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,,.#iS!i;»i»<>i«"ii'*^''ii'''»*^^^

k 0=^

A Gi^LLUt

^'ViSRICAN SCENERir:

gKp-rr^-^'P'^.

AYf ^

Amci'Can 3C

A;jvi.iiiture

^a^.«R'^'-' ■'

•< .. r |.ik ■•■.

, *'.'!^,' ^* T-X,' 'i' "'**' .'"^'-T^

: ^,^^. I

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f*..

eo-wi'*^iiiii^*'i

iiCii ;i!: ."":«iiiiii;i;iiiii«''» # ly"'.!!-'"''*:'

A GALLOP

AMONG

f v.

AMERICAN SCENERY;

OR,

SKETCHES

American Scenes and Military Adventure

AUGUSTUS E. SILLIMAN.

A. S

NEW YORK:

. BARNES & CO.. _m_& "3 William Street.
1881.

/a^/yx

HENJAMIN D. SILLIMAN

THIS

LITTLE VOLUME

AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,

HIS BROTHER

CONTENTS.

Banks of the Potomac,

The Country Pastor, ....

Mount Vfrnon

The Medical Student, . . • •
The Resurrectionists,
Old Kennedy, the Quartermaster, I,
Old Kennedy, the Quartermaster, II,
Old Kennedy, the Quartermaster, III,
Old Kennedy, the Quartermaster, IV,
The Partisan Legion, . . • •

Hudson River,

Night Attack on Fort Erie,

Battle of Lunoy's Lane,

Lake George and Ticonderoga, .

Montreal,

The Nun, ....■•

Cataracts of Niagara,

Mount Holyoke, . . ■ • •

White Mountains, ....

Bass Fishing off Newport, .

Brenton's Reef, . • • •

Old Trinity Steeple, . . . .

PAOE.
I

34
44
51
56
64
73

99
104

112
122
130
134
137
143
147

161
168

(—

CONTENTS

Old SciPio,

The Pequot,

Captain Kidd,

Spiritiana :

No. I. — Hydrachos

No. II.— Winter,

A Peep Over the Blue Ridge, . . . •

The Dead Man's Sermon,

A Trip Through Long Island Sound :

No. I.— Hell Gate,

No. II.— Burning of Fairfield and Danbury,

No. III.— Night Alarm

No. IV.— "The Boys," . . . ■
No. V. — The Unfortunate Lover,
j^Q VI.— Adventure on the Mississippi, .
j^Q VII. — New London and Stonington,

The Blind Officer,

Greenwood Cemetery, . • • •
Appendix, . . •

I' At IK.

i8i

187
191

.98
216
220

349

355
261

265

271

273
279
283

293
305

■J

i8i

187
191

198
216
220

349

ass
361

365

271

273
279
283

293
305

J*
-1

PREFACE.

HE /(irgtr part of this volwe {noxv long out of print)
xvas published many years since. The various
sketches of which it is composed were tvritten for
recreation, amid the cares of business ; reviving, as they did,
recollections of attractive scenery and passages of military and
naval history, the latter made specially interesting to the tvritcr
by oral narratives of persons themselves engaged in them.

When the booh was written, we had little of military
history except that of the Revolution, and the events of ''the
War of 1812" ivere cherished tvith deep regard by the public;
but since then, the smoke and carnage of the Mexican War,
and the gigantic horrors of the conflict ivith the South, have
thrown them almost entirely in the shade.

It is hardly necessary to say that most of the dramatis
personce ivhich figure in these sketches are ideals, improvised
for the purpose of telling their various stories, nor that in a
zuork so tinged by the imagination a degree of poetic license is
taken to give continuity to the narration.

To occupy some idle hours, the writer has prepared this
edition; adding to it a number of chapters not contained in
the first.

June, 1881.

BANKS OF THE POTOMAC.

UMBER

State Street.''^ Storm without.

Apartment, strewed with sundry bachelor appur-
tenances, frojtting on the Battery; a gentleman
in dressing-gown and slippers, measuring the room
with hasty strides, exclaims iinpatiently :
Northeast, by the flags of the shipping in the bay ! Northeast,
by the chill rain dashing on the window paries ! Northeast, by
the weather-cocks on all the steeples, from St. Paul's to the dog-
vane on the stable end! Northeast, by the ache of every bone
in my body ! Eheu ! What's to be done ? No going abroad in
this torrent. I've read all the landlady's little library. How shall
I kill the enemy f I'll whistle ; vulgar. Sing; I can't. There
are the foils and the gloves. Pshaw I I have no friend to pom-
mel or pink ; besides, the old lady in the room below has 7ierves.
Whew! how it pours! I' II— I' II— stand and look out into the
street. Jupiter ! how near the bread-cart came to going over the
chimney-sweep. Poor Sooty— how he grtns ! He owes the worm,
no silk, whatever obligations his rags may be under to the sheep.
Poor fellow! Halloa! ho! blackey ; catch this quarter, and
get you a hot breakfast. There goes that confoimded battery
gate again! bang! bang! night and day.

Alas ! me miserable. What shall I do ? The spirit of ennui
rides me as thoroughly as did the " old man of the sea," Sinbadthe
*0n this street, at chat time, were the residences of the ilite of the city.

I 1

BANKS OF THE POTOMAC

old lady's -''-"''"^■JZT^><.m^ The tin spout is choked,
Z:LC:::iseaLpen,.el.sin,^^^^^^^^

Hu,n-what shall! do f ^*^^^^__ ^^^„„,„ ,f „y last
down and give my friend «

""tonethhisehairnp to t,te ta^U -'^^^-^ttw
.„ the fender, and proceeds ,o nib his pen) Now for U iWrites). ^

______——, the argu-

You well recollect, my dear

Tit d tr^d"C you to make a short journey
ments 1 usea, lu i"vj« j „^„r an!;wer:

slave; ""ere, the. ^erv ^^^^.^^^ .^^^^^^^^ ^^^.^

veoman, and the grim cannuu u thp sword

Mattered wheels; the "ayonet and prumng-hook. ^h sw rd
and the ploughshare, rest without a name You well reco>
ect th.t'l reproached you. the rather, w.th too ^ - '-
,or the green fields and .'-t e|™s -u"d ^^ u -c cot

irxuiri^tV::^-!::: seethe

-a

I I

sseth his legs
y it {Writes).

, the argu-
ort journey
our answer:
ill recollect
:, alone ; that
IS but a flash ;
tocity to that
ig foot-print :
the monarch
chain of the
a wain of the
nterlock their
»ok, the sword
ou well recol-
:oo great love
Dur rustic cot-
ed in the doc-
e thy immortal

BANKS OF THE POTOMAC 3

part transferred, on its exit from its present habitation, to one
of those huge trees towering into the blue ether; that there,
in the sunny mornings of summer, for sonnets which do en-
liven thy library, I should hear the joyous call of the robin,
the shrill whistle of the scarlet oriole ; for sparkling wit, the
dew of night glittering on thy leaves in the early sunbeams ;
for wise old saws and dreamy legends, venerable moss gath-
ering upon thy trunk and branches ; while, alike in the even-
ing wind or howling blast, thou shouldest stand firm against
casuistry or dictation. "Wilt go?" "Wilt join me? "-
with soft persuasion murmured I. ''My business" quoth
thou. " Presto," quoth I ; and without more ado started in
my usual heels-over-head fashion alone on my journey.

I swept over the broad breast of the Delaware ; dashed
down the enemy-insulted Chesapeake; bounded through
the city of riots and beauty, and came down on my

feet at the cottage of my whole-souled friend, Tom B ,

on the banks of the Potomac. The afternoon of my arrival
was warm and still, and everything in nature, even the birds,
seemed wrapped in indolent repose. Slowly sauntering
through the long vistas of sycamores and elms which adorn-
ed the grounds in picturesque avenues, the airy East Indian
cottage of my friend suddenly broke upon my sight, peer-
ing from a whole load of flowering vines and sweet-briers,
tall white lilies and moss roses, from thick beds of myrtle at
their feet, climbing into the half-open lattices, while two tow-
ering pines almost crossed their extended branches above its
lowly roof. I stole quietly through the open door, examin.
ing the choice Italian landscapes hanging upon the walls of
the airy grass-matted hall ; slid through the drawing-rooms,
stopping for a moment to scan the crouching Venus and dy-

BANKS OP THE POTOMAC
riadiator on their pedestals, to admire the exquisite
Z^i^cl Dolc^ the lovely Claude, the Cenc. and
E, beneath their silken tassels ; and, -"-^ ^^ X^fj.

1 4-v,o Vino-p old Newfoundlander, oer-
luxurious repose, lay the huge ^^^ f^'^^^^

nard," and his favorite pointer, " Soho.

The mild breeze bore in the sweet perfume o^ the ^on.>

^^^^of fltCTd e^ 1:7 ora%e trees, released

iZ hi Xt •; conhnement, displayed their golden fru.,
from their w ^ tempting profusion. I

heave of the broad chest, and the masses ot rave
pavTng around the white forehead of the sleeper, as they
wer slowly lifted by the play of the passing wmd
hou^h it ire a sin to disturb him, so, drawmg ou my ci-
gar case, fetched myself on the settee at his side, com-

BANKS OF THE POTOMAC

exquisite
:enci, and
upon the
rass ham-
2sta. His
ket, huge
3 corner of
leir plump
inipe, with
IS the back
t, beneath
egs in like
ider, " Ber-

the honey-
i Potomac,
)y the occa-
ier of some
rface. The
d with box,
;mbroidered
;es, released
golden fruit,
)rofusion. I
)uld not but
le measured

raven locks
;per, as they
ng wind. 1
[ig out my ci-
lis side, com-

placently reclining my head upon its arm. Whiles watching
the blue smoke of my " cigar," as it slowly wreathed and
floated above my head, whiles watching the still dreamy
flow of the river, and whiles— if I must confess it— cogitat-
ing which had been the wisest, myself the bachelor or Tom
the married man, Tom, myself, the dogs, forming a toler-
ably correct picture of still life, a still life that remained un-
broken for some half hour, when through the glass doors of
the drawing-room a beautiful boy of three or four years
came galloping into the piazza, and bounding towards the
dogs threw himself full length upon the shaggy Newfound-
lander, manfully striving to pull open his huge jaws with
his little hands. The Newfoundlander, opening his eyes,
saw me, and raising himself on his legs gave a low growl,
while the child, relinquishing his hold upon the ears to
which he had clung as the dog arose to his feet, came
slowly up to me, and placing his plump little hands upon
my knee, looked curiously and inquiringly into my face, his
golden locks falling in a profusion of ringlets down his su-
perb sunburnt shoulders. I was charmed with the confi-
dence, and innocence, and sweetness beaming from his gaze,
and took him upon my knee, his hand playing with my
watch-guard, while his beautiful blue eyes remained fixed in
the same look of curious inquiry on mine. I said it was a
pi(j -re of still life. Tom, aroused by the dog, slowly lifted
his head over the edge of the hammock, rubbed his eyes as
if uncertain whether he were in a dream, as I calmly and
silently returned his astonished gaze, and then, with a
single swing, was at my side, both of my hands clasped in
his. The next moment, I fancy, the picture was other than
still life.

I !

g BANKS OF THE POTOMAC

Why Should I tell you of the tea-table, loaded with del-
icacies in the matted hall, as the soft evening sunset poured
its last rays through if. of the symmetrical ^^^l^ f^^^
snowy whiteness; the Grecian features; the dark. Andalu-
sian eyes, beaming with kindness from behind the ghtter.ng
silver at its head? Why. that the youngster, fed by he
handkerchief in the high chair at his mother's side pertm-
aciously kicked his tiny red shoes about him m frohc glee
while my little knight of the golden locks d.d the duty of
the trencher at his father's elbow ? Why, that as the shades
of evening faded into twilight, the young gentry were snugly
ensconced in their little bed, the mother's soft cheek pressed
against the forehead of the eldest as he lisped his evenmg
prayer ? And why . as soon-" like twin roses on one stalk -
as they were wrapped in innocent slumber, we sat m the
fading twilight, talking over old scenes and boyish recollec-
tions, retracing our steps back to those days which, softened
by the lapse of time, appear divested of everyth.ng save
brightness and sunshine ? Why , but to tell you that we we.e
aroused from those retrospections by the sound of the
church-going bell, musically chiming in the distance.

THE COUNTRY PASTOR.

THE slow toUing-now almost dying away, and now
striking more strongly upon the ear-arose from tlie
church in the neighboring v.Uage, where my friends
were in the habit of worshipping, and where they were to
have the opportunity on that evening of hearingthevo.ee
of their time-honored pastor-an opportunity wh.ch h.s
great age and increasing infirmities had made equally rare
and valuable. I gladly accepted the invitation to join them
as aside from a desire to see the aged man, of whom I had
so' often heard, if there is a time for devotion more conso-
nant to my feelings than another, it is when the quietness and
serenity of a summer's evening dispel all external impres-
sions, and everything appears in unison with harmony and

benevolence. , ^^ «

As we walked the short half mile between the cottage
and the church, the stars shone in beauty amid the still rosy
tints of the west ; the night-hawk stooped towards us as he
wheeled in his airy circles ; the whip-poor-will in the adjom-
ing meadows sounded his mournful note, and the crickets
with the chirping frogs in the neighboring ponds, sustained
a ceaseless chorus. Arrived at the churchyard, we picked
our way among the old brown tombstones, their quaint de-
vices contrasted here and there with others of more mod-
ern pretensions in white marble, and entering the church
took our seats in silence. We were early ; but, as the

g THE COUNTRY PASTOR

church gradually filled, it was interesting to watch group
after group, as it noiselessly measured the a.sles, and sunk
nu etly upon the cushioned seats. Now and then a pa.r of
bright eyes would glance curiously around from beneath a
gay bonnet, and astray tress be thrown hastily as.de, but
Ls! those clad in the habiliments of woe, too, too often

moved phantom-like, to their places; the lights, as they
r V ; momentary glare on their pale and care worn faces
Iking more dark the badges which affection as assum
as a tame index of inward grief. The slow toll of the b^
ceased; the silence became more d^^?^/" ""^
cough, the rustling of a dress, the turn of a leaf, alone

''^I^C:^^^ - gently and sweetly, and

THE COUNTRY PASTOR 9

the voluntary floated softly and mist-like over the assembly,
rising, falling and undulating, with like dreamy harmony,
as if the ^olian harp were answering, with the passmg airs
playing among its strings, the ocean laving his pebbly
shores, till, gradually rising and increasing in depth, it
grandly and solemnly ascended upwards, thrown back, re- ^
verberated from the walls of the circular dome above us, in
deep and distant thunders. All became again silent. The
venerable form of a man of four-score years, his hair
bleached with the sorrows of eighty winters, rose slowly in
the pulpit; and as, with eye. closed, yet lifted to Heaven,
he feebly supported himself with outstretched arms upon its
cushion, we heard, almost in a whisper : " Let us pray, my
brethren," fall tremulously from his lips. Nought but the
perfect stillness enabled us at first to hear the sentences,
pronounced with evident and painful effort; but, as
he advanced in prayer, that almost whisper became
firm and distinct, and his pallid cheek lighted up with
a hectic flush, as he waxed eloquent in the presence of his

IM^aker

His* venerable features appeared to glow almost with
inspiration, and the hearts of the mourners beat more
calmly, as they felt themselves carried into the Divine
presence. More thoughtless than the swallow that skims
the summer skies must he have been, who could have heard
that prayer, and not have joined with reverence in its
solemnity. His closing words still ring upon my ear, and
long w'" remain stamped upon my memory.

-My children: your fathers, and your fathers' fathers,
have listened to my voice. Generations have passed by me
to their long account, and still I have been left, and still my

THE COUNTRY PASTOR

voice hath arisen fron, this holy place Woe! woe is me
if ^y Master hath looiced upon me as a siack -^ unwo hy
servant to his people. But a few short days, and th tern
bling voice, that still strives to teach h.s blessed will, shall
be hushed, his tottering form be laid beneath the mould
.om whence it came •, but. with the last tones o th.s qu.v
ering voice, the last grasp of these trembUng hands, 1 ex
te"d to you this sacred volume, as your guide to happmess
in this, your surest light into the world to come.

"The sneers of human reason and vain philosophy will de-
sert you assuredly, my children, as you stand upon the edge
of that awful precipice, where each of you al.ne must take
the fated plunge into the deep darkness of the future; but
this shall make clear your passage as brightest noon-day.
My children .-I look back upon you as I speak; my hand is
Tnthe door-latch; my foot upon the threshold-oh! when
your short days, like mine, are numbered, may you, with the
same reliance in his mercy, say Amen ! ' ,

As the service ended, it was good to see the k.nd-hear ed
feeling with which the congregation gathered around the
venerable man, for he was pure, and sincere, and true , and
of a verity, as he said, his voice had ansen among them
above the infant's wail, at the baptismal font; had jomed
them with cheerfulness at the marriage feast ; and st.U been
heard in solemn sympathy at the side of the dark and s.len
erave. It was the last time that he addressed them. Not
many days, andanothervoicepronouncedthebunalserv.ee
71 dead in that green churchyard, and the form of the
good old man was covered from their s,ght beneath

.•|4-e cod

. ' , ^_.„...d to our rntla^e home, the crescent moon

THE CO UN TRY PAS TOR

voe is me,
unworthy
this trem-

will, shall
the mould

this quiv-
lands, 1 ex-
I happiness

was streaming in silvery brightness, the constellations and
galaxy resplendent with " living fires," and the far, far
worlds, rolling in immeasurable distance, as twinkling stars,
trembled upon our human vision. The dews of night were
moist upon the grass, as we remeasured the lawn that led to
the cottage, where, after planning our visit for the following
morning to Mount Vernon, we soon were wrapped in con-
tented and grateful repose.

)hy will de-
Dn the edge
must take
[uture; but
t noon-day.
my hand is
—oh! when
ou, with the

dnd-hearted
around the
id true ; and
imong them
; had joined
md still been
rk and silent
. them. Not
burial service
form of the
Lght beneath

rescent moon

,111

MOUNT VERNON.

i 1 i

THE sun raised himself in a huge globe ol fire above
the eastern horizon, as my friend's spirited bays stood
saddled at the door of the cottage, pawing, champing
the bit, and playfully endeavoring to bite the black boy who
held them. Fmishing an early breakfast, we were soon m
our saddles and full gallop on our journey ; the dogs m an
ecstacy of delight, bounding along at our sides, overhaulmg
and putting in bodily terror every unfortunate cur that came
in their way, as they sportively tumbled him over old Ber^
nard, with glistening eyes and wagging tad bestnd.ng m
grim fun the prostrate form of the enemy. We passed rap-
fdly through the rough-paved streets of Alexandna, watch-
ing eagerly for its famed '■"'.•!- at th< r casements and
clearing the town were soon on the rustic road that leads
to the sacred place of America.

The meadows were glistening in the mornmg dew ; the
sweet perfume of the clover filled the air; the white da.sy
and delicate cowslip danced over their luxuriant grassy beds^
as the fresh morning breeze fanned them in its passage ; and
amid the seaof melody, high above the merry goss.p of the
bob-link, the chattering volubility of the mockmg-b.rd, h,s
yellow-spotted breast swelling with delight h.s keen eye
gazing into the distance, the saucy "you.an t-see-nte of the
Ladow lark sounded in merry challenge; wh.le the clear
"whistle" of the quaii from the gol^vn v...^ai

MOUNT VERNON

fire above
bays stood
, champing
:k boy who
3re soon in
dogs in an
)verhauling
ir that came
er, old Ber-
estriding in
i passed rap-
idria, watch-
lements, and
I that leads

ig dew; the
white daisy
; grassy beds,
passage; and
yossip of the
king-bird, his
tiis keen eye
ee-nte" of the
lile the clear
leat'field was

echoed'by his eager companion far down in the green vales,
as they stretched softly and gently into the distance, in the
long shadows of the early morning. Oh ! let him that would
scan the benevolence of the Creator, leave his restless bed
in the sweltering city, and walk forth with the day in its
youth; for verily, like man, it hath its youth, its manhood

MOUNT VERNON.

and its old age, and the sweetness of morning is the youth

of the day.

The hedges on the road-side were covered with a tangled
mass of verdure, from which wild vines and green ivy crept
to the surrounding trees, wreathing gracefully their trunks
and branches; the undergrowth loaded with wild roses and
honey -suckles. The graceful fleur-de-lis, curving its blue

1 I 1 i

MOUNT VERNON

LTar:rSri ^n the^adcs wH,e now and
Fat ^^"^^ 5 , t^ their pastures, the horses, with tails

fhpn as we cantereu u^ i."*^* v .,, :„

into the broad fieMs nth y ^^^ hearty, happy-

thing ^^«"«^^ 7;„^;' „/ ^ong to their agricultural labors,
looking negroes, trudging a g corning," as

-^ "'CuS uin^'oTsratairMount Vernon,
rnrZr o. -ergrowth -. other res^..^as

.Ud and untamed as ^^;;2'rSSZo.l the deep
placed foot in them. Silence re^ ^^

^'^nTdtr^or.^ : tSathirpo. the s,nir

::."iryi:rrd-dtru„.^^^^^

-t with nothing to |;;-ePt °- P™^^^^^^^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^„ ^^^

'TaVrwitr on r,udicrous, hall-drunken gravity,
-:;:he air as il ^^"^'^'^ ^^^^

rt:ir::ergrrr-^

'4
M

MOUNT VERNON

I pond-lily,
. fragrance,
y bottoms,
lie now and
s, with tails
^, till, arriv-
would look
;allop down
)m. Every-
arty, happy-
Itural labors,
morning," as
te teeth and
irs, to mount,
A ride of
ount Vernon,
jr respects as
ige had ever
igh the deep
lorses as the>
, of the squir-
ck rap-rap of

back glanced
eyesight. We
Now and then,
le mast in the
, stupidly star-
unken gravity,

our progress:
lort about, and
i in the air, gal-

lop off with desperate precipitation into the depths of the
forest. Journeying a mile or two farther, we came upon
the porter's lodges at the entrance of the domain proper,
which were old and ruinous. Proceeding still farther, over a
very bad and rough carriage-road, we came suddenly in
view of the Potomac; and Mount Vernon, with its mansion-
house and smooth, green lawn, lay extended before us, Fort
Washington's battlements and cannon-filled embrasures in
stern silence guarding it from the opposite side of the river.
Fastening our horses, under the guidance of a grey-head-
ed old negro, born in the family of General Washington, we
entered the ^.awn and came upon the rear-front, if the term
may be allowed, of an old-fashioned manuon, surmounted
by a cupola and weather-cock, semi-circular piazzas extend-
ing around from each end, connecting it with the kitchen
and servants' apartments. Various buildings, all bearing the
impress of time, were scattered about, evidently in archi-
tectural order and plan, and the two large gardens, rendered
interesting by the flowers and plants still bloommg in the ,
beds where they had been placed by the hands of th^ Gen-
eral, extended back to the forest from which we had just
emerged. As we stood for a moment looking at the old
building, we almost expected to see the yellow travelling
carriage of his "Excellency," with its four beautiful bays and
liveried out-riders, draw up at the great hall door in its cen-
tre. Having sent in our address, we received permission to
enter and burvey the interior. We were struck with its ex-
treme simplicity, the lownes3 of the walls and ceilings, and
the bare floors, which were waxed— not, as with us, carpet-
ed. The sides of the rooms were composed exclusively of
wooden panels, upon which hung some old oil paintings.

|l'!l

MOUNT VERNON

the corners. ^ moment, as we passed

r»,ir nttention was arresteu lui ci, »

enclosed in a glass case It was he k y^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^

-^^TC^^^^^^ convene of
generous. >" ° f ^fj^ji,,,, J3hip of rats and spiders,
dungeons ^^ere, from ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ p^^^

^"^'""^ItlT g'f -^ oop-hole in its lofty towers.
• rs::a thetrtep o. the casualpassengerupon the cause-

"'!. Masses de Latude, tmy-t.o years V^^^^ '^'"'l^^l
,-,. iLlores good Christians to intercede for him, that he
:':;'ie Tor'e embrace his poor old father and mother, .

One siae oi t & marble, presented by

with a sculptured man^«>n I' - - ^ ^ J^ ^^_^^^^^^^^
Lafayette ; the other wa^ cov ^^ ^^^^^.^ ^^^^^

books, while from the third, its g
aside, was suspended a portrait of the then family, y
• Cut out from a common China pitcher.

MOUNT VERNON

:he Dutch,
^ which is
;on. Curi-
ae mantels,
stately dis-
beaufets in

5 we passed
key of iron
3astile, that
oppression,
)f their day
:ourtier, the
:e, letters de
dent and the
congerie of
and spiders,
I of the poor
lofty towers,
on the cause-

er in the Bas-
r him, that he
and mother, if

s ornamented
presented by
ses containing
curtain drawn
mily. by Chap-
ler.

man. The figures of the portrait, as large as life, presented
a lady of middle age, clad in mourning, surrounded by a
group of children advancing into youth. It was well exe-
cuted, and in the dignified and saddened serenity, in the
simple and natural grouping, and the pure and unaffected
expression of the countenances, an American in any part of
the world would have at once recognized a family group of
the more intellectual and refined of his own country. As
we walked through the various rooms, from which the fam-
ily had withdrawn, we were so overcome with the illusion —
the work-basket with its scissors and thread, the half-opened
book lying upon the table, the large Bible prominently, not
ostentatiously, in its place, the portraits on the walls, the
busts on their pedestals, all causing such a vivid impression
of present life and being — that we almost expected to see
the towering form of the General entering the doorway,
or passing over the green lawn spread between us and that
Potomac which he had so often viewed from the same win-
dows. We were at first disappointed at not seeing in some
conspicuous place his sword, but our disappointment van-
ished as we were referred to and read this clause in his
last testament :

*•' To each of my four nephews I bequeath one of the
swords of which I may die possessed. These swords are
accompanied with the injunction not to unsheath them for
the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self-defence,
or in defence of their country and its rights ; and, in the
latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with
them in their hands to the relinquishment thereof."

Passing through the great hall, ornamented with pictures
of English hunting scenes, we ascended the oaken stair-

iti

' i

mww

MOUNT VERNON
I^ u i.tctride- we stood at

case,wHh Hs carved and ^^^^^^^ ^ the bed

the door-we P-^^^^J^J^^'nothing in the lofty dran>a
where he died were before us^ ^^ ^^^^ ^„^, 3,,„e.

of his existence surpassed^>-g exposure, in overseemg
The cold which he had taken ^^^.^^^^^^^ ^^^j,„ do-

some part of h>s g™"'; ;f ; ,,a, advanced in the course
„esticren,ed>es *''' J!';^ ,'P^,a„i form of the d.sease of
of two short days mto that lr>g ^^^^^^^^ ,^^ ,.„ ^o take
the throat, laryng.t.s Itbeca ^_^.^_^^^^ .„^^^„ay

to his bed. His ^.^'"f '7" best medical skill of the sur.
summoned, and, ass,stedb^thebe^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^.^ ^^^ ,

rounding country, -^aus ed al ^^.^^^^^ ^^,„„ d,

without affording h,m reUe • ^^^^^.^^ ^^^^^.^d •,

thoughingreatd>stress tothe V ^^^^^.^^ ^p„„

but i? became evident, from the deep g^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^

the countenances of the -ed'^^^l the disease had fast-
was hopeless ; advancmg '- J^/^ ^ooUing with perfect
led itself with 'i-'ily «;': X ,.ound him, he said:
calmness upon the sobb-g g -up ^ ^^ .^.^^^^^ ^^^^
.. Grieve not, my friends t ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ p„d.

fi„t , the debt which we all ° ^rs. Washington

I ,„ resigned to the event. -^'^ I,,, directed one to
to bring him two -^^^l^^L, hands, as his last testa-
be burnt, and placed the «;^- ^ ^^^„,,ions to Mr. Lear, h.s
„ent, and then gave ^°""= f ;';';^djustment of his business
secretary and relat.ve, as to the a , ^.^^^^^^^^^ ^^, ^,,

affairs. He soon ^'^-J'^^Jl more frequent and violent,
i„ the paroxysms wh.ch b cam ^^^,^^^^ ^.^ ^^ ^„^„_ ,e,

Mr. Lear, who was by ^ ^^ j^^^d, " I fear 1 g>ve you

with kindness, but ^^^^^^^^^ ,, , duty that we all owe,
great trouble, sir ;-but pe v

MOUNT VERNON

one to another. I trust— that you may receive the same
attention — when you shall require it."

As the night waned, the fatal symptoms became more im-
minent, his breath more labored and suffocating, and his
voice soon after failed him. Perceiving his end approach-
ing, he straightened himself to his full length, folded his
own hands in the necessary attitude upon his chest, placing
his finger upon the pulse of the left wrist, and thus calmly
prepared, and watching his own dissolution, awaited the
summons of his Maker. The last faint hopes of his friends
had disappeared. Mrs. Washington, stupefied with grief,
sat at the foot of the bed, her eyes fixed steadfastly upon
him ; Dr. Craik, in deep gloom, stood with his face buried
in his hands at the fire ; his faithful black servant, Christo-
pher, the tears, uncontrolled, trickling down his face, on
one side, took the last look of his dying master ; while Mr.
Lear, in speechless grief, with folded hands, bent over his
pillow on the other.

Nought broke the stillness of his last moments but the
suppressed sobs of the affectionate servants collected on the
stair-case, the tick of the large clock in the hall, as it meas-
ured off, with painful distinctness, the last fleeting moments
of his existence, and the low moan of the winter wind, as it
[swept through the leafless, snow-covered trees. The labor-
ling and wearied spirit drew nearer and nearer to its goal ;
[the blood languidly coursed slower and more slowly
through its channels — the noble heart stopped — struggled —
^stopped — fluttered — the right hand slowly slid from the wrist
upon which its finger had been placed — it fell at the side —
and the manly effigy of Washington was all that remained,
extended upon the death-couch.

MOUNT VERNON
'° ., those who leave a Sick room; a sup-

We left that room as those ^ ^ ^^^^ ^, ,„,t,„c.

pressed whisper alone escap d us, ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^

Le silence and awe, »« J* ^;^f,;,,,„ded the antique sta>r-
its place behind us. W« »f " J^ j„ „o„t d the mans.on
case and emerged "P°" ^/J^ ,", „( „ees, we approached
Passing through several copP-- ^^ ^^^ ^p,„ ,„h ot a
the sepulchre where res'h.srer^. ^^^^^^^^ ^y

vault composed of br.clcje " <1 ^^^^^^^^^. ^^ ^^,

^ates of open iron-work, « ere tv S ^.^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^

marble, in one of «'>'=';,;"j:i'th remains o, him "who
„f the republic, were depos. ed t ^^ ^^^ ^^^_^^^ ^^

- «"•' ^" -^^'11:^.::' mto the b^ck wa,, o the
:rorbtang'i:black letters simply tH.smscnpt.on.

•'The remains of
Gen'l George Washington."

. 1 ^f the man whose jus-
There rested all that «- m-ta °' ,^^^ ^^^^,,^3 i„ his-
tice, virtue and patr,ot>sm meet ^.^ ^^^ ,,„th-stone

,,,y. There, w.thm the smok ^^^_^^^ ^^^^^

„oulderedtherema,nsof that ^^^^^^^^_ .^ ^^^
whether in the bat le or m *e ^ ^^ ^^^ ^^.^^ ^^,^^^^„, „,
dissensions of pub "= g otless purity.

• social life, shone «f ;'7,.;7Xer, between the trees, m
The Potomac gl.ttered l.ke U , ^^ ^.^^ ^^^^^^ ^^,,^1^

the noonday sun, at o-^J-^^^ ^,, ,v.irp of the wren,

„oved the leaves upon the "^^J ; ^^,, of the thrush,
rhedrowsyhumofthelocust>equ ^^^^^^^_^^^^

- ^- "CrbureCcoTbagT lay still, motionless, far,
of life ; and those nug
far trom voiceless.

MOUNT VERNON

om ; a sup-
o{ instinc-
d firmly to
itique stair-
le mansion,
approached
en arch ot a
,rotected by
lagi of white
nth the arms
){ him " who
hearts of his
;k wall of the
iscription :

lan whose jus-
,arallels in his-
■n hearth-stone,
m, whose spirit,
I, in the fierce
liet relations of

rity.

reen the trees, in
Id breeze gently
;hirp of the wren,
ote of the thrush,
that showed signs
lU, motionless, far,

We were struck with the truthfulness of the "Sweet
Swan of Avon," as we saw above the sarcophagi (free pas-
sage to which was open over the large iron gates) the clay-
ey nest of .he martin, or common house-swallow, built in
the corner of the ceiling, where, in perfect security and
confidence, she fed her chirping brood, directly over the
head of the departed hero. Pure, indeed, was the air;
" nimbly and sweetly " did it play upon our senses. Oh !
bard of England, as, standing upon that hallowed spot, the
spirit of the unfortunate Banquo whispered again to our
memories his words to the murdered Duncan :

" This guest of summer,

The temple-haunting martlet, does approve,
By his lov'd mansionry, that the heavens' breath,
Smells wooingly here : no jutty, frieze, buttress,
Nor coigne of vantage, but this bird hath made
His pendent bed, and procreant cradle : Where they
Most breed and haunt, I have observed, the air •
Is delicate."

We lingered at the tomb, and with reluctance withdrew,
as the advancing day warned us of our homeward-returning

ride.

The setting sun, streaming in radiance through the trees,
measured in long shadows the persons of the two men dis-
mounting at the cottage door, from whence they had de-
parted so buoyant and joyous in its mo'-ning brightness.
That setting sun, sinking beneath its gorgeous bed of crim-
son, gold and purple, left those men more chastened, true,
more elevated, from their pilgrimage to the shrine of him
I whose name is the watchword of human Liberty.

THE MEDICAL STUDENT.

>!ll

Hil

ill!

T REMAINED several weeks on my friend Tom's plan-

I "• • -^o- thP rmirse of life that he pursued,

X tation, enjoy mg the course ui m^ t

which was entirely consonant to my tastes. His plan-
tation consisted of about three hundred acres prmcipally
laid down in wheat, Indian corn and tobacco though some
of it still remained in meadow and woodland. This, with
a handsome productive property in the neighboring towns
of Alexandria and Washington, afforded him an abundant
income to indulge his liberal, though not extravagant, tastes.
He usually arose at five in the morning, mou - Ws horse,
and rode over the plantation, overseeing and gi -ruc-

tions to the laborers ; and returning, was met by r. 'ng

wife and beautiful children at the breakfast-table , alter
which, he again applied himself to business until eleven,
when he threw all care aside and devoted himself to pleas-
ure or study for the remainder of the day. He thus avoid-
ed the two extremes to which country gentlemen are liable,
over-work on the one hand, or ennui on the other. His
library, the windows commanding a view of twenty miles
down the Potomac, was crowded with a varied store of gen-
eral literature, among which I observed, shining conspicu-
ously, the emblazoned backs of Shakspeare and the worthy
old Knight of La Mancha. History, Travels, the Classics,
English, French, Spanish and Italian, and works on Natural
History and general science, were marshaled on their re-

THE MEDICAL STUDENT

Pom's plan-
e pursued,
His plan-
principally
lOugh some

This, with
iring towns
n abundant
Sfanl, tastes.

• Viis horse,
-Lruc-
• >. '-ng

tabic , after
mtil eleven,
lelf to pleas-
; thus avoid-
en are liable,

other. His
Aventy miles
store of gen-
ng conspicu-
d the worthy
the Classics,
:s on Natural

on their re-

spective shelves. There was also a small but very select
medical library, for my friend had taken his degree in that
profession, and, although relieved from the necessity of
practising for support, he was in the habit of attending gra-
tuitously on the poor in the neighboring country. Marble
busts of Shakspeare, Milton and Columbus, stood on pedes-
tals in the corners of the room, and fine old portraits of
Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Dante and Ben Jonson, besides
an exquisite gem of Ruysdaels, hanging over the fire-place,
adorned the walls. On one side of the room, fronting the
entrance, an efifigy in complete polished armor of the fif-
teenth century stood erect and grim, the m.ailed gauntlet
grasping the upright spear, while on a withered branch
above it was perched, with extended wings, a superb Amer-
ican tagle in full preservation, his keen eye appearing to
flash upon the intruders at the entrance. In the centre, on
the soft thick carpet, which returned no sound of footsteps,
was a circular table surmounted with an Argand lamp and
writing apparatus, on one side of which was one of those ex-
quisitely comfortable lounging chairs that admit of almost
every position of ease, and on the other a crimson fauteuil
stuffed with down, which Tom laughingly said was for the
peculiar benefit of his wife when she saw fit to honor his
sanctum sanctorum with her presence. He tasked his in-
vention to the utmost to make my time agreeable. Horses,
dogs, guns, books, everything, were at my disposal. Among
other excursions, he proposed, a few days after my arrival,
that we should take a run down the Potomac in his boat.
Now this boat was none other than a beautiful clipper-built
schooner-rigged yacht, of about seven tons burden, with
a very ample cabin in her centre, and from the gilt eagle on

THE MEDICAL STUDENT

A tl.p riudv pennant streaming at her mast-
her stern, and the gauay p ^^.^_

T c^ ^vnrpssino- myself when I hrst saw ner,
laid eyes on. In so ^P";;' :„d very gracious nod from
T received an approbatory ana vciy s

Old Kennedy" a regular old salt, with one arm, for whom
Old Kenneay, 5 ^^ ^^^^

Tom had built a cottage on his estate, ana ro
beauty personified, a beauty which he could the more read-
ily appreciate from the fact that the far greater part of h.
tfm was devoted to her decoration. " Many a t.me says
Tom, " have i found him lying by himself on the banks
looking at her in admiration with half-open eyes; and I
much doubt whether my Mary looks more b-ut.fu to me
than does her namesake, as she floats yonder, to old Ken-

"''But to come to our story. We appointed the following
day for our excursion, and having first ascertamed that
Walter Smith, an old friend, whose plantation was a couple
of miles below, would join us, we early the next mormng
got up our anchor, and under the influence of a smackmg
breeze were soon cutting our way down the r.ver the
white canvas stretching clean and taught out to the stays
our long pennant streaming proudly behind us, and our lit-
tle jack shaking most saucily from its sle.der staff at the
bowsprit, as we merrily curveted and jumped over the
waves. Running down to a point on Smith s plantation,
we got him on board, and were soon under way again, he
water bubbling and gurgling into our scuppers as we lay
down to it in the stiff breeze. Occasionally she would sweep
gunwale under when a flaw would strike her, but old Ken-

j • 1 , n— ,1- ...'-iil'i b>-inf her lip with a long curving
nedy, wide awuKc, wwui^ .j. .uj, ..-. -1

THE MEDICAL STUDENT

her mast-
f her mim-
that 1 ever
st saw her,
nod from
, for whom
)m she was
more read-
part of his
time," says
the banks,
yes; and I
itiful to me
to old Ken-

le following
rtained that
vas a couple
gxt morning
a smacking
le river, the
to the stays,
, and our lit-
r staff at the
)ed over the
's plantation,
ay again, the
srs as we lay
! would sweep
, but old Ken-
long curving

sweep as gracefully as a young lady sliding out of the waltz
in a crowded ball-room, till, stretching out again, she would
course along, dancing over the mimic waves with a coquetry
equal to those same fair damsels when they find an unfor-
tunate wight secure in their chains. We were all in fine
spirits, Tom's negro boy, seated at the heel of the foremast,
showing his white teeth in a delighted grin as old Kennedy,
with his grave face, played off nautical wit at his peculiar
expense. We saw a number of ducks, but they were so shy
that we could with difficulty get a shot at them, but we now
and then succeeded in picking half a dozen snipe out of a
flock as it rose from the shore and flew across our bows.
We continued running down the river in this way for three
or four hours, passing now and then a fisherman or other
craft slowly beating up, but towards noon the breeze slack-
ened ; we gradually lost our way, merely undulating, as
the wind fanned by us in light airs, till finally it entirely
subsided, our long pennant hanging supinely on the shrouds,
and the water slopping pettishly against our bows, as we
rested tranquilly upon its surface. The after part of the
yacht was covered with an awning which, although suffi-
ciently high to prevent its obstructing the view of the
helmsman, afforded us a cover from the rays of the sun, so
that we lay contentedly reclining upon the cushions smoking
our cigars, enjoying our refreshments and reviving old rec-
ollections and associations ; for it must be confessed that we
...^ three, in our student days, had " rung the chimes at mid-
I night." I had not seen Smith for several years. He was a
descendant of the celebrated partisan officer who com-
manded a dashing corps in the Revoluti-on, and inherited, in
a marked degree, all the lofty courtesy and real chivalry

IfTr

'!!jl'

THE MEDICAL STUDENT

■ 1 ,K-,t officer He was exceedingly well
that characterized that "fh'=<"^- . ^ i,„ieed, so

read in the military ^'^^'^y ^'"^ ^^^^U should the sig-
thoroughly imbue w,thn.taorU, ,^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^

nalof war ri"^ '^^"Sh -the — ^ , t „„d loot in

rr; ^^ M irLr t his acquaintance was
the Stirrup. ^} ij^^rly painful and exciting in

L reUoosVlrom the care of my guardians at a very early
been let loose irom ,^ traveling n. a

age, • ""-^^ '*-^ / ;: : /:,er Europe, determined to

A p trhea the rLantic legends of Germany in her own
d 'torests-, to study the painters and sculpt-s of to y
, • ^;i. to S1V nothing of visions of dark-c>ea
"■■rrse" 'i'p ^d faiHes floating through the
girls of Seville, sy p i^^j ^t adventures in the

:~ f^CcI wSat Lonl., Ifell in with and
Tdly availed myself of the opportunity to take apartments
fn the same house with my friend Tom and h.s fellow-stu-
de smith, both Americans, and both completn,g a course
of medicaleducation by attending the lectures of the cele-

'1:?h:ppe:er;hat on the very first evening that we
came together, in conversation upon the peculiar features
oHhdr profession, I expressed a desire to visit a dissecfng-
i„g.room, never having been in one in my own country
Smith immediately invited me to accompany them to the
lecture on that evening, which was to be delivered .n the
rotunda of the college, and where, by going at an early hour,
rav curiosity could be satisfied, besides the opportunity

-J

lingly well
, indeed, so
luld the sig-

of no man
and foot in
ntance was
i exciting in
;it. Having
a very early
iveling in a
jtermined to
to climb the
y in her own
tors of Italy
of dark-eyed

through the
;ntures in the
11 in with and
:e apartments
lis fellow-stu-
ting a course
-s of the cele-

ening that we
juliar features
itadissecting-
own country.
T them to the
livered in the
t an early hour,
jportunity that

T//E MEDICAL STUDENT

I should have of hearing that eminent surgeon. So, putting
on our hats and taking our umbrellas in our hands, we
plunged into the dense fog and groped our way over the
greasy pavements to the college. It was a large building
in a dark and retired court, with something in its very ex-
terior sepulchral and gloomy. Entering the hall door, we
ascended one pair of stairs, stopping for a moment as we
passed the second story to look into the large rotunda of
the lecture-room. The vacant chair of the professor was
standing near the wall, in the rear of a circular table of such
peculiar construction as to admit of elevation and depres-
sion in every part. This table was the one upon which the
subjects were laid when under the hands of the demon-
strator. Two skeletons, suspended by wires from the ceil-
ing, hung directly over it. The room was as yet unoccu-
pied and silent. Ascending another flight of stairs, we
came to a third, secured at its entrance by a strong oaken
door. This appeared to put a stop to our further ascent,
but, upon a small bell being pulled, a sort of wicket in the
upper part of the door was cautiously drawn aside, discov-
ering the features of a stern, solemn-looking man, who, ap-
parently satisfied of the right of the parties to enter, drew
one or two heavy bolts, and dropping a chain, admitted us.
A small table was placed at the foot of the stairs, at which,
by the light of a lamp, this gloomy porter was perusing a
book of devotion. Ascending the stairs, it was not until
three several attempts that I was enabled to surmount the
effects of the effluvia sufficiently to enter the green baize
door that opened into the dissecting-room. As it swung
noiselessly to behind me, the first sensation produced by the
sight was that of faintness, but it almost immediately sub-

Hill

1 !l

g THE MEDICAL STUDENT

^■A.A There appeared a sort of profanity in speaking
:;li and I found^self unconsciously asking .uest.ons of

corpses in different stag scalpels in examining

dents were silently engaged with their scaipeis

aenij wc y wonderful human

•' ,• • . fV.P rnnrse of the disease which had

n:t~r.":H:frai. habitation. I Observed

::: Ihe professors, in his gold s.ectades. poi-t-g -t-
a number of the students, gathered around «- ;' J^J^^^^
jects. the evidences of an ossificaUon of the g ' -■"'j'^
which had, after years of torture, necessar.ly te™'"^'^^
he ife of ;he sufferer. There was alnK,st as "-h .nd v d-
uality in those corpses as if they had been """^ , "'"j "_
quired the most determined effort on my part to d.ves rny
self of the idea that they were sentient and aware of all tha
sell oi tnc recollect, part cularly, one

was passing around them I ■•«™";^'; P . ^^ ^.^ ^^e
which was lying nearest the door as I entered , it
body of a man of about forty, with l.ght ha>r and fa.r com-
petion. who had been cut down in the -. ^t o ^^ '^^
His face was as full and his skin as wh.te as if he had been
merely sleeping, but the knife had passed around h>
loatdown'his body, and then in sections cross-ys,
internal muscles having been evidently exposed, and the

THE MEDICAL STUDENT

skill temporarily replaced during the casual absence of the
dissector. There was something peculiarly horrid in the
appearance of that corpse, as, aside from a ruffianly and dis-
solute expression of the features, the gash around his throat
conveyed the impression that it was a murdered man lying
before me. A middle-aged female was extended just be-
yord, her long hair hanging down over the end of the table,
but not as yet touched by the hand of the surgeon. While
just beyond her, the body of an old man, from which the
upper part of the skull had been sawn to take out the brain,
appeared to be grinning at us with a horrid sort of mirth.
In another part of the room, directly over which the black-
ening body of an infant was thrown across a beam like a
piece of an old carpet, was extended the body of a gigantic
negro ; he lay upon his back, his legs somewhat apart, one
of his arms thrown up so as to rest upon the top of his
head, his eyes wide open, his nostrils distended and his teeth
clenched in a hideous grin. There was such evidence of
strength, such giant development of muscle, such appear-
ance of chained energy and ferocity about him, that, upon
my soul, it seemed to me every moment as if he was about
to spring up with a frantic yell and throw himself upon us;
and wherever I went about the room my eyes involuntarily
turned, expecting to see that fierce negro drawing up his
legs ready to bound, like a malignant demon, over the inter-
vening space. He had been brought home for murder on
the high seas, but the jail-fever had anticipated the hand of
the executioner, and his body of course was given over to
the surgeons. A far different object lay on the floor near
him. It was the body of a young girl of about eleven or
twelve years old. The poor little creature had evidently

iiii

i; :1 ;

THE MEDICAL STUDENT

flexor muscles 'n-'^; '-;'„,, , ,;,„„ed by the foot,
rocked forward and backward reproachfully

rt,e sunken blue eyes s-n".-™ ;'"">- ,, ,^^, ,, „,J,

„po„ us frou, the -^^^^^ \ , Bengal tiger,
savage contrast, was th™ " U« _^^ _^^__ ,^^

which had died a day or two before y

his talons extending an inch "eyond h^ P^w^ -d ^

.bout his huge distended ,aws a,^s,ckl> eyes P ^^^^

portraiture of disease and Pa.„nd a n^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^

been my lot to witness m s"«^""- J ^ ^^^ <,f

ing the dead around them. I thought t

M he well if some of those who sneer at the profession
would be well ii som ^^^^^^^^ ^^

could look in upon one of ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^,,,,3 ,, .Ueviate

which its followers are subjected m their enori

fhp sufferings of their fellow-men.

Is th hour for the lecture approached, the students, one

bv one dosed their books, washed their hands, and descend-
ed to h lecture-room. We descended with the rest, and a
we passed the grim porter, at thebottomof the ~ ' I
observed in the corner behind him a number of stout bludg
eons bsidesseveral cntlassesand muskets. A popular com-
motion a short time previous, among some of the well-.nten-
"o d but ignorant of the lower classes, had u.duced the
:e:eityof:autio„.andthispreparationforres,stance En

tering the lecture-room, we took our places on the th.rd or
fourth row of seats from the demonstrator's tab e, upon
:h h a subject was lying, covered with a wh.te sheet, and

THE MEDICAL STUDENT

:tion of the
I in death,
y the foot,
proachfully
ler, in most
engal tiger,

menagerie,
d there was
as perfect a

it has ever

There was
try, a sort of
ley spoke, it
5 of disturb-

time that it
le profession
r ordeals to
s to alleviate

students, one
and descend-
lie rest, and as
e stair-case, I
: stout bludg-
popular corn-
he well-inten-
induced the
sistance. En-
1 the third or
s table, upon
lite sheet, and

had time, as the room gradually filled, to look about us.
Besides the students, Smith pointed out to me several able
professional gentlemen, advanced in Ufe, who were attracted
by the celebrity of the lecturer. Shortly after we had taken
our seats, a slender, melancholy-looking young man, dressed
in deep mourning, entered the circle in which we were seat-
ed, and took his place on the vacant bench at my side. He
bowed reservedly to my companions as he passed them, but
immediately on sitting down became absorbed in deep sad-
ness. My friends returned his salute, but did not appear
inclined to break into his abstraction. At the precise mo-
ment that the lecture was announced to be delivered, the
tall form of the eminent surgeon was seen descending the
alley of crowded seats to his chair. The lights in the various
parts of the room were raised suddenly, throwing a glare on
all around ; and one of the skeletons, to which an accidental
jar had been given, vibrated slowly forward and backward,
while the other hung perfectly motionless from its cord. In
his short and sententious manner, he opened the subject of
the lecture, which was the cause, effect, and treatment of
that scourge of our country, consumption. His remarks
were singularly lucid and clear, even to me, a layman.
After having gone rapidly through the pathology of the dis-
ease, consuming perhaps some twenty minutes of time, he
; said : " We will now, gentlemen, proceed to demonstration
[upon the subject itself." I shall not readily forget the scene
[that followed. As he slowly turned up the wristbands of
[his shirt sleeves, and bent over to select an instrument from
the case at his side, he motioned to an assistant to withdraw
the sheet that covered the corpse. Resuming his erect po-
^ition, the long knife glittering in his hand, the sheet was

i I

THE MEDICAL STUDENT

neath the plain white musUn cap 1 ^^^ ^^^^_

-ests even the ™c.t r— " ^^e^p.s ^^^^^^ ^^

n,on,entanly checked the buy .^ .^ethroat-at

when I heard a gasp-a choking ^^ ^,^^. ^^^^

•j^. onrl the next instant, tne yu"' 5 ,1

n,y side, ^d'he-^ ^j,,,, Ws arms wildly upwards and

to me rose to h- '«;'•' ^,,, ,,„3ed every man's heart

shrieking m a tone of agony .j^ ,;^<,.^/^<•-r / "-

in that assembly "--'Y.^;;,]' L„,ost upon those in
rrf hC" AU ^init —nation and conlusion.
rreirone^esent who knew ^^^^^0,

ot the students *>-- ^ "jfj^;:: S^rishes of Lon'-
f riends. He was rem one of the d. g^p^ ^^^^^^^^^

don, and two weeks bej- ''"'^J- _^„^^ ,,,, „„ther lay
was much attached and by fatal ,^ He

^'''^"'^^twratdrettL^and insensible, and
was immediately raised, du ;«^ • ^ animation was at

carried into an ^^'i^'^^ ™:::;i* ^ ^e stared vacant-
.engthrestoredtoenableh.- ost . ^ ^ ^^^^ ^^

,y about h.m h g-at Jef ^^ _^^_^^_^^ ^^^ ^^^

^"'^'t'lru-cC and the lifeless corpse again en-
ture was of course cio ^^^^

trusted to hands to replace >t m ,ts tomb Th y J ^^

on the following day was ^^^^^-^^-^J^^,, ^nd fell

have ™--':,.P;"^tto,;a:ing fever, accompanied with
almost immediately nto a raging , ^_^^

fierce and violent delirium ; his lever grauua y

herce anu v London for the

his deUrium at intervals ; but when i

THE MEDICAL STUDENT

continent, three months after, he was rapidly sinking under
the disease which carried off his mother— happily in a state
of helpless and senseless idiocy ; and in a very short time
after, death relieved him from his misery. The whole
scene was so thrilling and painful, that, connecting it in some
measure with my introduction to Smith, his presence always
recalled it to my memory.

THE RESURRECTIONISTS.

ijil:

!;:ll

i^rlmnP-s our conversation natur-
. S we returned to 0''rU>6s^s^o ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ .^^^

A ally turned "P-fXm "caution necessary in the
."Tsiet o —ical examination. Smith

'"*'%''"rthe1aS ^the same distinguished gentle-
received mto th^ "-"^ „,,, then beginning to

man whom we had just ^^^"^ ^^^ich was neces-

rise to eminence and notice an ad^^ntage w ^^^^ ^^^

sarily confined to a very few ^n o- o ^^^^ ^^^

,ormy "'^^^ J^^^rS^.^ofrdTing relative in the
ing been called to the beas parlor firr,

r»». Hno-er was quietly sitting ^l lu'- f
country, as Dr. Huger was q y ^^^^.^^ ^.^^ ^^

absorbed in his studies he »^^ J°"^^^ \ .^ ^j^.^f . Up-
the street door, and rising, went to answer ^aU-drowned

- opening ^^Z:^^:i::^;::tX ... two men,
horses, presented itselt at s , • • ,vith water,

Im wMchwasin'the garret, received the two guineas

THE RESURRECTIONISTS

ation natur-
we had just
issary in the
on. Smith
ctor Huger,

ited Europe,
les, and was
ished gentle-
beginning to
ch was neces-
he dark and
his wife hav-
-lative in the
he parlor firr ,
urried ring at
liimself. Up-
; half-drowned
, and two men,
ng with water,
le if he wanted
e, they opened
was enveloped
the dissecting-
le two guineas

which they had demanded, and withdrew. The affair was
not unusual, and Dr. Huger, resuming his book, soon forgot
the transaction. About eleven o'clock, while still absorbed
in his studies, he heard a violent shriek in the entry,
and the next instant the servant-maid, dashing open the
door, fell senseless upon the carpet at his feet, the candle-
stick which she had held rolling some distance as it fell.

Perceiving that the cause of alarm, whatever it might
be, was without, he caught up the candlestick, and, jumping
over her prostrate form, rushed into the hall, where an ob-
ject met his view which might well have tried the nerves of
the strongest man. Standing half-way down the staircase
was a fierce, grim-looking man, perfectly naked, his eyes
glaring wildly and fearfully from beneath a coarse shock of
dark hair which, nearly concealing a narrow forehead, par-
tially impeded a small stream of blood, trickUng down the
«ide ')f the face from a deep scratch in the temple. In one
hand he grasped a sharp long belt-knife, such as is used by
riggers and sailors, the other holding on by the bannister,
as he somewhat bent over to meet the gaze of the doctor
rushing into the entry. The truth flashed across the mind
of Doctor Huger in an instant, and with admirable presence
of mind he made one spring, catching the man by the wrist
which held the knife, in a way that effectually prevented his
using it. " In the name of God ! where am I ?" demanded
the man in a horror-stricken voice, " am I to be murdered ?"
^'Silence; not a whisper," sternly answered Dr. Huger,
looking him steadily in the eyes. " Silence, and your life is
safe." Wrenching the knife, from his hand, he pulled him
by the arm passively along into the yard, and hurrying
through the gate, first ran with him through one alley, then

I I TIiii n;ii<ll«

^iii

! I

I I ill

THE RESURRECTIONISTS

^ 1, -^iv fhrouffh a third, till, coming

into another, and finally rap,dlylh™ug ^^^ ^^^^^^^^^,^^

to an outlet -P"" ""^ ° ;'„ „," p„,h ; retracing his steps
streets, he gave '""/'j';,! pulling to and doubly
again on the wmgs of t^ - P ^^ ^.^ ^^^^.^

locking the gate behmdhimleavg ^^^^^^^

perlectly bewildered -\P;2';7;„3„3umn,arily ejected.

of 't-^P'-^'™"™;:: e„ce o1 mind of Dr. Huger n.ost
The precaufon ^"^ P'^=""J ° H„„ter from being torn

r"m" n- m'which would have been in-
down and sackea oy aggrieved party known

i. 4.i,r .-nllpcted around it, naa v"c a^^
stantly -""^^'/^ ^^,^k his vengeance,

where to have led 'h-^m t ^ ^^^^,„„y^,„d cautiously

After a few days, mqu.ry tained that three

„ade through t>>e PM-, -d ' Jj" „„^^,„„,,, .„,
men, answering the descr ptio ^^^^^_

*^^^ ^'^^I'of fhet: r ;^ ttet^i-od of Wa.
noon m one ot the low u intoxication,

pin,; thatonehadsunWoa stu^^^^^^^^^^^ ^_^ ^

and had, in that -t-*'""' ^^^;,;\J,^„g been previously
3aeU by his -mpamons ^ ^^ - ,^ ^^^^^,, ,^^^ ,^^

placed in h,s "-'^'f^^^'^^J.f sensibility, and that, in addi-
confinement upon h, «'"™ '° .^^ ,,,,i,ed the two

tion to the poor wretch s clothes, tney

guineas for his body. i^ements of suffering

It is certainly P-^- f;» f JJJ^, ,i„„tion of the grave

•^T^-'Vblt l:: rWhX the spirit, released from
,nd,spensably "pessary ^^^^^^^_ ^^^ p^^^^,

its confinement, l.es m the Umbo ^^^^ ^

tory of the C''*"""' .rofvTrtu al 't me and distance

--'--"^^rtraUtr^onVrained in heavenly
annihiuucu, 11. ="--!'- -

THE RESURRECTIONISTS

delight through the myriads and myriads of worlds roUing
in the vast sublimity of space ; whether summoned from a
course of evil, it shudders in regions of darkness and deso-
lation, or writhes in agony amid flaming atmospheres ; or
whether its germ of life remains torpid, as in the wheat
taken from the Egyptian pyramids, thousands of years exis-
tent, but apparently not sentient, must, of course, be to us
but the wild theories of imagination, and so remam m the
darkness with which, in inscrutable wisdom, the Almighty

has enveloped it.

But that the Spirit can look with other than indifference,
if not loathing, on the perishing exuviae of its chrysalis
existence, which, to its retrospective gaze, presents little
other than a tasking house of base necessities, a chained
prison of cruel disappointments, even to our human reason,
clogged as it is with bars and contradictions, appears hardly
to admit the opportunity of question and of consequence. To
that Spirit its disposition can but be a matter of indifference.
Still, to the surviving friends, whose affection canaot sepa-
rate'mind from matter, those forms, lying in the still and
silent tomb, retain all their dear associations ; and surely, it
most gravely becomes the members of that profession,
which, next to the altar, stands foremost in benevolence,
that the deepest prudence should be exercised in this
gloomy rite required by the living from the dead.

But, upon reflection, we should hesitate to speak in terms
of disparagement of the human body ; for, of all of the
physical works of God, which we think we can comprehend,
it bears most strongly the impress of design, in its wonder-
ful, complex, and perfect adaptation, of means to ends. In it
we recognize machinery of exquisite order, temporarily

! !!

THE RESURKECTIOXISTS

^ . ^ n^ \\ in communion with the

furnished to the Spir.t to place t " c .^ ^^^

other material works of God, so i^at by ^^ ^,.^^^

increase in ^^;^^:^Jr: ::f^ y- '"Ue minds.

rnl"sr;i"S, we reel to he the e.hanst.ess

fountain of benevolence and love^ ^^ ^^.^ ^^^^

We have lean-d toj ;- ^^^^^^ ^^^,, ^^^^ j^^,.„^ ,,.

into what we call Senses ^„„tinuous reconstruction ;

.ended for its P-^-:.-;, : J rnTth-.h which, by

and two, more noble, s.ghta ^ the Deity.

contemplation of h.s creat.on, ^"^ ";;°; PP^j^i, opriate

The inferior, though necessary sens , each w PP P,^^^_^

^''""'•^"".ts^Lrnover :dt of pleasure to, and
its proper hm.ts,funsh a ^^^ _^,^.^ ^^^^^^^,

are servants o. the soul , ^^^_^^ ^^^^ .^ ^,^^^^ ^^ ^^.^

emanation from the Deity, wn „oodness, his

works, and through them ^'P?''-'^'";" °' ' ^^.^er stiU-if
,ove and elevation to Intel gene ^^ J ,^

ES::;:;?^=^"b;:STd^:d^

onowy vc ^iKncr it haclr" through the voice ol

God s";— ^^'^^^ f^^^^^^^^^^ aesplingly in what
""sl noi this continual conmct which the sou

Taiiins with the lower senses that -— .s^sc o • ^
probation here?-the dual nature that Paul con.pla>n of^
^ But let us turn from this sad picture for a moment to t

;d its organ. The Spirit din

the
its

•

nobler senses— to vis

lull

THE RESURRECTIOXISTS

mimic telescope, the eye, on the surrounding world, and
instantly, reflected on the retina through the little pupil, it
beholds, pictured as if by magic, oceans, mountains, forests,
rivers, valleys, tropic vegetation, arctic snows, parents,
children, friends-all the machinery of life and being, now
stationary, now floating in ever changing panorama-pan-
orama, itkf alone, fraught with study for ages, till, with the
declining sun, darkness insensibly draws its veil around, and
all is lost to view, all hushed in silence.

But in the darkness, the Spirit still seeks its proper
stimulus, the light, and elevates its gaze up to the o'erhang-
ing canopy. Again, the little optic mirror, faithful to its
purpose, performs its duty ; now reflects the blazing glories
of the starry firmament, the constellations moving on in their
appointed journeys in silent majesty ; the moon in serene
splendor, sailing amid her sister planets through the cold
blue ether, now struggling with, now joyously passing
through, the tly ing clouds, temporarily obscuring her, to cast
again her soft and benignant light on all the world beneath ;
apt portraiture of the soul in her struggles with the murky

clouds of sense.

Amazed, the delighted Spirit begins to reason. It reasons
out the Lens, places it auxiliary to the little mirror ; and
straight it finds the distant stars increase in brilliancy ; that
some are nearer,* and that other stars appear, - which were
not there before." In exultation it enlarges its artificial aid,
and then present themselves far distant in the dark o'erhang-
ing chasms, other and yet other stars; and far beyond them
still, fleecy, fog-like nebula. It increases the optic stimulus
and the dim light is resolved to glittering " star dust," the

* Planets.

1 ;

liii'

THE KESUKKtCTlOXtSTS

'° . ,t .dds yet Other power, and lo! the

star dust to stars. It ^^^JJ ^^ ft™,aments, firmaments
fleecy' nebute expand "^f"!'" ' ,^1 .vorlds; here sen-

,.„rious wHh suns - '^; 7; ^or ; here in colors of

tiUating in the.rown proper s.lveP ^^^^._^^ ^^.^^

orange, gold, and pale blue -Pj ';;; „ess of regal dia-

.ubyandcmerald,blazu,gma hego g ^^^_^^^^^^ ^^^.^^

dem,' firmaments, -mP-'d « th J '> ^ ^^^.^

first met its uneducated gaze shut as P ^^ ^^^

ButdoestheSp-nt^ ere^to a„d^^^.^^^^^^ which its

•tis but in Its novmate. vv continuously ex-

intelligence reasons orth, and whchG ^^^ ,^

tends in exact accordance w,th>s pat ^^^,,^^3 ^,^;,^

still onward, plunges y^'.^^P^ ;^ "^'^.f, ..st congeries.
o( space, and sweeps ■" -"^^'^^ ^„„„,,,,3 „,riads o(
islands, continents of wor Ids. m.ll on , c ^,.^5^,^33

worlds, which, like huge sUr.y - J^^^,_ ,„3,,, „„ ,3

aerial ocean; -<» ^'' "^^ untold themselves to its
the blazing g>°"" ^'^^^"J";; beginning of education in
enchanted gaze! This is but tn s ._^ .^^

the Deity ; but the first lisping ol the P

study of the Infinite ! .^, ^^^^

Kor does the spirit confin^^^^^^^^^^^ of other of

nor to unassisted vision m '", jj ^ut with micro-
nature's great volume open spread^^e^^^^^^^^^^ ,,, _en

rtth i't fett h sl'L and studies with eagerness the
beneath Its leei , "^vv bottom of

* See Nichols' Stellar Universe, pp. 72, 73-

THE RESURRECTIOMSTS

fighti

the single

tne infusoria millions, sporting and fighting n. tne sinj
liquid drop ; invisible nothings to its naked eyesight, through
magnifying power springing into entity and benig; d.s-
covers the gaudy unsuspected plumage on the insect swn.g;
detects the crystal's angles; with its prism, even dissects
and delightedly holds suspended, quivering in its con-
stituent colors, light itself, its own natural stimulus; scoops
from the ocean of Eternity a drop, and calls it time ; and
weighs in like exquisite balance the minute grain and dis-
' tant worlds. Yet this little eye, this retina, this organ so
indispensable, the key to open these wondrous mysteries, is
. a part and but a portion of the much-despised body.
1 But what were all this to the gentle Spirit whose law is
^ love love which tends continually back to its great Creator,
who' Himself is love, if, locked up in loneliness, it could not,
through the sense of hearing, receive the tones of tender-
^ ness, gentleness, devotion-the interchange of thought with
4 other intelligences-hear the mother's deep accen^ of affec-
tion. the prattle of the child, the gentle voice of Charity,
the glorious harmonies which float it away as if by magic,
until in ecstacy it is merged and almost lost in the unseen
Infinite ; or the louder and terrific crash which frightens it
cowering into more immediate apprehension of the Deity .
Doubtless the body is the servant of the soul ; but the con-
nection of a minister of such necessity, provided by the
Infinite, may well startle us when we reflect to what account
we shall be held for its abuse and injury; injury inevitable
when in the least degree we o'erstep the bounds of rigid
temperance; injury that paralyzes the harmony of action,
which is its appointed function.
' ^ A nebula in the constellation •' Aquarius " is estimated to be

THE RESURRECTIONISTS

three thousand six hundred millions of miles in extent. One m
" Lyra " to be distant from the earth forty-seven thousand bilhons
of miles; another, in the constellation "Triangulum," seven-
teen thousand biUions of -niles. The nearest (!) star to our system
is Alpha, in " Centaurus,' which is computed to be twenty billions of
miles distant. Our own Solar system, although it is five thousand
seven hundred millions of miles in diameter, is a mere point in the
Universe. (Bouvier's Astronomy.)

» This magnificent scene presents itself near " Kappa," in the
constellation " Crux." See Bouv. Ast., pp. 250-284. For others, see
Nichols' Stellar Universe, p. 172.

» While it is hopeless for us to form even a faint idea of these awful
distances, yet we may make a feeble effort at approximation towards
their reality, by considering that a railroad car, traveling night and
day, at the rate of twenty miles an hour, would require three hun-
dred millions of years to reach the star " Sirius ; " (Bouvier's Ast.)-
that with the electric fluid flashing through space at a velocity of
twenty thousand miles a second, it would alike require, were such
transmission possible, ninety years to convey a telegraphic message
to star 6r, "Cygni;" and thirty years to Alpha "Centaun," the
nearest fixed star to the earth. (Bouvier's Ast.)

* The flies which I had observed were all distinguished from each
other by their colors, their forms and their manners. Some were of
the color of gold, others of silver, and others of bronze ; these were
spotted, those striped ; some were blue, some green, some dull, and
others shining. In some, the head was rounded like a turban, in others
lengthened into a point like a nail ; in some it appeared dark like a
spot of black velvet, in others it sparkled like a ruby.

We may therefore conclude, by analogy, that there are animals
which feed on the leaves of plants like the cattle in our meadows,
which recline in the shade of hairs imperceptible to human eyes, and
which drink from their glands, formed like suns, liquid gold and
silver. Every part of a flower must present them with spectacles of
which we have no idea. The yellow antherje suspended on white
threads appear to them like double bars of gold balanced on col-
umns more beautiful than ivory ; the corallae like vaults of rubies and
topazes, of immeasurable extent ; the nectaria like rivers of sugar ;

! i

THE RESURRECTIONISTS

the other parts of the blossom like cups, urns, pavilions and domes,
which the architecture and workmanship of men have never
imitated. * * *

The animals which live beneath their rich reflections must have
ideas very different from ours concerning light and the other phe-
nomena of nature. A dew-drop, filtering through the capillary and
transparent tubes of a plant, appears to them like a thousand foun-
tains ; collected into a globule at the extremity of one of its hairs,
it is "a boundless ocean ; and when evaporated in the atmosphere, an
aerial sea. (St. Pierre, " Studies of Nature r)

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTERMASTER.

(Constitution and Guerriere.)

(See Frontispiece.)

No. I.

THE sun became more and more powerful as it ascended
towards the meridian, and was reflected with efful-
gent intensity from the mirror-surfaceof the river. As
we bent over the side and looked far down into the deep vault
reflected from above, and saw our gallant little yacht, with her
white sails and dark hull, suspended with even minute trac-
ery over it, we could almost imagine ourselves with the
Ancient Mariner, " in a painted ship upon a painted ocean."
The white sand-banks quivered and palpitated in the sultry
glare, and the atmosphere of the adjoining swamps hung over
them in a light blue vapor, the deadly miasma, their usual
covering, dissipated in the fervent heat, while the silence
was unbroken, save by the occasional scream of the gull, as
it wheeled about in pursuit of its prey, or the quick alarmed
cry of the kingfisher, hastily leaving some dead branch upon
the shore to wing its way farther from the object of its terror.
The black boy, in perfect negro elysium, lay stretched fast
asleep, with his arm resting upon one of the dogs, in the
blazing sun on the forecastle ;] while we ourselves reclined
upon the cushions with our refreshments before us, indolently
puffing our cigars under the awning : Old Kennedy, perched

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

upon the taffrail, coxswain fashion, with the tiller between
his legs. While thus enjoying ourselves, like true disciples
of Epicurus, the guitar was taken from its case in the cabin,
and accompanied by the rich tones of Walter Smith, "Here's
a health to thee, Mary," in compliment to our kind hostess,
swept over the still surface of the river till dissipated in
the distance, and anon the " Wild Huntsman," and " Here's
a health to all good lassies," shouted at the pitch of three
deep bass voices, bounded over the banks, penetrating the
deep forest, causing the wild game to spring from their cov-
erts m consternation at such unusual disturbance of its noon-
tide stillness. " We bade dull care begone, and daft the
time away." Old Kennedy, seated at the tiller, his grey hair
smoothed down on one side, and almost falling into his eyes,
his cheek distended with a huge quid of tobacco, which
gave an habitual drag to a mouth whose expression indi-
cated surly honesty and resolution, was a perfect portrait of
many an old quarter-master, still in the service, while his
scrupulously clean shirt, with its blue collar open at the neck,
discovering a rugged throat encircled by a ring of grey
hairs, and his white canvas tVowsers, as tight at the hips as
they were egregiously large at the ankles, indicated the rig
in which he had turned up for the last thirty years to Sun-
day muster. The old seaman had seen a great deal of serv-
ice, having entered the Navy at the opening of the difficul-
ties with the Barbary powers, and had been engaged in sev-
eral of the signal naval actions which followed in the subse-
quent war with Great Britain. Previous to that time, he had
been in the [employ of Tom's father, who was an extensive
shipping merchant at Alexandria, and now, in his old age,
influenced by an attachment for the son, who had built a

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

snug cottage for him on his estate, and, vested with the full
control of the yacht, he had been induced to come down to
spend the remainder of his days on the banks of the Poto-
mac, enjoying the pension awarded by government for the

loss of his arm.

I had previously had the hint given me, that a little adroit
management would set him to spinning a yarn which would
suit my fancy. So, watching a good opportunity, knowing
that the old man had been with Hull in his fight with the
Guerriere, I successfully gave a kick to the ball by remark-
ing : " You felt rather uncomfortable, Kennedy, did you
not, as you were bearing down on the Guerriere, taking
broadside and broadside from her, without returning a shot?
You had time to think of your sins, my good fellow, as con-
science had you at the gangway ? " " Well, sir," replied he,
deliberately rolling his tobacco from one side of his mouth
to the other, squirting the juice through his front teeth with
true nautical grace—" Well, sir, that ere was the first frigate
action as ever I was engaged in, and I am free to confess, I
overhauled the log of my conscience to see how it stood, so
it mought be I was called to muster in the other world in a
hurry ; but I don't think any of his shipmates will say that
Old Bill Kennedy did his duty any the worse that day, be-
cause he thought of his God, as he has many a time since at
quarters. There's them as says the chaplain is paid for the
religion of the ship, and it's none of ihe sailors' business ;
but I never seen no harm in an honest seaman's thinking for
himself. Howdsomever, I don't know the man what can
stand by his gun at such time, tackle cast loose, decks sanded,
matches lighted, arm-chests thrown open, yards slung, ma-
.•„_- ;_ iu- — .,^.nTr,,.o t->r,w^'»»*-V^<^v«: nnssinp" ammunition

OLD KEXXEDW THE QUARTER-MASTER

buckets, ship as still as death, officers in their iron-bound
boarding caps,cutlashes hanging by lanyards at their wrists,
standing like statues at divisions, enemy may-be bearing
down on the weather-quarter — I say, 1 doesn't know the man
at sich time, as won't take a fresh bite of his quid, and give
a hitch to the waistbands of his trowsers,as he takes a squint
at the enemy through the port as he bears down. And as
you say, at that particular time, the Guerriere (as is French
for sojer) was wearing and manoeuvering, and throwing her
old iron into us, broadside and broadside, like as I have seen
them Italians in Naples throw sugar-plums at each other in
Carnival time. Afore she was through, tho', she found it
was no sugar-plum work, so far as Old Ironsides was con-
sarned. You obsarve, when we first made her out, we seen
she was a large ship close hauled on the starboard lack, so
we gin chase, and when within three miles o^ her took in
all our light sails, hauled courses up, beat to quarters and
got ready Tor action. She wore and manoeuvered for some
time, endeavoring to rake, but not making it out bore up un-
der her jib and topsails, and gallantly waited for us. Well,
sir — as we walked down to her, there stands the old man
(Hull), his swabs on his shoulders, dressed as fine in his yel-
low nankin vest and breeches, as if he was going ashore on
leave — there he stands, one leg inside the hammock nettings,
taking snuff out of his vest pocket, v s*ching her manoeu-
vres, as she blazed away like a house a-fiic, j;?t as cool as if
he was only receiving complimentary salutes. She burnt
her brimstone, and was noisy, but never a gun fires we. Old
Ironsides poked her nose steady right down for her, carry-
ins: a bank of foam under her bows like a feather-bed cast
loose. Well, as wx neared her, and she wears first a-star-

\i\ l

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

board, and then a-larboard, giving us a regular broadside at
every tack, her shot first falls short, but as we lessened the
distance, some of them begins to come aboard, first among
the rigging, and cuts away some of the stuff aloft, for them
Englishmen didn't larn to fire low till we larnt 'em. First
they comes in aloft, but by-and-by, in comes one— lower-
crash— through the bulwarks, making the splinters fly like
carpenters' chips, then another, taking a gouge out of the
main-mast, and pretty soon agin— V/«V,' I recollects the sound
of that ere shot well—' chit,' another dashed past my ear,
and glancing on a gun-carriage, trips up the heels of three
as ^od men as ever walked the decks of that ere ship, and
all this while never a gun fires we, but continues steadily
eating our way right down on to his quarter, the old man
standing in the hammock nettings watching her movements
as if she was merely playing for his amusement. Well, as
we came within carronade distance, them shot was coming
on board rather faster than mere fun, and some of the young
sailors begins to grumble, and by-and-by, the old men-of-
wars-men growled too, and worked rusty— cause why— they
sees the enemy's mischief, and nothing done by us to ag-
gravate them in return. Says Bill Vinton, the vent-holder,
to me : 'I say, Kennedy,' says he, * what's the use ; if this
here's the way they fights frigates, dam'me ! but I'd rather
be at it with the Turks agin on their own decks as we was at
Tripoli. It's like a Dutch bargain, all on one side. I ex-
pects the next thing, they'll order pipe down and man the
side-ropes for that ere Englishman to come aboard and call
the muster-roll.' ' Avast a bit,' says I ; ' never you fear the
old man. No English press-gang comes on board this ship;
old Blow-hard knows what he's about.

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

" Well, by-and-by Mr. Morris, our first lieutenant, who all
the while had been walking up and down the quarter-deck,
his trumpet under his arm, and his eyes glistening like a
school-boy's just let out to play ; by-and-by he begins to
look sour, 'ticularly when he sees his favorite coxswain of
the first cutter carried by a shot through the opposite port.
So he first look§ hard at the old man, and then walks up to
him and says, by way of a hint, in a low tone : * The ship is
ready for action, sir ; and the men are getting impatient.'
The old man never turns, but keeps his eye steadily on the
enemy, while he replies : * Are — you — all ready, Mr. Mor-
ris ?' * All ready, sir,' says the lieutenant. ' Don't fire a gun
till I give the orders, Mr. Morris,' says the old man. Pres-
ently up comes a midshipman from the main-deck, touches
his hat — * First division all ready, sir. The second lieuten-
ant reports the enemy's shot have hurt his men, and he can
with difficulty restrain them from returning their fire.'
' Tell him to wait for orders, Mr. Morris,' says the old man
again, never turning his head. Well, just, you see, as the
young gentleman turned to go below, and another shot car-
ries off Mr. Bush, lieutenant of marines — just as we begins
to run into their smoke, and even the old gun-boat-men, as
had been with Decatur and Somers, begins to stare, up
jumps the old man in the air, slaps his hand on his thigh
with a report like a pistol, and roars out in a voice that
reached the gunners in the magazines: ' Now, Mr. Morris,
give it to them ! Now give it to them, fore and aft, round
and grape! Give it to 'em, sir; give it to 'em!' and the
words was scarce out of his mouth before our whole broad-
side belched at half-pistol-shot; the old ship, trembling from
her keel to her trucks like an aspen, at the roar of her own

50 OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

batteries, instantly shooting ahead and doubling across his
bows, we gave him the other with three cheers, and then at
it we went, regular hammer and tongs. You would a
thought you were in a thunder storm in the tropics, from
the continual roar and flash of the batteries. In ten min-
utes his mizzen-mast went by the board. ' Hurrah !' shouts
the old man; 'hurrah, boys; we've made a brig of her;
fire low; never mind their top hamper ! Hurrah! we'll
make a sloop of her before we've done ! ' In ten minutes
more over went her main-mast, carrying twenty men over-
board as it went ; and sure enough, sir, in thirty minutes
that 'ere Englishman was a sheer hulk, smooth as a canoe,
not a spar standing but his bowsprit ; and his decks so com-
pletely swept by our grape and cannister that there was
barely hands enough left to haul down the colors, as they
had bravely nailed to the stump of their main-mast. ' I say,
Kennedy,' says the vent-holder to me, lying across the gun
after she struck, looking out at the wrack through the port,
and his nose was as black as a nigger's from the powder
flashing under it, ' I say, I wonder how that 'ere Englishman
likes the smell of the old man's snuff.' "

OLD KENNEDY, THE OUARTER-MASTER.

(Sailors Ashore. — Hornet and Peacock.)

No. II.

WELL, well ; sailors is queer animals, anyhow, and al-
ways ready for a fight or frolic, and, so far as I sees,
it don't much matter which. Now, there was

Captain McL , he was a lieutenant then ; I was up in a draft

of men with him to the lakes in the war, and as there was
no canals nor steamboats in them days, they marched us up
sojer fashion. As we marched along the road there was
nothing but skylarking and frolic the whole time. Never a
cow lying in the road, but the lads must ride ; nor a pig, but
they must have a pull at his tail. I recollects, once't, as we
was passing a farm-yard, Jim Albro, as was alongside of me
— what does Jim do, but jumps over the fence and catches
a goose out of the pond, and was clearing with it under his
arm ; but the farmer, too quick for him, grabs his musket
out of his door, and leveling at Jim, roars out to drop the
goose. Jim catches the goose's neck tight in his hand, as it
spraddles under his arm, and then turning his head over his
shoulder, cries out, ' You fire — I'll wring his neck off.' And
so Jim would have got off with the goose, but one of the
officers, seeing what was going on, orders Jim to drop the
goose and have a care how he aggravates the honest farm-

I i

C2 OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

ers in that 'ere sort of a way ; for. ' By the powers !' said he,
« Mr Jim Albro, this isn't the first time, and if 1 hear of the
like ag'in from you, but your back and the boatswain's mate
shall scrape an acquaintance the first moment we come
witnin the smell of a tarred ratlin.*

- It was wrong, to be sure, for Bill to take the man's
goose, seeing as how it was none of his ; but there was one
affair that same day, as the lads turned up to, and, though a
steady man, I'm free to confess I had a hand m't. Why,
what do you think, sir, but as we what was bound for to
fight the battles of our country-what do you thmk, but as
we comes to one of them big gates they has on the roads,
but the feller as keeps it-dam'me, sir, what does he do but
makes all fast, and swears that we shan't go through without
paying ! I'm free to confess, sir, that thut 'ere gate went off
its hinges a little quicker than the chain of our be-^t bower
ever run through the hawse hole. A cummudgeonly son of
a land lubber-as if, because we didn't wear long-tail coats
and high-heel boots, we was to pay like horses and oxen !
If the miserable scamp hadn't 've vanished like a streak mto
the woods, we'd have paid him out of his own tar-bucket,
and rolled him over in the feathers of one of his wife's own
beds But, d'ye see, that wasn't the eend of it Them 'ere
lawyers gets hold of it. and it was the first time any of them
land-sharks ever came athwart my hawse.

" When we gets to the next town, up comes a constable
to the midshipman, supposing as how he was in command of
the draft; up comes the constable and says, says he, ' Cap-
ting I arrests you for a salt and battery, in behalf of these
here' men, as has committed it,' meaning, you understand,
the affair of the gate. Well, the midshipman, all ripe for

'iff'.-, ti:

OLD KKXNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTLK

frolic and fun himself, pulls a long face, and says gruffly that
his men hadn't been engaged in no salt on no battery ; but
that they was ready at all times to fight for their country,
and asks him whereaway that same English battery lay, as
he would answer for the lads salting it quick enough. Then
the lawyer, as was standing with his hands behind him, up
and tells him that ' it's for a trespass in the case.' ' Oh ! a
trespass in the gate, you mean,' says the midshipman. But
just then the lieutenant comes up to see what's the muss,
and bids me put on my jacket, for, d'ye see, I had squared
off to measure the constable for a pair of black eyes. Hang
me, if the feller didn't turn as white as a sheet. ' Put on
your jacket, sir,' says he, ' and leave the man alone.' And

then, turning to the midshipman : ' Mr. , take the men

down to the tavern and splice the main-brace, while I walk
up to the justice's with the gentleman, to settle this affair.
And, hark'ee, ye rascals,' says he, ' don't disgrace the name
of blue jacket in this quiet village, but behave yourselves
till I return.' Well, he and the lawyer walks up to the jus-
tice's, and there they took a glass of wine together, and
that's the last we hearn of that 'ere business.

" There ag'in. when we took the Peacock — you all knows
about that 'ere action. It was what I calls short and sweet.
Fifteen minutes from the first gun, he was cut almost entire-
ly to pieces, his main-mast gone by the board, six feet of
water in the hold, and his flag flying in the fore-rigging, as
a signal of distress. The sea was running so heavy as to
wash the muzzles of our guns as we run down. We ex-
changed broadsides at half-pistol-shot, and then, as he wore
to, to rake us, we received his other broadside, running him
close in upon the starboard quarter, and a drunken sailor

li : I :l

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

never hugged a post closer nor we did that brig till we had
hammered daylight out of her. A queer thing is war,
though, and I can't say as I was ever satisfied as to its de-
sarts, though I've often turned the thing over in my mind
in mid-watch since. There was we, what was stowing our
round shot into that 'ere brig, as if she had been short of
kenteledge, and doing all we could to sweep with our grape

and cannister everything living from her decks ; there was
we, fifteen minutes after, working as hard as we could pull,
to keep her above water, while we saved her wounded
and the prisoners, like as she had been an unfortunate wrack,
foundering at sea. But all wouldn't do. Down she went,

^_. : Au;-.i.^^^ ^( U^»-r»'vr> \*rr\^1r\Af^r\ hf>QiHp<s snme of our

Caiiyillg Lull LCCXI v^i ii^-i UrVli tt • -v.!!- , --

own brave lads as was exerting themselves to save them,

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

and mighty near did Bill Kennedy come to being one of the
number, and having a big D marked ag'in his name on the
purser's book, at that same time. The moment she showed
signals of distress, all our boats was put in requisition to
transport the prisoners and wounded to the Hornet. I was
in the second cutter with Midshipman Cooper. He was a
little fellow then, though he's a captain now. Well, we
stowed her as full as she could stow, and I was holding on
by the boat-hook in the bows, jist ready to push off, when
Midshipman Cooper jumps aboard ag'in and runs back to
call a couple of the Englishmen as was squared off at each
other, at the foot of the main-hatch ladder, settling some
old grudge (for, d'ye see, sir, all discy^YmQ is over the mo-
ment a ship strikes). He runs back to tell them to clear
themselves, for the ship was sinking ; but before he could
reach them she rolls heavily, sways for an instant from side
to side, gives a heavy lurch, and then down she goes head
foremost, carrying them fellers as was squared off ag'in each
other, and her own wounded, besides four or five of our
own brave lads, right down in the vortex. Our boat spun
round and round like a top for a moment, and then swept
clear, but the midshipman barely saved himself by spring-
ing into an empty chest as was floating by, and there he was,
dancing about in the heavy sea like a gull in the surf, and it
was nigh on two hours afore we picked him up ; but the lit-
tle fellow was jist as cool and unconsarned as if he was in a
canoe on a fish-pond. The next day we opens a subscrip-
tion and furnishes all the British seamen with two shirts and
a blue jacket and trowsers each, 'cause why, d'ye see, they'd
lost all their traps in their ship when she went down.

ill

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER.

(Perry's Victory on Lake Erie.)

i; ; ;:; '

No. III.

BUT," says I, " Kennedy, I think you said your draft
was bound for the lakes. Which did you go to, On-
tario or Erie ?" " I was on both, sir," says he, " afore
the war was over, and we got as much accustomed to pok-
ing our flying jib-boom into the trees on them shores as if
the sticks was first cousins, which, seeing as how the ships
was built in the woods, wouldn't be much of a wonder.
Part of that 'ere draft staid down on Ontario, with the old
commodore as was watching Sir James, and part was sent
up to Erie. I went up to Erie and joined the Lawrence,
Commodore Oliver H. Perry ; and I hopes that old Bill
Kennedy needn't be called a braggart, if he says he did his
part in showing off as handsome a fight on that same fresh-
water pond as has ever been done by an equal force on blue
water. Our gallant young commodore made as tight a fight
of it as it has ever been my luck to be engaged in : and see-
ing as how half of his men was down with fever and ager,
and not one in a dozen knew the difference between the
smell of gun-powder and oil of turpentine, blow me ! but I
think it was about as well done.

" You see, our squadron was lying in a bay as they calls

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

Put-in-Bay, and when the enemy first hove in sight it was
in the morning, about seven o'clock. I knows that that was
the time, because I had just been made quarter-master, by
Captain Perry, and was the first as seen them through my
glass. They was in the nor'-west, bearing down. As soon
as we made them out to be the enemy's fleet, up went the
signal to get under way, our ship, the Lawrence, in course
taking the lead. Well, as we was working slowly to wind-
ward, to clear some sma. islands — one of 'em was Snake
Island— I hearn Captain Perry come up to the master and
ask him, in a low voice, whether he thought he should be
able to work out to wind'ard in time to get the weather-
gage of the enemy ; but the master said as how the wind
was sou'-west, and light, and he didn't think he could.
♦ Then,' said the commodore, aloud, * wear ship, sir, and go
to leeward, for I am determined to fight them to-day.' But
just then the wind came round to the south'ardand east'ard,
and we retained the weather-gage, and slowly bore down
upon the enemy. They did all they could to get the wind,
but not succeeding, hove into line, heading west'ard, and
gallantly waited for us as we came down.

" There lay their squadron, all light sails taken in, just like
a boxer, with his sleeves rolled up and handkerchief tied
about his loins, ready to make a regular stand-up fight; and
there wasn't a braver man, nor better sailor, in the British
Navy, nor that same Barclay, whose broad pennant floated
in the van of that squadron.

" Pretty soon, up runs our motto-flag, the dying words of
our hero Lawrence— ' Don't give up the j/«>'— and floats
proudly from our main ; and then the general order was
passed down the line by trumpet : ' Each ship, lay your en-

':i

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

Hill

emy alongside f and if you ever seen a flock of wild geese fly-
ing south'ard in the fall of the year, you'll have some idea
of us as we went down into action. The men was full of
spirit and panting for a fight, and even them as was so sick as
to be hardly able to stand insisted upon taking their places at
the guns. I recollects one in particular, he was a carpenter's
mate, a steady man from Newport, he crawls up when we
beat to quarters and seats himself upon the head of one of
the pumps, with the sounding-rod in his hand, looking as
yellow as if he had just been dragged out of a North Caro-
lina cypress swamp ; but one of the officers comes up to
him as he was sitting there, and says : ' You are too sick to
be here, my man ; there's no use of your being exposed for
nothing: you had better go below.' ' If you please, sir,' says
the poor fellow, ' if I can do nothing else, I can save the
time of a better man and sit here and sound the pump."
Well, sir, as we bore down, the English occasionally tried
our distance by a shot, and when we was within about a mile
of 'em, one comes ricochetting across the water, bounds
over the bulwarks, and takes that man's head as clean off
his shoulders as if it had been done with his own broad-axe.
I have hearn say, that ' every bullet has its billet,' and that is
sartin, that it's no use to dodge a shot, for if you are des-
tined to fall by a shot, you will sartin fall by that same shot;
and I bear in mind that an English sailor, one of our pris-
oners, told me that in a ship of their'n a feller, ai. skulked in
the cable-tier, during an action with the French, was found
dead with a spent forty-two resting on his neck. The ball
had come in at the starn-port, struck one of the beams for'-
ard, and tumbled right in upon him, breaking his neck, as he
lay snugly coiled away in the cable-tier. No, no ; misfortms

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

and cannon shot is very much alike; there's no dodging;
every man must stand up to his work and take his chance ;
if they miss, he is ready when they pipes to grog; if they hit,
the purser's book is squared and no more charges is scored
ag'in him.

" But, as I was saying, it wasn't long before we begun to
make our carronades tell, and then at it we went, hot and
heavy, the Lawrence taking the lead, engaging the Detroit ;
and every vessel, as she came up, obeying orders and laying
her enemy alongside in right good arnest, except the Niag-
ara. She hung back— damn her !— with her jib brailed up
and her main-topsail to the mast ; consequence was, the
Charlotte, as was her opponent, avails herself of her dis-
tance, runs up close under the starn of the Detroit, and
both ships pours their combined fire into our ship, the
Lawrence. I hearn the master myself, and afterwards two
or three of the other officers, go up to the Commodore dur-
ing the action and call his attention to the Niagara, and com-
plain of her treacherous or cowardly conduct. Well, them
two ships gin it to us hot and heavy, and in three minutes we
was so enveloped in smoke, that we only aimed at the flashes
of their guns, for we might as well have tried to track a
flock of ducks in the thickest fog on the coast of Labrador,
as their spars or hulls. I was working at one of the for'ard
guns, and as, after she was loaded, tho captain of the piece
stood waiting with the trigger lanyard in his finger, ready
to pull, one of the officers calls out, ' I say, sir ; why don't
you fire ? ' 'I want to make her tell, sir,' says the gunner ;
' I am waiting for their flash— there it is ; ' and as he pulled
trigger a cannon shot came through the port and dashed
him to pieces between us, covering me and the officer all

Hi 1'

60 OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

over with his brains. Their fire was awful, the whole of the
shot of the two heaviest ships in the squadron pouring into
us nigh on two hours without stopping. Our brig became
a complete slaughter-house ; the guns dismounted, carriages
knocked to pieces, some of our ports knocked into one,
hammock-netting shot clean away, iron stancheons twisted
like wire, and a devilish deal more dayhght than canvas in
our bolt ropes, the wounded pouring down so fast into the
cockpit, that the surgeons didn't pretend to do more than
ap-ly tourniquets to stop the bleeding, and many of the
men came back to the guns in that condition, while others
was killed in the hands of the surgeons. One shot came
through the cockpit, jistover the surgeon's head, and killed
midshipman Laub, who was coming up on deck with a
tourniquet at his shoulder, and another killed a seaman who
had already lost both arms. Our guns was nearly all dis-
mounted, and finally there was but one that could be brought
to bear, and ;o completely was the crew disabled, that the
commodore had to work at it with his own hands. The
men became almost furious with despair, as they found them
selves made the target for the whole squadron, and the
wounded complained bitterly of the conduct of the Niagara,
as they lay dying on the decks and in the cockpit. Two
shots passed through the magazine, one knocked the lantern
to pieces and sent the lighted wick upon the floor, and it" the
gunner hadn't have jumped on it with his feet before it
caught the loose powder— my eyes! but that 'ere ship and
everything on board would have gone into the air like a
sheaf of sky-rockets, and them as was on board never would
have know'd which side whipped. Out of one hundred
men that went into action, eighty-three were either killed or

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

wounded, and every officer was killed or hurt except the
Commodore. Our lieutenant of marines, Lieutenant Brooks

him as was called the Boston Apollo — the handsomest

man in the sarvice, was cut nearly in two by a cannon shot
and died before the close of the action.

" It was nigh on all up with us. The men was real grit
though, and even the wounded cried, ' Blow her up,' rather
than strike. Well, as things stood, there was an end of the
Lawrence, so far as fighting went, — and our Commodore
says, says he,— ' Lieutenant Yarnall, the American flag must
not be pulled down over my head this day, while life remains
in my body : I will go on board that ship and bring her my-
self into action, and I will leave it to you to pull down the
Lawrence's flag if there is no help for it.' So we got our
barge alongside, by the blessing of Heaven, not so much in-
jured but what she'd float, and off we pushed for the Niag-
ara—the Commodore standing with his motto-flag under his
arm ; but as soon as the enemy caught sight of us they de-
livered a whole broadside directly at the boat, and then pep-
pered away so briskly, that the water all around us bubbled
like a duck-pond in a thunder-shower. There Perry stood,
erect and proud, in the starn sheets, his pistols strapped in
his belt and his sword in his hand, his eyes bent upon the
Niagara, as if he'd jump the distance, never heeding the
shot flying around him like hail. The men begged him to sit
down ; they entreated him with tears in their eyes, but it was
not until I dragged him down by main force, the men de-
claring that they would lay upon their oars and be taken, that
he consented.

"There's them as says the Niagara tvoiildnt come down,
and there's them as savs she couldnt ; all I know is, that when

{ ■{

ill i

III

'ill'

62 OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

our gallant young Commodore took the quarter-deck, she
walked down into the thickest of it quick enough-my eyes !
how we did give it to 'em, blazing away from both sides at
once. We ran in between the Detroit and Charlotte, our
guns crammed to the muzzle, and delivered both of our
broadsides into them at the same time, grape, cannister and
all raking the others as we passed, and the Nirgara lads

showed it wasn't no fault of their'n that they hadn't come
earlier to their work. I never know M guns sarved smarter,
than they sarved their'n, till the eua of the action, nor with
better effect. We soon silenced the en. my, and run up the
stars again on the Lawrence as she lay a complete wrack,
shattered and cut up among them, for ail the world like a
dead whale surrounded by shirks. They struck one a'fter

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

another, much like you may have seen the flags of a fleet
run down after the evening gun ; and as the firing ceased,
and the heavy smoke-bank rolled off to leeward, shiver my
timbers ! but it was a sight for a Yankee tar to see, the
striped bunting slapping triumphantly in the breeze over
the British jacks at their gaffs.

" If there's any man, tho', as says that their Commodore
wasn't a man, every inch of him, aye ! and as good a seaman,
too, as ever walked a caulked plank, there's one here, and
his name is Bill Kennedy, as will tell him that he's a know-
nothing, and talks of a better man nor himself. Aye, aye !
scrape the crown off his buttons, and he might mess with
Decatur and Lawrence, and splice the main-brace with
Stewart and Hull, and they be proud of his company. He
was badly cut up, tho', and I have hearn tell, that when he
got home to England, he wouldn't go for to see the lady
what he'd engaged to marry, but sent her word by a friend,
—I don't know who that friend was, but suppose it was his
first lieutenant, in course— he sends her word that he wouldn't
hold her to her engagement, ' 'cause why,' says he, ' I'm all
cut to pieces, and ain't the man I was when she engaged for
to be my wife.' Well, what d'ye think the noble girl says
when she hearn this ? ' Tell him,' says she, ' as long as there's
enough of him left to hold his soul, I will be his.' I say,
Master Tom, that's most up to the Virginny gals. Well,
well, there never was but one, as would have said as much
for Bill Kennedy, and she, poor Sue, she married curly-
headed Bob, captain of the main-top in the Hornet, in a pet,
and was sorry when it was too late. She was a good girl,
though, and I've lent her and her young-ones a hand once't
or twice since in the breaker?

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER.

(Chesapeake and Shannon— Boat Fight on Lake Ontario.)

No. IV.

WELL, Mr. Kennedy," says Smith, " you have told us
of your victories— have you always been victori-
ous ? Have you always had the luck on your side ?
Where did you lose your arm ?" The old man took a long
and deliberate survey of the horizon astern of us, apparent-
ly not well pleased with a dark cloud just beginning to lift
itself above its edge, but whatever inferences he drew from
it he kept to himself, and having relieved his mouth from
the quid, and replenished the vacuum by a fresh bite of the
pig-tail, he leisurely tu, led to us again and replied with
some emphasis : " Them as fights the English, fights men ;
and though its been my luck to be taken twice by them,
once't in aie unlucky Chesapeake, and once't on the lakes,
and though I owes the loss of my flipper to a musket
marked G. R., I hopes I bears them no more grudge than
becomes a true Yankee sailor. Now, speaking of that, I've
always observed, since the war, when our ships is in the
same port, that however much we always fights when we
falls in with each other, that the moment the English or
Americans gets into a muss with the French, or the Dutch,
or the Spaniards, that we makes common cause and tumbles

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

in and helps one another But I'm blest ! but that Chesa-
peake business was a bad affair. They took the ship. Let
them have the credit of it, say I, but no great credit neither;
for half the men was foreigners in a state of mutiny and
none of the men know'd their officers. I hearn Captain
Lawrence say himself, after he was carried below, that when

he ordered the bugle-man to sound to repel boarders, the
cursed Portuguese was so frightened, or treacherous, that no
sound came from the bugle, though his cheeks swelled as
if in the act. And I hearn a British officer say to one of
our'n, that Captain Lawrence owed his death to his wearing
a white cravat into action, and that a sharp-shooter in their
tops picked him off, knowing as how no common man
would be so dressedil I don't complain of their getting the

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

4iil|

best of it, for that's the fortune of war, but they behaved
badly after the colors was hauled down. They fired down
the hatches, and," lifting his hat and exhibiting a seam that
measured his head from the crown to the ear, " I received
this here slash from the cutlash of a drunken sailor, for my
share, as I came up the main-hatch, after she surrendered.
My eyes ! all the stars in Heaven was dancing before me as
1 tumbled back senseless on the gun-deck below. And when
they brought the ship mto Halifax, she smelt more like a
slaughter-house nor a Christian man-of-war. Howsomever,
they whipt us, and there's an end of the matter, only I wish't
our gallant Lawrence might have died before the colors
come down, and been spared the pain of seeing his ship in
the hands of the enemy. It was what we old sailors ex-
pected, though. She was an unlucky ship, and that disgrace-
ful affair between her and the Leopard was enough to take
the luck out of any ship. Now, if it had been old " Iron-
sides,"* or the "Old Wagor."t I'm blessed! but the guns
would have gone off themselves, had the whole crew mu-
tinied and refused to come to quarters, when they heard the
roar of the British cannon ; aye, aye, Old Ironsides' bull-
dogs have barked at John Bull often enough, aye, and al-
ways held him by the nose, too, when they growled ; but
the Chesapeake's colors was hauled down, while the Shan-
non's was flying. That's enough ; we had to knock under ;
let them have the credit of it, say I. They'd little cause,
except in that 'ere fight, to crow over the Yankee blue
jackets. They whipt us, and there's an end to the matter,
and be damned to 'em. But that ain't answering your ques-
tion, as how I lost my larboard flipper. It wasn't in that
* Frigate Constitution. t Frigate United States.

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

'ere unfortunate ship, altho' if it would have saved the honor
of the flag, Bill Kennedy would willingly have given his
head and his arms, too ; but it was under Old Chauncey on
Lake Ontario. It was in a boat expedition on that 'ere lake,
that I first got a loose sleeve to my jacket, besides being
made a pris'ner into the bargain. You see, Sir James was
shut up in Kingston, and beyond the harbor there was a
long bay or inlet setting up some three or four miles. Now,
the Commodore thought it mought be there was more of
his ships in that same bay ; so he orders Lieutenant Gregory,
him as the English called the * Dare-devil Yankee,' the same
as went in with a barge the year before and burned a heavy
armed schooner on the stocks, with all their stores, and came
away by the light of it at — at — I misremember the place — he
orders him to proceed up the bay to reconn'iter, to see
whether there was any of the enemy's ships at anchor there >
to get all the information he could of his movements, and
to bring off a prisoner if he could catch one, that the Com-
modore mought overhaul him'at his leisure. So the lieuten-
ant takes a yawl as we had captured some days before, hav-
ing Sir James's own flag painted upon her bows, with mid-
shipman Hart, and eight of us men, and pulls leisurely along
shore, till we made the entrance of the bay. It was a bright
summer afternoon, and the water was as calm as the Captain's
hand-basin, not a ripple to be seen. Well, the entrance was
narrow, and somewhat obstructed by small islands ; but we
soon got through them, never seeing two heavy English
men-of-war barges, as was snugly stowed in the bushes ; but
about three miles up we spies a raft of timber, with two men
on it. We gave way, and before long got up abreast of it.
When we got close aboard the raft, the lieutenant hailing

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

ifllll

one of the men, calls him to the side nearest the boat, and
says : ' My man, what are you lying here for, doing nothing?
The wind and tide are both in your favor ; don't you know
we are waiting down at Kingston for this here timber for
his Majesty's sarvice ; what are you idling away your time
for here ?' The feller first looks at Sir James's flag painted
upon the bows of the yawl, and then at the lieutenant, and
then again at the flag, and then at the lieutenant, and then
opens his eyes, and looks mighty scarey, without saying
anything, with his mouth wide open. ' I say,' says the lieu-
tenant ag'in, * I say, you feller with the ragged breeches, do
you mean to swallow my boat ? Why don't you answer ; what
the devil are you doing here ?' The feller scratches his head,
and then stammers, ' I— I—/ know you ; you are him as
burnt Mr. Peter's schooner last year.' 'Well,' says the
lieutenant, ' what are you going todo with this here timber?'
* I'm carrying it down for a raising,' says he. ' What !' says
the lieutenant, * do you use ship's knees and transom beams
for house-raising in this part of the country ? It won't do,
my man. Bear a hand, my lads, and pile all the boards and
light stuff in the centre, and we'll make a bonfire in honor of
his most sacred Majesty.' So we set fire to it, and took the
spokesman on board the yawl, towing the other man in their
skiff astarn, intending to release them both when we got all
the information we wanted out of them. We returned
slowly down the bay again, the blazing raft making a great
smoke ; but as we neared the outlet, what does we see, but
them two heavy barges pulling down to cut us off. We had
to run some distance nearly parallel with them, an island in-
fpr^'^^in"- CO we eve.rv moment came nearer to them, and
soon within speaking distance. The men gave way hearty,

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER 69

in fear of an English prison, but as we came nearer each
other, some of the officers in the English boats recognizes
Lieutenant Gregory, 'cause why, they had been prisoners
with us, and hails him. 'Gregory,' says they, 'you must
submit, it's no use for you to resist ; we are four to your
one. Come, old feller, don't make any unnecessary trouble,
but give up ; you've got to knock under.' The lieutenant
said nothing, but he was a particular man, and had his own
notions upon the subject, for, bidding the men give way, he
coolly draws sight upon the spokesman with his rifle, and
most sartin, as he was a dead shot, there would have been a
vacant commission in His Majesty's Navy, hadn't the rafts-
man, who was frightened out of his wits, caught hold of
him by the tails of his coat and dragged him into the bottom
of the boat. The lieutenant drops his rifle, and catches the
feller by his legs and shoulders and heaves him clear off the
boat towards the skiff, while we men, dropping our oars,
gave them a volley with our muskets, and then laid down to
it again. We had taken them by surprise, but as we dashed
along ahead, they returned our fire with interest, peppering
some of our lads and killing Midshipman Hart outright, who
merely uttered an exclamation as his oar flew up above his
head, and fell dead in the bottom of the boat. Well, we
see'd the headmost barge all ready, lying on her oars and
waiting for us, and, as there was no running the gauntlet
past her fire, we made for another opening from the bay as
didn't appear to be obstructed, but as we nears it, and just
begins to breathe free, three boats full of lobsters of red-
coats shoots right across, and closes the entrance effectually
on that side. We was in a regular rat-trap. We had been
seen and watched from the moment we had got inside of the

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

I ill

ii,ii

bay, burning the raft and all. ' Well, my lads,' says the
lieutenant, ' this will never do ; we must go about, hug the
shore close, and try to push by the barges.' So about we
went, but as we neared the shore, there was a party of them
'ere riflemen in their leggin's and hunting-shirts, all ready
for us, waiting just as cool and unconsarned as if we was a
parcel of Chrismas turkeys, put up for them to shoot at.
' Umph ! ' says the lieutenant again, ' 'twont do for them fel-
lers to be cracking their coach-whips at us neither ; we've
nothing to do for it, ray boys, but to try our luck, such as it
is, with the barges.' So, as we pulled dead for the entrance
of the bay, they lay on their oars, all ready for us, and as
we came up they poured such a deadly fire into that 'ere
yawl as I never see'd before or since. There was nineteen
wounds among eight of us. The lieutenant was the only
one unhurt, though his hat was riddled through and through,
and his clothes hung about him in tatters. How he was
presarved, is a miracle, for he was standing all the while in the
starn-sheets, the most exposed of any on board. They kept
firing away, as if they intended to finish the business', and
gi'n no quarter, the men doing what little they could to pull
at the oars ; but a boat of wounded and dying men couldn't
make much headway. Our men was true Yankee lads, tho',
and no flinching.

" There was one man named Patterson, as pulled on the
same thwart with me, and, of all the men I've ever sailed
with, he showed most of what I calls real grit. At their first
volley he gets a shot through his thigh, shattering the bone
so that it hung twisted over on one side, but he pulls away
at his oar as if nothing had happened. Presently another
passes through his lungs and comes out at his back — still he

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

pulls away and didn't give in; at last a third takes him
thro Ligh the throat and passes out back of his neck ; then,
and not till then, did he call out to the lieutenant : ' Mr.
Gregory, I'm killed, sir; I'm dead; I can't do no more.'
So the lieutenant says : * Throw your oar overboard, Patter-
son, and slide down into the bottom of the boat and make
yourself as comfortable as you can.' Well, what does Pat-
terson do, as he lays in the bottom of the boat bleeding to
death, what does he do but lifts his arm over the gunwale,
and shaking his fist, cry : ' Come on, damn ye, one at a time,
and I'm enough for ye as I am.' Aye, aye, Patterson was
what I calls real grit. - He was a good, quiet, steady man,
too, on board ship ; always clean and ac/jve, and cheerful
in obeying orders. Howsomever, his time had come, and,
in course, there was au end of his boat duty in this world.

" Well, they continued to fire into us as fast as they could
load, 'cause why, they was aggravated th?*! so small a force
should have fired into them ; but the lieutenant takes off his
hat and makes a low bow to let them know as how he had
surrendered, and then directs me to hold up an oar's blade ;
but they takes no notice of either, and still peppered away ;
but just as we concludes that they didn't intend to give no
quarter, but meant to extarminate us outright, they slacks
firing, and, taking a long circuit, as if we'd have been a tor-
pedo or some other dangerous combustible, pulled up
aboard. There wasn't much for them to be afeard on,
though, for, with the exception of the lieutenant, who was
untouched, there was nothing in the boat but dead and
wounded men. They took us in tow and carried us down
to Kingston, and mighty savage was Sir James. He said
that it was unpardonable that so small a force should have

!1 '?f

"J I
Hi

T?^' i;

OLD KENNEDY, THE QUARTER-MASTER

attempted resistance, and he and the lieutenant getting high,
and becoming aggravated by something; as was said between
them. Sir James claps him in a state-room under arrest, and
keeps him there under a sentry, with a drawn baggonet, for
nigh on two months. After that he sends the lieutenant to
Quebec, and then to England, where he remained till the
close of the war; but them of us men as didn't die of our

wounds was kept down in Montreal until " Here the

old man broke off abruptly, and taking another long look at
the horizon, said : " If I ain't much mistaken, Master Tom,
there's something a-brewing astarn there as will make this
here craft wake up as if she was at the little end of a funnel
with a harricane pouring through the other ; and if I knows
the smell of a Potomac thundergust, we'll have it full blast
here before we're many minutes older." ,

THE PARTISAN LEGION.

OLD Kennedy quietly proceeded to make the necessary
preparations to encounter the tempest. His peacoat
was got out of the locker and tightly buttoned about
him, and his tarpaulin well secured by its lanyard to his
buttonhole. The mainsail and foresail were stowed and
secured, and nothing but the jib, the bonnet of which was
reefed down, was allowed to remain spread upon our dark
and graceful schooner.

The cloud in the horizon began to extend itself, increas-
ing and gradually rising and covering the sky, and the old
man's prediction was evidently about to be fulfilled. A
dead calm lay upon the river, and a preternatural stillness
clothed in a sort of stupor the whole face of nature around
us, while lov/ muttering rolls of thunder from the dark
cloud, and the frequent, sudden, crinkling lightning, glitter-
ing across its surface, warned us that we were about to
encounter one of those violent and terrible thunder-storms
which not unfrequently occur in this part of the country.

The distant muttering in the horizon rapidly became
louder, and the perfect stillness of the forest was broken.
The melancholy sighs of the coming blast increased to
wails, the boughs of the trees rubbed against each other
with a slow, see-saw motion, and, as the storm increased,
grated with a harsh and continued groaning. The lip-htning
became quick and incessant and blindingly vivid, and the

ili

THE PARTISAN LEGION

dark gloom of the forest was rendered still darker by its
rapid glare. The river itself soon was lashed into foam be-
hind us, and in a few moments more, accompanied by huge
clouds of dust, the tempest came roaring upon us. The cu..-
tivated fields and cheerful plantations which were but now
smiling in quietness and repose on the other side of the

Washington.

Pickens.

Morgan.

Sumter.
Lee.

THE PARTISAN LFADERS OF THE SOUTH.

river, were new instantly shut out by the deep gloom. As
the gust struck the schooner, she checked for a moment as
if in surprise, and then shot forward with the speed of an
arrow from the bow, swept on in the furious tempest as if she
had been a gossamer or feather, enveloped in dust and
darkness, the rain and hail hissing as it drove onwards, and

THE PARTISAN LEGION

1^'

the terrific thunder, now like whole broadsides of artillery,
now quick and incessant peals of musketry, roaring with
frightful violence around her, while the deep black forest, lit
up by the blue lightning, bellowed incessantly with the hol-
low echoes. As we swept forward with frantic swiftness,
a qui ering white flash struck the top of an immense oak,
and ere the crashing, deafening roar of the thunder followed,
it was torn and splintered, shivered and burning, hurled on
by the blast.

As soon as the squall struck us we ensconced ourselves
below, in full confidence of our safety with Old Kennedy at
the helm ; and a fine subject would the old seaman have
been for a painter, as he sat amid the fury of the storm, stern
and erect, the tiller under the stump of his left arm, and the
jib-sheets with one turn around the cleat in his right hand,
the usual surly expression of his countenance increased into
grim defiance, as he steadily and unmovingly kept his eyes
fixed into the gloom ahead. At one time we darted by a
sloop at anchor, which had let go everything by the run, her
sails over her side in the water, on which, if the yacht had
struck, she would have been crumpled up like a broken egg-
shell : but thanks to our old quarte; master's care, v/e dashed
by iii the gloom, his r^es never even for a moment turning
on her as we passed.

The storm swept us on in its fury for some time, ^vhen it
gradually abated in violence and began to subside. The
heavy clouds, flying higher and higher in detached masses in
the heavens, bye and bye lifted themselves in the western sky,
and through the ragged intervals the setting sun poured his
last rays over the dripping forest, bronzing the dark sides of
our little schooner as he sunk and disappeared beneath the

1 1

I i-t

76 THE PARTISAN LEGION

horizon. As the evening wore on, a star here and there dis-
covered itself struggling amid the scud flying over it, and
preseritly the moon shone out with her broad and silver
light, and every vestige of the storm had disappeared.

As we glided gaily on, with a fresh, fine breeze, towards
our cottage home past the deep forest, the silence was broken
by a long, melancholy howl, which I supposed was that of a
solitary wolf, but Smith said that it was more probably from
some one of the large breed of dogs which are found on
most of the plantations. Smith's mind was of a sad and pen-
sive, although not at all of a gloomy cast; and, like most
men of that character, he required strong excitement to
arouse him ; but when aroused, of all delightful companions
that I have ever met, he was the man. The excitement of
the storm had been sufficient stimulus, and, giving the reins
to his wild spirits and excited feelings, he entertained us
with an incessant stream of anecdote and adventure. The
howl of the wolf had recalled to mind an incident in the
life of his ancestor, and, in connection, he related it, with
many other adventures of the celebrated Partisan Legion.
I will not attempt to use his beautiful and spirit-stirring
language, but will confine myself to a few disjointed anec-
dotes of the many which he related of the dashing corps,
as they happen to recur to my memory.

The Legion, intended to act independently or conjointly
with the main army, as circumstances might require, com-
posed of three companies of infantry and three troops of
cavalry, amounting in all to three hundred and fifty men,
had won for itself in the Southern campaigns, and particu-
larly in the masterly retreat of Green, before Corn wallis, the
honorable distinction of being called " the eye of the South-

THE PARTISAN LEGION

ern army." Its colonel, Green's confidential adviser and
constant friend, a stern disciplinarian, was nevertheless be-
loved by his officers and men, and so careful was he of the
interests of the latter, that while the rest of the army were
suffering, the Legion by his exertions was always retained
in the highest state of personal appearance and discipline.
The horses were powerful and kept in high condition ; in-
deed, he has been accused of being more careful for their

safety than for that of his men. The cavalry in the British
army, mounted on inferior horses, could not stand a moment
before them ; and, armed with their long heavy sabres, the
Legion troopers were considered full match for double the
force of the enemy.

The Legion infantry were well equipped, and thoroughly
disciplined men, and acted in unison with the cavalry. They
were commanded by Captain Michael Rudolph, a man of

•

Ill

THE PARTISAN LEGION

small stature, but of the most determined and daring cour-
age. and of great physical strength. He always led m per-
son the ''forlorn hope," when the Legion's services were
required in the storm of posts, and he was so completely the
idol of his men, that it was only necessary that he should
be detailed on duty of the most desperate character, that the
infantry, to a man, were anxious to be engaged m it. 1 he
leading captain of the cavalry, James Armstrong, was almost
precisely his counterpart in person, in strength, in undaunted
courage and heroic daring, beloved by his men, ahead of
whom he was always found in the charge. O'Neal, also of the
cavalry, was a bold and gallant man, who fought his way
up from the ranks ; for no carpet knight had consideration
in the corps. In an early part of his career he came near
cutting off in the bud Cornwallis' favorite cavalry officer,
Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton ; for this officer, whatever his
merits or demerits, endeavored to enter a window at which
O'Neal was posted, when the latter, dropping his carabine,
snapped it within an inch of his head, but the piece missing
fire, Tarleton very coolly looked up at him with a smile
and said, " You have missed it for this time, my lad," and
wheeling his horse, joined the rest of his troop, who were

on the retreat.

It were perhaps difficult to select the brave from a body
of men who were all brave, but it is not invidious to say
that there was not a man of more fearless courage in the
corps than Lieutenant Manning of the Legion infantry. At
the battle of Eutaw, commanding his platoon to charge, he
rushed on in his usual reckless manner, without stopping or
looking behind him, until he was brought up by a large
stone-house, into which the Royal York Volunteers, under

THE PARTISAN LEGION yg

Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger, were retiring. The British were
on all sides, and no American soldier within two hundred
yards of him. Without a moment's hesitation, he threw
himself upon a British officer, and seizing him by the collar,
wrested his sword from his grasp, exclaiming, in a harsh
voice, "You are my prisoner, sir." Interposing him be-
tween the enemy and himself, as a shield from the heavy fire
pouring from the windows, he then very coolly and deliber-
ately backed out of danger. The prisoner, who was not
deemed by his brother officers a prodigy of valor, pomp-
ously enumerating his rank and titles, which Manning occa-
sionally interrupted with : " You are right — you are right —
you're just the man, sir. You shall preserve me from dan-
ger, and rest assured I'll take good care o( jfou."

Manning had retreated some distance from the house
when he saw his friend. Captain Joyett, of the Virginia line,
engaged in single combat with a British officer. The Ameri-
can was armed with a sword, while the Briton was defend-
ing himself with a bayonet. As the American approached,
the Englishman made a thrust with the bayonet, which
Joyett successfully parried with his sword, when both of
them dropping their arms which they could not wield in so
close an encounter, simultaneously clinched, and being men
of great and nearly equal bodily strength, they were soon
engaged in a desperate and deadly struggle. While thus
engaged, an English grenadier, seeing the danger of his
officer, ran up and with his bayonet made a lunge, which
luckily missing Joyett's body, passed only through the
skirts of his coat, but the bayonet becoming entangled in the
' folds, upon its withdrawal dragged both of the combatants
together to the ground. The soldier having disengaged it,

it) Ml li

THE PARTISAN LEGION

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was about deliberately to transfix Joyett by a second thrust,
when Manning, seeing the danger of his friend, without be-
ino- sufficiently near in the crisis to assist him, called out,
as\e hurried up, in an authoritative tone, '' You would not
murder the gentleman, you brute!" The grenadier sup-
posing himself addressed by one of his own officers, sus-
pended the contemplated blow and turned towards the
speaker, but before he could recover from his surprise,
Manning cut him across the eyes with his sword, while
Joyett, disengaging himself from his opponent, snatched up
the musket, and with one blow laid him dead with the butt,
the valiant prisoner whom Manning had dragged along,
and who invariably asserted that he had been captured by
" Joyett, a huge Virginian," instead of Manning, who was a
small man, standing a horror-struck spectator of the tragedy.
An equally brave man was Sergeant Ord, of Manning's com-
pany. In the surprise of the British at Georgetown, when
a company of the Legion infantry had captured a house with
its enclosures, the enemy made an attempt to regain it, the
commanding officer calling out to his men: " Rush on, my
brave fellows ; they are only militia, and have no bayonets."
Ord placing himself in front of the gate as they attempted
to enter, laid six of them in succession dead at his feet,
accompanying each thrust with, "Oh! no bayonets here-
none, to be sure! " following up his strokes with such rapid-
ity that t^ e party were obliged to give up the attempt and

retire.

But perhaps there could have been no two characters in
the corps more the perfect antipodes of each other than the
two surgeons of the cavalry, Irvine and Skinner, for while
Irvine was entirely regardless of his person, and frequently

THE PARTISAN LEG ION

jund enga<red sword in hand, in the thickest of the fight,
where his duty by no means called him, Skinner was as in-
variably found in the rear, cherishing his loved person from
the threatened danger. Indeed, he was a complete counter,
part of old F ilstaff — the same fat and rotund person, the same
lover of good cheer and good wine, and entertaining the

same aversion to exposing his dear body to the danger of
missiles or cuts ; not only was he a source of fun in himself,
" but he war, the cause of it in others." He asserted that his
business was in the rear — to cure men, not to kill them ; and
when Irvine was wounded at the charge of Quinby's bridge,
he refused to touch him until he had dressed the hurts of
the meanest of the soldiers, saying that Matthew Irvine was

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THE PARTISAN LEGION

served perfectly right, and had no business to be engaged
out of his vocation.

At the night alarm at Ninety-six, the Colonel, hasten-
ing forward to ascertain the cause, met the doctor in
full retreat, and, stopping him, addressed him with: " Where
so fast, doctor? Not frightened, I hope ?" " No, Colonel,"
replied Skinner, " not frightened ; but, I confess, most
infernally alarmed." His eccentricities extended not alone
to his acts, but to everything about him. Among other
peculiarities, he wore his beard long and unshorn, and
on being asked by a brother officer why he did so, he
replied : " That is a secret between Heaven and myself,
which no human impertinence shall ever penetrate." Like
Falstaff, and with similar success, he considered himself the
admired of the fair sex. "Ay," said he to Captain Carnes of
the infantry ; "Ay, Carnes, I have an sye ! " Yet Skinner was
by no mean«= a man to be trifled with, for he was not devoid
of a certain sort of courage, as he had proved in half a dozen
duels, in one of which he had killed his man. When asked
how it was, that he was so careful of his person in action,
when he had shown so plainly that he was not deficient in
courage, he replied : " I consider it very arrogant in
a surgeon, whose business it is to cure, to be aping the
demeanor and duty of a commissioned officer, and I
am no more indisposed to die than other gentlemen, but
have an utter aversion to the noise and tumult of
battle; it stuns and stupefies me." On one occasion, when
the Legion was passing through a narrow defile, the
center was alarmed by the drums of :!ie infantry beating to
arms in front. Skinner, with the full sense of what was due
to himself, whirled about, and giving his horse a short turn

THE PARTISAN LEGION ' g,

by the bridle, brought him down on his back in the middle
of the defile, completely blocking it up and preventing either
egress or ingress, relief or retreat. The mfantry and cavalry,
virhich had passed the gorge, immediately deployed on the
hill in front, while the remainder of the Legion, galloping
up, were completely severed by this singular and unexpected
obstruction, until Captain Egglestone, dismounting some of
his strongest troopers, succeeded in dragging the horse out
of the defile by main force. It turned out that the alarm
was false, otherwise the doctor's terror might have caused
the destruction of one-half of the corps.

But to recur to the incident brought to mind by the howl-

ing of the wolf. When the Legion was on its march to form

a junction with Marion, on the little Pedee, it one night

encamped in a large neld on the southern side of a stream,

with the main road in front. The night passed on very

quietly, until about two or three in the morning, when the

officer of the day reported that a strange noise had been

heard by the picket in front, on the great road, resembling

the noise of men moving through the adjoining swamp.

While he was yet speaking, the sentinel in that quarter

fired his piece, which was immediately followed by the

bugle calling in the horse patrols, the invariable custom

upon the approach of an enemy. The drums instantly

beat to arms, and the troops arranged for defence. The

sentries, on being questioned, all concurred in the same

account, " and one patrol of horse asserted that they had

heard horsemen concealing with the greatest care their

advance." The commander was in great perplexity, for

he knew that he was not within striking distance of any

large body of the enemy, and that Marion was at least two

THE PARTISAN LEGION

; 1

days' distance in advance ; but soon a sentinel in another
direction fired, and the same report was brought in from
him ; and it was apparent, however unaccountable, that the
enemy was present. A rapid change in the formation of the
troops was made to meet the attack in this quarter, but it
was hardly accomplished before the fire of a third sentinel,
in a different direction, communicated the ititelligence of
danger from another quarter. Feelings of intense anxiety
were now aroused, and preparations were made for a gen-
eral assault, as soon as light should allow it to be made.
The pickets and sentinels held their stations, the horse
patrols were called in, and the corps changed its position
in silence, and with precision, upon every new communica-
tion, with the combined object of keeping the fires between
them and the enemy, and the horse in the rear of the in-
fantry.

While thus engaged, another and rapid discharge by the
sentinels, on the line of the great road, plainly indicated
that the enemy were in force, and that, with full understand-
ing of their object, they had surrounded them. It was also
evident that there must be a large body of the enemy, from
covering so large a segment ot the circle around them. It
was equally apparent that they could expect no aid from
any quarter, and, relying upon themselves, the corps await-
ed, in extreme anxiety, the scene which the day was to usher
upon them.

The commander passed along the line of infantry and
cavalry, in a low tone urging upon them the necessity of pro-
found silence, reminding them that in the approaching contest
they must sustain their high reputation, and expressing his
confidence, that, with their accustomed bravery, they would

THE PARTISAN LEGION

be able to cut their way through all opposing obstacles, and
reach the Pedee. His address was answered by whispers
of applause, and having formed the cavalry and infantry
into two columns, he awaited anxiously the break of day, to
give the signal for action. It soon appeared, and the col-
umns advanced on the great road ; infantry in front, baggage
in the center, and cavalry in the rear. As soon as the head
of the column reached the road, the van officer, proceeding
a few hundred yards, received the same account that had
been given from the sentinel that had red last.

The enigma remained unexplained, and no enemy being
in view, there could be but little doubt that the attack was
to be from ambushmen^ and the column moved slowly on,
expecting every moment to receive their fire. But the van
officer's attention having been accidentally attracted, he
examined, and found along the road the tracks of a large
pack of wolves. The mystery was now solved ; it was evi-
dent that the supposed enemy was no other than the pack
of wild beasts, which, turned from their route by the fire of
the sentinels, had passed still from point to point in a wide
circuit, bent upon the attainment of their object. A quan-
tity of provisions had been stored some time previously on
their line of march, but having become spoiled, it was aban-
doned in the vicinity of the night's encampment, and the
wolves had been disturbed by the videttes, in the nightly
progress to their regale. The agitation instantly subsided,
and wit and merriment flashed on all sides, " every one ap-
pearing anxious to shift the derision from himself upon his
neighbor, the commandant himself coming in for his share ;
and as it was the interest of the many to fix the stigma on
the few, the corps unanimously charged the officer of the

THE PARTISAN LEGION

day, the guards, the patrols and pickets, with gross
stupidity, hard bordering upon cowardice ;" nevertheless,
they were none the less relieved by the happy termina-
fion of an adventure attended by so many circumstances
naturally alarming, and it long passed as an excellent joke
in the Legion, under the title of the " Wolf reconnoiter.

The music sounded merrily, and the column marched on,
elate with the fun and novelty of the adventure ; and of the
buglers, none blew a more cheery strain than httle Jack
Ellis, the bugler of Armstrong's troop. He was a fine boy,
small and intelligent, as well as young and handsome, and a
general favorite in the Legion. Poor little fellow ! he met
his death under circumstances peculiarly tragic and cruel,
not long after. When the Southern army, under Greene,
was slowly making its masterly retreat before Cornwallis,
the Legion formed part of the rear-guard, and was conse-
quently almost continually in sight of the van of the enemy,
commanded by Brigadier-General O'Hara. The duty de-
volving upon it, severe in the day, was extremely so in the
night, for numerous patrols and pickets were constantly
required to be on the alert, to prevent the enemy from
taking advantage of the darkness to get near the main army
by circuitous routes, so that one-half of the troops of the
rear-guard were alternately put on duty day and night, and
the men were not able to get more than six hours' sleep out
of the forty-eight. But the men were in fine spirits, not-
withstanding the great fatigue to which they were subject-
ed. They usually, at the break of day, hurried on, to gain
as great a distance in advance as possible, that they might
secure their breakfast, the only meal during the rapid and
hazardous retreat. One drizzly and cold morning, tho offi-

THE PARTISAN LEGION $7

cers and dragoons, in pursuance of this custom, had hurried
on to the front, and just got their corn cakes and meat on
the coals, when a countryman, mounted on a small and
meager pony, came galloping up, and hastily asking for the
commanding officer, informed him that the British col-
umn, leaving the main line of march, were moving obliquely
in a different direction, and that, discovering the manoeuvre
from a field where he v/as burning brush, he had run home,
caught the first horse ne could lay his hands upon, and hur-
ried along with the information. Unwilling to believe the
report of the countryman, although he could not well doubt
it, and reluctant to disturb so materially the comfort of the
men as to deprive them of the breakfast for which they
were waiting with keen appetites, the commander ordered
Captain Armstrong to take one section of horse, accompan-
ied by the countryman, to return on the route, and having
reconnoitered, to make his report.

Circumstances, however, strengthening him in the belief
that the information of the countryman was correct, he took
a squadron of cavalry and followed on to the support of
Armstrong, whom he overtook at no great distance ahead.
Perceiving no sign of the enemy, he again concluded that
the countryman was mistaken. He therefore directed Arm-
strong to take the guide and three dragoons, and to advance
still further on the road, while he returned with the squad-
ron to finish their breakfast. The countryman, mounted on
his sorry nag, protested against being thus left to take care
of himself, asserting that, though the dragoons on their spir-
ited and powerful horses were sure of safety, it pursued, he,
on his jaded hack, was equally sure of being taken. The
Colonel acknowledged the danger of the friendly guide, dis-

THE PARTISAN LEGION

mounted the little bugler, and giving the countryman his
horse, placed Ellis upon the hack, sending him on in
front 'lO report to the commanding officer. After having
returned a short distance, the squadron entered the woods
on the roadside, and the dragoons leisurely proceeded to
finish their breakfast; but they had hardly got it out of their
haversacks when a firing of musketry was heard, and, almost
immediately after, the clatter of horses' hoofs coming on at
full gallop. The next moment, Armstrong, with his dragoons
and the countryman, came in sight, pursued by a troop of
Tarleton's dragoons at the top of their speed.

The commander saw Armstrong with his small party
well in front and hard in hand, and felt no anxiety about
them, as he knew that their horses were so superior to those
of the enemy that they were perfectly safe, but the danger
of the bugler, who could be but little ahead, immediately
caused him serious uneasiness. Wishing, however, to let the
British squadron get as far from support as possible, he con-
tinued in the woods for a few moments, intending to inter-
pose in time to save the boy. Having let them get a suffi-
cient distance, and assuring himself that there was nothing
coming up to their support, he put the squadron in motion
and appeared on the road, but only in time to see the enraged
dragoons overtake and sabre the poor little suppliant, as
he in vain implored for quarter. Infuriated at the sight, he
gave orders to charge, and the English officer had barely
time to form, when the squadron was upon them like a whirl-
wind, killing, prostrating and unhorsing almost the whole of
the force in an instant, while the captain and the few left un-
hurt endeavored to escape. Ordering Lieutenant Lewis to
follow on in pursuit, with strict orders to give no quarter^

THE PARTISAN LEGION

an order dictated by the sanguinary act that they had just
witnessed, the commander placed the dying boy in the arms
of two of the dragoons, directing them to proceed onwards
to the camp, and immediately after pushed on to the support
of Lewis, whom he soon met returning with the English cap-
tain and several of his dragoons, prisoners, the officer unhurt,
but the men severely cut in the face, neck and shoulders.
Reprimanding Lewis on the spot for disobedience of orders,
he peremptorily charged the British officer with the atrocity
that they had just witnessed, and ordered him to prepare for
instant death. The oificer urged that he had in vain en-
deavored to save the boy, that his dragoons were intoxicated
and would not obey his orders, and he begged that he might
not be sacrificed, stating that in the slaughter of Lieutenant-
Colonel Buford's command he had used the greatest exer-
tions, and succeeded in saving the lives of many of the
Americans. This in some measure mollified the commander,
but just then overtaking the speechless and dying boy, ex-
piring in the arms of the soldiers, his bright and handsome
face changed in the ghastly agony of death, he returned
with unrelenting sternness to his first decision, and informed
the Englishman that he should execute him in the next vale
through which they were to pass, and, furnishing him with
a pencil and paper, desired him to make such note as he
wished to his friends, which he pledged him his word
should be sent to the British General. The ill-fated soldier
proceeded to write, when the British van approaching in
sight, the prisoner was sent on to Colonel Williams in front,
who, ignorant of the murder and the determination to make
an example of him, in his turn forwarded him on to head-
quarters, thus luckily saving his life. Eighteen of the Brit-

THE PARTISAN LEGION

ish dragoons fell in the charge, and were buried by Corn-
wallis as he came up, but the Americans had time to do no
more than lay the body of the poor little bugler in the
woods on the side of the road, trusting to the charity of
the country people to inter it, when they were obliged to
resume their retreat. It should be borne in mind that the
commander's humane disposition could only be excited to
such summary vengeance by the cruel and unwarrantable
murder that they had just witnessed, and by the frequent
acts of atrocity which had been repeatedly enacted by this

same corps.

Perhaps the fated destiny which frequently appears to
await the soldier, hanging over him like a shield while he
passes through the most desperate danger, until the ap-
pointed hour arrives, was never more apparent than in the
case of Lieutenant-Colonel Webster, of the British army, in
this same retreat. When the rear of the American army,
composed, as has been observed, principally by the Legion,
had passed the Reedy Fork, the British van, under the com-
mand of Webster, endeavored to ford the river end bring
them into action, a point which Cornwallis was anx'ous to
attain, but which was entirely foreign to the plan of Greene,
whose object was to wear out his pursuers. Under the cover
of a dense fog the British had attained a short distance of
the Legion before they were discovered. They made their
appearance on the opposite bank of the river, and, after halt-
ing a few moments, descended the hill and approached the
water; but, receiving a heavy fire of musketry and rifles, they
fell back, and quickly re-ascending, were again rallied on
the margin of the bank. Colonel Webster rode up, calling
upon the soldiers in a loud voice to follow, and rushing

THE PARTISAN LEGION

down the hill at their head, amid a galling fire poured from
the Legion troops, plunged into the water. In the woods
occupied by the riflemen was an old log school-house, a lit-
tle to the right of the ford. The mud stuffed between the
logs had mostly fallen out, and the apertures admitted the
use of rifles with ease. In this house were posted five and
twenty select marksmen from the mountain militia, with
orders to forego engaging in the general action, and direc-
tions to hold themselves in reserve for any particular object
which might present. " The attention of this party being
attracted by Webster, as he plunged into the water, they
singled him out as their mark ; and as he advanced slowly,
the stream being deep, the bottom rugged, and some of his
soldiers holding on by his stirrup-leathers, they one by one
discharged their rifles at him, each man sure of knock-
ing him over, and, having reloaded, eight or nine of them
emptied their guns at him a second time; yet, strange to
relate, neither horse nor rider received a single ball. The
:wenty-five marksmen were celebrated for their superior skill,
and it was a common amusement for them to place an apple
on the end of a ramrod and hold it out at arm's length, as a
mark for their comrades to fire at, when many balls would
pass through the apple ; yet the British officer, mounted on
a stout horse, slowly moving through a deep water-course,
was singled out and fired at thirty-two or three times suc-
cessively, and yet remained untouched, and succeeded in ef-
fecting a lodgment on the bank, where he formed his troops
under a heavy fire." This gallant officer and polished gentle-
man, the favorite of Cornwallis, subsequently fell at the
battle of Guilford Coui t-House, not more regretted by his
brother soldiers than admired by those of the American army.

THE PARTISAN LEGION

There is nothing more true than, that in war, as in love,
much depends upon accident, and an alarm is frequently
conveyed, and a victory won, by circumstances entirely the
act of chance. As a case in point. In the retreat of the
British after the battle of Monks' Corner, Lieutenant-Colonel
Stuart ordered all the arms belonging to the dead and
wounded to be collected, and when the retreating enemy
had marched on, they were set f^re to by the rear guard.
As many of the mnskets were loaded, an irregular discharge
followed, resembling the desultory fire which usually pre-
cedes a battle. The retreating army immediately supposed
that Greene was up and had commenced an attack on their
rear, and the dismay and confusion was so great that the
wagoners cut the traces of their horses and galloped off,
leaving the wagons on the route. The followers of the army
fled in like manner, and the terror was rapidly increasing,
when the cessation of the firing quelled the alarm.

But the most exciting incident that our fellow voyager
related, and one which would well merit the attention of
the painter, was the spirited affair at Quinby's Bridge.
When the British army in their turn were retreating, Sum-
ter, Marion and the Legion frequently were able to act in
concert. The 19th British Regiment, Lt. Col. Coates, hav-
ing become isolated at Monks' Corner, it was determined to
fall upon it, and cut it off by surprise before it could obtain
relief. The British officer having taken the precaution to
secure the bridge across the Cooper river by a strong de-
tachment, it became necessary for them to make a long circuit
through the deep sands, in the hottest part of the summer, be-
fore they could form a junction with Sumter, whose aid was
:-._j :- fu« i„4.^„fi«ri o,ti'.^c\r The junction was not ef-

THE PARTISAN LEGION

fected until evening, and the attack was necessarily deferred
until the following morning; but about midnight, the whole
sky becoming illuminated by a great conflagration, it was
evident that the enemy had taken the alarm. They had set
fire to the church to destroy the stores, and had decamped
in silence. By the neglect of the militia, who had deserted
a bridge at which they were stationed, the enemy had been
able to draw off, and obtain a considerable distance in ad-
vance, before their retreat was discovered. The commander
immediately followed on with the cavalry in pursuit of the
main body, but was unable to come up with it, until he had
arrived in the neighborhood of Quinby's Bridge, about
eighteen miles from Monks' Corner. Upon its first approach,
he discovered the baggage of the regiment under a rear
guard of about one hundred men, advancing along a narrow
road, the margin of which was bordered by a deep swamp
on both sides. As soon as the cavalry came in view, the
British officer formed his men across the road, which they
had hardly effected, when the charge was sounded, and the
Legion cavalry rushed upon them with drawn swords at
full gallop. The voice of the British officer was distinctly
heard "directing his men to fire," and as no charge immedi-
ately followed, the cavalry officers felt extreme solicitude,
lest its reservation was meant to make it the more fatal on
their near approach, for on the narrow road, and in the close
column in which they were rushing on, a well-directed fire
would have emptied half of their saddles ; but, happily, the
soldiers, alarmed by the formidable appearance of the cav-
alry, threw down their arms and supplicated for quarter,
which the cavalry were most happy to grant them. The
prisoners being secured, the main body of the cavalry pushed

■!»• **»

III

THE PARTISAN LEGION

on under Armstrong for the bridge, which was still about
three miles in front, in the hope of cutting off the enemy
before they could succeed in reaching it. As Armstrong
came in sight, he found that Coates had passed the bridge
and that he was indolently reposing on the opposite side of
the river, awaiting his rear guard and baggage He had,
bv way of nrecaution, taken up the planks from the bridge,
letting them lie loosely on the sleepers, intending, as soon
as the rear should have crossed, to destroy it Seeing the
enemy with the bridge thus interposed, which he knew
was contrary to the commandant's anticipations, Armstrong
drew up, and sent back word to the commander, who was
still wUh the prisoners, requesting orders, never communi-
eating the fact that the bridge was interposed. The adjutant
soon came galloping back with the lac- nic answer : ''The
order of the day, sir, is to fall upon the enemy, without re-
gara to consequences."

The gallant Armstrong for a moment leaned forward in
his saddle, towards the adjutant, as if thunder-struck with
this reflfxtion on his courage ; in the nexi, his sword glanced
like a streak of light around his head, and shouting in a voice
of thunder: "Legion cavalry, charge !" at the head of his
section he cleared the bridge, the horses throwing off the
loose planks in every direction ; the next inatant, driving the
.oldiers headlong from the howitzer which they had mounted
at the oth^r end to defend it, he was cutting and slashing m
the very center of the British regiment, which, taken com-
pletely by surprise, threw down their arms, retreating' in
every direction. The horses of Armstrong's section had
thrown off the planks as they cleared the bridge, leaving a
yawning chasm, beneath which the deep black stream was

THE PARTISAN LEGION

rushmg turbidly onwards; but Lieutenant Carrington, at
the head of his section, took the leap and closed with Arm-
strong, engaged in a desperate personal encounter with
Lieutenant Colonel Coates, who had barely time to throw
himself with a few of his officers behind some baggage-
wagons, where they were parrying the sabre cuts made by
the dragoons at their heads. Most of the soldiers, alarmed
at the sudden attack, had abandoned their officers and were
running across the fields, to shelter themselves in a neigh-
boring farm-house. The Colonel, by this time, had himself
got up to the bridge, where O'Neal, with the third section,
had halted, the chasm having been so much enlarged by Car-
rington's horses throwing off additional planks, that his horses
would not take the leap, and seeing the howitzer abandoned,
and the whole regiment dispersed, except the few officers
who were defending themselves with their swords, while
they called upon the flying soldiers for assistance, he pro-
ceeded to recover and replace the plarxks. The river
was deep in mud, and still deeper in water, so that the
dragoons could neither get a footing to replace the planks,
nor a firm spot from which they might swim their horses to
the aid of their comrades. Seeing this posture of affairs,
some of the bravest of the British soldiers began to hurry
back to the assistance of their officers, and Armstrong and
Carrington, being unable to sustain with only one troop of
dragoons so unequal a combat, they abandoned the contest,
forcing their way down the great road into the woods on
the margin of the stream, in their effort to rejoin the corps.
Relieved from the immediate danger, Coates hastened back
to the bridge and opened a fire from the deserted howitzer
upon the soldiers, who were fruitlessly striving to repair

THE PARTISAN LEGION

the bridge, and being armed only with their sabres, which
the chasm made perfectly useless, as they could not reach
the enemy across it, they were also forced to give up the
attempt, and retire without the range of the fire from the

gun. . • 1 u

Marion shortly after coming up, in conjunction w.th the

Legion, marched some distance down the banks, where they
were enabled to ford the stream, and effect a passage. In
the edge of the evening, they reached the farm-house, but
found that Coates had fortified himself within it, with his
howitzer, and was thus impregnable to cavalry. - While
halting in front, Armstrong and Carrington came up with
their shattered sections. Neither of the officers were hurt,
but many of the bravest dragoons were killed, and still more
wounded. Some of their finest fellows-men who had passed
through the whole war, esteemed and admired— had fallen
in this honorable but unsuccessful attempt." Being without
artillery, and within striking distance of Charleston, they
were obliged, fatigued as they were, to commence their re-
treat. Placing the wounded in the easiest posture for con-
veyance, and laying the dead on the pommels of their sad-
dies, the Legion counter-marched fifteen miles ; at its close,
burying in sadness and grief, in one common sepulchre, the
bodies of those that had fallen.

These anecdotes of the Legion are but a few of the many
stirring and spirited narrations with which Smith whiled
away the time, as we glided along on our return up the
river. His own observations and adventures in traveling
over the world were not wanting for c ur amusement, for,
with a mind well prepared for its enjoyment, he had passed
the years that had intervened, since last I saw him, in trav-

THE PARTISAN LEGION 07

eling leisurely over Europe and the East. With the true
philosophy of life, calling all men brothers, and restrained
by no narrow prejudices of country or habit, he had entered
eagerly into the manners and participated iu the amusements
of those around him. First after the hounds in England, he
shouted " tally ho !" with all the enthusiasm of the veriest
sportsman in the hunt; while his voice was heard equally
loud and jovial in the wild and half-frantic chorus of the
drinking and smoking students of Germany. He scrupled
not to wear his beard long, and partake of the hard black
loaf in the cabin of the Russian boor, while, with equal
equanimity, he wore his turban, and smoked his chibouque,
cross-legged in the cafifarets of Turkey. He climbed the
huge Pyramids, and their dark and silent chambers echoed
the sounds of his voice, as he called on Cheops, Isis and
Orus ; and, kneeling in the gorgeous mosque of Omar, he
worshipped the true God, while the muzzeim from its min-
arets was proclaiming that Mahomet was his prophet. He
had luxuriated amid the never-dying works of the great
masters at Florence, and, lulled by the harmonious chant
of the gondolier, had swept over the moonlit lagoons of
Venice. He had whirled in all the gaiety of living Paris,
and measured with careful steps the silent streets of dead
Herculaneum and Pompeii. He had stood amid the awful
stillness, on. the glittering ice-covered summits of Mont
Blanc, and looked fearlessly down into the great roaring
caverns of fire boiling in the crater of Vesuvius— but now,
there was a sadness about his heart which rarely lighted up,
and, as I have observed, it vas only under momentary ex-
citement that he blazed into brilliant entertainment.

As the fresh breeze wafted us swiftly onwards, Venus,

TI/£ PARTISAN LEGION

amid the stars trembling in unnumbered myriads, rivalled
with her silvery rays the great round-orbed moon, sailing
joyously in her career high in the heavens above us, and
soon the bright beacon on the plantation shore, lighted for
our guidance, shone steadily over the dark water, and ere
long we were all quietly seated at the supper-table, with our
beatiful hostess at its head— again at Tom's cottage on the
banks of the Potomac.

HUDSON RIVER.

HERE we are, met again, all booted and spurred, and
ready for another journey. Come ; let us make the
most of our time on this mundane sphere ; for, verily,
we are but two of the autor^-VT of the great moving pano-
rama so rapidly hastening o'er its surface; two of the
unnumbered millions, who, lifted from their cradles, are
hurrying with like equal haste towards the great dark cur-
tain of the future, where, drawing its gloomy folds aside,
they shall pass behind and disappear forever. Therefore
let us hasten ; for though some of us complacently imagine

fiir

lOO

HUDSON RIVER

that we are bound on our own special road and chosen
journey, yet, surely, we are but traveling the path which has
been marked out for us by an all-seeing Providence ; and
though, like soldiers, we may be marching, as we suppose,
to good billets and snug quarters, yet, perhaps, before the
day's route be closed, we may be plunged into the centre of
the battle-field, with sad curtailment of our history. Tern-
pus fugit ! Therefore let us hasten ; for in a few short years
some modern Hamlet o'er our tomb-stones thus shall mor-
alize : "^ere be two fellows tucked up right cosily in their
last quarters, ' at their heads a grass-green turf, and at their
heels a stone.' Hump ! for all their stillness, I'll warrant
me they've strutted their mimic stage, and flaunted with the
best; they've had their ups and downs, their whims and fan-
cies, their schemes and projects, their loves and hates ; have
been elated with vast imaginings, and depressed to the very
' ocean's depths ; and now their little day and generation
passed, they've settled to their rest. The school-boy, astride
on one's memento, with muddy heels kicks out his epitaph,
while the other's name is barely visible among the thistle's
aspiring tops ; yet both alike have rendered, with the whole
human family, the same brief epitome of history. 'They
laughed ; they groaned ; they wept ; and here they are ;' for
such are but the features of bright, confiding youth, stern
manhood's trials, and imbecile old age." And this same sage
Hamlet's right; therefore, without more ado, let us get
us on our travels.

Now Westward shall lie our course. Here come the
cars. Quick— jump i" ^ ^e are off. We fly over the
bridges, and through the tunnels ; the rail fences spin by in
ribands ; the mile-stones play leap-frog ; the abutments dash

iiii

HUDSON RIVER

lOI

by us. Screech! the cattle jump like mad out of our way.
Already at Jersey City? We paddle across. Ay, here we
are, just in time for the steamer. What a pandemonium of
racket, and noise, and confusion ! " All aboard ! " Tinkle,
tinkle. The walking-beam rises, the heavy wheels splash,
we shoot out into the stream, we make a graceful curve,
and, simultaneously with five other steamers, stretch like
race-horses up the majestic Hudson.

How beautifully the Narrows, and the ocean, open to our
view, and the noble bay, studded with its islands, and for-
tresses, and men-of-war, with frowning batteries and check-
ered sides! In graceful amity float the nations' emblems —
the Tri-color, Red Cross, Black Eagle, Stars and Stripes.
But we take the lead. Fire up ; fire up, engineer ; her name-
sake cuts tiie air not more swiftly than our fleet boat her ele-
ment. Still as a mirror lies the tranquil water. The dark
Palisades above us, with fringed and picturesque outline, are
reflected on its polished surface; and the lordly sloops — see
how lazily they roll and pitch on the long undulating swell
made by our progress, their scarlet pennons quivering on its
surface as it regains its smoothness.

How rich and verdant extend thy shores, delightful river!
Oh! kindly spirit! Crayon, Diedrick, Irving, whate'er we
call thee, with what delightful Indian summer of rustic
story, of dreamy legend, hast thou invested them? Lo! as
we slide along, what moving panorama presents itself!
Phlegmatic Mynheers, in sleepy Elysium evolve huge
smoke-wreaths of the fragrant weed, as they watch thy placid
stream ; blooming Katrinas, budding like roses out of their
bodices, coquette with adoring Ichabods; sturdy, broad-
breeched beaux, sound " boot and saddle," Roarins: " Broms "

i I

I02

HUDSON RIVER

dash along on old " Gun-powders." " Headless horsemen "
thunder onwards through haunted hollows, heads on saddle-
bow. Dancing, laughing negroes ; irate, rubicund trumpet-
ers ; huge Dutch merry-makings, groaning feasts, and hen-
pecked " Rips," pass in review before us. In the evening twi-
light, thy beacon, Stony Point, throws far its streaming rays
o'er the darkening scenery, different, I ween, when mid mid-

STONY POINT SENTRY.

night mist and stillness, mid cannon-blaze and roar, " Mad
Anthony's " attacking columns simultaneously struck the flag-
staff in thy centre. The sparks stream rocket-like from our-
chimneys, as we enter your dark embrace, ye highlands!
Hark! the roll of the drum, as we r^Mmd the bend. Thy
beautiful plateau, West Point, with its gallant spirits, is
above us.

HUDSON RIVER

103

The thunder of thy bowling balls, old Hudson, we hear
as we pass the gorges of the Catskills. Hyde Park, thou
glancest by us. The villas of the Rensselaers and Livings-
tons flit 'mid their green trees. Thy cottages, oh Kinder-
hook, the Overslaugh, rush by, and now we are at Albany.
Albany, Rochester, Utica, by smoking steam-car, we are de-
livered from you. Auburn, we breathe among thy shady
walks — and now, for a moment, Buffalo, we rest with thee.
All h'^il to thee, thou city of the Bison Bull !

I«

NIGHT ATTACK ON FORT ERIE.

(August 14th, 1 8 14.)

HOSTLER ! bring up the horses ! We will cross to the
Canadian shore and ride leisurely o'er its battle-
grounds. Tighten the girths, John ; take up another
hole. So ; never mind .the stirrup. Jump; I'm in my sad-
dle. Are you ready? Aye; well broken is that gray of
yours ; he has a good long trot ; how easy it makes your rise
in the saddle, and how graceful is the gait. But here we are
at the ferry. Now we cross thy stream, Niagara ! Now we
stand on British ground ! Generous and gallant blood has
deeply stained its soil! Observe these crumbling works ;
the old stone fort facing the river ; the remains of ramparts
and trenches; here a bastion, further on a redoubt; there
again lines and earth-works, forming a continuous circle of
defence, but all now fast sinking to their original level.
These are, or rather were, the fortress and defences of " Fort
Erie." When, some years since, I rode over the ground
with our kind and excellent friend, the Major, I listened
with great interest to his narration of the part of the cam-
paign acted upon this spot and the adjoining country. I
will repeat it to you as we ride over it. Jump your horse
upon this decaying mound ; it was a bastion.

Standing on this Bastion, " Here," said the Major, " we
had thrown up our lines, making the defences as strong as

NIGHT A TTACK ON FORT ERIE

105

practicable. The British had
also erected formidable works
about half a mile in front, (the
forest intervening) composed of
a large stone battery on their
left, and two strong redoubts,
from which they kept up an in-
cessant discharge of shot and
shells for several successive days,
which was returned by us with
equal vigor. At length a shell
from their batteries, having fallen
upon it, blew up one of our
small magazines, but with trifling
injury to the rest of the de-
fences. They greatly overrated
the damage, and were elated
with their success. General
Gaines received secret informa-
tion that they intended to carry
the works by storm on the fol- \
lowing night. That night, said
the Major, I shall not soon for- \'i.
get. It set in intensely dark and
cloudy; extremely favorable to
the design of the enemy. Every-
thing was put in the fullest state
of preparation to receive them.
The men, enthusiastically await-
ing the attack, were ordered to
lie on their arms. Extended

io6

NIGHT A TTACK ON FORT ERIE

along the lines, and manning the fort and bastion, our little
army, in perfect silence, awaited their coming.

" The forest had been cleared about three hundred yards
in front of our works; beyond that were, as you see, the
woods. As the night wore on, we listened with earnestness
to every sound. A little after midnight, we heard on the
dry leaves the stealthy sound of footsteps— rustle— rustle-
rustle. We listened ; they came nearer. A short, sharp chal-
lenge : ' Who goes there ? ' issued from that farther redoubt.
The footsteps ceased, as if irresolute to advance or recede,
and all was still. Another quick challenge, a rattle of the mus-
ket as it fell into the hollow of the hand, followed the quick
reply :— ' Picket guard, forced in by the enemy's advance.'
' Back, guard ! back to your posts instantly, or we will
fire upon you,' rung the stern voice of our commanding
officer. The footsteps of the stragglers slowly receded, and
entire stillness again obtained. It was as profound as the
darkness ; not even the hum of an insect rose upon the ear.
We laid our heads upon the ramparts, and listened with ui.
our faculties. We listened. Perhaps half an hour elap '.;d,
when we imagined we heard the dead, heavy sound of a
large body of men — tramp — tramp — tramp — advancing
through the pitchy darkness. A few moments passed, a
brisk scattering fire and the pickets came in in beautiful
order, under the bnwc subaltern in command. The meas-
ured tread of disciplined troops became apparent. Every
sense was stretched to the utmost in expectancy ; every eye
endeavored to fathom the darkness in front, when, from
Towson's battery, that towards the river, glanced a volley
of musketry, and in another instant the whole line of the
works, bastion, redoubt, and rampart, streamed forth one

'lii

NIGHT A TTACK ON FORT ERIE

107

living sheet of flame. Two eighteens, mounted where we
stand, were tilled to the muzzle with grape, cannister, and
bags of mnsket-buUets; imagine their havoc. The enemy
came on with loud shouts and undaunted bravery. 3y the
continued glare of our discharges, we could see dense dark
masses of men, moving in columns to three separate points
of attack upon our works. Our artillery and musketry

poured on them, as they advanced, a continual stream of fire,
rolling and glancing from angles, bastions, and redoubts.
Repulsed, they were re-formed by their officers, and brought
again to the charge, to be again repulsed. At such times,
hours fly like minutes. A life appears concentrated to a
moment. We had been engaged perhaps an hour — perhaps
three — when I heard in that bastion of the Fort, a hundred

■(M

i *

r I

1 08

NIGHT A TTACK OX FORT ERIE

feet from me, above the uproar, a quick, furious struggle, as
if of men engaged in fierce death-fight ; a clashing of bay-
onets, and sharp pistol shots, mixed with heavy blows, and
short quick breathing, such as you may have heard men
make in violent exertion, in cutting wood with axes, or other
severe manual labor. The conflict, though fierce, was short ;
the assailants were repelled. Those that gained a footing
were bayoneted, or thrown back over the parapet. In a few
moments, I heard again the same fierce struggle, and again
followed the like result and stillness— if stillness could be
said to exist under continual roar of musketry and artillery.
A third time it rose, sudden and desperate ; it ceased ; and
presently a clear loud voice rose high above tht battle from
the bastion : * Stop firing in front there ; you are firing on
your friends.' An instant cessation followed. We were
deceived. In another moment, the voice of an officer, with
startling energy, replied : ' Aye, aye ; we'll stop : give it to
them, men; give it to them!' —and the firing, renewed, was
continued with redoubled fury. The head of the centre col-
umn, composed of eight hundred picked men, veterans
of Egypt, led by Lieut.-Col. Drummond in person, after
three several assaults, had gained possession of the bastion,
and by that ruse, endeavored to cause a cessation of the
fire ; a result that might have been fatal to us, had not the
deception been so soon discerned. But the prize was of
little value, as the bastion was commanded by the interior
of the works, and the men, under cover of the walls of an
adjoining barrack, poured into the gorge, that led from it,
a continued storm of musketry. The firing continued with
unabated fury. The enemy, repulsed with great loss in
every attack, was unsuccessful on every point save that

■V

NIGHT A TTACK ON FORT ERIE

109

bastion, the possession of which they still retained ; when I
heard a groaning roll and shake of the earth, and instantly
the bastion, bodies of men, timber, guns, earth and stones
were blown up in the air like a volcano, making every thing
in the glare as clear as noonday. A descending timber
dashed one of my artillerymen to pieces within a foot of my
shoulder. Profound darkness and silence followed. Naught
but the groans of the wounded and dying were heard. As
if by mutual consent, the fighting ceased, and the enemy
withdrew, repulsed on every side, save from the parapet
which they purchased for their grave.^ A large quantity
of fixed ammunition had been placed in the lower part, and
a stray w ad, falling upon it, had blown them all up together ;
My duty required that I should immediately repair the
bastion, and most horrible was the sight ; bodies burnt and
mutilated, some of them still pulsating with life, among
them Lieut.-Colonel Drummond, the leader of the attack.^
There he lay, in the morning light, stark and stiff, extended
on the rampart, a ball having passed through his breast.
His war-cry of ' No quarter to the damned Yankees'— his
own death-warrant — was long remembered against his
countrymen. The enemy did not resume the attack, but,
retiring to their entrenched camp, strengthened their works,
and prepared to make their approach by regular advances."
But come ; spur on ; we have far to ride ; spur on. Here
we are, upon their works. Here is the stone water-battery,
and there the two strong redoubts, and back of them the re-
mains of their lines, and deep intreuchments. These are the
works which were carried in the memorable and desperate
sortie of Fort Erie. The right by General Miller, Aspinwall
and Trimble, and the left by the gallant Porter and his vol-

Ill

J J Q NIGHT ATTACK ON FOR T ERIE

unteers, under the immediate command of Davis, and the Reg-
ulars led by Gibson and Wood. " Here, on the left," quoth
the Major, " fell my gallant, my accomplished friend, Lieuten-
ant-Colonel Wood, at the head of his column. He was one of
the most brilliant officers in the service, and as beautiful as a
girl. I often gazed with astonishment at the desperate daring
that characterized him in action ; here he fell ; he was bay-
oneted to death on the ground, on this spot"— and the Ma-
jor's voice quivered, and he turned his face from me, for the
cruel death of his dear friend was too much for his manhood.
His body was never found. His monument rests near the
flag-staff at West Point. Peace to his gallant spirit ! The
stars of his country can wave over no braver of her sons.

^ The venerable Jabez Fisk, who was in the fight, in a letter to me
writes : " Three or four hundred of the enemy had got into the bas-
tion. At this time an American oiificer came running up and said:
' General Gaines, the bastion is full; I can blow them all to hell in a
minute! ' They both passed back through a stone building, and in
a short time the bastion and the British were high in the air. Gen-
eral Gaines soon returned, swinging his hat and shouting, * Hurrah foi
Little York! • " This was in allusion to the blowing up of the British
magazine at Litde York, when General Pike was VxW&^—Lossins.

^ The enemy was soon repulsed in this quarter. The centre, led
by Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond, was not long kept in check. It
approached every assailable point of the fort at once. They brought
scaling-ladders, and with the greatest coolness and bravery attempted
to force an entrance over the walls. Captain Willian.s and Lieuten-
ants Macdonough and Watmough, in the fort, met them gallantly, and
twice repulsed them. Then Drummond, taking advantage of the cov-
ering of a thick pall of gunpowder smoke, which hung low, went
silently around the ditch, and, with scaling-ladders, ascended to the
parapet with great celerity, and gained a secure footing there with one
hundred of the Royal Artillery before any effectual opposition could
be made. Already the exasperated Drummond, goaded almost to

NIGHT A TTACK ON FORT ERIE

III

madness by the murderous repulses which he had endured, had given
orders to show no mercy to the "damned Yankees," and had actually
stationed a body of painted savages near, with instructions to rush into
the fort, when the regulars should get possession of it, and assist in
the general massacre. Finding himself now in actual possession of a
part of the fort, he instantly directed his men to charge upon the gar-
rison with pike and bayonet, and to "show no mercy." Most of the
American officers, and many of the men, received deadly wounds.
Among the former was Lieutenant Macdonough. He was severely
hurt, and demanded quarter. It was refused by Lieutenant- Colonel
Drummond. The Lieutenant then seized a hand spike and boldly
defended himself until he was shot down with a pistol by the mon-
ster who had refused him mercy, and who often reiterated the order,
" Give the damned Yankees no quarter ! " He soon met his deserved
fate, for he was shot through the heart, was severely bayoneted, and
fell dead by the side of his own victim. — Lossing's Hist. War ^/ 1812.

In the secret orders issued by Lieutenant-General Drummond,
found in the pockets of Colonel Drummond, was this paragraph:
" The Lieutenant-General most strongly recommends the use of the
bayonet" Just above this paragraph was a blood-stained fracture
made by the bayonet, an inch in length and half an inch in width.
There were two other copies of this order issued, one to Lieutenant-
Colonel Fischer and the other to Colonel Scott. — Lossing.

1 1 11!

'Mi

ItJilli

BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE.

COL. MILLER AT LUNDY S LANE.

WE cross thy tranquil plains, oh ! Chippewa. Brown,
Scott, Miller, Jesup, and your gallant comrades ;
long will this battle-ground your names remember.
But far different music has resounded through these contin-
uous woods than the wild bird's carol, the hum of insects,
and the waving of the breeze that now so gently greets our
ear. Aye ! yonder is the white house. " There," said the
Major, "as General Scott, making a forward movement with
his brie:ade in the afternoon of the 25th of July, 1814, came

BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE

113

in view of it, we saw the court-yard filled with British
officers, their horses held by orderlies and servants in attend-
ance. As soon as we became visible to them, the bugles
sounded to saddle, and in a few moments they were mounted
and soon disappeared through the woods at full gallop,
twenty bugles ringing the alarm from different parts of the
forest. All vanished, as if swallowed by the earth, save an
elegant veteran officer, who reined up, just out of musket
shot, and took a leisurely survey of our numbers. Having
apparently satisfied himself of our force, he raised the
plumed hat from his head, and bowing gracefully to our cor-
tege, put spurs to his horse and disappeared with the rest.
From the occupant of the house we gathered that we were
about a mile distant from a strong body of the enemy,
posted on the rising ground just beyond the woods in our
front. General Scott, turning to one of his escort, said :
' Be kind enough, sir, to return to Major-General Brown ;
inform him that I have fallen in with the enemy's advance,
posted in force at Lundys Lane, and that in one-half hour
I shall have joined battle.' * Order up Ripley with the
second brigade ; direct Porter to get his volunteers imme-
diately under arms,' was the brief reply of Major-General
Brown to my message, and the aids were instantly in their
saddles, conveying the orders. As I galloped back through
the woods," continued the Major, "the cannon-shot screaming
by me, tearing the trees and sending the rail fences in the
air in their course, warned me that the contest had begun.
But we are on the battle-ground. There," said the Major,
"upon the verge of that sloping hill, parallel with the road,
and through the grave-yard toward the Niagara, was drawn
up the British line under General Riall, in force three times

rjL

114

BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE

I ' '?:

greater than our brigade ; his right covered with a powerful
battery of nine pieces of artillery, two of them brass twenty-

fours.

" The Eleventh and Twenty-second rQgimQntSy first leaving the
wood, deployed upon the open ground with the coolness
and regularity of a review, and were soon engaged furiously
in action ; the fire from the enemy's line, and from the bat-
tery, which completely commanded the position, opening
upon them with tremendous effect. Towson, having hur-
ried up with his guns on the left, in vain endeavored to at-
tain sufficient elevation to return the fire of their battery.
The destruction on our side was very great ; the two regi-
ments fought with consummate bravery. They were severe-
ly cut up. Their ammunition became exhausted, and the
officers, nearly all of them, having been killed and wounded,
they were withdrawn from action ; the few officers remain-
ing unhurt throwing themselves into the Ninth, which now
came into action, led by the gallant Colonel Leavenworth.

" The brunt of the battle now came upon them, and they
alone sustained it for some time, fighting with unflinching
bravery, until their numbers were reduced to one-half by the
fire of the enemy. At this juncture. General Scott galloped
up with the intention of charging the hill ; but finding them
so much weakened, altered his intention, entreating them to
hold their ground until the reinforcements, which were has-
tening up, should come to their assistance. A momentary
cessation of the action ensued, while additional forces hur-
ried up to the aid of each army ; Ripley's brigade, Hindman's
artillery, and Porter's volunteers, on the part of the Ameri-
cans, and a strong reinforcement under General Drummo'^.d

on thaL Oi the x^ritisfi. liinwnian s artincry

»»^-»«-^^ •-» 4- #■ o o ri /^ '^

BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE i\c

to that of Towson, and soon made themselves heard. Por-
ter's brigade displayed on the left, while Ripley formed on
the skirts of the wood to the right of Scott's brigade. The
engagement was soon renewed with augmented vigor,
General Drummond taking command in person, with his
fresh troops in the front line of the enemy. Colonel Jesup,
who had at the commencement of the action been posted on
the right, succeeded, after a gallant contest, in turning the
left flank of the enemy, and came in upon his reserve, ' bur-
dened with prisoners, making himself visible to his own
army, amid .the darkness, in a blaze of fire,' completely de-
stroying all before him. The light raged for some time with
great fury, but, it became apparent, uselessly to the Ameri-
cans, if the enemy retained possession of the battery, mani-
festly the key of the position.

" I was standing at the side of Colonel Miller," said the
Major, " when General Brown rode up and inquired whether
he could storm the battery with his regiment, while General
Ripley supported him with the younger regiment, the
Tiventy-third. Miller, amid the uproar and confusion, de-
liberately surveyed the position, then, quietly turning, with
infinite coolness replied, Til try, sir.' I think I see him now,"
said the Major, "as he turned to his regiment, drilled to
the precision of apiece of mechanism ; I hear his deep tonesj
' Tzventy.Jirst—^ttQntion ! Support arms ; double quick ;
march !' Machinery could not have moved with more com-
pactness than that gallant regiment followed the fearless
stride of its leader. Supported by the Twenty-third, the dark
mass moved up the hill like one body ; the lurid light glit-
tering and flickering on their bayonets, as the combined fire
of the enemy's artillery and infantry opened murderously

■ if 11

)',%

Ii6

BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE

upon them. They flinched not; they faltered not, as the
deadly cannot-shot cut yawning chasms through them.
Within a hundred yards of the summit a volley, sharp, in-
staneous as a clap of thunder; another moment, rushing
under the white smoke, a short furious struggle with the
bayonet, and the artillerymen were swept like chaff from
their guns. Another fierce struggle ; the enemy's line was
forced down the hill, and the victory was ours ; the posi-
tion entirely in our hands; their own pieces turned and
playing upon them in their retreat. It was bought at cruel
price, most of the officers being either killed or wounded.
The whole tide of the battle now turned to this point. The
result of the conflict depended entirely upon the ability of
the victorious party to retain it. Major Hindman was or-
dered up, and posted his forces at the side of the captured
cannon, while the American line correspondingly advanced.
Stung with mortification. General Drummond concentrated
his forces, to retake, by a desperate charge, the position.
The interval amid the darkness was alone filled by the roar
of the cataracts, and the groans of the wounded. He ad-
vanced with strong reinforcements, outflanking each side of
the American line. We were only able, in the murky dark-
ness, to ascertain their approach by their heavy tread.
' They halted within twenty paces ; poured in a rapid fire,
and prepared for the rush.' Directed by the blaze, our men
returned it with deadly effect, and after a desperate struggle
the dense column recoiled. Another interval of darkness
and silence, and again a most furious and desperate charge
was made by the British, throwing the whole weight of
their attack upon the American centre. The gallant Twenty-
first, which composednt, received them with undaunted

BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE

l^f

firmness ; while the fire from our lines was ' dreadfully ef-
fective.' Hindman's artillery served with the most perfect
coolness and effect. Staggering, they again recoiled. Dur-
ing this second attack, General Scott in person, his shattered
brigade now consolidated into a single battalion, made two
determined charges upon the right and left flank of the enemy,
and in these he received the scars which his countrymen
now see upon his manly front. Our men were now almost
worn down with fatigue, dying with thirst, for which they
could gain no relief. The British, with fresh reinforcements,
their men recruited and rested, after the interval of another
hour, made their third and final effort to regain the posi-
tion. They advanced, delivered their fire as before, and
although it was returned with the same deadly effect, stead-
ily prc-ssed forward. The Twenty-first again sustained the
sh. ' both lines were soon engaged in a 'conflict, ob-

stinai. dreadful beyond description.' The right and

left of iUicrican line fell back for a moment, but were

immediately rallied by their officers. ' So desperate did
the battle now become, that many battalions on both sides
were forced back,' the men engaged in indiscriminate melee,
fought 'hand to hand, and with muskets clubbed; and 'so
terrific was the conflict where the cannon was stationed, that
Major Hindman had to engage them over his guns and gun-
carriages, and finally to spike two of his pieces, under the
apprehension that they would fall into the hands of the
enemy.' General Ripley at length made a most desperate
and determined charge upon both of the enemy's flanks ;
they wavered, recoiled, gave way ; and the centre soon fol-
lowing, relinquished the fight and made a final retreat. The
annals of warfare on this continent have never shown more

ii8

BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE

f ii

desperate fighting. Bayonets were repeatedly crossed, and
after the action many of the men were found mutually trans-
fixed. The British force engaged was about five thousand
men ; the American, thirty-five hundred ; the combined loss
in killed and wounded, seventeen hundred and twenty-two,
officers and men. The battle commenced at half-past four
o'clock in the afternoon, and did not terminate till midnight.
We were so mingled," said the Major, " and so great the con-
fusion in the darkness, that as I was sitting with a group of
officers in the earlier part of the night, on horseback, a
British soldier came^up to us, and recovering his musket,
under the supposition that he was addressing one of his own
officers, said, ' Colonel Gordon will be much obliged, sir, if
you will march up the three hundred men in the road to his
assistance immadiately, as he is very hard pressed.' I called
him nearer, and pressing his musket down over my holsters
made him prisoner. ' What have I done, sir,' said the as-
tonished man, ' what have I done ?' and to convince British
officers, as he supposed, of his loyalty, exclaimed, ' Hurrah
for the King, and damn the Yankees.' As he was marched
to the rear, the poor fellow was cut down by a grape shot.
In another part of the field, an American aid pulled up sud-
denly on a body of men under full march. In reply to his
demand, 'What regiment is that?' he was answered, 'The
Royal Scots.' With great presence of mind, he replied,
' Halt ! Royal Scots, till further orders,' and then, turning
his horse's head, galloped from their dangerous proximity.
It was a horrid conflict. Humanity sighs over the slaughter
of the brave men that fell in it."

But here we are, at the grave-yard, with its drooping
willows and flowering locusts. Still— still— and quiet now.

BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE

119

No armed men now disturb its calmness and repose; no
ponderous artillery wheels rudely cut its consecrated
mounds ; no ruffian jest ; no savage execration ; no moan of
anguish break now upon its hallowed silence. The long
grass and blossoming heather wave green, alike o'er the
graves of friend and enemy. The marble tells the story of
the few ; the many, their very parents know not their resting
place. See this broken wooden slab ; it has rotted off even
with the ground, and lies face downwards, the earth-worm
burrowing under it, in this neglected corner.* Pull the grass
aside ; turn it over with your foot. What is the nearly ef-
faced inscription?

TO THE MEMORY OF

CAPT'N BROWN,

OF THE

2 1 St Regiment,

WHO DIED OF WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION, WITH THE ENEMY,
ON THE 25TH OF JULY, 1814."

And this is honor! This is fame! Why, brave man !
e'en now I read the tribute to thy bravery in the bulletin of
the action. Thou had'st comrades — father — mother — sisters —
to mourn thy loss ; and now, the stranger's foot carelessly
spurns thy frail memento ; nor father, mother, sisters, nor
human hand can point to the spot where rest thy ashes.
Peace to thy manes! brave countryman, where'er they
sleep.

See from this point how gently and gracefully undulates
the battle-field ; the woods bowing to the evening breeze, as
the soft sunlight pours through their branches, show not the
gashes of rude cannon shot ; the plain, loaded and bending

I 20 BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE

with the yellow harvest, betrays no human ^ore ; yon hill-
scathed, scorched and blackened with cannon flame, the very
resting-place of the deadly battery— no relic of the fierce
death-struggle, as, covered with fragrant clover and wild
blue-bell, the bee in monotonous hum banquets o'er it.
Nought mars the serenity of nature as she smiles upon us.
Yet, burnt in common funeral pyre, the ashes of those brave
men, of friend and foe, there mingle in the bosom whence
they issued. The frenzied passion passed, the furious con-
flict o'er, they have lain down in quiet, and, like young
children, sleep gently, sweetly, in the lap of that common
mother who shelters, with like protection, the little field-
mouse from its gambols, and the turbaned Sultan sinking
amid his prostrate millions. Shades of my gallant country,
men !— Shades of their daring foes !— farewell. Ne'er had
warriors more glorious death-couch ; the eternal cataracts
roar your requiem.

Note.— The reader is referred, for further information, as to these
battles, to Lossing's excellent History of the War of 181 2, a work not
in existence when these sketches were written.

BATTLE OF LUNDVS LAXE.

I 21

|i' tt

a* 1

LAKE GEORGE AND TICONDEROGA,

i.Mlii

hi .:

BMl

Mill
iii'i!

THE Sun of Morning hurls himself in blazing splendor
o'er thy crystal waters, beautiful Horicon ! as we float
upon thy placid bosom ; not as of yore, in feathery
canoe, but in gaily-colored bark, drawn by Steam Spirit. As
he vainly strives to break his fiery prison, see how he puffs
and pants in the fierce embrace of the glowing element, in
furious efforts dragging us onward with frantic swiftness, e'en
as the frightened steed, the vehicle wildly bounding after
him ; as the valve of safety opens, hear the shriek of mad d'^-
light with which exultingly he proclaims his freedom ; now,
the iron portal closed, how like Sampson in the Prison Mill,
struggling, giant-like, he again applies him to his toil. Im-
prisoned Spirit ! there is no help for thee. Sweat thou must,
and pant, and groan, till— like thy fellow-laborer, man,
released from fire fetter, as he of earth— resolved to pure
ether, thou shalt float again free and delighted in the clear
elements above !

Ho ! brother spirit, tarry, tarry ; wait thou a little till I
join thee ; then how gallantly we'll ride! Couched on sum-
mer clouds, lazily we'll float ; or, glancing on sun rays, shoot,
swift as thought, 'mid the bright worlds rolling in sublimity
above us. We'll bathe in the Moon's cold splendor, fan in
the sultry heat of crimson Mars, slide upon Saturn's eternal
snows; or, joyously gamboling along the Milky Way, we'll
cha„ the starry Serpent to his den. Ho ! brother spirit ;

LAKE GEORGE AND TICONDEROGA

but we must bide our time ; madly now, in wild career, thou
sweep'st the placid lake from under us.

But whom have we here ? A sturdy hunter in home-spun
clad, with his long rifle ; his broad-chested hounds in quiet,
sleeping at his feet; our fellow-passenger till, landed on
some mountain-side, he follows his sylvan war. Clear animal
health and vigor shine from each lineament. With what
open, unsuspicious manhood, what boundless freedom, he
comports himself. Ha! what is it, hound? What is it?
Why dost shake thy pendant ears and gaze so keenly in the
distance ; and why that plaintive howl ? Ay, ay, hunter, thy
practised eye hath caught it. On yon wooded island to the
windward ; a noble buck with graceful form and branching
antlers. He sees us not, but the dog's quick senses have
caught his scent upon the passing wind. Still, boy, still !
Pilot, put her a little more under the island. Hunter, lend
me thy rifle ; launch the canoe. Come, hunter | peace,
hounds ; keep the dogs on board ; paddle for yonder point.
Now we shoot upon the pebbly beach ; now make her fast to
this dead log. We'll steal gently through the woods and
come upon him unawares. Softly ; press those vines away ;
whist ! avoid the rustling of the branches ; here, creep through
these bushes ; tread lightly on the fallen leaves ; you'll mire
upon that swampy bottom. Hush, hush ; tread softly — that
crackling branch ! He lifts his head ; he looks uneasily about
him. Stand quiet ! Now he browses again ; get a little
nearer ; we are within distance. I'll try him— click. Back
go the antlers ; the cocking of the rifle has alarmed him —
he's off. Here goes ! — crack ! He jumps ten feet in the
air. I've missed him ; he bounds onward ; no — yes — by
Jove! he's down — he's up again — he plunges forward —

124

LAKE GEORGE AND TICONDEROGA

\ . .;, 4^

falls again— he rises— falls— he struggles to his knees— he-
falls ! Hurrah ! he's ours— quick— quick— thy coutcmi chasse;
we'll make sure of him. Stop ; stop ! Poor deer ! and /
have murdered thee— for my sport, have murdered thee;
have taken from thee the precious boon of life ; with cruelty
have broken the silver chord, which the beggar's blunt knife
can sever, but not the jeweled fingers of the monarch again
rejoin. There, there, thou liest, true to the Great Master's
picture :

"The big round tears course down thy innocent nose in piteous chase,
And thy smooth leathern sides pant almost to bursting."

Thy life blood flows apace— e'en now thy large soft eye
dims in the sleep of death— and / have slain thee. Thou
had'st nought other enemy than the gaunt coward wolf, or
fanged serpent; him, with light leaping bounds, thou
laugh'st to scorn, as his long howl struck on thy quick ear
and the sullen rattler, with many blows of thy tiny polished
hoof thou dash'st to pieces, ere from his deadly coil, his
flattened head, with glistening tongue and protruded fangs,
could reach thee. Oh ! I shame me of my miscreant fellow-
ship. E'en the poisonous serpent, with quick vibrating tail,
did give thee warning ; /stole upon thee unawares. Hunter!
take again thy weapon ; for thee ; 'tis thy vocation ; perhaps
'tis well ; the game is thine. I entreat of thee, let not my in-
* nocent victim again reproach my eye-sight. So ! here \% the
canoe; we again embark; we rock against the steamer's
side; and now again rush onward in our swift career.
Islands glide by us in countless numbers. The frightened
trout scales in quick alarm from the splashing water-wheels,
while echo, mocking their watery clam or, wakes the old

LAKE GEORGE AND TICONDEROGA

125

mountains from their sleepy stillness, who again, like drowsy
giants, relapse into repose as we leave them far behind us.

'i\

RUINS OF FORT TICONDEROGA.

Ticonderoga, we approach thy shore. Ay, true to appoint-
ment, here are the horses. Mount — on we go, over hillock
and valley, through^ brake, through briar, through mud,
through water, through swamp, through mire ; we gallop
over the broad green peninsula; leap the entrenchments ;
thread the lines. Here is the citadel ; descend the moat ;
the wild dank weeds and furze o'ertop our heads. Ay—
here's a chasm, a breach in the ancient walls ; spur up ; spur
up ; now we draw rein within the very centre of the black-
ened ruins. How lovely the view, from the soft undulating
promontory ; the lake bathing its sides ; Horicon's moun-
tains o'erlooking it on this; the stalwart yeomen of the
verdant State, free as the winds, on that ! Oh ! Ticonderoga,

(• I'll

ill

?:; ii

[ '

T26

LAKE GEORGE AND TICONDEROGA

'midst these uncultivated wilds; these silent mountains;
various and eventful hath been thy history.

Ho ! Old Time— how calmly strok'st thou thy long grey
beard, as. seated on the broken ruins, thou ponderest their
past ! Come ! come, old father ! ascend this crumbling battle-
ment— lean on my shoulder— I, as yet, am straightest,— I
will hold thy scythe. Now point to me the drama which
past generations have acted upon this green peninsula.

" What do I see ?" I see the savage life ; the light canoe
floating on the blue lake; painted warriors spearing the
salmon, chasing the deer upon the plain, dragging the surly
bear in triumph ; I see the swift paddle chase ; I hear the
laugh of children ; the voice of patient squaws; the distant
yell, as, rounding the point, the returning braves bemoan the
dead left on the war-path, and, as the shades of evening close,
the sun in golden radiance retiring o'er the mountains, I see
them congregate in wigwams in the cove. The blue smoke
rises gently o'er the tree-tops, and all is still; quiet and
serenity obtain ; the whip-poor-will, and cricket, amid the
drowsy hum of insect life, keep melancholy cadence.

"Stranger! venture not near them^ — the peace is treach-
erous; no civilized challenge shall give thee warning, but
the cruel war-shriek wildly ring o'er the insensate brain as
the light tomahawk trembles in thy cloven skull."

Wild mist rolls onward ; I hear sounds of distant music ;
the mellow horn, the clashing cymbals break from its midst.
Ah ! it rises. A gallant army, in proud array, with flags
and banners ; bright glittering arms, and ponderous artillery.
With alacrity they effect their landing. They fraternize
with the red-skinned warriors. Their military lines run
round like maLrlc. I feel, e'en where we stand, huge walls^

LAKE GEORGE AND TICONDEROGA

127

grim towers rise, and bastions springing up around us ; the
spotless drapeau blanc, iiigh o'er our heads, floats in the
breeze ; wild chansoms of love, of war, of la belle France,
mix with mirth and revelry.

" Stranger, 'tis the quick ' Qui Vive ' that doth arrest thy
footstep."

Ay— now. Old Time, the mystic curtain again rolls up-
wards. " What do I see ? "—Red-coated soldiers advancing
in proud battalia through the forest glades, the sunbeams
dancing on their bayonets. I hear the sound of bugles, the
clamorous roll of drums, the groaning jar and creak of
heavy-wheeled artillery. Spread along the lines, covered
with sharp abattis and water moat, I see the impatient Gaul,
with savage ally, in ambushment, await their coming ; they
advance with desperate valor; they ford the ditch, hew
the sharpened trees with axes. In vain ; the balls, like hail,
from unseen foes murderously destroy them. Their leader
falls; hark! the bugle with melancholy wail sounds their
retreat.

Again, Old Time, an interval ; again red-coated soldiers !
again groaning artillery ! Look up ! the drapeau blanc has
vanished; the meteor flag streams proudly from the flag-,
staff.

" Stranger, 'tis the Anglo-Saxon's rough challenge that
gruffly breaks upon thy iear."

Long peace and silence, old father, now obtain ; the
sentry sleeps upon his post ; women and children play upon
the ramparts ; but hark ! what is it far in the distance that 1
hear? The sound of battle! the fusilade of musketry, the
roar of cannon ! I see Bunker's Hill from light barricade
sweep down her thousands ; T see hurrying forward the hardy

fl'!

ft' I

r-f^!l - -

w-s

12B

LAKE GEORGE AND TICONDEROGA

BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.

husbandman with hastily-
caught musket; the robed di-
vine; the youth; the old man,
cheered on by mothers, sis-
ters, tender wives, to strike

For their altars and their fires,
God, and their native homes."

I see new Nation's symbol-Stars and Stripes;-and-watch-
Now, in the midnight darkness, through the fortress moat-
how advance that fearless band of men ! Lo ! in silence they
penetrate the fortress' centre. Hark! what voice rouses
the astonished officer, as. starting from his slumbers, he
meets, close at his throat, the bayonet's threatening point?
"Surrender!" -To whom?" " The Great Jehovah, and the
Continental Congress!"

LAKE GEORGE AND TICOXDEROGA

129

ETHAN ALLEN AT TICONDEROGA.

Now floats the spangled banm r proudly o'er the citadel ;
patriotic men assemble; armies make temporary resting
place ; invalid soldiers breathe the health-restoring air, and
age wears on. Ha ! was that a meteor, flashing from De-
fiance Mountain summit? And there, another? Plunge!
plunge! Cannon shot! screaming, yelling, bounding i' th'
very centre of the fortress.

" 'Tis the Englishman with his artillery."

Quick, quick ! St. Clair, withdraw the army ; the position
is no longer tenable. Strike not the flag ! let it shake de-
fiance to the last ! Quick, the magazine — the train ! Ha,
hah ! yEtna, Vesuvius like, the explosion.

Hallo! Old time! Ho! thou of the scythe! What! hast
gone ? Am 1 ?— ay, I am— alone ! Nought but the blackened
ruins, and the crumbling ramparts, in silence surroundino- me.

iteBAil

I 1. 1 1

)1?

'hi

i i '

1 ;

iMONTREAL.

OW, in steam palace, we shoot in swift career o'er thy
trinquil surface, Lake Champlain ; thy rolling moun-
tains, in wavy
outline, ac-
companying
us in our rapid
progress. Vast
primeval for-
ests sleep in
stillness along
thy borders.
Their sylvan patriarchs, reigning
for centuries, untouched by wood-
man's axe, stretch proudly their
far-reaching branches, till ancient
Time, pointing with extended
finger, the wild spirit of the winds
breathes on them as he passes, and they succumb, with sullen
uproar, long with mock semblance retaining form and length,
as if deriding the puny offspring shooting up around them ;
bestowing sore fall, I ween, and tumble on adventurous hun-
ter, as stumbling through the undergrowth he plunges pros-

trate o'er them.

Forests immense cover the [mountains, gorges, valleys,
reigning in stern solitude and silence, save where the fierce

MONTREAL

131

fire-god, serpent-like, pursues his flaming journey. There,
followed by wreathing smoke columns, forward he leaps,
with fiery tongue licking up acres, while the waterpools,
hissing in mist, join in his escort, and the wild game, with
frantic swiftness, strive to escape the hot destruction of his
embraces. With steady, noiseless progress, the white villages
appear and disappear beside us. Rouse's skeleton Tower
looms largely in the distance ; — now, 'tis passed.

Thy military works, and crimson flag. Isle Aux Noix,
town of St. Johns, Richelieu, La Prairie ; we pass ye all ; and
advancing in soft summer atmosphere, Chambly, we behold
thy mountain ramparts filling the far distance. St. Law-
rence, — majestic river, stretched like sheet of polished steel,
as far as eye can reach — we stand upon thy level shores.
Rapid, wide, rushing expanse of waters, with what glorious
brightness thou look'st upon thy verdant shores, covered
with continuous lines of snow-white cottages, and listenest
to the soft music of the religious bells of the kind-hearted^
cheerful habitans, as, with rude painted cross upon their
door-posts, they scare away the fiend, and joyously inter-
commune, in honest simple neighborhood. La Chine, we
speed o*er"thy surface with race-horse swiftness ; and now
Montreal ! beautiful — most beautiful, couched at the foot of
emerald mountain, liest thou upon the river's margin, thy
spires, roofs, cupolas, glittering in the sun-beams with silver
radiance ; thy grand cathedral chimes floating onwards till
lost in dreamy distance. We land upon thy granite quay,
measure the extended esplanade, now climb thy narrow
streets and alleys. Almost we think we tread one of thy
antique cities, ancient France : alleys narrow ; dark and
gloomy courts ; grim inhospitable vv alls ; in place of airy case-

^^^Bf

; % [n^^^l

^^^^^Hu^^ H

' ^^H

13^

MONTREAL

ment, gratings and chained iron portals, military barracks,
nunneries, prisons, fantastic churches, and Notre Dame's
cloud-piercing towers, in huge architectural pile, looming
high above all. Noisy, chattering habitans, in variegated
waist-belts and clattering sabots, rotund dark-robed priests,
lank voyageurs, red-coated soldiers and haughty officers, jos-
tle each other on the narrow trottoir; but, mark! the sullen,
down-cast Indian, in blanket robed, with gaudy feathers and
shining ornaments, his patient squaw, straight as an arrow,
her piercing-eyed papoose clinging to her shoulders, silently
following him'in noiseless mocassins, moves along the kennel.
Verily, poor forest child, it hath been written, and Moslem-
like, thou to thy destiny must bow ; the fire-water and the
Christian will it ; fold thee closer in thy blanket robe, and—
die. See yon Indian girl standing at the corner ; with what
classic grace the blue fold drapery, thrown o'er her head, de-
scends her shoulders, as, fawn-like, she stands, avoiding the

rude passer's stare.

Hardy ponies, in light ca'ash, dash through the narrow
streets, of passengers' safety regardless ; or, tugging at great
trucks, strive, in renewed exertion, to vociferous cries and
exclamations of the volatile Canadian. How well these
Englishmen sit their horses. See that gentleman ; with what
delicate hand he reins his fiery blood that treads as if on
feathers, and how picturesque appear, amid the motley
throng, these red-coated soldiers.

Come ! here stands one at the Champ de Mars ; how mar-
tially he deports himself ; his exactly poised musket and his
brazen ornaments, how bright! Inscribed upon his gorget
are the actions which have signalized his regiment—
«* Badajos," " Salamanca," " Vittoria," " Waterloo." We will

MONTREAL

^11

address him. Soldier, your regiment was at Salamanca?
" S-i-rT By the inscription on your gorget, your regiment
distinguished itself at Salamanca; "scaUid the imminent
deadly breach " at " Badajos ;" stood the Cuirassiers' wild
charge amid the sulphurous smoke at Waterloo? "Don't
know, indeed, s-i-r." And this is the gallant soldier ! Why,
for years, under the menace of thy sergeant, thou hast scoured
that gorget to regulation brightness ; for years hast marched
under thy regimental colors emblazoned with those chitrac-
ters; and still, in ignorance need'st a Champoillion to deci-
pher them. Verily thy daily wage of sixpence and thy
ration are full compensation for thy service.

Il'''l

("!

THE NUN.

OW as we pass, look up! How minute appears the
colossal statue of " Our Lady " in its niche on the

vast front of the cathe-
dral. And the nunner-
ies; self -constituted
prisons for those whom
God hath born to free-
dom ; how like birds of
evil omen they do con-
gregate. Here is that
of the Grey Order.
Ring at the gateway ;
we will enter. Here
we pass the court-
yard ; how still, how
gloomy, and how pris-
on-like! This is their
hospital. Piteous col-
lection ! The blind, the
halt, the maimed, the
hideously deformed, consumption, palsy, the wrecks of
fevers ! See, with what continued torture that wretched
being writhes in her fixed position. This is the small spark of
good amid the brands of evil. These orphan children are
kindly cared for, but where the child-like joy and mirthful

THE NUN

135

freedom ! With what stealthy step the officials move about
their duties along the silent corridors ! and, aye ! here is the
chapel, with its gilded altars, its ornaments, its embroideries,
its bleeding hearts, its sacred symbols. See with what gen-
tleness the ^^ Lady'' performs the servile duties of the
sanctuary ! with what humility she bends before the altar.
How beautiful that cheek of tint of Indian shell ; those
dark romantic eyes with their long pensile lashes ; that
nose of Grecian outline ; the small vermilion mouth ;
the throat and neck of snow, and the glossy raven tresses
escaping in rich luxuriance from the plaited coif as they fall
upon her sloping shoulders. Mournful seems her devotion ;
now rising, she stands before the Mater Dolorosa; now
wistfully gazes down the dark long corridor in sorrowful
meditation. Hush! be silent. I will steal gently near her.
Lady ! Turn not ; 'tis thy kind spirit whispers. Art thou
content? Does thy young active soul find employ congenial
in these gloomy mysteries? Does thy springing, youthful
heart, sympathize in these cold formalities; this company of
grim-visaged saints and bearded martyrs ; with joy enchain
thee? Does the passionate imagination and deep feehng
flashing in those dark eyes; the already hectic kindbng of
that cheek, look with pleasure to long years ; a life of cold
monotonous routine ; of nightly vigils ; fastings ; of painful
mortifications ? Lady ! listen. They chain thy soul. Break
thou away. Quick, in thy youth, fiy from them, fly ! One
moment. Speak not. See'st thou yon cottage peering
from its green shades and graveled walks ; its parterres of
the myrtle and the lily, its diamond lattice enwreathed and
almost hidden in the embrace of sweet-smelling honey-
suckles and clustering roses ; and its interior with its simple

136

THE NUN

yet delicate refinements? See'st thou in snowy dishabille
the lovely woman ? with what heart-felt glee the frolicking,
half-naked child, with chubby arms, almost suffocates in its
little embrace her neck ; its golden ringlets mingling like
streams of light 'mid her dark tresses ; with what ecstasy she
enfolds him in her embraces, with maternal lips pressing in
exquisite delight the plump alabaster shoulders ? Lady, such
scenes, not gloomy walls, invite thee. Nay, 'tis not the voice
of the Tempter ; 'tis not, as they will tell thee, the poison-
ous breath of the many-colored serpent stealing o'er thy
senses. Let bearded men, wrecked on their own fierce law-
less passions, seek these dark cells, these painful vigils, these
unmeaning mortifications. They are not for thee. The
world awaits thy coming. The pawing steed, throwing the
white froth flakes o'er his broad chest, impatiently awaits
thee. Fly, dear lady, fly ! The joyous, carroling birds, the
dew-spangled meadows cry. Come! The green, green
trees ; the bubbling water-falls ; the soft summer breezes ;
the rosy tinted East; the gorgeous drapery of the West-
cry to thee. Come ! The voice of thy lover, frantic at thy
self-sacrifice ; the voice of him who in the fragrant orange
bower encircled thy slender waist, whilst, with heightened
color and downcast eyes, thou listen'd to his rapid vows ;
the voice of him, who with thy glossy raven tresses floating
on his shoulder, and thy warm, sweet breath, mingling with
his, lavished soul, existence, all, on thee,— in agony cries.
Dearest, dearest, come ! Nay, nay, 'tis but for thy happi-
ness,— I leave thee— exclaim not— 1 am gone.

CATARACTS OF NIAGARA.

INDIAN LIFE.

NOW — on, on, over the Chute, and down the Rapid ;
leaping the Saults ; through the rivers, over the is.
lands; we glide, we glide, we rush, we fly. Ho ! Ariel,
beautiful spirit, riding on thy rainbow, shoot not thy silver
arrows at us as we pass. Tricksy spirit, fare thee well ; — now
—far in the distance, — fare — thee — well ! Ha ! Ha ! Old frolic
Puck, sweating, panting, holding thy lubbard sides ; we race,
we race, we pass thee, too ; in vain thou strugglest to o'ertake
us. Farewell, farewell! Go pinch the housemaids, tickle

j^g CATARACTS OF AJAGARA

With Straws the snoring herdsmen, tumble about the dusty
mows, sprinkle sweet hay before the ruminating cattle,
clutch by the tail the cunning fox, as stealthily he cra^yls
within the hen-roost ; and anon, rub thy hands in glee o er
the embers on the capacious kitchen hearth, and on all-fours
cut antics with the glowering cat, as, with bowed back and
shining eyes, she watches thee i' th' corner. Peer mto the
kettles and into jars, see whether the barm rises, whether the
yeast doth work ; till with clash-clatter, the metal lid slips
from thy fingers on the hearth-stone, and villam-like, thou
shoot'stup the chimney, with "Ho! ho! ho !" laughing at
the sleepy yeoman, as half covered, with oaken cudgel
grasped, shivering, he peers through the door-crack the cause
o' th' uproar. Farewell, farewell, mirthful goblin-farewell
—farewell. Ontario, we waft across thy surface. Queens-
town, thy sanguinary heights, crowned with brave Briton's
monument, we pass ; and now, the rising mist-wreaths warn
us of thy approach, Niagara. Huzza ! huzza ! now for a
bath under the roaring Cataract ! In what wild chaos of
waters the clamorous rapids, as if from the horizon, rush
down upon us ; jumping, leaping, boiling in fierce confusion ;
and this frail bridge, how it groans and shakes in the tor-
rent's sweep ! A slip from Mahomet's sword-edge, oer the
awful Hades, would not consign us to more inevitable de-
struction, than would a treacherous plank or rotten beam
from this shaking platform. We tread the deep green
woods of Goat Island, their mossy trunks covered with love-
marks of Orlandos and Rosalinds ; and, amid the roar, de-
scend the great Ferry stair-case. Stop a moment at this land-
ing ; step out. How the solid earth shakes, jars and vibrates !
How the wild winds rush by us, as the huge, fluid arch

CATARACTS OF NIAGARA

139

stretches over with continuous plunge ; and see that group
of wild flowers, scarlet, green and purple, smiling in beauty
byond the reach of human hand, glistening in moisture
midst the very spray in the rock cleft. But haste, haste !
Here is the boatman. Leap in, leap in ! Now how, in our
little cockle-shell bark, we whirl and sport in the eddies, o'er
the fathomless depths below, like wing-born insects playing
over the abyss.

We land ; ascend the heights ; we pass the sentry. At
the tiring-iiouse. We robe ourselves for the enterprise;
tarpaulin coats, hatj; bound with old rope, trowsers of tow
cloth, shoes of cowhide ; ha : ha ! But quick ! descend the
long spiral stair-case. Now, Guide; we follow. Beware
you fall not on these sharp, slippery rocks. We approach.
The Table Rock hangs o'er us. In grandeur the solid fluid
mass falls precipitate. Prepare. Turn as you enter ; hold
down your head ; repress your breath : — are you ready ?
Rush ! We are beneath the yawning chasm ; soaked in an
instant. Like furious rain-storm, and wind, and tempest
all combined, this wild, frightful roar. What? Scream
louder, louder ! Hold firm by the guide ; a slip from this nar-
row ledge, and, whew — splash — dead in our faces, — almost
suffocated. Turn to the dripping rock wall, and catch your
breath till the wind-rush again lifts the watery curtain.
Slimy eels glide by ; darkness deep above, dim light strives
to reach us through the cataract sheets. We are at the
extreme verge. Guide, guide ; ha ! what indicates that mo-
tion of thy lips? closer, — close in my ear. "Termination
rock." Turn, turn — ^splash — swash — drenched, suffocated ;
return, return. We see again the light. Rush ! We stand
once more in the clear open sunlight. Whew ! puff — drip-

1
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140

CA TAR ACTS OF NIAGARA

ping-dripping, a shower-bath worthy of old Neptune.
How delightfully our nerves spring under its exhilarating
influence. Take care; again these slippery stones. Beware!
beware ! here we ascend again the stair-case. In the attir-
ing-room. Towels, brushes ; Christains once more.

Come ; come ! Now to the Table Rock. See with what
treacherous glitter the wide Niagara stretches in perfect
smoothness far towards Chippewa, till, descending upon us,
it shoots the rapids o'er their rocky beds like things of life,
and with wild rush around the island, sweeps resistless o'er
the awful cataracts, a roaring hurricane of waters. Give
me your hand— lean forward ; look into the abyss ; careful \
Evil spirits take us at advantage at such times, and whisper
us to leap forward. How lashed in milky whiteness the
huge gulf boils and foams as the waters plunge fractured,
disjointed, tumbling in masses ; and the wild birds, how fear-
lessly they skim amid the white mist rising from its surface.
How the earth shudders and trembles around us. You are
already dizzy. Come back from the edge. How awful ;
how terribly sublime ! How tame, how useless, helpless,
description! Would that I, with voice of inspiration, could
command language adequate to portray the grandeur of the
scene under stern Winter's reign ! Transcendantly beauti-
ful ! A thaw and rain, followed by sudden chill and cold,
clothes all the forest ; every hedge and shrub, with tranc-
parent coat of ice. Gnarled oaks, from massive trunk to
their extremest twigs, become huge crystal chandeliers;
the evergreen pines and hemlocks, with long lancing
branches, great emeralds ; lithe willows, sweeping, glassy
cascades ; the wild vines, stiff in silvery trellises between
them. ; the undergrowth, with scarlet, blue and purple ber-

CA TARACTS OF NIAGARA

141

ries, candied fruits ; tiie pools of frozen water at their feet,
dark sheets of adamant ; and ever and anon, as the north
wind passes o'er them, the forest becomes Golconda, Araby
—one Ind of radiant gems, quivering with diamonds, rubies,
sapphires, in glittering splendor, pearls, emeralds, hyacinths,
chrysolites, falling in showers, as, fractured from their crack-
ling branches, they strew the snowy bed stretched smooth
around them; that wide, smooth river, far above the
Rapids, ice-chained, a solid snow-white bed, gleaming in
the mid-day sun ; yon Tower, misshapen giant phantom, ice
God, in frozen shroud and winding-sheet, firmly fixed 'mid
the swift running waters— huge stalactite icicles, Winter's
hoary beard, hanging in fantastic curtains from each rock
ledge, pinnacle, projection ; while on the black rapids, the
vast ice-fields, breaking in masses, pile in wild confusion,
grinding and swaying on their treacherous holds, till, gath-
ering momentum, with slide and plunge, submerged, they
sweep onward 'mid the wild roar of the Cataracts, which,
with stern, resistless power, hold their terrific course ; those
huge' sheets, those watery arches, those green beryl masses,
plunging in resistless fury, unabated vastness, with desper-
ate leaps into the foaming abyss below, the spray falling in
silver showers, pierced by the sun's rays dancing around
them in countless rainbows ; while the ice avalanches, bre.k-
ing from their grasps on the surrounding rocks and preci-
pices, with booming plunge and uproar, fall crashing, buried
in the dark whirlpools, boiling in the fathomless depths be-
low ; the dark river, in torrents of copperas-hue, whirling in
eddies, rushing o'er its deep rocky bed, in savage contrast
with the snow-covered precipices that chain it to its course.
Deep, resistless sweep of waters ! black as despair— Sadoc

* '

lilfl

142

CA TAKACTS OF NIAGARA

here were to thee the waters of Oblivion-here that Lethe,
which, till other worlds received thee, should blot existence

from keenest memory. , „ . • u

The voice of the Unseen addressed the afflicted Patriarch
from the whirlwind's midst; us does it warn from this
chained whirlwind of the waters. Sublime, terrible, inde-
scribable, as is this scene by human tongue, how tamely all
its grandeur sinks beneath the catastrophe which the being
of future ages shall survey, or would, if with eagle's wings
he could soar high in the clouds above it; when the narrow
rock-belt which Niagara for by-gone centuries has been
slowly wearing, severed, the light tract alluvial crumbhng
-the whole chain of inland oceans-Huron, Erie, Michigan,
with awful wildness and destruction, sweep in second deluge
o'er this outlet ; the adamantine rocks sinking like snow-
wreaths from their beds ; all principalities, kingdoms, states,
whate'er they shall be, between the Atlantic and the Alle-
ghanies, the Labrador and Mexico, swept from existence, and
in their place a heaving surge, wild waste of waters. Fool !
revolve this scene terrific in thy heart ; ponder it well ; then,
if thou canst, say, indeed, there is no God ! Thy life, at best
a flickering taper, shall soon meet extinguishment. Then
shall there be an eternity to' convince thee.

1 !

MOUNT HOLYOKE.

HERE we are, in the middle of the month of August.
The " world " have long since fled the hot walls and
blazing pavements of old Gotham, and even the very
school-boys are let loose from their pale-faced pedagogues,
to frolic like young colts in the country. Come, let us not
remain in the sweltering city. Throw a few things in your
carpet-bag ; that is sufficient. Make me the guide. We will
leave Saratoga and Newport to their flirtations; another
field is before us. Now, Eastward ho ! shall lie our course.
Distance and time are left behind us ; already we are en-
sconced at the Mansion House in this most lovely of villages,
Northampton.

Well does it deserve the name. Come one moment to
the corner of this piazza. Look down the long avenues.
See the verdant arches, formed by the boughs of the antique
elms, bending toward each other in loving fraternity ; and
the snow-white houses at their feet, their court-yards smil-
ing with flowers ; and the still more smiling faces that glance
behind their transparent windows. That will do ; you have
stared long enough at the demure beauty behind the green
blinds. Truly it seems, as it mostly is, the abode of retired
gentlemen ; a very Decameron sort of a place in this work-
ing-day world of ours. But are we not Americans ? W/iy
should we rest? To breakfast; behold, a regular Yankee
feast. Snow-white bread and golden butter ; chickens that

'j'-SfltWW

144

MOUNT HOLYOKE

one short hour since dreamed of bins of corn and acres of
oats, on their roosts in the lofty barn; steaks, pies tea, pre-
serves the well-browned cakes, and last, not least, the spark-
lini? amber cider. Blessings on the heart of the nice-looking
damsel a't the coffee urn, with her red cheeks and neat check
apron. But, egad ! my dear friend ; prudence ! hold up ;
we have to ascend the mountain, and you will not find the
feast that you are stowing away with such Dalgetty mdus-
try likely to improve your wind. That last hot roll length,
ens' our ascent just one-quarter of an hour. There! the
horses are neighing and impatiently champing the bit at the
door. Are you ready ? Come then. Look out, lest that
fiery devil throw you on the bosom of our common mother,
earth ! Your bones would find her a step-dame ; those flam-
ing nostrils are sworn enemies to your long spur gaffs. But
here we go ! How balmy and delightful the cool air of the
morning ; the verdant grass rises gracefully ; the wildflower
shakes its tiny bells, and drinks the dewy diamond glittering
on its lips, as it waves gently o'er them. The rich yellow
sun mocks the trees, as it rolls out their broad shadows on
the velvet turf oeneath ; while from knoll and waving mullen
stalk, the meadow-lark, with outstretched neck and piercing
eye, utters his notes in almost delirious rapture. We clear the
broLd meadows. Our very horses, with ears erect, gather
speed with every bound, and seem ready to cry, ha ! ha !
We are the fabled centaurs of old.

The heavy morning mist, rising in 1 uge volumes, reluc-
tantly bares the forest on the mountain-side ; it curls and
breaks in vast masses ; it slowly rolls off. to the eastward.
Aye! there he stands; there stands old Holyoke, with his
cragged coronal of rocks, a gigantic Titan, bidding defiance

MOUNT HOL YOKE

:res of
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spark-
ooking
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nd the

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se flam-
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ittering

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with his

defiance

to time and tempest. Gallop, gallop ; we are within two
hundred feet of the summit. This precipice — its dark sides
frowning and grim, the velvet moss, and little clusters of
scarlet and yellow flowers peeping from its crevices, where
the rippling brooklet scatters its mimic showers over them,
wreathed fantastically with vines and gnarled branches
from its clefts — we must climb on foot. Rest a moment.
How perfectly still the dense forest extends around us.
Nought breaks the silence, save the querulous cry of the cat-
bird, as it hops from branch to branch, the mimic bark of
the squirrel, or the distant hollow tap of the woodpecker.
Now, a little more climbing ; take care of those loose stones ;
a few steps additional ascent ; give me your hand ; spring !
here we are on the rocky platform of its summit. Is not the
scene magnificent ? We stand in the centre of an amphi-
theatre two hundred miles in diameter. See ! at the base of
the mountain curls, like a huge serpent, the Connecticut, its
sinuosities cutting the smooth plains into all sorts of gro-
tesque figures ; now making a circuit around a peninsula of
miles, across whose neck a child might throw a stone; here
stretching straight as an arrow for a like distance; and
there again returning like a hare upon its course. See the
verdant valleys extending around us, rich with the labor of
good old New England's sons, and far in the distance— the
blue smoky distance — rising in majesty, God's land-marks,
the mountains. See the beautiful plains, the prairies beneath
us, one great carpet of cultivation ; the fields of grain, the yel-
low wheat, the verdant maize, the flocks, the herds, the
meadow, the woodland, forming beautiful and defined figures
in its texture, while the villages, in glistening whiteness, are
scattered, like nafrhes nf snnw in everv nnrf of th^ lapd-

MVi^W

146

MOUNT HOLYOKE

H 11

scape; and hark! in that indistinct and mellow music we
hear the bell slowly tolling from yonder slender spire. Oh !
for a Ruysdael, to do justice to the picture.

Surely God did not intend that we should sweat and pant
in cities when he places such scenes before us. How like
the fieicc giants of old the lofty mountains encircle it, as a
land of enchantment. See ! see ! the clouds, as they scud
along in the heavens, how they throw their broad shadows,
chasing each other on the plains below. Imagine them
squadrons, cliarging in desperate and bloody battle. But
no; widows' and orphans' tears follow not their encounters:
rather the smiles of the honest, hard-handed yeoman, as he
foresees his wains groaning with the anticipated harvests ;
his swellin;? stacks; his crowded granaries. Here, for the
present, let us recline on the broad and moss-covered rocks,
while, wiih the untutored Indian, its rightful owner, in silent
admiration we worship the Great Spirit, whose finger moves
.lot, save in beauty, in harmony and majesty.

I 'li

WHITE MOUNTAINS.

KNOCK! knock! knock! W-e-U Thump! thump!
thump! Who's there? What do you want? "Pas-
sengers for the White Mountains, sir; time to get up;
stage ready." Is it possible? three o'clock already ? W-e-1-1,
I'll get up. Call the gentleman in the next room. My
friend, how are you, after your trip of yesterday to Mount
Holyoke? A little stiff in the knees and ankles, eh ! But
come; the stage is at the door. Waiter, hold the light.
How forlorn look the heavy muddy vehicle, and half-waked
horses, by the dim light of the stage-lamps. That's right,
my good fellow ; throw those carpet-bags inside. Shut the
door. All ready. Driver, go ahead! "Aye, aye! sir."
Hey ! Tchk ! tchk ! Crack ! crack ! crack ! off we go. The
steady clatter of the horses' hoofs, the jingling of the har-
ness, the occasional roll as we pass over the boards of some
bridge, and the intejectional whistle of the driver as he en-
courages the horses, are the only things that break the silence
for the next hour. The morning light begins to dawn.
Whom have we here? Only two fellow travelers: — an
honest, clean-looking countryman, snugly fixed in one cor-
ner, with his night-cap pulled over his eyes, and his mouth
wide open, as if admiring the melody that his nose in bugle
strain is enacting just above it; and opposite to him a gross
fat man, of rubicund visage, his eyes ensconced in goggles,
who nods, and nuds, and nods ; and now his head bobs for-.

il ; m

'! 'Hi

1 48

WHITE MOUNTAINS

i s

ward into his neighbor's lap. How foohsh he looks as he
awakes to consciousness. It is broad dayhght. Let us get
up with the driver on the outside, and enjoy our c.gars and
the scenery together.

Here we go, through
the Connecticut River
Valley, famous for its
scenery and its legends ;
the region of bright eyes

^ ^^ and strong arms; the land

of^'quiltings and huskings; of house-raisings and militia
trainings; and the home of savory roast pigs and stuffed
turkeys, of fat geese, o^ apple sauce, and pumpkui pies ;

,., . 'T-i io trv fV'^ AT'or.L'p/^'c imaorination. Now we
the uliima mule to tn^- xti....c.. --

are at Deerfield. While they are about our break-

WHITE MOUNTAINS 149

fast, we will run across the road, and see the old
Williams Mansion. A hundred years since, it was sur-
rounded by Indians, and its occupants, the clergyman and
his family, carried off captives to Canada. Here is the very
hole cut in the front door by their tomahawks, and here the
hacks of the hatchets. Through this hole they ran their
rifles, and fired into the house, killing a man confined to his
bed by sickness ; and here is the ball, lodging to this day in
the side of the wall; — and this occurred one hundred years
ago ! Say you, that the people that treasure up these leg-
ends, and retain these memorials untouched, have no poetry
in their souls? ■ But there goes the stageman's horn ! Our
breakfast finished, we resume our places at the side of our
good-natured driver, and on we roll. We pass Battleboro',
snugly ensconced in, its mountain eyrie, and Hanover, with
its broad parade, its flourishing colleges, and its inhabitants
that never die — save from old age.

With teams of six and eight horses, we speed over hill,
over dale, over mountain, over valley, ascending and de-
scending the mountains in full run ; our gallant horses, al-
most with human instinct, guiding themselves. Snorting
leaders, swerve not aside in your career ; linch-pins, do your
duty ; traces and breeching, hold on toughly ; or, " happy
men be our dole." Hah ! Wild Amonoosac, we greet thy
indeed wild roar. How it sweeps the fallen timber in its
boiling eddies ! The huge logs sHde dancing onwards with
the velocity of the canoes of the Indian ; or, caught by en-
vious projection, or uplifting rock, form dams and cascades,
till the increasing and cumbrous masses, gathering momen-
tum, plunge forward, sweeping all before them — and — but
whist ! Step into the shade of this tree ; look into the dark

•\v

•' I M

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i \\

150

WHITE MOUNTAINS

pool beneath those gnarled roots; how beaut.fully the gok

Ld purple colors glitter; how -'i°"'-^'^;^";;\^;^t
how slight and tremulous th movement of that fin the
wa^y motion of the tail! A two-pounder, as I am a Chr.s.
taLfwhist! whist! See that dragon-fly, gent y sa.Ung
o' r the surface ; he rest, a moment on it. Watch ! the head
, wl tirns; the fins move decidedly ; ay, now. one rap.d
whirl of the tail, an electric leap to the surface. Poor f^y,
thv history is written ; and well for thee, thou greedy trout
hit no barbed hook suspends thee in m,d a.r. struggUng m
beauty, though in death, the pri.e of e-'Umg angler. And
thou, too, art there, savage Mount Francoma, w.th thy f""'''^-
tica;dh;man outline! Old Man of the Mountam !* w.th
what grim stoicism thou lookest down upon the busy mmers
as, wifh picks and powder-blast, they rive the su Men mmera
fr;m thy vitals. Ay! watch thou by the lur.d glare the
sweating, half-naked forgemen, as they feed with thy orests
the roaring furnaces. Watch the molten ore, slowly run-
ning in glittering streams, with fiery showers of scmtulat.ons,
into the dark earth-troughs below, while, with ceaseless dm
the ponderous trip-hammers, and clanking machmery, break
the, till now. Sabbath stillness of thy dwelling-place. But
fare thee well, thou imperturbable old man ; fare thee well ;
for now we enter the dense continuous forest, through which
the busy hand of man has, with unwearied industry, cut the
avenue. How deliciously the aroma of the gigantic pines
mingles with the pure elastic air of the mountains. See the
thick undergrowth ; the dogwood with its snowy blossoms,
the scarlet sumac, the waving green briar profuse with deli-
cate roses, the crimson raspberry loaded with Us fruit.
* Profile of the Mountain.

WHITE MOUNTAINS

I5i

millions of bushes, tiie yellow sensitive plant, the dancing
blue-bell, and, rising through the entangled mass of verdure
and beauty, see the luxuriant wild grape, and clinging ivy,
joyously rlimbing the patriarchs of the forest, encircling
their trunks, and hanging their branches in graceful festoons
and umbrageous bowers. No human foot, save with the
aid of pioneer, can penetrate its matted wildness • nought,
save those huge patriarchs rising above it, as they grow old
and die, and fall with crashing uproar, as into flowery sepul-
chre, intrude upon its solitude. Then, indeed, in heavy
booming plunge and rush, they seem to wildly sing, like
their painted children, their death-song. But whence that
wild and dissonant shriek, that rings upon the ear? Ah!
yonder, erect and motionless, he sits, upon the towering oak,
with haughty eye a^d talons of iron, screaming his call of
warning to his partner slowly circling in graceful curves
high in the blue ether above him.

But see, where, as the dense forest stretches onward, the
casual spark, dropped by the hand of the woodman, spread-
ing into flame, and gathering in mighty volumes of fire, has
swept onward in its roaring, crackling, destroying progress,
leaving nought behind it save these grim and blackened
skeletons and dead plains of ashes. See what darkness and
desolation, and apparent annihilation, extend around you;
but yet, silently and quietly, ere long, shall the germ of life
which can never die rise from those ashes, and verdure and
beauty reign again, as was their wont. Even so the solitary
mourner, when death strikes down at his side his dearest
ones, stands helplessly encircled by solitude and desolation ;
but soon all-pervading benevolence causes the green germ
of the soul to rise from the ashes, and his heart again expands
with tenderness and s'^rnnathv.

i^tei! [;

152

WHITE MOUNTAINS

The scene of desolation is passed ! and now, lest the
Lord of fire should reign uncontrolled, lo! where the spmt
of the whirlwind has swept in his wild tornado.
Lo! far as your vision can command the circle-where
rushmg from the mountain gorges, his chariots have whirled
along in their fierce career of destruction. In mid height,
the lofty trees are snapped like pipe-stems, and prone, hke the
field of grain laid by the hand of the reaper, lie huge trunks
with the moss of centuries-not here and there one solitary,
but for miles the whole vast forest prostrate-never again to

rise. ,

But speed ! speed ! the mountain passes are before us .
See the huge rock ramparts shooting their peaks upward,
their frowning sides trickling and discolored with the cor-
roding minerals in their bowels; the stunted pmes and
evergreens clinging like dwarf shrubs in their crevices.
See the huge slides-they have swept whole torrents ot
rocks, of earth, in promiscuous destruction, from their sum-
mits upon the valley below ; the river, filled and turned from
its course in their path ; the very forest itself, the loftiest
trees torn up, their branches, their trunks, their upturned
roots, ground and intermixed with rock and earth, and
splintered timber, swept on in wild, inextricable confusion ;
and here ! where, starting from their slumbers, the devoted
fami.y rushed naked and horror-stricken to meet one in mid
career. Well might the Puritans of old deem these deserts
the abode and haunts of the evil one.

But on, on ; how toilsome the ascent ! Long since have
we passed the region of vegetation : the dry and arid moss,
clinging to rock and stone, is alone around us. Drink of
that^spring, but beware its icy coldness ; not summer alters

Mi\^'4

WHITE MOUNTAINS

153

its temperature. Behold, in the clefts and gorges, the
never-melting snow-wreaths ! The flaming suns of summer
pass over, and leave them undiminished. Courage ! we
climb ; we climb. Courage, my friend ! We ascend, we
ascend ; we reach the top ; now panting, breathless, ex-
hausted, we throw ourselves upon the extreme summit.

Gather )'our faculties ; press hard your throbbing heart.
Catch a view of the scene of grandeur around you, before
the wild clouds, like dense volumes of steam, enclose us in
their embrace, shutting it from our vision ; — mountains —
mountains — rolling off as far as eye can reach in untiring
vastness ; a huge sea of mountains held motionless in mid
career. How sublime ! how grand ! What awful solitude !
what chilling, stern, inexorable silence ! It seems as if an
expectant world were awaiting, in palpitating stillness, the
visible advent of the Almighty ; mountain and valley in ex-
pectant awe. O man ! strutting in thy little sphere, thinkest
thou that adoration is confined alone to thy cushioned seats,
thy aisles of marble ; that for devotion the Almighty looks to
nought but thee? Why, look thou there! — beneath —
around — millions, millions, millions of acres teeming with
life, yet hushed in silence to thy ear — each grain the integer
and composite of a world ; the minutest portion a study, a
wonder in itself — lie before thee in awful adoration of their
Almighty Founder. Well did the Seers of old go into the
mountains to worship. O, my brother man ! — thou that dost
toil and groan and labor in continual conflict with what ap-
pears to thee unrelenting fate ; thou to whom the brow-
sweat appears to bring nought but the bitter bread and con-
tumely and shame ; thou on whom the Sysiphean rock of
msfortune seems remorselessly to recoil — ascend thou

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»54

WHITE MOUNTAINS

luther. Here, on this mountain-peak, nor king nor emperor
are \\\y superior. Here, thou art a man. Stand thou here ;
and while with thy faculties thou canst command, in instant
comprehension, the scene sublime before thee, elevate thee
in thy self-respect, and calmly, bravely throw thyself into
the all-sheltering arms of Him who watches, with like bene-
volence and protection, the young bird in its grassy nest,
and the majestic spheres, chiming eternal music in their
circling courses !

BASS FISHING OFF NEWPORT.

HERE we are, at Newport ! What a little gem of an
island, risings like emerald on sapphire, from the
surrounding ocean ! We will walk up to the Mall. Ay,
here, with its green blinds and scrupulously clean piazza, is

old Mrs. E 's, and they are at tea already. Come,

take your seat at table.

With what serene dignity and kindness the old lady, in
her nice plaited cap, her spotless kerchief, and russet poplin
dress, her pin ball, with its silver chain, hanging at her
waist, presides at the board, crowded with every imagin-
able homely delicacy, from the preserved peach and crullers
made by herself, to the green candied limes brought home
by her grandson from his last West India voyage. See the
antique furniture, with its elaborate carving ; the mahogany-
framed looking-glasses ; and, in the corner, on the round
stand, the large Bible, carefuUy covered with baize, sur-
mounted with the silver spectacles. No place this for
swearing, duel-fighting, bewhiskered heroes ; but just the
thing for quiet, sober folk, like you and me. What sayest
thou, Scipio, thou ebon angel — that the ebb sets at five i'
the morning, and that old Davy, the fisherman, will be ready
for us at the Long Wharf at that hour ? Well, get yourself
ready, and go along with us. Call us in season. Ay, that
will do ; the roll of those eyes, the display of that ivory, to

L.^J

\' h

1 56 BA SS FISHING OFF NE WPOR T

say nothing of the scratch of that head and the sudden dis-
placement of that leg, sufficiently evince thy delight.

So so ; here we are, punctual to the hour. Ay, yonder
he is, in his broad strong fishing-boat ; yonder is old Davy,
as he was twenty years ago : the same tall gaunt fig-
ure, the same stoop in the shoulders, bronzed visage, and
twinkling gray eyes ; the same wrinkles at the side of his
mouth, though deeper ; the same long, lank hair, but now
the sable silvered ; the same, the same that he was m the
days of my boyhood. He sees us. Now he stretches up to
the wharf. Jump in; jump in! Be careful, thou son of
Ethiopia, or thy basket will be overboard— sad disappoint-
ment to our sea-whet appetites some few brief hours hence.
All in. We slide gently from the wharf. The light air in
the inner harbor here barely gives us headway. Look down
into the deep, still water, clear as crystal ; see the long sea-
weed wave below ; see the lithe eels coursing and whipping
their paths through its entangled beds ; and see our boat,
with its green and yellow sides, its long flaunting pennant,
its symmetrical white sails, suspended, as if in mid-air, on
its transparent surface.

How still and tranquil lies the quiet town, as the sun gilds
its white steeples ; and how comfortable look the old family
mansions rising from the green trees. How beautifully the
yellow sun casts his shadows on .he undulating surface oi
the island, green and verdant ; the flocks of sheep, and
browsing cattle, grouped here and there upon its smooth
pastures. We float past Fort Wolcott; its grass-grown ram-
parts surmounted by dark ordnance, and its fields cheerfu'
with whitewashed cottages and magazines.

Av ! now it breezes a little ; now we gather headway, and

BASS FISHING OFF NEWPORT

157

now we pass the Cutter. See her long, taper, raking masts,
her taut stays and shrouds ; and hear, as the stripes and
stars are run up to her gaff, the short roll of the drum, the
" beat to quarters." Hah ! Davy, old fellow, dost re-
member that note last war? How many times, at mid-
night, we've sprung from our beds as that short, quick
' rub-a-dub " warned us of the approach of the blockading
frigates, as they neared the town. But no, no, old tar ; I
recollect that thou then wast "captain of thy gun," on
board the dashing Essex. Ay ! well now do I remember,
brave old sailor, thy conduct in her last desperate battle.
Eighteen men hadst thou killed at thy single gun. 1 think
I see thee now, as, grimed with powder, spattered with
blood, thou didst advance, through fire and smoke, and ap-
proach thy saturnine commander on the quarter-deck. I
hear thy brief, business-like request : "A fresh crew for
Number Three, Second Division. All my men are killed ! "
And the short, stern response, " Where is your officer?"
''Dead — swept overboard by cannon-shot." And well I see
the momentary play of anguish round his mouth, as,
resuming his hurried walk, he gloomily replies : " I have no
more men ; you must fight your gun yourself!" Ay; and
as thy proud ship a helpless target lay, for twice superior
force, I hear poor Ripley , thy brave comrade, severed
almost in twain by cannon-shot, crying, with short farewell
" Messmates, I am no longer of use to myself or country,"
as he throws himself, his life-blood gushing, overboard.

But now the wind freshens, the smooth surface darkens,
the sails belly out in tension, and the white ripples gather
under our bows. We round the point ; Fort Adam^ we
pass thy massive walls, thy grim " forty-twos " glaring lik

■ i>

ir^"

IL 'if

158

BASS FISHING OFF NEWPORT

i^iil

Wild beasts chained, ready to leap upon us from their case
ments Ay ! now we run outside ; now it freshens ; now it
breezes • she begins to dance like a feather. There it comes
stronge;! see the white caps! There she goes, scuppers
Inder ! swash, swash, swash ; we jump from wave to wave,
as we run parallel with the shore, our pennant streaming
proudly behind us. Here it comes, strong and steady !
Ce she takes it-gunwale under; luff, old fellow 1 luff up,
Davy, or you'll give us all wet jackets. Ay ! that will do ;
she's in the wind's eye. How the waves tumble in upon
the land ! see the Spouting Rock ; see the column of white
foam thrown up as, repulsed, the waves roll out again from
the rocky cavern. We near the Dumplings, and-Round to .
round to! here are the lobster-pots; haul in; tumble them
in the bottom of the boat; ay, there's bait enough. Now
we lay our course across to Beaver Light; we slide, we
dash along, springing from wave to wave-dash, dash-no
barnacles on her bottom at this rate, Davy. Ay, here we
are- a quick run-a good, quick run. Anchor ner just out-
side the surf; ay. that will do ; give her a good swing; let
her ride free ; she rolls like a barrel on these long waves.
Look to your footing, boys-steady, steady. Now then,
for it Davy, you and Scip will have as much as you can
do to bait for us. All ready? Here goes then; a good
long throw ; that's it-my sinker is just inside the surf.
What ! already ? I've got him ; pull in, pull in. See, my
line vibrates like a fiddle-string ! Pull away ; here he is-
r««^a«^-three.pounder! Lie you there ! Ay, slap away,
beauty ; you've done forever with your native element.
There, again ! off with him. Again-again-again. This is

, ,, , -:- j; — ;-Uo ^f «;f Anthonv !

fun to us, but death to you, yc uis^i^iv^ ^. .— j

BASS FISHING OFF NEWPORT

159

Give me a good large bait this time, Scipio; that will do ;
now, whis — whis — whis-te — that's a clean, long throw. By
Jupiter ! you have got a bite with a vengeance. Careful —
give him more line— let it run— play him— ease, ease the line
around the thole-pin ; he'll tak-j all the skin off your fingers
else. Pull away gently ; there he runs. Careful, or you
lose him; play him a little, he begins to tire; steady,
steady; draw away. Now he shoots wildly this way ; look
out ! There he goes under the boat ; here he is again.
Steady ; quick, Davy, the net ! I've got it under him ; now
then, in with him ! Bass ! twenty pounds, by all the steel-
yards in the old Brick Market ! Ay, there they have got
hold of me ; a pull like a young shark ; let it run ; the whole
line is out ; quick, quick — take a turn round the thole-pin ;
snap! There, Davy; there goes your best line, sinker,
hooks and all. Give me the other line. Ah, ha ! again,
ngain, again. This is sport. One, two, three— nine bass
and thirty Tautaug. So, the tide won't serve here any
longer ; we will stretch across to Brenton's Reef, on the
other side. Up anchor ; hoist away the jib. Here we go,
again coursing over the blue water. How the wind lulls !
Whew, whew, whew ; blow, wind, blow ! Put her a little
more before it ; that will do. Hallo, you, Scipio ! wake up,
wake up ! Here we are, close on the reef ; give her plenty
of cable. Let her just swing clear, to lay our sinkers on the
rocks. That will do. How the surges swell and roar, and,
recoiling, rush again boiling on the rocks ! So — so, they
don't bite well here to-day. The tide comes in too strong
flood ; well, we can't complain ; we have had good sport
even as it is. Come, Africa, bear a hand. Let's see what
you have got in that big basket. Come, turn out ; turn out !

^^m

. ft

T 60 ^^ ^^ FISHING OFF NE WPOR T

Ham, chicken, smoked salmon, bread and butter ; an-* i. that
black bottle ?-ay, good old brown stout. Pass them a ong,
pass them along; and wo be unto thee, old fellow, if thy
commissariat falls short !

liiiii

H! .

'''i!i"i!

BRENTONS REEF.

WITH what sullen and continuous roar the ocean
waves heave in upon this inhospitable reef. See,
as they recede, how the long, slimy rock-weed
hangs dripping, and how deeply the returning surge buries
it again. Oh, never shall I forget a scene upon this horri(^
reef. A dark, portentous day in autumn, was followed in
the evening by a terrific storm. Low, muttering thunder,
which had been growling in the distant horizon, as the night
set in, grew louder. The perfect stillness which had
obtained, as if in preparation, was broken by long moaning
sighs; the lightning became quick and incessant, and ere
long the tempest, like an unchained demon, came bounding
in from Ocean. The lightning, intensely vivid, accompanied
by crashing and terrific thunder, illuminated the surround-
ing coast with glittering splendor; the islands, the rocks,
and yon beacon tower, now exposed to brightness surpass-
ing noon-day, and now plunged into blackest darkness. The
ocean appeared a sea of molten fire. Rain — hail — dashed
hissing by, and mid the screaming of the blast, and the tor-
rents rushing from the skies, the huge waves plunged, and
roared, and, lashed in milky whiteness, broke mast-high upon
these horrid rocks. While the fishermen in their cottages
were thanking their stars that they were snug and safe on
shore, was heard, in the temporary lulls of the howling storm,

signal-guns of distres

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borii

hab

iLuntS were

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,,.Jii!

plliii!

^ BR EN TON'S REEF

Ion upon that point, and, by the glittering flashes within
musket shot of the shore discerned a Spcnish sh.p on the very
ridge o the frightful reef; the stumps of her masts alone
rer^ling; the surf running and breaking u, a contmual
deTuge over her, while in her [ore-shrouds were congregated
th u,lappy crew. She was so near that they could almos^
e the eTp'ression of agony in their countenances as, w,th
extended hands, the crew piteously shr.eked for help Tl e,r
situation was hopeless. Nothing could be done for them
No whale-boat could have lived for a moment, the surf
Toned in with such resistless violence. They could only
listen in silent horror. They heard the very grmdmg of her
timbers, as shock on shock hastened her d.ssolut.on; and
amid the fury of the storm and their frant.c cnes for a.d ,n
the momentary lulls, the sickening, contu,uous wad of a
young boy lashed in the mid-rigging ; h.s supphcatmg
exclamation, "Ai Jesus! Ai Jesus!" Often, years after, m
their dreams, did they hear those plaintive cr.es, and s e
that young boy's face turned imploringly to Heaven, wh.le
that " Ai Jesus ! Ai Jesus ! " rang wildly in the>r ears. But
a short time could human fabric sustain the ceaseless plunge
of the foaming elements. By the lightning flashes the num-
ber of the sufferers was seen to lessen, as, relaxing their hold,
they dropped off exhausted one by one •, swept mto the
rocky caverns below ; until, a longer interval of darkness-a
more intense flash of lightning-and all had disappeared.
Nought was left but the white foam, as it rushed tumultu-
ously boiling and coursing over the long reef. It was so
brief, so hurried-the appearance of their fellow creatures

. ,, . V ifT^ ♦v^eir di^annearance so sudden— that it

seemed a feverish dream. But the dead, muflated bodies.

BKEMTON'S REEF 163

ceroons of indigo and tobacco, and broken planks, swept
along the shore on the following morning, convinced them
of its sad reality.

The corse of the young boy, iingashed by the ragged
rocks, was found and buried apart from the rest in the
church-yard, for it appeared as if there was, in his childish
helplessness, a claim for protection. That expression of
agony I ne'er heard since, save once, and that — But, Davy,
we have had all the sport we are like to have to-day ; get up
the anchor, and we will fan along up to the harbor. So — let
her jibe ; now put her before it ; ay, that will do. As I was
saying : Shortly after the close of the last war, buoyant
with youth and hope, I made — what was then not so common
as now — the tour of Europe, lingering long in old Spain,
fascinated with the romantic character of the countrymen
of Cervantes, of the gallant Moors, of the Alhambra and the
Cid. It chanced one evening, strolling about the streets of
Madrid in pursuance of adventure, that, passing through one
of the most unfrequented squares, I was attracted by lights
shining through the long Gothic windows of a large chapel
or cathedral. I approached, and entering with some
curiosity, found it entirely silent. No living soul was present
within its walls. The lofty chancel and altars were shrouded
in mourning. By the wax candles on the altars I could see
the fretted arches, the shrines and monuments along the
walls, and the family banners wreathed in gloomy festoons
above them. I wandered about, alone and uninterrupted.
Nought moved, save the old blood-stained flags, as they
fitfully waved to and fro in the wind. I gazed around me
in admiration on the rich shrines and their appropriate pic-
tures. Here, with her offerings of flowers, the wax candles

<! >]

'fl

III

lii'-'!

164

BRENTON'S REEF

burning bright and clear, was ti,e Madonna, lier lovely coun-
tenance beling with celestial sweetness, as she looked
down upon the infant Saviour nestling .n her arms the Bap-
tist standing at her knee pressing the plump httle foot to
his lips. And .here, John in the island of Patmos h,s eman-
ated limbs staring Irom their scanty covermg of sackc oth,
and his gaunt features glowing with inspiration as from
among the cloud of scattered grey hair and venerable beard
with upturned face he received from the flame-encrcled
trumpet above him the Holy Revelation. Here, armed ../-
..*;/the chivalrous Knights of the Temple consigned the.r
slain brother to his rocky sepulchre, as, with gr,m, stern
averted countenances, they watched the fierce confl.ct and
assault of the daring Infidel upon their Holy C.ty And
there the cross of Constantine richly emblazoned on .ts altar,
was the Crucifixion, the Saviour extended on the cross, the
thieves on each side of him, the head just bowed-and the
awful "A is finished!" announced to the nations .n fright-
ful phenomena; the sun, turned to blood, throwing a lurid
and unnatural glare on the assembled multitude ; the war-
horses, riderless, rearing and plunging with distended
nostrils; rolling in convulsions, the solid mountains; the
affrighted soldiery, horror-stricken, wildly lifting their hands
to ward off the toppling crag, which, torn from its foundation
by the earthquake, was in another instant to grind them to
powder ; while the Romanc enturion, with curling lip, hold-
in- tighter in his grasp the crimson Hag, the "S. P. Q R-
shaking fiercely in the wild wind, seemed to deride the
Jew even in that dread moment, with his abject slavery.
And here was San Sebastian, his eyes streaming with martyr
tears ; —

BUEiV TON'S REEF

165

fflwPi-IP «!.

The tinkling of a small bell struck upon my ear ; boys
clad in scarlet swung their censers to and fro, and the incense
floated high above them to the vaulted arches.

A train of monks, in purple robes embroidered with white
crosses, appeared in procession, slowly advancing on the
tesselated pavement, bearing on tressels, covered with dark
pall, a corse, by the muffled outline, of manly stature. Two
female figures, grave servitors with deep reverence sup-
porting them, followed close the dead. The deep thunder
tones of the huge organ swept upward as they entered,
wild, grand and terrible, as if touched by no earthly hand ;
scarce audible sounds floating from the smallest pipes would
catch the ear ; then bursts, like the roaring whirlwind, pour-
ing in the whole mass of trumpets, rolling, and rising, and
falling; the most exquisite symphonies floating in the inter-
vals until, fainter, fainter, the heart sickened in efforts to
catch their tones. Dead silence followed; the corse was de-
posited in the chancel, the dark black pall slowly with-
drawn, and the noble figure of a cavaher in the bloom of
manhood, pallid in death, lay exposed before us. Clad in
sable velvet, his rapier rested on his extended body, the jew-
eled cross-hilt reverently enclosed in his clasped hands, as
they met upon his broad chest, while the luxuriant raven
hair, parted on the high forehead, the dark arched eyebrow,
and the glossy moustache curling on the lip, added deeper
pallor to what appeared deep, deep sleep. The servitors
withdrew, and the mother and the daughter advanced to the
last sight of him that was so generous, so kind, so beautiful,
—their all. The thick veil, thrown hastily aside, discovered
the furrowed, time-worn, grief-worn features of the mother,
convulsively writhing and working, as, sinking at its head,

]'' A

[66

BKEX TON'S REEF

III

the damp, cold

her lips pressed in uncontrollable agony
white forehead. The sister, clad in robes of purest white-
ness her golden ringlets dishevelled and floating around
her 'and in their rich luxuriance almost hiding her graceful
form, bent o'er him ; and, as her gaze met not the answermg
smile of kindness and protection to which from mfancy it
was wont, but the stern, calm, sharpened features, in their
icy stillness, then-as with frantic sobs her exquisitely femi-
nine, almost childish, countenance, streaming with tears, was
lifted upwards, and her hands wringing with anguish-uttered
in deep convulsive bitterness, that M." Jesus ! " in smothered
tones again struck upon the startled ear. Long silence fol-
lowed, unbroken save by sobs, as, sunk by its side, they em-
braced the still, unconscious ashes. Slowly the deep grave
voices of the monks rose in solemn tones, and as their mourn-
ful chant sank into deep bass, at intervals was it taken up by
a single female voice in the choir, which, high above the
organ tones, with surpassing sweetness ascended higher,
liigher, until every nook in the lofty arches above appeared
filled and overflowing with the rich melody ; then, descend-
ing lower, lower, lower, the imagination wildly sought it in
the passing wind. The monks drew near with uplifted and
extended hands, muttering in low tones their benediction ;
then crossing themselves, encircling the corse on bended
knees, with eyes lifted up to heaven, uttered, in loud voices:

•' Ora pro illo — mater miserecordia;,"

" Salvator Hominum— Ora pro illo "

'<(9m pro UK again rose like a startled spirit from the
choir, that single female voice rising with an intensity
that made the old walls reecho the petition, and then, de-

BRENTON'S REEF

167

scending like the fluttering of a wounded bird, it became
less, less, and all was still.

After a brief interval, leaning in apparent stupor upon
the arms of the affectionate retainers, the ladies, slowly with-
drawing, passed again the chancel's entrance, and the sacred
procession raising the body, with melancholy chant bore it
to the lower part of the chapel. I heard the clank of iron as
the rusty portal of the family sepulchre reluctant turned
upon its hinges ; and then rested from its human journey
that corse forever. I made inquiries, but could learn nought
about the actors in the scene other than that they were
strangers— a noble family from the Havana ; that the father,
invalid, had died in crossing the sea, and the usual story of
Spanish love, and jealousy, and revenge, had consigned the
son and brother, in the bloom of his days, by duel, to his
grave; and subsequently, that the mother and sister had
closed the history of the family, dying, broken-hearted, in
the convent to which they had retired.

But, here we are, at the wharf. Our rapid journey ap-
proaches now its termination. A few short hours, and we
shall again be merged in the ceaseless din of the city ; the
fair and tranquil face of nature change for the anxious
countenances of our fellow men ; the joyous carol of the
birds, the soft forest breeze, and the sea-beach ripple, for
paved streets and our daily round of duty and of labor.
We have found " a world beyond Verona's walls." Perhaps
at future time we may again travel it together. Till then,
thanking you for your " right good and joUie " company-
Farewell !

1, i

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE.

(Broadway, near the Bowling-Green.)

GROUND covered tvith ice—Furious storm of snow and
slcct—Ttvo gentlemen becloaked and bemuffled, hurrying
in different directions, come in full cotitact, and, mutually
recoiling, hasten to make apology.

My dear sir, a thousand pardons! "No, indeed, sir;
'twas I-I was the offending party." No, I assure you ; I
_I_ Eh! is it? It is!— my old friend, the reader. Why,
my dear friend, you came upon me as if you had been dis-
charged from a catapult ; a Paixhan shot was nothing to
you ! But where so fast in the fury of the storm ; not to
Union Square? Heavens! man, you will never reach
there living; why, in this horrid cold the spirits of Nova
Zembla and Mont Blanc are dancing in ecstasy about the
fountains in the parks, and the very cabs are frozen on their
axles! Never think of it. Come, come with me to my
rooms hard by in State Street, and, on the word of a bache-
lor and a gentleman, I'll promise to make you comfortable.
Come, take my arm ; whew ! how this northwester sweeps
around the Battery ! Here we are ; this is the house ; a real
aristocratic old mansion ; is it not ? Enter, my dear friend ;
run up the stairs. Holloa! ho! Scip, Scipio, Africanus,
\ngel of Darkness, come forth, come forth ! Ay ! here you

n'l 1

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

169

are. And you, too, shaggy old Neptune, your eyes spark-
ling with delight, and your long tongue hanging out over
your white teeth; down, you old rascal; down, sir; down!
Now, is not this snug and comfortable ; a good roaring fire
of hickory ? None of your sullen red-hot anthracite for me !
How the cold wind howls '■ rough the leafless trees upon
the Battery! Draw the curtains, Scip; come, bear a hand,
take the reader's hat and coat. Invest him with the wadded
damask dressing-gown that Tom sent home from Cairo ;
and the Turkish slippers ; so, so, row bring me mine ; place
the well-stuffed f^^^j chairs; roll the round table up between
us ; bring in the lights. Now, reader, at your elbow, lo !
provision for your wants, material and mental, genuine old
Farquhar and amber Golden Sherry ; the Chateaux I got
years since from Lynch ; and just opened is that box of gen-
uine Regalias. Only smell ! " Fabrica de Tabacos, Calle-a-
Leon, En la Habana, No. 14." Is it not Arabia's perfume ?
Ha! give me your smoking Spaniard in his sombrero; e'er
any a half-naked Bedouin of them all ; or if indeed you do
prefer it, there stands the chibouque coiled up in the corner,
and the metaphysical German's meerschaum on the shelf.
There are biscuit and anchovies, and olives, " old Cheshire,"
and other inviting things *'o- vour wants physical ; and for
your mental, lo! uncut and damp from the publishers with
the regular new-book smell — the North American, Old
Blackwood, the Quarterly, the Edinburgh Review, and
other Maga's ; and by a slight curve of thy vertebrae cervical,
behold, shining through yon glazed doors, glowing in gold,
dross to the gold within, the great master bard of England ;
Cervantes, the chosen spirits of Italia and Gaul, Irving,
worthy to be called Washington ; and Halieck, genuine son

" t .

j^Q OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

Of the voyagers in the Mayflower ; and of literature much

other goodly store.

Now Scip! Lord of the Gold Coast, throw more wood
upon the fire. Ay! that will do, my good old faithful ser-
vant. that will do. Now take that pepper and salt head of
thine down to the kitchen hearth, there to retail thy legend
and goblin story, or ensconce thee in the corner at thy will ;
Ah! hah, old Neptune, snug in t!' v place upon the hearth-
rug, thy nose lying between thy outstretched paws as thou
lookest intently in the fire, bless thine honest heart,
thinking, I warrant me, of the beautiful child whom thou
didst leap the Battery bridge to save. How bravely thou
didst bear the little sufferer up on the fast rushmg tide.
The grateful father would have bought thee for thy weight
in goW, as thou didst lie panting and half exhausted ; but
look not so wistfully, my dog ; a sack of diamonds could not
purchase thee. No, never do we part till death steps in
between us-and, by my faith, an' thou goest first, thou
shalt have Christain burial.

Now, dear reader, as thou recHnest comfortably in that
big arm-chair, thy feet in Ottoman slippers resting on the
fender, the blue smoke of thy cigar wreathing and curling
around thy nose as it ascends in placid clouds and floats in
misty wreaths above thy forehead, the glass of Chateaux,
like a ruby resting upon its slender stem of light, quivering
at thy elbow, and that open Blackwood upon thy knee, dost
not,- confess it !- dost not feel more kind and charitable than
if, 4ith benumbed fingers, thou wert following a frozen vis-
age to thy distant mansion in the great city's far purlieus?

But, heaven guard us! how savagely the tempest roars
and howls around the chimney-tops. Good angels preserve

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

171

out

the poor mariner as he ascends the ice-clad rigging, k ^
upon the slippery yard, and handles with frost-benumbed
fiigers the rigid canvas folds. Ah ! I recollect, it was in just
such a night as this, a few years since, years that have rolled
past into retrogade eternity, that I was seated in that same
arm-chair, in the same bachelor independence, the lire burn-
ing just as brightly; the curtains as snugly drawn; my
beautiful Flora looking down with the same sweetness from
her frame above the mantle ; my snow-white Venus between
the piers ; the Gladiator stretching forth his arm in just
such proud defiance from his pedestal ; my Rembrandt,
Claude and Rubens flickering in softness in the fire-light ;
the Fonarina and St. Cecilia, with vase of incense clasped
and upturned eyes of deep devotion, hanging in the same
placid stillness between their silken tassels, and that ^olian
harp chiming just such wild and fitful strain?; 'twas in just
such a cold and inhospitable night, that, sitting with my
legs extended upon the fender, I fell into a train of rather
melancholy musings.

The clock of St. Paul's slowly doled out the hour of mid-
night, and it seemed as if, in the responsive a-l-l-'-s w-e-1-1 of
the watchman, rendered indistinct by the distance, the spirit
of the hour was bewailing in plaintive tones the annihilation
of its being. Time's brazen voice announced to unheeding
thousands, " Ye are rushing on eternity." I thought of my
friends who had dropped off, one by one, from around me ;
youth and old age had alike sunk into the abyss of death ;
consumption, fever, palsy, had done their work; the slight
ripple of their exit had subsided, and all was still, as quiet
and as beautiful as if they had never been. Among others,
was poor Louisa S , in the prime of her youth and the

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172

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

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bloom of her beauty. But one short week, she was the pride
o.f her friends, the idol of her husband ; in another, the slow
toll of the village bell announced her funeral. I shall never
forget the scene. The soft yellow light of the declining sun
was streaming through the lofty elms which bordered the
rustic graveyard, painting their broad shadows on the vel-
vet turf, as the procession of mourners slowly wended their
way among the mounds which covered the decaying rem-
nants of mortality. Leaning upon a tomb-stone near the
fresh dug grave, I had awaited its arrival. The bier was
placed upon the ground, the coffin-lid thrown open, and
friends looked for the last time upon the beautiful face, pal-
lid and sharp in death. Her dark hair was parted upon her
forehead, but the dampness of death had deprived it of its
lustre, and her soft eyes were closed in the slumber from
whence they were never again to wake. I gazed long and
painfully upon that face, which appeared to repose only m
serene and tranquil sleep, while the sobbing group reached
forward to calch a last and parting glimpse of it in its love-
liness. I could not realize that the lovely form was still for-
ever. The coffin-lid was replaced in silence, a suppressed
whisper from the sexton, a harsh grating of the cords, and
the gaping pit received its prey. While the clergyman, in
his deep and gloomy voice, was pronouncing the burial ser-
vice of the dead, I looked around upon the uncovered group ;
the mother and sister in unrestrained sobs gave vent to their
anguish, but the husband stood, his eyes fixed upon the
grave, in deep and silent agony. He moved not, but when
the dead heavy clamp of earth and stones fell upon the cof-
fin, which contained the remains of all that was dear to him,
he'gave a gasp, as if he had received a death-wound, but that

i'!

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

was all ; the thick, convulsive breathing, and the swollen
arteries upon his temples, showed that his was the bitterness
of despair. Ere long, his wasted form, beneath its own green
hillock, rested at her side.

I had sat some time, thinking " of all the miseries that
this world is heir to," when gradually my room became
mazy, the tongs and fender were blended into one, the fire
slowly disappeared, and, to my utter horror and astonish-
ment, I found myself swinging upon the weather-cock of
Trinity Church steeple. How I came there I could not tell,
but there I was. Far, far below me, I saw the long rows of
lamps in Broadway and the adjoining streets shining in lines
of tire ; while here and there the glimmer of those upon the
carriages, as they rolled along, resembled the ignis fatui in
their ghostly revels upon the morass. The bay lay in the
distance, glittering in the moonlight, a sea of silver, the
islands and fortresses like huge monsters resting upon its
bosom. All nature appeared at rest. An instant, and but
an instant, I gazed in wild delight upon the scene ; but, as the
novelty vanished, the dreadful reality of my situation became
apparent. I looked above me — the stars were trembling in
the realms of space. I looked below, and shuddered at the
distance. I tried to believe that I was in a dream ; but that
relief w^as denied me. I grew wild with fear ; I madly called
for help ; I screamed, I yelled, in desperation. Alas ! my
voice could not be heard one-half the distance to earth. I
called on angels. Heaven, to assist me ; but the cold wind
alone answered, as it rushed around the steeple in its whistle
of contempt. As my animal spirits were exhausted, I be-
came more calm. I perceived that the slender iron upon
which the weather-cock was fixed was slowly bending with

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'74

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

the weight of my body, already benumbed with cold. Al-
though it was madness, 1 ventured a descent. Moving with
extreme caution, I clasped the spire in my arms, I slid down
inch by inch. The cold sweat poured off my brow, and the
blood, curdling in my veins, rushed back in thick and suffo-
cating throbs upon my heart. I grasped the steeple tighter
in my agony, my nails were clenched in the wood, but m
vain ; slip, slip, the steeple enlarged as I descetw;ed ; my
hold relaxed ; the flat palms of my hands pressed the sides,
as I slid down with frightful rapidity. Could I but catch
the ledge below ! I succeeded— I clutched it in my bleed-
ing fingers ; for a moment 1 thought that I was safe, but 1
swung over the immense height in an instant; the wind
dashed me from side to side like a feather. I strove to touch
the sides of the steeple with my knees. I could not reach
it; my strength began to fail; 1 felt the muscles of my
fingers growing weaker. The blackness of despair came
over me. My fingers slid from the ledge ; down, down, I
plunged— one dash upon the roof, and I was stretched mo-
tionless upon the pavement.

A crowd collected around me. I heard them commis-
erating my fate. They looked at me, and then at the stee-
ple, as^'if measuring the distance from whence I had fallen ;
but they offered no assistance. They dispersed. 1 slowly
raised myself on my feet; all was cold and still as the grave.
Regions of ice, an immense transparc it mirror, extended on
every side around me. The cold, smooth nlain was only
measured by the horizon. I found myself on skates ; I
rushed along, outstripping the winds ; I ascended moun-
tains of ice ; 1 descended like a meteor ; Russia, with her
frozen torrents, Siberia, with its eternal snows, were behind

ij*-

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

me ; miles and degrees W( ■ nothing ; on I rushed ; Iceland
vanished ; with the speed of a thunderbolt I passed Spitz-
bergen ; days, weeks expired, but still I sped forward, with-
out fatigue, without exhaustion. How delightfully I glided
along ; no effort, no exertion, all was still, cold and brilliant.
I neared the pole ; the explorers were slowly wending- their
tedious way ; they hailed me, but 1 could not stop ; I was
out of sight in an instant. 1 saw an immense object swing,
ing to and fro in the distance ; it was the great and mighty
pendulum. As I neared it, a confused noise of voices broke
upon my ear ; mathematical terms echoed and re-echoed
each other like the hum of a bee-hive. I was surrounded
with winged chronometers, barometers and magnets; plus
(+), minus (— ) and the roots (y^) were flying around me
in every direction, jostling each other without mercy.
Every instrument of science appeared collected in solemn
conclave, for great and mighty purpose ; but soon all was
hubbub and confusion. But amid the uproar, the giant pen-
dulum still swung forward and backward with the noiseless
motion of the incubus ; I neared it and saw that the top of
the huge rod was riveted by the pole star, which shone with
the intensity of the diamond. But, but —

I saw the ship approaching among the distant icebergs,
the great lordly icebergs ; how they rolled and roared and
ground against each other in the heavy surge ! their huge
sides now shining great sheets of silver; now glancing with
the deep blue of the precious sapphire ; now quivering in
the sun's rays, with all the hues of the grass-green emerald
and blazing ruby. Ha! I saw her; I saw the gallant ship
threading her way among them, as their castellated sides
towered mountain-like above her. I made one spring, one

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176 OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

gallant spring, and, catching by her top-mast, slid down in
safety to her decks. Her sails were spread widely to the
winds, and recklessly we ploughed our course onward
through the icy flood ; but now her speed diminished, now
we scarcely moved. The rudder creaked lazily from side to
side, and the long pennant, supinely resting on the shrouds,
languidly lifted itself as if to peer into the dark flood, and
then, serpent-like, settled itself again to its repose. A sullen
distant roar began to break upon my ear ; it increased ; our
before quiet bark, hastening, rushed onwards as if ashamed
of her dull reverie ; but still there was no wind ; the sea was
smooth and placid, but the swelling surge was thrown for-
ward from her bows by the increasing velocity with which
we dashed along. The rushing noise of waters increased,
and sounded like distant thunder ; the white surges showed
themselves in the distance, leaping and jumping with fright-
ful violence. I approached the captain ; his gloomy brow,
the ghastly paleness of the crew, as with folded arms they
stood looking in the distance, alarmed me. I eagerly asked
the cduse of the appearances before me. He answered not.
He stood immovable as a statue. But, in a cold unearthly
voice, a scar-marked sailor groaned, " We are food for the
Maelstrom ! " Can we not, I frantically exclaimed, oh !
can we not escape ? Bend every sail, ply every oar — " Too
late, too late," echoed again the gloomy voice ; " our doom is
sealed." The finger of the speaker pointed to a fiendish
figure at the helm, who, with a low hellish laugh, was steer-
ing for the midst. The raging waves boiled and roared
around us ; our fated f:hip plunged forward ; a steady resist-
less power sucked us in ; on we were hurried to our fright-
ful goal. The whale, the leviathan, swept by us ; their im-

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

177

mense bodies were thrown almost entirely in the air ; their
blood stained the foaming brine ; they roared like mad bulls.
The zig-zag lightning in the black canopy above us was
reflected in fiery showers from the spray ; the thunder min-
gled with the yells of the struggling monsters ; their efforts
were vain ; more power had infants in giants' hands; the de-
vouring whirlpool claimed us for its own. On we were
borne in unresisting weakness ; faster and faster ; circle after
circle disappeared; we were on the edge of the furious
watery tunnel ; we were buried in its depths ; the long arms
of the loathsome polypi stretched forward to seize us in their
foul embrace— but an unseen hand raised me.

Green woods, gardens, fountains and grottoes were
around me. Beautiful flowers, roses, hyacinths, and Hlies
clustering in immense beds, covered the ground with one
great gem'd and emerald carpet. The gorgeous tulip, the
amaranthus and moss rose vied with each other in fragrant
rivalry, and the modest little violet claimed protection in
the embraces of the myrtle. Fountains poured mimic cat-
aracts into their marble basins, or, spouting from the mouths
of sphinxes and lions, ascended in crystal streams, irrigating
with copious showers the party-colored beds beneath. The
long vistas were shaded with the magnolia and flowering
almond, while snow-white statues watched the beautiful
picture of happiness around. Birds of variegated color and
splendid plumage were flying from tree to tree, and it ap-
peared as if in their sweet notes, and the fragrance of the
flowers, nature was offering up her incense to the Creator.

I was invigorated with nev/ life; 1 ran from alley to
alley ; delicious fruits tempted my taste ; the perfumes of
Arabia floated in the earthly paradise ; music floated around ;

178

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

trains of beautiful girls moved in graceful ballets before me;
their slender forms were clad in snow-white robes ; their
girdles gemmed with diamonds; their alabaster necks twined
with wreaths of roses. A joyous laugh burst from them, as
they danced, now in circles, now advancing, now retreat-
ing. The circle opened; a veiled figure was in the midst;
I approached ; the fairies disappeared; the veil was slowly
lifted, one moment ; my Cora ! we were alone ; we wandered
from bower to bower ; her small white hand, with electric
touch, was within my delighted grasp ; her golden ringlets
mingled with my raven locks ; her dark eyes melted into
mine. I fell upon my knee ; a cold and grizzly skeleton met
my embrace ; the groups of houris were changed into bands
of shriveled hags ; in place of wreaths of roses, their shriv-
eled necks were covered with the deadly nightshade and
dank mandragora; forked adders and serpents twined upon
their long and bony arms ; I shuddered ; I was chained in
horror to the spot ; they seized me ; they dragged me down-
ward to the dank and noisome vault. 'Twas light as day ;
but 'twas a st. ange light, a greenish haze, sickly and poison-
ous as if the deadly miasma of the fens had turned to flame.
The dead men with burning lamps were sitting on their
coffins, their chins resting upon their drawn-up knees, and
as I passed along the extended rows, their eyes all turned
and followed me, as the eyes of portraits from the canvas.
Ha ! what cadaverous unearthly stare met me at every turn ;
I looked on all sides to avoid them, but still, where'er I
turned, the ghastly muffled faces, with their blanched lips,
and deep sunken eyes livid in their sockets, surveyed me
with frightful interest; and that fierce old hag, how she
preceded me, step by step, her finger pointing forward.

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

179

while her Medusa head was turned triumphantly over her
shoulder, with its infernal leer upon my cowering form.
Worlds would I have given to have been out from among
the ghastly crew, but a spell was on me, and I hurriedly
made the circuit of the vault, like a wild beast in his cage.
But the old knight, sitting grim and ghastly as if by con-
straint, in the lone corner, his long grizzly beard flowing o'er
his winding-sheet — how his cold grey eye glanced at
his long two-handed sword before him, as I passed, as if to
clutch it! I plucked the o] J grey beard for very ire; ha!
what a malignant and discordant yell did then salute my
horror-struck senses ! I gave one bound of terror, and burst
the prison do^jr, and — and —

My noble white charger leaped clear of the earth, as he
felt my weight in the saddle. I was at the head of an im-
mense army ; my bold cuirassiers formed a moving mass of
iron around me. The bugle sounded the signal for engage-
ment; peal after peal of musketry flashed from the dark
masses ; the rattling reverberating roar rolled from right to
left ; the gaping throats of the cannon announced in broad
flashes the departure of their messengers upon the journey
of death. On we rushed, battalion on battalion ; we stormed
the redoubt. "Charge!" I shouted, "charge the villains!
men of the fifth legion, follow your leader; hurrah! they
bear back." I seize the standard from a fallen soldier ; I
plant it upon the blood-stained parapet; horrible con-
fusion! the trenches are choked with dead. Hah! brave
comrade, beware ! his bayonet is at thy shoulder— 'tis buried
in thy heart. I will avenge thee ! I dashed upon him ; we
fought like tigers ; we rolled upon the ground ; I seized my
dagger ; the bright steel glittered ; thousands of deep hoarse

I So

OLD TRINITY STEEPLE

voices wildly roared : ** The mine, the mine ! beware, be-
ware !" Flash ! roar! bodies, earth, rocks, horses, tumbrils,
all descending, covered me ; and — and —

I awoke ; the fender and fire-irons upset with horrid din
and clatter ; the table, its lights and tea-set hurled around ;
and myself, with might and main striving with mighty effort
to get from beneath the prostrate wreck, which in my terror
I had dragged above me. Old Neptune, aghast, howled in
consternation, from the corner, while a group of feilow-
boarders, half dead with laughter and amazement, were
staring through the open door in wonder at such unusual
uproar from the lodger in quiet " No. VI."

OLD SCIPIO.

BUT hark! Old Scipio is fast asleep and snoring like
Talstaff behind the arras. Now that old negro is as
assuredly dreaming of witches, or wrecks, or pirates,
or ghosts, that have been seen flitting about the burying-
grounds and country church-yards at midnight, as he sits
there. He is somewhere between eighty and one hundred,
he does not exactly know which ; but as your negro keeps
no family record, it is safe to allow a lee-way of some ten
years in the calculation of his nativity. Of his genealogy
though, he is quite sure, for he proves beyond a doubt, that
he is the son of Job, who was the son of Pomp, who was
the son of Caleb, who was the son of Cassar, who was the
son of Cudjoe, who was caught in Africa. His whole life
has been passed in and about the shores of Long Island
Sound, and he is not only a veritable chronicle of the mili-
tary adventures that have been enacted upon its borders in
the American wars, but his head is a complete storehouse,
stuffed to overflowing with all sorts of legendary lore of
wrecks, of pirates, of murders and fights, and deeds unholy,
of massacres, bombardments and burnings, all jumbled up
in such inexplicable confusion, history and legend, truth
and fiction, that it is almost impossible to divide the one
from the other. Sometimes in the cold winter nights, when
the storm is howling, as it does now, I put him upon the
track, and upon my word, the influence of his gossip told in

l82

OLD SCIPIO

drowsy undertone is such, that I find it a matter of serious
question, whether the most monstrous things in the way ot
the supernatural, are by any means matter of wonderment;
and fully concede, that men may have been seen walking
about with their heads under their arms, vanishing in smoke
upon being addressed ; that old fishermen have sculled about
the creeks and bays in their coffins, after they were dead
and buried ; that gibbets are of necessity surrounded by
ghosts, and that prophecies and predictions, and witchcraft
are, and must be, true as holy writ.

Indeed, with all the sad realities of life about me, I find
it refreshing to have my soul let loose occasionally, to wan-
der forth, to frolic and ^^^ambol, and stare, without any con-
ventional rule, or let, or hindrance to restrain it. In how
many adventures has that good old negro, quietly sleeping
in the corner, been my guide and pilot. In our shooting,
and fishing and sailing excursions, the shores of the Sound
became as familiar to us as our own firesides, and the dark
black rocks, with their round and kelp-covered sides, as the
faces of old friends and acquaintances.

At a little village upon the western borders of Long
Island Sound I passed my school-boy days, and there it was
that the old negro, formerly a slave, but long liberated, and
in part supported by my family, had his hut. There it was
that under his influence I thoroughly contracted the love of
adventure which, in the retrospect, still throws a sort of
world of my own around me. All sport, whether in winter
or summer, night or day, rain or shine, was alike to me the
same, and sooth to say, if sundry floggings, for truant days,
had been administered to Old Scip instead of me, the scale
of justice had not unduly preponderated ; for his boats, and

OLD SCI P 10 183

rods, and nets, to say nothing of his musket which had be-
longed to a Hessian, and the long bell-mouthed French fusee,
were always sedulously and invitingly placed at my control.
The old negro was sure to meet me as I bounded from the
school-room with advice of how the tides would serve, and
how the game would lie, and his words winding up his in-
formation in a low confidential undertone still ring upon my
ear, " P'rhaps young massa like to go wid old nigger."

His snug little hut down at the creek-side was covered,
and patched, and thatched, with all the experiments of years
to add to its warmth and comfort; its gables and chimney
surmounted with little weathercocks and windmills spinning
most furiously at every whiff of wind, its sides covered with
muskrat and loon skins nailed up to dry, and fishing-rods
and spears of all sizes and dimensions piled against them,
the ducks and geese paddling about the threshhold and his
great fat hog grunting m loving proximity to the door-way ;
while its interior was garnished with pots and kettles and
other culinary utensils, the trusty old musket hanging on its
hooks above the chimney place, the fish-nets and bird-decoys
lying in the corners, and the whitewashed walls garnished
and covered with pictures and colored prints of the most
negro taste, indigo and scarlet, naval fights, men hanging on
gibbets, monstrous apparitions which had been seen, lament-
able ballads, and old Satan himself in veritable semblance,
tail, horns and claws, precisely as he appeared in the year
Anno Domini 1763; and under the little square mahogany
framed fly-specked looking-glass, his Satanic Majesty again
in full scarlet uniform as British Colonel with a party of
ladies and gentlemen playing cards, his tail quietly curled
around one of the legs of his arm-chair, and the horse-hoof

184 OLD SCIPIO

ill disguised by the great rose upon his shoe. But Scip was
safe against all such diabolical influence, for he had the
charmed horse-shoe firmly nailed over the entrance of his

door.

How often have I silently climbed out of my window and
stealthily crept down the ladder which passed it, long and long
before the dawn, with my fowling-piece upon my shoulder,
and by the fitful moonlight wended, half scared, my way
through the rustic roads and lanes, leaping the fences, sat-
urated with the night-dew from the long wet grass, the stars
twinkling in the heavens, as the wild scudding clouds passed
o'er them, and nothing to break the perfect stillness. How
often at such times have I stopped and stared at some sus-
picious object looming up before me, till, mustering courage,
1 have cocked my piece and, advancing at a trail, discovered
in the object of my terror a dozing horse, or patient ox, or
cow quietly ruminating at the road-side.

How often have I sprung suddenly aside, my hair stand-
ing on end, as a stealthy fox or prowling dog rushed by me
into the bushes, and felt my blood tingle *o my very fingers'
ends, as some bird of prey raised himseli with an uneasy
scream and settled again upon the tree-tops, as I passed be-
neath. How I used to screw my courage up as, with long
strides and studiously averted eyes, I hurried past the
dreaded grave-yard ; and as I came upon the borders of the
winding creek, and walked splashing through its ponds and
shallows, how would I crouch and scan through the dim
light to catch a glimpse of some stray flock of ducks or
teal, that might be feeding upon its sedges. How would I
bend and stoop as I saw them delightfully huddled in a
cluster, till getting near I would find an envious bend of

OLD SCIPIO

i«5

long distance to be measured before I could get a shot.
How patiently would I creep along, and stop, and crouch,
and stop, till getting near, and nearer, a sudden slump into
some unseen bog or ditch would be followed by a quick
«' quack," " quack," and off they'd go, far out of reach of
shot or call. But all would be forgotten when I reached the
old Negro's hut. There a hot corn-cake and broiled fish or
bird was always on the coals to stay my appetite, and then
off we'd sally to the bar to lie in wait for the wild fowl as they
came over at day-break. The snipe in little clouds would
start up with their sharp " pewhit " before us, as we meas-
ured the broad hard flats left damp and smooth by the re-
ceding tide ; the Kildare with querulous cry would wing
away his flight, and the great gaunt cranes, looming, spectre-
like, in the moonlight, sluggishly stalking onwards, would
clumsily lift their long legs in silence as we advanced, and
fan themselves a little farther from our proximity.

Arriving, we would lay ourselves down, and on the stones
await the breaking of the dawn, when the wild fowl feeding
within the bay arise and fly to the southward over it. Dark
objects, one after another, would glide by us, and in silence
take their places along the bar, bent on the same sport that
we were awaiting, and nothing would break the stillness
save the gentle wash and ripple of the waves upon the sands.
or the uneasy and discordant cry of the oldwives, feeding
on the long sedge within the wide-extended bay. The stars
would ere long begin to fade, the east grow gray, then
streaked with light, and every sportsman's piece be cocked
with eager expectation. A flash, a puff of smoke at the ex-
treme end, showed that a flock had risen, and simultaneously
birds would be seen tumbling headlong. As the astonished

i itl

1 86

OLD SCIPIO

flock glanced along the bar— flash— flash— puff— bang, would
meet them, their numbers thinning at each discharge, till,
passing along the whole line of sportsmen, they would be
almost annihilated ; or, wildly dashing through some wider
interval in the chain of gunners, they would cross the bar
and escape in safety. Then as the light increased followed
the excitement; the birds getting up in dense flocks, all
bent in one direction, p complete /i-w-rt^^-yp/^ saluted them—
flash— flash — flash — the reports creeping slowly after, the
wild fowl tumbling headlong, some into the water, and some
on the sportsmen ; while here a gunner, dropping his piece,
might be seen rushing in up to his neck recklessly after his
victim, and there some staunch dog's nose just above the
surface, unweariedly pursuing the wing-broken sufferer,
which still fluttered forward at his near approach. Ah, ha!
that— that was sport. Hundreds of wild fowl, from the
little graceful teal to the great fishy loon and red-head brant,
were the fruits of the morning's adventure. And what a
contrast the sparkling eyes and glowing faces of the elated
sportsmen to the city's pale and care-worn countenances.
They were a true democracy, white man, and black, and
half-breed, the squire and the plowman, all met in like
equality.

THE PEQUOT.

AMONG the sportsmen on the bar at the season ihat I
have just described there was always found a tall,
gaunt, taciturn old Indian, who passed among the
people by the name of " Pequot." His hut was about a
mile beyond Scipio's, on the same creek, and, like him, he
obtained his support mainly by the fruits of his hunting and
fishing. Now and then, in the harvest, or when the game
was scarce, he would assist the farmers in their lighter work,
receiving, with neither thanks nor stipulation, such recom-
pense as they saw fit to make ; and sometimes, in the cold
depths of winter, he would appear, and, silently sitting at
their firesides, receive as a sort of right his trencher at their
tables. He was so inoffensive to all around him that he was
always sure of welcome. But there was a feature in his
character unusual to the Indian's nature, which was his dis-
like to ardent spirits. He was a great deal at Scipio's hut,
and I was struck with the harmony which subsisted between
two characters so apparently dissimilar, the sullen, haughty
Indian and the light-hearted, laughter-loving negro; but
there was a sort of common sympathy, of oppression, I sup-
pose, between them, for they always assisted one another,
and sometimes were gone for days together in their fishing
expeditions on the Sound. All the information that Scipio
could give about him was that he was supposed to have
come in from some of the Western tribes, and that from his

1 88

THE PEQUOT

haunting a great deal about a neighbormg swamp where the
gallant tribe of Pequots had long years before been massa
cred by fire and sword, the people had given h.m the name
of Peqnot. Whatever he was he was a fine old Indian. The
poetry of the character was left, while contact w.th the
whites and the kind teachings of the Moravians had hewn
away the sterner features of the savage. Even old Sep
showed him habitual deference, for there was a melancholy
dignity about him. I recollect once being taken aback by
tht display of a burst of feeling which let me mto h.s .deal
claims and pretensions.

There was a good-natured old Indian by the name of
Pamanack, belonging to one of the tribes which st.U clung
to Long Island in the vicinity of Montauket, who occasion-
ally made his appearance otf < .d Scip's hut, in the Sound, in
his periogue, accompanied by some half dozen ong-legged,
stra^ht-haired, copper-colored youths, his descendants
They every now and then came cruising along the various
fishing-grounds, and always, when in the vicinity of Sep,
the old Indian would pay him a visit and receive a return
for the hospitality naid to the black man when in his similar
excursions he got as far eastward as Montauket^ On the
particular occasion to which I have alluded old Pamanack
had drank more than was good for him, when the Pequot
presented himse<f silently at the door of old Scipio s hut, and
leaning upon his long ducking-gun looked in upon the group,
/^fter a few words of recognition passed between them
Pamanack held out his black bottle and incited the visitor
to drinl-. Pequot drew himself up, and for a moment there
was a mingled expression of loathing and ferocity hashing
from his countenance that showed his Indian's nature in a

THE PEQUOT

189

;re the
massa
; name
. The
ith the
i hewn
id Scip
incholy
)ack by
lis ideal

lame of
II clung
ccasion-
ound, in
^-legged,
endants.
; various
of Scip,
a return
is similar
On the
'amanack
le Pequot
s hut, and
he group,
een them
:he visitor
nent there
ty hashing
lature in a

blaze ; but it was only momentary, for in another the expres-
sion vanished from, his countenance, the habitual melancholy
resumed its place upon his features, and the words fell slow-
ly from his lips : '* The fire water, the fire water ; ay, the
same— the Indian and his deadly enemy." Then, looking
steadily at Pamanack as he held the bottle still toward him :
" Pequot will not drink. Why should Pamanack swallow
the white man's poison and with his own hands dig his grave ?
Pamanack is not alone. His squaw watches at the door of
his wigwam as she looks out upon the long waves of the
ocean tumbling in upon the shores of Montauket. His
young men gather about him and catch the tautog from its
beetling rocks and tread out the quahog from its muddy bed.
His old men still linger on the sandy beach, and their scalp-
locks float wildly in the fresh sea-breeze. Pamanack has yet
a home ; but Pequot, he is the last of his race. He stands on
the high hills of Tashaway and sees no smoke but that from
the wigwams of the Long Knaves. He moves in silence
along the plains of Pequonnuck, but the fences of the pale
faces obstruct his progress. His canoe dances at the side of
the dripping rocks, but the cheating white men paddle up to
his side. His feet sink in the plowed field, but it is not the
cora of the red man. His squaw has rolled her last log and
lies cold in her blanket. His young men— the fire water and
fire dust have consumed them. Pequot looks around for his
people ; where are they ? The black snake and muskrat
shoot through the water as his moccasin treads the swamp
where their bones lie, deep covered from the hate of their
enemies. Pequot is the last of his race. He cannot drink
the fire water, for his young men have sunk from its deadly
poison as the mist-wreath in the midday sun. The good
Moravians have told him that it is bad, and Pequot will

":ii

IQO

THE PEQUOT

drink no more, for his race is nearly run. Pequot w.U s.t on
the high rocks o( Sasco, and his robe shall fall from h.s
shoulders as his broad chest waits the death arrow of the
Great Spirit. There will he sit and smoke m - -ce a. e
looks down upon the deserted huntmg-gfounds of h.s fathers.
Pequot^ heart is heavy." As he finished the last words he
Ibrupt y turned, and was soon far distant on the sands, mov-
•toward the high hill of which he had spoken The
G?e ^Spirit was kind to him, for a few years after he w s
^u„d stark and stiff, frozen to death on the very rocks to
which he had alluded. As for old Pamanack. he d d not
.ppear to hold the fire water in such utter abhorrence ; for,
Xg a long swig at the bottle, his eye foUowmg the ret.r-
S form of the Pequot, he slowly muttered : '•N.gger
drtnk, white man drink -, why no Indian drink too ?

CAPTAIN KIDD.

11 u

BUT the Sound! the Sound! How many delightful
reminiscences does the name bring to my recollec-
tion ! The Sound, with its white sand-banks and its
wooded shores ; its fair broad bosom covered with fleets of
sails scudding along in the swift breeze in the open day, and
its dark waves rolling and sweeping in whole streams of
phosphorescent fire from their plunging bows as they dash
through it in the darkness of midnight. The Sound ! redo-
lent with military story. The Sound! overflowing with
legend and history. Reader, if you had been cruising along
its shores from infancy, as I have ; if you had grown up
among its legends and luxuriated in its wild associations ; if
you had spent whole days on its broad sand-beaches, watch-
ing the gi'lls as they sailed above you, or the snipe as they
ran along on the smooth, hard flats ; if you bad lain on the
white, frozen snows on its shore in the still nights of mid-
winter, your gun by your side, gazing till your soul was
lost in the blue spangled vault as it hung in serene and tran-
quil grandeur above you, your mind, in unconscious adora.
tion, breathing whole volumes of gratitude and admiration
to the great God that gave you faculties to enjoy its sub-
limity, and in the • r.illness, unbroken save by the cry of the
loon as he raised himself from the smooth water, seen in
every sail moving in silence between you and the horizon

192

CAPTAIN KIDD

the " Phantom Ship," or some daring buccaneer, and m every
distant splash heard a deed of darkness and mystery-then
could you enter into my feelings.

To me its black rocks and promontories and islands are
as familiar as the faces of a family. Are there not the
" Brothers,"* unnatural that they are, who, living centuries
together, never to one another have as yet spoken a kind-
ly word, and the ''Executioners."* and "Throgs, * and
"Sands "* and " Batons,"* all throwing hospitable lights
from their high beacon towers, far forward, to guide the
wandering mariner; and the "Devil's Stepping-stones,
o'er which he bounded when driven from Connecticut; and
the great rocks, too, inside of Flushing bay on which he de-
scended, shivering them from top to bottom as he fell. And
are there not the "Norwalk Islands," with their pmes;
» Old Sasco," with her rocks ; " Fairweather," with the wild
bird's eggs resting on her sands, and the far-famed fishing-
banks off the " Middle ground." Is it not from the whirl-
pools of the -Gate" to " Gardiners," and the lone beacon
tower of " Old Montuket," one continuous ground of lore
and adventure ? In her waters the '' Fire ship " glared amid
the darkness, her phantom crew standing at their quarters,
as rushing onwards in the furious storm, she passed the
shuddering mariner. Beneath her sands the red-shirted buc-
caneers did hide their ill-gotten, blood-spotted treasure, and
'twas on her broad bosom that, with iron-seared conscience,
sailed that Pirate, fierce and bold, old Robert Kidd ; to this
very day his golden hoards, with magic mark and sign, still
crowd her wooded shores.

How, were he waking, old Scipio's eyes would upward
* Rocks and Light Houses.

CAPTAIN KIDD

193

roll their whites, if he did but hear that name so dread and
grim ! If, from very eagerness, he could utter forth his
words, he would give whole chapters, ay ! one from his own
family history, for it is said Kidd's men caught old Cudjoe,
his great ancestor, clamming on the beach off Sasco, and
without more ado carried him aboard. As the old negro
was sulky, they tumbled his well-filled basket into the gal-
ley's tank, and incontinently were about to run him up to
dangle at their long yard-arm, when Kidd, who was taking
his morning " drink of tobacco " on his poop, roared out in
a voice of thunder: '' Ho! Scroggs, boatswain, dost hang a
black-a-moor at my yard-arm, where so many gentlemen
have danced on nothing? In the foul devil's name, scuttle
the goggle-eyed fiend to the sharks overboard," and over-
board he went, but, diving like a duck, he escaped their fire-
locks' quick discharge, and reached the shore in safety.

And his deep buried treasures ! Where went the gold
dust from the coast of Guinea? the gems from Madagascar?
the dollars and doubloons pirated from the Spanish galleons?
the broken plate and crucifixes from the shores of Panama?
and where the good yellow gold, stamped with the visage
of his most gracious majesty? Where? where, but on the
haunted borders of this very Sound. Why, the very school-
boys, playing in the woods upon its shores, know, when the
earth doth hollo ^a sound beneath their feet, that Kidd's
treasure's buried there. Do they disturb it ? No, not they ;
they know too well the fierce and restless spirit that guards
the iron pot. Didst ever hear the brave old ballad, '' As he
saiVd, as he saiVdr It's a true old ballad, a time-honored
old ballad ; it gives his veritable history. It has been sung
time out of mind, been chanted by the old tars in the sultry

194

CAPTAIN KIDD

calms of the tropics, and the greasy whalers have kept time
to it over their trying kettles on the smooth Pacific It has
been sung amid the icebergs of Greenland, and heard on the
coast of New Holland; the spicy breezes of Ceylon have
borne it among the sleeping tigers in their jungles and the
Hottentots pulled tighter their breech-cloths -^ t^ey have
listened to its tones. The Chinese, and the Turks, and the
Dutchmen, and the Danes, and everything human within
the smell of salt water, have heard it, and that too in the
rich manly tones of the English and American sailors. Ho !
Scip ' wake from out thy corner, and give us the old ballad.
Shades of red-capped buccaneers ! fierce negro slavers ! spirits
of the gallant men who fought the British on her shores !
desperate old Kidd in person! we conjure you, we conjure
you arise and hover around us, whilst we chant the lay.
Ho' Scipio! the old ballad, as it stood, smoke-blacked and
grimed, upon thy cabin's walls ; ay! that is it, and in tones
which chime in unison with the dreary storm and howling
blast without —

"YE LAMENTABLE BALLAD, AND Yb TRUE HISTORIE OF
CAPTAIN ROBERT KIDD, WHO WAS HANGED IN CHAINS
AT EXECUTION DOCK, FOR PIRACY AND MURDER ON
YB HIGH SEAS."

H« calleth upon the cap-
tains:

He stateth his name and
acknowledgeth his wicked-

ness:

He beareth witness to the
good counsel of his parents:

Hecurseth his father and
his mother dear:

And blasphemeth against
God:

He burieth the Good Book
in the sand:

And murdereth William
Moore:

You captains bold and brave, hear ovir cries, hear our
cries.
You captains bold and brave, hea/ our cries.
You captains brave and bold, tho' you seem uncon-
troU'd,
Don't for the sake of gold lose your souls, lose your
souls.

Don't for the sake of gold lose your souls.

My name was Robert Kidd, when I sail'd, when I
sail'd,

My name was Robert Kidd, when I sail'd,
My name was Robert Kidd, God's laws I did forbid.

And so wickedly I did, when I sail'd.

My parents taught me well, when I sail'd, when I
sail'd,

My parents taught me well, when I sail'd.
My parents taught me well to shun the gates of hell,

But against them I rebelled, when I sail'd.

I cursed my father dear, when I sail'd, when I sail'd,
I cursed my father dear, when I sail'd,

I cursed my father dear and her that did me bear.
And so wickedly did swear, when I sail'd.

I made a solemn vow, when I sail'd, when I sail'd,

I made a solemn vow, when I sail'd,
I made a solemn vow to God I would not bow,

Nor myself one prayer allow, as I sail'd.

I'd a Bible in my hand, when I sail'd, when I sail'd,

I'd a Bible in my hand when I snil'd,
I'd a Bible in my hand by my father's great command.

And I sunk it in the sand, when I sail'd.

I murdered William Moore, as I sail'd, as I sail'd,
I murdered William Moore, as I sail'd,

I murdered William Moore, and left him in his gore.
Not many leagues from shore, as I sail'd.

• ',1
'li

ril.

!Tf

196

And also cruelly killeth
the gunner.

His mate, being about to
die, repenieth and warneth
him in his career.

He falleth sick, and prom-
iseth repentance, but forget-
teth his vows.

He steereth thro' Long
Island and other Sounds.

He chaseth three ships of
France.

CAPTAIN KIDD

And being cruel still, as I sail'd, as I sail'd,

And being cruel still, as I sail'd,
And being cruel still, my gunner I did kill,

And his precious blood did spill, as I sail d.

My mate was sick and died, as I sail'd, as I sail'd.

My mate was sick and died, as I sail'd.
My irate was sick and died, which me much ternfied,

When he called me to his bedside, as I sail d.

And unto me he did say, see me die, see me die,

And unto me did say, see me die,
And unto me did say, take warning now by me.

There comes a reckoning day, you must die.

You cannot then withstand, when you die, when you

die,
You cannot then withstand, when you die,
You cannot then withstand the judgments of Gods
hand,
But bound then in iron bands, you must die.

I was sick and nigh to death, as I sail'd as I sail'd,
I was sick and nigh to death, as I sail d,

I was sick and nigh to death, and I vowed at every
breath
To walk in wisdom's ways, as I sail'd.

I thought I was undone, as I sail'd, as I sail'd;

I thought I was undone, as I sail'd,
I thought I was undone, and my wicked glass had run,

But health did soon return, as I sailed.

My repentance lasted not, as I sail'd, as I sail'd,

My repentance lasted not, as I sail a.
My repentance lasted not, my vows I soon forgot,

Damnation's my just lot, as I sail d.
I steer'd from Sound to Sound, as I sail'd as I sail'd,

I steer'd from Sound to Sound, as I sail d,
I steer-d from Sound to Sound, and many ships I found.

And most of them I burn'd, as I sail d.
I spy'd three ships from France, as I sail'd as I sail'd.

I snv'd three ships from France, as I sail d
I sp;'uhree ships'from France, tothem I did advance,
^nd took them all by chance, as I sailed.

t \'

CAPTAIN KIDD

197

And also three ships of
Spain.

He boastelh of his treasure.

He spyeth fourteen ships
in pursuii, and surrenders.

He biddeth farewell to the
seas, and the raging main.

He exhorteth the young
and old to take counsel from
his fate:

And declareth that he
must go to hell, and be pun-
ished for his wickedness.

I spy'd three ships of Spahi, as I sail'd, as I sail'd,

I spy'd three ships of Spain, as I sail'd,
I spy'd three ships of Spain, I fired on them amain,

Till most of them were slain, as I sail'd.

I'd ninety bars of gold, as I sail'd, as I sail'd,

I'd ninety bars of gold, as I sail'd,
I'd ninety bars of gold, and dollars manifold.

With riches uncontroU'd, as I sail'd.

Then fourteen ships I saw, as I sail'd, as I sail'd.

Then fourteen ships I saw, as I sail'd.
Then fourteen ships I saw, and brave men they are.

Ah ! they were too much forme, as I sail'd.

Thus being o'ertaken at last, I must die, I must die,
Thus being o'ertaken at last, I must die.

Thus being o'ertaken at last, and into prison cast,
And sentence being pass'd, I must die.

Farewell the raging sea, I must die, I must die.

Farewell the raging main, I must die.
Farewell the raging main, to Turkey, France, and
Spain,

I ne'er shall see you again, I must die.

To Newgate now I'm cast, and must die, and must die,
To Newgate now I'm cast, and must die,

To Newgate I am cast, with a sad and heavy he.nrt.
To receive my just desert, I must die.

To Execution Dock I must go, I must go.

To Execution Dock I must go.
To Execution Dock will many thousands flock.

But I must beir the shock, I must die.

Come all you young and old, see me die, see me die.
Come all you young and old, see me die,

Come all you young and old, you're welcome to my
gold.
For by it I've lost my soul, and must die.

'^•^ke warning now by me, for I must die, for I must
die,
Tal:e warning now by me, for I must die.

Take warning now by me, and shun bad company,
I,est you come to hell with me, for I must die,
Lest you come to hell with me, for I must die.

-i+ii

' 'il

SPIRITIANA— No. I.

HYDRACHOS.

Cleopatra-
Cloion —

Cleopatra-
Clown —
Cleopatra-
Clown —
Cleopatra
Clown —

Cleopatra

■Hast thou the pretty worm of Nilus there,

seldom or never recover.
-Get thee hence ; farewell.
I wish you all joy of the worm.

-Farewell. , • , • i

You must think this, look you, that the worm w:ll do h.s kmd.

-Ay— ay, farewell. _ .

Look you. the worm is not to be trusted but in the keepu.g of wise peo-
pie; for. indeed, there is no goodness in the worm.
[—Well, get thee gone; farewell.

Anthony and Cleopatra.

r-^CEl^E.-Hendruk's Cottage on the Heights at the Nar-
O roivs The Ocean opening out to the horizon. Staten
Island, zvith its woods, green hills and fortifications, on the
ri^ht ■ Fort Hamilton, New Utrecht, and the fair farms of
Long Island on the left. On the rustic piazza, dershadowed by
two giant hemlocks and the sweeping foliage of old willows
are seated, in luxuriant arm-chairs, zvith their legs well rested
on stools in front, two gentlemen. {Betzveen them, a round table
on which, half filled with rich purple, rests a crystal pitcher of^
.* Chateau Margaux,- a diamond cut goblet of ^^ golden Sherry
a dusty cobzvcbbed bottle with a label, on which, dimly, is to be
seen the word ^^Farquar,- sundry condiments, fruits, old Cheshire,
biscuits, et id omne genus, and a cedar box, the lid half off, " Re-

SPIRITIANA

199

GALIA, 1840.") One, tall and slender— the "TALL SON OF
York." The other in dressing-goivn and slippers— ejus nomen
H END RICK. The blue smoke of their Regalias rises in light
elouds, and wreathes and floats gracefully above their heads,
while the droivsy note of the locusts in the dcrhanging trees,
and the busy hum of the bees diving into the honey-suckles and
floivering vines, indicate the dreamy quiescence of a simmer's
afternoon.

The Tall Son* (^(7/«V«r).— By Jupiter! Hendrick, but
this is a beautiful scene that Nature has so lavishly spread
before you. No wonder that your bays leave punctually at
three to carry you from the heated walls of Old Gotham.
A magnificent prospect ! How grandly old Ocean stretches
onward to the embrace of the distant horizon! The ships,
with their bellying canvas, seem like things of dreams,
sleeping upon his broad bosom. And see ! the fleecy clouds
now hurrying on, and now hanging motionless in the blue
canopy above. These shores, too, with their undulating
hills, green forests and lordly villas! it's a scene worthy the
pencil of a Ruysdael, Yonder massive forts appear, with
their engines of destruction so grimly crouched in their
embrasures, the guardians of this peaceful scene. By the
blood of old Eclipse !t (a health to the veteran) By the
fair form of the goddess sprung from the light foam of yon-
der sea ! (a glass to the fair Cytheria) I admire your taste.
This snug little Dutch cottage of yours, my dear boy, with
its flowering walks, and roses, and honey-suckles, is perfect-
* The soubriquet by which the Editor of the " Spirit of the
Times" was known to his correspondents.
f x\ celebrated race-liorse.

ill

""I

A 1

iii

tin

111!

ii I

200

SPIKITIANA

ly delightrul, and but that you are a bachel„r, 1 should set
vou down as a happy man.

HENI.RICK.-Manicd or unmarried, bachelor or Bene-
dict, right happy am I, my dear "Spirit," to welcome you
within its walls.

. . Now is the winter of {;« v) discontent, made glorious by summer
By this (tall) '' Sonof York:'
And all the clouds that lowered about our house
(Need not go far to find themselves)
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried."

But Egad! my dear boy, what a pair of beauties you
have got in your traces. What blood ! what muscle ! what
necks! what shoulders! Their nostrils are fire, and then-
eyes shame the gazelle—

" With champing bits, and arching necks,
And eyes like listening deer,
And spirits of fire, that pine at rest,
And limbs that mock at fear."

Old Scip', who was born in a stable, and erncctr to be
buried under a manger, who looks upon himself as first
cousin to horse-flesh, stands with arms a-kimbo and eyes
wide open, in speechless astonishment in the carriage-house,
where no has taken them under cover.

Spifit -Tney^rr horses-" Taking them for all m all,
we ne'er shall see their like again." Five years old, blood
as pure as the Bourbons, match to the curl of a fetlock, do
their " two-thirty " without laying a hair, and so delicate on
the ribbons, that the little finger of a girl of fifteen can turn
them in a circle. The ^^ Avenues "^ glory in the light tap of
their hoofs, and " Catos "^ and - Burnhams "* are vociferous
* Stopping places on the avenues.

SP/A/T/.I.VA

201

in Iheir praise. But, by the marc of Mahomet, Hendiick,
this road of yours is infernally heavy. I've had a halo of
dust three feet in diameter around my wheels all the way
down from the ferry. Your sandy desert may be very well for
your " Araby's Daughter," but it's the devil and all on horse-
flesh with four wheels behind it. But, Hendrick, though
this cottage of yours is unexceptionable, and the scenery
beautiful, your wine exquisite in its bouquet, and your " Re-
galias" in their flavor, and everything so comfortable, even
to the old Newfoundlander there, dreaming of whole lagoons
of wild-fowl and avalanches of mutton bones, don't you find,
my dear fellow, that you want excitement— don't you feel
a little Robinson Crusoeish now and then?

Hendrick.— Not a whit, not a whit. I have, you know,
sufficient business for employment, plenty of books, salubri-
ous air-as you say, beautiful scenery, my nags, my rod, my
gun, my dogs (Soho ! you villains, come up and show your-
selves; there's a pair of game ones for you), a crack at the
deer and wild-fowl in the fall, an occasional scamper about
the country when the humor seizes me, and, thank heaven,
a tolerably contented mind. I envy no man his greatness,
and wish well to all of Adam's race, both small and great.
I look above, and around, and about me, and in everything,
the sea, the air, the earth, behold indicated the finger of
benevolence and goodness. I find study and employment
in every object of Nature, from the small and delicate flower
opening its petals at my feet, the minute insect hurrying
through its brief and ephemeral existence (type of our own)
to Old Ocean, rolling his '' ceaseless dashings"to my cot-
tage door, and the great glorious constellations sweeping
onwards in silent sublimity above its lowly roof.

^^i

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202

SPIRITIANA

SriRTT.— All very true, Hendrick, by my faith ! All very
true ; very fine philosophy , and still finer poetry ; but I know
you of old, my boy. A pretty woman in your path sends
all this philosophy to the devil; you're destined yet to have
that old bachelor's coat of yours pulled over your ears. Sings :

" The village maid steals through the shade,
Her shepherd's suit to hear,
To beauty shy, by lattice high,
Sings high born Cavalier.

The star of Love, all stars above,

Now reigns o'er earth and sky,
And high and low the influence know.

But w//^?/-^ is County Guy."

Hendrick.— Out upon thee, profane wretch! Being
bachelor incorrigible, schoolst thou me? Out upon thee!
But be that as it may, do I not see that empty crystal on its
delicate stem casting reproachful glances on thee? Fill it!
fill it to the brim with golden sherry, and touch it to thy
lips in token of reconciliation. What a man now wert thou
with a bottle of that under thy waistcoat, and thy nags be-
fore thee on a two mile stretch of clear road ! The clatter
of their hoofs were like the roll of a drum. There were
nothing then could overtake thee, save the great " Hydrar-

chos."

Spirit— The great what?

Hendrick— The great Hydrarchos.*

Spirit— What i' the name of the bottomless pit is that?

Hendrick— Why, the great serpent exhumed in Missou-
ri ! Mouth six feet wide, with teeth to match ; ribs twelve
feet in diameter, and length from his snakeship's snout to the
end of his diabolic tail about one hundred and fifty feet— the

*Subsequently found to be a deception.

SPIRITIANA

203

representative of the incarnate fiend tliat lay " cliainod to
the burning lake," he snap't you up a pair of elephants as a
cat does a mouse— cousin germain to him that

" Swallowed a chuich and a steeple
And all the good people."

Spirit— Egad! what a favorite he would be in "Old
Virginy," thar home of snakedom, of whom it is written:
" If truth is not, then there's no snakes in Virginy."

[DinaJis voice is heard singing in the kitchen)

" Snake baked a hoe cake,
Asked de frog to mind it.
De frog he fell asleep,
Aiid de lizard came and stol'd it.
Chorus— Rnberree—ceder bree— heigho Juba!

De snake Ijegan to beat de lizard.
De lizard he denied it.
And de frog said ye did, for
I seed ye when ye stol'd it.
Chorus— Ruberree—ceder bree— heigho Juba!

Alligator in de swamp, catching de old gander."

HENDRICK-Ha ! ha ! Truly you have woke up " Old
Vairginy" herself; but, joking aside, it is a great curi-
osity, and well worth seeing, whether it be Behemoth, Levi-
athan, Kraken, Sea Serpent, or thnt enormous snake repre-
sented by Placide " who never saw the end of his tail;" it is
the remains of a stupendous animal. Apropos of snakes, in
one of your late " Spirits " I saw a communication relative
to the fascinating power of serpents in which the writer
urges that the influence lies not in " the bright and glittering
eye," but in the poisonous and noxious eftiuvia emitted by
ihe'repaie. I agree with him, the more particularly that it
calls to mind a case that came under my observation in

\^ "S

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204

SPIRITIAKA

South Carolina a number of years since. A gentleman was
traveling through a forest on a warm summer morning,
when his attention was excited by the faint cry of a cat-bird
that was hopping about in a sort of maze in the path a few
yards in advance of him. It uttered a ceaseless, weak, but
evidently distressed cry, and appeared to be attracted by
some object a little in advance of it. He halted his horse
and gazed around him to ascertain the cause, and after look-
ing attentively a minute or two perceived a large black-
snake coiled up a short distance from the bird, its head ele-
vated a few inches, but perfectly motionless, and its bright
and piercing eye fixed with deadly malignity on its victim,
while its tongue, like a little flame, silently played in and
out of its mouth. Both animals were too much engaged to
notice him, and he remained a few minutes an interested
spectator of the scene, the bird becoming evidently more
weak and helpless, when he began to perceive an unpleasant
odor, which was soon followed by nausea and slight faint-
ness. Divining or imagining the cause, he dismounted, and
breaking a stout switch approached, and with two or three
well-directed blows dispatched the serpent, perceiving as he
did so the peculiar effluvia more strongly. The bird stood
in a sort of stupor for a few seconds after he had killed its
foe, but gathering strength it lifted itself upon its wings and
flew weakly and slowly to a neighboring thicket, where it
was soon lost to his view. He felt convinced, upon revolv-
ing the theory in his mind, that the popular idea with regard
to the fascination was incorrect, and that the poisonous
effluvia emitted by the snake was the cause of the stupefac-
tion of its victim.

Spirit— Now you speak of it, I think that I have myself

SPIRITIANA

205

occasionally perceived about snakes an unpleasant odor such
as you describe. By-the-bye, your story reminds me of
Monk Lewis's " Anaconda," the story of an Englishman that
was besieged in his summer-house in Ceylon by an enormous
boa, and the effect upon his senses of the deadly effluvia
emitted by the monster. You recollect it?

Hendrick— Perfectly well. I read it in my boyhood,
and a most thrilling tale it was. The Englishman letting
slip his dog with a note describing his situation tied around
his neck, and the monster's snapping him up like lightning
before he had got ten feet from the door— of the discovery
by the people on the plantation of his situation, and
their driving a herd of cattle toward the serpent to
divert him from his prey— of his springing upon the head-
most bullock, lashing him to a tree, breaking every bone in
his body in his coils, lubricating and then swallowing him ;
his consequent helplessness— their dispatching him with
clubs and axes, and the release of the poor Englishman, who
subsequently died of his terror and the effects of the efflu-
via. I recollect it well.

Spirit— It was well told. Speaking of Lewis, I came
across, the other day, for the first time, the novel from which
he received his sobriquet, " the Monk." It is a most excit-
ing story and written with great power. But he presents
vice, notwithstanding the attendant horrors, in such capti-
vating colors that I am not sure but that the devil who
finally flew away with the monk from the dungeons of Mad-
rid had also a fair right to fly away with the author.

Hendrick— Yes, he was of the Byronic-diabolic school.
But to return to the snakes ; I knew a case where a child
was apparently under the influence of fascination, whatever

' if

2o6

SPIRITIANA

'1 1

i il

il 51^

'!!

„,ight be the cause. It was in a farm-yard in a village n, an
adjoining State. The child, about four years old, was ob-
se ved standing perfectly still, gazing intently upon a stone
fence a short distance in front of it. It was called repeated-
ly by its nurse, but paying no attention she went to br ng >t
in As she approached she noticed that the ch.ld was trem-
bling from head to foot, its finger pointing to the wal m
11 As she took its hand her eye followed ">« d.rect.o
of its finger, and she saw a " copper-head gl.de off the
i'es dfwn into the wall. This snaUe, which was a te..
wards killed, called in that part of the country the rattle-
snake's cousin," is exceedingly venomous and more dange -
ous than the rattlesnake, inasmuch as, devo.d of rattles,
gives no warning. The child, when recovered from .ts
agitation, said that she saw beautiful ribbons and colors play-
ing before her on the wall.

SPIRIT-I should think that that could hardly come un-
der the name of fascination, as the natural colors of the
lake would have been sufficient of themselves to attract he
child's attention-, but its terror would seem to sus am the
idea that there is an intuitive dread m the human family to

the serpent tribe.

HENDRICK-It is the common opinion with regard to
black-snakes that they will not attack a human b-ng unless
previously assaulted, although there are sa.d to be mstance
where they have attacked children. But in the same part
of the country in which the incident that I have ,ust related
of the child occurred there was an instance to the contrary.
A farmer by the name of Birdsey was in the woods fellmg
timber. Being seized with a hemorrhage from the nose he
laid down his ax, and seating himself upon a rock on the

SPIRITIANA

207

edge of a small brook near by, leaned his head upon his
hand, his elbow resting on his knees, letting in that position
the blood drop into the water. Whilst thus seated he felt a
blow across his back which he thought was from the de-
cayed branch of some overhanging tree falling upon him,
but in an instant he was undeceived by finding his elbow
tied to his knee and both arms bound tight to his body by
the coils of a huge black-snake, whose hissing head, with its
glistening eyes and forked tongue, was darting threatening-
ly within a couple of inches of his face. After the paralysis
of a moment's fear he succeeded in introducing the fingers
of his right hand into his jacket pocket, got out his knife,
opened it with his teeth, and succeeded in relieving himself
from its horrid embrace only by cutting the serpent into
half a dozen pieces.

Spirit — There is an astonishing tenacity of life in snakes,
as you may have observed when you have cut them in two
with a spade or ax. The species "called "racers "—black-
snakes with a white ring around their necks— are said some-
times to attack people. I recollect that I was once out in
the open fields, in the vicinity of a forest, when one started
close at my feet. I immediately leveled my piece, when he
turned, and with head erect made dead for me. 1 let him
have both barrels, one after the other, and then, laying down
my gun, battered him with stones till, as I supposed, life was
extinct; but conjecture my surprise when, passing the same
place an hour or two after, I found that he had disappeared.
Hendrick— If it had remained you would have found it
swarming with insects and vermin devouring it. How m-
teresting it is to observe the same overruling hand always at
work in carrying out its laws, whether great or small ! The

208

SPIRITIANA

instant the dissolution of animal life takes ^^^^
the mastodon or man. the reptile or the m.nute ^-^^^^^^
Nature's scavengers rush in from a thousand quarters to
fhtrappointedtask. Without them the world were soon

nnp noisome charnel-house.

~L_Ay! a great arena, where the - .ct beUveen

..life and its arch-enemy, death," .s incessant However
b ave the resistance, the grim monster invar.ably conquers
ad the corpse, hurried off the ^tage. makes way for other
struggles, other conflicts and other actors on the scene.
But wha a wondrous mystery lies concealed under .ts op
nosite Life (if. indeed, there is anything not enveloped m
my te'ry). The Greek word for life is Bios, and B,a means
X Bichat defines organic life as " the su,n of ilu fune-
t::uat resist eieath;- in other words, the fina result
that circle of natural causes which, surrounding t om its

ption. eventually ends in its inevitable extinction,
reminds one of the Italian state prisoner who finds to his
Wor as time progresses, that the iron chamber in which
h Tconfined is jointed, and that slowly, silent y and su..ly
it is contracting to crush him out of existence. But this
organic life, though doomed, does not appear .« --"d-.
even after the spirit has withdrawn from it. without a Strug-
!Ie ; for soon after the apparent death there s"P«--- -
:ist;nce called the ri.or ,nortis-. general stiffening of the
whole body to such an extent that it can be lifted by the
hou ders Ind stood upright like a statue. This r,,or lasts
or several hours, sometimes a couple of days, when finally
he laws of chemistry obtaining the ascendant, the organic
articles gradually soften, lose cohesion disintegrate and.
C g'change'intofourorfive gallonsof water and four

SPIRITIAiYA

209

ether in
ct, these
irters to
ere soon

between
[iowever
:onquers,
for other
[le scene,
er its op-
eloped in
3ia means
■ the func-

result of
t from its
iction. tt
ids to his

in which
and surely
But this
surrender,
mt a strug-
venes a re-
ing of the
ted by the

rigor lasts
hen finally,
the organic
egrate, and,
:er and four

or five handfuls of hme, which sink into the earth from
whence they came, the gases ascending into the atmosphere.
Thus resolved, they again commence the eternal circle of re-
creation, according to the fiat which has been appointed for
them, whether into prince or peasant, mountain or valley,
mastodon or insect, forest tree or delicate flower, without
destruction or change of their original elements. There can
be no stronger logical argument for the immortality of the
soul than this non-destructibility of matter ; for, so far as
human reason can judge, it cannot be possible (probable, if you
please) that base matter, made use of by the Spirit as its ser-
vant and slave, can survive its more noble and ethereal lord.
Hendrick — The same wood where Birdsey was at-
tacked was a perfect paradise for the poet or the sports-
man. The giant patriarchs of the forest, their trunks beard-
ed with the moss of centuries, towering high and grandly
into the blue heavens, their broad branches spreading out
their green leaves joyously to the blue ether and genial
shower, while the summer breezes, sweeping among them,
sent forth solemn hymns of harmony to Him who had raised
them from the minute seed. The squirrel and the rabbit
gamboled undisturbed on the fine greensward spread out at
their feet, which was clear from undergrowth and smooth as
a park, save where here and there a swampy bottom, loaded
with vines and glistening with wild flowers, gave variety to
the scene and cover to the game. Through it coursed a
lovely little rivulet, which swept smoothly along around the
roots of the alders and old trees, attended by the dragon-fly
and many-colored birds and insects in its course, though
now and then bubbling and disputing for the mastery with
some envious rock or pertinacious log, in whose eddies the

\ \
HI

!li

2JQ SPIRITIANA

trout were quietly sleeping or playing among the bubbles.
You could hardly advance a dozen yards, in the season,
without having the blood started to your cheek by the sud-
den xv-h-ir of the partridge or the quiet spring of the wood-
cock getting up at your feet.

Spirit— Ah-ha ! Hendrick, ah-ha ! are you there? are
you there, my boy ? " Take heed, dogs," take heed ! Care,
Sancho !-Dash, take heed ! See !-tails and noses straight
as a line-stiff as a ramrod. ^F///r-w///r-bang-bang-
one, two, th-r-e-e ; bring 'em in, boys-bring 'em in. Load
and on, ah-ha! Spirit of Nimrod ! how delicious at the
evening supper those delicate white breasts, scored with the
gridiron, sprinkled knowingly with pepper and salt, flanked
with the white bread and golden butter, the honest mealy
potatoes bursting from their russet jackets, and the dark
brown Mocha swimming with cream, sending forth its rich

aroma.

HENDRICK.-Ay, ay-but the trout, too, the trout, my
Spirit. Quick ! look into this deep pool here, just out of the
eddy. Whist! here, here, in the shade of this oak. Peer
down into the deep, dark hollow at its feet, around its
gnarled and fantastic roots ; do you see him ? do you see r
How beautifully the gold and purple colors glitter ! how
motionlessly still is the head, the slight movement of the fin,
the wary motion of the tail-a three-pounder, by the God-
dess Diana! Hist, hist! throw your fly lightly over him ;
let it fall quietly on the surface ; ay ! now he rushes from
his reverie, the head slowly turns, now the fins move more
decidedly; now, now-one rapid whirl of the tail, and, ha-ha !
-he rests on the earthen platter at the other end of the
table. Allow me to help you, my dear fellow, to-egad !

SPIRITIANA

211

we are at a regular Barmecide's feast ; this will never do—
a glass of " Chateau " with you in reality, my boy.

^Vi-^vi {smacks his /?»— There's no Barmecide in this,

though, Hendrick.

Hendrick— True for you, my Spirit. But " those same
men in Buckram "—I have got more to say about those
same snakes. When the western States began to be settled,
the New Englanders, as usual, were foremost among the
pioneers. There was a man in the same village that we
have been speaking of, who pulled up stakes in the autumn,
shouldered his ax and rifle, and, with his wife and baby,
trudged off to Ohio. He settled upon the " grant," and,
building a shanty, proceeded incontinently to level the
forest around him. Now, in his economy of labor, he had
erected his cottage against the side of a large rock, where,
by leaving a hole in his roof, he saved the trouble of build-
ing a chimney; but, unconsciously and unfortunately for
'm, a certain colony of sage rattlesnakes had their den
under, and held the same rock, by right of prior occupancy.
As the weather was cool, they remained very qui-.t in their
den, the fire of the woodman, for his cooking, being built upon
the stones outside of the cottage door ; but as it became
cold, one night, in the absence of her husband, the wife
built a fire against the side of the rock, and retired to bed
with her child. Something aroused her from sleep, when,
rising to look around, she saw the whole floor of the hut
covered with the reptiles, awakened from their dormancy by
the heat of the fire, writhing and hissing and crawling about
with frightful vivacity ; and what was worse, between her
and the door, and some already crawling up upon the bed.
Fortunately, there was a small attic cockloft above her, into

:,;

SPIRITIANA

which, by the aid of a ladder leading to it, she was able to
crawl where, with her child in her arms, she watched the
scene below in comparative safety. But here a new cause
of alarm seized her-, should her husband return, as she ex-
nected, he would enter the cabin, and, before he was aware
o the new denizens, be stung to death. She succeeded
however, in making a hole through the logs of the roof, and,
patiently waiting his return, was able to give h.m, fron, the
p son, a timely caution as to the state of affa.rs m the home
dep.°r tment. The honest woodman ascended the roof of the
sha'nty. and soon, with his axe, relieved his w,fe from her
confinement, and then, setting fire to the hut, destroyed
its mea.^er contents and the snakes together.

s" KIT-Well, for my part, I would as lief take the
devil by the tail as a snake, but I have seen those South-
ern boys catch them as they ran, as they would a wh.p-

lash, and snap off their heads. .\ , , ,,„

Hendrick-So would I. I abhor the very s.ght of a snake,
and had 1 any doubts as to my legitimate descent from
Mother Eve, they would be dissipated by my innate an-
tipathy to the reptile race.* But speaking of catchmg

snakes reminds me of a good story that my fnend D

tells of himself. He was at the time, in his vocation as en.
.ineer, employed in the construction of the South Carohna
Railroad. One day, in Charleston, a naturahst showmg
him his collection, among other specimens of the serpent

* Nevertheless, it is a fact equally humiliating and true, that the
idolatrous worship of this loathsome reptile has dways ob
tained in enormous proportions in the human family. H.s temples
w"e cylindrical, and were called OB-EL-IS-KA, or Tke T,«.pU of
the Serpent Gad, hence our word oMisk.

SPIRITIAMA

213

tribe, pointed to one of a very venomous character,
which he said he was anxious to obtain alive, as he
wished to make a drawing of it before the colors faded
(as they do immediately after the life is extinct), at the

same time begging D , should he fall in with it in the

woods, to capture and bring it in to him unhurt. D very

naturally suggested that a serpent of that character was
more to be admired than handled. But the doctor, him-
self an enthusiast in his profession, assured him that
nothing was more easy than to secure him. He had
simply to cut a forked stick, and placing its crotch over the
snake's head, take him by the neck just behind, in which

position he would be perfectly harmless. D , a few days

after, in the woods, came across the snake in question, and
proceeded straightway to follow the doctor's directions ;
cut the forked stick, and, approaching the sleeping reptile,
placed the crotch over his head, and then, putting down his
thumb and finger, secured him, secundum artem, as the doctor
had suggested. Letting go the stick, the snake was in an
instant coiled around his arm, so tight as to be absolutely
painful, but at the same time, it must be acknowledged, ef-
fectually prevented from biting. A moment's reflection

was sufficient to show D that he was in a very respecta-

ble fix— that he had got to hold on to his snakeship till
death did them part, or run the chance of making his exit
from this sublunary sphere with the only consolation

•' As up to Heaven he went

Of crying—' cruf/, cru<r/, cruel sar/(?«/.' "

So he turned about, commenced trotting as fast as he could
(for he was on foot) three miles back to Charleston, to de-
liver to his friend, the Doctor, his much-desired specimen.

III I

.r— , i I

214

SPIRITIANA

The upshot o( the business was, that by the time he had got to
town, what with eagerness to secure the prize and trep.cla-
tion lest he should be stung, the miniature representative of
Satan was choked to death, and my friend pretty effectually
cured of any more snake captures.

[SCIPIO ami Dinah seen looking around the corner of tite
piazza, gazing intcntli' at " THE Spirit."]

Spirit- „,„^,

By the pricking of my thumb.s
Something wicked this way comes."

SCIPIO to DiNAH-I say, Dinah! dafs him as Massa
Hendrick calls " de Spirit." Golly ! Dinah, he no more hke
de spirits in old times, than nothing at all. Whar he b^
horns' Whar he claws? Whar he long tail? and whar he
great flaming eyes ? And see, Dinah, he smoke 'bacca 'stead

o' brimstone ! .

Spirit {suddenly turning, descries the negroes; throivs Inm-

self into an attitude) —

•'Angels and ministers of grace defemi as,
Be ye spirits of health, or goblins damned,— _
Bring ye airs from Heaven, or blast from Hell.-
JF/m' come ye in such questionable shape ?
Say.W^^visthis? Wherefore? What should we do ?

SCIPIO— Golly ! Massa?
Spirit—

" Avaunt and quit my sight—

-There is no speculation in those

Eyes of thine. Thy bones are marrowless.
Avaunt, I say."

SciPio— Hi ! Dinah. {Exit precipitately Scipio and Dinah).
Spirit {laughing)— Yi^.—'^^—^^ •

"So, being gone,"
" Richard is himself again."

SPIRITIAiYA

215

Hendrick— Ho, ho. ho! Egad, you have frightened hall
a dozen years out of the blacks.

Spirit— Well, Hendrick, there's an end to all things.

white and black. One more glass, my boy, and I must be off.

Hendrick— Never think of it, my dear fellow; you don't

stir. We must make a night of it. There's a capital bed

and an indifferent good supper for you within.

Spirit— I cannot. Sachem, I cannot. I must be at the
Opera to-night, " come what, come may," and 1 have just
one hour to do ten miles and dress before the curtain rises.
Hendrick— Well, if you must, you must. " Welcome
the coming, speed the parting guest." But one more toast
before you go. No heel taps ; fill with old " Farquar," to the
brim, boy, to the brim ! Here's to the " Bayonets and Board-
ing pikes "—the gallant boys of the Army and Navy— health
and success to them !

Spirit— With all my soul, not forgetting the Dragoons,
" with their long swords, saddles, bridles," {tossingoffhis wine).
Holloa! Scip'! you image of Satan, bring round those
horses. Ay ! you are there, you black villain, are you ? Ah,
ha! my beauties. {Ascends the box, takes the ribbons, gives a
flourish zvith his whip, the extreme length of the lash coming round
zi'ith peculiar grace upon the rear of Scipio, who Jumps up, clapping
his hand to the aggrieved part, but catches with a broad grin with
the other, the half dollar tossed in the air) Good bye, Hen-
drick, I'm off. Hey! babies! {the horses spring forzuard.)

Hendrick— There he goes, off like a whirlwind. Good
bye, old fellow ! How the sand flies ! One hundred to one
he shows his back to everything on the road. Ay, ay 1 he's
a right good fellow ; no cant and no humbug.
[Exit Hendrick.']

H I J

VTi"flJ

1 I

t 1'

SPIRITIANA.— NO. II.

WINTER.

By my faith! 'tis a good world, and a brave world, and a jolly world; and they
be knaves ai.d varlets that say it be x^oi.—Maskt Feter.

HENDRICK'S Cottage at the Narrows, Long Island.
Ground covered ivith snow; a handsome light blue sleigh,
with voluminous wolf and buffalo robes filling the interi-
or and falling out over the sides and runners, and four beautiful
bloods in the traees; bays with coal-black leaders, covered with
foam, at the door. Seated zvithin it, muffled in furs, the one hold-
ing the ribbons tall and slender, and the other with the never-fad-
ing cigar in his mouth, broad-shouldered and manly, the - Tall

SPIRITIAiVA—II

217

Son" and " ToM Jones" bound and accoiitercd for a sleigh
ride; the former, rising on his feet, hails the house)

Tall Son— Hilla— ho '.—house— ho— house ! Wake up,
Hendrick! Hilla— ho! Scip ! you black old rascal, crawl

out here— crawl out !

{The door suddenly opens; a black face projects itself for an
instant and as suddenly withdraws, the door closing after it, and
Scipio runs hastily to Hendrick' s study ivith—)

SciPio— "Golly! Massa. Here's Massa "Spirit" and
another gemman at the door in dere sleigh, der noses as red
as roses and de horses all in a lather !

Hendrick— The deuce they are! {Jumps up, kicks over
the stool on which his legs are resting throws his book upon the
table and incontinently places himself at the door.) Ah ! ha !
" Spirit "-Tom ! boys, 1 am right glad to see you. Come-
get out and warm yourselves. Let Scipio take the horses
round to the stable out of the cold. Come in, boys ; come

in !

SPIRIT-Can't, Hendrick ; can't, 'pon my honor. VV e are

bound on a tour of observation. Going to wake up K
at the Fort, down here, and then round by New Utrecht and
Bath and Flatbush home. You see old Sol yonder is throw-
ing sidelong glances at us even now ; he is so impatient at
this season of the year to get on his night-cap. For a gentle-
man that has so much to do he gets up confoundedly late
and goes to bed unreasonably early.

HENDRICK-Come in, a few minutes at least, and let your

horses have a chance to breathe.

Spirit-WcU, we'll spare a few moments ; come, Tom.

HENDRICK-That's right. Scipio, throw blankets over
the horses. Come, come in here, into my study-warm and

2l8

SPIRITIANA—II

snug. Throw off your caps and overcoats. There you are
—a pair of beautiful Caryatides to my fire-place. " May your
shadows never be less." Tom, my dear boy, I'm right glad

to see you !

Tom— Glad to st^ you. {Puff— ptiff— puff)
Spirit — Entre-nous, Tom is somewhat silent. He took a
pretty stiff tankard of hot whisky punch coming down, and
the effect of the unusual potation in the cold weather is, I
fear, a decided inroad on his pia mater. He has been very
taciturn for the last half hour.

Hendrick— Well, isn't this a glorious scene around?
Old Winter in all his rigor and all his savage beauty.

Spirit— Yes, "by the frosty Caucassus ! " Summer's
gone— its leaves and its flowers, its birds and soft breezes—
and old Dame Nature, like a true Chinese, has donned her
robes of white mourning for her.

Tom— Do your Chinese wear black of white color ?
Spirit— Even so, great Thomas. We, the " outside bar-
barians," alone use the sombre in token of our grief.

Tom— Well, well; I say nothing. I can smoke, though ;
they can't object to that?

Spirit— No ! by the flaming nostrils of Fashion ! no,
Tom— that they cannot. Your Turk and your Arab, your
American Indian and your New Hollander, your English-
man and your Frenchman, alike enjoy the fragrant weed ;
all smoke. " Vanity of vanities," saith the preacher ; never-
theless, all smoke. {Spies a sealed envelope lying on the table,
addressed to " THE Spirit.") Egad ! Hendrick, what's this ?
Shall I be my own post-boy and pocket it, " postage free ? "
Hendrick— E'en as you like. It's only a sketch I was
about sending you for a corner of " The Spirit."

SPIRITIANA—II

219

Spirit-- Business before pleasure," as " Mad Anthony "
used to say to his soldiers. " Wax ! by your leave." Tom,
ni read this here; 'twill save the necessity of doing it next
week. {Reads>i , ,, , ,

I pass like night from land to land,

I have strange power of speech;

So soon as in his face I see,

I know the man that must hear me,

To him my tale I teach.

—Rime of ye Aticient Manner.

Cottage at the Narrows.
Start not, my dear " Spirit," at the heading of this com-
munication. But here I am in some measure embargoed in
my snug little cottage. The snow is piled in drifts around
my windows ; the old willows are bending under their hoary
loads ; the ocean, dark and gloomy, roused by the tempest,
is lashing himself into fearful wrath ; and the vessels, like
frio-htened birds, with reefed sails, are scudding in every
direction for a harbor. The blacks are nodding a dreary
dialogue over the dying embers on the kitchen hearth. The
Newfoundlander, with nose between his paws, at my feet, is
fast asleep, unconscious, alike of all ills that do afflict the
family, canine or human. The horses, in their warm, well-
littered stalls in the stable, are contentedly munching at their
oats, while the little terrier, with eyes hke blazing coals, is
standing guard over a new-found rat-hole, whereupon, if his
ratship pops his head, he will i' the instant be " dead for a
ducat— dead." And here am I, before my cheerful fire, loll-
ing in my great arm-chair, suddenly aroused by the notion
that to drive away ennui I'll seize my pen and give you

' > 1 6",

I' i.

mmm

A PEEP OVER THE BLUE RIDGE.

Lep. " You have strange serpents there?

Ant. — "Ay, Lepidus.

LEi'.—Your serpent of Egypt is bred now
Of your mud, by the operation of your
Sun ! So is your crocodile."— /i«^. andCleo.

WHOA, my beauties !—soh, boys, soh ! Them there's
what we call mountains, in old Virginy," exclaimed
the good-natured stage-driver, as he pulled up his
leaders on the summit of a pass on the road.

It was in the decline of a summer's afternoon ni the
month of June, that we thus halted for a moment on the
top of one of the high hills, in the vicinity of the White
Sulphur springs, of Virginia, to catch a glimpse of the Alle-
ghanies, as they rolled away like waves of verdure m the
distance, their huge masses melting in the horizon like
dark clouds, while the atmosphere above and around
them hung still and breathless, and pure as the sapphire. We
gazed upon the scene, and with reluctance tore ourselves
from the view, as the snorting leaders, " touched up,'
sprang forward again on their journey. A few miles fur-
ther suddenly turning an abrupt precipice in a valley of
great elevation, between the mountains, but still below
us burst on our view the little fairy, ^^ White
Sulphur--th^ Saratoga of the South and the West
the place of our destination. On four sides of
a hollow square, of perhaps the eighth of a mile
in length, the rows of cottages (or cabins, as they

A PEEP OVER THE BLUE RIDGE

221

are called) were glistening cheerfully in the evening sun,
in bright relief against the dark background of forest,
which in their rear immediately overhung them. Con-
nected by long piazzas, they looked out upon the square,
which was laid out in a verdant lawn, divested of trees,
save here and there some of the old patriarchs of the
forest, huge oaks and chestnuts, left for shade or orna-
ment, and under whose shade were lounging groups of
visitors. At the extreme end, under its canopy, rested
the Spring, the health-restoring waters that furnish us its
great attraction (an idea of the taste and smell of which
any of your sporting readers may have, by washing his
gun-barrels and smelling the contents), while in the center
was the great dining-hall and ball-room. The line of cot-
tages were so arranged that at intervals a higher edifice
wkh columns added to the architectural effect. The rows
connected by piazzas were designated by various names.
There was ''Alabama Row;' where might be seen the bach-
elors and men without encumbrance, indulging themselves,
indolently reclining with their cigars or their books, while
beyond was -Paradise i?^«;," specially designated for the
ladies, with or without, as might be, tlieir lords paramount,
husbands, or brothers. Louisiana Row, NeivYork, Pennsylva-
uia, and Georgia, with other States, were duly represented,
while far off in one corner was ''Wolf Row,- a sort of Alsa-
tia, where the " roaring boys," the "babes of grace," and the
" sporting men " (as the gamblers are called at the South)
were quartered. Some of the stories that they told of
the " carryings on " in that part of the premises evmced a
queer state of morals, and to the actors in the scenes might
have been, one'would think, more exciting than agreeable ;

as for instance, one drunken ga r ; ..• going into the cabin
of his next-door neighbor, with . m he had quarrekd ,n
the night, and pinning him to the pillow w,th h,s bow.e-
knife, calling for his " boy " to brinj, a light that he m.ght
despatch the scoundrel." However, at the t,me we were
there, the desperate characters had been driven from the
place, and, inclosed with a fence, were two of the cabins
which were leased to a leading gambler who ran th
risk of the law) and whose interest it was to keep off all of
the same vocation as himself. There, if you chose you
might, under proper (?) introduction, be initiated, and fur-
nished with Faro, Roulette, or any other of the '-rumen s
with which the votaries of fate seek to propitiate the fickle
goddess. The proprietors of the Springs stated, in extenu-
ation of this seeming impropriety, that in so doing the
unsuspicious were protected against designing knaves, and
that if others chose to go there, it was with their eyes open

and at their own risk.

Mr Cauldwell, the owner of the Springs, a venerable gen-
tleman, was surrounded by nine sons, fine looking men, who
luxuriated in lives of sylvan ease, and whose vocation seemed
to be to kill the enemy, lolling in the summer days under
the trees, or in their white dresses and huge sombreros, cigars
in mouth, galloping on their blood horses over the ad,oni-
ing country. In the summer, though hot and sultry at
midday, at night and morning huge fires were required .n
the cabins, so cold and piercing was the high mountain
temperature. Words can hardly describe the delicious sen-
sation felt as the early morning air, loaded with the aroma
of the forest, the pines and hemlocks, was mhaled on the
opening of the cottage door ; the exhilaration of champagne

A PEEP OVER THE BLUE RIDGE

223

the cabin
irreled in
lis bowie-
he might
3 we were
from the
he cabins
ran the
off all of
hose, you
J, and fur-
istruments
the fickle
in extenu-
doing the
:naves, and
eyes open

erable gen-
J men, who
ion seemed
lays under
eros, cigars
the adjoin-
i sultry at
-equired in

without its intoxication ; and from early dawn till long into
the morning the whole valley was one sea of melody. It
appeared as if a million of aviaries were concealed under
the mist, which always hangs on the mountains till dispelled
by the sun ; myriads of mocking-birds and other songsters,
warbling their notes as if in an ecstasy of delight.

Deer and game were plenty, and in the season the
Cauldwells made the forests ring with their cheers and
hunt halloos, as they followed the hounds in full chase over
the mountains.

The horses went for hours at full gallop up and down
precipices, which would have knocked our Northern
horses up in five minutes, but they were accustomed to it
—their muscles rigid as iron; they would neither snort
nor blow, but appeared to enjoy the excitement equally
with their riders. The Cauldwells were all keen
huntsmen, and had fin blood horses in their stables, and,
what is not often found in the country, a full pack of
hounds. It consisted of about fifty dogs, and when they
opened on the mountains (or scented " vermin " prowling
around their kennels) and " gave cry," their music would
make everything ring again. Man has been designated
as a laughing animal, a talking animal, a dressing animal,
but judging from our experience he may as well be called
a lounging animal, for with our cigars in our mouths, we
used to loll day after day under those huge trees, merely with-
drawing from the sun as it circled its daily course. Some-
times, indeed, we would take our guns, and wander off to
the " deer-licks," sometimes with rod to tempt the speckled
lordling of the brook ; but we are bound to say that much
of our time was dozed away in that same lazy style. Among

Ik'
11

!1 ifl

;il!l>!l 191111

i iiiiii "

A PEEP OVER THE BLUE JUDGE
224 ^ ■« -^

SO many collected from all parts of the world, as were always
to be found there, and which were constantly changmg, there
was a sufficient variety of character to afford study and
amusement. Among others there was one, a Frenchman, a
naturalist, whose sole passion was the collection of reptiles ;
a snake was a jewel; frogs, toads, and spiders invaluable
treasures; and his pockets and handkerchief, indiscriminate-
Iv the place of durance for his captives. His cabin was
next to mine, and one night, aroused by sundry queer thumps
and iumps and bounds, I went to ascertain the cause, and
there found Roussall, with tongs in hand, jumping about in
his shirt in pursuit of his victims, who by accident had got
loose about the floor. Occasionally snapping his tongs, he
would make captive a toad or a frog, consigning him to his
place, but his more frequent abortive efforts were accompa-
nied by ^^ Sacres^ and - Diables^ sufficient to have scared
even Uncle Toby's regiment in Flanders. But speaking of
snikes it is an old saying, and as / found, worthy of all
credence, that if a fact isn't such, then ^^thcre aint no snakes
in Viro-inyr for snakes were in such abundance as I never
had se^en till then, from the old rattler, with his sixteen
rattles, surely giving his enemy warning, down to the adder
blind and moccasin. I recollect we one day made up a
party to go down to a " Deer Lick," four or five miles dis-
tant from the Springs, where, lying in wait, concealed under
what is called ^"l^lind" (a heap of logs, or pile of brush), we
might get a shot at the deer as they came down to drink.
They have other ways of killing them, which, though pic-
turesque, is little better than murder for the poor deer. In
their ^^mg/it-huntingr for instance, two of the hunters go out
to the " licks " (brackish, slightly saline springs, where the

A PEEP OVER THE BLUE RIDGE

225"

animals, allured by the salt, come down to drink). One
carries on his head a pan or brazier, on which are one or
two lighted pine-knots, throwing a circle of light upon
the surrounding darkness, rendering the hunter beneath it
invisible, while his companion, standing behind him, rests his
rifle upon his shoulder. The deer, attracted by the light,
approaches to gaze, and the hunter draws sight at his leisure,
directly between the two bright eye-balls, from which in the
darkness the blaze is reflected. Of course the poor animal
stands no chance, and the sharp whip-like crack of the rifle,
as it for an instant resounds through the forest, is followed
by one or two plunges, and the victim sinks in death. On
the day that I allude to, a party of five of us went out with
our guns, pioneered by one of the young Caldwells (they
use shot guns, and load with tw^elve to sixteen buck shot).
It was exceedingly hot, and as we wended our way through
the forest, with the exception of the hum of an insect, and
the occasional rap— rap— rap of the wood-pecker, as we saw
for a moment his scarlet head and blue back circling some
dead tree, all was perfectly silent and still. We followed
our guide in Indian file, wending our way through gullies,
cUmbing precipices, stumbling over the huge old trunks
mouldering in rottenness where they had fallen, but from
whose very decay young life was springing up in conflict
with its relentless enemy.

Now stopping to pluck an azalia, geranium or laurel ; now
to gaze on the beauty of some star-like nameless flower—
(who shall say that it was born to blush ''unseen^ while
animal life in myriads swarms around, and while other
senses than those of men may appreciate the goodness
of the Creator in Nature's loveliness ?)— when, as we neared

li:^

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226

A PEEP OVER THE BLUE RIDGE

the place of our destination, and approached the huge trees
that overhung the " Lick," we heard a woodsman's axe re-
sounding through the forest, and soon saw a brawny negro
felling timber near the very spot. Of course all chance for
sport was gone, as the deer, alarmed by the noise, would not
%ipproach his favorite haunts, but dive more deeply into the
recesses of the forest. As we passed a swampy bottom on
our route, one of my companions, who was just behmd,
called to me to turn. He pointed to the ground, and there,
within a foot of where I had just passed, lay an enormous
black-snake, fast asleep in his coil. We, of course, all stopped
and surveyed him. He was unconscious of our presence
until a slight noise was made to wake him, when in an in-
stant his coil was contracted, his head and neck elevated,
his eyes glistening and tongue playing like a forked flame
from his mouth, turning now this, now that way, with the
quickness of electricity, on every part of the group, ready
to spring on the first aggressor. He did not attempt to fly,
but in defiance a^ode the battle. I leveled my gun, and in
another instant should have sent him to the realms of his
great ancestor, the devil, when my arm was arrested by one
of the Cauldwells, who begged me not to fire. " He will
kill," said he, " a dozen rattlesnakes before the summer is
over, and therefore the hunters never destroy them." There
is an abiding enmity existing between the black and rattle-
snakes, and in their conflicts death is the doom of one
of them. Sometimes they will be for hours, watching
each other's motions, as warily as two fencers, the black
always on the offensive, the rattlesnake on the defence. The
latter is slow and sluggish in his movements, and his power
lies in his deadly venom, but the former is as quick as light.

A PEEP OVER THE BLUE RIDGE

227

The black-snake watches his opportunity, when by a sudden
spring he can catch his opponent behind the neck, so that
he cannot use his fangs, and in an instant his body is womd
round and round his enemy, and tightened till every bone
in his body is broken ; but woe be to the black if he misses
his aim ; the headsman's axe is not more fatal to its victim,
than the death that follows the fangs of his enemy as they
are dashed up to the quick in his lithe form. In a few
moments he is writhing helplessly before his foe, who quiet-
ly and grimly watches him from his coil as he writhes in the
agonies of death. On this account there is between the
hunter and the black snake a sort of truce, and the law, that
"the heel of man shall bruise his head," in some measure
does not obtain in the mountains of Virginia. We stood for
a few moments gazing at the glistening serpent, which
looked as if with the plaided monarch he would say

" Come one, come cH; this rock shall fly
From its firm base, as soon as I;"

showing neither fear nor intention of flighc. After we left,
we turned when at a little distance, but there was the head
still elevated and the coil unmoved. We passed the same
place an hour after, but he had then withdrawn, probably
to his den in some more dark and secluded place in the
swamp. As we returned on our way through the clearings,
supposing that wc should meet with more basking in the
sun, I said jokingly to a little negro boy who was with us,
ai.d who rejoiced in the name of Commodore Perry:—
'« Com., I'll give you a sixpence if you'll kill me a rattlesnake."
"Yes, sir," promptly replied the little imp, " yes, sir; shall
I bring him to your room, sir?" This was being taken at
my word with a vengeance, and as the idea of having a dead

''''In tli

Hill'

228 A^^EP OVER THE BLUE RIDGE

rattlesnake in my bed-chamber was a little too much for my
nerves, I was fam to back out of my bargam.

But there is a time for all things, which remmds me that
it is time to end this epistle ; and so, my dear " Spint." al-
though you are not of the class of " black spirits and white,
red spirits and gray," summoned to mingle t^e mgredients
in the charmed caldron; nor of those called by Owen
Glendower "from the vasty deep ;' nor of that class of "^m-
aldivils or ./W/.." which, according to old Burton "are
commanded by Beehchub. and do so fill the air, that the air
be not more full of flies in summer than it be of those same
invisible divils ; ' neither the " spirit " of the grape that cost
poor Cassio his lieutenancy ; nor the spirit that humbugged
poor old Faust ; but a right-down whole-souled " Spirit ; a
sort of ^^Diable Boiteauxr an ^^ Asmodcnsr albeit without
crutches. I will now whisper farewell.

SPIRIT-Well, Hendrick, whatever demerit your sketch
may have, it can't be said that you didn't take things easy.

Tom— (te^^/t/«^ «/)•— Eh ! What?

Spirit— Ha! ha! ha! asleep, by Juno!

Tom— Faith ! I believe I must plead guilty to the charge ;

this cold makes me drowsy.

HENDRICK-Most likely. Come, boys, now that you are
warm, let's have a glass of Burgundy or Madeira together.

Spirit-No, no! No wine now. It's bad to ride on m

the cold. , , .^

Tom-No ; that abominable punch has made my brain

reel already worse than poor Cassio's.

HENDRICK-Well, then, Dinah's coffee-urn is singing in
the parlor ; let's have a cup of that. I confess I am no friend
to Bacchus in any shape (albeit, abhorring the cant oi tern-

A PEEP OVER THE BLUE RIDGE

229

for my

me that
irit," al-
\ white,
redients
J Owen
of ^'■acri-
on, " are
: the air
Dse same
that cost
n bugged
pirit;" a
without

ir sketch
gs easy.

e charge ;

it you are

together.

ride on in

my brain

singing in
1 no friend
nt of tem-

perance) ; his libations cloud the brain, and take away the
fine tone of intellectual enjoyment. I wish in my heart that
Satan had the whole vintage, from Adam down, stowed
away in his infernal dominions ; thereby many a fine fellow
mio-ht be enjoying life as Heaven intended it should be, a
boon, instead of sinking brutalized into an early grave.

XoM— You are right, Hendrick; I respond with all my
heart to your sentiments, and feel not a little annoyed that
I have accidentally given a proof to the contrary.

Spirit— Phoo ! man, accidents zvill happen in the best
regulated families. But, my dear boy, we can't stay a
moment longer. We have got, at the end of our ride, you
know, to cross that confounded ferry, and the river is full of
ice. So we must be off, and that in a hurry. So good-bye
to you, old boy ; good-bye.

(Tom and the " Spirit " jump into the sleigh; the " Spirit,"
straightning the ribbons, gives a slight circle around the cars of
the leaders with his long lash, ivho rear bolt upright on their hind
legs, tvith a simtdtaneous snort, their bells jingling a sea of mcl-
ody, and in another moment, dashing forward, the sleigh, its
horses and riders, are out of sight, leaving the cottage and the
winter s blast far, far behind thent.)

Hendrick— (G"t?z«^ into the house, stops, and turns)— \Yt\\,
Scip, what are you lingering and standing there for, scratch-
ing your head, and looking with such profound gravity into
the snow bank? What wondrous crotchet is in possession

of that sapient head of yours now?

SciPio— Massa, I was tinking— but p'r'aps Massa no like
what old nigger was t'inking about.

Hendrick — Oh ! yes — out with it.

Scip— Well, Massa, I was tinking wedder Massa " Spirit "

any relation to de debiL

r f

I'M

230

A PEEP OVER THE BLUE RIDGE

_1?" What do you

Hendrick— " Relation to the d-

""' SciP-Why, mv old woman-old Dinah-say as how all
de spirits is relations, iis like brack folks. Now, if dis gem-
men as comes here is real Spirit, den, in course, he s rela-

tion to de old Sarpent.

HENDRICK-Ha! ha! ha! that is a question too deep tor

„,e to solve, Scipio ; but in with you, and tell Dinah to get

mv supper. {Exit Hendrick)

Scmo-(Slowly moving around to the kitchen door, m a re-
flective «,ood)-nt drives like de debil, anyhow, and he

£ht good udge of horse-flesh, too. GoUyldem brack
le!ders-how dey shine! dere nostrils was l.ke burn.ng
coals, wid smoke blowing out of 'em. (stopping and scra,ch^ng
his head:, dat nigh bay on de pole, do', he was </. beauty;
h^-swhidis child call-zactly right." What a ma^h he
make for our Charley ; dis brack man >»-* ^ave de fehc ty
to curry dat horse. I tell Massa Hendr,ck da de Major
gitting weak in de knees, and we mus' hab h>m for a match.

Dat's it— 1— . .

HENDRicK-Cw/MmO-SciFO-Scipio. ^

SciPio-Golly ! yes, Massa-coming, sir-commg. [Exit
Scipio)

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON;

OR, BILL BAXTER THE COXSWAIN'S YARN.
An Authentic Incident on Board the United States Frigate President in the Year i8«.

"THE OLD WAGON."

IT was on a delicious afternoon in the month of July that,
after making a tour of its circuit, 1 drew up my horse on
the highest ridge of Staten Island to take a survey of
the noble picture that lay on all sides extended around me.
The sun had so far declined in his course as to throw the
softest lights and richest shadows on the surrounding scen-
ery ; and the rolling and undulating hills, covered with a
carpet of verdure of the hue of emerald, glittered with the
snow-white cottages and villas scattered upon their surface.
On my right the ocean stretched in majesty, his broad ex-
panse a rising hill of waters, till reaching the blue of the
horizon it mingled into one, the gallant ships swanlike float-
ing on his bosom.

'si!.

1 i ' I
1' 'm

■;i

? r

I I
I i

1 ■

: ill':

232

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

I I

5 ■ill

The fortifications on the Long Island shore slumbered in
grim repose, the flags hanging supinely from their staffs
above the ramparts, and the green fields and harvest-npened
farms smiled in beauty as they stretched onward to the cuy of
Brooklyn, whose mansions, resting on her terraced Heights,
were throwing back from all their casements the rays of the
declining sun in quivering sheets of gold. New York, ris-
ing from its bed of waters, appeared a fairy city springing
from the deep ; while the lordly Hudson, escorted by the
Palisades, coursed gallantly on his northern journey. On
the left the plains of New Jersey rested in sleepy stillness,
guarded by their undulating mountains ; while on the west
one great sea of forest verdure extended to the horizon ; the
Raritan, like a band of silver, glittering in its breaks and in-
tervals as it wended its circuitous and serpentlike course.

Taking the panorama for all in all, it was the most cap-
tivating and beautiful creation that He who is the fountain
of all goodness and benevolence has permitted me to gaze
upon. At my feet the cheerful snow-white buildings of the
Quarantine were throwing long shadows across their veid-
ant lawns (a paradise to the poor sick mariner released from
the darkness and confinement of his weary lair in the dank
and dirty forecastle) ; and anchored on the water were ves-
sels of all flags and burthens, from the light Bermudean
shallop, with its oranges and pines, to the proud and richly
laden Indiaman ; but high above all, and moored at aristo-
cratic distance from the rest, towered a dark and lofty ship,
that perfection of naval architecture, a frigate of the largest
class, whose stars and stripes, languidly floating at the gaff,
proclaimed her nation.

I sat for some time absorbed in delight, the silence un-

. . . ;i t
'•■i !

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

233

silence un-

broken save by the occasional snort and pawing of my steed,
who I doubt not likewise enjoyed the scene, till the great
orb of molten gold in the western horizon, o'erhung and
draped with a gorgeous canopy of clouds, slowly descend-
ing, warned me that Night's sable ministers were near, and
that I must cease to linger. Putting spurs to my horse (a
figurative expression, for my bonny bay required no such
argument), I was soon at the landing. Dismounting, 1 threw
the reins across the saddle and prepared with all due phil-
osophy, as the steamer had just left, to wait her return to
take me again to the city. I had the prospect of waiting
for some time ; so, lighting my cigar-thanks to Pandora
that she left us that blessing!— I slowly sauntered down the
pier and, leaning against a spile, puffed away in silent con-

templation.

In the far distance the revolving beacons at Sandy Hook
at measured intervals threw forth their warning fires like
angel-guides to the home-bound mariner, and the "Yo!
heave-o!" from the shipping, rendered soft and flute-like by
the distance, floated gently and sweetly on the summer

atmosphere.

While I thus stood absorbed, a slight jar against the pier
aroused me, and looking over I saw a man-of-war's barge
lying alongside, the sailors, some asleep upon the thwarts
and others lolling in various attitudes, as dictated by con-
venience or caprice ; while just beyond, partly concealed by
a pile of wood, were two of her crew, seated on the pier,
whom I had not before observed. Although the twilight
was rapidlv thickening I could see that one was old and
weather-beaten, his locks grizzled by the hand of Time and
his countenance channeled and scarred into the stern ex-

n ' !

„!

■>Trl^

4i.

-rC

234

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

pression which long conflict with storm and tempest always
leaves behind ; while the other, with large whiskers encir-
cling a handsome, dare-devil face, was much his junior.
They were both dressed in man-of-war rig— white trousers
and blue jackets, the collars, worked with a foul anchor,
turned over their shoulders, exposing their bronzed chests
and throats, while around the broad ribbon on their jaunty
sennet hats was inscribed the name of their frigate, " The
United States." Seeing the name, I involuntarily exclaimed
aloud : " There, then, is the ' Old Wagon ! ' " the sobriquet
by which the ship is known in the navy. On hearing my
voice the men turned for a moment, but perceiving that I
did not address them they again turned and paid no further

attention to me.

After some moments the younger of the two broke the

silence by saying :

" What water does they carry out over the bar of this

here port, Baxter ? "

Ruminating on his quid with true nautical deliberation,
the elder, after a pause, slowly replied : " By the old channel
half less four ; at slack water four fathom ; by this here new
channel as Lieutenant Gedney has found five fathom at full
tide and four fathom at low water; at the neap maybe half

less six."

A pause ensued, when the younger again spoke : " I've
hear'n say that they can take a line-of-battle ship, guns, water
and all, out by this here new channel at any time o' tide."

" So they say," said the old man; "and it would have
been well if one of the ships as has carried the stars and
stripes in times gone by had known that ere channel There

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

235

is one sea-faring man not fur from here as would have been
saved thereby from an English prison."

" And who is that? " asked the younger sailor.
" It is a man as hangs his hammock on board that 'ere
frigate riding at anchor yonder, and is coxswain of the first
cutter lying alongside this here pier ; the man as is talkmg
with you ; launched into the world by the old folks with the
name of William Baxter on his starn."

«« Better known forward and on the gun-deck," retorted
the other, " by the name of Grumbling Bill."

u Ay, ay-very like," said the other. " A gray head has
no more' respect shown to it nowadays, nor half as much, as
an unshaved boy. Times isn't as they used to was."

Saying this, he slowly rose, and taking a short stump pipe
from his pocket deliberately filled it with tobacco, and ad-
vancing toward me, touching his hat, asked whether he
mought be so bold as to ask for a light.

- Certainly," said I ; •* but I have another cigar here ; let

me give you that."

- No, no, sir ; many thanks, many thanks," replied the
veteran.' " I hopes I've been long enough in the sarvice to
know my place. Pipes for the f o'castle, cigars for the cabm ;
pipes for the men, cigars for the officers. I likes every man
to know his station ; I've been aboard ship long enough to

larn the valu' of disci-//^«^."

Somewhat amused at the old man's notions of propriety,
I remarked : '' It would be well if we had a little more of it

on shore here."

- You may well say that," said he. " Things is getting
to a pretty pass here ; there's no respect into the times, sir
I'm hard aboard o' seventy year, and can see at the end ot

i |i

i ' ^

t I it

1 iihl

Hi t*

♦ If-'

1 ''I

1 I'l

I't.

236

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

every cruise that the people is more saarcy and houdacious
than they was before. Every man 'long shore here is master
and no man mate. D'ye see, sir, I think the only place for
a decent man nowadays is aboard ship, where he'll see the
valu' oi disci.pline. There every man has to toe the mark.
If he does his duty he knows he desarves well of his coun-
try, and gets the good will of his officers ; if he don't, he's
triced up and gets the cat till he larns. I should like to
know, sir, now, what would become of the sarvice without
d\sc\-pline. There's the ' Old Wagon ' yonder. I've known
the Old Man* come on deck at midnight and order the offi-
cer of the deck to beat to quarters ; every man asleep in his
hammock save the watch, and in five minutes from the first
tap of the drum the crew have been at quarters, guns loose,
stanchions knocked away, magazines opened ; and in eight,
hammocks stowed, decks sanded, the ship ready for action,
and a gun fired from each division ; every man at his post,
from the powder-monkey with his leathern cartridge-bucket
at the magazine hatch to the surgeon with his knife and
tourniquets in the cock-pit. That's what I call disci-/^W.
What would become of that 'ere ship, I say, sir, if she was in
the hands of land-lubbers? These here same shore people
is mighty brave, sir, when there's no danger, and always
ready to cry out for war ; and d'ye see, I think there's noth-
ing that will bring them to their senses but the d— d good
licking they'll get when it comes ; a parcel {puff) of brag-
ging {puff) fools, always ready to get up a muss (/«#), and
then leave the steady men to get them out of it." {Puff-
puff— puff-)

* The Captain is always called by the sailors " the Old Man."

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

237

" You appear very familiar with this port," said I ; "you
were just giving the water on the bar."

" Ay, sir," he replied ; " the water on that 'ere bar I shall
have cause to remember the longest day I have to live.
'Cause why ? — that and another carcumstance as is not to be
mentioned caused me to be made prisoner to a British fleet

last war."

"Indeed!" said I. "You were, then, engaged last

war ?

" You may say that, sir," said he, " and tell no lie, if some
half a dozen actions and as many wounds may be called be-
ing engaged. I was in the United States frigate ' Presi-
dent,' Commodore Stephen Decatur, when she struck on
that 'ere bar, last war, and knocked her cutwater athwart-
ships, thereby causing one of the fastest ships in the sarvice
to sail but little better nor a Dutch Logger; and the ' Main-
mast of the American Navy,'* as we called him, to strike his
flag to a British fleet. Howsomever, if there had been fifty
feet of water on that bar 'twould have been all the same. A
carcumstance turned up in her cruise before as took the luck
out of her and rendered her an onsafe craft, in my judgment,
to go to sea in in time of war. When a dead man comes to
Ufe, a'ter he's been dead three hours, and preaches a sarmint
and calls for a drink, 'tain't a thing as befalls a craft for noth-
ing. No, no; a dead man don't come back into this here
world for nothing, that's sartain." And he puffed away with

redoubled energy.

"Did such a thing occur on board the 'President?'"

said I. " I never heard of it."

" Ay, sir, very like," replied he. " You could have been
* The sobriquet given to Decatur by the seamen.

1 I

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238

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

:!■ ■Ill

but a child then, and the thing was hushed up; but 'twan't
no use. I say it caused Commodore Stephen Decatur to
strike his flag to a British fleet."

- Why, Baxter," said the younger sailor, - I have hear n
say she was took by the ' Endymion.' "

«' ' Endymion ' be d-d ! " growled the old sailor. John
Bull would have to keep a double gang of ship carpenters
if that 'ere was the way he conquered his inimy. The En-
dvmion ' got her saarce, and that hot enough, too, before the
rest of the Britiph fleet come up. Took by the ' Endymion !
D-n their impudence ! They are so used to beating the
French (as are not by nature a sea-faring people, but good
enough for them on the land any day), and lying about it
a'terwards, that I shouldn't wonder next if they said the
. President ' didn't make no fight at all, and that the skipper
went aboard in his gig to ask them to take possession. Took
by the ' Endymion ! ' Why, we whipped her before the res
of the fleet came within gun-shot. Her rigging, spars and
sails was cut to pieces, and she drifted a complete wrack,
firing guns only at long intervals ; and we could have taken
possession of her, but, bating the honor of the thmg, it
wouldn't have been no use, for, our firing having deadened
the wind, the rest of the squadron, the ' Majestic,' ' Pomone
and ' Tenedos,' came up hand over hand, choosing their
positions on our quarters and pitching their old iron into us
by the ton. So the commander hadn't nothing more to do.
to save the spiUin' of blood, but to surrender. Took by the
. Endymion ! ' Why, when we had to yaw, to avoid the fire
of the chase, she could have raked us a dozen t^mes; but
d-n the shot did she fire ! We'd 'ave whipped her with
one watch and sarved out the rest if they had come on one

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

239

at a time. The * President's ' men was grit ;* and as for
Commodore Stephen Decatur, there was no more dodge
about him than there was about the mainmast. But, as I
was saying, it wasn't no use ; the luck was out of the ship,
and she had to strike."

" But what was the circumstance you allude to ? " said I.
" You spoke of a dead man's coming to life."

" Well, sir," said he, slowly knocking the ashes from his
pipe and carefully replacing it in his pocket, looking fur-
tively about him at the same time and speaking low, " this
here ain't the place nor the time of night I likes to speak of
such things; 'cause why? Jim Austin's sperit may be
haunting here away now, for aught I know, as he hailed
from this here city of New York But the carcumstance as
I have mentioned occurred on board of her in her last cruise
under Commodore Rodgers ; it was in that very cruise.
D'ye see, sir, we had been out a long time, and scoured the
Atlantic and Nor' Sea from one end to the other ; but some-
how, and it wasn't the fault of the old commodore, neither,
we hadn't the luck to fall in with the inimy, and had naither
a chance for fighting nor for prize-money ; but as the cruise
was nigh up we was on our way home, feeling mighty small
to be sneaking into port without having fired a shot in anger
nor burnt powder save in scaling the guns, when the car-
cumstance occurred. D'ye see, sir, there was a man on
board of the ship from this same place; New York, by the
name of James Austin, captain of the mizzen-top— a good
seaman but a bad man, and when he had his grog aboard as
profane and blasphemous a wretch as ever stepped foot on
a tarred plank, but nevertheless a right bold and daring fel-

* A favorite expression of Decatur's when praising his officers.

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240

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

low Well, Sir, somehow he gets this here consumption,
and bleeds every day more or less from the lungs, and gets
weaker and weaker, till the doctor claps him on the sick-

list

- So he gets worse and worse every day, till the doctor

he condemns him as unseawarthy and turns him over to the
chaplain so that he mought patch him up for his last cruise.
The o-ood man did the best he could, but d-l a bit could he
mike^ut of Jim ; for while he was talking to him Jim would
cJrse the loblolly boys about him in the sick-bay the same
-IS if he hadn't his clearance papers all made out for the great
ocean of etarnity. The chaplain told the first lieutenant
(when he was in the bay one day to see that all the sick was
comfortably taken care of), shaking his head and looking
sorrowfully at Jim, says he, ' He fears death, sir, no more
nor a drunken sleep, and is desperately mortal.' He made
a kind of merit of being houdacious and hardened. As he
was growing weaker and weaker, and almost suffocated by
his cough, the doctor orders him, as it was hot and confined
in the sick-bay, to be slung up in his hammock near the
main-deck ports, so that he mought have the air; and there
he was, off and on, for two or three weeks, sinking day by
day • but the oath was always uppermost with him, and
though his anchor was all ready to let go into the quick-
sands of death he was just as wicked and profane in his whis-
per as he used to be'when he answered the hail of the officer
of the deck, in the voice of a bull, from the mizzen-top.

"Well, sir, one morning airly a sail hove in sight, and we
soon made her out from the masthead to be a man-of-war,
and before long from the decks, a heavy, double-banked frig-
ate with two reg'lar rows of teeth, ill tell you what, sir.

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMOiV

241

every man's eyes brightened up on board of that 'ere ship,
from the niggers at the coppers to the commodore in his
cabin. The drum beat to quarters and the ship was made
ready for action ; and great glee was there among the men,
and congratulations — I say, Bill Blunt, ain't that 'ere the
word the officers uses ? — and congratulations among the
officers that we shouldn't be obliged to sneak into port with-
out having fired a shot. In course, Jim's hammock, with all
the other lumber, was stowed away, and Jim placed out of
harm's way with the rest of the sick. Says the surgeon to
him, says he, ' My man, if we go into action, I charge you
(for Jim was always ready for fight), 1 charge you not to
leave your cot, for any exertion that you may make will
start your lungs ; your life will not be worth ten minutes'
purchase ; you'll bleed to death on the spot.' Jim said noth-
ing, but his eyes brightened and a faint smile played across
his pale lips; so the surgeon telled the lieutenant a'terwards.
We clapt on all sail in chase, and so did the strange ship ;
but the ' President * then being in luck, the carcumstance at
that time not having occurred, gradually overhauled her,
and getting near enough sent a couple of shot across her
forefoot to make her tell her name. Shiver my timbers if I
ever seen so many long faces aboard a Yankee frigate as
showed themselves of a sudden as the French flag run up
and floated in the wind from her gaff. * Stop my grog ! '
growled old Albro, the surly boatswain ; (and Albro wasn't
a man as stuck at breaking the third commandment, for
every other word was with him an oath ; but he never used
that oath 'cept when he was excited) ' May my grog be etar-
nally stopped I ' growled he between his clenched teeth, * if
it ain't a d — d Johnny Crapo after all! D — n me, if I was

t !

^ jfjE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

the Skipper if I wouldn't make the Mounseer make a fight
of it or co-arce him to send aboard a couple of butts of old
cog-ni-ac to pay for the deception.'

" So all hopes of a fight and prize money having vanished
like scud before a Nor'wester, we had nothing to do but se-
cure the guns ag'in and make the best of a bad bargain But
as for Jim Austin, what does he do but-at the report of the
first gun that was fired-what does he do but come crawl-
ing up, and, as the surgeon telled him, hardly reaches his
gun before he falls, the blood gushes from his mouth and
nostrils, and they takes him below, bleeding to death.

- Well all was made snug ag'in, and the men got their
breakfast,' and the French ship and Jim's case was nigh on
forgotten, when, as the commodore and first lieutenant was
walking up and down the quarter-deck, one of the surgeon s
mates comes up, touches his hat to the lieutenant and says
' I report James Austin, sir, captain of the mizzen-top, aged
forty-two years, dead of consumption at four bells.' ' \ ery
well,' says the lieutenant ; ' make it so; let the purser square
his accounts, and have him ready for burial an hour before
sun-down this evening.' Now there, sir, you see the valu
of disci-//.W; a man ain't allowed to be dead, nor the hour
struck, till the officer of the watch says, ' Make it so: Well,
sir, the day wore on ; the men had got their dinners, and the
officer of the watch was leaning ag'in' the capstan, with his
trumpet under his arm, when the surgeon comes up and says
in a low voice, ' There's something very queer going on be-
low sir. That man Austin, that was reported dead this
morning, has come to life ag'in, and is sitting bolt upright in
bis hammock, addressing the men, who are crowding around
him, and in language and terms so different from what was

THE DEAD MAN'S SEA'MOAT

243

usual with him that I can hardly believe it's the same man.'
' I'll go below with you,' said the lieutenant, * and see into
the matter. He may do mischief among the crew with his
nonsense.' So they went below and made their way for'ard
to the sick-bay, which was surrounded by the men. crowd-
ing around and reaching over each others' shoulders ; and
there, as the surgeon said, sat the dead man, as white and
cold and stiff as a marble statute, preaching a sarmint to the
men. It warn't long before it came to the commodore's
ears that there was something unusual going on below, and
he was about to send to inquire into the matter, when the
surgeon himself comes up and says, * Commodore, Austin
has sent for j'ou; he says he has one word ior you:

'« ' Pish !' says the commodore, as was his way when he
was vexed ; ' what does the man want with me? ' ' He says
he has come from the dead, and has a message for you, com-
modore, and begs that you will indulge him for the moment
that he has to remain.' ' Well,' said the commodore, ' I will
go, lest he should work nonsense among the men, and turn
my gun-deck into a Quaker meeting.'

" So he goes down to the sick-bay (and it was a great con-
descension for the commodore to go down at the call of a
foremast man, dead or alire), and there sits Austin, bolt up-
right in his hammock, white as death, the surgeons each side
of him, one holding his wrist and the other with his hand on
his heart; and they said there was no more pulse in his wrist
than there was in a marlinspike, and that his heart was as
still as a pirate's conscience. ' Commodore,' says Austin,
and there wasn't a muscle of his face moved save his lips ;
'commodore, a few hours ago and I trembled at your frown,
but now I do not fear you, for I'm come from the dead to

I! 4

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I ; i

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

warn you and this ship's company to mend your ways and
Take care of your immortal souls ■,• and he then went on for
„th"> half an hour, and gin a sarmint, which the chaplam
si "beauty of diction and elewation of sent.men was
equal that Jf any divine he had ever heerd, and the lang^

uage that of a fine and --»P'-"f . f °'="-', "!

told them it was their duty to stand by the.r flag, and fignt
"defence of their country (which pleased the commodore;

"ausewhy? he was afear'd he'd cow the men) and a the

eend hlwarned them all to be ready to follow h.m; for
ays he, .ship-mates. I am but a little way ahead o you and
n, ,st all soon follow. And now.' says he, ' I m done ;
LTarands fin-shed ;• and he sunk back cold and stiff into
Tilhlmock. Well, the men disparsed and went to th.
dutv • but there was many of them as d.dn t feel easy
,w ni^ht and they was collected in knots, talkmg it over

ITa dTtteen'theguns; and some of the hardest men
aboard "e ship looked sober, and allowed themselves to be
Iconc rted about the matter. Even old Albro ciapt a be-

1 y on hie. tongue, and stopped swearing for hard on two
hours which is more than could be said of him before or
'rnce 'lept once't a'terwards, in that same sh.p, when a
musket-shot from the Tenedos went into his mouth, just as
Te wa launching an oath at a marine as was in h.s way. an
carried half his grinders through the opposite ,aw. But,
dWe see Austin wasn't done yet; for about half an hour
a( er 't. he rises ag'in in his hammock and says to t e sur
Ion's mate as was looking at him, ' G.ve me a dnnk! bo
fhe surgeon gives him a tin cup of water. Jim takes a drmk,
', res around him .or the space of a minute, a,«J then, star

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

245

third time, stock dead, into his hammock. I'll tell you, sir,
there was one man aboard as would have been glad to have
been out of that 'ere craft, and his name was William Bax-
ter. I happened to be near the commodore as he and the
surgeon was talking in a low tone together in the evening,
while I was sweeping the weather quarter with my glass,
and I listened, and I hear'n the surgeon say :

"* Yes, sir; I have seen cases, soiething like this, that
we call in the books catalepsy; but I never heard of one
speaking in that state.'

"That was enough for w^. The smallest boy on board
ship knows that a cat is ill luck on board any craft. Well,
sir, Jim was at last dead, in airnest, and sewed up in his
hammock, with a thirty-two pound shot tied to his heels ;
and the commodore's orders was that he should be buried
next day at seven bells. Did ye ever see a burial at sea, sir ?
If not, to my mind you never seen the right way to return
the Almighty what is left of one of His creeturs after his
cruise in this world is up and his dQS-tined sarvice ended.
I've seen shore folks bury their fellow-creeturs ; but, like
everything as landsmen does, it's onhandsome and not ship-
shape. It's only a few days aback that me and Bill Blunt,
this man as sits here on the log, alongside o' me, was ashore
on liberty, and overhauled one o' their funerals, as they call
them, under way to carry some poor feller to his last moor-
ing-ground. There was a horse towing a wagon covered
with a tarpaulin, for all the world like our powder-barge,
'cept it hadn't the red flag on it ; for, d'ye see, sir, when we
brings powder aboard we always hoists a red flag, as a cau-
tion, on the barge, and afore we comes alongside, the boats-
wain pipes, ' All hands, ahoy ! Put out the fires in the gal-

»i

.!i

I ' !
it '

i\\

iii

(^ THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

' out ' by the officer. , ,

• 4^u;c Vipre craft was towed by a
" But, as I was saying, this here crait

white horse, and in its wake followed a long fleet of coaches
Id other conweyances. In the first two or three of them,
to be sure, there was passengers as had their pumps a-gon,g,
nd was swabbing up the water with white handkerchers^
but in all the rest the people was laugh.n , -d t^^km and
looking out of the ports, as onconcarned as .f they was fo
lowing a brute beast to his grave, instead of "ne of the
kind I r,ay, sir, the sight was onpleasant to me ; and I say
rill Blul;, says I, . Bin, look how mtle these here .bo^
folks cares for their ship-mates; but B.U was '^ - J^
hauled in the wind, and h. only hiccups, and, pulbng oft h.s
h t bows to the procession, and 'Wishes their worsh.ps a
ptsant journey.' Bill was hard up, and I seen U wasn t
use to talk to him •. so 1 takes off my hat and stands by and
looks, while he steadies himself ag'in' the lamp-post •, and I m
free to say that them lamp-posts is a great conven.ence to
sea-faring men when they has their g™g;'^»f ^/j^
know'd by my own experience in a squall. But, as I was
laying, we steadies ourselves by the post, w.th our hats , ,
our hands, till the procession gets by ; but .t gm me a c^ -
like to all shore burials ; and all I ask >s that when B 11 Bax-
te^s time comes he may be launched off soundmgs u, blue

"'THowsomdever, at seven bells the bo'swain's whistle was
heerd, and old Albro and his mate's hoarse voices soundmg

T 1- --hwvs 'AH hands ahoy, to bury the dead!
down the iiui.i.-n\Taj&, -c^" j

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

247

Below there, all hands to bury the dead!' The body of
Jim was brought up out of the sick-bay, sewed up in its
hammock, and laid on a grating at the gangway; the offi-
cers, with their epaulettes on their shoulders, their swords
at their sides, and laced scrapers in their hands, standing on
one side, and the men, in their clean jackets and trowsers,
and hats off, on the other, just aft the mainmast, Jim's mess-
mates close aboard the grating. The ship was hove to, the
main-top sails aback, the flag half-mast, and nothing was
heered to break the silence 'cept the slapping of the blocks
and rigging occasionally ag'in the masts as she slowly rose
and fell in the heavy swell. And there was the chaplain,
surrounded by us sea-faring men, about to return to the Al-
mighty the hulk of our late shipmate. A shipmate's faults,
and may be vices, is forgotten at that time, when we sees
him laid stiff and silent before us, and thinks that there he
lies as has pulled at the same rope, laid out on the same yard,
messed from the same kid, and may befou'tatthe same gun,
with us ; I say his faults is forgotten, and the best feelings
of a seaman only remain ; and many an eye that has looked
into the muzzle of an inimy's forty-two without winking, at
such times runs down with tears like a child; but somehow
that 'ere wasn't the case with the body of Jim Austin as he
lay there on the grating. The men was afeard ; and when
the chaplain comes to the part in the sarvice, ' we consign
him to the deep,' and the body plunged overboard, every
man aboard of that craft, officers and all, breathed freer, as
if they'd got rid of a sort of Jonah as boded ill to the ship.
The men rushed to the ports, expecting to see the body rise
ag'in and float, and sure enough it did. It shot half out of
the water, and then sunk again— rose and sunk— and then

1 I)

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248

THE DEAD MAN'S SERMON

slowly rising, floated half its length above the swell, in
which it surged and rolled from side to side, as if it were
trying to regain the ship ; and there it remained, floating in
our wake, until, as the ship got way, it gradually grew less
and less, and finally disappeared. Now, sir, it's my behet,
and the belief of some of the oldest sea-faring men I have
met, that Jim Austin's spent always haunted about that 'ere
ship arter that, and in spite lent a hand to knock her cut-
water athwart ship when she thumped on the bar, and that

thereby, as I said, she had to strike her flag to a "

" First cutter, ahoy ! " hailed a fine deep voice.
" Ay, ay, sir ! " answered the veteran, abruptly breaking
off his n'arration ; and by the light of the wharf-lantern and
the glitter of the uniforms I perceived a couple of officers
approaching along the pier. In a moment or two more they
were seated in the stern-sheets of the barge, the old seaman

at the tiller.

" Oars ! " said the officer, and each man's oar elevated,
stood upright before him. " Shove off ! " and the bowman
gave the bow a sheer with his boat-hook. " Let fall ! " The
oars fell simultaneously into the water, dashing around them
phosphorescent fire as they fell. " Give way, men ! " The
boat shot away, and soon the measured roll of the oars in
the row-locks became fainter and fainter, and the boat was
lost in the darkness.

A few moments more and my horse was pawing impa-
tiently the deck of the steamer as we dashed up the bay on
our way to the good and ancient city of Gotham.

I p'

A TRIP THROUGH LONG ISLAND SOUND.

No. I.

HELL GATE.

O at five o' the clock in the afternoon of the — of August,

Anno Domini wind S.S.VV, and the sky as clear

as a bell, I stood in propria persona, my stick in my hand,
and cape on my shoulders, on the deck of the steamer at the
Battery, surrounded by all the noise, hubbub and confusion
attending the departure of that Leviathan on its nocturnal
journey. The Pilot's signal was given, the voice of the
Captain, " All ashore that's going " was heard, the plank
hauled in, the fasts cast off, the huge paddles revolved, the
wharf slid by us, wc passed the pier head, and with gather-
ing speed shot out on to the bosom of the calm and beautiful

bay.

We swept around the Battery, and dashed like a race
horse, with momentarily increasing velocity, on our course,
through the various craft crowding the east river. Gliding
past the borders of the great city, the busy industry of man
every where evident to eye and ear, soon we were hurrying
through the beautiful scenery of Hell Gate, the gay and
cheerful villas shining among the green trees on the
island of Manhattan, while Blackwell's reared her castellated
and looped prisons at our sides.

With steadiness our huge line steamer with undiminished

f I

250

I/ELL GATE

IV I

speed, rushed upon her course, reckless alike of boihng
eddies, and rocks, and tides and whirlpools. A wide and
beautiful bay opened on our left. Here in our youthful days
did we watch with awe the diving bell at work, suspended
above the submerged wreck of the British man-of-war,
- Hussar," and here in our boyish fancy did we see " wedges
of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, inestimable jewels, all
scattered in the boL.om of the sea," The Hussar struck
upon a rock in passing through the Gate in the Revolution,
and was with difficulty kept afloat, till running her into this
bay she sunk in deep water near the shore, her crew escap-
ing with their lives. She was supposed to have had the mili-
tary chest of the troops on board, containing a hundred thou-
sand pounds in silver.

Vv"hether true or not, the probability was sufficient to in-
duce the formation of companies at different times to explore
her slimy and kelp-covered timbers in its pursuit, and much
real treasure was sunk in the vain effort to obtain that which
in all probability never has been. The tradition handed
down, that she was a frigate, is incorrect ; she was a s/oop of
war, with a single gun deck and consequently but one bat-
tery.

An old man (a stout lad at the time), relates that passing
one morning down by the Flymarket, he was accosted by
-a soldier officer" (her Lieutenant of Marines) who re-
quested him to carry on board a pair of shoes that he had

just purchased.

He went down to the end of the wharf, and finding one
of her barges putting off, jumped in, and was coon set on
board of her, as she lay moored in the middle of the stream.
Enquiring for the Purser, he delivered the shoes and his

HELL GATE

251

message, and receiving the pistareen, his promised reward,
ascended the deck again to return, but to u?e his own ex-
pression, " found that getting into a King's ship and getting
out were two very different things." While he was below,
the crew, it appears, had been mustered to receive certain
prize money, and all his inquiries and solicitations as to how

DUTCH MANSION.

he was to get ashore, were answered by such jeers and jibes,
such pushing and hustling, that his soul fairly sunk within
him, and to avoid the boatswain's cats, which began to fly
around among the rioters with the most impartial plenty, and
in the distribution of which he came in fc his share, he was

' , i

' if '

! ,

'il

252

HELL GA TE

forced to creep in between two of the guns opposite the main
hatch, waiting a favorable opportunity for escape. He
eventually succeeded in getting again below, and represent-
ing his case to the Purser. That officer commis^ratnig his
situation, came on deck, and directed him to be put on shore
by a boat, much to the dissatisfaction of the rough men-of-
war's men, who by no means restrained their muttenngs, as
they " gave way," to stem the tide which ran almost as

swiftly then as now.

In those days the carters loaded their wood from along-
side the vessels in Coenties Slip, and the salutes were fired
from old Fort George, just below the Bowling Green. The
Powder Magazine was placed well without the city limits on
the " Common," the spot where now stands the City Hall.
The Hessians quartered on the Bowery Road, well rugh as
far out as Grand street, and the English Red Coats bar-
racked at a distance, on a line now known as Chambers
street. Wall street was the " West end," where were to be
found the Howes and Clintons, tne Knyphausens and De
Heysers, with their liveried servants, and powdered and
laced footmen. The Theatre, " that wicked school of Satan,"
where the English Officers, many of them, themselves per-
formed, was in John street, the present site of Thorburn's
Seed Store. " I was never into it but once't," said the old
man ; " I was never into it but once't, and then it cost me a
gold'half Jo, for I stood treat for the whole company. Talk
about dress! Why, the people don't know how to dress
now-a-days. You ought to a-seen the gentle folks then-
why, there was the fine cloth coat with its broad flaps, and
buttons the size of a dollar; the shirt of Holland, seventeen
bunder' fine, and the cambric cravat with its lace ends, tied

HELL GATE

253

in a handsome knot in front; the brocade vest, covering the
hips, and the velvet breeches, with the paste, or it mought
be, diamond buckles at the knees; silk stockings, with their
embroidered clocks half up the legs, and the polished
Spanish leather shoes ; the queue, tied with its black ribbon,
hanging down the back, playing forward and backward in
the powder on the shoulders ; the long gold-headed cane,
and the cocked hat under the arm." However, to return to
the wreck. Nothing was ever recovered from her, save
some trifles: rusty cannon and small arms were got up, and
a bottle of " Old Jamacia," crusted over with oysters and
barnacles, which, they say, was delicious. Large sums ol
money were expended at different times, but no return ever

realized.

Sir Peter Parker afterwards passed through the gate in
his frigate, holding a pistol to the ear of the pilot, with the
comfortable assurance that if the ship touched, his brains
should be the forfeit. Fortunately skill and good luck saved
the pilot from this naval Judge Lynch. As we passed
on, the beautiful shores, with their gay villas, glided by us
like a moving diorama. Trim yachts with gaudy streamers,
sloops careering in the breeze till their green bottoms were
throv/n almost entirely out of the water, and square rigged
vessels bellying out their white canvas in lordly dignity,
were all left behind us, as we rounded " Throg's," opposite
to which lies the fortress, erected by the general Govern-
ment, to cover the city upon its Eastern side, which with
a work of corresponding magnitude upon the Long Island
shore, will protect it from any attack in that direction. As
we sped out upon the bosom of the broad blue Sound, our
jjallant boat rushed forward with increased vehemence, and

■^F^ ^

254

HELL GATE

- in going we did devour the way." Ar- we plowed its sur-
face the day was closing and the last rays of the settnig sun
seemed to linger, to gild the white sails here and there rest-
ing upon it, before gathering himself into a huge globe of fire,
he should reluctantly sink beneath the horizon, leavmg the
Christain here, to warn the Hindoo and the Mussulman,
that Brahma and Alia, in the other Hemisphere, were there

awaiting prayer.

The gray twilight, like mist, gradually gamed upon us,
and ere long the constellations were quivering in the heavens
while the kindly lights and beacons erected by the hand of
man, shone steadily and hospitably along the shores.

A TRIP THROUGH LONG ISLAND SOUND.

No. II.

BURNING OF FAIRFIELD AND DANBURV.

' 6,

AS I pursued my solitary walk up and down the prom-
enade deck, my mind was aroused from its train of
reflections by tiie Light shining in the distance on the
Connecticut shore, and with little effort I recognized it as
marking xhe spot where were passed my school-boy days.
There thou liest, thought I ; thy fields are just as green
and verdant, the meadow-lark raising his wild notes as sweetly
from their midst, thy shady woods as still, the squirrel and

'H t

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256

BURNING OF FAIRFIELD AND DANBURY

% I

partridge in their depths; thy swamps as thick, entangled
with undergrowth, brilliant with wild flowers, the muskrat
and graceful teal sailing as safely in their waters ; thy creeks
as fresh and clear, the oysters clinging to the rocks
waiting to be taken, the fish sweeping around the rustic
skiff all ready to be speared ; and thy orchards ! with just
such tempting fruit waiting c?//!^r schoolboys' appetites. The
scene of my boyish frolics and truant days— days when
there was no •* satis to the jam," there thou liest, still— still
enough — yet it was not always so of yore. Thou hast known
the pomp, the pride— ay, felt the circumstance of war.

The town was burnt by the British during the Revolu-
tion, and acts of great atrocity and cruelty committed by
the licentious soldiery. I well recollect how I used to listen
with all my ears to the narrations of "Old Kit," one of
Africa's blackest sons, who, torn in his childhood from his
native sands in Guinea, had been passed, for nearly three
generations, from master to master, outliving them all into
freedom and four-score. After firing most of the houses the
enemy's column moved toward Ridgefield, with the inten-
tion of destroying the neighboring town of Danbury, about
ten miles farther on. As they moved along the main road
they were fired upon by the enraged inhabitants from every
spot that would afford a cover. As they passed the corn-
fields, which were then in full height, they were particularly
exposed, their officers picked off and numbers thinned, by
an unseen foe, whose whereabouts was only marked by the
smoke of his musket rising above the tall green stalks, and
who was out of reach long before the fire could be returned.
" De Red Coats fire whole platoons in dem dar fields ob
corn," said Kit, " but dar no use— our people was off

BURNING OF FAIRFIELD AND D ANBURY

257

as soon as dey fire ; sarve 'em right, burnin' peo-
ple's housen." In one place, a company of militia
that had ensconced themselves behind a stone fence
until they came within musket range, poured in a fire that
made a complete chasm in the column, retreating and
escaping under the smoke of their own guns. Among other
deeds of brutality that are related of them, the troop seized
upon a poor old man, who had remained behind in the town
in the hope that his age and infirmities might protect him, and
havingenvelopedhimin a blanket soaked in rum, they set fire
to it, bidding him, with savage laughter, run for his life.
The poor man hurried, with all the strength he had, to
throw himself into an adjacent pond, but before he could
reach it was bayonetted to death amid the jeers and execra-
tions of the demons in human shape. Some few of the houses
escaped the conflagration, as being residences of tories, or
adjoining them. One of the latter stands to this day, with
the hole made by a cannon-shot in its side. The last forty
years, swarms of bees have ensconced themselves annually
within the walls, and collected large stores of honey within
the ceilings, which the owner will not allow to be disturbed.
" Young Massa," said Kit, " you see dat little rise by de
Meetin' House, dar, jis by dat trees ? well, arter de British
wasgone,dar I see little red rag stick up out of de ground— old
nigger's eyes was better den dan day is now — dat was
next day. Well, me and Hi. Lewis— not dat little noisy
debbil dar, dat young Hi, as is making him mischief— but
old Hi' him's grandfather as is dead and gone— me and old
Hi' dig and find— what you tink we find dar, eh ?— we find
body of young soldier officer in him regimentals, him red
coat and eperletts and sword and all, buried two feet under

\)\

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258 BURNING OF FAIRFIELD AND DANBURY

. •• . .. h fell Old Kit seen handsome men in

lUocoi nr Clark sav, rity, pny .
beautiful young man. Massa Ur. ^la u:_,._but

him fine young man. but neber know what hurt h m but
we lay him down decent in de ^"^y'^Sfl^l^J^^J^^
Numberless were the traditions treasured up by the old peo
p, and mtle, less than little, was the love they bore te
BrWsh But for thee, old Kit-dark, charcoal, jetty K.t,
fue shall see thee more-ne'ershall my truant steps ag. n
inger at thy cabin door in the little dcU m the woods. Ne e
aX shall I drink thy spruce beer whizzmg from .ts
w2 bottle, rior sec the yellow of thine eyes beammg
t th satisfac'tion as thou dost watch its -"s er^o my
youthful lips; no more shall I hear thy legends of wUches
Ld hobgoblins; alas! no more e'en believe m ghosts and
"frits no mor in early morning see the blue smoke
rS'in its spiral columns above thy rustic home; thou
h t gone, long, and long ago; gone to that bourne
wh re old Dinah's voice shall not follow thee, nor e e
the bark of " Spot," thy little trundle ta.l, fall sweetly on

"' No'more on thy block in the corner shall 1 see thee
puf^ng from thy Loke-enameled pipe, while thou dos
Lrn L fish caught in the neighboring creek upon th
coals- thy hearthstone and thy hut are gone-a pile o
cSlnd stones, relics of the old chimney, are all that

BURNING OF FAIRFIELD AND DANBURY 250

remain to tell that there was human habitation. Peace
to thy ashes, Kit, they rest in the black people's " section"
in the graveyard, not even in death mingling with the white
race.

The old giant elms tower above thee, but no carved mon-
ument, with boasting epitaph, marks thy whereabouts ; two
gray stones, the one at thy head and the other at thy heels,
show where were consigned thy ashes. Farewell, honest,
simple-hearted Kit ; should I reach thy years, I still should
carry in remembrance the happy hours I passed with thee,
the squeaking of thy violin, the shrill notes of thy " wry-
necked fife ; " even the toll of thy funeral bell, honest old ne-
gro, shall rouse in my memory my happy hours with thee.

The British proceeded to Danbury, and destroyed a
large qi'.antity of stores and provisions which had been de-
posited there for the American forces. The streets literally
ran ankle deep in fat from the burning beef and pork. In
the height of the conflagration a somewhat ludicrous exhi-
bition was made by a squad of troopers chasing an old man,
endeavoring to escape on horseback with a roll of cloth, his
property, under his arm. The cloth, unfolding and flying
behind him, so frightened the horses of the dragoons, that,
although they were more fleet, they could not reach the old
man with their sabers in their attempts to cut him down.
" Give in, old daddy," they at length shouted ; "give in, and
take quarter." But the old daddy, tenacious of his prop-
erty, would not give in, and won the race, saving his cloth
and skin.

The surrounding country was soon in arms, and the en-
emy, having effected their object, commenced their retreat.
At one time, when the column was in full march, it was

'V?\

260 BUJ!MJVC OF FAIRFIELD AND DANBUHV

brought to a halt, and the artillery hurried up to the front
by the appearance of a mounted man on a ndge ,ust abo^e
them, who appeared to be giving commands to . i -roe be-
hind in tones of decision and authority. As soon as h:s
words could be disti„guished,they heard the imposmgorders:

"nalt-the whole universe ! Break off by km^doms ! Em-
pires to the front !" They of course discovered that it was a
m dman. Wooster and Arnold hung upon then- rear as
They retreated, and they were glad to effect a hurr.ed embark-
ation in their boats, which were awaitmg them off Compo.
Wooster was killed, shot through the body, as he turned m
his saddle to cheeron his men. Arnoldcame near shanng the
same fate, but exhibited his usual cool daring -^ '" -P'^'J^
His horse was shot by an English grenad.er, and fell upon
hi„ in such a manner that he was entangled, and could no
immediately arise. The soldier hurried up to bay"-' '^e
disabled officer; but Arnold, disengagmg h.™self,drew h.s
pistol from the holsters, and shot the man dead as he ap-
proached.

A TRIP THROUGH LONG ISLAND SOUND.

\\l

No. III.

NIGHT ALARM.

' I I

1 I

BUT to return to our journey. As the evening wore on
group after group disappeared from the deck, and by
and by I myself descended to the cabin, prepared to
try to rest. I threw myself into my berth, and soon all was
still, save here and there a sleepy waiter might be seen
gathering the boots together, or obeying the instructions
given him by some passenger in undertones. But the quiet
of the cabin was before long broken by the entry of several-
noisy young men, who had, by drinking at the bar, deprived
themselves of the slight modicum of sense with which na-
ture had endowed them. The noise and profanity were
borne by the passengers for a time in silence ; but finally,
by absence from restraint, became so insufferable that we
were induced to call a waiter and send him with a message
to the captain, complaining of the unreasonable disturbance.
The captain was soon on the spot, and by his remonstrances
the disturbance quelled ; but he had no sooner left
the cabin than it was resumed, and became worse
than before. I had heard for some time ominous
sounds of dissatisfaction proceeding from the berth
above me ; and sundry creaks and broken exclama-

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262

NIGHT ALARM

in- "I li

ii ' f

tions of wrath warned me that its occupant was about be-
stirring himself. At length a night-capped head protruded
itself over its side, and a solemn voice, in tones and gravity
becoming a country deacon proceeded from it. ''I thmktha
it is a great and manifest wrong," said the speaker, "that all
the passengers in the cabin of this public conveyance are to be
disturbed in this manner by a parcel of noisy, riotous young

^en who " " Bah ! Uncle, pull in your night-cap, was

the insulting interruption called forth by this reasonable re-
monstrance ; but, instead of silencing, my neighbor s pluck
was thoroughly up, and raising his voice so that it could be
heard to the very extremities of the cabin, completely
drowning the vociferations of the rioters, he continued . ''I
think it a shame-I see no reason why we should be de-
prived of our rest, more than our money ; and of the two I
had rather be robbed of the last." The yells of the
rioters now became perfectly outrageous. "I move
that if these fellows are not instantly quiet, that they
be put out of the cabin in their shirts"-and suiting the
action to the word, throwing his legs over the side of the
berth-'' and I will be the first to do it." ^ 1 second that
motion," cried one passenger; ''and I," "and I," "and I,
resounded from every part of the cabin. " D-n their eyes,
growled a deep bass voice, from the berth just beyond me,
in tones that had evidently been modulated by a speaking
trumpet, " d-n their eyes, if they give us any more of their
noise, I'll thrash the whole raft of them myself. Shut up, you

infernal whelps! "

The spirit of wrath was up among the passengers, and
the rioters were effectually subdued. They slunk away, and
quiet was restored. I supposed all this time that my friend

NIGHT ALARM

263

of the night-cap was simmering in wrath and indignation in
his berth above me, but was equally surprised and amused
when, after a lapse of some ten minutes, the head again bent
over the side towards me, and a good-natured voice issued
from its mouth : " I say, we put them fellows down nice,
didn't we?" as calm and good-naturedly as if its owner had
had no hand in the oelligerent manifestations so lately made.

The regular jar and clank of the machinery was soon all
that disturbed the restored quiet of the cabin, and the moan
or sigh of some uneasy sleeper all that gave evidence that
a hundred souls were resting within its confines. I gradu-
ally lost my recollection, and fell asleep, but could not have
been long in that state when I was aroused by a cry so
shrill and agonizing—" Stop her, stop her, for God's sake
stop her ! "- that, in common with twenty others, I was out
of my bertn, hurrying upon deck, before I was well aware
of what I was about. Supposing that we were running on
the rocks, or about to be run into by some other vessel,
the passengers, some dressed, others not, as they had
sprung from their berths, rushed up the companion-way.
There we found the captain standing in his shirt and
pantaloons, apparently as much in amazement as ourselves.
The engineer, her- -'^rc?^ the cry, had stopped the eiigine with-
out waiting for f rders from the pil'jt ; and there we all
stood, staring at eiich other like the drunkards in Auer-
bach's cellar in Leipsic.

The upshot of the affair turned out to be that one of
the deck passengers had dreamed that he was overboard,
and the screams which he had sent forth in his sleep had thus
alarmed the whole boat. Order was of course again re-
stored, and we returned to our berths. As I went to

1 1

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W-

tr
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264

NIGHT ALARM

mine, I was amused by the nonchalance exhibited by an
English half-pay officer whose berth was near mme. He was
very coolly finishing his elaborate toilette previous to going
upon deck to ascertain the cause of the alarm. " You take
matters coolly, sir," said I. "Oh. yes," he rephed; I
thought that if 1 had got to drown, I might as well drown
with my clothes on, like a gentleman.

A TRIP THROUGH LONG ISLAND SOUND.

No. IV.

"THE BOYS.

NEVER a good sleeper on board of a steamboat, and
my nerves somewhat jarred by the alarm, I remained
for a long time awake after the sounds from the va-
rious berths showed me that at least it was forgotten by
their occupants.

While cogitating upon the events of the night, my mind
in connection with the uproar of ti:- noisy youths in the
earlier part of it, recurred to some humorous scenes and ad-
ventures to which I had been witness years by gone at

N . It so happened that I was there at a time, and thrown

into company and companionship with a laughter-loving, fun-
seeking, mirth-requiring set, whose nocturnal quarters were

at "the Colony," the Bachelor's row, at Hall, and ill

betide any unfortunate wight who sought his slumbers there
until long after the witching time of night. " By'r Ladie !"
it was a place profane, that entry. Little was heard of grace,
but shouts of uproarious laughter, loud and long-continued,
bass voices in merry chorus, the ringing of bells, and cries
for "waiter," "sherry cobblers," "mint juleps," "punches
strong and sweet," " cigars and pipes," for its noisy denizens.
But with all their youthful jollity and excess, the gentleman

i-4

[66

•• THE BOYS'

ight witty, generous and

still predominated, and there were ri{
noble spirits among them.

A few short years have glided by, and where are they?
Some are dead ; one fine fellow has killed his man, and wan-
ders a homicide, with the mark of Cain upon his brow, too
late awakened to the pangs of conscience ; another-but why
moralize ? They are dispersed on their life journey, some
on the blue ocean, some on the green prairie, some on moun-
tain top, some in the toiling city, each in his vocation, but
not likely to meet again. One evening " L.," of our number,
the most popular and amusing, was missing from his seat
upon the back piazza, where our body politic with their
cigars used to congregate in the earlier part of the night,
and his absence soon became object of remark and specula-
tion. Various were the surmises-some thought he had
dined out, others that he'd been shot dead with the bright
" glances of some white wench's merry black eye," that—
but surmise was soon silenced by the fact that he had gone-
to bed. " To be up betimes was to be up after midnight,"
but to be abed before was strange-" 'twas passing strange "
-unnatural, not to be allowed. To be in bed by nine!-
'twas monstrous ; such innovation on time and place was not
to be permitted-noteven thought of ; and it was determined
that " come what, come may, sleep to his eyelids should be
a thing forbid." To second so laudable a determination, a
waiter was summoned, and being duly advised of his duty,
soon reached the door of " No. 6," where the unfortunate
" L." was paying his devotions to the sleep god. A gentle,
modest, then louder knock was heard, and again repeated;
finally followed the drowsy reply of the inmate, " Who's
there? What do you want?" " Here it is, sir," was the

-r .:^„

THE BOYS

»»

267

obsequious answer; "here it is." "Here's what?" "The
warm water, sir." "Warm water?" " Yes, sir, the warm
water for the sick gentleman." " Warm water— why, I'm
not sick, it must be for some other room." " Beg pardon,
sir." And the waiter returned to inform his employers on
the piazza that it was a mistake, and that the gentleman in
" Six " was " not in the laste unwell."

A suitable time being allowed to elapse for " L." to forget
the disturbance, and be again upon the shores of Lethe, an-
other waiter was summoned, and soon standing with thunder-
ing knock at his chamber door. " Hallo ! What do you want?
Who's there?" replied the startled voice within. "Here's
the medicine, sir." " Medicine ! what medicine?" " Why,
sir, the rhubarb and magnesia for the sick gentleman
«' Confound your stupidity ; the sick man is in some other
i-oom— clear out !" and the astonished waiter, like his pre-
decessor, returned to tell his story to those that sent him.
A longer interval of quiet was now allowed, and the occu-
pant of "No. 6" was far gone into forgetfulness, when
thump, thump, thump, again at his door, started him wide
awake. "What in the foul fiend's name do you want?"
"The Docthur is below, sir; zvill I tell him to come
up ?" " Will you put your head inside the door, you stupid
scoundrel, that I may throw my boot at it ; this is the third
time I have been disturbed to-night ; off with you, and find
your sick man somewhere else !" and the frightened waiter
retured to the gentlemen with, " Sure, there's nothing the
mutter with the gentleman, save wrath." A sufficiently long
time elapsed, and the waiters, to speak in a military sense,
having, like tirailleurs, done the skirmishing, it was deter-
mined that the main body, the party on the piazza, should

! ,

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268

THE BOYS'

charge in solid column, and make a final, determined and
desperate attack.

Preceded by a servant with a large supply of lights,
cigars, cobblers, slings and juleps, and of drinks " id genus
omne;' their measured tramp was heard along the entry
leading to its fated portal. " Halt !" from the van. The
column faced to the right, and the long still entry returned
the echo ; knock, knock, knock, thundering at the door of
devoted " No. 6." Suspecting what was in the wind, " L."
remained perfectly still, and returned no answer; "thump,
thump, thump," and the clatter of the opposite windows re-
turned the jarring sound— thump, thump, thump, each blow
given with more urgent emphasis, and the reluctant " What's

wanting?" at length heard in reply. R 's deep voice,

deepened into sepulchral tones, slowly answered, " Here's
the undertaker to measure the dead gentleman for a coffin
in " No. 6." This lugubrious information elicited from the
occupant no reply. There ensued a pause. " He's jumped
out of the window," said the van, "committed suicide,"
growled the center, 'Vr«w/zV, ernpit, ^m^zV.-'" shouted the
rear. A suitable and befitting time having elapsed for the
opening of the door, snuffled R. in the tones of a Methodist
preacher, " I move that we now enter the room of our de-
ceased friend and make suitable provision for his obsequies.
Open sesame !" and suiting the action to the word, followed
by a press oi the shoulder, the door flew open, and there sat
L. bolt upright, his hands folded before him in his bed, re-
signedly awaiting coming events, and that that the gods had
for him in store. He was too good a fellow to be sulky,
however much he was annoyed by this unwelcome intrusion
upon his quiet; besides " it would have been no use," and

" THE BOYS" 269

with his glass ii 'us hand, surrounded by jolly companions,
some seated on the bed, some on the tables and on each
other's laps, the atmosphere of the room opaque with smoke,
his voice was heard ere long in the Bacchanalian chorus with
which the wise pates saw fit to surround him. There were
among them some exceedingly " hard youths," to whom
mischief and fun were synonymous.

One night they changed all the boots that the porter had
cleaned and left at the doors of the rooms for their respect-
ive occupants, and the next morning a little before the sec-
ond bell, such ringing and shouting for "waiter" had rarely
been heard e'en in that noisy quarter; such objurgations,
such imprecations, not deep only, but loud, as were hurled
at the head of the unfortunate "boots." There was "No.
2 " with feet the size of Goliah, tugging at a pair of delicate
patent leathers, into the leg of which he could scarcely
squeeze his toes, while the unfortunate dandy in " No. 9 "
stood staring in speechless astonishment at the huge clumsy
thick soled "country makes" which had taken their place.

" Washington ties," the comfort of gouty old gentlemen,
were awaiting feet that cared not a stiver for a twenty mile
tramp, while morocco pumps were provided for feet ac-
quainted only with twinges and bandages of flannel. " No.
13's " straps were cut off, and "22 " had his filled with whis-
key punch, whilst " 17 " found two tumblers and a wine glass
in his; "27" and " 28's" door handles, the rooms being op-
posite, were made fast by a rope across the entry, and " 32's"
bed, bedding and carpet were formed into a pyramid in the
center of the room, with the wash bowl and pitcher as its
apex, while " No. 7 " was horrified by having all the furni-

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(716) 872-4503

270

THE BOYS

ture of the adjoining unoccupied room piled against his
door, tumbling in upon him as he opened it in the morning.
A few years only have passed by, and as men sadder and
wiser, how do many of the actors look back in wonder at
such pleasure ?

A TRIP THROUGH LONG ISLAND SOUND

No.V.

THE UNFORTUNATE LOVER.

BUT while upon practical jokes, I recollect one that
occurred at Yale, that venerable academic matron, m
years gone oy. B., a somewhat sentimental youth,
roomed with two brother soph's who had about as much
romance in their composition as could be analyzed from a
blacksmith's anvil. Now the suites of rooms in that ancient
institution are composed of three, two bed, and one sittmg-
room, to say nothing of the luxury of a wood closet. B.,
besides writing poetry and playing on the flute, was also
desperately in love, and used to go and see his inamorata
every night, where his stay in " lengthened sweetness, long
drawn out," usually terminated at about the witching hour.
One very cold night, his chums, being instigated by the
father of evil, determined as an offset to his enjoyment that
they would have some fun at his expense. So, getting a
large cat, which was in the habit of prowling about the mess
hall, they by coaxing and a little gentle force succeeded m
placing her SHUgly in the centre of B.'s bed, where, the
quarters being warm and comfortable, puss was contented
to remain. Raking up the fire and putting out the hghts
these two wicked youths then retired to their beds, and

THE UNFORTUNATE LOVER

there chuckling in anticipated delight, awaited the cat-^^-
Se By and by up came B., fumbled at the door and
opening it walked'in. Finding all cold, dark and comfort
TsL grumbled at the want of considerat.on that had thus
him so inhospitable a reception, but. summon.ng h.s p U
o ophy made the best of a bad bargain, and proceeded w. h
Zt Ilacrity he might to divest himself °';; ^^^^^^
the dark, his movements not the less exped.t.ous from the

'"'Having proved Plato's definition of humanity he gave
one spring and in an instant was beneath the bed dothes ;
hu r no her Grimalkin's claws, suddenly disturbed from
he slumbers, were planted in his unfortunate legs. With
Tctm of terror B. bounced out of bed on o- s.de, »
the cat in equal alarm, darted out on the other. Dashmg
around the room, frantic with alarm, springing at the .v.n-
dows and rushing through the fire-place scmj
sparks and live embers about the room, the cat screamed
Td veiled while B., in amazement, his hair standmg on end
"ndtht'tpso, perspiration roUing off ^^^^^^ ^^^
terror, danced first on one leg and then on the other, shout
h,g for assistance at the top of his lungs ,n t^e center

°The mirth soon "became so fast and fur.ous ha to
save poor B. from more dire consequences, the m.sch.et
mikers pretending to awake from slumber, were fam to m-

Te p si L ''y "P-^"^ ''•^ ''""^ ^"°" '"^ lo'ceThT.
into the entry, from whence she soon -g="";"^~"^f .'T^
self in her favorite haunts under the roof in the garret of the

" old South Middle."

A TRIP THROUGH LONG ISLAND SOUND.

No. VI.

ADVENTURE ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

MARQUETTE DESCENDING THE MISSISSIPPI.

THE alarm that had so seriously aroused us from our
berths soon, as I have said, subsided, and all was
again silent, except the measured jar and clank of
the machinery. For my own part, although I could not
hear a voice crying " Macbeth hath murdered sleep," I
found that I could " sleep no more," pitching and tumbling.

A I

i '

2 74 ADVENTURE ON THE MISSISSIPPI

rolling first on one side and then on the other in my berth in
vain attempts to enjoy its balmy influence, my imagmation
running wild in all sorts of freaks and fantasies. Now, my
imagination is of such a perfect devil-me-care character that
it will under such circumstances, jump on and ride, without
bridle' or halter, whatever subject first presents itself, and,
ere I was aware, it was galloping back to a ludicrous scene
I once witnessed in the cabin of a steamer ascending the

Mississippi.

It so happened that I left New Orleans, in the season
when duels and yellow fever were becoming rife, in one of
the fastest steamers out of that port. The usually monoto-
nous voyage up was enlivened with an occasional race with
some boat ahead, in which all the spare bacon and hams
among the freight were thrown into the furnaces to feed the
boilers while to save unnecessary trouble the firemen lashed
down the safety valves. Indeed, in our case we might be
said to be especially favored, for even in the absence of the
excitement of the race we could always recur to the fact that
we had four hundred kegs of gunpowder, marked " buck-
wheat," stowed in interesting proximity to the furnace,
which'at any instant might, by sending us among the stars,
leave it a matter of doubt in our minds whether the boilers did
or did not give way at exactly four hundred atmospheres.
When arrived at Natchez, from that interesting suburb
yclept "Natchez under the hill," to which district the " Five
Points" is a church swept out and garnished-where the
bowie-knife and pistol are the arbiters in all disputes,
where a pack of cards is the only Bible, and the demand,
''Stranger, will you drink or fight?" the first salutation-
there came on board «' an individual " extremely " wolfy

ADVENTURE ON THE MISSISSIPPI

275

about the head and shoulders," " a yellow flower of the for-
est/'— in short, a regular " hoosier," his long elf-locks stream-
ing around his shoulders, and his deep-sunken black eyes
cast furtively about him with a sinister expression, indicat-
ing that " he was considerably troubled with the rascal."

He was surly in his appearance, and dirty, but, as he paid
his fare for the cabin, cabin accommodations of course he
was entitled to, and had. The fellow's whereabouts was
undesirable in the morning, when he was sober, but when
drunk, in the afternoon, extremely annoying to us of the more
cleanly sort that used our own tooth-brushes ; so much so
that we endeavored to have him sent forward, but the cap-
tain said that he could not '.turn the man out of the cabin
without some specific charge of offense ; and that, although
he would not go out of the way of his duty to shun
consequences, he would rather avoia the chance of having
a rifle-ball put through him, perhaps some years afterwards,
from behind a tree or wood-pile along shore, when he
might least expect it.

To an argument so forcible, we could not of course
make reply. But when we came to retire at night, and
the mauvais sujct was ensconced in his berth, o'ercome, if
not with " wine and wassail," with potations of whisky
" pottle deep," the rest of us sinking into calm repose,
there began to rise from his berth such snores and groans
and grunts that it appeared as if all the hogs of the last
litter were there huddled together. By and by, an indi-
vidual, getting entirely out of patience, sprung from his
berth, and rushing up and shaking him with all his

might, consigning him at the same time to all the d. Is

m the infernal regions, insisted that he should stop his

t I

1*1

276

ADVENTURE ON THE MISSISSIPPI

noise. The man sat upright in his berth, with drunk-
en gravity, looking at the speaker with lack-lustre eyes,
essaying a reply, but stopped by a hiccough, sunk slowly
down, and was asleep again before he was well on his side.
But no sooner had the excited passenger got back to his
berth, and the rest of us begun to think that the dis-
turbance was over, than at it again he went, as if in very de-
fiance ; so that it was soon determined, nem. con., that ;he
must go, willingly if he would-" we would not stand upon
the order of his going"— but go he must.

The captain was again.apealed to, and by his directions
the sot was carried out, and placed in one of the berths for-
ward, where he remained most of the time drunk during the
rest of the passage. It was not until the last day of our
voyage that we found we were indebted to a very clever
fellow, a ventriloquist, who slept in the next berth, for the
relief. From him came the sounds which appeared to
emanate from the form of the unfortunate " hoosier."
There were several professed gamblers on board, who
were incessantly engaged in their vocation during the
day, snatching time only for their meals, and many an
unfortunate wight was relieved of his superfluous cash on
the passage. One game in particular appeared to be a
favorite one. It was called " Poker," and not only the
gentlemen gamblers, in the cabin, but the more common
sort, forward, were equally absorbed in it.

There was a fascination about the game which took with
all. The lower classes and the boatmen, I understood, fre-
quently staked the coats off their backs upon the game, and
it is said that there have been instances when the negro fire-
men, after losing everything, have staked and lost their free-

ADVENTURE ON THE MISSISSIPPI

277

dom. Speaking of this game reminds me of an incident that
occurred on the passage, which at the time strongly touched

my feelings.

I was one morning measuring the hurricane deck with
my usual walk, our boat breasting the turbid expanse
of waters, her high-pressure engines panting as if with the
effort ;— now viewing, as we were gliding almost beneath
them, the huge forest trees trembling on the brink, which,
ere long, undermined by the current, would fall, and be
swept onwards to form the dreaded snags and sawyers; and
now, aroused by the sudden change in our course, as we ran
across the stream to double a bend or bar ; now watching
the phalanxes of wild fowl winging their way to the limpid
pools and splashy lakes of the north, now some gaunt heron
or gigantic crane slowly and heavily winging his awkward
flight, while from the lofty tree in the adjoining forest, sit-
ting motionless as death upon a withered branch, the lordly
eagle, with cruel eye fixed upon his victim, was " biding his
time," when, throwing himself upon the blue ether, he
should commence the death-chase, circling higher and high-
er till, descending upon him like a meteor, he would bear
him/screaming and struggling, to feed his eaglets in their
mountain eyrie ; now, in imagination, tracing the thousand
tributary streams, from the frozen regions of the north, from
mountain grim and prairie green, from the silver lake, where
the bronzed trapper watched the busy beaver, and the tur-
bid river where floated the free Indian in his bark canoe,
tracing the thousand streams which, by this " father of wa-
ters," send their offering to the ocean through the great
Gul'f of Mexico ;-when my attention was diverted by a
stout negro man leaning over the side of the raihng, in

ril:

'^ti

2«8 ADVENTURE ON THE MISSISSIPPI

true negro abandon, watching the ceaseless revolution of
paddles. As I passed him. I stopped. " Boy." said (for
all negroes at the South, old or young, great or small are
called boys) ; " boy, to whom do you belong ? " He turned h.s
round, fat face, shining with content, and his row of ivory,
the color of snow, contrasted with his jetty skin, and rephed
with the utmost simplicity and "sang-froid," "Well, sir 1
doesn't rightly know. I did belong to Massa John, but he
and de captain been playin' poker for de last two hours
and I can't rightly say who I does belong to now. And
yet he appeared as happy and contented as any man. white
or black, on board. The simplicity and naivete with which
he spoke of his transfer affected me for the moment much.

ATRIP THROUGH LONG ISLAND SOUND.

No. VII.

NEW LONDON AND STONINGTON.

UT to return from our long digression. Our steamer
plowed her course along the Sound with unremit-
ting speed and steadiness.

" The air was cut away before,
And clos-ed from behind."

Finding that, so far as sleep was concerned, I was " a man
forbid," I folded my cloak about me, and ascended the deck.
The night-mist hung damp and heavy on plank and railing,
and far ahead New London light was shining in the distance.
This was the port, it will be recollected, where Commodore
Decatur was blockaded with two American frigates during
the war by the British squadron. He was in some measure
reconciled to the spirit of inaction, so galling to his feelings,
by the reflection that he was chaining down a large force of
the enemy from doing further mischief. It is said that, as in
a similar case on the coast of South America, the captain of
one of the American frigates sent a challenge to the com-
mander of one of the English squadron, to run out a few
miles from the port, and meet with equal force in regular
naval duel. Commodore Decatur endorsing on the back of

28o

NEW LONDON AND STONINGTON

the challenge, that it was with his sanction, pledging his
honor that no assistance should be afforded the Amer-
ican frigate, but that she should abide the result of the
conflict, provided Commodore Hardy would guarantee the
same on his part. The British Commodore sent in, in
reply, that he forbade the acceptance of the chal-
lenge', for, although he felt perfect conBdence in
the bravery and skill of his officers and men, he
could not justify himself to his country in allowing a mere
spirit of chivalry to prevent his annoying his enemy by
every means in his power. Hardy was a fine, hearty old
gentleman, and, Saxon-like, went into his work, because
it was work, and had got to be done. He was quite popular
with the people along the shores of New England, from the
fact that he never wantonly injured individuals. He had,
withal, a large share of humor. At the bombardment of
Stonington, where, with a couple of old iron cighteens,
whose cartridges, in default of other flannel, were made
from the petticoats presented by the women, he saw through
his glass the boys scampering after the bombs as they fell,
frequently pulling out the fuses before they could explode,
while a raw countryman in his tow frock was whoaing and
geeing his oxen among the shot and shells, picking them up
and throwing them into the cart as a good speculation, with
as much coolness as if they had been pumpkins in his own
cornfield. This tickled the old gentleman's fancy immensely,
and the next day an officer coming in with a flag was directed
to ask the authorities whether they would sell some shot.
The " Selectmen," with equal humor and shrewdness, replied
that, "if the Commodore would send them in some powder,
they would return him his shot gratis on its receipt."

NEIV LONDON AND STONING TON

28[

Long before day, our steamer had performed her devoir,
and was lying still at the side of the Stonington pier, her
Eastern passengers transferred to the cars, hurrying with
even greater velocity over terra-firma than they had been
on the aqueous element. As the day dawned, we
that were destined for Newport, were transferred
with our luggage to the ^^-hican, a large and
powerful boat, and were soon again reaching out toward
the ocean, rising and falling gracefully on its long swell,
as we approached that terror to all sea-sick passengers,
" Point Judith." The white lighthouse shone bright and
lonely in the morning sun ; and as we emerged from break-
fast 'the beautiful and peculiar shores of Rhode Island
opened to our view. The rounded gray rocks, presentmg
an impenetrable barrier to the ocean waves, were covered
to the very edge with a carpet of verdure green as emerald
and velvet-like in texture, while flocks of sheep and cattle,
grouped here and thereupon its surface, afforded lovely pic-
tures of still life. The entire absence of trees, save some
of recent growth, those that had previously wooded its sur-
face having been cut down by the armies of the Revolution
left the view unobstructed as far as the eye could roam, and
the exquisite clearness of the atmosphere gave the vault
above the hue of the sapphire. As we ran up through the
outer roads, the surf was breaking high upon that most dan-
gerous ridge of rocks, known by many a tale of disaster as
.^Brentons Reef," on our right; while the shores of Con-
necticut, with the "Dumplings," masses of rude rock seamed
and gashed by the wear of the elements for ages, were
on our left-the summit of one of the latter surmounted
with the already crumbling ruins of a circular fortress

'^V^'

U i

l:-v4K|r'?:

m...

282

NEW LONDON AND STONINGTON

from which it was intended in the last war to furnish
John Bull with a supply hot enough of that proverbially

indigestible food.

As we passed along up the channel, the fishermen in
their fishing-boats lazily looked over their shoulders at us,
as they pulled in their tautog and bass (their light shallops
rising and falling gently in the long swell), enjoying a
freedom from care and a pleasure in existence to which
the lordly nabob is a stranger. The magnificent fortifica-
tion which, when completed, will mount five hundred
cannon, was soon before us, and, shooting into the inner
harbor, we were ere long ensconced with bag and bag-
gage, rolling in a comfortable coach up the long wharf,
into the ancient and unique town of Newport.

THE BLIND OFFICER.

[" The hand of the reaper

Takes the ears that are hoary,
But the voice of the weeper
Wails manhood in glory."]

A FEW years since might occasionally be met, prome-
nading Broadway, in the city of New York, a man
of fine appearance, in the prime of life, of remarkably
erect and soldierlike carriage (usually clad in mihtary un-
dress, his eyes covered with large green glasses), led by a
young lad, or supported on the arm of a friend, whose mili-
tary port and handsome person, aside from the peculiar
bearing of a blind man, almost necessarily attracted the at-
tention of the passer-by. We allude to the late Captain
Henry W. Kennedy, and in so doing know that we shall re-
Vive his memory in the recollection of many warm friends
who, while they recall his generous and noble quahties will
sigh at his premature withdrawal from the stage of hfe.
To those friends, the following brief sketch of his career
may not be uninteresting.

He was born in Pennsylvania, and with his parents re-
moved during his infancy to the West Indies, where his
earlier days were passed. Returning to his country while
yet in his boyhood, he was deprived by death of their pro-
tection, and left alone in the world without a single blood
relation. At the age of nineteen he determined to adopt

li'S'

284 ^^^ BLIND OFFICER

the military profession, and having received a commission
as lieutenant in the United States marine corps, soon after
sailed in a frigate for the Mediterranean, where he expected
to take part in the war with the Barbary powers ; but be-
fore he arrived on the field of contest, the pride of the
Ottomite had been humbled, and the stars and stripes floated
over the crimson flag of the corsair states, Tripoli, Tunis,
Algiers and Morocco having all been forced to uncondition-
al submission. Returning to the United States, he found
the enthusiasm of the country awakened by the Patriot
revolution in South America, and, impatient of the dullness
and inactivity of peace, with a number of other adventurous
spirits resigned his commission, embraced their cause,
and, accepting highly flattering propositions from one of the
distinguished leaders, sailed, with the rank of captain, for
that country. His cool judgment and intrepidity soon made
him conspicuous, and it was not long before he received,
from his desperate and adventurous courage, the sobriquet
of the ''Gallo Ingles;' or ''English Game-cock;' the people of
that country not making any distinction between the North
Americans and the English, deeming all who spoke the lan-
guage Britons. He received accession of rank, and was
engaged in a number of actions, and his adventures and
hair-breadth escapes, in the battles with the Spaniards and
Royalist party, would almost afford material for a volume
of romance.

The appearance of the wild native cavalry which he com-
manded was picturesque in the extreme. His particular
corps was clad in a costume made of tiger-skins, their hel-
mets representing the head of the ferocious animal— a silk
handkerchief, twisted so tightly as to turn the edge of a

THE BLIND OFFICER

285

saber, knotted round their necks. Dashing in at the head
of these wild warriors, he would lead them into the thickest
of the fight, cheering them on by his voice, " but rarely," to
use his own words, " taking any part in the butchery, other
than to ward off the attacks made personally upon himself."
The character of the warfare partook of that ferocity which
appears to have pertained always to the Spanish arms, form-
ing such an anomaly to their lofty, high-minded, and gener-
ous qualities; and the heart sickens at the savage fury that,
under the sanction of the sacred garb of contest for liberty,
prevailed in their conflicts.

Neither party, as a general rule, gave or received quar-
ter, and it was at the risk of his own life that he, in several
instances, succeeded in saving the lives of the vanquished. In

one case, a Spanish cadet, of noble family, besought his pro-
tection on the battle-field, and, reckless of the danger of
being shot down by his own excited soldiery, he mounted
the young officer behind him, and, galloping out of the ac-
tion, conveyed him to a place of security. But perhaps the
following incident, one of many related by him, may give a
more distinct idea of the character of the warfare waged
upon that unhappy soil. In an action where, after very severe
fighting, the Patriot party had been successful, and the Span-
ish defeated, his attention was attracted by an isolated
group, where a very powerful negro soldier was defending
himself with his musket against the attack of a half-dozen
Patriot dragoons, who were dashing like hawks around him,
endeavoring to cut him down with their sabers. The black
knew that his case was hopeless, and was apparently deter-
mined to sell his life at as dear a rate as possible. The
swords of the troopers occasionally took effect, causing

286

THE BLIND OFFICER

deep gashes and flesh-wounds, from which the blood
streamed profusely ; but the thick wool of his head had the
same effect as the hair-crests on the helmets of our cav-
airy, turning the edge of their sabers, which glanced off,
inflicting comparatively slight wounds. The contest con-
tinued for some time, the negro bleeding from twenty
gashes, while Captain K. was obliged to remain a mute
spectator of the scene, any attempt at his rescue being
almost equivalent to his own destruction. At length a
Patriot officer, deeming it a mercy to put him out of
pain, put spurs to his horse, and, galloping in, gave him the
cout de grace, ending the barbarous and unequal combat.

After four years of hardship, adventure, and battle, now
victor and now vanquished, now stimulated by the cause
of freedom and now disgusted by the atrocities of savage
warfare, the recital of which would fill a volume (which
might perhaps be useful to those who, ignorant of its
horrors, are so ready to throw down the gauntlet and rush
into the fell arena), he was severely wounded and his
military career terminated on the plains of Cordova.
The party of which he was the leader had been victo-
rious, and the enemy were in full retreat. Halting his
horse for a moment, he had loosened, the rein, and was
bending forward for some purpose on his neck, when he
found himself enveloped in utter darkness. He clapped
his hand to his head, supposing that he had been struck by
a ball across the forehead, and that the blood flowing from
the wound had thus deprived him of sight.

" His clotted locks b« backward threw,
Across his brow his hand he drew,
From blood and mist to ekat his sight,"

THE BLIND OFFICER

287

But the next instant betrayed to him too well his dreadful
loss. The blessed light of the sun was thenceforth to be to
him a stranger ; the green fields, the blue skies, " the plumed
troop" with "all the pride.the pomp and circumstance of war,"
were to be forever shut out from him ; the smile of friend-
ship, the scowl of enmity, to be alike unheeded ; youth's
glowing hopes were quenched — " Othello's occupation

gone !

A spent ball, entering his left eye, had torn it from its
socket, passed through the bones of his nose, and buried
itself in the right orbit, distorting the eye and destroying
its vision forever. A soldier who was near him at the time
said that he saw him eject the ball from his mouth with the
blood, and although Drs. Hosack, Rogers, and Mott gave it
as their opinions, after his return to this country, that the
ball was still in the right orbit, behind the eye, he was
incredulous as to the fact. (The risk of inflammation attend-
ing the operation, with the exceeding uncertainty and im-
probability of any benefit being derived, prevented the trial
suggested by those gentlemen to ascertain it.) With his
usual self-collectedness, he sent for the officer next in com-
mand, and gave him the conduct of his party and his in-
structions ; but, in a few days after, they were in their turn
defeated, and most of the officers made prisoners by the
Spaniards, Captain Kennedy among the number, helpless
fror.1 his wounds. They were subsequently conveyed to
Callao, and imprisoned in one of the castles, from which
every few days some were marched out and shot.

While imprisoned, among others who took an interest in
bira was the officer in command of the castle. His fate
hung aome time in suspense, and his request of the officer

ii!

288

THE BLIND OFFICER

was not a little characteristic of the man. " I beg," said he,
- that when mv time comes I may not be shot like a dog in
the castle ditch, but that I may be allowed to march out
and meet my fate like a soldier and a man." This the offi-
cer promised, and not long after his prison doors were
opened, and, preceded by a band of music and a military
guard, he was conducted out into the public //«^« for execu-
tion. A regiment, forming three sides of a hollow square,
was drawn up, and, standing in the center with a bandage
tied around his eyes (to him useless precaution), he awaited
his fate. He heard the voice of the officer, and step of the
firing party as they marched out from the ranks ; he heard
their^approach and halt within a few paces, the orders dis-
tinctly given, the jar of the muskets as they came to an aim,
and the next moment expected to be in eternity, when the
officer read from a paper in his hand that, in consideration
of the blindness of the prisoner, and his inability to do any
further injury to the Royal cause, the Governor had been
pleased to pardon him. He had so made up his mind to his
fate, and his situation was so utterly desolate, that, to use
his own words, he "received the information without emo-
tion, and without the quickening of a pulse."

Turned thus adrift, without friends, or money, or shelter,
his situation was truly deplorable ; and if it had not been
for the assistance afforded by a young Spanish girl, whose
compassion was aroused for him, and other casual charities,
he must have perished of want. One morning, standing in
the street, his ear was struck by a voice which appeared
familiar, and at a venture he called to the passer, ^^ Ramsay,
is that you?" "My heavens! Kennedy, is Xh^t yotcT after
a moment's surprise, replied the person addressed; aid

THE BUND OFFICER

289

in another moment he was in the embrace of his friend,
Lieutenant Ramsay, of the U. S. Ship Constellation. The
frijjate had arrived in the bay ; and in a few hours, clothed,
and fully provided for, he was welcomed by his brother
officers, and received into the ward-room mess. He re-
mained some time on board the frigate, and in her returned
to the United States. Arriving here, the marine corps took
their old comrade under their protection, until government
provided for his wants, by appointing him sutler at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard, an office which he could perform by

deputy.

His firm and patient deportment, his cheerful and uncom-
plaining disposition, and his high-minded and generous sen-
timents, attracted around him a crowd of admiring friends,
among whom were many of the more gentle sex, whose
sympathies were strongly excited by his situation. As was
said in the earlier part of this sketch, he was without a rela-
tive on the earth, but his general information, and powers of
entertainment, drew around him many to supply their place,
and his rooms were the regular lounge of his brother offi-
cers and other friends (among whom were many men of
talent and standing), who always found him in uniform good
humor and cheerfulness. He never alluded to the calamity
which had befallen him, unless questioned upon the subject,
and then spoke of it with as much coolness and equanimity
as if he had no particular interest in the affair. The ball, a
heavy ounce musket ball, was taken, after his death, from the
socket of the eye, in whose orbit it had been so long buried,
confirming the opinion of the surgeons. Singular as it may
seem, it gave him no uneasiness, but if it had gone the six-
teenth part of an inch further, he must have been instantly

1 1

II-

290

THE BLIND OFFICER

killed, when he received the wound on the plains of Cor-

dova.

But his term of life was measured, and he was not des-
tined to reach the three score years and ten of man's alloted
pilgrimage. After having been stationed about two years
at the navy yard, a complaint of the heart, an enlargement
and ossification set in, and after six or eight months of most
intense and agonizing suffering, which he bore with his
characteristic fortitude, and in the intervals of the paroxysms
of which his voice was heard, with the same kindness and
concern, in inquiries for the interests of his friends, he grad-
ually sank and expired, aged thirty-two years. Though his
pillow was smoothed by no wife, nor mother, nor sister,
there were not wanting warm friends to bend over his bed-
side and soothe him in the hour of his last sad journey ; and
as they stood around him, and beheld the manly form, from
which the spirit defeated had fled, lying cold and still, re-
leased from its conflict with pain and agony, the counten-
ance tranquil as was its wont, and calm, they could not but
feel that, " after life's fitful fever, he slept welir

It was on the afternoon of Sunday, the day following his
death, that a coffin, shrouded in the American flag, borne
upon the shoulders of soldiers, preceded by the guard of
marines, with arms reversed, and followed by a long pro-
cession of sailors and citizens, passed from the marine bar-
racks, the instruments of music wailing a mournful dirge,
amid the continuous and melancholy roll of the muffled
drums, as it slowly and solemnly moved upon its journey
along the avenue to the Episcopal cemetery. As it pro-
ceeded, numbers of sympathizing spectators joined and fol-
lowed in the procession, and me sott jv^aovr r»^v.o.

THE BLIND OFFICER

291

dining autumnal sun appeared to throw, as if in unison, a
sad and congenial light upon the scene. Arrived at the gate
of the cemetery, the guard halted and opened to the right
and left, their hands clasped on the reversed butts of their
muskets, the muzzles of which rested at their feet, their
bronzed and weather-beaten countenances bent sorrowfully
upon the ground, and preceded by the chaplain, wrapped in
its country's flag, all that remained of the gallant soldier
passed forward to its final resting-place. The group collected
around the grave, and the coffin was lowered and rested upon
the bottom of the sepulchre. The beautiful and consoling
service of the church was said, and many a heart among the
mourners responded to the hollow jar of the sods as they
fell upon the coffin lid. " Ashes to ashes "—and the religious
services were ended. The crowd, with uncovered heads,
still stood looking wistfully and mournfully into the narrow
pit, when the silence was broken by the stern " Forward! "
of the officer, and the measured heavy tramp of the soldiers
of the guard was heard rustling and pressing down the long
grass as they approached. The crowd opened, and the
swarthy veterans halted and stood statue-like in double
ranks beside the grave. A momentary clang of arms, the
same voice was heard, and a sheet of flame, followed by the
sudden peal of musketry, glanced over the soldier's sepulchre.
Another volley, and another, echoed among the silent
chambers of the dead, and their stern farewell was said. The
white smoke wreathed mournfully, and hung above the mon-
uments as if reluctant to take its departure, when the col-
umn \. .eled, and again was heard their heavy tramp re-
treating through the hollow graves to the outlet of the
cemetery. A few moments more, and we saw the beams

1 ^, ■

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292

THE BLIND OFFICER

of the setting sun dancing around their bayonets, as with
quick step they were returning to their quarters. The
crowd and mourners slowly retired, and on the narrow
mound then left alone, now lies a marble tablet inscribed,
" Here rest the remains of Henry W. Kennedy ^

GREENWOOD CEMETERY.

WHERE, THEN, is DEATH ?— and my own voice startled
me from my reverie, as, leaning on my saddle-bow
on the summit of an elevation in the Greenwood
Cemetery, I asked : Where, then, is death ? The golden sun of
a summer's afternoon was streaming o'er the undulating hills
of Staten Island, lighting more brilliantly the snow-white
villas and emerald lawns ; the Lazaretto, its fleet gay with the
flags of all the nations, was nestling like a fairy city at its
feet ; the noble bay before me was one great, polished mirror,
motionless vessels, with white sails and drooping pennants,
resting on its surface Uke souls upon the ocean of eternity,
and everything around was bright, and still, and beautiful,
as I asked myself the question : Where, then, is death ?

The islands with their military works lay calm and
motionless upon the waters ; the grim artillery, like sleeping
tigers, crouched upon the ramparts and the castle's walls,
but the glistening of the sentry's polished musket, and the
sudden, clamorous roll of drums, showed me that— «^/ there

was death.

1 turned. The great, fierce city, extending as far as eye
could reach, the sky fretted with her turrets and her spires,
her thousand smokes rising and mingling with the o'erhang-
ing clouds, as she rose above her bed of waters, with hoarse,
continuous roar, cried to me : " Look not here, not here, for
death ! " Her sister city, with her towers and cupolas— her

'hi

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294

GREENWOOD CEMK TER Y

lii

grassy esplanades surmounted with verdant trees and far-
extending colonnades embowered in shrubbery— from her
high terraced walls, re-echoed the hollow roar : " Not iicrc

for death ! "

The island lay extended far before me, its farms and
towns, its modest spires, its granaries, its verdant meadows,
its rich cultivated fields, its woods, its lawns, all wrapped in
silence ; but still its whisper softly reached me : " Not here;
not here, is death ! " E'en the great, distant ocean, closed
only from my view by the far-reaching horizon, in sullen,
continuous murmurs moaned : " Not here is death ! "

Where, then, I cried— w/z^r^, then, is death ? I looked
above me, and the blue vault hung pure and motionless ;
light, fleecy clouds, like angels on their journeys, alone rest-
ing on its cerulean tint ; around, the evening breeze played
calm and gently, and beneath, the flowers and leaves were
quivering with delight, while the incessant hum of insect
life arising from the earth witli ceaseless voice still cried:
" No, no; not here is death ! "

Ah ! said I ; this beautuui world shall be forever, and
there is— there is no death ; but, even as I spoke a warning
voice struck with deep solemnity upon my startled ear:
" Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live,
and is full of misery. He cometh up and is cut down like a
flower ; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth
in one stay." And as I turned, the funeral procession, its
minister and its mourners, passed onward in their journey
with the silent dead.

I looked after the retiring group, and again from beyond
the coppice which intervened, heard rising in the same deep,
solemn tones : " Write, from henceforth, blessed are the

GREEN iVOOD CEME TER V

295

dead who die in the Lord: even sosaith the Spirit, for they

rest from their labors." And my soul cowered within itself

like a guilty thing, as it said, Amen !

I looked again upon the scene before me and sighed ;

e'en such is human reason. That gorgeous sun shall set, the
gay villas and verdant lawns, the crowded shipping, the
beautiful bay with all that rest upon its bosom, shall soon be
wrapped indarkness, the gleaming watch-light disappear from
yon tall battlement, as the bugle sounds its warning note,
the great fierce city be stilled in silence, while the beatmg
hearts within her midnight shroud, like seconds, answer her
tolling bells upon the dial of eternity, and the insect myriads,
the flowers and leaves, ay ! the great heavens themselves,
shall from the darkness cry, " T/ns is the portraiture of
death ! "-for the darkness and the silence are all that man

can realize of death.

The hardy Northman with trembling finger points to the
mouldering framework of humanity, and shudders as he
cries -Lo' there is death !" and the polished Greek smiles
delightedly on the faultless statue of the lovely woman with
the infant sleeping on her breast, as he also cries, '' Lo ! there
is death ' " yet both alike, with reverence, do lay their final
offering before his gloomy shrine. The squalid Esquimaux
scoops out the cavern in the never-melting snows, for the
frozen form whose conflicts with the grizzly bear and shud-
dering cold are done ; and the mild Hindoo, with affection,
feeds the funeral pyre, and as the fragrant column does arise,
cries - Soul of my brother-immortal soul, ascend ! 1 he
red man, in the far distant prairie's lonely wilds, pillows the
head of the warrior-chief upon his slain desert steed within
its mound, while the bronzed pioneer, throwing aside his axe

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296

GREENWOOD CEMETERY

Hill

and rifle, hastily dashes away the tear as he inhumes beneath
its flowery bed his scar-marked comrade's form.

The sechided village hamlet, with pious care, within the
quiet grove, encloses a resting-place for its silent few, dis-
appearing at long inter /als; and here those great living
cities have chosen this silent city for their dead ; falling like
the forest leaves in autumn.

For the great army, who must, ere long, march forth to
ground their arms before the grim and ghastly Conqueror,
'twere difficult to find more beautiful and lovely resting-
place. E'en the sad mourner lingers as he beholds its broad
and lovely lawns., stretched out in calm serenity before him ;
its sylvan waters in l.ieir glassy stillness; its antique elms,
arching with extended branches the long, secluded lanes;
its deep, romantic glens; its rolling mounds, and all its
varied scenery, ere with a softened sadness he turns him to
his desolate and melancholy home. Spirits of our departed
ones ! we know that you have gone forth from your human
habitations, and that we shad behold your loved forms no
more forever ; therefore will we lay your deserted temples
within this consecrated ground, and, in imagination, fondly
see you sleeping still in tranquility beneath its green and

silent sward !

But lo! where upon the broad and verdant lawn, the
loose clods and dark black mould heaped carelessly aside,
the narrow pit awaits, ere it close again from light, its tenant
in his dark and narrow house. The sorrowing group col-
lect around, and the pall slowly drawn aside, one moment
more exhibits to the loved ones the pallid countenance of
him about to be hidden from their sight forever. The weep-
ing widow, in her dark habiliments, leans upon the arm of

GREENWOOD CEMETERY

297

the stern, sad brother, her little ones clinging to her raiment
in mingled awe and admiration of the scene before them.
" Ashes to ashes," she writhes in anguish, as the heavy clods
fall with hollow, unpitying jar upon the coffin lid— how like
a lifeless thing she hangs upon the supporting arm in which
her countenance is buried in agony unutterable ; and see the
little ones, their faces streaming with wondering tears, clasp-
ing her hands ; how in happy ignorance, they innocently,
with fond endearing names, still call upon him to arise.

But the narrow grave is filled, the mourning group has
gone the evening shadows fall, the declining sun sinks be-
neath his gorgeous bed in the horizon, and in the thickening
twilight the dead lies in his mound-alone. The night ad-
vances, the stars arise, and the joyous constellations roll
high onward in their majestic journeys in the o'erhanging
heavens, but beneath, the tenant of the fresh-filled grave lies
motionless and still. The morning sun appears, the dew,
like diamonds, glitters on every leaf and blade of grass, the
birds joyously carol, and the merry lark, upon the very
mound itself, sends forth his cheerful note ; but all is hushed,
in silence, to the tenant who in his unbroken slumber sleeps
within The Autumn comes, and the falling leaves whirl
withered from the tree^ops, and rustle in the wind; the
Winter, and the smooth broad plain lies covered with its
pure and spotless cloak of driven snow, and the lowly
mound is hid from sight, and shows not in the broad mid-
day sun. nor e'en at midnight, when the silver moon sailing
onward in her chaste journey turns the icicles into glittering
gems on the o'erhanging branches as they bend piotectingly
towards it. The Spring breathes warmly, and the httle
mound lies green again ; and now the mother, bending o'er

¥: V\

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'ill

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298

GREENWOOD CEMETERY

it, lifts the rose and twines the myrtle, while the little ones
in joyous glee from the surrounding meadows bring wild
flowers and scatter them in unison upon its borders. Then,
were consciousness within, would the glad tenant smile.

But let him, whose tears as yet fall not for any dear one
beneath its sod, ascend again with me the Mount, and with
retrospective gaze behold the living drama which has passed
before it. The great world around, the stage, lies still the
same ; but the actors all have passed onward to their final
rest. Into the still gleaming past bend your attentive gaze.
Lo ! the features of the scenery are still the same ; the bay's
unruffled bosom, and the islands; but no sail now floats
upon its surface ; no gilded spires in the distance loom, nor
does the busy hum of man reach us, as listening we stand ;
nought we see but the far forest, covering the main and
islands, even to the waters. The coward wolf howls in
yon distant glen ; the partridge drums upon the tree-top ;
and the graceful deer, e'en at our sides, browse in conscious
safety. Yon light dot moving upon the water ?— 'tis the
painted Indian paddling his canoe. Yon smoke curling on
the shore beneath us?— it is the Indian's wigwam. The
joyous laugh arising among the trees?— it is his squaw and
black-eyed children; the Indian reigns the lord, reigns free
and uncontrolled.

But look again : upon the water floats a huge and clumsy
galliot, its gay and gaudy streamers flaunting in the breeze ;
how the poor savages congregated on yonder point gaze m
wonder as it passes, sure 'tis the Great Spirit ; and the quaint
figure with the plumed hat, and scarlet hose glistening with
countless buttons, on its poop ; some demi-god ! and as she
onward moves, behold the weather-worn seamen's faces in

GREENWOOD CEMETERY

299

her rio-ging, how anxiously they return the gaze. The forest
children muster courage; they follow in their light canoes.
The galliot nears the Manahattoes ; they ascend her sides :
hawks-bills, and rings, and beads, and the hot strong drink
are theirs ; their land-it is the white man's. See with what

confidence he ensconces himself upon the island's borders.
In his grasp he has the fish, the furs, the game-the poor
confiding Indian gives him all. Lo! the embryo city's

fixed '
' But see' Is that the Dutch boor's cabin at our feet? Is

that the Indian seated on the threshold, while the Dutch-
man lolls lazily within? Where, where then is the Indian s
wigwam? Gone!

liM^li

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300

GREENWOOD CEMETERY

Look up again: a stately fleet moves o'er the bay, in line
of battle drawn; the military music loudly sounds, dark
cannon frown from within the gaping ports, and crews witli
lighted matches stand prepared ; they near the Manahattoes,
and— and— the Orange flag descends ; the Dragon and St.
George floats from the flag-staff o'er the little town. Who
is the fair-haired man that drinks with the Dutchman at his
cottage door, while the poor Indian stands submissively
aside? *' It is the Briton." I hear the laugh of youth ; sure
'tis the Indian's black-eyed brood? "'tis the Englishman's
yellow-haired, blue-eyed children." Alas ! alas ! poor forest
wanderer; nor squaw, nor child, nor wigwam, shall here be
more for thee. Farewell, farewell.

The little town swells to a goodly city ; the forests fall
around ; the farms stretch out their borders ; wains creek
and groan with harvest wealth ; lordly shipping floats on

GREENWOOD CEMETERY

301

the rivers; the fair haired race increase; roads mark the
country, and the deer and game, scared, fly the haunts ot
men. Hah ! the same flag floats not at the Manahattoes !
now, 'tis Stars and Stripes. See! crowding across the
river, men in dark masses, cannon, muniments of war, in
boats, on rafts, in desperate haste. Trenches and ramparts
creep like serpents on the earth ; horsemen scour the coun-
try, divisions, regiments, take position, and stalwart yeomen
hurrying forward, join in the ranks of Liberty ! Hear ! hear
the wild confusion, the jar of wheels, the harsh shrill shriek
of trumpets and the incessant roll of drums, the rattling mus-
ketry, the sudden blaze and boom of cannon ; it is the roar
of battle— it is the battle field. Hear ! hear the distant cry,
" St. George and merry England." *' Our Country and
Liberty." Ah ! o'er this very ground the conflict passes.
See ! the vengeful Briton prostrate falls beneath the deadly
rifle, while the yeoman masses fade beneath the howling
cannon shot ; and hark ! how from amid the sulphurous
cloud the wild " hurrah " drowns e'en the dread artillery.

The smoke clouds lazily creep from off the surface, the
battle's o'er, and the red-cross banner floats again upon the
island of Manahattoes, and now again the Stars and Stripes
stream gently in the breeze.

The past is gone, the future stands before us. Here on
this spot, once rife with death, yonder cities shall lay their
slain for centuries to come-their slain, falling in the awful
contest with the stern warrior, against whom human strength
is nought, and human conflict vain. Years shall sweep on in
steady tide, and these broad fields be whitened with countless
sepulchres ; the mounds, covered with graves where affection
still shall plant the flower and trail the vine. In the deep

302

GREENWOOD CEMETERY

valleys, and romantic glens, to receive their ne'er returning
tenants, the sculptured vaults still shall roll ope their mar
ble fronts, and on this spot, the stately column shooting high
in air; to future generations tell, the bloody story of the

battle field.

All here shall rest; the old man, his silver hairs in quiet,
and the wailing babe in sweet repose; the strong from
fierce conflict with fiery disease, and bowing submissively,
the poor pallid invalid, the old, the young, the strong, the
beautiful, all here shall rest in deep and motionless repose.

May that Being, Infinite and Glorious-UNSEEN-shroud-
ed from our vision in the vast and awful mists of immeasur-
able Eternity ! Creator! throned in splendor inconceivable,
mid millions and countless myriads of worlds, which still
rushing into being at his thought, course their majestic cir-
cles, chiming in obedient grandeur glorious hymns of praise ;
God of Wisdom, that hast caused the ethereal spark to mo-
mentarily light frail tenements of clay ; grant, that in the
terrors of final dissolution, we may meet the splendor of
the opening Heavens with steadfast gaze, and relying on his
love, in ecstasy, still cry-WHERE-WHERE, then is
Death?

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APPENDIX.

t«

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CONTENTS.

Note to the Resurrectionists. — Ghost in the Grave Yard.
" " Old Kennedy, No. i.— Lieutenant Somers.
'* " Old Kennedy, No. III.—*' The Parting Blessing."
* " Old Kennedy, No. IV.— Explosion at Craney Island.
" " Greenwood Cemetery.

" " Night Attack on Fort Erie— The Officer's Saber.
" Lundy's Lane — Rainbow of the Cataract.

The Day after the Battle.
The two Sergeants.
Death of Captain Hull.
Scott's Brigade.
Death of Captain Spencer.
" Lake George. — Attack on Fort Ticonderoga.
" Bass Fishing.— Crew of the Essex frigate.

Mutiny on board the Essex.
" Long Island Sound. — New England Traditions.

: X']

APPENDIX

Note to the Resurrectionists.— G\io?,T IN THE Grave
Yard.— In New-England most of the burying-grounds, as
they are called, are at some distance from the villages, and
generally neglected and rude in their appearance, frequently
overgrown with wild, dank weeds, and surrounded by
rough stone walls. Dr. W., a physician, whose extensive
practice gave him a large circuit of country to ride over, re-
lates that returning late one night from visiting a patient,
who was dangerously ill, his attention was attracted by a
human figure clad in white, perched upon the top of the
stone wall of one of these rustic cemeteries. The moon was
shining cold and clear, and he drew up his horse for a
moment and gazed steadily at the object, supposing that he
was laboring under an optical illusion, but it remained
immoveable and he was convinced, however singular the
position and the hour, that his eyesight had not deceived
him. Being a man of strong nerves, he determined to
examine it, whether human or supernatural, more closely,
and leaping his horse up the bank of the road he proceeded
along the side of the fence toward the object. It remained
perfectly motionless until he came opposite and within a
few feet, when it vanished from the fence, and in another
instant, with a piercing shriek, was clinging round his neck
upon the horse. This was too much, for even the Doctor's

, ., 1 -1 .._i: :-,~ u:.^ooif "tWH p violent fixertion

philosophy, anu relieving nijiuvii ytius <* \-v-i^.-i- —

3IO

APPENDIX

from the grasp, he flung the figure from him, and puttmg
spurs to his horse galloped into the village at full speed
a torrent of ghostly lore and diablerie pouring through
his mind as he dashed along. Arousing the occupants of
the nearest house, they returned to the scene of the adven-
ture, where they found the object of his terror-a poor
female maniac, who had escaped from confinement m a
neighboring alms-house, wandering among the tombs.

Note to Old Kennedy, No. I.-Capt. SoMERS.*-The name
of Somers, the twin brother in arms of Decatur, shmes
brightly on the History of American Naval Warfare; and
the last desperate action which terminated his short and
brilliant career with his life, is su^mped in colors so indeli-
ble that nothing but the destroying finger of Time can
eff Jce it from its pages. After severe and continued fight-
ing before Tripoli, the Turkish flotilla withdrew from the
mole and could not be induced to venture themselves
beyond the guns of the Tripolitan Battery. The ketch
Intrepid was fitted out as a fire-ship, filled to the decks with
barrels of gunpowder, shells, pitch, and other combustible
materials ; and Capt. Somers, with a volunteer crew, under-
took the hazardous, almost desperate, task, of navigating
her, in the darkness of night into the middle of the Turkish
flotilla, when the train was to be fired, and they were
to make their escape as they best could in her boats.

Lieutenants Wadsworth and Israel were the only officers

* The U S. Brig Somers, in which a daring mutiny was sup-
nressed by the prompt and decided measures of Lt. Alexander
Slidell McKenzie, was named after this hero of the Tripolitan war.

APPENDIX

311

allowed to join the expedition, which was comprised of a
small crew of picked men. The Intrepid was escorted as far
as was prudent by three vessels of the squadron, who hove
to, to avoid suspicion, and to be ready to pick up the boats
upon their return : the Constitution, under easy sail in the

offing.

Many a brave heart could almost hear its own pulsations
in those vessels, as she became more and more indistinct,
and gradually disappeared in tlu distance. They watched
for some time with intense anxiety, when a heavy cannonade
was opened from the Turkish batteries, which, by its flashes,
discovered the ketch determinedly progressing on her
deadly errand. She was slowly and surely making for the
entrance of the mole, when the whole atmosphere suddenly
blazed as if into open day; the mast with all its sails
shot high up in the air; shells whizzed, rocket like, ex-
ploding in every direction ; a deafening roar followed and
all sunk again into the deepest pitchy darkness. The Amer-
icans waited, and waited, in anxious, at last sickening, sus-
pense. Their companions came not, the hours rolled on ;
no boat hailed, no oar splashed in the surrounding darkness.
The East grew grey with the dawn, the sun shone brightly
above the horizon, nought but a few shattered vessels lying
near the shore, the flotilla, the batteries, and the minarets of
Tripoli, gilded by the morning sunbeams, met their gaze.
Those noble spirits had written their history. Whether
consigned to eternity by a shot of the enemy, prematurely
exploding the magazine, or from the firing of the train by
their own hands, must always remain untold and unknown.
Note to Old Kennedy. No. III.-" The Parting Bless-
ING."— An officer of the Lawrence engaged in this desperate

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312

APPENDIX

action informed the writer that he observed, in the latter
part of the battle, the captain of one of the guns, who was a
perfect sailor, and remarkable for his neatness and fine per-
sonal appearance, ineffectually endeavoring to work his gun
himself, after all its crew had fallen. He was badly wounded
by a grape shot in the leg; and although in that situation,
he was supporting himself on the other, while he struggled
at the tackle to bring the piece to bear. The officer told
him that he had better leave the gun, and join one of
the others, or, as he was badly wounded, go below. " No,
no, sir," said the brave tar ; " I've loaded her, and if I've got
to go below, it sha'n't be before I give 'em a parting blessing ! "
The officer then himself assisted him in running the gun out
of the port. The sailor, taking a good and deliberate aim,
discharged her into the British ship, and then dragged
himself down to the cockpit, fully satisfied with the parting
compliment that he had paid the enemy. General Jackson,
during his administration, granted the man a pension.

Note to Old Kennedy, No. IV.— Explosion at Craney
Island.— One of the oldest of the surgeons now in the navy,
who was present when the British were defeated in their
attempt to cut out the Constellation at Craney Island, in
Hampton Roads, in the last war, relates the following

anecdote.

The fire of the Americans was so heavy that the British
flotilla was soon obliged to retire, a number of their boats
having been disabled by the cannon shot— one, in particular,
having been cut in two, sunk, leaving the men struggling in
the water for their lives. It was thought that it contained

APPENDIX

313

an officer of rank, as the other boats hurried to her assist-
ance, and evinced much agitation until the individual alluded
to was saved. But to let the doctor tell his own story :—

" Well, they retreated, and we made prisoners of those
whose bo'ats having been cut up, were struggling in the
water. Among others, there was a f^ne lookmg fellow, a
petty officer, who had been wounded by the same shot that
had sunk the boat; so I got him up to the hospital-tent, and
cut off his leg above the knee, and having made him com-
fortable, (!) walked out upon the beach, with my assistant,
for a stroll. We had not gone far, when we were both
thrown upon our backs by a violent shock, which moment-
arily stunned us. On recovering ourselves, we observed
the air filled with cotton, descending like feathers. We did
not know how to account for the phenomenon, till, advanc-
ing some distance farther, we found a soldier lying appar-
ently dead, with his musket by his side. I stooped down,
and found that the man was wounded in the head, a spbnter
having lodged just over the temple. As I drew out the
splinter, he raised himself, and stared stupidly about him.
I asked him what he was doing there ? ' I'm standing ground
over the tent, sir,' he replied. What tent? ' Why, sir the
tent that had the gunpowder in if How came it to blow
up ?-what set it on fire ? 'I don't know, sir. Did nobody
come along this way ? ' Yes, sir ; a man came along with a
cigar in his mouth, and asked if he might go in out of the
sun- I told him, yes !-and he went in and sat himself down
—and that is the last I recollect, until I found you standing
over me here.' Upon going a few hundred feet farther, vve
found a part, and still further on, the remainder of the body
of the unfortunate man, who ignorantly had been the cause
of the explosion, as well as his own death. He was so com-
pletely blackened and burnt that it would have been impos-
sible, from his color, to have distinguished him from a
negro."

I' i

APPENDIX

Note to Gremwood Cemetery.-To the untiring exertions of
Major D. B. Douglass, Messrs. Joseph A. Perry Henry E
Pierrepont, Gerrit G. Van Wagenen, and a few other hberal
minded gentlemen, ine public are indebted fo'-/h« W
and completion of this beautiful place of repose for the dead.

Night Attack on Fort £r,>.-THE Officer's SABER.-The
write; saw in the possession of Major -—, a beaufful
scimitar-shaped saber, with polished steel ^^'bbard ; the
number of the regiment, (ngth, he thinks,) embossed on . s
blade, which one of the soldiers picked up and brought m
from among the scattered arms and dead bodies m front of
the works on the following morning. The wh.te lea hern
belt was cut in two, probably by a grape-shot or mus>cet ball,
and saturated with blood. Whether its unfortunate owner
was killed, or wounded only, of course could not be known.
It was a mute and interesting witness of that night's carnage
and had undoubtedly belonged to some officer who had been
in Egypt, and had relinquished the straight European saber,
for this favorite weapon of the Mameluke.

Night Attack on Fort Erie, and Battle of Lmdy's Lane.-
These two articles elicited the following reply from the pen
of an officer of the U. S. army, since dead. The authent c.ty
of the statement can be relied upon, as the documents from
whence it was derived were the papers of Major-Genera!
Brown, and other high officers engaged in the campaign.
It is proper to observe, that in the rambling sketch of a tour-
ist where a mere cursory description was all that was a.med

APPENDIX

3IS

at the apparent iniustice done to that gallant officer and
:;iltf;sHUfu. soldier, Major-Genera, Brown (who cer
tainly ought to have been placed more prominently m the
foreeround), was entirely unintentional.

f, . * "Deeming that a 'local habitation and a
name' may be affixed to my friend 'he ' Major,' and that he
n,ay be considered responsible (or inaccuracies, if any for
which others alone are accountable, I hasten to say that in
the description of the battle of Lundy s ^a- (-* th ex
ceptionof some of the personal -«^°'!^)' '"^ ' ' ? 'V'
tained merely as a nom de gturre to carry the reader through
he different phases of the action. The description of the
ni^ht Stack on Fort Erie, as well as that of the character
and personal appearance of Lieutenant-Colonel Wood,^s
however almost literally that given at the fireside of my
W nd The information received at the British camp on
h following morning, through a flag, was, as "earas could

rrttrd^t^ait.-^^^^^^^^

on the battle-ground, ^-^^l^^^ J ,^ „o„ that
was all that was aimed at, has been cu j
Tuthority, the reader, as well as your correspond n, can
best detLine by referring to the history alluded to. P.

269-70. ...f nierv occupied a hill which

4fr * * * «« The enemy sartiuer> ocLu^^it

to hope for victory while they wcic ^

ii-.'

3i6

APPENDIX

ll?

if :

Addressing himself to C-^ionel Miller, he .nqu.red whether
he could storm the ' '^es at the head of the Twenty-
first, while he would ,. ,elf support him with the younger
regiment, the Twenty-third. To this the wary but m-
trepid, veteran replied in an unaffected phrase 1 U try,
sir;' * words which were afterwards given as the motto ol

his regiment. . ,

» * » * "The Twenty-third was formed m close

column under its commander. Major McFarland, and the
First regiment under Colonel Nicholas, was left to keep the
infantry in check. The two regiments moved on to one ot
the most perilous charges ever attempted ; the whole of the
artillery opened upon them as they advanced, supported by
a powerful line" of infantry. The Twenty-first advanced
steadily to its purpose; the Twenty-third faltered on re.
ceiving the deadly fire of the enemy, but was soon rallied by
the personal exertions of General Ripley. When w.th.n a
hundred yards of the summit, they received another dread-
ful discharge, by which Major McFarland was killed, and
the command devolved on Major Brooks. To the amaze-
ment of the British, the intrepid Miller firmly advanced,
until within a few paces of their line, when he impetuously
charged upon the artillery, which, after a short but desper-
ate resistance, yielded their whole battery, and the American
line was in a moment formed in the rear upon the ground
previously occupied by the British infantry. In carrying
the larger pieces, the Twenty-first suffered severely ; Lieu-
tenant CiUey, after nu unexampled effort, fell wounded by
the side of the piece which he took ; there were but few of
♦ The Twenty-first carried the celebrated ' 77/ //y, Sir; inscribed
upon their buttons during the remainder of the war.

APPENDIX

317

the officers of this regiment who were not either killed or

wounded.

«« So far as I can recollect, the personal narrative of my
friend was as follows : Miller, quietly surveying the battery,
coolly replied, ' I'll try, sir;' then, turning to his regiment,
drilled to beautiful precision, said, ' Attention, Twenty-first.'
He directed them as they rushed up the hill, to deliver their
fire at the port-lights of the artillerymen, and to immediately
carry the guns at the point of the bayonet. In a very short
time they moved on to the charge, delivered their fire as
directed, and after a furious struggle of a few muments over
the cannon, the battery was in their possession.

* * * * - To show with what secresy the arrangements
were made for the sortie of Fort Erie, it is believed that the
enemy was in utter ignorance of the movement. To confirm
him in error, a succession of trusty spies were sent to him in
the chare -^ter of deserters, up to the close of the day of the
16 h ' and so little did the army know of what were General
Brown's plans for that day, that even if an officer had gone
over to the enemy, the information he could have given must
have been favorable to the meditated enterprise, as no one
had been consulted but Geaeral Porter, and the engineers,
Colonels McRae and Wood.

.. At nine o'clock on the evening of the i6th. the general-
in-chief called his assistant adjutant-general. Major Jones,
and after explaining concisely his object, ordered him to see
he of^cers whom fhe General named, and direct them to
his tent The officers General Brown had selected to have
the honor of leading commands on the 17th, came; he ex-
plained to them his views and determinations, and enjoyed
'Juch satisfaction at seeing that his confidence had not been

g APPENDIX

Iplacea. T,.e, .eU Win. ^^^ ^^Zt.
to them on the succeeding day. At twelve c
agent was sent to the enemy in the character of a deserter
and aided, by disclosing all he knew, to confirm h.m m

"" The letter, of which the following is an extract was
written by General Brown to the Department of War early
in the morning of the 25th July, 1814 :

..?As General Gaines informed me that the Commodo e
was in port, and as he did not know when the fleet would
Ta or when the guns and troops that 1 had been expecting
wld even lea ve'sacketfs Harbor, 1 have thought ,t proper
to change my position with a view to other °bJ«^t^-

.. General Scott, with the first brigade, Towson s artillery
all the dragoons and mounted men, was accordingly put in
marc^ towards Queenston. He was P-^cu^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
to report if the enemy appeared, and to call for assistance il
at L necessary. Having command o the ragoons, h
would have, it was supposed, the means of >"t«l"gf ";^«; °"
General Scott's arrival near the Falls, he learned that the
fnemy was in force directly in his front, a narrow piece o
roods aione intercepting his view of them. « o .y
to despach this information, but not to receive any in return,
the General advanced upon him.

.. Hearing the report of cannon and small arms. Genera.
Brown at once concluded that a battle had commenced
between the advance of his army and the enemy, and with
out waiting for information trom General Scott, ordered the
eond brigade and all the artillery to --h as «p. y a
possible to his support, and directed Colonel Gardner to
possiDie „ Z*;.^., „„,.,,d. He then rode with his

remain and see ims oiuv. exci.v.— u.

APPENDIX

319

aids-de-camp, and Major McRee, with all speed towards the
scene of action. As he approached the Falls, ;about a mile
from Chippeway, he met Major Jones, who had accompanied
General Scott, bearing a message from him, advising General
Brown that he had met the enemy. From the information
given by Major Jones, it was concluded to order up General
Porter's command, and Major Jones was sent with this
order. Advancing a I'ttle further General Brown met
Major Wood, of the engineers, who also had accompanied
General Scott. He reported that the conflict between Gen-
eral Scott and the enemy was close and desperate, and urged
that reinforcements should be hurried forward. The rein-
forcements were now marching with all possible rapidity.
The Major-General was accompanied by Major Wood to the
field of battle. Upon his arrival, he found that General
Scott had passed the wood, and engaged the enemy upon
the Queenston road and the ground to the left of it, with the
9th, I ith and 22d regiments, and Towson s artillery. The 25th
had been detached to the right, to be governed by circum-
stances. Apprehending these troops to be much exhausted,
notwithstanding the good front they showed, and know-
ing that they had suffered severely in the contest. General
Brown determined to form and interpose a new line with
the advancing troops, and thus disengage General Scott, and
hold his brigade in reserve. By this time Captains Biddle
and Ritchie's companies of artillery had come into action.
The head of General Ripley's column was nearly up with
the right of General Scott's line. At this moment the enemy
fell back, in consequence, it was believed, of the arrival of
fresh troops, which they could see and begin to feel. At the
moment the enemy broke, General Scott's brigade gave a

320

APPENDIX

general hu.za. that cheered the whole line General Wpley
was ordered to pass his line and display his column m front
The movment was commenced in obedience to the order
Ma oT McRee and Wood had rapidly reconno.tered the
emy and his position. McRee reported that he appeared
o have taken up a new position with h.s me. -d -th h^
artillery, to have occupied a height wh.ch gave h.m great

vantages, it being the key oi the who^ pos, .0". T
secure the victory, it was necessary to <^;';^y '^'^ ^^^^it
seize his artillery. McRee was ordered by the Ma)or-Oen
eraltoonduct Ripley's command on the Queenston road
;ithavi3wtothatobiect,and prepare the ..st reg.ment.

""tr::ctr;'b:i"treL^ .dvancea on the
gJnLroad. Oenera,Brown.withhis.ds^^^^^^^^^^^^

roTrCr:::efthrre:T's artillery.-
observed an extended line ot infantry formed for .ts support,
/detachment of the first regiment of infantry under com-
ltd of Colonel Nicolas, which arrived that day and wa
Tt led to neither of the brigades, but ^ad ".arched to e
field of battle in the rear of the second, was ordered
promptly to break off to the left, and form a hne fac.ng the
e^^myonthe height, with a view of drawing h.s fire and
a tr^ting his attention, while Colonel Miller advanced wah
the bayonet upon his left flank to carry h,s art.llery _ A,
the first regiment, led by Major Wood, and commanded by
colonel Nrcolas. approached its position the commandmg
General rode to Colonel Miller, and ordered h.m to
charge and carry the enemy's artillery with the bayonet.
He r°eplied in a tone of great promptness and good humor,
It shall be done, sir.'

APPENDIX

321

" At that moment the first regiment gave \vay under the
fire of the enemy ; but Colonel Miller, without regard to this
circumstance, advanced steadily to his object, and carried
tne height and the cannon in a style rarely equaled-never
excelled. At this point of time, when Colonel Miller moved,
the 23d regiment was on his right, a little in the rear. Gen™
eral Ripley led this regiment ; it had some severe fighting,
and in a degree gave way, but was promptly reformed, and
brought upon the right of the nst, with which were con-
nected a detachment of the 17th and 19th.

" General Ripley being now with his brigade, formed a
line (the enemy having been driven from his commanding
o-round), with the captured cannon, nine pieces, in the rear.
The first regiment having been raUied, was brought into
line by Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolas, on the left of the second
brigade and General Porter coming up at this time, occu-
pied with his command the extreme left. Our artillery
formed the right between the 21st and 23d regiments. Hav-
ing given to Colonel Miller orders to storm the heights and
carry the cannon as he advanced. General Brown moved
from his right flank to the rear of his left. Major Wood and
Captain Spencer met him on the Queenston road ; turnmg
down that road, he passed directly in the rear of the 23d,
as they advanced to the support of Col. Miller. The shouts
of the American soldiers on the heights, at this moment, as-
sured him of Col. Miller's success, and he hastened towards
ihe^ place, designing to turn from the Queenston road
towards the heights up Lundy's Lane. In the act of domg
so Mai. Wood and Capt. Spencer, who were about a horse s
length before him, were near riding upon a body of the
enemy; and nothing prevented them from doing it but an

322

aPPEiVDIX

officer exclaiming before them. 'Ti^ey are t"'' J""''*;,
The exclamation halted the three Amer.can officers nd
upon looking down the road they saw a ''- « ^^'^^^
infantry drawn up in front of the western fence of the road,
with its right resting upon Lundy's Lane.

"The British officer had, at the moment he gave this
alarm, discovered Maj. Jesup. The Major had, as before
observed, at the commencement of the action, been ordered
by Gen. Scott to take ground to his right.

.. He had succeeded in tu:-mng the enemy s left, had cap.
tured Gen. Riall and several other officers, and sent them o
camp, and then, feeling and searching h.s way silently
::a;ds where the battle was raging, had brought his reg.
ment, the asth, after a little comparative loss, up to the
Tas^ n fenc at the Queenston road, a little to the north of
L„ dy s Lane. The moment the British gave Jesup notice
of having discovered him, Jesup ordered his command to
fie upon the enemy's line. The lines could not have been
lore than four rods apart-Jesup behind the south fence,
The British in front of the north. The slaughter was dread^
ul- the enemy fled down the Queenston road at the third
or fourth fire As the firing ceased, the Major-General
"proached Major Jesup, advised him that Col Miller had
carried the enemy's artillery, and received information of

*":r:irHavtg'-raUied his broken forces and r.
ceived reinforcements, was now discovered in good order
and in great force. The commanding General, doubting
the LrLtness of the information, and to ascertain the
.,,'„<! i„ person with his suite in front of our line.
H: :;rrd:o Mng'er douU, as a more extended line than he

APPENDIX

323

had yet seen during the engagement was near, and ad-
vancing upon us. Capt. Spencer, without saying a word,
put spurs to his horse, and rode directly up to the ad-
vancing line, then, turning towards the enemy's right,
inquired in a strong and firm voice, ' What regiment is that?'
and was as promptly answered, 'The Royal Scots, Sir.'

" General Brown and suite then threw themselves behind
our troops without loss of time, and waited the attack. The
enemy advanced slowly and firmly upon us: perfect silence
was observed throughout both armies until the lines ap-
proached to within four to six rods. Our troops had
leveled their pieces and the artillery was prepared: the
order to fire was given. Most awful was its effect. The
lines closed in part before the enemy was broken. He then
retired precipitately, the American army following him.
The field was covered with the slain, but not an enemy
capable of marching was to be seen. We dressed our men
upon the ground we occupied. Gen. Brown was not dis-
posed to leave it in the dark, knowing it was the best in the
neighborhood. His intention, then, was to maintain it until
day should dawn, and to be governed by circumstances.

'« Our gallant and accomplished foe did not give us much
time for deliberation. He showed himself within twenty
minutes, apparently undismayed and in good order."

Extract of a private letter from the writer of the above
article, dated January 15, 1 841. * * * *

'« As to the fate of the gallant and accomplished Wood.—
You supposed a flag from the enemy reported he had been
bayoneted to death on the ground ; like enough, but how
did the enemy recognize his body ? Gen. Porter thinks he
fell at the close of the action at Battery No. i, but I never

324

APPENDIX

1 1

I ttlit 1:1

heard that any one saw him fall. His body never was
ectered Those of Gibson and Davis, the leaders o. the
two other colur ns in Gen. Porter's command, were.

..Soon alter- the war, McRee, one of the best m.htary
engineers this country ever produced, threw up h.s comm.s-
sion in disgust and died ol the cholera at St. Louis.

.From the time I lost sight of Gen. Scott in my narrative
until after the change referred to at the end of the na- Uve
Gen. Scott with three ol his battalions had been held in re-
serve The commander-in-chief now rode in person to Gen.
Scott' -d ordered him to advance. That officer was pre_
p red and expected the call. As Scott advanced toward
Key's left, Gen. Brown passed to the- left to speak with
Gen Porter and see the condition and countenance of his
milUia who, at that moment, were thrown into some con-
Tus on unde a most galling and deadly hre from the enemy :
hey were, however, kept to their duty by the exertions of
hefr galUnt chiefs, and most nobly sustained the conflict
ThT enemy was repulsed and again driven out of sight.
Bu a Lrt time, however, had elapsed, when he was once
more distinctly seen, in great force, advancing upon our
™ain line under the command of Ripley and Porter^ The
direction that Scott had given his column would have
enabled him in five minutes to have formed a line in the rear
t : enemy's right, and thus have ''-S';' ^'™ ~^
two fires But in a moment most unexpected, a flank fire
om a party of the enemy, concealed upon our left, falling
upon the centre of Scott's command, when in open column
Tasted our proud expectations. His column was severed
"; one part passing to the rear, the other by the right
flank o platoons toward the main line. About this period

APPENDIX

325

.Gen. Brown received his first wound, a musket-ball passinj
through his right thigh and carrying away his tvatch seal,
a few minutes after Capt. Spencer received his mortal

"This was the last desperate effort made by the enemy
to regain his position and artillery. * * * *

" Porter's volunteers were not excelled by the regulars
during this charge. They were soon precipitated by their
heroic commander upon the enemy's line, wh.ch they broke
and dispersed, making many prisoners. The enemy now
seemed to be effectually routed ; they disappeared. * * * *
■ "At the commencement of the action, Col. Jesup was de-
tached to the left of the enemy, with the discretionary order,
to be governed by circumstances. The commander of the
British forces had committed a fault by leaving a road
unguarded on his left. Col. Jesup, taking advantage of this,
threw himself promptly into the rear of the enemy, where
he was enabled to operate with brilliant enterprise, and the
happiest effect. The capture of Gen. Riall, with a large
escort of officers of rank, was part of the trophies of his
intrepidity and skill. It is not, we venture to assert, bestow-
ing on him too much praise to say, that to his achievements,
more than to those of any other individual, is to be attributed
the preservation of the first brigade from utter annihilation.
" Among the officers captured by Col. Jesup, was Capt.
Loring, one of General Drummond's aids-de-camp, who had
been despached from the front line to order up the reserve,
with a view to fall on Scott with the concentrated force of
the whole army and overwhelm him at a single effort. Nor
would it have been possible to prevent this catastrophe, had
the reserve arrived in time; the force with which General

326

APPENDIX

Scott would have been obliged to contend be.ng nearly
quadruple that of his own. By the fortunate capture, how
ever of the British aid.de.can,p, before the complet.on of
he Service on which he had been ordered, the enemy s
re erve was not brought into action until the arnva o
G„ Ripley's brigade, which prevented the d.saster that
^u ; otherwise have ensued, and achieved, in the end, one
Tf the most honorable victories that ever shed lustre upon
the arms of a nation.

Note to Lu,ulys i«»..-RA.NBOW OF THE CATARAO.-

The afternoon of the action presented one of those dehc.ous
summer scenes in which all nature appears to be breathn,g
„ harmony and beauty. As General Scotfs br.gade can-.
i„ view, and halted in the vicinity of the cataracts the m,st
rising from the falls was thrown in upon the land, arch, „g
the American force with a vivid and gorgeous rainbow, the
left resting on the cataract, and the right lost m the fore t
Its brilliance and beauty was such, that it excted not o.^y
the enthusiasm of the officers, but even the camp followers
were filled with admiration.

Note to Lundy's i«»..-THE DAY AFTER THE BATTLE.- I

rode to the battle-ground about day-light on the oUowmg
corning without witnessing the presence of a -g'^ B" 'sh
officer or soldier. The dead had not been removed through
the night, and such a scene of carnage I never before be-
held Red coats, blue and gray, promiscuously mterm.ngled,
in many places tkree deep, and around the hill, where the en
em/s armiery was carried by Colonel Miller, the carcasses

APPENDIX

327

of sixty or seventy horses added to the horror of the scene."
—Private letter of an Officer.

The dead were collected and burnt in funeral piles made
of rails, on the field where they had fallen.

Note to Lundys Lane-— The two Sergeants.— For sev-
eral days after the action, the country people found the
bodies of soldiers who had straggled off into the woods, and
died of their wounds. At some distance from the field of
battle, and entirely alone, were found the bodies of two
sergeants, American and English, transfixed by each other's
bayonets, lying across each other, where they had fallen in
deadly duel. It is rare that individual combat takes place
under such circumstances in the absence of spectators to
cheer on the combatants by their approval, and this incident
conveys some idea of the desperation which characterized
the general contest on that night. Yet in this lonely and
brief tragedy, these two men were enacting parts, which to
them were as momentous as the furious conflict of the masses
in the distance.

Note to Lundys Z^w^.— Death of Captain Hull.— Cap-
tain Hull, son of General Hull, whose unfortunate surrender
at Detroit created so much odium, fell in this battle. He
led his men into the midst of the heaviest fire of the enemy,
and after they were almost, if not all, destroyed, plunged
sword in hand into the center of the British column, fighting
with the utmost desperation, until he was literally impaled

upon their bayonets.

In the pocket of this gallant and generous young officer,

328

APPENDIX

was found a letter, avowing his determination to signalize
the name or to fall in the attempt.

Note to Lundys Lane.-SCOTT^S BRIGADE.-Part of Gen.
Scotfs command were dressed in gray (probably the fatigue
dress), at the battle of Chippewa. An English company
officer relates that: ''Advancing at the head of my men, 1
saw a body of Americans drawn up, dressed in gray uniform.
Supposing them to be militia, 1 directed my men to fire, and
immediately charge bayonet. What was my surprise to
find, as the smoke of our fire lifted from the ground, that,
instead of flying in consternation from our destructive dis-
charge, the supposed militia were coming down upon us at
•double quick '-at the charge. In two minutes I stood
alone, my men having given way without waiting to meet
the shock."

Note to Lundys Z««..-Death OF Capt. SPENCER.-Capt.
Spencer, aid-de-camp to Maj. Gen. Brown, a son of the Hon.
Ambrose Spencer, was only eighteen years of age at the
time he closed his brief career. He was directed by Gen.
Brown to carry an order to another part of the field, and, to
avoid a more circuitous route, he chivalrously galloped down,
exposed to the heavy fire in the front of the line, eliciting the
admiration of both armies, but, before he reached the point
of his destination, two balls passed through his body and he

rolled from his saddle.

The following letter to Gen. Armstrong, Secretary of
War, will show in what estimation he was held by Gen.
Brown : —

APPENDIX

129

Copy of a letter from Major Gen. Brown, to Gen. Arm-
strons:. Secretary of War.

SLi <JUj3, ^ J » Headquarters, Fort Erie,

20th September, 1814.

"Sir:— Among the officers lost to this army in the battle
of Niagara Falls, was my aid-de-camp, Captain Ambrose
Spencer, who, being mortally wounded, was obliged to be
left in the hands of the enemy. By flags from the British
army, I was shortly afterwards assured of his convalescence,
and an offer was made me by Lieutenant General Drummond,
to exchange him for his own aid, Captain Loring, then a
prisoner of war with us. However singular this proposition
appeared, as Captain Loring was not wounded, nor had re-
ceived the slightest injury, I was willing to comply with it
on Captain Spencer's account. But as I knew his wounds
were severe, I first sent to ascertain the fact of his being
then living. My messenger, with a flag, was detained, nor
even once permitted to see Captain Spencer, though in his

immediate vicinity.

" The evidence I wished to acquire failed ; but my regard
for Captain Spencer would not permit me longer to delay,
and I informed General Drummond that his aid should be
exchanged even for the body of mine. This offer was, no
doubt, gladly accepted, and the corpse of Captain Spencer
sent to the American shore."

Note to Lake George and Tico.'DEROGA.-This impor-
tant position, situated on Lake Champlain near the foot of
the Horicon (called by the English Lake George, and by the
French St. Sacrament), was first fortified by the French, and
was the point from which they made so many incursions, in

330

APPENDIX

conjunction with the Indians, upon the English settlements.
Lord Abercrombie led an army of nearly 16,000 men
against it in the year 1658, but was defeated with a loss of
2,000 men, and one of his most distinguished officers. Lord
Howe, who fell at the head of one of the advance columns.
In the following year it surrendered to General Amherst,
who led a force of nearly equal number against it. Its sur-
prise and capture by Ethan Allen, at the commencement of
our revolution, is, we presume, familiar to every American,
as also the fact of Burgoyne's getting heavy cannon upon
the neighboring mountain, which had heretofore been con-
sidered impracticable, and from which the works were en-
tirely commanded. The necessary withdrawal of the army
by St. Clair, after blowing up the works, is as related in the
text.

Note to Bass Fishing.-CR^^^ OF the Essex Frigate.-
In the bloody and heroic defence of the Essex, in which, out
of a crew of two hundred and fifty-five men, one hundred
and fifty-three were killed and wounded! a number of
instances of individual daring and devotion are recorded of
the common sailors. Besides the act of Ripley, which is
mentioned in the text, one man received a cannon ball
through his body, and exclaimed, in the agonies of death,
"Never mind, shipmates, I die for free trade and sailors'
rights." Another expired inciting his shipmates to " fight
for liberty ! " and another, Benjamin Hazen, having dressed
himself in a clean shirt and jacket, threw himself overboard,
declaring that " he would never be incarcerated in an
English prison." An old man-of-war's-man, who was m her,

APPENDIX

331

informed the writer that her sides were so decayed by
exposure to the climate in which she had been cruising, that
the dust flew like smoke from every shot that came through
the bulwarks, and that at the close of the action, when the
Essex was lying perfectly helpless, a target for the two
heavy British ships, riddled by every ball from their long
cruns, without the ability to return a single shot, he was near
The quarter-deck and heard Commodore Porter, walkmg up
and down with hurried steps, repeatedly strike his breast
and exclaim, in great apparent agony, " My Heaven ! is
there no shot for me ? "

Note to Bass Fishing. -^\^3'lm^ ON Board the Essex
FRIGATE—While the Essex was lying at the Marquesas
Islands, recruiting and refreshing her crew from one of the
lone and arduous cruises in the Pacific, Commodore Porter
was^nformed, through a servant of one of the officers, that a
mutiny had been planned and was on the eve of consumma-
tion That it was the intention of the mutineers to rise
upon the officers, take possession of the ship, and, fer bav-
in, remained as long as they found agreeable at the island,
to hoist the black flag and ''cruise on their own account.
Having satisfied himself of the truth of the information,
Commodore Porter ascended to the quarter-deck, and or
dered all the crew to be summoned aft. Waiting tdl .he
last man had come from below, he -^^r^^^/^;^ ^'^! '^
understood that a mutiny was on foot, and that he had
summoned them for the purpose of inquiring into its truth.
« Those men who are in favor of standing by the ship and
her officers," said the commodore, ''will go over to the

332

APPENDIX

Starboard side ; those who are against them will remain
where they are." The crew, to a man, moved over to the
starboard side. The ship was still as the grave. Fixing his
eyes on them steadily and sternly for a few moments, the
commodore said, " Robert White, step out." The man
obeyed, standing pale and agitated, guilt stamped on every
lineament of his countenance, in front of his comrades. 1 he
commodore looked at him a moment, then seizing a cutlass
from the nearest rack, said, in a suppressed voice, but in
tones so deep that they rung like a knell upon the ears of
the guilty among the crew, '' Villain ! you are the ringleader
of this mutiny-jump overboard I " The man dropped on his
keees, imploring for mercy, saying that he could not swim.
-Then drown, you scoundrel !" said the commodore, springing
towards him to cut him down-" overboard instantly ! " and
the man jumped over the side of the ship. He then turned
to the trembling crew, and addressed them with much feel-
ing the tears standing upon his bronzed cheek as he spoke.
He asked them what he had done, that his ship should be
disgraced by a mutiny. He asked whether he had ever dis-
honored Che flag, whether he had ever treated them with
other than kindness, whether they had ever been wanting
for anything to their comfort, that discipline and rules ot
the service would allow, and which it was in his power to
give At the close of his address he said : " Men ! before I
came on deck, I laid a train to the magazine, and I would
have blown all on board into eternity, before my ship should
have been disgraced by a successful mutiny ; I never would
have survived the dishonor of my ship ; go to your duty.
The men were much affected by the commodore's address,
and immediately returned to their duty, showing every sign

APPENDIX

333

of contrition. They were a good crew, but had been se-
duced by the allurements of the islands, and the plausible
representations of a villain. That they did their duty to the
flag, it is only necessary to say, the same crew fought the
ship afterwards against the Phebeand Cherub, in the haroor
of Valparaiso, where, though the American flag descended,
it descended in a blaze of glory which will long shine on the
pages of history. But mark the sequel of this mutiny, and
let those who, in the calm security of their fire-sides, are so
severe upon the course of conduct pursued by officers in
such critical situations, see how much innocent blood would
have been saved, if White had been cut down instantly, or
hung at the yard-arm. As he went overboard he succeeded
in reaching a canoe floating at a little distance and paddled
ashore. Some few months afterwards, when Lieutenant
Gamble of the Marines was at the islands, in charge of one
of the large prizes, short-handed, in distress, this same White,
at the head of a party of natives, attacked the ship, killed
two of the officers and a number of the men, and it was with
great difficulty that she was prevented from falling into their
hands. The blood of those innocent men, and the lives of
two meritorious officers, would have been spared, if the
wretch had been put to instant death, as was the commo-
dore's intention. It will be recollected that the Essex, in
getting under way, out of .the harbor of Valparaiso, earned
awav her foretopmast in a squall, and being thus unmanage-
able' came to anchor in the supposed protection of a neutral
port • nevertheless the Phebe, frigate, and Cherub, sloop-of-
war, attacked her in this position, the former with her long
o-uns selecting her distance, cutting her up at her leisure,
while the Essex, armed only with carronades, lay perfectly

334

APPENDIX

helpless, her shot falling short of the Phebe, although they
reached the Cherub, which was forced to get out of their
ran^e. " I was standing," said my informant, then a mid-
shipman only fourteen years old, <' 1 was standing at the side
ot one of our bow-chasers (the only long guns we had), which
we had run aft out of the stern-port, when the Phebe bore up,
and ran under our stern to rake us. As she came within
half-pistol shot (!) she gave us her whole broadside at the
same instant. I recollect it well," said the officer, "for as I
saw the flash, I involuntarily closed my eyes, expecting that
she would have blown us out of the water, and she certainly
would have sunk us on the spot, but, firing too high her
shot cut our masts and rigging all to pieces, doing little in-
iury to the hull. Singular as it may seem, the discharge of
our one gun caused more slaughter than the whole of their
broadside, for while we had but one man wounded, the shot
fron^ our gun killed two of the men at the wheel of the
Phebe, and glancing with a deep gouge on the mair.mast,
mortally wounded her first Lieutenant, who died on the fol-
lowing day.

Long Island 5.««^.-New England TRADiTioNS.-There
are few countries where traditions and legends are hanaed
down from generation to generation with more fidelity than
in New England, more particularly along the sea-coast and
the shores of the Sound. The '' fire ship " was supposed by
the old fishermen to be seen cruising occasionally m the vicin-
ity of Block Island in the furious storms of thunder and light-
ning. The tradition was that sh<i was taken by pirates, all

. , J u ' ^ '»{♦•'»♦• hpin"" cf^*^ '^1 fire bv

hands murdered, and abauuuucu altvx Dein^, „-- --

APPENDIX

335

the buccaneers. Some accounts stated that a large white
horse, which was on board, was left near the foremast to
perish in the flames, and in storms of peculiarly terrific vio-
lence that she was seen rushing along enveloped in fire, the
horse stamping and pawing at the heel of the foremast, her
phantom crew assembled at quarters. In the early part of
the last century, a ship came ashore a few miles beyond
Newport, on one of the beaches, all sails set, the table pre-
pared for dinner, but the food untouched, and no living
thing on board of her. It was never ascertained what had
become of her crew, but it was supposed that she had been
abandoned in some moment of alarm, and that they all per-
ished, although the vessel arrived in safety.

The phantom horse will recall to mind a real incident,
which occurred not long since in the conflagration of one
of the large steamboats on Lake Erie. A fine race-horse
was on board, and secured, as is usual, forward. Of course
his safety was not looked to, while all were making vain
efforts to save themselves from their horrible fate. As the
flames came near him he succeeded in tearing himself loose
from his fastenings, rushing frantically through the fire and
smoke fore and aft, trampling down the unfortunate victims
that were in his way, adding still more horror to a scene
which imagination can hardly realize, until, frenzied with
the pain und agony of the fire, he plunged overboard and

perished.

But the favorite and most cherished traditions are those
relating to hidden treasure. The writer well recollects one
to which his attention was attracted in his childhood. Mr.
- inhabiting one of those fine old mansions in Newport,

hich had been built fifty years before, by an English gentle-

336

APPENDIX

nf fortune where taste and caprice had been indulged
r„The e' trel-' and where closets, and beaufets. and cellars.

Br r:r:.» sr^^^^^^^^

as the w kev-hole of the door. He stopped a

rranT^So" -''->- that so^e o. the ,a.ni,y
,t. nnartment-but instantly the light vanished. He
'""" '". n to the do- and endeavored to open it, but found
XsurTrire hattvas .astened.-a thing that was un^^

,K Hnnr constantly stood ajar. Calling out aga.n, " Who s
::'°:itho receiving any answer, he placed his foot

I the door and forced it open, when a sight met h.s
agamst the door ^,^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ j„ ^,^

r ;::i t e' 2:: a deep grave, which had been already

, nnd leaning upon his spade, was a brawny negro, hs

it r V "d u'p to his shoulders, and the sweat tr.cW

U„g down his glistening black visage, while on the p.le of

.ride from the excavation stood another negro, a
Trawn sword n one hand, a lantern w.th the light just
e Cu shed in the other, and an open bible, w.th two hazel

TZrL it lying at his feet-these swarthy laborers, the

■■ enttha the door was thrown open, making the most
moment that he do ^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^_

'^""ri^voceh demanded the meaning of what he saw,
■" d whatlh y were about. They both simultaneously then
^."itd tw the charm was broken by his voice. One of
::: worthie; who was the groom of the family, had dreamea

APPENDIX

,.7

five nights in succession that old Mr. E .the builder of

the house, had buried a bootful (!) of gold in that cellar
and on comparing notes with his brother dreamer, he found
that his visions also pointed to treasure in the old house,
and they had proceeded sccundcm artcm to its attamment,
both vehemently declaring that they intended to give part

of the treasure to Mr. . Of course, the door being

opened, the strange negro was required to add the darkness
of his visage to that of night, while the groom was, on pain
of instant dismissal, together with the threat of the ridicule
of the whole town, directed to t^U up the grave, and there-
after to let the buried treasure sleep where its owner had
seen fit to deposit it.

A Balloi) aiong Anierican Scenery :

OR,

Sletcles of Aierican Scenes anl Military Alyentnre.

A. E. SILLIMAN.

* ♦ * "Mr. Silliman's 'Gallop among American Scenery' is an
eminently readable book, consisting of sketches, historical and descriptive,
everything dashed off with a champagne sparkle, and withal, scholarlike
and finished. The talent for this kind of writing is as rare as the tenor
among singers, and we are glad to hear of the existence of such a writer,
though his light shine from the ' Vale of Mammon.' * * N. />. Wtllts.
Bro. jo., April i, 1843.

* * " It is a most agreeable volume, and we commend it to the lovers
of the champagne style in literature." * * N. Y. Com. Adv., 1843 (4).

* * "With an eye to observe the beauties of nature, and a heart to
appreciate them; with a pen to "gallop" as fast as the thcushts of the
writer ; and language fluent enough tp depict the quick ideas of the mind.
Mr. Silliman has brought together a work of the most captivating character,
* * Boston Transcript. 1843 (4).

* ♦ " C'est une veritable course au galop que le volume de Silliman,
etdans cette societe qui va si vite les meilleurs livres et les plus agreab es
styles sont ceux qui s'elancent i toute bride, ne s embarrassant ni de philo-
Sophie, ni de beau langage. II y a dans les Esquisses de Silliman une
peinture magnifique de la Cataracte du Niagara, pendant 1 hiver; cet
Immense pakis de glace, suspendu et ^tincelant, ce mouvement gigantesque
arrete dans I'air par une force magique, composent un des p\xis etourdissans
spectacles dont on puisse s'aviser. La touche de I'auteur amencam est facile,
rapide, hazardeuse, un peu incorrecte, mais chaud n en yaut que mieux.
Z^Hevue dcs Deux MonJes, Tome Septi^me (15 Aout 1844), Pans.

"A Gallop among American Scenery. By A. E. Silliman. This
volume seems to have been rapidly ^>;itten. but it dispkys uncomm^^^^^
Qualities of style and powers of observation. * * • His sketcUv.s are
brilliantly drawn and his stories and anecdotes well told. Unlike most
books so miscellaneous in character, this has a sp rit and life which keep up
?he reader's interest to the end ; it is drawn from fresh nature and ,s there-
fore free from vague or unmeaning epithets. It is written in a hear y and
hones tone a^/ we strike up a pkasant acquaintance with the author at
once We are amused, excited, and frequently instructed by our agreeable
companion, and part from him with regret. * * .^« "' particularly
SeTd w" h the ^dazzling picture of Niagara in the winter, though it is not
S^nT«t sufficient length: *♦ ♦ * We take leave of our author with a
Svely sense oWsSriptive powers, his .aiety and good humor, and with
UTnv thanks for reviving so agreeably the recollection of places made
SasJcal S trik ngTvenl in American history, or that have grown dear to
the hea t by the gratification they have afforded to the love of the beautiful.
NortTAmUcanReview, 1843 (4), Vol. LXII, pp. 252-3.

A. S. BARNES & CO.,

NEW YORK.