less than 140,000,000 bushels besides the
+crop of Oats, Barley, Rye, Buckwheat, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes,
+Pumpkins, Squashes, Flax, Hemp, Peas, Clover, Cabbage, Beets, Tobacco,
+Sorgheim, Grapes, Peaches, Apples, &c., which go to swell the vast
+aggregate of production in this fertile region. Over Four Million tons
+of produce were sent out the State of Illinois during the past year.
+
+STOCK RAISING.
+
+In Central and Southern Illinois uncommon advantages are presented for
+the extension of Stock raising. All kinds of Cattle, Horses, Mules,
+Sheep, Hogs, &c., of the best breeds, yield handsome profits; large
+fortunes have already been made, and the field is open for others to
+enter with the fairest prospects of like results. Dairy Farming also
+presents its inducements to many.
+
+CULTIVATION OF COTTON.
+
+The experiments in Cotton culture are of very great promise. Commencing
+in latitude 39 deg. 30 min. (see Mattoon on the Branch, and Assumption
+on the Main Line), the Company owns thousands of acres well adapted to
+the perfection of this fibre. A settler having a family of young
+children, can turn their youthful labor to a most profitable account in
+the growth and perfection of this plant.
+
+THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD
+
+Traverses the whole length of the State, from the banks of the
+Mississippi and Lake Michigan to the Ohio. As its name imports, the
+Railroad runs through the centre of the State, and on either side of the
+road along its whole length lie the lands offered for sale.
+
+CITIES, TOWNS, MARKETS, DEPOTS.
+
+There are Ninety-eight Depots on the Company's Railway, giving about one
+every seven miles. Cities, Towns and Villages are situated at convenient
+distances throughout the whole route, where every desirable commodity
+may be found as readily as in the oldest cities of the Union, and where
+buyers are to be met for all kinds of farm produce.
+
+EDUCATION.
+
+Mechanics and working-men will find the free school system encouraged by
+the State, and endowed with a large revenue for the support of the
+schools. Children can live in sight of the school, the college, the
+church, and grow up with the prosperity of the leading State in the
+Great Western Empire.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PRICES AND TERMS OF PAYMENT--ON LONG CREDIT.
+
+  80 acres at $10 per acre, with interest at 6 per ct. annually
+  on the following terms:
+
+  Cash payment                 $48 00
+
+  Payment in one year           48 00
+     "    in two years          48 00
+     "    in three years        48 00
+     "    in four years        236 00
+     "    in five years        224 00
+     "    in six years         212 00
+
+
+  40 acres, at $10 00 per acre:
+
+  Cash payment                 $24 00
+
+  Payment in one year           24 00
+     "    in two years          24 00
+     "    in three years        24 00
+     "    in four years        118 00
+     "    in five years        112 00
+     "    in six years         106 00
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+   Number 16.                  25 Cents.
+
+THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY.
+
+DEVOTED TO Literature and National Policy.
+
+
+APRIL, 1863.
+
+
+NEW YORK: JOHN F. TROW 50 GREENE STREET (FOR THE PROPRIETORS).
+
+HENRY DEXTER AND SINCLAIR TOUSEY. WASHINGTON, D.C.: FRANCK TAYLOR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CONTENTS.--No. XVI.
+
+   The Wonders of Words,                                             385
+
+   The Chech,                                                        395
+
+   Pictures from the North,                                          398
+
+   The New Rasselas,                                                 404
+
+   The Chained River.  By Charles Godfrey Leland,                    410
+
+   How the War affects Americans. By Hon. F. P. Stanton,             411
+
+   Promoted,                                                         420
+
+   Henrietta and Vulcan. By Delia M. Colton,                         421
+
+   Ethel. By Martha Walker Cook,                                     435
+
+   The Skeptics of the Waverley Novels. By Charles Godfrey Leland,   439
+
+   A Merchant's Story. By Edmund Kirke,                              451
+
+   A Chapter on Wonders. By Perth Granton,                           461
+
+   The Return.  By Edward Sprague Rand, jr.,                         464
+
+   The Union. By Hon. R. J. Walker,                                  465
+
+   Down in Tennessee,                                                469
+
+   Poetry and Poetical Selections,                                   474
+
+   Flag of our Sires. By Hon. R. J. Walker,                          480
+
+   A Fancy Sketch,                                                   482
+
+   Our Present Position; its Dangers and its Duties,                 488
+
+   The Complaining Bore,                                             496
+
+   Literary Notices,                                                 500
+
+   Editors' Table,                                                   503
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+'MY SOUTHERN FRIENDS,' by the author of 'Among the Pines,' is just
+issued from the press of G. W. CARLETON, 413 Broadway, N. Y. Price, $l,
+cloth; 75 cts., paper covers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by JAMES R.
+GILMORE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United
+States for the Southern District of New York.
+
+
+JOHN F. TROW, PRINTER.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3,
+March 1863, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTNENTAL MONTHLY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25191-8.txt or 25191-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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+
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+University Digital Collections)
+
+
+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
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+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol III, No III, by Various.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
+<!--
+    p {  margin-top: .75em;
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+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March
+1863, 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: The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March 1863
+       Devoted To Literature And National Policy
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: April 27, 2008 [EBook #25191]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTNENTAL MONTHLY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Joshua Hutchinson and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by Cornell
+University Digital Collections)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<h2>THE</h2>
+
+<h1>CONTINENTAL MONTHLY:</h1>
+
+<h4>DEVOTED TO</h4>
+
+<h2>Literature and National Policy.</h2>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Vol.</span> III.&mdash;MARCH, 1863.&mdash;No. III.</h3>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3>CONTENTS</h3>
+
+
+
+
+<div class='centered'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#TURKEY">TURKEY.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#FALSE_ESTIMATIONS">FALSE ESTIMATIONS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_BLUE_HANDKERCHIEF">THE BLUE HANDKERCHIEF.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#GOLD">GOLD.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#LAST_WORDS">LAST WORDS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#PARTING">PARTING</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#A_MERCHANTS_STORY">A MERCHANT'S STORY.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_CAPTAIN_OF_63_TO_HIS_MEN">THE CAPTAIN OF '63 TO HIS MEN.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_VISION_OF_THE_MONK_GABRIEL">THE VISION OF THE MONK GABRIEL.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_CENTURY_OF_INVENTIONS">THE CENTURY OF INVENTIONS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_LADY_AND_HER_SLAVE">THE LADY AND HER SLAVE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#FOR_AND_AGAINST">FOR AND AGAINST.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#EUROPEAN_OPINION">EUROPEAN OPINION.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_HUGUENOTS_OF_VIRGINIA">THE HUGUENOTS OF VIRGINIA.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#TO-MORROW">TO-MORROW!</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#MONTGOMERY_IN_SECESSION_TIME">MONTGOMERY IN SECESSION TIME.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#SHAKSPEARE_FOR_1863">SHAKSPEARE FOR 1863.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_UNION">THE UNION.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_SOLDIERS_BURIAL">THE SOLDIER'S BURIAL.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#LITERARY_NOTICES">LITERARY NOTICES.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#EDITORS_TABLE">EDITOR'S TABLE.</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="TURKEY" id="TURKEY"></a>TURKEY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The decline of the Turkish Empire has furnished an eloquent theme for
+historians, who have ever made it the 'point and commendation of their
+tale.' Judging from its decline, they have predicted its fall. Half a
+century ago, the historian of the middle ages expected with an assurance
+that 'none can deem extravagant,' the approaching subversion of the
+Ottoman power. Although deprived of some of its richest possessions and
+defeated in many a well-fought field, the house of Othman still
+stands&mdash;amid crumbling monarchies and subjugated countries; the crescent
+still glitters on the Bosphorus, and still the 'tottering arch of
+conquest spans the ample region from Bagdad to Belgrade.'</p>
+
+<p>Yet, how sadly changed is Turkey from her former self&mdash;how varied the
+fortunes of her classic fields! The physical features of the country are
+the same as in the days of Solyman the Magnificent; the same noble
+rivers water the fertile valleys, and the same torrents sweep down the
+mountain sides; the waves of the &AElig;gean and Mediterranean wash the same
+shores, fertile in vines and olive trees; the same heaven smiles over
+the tombs of the storied brave&mdash;but here no longer is the abode of the
+rulers and lawgivers of one half the world.</p>
+
+<p>It has been said, and with some degree of truth, that the Turks are
+encamped, not settled in Europe. In their political and social
+institutions they have never comported themselves as if they anticipated
+to make it their continuing home. Their oriental legends relate how the
+belief arose in the very hour of conquest that the standard of the Cross
+should at some future day be carried to the Bosphorus, and that the
+European portion of the empire would he regained by Christians. From
+this superstitious belief they selected the Asiatic shore for the burial
+of true Mussulmans; nor was it altogether a fanciful belief, for in the
+sudden rise of Russia, Turkey foresaw the harbinger of her fall, and
+recognized in Muscovite warriors the antagonists of fate.</p>
+
+<p>A nation to be long-lived must rise higher and higher in the scale of
+civilization; must approach nearer and nearer its meridian, but never
+culminate. The Athenians reached the zenith of their glory in the age of
+Pericles, and lost in fifty years what they had acquired in centuries.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>The Turks attained their meridian greatness in the reign of Solyman the
+Magnificent&mdash;from which time dates their decline.</p>
+
+<p>If we make a comparison between Turkey and her formidable neighbor,
+Russia, we shall find that the latter adopted, while the former resisted
+reforms. Turkey was in the fulness of her power when Russia had not yet
+a name. The spirit of the Ottomans was remarkably exclusive. They
+regarded themselves as a separate and distinct people; they were
+conquerors, and as such thought themselves a superior race&mdash;men who were
+to teach and not to learn. In their intercourse with other nations, they
+borrowed nothing, and out of themselves looked for nothing. Their
+feeling of national glory was not extinguished by national degradation,
+but cherished through ages of slavery and shame. But the world is a
+world of progress. A nation cannot remain stationary; she must advance
+or retrograde. Turkey is not what she was, while Russia, with the rest
+of Christendom, has advanced; her faults grew with her strength, but did
+not die with her decay. It will not be sufficient for her merely to
+regain her former power; she must overtake Christendom in the progress
+made during her decadence. Her spirit of vitality is not yet extinct; it
+wants guidance and development to strengthen and elevate it. There is
+still hope of reforming the Turkish empire without that baptism of blood
+which many have urged and are still urging. Indeed, Lord Palmerston
+declared in Parliament that Turkey has made a more rapid advance and
+been improved more during the last ten years (he made this statement in
+1854, and Turkey has been rapidly progressing since) than any other
+country in Europe.</p>
+
+<p>Before considering the question of reform, it will be necessary to take
+a cursory view of Turkish history and character.</p>
+
+<p>While the monarchs of Constantinople were waging war with Persia, and
+both empires were tottering; while the Christian religion gave rise to
+different sects, hating each other with intense and fanatical hatred, a
+silent power was rising among the Turks, which was destined to subvert
+empires and found a new religion. Their original seat was among the
+Altai mountains, where they were employed by their masters in working
+iron mines. They rose in rebellion, threw off their allegiance, and made
+incursions into Persia and China, proving themselves formidable enemies.
+From being a weak and enslaved people they became the allies and
+conquerors of the Byzantine emperors. 'With the Koran in one hand,' says
+Macaulay, 'and the sword in the other, they went forth conquering and
+converting eastward to the Bay of Bengal, and westward to the Pillars of
+Hercules.' They became a terror to the nations that had beheld with
+contempt their rising greatness. Amid the expiring glories of the Roman
+world they made Constantinople the capital of their empire. It was all
+that the oriental imagination could desire. Rendered by its
+fortifications impregnable, and situated on the Bosphorus, whose dark
+blue waters flow between shores of unrivalled beauty, where nature and
+art had reared their grandest monuments, it surpassed in wealth and
+grandeur Nineveh and Babylon.</p>
+
+<p>From this stronghold, which had been the cradle of Christianity, and
+which had witnessed the dying struggle of the Roman empire, the
+conquerors, maddened with the victories and crowned with the wealth
+which years of perpetual war had heaped upon them, mustered their armies
+and sallied forth. They subjugated many countries, but copied none of
+their virtues; and to-day their degenerate descendants still retain most
+of their original traits of character. Their religious sense is deep,
+but theirs is a religion which blunts and stupefies the intellectual
+faculties, and makes man fit only to perform a score of prostrations
+each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> day. It inspires courage in war, but it also teaches blind
+resignation to defeat and disgrace: it teaches morality, but sensuality
+and ferocity are not inconsistent with its doctrines. Eat, drink,
+smoke&mdash;indulge all the passions to-day, for immortality begins
+to-morrow! No Turk is so high that he has not a master, none so low that
+he has not a slave; the grand vizier kisses the sultan's foot, the pasha
+kisses the vizier's, the bey the pasha's, and so on. Yet their many
+virtues half redeem their faults. They are proverbial for their
+hospitality, and charity, which 'covereth a multitude of sins,' is an
+oriental virtue. They have, too, great love of nationality. The beggar
+who seeks alms of the Turk with cries and entreaties, will not ask a
+single para of the Frank (a name applied to all foreigners).</p>
+
+<p>Turkey in Europe, though smaller in extent than the Asiatic division of
+the empire, is by far the wealthier and more important. It extends from
+Russia to the Adriatic, and from Hungary to the Euxine sea, the command
+of which it shares jointly with Russia. The Straits of Constantinople,
+the Dardanelles, and the Sea of Marmora are free to all friendly
+nations. The situation of the country, its numerous and safe harbors,
+are all favorable to commerce. There is every variety of climate, and
+the soil in every part of the empire is fertile, and, when cultivated,
+yields productions in the greatest abundance. The agricultural, like the
+manufacturing industry, owing to the indolence of the people, is much
+neglected. This indolence is, in a great measure, the result of
+oppression. Before Russia extended her protection over the provinces,
+the Turks left agriculture to their tributaries, whom, when wealthy and
+prosperous, they plundered.</p>
+
+<p>Let us now consider the causes which led to the decline of the empire.
+In the reign of Solyman, poetry, science, and art flourished. New
+privileges were conferred upon the ministers of religion; the
+Janissaries received increased pay; the coffers of the empire were
+filled to overflowing; the condition of the rayas was ameliorated;
+security to life, honor, and property was given to all, without
+distinction of creed or race. But even then there were causes at work
+destined to effect a decline. The sultan in person was ever at the head
+of his troops. Thus the vizier, or prime minister, who remained in the
+capital, became, by degrees, a more influential personage than 'the
+grand seignior' himself. The intrigues of the eunuchs in the imperial
+harem began to exert their baneful influences on the administration. The
+seraglio&mdash;in which many hundred females are immured, the most beautiful
+that can be found in the contiguous realms of Europe and Asia, wherever
+the Turk bears sway&mdash;from being the most beautiful appendage, became the
+moving spring of the Ottoman Porte. The inmates formed a faction hostile
+to the ministers of religion. The administration was transferred to
+Greeks, Jews, and Armenians, who filled the treasury of the sultan and
+enriched themselves by impoverishing the people, who, since they could
+no longer enjoy the fruits of their labor, became indolent. The army was
+more eager for booty and captives than for glory; slaves were
+multiplied; the higher classes revelled in wealth and luxury, while the
+poorer classes with difficulty obtained a livelihood.</p>
+
+<p>It would be strange, indeed, if in an empire so extensive and with an
+immense and motley population, we did not find it difficult to introduce
+reforms, and instruct the people in the arts of more civilized nations,
+and remove old abuses, guarded by the fanaticism of the clergy.
+Political reforms can be made only by those in high places of authority;
+and to be sanctioned by the prejudiced and infatuated Ottoman they must
+assume the garb of religion. The sultan himself, wielding the sceptre
+over millions of subjects, uniting in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> his own person all the powers of
+the state, claiming to reign by divine commission, and profanely styling
+himself the shadow of God&mdash;even he dares not venture to vary one iota
+from the teachings of the Koran and the Sunnah.</p>
+
+<p>Selim III was the first royal reformer. While Europe was shaken to its
+very centre, and the continental monarchs trembled on their thrones, he
+applied himself assiduously to those civil and military reforms, which
+his successors promoted, and without which Turkey could not have
+maintained her position as a European power. Selim made a new
+organization of the army, made innovations in the judicial and
+administrative branches of the government, changed the system of
+taxation, and gave a decidedly new organization to the divan, where
+reform was most needed. He also attempted to make innovations in the
+financial department, but by depreciating the coin, in order to fill an
+exhausted treasury, signally failed. He deposed the then reigning
+hospodars of the Moldo-Wallachian provinces, and established others more
+favorable to his work of reform. Russia and England remonstrated at this
+measure, and war was declared. The Turkish army was defeated and driven
+across the Danube. The Janissaries, ignorantly attributing their defeat
+to Selim's reforms in military discipline, rose in rebellion. The
+well-meant but too mild sultan fell a victim to their violence, and was
+succeeded by Mustapha, who had instigated the insurgents to revolt. His
+short reign is signalized by the vigorous measures he took to destroy
+Selim's reforms. Shortly after his accession to the throne, the defeat
+of the Turkish fleet by the Russians spread consternation and terror
+through the capital. It was at this critical juncture that an Asiatic
+pasha, a friend of the deposed sultan, advanced with a powerful army,
+and laid siege to Constantinople, which yielded to him after a vigorous
+resistance of one year. Mahmoud ascended the throne. From Selim, his
+cousin, he had learned the lamentable condition of the empire and the
+necessity of reform. He had no sooner ascended the throne, than the
+Janissaries began to manifest a feverish anxiety for revolt. No time was
+to be lost; and Mahmoud acted with that energy which was one of the few
+redeeming traits of his character. Mustapha, the murderer of Selim and
+the destroyer of the work of a lifetime, was put to death; his son and
+wives shared his fate. Mahmoud was now firmly established. He was the
+last scion of the Othman race, and as such was vested with <i>sacrosancta
+potestas</i>. He resolved to annihilate the unruly corps and anathematize
+their name. He engaged the services of their aga, or commander-in-chief,
+to whom he made known his plans. His next step was to issue an order
+commanding each regiment to furnish one hundred and fifty men to be
+drilled after the manner of European soldiers. The friends of Mahmoud
+asked: 'Is he mad?' The soldiers exclaimed: 'Bismillah! he wants to make
+infidels of us. Does he think we are no better than infidel dogs?' The
+Janissaries reversed their kettles (the signal of revolt) in the
+Byzantine hippodrome, and calling upon their patron saint, proceeded to
+attack the royal palace. But Mahmoud was prepared to receive them. All
+his other troops, artillery, marines, and infantry, were under arms and
+at his command. The ulemas pronounced a curse of eternal dissolution
+upon the insurgents. Mahmoud unfurled the sacred standard of the
+prophet, and called on his people for assistance. A hundred cannon
+opened fire upon their barracks, and in an hour twenty-five thousand
+Janissaries were mowed down by grapeshot and scimitars. Their bodies
+broke the lingering fast of the hungry dogs, or were cast into the
+Bosphorus, and hurried by its rapid currents into the Sea of Marmora.
+The annihilation of the Janissaries took place in 1826.</p>
+
+<p>It is more than probable that Mah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>moud could have effected a salutary
+reform in the military system without resorting to extreme violence. He
+was naturally of a cruel disposition, and was also deficient in prudence
+and moderation. He gave the Janissaries cause to revolt; he made
+frivolous innovations in their long-cherished customs, by commanding
+them to shave their beards and forbidding them to wear the turban, a
+beautiful headdress, an ornament at once national and religious. These
+measures excited the disgust of all 'true believers,' while his enemies
+called him an infidel, and his warmest supporters and the strongest
+advocates of reform despaired of success. Innovations are expedient only
+when they remove evil, and when men are prepared to receive them.
+Command a Turk to shave his beard&mdash;by which he swears&mdash;the idol of his
+life. As well bid him cut off his right arm or pluck out an eye&mdash;he
+would obey one as soon as the other. The impolicy of changing the
+customs and dress of a half-civilized, warlike nation, has been made
+obvious in many instances&mdash;none more impressive than the mutiny of the
+Anglo-Indian army at Velore in 1806.</p>
+
+<p>Mahmoud in destroying the Janissaries took for his model Peter the
+Great. Never were two sovereigns more unlike each other. Peter, generous
+and humane, leaving his throne and travelling in disguise to educate
+himself, stands in bold contrast with the parsimonious and cruel sultan.
+Moreover, Mahmoud's was a more difficult undertaking. The Strelitzes
+whom the czar annihilated were unsupported, were famous by no
+illustrious victory, and had not an enthusiastic religious feeling. The
+Janissaries, on the other hand, had strong family interests; they, too,
+had decided the fate of the empire at the battle of Varna, where their
+bravery established the Ottoman power, whose brightest triumphs were
+clustered around their names; they had fought many a bloody battle, and
+had never turned their backs to the foe; their leader was chosen from
+their own ranks, and no nobility controlled their ambition or prevented
+them from receiving the honor due to enterprise and valor; they held the
+sultan in check; the ulemas gave sanction to their laws, and they in
+turn sustained the authority of the ulemas with their swords. As long as
+they experienced no change in their discipline and customs they were
+invincible. But they too had participated in the universal degeneracy.
+Like the Pr&aelig;torian bands of Rome, they had become the absolute masters
+of the empire. They pulled down and set up sultans at their will; their
+valor had departed, but their unconquerable pride remained as part of
+their heritage. Their ranks were filled with crowds of Greeks, Jews, and
+Moslems, without discipline and without order. Many who had purchased
+the privilege of being numbered in this formidable body, lived outside
+of the barracks, and assembled only on pay day or in times of tumult and
+rebellion. They despised all laws, civil and religious, and were a
+constant source of annoyance to the people, whose lives and property
+were at their mercy. Such were the subjects upon whom Mahmoud was to
+operate. In the destruction of the Strelitzes and the Janissaries, Peter
+and Mahmoud may be compared to two physicians: one practises on a
+healthy savage, while the other attempts to cut out a malignant cancer
+reaching the vitals, from the pampered sensualist. In annihilating these
+troops, as in his other reforms, Mahmoud began where he should have
+ended his labors; he mistook the end for the means.</p>
+
+<p>Had he stopped with this act of violence, his supporters might defend
+him on the doubtful ground of expediency; but he did not stop here. For
+centuries the tyranny of the sultans had been restrained by the
+derebeys, or lords of the valleys. They had been confirmed in the
+possession of their lands by Mohammed II, from which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> time they had
+continued to pay tribute to the sultan, and furnished him with quotas of
+troops. The sultan had no control over their lives or property. The
+subjects who tilled the productive lands of the valleys were suitably
+rewarded for their labor. The happiest and wealthiest peasants of the
+empire were found among the vassals of the beys, to whom they showed
+great devotion. These feudal lords, at a moment's warning, could summon
+twenty thousand men before their palace gates. They furnished the
+greater part of the sultan's cavalry force in war; and, unlike the
+pashas, had never raised the standard of rebellion; they had never
+wished for revolutions, and had never sanctioned insurrections. The
+possession of their property was guaranteed to them by inheritance, and
+they had no need of money with which to bribe the Sublime Porte.</p>
+
+<p>Mahmoud was bent on depriving them of their wealth and curtailing their
+privileges. They were rich, did not bribe him, and held hereditary
+possessions. These were unpardonable crimes in the sight of this
+exemplary reformer. The beys, who never dealt in treachery, were
+unsuspicious of others, and fell an easy prey. The peasants ceased to
+cultivate the lands from which they could no longer profit; and many of
+the wealthiest possessions became desolate. We must not think it
+strange, therefore, that the military power was prostrated, when, after
+having annihilated the Janissaries, Mahmoud deprived the derebeys of
+their ancient authority; for the military power of the empire rested
+chiefly in these two bodies. These innovations were made in the midst of
+a destructive Greek war, and at a time when the Danube and the Balkan
+were no longer formidable barriers to the Muscovite descendants of Ivan
+the Terrible, who brought back memories of the past, and threatened to
+avenge deeply treasured wrongs. Even at this critical period, when his
+army was annihilated, his fleet defeated, and the legions of Russia
+within a few days' march of Constantinople, Mahmoud threatened to feed
+his horses at the high altar of St. Peter's, and proclaim the religion
+of the prophet in the Muscovite capital. A threat that savored more of
+the seraglio than of the throne!</p>
+
+<p>His next step was to assail the privileges of the great provincial
+cities, the inhabitants of which elected from their own number ayans, or
+magistrates, distinguished for their wisdom and virtue. These
+magistrates had much influence among the people; they had always
+resisted exorbitant taxes and unjust decrees; their protection was
+extended to Mussulmans and Christians without distinction. Their power
+of veto was almost as effective as that of the <i>tribuni plebis</i> of Rome;
+they could point back to Solyman, the Solon of his time, as the author
+of their protective system. But their power originated with the people.
+To this Mahmoud would not submit. All power must emanate from him, the
+all-wise and innovating sultan, who raised the low and humbled the
+great, not as they were honest or corrupt, but as they fawned upon him,
+or refused to yield implicit obedience to his nod.</p>
+
+<p>In their endeavors to institute a new financial system, the predecessors
+of Mahmoud reduced the standard of money gradually, in order not to
+produce a panic. But he wished to accomplish in one day the work of
+years. He issued a decree commanding the people to bring all their coin,
+gold and silver, to their respective governors&mdash;where they would receive
+less than half its value! He threatened the refractory with death. The
+capital resounded with the dreaded cry of rebellion; and the exasperated
+multitude that had surrounded the royal palace was not appeased until it
+witnessed the public execution of the mint officers, whose only crime
+was obedience to their master. This impolitic measure in the financial
+department impoverished the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> people, and left the treasury still empty.
+Foreign speculators bought the money&mdash;the circulation of which had
+become illegal&mdash;and resold it to the sultan for sterling value!</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after this he expelled about thirty thousand Christians from the
+capital, which they had embellished and enriched by their labor. Their
+fidelity had never been doubted. For this despicable act&mdash;their
+expulsion&mdash;Mahmoud could adduce no better reason than that 'it was
+solely on political grounds.' Strange politics this, for a sovereign,
+who professed to have the magnanimity of Christian rulers! On the
+expulsion of the Christians, Russia commenced hostilities, and a war
+followed, in which the sultan paid dearly for his rashness.</p>
+
+<p>In short, Mahmoud could not have given a better lesson to his subjects
+than by reforming himself. He was cruel beyond measure&mdash;if the grand
+seignior can ever be so called, who is taught that he may lop off a
+score of heads each day 'for divine inspiration.' Still if he had been
+as thoroughly skilled as he professed to have been, he should have shown
+himself a humane as well as an innovating sovereign. Those who assisted
+him in his reforms, he rewarded with the bowstring. His character was
+blackened by ingratitude, an instinctive vice in oriental rulers.
+Obstinate as he was suspicious, deceitful as he was cunning, he could
+not rule his own passions, much less could he control the corrupt morals
+of his people. He was to an extraordinary degree avaricious, a quality
+everywhere odious, but especially in a land where generosity measures
+love&mdash;where in the highest and in the lowest stations liberality is the
+moving spring. While he mistook parsimony for economy, he did not
+scruple to make war on trifling pretexts and waste his amassed treasures
+in a hopeless cause.</p>
+
+<p>In every attempted reform he wounded Ottoman pride and prejudice. Unlike
+his cousin, he did not humor the faults of the people while making
+innovations; he neither amused them with imposing shows, nor flattered
+them by the pompous spectacle of his appearance in public&mdash;in one word,
+he wanted the tact of a reformer. Selim, while he increased the navy and
+established manufactories, built gorgeous palaces, and by his
+magnificence dazzled the people, who were blind to his real designs;
+they even permitted him to set up printing presses in the large cities,
+on receiving assurance that the Koran would not be submitted to the
+unholy process of squeezing!</p>
+
+<p>Mahmoud thought, or pretended to think, that he could reform the empire
+by imitating only the vices of Christianity, and manifesting a contempt
+for Moslem virtues. While he drank wine&mdash;and in many other breaches of
+the teachings of the sacred book provoked the faithful&mdash;his
+proclamations breathed a most orthodox and fanatical spirit. He was a
+sceptic; neither Mussulman nor Christian, but surprisingly inconsistent
+and capricious. His, we fear, were 'hangman's hands,' and 'not ordained
+to build a temple unto peace.'</p>
+
+<p>Under Solyman the Magnificent, at once the most warlike monarch and
+munificent patron of literature and art, the constitution of the
+Janissaries was wise and effective. The children of Christians, taken by
+the Turks in war or in their predatory incursions, were exposed in the
+public markets of Constantinople, whence any person was at liberty to
+take them into his service, on making a contract with the government to
+return them at the demand of the sultan. These children were instructed
+in Islamism, and were trained by manly exercise and labor, calculated to
+strengthen the body and give elasticity to the spirits. From these hardy
+orphans the ranks of the Janissaries were recruited. They came eagerly
+to the camp; for they had been taught to regard it as the theatre of
+their future glory. From earliest infancy they looked forward with joy
+to the time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> when they should be numbered among those brave soldiers,
+whose arms had maintained for a long series of years the supremacy of
+the crescent. There was no rank, no dignity in the Turkish army to which
+a Janissary could not aspire&mdash;a strong incentive to the display of
+bravery. Such was the constitution of the army when it was the most
+powerful in Europe: then it gained its victories, not by force of
+numbers, but by superior military discipline and valor. In the middle of
+the nineteenth century the capture of Christian children was abandoned.
+The land forces degenerated into a wretchedly organized army of less
+than three hundred thousand men, drafted from the lowest classes.
+Mothers put their children to death that they might be spared the pangs
+of seeing them torn away to pass their days in scenes of shame and
+dissipation.</p>
+
+<p>Not till the army had become a laughing stock to the weakest European
+power did the sultans perceive the necessity of military reform. Selim
+III established a school for artillery and naval officers, and engaged
+Europeans, especially Frenchmen, as instructors in military science. We
+can readily comprehend the degeneracy of the Turkish army, when we
+remember that since the establishment of the school at Sulitzi for
+engineers, the Turks have learned from foreign teachers military tactics
+of which their own ancestors were the inventors, and which had been
+forgotten, although full accounts of them lay hidden in musty volumes in
+their military archives.</p>
+
+<p>Foreign officers were at first regarded with contempt by Turkish
+soldiers, whose unconquerable pride has ever proved a great impediment
+to the regeneration of the empire. Moslem talent was not equal to the
+exigencies that arose from the impolitic measures of Mahmoud. We find a
+parallel case in Russia. Had Peter trusted to Muscovite genius to form
+and command the troops which superseded the Strelitzes, Charles XII
+would have quartered in the Kremlin.</p>
+
+<p>Kutchuk Husseyin, the relative and favorite of Selim, made valuable
+additions to the navy in which his master took such pride. Husseyin, who
+had the welfare of his country at heart, was liberal and disinterested.
+Vested with the office of captain pasha, he sent to Greece for
+architects and engineers, with whose assistance he fortified Stamboul,
+Sinope, and Rhodes; he built arsenals and extensive docks, which he
+supplied with the necessary equipments of a powerful fleet. In a short
+time, twenty sail of the line, constructed on the newest European
+models, rode at anchor within sight of his palace. He also erected
+barracks for the troops, and greatly improved the naval school. The
+sudden death of Selim paralyzed the navy, which soon resumed its
+accustomed languor.</p>
+
+<p>The events of 1821, in which the Turkish fleet was defeated by armed
+merchant vessels of Greece, gave a fresh impulse to the navy.
+Experienced officers were placed in command, who, as they grew in
+strength, grew in confidence, and trusted more to their own resources
+than to the protection of Allah. Six years after the defeat, the navy
+was in a state of greater practical efficiency than at any other time.
+After a protracted struggle of five years it had gained the undisputed
+supremacy of the Archipelago; and had it not been for the disastrous
+defeat at Navarino, it would have proved equal, if not superior, to the
+Russian fleet in the Black sea. The Turkish navy, to-day, numbers about
+sixty war vessels, six of which are ships of the line, and six steam
+frigates, built partly at London and Toulon.</p>
+
+<p>The standing army in times of peace consists of 150,000 regulars; 60,000
+auxiliaries (such as the Egyptian forces); and those of the northern
+provinces, 110,000; with a corps de reserve of 150,000&mdash;an aggregate of
+470,000 men. The army is recruited by lot and con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>scription (as in
+France), and not as formerly, by arbitrary compulsion. Christians are
+excluded from service in the infidel ranks, but pay a military tax.
+Partial infringements, however, have been made in this exclusion, by
+employing Armenians in the marine service and at the arsenals. Active
+service in the army continues for a period of seven years; and the
+discharged soldiers belong to the reserved force for five years more.
+The organization of the corps de reserve is the same as that of the
+regular army. Their arms and equipments are kept in the state arsenals,
+and are produced only when the soldiers are called out, which takes
+place once a year, after the harvest season. During one month, the
+members of this corps de reserve lead a military life, and receive
+regular pay.</p>
+
+<p>The army is divided into six divisions of 25,000 each. The artillery is
+modelled after the most approved Prussian system, while the infantry and
+cavalry drill according to French tactics, and use French accoutrements
+and arms. Thus, Turkey, with a standing army of 150,000 men, can muster
+a force of nearly 500,000 at a few hours' notice; provided, however, she
+has money to pay the troops, for the religious prejudices of the
+Osmanlee do not tolerate the system of loans. So that Turkey, though she
+has neither the formidable land force of France nor the navy of England,
+is not crushed by the weight of a public debt, the principal of which
+can never be paid. This military system is the result of the labors of
+Rija Pasha and Redschid Pasha, by turn rivals and colleagues, disputing
+on matters of secondary importance, but ever cordially cooperating in
+the regeneration of the empire.</p>
+
+<p>More attention has been given to military than to political reforms. The
+intolerant Moslem spirit manifests direct opposition to all innovation
+in the administration. As their fathers were, so they wish to be. Before
+the time of Selim no reform movements of importance had been made in the
+administrative branches. For five centuries the sultans had received, as
+an aphorism in their political education, that the subjects existed for
+the good of the sultan, and not the sultan for the welfare of the
+people. Selim proclaimed the rights of his subjects and their supremacy;
+and his words were confirmed by his deeds.</p>
+
+<p>The administrative system was purely oriental, and bore scarcely any
+analogy to that of any other country. From the reign of Solyman to that
+of Selim&mdash;the protector (from whom there is no appeal) was kept closely
+confined in the seraglio walls; indeed, he was a state prisoner from his
+cradle to the day when he girt around him the imperial sabre. As the
+sultan reigned by divine commission, no education was considered good
+enough for him. Moreover, since his power was absolute, it had been
+received as a recognized principle of state policy that he should be as
+ignorant as possible, in order that he might prove more faithful to the
+will of Allah. Selim banished these antiquated notions, and instituted a
+new system&mdash;not that he lessened his own power, but established
+representative bodies to assist him in making laws, and tribunals to
+pass judgment upon and execute them.</p>
+
+<p>The sultan is assisted by a divan; or council of ministers, and others,
+who are nominated to that dignity by himself. The grand vizier presides
+over this body, and is responsible for all measures adopted by it.</p>
+
+<p>The legislative as well as the military system is borrowed from the
+French; but the sultan is the source of all law, civil and military; he
+is the summit, while the municipal institutions are the base, of the
+political fabric. In theory at least, these institutions are established
+on the broadest principles of freedom. Each community, like the communes
+of France, sends an aga, or representative, to the supreme council. By
+the famous ordinance of Gulhana,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> Mussulmans, Jews, and Christians are
+represented, without distinction, in proportion to their number.</p>
+
+<p>The administration of the interior belongs to the prime minister, who
+appoints civil governors to take charge of the general administration.
+The pashas had hitherto been both civil and military officers; purchased
+their appointments at extravagant prices, and repaid themselves by
+extortions practised upon the unfortunate subjects over whom they ruled.
+The appointment of civil governors removed this old abuse, and left the
+pashas vested only with military power. Each of the military chiefs has
+command of one of the six divisions of which the army is composed. All
+these officers receive a fixed salary; and the people, no longer subject
+to their avarice and tyranny, pay regular rates of taxation.</p>
+
+<p>The reforms I have mentioned, great as they were, were only preliminary
+to the publishing of the hatti-scheriff of Gulhana, the magna charta and
+bill of rights of Turkey. The son of Mahmoud, Abdul Medjid, on ascending
+the throne, published this ordinance, which was to effect a reform in
+the internal administration more beneficial than any other, either
+before or after the destruction of the Janissaries. The ulemas, state
+officers, foreign ambassadors, and a vast multitude of subjects had
+assembled on the plains of Gulhana. The illustrious writings (as the
+name signifies) were read aloud in the presence of this solemn assembly
+by Redschid Pasha. The sultan, 'under the direct inspiration of the Most
+High and of his prophet,' desired to look for the prosperity of the
+empire in a good administration. The ulemas addressed a thanksgiving to
+heaven amid the acclamations of the assembled thousands. These reforms
+were threefold: The first guaranteed security to life, honor, and
+property; the second is a new system of taxation; the third, a
+remodelled plan for levying soldiers, and defining their time of
+service. The subject can best be illustrated by quoting a few extracts
+from the hatti-scheriff itself:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'The cause of every accused person shall be adjudged publicly, in
+conformity to our divine law, after due inquiry and investigation;
+and as long as sentence shall not have been regularly pronounced,
+no one shall, either publicly or privately, cause another to perish
+by prison or any other deadly means.'</p>
+
+<p>'It shall not be permitted to any one to injure another,
+<i>whosoever</i> he may be.'</p>
+
+<p>'Every man shall possess his own property, and shall dispose of it
+with the most entire liberty. Thus, for example, the innocent heirs
+of a criminal shall not be deprived of their legal rights, and the
+goods of the criminal shall not be confiscated.'</p>
+
+<p>'The imperial concessions extend to <i>all</i> subjects, whatever may be
+their religion or sect; they shall reap the benefit of them without
+exception.'</p>
+
+<p>'As to the other points, since they must be regulated by the
+concourse of enlightened opinion, our council of justice, with whom
+shall assemble, on certain days to be fixed by us, the notables of
+the land, shall meet together to lay down guiding laws on the
+points that affect the security of life, honor, and fortune, and
+the assessment of imposts.'</p>
+
+<p>'As soon as a law shall be defined, in order to render it valid and
+binding, it shall be laid before us to receive our sanction, which
+we Will write with our imperial hand.'</p>
+
+<p>'As these present institutions have no other object than to give
+fresh life and vigor to religion, the government, the nation, and
+the empire, we pledge ourselves to do nothing to counteract them.
+Whoever of the ulemas or chief men of the empire, or any other sort
+of person, shall violate these institutions, shall undergo the
+punishment awarded to his offence, without respect to his rank, or
+personal consideration and credit.'</p>
+
+<p>'As all the functionaries of the government receive at the present
+day suitable salaries, and as those that are not sufficient shall
+be increased, a vigorous law shall be enacted against traffic in
+posts and favors, which the divine law reprobates, and which is one
+of the principal causes of the decline of the empire.' </p></div>
+
+<p>As a pledge of his promise, the sultan, after having deposited the
+documents in the hall that contains the 'glorious mantle' of the
+prophet, in the presence of the ulemas and chief men, swore to them in
+the name of God, and administered the same oath to the priests and
+officers. The hatti-scheriff was published in every part of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> the empire,
+and was well received, except by a few of the retrograde party, who
+lived by the old abuses, and vigorously resisted all attempts at
+reformation.</p>
+
+<p>By this ordinance, the sources of the revenue consist of the frontier
+customs, the tithes, and a property tax. In two of these three sources
+of revenue there are great abuses. In collecting the taxes, the tax
+gatherers make exhorbitant demands, for which (owing to the partiality
+of justice) there is no redress, The salguin, or land tax, is also the
+cause of constant complaint. It presses equally upon the richest and the
+poorest provinces; in consequence of which many of the most fertile
+districts have been deserted. The government is not ignorant of these
+facts. Abdul Medjid, a short time previous to his death, ordered a new
+registration of property to be made, which will, in a great measure,
+remedy this evil. This new registration caused not a little astonishment
+and fear among the peasants, who could not approve of persons taking an
+inventory of their property and their flocks. We must not be surprised
+at this, for a parallel case is close at hand. When the Emperor Joseph
+endeavored to introduce the mode of distinguishing houses in the
+principal streets of <i>Vienna</i>, by numbers instead of the antiquated mode
+by printed signs, the people were impressed with the idea that the
+numbers were affixed for the purpose of more conveniently collecting a
+new house tax!</p>
+
+<p>The new system of farming the revenue proved especially beneficial to
+the Christians. Under the old regime the Turks had been greatly favored.
+The poll tax formerly levied on all who were not professed followers of
+the prophet, has been abolished.</p>
+
+<p>The empire is wealthy&mdash;immensely wealthy; but the money is in the hands
+of the few. If we except the province of Servia, feudal lords, and tax
+collectors, the whole Turkish population consists of peasants, who till
+the soil on an equality of wretchedness. Yet it is to these same
+suffering peasants, the bone and sinew of the land, that reformers must
+look for support. It was the peasantry of Servia, headed by George the
+Black, that in 1800-1812, rose in rebellion, and whose success infused
+life and vigor into the more passive provinces. They, too, were
+peasants&mdash;those brave and resolute men who expelled from the provinces
+the robber princes, and almost gained a national existence. Many of
+these same peasants, men in whose breasts still lingered the valor that
+made their ancestors famous, joined the Grecian army in the successful
+struggle for independence; even Moslem peasants left their ploughs in
+the furrow and their herds unattended, to join the insurgents, to whose
+success they greatly contributed. The heroes of all Turkish rebellions
+have been peasants&mdash;the men of strong arms and unswerving energy. They
+are naturally of a passive disposition, but when once roused to action
+by religion or patriotism, they are as firm and unyielding in their
+purpose as their own</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">'Pontic sea,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Whose icy currents and compulsive course</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Ne'er feels returning ebb, but keeps due on</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To the Propontic and the Hellespont.'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>In the hands of the peasantry lies the destiny of the empire, its
+regeneration or its fall. By ameliorating their condition and gaining
+their good will, the sultans cannot fail to succeed in their reforms. By
+working in opposition to them and exciting their enmity, success is
+impossible.</p>
+
+<p>The social system introduced by the victorious Othmans among the
+conquered nations was not as oppressive as is generally believed. The
+Turks, unlike the Germanic nations, the Huns and Normans, did not take
+forcible possession of private property and divide it among their
+conquering hordes. From those who acknowledged themselves subject to
+their rule, the Turks exacted tribute, but protected their liberties and
+political institutions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> The conquerors introduced their laws into the
+country, but not forcibly. To those who still adhered to the Christian
+religion, they extended the rights of self-government, subject, however,
+to a military tax. This was very far from degrading the cultivators of
+the soil to servitude; this did not deprive them of their possessions,
+inherited or purchased. But by a gradual change in the government this
+civil equality and liberty in the possession of property was superseded
+by an aristocratic and almost absolute despotism. The Ottomans came in
+contact with a people ruling under Byzantine law, of which (as of the
+feudal system) they had but a confused knowledge. The feudal system
+having taken root in Greece, and having been already introduced into
+Albania, had necessarily much influence on the contiguous provinces of
+Moldavia and Wallachia, Servia and Bulgaria. Here the Greek emperors,
+with correct notions of right and wrong, had governed wisely and justly
+in a simple administration, which gave place to a complicated system of
+laws and refinements, as unintelligible as they were useless and
+ineffective. In the double heritage of Greece and Rome, the conquerors
+imitated only their faults, moral and intellectual, and thus made more
+prominent the fall of the two countries. The Turks were not sufficiently
+enlightened to understand the laws and customs of the Greeks and Romans,
+and profit thereby; nor could they resist the charm thrown around
+aristocracy and venality, but succumbed to their baneful influences. The
+degeneracy of the laws caused the misery of the peasantry, and paralyzed
+the energies of the empire. The pashas gained almost unlimited power,
+founded on the ruins of civil liberty. They did not scruple to persecute
+the suffering peasant, even in the sanctuary of his family&mdash;held in the
+highest veneration by the Turk. The peasants in many instances had no
+other alternative than to fly to the mountains for safety, and lead a
+wretched existence by rapine and murder. Some left Turkey to settle in
+Russia and Austria, in search of that liberty and protection which was
+denied them at home.</p>
+
+<p>The Turkish peasants are not insensible to the degradation in which they
+are languishing. But accustomed, in suffering and privation, to find
+consolation in fatalism&mdash;which teaches implicit acquiescence in and
+obedience to the will of Allah&mdash;they drag out their days in passive
+submission. Seditions are almost always excited by unbelievers, who feel
+their wrongs more deeply. The devout Turkish peasant seeks no better
+fortune than the means wherewith to build a little cabin, with windows
+and doors religiously closed to vulgar eyes. He finds comfort in the
+words of his holy book: 'He is the happiest of mortals to whom God has
+given contentment.' He performs his daily labor, makes his prostrations,
+smokes his chibouk, and lives oblivious of care. He is far from being
+indifferent to reforms, but is loth to take the initiative in political
+innovations and social wars. His heart is with the cause, but here also
+he is resigned: 'God is great&mdash;His will be done.' This same spirit of
+resignation and submission to the divine will, from being a virtue
+becomes his greatest curse.</p>
+
+<p>The Servians, a hardy and vigorous race, who pride themselves on their
+victories over the Moslems, stand in the van of the reform movement. By
+the new constitution given to Servia in 1838, there exists no longer any
+distinction of classes. All pay taxes, in proportion to the value of
+their property, to the municipal and general government. All the
+peasants are proprietors, and all the proprietors are peasants. The
+Servians and Albanians have never refused foreign aid. They gave a kind
+welcome to the legions that Nicholas sent across the Pruth, and worked
+in concert with the brave warriors of the north, in the hope of gaining
+a nationality and a recognized name.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The moral condition of the Bulgarians does not differ essentially from
+that of the Servians; but there is a wide difference in their political
+organization. The Bulgarians are yet only peasants, unprotected against
+the violence and exactions of the sultan. They are more enterprising
+than the Servians, and, could they enjoy an equitable legislation, would
+soon vie with them in wealth and prosperity. They envy the national and
+democratic institutions of the Servians, who are related to them by
+blood, by religion, and a common tongue. They are eager for reforms,
+both social and political, which shall give them a constitution similar
+to that of Servia. In this they must ultimately succeed. The two people
+are one in their sympathies: one cannot enjoy privileges without
+exciting the jealousy of the other. Unless concessions are made, the day
+is not far distant when the Bulgarians will revolt, as the Servians did
+under Tzerny George, and gain the right of self-government.</p>
+
+<p>The Illyrian peasants have not as promising a future. They are divided
+among themselves, both in politics and religion; the several clans and
+parties are engaged in ceaseless strife and bickering. On the most
+trivial pretence a community will rise in arms and carry ruin and
+desolation to its neighbor. The face of the country everywhere shows
+signs of the terror under which it groans. In many districts the
+humblest dwellings are fortified citadels, gloomy and threatening;
+observatories are stationed in trees and on high cliffs, to guard
+against surprisals; the streets of the towns and villages are traversed
+by gloomy figures of athletic savage warriors, with fierce and sinister
+expression of countenance, and their right hand resting on a belt
+garnished with its brace of pistols. They are in such a deplorable state
+of ignorance, and so blinded by mutual hatred, that they are incapable
+of perceiving their wants and obtaining their rights by concerted
+action.</p>
+
+<p>The Servians and Bulgarians, although by nature not less warlike than
+the Illyrians, are more pacific. This quality is, to a certain degree,
+attributable to a better government; but their great advantage consists
+in their being friends of labor. They are not divided by internal
+factions; their pistols serve for ornaments, not offensive weapons;
+their rude exterior hides within a gentle, childlike nature. Though
+laborious, they seek not to amass wealth; kind to each other, to
+strangers they are hospitable and generous. They are extremely courteous
+and polite, and theirs is not the humility of the Austrian peasant, who
+kisses the scornful hand of his superior; it is the deference and
+respect that youth bears to age, or the attention which the host gives
+to a welcome guest.</p>
+
+<p>In Servia and Bulgaria, Christianity has gained the ascendancy; the
+light of the gospel imparts comfort and happiness to all; but the
+Illyrians, through a blind zeal in their social dissensions, have
+debarred themselves from its vivifying and soothing influence.</p>
+
+<p>During the early part of the last century, the peasants of the
+Moldo-Wallachian provinces were enfranchised, but have not yet obtained
+the right of property legislation. Being contiguous to Poland and
+Hungary, their attention is naturally called to all the noise of reform
+and to all the social questions that agitate the two countries. Unless
+concessions are made, unless the peasant is recognized as proprietor of
+the soil of which to-day he is but the farmer, a revolution will take
+place, in which the Sublime Porte will lose these provinces as
+effectually as it did the pashalies. It is not absolutely necessary,
+though it would be judicious, to give Moldavia and Wallachia the same
+political organization as Servia enjoys. The question now, is not of
+rulers, whether they shall be sent from the divan or chosen from the
+people; but is of property legislation and municipal institutions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In all his reforms, the sultan should remember that the material upon
+which he is to operate lies in the peasantry.</p>
+
+<p>The empire, however, cannot be thoroughly reformed merely by
+enfranchising the peasants, by introducing European customs, by
+organizing new armies, building barracks, and establishing custom
+houses. These improvements are the sign of a vigorous national impulse
+and prosperity; they are the result, not the rudiments of civilization.
+The fact that the sultan wears French boots and supplies his seraglio
+with the latest Parisian modes signifies nothing.</p>
+
+<p>In its palmy days, Turkey relied for success on its courage and love of
+military glory; now its welfare and very existence depend upon the
+peaceful arts of civilized life. The prosperity of the people measures
+the condition of the empire. But how can an ignorant people prosper? The
+time has come when a reform in the educational system of Turkey is
+emphatically demanded. There must be intelligence among the people, and
+educated men in the cabinet as well as brave men in the field. The
+innovating sultans of the last century have done much for the
+reconstruction of the broken political fabric of the empire; they have
+organized a new and powerful army and navy; they have facilitated
+commercial intercourse, but have done scarcely anything for the
+diffusion of knowledge among their subjects.</p>
+
+<p>All the knowledge in the empire is concentrated in the ulemas and
+lawyers. The members of the Sublime Porte and other state officers, with
+but few exceptions, are unlettered men, who owe their elevation, to
+partiality or bribery. Under Mahmoud, beauty of person was the best
+recommendation to favor and promotion!</p>
+
+<p>But Turkey has had her golden age of letters as well as her age of
+military glory. Her libraries and archives are filled with unread, musty
+manuscripts, comprising treatises on philosophy and metaphysics,
+histories, biographies, and poems, rich in the classic erudition of the
+Orient. In 1336, Sultan Orkan found leisure from war and conquest to
+establish, at Brusa, a literary institution, which became so famous for
+its learning, that Persians and Arabians did not disdain to avail
+themselves of its instruction. But with the death of its founder its
+glory passed away. It was no longer the fountain head of learning in the
+East.</p>
+
+<p>The Turks, forgetful of the fact that antiquity is the youth of the
+world, still follow Aristotle as their guide in philosophy and
+metaphysics, and Ptolemy in geography! Missionaries have succeeded in
+introducing modern text books into some of the schools, but owing to the
+peculiar system of Turkish education, the result has not been so
+favorable as was anticipated.</p>
+
+<p>To each mosque is attached a school, where the pupils devote several
+years in acquiring the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic;
+which completes their education. But few foreign instructors are
+employed to teach in the schools, because the government is unwilling to
+pay a suitable salary. While on state officers wealth is lavished with
+the prodigality of oriental munificence, instructors receive only a
+nominal recompense, often not exceeding six cents a day!</p>
+
+<p>A few favored youths receive a European education, especially in French
+and Austrian colleges. The oriental academy, established at Vienna by
+Maria Theresa for the education of diplomatists to conduct intercourse
+with the Porte, has formed many illustrious Turkish scholars. It is a
+singular but not unpleasant commentary on the vicissitudes of fortune,
+that Turkey should send her sons to be educated at Vienna, which only
+two centuries ago a sultan besieged at the head of an army of two
+hundred thousand men, and before whose gates he was defeated by the
+combined Christian forces, who recovered eighty thousand Christian
+cap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>tives, among whom were fourteen thousand maidens, and fifty thousand
+children of both sexes!</p>
+
+<p>The Christian subjects of the empire have made visible progress in their
+educational system, although it is yet in a very imperfect state. In the
+middle of the last century a body of Armenian monks formed a society for
+promoting the educational interests of their countrymen. These pious and
+benevolent men dwell alone on the little island of San Lazzaro, and
+publish works on literature, science, and religion, which are
+distributed among the Turkish Armenians.</p>
+
+<p>Printing presses have lately been set up in the large cities, and books
+are rapidly multiplying. In Constantinople several newspapers are
+printed in French, Turkish, and Arabic; they are read in every coffee
+house and barber shop, the common lounging places of the Ottoman, where
+he smokes his pipe and discusses politics. Their columns are chiefly
+devoted to the discussion of state affairs, and notices of public
+functionaries. The sultan is the virtual editor, and consequently the
+papers are popular, as containing opinions on state policy <i>ex
+cathedra</i>. These presses were established with the reluctant sanction of
+the ulemas, and the vigorous opposition of the scribes, an influential
+body, protesting against the introduction of machinery, which was to
+supersede the use of their fingers.</p>
+
+<p>The council of public instruction at Constantinople has established a
+medical and polytechnic school; in both, French, English, and German
+teachers are employed. To the medical college is attached a botanical
+garden and a natural history museum. The medical library consists
+chiefly of French works. The implements used to experiment in the
+physical sciences were made at Paris, London, and Vienna, and are of the
+most approved kind. The number of students in attendance, on an average,
+is seven hundred, comprising Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, all of
+whom not only pay no tuition, but receive pecuniary assistance from the
+government. As science cannot well be taught in Turkish, French is the
+language of the school.</p>
+
+<p>It should be borne in mind that Turkey, in her reform movement,
+commenced this century, four hundred years behind Europe. When we
+consider this, her advance in educational reformation appears in a
+better light. The present law makes it a penal offence in a Turkish
+parent not to send his children to school.</p>
+
+<p>The universities, as well as the mosques and hospitals, are under the
+control of the ulemas, who have always been a privileged and a
+sanctioned order, and by their sanctity and great wealth are rendered
+the most formidable body in the empire. Selim and his successors
+somewhat lessened their power. By the innovations of 1854 an important
+change was effected in the vacoof, or church property. The church had
+hitherto held enormous possessions; and had not a check been placed on
+the system, in the course of a few centuries all the lands would have
+belonged to the priests. The property annexed to the mosques is held
+sacred by all, both high and low. True believers, Greeks, Armenians, and
+Jews, alike, by a reversion of their property on failure of male issue,
+transferred it to the ulemas. The decree above mentioned restricted this
+privilege of the priests. The entire system will soon be abolished.</p>
+
+<p>As before stated, the ulemas have charge of the schools connected with
+the principal mosques. The average number of scholars in each school, in
+the reign of Mahmoud, was four hundred. They were, for the most part,
+worthless, indolent fellows, and entirely under the control of the
+ulemas, who used them as tools, and made them figure conspicuously in
+all tumults and revolts. Their attempted assassination of Abdul Medjid
+was their death warrant. Each ulema was restricted to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> four, in place of
+four hundred scholars. This measure caused not a little ill feeling
+among those opposed to reform; but as the most successful attempt at
+restricting the despotic power of the religious order, the decree was of
+vital importance, and gave the ulemas to understand that the power on
+the throne was paramount to theirs.</p>
+
+<p>The ulemas&mdash;whose functions do not differ materially from those of the
+old doctors of the law among the Hebrews&mdash;have always claimed and
+enjoyed both magisterial and ecclesiastical authority; and, indeed,
+since the Mussulman's law and religion are convertible terms, we would
+expect priests to be vested with the same powers, and performing the
+same duties. Mohammed designed it should be so, and as long as war was
+waged in the name of religion, as long as the Koran and the sword went
+hand in hand together, the two professions were not incompatible; but
+when Islamism had gained undisputed ascendency, there arose an obvious
+discrepancy between the peaceful adoration of Allah and the settlements
+of disputes between man and man. Priest and jurist, each had distinct
+and qualified duties to perform. Before justice can be administered
+properly the religious and legal professions must be separated; the
+statutes must be distinct from the Koran and Sunnah, in the obscurities
+of which they are at present involved. The sheik-ul-Islam (pontifex
+maximus) is the head of the church and the bar; he appoints the bishops
+and the judges; and in his twofold character of minister and lawyer, he
+is the expounder of the Koran, the source of all laws, civil and
+religious; his decisions serve as precedents, and are as
+incontrovertible as the Koran itself.</p>
+
+<p>By the late reforms, Christian testimony is admitted in courts of
+justice. But this is merely a nominal privilege; for what avails it that
+Christian evidence is received, if the Koran and Sunnah are to
+constitute the law, and a Mussulman judge is to be the expounder? Is it
+not evident that the 'true believer,' whether right or wrong, will be
+shielded by the strong arm of prejudice at the expense of the Christian?
+The purity of Turkish justice may be understood from the following
+humorous account given by Dr. Hamlin:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'I once had a case of law with a Turkish judge. It was tried nine
+times, and each time decided against me. After the ninth trial, the
+judge sent me word that if I gave him 9,000 piastres (about $800),
+he would decide the case in my favor, for all the world knew that
+justice was on my side!' </p></div>
+
+<p>I look, however, upon the religious toleration extended to Christians in
+1854 as the most important of all reforms; it is the keystone of the
+arch. Christianity has been on a gradual increase in Turkey; and it may
+not be deemed extravagant to hope that when a few generations shall have
+passed away, its supremacy will be acknowledged. As Constantine, finding
+the Christian element predominant in the Roman empire, made the religion
+of Christ that of his people, so some Selim or Abdul Medjid, urged by a
+power behind the throne, and more potent than the throne itself, will
+substitute the Bible for the Koran!</p>
+
+<p>The fall of Islamism does not imply the downfall of Turkish rule. The
+one is religious, the other a civil power; the one may wane, the other
+rise.</p>
+
+<p>The wars which brought the European powers in Turkish waters made a deep
+impression upon the Turks, and convinced them that they had been rescued
+from annihilation by foreign arms. This led to an important measure,
+viz.: the promulgation of the imperial edict of 1850, which was
+translated into all the languages of the empire, and read in all the
+mosques and churches. Besides securing the freedom of conscience and the
+equality of rights, it grants the right of apostasy, which had hitherto
+been a capital offence: 'As all forms of religious worship are and shall
+be freely professed in the empire, no person shall be hin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>dered in the
+practice of the religion which he professes; nor shall he in any way be
+annoyed in this kind: in the matter of a man <i>changing</i> his religion,
+and <i>joining</i> another, no force shall be applied to him.' The decree
+bore directly upon Islamism. Turks, both private and official, now
+discuss freely the doctrines of the New Testament. The Bible, to-day, is
+widely circulated among the Turks. About seven thousand copies are sold
+annually to Mohammedans, while ten years ago they would not have been
+accepted as gifts. By all classes of people the Bible is purchased,
+read, and made the subject of discussion. The sultan himself reads it.
+Discussion leads to investigation, and investigation to the
+establishment of truth. This is one of the causes that have been
+silently at work, destined to effect the fall of Islamism.</p>
+
+<p>In all parts of the empire, the Christian element is growing stronger
+and stronger; the Mohammedan weaker. Even in Asia, the chosen abode of
+the faithful, we find Christian cities and villages prosperous, and
+Mohammedan cities falling to decay. In another century the Sublime Porte
+will depend chiefly on the Christian element for its influence. To-day,
+the Mussulman mosque, the pagoda of the Hindoo, the fire temple of the
+Parsee, the Roman and Greek churches, meet together.</p>
+
+<p>The adoration and prostrations of the Turk afford an imposing sight even
+to the Christian. 'Praises be to God, for He is great,' resounds at
+sunrise and at sunset, from ship to ship at sea, from kiosk to minaret
+on land.</p>
+
+<p>According to the Koran, there is a paradise for all true believers. This
+paradise, Al Janat, signifies a pleasure garden, from which flows a
+river, the river of life, whose water is clear as crystal, cold as snow,
+and sweet as nectar. The believer who takes a draught shall thirst no
+more. Even the oriental imagination fails to describe the glories of
+this paradise&mdash;its fountains and flowers, pearls and gems, nectar and
+ambrosia, all in unmeasured profusion. To crown the enchantment of the
+place, to each faithful Moslem is allotted seventy-two houris,
+resplendent beings, free from every human defect, perpetually renewing
+their youth and beauty. Such is the Mohammedan conception of the future
+world.</p>
+
+<p>The Turks, in common with other Mohammedans, believe in angels, and in
+the prophets Adam, Noah, Moses, and <i>Jesus</i>. One might suppose that such
+a belief would assist missionaries in converting the infidel; but far
+from assisting, its tendency is to make more difficult the inculcation
+of Christian doctrines. When asked to accept the religion of Christ, the
+Turk's ready answer is: 'We believe in Jesus! we believe in him already;
+you know only a part of the true faith; Mohammed has superseded Jesus.'
+Notwithstanding this, many Turks in Europe and Asia believe that in a
+long series of years, Jesus will return to earth, reanimate their faith
+and ancient valor, and with one unbroken religion, give them dominion to
+the end of the world. They, in short, expect Jesus&mdash;the same Jesus whom
+Christians worship&mdash;in the fullness of time to accomplish the work which
+their prophet only began. Christian missionaries should avail themselves
+of this remarkable belief, and turn it to the spiritual advantage of
+those who entertain it.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'Let the Turkish Government remain, if by her standing Islamism may
+fall! that we may carry back a purer literature to the land of
+Homer, a purer law to the land of Moses, and the Gospel of Christ
+to the land of the apostles.' </p></div>
+
+<p>It only remains for me to say one word in regard to the now reigning
+sovereign. The ulemas&mdash;who have become what the Janissaries were, the
+hotbed of fanaticism&mdash;in their endeavors to overthrow the late sultan,
+Abdul Medjid, looked upon the present sultan as their champion. If he
+per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>mits himself to become a tool in their hands, Turkey will lose
+during his reign what she gained in a century. If, on the other hand, he
+has the energy of Mahmoud, the humanity of Selim, and practises the
+conciliatory policy of his brother, a glorious future awaits the empire.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="FALSE_ESTIMATIONS" id="FALSE_ESTIMATIONS"></a>FALSE ESTIMATIONS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">As one, who under pay of priest or pope,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Painteth an altar picture boldly bad,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Yet winning worship from the common eye,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Is less than one, who faltering day by day</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Before the untouched canvas, dreams, and feels</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">An unaccomplished greatness: so is he</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Who scrapes the skies and cleaves the patient air</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">For rhyming ecstasies to cheat the crowd,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That sees not in the stiller worshipper</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The truer genius, who, in heights lone lost,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Forgets to interpret to a lesser sense.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">O there do dwell among us minds divine,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In which th' etherial is so subtly mixed,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That only matter in its outward mien</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To the observer shows. Such ever live</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Unto themselves alone, in sweet still lives,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And die by all men misinterpreted.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Within a churchyard rise two honored urns</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">O'er graves not far removed. The one records</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The 'genius of a Poet,' whose fitter fame</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Lies in the volumes which his facile pen</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Filled with the measure of redundant verse:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Before this urn the oft frequented sod</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Is flattened with the tread of pensive feet.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The other simply bears the name and age</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Of one who was 'a Merchant,' and bequeathed</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A fair estate with numerous charities:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Before this urn the grass grows rank and green.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I knew them both in life, and thus to me</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">They measured in their lives their effigies:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He who the pen did wield with facile power,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Created what he wrote, and to the ear</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">With tact, not inspiration, wrought the sounds</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To careful cadence; but the heart was cold</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">As the chill marble where the sculptor traced</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Curious conceits of fancy. Let him pass,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">His name not undervalued, for his fame</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Shall in maturer ages lie as still</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">As doth his neighbor's now.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">Turn we to him.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He was a man to whom the general eye</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Bent with the confidence of daily trust</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In things of daily use: a man 'of means,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">&mdash;Sagacious, honest, plodding, punctual,&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Revolving in the rank of those whose shields</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Bear bags of argent on a field of gold,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">His life, to most men, was what most men's are,&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Unceasing calculation and keen thrift;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Unvarying as the ever-plying loom,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Which, moving in same limits day by day,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Weaves mesh on mesh, in tireless gain of goods.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But I, that knew him better than the herd,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Yet saw him less, knew that in him which lives</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Still gracious and still plentiful to me</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Now he hath passed away from me and them.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">This man, whose talk on busy marts to men</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Teemed with the current coin of thrifty trade,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">&mdash;Exchanges, credits, money rates, and all,&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Hath stood with me upon a silent hill,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When the last flush of the dissolving day</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Fainted before the moonlight, and, as 'twere</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Unconscious of my listening, uttered there</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The comprehensions of a soul true poised</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">With elemental beauty, giving tongue</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Unto the dumbness of the blissful air.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">So have I seen him, too, within his home,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When, newspaper on knee, his earnest gaze</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Seemed scanning issues from the money list;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But comments came not, till my curious eye</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Led out his meditation into words,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Thought-winding upward into sphery light,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">So utterly unearthly and sublime,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That all the man of fact fled out of sense,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And visual refinement filled the space.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Oft hath he told me, nothing was so blind</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">As the far-seeing wisdom of the world,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And none within it knew him, save himself,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And that so scantily, that but for faith</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In a redeeming knowledge yet to come,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He would lie down and let his weakness die</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In self-reclaiming dust.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">After his death,</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I searched his papers, vainly, for a scrap</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Whereon some dropped memento might record</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">His inner nature; but he nothing left&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Nothing of that deep life whose wondrous light</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Guided him onward through the realms of sense,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And in a world of practical self-need</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Sustained him with a glory unexpressed.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And thus it is that round the Poet's urn,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The sod is beaten down with pensive feet:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And thus it is that where the Merchant lies,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The grass, untrodden, groweth rank and green.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_BLUE_HANDKERCHIEF" id="THE_BLUE_HANDKERCHIEF"></a>THE BLUE HANDKERCHIEF.</h2>
+
+
+<p>I had passed my last examinations, and had received my diploma
+authorizing me to practise medicine, and I still lingered in the
+vicinity of Edinburgh, partly because my money was nearly exhausted, and
+partly from the very natural aversion I felt from quitting a place where
+three very happy and useful years had been spent. After waiting many
+weeks&mdash;for the communication between the opposite shores of the Atlantic
+were not then so rapid as now&mdash;I received a large packet of letters from
+'home,' all of them filled with congratulations on my success, and among
+them were letters from my dear father and a beloved uncle, at whose
+instance (he was himself a physician) my father had sent me abroad to
+complete my medical education. My father's letter was even more
+affectionate than usual, for he was highly gratified with my success,
+and he counselled me to take advantage of the peace secured by the
+battle of Waterloo to visit the continent, which for many years (with
+the exception of a brief period) had been closed to all persons from
+Great Britain; he enclosed me a draft on a London banker for a thousand
+pounds. My uncle's letter was scarcely less affectionate; my Latin
+thesis (I had sent my father and him a copy) had especially pleased him;
+and after urging me to take advantage of my father's kindness, he added
+that he had placed a thousand pounds at my disposition, with the same
+London banker on whom my draft was drawn. A letter of introduction to a
+French family was enclosed in the letter, and he engaged me to visit
+them, for they had been his guests for a long time when the first
+Revolution caused them to fly France, and they were under other
+obligations to him; which I afterward learned from themselves was a
+pecuniary favor more than once renewed during their residence with him.
+Ten thousand dollars was a good deal of money to be placed at the
+disposition of a young man as his pocket money for eighteen months, even
+after a large deduction had been made from it for a library and
+professional instruments.</p>
+
+<p>Before I quitted Edinburgh, I received a letter from the gentleman to
+whom my uncle had given me an introduction; he acquainted me that my
+uncle had informed him that I was about visiting France, and that he had
+taken the liberty of introducing me to him. The Marquis de &mdash;&mdash; (such
+was his title&mdash;his name I omit for obvious rea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>sons) expressed with
+great warmth his delight at having it in his power to exhibit the
+gratitude he felt to my uncle, and urged me with the most pressing terms
+to come at once to his home, and pass away there at least so much time
+as might accustom me to the <i>spoken</i> French language (I could easily
+read it), that my visit to Paris might be more profitable and
+agreeable&mdash;and it should be both, he was so good as to say, at least as
+far as it depended on himself and his friends. I wrote him by the return
+mail to thank him for his kindness, and to inform him that I should at
+once set out for his hospitable home. I shall never forget the six
+months I passed away in the Chateau de Bardy: the happiness of those
+days was checkered only by my departure and by the incident I shall
+presently relate. And even after I quitted that noble mansion, the
+kindness of its inmates still watched over me, and opened homes to me
+even in that great Maelstrom of life&mdash;Paris.</p>
+
+<p>It was toward the end of the month of October&mdash;the most delightful month
+of the seasons in France&mdash;as I was returning on foot from Orleans to the
+Chateau de Bardy, from a rather prolonged pedestrian exploration in that
+interesting neighborhood, where I had accurately examined all of the
+curiosities, thanks to an ample memoir of my noble host (in those days
+'Handbooks' were unknown, and Murray was busy publishing Byron and
+Moore), when I thought I caught a glimpse of some soldiers. I was not
+mistaken: on the road before me a Prussian regiment was marching. I
+quickened my pace to hear the military music, for I was extremely
+partial to it; but the band ceased playing, and no sound was heard
+except an occasional roll of the kettle-drum at long intervals to mark
+the uniform step of the soldiers. After following them for a half hour,
+I saw the regiment enter a small plain, surrounded by a fir grove. I
+asked a captain, whose acquaintance I had made, if his men were about to
+be drilled.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' said he, 'they are about to try, and perhaps to shoot, a soldier
+of my company for having stolen something from the house where he was
+billeted.'</p>
+
+<p>'What,' said I, 'are they going to try, condemn, and execute him, all in
+the same moment?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said he, 'those are the provisions of the capitulation.'</p>
+
+<p>This word 'capitulation' was to him an unanswerable argument, as if
+everything had been provided for in the capitulation, the crime and the
+punishment, justice and humanity.</p>
+
+<p>'And if you have any curiosity to see it,' added the captain, 'I will
+place you where you may see everything. It won't be long.'</p>
+
+<p>It may be from my professional education, but the truth is, I have
+always been fond of witnessing these melancholy spectacles; I persuade
+myself that I shall discover the solution of the enigma&mdash;death&mdash;on the
+face of a man in full health, whose life is suddenly severed. I followed
+the captain. The regiment was formed in a hollow square; in the rear of
+the second rank and near the edge of the grove, some soldiers were
+digging a grave. They were commanded by the third lieutenant, for in the
+regiment everything was done with order, and there is a certain form
+observed even in the digging of a man's grave. In the centre of the
+hollow square eight officers were seated on drums; a ninth officer was
+on their right, and some distance before them, negligently writing
+something, and using his knees as his desk; he was evidently filling up
+the forms simply because it was against the 'regulations' that a man
+should be killed without the usual forms. The accused was called up. He
+was a tall, fine-looking young man, with a noble and gentle face. A
+woman (the only witness in the cause) came up with him. But when the
+colonel began the examination of the woman, the soldier stopped him,
+saying:</p>
+
+<p>'It is useless asking her any ques<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>tions. I am going to confess
+everything: I stole a handkerchief in that lady's house.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Colonel.</span> What! Piter! You have been stealing! We all thought <i>you</i>
+incapable of such a thing!</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Piter.</span> It is true, Colonel, I have always tried to pass as an honest
+man, and a good fellow. Oh! I tell you, it wan't for me I stole the
+handkerchief. 'Twas for Mary.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Colonel.</span> Who is Mary?</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Piter.</span> Mary? Oh! she lives yonder.... at home.... just outside of
+Areneberg.... don't you remember the big apple-tree?.... Oh! I shall
+never see her again....</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Colonel.</span> I don't understand you, Piter; explain yourself.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Piter.</span> Why, Colonel.... but read this letter.</p>
+
+<p>He gave the colonel a letter, which the latter read aloud, and every
+word of which was engraved on my mind, and still is as present to my
+memory as though I heard them an hour ago. It was as follows:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">My dear, dear Piter</span>:&mdash;I take advantage of recruit Arnold's leaving, for
+he has enlisted in your regiment, to send you this letter, and a silk
+purse I have made for you. Oh! I have hidden from father to work it, for
+he is always scolding me for loving you so much, and is always telling
+me that you will never come back. But you will come back, won't you!
+Even if you never come back, I will always love you just the same. I
+promised myself to you the day you picked up my blue handkerchief at the
+Areneberg dance, and brought it to me. Oh! when shall I see you again?
+The only pleasure I have is to hear that your officers esteem you, and
+your comrades love you. Everybody says you are an honest man and a good
+fellow. But you have still two years to serve. Serve them quickly,
+because then we shall be married. Good-by, dear, dear Piter, and believe
+me, your own dear</p>
+
+<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Mary.</span></p>
+
+<p>P.S. Try to send me, too, something from France, not because I'm afraid
+I shall forget you, but I want something from you to carry always about
+me. Kiss what you send me. I know I shall find at once where you kissed
+it.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>When the colonel finished reading the letter, Piter said:</p>
+
+<p>'Arnold gave me this letter last night when I received my billet paper.
+For my life's sake I could not sleep; I lay awake all night long,
+thinking of home and of Mary. She asked for something from France. I had
+no money. I drew three months' advance last week to send home to my
+brother and my cousin. This morning, when I got up to go, I opened my
+window. A blue handkerchief was hanging on a clothes line; it looked
+like Mary's; it was the same color, the same white lines; I was so weak
+as to take it, and put it in my knapsack. I went out into the street; I
+was sorry for what I had done; I was going back to the house with it
+just when this lady ran after me. The handkerchief was found in my
+knapsack. This is all the truth. The capitulation orders me to be shot.
+Shoot me, but don't despise me.'</p>
+
+<p>The judges could not conceal their emotion; but when the balloting took
+place, he was unanimously condemned to death. He heard his sentence with
+sang-froid; after it was passed on him, he went up to his captain and
+asked him to lend him four francs. The captain gave them to him. I then
+saw Piter go to the woman to whom the blue handkerchief had been
+restored, and I heard him say:</p>
+
+<p>'Madame, here are four francs; I don't know whether your handkerchief is
+worth more, but even if it is, I pay dear enough for it to engage you to
+knock off the rest.'</p>
+
+<p>Taking the handkerchief from her, he kissed it, and gave it to the
+captain.</p>
+
+<p>'Captain,' said he, 'in two years you'll be returning home; when you go
+toward Areneberg, ask for Mary; give her this blue handkerchief, but
+don't tell her how dearly I purchased it.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Piter then kneeled and prayed fervently; when his prayers were ended, he
+arose and walked with a firm step to the place of execution. I forgot
+that I was a scientific man, and I walked down into the woods to avoid
+seeing the end of this cruel tragedy. A volley of musketry soon told me
+that all was over.</p>
+
+<p>I returned to the fatal spot an hour afterward; the regiment had marched
+away; all was calm and silent. While following the edge of the grove,
+going to the highway, I perceived at a short distance before me traces
+of blood, and a mound of freshly heaped earth. I took a branch from one
+of the fir trees, and made a rude cross.</p>
+
+<p>I placed it at the head of poor Piter's grave, now forgotten by every
+body except by me, and perhaps by Mary.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="GOLD" id="GOLD"></a>GOLD.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Gold, next to iron, is the most widely diffused metal upon the surface
+of our globe. It occurs in granite, the oldest rock known to us, and in
+all the rocks derived from it; it is also found in the veinstones which
+traverse other geological formations, but has never been found in any
+secondary formation. It is, however, much more common in alluvial
+grounds than among primitive and pyrogenous rocks. It is found
+disseminated, under the form of spangles, in the silicious,
+argillaceous, and ferruginous sands of certain plains and rivers,
+especially in their junction, at the season of low water, and after
+storms and temporary floods. It is the only metal of a yellow color; it
+is readily crystallizable, and always assumes one or more of the
+symmetrical shapes, such as the cube or regular octahedron. It affords a
+resplendent polish, and may be exposed to the atmosphere for any length
+of time, without suffering any change; it is remarkable for its beauty;
+is nineteen times heavier than water, and, next to platinum, the
+heaviest known substance; its malleability is such, that a cubic inch
+will cover thirty-five hundred square feet; its ductility is such, that
+a lump of the value of four hundred dollars could be drawn into a wire
+which would extend around the globe. It is first mentioned in Genesis
+ii, 11. It was found in the country of Havilah, where the rivers
+Euphrates and Tigris unite and discharge their waters into the Persian
+gulf.</p>
+
+<p>The relative value of gold to silver in the days of the patriarch
+Abraham was one to eight; at the period of <span class="smcap">B.C.</span> 1000, it was one to
+twelve; <span class="smcap">B.C.</span> 500, it was one to thirteen; at the commencement of the
+Christian era, it was one to nine; <span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 500, it was one to eighteen;
+<span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 1100, it was one to eight; <span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 1400, it was one to eleven; <span class="smcap">A.D.</span>
+1613, it was one to thirteen; <span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 1700, it was one to fifteen and a
+half; which latter ratio, with but slight variation, it has maintained
+to the present day. Gold was considered bullion in Palestine for a long
+period after silver had been current as money. The first mention of gold
+money in the Bible is in David's reign (<span class="smcap">B.C.</span> 1056), when that king
+purchased the threshing floor of Oman for six hundred shekels of gold by
+weight. In the early period of Grecian history the quantity of the
+precious metals increased but slowly; the circulating medium did not
+increase in proportion with the quantity of bullion. In the earliest
+days of Greece, the precious metals existed in great abundance in the
+Levant. Cabul and Little Thibet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> (<span class="smcap">B.C.</span> 500) were abundant in gold. It
+seems to be a well ascertained fact, that it was obtained near the
+surface; so that countries, which formerly yielded the metal in great
+abundance, are now entirely destitute of it. Cr&oelig;sus (<span class="smcap">B.C.</span> 560) coined
+the golden <i>stater</i>, which contained one hundred and thirty-three grains
+of pure metal. Darius, son of Hystaspes (<span class="smcap">B.C.</span> 538), coined <i>darics</i>,
+containing one hundred and twenty-one grains of pure metal, which were
+preferred, for several ages throughout the East, for their fineness.
+Next to the <i>darics</i> were some coins of the reigns of the tyrants of
+Sicily: of Gelo (<span class="smcap">B.C.</span> 491); of Hiero (<span class="smcap">B.C.</span> 478); and of Dionysius (B.C,
+404). Specimens of the two former are still preserved in modern
+cabinets. <i>Darics</i> are supposed to be mentioned in the latter books of
+the Old Testament, under the name of <i>drams</i>. Very few specimens of the
+<i>daric</i> have come down to us; their scarcity may he accounted for by the
+fact that they were melted down under the type of Alexander. Gold coin
+was by no means plenty in Greece until Philip of Macedon had put the
+mines of Thrace into full operation, about <span class="smcap">B.C.</span> 360. Gold was also
+obtained by the Greeks from Asia Minor, the adjacent islands, which
+possessed it in abundance, and from India, Arabia, Armenia, Colchis, and
+Troas. It was found mixed with the sands of the Pactolus and other
+rivers. There are only about a dozen Greek coins in existence, three of
+which are in the British Museum; and of the latter, two are <i>staters</i>,
+of the weight of one hundred and twenty-nine grains each. About <span class="smcap">B.C.</span>
+207, gold coins were first struck off at Rome, and were denominated
+<i>aurei</i>, four specimens of which are in the institution before alluded
+to. Their weight was one hundred and twenty-one grains. Gold coins were
+first issued in France by Clovis, <span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 489; about the same time they
+were issued in Spain by Amalric, the Gothic king; in both kingdoms they
+were called <i>trientes</i>. They were first issued in England <span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 1257, in
+the shape of a penny. Florins were next issued, in 1344, of the value of
+six shillings. The guinea was first issued in 1663, of Guinea gold. In
+1733 all the gold coins&mdash;nobles, angels, rials, crowns, units, lions,
+exurgats, etc., etc., were called in and forbidden to circulate. The
+present sovereign was first issued in 1817.</p>
+
+<p>From the commencement of the Christian era to the discovery of America,
+the amount of gold obtained from the surface and bowels of the earth is
+estimated to be thirty-eight hundred millions of dollars; from the date
+of the latter event to the close of 1842, an addition of twenty-eight
+hundred millions was obtained. The discovery and extensive working of
+the Russian mines added, to the close of 1852, six hundred millions
+more. The double discovery of the California mines in 1848, and of the
+Australia mines in 1851 has added, to the present time, twenty-one
+hundred millions; making a grand total of ninety-three hundred millions
+of dollars. The average loss by wear and tear of coin is estimated to be
+one-tenth of one per cent, per annum; and the loss by consumption in the
+arts, by fire and shipwreck, at from one to three millions per annum.</p>
+
+<p>A cubic inch of gold is worth (at &pound;3 17<i>s.</i> 10&frac12;<i>d.</i>, or $18.69 per
+ounce) two hundred and ten dollars; a cubic foot, three hundred and
+sixty-two thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars; a cubic yard, nine
+millions nine hundred and seventeen thousand seven hundred and sixty
+dollars. The amount of gold in existence, at the commencement of the
+Christian era, is estimated to be four hundred and twenty-seven millions
+of dollars; at the period of the discovery of America, it had diminished
+to fifty-seven millions; after the occurrence of that event, it
+gradually increased, and in 1600, it attained to one hundred and five
+millions; in 1700, to three hundred and fifty-one millions; in 1800, to
+eleven hundred and twenty-five millions; in 1843, to two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> thousand
+millions; in 1853 to three thousand millions; and at the present time,
+the amount of gold in existence is estimated to be forty-eight hundred
+millions of dollars; which, welded into one mass, could be contained in
+a cube of twenty-four feet. Of the amount now in existence, three
+thousand millions is estimated to be in coin and bullion, and the
+remainder in watches, jewelry, plate, etc., etc.</p>
+
+<p>The Russian gold mines were discovered in 1819, and extend over one
+third of the circumference of the globe, upon the parallel of 55&deg; of
+north latitude. Their product, since their discovery to the present
+time, has amounted to eight hundred millions of dollars. The California
+gold mines were discovered by William Marshall, on the ninth day of
+February, 1848, at Sutter's Mill, upon the American Fork, a tributary of
+the Sacramento, and extend from 34&deg; to 49&deg; of north latitude. Their
+product, since their discovery to the present time, has amounted to one
+thousand and forty-seven millions of dollars. The Australia gold mines
+were discovered by Edward Hammond Hargraves, on the twelfth day of
+February, 1851, in the Bathurst and Wellington districts, and extend
+from 30&deg; to 38&deg; of south latitude. Their product, since their discovery
+to the present time, has amounted to nine hundred and eleven millions of
+dollars. The finest gold is obtained at Ballurat, and the largest nugget
+yet obtained weighed twenty-two hundred and seventeen ounces, valued at
+forty-one thousand dollars. In shape it resembled a continent with a
+peninsula attached by a narrow isthmus. The annual product of gold at
+the commencement of the Christian era is estimated at eight hundred
+thousand dollars; at the period of the discovery of America it had
+diminished to one hundred thousand dollars; after the occurrence of that
+event it gradually increased, and in 1600 it attained to two millions;
+and in 1700, to five millions; in 1800, to fifteen millions; in 1843, to
+thirty-four millions; in 1850, to eighty-eight millions; in 1852, to two
+hundred and thirty-six millions; but owing to the falling off of the
+California as well as the Australia mines, the product of the present
+year will not probably exceed one hundred and ninety millions.</p>
+
+<p>Since 1792 to the present time, the gold coinage of the United States
+mint has amounted to seven hundred and forty millions of dollars, of
+which six hundred and fifty-five millions have been issued since 1850.
+The gold coinage of the French mint, since 1726, has amounted to
+eighty-seven hundred millions of francs, of which fifty-two hundred and
+fifty millions have been issued since 1850. The gold coinage of the
+British mint, since 1603, has amounted to two hundred and eighty
+millions of pounds sterling; of which seventy-five millions have been
+issued since 1850. The gold coinage of the Russian mint, since 1664, has
+amounted to five hundred and twenty-six millions of roubles, of which
+two hundred and sixty millions have been issued since 1850. The
+sovereign of England contains one hundred and twelve grains of pure
+metal; the new doubloon of Spain, one hundred and fifteen; the half
+eagle of the United States, one hundred and sixteen; the gold lion of
+the Netherlands, and the double ounce of Sicily, one hundred and
+seventeen grains each; the ducat of Austria, one hundred and six; the
+twenty-franc piece of France, ninety; and the half imperial of Russia,
+ninety-one grains. A commissioner has been despatched by the United
+States Government to England, France, and other countries of Europe, to
+confer with their respective governments upon the expediency of adopting
+a uniform system of coinage throughout the world, so that the coins of
+one country may circulate in any other, without the expense of
+recoinage&mdash;a consummation most devoutly to be wished.</p>
+
+<p>The fact that the large amount of gold which has been thrown into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>
+monetary circulation of the world within the last fourteen years, has
+exercised so little influence upon the money market or prices generally,
+is at variance with the predictions of financial writers upon both sides
+of the Atlantic. The increase in the present production of gold,
+compared with former periods, is enormous; and it would not be
+surprising if, in view of the explorations which are going on in Africa,
+Japan, Borneo, and other countries bordering upon the equator, the
+product of the precious metals within the next decade should be a
+million of dollars <i>daily</i>. The price of gold has not diminished,
+although the annual product has increased fivefold within twenty years.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="LAST_WORDS" id="LAST_WORDS"></a>LAST WORDS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>I am at last resolved. This taunting devil shall possess me no longer.
+At least I will meet him face to face. I have read that the face of a
+dead man is as though he understood the cause of all things, and was
+therefore profoundly at rest, <i>I</i> will know the cause of my wretched
+fate, and will be at rest. My pistols lie loaded by my side&mdash;I shall die
+to-night. To-morrow, twelve awestruck and trembling men will come and
+look at me. They will ask each other: 'What could have been his motive
+for the rash act.' Rash! my face will be calmer than theirs, for my
+struggles in this life will be over; and I shall have gained&mdash;perhaps
+knowledge, perhaps oblivion, but certainly victory. And to-night, as the
+clock strikes twelve, there will be shrieks and horror in this room. No
+matter: I shall have been more kind to those who utter them than they
+know of, for they will not have known the cause until they have read
+these lines.</p>
+
+<p>And yet most people would esteem me a happy man. I am rich in all that
+the world calls riches. I sit in a room filled with luxuries; a few
+steps would bring me into the midst of guests, among whom are noble men
+and women, sweet music, rare perfumes, glitter and costly show. My life
+has been spent amid the influences of kind friends, good parents, and
+culture in all that is highest and worthiest in literature and art; and
+I can recall scenes as I write, of days that would have been most happy
+but for the blight that has been upon me always. I think I see now the
+pleasant parlor in the old house at home. Here sits our mother, a little
+gray, but brisk and merry as a cricket; there our father, a
+well-preserved gentleman of fifty, rather gratified at feeling the first
+aristocratic twinges of gout, and whose double eyeglass is a chief
+feature in all he says; there is Bill, poring over Sir William Napier's
+'Peninsular War;' there is Charles, just rushing in, with a face the
+principal features in which are redness and hair, to tell us that there
+is another otter in the mill stream in the meadow; there is my little
+sister, holding grave talk with dear Dollie, and best (or worst) of all,
+there is cousin Lucy&mdash;cousin Lucy, with her brown hair, and soft, loving
+eyes and quiet ways. Where are they all now? Charley went to London, was
+first the favorite of the clubs, next a heartless rake, and finally,
+being worn out, and, like Solomon, convinced that all was vanity, went
+into the Church to become that most contemptible of all creatures, a
+fashionable preacher; my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> father and mother are laid side by side in the
+aisle of the old church on the hill, where their virtues are sculptured
+in marble, for the information of anxiously curious mankind; sister Mary
+no longer talks to dolls, though a flock of little girls, who call her
+mother, do. Bill, poor Bill, lies far away in the Crimea, with the
+bullet of a gray-coated Russian in his heart. And Lucy&mdash;but it is to her
+I owe what I am, and what I am about to do.</p>
+
+<p>I loved her&mdash;love her still. Will she <i>know</i> what these words mean, when
+she finds them here? I cannot tell. They are enough for me. Not for you
+are they written, ball-room lounger, whispering of endless devotion
+between every qaudrille; not to you, proud beauty, taking and absorbing
+declarations as you would an ice; not for you, chattering monkey of the
+Champs Elyse&eacute;s, raving of your <i>grande passion</i> for Eloise, so
+<i>charmante</i>, so <i>spirituelle</i>; nor for you, Eloise aforesaid, with your
+devilish devices, stringing hearts in your girdle as Indians do scalps;
+not for you, dancing Spaniard, with your eternal castagnets, whispering
+just one word to your dark-eyed se&ntilde;orita, as you hand her another
+perfumed cigarette; not for you, lounging Italian, hissing intrigues
+under the shadow of an Athenian portico, or stealing after your veiled
+incognita, as her shadow flits over the place where the blood of C&aelig;sar
+dyed the floor of the Capitol, or where the knife of Virginius flashed
+in the summer sun&mdash;not for one of you, for I have seen and despise you
+all. To you all love is a sealed book, which you shall never open&mdash;a
+tree of knowledge that will never turn into a curse for you&mdash;a beautiful
+serpent that, as you gaze upon its changing hues, will never sting you
+to the death.</p>
+
+<p>I never told her. I would wait for hours to see her pass, if she went
+out alone&mdash;but I never told her. I would trace her footsteps where she
+had taken her daily walk; I would wait beneath her window at night, to
+see but her shadow upon the blind, until she put out her lamp, and left
+the stars and myself the only watchers there&mdash;but I never told her. I
+would lay flowers in her way, happy if she wore them on her bosom, or
+wreathed them in her hair, as she sometimes would&mdash;but she never knew
+from whom they came. I sickened at my heart for her; I pined, oh! how I
+pined for her, and worshipped her as a saint, the hope, the glory, the
+heaven of my life&mdash;but I never told her.</p>
+
+<p>Did she love me? No. And, while I loved, I feared her. She never made me
+her companion, never took my arm; would always sit opposite me in the
+carriage instead of by my side; if in a game of forfeits, I forced the
+embrace I had won, she would struggle with tears of anger, though she
+had given her cheek to William with a blush but a few minutes before. If
+I had not been her abject slave, I could have torn her in pieces. Alas!
+alas! we were but boys, and she a girl still. How many, long years I
+have suffered since then!</p>
+
+<p>One night I could not sleep, but sat up in my room thinking. Why should
+she not love me? I am esteemed well-looking and intelligent, thought I,
+looking into the glass, as if to confirm my satisfactory judgment of
+myself. I gazed long and earnestly. Yes, certainly handsome, said I with
+my lips, but&mdash;fool! fool! said my mocking eyes; for at that moment there
+came out of their depths&mdash;there came a devil! Yes, a devil that glared
+at me from the glass! a devil that was, and yet was not, myself! a devil
+that had my form, and looked out of my face, but with its own cruel,
+mocking eyes! And he and I confronted each other in that horrible glass.
+I know not how long, but they told me afterward that I was found next
+morning making ghastly faces at myself.</p>
+
+<p>And then I was carried by spirits into a land of visions, where for a
+hundred years, or for a moment of time, I was flying through space, and
+clouds, and fire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>!&mdash;groping through dark caverns, millions of miles
+long, crying wildly for light and air; now a giant, entangled in myriads
+of chains that I could not break; now a reptile, writhing away from
+footsteps that made the earth reel and tremble beneath their tread; and
+at last waking, as if out of sleep, a poor, puny thing, with limbs like
+shadows, laughing or crying by turns for very feebleness.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>As I arose from that bed I knew that I was changed. It was a secret
+thought, a secret that I have kept till now. I was not quite sure at
+first, but it thus fell out that I knew it well:</p>
+
+<p>One day William and I had been sitting for some time in the library, he
+reading and I looking at the faces that glowed in the red-hot coal, and
+thinking of Lucy and him.</p>
+
+<p>'Where is Lucy?' said I, at length,</p>
+
+<p>'Gone out into the village,' he answered, without looking from the book;
+'first to buy gloves, then to see Miss Trip, the dancing mistress, who
+is ill, then to Hurst Park to tea, whence I am to fetch her at nine
+o'clock.'</p>
+
+<p>'You seem to know all her movements,' I said, with a sneer.</p>
+
+<p>'Certainly, he rejoined, 'she told me all that I have told you.'</p>
+
+<p>'You always <i>are</i> in her confidence,' said I, very angrily, as my blood
+rose.</p>
+
+<p>'I believe so,' said he, calmly; though he looked at me with some
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p>'And I never,' said I, between my teeth.</p>
+
+<p>'That,' he said, 'is a matter with which I have no concern.'</p>
+
+<p>I ground my teeth, but I kept quiet. I kept quiet, though every nerve in
+my body tingled with rage, and my boiling blood rushed into my eyes till
+I could hardly see. 'Do you know,' I shouted, 'do you know that I love
+her&mdash;would die a thousand deaths for her?'</p>
+
+<p>He clasped his hands with a quick motion, as he said in a low voice,
+'And so do I; and so would I.'</p>
+
+<p>'Beast, fiend!' I screamed, 'does she&mdash;does she&mdash;&mdash;' I could not get out
+the accursed words.</p>
+
+<p>'We have been engaged,' he answered, divining what I would have asked,
+'we have been engaged for some time, and&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>He did not finish the sentence, for I sprang at him, crushed him to the
+floor, squeezed his throat till his face grew black and the froth oozed
+out from his lips, beat his head upon the hearthstones till he lay still
+and bleeding, and then sought my knife. It was up stairs. I flew to get
+it. It lay upon my dressing table before the glass, and I snatched at
+it. Great God! as I did so, another arm was thrust forth&mdash;not mine, I
+swear, if I live a thousand years; and as I recoiled, I saw in that
+glass a fiend step back. Not me, not me!&mdash;but a fiend with bloody hands,
+and a foul leer upon its face, and a fierce, cruel laugh in its
+glittering eyes. It was he, it was he! It was the devil that had
+possessed me before, come back again. And as I shuddered and gasped, and
+turned away, and then looked again into those eyes that pierced <i>me</i>
+through, and saw the cold, bitter smile that was on the face before me,
+I knew that the fiend would leave me never more, and that I was mad!</p>
+
+<p>What was a quarrel with my brother now? I stole back, and, lifting him
+up, carried him to his room, where I washed the blood from his face.
+When he came to himself I fell at his feet and besought his pardon, and
+that he would keep what had happened a secret. He forgave me. And I
+believe the only lie he ever told in all his life was when he told Lucy
+that he had cut his head by falling on a jagged stone.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, how often after that my fingers itched to be at his throat again;
+but I always quailed before his steady eye.</p>
+
+<p>I pass over the next few years, except to say that I went to college,
+where I was shunned by all, though never alone: was a dunce, and plucked
+twice. Perhaps it was I who shunned others, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> had I not society in
+the constant presence of my Familiar? I was of course a dunce, for my
+brain was never steady enough to carry me over the <i>Pons Asinorum</i>, or
+to make a Latin verse with even decent correctness. I went away in
+disgust. I think if I had stayed longer I should have torn somebody, or
+else myself.</p>
+
+<p>I went next into the army. It was a new era in my life, and, strange to
+say, my devil left me for a while, so that I was able to master the
+details of my profession, and to be esteemed a good and careful officer.
+There was hope, too, of active service; for the Russian Eagle was slowly
+unfolding his vast wings for a new descent into the plains of Europe.
+William, married to Her now, who was a lieutenant in the Foot Guards,
+wrote to me to say that he hoped we should be really brothers, now that
+we were to meet before an enemy; and the next day out came the
+declaration of war. When I had read it, I drew my sword, and, as I ran
+my eye along its cold, sharp blade from hilt to point, I thought how
+strange was its power to let out a man's life, and turn him, in a
+moment, into a heap of inanimate carrion.</p>
+
+<p>Of course I am not going to tell the history of the great siege in the
+Crimea, for every child knows by heart the tale of the clambering fight
+up the Alma's steeps, of the withering volley that suddenly crashed out
+of the gray twilight on the hill of Inkerman, of the long months of
+starvation, of the final <i>feu d'enfer</i>, beneath which the Russian host
+crowded over the narrow bridge that saved them from their foe. But of
+the fatal charge of the Six Hundred I must speak, for I was one of them,
+and I have cursed its memory a thousand times.</p>
+
+<p>I well remember that day&mdash;how restless I was the night before, and how I
+listened to the dropping shots on either side, hoping almost that one
+would find its way to my heart.</p>
+
+<p>We were brigaded by daylight. Some man&oelig;uvres on an extensive scale
+were to be attempted, I believe, one of which was to outflank some
+batteries of field artillery by which we had suffered much loss. They
+were drawn up at the side and end of the valley of Balaklava, and we
+were at the other end, and were ordered, it has since been said in
+error, to charge down the valley upon them.</p>
+
+<p>How beautiful the sun rose that day! The dewy odors from a thousand
+flowers came floating up from that green valley as he rolled away the
+mists from the mountain tops, and showed us the dusky masses far below,
+from which the shot came whizzing every now and then. Gods! how we
+exulted at the sight. Along our line rose a wild cheer, as our horses
+tugged and strained at their bits, and every man's bridle was drawn
+tight. Soon a puff of smoke came from a hillock near, and the stern
+command 'draw swords' ran along from troop to troop, as the bright steel
+flashed in the sunshine like a river of light. Then out pealed the
+trumpets, and away we went, amidst a storm of ringing harness, and
+clashing scabbards, and flying banners, and thundering hoofs that made
+the ground shake. On we dashed, straight across the valley, in front of
+a point-blank fire, that emptied many a saddle as we flew along,
+straight upon the mass of smoke and flame which hid those fatal
+batteries&mdash;straight at the gunners, dealing out wild blows upon them,
+while they fought with swords, or axes, or clubbed muskets, or gun
+spongers, or anything that could cut or strike a blow.</p>
+
+<p>As for me, I only know that I was in the first line, and among the first
+in the m&ecirc;l&eacute;e; where my first blow lighted upon the bare head of a
+Russian, whose blood spouted high as I cut at him with all my force; for
+after that a mist came over my eyes, and I fought in the dark, and then
+came oblivion.</p>
+
+<p>When I awoke to consciousness, which I did not for several days, I found
+that I was wounded, and had been in danger of my life, though I should
+most probably recover. As soon as I was strong enough to talk much, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>
+was told that my bravery had been very conspicuous, and that I had been
+honorably mentioned in the order of the day. Four Russians, it seemed,
+had died by my hand, and being at last cut on the head by a sabre, I was
+with difficulty held on my horse when the retreat was sounded. I had
+raved, it also appeared, incessantly; but now the fever had left me.
+Good. It was fever, they thought, which had held possession of me. But
+those who said so did not know what power it was that nerved my arm, and
+then, having worked his devilish wile, flung me away like a broken toy.
+Fever! They did not know that it was a 'fever' that had cursed me for
+twelve long years.</p>
+
+<p>But I got well, as those who were about me said, and, having been
+reported fit for duty, made my appearance at parade, and afterward, the
+same day, at mess.</p>
+
+<p>My brother was dead. One day, while I lay ill, he and a party of his
+brother officers were idly chatting in one of the more advanced
+trenches, when a mini&eacute; ball struck him, and he died without a word or
+groan. They carried him out, and he lies at the little graveyard at
+Scutari, with thousands of others who fell in the Great Siege. His sword
+and other relics had been kept for me, and among them was a portrait of
+Cousin Lucy, which he had worn next his heart. I should have to take it
+to her. The general in command had already written to her, with the news
+of her bereavement.</p>
+
+<p>I was saying that I rejoined the mess. All my comrades congratulated me
+but one. He was a young fellow, recently exchanged from another
+regiment, who would one day wear the strawberry leaf upon his coronet&mdash;a
+cold, supercilious, prying puppy, whom I hated at once. When we were
+introduced, our mutual bow was studied in its cold formality&mdash;on his
+side so much so as to be almost insulting, considering the place and
+circumstances. To this day I believe that he, the only one of all there,
+had suspected me, and I felt that I must be perpetually on my guard
+against his curious glances. I was sure that one day we should have to
+strive for the mastery. And we did&mdash;sooner than I expected; for, as the
+colonel filled his glass, and, calling upon the rest to follow his
+example, drank a welcome to me back among them, this knave, sitting
+opposite at the time, fixed his eyes upon me as he lifted his glass to
+his lips, and did not drink. As our looks met, I knew that he mocked me,
+and I flung my wine in his face, and raved.</p>
+
+<p>Those present forced me away, and took me to my tent, where they made me
+lie down. I was supposed to be delirious from weakness and the effects
+of my wound, and I heard them say, 'He has come out too soon; that wine
+he drank at dinner was too much for him.' Good again! It was the wine!
+'But,' thought I, 'as soon as this arm shall be able to strike or
+thrust, I will have the life of that sneering devil, or he mine.' And I
+kept my word. I met him within ten days afterward, walking at some
+distance from the camp, quite alone, as I was myself.</p>
+
+<p>'Good morning,' said he; 'you are about again, as I am glad to see.'</p>
+
+<p>I said to him, 'Do you forget the time when I was out before?'</p>
+
+<p>'Surely not,' said he; 'but I knew that you had been ill, and was not
+master of yourself.'</p>
+
+<p>'And so forgave me?' I rejoined, in a passion.</p>
+
+<p>'And so forgave,' said he; 'why not?'</p>
+
+<p>'Then learn,' said I, 'that I <i>was</i> master of myself; that I am now;
+that you insulted me grossly; that the only words I have for you
+are&mdash;draw, sir, draw!'</p>
+
+<p>'Stop!' he cried, as I drew my sword; 'pray come back with me to the
+camp. You are ill; pray, come back; I have no quarrel with you, believe
+me.'</p>
+
+<p>But I struck him on the breast with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> my swordhilt, so that he nearly
+fell. Then he recovered himself, and, still crying out that he had no
+quarrel with me, drew and stood upon his guard, while I rushed upon him.</p>
+
+<p>He was cool, and I furious. I believe he could have killed me easily if
+he had wished, but he only parried my rapid blows. At last, however, as
+I pressed him more closely, he grew paler, and began to fight in
+earnest. What <i>then</i> could he do against a madman? I bore him back, step
+by step, till a mass of rock stopped him; and there I kept him, with the
+hissing steel playing about his head, until he dropped upon one knee and
+his sword fell from his hand. Then I paused, waiting to see him die as I
+would a wounded hare, as die I knew he must, for I had pierced him with
+twenty wounds. He knelt thus, and looked, not at me, but at the setting
+sun; and then his head drooped and he rolled over, and was dead.</p>
+
+<p>And as I wiped my sword on the grass, I shouted with glee.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, I told no one. It was but another secret added to the many
+that had torn my heart and brain. Nor, when the body was found, stripped
+by camp followers, and supposed to be killed by a reconnoitring party of
+the enemy, did I betray myself by word or look.</p>
+
+<p>At last the war was over, and we were ordered home. I bade farewell to
+the blue hills of the Crimea with secret joy, and as the shore faded
+from my sight, the memory of all that had happened to me during the
+Great Siege faded from my memory like a dream.</p>
+
+<p>Upon our landing, I went as soon as possible home. How green the hedges
+were, how sweet the scent of the violets, how soft the grass, how grand
+the arching oaks and giant elms, as I journeyed along on foot. Surely I
+have suffered enough, I said to myself, as I passed through meadow, and
+copse, and lane, and over stiles, and to the old park at last. Surely I
+have suffered enough, I said, as I came to the lodge gate, where the
+keeper's wife looked curiously at my uniform and bronzed face, and the
+crape on my arm, and then ran into the lodge to tell her husband that
+here was Master Horace come back. Surely there was peace in that old
+house, with its pointed gables, and moss-clad turrets, and ivied walls,
+and little gothic windows&mdash;where the old butler grasped my hand; and the
+maids came peeping out; and the old dog licked my face; where poor Lucy
+wept upon my breast&mdash;wept for that I had come back alone; and then put
+her little girl into my arms, to kiss dear Uncle Horace, come home once
+more.</p>
+
+<p>But, when I went to bed that night, in the same glass that showed me my
+Enemy years before, I saw him looking at me, with his cruel smile,
+shining out of my own eyes.</p>
+
+<p>What more remains to be told? But little; for it was but the old story.
+It is enough to say that I struggled on, hoping against hope; that I
+cheated myself with the maddest hope of all&mdash;that she might be brought
+to love me; that I one day prayed her to become my wife, and that she
+broke from me with terror and loathing; that I fled her presence, and
+was once more a wanderer over the earth; that my weary feet dragged me
+over the snows of Siberia, where the furred noble and the chained serf
+worked side by side; over the burning sands, where the brown Arab
+careers along upon his steed, his white burnous fluttering in the hot
+wind; over the broad prairies of America, where the Indian prowls with
+his trusty rifle, waiting for the wild beast; over the paths of the
+trackless deep; over the still wilder deserts and still more lonely
+deeps of revelry and vice;&mdash;what more than that I have come back again;
+that many guests are here to do honor to my return; that these are the
+last words which I shall ever write!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="PARTING" id="PARTING"></a>PARTING</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When 'mid the loud notes of the drum</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And fife tones shrilling on the ear,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The music of our nation's hymns</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Rose 'neath the elm trees loud and clear;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When on the Common's grassy plain</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The city poured her countless throng,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And blessings fell like April rain</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">On each one as he marched along;</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">We parted,&mdash;hand close clasped in hand,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Telling the thoughts tongue could not speak;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Was it unmanly that our eyes</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">O'erflowed with love upon the cheek?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I hear thy cheery voice outspeak,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">'Courage, the months will quickly fly,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And ere November chill and bleak</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">We meet at home, Ned, you and I.'</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A livelier strain came from the band,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">'God bless you' went from each to each;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A gazing eye, a waving hand,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Where hearts were all too full for speech.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He marched, obeying duty's call,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Of noblest nature, first to hear;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I, bound by fond domestic thrall,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">In path of duty lingered here.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Slowly the summer months rolled on,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">October harvested the corn,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">November came with shortening days,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Passed by in mist and rain,&mdash;was gone,&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Yet still he came not; winter's snow</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">In feathery vesture clothed the trees,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Or, iceclad in a jewelled glow,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">They sparkled in the chilly breeze.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Spring glowed along Potomac vales,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">While north her footsteps tardier came,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">For him the golden jasmine trails</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">O'er bright azaleas all aflame;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Still upon Yorktown's trampled fields,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">O'er grassy plain and wooded swell,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Her sunny wealth the summer yields,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And still the word comes, 'All is well.'</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="A_MERCHANTS_STORY" id="A_MERCHANTS_STORY"></a>A MERCHANT'S STORY.</h2>
+
+
+<p class="center">'All of which I saw, and part of which I was.' </p>
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+
+<p>In the afternoon the exercises at the meeting house were conducted by
+Preston, who publicly catechized the negroes very much in the manner
+that is practised in Northern Sunday schools. When the services were
+over, and the family had gathered around the supper table, I said to
+him:</p>
+
+<p>'I've an idea of passing the evening with Joe; he has invited me. Would
+it be proper for you and Mrs. Preston to go?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, yes; and we will. I would like to have you see his mother. She is a
+wonderful woman, and, if in the mood, will astonish you.'</p>
+
+<p>'I think you told me she is a native African?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, she is. She was brought from Africa when a child. She has a dim
+recollection of her life there, and retains the language and
+superstitions of her race,' replied Preston, rising from the table. 'I
+think you had better go at once, for she retires early; Lucy and I will
+follow you as soon as we can.'</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Joe's cabin was located nearly in the centre of the little collection of
+negro houses, and a few hundred yards from the mansion. It was of logs,
+a story and a half high, and had originally been only about twenty feet
+square. To the primitive structure, however, an addition of the same
+dimensions had been made, and as it then stretched for more than forty
+feet along the narrow bypath which separated the two rows of negro
+shanties, it presented quite an imposing appearance. A second addition
+in its rear, though it did not increase its dignity in the eyes of
+'street' observers, added largely to its proportions and convenience.</p>
+
+<p>The various epochs in Joe's history were plainly written on his
+dwelling. The original building noted the time when, a common field
+hand, he had married a wife, and set up housekeeping; the front addition
+marked the era when his industry, intelligence, and devotion to his
+master's interest had raised him above the dead level of black
+servitude, and given him the management of the plantation; and the rear
+structure spoke pleasantly of the time when old Deborah, disabled by age
+from longer service at 'the great house,' and too infirm to clamber up
+the steep ladder which led to Joe's attic bedrooms, had come to doze
+away the remainder of her days under her son's roof.</p>
+
+<p>The cabin was furnished with two entrance doors, and suspecting that the
+one in the older portion led directly into the kitchen, I rapped lightly
+at the other. In a moment it opened, and Joe ushered me into the living
+room.</p>
+
+<p>That apartment occupied the whole of the newer front, and had a
+cheerful, cosy appearance. Its floor was covered with a tidy rag carpet,
+evidently of home manufacture, and its plastered walls were decorated
+with tasteful paper, and hung with a number of neatly framed engravings.
+Opposite the doorway stood a large mahogany bureau, and over it,
+suspended from the ceiling by leathern cords, was a curiously contrived
+shelving, containing a score or more of well-worn books. Among them I
+noticed a small edition of 'Shakespeare,' Milton's 'Poems,' Goldsmith's
+'England,' the six volumes of 'Comprehensive Commentary,' Taylor's 'Holy
+Living and Dying,' the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' a 'United States
+Gazetteer,' and a complete set of the theological writings of
+Swedenborg. Neat chintz curtains covered the small windows, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> number of
+brightly burnished brass candlesticks ornamented a plain wooden mantle
+over the broad fireplace, and a yellow-pine table, oiled and varnished,
+on which the 'tea things' were still standing, occupied the centre of
+the apartment.</p>
+
+<p>Through an open door, at the right of the bureau, I caught a glimpse of
+the dormitory of the aged Africaness. As on the exterior of the building
+a brief epitome of Joe's history was written, so in that room a portion
+of his character was traced. Its comfortable and almost elegant
+furnishings told, plainer than any words, that he was a devoted and
+affectionate son. With its rich Brussels carpet, red window hangings,
+cosy lounge, neat centre table, and small black-walnut bureau, it might
+have been mistaken for the private apartment of a white lady of some
+pretensions.</p>
+
+<p>It was a little after nightfall when I entered the cabin, but a bright
+fire, blazing on the hearth, gave me a full view of its occupants. Aggy,
+a tidily clad, middle-aged yellow woman, was clearing away the supper
+table, and Joe's mother was smoking a pipe in a large arm chair, in the
+chimney corner.</p>
+
+<p>The old negress wore a black levantine gown, open in front, and gathered
+about the waist by a silken cord; a red and yellow turban, from
+underneath which escaped a few frosted locks, and a white cambric
+neckerchief that fell carelessly over her shoulders, and almost hid her
+withered, scrawny neck. She was upward of seventy, but so infirm that
+she appeared nearly a hundred. One of her lean, skinny arms, escaping
+from the loose sleeve of her dress, rested on her knee; and her bowed,
+bony frame leaned against the arm of her chair, as if incapable of
+sitting upright. Her features, with the exception of her nose, which
+curved slightly upward, were thin and regular; and her eyes were large,
+deep, and densely black, and seemed turned inward, as if gazing with a
+half-wondering stare at the strange mechanism which held together her
+queer frame-work of bones and gutta percha.</p>
+
+<p>She was the old woman who had greeted Preston so affectionately on our
+arrival.</p>
+
+<p>Turning to her as he tendered me a chair, Joe said:</p>
+
+<p>'Mudder, dis am Mr. Kirke.'</p>
+
+<p>Making a feeble effort to rise, and reaching out her trembling hand she
+exclaimed, in a voice just above a whisper:</p>
+
+<p>'You'm welcome yere, right welcome, sar.'</p>
+
+<p>'Thank you, aunty. Pray keep your seat; don't rise on my account.'</p>
+
+<p>'Tank <i>you</i>, massa Kirke, fur comin' yere. It'm bery good ob you. Ole
+missy lub you, sar; you'm so good ter massa Robert. He'm my own chile,
+sar!'</p>
+
+<p>This was undoubtedly a figure of speech, for the old woman's skin was
+altogether too black not to have given a trifle of its shading to the
+complexion of her children. It was not only black, but blue black, and
+of that peculiar hue which is seen only on the faces of native Africans.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that she had relinquished smoking, I said:</p>
+
+<p>'Never mind me, aunty; I smoke myself sometimes.'</p>
+
+<p>'Tank you, sar,' she replied, resuming her pipe, and relapsing into her
+previous position; 'ole wimmin lub 'backer, sar.'</p>
+
+<p>The low tone in which this was said made me conclude that further
+conversation would be exhausting to her, so turning to Joe and Aggy&mdash;the
+latter had hurried through her domestic employments, and taken a seat
+near the fire&mdash;I entered into a general discussion of the old worthies
+that occupied Joe's book shelves.</p>
+
+<p>I found the negro had taxed them for house room. He had levied on their
+best thoughts, and I soon experienced the uneasy sensation which one
+feels when he encounters a man who can 'talk him dry' on almost any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>
+subject. On the single topic of the business to which I was educated, I
+might have displayed, had it not been Sunday night, a greater amount of
+information; but in the knowledge of every subject that was broached,
+the black was my superior.</p>
+
+<p>The conversation had rambled on for a full half hour, the old negress
+meanwhile puffing steadily away, and giving no heed to it; when suddenly
+her pipe dropped from her mouth, her eyes closed, her bent figure became
+erect, and a quick, convulsive shiver passed over her. Thinking she was
+about to fall in a fit, I exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>'Joe! See! your mother!'</p>
+
+<p>'Neber mind, sar,' he quietly replied; 'it'm nuffin'. Only de power am
+on her.'</p>
+
+<p>A few more convulsive spasms succeeded, when the old woman's face
+assumed a settled expression; and swaying her body back and forth with a
+slow, steady motion, she commenced humming a low chant. Gradually it
+grew louder, till it broke into a strange, wild song, filling the room,
+and coming back in short, broken echoes from the adjoining apartments.
+Struck with astonishment, I was about to speak, when Joe, laying his
+hand on my arm, said:</p>
+
+<p>'Hush, sar! It am de song ob de kidnap slave!'</p>
+
+<p>It was sung in the African tongue, but I thought I heard, as it rose and
+fell in a wild, irregular cadence, the thrilling story of the stolen
+black; his smothered cries, and fevered moans in the slaver's hold; the
+shriek of the wind, and the sullen sound of the surging waves as they
+broke against the accursed ship; and, then&mdash;as the old negress rose and
+poured forth quick, broken volumes of song&mdash;the loud mirth of the
+drunken crew, mingling with what seemed dying groans, and the heavy
+splash of falling bodies striking the sea.</p>
+
+<p>As she concluded, with a firm, stately step&mdash;showing none of her
+previous decrepitude&mdash;she approached me:</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that I regarded her movements with a look of startled interest,
+Joe said:</p>
+
+<p>'Leff har do what she likes, sar. She hab suffin' to say to you.'</p>
+
+<p>Taking a small bag<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> from her bosom, and placing it in the open front
+of my waistcoat, she reached out her long, skinny arm, and placing her
+skeleton hand on the top of my head, chanted a low song. The words were
+mostly English, and the few I caught were something as follows:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'Oh, bress de swanga buckra man;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Bress wife an' chile ob buckra man.'</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Bress all dat b'long to buckra man;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Barimo<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> bress de buckra man;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">De good Lord bress de buckra man;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Bress, bress de swanga buckra man.'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>As she finished the invocation, she took both my hands in hers, and
+leaning forward, and muttering a few low words, seemed trying to read
+the story imprinted on my palms. Her eyes were closed, and thinking she
+might be troubled to see me without the use of those organs, I looked
+inquiringly at her son.</p>
+
+<p>'She don't need eyes, sar,' said Joe, answering my thought; 'she'll tell
+all 'bout you widout dem.'</p>
+
+<p>As he said this, she dropped one of my hands, and raising her right arm,
+made several passes over my head, then resting her hand again upon it,
+she began chanting another low song:</p>
+
+<p>'What der yer see, mudder?' asked Joe, leaning forward, with a look of
+intense interest on his face.</p>
+
+<p>'A tall gemman-de swanga gemman&mdash;in a big city. De night am dark an'
+cole&mdash;bery cole. Pore little chile am wid him, an' he cole&mdash;bery cole;
+him cloes pore&mdash;bery pore. Dey come to a big hous'n&mdash;great light in de
+winders&mdash;an' dey gwo in&mdash;swanga gem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>man an' pore chile. A great room
+dar, wid big fire, an' oh! sweet young missus. She jump up-swanga gemman
+speak to har, an' show de pore chile. She look sorry like, an' cry; den
+she frow har arm 'roun' de pore chile; take him to de fire, an' kiss
+him&mdash;kiss him ober an' ober agin.'</p>
+
+<p>It was the scene when Kate first saw Frank, on the night of his mother's
+death. I said nothing, but Joe asked:</p>
+
+<p>'Any more, mudder?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yas. I sees a big city, anoder city, in de daytime. In dark room,
+upstars, am swanga gemman an' anoder buckra man&mdash;he bad buckra man.
+Buckra angel dar, too, a standin' 'side de swanga gemman, but swanga
+gemman doan't see har. She look jess like de pore chile. De swanga
+gemman git up, an' 'pear angry, bery angry, but he keep in. Talk hard to
+oder buckra man, who shake him head, an' look down. Swanga gemman den
+walk de room, an' talk fasser yit, but bad buckra man keep shakin' him
+head. Den swanga gemman stan' right ober de oder buckra man, an' de
+strong words come inter him froat. Him 'pears gwine to curse de buckra
+man, but de angel put har han' ober him moufh, an' say suffin' to him.
+Swanga gemman yeres, dough he doan't see har. Den he say nuffin' more,
+but gwo right 'way.'</p>
+
+<p>It was the scene in Hallet's office, when I told him of his victim's
+death, and entreated him to provide for, if he did not acknowledge his
+child. The words which flashed upon my brain, and stayed the curse which
+rose to my lips, were those of the dying girl: 'Leave him to <span class="smcap">God</span>!'</p>
+
+<p>'Go on. Tell me what she <i>said</i>,' I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>'Mudder doan't <i>yere</i>; she only see de pictur ob what hab been. Listen!'
+said Joe; and the old woman again spoke:</p>
+
+<p>'I sees a big city&mdash;de fuss city, an' great hous'n&mdash;de fuss hous'n. De
+young missus am dar, wid de pore chile, an' a little chile dat look jess
+like she do; an' dar'm anoder bery little chile dar, too. Dey'm upstars
+in a room, wid a bed an' a candle burnin'. Dey'm gwine to bed. Young
+missus kneel down wid de two chil'ren, an' pray. An' side de pore chile,
+an' kneelin' down wid har arm roun' him neck, am de buckra angel. She
+pray, too. Swanga gemman in anoder room yere dem aprayin', an' he come
+an' look. He say nuffin', but he stan' dar, an' de big tear run down him
+cheek. De time come back to him when <i>he</i> wus a little chile, an' he
+pray like dem. He doan't pray 'nuff now!'</p>
+
+<p>It was the last night I had passed at home. A feeling of indescribable
+awe crept over me, and I rose halfway from my seat.</p>
+
+<p>'Sit still, sar,' said Joe, almost forcing me back into the chair.
+'You'll break de power.'</p>
+
+<p>'You know the past, old woman,' I exclaimed. 'Tell me the future!'</p>
+
+<p>'Hush!' she replied, with an imperious tone. 'Dey'm comin'.'</p>
+
+<p>During all this time she had stood with her hand on my head, as
+immovable as a marble statue. Her voice had a deep, strong tone, and her
+face wore a look of calm power. Nothing about her reminded me of the
+weak, decrepit old woman she had been but an hour before.</p>
+
+<p>'Dey'm yere!' she said; and in another moment the door opened, and
+Preston and his wife entered.</p>
+
+<p>Without rising or speaking, Joe motioned them to two vacant chairs. As
+they seated themselves, I exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>'She has told me all things that ever I did!'</p>
+
+<p>'She has strange powers,' replied Preston.</p>
+
+<p>'Hush, Robert Preston! De swanga gemman ax fur de future!'</p>
+
+<p>Shading then her closed eyes with one hand, and leaning forward, as if
+peering into the far distance, the old negress laid her other hand again
+on my head, and continued:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'I see a deep, wide riber flowin' on to de great sea. De swanga gemman,
+in strong boat, am on it; an' de young missus, an' de pore chile, an'
+one, two oder chile, am wid him. De storm strike de riber, an' raise de
+big wave, but de boat gwo on jess de same. De swanga gemman he doan't
+keer fur de storm, or de big wave, fur he got 'em all dar! An' I see
+anoder riber&mdash;not so deep, not so wide&mdash;flowin' on 'side de big riber,
+to de great sea; an' you' (looking at Preston), 'an' de good missus, an'
+one, two, free, four chile am dar. De wind blow ober dat riber an' raise
+de big wave, but de swanga gemman reach out him hand, an' de wave gwo
+down. An' I see a little riber flow out ob de big riber, an' de pore
+chile in a little boat am on it. An' a little riber come out ob de oder
+riber an' gwo into de oder little riber, an' a chile am on dat, too. De
+two little boats meet, an' de two chile gwo on togedder, but&mdash;de storm
+come dar, an'&mdash;de great rocks&mdash;oh! oh!' and, covering her face with her
+hands, she turned away.</p>
+
+<p>'What more do you see? Tell me, Deborah!' exclaimed Preston, bending
+forward with breathless eagerness.</p>
+
+<p>She raised her head, and seemed to look again in the same direction;
+then, in a low tone, said:</p>
+
+<p>'I sees no more.'</p>
+
+<p>'What of the other river? What of that?' he exclaimed, with the same
+breathless anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>'I sees&mdash;de boat 'mong de rocks&mdash;de great rocks&mdash;an' you&mdash;dar&mdash;all by
+you'seff&mdash;all by you'seff&mdash;an'&mdash;O Barimo!' and, giving a low scream, she
+started back as if palsied with dread.</p>
+
+<p>Springing to his feet, Preston seized her by both arms, and screamed
+out:</p>
+
+<p>'What more! Tell me <span class="smcap">WHAT MORE</span>!'</p>
+
+<p>Drawing her tall form up to its full height, and looking at him with her
+closed eyes, she said, in a voice inexpressibly sad and tender:</p>
+
+<p>'I sees de great rocks&mdash;de great fall&mdash;de great sea!' then pausing a
+moment, and pointing upward, she added: 'Robert Preston! Trust in <span class="smcap">God</span>!'</p>
+
+<p>Overcome with emotion, she staggered back to her seat. A few convulsive
+shudders passed over her; her eyes slowly opened, and&mdash;she was the same
+weak, old woman as before.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The next morning I bade adieu to my kind friends, and started again on
+my journey. Preston accompanied me as far as Wilmington, where we
+parted; he going on to Whitesville, in search of the new turpentine
+location; and I, proceeding by the Charleston boat, southward.</p>
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIII</h3>
+
+<p>On my return to my home, a few weeks after the events narrated in the
+previous chapter, in pursuance of a promise made to Preston, I inserted
+an advertisement in the papers, which read somewhat as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'<span class="smcap">Wanted</span>, a suitable person to go South, as governess in a planter's
+family. She must be thoroughly educated, and competent to instruct
+a boy of twelve. Such a one may apply by letter;' etc., etc. </p></div>
+
+<p>A score of replies flowed in within the few following days, but being
+excessively occupied with a mass of personal business, which had
+accumulated in my absence, I laid them all aside, till more than one
+week had elapsed. Then, one evening I took them home, and Kate and I
+opened the batch. As each one was read by my wife or myself, we
+commented on the character of the writers as indicated by the
+handwriting and general style of the epistles. Rejecting about two
+thirds as altogether unworthy of attention, we reserved the remaining
+half dozen for a second inspection. Among these, the one with the
+cramped, precise chirography was thought to come from an old maid.
+Another, whose five lines of rail fence covered a sheet nearly as large
+as a ten-acre lot, was the production of a strong-minded woman. A third,
+on tinted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> paper, and dotted with blots and erasures, was from a fat
+lady, who wore her shoes down at the heel, and got up too late for
+breakfast. 'But here, Kate,' I exclaimed, as I opened the fourth
+missive, 'this one, in this firm yet lady-like hand&mdash;this one will do.
+Hear what it says:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>:&mdash;I think I can answer your requirements. A line addressed to
+Catharine Walley, B&mdash;&mdash;, N.H., with full particulars, will receive
+immediate attention. </p></div>
+
+<p>'That's the woman, Kate. A business man in petticoats! <i>She</i> can manage
+a boy of twelve!'</p>
+
+<p>'Or a man of twice that age,' said Kate, quietly reading the letter. 'I
+wouldn't have that woman in <i>my</i> house.'</p>
+
+<p>'Why not? She has character&mdash;take my word for it. Her letter is as short
+and sweet as a 'promise to pay.''</p>
+
+<p>'She has too much character, and not of the right sort. There is no
+womanliness about her.'</p>
+
+<p>'You women are always hard on your own sex. She'll have to manage Joe,
+and she'll need to be half man to do that. I think I had better write
+her to come here. I can tell what she is when I see her. I can read a
+woman like a book.'</p>
+
+<p>There was a slight twinkle in my wife's eyes when I said this, and she
+made some further objections, but I overruled them; and, on the
+following morning, dispatched a letter, inviting Miss Walley to the
+city.</p>
+
+<p>Returning to my office from ''Change,' one afternoon, a few days
+afterward, I found a lady awaiting me. She rose as I entered, and gave
+her name as Miss Walley. She was prepossessing and lady-like in
+appearance, and there was a certain ease and self-possession in her
+manner, which I was surprised to see in one directly from a remote
+country town. She wore a plain gray dress, with a cape of the same
+material; a straw hat, neatly trimmed with brown ribbon, and, on the
+inside, a bunch of deep pink flowers, which gave a slight coloring to
+her otherwise pale and sallow but intellectual face. Her whole dress
+bespoke refinement and taste. She was tall and slender, with an almost
+imperceptible stoop in the shoulders, indicative of a studious habit;
+but you forgot this seeming defect in her easy and graceful movements.
+Her brown hair was combed plainly over a rather low and narrow forehead;
+her face was long and thin, and her small, clear gray eyes were shaded
+by brown eyebrows meeting together, and, when she was talking earnestly,
+or listening attentively, slightly contracting, and deepening her keen
+and thoughtful expression. Her nose was long and rather prominent; and
+her mouth and chin were large, showing character and will; but their
+masculine expression was relieved by a short upper lip, which displayed
+to full advantage the finest set of teeth I ever saw.</p>
+
+<p>Referring at once to the object of her visit, she handed me a number of
+credentials, highly commendatory of her character and ability as a
+teacher. I glanced over them, and assured her they were satisfactory.
+She then questioned me as to the compensation she would receive, and the
+position of the family needing her services. Answering these inquiries,
+I added that I was prepared to engage her on the terms I had named.</p>
+
+<p>'I have been in receipt of the same salary as assistant in a school in
+my native village, sir,' she replied; 'but what you say of the family of
+Mr. Preston, and a desire to visit the South, will induce me to accept
+the situation.'</p>
+
+<p>'When will you be ready to go, madam?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>'At once, sir. To-day, if necessary.'</p>
+
+<p>Surprised and yet pleased with her promptness, I said:</p>
+
+<p>'And are you entirely ready to go so far on so short notice?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, sir. The cars leave in the morning, I am told. I will start
+then.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'And alone?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, sir. We Yankee girls are accustomed to taking care of ourselves.'</p>
+
+<p>'I admire your independence. But you pass the night in town; you will, I
+trust, spend it at my residence?'</p>
+
+<p>'Thank you, sir.'</p>
+
+<p>Ordering a carriage and stopping on the way at a hotel to get the single
+trunk which contained her wardrobe, I conveyed her at once to my
+residence.</p>
+
+<p>After supper we all gathered in the parlor, and I set about entertaining
+our guest. I had to make little effort to do that, for her conversation
+soon displayed a knowledge of books and people, and a wit and keenness
+of intellect, as decidedly entertained me. She was not only brilliant,
+but agreeable; and in the course of the evening made some pleasant
+overtures to the children. Frank, with a book in his hand, had drawn his
+chair off to another part of the room, and showed, at first, uncommon
+reserve for a lad of his warm and genial nature; but gradually, as if in
+spite of himself, he edged his chair nearer to her. Our little 'four
+year old,' however, resisting the offered temptation of watch and chain,
+and even sugar-plums, repelled her advances, and hid his curly head only
+the more closely in the folds of his mother's dress. Kate listened and
+laughed, but I caught occasionally, as her eyes studied the visitor
+attentively, a troubled expression, which I well understood. After a
+while the lady expressed a readiness to retire that she might obtain the
+rest needed for an early start by the morning train, and Kate conducted
+her to her apartment.</p>
+
+<p>I felt highly delighted with the idea of being able to send Mrs. Preston
+so agreeable a companion, and not a little vexed with my wife for not
+sharing my enthusiasm. When she returned to the parlor, I said:</p>
+
+<p>'Kate, why do you not like her?'</p>
+
+<p>'I can hardly tell <i>why</i>,' she replied, 'but my first impression is
+confirmed. I would not trust her. Why does she go South for the same
+salary she has had in New Hampshire?'</p>
+
+<p>'Because she wants to see the world; she's a stirring Yankee woman.'</p>
+
+<p>'No; because you told her of Mr. Preston's position in society; and
+because she hopes to win a plantation and a rich planter.'</p>
+
+<p>'Nonsense,' I replied. 'You misjudge her.'</p>
+
+<p>'I tell you, Edmund, she is a cold, selfish, sordid woman; all
+intellect, and no heart. If I had never seen her face, I should have
+known that by her voice, and the shake of her hand.'</p>
+
+<p>But it was too late&mdash;I had engaged her; and at seven o'clock on the
+following morning she was on her way to the South.</p>
+
+<p>I soon received information of her safe arrival at her destination, and
+the warm thanks of Preston for having sent him so agreeable a person,
+and one so well fitted to instruct his children.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The turpentine location was soon secured, and early in the following
+spring, Joe, with about a hundred 'prime hands,' commenced operations in
+the new field. Constantly increasing shipments soon gave evidence of the
+energy with which the negro entered upon his work; and by the end of the
+year, Preston had not only paid the advances we made on receiving the
+deed of the land, but also the note I had given for the purchase of
+Phyllis. For the first time in five years he was entirely out of our
+debt.</p>
+
+<p>The next season he hired a force of nearly two hundred negroes, and
+generously gave Joe a small interest in the new business, with a view to
+the black's ultimately buying his freedom. His transactions soon became
+large and profitable both to him and to us. Shortly afterward he paid
+off the last of his floating debt, and his balances in our hands grew
+from nothing till they reached five and seven and often ten thousand
+dollars.</p>
+
+<p>But heavy affliction overtook him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> in the midst of his prosperity. His
+wife and two eldest daughters were stricken down by a prevailing
+epidemic, and died within a fortnight of each other. A letter which I
+received from him at this time, will best relate these events. It was as
+follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">My dear Friend</span>:&mdash;I have sad, very sad news to tell you. A week ago
+to-day I followed the remains of my beloved wife to the grave.
+Overcome by watching with our children, and grief at their loss,
+about three weeks since she took their disease, and sinking
+rapidly, soon resigned her spotless spirit to the hands of her
+<span class="smcap">Maker</span>. Overwhelmed by this treble affliction, I have not been able
+to write you before. Even now I can hardly hold a pen. I am
+perfectly paralyzed; I can neither act nor think&mdash;I can only
+<i>feel</i>.</p>
+
+<p>You, who have seen her in our home, can realize what she was to my
+family, but none can know what she was to me: companion, friend,
+guide! My stay and support through long years of trial, she is
+taken from me just as prosperity is dawning on me, and I was hoping
+to repay, by a life of devotion, some part of what she had borne
+and suffered on my account. Another angel has been welcomed in
+heaven, but I am left here alone&mdash;alone with my grief and my
+remorse!</p>
+
+<p>My son is inconsolable, and even little Selly seems to realize the
+full extent of her loss. The poor little thing will not leave me
+for a moment. She is now the only comfort I have. Miss Walley has
+been unremitting in her kindness and attention, taking the burden
+of everything upon herself. Indeed, I do not know what I should
+have done without her.</p>
+
+<p>Time may temper my affliction, but <i>now</i>, my dear friend, I am not</p>
+
+<p class="author">
+<span class="smcap">Robert Preston.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p>Nothing worthy of special mention occurred to the persons whose history
+I am relating till about a year after the death of Mrs. Preston. Then,
+one day late in the autumn, I received information of her husband's
+approaching marriage with the governess. In the letter which invited me
+to be present at the ceremony, Preston said: 'No one can ever fill the
+place in my heart that is occupied, and ever will be occupied by the
+memory of my sainted wife; but Miss Walley has rendered herself
+indispensable to me and my family. My studious habits and ignorance of
+business made me, as you know, even in my full health and strength, a
+poor manager; and during the past year, grief has so broken my spirits
+that I have been utterly unfitted for attending to the commonest duties.
+But for Miss Walley, everything would have gone to waste and ruin. With
+the efficiency of a business man, she has attended to my household,
+overseen my plantation, and managed my entire affairs. In the first
+moments of my bereavement, when grief so entirely overwhelmed me that I
+saw no one, I did not know to what censurious remark her disinterested
+devotion to my interests was subjecting her; but recently I have
+realized the impropriety of a young, unmarried woman occupying the
+position she holds in my household. Miss Walley, also, has felt this,
+and some time since notified me, though with evident reluctance, that
+she felt it imperatively necessary to leave my service. What, then,
+could I do? My people needed a mistress; my children a mother. She was
+both. Only one course seemed open, and after mature deliberation I
+offered her my hand, frankly stating that my heart was with the angel
+who, lost to me here, will be mine hereafter. Satisfied with my
+friendship and esteem, she has accepted me; and we are to be married on
+the 26th inst.; when I most sincerely trust that you, my dear friend,
+and your estimable wife, will be present.</p>
+
+<p>That night I took the letter home to my wife. She read it, and laying it
+down, sadly said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Oh, Edmund! He is, indeed, 'among the rocks!''</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Two years went by, and I did not meet Preston, but our business
+relations kept us in frequent correspondence, and his letters
+occasionally alluded to his domestic affairs.</p>
+
+<p>Very soon after his marriage with the governess, his son went to live
+with his uncle, Mr. James Preston, of Mobile, a wealthy bachelor, who
+long before had expressed the intention of having the boy succeed to his
+business and estate. 'Boss Joe' continued in charge of the turpentine
+plantation, and had built him a house, and removed his wife and aged
+mother to his new home. On one of my visits to the South I stopped
+overnight with him, and was delighted with his model establishment. Two
+hundred as cheerful-looking darkies as ever swung a turpentine axe, were
+gathered in tents and small shanties around his neat log cabin, and Joe
+seemed as happy as if he were governor of a province.</p>
+
+<p>His operations had grown to such magnitude that Preston then ranked
+among the largest producers of the North Carolina staple, and his
+'account' had become one of the most valuable on our books. Though we
+sent 'account currents' and duplicates of each 'account sales' to his
+master, our regular 'returns' were made to Joe, and no one of our
+correspondents held us to so strict an accountability, or so often
+expressed dissatisfaction with the result of his shipments, as he.</p>
+
+<p>'I thinks a heap of you, Mr. Kirke,' he said at the close of one of his
+letters about this time; 'but the fact am, thar's no friendship in
+trade, and you <i>did</i> sell that lass pile of truck jess one day too
+sudden.'</p>
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<p>Two more years rolled away. Frank was nearly sixteen. He had grown up a
+fine, manly lad, and never for one moment had Kate or I regretted the
+care we had bestowed on his education and training. He was all we could
+have wished for in our own son, and in his warm love and cheerful
+obedience we both found the blessing invoked on us by his dying mother.</p>
+
+<p>His affection for Kate was something more than the common feeling of a
+child for a parent. With that was blended a sort of half worship, which
+made him listen to her every word, and hang on her every look, as if she
+were a being of some higher order than he. They were inseparable. He
+preferred her society to that of his young companions, and often, when
+he was a child, seated by her knee, and listening, when she told of his
+'other mother' in the 'beautiful heaven,' have I seen his eye wander to
+her face with an expression, which plainly said: 'My heart knows no
+'other mother' than you.' Kate was proud of him, and well she might be,
+for he was a comely youth; and his straight, closely knit, sinewy frame;
+dark, deepset eyes; and broad, open forehead, overhung with thick, brown
+hair; only outshadowed a beautiful mind, an open, upright, manly nature,
+whose firm and steady integrity nothing could shake.</p>
+
+<p>About this time I received a letter from his father, which, as it had an
+important bearing on the lad's future career, I give to the reader:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p class="author">
+<span class="smcap">Boston</span>, <i>September 20th, 185-.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>:&mdash;A recent illness has brought my past life in its true light
+before me. I see its sin, and I would make all the atonement in my
+power. I cannot undo the wrong I have done to one who is gone, but I can
+do my duty to her child. You, I am told, have been a father to him. <i>I</i>
+would now assume that relation, and make you such recompense for what
+you have done, as you may require. I am too weak to travel, or indeed,
+to leave my house, but I am impatient to see my son. May I not ask you
+to bring him to me at once? Then I will arrange all things to your
+satisfaction.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I need not tell you, after saying what I have, that I should feel
+greatly gratified to once more possess your confidence, and regard.</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+I am, sincerely yours,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;"><span class="smcap">John Hallet</span>.</span><br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>In another hand was the following postscript:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">My dear Boy</span>:&mdash;John is sincere. Thee can trust him. He has told me <i>all</i>.
+He will do the right thing. Come on with the lad as soon as thee can.</p>
+<p class="center">Love to Kate.<br />
+
+ <span style="margin-left: 7em;">Thy old friend,</span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">David</span>.</span>
+</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>After conferring with my wife, I sent the following reply to these
+communications:</p>
+
+<p class="author">
+<span class="smcap">New York</span>, <i>September 22d, 185-.</i>
+</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">David of Old</span>;&mdash;Thou man after the Lord's own heart. I have Hallet's
+letter, seasoned with your P.S. He is shrewd; he knew that nothing but
+your old-fashioned hand would draw a reply from <i>me</i>, to anything
+written by <i>him</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I've no faith in sick-bed repentances; and none in John Hallet, sick or
+well:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'When the devil was sick,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The devil a monk would be;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When the devil got well,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The devil a monk was he.'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>However, as Hallet is capable of cheating his best friend, even the
+devil, I will take his letter into consideration; but it having taken
+him sixteen years to make up his mind to do a right action, it may take
+me as many days to come to a decision on this subject.</p>
+
+<p>Frank is everything to us, and nothing but the clearest conviction that
+his ultimate good will be promoted by going to his father, will induce
+us to consent to it.</p>
+
+<p>I do not write Hallet. You may give him as much or as little of this
+letter as you think will be good for him.</p>
+
+<p>Kate sends love to you and to Alice; and dear David, with all the love I
+felt for you when I wore a short jacket, and sat on the old stool,</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+I am your devoted friend.
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>It was a dingy old sign. It had hung there in sun and rain till its
+letters were faint and its face was furrowed. It had looked down on a
+generation that had passed away, and seen those who placed it there go
+out of that doorway never to return; still it clung to that dingy old
+warehouse, and still Russell, Rollins &amp; Co. was signed in the dingy old
+counting room at the head of the stairway. It was known the world over.
+It was heard of on the cotton fields of Texas, in the canebrakes of
+Cuba, and amid the rice swamps of Carolina. The Chinaman spoke of it as
+he sipped his tea and plied his chopsticks in the streets of Canton, and
+the half-naked negro rattled its gold as he gathered palm oil and the
+copal gum on the western coast of Africa. Its plain initials, painted in
+black on a white ground, waved from tall masts over many seas, and its
+simple 'promise to pay,' scrawled in a bad hand on a narrow strip of
+paper, unlocked the vaults of the best bankers in Europe. And yet it was
+a dingy old sign! Men looked up to it as they passed by, and wondered
+that a cracked, weather-beaten board, that would not sell for a dollar,
+should be counted 'good for a million.'</p>
+
+<p>It was a dingy old warehouse, with narrow, dark, cobwebbed windows, and
+wide, rusty iron shutters, which, as the bleak October wind swept up old
+Long Wharf, swung slowly on their hinges with a sharp, grating creak. I
+heard them in my boyhood. Perched on a tall stool at that old desk, I
+used to listen, in the long winter nights, to those strange, wild cries,
+till I fancied they were voices of the uneasy dead, come back to take
+the vacant seats beside me, and to pace again, with ghostly tread, the
+floor of that dark old counting room. They were a mystery and a terror
+to me; but they never creaked so harshly, or cried so wildly, as on that
+October night, when for the first time in nine years I turned my steps
+up the trembling old stairway.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was just after nightfall. A single gas burner threw a dim, uncertain
+light over the old desk, and lit up the figure of a tall, gray-haired
+man, who was bending over it. He had round, stooping shoulders, and
+long, spindling limbs. One of his large feet, encased in a thick,
+square-toed shoe, rested on the round of the desk; the other, planted
+squarely on the floor, upheld his spare, gaunt frame. His face was thin
+and long, and two deep, black lines under his eyes contrasted strangely
+with the pallid whiteness of his features. His clothes were of the
+fashion of those good people called 'Friends,' and had served long as
+his 'Sunday best' before being degraded to daily duty. They were of
+plain brown, and, though not shabby, were worn and threadbare, and of
+decidedly economical appearance. Everything about him, indeed, wore an
+economical look. His scant coat tails, narrow pants, and short waistcoat
+showed that the cost of each inch of material had been counted, while
+his thin hair, brushed carefully over his bald head, had not a lock to
+spare; and even his large, sharp bones were covered with only just
+enough flesh to hold them comfortably together. He had stood there till
+his eye was dim and his step feeble, and though he had, for twenty
+years&mdash;when handing in each semiannual trial balance to the head of the
+house&mdash;declared that was his last, everybody said he would continue to
+stand there till his own trial balance was struck, and his earthly
+accounts were closed forever.</p>
+
+<p>As I entered, he turned his mild blue eye upon me, and, taking my hand
+warmly in his, exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>'My dear boy, I am glad to see thee!'</p>
+
+<p>'I am glad to see <i>you</i>, David. Is Alice well?'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well. And Kate, and thy babies?'</p>
+
+<p>'All well,' I replied.</p>
+
+<p>'Thee has come to see John?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes. How is he?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, better; he got out several days ago. He's inside now,' and opening
+the door of an inner office, separated from the outer one by a glass
+partition, he said, 'John, Edmund is here.'</p>
+
+<p>A tall, dark man came to the door, and, with a slightly flurried and
+embarrassed manner, said:</p>
+
+<p>'Ah, Mr. Kirke! I'm glad to see you. Please step in.'</p>
+
+<p>As he tendered me a chair, a shorter and younger gentleman, who was
+writing at another desk, sprang from his seat, and slapping me
+familiarly on the back, exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>'My dear fellow, how are you?'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well, Cragin; how are <i>you</i>?' I replied, returning his cordial
+greeting.</p>
+
+<p>'Good as new&mdash;never better in my life. It's good for one's health to see
+you <i>here</i>.'</p>
+
+<p>'I have come at Mr. Hallet's invitation.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, I know, Hallet has told me you've a smart boy you want us to take.
+Send him along. Boston's the place to train a youngster to business.'</p>
+
+<p>The last speaker was not more than thirty, but a bald spot on the top of
+his head, and a slight falling-in of his mouth, caused by premature
+decay of the front teeth, made him seem several years older. He had
+marked but not regular features, and a restless, dark eye, that opened
+and shut with a peculiar wink, which kept time with the motion of his
+lips in speaking. His clothes were cut in a loose, jaunty style, and his
+manner, though brusque and abrupt, betokened, like his face, a free,
+frank, whole-souled character. He was several years the junior of the
+other, and as unlike him as one man can be unlike another.</p>
+
+<p>The older gentleman, as I have said, was tall and dark. He had a high,
+bold forehead, a pale, sallow complexion, and wore heavy gray whiskers,
+trimmed with the utmost nicety, and meeting under a sharp, narrow chin.
+His face was large, his jaws wide,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> and his nose pointed and prominent,
+but his mouth was small and gathered in at the corners like a rat's;
+and, as if to add to the rat resemblance, its puny, white teeth seemed
+borrowed from that animal. There was a stately precision in his manner
+and a stealthy softness in his tread not often seen in combination,
+which might have impressed a close observer as indicative of a bold,
+pompous, and yet cunning character.</p>
+
+<p>These two gentlemen&mdash;Mr. Hallet and Mr. Cragin&mdash;were the only surviving
+partners of the great house of Russell, Rollins &amp; Co.</p>
+
+<p>'Have you brought him with you?' asked Hallet, his voice trembling a
+little, and his pale face flushing slightly as he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>'No, sir,' I replied; 'I thought I would confer with you first. I have
+not yet broached the subject to the lad.'</p>
+
+<p>Some unimportant conversation followed, when Hallet, turning to Cragin,
+asked:</p>
+
+<p>'Are all the letters written for tomorrow's steamers?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said Cragin, rising; 'and I believe I'll leave you two together.
+As you've not spoken for ten years, you must have a good deal to say.
+Come, David,' he called out, as he drew on his outside coat, 'let's go.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, don't take David,' I exclaimed; 'I want to talk with the old
+gentleman.'</p>
+
+<p>'But you can see him to-morrow.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, I return in the morning.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, David, I'll tell Alice you'll be home by nine.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, that's it,' I said, laughing. 'It's Alice who makes you leave so
+early on steamer night.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, <i>sir</i>; Alice that <i>is</i>, and Mrs. Augustus Cragin that is <i>to
+be</i>&mdash;when I get a new set of teeth. Good night,' and saying this, he
+took up his cane, and left the office.</p>
+
+<p>When he was gone, Hallet said to me:</p>
+
+<p>'Do you desire to have David a witness to our conversation?'</p>
+
+<p>'I want him to be a <i>party</i> to it. We can come to no arrangement without
+his co&ouml;peration.'</p>
+
+<p>Hallet asked the bookkeeper in. When he was seated, I said:</p>
+
+<p>'Well, Mr. Hallet, what do you propose to do for your son?'</p>
+
+<p>'To treat him as I do my other children. Do all but acknowledge him.
+That would injure <i>him</i>.'</p>
+
+<p>'That is not important. But please be explicit as to what you will do.'</p>
+
+<p>'David tells me that his inclinations tend to business, and that you
+have meant to take him into your office. I will take him into <i>mine</i>,
+and when he is twenty-one, if he has conducted himself properly, I will
+give him an interest.'</p>
+
+<p>'I shall be satisfied with no <i>contingent</i> arrangement, sir. I know
+Frank will prove worthy of the position.'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well; then I will agree definitely to make him a partner when he
+is of age.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, Mr. Hallet, if Frank will consent to come, I will agree to that
+with certain conditions. I told his mother, when she was dying, that I
+would consider him my own child; therefore I cannot give up the control
+of him. He must regard me and depend on me as he does now. Again, I
+cannot let him come here, and have no home whose influence shall protect
+him from the temptations which beset young men in a large city. David
+must take him into his family, and treat him as he treated me when I was
+a boy, and&mdash;this must be reduced to writing.'</p>
+
+<p>Hallet showed some emotion when I spoke of Frank's mother, but his face
+soon assumed its usual expression, and he promptly replied:</p>
+
+<p>'I will agree to all that, but I would suggest that the fact of his
+being my son should not be communicated to him; that it be confined to
+us three. I ask this, believe me, only for the sake of my family.</p>
+
+<p>'I see no objection to that, sir, and I think, Frank, for his own sake,
+should not know what his prospects are.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Hallet signified assent, and turning to David, I asked:</p>
+
+<p>'David, what do <i>you</i> say? Will you take him?'</p>
+
+<p>'I will,' said the old bookkeeper, showing in his expenditure of breath
+the close economy which was the rule of his life.</p>
+
+<p>'Nothing remains but to arrange his salary and the share he shall have
+when he becomes a partner,' I remarked to Hallet.</p>
+
+<p>'Will an average of seven hundred a year, and an eighth interest when
+he's twenty-one, be satisfactory?'</p>
+
+<p>'Entirely so. An eighth in your house will be better than a quarter in
+ours. As it is now all understood, let David draw up the papers. We will
+sign them, and leave them with him till I see Frank.'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well. David, please to draw them up,' said Hallet; and then, his
+voice again trembling a little, he added, 'All is understood, Mr. Kirke,
+but the compensation I shall make you for your fatherly care of my much
+neglected son. Money cannot pay for such service, but it will relieve me
+to reimburse you for your expenditures.'</p>
+
+<p>'I have had my pay, sir, in the love of the boy. I ask no more.'</p>
+
+<p>Hallet was sensibly affected, but without speaking, he turned to the
+desk, and took down his bankbook. In a few moments he handed me a check.
+It was for five thousand dollars. I took it, and, hesitating an instant,
+said:</p>
+
+<p>'I will keep this, sir; not for myself, but for Frank. It may be of
+service to him at some future time.'</p>
+
+<p>'Keep it for yourself, sir, not for him. He will not need it. He shall
+share equally with my other children.'</p>
+
+<p>'I am glad to see this spirit in you, sir. Frank will be worthy of all
+you may do for him.'</p>
+
+<p>'It is not for <i>his</i> sake that I will do it,' replied Hallet, his voice
+tremulous with emotion; 'it is that I may have the forgiveness of the
+one I&mdash;I&mdash;' He said no more, but leaning his head on his hand, he wept!</p>
+
+<p>If there is joy among the angels over one that repents, was there not,
+then, forgiveness in <i>her</i> heart for <i>him</i>?</p>
+
+<p>No one spoke for some minutes; then David rose, and handing me one of
+the papers, laid the other before Hallet.</p>
+
+<p>'This appears right,' I said, after reading it over carefully.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' replied Hallet, taking up a pen and signing the other. Passing it
+to me, he added: 'Keep them both&mdash;take them now.'</p>
+
+<p>'But Frank may not wish to come.'</p>
+
+<p>'Then I will find some other way of helping him. He is my son! Take the
+papers.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, as you say,' I replied. 'David, please to witness this.'</p>
+
+<p>Hallet pressed me to pass the night at his house, but I declined, and
+rode out to Cambridge with the old bookkeeper. With many injunctions to
+watch carefully over Frank, I left him about twelve o'clock, rode into
+town with Cragin, and the next morning started for New York.</p>
+
+<p>That night, as I recounted the interview to Kate, I said:</p>
+
+<p>'I never did believe in these double-quick conversions; but Hallet <i>is</i>
+an altered man.'</p>
+
+<p>'Then, indeed, can the leopard change his spots.'</p>
+
+<p>As usual, her womanly intuitions were right; my worldly wisdom was
+wrong!</p>
+
+
+<p>CHAPTER XV.</p>
+
+<p>Not long after the events I have just related, the mail brought me the
+following letter from Preston:</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">My very dear Friend</span>:&mdash;Circumstances, which I cannot explain by letter,
+render it <i>imperatively</i> necessary that I should provide another home
+for my daughter. Her education has been sadly neglected, and she should
+be where she can have experienced tutors, and good social surroundings.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>
+With her delicate organization, and sensitive and susceptible nature,
+she needs <i>motherly</i> care and affection, and I shrink from committing
+her to the hands of strangers. I should feel at rest about her only with
+<i>you</i>. You have been my steadfast friend through many years; you have
+stood by me in, sore trials&mdash;may I not then ask you to do me now a
+greater service than you have ever done, by receiving my little daughter
+into your family? I know this is an unusual, almost presumptuous
+request; but if you knew her as she is&mdash;gentle, loving, obedient&mdash;the
+light and joy of all about her, I am sure you, and your excellent lady,
+would love her, and be willing to make her the companion of your
+children. She is my only earthly comfort, and it will rend my heart to
+part with her, but&mdash;I <i>must</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Write me at once. You are yourself a father&mdash;<i>do not refuse me</i>.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>To this, on the next day, I sent the following reply:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">My dear Friend</span>:&mdash;I would most cheerfully take your daughter into my
+family, did my wife's health, which has been failing all the summer,
+allow of her assuming any additional care.</p>
+
+<p>I think, however, I can provide Selma with a home equally as good as my
+own; one where good influences will be about her, and she will have the
+best educational advantages. I refer to the family of Mr. David Gray, of
+Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was my father's friend. The years I was a
+boy with Russell, Rollins &amp; Co., I was an inmate of his house, and my
+adopted son, Frank, is now in his care. His daughter Alice is a most
+suitable person to have charge of a young girl. She is like a sister to
+me, and to oblige me, would no doubt take Selma.</p>
+
+<p>Please advise me of your wishes; and believe, my dear friend, I will do
+all in my power to serve you.</p></blockquote>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>I was sitting down at supper, one evening, about a fortnight after
+sending this letter, when a gentleman was announced as wishing to see
+me. I rose and went into the parlor. It was Preston, and with him was
+Selma, then a beautiful little girl of about eleven years.</p>
+
+<p>Asking Preston to lay aside his outside coat, I was struck by his
+altered appearance. It was four years since we had met, but looking at
+him, I imagined it might be ten. His eyes were sunken, deep furrows were
+about his mouth, and his brown hair was thickly streaked with gray.</p>
+
+<p>'My dear friend,' I exclaimed, as I grasped his hand a second time, 'you
+are not well!'</p>
+
+<p>'I am as well as usual, Kirke. Time has not done this!'</p>
+
+<p>Fatigued with the long journey, Selma had retired, and our own little
+ones were in bed, when Kate joined us in the parlor.</p>
+
+<p>'You <i>do</i> look ill, Mr. Preston,' she said, seating herself beside him.
+'You must stay a while with us, and rest.'</p>
+
+<p>'I would be glad to stay here, madam&mdash;anywhere away from home.'</p>
+
+<p>'The care of two plantations, such as yours, must be a burden!'</p>
+
+<p>'It is not that, madam; Joe relieves me entirely from oversight of one
+of them. My difficulty is at home&mdash;mine is not what yours is.'</p>
+
+<p>Kate's sympathizing words soon drew him out (she has a way of winning
+the confidence of people, and is the depositary of more family secrets
+than any other woman in the State); and he told us what his home had
+become since his union with the governess.</p>
+
+<p>Within two months after the marriage her real character began to display
+itself, and she soon developed into a genuine Xantippe. Getting control
+of Mulock, who had been made overseer, she had the negroes dreadfully
+whipped and overworked; she treated young master Joe so badly that the
+lad rebelled, and in his father's absence ran<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> away to his uncle at
+Mobile; and locking Selma up in a dark room without food, or beating her
+till her back was actually discolored, she made the child's home
+intolerable to her.</p>
+
+<p>After master Joe went away, no one dared complain; and shut up in his
+library, brooding over his still fresh grief for the death of his wife,
+Preston knew nothing of the real state of affairs till more than a year
+had elapsed. Then one day he found Selma in tears. He questioned her,
+and learned the whole. A scene followed, in which Mrs. Preston asserted
+her rights as mistress of the plantation, and defied him. She had run
+into all sorts of extravagance, the yearly bills which had come in a
+short time previous were appallingly large, but to secure peace, Preston
+consented to buy and furnish a winter residence at Newbern. To that she
+had removed, but with the coming spring she would return to the
+plantation, and in the mean time Selma must be provided with another
+home.</p>
+
+<p>'Feel no anxiety about her, sir,' said Kate, as he concluded; 'if Alice
+Gray will not take her, we will.'</p>
+
+<p>'I thank you, madam; I cannot thank you enough for saying that,' replied
+Preston, his eyes filling with tears.</p>
+
+<p>I wrote at once to David, and soon received a letter from Alice
+consenting to take charge of the little girl. Thanksgiving, at which
+time Kate made annual visits to her early home, was approaching, and it
+was decided that Selma should accompany her to Boston.</p>
+
+<p>This being arranged, Preston, at the end of a fortnight, took leave of
+us, and returned to the South. The parting between the father and the
+child gave evidence of what they were to each other. Preston wept like a
+woman; but as Kate brushed back the brown curls from the broad forehead
+of little Selly, she raised her eyes to my wife's face, and while her
+thin nostrils dilated, and her sensitive chin slightly quivered, said;</p>
+
+<p>'I must not cry for poor papa's sake&mdash;it is so <i>very</i> hard for him to go
+home alone; and he will miss his little girl <i>so</i> much.'</p>
+
+<p>'You are right, dear child,' said Kate, and, as if looking into the far
+future of the woman, and feeling that such a nature must suffer as well
+as enjoy keenly, she inwardly thanked God that with her delicate
+organization He had given her the unselfish and brave heart which those
+words expressed.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Four years had wrought great changes in David's quiet home. Alice had
+become Mrs. Augustus Cragin, and a little Alice tottled about the floor;
+but after supper, David still found his evening cigar on the oak stand,
+his needle-work slippers&mdash;wrought by Alice's own hand&mdash;in their place
+before the fender, and his big armchair rolled up close to the gas
+burner in the little back parlor at Cambridge.</p>
+
+<p>Frank was twenty, and had fulfilled all the promises of his boyhood. His
+father, after the honeymoon of his repentance was over, showed no great
+interest in him, but Cragin, who knew nothing of my arrangement with
+Hallet, had given him all the advantages in his power.</p>
+
+<p>Selma was only fifteen, but, like the flowers of her own South, she had
+blossomed early, and was already a woman. Preston had visited her every
+summer, but she never returned with him, having preferred passing her
+vacations at my house.</p>
+
+<p>In David's loving household nothing had occurred to disturb her peaceful
+life. Beloved by her teachers and schoolmates, she everywhere received
+the homage due to her beauty and her goodness; and in the gay world into
+which her joyous nature often led her, she was the acknowledged and
+<i>unenvied</i> queen! Her father had spared no pains in her education; the
+best tutors had trained her fine ear and sweet voice, and taught her to
+give form and coloring to the pictures her glowing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> imagination created;
+and, whether her fingers ran over the keys of a musical instrument, or
+wielded the brush, there was a delicacy and yet <i>spirit</i> in her touch
+which were the wonder and admiration of all.</p>
+
+<p>I was not surprised, when visiting Boston about this time, to have Frank
+tell me that he loved her, and ask my consent to his regarding her as
+his future wife.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Kate and I were to leave for home the following day, and, calling at the
+office in the afternoon, I said to Frank:</p>
+
+<p>'I have tickets for the opera, including Selma; of course you'd like to
+have her go.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, father; she has never been, and I have promised to take her this
+winter. She'll be able now to appreciate it.'</p>
+
+<p>The box I had selected was at a happy distance from the stage, and we
+gave Selma a front seat, that she might see to the best advantage. She
+was in high spirits; indeed, she was radiant in her beauty. She wore a
+dark blue dress of silk, fitting closely to her neck, and its short
+sleeves allowed the plump, fair arms to half disclose themselves from
+beneath the scarlet mantle Which fell around her shoulders. Her hair
+fell over her neck in the same simple fashion as in her childhood,
+except that the thick curls, which had lost their golden tint, and were
+darker and longer, were looped back from her broad brow, with a few
+simple flowers. There was the same contour of face and feature, but
+ennobled by thought and culture; the same sensitive mouth, only that the
+lips were fuller and of a deeper color; and as she talked or listened,
+the same rose tint deepened and faded beneath her rich, soft, dark skin,
+as sunlight shifts and fades across the evening sky. Her eyes, in whose
+dark depths the soul was reflected, met a stranger's calmly, but took a
+soft look of loving trust when meeting Frank's. They were shaded by long
+lashes, as black as the night; and when the lids fell suddenly, as they
+often did, and her face became quiet, and almost sad, you felt that she
+was communing with the angels.</p>
+
+<p>The overture burst forth, and with glowing face, and eyes fixed upon the
+stage, Selma seemed lost to all but the enrapturing sounds; even Frank's
+whispered words were unheeded. As the opera&mdash;'Lucia di
+Lammermoor'&mdash;proceeded, I saw that every eye was attracted to our box,
+and, bending forward to catch Selma's expression, I called Kate's
+attention to her. With her head thrown slightly back, a bright spot
+burning on either cheek, her breath suspended, the large tears coursing
+from her eyes, and motionless as a statue, she sat with her small hands
+clasped on the front of the box, as if entranced, and all unconscious of
+the hundred eyes that were fixed upon her. I thought of the pictures I
+had seen in the old galleries of Europe, but I said, 'Surely, art cannot
+equal nature!'</p>
+
+<p>When it was over, she took Frank's arm; I turned to question her, but
+Kate said:</p>
+
+<p>'Let her alone; she cannot talk now.'</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The transactions of Russell, Rollins &amp; Co. extended the world over; but,
+since the death of Mr. Rollins, which occurred prior to Frank's going
+with them, they had cultivated particularly the Southern trade, and
+their operations in cotton had grown to be enormous. They bought largely
+of that staple on their own account, and for some extensive
+manufacturing establishments in England. Their purchases were mainly
+made in New Orleans, and, to attend to this business, Hallet had passed
+the winters in that city for several years.</p>
+
+<p>His wealth had grown rapidly, and at the date of which I am writing, he
+ranked among the 'solid men' of Boston. Cragin was not nearly so
+wealthy. Being on intimate terms with the latter, I remarked, as we were
+enjoy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>ing a cigar together one evening at David's, on the occasion of
+the visit to which I have referred in the last chapter:</p>
+
+<p>'How is it, Cragin, that you pass for only a hundred thousand, when
+Hallet is rated at a million?'</p>
+
+<p>'Because, Ned, I'm not worth any more.'</p>
+
+<p>'But how is that, when you have two fifths of the concern?'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, Hallet went into cotton like the devil some eight years ago; and
+I told him I wouldn't stand it; I like to feel the ground under me.
+Since then he has speculated on his own account&mdash;he and old Roye go it
+strong, and I guess they've made some pretty heavy lifts.'</p>
+
+<p>'That's uncertain business.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, devilish uncertain; but somehow they manage always to hold winning
+cards. Hallet has told me his New Orleans operations have netted him
+five hundred thousand.'</p>
+
+<p>'And that, with what he got by his wife, has rolled him into a
+millionaire before he's forty-five! He's a lucky fellow.'</p>
+
+<p>'Lucky! I wouldn't stand in his boots. What goes up <i>may</i> come down. He
+has no peace. His wife's a hyena. She makes home too hot for him; and
+somehow he's never easy. He walks about as if treading on torpedoes.</p>
+
+<p>'If you dislike speculation, why don't you increase your legitimate
+business?'</p>
+
+<p>'Hallet's away so much, I can't do it. I'm glued to the old office. I
+should have been in Europe half of the time the last three years, but I
+haven't been able to get away.'</p>
+
+<p>'Why not send Frank? He's old enough now.'</p>
+
+<p>'I mean to, in the spring, and I'm d&mdash;d if he shan't be a partner soon,
+and take some of this load off my shoulders. But do you know that Hallet
+has a decided dislike to him?'</p>
+
+<p>'No! On what account?' I exclaimed. I had met Hallet only twice during
+four years, but on both occasions he had spoken favorably of his son.
+Frank himself had never alluded in other than respectful terms to his
+father.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, I don't know, and it makes no difference. I'm captain at this end
+of the towline, and I swear he shall go in.</p>
+
+<p>'As you feel so kindly toward Frank, I'll give him a chance to
+conciliate Hallet. I'll take him South this winter, and introduce him to
+our correspondents. With his address he ought to do something with them.
+Will you let him go?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, and be right down glad to have him. When do you start?'</p>
+
+<p>'About the middle of December.'</p>
+
+<p>A fortnight afterward, with Selma and Frank, I again visited Preston's
+plantation.</p>
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVI.</h3>
+
+<p>It was Christmas morning when we rode up the long, winding avenue, and
+halted before the doorway of 'Silver Lake'&mdash;the new name which the
+Yankee schoolmistress, aping the custom of her Yankee cousins, had
+bestowed on Preston's plantation. The day was mild and sunshiny, and the
+whole population of the little patriarchate was gathered on the green in
+front of the mansion, distributing Christmas presents among the negroes.
+When we came in sight, from behind the thick cluster of live oaks which
+bordered the miniature lake, the whole assemblage sent up a glad shout,
+and hurried up to welcome us. And such a welcome! As she sprang from the
+carriage, Selma was caught in her father's arms, then in 'master Joe's,'
+and then, encircled by a cloud of dark beauties, each one vieing with
+the others in boisterous expressions of affection, she was the victim of
+such a demonstration as would have done the heart of Hogarth good to
+witness. In the midst of it a slight, delicate woman rushed from the
+house, and, crowding into the thick group around Selma, threw her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> arms
+about her neck, and, nearly smothering her with kisses, exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>'My chile! my chile! I sees you at last!'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, Phylly!' said Selma, returning her caresses; 'and haven't I grown?
+I thought you wouldn't know me.'</p>
+
+<p>'Know you! Ain't you my chile&mdash;my own dear chile!' and pressing Selma's
+cheeks between her two hands, and gazing at her beautiful face for a
+moment, she kissed her over and over again.</p>
+
+<p>My arms had been nearly shaken off, when I noticed 'Boss Joe' limping
+toward me, his head uncovered, and his broad face shining from out his
+gray wool like the full moon breaking through a mass of clouds.</p>
+
+<p>'How are you, old gentleman?' I exclaimed, grasping him warmly by the
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>'Right smart! right smart, massa Kirke. Glad you'm come, sar.'</p>
+
+<p>'And you're home for Christmas?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, sar. I'se come to see massa Robert, an' to tend to hirin' a new
+gang. But darkies 'am high dis yar, sar.'</p>
+
+<p>'How much are they?'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, dey ax, round yere, one fifty, an' 'spences dar an' back; an'
+it'm a pile, when you tink we hab used up 'most all de new trees.'</p>
+
+<p>'But you must have many second-year cuttings.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yas, right smart; but No. 2 rosum doan't pay at sech prices fur
+darkies.'</p>
+
+<p>Turning to Preston in a moment, I said:</p>
+
+<p>'Do not let us interfere with the 'doin's'&mdash;it's just what we want to
+see.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, come, you folks,' said Joe, hobbling back to the green; 'leff us
+gwo on now.'</p>
+
+<p>Preston, Selma, and Phylly went into the house, but the rest of us
+followed the grinning group of Africans to the centre of the lawn, where
+several large packing boxes, and a long table, something like a
+carpenter's bench, were piled high with a miscellaneous assortment of
+dry goods and groceries.</p>
+
+<p>'Now, all you dat hab heads, come up yere,' shouted Joe, seating himself
+on the bench; 'but don't all come ter onst.'</p>
+
+<p>One by one the men and boys filed past him, and, selecting a hat or cap
+from a couple of boxes near, he adjusted a covering to each woolly
+cranium that presented itself; interspersing the exercise with humorous
+remarks on their respective phrenological developments:</p>
+
+<p>'Pomp, you's made fur a preacher, shore. Dat dar head ob your'n gwoes up
+jess like a steeple. I'll hab ter gib you a cap, Dave; you'm so big
+ahind de yeres none ob dese hats'll fit, nohow. Jess show de back ob
+you' head to any gemman, an' he'll say you'm one ob de great ones ob de
+'arth. None ob dese am big 'nuff fur you, Ally,' he continued, as a
+tall, well-clad mulatto man stepped up to him. 'You' bumps hab growed so
+sense you took to de swamp, dat nuffin'll cober you 'cept massa Robert's
+hat, or de gal Rosey's sunshade.'</p>
+
+<p>The yellow man laughed, but kept on trying the hats. Finding one at last
+of suitable dimensions, he turned away to make room for another
+candidate for cranial honors. As I caught a full view of his face, I
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>'Why, Ally, is that you?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yas, massa; it'm me,' he replied, making a respectful bow.</p>
+
+<p>'And you live here yet?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yas, massa. Hope you's well, massa?'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well; and your mother&mdash;how is she?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, she'm right smart, sar.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yas, massa, I'se right smart; an' I'se bery glad ter see 'ou, massa,'
+said a voice at my elbow. It was Dinah, no longer clad in coarse
+osnaburg, but arrayed in a worsted gown, and a little grayer and a
+little bulkier than when I saw her eight years before.</p>
+
+<p>'Why, Dinah, how well you look!'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> I exclaimed, giving her my hand. 'And
+you've come up to spend Christmas with Ally?'</p>
+
+<p>'No, massa, I <i>libs</i> yere. I'se <span class="smcap">FREE</span> now, massa!'</p>
+
+<p>'Free! So you've made enough to buy yourself? I'm glad to hear it.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, massa. Ally&mdash;de good chile&mdash;he done it, massa.'</p>
+
+<p>'Ally did it! How could he? He's not more than twenty now!'</p>
+
+<p>'No more'n he hain't, massa; but he'm two yar in massa Preston's swamp,
+wid a hired gang. Massa Preston put de chile ober 'em, an' gib him a
+haff ob all he make, an' he'm doin' a heap dar, massa.'</p>
+
+<p>'And with his first earnings he bought his mother!'</p>
+
+<p>'Yas, massa; wid de bery fuss.'</p>
+
+<p>'Ally, give me your hand,' I exclaimed, with unaffected pleasure;
+'you're a man! You're worthy of such a mother!'</p>
+
+<p>'Yas, he am dat, massa! He'm wordy ob anyting, an' he'm gwine to hab a
+wife ter day, massa. Boss Joe am gwine ter marry 'em, an' ter gib 'em
+him own cabin fur dar Chrismus giff.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, Joe <i>is</i> a trump. I'll remember him in my will for that, aunty,
+sure.'</p>
+
+<p>'Dat'm bery good ob 'ou, massa; but I reckon 'ou can't tink who Ally'm
+gwine ter hab, massa,' said the old woman, her face beaming all over.</p>
+
+<p>'No, I can't, Dinah. Who is she?'</p>
+
+<p>'It'm little Rosey, dat 'ou buy ob de trader, massa; an' she'm de
+pootiest little gal all roun' yere; ebery one say dat, massa.'</p>
+
+<p>'Indeed! And they are to be married to-day?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yas, massa, ter day&mdash;dis evenin'. 'Ou'll be dar, woan't 'ou, massa?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, certainly I will.'</p>
+
+<p>The old woman and Ally then mingled with the crowd of negroes, and I
+turned my attention once more to Joe's operations. The men had been
+supplied with head gear, and the women were receiving their
+turbans&mdash;gaudy pieces of red and yellow muslin.</p>
+
+<p>'Now, all you boys an' gals,' shouted Joe, as he dealt out a
+handkerchief to the last of the dusky demoiselles, 'you all squat on de
+groun', an' shovel off you' shoes.'</p>
+
+<p>Down they went in every conceivable attitude, and, uncovering their
+feet, commenced pelting each other with the cast-off leathers. When the
+sport had lasted a few minutes, Joe sang out:</p>
+
+<p>'Come! 'nuff ob dat; now ter bisness. Yere, you yaller monkeys (to
+several small specimens of copper and chrome yellow), tote dese 'mong
+'em.'</p>
+
+<p>The young chattels did as they were bidden, and, as each heavy brogan
+was fitted to the pedal extremity of some one of the darkies, the
+newly-shod individual sprang to his feet, and commenced dancing about as
+if he were the happiest mortal in existence.</p>
+
+<p>'Dat'm it,' shouted Joe; 'frow up you' heels; an' some ob you gwo
+an' fotch de big fiddle. We'll hab a dance, an' show dese Nordern
+gemmen de raal poker.'</p>
+
+<p>'But we hain't hed de dresses&mdash;nor de soogar&mdash;nor de 'backer&mdash;nor none
+ob de whiskey,' cried a dozen voices.</p>
+
+<p>'Shet up, you brack crows! You can't hab anudder ting till ye'se hed a
+high ole heel-scrapin'. Yere, massa Joe; you come up yere, an' holp me
+wid de 'strumentals,' said Boss Joe, grinning widely, and getting up on
+the carpenter's bench.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments, the 'big fiddle,' one or two smaller fiddles, and
+three or four banjoes were brought out, and the two Joes, and several
+ebony gentlemen, seating themselves on the boxes of clothing, began
+tuning the instruments. Soon 'Boss Joe' commenced sawing away with a
+gusto that might have been somewhat out of keeping with his gray hairs,
+his sixty years, and his clerical profession. 'Massa Joe' and the others
+striking in, the male and female darkies paired off two by two, and to a
+lively air began dancing a sort of 'cotillion breakdown.' Other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> dances
+followed, in which the little negroes joined, and soon the air rang with
+the creak of the fiddles and the merry shouts of the negroes. In the
+midst of it my arm was touched lightly, and, turning round, I saw Rosey
+and Dinah.</p>
+
+<p>'I'se got de little gal yere, massa,' said the latter, looking as proud
+as a hen over her first brood of chickens. 'She glad to see 'ou, massa.'</p>
+
+<p>I gave Rosey my hand, and made a few good-natured compliments on her
+beauty and her tidy appearance. She had a simple, guileless expression,
+and met my half-bantering remarks with an innocent frankness that
+charmed me. She was only sixteen, but had developed into a beautiful
+woman. Her form was slight and graceful, with just enough <i>embonpoint</i>
+to give the appearance of full health; and her thin, delicate features,
+large, wide-set eyes, and clear, rosy complexion bore a strong
+resemblance to Selma's. It was evident they were children of the same
+father; and yet, one was to be the wife of a poor negro, the other to
+marry the son of a 'merchant prince.'</p>
+
+<p>As the dancing concluded, Boss Joe's fiddle gave out a dying scream,
+and, turning to me, he sang out:</p>
+
+<p>'War dar eber sprightlier nigs dan dese, massa Kirke? Don't dey beat
+you' country folks all holler?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, they do, Joe. They handle their heels as nimbly as elephants.'</p>
+
+<p>I spoke the truth; most of them did.</p>
+
+<p>The distribution of the presents was resumed; and, as each negro
+received his full supply of flour, sugar, tea, coffee, molasses,
+tobacco, and calico, grinning with joy over his new acquisitions, he
+staggered off to his quarters. When the last box was nearly emptied,
+with young Preston and Frank, I adjourned to the mansion.</p>
+
+<p>The exterior of the 'great house' was unchanged, but its interior had
+undergone a complete transformation. The plain oak flooring of the hall
+had been replaced by porcelain tiling, and the neat, simple furniture of
+the parlors by huge mirrors; rosewood and brocatelle sofas and lounges;
+velvet tapestry carpets, in which one's feet sank almost out of sight;
+and immense paintings, whose aggregate cost might have paid off one half
+of the mortgage that encumbered the plantation.</p>
+
+<p>Selma and her father were engaged in earnest conversation when we
+entered the drawing room, and, being unwilling to interrupt them, I was
+about to retire, but he rose, and said:</p>
+
+<p>'Come in, Kirke; I will call Mrs. Preston. She will be glad to see you.'</p>
+
+<p>The lady soon entered. It was eight years since we had met, but time had
+touched her gently. Her face wore its old, decided, yet quiet
+expression, and her manner showed the easy self-possession I had noticed
+at our first interview. She was richly dressed, and had on a heavy satin
+pelisse, and a blue velvet bonnet, as if about to ride out.</p>
+
+<p>When the usual greetings were over, she remarked:</p>
+
+<p>'You have been here some time, sir?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, madam; we arrived about two hours ago; but I met some old friends
+outside, and the pleasure of seeing them has made me a little tardy in
+paying my respects to you.'</p>
+
+<p>'The negroes, you mean, sir,' she replied, with a slight toss of the
+head, and a look of cool dignity which well became her.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, madam. I have many friends among the blacks. On many plantations
+they look for my coming as they do for Christmas.'</p>
+
+<p>'It is quite rare to find a white gentleman so fond of negroes,' she
+rejoined, with an air slightly more supercilious.</p>
+
+<p>I remembered her as the humble schoolmistress, whose entire possessions
+were packed in one trunk; and, forgetting myself, said, in a tone which
+bore a slight trace of indignation:</p>
+
+<p>'More rare, I fear, than it should be; and you and I, madam, who are
+Yan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>kees, and have 'worked for a living,' surely cannot despise the
+negroes because they are <i>compelled</i> to work for theirs.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh! no, sir! not by any means! But you must excuse me; the carriage is
+waiting to take me to church;' and, rising, she bowed herself stiffly
+out of the door.</p>
+
+<p>'Ah, you hit her there!' exclaimed Joe, springing to his feet in great
+glee, and striding to the window. 'See here, Mr. Kirke! See what a
+turnout the Yankee 'schulemarm' has worried out of father!'</p>
+
+<p>'My son, you must not speak so; she is your mother!' said Preston.</p>
+
+<p>'No, I'm d&mdash;d if she is! Call her anything but that, father; that's
+an&mdash;'he checked himself; but I thought he would have added&mdash;'insult to
+my dead mother!'</p>
+
+<p>Preston made no reply.</p>
+
+<p>Looking out of the window, I saw Mrs. Preston being handed into a
+magnificent barouche by one of the black gentry she so much despised.
+Another one in gaudy gold livery sat on the box, and a mounted outrider,
+also bound up in gold braid, stood behind the carriage.</p>
+
+<p>'There's a two-thousand-dollar turnout, and two fifteen-hundred-dollar
+niggers, to tote a woman who ought to go afoot. It's a poor investment,
+I swear,' said Joe, turning away from the window.</p>
+
+<p>Preston made no reply; but I laughingly remarked:</p>
+
+<p>'Come, Joe, she isn't <i>your</i> wife. Let your father spend his money as he
+pleases; he can afford it.'</p>
+
+<p>'He <i>can't</i> afford it; that woman is running him to the devil at a
+two-forty gait. You have more influence with him than any one, Mr.
+Kirke&mdash;<i>do</i> try to stop it!'</p>
+
+<p>The young man spoke in a decided but regretful tone, and his manner
+showed more respect to his father than his words implied. Unwilling to
+interfere in such an affair, I said nothing; but Preston, in a moment,
+remarked:</p>
+
+<p>'It is true, Kirke! Her extravagance has ruined my credit at home, and
+forced me to use Joe's indorsements; besides, I have had to borrow ten
+thousand dollars of him to keep my head above water.'</p>
+
+<p>[Mr. James Preston&mdash;the Squire's uncle&mdash;had died the year before, and
+the young man had succeeded to his large property and business.]</p>
+
+<p>I was thunderstruck; but, before I could reply, Joe said:</p>
+
+<p>'I don't care a rush for the money. Father can have every dollar I've
+got; but I <i>do</i> want to see him rid of that woman. I've been here sick
+for two months, and I've seen the whole. She is worrying the very life
+out of him. She's made him an old man at forty.'</p>
+
+<p>It was true. His face was lean and haggard, and his hair already thickly
+streaked with white.</p>
+
+<p>Preston rose, and, walking the room, said:</p>
+
+<p>'But what am I to do? You yourself, Joe, would not have all this made
+public. You've as much pride about it as I have.'</p>
+
+<p>'I've not a bit of pride about it, father; and it's public now.
+Everybody knows it, and everybody says you ought to cut her adrift.'</p>
+
+<p>'What had I better do? Tell me, my friend,' said Preston, still walking
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>'I cannot advise, you, Preston. An outsider should express no opinion on
+such matters.'</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Preston said:</p>
+
+<p>'Well, Joe, no more of this now. I'll do what is right, however much it
+may wound my pride.'</p>
+
+<p>The conversation turned to other subjects, till Mrs. Preston's return
+from church, shortly after which dinner was announced. The lady presided
+at the table with as much ease and grace as if she had been born to the
+position; and in her charming conversation, I almost forgot the
+revelations of the morning. The rest of the day I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> spent with Joe and
+Frank, strolling over the plantation and mingling among the negroes,
+who, freed from work, were enjoying themselves in a very 'miscellaneous
+manner.' Preston remained at the house with Selma.</p>
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVII.</h3>
+
+<p>It was nearly dark when we returned to the mansion. Looking in at the
+parlor, and not finding his father there, Joe led the way at once to the
+library. The door was ajar, and, as we entered the passage way, loud
+voices were issuing from it.</p>
+
+<p>'I tell you, Mr. Preston, I am mistress of this plantation. He shall <span class="smcap">NOT</span>
+go!'</p>
+
+<p>'Pardon me, madam, he <i>shall</i>, and to-night,' returned a mild but
+decided voice, which I recognized as Preston's. Being unwilling to
+overhear more, I turned away, but Joe caught me by the arm, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>'If you are my father's friend, go in. If you don't, he will back down;
+he has done so forty times.'</p>
+
+<p>Preston was a man of more than ordinary firmness, but his wife had the
+stronger will. She seemed possessed of a sort of magnetic power, which
+enabled her to control others almost arbitrarily.</p>
+
+<p>Reluctantly I followed the young man into the room. Preston was seated
+before the fire; and Selma, with her arm around his neck, was standing
+near him. Mulock, better clad than when I witnessed his purchase by the
+'fast' young planter, and wearing a sullen, dogged expression, was
+leaning against the centre table; and Mrs. Preston, gesticulating
+wildly, and her face glowing with mingled rage and defiance, stood
+within a few feet of her husband. Not heeding our entrance, she
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>'I <i>will</i> have my way. If you send him off, I will never darken your
+doors again.'</p>
+
+<p>'That is as you please, madam,' replied Preston. 'Mr. Kirke and Frank,
+pray be seated.'</p>
+
+<p>Stung by her husband's coolness, the lady turned fiercely upon Joe, and,
+shaking her clenched hand in his face, cried out:</p>
+
+<p>'This is <i>your</i> work. I will teach you better than to meddle with my
+affairs.'</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>'Madam, you act well,' said the young man, taking a step toward the
+door. 'Pray come out to the quarters; poor as they are, every negro will
+give a bit to see <i>you</i> play.'</p>
+
+<p>In uncontrollable rage, she struck him a smart blow in the face, and
+rushed from the room.</p>
+
+<p>When she had gone, Preston turned to Mulock:</p>
+
+<p>'Now go. The amount due you I shall retain to offset, in part, what you
+have tempted the negroes to steal. You can come here once a week&mdash;on
+Sunday&mdash;to see Phylly; but if you have any more dealings with the hands,
+I will prosecute you on the instant.'</p>
+
+<p>Mulock rose, put on his slouched hat, and, a dull fire burning in his
+cold, snake-like eyes, slowly said:</p>
+
+<p>'Wall, Squire, I'll gwo, but 'counts 'tween you an' me ain't settled
+yit.'</p>
+
+<p>As he went, Selma leaned forward, and, kissing Preston's cheek, said;</p>
+
+<p>'O father! I'm so glad <i>you</i> didn't speak harshly to her.'</p>
+
+<p>Preston put his arm about her, and replied:</p>
+
+<p>'You helped me, my child. I should be a better, happier man, if you were
+with me.'</p>
+
+<p>'And I will be, father; I won't go away any more.'</p>
+
+<p>'But Frank?' said Preston, again kissing her.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, you know we're not to be married for a good while yet. I'll stay
+with you <i>till then</i>, father.'</p>
+
+<p>'Ah! there she goes,' said Joe, looking out at the window, which
+commanded a view of the <i>porte cochere</i>; 'she can't get to Newbern till
+ten, but the night air won't hurt <i>her</i>.'</p>
+
+<p>'Then she makes Newbern her home now?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Yes, she spends the winters there; she came here only yesterday.'</p>
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVIII.</h3>
+
+<p>Ally and Rosey were to be married<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> in the little church, and, directly
+after supper, we all went to the wedding. The seats had been removed
+from the centre of the building, for, though duly consecrated to the use
+of the saints, the sinners were to exercise their heels in it after the
+ceremony was over. At its farther extremity, the carpenter's bench of
+which I have spoken, elongated at both ends, and covered with a white
+table cloth, was piled high with eatables; indicating that a time of
+'great refreshment' was at hand. The bounteous supply of ham, chicken,
+wild duck, roast pig, fish, hoecake, wheat bread, tea, coffee, milk, and
+pumpkin and sweet-potato pies under which the bench groaned, showed that
+some liberal hand had catered for the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>Black Joe, dressed in his 'Sunday best,' was seated on the rustic settee
+at the back of the desk, and Phyllis and Dinah occupied chairs inside
+the low railing, which faced the pulpit. Phyllis looked careworn and
+sad, but Ally's mother was as radiant as a brass kettle in a blaze of
+light wood. She wore a white dress, stiffly starched and expanded by
+immense hoops, and a crimped nightcap, whose broad border flapped about
+like the wings of a crowing rooster; and she looked, for all the world,
+like a black ghost in a winding sheet, escaped from below, and bound on
+a 'good time generally.' Two 'shining lights,' on either side of the
+pulpit, held aloft blazing torches of pine, which illuminated the sea of
+grinning darkness, and sent up a smoke like that arising from the pit
+which is said to be bottomless. About a hundred darkies were present;
+and the number of glossy coats, fancy turbans, gaudy bonnets, red
+shawls, and flaming dresses, which the light disclosed, was amazing. The
+poor worm that grubbed in the earth, had appeared ('for that occasion
+only') as a butterfly; and Lazarus, rid of his rags, had come forth
+dressed like a Broadway dandy.</p>
+
+<p>Any person of sensitive olfactories would have halted in the doorway;
+but I elbowed through the woolly gathering, and followed Frank and Selma
+to the family pew. Tittering, laughing, and flaunting their red and
+yellow kerchiefs, the black people were enjoying themselves amazingly,
+when 'Dar dey comes,' 'Dar'm de happy pussons,' went round the
+assemblage, and the bride and groom, attended by two sable couples,
+entered the building. After some ludicrous mistakes, they got 'into
+position' in front of the railing, and Black Joe took a stand before
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Rosey was dressed in white, with a neat fillet of pink and blue ribbon
+about her head; and Ally wore a black frock coat, with white vest, and
+white cotton gloves. One of the groomsmen&mdash;a rustic beau from a
+neighboring plantation&mdash;wore an immensely long-tailed blue coat with
+brass buttons, a flaming red waistcoat, yellow woollen mittens, and a
+neckerchief that looked like a secession flag hugging a lamp-post. Both
+of these gentry had hats of stove-pipe pattern, very tall, and with
+narrow brims; and&mdash;they wore them during the ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>'Silence in de meetin',' cried Joe.</p>
+
+<p>The boisterous sea of black wool subsided to a dead calm. Those not
+already standing rose, and Joe commenced reading the marriage service of
+the Episcopal Church.</p>
+
+<p>The parties immediately interested appeared to have conned their lessons
+well; for they made all the responses with great propriety; but some of
+the congregation seemed less familiar with the service. When Joe
+repeated the words, 'If any man kin show cause why dese folks should not
+be lawfully jined togedder, leff him now speak, or else for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>eber hole
+his peace,' Dinah turned to the audience, and cried out:</p>
+
+<p>'Yas, jess leff him come out wid it <i>now</i>. I'd like ter see de man dat's
+got onyting agin it.'</p>
+
+<p>No one appeared to have 'onyting agin it,' and Joe proceeded to read the
+words: 'I require and charge you, if either of you know any impediment,'
+etc. In the midst of it a voice called out:</p>
+
+<p>'Dar ain't no 'pedimen', Boss Joe; I knows dat. Gwo on, sar!' 'Dat's so,
+brudder,' said another voice. 'Dat's de Lord's trufh,' echoed a third.
+'Doan't be 'sturbin' de meetin'; de young folks want de 'splicin' done,'
+cried a fourth; and 'Amen,' shouted a dozen.</p>
+
+<p>'Shet up, all on you,' yelled Joe, turning on them with an imperious
+gesture; 'ef you hain't no more manners dan dat, clar out.'</p>
+
+<p>Silence soon ensued, and Joe went on without interruption to the place
+where the minister asks the bride-groom: 'Wilt thou have this woman to
+thy wedded wife?' Then Dinah, unable to contain herself longer, joyfully
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>'Ob course he will&mdash;ony youn' feller'd be glad to hab <i>har</i>.'</p>
+
+<p>[Never having gone through the ceremony herself, the poor woman could
+not be expected to know what was appropriate to the occasion.]</p>
+
+<p>No further interruption occurred, and soon the happy couple were 'bone
+of one bone, and flesh of one flesh.' The assemblage still standing, Joe
+then turned to Ally and Rosey, and, with a manner so solemn and
+impressive that he seemed altogether a different person from the merry
+darky who had entered so heartily into the 'high ole heel scrapin'' of
+the morning; he spoke somewhat as follows:</p>
+
+<p>'My chil'ren, love one anoder; bar wid one anoder; be faithful to one
+anoder. You hab started on a long journey; many rough places am in de
+road; many trubbles will spring up by de wayside; but gwo on hand an'
+hand togedder; love one anoder; an' no matter what come onter you, you
+will be happy&mdash;fur love will sweeten ebery sorrer, lighten ebery load,
+make de sun shine in eben de bery cloudiest wedder. I knows it will, my
+chil'ren, 'case I'se been ober de groun'. Ole Aggy an' I hab trabbled de
+road. Hand in hand we hab gone ober de rocks; fru de mud; in de hot,
+burnin' sand; ben out togedder in the cole, an' de rain, an' de storm,
+fur nigh onter forty yar, but we hab clung to one anoder; we hab loved
+one anoder; and fru eberyting, in de bery darkest days, de sun ob joy
+an' peace hab broke fru de clouds, an' sent him blessed rays down inter
+our hearts. We started jess like two young saplin's you's seed a growin'
+side by side in de woods. At fust we seemed way 'part, fur de brambles,
+an' de tick bushes, an' de ugly forns&mdash;dem war our bad ways&mdash;war atween
+us; but love, like de sun, shone down on us, and we grow'd. We grow'd
+till our heads got above de bushes; till dis little branch an' dat
+little branch&mdash;dem war our holy feelin's&mdash;put out toward one anoder, an'
+we come closer an' closer togedder. And dough we'm old trees now, an'
+sometime de wind blow, an' de storm rage fru de tops, and freaten to
+tear off de limbs, an' to pull up de bery roots, we'm growin' closer an'
+closer, an' nearer an' nearer togedder ebery day. And soon de old tops
+will meet; soon de ole branches, all cobered ober wid de gray moss, will
+twine round one anoder; soon de two ole trunks will come togedder and
+grow inter <i>one</i> foreber&mdash;grow inter one up dar in de sky, whar de wind
+neber'll blow, whar de storm neber'll beat; whar we shill blossom an'
+bar fruit to de glory ob de Lord, an' in His heabenly kingdom foreber!</p>
+
+<p>'Yas, my chil'ren, you hab started on a long journey, an' nuffin' will
+git you fru it but <i>love</i>. Nuttin' will hole you up, nuffin' will keep
+you faithful to one anoder, nuffin' will make you bar wid one anoder,
+but love. None ob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> us kin lib widout it; but married folks want it most
+ob all. Dey need it more dan de bread dey eat, de water dey drink, or de
+air dey breafe. De worle couldn't gwo on widout it. De bery sun would
+gwo out in de heabens but fur dat! An' shill I tell you why? You hab
+heerd massa Robert talk 'bout de great law dat make de apple fall from
+de tree, de rock sink in de water; dat bines our feet to de round 'arth
+so we don't drop off as it gwo fru de air; dat holes de sun an' de stars
+in dar 'pointed places, so dat, day after day, an' yar after yar, dough
+dey'm trabblin' fasser dan de lightnin' eber went, dey'm right whar dey
+should be. He call it 'traction, an' all de great men call it so; but
+dat ain't de name! It am <span class="smcap">LOVE</span>. It am <span class="smcap">God</span>, fur <span class="smcap">God</span> am love, an' love am
+<span class="smcap">God</span>, an' love bines de whole creashun togedder! An' shill I tell you how
+it do it? Does you see dis hand? how I open de fingers; how I shet'm up;
+how I rise de whole arm? Does you see dis foot, dat I does wid jess de
+same? Does you see dis whole body, how I make it, in a twinklin', do
+jess what I like? Now what am it dat make my hand move, an' my whole
+'body turn round so sudden, dat I'se only to say: 'Do it,' an' it'm
+done? Why, it am <span class="smcap">ME</span>. It'm <i>me</i>, dat libs up yere in de brain, an' sends
+my <i>will</i> fru ebery part&mdash;fru ebery siner, an' ebery muscle, an' ebery
+little jint, an' make'm all do jess what I like. Now man am made in de
+image of <span class="smcap">God</span>, an' dis pore, weak ole body am a small pattern ob de whole
+creashun. Eberyting go on jess as <i>it</i> do. Eberyting am held togedder,
+an' moved 'bout, jess as <i>it</i> am&mdash;but it'm <span class="smcap">God</span> dat move it, not me! He
+libs up dar in de sky&mdash;which am His brain&mdash;wid de stars fur His hands,
+de planets fur His feet, an' de whole univarse fur His body; an' He
+sends His will&mdash;which am love&mdash;fru ebery part ob de whole, an' moves it
+'bout, an' make it do jess as He likes. So you see, it am my will sent
+fru ebery muscle, an' ebery little siner, dat moves my body; so it am
+<i>His</i> will sent fru what de'stronomers an' de poets call de heabenly
+ether, dat moves <i>His</i> body&mdash;which am de 'arth, an' de sun, an' de
+stars, an' you an' me, an' ebery libin' ting in all creashun! His will
+move 'em all; <span class="smcap">an' His will am love</span>! An' don't you see dat you can't do
+widout His love? Dat it am de bery breaf ob life? Dat, ef it war tooken
+'way from you, fur jess one moment, you'd drop down, an' die, an' neber
+come to life agin&mdash;no, not in dis worle, nor in any oder worle? It am
+so, my chil'ren; an' de more you hab ob dat love, de happier you'll be;
+de more you'll love one ander; de easier you'll gwo fru you' life&mdash;de
+more joyfuller you'll meet you' deafh&mdash;de happier you'll be all fru de
+long, long ages dat'm comin' in de great Yereafter! Den, O my chil'ren!
+Love God, Love one anoder! You can't be happy widout you love <span class="smcap">God</span>, an'
+you can't love Him widout you love one anoder!'</p>
+
+<p>When Joe had concluded, he saluted the bride in a manner that many
+another sooty gentleman present would have been glad to imitate, and
+then took a stand at the head of the supper table. An immense tureen,
+filled with steaming oysters, was soon brought in and placed before him,
+and looking up, he said grace, in which he thanked Him who feedeth the
+ravens for putting it into his master's heart to feed His other black
+creatures, the darkies present on that occasion. He asked for his master
+many a happy 'Chrismus down yere,' and an eternal 'Chrismus in heaben,'
+and he added: 'An' knowin' dat dou hatest long prayers, an' long faces,
+an' dose folks dat gwo 'bout grumblin', as ef dy happy 'arth war nuffin'
+but a graveyard; may we enjoy dis feast an' dis day as dy true
+chil'ren&mdash;de chil'ren ob a good Fader, who am all joy an' all
+gladness&mdash;an' while we'm eatin' an' drinkin' an' dancin', may we make
+merry in our hearts to <i>Thee</i>. Amen.'</p>
+
+<p>When he concluded, Preston stepped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> to his side, and taking the big
+ladle from his hand, said:</p>
+
+<p>'Stand aside, Joe, you have done work enough for to-night;' and turning
+to 'we white folks' in the family pew, he added: 'If any man among you
+would be master, let him now be the servant of all. Let him try his hand
+at the waiter business, and see if he can't throw these shady people
+into the <i>shade</i>.'</p>
+
+<p>Selma, Frank, 'massa Joe,' and I went forward, and tying the negroes'
+aprons about our waists, took appropriate places around the table.</p>
+
+<p>'Now all of you find seats,' cried Preston; and amid a hurricane of
+giggling and merry laughter, the black people seated themselves on the
+floor, on the platform, and on the row of benches ranged along the
+walls. Preston proceeded to fill up the bowls with the savory stew, and
+we dispensed the eatables among them, and for half an hour I witnessed
+as much enjoyment as often falls to the lot of black sinners in this
+'vale of tears.'</p>
+
+<p>'Now, ef dis doan't beat all,' exclaimed old Dinah, as I handed her a
+huge chunk of gingerbread; 'ef 'ou ain't right smart at waitin', massa
+Kirke, I'd like ter know it.'</p>
+
+<p>'Keep dark, ole 'ooman,' shouted Black Joe; 'doan't you say nuffin'
+'bout dat, or de traders'll be a hole ob him. He'd sell fur a right
+likely hand, <i>shore</i>.'</p>
+
+<p>'I woan't do nuffin' but keep dark, Boss Joe,' rejoined Dinah, grinning
+till her face opened from ear to ear. 'I'll hab 'ou know, sar, dat none
+but white ladies paints!'</p>
+
+<p>'Good fur you, ole lady,' cried the preacher. 'After dat you'll gib me
+de pleasure ob your hand in de fuss dance.'</p>
+
+<p>'Ob course, I will, <i>mister</i> Joe; an' ef 'ou'm tired ob de ole 'ooman,
+I'll gib 'ou my han' in anoder dance.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, you woan't, I doan't gwo fur second marridges,' rejoined Joe,
+looking slyly at Preston; 'dey ain't made in heaben.'</p>
+
+<p>'No more' dey ain't,' said the old woman, heaving a long sigh, and also
+looking at Preston.</p>
+
+<p>'You ain't a gwine to leff dese folks dance in de church, am you, Boss
+Joe?' asked a prim, demure-looking darky, in a black suit, with a white
+neckerchief and stiff shirt collar; probably some neighboring preacher.</p>
+
+<p>'I reckon so,' replied Joe, dryly.</p>
+
+<p>'An' <i>I</i> reckons so, too, mister I scare-you-out (Iscariot),' cried the
+old negress. 'Ain't de planets de Lord's feet, an' doant dey dance! I
+reckons we ain't no better dan de Lord is; an' ef He mobes him feet,
+'ou'd better mobe 'our'n. <i>We</i> b'lieve in sarvin' <span class="smcap">Him</span> wid our han's an'
+our feet, too; we does, mister I-scare-you-out.'</p>
+
+<p>She did scare him out, for the 'pious gemman' left suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>When about all of the eatables had found their way down the
+cavernous&mdash;and ravenous&mdash;throats of the darkies, Boss Joe rose and
+called out:</p>
+
+<p>'Yere, you massa Joe, you pull off you' apern, an' take de big
+fiddle&mdash;I'm 'gaged fur de fuss dance.'</p>
+
+<p>Young Preston seated himself on the platform, and several sable
+gentlemen with banjoes and fiddles took places beside him.</p>
+
+<p>'Now all you men folks s'lect you' pardners,' cried the preacher, taking
+Dinah by the hand, and leading her out to the middle of the floor.</p>
+
+<p>They all paired off, the fiddles broke into a merry tune, and soon the
+little church, which had so often echoed with the groans of the saints,
+shook with the heels of the sinners. When the first dance was over, Boss
+Joe again called out:</p>
+
+<p>'Now, massa Joe, strike up de waltz&mdash;Dinah an' I am gwine to show dese
+folks some highfalutin dancin'.'</p>
+
+<p>The waltz struck up, and off they whirled; Dinah went into it as if she
+were working for pay, and as Joe held her closely in his arms, her wide
+hoops expanded till she looked like a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> topsail schooner scudding under
+bare poles.</p>
+
+<p>As Joe was wiping the perspiration from his face, at the end of the
+waltz, an old negro entered, and whispered something in his ear. Joe's
+countenance fell in an instant, and, without saying a word, he left the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>'Massa Joe,' relinquishing the big fiddle, then took the floor with
+Rosey, and gave the audience a genuine breakdown. His heels bobbed
+around like balls at a cricket match, and Rosey's petticoats fluttered
+about like the contents of a clothes line caught out in a hurricane. A
+better-looking couple were never seen in a ball room.</p>
+
+<p>'He's a natural born darky,' said his father, laughing; 'he takes to
+dancing as a duck takes to water.'</p>
+
+<p>A general dance followed. In the midst of it the old negro who had
+called Joe out, again came in, and making his way to where Preston and I
+were standing, said, in a low tone:</p>
+
+<p>'Massa Robert, Ole Jack am dyin'; will 'ou come?'</p>
+
+<p>'Dying!' exclaimed Preston. 'Yes, I'll be there at once. Kirke, you
+remember the old man&mdash;come with me.'</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> This was the conjuror's bag of the Africans. It is called
+'waiter,' or 'kunger,' by the Southern blacks, and is supposed to have
+the power to charm away evil spirits, and to do all manner of
+miraculously good things for its wearer. Those that I have seen are
+harmless little affairs, consisting only of small pieces of rags sewed
+up in coarse muslin.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The name of the African god.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Usually there is no marriage performed at the union of
+slaves. They simply agree, tacitly or otherwise, to live together till
+death or their master parts them.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_CAPTAIN_OF_63_TO_HIS_MEN" id="THE_CAPTAIN_OF_63_TO_HIS_MEN"></a>THE CAPTAIN OF '63 TO HIS MEN.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Come to the field, boys, come!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Come at the call of the stirring drum&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Come, boys, come!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Yonder's the foe to our country's fame,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Waiting to blot out her very name&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Where is the man that would see her shame?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Come, boys, come!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Form, my brave men, form!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Stand in good order to 'meet the storm'&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Form, men, form!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Sacred to us is our native land!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Shrivelled for aye be each traitor hand</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Lifted to shatter so bright a band&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Form, men, form!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Charge, my soldiers, charge!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">From the steep hill to the river's marge,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Charge! charge! charge!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Think of our wives and mothers dear;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Think of the hopes that have led us here;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Think of the hearts that will give us cheer&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Charge, boys, charge!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Die with me, boys, die!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">There's a place for all in yon bannered sky,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">If we die, boys, die!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Think of the names that are shining bright,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Written in letters of living light!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Rather than give up the sacred Right,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Let's die, boys, die!</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_VISION_OF_THE_MONK_GABRIEL" id="THE_VISION_OF_THE_MONK_GABRIEL"></a>THE VISION OF THE MONK GABRIEL.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'Tis the soft twilight. 'Round the shining fender,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Two at my feet and one upon my knee,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Dreamy-eyed Elsie, bright-lipped Isabel,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">And thou, my golden-headed Raphael,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">My fairy, small and slender,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Listen to what befel</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">Monk Gabriel,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">In the old ages ripe with mystery&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Listen, my darlings, to the legend tender.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A bearded man, with grave, but gentle look&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">His silence sweet with sounds</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">With which the simple-hearted Spring abounds:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Lowing of cattle from the abbey grounds,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Chirping of insect, and the building rook,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Mingled like murmurs of a dreaming shell;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Quaint tracery of bird and branch and brook</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Flitting across the pages of his book,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Until the very words a freshness took&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">Deep in his cell,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Sate the Monk Gabriel.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">In his book he read</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The words the Master to His dear ones said:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">'A little while and ye</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9.5em;">Shall see,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">Shall gaze on Me;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">A little while, again,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">Ye shall not see Me then.'</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;"><i>A little while!</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">The monk looked up&mdash;a smile</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Making his visage brilliant, liquid-eyed:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">'O Thou, who gracious art</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">Unto the poor of heart,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">O Blessed Christ!' he cried,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">'Great is the misery</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">Of mine iniquity;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">But would <i>I</i> now might see,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">Might feast on Thee!'</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">The blood, with sudden start,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">Nigh rent his veins apart&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">(O condescension of the Crucified!)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">In all the brilliancy</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">Of His Humanity,</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">The Christ stood by his side!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Pure as the early lily was His skin,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">His cheek out blushed the rose,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">His lips, the glows</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Of autumn sunset on eternal snows:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">And His deep eyes within,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Such nameless beauties, wondrous glories dwelt,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The monk in speechless adoration knelt.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In each fair hand, in each fair foot, there shone</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The peerless stars He took from Calvary:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Around His brows, in tenderest lucency,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The thorn-marks lingered, like the flush of dawn;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And from the opening in His side there rilled</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A light, so dazzling, that the room was filled</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">With heaven: and transfigured in his place,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">His very breathing stilled,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The friar held his robe before his face,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">And heard the angels singing!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">'Twas but a moment&mdash;then, upon the spell</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Of this sweet Presence, lo! a something broke:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A something, trembling, in the belfry woke,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">A shower of metal music flinging</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">O'er wold and moat, o'er park and lake and fell,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And, through the open windows of the cell,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">In silver chimes came ringing.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">It was the bell</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Calling Monk Gabriel</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Unto his daily task,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">To feed the paupers at the abbey gate.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">No respite did he ask,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Nor for a second summons idly wait;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">But rose up, saying in his humble way:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">'Fain would I stay,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">O Lord! and feast alway</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Upon the honeyed sweetness of Thy beauty&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">But 'tis <i>Thy</i> will, not mine, I must obey;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Help me to do my duty!'</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">The while the Vision smiled,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The monk went forth, light-hearted as a child.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">An hour thence, his duty nobly done,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">Back to his cell he came.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Unasked, unsought, lo! his reward was won!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Rafters and walls and floor were yet aflame</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">With all the matchless glory of that Sun,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And in the centre stood the Blessed One&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">(Praised be His Holy Name!)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Who, for our sakes, our crosses made His own.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">And bore our weight of shame!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Down on the threshold fell</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Monk Gabriel,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">His forehead pressed upon the floor of clay;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And, while in deep humility he lay,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Tears raining from his happy eyes away,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'Whence is this favor, Lord?' he strove to say.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">The Vision only said,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Lifting its shining head:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'If thou hadst staid, O son! <i>I</i> must have fled!'</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span></span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_CENTURY_OF_INVENTIONS" id="THE_CENTURY_OF_INVENTIONS"></a>THE CENTURY OF INVENTIONS.</h2>
+
+<h3>CONTAINING A FEW COMMENTS ON THE WORK OF THAT NAME, PUBLISHED BY THE
+MARQUIS OF WORCESTER, IN 1663.</h3>
+
+
+<p>There is nothing which the world dreads so much as an unpitying truth.
+The history of ideas is that of men trying to persuade themselves that
+special miracles of amiability are ever being worked, from the cradle to
+the grave, in their favor. Of the tremendous inconsistency and
+destructiveness which such miracles imply, they take no heed. The most
+unpalatable fact in physics is that of the Struggle for Life.</p>
+
+<p>Ideas once born may never die, but it is worth noting how many men must
+die ere their ideas can live. The Indo-Germanic race has always been
+blessed with many of those self-cursed martyrs, the Anticipators, or the
+men who have outstripped their age. Like the advance guard of the summer
+swallows, they have generally died by frosts and lived in fables.</p>
+
+<p>Germany is very proud of her Berchthold Schwartz, and in her pride has
+made a proverb declaring that his invention was the proof of supreme
+wisdom. When they describe a fool, they say there that he did not
+discover gunpowder. But 'the first handful of gunpowder' did not, as
+Carlyle claims, drive Monk Schwartz's pestle through the ceiling. Long
+before Schwartz, lived Bacon; and a century or so before Bacon, there
+were in existence Norman-Latin recipes, says Palsgrave&mdash;who had seen
+them&mdash;<i>ad faciendum le crak&eacute;</i>, for making firecrackers&mdash;at least, for
+making gunpowder which would crack merrily when fired. Stained glass
+windows, according to the cheap and easy explanations of those who used
+to send us to natural scenery for every origin in architecture, were
+suggested by beholding the winter sunset lines of the sky through the
+bare gothic-window tracery of a leafless forest. Recent research finds
+the stained window in the antique burning East, where no studies were
+made by frost or forest light&mdash;nay, the leaves carved by
+tradition-loving Gothic Free Masons in churches often keep a peculiar
+Eastern form.</p>
+
+<p>I am not, however, lecturing of Lost Arts in the strain which sings
+'there is nothing new under the sun,' and which in a chilling manner
+benumbs the faith in progress by shaking with a grin before the wearied
+inventor some skeleton puppet of buried ages, which resembles his great
+thought as a hut resembles a palace. On the contrary, I find in this
+strange frequency of anticipation among Indo-Germanic races, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> in its
+premature failures, a vast proof of inventive vitality and of promise of
+great rising truths into all future ages. 'Steam power is nothing new,'
+say the advocates of the genius of the past. Hero of Alexandria invented
+a steam toy&mdash;as he who can read his <i>Spiritalia</i> published by the
+Jesuits in 1693 may learn for himself. But the power now roaring and
+whizzing all over the world, and which would build every pyramid and
+every monument of Egypt now extant in twenty-four hours, is no toy. When
+I think of this, there is no ingenious trifle for amusement which does
+not inspire a droll awe. Possibly those walking dolls now performing
+their weary pilgrimages on level glass-pane floors in Broadway
+windows&mdash;gravely lifting those enormous gilded boots, which remind me of
+Miss Kilmansegg and Queen Berta <i>&agrave; grands pi&eacute;s</i>, in one&mdash;have a good
+reason for their dignity of gait. For may they not be golden-footed and
+solemn, like her who rose from the waves of old to prophesy to her
+son?&mdash;and if she was <i>silver</i>-footed, it makes no difference, for so are
+some of the <i>autoperiper</i>&mdash;nay, <i>that</i> word finishes me, and I go no
+further. Such a block of Greek would bring even a German sentence down
+with a crash to a verbless conclusion. What I would have said was, that
+it may be that these dolls are heralds of greater dolls yet to come,
+which shall be wound up to fetch and carry, to sew on buttons&mdash;nay, it
+is even possible (in the wildest of dreams) that they may be made to
+boil potatoes properly. And I have been told that a recent improvement
+in boys' rocking horses, by means of which a trotting motion is given to
+the legs of those docile animals, has suggested to a mechanic of this
+city the construction of a very good automatic steed, whose only fault
+is slowness. May I suggest that a very great improvement indeed may yet
+be made on that horse, and that the two-forty of a coming generation may
+be the result, not of oats and hay, but of steel springs and cylinders?
+The first wooden horse burnt Troy&mdash;what will the last do?</p>
+
+<p>I have been reminded of the strange tendency in man&mdash;but more especially
+of the Indo-Germanic or Aryan man&mdash;to anticipate by invention the wants
+of an age, sometimes centuries beforehand&mdash;by turning over that very
+curious work, the 'Century of Inventions,' by the Marquis of Worcester,
+in which, as in the commonplace book of an author, one may find jotted
+down many an undeveloped idea of great promise. In this connection we
+may be allowed to borrow somewhat from a biography by Charles F.
+Partington, published in 1825.</p>
+
+<p>Edward Lord Herbert, the sixth earl and second Marquis of Worcester, was
+born at Ragland near Monmouth; and his family, long distinguished for
+the most devoted loyalty, possessed the largest landed estate of any
+then attached to the British court. What this was in those times is set
+forth by the fact that in 1628 the father of the marquis had a revenue
+of upward of twenty thousand pounds. In 1642, the year in which his son
+was created marquis, the young heir raised, supported, and commanded an
+army of 1,500 foot and near 500 horse soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>He had a stormy life before him, this young marquis, with many more
+scenes, adventures, and changes than are to be found in Woodstock and
+Peveril of the Peak. How he fought well, recapturing Monmouth among
+other things from the Puritan General Massey, how he was appointed, in
+consequence of his daring cavaliering raids, by Charles II to negotiate
+with the Irish Catholics; how the king often visited him at Ragland, is
+all a fine story, well worth reading. We can get glimpses of that <span class="smcap">REGAL</span>
+life&mdash;as Mr. Partington admiringly small-caps his climax, from the 'list
+of the Ragland household' with the earl's order of dining&mdash;castle gates
+closed at eleven o'clock in the morning, the entry of the earl with a
+grand escort, 'the retiral of the steward'&mdash;the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> advance of 'the
+Comptroller, Mr. Holland, attended by <i>his</i> staff'&mdash;'as did the sewer,
+the daily waiters, and many gentlemen's sons, with estates from two to
+seven hundred pounds a year, who were bred up in the castle, and my
+lady's gentlemen of the chamber.' Therein, too, we see the rattling of
+trenchers, and hear the gurgling of bottles, at the first table, of the
+noble family, and such stray nobility as came there; at the second
+table, of knights and honorables&mdash;at the second 'first table' in the
+hall of 'Sir Ralph Blackstone, Steward; the Comptroller, the Master of
+the Horse, the Master of the Fish Ponds, my Lord Herbert's Preceptor,'
+and such gentlemen as were under degree of a knight&mdash;these all being
+'plentifully served with wine.' Of the second table there is no note of
+much wine, but it still had 'hot meats from my Lord's table,' and at it
+sat the Sewer with gentlemen waiters and pages to the number of
+twenty-four&mdash;and even now we are not yet come to the vulgar. For at the
+<i>third</i> table sat my Lord's Chief Auditor, his Purveyor of the Castle,
+Keeper of the Records&mdash;Ushers of the Hall&mdash;Clerk&mdash;Closet Keeper&mdash;Master
+of the Armory&mdash;and below these divers Masters of the Hounds&mdash;Twelve
+Master Grooms of the Stables, Master Falconer&mdash;Keepers of the Red Deer
+Park&mdash;and below these yet one hundred and fifty 'footmen, grooms, and
+other menial servants.'</p>
+
+<p>Bright gleams vanish&mdash;the stately dinner parties grow dim, Masters of
+Horses and Hounds go to battle, the plate is melted down, and all is sad
+and sere. The young lord is sent by King Charles abroad, and
+Parliamentary Fairfax comes thundering at the gate, where admittance is
+refused by the venerable old marquis. Fairfax besieges boldly and is
+gallantly attacked by repeated sallies. I had rather the Puritans, with
+whom all my head goes, and with it half my heart, had behaved better
+than they did on this occasion. For after the venerable old marquis had
+fought nobly and surrendered on honorable terms, I am sorry to say he
+was most dishonorably treated, the conditions of capitulation being
+disgracefully violated, and the old marquis put in close prison, where
+he soon died in his eighty-fifth year.&mdash;Well, well&mdash;there was abundance
+of such false faith and dark villany on both sides ere the war was over.
+Be it remembered that these same nobles had kept the honor too closely
+to themselves, and ridiculed it out of life quite too sharply in the
+'base mechanicals' to fairly expect mastery in gentility from them. And
+in these same Partingtonian Biographies, I am often inclined to suspect
+that the lions do some of their own carving.</p>
+
+<p>Puritans sequestered and smashed the estate right and left&mdash;lead sold
+for six thousand pounds, woods cut down and sold for one hundred
+thousand more. 'Pity!' do you say? Reader mine, there is enough land in
+parks at this present day in broad England to feed that wretched one
+eighth of her population who are now buried at public expense. That
+dis-parking business was at any rate not badly done.</p>
+
+<p>Little more is seen of the young lord through the war. In 1654 he is at
+King Charles's court in France&mdash;is sent to London to procure supplies of
+money for the king&mdash;is caught and Towered, where he rests for several
+years, sorrowfully poor, if we may judge from a letter to Colonel
+Copley, in which he declares that 'I am forced to begge, if you could
+possible, eyther to helpe me with tenne pownds to this bearer, or to
+make vse of the coache and to goe to Mr. Clerke, and if he could this
+daye helpe me to fifty pownds then to paye yourself the five pownds I
+owe you out of them.' A melancholy letter, after all that glittering
+Arthur's-court splendor of first, second, and third tables of nobility,
+Masters of Robes and Records&mdash;a letter in which there seems some trace
+of getting money by 'projects' and 'bubbles'&mdash;whether of do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>ing little
+bills or by Notable Inventions, I will not say. Prison does not, it is
+true, last forever, but its doors open on a scene of baseness blacker
+than that which brought the brave old marquis with sorrow to his grave.
+The tale is told in a paragraph:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'On the king's restoration, the Marquis of Worcester was one of the
+first to congratulate his Majesty on the happy event, though the
+situation of the unfortunate nobleman was little bettered by the
+change; indeed it appeared but as the signal for new persecutions,
+as one of the earliest public acts of the ungrateful monarch may be
+characterized as an insidious attempt to set aside the claims of
+his earliest and best friend.' </p></div>
+
+<p>'Put not thy trust in princes.' To contrast this treatment of poor
+Worcester with the fervent written promises of the ungrateful 'C. R.' or
+Carolus Rex, might have shook the faith of Dr. Johnson in his beloved
+'merry monarch.' The earlier letters of the king to the marquis, when
+something was expected of the 'gallant cavalier,' and the latter had
+'money to lend,' are painfully amusing:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Oxford</span>, <i>Feb. 12.</i> * * 'I am sensible of the dangers y<sup>u</sup> will
+undergo, and y<sup>e</sup> greate trouble and expences you must be at, not
+being able to assist y<sup>u</sup> who have already spente aboue a Million of
+Crowns in my Service, neither can I saye more then I well rememb<sup>r</sup>
+to have spoke and written to you that allready words could not
+expresse your merits nor my gratitude: and that next to my wife and
+children I was most bound to take care of you, whereof I have
+besides others, particularly assured yo<sup>r</sup> Cosin Biron as a person
+deare unto you. * * And rest assured, if God should crosse me w<sup>th</sup>
+your miscarrying I will treate your Sonne as myne owne, and that
+y<sup>w</sup> labour for a deare friende as well as a thankfull Master when
+tyme shall afforde meanes to acknowledge how much I am</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+'Yo<sup>r</sup> most assured real constant<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">and thankfull friend</span><br />
+'<span class="smcap"  style="margin-left: 12em;">Charles R.</span>'<br />
+</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p>There are other letters from Charles R., very little to his credit as
+regards the keeping of promises, and likewise several strange papers of
+the Worcester people, showing that they had their clouds and humors,
+like other families. Of our marquis&mdash;the reader will readily pardon me
+all that I have digressed to say of his early history&mdash;it must suffice
+to tell that, after the Restoration, he appears as a poor inventor, and
+that on the 3d April, 1663, a bill was brought into Parliament for
+granting to him and his successors the whole of the profits that might
+arise from the use of a water-raising engine, described in the last
+article in the 'Century' of Inventions. The 'Century' itself had been
+presented to the king and commons some months previously. This
+invention, coupled with its penultimate and antepenultimate ninety-ninth
+and ninety-eighth inventions, may indeed be justly considered as the
+wonder of the 'Century,' since, when united with the sixty-eighth, they
+appear, in Partington's opinion, to suggest all the data essential for
+the construction of a modern steam engine. The injustice which he
+encountered during life, seems to have followed Worcester for two
+centuries after death; for Lord Orford declares that the bill granting
+the marquis such advantages as his invention might give birth to, was
+passed on a simple affirmation of the discovery that he (the marquis)
+had made. 'His lordship's want of candour in this statement will be
+apparent when it is known that there were no less than seven meetings of
+committees on the subject, composed of some of the most learned men in
+the house, who, after considerable amendments, finally passed it on the
+12 May.'</p>
+
+<p>It is touching to see the absolute, extreme, life-giving faith in the
+merit of his invention which inspired the marquis&mdash;and in this strange
+faith, like a prophecy, even more than in his invention itself,
+considering the way in which he probably came by it, do we recognize
+that Genius which rises here and there in the past history of the Aryan
+races, and that so all-sidedly and confidingly as to seem miraculous. I
+confess that when I look closely and deeply into the knowledge of Dante
+and Lionardo da Vinci, of Fiar Bacon, and the Cavalier Marquis of
+Worcester,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> an awe comes over me. All of them seem to have been so
+great, some of their order so <i>unearthly</i> great; and they held the keys
+to so many mysteries, and to doors of science which were not unlocked
+for long centuries after their death; and there was in all of them such
+a strange sympathy and knowledge with the other great men as yet unborn,
+who were to come after them, and for whom they seem to have labored, and
+to whom they talked with the confidence of friends. I never pause before
+a certain passage in Dante's 'Inferno,' without the feelings of one
+standing before a great prophet&mdash;some marvellous earthly ancient of
+days, who foresaw all to come:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'Di l&agrave; fosti cotanto quant'io scesi:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Quando mi volsi, tu possasti 'l punto</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Alqual si troggon d'ogni parte i pasi.'</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'Thou wast on the other side so long as I</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Descended; when I turned thou didst o'erpass</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That point to which from every part is dragged</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">All heavy unbalance!'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>It was well thought by Monti that, had this passage been noted by
+Newton, it might have given him a better hint than the falling apple.
+Perhaps it did, for Newton was no poet, and it is the poetic,
+associative-minded men of genius who have always preceded the greatest,
+strictly scientific minds, and far surpassed the latter in the
+comprehensiveness of their views. Bear with me, ye men of Induction, for
+I believe in the coming age, at whose threshold we even now stand, when
+ye and the poets shall be one.</p>
+
+<p>The Marquis of Worcester was not like the indifferentist philosopher, so
+well set forth by Charles Woodruff Shields in his <i>Philosophia
+Ultima</i>,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> as one who would not invade, but only ignore the province of
+revelation, regarding its mysteries as matters entirely too vague to be
+taken into the slightest account in his exact science. For our good Lord
+Herbert thought Heaven had a great deal to do with his inventions, as is
+proved by his 'ejaculatory and extemporary Thanksgiving Prayer, when
+first with his corporeal eyes he did see finished a perfect trial of his
+Water-commanding Engine, delightful and useful to whomsoever hath in
+recommendation either knowledge, profit, or pleasure.' And&mdash;never mind
+the delay, reader&mdash;we will even look at that prayer, in which this world
+and the next blend so strangely;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'Oh! infinitely omnipotent <span class="smcap">God</span>! whose mercies are fathomless, and
+whose knowledge is immense and inexhaustible; next to my creation
+and redemption I render thee most humble thanks from the very
+bottom of my heart and bowels, for thy vouchsafing me (the meanest
+in understanding) an insight in soe great a secret of nature,
+beneficent to all mankind, as this my water-commanding engine.
+Suffer me not to be puffed up, O Lord, by the knowing of it, and
+many more rare and unheard off, yea, unparalleled inventions,
+tryals, and experiments. But humble my haughty heart, by the true
+knowledge of myne owne ignorant, weake, and unworthy nature; proane
+to all euill. O most merciful Father my creator, most
+compassionatting Sonne my redeemers, and Holyest of Spiritts the
+sanctifier, three diuine persons and one God, grant me a further
+concurring grace with fortitude to take hould of thy goodnesse, to
+the end that whatever I doe, unanimously and courageously to serve
+my king and country, to disabuse, rectifie, and convert my
+undeserved yet wilfully incredulous enemyes, to reimburse
+thankfully my creditors, to reimmunerate my benefactors, to
+reinhearten my distressed family, and with complacence to gratifie
+my suffering and confiding friends, may, voyde of vanity or selfe
+ends, be only directed to thy honour and glory everlastingly.
+<i>Amen!</i>' </p></div>
+
+<p>How this great invention faded and was forgotten till the days of Watt
+and Fulton, is hardly worth surmising. It had been born and died long
+before. Was it not in 1514 that Blasco de Garay set a steamboat afloat
+on the Tagus? Sometimes, as in the case of John Fitch, it seems to have
+grown spontaneously from the instinctive impulse to create, as Fichte
+calls art. I have seen old men, who had known Fitch: their account of
+his severely won improvements, and more recently his 'Life,' make me
+believe that he owed noth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>ing to precedent. But the marquis, I am sorry
+to say, notwithstanding his prayer and his bold claim to originality,
+cannot come off with so clear a record, so far as invention is
+concerned. He certainly gave a good, plausible account of the discovery,
+or it was given for him, and this went current for many years in books
+of inventions. It was said that the marquis, while confined in the Tower
+of London, was preparing some food in his apartment, and the cover of
+the vessel, having been closely fitted, was, by the expansion of the
+steam, suddenly forced off and driven up the chimney. 'This
+circumstance, attracting his attention, led him to a train of thought,
+which terminated in the completion of his 'water-commanding engine.''</p>
+
+<p><i>E ben trovato.</i> Unfortunately, within a few years, and since Partington
+published the 'Century of Invention,' there was unearthed from the
+gossiping letters of a gay French court-belle, who little dreamed what
+ill service she was doing her gallant, and what good service to history,
+a chance bit of trifling, as she probably deemed it, which sends the
+marquis's story exploding up the chimney after the lid of his apocryphal
+kettle. It seems that when the marquis was in France, he, in accordance
+with the elegant and refined custom which prevailed there and in
+England, as the reader may gather from Boswell's 'Johnson'&mdash;went with
+this lady to visit the madmen confined in the public prison.</p>
+
+<p>I have already digressed so widely in this article, that a sin more or
+less, of the kind, need not be noted too severely. Reader, if you are
+one of those who think that mankind do not progress in heart, what think
+you of this pretty custom of the last century, according to which
+gentlemen and ladies of the highest rank, 'persons of quality,' made up
+parties to visit public madhouses, which, by the way, were common shows,
+at one penny entrance fee, and where the young gentlemen poked the mad
+people with sticks, and pelted them, shook their chains, and jeered
+them, till they foamed and raved, and the young misses giggled and gave
+pretty screams, and cried, 'Oh, fie!' and 'lor!' and then the visitors
+all laughed together? Then Miss &mdash;&mdash;, a little bolder, hissed at the
+lunatics herself, and poked them with a stick&mdash;and then there was a
+fresh storm of tears and howls and blasphemy and obscenity; and the
+keepers, rushing in with heavy cudgels, beat the 'patients' right and
+left like cattle&mdash;and it was all 'so horrible!' <i>Bad</i>, think you? These
+were the ladies and gentlemen of the old school&mdash;the Grandisons and
+Chesterfields and their dames. At the present day there are still vulgar
+people who haunt insane asylums and prisons, and scenes of domestic
+affliction and courts, for the sake of gratifying a gross love of
+excitement, which they disguise to themselves under various ingenious
+pretences. But the tendency of the age is to discourage such meddling
+and prying into the mysteries and miseries of humanity. It is low, it is
+mean, and the better nurtured and higher minded leave it to boors&mdash;be
+they of Peoria or the Fifth avenue.</p>
+
+<p>Well, our marquis, then the first gentleman in Great Britain, one of
+'the barons of England who fought for the crown,' when in France as
+particular friend of His Majesty Charles II, went one day on such a
+party of pleasure, and somewhat annoyed his pretty companion by
+persisting in listening to the drivelling talk of a madman&mdash;one Solomon
+de Caus&mdash;who, while he rattled his chains, talked of a great invention
+he had made, whereby chariots were to go by steam, and weights be
+raised, and all manner of brave work be effected, at small cost or labor
+to man. And the marquis talked to the madman, and the lady laughed, and
+the chains rattled, and the straw rustled, and&mdash;well, it <i>has</i> been made
+the subject of a very good picture&mdash;which you, reader, may have seen,
+either in original or engraving.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I will not pretend to say how far what is known of the life of this
+French inventor is reconcilable with this story of the madhouse. It is
+certain that Solomon de Caus, a French engineer, architect, and author,
+died about 1635, that he was born probably at Dieppe, and devoted
+himself to mathematics. The marquis might have met him in a better place
+than a bedlam, since in 1612 De Caus went to London, where he was
+attached to the Prince of Wales, and afterward to Charles I. From 1614
+to 1620 he lived in Heidelberg at the court of the Elector Frederic V,
+and returned to France in 1624, where he received the title of royal
+engineer and architect. More than this, he wrote books on mechanics, in
+one of which, <i>Les Raysons des Forces Mouvantes</i>, he speaks of the
+expansion and condensation of steam in a manner which has been supposed
+to suggest the alternate action of the piston, the principle of the
+steam engine, and, finally, 'the great discovery' of and to the Marquis
+of Worcester. How far all this may be supposed to contradict the lady's
+story, I will not say. Certain it is, that many a man who has done quite
+as well in worldly honors, has, after all, come to misery and madness
+through unfortunately making an invention.</p>
+
+<p>Inventors have, on the whole, a little easier time of it in these
+days&mdash;and yet not so very much easier, as the reader who has chanced,
+like myself, to study law in an office where there are many 'patent
+cases,' will bear witness. Eighteen hundred years ago, the inventor was
+crucified&mdash;lest his malleable glass should injure Ephesian or other
+silversmiths. During the middle ages, they burnt him alive. In the times
+of Worcester he seldom escaped prison, for to be a 'projector' was a
+charge which greatly aggravated that of treason; while in France, where
+they managed these things better, according to the views of the day,
+they simply cast him into a dungen among madmen. In America in the
+nineteenth century he has indeed occasionally better luck, and yet in
+most cases not so much better as most think. For, apart from the fact
+that he must generally sell his invention to richer men endowed with
+business faculty, who get nearly all the profits, and, not unfrequently,
+by clapping their names to the project, all the credit, he must also
+wage a weary, heart-breaking legal war on infringers of patents and
+other thieves; so that by the time his time has expired, he has seldom
+much to show for his brain-work.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> 'Serves him right, he has no
+business capacity,' cry the multitude. We need not look far for
+examples. I am not sure that Eli Whitney, when he fell with his cotton
+gin among the thieves of the South, did not fare quite as badly and
+suffer quite as much as Solomon de Caus. For to be clapped fair and
+square into a dungeon is at all events a plain martyrdom, with which one
+can grapple philosophically or go mad <i>&agrave; discretion</i>, while to be only
+half honored and nine-tenths plundered, dragged meanwhile through courts
+and newspapers, may be better or worse, according to one's measure.
+After all, the good old Roman plan of putting a man to death for
+inventing malleable glass had its advantages&mdash;it was at least more
+merciful from a Christian point of view, and would, at the present day,
+save a vast amount of yards of Patent Law red tape.</p>
+
+<p><i>Artis et Natur&aelig; proles</i>, 'the offspring of Nature and of Art.' Such is
+the motto with which the Marquis of Worcester prefaced his 'Century of
+the Names and Scantlings of such inventions as he could in the year 1663
+call to mind,' and which he presented to Government in the bold hope
+that by their purchase or other disposition he might even out-go the six
+or seven hundred thousand pounds already sac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>rificed for the king, as he
+asserts, but rather meaning, I imagine, that he might get some portion
+of it back again. Let no one laugh at the character of many of these
+'Scantlings.' Science was young then; thaumaturgy, or the working of
+mere wonders, was still the elder sister of art; astrology might be
+found in every street; alchemists still labored in lonely towers all
+over England; and witches were still burned to the glory of GOD. The
+'Mathematicall Magick, or the Wonders that may be performed by
+Mechanicall Geometry'&mdash;now by chance open before me&mdash;by Bishop Wilkins,
+the brother-in-law of Cromwell, with its disquisitions on 'Perpetuall
+Motion,' 'Volant Automata,' and 'Perpetuall Lamps,' passed for sound
+sense, and with it passed much occult nonsense of a darker dye. Manners
+and morals were as yet badly organized. Gambling was a daily amusement
+with all the gentry, and its imitators; for the Revolution, though it
+had very promptly driven out of England the very little merriment and
+cheerfulness which the Reformation had spared, had by no means taken
+away vice, and to cheat at cards was a part of all play in the best
+society&mdash;which it had not been in the olden time. Political plots were
+still rife, and cipher alphabets, signals by knots and signs, deadly
+secret weapons, and devices to escape prison were in daily demand, just
+as patent apple-parers and ice-cream freezers are at the present day.
+The marquis, who had lived well through his times, knew what would be
+popular, and, though a man of honor as times went, and a pious
+Christian, never dreamed that he did not play his part as a good citizen
+in supplying such grotesque wants.</p>
+
+<p>First among his Inventions is one which, revived in modern times, meets
+the eye of every one daily on the face of every letter. As he designed
+it, it was, however, very elaborate, embracing 'several sorts of seals,
+some showing by screws, others by gauges, fastening or unfastening all
+the marks at once: others by additional points and imaginary places,
+proportionable to ordinary escutcheons and seals at arms, each way
+palpably and punctually setting down (yet private from all others but
+the owner, and by his assent) the day of the month, the day of the week,
+the month of the year, the year of our Lord, the names of the witnesses,
+and the individual place where anything was sealed, though in ten
+thousand several places, together with the very number of lines
+contained in a contract, whereby falsification may be discovered and
+manifestly proved.' Upon these seals, too, one could keep accounts of
+receipts and disbursements, from one farthing to millions, and, finally,
+as a climax to their mystery, by their means any letter, 'though written
+but in English, may be read and understood in eight several languages,
+and in English itself, to clear contrary and different sense, unknown to
+any but the correspondent, and not to be read or understood by him
+neither, if opened before it arrive unto him.'</p>
+
+<p>It is believed that the secret of these seals is simply this: a number
+of movable metallic circles are made to slide within each other, on one
+common centre, the whole being enclosed in an outer frame. Within these
+circles may be placed either movable types, or letters and figures may
+be engraved on the circles themselves, and these, according to a key, of
+which the corresponding parties must possess a duplicate. To fully
+understand the secret of the composition of a sentence 'in eight several
+languages,' we must have recourse to invention No. 32 of the 'Century,'
+teaching 'how to compose an universal character, methodical and easily
+to be written, yet intelligible in <i>any</i> language .... distinguishing
+the verbs from the nouns, the numbers, tenses, and cases, as properly
+expressed in their own language as it was written in English.' Such a
+system was com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>posed by the Bishop Wilkins already referred to; Bacon
+had busied himself with a 'pasigraphy' long before; Leibnitz, Dalgaru,
+Frischius, Athanasius Kircher, P&eacute;re Besnier, and some twenty others have
+done the same. The most practical solution of the problem seems to have
+been that of John Joachim Becher, who in 1661 published a Latin folio,
+which, apart from its main subject, is valuable from its observations on
+grammar, and on the affinities existing between seven of the ancient and
+modern tongues. With this he gives a Latin dictionary, in which every
+word corresponds with one or more Arabic numerals. 'Every word is
+assumed as distinctive, or denoting the same word in all languages; and
+consequently nothing more is required than to compose a dictionary for
+each, similar to that which he has given for the Latin.' Certain
+determinate numbers being given for the declensions and conjugations,
+and the cases, moods, tenses, and persons, the whole grammar becomes
+extremely easy of acquisition. Let us suppose that a Frenchman wishes to
+write to a German: <i>La guerre est un grand mal</i>&mdash;'War is a great evil.'
+He seeks in his index <i>guerre</i>, and finds 13. The verb <i>etre</i>, 'to be,'
+is 33. <i>Grand</i>, or 'great,' is 67; and <i>mal</i>, or 'evil,' is 68. The
+sentence then reads:</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+13. 33. 67. 68.
+</p>
+
+<p>The sentence might be understood by these four numbers, but the author
+perfects it. <i>Guerre</i>, or 'war,' is the nominative case, and is
+appropriately designated by the Arabic numeral 1. The third person,
+singular, present tense, of the indicative mood of a verb, is
+characterized by 15. <i>Grand</i> and <i>mal</i> being each in the nominative
+case, also require the figure 1. He will therefore write:</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+13. 1 | 33. 15 | 67. 1 | 68.1
+</p>
+
+<p>&mdash;the numbers being separated by a vertical dash, to avoid confusion.
+The German, inverting the process, turns to <i>his</i>dictionary, and finds
+<i>Der Krieg ist ein grosses Uebel</i>.</p>
+
+<p>If the world were to be persuaded to adopt these dictionaries, and with
+them some uniform oral system of counting, such as might be learned in a
+day, who shall say in what conversation might result! Fancy an orator
+counting '83.1&mdash;10.16&mdash;225.2'&mdash;interrupted by enthusiastic cries of
+'2.30' and '11.45!' Fancy a lover breathing his tender passion in
+'837.25&mdash;29.1,' and extracting a reluctant '12' from his adored. Fancy a
+drunken Delaware Democrat&mdash;a <span class="smcap">Saulsbury</span>&mdash;flourishing a revolver, and
+gurgling out '54.40' to the Sergeant-at-Arms in particular, and decency
+in general, as a proof of his fitness to be regarded as a mate for his
+Southern colleagues. Fancy Brignoli singing '1.2.3,' as he reminds us by
+his good singing and wooden acting of a nightingale imprisoned in a
+pump&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Or fancy the appearance of a page of Shakspeare or Homer thus
+metamorphosed.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'He lisped in numbers for, the numbers came.' </p></div>
+
+<p>It is something to the marquis's credit that he evidently, to judge from
+the sixth article of his 'Century,' had discovered the telegraph, an
+invention not much used in Europe until the commencement of the French
+Revolution. It had indeed been understood in a rude form by the
+ancients. 'Polybius describes a method of communication which was
+invented by Cleoxenus, which answered both by day and night,' but that
+of Worcester's is thought to have been far superior to anything known
+before his time. The following paragraphs all indicate inventions
+greatly in advance of his age:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'No. IX.&mdash;An engine portable in one's pocket, which may be carried
+and fastened in the inside of the greatest ship, <i>tanquam aliud
+agens</i>, and at any appointed minute, though a week after, either of
+day or night, it shall irrecoverably sink that ship.' </p></div>
+
+<p>A bombshell filled with gunpowder, a gunlock, and a small clock, have
+been suggested as forming the compo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>nents of this invention. I am
+satisfied however, that several very dangerous detonating powders were
+well known to the alchemists; and the condensed pocket size of the
+machine described, would evidently require some such preparation.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'No. X.&mdash;A way from a mile off to dive and fasten a like engine to
+any ship so as it may punctually work the same effect either for
+time or execution.' </p></div>
+
+<p>Precisely the same experiment has within a week of the time at which I
+am now writing, been made at Washington, as it was by Mr. Fulton half a
+century ago with his Torpedo-harpoon. If the marquis contemplated simply
+human agency as the aid to apply his portable powder-machine, it must be
+admitted that he had at least contemplated a more effective diving bell
+than any known to modern times. Submarine transit was indeed a subject
+to which he had devoted special study.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'No. XI.&mdash;How to prevent and safeguard any ship from such an
+attempt by day or night.</p>
+
+<p>'No. XII.&mdash;A way to make a ship not possible to be sunk, though
+shot at an hundred times between wood and water by cannon, and
+should she lose a whole plank, yet, in half an hour's time, should
+be made to sail as fit as before.' </p></div>
+
+<p>It is thought that a great number of airtight compartments was the
+secret here hinted at; but the spirit of positive confidence with which
+the marquis speaks, and the great number of successful shots which he
+defies, seems to hint at something like the Ericsson Monitor of these
+days. Not without interest is the following:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'No. XIII&mdash;How to make such false decks as in a moment should kill
+and take prisoners as many as should board the ship, without
+blowing the real decks up, or destroying them from being reducible;
+and in a quarter of an hour's time should recover their former
+shape, and to be made fit for any employment, <i>without discovering
+the secret</i>.' </p></div>
+
+<p>The words italicized set forth the startling marvel of the whole. It is
+said that a false deck of thick plank may be easily blown into the air,
+when a number of small iron boxes, open at the top, and filled with
+gunpowder, are placed beneath. How this could be done and yet kept
+secret is indeed a wonder, and we must therefore conjecture that the
+marquis had some other device in his mind. Certain it is, that the idea
+of converting vessels into traps of destruction, or of so defending them
+as to destroy assailants after boarding the decks, has not been very
+extensively developed.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'No. XVI.&mdash;How to make a sea castle or a fortification <i>cannon
+proof</i>, capable of a thousand men, yet sailable at pleasure to
+defend a passage, or in an hour's time to divide itself into three
+ships, as fit and trimmed to sail as before; and even whilst it is
+a fort or castle, they shall be unanimously steered, and
+effectually be driven by an indifferent strong wind.' </p></div>
+
+<p>It is to be regretted that Parliamentary or other inducements were not
+employed to obtain from the marquis, at least the publication of his
+views as regards making vessels cannon proof. From the general character
+of his inventions, and from comparison of them, it appears he had full
+faith in cannon-proof floating batteries as a means of defence, and, we
+may consequently and justly infer, as superior to the latter. Among his
+inventions there are but two in reference to 'fortifications,' and both
+of these are after a manner a transfer of the floating battery to land,
+or an application of the principle of mobile defences. These are as
+follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'No. XXIX.&mdash;A portable fortification, able to contain five hundred
+fighting men, and yet, in six hours' time, may be set up and made
+cannon proof, upon the side of a river or pass, with cannon mounted
+upon it, and as complete as a regular fortification, with halfmoons
+and counterscarps.</p>
+
+<p>'No. XXX.&mdash;A way in one night's time to raise a bulwark, twenty or
+thirty foot high, cannon proof, and cannon mounted upon it; with
+men to overlook, command, and batter a town, for though it (the
+bulwark) contain but four pieces, they shall be able to discharge
+two hundred bullets each hour.' </p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There can be but little question, from all I have cited, that the
+Marquis of Worcester was singularly in advance of his age as regarded
+the great principles of warfare. We have found him thus far, in all
+probability, acquainted with the construction of permutable seals, and
+indeed of the grand principle of permutation applied to technology in
+several respects (vide "Century" Nos. III, IV, V,) of the telegraph, of
+sinking vessels by torpedoes, and, finally, of floating batteries and
+cannon-proof vessels. In No. 30, we have, however, a hint that the
+marquis had studied the principles of revolving firearms, when he
+speaks of four cannon discharging two hundred bullets each hour. That he
+had, theoretically, at least, anticipated Colt, appears from</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'No. LVIII.&mdash;How to make a pistol discharge a dozen times with one
+loading, and without so much as once new priming requisite, <i>or to
+change it out of one hand into the other</i>, or stop one's horse.' </p></div>
+
+<p>I call attention to the words which I have italicized. It is well known
+that the mere principle of revolving barrels in firearms was already
+old, even when Worcester wrote. I have seen guns of the kind over three
+hundred years old, and they are not uncommon in foreign museums. But it
+would appear that the marquis was acquainted with the principle of the
+self-cocking pistol. How else could he propose to discharge a gun a
+dozen times, without changing it from one hand to another? And this, I
+believe, was not known before his day. But how this could have been
+conveniently carried out, without some application of detonating powders
+in place of flint, steel, and gunpowder, I do not understand. That he
+was very probably familiar with the application of such chemical
+detonating agents has already been suggested. In another number, he
+suggests the application of this principle to 'carbines.' So in No.
+LXII, he proposes 'a way for a harquebuss, a crock, or ship musket, six
+upon a carriage, shooting with such expedition as, without danger, one
+may charge, level, and discharge them sixty times in a minute of an
+hour, two or three together.' To which he adds the following:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'No. LXIV.&mdash;A seventh, tried and approved before the late king (of
+ever blessed memory), and an hundred lords and commons, in a cannon
+of eight inches and half a quarter, to shoot bullets of sixty-four
+pounds weight, and twenty-four pounds of powder, twenty times in
+six minutes; so clear from danger, that after all were discharged,
+a pound of butter did not melt, being laid upon the cannon britch,
+nor the green oil discoloured that was first anointed and used
+between the barrel thereof, and the engine having never in it, nor
+within six foot, but one charge at a time.' </p></div>
+
+<p>Several improvements of this kind are suggested in the 'Century,' which
+evidently involve different principles from that of the modern revolver,
+in reference to which difference we are informed in a 'note by the
+author,' that 'when I first gave my thoughts to make guns shoot often, I
+thought there had been but one only exquisite way inventible; yet, by
+several trials, and much charge, I have perfectly tried all of these.'</p>
+
+<p>I cannot venture in a single article to exhaust the suggestions in the
+Century, and must refer my reader to the volume himself, assuring him
+that he will there find many curious hints, several of which have, since
+its publication, been very practically realized. It is worth noting,
+however, that the author seems to have fully anticipated a very
+remarkable modern invention, in declaring that 'a woman even may with
+her delicate hand, vary the ways of coming to open a lock ten millions
+of times, beyond the knowledge of the smith that made it, or of me who
+invented it.' From this, as I have already suggested, it appears that he
+had, far in advance of his age, mastered a very great principle in
+mechanics; and as he appears to have understood, in theory at least,
+several others, it is no more than justice to rank him far above those
+mere charlatans of science,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> and hunters for marvels by means of
+isolated observation and experiment, with whom many would place him.
+That the 'Century' contains much which would be very discreditable to
+any man of science at the present day, is very true. Perpetual motion,
+perfect aerostation, devices for idle tricks and mere thaumaturgy,
+appear in company with schemes to take unfair advantages at card
+playing, and for the construction of false dice boxes&mdash;of which latter
+it is indignantly observed by honest Partington, that, there are few who
+profess the science of cheating at cards or dice, or to be encouragers
+of those who do; and it may fairly be conceded that there are not two
+periods in our regal annals, in which this detestable meanness had
+become fashionable enough to sanction a nobleman in inscribing to a king
+and his parliament a method by which it might be advantageously
+effected! We may, however, believe that a second period has at the
+present dawned over England, not much inferior as regards 'detestable
+meanness,' to that of Charles the Second. A recent transaction has shown
+that noblemen and their friends in the year 1862, are not above
+ascertaining from Johnson's Dictionary, the obsolete spelling of a word,
+such as <i>rain</i>-deer, betting a hundred pounds with an American as to its
+true orthography, and agreeing with him to abide by Johnson's authority;
+a piece of swindling quite as detestable in its meanness as the using of
+loaded dice. Neither can I see that the conduct of a majority of the
+British people, in fomenting Abolition for many years, and then giving
+her aid and countenance to our Southern rebels, on the flimsy, and, at
+best, brazenly selfish plea of the Morrill Tariff, is less detestable or
+less mean. We may regret to see a vice in individuals tolerated in high
+places; but when the blackest inconsistency, and the most contemptible
+avarice are elevated by a Christian nation into principles of conduct
+toward another nation struggling to free the oppressed, we may well
+doubt whether another period has not approached in England, over which
+the future historiographer may not sigh as deeply as over that of
+Charles the Second.</p>
+
+<p>I attach no serious value to the efforts of the Marquis of Worcester,
+save as illustrating the principle with which I prefaced this article:
+that according to the mental peculiarities of the most vigorous of
+races&mdash;the Indo-Germanic above others&mdash;there is a tendency in certain
+active minds to generalize and draw practical conclusions, not
+unfrequently centuries in advance of the wants of their age. The partial
+and premature forcing of these principles into practice, is sometimes
+quoted in after years as derogatory to the merit due to modern
+inventors, and as illustrating to a degree never contemplated by him who
+uttered it, the maxim that there's 'nothing new under the sun.'
+<i>Nothing?</i> Why, <i>everything</i> is new under the sun when it first assumes
+fit time and place. Were this not true, we might as well return to
+'Nature's Centenary of Inventions,' as set forth by a pleasant pen in
+<i>Household Words</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'Before the first clumsy sail was hoisted by a savage hand, the
+little Portuguese man-of-war, that frailest and most graceful
+nautilus boat, had skimmed over the seas with all its feathery
+sails set in the pleasant breeze; and before the great British
+Admiralty marked its anchors with the Broad Arrow, mussels and
+pinna had been accustomed to anchor themselves by flukes to the
+full as effective as the iron one in the Government dockyards. The
+duck used oars before we did; and rudders were known by every fish
+with a tail, countless ages before human pilots handled tillers;
+the floats on the fishermen's nets were pre-figured in the bladders
+on the sea weed; the glowworm and firefly held up their
+light-houses before pharas or beacon-tower guided the wanderer
+among men; and, as long before Phipps brought over the diving bell
+to this country as the creation, spiders were making and using
+airpumps to descend into the deep. Our bones were moved by tendons
+and muscles long before chains and cords were made to pull heavy
+weights from place to place. Nay, until quite lately&mdash;leaving these
+discoveries to themselves&mdash;we took no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> heed of the pattern set us
+in the backbone, with the arching ribs springing from it, to
+construct the large cylinder which we often see now attaching all
+the rest of a set of works. This has been a very modern discovery;
+but, prior even to the first man, Nature had cast such a cylinder
+in every ribbed and vertebrate animal she had made. The cord of
+plaited iron, too, now used to drag machinery up inclined planes,
+was typified in the backbone of the eels and snakes in Eden;
+tubular bridges and hollow columns had been in use since the first
+bird with hollow bones flew through the wood, or the first reed
+waved in the wind. Strange that the principle of the Menai Straits'
+railway bridge, and of the iron pillars in the Crystal Palace,
+existed is the Arkite dove, and in the bulrushes that grew round
+the cradle of Moses! Our railway tunnels are wonderful works of
+science, but the mole tunnelled with its foot, and the pholas with
+one end of its shell, before our navvies handled pick or spade upon
+the heights of the iron roads: worms were prior to gimlets,
+ant-lions were the first funnel makers, a beaver showed men how to
+make the milldams, and the pendulous nests of certain birds swung
+gently in the air before the keen wit of even the most loving
+mother laid her nursling in a rocking cradle. The carpenter of
+olden time lost many useful hours in studying how to make the
+ball-and-socket joint which he bore about with him in his own hips
+and shoulders; the universal joint, which filled all men with
+wonder when first discovered, he had in his wrist; in the jaws of
+all flesh-eating animals his huge one-hinge joint; in the
+graminivora and herbivora the joint of free motion; for grinding
+millstones were set up in our molars and in the gizzards of birds
+before the Egyptian women ground their corn between two stones; and
+the crushing teeth of the hyena make the best models we know of for
+hammers to break stones on the road. The tongue of certain shell
+fish&mdash;of the limpet, for instance&mdash;is full of siliceous spines
+which serve as rasp and drill; and knives and scissors were carried
+about in the mandibles and beaks of primeval bees and parrots. </p></div>
+
+<p>Yes, they were all there&mdash;and if the undeveloped germ may be taken for
+the great fruit-bearing tree, there is nothing new under the sun, labor
+and effort are of no avail, and it is not worth while for man to live
+threescore years and ten, since a much less time would suffice to show
+his utter worthlessness. But the bee and the wild bird, the pearly
+nautilus driving before the fresh breeze, and the reed waving in the
+wind, should teach us a higher lesson. They teach us that life is
+beautiful and to be enjoyed, that infinite laws and infinite ingenuity
+were not displayed to be called idle and vain, and that, as the insect
+works according to his instinct, man should labor, from the dictates of
+reason, with heart and soul to do his best to turn to higher advantage
+the innumerable advantages afforded him.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <i>Philosophia Ultima</i>, <span class="smcap">Charles Woodruff Shields</span>.
+Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott, 1861.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> One of the greatest inventors of this or of any age, and
+one whom the world regards as 'successful,' is said to have advised an
+ingenious friend, never in any case or under any circumstances to take
+out a patent for an invention. He 'had been through the mill,' and knew
+what it cost.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_LADY_AND_HER_SLAVE" id="THE_LADY_AND_HER_SLAVE"></a>THE LADY AND HER SLAVE.</h2>
+
+<h3>A Tale.</h3>
+
+<h4>LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO MY SISTERS IN THE SOUTH.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'Nor private grief nor malice holds my pen,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I owe but kindness to my fellow men.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And, South or North, wherever hearts of prayer</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Their woes and weakness to our Father bear,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Wherever fruits of Christian love are found</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In holy lives, to me is holy ground.'</span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">&mdash;<span class="smcap">Whittier.</span></span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">My young mistress! frown not on me! come! my heart is beating low!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Softly raise the quilt&mdash;my babe! Ah, smile on her ere I go!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Yes, the smile comes warm as sunshine, and it falls on my sick heart</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">As if Heaven were shining through it, and new hopes within me start.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Your clear eyes shine blue upon me through the clouds of sunny curls,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Sadder now, but still as kindly, as when we were little girls.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Your poor slave and you, fair mistress, were born in the same hour,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">As if God himself had marked me from my birth to be your dower.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Oft have I laid my dusky hand upon your neck of snow,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To see it sparkle through the jet&mdash;how long that seems ago!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">So long! before young master came to woo Virginia's daughter,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And tempt her to the cotton fields on Mississippi's water.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I could not leave you, mistress, so I followed to the swamp,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Where fevers fire the burning blood and the long moss hangs damp.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I left poor Sam, he loved me well, but you were my heart's god;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">My mother's tears fell hot and fast&mdash;I followed where you trod.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Sin and sorrow fell upon me! and soon you felt it shame</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To have lost Amy near you, and you blushed to hear her name.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Reared near virgin purity, you could not understand</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">How I could break from virtue's laws, and form a lawless band.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Then you questioned kindly, sternly,&mdash;but you could not make me tell;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I would not wring your trusting heart with tales scarce fit for hell!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">You deemed me hardened, sunk in vice; I choked down every moan,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Turned from your breast the poisoned dart to bury in my own.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Driven from your presence, mistress, in agony and shame</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I bore a wretched infant&mdash;she must never know her name!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">How I crawled around your windows when your joyous boy was born,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To hear your voice, to catch a glimpse,&mdash;the sun rose fair that morn.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Ah! not mine to hold your darling! not mine to soothe his cries</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When the stern death-angel seized him and bore him to the skies!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Then judgment came&mdash;the fever fell&mdash;young master gasped for breath&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">God's hand was on him&mdash;vain were prayers,&mdash;how still he lay in death!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I heard you shriek&mdash;I rushed within&mdash;I held you in my arms</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That frenzied night when sudden woe had wrought its worst of harms.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When reason dawned on you again, sweet pity stirred within,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">You heard my cough, my labored breath, and saw me ghastly, thin.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Then you took my hand so kindly, gazing on my faded face:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'Speak, and tell me truly, Amy, how you fell in such disgrace.'</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">If he had lived, sweet mistress, I had borne it to the grave;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I would not mar your happiness, child, self or race to save.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Say! must I speak of one you loved now sleeping 'neath the sod?</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Your 'yes' is bitter; but we owe the naked truth to God!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The truth to God, for guiltless you must stand before His face,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Nor wrong my pallid baby, nor scorn my suffering race.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Am I too bold? Death equals all&mdash;my heart beats faint and low;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Turn not away, sweet mistress, hear the truth before I go!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Gaze upon my shivering baby, scan the little pallid face,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Mark the forehead, eyes of azure&mdash;Ha! you do the likeness trace!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Nay, start not in horror from me! Oh, it was no fault of mine;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I would have died a thousand deaths ere wronged a thought of thine.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He came at midnight to my hut&mdash;abhorrent to my sense&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Force&mdash;threats of shame&mdash;foul violence&mdash;a slave has no defence!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Wronged&mdash;soiled&mdash;and outraged&mdash;sick at heart&mdash;what right had I to feel?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He deemed his chattel honored,&mdash;God! how brain and senses reel!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">We're women, though our hair is crisped, and though our skin be black:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Men, ask your virgin daughters what's the maiden's deadliest rack!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I scorned myself! I hated him! but felt a living goad</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Writhe and crawl beneath my bosom&mdash;shameful burden! sinful load!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Sick and faint, I loathed my master, loathed his inant, loathed my life</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Till its flame burned dim within me, choked by shame, rage, hate, and strife.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Better feelings woke within me when the helpless girl was born;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Mother's love poured wild upon her: how love conquers rage and scorn!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But my tortured heart was broken, and a slave girl ought to die</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When a tyrant master wrongs her, and she dreads her mistress' eye:</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Dreads one she loves may read in her, in spite of silence deep,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That which would blight all happiness, and pale the rosy cheek:</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Dreads that a wife may shuddering read a husband's naked heart&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Humbled and crushed by treachery, may into madness start.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But Amy dies: she has forgiven&mdash;forgive with her the wrong!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Smile on the helpless baby&mdash;make her truthful, pure, and strong.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Let her wait upon you, mistress; twine your ringlets golden still;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Take her back to old Virginia, to the homestead by the hill.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">My heart clings to you with wild love&mdash;wherefore I scarce dare whisper&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Forgive&mdash;I am your father's child! pity your ruined sister!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The hot white blood in my baby's veins, though mixed with duskier flow,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Will make her wretched if a slave; let her in freedom go!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Oh make her free, sweet mistress, that such a fate as mine</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Blanch not her cheek with agony, nor blast her ere her prime!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">You smile&mdash;I need no promise; angel-like to me you seem;</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Will you open heaven for me? bring the seraphs? how I dream!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I go to God. He made me. All His children, black and white,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Will meet in heaven if pure and true, clad in the eternal Light.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I die&mdash;God bless you, mistress!'... Sigh, and gasp&mdash;then all is o'er!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And the lady kneels beside a corpse upon the cabin floor.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Her thoughts are busy with the past, with love in falsehood spoken,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">While her dusky sister's faithful heart had in silent anguish broken.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">She takes the cold hand in her own: 'Poor Amy, can it be</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That thou wert of a race accursed, unworthy to be free?</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Man's falsehood! God! Thy right hand rests upon the dusky brow;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Thou starr'st it round with virtues brighter than our boasted snow!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I have learned a bitter lesson; to my slave I've been to school;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">God has humbled me, but chastened; I will keep His Golden Rule.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Slaves and chattels! God forgive us! they are men and women&mdash;Thine!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">If Christ may dwell within them, shall I dare to call them <i>mine</i>?</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">No woman must be outraged, nor owned by man, if we</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Would hold <i>our</i> sanctity intact&mdash;all women must be free.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Sacred from every touch profane, yes, holy things and pure;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A wrong to one is wrong to all; we must the weak secure.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">United we must strike the shame; if known aright our power,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Slavery and crime would perish: Sisters, peal their final hour!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Mothers, maidens, wives, no longer aid your dusky sisters' shame!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Strike for our common womanhood, uphold our spotless fame!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Its majesty is in your hands, trail it not in the dust,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Nor keep your shrinking slaves as prey for lovers', husbands' lust!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">All womanhood is holy! it shall not be profaned!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Our sanctity is threatened: Men! it shall not thus be stained!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Break up your harems! free our slaves! we will not share your shame!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">O mothers of the living, chaste must be life's sacred flame!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Fathers, brothers, sons, and husbands, their chains must be untwined!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Touch not the ark where purity in woman's form is shrined!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Poor Amy! love has conquered! the veil is raised, I see</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Sister spirits 'neath the dusky hue; thy people shall go free!'</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The lady rose with high resolve upon her pale sad face;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And moved among the slave girls, the angel of their race.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Angel of freedom, charity, she breathes, and fetters melt,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And the holy might of Purity in Southern heart is felt.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Ah! the stars upon our banner, driven apart and dimmed with blood,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Might again in glory cluster through a perfect womanhood!</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="FOR_AND_AGAINST" id="FOR_AND_AGAINST"></a>FOR AND AGAINST.</h2>
+
+
+<p>When his father called Fred Fontevrault, then a boy of fifteen, into his
+sick chamber, and made him subscribe to the whimsical conditions of the
+will, the female <i>gendarmerie</i>, so well versed in my affairs, declared
+that my husband had wretchedly repented his early marriage, and
+resolving his son should walk into fate with eyes unbandaged, forbade
+his alliance before the age of twenty-six. Though Mr. Fontevrault was
+fifty and I sixteen when I married him, he was not unhappy. He occupied
+himself in looking after his money, and making a collection of mosaics.
+We never had any matrimonial disturbances. I think they are vulgar. Any
+woman can do as she pleases without a remonstrant word, provided she has
+mind enough. It is the brainless women who scold. But scolds do not
+rule.</p>
+
+<p>Fred was unreasonably fond of his father, and assented to his wishes
+without demur, even when the great Fontevrault estates hung on his
+fidelity to a useless oath. Then he died, and I settled into the blank
+stupidity of my widowhood. I, who had known no master but my own sweet
+will, now found myself in a hundred ways restricted. I was ruled through
+Fred. He must graduate at Harvard; the great establishment, splendid but
+tedious, must be maintained. So our residence in Boston was
+necessitated. I shut myself up in the legitimate manner, and&mdash;mourned of
+course. If it had not been for novels, worsted work, and my beauty, I
+should have gaped myself out of existence the first year. What nonsense
+it is to say the prime of a woman's loveliness passes before the
+thirties! For, look at me, am I old or faded? Would you believe that
+Fred, so tall and splendidly developed, was my son? From me he took his
+wealth of nature, for Mr. Fontevrault was one of those dried, wrinkled
+old men, women like me often marry; not because of the settlements only,
+but because of the foil. My figure was moulded like the Venus they
+copied in the colder marble from Pauline. Shoulders and arms, delicious
+in their curves, shining with a rosy fairness. A creamy skin, with a
+faint coralline tinge in the cheeks. The forehead is too low, some say;
+and yet artists have praised its bend, and the Greek line of the nose;
+not intellectual, but womanly, you know. Hair of a bright brown, feeling
+like floss silk. Eyes, I believe, few people ever fairly saw. Men are
+bewitched by them, women cannot understand their charm. Perhaps you have
+seen Wilson's portrait of me, the one with the grayish green background;
+you notice that the eyes were turned from the spectator, and half shaded
+by white lid and gilded lash. He could not catch the flitting spark that
+made them mine, and refused to paint them at all. My son promises to be
+as perfect in his way as I in mine. Just now a student, he is too
+Raphael-angel-like to suit me; but the very fellow to bewilder girls and
+set the boarding schools crazy. Luckily he is bound against inthralment.</p>
+
+<p>By and by the house grew so lonely that I was fain to send for Leonora
+to make durance less vile. It was positively refreshing to hear her
+voice sing through the solemn old hall. Very warm was the welcome she
+received from both Fred and me. He had often said she was the only woman
+he could talk to without suppressing a yawn. It was ungallant of him,
+but I could sympathize with the sentiment. Women usually weary me. I
+told Leonora she must make up her mind to stay with me, as long as she
+remained unmarried.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fred, holding her hand, laughingly made her promise never to take a
+husband without his consent. While I passed on, he drew her back; the
+mirror above the door framed a picture prettier than I liked to see.</p>
+
+<p>'There is but one man I will authorize you to marry,' said my son.</p>
+
+<p>Then it suddenly flashed on my mind that Fred was of the age of Scott's
+heroes, and would be sure to fall in love with a woman older than
+himself. The love did not matter so much, but marriage would be an
+absurdity. I expected to have a daughter-in-law some day or other; but
+it was never to be Leonora. In a hundred ways she had resisted me, and
+overcome me. I was as resolutely opposed to her, as if she had been my
+enemy. She was a connection of the family, independent, yet in some sort
+alone in the world. If it had been conferring a favor on her, to ask her
+to stay with me, be sure I never would have uttered a persuasive word.
+But it was asking her to leave gay society, and the incense of
+admiration, to bury herself in a dull house. Then she was 'ornamental;'
+I liked to see her about; she was satirical, and pleased me by a little
+spicy abuse. They called her handsome. She <i>was</i> too small, I think, too
+slight, perhaps; and then her complexion was almost swarthy. But her
+hair was fine, her eyes large and brilliant, and her mouth mobile and
+sweet. The face was nothing to me; but her companionship was enlivening.</p>
+
+<p>The young lady professed herself glad of a winter of exclusion, and when
+I saw how she set herself at work with books and embroidery, I confess I
+was astonished at her resignation. Then I saw her look at my son, and
+perceived she did not find it so <i>very</i> stupid after all. Slowly she
+snarled him in her meshes.</p>
+
+<p>One time my husband had a friendless youth for his secretary, called
+Denis Christopher. His name attracted me before his person. Mr.
+Fontevrault became so deeply interested in his character and talents,
+that he used his extensive influence, and gave Mr. Christopher an
+enviable lift over the world's rough places. Fontevrault was like a
+grieved child when he left us. I was sorry, but concealed it. One of the
+young man's agreeable privileges had been to attend me in public, thus
+relieving Mr. Fontevrault. I assure you he was more knightly than his
+master, whose stiff protection I never missed while under Launcelot's
+tender care. I never fully admitted to myself the power I found in the
+hitherto unknown fascination of a <i>young</i> man's society; nor how much
+pleasure I took in touching those hidden chords that only respond to a
+woman's touch. That he adored me, I saw in his eyes. I liked it well,
+and the strange, unwonted feeling that shivered through me, now, when by
+chance my hand touched his.</p>
+
+<p>Well&mdash;people began to talk, as people will, and Mr. Fontevrault sent him
+to Malaga. He came to bid me good-by; 'forever,' he thought; ah me! It
+was forever in one sense. Fred was a mere boy then, who heard and saw
+everything. I had hard work to get him out of the house that morning. I
+wanted Denis's last look all to myself. Before he left me, Christopher
+offered me a bracelet of cornelians, cut rarely as seals. Each gem bore
+an exquisite device. On one were a few words in Latin. When I was alone,
+I pressed the seal on a drop of hot wax, and read his dedication.</p>
+
+<p>All that was years ago; he is here again, and I am free. I sat before
+the glass long the day I expected him, threading my brown hair, and
+longing to wear his color&mdash;blue. But then the widow's cap suited me
+divinely, and the folds of crape set off my peculiar tints as nothing
+else can. I came before him; he started forward to seize both hands, and
+gaze in my face, to find no change. Then he pressed his lips to my warm
+white fingers. A new boldness became his, a new timidity mine.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fresh from lessons of my own, I could read a change in Leonora, and
+perceive mischief in the air. Her extreme quietness when my son entered
+the apartment, the faint shade of shyness in his manner of addressing
+her attracted me curiously. He began to linger in our haunts so long and
+on such frivolous pretexts, that I began seriously to think what was to
+be done with such a lovesick page. To oppose Fred would be worse than
+useless. Opposition determined him. If I could have sent her away,
+solitude would be my bane; for not one of the Fontevraults could I
+endure. Then as I pondered, I laughed at the absurdity of the whole
+thing. Not only was Leonora older than the student, a woman in society,
+but she had been engaged (with that fact I resolved to frighten Fred),
+nor would she wait five years for him to declare his passion. And his
+flickering fancy the slightest breath of doubt would change: a nature
+easily moulded by the inexorable. I resolved to let affairs take their
+own course, and trust her common sense, and my own gentle diplomacy.</p>
+
+<p>What memorable meetings had we four during those sharp winter days! I
+lived as in an Arabian dream. There was Denis Christopher, with his
+brown face and thrilling eyes; Fred lackadaisical, but handsome as
+Antinous; Leonora, and I.</p>
+
+<p>A very orderly company, but what hot feeling repressed, what romantic
+possibility, what fates unfulfilled lay under the courteous
+conventionality of the time! Fred leaned over Leonora at the piano.
+Their voices sounded well together, and if he could not declare his
+admiration of her, no doubt he conveyed it to her in some tender refrain
+or serenade. Their blended, passionate voices often moved me in a
+strange excitement, for I was not musical. I had no way of relieving
+myself, as these singers and painters have, who crystallize an emotion
+or a sorrow into a picture or a cadence. I can only gnaw the bedpost, or
+tear up something, in the mere need of expression. Denis watched them
+awhile, and then it became a trio instead of a duet. Mr. Christopher
+brought Spanish music. Light, rippling airs, dances, whose strange
+swaying rhythm had been borne to his ears in the Malaga nights.</p>
+
+<p>My son grew jealous, therefore unreasonable. He would not play
+subordinate, so left Leonora no choice but to lend herself gracefully to
+Denis's companionship. These two were sure to misunderstand one another.
+Fred was contradictory. With intense and variable feeling, he possessed
+the traits of slower natures. A kind of natural prudence retarded him.
+He puzzled Leonora. One moment he cooed over her, the next became
+Horatian. Painfully sensitive, and proud withal, she was never sure of
+his opinion of her. Having little faith in the firmness of any man's
+admiration of <i>her</i>, she believed less than was avowed. And Fred,
+exacting much, was too inexperienced to understand her. They were
+drifting apart, I thought; but in avoiding Scylla, had I not plunged
+into Charybdis?</p>
+
+<p>I had been a widow a year when Mr. Christopher left Spain. Another had
+now passed, and with it my seclusion. While Denis had talked to me, I
+had cared to hear no other man speak; but now, in a kind of thirst, I
+drank deep of pleasure. I played with the warm avowals of men past the
+reasoning age, and made Fred's classmates melancholy. Denis did not even
+disapprove. He was often near me now, but silent as a shadow.</p>
+
+<p>How it stormed the night of the seventh of February, and like the
+whirling snow I danced! Christopher led me through the last Lancers, and
+then we stopped to rest. Hanging on his arm, and heedless of to-morrow,
+was I not happy? We passed through the long rooms, while the soft waltz
+music began to swell, and the untiring dancers took the floor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I remember he asked for Leonora, and then if Fred meant to marry her. I
+would not say no, but would acknowledge that his fancy was heated.</p>
+
+<p>'She will be a pleasant vision of boy-love a few years hence,' I said.
+'Leonora has too much good sense to marry him, Mr. Christopher.'</p>
+
+<p>'I don't know,' said he, meditatively, and drew my hand through his arm.
+The cornelian bracelet slipped into view. 'Mrs. Fontevrault,' uttered
+he, in a ceremonious tone&mdash;my warm pulse grew still&mdash;'do you never
+forget?'</p>
+
+<p>'Do you desire it?' I answered, gaily:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">''If to remember, or forget,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Can give a longing, or regret,</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>command me.'</p>
+
+<p>He smiled, and, stopping at a side table, poured out two glasses of
+wine.</p>
+
+<p>'Here's to the past,' said he, eagerly; 'drink Lethe.'</p>
+
+<p>We drained the glasses. Then I understood he withdrew his claim.</p>
+
+<p>I wanted to go home after <i>that</i>; so Mr. Christopher summoned the
+carriage. The walks were white, and I trembled&mdash;was it with cold?&mdash;as he
+handed me in, and bade me good night.</p>
+
+<p>The house at midnight was silent and warm. I went up stairs, and stood
+in the threshold of the library. The sleet driving against the window
+panes prevented their hearing me, I suppose. They seemed to be
+translating something or other. Fred's arm lay over the back of her
+chair. Very fast and earnestly he was talking. Marginal notes suggested
+by the text of Sismondi?</p>
+
+<p>'What, home so early!' was his exclamation, on discovering me.</p>
+
+<p>Leonora looked, up with a deep rose in her dark cheeks, a dangerous fire
+melting in her eyes. I had left her pale, with a headache.</p>
+
+<p>'You are better, I conclude. I expected to find you among your pillows,'
+said I, accusative.</p>
+
+<p>'I have cured her,' said Fred, coming forward and clasping my hands in
+his firm, cool hold. 'What ails you, mamma? You look as if you had a
+fever, and wickedly handsome. What have you been about?' He slipped off
+my ermine cloak, and kissed me with a mixture of pride and love. The boy
+bewildered me.</p>
+
+<p>As fate would have it, Fred was right. I felt very ill. I believe I
+<i>resisted</i> a fever, for I have a sensation of struggle connected with
+that sickness. But I cannot separate the pictures of my distempered
+fancy from the actualities of the time. Leonora took devoted care of me.
+Night after night Fred sat by me, and they relieved each other. Like one
+bound in an enchantment, I lay unable to prevent their mutual
+confidence, and the return of her young lover's adoring regard.</p>
+
+<p>He sat beside her as the fire burned low; his blonde hair touched her
+dusky cheek as he bent over her.</p>
+
+<p>'Leo, darling, I wish I was sick, like mamma.'</p>
+
+<p>'Hush!' said she.</p>
+
+<p>'Then you would soothe me, and part my hair with your soft fingers, that
+refuse to touch mine now. You would be sorry for me, and give me a
+little caressing, and I should be so happy I would not get well.'</p>
+
+<p>'Don't talk so, Fred. You used to be an even-tempered, comfortable kind
+of young man to know. But now you are really teasing.'</p>
+
+<p>'Do I really annoy you?'</p>
+
+<p>'Very much.'</p>
+
+<p>'And you don't believe in me. Sometimes a dumb kind of philosophy
+possesses me, and I say to myself, let her think of me as she will. I
+cannot be frank, and must take the consequences. Then again&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>Here she rose, and he put both arms around her. Audacious boy!</p>
+
+<p>'Fred!' was uttered in a stifled voice.</p>
+
+<p>'Promise me to send off Christopher,' ejaculated the young man.</p>
+
+<p>The corners of the room seemed to stretch away indefinitely. A heavy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>
+perfume suffocated me. I groaned. In another moment Leonora was beside
+me, and the fresh air was blowing in from a window my son had opened.</p>
+
+<p>I made haste to get well. The physicians say my constitution and good
+nursing saved me; but it was all resolution. My <i>will</i> was stronger than
+the disease. As soon as I could sit up and see him, Denis Christopher
+was admitted. I used to hear a dulcet strain on the stairs, formed by
+her delicate note and his melodious base, and then he would follow
+Leonora in to pay his respects to me; always bringing something to
+brighten up my boudoir, and render her imprisonment less unendurable.
+Afterward he would never be exiled to the drawing rooms. Fred frowned at
+the ease with which he invaded our retirement, but only frowned. He and
+I began to wonder if Christopher would win her. Valiantly but cautiously
+was he wooing. Fred went off on a boating excursion, and I grew weary. I
+wished I had died. The secret of my good looks was confessed. Perfect
+health had kept my beauty undimmed. But colorless and hollow-eyed the
+fever left me. I could look at myself no more; so I looked at Leonora.
+She was pretty, with a charm that did not depend on tint or outline. Her
+new friend was penetrated by her real graces and his ideal rendering of
+them; but would he conquer? I was sure not. Because separation is sure
+alienation at a certain age, I resolved on Fred's speedy withdrawal from
+the scene. Why not go abroad immediately after his graduation, which was
+to occur in a few weeks? On his return I suggested it. He gloomily
+consented.</p>
+
+<p>'Will you come, too, mamma?'</p>
+
+<p>'Not yet; in the course of a year perhaps;' and I looked over to the
+corner where Leonora was winding worsted from Mr. Christopher's fingers.</p>
+
+<p>'Come, now,' said he, 'take Leonora, and we will set up housekeeping in
+the easy continental style.'</p>
+
+<p>'She has her hands full just now.' Literally as well as figuratively
+true, for she had wound two enormous green balls.</p>
+
+<p>'Perhaps she will go over with Mr. Christopher. Would you like a call
+from the bride and groom?'</p>
+
+<p>My young Fontevrault looked at me.</p>
+
+<p>'Do you speak as you know, mamma?'</p>
+
+<p>'Look for yourself, my hoodwinked Cupid. Girls are all alike, Fred. He
+can ask her to marry him, and has that advantage over you.'</p>
+
+<p>So it was decided that Fred should go to Paris, and be happy. Mrs.
+Blanchard gave him a farewell party, and all the young ladies were at
+their sweetest. Fred behaved with sullen dignity, as a lion should. He
+refused to be comforted by Adelaide and Rose, walking about with one or
+another, and looking at Leonora, at whom all mankind were gazing that
+night. She was in dashing spirits, a glorious color diffused her cheeks,
+her eyes fairly danced. Her dress was of feathery black tulle, and a
+broad silver ribbon, like an order, went over her shoulders. In the
+shining black braids glistened fern leaves of silver filigree.
+Fortunately, Fred and I discovered them&mdash;Leonora and her inseparable
+cavalier, Denis, I mean&mdash;in an alcove of roses and jessamines. She
+admiring the flowers, and he talking with a fervor very easy to read.
+She listening, as women always listen when the pleader is eloquent. But
+in her downcast face I read only pain, while my son translated the deep
+blush differently. When we were at home, and I waited to bid him good
+night, he took me in his strong arms:</p>
+
+<p>'You love me, mamma, don't you?'</p>
+
+<p>He was all I had in the world, so I told him.</p>
+
+<p>Then followed a week we long remembered&mdash;the first week of Denis's
+absence. Leonora was gloomy and <i>distraite</i>; Fred cool as a peak of the
+Andes, and about as unapproachable; I immersed in the hurry and
+confusion of my son's departure. He had a suite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> of rooms over mine,
+and, the night before he went away, leaned over the ballusters, and
+called, as in old time:</p>
+
+<p>'Leonora!'</p>
+
+<p>She gave a glad start, and ran up to him. So I followed, of course. I
+wanted to put some flannels into his trunk, which stood in his bedroom.
+The doors were open between us. He had a bundle of her letters tied up
+in a bulky packet, and began to talk with great discretion.</p>
+
+<p>'I have been putting my affairs in order,' said the systematic young
+man. 'I may never come back, and at any rate, my absence will be long. I
+thought it would be better to give you these, lest they fall into alien
+hands.'</p>
+
+<p>'Why not burn them?' suggested his listener.</p>
+
+<p>'I could not, Leo.'</p>
+
+<p>'I am not so sentimental,' she returned, taking up the packet. 'They
+shall blaze directly. Do you want your own?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, Fred, what a bungler you are!' I thought.</p>
+
+<p>'You misunderstand,' he began, in a desperate tone.</p>
+
+<p>'Fred!' I screamed, as if I were twenty rods distant, 'do come and open
+this bureau drawer. I can't move it.'</p>
+
+<p>He came, pulling it open, with such needless strength, that all the
+toilette bottles garnishing the top were shaken off, and lay in
+fragments on the floor. She followed to note the disaster, and I took
+her down stairs, and watched over her like a dragon all that evening. I
+would not let Leonora go to the steamer with us, but compelled him to
+say farewell in my presence, I <i>like</i> a scene. He held her hand long,
+uttering some incoherent sentences. Admirable was the self-composure she
+showed! The delicate muscles about the mouth were as steady as if she
+did not love him. She never raised her eyes until the last. As I saw
+their sad beauty, a pang seized me, and I turned away. He came after,
+hurried me into the carriage, and off we whirled.</p>
+
+<p>'Are you going to write to her?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>'She says no,' Fontevrault answered, and looked vigorously out of the
+window.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>One evening, two years after my son left me, we were sitting round the
+library fire. Christoper, now a captain in one of the famous
+Massachusetts regiments, sat near me, a little older and a little graver
+than when I saw him last. We were talking with flushed cheeks and
+beating hearts of the subject nearest our hearts just then&mdash;war.</p>
+
+<p>A familiar foot pressed the stair. All the color left Leonora's lips;
+she knew who was coming. In another moment I was in my darling's arms.
+He shook hands with Leonora, but neither of them spoke a word; then
+turned to Cristopher, who welcomed him with the hearty cordiality men
+use.</p>
+
+<p>'You have come home to fight, I know, Fontevrault.'</p>
+
+<p>'So I have,' answered my son. 'Every true-hearted American should be
+striking his blow. I couldn't travel fast enough. Mother, are you a
+Spartan?'</p>
+
+<p>He looked at Leonora. What did she think of this magnificent-mustached
+Saxon? Not much like the fair-cheeked student we remembered.</p>
+
+<p>'Let us be army nurses,' said Leonora, when they had gone to Washington.
+Indeed we could not stay where we were, nor flit off to Newport to
+banish care. I grew sleepless, and a sudden sound would send the blood
+to my heart. Leonora maintained an undaunted front, but she grew thin in
+spite of her cheerfulness. At last I said:</p>
+
+<p>'We will follow the army; I shall die to live in this way.'</p>
+
+<p>So, just before the battle of Antietam, we were in Washington.</p>
+
+<p>Just after&mdash;ah me!&mdash;a singular scene occurred. We four had met again,
+not as in the happy nights long gone. Denis, the veteran of seven
+battles, still stood unscathed; but my boy could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> fight no more.
+Manfully he bore his affliction; I only wept.</p>
+
+<p>This morning of which I write, he was so bright, that we admitted Denis
+at once, who came to bid us farewell before leaving to join his
+regiment.</p>
+
+<p>'Stop a minute,' said Fred. 'Leonora.' She came toward him with a face
+of gentle inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>'To-day is my birthday,' prefaced the soldier. 'I am twenty-six, and a
+free man to say I love you.' Denis minced and motioned to withdraw his
+hand. (Not so fast, old fellow.) This I say because I have been waiting
+years to speak my mind on this day. But now, I have nothing to offer
+you. I have no future. I am a cripple; even my love for you has been a
+cheat to you; and now is selfishness in me. Here stands a man as true to
+you as I; I know how he loves you. Which of us will you marry, Leonora?'</p>
+
+<p>While he was speaking, the lost carnation came back to her cheeks. The
+soft eyes kindled to a languid fire. She never looked at Denis, who
+stood in his erect strength, his worshipping eyes on her face. She came
+to Fred's bedside, and knelt down there. Denis dropped his hand.</p>
+
+<p>'You do not answer,' Fred whispered; 'I cannot bear suspense.'</p>
+
+<p>How did she satisfy him? I do not know. In emotion that almost
+overmastered me, I snapped the bracelet&mdash;Denis's bracelet; it lay upon
+the floor. He passed me without a word, without a look. His heavy heel
+ground the enchased seal to rosy dust. I heard the door swung loudly to,
+and then the clatter of his horse's hoofs, as he rode rapidly away.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="EUROPEAN_OPINION" id="EUROPEAN_OPINION"></a>EUROPEAN OPINION.</h2>
+
+
+<p>We are indebted to an accomplished gentleman in Philadelphia for the
+following translation from the <i>Revue Nationale</i> of M. Laboulaye. Any
+extended comment from our pen would only serve to weaken the effect of
+this eloquent and truthful passage. We may, however, express our
+gratification to find that some generous spirits in Europe still remain
+superior to the jealousies and the malevolence which have so largely
+affected the ruling classes there, and led them so generally to hope for
+and to predict the downfall of our suffering country. Hitherto we have
+indeed recognized the truth that 'the opinion of Europe is a power;' but
+we have felt it chiefly in its worst influence, against us, and in favor
+of the rebellion. Now, however, in this the darkest hour of our mortal
+struggle, it affords real relief to hear the most enlightened men of
+that continent proclaiming that 'the arguments of the South are
+beginning to fail,' and 'that all the ingenuity in the world cannot lift
+up its fallen cause.' Nor is it at all difficult to give entire credence
+to these statements, for there is evidently an altered tone even in
+those organs of European opinion which have been, and still are
+consistently hostile to us. It was perhaps unavoidable that
+misunderstanding should prevail in the outset, and that the ear of
+Europe should have been complacently open to the representations of the
+plausible South, urged as they were by the ablest and most unscrupulous
+of her advocates. But truth was destined certainly to make its way in
+the end. It was only doubtful whether the triumph of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> right would take
+place soon enough to bring the force of European opinion to bear on the
+contest and to deprive the South of that moral support which alone has
+enabled her to prolong the hopeless struggle to the present time. But,
+according to M. Laboulaye, the 'fatal service' which its advocates have
+done the South, is just now about to bear its appropriate fruit; for the
+delusive promise of support which has thus far sustained the rebel cause
+is utterly gone, and with it, all possibility of ultimate success.</p>
+
+<p>Seldom have we read a nobler passage than that in which this
+accomplished writer appeals to the French sentiment of national unity to
+justify our Northern people in their mighty struggle to subdue this
+'impious revolt.' Americans themselves, though fully imbued with the
+instinctive feeling which it defends, could not more forcibly have
+presented the point. And, indeed, if we may believe the statements now
+prevalent, attributing to eminent statesmen and large parties a
+disposition to accede to the separation of the sections, the very
+sentiment of nationality has lost it force among us, and we would be
+compelled to acknowledge our obligations to this eminent Frenchman for
+stimulating our expiring patriotism and awakening us to the vital
+importance of our national unity and to the shame and disgrace of
+surrendering it. If any American has ever, for a moment, admitted the
+idea of consenting to a separation of the Union, let him read the
+burning words of this enlightened and disinterested foreigner, and blush
+for his want of comprehension of the true interests and glory of his
+country. It is not a mere sentimental enthusiasm which leads us to
+combat disunion and to cherish the greatness and oneness of our country.
+Our dearest rights and our noblest interests are alike involved, and we
+would be craven wretches, unworthy of our high destiny, if we did not
+risk everything and sacrifice everything to preserve them. 'The North
+only defends itself,' says M. Laboulaye. 'It is its very life that it
+wishes to save.'</p>
+
+<p>Briefly, but with the hand of a master, does this article point out the
+consequences of disunion. The touches by which the sketch is drawn, are
+few and rapidly made; but they faithfully portray the great features of
+the case, and present a true and living picture to the mind of every
+thoughtful man. The jealousies, the rivalries, the antipathies of the
+sections; the foreign intrigues and eventual foreign domination among
+our fragmentary governments; the large standing armies, and the
+competing naval forces; and finally, 'the endless war and numberless
+miseries' which will inevitably result&mdash;all these mighty evils will not
+only afflict our own unhappy country, but 'peace will be exiled from the
+world.' The interests of mankind are involved in this tremendous
+struggle.</p>
+
+<p>But we no longer keep our readers from the perusal of this interesting
+extract. Let it be remembered that it comes from the quarter understood
+to be most unfriendly to us, where the wily emperor of the French is
+supposed to be plotting for the destruction of our nationality and
+power. The appeal to the interests of France against the ambition of
+England is striking and powerful. Whatever disposition the emperor may
+cherish against us, the French people ought to be our friends; they have
+a common interest in maintaining the freedom of the seas, and
+we have yet to complain that any port of France has sent out cruisers to
+assail our commerce on the ocean.</p>
+
+<p>Let us take courage, even in this hour of disaster. Noble spirits abroad
+are still watching us with generous sympathy and praying for the success
+of our sacred cause. Let us be true to ourselves and to our country, and
+the hour of final triumph will soon be at hand. Though dissensions tend
+now to distract and weaken us, and though darkness, more impenetrable
+than ever be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>fore, seems lately to have gathered around us, we already
+discern the first glimmerings of the dawn in the east. The full day will
+soon break upon us, and we shall rejoice in the splendor of returning
+peace and renewed prosperity.</p>
+
+
+<h4>REASONS WHY THE NORTH CANNOT PERMIT SECESSION.</h4>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>From the French of</i> <span class="smcap">Edouard Laboulaye</span>, <i>published in the</i> 'Revue
+Nationale,' <i>December 10th, 1862.</i>)</p>
+
+<p>The civil war which has been dividing and ruining the United States for
+two years also affects us in Europe. The scarcity of cotton causes great
+suffering. The workmen of Rouen and Mulhouse are as severely tried as
+the spinners and weavers of Lancashire; entire populations are reduced
+to beggary, and to exist through the winter they have no resource and no
+hope save in special charity or assistance from the government. In so
+severe a crisis, and in the midst of such unmerited sufferings, it is
+but natural that public opinion should become restless in Europe, and
+condemn the ambition of those who prolong a fratricidal war. Peace in
+America, peace is a necessity at any price, is the cry of thousands of
+men among us who are suffering from hunger, innocent victims of the
+passions and madness which steep the United States in blood.</p>
+
+<p>These complaints are only too just. The civilized world is at present,
+so bound together, that peace is one great condition of the existence of
+modern industrial nations; unhappily, although it is easy to point out
+the remedy, it is almost impossible to apply it. Just now it is by war
+alone that ending of the war may be looked for. To throw herself armed
+between the combatants would be an attempt in which Europe would exhaust
+her strength; and to what purpose? As Mr. Cobden has justly said, it
+would be less costly to feed the work people who are ruined by the
+American crisis <i>on game and champagne</i>. To offer to-day our friendly
+mediation is not only to expose ourselves to a refusal, and perhaps so
+exasperate one of the parties as to push it to more violent measures,
+but to diminish the chances of our mediation being accepted at a more
+favorable moment. Thus we are forced to remain spectators of a
+deplorable war, which is the cause of infinite evil to us; thus forced
+to offer up prayers that exhaustion and misery may appease these mortal
+enemies and oblige them to accept either reunion or separation. A sad
+situation, doubtless, but one which neutrals have always occupied, and
+from which they cannot depart without throwing themselves among unknown
+dangers.</p>
+
+<p>If we have not the right to interfere, we can at least complain, and try
+to discover those who are really wrong in this war, which so affects us.
+The opinion of Europe is a power. It can hasten matters and restore
+peace better than arms can. Unfortunately, for two years opinion has
+wandered from the proper path, and by taking the wrong side of the
+question, prolongs instead of stopping resistance. The South has found
+many and clever advocates in England and in France, who have presented
+her cause as that of justice and liberty. They have proclaimed the right
+of secession, and have not feared to apologize for slavery. Their
+arguments to-day are beginning to fail. Thanks to those publicists who
+do not traffic with humanity; thanks to M. de Gasparin, above all, the
+light has made things clear; we know now how things stand as to the
+origin and character of the rebellion. To every disinterested observer,
+it is evident that the South is wrong in every way. It needs not a
+Montesquieu to understand that a party not menaced in the least, which,
+through ambition or pride, tears its country to pieces and destroys its
+national unity, has no right to the sympathies of the French. As to
+declaring slavery sacred, that is a work which must be left to the
+preachers of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> South. All the ingenuity in the world cannot lift up
+this fallen cause. Had the confederates a thousand reasons for complaint
+and for revolt, there would always rest on their rebellion an indelible
+stain. No Christian, no liberal person will ever interest himself for
+men who, in this nineteenth century, insolently proclaim their desire to
+perpetuate and extend slavery. Though it is still permitted to the
+planters to listen to theories that have infatuated and lost them, such
+sophistries will never cross the ocean.</p>
+
+<p>The advocates of the South have done it a fatal service; they have made
+it believe that Europe, enlightened or seduced, would range itself on
+its side and finally throw into the balance something more than empty
+promises. This delusion has and still maintains the resistance of the
+South, it prolongs the war, and with it our sufferings. If, as the North
+had a right to expect, the friends of liberty had, from the first,
+boldly pronounced against the policy of slavery, if the advocates of
+peace upon the seas, if the defenders of the rights of neutrals had
+spoken in favor of the Union and rejected a separation, which could only
+profit England, it is probable that the South would have been less
+anxious to start on a journey without visible end. If, in spite of the
+courage and devotion of its soldiers; if, in spite of the ability of its
+generals, the South fails in an enterprise which, in my opinion, cannot
+be too much blamed, let it lay the fault on those who have so poor an
+opinion of Europe as to imagine that they will subject <i>its</i> opinion to
+a policy against which patriotism protests, and which the gospel and
+humanity condemn.</p>
+
+<p>We will grant, they may say, that the South is altogether wrong;
+nevertheless it wishes to separate, it can no longer live with the
+people of the North. The war alone, whatever may be its origin, is a new
+cause of disunion. By what right can twenty millions of men force ten
+millions (of those ten millions there are four millions of slaves whose
+will is not consulted in the least) of their countrymen to continue a
+detested alliance, to respect a contract which they wish to break at any
+price? Is it possible to imagine that after two or three years of
+fighting and misery, conquerors and conquered can be made to live
+harmoniously together? Can a country two or three times the size of
+France be subjugated? Would there not always be bloodshed between the
+parties? Separation is perhaps a misfortune, but now it is an
+irreparable one. Let us grant that the North has law, the letter and
+spirit of the Constitution on her side; there always remains an
+indisputable point&mdash;the South wishes to govern itself. You have no right
+to crush a people that defends itself so valiantly. Give it up!</p>
+
+<p>If we were less enervated by the luxury of modern life and by the
+idleness of a long peace, if there still lingered in our hearts some
+remnant of that patriotism which, in 1792, urged our forefathers to the
+banks of the Rhine, the answer would be simple; to-day I fear it will
+not be understood. If the south of France should revolt to-morrow and
+demand a separation; if Alsace and Lorraine should wish to withdraw,
+what would be, I will not say our right only, but our duty? Would we
+count voices to see if a third or a half of the French had a right to
+destroy our nationality, to annihilate France, to break up the glorious
+heritage our sires bought for us with their blood? No! we would shoulder
+our muskets and march. Woe to the man who does not feel his country to
+be sacred, and that it is a noble act to defend it, even at the price of
+extreme misery and every danger!</p>
+
+<p>'America is not like France; it is a confederation, not a nation.' Who
+says this? It is the South, and to justify its faults; the North asserts
+the contrary, and for two years she has declared, by numberless
+sacrifices, that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> Americans are one people, and that no one shall
+divide their country. This is a grand and noble sentiment, and if
+anything astonishes me, it is that France can witness this patriotism
+unmoved. Is not love of country the crowning virtue of the Frenchman?</p>
+
+<p>What is this South, and whence does it derive this right of secession it
+proclaims so loudly? Is it a conquered nation which resumes its
+independence, as Lombardy has done? Is it a distinct race which will not
+continue an oppressive alliance? No! it is a number of colonies,
+established on the territory of the Union by American hands. Take a map
+of the United States. Except Virginia, the two Carolinas and Georgia,
+which are old English colonies, all the rest of the South is situated on
+lands purchased and paid for by the Union. This proves that the North
+has sustained the greatest part of the expense. Ancient Louisiana was
+sold to the Americans, in 1804, by the first consul at a price of
+fifteen millions of dollars; Florida was bought from Spain, in 1820, for
+five millions; and it required the war with Mexico, a payment of ten
+millions, and heavy losses besides, to acquire Texas. In a few words, of
+all the rich countries which border on the Mississippi and Missouri,
+from their sources to their mouths, there is not one inch of ground for
+which the Union has not paid, and which does not belong to her. The
+Union has driven out or indemnified the Indians. The Union has built
+fortifications, constructed shipyards, light-houses, and harbors. It is
+the Union that has made all this wilderness valuable and rendered its
+settlement possible. It is the men of the North as well as those of the
+South who have cleared and planted these lands, and transformed them
+from barren solitudes to a flourishing condition. Show us, if you can,
+in old Europe, where unity is entirely the result of conquest, a title
+to property so sacred, a country which is more the common work of one
+people! And shall it now be allowed to a minority to take possession of
+a territory which belongs to all, and, moreover, to choose the best
+portion of it? Shall a minority be permitted to destroy the Union, and
+to imperil those who were its first benefactors, and without whom it
+would never have existed? If this does not constitute an impious revolt,
+then any whim that seizes a people is just and right. It is not only
+political reasons that oppose a separation; geography, the positions of
+places force the United States to form a single nation. Strabo,
+meditating on this vast country now called France, said, with the
+certainty of genius, that, to look at the nature of the territory, and
+the course of the waters, it was evident that the forests of Gaul,
+inhabited by a thinly scattered people, would become the abode of a
+great people. Nature has disposed our territory to be the theatre of a
+great civilization. This is also true of America, which is really but a
+double valley, whose place of separation is imperceptible, and which
+contains two large water courses, the Mississippi, and the St. Lawrence.
+There are no high mountains which isolate and separate the people, no
+natural barriers like the Alps and Pyrenees. The West cannot live
+without the Mississippi; it is a question of life and death to the
+Western farmers to hold the mouth of the river. The United States felt
+this from the first day of their existence. When the Ohio and
+Mississippi were yet but streams lost in the forest, when the first
+planters were only a handful of men scattered in the wilderness, the
+Americans already knew that New Orleans was <i>the key of the house</i>. They
+would not leave it either to Spain or France. Napoleon understood this;
+he held in his hands the future greatness of the United States; he was
+glad to cede this vast territory to America, with the intention, he
+said, 'to give to England a maritime rival which sooner or later would
+lower the pride of our enemies.' (Here the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> author refers to his
+pamphlet, entitled, <i>Les Etats Unis et la France</i>, and to <i>L'histoire de
+la Louisiane</i>, by Barb&eacute; Marbois.) He could have satisfied the United
+States by only giving up the left bank of the river, which was all they
+asked for then; he did more (and in this I think he was very wrong),
+with a stroke of his pen he ceded a country as large as the half of
+Europe, and renounced our last rights on this beautiful river which we
+had discovered. Sixty years have quickly passed since this cession. The
+States which are now called Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa,
+Minnesota, Kansas, Oregon, and the territories of Nebraska, Dacotah,
+Jefferson and Washington, which will soon become States, have been
+established on the immense domain abandoned by Napoleon. Without
+counting the slaveholding population which wishes to break up the Union,
+there are ten millions of free citizens between Pittsburg and Fort
+Union, who claim the course and mouth of the Mississippi as having been
+ceded to them by France. It is from us that they hold their title and
+their possession. They have a right of sixty years, a right consecrated
+by labors and cultivation, a right which they have received from a
+contract, and, better still, from nature, and from God.</p>
+
+<p>See what it is they are reproached for defending; they are, forsooth,
+usurpers and tyrants, because they wish to hold what is their own,
+because they will not place themselves at the mercy of an ambitious
+minority. What would we say, if, to-morrow, Normandy, rising, should
+pretend to hold for herself alone Rouen and Havre, and yet what is the
+interest of the Seine compared to that of the Mississippi, which has a
+course of two thousand two hundred and fifty miles, and which receives
+all the waters of the West?</p>
+
+<p>To possess New Orleans is to command a valley which embraces two thirds
+of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>They say 'we will neutralize the river.' We know what such promises are
+worth. We have seen what Russia did at the mouth of the Danube; the war
+of the Crimea was necessary to give to Germany the free use of her great
+river. If a new war were to break out between Austria and Russia, we
+might be sure that the possession of the Danube would be the stake
+played for. It could not be otherwise in America, from the day the
+Mississippi would flow for more than three hundred miles between two
+foreign servile banks: the effect of the war has already been to prevent
+the exportation of wheat and corn, the riches of the West. In 1861 it
+was necessary to burn useless harvests, to the great prejudice of
+Europe, who profited by their exportation. The South itself feels the
+strength of its position so well that its ambition is to separate the
+valley of the Mississippi from the Eastern States, and to unite itself
+to the West, consigning the Yankees of New England to a solitude which
+would ruin them. With the Mississippi for a bait, the Confederates hope
+to reestablish to their profit, that is, to the profit of slavery, the
+Union which they have broken for fear of liberty<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>. We now see what is
+to be thought of the pretended tyranny of the North, and if it is true
+that it wishes to oppress and to subjugate the South. On the contrary,
+the North only defends itself. In maintaining the Union, it defends its
+rights, and it is its very life that it wishes to save.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far I have only spoken of the material interests&mdash;interests which
+are lawful, and which, founded on solemn titles, give sacred rights; but
+if we examine moral and political interests which are of a superior
+order, we will understand better still that the North cannot give up
+without destroying itself. The United States is a republic,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> the most
+free, and at the same time the mildest and most happy form of government
+the world has ever seen. Whence comes this prosperity of the Americans?
+Because they are alone upon an immense territory; they have never been
+obliged to concentrate their power and enfeeble liberty in order to
+resist the jealousy and ambition of their neighbors. In the United
+States there was no standing army, no naval force; the Americans
+employed the immense sums which we expend to avert or to sustain war, in
+opening schools, and in giving to all their citizens, poor or rich, that
+education and that instruction which form the moral greatness and the
+true riches of the people. Their foreign policy was comprised in this
+maxim: 'Never to mingle in the quarrels of Europe on the sole condition
+that Europe will not interfere with their affairs, and will respect the
+liberty of the seas.' Thanks to these wise principles, which Washington
+left them in his immortal testament, the United States have enjoyed, for
+eighty years, a peace which has only been disturbed by Europe when, in
+1812, they were forced to resist England and sustain the rights of
+neutrals. We must count by hundreds of millions those sums that we have
+used during the last seventy years in the upholding our liberty in
+Europe; these hundreds of millions the United States have employed in
+improvements of every description. Here is the secret of their
+prodigious fortune; it is their perfect independence which makes their
+prosperity.</p>
+
+<p>Let us now suppose the separation finally accomplished, and that the new
+confederation comprises all the Slave States; the North has at once lost
+both its power and the foundations of that power. The Republic has
+received a mortal blow. There are in America two nations, side by side,
+two jealous rivals who are always on the point of attacking each other.
+Peace will not remove their antipathies; it will not efface the memory
+of the past greatness of the Union now destroyed; the victorious South
+will, without doubt, be quite as friendly toward slavery, and as fond of
+domination as ever. The enemies of slavery, now masters of their own
+policy, will certainly not be soothed by the separation. What will the
+Southern confederacy be to the North! It will be a foreign power
+established in America, with a frontier of one thousand five hundred
+miles, unprotected on every side, and consequently continually
+threatening or menaced. This power, hostile, because of its vicinity
+alone, and still more so by its institutions, will possess a very
+considerable portion of the New World; it will have half the coasts of
+the Union; it will command the Gulf of Mexico, an inland sea one third
+the size of the Mediterranean; it will be the mistress of the mouths of
+the Mississippi, and can ruin at its pleasure the inhabitants of the
+West. The fragments of the old Union will have to be always ready to
+defend themselves against their rivals. Questions of customs and of
+frontiers; rivalries, jealousies, in fact all the scourges of old Europe
+will overwhelm America at once and together; she will have to establish
+custom houses over an extent of five hundred leagues; to build and arm
+forts on this immense frontier, to keep on foot large standing armies,
+to maintain a naval force; in other words, she will have to renounce her
+old Constitution, to weaken her municipal independence by the
+centralization of power. Farewell to the old and glorious liberty!
+Farewell to those institutions which made America the common refuge of
+all who could not exist in Europe! The work of Washington will be
+destroyed; the situation will be full of dangers and difficulties. I
+understand how the prospect of such a future can delight those who have
+never been able to forgive America her prosperity and greatness; history
+is full of such sad jealousies. Still better I understand and approve of
+this, that a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> people accustomed to liberty should risk its last man and
+give its last dollar to preserve the inheritance of its fathers. I do
+not understand why there are persons in Europe who believe themselves
+liberal when they reproach the North for its generous resistance by
+advising her disgracefully to relinquish her rights. War is certainly a
+frightful evil, but from war a durable peace may issue, the
+South may tire of a struggle which exhausts its strength, the old Union
+may again arise in its glory, and the future may be saved. What but
+endless war and numberless miseries can result from a separation? This
+dismemberment of a country is an irreparable evil; no people, no nation,
+will submit to such a calamity until it no longer has any power to
+resist.</p>
+
+<p>Up to this time I have reasoned in the supposition that the South would
+remain an independent power. But unless the West joins the confederates,
+and the Union reestablishes itself against New England, this
+independence is a chimera: it might last for some time; but in ten or
+twenty years, when the free population of the West would have doubled or
+trebled itself, how would the South, necessarily much enfeebled by slave
+culture, compare with a people, thirty millions in number, enclosing it
+on two sides? To resist successfully, the South would be forced to rely
+on Europe; it could only live when protected by a great naval power, and
+England is the only one in a condition to guarantee for it its
+sovereignty. Here is a new danger for free America and for Europe. The
+South has no commercial marine, nor with slavery ever will have; England
+will at once seize the monopoly of cotton, and will furnish capital and
+vessels to the South. In two words, the triumph of the South is the
+reinstatement of England on the continent, whence the policy of Louis
+XVI and Napoleon has driven her; it is enfeebled neutrality; it is
+France plunged anew into all the questions concerning the liberty of the
+seas, which have already cost her two centuries of struggles and
+suffering. In defending its own rights, the American Union assured the
+independence of the ocean. The Union once destroyed, the English will
+again resume their preponderance, peace will be exiled from the world,
+and a policy will return which has only benefited our rivals.</p>
+
+<p>This is what Napoleon felt; this is what is forgotten to-day. It would
+seem that history is but a collection of frivolous tales, good enough,
+perhaps, to amuse children; it would seem that no one wishes to
+understand the lessons of the past. If the experience of our fathers
+were not lost on our ignorance, we would see that, while fighting for
+her independence, while upholding her national unity, the North is
+defending our cause as well as her own. All our prayers should be for
+our old and faithful friends. The weakness of the United States will be
+our weakness, and on the first quarrel with England, we will too late
+regret having abandoned a policy that for forty years has been our
+security.</p>
+
+<p>In writing these pages, I do not expect to convert those persons who
+have in their hearts an innate love of slavery; <i>I</i> write for those
+honest souls who allow themselves to be captivated by the grand visions
+of national independence which are continually shown to them in order to
+dazzle and mislead. The South has never been menaced, and at this late
+hour can return to the Union even with her slaves [the reader will
+remember that this article was published in December, 1862], and is only
+required not to destroy the national unity, and not to ruin political
+liberty. It cannot be repeated too often that the North is not an
+aggressor&mdash;it only defends what every true citizen will defend&mdash;the
+national compact, the integrity of the country. It is very sad that it
+should have found so little sympathy in Europe, and, above all, in
+France. It counted on us, its hopes were in us; we have forsaken it, as
+if those sacred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> words Country and Liberty no longer found an echo in
+our breasts. Where is the time when all France cheered the young
+Lafayette giving his sword to serve the Americans? Who has imitated him?
+Who has recalled this glorious memory? Have we become so old that our
+memory has failed?</p>
+
+<p>It is impossible to foresee what will be the issue of this war. The
+South may succeed; the North may split up, and wear itself out in
+internal struggles. Perhaps the Union is already but a great memory.
+But, whatever fortune may have in the future, it is the plain duty of
+every man who has not allowed himself to be carried away by present
+successes, to sustain and encourage the North to the last, to condemn
+those whose ambition threatens the most beautiful and patriotic work the
+world has ever beheld, to remain faithful until the end of the war, and
+even after defeat, should it come, to those who will have fought to the
+last for the right and for liberty.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> This point of view has been thoroughly exposed by one of
+the wisest citizens of America, <span class="smcap">Edward Everett</span>, in 'The Questions of the
+Day,' New York, 1861.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_HUGUENOTS_OF_VIRGINIA" id="THE_HUGUENOTS_OF_VIRGINIA"></a>THE HUGUENOTS OF VIRGINIA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The warmer climes of the South induced many Huguenots to settle in the
+colony of Virginia, and their neat little cottages, covered with French
+grapevines, and the wild honeysuckle, might be seen scattered along
+James river, not far above Richmond. One writer of that day, says: 'Most
+of the French who lived at that town (<i>Monacan</i>) on James river, removed
+to Trent river, in North Carolina, where the rest were expected daily to
+come to them, when I came away, which was in August, 1708.' In 1690,
+King William sent to Virginia many of the Huguenot Refugees, his
+followers, who had taken shelter in England. Here they were naturalized
+by an especial act in 1699. Six hundred more came over, conducted by
+their pastor, Philip de Richebourg, locating themselves, about twenty
+miles above Richmond, on lands formerly occupied by a powerful tribe of
+Indians. There is a church now near the spot, retaining its Indian name
+to this day. In 1700, the Virginia assembly exempted these French
+settlers from taxation, and fully protected their rights.</p>
+
+<p>We have seen a curious relic of the Huguenots in Virginia, which was
+found in the family of a descendant. It is entitled: 'A register,
+containing the baptisms made within the church of the French Refugees,
+in the Manakin town, in Virginia, within the parish of King William, in
+the year of our Lord 1721, the 25th of March. Done by Jacques Soblet,
+clerk.' This manuscript contains about twenty-five pages of foolscap
+paper, and remains a standing evidence of the fidelity of the Virginia
+Huguenots to their Christian duties and ordinances. As a specimen of
+their entries, we copy the following, literally, not even correcting
+their orthography:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'Jean Chastain fils de Jean ett de Marianne Chastain les pere et
+mere nee le 26 Septembre, 1721, est baptise le 5 Octobre, par M.
+Fountaine. Ils ava pour parun et marene Pierre David et Anne sa
+femme le quels ont declaree que cest enfan nee le jour et an que
+deshus.</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Segnee<br />
+<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 8em;">Jacque Soblet</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">Clerk.'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>John Chastain, son of John Chastain and of Marianne Chastain, the
+father and mother, born the 26th of September, 1721, was baptized
+the 5th of October, by Mr. Fontaine. He had for godfather and
+godmother Peter David and Anne, his wife, who have declared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> that
+this infant was born the day and year aforesaid.</p>
+
+<p class="author">Signed, <span class="smcap">Jacque Soblet</span>, Clerk. </p></div>
+
+<p>Two or three of the pages contain records of deaths. Here is one:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'Le 29 de Janvier, 1723-4, morut le Sieur Authonoine Trabue, agee
+danviron sinquaint six a sept annees fut en terree le 30 du meme
+moy.</p>
+
+<p class="author">
+<span class="smcap">J. Soblett</span>, Clerk.'<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Jan. 29th, 1723-4, died Sir Anthony Trabue, aged about fifty six or
+seven years. He was buried the 30th of the same month.</p>
+
+<p class="author">
+<span class="smcap">J. Soblett</span>, Clerk.<br />
+</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p>Huguenot names found in this old register of baptism:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'Chastain, David, Monford, Dykar, Neim, (<i>Minister</i>) Dupuy, Bilbo,
+Dutoi, Salle, Martain, Allaigre, Vilain, Soblet, Chambou, Levilain,
+Trabu, Loucadon, Harris, Gasper, Wooldridge, Flournoy, Amis,
+Banton, Ford, Laisain, Lolaigre, Givodan, Mallet, Dubruil,
+Guerrant, Sabbatie, Dupre, Bernard, Amonet, Porter, Rapine, Lacy,
+Watkins, Cocke, Bondurant, Goin, Pero, Pean, Deen, Robinson,
+Edmond, Brook, Brian, Faure, Don, Bingli, Reno, Lesuer, Pionet,
+Trent, Sumpter, Moiriset, Jordin, Gavain.</p>
+
+<p>Names of Negroes: Thomberlin (Northumberland), Ivan, Jaque, Janne,
+Anibal, Guillaume, Jean, Pierre, Olive, Robert, Jak, Julienne,
+Francois, Susan, Primus, Moll, Chamberlain, Dick, Pegg, Nanny,
+Tobie, Dorole, Agar, Agge, Pompe, Frank, C&aelig;sar, Amy, Joham, Debora,
+Tom, Harry, Cipio, Bosen, Sam, Tabb, Jupiter, Essek, Cuffy, Orange,
+Robin, Belin, Samson, Pope, Dina, Fillis, Matilda, Ester, Yarmouth,
+Judy, and Adam.' </p></div>
+
+<p>We find in Beverly's 'History of Virginia,' a very interesting account
+of the Manakin French Refugees: 'The assembly was very bountiful to
+those who remained at this town, bestowing on them large donations,
+money and provisions for their support; they likewise freed them from
+every public tax for several years to come, and addressed the governor
+to grant them a brief to entitle them to the charity of all
+well-disposed persons throughout the country, which, together with the
+king's benevolence, supported them very comfortably, till they could
+sufficiently supply themselves with necessaries, which they now do
+indifferently well, and begin to have stocks of cattle, which are said
+to give abundantly more milk than any other in the country. I have heard
+that these people are upon a design of getting into the breed of
+buffaloes, to which end they lay in wait for their calves, that they may
+tame and raise a stock of them; in which, if they succeed, it will in
+all probability be greatly for their advantage; for these are much
+larger than other cattle, and have the benefit of being natural to the
+climate. They now make many of their own clothes, and are resolved, as
+soon as they have improved that manufacture, to apply themselves to the
+making of wine and brandy, which they do not doubt to bring to
+perfection.' The Rev. J. Fontaine, a Calvinistic clergyman, first
+preached to his Refugee French brethren in England and Ireland (1688).
+Then his sons emigrated to Virginia, and became settled ministers. From
+this stock alone, including his son-in-law, Mr. Maury, have descended
+hundreds of the best citizens of that commonwealth&mdash;ministers, members
+of the bar, legislators, and public officers. The Rev. Dr. Hawks
+estimates the relations of these Fontaine families, in the United
+States, at not less than <i>two thousand</i>.</p>
+
+<p>A few years ago, he found in a family under his parochial charge, a
+manuscript autobiography of one of its ancestors. This was a James
+Fontaine, who was a persecuted Huguenot, and endured much for the sake
+of his religion. The work has been translated and published, and is full
+of interest&mdash;'A Tale of the Huguenots; or, Memoirs of a French Refugee
+Family, with an Introduction, by F. L. Hawks, D.D.'</p>
+
+<p>M. Fontaine was a noble example of a true Huguenot. In his early life,
+he was accustomed to the enjoyments of wealth, education, and refined
+society; but, for conscience' sake, he was stripped of them all, and
+forced to leave his native land. An exile in England, ignorant of its
+language, and unaccustomed to labor, he soon accommodated himself to his
+altered circumstances. He became a skillful artisan, and worked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>
+successfully at his trade; at first he opened a little store, with a
+school also, to teach the French language, and he says: 'We were in
+great hopes, that with both together we should be able to pay our way.'
+M. Fontaine next undertook the manufactory of worsted goods, which he
+profitably carried on for some time, but became tired of the business.
+He was anxious to unite with a French church, and, knowing that there
+were many Refugees in the land, went to Cork in 1695.</p>
+
+<p>At first he preached in the English church, after its regular pastor had
+finished his services. Next, the French Refugees obtained the court room
+for their worship, and, finally, he gave up a large apartment on the
+lower floor of his own house, which was properly arranged with a pulpit
+and seats for religious meetings. M. Fontaine writes at the time: 'I was
+now at the height of my ambition; I was beloved by my hearers, to whom I
+preached gratuitously. Great numbers of zealous, pious, and upright
+persons had joined our communion. This state of things was altogether
+too good to last. My cup of happiness was now full to overflowing, and,
+like all the enjoyments of this world, it proved very transitory.'
+Dissensions grew up; M. Fontaine was a Presbyterian, and some of his
+hearers required him to receive Episcopal ordination, and this
+circumstance produced discussion, until he felt it his duty to resign
+his charge. In answer to his request, his elders gave a reluctant and
+sorrowful consent, thanking him most humbly for the service he had
+rendered to this church, during two years and a half, without receiving
+any stipend or equivalent whatsoever for his unceasing exertions. '...
+We have been extremely edified by his preaching, which has always been
+in strict accordance with the pure Word of God. He has imparted
+consolation to the sick and afflicted, and set a bright example to the
+flock of the most exemplary piety and good conduct.'</p>
+
+<p>Our French Refugee next removed to Bear Haven, and entered largely into
+the fishing business; and now he became a justice of the peace, exerting
+himself to break up the contraband traffic, which he found generally
+carried on 'between the Irish robbers and the French privateers,' then
+swarming the Irish coast. From eight to ten of these desperate
+characters were sent to Cork for trial at every assize of Bear Haven.
+They swore vengeance upon the upright magistrate; and in the year
+1704, a French privateer hove in sight&mdash;soon anchoring, he faced M.
+Fontaine's house. The vessel mounted ten guns, with a crew of eighty
+seamen. The Huguenot mustered all his men, amounting to twenty, and,
+sending the Papists away, he supplied the Protestants with muskets. This
+reduced his force to seven men, besides himself, wife, and children, and
+four or five of these were of but little use.</p>
+
+<p>Fontaine posting himself in a tower over the door, the rest of the party
+occupied the different windows. The lieutenant now landed with twenty
+men, and, approaching the dwelling, he took aim and fired at M.
+Fontaine, but missed him. The Huguenot then discharged a blunderbuss,
+with small leaden balls, one of which entered the neck of the
+privateersman, and another his side, when his men carried him back
+wounded to the ship. This unexpected resistance from a minister made the
+captain furious, when he sent to the attack twenty more men, under
+another commander, with two small cannons. 'I must acknowledge,' he
+says, 'that being unaccustomed to this sort of music, I felt some little
+tremors of fear when the first cannon ball struck the house; but I
+instantly humbled myself before my Maker, and having committed myself,
+both soul and body, to His keeping, my courage revived, and I suffered
+no more from fear. I put my head out of the window to see what effect
+the ball had produced on our stone wall, and when I perceived it had
+only made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> a slight scratch, I cried out for joy, 'Courage, my dear
+children, their cannon balls have no more effect on our stone walls than
+if they were so many apples.'</p>
+
+<p>The wife of M. Fontaine displayed the greatest self-possession and
+bravery on this trying occasion, carrying ammunition, acting as surgeon,
+and encouraging all by her words and actions. 'Courage, my children,'
+said she, 'we are in the hands of God, and it is not fear that will
+insure our safety; on the contrary, God will bless our courage. If you
+cannot fire yourselves, you can load the muskets for your father and
+others who are older and stronger than you are; drive away all fear, if
+you can, and leave the care of your persons to God.' The fight continued
+from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon, without
+intermission. Only two of the Huguenot family were wounded&mdash;a man, and
+one of the children slightly in his finger. The pirates finally
+withdrew, with three men killed and seven wounded. During the whole
+action the Huguenot minister did not permit any one 'to taste a drop of
+wine or spirits, or strong beer.' A second attack was feared, but soon
+the privateer weighed anchor and sailed away; when the pious family
+returned thanks to God for their 'glorious deliverance.'</p>
+
+<p>A full account of this bold and courageous affair was transmitted to
+Lord Cox, then chancellor of Ireland, and the Duke of Ormond, the lord
+lieutenant. Fontaine recommended to them that a fort should be built
+there, when 'it would be a great place for the settlement of French
+Refugees, and would also prove a safeguard to the commerce of the whole
+kingdom.' In the year 1704, he himself erected a fortification at the
+back of his house, purchased some six-pounders, which had been obtained
+from a vessel lost on the Irish coast, and the Government supplied him
+with powder and balls. The Council of Dublin also voted him &pound;50, and
+Queen Anne, in 1705, granted him a pension of five shillings a day for
+his services, and as a French Refugee.</p>
+
+<p>From this daring defence, the name of M. Fontaine and wife became known
+and famous throughout all Europe. The French corsairs especially
+remembered it, and threatened another attack. Indeed, the family
+constantly apprehended such a visit, and it did take place in 1704.
+Leaving their vessels at midnight, the enemy soon reached the dwelling
+of the Huguenot, and, firing the outbuildings and stacks of grain, in
+less than half an hour the whole were completely enveloped in flames. On
+this occasion, the entire garrison consisted of the two parents,
+children, with four servants, two of whom were cowboys. By two o'clock
+in the afternoon, the pirates had made a breach through the wall of the
+house; but the children, protected by a mattress, in front of the
+opening, fired one after another at the assailants as they possibly
+could. The Huguenot leader, having overcharged his musket, it burst,
+throwing him down, and broke three of his ribs and right collar bone.
+For a short time he was insensible, but remarks: 'I had already done my
+part, for, during the course of the morning, I had fired five pounds of
+swan shot from my now disabled piece. Notwithstanding this unfortunate
+accident, an incessant fire was kept up on both sides, until a parley
+took place. Life and liberty were then guaranteed to the family, as the
+terms of capitulation, while the pirates were to have the plunder; and
+they swore to these conditions as Frenchmen and men of honor. When the
+officer and men entered the dwelling, and, looking anxiously around, saw
+only five youths, and four cowherds, they suspected that an ambush had
+been laid for them.</p>
+
+<p>'You need not fear anything dishonorable from me,' said the French
+preacher; 'you see all our garrison.'</p>
+
+<p>'Impossible!' he replied; 'these children could not possibly have kept
+up all the firing.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The house was then stripped of everything, not excepting the coats,
+which had been thrown off in the heat of the action; and the booty
+filled six boats. When they departed, M. Fontaine with his two eldest
+boys and two servants were taken away as prisoners. In vain did the
+brave good man protest that this was an infraction of the treaty. The
+remonstrance availed nothing with the freebooters. In a few days, the
+children with the servants were set ashore, but he was detained, when
+orders were given to raise the anchor. During all these severe trials,
+his noble and pious companion did not sit down, quietly lamenting her
+misfortunes. She first went to the parish priest, who was under great
+obligations to her husband, entreating him for his liberation. But he
+positively refused. Perceiving the privateer under sail, she resolved to
+follow it along the shore, as long as she could, and, reaching a
+promontory, she made a signal with her apron, on the top of a stick. A
+boat came near the shore, and she carried on a conversation with its
+crew through a speaking trumpet. After much bargaining, they agreed to
+set M. Fontaine at liberty, upon the payment of &pound;100 sterling. Of this
+sum the excellent lady could only borrow &pound;30, and the captain of the
+privateer consented to take this amount, with one of her sons as a
+hostage, until the remaining &pound;70 were paid, calling her at the same time
+'a second Judith.'</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Fontaine repaired forthwith to Cork, for the purpose of raising the
+sum wanted, and could easily have obtained it, but the merchants of that
+city objected to any payment of the kind. The privateer hovered about
+the Irish coast for some time, expecting the ransom money; but when the
+governor of Brest heard the circumstances, he condemned the captain
+strongly for bringing a hostage away with him, contrary to the law of
+nations. The difficulty did not terminate here. As soon as he was able,
+the French preacher visited Kinsale, and made an affidavit of the
+outrage he had suffered. At this place were a government officer and a
+prison, and immediately all the French officers who had been taken in
+the war then existing were ironed. Numbers of the same description were
+treated in a similar manner. These retaliatory measures excited great
+public feeling against the captain of the privateer, and he was summoned
+to appear before the governor of Brest, who imprisoned and even
+threatened to hang him. Upon his promising to set at liberty the young
+hostage, and convey him to the place from whence he had been taken, the
+officer was liberated.</p>
+
+<p>M. Fontaine now determined to live in Dublin, and support his family by
+teaching the Latin, Greek, and French languages; and in the mean time
+the grand jury of Cork awarded him &pound;800 for his losses at Bear Haven. In
+his new abode he was able to give his children an excellent education;
+one became an officer in the British service, and three entered college.
+The former was John Fontaine, and the family determined that he should
+visit America for information; and after travelling through
+Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, he purchased a
+plantation in Virginia. Peter, another brother, received ordination from
+the bishop of London, and with Moses, who studied law, both embarked for
+Virginia in 1716. Francis, the last son, remained at college.</p>
+
+<p>There were two daughters in his family. The eldest, Mary Anne, married
+Matthew Maury, a Protestant Refugee from Gascony, in 1716, and the next
+year he joined his relations in this country. His son was the Rev. James
+Maury, of Albemarle, Virginia, a very estimable and useful clergyman of
+the Church of England. James was another son of the French preacher who
+made America his home, bringing with him his wife, child, mother-in-law,
+and thirteen servants, in 1717. Francis, in 1719,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> was ordained by the
+Bishop of London, on the particular recommendation of the Archbishop of
+Dublin, and then also sailed for Virginia. He became a very eloquent and
+popular preacher, and settled in St. Margaret's parish, King William
+county.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1721, Mr. Fontaine lost his most faithful, exemplary, and
+pious companion. 'A melancholy day,' he records in his autobiography,
+'it was, that deprived me of my greatest earthly comfort and
+consolation. I was bowed down to the very dust; but it made me think of
+my own latter end, and made preparations to join her once more.' At the
+conclusion of his memoirs, he uses the following remarkable language:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'I feel the strongest conviction, that if you will take care of
+these memoirs, your descendants will read them with pleasure; and I
+here declare that I have been most particular as to the truth of
+all that is herein recorded.</p>
+
+<p>'I hope God will bless the work, and that by His grace it may be a
+bond of union among you and your descendants, and that it may be an
+humble means of confirming you all in the fear of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+I am, dear children,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">'Your tender father,</span><br />
+'<span class="smcap"  style="margin-left: 12em;">James Fontaine</span>.'<br />
+</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p>Little did the faithful Huguenot preacher imagine that a century after
+he wrote thus kindly to his own children, myriads who have been born
+from the same noble and holy ancestry would be animated, cheered, and
+profited by his useful life and example. Though dead he yet speaketh.</p>
+
+<p>We have dwelt thus at length upon the heroic history of this Huguenot
+minister and his family; for where can we find an example so worthy of
+imitation? He was a Huguenot in its fullest sense, bearing himself, at
+all times, with a noble spirit of the true man, for the work before him.
+Never losing trust in God, nor proper confidence in himself, he proved
+that, when thus true, no man need ever despair. His long line of
+descendants in the United States may well cherish and honor his memory.</p>
+
+<p>As we have said before, we dwell more particularly upon the character
+and history of Mr. Fontaine, as a striking example of a true Huguenot;
+and how truth and the right will finally triumph over all obstacles.
+Wherever the French Protestants settled in America, they exhibited this
+same excellent trait; and among their families of Virginia were those
+who distinguished themselves as brave soldiers and able magistrates in
+the councils of the then young Republic.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="TO-MORROW" id="TO-MORROW"></a>TO-MORROW!</h2>
+
+<h3>[G. H. BOKER.]</h3>
+
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'The sun is sinking low,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Upon the ashes of his fading pyre;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The evening star is stealing after him,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Fixed, like a beacon on the prow of night;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The world is shutting up its heavy eye</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Upon the stir and bustle of <i>to-day</i>;&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;"><i>On what shall it awake?</i>'</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="MONTGOMERY_IN_SECESSION_TIME" id="MONTGOMERY_IN_SECESSION_TIME"></a>MONTGOMERY IN SECESSION TIME.</h2>
+
+
+<p>In the beginning of the year 1860, there existed in the city of
+Montgomery, Alabama, a strong, active, and apparently indestructible
+Union party. Three months after the close of the year there remained in
+the city no trace of Union sentiment. To show how this feeling was
+destroyed, sinking slowly, and with many reactions, under influences in
+themselves insignificant, and to narrate, as they fell under personal
+observation, that short train of events which make up the historic
+period of this first capital of the Southern confederacy, will be the
+object of the present sketch.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the summer of 1860 it became evident to every dispassionate
+observer in the South that the country was swiftly approaching a great
+crisis. So dexterously had politicians managed the excitement which
+arose on the discovery of the plot of John Brown, that at the very
+beginning of the year a small and united party had been formed, having
+for its aim the immediate separation of the States. This party,
+following this well-defined object, was the only fixed thing in Southern
+society during the year. In the midst of all changes it was permanent.
+Even before the presidential election, when men's minds wavered about
+things so permanent as party lines and party creeds, about old political
+dogmas associated with favorite political leaders, it remained
+unaffected. The presence of this restless and determined insurrectionary
+element in the party politics of the time gave to the struggle preceding
+the presidential election a character of unusual intensity. The city of
+Montgomery, as the home of Mr. Yancey, and consequently of his warmest
+admirers, and most bitter opponents, felt the full influence of this
+excitement, and soon became one of the natural centres of the growing
+struggle of opinions.</p>
+
+<p>From causes difficult then to trace, there appeared early in the year in
+the money market of the South an unusual condition of prostration. Banks
+were unaccountably cautious. Money was scarce. Debts of more than a
+year's standing were unpaid, and business of all kinds languished. Not
+even were the customary advances made by the banks in the East for the
+purchase of cotton, nor did the money scattered through the country by
+those sales which did take place relieve the financial pressure under
+which everything labored. In October capitalists refused to venture
+their funds on anything which did not promise the most immediate return.</p>
+
+<p>In these signs, in the inexplicable shrinking of capital to its hiding
+places, and in the universal darkening of business, it would seem that
+all might have discovered the approach of that storm which has since
+burst with such fury upon the land. But this was not the case. Although
+every one looked forward with anxiety to the time of election, it was
+only a portion of the so-called <span class="smcap">Breckinridge</span> party who saw with any
+distinctness the point toward which all things were tending. Nor did
+these men make public the extent of their hopes.</p>
+
+<p>They were satisfied at first to do nothing more than familiarize the
+minds of the people with the idea of secession. They spread the doctrine
+that the only hope of Union lay in the defeat of Mr. Lincoln. Expressing
+the worst fears of all, this doctrine was thought to be peculiarly
+calculated to increase the numbers of the Union or Bell party, and was
+therefore readily adopted by those who would at first have repelled with
+patriotic horror the alternative it suggested.</p>
+
+<p>It is impossible to estimate the influence of this lurking fallacy. Not
+merely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> were multitudes of well-meaning, but unreasoning men, who were
+confident of the success of their party, brought to acquiesce in a
+proposition utterly false in its base, but the whole conservative
+element in society was placed in a position from which it would be
+thrown by defeat into a most dangerous reaction. Thus consciously or
+unconsciously all parties were using every effort in their power to
+prepare the popular mind for the question of secession.</p>
+
+<p>But the period was not without its traits of patriotism. In October
+strong efforts were made in the States of Alabama and Georgia to unite
+the three parties in the South on one of the three candidates; thus
+securing a President to the South, and the certainty of the Union. The
+Breckinridge Democrats, however, contemptuously refused to be party to
+every arrangement of the kind. The insurrectionary element, gathering to
+itself the excitable and disaffected spirits of every class, had now
+gained the command of this party, and no longer attempted to conceal its
+revolutionary intentions. At the head of this element, exercising a vast
+influence over all its movements, and embodying in himself, more than
+any other man (except, perhaps, Mr. Yancey), the fierceness of its
+spirit, stood Mr. Toombs, of Georgia. He was now invited to speak in
+Montgomery. As a man of large political experience, some statesmanship,
+and master of a grave and sonorous eloquence, it was expected that he
+would influence a class of men who had hitherto held themselves
+studiously aloof from the insurrectionary ranks&mdash;that calm, conservative
+class, which is recognized by all as the basis of every society which
+has acquired, or having acquired, hopes to retain, stability of
+government and security of morals. The sentiments of the speaker were
+too well known to admit of any doubts as to the probable character of
+his address. He appeared as the undisguised advocate of secession. No
+form of appeal or argument was neglected which could have had weight
+with a people peculiarly susceptible to the influence of oratory.
+Setting aside the question of the approaching election, to which he
+scarcely alluded, the orator strove only to show that it was an
+imperative social necessity that the South should have a vast and
+constantly increasing slave territory; that in the path of this
+necessity the only obstacle was the Federal Union, and that the time for
+its destruction had now come. These were the representative arguments of
+his party before the election, and he did not speak to an unsympathizing
+audience. For when toward the close, raising his voice until it broke
+almost in a scream, he exclaimed, 'Let the night which decides the
+election of Mr. Lincoln be ushered in by the booming of the hostile
+cannon of the South,' the hall rang again and again with the shouts of
+his excited hearers. But <i>nemo repente turpissimus semper fuit</i>. These
+were not the sentiments of all. There was a large class present who did
+not applaud&mdash;but neither did they hiss. They seemed for the time
+overawed by the energy of the spirit which had suddenly sprung up among
+them.</p>
+
+<p>In the following week, however, a singular, though, unfortunately, but
+momentary check was given to the progress of insurrectionary sentiments
+in the vicinity of the city. Senator <span class="smcap">Douglas</span>, who had been slowly
+advancing, in his oratorical tour, down the coast, was about this time
+announced to speak in Montgomery. Since his speech in Norfolk, where he
+was thought to have expressed himself too clearly against secession, a
+strong prejudice had grown up in the South against him, and it now
+threatened to manifest itself in acts of positive violence. Such was the
+state of popular feeling, that for a time it seemed uncertain whether it
+would be desirable for him to attempt to speak. Hints of peculiar
+personal outrages were thrown out by men of a certain class; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>
+threats were made of something still more ominous in case he should
+attempt to repeat the sentiments of his Norfolk speech.</p>
+
+<p>He arrived in the evening, and was met at the cars by a large crowd, and
+a procession formed from a coalition, for the occasion, of his party
+with that of Mr. Bell. It was feared that the short ride to the hotel
+would not be accomplished without some act of violence on the part of
+the excited throng by which his carriage was surrounded. A few eggs were
+thrown, but otherwise the ride was performed without interruption. From
+further outrages the crowd restrained itself until something positive
+should appear on the part of the orator himself. Unintimidated, however,
+by these unmistakable evidences of the public feeling, Mr. Douglas on
+the following morning presented himself on the steps in front of the
+capitol, where it had been announced that his speech would be delivered.
+The city was filled with strangers, who had come from all parts of the
+country to be present at the State fair which was held there that week.
+On Capitol Hill, therefore, an immense throng was early assembled, which
+coldly awaited the arrival of the orator. Everything was chilly and
+unfavorable. But the spirit of the obstinate debater seemed to rise with
+the difficulties by which he was surrounded. At first even his manner of
+speaking operated to his disadvantage. The sharp, syllabic emphasis,
+which he was accustomed to adopt in addressing large assemblages in the
+open air, grated harshly on ears accustomed to the smooth and carefully
+modulated elocution of Mr. Yancey. Beginning, however, by enunciating
+general principles of government, in which all could agree, he gradually
+conciliated, by an unexpected appearance of moderation, the favorable
+attention of his audience. As he advanced upon his customary sketch of
+the history of the different political parties during the past few
+years&mdash;a work which a hundred repetitions enabled him to perform with a
+dramatic energy of style and expression singularly effective&mdash;he was
+occasionally interrupted by exclamations of acquiescence. As he
+described the various successes of the Democratic party, these became
+frequent, and before he had finished the <i>resum&eacute;</i>, his voice was drowned
+amid the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>It was a triumph of oratory. He repeated every sentiment of his Norfolk
+speech, and the men who in the morning had thrown out dark hints of
+'stoning,' joined in the applause. He accepted as a certainty the
+election of Mr. Lincoln, but caused the crowd to shout with exultation
+at the prospect of tying all his activity by the constitutional check of
+a Democratic majority in Congress. In short, he came amid general
+execration, and departed amid universal regret. I had heard Mr. Douglas
+before, but never when he gave any evidence of the wonderful power which
+he exhibited on this occasion. With few tricks of rhetoric, with no
+extraordinary bursts of eloquence, he accomplished all the results of
+the most impassioned oratory. The qualities of a great debater&mdash;unshaken
+presence of mind, tact in adapting himself to his audience, the power of
+arranging facts in a form at once simple and coherent, and yet most
+favorable to his own cause, the strange influence by which one mind
+compels from others the recognition of its supremacy&mdash;have long been
+conceded to the late Senator from Illinois, but never did he exhibit
+these qualities with greater effect than before the excited populace of
+Montgomery.</p>
+
+<p>This was the last strictly Union speech which was delivered in that
+city. No one after this was found bold enough to stand up in the defence
+of the cause that from this day began slowly to succumb to the fierce
+spirit to which it was opposed. For several days the effects of the
+speech were visi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>ble in the moderate tone of 'popular feeling;' but they
+were soon lost in the tumultuous excitement attending the return of Mr.
+Yancey from his tour in the North, and the still more intense feeling
+produced by the election which immediately followed.</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible in these last hours of distinct political
+organizations not to be struck with the differences that characterized
+the opposing parties&mdash;differences which, both before and since, have had
+much to do with the progress of the rebellion. The Union gatherings were
+easy, jovial, fond of speeches adorned with the quips and turns of
+political oratory, and filled with the spirit 't'will all come right in
+the end.' In the Breckinridge&mdash;or, as they had now practically
+become&mdash;the secession meetings, a different spirit prevailed. It was the
+spirit of insurrection, fierce, stormy, unrestrained. It was the spirit
+of hatred; hatred of the North, hatred of the Union, hatred of Mr. Bell,
+whose success would deprive them of their only weapon for the
+destruction of that Union.</p>
+
+<p>But with the 4th of November came a change. Three days after election
+there remained in Montgomery no trace of party organizations. All the
+widely divergent streams of public opinion seemed suddenly to have
+joined in one, and that running fiercely, and unrestrained toward
+disunion. The election of Mr. Lincoln united the people. On all sides
+prevailed the deepest enthusiasm in favor of secession. Mass meetings,
+attended by all parties, were held, and passed resolutions advocating in
+the strongest terms immediate disunion. Secessionists were astonished at
+the change, and in their anxiety to avoid anything which might shock the
+newly awakened sentiment, appeared in many cases the most conservative
+members of the community. But indeed nothing was too violent for the
+state of public feeling. War committees were appointed, and active
+measures taken to put the State in a position to maintain her
+independence as soon as the ordinance of secession should have received
+the sanction of the convention. Troops were despatched to take
+possession of the arsenal, and agents were sent North to purchase
+additions to the already large supply of arms in the State. Immediate
+secession seemed to be the desire of every class. But this condition of
+things was not always to continue. The reaction which had carried the
+Unionists from a state of perfect confidence in the success of their
+candidate, to one of deep disappointment, and of rage at the section to
+which they attributed their defeat, having at length spent itself, signs
+of a returning movement began to make their appearance. At first these
+were not strongly marked. All were yet in favor of secession, but a
+large party, composed of most of the former partisans of Mr. Bell,
+together with the conservative element of every class, began at length
+to object to a too great precipitancy, and finally to demand that the
+action of Alabama should be made to depend upon the decision of the
+other Southern States. This movement was understood by the secessionists
+to have for its ultimate object the defeat of their hopes of disunion;
+and such, unquestionably, was its aim; for whatever may have been the
+plans of some of the leaders of the Co&ouml;perationists, as this party was
+called, it is certain that the great body of the party had no other end
+in view, and was sustained in its action by no other hope than the
+perpetuation of the Union.</p>
+
+<p>At the caucus meetings which preceded the election of delegates to the
+State convention the two parties, as now formed, first came into
+conflict. At once important differences became apparent. Although nearly
+equal in numbers, in spirit the two parties were signally unequal. While
+the secessionists were bold, vigilant, and uncompromising, the
+Co&ouml;perationists were timid and passionless, though full of a passive
+confidence that the Union would in some way be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> preserved. A knowledge
+of this difference explains many things, in themselves apparently
+inexplicable. It shows how it was possible that a State so confessedly
+loyal that it would have rejected the ordinance of secession if it had
+been submitted directly to the people, could yet, on this very issue,
+elect a convention with a majority in favor of disunion. The whole
+question was decided in the caucus meetings. The secessionists of all
+parts of the State were bound together by watchful associations, and
+were everywhere on the alert. In counties where by their number they
+were entitled to no representative, attending the caucus meeting in
+force, they effected&mdash;as they easily could while there was no distinct
+party organization&mdash;a union of the tickets, and thus secured to
+themselves one of the two candidates. So frequently was this repeated in
+different parts of the country, that it was afterward estimated that by
+this simple expedient of a union ticket the whole question of the
+secession of this State was decided.</p>
+
+<p>From these political struggles, however, the interest of the community
+was suddenly withdrawn by an event which instantly absorbed all
+attention, and struck terror into every household. In the little town of
+Pine Level, a village situated a few miles from Montgomery, traces were
+discovered of a plot having for its object a general uprising of the
+negroes on the evening preceding Christmas.</p>
+
+<p>In the progress of the investigations which were immediately begun, it
+came to light that the plot was not simply local, but extended over many
+counties, including in its circuit the city of Montgomery, and involving
+in its movements many hundred negroes. Further examination revealed all
+the horrible details which were to attend the consummation of the
+plot&mdash;the butchery of the whites, the allotment of females, the division
+of property. The whole surrounding country was alive with excitement.
+Active measures were taken to crush at once the spirit of insurrection.
+The ringleaders and some of the poor whites, with whom the plot is said
+to have originated, were seized and, after a brief trial, immediately
+hung. In Montgomery feeling was such as to demand the adoption of the
+most stringent precautionary measures. Military companies were called
+out and placed in nightly guard over the capitol and arsenal. On
+Christmas eve the plot was to go into execution, and as the time
+approached, the anxiety became painfully intense. It was whispered that
+one of Mr. Yancey's slaves had been detected in an attempt to poison her
+master. The police was doubled, soldiers with loaded muskets were
+stationed in all the prominent streets, while mounted guards ranged the
+thinly inhabited section of the outskirts. The night, however, passed
+without alarm, and the excitement from that time slowly subsided.</p>
+
+<p>It is scarcely worthy of notice, perhaps, that with the returning sense
+of security came also the flippant confidence which had been for a time
+put to flight. The blacks were again a timid and affectionate race, and
+it was soon not difficult to find multitudes who declared themselves
+willing to meet alone a hundred insurrectionary slaves. Sitting in this
+evening calm, listening to such remarks, it was difficult to accept as
+real the events of the hot and excited day which had gone before. Surely
+they were dreams&mdash;the hurried trials, the hangings, the nightly tread of
+soldiers, the brooding terror that whitened the lips of mothers. A home
+guard, however, was immediately formed, including all citizens,
+irrespective of age or station, capable of bearing arms, and not in
+other military organizations.</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th of January, the convention met. South Carolina had already
+passed her ordinance of secession; but what others would follow the
+example of this excitable State was yet uncer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>tain. All eyes were now
+anxiously directed toward Alabama, upon whose decision would to a great
+degree depend that of the two great conservative States, Louisiana and
+Georgia. Nor was this anxiety diminished by the accounts given of the
+composition of the convention of this State. Both sides claimed a
+majority; and it was evident that, without some unexpected defection,
+the two parties would narrowly escape a tie. This singular uncertainty
+was soon, however, to cease. Immediately on convening, it became evident
+that the command of the body lay with the secessionists. It was found by
+secret estimates that the two parties were divided by ten votes. Of the
+hundred delegates, fifty-five were in favor of disunion. Although this
+majority gave the secessionists power to carry their wishes into instant
+effect, it was not thought politic to do so while the difference between
+the two parties remained so small. The passage of the ordinance was,
+therefore, for several days delayed, while the Co&ouml;perationists were
+plied with arguments to induce them to acquiesce in that which it was
+now impossible for them to prevent. At length, after four days of
+deliberation, it became evident that all of this party had succumbed
+whom it seemed possible to change, and on the morning of the 11th of
+January it was publicly announced that the ordinance of secession had
+passed the convention by a vote of sixty-one in the affirmative against
+thirty-nine in the negative.</p>
+
+<p>By the insurrectionists the announcement was received with transports of
+joy, but by the Unionists it was met with demonstrations of grief, which
+they made no efforts to conceal. Women wept, and houses were closed as
+for a day of mourning. In the northern part of the State the
+manifestations of disappointment were still more unmistakable.
+Indignation meetings were held, and one of the delegates received a
+telegram from his constituents, charging him with having betrayed them
+on the very issue for which he was elected, and demanding explanations.
+At length the loyal feeling of the State seemed aroused, and had the
+ordinance of secession been now submitted to the people, all admitted
+that it would have been rejected by an unquestionable majority. But the
+ordinance was not submitted to the people, and the Union sentiment,
+which had already, within the interval of a few weeks, passed through
+two complete oscillations&mdash;vibrating from the loyalty which preceded the
+presidental election through all the changes of the strong disunion
+reaction which followed&mdash;was now again in the ascendant. But from this
+point it soon began to recede, descending slowly along an arc of which
+no eye can see the end, with a momentum that permits no prediction as to
+the time of its return.</p>
+
+<p>A multitude of influences began at once to weaken the energy of the
+Union sentiment. From the first, it had been the policy of the disunion
+leaders to represent the question of secession as lying wholly with the
+South. In case this section should decide upon disunion, there would be
+little reason, it was said, to fear any prolonged opposition on the part
+of the North&mdash;least of all a war. Nothing appeared on the part of the
+Federal Executive to refute these assertions. It was by a large class
+believed, therefore, that the leaders were right when they said that the
+secession would be a mere withdrawal of the Southern States, for the
+formation of a government perfectly friendly to the North, with which,
+indeed, a board of commissioners would soon arrange the terms of a
+peaceful international trade. After the passage of this ordinance,
+however, a slight modification of this argument became necessary. Peace
+was conditioned upon unanimity. Unionists were now called upon to render
+their support to the new government in order to secure peace. If it was
+clear that the State was united in favor of the changed condition of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span>
+things, there would be no difficulty, it was said, to procure, amid the
+divisions of the North, a peaceful recognition of the confederacy. The
+factions of the Northern States would never allow the Federal Government
+to attempt to coerce a united people. Thus the very weapons which
+loyalty had used to arm herself were here wrested to her own
+destruction. To insure peace, men became insurrectionists.</p>
+
+<p>It is useless now to surmise what would have been the result if the
+action of the Federal Government in reference to the question of
+secession at the beginning of the rebellion, had been less ambiguous. It
+is enough to know, what was for many weeks so painfully realized by
+every Northerner in the South, that had the Southern people, by any
+means, been brought to understand that Federal laws were protected by
+sanctions, and that an attempt at disunion would certainly be followed
+by war, the question of secession would never have become a formidable
+issue. But while men believed, as many of the Unionists did, that
+secession was an experiment, attended with no danger to themselves, and
+which would more than likely result, after a few years, in a peaceful
+reconstruction of the Union on terms more favorable to the South, there
+is little occasion for wonder that the cause of disunion met with no
+very earnest, or, at least, prolonged opposition.</p>
+
+<p>The passage of the ordinance of secession gave to the disunionists an
+incalculable advantage. It is true, the Union feeling was deep, and in
+many places strongly aroused, but the State had seceded, the new
+government was quietly and apparently solidly forming itself, profitable
+offices were in its gift, and, added to all, the conservative spirit
+whispered its old motto, <i>quieta non movere</i>, and the hands which had
+been raised in weak resistance fell harmlessly back.</p>
+
+<p>In the mean while, at the capitol, another work was going on. The
+convention, having established by ordinance the independence of the
+State, was now engaged in tearing down and remodelling to meet the petty
+wants of the Republic of Alabama the august structure of the Federal
+Constitution. The work was soon completed, and on the 29th of January
+this body, which in a brief session of three weeks had carried through
+measures involving some of the most stupendous changes possible to a
+civil State, adjourned to meet again on the 4th of March, cutting off,
+by this, all possibility of any of the questions which it had discussed
+being brought before the people by a new election. On the week following
+the adjournment of the convention, the confederate congress assembled in
+Montgomery.</p>
+
+<p>This body immediately showed a fine appreciation of the state of public
+feeling, and drew to itself the confidence of the people by selecting
+for president and vice-president of the temporary government men who
+were thought to represent the more conservative element in community.
+Mr. Davis, at the time of his election, was in Mississippi, but on
+receiving the official announcement of the event, started at once for
+Montgomery, passing through Southern Tennessee, then a loyal State,
+along a path nearly parallel to the one in which Mr. Lincoln was at the
+same time moving a little farther north.</p>
+
+<p>He reached the city in the night, but a large crowd was awaiting his
+arrival at the depot. A procession of carriages, filled with members of
+the confederate congress, led the way to the hotel. It was preceded by a
+military band, and at regular intervals rockets were discharged,
+announcing to the distant beholder the progress of the procession. All
+felt that by attention to these honorary details they were assisting to
+give dignity to the newly formed confederacy. On arriving at the hotel,
+Mr. Davis was announced to speak from the balcony. The crowd pressed
+curiously forward. Two candles threw a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> faint, yellow light over a
+spare, angular form, rather below the medium height, lighting up, at the
+same time, the sunken cheeks and strongly marked jaws of a face now
+working with the emotions which the unusual events of the evening were
+so well calculated to excite.</p>
+
+<p>The ceremonies of inauguration were postponed to the beginning of the
+following week. Early on Monday morning, however, the hill before the
+capitol was covered with a vast throng, collected from all parts of the
+new confederacy. For the accomodation of the members of congress, a
+temporary platform had been erected in front of the capitol. Standing on
+this, and glancing over the city, the eye rested on the rich valley of
+the Alabama, stretching away many miles to the north, broken here and
+there by the dark green foliage of the pine forests, which now twinkled
+in the soft light of a day mild even for the latitude. At the extreme
+rear of the platform, behind a small table, was seated the chairman of
+the congress, Howell Cobb. Corpulent even to grossness, he formed a
+curious contrast to the small and wasted forms of the two presidents
+elect, who sat at his side. The events of this day have given to every
+trait of these men a lasting and unenviable interest. Neither looked
+like a great man, neither like a man thoroughly bad. All the impressions
+produced by the first appearance of Mr. Davis were strengthened, without
+being changed, by a farther acquaintance. To a physique by no means
+imposing, he joins a manner too reserved to make him at any time a
+favorite of the populace. His whole bearing, in fact, declares him a
+stranger to that deep and contagious enthusiasm which has so often in
+enterprises like this drawn to a leader the admiration and unconquerable
+fidelity of the common people. Nor, on the other hand, is there anything
+in his appearance to indicate the presence of the broad and
+comprehensive energy which, in the mind of the thoughtful, can take the
+place of such an enthusiasm. Still, he is in many respects peculiarly
+suited to take the head of the rebellion. Elected at a time when State
+distinctions were lost sight of in the warmth of the first formation of
+the confederacy, he soon lost his sectional character, and represents,
+as no one now elected could, the people alike of Virginia and those
+along the Gulf. He is shrewd, cautious, determined. But his caution may
+easily become scarcely distinguishable in its results from timidity. His
+determination is never far removed from stubbornness. Mr. Stevens, who
+sat, or, rather, had sunk, in his chair by the side of Mr. Davis, was a
+thin, sickly looking man, whose small round face was characterized by
+the pallid self-concentrated expression peculiar to invalids. On rising
+at the administration of the oath, which he did with the laborious
+movement of one to whom weakness had become a habit, he revealed a form
+of about the medium height, but broken, as by some physical
+disfigurement. During most of the ceremonies, he wore the air of an
+uninterested spectator, amusing himself with the head of a slight and
+rather jaunty cane, which he held between his knees. Although greatly
+inferior, so far as mere physical appearances are concerned, to his
+colleague, there is yet something in the expression and bearing of Mr.
+Stevens which suggests a depth and comprehensiveness of intellect for
+which one searches in vain the face of Mr. Davis. On the platform were
+gathered nearly all those restless spirits which have, during the past
+twenty years, disturbed the peace of the country. Conspicuous among them
+appeared the bristling head of Mr. Toombs. He sat during the whole
+ceremony, with his face, wearing the imperious expression which had
+become habitual to it, turned upon the people. With uncovered heads, and
+in perfect silence, the crowd listened to the oath of office.
+Immediately on the completion of this ceremony the two presidents and
+the congress withdrew to the senate chamber.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A levee was announced for the evening. The hall which had been selected
+for this gathering was a large, low room in the upper story of a
+building near the centre of the city.</p>
+
+<p>Some efforts had been made by the ladies to conceal the rudeness of the
+apartment, but it was expected that every deficiency of this kind would
+be forgotten in the presence of that courtly society which had hitherto
+given all the attractiveness to occasions like this on the banks of the
+Potomac. It is but fair to suppose that these expectations were
+disappointed, for early in the evening the hall was crowded with a
+throng of men and boys, who, standing with uncovered heads, talking
+loudly of the hopes of the new confederacy, or moved uneasily about,
+seeking a favorable position from which to watch the 'president shake
+hands.' This was the ambition of the evening. Every standing point in
+the vicinity of Mr. Davis was taken advantage of. Chairs and benches
+served as footstools to elevate into positions of prominence long rows
+of men dressed in the yellow jeans of the country, who stood, during all
+the long hours of the evening, watching with unchanging countenances the
+multiplied repetitions of the short double shake and spasmodic smile
+which Mr. Davis meted out to each of the constantly forming column that
+filed before him. The platform was filled with the same class, and even
+the arch of evergreen, under which it was intended that Mr. Davis should
+stand, was pushed aside, to give place to those unwinking faces which
+pressed to every loophole of observation. The ladies, who appeared here
+and there in the crowd, sparkling with jewels, and dressed in the rich
+robes naturally suited to the occasion, only increased by their presence
+the rude incongruities of the gathering. Men were surprised at the
+manifestations on every hand of a vulgarity and coarseness which they
+had been accustomed to think the natural products and exclusive
+characteristics of a state of society farther north. To the eyes of the
+fastidious, a new class had suddenly arisen in their midst. Perhaps the
+lesson was not a new one. Many nations before, when in the midst of
+revolutions, have been called mournfully to learn that there are grades
+in every society, that rebellions are not always tractable, and that the
+class which guides their opening rarely controls their close. But if the
+scene of the evening had any prophecies of this kind&mdash;and I do not say
+that it had&mdash;it wailed them, like Cassandra, to ears divinely closed.</p>
+
+<p>From this time the ferment of public opinion disappeared. A tangible
+government existed, against which to speak was treason, and the friends
+of the Union&mdash;and in spite of all changes, the number of these was yet
+considerable&mdash;now for the first time ceased from the expression of those
+objections by which they had hitherto indicated the direction of their
+sympathies. All classes of men were longing for something permanent, and
+eagerly grasped at these appearances of a settled government, as
+promising to supply that which they so much desired. The establishment
+of a calm and united state of public feeling seemed, therefore, the
+almost instant effect of the inauguration of Mr. Davis. As might be
+expected, the events which have been related had not taken place in the
+South without affecting the condition of the Northern stranger who
+chanced to be within the gate. To him every change had been for the
+worse. During the fluctuations of public opinion in the early part of
+the season, his position, though unpleasant, had still some relieving
+circumstances; the condition of the country was not yet utterly
+hopeless, and the vanity of being stable in the midst of universal
+change, ministered a mild though secret pleasure, which, in the painful
+anxieties of the period, was not without its consolatory value. But when
+the tide of public opinion had turned strongly in one direction, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span>
+that in favor of secession, all those pleasures, so mild and spiritual,
+were at once destroyed. Nor was this a condition without change. Every
+week added some new restraints to those by which the Unionist was
+already surrounded. But never was the pressure of these restraints felt
+to be so great as in this singular calm, which followed the inauguration
+of Mr. Davis. The loyal spirit seemed extinct. Union sentiments were no
+longer expressed in even the private circles. Now, however, hints were
+occasionally dropped of the possibility of a future reconstruction, and
+in this direction it was evident the small remnant of the Union party
+was now turning its hopes.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the general appearance of unanimity, one thing remained
+which seemed to indicate a want of perfect confidence on the part of the
+people generally in the permanency of the new order of affairs. This
+was, the little interest which was manifested in the transactions of the
+rebel congress. With nothing else to occupy their minds, the people
+allowed the most important measures of public policy to pass almost
+without remark. To the congress itself this apathy did not extend. There
+appeared here, on the contrary, a germ even of the old State
+antagonisms; for when Mr. Toombs, carrying out the former policy of his
+State, introduced a bill imposing a tax on imports, declaring, at the
+same time, that no government could ever be sustained without depending
+chiefly upon this source of revenue, every member from South Carolina
+was on his legs. After a warm debate, and against the strongest protests
+of these members, the bill was carried and went into effect.
+Notwithstanding this, many in England still secretly believe that the
+Federal tariff was the real cause of the secession.</p>
+
+<p>The astonishing promptness with which the rebel government, immediately
+after the fall of Fort Sumter, equipped and placed upon the field an
+enormous and fairly organized army, has given rise to a strong
+impression concerning the energy put forth by the executive department
+during the two months which intervened between this event and the
+inauguration. No mistake could be greater. On the very day of the
+election of Mr. Lincoln the South possessed a military establishment
+quite equal, in proportion to its population, to that of either France
+or Russia. At the time of the John Brown excitement, a rumor was spread
+through the South that large bodies of men were gathering in different
+parts of the North, having for their object an invasion of the Southern
+States. Among all the reports which this excited period produced, none
+was more sedulously diffused, and none more generally believed.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever had been the original design of the story, its instant effect,
+in the excited state of the public mind, was the formation of companies
+in every county and village throughout the South for military drill.</p>
+
+<p>These organizations, of which there were frequently several in a single
+village, were equipped entirely at the expense of the individual
+members. As they were under constant drill during the winter and summer,
+they presented at the opening of the year 1861 the singular spectacle of
+a great army, organized and equipped at its own expense, ready at any
+moment to march at the command of the recognized government. This, it is
+unnecessary to say, was the grand basis of that army which was afterward
+placed upon the field; and thus it was that a secretary of war so
+palpably inefficient as Mr. Walker was able, with an empty treasury, for
+many months to surpass the North in the supply of troops, equipped, and
+at once prepared for duty.</p>
+
+<p>It was in full appreciation of this great armed mass that lay at his
+hand in a condition to be easily formed into an organized and efficient
+army, that Mr. Davis, after much entreaty, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> repeated postponement,
+reluctantly gave his assent to the first strong act of the executive
+department, and ordered the attack upon Fort Sumter.</p>
+
+<p>Without anticipating what were to be the effects of this act in the
+North, which was, indeed, open to the conjecture of no man, Mr. Davis on
+this occasion simply exhibited a hesitancy in venturing on extreme
+measures, which will be found to be a characteristic feature of his
+administration.</p>
+
+<p>For several days the city was filled with rumors concerning the
+anticipated attack, but early on Friday morning it was announced that
+the bombardment had already begun. In the general excitement, business
+was suspended. Crowds filled the streets. The war department was in
+constant receipt of telegraphic messages announcing the progress of the
+bombardment. But nothing came during the day to diminish the growing
+anxiety. It was found that the fleet of war vessels said to be outside
+the bar would take advantage of the night to come to the succor of the
+fort. Sleep was impossible. Men who had gone to bed arose again and
+joined the crowd which thronged the streets. At length, shortly after
+midnight, Mr. Walker came forth and announced the last and most
+favorable telegraphic report concerning the progress of the siege,
+uttering at the same time the famous boast which has linked his name
+with an indissoluble association of folly. Shortly past noon on
+Saturday, the message came which announced the surrender of the fort.
+The city was frantic with joy. For hours, no forms of manifestation
+seemed adequate to express the excitement which filled all classes of
+society. Standing on the housetop in the evening, a wild crowd could be
+seen flitting before bonfires, or ranging the streets, and shouting in
+the ecstasy of an excitement which none could control. Immediately on
+the arrival of the despatch, messengers had started into the country
+with the welcome tidings, and deep in the night the ear was startled by
+the dull roar of the cannon announcing the arrival in some distant
+village of the joyful intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>'That will be the end of the war,' said a man of well known
+conservatism, who stood by at the announcement in Montgomery of the
+surrender of the fort. It was the last expression of that fatal fallacy
+which had lured so large a class quietly to acquiesce in the fact of
+secession in the hope of thus securing the peaceful recognition of the
+North. In a few days more, the whole deception had passed away. But the
+correction had come too late. The Union party was extinct. Twice, in the
+course of that great change, by the progress of which, a people, in
+majority loyal, was converted into one totally disloyal and
+revolutionary, it lay within the power of the Federal Executive, by
+firmness and a proper exhibition of its powers, to have sustained the
+Union party in the South and crushed the rebellion&mdash;before the election
+of Mr. Lincoln, and at the time of the strong Union reaction in the
+election of delegates to the State convention. At both these periods the
+Union feeling was strong and increasing, immediately after each; pressed
+upon by arguments which the course of the Executive had failed to
+answer, it slowly declined. But no great sentiment is destroyed at once.
+There is reason to believe that, if left to itself, the tide of Union
+feeling might again have flowed back, and the faint traces of a
+reconstruction party which appeared in the short interval of quiet that
+belonged to the rebel confederacy indicates, perhaps, the path along
+which it would have returned. But the time for these things had passed.</p>
+
+<p>The fall of Sumter brought the doctrines of secession into instant
+popularity, and roused a spirit of military enthusiasm in the South
+scarcely less intense than that which the same event excited in the
+North. At once, in every direction, disappeared all those sober scruples
+which, during the hottest ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span>citement of the preceding months, had
+quietly controlled the judgment of a small but influential class in
+every community. The change in north Alabama and central Tennessee,
+where the principles of secession had been steadily rejected by the
+people, was almost instantaneous. The excitement and pride of a
+sectional victory, and a false sympathy for the individuals who had
+ventured their lives in a cause in itself, perhaps, objectionable,
+effected what the most cunning fallacies of the leaders had been unable
+to accomplish. As this movement of the popular feeling had many points
+of resemblance with the revolution of feeling which took place just
+after the election of Mr. Lincoln, there were some who believed that it
+would be followed by a similar reaction. The excitement of the war into
+which the whole country was immediately precipitated, cut off, however,
+every chance of any such retrogressive movement. No reaction took place.
+The surrender of Fort Sumter completed the change of opinion which had
+been so long progressing in the South.</p>
+
+<p>Those who look for an immediate restitution of Union feeling in the
+South, as a result of Federal victories, will be disappointed. It will
+be the result of a gradual movement&mdash;a movement resembling in every
+important particular that by which the secession sentiment was
+established in the interval between the election of Mr. Lincoln and the
+surrender of Fort Sumter. Operating particularly upon that class in
+society which is by nature passive rather than active, conservative
+rather than headlong, the movement, as in that case, will be at first
+slow and attended with many reactions, but the result will not be
+uncertain. Already the progress of the war has destroyed nearly all the
+motives by which the Union party of the South was formerly led to adopt
+the cause of secession. This great party, therefore, stretching through
+all parts of the South, forming an important element in the population
+of every village and county which threatened at one time with its
+passive resistance to overturn the whole scheme of the rebellion, stands
+now exposed to the full influence of the reactionary tide which has now
+begun to set back toward the Union. The change may not be at once, but
+the same motive which led the Union man of Tennessee to return to
+loyalty, will prove equally effective with his whole party, wherever
+distributed.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="SHAKSPEARE_FOR_1863" id="SHAKSPEARE_FOR_1863"></a>SHAKSPEARE FOR 1863.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'O England!&mdash;model to thy inward greatness,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Like little body with, a mighty heart,&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">What might'st thou do, that honor would thee do,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Were all thy children kind and natural!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But see thy fault! the <span class="smcap">South</span> in thee finds out</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A nest of hollow bosoms, which it fills</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">With treacherous crowns! they would o'erthrow our country,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And by their hands the grace of Freedom die,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">If hell and treason hold their promises.'</span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><i>Henry V</i>, Act II, Scene i.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_UNION" id="THE_UNION"></a>THE UNION.</h2>
+
+<h3>V.</h3>
+
+<h3>ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI COMPARED.</h3>
+
+
+<p>My previous numbers, comparing the progress, in the aggregate, of all
+the Slave States, with all the Free States, of Massachusetts and New
+Jersey, with Maryland and South Carolina, and of New York with Virginia,
+demonstrate the fatal effect of slavery upon material advance, and moral
+and intellectual development. In further proof of the uniformity of this
+great law, I now institute a similar comparison between two great
+neighboring Western States, Missouri and Illinois. The comparison is
+just, for while Missouri has increased since 1810, in wealth and
+population, much more rapidly than any of the Slave States, there are
+several Free States whose relative advance has exceeded that of
+Illinois. The rapid growth of Missouri is owing to her immense area, her
+fertile soil, her mighty rivers (the Mississippi and Missouri), her
+central and commanding position, and to the fact, that she has so small
+a number of slaves to the square mile, as well as to the free
+population.</p>
+
+<p>The population of Illinois, in 1810, was 12,282, and in 1860, 1,711,951;
+the ratio of increase from 1810 to 1860 being 13,838.70. (Table 1, Cens.
+1860.) The population of Missouri in 1810, was 20,845, and in 1860,
+1,182,012; the ratio of increase from 1810 to 1860 being 5,570.48. (Ib.)
+The rank of Missouri in 1810 was 22, and of Illinois 23. The rank of
+Missouri in 1860 was 8, and of Illinois, 4.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Area</span>.&mdash;The area of Missouri is 67,380 square miles, being the 4th in
+rank, as to area, of all the States. The area of Illinois is 55,405
+square miles, ranking the 10th. Missouri, then, has 11,975 more square
+miles than Illinois. This excess is greater by 749 square miles than the
+aggregate area of Massachusetts, Delaware, and Rhode Island, containing
+in 1860 a population of 1,517,902. The population of Missouri per square
+mile in 1810 exceeded that of Illinois .08; but, in 1860, the population
+of Missouri per square mile was 17.54, ranking the 22d, and that of
+Illinois, 30.90, ranking the 13th. Illinois, with her ratio to the
+square mile and the area of Missouri, would have had in 1860 a
+population of 2,082,042; and Missouri; with her ratio and the area of
+Illinois, would have had in 1860 a population of 971,803, making a
+difference in favor of Illinois of 1,110,239 instead of 529,939. The
+absolute increase of population of Illinois per square mile from 1850 to
+1860 was 15.54, and of Missouri 7.43, Illinois ranking the 6th in this
+ratio and Missouri the 14th. These facts prove the vast advantages which
+Missouri possessed in her larger area as compared with Illinois.</p>
+
+<p>But Missouri in 1810, we have seen, had nearly double the population of
+Illinois. Now, reversing their numbers in 1810, the ratio of increase of
+each remaining the same, the population of Illinois in 1860 would have
+been 2,005,014, and of Missouri, 696,983. If we bring the greater area
+of Missouri as an element into this calculation the population of
+Illinois in 1860 would have exceeded that of Missouri more than two
+millions and a half.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Mines</span>.&mdash;By Census Tables 9, 10, 13 and 14, Missouri produced, in 1860,
+pig iron of the value of $575,000; Illinois, none. Bar and rolled
+iron&mdash;Missouri, $535,000; Illinois, none. Lead&mdash;Missouri, $356,660;
+Illinois, $72,953. Coal&mdash;Missouri, $8,200; Illinois, $964,-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>187.
+Copper&mdash;Missouri, $6,000; Illinois, none. As to mines, then, Missouri
+has a decided advantage over Illinois. Indeed, the iron mountains of
+Missouri are unsurpassed in the world. That Illinois approaches so near
+to Missouri in mineral products, is owing to her railroads and canals,
+and not to equal natural advantages. The number of miles of railroad in
+operation in 1860 was, 2,868 in Illinois, and 817 in Missouri; of
+canals, Illinois, 102 miles; Missouri, none. (Tables 38, 39.) But if
+Missouri had been a free State, she would have at least equalled
+Illinois in internal improvements, and the Pacific Railroad would have
+long since united San Francisco, St. Louis, and Chicago.</p>
+
+<p>Illinois is increasing in a <i>progressive</i> ratio, as compared with
+Missouri. Thus, from 1840 to 1850 the increase of numbers in Illinois
+was 78.81, and from 1850 to 1860, 101.01 per cent., while the increase
+of Missouri from 1840 to 1850 was 77.75, and from 1850 to 1860, 73.30.
+Thus, the ratio is augmenting in Illinois, and decreasing in Missouri.
+If Illinois and Missouri should each increase from 1860 to 1870, in the
+same ratio as from 1850 to 1860, Illinois would then number 3,441,448,
+and Missouri, 2,048,426. (Table 1.) In 1850, Chicago numbered 29,963,
+and in 1860, 109,260. St. Louis, 77,860 in 1850, and 160,773 in 1860.
+(Table 40.) From 1840 to 1850 the ratio of increase of Chicago was
+570.31, and from 1850 to 1860, 264.65, and of St. Louis, from 1840 to
+1850, 372.26 per cent., and from 1850 to 1860, 106.49. If both increased
+in their respective ratios from 1860 to 1870 as from 1850 to 1860,
+Chicago would number 398,420 in 1870, and St. Louis, 331,879. It would
+be difficult to say which city has the greatest natural advantages, and
+yet when St. Louis was a city, Chicago was but the site of a fort.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Progress of Wealth.</span>&mdash;By Census Table 36, the cash value of the farms of
+Illinois in 1860, was $432,531,072, and of Missouri, $230,632,126,
+making a difference in favor of Illinois, of $201,898,946, which is the
+loss which Missouri has sustained by slavery in the single item of the
+value of her farm lands. Abolish slavery there, and the value of the
+farm lands of Missouri would soon equal those of Illinois, and augment
+the wealth of the farmers of Missouri over two hundred millions of
+dollars. But these farm lands of Missouri embrace only 19,984,809 acres
+(Table 36), leaving unoccupied 23,138,391 acres. The difference between
+the value of the unoccupied lands of Missouri and Illinois, is six
+dollars per acre, at which rate the increased value of the unoccupied
+lands of Missouri, in the absence of slavery, would be $138,830,346.
+Thus, it appears, that the loss to Missouri in the value of her lands,
+caused by slavery, is $340,729,292. If we add to this the diminished
+value of town and city property in Missouri, from the same cause, the
+total loss in that State in the value of real estate, exceeds
+$400,000,000, which is nearly twenty times the value of her slaves. By
+Table 35, the increase in the value of the real and personal property of
+Illinois from 1850 to 1860, was $715,595,276, being 457.93 per cent.,
+and of Missouri, $363,966,691, being 265.18 per cent. At the same rate
+of increase from 1860 to 1870, the total wealth of Illinois would then
+be $3,993,000,000, and of Missouri, $1,329,000,000, making the
+difference against Missouri, in 1870, caused by slavery, $2,664,000,000,
+which is much more than three times the whole debt of the nation, and
+more than twice the value of all the slaves in the Union. While, then,
+the $20,000,000 proposed to be appropriated to aid Missouri in
+emancipating her slaves, is erroneously denounced as increasing federal
+taxation, the effect is directly the reverse. The disappearance of
+slavery from Missouri would ensure the overthrow of the rebellion, and
+the perpetuity of the Union, and bring the war much sooner to a close,
+thus saving a monthly expenditure, far exceeding the whole
+ap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span>propriation. But this vast increase of the wealth of Missouri, caused
+by her becoming a free State, if far less than one billion of dollars,
+would, by increasing her contribution to the national revenue, in
+augmented payments of duties and internal taxes, diminish to that extent
+the rate of taxation to be paid by every State, Missouri included.</p>
+
+<p>The total wealth of the Union in 1860 exceeded $16,000,000,000. If this
+were increased $1,000,000,000 in time, by the augmented wealth of
+Missouri, and our revenue from duties and taxes should be $220,000,000,
+as estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury, the increased income,
+being one-seventeenth of the whole, would exceed $12,000,000 per annum;
+or, if the increase of wealth should be only $200,000,000, then the
+augmented proportional annual revenue would be $2,750,000, or nearly
+one-eightieth part of the whole revenue, thus soon extinguishing the
+principal and interest of the debt of $20,000,000, and leaving a large
+surplus to decrease the percentage of taxation in every State, Missouri
+included. The bill then might be justly entitled, <i>an act to restore the
+Union, to advance the public credit, to hasten the overthrow of the
+rebellion, to augment the national wealth, and</i> <span class="smcap">DECREASE THE RATE OF
+TAXATION</span>. By overthrowing the rebellion, the taxes to pay the national
+debt will be collected from all the States, instead of being confined to
+those that are loyal. The rebel confederate debt, never having had any
+existence in law or justice, but having been created only to support a
+wicked rebellion, will of course be expunged by the re&euml;stablishment of
+the Union. Indeed, by a new mathematical and philosophical principle,
+far transcending the most sublime discoveries of Newton, Leibnitz, or La
+Place, the rebel debt is redeemable six months <i>after the end of
+eternity</i>, namely, six months after it is an <i>independent nation</i>, they
+shall have ratified a <i>treaty</i> of peace with us! All the rebel State
+debts incurred since the revolt, for the purpose of overthrowing the
+Government, will, of course, have no legal existence. Under the Federal
+Constitution, no State Legislature can have any lawful existence, except
+in conformity with its provisions, accompanied by a prior oath of every
+member to support the Constitution of the United States. These
+assemblages, then, since the revolt in the several States, calling
+themselves State Legislatures, never had any legal existence or
+authority, and were mere assemblages of traitors. Such is the clear
+provision of the Federal Constitution, and of the law of nations and of
+justice. It would be strange, indeed, if conventicles of traitors in
+revolted States, could legally or rightfully impose taxes on the people
+of such States, loyal or disloyal, to overthrow the Government. Indeed,
+if justice could have her full sway, the whole debt of this Government,
+incurred to suppress this rebellion, ought to be paid by the traitors
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>With a restoration of the Union, the prosperity of all sections will be
+enormously increased. The South, with peace and with ports reopened,
+relieved from rebel taxes and conscription, will again have a profitable
+market for their cotton, rice, naval stores, sugar, and tobacco; the
+West for breadstuffs and provisions; the North for commerce, navigation
+and manufactures; and our revenue, from duties, would be vastly
+augmented, soon justifying a reduction of internal taxation. There is
+one item of almost fabulous value that must not be omitted. The cotton
+now in the Confederate States, of the unsold crops of 1860-'61,
+1861-'62, and 1862-'63, exceeds 5,000,000 of bales. This cotton, sold at
+present prices, payable in federal paper, would be worth $1,800,000,000,
+or $1,134,000,000 in gold. If we diminish this one-half, as cotton might
+fall in price from time to time by the gradual reopening of our ports,
+this cotton would still be worth $900,000,000 in our paper, and
+$567,000,000 in gold. This cotton, while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> putting all our spindles and
+those of the world into full operation, would turn the balance of
+foreign trade at once immensely in our favor, and bring back streams of
+gold to our shores. We would at once commence the liquidation of the
+national debt, with a large sinking fund, as a sacred trust applicable
+to that important subject.</p>
+
+<p>Next to maintaining our finances and the public credit, followed by
+decisive victories in the field, the speedy success of emancipation in
+Missouri is most important. Missouri is larger by more than 6,000 square
+miles than any State east of the Mississippi, and occupies a central
+position between the North and the South, the East and the West. She is
+larger by 16,458 square miles than England proper, containing a
+population of nineteen millions. She is larger by 1,098 square miles
+than New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Delaware. She
+is larger by 5,264 square miles than all the New England States. She has
+a greater white population than the aggregate numbers of North and South
+Carolina and Florida, or of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, or of
+Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, or of Florida, Arkansas, South
+Carolina and Mississippi, or Louisiana; and a larger white population
+than all Virginia, East and West. She had, if disloyal, by her position
+and large white population, more power to imperil the Union than any of
+the slaveholding States. She has been true&mdash;she has suffered much in our
+cause, her fields and towns have been laid waste, thousands of her brave
+sons now fill our armies, and thousands more have fallen in our cause,
+and we will be recreant to truth and justice, to the safety of the
+Union, and forfeit the nation's pledge, if we do not now aid her in
+becoming a Free State. The southern boundary of Missouri (lat. 36&deg;) is
+several miles south of Nashville, Tennessee; but, if we take altitude
+also into consideration, then, according to well established
+meteorological principles, the southern boundary of Missouri is at least
+a degree south of Nashville, reaching the northern boundary of Alabama.
+There is then a very large area of Missouri well calculated for the
+production of cotton. To accomplish this, the levee system of the
+Mississippi must be extended from the southern boundary of Missouri to
+the first highlands in that State, above the mouth of the Ohio; and a
+proper system of drainage adopted. These lands would thus be entirely
+secured from overflow, and greatly improved in salubrity. With these
+improvements, Missouri would contain an area of rich alluvial lands,
+well adapted to the profitable culture of cotton, embracing an extent
+capable of producing at least one million of bales of the great staple.
+These lands, considering latitude and altitude, would possess a climate
+similar to that of Middle Tennessee and North Alabama, where cotton is
+already cultivated with great profit. If emancipation prevailed in
+Missouri, these lands would soon be cultivated in cotton by free labor,
+and its immense superiority over the servile system would soon be
+demonstrated. Such a proof of the superiority of free over slave labor,
+even in the culture of cotton, would soon have an immense effect in
+reconciling the South to the disappearance of a system so fatal to her
+own prosperity, and endangering so much the harmony and perpetuity of
+the Union. This Missouri cotton would be nearer the North and Northwest
+than that grown in any other part of the Southwest, and thus supplied at
+a cheaper rate to our manufacturers, while opening new and augmented
+markets for the provisions and breadstuffs of the Northwest. This cotton
+would, in part, pass up the Ohio to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and
+thence to New York, Philadelphia, and New England. It would also in part
+pass through Indiana and Ohio by their railroads and canals. The great
+central railroad of Illinois would carry large por<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span>tions of it also from
+Cairo to Chicago; but perhaps the largest portion eventually would pass
+up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and enlarged canals to Chicago,
+and thence eastward. With the proposed enlargement of the canal
+connecting the Illinois river with Lake Michigan, and the enlargement of
+the locks of the great Erie canal, extended by a similar enlargement of
+the Chenango branch, and down the Susquehanna to tide water, cotton
+steam propellers would carry the great staple by this route to the
+Hudson and New England, to Baltimore or Philadelphia, at a rate much
+lower than any other Southwestern cotton. The Mississippi would thus
+have a <i>quintuple</i> outlet, as well into the lakes and the Hudson, the
+St. Lawrence, the Delaware, and Chesapeake, as into the Gulf of Mexico,
+and Missouri would be united by new ties with the North, and Northwest,
+as well as with the Middle States. Cairo, St. Louis, Chicago,
+Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo would become considerable
+cotton depots, and slave labor would cease to monopolize the cotton
+culture. But there are other considerations still more momentous.
+Missouri extends from the 36th parallel to 40&frac12;, and from the 89th
+meridian to the 96th, thus embracing four degrees and a half of
+latitude, and seven degrees of longitude. She fronts for many hundred
+miles upon the great Mississippi, and commands its western shore; she
+commands also the mouth of the Missouri river, and both its banks for
+several hundred miles, and all its tributaries. The Missouri river and
+its tributaries are nearly double the length of the Mississippi and its
+branches. Missouri by her position dominates the whole valley of her
+great river, and commands Kansas and Western Iowa, and Nebraska, and
+Colorado, Dacotah and New Mexico. If Missouri had joined the Southern
+confederacy, and its power had ever been established, she would have
+forced with her all the vast region to which we have referred,
+containing, including Missouri, an area equal to twenty States of the
+size of Ohio. To separate Missouri forever from the proposed Southern
+confederacy, is to render the permanent establishment of such a
+government impossible. It not only severs Missouri from them, but all
+the vast region identified with the destiny of that great State. Secure
+Missouri permanently and cordially to the Union, and the rebellion is
+doomed to certain overthrow. With the fall of slavery in Missouri by her
+consent, and her cordial co&ouml;peration and sympathy with the North and
+Northwest, the days of the rebellion are numbered. With Missouri as a
+Free State, Arkansas, adjacent, cannot retain the institution. Such a
+result, aided by victories, and the re&euml;stablishment of our finances,
+would soon give full effect to the edict of emancipation in Arkansas,
+and Louisiana would soon follow. With Missouri as a Free State by her
+consent, and her cordial co&ouml;peration and sympathy, slavery would soon
+disappear from the whole region west of the Mississippi, and Louisiana
+cordially be reunited to the Republic. With such a result, holding New
+Orleans and the mouth of the Mississippi and all the region west of that
+great stream, how could Tennessee or Mississippi remain in the Southern
+confederacy? The truth is, Missouri is the pivot upon which the
+rebellion turns. Had she gone with the South, and given to its cause a
+cordial support, it would have been difficult to subdue the rebellion.
+That she has gone with the Union is a momentous fact, and demands for
+her our heartfelt gratitude. I have shown, it is true, how greatly it is
+the interest of Missouri to become a Free State; but it is still more
+the interest of the nation to secure this great result. Give her what is
+needed to render emancipation certain, and we shall have secured the
+perpetuity of the Union. Missouri had no participation in introducing
+African slaves into this continent. The slaves that cultivate her soil
+are the descend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span>ants of those who were forced here under the British
+flag, or by the ships of the North, then in a state of colonial
+dependence; and it is just, and the national honor demands, that she
+should receive full compensation. As the existence of slavery in any
+State is a great evil and reproach, and a source of much weakness to the
+whole country, so should the nation compensate for any loss that may be
+occasioned by the abandonment of the system in any loyal State. Not only
+is this just, but the faith of the nation is solemnly pledged by
+resolutions adopted by Congress at its last session to carry this policy
+into full effect with the consent of any State. Twenty millions of
+dollars to secure such a result should be regarded as of little moment.
+Gladly would the nation pay a much larger sum for a single victory. But
+the moral and geographical and strategical victory secured by
+emancipation in Missouri by her consent, will be far more important than
+any triumph yet achieved by our arms. It is a victory that relieves a
+great State now and forever from the curse of slavery. It is a victory
+that secures the whole valley of the mighty Missouri to the Union. It is
+a triumph that sweeps slavery from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas,
+dissevers the Southern confederacy, and restores the whole Mississippi,
+from its mouth to its source, to the Union.</p>
+
+<p>The entire constitutionality of such a proceeding by <i>compact with a
+State</i>, was demonstrated by me in the November number of the <span class="smcap">Continental
+Monthly</span>, p. 575. Referring to the case of Texas, I there said: 'The
+principle, however, was adopted of State action by irrevocable <i>compact</i>
+with the Federal Government, by which provision therein was made for
+abolishing slavery in all such States, north of a certain parallel of
+latitude (embracing a territory larger than New England), as might be
+thereafter admitted by the subdivision of the State of Texas. The power
+of action on this subject, by compact of a State with the General
+Government, was then clearly established, in perfect accordance with
+repeated previous acts of Congress then cited by me. The doctrine rests
+upon the elemental principle of the combined authority of the nation,
+and a State, acting by compact within its limits.' When Missouri, with
+her consent, shall have become a Free State, the leaders of the Southern
+rebellion will feel that they have received a mortal blow. Especially
+will this be the case in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee,
+Mississippi, and Alabama. We shall have cut the gordian knot of slavery,
+and the death agonies of the hydra would soon be visible. The importance
+of the result would be felt in the North also, and the wretched traitors
+there, far more guilty even than those of the South, will shrink from
+their atrocious conspiracy to dissolve this Union. The dark plot of
+severing New England from the Republic and of reuniting the rest of the
+States with the Southern confederacy, will be abandoned. That such a
+scheme is contemplated by Northern traitors, and that it is tolerated in
+the South, <i>on condition</i> that all shall become Slave States, is beyond
+controversy. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the Northwest are
+to abandon their free institutions, become slaveholding States, and be
+admitted as such into the Southern confederacy. I had supposed that
+crime had achieved its climax when the Southern rebellion was
+inaugurated; but something more base, more vile, more cowardly,
+debasing, and pusillanimous, it seems, is now contemplated. It is that
+New England shall be expelled, and that the rest of the Free States
+shall come under the dominion of the Southern confederacy. But the
+leaders of this scheme seem to have forgotten the fact, that New
+England, to a vast extent, has peopled the Northwest, and carried there
+their love of free institutions. The descendants of the pilgrims are
+scattered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> throughout the Northwest, and churches, and free schools, and
+love of liberty have gone with them. The scheme is as base and cowardly
+as it is impracticable. No! New England can never be expelled from this
+Union. There the grand idea of the American Union was first conceived;
+there the cradle of liberty was first rocked, before as well as amid the
+storms of the Revolution; there the first blood was shed, the first
+battles fought, the first flag of Union and Liberty unfurled, and there
+it shall float forever. There are Lexington, and Concord, and Bunker
+Hill, and no traitor hand shall ever sever them from the American Union.
+Not an acre of the soil of New England or a drop of all its waters shall
+ever be surrendered by this great Republic; and from Lake Champlain and
+the Housatonick to the St. Croix and St. Johns, the flag of the Union
+shall ever float in undiminished glory. Lake Champlain unites Vermont
+and New England with the Hudson, the lakes, and St. Lawrence; and Long
+Island Sound, commanding the deepest approaches to New York, completes
+the connection, which is a geographical and political necessity. I am
+not a New Englander by parentage, birth, or education, but if the other
+Free States of the North and Northwest should submit to the disgrace of
+uniting themselves with a Southern confederacy, I should remove to New
+England, and breathe an air uncontaminated by slavery or treason. And
+there are hundreds of thousands who would pursue the same course. When,
+in 1798, the great Washington feared that the South might be separated
+by traitors from the Union, he declared that, in such an event, he would
+remove to the North; and, in such a contingency, there are thousands,
+even in the South, who would remove to New England.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p>
+
+<p>Those of the North and Northwest, who should remain and carry their
+States into the Southern confederacy, would be regarded in the South
+with loathing and contempt; the whole civilized world would consider
+their degradation as complete and eternal. They would soon loathe
+themselves, and feel that it was not only the negroes who were enslaved,
+but that they had put fetters upon their own limbs, and rendered
+themselves worthy to be worked as slaves on the plantations of Southern
+masters. I do not believe any of the Free States of the North and
+Northwest can thus be disgraced and humiliated. There is one of these
+States, I am sure, that will never submit to such degradation. It is the
+State of Pennsylvania. There the Declaration of American Independence
+was first proclaimed. There the Articles of Confederation and the
+Constitution were framed. There are Germantown, Paoli, and Brandywine:
+there Washington crossed the Delaware at midnight, and fought the two
+great battles of the war of independence. There Franklin sleeps within
+her soil, the great patriot, philosopher, and statesman whom New England
+gave to Pennsylvania, the Union, and the world. No! No! from the
+Delaware and Susquehanna to the Ohio and Lake Erie, the people of a
+mighty State would consign to the scaffold and the block the wretched
+traitors who would attempt to sever Pennsylvania from New England. Ice
+and granite are called the principal products of New England, but our
+Revolution and this rebellion prove that her great staples are
+intellect, education, liberty, courage, and patriotism. She is said to
+have Puritan angularities and to love money; but she pours out now, as
+in 1776, lavish expenditures of her treasure in defence of the Union;
+and the blood of her sons empurples the ocean and the lakes in every
+naval conflict, and moistens all the battle fields of the nation. No!
+all the traitors of the South, and all the Burrs, Arnolds, and Catalines
+of the North can never sever New England from the Republic. And now, in
+this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> hour of our country's peril, Missouri stretches her hands to New
+England, and to all the free and loyal States, and proposes, with their
+assistance, to abolish slavery, and link her destiny with theirs in the
+bonds of a perpetual Union. And shall we hesitate for a moment, on such
+a question? The money consideration is far less than a month's cost of
+the war, and sinks into insignificance compared with the momentous
+results and consequences. Emancipation in Missouri, with her consent and
+the aid of Congress, is the first grand decisive victory of the Union in
+this contest, insures eventual success, and must now be placed beyond
+all hazard or contingency.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> 7th vol. Hamilton's 'Republic,' p. 189, and Jefferson's
+'Autograph.'</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_SOLDIERS_BURIAL" id="THE_SOLDIERS_BURIAL"></a>THE SOLDIER'S BURIAL.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Where shall we lay our comrade down?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Where shall the brave one sleep?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The battle's past, the victory won,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Now we have time to weep!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Bury him on the mountain's brow,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Where he fought so well;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Bury him where the laurels grow&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">There he bravely fell!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">There lay him in his generous blood,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">For there first comes the light</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When morning earliest breaks the cloud,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And lingers last at night!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">What though no flow'ret there may bloom</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">To scent the chilly air,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The sky shall stoop to wrap his tomb,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The stars will watch him there!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">What though no stone may mark his grave,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Yet Fame shall tell his race</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Where sleeps the one so kind, so brave,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And God will find the place!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Bury him on the mountain's brow,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Where he fought so well;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Bury him where the laurels grow&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">There he bravely fell!</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="LITERARY_NOTICES" id="LITERARY_NOTICES"></a>LITERARY NOTICES.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">The Results of Emancipation</span>, by <span class="smcap">Augustin Cochin</span>, Ex-Mayor and
+Municipal Councillor of Paris. Work crowned by the Institute of
+France. Translated by <span class="smcap">Mary L. Booth</span>, translator of Count de
+Gasparin's works on America, &amp;c. Boston: Walker, Wise &amp; Co. 1863. </p></div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Augustin Cochin</span>, author of the work before us, is a man of a class in
+France from which we are specially well pleased to see vindications of
+Emancipation and of the policy of the Federal Union arise. His position
+is well and briefly stated in the preface as that of a Legitimist, a
+fast friend and ally of Count de Montalembert in his effort to raise up
+a Catholic Liberal party for the development of republican sentiments
+and institutions, and the ardent coadjutor of P&eacute;re Lacordaire,
+Monseigneur d'Orleans, Viscount de Melun, and a host of other moderate
+reformers in behalf of freedom. He has some little reputation as a
+writer on public and political topics; is highly connected, and, what is
+perhaps more to the purpose than aught else, is a very practical man,
+and son-in-law to Benoist d'Azy, who, possessed of an immense fortune,
+an extensive landowner and proprietor of iron forges, has done perhaps
+more than any other man to advance the material interests of his country
+by railway building, mining, and agricultural improvements. We say that
+this is more to the purpose, since it is of importance that the men who
+<i>actively</i> employ capital should understand the falsehood of slavery as
+a productive force in any system of labor, anywhere, at the present day.
+And it is highly significant when we find such men so far enlightened in
+France at this time, where, although, as we learn, very advanced views
+in political economy are set forth, we have still apprehended that a
+deeply based attachment to slavery, common to all the Latin races,
+prevails. That the Radicals should oppose slavery is but natural, but
+such views among the highly cultivated aristocracy are indeed
+encouraging.</p>
+
+<p>We cannot agree with M. Villemain, who, in his report from the Academy,
+decreeing a prize of three thousand francs to M. Cochin for this work,
+speaks of it as inspired with 'eloquent zeal' and 'ardor.' It is very
+far from what it might have been as a <i>literary</i> production; and to one
+not interested in the facts and subject, is even&mdash;with the exception of
+its excellent Introduction&mdash;dry. The author is decidedly an economist,
+but he is <i>not</i> 'an apostle,' as his eulogist claims, unless it be in
+the sense in which any great collector and publisher of truths may be
+termed such. But on its true basis the work is indeed a great one, fully
+deserving the publisher's advertisement words, 'opportune and
+important.' The volume before us is a complete history, in a minor
+degree, of Slavery, and to a very full degree of Emancipation in the
+English and French colonies, with some account of the same in those
+belonging to Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. Having made for many years a
+specialty of the subject, and having had placed at his disposal the
+published and unpublished papers and records of every ministry of
+Europe, as, for instance, of the English Board of Trade, M. Cochin has
+accumulated a mass of extremely valuable material&mdash;all of which is
+presented in a very clear, perfectly well arranged form&mdash;and which we
+need not say should be read by every one in public, since there is
+certainly no intelligent American at the present day on whom the
+necessity of acquiring full information on this subject is not almost a
+solemn duty. Next after crushing rebellion, the great task of the
+Federal Government should be to organize labor and adopt a vigorous
+<i>central</i> and <i>industrial</i> policy. To do this, the relations of free and
+of slave labor to circumstances should be extensively studied. As in the
+case of all wars involving an institution, the question between the
+North and the South at the present day is simply one between ignorance
+and knowledge&mdash;knowledge such as books like this are eminently adapted
+to disseminate.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Passing by religious and philosophic argument, neither of which has been
+of much practical avail in this country, since we see the Church of the
+South quite as zealous in upholding slavery on Biblical grounds as that
+of the North is in opposing it, we come to Cochin's first real
+argument&mdash;that political economy affirms the superiority of free over
+forced labor. Policy and charity unite in this&mdash;'charity detests slavery
+because it oppresses; policy, more elevated, condemns it <i>because it
+corrupts the inferior race</i>.'</p>
+
+<p>We call attention to this sentence because it accurately expresses the
+difference between mere 'Abolition,' which regarded only the sufferings
+of the blacks, and that higher and more comprehensive policy of
+'<span class="smcap">Emancipation for the sake of the White Man</span>,' which declares that
+slavery always in time inevitably makes of the slaveholder an
+intolerable neighbor to the free white laborer. From this point our
+author sets forth the gradual growth of the aversion to slavery all over
+the Continent, with the reactionary tendency in its favor in the Cotton
+United States and in England. It is needless to say that, before the
+overwhelming light of <i>facts</i> presented, especially when these facts are
+drawn from the past as well as the present, and from every country
+instead of <i>one</i>, slavery is shown to be more than deadly-conservative;
+more than cruel; more than a mere dead wall in the way of the onward
+march of the century. The time will come when such a curse will be
+rooted out of a country by the strong hand of all civilized nations. Had
+England and France been truly enlightened to their own interests, this
+war would never have taken place.</p>
+
+<p>The history of the African slave trade and the efforts to destroy it,
+the Emancipation of the French Convention and the re&euml;stablishment of
+slavery by the Consulate, from 1794 to 1802, form the first chapter of
+this work. Hence we have its history, its abolition in 1848, and, after
+this, that most important part, a careful examination of the results of
+Emancipation, showing&mdash;as Sewall and others have done&mdash;the grossness of
+the current falsehood to the effect that it has led to evil results. For
+those who can see only a part instead of the whole, who regard the
+amount of good done to themselves as the test of everything, who make no
+allowance for a social transition, or for a future (like our own
+'treason-Democrats'), and who see in the black, whether slave or free,
+simply a creature whose whole mission is to benefit the white, it is
+true that Emancipation in certain isolated cases may not appear to have
+fully succeeded. The <i>truth</i> is, that freed labor has nowhere
+diminished&mdash;it has simply assumed <i>new forms</i>, more advantageous, for
+the time, to the laborer, while in most cases it has increased its
+profits. If slaves were overworked, there was no real gain;&mdash;if schools
+and marriage, cleanly independence and good clothing have increased
+tenfold among those who were once naked, starved, and ignorant, there
+has been a gain, although here and there less sugar is exported. And so
+the reader may trace the arguments and facts to the end.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, after all, we feel almost ashamed that such a book should be really
+needed! What true <i>scholar</i> and honest man requires arguments of this
+kind? A thousand or two years ago, any king's daughter, any young lady,
+anybody walking in a lonely spot, was in danger of being kidnapped and
+sold to prostitution or slavery. Philosophers, poets, and artists were
+owned by brutal wretches; pious priests purchased gentlemen of noble
+birth for slaves. The pirate's galley swept every coast to steal any
+human being. Time rolled on, and slavery was modified. White slaves
+became serfs, serfs became free. The cause of emancipation is clear as
+that of any progressive reform&mdash;and yet, right in the face of history
+and God's truth, we see the Southern Confederacy and the British people
+daring to put themselves forward as the advocates of a crime so rapidly
+becoming obsolete. Yes&mdash;that is what the land of Wilberforce is now
+<i>practically</i> doing, while several of her writers, turning on their
+tracks, are beginning to 'reconsider' the subject in their writings!</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">War Songs for Freemen.</span> Dedicated to the Army of the United States.
+Third Edition. Printed for the New York Volunteers. Boston: Ticknor
+&amp; Fields. </p></div>
+
+<p>Have you a friend in the army, especially one who sings occasionally, or
+if he be not canorous, say a friend who likes to read songs and hear
+them sung by others? In other words, would you, young lady reader (or
+any other reader), like to give some soldier at least half an hour's
+amusement for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> very trivial outlay? In such case we recommend you to
+purchase this little pamphlet, and investing in a postage stamp, send it
+off without delay to the Army of the &mdash;&mdash;, whatever <i>that</i> may be.</p>
+
+<p>The work in question contains thirty songs of the war, mostly written
+expressly for the book, and each accompanied by the music, in nearly all
+cases with the bass. Among the contributors are Dr. O. W. Holmes, who
+has given two capital lyrics, 'Union' and 'Liberty,' and a superb
+trumpet song, well adapted to <i>Was blasen die Trompeten?</i> or 'What are
+the trumpets blowing?' a spirited German air. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe
+contributes a 'Harvard Student's Song', which is of course brilliant,
+earnest, and beautiful. It is set to the glorious old
+Slavonian&mdash;subsequently German air:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'Denkst du duran mein tapf'rer Lagienka?'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>which no one ever heard without loving. C. T. Brooks, has given to the
+grand and swelling <i>Landesvater</i> words in every way worthy of it:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">'Comrades plighted,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Fast united,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Firm to death for Freedom stand!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">See your country torn and bleeding,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Hear a mother's solemn pleading!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Rescue Freedom's promised land.'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The same author also gives the well known 'Korner's Prayer,' and 'The
+Vow.' From Mrs. T. Sedgwick we find a fine bold song, 'For a' that and
+a' that,' of course to the good old air of that name&mdash;a lyric of such
+decided merit in most respects that we regret to notice in it the
+venerable bull of 'polar stars,' quizzed long ago in another writer. Our
+contributor, Henry Perry Leland, has in this collection two songs, both
+strongly marked with the camp, neither setting forth the slightest
+earthly claim to be regarded as 'elevated poesie,' yet both remarkably
+sing-able, and probably destined to become broadly popular. Of these,
+'Bully Boy Billy,' is set to a lilting 'devil may care' Low-Dutch camp
+tune&mdash;one of the kind which 'sings itself,' and is well adapted to a
+roaring chorus. From the same we find a lyric detailing the loss of a
+briarwood pipe stolen in a raid, which the grieving 'sojer' trusts (as
+we most sincerely do with him) may be found when Richmond's taken. Among
+the remaining lyrics are five by Charles Godfrey Leland, including
+'We're at War,' to the bold French air of the <i>Ch&oelig;ur des Girondins</i>,
+'Northmen Come Out,' to the <i>Burschen heraus</i>, and 'Shall Freedom Droop
+and Die?' to the fine old air of 'Trelawney.' 'The Cavalry Song' has a
+brave air, composed for it by John K. Paine. Very spirited and merry is
+'Overtures from Richmond,' set to the quaint air of '<i>Lilliburlero,
+bullen a la</i>,' which is said to have 'sung a deluded prince out of three
+kingdoms.' We trust that some of the old charm still sticks to the magic
+words, and that it may do as much for King Jeff. as it once did for King
+James. Among the remaining lyrics are the following: 'Put it Through,'
+and 'Old Faneuil Hall,' by E. E. Hale; 'Our Country is Calling,' to
+'<i>Wohlauf Kameraden!</i>' by Rev. F. H. Hedge, and a translation of
+Luther's <i>Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott</i> by the same; Hauff's 'Night
+Guard,' an exquisite German air, and 'I'll be a Sergeant,' and 'Would
+you be a Soldier, Laddy?' both of them capital spirited soldier-songs.
+Last, not least, we have the 'Lass of the Pamunkey,' by F. J. Child. We
+know not whether the incident detailed be strictly autobiographic or
+borrowed; it is at any rate well told and merrily music-ed.</p>
+
+<p>The reader will do well to observe that this collection, which has
+already become immensely popular, and has furnished material for more
+than one excellent patriotic concert, is prepared solely for the benefit
+of the solders, <i>and that the proceeds of the sale of the book are all
+devoted to distributing it in the army</i>. All who wish to make a most
+acceptable little gift at a trifling price; all who are 'sending things'
+to the army; all who would secure an interesting specimen of the songs
+of the war, and, finally, all who would own a really excellent musical
+work, should send an order for the above mentioned to Messrs. Ticknor &amp;
+Fields.</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">The National Almanac and Annual Record for 1863.</span> 12mo, pp. 704.
+Philadelphia: George W. Childs. New York: Charles T. Evans. </p></div>
+
+<p>If Dickens's illustrious statistician, Mr. Gradgrind, were in the flesh
+to-day, how he would gloat over this book! The 'facts' presented in its
+seven hundred double-columned pages would satisfy, even to repletion,
+his voracious cravings; and once crammed with them, he would go forth
+into society a walking cyclopedia of all that ap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span>pertained to the civil,
+military, agricultural, industrial, financial, educational, charitable,
+and religious condition of these United States.</p>
+
+<p>But though we make no claim to belong to the Gradgrind family, we
+acknowledge with pleasure our gratification with this book. It has long
+been matter of reproach against us on the part of foreign writers on
+commerce and statistical science, that we produced no statistical works
+worthy the name. The publication of this work will forever put that
+reproach to silence. We have examined the book with care, and have been
+at a loss which most to admire, the patient and extraordinary labor
+which had brought together so vast a collection of important facts, or
+the complete and exhaustive treatment of every subject.</p>
+
+<p>It is a marked characteristic of the work that, while omitting nothing
+necessary to a full elucidation of the past condition of the country, it
+brings all its statistics up to the latest dates. The United States debt
+is given to December 1, 1862; the Government receipts and expenditures
+for the financial year 1862; the issues of the mint to the autumn of
+1862; the contributions of each State to the volunteer army to December,
+1862; the finances of most of the States to the same date; even the
+Pacific States being brought up to last autumn; and the condition of the
+Rebel army and finances to January 1, 1863. Such enterprise deserves,
+and must achieve success.</p>
+
+<p>Noticeable, too, for its completeness and thoroughness, is the 'Record
+of Events' of the war, occupying nearly eighty pages, and forming a
+continuous and admirable journal of the war up to the close of last
+year. In the States, also, the fulness and variety of detail of the
+finances, debts, banks, railroads (a new feature), educational
+institutions, charitable and correctional organizations, agriculture,
+manufactures, and military organization of each State, possess a deep
+interest to any man who desires to know the actual condition and
+resources of his country. We were particularly pleased with a series of
+diagrams, prepared by Prof. Gillespie of Union College, illustrating at
+a glance the changes which have taken place in the relative population
+of the different States, the relative proportion of increase of white
+and of slave population, and the effect produced by this upon different
+sections. We have not, at the late hour at which we write, time or room
+to indicate a tithe of the valuable features of this remarkable book; we
+can only say, that whoever expends the small sum necessary for its
+purchase, will most assuredly obtain an ample equivalent for his money.</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">The Orpheus C. Kerr Papers.</span> Second Series. New York: Carleton, 413
+Broadway. 1863. </p></div>
+
+<p>During the present decade the American public has welcomed almost
+annually a new humorist. Thus we have seen in rapid succession John
+Ph&oelig;nix, Doesticks, Fanny Fern, and Artemus Ward enjoying
+extraordinary popularity, and then new 'lords of misrule' 'reigning in
+their stead.' The last popular favorite is 'Orpheus C. Kerr'&mdash;a name
+thinly disguising that of Office Seeker, and which is not indeed too
+well chosen, since in the volume before us little or nothing relative to
+the very suggestive subject of office-seeking, on the part of the author
+at least, is to be found. The book itself is, however, marvellously
+laugh provoking, abounding in the oddest conceits, strangest stories,
+and drollest extravaganzas in the most ultra American vein. If the men
+who best ridicule great failures in war and in politics, are the ones
+most to be dreaded, it must be admitted that 'Orpheus C. Kerr' is the
+sharpest thorn which has been as yet planted in the side of the 'Young
+Napoleons' of our army, whose ability seems to consist in building up
+the strength of the enemy by delay and in canvassing indirectly for the
+Presidency. There is no cause so good as to be without abuses, and the
+abuses which have crept into our management of the war are touched off
+in these papers as merrily as unmercifully. They have done 'yeoman's
+service' in the press, hitting all sides, but bearing most heavily on
+'Young Napoleon' and the <i>status quo</i> Democracy. It cannot be denied
+that the humor of these sketches is often merely extravagant, sometimes
+harshly strained, and occasionally bare and thin enough in all
+conscience, while the stories of the Cosmopolite Club seem like mere
+'filling up' to 'make pages;' yet with all this there is more real wit,
+humor, and life-knowledge in this volume than would give tone and
+strength to half a dozen ordinary popular essayists<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> of the Country
+Parson school. Extravagance is however to American narrative what it is
+to Arab conversation, something much less <i>outr&eacute;</i> to those who are born
+to it than to strangers, who are unable to discount like the natives as
+fast as the sums total are set down. Making every allowance for every
+defect, there remains in 'Orpheus C. Kerr' a residuum of irresistible
+humor, provoking scores of hearty laughs, and many indications of a
+basis of thought and of literary ability which place him far in advance
+of the later writers of his school. He takes a wider range, too wide
+indeed at times, since he occasionally becomes 'Cockneyfied.' We wish
+that 'Villiam' and the Willis-y 'my boy' were less frequently mentioned.
+Yet as all this is atoned for by abundance of true American fun, we
+readily pardon such echoes, trusting that in his future writings our
+humorist will endeavor to be in all things truly original. He can be so
+by the very simple process of pruning.</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Poems.</span> By <span class="smcap">Thomas Bailey Aldrich</span>. New York: Carleton. 1863. </p></div>
+
+<p>Most of these very pleasant little strains of word-music and of graceful
+thought have been frequently brought before the American public, and
+become familiar favorites. They now reappear to advantage in a delicate
+blue-and-gold volume, with a medallion portrait of the poet.</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Modern War</span>: Its Theory and Practice Illustrated from Celebrated
+Campaigns and Battles. With Maps and Diagrams. By <span class="smcap">Emeric Szabad</span>,
+Captain U. S. A. New York: Harper &amp; Brothers. 1863. </p></div>
+
+<p>An excellent work, of an eminently practical nature, which may be read
+with interest and profit by every one in a time when there
+are so few who do not assume to be more or less critical in the art of war.</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">The Pirates of the Prairies</span>; or, Adventures in the American Desert.
+By <span class="smcap">Gustave Aimard</span>. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson. New York: Frederic
+A. Brady. 1863. </p></div>
+
+<p>A very trashy wildcat romance, highly spiced with sensation sentiment,
+"r-r-revenge," and other melo-dramatic attributes. Its author is well
+known as an extensive contributor to what may be called the
+Sadly-Neglected-Apprentice school of literature and of readers.</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Andree de Taverney</span>, or the Downfall of French Monarchy. By
+<span class="smcap">Alexander Dumas</span>. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson &amp; Brothers. 1863. </p></div>
+
+<p>When we, on the publishers' authority, inform the reader that this is
+really 'the <i>final</i> conclusion' of the 'Countess of Charny,' the
+'Memoirs of a Physician,' and a small library of other works, we shall
+doubtless send a thrill of joy to more than one heart. Incredible as it
+may appear, the Dumas factory, as <i>Maquet</i> termed it, has actually
+finished one of its valuable historical series&mdash;unless indeed the
+director-in-chief should see fit to republish the long-forgotten first
+volume, as a subsequent final conclusion to this of 'Andree de
+Taverney.'</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Verner's Pride</span>; a Tale of Domestic Life. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Henry Wood</span>. In two
+volumes. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson &amp; Brothers. 1863. </p></div>
+
+<p>A decidedly English novel, of a type well known to our public, embracing
+few novelties of character, yet well written, with the story well told.
+It has, we believe, been so fortunate as to secure a wide circulation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="EDITORS_TABLE" id="EDITORS_TABLE"></a>EDITOR'S TABLE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is a dangerous task for the editor of a monthly review, in times like
+these, to comment on what has been or is likely to be done by the army,
+when no one knows what a day may bring forth. But, as regards those of
+the enemy among us who are scheming to aid and abet their Southern
+friends, we may speak more confidently. These traitors, though they have
+of late cast off the mask, and no longer pretend to aid the
+Administration and the cause of the Union, are still obliged to move
+with the caution without which trachery and cowardice would soon perish.
+It is, however, a bitter and a humiliating thought that they are so
+openly active among us, that they hold meetings where the ruin of the
+country is calmly meditated, that they form clubs, that they stir up the
+mob of their degraded hangers-on to hurrah for <span class="smcap">Jefferson Davis</span> in our
+streets, and that finally no amount of exposure and of denunciation in
+the patriotic press seems to have the slightest effect in attracting to
+them the punishment they deserve.</p>
+
+<p>The traitors of whom we speak are of two classes, the leaders and the
+dupes. The latter, careless of the fact that even if a <i>sudden</i> peace
+could be brought about it must overwhelm the country in financial ruin,
+believe in a restitution of the <i>status quo ante bellum</i>. They think
+that their leaders will, in unison with <span class="smcap">Davis</span> and his colleagues,
+reunite, annul Emancipation, disavow the acts of the Lincoln
+Administration, and re&euml;stablish Slavery. Cotton is again to be king, and
+all go on as of old, save that New England is to be thrown out of the
+confederacy. They are encouraged in this belief by lying or cunningly
+managed letters from the South, and by assurances that the confederate
+leaders are secretly working to this end and aim. 'We got along very
+well before the war,' is their constant complaint, 'and we could do as
+well again, were it not for the Emancipationists.' Among the lukewarm,
+the cowardly, the meanly selfish and avaricious, and the habitual
+grumblers, such doctrines are readily made plausible. Those especially,
+who measure the propriety of carrying on a war solely by the amount of
+success which they desire, and who are incapable of great thoughts and
+principles, are easily duped by intriguing villany.</p>
+
+<p>The leaders of these dupes have no faith whatever in restoring the
+Union. They have no desire to restore it. Men like Fernando Wood hope
+from their very hearts for a complete disintegration&mdash;the more thorough,
+for them, the better. They could never expect to command the ship, and
+so they are willing to wreck her, in the hope of each securing a
+fragment. Ruined in character in the eyes of all honest men, their names
+a byword for treason, and in most cases for literal crimes, political
+outcasts of the stamp who are said to vibrate between the legislature
+and the penitentiary, these desperadoes are now working with all their
+might to mass the cowardice of the North into a body powerful enough to
+do collectively, that for which an individual has in all countries and
+in all ages been judged worthy the gallows. But for this war they must
+have been confined to representing the dangerous classes of our
+cities&mdash;the ignorance and vice which finds in them congenial leaders. As
+it is, they hope for wider fields and more absolute sway.</p>
+
+<p>There is reason to apprehend that the men who are really true to the
+Union do not appreciate the extent to which treason is working among us.
+Worse than all, there are many, who, while believing themselves true to
+the good cause, are, by constant grumbling and complaint, aiding the
+very worst form of disunion. Could we prevail with one prayer upon the
+heart of every Federal freeman, it would be to implore him in this hour
+of trial not to withold his warmest support from the Administration and
+to fall into the common weakness of fault-finding and despairing. Such
+enormous wars as this never have been ended in a few months;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> wars
+especially which involve the deepest antagonism of social principles in
+existence. And our winnings have been neither few nor light. The
+Southern Border States, with little exception, are now ours, and will
+inevitably be fully won in time: New Orleans is a pledge, with other
+important points, and the enemy admit that every Southern seaboard town
+is destined to be taken. Does this look like the wild boasting of the
+South two years ago, when the North was to be plundered, Washington
+taken, and the Free States trampled under the heel of a chivalry
+fiercely crying, <i>V&aelig; victis!</i>'&mdash;'Woe to the conquered!'? There is no
+danger now from the enemy: as he himself admits, two years more of the
+war would not, at the rate in which we progress, leave him a single
+State; and be it borne in mind that a <i>speedy</i> return to peace is only
+to be purchased at the price of a terrible financial crisis.</p>
+
+<p>But we are in danger from the traitors <i>at home</i>. <span class="smcap">Jefferson Davis</span> is
+less deadly to the Federal Union and less to be dreaded than the men who
+are scheming to make of New York a free city, and of every State and
+county a feudal principality.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The intentions of Louis Napoleon as regards Mexico are beginning to
+excite interest. Whatever they may be, there is one thing which it would
+be well for the French Emperor never to forget. He holds France simply
+as a pledge to the Revolution. So long as he remains true to the cause
+of liberty&mdash;and, despite names and circumstances, he has been truer to
+it than many suppose&mdash;he will remain in power. When he is false to it he
+will perish. It was through forgetting this that his uncle died at St.
+Helena&mdash;it was through forgetting this that Louis Philippe quitted Paris
+in a very citizenly but most un-kingly manner. The <i>bourgeoisie</i> of
+France and the gossips of Paris may storm at the Federal Union,
+<i>&eacute;piciers</i> may growl for our sugar, and operatives for cotton, but this
+class&mdash;on whom Louis Philippe made the mistake of solely relying, with a
+little help from the aristocracy&mdash;are not the men who guide the storms
+of revolution in France. The arch spirits of mischief are more secret,
+and of late years they have learned much. They are no longer so much
+inclined to Socialism, P&egrave;re Cab&eacute;t and 'national ateli&eacute;rs,' still less to
+guillotines and noyades. But they are firm as ever, as jealous of
+despotism as ever, and, for an oppressor, as powerful as ever. And we
+believe that this class of men are firmly attached to the great cause of
+progressive freedom as represented by the Federal States and by the
+present Administration. Every day sees the truth spreading in France,
+and with its extension goes a deeply seated interest in the abolition of
+slavery. France&mdash;unlike England&mdash;feels shame at the idea of being
+chronicled in history as aiding oppression. The Frenchman is not so
+enormously conceited, so pitiably vain as to believe, like the Briton,
+that a crime is a virtue when for <i>his</i> own peculiar interest. Vain as
+the French may be, they have not quite come to <i>that</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It must be admitted that the French are a shrewd nation. We were wont to
+think of old that there was more spite than intelligence in the epithet
+by which they characterized John Bull as 'perfidious.' They were right,
+for time has shown us that Venice, in the full bloom of her night-shade
+iniquity and poniard policy, was never falser at heart than this great,
+brawling, boasting, beef-eating England&mdash;this 'merry England' of paupers
+and prisons, where one man in every eight is buried at public
+expense&mdash;this Mother England, which starves away annually half a million
+of emigrants&mdash;this Honest Old England, which floods the world with
+pick-pockets, burglars, and correspondents for the <i>Times</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It was a trifling thing which brought on the French Revolution of
+1848&mdash;the return of foreign refugees to Austria, and other significant
+indications of joining with the old powers in oppressing freedom. Let
+Louis Napoleon beware of an anti-American policy&mdash;for to every such
+policy there will be an opposition, with a spectre of the Revolution in
+the background.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>When these remarks meet the eye of the reader, the infamous conduct of
+the drunken Delaware Southern-ape Senator, <span class="smcap">Saulsbury</span>, will in all
+probability have been forgotten. We have for so many years been so
+familiarized with the ribald or rowdy pranks of the chivalry, and of
+those more miserable wretches their Northern servants, that the mass of
+the public seems even yet quite willing to endure, for the poor payment
+of an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> apology, conduct which should anywhere have promptly consigned to
+imprisonment, at least, the guilty one. Not but that the apology of
+<span class="smcap">Saulsbury</span> was humble enough in all conscience. But it is time that our
+halls of legislation were thoroughly purified, now that 'chivalric'
+brigandage and the Southern system of personal retaliation no longer
+prevail. The first legislator who shall dare to draw a weapon in a place
+sacred to the councils of his country, should be permanently expelled
+from those councils, and made to feel by rigorous imprisonment, and
+life-long disfranchisement, the enormous infamy of his offence. We
+wonder that the English press treats us as a nation of boors and fools,
+and yet permit a representative on the floor of the Senate to set forth
+in his own person the worst of which a boor or fool is capable, and
+accept as full reparation a drunken-headaching apology!</p>
+
+<p>These are the days of reform, and we sincerely trust that the reform
+will extend to the conduct of all our representatives, especially in
+Congress. The man who shall dare to apply, not merely to the President,
+but to any fellow member, while in either House, any terms of personal
+abuse, should incur a punishment which would teach him for the future to
+keep a civil tongue in his head, and make him endeavor to assume in
+future, at least the outward deportment of a gentleman. The going armed
+into such an assembly should however be promptly visited with a penalty
+of the extremest severity. It is time that the North freed itself
+entirely of these Southern 'dead rabbits' of the Saulsbury stamp, and
+indicated by every means in its power its determination to progress in
+the path of justice, order, and civilization.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>All contributions, letters, &amp;c., intended for the editors of <span class="smcap">The
+Continental Magazine</span>, should be addressed to the care of <span class="smcap">John F. Trow</span>,
+Esquire, No. 50 Greene street, New York. Correspondents directing to Mr.
+<span class="smcap">Leland</span> are particularly requested to bear this address in mind, as that
+gentleman is no longer a resident of Boston.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>We publish the poetical tale, <span class="smcap">The Lady and her Slave</span>, by an American
+lady, subscribing herself <i>Incognita</i>. This is a poem of great genius
+and power. Whilst it possesses the inspiration of poetry, it has all the
+merits of a truthful and most interesting tale, combined with a splendid
+intellectual argument against slavery. This poem unites the logic of
+Pope with the genius and poetical inspiration of Goldsmith. It is a
+tragedy, and might be transferred to the stage. We trust <i>Incognita</i>
+will continue her favors to <span class="smcap">The Continental</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="author">R. J. W.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The rise in specie and in exchange is, we observe, spoken of as
+'unprecedented'. The following extract from a work entitled, 'The
+British Empire in America,' written in 1740, shows that we are as yet
+far from having attained the differences in these respects:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'As to Money, they have none, Gold or Silver: About 50 Years ago
+they had some coined at <i>Boston</i>; but there's not enough now for
+Retailers. All Payments are in Province Bills, even so low as <i>Half
+a Crown</i>; thus every Man's Money is his Pocket Book. This makes the
+Course of Exchange so exorbitant, that 100<i>l.</i> in <i>London</i> made out
+lately 225<i>l.</i> in <i>New-England</i>; and if a Merchant sells his Goods
+from <i>England</i> at 220<i>l.</i> Advance upon 100<i>l.</i> in the Invoice, he
+would be a Loser by the Bargain, considering the incidental Charges
+on his Invoice.' </p></div>
+
+<p>So that after all, they had as great 'ups and downs' of old as do we of
+the present day.</p>
+
+<p>Apropos of the old book in question, it abounds in quaint bits of
+information, given in a dry, free and easy style seldom found at the
+present day in any work of the kind. Thus it tells us, among the
+anecdotes of ELLIOT the missionary, that an Indian in a religious
+conference asked how GOD could create man in his own image, since
+according to the second commandment it was forbidden to make any such
+image?</p>
+
+<p>'To qualify him for the Work he was going about, Mr <i>Elliot</i> learnt the
+<i>Indian</i> Language as barbarous as can come out of the Mouth of Man, as
+will be seen by these Instances:</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Nummatchekodtantamoonganunnonash</i>, is in English, <i>Our Lusts</i>; a Word
+that the Reverend Mr <i>Elliot</i> must often have occasion to make Use of.
+As long as it is, we meet with a longer still:</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Kummogkodonattoottummoooctiteaongannunonash</i>, meaning Our Question.</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Gannunonash</i>' seems to be 'our,' because we find it in the End of the
+First Word, as well as the second, * * and this appears again in another
+Word:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'<i>Noowomantammooonkanunnonash</i>, 'Our Loves.'</p>
+
+<p>'The longest of these <i>Indian</i> Words is to be measured by the Inch, and
+reaches to near half a Foot; and if Mr <i>Elliot</i> did put as many of these
+Words in a Sermon of his, as Mr <i>Peters</i> put <i>English</i> Words in one of
+his Sermons, everyone of them must have made a sizeable Book and have
+taken up three or four Hours in utterance.'</p>
+
+<p>The Peters referred to was the celebrated Hugh Peters, Cromwell's
+chaplain. Our author vindicates this clergyman from certain scandalous
+charges, declaring that he had asked of his daughter, Miss Peters, if
+they were so, which she had utterly denied! Less credulous is he as
+regarded 'William Pen' (with whom he seems to have been on terms of
+great personal intimacy), since he hints very broadly in one passage,
+that he put no faith whatever in a certain assertion of 'Pen' as to his
+own (Penn's) good behavior when amiably smiled on by a <i>belle sauvage</i>,
+who, as the French would say, was not savage at all. 'Scandal, scandal
+all,' we doubt not. There are gossipers in every age, tattlers in every
+corner of history, and who escapes them? Cato did not, Washington could
+not, and 'Mr Pen' even must fill his place with the great maligned. Let
+us trust that our incautious dip from the old work may not, suggest to
+any novel maker 'Penn and the Princess,&mdash;a Tale of the Olden Time.'</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The following poem, which we find in the Philadelphia <i>Press</i>, is among
+the best of the many sad lyrics which the war has inspired. The music of
+the refrain is remarkable:</p>
+
+
+<h4>DIRGE FOR A SOLDIER.</h4>
+
+<p class="center">By George H. Boker</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Close his eyes; his work is done!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">What to him is friend or foeman,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Rise of moon, or set of sun,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Hand of man, or kiss of woman?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Lay him low, lay him low,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">In the clover or the snow:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">What cares he? he cannot know:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Lay him low!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">As man may, he fought his fight,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Proved his truth by his endeavor;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Let him sleep in solemn night,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Sleep forever and forever.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Lay him low, lay him low,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">In the clover or the snow:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">What cares he? he cannot know:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Lay him low!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Fold him in his country's stars;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Roll the drum and fire the volley!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">What to him are all our wars,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">What but death bemocking folly?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Lay him low, lay him low,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">In the clover or the snow:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">What cares he? he cannot know:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Lay him low!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Leave him to God's watching eye;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Trust him to the Hand that made him.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Mortal love weeps idly by:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">God alone has power to aid him.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Lay him low, lay him low,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">In the clover or the snow:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">What cares he? he cannot know:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Lay him low!</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Much has been said of the high price paid to opera singers. The
+celebrated <span class="smcap">Berlioz</span> once reduced it to details in the following word:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'The first tenor,' he said, 'has 100,000 frcs. per annum, and he
+sings for it about seven times during the month, or eighty-four
+times during the year. This would be about 1,100 francs per
+evening. Admitted then that his part would contain 1,100 notes or
+syllables, the price of each syllable would be 1 franc.
+Consequently in William Tell:</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ma (1 fr.) presence (3 fr.) pourvous est peut etre un outrage (9 fr.)<br />
+Mathilde (3 fr.) mes pas indiscret (100 sous).<br />
+On os&eacute;e jusqu'a vous se frayer une passage! (13 fr.)<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>'These three lines therefore cost 34 francs. A great sum! Engaging
+under these circumstances a Prima Donna, at the miserable pittance
+of 40,000 francs, the answer of Mathilde amounts to much less, for
+every syllable would then cost but 8 sous: but even that is not so
+bad after all.</p>
+
+<p>'We laugh,' adds Berlioz, 'but the theatres have to pay. They will
+pay until the treasury is empty, and after that the 'Immortals'
+will have to condescend to give singing lessons (i.e., those who
+know enough for it), or to sing at public places with accompaniment
+of one guitar, four candles, and a green carpet. After that we may
+be able to construct the Temple of Music on a firmer basis.' </p></div>
+
+<p>At these rates, the old form of declaring that any thing went for 'a
+mere song,' would not say much for its cheapness. But if&mdash;as Berlioz
+seems to think&mdash;these high prices are to be regretted, we still cannot
+see how they are to be remedied. The public, for want of better
+amusement, keep up the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> opera, and the different opera houses keep up
+the prices by outbidding each other. When municipal governments shall
+recognize the fact that amusement is a constant quantity in the
+administration of a state, and provide first-class entertainments
+<i>gratis</i> or at nominal rates, there will be much vice done away with and
+many rum shops closed&mdash;which would be bad, by the way, for the
+Democrato-Rum-elected Governor Seymour, for the whole alcoholic vote was
+cast in his favor. There will, we believe, come a time when the party of
+progress will urge an enlarged provision of education and recreation for
+the people, with the same earnestness which it now shows in forwarding
+Emancipation.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>England has by her Southern sympathy fairly put a serpent girdle of her
+treachery around the earth. For further particulars consult the
+following:</p>
+
+
+<h4>TO JOHN BULL.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Oh don't you remember sweet Ireland, John Bull?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Green Erin beyond the blue sea?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And the patriots there whom you starved, hung, and shot,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Because they desired to be free.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">On the lone heather wild, in the dark silent glen,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The peasant still shows you the graves</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Of the heroes who fell in the year ninety-eight</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And died ere they'd live as your slaves.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And don't you remember your own words, John Bull,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Of the Southern Confed&mdash;er&mdash;a&mdash;cie?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When you said in the <i>Times</i>, that your heart went of course</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">With a brave race which sought to be free.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Oh what do you think of Old Ireland, John Bull?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">There's a race that's as brave as your own,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And one that would like very well to be free,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">If you only would let it alone.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And don't you remember great India, John Bull?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">With the Sepoys you blew from your guns,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And the insult and murder of Brahmins, John Bull,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">For some outrage endured from their sons?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The outrage was proved a black lie, as you know,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A lie, as your own books declare:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Your hell-hounds of <span class="smcap">Havelocks</span> stirred up the war,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And what business had they to be there?</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And don't you remember great China, John Bull,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Where you smeared yourself blacker with sin?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Where the Emperor tried to keep opium out,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And you fought to force opium in?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">It was <i>Government</i> opium from India, too,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Which poisons both body and soul;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">You have fought against freedom with steel, Johnny Bull;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">With the steel and the cord and the bowl.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And do you believe in a <span class="smcap">God</span>, Johnny Bull,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Or <i>anything</i> after the grave?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Then tell us what waits for the sinner who aids</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The tyrant to trample the slave?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I'll not ask if you've faith in a Devil, John Bull:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">One might think he were laid on the shelf,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To see you unpunished&mdash;but now I believe</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">That you are the False One himself.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>We are indebted to a friend for the following tales of foraging, which
+are vouched for as authentic:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A company of the Two&mdash;th cavalry of volunteers, no matter in what
+State, were out on a forage, with the usual orders to respect the
+enemy's property. But coming on a plantation where chickens and
+turkeys were dallying in the sunshine, the officer in command,
+tired of pork and plaster-pies, alias hard biscuit, gave the boys
+leave to club over as many of the 'two-legged things in feathers'
+as they could conveniently come at. The result was that a good
+number were despatched, and being tied together by the legs, were
+slung over the pommel of the saddle of 'Benny,' an old <i>sabreur</i>,
+who had frontiered it for years, been in more Indian fights than
+you could shake a stick at, and could tell, if he wanted to, of
+some high-old-hard times with these same Mdewakantonwar, Wahpekute,
+Ihanktonwannas, and Minnikanyewazhipu red-skinned fiends.</p>
+
+<p>Returning to camp, as ill luck would have it, they met the colonel
+of their regiment riding out to a neighboring camp. Just before
+they met him, in fact when they were nearly up to him, for a curve
+in the road had hid him from sight till then, the officer in
+command rode by Benny with the command:</p>
+
+<p>'D&mdash;n it, man, why don't you sling those chickens the other side
+your saddle? The colonel will see them, hanging that way.'</p>
+
+<p>'Can't be done! got fourteen turkeys <i>there</i> on a balance!'</p>
+
+<p>By remarkably good fortune the colonel did not see the chickens, so
+they and the turkeys were safely smuggled into camp,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> Benny getting
+full credit for maintaining the balance of power, when the odds
+were dead against him. </p></div>
+
+<p>Story ye second:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>When the Forty-eleventh P.M. were camped near Boonesboro', what
+time the rebels were driven out of Maryland, the colonel of the
+said regiment duly issued orders that all provender taken by troops
+under his command should be fairly paid for without defalcation for
+value received. Now it happened one bright morning that the major
+of the aforesaid regiment riding out near camp, saw a private
+deliberately lift up what is known in Southern tongue as a 'rock,'
+and throwing the same with great skill, instantly kill a small pig
+that with half a dozen other small pigs were following their mother
+at full speed away from the neighborhood of this same private.</p>
+
+<p>The soldier, who was an Irishman, picked up the pig, and hiding it
+under his army sack, was returning to camp, when, lifting up his
+head, he saw before him the major, who, assuming his most solemn
+look, thus spoke to him:</p>
+
+<p>'What have you under your coat, there?'</p>
+
+<p>'Shure it's an empty stomach, sirr!&mdash;and a small pig that's hurted
+itself&mdash;poor little thing!&mdash;and I'm taking it home to mend its leg,
+to be sure:&mdash;the poor crayture wud be after dying if left all alone
+in the cold, the raw morning.'</p>
+
+<p>The major dearly relished the joke, but discipline is discipline,
+and there was but one way to overlook this breach of it: that was
+to punish Paddy by giving him a three-mile walk down the road, and
+over the fields back to camp, before he could bring his pig in.</p>
+
+<p>'You say the pig is lame?' asked the officer.</p>
+
+<p>'Shure, that's the truth, sirr; and I'm afther belaving it'll niver
+be able to run any more at all, at all: be the same token its
+tail's out of curl entirely; and had'nt I better be afther taking
+it home than letting it die like a haythin in the road here?'</p>
+
+<p>'Do you see that old sow down the road there with those other pigs?
+you follow her home at <i>once</i>, sir, and leave the lame pig
+<i>there</i>!'</p>
+
+<p>Saying which, the major continued his ride, and the Irishman duly
+followed the old sow to&mdash;a turn in the road, when he 'obeyed
+orders,' and left the lame pig 'at home,' where that night at least
+one mess had roast pig with '<i>ubi</i> beans <i>ibi patria</i>,' sauce at
+discretion. </p></div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h4>TO</h4>
+
+<h3>THE MARINERS OF ENGLAND</h3>
+
+<h4>ON BOARD THE PRINCESS ROYAL</h4>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Ye Mariners of England,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">That shame your country's fame;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That peddle chains to bind the slave,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">In the blood-royal name!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Your glorious standard hide away,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Hoist slave flags in its place,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And steal o'er the deep,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">With our Yankee ships in chase:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And ye peddlers, shun the starry flag,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">While the Yankee cruisers chase.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The spirits of your fathers</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Shall start from every wave!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">For the ocean was their field of fame,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And ye insult their grave.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Where they like bold men fought and fell,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Ye take a part that's base,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And steal o'er the deep</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">With our Yankee ships in chase:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And ye peddlers, shun the starry flag,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">While the Yankee cruisers chase.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Britannia needeth cotton,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And so your honor'll sleep;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Your market's o'er the mounting wave,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Your greed of gain lies deep.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Your sovereign bids you walk upright;&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Her fair fame you disgrace,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And steal o'er the deep,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">With our Yankee ships in chase:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And ye peddlers, shun the starry flag,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">While our Yankee cruisers chase.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The meteor flag of England</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Should redder burn for shame,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When it waves o'er chains for slaves</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">In Princess Royal's name.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Mourn, mourn, ye ocean hucksters!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Your goods and ships are lost:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To the shame of your name</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Get you home and count the cost:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">For your Princess Royal's gone for good;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Get you home and count the cost.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<p><br /><br /></p>
+
+
+  <h1>The</h1>
+  <h1>Continental Monthly.</h1>
+
+
+<p>The readers of the <span class="smcap">Continental</span> are aware of the important
+position it has assumed, of the influence which it exerts, and of the
+brilliant array of political and literary talent of the highest order
+which supports it. No publication of the kind has, in this country, so
+successfully combined the energy and freedom of the daily newspaper with
+the higher literary tone of the first-class monthly; and it is very
+certain that no magazine has given wider range to its contributors, or
+preserved itself so completely from the narrow influences of party or of
+faction. In times like the present, such a journal is either a power in
+the land or it is nothing. That the <span class="smcap">Continental</span> is not the
+latter is abundantly evidenced <i>by what it has done</i>&mdash;by the reflection
+of its counsels in many important public events, and in the character
+and power of those who are its staunchest supporters.</p>
+
+<p>Though but little more than a year has elapsed since the
+<span class="smcap">Continental</span> was first established, it has during that time
+acquired a strength and a political significance elevating it to a
+position far above that previously occupied by any publication of the
+kind in America. In proof of which assertion we call attention to the
+following facts:</p>
+
+<p>1. Of its <span class="smcap">political</span> articles republished in pamphlet form, a
+single one has had, thus far, a circulation of <i>one hundred and six
+thousand</i> copies.</p>
+
+<p>2. From its <span class="smcap">literary</span> department, a single serial novel, "Among
+the Pines," has, within a very few months, sold nearly <i>thirty-five
+thousand</i> copies. Two other series of its literary articles have also
+been republished in book form, while the first portion of a third is
+already in press.</p>
+
+<p>No more conclusive facts need be alleged to prove the excellence of the
+contributions to the <span class="smcap">Continental</span>, or their <i>extraordinary
+popularity;</i> and its conductors are determined that it shall not fall
+behind. Preserving all "the boldness, vigor, and ability" which a
+thousand journals have attributed to it, it will greatly enlarge its
+circle of action, and discuss, fearlessly and frankly, every principle
+involved in the great questions of the day. The first minds of the
+country, embracing the men most familiar with its diplomacy and most
+distinguished for ability, are among its contributors; and it is no mere
+"flattering promise of a prospectus" to say that this "magazine for the
+times" will employ the first intellect in America, under auspices which
+no publication ever enjoyed before in this country.</p>
+
+<p>While the <span class="smcap">Continental</span> will express decided opinions on the
+great questions of the day, it will not be a mere political journal:
+much the larger portion of its columns will be enlivened, as heretofore,
+by tales, poetry, and humor. In a word, the <span class="smcap">Continental</span> will be
+found, under its new staff of Editors, occupying a position and
+presenting attractions never before found in a magazine.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h4>TERMS TO CLUBS.</h4>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" width="70%" cellspacing="0" summary="Subscription Costs">
+<tr><td align='left'>Two copies for one year,</td><td align='left'>Five dollars.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Three copies for one year,</td><td align='left'>Six dollars.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Six copies for one year,</td><td align='left'>Eleven dollars.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Eleven copies for one year,</td><td align='left'>Twenty dollars.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Twenty copies for one year,</td><td align='left'>Thirty-six dollars.</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align='center'>PAID IN ADVANCE</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<p class='center'><i>Postage, Thirty-six cents a year</i>, to be paid <span class="smcap">by the
+Subscriber</span>.</p>
+
+<h4>SINGLE COPIES.</h4>
+
+<p class='center'>Three dollars a year, <span class="smcap">in advance</span>. <i>Postage paid by the
+Publisher</i>.</p>
+
+
+<p class='center'>JOHN F. TROW, 50 Greene St., N. Y.,<br />
+PUBLISHER FOR THE PROPRIETORS.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figleft"><img src="images/imgfinger.jpg" alt="pointing finger" title="pointing finger" /></div><p>As an Inducement to new subscribers, the
+Publisher offers the following liberal premiums:</p>
+
+<div class="figleft"><img src="images/imgfinger.jpg" alt="pointing finger" title="pointing finger" /></div><p>Any person remitting $3, in advance, will
+receive the magazine from July, 1862, to January, 1864, thus securing
+the whole of Mr. <span class="smcap">Kimball's</span> and Mr. <span class="smcap">Kirke's</span> new
+serials, which are alone worth the price of subscription. Or, if
+preferred, a subscriber can take the magazine for 1863 and a copy of
+"Among the Pines," or of "Undercurrents of Wall Street," by <span class="smcap">R. B.
+Kimball</span>, bound in cloth, or of "Sunshine in Thought," by
+<span class="smcap">Charles Godfrey Leland</span> (retail price, $1. 25.) The book to be sent postage paid.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft"><img src="images/imgfinger.jpg" alt="pointing finger" title="pointing finger" /></div><p>Any person remitting $4.50, will receive the
+magazine from its commencement, January, 1862, to January, 1864, thus
+securing Mr. <span class="smcap">Kimball's</span> "Was He Successful? "and <span class="smcap">Mr.
+Kirke's</span> "Among the Pines," and "Merchant's Story," and nearly 3,000
+octavo pages of the best literature in the world. Premium subscribers to
+pay their own postage.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<p><br /><br /></p>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/imgffl.jpg" alt="Finest Farming Lands" title="Finest Farming Lands" /></div>
+
+
+<h3>EQUAL TO ANY IN THE WORLD!!!</h3>
+
+<h4>MAY BE PROCURED</h4>
+
+<h3>At FROM $8 to $12 PER ACRE,</h3>
+
+<p class='center'>Near Markets, Schools, Railroads, Churches, and all the blessings of
+Civilization.</p>
+
+<h4>1,200,000 Acres, in Farms of 40, 80, 120, 160 Acres and upwards, in
+ILLINOIS, the Garden State of America.</h4>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<blockquote><p>The Illinois Central Railroad Company offer, ON LONG CREDIT, the
+beautiful and fertile PRAIRIE LANDS lying along the whole line of their
+Railroad. 700 MILES IN LENGTH, upon the most Favorable Terms for
+enabling Farmers, Manufacturers, Mechanics and Workingmen to make for
+themselves and their families a competency, and a HOME they can call
+THEIR OWN, as will appear from the following statements:</p></blockquote>
+
+<h4>ILLINOIS.</h4>
+
+<p>Is about equal in extent to England, with a population of 1,722,666, and
+a soil capable of supporting 20,000,000. No State in the Valley of the
+Mississippi offers so great an inducement to the settler as the State of
+Illinois. There is no part of the world where all the conditions of
+climate and soil so admirably combine to produce those two great
+staples, <span class="smcap">Corn</span> and <span class="smcap">Wheat</span>.</p>
+
+<h4>CLIMATE.</h4>
+
+<p>Nowhere can the Industrious farmer secure such immediate results from
+his labor as on these deep, rich, loamy soils, cultivated with so much
+ease. The climate from the extreme southern part of the State to the
+Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad, a distance of nearly 200
+miles, is well adapted to Winter.</p>
+
+<h4>WHEAT, CORN, COTTON, TOBACCO.</h4>
+
+<p>Peaches, Pears, Tomatoes, and every variety of fruit and vegetables is
+grown in great abundance, from which Chicago and other Northern markets
+are furnished from four to six weeks earlier than their immediate
+vicinity. Between the Terre Haute, Alton &amp; St. Louis Railway and the
+Kankakee and Illinois Rivers, (a distance of 115 miles on the Branch,
+and 136 miles on the Main Trunk,) lies the great Corn and Stock raising
+portion of the State.</p>
+
+<h4>THE ORDINARY YIELD</h4>
+
+<p>of Corn is from 60 to 80 bushels per acre. Cattle, Horses, Mules, Sheep
+and Hogs are raised here at a small cost, and yield large profits. It is
+believed that no section of country presents greater inducements for
+Dairy Farming than the Prairies of Illinois, a branch of farming to
+which but little attention has been paid, and which must yield sure
+profitable results. Between the Kankakee and Illinois Rivers, and
+Chicago and Dunleith, (a distance of 56 miles on the Branch and 147
+miles by the Main Trunk,) Timothy Hay, Spring Wheat, Corn, &amp;c., are
+produced in great abundance.</p>
+
+<h4>AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.</h4>
+
+<p>The Agricultural products of Illinois are greater than those of any
+other State. The Wheat crop of 1861 was estimated at 35,000,000 bushels,
+while the Corn crop yields not less than 140,000,000 bushels besides the
+crop of Oats, Barley, Rye, Buckwheat, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes,
+Pumpkins, Squashes, Flax, Hemp, Peas, Clover, Cabbage, Beets, Tobacco,
+Sorgheim, Grapes, Peaches, Apples, &amp;c., which go to swell the vast
+aggregate of production in this fertile region. Over Four Million tons
+of produce were sent out the State of Illinois during the past year.</p>
+
+<h4>STOCK RAISING.</h4>
+
+<p>In Central and Southern Illinois uncommon advantages are presented for
+the extension of Stock raising. All kinds of Cattle, Horses, Mules,
+Sheep, Hogs, &amp;c., of the best breeds, yield handsome profits; large
+fortunes have already been made, and the field is open for others to
+enter with the fairest prospects of like results. Dairy Farming also
+presents its inducements to many.</p>
+
+<h4>CULTIVATION OF COTTON.</h4>
+
+<p>The experiments in Cotton culture are of very great promise. Commencing
+in latitude 39 deg. 30 min. (see Mattoon on the Branch, and Assumption
+on the Main Line), the Company owns thousands of acres well adapted to
+the perfection of this fibre. A settler having a family of young
+children, can turn their youthful labor to a most profitable account in
+the growth and perfection of this plant.</p>
+
+<h4>THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD</h4>
+
+<p>Traverses the whole length of the State, from the banks of the
+Mississippi and Lake Michigan to the Ohio. As its name imports, the
+Railroad runs through the centre of the State, and on either side of the
+road along its whole length lie the lands offered for sale.</p>
+
+<h4>CITIES, TOWNS, MARKETS, DEPOTS.</h4>
+
+<p>There are Ninety-eight Depots on the Company's Railway, giving about one
+every seven miles. Cities, Towns and Villages are situated at convenient
+distances throughout the whole route, where every desirable commodity
+may be found as readily as in the oldest cities of the Union, and where
+buyers are to be met for all kinds of farm produce.</p>
+
+<h4>EDUCATION.</h4>
+
+<p>Mechanics and working-men will find the free school system encouraged by
+the State, and endowed with a large revenue for the support of the
+schools. Children can live in sight of the school, the college, the
+church, and grow up with the prosperity of the leading State in the
+Great Western Empire.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h4>PRICES AND TERMS OF PAYMENT&mdash;ON LONG CREDIT.</h4>
+
+<p class='center'>
+80 acres at $10 per acre, with interest at 6 per ct. annually
+on the following terms:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" width="65%" cellspacing="0" summary="Cost of Land">
+<tr><td align='left'>Cash payment</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>$48 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Payment</td><td align='left'>in one year</td><td align='right'>48 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>in two years</td><td align='right'>48 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>in three years</td><td align='right'>48 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>in four years</td><td align='right'>236 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>in five years</td><td align='right'>224 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>in six years</td><td align='right'>212 00</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p class='center'>40 acres, at $10 00 per acre:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" width="65%" cellspacing="0" summary="Cost of Land">
+<tr><td align='left'>Cash payment</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>$24 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Payment</td><td align='left'>in one year</td><td align='right'>24 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>in two years</td><td align='right'>24 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>in three years</td><td align='right'>24 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>in four years</td><td align='right'>118 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>in five years</td><td align='right'>112 00</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>in six years</td><td align='right'>106 00</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+   <h3>Number 16. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;                 25 Cents.</h3>
+
+<h2>THE</h2>
+
+<h1>CONTINENTAL MONTHLY:</h1>
+
+<h4>DEVOTED TO</h4>
+
+<h2>Literature and National Policy.</h2>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3>APRIL, 1863.</h3>
+
+
+
+
+<p class="center">NEW YORK: JOHN F. TROW 50 GREENE STREET (FOR THE PROPRIETORS).<br />
+
+HENRY DEXTER AND SINCLAIR TOUSEY. WASHINGTON, D.C.: FRANCK TAYLOR.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.--No. XVI.</h2>
+
+
+
+<div class='centered'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" width="65%" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS.--No. XVI.">
+<tr><td align='left'>The Wonders of Words,</td><td align='left'>385</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Chech,</td><td align='left'>395</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Pictures from the North,</td><td align='left'>398</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The New Rasselas,</td><td align='left'>404</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Chained River. By Charles Godfrey Leland,</td><td align='left'>410</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>How the War affects Americans. By Hon. F. P. Stanton,</td><td align='left'>411</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Promoted,</td><td align='left'>420</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Henrietta and Vulcan. By Delia M. Colton,</td><td align='left'>421</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Ethel. By Martha Walker Cook,</td><td align='left'>435</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Skeptics of the Waverley Novels. By Charles Godfrey Leland,</td><td align='left'>439</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A Merchant's Story. By Edmund Kirke,</td><td align='left'>451</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A Chapter on Wonders. By Perth Granton,</td><td align='left'>461</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Return. By Edward Sprague Rand, jr.,</td><td align='left'>464</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Union. By Hon. R. J. Walker,</td><td align='left'>465</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Down in Tennessee,</td><td align='left'>469</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Poetry and Poetical Selections,</td><td align='left'>474</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Flag of our Sires. By Hon. R. J. Walker,</td><td align='left'>480</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A Fancy Sketch,</td><td align='left'>482</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Our Present Position; its Dangers and its Duties,</td><td align='left'>488</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Complaining Bore,</td><td align='left'>496</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Literary Notices,</td><td align='left'>500</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Editors' Table,</td><td align='left'>503</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<blockquote><p>'MY SOUTHERN FRIENDS,' by the author of 'Among the Pines,' is just
+issued from the press of <span class="smcap">G. W. Carleton</span>, 413 Broadway, N. Y. Price, $l,
+cloth; 75 cts., paper covers.</p></blockquote>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Entered</span>, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by <span class="smcap">James R.
+Gilmore</span>, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United
+States for the Southern District of New York.</p>
+
+
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John F. Trow, Printer.</span></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3,
+March 1863, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTNENTAL MONTHLY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25191-h.htm or 25191-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/1/9/25191/
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@@ -0,0 +1,9261 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March
+1863, 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: The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March 1863
+       Devoted To Literature And National Policy
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: April 27, 2008 [EBook #25191]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTINENTAL MONTHLY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Joshua Hutchinson and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by Cornell
+University Digital Collections)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE
+
+CONTINENTAL MONTHLY:
+
+DEVOTED TO
+
+LITERATURE AND NATIONAL POLICY.
+
+
+VOL. III.--MARCH, 1863.--No. III.
+
+
+
+
+TURKEY.
+
+
+The decline of the Turkish Empire has furnished an eloquent theme for
+historians, who have ever made it the 'point and commendation of their
+tale.' Judging from its decline, they have predicted its fall. Half a
+century ago, the historian of the middle ages expected with an assurance
+that 'none can deem extravagant,' the approaching subversion of the
+Ottoman power. Although deprived of some of its richest possessions and
+defeated in many a well-fought field, the house of Othman still
+stands--amid crumbling monarchies and subjugated countries; the crescent
+still glitters on the Bosphorus, and still the 'tottering arch of
+conquest spans the ample region from Bagdad to Belgrade.'
+
+Yet, how sadly changed is Turkey from her former self--how varied the
+fortunes of her classic fields! The physical features of the country are
+the same as in the days of Solyman the Magnificent; the same noble
+rivers water the fertile valleys, and the same torrents sweep down the
+mountain sides; the waves of the AEgean and Mediterranean wash the same
+shores, fertile in vines and olive trees; the same heaven smiles over
+the tombs of the storied brave--but here no longer is the abode of the
+rulers and lawgivers of one half the world.
+
+It has been said, and with some degree of truth, that the Turks are
+encamped, not settled in Europe. In their political and social
+institutions they have never comported themselves as if they anticipated
+to make it their continuing home. Their oriental legends relate how the
+belief arose in the very hour of conquest that the standard of the Cross
+should at some future day be carried to the Bosphorus, and that the
+European portion of the empire would he regained by Christians. From
+this superstitious belief they selected the Asiatic shore for the burial
+of true Mussulmans; nor was it altogether a fanciful belief, for in the
+sudden rise of Russia, Turkey foresaw the harbinger of her fall, and
+recognized in Muscovite warriors the antagonists of fate.
+
+A nation to be long-lived must rise higher and higher in the scale of
+civilization; must approach nearer and nearer its meridian, but never
+culminate. The Athenians reached the zenith of their glory in the age of
+Pericles, and lost in fifty years what they had acquired in centuries.
+The Turks attained their meridian greatness in the reign of Solyman the
+Magnificent--from which time dates their decline.
+
+If we make a comparison between Turkey and her formidable neighbor,
+Russia, we shall find that the latter adopted, while the former resisted
+reforms. Turkey was in the fulness of her power when Russia had not yet
+a name. The spirit of the Ottomans was remarkably exclusive. They
+regarded themselves as a separate and distinct people; they were
+conquerors, and as such thought themselves a superior race--men who were
+to teach and not to learn. In their intercourse with other nations, they
+borrowed nothing, and out of themselves looked for nothing. Their
+feeling of national glory was not extinguished by national degradation,
+but cherished through ages of slavery and shame. But the world is a
+world of progress. A nation cannot remain stationary; she must advance
+or retrograde. Turkey is not what she was, while Russia, with the rest
+of Christendom, has advanced; her faults grew with her strength, but did
+not die with her decay. It will not be sufficient for her merely to
+regain her former power; she must overtake Christendom in the progress
+made during her decadence. Her spirit of vitality is not yet extinct; it
+wants guidance and development to strengthen and elevate it. There is
+still hope of reforming the Turkish empire without that baptism of blood
+which many have urged and are still urging. Indeed, Lord Palmerston
+declared in Parliament that Turkey has made a more rapid advance and
+been improved more during the last ten years (he made this statement in
+1854, and Turkey has been rapidly progressing since) than any other
+country in Europe.
+
+Before considering the question of reform, it will be necessary to take
+a cursory view of Turkish history and character.
+
+While the monarchs of Constantinople were waging war with Persia, and
+both empires were tottering; while the Christian religion gave rise to
+different sects, hating each other with intense and fanatical hatred, a
+silent power was rising among the Turks, which was destined to subvert
+empires and found a new religion. Their original seat was among the
+Altai mountains, where they were employed by their masters in working
+iron mines. They rose in rebellion, threw off their allegiance, and made
+incursions into Persia and China, proving themselves formidable enemies.
+From being a weak and enslaved people they became the allies and
+conquerors of the Byzantine emperors. 'With the Koran in one hand,' says
+Macaulay, 'and the sword in the other, they went forth conquering and
+converting eastward to the Bay of Bengal, and westward to the Pillars of
+Hercules.' They became a terror to the nations that had beheld with
+contempt their rising greatness. Amid the expiring glories of the Roman
+world they made Constantinople the capital of their empire. It was all
+that the oriental imagination could desire. Rendered by its
+fortifications impregnable, and situated on the Bosphorus, whose dark
+blue waters flow between shores of unrivalled beauty, where nature and
+art had reared their grandest monuments, it surpassed in wealth and
+grandeur Nineveh and Babylon.
+
+From this stronghold, which had been the cradle of Christianity, and
+which had witnessed the dying struggle of the Roman empire, the
+conquerors, maddened with the victories and crowned with the wealth
+which years of perpetual war had heaped upon them, mustered their armies
+and sallied forth. They subjugated many countries, but copied none of
+their virtues; and to-day their degenerate descendants still retain most
+of their original traits of character. Their religious sense is deep,
+but theirs is a religion which blunts and stupefies the intellectual
+faculties, and makes man fit only to perform a score of prostrations
+each day. It inspires courage in war, but it also teaches blind
+resignation to defeat and disgrace: it teaches morality, but sensuality
+and ferocity are not inconsistent with its doctrines. Eat, drink,
+smoke--indulge all the passions to-day, for immortality begins
+to-morrow! No Turk is so high that he has not a master, none so low that
+he has not a slave; the grand vizier kisses the sultan's foot, the pasha
+kisses the vizier's, the bey the pasha's, and so on. Yet their many
+virtues half redeem their faults. They are proverbial for their
+hospitality, and charity, which 'covereth a multitude of sins,' is an
+oriental virtue. They have, too, great love of nationality. The beggar
+who seeks alms of the Turk with cries and entreaties, will not ask a
+single para of the Frank (a name applied to all foreigners).
+
+Turkey in Europe, though smaller in extent than the Asiatic division of
+the empire, is by far the wealthier and more important. It extends from
+Russia to the Adriatic, and from Hungary to the Euxine sea, the command
+of which it shares jointly with Russia. The Straits of Constantinople,
+the Dardanelles, and the Sea of Marmora are free to all friendly
+nations. The situation of the country, its numerous and safe harbors,
+are all favorable to commerce. There is every variety of climate, and
+the soil in every part of the empire is fertile, and, when cultivated,
+yields productions in the greatest abundance. The agricultural, like the
+manufacturing industry, owing to the indolence of the people, is much
+neglected. This indolence is, in a great measure, the result of
+oppression. Before Russia extended her protection over the provinces,
+the Turks left agriculture to their tributaries, whom, when wealthy and
+prosperous, they plundered.
+
+Let us now consider the causes which led to the decline of the empire.
+In the reign of Solyman, poetry, science, and art flourished. New
+privileges were conferred upon the ministers of religion; the
+Janissaries received increased pay; the coffers of the empire were
+filled to overflowing; the condition of the rayas was ameliorated;
+security to life, honor, and property was given to all, without
+distinction of creed or race. But even then there were causes at work
+destined to effect a decline. The sultan in person was ever at the head
+of his troops. Thus the vizier, or prime minister, who remained in the
+capital, became, by degrees, a more influential personage than 'the
+grand seignior' himself. The intrigues of the eunuchs in the imperial
+harem began to exert their baneful influences on the administration. The
+seraglio--in which many hundred females are immured, the most beautiful
+that can be found in the contiguous realms of Europe and Asia, wherever
+the Turk bears sway--from being the most beautiful appendage, became the
+moving spring of the Ottoman Porte. The inmates formed a faction hostile
+to the ministers of religion. The administration was transferred to
+Greeks, Jews, and Armenians, who filled the treasury of the sultan and
+enriched themselves by impoverishing the people, who, since they could
+no longer enjoy the fruits of their labor, became indolent. The army was
+more eager for booty and captives than for glory; slaves were
+multiplied; the higher classes revelled in wealth and luxury, while the
+poorer classes with difficulty obtained a livelihood.
+
+It would be strange, indeed, if in an empire so extensive and with an
+immense and motley population, we did not find it difficult to introduce
+reforms, and instruct the people in the arts of more civilized nations,
+and remove old abuses, guarded by the fanaticism of the clergy.
+Political reforms can be made only by those in high places of authority;
+and to be sanctioned by the prejudiced and infatuated Ottoman they must
+assume the garb of religion. The sultan himself, wielding the sceptre
+over millions of subjects, uniting in his own person all the powers of
+the state, claiming to reign by divine commission, and profanely styling
+himself the shadow of God--even he dares not venture to vary one iota
+from the teachings of the Koran and the Sunnah.
+
+Selim III was the first royal reformer. While Europe was shaken to its
+very centre, and the continental monarchs trembled on their thrones, he
+applied himself assiduously to those civil and military reforms, which
+his successors promoted, and without which Turkey could not have
+maintained her position as a European power. Selim made a new
+organization of the army, made innovations in the judicial and
+administrative branches of the government, changed the system of
+taxation, and gave a decidedly new organization to the divan, where
+reform was most needed. He also attempted to make innovations in the
+financial department, but by depreciating the coin, in order to fill an
+exhausted treasury, signally failed. He deposed the then reigning
+hospodars of the Moldo-Wallachian provinces, and established others more
+favorable to his work of reform. Russia and England remonstrated at this
+measure, and war was declared. The Turkish army was defeated and driven
+across the Danube. The Janissaries, ignorantly attributing their defeat
+to Selim's reforms in military discipline, rose in rebellion. The
+well-meant but too mild sultan fell a victim to their violence, and was
+succeeded by Mustapha, who had instigated the insurgents to revolt. His
+short reign is signalized by the vigorous measures he took to destroy
+Selim's reforms. Shortly after his accession to the throne, the defeat
+of the Turkish fleet by the Russians spread consternation and terror
+through the capital. It was at this critical juncture that an Asiatic
+pasha, a friend of the deposed sultan, advanced with a powerful army,
+and laid siege to Constantinople, which yielded to him after a vigorous
+resistance of one year. Mahmoud ascended the throne. From Selim, his
+cousin, he had learned the lamentable condition of the empire and the
+necessity of reform. He had no sooner ascended the throne, than the
+Janissaries began to manifest a feverish anxiety for revolt. No time was
+to be lost; and Mahmoud acted with that energy which was one of the few
+redeeming traits of his character. Mustapha, the murderer of Selim and
+the destroyer of the work of a lifetime, was put to death; his son and
+wives shared his fate. Mahmoud was now firmly established. He was the
+last scion of the Othman race, and as such was vested with _sacrosancta
+potestas_. He resolved to annihilate the unruly corps and anathematize
+their name. He engaged the services of their aga, or commander-in-chief,
+to whom he made known his plans. His next step was to issue an order
+commanding each regiment to furnish one hundred and fifty men to be
+drilled after the manner of European soldiers. The friends of Mahmoud
+asked: 'Is he mad?' The soldiers exclaimed: 'Bismillah! he wants to make
+infidels of us. Does he think we are no better than infidel dogs?' The
+Janissaries reversed their kettles (the signal of revolt) in the
+Byzantine hippodrome, and calling upon their patron saint, proceeded to
+attack the royal palace. But Mahmoud was prepared to receive them. All
+his other troops, artillery, marines, and infantry, were under arms and
+at his command. The ulemas pronounced a curse of eternal dissolution
+upon the insurgents. Mahmoud unfurled the sacred standard of the
+prophet, and called on his people for assistance. A hundred cannon
+opened fire upon their barracks, and in an hour twenty-five thousand
+Janissaries were mowed down by grapeshot and scimitars. Their bodies
+broke the lingering fast of the hungry dogs, or were cast into the
+Bosphorus, and hurried by its rapid currents into the Sea of Marmora.
+The annihilation of the Janissaries took place in 1826.
+
+It is more than probable that Mahmoud could have effected a salutary
+reform in the military system without resorting to extreme violence. He
+was naturally of a cruel disposition, and was also deficient in prudence
+and moderation. He gave the Janissaries cause to revolt; he made
+frivolous innovations in their long-cherished customs, by commanding
+them to shave their beards and forbidding them to wear the turban, a
+beautiful headdress, an ornament at once national and religious. These
+measures excited the disgust of all 'true believers,' while his enemies
+called him an infidel, and his warmest supporters and the strongest
+advocates of reform despaired of success. Innovations are expedient only
+when they remove evil, and when men are prepared to receive them.
+Command a Turk to shave his beard--by which he swears--the idol of his
+life. As well bid him cut off his right arm or pluck out an eye--he
+would obey one as soon as the other. The impolicy of changing the
+customs and dress of a half-civilized, warlike nation, has been made
+obvious in many instances--none more impressive than the mutiny of the
+Anglo-Indian army at Velore in 1806.
+
+Mahmoud in destroying the Janissaries took for his model Peter the
+Great. Never were two sovereigns more unlike each other. Peter, generous
+and humane, leaving his throne and travelling in disguise to educate
+himself, stands in bold contrast with the parsimonious and cruel sultan.
+Moreover, Mahmoud's was a more difficult undertaking. The Strelitzes
+whom the czar annihilated were unsupported, were famous by no
+illustrious victory, and had not an enthusiastic religious feeling. The
+Janissaries, on the other hand, had strong family interests; they, too,
+had decided the fate of the empire at the battle of Varna, where their
+bravery established the Ottoman power, whose brightest triumphs were
+clustered around their names; they had fought many a bloody battle, and
+had never turned their backs to the foe; their leader was chosen from
+their own ranks, and no nobility controlled their ambition or prevented
+them from receiving the honor due to enterprise and valor; they held the
+sultan in check; the ulemas gave sanction to their laws, and they in
+turn sustained the authority of the ulemas with their swords. As long as
+they experienced no change in their discipline and customs they were
+invincible. But they too had participated in the universal degeneracy.
+Like the Praetorian bands of Rome, they had become the absolute masters
+of the empire. They pulled down and set up sultans at their will; their
+valor had departed, but their unconquerable pride remained as part of
+their heritage. Their ranks were filled with crowds of Greeks, Jews, and
+Moslems, without discipline and without order. Many who had purchased
+the privilege of being numbered in this formidable body, lived outside
+of the barracks, and assembled only on pay day or in times of tumult and
+rebellion. They despised all laws, civil and religious, and were a
+constant source of annoyance to the people, whose lives and property
+were at their mercy. Such were the subjects upon whom Mahmoud was to
+operate. In the destruction of the Strelitzes and the Janissaries, Peter
+and Mahmoud may be compared to two physicians: one practises on a
+healthy savage, while the other attempts to cut out a malignant cancer
+reaching the vitals, from the pampered sensualist. In annihilating these
+troops, as in his other reforms, Mahmoud began where he should have
+ended his labors; he mistook the end for the means.
+
+Had he stopped with this act of violence, his supporters might defend
+him on the doubtful ground of expediency; but he did not stop here. For
+centuries the tyranny of the sultans had been restrained by the
+derebeys, or lords of the valleys. They had been confirmed in the
+possession of their lands by Mohammed II, from which time they had
+continued to pay tribute to the sultan, and furnished him with quotas of
+troops. The sultan had no control over their lives or property. The
+subjects who tilled the productive lands of the valleys were suitably
+rewarded for their labor. The happiest and wealthiest peasants of the
+empire were found among the vassals of the beys, to whom they showed
+great devotion. These feudal lords, at a moment's warning, could summon
+twenty thousand men before their palace gates. They furnished the
+greater part of the sultan's cavalry force in war; and, unlike the
+pashas, had never raised the standard of rebellion; they had never
+wished for revolutions, and had never sanctioned insurrections. The
+possession of their property was guaranteed to them by inheritance, and
+they had no need of money with which to bribe the Sublime Porte.
+
+Mahmoud was bent on depriving them of their wealth and curtailing their
+privileges. They were rich, did not bribe him, and held hereditary
+possessions. These were unpardonable crimes in the sight of this
+exemplary reformer. The beys, who never dealt in treachery, were
+unsuspicious of others, and fell an easy prey. The peasants ceased to
+cultivate the lands from which they could no longer profit; and many of
+the wealthiest possessions became desolate. We must not think it
+strange, therefore, that the military power was prostrated, when, after
+having annihilated the Janissaries, Mahmoud deprived the derebeys of
+their ancient authority; for the military power of the empire rested
+chiefly in these two bodies. These innovations were made in the midst of
+a destructive Greek war, and at a time when the Danube and the Balkan
+were no longer formidable barriers to the Muscovite descendants of Ivan
+the Terrible, who brought back memories of the past, and threatened to
+avenge deeply treasured wrongs. Even at this critical period, when his
+army was annihilated, his fleet defeated, and the legions of Russia
+within a few days' march of Constantinople, Mahmoud threatened to feed
+his horses at the high altar of St. Peter's, and proclaim the religion
+of the prophet in the Muscovite capital. A threat that savored more of
+the seraglio than of the throne!
+
+His next step was to assail the privileges of the great provincial
+cities, the inhabitants of which elected from their own number ayans, or
+magistrates, distinguished for their wisdom and virtue. These
+magistrates had much influence among the people; they had always
+resisted exorbitant taxes and unjust decrees; their protection was
+extended to Mussulmans and Christians without distinction. Their power
+of veto was almost as effective as that of the _tribuni plebis_ of Rome;
+they could point back to Solyman, the Solon of his time, as the author
+of their protective system. But their power originated with the people.
+To this Mahmoud would not submit. All power must emanate from him, the
+all-wise and innovating sultan, who raised the low and humbled the
+great, not as they were honest or corrupt, but as they fawned upon him,
+or refused to yield implicit obedience to his nod.
+
+In their endeavors to institute a new financial system, the predecessors
+of Mahmoud reduced the standard of money gradually, in order not to
+produce a panic. But he wished to accomplish in one day the work of
+years. He issued a decree commanding the people to bring all their coin,
+gold and silver, to their respective governors--where they would receive
+less than half its value! He threatened the refractory with death. The
+capital resounded with the dreaded cry of rebellion; and the exasperated
+multitude that had surrounded the royal palace was not appeased until it
+witnessed the public execution of the mint officers, whose only crime
+was obedience to their master. This impolitic measure in the financial
+department impoverished the people, and left the treasury still empty.
+Foreign speculators bought the money--the circulation of which had
+become illegal--and resold it to the sultan for sterling value!
+
+Shortly after this he expelled about thirty thousand Christians from the
+capital, which they had embellished and enriched by their labor. Their
+fidelity had never been doubted. For this despicable act--their
+expulsion--Mahmoud could adduce no better reason than that 'it was
+solely on political grounds.' Strange politics this, for a sovereign,
+who professed to have the magnanimity of Christian rulers! On the
+expulsion of the Christians, Russia commenced hostilities, and a war
+followed, in which the sultan paid dearly for his rashness.
+
+In short, Mahmoud could not have given a better lesson to his subjects
+than by reforming himself. He was cruel beyond measure--if the grand
+seignior can ever be so called, who is taught that he may lop off a
+score of heads each day 'for divine inspiration.' Still if he had been
+as thoroughly skilled as he professed to have been, he should have shown
+himself a humane as well as an innovating sovereign. Those who assisted
+him in his reforms, he rewarded with the bowstring. His character was
+blackened by ingratitude, an instinctive vice in oriental rulers.
+Obstinate as he was suspicious, deceitful as he was cunning, he could
+not rule his own passions, much less could he control the corrupt morals
+of his people. He was to an extraordinary degree avaricious, a quality
+everywhere odious, but especially in a land where generosity measures
+love--where in the highest and in the lowest stations liberality is the
+moving spring. While he mistook parsimony for economy, he did not
+scruple to make war on trifling pretexts and waste his amassed treasures
+in a hopeless cause.
+
+In every attempted reform he wounded Ottoman pride and prejudice. Unlike
+his cousin, he did not humor the faults of the people while making
+innovations; he neither amused them with imposing shows, nor flattered
+them by the pompous spectacle of his appearance in public--in one word,
+he wanted the tact of a reformer. Selim, while he increased the navy and
+established manufactories, built gorgeous palaces, and by his
+magnificence dazzled the people, who were blind to his real designs;
+they even permitted him to set up printing presses in the large cities,
+on receiving assurance that the Koran would not be submitted to the
+unholy process of squeezing!
+
+Mahmoud thought, or pretended to think, that he could reform the empire
+by imitating only the vices of Christianity, and manifesting a contempt
+for Moslem virtues. While he drank wine--and in many other breaches of
+the teachings of the sacred book provoked the faithful--his
+proclamations breathed a most orthodox and fanatical spirit. He was a
+sceptic; neither Mussulman nor Christian, but surprisingly inconsistent
+and capricious. His, we fear, were 'hangman's hands,' and 'not ordained
+to build a temple unto peace.'
+
+Under Solyman the Magnificent, at once the most warlike monarch and
+munificent patron of literature and art, the constitution of the
+Janissaries was wise and effective. The children of Christians, taken by
+the Turks in war or in their predatory incursions, were exposed in the
+public markets of Constantinople, whence any person was at liberty to
+take them into his service, on making a contract with the government to
+return them at the demand of the sultan. These children were instructed
+in Islamism, and were trained by manly exercise and labor, calculated to
+strengthen the body and give elasticity to the spirits. From these hardy
+orphans the ranks of the Janissaries were recruited. They came eagerly
+to the camp; for they had been taught to regard it as the theatre of
+their future glory. From earliest infancy they looked forward with joy
+to the time when they should be numbered among those brave soldiers,
+whose arms had maintained for a long series of years the supremacy of
+the crescent. There was no rank, no dignity in the Turkish army to which
+a Janissary could not aspire--a strong incentive to the display of
+bravery. Such was the constitution of the army when it was the most
+powerful in Europe: then it gained its victories, not by force of
+numbers, but by superior military discipline and valor. In the middle of
+the nineteenth century the capture of Christian children was abandoned.
+The land forces degenerated into a wretchedly organized army of less
+than three hundred thousand men, drafted from the lowest classes.
+Mothers put their children to death that they might be spared the pangs
+of seeing them torn away to pass their days in scenes of shame and
+dissipation.
+
+Not till the army had become a laughing stock to the weakest European
+power did the sultans perceive the necessity of military reform. Selim
+III established a school for artillery and naval officers, and engaged
+Europeans, especially Frenchmen, as instructors in military science. We
+can readily comprehend the degeneracy of the Turkish army, when we
+remember that since the establishment of the school at Sulitzi for
+engineers, the Turks have learned from foreign teachers military tactics
+of which their own ancestors were the inventors, and which had been
+forgotten, although full accounts of them lay hidden in musty volumes in
+their military archives.
+
+Foreign officers were at first regarded with contempt by Turkish
+soldiers, whose unconquerable pride has ever proved a great impediment
+to the regeneration of the empire. Moslem talent was not equal to the
+exigencies that arose from the impolitic measures of Mahmoud. We find a
+parallel case in Russia. Had Peter trusted to Muscovite genius to form
+and command the troops which superseded the Strelitzes, Charles XII
+would have quartered in the Kremlin.
+
+Kutchuk Husseyin, the relative and favorite of Selim, made valuable
+additions to the navy in which his master took such pride. Husseyin, who
+had the welfare of his country at heart, was liberal and disinterested.
+Vested with the office of captain pasha, he sent to Greece for
+architects and engineers, with whose assistance he fortified Stamboul,
+Sinope, and Rhodes; he built arsenals and extensive docks, which he
+supplied with the necessary equipments of a powerful fleet. In a short
+time, twenty sail of the line, constructed on the newest European
+models, rode at anchor within sight of his palace. He also erected
+barracks for the troops, and greatly improved the naval school. The
+sudden death of Selim paralyzed the navy, which soon resumed its
+accustomed languor.
+
+The events of 1821, in which the Turkish fleet was defeated by armed
+merchant vessels of Greece, gave a fresh impulse to the navy.
+Experienced officers were placed in command, who, as they grew in
+strength, grew in confidence, and trusted more to their own resources
+than to the protection of Allah. Six years after the defeat, the navy
+was in a state of greater practical efficiency than at any other time.
+After a protracted struggle of five years it had gained the undisputed
+supremacy of the Archipelago; and had it not been for the disastrous
+defeat at Navarino, it would have proved equal, if not superior, to the
+Russian fleet in the Black sea. The Turkish navy, to-day, numbers about
+sixty war vessels, six of which are ships of the line, and six steam
+frigates, built partly at London and Toulon.
+
+The standing army in times of peace consists of 150,000 regulars; 60,000
+auxiliaries (such as the Egyptian forces); and those of the northern
+provinces, 110,000; with a corps de reserve of 150,000--an aggregate of
+470,000 men. The army is recruited by lot and conscription (as in
+France), and not as formerly, by arbitrary compulsion. Christians are
+excluded from service in the infidel ranks, but pay a military tax.
+Partial infringements, however, have been made in this exclusion, by
+employing Armenians in the marine service and at the arsenals. Active
+service in the army continues for a period of seven years; and the
+discharged soldiers belong to the reserved force for five years more.
+The organization of the corps de reserve is the same as that of the
+regular army. Their arms and equipments are kept in the state arsenals,
+and are produced only when the soldiers are called out, which takes
+place once a year, after the harvest season. During one month, the
+members of this corps de reserve lead a military life, and receive
+regular pay.
+
+The army is divided into six divisions of 25,000 each. The artillery is
+modelled after the most approved Prussian system, while the infantry and
+cavalry drill according to French tactics, and use French accoutrements
+and arms. Thus, Turkey, with a standing army of 150,000 men, can muster
+a force of nearly 500,000 at a few hours' notice; provided, however, she
+has money to pay the troops, for the religious prejudices of the
+Osmanlee do not tolerate the system of loans. So that Turkey, though she
+has neither the formidable land force of France nor the navy of England,
+is not crushed by the weight of a public debt, the principal of which
+can never be paid. This military system is the result of the labors of
+Rija Pasha and Redschid Pasha, by turn rivals and colleagues, disputing
+on matters of secondary importance, but ever cordially cooperating in
+the regeneration of the empire.
+
+More attention has been given to military than to political reforms. The
+intolerant Moslem spirit manifests direct opposition to all innovation
+in the administration. As their fathers were, so they wish to be. Before
+the time of Selim no reform movements of importance had been made in the
+administrative branches. For five centuries the sultans had received, as
+an aphorism in their political education, that the subjects existed for
+the good of the sultan, and not the sultan for the welfare of the
+people. Selim proclaimed the rights of his subjects and their supremacy;
+and his words were confirmed by his deeds.
+
+The administrative system was purely oriental, and bore scarcely any
+analogy to that of any other country. From the reign of Solyman to that
+of Selim--the protector (from whom there is no appeal) was kept closely
+confined in the seraglio walls; indeed, he was a state prisoner from his
+cradle to the day when he girt around him the imperial sabre. As the
+sultan reigned by divine commission, no education was considered good
+enough for him. Moreover, since his power was absolute, it had been
+received as a recognized principle of state policy that he should be as
+ignorant as possible, in order that he might prove more faithful to the
+will of Allah. Selim banished these antiquated notions, and instituted a
+new system--not that he lessened his own power, but established
+representative bodies to assist him in making laws, and tribunals to
+pass judgment upon and execute them.
+
+The sultan is assisted by a divan; or council of ministers, and others,
+who are nominated to that dignity by himself. The grand vizier presides
+over this body, and is responsible for all measures adopted by it.
+
+The legislative as well as the military system is borrowed from the
+French; but the sultan is the source of all law, civil and military; he
+is the summit, while the municipal institutions are the base, of the
+political fabric. In theory at least, these institutions are established
+on the broadest principles of freedom. Each community, like the communes
+of France, sends an aga, or representative, to the supreme council. By
+the famous ordinance of Gulhana, Mussulmans, Jews, and Christians are
+represented, without distinction, in proportion to their number.
+
+The administration of the interior belongs to the prime minister, who
+appoints civil governors to take charge of the general administration.
+The pashas had hitherto been both civil and military officers; purchased
+their appointments at extravagant prices, and repaid themselves by
+extortions practised upon the unfortunate subjects over whom they ruled.
+The appointment of civil governors removed this old abuse, and left the
+pashas vested only with military power. Each of the military chiefs has
+command of one of the six divisions of which the army is composed. All
+these officers receive a fixed salary; and the people, no longer subject
+to their avarice and tyranny, pay regular rates of taxation.
+
+The reforms I have mentioned, great as they were, were only preliminary
+to the publishing of the hatti-scheriff of Gulhana, the magna charta and
+bill of rights of Turkey. The son of Mahmoud, Abdul Medjid, on ascending
+the throne, published this ordinance, which was to effect a reform in
+the internal administration more beneficial than any other, either
+before or after the destruction of the Janissaries. The ulemas, state
+officers, foreign ambassadors, and a vast multitude of subjects had
+assembled on the plains of Gulhana. The illustrious writings (as the
+name signifies) were read aloud in the presence of this solemn assembly
+by Redschid Pasha. The sultan, 'under the direct inspiration of the Most
+High and of his prophet,' desired to look for the prosperity of the
+empire in a good administration. The ulemas addressed a thanksgiving to
+heaven amid the acclamations of the assembled thousands. These reforms
+were threefold: The first guaranteed security to life, honor, and
+property; the second is a new system of taxation; the third, a
+remodelled plan for levying soldiers, and defining their time of
+service. The subject can best be illustrated by quoting a few extracts
+from the hatti-scheriff itself:
+
+     'The cause of every accused person shall be adjudged publicly, in
+     conformity to our divine law, after due inquiry and investigation;
+     and as long as sentence shall not have been regularly pronounced,
+     no one shall, either publicly or privately, cause another to perish
+     by prison or any other deadly means.'
+
+     'It shall not be permitted to any one to injure another,
+     _whosoever_ he may be.'
+
+     'Every man shall possess his own property, and shall dispose of it
+     with the most entire liberty. Thus, for example, the innocent heirs
+     of a criminal shall not be deprived of their legal rights, and the
+     goods of the criminal shall not be confiscated.'
+
+     'The imperial concessions extend to _all_ subjects, whatever may be
+     their religion or sect; they shall reap the benefit of them without
+     exception.'
+
+     'As to the other points, since they must be regulated by the
+     concourse of enlightened opinion, our council of justice, with whom
+     shall assemble, on certain days to be fixed by us, the notables of
+     the land, shall meet together to lay down guiding laws on the
+     points that affect the security of life, honor, and fortune, and
+     the assessment of imposts.'
+
+     'As soon as a law shall be defined, in order to render it valid and
+     binding, it shall be laid before us to receive our sanction, which
+     we Will write with our imperial hand.'
+
+     'As these present institutions have no other object than to give
+     fresh life and vigor to religion, the government, the nation, and
+     the empire, we pledge ourselves to do nothing to counteract them.
+     Whoever of the ulemas or chief men of the empire, or any other sort
+     of person, shall violate these institutions, shall undergo the
+     punishment awarded to his offence, without respect to his rank, or
+     personal consideration and credit.'
+
+     'As all the functionaries of the government receive at the present
+     day suitable salaries, and as those that are not sufficient shall
+     be increased, a vigorous law shall be enacted against traffic in
+     posts and favors, which the divine law reprobates, and which is one
+     of the principal causes of the decline of the empire.'
+
+As a pledge of his promise, the sultan, after having deposited the
+documents in the hall that contains the 'glorious mantle' of the
+prophet, in the presence of the ulemas and chief men, swore to them in
+the name of God, and administered the same oath to the priests and
+officers. The hatti-scheriff was published in every part of the empire,
+and was well received, except by a few of the retrograde party, who
+lived by the old abuses, and vigorously resisted all attempts at
+reformation.
+
+By this ordinance, the sources of the revenue consist of the frontier
+customs, the tithes, and a property tax. In two of these three sources
+of revenue there are great abuses. In collecting the taxes, the tax
+gatherers make exhorbitant demands, for which (owing to the partiality
+of justice) there is no redress, The salguin, or land tax, is also the
+cause of constant complaint. It presses equally upon the richest and the
+poorest provinces; in consequence of which many of the most fertile
+districts have been deserted. The government is not ignorant of these
+facts. Abdul Medjid, a short time previous to his death, ordered a new
+registration of property to be made, which will, in a great measure,
+remedy this evil. This new registration caused not a little astonishment
+and fear among the peasants, who could not approve of persons taking an
+inventory of their property and their flocks. We must not be surprised
+at this, for a parallel case is close at hand. When the Emperor Joseph
+endeavored to introduce the mode of distinguishing houses in the
+principal streets of _Vienna_, by numbers instead of the antiquated mode
+by printed signs, the people were impressed with the idea that the
+numbers were affixed for the purpose of more conveniently collecting a
+new house tax!
+
+The new system of farming the revenue proved especially beneficial to
+the Christians. Under the old regime the Turks had been greatly favored.
+The poll tax formerly levied on all who were not professed followers of
+the prophet, has been abolished.
+
+The empire is wealthy--immensely wealthy; but the money is in the hands
+of the few. If we except the province of Servia, feudal lords, and tax
+collectors, the whole Turkish population consists of peasants, who till
+the soil on an equality of wretchedness. Yet it is to these same
+suffering peasants, the bone and sinew of the land, that reformers must
+look for support. It was the peasantry of Servia, headed by George the
+Black, that in 1800-1812, rose in rebellion, and whose success infused
+life and vigor into the more passive provinces. They, too, were
+peasants--those brave and resolute men who expelled from the provinces
+the robber princes, and almost gained a national existence. Many of
+these same peasants, men in whose breasts still lingered the valor that
+made their ancestors famous, joined the Grecian army in the successful
+struggle for independence; even Moslem peasants left their ploughs in
+the furrow and their herds unattended, to join the insurgents, to whose
+success they greatly contributed. The heroes of all Turkish rebellions
+have been peasants--the men of strong arms and unswerving energy. They
+are naturally of a passive disposition, but when once roused to action
+by religion or patriotism, they are as firm and unyielding in their
+purpose as their own
+
+                       'Pontic sea,
+   Whose icy currents and compulsive course
+   Ne'er feels returning ebb, but keeps due on
+   To the Propontic and the Hellespont.'
+
+In the hands of the peasantry lies the destiny of the empire, its
+regeneration or its fall. By ameliorating their condition and gaining
+their good will, the sultans cannot fail to succeed in their reforms. By
+working in opposition to them and exciting their enmity, success is
+impossible.
+
+The social system introduced by the victorious Othmans among the
+conquered nations was not as oppressive as is generally believed. The
+Turks, unlike the Germanic nations, the Huns and Normans, did not take
+forcible possession of private property and divide it among their
+conquering hordes. From those who acknowledged themselves subject to
+their rule, the Turks exacted tribute, but protected their liberties and
+political institutions. The conquerors introduced their laws into the
+country, but not forcibly. To those who still adhered to the Christian
+religion, they extended the rights of self-government, subject, however,
+to a military tax. This was very far from degrading the cultivators of
+the soil to servitude; this did not deprive them of their possessions,
+inherited or purchased. But by a gradual change in the government this
+civil equality and liberty in the possession of property was superseded
+by an aristocratic and almost absolute despotism. The Ottomans came in
+contact with a people ruling under Byzantine law, of which (as of the
+feudal system) they had but a confused knowledge. The feudal system
+having taken root in Greece, and having been already introduced into
+Albania, had necessarily much influence on the contiguous provinces of
+Moldavia and Wallachia, Servia and Bulgaria. Here the Greek emperors,
+with correct notions of right and wrong, had governed wisely and justly
+in a simple administration, which gave place to a complicated system of
+laws and refinements, as unintelligible as they were useless and
+ineffective. In the double heritage of Greece and Rome, the conquerors
+imitated only their faults, moral and intellectual, and thus made more
+prominent the fall of the two countries. The Turks were not sufficiently
+enlightened to understand the laws and customs of the Greeks and Romans,
+and profit thereby; nor could they resist the charm thrown around
+aristocracy and venality, but succumbed to their baneful influences. The
+degeneracy of the laws caused the misery of the peasantry, and paralyzed
+the energies of the empire. The pashas gained almost unlimited power,
+founded on the ruins of civil liberty. They did not scruple to persecute
+the suffering peasant, even in the sanctuary of his family--held in the
+highest veneration by the Turk. The peasants in many instances had no
+other alternative than to fly to the mountains for safety, and lead a
+wretched existence by rapine and murder. Some left Turkey to settle in
+Russia and Austria, in search of that liberty and protection which was
+denied them at home.
+
+The Turkish peasants are not insensible to the degradation in which they
+are languishing. But accustomed, in suffering and privation, to find
+consolation in fatalism--which teaches implicit acquiescence in and
+obedience to the will of Allah--they drag out their days in passive
+submission. Seditions are almost always excited by unbelievers, who feel
+their wrongs more deeply. The devout Turkish peasant seeks no better
+fortune than the means wherewith to build a little cabin, with windows
+and doors religiously closed to vulgar eyes. He finds comfort in the
+words of his holy book: 'He is the happiest of mortals to whom God has
+given contentment.' He performs his daily labor, makes his prostrations,
+smokes his chibouk, and lives oblivious of care. He is far from being
+indifferent to reforms, but is loth to take the initiative in political
+innovations and social wars. His heart is with the cause, but here also
+he is resigned: 'God is great--His will be done.' This same spirit of
+resignation and submission to the divine will, from being a virtue
+becomes his greatest curse.
+
+The Servians, a hardy and vigorous race, who pride themselves on their
+victories over the Moslems, stand in the van of the reform movement. By
+the new constitution given to Servia in 1838, there exists no longer any
+distinction of classes. All pay taxes, in proportion to the value of
+their property, to the municipal and general government. All the
+peasants are proprietors, and all the proprietors are peasants. The
+Servians and Albanians have never refused foreign aid. They gave a kind
+welcome to the legions that Nicholas sent across the Pruth, and worked
+in concert with the brave warriors of the north, in the hope of gaining
+a nationality and a recognized name.
+
+The moral condition of the Bulgarians does not differ essentially from
+that of the Servians; but there is a wide difference in their political
+organization. The Bulgarians are yet only peasants, unprotected against
+the violence and exactions of the sultan. They are more enterprising
+than the Servians, and, could they enjoy an equitable legislation, would
+soon vie with them in wealth and prosperity. They envy the national and
+democratic institutions of the Servians, who are related to them by
+blood, by religion, and a common tongue. They are eager for reforms,
+both social and political, which shall give them a constitution similar
+to that of Servia. In this they must ultimately succeed. The two people
+are one in their sympathies: one cannot enjoy privileges without
+exciting the jealousy of the other. Unless concessions are made, the day
+is not far distant when the Bulgarians will revolt, as the Servians did
+under Tzerny George, and gain the right of self-government.
+
+The Illyrian peasants have not as promising a future. They are divided
+among themselves, both in politics and religion; the several clans and
+parties are engaged in ceaseless strife and bickering. On the most
+trivial pretence a community will rise in arms and carry ruin and
+desolation to its neighbor. The face of the country everywhere shows
+signs of the terror under which it groans. In many districts the
+humblest dwellings are fortified citadels, gloomy and threatening;
+observatories are stationed in trees and on high cliffs, to guard
+against surprisals; the streets of the towns and villages are traversed
+by gloomy figures of athletic savage warriors, with fierce and sinister
+expression of countenance, and their right hand resting on a belt
+garnished with its brace of pistols. They are in such a deplorable state
+of ignorance, and so blinded by mutual hatred, that they are incapable
+of perceiving their wants and obtaining their rights by concerted
+action.
+
+The Servians and Bulgarians, although by nature not less warlike than
+the Illyrians, are more pacific. This quality is, to a certain degree,
+attributable to a better government; but their great advantage consists
+in their being friends of labor. They are not divided by internal
+factions; their pistols serve for ornaments, not offensive weapons;
+their rude exterior hides within a gentle, childlike nature. Though
+laborious, they seek not to amass wealth; kind to each other, to
+strangers they are hospitable and generous. They are extremely courteous
+and polite, and theirs is not the humility of the Austrian peasant, who
+kisses the scornful hand of his superior; it is the deference and
+respect that youth bears to age, or the attention which the host gives
+to a welcome guest.
+
+In Servia and Bulgaria, Christianity has gained the ascendancy; the
+light of the gospel imparts comfort and happiness to all; but the
+Illyrians, through a blind zeal in their social dissensions, have
+debarred themselves from its vivifying and soothing influence.
+
+During the early part of the last century, the peasants of the
+Moldo-Wallachian provinces were enfranchised, but have not yet obtained
+the right of property legislation. Being contiguous to Poland and
+Hungary, their attention is naturally called to all the noise of reform
+and to all the social questions that agitate the two countries. Unless
+concessions are made, unless the peasant is recognized as proprietor of
+the soil of which to-day he is but the farmer, a revolution will take
+place, in which the Sublime Porte will lose these provinces as
+effectually as it did the pashalies. It is not absolutely necessary,
+though it would be judicious, to give Moldavia and Wallachia the same
+political organization as Servia enjoys. The question now, is not of
+rulers, whether they shall be sent from the divan or chosen from the
+people; but is of property legislation and municipal institutions.
+
+In all his reforms, the sultan should remember that the material upon
+which he is to operate lies in the peasantry.
+
+The empire, however, cannot be thoroughly reformed merely by
+enfranchising the peasants, by introducing European customs, by
+organizing new armies, building barracks, and establishing custom
+houses. These improvements are the sign of a vigorous national impulse
+and prosperity; they are the result, not the rudiments of civilization.
+The fact that the sultan wears French boots and supplies his seraglio
+with the latest Parisian modes signifies nothing.
+
+In its palmy days, Turkey relied for success on its courage and love of
+military glory; now its welfare and very existence depend upon the
+peaceful arts of civilized life. The prosperity of the people measures
+the condition of the empire. But how can an ignorant people prosper? The
+time has come when a reform in the educational system of Turkey is
+emphatically demanded. There must be intelligence among the people, and
+educated men in the cabinet as well as brave men in the field. The
+innovating sultans of the last century have done much for the
+reconstruction of the broken political fabric of the empire; they have
+organized a new and powerful army and navy; they have facilitated
+commercial intercourse, but have done scarcely anything for the
+diffusion of knowledge among their subjects.
+
+All the knowledge in the empire is concentrated in the ulemas and
+lawyers. The members of the Sublime Porte and other state officers, with
+but few exceptions, are unlettered men, who owe their elevation, to
+partiality or bribery. Under Mahmoud, beauty of person was the best
+recommendation to favor and promotion!
+
+But Turkey has had her golden age of letters as well as her age of
+military glory. Her libraries and archives are filled with unread, musty
+manuscripts, comprising treatises on philosophy and metaphysics,
+histories, biographies, and poems, rich in the classic erudition of the
+Orient. In 1336, Sultan Orkan found leisure from war and conquest to
+establish, at Brusa, a literary institution, which became so famous for
+its learning, that Persians and Arabians did not disdain to avail
+themselves of its instruction. But with the death of its founder its
+glory passed away. It was no longer the fountain head of learning in the
+East.
+
+The Turks, forgetful of the fact that antiquity is the youth of the
+world, still follow Aristotle as their guide in philosophy and
+metaphysics, and Ptolemy in geography! Missionaries have succeeded in
+introducing modern text books into some of the schools, but owing to the
+peculiar system of Turkish education, the result has not been so
+favorable as was anticipated.
+
+To each mosque is attached a school, where the pupils devote several
+years in acquiring the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic;
+which completes their education. But few foreign instructors are
+employed to teach in the schools, because the government is unwilling to
+pay a suitable salary. While on state officers wealth is lavished with
+the prodigality of oriental munificence, instructors receive only a
+nominal recompense, often not exceeding six cents a day!
+
+A few favored youths receive a European education, especially in French
+and Austrian colleges. The oriental academy, established at Vienna by
+Maria Theresa for the education of diplomatists to conduct intercourse
+with the Porte, has formed many illustrious Turkish scholars. It is a
+singular but not unpleasant commentary on the vicissitudes of fortune,
+that Turkey should send her sons to be educated at Vienna, which only
+two centuries ago a sultan besieged at the head of an army of two
+hundred thousand men, and before whose gates he was defeated by the
+combined Christian forces, who recovered eighty thousand Christian
+captives, among whom were fourteen thousand maidens, and fifty thousand
+children of both sexes!
+
+The Christian subjects of the empire have made visible progress in their
+educational system, although it is yet in a very imperfect state. In the
+middle of the last century a body of Armenian monks formed a society for
+promoting the educational interests of their countrymen. These pious and
+benevolent men dwell alone on the little island of San Lazzaro, and
+publish works on literature, science, and religion, which are
+distributed among the Turkish Armenians.
+
+Printing presses have lately been set up in the large cities, and books
+are rapidly multiplying. In Constantinople several newspapers are
+printed in French, Turkish, and Arabic; they are read in every coffee
+house and barber shop, the common lounging places of the Ottoman, where
+he smokes his pipe and discusses politics. Their columns are chiefly
+devoted to the discussion of state affairs, and notices of public
+functionaries. The sultan is the virtual editor, and consequently the
+papers are popular, as containing opinions on state policy _ex
+cathedra_. These presses were established with the reluctant sanction of
+the ulemas, and the vigorous opposition of the scribes, an influential
+body, protesting against the introduction of machinery, which was to
+supersede the use of their fingers.
+
+The council of public instruction at Constantinople has established a
+medical and polytechnic school; in both, French, English, and German
+teachers are employed. To the medical college is attached a botanical
+garden and a natural history museum. The medical library consists
+chiefly of French works. The implements used to experiment in the
+physical sciences were made at Paris, London, and Vienna, and are of the
+most approved kind. The number of students in attendance, on an average,
+is seven hundred, comprising Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, all of
+whom not only pay no tuition, but receive pecuniary assistance from the
+government. As science cannot well be taught in Turkish, French is the
+language of the school.
+
+It should be borne in mind that Turkey, in her reform movement,
+commenced this century, four hundred years behind Europe. When we
+consider this, her advance in educational reformation appears in a
+better light. The present law makes it a penal offence in a Turkish
+parent not to send his children to school.
+
+The universities, as well as the mosques and hospitals, are under the
+control of the ulemas, who have always been a privileged and a
+sanctioned order, and by their sanctity and great wealth are rendered
+the most formidable body in the empire. Selim and his successors
+somewhat lessened their power. By the innovations of 1854 an important
+change was effected in the vacoof, or church property. The church had
+hitherto held enormous possessions; and had not a check been placed on
+the system, in the course of a few centuries all the lands would have
+belonged to the priests. The property annexed to the mosques is held
+sacred by all, both high and low. True believers, Greeks, Armenians, and
+Jews, alike, by a reversion of their property on failure of male issue,
+transferred it to the ulemas. The decree above mentioned restricted this
+privilege of the priests. The entire system will soon be abolished.
+
+As before stated, the ulemas have charge of the schools connected with
+the principal mosques. The average number of scholars in each school, in
+the reign of Mahmoud, was four hundred. They were, for the most part,
+worthless, indolent fellows, and entirely under the control of the
+ulemas, who used them as tools, and made them figure conspicuously in
+all tumults and revolts. Their attempted assassination of Abdul Medjid
+was their death warrant. Each ulema was restricted to four, in place of
+four hundred scholars. This measure caused not a little ill feeling
+among those opposed to reform; but as the most successful attempt at
+restricting the despotic power of the religious order, the decree was of
+vital importance, and gave the ulemas to understand that the power on
+the throne was paramount to theirs.
+
+The ulemas--whose functions do not differ materially from those of the
+old doctors of the law among the Hebrews--have always claimed and
+enjoyed both magisterial and ecclesiastical authority; and, indeed,
+since the Mussulman's law and religion are convertible terms, we would
+expect priests to be vested with the same powers, and performing the
+same duties. Mohammed designed it should be so, and as long as war was
+waged in the name of religion, as long as the Koran and the sword went
+hand in hand together, the two professions were not incompatible; but
+when Islamism had gained undisputed ascendency, there arose an obvious
+discrepancy between the peaceful adoration of Allah and the settlements
+of disputes between man and man. Priest and jurist, each had distinct
+and qualified duties to perform. Before justice can be administered
+properly the religious and legal professions must be separated; the
+statutes must be distinct from the Koran and Sunnah, in the obscurities
+of which they are at present involved. The sheik-ul-Islam (pontifex
+maximus) is the head of the church and the bar; he appoints the bishops
+and the judges; and in his twofold character of minister and lawyer, he
+is the expounder of the Koran, the source of all laws, civil and
+religious; his decisions serve as precedents, and are as
+incontrovertible as the Koran itself.
+
+By the late reforms, Christian testimony is admitted in courts of
+justice. But this is merely a nominal privilege; for what avails it that
+Christian evidence is received, if the Koran and Sunnah are to
+constitute the law, and a Mussulman judge is to be the expounder? Is it
+not evident that the 'true believer,' whether right or wrong, will be
+shielded by the strong arm of prejudice at the expense of the Christian?
+The purity of Turkish justice may be understood from the following
+humorous account given by Dr. Hamlin:
+
+     'I once had a case of law with a Turkish judge. It was tried nine
+     times, and each time decided against me. After the ninth trial, the
+     judge sent me word that if I gave him 9,000 piastres (about $800),
+     he would decide the case in my favor, for all the world knew that
+     justice was on my side!'
+
+I look, however, upon the religious toleration extended to Christians in
+1854 as the most important of all reforms; it is the keystone of the
+arch. Christianity has been on a gradual increase in Turkey; and it may
+not be deemed extravagant to hope that when a few generations shall have
+passed away, its supremacy will be acknowledged. As Constantine, finding
+the Christian element predominant in the Roman empire, made the religion
+of Christ that of his people, so some Selim or Abdul Medjid, urged by a
+power behind the throne, and more potent than the throne itself, will
+substitute the Bible for the Koran!
+
+The fall of Islamism does not imply the downfall of Turkish rule. The
+one is religious, the other a civil power; the one may wane, the other
+rise.
+
+The wars which brought the European powers in Turkish waters made a deep
+impression upon the Turks, and convinced them that they had been rescued
+from annihilation by foreign arms. This led to an important measure,
+viz.: the promulgation of the imperial edict of 1850, which was
+translated into all the languages of the empire, and read in all the
+mosques and churches. Besides securing the freedom of conscience and the
+equality of rights, it grants the right of apostasy, which had hitherto
+been a capital offence: 'As all forms of religious worship are and shall
+be freely professed in the empire, no person shall be hindered in the
+practice of the religion which he professes; nor shall he in any way be
+annoyed in this kind: in the matter of a man _changing_ his religion,
+and _joining_ another, no force shall be applied to him.' The decree
+bore directly upon Islamism. Turks, both private and official, now
+discuss freely the doctrines of the New Testament. The Bible, to-day, is
+widely circulated among the Turks. About seven thousand copies are sold
+annually to Mohammedans, while ten years ago they would not have been
+accepted as gifts. By all classes of people the Bible is purchased,
+read, and made the subject of discussion. The sultan himself reads it.
+Discussion leads to investigation, and investigation to the
+establishment of truth. This is one of the causes that have been
+silently at work, destined to effect the fall of Islamism.
+
+In all parts of the empire, the Christian element is growing stronger
+and stronger; the Mohammedan weaker. Even in Asia, the chosen abode of
+the faithful, we find Christian cities and villages prosperous, and
+Mohammedan cities falling to decay. In another century the Sublime Porte
+will depend chiefly on the Christian element for its influence. To-day,
+the Mussulman mosque, the pagoda of the Hindoo, the fire temple of the
+Parsee, the Roman and Greek churches, meet together.
+
+The adoration and prostrations of the Turk afford an imposing sight even
+to the Christian. 'Praises be to God, for He is great,' resounds at
+sunrise and at sunset, from ship to ship at sea, from kiosk to minaret
+on land.
+
+According to the Koran, there is a paradise for all true believers. This
+paradise, Al Janat, signifies a pleasure garden, from which flows a
+river, the river of life, whose water is clear as crystal, cold as snow,
+and sweet as nectar. The believer who takes a draught shall thirst no
+more. Even the oriental imagination fails to describe the glories of
+this paradise--its fountains and flowers, pearls and gems, nectar and
+ambrosia, all in unmeasured profusion. To crown the enchantment of the
+place, to each faithful Moslem is allotted seventy-two houris,
+resplendent beings, free from every human defect, perpetually renewing
+their youth and beauty. Such is the Mohammedan conception of the future
+world.
+
+The Turks, in common with other Mohammedans, believe in angels, and in
+the prophets Adam, Noah, Moses, and _Jesus_. One might suppose that such
+a belief would assist missionaries in converting the infidel; but far
+from assisting, its tendency is to make more difficult the inculcation
+of Christian doctrines. When asked to accept the religion of Christ, the
+Turk's ready answer is: 'We believe in Jesus! we believe in him already;
+you know only a part of the true faith; Mohammed has superseded Jesus.'
+Notwithstanding this, many Turks in Europe and Asia believe that in a
+long series of years, Jesus will return to earth, reanimate their faith
+and ancient valor, and with one unbroken religion, give them dominion to
+the end of the world. They, in short, expect Jesus--the same Jesus whom
+Christians worship--in the fullness of time to accomplish the work which
+their prophet only began. Christian missionaries should avail themselves
+of this remarkable belief, and turn it to the spiritual advantage of
+those who entertain it.
+
+     'Let the Turkish Government remain, if by her standing Islamism may
+     fall! that we may carry back a purer literature to the land of
+     Homer, a purer law to the land of Moses, and the Gospel of Christ
+     to the land of the apostles.'
+
+It only remains for me to say one word in regard to the now reigning
+sovereign. The ulemas--who have become what the Janissaries were, the
+hotbed of fanaticism--in their endeavors to overthrow the late sultan,
+Abdul Medjid, looked upon the present sultan as their champion. If he
+permits himself to become a tool in their hands, Turkey will lose
+during his reign what she gained in a century. If, on the other hand, he
+has the energy of Mahmoud, the humanity of Selim, and practises the
+conciliatory policy of his brother, a glorious future awaits the empire.
+
+
+
+
+FALSE ESTIMATIONS.
+
+
+   As one, who under pay of priest or pope,
+   Painteth an altar picture boldly bad,
+   Yet winning worship from the common eye,
+   Is less than one, who faltering day by day
+   Before the untouched canvas, dreams, and feels
+   An unaccomplished greatness: so is he
+   Who scrapes the skies and cleaves the patient air
+   For rhyming ecstasies to cheat the crowd,
+   That sees not in the stiller worshipper
+   The truer genius, who, in heights lone lost,
+   Forgets to interpret to a lesser sense.
+
+   O there do dwell among us minds divine,
+   In which th' etherial is so subtly mixed,
+   That only matter in its outward mien
+   To the observer shows. Such ever live
+   Unto themselves alone, in sweet still lives,
+   And die by all men misinterpreted.
+
+   Within a churchyard rise two honored urns
+   O'er graves not far removed. The one records
+   The 'genius of a Poet,' whose fitter fame
+   Lies in the volumes which his facile pen
+   Filled with the measure of redundant verse:
+   Before this urn the oft frequented sod
+   Is flattened with the tread of pensive feet.
+   The other simply bears the name and age
+   Of one who was 'a Merchant,' and bequeathed
+   A fair estate with numerous charities:
+   Before this urn the grass grows rank and green.
+
+   I knew them both in life, and thus to me
+   They measured in their lives their effigies:
+   He who the pen did wield with facile power,
+   Created what he wrote, and to the ear
+   With tact, not inspiration, wrought the sounds
+   To careful cadence; but the heart was cold
+   As the chill marble where the sculptor traced
+   Curious conceits of fancy. Let him pass,
+   His name not undervalued, for his fame
+   Shall in maturer ages lie as still
+   As doth his neighbor's now.
+
+                              Turn we to him.
+   He was a man to whom the general eye
+   Bent with the confidence of daily trust
+   In things of daily use: a man 'of means,
+   --Sagacious, honest, plodding, punctual,--
+   Revolving in the rank of those whose shields
+   Bear bags of argent on a field of gold,
+   His life, to most men, was what most men's are,--
+   Unceasing calculation and keen thrift;
+   Unvarying as the ever-plying loom,
+   Which, moving in same limits day by day,
+   Weaves mesh on mesh, in tireless gain of goods.
+   But I, that knew him better than the herd,
+   Yet saw him less, knew that in him which lives
+   Still gracious and still plentiful to me
+   Now he hath passed away from me and them.
+   This man, whose talk on busy marts to men
+   Teemed with the current coin of thrifty trade,
+   --Exchanges, credits, money rates, and all,--
+   Hath stood with me upon a silent hill,
+   When the last flush of the dissolving day
+   Fainted before the moonlight, and, as 'twere
+   Unconscious of my listening, uttered there
+   The comprehensions of a soul true poised
+   With elemental beauty, giving tongue
+   Unto the dumbness of the blissful air.
+   So have I seen him, too, within his home,
+   When, newspaper on knee, his earnest gaze
+   Seemed scanning issues from the money list;
+   But comments came not, till my curious eye
+   Led out his meditation into words,
+   Thought-winding upward into sphery light,
+   So utterly unearthly and sublime,
+   That all the man of fact fled out of sense,
+   And visual refinement filled the space.
+   Oft hath he told me, nothing was so blind
+   As the far-seeing wisdom of the world,
+   And none within it knew him, save himself,
+   And that so scantily, that but for faith
+   In a redeeming knowledge yet to come,
+   He would lie down and let his weakness die
+   In self-reclaiming dust.
+
+                           After his death,
+   I searched his papers, vainly, for a scrap
+   Whereon some dropped memento might record
+   His inner nature; but he nothing left--
+   Nothing of that deep life whose wondrous light
+   Guided him onward through the realms of sense,
+   And in a world of practical self-need
+   Sustained him with a glory unexpressed.
+
+   And thus it is that round the Poet's urn,
+   The sod is beaten down with pensive feet:
+   And thus it is that where the Merchant lies,
+   The grass, untrodden, groweth rank and green.
+
+
+
+
+THE BLUE HANDKERCHIEF.
+
+
+I had passed my last examinations, and had received my diploma
+authorizing me to practise medicine, and I still lingered in the
+vicinity of Edinburgh, partly because my money was nearly exhausted, and
+partly from the very natural aversion I felt from quitting a place where
+three very happy and useful years had been spent. After waiting many
+weeks--for the communication between the opposite shores of the Atlantic
+were not then so rapid as now--I received a large packet of letters from
+'home,' all of them filled with congratulations on my success, and among
+them were letters from my dear father and a beloved uncle, at whose
+instance (he was himself a physician) my father had sent me abroad to
+complete my medical education. My father's letter was even more
+affectionate than usual, for he was highly gratified with my success,
+and he counselled me to take advantage of the peace secured by the
+battle of Waterloo to visit the continent, which for many years (with
+the exception of a brief period) had been closed to all persons from
+Great Britain; he enclosed me a draft on a London banker for a thousand
+pounds. My uncle's letter was scarcely less affectionate; my Latin
+thesis (I had sent my father and him a copy) had especially pleased him;
+and after urging me to take advantage of my father's kindness, he added
+that he had placed a thousand pounds at my disposition, with the same
+London banker on whom my draft was drawn. A letter of introduction to a
+French family was enclosed in the letter, and he engaged me to visit
+them, for they had been his guests for a long time when the first
+Revolution caused them to fly France, and they were under other
+obligations to him; which I afterward learned from themselves was a
+pecuniary favor more than once renewed during their residence with him.
+Ten thousand dollars was a good deal of money to be placed at the
+disposition of a young man as his pocket money for eighteen months, even
+after a large deduction had been made from it for a library and
+professional instruments.
+
+Before I quitted Edinburgh, I received a letter from the gentleman to
+whom my uncle had given me an introduction; he acquainted me that my
+uncle had informed him that I was about visiting France, and that he had
+taken the liberty of introducing me to him. The Marquis de ---- (such
+was his title--his name I omit for obvious reasons) expressed with
+great warmth his delight at having it in his power to exhibit the
+gratitude he felt to my uncle, and urged me with the most pressing terms
+to come at once to his home, and pass away there at least so much time
+as might accustom me to the _spoken_ French language (I could easily
+read it), that my visit to Paris might be more profitable and
+agreeable--and it should be both, he was so good as to say, at least as
+far as it depended on himself and his friends. I wrote him by the return
+mail to thank him for his kindness, and to inform him that I should at
+once set out for his hospitable home. I shall never forget the six
+months I passed away in the Chateau de Bardy: the happiness of those
+days was checkered only by my departure and by the incident I shall
+presently relate. And even after I quitted that noble mansion, the
+kindness of its inmates still watched over me, and opened homes to me
+even in that great Maelstrom of life--Paris.
+
+It was toward the end of the month of October--the most delightful month
+of the seasons in France--as I was returning on foot from Orleans to the
+Chateau de Bardy, from a rather prolonged pedestrian exploration in that
+interesting neighborhood, where I had accurately examined all of the
+curiosities, thanks to an ample memoir of my noble host (in those days
+'Handbooks' were unknown, and Murray was busy publishing Byron and
+Moore), when I thought I caught a glimpse of some soldiers. I was not
+mistaken: on the road before me a Prussian regiment was marching. I
+quickened my pace to hear the military music, for I was extremely
+partial to it; but the band ceased playing, and no sound was heard
+except an occasional roll of the kettle-drum at long intervals to mark
+the uniform step of the soldiers. After following them for a half hour,
+I saw the regiment enter a small plain, surrounded by a fir grove. I
+asked a captain, whose acquaintance I had made, if his men were about to
+be drilled.
+
+'No,' said he, 'they are about to try, and perhaps to shoot, a soldier
+of my company for having stolen something from the house where he was
+billeted.'
+
+'What,' said I, 'are they going to try, condemn, and execute him, all in
+the same moment?'
+
+'Yes,' said he, 'those are the provisions of the capitulation.'
+
+This word 'capitulation' was to him an unanswerable argument, as if
+everything had been provided for in the capitulation, the crime and the
+punishment, justice and humanity.
+
+'And if you have any curiosity to see it,' added the captain, 'I will
+place you where you may see everything. It won't be long.'
+
+It may be from my professional education, but the truth is, I have
+always been fond of witnessing these melancholy spectacles; I persuade
+myself that I shall discover the solution of the enigma--death--on the
+face of a man in full health, whose life is suddenly severed. I followed
+the captain. The regiment was formed in a hollow square; in the rear of
+the second rank and near the edge of the grove, some soldiers were
+digging a grave. They were commanded by the third lieutenant, for in the
+regiment everything was done with order, and there is a certain form
+observed even in the digging of a man's grave. In the centre of the
+hollow square eight officers were seated on drums; a ninth officer was
+on their right, and some distance before them, negligently writing
+something, and using his knees as his desk; he was evidently filling up
+the forms simply because it was against the 'regulations' that a man
+should be killed without the usual forms. The accused was called up. He
+was a tall, fine-looking young man, with a noble and gentle face. A
+woman (the only witness in the cause) came up with him. But when the
+colonel began the examination of the woman, the soldier stopped him,
+saying:
+
+'It is useless asking her any questions. I am going to confess
+everything: I stole a handkerchief in that lady's house.
+
+THE COLONEL. What! Piter! You have been stealing! We all thought _you_
+incapable of such a thing!
+
+PITER. It is true, Colonel, I have always tried to pass as an honest
+man, and a good fellow. Oh! I tell you, it wan't for me I stole the
+handkerchief. 'Twas for Mary.
+
+THE COLONEL. Who is Mary?
+
+PITER. Mary? Oh! she lives yonder.... at home.... just outside of
+Areneberg.... don't you remember the big apple-tree?.... Oh! I shall
+never see her again....
+
+THE COLONEL. I don't understand you, Piter; explain yourself.
+
+PITER. Why, Colonel.... but read this letter.
+
+He gave the colonel a letter, which the latter read aloud, and every
+word of which was engraved on my mind, and still is as present to my
+memory as though I heard them an hour ago. It was as follows:
+
+MY DEAR, DEAR PITER:--I take advantage of recruit Arnold's leaving, for
+he has enlisted in your regiment, to send you this letter, and a silk
+purse I have made for you. Oh! I have hidden from father to work it, for
+he is always scolding me for loving you so much, and is always telling
+me that you will never come back. But you will come back, won't you!
+Even if you never come back, I will always love you just the same. I
+promised myself to you the day you picked up my blue handkerchief at the
+Areneberg dance, and brought it to me. Oh! when shall I see you again?
+The only pleasure I have is to hear that your officers esteem you, and
+your comrades love you. Everybody says you are an honest man and a good
+fellow. But you have still two years to serve. Serve them quickly,
+because then we shall be married. Good-by, dear, dear Piter, and believe
+me, your own dear
+
+     MARY.
+
+P.S. Try to send me, too, something from France, not because I'm afraid
+I shall forget you, but I want something from you to carry always about
+me. Kiss what you send me. I know I shall find at once where you kissed
+it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the colonel finished reading the letter, Piter said:
+
+'Arnold gave me this letter last night when I received my billet paper.
+For my life's sake I could not sleep; I lay awake all night long,
+thinking of home and of Mary. She asked for something from France. I had
+no money. I drew three months' advance last week to send home to my
+brother and my cousin. This morning, when I got up to go, I opened my
+window. A blue handkerchief was hanging on a clothes line; it looked
+like Mary's; it was the same color, the same white lines; I was so weak
+as to take it, and put it in my knapsack. I went out into the street; I
+was sorry for what I had done; I was going back to the house with it
+just when this lady ran after me. The handkerchief was found in my
+knapsack. This is all the truth. The capitulation orders me to be shot.
+Shoot me, but don't despise me.'
+
+The judges could not conceal their emotion; but when the balloting took
+place, he was unanimously condemned to death. He heard his sentence with
+sang-froid; after it was passed on him, he went up to his captain and
+asked him to lend him four francs. The captain gave them to him. I then
+saw Piter go to the woman to whom the blue handkerchief had been
+restored, and I heard him say:
+
+'Madame, here are four francs; I don't know whether your handkerchief is
+worth more, but even if it is, I pay dear enough for it to engage you to
+knock off the rest.'
+
+Taking the handkerchief from her, he kissed it, and gave it to the
+captain.
+
+'Captain,' said he, 'in two years you'll be returning home; when you go
+toward Areneberg, ask for Mary; give her this blue handkerchief, but
+don't tell her how dearly I purchased it.'
+
+Piter then kneeled and prayed fervently; when his prayers were ended, he
+arose and walked with a firm step to the place of execution. I forgot
+that I was a scientific man, and I walked down into the woods to avoid
+seeing the end of this cruel tragedy. A volley of musketry soon told me
+that all was over.
+
+I returned to the fatal spot an hour afterward; the regiment had marched
+away; all was calm and silent. While following the edge of the grove,
+going to the highway, I perceived at a short distance before me traces
+of blood, and a mound of freshly heaped earth. I took a branch from one
+of the fir trees, and made a rude cross.
+
+I placed it at the head of poor Piter's grave, now forgotten by every
+body except by me, and perhaps by Mary.
+
+
+
+
+GOLD.
+
+
+Gold, next to iron, is the most widely diffused metal upon the surface
+of our globe. It occurs in granite, the oldest rock known to us, and in
+all the rocks derived from it; it is also found in the veinstones which
+traverse other geological formations, but has never been found in any
+secondary formation. It is, however, much more common in alluvial
+grounds than among primitive and pyrogenous rocks. It is found
+disseminated, under the form of spangles, in the silicious,
+argillaceous, and ferruginous sands of certain plains and rivers,
+especially in their junction, at the season of low water, and after
+storms and temporary floods. It is the only metal of a yellow color; it
+is readily crystallizable, and always assumes one or more of the
+symmetrical shapes, such as the cube or regular octahedron. It affords a
+resplendent polish, and may be exposed to the atmosphere for any length
+of time, without suffering any change; it is remarkable for its beauty;
+is nineteen times heavier than water, and, next to platinum, the
+heaviest known substance; its malleability is such, that a cubic inch
+will cover thirty-five hundred square feet; its ductility is such, that
+a lump of the value of four hundred dollars could be drawn into a wire
+which would extend around the globe. It is first mentioned in Genesis
+ii, 11. It was found in the country of Havilah, where the rivers
+Euphrates and Tigris unite and discharge their waters into the Persian
+gulf.
+
+The relative value of gold to silver in the days of the patriarch
+Abraham was one to eight; at the period of B.C. 1000, it was one to
+twelve; B.C. 500, it was one to thirteen; at the commencement of the
+Christian era, it was one to nine; A.D. 500, it was one to eighteen;
+A.D. 1100, it was one to eight; A.D. 1400, it was one to eleven; A.D.
+1613, it was one to thirteen; A.D. 1700, it was one to fifteen and a
+half; which latter ratio, with but slight variation, it has maintained
+to the present day. Gold was considered bullion in Palestine for a long
+period after silver had been current as money. The first mention of gold
+money in the Bible is in David's reign (B.C. 1056), when that king
+purchased the threshing floor of Oman for six hundred shekels of gold by
+weight. In the early period of Grecian history the quantity of the
+precious metals increased but slowly; the circulating medium did not
+increase in proportion with the quantity of bullion. In the earliest
+days of Greece, the precious metals existed in great abundance in the
+Levant. Cabul and Little Thibet (B.C. 500) were abundant in gold. It
+seems to be a well ascertained fact, that it was obtained near the
+surface; so that countries, which formerly yielded the metal in great
+abundance, are now entirely destitute of it. Croesus (B.C. 560) coined
+the golden _stater_, which contained one hundred and thirty-three grains
+of pure metal. Darius, son of Hystaspes (B.C. 538), coined _darics_,
+containing one hundred and twenty-one grains of pure metal, which were
+preferred, for several ages throughout the East, for their fineness.
+Next to the _darics_ were some coins of the reigns of the tyrants of
+Sicily: of Gelo (B.C. 491); of Hiero (B.C. 478); and of Dionysius (B.C,
+404). Specimens of the two former are still preserved in modern
+cabinets. _Darics_ are supposed to be mentioned in the latter books of
+the Old Testament, under the name of _drams_. Very few specimens of the
+_daric_ have come down to us; their scarcity may he accounted for by the
+fact that they were melted down under the type of Alexander. Gold coin
+was by no means plenty in Greece until Philip of Macedon had put the
+mines of Thrace into full operation, about B.C. 360. Gold was also
+obtained by the Greeks from Asia Minor, the adjacent islands, which
+possessed it in abundance, and from India, Arabia, Armenia, Colchis, and
+Troas. It was found mixed with the sands of the Pactolus and other
+rivers. There are only about a dozen Greek coins in existence, three of
+which are in the British Museum; and of the latter, two are _staters_,
+of the weight of one hundred and twenty-nine grains each. About B.C.
+207, gold coins were first struck off at Rome, and were denominated
+_aurei_, four specimens of which are in the institution before alluded
+to. Their weight was one hundred and twenty-one grains. Gold coins were
+first issued in France by Clovis, A.D. 489; about the same time they
+were issued in Spain by Amalric, the Gothic king; in both kingdoms they
+were called _trientes_. They were first issued in England A.D. 1257, in
+the shape of a penny. Florins were next issued, in 1344, of the value of
+six shillings. The guinea was first issued in 1663, of Guinea gold. In
+1733 all the gold coins--nobles, angels, rials, crowns, units, lions,
+exurgats, etc., etc., were called in and forbidden to circulate. The
+present sovereign was first issued in 1817.
+
+From the commencement of the Christian era to the discovery of America,
+the amount of gold obtained from the surface and bowels of the earth is
+estimated to be thirty-eight hundred millions of dollars; from the date
+of the latter event to the close of 1842, an addition of twenty-eight
+hundred millions was obtained. The discovery and extensive working of
+the Russian mines added, to the close of 1852, six hundred millions
+more. The double discovery of the California mines in 1848, and of the
+Australia mines in 1851 has added, to the present time, twenty-one
+hundred millions; making a grand total of ninety-three hundred millions
+of dollars. The average loss by wear and tear of coin is estimated to be
+one-tenth of one per cent, per annum; and the loss by consumption in the
+arts, by fire and shipwreck, at from one to three millions per annum.
+
+A cubic inch of gold is worth (at L3 17_s._ 10-1/2_d._, or $18.69 per
+ounce) two hundred and ten dollars; a cubic foot, three hundred and
+sixty-two thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars; a cubic yard, nine
+millions nine hundred and seventeen thousand seven hundred and sixty
+dollars. The amount of gold in existence, at the commencement of the
+Christian era, is estimated to be four hundred and twenty-seven millions
+of dollars; at the period of the discovery of America, it had diminished
+to fifty-seven millions; after the occurrence of that event, it
+gradually increased, and in 1600, it attained to one hundred and five
+millions; in 1700, to three hundred and fifty-one millions; in 1800, to
+eleven hundred and twenty-five millions; in 1843, to two thousand
+millions; in 1853 to three thousand millions; and at the present time,
+the amount of gold in existence is estimated to be forty-eight hundred
+millions of dollars; which, welded into one mass, could be contained in
+a cube of twenty-four feet. Of the amount now in existence, three
+thousand millions is estimated to be in coin and bullion, and the
+remainder in watches, jewelry, plate, etc., etc.
+
+The Russian gold mines were discovered in 1819, and extend over one
+third of the circumference of the globe, upon the parallel of 55 deg. of
+north latitude. Their product, since their discovery to the present
+time, has amounted to eight hundred millions of dollars. The California
+gold mines were discovered by William Marshall, on the ninth day of
+February, 1848, at Sutter's Mill, upon the American Fork, a tributary of
+the Sacramento, and extend from 34 deg. to 49 deg. of north latitude. Their
+product, since their discovery to the present time, has amounted to one
+thousand and forty-seven millions of dollars. The Australia gold mines
+were discovered by Edward Hammond Hargraves, on the twelfth day of
+February, 1851, in the Bathurst and Wellington districts, and extend
+from 30 deg. to 38 deg. of south latitude. Their product, since their discovery
+to the present time, has amounted to nine hundred and eleven millions of
+dollars. The finest gold is obtained at Ballurat, and the largest nugget
+yet obtained weighed twenty-two hundred and seventeen ounces, valued at
+forty-one thousand dollars. In shape it resembled a continent with a
+peninsula attached by a narrow isthmus. The annual product of gold at
+the commencement of the Christian era is estimated at eight hundred
+thousand dollars; at the period of the discovery of America it had
+diminished to one hundred thousand dollars; after the occurrence of that
+event it gradually increased, and in 1600 it attained to two millions;
+and in 1700, to five millions; in 1800, to fifteen millions; in 1843, to
+thirty-four millions; in 1850, to eighty-eight millions; in 1852, to two
+hundred and thirty-six millions; but owing to the falling off of the
+California as well as the Australia mines, the product of the present
+year will not probably exceed one hundred and ninety millions.
+
+Since 1792 to the present time, the gold coinage of the United States
+mint has amounted to seven hundred and forty millions of dollars, of
+which six hundred and fifty-five millions have been issued since 1850.
+The gold coinage of the French mint, since 1726, has amounted to
+eighty-seven hundred millions of francs, of which fifty-two hundred and
+fifty millions have been issued since 1850. The gold coinage of the
+British mint, since 1603, has amounted to two hundred and eighty
+millions of pounds sterling; of which seventy-five millions have been
+issued since 1850. The gold coinage of the Russian mint, since 1664, has
+amounted to five hundred and twenty-six millions of roubles, of which
+two hundred and sixty millions have been issued since 1850. The
+sovereign of England contains one hundred and twelve grains of pure
+metal; the new doubloon of Spain, one hundred and fifteen; the half
+eagle of the United States, one hundred and sixteen; the gold lion of
+the Netherlands, and the double ounce of Sicily, one hundred and
+seventeen grains each; the ducat of Austria, one hundred and six; the
+twenty-franc piece of France, ninety; and the half imperial of Russia,
+ninety-one grains. A commissioner has been despatched by the United
+States Government to England, France, and other countries of Europe, to
+confer with their respective governments upon the expediency of adopting
+a uniform system of coinage throughout the world, so that the coins of
+one country may circulate in any other, without the expense of
+recoinage--a consummation most devoutly to be wished.
+
+The fact that the large amount of gold which has been thrown into the
+monetary circulation of the world within the last fourteen years, has
+exercised so little influence upon the money market or prices generally,
+is at variance with the predictions of financial writers upon both sides
+of the Atlantic. The increase in the present production of gold,
+compared with former periods, is enormous; and it would not be
+surprising if, in view of the explorations which are going on in Africa,
+Japan, Borneo, and other countries bordering upon the equator, the
+product of the precious metals within the next decade should be a
+million of dollars _daily_. The price of gold has not diminished,
+although the annual product has increased fivefold within twenty years.
+
+
+
+
+LAST WORDS.
+
+
+I am at last resolved. This taunting devil shall possess me no longer.
+At least I will meet him face to face. I have read that the face of a
+dead man is as though he understood the cause of all things, and was
+therefore profoundly at rest, _I_ will know the cause of my wretched
+fate, and will be at rest. My pistols lie loaded by my side--I shall die
+to-night. To-morrow, twelve awestruck and trembling men will come and
+look at me. They will ask each other: 'What could have been his motive
+for the rash act.' Rash! my face will be calmer than theirs, for my
+struggles in this life will be over; and I shall have gained--perhaps
+knowledge, perhaps oblivion, but certainly victory. And to-night, as the
+clock strikes twelve, there will be shrieks and horror in this room. No
+matter: I shall have been more kind to those who utter them than they
+know of, for they will not have known the cause until they have read
+these lines.
+
+And yet most people would esteem me a happy man. I am rich in all that
+the world calls riches. I sit in a room filled with luxuries; a few
+steps would bring me into the midst of guests, among whom are noble men
+and women, sweet music, rare perfumes, glitter and costly show. My life
+has been spent amid the influences of kind friends, good parents, and
+culture in all that is highest and worthiest in literature and art; and
+I can recall scenes as I write, of days that would have been most happy
+but for the blight that has been upon me always. I think I see now the
+pleasant parlor in the old house at home. Here sits our mother, a little
+gray, but brisk and merry as a cricket; there our father, a
+well-preserved gentleman of fifty, rather gratified at feeling the first
+aristocratic twinges of gout, and whose double eyeglass is a chief
+feature in all he says; there is Bill, poring over Sir William Napier's
+'Peninsular War;' there is Charles, just rushing in, with a face the
+principal features in which are redness and hair, to tell us that there
+is another otter in the mill stream in the meadow; there is my little
+sister, holding grave talk with dear Dollie, and best (or worst) of all,
+there is cousin Lucy--cousin Lucy, with her brown hair, and soft, loving
+eyes and quiet ways. Where are they all now? Charley went to London, was
+first the favorite of the clubs, next a heartless rake, and finally,
+being worn out, and, like Solomon, convinced that all was vanity, went
+into the Church to become that most contemptible of all creatures, a
+fashionable preacher; my father and mother are laid side by side in the
+aisle of the old church on the hill, where their virtues are sculptured
+in marble, for the information of anxiously curious mankind; sister Mary
+no longer talks to dolls, though a flock of little girls, who call her
+mother, do. Bill, poor Bill, lies far away in the Crimea, with the
+bullet of a gray-coated Russian in his heart. And Lucy--but it is to her
+I owe what I am, and what I am about to do.
+
+I loved her--love her still. Will she _know_ what these words mean, when
+she finds them here? I cannot tell. They are enough for me. Not for you
+are they written, ball-room lounger, whispering of endless devotion
+between every qaudrille; not to you, proud beauty, taking and absorbing
+declarations as you would an ice; not for you, chattering monkey of the
+Champs Elysees, raving of your _grande passion_ for Eloise, so
+_charmante_, so _spirituelle_; nor for you, Eloise aforesaid, with your
+devilish devices, stringing hearts in your girdle as Indians do scalps;
+not for you, dancing Spaniard, with your eternal castagnets, whispering
+just one word to your dark-eyed senorita, as you hand her another
+perfumed cigarette; not for you, lounging Italian, hissing intrigues
+under the shadow of an Athenian portico, or stealing after your veiled
+incognita, as her shadow flits over the place where the blood of Caesar
+dyed the floor of the Capitol, or where the knife of Virginius flashed
+in the summer sun--not for one of you, for I have seen and despise you
+all. To you all love is a sealed book, which you shall never open--a
+tree of knowledge that will never turn into a curse for you--a beautiful
+serpent that, as you gaze upon its changing hues, will never sting you
+to the death.
+
+I never told her. I would wait for hours to see her pass, if she went
+out alone--but I never told her. I would trace her footsteps where she
+had taken her daily walk; I would wait beneath her window at night, to
+see but her shadow upon the blind, until she put out her lamp, and left
+the stars and myself the only watchers there--but I never told her. I
+would lay flowers in her way, happy if she wore them on her bosom, or
+wreathed them in her hair, as she sometimes would--but she never knew
+from whom they came. I sickened at my heart for her; I pined, oh! how I
+pined for her, and worshipped her as a saint, the hope, the glory, the
+heaven of my life--but I never told her.
+
+Did she love me? No. And, while I loved, I feared her. She never made me
+her companion, never took my arm; would always sit opposite me in the
+carriage instead of by my side; if in a game of forfeits, I forced the
+embrace I had won, she would struggle with tears of anger, though she
+had given her cheek to William with a blush but a few minutes before. If
+I had not been her abject slave, I could have torn her in pieces. Alas!
+alas! we were but boys, and she a girl still. How many, long years I
+have suffered since then!
+
+One night I could not sleep, but sat up in my room thinking. Why should
+she not love me? I am esteemed well-looking and intelligent, thought I,
+looking into the glass, as if to confirm my satisfactory judgment of
+myself. I gazed long and earnestly. Yes, certainly handsome, said I with
+my lips, but--fool! fool! said my mocking eyes; for at that moment there
+came out of their depths--there came a devil! Yes, a devil that glared
+at me from the glass! a devil that was, and yet was not, myself! a devil
+that had my form, and looked out of my face, but with its own cruel,
+mocking eyes! And he and I confronted each other in that horrible glass.
+I know not how long, but they told me afterward that I was found next
+morning making ghastly faces at myself.
+
+And then I was carried by spirits into a land of visions, where for a
+hundred years, or for a moment of time, I was flying through space, and
+clouds, and fire!--groping through dark caverns, millions of miles
+long, crying wildly for light and air; now a giant, entangled in myriads
+of chains that I could not break; now a reptile, writhing away from
+footsteps that made the earth reel and tremble beneath their tread; and
+at last waking, as if out of sleep, a poor, puny thing, with limbs like
+shadows, laughing or crying by turns for very feebleness.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As I arose from that bed I knew that I was changed. It was a secret
+thought, a secret that I have kept till now. I was not quite sure at
+first, but it thus fell out that I knew it well:
+
+One day William and I had been sitting for some time in the library, he
+reading and I looking at the faces that glowed in the red-hot coal, and
+thinking of Lucy and him.
+
+'Where is Lucy?' said I, at length,
+
+'Gone out into the village,' he answered, without looking from the book;
+'first to buy gloves, then to see Miss Trip, the dancing mistress, who
+is ill, then to Hurst Park to tea, whence I am to fetch her at nine
+o'clock.'
+
+'You seem to know all her movements,' I said, with a sneer.
+
+'Certainly, he rejoined, 'she told me all that I have told you.'
+
+'You always _are_ in her confidence,' said I, very angrily, as my blood
+rose.
+
+'I believe so,' said he, calmly; though he looked at me with some
+surprise.
+
+'And I never,' said I, between my teeth.
+
+'That,' he said, 'is a matter with which I have no concern.'
+
+I ground my teeth, but I kept quiet. I kept quiet, though every nerve in
+my body tingled with rage, and my boiling blood rushed into my eyes till
+I could hardly see. 'Do you know,' I shouted, 'do you know that I love
+her--would die a thousand deaths for her?'
+
+He clasped his hands with a quick motion, as he said in a low voice,
+'And so do I; and so would I.'
+
+'Beast, fiend!' I screamed, 'does she--does she----' I could not get out
+the accursed words.
+
+'We have been engaged,' he answered, divining what I would have asked,
+'we have been engaged for some time, and----'
+
+He did not finish the sentence, for I sprang at him, crushed him to the
+floor, squeezed his throat till his face grew black and the froth oozed
+out from his lips, beat his head upon the hearthstones till he lay still
+and bleeding, and then sought my knife. It was up stairs. I flew to get
+it. It lay upon my dressing table before the glass, and I snatched at
+it. Great God! as I did so, another arm was thrust forth--not mine, I
+swear, if I live a thousand years; and as I recoiled, I saw in that
+glass a fiend step back. Not me, not me!--but a fiend with bloody hands,
+and a foul leer upon its face, and a fierce, cruel laugh in its
+glittering eyes. It was he, it was he! It was the devil that had
+possessed me before, come back again. And as I shuddered and gasped, and
+turned away, and then looked again into those eyes that pierced _me_
+through, and saw the cold, bitter smile that was on the face before me,
+I knew that the fiend would leave me never more, and that I was mad!
+
+What was a quarrel with my brother now? I stole back, and, lifting him
+up, carried him to his room, where I washed the blood from his face.
+When he came to himself I fell at his feet and besought his pardon, and
+that he would keep what had happened a secret. He forgave me. And I
+believe the only lie he ever told in all his life was when he told Lucy
+that he had cut his head by falling on a jagged stone.
+
+Oh, how often after that my fingers itched to be at his throat again;
+but I always quailed before his steady eye.
+
+I pass over the next few years, except to say that I went to college,
+where I was shunned by all, though never alone: was a dunce, and plucked
+twice. Perhaps it was I who shunned others, for had I not society in
+the constant presence of my Familiar? I was of course a dunce, for my
+brain was never steady enough to carry me over the _Pons Asinorum_, or
+to make a Latin verse with even decent correctness. I went away in
+disgust. I think if I had stayed longer I should have torn somebody, or
+else myself.
+
+I went next into the army. It was a new era in my life, and, strange to
+say, my devil left me for a while, so that I was able to master the
+details of my profession, and to be esteemed a good and careful officer.
+There was hope, too, of active service; for the Russian Eagle was slowly
+unfolding his vast wings for a new descent into the plains of Europe.
+William, married to Her now, who was a lieutenant in the Foot Guards,
+wrote to me to say that he hoped we should be really brothers, now that
+we were to meet before an enemy; and the next day out came the
+declaration of war. When I had read it, I drew my sword, and, as I ran
+my eye along its cold, sharp blade from hilt to point, I thought how
+strange was its power to let out a man's life, and turn him, in a
+moment, into a heap of inanimate carrion.
+
+Of course I am not going to tell the history of the great siege in the
+Crimea, for every child knows by heart the tale of the clambering fight
+up the Alma's steeps, of the withering volley that suddenly crashed out
+of the gray twilight on the hill of Inkerman, of the long months of
+starvation, of the final _feu d'enfer_, beneath which the Russian host
+crowded over the narrow bridge that saved them from their foe. But of
+the fatal charge of the Six Hundred I must speak, for I was one of them,
+and I have cursed its memory a thousand times.
+
+I well remember that day--how restless I was the night before, and how I
+listened to the dropping shots on either side, hoping almost that one
+would find its way to my heart.
+
+We were brigaded by daylight. Some manoeuvres on an extensive scale
+were to be attempted, I believe, one of which was to outflank some
+batteries of field artillery by which we had suffered much loss. They
+were drawn up at the side and end of the valley of Balaklava, and we
+were at the other end, and were ordered, it has since been said in
+error, to charge down the valley upon them.
+
+How beautiful the sun rose that day! The dewy odors from a thousand
+flowers came floating up from that green valley as he rolled away the
+mists from the mountain tops, and showed us the dusky masses far below,
+from which the shot came whizzing every now and then. Gods! how we
+exulted at the sight. Along our line rose a wild cheer, as our horses
+tugged and strained at their bits, and every man's bridle was drawn
+tight. Soon a puff of smoke came from a hillock near, and the stern
+command 'draw swords' ran along from troop to troop, as the bright steel
+flashed in the sunshine like a river of light. Then out pealed the
+trumpets, and away we went, amidst a storm of ringing harness, and
+clashing scabbards, and flying banners, and thundering hoofs that made
+the ground shake. On we dashed, straight across the valley, in front of
+a point-blank fire, that emptied many a saddle as we flew along,
+straight upon the mass of smoke and flame which hid those fatal
+batteries--straight at the gunners, dealing out wild blows upon them,
+while they fought with swords, or axes, or clubbed muskets, or gun
+spongers, or anything that could cut or strike a blow.
+
+As for me, I only know that I was in the first line, and among the first
+in the melee; where my first blow lighted upon the bare head of a
+Russian, whose blood spouted high as I cut at him with all my force; for
+after that a mist came over my eyes, and I fought in the dark, and then
+came oblivion.
+
+When I awoke to consciousness, which I did not for several days, I found
+that I was wounded, and had been in danger of my life, though I should
+most probably recover. As soon as I was strong enough to talk much, I
+was told that my bravery had been very conspicuous, and that I had been
+honorably mentioned in the order of the day. Four Russians, it seemed,
+had died by my hand, and being at last cut on the head by a sabre, I was
+with difficulty held on my horse when the retreat was sounded. I had
+raved, it also appeared, incessantly; but now the fever had left me.
+Good. It was fever, they thought, which had held possession of me. But
+those who said so did not know what power it was that nerved my arm, and
+then, having worked his devilish wile, flung me away like a broken toy.
+Fever! They did not know that it was a 'fever' that had cursed me for
+twelve long years.
+
+But I got well, as those who were about me said, and, having been
+reported fit for duty, made my appearance at parade, and afterward, the
+same day, at mess.
+
+My brother was dead. One day, while I lay ill, he and a party of his
+brother officers were idly chatting in one of the more advanced
+trenches, when a minie ball struck him, and he died without a word or
+groan. They carried him out, and he lies at the little graveyard at
+Scutari, with thousands of others who fell in the Great Siege. His sword
+and other relics had been kept for me, and among them was a portrait of
+Cousin Lucy, which he had worn next his heart. I should have to take it
+to her. The general in command had already written to her, with the news
+of her bereavement.
+
+I was saying that I rejoined the mess. All my comrades congratulated me
+but one. He was a young fellow, recently exchanged from another
+regiment, who would one day wear the strawberry leaf upon his coronet--a
+cold, supercilious, prying puppy, whom I hated at once. When we were
+introduced, our mutual bow was studied in its cold formality--on his
+side so much so as to be almost insulting, considering the place and
+circumstances. To this day I believe that he, the only one of all there,
+had suspected me, and I felt that I must be perpetually on my guard
+against his curious glances. I was sure that one day we should have to
+strive for the mastery. And we did--sooner than I expected; for, as the
+colonel filled his glass, and, calling upon the rest to follow his
+example, drank a welcome to me back among them, this knave, sitting
+opposite at the time, fixed his eyes upon me as he lifted his glass to
+his lips, and did not drink. As our looks met, I knew that he mocked me,
+and I flung my wine in his face, and raved.
+
+Those present forced me away, and took me to my tent, where they made me
+lie down. I was supposed to be delirious from weakness and the effects
+of my wound, and I heard them say, 'He has come out too soon; that wine
+he drank at dinner was too much for him.' Good again! It was the wine!
+'But,' thought I, 'as soon as this arm shall be able to strike or
+thrust, I will have the life of that sneering devil, or he mine.' And I
+kept my word. I met him within ten days afterward, walking at some
+distance from the camp, quite alone, as I was myself.
+
+'Good morning,' said he; 'you are about again, as I am glad to see.'
+
+I said to him, 'Do you forget the time when I was out before?'
+
+'Surely not,' said he; 'but I knew that you had been ill, and was not
+master of yourself.'
+
+'And so forgave me?' I rejoined, in a passion.
+
+'And so forgave,' said he; 'why not?'
+
+'Then learn,' said I, 'that I _was_ master of myself; that I am now;
+that you insulted me grossly; that the only words I have for you
+are--draw, sir, draw!'
+
+'Stop!' he cried, as I drew my sword; 'pray come back with me to the
+camp. You are ill; pray, come back; I have no quarrel with you, believe
+me.'
+
+But I struck him on the breast with my swordhilt, so that he nearly
+fell. Then he recovered himself, and, still crying out that he had no
+quarrel with me, drew and stood upon his guard, while I rushed upon him.
+
+He was cool, and I furious. I believe he could have killed me easily if
+he had wished, but he only parried my rapid blows. At last, however, as
+I pressed him more closely, he grew paler, and began to fight in
+earnest. What _then_ could he do against a madman? I bore him back, step
+by step, till a mass of rock stopped him; and there I kept him, with the
+hissing steel playing about his head, until he dropped upon one knee and
+his sword fell from his hand. Then I paused, waiting to see him die as I
+would a wounded hare, as die I knew he must, for I had pierced him with
+twenty wounds. He knelt thus, and looked, not at me, but at the setting
+sun; and then his head drooped and he rolled over, and was dead.
+
+And as I wiped my sword on the grass, I shouted with glee.
+
+Of course, I told no one. It was but another secret added to the many
+that had torn my heart and brain. Nor, when the body was found, stripped
+by camp followers, and supposed to be killed by a reconnoitring party of
+the enemy, did I betray myself by word or look.
+
+At last the war was over, and we were ordered home. I bade farewell to
+the blue hills of the Crimea with secret joy, and as the shore faded
+from my sight, the memory of all that had happened to me during the
+Great Siege faded from my memory like a dream.
+
+Upon our landing, I went as soon as possible home. How green the hedges
+were, how sweet the scent of the violets, how soft the grass, how grand
+the arching oaks and giant elms, as I journeyed along on foot. Surely I
+have suffered enough, I said to myself, as I passed through meadow, and
+copse, and lane, and over stiles, and to the old park at last. Surely I
+have suffered enough, I said, as I came to the lodge gate, where the
+keeper's wife looked curiously at my uniform and bronzed face, and the
+crape on my arm, and then ran into the lodge to tell her husband that
+here was Master Horace come back. Surely there was peace in that old
+house, with its pointed gables, and moss-clad turrets, and ivied walls,
+and little gothic windows--where the old butler grasped my hand; and the
+maids came peeping out; and the old dog licked my face; where poor Lucy
+wept upon my breast--wept for that I had come back alone; and then put
+her little girl into my arms, to kiss dear Uncle Horace, come home once
+more.
+
+But, when I went to bed that night, in the same glass that showed me my
+Enemy years before, I saw him looking at me, with his cruel smile,
+shining out of my own eyes.
+
+What more remains to be told? But little; for it was but the old story.
+It is enough to say that I struggled on, hoping against hope; that I
+cheated myself with the maddest hope of all--that she might be brought
+to love me; that I one day prayed her to become my wife, and that she
+broke from me with terror and loathing; that I fled her presence, and
+was once more a wanderer over the earth; that my weary feet dragged me
+over the snows of Siberia, where the furred noble and the chained serf
+worked side by side; over the burning sands, where the brown Arab
+careers along upon his steed, his white burnous fluttering in the hot
+wind; over the broad prairies of America, where the Indian prowls with
+his trusty rifle, waiting for the wild beast; over the paths of the
+trackless deep; over the still wilder deserts and still more lonely
+deeps of revelry and vice;--what more than that I have come back again;
+that many guests are here to do honor to my return; that these are the
+last words which I shall ever write!
+
+
+
+
+PARTING
+
+   When 'mid the loud notes of the drum
+     And fife tones shrilling on the ear,
+   The music of our nation's hymns
+     Rose 'neath the elm trees loud and clear;
+   When on the Common's grassy plain
+     The city poured her countless throng,
+   And blessings fell like April rain
+     On each one as he marched along;
+
+   We parted,--hand close clasped in hand,
+     Telling the thoughts tongue could not speak;
+   Was it unmanly that our eyes
+     O'erflowed with love upon the cheek?
+   I hear thy cheery voice outspeak,
+     'Courage, the months will quickly fly,
+   And ere November chill and bleak
+     We meet at home, Ned, you and I.'
+
+   A livelier strain came from the band,
+     'God bless you' went from each to each;
+   A gazing eye, a waving hand,
+     Where hearts were all too full for speech.
+   He marched, obeying duty's call,
+     Of noblest nature, first to hear;
+   I, bound by fond domestic thrall,
+     In path of duty lingered here.
+
+   Slowly the summer months rolled on,
+     October harvested the corn,
+   November came with shortening days,
+     Passed by in mist and rain,--was gone,--
+   Yet still he came not; winter's snow
+     In feathery vesture clothed the trees,
+   Or, iceclad in a jewelled glow,
+     They sparkled in the chilly breeze.
+
+   Spring glowed along Potomac vales,
+     While north her footsteps tardier came,
+   For him the golden jasmine trails
+     O'er bright azaleas all aflame;
+   Still upon Yorktown's trampled fields,
+     O'er grassy plain and wooded swell,
+   Her sunny wealth the summer yields,
+     And still the word comes, 'All is well.'
+
+
+
+
+A MERCHANT'S STORY.
+
+
+     'All of which I saw, and part of which I was.'
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+In the afternoon the exercises at the meeting house were conducted by
+Preston, who publicly catechized the negroes very much in the manner
+that is practised in Northern Sunday schools. When the services were
+over, and the family had gathered around the supper table, I said to
+him:
+
+'I've an idea of passing the evening with Joe; he has invited me. Would
+it be proper for you and Mrs. Preston to go?'
+
+'Oh, yes; and we will. I would like to have you see his mother. She is a
+wonderful woman, and, if in the mood, will astonish you.'
+
+'I think you told me she is a native African?'
+
+'Yes, she is. She was brought from Africa when a child. She has a dim
+recollection of her life there, and retains the language and
+superstitions of her race,' replied Preston, rising from the table. 'I
+think you had better go at once, for she retires early; Lucy and I will
+follow you as soon as we can.'
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Joe's cabin was located nearly in the centre of the little collection of
+negro houses, and a few hundred yards from the mansion. It was of logs,
+a story and a half high, and had originally been only about twenty feet
+square. To the primitive structure, however, an addition of the same
+dimensions had been made, and as it then stretched for more than forty
+feet along the narrow bypath which separated the two rows of negro
+shanties, it presented quite an imposing appearance. A second addition
+in its rear, though it did not increase its dignity in the eyes of
+'street' observers, added largely to its proportions and convenience.
+
+The various epochs in Joe's history were plainly written on his
+dwelling. The original building noted the time when, a common field
+hand, he had married a wife, and set up housekeeping; the front addition
+marked the era when his industry, intelligence, and devotion to his
+master's interest had raised him above the dead level of black
+servitude, and given him the management of the plantation; and the rear
+structure spoke pleasantly of the time when old Deborah, disabled by age
+from longer service at 'the great house,' and too infirm to clamber up
+the steep ladder which led to Joe's attic bedrooms, had come to doze
+away the remainder of her days under her son's roof.
+
+The cabin was furnished with two entrance doors, and suspecting that the
+one in the older portion led directly into the kitchen, I rapped lightly
+at the other. In a moment it opened, and Joe ushered me into the living
+room.
+
+That apartment occupied the whole of the newer front, and had a
+cheerful, cosy appearance. Its floor was covered with a tidy rag carpet,
+evidently of home manufacture, and its plastered walls were decorated
+with tasteful paper, and hung with a number of neatly framed engravings.
+Opposite the doorway stood a large mahogany bureau, and over it,
+suspended from the ceiling by leathern cords, was a curiously contrived
+shelving, containing a score or more of well-worn books. Among them I
+noticed a small edition of 'Shakespeare,' Milton's 'Poems,' Goldsmith's
+'England,' the six volumes of 'Comprehensive Commentary,' Taylor's 'Holy
+Living and Dying,' the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' a 'United States
+Gazetteer,' and a complete set of the theological writings of
+Swedenborg. Neat chintz curtains covered the small windows, a number of
+brightly burnished brass candlesticks ornamented a plain wooden mantle
+over the broad fireplace, and a yellow-pine table, oiled and varnished,
+on which the 'tea things' were still standing, occupied the centre of
+the apartment.
+
+Through an open door, at the right of the bureau, I caught a glimpse of
+the dormitory of the aged Africaness. As on the exterior of the building
+a brief epitome of Joe's history was written, so in that room a portion
+of his character was traced. Its comfortable and almost elegant
+furnishings told, plainer than any words, that he was a devoted and
+affectionate son. With its rich Brussels carpet, red window hangings,
+cosy lounge, neat centre table, and small black-walnut bureau, it might
+have been mistaken for the private apartment of a white lady of some
+pretensions.
+
+It was a little after nightfall when I entered the cabin, but a bright
+fire, blazing on the hearth, gave me a full view of its occupants. Aggy,
+a tidily clad, middle-aged yellow woman, was clearing away the supper
+table, and Joe's mother was smoking a pipe in a large arm chair, in the
+chimney corner.
+
+The old negress wore a black levantine gown, open in front, and gathered
+about the waist by a silken cord; a red and yellow turban, from
+underneath which escaped a few frosted locks, and a white cambric
+neckerchief that fell carelessly over her shoulders, and almost hid her
+withered, scrawny neck. She was upward of seventy, but so infirm that
+she appeared nearly a hundred. One of her lean, skinny arms, escaping
+from the loose sleeve of her dress, rested on her knee; and her bowed,
+bony frame leaned against the arm of her chair, as if incapable of
+sitting upright. Her features, with the exception of her nose, which
+curved slightly upward, were thin and regular; and her eyes were large,
+deep, and densely black, and seemed turned inward, as if gazing with a
+half-wondering stare at the strange mechanism which held together her
+queer frame-work of bones and gutta percha.
+
+She was the old woman who had greeted Preston so affectionately on our
+arrival.
+
+Turning to her as he tendered me a chair, Joe said:
+
+'Mudder, dis am Mr. Kirke.'
+
+Making a feeble effort to rise, and reaching out her trembling hand she
+exclaimed, in a voice just above a whisper:
+
+'You'm welcome yere, right welcome, sar.'
+
+'Thank you, aunty. Pray keep your seat; don't rise on my account.'
+
+'Tank _you_, massa Kirke, fur comin' yere. It'm bery good ob you. Ole
+missy lub you, sar; you'm so good ter massa Robert. He'm my own chile,
+sar!'
+
+This was undoubtedly a figure of speech, for the old woman's skin was
+altogether too black not to have given a trifle of its shading to the
+complexion of her children. It was not only black, but blue black, and
+of that peculiar hue which is seen only on the faces of native Africans.
+
+Seeing that she had relinquished smoking, I said:
+
+'Never mind me, aunty; I smoke myself sometimes.'
+
+'Tank you, sar,' she replied, resuming her pipe, and relapsing into her
+previous position; 'ole wimmin lub 'backer, sar.'
+
+The low tone in which this was said made me conclude that further
+conversation would be exhausting to her, so turning to Joe and Aggy--the
+latter had hurried through her domestic employments, and taken a seat
+near the fire--I entered into a general discussion of the old worthies
+that occupied Joe's book shelves.
+
+I found the negro had taxed them for house room. He had levied on their
+best thoughts, and I soon experienced the uneasy sensation which one
+feels when he encounters a man who can 'talk him dry' on almost any
+subject. On the single topic of the business to which I was educated, I
+might have displayed, had it not been Sunday night, a greater amount of
+information; but in the knowledge of every subject that was broached,
+the black was my superior.
+
+The conversation had rambled on for a full half hour, the old negress
+meanwhile puffing steadily away, and giving no heed to it; when suddenly
+her pipe dropped from her mouth, her eyes closed, her bent figure became
+erect, and a quick, convulsive shiver passed over her. Thinking she was
+about to fall in a fit, I exclaimed:
+
+'Joe! See! your mother!'
+
+'Neber mind, sar,' he quietly replied; 'it'm nuffin'. Only de power am
+on her.'
+
+A few more convulsive spasms succeeded, when the old woman's face
+assumed a settled expression; and swaying her body back and forth with a
+slow, steady motion, she commenced humming a low chant. Gradually it
+grew louder, till it broke into a strange, wild song, filling the room,
+and coming back in short, broken echoes from the adjoining apartments.
+Struck with astonishment, I was about to speak, when Joe, laying his
+hand on my arm, said:
+
+'Hush, sar! It am de song ob de kidnap slave!'
+
+It was sung in the African tongue, but I thought I heard, as it rose and
+fell in a wild, irregular cadence, the thrilling story of the stolen
+black; his smothered cries, and fevered moans in the slaver's hold; the
+shriek of the wind, and the sullen sound of the surging waves as they
+broke against the accursed ship; and, then--as the old negress rose and
+poured forth quick, broken volumes of song--the loud mirth of the
+drunken crew, mingling with what seemed dying groans, and the heavy
+splash of falling bodies striking the sea.
+
+As she concluded, with a firm, stately step--showing none of her
+previous decrepitude--she approached me:
+
+Seeing that I regarded her movements with a look of startled interest,
+Joe said:
+
+'Leff har do what she likes, sar. She hab suffin' to say to you.'
+
+Taking a small bag[1] from her bosom, and placing it in the open front
+of my waistcoat, she reached out her long, skinny arm, and placing her
+skeleton hand on the top of my head, chanted a low song. The words were
+mostly English, and the few I caught were something as follows:
+
+   'Oh, bress de swanga buckra man;
+   Bress wife an' chile ob buckra man.'
+   Bress all dat b'long to buckra man;
+   Barimo[2] bress de buckra man;
+   De good Lord bress de buckra man;
+   Bress, bress de swanga buckra man.'
+
+As she finished the invocation, she took both my hands in hers, and
+leaning forward, and muttering a few low words, seemed trying to read
+the story imprinted on my palms. Her eyes were closed, and thinking she
+might be troubled to see me without the use of those organs, I looked
+inquiringly at her son.
+
+'She don't need eyes, sar,' said Joe, answering my thought; 'she'll tell
+all 'bout you widout dem.'
+
+As he said this, she dropped one of my hands, and raising her right arm,
+made several passes over my head, then resting her hand again upon it,
+she began chanting another low song:
+
+'What der yer see, mudder?' asked Joe, leaning forward, with a look of
+intense interest on his face.
+
+'A tall gemman-de swanga gemman--in a big city. De night am dark an'
+cole--bery cole. Pore little chile am wid him, an' he cole--bery cole;
+him cloes pore--bery pore. Dey come to a big hous'n--great light in de
+winders--an' dey gwo in--swanga gemman an' pore chile. A great room
+dar, wid big fire, an' oh! sweet young missus. She jump up-swanga gemman
+speak to har, an' show de pore chile. She look sorry like, an' cry; den
+she frow har arm 'roun' de pore chile; take him to de fire, an' kiss
+him--kiss him ober an' ober agin.'
+
+It was the scene when Kate first saw Frank, on the night of his mother's
+death. I said nothing, but Joe asked:
+
+'Any more, mudder?'
+
+'Yas. I sees a big city, anoder city, in de daytime. In dark room,
+upstars, am swanga gemman an' anoder buckra man--he bad buckra man.
+Buckra angel dar, too, a standin' 'side de swanga gemman, but swanga
+gemman doan't see har. She look jess like de pore chile. De swanga
+gemman git up, an' 'pear angry, bery angry, but he keep in. Talk hard to
+oder buckra man, who shake him head, an' look down. Swanga gemman den
+walk de room, an' talk fasser yit, but bad buckra man keep shakin' him
+head. Den swanga gemman stan' right ober de oder buckra man, an' de
+strong words come inter him froat. Him 'pears gwine to curse de buckra
+man, but de angel put har han' ober him moufh, an' say suffin' to him.
+Swanga gemman yeres, dough he doan't see har. Den he say nuffin' more,
+but gwo right 'way.'
+
+It was the scene in Hallet's office, when I told him of his victim's
+death, and entreated him to provide for, if he did not acknowledge his
+child. The words which flashed upon my brain, and stayed the curse which
+rose to my lips, were those of the dying girl: 'Leave him to GOD!'
+
+'Go on. Tell me what she _said_,' I exclaimed.
+
+'Mudder doan't _yere_; she only see de pictur ob what hab been. Listen!'
+said Joe; and the old woman again spoke:
+
+'I sees a big city--de fuss city, an' great hous'n--de fuss hous'n. De
+young missus am dar, wid de pore chile, an' a little chile dat look jess
+like she do; an' dar'm anoder bery little chile dar, too. Dey'm upstars
+in a room, wid a bed an' a candle burnin'. Dey'm gwine to bed. Young
+missus kneel down wid de two chil'ren, an' pray. An' side de pore chile,
+an' kneelin' down wid har arm roun' him neck, am de buckra angel. She
+pray, too. Swanga gemman in anoder room yere dem aprayin', an' he come
+an' look. He say nuffin', but he stan' dar, an' de big tear run down him
+cheek. De time come back to him when _he_ wus a little chile, an' he
+pray like dem. He doan't pray 'nuff now!'
+
+It was the last night I had passed at home. A feeling of indescribable
+awe crept over me, and I rose halfway from my seat.
+
+'Sit still, sar,' said Joe, almost forcing me back into the chair.
+'You'll break de power.'
+
+'You know the past, old woman,' I exclaimed. 'Tell me the future!'
+
+'Hush!' she replied, with an imperious tone. 'Dey'm comin'.'
+
+During all this time she had stood with her hand on my head, as
+immovable as a marble statue. Her voice had a deep, strong tone, and her
+face wore a look of calm power. Nothing about her reminded me of the
+weak, decrepit old woman she had been but an hour before.
+
+'Dey'm yere!' she said; and in another moment the door opened, and
+Preston and his wife entered.
+
+Without rising or speaking, Joe motioned them to two vacant chairs. As
+they seated themselves, I exclaimed:
+
+'She has told me all things that ever I did!'
+
+'She has strange powers,' replied Preston.
+
+'Hush, Robert Preston! De swanga gemman ax fur de future!'
+
+Shading then her closed eyes with one hand, and leaning forward, as if
+peering into the far distance, the old negress laid her other hand again
+on my head, and continued:
+
+'I see a deep, wide riber flowin' on to de great sea. De swanga gemman,
+in strong boat, am on it; an' de young missus, an' de pore chile, an'
+one, two oder chile, am wid him. De storm strike de riber, an' raise de
+big wave, but de boat gwo on jess de same. De swanga gemman he doan't
+keer fur de storm, or de big wave, fur he got 'em all dar! An' I see
+anoder riber--not so deep, not so wide--flowin' on 'side de big riber,
+to de great sea; an' you' (looking at Preston), 'an' de good missus, an'
+one, two, free, four chile am dar. De wind blow ober dat riber an' raise
+de big wave, but de swanga gemman reach out him hand, an' de wave gwo
+down. An' I see a little riber flow out ob de big riber, an' de pore
+chile in a little boat am on it. An' a little riber come out ob de oder
+riber an' gwo into de oder little riber, an' a chile am on dat, too. De
+two little boats meet, an' de two chile gwo on togedder, but--de storm
+come dar, an'--de great rocks--oh! oh!' and, covering her face with her
+hands, she turned away.
+
+'What more do you see? Tell me, Deborah!' exclaimed Preston, bending
+forward with breathless eagerness.
+
+She raised her head, and seemed to look again in the same direction;
+then, in a low tone, said:
+
+'I sees no more.'
+
+'What of the other river? What of that?' he exclaimed, with the same
+breathless anxiety.
+
+'I sees--de boat 'mong de rocks--de great rocks--an' you--dar--all by
+you'seff--all by you'seff--an'--O Barimo!' and, giving a low scream, she
+started back as if palsied with dread.
+
+Springing to his feet, Preston seized her by both arms, and screamed
+out:
+
+'What more! Tell me WHAT MORE!'
+
+Drawing her tall form up to its full height, and looking at him with her
+closed eyes, she said, in a voice inexpressibly sad and tender:
+
+'I sees de great rocks--de great fall--de great sea!' then pausing a
+moment, and pointing upward, she added: 'Robert Preston! Trust in GOD!'
+
+Overcome with emotion, she staggered back to her seat. A few convulsive
+shudders passed over her; her eyes slowly opened, and--she was the same
+weak, old woman as before.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next morning I bade adieu to my kind friends, and started again on
+my journey. Preston accompanied me as far as Wilmington, where we
+parted; he going on to Whitesville, in search of the new turpentine
+location; and I, proceeding by the Charleston boat, southward.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+On my return to my home, a few weeks after the events narrated in the
+previous chapter, in pursuance of a promise made to Preston, I inserted
+an advertisement in the papers, which read somewhat as follows:
+
+     'WANTED, a suitable person to go South, as governess in a planter's
+     family. She must be thoroughly educated, and competent to instruct
+     a boy of twelve. Such a one may apply by letter;' etc., etc.
+
+A score of replies flowed in within the few following days, but being
+excessively occupied with a mass of personal business, which had
+accumulated in my absence, I laid them all aside, till more than one
+week had elapsed. Then, one evening I took them home, and Kate and I
+opened the batch. As each one was read by my wife or myself, we
+commented on the character of the writers as indicated by the
+handwriting and general style of the epistles. Rejecting about two
+thirds as altogether unworthy of attention, we reserved the remaining
+half dozen for a second inspection. Among these, the one with the
+cramped, precise chirography was thought to come from an old maid.
+Another, whose five lines of rail fence covered a sheet nearly as large
+as a ten-acre lot, was the production of a strong-minded woman. A third,
+on tinted paper, and dotted with blots and erasures, was from a fat
+lady, who wore her shoes down at the heel, and got up too late for
+breakfast. 'But here, Kate,' I exclaimed, as I opened the fourth
+missive, 'this one, in this firm yet lady-like hand--this one will do.
+Hear what it says:
+
+     SIR:--I think I can answer your requirements. A line addressed to
+     Catharine Walley, B----, N.H., with full particulars, will receive
+     immediate attention.
+
+'That's the woman, Kate. A business man in petticoats! _She_ can manage
+a boy of twelve!'
+
+'Or a man of twice that age,' said Kate, quietly reading the letter. 'I
+wouldn't have that woman in _my_ house.'
+
+'Why not? She has character--take my word for it. Her letter is as short
+and sweet as a 'promise to pay.''
+
+'She has too much character, and not of the right sort. There is no
+womanliness about her.'
+
+'You women are always hard on your own sex. She'll have to manage Joe,
+and she'll need to be half man to do that. I think I had better write
+her to come here. I can tell what she is when I see her. I can read a
+woman like a book.'
+
+There was a slight twinkle in my wife's eyes when I said this, and she
+made some further objections, but I overruled them; and, on the
+following morning, dispatched a letter, inviting Miss Walley to the
+city.
+
+Returning to my office from ''Change,' one afternoon, a few days
+afterward, I found a lady awaiting me. She rose as I entered, and gave
+her name as Miss Walley. She was prepossessing and lady-like in
+appearance, and there was a certain ease and self-possession in her
+manner, which I was surprised to see in one directly from a remote
+country town. She wore a plain gray dress, with a cape of the same
+material; a straw hat, neatly trimmed with brown ribbon, and, on the
+inside, a bunch of deep pink flowers, which gave a slight coloring to
+her otherwise pale and sallow but intellectual face. Her whole dress
+bespoke refinement and taste. She was tall and slender, with an almost
+imperceptible stoop in the shoulders, indicative of a studious habit;
+but you forgot this seeming defect in her easy and graceful movements.
+Her brown hair was combed plainly over a rather low and narrow forehead;
+her face was long and thin, and her small, clear gray eyes were shaded
+by brown eyebrows meeting together, and, when she was talking earnestly,
+or listening attentively, slightly contracting, and deepening her keen
+and thoughtful expression. Her nose was long and rather prominent; and
+her mouth and chin were large, showing character and will; but their
+masculine expression was relieved by a short upper lip, which displayed
+to full advantage the finest set of teeth I ever saw.
+
+Referring at once to the object of her visit, she handed me a number of
+credentials, highly commendatory of her character and ability as a
+teacher. I glanced over them, and assured her they were satisfactory.
+She then questioned me as to the compensation she would receive, and the
+position of the family needing her services. Answering these inquiries,
+I added that I was prepared to engage her on the terms I had named.
+
+'I have been in receipt of the same salary as assistant in a school in
+my native village, sir,' she replied; 'but what you say of the family of
+Mr. Preston, and a desire to visit the South, will induce me to accept
+the situation.'
+
+'When will you be ready to go, madam?' I asked.
+
+'At once, sir. To-day, if necessary.'
+
+Surprised and yet pleased with her promptness, I said:
+
+'And are you entirely ready to go so far on so short notice?'
+
+'Yes, sir. The cars leave in the morning, I am told. I will start
+then.'
+
+'And alone?'
+
+'Yes, sir. We Yankee girls are accustomed to taking care of ourselves.'
+
+'I admire your independence. But you pass the night in town; you will, I
+trust, spend it at my residence?'
+
+'Thank you, sir.'
+
+Ordering a carriage and stopping on the way at a hotel to get the single
+trunk which contained her wardrobe, I conveyed her at once to my
+residence.
+
+After supper we all gathered in the parlor, and I set about entertaining
+our guest. I had to make little effort to do that, for her conversation
+soon displayed a knowledge of books and people, and a wit and keenness
+of intellect, as decidedly entertained me. She was not only brilliant,
+but agreeable; and in the course of the evening made some pleasant
+overtures to the children. Frank, with a book in his hand, had drawn his
+chair off to another part of the room, and showed, at first, uncommon
+reserve for a lad of his warm and genial nature; but gradually, as if in
+spite of himself, he edged his chair nearer to her. Our little 'four
+year old,' however, resisting the offered temptation of watch and chain,
+and even sugar-plums, repelled her advances, and hid his curly head only
+the more closely in the folds of his mother's dress. Kate listened and
+laughed, but I caught occasionally, as her eyes studied the visitor
+attentively, a troubled expression, which I well understood. After a
+while the lady expressed a readiness to retire that she might obtain the
+rest needed for an early start by the morning train, and Kate conducted
+her to her apartment.
+
+I felt highly delighted with the idea of being able to send Mrs. Preston
+so agreeable a companion, and not a little vexed with my wife for not
+sharing my enthusiasm. When she returned to the parlor, I said:
+
+'Kate, why do you not like her?'
+
+'I can hardly tell _why_,' she replied, 'but my first impression is
+confirmed. I would not trust her. Why does she go South for the same
+salary she has had in New Hampshire?'
+
+'Because she wants to see the world; she's a stirring Yankee woman.'
+
+'No; because you told her of Mr. Preston's position in society; and
+because she hopes to win a plantation and a rich planter.'
+
+'Nonsense,' I replied. 'You misjudge her.'
+
+'I tell you, Edmund, she is a cold, selfish, sordid woman; all
+intellect, and no heart. If I had never seen her face, I should have
+known that by her voice, and the shake of her hand.'
+
+But it was too late--I had engaged her; and at seven o'clock on the
+following morning she was on her way to the South.
+
+I soon received information of her safe arrival at her destination, and
+the warm thanks of Preston for having sent him so agreeable a person,
+and one so well fitted to instruct his children.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The turpentine location was soon secured, and early in the following
+spring, Joe, with about a hundred 'prime hands,' commenced operations in
+the new field. Constantly increasing shipments soon gave evidence of the
+energy with which the negro entered upon his work; and by the end of the
+year, Preston had not only paid the advances we made on receiving the
+deed of the land, but also the note I had given for the purchase of
+Phyllis. For the first time in five years he was entirely out of our
+debt.
+
+The next season he hired a force of nearly two hundred negroes, and
+generously gave Joe a small interest in the new business, with a view to
+the black's ultimately buying his freedom. His transactions soon became
+large and profitable both to him and to us. Shortly afterward he paid
+off the last of his floating debt, and his balances in our hands grew
+from nothing till they reached five and seven and often ten thousand
+dollars.
+
+But heavy affliction overtook him in the midst of his prosperity. His
+wife and two eldest daughters were stricken down by a prevailing
+epidemic, and died within a fortnight of each other. A letter which I
+received from him at this time, will best relate these events. It was as
+follows:
+
+     MY DEAR FRIEND:--I have sad, very sad news to tell you. A week ago
+     to-day I followed the remains of my beloved wife to the grave.
+     Overcome by watching with our children, and grief at their loss,
+     about three weeks since she took their disease, and sinking
+     rapidly, soon resigned her spotless spirit to the hands of her
+     MAKER. Overwhelmed by this treble affliction, I have not been able
+     to write you before. Even now I can hardly hold a pen. I am
+     perfectly paralyzed; I can neither act nor think--I can only
+     _feel_.
+
+     You, who have seen her in our home, can realize what she was to my
+     family, but none can know what she was to me: companion, friend,
+     guide! My stay and support through long years of trial, she is
+     taken from me just as prosperity is dawning on me, and I was hoping
+     to repay, by a life of devotion, some part of what she had borne
+     and suffered on my account. Another angel has been welcomed in
+     heaven, but I am left here alone--alone with my grief and my
+     remorse!
+
+     My son is inconsolable, and even little Selly seems to realize the
+     full extent of her loss. The poor little thing will not leave me
+     for a moment. She is now the only comfort I have. Miss Walley has
+     been unremitting in her kindness and attention, taking the burden
+     of everything upon herself. Indeed, I do not know what I should
+     have done without her.
+
+     Time may temper my affliction, but _now_, my dear friend, I am not
+
+          ROBERT PRESTON.
+
+
+
+Nothing worthy of special mention occurred to the persons whose history
+I am relating till about a year after the death of Mrs. Preston. Then,
+one day late in the autumn, I received information of her husband's
+approaching marriage with the governess. In the letter which invited me
+to be present at the ceremony, Preston said: 'No one can ever fill the
+place in my heart that is occupied, and ever will be occupied by the
+memory of my sainted wife; but Miss Walley has rendered herself
+indispensable to me and my family. My studious habits and ignorance of
+business made me, as you know, even in my full health and strength, a
+poor manager; and during the past year, grief has so broken my spirits
+that I have been utterly unfitted for attending to the commonest duties.
+But for Miss Walley, everything would have gone to waste and ruin. With
+the efficiency of a business man, she has attended to my household,
+overseen my plantation, and managed my entire affairs. In the first
+moments of my bereavement, when grief so entirely overwhelmed me that I
+saw no one, I did not know to what censurious remark her disinterested
+devotion to my interests was subjecting her; but recently I have
+realized the impropriety of a young, unmarried woman occupying the
+position she holds in my household. Miss Walley, also, has felt this,
+and some time since notified me, though with evident reluctance, that
+she felt it imperatively necessary to leave my service. What, then,
+could I do? My people needed a mistress; my children a mother. She was
+both. Only one course seemed open, and after mature deliberation I
+offered her my hand, frankly stating that my heart was with the angel
+who, lost to me here, will be mine hereafter. Satisfied with my
+friendship and esteem, she has accepted me; and we are to be married on
+the 26th inst.; when I most sincerely trust that you, my dear friend,
+and your estimable wife, will be present.
+
+That night I took the letter home to my wife. She read it, and laying it
+down, sadly said:
+
+'Oh, Edmund! He is, indeed, 'among the rocks!''
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Two years went by, and I did not meet Preston, but our business
+relations kept us in frequent correspondence, and his letters
+occasionally alluded to his domestic affairs.
+
+Very soon after his marriage with the governess, his son went to live
+with his uncle, Mr. James Preston, of Mobile, a wealthy bachelor, who
+long before had expressed the intention of having the boy succeed to his
+business and estate. 'Boss Joe' continued in charge of the turpentine
+plantation, and had built him a house, and removed his wife and aged
+mother to his new home. On one of my visits to the South I stopped
+overnight with him, and was delighted with his model establishment. Two
+hundred as cheerful-looking darkies as ever swung a turpentine axe, were
+gathered in tents and small shanties around his neat log cabin, and Joe
+seemed as happy as if he were governor of a province.
+
+His operations had grown to such magnitude that Preston then ranked
+among the largest producers of the North Carolina staple, and his
+'account' had become one of the most valuable on our books. Though we
+sent 'account currents' and duplicates of each 'account sales' to his
+master, our regular 'returns' were made to Joe, and no one of our
+correspondents held us to so strict an accountability, or so often
+expressed dissatisfaction with the result of his shipments, as he.
+
+'I thinks a heap of you, Mr. Kirke,' he said at the close of one of his
+letters about this time; 'but the fact am, thar's no friendship in
+trade, and you _did_ sell that lass pile of truck jess one day too
+sudden.'
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Two more years rolled away. Frank was nearly sixteen. He had grown up a
+fine, manly lad, and never for one moment had Kate or I regretted the
+care we had bestowed on his education and training. He was all we could
+have wished for in our own son, and in his warm love and cheerful
+obedience we both found the blessing invoked on us by his dying mother.
+
+His affection for Kate was something more than the common feeling of a
+child for a parent. With that was blended a sort of half worship, which
+made him listen to her every word, and hang on her every look, as if she
+were a being of some higher order than he. They were inseparable. He
+preferred her society to that of his young companions, and often, when
+he was a child, seated by her knee, and listening, when she told of his
+'other mother' in the 'beautiful heaven,' have I seen his eye wander to
+her face with an expression, which plainly said: 'My heart knows no
+'other mother' than you.' Kate was proud of him, and well she might be,
+for he was a comely youth; and his straight, closely knit, sinewy frame;
+dark, deepset eyes; and broad, open forehead, overhung with thick, brown
+hair; only outshadowed a beautiful mind, an open, upright, manly nature,
+whose firm and steady integrity nothing could shake.
+
+About this time I received a letter from his father, which, as it had an
+important bearing on the lad's future career, I give to the reader:
+
+   BOSTON, _September 20th, 185-._
+
+DEAR SIR:--A recent illness has brought my past life in its true light
+before me. I see its sin, and I would make all the atonement in my
+power. I cannot undo the wrong I have done to one who is gone, but I can
+do my duty to her child. You, I am told, have been a father to him. _I_
+would now assume that relation, and make you such recompense for what
+you have done, as you may require. I am too weak to travel, or indeed,
+to leave my house, but I am impatient to see my son. May I not ask you
+to bring him to me at once? Then I will arrange all things to your
+satisfaction.
+
+I need not tell you, after saying what I have, that I should feel
+greatly gratified to once more possess your confidence, and regard.
+
+   I am, sincerely yours,
+        JOHN HALLET.
+
+
+In another hand was the following postscript:
+
+MY DEAR BOY:--John is sincere. Thee can trust him. He has told me _all_.
+He will do the right thing. Come on with the lad as soon as thee can.
+Love to Kate. Thy old friend,
+
+   DAVID.
+
+
+After conferring with my wife, I sent the following reply to these
+communications:
+
+   NEW YORK, _September 22d, 185-._
+
+DAVID OF OLD;--Thou man after the Lord's own heart. I have Hallet's
+letter, seasoned with your P.S. He is shrewd; he knew that nothing but
+your old-fashioned hand would draw a reply from _me_, to anything
+written by _him_.
+
+I've no faith in sick-bed repentances; and none in John Hallet, sick or
+well:
+
+   'When the devil was sick,
+   The devil a monk would be;
+   When the devil got well,
+   The devil a monk was he.'
+
+
+However, as Hallet is capable of cheating his best friend, even the
+devil, I will take his letter into consideration; but it having taken
+him sixteen years to make up his mind to do a right action, it may take
+me as many days to come to a decision on this subject.
+
+Frank is everything to us, and nothing but the clearest conviction that
+his ultimate good will be promoted by going to his father, will induce
+us to consent to it.
+
+I do not write Hallet. You may give him as much or as little of this
+letter as you think will be good for him.
+
+Kate sends love to you and to Alice; and dear David, with all the love I
+felt for you when I wore a short jacket, and sat on the old stool,
+
+   I am your devoted friend.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a dingy old sign. It had hung there in sun and rain till its
+letters were faint and its face was furrowed. It had looked down on a
+generation that had passed away, and seen those who placed it there go
+out of that doorway never to return; still it clung to that dingy old
+warehouse, and still Russell, Rollins & Co. was signed in the dingy old
+counting room at the head of the stairway. It was known the world over.
+It was heard of on the cotton fields of Texas, in the canebrakes of
+Cuba, and amid the rice swamps of Carolina. The Chinaman spoke of it as
+he sipped his tea and plied his chopsticks in the streets of Canton, and
+the half-naked negro rattled its gold as he gathered palm oil and the
+copal gum on the western coast of Africa. Its plain initials, painted in
+black on a white ground, waved from tall masts over many seas, and its
+simple 'promise to pay,' scrawled in a bad hand on a narrow strip of
+paper, unlocked the vaults of the best bankers in Europe. And yet it was
+a dingy old sign! Men looked up to it as they passed by, and wondered
+that a cracked, weather-beaten board, that would not sell for a dollar,
+should be counted 'good for a million.'
+
+It was a dingy old warehouse, with narrow, dark, cobwebbed windows, and
+wide, rusty iron shutters, which, as the bleak October wind swept up old
+Long Wharf, swung slowly on their hinges with a sharp, grating creak. I
+heard them in my boyhood. Perched on a tall stool at that old desk, I
+used to listen, in the long winter nights, to those strange, wild cries,
+till I fancied they were voices of the uneasy dead, come back to take
+the vacant seats beside me, and to pace again, with ghostly tread, the
+floor of that dark old counting room. They were a mystery and a terror
+to me; but they never creaked so harshly, or cried so wildly, as on that
+October night, when for the first time in nine years I turned my steps
+up the trembling old stairway.
+
+It was just after nightfall. A single gas burner threw a dim, uncertain
+light over the old desk, and lit up the figure of a tall, gray-haired
+man, who was bending over it. He had round, stooping shoulders, and
+long, spindling limbs. One of his large feet, encased in a thick,
+square-toed shoe, rested on the round of the desk; the other, planted
+squarely on the floor, upheld his spare, gaunt frame. His face was thin
+and long, and two deep, black lines under his eyes contrasted strangely
+with the pallid whiteness of his features. His clothes were of the
+fashion of those good people called 'Friends,' and had served long as
+his 'Sunday best' before being degraded to daily duty. They were of
+plain brown, and, though not shabby, were worn and threadbare, and of
+decidedly economical appearance. Everything about him, indeed, wore an
+economical look. His scant coat tails, narrow pants, and short waistcoat
+showed that the cost of each inch of material had been counted, while
+his thin hair, brushed carefully over his bald head, had not a lock to
+spare; and even his large, sharp bones were covered with only just
+enough flesh to hold them comfortably together. He had stood there till
+his eye was dim and his step feeble, and though he had, for twenty
+years--when handing in each semiannual trial balance to the head of the
+house--declared that was his last, everybody said he would continue to
+stand there till his own trial balance was struck, and his earthly
+accounts were closed forever.
+
+As I entered, he turned his mild blue eye upon me, and, taking my hand
+warmly in his, exclaimed:
+
+'My dear boy, I am glad to see thee!'
+
+'I am glad to see _you_, David. Is Alice well?'
+
+'Very well. And Kate, and thy babies?'
+
+'All well,' I replied.
+
+'Thee has come to see John?'
+
+'Yes. How is he?'
+
+'Oh, better; he got out several days ago. He's inside now,' and opening
+the door of an inner office, separated from the outer one by a glass
+partition, he said, 'John, Edmund is here.'
+
+A tall, dark man came to the door, and, with a slightly flurried and
+embarrassed manner, said:
+
+'Ah, Mr. Kirke! I'm glad to see you. Please step in.'
+
+As he tendered me a chair, a shorter and younger gentleman, who was
+writing at another desk, sprang from his seat, and slapping me
+familiarly on the back, exclaimed:
+
+'My dear fellow, how are you?'
+
+'Very well, Cragin; how are _you_?' I replied, returning his cordial
+greeting.
+
+'Good as new--never better in my life. It's good for one's health to see
+you _here_.'
+
+'I have come at Mr. Hallet's invitation.'
+
+'Yes, I know, Hallet has told me you've a smart boy you want us to take.
+Send him along. Boston's the place to train a youngster to business.'
+
+The last speaker was not more than thirty, but a bald spot on the top of
+his head, and a slight falling-in of his mouth, caused by premature
+decay of the front teeth, made him seem several years older. He had
+marked but not regular features, and a restless, dark eye, that opened
+and shut with a peculiar wink, which kept time with the motion of his
+lips in speaking. His clothes were cut in a loose, jaunty style, and his
+manner, though brusque and abrupt, betokened, like his face, a free,
+frank, whole-souled character. He was several years the junior of the
+other, and as unlike him as one man can be unlike another.
+
+The older gentleman, as I have said, was tall and dark. He had a high,
+bold forehead, a pale, sallow complexion, and wore heavy gray whiskers,
+trimmed with the utmost nicety, and meeting under a sharp, narrow chin.
+His face was large, his jaws wide, and his nose pointed and prominent,
+but his mouth was small and gathered in at the corners like a rat's;
+and, as if to add to the rat resemblance, its puny, white teeth seemed
+borrowed from that animal. There was a stately precision in his manner
+and a stealthy softness in his tread not often seen in combination,
+which might have impressed a close observer as indicative of a bold,
+pompous, and yet cunning character.
+
+These two gentlemen--Mr. Hallet and Mr. Cragin--were the only surviving
+partners of the great house of Russell, Rollins & Co.
+
+'Have you brought him with you?' asked Hallet, his voice trembling a
+little, and his pale face flushing slightly as he spoke.
+
+'No, sir,' I replied; 'I thought I would confer with you first. I have
+not yet broached the subject to the lad.'
+
+Some unimportant conversation followed, when Hallet, turning to Cragin,
+asked:
+
+'Are all the letters written for tomorrow's steamers?'
+
+'Yes,' said Cragin, rising; 'and I believe I'll leave you two together.
+As you've not spoken for ten years, you must have a good deal to say.
+Come, David,' he called out, as he drew on his outside coat, 'let's go.'
+
+'No, don't take David,' I exclaimed; 'I want to talk with the old
+gentleman.'
+
+'But you can see him to-morrow.'
+
+'No, I return in the morning.'
+
+'Well, David, I'll tell Alice you'll be home by nine.'
+
+'Oh, that's it,' I said, laughing. 'It's Alice who makes you leave so
+early on steamer night.'
+
+'Yes, _sir_; Alice that _is_, and Mrs. Augustus Cragin that is _to
+be_--when I get a new set of teeth. Good night,' and saying this, he
+took up his cane, and left the office.
+
+When he was gone, Hallet said to me:
+
+'Do you desire to have David a witness to our conversation?'
+
+'I want him to be a _party_ to it. We can come to no arrangement without
+his cooperation.'
+
+Hallet asked the bookkeeper in. When he was seated, I said:
+
+'Well, Mr. Hallet, what do you propose to do for your son?'
+
+'To treat him as I do my other children. Do all but acknowledge him.
+That would injure _him_.'
+
+'That is not important. But please be explicit as to what you will do.'
+
+'David tells me that his inclinations tend to business, and that you
+have meant to take him into your office. I will take him into _mine_,
+and when he is twenty-one, if he has conducted himself properly, I will
+give him an interest.'
+
+'I shall be satisfied with no _contingent_ arrangement, sir. I know
+Frank will prove worthy of the position.'
+
+'Very well; then I will agree definitely to make him a partner when he
+is of age.'
+
+'Well, Mr. Hallet, if Frank will consent to come, I will agree to that
+with certain conditions. I told his mother, when she was dying, that I
+would consider him my own child; therefore I cannot give up the control
+of him. He must regard me and depend on me as he does now. Again, I
+cannot let him come here, and have no home whose influence shall protect
+him from the temptations which beset young men in a large city. David
+must take him into his family, and treat him as he treated me when I was
+a boy, and--this must be reduced to writing.'
+
+Hallet showed some emotion when I spoke of Frank's mother, but his face
+soon assumed its usual expression, and he promptly replied:
+
+'I will agree to all that, but I would suggest that the fact of his
+being my son should not be communicated to him; that it be confined to
+us three. I ask this, believe me, only for the sake of my family.
+
+'I see no objection to that, sir, and I think, Frank, for his own sake,
+should not know what his prospects are.'
+
+Hallet signified assent, and turning to David, I asked:
+
+'David, what do _you_ say? Will you take him?'
+
+'I will,' said the old bookkeeper, showing in his expenditure of breath
+the close economy which was the rule of his life.
+
+'Nothing remains but to arrange his salary and the share he shall have
+when he becomes a partner,' I remarked to Hallet.
+
+'Will an average of seven hundred a year, and an eighth interest when
+he's twenty-one, be satisfactory?'
+
+'Entirely so. An eighth in your house will be better than a quarter in
+ours. As it is now all understood, let David draw up the papers. We will
+sign them, and leave them with him till I see Frank.'
+
+'Very well. David, please to draw them up,' said Hallet; and then, his
+voice again trembling a little, he added, 'All is understood, Mr. Kirke,
+but the compensation I shall make you for your fatherly care of my much
+neglected son. Money cannot pay for such service, but it will relieve me
+to reimburse you for your expenditures.'
+
+'I have had my pay, sir, in the love of the boy. I ask no more.'
+
+Hallet was sensibly affected, but without speaking, he turned to the
+desk, and took down his bankbook. In a few moments he handed me a check.
+It was for five thousand dollars. I took it, and, hesitating an instant,
+said:
+
+'I will keep this, sir; not for myself, but for Frank. It may be of
+service to him at some future time.'
+
+'Keep it for yourself, sir, not for him. He will not need it. He shall
+share equally with my other children.'
+
+'I am glad to see this spirit in you, sir. Frank will be worthy of all
+you may do for him.'
+
+'It is not for _his_ sake that I will do it,' replied Hallet, his voice
+tremulous with emotion; 'it is that I may have the forgiveness of the
+one I--I--' He said no more, but leaning his head on his hand, he wept!
+
+If there is joy among the angels over one that repents, was there not,
+then, forgiveness in _her_ heart for _him_?
+
+No one spoke for some minutes; then David rose, and handing me one of
+the papers, laid the other before Hallet.
+
+'This appears right,' I said, after reading it over carefully.
+
+'Yes,' replied Hallet, taking up a pen and signing the other. Passing it
+to me, he added: 'Keep them both--take them now.'
+
+'But Frank may not wish to come.'
+
+'Then I will find some other way of helping him. He is my son! Take the
+papers.'
+
+'Well, as you say,' I replied. 'David, please to witness this.'
+
+Hallet pressed me to pass the night at his house, but I declined, and
+rode out to Cambridge with the old bookkeeper. With many injunctions to
+watch carefully over Frank, I left him about twelve o'clock, rode into
+town with Cragin, and the next morning started for New York.
+
+That night, as I recounted the interview to Kate, I said:
+
+'I never did believe in these double-quick conversions; but Hallet _is_
+an altered man.'
+
+'Then, indeed, can the leopard change his spots.'
+
+As usual, her womanly intuitions were right; my worldly wisdom was
+wrong!
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Not long after the events I have just related, the mail brought me the
+following letter from Preston:
+
+MY VERY DEAR FRIEND:--Circumstances, which I cannot explain by letter,
+render it _imperatively_ necessary that I should provide another home
+for my daughter. Her education has been sadly neglected, and she should
+be where she can have experienced tutors, and good social surroundings.
+With her delicate organization, and sensitive and susceptible nature,
+she needs _motherly_ care and affection, and I shrink from committing
+her to the hands of strangers. I should feel at rest about her only with
+_you_. You have been my steadfast friend through many years; you have
+stood by me in, sore trials--may I not then ask you to do me now a
+greater service than you have ever done, by receiving my little daughter
+into your family? I know this is an unusual, almost presumptuous
+request; but if you knew her as she is--gentle, loving, obedient--the
+light and joy of all about her, I am sure you, and your excellent lady,
+would love her, and be willing to make her the companion of your
+children. She is my only earthly comfort, and it will rend my heart to
+part with her, but--I _must_.
+
+Write me at once. You are yourself a father--_do not refuse me_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To this, on the next day, I sent the following reply:
+
+MY DEAR FRIEND:--I would most cheerfully take your daughter into my
+family, did my wife's health, which has been failing all the summer,
+allow of her assuming any additional care.
+
+I think, however, I can provide Selma with a home equally as good as my
+own; one where good influences will be about her, and she will have the
+best educational advantages. I refer to the family of Mr. David Gray, of
+Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was my father's friend. The years I was a
+boy with Russell, Rollins & Co., I was an inmate of his house, and my
+adopted son, Frank, is now in his care. His daughter Alice is a most
+suitable person to have charge of a young girl. She is like a sister to
+me, and to oblige me, would no doubt take Selma.
+
+Please advise me of your wishes; and believe, my dear friend, I will do
+all in my power to serve you.
+
+I was sitting down at supper, one evening, about a fortnight after
+sending this letter, when a gentleman was announced as wishing to see
+me. I rose and went into the parlor. It was Preston, and with him was
+Selma, then a beautiful little girl of about eleven years.
+
+Asking Preston to lay aside his outside coat, I was struck by his
+altered appearance. It was four years since we had met, but looking at
+him, I imagined it might be ten. His eyes were sunken, deep furrows were
+about his mouth, and his brown hair was thickly streaked with gray.
+
+'My dear friend,' I exclaimed, as I grasped his hand a second time, 'you
+are not well!'
+
+'I am as well as usual, Kirke. Time has not done this!'
+
+Fatigued with the long journey, Selma had retired, and our own little
+ones were in bed, when Kate joined us in the parlor.
+
+'You _do_ look ill, Mr. Preston,' she said, seating herself beside him.
+'You must stay a while with us, and rest.'
+
+'I would be glad to stay here, madam--anywhere away from home.'
+
+'The care of two plantations, such as yours, must be a burden!'
+
+'It is not that, madam; Joe relieves me entirely from oversight of one
+of them. My difficulty is at home--mine is not what yours is.'
+
+Kate's sympathizing words soon drew him out (she has a way of winning
+the confidence of people, and is the depositary of more family secrets
+than any other woman in the State); and he told us what his home had
+become since his union with the governess.
+
+Within two months after the marriage her real character began to display
+itself, and she soon developed into a genuine Xantippe. Getting control
+of Mulock, who had been made overseer, she had the negroes dreadfully
+whipped and overworked; she treated young master Joe so badly that the
+lad rebelled, and in his father's absence ran away to his uncle at
+Mobile; and locking Selma up in a dark room without food, or beating her
+till her back was actually discolored, she made the child's home
+intolerable to her.
+
+After master Joe went away, no one dared complain; and shut up in his
+library, brooding over his still fresh grief for the death of his wife,
+Preston knew nothing of the real state of affairs till more than a year
+had elapsed. Then one day he found Selma in tears. He questioned her,
+and learned the whole. A scene followed, in which Mrs. Preston asserted
+her rights as mistress of the plantation, and defied him. She had run
+into all sorts of extravagance, the yearly bills which had come in a
+short time previous were appallingly large, but to secure peace, Preston
+consented to buy and furnish a winter residence at Newbern. To that she
+had removed, but with the coming spring she would return to the
+plantation, and in the mean time Selma must be provided with another
+home.
+
+'Feel no anxiety about her, sir,' said Kate, as he concluded; 'if Alice
+Gray will not take her, we will.'
+
+'I thank you, madam; I cannot thank you enough for saying that,' replied
+Preston, his eyes filling with tears.
+
+I wrote at once to David, and soon received a letter from Alice
+consenting to take charge of the little girl. Thanksgiving, at which
+time Kate made annual visits to her early home, was approaching, and it
+was decided that Selma should accompany her to Boston.
+
+This being arranged, Preston, at the end of a fortnight, took leave of
+us, and returned to the South. The parting between the father and the
+child gave evidence of what they were to each other. Preston wept like a
+woman; but as Kate brushed back the brown curls from the broad forehead
+of little Selly, she raised her eyes to my wife's face, and while her
+thin nostrils dilated, and her sensitive chin slightly quivered, said;
+
+'I must not cry for poor papa's sake--it is so _very_ hard for him to go
+home alone; and he will miss his little girl _so_ much.'
+
+'You are right, dear child,' said Kate, and, as if looking into the far
+future of the woman, and feeling that such a nature must suffer as well
+as enjoy keenly, she inwardly thanked God that with her delicate
+organization He had given her the unselfish and brave heart which those
+words expressed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Four years had wrought great changes in David's quiet home. Alice had
+become Mrs. Augustus Cragin, and a little Alice tottled about the floor;
+but after supper, David still found his evening cigar on the oak stand,
+his needle-work slippers--wrought by Alice's own hand--in their place
+before the fender, and his big armchair rolled up close to the gas
+burner in the little back parlor at Cambridge.
+
+Frank was twenty, and had fulfilled all the promises of his boyhood. His
+father, after the honeymoon of his repentance was over, showed no great
+interest in him, but Cragin, who knew nothing of my arrangement with
+Hallet, had given him all the advantages in his power.
+
+Selma was only fifteen, but, like the flowers of her own South, she had
+blossomed early, and was already a woman. Preston had visited her every
+summer, but she never returned with him, having preferred passing her
+vacations at my house.
+
+In David's loving household nothing had occurred to disturb her peaceful
+life. Beloved by her teachers and schoolmates, she everywhere received
+the homage due to her beauty and her goodness; and in the gay world into
+which her joyous nature often led her, she was the acknowledged and
+_unenvied_ queen! Her father had spared no pains in her education; the
+best tutors had trained her fine ear and sweet voice, and taught her to
+give form and coloring to the pictures her glowing imagination created;
+and, whether her fingers ran over the keys of a musical instrument, or
+wielded the brush, there was a delicacy and yet _spirit_ in her touch
+which were the wonder and admiration of all.
+
+I was not surprised, when visiting Boston about this time, to have Frank
+tell me that he loved her, and ask my consent to his regarding her as
+his future wife.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Kate and I were to leave for home the following day, and, calling at the
+office in the afternoon, I said to Frank:
+
+'I have tickets for the opera, including Selma; of course you'd like to
+have her go.'
+
+'Yes, father; she has never been, and I have promised to take her this
+winter. She'll be able now to appreciate it.'
+
+The box I had selected was at a happy distance from the stage, and we
+gave Selma a front seat, that she might see to the best advantage. She
+was in high spirits; indeed, she was radiant in her beauty. She wore a
+dark blue dress of silk, fitting closely to her neck, and its short
+sleeves allowed the plump, fair arms to half disclose themselves from
+beneath the scarlet mantle Which fell around her shoulders. Her hair
+fell over her neck in the same simple fashion as in her childhood,
+except that the thick curls, which had lost their golden tint, and were
+darker and longer, were looped back from her broad brow, with a few
+simple flowers. There was the same contour of face and feature, but
+ennobled by thought and culture; the same sensitive mouth, only that the
+lips were fuller and of a deeper color; and as she talked or listened,
+the same rose tint deepened and faded beneath her rich, soft, dark skin,
+as sunlight shifts and fades across the evening sky. Her eyes, in whose
+dark depths the soul was reflected, met a stranger's calmly, but took a
+soft look of loving trust when meeting Frank's. They were shaded by long
+lashes, as black as the night; and when the lids fell suddenly, as they
+often did, and her face became quiet, and almost sad, you felt that she
+was communing with the angels.
+
+The overture burst forth, and with glowing face, and eyes fixed upon the
+stage, Selma seemed lost to all but the enrapturing sounds; even Frank's
+whispered words were unheeded. As the opera--'Lucia di
+Lammermoor'--proceeded, I saw that every eye was attracted to our box,
+and, bending forward to catch Selma's expression, I called Kate's
+attention to her. With her head thrown slightly back, a bright spot
+burning on either cheek, her breath suspended, the large tears coursing
+from her eyes, and motionless as a statue, she sat with her small hands
+clasped on the front of the box, as if entranced, and all unconscious of
+the hundred eyes that were fixed upon her. I thought of the pictures I
+had seen in the old galleries of Europe, but I said, 'Surely, art cannot
+equal nature!'
+
+When it was over, she took Frank's arm; I turned to question her, but
+Kate said:
+
+'Let her alone; she cannot talk now.'
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The transactions of Russell, Rollins & Co. extended the world over; but,
+since the death of Mr. Rollins, which occurred prior to Frank's going
+with them, they had cultivated particularly the Southern trade, and
+their operations in cotton had grown to be enormous. They bought largely
+of that staple on their own account, and for some extensive
+manufacturing establishments in England. Their purchases were mainly
+made in New Orleans, and, to attend to this business, Hallet had passed
+the winters in that city for several years.
+
+His wealth had grown rapidly, and at the date of which I am writing, he
+ranked among the 'solid men' of Boston. Cragin was not nearly so
+wealthy. Being on intimate terms with the latter, I remarked, as we were
+enjoying a cigar together one evening at David's, on the occasion of
+the visit to which I have referred in the last chapter:
+
+'How is it, Cragin, that you pass for only a hundred thousand, when
+Hallet is rated at a million?'
+
+'Because, Ned, I'm not worth any more.'
+
+'But how is that, when you have two fifths of the concern?'
+
+'Well, Hallet went into cotton like the devil some eight years ago; and
+I told him I wouldn't stand it; I like to feel the ground under me.
+Since then he has speculated on his own account--he and old Roye go it
+strong, and I guess they've made some pretty heavy lifts.'
+
+'That's uncertain business.'
+
+'Yes, devilish uncertain; but somehow they manage always to hold winning
+cards. Hallet has told me his New Orleans operations have netted him
+five hundred thousand.'
+
+'And that, with what he got by his wife, has rolled him into a
+millionaire before he's forty-five! He's a lucky fellow.'
+
+'Lucky! I wouldn't stand in his boots. What goes up _may_ come down. He
+has no peace. His wife's a hyena. She makes home too hot for him; and
+somehow he's never easy. He walks about as if treading on torpedoes.
+
+'If you dislike speculation, why don't you increase your legitimate
+business?'
+
+'Hallet's away so much, I can't do it. I'm glued to the old office. I
+should have been in Europe half of the time the last three years, but I
+haven't been able to get away.'
+
+'Why not send Frank? He's old enough now.'
+
+'I mean to, in the spring, and I'm d--d if he shan't be a partner soon,
+and take some of this load off my shoulders. But do you know that Hallet
+has a decided dislike to him?'
+
+'No! On what account?' I exclaimed. I had met Hallet only twice during
+four years, but on both occasions he had spoken favorably of his son.
+Frank himself had never alluded in other than respectful terms to his
+father.
+
+'Well, I don't know, and it makes no difference. I'm captain at this end
+of the towline, and I swear he shall go in.
+
+'As you feel so kindly toward Frank, I'll give him a chance to
+conciliate Hallet. I'll take him South this winter, and introduce him to
+our correspondents. With his address he ought to do something with them.
+Will you let him go?'
+
+'Yes, and be right down glad to have him. When do you start?'
+
+'About the middle of December.'
+
+A fortnight afterward, with Selma and Frank, I again visited Preston's
+plantation.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+It was Christmas morning when we rode up the long, winding avenue, and
+halted before the doorway of 'Silver Lake'--the new name which the
+Yankee schoolmistress, aping the custom of her Yankee cousins, had
+bestowed on Preston's plantation. The day was mild and sunshiny, and the
+whole population of the little patriarchate was gathered on the green in
+front of the mansion, distributing Christmas presents among the negroes.
+When we came in sight, from behind the thick cluster of live oaks which
+bordered the miniature lake, the whole assemblage sent up a glad shout,
+and hurried up to welcome us. And such a welcome! As she sprang from the
+carriage, Selma was caught in her father's arms, then in 'master Joe's,'
+and then, encircled by a cloud of dark beauties, each one vieing with
+the others in boisterous expressions of affection, she was the victim of
+such a demonstration as would have done the heart of Hogarth good to
+witness. In the midst of it a slight, delicate woman rushed from the
+house, and, crowding into the thick group around Selma, threw her arms
+about her neck, and, nearly smothering her with kisses, exclaimed:
+
+'My chile! my chile! I sees you at last!'
+
+'Yes, Phylly!' said Selma, returning her caresses; 'and haven't I grown?
+I thought you wouldn't know me.'
+
+'Know you! Ain't you my chile--my own dear chile!' and pressing Selma's
+cheeks between her two hands, and gazing at her beautiful face for a
+moment, she kissed her over and over again.
+
+My arms had been nearly shaken off, when I noticed 'Boss Joe' limping
+toward me, his head uncovered, and his broad face shining from out his
+gray wool like the full moon breaking through a mass of clouds.
+
+'How are you, old gentleman?' I exclaimed, grasping him warmly by the
+hand.
+
+'Right smart! right smart, massa Kirke. Glad you'm come, sar.'
+
+'And you're home for Christmas?'
+
+'Yes, sar. I'se come to see massa Robert, an' to tend to hirin' a new
+gang. But darkies 'am high dis yar, sar.'
+
+'How much are they?'
+
+'Well, dey ax, round yere, one fifty, an' 'spences dar an' back; an'
+it'm a pile, when you tink we hab used up 'most all de new trees.'
+
+'But you must have many second-year cuttings.'
+
+'Yas, right smart; but No. 2 rosum doan't pay at sech prices fur
+darkies.'
+
+Turning to Preston in a moment, I said:
+
+'Do not let us interfere with the 'doin's'--it's just what we want to
+see.'
+
+'Well, come, you folks,' said Joe, hobbling back to the green; 'leff us
+gwo on now.'
+
+Preston, Selma, and Phylly went into the house, but the rest of us
+followed the grinning group of Africans to the centre of the lawn, where
+several large packing boxes, and a long table, something like a
+carpenter's bench, were piled high with a miscellaneous assortment of
+dry goods and groceries.
+
+'Now, all you dat hab heads, come up yere,' shouted Joe, seating himself
+on the bench; 'but don't all come ter onst.'
+
+One by one the men and boys filed past him, and, selecting a hat or cap
+from a couple of boxes near, he adjusted a covering to each woolly
+cranium that presented itself; interspersing the exercise with humorous
+remarks on their respective phrenological developments:
+
+'Pomp, you's made fur a preacher, shore. Dat dar head ob your'n gwoes up
+jess like a steeple. I'll hab ter gib you a cap, Dave; you'm so big
+ahind de yeres none ob dese hats'll fit, nohow. Jess show de back ob
+you' head to any gemman, an' he'll say you'm one ob de great ones ob de
+'arth. None ob dese am big 'nuff fur you, Ally,' he continued, as a
+tall, well-clad mulatto man stepped up to him. 'You' bumps hab growed so
+sense you took to de swamp, dat nuffin'll cober you 'cept massa Robert's
+hat, or de gal Rosey's sunshade.'
+
+The yellow man laughed, but kept on trying the hats. Finding one at last
+of suitable dimensions, he turned away to make room for another
+candidate for cranial honors. As I caught a full view of his face, I
+exclaimed:
+
+'Why, Ally, is that you?'
+
+'Yas, massa; it'm me,' he replied, making a respectful bow.
+
+'And you live here yet?'
+
+'Yas, massa. Hope you's well, massa?'
+
+'Very well; and your mother--how is she?'
+
+'Oh, she'm right smart, sar.'
+
+'Yas, massa, I'se right smart; an' I'se bery glad ter see 'ou, massa,'
+said a voice at my elbow. It was Dinah, no longer clad in coarse
+osnaburg, but arrayed in a worsted gown, and a little grayer and a
+little bulkier than when I saw her eight years before.
+
+'Why, Dinah, how well you look!' I exclaimed, giving her my hand. 'And
+you've come up to spend Christmas with Ally?'
+
+'No, massa, I _libs_ yere. I'se FREE now, massa!'
+
+'Free! So you've made enough to buy yourself? I'm glad to hear it.'
+
+'No, massa. Ally--de good chile--he done it, massa.'
+
+'Ally did it! How could he? He's not more than twenty now!'
+
+'No more'n he hain't, massa; but he'm two yar in massa Preston's swamp,
+wid a hired gang. Massa Preston put de chile ober 'em, an' gib him a
+haff ob all he make, an' he'm doin' a heap dar, massa.'
+
+'And with his first earnings he bought his mother!'
+
+'Yas, massa; wid de bery fuss.'
+
+'Ally, give me your hand,' I exclaimed, with unaffected pleasure;
+'you're a man! You're worthy of such a mother!'
+
+'Yas, he am dat, massa! He'm wordy ob anyting, an' he'm gwine to hab a
+wife ter day, massa. Boss Joe am gwine ter marry 'em, an' ter gib 'em
+him own cabin fur dar Chrismus giff.'
+
+'Well, Joe _is_ a trump. I'll remember him in my will for that, aunty,
+sure.'
+
+'Dat'm bery good ob 'ou, massa; but I reckon 'ou can't tink who Ally'm
+gwine ter hab, massa,' said the old woman, her face beaming all over.
+
+'No, I can't, Dinah. Who is she?'
+
+'It'm little Rosey, dat 'ou buy ob de trader, massa; an' she'm de
+pootiest little gal all roun' yere; ebery one say dat, massa.'
+
+'Indeed! And they are to be married to-day?'
+
+'Yas, massa, ter day--dis evenin'. 'Ou'll be dar, woan't 'ou, massa?'
+
+'Yes, certainly I will.'
+
+The old woman and Ally then mingled with the crowd of negroes, and I
+turned my attention once more to Joe's operations. The men had been
+supplied with head gear, and the women were receiving their
+turbans--gaudy pieces of red and yellow muslin.
+
+'Now, all you boys an' gals,' shouted Joe, as he dealt out a
+handkerchief to the last of the dusky demoiselles, 'you all squat on de
+groun', an' shovel off you' shoes.'
+
+Down they went in every conceivable attitude, and, uncovering their
+feet, commenced pelting each other with the cast-off leathers. When the
+sport had lasted a few minutes, Joe sang out:
+
+'Come! 'nuff ob dat; now ter bisness. Yere, you yaller monkeys (to
+several small specimens of copper and chrome yellow), tote dese 'mong
+'em.'
+
+The young chattels did as they were bidden, and, as each heavy brogan
+was fitted to the pedal extremity of some one of the darkies, the
+newly-shod individual sprang to his feet, and commenced dancing about as
+if he were the happiest mortal in existence.
+
+'Dat'm it,' shouted Joe; 'frow up you' heels; an' some ob you gwo
+an' fotch de big fiddle. We'll hab a dance, an' show dese Nordern
+gemmen de raal poker.'
+
+'But we hain't hed de dresses--nor de soogar--nor de 'backer--nor none
+ob de whiskey,' cried a dozen voices.
+
+'Shet up, you brack crows! You can't hab anudder ting till ye'se hed a
+high ole heel-scrapin'. Yere, massa Joe; you come up yere, an' holp me
+wid de 'strumentals,' said Boss Joe, grinning widely, and getting up on
+the carpenter's bench.
+
+In a few moments, the 'big fiddle,' one or two smaller fiddles, and
+three or four banjoes were brought out, and the two Joes, and several
+ebony gentlemen, seating themselves on the boxes of clothing, began
+tuning the instruments. Soon 'Boss Joe' commenced sawing away with a
+gusto that might have been somewhat out of keeping with his gray hairs,
+his sixty years, and his clerical profession. 'Massa Joe' and the others
+striking in, the male and female darkies paired off two by two, and to a
+lively air began dancing a sort of 'cotillion breakdown.' Other dances
+followed, in which the little negroes joined, and soon the air rang with
+the creak of the fiddles and the merry shouts of the negroes. In the
+midst of it my arm was touched lightly, and, turning round, I saw Rosey
+and Dinah.
+
+'I'se got de little gal yere, massa,' said the latter, looking as proud
+as a hen over her first brood of chickens. 'She glad to see 'ou, massa.'
+
+I gave Rosey my hand, and made a few good-natured compliments on her
+beauty and her tidy appearance. She had a simple, guileless expression,
+and met my half-bantering remarks with an innocent frankness that
+charmed me. She was only sixteen, but had developed into a beautiful
+woman. Her form was slight and graceful, with just enough _embonpoint_
+to give the appearance of full health; and her thin, delicate features,
+large, wide-set eyes, and clear, rosy complexion bore a strong
+resemblance to Selma's. It was evident they were children of the same
+father; and yet, one was to be the wife of a poor negro, the other to
+marry the son of a 'merchant prince.'
+
+As the dancing concluded, Boss Joe's fiddle gave out a dying scream,
+and, turning to me, he sang out:
+
+'War dar eber sprightlier nigs dan dese, massa Kirke? Don't dey beat
+you' country folks all holler?'
+
+'Yes, they do, Joe. They handle their heels as nimbly as elephants.'
+
+I spoke the truth; most of them did.
+
+The distribution of the presents was resumed; and, as each negro
+received his full supply of flour, sugar, tea, coffee, molasses,
+tobacco, and calico, grinning with joy over his new acquisitions, he
+staggered off to his quarters. When the last box was nearly emptied,
+with young Preston and Frank, I adjourned to the mansion.
+
+The exterior of the 'great house' was unchanged, but its interior had
+undergone a complete transformation. The plain oak flooring of the hall
+had been replaced by porcelain tiling, and the neat, simple furniture of
+the parlors by huge mirrors; rosewood and brocatelle sofas and lounges;
+velvet tapestry carpets, in which one's feet sank almost out of sight;
+and immense paintings, whose aggregate cost might have paid off one half
+of the mortgage that encumbered the plantation.
+
+Selma and her father were engaged in earnest conversation when we
+entered the drawing room, and, being unwilling to interrupt them, I was
+about to retire, but he rose, and said:
+
+'Come in, Kirke; I will call Mrs. Preston. She will be glad to see you.'
+
+The lady soon entered. It was eight years since we had met, but time had
+touched her gently. Her face wore its old, decided, yet quiet
+expression, and her manner showed the easy self-possession I had noticed
+at our first interview. She was richly dressed, and had on a heavy satin
+pelisse, and a blue velvet bonnet, as if about to ride out.
+
+When the usual greetings were over, she remarked:
+
+'You have been here some time, sir?'
+
+'Yes, madam; we arrived about two hours ago; but I met some old friends
+outside, and the pleasure of seeing them has made me a little tardy in
+paying my respects to you.'
+
+'The negroes, you mean, sir,' she replied, with a slight toss of the
+head, and a look of cool dignity which well became her.
+
+'Yes, madam. I have many friends among the blacks. On many plantations
+they look for my coming as they do for Christmas.'
+
+'It is quite rare to find a white gentleman so fond of negroes,' she
+rejoined, with an air slightly more supercilious.
+
+I remembered her as the humble schoolmistress, whose entire possessions
+were packed in one trunk; and, forgetting myself, said, in a tone which
+bore a slight trace of indignation:
+
+'More rare, I fear, than it should be; and you and I, madam, who are
+Yankees, and have 'worked for a living,' surely cannot despise the
+negroes because they are _compelled_ to work for theirs.'
+
+'Oh! no, sir! not by any means! But you must excuse me; the carriage is
+waiting to take me to church;' and, rising, she bowed herself stiffly
+out of the door.
+
+'Ah, you hit her there!' exclaimed Joe, springing to his feet in great
+glee, and striding to the window. 'See here, Mr. Kirke! See what a
+turnout the Yankee 'schulemarm' has worried out of father!'
+
+'My son, you must not speak so; she is your mother!' said Preston.
+
+'No, I'm d--d if she is! Call her anything but that, father; that's
+an--'he checked himself; but I thought he would have added--'insult to
+my dead mother!'
+
+Preston made no reply.
+
+Looking out of the window, I saw Mrs. Preston being handed into a
+magnificent barouche by one of the black gentry she so much despised.
+Another one in gaudy gold livery sat on the box, and a mounted outrider,
+also bound up in gold braid, stood behind the carriage.
+
+'There's a two-thousand-dollar turnout, and two fifteen-hundred-dollar
+niggers, to tote a woman who ought to go afoot. It's a poor investment,
+I swear,' said Joe, turning away from the window.
+
+Preston made no reply; but I laughingly remarked:
+
+'Come, Joe, she isn't _your_ wife. Let your father spend his money as he
+pleases; he can afford it.'
+
+'He _can't_ afford it; that woman is running him to the devil at a
+two-forty gait. You have more influence with him than any one, Mr.
+Kirke--_do_ try to stop it!'
+
+The young man spoke in a decided but regretful tone, and his manner
+showed more respect to his father than his words implied. Unwilling to
+interfere in such an affair, I said nothing; but Preston, in a moment,
+remarked:
+
+'It is true, Kirke! Her extravagance has ruined my credit at home, and
+forced me to use Joe's indorsements; besides, I have had to borrow ten
+thousand dollars of him to keep my head above water.'
+
+[Mr. James Preston--the Squire's uncle--had died the year before, and
+the young man had succeeded to his large property and business.]
+
+I was thunderstruck; but, before I could reply, Joe said:
+
+'I don't care a rush for the money. Father can have every dollar I've
+got; but I _do_ want to see him rid of that woman. I've been here sick
+for two months, and I've seen the whole. She is worrying the very life
+out of him. She's made him an old man at forty.'
+
+It was true. His face was lean and haggard, and his hair already thickly
+streaked with white.
+
+Preston rose, and, walking the room, said:
+
+'But what am I to do? You yourself, Joe, would not have all this made
+public. You've as much pride about it as I have.'
+
+'I've not a bit of pride about it, father; and it's public now.
+Everybody knows it, and everybody says you ought to cut her adrift.'
+
+'What had I better do? Tell me, my friend,' said Preston, still walking
+the room.
+
+'I cannot advise, you, Preston. An outsider should express no opinion on
+such matters.'
+
+In a moment Preston said:
+
+'Well, Joe, no more of this now. I'll do what is right, however much it
+may wound my pride.'
+
+The conversation turned to other subjects, till Mrs. Preston's return
+from church, shortly after which dinner was announced. The lady presided
+at the table with as much ease and grace as if she had been born to the
+position; and in her charming conversation, I almost forgot the
+revelations of the morning. The rest of the day I spent with Joe and
+Frank, strolling over the plantation and mingling among the negroes,
+who, freed from work, were enjoying themselves in a very 'miscellaneous
+manner.' Preston remained at the house with Selma.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+It was nearly dark when we returned to the mansion. Looking in at the
+parlor, and not finding his father there, Joe led the way at once to the
+library. The door was ajar, and, as we entered the passage way, loud
+voices were issuing from it.
+
+'I tell you, Mr. Preston, I am mistress of this plantation. He shall NOT
+go!'
+
+'Pardon me, madam, he _shall_, and to-night,' returned a mild but
+decided voice, which I recognized as Preston's. Being unwilling to
+overhear more, I turned away, but Joe caught me by the arm, exclaiming:
+
+'If you are my father's friend, go in. If you don't, he will back down;
+he has done so forty times.'
+
+Preston was a man of more than ordinary firmness, but his wife had the
+stronger will. She seemed possessed of a sort of magnetic power, which
+enabled her to control others almost arbitrarily.
+
+Reluctantly I followed the young man into the room. Preston was seated
+before the fire; and Selma, with her arm around his neck, was standing
+near him. Mulock, better clad than when I witnessed his purchase by the
+'fast' young planter, and wearing a sullen, dogged expression, was
+leaning against the centre table; and Mrs. Preston, gesticulating
+wildly, and her face glowing with mingled rage and defiance, stood
+within a few feet of her husband. Not heeding our entrance, she
+exclaimed:
+
+'I _will_ have my way. If you send him off, I will never darken your
+doors again.'
+
+'That is as you please, madam,' replied Preston. 'Mr. Kirke and Frank,
+pray be seated.'
+
+Stung by her husband's coolness, the lady turned fiercely upon Joe, and,
+shaking her clenched hand in his face, cried out:
+
+'This is _your_ work. I will teach you better than to meddle with my
+affairs.'
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+'Madam, you act well,' said the young man, taking a step toward the
+door. 'Pray come out to the quarters; poor as they are, every negro will
+give a bit to see _you_ play.'
+
+In uncontrollable rage, she struck him a smart blow in the face, and
+rushed from the room.
+
+When she had gone, Preston turned to Mulock:
+
+'Now go. The amount due you I shall retain to offset, in part, what you
+have tempted the negroes to steal. You can come here once a week--on
+Sunday--to see Phylly; but if you have any more dealings with the hands,
+I will prosecute you on the instant.'
+
+Mulock rose, put on his slouched hat, and, a dull fire burning in his
+cold, snake-like eyes, slowly said:
+
+'Wall, Squire, I'll gwo, but 'counts 'tween you an' me ain't settled
+yit.'
+
+As he went, Selma leaned forward, and, kissing Preston's cheek, said;
+
+'O father! I'm so glad _you_ didn't speak harshly to her.'
+
+Preston put his arm about her, and replied:
+
+'You helped me, my child. I should be a better, happier man, if you were
+with me.'
+
+'And I will be, father; I won't go away any more.'
+
+'But Frank?' said Preston, again kissing her.
+
+'Oh, you know we're not to be married for a good while yet. I'll stay
+with you _till then_, father.'
+
+'Ah! there she goes,' said Joe, looking out at the window, which
+commanded a view of the _porte cochere_; 'she can't get to Newbern till
+ten, but the night air won't hurt _her_.'
+
+'Then she makes Newbern her home now?'
+
+'Yes, she spends the winters there; she came here only yesterday.'
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+Ally and Rosey were to be married[3] in the little church, and, directly
+after supper, we all went to the wedding. The seats had been removed
+from the centre of the building, for, though duly consecrated to the use
+of the saints, the sinners were to exercise their heels in it after the
+ceremony was over. At its farther extremity, the carpenter's bench of
+which I have spoken, elongated at both ends, and covered with a white
+table cloth, was piled high with eatables; indicating that a time of
+'great refreshment' was at hand. The bounteous supply of ham, chicken,
+wild duck, roast pig, fish, hoecake, wheat bread, tea, coffee, milk, and
+pumpkin and sweet-potato pies under which the bench groaned, showed that
+some liberal hand had catered for the occasion.
+
+Black Joe, dressed in his 'Sunday best,' was seated on the rustic settee
+at the back of the desk, and Phyllis and Dinah occupied chairs inside
+the low railing, which faced the pulpit. Phyllis looked careworn and
+sad, but Ally's mother was as radiant as a brass kettle in a blaze of
+light wood. She wore a white dress, stiffly starched and expanded by
+immense hoops, and a crimped nightcap, whose broad border flapped about
+like the wings of a crowing rooster; and she looked, for all the world,
+like a black ghost in a winding sheet, escaped from below, and bound on
+a 'good time generally.' Two 'shining lights,' on either side of the
+pulpit, held aloft blazing torches of pine, which illuminated the sea of
+grinning darkness, and sent up a smoke like that arising from the pit
+which is said to be bottomless. About a hundred darkies were present;
+and the number of glossy coats, fancy turbans, gaudy bonnets, red
+shawls, and flaming dresses, which the light disclosed, was amazing. The
+poor worm that grubbed in the earth, had appeared ('for that occasion
+only') as a butterfly; and Lazarus, rid of his rags, had come forth
+dressed like a Broadway dandy.
+
+Any person of sensitive olfactories would have halted in the doorway;
+but I elbowed through the woolly gathering, and followed Frank and Selma
+to the family pew. Tittering, laughing, and flaunting their red and
+yellow kerchiefs, the black people were enjoying themselves amazingly,
+when 'Dar dey comes,' 'Dar'm de happy pussons,' went round the
+assemblage, and the bride and groom, attended by two sable couples,
+entered the building. After some ludicrous mistakes, they got 'into
+position' in front of the railing, and Black Joe took a stand before
+them.
+
+Rosey was dressed in white, with a neat fillet of pink and blue ribbon
+about her head; and Ally wore a black frock coat, with white vest, and
+white cotton gloves. One of the groomsmen--a rustic beau from a
+neighboring plantation--wore an immensely long-tailed blue coat with
+brass buttons, a flaming red waistcoat, yellow woollen mittens, and a
+neckerchief that looked like a secession flag hugging a lamp-post. Both
+of these gentry had hats of stove-pipe pattern, very tall, and with
+narrow brims; and--they wore them during the ceremony.
+
+'Silence in de meetin',' cried Joe.
+
+The boisterous sea of black wool subsided to a dead calm. Those not
+already standing rose, and Joe commenced reading the marriage service of
+the Episcopal Church.
+
+The parties immediately interested appeared to have conned their lessons
+well; for they made all the responses with great propriety; but some of
+the congregation seemed less familiar with the service. When Joe
+repeated the words, 'If any man kin show cause why dese folks should not
+be lawfully jined togedder, leff him now speak, or else foreber hole
+his peace,' Dinah turned to the audience, and cried out:
+
+'Yas, jess leff him come out wid it _now_. I'd like ter see de man dat's
+got onyting agin it.'
+
+No one appeared to have 'onyting agin it,' and Joe proceeded to read the
+words: 'I require and charge you, if either of you know any impediment,'
+etc. In the midst of it a voice called out:
+
+'Dar ain't no 'pedimen', Boss Joe; I knows dat. Gwo on, sar!' 'Dat's so,
+brudder,' said another voice. 'Dat's de Lord's trufh,' echoed a third.
+'Doan't be 'sturbin' de meetin'; de young folks want de 'splicin' done,'
+cried a fourth; and 'Amen,' shouted a dozen.
+
+'Shet up, all on you,' yelled Joe, turning on them with an imperious
+gesture; 'ef you hain't no more manners dan dat, clar out.'
+
+Silence soon ensued, and Joe went on without interruption to the place
+where the minister asks the bride-groom: 'Wilt thou have this woman to
+thy wedded wife?' Then Dinah, unable to contain herself longer, joyfully
+exclaimed:
+
+'Ob course he will--ony youn' feller'd be glad to hab _har_.'
+
+[Never having gone through the ceremony herself, the poor woman could
+not be expected to know what was appropriate to the occasion.]
+
+No further interruption occurred, and soon the happy couple were 'bone
+of one bone, and flesh of one flesh.' The assemblage still standing, Joe
+then turned to Ally and Rosey, and, with a manner so solemn and
+impressive that he seemed altogether a different person from the merry
+darky who had entered so heartily into the 'high ole heel scrapin'' of
+the morning; he spoke somewhat as follows:
+
+'My chil'ren, love one anoder; bar wid one anoder; be faithful to one
+anoder. You hab started on a long journey; many rough places am in de
+road; many trubbles will spring up by de wayside; but gwo on hand an'
+hand togedder; love one anoder; an' no matter what come onter you, you
+will be happy--fur love will sweeten ebery sorrer, lighten ebery load,
+make de sun shine in eben de bery cloudiest wedder. I knows it will, my
+chil'ren, 'case I'se been ober de groun'. Ole Aggy an' I hab trabbled de
+road. Hand in hand we hab gone ober de rocks; fru de mud; in de hot,
+burnin' sand; ben out togedder in the cole, an' de rain, an' de storm,
+fur nigh onter forty yar, but we hab clung to one anoder; we hab loved
+one anoder; and fru eberyting, in de bery darkest days, de sun ob joy
+an' peace hab broke fru de clouds, an' sent him blessed rays down inter
+our hearts. We started jess like two young saplin's you's seed a growin'
+side by side in de woods. At fust we seemed way 'part, fur de brambles,
+an' de tick bushes, an' de ugly forns--dem war our bad ways--war atween
+us; but love, like de sun, shone down on us, and we grow'd. We grow'd
+till our heads got above de bushes; till dis little branch an' dat
+little branch--dem war our holy feelin's--put out toward one anoder, an'
+we come closer an' closer togedder. And dough we'm old trees now, an'
+sometime de wind blow, an' de storm rage fru de tops, and freaten to
+tear off de limbs, an' to pull up de bery roots, we'm growin' closer an'
+closer, an' nearer an' nearer togedder ebery day. And soon de old tops
+will meet; soon de ole branches, all cobered ober wid de gray moss, will
+twine round one anoder; soon de two ole trunks will come togedder and
+grow inter _one_ foreber--grow inter one up dar in de sky, whar de wind
+neber'll blow, whar de storm neber'll beat; whar we shill blossom an'
+bar fruit to de glory ob de Lord, an' in His heabenly kingdom foreber!
+
+'Yas, my chil'ren, you hab started on a long journey, an' nuffin' will
+git you fru it but _love_. Nuttin' will hole you up, nuffin' will keep
+you faithful to one anoder, nuffin' will make you bar wid one anoder,
+but love. None ob us kin lib widout it; but married folks want it most
+ob all. Dey need it more dan de bread dey eat, de water dey drink, or de
+air dey breafe. De worle couldn't gwo on widout it. De bery sun would
+gwo out in de heabens but fur dat! An' shill I tell you why? You hab
+heerd massa Robert talk 'bout de great law dat make de apple fall from
+de tree, de rock sink in de water; dat bines our feet to de round 'arth
+so we don't drop off as it gwo fru de air; dat holes de sun an' de stars
+in dar 'pointed places, so dat, day after day, an' yar after yar, dough
+dey'm trabblin' fasser dan de lightnin' eber went, dey'm right whar dey
+should be. He call it 'traction, an' all de great men call it so; but
+dat ain't de name! It am LOVE. It am GOD, fur GOD am love, an' love am
+GOD, an' love bines de whole creashun togedder! An' shill I tell you how
+it do it? Does you see dis hand? how I open de fingers; how I shet'm up;
+how I rise de whole arm? Does you see dis foot, dat I does wid jess de
+same? Does you see dis whole body, how I make it, in a twinklin', do
+jess what I like? Now what am it dat make my hand move, an' my whole
+'body turn round so sudden, dat I'se only to say: 'Do it,' an' it'm
+done? Why, it am ME. It'm _me_, dat libs up yere in de brain, an' sends
+my _will_ fru ebery part--fru ebery siner, an' ebery muscle, an' ebery
+little jint, an' make'm all do jess what I like. Now man am made in de
+image of GOD, an' dis pore, weak ole body am a small pattern ob de whole
+creashun. Eberyting go on jess as _it_ do. Eberyting am held togedder,
+an' moved 'bout, jess as _it_ am--but it'm GOD dat move it, not me! He
+libs up dar in de sky--which am His brain--wid de stars fur His hands,
+de planets fur His feet, an' de whole univarse fur His body; an' He
+sends His will--which am love--fru ebery part ob de whole, an' moves it
+'bout, an' make it do jess as He likes. So you see, it am my will sent
+fru ebery muscle, an' ebery little siner, dat moves my body; so it am
+_His_ will sent fru what de'stronomers an' de poets call de heabenly
+ether, dat moves _His_ body--which am de 'arth, an' de sun, an' de
+stars, an' you an' me, an' ebery libin' ting in all creashun! His will
+move 'em all; AN' HIS WILL AM LOVE! An' don't you see dat you can't do
+widout His love? Dat it am de bery breaf ob life? Dat, ef it war tooken
+'way from you, fur jess one moment, you'd drop down, an' die, an' neber
+come to life agin--no, not in dis worle, nor in any oder worle? It am
+so, my chil'ren; an' de more you hab ob dat love, de happier you'll be;
+de more you'll love one ander; de easier you'll gwo fru you' life--de
+more joyfuller you'll meet you' deafh--de happier you'll be all fru de
+long, long ages dat'm comin' in de great Yereafter! Den, O my chil'ren!
+Love God, Love one anoder! You can't be happy widout you love GOD, an'
+you can't love Him widout you love one anoder!'
+
+When Joe had concluded, he saluted the bride in a manner that many
+another sooty gentleman present would have been glad to imitate, and
+then took a stand at the head of the supper table. An immense tureen,
+filled with steaming oysters, was soon brought in and placed before him,
+and looking up, he said grace, in which he thanked Him who feedeth the
+ravens for putting it into his master's heart to feed His other black
+creatures, the darkies present on that occasion. He asked for his master
+many a happy 'Chrismus down yere,' and an eternal 'Chrismus in heaben,'
+and he added: 'An' knowin' dat dou hatest long prayers, an' long faces,
+an' dose folks dat gwo 'bout grumblin', as ef dy happy 'arth war nuffin'
+but a graveyard; may we enjoy dis feast an' dis day as dy true
+chil'ren--de chil'ren ob a good Fader, who am all joy an' all
+gladness--an' while we'm eatin' an' drinkin' an' dancin', may we make
+merry in our hearts to _Thee_. Amen.'
+
+When he concluded, Preston stepped to his side, and taking the big
+ladle from his hand, said:
+
+'Stand aside, Joe, you have done work enough for to-night;' and turning
+to 'we white folks' in the family pew, he added: 'If any man among you
+would be master, let him now be the servant of all. Let him try his hand
+at the waiter business, and see if he can't throw these shady people
+into the _shade_.'
+
+Selma, Frank, 'massa Joe,' and I went forward, and tying the negroes'
+aprons about our waists, took appropriate places around the table.
+
+'Now all of you find seats,' cried Preston; and amid a hurricane of
+giggling and merry laughter, the black people seated themselves on the
+floor, on the platform, and on the row of benches ranged along the
+walls. Preston proceeded to fill up the bowls with the savory stew, and
+we dispensed the eatables among them, and for half an hour I witnessed
+as much enjoyment as often falls to the lot of black sinners in this
+'vale of tears.'
+
+'Now, ef dis doan't beat all,' exclaimed old Dinah, as I handed her a
+huge chunk of gingerbread; 'ef 'ou ain't right smart at waitin', massa
+Kirke, I'd like ter know it.'
+
+'Keep dark, ole 'ooman,' shouted Black Joe; 'doan't you say nuffin'
+'bout dat, or de traders'll be a hole ob him. He'd sell fur a right
+likely hand, _shore_.'
+
+'I woan't do nuffin' but keep dark, Boss Joe,' rejoined Dinah, grinning
+till her face opened from ear to ear. 'I'll hab 'ou know, sar, dat none
+but white ladies paints!'
+
+'Good fur you, ole lady,' cried the preacher. 'After dat you'll gib me
+de pleasure ob your hand in de fuss dance.'
+
+'Ob course, I will, _mister_ Joe; an' ef 'ou'm tired ob de ole 'ooman,
+I'll gib 'ou my han' in anoder dance.'
+
+'No, you woan't, I doan't gwo fur second marridges,' rejoined Joe,
+looking slyly at Preston; 'dey ain't made in heaben.'
+
+'No more' dey ain't,' said the old woman, heaving a long sigh, and also
+looking at Preston.
+
+'You ain't a gwine to leff dese folks dance in de church, am you, Boss
+Joe?' asked a prim, demure-looking darky, in a black suit, with a white
+neckerchief and stiff shirt collar; probably some neighboring preacher.
+
+'I reckon so,' replied Joe, dryly.
+
+'An' _I_ reckons so, too, mister I scare-you-out (Iscariot),' cried the
+old negress. 'Ain't de planets de Lord's feet, an' doant dey dance! I
+reckons we ain't no better dan de Lord is; an' ef He mobes him feet,
+'ou'd better mobe 'our'n. _We_ b'lieve in sarvin' HIM wid our han's an'
+our feet, too; we does, mister I-scare-you-out.'
+
+She did scare him out, for the 'pious gemman' left suddenly.
+
+When about all of the eatables had found their way down the
+cavernous--and ravenous--throats of the darkies, Boss Joe rose and
+called out:
+
+'Yere, you massa Joe, you pull off you' apern, an' take de big
+fiddle--I'm 'gaged fur de fuss dance.'
+
+Young Preston seated himself on the platform, and several sable
+gentlemen with banjoes and fiddles took places beside him.
+
+'Now all you men folks s'lect you' pardners,' cried the preacher, taking
+Dinah by the hand, and leading her out to the middle of the floor.
+
+They all paired off, the fiddles broke into a merry tune, and soon the
+little church, which had so often echoed with the groans of the saints,
+shook with the heels of the sinners. When the first dance was over, Boss
+Joe again called out:
+
+'Now, massa Joe, strike up de waltz--Dinah an' I am gwine to show dese
+folks some highfalutin dancin'.'
+
+The waltz struck up, and off they whirled; Dinah went into it as if she
+were working for pay, and as Joe held her closely in his arms, her wide
+hoops expanded till she looked like a topsail schooner scudding under
+bare poles.
+
+As Joe was wiping the perspiration from his face, at the end of the
+waltz, an old negro entered, and whispered something in his ear. Joe's
+countenance fell in an instant, and, without saying a word, he left the
+room.
+
+'Massa Joe,' relinquishing the big fiddle, then took the floor with
+Rosey, and gave the audience a genuine breakdown. His heels bobbed
+around like balls at a cricket match, and Rosey's petticoats fluttered
+about like the contents of a clothes line caught out in a hurricane. A
+better-looking couple were never seen in a ball room.
+
+'He's a natural born darky,' said his father, laughing; 'he takes to
+dancing as a duck takes to water.'
+
+A general dance followed. In the midst of it the old negro who had
+called Joe out, again came in, and making his way to where Preston and I
+were standing, said, in a low tone:
+
+'Massa Robert, Ole Jack am dyin'; will 'ou come?'
+
+'Dying!' exclaimed Preston. 'Yes, I'll be there at once. Kirke, you
+remember the old man--come with me.'
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: This was the conjuror's bag of the Africans. It is called
+'waiter,' or 'kunger,' by the Southern blacks, and is supposed to have
+the power to charm away evil spirits, and to do all manner of
+miraculously good things for its wearer. Those that I have seen are
+harmless little affairs, consisting only of small pieces of rags sewed
+up in coarse muslin.]
+
+[Footnote 2: The name of the African god.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Usually there is no marriage performed at the union of
+slaves. They simply agree, tacitly or otherwise, to live together till
+death or their master parts them.]
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTAIN OF '63 TO HIS MEN.
+
+
+   Come to the field, boys, come!
+   Come at the call of the stirring drum--
+             Come, boys, come!
+   Yonder's the foe to our country's fame,
+   Waiting to blot out her very name--
+   Where is the man that would see her shame?
+             Come, boys, come!
+
+   Form, my brave men, form!
+   Stand in good order to 'meet the storm'--
+             Form, men, form!
+   Sacred to us is our native land!
+   Shrivelled for aye be each traitor hand
+   Lifted to shatter so bright a band--
+             Form, men, form!
+
+   Charge, my soldiers, charge!
+   From the steep hill to the river's marge,
+             Charge! charge! charge!
+   Think of our wives and mothers dear;
+   Think of the hopes that have led us here;
+   Think of the hearts that will give us cheer--
+             Charge, boys, charge!
+
+   Die with me, boys, die!
+   There's a place for all in yon bannered sky,
+             If we die, boys, die!
+   Think of the names that are shining bright,
+   Written in letters of living light!
+   Rather than give up the sacred Right,
+     Let's die, boys, die!
+
+
+
+
+THE VISION OF THE MONK GABRIEL.
+
+
+   'Tis the soft twilight. 'Round the shining fender,
+     Two at my feet and one upon my knee,
+       Dreamy-eyed Elsie, bright-lipped Isabel,
+       And thou, my golden-headed Raphael,
+         My fairy, small and slender,
+           Listen to what befel
+             Monk Gabriel,
+     In the old ages ripe with mystery--
+   Listen, my darlings, to the legend tender.
+
+     A bearded man, with grave, but gentle look--
+         His silence sweet with sounds
+   With which the simple-hearted Spring abounds:
+   Lowing of cattle from the abbey grounds,
+     Chirping of insect, and the building rook,
+   Mingled like murmurs of a dreaming shell;
+     Quaint tracery of bird and branch and brook
+       Flitting across the pages of his book,
+       Until the very words a freshness took--
+             Deep in his cell,
+           Sate the Monk Gabriel.
+
+             In his book he read
+     The words the Master to His dear ones said:
+             'A little while and ye
+                   Shall see,
+               Shall gaze on Me;
+             A little while, again,
+             Ye shall not see Me then.'
+                 _A little while!_
+         The monk looked up--a smile
+   Making his visage brilliant, liquid-eyed:
+             'O Thou, who gracious art
+             Unto the poor of heart,
+           O Blessed Christ!' he cried,
+               'Great is the misery
+               Of mine iniquity;
+             But would _I_ now might see,
+               Might feast on Thee!'
+             The blood, with sudden start,
+             Nigh rent his veins apart--
+       (O condescension of the Crucified!)
+             In all the brilliancy
+             Of His Humanity,
+           The Christ stood by his side!
+
+   Pure as the early lily was His skin,
+         His cheek out blushed the rose,
+             His lips, the glows
+     Of autumn sunset on eternal snows:
+           And His deep eyes within,
+     Such nameless beauties, wondrous glories dwelt,
+     The monk in speechless adoration knelt.
+   In each fair hand, in each fair foot, there shone
+     The peerless stars He took from Calvary:
+     Around His brows, in tenderest lucency,
+   The thorn-marks lingered, like the flush of dawn;
+     And from the opening in His side there rilled
+     A light, so dazzling, that the room was filled
+   With heaven: and transfigured in his place,
+           His very breathing stilled,
+   The friar held his robe before his face,
+         And heard the angels singing!
+     'Twas but a moment--then, upon the spell
+   Of this sweet Presence, lo! a something broke:
+   A something, trembling, in the belfry woke,
+       A shower of metal music flinging
+   O'er wold and moat, o'er park and lake and fell,
+     And, through the open windows of the cell,
+       In silver chimes came ringing.
+
+             It was the bell
+         Calling Monk Gabriel
+           Unto his daily task,
+     To feed the paupers at the abbey gate.
+             No respite did he ask,
+     Nor for a second summons idly wait;
+       But rose up, saying in his humble way:
+             'Fain would I stay,
+             O Lord! and feast alway
+   Upon the honeyed sweetness of Thy beauty--
+       But 'tis _Thy_ will, not mine, I must obey;
+           Help me to do my duty!'
+         The while the Vision smiled,
+   The monk went forth, light-hearted as a child.
+
+     An hour thence, his duty nobly done,
+             Back to his cell he came.
+   Unasked, unsought, lo! his reward was won!
+     Rafters and walls and floor were yet aflame
+       With all the matchless glory of that Sun,
+     And in the centre stood the Blessed One--
+           (Praised be His Holy Name!)
+   Who, for our sakes, our crosses made His own.
+           And bore our weight of shame!
+       Down on the threshold fell
+           Monk Gabriel,
+   His forehead pressed upon the floor of clay;
+   And, while in deep humility he lay,
+   Tears raining from his happy eyes away,
+   'Whence is this favor, Lord?' he strove to say.
+         The Vision only said,
+         Lifting its shining head:
+   'If thou hadst staid, O son! _I_ must have fled!'
+
+        PHILADELPHIA
+
+
+
+
+THE CENTURY OF INVENTIONS.
+
+CONTAINING A FEW COMMENTS ON THE WORK OF THAT NAME, PUBLISHED BY THE
+MARQUIS OF WORCESTER, IN 1663.
+
+
+There is nothing which the world dreads so much as an unpitying truth.
+The history of ideas is that of men trying to persuade themselves that
+special miracles of amiability are ever being worked, from the cradle to
+the grave, in their favor. Of the tremendous inconsistency and
+destructiveness which such miracles imply, they take no heed. The most
+unpalatable fact in physics is that of the Struggle for Life.
+
+Ideas once born may never die, but it is worth noting how many men must
+die ere their ideas can live. The Indo-Germanic race has always been
+blessed with many of those self-cursed martyrs, the Anticipators, or the
+men who have outstripped their age. Like the advance guard of the summer
+swallows, they have generally died by frosts and lived in fables.
+
+Germany is very proud of her Berchthold Schwartz, and in her pride has
+made a proverb declaring that his invention was the proof of supreme
+wisdom. When they describe a fool, they say there that he did not
+discover gunpowder. But 'the first handful of gunpowder' did not, as
+Carlyle claims, drive Monk Schwartz's pestle through the ceiling. Long
+before Schwartz, lived Bacon; and a century or so before Bacon, there
+were in existence Norman-Latin recipes, says Palsgrave--who had seen
+them--_ad faciendum le crake_, for making firecrackers--at least, for
+making gunpowder which would crack merrily when fired. Stained glass
+windows, according to the cheap and easy explanations of those who used
+to send us to natural scenery for every origin in architecture, were
+suggested by beholding the winter sunset lines of the sky through the
+bare gothic-window tracery of a leafless forest. Recent research finds
+the stained window in the antique burning East, where no studies were
+made by frost or forest light--nay, the leaves carved by
+tradition-loving Gothic Free Masons in churches often keep a peculiar
+Eastern form.
+
+I am not, however, lecturing of Lost Arts in the strain which sings
+'there is nothing new under the sun,' and which in a chilling manner
+benumbs the faith in progress by shaking with a grin before the wearied
+inventor some skeleton puppet of buried ages, which resembles his great
+thought as a hut resembles a palace. On the contrary, I find in this
+strange frequency of anticipation among Indo-Germanic races, and in its
+premature failures, a vast proof of inventive vitality and of promise of
+great rising truths into all future ages. 'Steam power is nothing new,'
+say the advocates of the genius of the past. Hero of Alexandria invented
+a steam toy--as he who can read his _Spiritalia_ published by the
+Jesuits in 1693 may learn for himself. But the power now roaring and
+whizzing all over the world, and which would build every pyramid and
+every monument of Egypt now extant in twenty-four hours, is no toy. When
+I think of this, there is no ingenious trifle for amusement which does
+not inspire a droll awe. Possibly those walking dolls now performing
+their weary pilgrimages on level glass-pane floors in Broadway
+windows--gravely lifting those enormous gilded boots, which remind me of
+Miss Kilmansegg and Queen Berta _a grands pies_, in one--have a good
+reason for their dignity of gait. For may they not be golden-footed and
+solemn, like her who rose from the waves of old to prophesy to her
+son?--and if she was _silver_-footed, it makes no difference, for so are
+some of the _autoperiper_--nay, _that_ word finishes me, and I go no
+further. Such a block of Greek would bring even a German sentence down
+with a crash to a verbless conclusion. What I would have said was, that
+it may be that these dolls are heralds of greater dolls yet to come,
+which shall be wound up to fetch and carry, to sew on buttons--nay, it
+is even possible (in the wildest of dreams) that they may be made to
+boil potatoes properly. And I have been told that a recent improvement
+in boys' rocking horses, by means of which a trotting motion is given to
+the legs of those docile animals, has suggested to a mechanic of this
+city the construction of a very good automatic steed, whose only fault
+is slowness. May I suggest that a very great improvement indeed may yet
+be made on that horse, and that the two-forty of a coming generation may
+be the result, not of oats and hay, but of steel springs and cylinders?
+The first wooden horse burnt Troy--what will the last do?
+
+I have been reminded of the strange tendency in man--but more especially
+of the Indo-Germanic or Aryan man--to anticipate by invention the wants
+of an age, sometimes centuries beforehand--by turning over that very
+curious work, the 'Century of Inventions,' by the Marquis of Worcester,
+in which, as in the commonplace book of an author, one may find jotted
+down many an undeveloped idea of great promise. In this connection we
+may be allowed to borrow somewhat from a biography by Charles F.
+Partington, published in 1825.
+
+Edward Lord Herbert, the sixth earl and second Marquis of Worcester, was
+born at Ragland near Monmouth; and his family, long distinguished for
+the most devoted loyalty, possessed the largest landed estate of any
+then attached to the British court. What this was in those times is set
+forth by the fact that in 1628 the father of the marquis had a revenue
+of upward of twenty thousand pounds. In 1642, the year in which his son
+was created marquis, the young heir raised, supported, and commanded an
+army of 1,500 foot and near 500 horse soldiers.
+
+He had a stormy life before him, this young marquis, with many more
+scenes, adventures, and changes than are to be found in Woodstock and
+Peveril of the Peak. How he fought well, recapturing Monmouth among
+other things from the Puritan General Massey, how he was appointed, in
+consequence of his daring cavaliering raids, by Charles II to negotiate
+with the Irish Catholics; how the king often visited him at Ragland, is
+all a fine story, well worth reading. We can get glimpses of that REGAL
+life--as Mr. Partington admiringly small-caps his climax, from the 'list
+of the Ragland household' with the earl's order of dining--castle gates
+closed at eleven o'clock in the morning, the entry of the earl with a
+grand escort, 'the retiral of the steward'--the advance of 'the
+Comptroller, Mr. Holland, attended by _his_ staff'--'as did the sewer,
+the daily waiters, and many gentlemen's sons, with estates from two to
+seven hundred pounds a year, who were bred up in the castle, and my
+lady's gentlemen of the chamber.' Therein, too, we see the rattling of
+trenchers, and hear the gurgling of bottles, at the first table, of the
+noble family, and such stray nobility as came there; at the second
+table, of knights and honorables--at the second 'first table' in the
+hall of 'Sir Ralph Blackstone, Steward; the Comptroller, the Master of
+the Horse, the Master of the Fish Ponds, my Lord Herbert's Preceptor,'
+and such gentlemen as were under degree of a knight--these all being
+'plentifully served with wine.' Of the second table there is no note of
+much wine, but it still had 'hot meats from my Lord's table,' and at it
+sat the Sewer with gentlemen waiters and pages to the number of
+twenty-four--and even now we are not yet come to the vulgar. For at the
+_third_ table sat my Lord's Chief Auditor, his Purveyor of the Castle,
+Keeper of the Records--Ushers of the Hall--Clerk--Closet Keeper--Master
+of the Armory--and below these divers Masters of the Hounds--Twelve
+Master Grooms of the Stables, Master Falconer--Keepers of the Red Deer
+Park--and below these yet one hundred and fifty 'footmen, grooms, and
+other menial servants.'
+
+Bright gleams vanish--the stately dinner parties grow dim, Masters of
+Horses and Hounds go to battle, the plate is melted down, and all is sad
+and sere. The young lord is sent by King Charles abroad, and
+Parliamentary Fairfax comes thundering at the gate, where admittance is
+refused by the venerable old marquis. Fairfax besieges boldly and is
+gallantly attacked by repeated sallies. I had rather the Puritans, with
+whom all my head goes, and with it half my heart, had behaved better
+than they did on this occasion. For after the venerable old marquis had
+fought nobly and surrendered on honorable terms, I am sorry to say he
+was most dishonorably treated, the conditions of capitulation being
+disgracefully violated, and the old marquis put in close prison, where
+he soon died in his eighty-fifth year.--Well, well--there was abundance
+of such false faith and dark villany on both sides ere the war was over.
+Be it remembered that these same nobles had kept the honor too closely
+to themselves, and ridiculed it out of life quite too sharply in the
+'base mechanicals' to fairly expect mastery in gentility from them. And
+in these same Partingtonian Biographies, I am often inclined to suspect
+that the lions do some of their own carving.
+
+Puritans sequestered and smashed the estate right and left--lead sold
+for six thousand pounds, woods cut down and sold for one hundred
+thousand more. 'Pity!' do you say? Reader mine, there is enough land in
+parks at this present day in broad England to feed that wretched one
+eighth of her population who are now buried at public expense. That
+dis-parking business was at any rate not badly done.
+
+Little more is seen of the young lord through the war. In 1654 he is at
+King Charles's court in France--is sent to London to procure supplies of
+money for the king--is caught and Towered, where he rests for several
+years, sorrowfully poor, if we may judge from a letter to Colonel
+Copley, in which he declares that 'I am forced to begge, if you could
+possible, eyther to helpe me with tenne pownds to this bearer, or to
+make vse of the coache and to goe to Mr. Clerke, and if he could this
+daye helpe me to fifty pownds then to paye yourself the five pownds I
+owe you out of them.' A melancholy letter, after all that glittering
+Arthur's-court splendor of first, second, and third tables of nobility,
+Masters of Robes and Records--a letter in which there seems some trace
+of getting money by 'projects' and 'bubbles'--whether of doing little
+bills or by Notable Inventions, I will not say. Prison does not, it is
+true, last forever, but its doors open on a scene of baseness blacker
+than that which brought the brave old marquis with sorrow to his grave.
+The tale is told in a paragraph:
+
+     'On the king's restoration, the Marquis of Worcester was one of the
+     first to congratulate his Majesty on the happy event, though the
+     situation of the unfortunate nobleman was little bettered by the
+     change; indeed it appeared but as the signal for new persecutions,
+     as one of the earliest public acts of the ungrateful monarch may be
+     characterized as an insidious attempt to set aside the claims of
+     his earliest and best friend.'
+
+'Put not thy trust in princes.' To contrast this treatment of poor
+Worcester with the fervent written promises of the ungrateful 'C. R.' or
+Carolus Rex, might have shook the faith of Dr. Johnson in his beloved
+'merry monarch.' The earlier letters of the king to the marquis, when
+something was expected of the 'gallant cavalier,' and the latter had
+'money to lend,' are painfully amusing:
+
+     OXFORD, _Feb. 12._ * * 'I am sensible of the dangers yu will
+     undergo, and ye greate trouble and expences you must be at, not
+     being able to assist yu who have already spente aboue a Million of
+     Crowns in my Service, neither can I saye more then I well remembr
+     to have spoke and written to you that allready words could not
+     expresse your merits nor my gratitude: and that next to my wife and
+     children I was most bound to take care of you, whereof I have
+     besides others, particularly assured yor Cosin Biron as a person
+     deare unto you. * * And rest assured, if God should crosse me wth
+     your miscarrying I will treate your Sonne as myne owne, and that
+     yw labour for a deare friende as well as a thankfull Master when
+     tyme shall afforde meanes to acknowledge how much I am
+
+         'Yor most assured real constant
+                   and thankfull friend
+                           'CHARLES R.'
+
+
+
+There are other letters from Charles R., very little to his credit as
+regards the keeping of promises, and likewise several strange papers of
+the Worcester people, showing that they had their clouds and humors,
+like other families. Of our marquis--the reader will readily pardon me
+all that I have digressed to say of his early history--it must suffice
+to tell that, after the Restoration, he appears as a poor inventor, and
+that on the 3d April, 1663, a bill was brought into Parliament for
+granting to him and his successors the whole of the profits that might
+arise from the use of a water-raising engine, described in the last
+article in the 'Century' of Inventions. The 'Century' itself had been
+presented to the king and commons some months previously. This
+invention, coupled with its penultimate and antepenultimate ninety-ninth
+and ninety-eighth inventions, may indeed be justly considered as the
+wonder of the 'Century,' since, when united with the sixty-eighth, they
+appear, in Partington's opinion, to suggest all the data essential for
+the construction of a modern steam engine. The injustice which he
+encountered during life, seems to have followed Worcester for two
+centuries after death; for Lord Orford declares that the bill granting
+the marquis such advantages as his invention might give birth to, was
+passed on a simple affirmation of the discovery that he (the marquis)
+had made. 'His lordship's want of candour in this statement will be
+apparent when it is known that there were no less than seven meetings of
+committees on the subject, composed of some of the most learned men in
+the house, who, after considerable amendments, finally passed it on the
+12 May.'
+
+It is touching to see the absolute, extreme, life-giving faith in the
+merit of his invention which inspired the marquis--and in this strange
+faith, like a prophecy, even more than in his invention itself,
+considering the way in which he probably came by it, do we recognize
+that Genius which rises here and there in the past history of the Aryan
+races, and that so all-sidedly and confidingly as to seem miraculous. I
+confess that when I look closely and deeply into the knowledge of Dante
+and Lionardo da Vinci, of Fiar Bacon, and the Cavalier Marquis of
+Worcester, an awe comes over me. All of them seem to have been so
+great, some of their order so _unearthly_ great; and they held the keys
+to so many mysteries, and to doors of science which were not unlocked
+for long centuries after their death; and there was in all of them such
+a strange sympathy and knowledge with the other great men as yet unborn,
+who were to come after them, and for whom they seem to have labored, and
+to whom they talked with the confidence of friends. I never pause before
+a certain passage in Dante's 'Inferno,' without the feelings of one
+standing before a great prophet--some marvellous earthly ancient of
+days, who foresaw all to come:
+
+   'Di la fosti cotanto quant'io scesi:
+   Quando mi volsi, tu possasti 'l punto
+   Alqual si troggon d'ogni parte i pasi.'
+
+   'Thou wast on the other side so long as I
+   Descended; when I turned thou didst o'erpass
+   That point to which from every part is dragged
+   All heavy unbalance!'
+
+It was well thought by Monti that, had this passage been noted by
+Newton, it might have given him a better hint than the falling apple.
+Perhaps it did, for Newton was no poet, and it is the poetic,
+associative-minded men of genius who have always preceded the greatest,
+strictly scientific minds, and far surpassed the latter in the
+comprehensiveness of their views. Bear with me, ye men of Induction, for
+I believe in the coming age, at whose threshold we even now stand, when
+ye and the poets shall be one.
+
+The Marquis of Worcester was not like the indifferentist philosopher, so
+well set forth by Charles Woodruff Shields in his _Philosophia
+Ultima_,[4] as one who would not invade, but only ignore the province of
+revelation, regarding its mysteries as matters entirely too vague to be
+taken into the slightest account in his exact science. For our good Lord
+Herbert thought Heaven had a great deal to do with his inventions, as is
+proved by his 'ejaculatory and extemporary Thanksgiving Prayer, when
+first with his corporeal eyes he did see finished a perfect trial of his
+Water-commanding Engine, delightful and useful to whomsoever hath in
+recommendation either knowledge, profit, or pleasure.' And--never mind
+the delay, reader--we will even look at that prayer, in which this world
+and the next blend so strangely;
+
+     'Oh! infinitely omnipotent GOD! whose mercies are fathomless, and
+     whose knowledge is immense and inexhaustible; next to my creation
+     and redemption I render thee most humble thanks from the very
+     bottom of my heart and bowels, for thy vouchsafing me (the meanest
+     in understanding) an insight in soe great a secret of nature,
+     beneficent to all mankind, as this my water-commanding engine.
+     Suffer me not to be puffed up, O Lord, by the knowing of it, and
+     many more rare and unheard off, yea, unparalleled inventions,
+     tryals, and experiments. But humble my haughty heart, by the true
+     knowledge of myne owne ignorant, weake, and unworthy nature; proane
+     to all euill. O most merciful Father my creator, most
+     compassionatting Sonne my redeemers, and Holyest of Spiritts the
+     sanctifier, three diuine persons and one God, grant me a further
+     concurring grace with fortitude to take hould of thy goodnesse, to
+     the end that whatever I doe, unanimously and courageously to serve
+     my king and country, to disabuse, rectifie, and convert my
+     undeserved yet wilfully incredulous enemyes, to reimburse
+     thankfully my creditors, to reimmunerate my benefactors, to
+     reinhearten my distressed family, and with complacence to gratifie
+     my suffering and confiding friends, may, voyde of vanity or selfe
+     ends, be only directed to thy honour and glory everlastingly.
+     _Amen!_'
+
+How this great invention faded and was forgotten till the days of Watt
+and Fulton, is hardly worth surmising. It had been born and died long
+before. Was it not in 1514 that Blasco de Garay set a steamboat afloat
+on the Tagus? Sometimes, as in the case of John Fitch, it seems to have
+grown spontaneously from the instinctive impulse to create, as Fichte
+calls art. I have seen old men, who had known Fitch: their account of
+his severely won improvements, and more recently his 'Life,' make me
+believe that he owed nothing to precedent. But the marquis, I am sorry
+to say, notwithstanding his prayer and his bold claim to originality,
+cannot come off with so clear a record, so far as invention is
+concerned. He certainly gave a good, plausible account of the discovery,
+or it was given for him, and this went current for many years in books
+of inventions. It was said that the marquis, while confined in the Tower
+of London, was preparing some food in his apartment, and the cover of
+the vessel, having been closely fitted, was, by the expansion of the
+steam, suddenly forced off and driven up the chimney. 'This
+circumstance, attracting his attention, led him to a train of thought,
+which terminated in the completion of his 'water-commanding engine.''
+
+_E ben trovato._ Unfortunately, within a few years, and since Partington
+published the 'Century of Invention,' there was unearthed from the
+gossiping letters of a gay French court-belle, who little dreamed what
+ill service she was doing her gallant, and what good service to history,
+a chance bit of trifling, as she probably deemed it, which sends the
+marquis's story exploding up the chimney after the lid of his apocryphal
+kettle. It seems that when the marquis was in France, he, in accordance
+with the elegant and refined custom which prevailed there and in
+England, as the reader may gather from Boswell's 'Johnson'--went with
+this lady to visit the madmen confined in the public prison.
+
+I have already digressed so widely in this article, that a sin more or
+less, of the kind, need not be noted too severely. Reader, if you are
+one of those who think that mankind do not progress in heart, what think
+you of this pretty custom of the last century, according to which
+gentlemen and ladies of the highest rank, 'persons of quality,' made up
+parties to visit public madhouses, which, by the way, were common shows,
+at one penny entrance fee, and where the young gentlemen poked the mad
+people with sticks, and pelted them, shook their chains, and jeered
+them, till they foamed and raved, and the young misses giggled and gave
+pretty screams, and cried, 'Oh, fie!' and 'lor!' and then the visitors
+all laughed together? Then Miss ----, a little bolder, hissed at the
+lunatics herself, and poked them with a stick--and then there was a
+fresh storm of tears and howls and blasphemy and obscenity; and the
+keepers, rushing in with heavy cudgels, beat the 'patients' right and
+left like cattle--and it was all 'so horrible!' _Bad_, think you? These
+were the ladies and gentlemen of the old school--the Grandisons and
+Chesterfields and their dames. At the present day there are still vulgar
+people who haunt insane asylums and prisons, and scenes of domestic
+affliction and courts, for the sake of gratifying a gross love of
+excitement, which they disguise to themselves under various ingenious
+pretences. But the tendency of the age is to discourage such meddling
+and prying into the mysteries and miseries of humanity. It is low, it is
+mean, and the better nurtured and higher minded leave it to boors--be
+they of Peoria or the Fifth avenue.
+
+Well, our marquis, then the first gentleman in Great Britain, one of
+'the barons of England who fought for the crown,' when in France as
+particular friend of His Majesty Charles II, went one day on such a
+party of pleasure, and somewhat annoyed his pretty companion by
+persisting in listening to the drivelling talk of a madman--one Solomon
+de Caus--who, while he rattled his chains, talked of a great invention
+he had made, whereby chariots were to go by steam, and weights be
+raised, and all manner of brave work be effected, at small cost or labor
+to man. And the marquis talked to the madman, and the lady laughed, and
+the chains rattled, and the straw rustled, and--well, it _has_ been made
+the subject of a very good picture--which you, reader, may have seen,
+either in original or engraving.
+
+I will not pretend to say how far what is known of the life of this
+French inventor is reconcilable with this story of the madhouse. It is
+certain that Solomon de Caus, a French engineer, architect, and author,
+died about 1635, that he was born probably at Dieppe, and devoted
+himself to mathematics. The marquis might have met him in a better place
+than a bedlam, since in 1612 De Caus went to London, where he was
+attached to the Prince of Wales, and afterward to Charles I. From 1614
+to 1620 he lived in Heidelberg at the court of the Elector Frederic V,
+and returned to France in 1624, where he received the title of royal
+engineer and architect. More than this, he wrote books on mechanics, in
+one of which, _Les Raysons des Forces Mouvantes_, he speaks of the
+expansion and condensation of steam in a manner which has been supposed
+to suggest the alternate action of the piston, the principle of the
+steam engine, and, finally, 'the great discovery' of and to the Marquis
+of Worcester. How far all this may be supposed to contradict the lady's
+story, I will not say. Certain it is, that many a man who has done quite
+as well in worldly honors, has, after all, come to misery and madness
+through unfortunately making an invention.
+
+Inventors have, on the whole, a little easier time of it in these
+days--and yet not so very much easier, as the reader who has chanced,
+like myself, to study law in an office where there are many 'patent
+cases,' will bear witness. Eighteen hundred years ago, the inventor was
+crucified--lest his malleable glass should injure Ephesian or other
+silversmiths. During the middle ages, they burnt him alive. In the times
+of Worcester he seldom escaped prison, for to be a 'projector' was a
+charge which greatly aggravated that of treason; while in France, where
+they managed these things better, according to the views of the day,
+they simply cast him into a dungen among madmen. In America in the
+nineteenth century he has indeed occasionally better luck, and yet in
+most cases not so much better as most think. For, apart from the fact
+that he must generally sell his invention to richer men endowed with
+business faculty, who get nearly all the profits, and, not unfrequently,
+by clapping their names to the project, all the credit, he must also
+wage a weary, heart-breaking legal war on infringers of patents and
+other thieves; so that by the time his time has expired, he has seldom
+much to show for his brain-work.[5] 'Serves him right, he has no
+business capacity,' cry the multitude. We need not look far for
+examples. I am not sure that Eli Whitney, when he fell with his cotton
+gin among the thieves of the South, did not fare quite as badly and
+suffer quite as much as Solomon de Caus. For to be clapped fair and
+square into a dungeon is at all events a plain martyrdom, with which one
+can grapple philosophically or go mad _a discretion_, while to be only
+half honored and nine-tenths plundered, dragged meanwhile through courts
+and newspapers, may be better or worse, according to one's measure.
+After all, the good old Roman plan of putting a man to death for
+inventing malleable glass had its advantages--it was at least more
+merciful from a Christian point of view, and would, at the present day,
+save a vast amount of yards of Patent Law red tape.
+
+_Artis et Naturae proles_, 'the offspring of Nature and of Art.' Such is
+the motto with which the Marquis of Worcester prefaced his 'Century of
+the Names and Scantlings of such inventions as he could in the year 1663
+call to mind,' and which he presented to Government in the bold hope
+that by their purchase or other disposition he might even out-go the six
+or seven hundred thousand pounds already sacrificed for the king, as he
+asserts, but rather meaning, I imagine, that he might get some portion
+of it back again. Let no one laugh at the character of many of these
+'Scantlings.' Science was young then; thaumaturgy, or the working of
+mere wonders, was still the elder sister of art; astrology might be
+found in every street; alchemists still labored in lonely towers all
+over England; and witches were still burned to the glory of GOD. The
+'Mathematicall Magick, or the Wonders that may be performed by
+Mechanicall Geometry'--now by chance open before me--by Bishop Wilkins,
+the brother-in-law of Cromwell, with its disquisitions on 'Perpetuall
+Motion,' 'Volant Automata,' and 'Perpetuall Lamps,' passed for sound
+sense, and with it passed much occult nonsense of a darker dye. Manners
+and morals were as yet badly organized. Gambling was a daily amusement
+with all the gentry, and its imitators; for the Revolution, though it
+had very promptly driven out of England the very little merriment and
+cheerfulness which the Reformation had spared, had by no means taken
+away vice, and to cheat at cards was a part of all play in the best
+society--which it had not been in the olden time. Political plots were
+still rife, and cipher alphabets, signals by knots and signs, deadly
+secret weapons, and devices to escape prison were in daily demand, just
+as patent apple-parers and ice-cream freezers are at the present day.
+The marquis, who had lived well through his times, knew what would be
+popular, and, though a man of honor as times went, and a pious
+Christian, never dreamed that he did not play his part as a good citizen
+in supplying such grotesque wants.
+
+First among his Inventions is one which, revived in modern times, meets
+the eye of every one daily on the face of every letter. As he designed
+it, it was, however, very elaborate, embracing 'several sorts of seals,
+some showing by screws, others by gauges, fastening or unfastening all
+the marks at once: others by additional points and imaginary places,
+proportionable to ordinary escutcheons and seals at arms, each way
+palpably and punctually setting down (yet private from all others but
+the owner, and by his assent) the day of the month, the day of the week,
+the month of the year, the year of our Lord, the names of the witnesses,
+and the individual place where anything was sealed, though in ten
+thousand several places, together with the very number of lines
+contained in a contract, whereby falsification may be discovered and
+manifestly proved.' Upon these seals, too, one could keep accounts of
+receipts and disbursements, from one farthing to millions, and, finally,
+as a climax to their mystery, by their means any letter, 'though written
+but in English, may be read and understood in eight several languages,
+and in English itself, to clear contrary and different sense, unknown to
+any but the correspondent, and not to be read or understood by him
+neither, if opened before it arrive unto him.'
+
+It is believed that the secret of these seals is simply this: a number
+of movable metallic circles are made to slide within each other, on one
+common centre, the whole being enclosed in an outer frame. Within these
+circles may be placed either movable types, or letters and figures may
+be engraved on the circles themselves, and these, according to a key, of
+which the corresponding parties must possess a duplicate. To fully
+understand the secret of the composition of a sentence 'in eight several
+languages,' we must have recourse to invention No. 32 of the 'Century,'
+teaching 'how to compose an universal character, methodical and easily
+to be written, yet intelligible in _any_ language .... distinguishing
+the verbs from the nouns, the numbers, tenses, and cases, as properly
+expressed in their own language as it was written in English.' Such a
+system was composed by the Bishop Wilkins already referred to; Bacon
+had busied himself with a 'pasigraphy' long before; Leibnitz, Dalgaru,
+Frischius, Athanasius Kircher, Pere Besnier, and some twenty others have
+done the same. The most practical solution of the problem seems to have
+been that of John Joachim Becher, who in 1661 published a Latin folio,
+which, apart from its main subject, is valuable from its observations on
+grammar, and on the affinities existing between seven of the ancient and
+modern tongues. With this he gives a Latin dictionary, in which every
+word corresponds with one or more Arabic numerals. 'Every word is
+assumed as distinctive, or denoting the same word in all languages; and
+consequently nothing more is required than to compose a dictionary for
+each, similar to that which he has given for the Latin.' Certain
+determinate numbers being given for the declensions and conjugations,
+and the cases, moods, tenses, and persons, the whole grammar becomes
+extremely easy of acquisition. Let us suppose that a Frenchman wishes to
+write to a German: _La guerre est un grand mal_--'War is a great evil.'
+He seeks in his index _guerre_, and finds 13. The verb _etre_, 'to be,'
+is 33. _Grand_, or 'great,' is 67; and _mal_, or 'evil,' is 68. The
+sentence then reads:
+
+   13. 33. 67. 68.
+
+The sentence might be understood by these four numbers, but the author
+perfects it. _Guerre_, or 'war,' is the nominative case, and is
+appropriately designated by the Arabic numeral 1. The third person,
+singular, present tense, of the indicative mood of a verb, is
+characterized by 15. _Grand_ and _mal_ being each in the nominative
+case, also require the figure 1. He will therefore write:
+
+   13. 1 | 33. 15 | 67. 1 | 68.1
+
+--the numbers being separated by a vertical dash, to avoid confusion.
+The German, inverting the process, turns to _his_dictionary, and finds
+_Der Krieg ist ein grosses Uebel_.
+
+If the world were to be persuaded to adopt these dictionaries, and with
+them some uniform oral system of counting, such as might be learned in a
+day, who shall say in what conversation might result! Fancy an orator
+counting '83.1--10.16--225.2'--interrupted by enthusiastic cries of
+'2.30' and '11.45!' Fancy a lover breathing his tender passion in
+'837.25--29.1,' and extracting a reluctant '12' from his adored. Fancy a
+drunken Delaware Democrat--a SAULSBURY--flourishing a revolver, and
+gurgling out '54.40' to the Sergeant-at-Arms in particular, and decency
+in general, as a proof of his fitness to be regarded as a mate for his
+Southern colleagues. Fancy Brignoli singing '1.2.3,' as he reminds us by
+his good singing and wooden acting of a nightingale imprisoned in a
+pump--
+
+Or fancy the appearance of a page of Shakspeare or Homer thus
+metamorphosed.
+
+     'He lisped in numbers for, the numbers came.'
+
+It is something to the marquis's credit that he evidently, to judge from
+the sixth article of his 'Century,' had discovered the telegraph, an
+invention not much used in Europe until the commencement of the French
+Revolution. It had indeed been understood in a rude form by the
+ancients. 'Polybius describes a method of communication which was
+invented by Cleoxenus, which answered both by day and night,' but that
+of Worcester's is thought to have been far superior to anything known
+before his time. The following paragraphs all indicate inventions
+greatly in advance of his age:
+
+     'No. IX.--An engine portable in one's pocket, which may be carried
+     and fastened in the inside of the greatest ship, _tanquam aliud
+     agens_, and at any appointed minute, though a week after, either of
+     day or night, it shall irrecoverably sink that ship.'
+
+A bombshell filled with gunpowder, a gunlock, and a small clock, have
+been suggested as forming the components of this invention. I am
+satisfied however, that several very dangerous detonating powders were
+well known to the alchemists; and the condensed pocket size of the
+machine described, would evidently require some such preparation.
+
+     'No. X.--A way from a mile off to dive and fasten a like engine to
+     any ship so as it may punctually work the same effect either for
+     time or execution.'
+
+Precisely the same experiment has within a week of the time at which I
+am now writing, been made at Washington, as it was by Mr. Fulton half a
+century ago with his Torpedo-harpoon. If the marquis contemplated simply
+human agency as the aid to apply his portable powder-machine, it must be
+admitted that he had at least contemplated a more effective diving bell
+than any known to modern times. Submarine transit was indeed a subject
+to which he had devoted special study.
+
+     'No. XI.--How to prevent and safeguard any ship from such an
+     attempt by day or night.
+
+     'No. XII.--A way to make a ship not possible to be sunk, though
+     shot at an hundred times between wood and water by cannon, and
+     should she lose a whole plank, yet, in half an hour's time, should
+     be made to sail as fit as before.'
+
+It is thought that a great number of airtight compartments was the
+secret here hinted at; but the spirit of positive confidence with which
+the marquis speaks, and the great number of successful shots which he
+defies, seems to hint at something like the Ericsson Monitor of these
+days. Not without interest is the following:
+
+     'No. XIII--How to make such false decks as in a moment should kill
+     and take prisoners as many as should board the ship, without
+     blowing the real decks up, or destroying them from being reducible;
+     and in a quarter of an hour's time should recover their former
+     shape, and to be made fit for any employment, _without discovering
+     the secret_.'
+
+The words italicized set forth the startling marvel of the whole. It is
+said that a false deck of thick plank may be easily blown into the air,
+when a number of small iron boxes, open at the top, and filled with
+gunpowder, are placed beneath. How this could be done and yet kept
+secret is indeed a wonder, and we must therefore conjecture that the
+marquis had some other device in his mind. Certain it is, that the idea
+of converting vessels into traps of destruction, or of so defending them
+as to destroy assailants after boarding the decks, has not been very
+extensively developed.
+
+     'No. XVI.--How to make a sea castle or a fortification _cannon
+     proof_, capable of a thousand men, yet sailable at pleasure to
+     defend a passage, or in an hour's time to divide itself into three
+     ships, as fit and trimmed to sail as before; and even whilst it is
+     a fort or castle, they shall be unanimously steered, and
+     effectually be driven by an indifferent strong wind.'
+
+It is to be regretted that Parliamentary or other inducements were not
+employed to obtain from the marquis, at least the publication of his
+views as regards making vessels cannon proof. From the general character
+of his inventions, and from comparison of them, it appears he had full
+faith in cannon-proof floating batteries as a means of defence, and, we
+may consequently and justly infer, as superior to the latter. Among his
+inventions there are but two in reference to 'fortifications,' and both
+of these are after a manner a transfer of the floating battery to land,
+or an application of the principle of mobile defences. These are as
+follows:
+
+     'No. XXIX.--A portable fortification, able to contain five hundred
+     fighting men, and yet, in six hours' time, may be set up and made
+     cannon proof, upon the side of a river or pass, with cannon mounted
+     upon it, and as complete as a regular fortification, with halfmoons
+     and counterscarps.
+
+     'No. XXX.--A way in one night's time to raise a bulwark, twenty or
+     thirty foot high, cannon proof, and cannon mounted upon it; with
+     men to overlook, command, and batter a town, for though it (the
+     bulwark) contain but four pieces, they shall be able to discharge
+     two hundred bullets each hour.'
+
+There can be but little question, from all I have cited, that the
+Marquis of Worcester was singularly in advance of his age as regarded
+the great principles of warfare. We have found him thus far, in all
+probability, acquainted with the construction of permutable seals, and
+indeed of the grand principle of permutation applied to technology in
+several respects (vide "Century" Nos. III, IV, V,) of the telegraph, of
+sinking vessels by torpedoes, and, finally, of floating batteries and
+cannon-proof vessels. In No. 30, we have, however, a hint that the
+marquis had studied the principles of revolving firearms, when he
+speaks of four cannon discharging two hundred bullets each hour. That he
+had, theoretically, at least, anticipated Colt, appears from
+
+     'No. LVIII.--How to make a pistol discharge a dozen times with one
+     loading, and without so much as once new priming requisite, _or to
+     change it out of one hand into the other_, or stop one's horse.'
+
+I call attention to the words which I have italicized. It is well known
+that the mere principle of revolving barrels in firearms was already
+old, even when Worcester wrote. I have seen guns of the kind over three
+hundred years old, and they are not uncommon in foreign museums. But it
+would appear that the marquis was acquainted with the principle of the
+self-cocking pistol. How else could he propose to discharge a gun a
+dozen times, without changing it from one hand to another? And this, I
+believe, was not known before his day. But how this could have been
+conveniently carried out, without some application of detonating powders
+in place of flint, steel, and gunpowder, I do not understand. That he
+was very probably familiar with the application of such chemical
+detonating agents has already been suggested. In another number, he
+suggests the application of this principle to 'carbines.' So in No.
+LXII, he proposes 'a way for a harquebuss, a crock, or ship musket, six
+upon a carriage, shooting with such expedition as, without danger, one
+may charge, level, and discharge them sixty times in a minute of an
+hour, two or three together.' To which he adds the following:
+
+     'No. LXIV.--A seventh, tried and approved before the late king (of
+     ever blessed memory), and an hundred lords and commons, in a cannon
+     of eight inches and half a quarter, to shoot bullets of sixty-four
+     pounds weight, and twenty-four pounds of powder, twenty times in
+     six minutes; so clear from danger, that after all were discharged,
+     a pound of butter did not melt, being laid upon the cannon britch,
+     nor the green oil discoloured that was first anointed and used
+     between the barrel thereof, and the engine having never in it, nor
+     within six foot, but one charge at a time.'
+
+Several improvements of this kind are suggested in the 'Century,' which
+evidently involve different principles from that of the modern revolver,
+in reference to which difference we are informed in a 'note by the
+author,' that 'when I first gave my thoughts to make guns shoot often, I
+thought there had been but one only exquisite way inventible; yet, by
+several trials, and much charge, I have perfectly tried all of these.'
+
+I cannot venture in a single article to exhaust the suggestions in the
+Century, and must refer my reader to the volume himself, assuring him
+that he will there find many curious hints, several of which have, since
+its publication, been very practically realized. It is worth noting,
+however, that the author seems to have fully anticipated a very
+remarkable modern invention, in declaring that 'a woman even may with
+her delicate hand, vary the ways of coming to open a lock ten millions
+of times, beyond the knowledge of the smith that made it, or of me who
+invented it.' From this, as I have already suggested, it appears that he
+had, far in advance of his age, mastered a very great principle in
+mechanics; and as he appears to have understood, in theory at least,
+several others, it is no more than justice to rank him far above those
+mere charlatans of science, and hunters for marvels by means of
+isolated observation and experiment, with whom many would place him.
+That the 'Century' contains much which would be very discreditable to
+any man of science at the present day, is very true. Perpetual motion,
+perfect aerostation, devices for idle tricks and mere thaumaturgy,
+appear in company with schemes to take unfair advantages at card
+playing, and for the construction of false dice boxes--of which latter
+it is indignantly observed by honest Partington, that, there are few who
+profess the science of cheating at cards or dice, or to be encouragers
+of those who do; and it may fairly be conceded that there are not two
+periods in our regal annals, in which this detestable meanness had
+become fashionable enough to sanction a nobleman in inscribing to a king
+and his parliament a method by which it might be advantageously
+effected! We may, however, believe that a second period has at the
+present dawned over England, not much inferior as regards 'detestable
+meanness,' to that of Charles the Second. A recent transaction has shown
+that noblemen and their friends in the year 1862, are not above
+ascertaining from Johnson's Dictionary, the obsolete spelling of a word,
+such as _rain_-deer, betting a hundred pounds with an American as to its
+true orthography, and agreeing with him to abide by Johnson's authority;
+a piece of swindling quite as detestable in its meanness as the using of
+loaded dice. Neither can I see that the conduct of a majority of the
+British people, in fomenting Abolition for many years, and then giving
+her aid and countenance to our Southern rebels, on the flimsy, and, at
+best, brazenly selfish plea of the Morrill Tariff, is less detestable or
+less mean. We may regret to see a vice in individuals tolerated in high
+places; but when the blackest inconsistency, and the most contemptible
+avarice are elevated by a Christian nation into principles of conduct
+toward another nation struggling to free the oppressed, we may well
+doubt whether another period has not approached in England, over which
+the future historiographer may not sigh as deeply as over that of
+Charles the Second.
+
+I attach no serious value to the efforts of the Marquis of Worcester,
+save as illustrating the principle with which I prefaced this article:
+that according to the mental peculiarities of the most vigorous of
+races--the Indo-Germanic above others--there is a tendency in certain
+active minds to generalize and draw practical conclusions, not
+unfrequently centuries in advance of the wants of their age. The partial
+and premature forcing of these principles into practice, is sometimes
+quoted in after years as derogatory to the merit due to modern
+inventors, and as illustrating to a degree never contemplated by him who
+uttered it, the maxim that there's 'nothing new under the sun.'
+_Nothing?_ Why, _everything_ is new under the sun when it first assumes
+fit time and place. Were this not true, we might as well return to
+'Nature's Centenary of Inventions,' as set forth by a pleasant pen in
+_Household Words_:
+
+     'Before the first clumsy sail was hoisted by a savage hand, the
+     little Portuguese man-of-war, that frailest and most graceful
+     nautilus boat, had skimmed over the seas with all its feathery
+     sails set in the pleasant breeze; and before the great British
+     Admiralty marked its anchors with the Broad Arrow, mussels and
+     pinna had been accustomed to anchor themselves by flukes to the
+     full as effective as the iron one in the Government dockyards. The
+     duck used oars before we did; and rudders were known by every fish
+     with a tail, countless ages before human pilots handled tillers;
+     the floats on the fishermen's nets were pre-figured in the bladders
+     on the sea weed; the glowworm and firefly held up their
+     light-houses before pharas or beacon-tower guided the wanderer
+     among men; and, as long before Phipps brought over the diving bell
+     to this country as the creation, spiders were making and using
+     airpumps to descend into the deep. Our bones were moved by tendons
+     and muscles long before chains and cords were made to pull heavy
+     weights from place to place. Nay, until quite lately--leaving these
+     discoveries to themselves--we took no heed of the pattern set us
+     in the backbone, with the arching ribs springing from it, to
+     construct the large cylinder which we often see now attaching all
+     the rest of a set of works. This has been a very modern discovery;
+     but, prior even to the first man, Nature had cast such a cylinder
+     in every ribbed and vertebrate animal she had made. The cord of
+     plaited iron, too, now used to drag machinery up inclined planes,
+     was typified in the backbone of the eels and snakes in Eden;
+     tubular bridges and hollow columns had been in use since the first
+     bird with hollow bones flew through the wood, or the first reed
+     waved in the wind. Strange that the principle of the Menai Straits'
+     railway bridge, and of the iron pillars in the Crystal Palace,
+     existed is the Arkite dove, and in the bulrushes that grew round
+     the cradle of Moses! Our railway tunnels are wonderful works of
+     science, but the mole tunnelled with its foot, and the pholas with
+     one end of its shell, before our navvies handled pick or spade upon
+     the heights of the iron roads: worms were prior to gimlets,
+     ant-lions were the first funnel makers, a beaver showed men how to
+     make the milldams, and the pendulous nests of certain birds swung
+     gently in the air before the keen wit of even the most loving
+     mother laid her nursling in a rocking cradle. The carpenter of
+     olden time lost many useful hours in studying how to make the
+     ball-and-socket joint which he bore about with him in his own hips
+     and shoulders; the universal joint, which filled all men with
+     wonder when first discovered, he had in his wrist; in the jaws of
+     all flesh-eating animals his huge one-hinge joint; in the
+     graminivora and herbivora the joint of free motion; for grinding
+     millstones were set up in our molars and in the gizzards of birds
+     before the Egyptian women ground their corn between two stones; and
+     the crushing teeth of the hyena make the best models we know of for
+     hammers to break stones on the road. The tongue of certain shell
+     fish--of the limpet, for instance--is full of siliceous spines
+     which serve as rasp and drill; and knives and scissors were carried
+     about in the mandibles and beaks of primeval bees and parrots.
+
+Yes, they were all there--and if the undeveloped germ may be taken for
+the great fruit-bearing tree, there is nothing new under the sun, labor
+and effort are of no avail, and it is not worth while for man to live
+threescore years and ten, since a much less time would suffice to show
+his utter worthlessness. But the bee and the wild bird, the pearly
+nautilus driving before the fresh breeze, and the reed waving in the
+wind, should teach us a higher lesson. They teach us that life is
+beautiful and to be enjoyed, that infinite laws and infinite ingenuity
+were not displayed to be called idle and vain, and that, as the insect
+works according to his instinct, man should labor, from the dictates of
+reason, with heart and soul to do his best to turn to higher advantage
+the innumerable advantages afforded him.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 4: _Philosophia Ultima_, CHARLES WOODRUFF SHIELDS.
+Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott, 1861.]
+
+[Footnote 5: One of the greatest inventors of this or of any age, and
+one whom the world regards as 'successful,' is said to have advised an
+ingenious friend, never in any case or under any circumstances to take
+out a patent for an invention. He 'had been through the mill,' and knew
+what it cost.]
+
+
+
+
+THE LADY AND HER SLAVE.
+
+A Tale.
+
+LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO MY SISTERS IN THE SOUTH.
+
+   'Nor private grief nor malice holds my pen,
+   I owe but kindness to my fellow men.
+   And, South or North, wherever hearts of prayer
+   Their woes and weakness to our Father bear,
+   Wherever fruits of Christian love are found
+   In holy lives, to me is holy ground.'
+
+   --WHITTIER.
+
+
+   My young mistress! frown not on me! come! my heart is beating low!
+   Softly raise the quilt--my babe! Ah, smile on her ere I go!
+
+   Yes, the smile comes warm as sunshine, and it falls on my sick heart
+   As if Heaven were shining through it, and new hopes within me start.
+
+   Your clear eyes shine blue upon me through the clouds of sunny curls,
+   Sadder now, but still as kindly, as when we were little girls.
+
+   Your poor slave and you, fair mistress, were born in the same hour,
+   As if God himself had marked me from my birth to be your dower.
+
+   Oft have I laid my dusky hand upon your neck of snow,
+   To see it sparkle through the jet--how long that seems ago!
+
+   So long! before young master came to woo Virginia's daughter,
+   And tempt her to the cotton fields on Mississippi's water.
+
+   I could not leave you, mistress, so I followed to the swamp,
+   Where fevers fire the burning blood and the long moss hangs damp.
+
+   I left poor Sam, he loved me well, but you were my heart's god;
+   My mother's tears fell hot and fast--I followed where you trod.
+
+   Sin and sorrow fell upon me! and soon you felt it shame
+   To have lost Amy near you, and you blushed to hear her name.
+
+   Reared near virgin purity, you could not understand
+   How I could break from virtue's laws, and form a lawless band.
+
+   Then you questioned kindly, sternly,--but you could not make me tell;
+   I would not wring your trusting heart with tales scarce fit for hell!
+
+   You deemed me hardened, sunk in vice; I choked down every moan,
+   Turned from your breast the poisoned dart to bury in my own.
+
+   Driven from your presence, mistress, in agony and shame
+   I bore a wretched infant--she must never know her name!
+
+   How I crawled around your windows when your joyous boy was born,
+   To hear your voice, to catch a glimpse,--the sun rose fair that morn.
+
+   Ah! not mine to hold your darling! not mine to soothe his cries
+   When the stern death-angel seized him and bore him to the skies!
+
+   Then judgment came--the fever fell--young master gasped for breath--
+   God's hand was on him--vain were prayers,--how still he lay in death!
+
+   I heard you shriek--I rushed within--I held you in my arms
+   That frenzied night when sudden woe had wrought its worst of harms.
+
+   When reason dawned on you again, sweet pity stirred within,
+   You heard my cough, my labored breath, and saw me ghastly, thin.
+
+   Then you took my hand so kindly, gazing on my faded face:
+   'Speak, and tell me truly, Amy, how you fell in such disgrace.'
+
+   If he had lived, sweet mistress, I had borne it to the grave;
+   I would not mar your happiness, child, self or race to save.
+
+   Say! must I speak of one you loved now sleeping 'neath the sod?
+   Your 'yes' is bitter; but we owe the naked truth to God!
+
+   The truth to God, for guiltless you must stand before His face,
+   Nor wrong my pallid baby, nor scorn my suffering race.
+
+   Am I too bold? Death equals all--my heart beats faint and low;
+   Turn not away, sweet mistress, hear the truth before I go!
+
+   Gaze upon my shivering baby, scan the little pallid face,
+   Mark the forehead, eyes of azure--Ha! you do the likeness trace!
+
+   Nay, start not in horror from me! Oh, it was no fault of mine;
+   I would have died a thousand deaths ere wronged a thought of thine.
+
+   He came at midnight to my hut--abhorrent to my sense--
+   Force--threats of shame--foul violence--a slave has no defence!
+
+   Wronged--soiled--and outraged--sick at heart--what right had I to feel?
+   He deemed his chattel honored,--God! how brain and senses reel!
+
+   We're women, though our hair is crisped, and though our skin be black:
+   Men, ask your virgin daughters what's the maiden's deadliest rack!
+
+   I scorned myself! I hated him! but felt a living goad
+   Writhe and crawl beneath my bosom--shameful burden! sinful load!
+
+   Sick and faint, I loathed my master, loathed his inant, loathed my life
+   Till its flame burned dim within me, choked by shame, rage, hate, and strife.
+
+   Better feelings woke within me when the helpless girl was born;
+   Mother's love poured wild upon her: how love conquers rage and scorn!
+
+   But my tortured heart was broken, and a slave girl ought to die
+   When a tyrant master wrongs her, and she dreads her mistress' eye:
+
+   Dreads one she loves may read in her, in spite of silence deep,
+   That which would blight all happiness, and pale the rosy cheek:
+
+   Dreads that a wife may shuddering read a husband's naked heart--
+   Humbled and crushed by treachery, may into madness start.
+
+   But Amy dies: she has forgiven--forgive with her the wrong!
+   Smile on the helpless baby--make her truthful, pure, and strong.
+
+   Let her wait upon you, mistress; twine your ringlets golden still;
+   Take her back to old Virginia, to the homestead by the hill.
+
+   My heart clings to you with wild love--wherefore I scarce dare whisper--
+   Forgive--I am your father's child! pity your ruined sister!
+
+   The hot white blood in my baby's veins, though mixed with duskier flow,
+   Will make her wretched if a slave; let her in freedom go!
+
+   Oh make her free, sweet mistress, that such a fate as mine
+   Blanch not her cheek with agony, nor blast her ere her prime!
+
+   You smile--I need no promise; angel-like to me you seem;
+   Will you open heaven for me? bring the seraphs? how I dream!
+
+   I go to God. He made me. All His children, black and white,
+   Will meet in heaven if pure and true, clad in the eternal Light.
+
+   I die--God bless you, mistress!'... Sigh, and gasp--then all is o'er!
+   And the lady kneels beside a corpse upon the cabin floor.
+
+   Her thoughts are busy with the past, with love in falsehood spoken,
+   While her dusky sister's faithful heart had in silent anguish broken.
+
+   She takes the cold hand in her own: 'Poor Amy, can it be
+   That thou wert of a race accursed, unworthy to be free?
+
+   Man's falsehood! God! Thy right hand rests upon the dusky brow;
+   Thou starr'st it round with virtues brighter than our boasted snow!
+
+   I have learned a bitter lesson; to my slave I've been to school;
+   God has humbled me, but chastened; I will keep His Golden Rule.
+
+   Slaves and chattels! God forgive us! they are men and women--Thine!
+   If Christ may dwell within them, shall I dare to call them _mine_?
+
+   No woman must be outraged, nor owned by man, if we
+   Would hold _our_ sanctity intact--all women must be free.
+
+   Sacred from every touch profane, yes, holy things and pure;
+   A wrong to one is wrong to all; we must the weak secure.
+
+   United we must strike the shame; if known aright our power,
+   Slavery and crime would perish: Sisters, peal their final hour!
+
+   Mothers, maidens, wives, no longer aid your dusky sisters' shame!
+   Strike for our common womanhood, uphold our spotless fame!
+
+   Its majesty is in your hands, trail it not in the dust,
+   Nor keep your shrinking slaves as prey for lovers', husbands' lust!
+
+   All womanhood is holy! it shall not be profaned!
+   Our sanctity is threatened: Men! it shall not thus be stained!
+
+   Break up your harems! free our slaves! we will not share your shame!
+   O mothers of the living, chaste must be life's sacred flame!
+
+   Fathers, brothers, sons, and husbands, their chains must be untwined!
+   Touch not the ark where purity in woman's form is shrined!
+
+   Poor Amy! love has conquered! the veil is raised, I see
+   Sister spirits 'neath the dusky hue; thy people shall go free!'
+
+   The lady rose with high resolve upon her pale sad face;
+   And moved among the slave girls, the angel of their race.
+
+   Angel of freedom, charity, she breathes, and fetters melt,
+   And the holy might of Purity in Southern heart is felt.
+
+   Ah! the stars upon our banner, driven apart and dimmed with blood,
+   Might again in glory cluster through a perfect womanhood!
+
+
+
+
+FOR AND AGAINST.
+
+
+When his father called Fred Fontevrault, then a boy of fifteen, into his
+sick chamber, and made him subscribe to the whimsical conditions of the
+will, the female _gendarmerie_, so well versed in my affairs, declared
+that my husband had wretchedly repented his early marriage, and
+resolving his son should walk into fate with eyes unbandaged, forbade
+his alliance before the age of twenty-six. Though Mr. Fontevrault was
+fifty and I sixteen when I married him, he was not unhappy. He occupied
+himself in looking after his money, and making a collection of mosaics.
+We never had any matrimonial disturbances. I think they are vulgar. Any
+woman can do as she pleases without a remonstrant word, provided she has
+mind enough. It is the brainless women who scold. But scolds do not
+rule.
+
+Fred was unreasonably fond of his father, and assented to his wishes
+without demur, even when the great Fontevrault estates hung on his
+fidelity to a useless oath. Then he died, and I settled into the blank
+stupidity of my widowhood. I, who had known no master but my own sweet
+will, now found myself in a hundred ways restricted. I was ruled through
+Fred. He must graduate at Harvard; the great establishment, splendid but
+tedious, must be maintained. So our residence in Boston was
+necessitated. I shut myself up in the legitimate manner, and--mourned of
+course. If it had not been for novels, worsted work, and my beauty, I
+should have gaped myself out of existence the first year. What nonsense
+it is to say the prime of a woman's loveliness passes before the
+thirties! For, look at me, am I old or faded? Would you believe that
+Fred, so tall and splendidly developed, was my son? From me he took his
+wealth of nature, for Mr. Fontevrault was one of those dried, wrinkled
+old men, women like me often marry; not because of the settlements only,
+but because of the foil. My figure was moulded like the Venus they
+copied in the colder marble from Pauline. Shoulders and arms, delicious
+in their curves, shining with a rosy fairness. A creamy skin, with a
+faint coralline tinge in the cheeks. The forehead is too low, some say;
+and yet artists have praised its bend, and the Greek line of the nose;
+not intellectual, but womanly, you know. Hair of a bright brown, feeling
+like floss silk. Eyes, I believe, few people ever fairly saw. Men are
+bewitched by them, women cannot understand their charm. Perhaps you have
+seen Wilson's portrait of me, the one with the grayish green background;
+you notice that the eyes were turned from the spectator, and half shaded
+by white lid and gilded lash. He could not catch the flitting spark that
+made them mine, and refused to paint them at all. My son promises to be
+as perfect in his way as I in mine. Just now a student, he is too
+Raphael-angel-like to suit me; but the very fellow to bewilder girls and
+set the boarding schools crazy. Luckily he is bound against inthralment.
+
+By and by the house grew so lonely that I was fain to send for Leonora
+to make durance less vile. It was positively refreshing to hear her
+voice sing through the solemn old hall. Very warm was the welcome she
+received from both Fred and me. He had often said she was the only woman
+he could talk to without suppressing a yawn. It was ungallant of him,
+but I could sympathize with the sentiment. Women usually weary me. I
+told Leonora she must make up her mind to stay with me, as long as she
+remained unmarried.
+
+Fred, holding her hand, laughingly made her promise never to take a
+husband without his consent. While I passed on, he drew her back; the
+mirror above the door framed a picture prettier than I liked to see.
+
+'There is but one man I will authorize you to marry,' said my son.
+
+Then it suddenly flashed on my mind that Fred was of the age of Scott's
+heroes, and would be sure to fall in love with a woman older than
+himself. The love did not matter so much, but marriage would be an
+absurdity. I expected to have a daughter-in-law some day or other; but
+it was never to be Leonora. In a hundred ways she had resisted me, and
+overcome me. I was as resolutely opposed to her, as if she had been my
+enemy. She was a connection of the family, independent, yet in some sort
+alone in the world. If it had been conferring a favor on her, to ask her
+to stay with me, be sure I never would have uttered a persuasive word.
+But it was asking her to leave gay society, and the incense of
+admiration, to bury herself in a dull house. Then she was 'ornamental;'
+I liked to see her about; she was satirical, and pleased me by a little
+spicy abuse. They called her handsome. She _was_ too small, I think, too
+slight, perhaps; and then her complexion was almost swarthy. But her
+hair was fine, her eyes large and brilliant, and her mouth mobile and
+sweet. The face was nothing to me; but her companionship was enlivening.
+
+The young lady professed herself glad of a winter of exclusion, and when
+I saw how she set herself at work with books and embroidery, I confess I
+was astonished at her resignation. Then I saw her look at my son, and
+perceived she did not find it so _very_ stupid after all. Slowly she
+snarled him in her meshes.
+
+One time my husband had a friendless youth for his secretary, called
+Denis Christopher. His name attracted me before his person. Mr.
+Fontevrault became so deeply interested in his character and talents,
+that he used his extensive influence, and gave Mr. Christopher an
+enviable lift over the world's rough places. Fontevrault was like a
+grieved child when he left us. I was sorry, but concealed it. One of the
+young man's agreeable privileges had been to attend me in public, thus
+relieving Mr. Fontevrault. I assure you he was more knightly than his
+master, whose stiff protection I never missed while under Launcelot's
+tender care. I never fully admitted to myself the power I found in the
+hitherto unknown fascination of a _young_ man's society; nor how much
+pleasure I took in touching those hidden chords that only respond to a
+woman's touch. That he adored me, I saw in his eyes. I liked it well,
+and the strange, unwonted feeling that shivered through me, now, when by
+chance my hand touched his.
+
+Well--people began to talk, as people will, and Mr. Fontevrault sent him
+to Malaga. He came to bid me good-by; 'forever,' he thought; ah me! It
+was forever in one sense. Fred was a mere boy then, who heard and saw
+everything. I had hard work to get him out of the house that morning. I
+wanted Denis's last look all to myself. Before he left me, Christopher
+offered me a bracelet of cornelians, cut rarely as seals. Each gem bore
+an exquisite device. On one were a few words in Latin. When I was alone,
+I pressed the seal on a drop of hot wax, and read his dedication.
+
+All that was years ago; he is here again, and I am free. I sat before
+the glass long the day I expected him, threading my brown hair, and
+longing to wear his color--blue. But then the widow's cap suited me
+divinely, and the folds of crape set off my peculiar tints as nothing
+else can. I came before him; he started forward to seize both hands, and
+gaze in my face, to find no change. Then he pressed his lips to my warm
+white fingers. A new boldness became his, a new timidity mine.
+
+Fresh from lessons of my own, I could read a change in Leonora, and
+perceive mischief in the air. Her extreme quietness when my son entered
+the apartment, the faint shade of shyness in his manner of addressing
+her attracted me curiously. He began to linger in our haunts so long and
+on such frivolous pretexts, that I began seriously to think what was to
+be done with such a lovesick page. To oppose Fred would be worse than
+useless. Opposition determined him. If I could have sent her away,
+solitude would be my bane; for not one of the Fontevraults could I
+endure. Then as I pondered, I laughed at the absurdity of the whole
+thing. Not only was Leonora older than the student, a woman in society,
+but she had been engaged (with that fact I resolved to frighten Fred),
+nor would she wait five years for him to declare his passion. And his
+flickering fancy the slightest breath of doubt would change: a nature
+easily moulded by the inexorable. I resolved to let affairs take their
+own course, and trust her common sense, and my own gentle diplomacy.
+
+What memorable meetings had we four during those sharp winter days! I
+lived as in an Arabian dream. There was Denis Christopher, with his
+brown face and thrilling eyes; Fred lackadaisical, but handsome as
+Antinous; Leonora, and I.
+
+A very orderly company, but what hot feeling repressed, what romantic
+possibility, what fates unfulfilled lay under the courteous
+conventionality of the time! Fred leaned over Leonora at the piano.
+Their voices sounded well together, and if he could not declare his
+admiration of her, no doubt he conveyed it to her in some tender refrain
+or serenade. Their blended, passionate voices often moved me in a
+strange excitement, for I was not musical. I had no way of relieving
+myself, as these singers and painters have, who crystallize an emotion
+or a sorrow into a picture or a cadence. I can only gnaw the bedpost, or
+tear up something, in the mere need of expression. Denis watched them
+awhile, and then it became a trio instead of a duet. Mr. Christopher
+brought Spanish music. Light, rippling airs, dances, whose strange
+swaying rhythm had been borne to his ears in the Malaga nights.
+
+My son grew jealous, therefore unreasonable. He would not play
+subordinate, so left Leonora no choice but to lend herself gracefully to
+Denis's companionship. These two were sure to misunderstand one another.
+Fred was contradictory. With intense and variable feeling, he possessed
+the traits of slower natures. A kind of natural prudence retarded him.
+He puzzled Leonora. One moment he cooed over her, the next became
+Horatian. Painfully sensitive, and proud withal, she was never sure of
+his opinion of her. Having little faith in the firmness of any man's
+admiration of _her_, she believed less than was avowed. And Fred,
+exacting much, was too inexperienced to understand her. They were
+drifting apart, I thought; but in avoiding Scylla, had I not plunged
+into Charybdis?
+
+I had been a widow a year when Mr. Christopher left Spain. Another had
+now passed, and with it my seclusion. While Denis had talked to me, I
+had cared to hear no other man speak; but now, in a kind of thirst, I
+drank deep of pleasure. I played with the warm avowals of men past the
+reasoning age, and made Fred's classmates melancholy. Denis did not even
+disapprove. He was often near me now, but silent as a shadow.
+
+How it stormed the night of the seventh of February, and like the
+whirling snow I danced! Christopher led me through the last Lancers, and
+then we stopped to rest. Hanging on his arm, and heedless of to-morrow,
+was I not happy? We passed through the long rooms, while the soft waltz
+music began to swell, and the untiring dancers took the floor.
+
+I remember he asked for Leonora, and then if Fred meant to marry her. I
+would not say no, but would acknowledge that his fancy was heated.
+
+'She will be a pleasant vision of boy-love a few years hence,' I said.
+'Leonora has too much good sense to marry him, Mr. Christopher.'
+
+'I don't know,' said he, meditatively, and drew my hand through his arm.
+The cornelian bracelet slipped into view. 'Mrs. Fontevrault,' uttered
+he, in a ceremonious tone--my warm pulse grew still--'do you never
+forget?'
+
+'Do you desire it?' I answered, gaily:
+
+   ''If to remember, or forget,
+   Can give a longing, or regret,
+
+command me.'
+
+He smiled, and, stopping at a side table, poured out two glasses of
+wine.
+
+'Here's to the past,' said he, eagerly; 'drink Lethe.'
+
+We drained the glasses. Then I understood he withdrew his claim.
+
+I wanted to go home after _that_; so Mr. Christopher summoned the
+carriage. The walks were white, and I trembled--was it with cold?--as he
+handed me in, and bade me good night.
+
+The house at midnight was silent and warm. I went up stairs, and stood
+in the threshold of the library. The sleet driving against the window
+panes prevented their hearing me, I suppose. They seemed to be
+translating something or other. Fred's arm lay over the back of her
+chair. Very fast and earnestly he was talking. Marginal notes suggested
+by the text of Sismondi?
+
+'What, home so early!' was his exclamation, on discovering me.
+
+Leonora looked, up with a deep rose in her dark cheeks, a dangerous fire
+melting in her eyes. I had left her pale, with a headache.
+
+'You are better, I conclude. I expected to find you among your pillows,'
+said I, accusative.
+
+'I have cured her,' said Fred, coming forward and clasping my hands in
+his firm, cool hold. 'What ails you, mamma? You look as if you had a
+fever, and wickedly handsome. What have you been about?' He slipped off
+my ermine cloak, and kissed me with a mixture of pride and love. The boy
+bewildered me.
+
+As fate would have it, Fred was right. I felt very ill. I believe I
+_resisted_ a fever, for I have a sensation of struggle connected with
+that sickness. But I cannot separate the pictures of my distempered
+fancy from the actualities of the time. Leonora took devoted care of me.
+Night after night Fred sat by me, and they relieved each other. Like one
+bound in an enchantment, I lay unable to prevent their mutual
+confidence, and the return of her young lover's adoring regard.
+
+He sat beside her as the fire burned low; his blonde hair touched her
+dusky cheek as he bent over her.
+
+'Leo, darling, I wish I was sick, like mamma.'
+
+'Hush!' said she.
+
+'Then you would soothe me, and part my hair with your soft fingers, that
+refuse to touch mine now. You would be sorry for me, and give me a
+little caressing, and I should be so happy I would not get well.'
+
+'Don't talk so, Fred. You used to be an even-tempered, comfortable kind
+of young man to know. But now you are really teasing.'
+
+'Do I really annoy you?'
+
+'Very much.'
+
+'And you don't believe in me. Sometimes a dumb kind of philosophy
+possesses me, and I say to myself, let her think of me as she will. I
+cannot be frank, and must take the consequences. Then again----'
+
+Here she rose, and he put both arms around her. Audacious boy!
+
+'Fred!' was uttered in a stifled voice.
+
+'Promise me to send off Christopher,' ejaculated the young man.
+
+The corners of the room seemed to stretch away indefinitely. A heavy
+perfume suffocated me. I groaned. In another moment Leonora was beside
+me, and the fresh air was blowing in from a window my son had opened.
+
+I made haste to get well. The physicians say my constitution and good
+nursing saved me; but it was all resolution. My _will_ was stronger than
+the disease. As soon as I could sit up and see him, Denis Christopher
+was admitted. I used to hear a dulcet strain on the stairs, formed by
+her delicate note and his melodious base, and then he would follow
+Leonora in to pay his respects to me; always bringing something to
+brighten up my boudoir, and render her imprisonment less unendurable.
+Afterward he would never be exiled to the drawing rooms. Fred frowned at
+the ease with which he invaded our retirement, but only frowned. He and
+I began to wonder if Christopher would win her. Valiantly but cautiously
+was he wooing. Fred went off on a boating excursion, and I grew weary. I
+wished I had died. The secret of my good looks was confessed. Perfect
+health had kept my beauty undimmed. But colorless and hollow-eyed the
+fever left me. I could look at myself no more; so I looked at Leonora.
+She was pretty, with a charm that did not depend on tint or outline. Her
+new friend was penetrated by her real graces and his ideal rendering of
+them; but would he conquer? I was sure not. Because separation is sure
+alienation at a certain age, I resolved on Fred's speedy withdrawal from
+the scene. Why not go abroad immediately after his graduation, which was
+to occur in a few weeks? On his return I suggested it. He gloomily
+consented.
+
+'Will you come, too, mamma?'
+
+'Not yet; in the course of a year perhaps;' and I looked over to the
+corner where Leonora was winding worsted from Mr. Christopher's fingers.
+
+'Come, now,' said he, 'take Leonora, and we will set up housekeeping in
+the easy continental style.'
+
+'She has her hands full just now.' Literally as well as figuratively
+true, for she had wound two enormous green balls.
+
+'Perhaps she will go over with Mr. Christopher. Would you like a call
+from the bride and groom?'
+
+My young Fontevrault looked at me.
+
+'Do you speak as you know, mamma?'
+
+'Look for yourself, my hoodwinked Cupid. Girls are all alike, Fred. He
+can ask her to marry him, and has that advantage over you.'
+
+So it was decided that Fred should go to Paris, and be happy. Mrs.
+Blanchard gave him a farewell party, and all the young ladies were at
+their sweetest. Fred behaved with sullen dignity, as a lion should. He
+refused to be comforted by Adelaide and Rose, walking about with one or
+another, and looking at Leonora, at whom all mankind were gazing that
+night. She was in dashing spirits, a glorious color diffused her cheeks,
+her eyes fairly danced. Her dress was of feathery black tulle, and a
+broad silver ribbon, like an order, went over her shoulders. In the
+shining black braids glistened fern leaves of silver filigree.
+Fortunately, Fred and I discovered them--Leonora and her inseparable
+cavalier, Denis, I mean--in an alcove of roses and jessamines. She
+admiring the flowers, and he talking with a fervor very easy to read.
+She listening, as women always listen when the pleader is eloquent. But
+in her downcast face I read only pain, while my son translated the deep
+blush differently. When we were at home, and I waited to bid him good
+night, he took me in his strong arms:
+
+'You love me, mamma, don't you?'
+
+He was all I had in the world, so I told him.
+
+Then followed a week we long remembered--the first week of Denis's
+absence. Leonora was gloomy and _distraite_; Fred cool as a peak of the
+Andes, and about as unapproachable; I immersed in the hurry and
+confusion of my son's departure. He had a suite of rooms over mine,
+and, the night before he went away, leaned over the ballusters, and
+called, as in old time:
+
+'Leonora!'
+
+She gave a glad start, and ran up to him. So I followed, of course. I
+wanted to put some flannels into his trunk, which stood in his bedroom.
+The doors were open between us. He had a bundle of her letters tied up
+in a bulky packet, and began to talk with great discretion.
+
+'I have been putting my affairs in order,' said the systematic young
+man. 'I may never come back, and at any rate, my absence will be long. I
+thought it would be better to give you these, lest they fall into alien
+hands.'
+
+'Why not burn them?' suggested his listener.
+
+'I could not, Leo.'
+
+'I am not so sentimental,' she returned, taking up the packet. 'They
+shall blaze directly. Do you want your own?'
+
+'Oh, Fred, what a bungler you are!' I thought.
+
+'You misunderstand,' he began, in a desperate tone.
+
+'Fred!' I screamed, as if I were twenty rods distant, 'do come and open
+this bureau drawer. I can't move it.'
+
+He came, pulling it open, with such needless strength, that all the
+toilette bottles garnishing the top were shaken off, and lay in
+fragments on the floor. She followed to note the disaster, and I took
+her down stairs, and watched over her like a dragon all that evening. I
+would not let Leonora go to the steamer with us, but compelled him to
+say farewell in my presence, I _like_ a scene. He held her hand long,
+uttering some incoherent sentences. Admirable was the self-composure she
+showed! The delicate muscles about the mouth were as steady as if she
+did not love him. She never raised her eyes until the last. As I saw
+their sad beauty, a pang seized me, and I turned away. He came after,
+hurried me into the carriage, and off we whirled.
+
+'Are you going to write to her?' I asked.
+
+'She says no,' Fontevrault answered, and looked vigorously out of the
+window.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One evening, two years after my son left me, we were sitting round the
+library fire. Christoper, now a captain in one of the famous
+Massachusetts regiments, sat near me, a little older and a little graver
+than when I saw him last. We were talking with flushed cheeks and
+beating hearts of the subject nearest our hearts just then--war.
+
+A familiar foot pressed the stair. All the color left Leonora's lips;
+she knew who was coming. In another moment I was in my darling's arms.
+He shook hands with Leonora, but neither of them spoke a word; then
+turned to Cristopher, who welcomed him with the hearty cordiality men
+use.
+
+'You have come home to fight, I know, Fontevrault.'
+
+'So I have,' answered my son. 'Every true-hearted American should be
+striking his blow. I couldn't travel fast enough. Mother, are you a
+Spartan?'
+
+He looked at Leonora. What did she think of this magnificent-mustached
+Saxon? Not much like the fair-cheeked student we remembered.
+
+'Let us be army nurses,' said Leonora, when they had gone to Washington.
+Indeed we could not stay where we were, nor flit off to Newport to
+banish care. I grew sleepless, and a sudden sound would send the blood
+to my heart. Leonora maintained an undaunted front, but she grew thin in
+spite of her cheerfulness. At last I said:
+
+'We will follow the army; I shall die to live in this way.'
+
+So, just before the battle of Antietam, we were in Washington.
+
+Just after--ah me!--a singular scene occurred. We four had met again,
+not as in the happy nights long gone. Denis, the veteran of seven
+battles, still stood unscathed; but my boy could fight no more.
+Manfully he bore his affliction; I only wept.
+
+This morning of which I write, he was so bright, that we admitted Denis
+at once, who came to bid us farewell before leaving to join his
+regiment.
+
+'Stop a minute,' said Fred. 'Leonora.' She came toward him with a face
+of gentle inquiry.
+
+'To-day is my birthday,' prefaced the soldier. 'I am twenty-six, and a
+free man to say I love you.' Denis minced and motioned to withdraw his
+hand. (Not so fast, old fellow.) This I say because I have been waiting
+years to speak my mind on this day. But now, I have nothing to offer
+you. I have no future. I am a cripple; even my love for you has been a
+cheat to you; and now is selfishness in me. Here stands a man as true to
+you as I; I know how he loves you. Which of us will you marry, Leonora?'
+
+While he was speaking, the lost carnation came back to her cheeks. The
+soft eyes kindled to a languid fire. She never looked at Denis, who
+stood in his erect strength, his worshipping eyes on her face. She came
+to Fred's bedside, and knelt down there. Denis dropped his hand.
+
+'You do not answer,' Fred whispered; 'I cannot bear suspense.'
+
+How did she satisfy him? I do not know. In emotion that almost
+overmastered me, I snapped the bracelet--Denis's bracelet; it lay upon
+the floor. He passed me without a word, without a look. His heavy heel
+ground the enchased seal to rosy dust. I heard the door swung loudly to,
+and then the clatter of his horse's hoofs, as he rode rapidly away.
+
+
+
+
+EUROPEAN OPINION.
+
+
+We are indebted to an accomplished gentleman in Philadelphia for the
+following translation from the _Revue Nationale_ of M. Laboulaye. Any
+extended comment from our pen would only serve to weaken the effect of
+this eloquent and truthful passage. We may, however, express our
+gratification to find that some generous spirits in Europe still remain
+superior to the jealousies and the malevolence which have so largely
+affected the ruling classes there, and led them so generally to hope for
+and to predict the downfall of our suffering country. Hitherto we have
+indeed recognized the truth that 'the opinion of Europe is a power;' but
+we have felt it chiefly in its worst influence, against us, and in favor
+of the rebellion. Now, however, in this the darkest hour of our mortal
+struggle, it affords real relief to hear the most enlightened men of
+that continent proclaiming that 'the arguments of the South are
+beginning to fail,' and 'that all the ingenuity in the world cannot lift
+up its fallen cause.' Nor is it at all difficult to give entire credence
+to these statements, for there is evidently an altered tone even in
+those organs of European opinion which have been, and still are
+consistently hostile to us. It was perhaps unavoidable that
+misunderstanding should prevail in the outset, and that the ear of
+Europe should have been complacently open to the representations of the
+plausible South, urged as they were by the ablest and most unscrupulous
+of her advocates. But truth was destined certainly to make its way in
+the end. It was only doubtful whether the triumph of right would take
+place soon enough to bring the force of European opinion to bear on the
+contest and to deprive the South of that moral support which alone has
+enabled her to prolong the hopeless struggle to the present time. But,
+according to M. Laboulaye, the 'fatal service' which its advocates have
+done the South, is just now about to bear its appropriate fruit; for the
+delusive promise of support which has thus far sustained the rebel cause
+is utterly gone, and with it, all possibility of ultimate success.
+
+Seldom have we read a nobler passage than that in which this
+accomplished writer appeals to the French sentiment of national unity to
+justify our Northern people in their mighty struggle to subdue this
+'impious revolt.' Americans themselves, though fully imbued with the
+instinctive feeling which it defends, could not more forcibly have
+presented the point. And, indeed, if we may believe the statements now
+prevalent, attributing to eminent statesmen and large parties a
+disposition to accede to the separation of the sections, the very
+sentiment of nationality has lost it force among us, and we would be
+compelled to acknowledge our obligations to this eminent Frenchman for
+stimulating our expiring patriotism and awakening us to the vital
+importance of our national unity and to the shame and disgrace of
+surrendering it. If any American has ever, for a moment, admitted the
+idea of consenting to a separation of the Union, let him read the
+burning words of this enlightened and disinterested foreigner, and blush
+for his want of comprehension of the true interests and glory of his
+country. It is not a mere sentimental enthusiasm which leads us to
+combat disunion and to cherish the greatness and oneness of our country.
+Our dearest rights and our noblest interests are alike involved, and we
+would be craven wretches, unworthy of our high destiny, if we did not
+risk everything and sacrifice everything to preserve them. 'The North
+only defends itself,' says M. Laboulaye. 'It is its very life that it
+wishes to save.'
+
+Briefly, but with the hand of a master, does this article point out the
+consequences of disunion. The touches by which the sketch is drawn, are
+few and rapidly made; but they faithfully portray the great features of
+the case, and present a true and living picture to the mind of every
+thoughtful man. The jealousies, the rivalries, the antipathies of the
+sections; the foreign intrigues and eventual foreign domination among
+our fragmentary governments; the large standing armies, and the
+competing naval forces; and finally, 'the endless war and numberless
+miseries' which will inevitably result--all these mighty evils will not
+only afflict our own unhappy country, but 'peace will be exiled from the
+world.' The interests of mankind are involved in this tremendous
+struggle.
+
+But we no longer keep our readers from the perusal of this interesting
+extract. Let it be remembered that it comes from the quarter understood
+to be most unfriendly to us, where the wily emperor of the French is
+supposed to be plotting for the destruction of our nationality and
+power. The appeal to the interests of France against the ambition of
+England is striking and powerful. Whatever disposition the emperor may
+cherish against us, the French people ought to be our friends; they have
+a common interest in maintaining the freedom of the seas, and
+we have yet to complain that any port of France has sent out cruisers to
+assail our commerce on the ocean.
+
+Let us take courage, even in this hour of disaster. Noble spirits abroad
+are still watching us with generous sympathy and praying for the success
+of our sacred cause. Let us be true to ourselves and to our country, and
+the hour of final triumph will soon be at hand. Though dissensions tend
+now to distract and weaken us, and though darkness, more impenetrable
+than ever before, seems lately to have gathered around us, we already
+discern the first glimmerings of the dawn in the east. The full day will
+soon break upon us, and we shall rejoice in the splendor of returning
+peace and renewed prosperity.
+
+
+REASONS WHY THE NORTH CANNOT PERMIT SECESSION.
+
+(_From the French of_ EDOUARD LABOULAYE, _published in the_ 'Revue
+Nationale,' _December 10th, 1862._)
+
+The civil war which has been dividing and ruining the United States for
+two years also affects us in Europe. The scarcity of cotton causes great
+suffering. The workmen of Rouen and Mulhouse are as severely tried as
+the spinners and weavers of Lancashire; entire populations are reduced
+to beggary, and to exist through the winter they have no resource and no
+hope save in special charity or assistance from the government. In so
+severe a crisis, and in the midst of such unmerited sufferings, it is
+but natural that public opinion should become restless in Europe, and
+condemn the ambition of those who prolong a fratricidal war. Peace in
+America, peace is a necessity at any price, is the cry of thousands of
+men among us who are suffering from hunger, innocent victims of the
+passions and madness which steep the United States in blood.
+
+These complaints are only too just. The civilized world is at present,
+so bound together, that peace is one great condition of the existence of
+modern industrial nations; unhappily, although it is easy to point out
+the remedy, it is almost impossible to apply it. Just now it is by war
+alone that ending of the war may be looked for. To throw herself armed
+between the combatants would be an attempt in which Europe would exhaust
+her strength; and to what purpose? As Mr. Cobden has justly said, it
+would be less costly to feed the work people who are ruined by the
+American crisis _on game and champagne_. To offer to-day our friendly
+mediation is not only to expose ourselves to a refusal, and perhaps so
+exasperate one of the parties as to push it to more violent measures,
+but to diminish the chances of our mediation being accepted at a more
+favorable moment. Thus we are forced to remain spectators of a
+deplorable war, which is the cause of infinite evil to us; thus forced
+to offer up prayers that exhaustion and misery may appease these mortal
+enemies and oblige them to accept either reunion or separation. A sad
+situation, doubtless, but one which neutrals have always occupied, and
+from which they cannot depart without throwing themselves among unknown
+dangers.
+
+If we have not the right to interfere, we can at least complain, and try
+to discover those who are really wrong in this war, which so affects us.
+The opinion of Europe is a power. It can hasten matters and restore
+peace better than arms can. Unfortunately, for two years opinion has
+wandered from the proper path, and by taking the wrong side of the
+question, prolongs instead of stopping resistance. The South has found
+many and clever advocates in England and in France, who have presented
+her cause as that of justice and liberty. They have proclaimed the right
+of secession, and have not feared to apologize for slavery. Their
+arguments to-day are beginning to fail. Thanks to those publicists who
+do not traffic with humanity; thanks to M. de Gasparin, above all, the
+light has made things clear; we know now how things stand as to the
+origin and character of the rebellion. To every disinterested observer,
+it is evident that the South is wrong in every way. It needs not a
+Montesquieu to understand that a party not menaced in the least, which,
+through ambition or pride, tears its country to pieces and destroys its
+national unity, has no right to the sympathies of the French. As to
+declaring slavery sacred, that is a work which must be left to the
+preachers of the South. All the ingenuity in the world cannot lift up
+this fallen cause. Had the confederates a thousand reasons for complaint
+and for revolt, there would always rest on their rebellion an indelible
+stain. No Christian, no liberal person will ever interest himself for
+men who, in this nineteenth century, insolently proclaim their desire to
+perpetuate and extend slavery. Though it is still permitted to the
+planters to listen to theories that have infatuated and lost them, such
+sophistries will never cross the ocean.
+
+The advocates of the South have done it a fatal service; they have made
+it believe that Europe, enlightened or seduced, would range itself on
+its side and finally throw into the balance something more than empty
+promises. This delusion has and still maintains the resistance of the
+South, it prolongs the war, and with it our sufferings. If, as the North
+had a right to expect, the friends of liberty had, from the first,
+boldly pronounced against the policy of slavery, if the advocates of
+peace upon the seas, if the defenders of the rights of neutrals had
+spoken in favor of the Union and rejected a separation, which could only
+profit England, it is probable that the South would have been less
+anxious to start on a journey without visible end. If, in spite of the
+courage and devotion of its soldiers; if, in spite of the ability of its
+generals, the South fails in an enterprise which, in my opinion, cannot
+be too much blamed, let it lay the fault on those who have so poor an
+opinion of Europe as to imagine that they will subject _its_ opinion to
+a policy against which patriotism protests, and which the gospel and
+humanity condemn.
+
+We will grant, they may say, that the South is altogether wrong;
+nevertheless it wishes to separate, it can no longer live with the
+people of the North. The war alone, whatever may be its origin, is a new
+cause of disunion. By what right can twenty millions of men force ten
+millions (of those ten millions there are four millions of slaves whose
+will is not consulted in the least) of their countrymen to continue a
+detested alliance, to respect a contract which they wish to break at any
+price? Is it possible to imagine that after two or three years of
+fighting and misery, conquerors and conquered can be made to live
+harmoniously together? Can a country two or three times the size of
+France be subjugated? Would there not always be bloodshed between the
+parties? Separation is perhaps a misfortune, but now it is an
+irreparable one. Let us grant that the North has law, the letter and
+spirit of the Constitution on her side; there always remains an
+indisputable point--the South wishes to govern itself. You have no right
+to crush a people that defends itself so valiantly. Give it up!
+
+If we were less enervated by the luxury of modern life and by the
+idleness of a long peace, if there still lingered in our hearts some
+remnant of that patriotism which, in 1792, urged our forefathers to the
+banks of the Rhine, the answer would be simple; to-day I fear it will
+not be understood. If the south of France should revolt to-morrow and
+demand a separation; if Alsace and Lorraine should wish to withdraw,
+what would be, I will not say our right only, but our duty? Would we
+count voices to see if a third or a half of the French had a right to
+destroy our nationality, to annihilate France, to break up the glorious
+heritage our sires bought for us with their blood? No! we would shoulder
+our muskets and march. Woe to the man who does not feel his country to
+be sacred, and that it is a noble act to defend it, even at the price of
+extreme misery and every danger!
+
+'America is not like France; it is a confederation, not a nation.' Who
+says this? It is the South, and to justify its faults; the North asserts
+the contrary, and for two years she has declared, by numberless
+sacrifices, that the Americans are one people, and that no one shall
+divide their country. This is a grand and noble sentiment, and if
+anything astonishes me, it is that France can witness this patriotism
+unmoved. Is not love of country the crowning virtue of the Frenchman?
+
+What is this South, and whence does it derive this right of secession it
+proclaims so loudly? Is it a conquered nation which resumes its
+independence, as Lombardy has done? Is it a distinct race which will not
+continue an oppressive alliance? No! it is a number of colonies,
+established on the territory of the Union by American hands. Take a map
+of the United States. Except Virginia, the two Carolinas and Georgia,
+which are old English colonies, all the rest of the South is situated on
+lands purchased and paid for by the Union. This proves that the North
+has sustained the greatest part of the expense. Ancient Louisiana was
+sold to the Americans, in 1804, by the first consul at a price of
+fifteen millions of dollars; Florida was bought from Spain, in 1820, for
+five millions; and it required the war with Mexico, a payment of ten
+millions, and heavy losses besides, to acquire Texas. In a few words, of
+all the rich countries which border on the Mississippi and Missouri,
+from their sources to their mouths, there is not one inch of ground for
+which the Union has not paid, and which does not belong to her. The
+Union has driven out or indemnified the Indians. The Union has built
+fortifications, constructed shipyards, light-houses, and harbors. It is
+the Union that has made all this wilderness valuable and rendered its
+settlement possible. It is the men of the North as well as those of the
+South who have cleared and planted these lands, and transformed them
+from barren solitudes to a flourishing condition. Show us, if you can,
+in old Europe, where unity is entirely the result of conquest, a title
+to property so sacred, a country which is more the common work of one
+people! And shall it now be allowed to a minority to take possession of
+a territory which belongs to all, and, moreover, to choose the best
+portion of it? Shall a minority be permitted to destroy the Union, and
+to imperil those who were its first benefactors, and without whom it
+would never have existed? If this does not constitute an impious revolt,
+then any whim that seizes a people is just and right. It is not only
+political reasons that oppose a separation; geography, the positions of
+places force the United States to form a single nation. Strabo,
+meditating on this vast country now called France, said, with the
+certainty of genius, that, to look at the nature of the territory, and
+the course of the waters, it was evident that the forests of Gaul,
+inhabited by a thinly scattered people, would become the abode of a
+great people. Nature has disposed our territory to be the theatre of a
+great civilization. This is also true of America, which is really but a
+double valley, whose place of separation is imperceptible, and which
+contains two large water courses, the Mississippi, and the St. Lawrence.
+There are no high mountains which isolate and separate the people, no
+natural barriers like the Alps and Pyrenees. The West cannot live
+without the Mississippi; it is a question of life and death to the
+Western farmers to hold the mouth of the river. The United States felt
+this from the first day of their existence. When the Ohio and
+Mississippi were yet but streams lost in the forest, when the first
+planters were only a handful of men scattered in the wilderness, the
+Americans already knew that New Orleans was _the key of the house_. They
+would not leave it either to Spain or France. Napoleon understood this;
+he held in his hands the future greatness of the United States; he was
+glad to cede this vast territory to America, with the intention, he
+said, 'to give to England a maritime rival which sooner or later would
+lower the pride of our enemies.' (Here the author refers to his
+pamphlet, entitled, _Les Etats Unis et la France_, and to _L'histoire de
+la Louisiane_, by Barbe Marbois.) He could have satisfied the United
+States by only giving up the left bank of the river, which was all they
+asked for then; he did more (and in this I think he was very wrong),
+with a stroke of his pen he ceded a country as large as the half of
+Europe, and renounced our last rights on this beautiful river which we
+had discovered. Sixty years have quickly passed since this cession. The
+States which are now called Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa,
+Minnesota, Kansas, Oregon, and the territories of Nebraska, Dacotah,
+Jefferson and Washington, which will soon become States, have been
+established on the immense domain abandoned by Napoleon. Without
+counting the slaveholding population which wishes to break up the Union,
+there are ten millions of free citizens between Pittsburg and Fort
+Union, who claim the course and mouth of the Mississippi as having been
+ceded to them by France. It is from us that they hold their title and
+their possession. They have a right of sixty years, a right consecrated
+by labors and cultivation, a right which they have received from a
+contract, and, better still, from nature, and from God.
+
+See what it is they are reproached for defending; they are, forsooth,
+usurpers and tyrants, because they wish to hold what is their own,
+because they will not place themselves at the mercy of an ambitious
+minority. What would we say, if, to-morrow, Normandy, rising, should
+pretend to hold for herself alone Rouen and Havre, and yet what is the
+interest of the Seine compared to that of the Mississippi, which has a
+course of two thousand two hundred and fifty miles, and which receives
+all the waters of the West?
+
+To possess New Orleans is to command a valley which embraces two thirds
+of the United States.
+
+They say 'we will neutralize the river.' We know what such promises are
+worth. We have seen what Russia did at the mouth of the Danube; the war
+of the Crimea was necessary to give to Germany the free use of her great
+river. If a new war were to break out between Austria and Russia, we
+might be sure that the possession of the Danube would be the stake
+played for. It could not be otherwise in America, from the day the
+Mississippi would flow for more than three hundred miles between two
+foreign servile banks: the effect of the war has already been to prevent
+the exportation of wheat and corn, the riches of the West. In 1861 it
+was necessary to burn useless harvests, to the great prejudice of
+Europe, who profited by their exportation. The South itself feels the
+strength of its position so well that its ambition is to separate the
+valley of the Mississippi from the Eastern States, and to unite itself
+to the West, consigning the Yankees of New England to a solitude which
+would ruin them. With the Mississippi for a bait, the Confederates hope
+to reestablish to their profit, that is, to the profit of slavery, the
+Union which they have broken for fear of liberty[6]. We now see what is
+to be thought of the pretended tyranny of the North, and if it is true
+that it wishes to oppress and to subjugate the South. On the contrary,
+the North only defends itself. In maintaining the Union, it defends its
+rights, and it is its very life that it wishes to save.
+
+Thus far I have only spoken of the material interests--interests which
+are lawful, and which, founded on solemn titles, give sacred rights; but
+if we examine moral and political interests which are of a superior
+order, we will understand better still that the North cannot give up
+without destroying itself. The United States is a republic, the most
+free, and at the same time the mildest and most happy form of government
+the world has ever seen. Whence comes this prosperity of the Americans?
+Because they are alone upon an immense territory; they have never been
+obliged to concentrate their power and enfeeble liberty in order to
+resist the jealousy and ambition of their neighbors. In the United
+States there was no standing army, no naval force; the Americans
+employed the immense sums which we expend to avert or to sustain war, in
+opening schools, and in giving to all their citizens, poor or rich, that
+education and that instruction which form the moral greatness and the
+true riches of the people. Their foreign policy was comprised in this
+maxim: 'Never to mingle in the quarrels of Europe on the sole condition
+that Europe will not interfere with their affairs, and will respect the
+liberty of the seas.' Thanks to these wise principles, which Washington
+left them in his immortal testament, the United States have enjoyed, for
+eighty years, a peace which has only been disturbed by Europe when, in
+1812, they were forced to resist England and sustain the rights of
+neutrals. We must count by hundreds of millions those sums that we have
+used during the last seventy years in the upholding our liberty in
+Europe; these hundreds of millions the United States have employed in
+improvements of every description. Here is the secret of their
+prodigious fortune; it is their perfect independence which makes their
+prosperity.
+
+Let us now suppose the separation finally accomplished, and that the new
+confederation comprises all the Slave States; the North has at once lost
+both its power and the foundations of that power. The Republic has
+received a mortal blow. There are in America two nations, side by side,
+two jealous rivals who are always on the point of attacking each other.
+Peace will not remove their antipathies; it will not efface the memory
+of the past greatness of the Union now destroyed; the victorious South
+will, without doubt, be quite as friendly toward slavery, and as fond of
+domination as ever. The enemies of slavery, now masters of their own
+policy, will certainly not be soothed by the separation. What will the
+Southern confederacy be to the North! It will be a foreign power
+established in America, with a frontier of one thousand five hundred
+miles, unprotected on every side, and consequently continually
+threatening or menaced. This power, hostile, because of its vicinity
+alone, and still more so by its institutions, will possess a very
+considerable portion of the New World; it will have half the coasts of
+the Union; it will command the Gulf of Mexico, an inland sea one third
+the size of the Mediterranean; it will be the mistress of the mouths of
+the Mississippi, and can ruin at its pleasure the inhabitants of the
+West. The fragments of the old Union will have to be always ready to
+defend themselves against their rivals. Questions of customs and of
+frontiers; rivalries, jealousies, in fact all the scourges of old Europe
+will overwhelm America at once and together; she will have to establish
+custom houses over an extent of five hundred leagues; to build and arm
+forts on this immense frontier, to keep on foot large standing armies,
+to maintain a naval force; in other words, she will have to renounce her
+old Constitution, to weaken her municipal independence by the
+centralization of power. Farewell to the old and glorious liberty!
+Farewell to those institutions which made America the common refuge of
+all who could not exist in Europe! The work of Washington will be
+destroyed; the situation will be full of dangers and difficulties. I
+understand how the prospect of such a future can delight those who have
+never been able to forgive America her prosperity and greatness; history
+is full of such sad jealousies. Still better I understand and approve of
+this, that a people accustomed to liberty should risk its last man and
+give its last dollar to preserve the inheritance of its fathers. I do
+not understand why there are persons in Europe who believe themselves
+liberal when they reproach the North for its generous resistance by
+advising her disgracefully to relinquish her rights. War is certainly a
+frightful evil, but from war a durable peace may issue, the
+South may tire of a struggle which exhausts its strength, the old Union
+may again arise in its glory, and the future may be saved. What but
+endless war and numberless miseries can result from a separation? This
+dismemberment of a country is an irreparable evil; no people, no nation,
+will submit to such a calamity until it no longer has any power to
+resist.
+
+Up to this time I have reasoned in the supposition that the South would
+remain an independent power. But unless the West joins the confederates,
+and the Union reestablishes itself against New England, this
+independence is a chimera: it might last for some time; but in ten or
+twenty years, when the free population of the West would have doubled or
+trebled itself, how would the South, necessarily much enfeebled by slave
+culture, compare with a people, thirty millions in number, enclosing it
+on two sides? To resist successfully, the South would be forced to rely
+on Europe; it could only live when protected by a great naval power, and
+England is the only one in a condition to guarantee for it its
+sovereignty. Here is a new danger for free America and for Europe. The
+South has no commercial marine, nor with slavery ever will have; England
+will at once seize the monopoly of cotton, and will furnish capital and
+vessels to the South. In two words, the triumph of the South is the
+reinstatement of England on the continent, whence the policy of Louis
+XVI and Napoleon has driven her; it is enfeebled neutrality; it is
+France plunged anew into all the questions concerning the liberty of the
+seas, which have already cost her two centuries of struggles and
+suffering. In defending its own rights, the American Union assured the
+independence of the ocean. The Union once destroyed, the English will
+again resume their preponderance, peace will be exiled from the world,
+and a policy will return which has only benefited our rivals.
+
+This is what Napoleon felt; this is what is forgotten to-day. It would
+seem that history is but a collection of frivolous tales, good enough,
+perhaps, to amuse children; it would seem that no one wishes to
+understand the lessons of the past. If the experience of our fathers
+were not lost on our ignorance, we would see that, while fighting for
+her independence, while upholding her national unity, the North is
+defending our cause as well as her own. All our prayers should be for
+our old and faithful friends. The weakness of the United States will be
+our weakness, and on the first quarrel with England, we will too late
+regret having abandoned a policy that for forty years has been our
+security.
+
+In writing these pages, I do not expect to convert those persons who
+have in their hearts an innate love of slavery; _I_ write for those
+honest souls who allow themselves to be captivated by the grand visions
+of national independence which are continually shown to them in order to
+dazzle and mislead. The South has never been menaced, and at this late
+hour can return to the Union even with her slaves [the reader will
+remember that this article was published in December, 1862], and is only
+required not to destroy the national unity, and not to ruin political
+liberty. It cannot be repeated too often that the North is not an
+aggressor--it only defends what every true citizen will defend--the
+national compact, the integrity of the country. It is very sad that it
+should have found so little sympathy in Europe, and, above all, in
+France. It counted on us, its hopes were in us; we have forsaken it, as
+if those sacred words Country and Liberty no longer found an echo in
+our breasts. Where is the time when all France cheered the young
+Lafayette giving his sword to serve the Americans? Who has imitated him?
+Who has recalled this glorious memory? Have we become so old that our
+memory has failed?
+
+It is impossible to foresee what will be the issue of this war. The
+South may succeed; the North may split up, and wear itself out in
+internal struggles. Perhaps the Union is already but a great memory.
+But, whatever fortune may have in the future, it is the plain duty of
+every man who has not allowed himself to be carried away by present
+successes, to sustain and encourage the North to the last, to condemn
+those whose ambition threatens the most beautiful and patriotic work the
+world has ever beheld, to remain faithful until the end of the war, and
+even after defeat, should it come, to those who will have fought to the
+last for the right and for liberty.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 6: This point of view has been thoroughly exposed by one of
+the wisest citizens of America, EDWARD EVERETT, in 'The Questions of the
+Day,' New York, 1861.]
+
+
+
+
+THE HUGUENOTS OF VIRGINIA.
+
+
+The warmer climes of the South induced many Huguenots to settle in the
+colony of Virginia, and their neat little cottages, covered with French
+grapevines, and the wild honeysuckle, might be seen scattered along
+James river, not far above Richmond. One writer of that day, says: 'Most
+of the French who lived at that town (_Monacan_) on James river, removed
+to Trent river, in North Carolina, where the rest were expected daily to
+come to them, when I came away, which was in August, 1708.' In 1690,
+King William sent to Virginia many of the Huguenot Refugees, his
+followers, who had taken shelter in England. Here they were naturalized
+by an especial act in 1699. Six hundred more came over, conducted by
+their pastor, Philip de Richebourg, locating themselves, about twenty
+miles above Richmond, on lands formerly occupied by a powerful tribe of
+Indians. There is a church now near the spot, retaining its Indian name
+to this day. In 1700, the Virginia assembly exempted these French
+settlers from taxation, and fully protected their rights.
+
+We have seen a curious relic of the Huguenots in Virginia, which was
+found in the family of a descendant. It is entitled: 'A register,
+containing the baptisms made within the church of the French Refugees,
+in the Manakin town, in Virginia, within the parish of King William, in
+the year of our Lord 1721, the 25th of March. Done by Jacques Soblet,
+clerk.' This manuscript contains about twenty-five pages of foolscap
+paper, and remains a standing evidence of the fidelity of the Virginia
+Huguenots to their Christian duties and ordinances. As a specimen of
+their entries, we copy the following, literally, not even correcting
+their orthography:
+
+     'Jean Chastain fils de Jean ett de Marianne Chastain les pere et
+     mere nee le 26 Septembre, 1721, est baptise le 5 Octobre, par M.
+     Fountaine. Ils ava pour parun et marene Pierre David et Anne sa
+     femme le quels ont declaree que cest enfan nee le jour et an que
+     deshus.
+
+          Segnee
+             JACQUE SOBLET,
+                Clerk.'
+
+     John Chastain, son of John Chastain and of Marianne Chastain, the
+     father and mother, born the 26th of September, 1721, was baptized
+     the 5th of October, by Mr. Fontaine. He had for godfather and
+     godmother Peter David and Anne, his wife, who have declared that
+     this infant was born the day and year aforesaid.
+
+          Signed, JACQUE SOBLET, Clerk.
+
+Two or three of the pages contain records of deaths. Here is one:
+
+     'Le 29 de Janvier, 1723-4, morut le Sieur Authonoine Trabue, agee
+     danviron sinquaint six a sept annees fut en terree le 30 du meme
+     moy.
+
+          J. SOBLETT, Clerk.'
+
+     Jan. 29th, 1723-4, died Sir Anthony Trabue, aged about fifty six or
+     seven years. He was buried the 30th of the same month.
+
+          J. SOBLETT, Clerk.
+
+
+
+Huguenot names found in this old register of baptism:
+
+     'Chastain, David, Monford, Dykar, Neim, (_Minister_) Dupuy, Bilbo,
+     Dutoi, Salle, Martain, Allaigre, Vilain, Soblet, Chambou, Levilain,
+     Trabu, Loucadon, Harris, Gasper, Wooldridge, Flournoy, Amis,
+     Banton, Ford, Laisain, Lolaigre, Givodan, Mallet, Dubruil,
+     Guerrant, Sabbatie, Dupre, Bernard, Amonet, Porter, Rapine, Lacy,
+     Watkins, Cocke, Bondurant, Goin, Pero, Pean, Deen, Robinson,
+     Edmond, Brook, Brian, Faure, Don, Bingli, Reno, Lesuer, Pionet,
+     Trent, Sumpter, Moiriset, Jordin, Gavain.
+
+     Names of Negroes: Thomberlin (Northumberland), Ivan, Jaque, Janne,
+     Anibal, Guillaume, Jean, Pierre, Olive, Robert, Jak, Julienne,
+     Francois, Susan, Primus, Moll, Chamberlain, Dick, Pegg, Nanny,
+     Tobie, Dorole, Agar, Agge, Pompe, Frank, Caesar, Amy, Joham, Debora,
+     Tom, Harry, Cipio, Bosen, Sam, Tabb, Jupiter, Essek, Cuffy, Orange,
+     Robin, Belin, Samson, Pope, Dina, Fillis, Matilda, Ester, Yarmouth,
+     Judy, and Adam.'
+
+We find in Beverly's 'History of Virginia,' a very interesting account
+of the Manakin French Refugees: 'The assembly was very bountiful to
+those who remained at this town, bestowing on them large donations,
+money and provisions for their support; they likewise freed them from
+every public tax for several years to come, and addressed the governor
+to grant them a brief to entitle them to the charity of all
+well-disposed persons throughout the country, which, together with the
+king's benevolence, supported them very comfortably, till they could
+sufficiently supply themselves with necessaries, which they now do
+indifferently well, and begin to have stocks of cattle, which are said
+to give abundantly more milk than any other in the country. I have heard
+that these people are upon a design of getting into the breed of
+buffaloes, to which end they lay in wait for their calves, that they may
+tame and raise a stock of them; in which, if they succeed, it will in
+all probability be greatly for their advantage; for these are much
+larger than other cattle, and have the benefit of being natural to the
+climate. They now make many of their own clothes, and are resolved, as
+soon as they have improved that manufacture, to apply themselves to the
+making of wine and brandy, which they do not doubt to bring to
+perfection.' The Rev. J. Fontaine, a Calvinistic clergyman, first
+preached to his Refugee French brethren in England and Ireland (1688).
+Then his sons emigrated to Virginia, and became settled ministers. From
+this stock alone, including his son-in-law, Mr. Maury, have descended
+hundreds of the best citizens of that commonwealth--ministers, members
+of the bar, legislators, and public officers. The Rev. Dr. Hawks
+estimates the relations of these Fontaine families, in the United
+States, at not less than _two thousand_.
+
+A few years ago, he found in a family under his parochial charge, a
+manuscript autobiography of one of its ancestors. This was a James
+Fontaine, who was a persecuted Huguenot, and endured much for the sake
+of his religion. The work has been translated and published, and is full
+of interest--'A Tale of the Huguenots; or, Memoirs of a French Refugee
+Family, with an Introduction, by F. L. Hawks, D.D.'
+
+M. Fontaine was a noble example of a true Huguenot. In his early life,
+he was accustomed to the enjoyments of wealth, education, and refined
+society; but, for conscience' sake, he was stripped of them all, and
+forced to leave his native land. An exile in England, ignorant of its
+language, and unaccustomed to labor, he soon accommodated himself to his
+altered circumstances. He became a skillful artisan, and worked
+successfully at his trade; at first he opened a little store, with a
+school also, to teach the French language, and he says: 'We were in
+great hopes, that with both together we should be able to pay our way.'
+M. Fontaine next undertook the manufactory of worsted goods, which he
+profitably carried on for some time, but became tired of the business.
+He was anxious to unite with a French church, and, knowing that there
+were many Refugees in the land, went to Cork in 1695.
+
+At first he preached in the English church, after its regular pastor had
+finished his services. Next, the French Refugees obtained the court room
+for their worship, and, finally, he gave up a large apartment on the
+lower floor of his own house, which was properly arranged with a pulpit
+and seats for religious meetings. M. Fontaine writes at the time: 'I was
+now at the height of my ambition; I was beloved by my hearers, to whom I
+preached gratuitously. Great numbers of zealous, pious, and upright
+persons had joined our communion. This state of things was altogether
+too good to last. My cup of happiness was now full to overflowing, and,
+like all the enjoyments of this world, it proved very transitory.'
+Dissensions grew up; M. Fontaine was a Presbyterian, and some of his
+hearers required him to receive Episcopal ordination, and this
+circumstance produced discussion, until he felt it his duty to resign
+his charge. In answer to his request, his elders gave a reluctant and
+sorrowful consent, thanking him most humbly for the service he had
+rendered to this church, during two years and a half, without receiving
+any stipend or equivalent whatsoever for his unceasing exertions. '...
+We have been extremely edified by his preaching, which has always been
+in strict accordance with the pure Word of God. He has imparted
+consolation to the sick and afflicted, and set a bright example to the
+flock of the most exemplary piety and good conduct.'
+
+Our French Refugee next removed to Bear Haven, and entered largely into
+the fishing business; and now he became a justice of the peace, exerting
+himself to break up the contraband traffic, which he found generally
+carried on 'between the Irish robbers and the French privateers,' then
+swarming the Irish coast. From eight to ten of these desperate
+characters were sent to Cork for trial at every assize of Bear Haven.
+They swore vengeance upon the upright magistrate; and in the year
+1704, a French privateer hove in sight--soon anchoring, he faced M.
+Fontaine's house. The vessel mounted ten guns, with a crew of eighty
+seamen. The Huguenot mustered all his men, amounting to twenty, and,
+sending the Papists away, he supplied the Protestants with muskets. This
+reduced his force to seven men, besides himself, wife, and children, and
+four or five of these were of but little use.
+
+Fontaine posting himself in a tower over the door, the rest of the party
+occupied the different windows. The lieutenant now landed with twenty
+men, and, approaching the dwelling, he took aim and fired at M.
+Fontaine, but missed him. The Huguenot then discharged a blunderbuss,
+with small leaden balls, one of which entered the neck of the
+privateersman, and another his side, when his men carried him back
+wounded to the ship. This unexpected resistance from a minister made the
+captain furious, when he sent to the attack twenty more men, under
+another commander, with two small cannons. 'I must acknowledge,' he
+says, 'that being unaccustomed to this sort of music, I felt some little
+tremors of fear when the first cannon ball struck the house; but I
+instantly humbled myself before my Maker, and having committed myself,
+both soul and body, to His keeping, my courage revived, and I suffered
+no more from fear. I put my head out of the window to see what effect
+the ball had produced on our stone wall, and when I perceived it had
+only made a slight scratch, I cried out for joy, 'Courage, my dear
+children, their cannon balls have no more effect on our stone walls than
+if they were so many apples.'
+
+The wife of M. Fontaine displayed the greatest self-possession and
+bravery on this trying occasion, carrying ammunition, acting as surgeon,
+and encouraging all by her words and actions. 'Courage, my children,'
+said she, 'we are in the hands of God, and it is not fear that will
+insure our safety; on the contrary, God will bless our courage. If you
+cannot fire yourselves, you can load the muskets for your father and
+others who are older and stronger than you are; drive away all fear, if
+you can, and leave the care of your persons to God.' The fight continued
+from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon, without
+intermission. Only two of the Huguenot family were wounded--a man, and
+one of the children slightly in his finger. The pirates finally
+withdrew, with three men killed and seven wounded. During the whole
+action the Huguenot minister did not permit any one 'to taste a drop of
+wine or spirits, or strong beer.' A second attack was feared, but soon
+the privateer weighed anchor and sailed away; when the pious family
+returned thanks to God for their 'glorious deliverance.'
+
+A full account of this bold and courageous affair was transmitted to
+Lord Cox, then chancellor of Ireland, and the Duke of Ormond, the lord
+lieutenant. Fontaine recommended to them that a fort should be built
+there, when 'it would be a great place for the settlement of French
+Refugees, and would also prove a safeguard to the commerce of the whole
+kingdom.' In the year 1704, he himself erected a fortification at the
+back of his house, purchased some six-pounders, which had been obtained
+from a vessel lost on the Irish coast, and the Government supplied him
+with powder and balls. The Council of Dublin also voted him L50, and
+Queen Anne, in 1705, granted him a pension of five shillings a day for
+his services, and as a French Refugee.
+
+From this daring defence, the name of M. Fontaine and wife became known
+and famous throughout all Europe. The French corsairs especially
+remembered it, and threatened another attack. Indeed, the family
+constantly apprehended such a visit, and it did take place in 1704.
+Leaving their vessels at midnight, the enemy soon reached the dwelling
+of the Huguenot, and, firing the outbuildings and stacks of grain, in
+less than half an hour the whole were completely enveloped in flames. On
+this occasion, the entire garrison consisted of the two parents,
+children, with four servants, two of whom were cowboys. By two o'clock
+in the afternoon, the pirates had made a breach through the wall of the
+house; but the children, protected by a mattress, in front of the
+opening, fired one after another at the assailants as they possibly
+could. The Huguenot leader, having overcharged his musket, it burst,
+throwing him down, and broke three of his ribs and right collar bone.
+For a short time he was insensible, but remarks: 'I had already done my
+part, for, during the course of the morning, I had fired five pounds of
+swan shot from my now disabled piece. Notwithstanding this unfortunate
+accident, an incessant fire was kept up on both sides, until a parley
+took place. Life and liberty were then guaranteed to the family, as the
+terms of capitulation, while the pirates were to have the plunder; and
+they swore to these conditions as Frenchmen and men of honor. When the
+officer and men entered the dwelling, and, looking anxiously around, saw
+only five youths, and four cowherds, they suspected that an ambush had
+been laid for them.
+
+'You need not fear anything dishonorable from me,' said the French
+preacher; 'you see all our garrison.'
+
+'Impossible!' he replied; 'these children could not possibly have kept
+up all the firing.'
+
+The house was then stripped of everything, not excepting the coats,
+which had been thrown off in the heat of the action; and the booty
+filled six boats. When they departed, M. Fontaine with his two eldest
+boys and two servants were taken away as prisoners. In vain did the
+brave good man protest that this was an infraction of the treaty. The
+remonstrance availed nothing with the freebooters. In a few days, the
+children with the servants were set ashore, but he was detained, when
+orders were given to raise the anchor. During all these severe trials,
+his noble and pious companion did not sit down, quietly lamenting her
+misfortunes. She first went to the parish priest, who was under great
+obligations to her husband, entreating him for his liberation. But he
+positively refused. Perceiving the privateer under sail, she resolved to
+follow it along the shore, as long as she could, and, reaching a
+promontory, she made a signal with her apron, on the top of a stick. A
+boat came near the shore, and she carried on a conversation with its
+crew through a speaking trumpet. After much bargaining, they agreed to
+set M. Fontaine at liberty, upon the payment of L100 sterling. Of this
+sum the excellent lady could only borrow L30, and the captain of the
+privateer consented to take this amount, with one of her sons as a
+hostage, until the remaining L70 were paid, calling her at the same time
+'a second Judith.'
+
+Mrs. Fontaine repaired forthwith to Cork, for the purpose of raising the
+sum wanted, and could easily have obtained it, but the merchants of that
+city objected to any payment of the kind. The privateer hovered about
+the Irish coast for some time, expecting the ransom money; but when the
+governor of Brest heard the circumstances, he condemned the captain
+strongly for bringing a hostage away with him, contrary to the law of
+nations. The difficulty did not terminate here. As soon as he was able,
+the French preacher visited Kinsale, and made an affidavit of the
+outrage he had suffered. At this place were a government officer and a
+prison, and immediately all the French officers who had been taken in
+the war then existing were ironed. Numbers of the same description were
+treated in a similar manner. These retaliatory measures excited great
+public feeling against the captain of the privateer, and he was summoned
+to appear before the governor of Brest, who imprisoned and even
+threatened to hang him. Upon his promising to set at liberty the young
+hostage, and convey him to the place from whence he had been taken, the
+officer was liberated.
+
+M. Fontaine now determined to live in Dublin, and support his family by
+teaching the Latin, Greek, and French languages; and in the mean time
+the grand jury of Cork awarded him L800 for his losses at Bear Haven. In
+his new abode he was able to give his children an excellent education;
+one became an officer in the British service, and three entered college.
+The former was John Fontaine, and the family determined that he should
+visit America for information; and after travelling through
+Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, he purchased a
+plantation in Virginia. Peter, another brother, received ordination from
+the bishop of London, and with Moses, who studied law, both embarked for
+Virginia in 1716. Francis, the last son, remained at college.
+
+There were two daughters in his family. The eldest, Mary Anne, married
+Matthew Maury, a Protestant Refugee from Gascony, in 1716, and the next
+year he joined his relations in this country. His son was the Rev. James
+Maury, of Albemarle, Virginia, a very estimable and useful clergyman of
+the Church of England. James was another son of the French preacher who
+made America his home, bringing with him his wife, child, mother-in-law,
+and thirteen servants, in 1717. Francis, in 1719, was ordained by the
+Bishop of London, on the particular recommendation of the Archbishop of
+Dublin, and then also sailed for Virginia. He became a very eloquent and
+popular preacher, and settled in St. Margaret's parish, King William
+county.
+
+In the year 1721, Mr. Fontaine lost his most faithful, exemplary, and
+pious companion. 'A melancholy day,' he records in his autobiography,
+'it was, that deprived me of my greatest earthly comfort and
+consolation. I was bowed down to the very dust; but it made me think of
+my own latter end, and made preparations to join her once more.' At the
+conclusion of his memoirs, he uses the following remarkable language:
+
+     'I feel the strongest conviction, that if you will take care of
+     these memoirs, your descendants will read them with pleasure; and I
+     here declare that I have been most particular as to the truth of
+     all that is herein recorded.
+
+     'I hope God will bless the work, and that by His grace it may be a
+     bond of union among you and your descendants, and that it may be an
+     humble means of confirming you all in the fear of the Lord.
+
+          I am, dear children,
+            'Your tender father,
+              'JAMES FONTAINE.'
+
+
+
+Little did the faithful Huguenot preacher imagine that a century after
+he wrote thus kindly to his own children, myriads who have been born
+from the same noble and holy ancestry would be animated, cheered, and
+profited by his useful life and example. Though dead he yet speaketh.
+
+We have dwelt thus at length upon the heroic history of this Huguenot
+minister and his family; for where can we find an example so worthy of
+imitation? He was a Huguenot in its fullest sense, bearing himself, at
+all times, with a noble spirit of the true man, for the work before him.
+Never losing trust in God, nor proper confidence in himself, he proved
+that, when thus true, no man need ever despair. His long line of
+descendants in the United States may well cherish and honor his memory.
+
+As we have said before, we dwell more particularly upon the character
+and history of Mr. Fontaine, as a striking example of a true Huguenot;
+and how truth and the right will finally triumph over all obstacles.
+Wherever the French Protestants settled in America, they exhibited this
+same excellent trait; and among their families of Virginia were those
+who distinguished themselves as brave soldiers and able magistrates in
+the councils of the then young Republic.
+
+
+
+
+TO-MORROW!
+
+[G. H. BOKER.]
+
+
+   'The sun is sinking low,
+   Upon the ashes of his fading pyre;
+   The evening star is stealing after him,
+   Fixed, like a beacon on the prow of night;
+   The world is shutting up its heavy eye
+   Upon the stir and bustle of _to-day_;--
+   _On what shall it awake?_'
+
+
+
+
+MONTGOMERY IN SECESSION TIME.
+
+
+In the beginning of the year 1860, there existed in the city of
+Montgomery, Alabama, a strong, active, and apparently indestructible
+Union party. Three months after the close of the year there remained in
+the city no trace of Union sentiment. To show how this feeling was
+destroyed, sinking slowly, and with many reactions, under influences in
+themselves insignificant, and to narrate, as they fell under personal
+observation, that short train of events which make up the historic
+period of this first capital of the Southern confederacy, will be the
+object of the present sketch.
+
+Early in the summer of 1860 it became evident to every dispassionate
+observer in the South that the country was swiftly approaching a great
+crisis. So dexterously had politicians managed the excitement which
+arose on the discovery of the plot of John Brown, that at the very
+beginning of the year a small and united party had been formed, having
+for its aim the immediate separation of the States. This party,
+following this well-defined object, was the only fixed thing in Southern
+society during the year. In the midst of all changes it was permanent.
+Even before the presidential election, when men's minds wavered about
+things so permanent as party lines and party creeds, about old political
+dogmas associated with favorite political leaders, it remained
+unaffected. The presence of this restless and determined insurrectionary
+element in the party politics of the time gave to the struggle preceding
+the presidential election a character of unusual intensity. The city of
+Montgomery, as the home of Mr. Yancey, and consequently of his warmest
+admirers, and most bitter opponents, felt the full influence of this
+excitement, and soon became one of the natural centres of the growing
+struggle of opinions.
+
+From causes difficult then to trace, there appeared early in the year in
+the money market of the South an unusual condition of prostration. Banks
+were unaccountably cautious. Money was scarce. Debts of more than a
+year's standing were unpaid, and business of all kinds languished. Not
+even were the customary advances made by the banks in the East for the
+purchase of cotton, nor did the money scattered through the country by
+those sales which did take place relieve the financial pressure under
+which everything labored. In October capitalists refused to venture
+their funds on anything which did not promise the most immediate return.
+
+In these signs, in the inexplicable shrinking of capital to its hiding
+places, and in the universal darkening of business, it would seem that
+all might have discovered the approach of that storm which has since
+burst with such fury upon the land. But this was not the case. Although
+every one looked forward with anxiety to the time of election, it was
+only a portion of the so-called BRECKINRIDGE party who saw with any
+distinctness the point toward which all things were tending. Nor did
+these men make public the extent of their hopes.
+
+They were satisfied at first to do nothing more than familiarize the
+minds of the people with the idea of secession. They spread the doctrine
+that the only hope of Union lay in the defeat of Mr. Lincoln. Expressing
+the worst fears of all, this doctrine was thought to be peculiarly
+calculated to increase the numbers of the Union or Bell party, and was
+therefore readily adopted by those who would at first have repelled with
+patriotic horror the alternative it suggested.
+
+It is impossible to estimate the influence of this lurking fallacy. Not
+merely were multitudes of well-meaning, but unreasoning men, who were
+confident of the success of their party, brought to acquiesce in a
+proposition utterly false in its base, but the whole conservative
+element in society was placed in a position from which it would be
+thrown by defeat into a most dangerous reaction. Thus consciously or
+unconsciously all parties were using every effort in their power to
+prepare the popular mind for the question of secession.
+
+But the period was not without its traits of patriotism. In October
+strong efforts were made in the States of Alabama and Georgia to unite
+the three parties in the South on one of the three candidates; thus
+securing a President to the South, and the certainty of the Union. The
+Breckinridge Democrats, however, contemptuously refused to be party to
+every arrangement of the kind. The insurrectionary element, gathering to
+itself the excitable and disaffected spirits of every class, had now
+gained the command of this party, and no longer attempted to conceal its
+revolutionary intentions. At the head of this element, exercising a vast
+influence over all its movements, and embodying in himself, more than
+any other man (except, perhaps, Mr. Yancey), the fierceness of its
+spirit, stood Mr. Toombs, of Georgia. He was now invited to speak in
+Montgomery. As a man of large political experience, some statesmanship,
+and master of a grave and sonorous eloquence, it was expected that he
+would influence a class of men who had hitherto held themselves
+studiously aloof from the insurrectionary ranks--that calm, conservative
+class, which is recognized by all as the basis of every society which
+has acquired, or having acquired, hopes to retain, stability of
+government and security of morals. The sentiments of the speaker were
+too well known to admit of any doubts as to the probable character of
+his address. He appeared as the undisguised advocate of secession. No
+form of appeal or argument was neglected which could have had weight
+with a people peculiarly susceptible to the influence of oratory.
+Setting aside the question of the approaching election, to which he
+scarcely alluded, the orator strove only to show that it was an
+imperative social necessity that the South should have a vast and
+constantly increasing slave territory; that in the path of this
+necessity the only obstacle was the Federal Union, and that the time for
+its destruction had now come. These were the representative arguments of
+his party before the election, and he did not speak to an unsympathizing
+audience. For when toward the close, raising his voice until it broke
+almost in a scream, he exclaimed, 'Let the night which decides the
+election of Mr. Lincoln be ushered in by the booming of the hostile
+cannon of the South,' the hall rang again and again with the shouts of
+his excited hearers. But _nemo repente turpissimus semper fuit_. These
+were not the sentiments of all. There was a large class present who did
+not applaud--but neither did they hiss. They seemed for the time
+overawed by the energy of the spirit which had suddenly sprung up among
+them.
+
+In the following week, however, a singular, though, unfortunately, but
+momentary check was given to the progress of insurrectionary sentiments
+in the vicinity of the city. Senator DOUGLAS, who had been slowly
+advancing, in his oratorical tour, down the coast, was about this time
+announced to speak in Montgomery. Since his speech in Norfolk, where he
+was thought to have expressed himself too clearly against secession, a
+strong prejudice had grown up in the South against him, and it now
+threatened to manifest itself in acts of positive violence. Such was the
+state of popular feeling, that for a time it seemed uncertain whether it
+would be desirable for him to attempt to speak. Hints of peculiar
+personal outrages were thrown out by men of a certain class; and
+threats were made of something still more ominous in case he should
+attempt to repeat the sentiments of his Norfolk speech.
+
+He arrived in the evening, and was met at the cars by a large crowd, and
+a procession formed from a coalition, for the occasion, of his party
+with that of Mr. Bell. It was feared that the short ride to the hotel
+would not be accomplished without some act of violence on the part of
+the excited throng by which his carriage was surrounded. A few eggs were
+thrown, but otherwise the ride was performed without interruption. From
+further outrages the crowd restrained itself until something positive
+should appear on the part of the orator himself. Unintimidated, however,
+by these unmistakable evidences of the public feeling, Mr. Douglas on
+the following morning presented himself on the steps in front of the
+capitol, where it had been announced that his speech would be delivered.
+The city was filled with strangers, who had come from all parts of the
+country to be present at the State fair which was held there that week.
+On Capitol Hill, therefore, an immense throng was early assembled, which
+coldly awaited the arrival of the orator. Everything was chilly and
+unfavorable. But the spirit of the obstinate debater seemed to rise with
+the difficulties by which he was surrounded. At first even his manner of
+speaking operated to his disadvantage. The sharp, syllabic emphasis,
+which he was accustomed to adopt in addressing large assemblages in the
+open air, grated harshly on ears accustomed to the smooth and carefully
+modulated elocution of Mr. Yancey. Beginning, however, by enunciating
+general principles of government, in which all could agree, he gradually
+conciliated, by an unexpected appearance of moderation, the favorable
+attention of his audience. As he advanced upon his customary sketch of
+the history of the different political parties during the past few
+years--a work which a hundred repetitions enabled him to perform with a
+dramatic energy of style and expression singularly effective--he was
+occasionally interrupted by exclamations of acquiescence. As he
+described the various successes of the Democratic party, these became
+frequent, and before he had finished the _resume_, his voice was drowned
+amid the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd.
+
+It was a triumph of oratory. He repeated every sentiment of his Norfolk
+speech, and the men who in the morning had thrown out dark hints of
+'stoning,' joined in the applause. He accepted as a certainty the
+election of Mr. Lincoln, but caused the crowd to shout with exultation
+at the prospect of tying all his activity by the constitutional check of
+a Democratic majority in Congress. In short, he came amid general
+execration, and departed amid universal regret. I had heard Mr. Douglas
+before, but never when he gave any evidence of the wonderful power which
+he exhibited on this occasion. With few tricks of rhetoric, with no
+extraordinary bursts of eloquence, he accomplished all the results of
+the most impassioned oratory. The qualities of a great debater--unshaken
+presence of mind, tact in adapting himself to his audience, the power of
+arranging facts in a form at once simple and coherent, and yet most
+favorable to his own cause, the strange influence by which one mind
+compels from others the recognition of its supremacy--have long been
+conceded to the late Senator from Illinois, but never did he exhibit
+these qualities with greater effect than before the excited populace of
+Montgomery.
+
+This was the last strictly Union speech which was delivered in that
+city. No one after this was found bold enough to stand up in the defence
+of the cause that from this day began slowly to succumb to the fierce
+spirit to which it was opposed. For several days the effects of the
+speech were visible in the moderate tone of 'popular feeling;' but they
+were soon lost in the tumultuous excitement attending the return of Mr.
+Yancey from his tour in the North, and the still more intense feeling
+produced by the election which immediately followed.
+
+It was impossible in these last hours of distinct political
+organizations not to be struck with the differences that characterized
+the opposing parties--differences which, both before and since, have had
+much to do with the progress of the rebellion. The Union gatherings were
+easy, jovial, fond of speeches adorned with the quips and turns of
+political oratory, and filled with the spirit 't'will all come right in
+the end.' In the Breckinridge--or, as they had now practically
+become--the secession meetings, a different spirit prevailed. It was the
+spirit of insurrection, fierce, stormy, unrestrained. It was the spirit
+of hatred; hatred of the North, hatred of the Union, hatred of Mr. Bell,
+whose success would deprive them of their only weapon for the
+destruction of that Union.
+
+But with the 4th of November came a change. Three days after election
+there remained in Montgomery no trace of party organizations. All the
+widely divergent streams of public opinion seemed suddenly to have
+joined in one, and that running fiercely, and unrestrained toward
+disunion. The election of Mr. Lincoln united the people. On all sides
+prevailed the deepest enthusiasm in favor of secession. Mass meetings,
+attended by all parties, were held, and passed resolutions advocating in
+the strongest terms immediate disunion. Secessionists were astonished at
+the change, and in their anxiety to avoid anything which might shock the
+newly awakened sentiment, appeared in many cases the most conservative
+members of the community. But indeed nothing was too violent for the
+state of public feeling. War committees were appointed, and active
+measures taken to put the State in a position to maintain her
+independence as soon as the ordinance of secession should have received
+the sanction of the convention. Troops were despatched to take
+possession of the arsenal, and agents were sent North to purchase
+additions to the already large supply of arms in the State. Immediate
+secession seemed to be the desire of every class. But this condition of
+things was not always to continue. The reaction which had carried the
+Unionists from a state of perfect confidence in the success of their
+candidate, to one of deep disappointment, and of rage at the section to
+which they attributed their defeat, having at length spent itself, signs
+of a returning movement began to make their appearance. At first these
+were not strongly marked. All were yet in favor of secession, but a
+large party, composed of most of the former partisans of Mr. Bell,
+together with the conservative element of every class, began at length
+to object to a too great precipitancy, and finally to demand that the
+action of Alabama should be made to depend upon the decision of the
+other Southern States. This movement was understood by the secessionists
+to have for its ultimate object the defeat of their hopes of disunion;
+and such, unquestionably, was its aim; for whatever may have been the
+plans of some of the leaders of the cooperationists, as this party was
+called, it is certain that the great body of the party had no other end
+in view, and was sustained in its action by no other hope than the
+perpetuation of the Union.
+
+At the caucus meetings which preceded the election of delegates to the
+State convention the two parties, as now formed, first came into
+conflict. At once important differences became apparent. Although nearly
+equal in numbers, in spirit the two parties were signally unequal. While
+the secessionists were bold, vigilant, and uncompromising, the
+cooperationists were timid and passionless, though full of a passive
+confidence that the Union would in some way be preserved. A knowledge
+of this difference explains many things, in themselves apparently
+inexplicable. It shows how it was possible that a State so confessedly
+loyal that it would have rejected the ordinance of secession if it had
+been submitted directly to the people, could yet, on this very issue,
+elect a convention with a majority in favor of disunion. The whole
+question was decided in the caucus meetings. The secessionists of all
+parts of the State were bound together by watchful associations, and
+were everywhere on the alert. In counties where by their number they
+were entitled to no representative, attending the caucus meeting in
+force, they effected--as they easily could while there was no distinct
+party organization--a union of the tickets, and thus secured to
+themselves one of the two candidates. So frequently was this repeated in
+different parts of the country, that it was afterward estimated that by
+this simple expedient of a union ticket the whole question of the
+secession of this State was decided.
+
+From these political struggles, however, the interest of the community
+was suddenly withdrawn by an event which instantly absorbed all
+attention, and struck terror into every household. In the little town of
+Pine Level, a village situated a few miles from Montgomery, traces were
+discovered of a plot having for its object a general uprising of the
+negroes on the evening preceding Christmas.
+
+In the progress of the investigations which were immediately begun, it
+came to light that the plot was not simply local, but extended over many
+counties, including in its circuit the city of Montgomery, and involving
+in its movements many hundred negroes. Further examination revealed all
+the horrible details which were to attend the consummation of the
+plot--the butchery of the whites, the allotment of females, the division
+of property. The whole surrounding country was alive with excitement.
+Active measures were taken to crush at once the spirit of insurrection.
+The ringleaders and some of the poor whites, with whom the plot is said
+to have originated, were seized and, after a brief trial, immediately
+hung. In Montgomery feeling was such as to demand the adoption of the
+most stringent precautionary measures. Military companies were called
+out and placed in nightly guard over the capitol and arsenal. On
+Christmas eve the plot was to go into execution, and as the time
+approached, the anxiety became painfully intense. It was whispered that
+one of Mr. Yancey's slaves had been detected in an attempt to poison her
+master. The police was doubled, soldiers with loaded muskets were
+stationed in all the prominent streets, while mounted guards ranged the
+thinly inhabited section of the outskirts. The night, however, passed
+without alarm, and the excitement from that time slowly subsided.
+
+It is scarcely worthy of notice, perhaps, that with the returning sense
+of security came also the flippant confidence which had been for a time
+put to flight. The blacks were again a timid and affectionate race, and
+it was soon not difficult to find multitudes who declared themselves
+willing to meet alone a hundred insurrectionary slaves. Sitting in this
+evening calm, listening to such remarks, it was difficult to accept as
+real the events of the hot and excited day which had gone before. Surely
+they were dreams--the hurried trials, the hangings, the nightly tread of
+soldiers, the brooding terror that whitened the lips of mothers. A home
+guard, however, was immediately formed, including all citizens,
+irrespective of age or station, capable of bearing arms, and not in
+other military organizations.
+
+On the 7th of January, the convention met. South Carolina had already
+passed her ordinance of secession; but what others would follow the
+example of this excitable State was yet uncertain. All eyes were now
+anxiously directed toward Alabama, upon whose decision would to a great
+degree depend that of the two great conservative States, Louisiana and
+Georgia. Nor was this anxiety diminished by the accounts given of the
+composition of the convention of this State. Both sides claimed a
+majority; and it was evident that, without some unexpected defection,
+the two parties would narrowly escape a tie. This singular uncertainty
+was soon, however, to cease. Immediately on convening, it became evident
+that the command of the body lay with the secessionists. It was found by
+secret estimates that the two parties were divided by ten votes. Of the
+hundred delegates, fifty-five were in favor of disunion. Although this
+majority gave the secessionists power to carry their wishes into instant
+effect, it was not thought politic to do so while the difference between
+the two parties remained so small. The passage of the ordinance was,
+therefore, for several days delayed, while the cooperationists were
+plied with arguments to induce them to acquiesce in that which it was
+now impossible for them to prevent. At length, after four days of
+deliberation, it became evident that all of this party had succumbed
+whom it seemed possible to change, and on the morning of the 11th of
+January it was publicly announced that the ordinance of secession had
+passed the convention by a vote of sixty-one in the affirmative against
+thirty-nine in the negative.
+
+By the insurrectionists the announcement was received with transports of
+joy, but by the Unionists it was met with demonstrations of grief, which
+they made no efforts to conceal. Women wept, and houses were closed as
+for a day of mourning. In the northern part of the State the
+manifestations of disappointment were still more unmistakable.
+Indignation meetings were held, and one of the delegates received a
+telegram from his constituents, charging him with having betrayed them
+on the very issue for which he was elected, and demanding explanations.
+At length the loyal feeling of the State seemed aroused, and had the
+ordinance of secession been now submitted to the people, all admitted
+that it would have been rejected by an unquestionable majority. But the
+ordinance was not submitted to the people, and the Union sentiment,
+which had already, within the interval of a few weeks, passed through
+two complete oscillations--vibrating from the loyalty which preceded the
+presidental election through all the changes of the strong disunion
+reaction which followed--was now again in the ascendant. But from this
+point it soon began to recede, descending slowly along an arc of which
+no eye can see the end, with a momentum that permits no prediction as to
+the time of its return.
+
+A multitude of influences began at once to weaken the energy of the
+Union sentiment. From the first, it had been the policy of the disunion
+leaders to represent the question of secession as lying wholly with the
+South. In case this section should decide upon disunion, there would be
+little reason, it was said, to fear any prolonged opposition on the part
+of the North--least of all a war. Nothing appeared on the part of the
+Federal Executive to refute these assertions. It was by a large class
+believed, therefore, that the leaders were right when they said that the
+secession would be a mere withdrawal of the Southern States, for the
+formation of a government perfectly friendly to the North, with which,
+indeed, a board of commissioners would soon arrange the terms of a
+peaceful international trade. After the passage of this ordinance,
+however, a slight modification of this argument became necessary. Peace
+was conditioned upon unanimity. Unionists were now called upon to render
+their support to the new government in order to secure peace. If it was
+clear that the State was united in favor of the changed condition of
+things, there would be no difficulty, it was said, to procure, amid the
+divisions of the North, a peaceful recognition of the confederacy. The
+factions of the Northern States would never allow the Federal Government
+to attempt to coerce a united people. Thus the very weapons which
+loyalty had used to arm herself were here wrested to her own
+destruction. To insure peace, men became insurrectionists.
+
+It is useless now to surmise what would have been the result if the
+action of the Federal Government in reference to the question of
+secession at the beginning of the rebellion, had been less ambiguous. It
+is enough to know, what was for many weeks so painfully realized by
+every Northerner in the South, that had the Southern people, by any
+means, been brought to understand that Federal laws were protected by
+sanctions, and that an attempt at disunion would certainly be followed
+by war, the question of secession would never have become a formidable
+issue. But while men believed, as many of the Unionists did, that
+secession was an experiment, attended with no danger to themselves, and
+which would more than likely result, after a few years, in a peaceful
+reconstruction of the Union on terms more favorable to the South, there
+is little occasion for wonder that the cause of disunion met with no
+very earnest, or, at least, prolonged opposition.
+
+The passage of the ordinance of secession gave to the disunionists an
+incalculable advantage. It is true, the Union feeling was deep, and in
+many places strongly aroused, but the State had seceded, the new
+government was quietly and apparently solidly forming itself, profitable
+offices were in its gift, and, added to all, the conservative spirit
+whispered its old motto, _quieta non movere_, and the hands which had
+been raised in weak resistance fell harmlessly back.
+
+In the mean while, at the capitol, another work was going on. The
+convention, having established by ordinance the independence of the
+State, was now engaged in tearing down and remodelling to meet the petty
+wants of the Republic of Alabama the august structure of the Federal
+Constitution. The work was soon completed, and on the 29th of January
+this body, which in a brief session of three weeks had carried through
+measures involving some of the most stupendous changes possible to a
+civil State, adjourned to meet again on the 4th of March, cutting off,
+by this, all possibility of any of the questions which it had discussed
+being brought before the people by a new election. On the week following
+the adjournment of the convention, the confederate congress assembled in
+Montgomery.
+
+This body immediately showed a fine appreciation of the state of public
+feeling, and drew to itself the confidence of the people by selecting
+for president and vice-president of the temporary government men who
+were thought to represent the more conservative element in community.
+Mr. Davis, at the time of his election, was in Mississippi, but on
+receiving the official announcement of the event, started at once for
+Montgomery, passing through Southern Tennessee, then a loyal State,
+along a path nearly parallel to the one in which Mr. Lincoln was at the
+same time moving a little farther north.
+
+He reached the city in the night, but a large crowd was awaiting his
+arrival at the depot. A procession of carriages, filled with members of
+the confederate congress, led the way to the hotel. It was preceded by a
+military band, and at regular intervals rockets were discharged,
+announcing to the distant beholder the progress of the procession. All
+felt that by attention to these honorary details they were assisting to
+give dignity to the newly formed confederacy. On arriving at the hotel,
+Mr. Davis was announced to speak from the balcony. The crowd pressed
+curiously forward. Two candles threw a faint, yellow light over a
+spare, angular form, rather below the medium height, lighting up, at the
+same time, the sunken cheeks and strongly marked jaws of a face now
+working with the emotions which the unusual events of the evening were
+so well calculated to excite.
+
+The ceremonies of inauguration were postponed to the beginning of the
+following week. Early on Monday morning, however, the hill before the
+capitol was covered with a vast throng, collected from all parts of the
+new confederacy. For the accomodation of the members of congress, a
+temporary platform had been erected in front of the capitol. Standing on
+this, and glancing over the city, the eye rested on the rich valley of
+the Alabama, stretching away many miles to the north, broken here and
+there by the dark green foliage of the pine forests, which now twinkled
+in the soft light of a day mild even for the latitude. At the extreme
+rear of the platform, behind a small table, was seated the chairman of
+the congress, Howell Cobb. Corpulent even to grossness, he formed a
+curious contrast to the small and wasted forms of the two presidents
+elect, who sat at his side. The events of this day have given to every
+trait of these men a lasting and unenviable interest. Neither looked
+like a great man, neither like a man thoroughly bad. All the impressions
+produced by the first appearance of Mr. Davis were strengthened, without
+being changed, by a farther acquaintance. To a physique by no means
+imposing, he joins a manner too reserved to make him at any time a
+favorite of the populace. His whole bearing, in fact, declares him a
+stranger to that deep and contagious enthusiasm which has so often in
+enterprises like this drawn to a leader the admiration and unconquerable
+fidelity of the common people. Nor, on the other hand, is there anything
+in his appearance to indicate the presence of the broad and
+comprehensive energy which, in the mind of the thoughtful, can take the
+place of such an enthusiasm. Still, he is in many respects peculiarly
+suited to take the head of the rebellion. Elected at a time when State
+distinctions were lost sight of in the warmth of the first formation of
+the confederacy, he soon lost his sectional character, and represents,
+as no one now elected could, the people alike of Virginia and those
+along the Gulf. He is shrewd, cautious, determined. But his caution may
+easily become scarcely distinguishable in its results from timidity. His
+determination is never far removed from stubbornness. Mr. Stevens, who
+sat, or, rather, had sunk, in his chair by the side of Mr. Davis, was a
+thin, sickly looking man, whose small round face was characterized by
+the pallid self-concentrated expression peculiar to invalids. On rising
+at the administration of the oath, which he did with the laborious
+movement of one to whom weakness had become a habit, he revealed a form
+of about the medium height, but broken, as by some physical
+disfigurement. During most of the ceremonies, he wore the air of an
+uninterested spectator, amusing himself with the head of a slight and
+rather jaunty cane, which he held between his knees. Although greatly
+inferior, so far as mere physical appearances are concerned, to his
+colleague, there is yet something in the expression and bearing of Mr.
+Stevens which suggests a depth and comprehensiveness of intellect for
+which one searches in vain the face of Mr. Davis. On the platform were
+gathered nearly all those restless spirits which have, during the past
+twenty years, disturbed the peace of the country. Conspicuous among them
+appeared the bristling head of Mr. Toombs. He sat during the whole
+ceremony, with his face, wearing the imperious expression which had
+become habitual to it, turned upon the people. With uncovered heads, and
+in perfect silence, the crowd listened to the oath of office.
+Immediately on the completion of this ceremony the two presidents and
+the congress withdrew to the senate chamber.
+
+A levee was announced for the evening. The hall which had been selected
+for this gathering was a large, low room in the upper story of a
+building near the centre of the city.
+
+Some efforts had been made by the ladies to conceal the rudeness of the
+apartment, but it was expected that every deficiency of this kind would
+be forgotten in the presence of that courtly society which had hitherto
+given all the attractiveness to occasions like this on the banks of the
+Potomac. It is but fair to suppose that these expectations were
+disappointed, for early in the evening the hall was crowded with a
+throng of men and boys, who, standing with uncovered heads, talking
+loudly of the hopes of the new confederacy, or moved uneasily about,
+seeking a favorable position from which to watch the 'president shake
+hands.' This was the ambition of the evening. Every standing point in
+the vicinity of Mr. Davis was taken advantage of. Chairs and benches
+served as footstools to elevate into positions of prominence long rows
+of men dressed in the yellow jeans of the country, who stood, during all
+the long hours of the evening, watching with unchanging countenances the
+multiplied repetitions of the short double shake and spasmodic smile
+which Mr. Davis meted out to each of the constantly forming column that
+filed before him. The platform was filled with the same class, and even
+the arch of evergreen, under which it was intended that Mr. Davis should
+stand, was pushed aside, to give place to those unwinking faces which
+pressed to every loophole of observation. The ladies, who appeared here
+and there in the crowd, sparkling with jewels, and dressed in the rich
+robes naturally suited to the occasion, only increased by their presence
+the rude incongruities of the gathering. Men were surprised at the
+manifestations on every hand of a vulgarity and coarseness which they
+had been accustomed to think the natural products and exclusive
+characteristics of a state of society farther north. To the eyes of the
+fastidious, a new class had suddenly arisen in their midst. Perhaps the
+lesson was not a new one. Many nations before, when in the midst of
+revolutions, have been called mournfully to learn that there are grades
+in every society, that rebellions are not always tractable, and that the
+class which guides their opening rarely controls their close. But if the
+scene of the evening had any prophecies of this kind--and I do not say
+that it had--it wailed them, like Cassandra, to ears divinely closed.
+
+From this time the ferment of public opinion disappeared. A tangible
+government existed, against which to speak was treason, and the friends
+of the Union--and in spite of all changes, the number of these was yet
+considerable--now for the first time ceased from the expression of those
+objections by which they had hitherto indicated the direction of their
+sympathies. All classes of men were longing for something permanent, and
+eagerly grasped at these appearances of a settled government, as
+promising to supply that which they so much desired. The establishment
+of a calm and united state of public feeling seemed, therefore, the
+almost instant effect of the inauguration of Mr. Davis. As might be
+expected, the events which have been related had not taken place in the
+South without affecting the condition of the Northern stranger who
+chanced to be within the gate. To him every change had been for the
+worse. During the fluctuations of public opinion in the early part of
+the season, his position, though unpleasant, had still some relieving
+circumstances; the condition of the country was not yet utterly
+hopeless, and the vanity of being stable in the midst of universal
+change, ministered a mild though secret pleasure, which, in the painful
+anxieties of the period, was not without its consolatory value. But when
+the tide of public opinion had turned strongly in one direction, and
+that in favor of secession, all those pleasures, so mild and spiritual,
+were at once destroyed. Nor was this a condition without change. Every
+week added some new restraints to those by which the Unionist was
+already surrounded. But never was the pressure of these restraints felt
+to be so great as in this singular calm, which followed the inauguration
+of Mr. Davis. The loyal spirit seemed extinct. Union sentiments were no
+longer expressed in even the private circles. Now, however, hints were
+occasionally dropped of the possibility of a future reconstruction, and
+in this direction it was evident the small remnant of the Union party
+was now turning its hopes.
+
+Notwithstanding the general appearance of unanimity, one thing remained
+which seemed to indicate a want of perfect confidence on the part of the
+people generally in the permanency of the new order of affairs. This
+was, the little interest which was manifested in the transactions of the
+rebel congress. With nothing else to occupy their minds, the people
+allowed the most important measures of public policy to pass almost
+without remark. To the congress itself this apathy did not extend. There
+appeared here, on the contrary, a germ even of the old State
+antagonisms; for when Mr. Toombs, carrying out the former policy of his
+State, introduced a bill imposing a tax on imports, declaring, at the
+same time, that no government could ever be sustained without depending
+chiefly upon this source of revenue, every member from South Carolina
+was on his legs. After a warm debate, and against the strongest protests
+of these members, the bill was carried and went into effect.
+Notwithstanding this, many in England still secretly believe that the
+Federal tariff was the real cause of the secession.
+
+The astonishing promptness with which the rebel government, immediately
+after the fall of Fort Sumter, equipped and placed upon the field an
+enormous and fairly organized army, has given rise to a strong
+impression concerning the energy put forth by the executive department
+during the two months which intervened between this event and the
+inauguration. No mistake could be greater. On the very day of the
+election of Mr. Lincoln the South possessed a military establishment
+quite equal, in proportion to its population, to that of either France
+or Russia. At the time of the John Brown excitement, a rumor was spread
+through the South that large bodies of men were gathering in different
+parts of the North, having for their object an invasion of the Southern
+States. Among all the reports which this excited period produced, none
+was more sedulously diffused, and none more generally believed.
+
+Whatever had been the original design of the story, its instant effect,
+in the excited state of the public mind, was the formation of companies
+in every county and village throughout the South for military drill.
+
+These organizations, of which there were frequently several in a single
+village, were equipped entirely at the expense of the individual
+members. As they were under constant drill during the winter and summer,
+they presented at the opening of the year 1861 the singular spectacle of
+a great army, organized and equipped at its own expense, ready at any
+moment to march at the command of the recognized government. This, it is
+unnecessary to say, was the grand basis of that army which was afterward
+placed upon the field; and thus it was that a secretary of war so
+palpably inefficient as Mr. Walker was able, with an empty treasury, for
+many months to surpass the North in the supply of troops, equipped, and
+at once prepared for duty.
+
+It was in full appreciation of this great armed mass that lay at his
+hand in a condition to be easily formed into an organized and efficient
+army, that Mr. Davis, after much entreaty, and repeated postponement,
+reluctantly gave his assent to the first strong act of the executive
+department, and ordered the attack upon Fort Sumter.
+
+Without anticipating what were to be the effects of this act in the
+North, which was, indeed, open to the conjecture of no man, Mr. Davis on
+this occasion simply exhibited a hesitancy in venturing on extreme
+measures, which will be found to be a characteristic feature of his
+administration.
+
+For several days the city was filled with rumors concerning the
+anticipated attack, but early on Friday morning it was announced that
+the bombardment had already begun. In the general excitement, business
+was suspended. Crowds filled the streets. The war department was in
+constant receipt of telegraphic messages announcing the progress of the
+bombardment. But nothing came during the day to diminish the growing
+anxiety. It was found that the fleet of war vessels said to be outside
+the bar would take advantage of the night to come to the succor of the
+fort. Sleep was impossible. Men who had gone to bed arose again and
+joined the crowd which thronged the streets. At length, shortly after
+midnight, Mr. Walker came forth and announced the last and most
+favorable telegraphic report concerning the progress of the siege,
+uttering at the same time the famous boast which has linked his name
+with an indissoluble association of folly. Shortly past noon on
+Saturday, the message came which announced the surrender of the fort.
+The city was frantic with joy. For hours, no forms of manifestation
+seemed adequate to express the excitement which filled all classes of
+society. Standing on the housetop in the evening, a wild crowd could be
+seen flitting before bonfires, or ranging the streets, and shouting in
+the ecstasy of an excitement which none could control. Immediately on
+the arrival of the despatch, messengers had started into the country
+with the welcome tidings, and deep in the night the ear was startled by
+the dull roar of the cannon announcing the arrival in some distant
+village of the joyful intelligence.
+
+'That will be the end of the war,' said a man of well known
+conservatism, who stood by at the announcement in Montgomery of the
+surrender of the fort. It was the last expression of that fatal fallacy
+which had lured so large a class quietly to acquiesce in the fact of
+secession in the hope of thus securing the peaceful recognition of the
+North. In a few days more, the whole deception had passed away. But the
+correction had come too late. The Union party was extinct. Twice, in the
+course of that great change, by the progress of which, a people, in
+majority loyal, was converted into one totally disloyal and
+revolutionary, it lay within the power of the Federal Executive, by
+firmness and a proper exhibition of its powers, to have sustained the
+Union party in the South and crushed the rebellion--before the election
+of Mr. Lincoln, and at the time of the strong Union reaction in the
+election of delegates to the State convention. At both these periods the
+Union feeling was strong and increasing, immediately after each; pressed
+upon by arguments which the course of the Executive had failed to
+answer, it slowly declined. But no great sentiment is destroyed at once.
+There is reason to believe that, if left to itself, the tide of Union
+feeling might again have flowed back, and the faint traces of a
+reconstruction party which appeared in the short interval of quiet that
+belonged to the rebel confederacy indicates, perhaps, the path along
+which it would have returned. But the time for these things had passed.
+
+The fall of Sumter brought the doctrines of secession into instant
+popularity, and roused a spirit of military enthusiasm in the South
+scarcely less intense than that which the same event excited in the
+North. At once, in every direction, disappeared all those sober scruples
+which, during the hottest excitement of the preceding months, had
+quietly controlled the judgment of a small but influential class in
+every community. The change in north Alabama and central Tennessee,
+where the principles of secession had been steadily rejected by the
+people, was almost instantaneous. The excitement and pride of a
+sectional victory, and a false sympathy for the individuals who had
+ventured their lives in a cause in itself, perhaps, objectionable,
+effected what the most cunning fallacies of the leaders had been unable
+to accomplish. As this movement of the popular feeling had many points
+of resemblance with the revolution of feeling which took place just
+after the election of Mr. Lincoln, there were some who believed that it
+would be followed by a similar reaction. The excitement of the war into
+which the whole country was immediately precipitated, cut off, however,
+every chance of any such retrogressive movement. No reaction took place.
+The surrender of Fort Sumter completed the change of opinion which had
+been so long progressing in the South.
+
+Those who look for an immediate restitution of Union feeling in the
+South, as a result of Federal victories, will be disappointed. It will
+be the result of a gradual movement--a movement resembling in every
+important particular that by which the secession sentiment was
+established in the interval between the election of Mr. Lincoln and the
+surrender of Fort Sumter. Operating particularly upon that class in
+society which is by nature passive rather than active, conservative
+rather than headlong, the movement, as in that case, will be at first
+slow and attended with many reactions, but the result will not be
+uncertain. Already the progress of the war has destroyed nearly all the
+motives by which the Union party of the South was formerly led to adopt
+the cause of secession. This great party, therefore, stretching through
+all parts of the South, forming an important element in the population
+of every village and county which threatened at one time with its
+passive resistance to overturn the whole scheme of the rebellion, stands
+now exposed to the full influence of the reactionary tide which has now
+begun to set back toward the Union. The change may not be at once, but
+the same motive which led the Union man of Tennessee to return to
+loyalty, will prove equally effective with his whole party, wherever
+distributed.
+
+
+
+
+SHAKSPEARE FOR 1863.
+
+
+   'O England!--model to thy inward greatness,
+   Like little body with, a mighty heart,--
+   What might'st thou do, that honor would thee do,
+   Were all thy children kind and natural!
+   But see thy fault! the SOUTH in thee finds out
+   A nest of hollow bosoms, which it fills
+   With treacherous crowns! they would o'erthrow our country,
+   And by their hands the grace of Freedom die,
+   If hell and treason hold their promises.'
+
+        _Henry V_, Act II, Scene i.
+
+
+
+
+THE UNION.
+
+V.
+
+ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI COMPARED.
+
+
+My previous numbers, comparing the progress, in the aggregate, of all
+the Slave States, with all the Free States, of Massachusetts and New
+Jersey, with Maryland and South Carolina, and of New York with Virginia,
+demonstrate the fatal effect of slavery upon material advance, and moral
+and intellectual development. In further proof of the uniformity of this
+great law, I now institute a similar comparison between two great
+neighboring Western States, Missouri and Illinois. The comparison is
+just, for while Missouri has increased since 1810, in wealth and
+population, much more rapidly than any of the Slave States, there are
+several Free States whose relative advance has exceeded that of
+Illinois. The rapid growth of Missouri is owing to her immense area, her
+fertile soil, her mighty rivers (the Mississippi and Missouri), her
+central and commanding position, and to the fact, that she has so small
+a number of slaves to the square mile, as well as to the free
+population.
+
+The population of Illinois, in 1810, was 12,282, and in 1860, 1,711,951;
+the ratio of increase from 1810 to 1860 being 13,838.70. (Table 1, Cens.
+1860.) The population of Missouri in 1810, was 20,845, and in 1860,
+1,182,012; the ratio of increase from 1810 to 1860 being 5,570.48. (Ib.)
+The rank of Missouri in 1810 was 22, and of Illinois 23. The rank of
+Missouri in 1860 was 8, and of Illinois, 4.
+
+AREA.--The area of Missouri is 67,380 square miles, being the 4th in
+rank, as to area, of all the States. The area of Illinois is 55,405
+square miles, ranking the 10th. Missouri, then, has 11,975 more square
+miles than Illinois. This excess is greater by 749 square miles than the
+aggregate area of Massachusetts, Delaware, and Rhode Island, containing
+in 1860 a population of 1,517,902. The population of Missouri per square
+mile in 1810 exceeded that of Illinois .08; but, in 1860, the population
+of Missouri per square mile was 17.54, ranking the 22d, and that of
+Illinois, 30.90, ranking the 13th. Illinois, with her ratio to the
+square mile and the area of Missouri, would have had in 1860 a
+population of 2,082,042; and Missouri; with her ratio and the area of
+Illinois, would have had in 1860 a population of 971,803, making a
+difference in favor of Illinois of 1,110,239 instead of 529,939. The
+absolute increase of population of Illinois per square mile from 1850 to
+1860 was 15.54, and of Missouri 7.43, Illinois ranking the 6th in this
+ratio and Missouri the 14th. These facts prove the vast advantages which
+Missouri possessed in her larger area as compared with Illinois.
+
+But Missouri in 1810, we have seen, had nearly double the population of
+Illinois. Now, reversing their numbers in 1810, the ratio of increase of
+each remaining the same, the population of Illinois in 1860 would have
+been 2,005,014, and of Missouri, 696,983. If we bring the greater area
+of Missouri as an element into this calculation the population of
+Illinois in 1860 would have exceeded that of Missouri more than two
+millions and a half.
+
+MINES.--By Census Tables 9, 10, 13 and 14, Missouri produced, in 1860,
+pig iron of the value of $575,000; Illinois, none. Bar and rolled
+iron--Missouri, $535,000; Illinois, none. Lead--Missouri, $356,660;
+Illinois, $72,953. Coal--Missouri, $8,200; Illinois, $964,-187.
+Copper--Missouri, $6,000; Illinois, none. As to mines, then, Missouri
+has a decided advantage over Illinois. Indeed, the iron mountains of
+Missouri are unsurpassed in the world. That Illinois approaches so near
+to Missouri in mineral products, is owing to her railroads and canals,
+and not to equal natural advantages. The number of miles of railroad in
+operation in 1860 was, 2,868 in Illinois, and 817 in Missouri; of
+canals, Illinois, 102 miles; Missouri, none. (Tables 38, 39.) But if
+Missouri had been a free State, she would have at least equalled
+Illinois in internal improvements, and the Pacific Railroad would have
+long since united San Francisco, St. Louis, and Chicago.
+
+Illinois is increasing in a _progressive_ ratio, as compared with
+Missouri. Thus, from 1840 to 1850 the increase of numbers in Illinois
+was 78.81, and from 1850 to 1860, 101.01 per cent., while the increase
+of Missouri from 1840 to 1850 was 77.75, and from 1850 to 1860, 73.30.
+Thus, the ratio is augmenting in Illinois, and decreasing in Missouri.
+If Illinois and Missouri should each increase from 1860 to 1870, in the
+same ratio as from 1850 to 1860, Illinois would then number 3,441,448,
+and Missouri, 2,048,426. (Table 1.) In 1850, Chicago numbered 29,963,
+and in 1860, 109,260. St. Louis, 77,860 in 1850, and 160,773 in 1860.
+(Table 40.) From 1840 to 1850 the ratio of increase of Chicago was
+570.31, and from 1850 to 1860, 264.65, and of St. Louis, from 1840 to
+1850, 372.26 per cent., and from 1850 to 1860, 106.49. If both increased
+in their respective ratios from 1860 to 1870 as from 1850 to 1860,
+Chicago would number 398,420 in 1870, and St. Louis, 331,879. It would
+be difficult to say which city has the greatest natural advantages, and
+yet when St. Louis was a city, Chicago was but the site of a fort.
+
+PROGRESS OF WEALTH.--By Census Table 36, the cash value of the farms of
+Illinois in 1860, was $432,531,072, and of Missouri, $230,632,126,
+making a difference in favor of Illinois, of $201,898,946, which is the
+loss which Missouri has sustained by slavery in the single item of the
+value of her farm lands. Abolish slavery there, and the value of the
+farm lands of Missouri would soon equal those of Illinois, and augment
+the wealth of the farmers of Missouri over two hundred millions of
+dollars. But these farm lands of Missouri embrace only 19,984,809 acres
+(Table 36), leaving unoccupied 23,138,391 acres. The difference between
+the value of the unoccupied lands of Missouri and Illinois, is six
+dollars per acre, at which rate the increased value of the unoccupied
+lands of Missouri, in the absence of slavery, would be $138,830,346.
+Thus, it appears, that the loss to Missouri in the value of her lands,
+caused by slavery, is $340,729,292. If we add to this the diminished
+value of town and city property in Missouri, from the same cause, the
+total loss in that State in the value of real estate, exceeds
+$400,000,000, which is nearly twenty times the value of her slaves. By
+Table 35, the increase in the value of the real and personal property of
+Illinois from 1850 to 1860, was $715,595,276, being 457.93 per cent.,
+and of Missouri, $363,966,691, being 265.18 per cent. At the same rate
+of increase from 1860 to 1870, the total wealth of Illinois would then
+be $3,993,000,000, and of Missouri, $1,329,000,000, making the
+difference against Missouri, in 1870, caused by slavery, $2,664,000,000,
+which is much more than three times the whole debt of the nation, and
+more than twice the value of all the slaves in the Union. While, then,
+the $20,000,000 proposed to be appropriated to aid Missouri in
+emancipating her slaves, is erroneously denounced as increasing federal
+taxation, the effect is directly the reverse. The disappearance of
+slavery from Missouri would ensure the overthrow of the rebellion, and
+the perpetuity of the Union, and bring the war much sooner to a close,
+thus saving a monthly expenditure, far exceeding the whole
+appropriation. But this vast increase of the wealth of Missouri, caused
+by her becoming a free State, if far less than one billion of dollars,
+would, by increasing her contribution to the national revenue, in
+augmented payments of duties and internal taxes, diminish to that extent
+the rate of taxation to be paid by every State, Missouri included.
+
+The total wealth of the Union in 1860 exceeded $16,000,000,000. If this
+were increased $1,000,000,000 in time, by the augmented wealth of
+Missouri, and our revenue from duties and taxes should be $220,000,000,
+as estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury, the increased income,
+being one-seventeenth of the whole, would exceed $12,000,000 per annum;
+or, if the increase of wealth should be only $200,000,000, then the
+augmented proportional annual revenue would be $2,750,000, or nearly
+one-eightieth part of the whole revenue, thus soon extinguishing the
+principal and interest of the debt of $20,000,000, and leaving a large
+surplus to decrease the percentage of taxation in every State, Missouri
+included. The bill then might be justly entitled, _an act to restore the
+Union, to advance the public credit, to hasten the overthrow of the
+rebellion, to augment the national wealth, and_ DECREASE THE RATE OF
+TAXATION. By overthrowing the rebellion, the taxes to pay the national
+debt will be collected from all the States, instead of being confined to
+those that are loyal. The rebel confederate debt, never having had any
+existence in law or justice, but having been created only to support a
+wicked rebellion, will of course be expunged by the reestablishment of
+the Union. Indeed, by a new mathematical and philosophical principle,
+far transcending the most sublime discoveries of Newton, Leibnitz, or La
+Place, the rebel debt is redeemable six months _after the end of
+eternity_, namely, six months after it is an _independent nation_, they
+shall have ratified a _treaty_ of peace with us! All the rebel State
+debts incurred since the revolt, for the purpose of overthrowing the
+Government, will, of course, have no legal existence. Under the Federal
+Constitution, no State Legislature can have any lawful existence, except
+in conformity with its provisions, accompanied by a prior oath of every
+member to support the Constitution of the United States. These
+assemblages, then, since the revolt in the several States, calling
+themselves State Legislatures, never had any legal existence or
+authority, and were mere assemblages of traitors. Such is the clear
+provision of the Federal Constitution, and of the law of nations and of
+justice. It would be strange, indeed, if conventicles of traitors in
+revolted States, could legally or rightfully impose taxes on the people
+of such States, loyal or disloyal, to overthrow the Government. Indeed,
+if justice could have her full sway, the whole debt of this Government,
+incurred to suppress this rebellion, ought to be paid by the traitors
+alone.
+
+With a restoration of the Union, the prosperity of all sections will be
+enormously increased. The South, with peace and with ports reopened,
+relieved from rebel taxes and conscription, will again have a profitable
+market for their cotton, rice, naval stores, sugar, and tobacco; the
+West for breadstuffs and provisions; the North for commerce, navigation
+and manufactures; and our revenue, from duties, would be vastly
+augmented, soon justifying a reduction of internal taxation. There is
+one item of almost fabulous value that must not be omitted. The cotton
+now in the Confederate States, of the unsold crops of 1860-'61,
+1861-'62, and 1862-'63, exceeds 5,000,000 of bales. This cotton, sold at
+present prices, payable in federal paper, would be worth $1,800,000,000,
+or $1,134,000,000 in gold. If we diminish this one-half, as cotton might
+fall in price from time to time by the gradual reopening of our ports,
+this cotton would still be worth $900,000,000 in our paper, and
+$567,000,000 in gold. This cotton, while putting all our spindles and
+those of the world into full operation, would turn the balance of
+foreign trade at once immensely in our favor, and bring back streams of
+gold to our shores. We would at once commence the liquidation of the
+national debt, with a large sinking fund, as a sacred trust applicable
+to that important subject.
+
+Next to maintaining our finances and the public credit, followed by
+decisive victories in the field, the speedy success of emancipation in
+Missouri is most important. Missouri is larger by more than 6,000 square
+miles than any State east of the Mississippi, and occupies a central
+position between the North and the South, the East and the West. She is
+larger by 16,458 square miles than England proper, containing a
+population of nineteen millions. She is larger by 1,098 square miles
+than New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Delaware. She
+is larger by 5,264 square miles than all the New England States. She has
+a greater white population than the aggregate numbers of North and South
+Carolina and Florida, or of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, or of
+Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, or of Florida, Arkansas, South
+Carolina and Mississippi, or Louisiana; and a larger white population
+than all Virginia, East and West. She had, if disloyal, by her position
+and large white population, more power to imperil the Union than any of
+the slaveholding States. She has been true--she has suffered much in our
+cause, her fields and towns have been laid waste, thousands of her brave
+sons now fill our armies, and thousands more have fallen in our cause,
+and we will be recreant to truth and justice, to the safety of the
+Union, and forfeit the nation's pledge, if we do not now aid her in
+becoming a Free State. The southern boundary of Missouri (lat. 36 deg.) is
+several miles south of Nashville, Tennessee; but, if we take altitude
+also into consideration, then, according to well established
+meteorological principles, the southern boundary of Missouri is at least
+a degree south of Nashville, reaching the northern boundary of Alabama.
+There is then a very large area of Missouri well calculated for the
+production of cotton. To accomplish this, the levee system of the
+Mississippi must be extended from the southern boundary of Missouri to
+the first highlands in that State, above the mouth of the Ohio; and a
+proper system of drainage adopted. These lands would thus be entirely
+secured from overflow, and greatly improved in salubrity. With these
+improvements, Missouri would contain an area of rich alluvial lands,
+well adapted to the profitable culture of cotton, embracing an extent
+capable of producing at least one million of bales of the great staple.
+These lands, considering latitude and altitude, would possess a climate
+similar to that of Middle Tennessee and North Alabama, where cotton is
+already cultivated with great profit. If emancipation prevailed in
+Missouri, these lands would soon be cultivated in cotton by free labor,
+and its immense superiority over the servile system would soon be
+demonstrated. Such a proof of the superiority of free over slave labor,
+even in the culture of cotton, would soon have an immense effect in
+reconciling the South to the disappearance of a system so fatal to her
+own prosperity, and endangering so much the harmony and perpetuity of
+the Union. This Missouri cotton would be nearer the North and Northwest
+than that grown in any other part of the Southwest, and thus supplied at
+a cheaper rate to our manufacturers, while opening new and augmented
+markets for the provisions and breadstuffs of the Northwest. This cotton
+would, in part, pass up the Ohio to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and
+thence to New York, Philadelphia, and New England. It would also in part
+pass through Indiana and Ohio by their railroads and canals. The great
+central railroad of Illinois would carry large portions of it also from
+Cairo to Chicago; but perhaps the largest portion eventually would pass
+up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and enlarged canals to Chicago,
+and thence eastward. With the proposed enlargement of the canal
+connecting the Illinois river with Lake Michigan, and the enlargement of
+the locks of the great Erie canal, extended by a similar enlargement of
+the Chenango branch, and down the Susquehanna to tide water, cotton
+steam propellers would carry the great staple by this route to the
+Hudson and New England, to Baltimore or Philadelphia, at a rate much
+lower than any other Southwestern cotton. The Mississippi would thus
+have a _quintuple_ outlet, as well into the lakes and the Hudson, the
+St. Lawrence, the Delaware, and Chesapeake, as into the Gulf of Mexico,
+and Missouri would be united by new ties with the North, and Northwest,
+as well as with the Middle States. Cairo, St. Louis, Chicago,
+Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo would become considerable
+cotton depots, and slave labor would cease to monopolize the cotton
+culture. But there are other considerations still more momentous.
+Missouri extends from the 36th parallel to 40-1/2, and from the 89th
+meridian to the 96th, thus embracing four degrees and a half of
+latitude, and seven degrees of longitude. She fronts for many hundred
+miles upon the great Mississippi, and commands its western shore; she
+commands also the mouth of the Missouri river, and both its banks for
+several hundred miles, and all its tributaries. The Missouri river and
+its tributaries are nearly double the length of the Mississippi and its
+branches. Missouri by her position dominates the whole valley of her
+great river, and commands Kansas and Western Iowa, and Nebraska, and
+Colorado, Dacotah and New Mexico. If Missouri had joined the Southern
+confederacy, and its power had ever been established, she would have
+forced with her all the vast region to which we have referred,
+containing, including Missouri, an area equal to twenty States of the
+size of Ohio. To separate Missouri forever from the proposed Southern
+confederacy, is to render the permanent establishment of such a
+government impossible. It not only severs Missouri from them, but all
+the vast region identified with the destiny of that great State. Secure
+Missouri permanently and cordially to the Union, and the rebellion is
+doomed to certain overthrow. With the fall of slavery in Missouri by her
+consent, and her cordial cooperation and sympathy with the North and
+Northwest, the days of the rebellion are numbered. With Missouri as a
+Free State, Arkansas, adjacent, cannot retain the institution. Such a
+result, aided by victories, and the reestablishment of our finances,
+would soon give full effect to the edict of emancipation in Arkansas,
+and Louisiana would soon follow. With Missouri as a Free State by her
+consent, and her cordial cooperation and sympathy, slavery would soon
+disappear from the whole region west of the Mississippi, and Louisiana
+cordially be reunited to the Republic. With such a result, holding New
+Orleans and the mouth of the Mississippi and all the region west of that
+great stream, how could Tennessee or Mississippi remain in the Southern
+confederacy? The truth is, Missouri is the pivot upon which the
+rebellion turns. Had she gone with the South, and given to its cause a
+cordial support, it would have been difficult to subdue the rebellion.
+That she has gone with the Union is a momentous fact, and demands for
+her our heartfelt gratitude. I have shown, it is true, how greatly it is
+the interest of Missouri to become a Free State; but it is still more
+the interest of the nation to secure this great result. Give her what is
+needed to render emancipation certain, and we shall have secured the
+perpetuity of the Union. Missouri had no participation in introducing
+African slaves into this continent. The slaves that cultivate her soil
+are the descendants of those who were forced here under the British
+flag, or by the ships of the North, then in a state of colonial
+dependence; and it is just, and the national honor demands, that she
+should receive full compensation. As the existence of slavery in any
+State is a great evil and reproach, and a source of much weakness to the
+whole country, so should the nation compensate for any loss that may be
+occasioned by the abandonment of the system in any loyal State. Not only
+is this just, but the faith of the nation is solemnly pledged by
+resolutions adopted by Congress at its last session to carry this policy
+into full effect with the consent of any State. Twenty millions of
+dollars to secure such a result should be regarded as of little moment.
+Gladly would the nation pay a much larger sum for a single victory. But
+the moral and geographical and strategical victory secured by
+emancipation in Missouri by her consent, will be far more important than
+any triumph yet achieved by our arms. It is a victory that relieves a
+great State now and forever from the curse of slavery. It is a victory
+that secures the whole valley of the mighty Missouri to the Union. It is
+a triumph that sweeps slavery from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas,
+dissevers the Southern confederacy, and restores the whole Mississippi,
+from its mouth to its source, to the Union.
+
+The entire constitutionality of such a proceeding by _compact with a
+State_, was demonstrated by me in the November number of the CONTINENTAL
+MONTHLY, p. 575. Referring to the case of Texas, I there said: 'The
+principle, however, was adopted of State action by irrevocable _compact_
+with the Federal Government, by which provision therein was made for
+abolishing slavery in all such States, north of a certain parallel of
+latitude (embracing a territory larger than New England), as might be
+thereafter admitted by the subdivision of the State of Texas. The power
+of action on this subject, by compact of a State with the General
+Government, was then clearly established, in perfect accordance with
+repeated previous acts of Congress then cited by me. The doctrine rests
+upon the elemental principle of the combined authority of the nation,
+and a State, acting by compact within its limits.' When Missouri, with
+her consent, shall have become a Free State, the leaders of the Southern
+rebellion will feel that they have received a mortal blow. Especially
+will this be the case in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee,
+Mississippi, and Alabama. We shall have cut the gordian knot of slavery,
+and the death agonies of the hydra would soon be visible. The importance
+of the result would be felt in the North also, and the wretched traitors
+there, far more guilty even than those of the South, will shrink from
+their atrocious conspiracy to dissolve this Union. The dark plot of
+severing New England from the Republic and of reuniting the rest of the
+States with the Southern confederacy, will be abandoned. That such a
+scheme is contemplated by Northern traitors, and that it is tolerated in
+the South, _on condition_ that all shall become Slave States, is beyond
+controversy. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the Northwest are
+to abandon their free institutions, become slaveholding States, and be
+admitted as such into the Southern confederacy. I had supposed that
+crime had achieved its climax when the Southern rebellion was
+inaugurated; but something more base, more vile, more cowardly,
+debasing, and pusillanimous, it seems, is now contemplated. It is that
+New England shall be expelled, and that the rest of the Free States
+shall come under the dominion of the Southern confederacy. But the
+leaders of this scheme seem to have forgotten the fact, that New
+England, to a vast extent, has peopled the Northwest, and carried there
+their love of free institutions. The descendants of the pilgrims are
+scattered throughout the Northwest, and churches, and free schools, and
+love of liberty have gone with them. The scheme is as base and cowardly
+as it is impracticable. No! New England can never be expelled from this
+Union. There the grand idea of the American Union was first conceived;
+there the cradle of liberty was first rocked, before as well as amid the
+storms of the Revolution; there the first blood was shed, the first
+battles fought, the first flag of Union and Liberty unfurled, and there
+it shall float forever. There are Lexington, and Concord, and Bunker
+Hill, and no traitor hand shall ever sever them from the American Union.
+Not an acre of the soil of New England or a drop of all its waters shall
+ever be surrendered by this great Republic; and from Lake Champlain and
+the Housatonick to the St. Croix and St. Johns, the flag of the Union
+shall ever float in undiminished glory. Lake Champlain unites Vermont
+and New England with the Hudson, the lakes, and St. Lawrence; and Long
+Island Sound, commanding the deepest approaches to New York, completes
+the connection, which is a geographical and political necessity. I am
+not a New Englander by parentage, birth, or education, but if the other
+Free States of the North and Northwest should submit to the disgrace of
+uniting themselves with a Southern confederacy, I should remove to New
+England, and breathe an air uncontaminated by slavery or treason. And
+there are hundreds of thousands who would pursue the same course. When,
+in 1798, the great Washington feared that the South might be separated
+by traitors from the Union, he declared that, in such an event, he would
+remove to the North; and, in such a contingency, there are thousands,
+even in the South, who would remove to New England.[7]
+
+Those of the North and Northwest, who should remain and carry their
+States into the Southern confederacy, would be regarded in the South
+with loathing and contempt; the whole civilized world would consider
+their degradation as complete and eternal. They would soon loathe
+themselves, and feel that it was not only the negroes who were enslaved,
+but that they had put fetters upon their own limbs, and rendered
+themselves worthy to be worked as slaves on the plantations of Southern
+masters. I do not believe any of the Free States of the North and
+Northwest can thus be disgraced and humiliated. There is one of these
+States, I am sure, that will never submit to such degradation. It is the
+State of Pennsylvania. There the Declaration of American Independence
+was first proclaimed. There the Articles of Confederation and the
+Constitution were framed. There are Germantown, Paoli, and Brandywine:
+there Washington crossed the Delaware at midnight, and fought the two
+great battles of the war of independence. There Franklin sleeps within
+her soil, the great patriot, philosopher, and statesman whom New England
+gave to Pennsylvania, the Union, and the world. No! No! from the
+Delaware and Susquehanna to the Ohio and Lake Erie, the people of a
+mighty State would consign to the scaffold and the block the wretched
+traitors who would attempt to sever Pennsylvania from New England. Ice
+and granite are called the principal products of New England, but our
+Revolution and this rebellion prove that her great staples are
+intellect, education, liberty, courage, and patriotism. She is said to
+have Puritan angularities and to love money; but she pours out now, as
+in 1776, lavish expenditures of her treasure in defence of the Union;
+and the blood of her sons empurples the ocean and the lakes in every
+naval conflict, and moistens all the battle fields of the nation. No!
+all the traitors of the South, and all the Burrs, Arnolds, and Catalines
+of the North can never sever New England from the Republic. And now, in
+this hour of our country's peril, Missouri stretches her hands to New
+England, and to all the free and loyal States, and proposes, with their
+assistance, to abolish slavery, and link her destiny with theirs in the
+bonds of a perpetual Union. And shall we hesitate for a moment, on such
+a question? The money consideration is far less than a month's cost of
+the war, and sinks into insignificance compared with the momentous
+results and consequences. Emancipation in Missouri, with her consent and
+the aid of Congress, is the first grand decisive victory of the Union in
+this contest, insures eventual success, and must now be placed beyond
+all hazard or contingency.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 7: 7th vol. Hamilton's 'Republic,' p. 189, and Jefferson's
+'Autograph.']
+
+
+
+
+THE SOLDIER'S BURIAL.
+
+
+   Where shall we lay our comrade down?
+     Where shall the brave one sleep?
+   The battle's past, the victory won,
+     Now we have time to weep!
+       Bury him on the mountain's brow,
+         Where he fought so well;
+       Bury him where the laurels grow--
+         There he bravely fell!
+
+   There lay him in his generous blood,
+     For there first comes the light
+   When morning earliest breaks the cloud,
+     And lingers last at night!
+
+   What though no flow'ret there may bloom
+     To scent the chilly air,
+   The sky shall stoop to wrap his tomb,
+     The stars will watch him there!
+
+   What though no stone may mark his grave,
+     Yet Fame shall tell his race
+   Where sleeps the one so kind, so brave,
+     And God will find the place!
+        Bury him on the mountain's brow,
+          Where he fought so well;
+        Bury him where the laurels grow--
+          There he bravely fell!
+
+
+
+LITERARY NOTICES.
+
+
+     THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION, by AUGUSTIN COCHIN, Ex-Mayor and
+     Municipal Councillor of Paris. Work crowned by the Institute of
+     France. Translated by MARY L. BOOTH, translator of Count de
+     Gasparin's works on America, &c. Boston: Walker, Wise & Co. 1863.
+
+AUGUSTIN COCHIN, author of the work before us, is a man of a class in
+France from which we are specially well pleased to see vindications of
+Emancipation and of the policy of the Federal Union arise. His position
+is well and briefly stated in the preface as that of a Legitimist, a
+fast friend and ally of Count de Montalembert in his effort to raise up
+a Catholic Liberal party for the development of republican sentiments
+and institutions, and the ardent coadjutor of Pere Lacordaire,
+Monseigneur d'Orleans, Viscount de Melun, and a host of other moderate
+reformers in behalf of freedom. He has some little reputation as a
+writer on public and political topics; is highly connected, and, what is
+perhaps more to the purpose than aught else, is a very practical man,
+and son-in-law to Benoist d'Azy, who, possessed of an immense fortune,
+an extensive landowner and proprietor of iron forges, has done perhaps
+more than any other man to advance the material interests of his country
+by railway building, mining, and agricultural improvements. We say that
+this is more to the purpose, since it is of importance that the men who
+_actively_ employ capital should understand the falsehood of slavery as
+a productive force in any system of labor, anywhere, at the present day.
+And it is highly significant when we find such men so far enlightened in
+France at this time, where, although, as we learn, very advanced views
+in political economy are set forth, we have still apprehended that a
+deeply based attachment to slavery, common to all the Latin races,
+prevails. That the Radicals should oppose slavery is but natural, but
+such views among the highly cultivated aristocracy are indeed
+encouraging.
+
+We cannot agree with M. Villemain, who, in his report from the Academy,
+decreeing a prize of three thousand francs to M. Cochin for this work,
+speaks of it as inspired with 'eloquent zeal' and 'ardor.' It is very
+far from what it might have been as a _literary_ production; and to one
+not interested in the facts and subject, is even--with the exception of
+its excellent Introduction--dry. The author is decidedly an economist,
+but he is _not_ 'an apostle,' as his eulogist claims, unless it be in
+the sense in which any great collector and publisher of truths may be
+termed such. But on its true basis the work is indeed a great one, fully
+deserving the publisher's advertisement words, 'opportune and
+important.' The volume before us is a complete history, in a minor
+degree, of Slavery, and to a very full degree of Emancipation in the
+English and French colonies, with some account of the same in those
+belonging to Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. Having made for many years a
+specialty of the subject, and having had placed at his disposal the
+published and unpublished papers and records of every ministry of
+Europe, as, for instance, of the English Board of Trade, M. Cochin has
+accumulated a mass of extremely valuable material--all of which is
+presented in a very clear, perfectly well arranged form--and which we
+need not say should be read by every one in public, since there is
+certainly no intelligent American at the present day on whom the
+necessity of acquiring full information on this subject is not almost a
+solemn duty. Next after crushing rebellion, the great task of the
+Federal Government should be to organize labor and adopt a vigorous
+_central_ and _industrial_ policy. To do this, the relations of free and
+of slave labor to circumstances should be extensively studied. As in the
+case of all wars involving an institution, the question between the
+North and the South at the present day is simply one between ignorance
+and knowledge--knowledge such as books like this are eminently adapted
+to disseminate.
+
+Passing by religious and philosophic argument, neither of which has been
+of much practical avail in this country, since we see the Church of the
+South quite as zealous in upholding slavery on Biblical grounds as that
+of the North is in opposing it, we come to Cochin's first real
+argument--that political economy affirms the superiority of free over
+forced labor. Policy and charity unite in this--'charity detests slavery
+because it oppresses; policy, more elevated, condemns it _because it
+corrupts the inferior race_.'
+
+We call attention to this sentence because it accurately expresses the
+difference between mere 'Abolition,' which regarded only the sufferings
+of the blacks, and that higher and more comprehensive policy of
+'EMANCIPATION FOR THE SAKE OF THE WHITE MAN,' which declares that
+slavery always in time inevitably makes of the slaveholder an
+intolerable neighbor to the free white laborer. From this point our
+author sets forth the gradual growth of the aversion to slavery all over
+the Continent, with the reactionary tendency in its favor in the Cotton
+United States and in England. It is needless to say that, before the
+overwhelming light of _facts_ presented, especially when these facts are
+drawn from the past as well as the present, and from every country
+instead of _one_, slavery is shown to be more than deadly-conservative;
+more than cruel; more than a mere dead wall in the way of the onward
+march of the century. The time will come when such a curse will be
+rooted out of a country by the strong hand of all civilized nations. Had
+England and France been truly enlightened to their own interests, this
+war would never have taken place.
+
+The history of the African slave trade and the efforts to destroy it,
+the Emancipation of the French Convention and the reestablishment of
+slavery by the Consulate, from 1794 to 1802, form the first chapter of
+this work. Hence we have its history, its abolition in 1848, and, after
+this, that most important part, a careful examination of the results of
+Emancipation, showing--as Sewall and others have done--the grossness of
+the current falsehood to the effect that it has led to evil results. For
+those who can see only a part instead of the whole, who regard the
+amount of good done to themselves as the test of everything, who make no
+allowance for a social transition, or for a future (like our own
+'treason-Democrats'), and who see in the black, whether slave or free,
+simply a creature whose whole mission is to benefit the white, it is
+true that Emancipation in certain isolated cases may not appear to have
+fully succeeded. The _truth_ is, that freed labor has nowhere
+diminished--it has simply assumed _new forms_, more advantageous, for
+the time, to the laborer, while in most cases it has increased its
+profits. If slaves were overworked, there was no real gain;--if schools
+and marriage, cleanly independence and good clothing have increased
+tenfold among those who were once naked, starved, and ignorant, there
+has been a gain, although here and there less sugar is exported. And so
+the reader may trace the arguments and facts to the end.
+
+Yet, after all, we feel almost ashamed that such a book should be really
+needed! What true _scholar_ and honest man requires arguments of this
+kind? A thousand or two years ago, any king's daughter, any young lady,
+anybody walking in a lonely spot, was in danger of being kidnapped and
+sold to prostitution or slavery. Philosophers, poets, and artists were
+owned by brutal wretches; pious priests purchased gentlemen of noble
+birth for slaves. The pirate's galley swept every coast to steal any
+human being. Time rolled on, and slavery was modified. White slaves
+became serfs, serfs became free. The cause of emancipation is clear as
+that of any progressive reform--and yet, right in the face of history
+and God's truth, we see the Southern Confederacy and the British people
+daring to put themselves forward as the advocates of a crime so rapidly
+becoming obsolete. Yes--that is what the land of Wilberforce is now
+_practically_ doing, while several of her writers, turning on their
+tracks, are beginning to 'reconsider' the subject in their writings!
+
+
+     WAR SONGS FOR FREEMEN. Dedicated to the Army of the United States.
+     Third Edition. Printed for the New York Volunteers. Boston: Ticknor
+     & Fields.
+
+Have you a friend in the army, especially one who sings occasionally, or
+if he be not canorous, say a friend who likes to read songs and hear
+them sung by others? In other words, would you, young lady reader (or
+any other reader), like to give some soldier at least half an hour's
+amusement for a very trivial outlay? In such case we recommend you to
+purchase this little pamphlet, and investing in a postage stamp, send it
+off without delay to the Army of the ----, whatever _that_ may be.
+
+The work in question contains thirty songs of the war, mostly written
+expressly for the book, and each accompanied by the music, in nearly all
+cases with the bass. Among the contributors are Dr. O. W. Holmes, who
+has given two capital lyrics, 'Union' and 'Liberty,' and a superb
+trumpet song, well adapted to _Was blasen die Trompeten?_ or 'What are
+the trumpets blowing?' a spirited German air. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe
+contributes a 'Harvard Student's Song', which is of course brilliant,
+earnest, and beautiful. It is set to the glorious old
+Slavonian--subsequently German air:
+
+   'Denkst du duran mein tapf'rer Lagienka?'
+
+which no one ever heard without loving. C. T. Brooks, has given to the
+grand and swelling _Landesvater_ words in every way worthy of it:
+
+           'Comrades plighted,
+           Fast united,
+       Firm to death for Freedom stand!
+   See your country torn and bleeding,
+   Hear a mother's solemn pleading!
+       Rescue Freedom's promised land.'
+
+The same author also gives the well known 'Korner's Prayer,' and 'The
+Vow.' From Mrs. T. Sedgwick we find a fine bold song, 'For a' that and
+a' that,' of course to the good old air of that name--a lyric of such
+decided merit in most respects that we regret to notice in it the
+venerable bull of 'polar stars,' quizzed long ago in another writer. Our
+contributor, Henry Perry Leland, has in this collection two songs, both
+strongly marked with the camp, neither setting forth the slightest
+earthly claim to be regarded as 'elevated poesie,' yet both remarkably
+sing-able, and probably destined to become broadly popular. Of these,
+'Bully Boy Billy,' is set to a lilting 'devil may care' Low-Dutch camp
+tune--one of the kind which 'sings itself,' and is well adapted to a
+roaring chorus. From the same we find a lyric detailing the loss of a
+briarwood pipe stolen in a raid, which the grieving 'sojer' trusts (as
+we most sincerely do with him) may be found when Richmond's taken. Among
+the remaining lyrics are five by Charles Godfrey Leland, including
+'We're at War,' to the bold French air of the _Choeur des Girondins_,
+'Northmen Come Out,' to the _Burschen heraus_, and 'Shall Freedom Droop
+and Die?' to the fine old air of 'Trelawney.' 'The Cavalry Song' has a
+brave air, composed for it by John K. Paine. Very spirited and merry is
+'Overtures from Richmond,' set to the quaint air of '_Lilliburlero,
+bullen a la_,' which is said to have 'sung a deluded prince out of three
+kingdoms.' We trust that some of the old charm still sticks to the magic
+words, and that it may do as much for King Jeff. as it once did for King
+James. Among the remaining lyrics are the following: 'Put it Through,'
+and 'Old Faneuil Hall,' by E. E. Hale; 'Our Country is Calling,' to
+'_Wohlauf Kameraden!_' by Rev. F. H. Hedge, and a translation of
+Luther's _Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott_ by the same; Hauff's 'Night
+Guard,' an exquisite German air, and 'I'll be a Sergeant,' and 'Would
+you be a Soldier, Laddy?' both of them capital spirited soldier-songs.
+Last, not least, we have the 'Lass of the Pamunkey,' by F. J. Child. We
+know not whether the incident detailed be strictly autobiographic or
+borrowed; it is at any rate well told and merrily music-ed.
+
+The reader will do well to observe that this collection, which has
+already become immensely popular, and has furnished material for more
+than one excellent patriotic concert, is prepared solely for the benefit
+of the solders, _and that the proceeds of the sale of the book are all
+devoted to distributing it in the army_. All who wish to make a most
+acceptable little gift at a trifling price; all who are 'sending things'
+to the army; all who would secure an interesting specimen of the songs
+of the war, and, finally, all who would own a really excellent musical
+work, should send an order for the above mentioned to Messrs. Ticknor &
+Fields.
+
+
+     THE NATIONAL ALMANAC AND ANNUAL RECORD FOR 1863. 12mo, pp. 704.
+     Philadelphia: George W. Childs. New York: Charles T. Evans.
+
+If Dickens's illustrious statistician, Mr. Gradgrind, were in the flesh
+to-day, how he would gloat over this book! The 'facts' presented in its
+seven hundred double-columned pages would satisfy, even to repletion,
+his voracious cravings; and once crammed with them, he would go forth
+into society a walking cyclopedia of all that appertained to the civil,
+military, agricultural, industrial, financial, educational, charitable,
+and religious condition of these United States.
+
+But though we make no claim to belong to the Gradgrind family, we
+acknowledge with pleasure our gratification with this book. It has long
+been matter of reproach against us on the part of foreign writers on
+commerce and statistical science, that we produced no statistical works
+worthy the name. The publication of this work will forever put that
+reproach to silence. We have examined the book with care, and have been
+at a loss which most to admire, the patient and extraordinary labor
+which had brought together so vast a collection of important facts, or
+the complete and exhaustive treatment of every subject.
+
+It is a marked characteristic of the work that, while omitting nothing
+necessary to a full elucidation of the past condition of the country, it
+brings all its statistics up to the latest dates. The United States debt
+is given to December 1, 1862; the Government receipts and expenditures
+for the financial year 1862; the issues of the mint to the autumn of
+1862; the contributions of each State to the volunteer army to December,
+1862; the finances of most of the States to the same date; even the
+Pacific States being brought up to last autumn; and the condition of the
+Rebel army and finances to January 1, 1863. Such enterprise deserves,
+and must achieve success.
+
+Noticeable, too, for its completeness and thoroughness, is the 'Record
+of Events' of the war, occupying nearly eighty pages, and forming a
+continuous and admirable journal of the war up to the close of last
+year. In the States, also, the fulness and variety of detail of the
+finances, debts, banks, railroads (a new feature), educational
+institutions, charitable and correctional organizations, agriculture,
+manufactures, and military organization of each State, possess a deep
+interest to any man who desires to know the actual condition and
+resources of his country. We were particularly pleased with a series of
+diagrams, prepared by Prof. Gillespie of Union College, illustrating at
+a glance the changes which have taken place in the relative population
+of the different States, the relative proportion of increase of white
+and of slave population, and the effect produced by this upon different
+sections. We have not, at the late hour at which we write, time or room
+to indicate a tithe of the valuable features of this remarkable book; we
+can only say, that whoever expends the small sum necessary for its
+purchase, will most assuredly obtain an ample equivalent for his money.
+
+
+     THE ORPHEUS C. KERR PAPERS. Second Series. New York: Carleton, 413
+     Broadway. 1863.
+
+During the present decade the American public has welcomed almost
+annually a new humorist. Thus we have seen in rapid succession John
+Phoenix, Doesticks, Fanny Fern, and Artemus Ward enjoying
+extraordinary popularity, and then new 'lords of misrule' 'reigning in
+their stead.' The last popular favorite is 'Orpheus C. Kerr'--a name
+thinly disguising that of Office Seeker, and which is not indeed too
+well chosen, since in the volume before us little or nothing relative to
+the very suggestive subject of office-seeking, on the part of the author
+at least, is to be found. The book itself is, however, marvellously
+laugh provoking, abounding in the oddest conceits, strangest stories,
+and drollest extravaganzas in the most ultra American vein. If the men
+who best ridicule great failures in war and in politics, are the ones
+most to be dreaded, it must be admitted that 'Orpheus C. Kerr' is the
+sharpest thorn which has been as yet planted in the side of the 'Young
+Napoleons' of our army, whose ability seems to consist in building up
+the strength of the enemy by delay and in canvassing indirectly for the
+Presidency. There is no cause so good as to be without abuses, and the
+abuses which have crept into our management of the war are touched off
+in these papers as merrily as unmercifully. They have done 'yeoman's
+service' in the press, hitting all sides, but bearing most heavily on
+'Young Napoleon' and the _status quo_ Democracy. It cannot be denied
+that the humor of these sketches is often merely extravagant, sometimes
+harshly strained, and occasionally bare and thin enough in all
+conscience, while the stories of the Cosmopolite Club seem like mere
+'filling up' to 'make pages;' yet with all this there is more real wit,
+humor, and life-knowledge in this volume than would give tone and
+strength to half a dozen ordinary popular essayists of the Country
+Parson school. Extravagance is however to American narrative what it is
+to Arab conversation, something much less _outre_ to those who are born
+to it than to strangers, who are unable to discount like the natives as
+fast as the sums total are set down. Making every allowance for every
+defect, there remains in 'Orpheus C. Kerr' a residuum of irresistible
+humor, provoking scores of hearty laughs, and many indications of a
+basis of thought and of literary ability which place him far in advance
+of the later writers of his school. He takes a wider range, too wide
+indeed at times, since he occasionally becomes 'Cockneyfied.' We wish
+that 'Villiam' and the Willis-y 'my boy' were less frequently mentioned.
+Yet as all this is atoned for by abundance of true American fun, we
+readily pardon such echoes, trusting that in his future writings our
+humorist will endeavor to be in all things truly original. He can be so
+by the very simple process of pruning.
+
+
+     POEMS. By THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH. New York: Carleton. 1863.
+
+Most of these very pleasant little strains of word-music and of graceful
+thought have been frequently brought before the American public, and
+become familiar favorites. They now reappear to advantage in a delicate
+blue-and-gold volume, with a medallion portrait of the poet.
+
+
+     MODERN WAR: Its Theory and Practice Illustrated from Celebrated
+     Campaigns and Battles. With Maps and Diagrams. By EMERIC SZABAD,
+     Captain U. S. A. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1863.
+
+An excellent work, of an eminently practical nature, which may be read
+with interest and profit by every one in a time when there
+are so few who do not assume to be more or less critical in the art of war.
+
+
+     THE PIRATES OF THE PRAIRIES; or, Adventures in the American Desert.
+     By GUSTAVE AIMARD. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson. New York: Frederic
+     A. Brady. 1863.
+
+A very trashy wildcat romance, highly spiced with sensation sentiment,
+"r-r-revenge," and other melo-dramatic attributes. Its author is well
+known as an extensive contributor to what may be called the
+Sadly-Neglected-Apprentice school of literature and of readers.
+
+
+     ANDREE DE TAVERNEY, or the Downfall of French Monarchy. By
+     ALEXANDER DUMAS. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson & Brothers. 1863.
+
+When we, on the publishers' authority, inform the reader that this is
+really 'the _final_ conclusion' of the 'Countess of Charny,' the
+'Memoirs of a Physician,' and a small library of other works, we shall
+doubtless send a thrill of joy to more than one heart. Incredible as it
+may appear, the Dumas factory, as _Maquet_ termed it, has actually
+finished one of its valuable historical series--unless indeed the
+director-in-chief should see fit to republish the long-forgotten first
+volume, as a subsequent final conclusion to this of 'Andree de
+Taverney.'
+
+
+     VERNER'S PRIDE; a Tale of Domestic Life. By Mrs. HENRY WOOD. In two
+     volumes. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson & Brothers. 1863.
+
+A decidedly English novel, of a type well known to our public, embracing
+few novelties of character, yet well written, with the story well told.
+It has, we believe, been so fortunate as to secure a wide circulation.
+
+
+
+
+EDITOR'S TABLE.
+
+
+It is a dangerous task for the editor of a monthly review, in times like
+these, to comment on what has been or is likely to be done by the army,
+when no one knows what a day may bring forth. But, as regards those of
+the enemy among us who are scheming to aid and abet their Southern
+friends, we may speak more confidently. These traitors, though they have
+of late cast off the mask, and no longer pretend to aid the
+Administration and the cause of the Union, are still obliged to move
+with the caution without which trachery and cowardice would soon perish.
+It is, however, a bitter and a humiliating thought that they are so
+openly active among us, that they hold meetings where the ruin of the
+country is calmly meditated, that they form clubs, that they stir up the
+mob of their degraded hangers-on to hurrah for JEFFERSON DAVIS in our
+streets, and that finally no amount of exposure and of denunciation in
+the patriotic press seems to have the slightest effect in attracting to
+them the punishment they deserve.
+
+The traitors of whom we speak are of two classes, the leaders and the
+dupes. The latter, careless of the fact that even if a _sudden_ peace
+could be brought about it must overwhelm the country in financial ruin,
+believe in a restitution of the _status quo ante bellum_. They think
+that their leaders will, in unison with DAVIS and his colleagues,
+reunite, annul Emancipation, disavow the acts of the Lincoln
+Administration, and reestablish Slavery. Cotton is again to be king, and
+all go on as of old, save that New England is to be thrown out of the
+confederacy. They are encouraged in this belief by lying or cunningly
+managed letters from the South, and by assurances that the confederate
+leaders are secretly working to this end and aim. 'We got along very
+well before the war,' is their constant complaint, 'and we could do as
+well again, were it not for the Emancipationists.' Among the lukewarm,
+the cowardly, the meanly selfish and avaricious, and the habitual
+grumblers, such doctrines are readily made plausible. Those especially,
+who measure the propriety of carrying on a war solely by the amount of
+success which they desire, and who are incapable of great thoughts and
+principles, are easily duped by intriguing villany.
+
+The leaders of these dupes have no faith whatever in restoring the
+Union. They have no desire to restore it. Men like Fernando Wood hope
+from their very hearts for a complete disintegration--the more thorough,
+for them, the better. They could never expect to command the ship, and
+so they are willing to wreck her, in the hope of each securing a
+fragment. Ruined in character in the eyes of all honest men, their names
+a byword for treason, and in most cases for literal crimes, political
+outcasts of the stamp who are said to vibrate between the legislature
+and the penitentiary, these desperadoes are now working with all their
+might to mass the cowardice of the North into a body powerful enough to
+do collectively, that for which an individual has in all countries and
+in all ages been judged worthy the gallows. But for this war they must
+have been confined to representing the dangerous classes of our
+cities--the ignorance and vice which finds in them congenial leaders. As
+it is, they hope for wider fields and more absolute sway.
+
+There is reason to apprehend that the men who are really true to the
+Union do not appreciate the extent to which treason is working among us.
+Worse than all, there are many, who, while believing themselves true to
+the good cause, are, by constant grumbling and complaint, aiding the
+very worst form of disunion. Could we prevail with one prayer upon the
+heart of every Federal freeman, it would be to implore him in this hour
+of trial not to withold his warmest support from the Administration and
+to fall into the common weakness of fault-finding and despairing. Such
+enormous wars as this never have been ended in a few months; wars
+especially which involve the deepest antagonism of social principles in
+existence. And our winnings have been neither few nor light. The
+Southern Border States, with little exception, are now ours, and will
+inevitably be fully won in time: New Orleans is a pledge, with other
+important points, and the enemy admit that every Southern seaboard town
+is destined to be taken. Does this look like the wild boasting of the
+South two years ago, when the North was to be plundered, Washington
+taken, and the Free States trampled under the heel of a chivalry
+fiercely crying, _Vae victis!_'--'Woe to the conquered!'? There is no
+danger now from the enemy: as he himself admits, two years more of the
+war would not, at the rate in which we progress, leave him a single
+State; and be it borne in mind that a _speedy_ return to peace is only
+to be purchased at the price of a terrible financial crisis.
+
+But we are in danger from the traitors _at home_. JEFFERSON DAVIS is
+less deadly to the Federal Union and less to be dreaded than the men who
+are scheming to make of New York a free city, and of every State and
+county a feudal principality.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The intentions of Louis Napoleon as regards Mexico are beginning to
+excite interest. Whatever they may be, there is one thing which it would
+be well for the French Emperor never to forget. He holds France simply
+as a pledge to the Revolution. So long as he remains true to the cause
+of liberty--and, despite names and circumstances, he has been truer to
+it than many suppose--he will remain in power. When he is false to it he
+will perish. It was through forgetting this that his uncle died at St.
+Helena--it was through forgetting this that Louis Philippe quitted Paris
+in a very citizenly but most un-kingly manner. The _bourgeoisie_ of
+France and the gossips of Paris may storm at the Federal Union,
+_epiciers_ may growl for our sugar, and operatives for cotton, but this
+class--on whom Louis Philippe made the mistake of solely relying, with a
+little help from the aristocracy--are not the men who guide the storms
+of revolution in France. The arch spirits of mischief are more secret,
+and of late years they have learned much. They are no longer so much
+inclined to Socialism, Pere Cabet and 'national ateliers,' still less to
+guillotines and noyades. But they are firm as ever, as jealous of
+despotism as ever, and, for an oppressor, as powerful as ever. And we
+believe that this class of men are firmly attached to the great cause of
+progressive freedom as represented by the Federal States and by the
+present Administration. Every day sees the truth spreading in France,
+and with its extension goes a deeply seated interest in the abolition of
+slavery. France--unlike England--feels shame at the idea of being
+chronicled in history as aiding oppression. The Frenchman is not so
+enormously conceited, so pitiably vain as to believe, like the Briton,
+that a crime is a virtue when for _his_ own peculiar interest. Vain as
+the French may be, they have not quite come to _that_.
+
+It must be admitted that the French are a shrewd nation. We were wont to
+think of old that there was more spite than intelligence in the epithet
+by which they characterized John Bull as 'perfidious.' They were right,
+for time has shown us that Venice, in the full bloom of her night-shade
+iniquity and poniard policy, was never falser at heart than this great,
+brawling, boasting, beef-eating England--this 'merry England' of paupers
+and prisons, where one man in every eight is buried at public
+expense--this Mother England, which starves away annually half a million
+of emigrants--this Honest Old England, which floods the world with
+pick-pockets, burglars, and correspondents for the _Times_.
+
+It was a trifling thing which brought on the French Revolution of
+1848--the return of foreign refugees to Austria, and other significant
+indications of joining with the old powers in oppressing freedom. Let
+Louis Napoleon beware of an anti-American policy--for to every such
+policy there will be an opposition, with a spectre of the Revolution in
+the background.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When these remarks meet the eye of the reader, the infamous conduct of
+the drunken Delaware Southern-ape Senator, SAULSBURY, will in all
+probability have been forgotten. We have for so many years been so
+familiarized with the ribald or rowdy pranks of the chivalry, and of
+those more miserable wretches their Northern servants, that the mass of
+the public seems even yet quite willing to endure, for the poor payment
+of an apology, conduct which should anywhere have promptly consigned to
+imprisonment, at least, the guilty one. Not but that the apology of
+SAULSBURY was humble enough in all conscience. But it is time that our
+halls of legislation were thoroughly purified, now that 'chivalric'
+brigandage and the Southern system of personal retaliation no longer
+prevail. The first legislator who shall dare to draw a weapon in a place
+sacred to the councils of his country, should be permanently expelled
+from those councils, and made to feel by rigorous imprisonment, and
+life-long disfranchisement, the enormous infamy of his offence. We
+wonder that the English press treats us as a nation of boors and fools,
+and yet permit a representative on the floor of the Senate to set forth
+in his own person the worst of which a boor or fool is capable, and
+accept as full reparation a drunken-headaching apology!
+
+These are the days of reform, and we sincerely trust that the reform
+will extend to the conduct of all our representatives, especially in
+Congress. The man who shall dare to apply, not merely to the President,
+but to any fellow member, while in either House, any terms of personal
+abuse, should incur a punishment which would teach him for the future to
+keep a civil tongue in his head, and make him endeavor to assume in
+future, at least the outward deportment of a gentleman. The going armed
+into such an assembly should however be promptly visited with a penalty
+of the extremest severity. It is time that the North freed itself
+entirely of these Southern 'dead rabbits' of the Saulsbury stamp, and
+indicated by every means in its power its determination to progress in
+the path of justice, order, and civilization.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All contributions, letters, &c., intended for the editors of THE
+CONTINENTAL MAGAZINE, should be addressed to the care of JOHN F. TROW,
+Esquire, No. 50 Greene street, New York. Correspondents directing to Mr.
+LELAND are particularly requested to bear this address in mind, as that
+gentleman is no longer a resident of Boston.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We publish the poetical tale, THE LADY AND HER SLAVE, by an American
+lady, subscribing herself _Incognita_. This is a poem of great genius
+and power. Whilst it possesses the inspiration of poetry, it has all the
+merits of a truthful and most interesting tale, combined with a splendid
+intellectual argument against slavery. This poem unites the logic of
+Pope with the genius and poetical inspiration of Goldsmith. It is a
+tragedy, and might be transferred to the stage. We trust _Incognita_
+will continue her favors to THE CONTINENTAL.
+
+R. J. W.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The rise in specie and in exchange is, we observe, spoken of as
+'unprecedented'. The following extract from a work entitled, 'The
+British Empire in America,' written in 1740, shows that we are as yet
+far from having attained the differences in these respects:
+
+     'As to Money, they have none, Gold or Silver: About 50 Years ago
+     they had some coined at _Boston_; but there's not enough now for
+     Retailers. All Payments are in Province Bills, even so low as _Half
+     a Crown_; thus every Man's Money is his Pocket Book. This makes the
+     Course of Exchange so exorbitant, that 100_l._ in _London_ made out
+     lately 225_l._ in _New-England_; and if a Merchant sells his Goods
+     from _England_ at 220_l._ Advance upon 100_l._ in the Invoice, he
+     would be a Loser by the Bargain, considering the incidental Charges
+     on his Invoice.'
+
+So that after all, they had as great 'ups and downs' of old as do we of
+the present day.
+
+Apropos of the old book in question, it abounds in quaint bits of
+information, given in a dry, free and easy style seldom found at the
+present day in any work of the kind. Thus it tells us, among the
+anecdotes of ELLIOT the missionary, that an Indian in a religious
+conference asked how GOD could create man in his own image, since
+according to the second commandment it was forbidden to make any such
+image?
+
+'To qualify him for the Work he was going about, Mr _Elliot_ learnt the
+_Indian_ Language as barbarous as can come out of the Mouth of Man, as
+will be seen by these Instances:
+
+'_Nummatchekodtantamoonganunnonash_, is in English, _Our Lusts_; a Word
+that the Reverend Mr _Elliot_ must often have occasion to make Use of.
+As long as it is, we meet with a longer still:
+
+'_Kummogkodonattoottummoooctiteaongannunonash_, meaning Our Question.
+
+'_Gannunonash_' seems to be 'our,' because we find it in the End of the
+First Word, as well as the second, * * and this appears again in another
+Word:
+
+'_Noowomantammooonkanunnonash_, 'Our Loves.'
+
+'The longest of these _Indian_ Words is to be measured by the Inch, and
+reaches to near half a Foot; and if Mr _Elliot_ did put as many of these
+Words in a Sermon of his, as Mr _Peters_ put _English_ Words in one of
+his Sermons, everyone of them must have made a sizeable Book and have
+taken up three or four Hours in utterance.'
+
+The Peters referred to was the celebrated Hugh Peters, Cromwell's
+chaplain. Our author vindicates this clergyman from certain scandalous
+charges, declaring that he had asked of his daughter, Miss Peters, if
+they were so, which she had utterly denied! Less credulous is he as
+regarded 'William Pen' (with whom he seems to have been on terms of
+great personal intimacy), since he hints very broadly in one passage,
+that he put no faith whatever in a certain assertion of 'Pen' as to his
+own (Penn's) good behavior when amiably smiled on by a _belle sauvage_,
+who, as the French would say, was not savage at all. 'Scandal, scandal
+all,' we doubt not. There are gossipers in every age, tattlers in every
+corner of history, and who escapes them? Cato did not, Washington could
+not, and 'Mr Pen' even must fill his place with the great maligned. Let
+us trust that our incautious dip from the old work may not, suggest to
+any novel maker 'Penn and the Princess,--a Tale of the Olden Time.'
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following poem, which we find in the Philadelphia _Press_, is among
+the best of the many sad lyrics which the war has inspired. The music of
+the refrain is remarkable:
+
+
+DIRGE FOR A SOLDIER.
+
+By George H. Boker
+
+   Close his eyes; his work is done!
+     What to him is friend or foeman,
+   Rise of moon, or set of sun,
+     Hand of man, or kiss of woman?
+       Lay him low, lay him low,
+       In the clover or the snow:
+       What cares he? he cannot know:
+         Lay him low!
+
+   As man may, he fought his fight,
+     Proved his truth by his endeavor;
+   Let him sleep in solemn night,
+     Sleep forever and forever.
+       Lay him low, lay him low,
+       In the clover or the snow:
+       What cares he? he cannot know:
+         Lay him low!
+
+   Fold him in his country's stars;
+     Roll the drum and fire the volley!
+   What to him are all our wars,
+     What but death bemocking folly?
+       Lay him low, lay him low,
+       In the clover or the snow:
+       What cares he? he cannot know:
+         Lay him low!
+
+   Leave him to God's watching eye;
+     Trust him to the Hand that made him.
+   Mortal love weeps idly by:
+     God alone has power to aid him.
+       Lay him low, lay him low,
+       In the clover or the snow:
+       What cares he? he cannot know:
+         Lay him low!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Much has been said of the high price paid to opera singers. The
+celebrated BERLIOZ once reduced it to details in the following word:
+
+     'The first tenor,' he said, 'has 100,000 frcs. per annum, and he
+     sings for it about seven times during the month, or eighty-four
+     times during the year. This would be about 1,100 francs per
+     evening. Admitted then that his part would contain 1,100 notes or
+     syllables, the price of each syllable would be 1 franc.
+     Consequently in William Tell:
+
+   'Ma (1 fr.) presence (3 fr.) pourvous est peut etre un outrage (9 fr.)
+   Mathilde (3 fr.) mes pas indiscret (100 sous).
+   On osee jusqu'a vous se frayer une passage! (13 fr.)
+
+     'These three lines therefore cost 34 francs. A great sum! Engaging
+     under these circumstances a Prima Donna, at the miserable pittance
+     of 40,000 francs, the answer of Mathilde amounts to much less, for
+     every syllable would then cost but 8 sous: but even that is not so
+     bad after all.
+
+     'We laugh,' adds Berlioz, 'but the theatres have to pay. They will
+     pay until the treasury is empty, and after that the 'Immortals'
+     will have to condescend to give singing lessons (i.e., those who
+     know enough for it), or to sing at public places with accompaniment
+     of one guitar, four candles, and a green carpet. After that we may
+     be able to construct the Temple of Music on a firmer basis.'
+
+At these rates, the old form of declaring that any thing went for 'a
+mere song,' would not say much for its cheapness. But if--as Berlioz
+seems to think--these high prices are to be regretted, we still cannot
+see how they are to be remedied. The public, for want of better
+amusement, keep up the opera, and the different opera houses keep up
+the prices by outbidding each other. When municipal governments shall
+recognize the fact that amusement is a constant quantity in the
+administration of a state, and provide first-class entertainments
+_gratis_ or at nominal rates, there will be much vice done away with and
+many rum shops closed--which would be bad, by the way, for the
+Democrato-Rum-elected Governor Seymour, for the whole alcoholic vote was
+cast in his favor. There will, we believe, come a time when the party of
+progress will urge an enlarged provision of education and recreation for
+the people, with the same earnestness which it now shows in forwarding
+Emancipation.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+England has by her Southern sympathy fairly put a serpent girdle of her
+treachery around the earth. For further particulars consult the
+following:
+
+
+TO JOHN BULL.
+
+   Oh don't you remember sweet Ireland, John Bull?
+     Green Erin beyond the blue sea?
+   And the patriots there whom you starved, hung, and shot,
+     Because they desired to be free.
+   On the lone heather wild, in the dark silent glen,
+     The peasant still shows you the graves
+   Of the heroes who fell in the year ninety-eight
+     And died ere they'd live as your slaves.
+
+   And don't you remember your own words, John Bull,
+     Of the Southern Confed--er--a--cie?
+   When you said in the _Times_, that your heart went of course
+   With a brave race which sought to be free.
+     Oh what do you think of Old Ireland, John Bull?
+     There's a race that's as brave as your own,
+   And one that would like very well to be free,
+     If you only would let it alone.
+
+   And don't you remember great India, John Bull?
+     With the Sepoys you blew from your guns,
+   And the insult and murder of Brahmins, John Bull,
+     For some outrage endured from their sons?
+   The outrage was proved a black lie, as you know,
+     A lie, as your own books declare:
+   Your hell-hounds of HAVELOCKS stirred up the war,
+     And what business had they to be there?
+
+   And don't you remember great China, John Bull,
+     Where you smeared yourself blacker with sin?
+   Where the Emperor tried to keep opium out,
+     And you fought to force opium in?
+   It was _Government_ opium from India, too,
+     Which poisons both body and soul;
+   You have fought against freedom with steel, Johnny Bull;
+     With the steel and the cord and the bowl.
+
+   And do you believe in a GOD, Johnny Bull,
+     Or _anything_ after the grave?
+   Then tell us what waits for the sinner who aids
+     The tyrant to trample the slave?
+   I'll not ask if you've faith in a Devil, John Bull:
+     One might think he were laid on the shelf,
+   To see you unpunished--but now I believe
+     That you are the False One himself.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We are indebted to a friend for the following tales of foraging, which
+are vouched for as authentic:
+
+     A company of the Two--th cavalry of volunteers, no matter in what
+     State, were out on a forage, with the usual orders to respect the
+     enemy's property. But coming on a plantation where chickens and
+     turkeys were dallying in the sunshine, the officer in command,
+     tired of pork and plaster-pies, alias hard biscuit, gave the boys
+     leave to club over as many of the 'two-legged things in feathers'
+     as they could conveniently come at. The result was that a good
+     number were despatched, and being tied together by the legs, were
+     slung over the pommel of the saddle of 'Benny,' an old _sabreur_,
+     who had frontiered it for years, been in more Indian fights than
+     you could shake a stick at, and could tell, if he wanted to, of
+     some high-old-hard times with these same Mdewakantonwar, Wahpekute,
+     Ihanktonwannas, and Minnikanyewazhipu red-skinned fiends.
+
+     Returning to camp, as ill luck would have it, they met the colonel
+     of their regiment riding out to a neighboring camp. Just before
+     they met him, in fact when they were nearly up to him, for a curve
+     in the road had hid him from sight till then, the officer in
+     command rode by Benny with the command:
+
+     'D--n it, man, why don't you sling those chickens the other side
+     your saddle? The colonel will see them, hanging that way.'
+
+     'Can't be done! got fourteen turkeys _there_ on a balance!'
+
+     By remarkably good fortune the colonel did not see the chickens, so
+     they and the turkeys were safely smuggled into camp, Benny getting
+     full credit for maintaining the balance of power, when the odds
+     were dead against him.
+
+Story ye second:
+
+     When the Forty-eleventh P.M. were camped near Boonesboro', what
+     time the rebels were driven out of Maryland, the colonel of the
+     said regiment duly issued orders that all provender taken by troops
+     under his command should be fairly paid for without defalcation for
+     value received. Now it happened one bright morning that the major
+     of the aforesaid regiment riding out near camp, saw a private
+     deliberately lift up what is known in Southern tongue as a 'rock,'
+     and throwing the same with great skill, instantly kill a small pig
+     that with half a dozen other small pigs were following their mother
+     at full speed away from the neighborhood of this same private.
+
+     The soldier, who was an Irishman, picked up the pig, and hiding it
+     under his army sack, was returning to camp, when, lifting up his
+     head, he saw before him the major, who, assuming his most solemn
+     look, thus spoke to him:
+
+     'What have you under your coat, there?'
+
+     'Shure it's an empty stomach, sirr!--and a small pig that's hurted
+     itself--poor little thing!--and I'm taking it home to mend its leg,
+     to be sure:--the poor crayture wud be after dying if left all alone
+     in the cold, the raw morning.'
+
+     The major dearly relished the joke, but discipline is discipline,
+     and there was but one way to overlook this breach of it: that was
+     to punish Paddy by giving him a three-mile walk down the road, and
+     over the fields back to camp, before he could bring his pig in.
+
+     'You say the pig is lame?' asked the officer.
+
+     'Shure, that's the truth, sirr; and I'm afther belaving it'll niver
+     be able to run any more at all, at all: be the same token its
+     tail's out of curl entirely; and had'nt I better be afther taking
+     it home than letting it die like a haythin in the road here?'
+
+     'Do you see that old sow down the road there with those other pigs?
+     you follow her home at _once_, sir, and leave the lame pig
+     _there_!'
+
+     Saying which, the major continued his ride, and the Irishman duly
+     followed the old sow to--a turn in the road, when he 'obeyed
+     orders,' and left the lame pig 'at home,' where that night at least
+     one mess had roast pig with '_ubi_ beans _ibi patria_,' sauce at
+     discretion.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TO
+
+THE MARINERS OF ENGLAND
+
+ON BOARD THE PRINCESS ROYAL
+
+   Ye Mariners of England,
+     That shame your country's fame;
+   That peddle chains to bind the slave,
+     In the blood-royal name!
+   Your glorious standard hide away,
+     Hoist slave flags in its place,
+   And steal o'er the deep,
+     With our Yankee ships in chase:
+   And ye peddlers, shun the starry flag,
+     While the Yankee cruisers chase.
+
+   The spirits of your fathers
+     Shall start from every wave!
+   For the ocean was their field of fame,
+     And ye insult their grave.
+   Where they like bold men fought and fell,
+     Ye take a part that's base,
+   And steal o'er the deep
+     With our Yankee ships in chase:
+   And ye peddlers, shun the starry flag,
+     While the Yankee cruisers chase.
+
+   Britannia needeth cotton,
+     And so your honor'll sleep;
+   Your market's o'er the mounting wave,
+     Your greed of gain lies deep.
+   Your sovereign bids you walk upright;--
+     Her fair fame you disgrace,
+   And steal o'er the deep,
+     With our Yankee ships in chase:
+   And ye peddlers, shun the starry flag,
+     While our Yankee cruisers chase.
+
+   The meteor flag of England
+     Should redder burn for shame,
+   When it waves o'er chains for slaves
+     In Princess Royal's name.
+   Mourn, mourn, ye ocean hucksters!
+     Your goods and ships are lost:
+   To the shame of your name
+     Get you home and count the cost:
+   For your Princess Royal's gone for good;
+     Get you home and count the cost.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+  The
+  Continental Monthly.
+
+The readers of the CONTINENTAL are aware of the important
+position it has assumed, of the influence which it exerts, and of the
+brilliant array of political and literary talent of the highest order
+which supports it. No publication of the kind has, in this country, so
+successfully combined the energy and freedom of the daily newspaper with
+the higher literary tone of the first-class monthly; and it is very
+certain that no magazine has given wider range to its contributors, or
+preserved itself so completely from the narrow influences of party or of
+faction. In times like the present, such a journal is either a power in
+the land or it is nothing. That the CONTINENTAL is not the
+latter is abundantly evidenced _by what it has done_--by the reflection
+of its counsels in many important public events, and in the character
+and power of those who are its staunchest supporters.
+
+Though but little more than a year has elapsed since the
+CONTINENTAL was first established, it has during that time
+acquired a strength and a political significance elevating it to a
+position far above that previously occupied by any publication of the
+kind in America. In proof of which assertion we call attention to the
+following facts:
+
+1. Of its POLITICAL articles republished in pamphlet form, a
+single one has had, thus far, a circulation of _one hundred and six
+thousand_ copies.
+
+2. From its LITERARY department, a single serial novel, "Among
+the Pines," has, within a very few months, sold nearly _thirty-five
+thousand_ copies. Two other series of its literary articles have also
+been republished in book form, while the first portion of a third is
+already in press.
+
+No more conclusive facts need be alleged to prove the excellence of the
+contributions to the CONTINENTAL, or their _extraordinary
+popularity;_ and its conductors are determined that it shall not fall
+behind. Preserving all "the boldness, vigor, and ability" which a
+thousand journals have attributed to it, it will greatly enlarge its
+circle of action, and discuss, fearlessly and frankly, every principle
+involved in the great questions of the day. The first minds of the
+country, embracing the men most familiar with its diplomacy and most
+distinguished for ability, are among its contributors; and it is no mere
+"flattering promise of a prospectus" to say that this "magazine for the
+times" will employ the first intellect in America, under auspices which
+no publication ever enjoyed before in this country.
+
+While the CONTINENTAL will express decided opinions on the
+great questions of the day, it will not be a mere political journal:
+much the larger portion of its columns will be enlivened, as heretofore,
+by tales, poetry, and humor. In a word, the CONTINENTAL will be
+found, under its new staff of Editors, occupying a position and
+presenting attractions never before found in a magazine.
+
+
+TERMS TO CLUBS.
+
+  Two copies for one year,                    Five dollars.
+  Three copies for one year,                   Six dollars.
+  Six copies for one year,                  Eleven dollars.
+  Eleven copies for one year,                Twenty dollars.
+  Twenty copies for one year,            Thirty-six dollars.
+                           PAID IN ADVANCE
+
+_Postage, Thirty-six cents a year_, to be paid BY THE
+SUBSCRIBER.
+
+SINGLE COPIES.
+
+Three dollars a year, IN ADVANCE. _Postage paid by the
+Publisher_.
+
+  JOHN F. TROW, 50 Greene St., N. Y.,
+  PUBLISHER FOR THE PROPRIETORS.
+
+[Illustration: pointing finger] As an Inducement to new subscribers, the
+Publisher offers the following liberal premiums:
+
+[Illustration: pointing finger] Any person remitting $3, in advance,
+will receive the magazine from July, 1862, to January, 1864, thus
+securing the whole of Mr. KIMBALL'S and Mr. KIRKE'S new serials, which
+are alone worth the price of subscription. Or, if preferred, a
+subscriber can take the magazine for 1863 and a copy of "Among the
+Pines," or of "Undercurrents of Wall Street," by R. B. KIMBALL, bound in
+cloth, or of "Sunshine in Thought," by CHARLES GODFREY LELAND (retail
+price, $1. 25.) The book to be sent postage paid.
+
+[Illustration: pointing finger] Any person remitting $4.50, will receive
+the magazine from its commencement, January, 1862, to January, 1864,
+thus securing Mr. KIMBALL'S "Was He Successful? "and Mr. KIRKE'S "Among
+the Pines," and "Merchant's Story," and nearly 3,000 octavo pages of the
+best literature in the world. Premium subscribers to pay their own
+postage.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+[Illustration: THE FINEST FARMING LANDS WHEAT CORN COTTON FRUITS &
+VEGETABLES]
+
+~EQUAL TO ANY IN THE WORLD!!!~
+
+MAY BE PROCURED
+
+~At FROM $8 to $12 PER ACRE,~
+
+Near Markets, Schools, Railroads, Churches, and all the blessings of
+Civilization.
+
+1,200,000 Acres, in Farms of 40, 80, 120, 160 Acres and upwards, in
+ILLINOIS, the Garden State of America.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Illinois Central Railroad Company offer, ON LONG CREDIT, the
+beautiful and fertile PRAIRIE LANDS lying along the whole line of their
+Railroad. 700 MILES IN LENGTH, upon the most Favorable Terms for
+enabling Farmers, Manufacturers, Mechanics and Workingmen to make for
+themselves and their families a competency, and a HOME they can call
+THEIR OWN, as will appear from the following statements:
+
+ILLINOIS.
+
+Is about equal in extent to England, with a population of 1,722,666, and
+a soil capable of supporting 20,000,000. No State in the Valley of the
+Mississippi offers so great an inducement to the settler as the State of
+Illinois. There is no part of the world where all the conditions of
+climate and soil so admirably combine to produce those two great
+staples, CORN and WHEAT.
+
+CLIMATE.
+
+Nowhere can the Industrious farmer secure such immediate results from
+his labor as on these deep, rich, loamy soils, cultivated with so much
+ease. The climate from the extreme southern part of the State to the
+Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad, a distance of nearly 200
+miles, is well adapted to Winter.
+
+WHEAT, CORN, COTTON, TOBACCO.
+
+Peaches, Pears, Tomatoes, and every variety of fruit and vegetables is
+grown in great abundance, from which Chicago and other Northern markets
+are furnished from four to six weeks earlier than their immediate
+vicinity. Between the Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis Railway and the
+Kankakee and Illinois Rivers, (a distance of 115 miles on the Branch,
+and 136 miles on the Main Trunk,) lies the great Corn and Stock raising
+portion of the State.
+
+THE ORDINARY YIELD
+
+of Corn is from 60 to 80 bushels per acre. Cattle, Horses, Mules, Sheep
+and Hogs are raised here at a small cost, and yield large profits. It is
+believed that no section of country presents greater inducements for
+Dairy Farming than the Prairies of Illinois, a branch of farming to
+which but little attention has been paid, and which must yield sure
+profitable results. Between the Kankakee and Illinois Rivers, and
+Chicago and Dunleith, (a distance of 56 miles on the Branch and 147
+miles by the Main Trunk,) Timothy Hay, Spring Wheat, Corn, &c., are
+produced in great abundance.
+
+AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.
+
+The Agricultural products of Illinois are greater than those of any
+other State. The Wheat crop of 1861 was estimated at 35,000,000 bushels,
+while the Corn crop yields not less than 140,000,000 bushels besides the
+crop of Oats, Barley, Rye, Buckwheat, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes,
+Pumpkins, Squashes, Flax, Hemp, Peas, Clover, Cabbage, Beets, Tobacco,
+Sorgheim, Grapes, Peaches, Apples, &c., which go to swell the vast
+aggregate of production in this fertile region. Over Four Million tons
+of produce were sent out the State of Illinois during the past year.
+
+STOCK RAISING.
+
+In Central and Southern Illinois uncommon advantages are presented for
+the extension of Stock raising. All kinds of Cattle, Horses, Mules,
+Sheep, Hogs, &c., of the best breeds, yield handsome profits; large
+fortunes have already been made, and the field is open for others to
+enter with the fairest prospects of like results. Dairy Farming also
+presents its inducements to many.
+
+CULTIVATION OF COTTON.
+
+The experiments in Cotton culture are of very great promise. Commencing
+in latitude 39 deg. 30 min. (see Mattoon on the Branch, and Assumption
+on the Main Line), the Company owns thousands of acres well adapted to
+the perfection of this fibre. A settler having a family of young
+children, can turn their youthful labor to a most profitable account in
+the growth and perfection of this plant.
+
+THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD
+
+Traverses the whole length of the State, from the banks of the
+Mississippi and Lake Michigan to the Ohio. As its name imports, the
+Railroad runs through the centre of the State, and on either side of the
+road along its whole length lie the lands offered for sale.
+
+CITIES, TOWNS, MARKETS, DEPOTS.
+
+There are Ninety-eight Depots on the Company's Railway, giving about one
+every seven miles. Cities, Towns and Villages are situated at convenient
+distances throughout the whole route, where every desirable commodity
+may be found as readily as in the oldest cities of the Union, and where
+buyers are to be met for all kinds of farm produce.
+
+EDUCATION.
+
+Mechanics and working-men will find the free school system encouraged by
+the State, and endowed with a large revenue for the support of the
+schools. Children can live in sight of the school, the college, the
+church, and grow up with the prosperity of the leading State in the
+Great Western Empire.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PRICES AND TERMS OF PAYMENT--ON LONG CREDIT.
+
+  80 acres at $10 per acre, with interest at 6 per ct. annually
+  on the following terms:
+
+  Cash payment                 $48 00
+
+  Payment in one year           48 00
+     "    in two years          48 00
+     "    in three years        48 00
+     "    in four years        236 00
+     "    in five years        224 00
+     "    in six years         212 00
+
+
+  40 acres, at $10 00 per acre:
+
+  Cash payment                 $24 00
+
+  Payment in one year           24 00
+     "    in two years          24 00
+     "    in three years        24 00
+     "    in four years        118 00
+     "    in five years        112 00
+     "    in six years         106 00
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+   Number 16.                  25 Cents.
+
+THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY.
+
+DEVOTED TO Literature and National Policy.
+
+
+APRIL, 1863.
+
+
+NEW YORK: JOHN F. TROW 50 GREENE STREET (FOR THE PROPRIETORS).
+
+HENRY DEXTER AND SINCLAIR TOUSEY. WASHINGTON, D.C.: FRANCK TAYLOR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CONTENTS.--No. XVI.
+
+   The Wonders of Words,                                             385
+
+   The Chech,                                                        395
+
+   Pictures from the North,                                          398
+
+   The New Rasselas,                                                 404
+
+   The Chained River.  By Charles Godfrey Leland,                    410
+
+   How the War affects Americans. By Hon. F. P. Stanton,             411
+
+   Promoted,                                                         420
+
+   Henrietta and Vulcan. By Delia M. Colton,                         421
+
+   Ethel. By Martha Walker Cook,                                     435
+
+   The Skeptics of the Waverley Novels. By Charles Godfrey Leland,   439
+
+   A Merchant's Story. By Edmund Kirke,                              451
+
+   A Chapter on Wonders. By Perth Granton,                           461
+
+   The Return.  By Edward Sprague Rand, jr.,                         464
+
+   The Union. By Hon. R. J. Walker,                                  465
+
+   Down in Tennessee,                                                469
+
+   Poetry and Poetical Selections,                                   474
+
+   Flag of our Sires. By Hon. R. J. Walker,                          480
+
+   A Fancy Sketch,                                                   482
+
+   Our Present Position; its Dangers and its Duties,                 488
+
+   The Complaining Bore,                                             496
+
+   Literary Notices,                                                 500
+
+   Editors' Table,                                                   503
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+'MY SOUTHERN FRIENDS,' by the author of 'Among the Pines,' is just
+issued from the press of G. W. CARLETON, 413 Broadway, N. Y. Price, $l,
+cloth; 75 cts., paper covers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by JAMES R.
+GILMORE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United
+States for the Southern District of New York.
+
+
+JOHN F. TROW, PRINTER.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3,
+March 1863, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTINENTAL MONTHLY ***
+
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author	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 02:16:02 -0700
committer	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 02:16:02 -0700
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tree	d004d19f68f5076e6891e8f0acc6c0f3aecde0a2